FTX was seen as one of the more reputable firms in the crypto world, and its founder was considered a Capitol Hill darling, having donated millions to political campaigns and helped write legislation around cryptocurrencies. This shocking twist — which will have ripple effects across the crypto world — brings all of that into question and renews calls for more regulation of this "wild west" financial space.
All of these problems stem from the lack of clarity provided by US legislators, which has driven 95% of the crypto market offshore. They are now largely powerless to retrieve the funds, and it makes no sense to further punish US crypto companies for these mistakes with a regulatory crackdown. US policymakers need to own the consequences of their actions.
There's a 50% chance that Sam Bankman-Fried will be sentenced to at least 108 months in prison before 2026, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly incited violence against anyone who doesn't blindly support his government. Since losing the 2022 election, his supporters have wreaked havoc. What Brazil desperately needs is a de-radicalization process that will only ever truly be completed if Bolsonaro and his followers are held accountable for their actions.
These protests reflect widespread doubts in Brazil, as the corrupt Lula is set to return to office by a narrow margin of support over Bolsonaro. Brazilian institutions are to blame for this distrust, as they have screened questions about both the electoral process and results. It's as if they were trying to hide something while failing to make the country's electoral system auditable.
There is a 1% chance that Bolsonaro will successfully stage a coup by January 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Russia's deliberate targeting of energy infrastructure — unnecessarily increasing the suffering of civilians — amounts to war crimes. This continuing Russian barbarity must be confronted.
Attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are a direct consequence of the failure of the country's leadership to meaningfully engage in peace talks and thinking they can defeat Russia on the battlefield. These attacks will stop once a more sober position is reached.
There is a 50% chance that there will be at least 7.75M internally displaced Ukrainians by the end of 2022 (based on UN estimations), according to the Metaculus prediction community.
What the UK requires is the firm hand of government to smack down the strikers. Instead of feebly expressing its disappointment, the current administration must take a page out of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher's book by declaring a state of emergency and outlawing strike action in public services. Failure to do so will result in a paralyzed nation, not only disrupting the Christmas festivities but also endangering peoples’ lives.
The strikers represent the only resistance to a never-ending assault on pay, public services, and the health and safety of the masses. The NHS has seen a mass exodus due to privatization, terrible pay, and ever-worsening conditions, resulting in a dangerous deterioration in its quality of care. Meanwhile, the publicly subsidized rail network system has become prohibitively expensive and will become increasingly unsafe due to staff cuts. If the ruling class and their stooges in government get their way, everyone will lose.
There's a 50% chance that the UK will hold its next general election by March 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Cancer vaccine research hasn't been very successful due to cycle times taking too long, which is why this study is such a breakthrough. The use of mRNA technology not only allows a quicker process but a personalized one in which individual patients' tumor DNA can be used to attack specific cancer cell mutations harming their immune systems.
This is all positive news, but we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves over just one headline. While promising, potentially successful cancer vaccines like this face many challenges and are still years away from being rolled out. Further research is needed.
Over the past two years, Democrats have had plenty of time to push through trillions of dollars in wasteful spending to satisfy their donors, so there's no reason for the GOP to partner with its liberal colleagues except to pass this stop-gap bill. When Republicans take control of the House next month, they'll be able to allocate the funds appropriately for both defense and prudent social programs.
The Democrats are trying hard to reach their colleagues across the aisle to resolve this challenge in the best interest of the country, as the GOP is doing everything it can to postpone this much-needed bill into next year. This is a dangerous move that will likely see conservative lawmakers hold their votes hostage to force leadership to cave to their demands, ultimately leading to a government shutdown anyway.
The US can only ban the sale of technology or equipment, not the free flow of global tech talent to China, so it will be virtually impossible to contain China’s rise and emergence as a stronger power than the US. If the intention of these export control measures is to make it harder for China to become a global leader in artificial intelligence and semiconductors, it’s bound to backfire.
The US is having a rational response to heightened geopolitical threats and the role of emerging technologies in advanced weapons systems. It would be foolish to expect the US to continue supplying its own and allied technologies at the cost of national security and help China reach its goal of upgrading its military capabilities. Even if the ban on semiconductor exports to China sets off a slight geopolitical quake, it’s worth it.
As a result of the human cultivation of chickens and eggs, a stomach-turning seven billion male chicks are killed each year because they hold no commercial value. If genetically-engineered hens help prevent unnecessary loss of life and boost egg production, then it's the right route to take.
The process of genetic engineering is a moral double-edged sword. The opportunity to end the slaughter of innocent animals is undoubtedly a good thing. However, editing the genetic code of a living being is unnatural and could have unforeseen consequences.
As long as the PRC has enough influence over companies to force them to provide it with any requested data, it’s important to keep TikTok off as many American devices as possible. These state government-level bans, in places mostly run by Republicans, are the best way to protect personal safety and national security, and an all-out federal ban should be on Congress’s agenda in the near future.
The Biden admin. has a more prudent approach — negotiating with ByteDance to address national security concerns. While Republicans see this issue as a way to criticize Biden's China policies, the reality is that the social media platform is extremely popular nationwide with GenZ voters.
TikTok's rising popularity and rapid growth pose an existential threat to Western Big Tech. These bans are just the latest in a long and well-documented smear campaign against the company.
When Bangladesh's elections were monitored by a non-partisan third party, they were deemed free and fair. But ever since that system ended in 2011, the general consensus is that elections have been shady. PM Hasina's ruling Awami League party seems to be operating under an authoritarian, power retention mindset, which is why the world is calling on them to bring back that system and stop criminalizing the opposition.
Just as Bangladesh doesn't recommend which parties should run for office in the US and other Western states, Western diplomats should stay out of Dhaka's domestic affairs. These self-proclaimed "preachers of democracy" have ignored Bangladesh's economic and political prosperity, and, at the very least, should keep their thoughts on Bengali party politics to themselves.