Midrange Weekly May 3
Your Weekly Round Up On What’s Got The Midrange Staff’s Attention
Midrange Staff @midrangeyvr
Welcome back to Midrange Weekly, where our team briefly rises from whatever existential pit of despair we’ve all carved out for ourselves to discuss some of the week’s noteworthy events. The last seven days, personal or anecdotal upheaval aside, have been fairly- maddeningly- normal. That in of itself seems almost anomalous enough to investigate bet we’ll chalk it up to the notion that even the spectre that is 2021 can’t surprise us every single week. Before diving into this week’s content check out our dude Jamie over at the Vancouver Sun where he was interviewed about his thoughts on the perpetual gut punch the restaurant industry has taken from the pandemic. So photogenic he is!
Giuliani And Trump Are About To Turn On Each Other
As was perhaps the inevitable consequence to his foreign adventurism and hijinks at the behest of Donald Trump, America’s formerly favourite mayor Rudy Giuliani is having a very bad week. Long past his laundered and manicured prime as the stalwart and level headed mayor that navigated New York through the turbulence of 9/11, Giuliani spent the Trump years recasting himself as an aggrandizing and conspiratorial attack dog for the former president. While ostensibly serving as Trump’s personal lawyer, which in of itself seems to have shady connotations as there is a legion of DOJ lawyers the chief executive has access to that serve the office of the presidency, Giuliani’s role was intentionally nebulous. Weaving between the parameters of a talking head supplicant for cable TV and shadowy legal counsel, both of dubious competency, it was sometimes hard to pin down what exactly were the services Giuliani was providing for Trump. More specifically, what were those services worth? The week’s events bring in to stark relief that the answer is not much, and that could likely spell certain doom for the alliance between the two.
Giuliani’s offices and apartment in Manhattan were raided this week by FBI agents with federal search warrants- big yikes. An unknown number of electronic devices and other records were seized, relating to Giuliani’s potentially illegal activities working with the Ukrainian government. Giuliani got in deep with labyrinthine political power structures of Ukrainian governance, of which has been plagued by numerous forms of malignant corruption that has yet to be fully excised. In other words, there were plenty of unscrupulous people over there for Giuliani to work with in his pursuit of bringing down Joe Biden’s presidential campaign in 2019 and 2020 at the behest of Trump. The angle was alleging and then trying to dig up dirt on Biden’s son Hunter’s supposed financial malfeasance while on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. While accusations of nepotism and cashing in a famous last name can certainly be directed towards the younger Biden, that’s about it. Giuliani however, persisted and insisted there were secretly lap tops- somewhere!- that revealed the depths of Hunter Biden’s criminal conduct in Ukraine. None of the increasingly far-fetched assertions were even proven.
However in entangling himself with the Ukrainian government, suspicions that Giuliani was offering beneficial responses from the Trump admin should they produce, or concoct, the desired evidence. He also allegedly tried to get US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch fired for attempting to thwart his meddling. This being the case could be construed as Giuliani lobbying on behalf of the Ukrainian government. This is legal as long as you register as a lobbyist for a foreign government. It’s very, very illegal if you don’t- and Giuliani allegedly didn’t. The fact that federal agents were able to secure a search warrant to investigate such crimes indicates there is already a compelling body of evidence against him. In fact, further investigation into the matter reveals the FBI was ready to execute the search months ago but Trump’s DOJ intervened to delay the move. Now that he’s not president anymore it removes one of the veiled layers of protection Giuliani was no doubt counting on.
That Trump is no longer president is the crux of why the house of cards is falling down around Giuliani and his ilk. Trump’s astoundingly brazen and explicit profiteering, colluding, and mendacity never caught up with him due to the DOJ’s standing opinion that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted. Now that he is a private citizen and no longer inoculated from his conduct and those that operated under his purview, he’ll need a new strategy. It’s actually an old strategy, to throw those under the bus that are not able to produce for him. Trump is historically notorious for turning on those that no longer have any strategic value to him. When former 2016 campaign manager Paul Manafort was indicted and convicted for fraud and was alleged to be passing along sensitive campaign material to foreign agents, Trump said he didn’t know Manafort that well and he was only in charge for a short period of time. Likewise Trump’s long time fixer, Michael Cohen, who was something of a predecessor in the role Giuliani was filling, is now a sworn enemy of Trump after being convicted of fraud and perjury (at Trump’s direction) and they turned on each other. Make no mistake, when push comes to shove (as it seems it’s about to), Trump will abandon Giuliani.
This puts Giuliani in a pickle. With trump no doubt inclined to cut him loose he can’t count any kind of rallying of public support from the MAGA crowd around his cause. Furthermore, with Trump out of office Giuliani has no hope for a presidential pardon should he be convicted down the line. With such legal and personal escape hatches neutralized, Giuliani will be under intense pressure to flip and provide investigators any information he may have on other high profile figures under the gaze of their scrutinizing eyes. Such high profile persons almost certainly include Trump himself. Even if Giuliani didn’t feel fully compelled to turn on his former boss, the highly informal nature of their legal relationship will likely obviate much of the attorney client privileges that could have shielded their communications form investigators. This means he may have to spill the beans whether he wants to or not. Giuliani, ever the shameless sycophant, could in theory feel compelled to dive on the grenade as it were and go down for Trump. However with Trump almost certain to dump him in favour of his own callous self-interest, it’s hard to imagine Giuliani taking the hit like a loyal soldier. To use a parlance that Giuliani- who is a former prosecutor himself- should understand, rats will eat each other to escape a sinking ship. Stay tuned. -Tristan
Making Sense of DoorDash’s New Pricing Tiers
Via Eater Sf
This past Tuesday, DoorDash announced they were implementing three new pricing tiers for restaurants. I have plenty to say on this matter. Here’s the press release.
From Tech Crunch:
DoorDash now offers three plans: DoorDash Basic, where restaurants only pay a 15% commission on deliveries, which shifts “a higher portion of the delivery cost to the customer” and supports a smaller delivery area; DoorDash Plus, where restaurants pay 25% to be part of DoorDash’s DashPass subscription program and get increased visibility in the DoorDash app; and DoorDash Premier, where restaurants pay 30% in exchange for the lowest customer fees, the largest delivery area and a growth guarantee of at least 20 orders per month across pickup, delivery and DoorDash-owned Caviar. Across all plans, DoorDash says it will now charge only a 6% commission on pickup orders.
This news isn’t surprising. The backlash the company and Uber Eats have received in regards to their outrageous 30% delivery fees has been acrimonious to say the least. Cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago have implemented 15% caps to help restaurants during the pandemic, which is great, but, if you’re DoorDash, these measures have done little to help with your image and reputation. This looks to be their way of trying to do just that.
Here in BC we’ve done the same and capped third-party delivery fees at 15%, even though that doesn’t include up to 5% processing. So the cap is more like 20%. Good, but not great.
But what does this signal for restaurateurs?
For those who are small and don’t need or want the added exposure on the app, the basic tier makes the most sense. However, there’s been limited detail as to what the framework of a small delivery area equates too. There’s no mention of it on their website, so it remains to be seen how this plays out. If you’re Fat Mao here in Chinatown, what’s your scope? Chinatown and Gastown? All of East Vancouver? I’m curious as to what the radius is.
However, I will say, shifting a larger share of the cost onto the customer in the basic tier is something I really like. The more consumers get used to the idea that ordering delivery comes at a cost and convenience, one that lives in reality, the better it is for all involved. This is my one major gripe with this industry. Our impetus to always want to race to the bottom with pricing schemes which are neither sustainable or profitable in the long run. It costs to use the DoorDash app. It costs to pay the Dasher. It costs to tip your Dasher. Then there’s taxes and processing fees. Add it all up and that bowl of soup from Fat Mao which is $17 on their menu will end up being close to $30 once all is said and done and delivered. Expensive? Sure. But that’s the cost for convenience. Deal with it. If you don’t like it, go pick it up.
The restaurant industries fear of raising their prices is a topic I’ve long wanted to discuss. Another day perhaps.
As for their other two tiers, DoorDash Plus and Premier, both look as if they will ultimately be the play a lot of restaurants will find themselves under. Many will try the basic, but will eventually find the scope of their reach limiting. This is where I feel regulation will need to be implemented in the long run. Google is going through a similar issue now with how they position their interests in search over their competitiors. There’s no stopping DoorDash in making the basic tier a bare bones option, thus forcing restaurateurs to have to jump up to get the kind of service and customers they want and need. I say need now in the proverbial sense as with regards to how things stand currently in Vancouver. Indoor dining is out, which means delivery is that much more important.
Once this pandemic passes, how much consumers continue to use delivery we’ll have to see. Demand will dictate which tier restaurants will want to be under. Pick St. Lawrence as an example. Will they have the time and will to continue with what they’re currently offering once they can fully reopen? Possibly. But I doubt it will be at the scale they currently are and that has to be a factor here. It’s probably a big part of why DoorDash put these tiers in place now versus waiting. They know their hold on the industry will wane once things return to normal.
In the end restaurants are and have been at the mercy of these companies for over a year now. Some regulation has helped and a local startup has given new hope to what other apps could look like. Ultimately, this market is still kinda up in the air. Personally, I just wish restaurants priced accordingly to what they require to turn profits. If you need to jump to a higher tier for more exposure, then add that extra 10% on to your menu to offset the jump. It’s a fearful gamble I know, but really, if you stand by your product and have a good following, those who love what you offer will pay what you dictate. I adore Fat Mao, so if all of a sudden their soup went from being $17 to $19 a bowl, I’m still going regardless.
Finally, these new tiers are better, but restaurants need to do their part as well. Stand by your business and price your products correctly. If you do this, then DoorDash can be your partner and not your adversary. - Jamie
FLUX FIVE
As I become increasingly more appalled by not only the business practices of our lords and masters “big tech” but the monopolistic information consumption reality they’ve trapped us in, I’ve been leaning towards the more retro ways of searching for new bands, artists and media. So i thought this week we’d dive into some musical content that is only available via Bandcamp, not licensed to Apple Music, Spotify or hosted on YouTube. So here are some really great “off the grid” musicians to go support. enjoy! - Mick
Paddy Steer “Fresh From A Cut” 2020 Tango Western March
10.4 Rog ”Circular Logic” 2011 Scraps
Acre Yawn “Dinner Waltz, 3 am” 2012 Ours And Other Museums
Unknown Me “Breathing wave (with food man)” 2021 Bishanti
The Point “Bobby” 2021 Phomnkadelic
Things From The Internet We Liked
This Harrison Ford Magic Trick Clip Is Glorious
Move over Ikea Guy, the internet has a new weekly champion and it’s- of all things- unearthed footage of a magician (possibly David Blaine?) performing a magic trick for none other than Harrison Ford. While the trick is pretty darn impressive in its own right, it’s Ford’s reaction that makes this one an all timer.
Please enjoy Harrison Ford watching a magic trick & then reacting in the only way Harrison Ford reacts to anything pic.twitter.com/oAoUlDT3GY
— Clarisse Loughrey (@clarisselou) April 28, 2021
ESPN Gives Love To Kobe Bryant’s Midrange Game A Few Weeks Before His Hall Of Fame Induction
Our website is partially named after the midrange shot in basketball, so it was hard to resist not putting this lovely montage of Kobe’s brilliance up here. His Hall of Fame induction will be on May 15th. Michael Jordan will be presenting in his honour. Fitting to say the least as Kobe modelled his entire game after MJ. Both are the best there have ever been in this area. This video showcases how unstoppable he truly was was from 15 feet. Enjoy!
Dawn Richard’s new album knows exactly what it wants to say, and how it wants to say it
On her 6th studio album Second Line, DJ/vocalist Dawn Richard charts the course of foundation of black culture in dance electronica and extrapolates it into her own personal and forward looking story. Check out one of the highlights Bussifame.