Covid to Biden — and the rest of us: remember me?

I'm sick. Sick of this news cycle. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a mini-surge of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Covid’s back](, tell a friend. - [Free wine’s]( nice, then again. - [Ken Griffin]( sure can spend. - [Migrant rants]( fail to mend. I’m [Sick](. [Sick]( of This News Cycle. It’d be real funny if President Joe Biden went on TikTok tonight and did the “put a finger down” challenge: Put a finger down if you have a super important, high-stress job where lots of people are vying for your position and your main competition — a twice-impeached sexist criminal — nearly gets assassinated and now everyone is [comparing]( him to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and your followers are beset by crippling fear for democracy yet [your wife]( is telling you, “you’re doing great, sweetie,” but many of your [coconut](-[pilled]( subordinates are [secretly]( chanting “it’s [Joever](” behind the [closed doors]( of [tofu-filled rooms]( and then you [test positive](for Covid-19 and your good buddy [tells]( Axios you’ll never get a [presidential library]( if you don’t [end]( your 50-plus-year career of public service. I … don’t really know what to say at this point? The speed of this [news cycle]( no longer computes with my prefrontal cortex. So I’ll [hand over the mic]( to Meghan McCain: “This is the most insane, intense, dramatic election cycle of my life and my Dad picked Sarah Palin as his VP without the campaign knowing her teenage daughter was pregnant…” Others are in full agreement: “This is Shondaland plot pace,” Adam Moussa [tweeted](. “If the past seven days were an episode of the West Wing it would be panned for being too over the top,” Foreign Policy’s Amy Mackinnon [wrote](. I guess it makes for a riveting newsletter? Although I can’t imagine [any]( of [this]( will be remotely coherent a decade from now. Which brings me to Covid-19, something we haven’t talked about in FOREVER. But maybe we … should have? Just look at this map showing [higher-than-normal]( levels of Covid detected in the sewage: Lisa Jarvis, ever prescient, had written a draft of [this (free!) column]( about the summer’s mini-surge earlier this week. But now Biden’s got it, which just proves her point: The infection is here to stay. “The only real good news is that we are far less vulnerable to Covid than we were in spring 2020,” she writes. Plus, it’s becoming more predictable: “After several wild years, Covid is settling into a cadence that is driven less by the calendar and more by our waning immunity, changes to its genome and the right mix of conditions to allow it to thrive.” If only American politics could settle into a predictable cadence, too. Free Wine Japan’s version of Trader Joe’s two buck chuck is the ultra-cheap magnum of wine at Saizeriya, a Japanese chain of family-style Italian restaurants that looks like Sbarro had a baby with Olive Garden. “At just ¥1,000 ($6.30) for 1.5 liters,” Gearoid Reidy says Saizeriya’s vino “is already a bargain.” But investors holding 100 shares of the company’s stock have it even better: They get the wine — along with $2.50 pizzas, $3.15 bowls of pasta and $1.90 tiramisu — for free. But not for long: Saizeriya unexpectedly [announced]( last week that it’s ending the shareholder perk. “Retail investors, many of whom hold the stock just to receive the benefits, were up in arms; the shares briefly fell nearly 9%,” he writes. It’s the latest evidence that Japan’s era of yutai, where shareholders gorge on annual freebies, from coupon cards to bags of rice, is ending: Yet removing perks isn’t necessarily a bad thing: “More important than what Saizeriya eliminated is what it added — an increased dividend, its first hike since the Global Financial Crisis … That’s not just a fairer system or a superior way to grow wealth — it’s a lot better for you than a $6 magnum of wine,” Gearoid concludes. Bonus Eats Reading: - Ants can be a sustainable source of flavor for restaurants. Can someone please [make the case]( to the European Union? — Howard Chua-Eoan - China’s government can delete a politically offensive social media post instantaneously, yet seems incapable of keeping [food supplies]( safe. — Minxin Pei Stegosaurus Shopping Aww. Meet Ken Griffin’s [new baby](: The stegosaurus walked so dino nuggets could run. The stegosaurus, nicknamed “Apex,” cost Griffin a cool $45 million — making it the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction. It might sound like a large sum of money, but for a hedge fund founder who has [$42 billion]( at his disposal, splurging on a small-brained herbivore at Sotheby’s is nothing. “The enormous price is certain to spark complaints from paleontologists that our natural history is being privatized by the [financial elite](, but I’m far more relaxed,” Chris Bryant writes: “The profit motive should help unearth more amazing dinos.” Read [the whole thing](. RNC Roundup GOP zynfluencer. Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America Well, folks. We’ve reached the final day of the RNC. Tonight, Tucker Carlson will [pop]( one last Zyn, Trump will do his big [#MAGA]( speech, the ear-bandaged [delegates]( will hurrah and when dawn breaks, the [happiest place]( on earth title will revert to [Disney World](, as God intended. Appetizer quote: “RNC delegates I spoke with weren’t aware of the role both illegal and legal migration have had in the US economic recovery. They blamed illegal immigration for the tight housing market, the rise of fentanyl deaths, and more crime. (None of which is true.) But everyone I spoke with agreed on the need to provide better pathways to citizenship.” — Mary Ellen Klas via [MAGA’s Migrant Rants Conveniently Leave Out the Economy]( Entrée chart: What would [Trump’s unwillingness]( to defend Taiwan from China mean for the world? Economically, John Authers [argues]( his reluctance to back the US’s semiconductor partner could trickle down to Big Tech. Although Andreas Kluth [says]( “MAGA’s foreign policy is still little more than slogans,” the former president could wreak havoc if he acts on his threats: “American supply chains might falter even if just one Taiwanese company, the chip foundry TSMC, were destroyed or fell into Chinese hands.” Even if it doesn’t come to that, Tim Culpan [warns]( Trump’s divisive rhetoric around Taiwan “risks opening up a fissure for China to exploit.” Dessert video: It’s only fitting to wrap up this roundup with a member of the next generation. No, [not]( Claudia Conway, but the former president’s [17-year-old granddaughter](. Kai Madison Trump took the stage yesterday and told the audience that Trump is “just a normal grandpa” who sneaks her candy and soda when her parents aren’t looking. “A lot of people have put my grandpa through hell,” she told the audience, “and he’s still standing.” Watch [the whole thing](. Gen Z at the RNC. Photographer: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP Further Reading The populist right’s [annexation]( of the Republican Party is complete. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Good governance is good for [activist hedge funds](, but *might* be bad for competition. — Matt Levine Could the strong state of the Biden economy be partly due to the [Trump tax cuts](? — Tyler Cowen Elon Musk doesn’t realize [the MAGA ticket]( will actually hurt Tesla. — Mark Gongloff Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs [are betting]( on private-equity deal-making. — Paul J. Davies Berlin and Paris are bracing for a[trans-Atlantic shock](, but not doing enough about it. — Lionel Laurent The Fed was roasted for delaying rates as prices surged. Now, they risk [falling behind]( with cuts, too. — Jonathan Levin Copa America’s [botched attempt]( to unify the continent’s football doesn’t bode well for FIFA. — Juan Pablo Spinetto ICYMI Netflix [appears to have won]( the streaming wars. Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty is [partnering]( with the Olympics. JD Vance left his Venmo public. [The receipts]( are telling. A scientist [took psilocybin]( and watched his brain fall apart. Kickers People still write [Yelp reviews](. New [meet cute]( nightmare just unlocked. Amy Adams might be [turning into a dog](. Adrian Chiles discovered a [witch supply store](. [This seasoning]( is just as important as salt and pepper. (h/t Mike Nizza) Notes: Please send lemons and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. 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