Weekly Recap #7
US Speaker drama, India at Asian Games, Nobel Prize and more
👋 Hey, Madhur here! Welcome to my Newsletter. I write about technology and lifestyle. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive all my posts directly in your inbox. Happy reading
US Speaker ousting
In a surprising turn of events, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, was ousted from his position as he was voted out 216 to 210. This was the first time any speaker had been removed day. This just comes after the US House narrowly avoided a potential government shutdown. The interesting part is, that he was removed due to forced voting from the far-right representatives from his own party. Rep. Matt Gaetz for Florida forced a voting and got him out. Matt Gaetz accused Kevin McCarthy of making a secret deal with President Biden on Ukraine aid.
This says a lot about tensions in the Republican party right now. Even when the speaker was getting elected it took 4 days and 15 voting to get him elected which was already very unusual and said a lot about the divide in the republican party from the start.
So what does that mean for the vacant position of the Speaker of the House? According to CBS:
The rules of the 118th Congress state that "in the case of a vacancy in the office of speaker, the next member" named on a list submitted by McCarthy to the clerk of the House in January will become speaker pro tempore until a speaker is elected. A House reading clerk announced immediately after the vote that Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina was the first name on McCarthy's list and therefore was appointed speaker pro tempore.
"Pending such election, the member acting as speaker pro tempore may exercise such authorities of the Office of Speaker as may be necessary and appropriate to that end," the rules state. The requirement of a list appears to have originated with the 108th Congress that convened in January 2003.
After the speaker pro tempore takes over, "presumably, the next order of business would be to choose a speaker," Green said. He pointed out that "it's unlikely the House would continue to operate as usual without a new speaker being selected."
So I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens next and who will run for Speaker next. It’s a very grim moment in US politics and I feel the US government is the most divided I have ever seen and there is a lot of internal drama which is affecting the current functioning. Even the shutdown has not been averted and can happen, which will be disastrous.
Asian Games 2023
The 19th Asian Games which were held in Hangzhou, People's Republic of China ended today after 14 days.
Here are the medal standings:
India has touched a historic 3-figure 107 medals on Day 14, which is far greater than any of the previous Asian Games and it’s a great testament to how sports have been improving in India. People often ask me questions as to why, with so much population India is not good with sports. This is true, but it has been changing. Even the World Athletic Championship performance was pretty good this year. With respect to sports infrastructure, it has been improving and people are getting more into sports other than cricket. So I feel it’s a great sign for India in the world of sports.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Indian players for this great feat.
Nobel Prize 2023
The Nobel Prize was announced this week and I thought it would be great to know who got this year in what field. So let’s go through it.
Nobel Prize in Medicine: Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman
The US-based duo won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for research that led directly to the first mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19.
Nobel Prize in physics: Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier
The trio won the prize in physics on Tuesday for conducting experiments that produced pulses of light so short that they were measured in attoseconds, or one-billionth of one-billionth of a second. Their research can help provide images from inside atoms and molecules.
Nobel Prize in chemistry: Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov
The trio won the award in chemistry on Wednesday for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots. Quantum dots are particles that are so small that their properties are determined by quantum phenomena.
Researchers believe that this technology can pave the way for the development of flexible electronics, tiny sensors, thinner solar cells and encrypted quantum communication.
Nobel Prize in Literature: Jon Fosse
The prize in literature was awarded to the Norwegian author and dramatist John Fosse on Thursday.
Fosse was recognised by the Swedish Academy “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”
Nobel Peace Prize: Narges Mohammadi
The Iranian rights activist won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. She was chosen from 351 nominees.
Mohammadi, who has been has served multiple prison sentences for the past two decades, is best known for her fight for freedom and against oppression of Iranian women.
Book: Shane Parrish recently released his new book called Clear Thinking. If you don’t know he is the author of an amazing blog called Farnam Street. I have been reading that for so long now and it has been really useful and eye-opening on certain aspects of life. That’s why I am excited to read that book next.
David Perell recently talked to Marc Andreessen about how to think, learn, read, research, and write. This tweet beautifully summarizes what Marc talked about.
You can watch the full video below and I am 100% sure it’s worth your time.
Two tweet by Anu Atluru really hit home
I read the above tweet after I published my article about Retirement and it really made me think more.
We are often taught to never quit things but this is a very different perspective of how to think about time and quitting is not entirely bad if you want to make a conscious choice. I think time is very important and it’s fine to quit.
Spotify New Feature: If you are a Spotify Premium user, you will now be able to read Audiobooks. I am a big fan of Spotify and definitely going to use this.
That’s all for this week folks. I hope this was interesting and if you have any comments or other interesting things to share, feel free to put in comments