Saturday, July 26, 2025

2:00PM Water Cooler 12/15/2022

~ Today’s Water Cooler ~

Arctic Report Card 2022: The Arctic Is Getting Rainier and Seasons Are Shifting, with Broad Disturbances for People, Ecosystems and Wildlife

An update on the impact of global warming in the Arctic.

Links 12/15/2022

US Heavy-Handedness Forges Russia-Iran-India Ties

This Asian north-south bloc grows stronger in response to Washington’s efforts to maintain hegemony, and as Sir Halford John Mackinder said, “Who rules the world island commands the world.”

Hungary Asks the War Questions and Probes Merkel’s Minsk Deception

On Merkel’s and Germany’s posture toward the war in Ukraine and Russia generally.

Needed Global Financial Reforms Foregone Yet Again

The pathologies that produced the financial crisis are still circulating.

Reviewing WHO’s Draft “Respiratory Pathogens: Pandemic Preparedness Guidance” [Pounds Head on Desk]

Needs a rewrite.

2:00PM Water Cooler 12/14/2022

~ Today’s Water Cooler: Open Thread ~

Links 12/14/2022

Notes on SBF’s Indictment and SEC/CFTC Civil Suits, Incarceration, Meetup with Reality

SBF’s fortunes just took a big nosedive, or for the more jaundiced, got marked to market.

The Economic Consequences of War

On the economic effects of wars, drawing on a novel database of nearly 400 wars over the past two centuries.

New York Times Strike: From Reporters to Rabble-Rousers

Workers at the New York Times stopped working to demand better pay and labor rights—but only for a day. What if they flexed their power?

2:00PM Water Cooler 12/13/2022

~ Today’s Water Cooler ~

The UK Firm at the Heart of a High-Level Fraud Conviction in Russia

Russia cracks down on a few oligarchs using UK offshore-owned corporate entities that face little scrutiny.

Links 12/13/2022