I’ve been playing around with DeepDreamGenerator’s newish “text prompt” artificial intelligence image creator. This image was generated from the prompt of a Brian Eno lyric: “The Fat Lady of Limbourg looked at the samples that we sent and furrowed her brow.”

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:

Senate Committee to Subpoena FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried If He Does Not Testify Voluntarily

Men are dropping out of the labor force because they’re upset about their social status, according to a new study

Japan recommends against algorithmic backing in stablecoins

After passing its landmark legislation on stablecoins in June, Japanese regulators are considering complementing it by restricting the algorithmic backing of stablecoins. The intention comes as a recommendation from the Financial Service Agency (FSA) and was repeated by the country’s Vice Minister for International Affairs, Tomoko Amaya.

Yeah, well, HBD says good luck with that.

Emerging-Market Debt Is Sliding Into Distress. Just Look at Ghana

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

As Covid Cases Rise in a Weary Los Angeles, So Does Apathy

Fauci criticizes 'extreme' ideological divide that has led to disproportionate Covid deaths

“I mean, it’s just extraordinary that you have under-vaccination in red states, and good levels of vaccination in blue states, which gets translated into a disproportionate amount of suffering and death among Republicans compared to Democrats. That’s completely crazy.”

Politics:

Rep. Paul Gosar Endorses Trump’s Call to ‘Terminate’ Constitutional Rules

Two very different reads on yesterday’s SCOTUS arguments: Supreme Court leans toward limiting judicial scrutiny of U.S. elections or Supreme Court seems poised to reject robust reading of ‘independent state legislature’ theory

Trump Is Unraveling Before Our Eyes, but Will It Matter?

How, in a matter of less than a decade, could this once-proud country have evolved to the point at which there is a serious debate over choosing a presidential candidate who is a lifelong opportunist, a pathological and malignant narcissist, a sociopath, a serial liar, a philanderer, a tax cheat who does not pay his bills, a man who socializes with Holocaust deniers, who has pardoned his criminal allies, who encouraged a violent insurrection, who, behind a wall of bodyguards, is a coward, and who, without remorse, continuously undermines American democracy?

Georgia may be remembered as the state that broke Trump once and for all.

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) December 7, 2022

Nigerian military ran secret mass abortion programme in war against Boko Haram

For what it’s worth, Putin Is Preparing to Flee When Russia Implodes, Ex-Aide Says

I suppose China might be a possibility, but Margarita Island seems like a stretch. Wouldn’t that be all but inviting a visit from U.S. Special Forces?

Russian troops’ poor performance and low morale may worsen during a winter of more discontent

San Francisco reverses approval of killer robot policy

Trump Lawyers Found Classified Info in Storage Unit

Lawyers for former president Donald Trump found at least two items marked classified after an outside team hired by Trump searched a storage unit in West Palm Beach, Fla., used by the former president.
Those items were turned over to the FBI.
The search was one of at least three searches conducted by an outside team of his properties for classified materials in recent weeks, after they were pressed by a federal judge to attest they had fully complied with a May grand jury subpoena to turn over all materials bearing classified markings.

Peru’s Castillo Dissolves Congress Hours Before Impeachment Vote and a few hours later was taken into police custody.

’Don't Say Gay’ Florida lawmaker indicted on fraud charges

Federal prosecutors said Rep. Joe Harding, 35, illegally obtained or tried to obtain more than $150,000 from the Small Business Administration in pandemic aid loans. He is being charged with two counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and two counts of making false statements.
Harding, a Republican, became nationally known this year over his sponsorship of a law that forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, as well as material that is not deemed age-appropriate.

Indonesia paroles bombmaker in deadly Bali attacks in 2002

An Islamic militant convicted of making the explosives used in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 people was paroled Wednesday after serving about half of his original 20-year prison sentence despite strong objections by Australia, which lost scores of citizens in the Indonesian attacks.

Ukraine Asks U.S. for Cluster Munitions

Ukrainian officials and lawmakers have in recent months urged the Biden administration and members of Congress to provide the Ukrainian military with cluster munition warheads, weapons that are banned by more than 100 countries but that Russia continues to use to devastating effect inside Ukraine.
The Ukrainian request for the cluster munitions is one of the most controversial requests the Ukrainians have made to the US since the war began in February.

Yeah, this could get ugly. Most European countries are signatories of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine are not. And although most European countries are signatories, Poland isn’t, so there’d be an easy way to deliver them.

Serendipity:

Harnessing the brain’s immune cells to stave off Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases

^{Badge thanks to @arcange}

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