tarquiniusalgadinius

@_D1060_ @drewcrawford_ The politicians own the soybean fields...

@drewcrawford_ Brazil is in a perfect spot but can the politicians keep their hands off the cookie jar?

84% of American soybean farmers say they're concerned about competition from Brazil. They're not concerned enough. Brazil exported 108.2 million tonnes of soybeans in 2025. A new record. $43.5 billion in revenue... And it did this while hauling grain by truck 2,171 km across a continent on roads that are 14% paved, with a rail network that uses 26% of its installed track. Brazil is already beating America in the global soybean market with the worst logistics infrastructure of any major agricultural exporter on earth. Now it's fixing that. 8 railway concessions just launched. 9,000+ km of new track. R$140 billion in investment. Contracts up to 99 years. The Ferrogrão alone (933 km from Mato Grosso to the Amazon river system) cuts freight costs 30-40% for a state that produces more soybeans than most countries. Northern Arc ports already handle 39% of grain exports, up from 23% in 2010. Soybean volumes through those ports grew 19% in a single year. Itaqui and Barcarena grew 80% and 70% respectively in four years. Today, a farmer in Sorriso pays R$300/tonne to truck grain to Santos. A farmer in Iowa barges grain down the Mississippi for a fraction of that. And Brazil still wins on landed cost to Shanghai. Remove the logistics handicap, and the competition isn't close. It's over. Brazilian farmland: $5,200/hectare. Iowa: $49,400. Two harvests per year vs one. Soy yields growing 2.8% annually for 20 years (global average: 1.45%). Labor at a fraction of US costs. Energy at half. The only thing keeping American soybeans competitive is Brazil's bad roads. Brazil just bet R$140 billion on fixing them. Read more about the opportunity here: x.com/drewcrawford_/…

National Cinema Dictionary: K is for Kazakh Cinema. The Fall of Otrar (Ardak Amirkulov, 1991). A historical-adventure epic.

The use of primary energy on the vertical axis is an old trick by the fossil fuel industry to mislead people into thinking that one unit of fossils = one unit of renewables. In fact, one unit of primary energy for wind or solar electricity is the equivalent of three units of fossil fuels for electricity. Another trick is to pretend we need all those fossils if we switched to renewables. In fact, if we switch to renewables, 12% of the fossil fuel energy disappears because that is how much energy is used to mine-transport-refine fossil fuels+uranium for energy, and we wouldn't need to do that anymore A third trick is to pretend we need so much energy if we go to all electricity powered by renewables. In that case, because EVs use 75% less energy than gasoline/diesel vehicles, heat pumps use 75% less energy than combustion heating, etc., energy demand goes down another 42%. In sum, this plot illustrates the real story of where we are and where we need to go. The proper metric is end-use energy, not primary energy. web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jac… and here's the paper web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jac…

These are Twelve Ceramic Zodiac Figures from the Tang Dynasty of China (618–907 AD).

La aparición del fantasma de la versión soviética de HAMLET (1964) es una masterclass de horror gótico que ya quisieran muchas películas de terror. La cámara lenta, los susurros, la capa ondeante y la tormenta es una combinación expresionista perfecta.

Una gran obra del padre de Antonio Pérez ( ¡Ay, a esto dedicaban su tiempo libre los ministros de Felipe II!) y una interesante versión, con permiso de @Juanmanuelmaci

Holy shit

the opening credits of chinese wuxia films are just stunning

🇦🇫🇺🇸 Imagens históricas de uma emboscada feita pelo Talibã contra um comboio militar dos EUA durante a Guerra do Afeganistão. Os combatentes do Talibã utilizaram a vantagem geográfica de se posicionar em montanhas e emboscar as tropas dos EUA enquanto passavam em locais baixos.

No Margot Robbie in a bathtub today. Just a hedgehog who's been watching private credit for months and needs you to read this carefully. 🦔The biggest banks on Wall Street are launching a new tool next week to bet against private credit funds, the same $3 trillion corner of finance that quietly holds money from pension funds and retirement accounts. JPMorgan, Bank of America, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs are working with S&P Global to launch a credit default swap index called CDX Financials, allowing investors to profit if private credit fund managers including Apollo, Ares, and Blackstone run into trouble. Credit default swaps are insurance contracts that pay out when borrowers default. Banks want protection against their own exposure. Hedge funds want to profit from a downturn. This comes as Blue Owl reported 41% redemption requests last quarter and Carlyle's fund was hit with a 15.7% redemption request this week, more than three times its normal limit. My Take I want to explain why this matters for regular people because the language around it is designed to be confusing. Private credit is a market where investment firms lend directly to companies outside the traditional banking system. Millions of Americans have indirect exposure through pension funds and 401k plans without knowing it. When those loans go bad and investors try to get their money out simultaneously, funds gate withdrawals, meaning you simply cannot access your money when you need it. What the banks are doing now is building the infrastructure to profit when that happens. Credit default swap indexes were central to the 2008 financial crisis, and that doesn't mean we're heading there again. But when the largest banks on Wall Street simultaneously decide they need protection against private credit losses, and hedge funds are lining up to bet on a collapse, people with retirement savings in these funds deserve to understand what the people on the other side of that trade are seeing. Hedgie🤗

Algunas pinceladas más sobre la planta moli (el antídoto que Hermes entrega a Odiseo contra las hechicerías de Circe) que comentábamos aquí por enero. Los escoliastas antiguos, que le daban mil vueltas a todo, son una fuente inagotable de perlas. Aquí apuntan a algunos datos curiosos. Por ejemplo, Hermes le dice a Odiseo que los dioses llaman a la planta «Moli» y que tal raíz es difícil de arrancar para los mortales. El escolio concluye en que Homero no desvela cómo la llaman los mortales, no sea que los lectores de la Odisea se pongan a buscar la planta por su cuenta y salgan perjudicados, ya que le atribuyen propiedades perniciosas, incluso la muerte, si uno no va preparado. Eso entronca, claro, con la noción antigua que veía en Homero el origen de toda sabiduría, incluso botánica. Pero el solo hecho de que el nombre de la raíz sea dado por los dioses introduce un elemento numinoso potente en los hexámetros: una palabra que no proviene de los hombres. La moli es un 'pharmakon', así que entendemos que Odiseo la debe ingerir o tomar en infusión. Pero también se la presenta como una suerte de talismán. Ciertas explicaciones evemeristas modernas, incluso apoyadas en la química (!) afirman que las pócimas de Circe eran más bien de carácter alucinatorio y no transformaban físicamente a las víctimas. Es llevar las cosas al extremo, pero tampoco olvidemos que Homero se muestra gratamente ambiguo en muchos aspectos de ese fascinante episodio, y todo lo está narrando Odiseo. Quién sabe si Circe los mantenía a todos en un estado sostenido de alucinación. Otro escolio incide en una interpretación alegórica de la planta que fue muy popular en la Antigüedad. La raíz vendría a simbolizar «la razón perfecta» (τὸν τέλειον λόγον), escudo frente a los delirios que proponía Circe. Si seguimos jugando con el simbolismo, yo no lo vería en términos tan maniqueos (razón vs. irracionalismo), sino como el uso de cierto traje protector (una escafandra de buzo) para sumergirse en ese mundo orientalizante de la isla de la ninfa. Odiseo necesita lo irracional de Circe como una suerte de complemento a su astucia analítica. Sin la fusión de ambos tal vez no podría haber vuelto a casa. Así pues, la planta moli le aportaría al hijo de Laertes un cierto distanciamiento, necesario para no dejarse deslumbrar ni sucumbir. Los griegos bebieron mucho en esos orbes orientales, pero tampoco se dejaron deslumbrar y los reconfiguraron a su conveniencia. Un ejemplo notable lo tenemos en Safo, en esa isla de Lesbos siempre de cara a la fascinación de Asia Menor. Ese 'poikilos' del epíteto poikilothronos en el himno a Afrodita, refiriéndose a su trono (o a sus flores bordadas, según otras interpretaciones). Poikilos, término difícil de traducir: algo labrado con muchos colores, con mucho capricho, deslumbrante, hipnótico. La sabiduría de Safo consistió en encauzarlo, darle forma, a través de las sílabas contadas de sus versos y las cuerdas de su lira.

House (1977) es una película japonesa de culto dirigida por Nobuhiko Obayashi. Mezcla de terror y comedia absurda, con un estilo visual psicodélico. Una locura que utiliza técnicas poco convencionales para que todo parezca un sueño febril.

them (1954) dir. gordon douglas

Esta foto de Cartola e Zica deveria ser considerado patrimônio.

Madame Satã tinha acabado de conquistar a liberdade após mais um período no presídio da Ilha Grande "Olhar oblíquo que parecia uma lâmina" foi a definição de Walter para o olhar de Madame Satã. O registro foi feito na Lapa, uma tarde de sábado como hoje. Era o simbolismo de seu retorno à sociedade. "Ele me obedecia, aquele homem que dava rasteira e navalhava os inimigos", relembra com admiração a forma como foi feita a lendária foto. 📷Walter Firmo, 1966

Siiiiick

Guillermo Esparza, Green Seraph, 2006

Even if it isn’t strictly speaking true, I think this legend should be better known.

Retired IDF soldier: “One of the soldiers raped a 16-year-girl” “I put Palestinians in a cage & killed them” “We chased villagers with flamethrowers & set them on fire” “If I saw children with their hands raised, I shot them in the head.” “I shot & killed everyone I saw. It’s impossible for me to count”

PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES Hammer 1966