Orright orright, cos I wrote the book on finance you all want me to say something about the Stonkening.

That was one for the ages.

A good piece here explaining that Robinhood had to pause trade for legit reasons, though perhaps less legit for them to sell shares that were not even bought on the margin (i.e. via their loans.).

This is not to say there were no shenanigans. There are shenanigans aplenty. To see our overlords reacting as one has been – informative.

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Big Tech’s Night of the Long Knives:

The Internet giants are only the vanguard. In the meantime, the banks are already beginning to strike powerfully (Deutsche Bank wants to cancel all business relations with Trump). Those who don’t follow suit will only get an account in an obscure regional bank in ‘Hungary’s Pampas,’ and the transfer costs will eat away most of the income. And if all the dissidents have been driven into Bitcoin, how long will Bitcoin be around? As a ‘maledict’, one who can no longer get jobs or work for political reasons, what are you left with? Molotov cocktail or collecting bottles? Are these the alternatives?

Related: Big Tech has no power at all?

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Sex workers say that ‘defunding Pornhub’ puts their livelihoods at risk. Very often, ham-fisted attempts to solve a problem end up not solving the problem and also causing trouble for a whole lot of other people:

In response [to allegations of abusive material], Pornhub made drastic changes. It banned downloads and deleted all videos, except those uploaded by verified users.

Adult performers and producers had been campaigning for these features for years. ( . . .)

But the credit card suspension also makes it almost impossible for performers to receive payments or tips on the website.

Best theory I’ve heard is that this is a bid for market share from OnlyFans.

Speaking of these sites, some time ago I published a piece musing that I may be out of touch when giving Zoomers advice because their world is completely different to mine at that age.

The best response I received was a link to this long and biting piece by Flaming Eyeball. If you’re over 30 and don’t understand what’s wrong with kids these days, please read. Keep in mind that FE is talking about his peers in general, not his own situation.

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These were the most-read articles in case you missed them:

You are WEIRD – an explanation of the odd culture of north-western Europeans and their descendants. Glad lots of people read this because it’s become foundational to my thinking.

Who is Dr Tedros? – an investigation of the WHO chief’s curious background. Part of a series on China and the WHO.

Am I the crazy one? – didn’t get a firm answer to this. Hope you enjoyed the song, too.

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