Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Yes the US sanctions against Russia have failed (miserably).

- Funny because its true 

- Will an unintended consequence of the War in Ukraine be a nuclear Japan and South Korea? Good question.

- Heh heh - too funny

More Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Attack of the archaeologists (a defense of Graham Hancock)

- Honest advice for people in their 20's from Zuby. Honestly the advice is great for people of any age. 

- Bari Weiss on how she got to work on the Twitter Files and why

- The supply chain that keeps tech flowing into Russia despite sanctions. Business finds a way.

Semiconductors: China Is Fucked

Interesting move by the Biden Administration - who just placed new technology restrictions on China in regard to the semiconductor industry. No US firm involved with semiconductors are allowed to continue to do business with China and no US citizen is allowed to work in China on semiconductor related industries.

"For all practical purposes the Chinese semiconductor industry of everything over the Internet of Things level of quality is now dead, and that has a lot more implications than it sounds."

Don't think the threat of stripping a person's citizenship for defying the Executive Order is constitutional but the effects of the Order have been immediate. I can see this effecting the War in Ukraine as the Chinese have become Russia's sole chip supplier for all their higher tech weapons and the Russian arsenal was already depleted. 

We'll have to wait to see how the rest of the repercussions shake out.

Ruble Reaches 5-year High Against US Dollar

Tell me again how well the sanctions the Biden Administration placed on Russia are working? Via

Are We Facing a Global Food Crisis?

Interesting analysis that says "NO we are not facing a global food crisis" because of the war in Ukraine and the sanctions on Russia.

"In summary, the Russian invasion is a large shock for agricultural commodity markets, but not historically large. Markets and trade patterns will adjust to absorb it. Farmers around the world will produce more and consumers will cut back or substitute. The transition may be difficult in some places, especially countries such as Egypt that typically rely on wheat from Russia and Ukraine."

I'd like to believe there's not going to be a crisis but throw away lines like "consumers will cut back or substitute" and the bit about Egypt make me think this economist has no idea what life is like in the real world. Consumers cutting back seems a euphemism for "people going hungry" and the last time there was mass hunger in Egypt there was a revolution. 

The Russian Airline Industry is On Borrowed Time

Interesting thread that explains that the Russian airline industry is about 3 weeks away from an implosion it may not be able to recover from. The reasons given are all well thought out and factual.

Wonder if this was an intended or unintended consequence of the sanctions?