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Friday 21 December 2018
Happy Solstice!Baby, it's cold outside.
Photo by Chris Kotsiopoulos, http://www.greeksky.gr, found via NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day. Used with permission.
Photo by Chris Kotsiopoulos, http://www.greeksky.gr, found via NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day. Used with permission.
Wednesday 19 December 2018
A dog buys his food with dried leaves
News and commentary round upFrom Zero Hedge: Why A Wednesday Rate Hike Suddenly Looks Very Iffy "No one seriously expects the Fed to leave rates unchanged on Wednesday." [Ed: At least, that used to be the case.]
From the Organic Prepper: The 10 Daily Habits of Prepared People [Ed: a must read.]
From the Ron Paul Institute: Why The Senate Vote to End Yemen War is So Important. "For the first time in 45 years, a chamber of the US Congress voted to pull US forces from a military conflict under the 1973 War Powers Act."
From the Daily Bell: I Can’t Afford to Live in this Private Community. And I Wish Everywhere Was Like This. "The rich can afford the best government money can buy… and the poor live in the slums...Under a coercive government–the way things are now–the poor help pay for the rich people’s accommodations."
From the Free Thought Project: Facebook Bug Exposed Millions of Users’ Private Photos, Here’s How to See if You Were Affected. "Facebook just announced that four months ago, a bug in their software allowed third parties access to your private photos. Here's how to see if you were exposed."
From Zero Hedge: "We Made Mistakes": France Changes Tone On Yellow Vests As Movement Hits Canada [Ed: the carbon tax is very unpopular in Canada.]
From the Organic Prepper: The 10 Daily Habits of Prepared People [Ed: a must read.]
From the Ron Paul Institute: Why The Senate Vote to End Yemen War is So Important. "For the first time in 45 years, a chamber of the US Congress voted to pull US forces from a military conflict under the 1973 War Powers Act."
From the Daily Bell: I Can’t Afford to Live in this Private Community. And I Wish Everywhere Was Like This. "The rich can afford the best government money can buy… and the poor live in the slums...Under a coercive government–the way things are now–the poor help pay for the rich people’s accommodations."
From the Free Thought Project: Facebook Bug Exposed Millions of Users’ Private Photos, Here’s How to See if You Were Affected. "Facebook just announced that four months ago, a bug in their software allowed third parties access to your private photos. Here's how to see if you were exposed."
From Zero Hedge: "We Made Mistakes": France Changes Tone On Yellow Vests As Movement Hits Canada [Ed: the carbon tax is very unpopular in Canada.]
Tuesday 18 December 2018
From Drugs to Gold and Prostitution, the Blockchain Minimizes Violence.My latest article has appeared at bitcoin.com: "From Drugs to Gold and Prostitution, the Blockchain Minimizes Violence." I will be in the commentary section. I hope to see you there.
Excerpt: “Public Key cryptography isn’t just for encrypting private messages,” Ou explained, “It also provides proof that the sender is who they say they are. When buyers and sellers conduct transactions, they sign messages with their private keys. The signatures become digital identifiers.” If this seems trivial in preventing violence, skeptics should talk to sex workers who can verify the crypto-identities of “safe” and reliable clients and then share those identities through an online database. Sex workers are among the most vulnerable people in any society to violence because of the privacy and intimacy of the exchange. An often overlooked role of a pimp is to ensure the safety of sex workers by screening customers. In short, pimps are trusted third parties to the exchange; like every trusted third party, they are often more abusive than not. Pimps also take a substantial part of all earnings. Cryptography can change that dynamic to benefit sex workers.
Excerpt: “Public Key cryptography isn’t just for encrypting private messages,” Ou explained, “It also provides proof that the sender is who they say they are. When buyers and sellers conduct transactions, they sign messages with their private keys. The signatures become digital identifiers.” If this seems trivial in preventing violence, skeptics should talk to sex workers who can verify the crypto-identities of “safe” and reliable clients and then share those identities through an online database. Sex workers are among the most vulnerable people in any society to violence because of the privacy and intimacy of the exchange. An often overlooked role of a pimp is to ensure the safety of sex workers by screening customers. In short, pimps are trusted third parties to the exchange; like every trusted third party, they are often more abusive than not. Pimps also take a substantial part of all earnings. Cryptography can change that dynamic to benefit sex workers.
News and commentary round upFrom FOX News: Parrot uses owner's Amazon Alexa to order shopping, play music [Ed: just because it is funny.]
From Peak Prosperity: The Festering Social Rift Over Pensions. Why does he get to retire and I don't?
From Collective Evolution: French News Channel Caught Doctoring & Changing Sign Of Yellow Vest Protester
From Zero Hedge: "Outraged" Trump Claims 19,000 Missing Strzok Texts Would Have Exposed Mueller Probe "Hoax"
From Of Two Minds: "Yellow Vests" and the Downward Mobility of the Middle Class. "Capital garners the gains, and labor's share continues eroding. That's the story of the 21st century.
From Martin Armstrong: Why Banks Have Become Judge, Jury & Prosecutor and will Shut you Down Judged Guilty for Nothing That is Actually Illegal
From Patent Pandas: Company [Google] Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview "This is what happened when I went to visit a giant tech company, in hopes for collaboration, but later found that they tried to patent some of my research instead! [Ed: hat tip to Brad who comments,
Sounds like the "don't be evil" guys really have turned into "let's be evil."]
From the Intercept: A Texas Elementary School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath, Now Mandatory in Many States — so She Lost Her Job [Ed: I was totally unaware of this.]
From Wired: Dr. Elon & Mr. Musk: Life Inside Tesla's Production Hell
From Handelsblat: Apple may haul Germany into the age of digital payments [Ed: the war on cash continues. Germany has been a hold out]
From Who.What.Why.: FCC Blasted for Opening the Door to Text Message Censorship. [Ed: "FCC voted this week to allow wireless carriers to block unwanted or spam text messages. The vote was split along party lines in the commission, with the three Republicans supporting and the lone Democrat opposing."]
From the South China Morning Post: Why the US needs to stand with Canada and set aside politics in the prosecution of Huawei’s CFO. Ankit Panda writes that Washington must affirm that Meng Wanzhou’s arrest is legally justifiable and will be handled as any other bank fraud prosecution might be. [Ed: what puzzles me is the source that is publishing this piece.] Also from the South China Morning Post: The long (American) arm of the law: how Huawei CFO’s arrest reopened an old wound in China-US relations. [Ed: this is more what I expect to see from the SCMP.]
From Kunstler: Mike Flynn & The Deep State's Fatal Over-Reach "In effect, it appears that Mr. Mueller has responded by gently whispering “fuck you” to Judge Sullivan."
From the Spectator: Why is no one treating Bernie Sanders like the Democratic front-runner? From a purely electoral standpoint, Sanders stands the best chance against Trump
From Moon of Alabama: How Putin's Russia Weaponizes X [Ed: amazing list of weaponized things.]
From Zero Hedge: Homebuilder Optimism Collapses. “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it...”
From Truth Digg: The New York Times' Shameful Obituary of Historian William Blum [Ed: pretty outrageous.]
From Politico: DNC Chair Tom Perez goes to war with state parties.[Ed: Over acquiring voter data. This is the key sentence: "The state parties have been wary, accusing the DNC of conducting a power grab that could financially benefit a few elite party figures."]
From Peak Prosperity: The Festering Social Rift Over Pensions. Why does he get to retire and I don't?
From Collective Evolution: French News Channel Caught Doctoring & Changing Sign Of Yellow Vest Protester
From Zero Hedge: "Outraged" Trump Claims 19,000 Missing Strzok Texts Would Have Exposed Mueller Probe "Hoax"
From Of Two Minds: "Yellow Vests" and the Downward Mobility of the Middle Class. "Capital garners the gains, and labor's share continues eroding. That's the story of the 21st century.
From Martin Armstrong: Why Banks Have Become Judge, Jury & Prosecutor and will Shut you Down Judged Guilty for Nothing That is Actually Illegal
From Patent Pandas: Company [Google] Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview "This is what happened when I went to visit a giant tech company, in hopes for collaboration, but later found that they tried to patent some of my research instead! [Ed: hat tip to Brad who comments,
Sounds like the "don't be evil" guys really have turned into "let's be evil."]
From the Intercept: A Texas Elementary School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath, Now Mandatory in Many States — so She Lost Her Job [Ed: I was totally unaware of this.]
From Wired: Dr. Elon & Mr. Musk: Life Inside Tesla's Production Hell
From Handelsblat: Apple may haul Germany into the age of digital payments [Ed: the war on cash continues. Germany has been a hold out]
From Who.What.Why.: FCC Blasted for Opening the Door to Text Message Censorship. [Ed: "FCC voted this week to allow wireless carriers to block unwanted or spam text messages. The vote was split along party lines in the commission, with the three Republicans supporting and the lone Democrat opposing."]
From the South China Morning Post: Why the US needs to stand with Canada and set aside politics in the prosecution of Huawei’s CFO. Ankit Panda writes that Washington must affirm that Meng Wanzhou’s arrest is legally justifiable and will be handled as any other bank fraud prosecution might be. [Ed: what puzzles me is the source that is publishing this piece.] Also from the South China Morning Post: The long (American) arm of the law: how Huawei CFO’s arrest reopened an old wound in China-US relations. [Ed: this is more what I expect to see from the SCMP.]
From Kunstler: Mike Flynn & The Deep State's Fatal Over-Reach "In effect, it appears that Mr. Mueller has responded by gently whispering “fuck you” to Judge Sullivan."
From the Spectator: Why is no one treating Bernie Sanders like the Democratic front-runner? From a purely electoral standpoint, Sanders stands the best chance against Trump
From Moon of Alabama: How Putin's Russia Weaponizes X [Ed: amazing list of weaponized things.]
From Zero Hedge: Homebuilder Optimism Collapses. “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it...”
From Truth Digg: The New York Times' Shameful Obituary of Historian William Blum [Ed: pretty outrageous.]
From Politico: DNC Chair Tom Perez goes to war with state parties.[Ed: Over acquiring voter data. This is the key sentence: "The state parties have been wary, accusing the DNC of conducting a power grab that could financially benefit a few elite party figures."]
Monday 17 December 2018
A stunning image of enormous, swirling clouds on JupiterThis stunning image of enormous, swirling clouds on Jupiter was taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft during its 16th close flyby of our galaxy's largest planet. From NASA: "This Close-Up Shot Of Jupiter's Storms Is Simply Breathtaking."
News and commentary round upFrom the International Forecaster Weekly: Venezuela Joins the Social Credit Club. "That's right, citizens of everyone's favorite socialist paradise are about to be treated to a new ID card..." [Ed: similar to the Chinese social credit system.]
From Zero Hedge: Mueller Destroyed Messages From Peter Strzok's iPhone; OIG Recovers 19,000 New "FBI Lovebird" Texts
From the National Post: Boogieing to Beyoncé at a $100M wedding, Hillary plots her comeback Hillary never yields. That’s her brand
From MSN: Saudi Arabia condemns Senate resolution that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in Jamal Khashoggi's death [Ed: hat tip to David K. who comments, Standard response when a tinpot tyrant is caughtcommitting murder: “You’re interfering in my country’s internal affairs.” They killed him in Turkey, which keeps it from being an internal affair.]
From Variety: Maroon 5 and How the Super Bowl Halftime Show Became Music’s Least Wanted Gig. The band has approached more than a half-dozen stars; so far no one has said yes.
From Reason: Donald Trump Suggests Unfair Media Coverage of His Presidency Could Be Illegal. "Should be tested in courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?"
From YouTube: Amazing Elephant Rescue. [Ed: Do yourself a favor and watch this.]
From the Gray Zone Project: Every Single Member of US Congress Approved Crushing Sanctions on Nicaragua. [Ed: I don't get it. Isn't this a formula for ensuring more immigrants from there? Isn't this what the sanctions purportedly prevent?]
From the Conversation: Hate Christmas? A psychologist’s survival guide for Grinches [Ed: I actually love Christmas--mostly--but I have flashes of really resenting it...so a good article. And a great photograph]
From the Volokh Conspiracy: Understanding the New Obamacare Decision, Texas v. United States: Part I And further enlightenment from the Volokh Conspiracy: A "National Declaratory Judgment" in the ACA Suit? What is the scope of the remedy in Texas v. United States?
From the Electronic Frontier Foundation: The EFF Gift Guide: What Technology Is Creeping Us Out [Ed: a must read.]
From SHTF: Every Bubble Is In Search Of A Pin "The collection of asset price bubbles nested within the Everything Bubble are starting to burst."
From the Organic Prepper: Personal Bank Accounts in Venezuela Frozen to “Fight Terrorism” [Ed: as interesting as the title is, the content is more so.]
From Forbes: Will Half Of All Colleges Really Close In The Next Decade? [Ed: tuition soaring, enrollment plummeting, campuses becoming propaganda factories...yeah, universities are going to close.]
From the Daily Wire: California Drops Plan To Tax Texting
From CTV News: Canada will 'be on the losing end' over Huawei arrest: professor. [Ed: it already is.]
From Spiked: The Green New Deal: eco pastiche. Environmentalists constantly invoke the past because they are so unpopular in the present. [Ed: recommended.]
From Target Liberty: Trump and the Death of The Weekly Standard. [Ed: its last issue is today. The story of how it closed, of how it was killed]
From Zero Hedge: Mueller Destroyed Messages From Peter Strzok's iPhone; OIG Recovers 19,000 New "FBI Lovebird" Texts
From the National Post: Boogieing to Beyoncé at a $100M wedding, Hillary plots her comeback Hillary never yields. That’s her brand
From MSN: Saudi Arabia condemns Senate resolution that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in Jamal Khashoggi's death [Ed: hat tip to David K. who comments, Standard response when a tinpot tyrant is caughtcommitting murder: “You’re interfering in my country’s internal affairs.” They killed him in Turkey, which keeps it from being an internal affair.]
From Variety: Maroon 5 and How the Super Bowl Halftime Show Became Music’s Least Wanted Gig. The band has approached more than a half-dozen stars; so far no one has said yes.
From Reason: Donald Trump Suggests Unfair Media Coverage of His Presidency Could Be Illegal. "Should be tested in courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?"
From YouTube: Amazing Elephant Rescue. [Ed: Do yourself a favor and watch this.]
From the Gray Zone Project: Every Single Member of US Congress Approved Crushing Sanctions on Nicaragua. [Ed: I don't get it. Isn't this a formula for ensuring more immigrants from there? Isn't this what the sanctions purportedly prevent?]
From the Conversation: Hate Christmas? A psychologist’s survival guide for Grinches [Ed: I actually love Christmas--mostly--but I have flashes of really resenting it...so a good article. And a great photograph]
From the Volokh Conspiracy: Understanding the New Obamacare Decision, Texas v. United States: Part I And further enlightenment from the Volokh Conspiracy: A "National Declaratory Judgment" in the ACA Suit? What is the scope of the remedy in Texas v. United States?
From the Electronic Frontier Foundation: The EFF Gift Guide: What Technology Is Creeping Us Out [Ed: a must read.]
From SHTF: Every Bubble Is In Search Of A Pin "The collection of asset price bubbles nested within the Everything Bubble are starting to burst."
From the Organic Prepper: Personal Bank Accounts in Venezuela Frozen to “Fight Terrorism” [Ed: as interesting as the title is, the content is more so.]
From Forbes: Will Half Of All Colleges Really Close In The Next Decade? [Ed: tuition soaring, enrollment plummeting, campuses becoming propaganda factories...yeah, universities are going to close.]
From the Daily Wire: California Drops Plan To Tax Texting
From CTV News: Canada will 'be on the losing end' over Huawei arrest: professor. [Ed: it already is.]
From Spiked: The Green New Deal: eco pastiche. Environmentalists constantly invoke the past because they are so unpopular in the present. [Ed: recommended.]
From Target Liberty: Trump and the Death of The Weekly Standard. [Ed: its last issue is today. The story of how it closed, of how it was killed]
Sunday 16 December 2018
A Winner Of The 2018 National Geographic Photo ContestIt's not all somberness and bleakness when it comes to the photo contest winners, however. For a celebration of sheer beauty, look no further than Rucca Y Ito's "Snowflakes," taken of Japan's famous Blue Pond in Biei-cho, Hokkaido during the winter.
News and commentary round upFrom Tsarizm: Moscow To Set Up Military Base In Caribbean. [Ed: on an island owned by Venezuela.]
From Associated Press: Officials Strike Climate Deal After 2 Weeks of Talks. Officials agree on rules governing the Paris climate accord [Ed: from my cursory reading, the accord seems weaker than the last one. If true, then good.]
From Politico: The 'Trump Dossier' Is Out. What the FBI wants us to see, anyway
From Zero Hedge: Bare-Breasted 'Mariannes' Face Off With French Police; Tear Gas, Pepper Spray Used On Protesting Yellow Vests
From CNN Business: The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine critical of Trump, to shutter after 23 years. [Ed: sorry to see this. The Weekly was one of the few conservative outlets that remained highly critical of Trump.]
From Popular Science: How long can an event hold humanity’s attention? There’s an equation for that.
From the American Thinker: Far left is raising money on Patreon to 'inspire insurrection' [Ed: meanwhile, conservatives are being purged for minor offenses that are not against the site's rules.]
From CNBC: Dow dives 497 points. Lowest close since May. [Ed: fell on Friday.]
From the Washington Times: Scientist faces 'inquisition' for opposing carbon tax. 'I'm really worried about the intolerance that has developed'. [Ed: teaches at the Univ. of Washington. After questioning climate change, he was accused of racism and visited by a diversity officer.]
From the Quillette: Sad Radicals [Ed: from an activist who abandoned the far left.] "Slow, patient steps are a more reliable road to a better world than dramatic gestures that backfire as often as not. Conversation is less romantic than confrontation, small business ownership than Steal Something From Work Day, soup kitchens than vandalism. If an individual wants to end suffering, she should think hard about why she’s joined communities that glamorize violence, vengeance, and anti-intellectualism. Having left that scene, I am amazed at how much effort we put into making the world a more painful and difficult place than it is in service of a post-revolutionary utopia."
From Politico: Why the EU should fear a second UK referendum [Ed: sound analysis.]
From the Wall Street Journal: Big Tongues and Extra Vertebrae: The Unintended Consequences of Animal Gene Editing. [Ed: not firewalled.]
From the Sun: Diverse nature of life across the globe revealed in stunning travel photos. Beautiful photos taken from all over the world have been revealed as the best in travel photography 2018
From Lew Rockwell: Sleepwalkers Awoke! [Ed: a must read.]
From Stars and Stripes: U.S. troops will now stay in Syria indefinitely, controlling third of country...
From Associated Press: Officials Strike Climate Deal After 2 Weeks of Talks. Officials agree on rules governing the Paris climate accord [Ed: from my cursory reading, the accord seems weaker than the last one. If true, then good.]
From Politico: The 'Trump Dossier' Is Out. What the FBI wants us to see, anyway
From Zero Hedge: Bare-Breasted 'Mariannes' Face Off With French Police; Tear Gas, Pepper Spray Used On Protesting Yellow Vests
From CNN Business: The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine critical of Trump, to shutter after 23 years. [Ed: sorry to see this. The Weekly was one of the few conservative outlets that remained highly critical of Trump.]
From Popular Science: How long can an event hold humanity’s attention? There’s an equation for that.
From the American Thinker: Far left is raising money on Patreon to 'inspire insurrection' [Ed: meanwhile, conservatives are being purged for minor offenses that are not against the site's rules.]
From CNBC: Dow dives 497 points. Lowest close since May. [Ed: fell on Friday.]
From the Washington Times: Scientist faces 'inquisition' for opposing carbon tax. 'I'm really worried about the intolerance that has developed'. [Ed: teaches at the Univ. of Washington. After questioning climate change, he was accused of racism and visited by a diversity officer.]
From the Quillette: Sad Radicals [Ed: from an activist who abandoned the far left.] "Slow, patient steps are a more reliable road to a better world than dramatic gestures that backfire as often as not. Conversation is less romantic than confrontation, small business ownership than Steal Something From Work Day, soup kitchens than vandalism. If an individual wants to end suffering, she should think hard about why she’s joined communities that glamorize violence, vengeance, and anti-intellectualism. Having left that scene, I am amazed at how much effort we put into making the world a more painful and difficult place than it is in service of a post-revolutionary utopia."
From Politico: Why the EU should fear a second UK referendum [Ed: sound analysis.]
From the Wall Street Journal: Big Tongues and Extra Vertebrae: The Unintended Consequences of Animal Gene Editing. [Ed: not firewalled.]
From the Sun: Diverse nature of life across the globe revealed in stunning travel photos. Beautiful photos taken from all over the world have been revealed as the best in travel photography 2018
From Lew Rockwell: Sleepwalkers Awoke! [Ed: a must read.]
From Stars and Stripes: U.S. troops will now stay in Syria indefinitely, controlling third of country...
Saturday 15 December 2018
A Sea Change in Sexual Conduct on Campus.My latest article in the Hill has appeared. "A Sea Change in Sexual Conduct on Campus." It deals with the coming changes to Title IX being introduced by DeVos's administration.
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