The Week Magazine December 2, 2022

The story that the Silicon Valley investors who call themselves “venture capitalists” like to tell about themselves is that for decades they’ve been the engine of America’s economic vitality. Blessed, they say, are the financiers, for without their investments in Apple way back there would be no iPhone. Entrepreneurs who arrive in Silicon Valley are warned early on that while these investors are mouthing platitudes about innovation, they will also be rifling through your pockets. Most entrepreneurs try to keep them at arm’s length, valuing their money more than their advice. Silicon Valley’s investors usually have impressive technical degrees, but their stock-in-trade is ultimately not technological innovation but financial engineering. This is why Silicon Valley loves “crypto,” or digital currencies, so much. All the innovation was done for free; the…

What happened Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel last week to oversee two criminal investigations focused on Donald Trump, making the announcement three days after Trump declared he’d make his third bid for the presidency in 2024. Due to “recent developments,” including Trump’s candidacy and President Biden’s “stated intention” to run, “I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel,” Garland said. His appointment of veteran federal prosecutor Jack Smith, Garland said, underscores the Department of Justice’s “commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters.” Smith, a former head of the department’s Public Integrity Section, has since 2018 been the chief prosecutor investigating war crimes in The Hague. Smith will take over twin investigations: one into Trump’s role in the…

Getting close to 30, Bryan Tsiliacos set a not-quite-midlife goal for himself: finish 30 major acts of kindness before his next birthday. The Bay Area 29-year-old has so far delivered 400 desserts to firefighters across San Jose and donated $12,000 worth of supply kits to Oakland middle schools. Tsiliacos, who is chronicling his acts on Instagram, hopes to inspire others to give back to their communities. “I realized that every wonderful thing that has happened to me,” Tsiliacos said, “was thanks to the support and generosity of others.” Turkeys aren’t known for their cuteness, but Ellie Laks noticed that the snuggles she shared with the birds at her California animal sanctuary were surprisingly cathartic. So one Thanksgiving, she put up flyers advertising her turkeys’ cuddling services. The event attracted so…

What happened Activists and progressives warned of a growing climate of hatred against the LGBTQ community after a gunman went on a killing spree at a gay nightclub in conservative Colorado Springs. The shooter, Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, immediately opened fire with an AR-15, killing five people and injuring at least 25 in less than a minute, before being tackled by a patron who is being hailed as a hero. Richard Fierro, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran who was at the club with his wife and daughter, jumped on the 300-pound gunman from behind and pinned him to the ground, beating the shooter in the head with his own pistol and calling on a passing drag performer to stomp him with a high heel. “I had to do…

What happened Doubts about the survival of Twitter grew this week after Elon Musk instigated a continued exodus of employees and reactivated the accounts of Donald Trump and others banned for violating content standards. Musk last week gave Twitter’s 3,700 remaining workers—just half of the company’s original workforce before his early-November layoffs—an ultimatum: Sign a pledge committing to an “extremely hardcore” work schedule or accept three months’ severance pay. About 1,200 employees took the pay and left—and this week, Musk said he planned even more layoffs. Most of Twitter’s content-moderation staff has exited, and current and former employees report that two or fewer engineers are overseeing some critical functions. Musk last week lifted the site’s suspension of Trump after posting a poll asking whether he should be reinstated, saying…

Republicans campaigned for the midterm elections on inflation, crime, and other issues that concern all Americans, said Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post. Naturally then, the first order of business for “their new House majority will be—checks notes—investigating Hunter Biden.” Reps. Jim Jordan and James Comer, incoming chairs of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, announced last week that in January, they will immediately launch a probe into the alleged corruption of President Biden’s wayward son—just part of the “unhinged” theatrics we can expect over the next two years. This is the same GOP that spent four years studiously ignoring the blatant, systematic corruption of Donald Trump and his family, and that now has not made a peep of protest over the $2 billion investment Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed…