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Tuesday 11 December 2018
Monday 10 December 2018
News and commentary round upFrom Breitbart: Winter Storm Sweeps South, Causing 300,000+ Power Outages, 1,500 Canceled Flights
From Strategic Culture: Why Sherlock Holmes Was Never Considered a Conspiracy Theorist (and alternative media shouldn’t be either)
From Zero Hedge: 125,000 French Take To Streets As Trump Trolls Macron; Protester's Hand Blown Off In Graphic Video "Update3: As the evening wore on, French officials said that 125,000 protesters took to the streets during "Act IV" of the Yellow Vest anti-government demonstrations, with 10,000 protesting in Paris. In total, 1,385 people were arrested amid an incredibly heavy police presence. 17 members of French law enforcement and over 100 protesters were injured, including a man whose hand was blown off after reportedly picking up a grenade fired by police." From Moon of Alabama: Les Déplorables Demand The Fall Of The Regime From Jacobin: Can the Yellow Vests Speak? [Ed: a must read.] And a fascinating item from the Daily Star: Armoured vehicles bearing EU flag STORM Paris in sign European Army ALREADY created. [Ed: why is an EU flag on tanks deployed against the protesters? Is the EU army--if it is not already formed--planning to crush dissent in its member nations?]
From Futurism: Researchers Found a Way to Shrink a Supercomputer to the Size of a Laptop. [Ed: for Brad.]
From Bloomberg: Millions of Americans Could Face Surprise Emergency Room Bills in January. A contract fight means thousands of doctors may no longer be in-network. And a related item from McSweeney's: Welcome to Our Modern Hospital Where If You Want to Know a Price You Can Go Fuck Yourself
From Watts Up With That?: Trump Has Another Plan Up His Sleeve To Rescue Ailing Coal Plants "The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to give the coal industry a boost by rolling back another Obama-era environmental regulation."
From Mercury News: California Gives Final OK To Require Solar Panels On New Houses. [Ed: yeah, that's what is needed...to make Calif. housing more expensive even as the prices are collapsing. First reg of its kind in the U.S.]
From the Verge: How Alaska fixed its earthquake-shattered roads in just days
From Cato: A Guide to Saudi Arabia's Influence in Washington
From NPR: World’s First Insect Vaccine Could Help Bees Fight Off Deadly Disease. [Ed: very cool, if nothing goes wrong.]
From Yahoo Finance: Congress may have accidentally freed nearly all banks from the Volcker Rule. "The Volcker Rule sought to curb risky behavior in response to the 2008 financial crisis."
From Reuters: Trump backs $750 billion defense budget request to Congress, up from a $716 billion budget he signed back in August "A time of potential belt-tightening elsewhere in the government."
From the American Thinker: Poland trolls the global environmentalists at UN climate meeting [Ed: hilarious.]
From Creators.com: Is Silicon Valley Morphing Into The Morality Police?
From Target Liberty: Are the Yellow Vest Protests Really a Libertarian Revolution? [Ed: of course not. It is a mixed bag. The part I applaud is the working class rebelling against the elites, and the protest against climate change. But the crowd also wants greater gov. entitlements, includes unions, communist anarchists, etc.] And a live blog from Paris from Bloomberg: Latest Updates on Protests in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
From WhoWhatWhy: Bush 41: The Triumph of Manners Over Truth [Ed: nice antidote to the fawning that went on over his coffin.]
From the Globe and Mail: Huawei executive accused of hiding connection to firm violating U.S. sanctions, B.C. court told [Ed: the warrant was issued in August, but the woman does not visit the States, and only visited Canada to make a connection on her way to Mexico. China is truly, duly pissed off at Canada and is threatening harsh sanctions.]
From Tree Hugger: How GM invented planned obsolescence
From Strategic Culture: Why Sherlock Holmes Was Never Considered a Conspiracy Theorist (and alternative media shouldn’t be either)
From Zero Hedge: 125,000 French Take To Streets As Trump Trolls Macron; Protester's Hand Blown Off In Graphic Video "Update3: As the evening wore on, French officials said that 125,000 protesters took to the streets during "Act IV" of the Yellow Vest anti-government demonstrations, with 10,000 protesting in Paris. In total, 1,385 people were arrested amid an incredibly heavy police presence. 17 members of French law enforcement and over 100 protesters were injured, including a man whose hand was blown off after reportedly picking up a grenade fired by police." From Moon of Alabama: Les Déplorables Demand The Fall Of The Regime From Jacobin: Can the Yellow Vests Speak? [Ed: a must read.] And a fascinating item from the Daily Star: Armoured vehicles bearing EU flag STORM Paris in sign European Army ALREADY created. [Ed: why is an EU flag on tanks deployed against the protesters? Is the EU army--if it is not already formed--planning to crush dissent in its member nations?]
From Futurism: Researchers Found a Way to Shrink a Supercomputer to the Size of a Laptop. [Ed: for Brad.]
From Bloomberg: Millions of Americans Could Face Surprise Emergency Room Bills in January. A contract fight means thousands of doctors may no longer be in-network. And a related item from McSweeney's: Welcome to Our Modern Hospital Where If You Want to Know a Price You Can Go Fuck Yourself
From Watts Up With That?: Trump Has Another Plan Up His Sleeve To Rescue Ailing Coal Plants "The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to give the coal industry a boost by rolling back another Obama-era environmental regulation."
From Mercury News: California Gives Final OK To Require Solar Panels On New Houses. [Ed: yeah, that's what is needed...to make Calif. housing more expensive even as the prices are collapsing. First reg of its kind in the U.S.]
From the Verge: How Alaska fixed its earthquake-shattered roads in just days
From Cato: A Guide to Saudi Arabia's Influence in Washington
From NPR: World’s First Insect Vaccine Could Help Bees Fight Off Deadly Disease. [Ed: very cool, if nothing goes wrong.]
From Yahoo Finance: Congress may have accidentally freed nearly all banks from the Volcker Rule. "The Volcker Rule sought to curb risky behavior in response to the 2008 financial crisis."
From Reuters: Trump backs $750 billion defense budget request to Congress, up from a $716 billion budget he signed back in August "A time of potential belt-tightening elsewhere in the government."
From the American Thinker: Poland trolls the global environmentalists at UN climate meeting [Ed: hilarious.]
From Creators.com: Is Silicon Valley Morphing Into The Morality Police?
From Target Liberty: Are the Yellow Vest Protests Really a Libertarian Revolution? [Ed: of course not. It is a mixed bag. The part I applaud is the working class rebelling against the elites, and the protest against climate change. But the crowd also wants greater gov. entitlements, includes unions, communist anarchists, etc.] And a live blog from Paris from Bloomberg: Latest Updates on Protests in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
From WhoWhatWhy: Bush 41: The Triumph of Manners Over Truth [Ed: nice antidote to the fawning that went on over his coffin.]
From the Globe and Mail: Huawei executive accused of hiding connection to firm violating U.S. sanctions, B.C. court told [Ed: the warrant was issued in August, but the woman does not visit the States, and only visited Canada to make a connection on her way to Mexico. China is truly, duly pissed off at Canada and is threatening harsh sanctions.]
From Tree Hugger: How GM invented planned obsolescence
Sunday 09 December 2018
Starbucks hates christmas?Hat tip to Powerline blog. Starbucks' attempt to make cookies that look like polar bears with scarves looks far more like polar bears with slashed throats. Starbucks hates Christmas...or polar bears? 
The Violence Against Women Act is an Insult to FairnessMy article, "The Violence Against Women Act is an Insult to Fairness," has just appeared in the Daily Caller. Excerpt: Currently before Congress, VAWA will either be reauthorized or it will be extended into early 2019 for reauthorization at that point. Native American women is a core issue in the Act. The section “Safety for Indian Women” cites a stunning statistic from a National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey entitled “Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men.” It states, “More than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native women, or 84.3 percent, have experienced violence in their lifetime. There is a curious omission in the VAWA citation, however. A statistic appears immediately after the 84.3 percent one. It is: “More than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native men (81.6 percent) have experienced violence in their lifetime.” That is only 2.7 percent less violence experienced by men than by women.
News and commentary round upFrom YouTube: The sound of wind on Mars
From the Automatic Earth Blog: Macron Heralds The End Of The Union "And with Macron gone or going, France can’t be counted on to support Brussels either...The Union appears fatally wounded, and that’s even before the next financial crisis has materialized." From the Associated Press: Clashes as yellow vest protests grow in Belgium, Netherlands. From the Chicago Tribune: Police repel Paris protesters attempting to converge on France's presidential palace.
From antiwar.com: The Donald Undone: Tilting at the Swamp, Succumbing to the Empire "You can’t build the Empire and drain the Swamp at the same time. That’s because the Swamp is largely the fruit of Empire. And it’s also the reason that the Donald is being rapidly undone."
From Bloomberg: It Took Just One Week for a $1 Trillion Wipeout in U.S. Stocks
From Reason: Repudiating the 'Dual Sovereignty' Exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause Could Undermine the Federal War on Weed. Oh No! The Supreme Court seems disinclined to overturn precedents allowing serial prosecutions of the same crime. [Ed: good analysis. And I agree. SCOTUS is not likely to overturn the precedent of "dual sovereignty.]
From Patheos: Trump’s Attorney General Pick William Barr Rejects Separation Of Church And State. [Ed: he also constructed the current drug war and the punitive criminal justice system. His appointment is not good news.]
From Psychology Today: Should you pass on the meat and reach for the muffins instead? [Ed: of course, it should be the "right" kind of carbs. Very interesting, but I am so confused.]
From the New York Post: Second-largest Ebola outbreak in history spreads to major Congo city. "Butembo, with more than 1 million residents, is now reporting cases of the deadly hemorrhagic fever."
From the Telegraph: Theresa May told to quit by Cabinet ministers if her Brexit deal falls and she fails to get better terms from EU.
From Bangkok Post: ‘Conditions met’ for Assange to leave Ecuadorian embassy. [Ed: sounds dicey to me.]
From Global News: Trump’s attempt to ban asylum for illegal immigrants blocked by U.S. appeals court. [Ed: it is always the 9th circuit.
From the Intercept: Buried in Wisconsin Republicans’ Lame-Duck Legislation: Drug Testing Requirements for Food Stamp Applicants
From the Spectator: What’s the matter with Portland? The prosperous city has become the epicenter of antifa and political violence [Ed: a must read.]
From the Automatic Earth Blog: Macron Heralds The End Of The Union "And with Macron gone or going, France can’t be counted on to support Brussels either...The Union appears fatally wounded, and that’s even before the next financial crisis has materialized." From the Associated Press: Clashes as yellow vest protests grow in Belgium, Netherlands. From the Chicago Tribune: Police repel Paris protesters attempting to converge on France's presidential palace.
From antiwar.com: The Donald Undone: Tilting at the Swamp, Succumbing to the Empire "You can’t build the Empire and drain the Swamp at the same time. That’s because the Swamp is largely the fruit of Empire. And it’s also the reason that the Donald is being rapidly undone."
From Bloomberg: It Took Just One Week for a $1 Trillion Wipeout in U.S. Stocks
From Reason: Repudiating the 'Dual Sovereignty' Exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause Could Undermine the Federal War on Weed. Oh No! The Supreme Court seems disinclined to overturn precedents allowing serial prosecutions of the same crime. [Ed: good analysis. And I agree. SCOTUS is not likely to overturn the precedent of "dual sovereignty.]
From Patheos: Trump’s Attorney General Pick William Barr Rejects Separation Of Church And State. [Ed: he also constructed the current drug war and the punitive criminal justice system. His appointment is not good news.]
From Psychology Today: Should you pass on the meat and reach for the muffins instead? [Ed: of course, it should be the "right" kind of carbs. Very interesting, but I am so confused.]
From the New York Post: Second-largest Ebola outbreak in history spreads to major Congo city. "Butembo, with more than 1 million residents, is now reporting cases of the deadly hemorrhagic fever."
From the Telegraph: Theresa May told to quit by Cabinet ministers if her Brexit deal falls and she fails to get better terms from EU.
From Bangkok Post: ‘Conditions met’ for Assange to leave Ecuadorian embassy. [Ed: sounds dicey to me.]
From Global News: Trump’s attempt to ban asylum for illegal immigrants blocked by U.S. appeals court. [Ed: it is always the 9th circuit.
From the Intercept: Buried in Wisconsin Republicans’ Lame-Duck Legislation: Drug Testing Requirements for Food Stamp Applicants
From the Spectator: What’s the matter with Portland? The prosperous city has become the epicenter of antifa and political violence [Ed: a must read.]
Saturday 08 December 2018
News and commentary round upFrom France 24: Paris in lockdown as France braces for new anti-Macron riots
From Zero Hedge: France Readies Fleet Of Armored Vehicles Ahead Of "Act IV" Yellow Vest Riots. "the 12 ton, 19-foot-long vehicles don 7mm thick armor and are capable of firing tear gas grenades" From Le Pointe: Puy-de-Dôme : 95 % des radars du département sont hors service. [Ed: for those who do not read French, the article says that 95 per cent of speed cameras in one area of France have been completely destroyed as part of the ‘yellow vest’ anti-government protest movement. This he
From the Sun: Greece Becomes War Zone as Thousands of Rioters Hit Streets on 10th Anniversary of Teenage ‘police brutality’ Killing. Hundreds of demonstrators marched through Athens in tribute to 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, who was gunned down by officers in 2008
From Fox News: Avenatti to lose cash, artwork, Ferrari in divorce settlement with wife: report [Ed: schadenfreude.]
From Reason: When Nonviolence Isn't Enough. Does the right to self-defense apply against agents of the state?
From the Free Thought Project: Five Stories the Media Missed While Obsessing Over the Bush Funeral that Cost Taxpayers $500 MILLION.
From the Atlantic: An Ancient Case of the Plague Could Rewrite History. A 4,900-year-old skeleton has turned the accepted story of the disease on its head.
From the Daily Wire: Judge Calls Clinton Emails One Of 'Gravest Modern Offenses To Government Transparency,' Orders Further Fact-Finding "The ruling revolves around a Freedom of Information Act suit brought by a conservative government watchdog. Judicial Watch, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled Thursday, should be given access to documents and be permitted to acquire additional testimony about Clinton's use of a private server and officials' failure to be transparent about information searches related to it."
From the Palladium Governance Futurism: A Week In Xinjiang’s Absolute Surveillance State [Ed: long but fascinating.] And a related ien from Ask Brokers: China-Executives Disappear or Get Arrested One by One. " Example of this is Alibaba (BABA US) founder Jack Ma surrendering control of the company." From Zero Hedge: Cisco "Erroneously" Bans Non-Essential Travel To China. The travel bans to China begin, even if - for now - they are made "in error."
From the Ron Paul Institute: The Russia Investigation Is About Criminalizing Peace
From the Hill: Feds received whistleblower evidence in 2017 alleging Clinton Foundation wrongdoing [Ed: this is a must read. Explosive.]
From Reason: Are You Ready for the 'Inevitable' Clampdown on Tech and the Media? When Apple's CEO Tim Cook says "the free market is not working," bad things are coming.
From Yahoo: DeepMind's AlphaZero now showing human-like intuition in historical 'turning point' for AI [Ed: I do not know what to think about this news story.]
From the Babylon Bee: Libertarian Reminds Nation That All Elections Are Illegitimate [Ed: hat tip to Brad who comments, "If you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? I particularly like the name "Lew Rand"]
From Reuters: 'It's been an honor,' says Merkel as German CDU picks new leader. [Ed: Merkel said in October she would step down as party chief but remain chancellor. She lost both posts.]
From Sovereign Man: Why buy gold now? Because I don’t know [Ed: a wonderful reason to buy and/or hold gold.]
From Gizmodo: France’s Gas Tax Disaster Shows We Can’t Save Earth by Screwing Over Poor People
From Zero Hedge: Cohen To Get "Substantial Prison Time" For "Serious" Crimes Despite Cooperation With Mueller. [Ed: recommended 42 months imprisonment.]
From the Economic Policy Journal: Please Don't Let Trump See This: Skidelsky Calls for “Compensated Free Trade”. "Under this plan, policymakers would establish a ceiling for the trade deficit each year and impose limits on trading partners’ surpluses."
From Caitlin Johnstone: Literally Just Me Yelling At People For Their Garbage Takes On Bush’s Eulogy. [Ed: my favorite take on the endless Bush funerals and genuflecting.]
From Zero Hedge: France Readies Fleet Of Armored Vehicles Ahead Of "Act IV" Yellow Vest Riots. "the 12 ton, 19-foot-long vehicles don 7mm thick armor and are capable of firing tear gas grenades" From Le Pointe: Puy-de-Dôme : 95 % des radars du département sont hors service. [Ed: for those who do not read French, the article says that 95 per cent of speed cameras in one area of France have been completely destroyed as part of the ‘yellow vest’ anti-government protest movement. This he
From the Sun: Greece Becomes War Zone as Thousands of Rioters Hit Streets on 10th Anniversary of Teenage ‘police brutality’ Killing. Hundreds of demonstrators marched through Athens in tribute to 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, who was gunned down by officers in 2008
From Fox News: Avenatti to lose cash, artwork, Ferrari in divorce settlement with wife: report [Ed: schadenfreude.]
From Reason: When Nonviolence Isn't Enough. Does the right to self-defense apply against agents of the state?
From the Free Thought Project: Five Stories the Media Missed While Obsessing Over the Bush Funeral that Cost Taxpayers $500 MILLION.
From the Atlantic: An Ancient Case of the Plague Could Rewrite History. A 4,900-year-old skeleton has turned the accepted story of the disease on its head.
From the Daily Wire: Judge Calls Clinton Emails One Of 'Gravest Modern Offenses To Government Transparency,' Orders Further Fact-Finding "The ruling revolves around a Freedom of Information Act suit brought by a conservative government watchdog. Judicial Watch, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled Thursday, should be given access to documents and be permitted to acquire additional testimony about Clinton's use of a private server and officials' failure to be transparent about information searches related to it."
From the Palladium Governance Futurism: A Week In Xinjiang’s Absolute Surveillance State [Ed: long but fascinating.] And a related ien from Ask Brokers: China-Executives Disappear or Get Arrested One by One. " Example of this is Alibaba (BABA US) founder Jack Ma surrendering control of the company." From Zero Hedge: Cisco "Erroneously" Bans Non-Essential Travel To China. The travel bans to China begin, even if - for now - they are made "in error."
From the Ron Paul Institute: The Russia Investigation Is About Criminalizing Peace
From the Hill: Feds received whistleblower evidence in 2017 alleging Clinton Foundation wrongdoing [Ed: this is a must read. Explosive.]
From Reason: Are You Ready for the 'Inevitable' Clampdown on Tech and the Media? When Apple's CEO Tim Cook says "the free market is not working," bad things are coming.
From Yahoo: DeepMind's AlphaZero now showing human-like intuition in historical 'turning point' for AI [Ed: I do not know what to think about this news story.]
From the Babylon Bee: Libertarian Reminds Nation That All Elections Are Illegitimate [Ed: hat tip to Brad who comments, "If you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? I particularly like the name "Lew Rand"]
From Reuters: 'It's been an honor,' says Merkel as German CDU picks new leader. [Ed: Merkel said in October she would step down as party chief but remain chancellor. She lost both posts.]
From Sovereign Man: Why buy gold now? Because I don’t know [Ed: a wonderful reason to buy and/or hold gold.]
From Gizmodo: France’s Gas Tax Disaster Shows We Can’t Save Earth by Screwing Over Poor People
From Zero Hedge: Cohen To Get "Substantial Prison Time" For "Serious" Crimes Despite Cooperation With Mueller. [Ed: recommended 42 months imprisonment.]
From the Economic Policy Journal: Please Don't Let Trump See This: Skidelsky Calls for “Compensated Free Trade”. "Under this plan, policymakers would establish a ceiling for the trade deficit each year and impose limits on trading partners’ surpluses."
From Caitlin Johnstone: Literally Just Me Yelling At People For Their Garbage Takes On Bush’s Eulogy. [Ed: my favorite take on the endless Bush funerals and genuflecting.]
Friday 07 December 2018
Don’t Smash the State, Bypass the StateMy latest article for bitcoin.com has appeared: Don’t Smash the State, Bypass the State It continues exploring the implications of the blockchain to justice. I look forward to your feedback in the commentary section. Shares appreciated.
The earlier segment of which this one is a continuation of last week’s installment of The Satoshi Revolution entitled “How the Blockchain Provides Private Justice.”
The earlier segment of which this one is a continuation of last week’s installment of The Satoshi Revolution entitled “How the Blockchain Provides Private Justice.”
News and commentary round upFrom WIS News: Paris fears new protest violence despite Macron's retreat. And a related article from the Heartland: As the UN Holds Global Climate Talks, Climate Consensus Is Crumbling From Zero Hedge: France Deploys 89,000 Cops Amid Fears Of Yellow Vest Rebellion On Saturday
From Reason: Congratulations, Australian Government! You've Just Destroyed the World's Data Privacy! Parliament passes a bill at the last possible moment to give officials the power to weaken encryption.
From the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Scientific communication in a post-truth society. [Ed: I hope this is real but, as the organization itself says, much of science has become self-interested misinformation.]
From the Free Thought Project: Taxpayers to Be Held Liable After Cops Tortured Man Strapped to a Chair With Pepper Spray [Ed: that's why I cannot get too excited over court cases that "win" against the police. It is taxpayers who are billed and further victimized--not the police.]
From Zero Hedge: Plunge Protection Team Saves Stocks But Credit, Crude, Cryptos Collapse
From Mother Jones: Why Do Hospitals Hate Sleep So Much? "This is why hospital routines strike me as deliberate negligence: they could only be put in place by administrators who literally don’t care about anything except the convenience of doctors.”
From Tablet: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback.[Ed: hat tip to David who comments, This is great essay on the revival of communist sympathizers in the U.S.]
From JAMA Network Open: Study: Vaping Pot Makes for a More Intense High Compared to smoking it [Ed: of course, there is a movement to ban vaping.]
From Newser: China Starts to Open Up on What It Agreed to Do. Confirms there is a 90-day window for trade talks. [Ed: this is a round up of stories with links on this subject.]
From Mashable: PETA's suggestion to change commonly used idioms invites mirth of internet. [Ed: the really hilarious part are the replacement phrases PETA suggests.]
From Motherboard: Documents Show Facebook Using User Data as Leverage. Trove of emails, internal documents released by UK parliamentary committee
From the Independent: Spare me America's tears for Jamal Khashoggi – this excuse for Trump-bashing ignores the CIA's past crimes
From SHTF: Scientists Will Begin Geoengineering Experiment And Try To BLOCK THE SUN [Ed: in an attempt to slow global warming.]
From the Telegraph: Pig hearts for humans? "Pig hearts could soon be tested in humans after scientists passed an important milestone when transplanting the organs into primates."
From Gold Goats ‘n Guns: Recession Incoming or Something Worse? 2/10 Spread Collapses [Ed: a must read.] And a related item from the Business Insider: People aren't paying their credit cards and more accounts are being shut down, and it could be a sign that 'economic clouds are darkening'
From Vox: Rudy Giuliani’s bizarre Twitter conspiracy theory, explained. "In Giuliani’s tweet, he apparently forgot a space and therefore typed “G-20.In” — a sequence of characters that turned into a hyperlink. Someone then appears to have bought the website g-20.in, which now directs to a page that reads: “Donald J. Trump is a traitor to our country.”
From Target Liberty: Judge Napolitano: I Expect Donald Trump Jr. to Be Indicted and the President Should 'Be Uncomfortable'
From Zero Hedge: China Outraged At Arrest Of Huawei CFO, Warns It Will "Take All Measures" [Ed: Huawei is the world's largest telecommunications-equipment manufacturer.] And a related item from the Economic Policy Journal: China Blows Up at US With Justifiable Outrage
From Reuters: New Indignity in Venezuela: Dead Bodies Cost Too Much. [Ed: People can only afford anonymous, common graves for their loved ones.]
From Reason: Congratulations, Australian Government! You've Just Destroyed the World's Data Privacy! Parliament passes a bill at the last possible moment to give officials the power to weaken encryption.
From the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Scientific communication in a post-truth society. [Ed: I hope this is real but, as the organization itself says, much of science has become self-interested misinformation.]
From the Free Thought Project: Taxpayers to Be Held Liable After Cops Tortured Man Strapped to a Chair With Pepper Spray [Ed: that's why I cannot get too excited over court cases that "win" against the police. It is taxpayers who are billed and further victimized--not the police.]
From Zero Hedge: Plunge Protection Team Saves Stocks But Credit, Crude, Cryptos Collapse
From Mother Jones: Why Do Hospitals Hate Sleep So Much? "This is why hospital routines strike me as deliberate negligence: they could only be put in place by administrators who literally don’t care about anything except the convenience of doctors.”
From Tablet: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback.[Ed: hat tip to David who comments, This is great essay on the revival of communist sympathizers in the U.S.]
From JAMA Network Open: Study: Vaping Pot Makes for a More Intense High Compared to smoking it [Ed: of course, there is a movement to ban vaping.]
From Newser: China Starts to Open Up on What It Agreed to Do. Confirms there is a 90-day window for trade talks. [Ed: this is a round up of stories with links on this subject.]
From Mashable: PETA's suggestion to change commonly used idioms invites mirth of internet. [Ed: the really hilarious part are the replacement phrases PETA suggests.]
From Motherboard: Documents Show Facebook Using User Data as Leverage. Trove of emails, internal documents released by UK parliamentary committee
From the Independent: Spare me America's tears for Jamal Khashoggi – this excuse for Trump-bashing ignores the CIA's past crimes
From SHTF: Scientists Will Begin Geoengineering Experiment And Try To BLOCK THE SUN [Ed: in an attempt to slow global warming.]
From the Telegraph: Pig hearts for humans? "Pig hearts could soon be tested in humans after scientists passed an important milestone when transplanting the organs into primates."
From Gold Goats ‘n Guns: Recession Incoming or Something Worse? 2/10 Spread Collapses [Ed: a must read.] And a related item from the Business Insider: People aren't paying their credit cards and more accounts are being shut down, and it could be a sign that 'economic clouds are darkening'
From Vox: Rudy Giuliani’s bizarre Twitter conspiracy theory, explained. "In Giuliani’s tweet, he apparently forgot a space and therefore typed “G-20.In” — a sequence of characters that turned into a hyperlink. Someone then appears to have bought the website g-20.in, which now directs to a page that reads: “Donald J. Trump is a traitor to our country.”
From Target Liberty: Judge Napolitano: I Expect Donald Trump Jr. to Be Indicted and the President Should 'Be Uncomfortable'
From Zero Hedge: China Outraged At Arrest Of Huawei CFO, Warns It Will "Take All Measures" [Ed: Huawei is the world's largest telecommunications-equipment manufacturer.] And a related item from the Economic Policy Journal: China Blows Up at US With Justifiable Outrage
From Reuters: New Indignity in Venezuela: Dead Bodies Cost Too Much. [Ed: People can only afford anonymous, common graves for their loved ones.]
Brad, remind you of anyone?
Thursday 06 December 2018
News and commentary round upFrom CNBC: Dow set to fall by over 400 points at the open as market sell-off continues
From Moon of Alabama: Reuters Creates Fakenews About Iran – Intentionally Conflates Two Different Missiles – Misquotes Official [Ed: Moon is a superb foreign affairs analyst.]
From the Daily Signal: UN Climate Summit to Emit More CO2 Than 8,200 American Homes Do in a Year And a related news item from CNBC: The 'Trump effect' is slowing international progress on climate change, think tank warns From the Federalist: Climate Change Alarmism Is The World’s Leading Cause Of Hot Gas. "The problem for alarmists is that warming is now here—allegedly, the cause of an untold number of disasters, small and large—yet somehow humanity slogs onward, living longer, safer, richer lives. People internalize this reality, no matter what they tell pollsters."
From Zero Hedge: How America's Homeless Population Has Changed Over The Last Decade [Ed: not quite what I expected.]
From Twitchy: TDS takes Broadway! Kathy Griffin & Rosie O’Donnell break out ‘F**k Trump’ gear before attending The Cher Show. [Ed: TDS=Trump Derangement Syndrome.]
From the Free Thought Project: It’s ‘Killing People Everyday’: FOX Pushes Insane Anti-Weed Propaganda in Ridiculous 90-Second Clip [Ed: absurd and obscene.]
From the Onion: Grieving Nation Solemnly Waits Extra Day For Their Amazon Shit
From CNN Business: Fate of The Weekly Standard is uncertain, editor tells staff [Ed: closing seems to be related to its "Never Trump" position.] And a related news item from Vanity Fair: “Everyone’s for Sale”: A Generation of Digital-Media Darlings Prepares for a Frigid Winter. Vice, Vox, and BuzzFeed, among other companies that once heralded the dawn of a new media age, are now grappling with decidedly old-media problems.
From Futurism: An AI Law Firm Wants to ‘Automate the Entire Legal World’ We may be reaching the tipping point for job automation. [Ed: imagine a world without lawyers.]
From the Guardian: Bowel movement: the push to change the way you poo [Ed: unexpectedly fascinating.]
From Caitlin Johnstone: MSM Is Getting Weirder, More Frantic, And More Desperate By The Day [Ed: do yourself a facor--read this.]
From the Mises Wire: For Climate Interventionists, New Taxes are Only the Beginning. [Ed: a must read.]
From the Daily Wire: Bill And Hillary Clinton Are About To Go Away Forever "Tickets to see them live and hear them blab about their lives are selling for the cost of a Big Mac meal at McDonald’s." [Ed: they bombed in Toronto but did even worse in Texas and Montreal.]
From the New Zealand Herald: Passport check: The United Arab Emirates has eclipsed Singapore and Germany to become the most powerful. "At the very bottom of the table, the least-powerful passports are Iraq and Afghanistan, granting visa-free access to only 32 and 29 countries respectively."
From the BBC: Theresa May suffers three Brexit defeats in Commons [Ed: I do not think the brexit agreement has a chance of passing.]
From Unz: Les Gilets Jaunes – A Bright Yellow Sign of Distress. [Ed: very good analysis.] From the Business of Fashion: Luxury Retail Hit By Paris Protests. "Anti-government protests over the past weekends engulfed Paris’ shopping districts, where a police lockdown and vandalism forced many stores to shut." From WSBTV2: Macron scraps French fuel tax hike amid violent protests [Ed: the unions have joined in the protests. Rejected concessions.]
From Target Liberty: Hey, Mr. Trump! Tear Down That Deep State Wall.....Of Secrecy [Ed: a must read.]
From Economic Liberty: Culture Matters"That culture matters isn’t controversial. The real issue is that most libertarians simply aren’t terribly curious about how culture works. They treat it as an instrument—a tool for promoting or hampering the advancement of their political ideas—rather than a phenomenon worthy of its own careful observation and analysis."
From the Daily Signal: Ignorance of Socialism is Dangerous. [Ed: hat tip to David who comments, Excellent article about the current flirtation with socialism among the young.]
From the Babylon Bee: Trump Releases Findings Of Own Independent Investigation: 'Most Innocent President Ever'
From Moon of Alabama: Reuters Creates Fakenews About Iran – Intentionally Conflates Two Different Missiles – Misquotes Official [Ed: Moon is a superb foreign affairs analyst.]
From the Daily Signal: UN Climate Summit to Emit More CO2 Than 8,200 American Homes Do in a Year And a related news item from CNBC: The 'Trump effect' is slowing international progress on climate change, think tank warns From the Federalist: Climate Change Alarmism Is The World’s Leading Cause Of Hot Gas. "The problem for alarmists is that warming is now here—allegedly, the cause of an untold number of disasters, small and large—yet somehow humanity slogs onward, living longer, safer, richer lives. People internalize this reality, no matter what they tell pollsters."
From Zero Hedge: How America's Homeless Population Has Changed Over The Last Decade [Ed: not quite what I expected.]
From Twitchy: TDS takes Broadway! Kathy Griffin & Rosie O’Donnell break out ‘F**k Trump’ gear before attending The Cher Show. [Ed: TDS=Trump Derangement Syndrome.]
From the Free Thought Project: It’s ‘Killing People Everyday’: FOX Pushes Insane Anti-Weed Propaganda in Ridiculous 90-Second Clip [Ed: absurd and obscene.]
From the Onion: Grieving Nation Solemnly Waits Extra Day For Their Amazon Shit
From CNN Business: Fate of The Weekly Standard is uncertain, editor tells staff [Ed: closing seems to be related to its "Never Trump" position.] And a related news item from Vanity Fair: “Everyone’s for Sale”: A Generation of Digital-Media Darlings Prepares for a Frigid Winter. Vice, Vox, and BuzzFeed, among other companies that once heralded the dawn of a new media age, are now grappling with decidedly old-media problems.
From Futurism: An AI Law Firm Wants to ‘Automate the Entire Legal World’ We may be reaching the tipping point for job automation. [Ed: imagine a world without lawyers.]
From the Guardian: Bowel movement: the push to change the way you poo [Ed: unexpectedly fascinating.]
From Caitlin Johnstone: MSM Is Getting Weirder, More Frantic, And More Desperate By The Day [Ed: do yourself a facor--read this.]
From the Mises Wire: For Climate Interventionists, New Taxes are Only the Beginning. [Ed: a must read.]
From the Daily Wire: Bill And Hillary Clinton Are About To Go Away Forever "Tickets to see them live and hear them blab about their lives are selling for the cost of a Big Mac meal at McDonald’s." [Ed: they bombed in Toronto but did even worse in Texas and Montreal.]
From the New Zealand Herald: Passport check: The United Arab Emirates has eclipsed Singapore and Germany to become the most powerful. "At the very bottom of the table, the least-powerful passports are Iraq and Afghanistan, granting visa-free access to only 32 and 29 countries respectively."
From the BBC: Theresa May suffers three Brexit defeats in Commons [Ed: I do not think the brexit agreement has a chance of passing.]
From Unz: Les Gilets Jaunes – A Bright Yellow Sign of Distress. [Ed: very good analysis.] From the Business of Fashion: Luxury Retail Hit By Paris Protests. "Anti-government protests over the past weekends engulfed Paris’ shopping districts, where a police lockdown and vandalism forced many stores to shut." From WSBTV2: Macron scraps French fuel tax hike amid violent protests [Ed: the unions have joined in the protests. Rejected concessions.]
From Target Liberty: Hey, Mr. Trump! Tear Down That Deep State Wall.....Of Secrecy [Ed: a must read.]
From Economic Liberty: Culture Matters"That culture matters isn’t controversial. The real issue is that most libertarians simply aren’t terribly curious about how culture works. They treat it as an instrument—a tool for promoting or hampering the advancement of their political ideas—rather than a phenomenon worthy of its own careful observation and analysis."
From the Daily Signal: Ignorance of Socialism is Dangerous. [Ed: hat tip to David who comments, Excellent article about the current flirtation with socialism among the young.]
From the Babylon Bee: Trump Releases Findings Of Own Independent Investigation: 'Most Innocent President Ever'
Learning that you can't always walk on snow
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