🔗 WWW
There are a lot of links out to different parts of the web on this site. I try to mark them all so they get listed here.
But Stiglitz suggested the only way the president’s policies would positively contribute to that goal was by running the US into the ground. “The inflation from the tariffs is going in the wrong way, and the only thing that is going in the right way for Bessent is his efforts to crater the economy,” he said.
“In supporting Trump’s economic policies, Bessent is helping to get the yield curve down by crashing the US economy – not a good policy, I would say.”
🔗 Trump policies make US ‘scary place to invest’ and risk stagflation, says Stiglitz
🔗📸 Well. Who knew? - and ‘just’ down the road apparently.
David Frum is not wrong …
If someone wants to unlock a stolen phone – or retrieve money from an ATM – and only have five guesses, this data suggests they still have a one-in-eight chance of guessing correctly.
💬 Nathan Yau - Flowing Data
Fresh into the feed today - Doc on the difference between 🔗 Blocking Tracking and Blocking Ads
Its amazing how after all this time they are still conflated (I think mainly because it suits the advertisers dialogue- and ‘ad blockers’ rolls off the tongue better than ‘tracker blockers’)
.. sharing - and understand - not sure I could do it.
4 Instagrams
Because sometimes you need to watch things to which you can nod your head up and down - not side to side.
TIL that Buffy Sainte-Marie wrote 🎵 Universal Soldier - a song that for some reason (maybe because I only ever heard his version and it was a relatively big hit in the UK) … had always assumed Donovan wrote. 🤦♂️
I found out by reading 🔗 this - which is a sad story that I have no opinion about.
🔗Governor Newsom: Please help Franklin fire victims
Well this little bit of news totally passed me by. Surely an oversight?
The Franklin Fire was still smoldering when the Palisades Fire ignited. We were still in a hotel, not yet having found a place to rent. We are part of this disaster, yet we have been erased from its response.
💬 Posted by Jason Fried ‘for a friend’.
? If you’re feeling stressed, hum a few bars of Alice’s Restaurant
💬 Dave Winer
Yesterday .. (If you’re feeling stressed) reminds us to tune into Alice’s Restaurant and hum a few bars. Me? 🖇️ I remind you of one specific verse late in the song
Either way - it’s all good - delivered nearly 60 years ago.
BUT
It is now 2025 - the same year as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones won Grammies - so nothing has changed right?
🎵 I know - who cares - its just a …
🔗 Concern the UK’s AI ambitions could lead to water shortages
If I’d been told when I was growing up in England that in the future the BBC would report that ‘water shortages’ loomed, I would have assumed that I had stepped into a dystopian SF novel that made up my reading pleasure at the time.
🔗 Archiving effort to preserve Data.gov - FlowingData
We continue with hope.
🔗 Everyone knows your location: tracking myself down through in-app ads
what does Unity, the 3D engine, have to do with the in-app advertisement or location tracking?
…
Turns out that Unity’s main revenue stream (they made $2 bln+ in 2023) is Unity Ads - “Mobile Game Ad Network”. Sounds quite interesting.
Too technical for this bear to fully understand - BUT I got enough to let out a very loud expletive.
(via John Wunderlich over on LinkedIN)
🚧 Prisons and Bitcoin
I am unsure if they are connected - so parking this here while we think.
There is also something going on with the Argentinian playbook - which I am planning to publish in a newsletter.
I am no expert - but my spidey senses are up … Bitcoin, Argentina, El Salvador .. OR, it’s all summarized thus ….
Bitcoin
El Salvador introduced bitcoin as legal tender in 2021 and then - as now - one Tim Draper has oft’ spoken breathlessly of how cool it is that a sovereign nation has adopted it.
Tim Draper Expects Bitcoin to Transform El Salvador Into One of the Richest Countries in the World.
The flag waving by Tim has never stopped.
That Said
- El Salvador’s experiment with Bitcoin as legal tender since 2021 has had mixed results.
- Only 8.1% of the population have used Bitcoin for payments by 2024.
- Seperately, the initiative faced criticism for its volatility, lack of transparency, and limited impact on remittances, which make up a significant part of the economy.
- Even so, El Salvador’s Bitcoin investments turned profitable by late 2024 - BUT the government has not recouped the costs of promoting the cryptocurrency.
- So, in December 2024, El Salvador agreed to scale back Bitcoin policies to secure a $1.4 billion IMF loan (Dollars speak) which included making Bitcoin acceptance voluntary and reducing public sector involvement in Bitcoin-related activities.
- Despite all of this by the end of 2024, its holdings surpassed 6,000 BTC which seems to have grown to 6,055 BTC as of February 1, 202. Value? Over $612 million.
Perspective
In a recent Bloomberg interview, Michael Saylor, executive chairman and co-founder of MicroStrategy, revealed that beyond his company’s holdings, he personally owns at least 17,732 Bitcoin, currently valued at approximately $1 billion.
Yup - Saylor personally owns 150% more Bitcoin than The country of El Salvador - and let’s not forget that his company MicroStrategy owns another 471,107 bitcoins.
Question
Why do we still trumpet the El Salvador story?
Prisons
El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) is the largest prison in Latin America, with a capacity to hold 40,000 inmates. The facility spans 410 acres of land, with the prison complex itself covering 57 acres (approximately the size of seven football stadiums). It features eight cell blocks and extensive security measures, including electrified fences, reinforced walls, and 19 guard tower. It was built in late 2022 during a large-scale gang crackdown and officially opened in January 2023. Population of El Salvador - 6.5 million The USA has a total prison capacity across federal, state, and local facilities that can house 1.9 million people in federal prisons, correctional facilities, state prisons, local jails, and other detention centers.
Today’s News
# Could US criminals be sent to El Salvador’s mega-jail?
President Nayib Bukele confirmed that he had offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system". Putting aside the legal questions of exporting US citizens to another country’s prison system - I am wondering what’s going on.
Back Of The Napkin - Capacity
- El Salvador : 6,500,000/40,000=162.5 - in just a single prison
- USA : 350,000,000/1,900,000=184.2 - total capacity
Back Of The Napkin - Prisoner Count
- El Salvador : 1,086 prisoners per 100,000 people in the population
- USA : 531 prisoners per 100,000 people in the population
🔗 The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk’s Government Takeover
The names to remember ..
Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran.
DEI? 🔗📼 Try This.
.. he includes a script.
Made a list of the contact info for my congresscritters in Notes.app to make it easier to call daily.
Today’s issue: This is a coup. Start calling it that.
💬 Patrick Rhone