Stateside with Gavin Wood in West Hollywood East Melbourne restaurant celebrates 50 years

■ Hi everyone, remotely from my suite at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites in West Hollywood comes this week’s news.

Il Duca celebrated

■ This landmark Italian restaurant at 132 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne, celebrates 50 years of fine service.

A stone’s throw from the MCG, it’s a home away from home. Dominic Bonadio says: “Anyone can make you enjoy the first bite of a dish but only a real chef can make you enjoy the last.”

Not only is the food superb but it is usually accompanied be Lino the singing Italian waiter.

His performance will take you back home to Italy. Dominic has released a book about his life and Il Duca

The book is titled ‘Che Fortuna” meaning What Luck. All proceeds are donated to St Vincent’s Hospital.

For a wonderful lunch or a great night out may I suggest Il Duca.

Better in the morning

■ Highly intelligent people are often portrayed as night owls. The dedicated novelist writing all night until daybreak, for example. While prior studies actually support this notion, finding that night owls typically display more robust verbal intelligence, new research from the University of Ottawa suggests otherwise.

“Once you account for key factors including bedtime and age, we found the opposite to be true, that morning types tend to have superior verbal ability,” says Stuart Fogel, Director of the University of Ottawa Sleep Research Laboratory, in a university release.

“This outcome was surprising to us and signals this is much more complicated that anyone thought before.”

New stealth bomber

■ The US Air Force debuted America’s first new nuclear stealth bomber in more than 30 years. The aircraft, known as the B-21 Raider, is part of the Pentagon’s efforts to modernise all three pillars of its nuclear triad, consisting of nuclear missile submarines, land-based nuclear missiles, and nuclear-capable aircraft.

The B-21 Raider i s expected to make its first flight this year and succeeds the B-2 Spirit , first presented in 1988. Watch the rollout here.

The public reveal comes days after the Department of Defence released its annual report on China, saying it poses the most consequential challenge to America’s national security. China has more than 400 operational nuclear warheads and is on track to have 1500 nuclear weapons by 2035.

Door Sash shares up

■ With food delivery down from its pandemic highs, it might be surprising to hear that DoorDash shares are up 28 per cent in the last month.

One reason investors are bullish is that the company has proven it has a viable grocery and convenience delivery business.

This pins the company against new competitors some of which are struggling.

Instacart cut its valuation to $13B last month, down from $39B in early 2021, and reportedly plans to push its IPO to next year.

Gopuff recently laid off 2,000 employees, and pushed its IPO plans to next year as well. While its competitors struggle, DoorDash has reportedly doubled its grocery delivery business since last year.

So what makes DoorDash different? Users seem to be using DoorDash in a different way from its pure-play competitors: The average DoorDash order is under $50, compared to $100+ for Instacart.

These smaller volumes suggest customers are likely using DoorDash to supplement in-store grocery shopping, rather than replace it, ordering “top up” items to avoid extra in-store trips.

This could prove to be more sustainable than relying on delivery for all groceries in the long run. DoorDash is relatively new to grocery and convenience, so is Uber, one of its top rivals in general delivery.

Both companies are trying to hook customers with a $10month subscription, setting up a battle for wallet share.

With 40 per cent of its 25 million monthly users subscribed to DashPass, DoorDash seems to have a head start.

Out and About Sports betting grows

■ Less than five years ago, betting on sports in the United States was prohibited under federal law except in Nevada casinos and a smattering of venues in other states. Sports leagues argued that the ban safeguarded the integrity of American sports, while consumer watchdogs warned that legal gambling could turn fans into addicts. In countries like Britain, sports gambling free-for-alls had left trails of addiction. But in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal prohibition was unconstitutional. DraftKings and Fan Duel, giants in the fast-growing field of fantasy sports, had already mobilised an army of former regulators and politicians to press for sports betting in state capitals. Soon, in a crucial reversal, sports leagues overcame their antipathy toward gambling, which they came to see as a way to keep increasingly distracted audiences tuned in. Casino companies also hopped on board. It was a market, the industry hoped, that could be worth billions a year. So they set out to seize it. Gambling companies and their allies deployed a bare-knuckled lobbying campaign, showering state lawmakers with money, gifts and visits from sports luminaries and at times using deceptive arguments to extract generous tax breaks and other concessions, according to a New York Times investigation.

Theft of precious metals

■ Police around America are using gumshoe detective work to break up sophisticated rings that steal catalytic converters, though many fear that they aren’t making a dent in a crime wave triggered by pricey precious metals. Catalytic converters, cylindrical hunks of metal within the exhaust system of most cars and trucks, transform harmful gases into less-harmful ones using precious metals including rhodium, palladium and platinum. Some vehicles, such as Toyota Prius models, large pickups and delivery trucks, are often targeted by thieves because their catalytic converters contain a lot of the metals. Criminals use high-speed jacks and battery-operated saws to steal the devices in less than a minute, according to police.

More layoffs

■ A bloodbath in Silicon Valley: Facebook (aka Meta) is cutting 11,000 workers roughly 13 per cent of its workforce. Redfin and Salesforce are also slimming down. At Twitter, Elon Musk not only laid off workers, but he eliminated the ‘Days of Rest’, the employees’ monthly paid mental health days. Amazon is on a hiring freeze as it becomes the first public company in history to lose a trillion dollars in value.A correction for big tech isn’t all bad, though. A lot of people at these bloated Silicon Valley behemoths are doing fake jobs and with that free time comes time to do annoying things that have nothing to do with Facebook’s bottom line. People should get out of the nap pods and start companies. There’s a semifamous quote about modern Silicon Valley that I think of a lot, said by a data scientist Jeff Hammerbacher: “The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads.

Kids crushed

Stay at the Ramada

when you book to receive the ‘Special Rate of the Day’ for your advance bookings. Please contact: Jennifer at info@ramadaweho.com Happy Holidays, Gavin Wood

■ Billionaire Ken Griffin slammed woke ideology at schools across the US as “crushing” for children and griped that his own family has been caught in the mess. “My children went to a phenomenal school in Chicago but their indoctrination in woke ideology was crushing,” Griffin said in a conversation with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez that was hosted by The Economic Club of Miami. Griffin, who this summer moved the headquarters for his giant hedge fund Citadel to Florida from Chicago, donated $100 million to Republicans this election cycle. In a video of the interview that was obtained by The Post, Griffin revealed how liberal policies have affected his own kids’ education. “They came home very confused about whether or not the United States was a good country,” Griffin said. “And they came home confused about what they could or couldn’t say to a student who was Asian or otherwise of colour.” “My son was reprimanded for telling an Asian student he was good at math for stereotyping,” Griffin continued. “And it’s unbelievable to see how that destroys the minds of children who are otherwise innocent and good and don’t think about these kinds of things.” Griffin said.

6.

Across

Across Down Down

149. Gallows rope

150. Group of eight

152. Hang loosely

154. Flog

157. Fluid unit

158. Minutest

162. Iran's neighbour

163. Exhausts supply of (4,2)

166. Porridge cereal

167. Pour with rain

169. Slow down!

171. Car pioneer, Karl ...

172. Tobacco user

173. Leers

175. Lever (off)

176. Single

179. Swiss banking centre

180. Come to rest (3,2)

182. Liqueur, ... Maria

183. Towards stern

184. Blackboard stand

186. Negative

189. Harness-racing horse

190. Return (of symptoms)

191. Epic movie-maker, Cecil B De ...

192. Big Apple city (3,4)

196. 60s pop dance (2-2)

197. Dad

198. Heedful

199. Spend extravagantly

201. Not fit for consumption

202. Gloomier

203. Performing

204. Car-top luggage frame (4,4)

205. Worked hard

208. Guidance

210. Up to this time

211. Aquatic bird 212. Pragmatism

213. Vein of ore

215. Vending machine

219. Nimble

221. Small & efficient

223. Striped brown gem (5'1,3)

227. Biology or physics

228. Mummifies (corpse)

230. Donations

231. Scorch

232. Charts (course) (4,3)

233. Villain 234. Arrogant newcomer 238. Power outlet

239. Knit with hooked needle

240. Scratch

243. Eagle nests

246. Ancestry

247. Lease again

250. Naming words

251. Greek philosopher

253. Muddles (up)

256. Frequent visitor

257. Mischievous

258. Character

262. Manufacture

263. Florida's Key ...

266. Is in debt to

268. Citrus fruit

269. Surgical removal

270. Not enclosed (of land)

271. Ruling (monarch)

272. Decimal unit

273. Opinion surveys

274. Corroded, ... away at 275. Slyer 276. Supervised 277. Perseveres 278. Least

1. Manages

2. Annoyed

3. Abstains from food

4. Salt Lake City state

5. Absconded (3,3)

7. Severely

133. Inaccuracy

134. Songs for one

137. Actress, ... Sarandon

138. Scoundrel

141. Heredity units

142. Cosy corners

143. Clean with broom

151. Household jobs

153. Riddle

155. Hot & moist

156. Lower leg joint

159. Revealed (knowledge)

160. Foolishness

161. Inducting, ... in

164. Too soon

165. Open wound

168. Alienate

170. Unfashionable

173. Reverse

174. Giving university talk

177. Soundly constructed (4-5)

178. Worsened (of crisis)

181. Leaves uncared-for

185. Permitting

186. Liked

187. Retailers

188. Football umpire

193. Sun or rain

194. Acorn bearer (3,4)

195. Sing-along entertainment

200. Prayer beads

201. Official emblems

206. ... & lemons

207. Wear best clothes (5,2)

208. Human rights group, ... International

209. Modesty

211. Large pedal

214. Moral

216. Dip in liquid

217. Capers

218. Numerals

220. Conclude

222. Toadstools

224. Great joy

225. Questionable

226. Junior

229. Fully satisfy

232. Liquefy

235. Actress, ... Cruz

236. Straighter

237. Reaction

241. Changing booth

242. Picasso & Monet

244. Library patrons

245. Belongings, personal ...

248. More meagre

249. You

251. Walk with heavy steps

252. Turns away

253. Imitate

254. Father Christmas

255. Praise highly

259. Divine messenger

260. Combine

261. Roman VIII

262. Small tick

264. Unknown writer

265. Swallow noisily

267. Appear

Crossroads

By Rob Foenander info@countrycrossroads com.au

All I Have Is Me

■ Australian music legend Johnny Chester is back at it releasing his new single, All I Have Is Me.

The message, says Chess, is holding on and believing in each other and all we have together in a time when there are so many pressures and strains on families and relationships. The single is available on all streaming platforms and also to download.

www.johnnychester.com

Brendan McMahon

■ Local singer-songwriter Brendan McMahon has a new track out.

It’s Good To Be Alive is a feel good, upbeat track that'll make you want to sing along, says Brendan.

“Sitting on the back deck of my home in the Dandenong Ranges one morning before it got light with an acoustic guitar and an early morning brew, it dawned on me how good it was to watch the world come to life and how good it was to be alive.” https://www.brendanmcm.com

At The Beirsal

■ Suzette Herft and Green Fieldz will provide an afternoon of music at the Beirsal Brewery, 27 Hartnett Dve, Seaford, at 1pm4pm on Sunday, July 9.

A repertoire of original songs along with some old favourites are on offer.

A great selection of beer wines and spirits are available.

Tickets at www.trybooking.com/CIIQN

- Rob Foenander