Thursday Night Links

• Peabody plans to return to shareholders at least 65 percent of annual Available Free Cash Flow (AFCF) retroactive to January 1, 2023. AFCF is defined as quarterly operating cash flow minus investing cash flow; distributions to noncontrolling interests; plus/minus changes to restricted cash and collateral arrangements (excluding one-time effects of the recent surety agreement amendment) and other anticipated expenditures. Peabody expects to launch the shareholder return program in the second quarter of 2023, following the Company's announcement of first quarter earnings. [Peabody Energy Corporation]
• No company better exhibits vertical integration than Apple. Something I have always been shocked about is “what could Apple be spending their absolute dollars of R&D on” but as time has gone on it’s clear what it is, and that’s building their in-house semiconductor expertise. Maybe it’s the rumored coming glasses or car, but it’s much more likely they are following the exponential curve of new nodes. 5nm is hitting an asymptote, a place where many other companies can’t compete in terms of absolute dollars, and by being there first they now have an absolute hardware advantage that can be tightly integrated into their software. [Fabricated Knowledge]
• Fletcher goes on to explain that the gospel of free trade was developed by the British after they had industrialized, and it was, Fletcher argues, a strategy specifically designed to prevent other countries from industrializing. "We've specialized in industrial production as our area of comparative advantage, so you should specialize in your area of comparative advantage by sending us wheat and raw materials." Any and all of the countries that agreed to free trade with Britain had stillborn industrial revolutions. [Tree of Woe] 
• The most obvious choice for a tree that symbolized friendship between Japan and Mexico would have been the sakura or cherry blossom tree. But the high altitude and weather in Mexico City didn’t suit the sensitive blossom. So instead, Matsumoto came up with the idea of importing the Jacaranda tree from Brazil. It had the same effect as the cherry blossom, with a springtime bloom that washed the city in bright colours. Seemingly changing the landscape of the city during those precious few springtime months. President Porfirio Díaz was so impressed by the trees he asked they be planted all over the city! [link]
• Since the dawn of Christianity, Emilia Romagna—birthplace of ragu, home of the city of Bologna—has been one of Europe’s wealthiest regions, a center of trade with a heavy agricultural presence. Few things say wealth as loudly as a sauce comprised of three or four cuts of meat, two kinds of fat, wine, milk, and a flurry of one of the world’s most treasured cheeses—all served on a pasta so dense with egg yolk it looks a sunset run through a paper shredder. [Roads and Kingdoms]
• Now as a strength coach, I’m well aware of my bias — the barbell is my hammer, and every problem in the world looks like a nail. But I can’t think of a better way to put structure and routine into your day than to develop a passion for fitness. Strength training demands discipline and consistency both in and out of the gym. At a minimum, you have to show up for your workouts, cook and eat healthy food, and get adequate sleep or you will not make progress. It also provides you with a regularly scheduled opportunity to challenge yourself, test your limits, and end your day with a small victory. [link]
• If you’re wondering how this relentless talk about social justice, equality/equity, and land acknowledgements fits in with an inherently exclusionary mission (i.e. give special resources to Jews in Tulsa), the answer is uneasily. There’s no standard of social justice that can justify a guaranteed cushy jobs program for Jews who move to Tulsa, especially when it’s largely funded by the same unaccountable billionaires who have wrought huge physical and economic changes across Tulsa. [Trevor Klee]
• It should be plain to the reader that these late-life reflections were not those of an asocial ultra-individualist. They were paleoconservative thoughts. They may also account for why the immigration-happy Wall Street Journal and other friends of almost-open-borders politics have never recognized Rothbard’s prodigious achievements, even within his own technical discipline. In the end, Rothbard sounded like a conservative regarding both legal and illegal immigration. Deist’s book reminds us of that. [Paul Gottfried]
• He believed the Catholic Church to be true most of all because of the pride of place and the honour in which it holds the Blessed Sacrament. In the last years of his life, Tolkien resisted the liturgical changes implemented after the Second Vatican Council, especially the use of English for the liturgy; he continued to make the responses in Latin, loudly, ignoring the rest of the congregation. [J.R.R. Tolkien]
• GlyNAC provides the precursor amino acids glycine and cysteine (from N-acetylcysteine) for glutathione synthesis. Glycine, cysteine, and glutathione make independent and important contributions toward cellular health and organ function. Their combination represents a “Power of 3” to indicate that benefits occur due to the combined effects of all three components. It is not glutathione alone. Glycine is a rate-limiting amino acid for glutathione synthesis. It is an important donor of the 1-carbon methyl-group essential for multiple cellular reactions, including purines for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis. Glycine and GlyNAC supplementation in mice significantly increase life span. Glycine supplementation is shown to lower the incidence of pulmonary adenocarcinoma. NAC donates cysteine and which provides the critically essential thiol (SH) groups needed for multiple cellular reactions. This is especially true for mitochondrial energy metabolism. Thiol groups play important roles in cellular reactions, and are a component of peptides, proteins and lipids. Glutathione is considered a “master antioxidant” based on its abundant presence within cells, its ability to neutralize harmful OxS, support mitochondrial function, and detoxification via glutathionylation. The “power of 3” refers to the combined action of glycine, NAC, and GSH, and could explain the speed and magnitude of GlyNAC-mediated improvement of the age-associated decline in cellular function, reversal of aging hallmarks, and health improvement in aging. [link]
• Decades of research support the fact that much age-related deterioration is the result of the effects of sedentary lifestyles and the development of medical conditions rather than of aging itself. Elite older athletes, who demonstrate enhanced performance compared with historic cohorts and even some younger peers, are models of this paradigm. Many non-elite middle-aged adults and older adults continue to remain increasingly active throughout middle age and beyond. A continually growing body of basic science and clinical evidence demonstrates how active persons modulate physical decline through training. An updated understanding of how active adults defy age helps orthopaedic surgeons not only manage their patients' performance but also improve their lives. A large segment of sedentary older adults will benefit from counseling that encourages the pursuit of more active and healthier lifestyles. [NLM]