Active volcano spotted on Venus. The planet is not yet dead. Space.com
Alligator in the Attic: Home Inspector Shocked to Find 8-Foot Beast in Three-Story Home Field and flow
Baaaad Banks
Fire the Fed Matt Stoller, BIG. Good clean fun. Well worth a read.
Fed’s Yellen expects no new financial crisis in ‘our lifetime’ Reuters
The dumbest timeline would naturally have the dumbest Treasury Secretary:
Freed from technocratic gibberish, Janet Yellen is completely reckless. This clip is just amazing (ht @DoombergT) https://t.co/mxxwygMKN9
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 17, 2023
Yes, the clip is worth watching, but put your coffee down.
Fed blocked mention of regulatory loopholes in bailout of Silicon Valley banks NYT
* * * I was an SVB customer. I blame the venture capitalists NYT (Re Silc). Well worth a read. A revealing detail:
I’ll keep my SVB debit card as a souvenir, partly because the giant arrow logo points the opposite direction it’s supposed to enter a card reader – an example of a design that obviously hasn’t suffered any user testing. It’s also a reminder that successful people aren’t always the best decision makers.
ANHD Statement on Signature Bank Closure The Association for the Development of Neighborhoods and Housing (timotheus). A well deserved kick to the prostrate body.
Wall Street banks to deposit $30 billion in First Republic FT. This is the bank where depositors are wealthy lemmings, as opposed to New York real estate lemmings (Signature) or tech bro lemmings (SVB).
* * * Another chaotic week for banks marks the end of an era for the global economy John Authors, Bloomberg
Financial Panic in the Age of Digital Banking and Social Media RAND
Crypto winners and losers after a bank run Policy
Pentagon mobilized to support tech startups after bank collapse defense one
Climate
Brazilian researchers find ‘terrifying’ plastic rocks on remote island Reuters. Look at my works, you mighty ones….
Waste pickers collect food waste and help fight climate change PA
Is climate change really making fish bigger? New study says yes Field and flow Original.
#COVID19
The strongest evidence yet that an animal started the pandemic Katherine Wu, The Atlantic. For some reason the Atlantic breaks (Furzy Mouse) this story. A preprint, apparently, to come Nature.
FDA offers radio silence on issue of spring Covid boosters, as other countries forge ahead STAT
China?
Xi Jinping to visit Vladimir Putin in Russia next week FT
Jobs in China: Beijing urged to reform vocational education and end discrimination to fill shortage of skilled workers South China Morning Post
China’s answer to ChatGPT? Baidu shares fall as Ernie Bot disappoints Reuters
Cops investigate whether fire at Chinese billionaire’s NYC pad was started remotely New York Post. Guo Wengui.
Asia-Arctic diplomacy a decade later: what has changed? The diplomat
Comment: Can Cambodia’s future foreign policy diverge from that of China? Channel News Asia
More looted Cambodian relics have returned from the United States World_. Smart move. For once.
India
As Covid cases rise, Center asks six states to maintain strict vigilance Trade standard
Make the mising brew in Majuli People’s Archives of Rural India
Strike grips Sri Lanka as unions protest IMF bailout Channel News Asia
Syrian
The Saudi-Iranian detente is a wake-up call for America Foreign Police
China’s good offices Foreign Police
Iran agrees to stop arming Houthis in Yemen as part of pact with Saudi Arabia WSJ
European disunity
A scorching afternoon in French politics as Macron uses the ‘nuclear option’ to raise the retirement age France24 (Re Silc).
German viper attackers arrested Daily News Hungary. Hmm.
Clashes erupt in Greece as thousands protest train tragedy France 24
New not so cold war
Poland will be the first NATO member to supply Ukraine with fighter jets PA
US digs deep into global stockpiles of ammunition to help Ukraine WSJ
Russia wants a long war Foreign Affairs. The game: “The West must send more weapons to Ukraine, faster.” Especially the kind of guns that 16 year olds pulled off the streets can shoot with minimal training?
War exacerbates Ukraine’s population decline, new report says EU science hub
* * * Top Chinese, U.S. envoys hold talks with Ukrainian foreign minister on war prospects South China Morning Post
“Shotguns” – really? China sends assault weapons and body armor to Russia Policy
Russia to recover US drone wreckage in Black Sea if necessary: Kremlin Andalusian Agency
* * * When MI6 betrayed Ukraine’s resistance to Russia United Kingdom declassified
Biden Administration
Seasoned Russia envoy joins Biden’s NSC Foreign police. Recommended by Victoria Nuland, so seasoned with what?
Biden’s Italian mystery Axios. No ambassador.
Supply chain
Unprecedented levels of institutional capital making their way into maritime services Splash 24/7
Technology
Unpredictable capabilities emerging from large AI models Quanta
Health care
Public Health Law Modernization 2.0: Rebalancing Public Health Powers and Individual Liberty in the Age of COVID-19 Health Affairs
Imperial Collapse Watch
US military depends on minerals China controls Foreign Police
The development and validation of the scale of epistemic vice Review of Philosophy and Psychology (Phil R). From 2021, still relevant. Excerpt from the abstract: “Epistemic vices have been defined as character traits that interfere with the acquisition, maintenance and transmission of knowledge. Examples of epistemic vice are gullibility and indifference to knowledge. It has been hypothesized that epistemically vicious people are particularly susceptible to misinformation and conspiracy theories.For example, mainstream macro ?Droplet Theory?
Class struggle
The fishing revolution and the origins of capitalism Monthly. Interesting!
Bandcamp workers form a union: ‘It’s not enough to get small gains alone’ rolling stone
Book and New Documentary Explore the Possibilities of Urban Ink-Making Colossal. Ready for the jackpot!
Antidote of the day (By Foto: Bernd Schwabe in Hannover – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0):
See Yesterday’s Links and Today’s Antidote here.
