Things can only get wetter for Rishi Sunak

It's end times for the Tories. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a 200-pound balloon flailing in 40 mile-per-hour winds over Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - //link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/35469289.45524/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmxvb21iZXJnLmNvbS9vcGluaW9uL2FydGljbGVzLzIwMjQtMDUtMjIvcGFyaXMtMjAyNC1zaG91bGQtZmxhdm9yLWZsYXYtcmVhbGx5LWhhdmUtdG8tc3BvbnNvci1hbi1vbHltcGljLXRlYW0_dXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX3Rlcm09MjQwNTIyJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1zaGFyZXRoZXZpZXc/582c8673566a94262a8b49bdB57185a56[Rishi Sunak]( had a rainy day. - [Flavor Flav]( enters the Olympic fray. - [The blimp biz]( no longer has sway. - [Severe turbulence]( isn’t going away. Things Can Only Get Wetter “The man looks like a drowned rat!” That was John Authers’ [first thought]( when watching UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s disastrous press conference. The [second]( was: Who is blasting Tony Blair’s old campaign song, “Things Can Only Get Better,” in the background at 10 Downing Street? The D:Ream track was so loud that you could [barely hear]( Sunak bragging about the economy, all while looking as though he accidentally took a tumble into the Thames: Sunak, soaked. Photographer: Carl Court/Getty Images Europe But the purpose of this presser wasn’t to re-create the [sewer scene]( from Ratatouille. It was to announce a UK general election — on, [of all days](, 4. To Adrian Wooldridge, that date will spell the end of 14 years of Tory rule. “The government has been [bleeding out]( in public for months,” he [writes](, arguing the vote will “finally put the Conservative administration out of its misery.” In the 18 months since Liz Truss lost to the [head of lettuce](, Sunak attempted to discipline his wayward party. But his efforts to curb inflation and wrangle immigration may have been in vain. After today’s performance, “Soggy Sunak” all but ensured that he will be remembered as the Tory’s fifth — and last — prime minister since 2010. “There is little doubt that Britain is headed for a Labour government — the first Labour government since Gordon Brown’s loss in 2010 made way for the coalition under David Cameron and Nick Clegg,” Adrian writes. But what will a Labour government look like? In crushing the semi-Marxist Jeremy Corbyn (a Russia and Hamas sympathizer), [Keir Starmer]( has established control of every level of his party. And yet, Adrian says, Starmer is *gasp!* a rather boring person. In reality, this election is going to be all about getting the Tories out the door — not giving Starmer a genuine endorsement. So really, all the Labour leader has to do sit tight and ride it out. Or, as Marcus Ashworth [told]( my colleagues on a livestream today, “Don’t interrupt your enemy while they’re making a mistake.” Personally, I’d rather see the [angry British child]( who complained about her cost of living — “Nine quid for two ice creams?! Bloody hell!” — elected as the next prime minister. With her gumption, she’d solve inflation in a day. [Flavor Flav]( Has Entered the Chat There’s something deeply funny about picturing Flavor Flav scrolling on Instagram, seeing [this post]( by water polo legend [Maggie Steffens](, sliding into her DMs and agreeing to give her Olympic team forkloads of money. Like, you can’t tell me that this isn’t [the crossover]( of the century! But as iconic as this partnership is, Adam Minter [says]( it’s rather troubling that the US can’t afford to pay its athletes heading to Paris this summer. Unlike most other governments, the US doesn’t fund its national Olympic committee. Instead, the committee relies on a hodgepodge of individuals, including sponsors, university athletic departments and the athletes themselves. It’d be fine if this strategy actually worked. But it fails to compensate Team USA: According to a congressionally mandated study, the average Olympian spends [$12,000 per year]( to represent the US. “Athletes who don’t seek out additional employment turn to crowdsourcing to pay the bills,” Adam writes. And plenty of them fall into that category: More than a quarter of current athletes earn less than $15,000 in annual income because of their emotionally and physically draining training schedules. “It’s no wonder that Maggie Steffens is [so excited]( to have Flavor Flav’s support,” he says. The fact that a celebrity known for a reality dating game show on VH1 in the early 2000s is subsidizing Olympic athletes — embodiments of America’s soft power — speaks volumes about the nation’s priorities. “The federal government and the states should consider establishing sports lotteries, such as [China’s](, or dedicating lottery proceeds to sports development, as the [UK]( does,” Adam argues. While Flav’s generosity with the water polo team is commendable, all of our athletes deserve to be paid for their hard work. A Blimp in Time Since when did the Empire State Building get a [blimp dock](? According to this [highly educational TikTok]( by the Weather Channel’s Katie Tutrone, “there was some master plan in the 1930s to have people 1,200 feet in the air just hop on off the blimp after docking it, tip-to-tip,” she says incredulously. “It’s giving danger,” she adds. I have to agree: Seriously, did they think a 200-pound balloon flailing in 40 mile-per-hour winds over Manhattan was gonna work?? Although no airship actually ever docked there (they abandoned the plan, classic), the spire was built. Sure, maybe the blimps were just an excuse for the Empire State Building to cement its place as the tallest building in the world. But who can say for certain! [To this day](, above the 102nd-floor observatory deck sits a two-and-a-half foot-wide terrace and what Tutrone calls a “janky, sus little railing that’s knee-high.” As Christopher Gray of the New York Times [described]( his experience on the deck: “It’s like standing on the raised lip of a Campbell’s soup can, a quarter-mile up.” That harrowing description is enough to make me wonder: Why did we build blimps in the first place? And, perhaps more important: Why do we [still have them]( today? As it turns out, Goodyear has only four blimps left — three in America and one in Europe. “While this once-revered airship commanded a ‘cool’ factor for being the only way to provide soaring aerial shots of an outdoor football stadium or golf course, this is no longer the case,” Thomas Black [writes](. Now we have drones, which are more economical, not to mention safe. Of course, seeing a blimp in the sky, like listening to a vinyl record or a cassette tape, might induce feelings of nostalgia. But while Goodyear “sparingly mentions the blimp in any of its filings,” it can’t be good for its bottom line. “The argument to continue the blimp tradition forever would be stronger if Goodyear had robust growth,” he writes, but sales peaked for the 126-year-old tire maker in 2011. “Everybody knows the blimp is outdated,” Thomas says. “Worse, it’s an airborne symbol of Goodyear’s stodginess.” Guess it’s time to pop the bubble. Telltale Charts Elsewhere in airborne transit horror stories, pilots of a Singapore Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing in Bangkok on Tuesday after experiencing severe turbulence. One passenger died and many others were shipped off to the ER. Although nobody is sure what caused the tragedy, Lara Williams [says]( “we’d be foolish to ignore the role that the climate crisis is playing in making air travel choppier.” As the atmosphere warms, these kinds of bumpy rides will become all the more common. And they already have, if this [2023 study]( is any indication. “In the past 40 years, severe clear-air turbulence increased to 27.4 hours in 2020 from 17.7 hours in 1979 for an average point over the North Atlantic,” she writes. The Biden administration likes to say that its new student loan plan is more “targeted” than the [2022 version](, but to Bloomberg’s editorial board, [it is still]( “egregiously regressive.” If you look at the numbers, the individuals that stand to benefit most from Biden’s elimination of debts from older loans are people who went to grad school. They now earn incomes that put them among the top 5% of all earners. “In effect, the revised plan delivers limited aid to middle-class families while providing a disproportionate windfall to the wealthiest few,” the editors write. That doesn’t sound like a smart way to spend money, does it? Further Reading It’s not really healthy for Nvidia to have [such a hold]( on the market. — John Authers Even if the jury finds Trump innocent, [another reckoning]( awaits the former president. — Tim O’Brien India’s Hindu-Muslim split is bad, but an even more [dangerous divide]( is brewing. — Mihir Sharma X’s Community Notes are better at [curtailing misinformation]( than content moderation. — F.D. Flam Private equity ownership [doesn’t necessarily help]( hospitals or doctor’s offices. — Lisa Jarvis The Fed’s high-for-long mantra [raises risks]( for the economy. — Mohamed A. El-Erian Sorry, folks. The losses on some of these [online finance scams]( should fall on you. — Paul J. Davies $215 trillion [to save the planet]( is a steal compared with the alternative. — Mark Gongloff and Liam Denning ICYMI Nikki Haley plans to [vote for Trump]( in November. Another [provocative flag]( was seen at another one of Justice Alito’s homes. Elvis’s granddaughter [goes to court]( to save Graceland. The Washington Post is losing [money and readers](. A Utah family tried to do [a coup]( in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kickers Your cat [shouldn’t be eating]( like Garfield. The Try Guys try it with [one less guy](. Nobody knows [how to be friends]( these days. Sofia Coppola’s daughter made [pop music](, and it’s … good! A [gross pile of meat]( got dumped on the side of the road. Notes: Please send [lasagna]( 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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