In today’s edition we ask would you buy a $22 burrito, Max is cracking down on password sharing, is the U.S. gov’t going to ban TikTok, Porsche launches 1,000+ horsepower EV, and do  squatters have rights in California.

YouTube

Should Berkshire Hathaway Acquire Disney?

Business

It looks like the U.S. government is one step closer to telling Americans what they can and can’t watch. Is that ok with you?

Concerns are rising that after there’s been so much talk by the current president, the former president, and the Senate, but now the House of Representatives has actually passed a bill called Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act that passed in a vote 352-65 to ban TikTok.

The bill calls for China’s tech giant ByteDance to either sell TikTok, or the social media video app will be banned/blocked in the U.S..

I get the current anti-Chinese government mindset in the U.S. right now, but what ever happened to freedom of speech?

While my political affiliation is irrelevant to this conversation, I’m unabashedly pro laissez-faire when it comes to business.

For those of you who don’t speak French, laissez-faire means “a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs beyond the minimum necessary for the maintenance of peace and property rights.” according to Merriam Webster.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the biggest TikTok user. I don’t ever have the app on my phone. My company irl Media NEWS does have a TikTok account, but we haven’t posted in months and only have 1 Follower - so yea I clearly don’t get how to grow our following on TikTok.

I did write a post about Universal Music Group removing their music from TikTok in our February 3 issue, as well as a failed effort by the state of Montant trying to ban TikTok in our December 3 issue.

First and foremost I’m concerned about the government restricting our access to anything. I do think there’s a case to be made of protecting kids under 18 from the hazardous effects of social media, but if that was what lawmakers were concerned about then they should have passed a bill to protect children but that’s not what they’re doing.

And there’s also a strong case to be made of protecting U.S. citizen’s personal information and preventing the Chinese government from having access to that data. I’m all about protecting how my personal information is accessed and used, so I completely understand that point.

What bothers me the most is just having the government tell me what I can and can’t do. I know adulting is hard, but it’s my choice what apps I want to use, what videos I want to watch, and what social media I want to allow my kids to use (verdict: NONE!).

Just like banning what books libraries are allowed to carry and citizens are allowed to read, I think it’s a slippery slope to begin saying what apps should be banned.

Playing Devil’s Advocate, the Chinese government does ban most U.S. social media apps in their country preventing their citizens from accessing apps from Facebook, Twitter/X, Google, and Instagram to name a few.

Is there a case to be made against blocking Chinese apps in the U.S. at the cost of restricting American citizen’s right to make our own choices?

Wait, is America actually banning TikTok now?

Tech

Porsche just came out with an electric 1,000+ horsepower supercar, and you probably can’t afford it.

The all-electric 1,093-horsepower Taycan Turbo GT has already set two racetrack speed records for an electric car, and it’s beaten a Tesla Model S by an insane 18 seconds!

How is this Porsche setting so many new records? The answer is in its use of a “launch control” button that empowers the EV to use a brief burst of energy to propel the car from 0 to 60 in 2.1 seconds by boosting the car’s standard 777 horsepower up to 1,093 horsepower for instant acceleration.

The Porsche EV will cost around $230,000 when it launches this Summer, and the waiting list is already pretty long. So if you have deep pockets and are in the market for a mid-life crisis the new Porsche EV Taycan Turbo GT might be right for you.

Porsche unveils one of the fastest road cars in the world, featuring a 1,000-horsepower ‘launch control’ button

Entertainment

First we had Netflix beginning to crack down on password sharing, then came Disney+, and now Max is the latest to crackdown on password sharing.

When is it password-sharing, and when is it just sharing between family members in a household?

J.B. Perrette, President & CEO of Global Streaming and Games at Warner Bros. Discovery, owner of Max, shared “We’re going to be doing that starting later this year and into ’25, which is another growth opportunity for us.”

So what happens if you get caught password-sharing?

Termination!

No seriously. Violators could have their subscription terminated.

“According to Max’s terms of use, most recently updated Feb. 27, Warner Bros. Discovery reserves the right to ‘modify access or disable features, including for security reasons, to limit the impact of account sharing outside of your household or where we have concluded in our discretion that there has been misuse of your Max Account. If a suspension or termination occurs, you must stop using the Platform.'”

That’s a pretty harsh way to treat customers you’re trying to keep, but as Netflix has shown cracking down on password-sharing can result in an increase in revenue from new customers who rushed out to get their own accounts so they wouldn’t find themselves shut out from their favorite bingeable shows.

Max To Begin Password-Sharing Crackdown

Real Estate

Do squatters have rights? In California they may, but what happens when they have a purported legal lease? The answer is all night raves, alleged orgies, and a neighborhood watch group that had had enough.

This is a wild story, that I won’t do it the disservice of trying to recap.

I strongly encourage you to read this amazing long-form reporting by Bridget Read.

The Battle Over California Squatters Rights in Beverly Hills

Culture

Would you buy a $22 burrito? I would!

A burrito shop named La Vaca Birria says it’s had to raise their prices due to inflation, and that's led them to sell a $22 burrito.

The restaurant is located in San Francisco’s trendy Mission District, where costs are already notoriously high for your average cuisine, but aren’t burritos supposed to be cheap? 

Welcome to inflation in 2024!

With inflation at 3.2% as of February 2024, the cost of everything that goes into making a burrito has gone up including beef, chicken onions, tortillas, and lettuce.

Typically we don’t think of the ingredient in a burrito when it comes to inflation. It’s more typical to cite the latest Consumer Price Index for things like the price of gas and housing, which have all risen nationwide month-over-month in 2024.

If you want fresh, authentic Mexican food you have to make it from scratch just like they do back in Mexico, and that means higher prices.

According to Ricardo Lopez, owner of La Vaca Birria, “The food that you make in your pueblo back in Mexico, it’s very labor intensive. And the only way you get that here is at those fine dining restaurants, doing everything from scratch.”

I personally love Ricardo Lopez’s decision to focus on quality ingredients in his food, and yes if that means he has to raise the price of burritos and less people buy then that’s just simple economics 101. At the end of the day local customers are going to stick with what they love. I mean, maybe they only buy that burrito once a month, but the free PR from this story alone will probably have new customers lining up around the block to try his $22 burrito.

A $22 burrito? San Francisco restaurant owner says he's keeping up with inflation

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So much news, so little time. Until tomorrow we’re signing out.

— Chris