Extra, Extra

Swiss Bank Accounts: “The wealthiest 1 percent own 43 percent of all global financial assets.” Oxfam Inequality Report Highlights Wealth Divide As Davos Begins.

+ Islands in the Scheme: “Charles Darwin described it as the most desolate of the Galápagos Islands, an almost extraterrestrial outpost crawling with giant tortoises and marine iguanas found nowhere else in the world, where smoke curled out of volcanic craters and lava flowed black.” But Darwin left before the cartels arrived. WaPo (Gift Article): How drug traffickers made the Galápagos Islands their gas station.

+ Forge Ahead: “Sam is afraid of some of his machines in the way that the lion tamer is afraid of his cats. You are confident. You know your skills. You have been doing this a long time. But you know that wild animals are always wild animals, and a false gesture, perhaps an unexpected noise, could set in motion events that could not be stopped. This pact requires utter honesty, complete truth. Sam is harnessing powers that few of us ever encounter in our lives. He’s directing them in order to reach down inside of this deck of tarot cards and transform the very atomic nature of its being. He’s doing what sorcerers do: magic.” Chicago Mag: A Knife Forged in Fire.

+ Hi Fi Fo Fum: “To minimize hum and potential electrical interference, Fritz outfitted the room with its own 200-amp electrical system and HVAC system, independent from the rest of the house.” On one hand, that sounds crazy. On the other hand, it sounds like a lot of audiophiles (or other passionate hobbyests), just more. WaPo (Gift Article): He spent his life building a $1 million stereo. The real cost was unfathomable. (I guess I’m lucky. My passion is researching products I’m too talentless to build and too cheap to buy.)