Le Show; March 12, 2023

From deep inside your audio device of choice, ladies and gentlemen, I don't know much about a lot of things, but I do have a bit of a memory. It was, I guess about 16 years ago, about 16 years ago, when they then chairman of the Federal Reserve, remarked publicly that the then growing problem with home mortgages that were being sprayed around the country by all these new companies that had figured out that they could sell off the mortgages, have them packaged into, quote, securities, unquote, and never have to worry about collecting on the payments down through the years. And he said, that former head of the Federal Reserve, that the great thing about the problems in the securitized mortgage business is that it would be limited to that business, it couldn't possibly spread to the broader economy.

One year later, a major stock brokerage collapsed, and it had spread to the larger economy. Now here we are in the middle of crypto winter. And same thing is sort of being thought and sometimes said by the wise men of the financial world. The crypto thinks not going to spread to the larger economy, serve some banks closed and failed, and now I'm going to read the trades for you. This from advertising age.com, NFT creators are abandoning Web 3 over disappearing royalties. Yes, I'm going to read it for you right here right now. Players are the backbone of the Web 3 space, fueling the content behind NFT projects, and uniting culture with the crypto adjacent world.

But many are packing up and heading out as their financial incentives dry up. About 80% of my creator friends are done with Web 3 says Coco, a well-known NFT artist, founding member of the Digital Art Collective Stardust Society. Without a steady flow of creators, brands would lose the source of their primary partnerships. And Web 3, the source of its creative potential. Quote, if you're not rewarding creators, you get a lack of creative output. Unquote, Jeremy Cohen, had a Web 3 investment at the ad agency, Publicities Group. This means less content for new projects. And more emphasis on the financialization of existing assets. The very problem that's forcing out creators in the first place.

The root issue has to do with royalties. Coco said or fees that are programmed into NFT smart contracts, which enable creators to receive a small cut for every tokens resale. In November at age reported on how these payments were being sidesteped by an increasing number of marketplaces. Marketing experts at the time warned that brands needed to establish guarantees. In order to protect artists. Contracts to protect artists. I'll wait for the after to die down. Three months later, the situation has unraveled significantly. Open see the largest marketplace for buying and selling NFTs announced last month. It would temporarily cut protections for creator royalties.

Reducing the mandatory minimum fee from 5% of the token's price to 0.5%. The decision rolled back assurances the company put in place last fall. When it held firm on honoring royalties for existing collections. And even went so far as to block marketplaces that made royalties optional. In a Twitter thread announcing the new policy. Open see wrote quote. We thought we could catalyze widespread enforcement of creator earnings. And we hope others might come up with more resilient solutions. This hasn't happened unquote. Open see chief business office are told at age and an email. The policy change was necessitated by the massive cultural shift happening in the NFT ecosystem right now.

Cost sensitive collectors and power users are dominating supply demand. And zero fee and NFT marketplaces are emerging to serve the needs of this newly segmented customer base. Fed up creators are fleeing the space. Meadow is a former NFT artist who dropped out of Web 3 in August. She told at age that while her departure predated this reversal. The general treatment of creators. Contributed to her leaving quote the creator friendly democratizing environment was nothing more than a meaningless ad campaign to onboard more people in Web 3. And increased the liquidity of associated coins unquote. Lin die co founder and chief executive of a Web 3 technology company said that even his brand clients have been shocked by the deterioration of creator royalties.

Open see in November had told at age marketplaces should not enforce business models for creators. Creators should. Its capitulation followed pressure from an upstart marketplace called blurr which encourages high frequency trading by minimizing ancillary fees including creator royalties. That business model has propelled blurr past open see is the top NFT marketplace in terms of monthly trading volume. The erosion of creator royalties has to do with quote the marriage of the Web 3 vision with the reality of business unquote.

Cohen from the ad agency publicist group in a depressed market players will do what they can to maintain market share even if it puts them in an undesirable position in the short run. This explains why open see in addition to cutting protections for creator royalties eliminated at all other fees it previously levied on trades effectively transforming its business model overnight. But for brands hoping for an eventual end to the brinkmanship and return to the idyllic Web 3 vision there's reason to believe the current reality is a feature of the space. Not a bug. Sorry, not a bug. Open see noted in its announcement on Twitter that roughly 80% of total NFT trading volume does not currently pay full creator earnings. So the vast majority of NFT activity shows little regard for supporting creators such a sentiment clashes with the so-called Web 3 vision which proponents of long heralded as an empowering environment where creators can earn well beyond the limits imposed by Web 2 walled gardens like your Google and your Apple.

Mido says she saw a different side of Web 3 quote what I learned with the hard way was that the majority of buyers into my collection really only wanted to see the collection pricing crease so they could flip for a profit. They never engaged in the project's initiatives and instead needled at me in my team to do something to raise the price. The co-founder and CEO of a social platform called upstream said this kind of behavior drives people out of the space and makes it very difficult to recruit new creators to Web 3. The unwillingness to pay creators according to die of the DAI is a speculators philosophy born out of the crypto bear market quote if I lose my hand I'm not tipping the dealer unquote.

Cohen on the other hand places less of an emphasis on current market conditions and more in the skepticism that buyers have built up over the past year and a half many in the NFT community said have been burned by rug pulls a type of crypto scam plan projects that that did not deliver on their road maps. The fact is the behavior has become normalized. It's important this is an important temperature check for traditional brands not only for the sake of protecting their creator partners but also for the sake of their projects themselves. How does knowing that most of your Web 3 native audience is more interested in price than real engagement affect your strategy. An environment where creators feel unwelcome is not auspicious for traditional brands.

It's well documented that in order to show up authentically in Web 3 marketers should aim to partner with people who are native to the space. These have far and away been creators. Without their guidance brands will lose touch with the wants and needs of Web 3 communities launching projects devoid of value that enthusiasts can sniff out a mile away unlike scams which of course they can't see coming. Oh, that was me not that age. There's also the possibility the bereft of a diverse flow of new projects the space will grow stale with speculative trading. The rise of the blur market place has already shown the outsize influence of NFT price flippers. Such an environment is an issue of brand safety.

In more immediate sense, some brands may already be feeling the sting of marketplaces changing policies. Adidas teamed with Prada a year ago for a digital art project called resource that combined NFTs from 3000 creators each one of whom would receive a cut of revenue for each sale of their token. But since these NFTs are selling on OpenC and were launched before the rollout of the platform's enforcement tool, the creators may not see. The shares they deserve. Quote decisions like this put our promises to our creators up in the air, which goes against our values as a brand. Road IVP of Adidas Web 3 focused three stripe studio. She continued, we hope for a wider change in marketplace approach that reaffirms and supports our collective need to reward creators for their work. Last month, a Web 3 influencer and founder of NFT minting platform manifold wrote on Twitter, quote,

a question that occurs to more than one person when I read the trades for you copyrighted feature of this program, hello welcome to the show. I have eyes for you to give you dirty looks. I have words that do not confront children's books. There's a trick with a knife. I'm learning to do and everything I've got belongs to you. I have a powerful anesthesia in my fist and a perfect wrist to give your neck a twist. Hamilok holds. I've mastered a few and everything I've got belongs to you.

Share for share, share a like. You get struck each time I strike. Me for you, you for me. I'll give you plenty of nothing. I love your spell better but for words. And I've learned to give though will no one just curse. I have a terrible tongue and a temper for two and everything I've got belongs to you. I have a terrible tongue and a temper for two and everything I've got belongs to you. I have a terrible tongue and a temper for two and everything I've got belongs to you.

I have a terrible tongue and a temper for two and everything I've got belongs to you. You know, I assume to that much of the gibberish. You know, I assume to that much of the gibberish I shared with you before the song was probably known to you in terms of information.

But just in case NFTs are non-fungible tokens, these were introduced a couple of years ago and they're digital files which you can buy and what you own is the right to say that you own it. Because it can still be copied perfectly endlessly by anybody else in the world. That's what makes them so damn valuable. That being said hello from the Home of the Homeless, I'm Harry Shira, welcome you to this edition of the show and now ladies and gentlemen, news of our friend, the Adam. Well, as you probably know by now, if you've been listening to this program, we're just paying attention generally.

France is the country, at least in the developed world, most dependent on nuclear power for a electricity supply. Now, France's nuclear safety watchdog, called ASM, has ordered energy utility EDF to inspect about 200 pipe weldings across its 56 nuclear plant fleet. After discovering three additional additional cracks this week, according to the regulator, in addition to a major corrosion-related crack on the Penley-1 reactor in Normandy that was revealed earlier this week, the watchdog attributed that to faulty welding in a nuclear plant to fishers on the Penley-2 reactor, and the Cantonome-3 reactor in Mozel were disclosed on Thursday. An EDF spokesperson, that's the French nuclear utility, said the two newer cracks were due to, quote, thermal fatigue, unquote, in a nuclear plant.

That's a good thing, right? It happens when very hot and cold water meet inside pipes causing the steel to dilate, contract, and become more fragile over time. EDF regularly inspects its pipes via ultrasound for this phenomenon during maintenance, according to the spokesperson. The latest defects and watchdog scrutiny come as France and Britain announced a new energy partnership this week to strengthen cooperation on nuclear power, including construction of power stations, innovations, and safety. Neither the French President nor the British Prime Minister mentioned the nuclear operator's latest setbacks after they held the bilateral summit. The French utilities, Penley-2 and Cantonome-3 are part of a group of 16 reactors flagged by the French nuclear operator as being susceptible to corrosion-related cracks due to a design flaw, and prioritized for checks in its inspection and maintenance plan. The plan is now being updated to accommodate the additional check of 200 weldings, 200 weldings in a funeral perhaps.

For real laughs, you still got to go to Fukushima, the head of Japan's wrecked Fuk nuclear plant says details of the damage inside its reactors are only beginning to be known 12 years after it was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami, making it difficult to foresee when or how its decommissioning will be completed. It could stay like that forever. It could be the thing that survives humanity. What was this? What was this as these people did? Oh, hard to tell. The most pressing immediate task is to safely start releasing all that treated but still radioactive water from the plant into the sea. So you know that's controversial among the people who fish in the sea nearby.

The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper reports that Tokyo Electric Power has little to show in removing fuel debris at Fuk number one. The company has now postponed that work and estimated 880 tons of fuel debris remain in the three nuclear reactors at the plant. I got room from that in my yard. Remote control operations must be used to remove the fuel debris because radiation levels in the reactor buildings could kill a person within one hour. Imagine how many you could kill in 24. Oh, you don't have to 24. Tepco had initially planned to start removing fuel debris at the number two reactor where the level of radiation is comparatively low by the end of last year. However, the company announced in August last year it had abandoned that target.

Sighting delays in developing a robotic arm that could be used to remove the debris. Well, try a leg. The company said a new target to start the removal work in the second half of this fiscal year. The government and Tepco aimed to complete the decommissioning of the stricken plant between 2041 and 2051. Okay, any bets? It'll be 2071? Come on. The company's first goal is to test the retrieval of only several grams of fuel debris. It still hasn't decided how it will conduct large scale removal. And it's also not explained when it will start removing fuel debris at the number one and number three reactors. A submergence method is under consideration to remove the debris from the number three reactor. It's still unclear whether it will be implemented with that method. Workers would cover the building that houses the number three reactor with a metal structure, fill the inside of the structure with water to submerge the reactor, and then remove fuel debris from the upper part of the building. I'd like to see that happen. Another worrying factor about the food plant is that the foundation or pedestal supporting the number one reactor's pressure vessel has deteriorated so much that the reinforcing bars are now exposed.

Concerns have been expressed about the earthquake resistance of the newly weakened pedestal. Oh, they're never going to be any earthquakes there. Dateline Madrid Spain said Monday it is asked the United States to begin procedures to remove soil. There's that soil again contaminated with radioactivity. Ditto. After a mid-air coalition dumped four U.S. hydrogen bombs near a southern Spanish village nearly 60 years ago. The Associated Press is reporting that this week. None of the bombs exploded, but the plutonium filled detonators on two went off, spreading several pounds of highly radioactive plutonium 239 across the landscape around Palomades. That's more than one Palomar.

The foreign ministry said there would be no more details given on the petition from Spain until there's an official reply from the United States. Both countries signed a statement of intended 2015 to negotiate a binding agreement to further restore and clean up the Palomare site and arrange for the disposal of the contaminated soil at an appropriate site in the United States. Yeah, bring it here. I see a lot of hands of communities that want it. All those aren't hands. But for several reasons, no agreement was ever signed. I can think of one of them. The bombs fell on January 17, 1966 when a U.S. beef gifted to a bomber in a refueling plane crashed into each other. There were seven fatalities in the air. The accident happened during the high of the Cold War when the U.S. policy to keep nuclear armed warplanes in the air constantly near the Soviet border. The statement in 2015 said immediately following the accident, both countries started securing the area, removing contaminated soil and decontaminating the land.

Since then, they've been monitoring and analyzing contamination levels. The Spanish news agency said some 1.76 million cubic feet of land were affected. The government has since then been renting the land from its owners to keep it protected and now hopes to expropriate it. I don't know why, maybe to build a new Walmart and amid the biggest reported missile attack on Ukraine in weeks, the UN's Atonic Energy Agency, IAEA, said this week, the Zaporizia nuclear power plant had to switch to backup generators once again after losing all power. Like the power to keep it cool enough to not set off a nuclear explosion.

As the first time the site has lost all power since last November, the sixth time that all off-site power has been cut since the Russian invasion more than a year ago. When agency said power had been restored after 11 tense hours of being completely disconnected, plants been occupied as you know by Russian forces since the first few days of the war. IAEA experts are deployed there and Ukrainian civilians continue to operate the plant under the watchful eye of Russian troops. It sounds like a cool setup. Visiting Kiev this week, the UN Secretary General said the IAEA had been fully mobilized to try and preserve the safety and security of nuclear facilities at the plant and throughout Ukraine called for the full demilitarization of the entire area around Zaporizia. Each time we're rolling the dice, and if we allow this to continue, he said, time after time, then one day our luck will run out.

He warned there's enough diesel on site for 15 days to run the backup power for the plant's essential needs. But the situation at Europe's largest nuclear power station remains in his word critical. He added that given the critical nature of the situation, he is astonished by the complacency of the international community. And big deal. And now news of the Olympic moments. Produced by Jim Ebersol III. The International Olympic Committee confirmed this week that confidential discussions are underway with six places about hosting a future winter games.

But the IOC declined to name the additional bidders. In a statement to the Salt Lake City newspaper Deseret News, the IOC press office said the Switzerland-based organization is taking part in formal exchange and continuous dialogue with a number of potential hosts and interested parties, capitalized capital P for future Olympic winter games. All such discussions are non-edition specific until a targeted dialogue, capital D is open for a particular addition year of the games. The IOC respects the confidentiality of potential hosts as they work toward the development of the public and private dimensions of their project. That was a Senate partial explanation of the secrecy.

The pair of mystery bidders comes amid issues with the other cities in the running. Salt Lake City is willing to host in 2030 but has stated a preference from waiting until 2034 because of the feared financial impact of back to back Olympics in the United States since LA is the site of the 28 summer games. Sepuro and Japan has paused its 2030 bid amid a widening Olympic bribery and bid rigging scandal involving the 2020 summer games in Tokyo. Vancouver has yet to reverse the British Columbia government's rejection of a request for a pledge of more than a billion Canadian towards hosting what would be the first Indigenous-led Olympics. Olympic observers say the IOC is trying to attract bidders by showing plenty of cities want to winter games after likely hosts pulled out in recent years. For the 2022 winter games the IOC was left with the choice of Beijing China or Almaty Kazakhstan.

The IOC is, quote, trying to fan up the pile. Unquote Mark Conrad director of the sports program at Fordham University School of Business in New York City, possibly by including places that previously expressed interest but never publicly launched bids. These include Barcelona, where in fighting among communities in the Pyrenees, mountains scuttled a 2030 bid, as well as the so-called European Super Bid involving France, Switzerland, and Italy that may have already fallen apart. They're playing Koi, which is not unusual for the IOC. Conrad said, noting it doesn't have to disclose who's bidding. That's Mark Conrad at Fordham. There's no obligation for them to be transparent.

Seeking to have more options or seeming to have more options, he said, gives them leverage if only one city is bidding they can lose leverage regarding issues like sponsorship, the host city contract, things like that. Cities that want to host an Olympics have no choice, but to go along, Conrad said. And accommodations might be far from optimal for the athletes competing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, concerns were raised over the lack of air conditioning in the athletes' village in January, then Paris mayor Amidago doubled down on the idea last week. The Olympic village currently under construction in the Sondini area was designed to have room six, sorry, 11 degrees cooler than the outdoor temperature in an ever-to-be environmentally friendly. The construction chief of the public body responsible for building the Olympic infrastructure, Saladel, says it's a question for society.

Do we collectively accept being at 11 degrees less and having an excellent carbon footprint, or do we say it's not okay, and we're ready to downgrade the carbon footprint? He suggested if the requirements were to change air conditioning could, could be added to the rooms. The geothermal cooling plan is expected to save 45% on emissions, compared with air-conditioned spaces. Paris 2024 organizers have suggested if national Olympic committees are willing to pay for air conditioning at the village, they could do so. But the Paris mayor has objectured the idea on environmental grounds. Quote, the buildings were designed to face the climate of 2050. I will not go back on these ambitions, and I can guarantee we will not change trajectory, and that there will be no changes in the construction program of the village regarding air conditioning. Nearly 15,000 athletes and staff are doing to stay in the village during the games.

There's growing concern that a summer heat wave could result in temperatures skyrocketing up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit during the games. During a heat wave of 102, the village interiors able, they say, to main temperatures of 82. Warmer than what the French delegation has said should be the maximum in order to main performance, which would be 79 degrees Fahrenheit. Will Paris be too hot to trot for the Olympic games? We shall see. The way I see it, he said you just can't win it. Everybody's in it for their own gain, you can't please them all. There's always somebody calling you down, I do my best and I do good business. There's a lot of people asking for my time, they're trying to get ahead, they're trying to be a good friend of mine.

I was a free man in Paris, I felt unfettered in the light, there was nobody calling me out for favors, there's no one's future to decide. You know I go back there tomorrow before the work I've taken on, I smoke in the star maker machinery behind the popular song. I deal in dreamers and telephone screamers, lately I wonder what I do it for, if I had my way, I'd just walk through those doors and wonder, down the shore to the easy, going cafe to cabaret,

thinking I will feel when I find that very good friend of mine. I was a free man in Paris, I felt unfettered in the light, nobody was calling me out for favors, there was no one's future to decide. You know I go back there tomorrow before the work I've taken on, I smoke in the star maker machinery behind the popular song. And going back to kind of where we started on this week's broadcast, news of the crypto winter.

Silvergate Bank, you may know this, which had been a cornerstone in the crypto world, I didn't think there were stones in the crypto, announced it's closing and returning deposits and a press release, the bank's holding company, said it made the decision to shut down, in light of recent industry and regulatory developments, I wonder what those could be. It's been clear for a while, the company was struggling, along with some of its most high profile clients like FTX, home of Sam Bankster, Sam Bankman Freed and Genesis. In January its earnings report revealed it lost a billion dollars in one quarter, after its customers withdrew 8.1 billion, then the first of this month it filed a document saying it's a financial situation was even worse than the quarterly report had shown. Worse than losing a billion dollars, that's worse. There are several concerns about what the crypto landscape will look like without Silvergate, according to the verge, like where companies will turn to get cash.

One of the major concerns is that crypto companies will turn, or may turn, to less regulated institutions for their banking needs, potentially making the space even riskier for everyone involved. Yeah, this couldn't spread. In other words, if there isn't a bank playing by the rules, willing to do business with them, they may have to find a bank that doesn't. The next steps for the bank, it's liquidating in an orderly manner, in accordance with applicable regulatory processes, and it's considering how best to resolve claims against it and preserve the residual value of its assets, including its proprietary technology and tax assets. You know, it's that proprietary technology that love them to lose a billion dollars. I want that. I want to use that. It also shut down its Silvergate Exchange Network, which led crypto exchanges like Coinbase Gemini and Kraken, enough with the Kraken.

Move money between themselves and other institutions, they did that earlier this month. As all of this has been happening, companies like Coinbase, crypto.com, home of the Lakers, and Paxos have started moving away from the bank. Even the tether stablecoin took the opportunity to distance itself from the institution. Silvergate's collapse will almost surely draw scrutiny from lawmakers, especially those who are concerned about the crypto contagion reaching the traditional. The traditional financial sector, as I said, going to spread the collapse of the Silicon Valley bank led to concerns over the stability of the stablecoin, the stability, I say, of the stablecoin USDC. After it was revealed that a portion, like 3.3 billion of its cash reserves were kept with that bank, this led to somewhat of a run on that stablecoin, which began wobbling from its dollar peg down to as low as 95 cents.

That happened on March 10th, and it went down that far. The stablecoin, which is supposed to, as its name implies, remain stably linked to the US dollar at $1. And the digital assets industries in the middle of a banking crisis, as you know, crypto.com has not been spared. Don't tell the Lakers. The Singapore headquartered exchange is now only able to provide euro-denominated banking services to users in the European economic area, having previously lost the ability to accept US dollar deposits because of issues with its banking partners. For any crypto exchange, reportcoindesks.com, maintaining adequate fiat offerings, that is to say a way to get out of crypto and back into the dollar, is key to ensuring liquidity and impacts the ability for digital asset prices to rise.

Market analysts attributed a 10% drop in Bitcoin prices in January to Binance, another one of these outfits, halting transfers to US dollars. It's a crypto winner, ladies and gentlemen, bundle up. And now something I'm introducing for the first time on this program could be a regular feature. Who knows, it's the side effects list of the week. Creature can cause your immune system to attack healthy parts of your body during or after treatment. This may be severe and lead to death. See your doctor right away if you have cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, diarrhea, severe stomach pain, severe nausea of vomiting, headache, light sensitivity, eye problems, irregular heartbeat, extreme tiredness, constipation, dizziness or fainting, changes in appetite, thirst or urine, confusion, memory problems, muscle pain or weakness, fever, rash, hitching or flushing. There may be other side effects. Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including immune system problems. If you've had or planned to have an organ or stem cell transplant, receive chest radiation or have a nervous system problem.

Did you say something about memory loss? And now? It's so sorry. The New Hampshire Hotel, as issued a public apology three weeks after a box of passports was mishandled and destroyed. Causing immense stress and travel delays for a group of students visiting from England reports the Boston Globe. We've heard a lot of anger and disappointment these last two weeks in response to an unfortunate, regrettable situation that occurred involving one of our visiting ski groups. The management of Kankamagas Lodge said in a statement, first and foremost, we're deeply sorry, management said. We take full responsibility and offer a genuine apology to our guests and community. We have a responsibility to protect our guests and their information. Unfortunately, we fell short of this responsibility and our actions have threatened the trust of our guests that we've built over the years.

Unquote the statement. What happened is mid-February, a manager spent some time organizing the back office. Yeah, they're items to toss in the dumpster. Among the items, that person grabbed was a box of passports belonging to one of the hotel's international ski groups. The box was accidentally put in our private secure onsite dumpster management road. Our scheduled contracted garbage disposal company emptied the dumpster and promptly destroyed all contents. The hotel officials discovered what happened after one of the group's shaperones asked where the box was as they wanted to add another passport to the collection. To our horror says management there was no way to correct a section and return the passports to our guests. And they are sorry. So yes, a math teacher at Lake Worth Florida Community High School was recently reassigned after he was involved in a racially charged incident during class or in the principal.

Carrie Altschuller was teaching a class last month when it displayed three students photos on a classroom board with the titles, extra cream, medium roast, and dark roast above their heads according to Palm Beach Post. You know, letter to parents and guardians, principal Elena Belani called Altschuller's actions egregiously inappropriate. In addition to the contact, the content had no place in any school setting or anywhere for that matter. Following the incident, the principal said school administrators intervened, elevating the matter to the school district's office of professional standards. Altschuller was reassigned to a position where he does not have contact with students. Here, teach this garbage can. The teacher will remain in that role during the course of an internal investigation according to school.

Quote, having a teacher who's obviously racist and post-minded like he is doesn't need to be here. One parent said, Altschuller has been teaching at the school for the last three years according to his personal file. This isn't the first time he's been in trouble in 2016 while teaching in a neighboring county. Altschuller was involved in an incident that led to disciplinary actions being placed on his teaching certificate. The principal said she apologized to parents for the situation, which she described as, quote, disturbing. Dateline Memphis, Memphis Grizzlies star John Morrent, apologized via his representative after posting a video of himself last Saturday appearing to hold the gun. Well, he is a shooter. Quote, I take full responsibility for my actions last night. I'm so sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down. I'm going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being, unquote.

He's 23. Yeah, it sounds like a 23-year-old wrote that. The Grizzlies had already announced same day that he'd be away from the team for at least the next two games. His Instagram and Twitter accounts have been deactivated. The NBA is investigating the star point guard and the video. The head of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Sounds ambitious, doesn't it? He's apologized following the failed launch of Japan's new flagship H3 rocket. Must make Elon feel better. Jackson President Yamakawa Hiroshi told reporters that he was sorry for being unable to respond to the expectations of those involved in the launch, including those related to a satellite aboard the rocket, local residents, and the general public. The launch of the rocket ended in failure early in the day after its second stage engine did not ignite and the mission was aborted.

The Earth's observation satellite Diichi 3 was supposed to be put into orbit about 17 minutes after the launch. Yamakawa said he takes his responsibility seriously as the head of the organization that launched the rocket. He had it. He will put every effort into determining the cause of the failure and restoring the rocket's credibility. The rocket's credibility, ladies and gentlemen, rocket, at this moment more credibility than George Santos or Tucker Carlson, as to how the failure might affect the future of Jackson's rocket programming declined to comment, saying the issue would be discussed by the government and others. Let's start discussing. Speaking of Elon Musk, he apologized this week after questioning the work performance of a disabled Twitter employee who was laid off by the company. Harald Durr Thorliefson, a senior director of product design at Twitter, tweeted Musk asking he was still an employee with the company he, Thorliefson, after losing access to his work computer.

Musk publicly questioned Thorliefson on what it was he was doing at the company. He responded with two laughing emojis when Thorliefson explained what he'd been working on. As you know, Musk has laid off thousands of employees trying to financially justify his $44 billion purchase of the company. On Tuesday, he must criticize or question the work performance of Thorliefson. He said he has done almost no work for the past four months. It's a Musk saying that about Thorliefson. And then he says, I would like to apologize to Holly, his first name, for my misunderstanding of a situation. It was based on things I was told that were untrue or in some cases true, but not meaningful. He is considering remaining at Twitter, said Musk.

And Musk is considering remaining at a two, apparently, because he was going to quit some time ago. Dayline Milton, Florida of Santa Rosa County, Florida commissioner apologized publicly this week for a slur he used against Jewish people. A resident played video with the commissioner's Monday meeting that showed commissioner Sam Parker say we've got to chew you down a little bit as he entered a business. Several people were upset and called for Parker to resign. He said he wouldn't apologize because he did nothing wrong. He said Thursday, he has since learned it was a derogatory statement. I had absolutely no intent of saying anything offensive or derogatory toward any group of people who are individuals. I'm sorry for the pain or suffering that my statement caused anyone. I hope you'll accept my sincere apology. Here's something you don't hear about every day, an apology by a drug cartel.

The Gulf cartel in Mexico apologized after two U.S. citizens were killed in an armed abduction last week. In Mexico, the cartel condemned the violence in a letter obtained by the Associated Press, said they had turned over the members who were involved. A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that U.S. authorities believe the letter is legitimate. Quote, the Gulf cartel group, a scorpionist, strongly condemns the events of Friday March 3, in which unfortunately an innocent working mother died and four American citizens were kidnapped of who two died. For this reason, we've decided to hand over those involved and directly responsible for the events, who at all times acted under their own determination and indiscipline, and against the rules in which the CDG has already always operated. The cartel has rules. Can you send me a copy of those, please, cartel?

And don't kill me. Badline Indianapolis actor and comedian Mike Epps has apologized to fans after security screeners found a gun in a carry on bag in Indianapolis International Airport. Agents from TSA called airport police after finding a Smith Weston 38 caliber pistol loaded with four rounds and Epps backpack. Epps, who was in town for a comedy show, was not arrested, police took the firearm. In a video posted to his Instagram, Epps told fans, he had a bad long night in his hometown, and forgot about the firearm. He said he carries a gun for protection, quote, shout out to all my fans out there, and want to apologize if you're seeing any negativity about a gun charge at an airport. I had a long night, I had a show in my hometown, and I literally forgot that I had my pistol in my bag, Epps said in the video. Now, if you want to know why I carry a gun, I carry money all the time. I be having jewelry on, and these dudes is out here robbing people. So I want to make sure I make it clear that I ain't out here doing nothing wrong, but I keep a gun on me because I got to protect myself.

Sometimes I'm not with my security, so just want to let y'all know that I'm still on some positive vibes. And sorry that it happened, all I can tell you is that the world is crazy. Stay strapped, unquote, Mike Epps. The apology of the week, ladies and gentlemen, the apologies of the week. Copyrighted feature of this broadcast. Copyrighted feature of this broadcast. Well ladies and gentlemen, that's going to conclude this week's edition of the show

back next week, same time over these same radio stations or over this audio device of your choice at a time of you choosing. I bend over backwards ladies and gentlemen, it's all I can do. I can't straighten up anymore and it'll be just like crypto, winter, not spreading to the rest of the economy. A few degree to join me. They then would you? I already thank you very much, huh? Tip of the show, shout out to the San Diego desk to Pam Hallstead and the Thomas Wallach at WWW and O New Orleans for the help of today's broadcast. The email address for this program, your chance to get cars eye-talk t-shirts, ask your dad and the playlist of the music heard here on all and much more at harryshear.com. And I admit it, I'm still on Twitter at the harryshear.

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