Thursday 25 June 2026

[1] Phoebe, a two-story flamingo sculpture, welcomes visitors at Tampa International Airport. There are flamingo-themed supermarkets, elementary schools, barber shops and strip clubs in Florida.

The state bird, however, is the Northern Mockingbird. For 99 years, the mockingbird has held the top-bird-seat in the state, but many are now advocating for the flamingo to dethrone the mockingbird. Pulitzer Prize (the highest accolade in journalism) winning columnist Dave Barry noted that “It’s the only issue that everyone in Florida can agree on, except for the forces of Big Mockingbird”.

Jim Mooney, a Republican state representative, has twice introduced House bills trying to win official status for the bird, while also advocating for the scrub jay as the state songbird (why do American politicians have so much time?).

Team Mockingbird is led by Marion Hammer, the former president of the National Rifle Association (careful, Jim). Hammer hammers on about the mockingbird and nails the scrub jay, and has been doing so for decades. She (yes, a woman can and did run the NRA) went on to say that scrub jays are “evil little birds that steal other birds’ eggs and kill the babies of other birds”.

The scrub jay did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

The Northern Mocking Bird (Left) and Marion Hammer (Right)

Source: WSJ

The tussle continues – Big Mockingbird has offered a middle ground, asking whether Mooney would consider adding the flamingo as a co-official state bird.

He declined.

The bill made it to the House floor. On the day of the vote, pink-clad supporters made speeches. “Let’s make flamingos great again,” said Republican Rep. Chip LaMarca, a co-sponsor. The bill passed the House, but died in committee in the Senate.

To kill a mockingbird’s political ambitions in Florida, it seems, is difficult.

[2] The US and Iran negotiations have deteriorated into a he-said-she-said mess. Rubio said that Iran may not charge for access through the strait, Iran said that they will charge for access through the strait. Trump said Iran agreed to nuclear inspections, Iran denied any such agreement.

We are (and we suspect you are) tired of these constant half baked statements on the peace negotiations. We will refrain from commenting on the situation until we have something concrete to report.

In the meantime, Vance is quickly realizing that he is being positioned, by the President, as the fall guy if the whole Iran debacle ends in a way that is perceived negatively by the American public. No doubt eyeing a Presidential run in 2028, Vance will be disappointed if his base falls for it.

[3] El Niño, which DNF reported on last week, is disarming Europeans.

England and Wales (not in the EU) sweltered under heatwaves. Temperatures hit the high 30s (a mid-June Tuesday in Paarl) and the Brits are losing it, closing hundreds of schools and public transport (big glass of water, plakkies and a cap should do the trick people).

In France, the heat led to the murder of a pétanque player as reported on Monday (see point 10). The death toll keeps climbing, with reports indicating that 40 people have drowned over the past week while escaping the heat in rivers and canals.

The Spanish, not known for working through difficult circumstances, are also struggling (the mid-afternoon slump we all feel has led to large parts of the country shutting down for a while every day for a siesta. While DNF enjoys a nap, a cup of coffee a day could increase Spain’s GDP by 10%) with all-time high temperatures being recorded in parts of the country, as high as 43.7 degrees (a mid-May Tuesday in Paarl).

[4] The GOP (Grand Old Party, referring to the Republican Party) is fracturing, but so too are the Democrats. A wave of progressive victories in New York by candidates backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani exposed deep ideological fractures among the Dems. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) defeated mainstream incumbents in many of the nation’s deepest-blue congressional districts.

Socialism is an economic and political philosophy advocating for collective or public ownership of the means of production, rather than private ownership. It seeks to reduce inequality by ensuring that wealth and resources are distributed equitably based on human need rather than profit. Sounds great, right? There is only one problem: it doesn’t work.

Karl Marx, Plato and Hegel all contributed to the school of thought, but when put into practice, the ideology’s success or failure depends entirely on the state that runs it. Call us pessimistic, but we cannot think of a single government that will not abuse its power should they be stewards of more resources.

While, in our opinion, practically implausible, it does garner great support among the lower- and middle-class voting base, looking to “tax the rich” (also does not work, contentious) and fight for greater equality.

Inequality is a problem, a big one that needs to be addressed, but state control of resources is not the solution.

[5] You might be wondering what the difference is between socialism and communism, and you would be forgiven, considering both advocate for collective ownership. In classical Marxist theory, socialism is the transition phase between capitalism and communism. Under socialism, major industries (healthcare, utilities, transport) are managed by the state, while private ownership of smaller businesses is allowed. Communism makes no room for the concept of private property, the government directs all economic production and distribution.

So, when Mamdani and Andy Burnham say they are socialists, what they mean is that they advocate for greater government interference (a negative word by choice) in order to redistribute wealth in an equal fashion. Again, this message resonates with the public at large, but politics (especially in the US) has become a pay-to-win landscape, which means that the political donors (the rich) will inevitably have a government that caters to them.

Regardless, coming out and saying you’re a communist is a political death sentence (unless you’re in China, where coming out and saying many things can be a death sentence and coming out was only legalized in 1997) so socialist quite often means nothing more than not-fully-capitalist.

[6] On 30 June, more than 20 anti-immigrant organizations are holding a nationwide protest in South Africa. March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma said that it was the government’s responsibility to maintain law and order.

The police are responding with extensive security deployments, which apparently might cost taxpayers up to R600 million. March and March has effectively given illegal immigrants in SA the 30 June deadline to leave the country and has denied that this statement is illegal.

DNF urges the protesters to a) appreciate that we live in a country with a constitutional right to peaceful protests and b) refrain from violence, looting or other indecent behavior, which certainly won’t help their cause. The topic of immigration is complicated and nuanced, and folks should treat it as such.

[7] Ramaphosa has appointed former National Treasury budget chief Michael Sachs as his economic adviser. The role has been vacant since Trudi Makhaya departed in 2023.

This is positive. Sachs played a key role in shaping SA’s budget during the turbulent period for public finances under Zuma. The move is viewed as an attempt by Ramaphosa to capitalize on improved macroeconomic indicators and stronger economic growth

[8] BAFANA BAFANA! Our boys played a stunning game, beating South Korea 1-0 with Thapelo Maseko scoring the winner. We finished second in our group, qualifying for the round of 32 and clearing the group stage at a World Cup for the first time ever. South Korea had come looking for a draw, but were blown away by Bafana’s eagerness, speed and attacking mindset.

This must be one of the most dramatic turnarounds an international team has shown in recent history. After suffering a 2-0 loss to Mexico just weeks ago in a game that saw two red cards and a side with little form or tactics, Bafana showed up as a different team. Next up, Canada on June 28. Let’s go boys!

[9] If you were entering the job market in the 2010s, you probably considered doing computer science. Now, computer scientists are less likely to be hired than philosophy graduates. In 2024, the most recent year for which numbers are available, 7% of computer science graduates were unemployed, compared to just 5.1% of philosophers.

Back in ancient times, philosophers, poets and thinkers were the leading voices in society. Plato, Socrates and Descartes are still household names. But the tide shifted, and thinkers were replaced by innovators, engineers and finance professionals.

No more, it seems.

Many philosophy students are being snapped up by AI firms themselves. The crux of the matter is that AI model builders want models to be less keen on people-pleasing and more willing to pursue the truth. Some of the methods used are ancient, such as the Socratic method as described by Plato. It uses feigned ignorance and sequential questioning to clarify meanings, spot contradictions and reveal ramifications.

In “The Apology”, Plato has Socrates claim that his wisdom consists mostly of being aware of how much he does not know (something we can all learn from). Implanting that humility into a model can help limit overconfidence, a common flaw.

[10] Thanks to long time DNF subscriber and vehement commenter NotSherlockHolmes for sending in the following story. This is the second story our subscriber base has sent us, and the second time it involves a sport-related violent attack. DNF wonders if you all are doing okay? By the way, you can email us at contact.dailynewsflow@gmail.com if you have something you would like us to write about.

We reported on the 81-year-old Frenchman who bludgeoned a 68-year-old pétanque rival to death with a boule. Sport-related violence has now spread to pickleball.

A Florida mother, Michele Bannister, 47, is facing a felony after getting into an argument with her opponent about which one of them should retrieve the ball. The argument escalated, and Michele attacked the man with her paddle, hitting him in the head several times. He was left with several cuts on his face and bled heavily. She was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

DNF could see how a racket in the hands of Alcaraz is a deadly weapon (for his opponent’s tennis career) but a pickleball paddle being classified in the same category as a Glock 19 is a step too far.

The North Florida Ambassador for US Pickleball (incredible position to hold), Pam Hatch (known as Pickleball Pam, an incredible name to hold) stated, “She probably got in six good whacks with the side of the paddle. She was being torn of of him as well. She was upset. Something really did set her off”.

We urge recreational sport players all over the world to calm down.

DNF crossed 150 subscribers, thank you.

Also, a special thank you to subscribers who share our work on Instagram, it gets good traction.

Have a great day, see you tomorrow, when we will be returning to a more technical accounting and market update for a moment, we have some interesting things we would like to discuss.