Weekend Links, Sundries, and everything else. December 6th – 7th 2014

Hi all.. unfortunately it’s going to be a single post weekend. Both Gunna and myself are otherwise engaged with end of year responsibilities.

Global Macro / Markets:

• Bitcoin 2.0 gives the dreamers focus — but only without the hype – FT
• Brent Drops From 4-Year Low as Saudi Discounts Deepen Price War – Bloomberg
• Here Is Oil’s Next Leg Down – Ilargi
• Brent Heads for 5-Year Low as Saudi Discounts Spur Competition – Bloomberg
• Will Cheap Oil Lead to Big Mergers? – WSJ
• Signs of weakness below the surface of the stock market. – Trade feed
• Why low volatility seems to work. – Business Week
• A short-list for the charts of the year. – Quartz
• The Fed and the ECB view the oil shock differently. – Gavyn Davies , The Upshot

Americas:

• US oil reserves at highest since 1975 – FT
• Weekly initial unemployment claims continue to trend below 300k.  – Calc Risk
• Marchers again swarm New York to protest death at hands of police – Reuters
• N.Y. Police Chokehold Evidence to Stay Secret as Protests Spread – Bloomberg
• Obama to announce choice of Ash Carter for defense chief Friday: White House – Reuters
• Boehner vows to avoid government shutdown with help from Democrats – Reuters
• JPMorgan Said to Place U.S. Mortgage Securities Trader on Leave – Bloomberg

Europe:

• ECB paralyzed by split as irreversible deflation trap draws closer – Telegraph
• The ECB winter of discontent – Bruegel
• Juncker’s Sound of Silence – Project Syndicate
• Will Russia, Germany save Europe from war? – Pepe Escobar
• Ukraine’s forgotten security guarantee: The Budapest Memorandum – DW
• Bank of Russia Ramps Up Ruble Support – WSJ
• British workers suffer biggest real-wage fall of major G20 countries – Guardian
• ECB’s Weidmann says monetary policy too expansive for Germany – Reuters
• Bundesbank slashes German growth forecast for next year – FT

Asia:

• Can Japan Reboot? – Project Syndicate
• Hong Kong Protesters Considering Retreat – WSJ
• China Bad-Loan Level Seen Understated After Economy Slows – Bloomberg

Local:

• Richo the next man in the sights of ICAC – SMH
• Prime Minister Tony Abbott is feeling the heat after a ‘ragged’ year – SMH
• PM’s office halted Hockey – TheOz
• Australia’s most expensive apartment – SMH
• Australian wage growth hits a wall – Business Day .. Slowly, but surely they are waking up .. Just 2 years two late
• RBA does the interest rate cut 3 step – The Pascometer
• Rio’s remarkable ‘aluminum revival’ – AFR
• Fantastic year for property if rates cut – AFR – Face Palm !
• Why do pollies struggle in business ? – AFR
• Palmer firm charged over toxic spill – The Oz

Other Random:

• Electric eels deliver Taser-like shocks – PhysOrg
• Uber Snags $41 Billion Valuation – WSJ

Science & Environment:

• The Long Road to Maxwell’s Equations (Spectrum)
• 2014 is on track to be warmest year yet: Five images that explain what’s happening (Sciencemag)
• How we dodged a solar doomsday (Cosmos)
• Policy: Twenty tips for interpreting scientific claims (Nature)
• Natural gas: The fracking fallacy (Nature)
• ‘Superbugs’ Kill India’s Babies and Pose an Overseas Threat (NY Times)
• The Next Big Climate Question: Will India Follow China? (NY Times)
• Bugs in Manhattan Compete With Rats for Food Refuse (NY Times)
• The Fracking Boom Could Burn Out Decades Before It’s Supposed To (Smithsonian)
• The Last Chance to Save the Planet? An Analysis of the Geoengineering Advocacy Discourse in the Public Debate (Pdf) (Environmental Humanities)
• 2014 To Be Hottest Year Ever Measured – Scientific American
• Alaska Shows No Signs of Rising Arctic Methane – NASA

Technology & Medicine:

• Printing the future (Cosmos)
• Blood test may be key to Alzheimer’s treatment (Cosmos)
• The crystals that can clean the planet (Cosmos)…an Australian…
• NASA’s Mission to Mars Starts Here (Atlantic)
• LIFE SENTENCE: NOW MORE THAN EVER, PEOPLE ARE RECOVERING FROM LIFE-THREATENING ILLNESSES. BUT SURVIVAL IS NEVER SIMPLE. (Maisonneuve)
• Cuba’s extraordinary global medical record shames the US blockade (Guardian)
• Do Police Body Cameras Actually Work? (Atlantic)
• Japanese asteroid probe sets off on six-year journey (Reuters)
• Orion, Dragons and Dream Chasers: What’s behind modern spaceship design? (Reuters)
• Vivid Paintings That Shape-Shift as You Walk by Them (Wired)
• How Sensors That Test Our Stress Could Revolutionize Product Design (Wired)
• The Next Era of Designers Will Use Data as Their Medium (Wired)
• Why we should mine the moon (Conversation)
• Asteroids could wipe out humanity, warn Richard Dawkins and Brian Cox (Telegraph)
• Inside the Dynomak: A Fusion Technology Cheaper Than Coal (Spectrum)
• How red wine prevents cancer (Science daily)
• Draft guidelines aim to end prostate cancer test confusion (The Conversation)

History & Society:

• The Odd History of the First Erotic Computer Game (Atlantic)
• Why the Scientist Who Unravelled DNA Is Selling His Nobel Prize (Atlantic)
• The Global Geography of Internet Addiction (Atlantic)
• John Harvey Kellogg Believed Light Could Cure Diabetes (Atlantic)
• Why Our Memory Fails Us (NY Times)
• Is Stephen Hawking right? Could AI lead to the end of humankind? (Conversation)
• Marks on an ancient shell lead to are-think of human history (Conversation)
• World’s Oldest Art Identified in Half-Million-Year-Old Zigzag (National Geographic)
• The Law Firm That Works with Oligarchs, Money Launderers, and Dictators (Vice)
• WHEN MOMMY AND DADDY TOOK THE TOYS AWAY (Narratively)
• THE SECRET HISTORY OF A KENNEDY ENCOUNTER (Narratively)
• Why doctors fail (Guardian)
• Mapped: The world’s most corrupt officials (Telegraph)
• The Question of Edward Snowden (NYRoB)
• When G.M. Was Google (New Yorker)
• Yesterday’s News (New Yorker)…good read about how quickly news dates…
• Cyber espionage ring seeking to game stock market by stealing corporate secrets, researchers say (Guardian)
• The case against human rights (Guardian)
• Human Ancestors Were Consuming Alcohol 10 Million Years Ago (Discover)
• Bad-Mannered Russians in the West (NY Times) …interesting read but she missed the point; the wrong Russians were incorporated…
• Wheat People vs. Rice People: Why Are Some Cultures More Individualistic Than Others? (NY Times)
• We need to talk about the growing cost of sending off a loved one (The Conversation)…it does seem inordinately expensive…

Meanwhile back at the ranch:

• Nuclear power isn’t ‘economically feasible’ in Australia, but … (Conversation)
• Australia should export more ideas and fewer greenhouse emissions (Conversation)
• Australia’s slide into corruption must be stopped (Fairfax)