"Cities are meant to stop traffic. That is their point. That is why they are there. That is why traders put outposts there, merchants put shops there, hoteliers erect inns there. Rationally one wants to have traffic *stop* there, not go *through*."

—Kirkpatrick Sale, Human Scale.
[Photo: Pontevedra, #Spain]

because I am always the last to know, I just discovered `exa`. it is a replacement for `ls`, and golly does it rule:

https://the.exa.website

As we are seeing on an almost daily basis now, one can simultaneously be a dangerous far right authoritarian <and> the fundamentally unserious second coming of Scott Walker in national politics. People are large. They contain multitudes.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/midwest-roots-shaped-ron-desantis-political-values-youngstown-ohio-rcna73797

Yes, the folks who brought you the illegal should-have-instantly-ended-a-presidency Iran-Contra scandal in 1985-87 were engaged in an illegal should-have-ended-a-presidency-before-it-even-started independent foreign policy scandal in 1979-80.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/us/politics/jimmy-carter-october-surprise-iran-hostages.html

So... the summary is that for all the fear some people had that taxpayers would "bail out billionaires," and the corresponding fear that companies had that "a ton of our money could evaporate and destroy the economy with massive downstream impact"... FDIC/Treasury stepped in and did the right thing: depositors made whole, no taxpayer funds, bank assessment to make up any difference, & SVB equity/unsecured debtholders (mostly) wiped out.

A very good result.