Friday 13th September 2024

Interview Learnings from former CIA Intelligence Officer - Byte Tank

Key takeaways from everyday spy's (Andrew Bustamante) interview on Diary of a CEO

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"What sets TradeBriefs apart is its eclectic mix of content, from international finance to deeply human stories. It's rare to find a platform that can cover such diverse ground while still being highly relevant."
- Michael Thompson, CEO, NextWave Enterprises

Mapped: Youth Unemployment By Region

Global youth unemployment rate dropped to a 15-year low, but there were significant differences by region.

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Asia Has No Hegemon - Foreign Affairs (No paywall)

Debates about the balance of power in Asia typically rely on one of three views. Some analysts believe, fatalistically, that China has become an unassailably dominant force in the region. Others place continued faith in U.S. primacy and see China as weak, vulnerable, and ultimately containable. Still others, including U.S. allies such as Australia and Japan, tout the emergence of a multipolar Indo-Pacific that could arrest China’s ambitions for regional hegemony.

An accurate understanding of the balance of power in Asia is critical to the formulation of sound U.S. strategy on China. But none of these prevailing narratives get things quite right. Asia today is uniquely bipolar, dominated by the world’s only two superpowers. Asia is not a European-style concert of powers, a Middle Eastern free-for-all, or a Cold War–era system of opposing blocs. Countries in Asia are for the most part hedging between two giants. The even balance between the United States and China also makes Asia’s power politics the most stable among the major regional theaters.

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Is Climate Activism Working? - Foreign Policy (No paywall)

Last year, Germany’s Constitutional Court rejected 60 billion euro ($65 billion) fund set aside for renewable energy investments. Ever since, the country’s climate policy has been set adrift, with political parties struggling to agree on how to achieve Germany’s climate targets. In response, the country’s climate activist movement has tried taking matters into its own hands.

Last year, Germany’s Constitutional Court rejected 60 billion euro ($65 billion) fund set aside for renewable energy investments. Ever since, the country’s climate policy has been set adrift, with political parties struggling to agree on how to achieve Germany’s climate targets. In response, the country’s climate activist movement has tried taking matters into its own hands.

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Republican Supervillains Are Conspiring to Elect Kamala Harris - Intelligencer (No paywall)

Dick Cheney and torture enthusiast Alberto Gonzales have both endorsed Harris over Trump in the past week.

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People Are Setting Themselves on Fire and Getting Punched in the Face to Pump Their Crypto Coins - WIRED (No paywall)

The scene, illuminated by a pair of car headlights, was being livestreamed on X. The aim was to promote Ayala’s crypto token, Truth or Dare. “Don’t get FOMO, drop a bag on $DARE!” read a graphic layered over the feed. Ayala had been filming himself performing stunts all week—drinking bong water, smashing up his TV, and so forth—but this one went too far.

Ayala dodged the first volley of roman candles fired in his direction, but soon his entire torso was engulfed in flames. “Oh shit,” said a voice from behind the camera, having apparently not considered this possibility. The group threw water over Ayala, but it quickly ran out. He buckled onto a patch of grass and began to scream.

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Meet the radio-obsessed civilian shaping Ukraine’s drone defense - MIT Technology Review (No paywall)

Since Russia’s invasion, Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov has become an influential, if sometimes controversial, force—sharing expert advice and intel on the ever-evolving technology that’s taken over the skies. His work may determine the future of Ukraine, and wars far beyond it.

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Olsens’ fashion label The Row gets backing from Chanel, billionaire heiress - Fortune (No paywall)

The Wertheimer brothers, via their family office Mousse Partners, and Francoise Bettencourt Meyers’ family vehicle, Tethys Invest, have bought a minority stake in the fashion brand, according to people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named discussing matters that aren’t public. 

Imaginary Ventures, co-founded by fashion entrepreneur Natalie Massenet, and Saint Dominique Capital, a fund backed by businesswoman Lauren Santo Domingo, are also investing in the label, people familiar with the matter said. The Olsen sisters will remain The Row’s majority shareholders. The transactions value the company at about $1 billion, the people said.

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Global warming makes hurricanes stronger, but less frequent

Here in our Universe, there’s a formula for understanding how any physical phenomenon works. If we can come to know the fundamental rules governing any physical system, and if those rules remain constant over time, then we can input the parameters that we have at any moment and evolve that system forward in time, allowing us to predict its future behavior. These laws enable certain phenomena to arise as long as specific physical conditions are met:

The specifics of whatever conditions are in place at any moment in time help determine things — like frequency and intensity — of any such physical phenomenon.

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10 life lessons from four decades in the market

This week, Arne Alsin — the CIO of Nightview Capital and my colleague for almost a decade now — shared 10 insightful life and business lessons that he’s picked up in his 40+ year career as an investor.

I’ve seen many of these lessons firsthand. Arne — who began his career as a forensic accountant — perceives the market as the world’s most intricate (and ever-evolving) puzzle to be solved. I’ve also come to see how he integrates behavioral psychology, game theory, and extreme, deep-dive research to make decisions that often buck the “conventional” wisdom on Wall Street.

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