Alex Karp tells it like is!

Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp, is just saying what many think…

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxTbb7Kj8cngQfn7DcUKiOVLC5qfrQ-8_W?si=rCCyZkcKDxyvYF_Q

See also this excellent interview with @PalmerLuckey of Anduril Industries where he discusses a number of things from the moral flaccidness of CEO’s of billion $ companies who won’t take a moral and patriotic stand for fear upsetting the bottom line…

https://masterfeeds.blogspot.com/2024/09/anduril-industries-palmerluckey-tells.html

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-- The MasterFeeds

The Fall of #Assad and What Comes Next in #Syria

This has been one of those weeks when decades happened. 

Now that Assad is gone, what's in store for Syria, its people and the region? 

Below find a couple of articles on the subject. 

The first from Bari Weiss' The Free Press; the second from Bloomberg's Marc Champion. 

The institutional Grift in US Politics is a Disgrace

These Four Democratic Firms Raked in $600 Million Running Ads for Kamala's Failed Campaign

Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign directed nearly $600 million to just four media consulting firms with deep ties to the Democratic establishment, Federal Election Commission records show.— Harris campaign exceeded $880 million in total spending as of October 16, though that number is expected to balloon to $1.5 billion after the Harris campaign files its post-election FEC report on December 5. 

70% of the campaign's known total spending flowed through four firms: Media Buying & Analytics, Gambit Strategies, Bully Pulpit Interactive, and Dupont Circle Strategies.

Here's a rundown of these four professional grifting outlets…

#Hezbollah’s Tunnel Infrastructure is something else….

Andrew Fox, along with other journalists, were given a tour by the IDF of a part of Hezbollah's extensive tunnel network on the border with Israel. What he was shown will leave you breathless—and all this within the UNIFIL controlled area 900 meters up hill from Israel’s northern border…

You often hear “why don’t the IDF allow journalists into Gaza”. Here’s an interesting perspective.

About a month ago, the IDF offered the chance of a visit to a captured Hezbollah tunnel. Amongst those who accepted were me and a small pack of journalists from Israel, Greece, the… 

— Andrew Fox (@Mr_Andrew_Fox) November 26, 2024

Decline and fall: how university education became infantilised

A sad state of affairs at Cambridge University.
Seems standards and excellence are things of the past.

This from David Butterfield, (ex)professor of Latin at Cambridge 

Last month, after 21 years studying and teaching Classics at the University of Cambridge, I resigned. I loved my job. And it's precisely because I loved the job I was paid to do, and because I believe so firmly in preserving the excellence of higher education, in Britain and beyond, that I have left.

…

For students, the risks have never been lower. Grade inflation is rampant in Cambridge, as elsewhere in the sector. A third-class performance, let alone a failure, is almost impossible in most subjects,

#Anduril Industries’ @PalmerLuckey tells it like it is.

Check out this excellent interview with @PalmerLuckey of Anduril Industries where he discuss a number of things from the moral flaccidness of CEO’s of billion $ companies who won’t take a moral and patriotic stand for fear upsetting the bottom line, to the delusional naivety in not wanting to develop and build weapons systems to defend ourselves and our allies against the numerous threats out there, the scam that is WFH, and many others. A half hour well spent. 

"Israel has my [and our] unqualified support,” said Anduril’s Founder, @PalmerLuckey speaking on stage yesterday at the @WSJLive's Tech Live Conference.

"What's happening in Israel is just another instance of the same type of evil that's been going on for a very long time. And…

— Anduril Industries (@anduriltech) October 17, 2023

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The MasterFeeds

Cash crunch @Sothebys

The Art market is tanking— Sotheby's has even bigger problems.

The auction house owned by highly leveraged billionaire Patrick Drahi is pushing off payments and issuing IOU's to employees while it waits for a $1 Billion financial lifeline from Abu Dhabi. 

The WSJ reports:

Sotheby's carries $1.8 billion in debt, almost double the level it had before Patrick Drahi purchased it in 2019. 

The value of its bonds swooned in the first half of the year as investors worried that declining sales and higher interest rates would choke off the company's cash flow.

Sotheby's told its bondholders the auction portion of the business had a loss of $115 million in the first half of the year, compared to a $3 million profit in the first half of 2023.

Rival Christie's, owned by luxury magnate François Pinault, has also taken a hit, with its auction sales dropping nearly a quarter during the first half of the year. 

Sotheby's adjusted operating free cash flow fell to $144 million in the 12 months ended June 30, a 43% decline from the same time last year, according to data from New Street Research.

The auction house has received a lifeline with a $1 billion deal to sell a stake to Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund ADQ, which it hopes to close later this year. 

See the full story on the WSJ here: 

https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/fine-art/art-market-sothebys-problems-6fa55009?st=dQGJUr&reflink=share_mobilewebshare

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