Friday assorted links
Key Takeaways
- •Costa Rica's homicides have increased roughly 50 percent since 2020, bringing the country's murder rate to a level comparable with Mexico's, and President Laura Fernández's ruling party is blaming the independent judiciary.
- •The clash between Costa Rica's government and judiciary marks a notable shift for a country that abolished its military in 1948 and has long taken pride in stable, independent institutions.
- •Two candidates named Dan Sullivan, including the incumbent Republican senator first elected in 2014, appear on Alaska's U.S. Senate ballot in a state that has used top-four primaries and ranked-choice general elections since 2020.
- •A discussion raises the question of whether Aaron Renn, the urban-policy commentator behind the "negative world" framework and The Masculinist newsletter, is the biggest superinfluencer on the New Right.
- •Virginia Postrel, author of The Future and Its Enemies and The Fabric of Civilization, wrote about the Marginal Revolution visit to Anthropic, the AI laboratory that develops the Claude models.
-
“With homicides up 50% since 2020—putting the country’s murder rate on par with Mexico’s—Costa Rican President Laura Fernández and her ruling party are blaming the independent judiciary.” (WSJ) A striking turn for a country that abolished its army in 1948 and has long prided itself on stable, independent institutions.
-
The Monterrey spirit — Monterrey, Mexico’s northern industrial capital, long known for its entrepreneurial, self-reliant business culture.
-
Is Aaron Renn — the urban-policy commentator behind the “negative world” framework and The Masculinist newsletter — the biggest superinfluencer on the New Right?
-
Two Dan Sullivans are on the Alaska Senate ballot — the incumbent Republican senator, first elected in 2014, among them — and we will see how the voters do in a state that has run top-four primaries and ranked-choice general elections since 2020. (NYT)
-
Virginia Postrel, author of The Future and Its Enemies and The Fabric of Civilization, writes about the Marginal Revolution Anthropic visit — Anthropic being the AI lab behind the Claude models — and related discussions. Good post. (Substack)
