Great. Will the new maxim of war be, “He who controls the training set controls the future”?
Sunday, August 3, 2025
Don Quijones: Retail Melts Down Before Christmas in the UK, Spreads to Continent
After “the worst-on-record unbelievably bad” November, even e-commerce gets hit, not just brick & mortar, on fears Christmas sales could be terrible. Can we make out any a silver lining in this retail meltdown, signs of a shift necessary away from fast fashion toward a more sustainable future?
2:00PM Water Cooler 12/18/2018
Today’s Water Cooler: Presidential debates, Beto unready, Senate Intelligence Community reports, DNC data, fascism once more, housing starts, modesty in fashion, Tesla, Blue Apron, Bitcoin ATMs, corruption, tech dystopias, Mr. Market and the Fed, package seizures, ambient cruelty, Facebook
COP24: Paris Agreement Rulebook ‘Does Not Deliver What The World Needs’ on Climate Change
Summary of the depressing lack of progress at the COP24 summit in Katowice, Poland, where the participants punted on agreeing to take significant action to confront climate change.
Brexit: “Managed No Deal” and Referendum Unicorns Dispatched, but How Long Before Anyone Notices?
More seemingly bad news for the UK on the Brexit front…save none of this should come as news.
Why Is CalPERS Out to Give Roundly Defeated Ex-Board Member Priya Mathur a Glamorous Boondoggle, and Poke a Stick in the Eye of Beneficiaries and Board Members in the Process?
CalPERS again insists on doing the wrong thing.
Bill Black: Countering Chinese Accounting Control Fraud and Predation Against U.S. Investors
Bipartisan failure of securities regulators allows the China Hustle of accounting control fraud to fleece US investors in Chinese companies.
2:00PM Water Cooler 12/17/2018
Today’s Water Cooler: Boeing in China, tariffs, Republican erosion in CA and PA, Ossoff lives, manufacturing, housing, shipping, banks pulling back, Texas v. United States, health care systems, vax, Xmas cheer, Yugoslavian brutalism, kludges
Sustainable Fashion: Reduce, Reuse, Exchange
Some short notes on recent efforts to improve the sustainability of the notoriously wasteful fashion industry – by reusing trash as treasure, embracing the circular economy, and reusing plastic harvested from the sea.
Warning of Solar Geoengineering’s Dangers, Group Recommends a Global Ban
A Harvard team intends to shoot particles into the air to slow or halt global warming. The unknown risks of geoengineering could be catastrophic, and some scientist support an outright ban.
The UK’s Reform of Limited Partnership Law: Dead on Arrival (I)
Scottish Limited Partnerships and International Crime: NO evidence??
Debate: The ‘Gilets Jaunes’ Movement Is Not a Facebook Revolution
Clearing up misperceptions about the gilet jaunes and the role of social media in organizing.
War on Cash: State and City Governments Push Back
State and local governments are pushing back against cashless businesses, which exclude those who prefer to use or must pay with cash.
