• For a generation, Mexico has waged a war on drug cartels, with the victims being mostly innocent civilians, many of whom have gone missing. In May, Mexico’s register of missing persons, which dates back to 1964, passed 100,000, but the true number is likely far higher. Between 2006 and 2016 over 2,000 clandestine graves were found in Mexico. The country’s forensic services hold 52,000 unidentified bodies, which may or may not belong to those on the “missing” list.
(“100,000 Missing Mexicans,” Economist, June 30, 2022; “Ex-Leader of Mexico’s Search for the Disappeared Convicted in DNA Scandal,” Washington Post, July 1, 2022)
• This spring, Texas activist Jackie Sawicky was skeptical of big promises made by crypto mining executives. Colorado-based Riot Blockchain announced plans to build the largest Bitcoin mining facility in the world in Corsicana, a rural Texas city 60 miles south of Dallas. The 400,000-square-foot facility, the company said, would occupy 265 acres filled with computers.
(“Bitcoin’s Intensive Energy Demands are Sparking a Crypto Backlash,” Yale Environment 360, June 21, 2022)
• In his 20s, Wall Street Billionaire Jeff Yass and his friends used sophisticated computer programs to try to score big at horse and greyhound racetracks across the country. Four decades later, the firm he and his friends founded, Susquehanna International Group, is a sprawling global company that makes billions of dollars. Yass and his team used their numerical expertise to make rapid-fire computer-driven trades in options and other securities, eventually becoming a giant middleman in the markets for stocks and other securities.
(“Meet the Billionaire and Rising GOP MegaDonor Who’s Gaming the Tax System,” ProPublica, June 21, 2022 )
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo
