Happy Monday! 🌞 

I saw Godzilla Minus One in the theater last night and it was amazing! If you like action, romance, engaging characters and story, you will absolutely love this new Godzilla movie.

It is easily one of the best movies I have seen in years, and is my favorite movie this year. If you have the chance to go see it, do it. You will not regret it.

- James

Sports

$700 Million Contract

Wow, it appears that Major League Baseball Star Shohei Ohtani has signed on with the LA Dodgers for a 10 year, $700 million dollar contract.

The contract amount is the largest in professional American sports history!

Ohtani announced the long awaited decision on his Instagram, where he thanked his faithful fans:“First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone involved with the Angels organization and the fans who have supported me over the past six years…” and addressed his new team “And to all Dodgers fans, I pledge to always do what’s best for the team and always continue to give it my all to be the best version of myself.”

It’s an exciting time to be a Dodgers fan!

Entertainment

The Super Museum and the Official Home Town of Superman

In 1969, a man named Bob Westerfield moved to a small town called Metropolis, Illinois. He was inspired by its name, and proposed the idea of making it the official home town of Superman. The town’s chamber of commerce received the idea very well. Local businessmen along with Westerfield worked together and bought the rights for $50,000.

In 1993, Jim Hambrick, a devoted Superman fan who had been amassing an incredible collection of everything Superman, moved to Metropolis and opened the Super Museum. Hambrick and his entire family moved from Los Angeles, to open the museum, which has over 70,000 Superman related items. “This was my dad’s dream, to open the museum” Jim’s daughter, Morgan Seibert, shared while on The Atlas Obscure podcast.

Morgan and her husband Adam now run the Super Museum and are still expanding the collection. Her father is now an advisor to the museum.

Each year, Metropolis has a Superman celebration where the inhabitants and visitors dress up in Superman related costumes. Many of the actors who have played Superman have attended the parade and visited the museum.

If you want to hear a some more about this fascinating story, go check out the short podcast episode done by The Atlas Obscure where they interview Morgan Seibert.

Economy

GameStop’s New Strategy

GameStop has a new strategy to bolster the struggling company. This new strategy includes allowing their new CEO and chair, Ryan Cohen, to use the company cash to buy other stocks.

The companies latest quarterly report revealed the shift from its previous strategy that focus on solely short-term debt.

The filing detailed Cohen's new role, stating, “Mr. Cohen directs the investment activity of the Company in public and private markets pursuant to authority granted by the Board of Directors. Depending on certain market conditions and various risk factors, Mr. Cohen, in his personal capacity or through affiliated investment vehicles, may at times invest in the same companies in which the Company invests.”

The report further explained that it believed sharing potential investments with Mr. Cohen would actually be positive, as the chairman’s personal assets would be at risk as much as the companies.

Some, like Wedbush Securities’ Michael Pachter, have pushed back against this idea. Instead believing that GameStop should use its excess cash to repurchase its stock, instead of diversifying into equities.

Cohen is considered somewhat of a celebrity investor among some, particularly after successfully trading in and out of Bed Bath and Beyond. It will be fascinating to see if GameStop’s new CEO can turn the ship around with this unorthodox and arguably risky strategy.

World News

Indonesia's Bold Plan: Transforming Half a Million Acres of Palm Plantations into Thriving Forests

Indonesia's government has initiated a significant environmental action by forming a task force to investigate oil palm plantations, especially those illegally established on protected lands. This move is expected to lead to the removal of about 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of such plantations to restore the original tropical rainforests.

The task force, a collaboration between the internal security and environmental ministries, is led by chief security minister Mahfud MD, who has warned of legal consequences for palm oil companies that fail to vacate illegally occupied land following a recently passed deadline.

In analyzing the government's efforts, it’s noted that governmental processes, particularly in developing countries like Indonesia, can be slow and inefficient. This is compounded by the challenging geography of rural Indonesia, which includes a multitude of forested, mountainous islands. Consequently, to date, only about 40% of plantation owners operating in forests have been identified.

Indonesia, known for its exceptional biodiversity and unique tropical rainforests, has faced threats from the expansion of palm oil plantations. However, the trend is reversing in some areas, with a moratorium on new oil palm plantations leading to increased forest preservation rates.

Mind Stretchers

First I am dry, then I am wet; the longer I swim, the stronger I am. What am I?

Answers to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:
Your Breath 🫁 

Be the first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to [email protected]

If you have any uplifting stories and experience you might want to share, send those over to [email protected] for the chance to be featured.