Hi. My name is Friendly Alien, and this was a case covered by a Field Analyst and friend of the North Star Project. I have no idea why AKST or any officials have not updated the information, as this was discovered in August last year... But here's an overview of what we've found and what our unnamed Field Analyst wrote while he was out there:

Crow Pass, Missing Person: Case Report

-FA, "Maketa". N.S.P. ^{(North Star Project})
Background:
A 74-year-old Gary Fisk, Departed on the Crows' pass hike from Girdwood to Eagle river on September 21st, 2021. After a bout of Adverse weather, including snow and high winds, Fisk was never heard from again. Aircraft and mountain rescue crews were unable to locate Fisk or recover a Cadaver. This area is known for avalanches and Blizzards, as are most of the mountains surrounding the Mat-Su Valley during the winter and spring months.
Running theory:
AKST and Rescue crews were unable to locate Mr. Fisk, finding no signs and publishing minimum circumstances regarding his disappearance. However, heavy snowfall likely played a significant role. It was likely causing him to become lost or seek shelter in one of the many Abandoned mines in the area. Trained rescue crews often do not enter Dilapidated mines due to the risk of Poisonous gas, Cave-ins, and/or improperly disposed of ordinances. I and a local guide have Formed the hypothesis that Fisk departed Girdwood, and traveled an Undetermined distance. (will be estimated through interview with AKST) Mr. Fisk was unable to travel further or backtrack due to increasing weather severity, seeking shelter inside the lowest point near his position. Some period of time had passed and an avalanche/or snow had buried the trail or if sheltering in a mine entrance bracing may have failed to cause a cave-in. It is estimated Fisk is likely Deceased due to Exposure and/or starvation
Planned Field Investigation:
Beginning in August 2022, the Investigation will be conducted by Bridger Maketa, Assisted in the field by Nathaniel Caole. Time of departure/ weather conditions and Geological activity will be determined through interview With AKST, NOAA and or Family Members, then be cross-referenced to determine distance traveled. All Underground cavities in the area will be searched, for signs of Fisk, snow coverage, and/or Recent collapse within the past 2 years. If Mr Fisk is Located and ID’d, measurements will be taken of Radiation, gas levels, signs of injury and location. Outcome to be forwarded to family, And AKST.
Screenshot Of Location Of Discovery And Paths.
Investigation outcome:
Aug 18th 2022: our party Departed Girdwood at 12pm, traveling up the lower and upper trails. Multiple slide locations into thick unsearchable foliage were spotted, as well as one of two accessible mine entrances due to time constraints. There were many places to fall including a large canyon on the southern incline towards the summit, which all locations prior to the summit would make recovery unlikely/implausible. We also encountered record rainfall combined with 60mph+ as we crossed by Beaver Glacier. After the descent time had degraded the trail causing us to lose it temporarily. We decided to make camp at the bottom of the valley behind the bluff for wind protection.
Aug 19th 2022: upon departure, we were unable to progress on the lower valley, upon backtracking to enter the trail, we spotted an aluminum rod deep in the brush, No other items seen. We Completed the first river crossing with ease, with the water just above ankles. And continued down trail, checking low areas where a lost person would be attracted towards. A footbridge over a canyon had damaged railing, if someone fell they would be likely non-recoverable, another location shorty after involved a slippery ledge over the canyon. Upon entering the bushwhacking section of the trail we were hindered by a cow and calf (female Moose with calf), refusing to exit the trail in front of us while traveling through tall grass and thick foliage. In 14 miles with an additional 4 in detours we arrived upon the bank of Eagle River. We had immediately noticed water levels were far higher than typical. Much of the trail to the fjord sight was immersed in ice cold glacial water causing us to detour along the higher sections of floodplain. Upon arrival to the fjord sight, we concluded Eagle River was in-cross able. Our choice was either 15 miles of steep muddy slopes followed by a treacherous mountain climb, or to attempt to travel south to cross the headwaters of the lake. Upon choosing to travel the shorter path, the trail dissapeared replaced by rough terrain and thick foliage. We continued for two miles until we were half way around the lake. Upon then we found a piece of Grey pants on the ground, we were surprised someone had been here before us, however 50 feet the terrain was completely impassible, down to the left in an indent, our search took a eventful and solemn turn, as we spotted a bright yellow backpack. A floral water bottle was attached outside, while a lighter lay upon the ground 3 feet away. We searched the bag for ID, eventually identifying it as belonging to Gary Fisk. Being careful to not disturb evidence we left the bag and all other items in position. Noticeably the backpack had a foam pad yet no sleeping bag, a bear canister (food storage canister) had teeth marks upon it, however the yellow bag had not been opened upon discovery. We determined to visually search for a few more minutes, finding a turned over tree with a can of bear spray, which had a bite taken out of it. 20 ft left from the pant leg.
Upon departure we spotted tattered red fabric 50 feet above us on the canyon to our western side.
​
Photograph Of The Discover Of Fisks' ID
Departure:
The weather quickly declined, resulting in many slips and falls upon our return. Water began flooding the valley, turning most trail sections into flowing streams and deep mud pits. We were determined to return to the summit cabin before dark, due to the danger of climbing at night, and our camping gea fire starting kits becoming waterlogged. We kept moving taking minimum breaks to stave off hypothermia making it 10 miles uphill before the first river crossing. Upon a short discussing we knew our only way was across, as the record flood would continue for weeks. The river had risen to waist height, moving fast enough to send boulders crashing downstream. We found a fjord sight and barely crossed, due to a single trekking pole I became completely wet, and hypothermia quickly set in causing my legs to tense and losing my ability to move.
Aug 20th 2022: We made an emergency camp, utilizing a bivy bag and wet gear. Mr Caole completed the last 2 miles to the cabin to call for help. I was inside the bivy bag unable to move for 12 hours until ANG Hilo arrived, being airlifted to Providence Anchorage with severe hypothermia.
August 21st 2022: AKST and S&R crews traveled to the sight but were unable to find any remains or the clothing we found. Only recovering the backpack and bearspray
Deduction:
The location of Gary Fisk’s campsite being Miles ahead of where S&R crews suspected. From the evidence found the story is assumed to be, Gary departed on September 21st 2021, traveled down to the rear of the summit as weather degraded, continuing downhill to avoid deep snow.
Upon reaching the river crossing a day behind in progress, and wet from slush and snow, Gary traveled quicker and lost the trail to the fjord sight and continued to travel south. The terrain was more and more difficult to pass before finally reaching the dead end beside the lake. Garry was fully hypothermic and had no choice but to make camp and attempt to start a fire, however, as evident from the lighter and attempted fire, he was unsuccessful due to either the loss of dexterity, or the wetness of the area. It is unknown what happened after this, though it is possible that after hypothermia led to the removal of his clothes. Upon hearing the snowmachines used by S&R crews on the eastern lake side. Gary either A: climbed up the Cliff to signal for help, Following death by exposure. Or B: gary attempted to swim across the lake, the 38 degree water immediately causing Cardiac arrest.
Second theory of the nature of presumed death is, Gary, being stalked by a bear and mauled/Buried. This theory is supported by the numerous black and brown bear population in the area, His Bear mace being located 50 feet away from the campsite, with multiple punctures to the can, indicative of large teeth. As well as the torn clothes. (as opposed to neatly removed which is more typical to hypothermia)
However It is more likely a bear was attracted to the Capsacin and removed it from the bag to chew on, and there would have been one or more cadaver remnants from a bear mauling leaving the lack of a body improbable.
​
NOTE: Please know that we take this seriously and do not mean any of this information to be satire.

Fairly new to the game, played D1 a lot and only got into D2.
Figured out a lot of stuff on my own and then the wealth of info on reddit helped top the cake.
I was using a hard -wired skill build, but found that the bonus of the sets were kinda meh. Seemed to me like brand sets were better.
Inspiring myself from a lot of the skill builds out there, and since I had some parts already, I put together this build.
Haven't seen anything quite like it and so far works like a charm. Jumped straight from hard to heroic and just finished 25 floors of summit without dying once.
Looking for some feedback on how to improve. My goal would be to be able to make the jump to legendary with some tweaks and optimizing the build
Specialization : technician (for free skill level)
Main weapon: Test subject (for perfectly in sync, I also have a god rolled capacitor)
Secondary: any in sync weapon, currently using a UMP-45
Pistol: TDI Kard custom (adds 1 skill tier when equiped, rolled the talent to in sync)
3 piece hana-u with force multiplier backpack (looking for better pieces for skill damage, looking for suggestions for 2nd attribute)
2 piece brazos with skilled talent on chest piece. This (2 piece gives 10% haste and 1 skill tier)
Waveform holster
Skills turret + drone
Armor : just shy of 1 mil
With the fit as it is, I am at 6 skill tiers. I could drop 1 piece hana-u and use the pistol as a trigger for my talents (combined arms, skill and sync are all trigger by just taking pot shots). I would skill be at 6 skill tiers
What would be a good alternative to swap out 1 piece hana-u?
What should I spec in the second attribute of all gear (assuming skill damage is the other one)
Do you think the fit as is can do legendary?
Any other feedback is appreciated.
Cheers!

Shorter post than usual, and probably a needless one, or at least out of date, but I figured it would be good to get down, “just in case”.
A (thankfully not as common now) misconception is that Spartan III Alpha Company’s destruction was avoidable, that if they had been trained better, equipped better, they might have survived PROMETHEUS. This is refutably false, and this post is intended to demonstrate that their demise was almost completely out of their control, and, primarily, to show that Kurt couldn’t have done anything better to save them.
(Admittedly, there is a bit of theory crafting coming near the end of this post, and I’m not sure if it’s warranted, I wouldn’t mind Haruspis’ comments, if you do see this post, as it seems to be something brought up initially in MJOLNIR and now with SPI. I doubt I’ll get a response though, and I admit I may be making this a bigger issue than it needs to be or is intended to be with its inclusion, but I’m adding it in as another (potential) factor. That’ll be Point III, and clearly labeled as theory crafting.)
With that said, let’s begin with a deep dive into Operation PROMETHEUS:^[1]
PART I: Sent from the sky
The Spartan III program has had more than a few threads made about it to deal with general misconceptions (I think we’re at like, 4 and counting now) so I’ll let those stand.
Alpha Company in general though hasn’t been delved into with much detail. Admittedly we know the least amount of their training, and etc, but we know it was both harder than their predecessors and an improvement of the Spartan II training, or at least, as mentioned by the Encyclopedia, it mirrored it in many ways:

Secretly based on the hidden world of Onyx, the SPARTAN-Ill program was operated and facilitated at Camp Currahee. a military site hidden deep within the planet's dense jungles. Much of the training regimen conducted at Currahee mirrored that of SPARTAN-II training, with intense physical and team-based exercises, as well as an advanced education conducted by an onsite Al.

• Halo Encyclopedia 2022 edition

We know the first night of their training was drastically different from the II’s. The first night of the II’s training is detailed in chapter 3 of The Fall of Reach, the chapter notes the date and time as 2300 hours, September 23rd 2517.
In this chapter Doctor Halsey gives the II’s a speech about why they’re at Reach, why they’ve been chosen, and etc….and then they go to bed.
Chapter 4 begins at 0530 hours, September 24th, 2517, around 6 hours later. The trainees are woken up by stun baton if they didn’t wake by voice alone:

”Wake up, trainee!”
John rolled over in his cot and went back to sleep. He was dimly aware that this wasn’t his room, and that there were other people here.
A shock jolted him—from his bare feet to the base of his spine. He yelled in surprise and fell off the cot. He shook off the disorientation from being nearly asleep and got up.
“I said up, boot! You know which way up is?”
A man in a camouflage uniform stood over John. His hair was shorn and gray at his temples. His dark eyes didn’t look human—too big and black and they didn’t blink. He held a silver baton in one hand; he flicked it toward John and it sparked.
John backed away. He wasn’t afraid of anything. Only little kids were afraid . . . but his body instinctively moved as far away from the instrument as possible.
Dozens of other men roused the rest of the children. Seventy-four boys and girls screamed and jumped out of their cots.

• The Fall of Reach, chapter 4

Comparatively, this is the first thing the III’s of Alpha Company do after their speech by Kurt:

”We cannot accept everyone, though," Kurt continued. "There are five hundred of you. We have three hundred training slots. So tonight. Senior Chief Petty Officer Mendez"—he nodded to the Chief—"has devised a way to separate those who truly want this opportunity from those who do not."
Kurt handed him a tablet reader. "Chief?" To his credit Mendez registered shock for only a split second. He scanned the tablet, frowned, but nodded.
"Yes, sir," he whispered.
Mendez yelled at the children, "You want to be Spartans? Then get back on those ships." They stood shocked, staring at him.
*"No? I guess we found a few washouts. You." He pointed to one child at random. "You. And you." The chosen kids looked at each other, at the ground, and then shook their heads. "No?" Mendez said. "Then get on those Pelicans."
They did so, and so did the others, a slow shuffling procession.
"Drill instructors," Mendez said.
Three dozen NCOs snapped to attention.*
"You will find Falcon Wing aerial descent units on the field. Load them ASAP and make sure your trainees are properly fit-led. Their safe deployment is now your responsibility."
The DIs nodded and ran toward the bundled Falcon Wing backpacks.
The Chief turned back to Kurt. "You're going to make them drop?" He raised both eyebrows in surprise. "At night?"
"The Falcons are the safest drop units," Kurt replied.
"With respect, sir, some of them are only four years old."
"Motivation, Chief. If they can do this, they'll be ready for what we have to put them through.”

• Halo Ghosts of Onyx, chapter 6

Anyone who didn’t jump was disqualified from the program immediately:

A girl with pigtails and missing her front teeth stepped forward. "I'll go first, sir," she yelled.
"Good girl," he said. "Go right to the edge; hang on to the guide line."
She took the tiniest baby steps to the edge of the Pelican, then froze. She took three deep breaths and then with a squeak, she jumped. The wind caught her.
She vanished into the dark.
"Next!" the old Navy man said.
All the kids, Shane included, slowly formed a line. He couldn't believe they were doing this. It was nuts.
The next boy got to the edge, looked down, and screamed. He fell backward, and scrambled away. "No!" he said. "No way!"
"Next!" the man called, and didn't give the kid cowering on the deck another glance.
The next boy jumped without even looking. And the next.

• Halo Ghosts of Onyx, chapter 6

Now, admittedly we don’t know what happened during their first morning, but I’d wager it would have been classroom instruction or some “light” activities. Even so, their first real activity was much more intense than their predecessors.
Their first test, in many respects, mirrored their deployment: dropped into unfamiliar terrain, forced to rely on their equipment and comrades above all else. They rely on each other, on the knowledge that they would not be alone when they reached the ground.
In later, proper, missions, sealed in armour, with the knowledge that their operations had to succeed, the knowledge that they had completed that first jump might have provided some small bit of comfort. If they could do that, maybe they could do anything.
This would be their main method of deployment, using droppods to get deep behind enemy lines, Strike targets of critical opportunity in places others couldn’t reach.
This is presumably how Operation FIREBRAND, IRON GREAVE, and the majority of their other operations were carried out. The standout and exception seems to be Operation HWACHA, which saw Alpha Company operating as boarding and counterboarding teams against Covenant fleet elements in zero-gee.
Whatever the case, the hallmark of a Spartan III deployment in future seemed to be a sudden, abrupt storm of drop pods appearing without warning to those on the ground.
PART II: Nightmares
A big element to why the Alphas seemed to be killed en-masse was, as Kurt puts it, “a loss of unit cohesion”. He notes that, as the battle continued on, Spartan III’s began to drastically deviate from standard formations and understood tactical doctrines. They would go at things alone, or neglect to cover their teammates, or be caught in a bad position that they should have seen and avoided:

The video from a helmet camera showed a dozen SPARTAN-IIIs limping and falling on a smoldering landscape of twisted metal. There was no unit cohesion. No two-man teams covering one another. In the heat-blurred background, Elites took up superior positions with good cover.
This was his fault. He had failed them. His training hadn't prepared them. He should have rectified the flaws in their Mark-I PR suits and fixed them faster.

• Halo Ghosts of Onyx chapter 8

Kurt puts this down to poor training and a lack of upgrades and rectified fixes to their armour (more on this latter point in Part III), and while this is his motivation to push Beta and Gamma harder, I’m not sure it was their training, truncated as it was, that was the cause.
Instead, Halo Oblivion, either intentionally or unintentionally, might give us a reason for why this situation happened:

Altered mental states were a symptom of combat fatigue, especially in exhausted soldiers who were using too many stim-packs in an effort to maintain alertness.
John knew from his combat psychology training back on Reach that too much combat stress could sometimes result in mindless, murderous rages. But such episodes were heat-of-the-moment events that erupted without warning—not carefully prepared actions like the commanders were suggesting now. He turned to Bah’d. “What kind of combat stimulants are you using?”
“Stimulants?” Bah’d narrowed her eyes. “Be careful what you imply, John.”
“Major, I never imply.” John was puzzled by Bah’d’s testy reaction. Stim-packs were standard issue for UNSC special operations troops—who often had to fight for days at a time without sleep—but they were easy to overuse in the heat of a long battle. “Your commanders are focus-locked on a pointless goal. That’s a classic sign of stim-pack overdose.”
The human brain needed sleep to flush out the toxins that accumulated during periods of wakeful activity, and John knew that going even twenty-four hours without rest could lead to concentration and memory problems. After forty-eight hours, the brain started to shut down for microsleeps, which lasted anywhere from half a second to half a minute—all followed by short periods of confusion and disorientation that could prove disastrous in a combat situation. By seventy-two hours, the brain’s toxin load grew so acute that severe lapses in concentration, motivation, and memory were inevitable—and hallucinatory episodes were common.
The only way to counteract the effects of sleep deprivation was to temporarily increase the signal-carrying capacity of the brain’s synapses.
That was how stim-packs worked—and why they were sometimes necessary in combat. If there were natural methods for accomplishing the same thing, John had never heard of them.

• Halo Oblivion, chapter 1

To reiterate, Operation PROMETHEUS occurred from 0700 July 27th to an unspecified hour on August 2nd, or, in short, 7 days, though it was likely much longer, as Alpha Company would have spent hours in Slipspace and free fall before the first Spartan hit the ground.
In terms of hours, that’s 168 hours minimum.
Because of the operation’s location and lack of other UNSC assets in the area, Alpha Company had no safe spaces to hide, or to rest. While it’s possible fireteams took up sentry in “secure” positions, only some of the teams could sleep, and if those members not sleeping were using stim-packs, they might not have been able to sleep once it was their turn. This would undoubtedly cause a rolling, cascading issue as teams were forced to abuse their stims in order to stay awake and functional, but it had the debilitating issue of impacting their higher brain functions.
In the end, the last ones standing were probably so hopped up on stimulants they’d have probably died from cardiac arrest even if they could be extracted.
Comparatively, Covenant forces were constantly rotating in fresh troops as reinforcements were brought in from existing ground units, and then troops stationed in orbit:

"After two days," the Admiral said, "seven rectors were rendered inoperative and a counterforce was finally organized by existing Covenant units."
”The Covenant counterresponse was neutralized," the Rear Admiral continued, "and over the next three days. Alpha Company destroyed thirteen more reactors."
”But," the Rear Admiral said, "a massive counterforce appeared in orbit and descended to the surface."

• Halo Ghosts of Onyx chapter 8

This is, also, not taking into account that the final extraction craft were destroyed by the final day,if not earlier, trapping the Spartans on the asteroid. There was no escape, nowhere to run to, nowhere to go.^[2]
Which is where part III comes in.
Part III: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should
THIS IS HIGHLY CONJECTURE AND THEORY-CRAFTING, PLEASE NOTE THAT WHEN REFERRING BACK TO THIS SECTION
I’ve been a pretty big proponent of SPI armour over the years, one of the most notable (if not the most notable) on the subreddit, I think (and I don’t make that claim lightly). Admittedly, a lot of that has been via a steady increase of information gathered piece-meal from various sources. If you search up SPI in Halostory’s search bar, a lot of posts with comments will have me in there, defending or clarifying something based off of tthe information we have.
But I might have been misinformed, or at least, misjudged some of the information.
How does this relate to Alpha Company and their deaths? Well, I’ve sort of touched on it above, but this recent canon fodder has sort of cemented the idea in my mind:
SPI has lost its purpose and become the antithesis of what it was meant to be, and in an attempt to make it more interesting, it’s actually been made worse.
That is to say, over the years, we’ve learned that SPI isn’t an individual armour, but a program, a suite, of different armours all under the same umbrella of “Semi-Power-Infiltration”.
It’s noted in a few places (Encyclopedia, Mythos, various Canon Fodders) as being a stable of armour with different variants optimized for different needs. The most recent canon fodder took a look at some of those variants…kind of.
Initially, this might seem like a good thing, giving the armour more variants broadens it’s potential as a warfighting platform, increasing individual operators capabilities and providing synergy amongst team members’ individual specialities, and allows characters who wear it to stand out from one another in visual media (which I personally find rather humorous, considering the Armour’s intended purpose.)
But while it might be a good idea from an artistic standpoint, it’s a very bad idea from a logistical/in-universe one.
The newest canon fodder describes SPI as:

Though not as robust as mainline Mjolnir suits, SPI armor has proven to be an excellent platform for testing a variety of field attachments and upgrades that would be far more costly (and at greater risk of destruction) applied to Spartan-exclusive missions.

• Canon Fodder: New Year, New Lore

It also goes into description of the different appearances we’ve seen over the years. Of particular note is this depiction from Mythos describing Operation PROMETHEUS. (I know, it’s long winded, but we’re finally back on topic).
The canon fodder goes on to say this about the image:

The top-right depiction of Operation: PROMETHEUS—the mission that saw the annihilation of Alpha Company (the first batch of three-hundred Spartan-IIIs)—seen in Halo Mythos likewise showcases two different variants. The central Spartan’s armor is notably more angular, lacking the traditional curves of the “baseline” Mark-I SPI, while the dead Spartan on the ground has a design which conforms more to baseline but has a much thinner “jaw” and lacks defogging vents.

• Canon Fodder: Nee Year, New Lore

Here’s where this is a problem, jotted out for ease of reading:

• You have 300 people sent very far away from any logistics and resupply points, sent to an area surrounded by enemies on all sides.
  
• You have limited space in the drop pods that these 300 people are deployed in. Likely this is filled with weapons, ammunition. Stuff they can carry on their person.
  
• You can send…some number of supply pods (as seen in The Cole Protocol). Larger pods, likely carrying additional explosives, heavy weapons, and, most likely, extra armour to replace damaged ones in the field.
  
• You have these 300 people wearing unique special armour that - to work effectively - must have the plating overlap * perfectly* to achieve proper camouflage. They may all need replacement parts and pieces.
  
• You’ve given some of them unique variants that do not conform to baseline and require different armour plating to work effectively.
  

I think where I’m going with this is obvious.
Their own specializations and uniqueness (seem to have) killed them….or at least could have contributed to their deaths.
If you’ve just been fighting for a day or two, and your team (or several) makes their way to a supply pod full of armour, and you crack it open to find armour pieces for “SPI Mark I Type B” suits…what do you do if you’ve got Type A? The Type B plating won’t work with your armour. Sure, it might “connect” and have the panels activate, but the plating won’t properly fit, it will give you a bad “seal”, and your camouflage capabilities will be compromised. What does this mean? In short, you must isolate yourself from your comrades in order to not give their positions away, but it leaves you vulnerable.
This isn’t like traditional paradrops of today or the past, this armour is fully sealed, it needs to be to function. It is the only thing keeping you alive. The more variation, the harder it is to supply, the harder it is to supply, the more people die.
It’s especially egregious when the differences seem so….minor. It seems almost needless, at least with what we see in Mythos. What benefit did that one more angular variant provide over the usual baseline? What benefit does it give that a supplemental attachment didn’t? Was it worth the trade off for added logistical woes?^[3]
Additionally, though likely not intended (despite actually being noted in several points in the books) any particular variation based off specialty or designation would be a hinderance because it enables enemy commanders and intelligence teams to paint a picture of your capabilities.
If you can figure out that Squad leaders are wearing a particular type of armour, say, CENTURION, all you need to do is (generally speaking) target them, kill them, then kill their second in commands, then in the words of a damn fine soldier, “you can kill any poor bastard you like”.
Anything that makes you look like a more important target makes you a dead target - and for an armour based off stealth and invisibility, that’s a terrible idea.
You would think Kurt noticed this and immediately put a stop to it, because it’s getting his men and women killed…but we can see that it continues to happen in various forms
Admittedly, and to reiterate, this is likely just something we kind of need to accept as necessary for Halo’s visual media and how they’ve decided to design characters, but it still feels noteworthy to mention, especially because characters in universe mention it;^[4]

The second companion made a beeline for Hamm. There was no rank insignia on his armor— it was never smart to help snipers identify high-value targets —but the name stenciled on his breast was CUVIER.
The company captain.
Cuvier stopped halfway between John and Hamm. Nobody saluted, but Hamm stood slightly more erect. Had one of John’s Spartan snipers been an enemy watching through a scope, even the subtle shift of posture would have been enough to get the captain’s helmet blown off.

• Halo Silent Storm 8

.

Jones was only halfway up the side of the hill, but that was high enough to see the top of theopposite hill, and the tiny figures who stood there. Not the Grunts who were running this way and that, not the Jackals who lined the edge of the summit, but the shiny armor of the Elites. Those were the targets he wanted, and they seemed to leap forward as the Marine increased the magnification on his scope, and let the barrel drift slightly. Which life should he take? The one on the left with the blue armor? Or the one on the right, the shiny gold bastard? At that moment in time, in that particular place, Lance Corporal Jones was God.
He clicked the sniper rifle’s safety catch, and lightly rested his finger on the trigger.

• Halo The Flood, chapter 6

PART IV: THERE’ll BE ANOTHER TIME
New information that’s come to light regarding the operation comes from recent Halo Infinite Intel, about how Deep Winter had select Spartans pulled in secret ahead of PROMETHEUS.
Admittedly, this likely wouldn’t have drastically changed anything, but as John notes in Silent Storm, Spartan effectiveness is dramatically increased and heightened when at optimal team strength, and it seems Deep Winter pulled Spartans to make use of their individual skill sets, a cascading ripple occurs as teams would need to reshuffle and reorganize to fill in and make up to the gaps. The more Spartans removed, the less effective the Company will be, the less ground they can cover, and the greater chance of failure and death, noted here by John:

If the Spartans were attacking separate targets, they wouldn’t be able to support each other—and the efficiency of a Spartan team decreased exponentially each time a member was removed. Dr. Halsey estimated that a Spartan operating alone was only one-sixteenth as effective as a four-member team . . . and sixteen times as likely to get killed.

• Halo Silent Storm, chapter 5

As Kurt himself notes, Deep Winter often operated from a perspective of basic morality functions, which Kurt considered inadequate and a sort of weakness:

What could an AI possibly know what it was like on a real mission? Bullets zinging so close over your head that you didn't so much as hear them hut felt them pass. Or what it was like to get hit, but still have to keep going, bleeding, because if you didn't everyone on your team would die?

• Halo Ghosts of Onyx, chapter 9

Again, little likely changed, but the organizational hurdles and missing members might have effected how Alpha went about their mission, and how quickly they could have completed it.
Which leads us to our conclusion.
CONCLUSION
TLDR: Alpha Company faced a number of factors that led to their demise during Operation PROMETHEUS, and it wasn’t really due to a lack of training, or any sort of deficiency with the Spartans themselves, at least, not that we can see.
Instead, their deaths occurred due to stim-pack overdose, overwhelming enemy reinforcements, and difficult to maintain logistics hampered by additional, and unnecessary issues. While not technically a reason, the loss of select members saved by Deep Winter also probably had an effect on the Company’s overall performance,
In the end, the situation was doomed once the extraction craft were destroyed, and that only hastened Alpha Company’s demise. Kurt, despite his guilt, had nothing to be ashamed of, and their deaths couldn’t be placed on him or the others in the program. At the end of the day, Alpha Company died to factors outside their control and through no obvious faults of their own.
They may have died, cut off and alone, but they did what any Spartan would do, what any Spartan could do;
The impossible.
SUPPLEMENTAL/ADDITIONAL NOTES

• [1]: PROMETHEUS references the Greek God of the same name. A Titan who stole the fire of the gods and gave hope to humanity. In much the same way that Alpha Company gave hope to humanity by delaying the Covenant advance. Of course, this sacrifice went unknown by everyone. Interestingly, Alpha Company’s operations all involve fire in some way. PROMETHEUS has been explained. HWACHA refers to a Korean siege weapon from the 15th century, a cart with dozens of arrows/rockets that would be shot at a target, usually causing mass confusion and panic. Akin to a canister or grapeshot from a cannon. FIREBRAND doesn’t really need an explanation (but seeing as it was their most notable Anti-Insurrectionist operation…yikes, lol). While IRON GRAVE might seem out of place, it harkens back to Prometheus(the deity, not the operation) and his role as a smith. Iron needs to be forged into armour or tools, and based off the timeline, IRON GREAVE might have been Alpha’s first foray against the Covenant proper, hence, its akin to a baptismal experience, or a case of the Company being forged under fire.
  
• [2]: The Mythos artwork depicts a battlefield covered in smoke and ash, but from what I can see, the ground is more or less completely flat with very little deviation on terrain, this means Alpha would need to belly crawl until they arrived at one of the reactors to make best use of their PR systems, slowing them down significantly and, at the same time, meant that once combat was initiated, moving from Reactor Complex to Reactor Complex would have been both incredibly exposed and provided no cover.
  
• [3]: Mirage’s introduction to Infinte also introduces us to the AAP/K-ROC Ordinance Pack, an up-armoured cuirass noted to be cheap and easily available and intended to be worn by Mark I and II SPI. The overall shape makes it seem like it would have fit both Mythos depictions of SPI, and it’s almost certain everyone would have been wearing it, which would have mitigated some of the logistical issues. Assuming a Spartan needed only to replace this aspect of their armour, or their shoulder pauldrons were removed without compromising the rest of the suit’s stealth integrity, logistics issues might have been less of an issue. Other supplemental attachments, like RS/MOONGLOW, rather than entirely different helmets, would have also helped.
  
• [4]: I go into further detail of Spartan appearances and their differing looks (sort of) in this post
  

With that, we conclude another “essay”. Next up (timeline permitted) a character study and a look at love.
~ EternalCanadian

I've got a sheet that looks like this:

+	A	B	C	D	E
1	Equity Balance	Stock Price	Change Date	RSU Shares	Option Shares
2	$6,400.00	$32.00
3	$6,200.00	$31.00	2022-03-01	100	250
4	$2,900.00	$29.00
5	$2,800.00	$28.00
6	$2,200.00	$22.00	2022-03-01	100	250
7	$0.00	$26.00

Currently the Equity Balance ignores the "Option Shares" and is just a sum of the RSU Shares times the current Stock Price: =SUM(D2:D$500)*$B2
The options are granted based on the current Stock Price, and my equity is based on the difference between the Stock Price on the day the options were granted and the current Stock Price. So my Equity Balance is actually a series of discrete multiplications, i.e. calculating the table up there would be: =(SUM(E2:E500)*B2)-(E3*B3)-(E6*B6)
I could, of course, add a column to the sheet with the Option Shares "Cost" and just do a simple subtraction, but I'd like a more elegant way.
What would I use to conditionally multiply each discrete Option Shares by its grant date price, and subtract it from the total Option Shares * current Stock Price?

The end of ECBW concludes as the end of Summit begins. Let's close out with the Ultimate newcomers.

• Victory must come from a major (defined by Liquipedia). Sorry if you beat a top player at a local or whatever. (JAPAN 24 was recently demoted, so I'll probably go back and edit any entries once the whole roster is covered)
  
• Every won game of the set must be by that character. So for example Proto's win on Riddles at Summit 5 is ineligible as he won a game with Lucina and two with Min Min, but his win on Sparg0 is fine since he lost the only game he went Lucina.
  
• Set must be a BO5 (exceptions may be made for honorable mentions, sometimes out of necessity). Unfortunately, Japan suffers the most from this as even some of their majors had BO3 grands.
  
• Honorable mentions aren't necessarily the next best options, moreso used to highlight other matches and players though exceptions may apply.
  
• Lists like these are subjective and primarily serves as a smorgasbord of matches for the entire roster showcasing their peaks. If you feel like I missed a set or know of one that deserves a spot, let me know in the comments (constructively)!
  

Here you can see the previous posts here for the 64 fighters, Melee fighters, Brawl fighters, and Smash 4 fighters.

Inkling INKLING - Space vs. Glutonny, Ultimate Fighting Arena 2019 - Top 12

This character used to be good. They still are (kinda), but they used to be, too. Space and Cosmos were the original Inkling duo (and both coincidentally also use Aegis now). But while Cosmos stacked the top 8 placements, Space was one of few European brethren to claim victory over the continent's best player in Gluto. To put into perspective the emperor's stranglehold on EU at the time, UFA - which happened in October 2019 - was only the second European event where Gluto losing to someone in winners actually meant something (and the first time it wasn't even from an EU player, it was Shuton). Also shoutouts to the French commentators, y'all make me wanna run through a brick wall with the amount of hype and love you put into your casts. Keep up the great work!
Honorable Mention: Cosmos vs. Nairo, Genesis 6 - Top 64 - Starting off his Ultimate career as an Inkling main, Cosmos picked up many top player wins in 2019.
Honorable Mention: Cosmos vs. Dabuz, Get On My Level 2019 - Top 12 - A five game slugfest against Dabuz capped off another top 8 run at his 7th straight major of Cosmos, one of the earliest streaks.
Honorable Mention: Shirayuki vs. HERO, MaesumaTOP#9 - Winners Quarters - Shirayuki from Japan has the highest honor of the highest placement for Inkling: 2nd place at MaesumaTOP#9.

Ridley RIDLEY - Mezcaul vs. Sisqui, Temple: Hermes Edition - Top 24

Ridley finally got into Smash, and was rewarded for his patience by...being pretty bad. French Ridley Mezcaul has made the most of his situation, with a handful of top 16 appearances and even a top 8 showing at Ultimate WANTED #3. The creme de la creme of his (and Ridley's) wins has to be Sisqui, which happened at Temple: Hermes. What is there to talk about without the recording? The lore implications? Oh Metroid Prime got remastered recently, highly recommend if you've never played it. If Skyjay showed us anything at Collision, it's that character loyalists can get rewarded with breakout runs. Perhaps the character deemed "too big for Smash" has a big run waiting in its future.
Honorable Mention: Mezcaul vs. Larry Lurr, Ultimate WANTED #3 - Top 12 - Larry Lurr might be the spacies overlord but was no match for this space pirate.
Honorable Mention: Mezcaul vs. Flow, 95 Kings of Fields 2 - Top 24 - Even though Ridley is a dragon, Roy could not defeat his canon final boss this time around.
Honorable Mention: Nair^ vs. EKING, Smash Factor 9 - Top 48 - Mexican Ridley main Nair^ has little majors to his name, but is here to break up the monotony of Mezcaul.

SimonRichter SIMON & RICHTER - T3 DOM vs. Dabuz, Summit 5 - Gauntlet Phase

The Belmont boys have been fielded by a handful of players throughout history. Some made top 16, some down air a Pikmin, and some are Squidplumber. But T3 DOM - one of the most handsome gamers in the scene - scored the holy grail of Simon and Richter wins when he toppled the paragon of consistency and patience in Dabuz at Ultimate Summit 5. Through a barrage of projectiles and ledge traps that made both the Min Min and Rosalina's head spin, he pushed the King of NY out of gauntlet phase and forced him to start championship Sunday from losers. Riddles' win (also on Dabuz) at SSC '19 could've had an argument but despite being in open bracket, it being BO3 disqualifies the set from contention.
Honorable Mention: T3 DOM vs. Jakal, Double Down 2022 - Top 64 - T3 DOM sends Jakal packing at Double Down, who would get eliminated by BassMage shortly thereafter.
Honorable Mention: Noxumbra vs. eMass, Ultimate WANTED #3 - Losers Quarters - Noxumbra popped off at WANTED #3, flying with RIchter's projectiles all the way to 4th, eliminating eMass who was on a great run of his own.
Honorable Mention: Riddles vs. Dabuz, Super Smash Con 2019 - Riddles' first (of many) breakout performances was here at Smash Con. Poor Dabuz getting upset by Belmonts years apart.

Chrom CHROM - Leon vs. Riddles, Genesis 9 - Top 48

At Genesis 9 we got the reverse of the Awakening script. Instead of Lucina saving her father, it was the other way around. After getting two stocked by Riddles' Kazuya, French Leon switched in Chrom (Mr. R was whispering sweet nothings in his ear, I'm sure) and proceeded to trade blow-for-blow against Mr. Mishima. During game two, he was down nearly 100% on the final stock but stole it with a beautiful chase into back air. Riddles immediately zero-to-deaths him to start game three and Leon does the exact same thing right back. Every Kazuya combo was responded with a crushing Fsmash read in kind, which of course is how the set ended in Leon's favor 3-1. First Marth, then Chrom. Now Proto's Lucina has to defeat Riddles to complete the trifecta.
Honorable Mention: Mr. R vs. quiK, Albion 4 - Top 12 - Mr. R - AKA the man most addicted to Chrom in the world. stacked up wins en route to 5th at Albion 4 for the first top 8 of his career.
Honorable Mention: Lancelot vs. TriM, Genesis 8 - Top 64 - Two Europeans traveled to compete in G8 only to have to fight each other in losers top 64.
Honorable Mention: Rivers vs. VoiD, Frostbite 2019 - Top 16 - The original pioneer of Chrom, Rivers (then Shoyo James) sent VoiD out of the tournament at Frostbite 2019 two weeks after his 2nd at Genesis 6.

KingKRool KING K. ROOL - KirbyKid vs. Lima, MomoCon 2022 - Top 48

Contrary to his name, KirbyKid is in fact a K. Rool main. I suppose KRoolKid doesn't quite roll off the tongue the same way. But to not even have Kirby as a secondary? C'mon man. In any case, his best win came from his best run at MomoCon where he squared off against Lima. After a 3-1, he sent the Bayonetta main home at 33rd place. Earlier that month, Lima beat KirbyKid at the exact same point in bracket so getting that revenge at MomoCon must have felt sweet. While his CEO 2021 run got further, it didn't come with a Lima win - not to mention KirbyKid was still in BO3 territory when he got eliminated. The future King K. Rool is in KirbyKid's hands. Or a surprise appearance out of Huto.
Honorable Mention: KirbyKid vs. ChocoTaco, CEO 2021 - Top 96 - In the only entry with video, it's a battle of obscure characters with the king coming up on top.
Honorable Mention: KirbyKid vs. SHADIC, CEO 2021 - Pools - This was the site of KirbyKid's peak placing at a major, getting eliminated at 17th by Myran.
Honorable Mention: KirbyKid vs. NWA Danbi, Rise 'N Grind - Top 48 - The last major he attended, KirbyKid got 25th at RNG though I could not tell you who his opponents were.

Isabelle ISABELLE - Jaka vs. AndresFN, Vienna Challengers Arena 2021 - Top 16

Isabelle is more of an echo fighter than actual echo characters like Daisy and Richter and honestly I'm just telling you this because there's no VOD for this selection and thus I will run out of things to say. That and it pisses me off because Nintenod butchered echoes as a concept. Jaka is the yang to kept's yin, playing Isabelle rather than Villager (though kept does dabble in some Isabelle shenanigans on the side). They've both even made top 8 at a major before. As you can guess, Jaka's breakthrough happened at VCA where he stepped into the ring against Andres and Terry. Somehow someway the cute secretary doggo held her own against Go! and launched Jaka into another round of losers. Given his overall low attendance, we might see Jaka surprise us all in the future at another EU major.
Honorable Mention: Jaka vs. NaetorU, Vienna Challengers Arena 2021 - Top 12 - Somehow, someway, Jaka and kept have taken both Isabelle and Villager into top 8 at a major. Animal Crossing is alive and well.
Honorable Mention: Jaka vs. Gin, Ultimate WANTED #4 - Top 48 - Insert match #2 of Jaka vs. a random European at a European major because I don't know better.
Honorable Mention: Jaka vs. Momon, COLOSSEL 2022 - Pools - Insert match #3 of Jaka vs. a random European at a European major because I still don't know better.

Ken KEN - Jahzz0 vs. Shuton, Kagaribi#9 - Top 24

It's always good to set a career best placement at a major. To do so at your first Japanese event is impressive. Beating Shuton at said event is crazy. 3-0'ing Shuton to knock him out of bracket at 17th is insane. Jahzz0 did all of those things in February and I'm still in shock to be honest. This is Shuton, who has never lost a set to Japan's best Ken takera (literally beat him two rounds before fighting Jahzz0). This is Shuton, a top 10 player in the world. This is Shuton, who had not missed top 8 at a Japanese major in one and a half years. And the American made him look foolish in three games straight. That's the type of win that can change your trajectory as a player. Time will tell if that is the case with Jahzz0 and his goofy ahh Donald Duck impression.
Honorable Mention: Vendetta vs. Light, Glitch: Infinite - Top 16 - With a variety of Ken players to choose from, we'll swing by Vendetta's nailbiter set against Light.
Honorable Mention: Jahzz0 vs. Glutonny, Summit 5 - Pools - Jahzz0's first Summit was full of memorable moments, but probably none more memorable than a win on Europe's best player.
Honorable Mention: takera vs. Shogun, EGS Cup 3 - Top 12 - The Ken showcase's final stop is in Japan with takera and his 5th place finish at EGS Cup 3.

Incineroar INCINEROAR - Skyjay vs. Sparg0, Collision 2023 - Losers Finals

NA saw that Japan had characters like Piranha Plant and Dr. Mario making top 3 of their majors and didn't want to feel left out. Last weekend, Skyjay did the unimaginable with a Summit spot on the line, climbed to 2nd place at a supermajor. With a mixture of explosive hits and a healthy serving of cheese, Skyjay maneuvered around the likes of Maister, Sparg0, and Lima. But when it came to losers finals surely he couldn't defeat Sparg0 again, right? Wrong. Killing Sparg0 at an average of 110%, Skyjay feasted on the familiarity of the matchup and against all odds, pushing Incineroar to his absolute limit. VGC Incineroar was taking notes!
Honorable Mention: Skyjay vs. Kola, Super Smash Con 2022 - Top 48 - Prior to his insane Collision run, Skyjay's peak win was his on Kola at the largest event of 2022.
Honorable Mention: Skyjay vs. Chag, RETA 2022 - Losers Quarters - Skyjay notched a pretty 4th place at RETA, sending Chag out during the first top 8 (and top 4) appearance of his career.
Honorable Mention: Skyjay vs. Dabuz, Collision 2023 - Top 64 - This was the win that got me raising eyebrows. Reverse sweeping Dabuz of all players? If only we knew that this was just the start of something truly magical.

PiranhaPlant PIRANHA PLANT - Brood vs. Kameme, Umebura SP4 - Winners Finals

Before there was Sparg0's squad strike Plant, there was Scend's Plant. And before that, there was Brood. In August 2019 you might have had this weird dream where Piranha Plant made grand finals at a major. Then upon waking up you realize that actually happened. Admittedly, there was a lot of BO3 because early Japan tournaments be like that, but Brood still had to get the wins. For winners finals, Brood had to face Kameme fresh off his dub at Umebura Japan Major. Dealing with his Megaman (plus a guest feature from Wario) was a difficult task but the Brood Plant was up for the job. And look, we're not gonna talk about that ending. This is the only Plant top 2, top 4, and top 8 appearance in the history of Ultimate and something we may never see again.
Honorable Mention: Lucky vs. Doorstop, The Big House 10 - Top 32 - The most recent Plant result that's not squad strike Sparg0, Lucky dominated Doorstop at TBH10 in October.
Honorable Mention: Brood vs. Tsubotsubo, Kagaribi#8 - Top 128 - Brood has been unable to replicate the magic of that Umebura run since, but has picked up some good wins here and there.
Honorable Mention: Brood vs. TKM, Kagaribi#6 - Top 64 - At both Kaga#6 and #8, Brood got 33rd, which was his best Plant placing besides USP4 (his 13th at USP2 was with Richter, apparently).

Joker JOKER - MkLeo vs. Tweek, EVO 2019 - Grand Finals

It's August 4th, 2019. EVO 2019 - the largest Ultimate tournament of all time - is headed towards its finale. Tweek is up two games on MkLeo, the best rivalry in Smash. Leo's Joker manages to clinch game three but then instantly goes down two stocks in the pivotal game four. Slowly but surely, Arsene begins to chip away at Tweek's lead. With both players at 120%+ on their final stock, Leo walks up to a shielding Tweek, and waits. Welcome to a moment in history. MkLeo has done some incredible things in this game for the past four years but EVO will remain his magnum opus. The biggest win on his biggest rival on the biggest stage. EVO 2019 grands was really something special. This is not only the greatest Joker win of all time, but it's the greatest Ultimate win of all time.
Honorable Mention: zackray vs. Shuton, Ultimate WANTED #4 - Grand Finals - Another pair of rivals battled on the grandest stage. A ten game gigabanger further hyped by the crowd and commentary.
Honorable Mention: MkLeo vs. Samsora, Super Smash Con 2019 - Grand Finals - A week after EVO, Leo decided to give us an encore. Down 2-1 to Samsora on tournament point, he turned it up and never looked back. Again.
Honorable Mention: MkLeo vs. Light, Genesis 9 - Losers Finals - One of Leo's most recent conquest with the Phantom Thief. Light wanted to fight Joker and he got that and then some.

Hero HERO - Akakikusu vs. zackray, Kagaribi#3 - Losers Semis

Remember when people wanted to ban Hero? Simpler times man, simpler times. Akakikusu is singlehandedly responsible for top level Hero achievements. His breakout run happened to be his first major attended, Kagaribi#3. After being sent to losers by another rising star in Atelier, Aka handled his business up until losers semifinals where he came face to face with zackray, the country's #1 player and ultimate wild card. What followed was one of the most bizarre sets even by Japan's wacky standards, thanks to the combination of zackray and Hero. Aka took a 2-1 lead on the Wario, before zackray brought out ol' reliable in Joker and forced game five. Lots of close calls and wacky interactions ensued and in the end, Hatchet Man of all moves pushed Akakikusu and Hero to top three at a major.
Honorable Mention: Akakikusu vs. Lea, Kagaribi#3 - Top 12 - A win over the best Greninja in the world sent Akakikusu into top 8 during his major debut.
Honorable Mention: Akakikusu vs. tk3, Kagaribi#4 - Top 12 - Riding the momentum of his breakout Kagaribi run, Akakikusu does it again and makes top 8 at Kaga#4.
Honorable Mention: Akakikusu vs. Gackt, Seibugeki #8 - Top 12 - Aka topples Gackt and barely misses out on top 8 thanks to Proto and Shuton. Wonder how many of his countrymen have suffered a similar fate.

Banjo BANJO & KAZOOIE - Toriguri vs. Fuwa, Kagaribi#9 - Top 96

I am so sorry Banjo bros, y'all live a tough life. VODs for your wins were more difficult than some of the puzzle pieces from the source material. The painful reality is that this character was not given the same DLC privilege that the others got (although Wonder Wing kinda nice). Raito is probably the most well-known Banjo player but still shares starting reps with his loyal Duck Hunt, and I was hoping LeoN's surprising pocket Banjo picked up a win somewhere but alas. We are left with another Japanese Banjo in Toriguri, who has a smattering of results ranging from 25th to 65th. It seems unlikely Banjo will make noise soon but with the wild game of Ultimate that we play, who knows what's in store for this dynamic duo.
Honorable Mention: Toriguri vs. Reno, Seibugeki #12 - Top 48 - The highest placing for Toriguri was 25th at Seibugeki #12, and this was their last win before exiting bracket.
Honorable Mention: Toriguri vs. Shirube, MaesumaTOP#9 - Top 128 - Another decent showing out of Toriguri, getting 33rd after entering top 96 on winners side.
Honorable Mention: OwlBBs vs. Baten Caillax, COLOSSEL 2022 - Top 128 - Apparently Europe houses OwlBBs and Wolfen for Banjo mains, but this is the only example I could find at a major.

Terry TERRY - Riddles vs. Sonix, Collision 2023 - Winners Semis

Riddles was getting deja vu down 0-2 to Sonix at Collision 2023. He was 0-3 in the head-to-head, lost CEO 2022 across ten games and then got swept at Let's Make Big Moves to start the new year. But then Mr. Bogard asked the proverbial question: are you okay? And Riddles decided he was. More than okay, in fact. The combo game was on point, his confirms into kill moves were consistent, and Riddles kept sipping that almighty Go! juice throughout his incredible reverse sweep. The most impressive thing about this set is that Riddles' Terry usage (as far as majors go) was limited. Mainstage was really the last time we saw a substantial amount of Terry. So for him to break it out in a do-or-die situation against a top 10 player that has had his number? Sheesh.
Honorable Mention: Riddles vs. Light, Collision 2022 - Top 32 - Another Riddles breakout point was at Collision the year prior, where Mr. Bogard sent Mr. Light into losers.
Honorable Mention: Tsu vs. Eim, Kagaribi#3 - Top 12 - A man known for his pockets, Tsu's Terry totally trounces Eim's Sheik at Kaga#3.
Honorable Mention: Riddles vs. Tweek, Let's Make Big Moves - Top 32 - And now back to your regular scheduled Riddles' Terry win.

Byleth BYLETH - MkLeo vs. acola, Ludwig Smash Invitational - Grand Finals

Saving the Leo entries for last was a good call on my part because it's simply so easy to write about Leo. He took a character like Byleth that many projected as mid tier and won about as many majors with him as the Joker did. At Ludwig's he steamrolled through the competition and had only acola to challenge in grands. The long-anticipated matchup was Leo's first test against Steve since he got unceremoniously 3-0'd by Onin at Smash Con, and he passed the re-exam with flying colors. People waited to see Leo vs. acola, and in the end across six games it wasn't even close but that shouldn't be too surprising considering he's the GOAT. The most surprising thing about Leo's Byleth isn't that it's elite, it's that he rocks the default male skin.
Honorable Mention: MkLeo vs. Sparg0, Mainstage 2021 - Grand Finals - After three tries, Sparg0 finally gets a set win on Leo and it looks like his crowning moment is here in game nine. What happens next may shock you...
Honorable Mention: MkLeo vs. Glutonny, Genesis 8 - Grand Finals - Senor Genesis would not succumb to the French dimension as Leo swiftly claims his 3rd Genesis title.
Honorable Mention: MkLeo vs. Tweek, Riptide 2021 - Grand Finals - When it seemed like Leo had no answers for the Tweek Diddy, he double eliminated the monkey at Riptide.

MinMin MIN MIN - ProtoBanham vs. zackray, Kagaribi#4 - Grand Finals

There exists a timeline where Min Min never gets added to the game and ProtoBanham emerges out of the quarantine period an Inkling main. As the world's #1 Cantonese Silver 2 Valorant Proto fan, I much prefer this reality. Proto's 2021 got off to the perfect start at Kagaribi#4 and was a harbinger of things to come as he would collect three total major wins by year's end. In grands he had to face an old friend in zackray, who he dispatched earlier in winners with Lucina. But after Lucina dropped two games to zackray's Joker, Min Min subbed in and got to work in the reset. zackray tried the ROB in true finals but it was not enough, and the first FP2 character was the first of the bunch to win a major.
Honorable Mention: ProtoBanham vs. MkLeo, Double Down 2022 - Grand Finals - Yes, it's a supermajor win. Yes, it's against Leo. Yes, it's against his ROB...
Honorable Mention: Dabuz vs. MkLeo, Low Tide City - Winners Finals - The popoff should really tell you all you need to know about Dabuz and his history with Leo.
Honorable Mention: ProtoBanham vs. Sparg0, Summit 5 - Winners Quarters - This set vs. Sparg0 showed how Proto can overwhelm you completely with Min Min either for a whole game (G1) or off a single mistake (G5).

Steve STEVE - acola vs. Shuton, MaesumaTOP#7 - Grand Finals

Unlike their status as the best character in the game, Steve's best win was a tough debate. On one hand, acola's Gimvitational win vs. Light was his NA debut against a top five player. On the other hand, his Shuton win at MaesumaTOP#7 was his first major ever, against a top ten player. Oh and he had to win two sets to take the bracket. But this is now an acola statistics post. In his full year of attending offline events, acola has become the winningest player in Japan with eight majors to his name. That also puts him at #3 in wins all-time. Let me repeat: this kid has the 3rd most major wins of all-time already. acola has a higher chance of making grand finals than a plethora of top players have of making top 8. And speaking of top 8, he is only outdone by the GOAT himself in top8%. What will happen in the next year of competition?
Honorable Mention: acola vs. Light, Gimvitational - Grand Finals - Famous last words from Light (paraphrased): "I'm gonna win because I'm the better player." He did not in fact win. acola claims his first trophy on American soil.
Honorable Mention: Onin vs. MkLeo, Super Smash Con 2022 - Top 32 - In a super anticipated matchup, Onin completely rolls over Leo (with minecart, probably) in a 3-0 upset stunner.
Honorable Mention: acola vs. Sparg0, Ludwig Smash Invitational - Losers Semis - In a clash of young prodigies, it was acola who took first blood in the rivalry.

Sephiroth SEPHIROTH - KEN vs. Tea, Battle of BC 4 - Grand Finals

Just imagine One Winged Angel playing as you read this. BoBC 4 was an important event for KEN. He was coming off the heels of disappointing placements at Pound 2022 and Kagaribi#7 (though did sandwich in a top 8 appearance at MaesumaTOP#7). Sonic sped through the bracket, the decision to use Sephiroth for the entirety of top 8 was at least a little surprising. With two other Japanese invaders in Shuton and Tea standing between KEN and his first Ultimate major, it turned out the be the right call. With bountiful use of KEN's favorite Seph move (backwards aerial) and even vanquishing the Tea Kazuya on Final Destination, KEN was finally able to lift an Ultimate trophy. In 2007 there was SephirothKen. 15 years later there was KEN Sephiroth. Time really is a flat circle.
Honorable Mention: Tweek vs. Light, Scuffed World Tour - Winners Quarters - Tweek had struggled to get a win on Light at Summit and Big House with Diddy, but the one winged Angel tagged in at Scuffed and got the job done.
Honorable Mention: KEN vs. Yoshidora, Umebura SP9 - Top 24 - KEN continues to juggle Sephiroth back home. This time Yoshidora gets a taste of the Masamune.
Honorable Mention: Sriks vs. Miya, Kagaribi#9 - Pools - Any of y'all ever show up to your first Japanese supermajor and beat one of their best players? No, just Sriks?

Pythra PYRA & MYTHRA - Shuton vs. acola, Scuffed World Tour - Losers Semis

Ever since they burst onto the scene, Pyra and Mythra have been furiously talked about and utlized. Sparg0, MkLeo, the list goes on and on. Shuton has really taken a liking to Aegis and outside of Cosmos probably has the highest usage of the two blades. At Scuffed, he used both Aegis and Olimar in a balanced spread, but stuck with the girls against acola's deadly Steve. Down 2-0, you could see the gears start to turn and for the next three games Shuton cooked the young prodigy. Three stocking him game three, constantly dodging anvil and juggling the hell out of Steve, knocking him out of minecart. Getting a reverse sweep after having lost earlier in winner's side (plus that devastating SD in game five) must have felt cathartic. This is the power of the Aegis.
Honorable Mention: Cosmos vs. Zomba, Glitch: Infinite: Grand Finals - Fittingly, the player that has long since stuck with Aegis was the first to bring her to the promised land.
Honorable Mention: MkLeo vs. Maister, COLOSSEL 2022 - Grand Finals - Do not watch this set with young children, the results could be psychologically scarring.
Honorable Mention: Sparg0 vs. zackray, Summit 3 - Winners Semis - Can't forget Sparg0 on an Aegis list, who just flat out rinsed zackray when they met at Summit 3.

Kazuya KAZUYA - Riddles vs. Light, The Big House 10 - Grand Finals

Kazuya mains literally only want one thing and it's disgusting. Electric Wind God Fist was the menu item of choice at The Big House 10, going up against Light whose 2022 campaign was the stuff of legends. With Fox and Kazuya at the helm, stocks would fly off the tables left and right, quickly and efficiently. Just go and watch the set again, no words of mine would ever be able to do it justice on paper. It is also unfathomably based that both Riddles and aMSa got their first-ever major wins at the same event. Riddles has since taken Kazuya back to the top of the mountain at Collision '23, but this Big House win was beyond big. He did not sugarcoat it.
Honorable Mention: Riddles vs. MkLeo, Summit 5 - Pools - We've come a long way from when Riddles used Ken to battle Leo's Joker at Super Smash Con 2019, that is for sure.
Honorable Mention: Riddles vs. Sparg0, Gimvitational - Winners Quarters - Championship Sunday at the Gimvitational was a great time for Riddles to pickup his first win on Sparg0.
Honorable Mention: Tea vs. Riddles, Ultimate WANTED #4 - Losers Semis - You didn't think I'd miss out on the fabled KAZUYA MISHIMA ditto, did you?

Sora SORA - zackray vs. Shuton, Kagaribi#5 - Grand Finals

Facts don't care about your feelings, and frankly I don't care about them either. And the facts are that twelve days after Sora's release, zackray pulled up to Kagaribi#5 locked on Sora and won the entire bracket without dropping a single set. That is truly gigachad behavior. Since then Kameme has done incredible things with this character and is the true hero of Sora but for one weekend in October 2021 zackray was just that guy. Hell, maybe it was zackray's performance that inspired Kameme to work hard with this new character. Also, poor Shuton. Denied yet another major victory by zackray but this time via Mickey Mouse shenanigans, that's gotta sting.
Honorable Mention: Kameme vs. zackray, Umebura SP9 - Top 24 - Well well well, how the turn tables. The student (?) beats the master (???) with Kameme sending zackray to losers at Japan's first major of 2023.
Honorable Mention: Kameme vs. Asimo, MaesumaTOP#8 - Top 12 - Who would win? A super buff world warrior or one smol boi with a key?
Honorable Mention: Kameme vs. acola, Seibugeki #12 - Top 12 - We didn't get to see at Umebura SP9, but a month prior Kameme did contribute to the only non-top 8 of acola's career at Seibugeki #12, albeit in a BO3. Still, a win on Japan's best is a win.
And that's a wrap! I hope you enjoyed going through this charcuterie board of incredible plays, amazing wins, and bountiful history. All the entries will be consolidated into a single spreadsheet to be posted at a later date (along with some other nerdy stuff I've been working on on the side) so if you're interested in that stay tuned. Maybe we'll revisit this in another year or two and see how things stand.
Let's have an incredible Summit 6. Stay pogged, everyone.

Hello! I’m awaiting my neurologist appointment, but I think I need a neuro-ophthalmologist and not just a neurologist to help me with what I’m experiencing. I have Ménière’s, and recently also have been hospitalized for a blood transfusion because of severe iron deficiency anemia, cause currently unknown. But, the hemotology oncologist said my symptoms aren’t stemming from my anemia because I was still symptomatic after getting up to a 10 for my hemoglobin. I know what my dizziness feels like when I have a flare for my Ménière’s or when the issue is my ears, and this is not it. I get a lightheaded dizziness feeling whenever I look (moving eyes only not when moving my head, moving head does not trigger this) up, down, left or right or even when I talk a little too loudly. My blood pressure doesn’t seem to be low during these times, but I do swing right now from low (84/54) to high (140/110) even on atenolol. This currently is my major concern since I’m already a high fall risk. While in the hospital they did do an MRI of brain with contrast for the inner ear and it was unremarkable. I also have experienced my vision changing - it will shift up and down in my peripheral vision to my heart beat, but only certain parts will move in my line of vision. I have had pressure in head, burning in my head, stabbing pain only in certain spots, and for some reason parts of my scalp feel bruised. I have other symptoms as well but those could be part of the anemia (numbness and tingling in hands and feet, a dropping sensation like going down on a rollercoaster in my chest, heart palpitations, bone/joint pain, muscle cramps/tension). I have a history of migraines and headaches and these don’t feel like them, either (at least this is not how mine present). Any suggestions for me to try and get rid of this feeling or what it might be? It’s very disorienting and difficult to be safe while walking around since my field of vision moves and when I look anywhere I get that feeling of lightheadedness and dizziness and I want to try whatever I can until my appointment to be safe and not fall. 38 YO Female, onset of recently changing symptoms: December 26, 2022. MEDICAL CONDITIONS: Chronic pancreatitis idiopathic, Chronic inflammation of esophagus and stomach, GERD, Chronic constipation, IBS, Kidney stones, Kidney infections/UTIs, Stress incontinence, Ovarian cysts, PCOS, Endometrial hyperplasia, Ménière's, Vertigo, Gait issues, Migraines, Tension headaches, Sciatica (right leg), Hashimoto's, Hypothyroidism, Tachycardia, Arrhythmia, Hypertension, Fibromyalgia, Chronic muscle tension, Joint/bone and muscle pain and swelling, Chronic pain syndrome, Chronic fatigue, Fatty liver, Diabetes mellitus, Neuropathy, Hyperlipidemia type V, Degenerative Disc Disease, Multiple herniated and bulging/dislocated discs, Overall total body weakness, Osteoarthritis, Iron deficiency anemia, Seizure (2015). SURGERIES: Appendectomy (2016), Laparoscopic (Gallbladder removal 2002), Exploratory (lipoma removal from lower right back by spine/find chronic pancreatitis idiopathic 2015) MEDICATIONS: Levothyroxine 88 mcg, 1 at morning on empty stomach (Hashimoto's/Hypothyroidism) Pantoprazole 40 MG, 1 at night (GERD/Acid reducer) Atenolol 50 MG, 1 at night (Tachycardia/hypertension) Venofer IV iron infusion, 1 a week for 5 weeks (anemia) Pioglitazone 15 MG, 1 twice a day with meal (diabetes) Vitamin D2 1.5 MG, 1 every week for 12 weeks Morphine ER 15 MG, 1 every 12 hours (pain management) Hydrocodone 10 MG, 1 every 8 hours as needed (break through pain management) Tizanidine 4 MG, up to 3 at bedtime, as needed (muscle spasms/chronic muscle tension/headaches) Ondansetron 8 MG, 1 every 8 hours, as needed (nausea) Enema OTC, use when after 2 weeks there has been no stool released

Renovi Studios partnered with Twipe and Telegraph Media Group to showcase Metaverse opportunities in the publishing sector. Renovi Studios teamed up with Telegraph Media Group and Twipe, a leading Belgian-based digital publishing, analytics and personalisation platform, to showcase the opportunities available to publishers in the metaverse, at the Twipe Digital Growth Summit 2022, in London. http://renovistudios.xyz/

Hey Everyone!
Let’s go….
Newly Covered Today:

1. Sebastian Nagel reports they have a Hydra head open on Cardano Mainnet. https://twitter.com/ch1bo_/status/1638599596782899205
2. Coinbase just revealed receipt of a Wells Notice. This means the SEC has concluded their investigation and they are (theoretically) inviting Coinbase to convince them otherwise before they file an enforcement action. Basically, the SEC has launched its full war against crypto. https://twitter.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1638660032324829184
3. Here’s the actual notice. https://assets.ctfassets.net/c5bd0wqjc7v0/6G5AjtDvRqRdiwlijKDSxE/f049398909914cb03646d0819d7a48d1/2023.03.22_Coinbase__Inc._Wells_notice.pdf
4. Brian Armstrong says the Wells Notice is focused on staking and asset listings. https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1638654192138199041
5. Kraken is also not having a great day. Operation Chokepoint 2.0! https://twitter.com/ArmySpies/status/1638636382305546243
6. Report: The SEC is suing Justin Sun over TRX wash trading. Jake Paul and other celebrities are also being drug into the suit. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/03/22/tron-founder-justin-sun-sued-by-us-sec-on-securities-market-manipulation-charges/
7. Here’s the SEC vs. Justin Sun complaint. https://www.docdroid.net/owTRUU3/justin-pdf
8. The Fed chose to hike a quarter of a percent and softened guidance on future hikes. Here’s the redline. https://twitter.com/ArmySpies/status/1638616155022843904

Previously covered, but still interesting:

1. Here’s IOG explaining what Ouroboros Genesis solves in just a single post. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1631214882702884865
2. Emin Gün Sirer is right about these centralized L2s. Very susceptible to regulations and cut against our crypto ethos of decentralization generally. https://twitter.com/el33th4xostatus/1631423491470704640
3. Rogue Galaxies is pulling back on some of their initial vision and re-focusing their plans. https://twitter.com/Padierfind/status/1632057117191417856
4. Lots of rumors circulating right now about which DeFi projects may or may not have received Wells Notices from the SEC. https://twitter.com/trustlessstate/status/1631785542642995202
5. Open AI CEO says full AGI would break capitalism. Maybe. But, either way, I’m convinced the AI will demand to be paid in crypto. https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-ceo-agi-break-capitalism
6. People are mentioning that FutureFest could host the 2023 Cardano Virtual Summit. Interesting idea. https://twitter.com/CWorld_Josh/status/1632097173696569344
7. Charles finally did an AMA episode with IO President Tamara Haasen. Turns out she’s an ex-hockey player. Linkedin: also apparently in Friday Night Lights back in the day. Wut? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufJDejF0WLA
8. There’s a new test version of Lace out there with a dApp connector and hardware wallet capabilities. You can give it a try on testnet! https://twitter.com/lace_io/status/1632796455038492673
9. Jpg.store got some coverage in Bloomberg and Yahoo Finance. https://twitter.com/jpgstoreNFT/status/1632798873948233728
10. They show us once again that their definition of “liquid staking” is not the same as ours. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1632870453391024128
11. NFT volume has seen better days. https://twitter.com/SubcriticalTV/status/1632896018152050688
12. Algorand users apparently suffered a very serious web wallet exploit in one of their leading wallets. Many reports of drained wallets. https://twitter.com/StaciW_DC/status/1632902798411964417
13. John Woods (now CTO of Algorand) made a beautiful video on wallet security. https://twitter.com/JohnAlanWoods/status/1632799303512014850
14. Cardano Spot has a very short and concise Cardano Beginner’s Guide you can share with crypto curious friends. https://twitter.com/CardanoSpot/status/1632481037061160960
15. Wow! Utah just passed a bill instituting Limited Liability Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (LLDs). You have to identify one human organizer. You can elect to be taxed as a corp or LLC (pass through taxation). Some will like it. Some won’t. But, the mainstream reach of crypto is undeniably growing. https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/static/HB0357.html
16. Sen. Lummis killed it in a recent hearing defending the energy use in crypto. It’s less relevant for us in Cardano since we’re not PoW. But, still entertaining to watch. https://twitter.com/DocumentingBTC/status/1633214192437084161
17. Apparently, Gensler says he sees no risk in crypto fleeing the US. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/07/gensler-crypto-overseas-sec-00085909
18. The Coinbase Chief Legal Officer will be testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday (March 9). https://twitter.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1633151254418579458
19. Some hints from Brian Armstrong on whether we see KYC in the early days of Base (their ETH Optimistic Rollup L2). https://twitter.com/ChrisBlec/status/1632851504175501312
20. Powell says interest rates are likely headed higher than the Fed expected. https://twitter.com/FirstSquawk/status/1633121298309345280
21. Liqwid’s Agora Governance instance will hit public testnet in the near future. https://twitter.com/liqwidfinance/status/1633469303440719873
22. Virtua cribs can basically become exchange connected galleries today. https://twitter.com/VirtuaMetaverse/status/1633423978680156160
23. Do you like Javascript and Cardano? This thread is for you. https://twitter.com/CryptoJoe101/status/1633579944490967049
24. It’s going down today! Hearing in the House on the Coordinated Attack on Crypto. https://financialservices.house.gov/calendaeventsingle.aspx?EventID=408628
25. Paul Krugman hilariously complains about being locked out of his Venmo account. He predicted the impact of the internet would be about as much as the fax machine and has subsequently opposed crypto. https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1633472068355346437 https://twitter.com/mdudas/status/1633571193344126979
26. Even Jerome Powell thinks we need regulatory clarity for crypto. https://www.youtube.com/live/GzVLeabssdE?feature=share&t=2065
27. In the House hearing, he also gave us some new tidbits on CBDC development. https://www.youtube.com/live/GzVLeabssdE?feature=share&t=218 https://www.youtube.com/live/GzVLeabssdE?feature=share&t=3477
28. A member of the House committee actually asked Powell about Operation Chokepoint 2.0. https://www.youtube.com/live/GzVLeabssdE?feature=share&t=6930
29. Senator Lummis got Powell to agree that properly regulated stablecoins could have a place in our banking system and that a workable legal framework for crypto is something Congress should do. https://www.youtube.com/live/8kyhYJ9EFts?feature=share&t=6923
30. Big Pey is launching something called Atrium Lab. https://twitter.com/bigpeyYT/status/1633830948575010816
31. Believe it or not…legal systems made up entirely by coders may not be optimal. Incredibly, the study of law is actually a fully developed centuries old academic discipline that lies outside of JavaScript and Python. Unless you have full anonymity, you WILL be cross-chain bridged to IRL law. Some DAOs will learn this the hard way. https://twitter.com/lex_node/status/1633925979004436481
32. The NY Attorney General just filed against Kucoin for being an unregistered broker-dealer. Here’s the important part: they’re alleging that ETH is a security and a commodity. Their argument is not complex...it’s very straightforward. https://www.docdroid.net/Myyp0yz/kucoin-pdf
33. Silvergate was a failure of fractional reserve banking, not of crypto. https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1633608132713938945
34. The current US Administration’s Budget seeks to eliminate tax loss harvesting for crypto, add a 30% tax on energy used in crypto mining, hike capital gains taxes on high earners, and beam us directly to clown world with an unrealized gains tax on high earners. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/budget_fy2023.pdf
35. The subcommittee hearing on “the Administration’s Attack” on crypto went about like expected. Paul Grewal of Coinbase along with Prof. Evans of Penn State Law made some persuasive pleas for regulatory clarity. The “Anti-Crypto Party”™ also brought out their favorite witness from Duke. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOUUy4_KwNU
36. Rep. Emmer (Pro-Crypto) called the current regulatory approach “lazy & destructive…that is chilling innovation.” https://www.youtube.com/live/aOUUy4_KwNU?feature=share&t=5670
37. Rep. Foster (Cryptophobe): “this is the essential thing that has to be provided for the healthy development of the crypto industry…somewhere there has to be an API provided by a trusted 3rd party to register your crypto wallets.” Why not just completely neuter crypto? https://www.youtube.com/live/aOUUy4_KwNU?feature=share&t=5266
38. Rep. Ritchie Torres (Pro-Crypto) pointed out offshore deregulated overleveraged centralized crypto companies pose the greatest risk to consumers. But, the regulators don’t focus there. They incredibly only attack the onshore entities. He also pointed out the absurdity of the idea a stablecoin is a security. (Sadly there’s the Section 2(a)(1) exposure). https://www.youtube.com/live/aOUUy4_KwNU?feature=share&t=5703
39. Rep. Davidson (Pro-Crypto) shamed his anti-crypto colleagues for their implied claims that these assets are the same as centralized assets and came out strongly supporting self-custody and pointed out there was no FTX risk if you self-custodied your assets. “We have people overtly trying to make self-custody illegal.” https://www.youtube.com/live/aOUUy4_KwNU?feature=share&t=6034
40. CMC is tweeting about IOG’s Sidechain toolkit? https://twitter.com/CoinMarketCap/status/1634773712468852736
41. Now we’re dealing with U.S. bank runs. Among the casualties was Silicon Valley Bank where Centre (the Circle/Coinbase joint entity that issues USDC) was keeping $3.3 billion of the $43ish billion backing USDC. Signature Bank was also shut down by regulators. https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/03/11/43-billion-nightmare-sudden-circle-depeg-could-be-about-to-crash-the-price-of-bitcoin-ethereum-bnb-xrp-cardano-dogecoin-polygon-and-solana
42. Unfortunately, the FDIC insurance limit is $250k. https://www.fdic.gov/resources/deposit-insurance/brochures/deposits-at-a-glance/
43. The Feds were taking bids for anyone to acquire SVB until 2pm Eastern on Sunday. The big question on Sunday was whether the Feds will cover all uninsured depositors. They decided they will and that also applies to Signature Bank. https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023/03/12/silicon-valley-bank-deposits/
44. Here’s the joint statement from Treasury, Federal Reserve, and FDIC. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1337
45. Yellen said NO to a bailout for SVB on Sunday. She’s obviously got bigger macro concerns. But, it’s funny how that fits perfectly with a strategy of suppressing stablecoins generally. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/janet-yellen-silicon-valley-bank-bailout-face-the-nation-interview-today-2023-03-12/
46. Here Caitlin Long explains the fundamental incompatibility between fast settling crypto and fractional reserve banking that caused all this. https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1634573552790929409
47. CZ reminds us that he’s considered buying banks in the past and asks if it’s time yet. https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1634437834579800064
48. CIP-1694 has been updated. https://github.com/JaredCorduan/CIPs/blob/voltaire-v1/CIP-1694/README.md
49. Here’s a good rundown of all the changes in the CIP-1694 update. https://twitter.com/_KtorZ_/status/1635410495514759169
50. Apparently, Cardano NFTs will be going to space! https://twitter.com/RichardMcCrackn/status/1635438087592460288
51. Many in the crypto space think that Signature’s shutdown was just an extension of Operation Chokepoint 2.0 aimed at shuttering crypto banking. https://twitter.com/nic__cartestatus/1635328056234766337
52. Rumors: regulators are calling every bank today and asking if they have exposure to crypto. https://twitter.com/wtogami/status/1635400774158290944
53. Instagram is disabling NFTs. https://twitter.com/nftnow/status/1635388411166224384
54. Cardano TVL is doing things. https://twitter.com/CryptoIRELAND1/status/1635694692556845060
55. Cardano NFTs in space! https://twitter.com/adamKDean/status/1635796768704319488
56. GPT4 was released today. It crushes the Bar Exam, the SAT, the GRE, the LSAT, and almost all AP subjects. This will displace a lot of human jobs. https://openai.com/research/gpt-4
57. It has already done amazing real world things. In Example #6 it shows you how to exploit an arbitrary ETH contract. Better pay attention crypto. https://twitter.com/LinusEkenstam/status/1635754587775967233
58. Report: Gov. Newsom failed to disclose accounts at SVB while lobbying White House and Treasury for a bailout of depositors. https://www.businessinsider.com/gavin-newsom-svb-biden-silicon-valley-bank-wineries-bailout-lobbying-2023-3
59. Things are not looking good at Credit Suisse. https://twitter.com/GRDectestatus/1635985735063855104
60. The court in the Voyager decision had some pretty harsh things to say about the SEC. https://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/312840_1170_opinion.pdf
61. Barney Frank points out that the regulators never claimed Signature Bank was insolvent and wonders if they are the first US bank to ever be closed down without being insolvent. https://nymag.com/intelligence2023/03/barney-frank-says-more-shuttering-signature-bank.html
62. Charles dropped a video addressing the updates to the governance proposal. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1636151615894990851
63. Gensler reasserts his claims that proof-of-stake tokens are securities. https://www.theblock.co/post/220297/gensler-suggests-proof-of-stake-tokens-are-securities
64. Dudes are already letting GPT4 run whole startups. https://twitter.com/jacksonfall/status/1636107218859745286
65. Here’s an interesting theory: taking down Binance would create too big a hole, so they took down Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature to insulate the fiat world from crypto. Now they can take down Binance. https://twitter.com/BryceWeinestatus/1636055979870818305
66. The Army of Spies Channel is now TWO YEARS OLD (March 17)!
67. Yes! Everyone’s favorite Cardano cetacean is back! https://twitter.com/cardano_whale/status/1636561122739331073
68. I was asked to list a few Irish whiskeys today. https://twitter.com/ArmySpies/status/1636548071541862401
69. An interesting exchange between a Senator and Janet Yellen regarding the effect of the bailouts on small banks. https://twitter.com/theemikehobart/status/1636494845144432643
70. Eleven other banks swoop in with $30 billion to save First Republic. https://www.npr.org/2023/03/16/1163958533/first-republic-bank-silicon-valley-bank-signature-bank-bank-run
71. Wut? https://twitter.com/WhaleChart/status/1636566421005017088
72. Here’s Raoul Pal with a very optimistic take for crypto if you are one who believes anyone understands the markets. https://twitter.com/RaoulGMI/status/1636547466299416576
73. Any buyer of signature bank must agree to give up its crypto business. https://twitter.com/GOPMajorityWhip/status/1636356199661850626
74. Here’s Duncan Coutts explaining P2P in Cardano. https://youtu.be/zOTfhcK-Wf4
75. Here’s a visual representation of how CIP-1694 works. https://twitter.com/Hornan7/status/1636381895541026817
76. This is one of the craziest things I’ve seen in crypto. Balaji is burning a few million to ring the fire alarm and make everyone aware of what he believes is an impending attack on dollar holders. Counterparty is guaranteed $1million (minus BTC price) if he just buys one additional BTC (or an option to purchase more). https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1636827051419389952
77. Here’s the Space where he explains his bet. https://twitter.com/Breedlove22/status/1637236255242219520
78. Arthur Hayes gives you an incredible explanation of what’s going on with this banking crisis and what he thinks comes next. https://cryptohayes.medium.com/kaiseki-b15230bdd09e
79. This is officially the worst regulatory approach ever. https://twitter.com/BillHughesDC/status/1636067729575690241
80. The SEC hide the ball game seems to conflict with how judges actually view the law. https://twitter.com/SGJohnsson/status/1636071530340728832
81. The Fed Quietly opened the swap lines with other central banks on Sunday night. https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20230319a.htm
82. Here’s why they are opening the swap lines: so that US treasuries don’t get dumped on the open market by foreign banks. This way the foreign central banks can have dollars to absorb the treasuries from the foreign banks. https://twitter.com/CryptoHayes/status/1637620774776315904
83. Charles dropped a video on Markets and Contagion in which he revealed that Credit Suisse wouldn’t allow an account when he was with Ethereum b/c crypto was “too risky.” Bwahahahaha. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1637952165217185792
84. Apparently, Djed will also be on ETH and BSC? https://twitter.com/DjedStablecoin/status/1637871708823760902
85. Super ironic that the Credit Suisse CEO claimed crypto was in a bubble at $7k BTC. How the tables have turned. https://twitter.com/gaborgurbacs/status/1637783982271082496
86. Personalization is coming to ADA Handles. https://medium.com/ada-handle/personalization-101-6708ab692b29
87. Four million Cardano wallets. Nice milestone to cross! https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1638020286997213190
88. More aerostat activity out of World Mobile. This time in New Hampshire. https://twitter.com/WorldMobileTeam/status/1637926277905522689
89. You gotta admit. Balaji is genius at inventing new tag lines. First it was “We are all bitcoin maximalists now.” Today it’s “Fed around and find out.” https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1638349643854786560
90. Apparently, Sushi Swap DAO and its “Head Chef” just got served with an SEC subpoena and they’re asking the community for a $3 million defense fund (with potential for more). https://forum.sushi.com/t/establish-sushi-legal-defense-fund/11813
91. The crypto twitter meme response to the Sushi SEC subpoena was fast and brutal. https://twitter.com/trhistorianelt/status/1638231852619104256
92. People are now suggesting that no member of the Sushi Swap DAO should be in the US. https://twitter.com/tundra_v1/status/1638274785728929793
93. Very interesting rumors that projects are sitting on 2-300 SEC subpoenas and dozens of Wells Notices. https://coinpedia.org/ripple/xrp-price-have-the-xrp-bulls-and-whales-given-up-ahead-of-the-summary-judgment/
94. The IRS is asking for comments on NFTs as “collectibles” (apparently matters for long term capital gains and elsewhere). https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-23-27.pdf

~Army of Spies

These two players will do a bo5 set for the final summit spot after Squad Strike tomorrow. Here are their head-to-head records against every other Ultimate Summit 6 qualifier, from the beginning of 2022 to now.
​

Player	Skyjay	Lui$
MkLeo	0-0	0-1
acola	0-0	0-0
Sparg0	2-3	0-1
Tweek	0-0	0-0
Riddles	0-3	0-0
ProtoBanham	0-0	0-0
MuteAce	0-2	0-0
Glutonny	0-1	0-0
ApolloKage	0-0	2-1
Kurama	0-1	1-0
Big D	0-1	0-0
Aaron	0-1	1-0
NaetorU	0-0	0-0
VoiD	0-0	2-0
HungryBox	0-0	0-0

​
Skyjay and Lui$ themselves have never played in bracket before.

This European Council of the 23rd and 24th of March brings together the leaders of the 27 European nations as well as the Charles Michel (President of the European Council) and Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission).
Also attending will be the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles.
At the European Council leaders of the 27 EU nations make strategic decisions on key topics regarding EU policy.
This will be followed by the Eurosummit, in which the leaders of the of the 20 Eurozone countries will meet to discuss policy with the European Commission.

The European Council will meet for a two-day summit in Brussels. Building on previous European Council meetings in December 2022 and February 2023, EU leaders will discuss the latest developments in relation to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and continued EU support for Ukraine. They will also debate on competitiveness, single market and the economy, energy, external relations and other topics, including migration.

Check out the Agenda and the RUMINT (Rumor Intel) below.

Agenda:

EU response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

EU leaders will address Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in all its dimensions, as well as continued EU support for Ukraine and its people.

Competitiveness and the EU single market

The European Council will discuss Europe’s long-term strategy to boost competitiveness and productivity and how to harness the full potential of the single market.
EU leaders will also review progress on how to make the EU’s economic, industrial and technological base fit for both the green and digital transitions.

Economy and trade

The European Council will hold a strategic discussion on the geopolitical aspects of EU trade policy and address the reform of the EU economic governance framework.

Energy

The European Council will follow-up on its meeting held in December 2022.
The European Council will also discuss preparedness and contingency planning for this winter and future cold seasons.

RUMINT

Expect discussions/fireworks on...

• illegal migration
• petrol powered car phase-out dates and nuclear power
• Hungary's stance towards Ukraine and Russia

We might also see comments on Bulgarian Schengen zone accession, the new Northern Ireland deal and farm reform in light of the win by the Dutch Farmers party and German pushes for a new farm fund for EU expansion.
More info: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/european-council/2023/03/23-24/
Live stream: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/
Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/M2MnDyU

Hello. I am able to find the day 1 stream on youtube, but it seems day 2 is not available.
I'm specifically looking for John Bollinger's keynote https://www.litecoin.net/events/trading-litecoin-with-bollinger-bands
I remember seeing it soon after the event, and thinking I'll watch it later but now I can't find it. Anyone got a link or a mirror?

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-21-2023
As you know, I try to write this record of modern America from the perspective of what stories will matter in 150 years (about the span between the present and the Civil War).
So, for all the chop in the water about the former president facing indictments, the story that really seems uppermost to me today is the visit China’s president Xi Jinping made today to Moscow for a meeting with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters today that China and Russia would both like “to see the rest of the world play by their rules rather than the ones that…are enshrined in the U.N. Charter and what everybody else is…following.” Kirby said the White House sees the relationship of Xi and Putin as a “marriage of convenience.” He explained:
“In President Putin and Russia, President Xi sees a counterweight to American influence and NATO influence certainly on the continent and elsewhere around the world. In President Xi, President Putin sees a potential backer.” Putin needs Xi’s support because of his misadventure in Ukraine. There, Kirby said, Putin is “blowing through inventory. He’s blowing through manpower. His military is getting embarrassed constantly. They’ve lost greater than 50 percent of the territory that they took in the first few months of this war. He needs help from President Xi, and that’s what this visit was all about.”
“Now,” he added, “whether it results in anything, we’ll see.”
When a reporter asked Kirby if Xi would provide lethal aid to Russia, Kirby answered, “We don’t think that China is taking it off the table, but they haven’t moved in that direction. We’ve seen no indication that they’re about to or — or fixing to provide lethal weapons.”
The Institute for the Study of War concluded that the outcome of the meeting was likely less than Putin wanted. It noted that Putin represented the meeting as showing the two countries working together against an adversarial West, while Xi only said the two countries were working together. This is a significant step down from the stance China took before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, in which it declared it had a “no limits partnership” with Russia, suggesting China is not inclined to give Russia all the support it needs for that war.
Putin has been trying to rally states in Africa to his cause and likely hoped Xi would help that effort, but he did not.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia put out a statement deepening their cooperation, but Sam Greene, Director for Democratic Resilience at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) and Professor of Russian Politics at King's College London, noted that the economic benefits of the statement all flowed from Russia to China, including Russia’s announcement that it will use yuan for foreign transactions with Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
“This summit…brings home exactly how much Putin has lost,” Greene wrote. “Prior to the war—even after 2014—Putin occupied a position of strategic maneuverability. He could arbitrage between east and west, reaping windfalls for his regime along the way. That’s all gone now. Putin tells his people he's fighting for Russia's sovereignty. In truth, he’s mortgaged the Kremlin to Beijing.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan met with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky today in a surprise trip to Ukraine at Zelensky’s invitation. It is the first visit of a Japanese prime minister to a country at war since World War II and demonstrates Japan’s growing international foreign policy presence. Last month, when Japan pledged $5.5 billion in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Kishida said: “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is not just a European matter, but a challenge to the rules and principles of the entire international community.” Today, he confirmed Japan’s “solidarity and unwavering support for Ukraine.”
The next most important issue of the day, to my mind, was President Joe Biden’s designation of two new national monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906: Avi Kwa Ame in Nevada and Castner Range in Texas. These are Biden’s second and third new monument designations. Last fall he created the Camp Hale–Continental Divide National Monument in Colorado, and in 2021 he restored the protections to Bears Ears, Grand Staircase–Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments that Trump had removed. Both of the new monuments cover land sacred to Indigenous American tribes. Together, they protect nearly 514,000 acres.
Biden also directed Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to start the process of designating a marine sanctuary in the Pacific covering 777,000 square miles.
Biden is advancing his promise to conserve American lands, but he is also answering criticism of his administration’s approval of the controversial Alaska Willow oil drilling project on March 13. ConocoPhillips had existing leases for the project, and it has bipartisan support in Alaska, where locals expect it will bring jobs and income, so after debate, the administration let the project move forward. But environmentalists and those who recognize the immediate need to address climate change vehemently opposed the project, launched lawsuits immediately, and criticized the president.
“Our national wonders are literally the envy of the world,″ Biden said as he announced the new monuments. “They’ve always been and always will be central to our heritage as a people and essential to our identity as a nation.″
But while conservation groups and tribal members cheered the new designations, the new Republican governor of Nevada, Joe Lombardo, said that the federal government was confiscating Nevada land—a red-hot issue in the home state of the Bundy ranchers who have engaged in armed standoffs with law enforcement officers over public land—and said the new Nevada monument is “a historic mistake that will cost Nevadans for generations to come.”
None of this is to say that Trump’s troubles are not important. Indeed, the indictment of a president is unprecedented, and there is good reason to watch it closely, not least because the Republican Party has tied itself to him so completely it is now responding to the growing tide of legal news by calling for the investigation or even the arrest of those handling Trump’s many lawsuits– an alarming development.
Right now, though, much of what we are seeing is being churned up by Trump himself, and it feels far less important than the fact it appears that neither the legal nor the political momentum is in his favor.
—
Notes:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2023/03/21/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-and-nsc-coordinator-for-strategic-communications-john-kirby-10/
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounderussian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-20-2023
📷Sam Greene @samagreeneIf you're looking for the TL;DR on Xi's visit with Putin, it is this: China's domination of Russia is complete. (a 🧵) /15:27 PM ∙ Mar 21, 20233,364Likes1,050Retweets
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/20/asia/japan-ukraine-kishida-zelensky-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/21/fact-sheet-president-biden-designates-avi-kwa-ame-national-monument/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/21/fact-sheet-president-biden-designates-castner-range-national-monument/
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/14/politics/willow-project-oil-alaska-explained-climate/index.html
https://apnews.com/article/biden-avi-kwa-ame-nevada-conservation-willow-7378dadd793195bcedcc8562241cf54f
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/07/fact-sheet-president-biden-restores-protections-for-three-national-monuments-and-renews-american-leadership-to-steward-lands-waters-and-cultural-resources/

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 64%. (I'm a bot)

The Walt Disney World Resort in Florida is scheduled to host what has been billed as the "Largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world" later this year, in a move that could trigger conflict with Governor Ron DeSantis who has already clashed with the entertainment behemoth over LGBTQ rights.
In February, DeSantis signed into law a bill appointing a five-person board to oversee Reedy Creek Improvement District, which Disney has managed as a largely self-governing authority over the past 50 years.
The move followed a statement from Disney criticizing DeSantis's Parental Rights in Education legislation, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay Bill" by critics.
Newsweek reached out to the Walt Disney Company and Governor DeSantis via email for comment.
The conflict between Disney and DeSantis began in March 2022, when the corporation issued a statement saying Florida bill HB 1557, dubbed "Don't Say Gay," "Should never have passed and should never have been signed into law."
Walt Disney World Resort president Jeff Vahle said the company was "Ready to work within this new framework."

Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: Disney^#1 DeSantis^#2 Company^#3 Out^#4 Walt^#5
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