Reading Time: 4 minutes After a 68 percent drop in deposits at the end of 2022, and a 48 percent workforce layoff in January, Silvergate Capital, a major lender in the crypto industry, announced on Wednesday that it would be liquidating and winding down operations. Its stock dropped 36 percent in after-hours trading. On Thursday, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) […]
Economics and Finance
Posted inEconomics
Bankman-Fried arrested—Now what’s to be done about Ponzinomics?
Reading Time: 5 minutes On December 12, Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested at his apartment complex in the Albany resort in the Bahamas, after US prosecutors sent formal notice to local officials that they had filed criminal charges against him. The founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which Bankman-Fried announced was filing for bankruptcy on November 11, had been scheduled […]
Posted inClimate Crisis
So what did COP27 actually accomplish?
Reading Time: 7 minutes From November 6 to 20, world leaders and representatives met for the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27), held this year in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The conference started and ended late due to reluctance around one key initiative: the topic of loss and damage for vulnerable countries hit by climate change […]
Posted inEconomics
The crypto crisis fallout in El Salvador
Reading Time: 7 minutes When El Salvador’s president came to power in 2019, many didn’t care that the ensuing calm might have resulted from Nayib Bukele’s backroom arrangements with local gangs. The country of six million, terrorized for years in part by US MS-13 gang members offloaded to Central America, had high hopes of better days under the authoritarian […]
Posted inEconomics
FTX to file for bankruptcy, CEO of crypto giant steps down
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s been a wild year for tech giants: between Mark Zuckerberg’s faltering Metaverse, Elon Musk’s ruinous takeover of Twitter, and significant crashes on cryptocurrency exchanges, a lot of precarious digital systems are hitting key tipping points. The latest news out of the crypto world is no different: FTX, an industry giant once valued at $32 […]
Posted inNews
New military crackdowns mark ongoing struggle for democracy, stability in Sri Lanka
Reading Time: < 1 minute On Friday, local time, military forces raided a demonstration at Sri Lanka’s presidential secretariat ahead of the stated withdrawal date by peaceful protestors, who had already broken camp outside the prime minister’s official residence. Sri Lanka has both a prime minister and a president, and the newly sworn-in president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, is a six-time prime […]
Posted inEnvironment
Oil imperialism and the struggle for human control over our futures
Reading Time: 4 minutes In March 2020, something unsettling transpired in the global economy. Okay, a few somethings. But while most of the world remembers the sweeping COVID-19 lockdowns, what happened between Saudi Arabia and Russia around oil production is not common knowledge. And yet, as Vladimir Putin has launched a military invasion of Ukraine, we cannot forget the […]
Posted inReligion
MLM Coaches: Scavengers of a Declining Industry
Reading Time: 7 minutes Yesterday, I showed you the story of Kimbyrleigha, a social media influencer who did videos criticizing MLMs before joining one. In addition to joining one of these predatory schemes, she offers her fellow multi-level marketing scheme (MLM) participants a coaching service. In this decision, she joins a massive trend in the declining MLM industry: scavengers seeking to make a buck before the gravy train makes its last stop in town. Today, let me show you these scavengers — and how the scavenging trend relates to other declining industries.
Posted inReligion
Examining Claims of MLM Success Amid the Pandemic
Reading Time: 6 minutes Lately, we’ve been talking about some recent developments in the world of multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs). I find those developments interesting because of the great number of similarities between MLMs and Christianity. Now we’ll zero in on one of the biggest areas of overlap: wild claims of success. Today, I’ll show you some of those claims, and what support exists for them.
Posted inGeneral
The 1973 Toilet Paper Panic of Honolulu (Chat Post #1)
Reading Time: 6 minutes I was just a wee little toddler back in 1973. And I remember going through the 1973 Toilet Paper Panic in Honolulu, Hawaii. Let me tell you about it!