Dubai’s yachts didn’t need this much rain

Plus: Airchat, "podiumgate" and more. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a small-time, dimly comic routine of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Dubai’s flood]( is climate change. - [Russian yachts]( are a bad exchange. - [Airchat’s terms]( are pretty strange. - [A $20,000 podium]( is out of range. Dubai’s Liquidation To all the writers out there chasing a Pulitzer Prize, I regret to inform you that your efforts are futile. A man who goes by the name “Big Al” has produced what may well be the [greatest literary work]( of the 21st century. It belongs in the Library of Congress or, at the very least, on the front page of [McSweeney’s]( Internet Tendency: The floating Rimowa! The chocolate spon-con! The way he still has “no regrets coming on this trip” even after hiking SEVEN miles because “Web 3 has changed my life.” Big Al has given us [a master class]( in satire. To be clear, his story is [made up](. But there is [a crypto conference]( in Dubai this week — when is there not? — and those in attendance did get [rocked]( by [biblical]( amounts of flooding. “The sights coming out of the United Arab Emirates this week range from surreal to apocalyptic: Rolls Royces and Aston Martins floating in flood water, a plane taxiing across a runway-cum-lake, furniture flying off the balcony of a high-rise apartment,” Lara Williams [writes]( (free read). Nearly six inches of rain — about a year and a half’s worth of average annual precipitation — fell in 24 hours. Although a Bloomberg News story notes the downpour may have been related to recent cloud seeding efforts, part of the UAE’s [weather modification]( project, Lara sees a more likely culprit. “Cloud seeding can only enhance whatever moisture is already in the sky. It can’t create rain from nothing,” she writes. “This week’s destruction isn’t the result of us trying to play God with the weather, but comes instead from a different human-made creation: Climate change.” Forget the Yacht Tangential to Dubai’s [Bored Ape Yacht Club]( are, of course, actual [yacht owners](. Last week, two Russian billionaires, Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, notched a [surprise legal victory]( against their inclusion on a European Union sanctions list. Lionel Laurent [says]( it’s “a setback for a sanctions machine that serves as a barometer of Western support for Ukraine, a funding source for the war effort and a hoped-for brake on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s freedom of action.” The tug-of-war between sanctions enforcers and post-Soviet billionaires begs the question: Isn’t there a better way to go after the oligarchs than taking their yachts? As fun as it is to steal trophies at sea, Lionel says they require a considerable amount of TLC. For instance, upkeep on the 348-foot-long superyacht Amadea — which is fully equipped with a helipad, swimming pool, fire pits and a movie theater — has cost the US government [$600,000 a month]( since it was seized in 2022: Photographer: EUGENE TANNER/AFP “With tens of billions at stake, and with legal entanglement looking knottier than ever,” perhaps a tax on Russia’s uber-wealthy is the most sensible path forward. But that alone won’t be enough to save Ukraine, Marc Champion [argues](. “If the approach of the West, and the US in particular, doesn’t change very soon, the country risks being first pulverized and then overrun at enormous cost.” While many were busy paying attention to Iran’s foiled missile barrage in Israel on Saturday, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was [attacked]( by Russian missiles and drones. They hit the city’s power sources, heating stations and apartment blocks, killing at least seven people in the process. “No contrast could be more stark, or frankly sickening,” than that of the two countries, he writes. Read [the whole thing](. Bonus Geopolitics Reading: - Israel exposes [the contradictions]( in President Biden’s foreign policy. — Andreas Kluth - Iran’s missile and drone attack [hit its target](: the regional order. — Hal Brands Who Needs Moral Rights? Given that [voice notes]( are all the rage these days, it makes sense that [Airchat](, an invite-only social app that allows users to post public and private audio recordings, is receiving rave reviews from early adopters. But before you go divulging your innermost secrets over the digital campfire, Dave Lee [says]( you better read the fine print. When you join Airchat, you grant the platform “a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, archive, edit” and even translate your voice submissions. By joining the platform, you’re essentially tossing all your moral rights in the trash can. And I’m not being dramatic about that. It literally says: “You hereby waive any moral rights you may have.” When Dave [asked]( co-creator Naval Ravikant about all that on Airchat, his audio response [left much]( to be desired: “Terms and Conditions are written by some combination of lawyers and ChatGPT these days. No human actually knows what the heck they actually say … I think this is kind of the stance that almost everyone is taking.” He even went on to say, “Settle down. It’ll be fine.” Yikes! We’ve heard defenses like this before by tech CEOs getting grilled on Capitol Hill. But what about the apps children use? Are we content to let them waive their rights away on Snapchat and Instagram just because it’s the status quo? Just the other day, a heartbreaking [Bloomberg News investigation]( by Olivia Carville revealed how sophisticated scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to commit suicide. We know that these algorithms prey on developing brains. How do we [stop]( them? Lisa Jarvis [says]( policymakers might be focusing too much on age limits, a blunt tool that leaves little room for nuance. “Drawing a bright line on age is not a cure-all,” she writes. “Turning 13 (or for that matter, 16) does not make someone magically capable of handling the responsibilities of social media.” Instead, she argues, the social media companies need to provide greater transparency, sharing data on how kids are using their platforms. That starts with updating the Terms and Conditions … without the help of ChatGPT. Telltale Photo Haha, so apparently Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders [purchased]( a $20,000 podium with taxpayer dollars and people are understandably upset about it. Francis Wilkinson [says]( the “small-time, dimly comic routine” is just further evidence of “how completely Trumpism now defines the Republican Party.” But what’s ultimately funny about “podiumgate” is that the podium itself is … ugly? Like, who chose that blue/wood combo? And more than that, I’ve literally never paid attention to a lectern in my entire life! You could be speaking from a music stand or a stack of Amazon boxes for all I care. Also, Democrats reportedly purchased [this $5 lectern]( from state surplus. FIVE DOLLARS! Sanders could have bought 4,000 of those bad boys for the price of hers. Tsk, tsk. Photo via Associated Press Further Reading Free read: Multitrillion-dollar economies need [more flexibility]( than a 2% target. — Marcus Ashworth Bidenomics is [slowing down]( America’s switch to electric vehicles. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Tesla needs to wrap up [unfinished business]( in Delaware so that it can move to Texas. — Matt Levine Boeing doesn’t need [a growing chorus]( of naysayers to solve its well-detailed problems. — Thomas Black Mexico has squandered [an opportunity]( to advance its interests across Latin America. — Juan Pablo Spinetto Does Wes Moore actually want [to be the next]( Barack Obama? — Nia-Malika Henderson The Supreme Court's three most conservative justices are [shaking things up](. — Noah Feldman Louis Vuitton and Dior will [help LVMH]( navigate a decelerating luxury market. — Andrea Felsted A [double-dip recession]( puts New Zealand in a world of its own. — Daniel Moss ICYMI UBS is planning [another round]( of layoffs. The NBA [banned a player]( for gambling. Idaho Democrats are staging [a comeback](. John Deere’s [Gen Z strategy]( is working. Elon Musk [is teasing]( us with Vine. Kickers The era of unchecked [Caesar-salad]( fraud. The hardest-working [turnstile]( in NYC. Please stop crying on [TikTok Live](. Hip-hop [gets blended]( with Irish dancing. How do [actual poets]( feel about Taylor Swift? Notes: Please send [actual Caesar salad]( and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. 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