2021-02-27

Cool

• An obligately photosynthetic bacterial anaerobe from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent | PNAS

• When Honey Flows Faster Than Water – FYFD

Worthy

• The curious case of the handlebar bag scam - CyclingTips

  An unknown number of buyers have paid anywhere from US$19 to US$49 for what they thought was going to be a Route Werks handlebar bag – MSRP US$179 – and received something very different.

  • HN comment:

  This is essentially a global expansion of what has been normal everyday life in much of Asia for decades. Any successful brand will see counterfeits and, indeed, sometimes before the quality brand even launches. A prestige brand’s logo will be thrown on some cheap, low-quality anonymous thing, and ordering online you are just as likely to get a counterfeit as the real thing.

• Are Furries Freaks? - Pirate Wires

etc

• Supreme Court Slaps Down California County's Ban On Indoor Church Services | ZeroHedge

• Schools Are Abandoning Invasive Proctoring Software After Student Backlash

• The heroic librarians who stood against Nazi rules during World War II

• FDA Authorizes Marketing of Novel Device to Help Protect Athletes’ Brains During Head Impacts | FDA

  284 subjects 13 years or older who were participants on a high school football team. ... allowed researchers to compare structural changes in the participants’ brain, after a season of play. Significant changes were found in deeper tissues of the brain involved in the transmission of electrical nerve signals (white matter regions) in 106 of the 145 (73%) participants in the no-Collar group, while no significant changes in these regions were found in 107 of the 139 (77%) of the group who wore the Q Collar. These differences appear to indicate protection of the brain associated with device use. No significant adverse events were associated with device use.

  • Great they're studying it. "approval?" The FDA needs to approve a football helmet brace? These folks get to claim "our brace gives protection" and the copies being marketed can be sold but can't say that?

Horseshit

• Florida City Fines Woman Over $100K for Parking Incorrectly on Her Own Driveway

• As important as the Beetle? Two days with Volkswagen’s electric ID.4

• Wall Street Isn’t Letting Khashoggi’s Killing Get in the Way of Saudi Business

• Hackers tied to Russia’s GRU targeted the US grid for years

Media / Ministry of Truthy

• Facebook Algorithm Accuses 81-Year-Old Grandmother Of "Hate Speech" Over Knitted-Pigs Comment | ZeroHedge

• Shopify shuts down print-on-demand site RageOn and associated stores

  • Somone tried to print a T shirt with "Q Dark to Light" text

Race Baiting

• Would this were a Purim joke: the tragicomedy at Smith College | Spin, strangeness, and charm

  The story highlights the tensions between a student’s deeply felt sense of personal truth and facts that are at odds with it.

• Amazon Streaming Service Removes Clarence Thomas Documentary… During Black History Month.

• He Wants to Save Classics from Whiteness. Can the Field Survive?

• Virginia school system cancels Dr. Seuss, citing racial ‘undertones’ in writings: report

TechSuck

• Former SolarWinds CEO blames intern for 'solarwinds123' password leak

• Coinbase Is the Next Facebook

• Google hasn’t fixed year-old Nest Mini connection issues

• Apple works with China but not the FBI

• Google-linked smart city plan ditched in Portland

• I wanted to love foldable phones, but the novelty got old fast

Economicon

• Family Video Pandemic Forces America's Last Video Rental Chain to Close It's Doors

• As Lumber Prices Hit Record High, Homebuilders Urge Biden To Intervene | ZeroHedge

• Gen Z Are Hustling for Their Post-Covid Futures

• Bots hyped up GameStop on major social media platforms, analysis finds

• Nikola admits to making “inaccurate” statements under disgraced founder

• 2020 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Letter

  • Berkshire Hathaway 2020 Annual report

• NFTs Boom as Collectors Shell Out to ‘Own’ Digital Art

  • What is an NFT from an artist’s perspective?

  • NFTs and a Thousand True Fans

  • NBA Top Shot – Officially Licensed Digital Collectibles (NFTs)

  • At this point I say "Ow, my balls!"

Poilitcks

• Statement by President Biden on the Anniversary of Russia’s Illegal Invasion of Ukraine | The White House

  Crimea is Ukraine. The United States does not and will never recognize Russia’s purported annexation of the peninsula, and we will stand with Ukraine against Russia’s aggressive acts.

• The ugly story of Trump and Jamal Khashoggi is confirmed

  • US Bans 76 Saudis Over Khashoggi Murder

• Biden Warns Iran: ‘Be Careful’

• Biden vows Texas shelter for young migrants 'won't stay open very long'

• COVID Aid Bill Would Pay Federal Employees $1400 a Week if Kids Are Out of School - Foundation for Economic Education

• Capitol attack: Oath Keepers member Jessica Watkins ordered to remain in jail

• Trump supporters who breached the Capitol: 'It was not Antifa' - CNNPolitics

  Nearly a dozen Trump supporters charged in connection with the US Capitol insurrection have said that Antifa and other left-wing groups weren't involved in the attack, debunking a false-flag conspiracy theory that is gaining popularity in the pro-Trump orbit.

  • The dozen who agree with us prove the hundreds that don't are wrong!

• No fire extinguisher? That makes it even more important to prosecute someone for attacking the guy FBI Pinpoints Suspect in US Capitol Policeman's Death, Report says | Voice of America - English

  According to The New York Times, FBI agents began to suspect soon after opening a homicide probe that Sicknick's death was related to his inhalation of a chemical irritant, such as mace or bear spray, which both law enforcement officers and rioters were armed with during the insurrection.

• John Durham Resigns As US Attorney, Will Continue Role as Special Counsel | ZeroHedge

• A California man went to the Capitol riots. His manager fired him and told the FBI.

World

• In Dec 2020; when it wasn't news because there was election fuss Account of Ethiopian Church Massacre

• China Persecutes Those Who Question ‘Heroes.’ A Sleuth Keeps Track

• How Myanmar's Civil Disobedience Movement Is Pushing Back Against the Coup

• Is Taiwan a Ticking Time Bomb in the Semiconductor Supply Chain? – The Diplomat

• US military counterterrorism operations extend far beyond Middle East

• Why Putin wants Alexei Navalny dead

Health / Medicine / COVID

• Infections caused by the P1 coronavirus strain display 10-fold higher viral load

• 95% of former Covid patients suffer no irreversible damage, study finds

• The Mystery of Why Some People Keep Testing Positive for Covid-19

Climate / Green Propaganda

• China Emits More Carbon in 16 Days Than Australia Does in One Year

• Heat pumps are one of the easiest ways for homeowners to fight climate change

• India Targets Climate Activists with the Help of Big Tech

• Bitcoin's vast energy use could burst its bubble

• Low tides leave Venice canals dry

Obit

• Norman Golb, Dead Sea Scrolls Contrarian, Is Dead at 92