Japan and U.S. Steel:
Claims that the deal is a threat to national security aren’t convincing either. Opponents on Capitol Hill are urging Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to use the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius, to block the sale. This doesn’t make sense. Japan, unlike China, is an important American ally. Earlier this month, the bipartisan House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party recommended that Congress put Japan on the Cfius “whitelist” of close allies. Countries already on the list include Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the U.K. Being on this list exempts qualifying investors from Cfius jurisdiction over noncontrolling transactions, real-estate transactions, and mandatory filing requirements.--Chou
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In an age of artificial intelligence, they [teachers] are creating artificial stupidity. --Sowell
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Bill Ackman, the hedge-fund manager and Harvard megadonor who has led calls for her ouster, said he was told that the search committee that chose Ms. Gay “would not consider a candidate who did not meet the DEI office’s criteria,” using the acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion. There is little reason to doubt him.--Riley in wsj
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Roatán
Roatán is an island just off the coast of Honduras. It is typical of those places of a great divide: luxury and staggering poverty.
Medical tourists are coming to the island to receive a homegrown gene therapy made by Minicircle Inc., a small US startup. The therapy, delivered via injection using plasmids, turbocharges the body’s production of follistatin, a protein that helps manage production of other proteins and hormones. The company’s founders say the therapy can reduce inflammation throughout the body, increase muscle mass and bone density, extend exercise endurance and improve hair and skin. It is, according to Minicircle, “the holy grail of muscle, bone and fat” and one of humanity’s best hopes for “extreme longevity.”
Minicircle—backed by the venture capital billionaire Peter Thiel, OpenAI Inc. co-founder Sam Altman and other technologists—is an uncontrolled experiment. The company is based in Austin but works out of Roatán because Honduras granted the island considerable regulatory freedom when it comes to technological and scientific ventures.
The follistatin is meant to subdue another protein— myostatin—which tempers muscle growth. Studies of mice have shown that damping myostatin production results in much beefier, longer-living rodents.
The follistatin therapy is the first in a series of products Minicircle plans to roll out, including therapies for DNA repair and tissue rejuvenation.
The project is localized at Las Verandas, a vast resort with white villas, palm trees, and a pair of infinity pools overlooking the endless turquoise ocean. It is one of the main hubs of Próspera, a city-building project that made Johnson’s gene therapy adventure possible. The backstory is strange: About a decade ago the Honduras government approved the creation of a handful of special economic zones that, while governed by Honduran criminal law, could have more latitude to create their own economic, political and civil law systems. The country hoped to give rise to its own Shenzhen or Dubai, which were established almost as city-states with singular business philosophies. The financial backers of these projects are unknown.
Minicircle—backed by the venture capital billionaire Peter Thiel, OpenAI Inc. co-founder Sam Altman and other technologists—is an uncontrolled experiment. The company is based in Austin but works out of Roatán because Honduras granted the island considerable regulatory freedom when it comes to technological and scientific ventures.
The follistatin is meant to subdue another protein— myostatin—which tempers muscle growth. Studies of mice have shown that damping myostatin production results in much beefier, longer-living rodents.
The follistatin therapy is the first in a series of products Minicircle plans to roll out, including therapies for DNA repair and tissue rejuvenation.
The project is localized at Las Verandas, a vast resort with white villas, palm trees, and a pair of infinity pools overlooking the endless turquoise ocean. It is one of the main hubs of Próspera, a city-building project that made Johnson’s gene therapy adventure possible. The backstory is strange: About a decade ago the Honduras government approved the creation of a handful of special economic zones that, while governed by Honduran criminal law, could have more latitude to create their own economic, political and civil law systems. The country hoped to give rise to its own Shenzhen or Dubai, which were established almost as city-states with singular business philosophies. The financial backers of these projects are unknown.
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