Sara’s Weekly Update #21
Welcome to my newsletter! I write down my thoughts & opinions on the topics I read/watch in the last week. My topics of interest are wide, please feel free to skip to the topic you like.
I was traveling & recovering from the hangover from the travel from the last two weeks, so could not write this for last few weeks.
India Launches Lunar Mission With a Shot at Winning This Year’s Moon Race
If the robotic lander and rover aboard Chandrayaan-3 succeed in landing intact, that will be an accomplishment that no country other than China has pulled off this century, adding to the national pride India takes in its homegrown space program
Although the design of the lander is largely the same, changes include stronger landing legs, more propellant, additional solar cells to gather energy from the sun and improved sensors to measure the altitude.
The software was also changed so that the spacecraft could turn faster if needed, and the allowed landing area has been expanded.
Hope we (India) can make it this time, nevertheless we will learn from the mistake & keep progressing.
Meta's Threads, which is basically a Twitter clone, minimizes news and politics
Within a week it crossed 100M+ users, but recently threads app engagement has dropped. Nevertheless it’s a great start for Meta Threads app. My initial opinion is that Threads might look like CNN’s equivalent & Twitter might look like Fox media based on some of the top influencers in both the platform.
Meta learned long ago that if they de-emphasize politics and news, they could make more money. When people share content about influencers, about celebrities or when people are chatting about or sharing photos about friends and family, that's what really keeps people engaged. That's what keeps people scrolling, and that's what keeps the advertising dollars rolling in.
Meta might not push more political content, so twitter will have its own market too but it may not make more money & the size of the company might go down further.
We're told that we make social media, but really the experience is shaped a lot by the companies and their algorithms and which posts they promote or which posts they downgrade.
This is something alarming. I used to be far way from politics, but in the last 5 years so I became more involved in politics & have string opinions, I am mostly certain it’s because of the social medias & their algorithms to push more contents that I like to watch.
SOL MESSING (former top researcher at Facebook): When folks see more political content in their news feeds, they tend to become more interested in politics. They tend to develop more consistent policy preferences. They tend to report voting at higher rates.
This’ a positive note on getting involved in politics, people who are involved show up to vote.
NATO’s promises to Ukraine mark real progress
Mr Zelensky also got more than he initially thought. nato was never going to admit Ukraine while intense fighting is going on, because that would have risked direct fighting between Russia and the West, which could threaten nuclear escalation. But Ukraine has been offered an accelerated process for membership once the war is over. The alliance has agreed to waive the requirement for Ukraine to go through an arduous “membership action plan” before it is admitted. Although a promise that admission will happen quickly after hostilities cease would have been better, this also marks a step forward.
Mr Zelensky is not happy about that it’s not able to join NATO now, but concerns for the west is also valid. Atleast Ukraine got a deal that the process will be accelerated
the fact that Russia knows that nato will not admit Ukraine as long as war rages gives it an incentive to keep fighting. What counts is less the conditions for some hypothetical nato membership in the future, so much as a concrete and lasting programme to defend Ukraine right now. That is where the summit made real progress.
Looks like this war may keep going. Putin know if the war ends Ukraine will join NATO, so that keeps him going. But not sure if Russia has the resources to keep the war going.
Why is India Paying Russia with Chinese Yuan?
India need to export more to Russia to make the Rupee more useful. Though purchasing oil for cheaper helps India & keeps inflation down, it does look like we are supporting the war indirectly by funding Russia & promoting Petroyuan.
Why inflation is losing its punch — and why things could get even better
Core inflation in June is 4.8%, lower than 5.3% in the last month. This is a good news, still inflation is way higher than Feds target of 2%. It’s expected that there will be one more 0.25% rate hike in next few weeks and Fed may pause if the core inflation keeps going down.
The data showing easing inflation on Wednesday will likely be greeted as welcome news to the country's inflation fighters, but the battle is probably not over.
Personal Update
Trip to Smoky Mountains
It was gathering of friends & their families who all worked together in Lacrosse, WI during 2011-2012. We got a 9 bedroom cottage & it was great fun for kids & adults. Smoky is a very dense forest with great terrains & very beautiful!
Georgia Aquarium & Coke Center
Major Cricket League in US: TSK vs LAKR
Went to the opening match for the Major Cricket League that happened here in DFW area in TX. Learned that CSK owner is the same for TSK (Texas Super Kings). And TSK won the opening match against LA Knight Riders, it was super exciting to watch this live match in the stadium.