Happy Wednesday.
To be ITK, know this:
The downside of imperial collapse: When empires or great powers fall, chaos and war rise. Robert Kaplan
+ Empires form out of chaos, and imperial collapse often leaves chaos in its wake.
+ The twentieth century was largely shaped by the collapse of dynastic empires in the early decades and by consequent war and geopolitical upheaval in the later decades.
+ The Middle East, for example, has still not found an adequate solution to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, as evidenced by its bloody vicissitudes over the past hundred years.
+ Today’s great powers are not empires. But Russia and China bear traces of their imperial heritage.
+ The United States is a democracy, so its problems are more transparent. But that does not necessarily make them less acute.
+ A sophisticated naval, cyber, and missile conflict in Taiwan or in the South China Sea or the East China Sea would be easier to start than to end.
+ Empires can end abruptly, and when they do, chaos and instability ensue. It’s probably too late for Russia to avoid this fate. China might pull it off, but it will be difficult. The United States is still the best positioned of the three, but the longer it waits to adopt a more tragic and realistic shift in its approach, the worse the odds will get.
US said to plan new limits on China’s AI and supercomputing firms: The new rules could be the most sweeping action taken yet by the Biden administration to thwart China’s access to American technology that powers data centers and supercomputers. NYT
+ The measures, which could be announced as soon as this week, would be some of the most significant steps taken by the Biden administration to cut off China’s access to advanced semiconductor technology.
+ The Biden administration has also been readying an executive order that would allow the government to scrutinize the investments that US companies made abroad for national security risks.
+ The export controls are part of a bigger strategy from the Biden administration to starve China of key technologies while pumping money into U.S. chip-making factories.
+ “Probably the strongest sort of regulatory and export control statement that the US government has made with respect to China’s access to US technology. “The administration is putting its foot down here.” -- Paul Triolo, senior vice president for China at Albright Stonebridge Group
Bloomberg: Micron plans investment of up to $100 billion in New York chip factory
+ Site near Syracuse, New York, will generate about 50,000 jobs
+ US CHIPS and Science Act has spurred company investments
Xi Jinping’s third term is a tragic error: China’s macroeconomic, microeconomic, and environmental difficulties remain largely unaddressed. Martin Wolf
+ "So, is his achievement of such unchallengeable power good for China or for the world? No. It is dangerous for both."
+ Xi has three main goals: personal dominance, revitalization of the Leninist party-state; and expanding China’s global influence.
What if Russia uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine? A look at the grim scenarios—and the US playbook for each. Eric Schlosser
+ It is believed that the long-range ballistic missiles deployed on land and on submarines are Russia’s only nuclear weapons available for immediate use.
+ If Putin decides to attack Ukraine with shorter-range, “tactical” nuclear weapons, it will take hours for the weapons to be made combat-ready, for warheads to be mated with cruise missiles or ballistic missiles, for hydrogen bombs to be loaded on planes.
+ The United States will most likely observe the movement of these weapons in real time: by means of satellite surveillance, cameras hidden beside the road, local agents with binoculars.
+ Several scenarios for how Russia might soon use a nuclear weapon seem possible: (1) a detonation over the Black Sea, (2) a decapitation strike against the Ukrainian leadership, (3) a nuclear assault on a Ukrainian military target, and (4) the destruction of a Ukrainian city.
King Charles III’s coronation is likely to be Saturday, June 3, 2023, according to government sources.
Night of the hurried U-turn: How Truss and Kwarteng dumped their tax cut: Even as Liz Truss was being toasted for her tax-cutting resolve, PM and chancellor were bowing to clamor to reverse course. Guardian
+ “The damage is already done. We’ll always be the party that tried to cut taxes for the rich at the expense of the poor. It’s a long time until the next election, but this will stick.”
Tories must brace for a rout worse than 1997: The government may yet rally, but its instinct for making enemies suggests Labour’s poll lead cannot be airily dismissed. Daniel Finkelstein
+ "The Conservatives aren’t certain to lose the next election, but we have reached the point where everyone in politics expects them to."
+ "The Tory party seems to want to be at war with as many people as it can find."
+ "Metropolitan elites, people who study golf course management in universities, young people, the Treasury, big business, people who work from home, the International Monetary Fund, the civil service, the BBC."
The Cartoon Museum in London is running an exhibition on the full term of former PM Boris Johnson. Experience his 4 years through the art of beloved cartoonists, new and old, coming from up and down the UK. Details here.
CNN: Rachel Maddow’s successor, Alex Wagner, is failing to draw the big audience she commanded in prime time
+ In September, on evenings “Alex Wagner Tonight” aired, MSNBC saw a stunning year-over-year drop from 2021, when Maddow hosted. In the key 25-54 advertising demo, Wagner’s show lost 50% of Maddow’s audience, sinking from an average in 2021 of 304,000 demo viewers to 151,000 in 2022
+ And in total viewers, the numbers were down 34%, from 2.4 million to 1.6 million.
Florida: In 1960, not quite 5 million people lived here. Now it’s nearly 22 million.
Encrypted app Signal just hired one of Big Tech’s sharpest critics: WP reports Meredith Whittaker, the former Google manager, is Signal’s first president. She is out to convince users to pay for the free app.
+ 21% of sales in the $1.17 trillion US grocery industry come from private label store brands.
Nestlé plans to invest $1 billion to help its coffee farmers use more sustainable growing techniques to protect against climate change.
An inside peak at Marriott’s hotel-inspired HQ in suburban Washington, DC. WSJ (Video)
Rewilding cities: We’ve monocropped streets — so they’re used almost exclusively for cars. Time to rewild. Clive Thompson
+ They “rewilded” the downtown.
Business lessons from the world’s best quitters: In her new book, Annie Duke makes the case for quitting—and not quietly. WSJ
+ “Success does not lie in sticking to things. It lies in picking the right thing to stick to and quitting the rest.”
+ “Contrary to popular belief, winners quit a lot. That’s how they win.”
+ In Texas Hold ’em poker, pros play fewer than 25% of their hands before other cards hit the table. The amateurs play more than 50%.
+ “Amateurs usually hold ’em. Professionals usually fold ’em.”
38 at the Garden: HBO documentary 38 At The Garden recognizes a pivotal moment in time for Lin and celebrates a phenomenon that was bigger than basketball for the world. Trailer
+ “Linsanity”
+ The HBO Original documentary short premieres Tuesday, October 11
Depeche Mode to release new album and go on world tour: DW reports the successful British synth-pop band gave a press conference in Berlin revealing details of their new album, "Memento Mori." They reflected on the death of their bandmate Andy Fletcher.
Watch: Depeche Mode - 101 / Live at the Pasadena Rose Bowl (1988) YouTube
+ "101" is a live album and documentary released on March 13, 1989, chronicling the final leg of the band's 1987/1988 Music for the Masses Tour and the final show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Why I’m saying goodbye to star ratings in my restaurant reviews Tom Sietsema
+ 'Thank you for your marvelous decision to suspend rating restaurants under your star system during the pandemic. Please make it permanent. Writing and eating out are both art.'
+ "The people have spoken, and I’ve done some thinking. It’s time to ditch stars."
Here are the 100 best pizzerias in the world: Italy's I Masanielli and New York's Una Pizza Napoletana tied for first place. Robb Report
AFP: French cities ditch World Cup festivities to protest Qatar’s record on human rights, environment
+ Paris, Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, and Marseille – have announced they are boycotting the tournament and will not set up the customary fan zones with giant TV screens to promote it.
The geopolitics of sport.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is expected to be watched by 5 billion people around the world, far surpassing the record 3.5 billion who tuned in to the 2018 edition in Russia.
Exploring Qatar’s eight World Cup 2022 stadiums and what fans can expect in November The Athletic
+ Qatar is exhausted at defending itself to the world, especially to the Europeans, who are seen as particularly negative and cynical about the first World Cup to be held in a Muslim country, which is clearly an exciting thing for many in the Arab world.
David Beckham's ambassadorship deal with Qatar: The former England football team captain signed a £150 million ($206.5 million) deal to become a cultural ambassador for Qatar. The 10-year deal will see him become the face of the World Cup hosted by Qatar in 2022.
Watch this space.
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
Caracal produces ITK Daily.
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