The Sunshine State just became a very scary place to be a woman. [Bloomberg](
This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a mud duel of Bloomberg Opinionâs opinions. [Sign up here](. Todayâs Agenda - [Abortion]( is Floridaâs [wake-up call](.
- Trumpâs [Truth Social](Â turns into a brawl.
- [Amazonâs AI]( needs an overhaul.
- Taiwanâs [earthquake]( is a test for all. Florida Woman We spend a lot of time [talking about]( men in Florida. There was the [Florida Man Birthday Challenge](, where people Googled their birth date to see what wacko headline[1](#footnote-1) was associated with their date. Thereâs the [@floridaman]( Instagram account, which highlights important state news, like [this story]( about how Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that allows Floridians to buy 4-gallon jugs of wine. And just a few months back, the state hosted its first-ever [Florida Man Games](, complete with a mullet contest, a âmud duelâ with pool noodles, an âevading arrestâ obstacle course and chicken coop Bingo. But what about women? Although I am obsessed with the fictional [Palm Royale](, I havenât heard anyone talk about the [Florida Woman]( Who Escaped From the Maniac Who Kidnapped and Tortured Her for Months. Or the [Florida Woman]( Suing Hersheyâs Chocolates for Misleading Packaging. Or the [Florida Woman]( Who Told Police Her Walmart Shoplifting Spree Was âReally, Really Fun.â And I certainly hadnât heard about the [Florida Woman]( Who Offered to Sell Her 18-Month-Old Daughter for $500. Once May 1 rolls around, though, we might be seeing âFlorida Womanâ horror stories more often. On Monday, the Florida Supreme Court overturned 34 years of precedent that had upheld a provision in the state constitution protecting abortion rights. The stateâs draconian ban on abortions after six weeksâ gestation â before many women know they are pregnant â will now take effect in less than a month, putting women in and out of the state in harmâs way. âFlorida has been a critical node in Americaâs ever-dwindling network of abortion providers,â Lisa Jarvis [explains](. âIn the first 15 months following the Supreme Courtâs Dobbs decision, as states across the South banned terminations, Florida clinics stepped up â providing nearly 15,200 more abortions compared to the 15 months pre-Dobbs.â An estimated 7,000 pregnant people will be searching for alternate plans each month. Some will opt for at-home abortions using pills sent from overseas in the mail. Others will make the trek to North Carolina or Virginia if they manage to make an appointment. But many will likely be forced to carry their baby to term against their will. There is some hope, though: Mary Ellen Klas [says]( the 2024 election will give Floridians an option to [fight back]( and âtell Republicans that the partyâs repressive and self-serving policies related to reproductive rights are dangerously out of touch.â Although the Monday ruling closed the door to abortion access for the 17 million women of reproductive age who live in [southeastern statesÂ](where the procedure is banned, in November, Florida voters will be allowed to answer a ballot question on a proposed [constitutional amendment]( that would restore abortion access to about 24 weeks. If the [polls]( are any indication, [Floridians]( will do just that. âFlorida voters have always been more independent-minded than the elected Republicans that control the state,â she writes. âThey are poised to not only restore abortion rights but do it with help from Republican voters â including many who will support Donald Trump.â Bonus Health Care Reading: The Biden administration is right [to hold its ground]( on Medicare payments. â Jonathan Levin Former President Florida Man Speak of the devil: Donald Trump is, perhaps, the most Florida-y [Florida Man]( to ever exist. And heâs gotten himself into a bit of a business kerfuffle. Are we surprised? Haha, [no](. Are we going to talk about it? Fine, yes: The short-long of this [SPAC saga]( is that Trump created a small business â Trump Media & Technology Group â that ended up having all the trimmings of a memecoin: It trades on MAGA vibes, not fundamentals or cash flow. Its [business model]( is a bet on Trumpâs personal newsiness, not a noble effort to transform the state of social media in America. Its ticker symbol is literally DJT â his initials â and he owns more than half of the stock. Of course it had a [net loss]( of $58.2 million on $4.1 million [of revenue]( and of course it has a billion-dollar market cap! It [reminds]( Matt Levine of the infamous [New Jersey deli]( that had $13,976 in revenue and a $2 billion [market capitalization](. But even though DJT walks like a memecoin, talks like a memecoin and acts like a memecoin, it is not, in fact a memecoin. Instead, it is a stock, which Matt says âcreates a lot of strange corporate issues.â Like, say, salary. What would you expect to earn for running a deli with $14,000 in annual revenue? What should Trump Media executives get paid for running a $4 million-in-revenue company with $7 billion of market cap? These are the questions that keep Florida (and New Jersey) men up at night. Trump, for his part, is suing Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss â the executives at the center of [this business buffoonery]( â on the grounds that they donât deserve their stake in the company, which is currently valued at $606 million. âThe broader point here is that Litinsky and Moss were hired to set up TMTGâs rather small and speculative business, and it is absurd to reward them with 8.6% of DJTâs much larger meme stock,â Matt explains. Read [the whole thing]( for free. Just Walk Out You know how you get points off in math class if you donât âshow your work?â I was always kinda annoyed by that as a child. I knew that 7x7 is 49. I memorized the answer. Itâs not that deep. But, like, if youâre a company and you give people the answer and itâs the right answer but you didnât show your work, thatâs sort of a BIG problem! Especially if your answer is âartificial intelligenceâ and the work involves using 1,000 non-artificially intelligent humans to get you there: Earlier this week, The Information [reported]( that Amazonâs Just Walk Out technology, which purportedly used AI to allow customers to grab grocery items and skip the checkout, partially relied on more than 1,000 people in India who were watching and labeling videos to make sure the transactions were accurate. Amazon, which conveniently fails to mention contractors [on its website](, is now [ditching]( the checkout technology at its grocery stores. Parmy Olson [says]( the embarrassing corporate flop highlights the grey area in artificial intelligence, where [millions of humans]( who work in secret are often hired to train algorithms but end up babysitting much of their work instead. âThereâs a fine line between faking it till you make it â justifying the use of humans behind the scenes on the premise they will eventually be replaced by algorithms â and exploiting the hype and fuzzy definitions around AI to exaggerate the capabilities of your technology,â she writes. Amazonâs AI cashier being [1,000 moderators in a trench coat]( definitely feels like exploitation to me! Telltale Charts The fallout from the [biggest]( earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years is just beginning, and fears of China getting in the way loom large. âIn 1999, the last time there was an [earthquake]( of such magnitude on the island, the Taiwanese rejected offers of aid from China because they said the mainland [exploited]( the situation,â Karishma Vaswani [writes]( (free read). âThat kind of delay canât be allowed to happen again.â As the situation intensifies, the international community will need to band together to send aid and assistance to stricken areas. If Beijing wants to act like a leader, it needs to stand back and allow the recovery to happen as it should. Fun fact for your next trivia night: Georgia is the eighth-largest state in America. And its economy is doing just peachy under President Joe Biden, if [this chart]( from Matthew A. Winkler is any indication. âThe truism among historians that presidents can't take credit for the economy is[ belied by growing evidence]( from independent analysts showing the Biden administrationâs policies are an unrivaled jobs juggernaut dating back to World War II,â he writes. Consider the [booming business]( of part-time employees. Although you may think those jobs are of lower quality, Claudia Sahm says such views are misguided. âThe recovery in part-time work the past year is another sign of the labor market coming back into balance after a traumatic four years,â she writes. Further Reading Free read: Value beats growth and [stocks beat bonds]( ... until the credit market cracks. â John Authers A [small German mortgage lender]( offers a cautionary tale about how crises happen. â Bloombergâs editorial board [Caitlin vs. Angel]( â not Iowa vs. LSU â drew a record 12.3 million viewers on Monday night. â Adam Minter The [terrorist threat]( is growing, but not necessarily to the US. â Andreas Kluth Exxonâs [$60 billion fight]( with Chevron is about to reshape Big Oil. â Javier Blas A lot could happen between April 11 and the June 6, and [the ECB knows it](. â Marcus Ashworth This [planned takeover]( of Everton Football Club is a no-win for soccer chiefs. â Matthew Brooker ICYMI Trader Joeâs is an [aggressive copycat](. The â[disconnected youth](â is growing. The MTA wants [marathon runners]( to pay bridge tolls. Serena Williams launched an inclusive [makeup brand](. New York [prisoners sue]( to watch the eclipse. Kickers Wait, [this]( is [what pasta]( sounds like? The âking of reality TVâ is drowning [in drama](. i donât wanna [start typing]( like a grownup. Itâs always stick season for [these people](. Everything you need to know about [Glorb](. Gwyneth Paltrowâs [restaurant chain]( is popping off. Notes: Please send Mezzi Rigatoni and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. [1] For those curious, mine is "Florida man faces charges for eating pancakes in middle of the road." Iconic!!! Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before itâs here, itâs on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals canât find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. 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