Molly White
@molly.wiki
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writes citationneeded.news • runs @web3isgoinggreat.com and @influence.citationneeded.news • tech researcher and cryptocurrency industry critic • software engineer • wikipedian support my work: citationneeded.news/signup links: mollywhite.net/linktree 💗💜💙
![A campaign worth $10 million was funded by Washington State through the Washington Apple Commission and other agencies to promote the new apple variety,[11] using the taglines "Imagine the Possibilities" and "The Apple of Big Dreams".[1] Said to be the largest marketing campaign in the history of the apple industry,[25] it included payments to social media influencers and a partnership with a touring children's production of Johnny Appleseed.[26][13] The term "Cosmic Crisp" is trademarked.[1]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:exrxvyu6bpoym6mbnctke5tn/bafkreigcxy46qfq2fworcaxhdl35zqj4r6eeuuzzpn47la5z4jjbxm4ipu)
![The Red Delicious originally became popular thanks to not just its visual appeal but also its durability in storage,[17] making transportation easy.[7] Starting in the 1950s, changes in grocery buying habits led to consumers prioritizing appearance. "We started eating with our eyes and not our mouths," observed the pomologist and apple historian Tom Burford.[1] As a result, commercial growers increasingly selected for longer storage and cosmetic appeal rather than flavor.[14][18][6] Consumers at that time associated redness with ripeness.[9] But the selection of redder fruit caused deselection of flavor, and the genes that produced the yellow stripes on the original fruit were on the same chromosomes as those for the flavor-producing compounds.[6] Breeding for uniformity and long shelf life favored a thicker skin.[6]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:exrxvyu6bpoym6mbnctke5tn/bafkreigdzrjfrcgzwxbxqygm7zspv2a5hcl32mkc3a3ff45w4xk6kv2lcq)
![While the Red Delicious had enjoyed moderate success in the market place, its popularity only took off in the mid-twentieth century.[9] It became the most popular apple in the United States during the 1940s.[19] Up until the 1970s, there were only a small number of apple varieties available for purchase at American supermarkets; these were the Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, and Red Delicious apples.[20] But according to Tom Burford, it was the Red Delicious that was the most heavily promoted by Washington farmers.[20] By the 1980s, Red Delicious represented three-quarters of the harvest in Washington State.[19] Nevertheless, the selection for beauty and long storage over taste was not popular among consumers.[19] Wholesalers began searching for other apple varieties, such as the Fuji from Japan and the Braeburn and Gala from New Zealand.[20] As these competing cultivars entered supermarkets, demand for the Red Delicious declined.[18][21] By the 1990s, heavy reliance on the increasingly unpopular Red Delicious had been a factor driving Washington state's apple industry to the brink of collapse.[14] In 2000, President Bill Clinton signed into law a bill bailing out the apple industry, after apple growers had lost $760 million since 1997.[21]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:exrxvyu6bpoym6mbnctke5tn/bafkreib23i3y5tacbnnnjuerivpgwhtmv5zzqwopvpthfjlc2kuf7otqs4)
![Two Republican senators, neither of whom are up for re-election, have also publicly committed to voting against the bill, citing concerns about deposit flight from community banks. Josh Hawley (R-MO) pledged to side with the “agriculture folks, local community people” who are “blowing [him] up over” the bill. “Farmers and ranchers, in particular, are very, very concerned that deposit flight in small towns could absolutely kill their ability to get ag loans,” he said.10 Jerry Moran (R-KS) also committed to vote no.11 Other Republicans have expressed reservations but stopped short of pledging to vote against the bill [I107].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:exrxvyu6bpoym6mbnctke5tn/bafkreiajxqnxxfkcnhie3z5egeacefutlcsasph53krdoaxmechz2tofcu)
![The bill’s proponents describe the Clarity Act as providing “clear rules of the road” for digital assets, painting Democrats who oppose to a bill as inexplicably standing in the way of clear guardrails for crypto. “A no vote tomorrow kills the toughest ethics reform this country has ever put on the books, kills consumer protections for every American holding digital assets, and hands the future of this industry to our foreign competitors,” threatened Senator Lummis on Twitter.11
But regulations were previously, if belatedly, being enforced in the crypto sector by the SEC, which applied laws that cover a broad range of financial assets that fit the definition of an investment contract. Courts repeatedly upheld this application to the crypto sector — much to the chagrin of deep-pocketed crypto firms like Coinbase, Ripple, and Gemini, who responded with hundreds of millions in lobbying and saw their cases dropped under Trump [Quid pro quo]. Facing what they viewed as an existential threat from an SEC demanding they play by the same rules as other industries, the crypto sector spent hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying for the Clarity Act and electing lawmakers who would let them write their own rules. The result is not “clear rules of the road”, it’s industry-drafted deregulation with a loophole-ridden ethics section bolted on only after Republicans realized that even the pro-crypto Democrats installed with the help of $130 million in industry spending wouldn’t sign off on a bill placing no limits on Trump’s historic grift.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:exrxvyu6bpoym6mbnctke5tn/bafkreihs7egzwealhou5yd64db7rgm74prlm2hcskcoqormzkn3m6iomz4)
