Last week’s posts on Moon of Alabama:
- Aug 17 – WSJ Unveils Iran ‘Secret’ – Trump Talks With NoKo? – Threat To Oman
- Aug 21 – War On Iran: – Iran’s Advantage
Related:
– The Iran war energy crisis is just getting started – Reuters
– After Six Months of War, Trump Is Still Losing to Iran – New Yorker
– Why China Thinks It Can Resist Trump’s Economic Threats on Iran – NY Times
- Aug 18 – The War Hits Back – Record Bond Yields And Diesel Spreads
Related:
– Bossing the bond market around never works (archived) – FT
Despite Scott Bessent’s efforts, investors worry something is up
– The Trump economy: $40tn debt, 6.7% mortgages and $5 diesel (archived) – FT
The president’s agenda is under strain as the Iran war pushes up prices and America’s finances worsen
– How the A.I. Borrowing Binge Helps Drive Up Government Bond Yields – NY Times
– You’re Already Funding the AI Bubble — and You’ll Pay for the Bust – Yahoo
- Aug 19 – Broken Ukrainian Family Tells Weird ‘Rescue’ Story
Related:
– Ukraine’s Ultranationalist War On History – Kit Klarenberg
– It’s Time to Apologize to Ukrainians – American Conservative
– Russian attacks are doing severe harm to Ukraine’s economy (archived) – Economist
– Why Ukraine is short of money again (in Russian) – Strana
– Ukraine Planned to Swarm Moscow Airports With AI-Guided Drones – Atlantic
- Aug 22 – Is Trump Offering Mustang ‘Beef’?
Related:
– Trump hits pause on a free-trade beef (archived) – Washington Post
With the midterms looming, the president says he’ll roll back burger-busting tariffs.
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Other issues:
Oligarchs:
- How a Palantir co-founder’s once-fringe crusade spread across Trump’s America (archived – Washington Post
Long before Silicon Valley embraced Trump, Joe Lonsdale wanted to remake government and shift the nation’s approach to homelessness. Now, his friends in the White House are listening. - The Art of the Self-Deal (archived) – WSJ
Thoughts on how Trump-era corruption is affecting Americans as a people.
AI:
- What Happens If OpenAI Dies? – Ed Zitron
- OpenAI’s Second-Quarter Sales Show Tepid Growth Compared With Anthropic (archived) – WSJ
The ChatGPT-maker’s revenue disappointed some investors, although the company told them its growth accelerated in the third quarter - We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility – 404media
China:
- The White House’s absurd claim of a Chinese transshipment “scam” (archived) – Economist
High tariffs on Chinese goods have had predictable effects - Malaysia Raises Concerns Over US-Backed Philippine Military Base (archived) – Bloomberg
- China never plays apples and oranges – Manila Times
SoAm:
Use as open (not related to the wars in Ukraine and Iran) thread …