Big losses
On the morning after the midterm elections in the United States of America, the front page of the New York Post had the headline, “Don (who couldn’t build a wall) had a great fall”, next to the caption, “Trumpty Dumpty”. Results show that the Democrats have retained control of the Senate while Republicans have wrested control of the House. The loser of the elections though is the former Republican president, Donald Trump. Leading up to the mid-terms, various Conservative news media predicted a “red wave”, referring to a sweeping win for Republicans in the wake of inflation, high-interest rates and a pending economic downturn. Instead, the Democrats did much better than expected and the red wave did not happen. It turns out that the candidates backed by Trump did far worse and were actually hurt by his endorsement. Many Republican leaders as well as hosts of Conservative news channels are blaming Trump for the loss. However, it is too soon to tell whether the party will shun their former leader. The new hero who emerged is the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. With a sweeping win for the Republicans, DeSantis is speculated to run for president in 2024. The Senate race in Georgia is still undetermined. The two candidates — the incumbent Democrat, Raphael Warnock, and former NFL player, Herschel Walker, will face off in an election on December 6.
Twitter travails
The tech industry is not so hot right now. Companies such as Meta, Lyft and Stripe have been laying off employees in anticipation of a recession. Elon Musk also began slashing the headcount of Twitter as soon as he arrived as the new chief of the social media company, though, arguably, with less thought given to the matter. After Musk’s splashy $44 billion buyout of Twitter, employees were notified within a week in a company-wide email that the layoffs were set to begin. In the wake of mass layoffs, many executives are leaving voluntarily. Musk had first arrived at the Twitter headquarters carrying a bathroom sink. He posted a picture of himself on Twitter with the caption “Entering Twitter HQ — let that sink in” and also changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit”. Musk plans to make Twitter a platform for free speech, which, he asserted, was his reason for buying it. He tweeted “Comedy is legal again”, a few weeks after taking over. He established a new blue tick verification system that users could buy for $7.99 per month. This led to a rise in fake accounts with blue tick marks. Musk posted that accounts engaged in impersonation must include ‘parody’ in their name, adding that “tricking people is not ok”. Many even remarked on the irony of Musk’s support for free speech and comedy, except for when he is the target of a joke.
Winter fashion
After unusually warm temperatures in the past week, the mercury has started to dip and people are getting into the holiday spirit. Most are well-prepared with long winter coats. If one is not, he or she may be able to get a $1,000-coat for free but there is a catch — the coats will be frozen in a block of ice on the street. The Canadian high-end outerwear brand, Moose Knuckles, has partnered with the American label, Eckhaus Latta, to create a new 12- piece winter coat collection that is currently frozen into ice sculptures in downtown Manhattan. Getting a coat is pretty simple — you just have to grab it once the ice has melted. The collection was made available in stores last week with prices ranging from $650 to $1,595. According to Marie Claire, the winter trend is going to be a nod to the past, marked by white button-down shirts, disco wear of the roaring Twenties, fashion from the 2000s and denim all the way.
Culinary quest
Social media has become a place for bizarre food news and trends. Recently, a 30-year-old man from Philadelphia, Alex Tominsky, ate 40 rotisserie chickens in 40 days, documenting his feat on Twitter. The post went viral. At his final chicken-eating moment, he was pictured surrounded by hundreds of people who cheered him on. Several media outlets have been interviewing him to understand why he would do such a thing. Tominsky told TNYT that he “must do something that brings him pain [in order] to make others smile.” In other news, a small bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos has been enshrined in a tomb with a gold leaf headstone which reads “for future civilizations to find”. It was done by a meme artist who posted on TikTok “there’s nothing else I’d really want to spend my money on”. It took him four months to complete. The process has been viewed more than 10 million times since it was posted.
Footnote
Wedding bells are ringing at the White House. Naomi Biden, the granddaughter of the US president, Joe Biden, and her fiancé, Peter Neal, will be tying the knot on the South Lawn today. This will be the 19th wedding in White House history. It will also be the first wedding with a president’s granddaughter as the bride and the first one at that location, according to the White House Historical Association. Grover Cleveland, the 22nd US president, got married in the White House while in office.
