#Brent spot > $70/bbl (if you're European ;-) on rumors #Trump admin could order #military strikes vs. #Iran as early as Saturday: #OOTT

There's apparently a new #finance blog around analyzing financial #capitalism from a more enlightened perspective; by @thisisfincap.bsky.social & @kanejim.bsky.social. Check out their introductory installment: #FinSky #EconSky

Is #SkiMountaineering really a thing? Even if everyone is looking for something more exciting than #curling, does everything people do have to be #Olympic? Looks kinda silly to me... #Skimo #SkiBergsteigen #WinterOlympics #Olympics #MilanoCortina2026 (Cc @anitaleirfall.bsky.social ;-)

Yup, 100%! Plus, a belt is not great for steep uphill climbs, where you want as high a gear ratio as you can get that's as easy as just walking uphill. Belt gear shifts don't give you that either #bicycles #cycling #bikepacking

For those who read German: Michel #Foucault would've turned 100 on Oct 15 this year. To mark the occasion, @taz.de, a left-leaning daily newspaper, will be publishing an article on one aspect of his work every month on the 15th until then. Here the first piece of the series (I may add the others):

Almost comical struggle of #conservatives to understand how #Conservatism got so off the rails. #Trump #MAGA is 𝘯𝘰𝘵 off the rails, though! It's right mid-range of what the conservative mental #infrastructure provided all along. And it's all in Edmund #Burke already, their hero of the ages:

Check out the evolution of the #Fed balance sheet from the Fed's founding in 1914 thru 2025—w/ special emphasis on how it changed as the gold standard ended early 1970s, as the Fed shifted to interest-rate targeting early 1990s, & as it responded to the #GFC 2008 ff. (via @econreporter.bsky.social):

𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘨 this morning: #Russia proposal to embrace the dollar again & cooperate with the US to fire up #FossilFuel production with joint investments in #natgas, offshore #oil etc. | #OOTT⁣, #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Ukraine ⁣ Check out #EURUSD below, daily/weekly:

A half a meter wider bike lane on the #Tromsø Bridge makes all the difference. I've seen people collide with each other, even fall, because the current lane is too narrow for bidirectional traffic. Via @krijen.bsky.social:

On the way to my wonderful mother (oh, & since I've seen all the Yankees whining about their bit of #weather, no big deal here...). #Winter:

Certainly an underappreciated aspect in the #UBI debate generally (never mind the BS coming from the #tech & #AI industries):

Since apparently more & more studies show that less & even lesser exercise benefits our health, I'm waiting for those studies that show that I don't need any exercise at all...:

#Tariffs on US imports that elevate consumer prices while the #Dollar falters is quite a 'strategy' to increase #affordability...: #EURUSD Looking forward to the #Fed presser later today. #FOMC #inflation

Interestingly, Bill Clinton's response seems to be more forceful than @barackobama.bsky.social's (via @kairyssdal.bsky.social): #Minneapolis #Minnesota

Same here, but somewhat remarkable that it's prominently the central bankers, of all people, that showed a spine against #Trump at the #WEF2026 in #Davos: @mark-carney.bsky.social @lagarde.ecb.europa.eu @president.ecb.europa.eu

Gentle reminder, particularly for the US: When you have a stable & reliable public #welfare system, folks are more inclined to have confidence in the future (well, & not having a #Gestapo -like #ICE militia that's grabbing their kids off the streets may help too...):

Speaking of #Greenland: Greenland sharks (𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘴, w/ an estimated lifespan of up to 400 yrs) show no obvious signs of retinal degeneration (but was there really no other way to find out than by killing them, @drdorotask.bsky.social?) Cc @efvogel.bsky.social @johnmdudley.bsky.social

Only the 'very best people'...

Another (albeit somewhat fringe) confirmation that particularly the poor & less educated on the Right 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 vote their pocket book but rather according to the #resentment they harbor. #PolSci #EconSky

Those wishing to understand the broader historical context of recent events #Trump vs. #Venezuela, may want to check 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐨, 𝘓𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦 𝘈𝘮é𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢, 1971.⁣ ⁣ The book is translated into many languages, eg: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘝𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢, 1973.⁣ Below is the German ed., 1981:

Hm, interesting.⁣ 𝐎𝐡, & 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲!⁣ ⁣ (via @anitaleirfall.bsky.social; seen this @johnmdudley.bsky.social?):

Here, btw, is Max #Tegmark in 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘴. 𝘙𝘦𝘷. 𝘌 61 (2000), 4194, calculating neural decoherence rates & disagreeing w/ suggestions by Roger #Penrose et al that the brain acts as sort of a quantum computer & that quantum coherence is related to #consciousness in a fundamental way #PhilSky #PhilSci:

Disquieting paper from the 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘺𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴, Helsinki/FIN,⁣ on #Russia operations to destabilize #Svalbard & threatening all #Arctic, Dec 2025. By @kariagam.bsky.social, @stianbones.bsky.social (both UiT #Tromsø) & @thomasnilsen.bsky.social (ed. @thebarentsobserver.com):

Right up there... #NFP

Actually don't recall Dummett positing "that Frege created logic & analytic philosophy out of nothing," which would have been stupid, o/c. Only thing I take away from this rather boring Lemanski paper is why Alexander Frege might have named his son Gottlob... (via some RT @anitaleirfall.bsky.social)

Hell yeah!! (WSJ piece is shit, tho):

While sick in bed last 2 weeks, I ventured knee-deep into the morass of the Intellectual Dark Web, #IDW, & found it hard to discern who's who & what particular conspiracy they're on—esp since they all seem to agree that traditional logic is bad, but otherwise are mostly shooting against each other.

Not that big of a deal yet. Watch the gray zone, tho, next couple days/weeks (~6.500): #SPX #ES_F #AI #techbubble #Nvidia $NVDA Q3 earnings tonite: www.cnbc.com/2025/11/19/b...

Was recently waiting in an ophthalmologist practice (no pun!) 'reading' the German edition of #Vogue: Every second page a full-page ad. Then was wondering whether you actually have to pay for it & checked the cover: Yup, € 9.00, if I recall correctly. That's quite a business model... #Fashion

#Trump #Tariffs vs. #China #RareEarth export restrictions Sure, likely a #Taco situation, but just in case it's not, will we see a revival of the old contraband trade? Adam Smith, 𝘞𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, Bk I, ch xi, in his digressions on Gold & Silver, wrote at some length abt it to give us an idea 😉

And the Prize goes to: Joel #MOKYR, Philippe #AGHION, Peter #HOWITT

Folks not too impressed in the European session, one hour in: #spx #es_f | #trump #china #tariffs

Lotta things you might not know! I, for instance, didn't know that Kristofferson's “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose” was inspired by the final scene of Fellini’s 𝘓𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘢 after Zampanò had abandoned Gelsomina while she was sleeping... (via @anitaleirfall.bsky.social)

Looks like whatever the #Fed says (higher #inflation with lower #employment, which is a rather unusual situation) or does (25 bps interest rate cut), stock punters are driving the markets from all-time high to all-time high: #SPX, #ES_F

That was close: "On the right, there was a surge in support for the populist Progress party – especially among young men – in what has been described by some as 'the Maga-fication' of Norwegian politics." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s... #Norway #Norge

Just learnt from Kurt Flasch, 𝘋𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘮 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳, 4th ed. 2020, 549 (magnificent book, btw, for those who read German), that we find the idea of animal ratiocination even in Buridan's (1301- ~1360) 𝘋𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢-Commentary (RT via @anitaleirfall.bsky.social):

Madam Curie's Nobel Prize speech in 1911 Curie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of the elements radium&polonium&for isolating pure radium. This was her 2nd Nobel Prize; she’d previously shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics w/Pierre Curie&Henri Becquerel youtu.be/yyWzaowsibI?...

Nice conversation @pkrugman.bsky.social & @adamposen.bsky.social, which I've missed in July:

This is beginning to look like right out of the playbook of Carl Schmitt: 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐫ä𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐰𝐞𝐫 ü𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐳𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐭 (sovereign is the one who decides on the state of emergency); 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦: 𝘝𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘒𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘻𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘦𝘩𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘷𝘦𝘳ä𝘯𝘪𝘵ä𝘵, 1922, ch. 1 (via @cavandy.bsky.social):

There are two camps in #AGI: (1) It'll become more intelligent than us, & perhaps conscious & sentient. (2) It'll never become more intelligent than us, or conscious, or sentient. I'm somewhat in a 3rd camp: #AI may lead to a manifest disillusionment re our intelligence, consciousness, & sentience.

'With declining #permafrost & "[w]hen there's little snow & it's warm, rocks come loose & we get a lot of rockfall." This led to many commercial expeditions having been aborted in the #Karakoram Mountains this season—eg, on #K2, just some 30 kms away.' Laura #Dahlmeier #Mountaineering #ClimateChange

The Norwegian mathematician Niels Abel was only 26 when he died, but he changed mathematics forever. youtu.be/vi40JiRG7bQ?... #Abel #mathematics #PhilSky #PhilSci

There were these wise guys who said #democracy dies in darkness; they were the first to cave. Instead, it all happens in broad daylight, demonstrating how child's play it is to abolish democracy if its enemies are only bold enough & its defenders too weak.

There's apparently a somewhat new branch in the #ontology business: #SocialOntology. Haven't been able to figure out yet what the difference is to social #constructivism, #conventionalism, and all that, but am prepared for some funny overlap.

Nonlinearity of #Aging:

I don't read fiction myself, but I'm certainly familiar with some of the films that have been made from her stories. And somehow this piece about her last days captivated me, which I just read via today's @theguardian.com Long-Read: Patricia #Highsmith #Literature #LitSky: @yalereview.bsky.social

Interesting; when I grew up, which is some time ago, neither milk nor coffee counted as good hydrating beverages (via @hex720.net via @peark.es):

#Descartes' cogito was the departure point for #Enlightenment #philosophy; the Cartesian #Dualism is only a side problem that could have easily been solved by D. himself. No need for #Husserl #phenomenology; or #embodiment & all the other funny stuff so en vogue today #PhilSky #PhilSci #CogSci

Remember #Trump at his last #G7 in #Canada...? La Malbaie (Charlevoix), Québec, pic June 9, 2018:

One thing for non-native English speakers to not understand the lyrics of famous US rock songs, another when misapplied by the US Right: Are they really this stupid? Or is it part of their overall endeavor in what #Nietzsche called the 𝘜𝘮𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦? #FortunateSon; via @jenonymous.bsky.social: