Salvini's Next Move, BlackRock to Fractionalize the World, Armenia vs. Azerbaijan Is Far From Over, The Tyranny of the Algorithm, Another Cosmic Riddle Solved
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"Gone are the days when populist and right wing parties are anti-EU"
One ancient rumor trying to discredit Orban as a short man with a Napoleon complex fuelling an endless ambition was his supposed dismay when he learned that only people born in the US can become the president over there.
The very same circles still delude themselves that Orban wants Hungary to leave the EU. He doesn't want to leave the next best thing to America, he wants to lead it.
Brexit was a defeatist tantrum, although, seeing British politics, nothing of value, as far as intra-EU support for sovereign power, was lost.
I occasionally listen to corporate MSNBC lib Chris Hayes's podcast. The most recent ep I took in was with a sociologicist who wrote a book about the year 2020. Hayes says things like "we've all forgotten what 2020 was like" throughout. We have? Who are these fricking people?
I was in the Armenian town of Yeghegnadzor (located between Azerbaijan and its exclave) a couple of days ago. There were a bunch of very obviously special forces type people driving around in land cruisers pretending to be EU development people. I spoke to one in Norwegian and he looked very annoyed. Could have clocked him wrong but the accent and physiognomy strongly suggested otherwise. Have to wonder what they were doing--maybe recce-ing the town for potential future defence?
Way back when, I used to go to this tiny cafe in Tribeca, far east side and way before Tribeca was anything other than warehouses. Only served enormous cafe au lait and small croissants, rickety wooden chairs, maybe six tables total. Loved it there, but it didn't stand a chance against the types of places you're describing there. Never made it to the 21st century.
I'm happy to report that coffee shops in the Maghreb do not follow this "global" trend. No starbucks-like menu, no industrial-size wood tables, no bright interior with walls painted white. In fact if there's any foreign influence in the local coffee shops, it's French influence.
Also: "when someone searches Google for speciality coffee shops in Bucharest, Beans & Dots pops up. Ungureanu developed an Instagram account full of cappuccino snapshots and more than 7,000 followers, but grew frustrated when she felt that the platform was taking away her ability to access her audience through the feed"
The location is bad, I've been there.
"This homogenisation is not just a phenomenon of our own moment; it is a consequence of changes that happened long before algorithmic social media feeds"
Sure, like communism destroying social life and interaction in Eastern Europe, so that now most coffee shops there look like the "global" cafés the writer describes because they don't have a tradition that they can build on.
Fink is right that Bitcoin has largely failed as a currency. It’s been 15 years and the only time I see “pay with Bitcoin!” is shopping grey market online vendors. As a digital bar of gold however it’s been fantastic and that is where its utility lays. I know true believers are probably angry about a company co-opting Bitcoin but that ship sailed when the feds figured out how to track transactions on the Bitcoin ledger in order to shut down Silk Road in 2012. If you want to stay true to the more libertarian ethos that spawned Bitcoin, use Monero instead. The fact Monero transactions are truly private means the feds hate it and Wall Street will never touch it.
As far as tokenization of everything goes, yuck. Fink should pull up some old articles from 2017 on Ethereum blockchain and see how tokenizing cloud computing, homes, or dental care(Dentacoin!) turned out. Big speculative bubble that burst when people realized the garbage they bought. Fink might believe he can time the top.
Excellent SCR as usual, sir! I watch EU politics (as I did Brexit) like a soap opera or sports league…full of rivals and subplots. It would be fascinating to see a solid anti-EU block emerge and watch whether the path would be accommodation or exit. I expect the EU could survive without Italy but not without France or Germany.
My college student son (big US state school) said he hung out with an Azeri classmate recently and got an earful of college-aged-Azeri perspective on how terrible Armenians are and how righteous Azeris are in their conflict. He said it was quite a trip.
When I went to college I think my most exotic classmate was from Texas.
Hit the like button at the top or bottom of this page to like this entry. Use the share and/or re-stack buttons to share this across social media. Leave a comment if the mood strikes you to do so.
And please don't forget to subscribe if you haven't done so already!
Also: I've written essays on Salvini in the past and might do so again in the near future.
"Meloni who was ruled as a centrist liberal, and is now feted in western media as a ‘voice of reason’."
The EU likes Meloni the way I like my women: quiet and submissive.
That BlackRock shit is crazy.
"Gone are the days when populist and right wing parties are anti-EU"
One ancient rumor trying to discredit Orban as a short man with a Napoleon complex fuelling an endless ambition was his supposed dismay when he learned that only people born in the US can become the president over there.
The very same circles still delude themselves that Orban wants Hungary to leave the EU. He doesn't want to leave the next best thing to America, he wants to lead it.
Brexit was a defeatist tantrum, although, seeing British politics, nothing of value, as far as intra-EU support for sovereign power, was lost.
I occasionally listen to corporate MSNBC lib Chris Hayes's podcast. The most recent ep I took in was with a sociologicist who wrote a book about the year 2020. Hayes says things like "we've all forgotten what 2020 was like" throughout. We have? Who are these fricking people?
I was in the Armenian town of Yeghegnadzor (located between Azerbaijan and its exclave) a couple of days ago. There were a bunch of very obviously special forces type people driving around in land cruisers pretending to be EU development people. I spoke to one in Norwegian and he looked very annoyed. Could have clocked him wrong but the accent and physiognomy strongly suggested otherwise. Have to wonder what they were doing--maybe recce-ing the town for potential future defence?
Way back when, I used to go to this tiny cafe in Tribeca, far east side and way before Tribeca was anything other than warehouses. Only served enormous cafe au lait and small croissants, rickety wooden chairs, maybe six tables total. Loved it there, but it didn't stand a chance against the types of places you're describing there. Never made it to the 21st century.
#primagliItaliani
Fun reads today...won't sleep now
Yes, someone has to be left surviving in the rubble -.-
I'm happy to report that coffee shops in the Maghreb do not follow this "global" trend. No starbucks-like menu, no industrial-size wood tables, no bright interior with walls painted white. In fact if there's any foreign influence in the local coffee shops, it's French influence.
Also: "when someone searches Google for speciality coffee shops in Bucharest, Beans & Dots pops up. Ungureanu developed an Instagram account full of cappuccino snapshots and more than 7,000 followers, but grew frustrated when she felt that the platform was taking away her ability to access her audience through the feed"
The location is bad, I've been there.
"This homogenisation is not just a phenomenon of our own moment; it is a consequence of changes that happened long before algorithmic social media feeds"
Sure, like communism destroying social life and interaction in Eastern Europe, so that now most coffee shops there look like the "global" cafés the writer describes because they don't have a tradition that they can build on.
Fink is right that Bitcoin has largely failed as a currency. It’s been 15 years and the only time I see “pay with Bitcoin!” is shopping grey market online vendors. As a digital bar of gold however it’s been fantastic and that is where its utility lays. I know true believers are probably angry about a company co-opting Bitcoin but that ship sailed when the feds figured out how to track transactions on the Bitcoin ledger in order to shut down Silk Road in 2012. If you want to stay true to the more libertarian ethos that spawned Bitcoin, use Monero instead. The fact Monero transactions are truly private means the feds hate it and Wall Street will never touch it.
As far as tokenization of everything goes, yuck. Fink should pull up some old articles from 2017 on Ethereum blockchain and see how tokenizing cloud computing, homes, or dental care(Dentacoin!) turned out. Big speculative bubble that burst when people realized the garbage they bought. Fink might believe he can time the top.
Excellent SCR as usual, sir! I watch EU politics (as I did Brexit) like a soap opera or sports league…full of rivals and subplots. It would be fascinating to see a solid anti-EU block emerge and watch whether the path would be accommodation or exit. I expect the EU could survive without Italy but not without France or Germany.
My college student son (big US state school) said he hung out with an Azeri classmate recently and got an earful of college-aged-Azeri perspective on how terrible Armenians are and how righteous Azeris are in their conflict. He said it was quite a trip.
When I went to college I think my most exotic classmate was from Texas.
Thanks Niccolo!
Two minor points -
feted --> fêted
signs show --> signs indicate
[comment: 'signs show' is more like 'signs display' than 'signs allow the inference' which is what you mean]