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Tectonic shift
The heat from radioactive processes within the planet’s interior causes the plates to move, sometimes toward and sometimes away from each other. This movement is called plate motion, or tectonic shift
National Ocean Service of the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Zeitenwende
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declaration of a zeitenwende or epochal tectonic shift following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Part of this tectonic shift is Germany’s desire to become a security guarantor in Europe. A lot of coverage has focused on how far away Germany is from this aspiration in terms of military preparedness and over-reliance on the very countries likely to threaten European security.
In an opinion piece Chancellor Scholz asked a rhetorical question
How can we, as Europeans and as the European Union, remain independent actors in an increasingly multipolar world?
Scholz, O. (December 2022) “The Global Zeitenwende. How to Avoid a New Cold War in a Multipolar Era“. Foreign Affairs. United States
Scholz implies that the tectonic shift also adversely affects the United States efforts to jumpstart green industries and contain a globally more aggressive China. One could argue that Scholz’s approach is business as usual. For decades, large German enterprises have encouraged the government to work with authoritarian regimes, creating a Germany highly dependent on bad actors.
China
UK council rejects China’s plan to build new embassy in London – Hong Kong Free Press HKFP – a few things went wrong here:
- China went after elites, but ignored the British public’s dim view of them and councillors who would be much more sensitive to Xinjiang problems
- The Manchester consulate incident damaged China more than they realised
- China isn’t likely to make profit on the site that they own any time soon
HSBC chief denies Beijing is behind Ping An push to split bank | Financial Times – that’s about as reassuring as the football club chairman saying that he’s got every confidence in the player manager after a string of home match losses
Finance
Credit cards as a legacy system – complaints about credit cards. The problem these arguments have is that credit cards work
Ideas
My cyberpunk city, my cyberpunk world – by Noah Smith – I read this and thought about my own experiences of Hong Kong
Indonesia
Indonesia set to penalise sex outside marriage in overhaul of criminal code | Reuters – the new code could be passed by as early as next week. The code, if passed, would apply to Indonesian citizens and foreigners alike, with business groups expressing concern about what damage the rules might have on Indonesia’s image as a holiday and investment destination. – the question is if this is going to take Indonesia on a similar path of economic stagnation as Malaysia has taken?
Innovation
Air Force Unveils New B-21 Stealth Bomber After Seven Years in the Making – Defense One
Luxury
Watchfinder Expands Pre-Owned Business with Third-Party Sellers – Robb Report and even Rolex is going into CPO market: Rolex’s Certified Pre-Owned Watch Program: What You Need to Know | Gear Patrol – allowing it to profit on the secondary market boom
Can NFT-based private clubs disrupt a centuries-old model? | Techinasia – this doesn’t even make sense
Online
French Pornhub case shows how hard it is to regulate the internet | Financial Times
Twitter’s decline continues. I noticed this morning that Twitter allowed me to post the exact same Twitter post twice. That isn’t something that was possible previously and I could see how it could be used for nefarious reasons.
Quality
How Semiconductor Chips Changed the Driving Experience Forever – Robb Report
Retailing
Shein Confusion: The Fast-Fashion Giant’s New Resale Site Doesn’t Make Buying Easy — The Information – Annie tries out Shein Exchange, the e-commerce brand’s foray into the bustling resale market. On its face, the platform seems like a good idea, given the ongoing controversies over Shein’s cheap, disposable, landfill-clogging apparel. But there is something distinctly off about the brand’s effort to sell used clothes
Technology
Amazon to warn customers on limitations of its AI | Reuters
Amazon’s new AI tool may take over work from employees facing layoffs and buyouts – Vox – the tech giant has been working for at least the last year to hand over some of its recruiters’ tasks to an AI technology that aims to predict which job applicants across certain corporate and warehouse jobs will be successful in a given role and fast-track them to an interview — without a human recruiter’s involvement. The technology works in part by finding similarities between the resumes of current, well-performing Amazon employees and those of job applicants applying for similar jobs
Web of no web
EU throws party in €387K metaverse — and hardly anyone turns up – POLITICO