And for a brief diversion from news... This is was competing number system in the 1200s, and it was way more compact than Roman numerals. Arabic numerals won out, but interesting to see yet a different way to model numbers. Look for the patterns both across and down.

Airbnb is stepping in to make sure DC homes aren’t rented to protesters during #Inauguration2021 Just got this email from Airbnb...

Looks like there may be another use for CBD & it may lead to first new class of antibiotics for resistant bacteria in 60 yrs. "CBD has been shown for the first time to kill the bacteria responsible for gonorrhoea, meningitis and legionnaires disease..." nature.com/articles/s4200…

In 11 days the UK will open one of its largest immigration programs, allowing 5.4 mil Hong Kongers a path to UK citizenship. It'll create an interesting self-selection process, perhaps swaying the HK population to be more compliant with China's demands bbc.com/news/world-asi…

There have been many unexpected knock-on effects from Covid... including increased whistleblower tips to the SEC. Here's one possible chain: Covid--> more remote work--> more ppl disconnected from work/co-workers--> workers more comfortable speaking up yahoo.com/now/whistle-bl…

What corn looked like 9k years ago vs what it looks like today & the next evolution... the corn with "goopy" roots produces its own nitrogen-- reducing the cost of farming, greenhouse emissions and halting one of the major pollutants in rivers & the ocean smithsonianmag.com/science-nature…

The guy who came up with the 4% safe withdrawal rule has now sold off a bunch of his stocks... “I’m doing this because of short-term conditions that I consider dangerous. I’m hoping after this is over, I’ll return to my normal allocation for stocks.” barrons.com/articles/the-o…

So rarely do we see prose like this in financial reports... Zoltan Pozsar's Bretton Woods III framework is worth the read bit.ly/3JnmLHO

Coughing in public-- or even hiding your cough-- has become so taboo...and that's made for some weird cough drop ads. We used to see clearly sick workers powering through the day with a cough drop, now we see a guy in the forest sneezing into his elbow 😆 nyti.ms/3P4N1ea

"Is eating fat actually bad for your health?" justine underhill brings some much-needed nuance to the conversation--and uses Jake Gyllenhaal to explain cholesterol! Nina Teicholz, PhD youtube.com/watch?v=_WVLhG…

Guess what happened to traffic when South Korea removed a central highway... at the time many business protested the highway removal, but it's been a big boost to business. Check out the rest of the video here: rb.gy/9lko9r

My new video on housing is live! "Can luxury housing do anything for affordability?" youtube.com/watch?v=rQW4W1…

Spend a half-hour if you will watching this excellent explainer video from City of Falls Church City Council Member justine underhill BLUF: Building more housing (even “luxury” housing) helps everyone, especially low-income and those experiencing homelessness! youtu.be/rQW4W1_SJmc?si…

A history of the car lobby’s determined push to make American urban streets hostile to pedestrians and cyclists (from justine underhill)

Happy new justine underhill video day to those who celebrate. youtu.be/v6LIYQRglnM?fe…

Nice video by justine underhill on when demand subsidies work (hint: when housing supply can increase) youtu.be/N_GLfxaYTYI?si…

What happens when we give people money to buy homes? It turns out one key factor determines whether housing becomes more affordable or more expensive... youtu.be/N_GLfxaYTYI

this video by justine underhill about how wow zoning destroys property value AND makes housing more costly for all is amazing youtube.com/watch?v=fizE8M…