***** denotes well-worth reading in full at source (even if excerpted extensively here)
Economic and Market Fare:
While it’s too soon to tell if growth is in trouble, ‘soft’ survey data and markets show growing concern
The U.S. economy has proved pessimists wrong so many times, it’s tempting to think nothing can stop it. President Trump’s first-month policy blitz is putting that resilience to the test. ........
The highest-earning 10% of Americans have increased their spending far beyond inflation. Everyone else hasn’t.
Charts:
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(not just) for the ESG crowd:
Yergin et al: The Troubled Energy Transition
How to Find a Pragmatic Path Forward
In 2024 global production of wind and solar energy reached record levels—levels that would have seemed unthinkable not long before. Over the past 15 years, wind and solar have grown from virtually zero to 15 percent of the world’s electricity generation, and solar panel prices have fallen by as much as 90 percent. Such developments represent a notable advance in what is called the energy transition—the shift from the current hydrocarbon-dominated energy mix to a low-carbon one dominated by renewable sources.
Yet 2024 was a record year in another regard, as well: the amount of energy derived from oil and coal also hit all-time highs. Over a longer period, the share of hydrocarbons in the global primary energy mix has hardly budged, from 85 percent in 1990 to about 80 percent today.
In other words, what has been unfolding is not so much an “energy transition” as an “energy addition.” Rather than replacing conventional energy sources, the growth of renewables is coming on top of that of conventional sources. And with Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency, priorities will focus again on conventional energy production and what his administration calls “energy dominance.” ............
"To know what is happening … the answer is in the ocean."
U.S. B.S.:
His “warrior ethos” babble is just a license for abusing detainees and killing civilians.
Geopolitical Fare:
Long rewarded by Washington and NATO for undermining diplomacy with Russia, Zelensky grew confrontational -- and told outright falsehoods -- when Donald Trump and JD Vance told him to make peace.
Simplicius: BLOODBATH IN THE OVAL OFFICE
A presidential dressing down for the ages.
We just witnessed the most extraordinary unclothing in the history of American ‘diplomacy’. Zelensky’s life and career as a cheap television gigolo flashed before his eyes, as he stumped in the Oval Office today, while Trump and Vance took turns flagellating him like the mewling fraud that he is. ...........
Bibas family threatens to sue Israeli govt as official propaganda on hostage killings unravels
The Bibas family demands the Israeli government cease exploiting the deaths of their family members for propaganda purposes as layers of evidence support claims an Israeli airstrike killed them
QsOTW:
Mate: While Trump has indeed spread many falsehoods, Zelensky’s misfortune is that the US president is also known for blurting out inconvenient truths. And now that Trump has decided to wind down the Ukraine war, Zelensky’s chief sponsor is abandoning the “disinformation space” of proxy war apologia that the NATO state political and media establishment has used to fuel conflict with Moscow.
Sci Fare:
If we could stop bickering about which creatures do or don’t deserve to be called smart, an emerging movement of scientists and philosophers argue that we might discover fundamental elements of intelligence that are common to all life.
Chasing happiness may drain your mental energy, making you less happy in the long run
Other Fare:
First they stole your data. Now, they’re stealing your future
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All the Dystopias at Once
George Orwell and Aldous Huxley both saw the future—they just split the nightmare into two books. Orwell feared a boot stamping on a human face forever. Huxley warned we’d drown in pleasure, pacified by pills and propaganda.
But the 21st century gave us both at the same damn time—surveillance fascism!
The screen—hovering 6 inches from your face, forever—is the ultimate weapon. It’s the confessional where you whisper secrets to Mark Zuckerberg, the slot machine that pays out in dopamine, the panopticon that never blinks. You scroll to numb the doom, but only ever get more doom.
This isn’t an accident. ................
Pics of the Week:
