2021-11-11

Cool

• High-spec open-source microscopy for all – Physics World

• Wildlife photographer of the year 2021 winners – in pictures | Environment | The Guardian

• GitHub - bencbartlett/3D-printed-mirror-array: 3D-printable hexagonal mirror array capable of reflecting sunlight into arbitrary patterns

Worthy

• Cultural Revolutions - by Edward Snowden - Continuing Ed — with Edward Snowden

• Is there a homelessness crisis?

  So, I did the sensible thing. I downloaded the .pdf files for each of the 6,082 different reports, wrote a script to convert each .pdf to plain text, wrote a parser for that text, compensated for 8 billion inconsistencies in how the reports were laid out, damn you HUD, damn you to hell, extracted the data for each of the above categories, and made plots.

etc

• ISS nudged to avoid debris from destroyed Chinese satellite • The Register

• The Great Bifurcation of Humanity

Horseshit

• Explaining NFTs

  Addendum: Don’t forget you can buy the Marginal Revolution NFT! You will be purchasing from the new owner (we sold it) but I believe we get a royalty which also illustrates an advantage of the NFT model.

• Also, water found to be wet: Bitcoin ATMs: Criminals target cryptocurrency transactions

• SpinLaunch's rocket-free kinetic launch system conducts first test flight

  A larger system, the L100 Orbital Mass Accelerator, would operate on a similar principle, and is being developed to launch satellites weighing up to 440 lb (200 kg). The company says advances in electronics that enable relatively small capacitors, chips and resistors allow these components to be ruggedized to survive the 10,000 g in the fast-spinning launch chamber, and its testing has proven satellite systems are capable of enduring such conditions.

  + "I did the math expecting to see a huge savings in fuel mass
  and....it was basically negligible." (PDF) [Spinlaunch with Basic Physics](http://www.virajrmehta.com/spinlaunch.pdf)
  

  • Company Wants to Launch Satellites With Huge Centrifugal Slingshot

celebrity gossip

• Tom Hanks’ Cast Away volleyball sells for $400k at auction

• California Governor Gavin Newsom makes an appearance at Ivy Getty's wedding | Daily Mail Online

  • comment:

  'The Booster Shot Had Absolutely No Side Effects,' Says Gavin Newsom's Second Head

• Prince Harry says he warned Twitter's Jack Dorsey about Capitol riot

• John Cleese blacklists himself from Cambridge

• Christopher Walken Destroys Banksy Painting on BBC Comedy Show

Obit

• Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, appears to be dead

  • But don't dare say anything good about him because: Ex wife post

  Yesterday I recieved a divorce ruling that would help me and my daughter stay in our home in Canada and allow me to provide a good life for her as well as pay back numerous debts that had accrued during the past two years when I was receiving $350 a month in child support.

  In the divorce ruling the judge found that Rich had willfully spent down the martial fund, confirmed his treatment of me was Domestic Violence and put together a plan to pay for the attorney fees etc. He would still retain custody settled on previously in mediation. He was due to get our daughter for Christmas.

  An hour later I was contacted by my attorney who informed me that Rich had shot himself earlier in the morning.

  So. There it is. His other ex and I got to tell our children that their father died without saying goodbye to them, or that he loved them, or to my knowledge, left a note for them.

  • Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, Founder of Something Awful, Is Dead at 45

• EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Told Joe To Run For President In Fiery Text Exchange Seeking 'Chance At Redemption' - National File

COVID / VaxCult

• Florida, Center of Covid Mandate Resistance, Has Lowest Infection Levels in U.S.

• Biden's Vaccine Mandate Ignores the Science | RealClearPolicy

• French health authority advises against Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for under 30s

• Germany Latest EU Government To Warn Young Adults, Pregnant Women Not To Get Moderna Jab

• "We Must Learn To Live With It" - WHO's EU Chief Admits COVID Isn't Going Anywhere | ZeroHedge

• People with 1 dose J&J will be considered unvaxxed from Jan 3rd 2022 in Austria

• Germany hits record new Covid cases in 24 hours

• Long Covid doesn't exist, volume one zillion - by Alex Berenson - Unreported Truths

  The researchers also found that almost 60 percent of the people with antibodies HAD NO IDEA THEY HAD EVEN HAD COVID AT ALL. Meanwhile, while more than half the people who said they had had Covid had no antibodies. (Welcome to the plague so severe most halfway healthy adults don’t even know they’ve had it.)

  The researchers concluded by explaining that people who claim they have long Covid may need help “to identify cognitive and behavioral mechanisms that may be targeted to relieve the symptoms.” Which is a very polite way of putting the truth.

  • Persistent Covid-19 symptoms may have other causes, study finds

• First Covid-19 case in pet dog confirmed by vet

  The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says cases like this are extremely rare and there is no strong evidence to suggest that dogs, cats or other pets are passing on the virus to humans.

• Vaccine Police Are on Patrol in Germany

• (PDF) Multiple spillovers and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer

  The geographic distribution and nesting of clusters of deer and human lineages strongly suggest multiple zooanthroponotic spillover events and deer-to-deer transmission.

• SARS-CoV-2 in American deer could alter the course of the global pandemic

• Austrian Brothel Offering Free Sex Voucher with On-Site Covid Vaccination

• What We Know So Far About Waning Vaccine Effectiveness

• Bolsonaro Confronts WHO Chief: "People Are Dying After The Second Dose" | ZeroHedge

Culture War / Re segregation / Identdoctrination

• "Ever seen this really old TV show called 'MacGyver?'" HN on: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

• "We should outlaw sugar next!" HN on: Congress' new mandate to carmakers: Figure out a way to stop drunk driving

• The Political Typology: In polarized era, deep divisions persist within coalitions of both Democrats and Republicans | Pew Research Center

• How to be a heretic | The Spectator

• Robert Moses and the saga of the racist parkway bridges

• (Sep 2021) Progressivism is Dead - by Vinay Prasad

• Medical Research Rapidly Adopts 'Systemic Racism' as Undisputed Truth, Risking Scientific Credibility | RealClearInvestigations

Edumacationalizing

• As Ds and Fs soar, schools ditch inequitable grade systems

• Goddard school district orders 29 books removed from circulation | KMUW

  including “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky. and “They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group” by Susan Campbell Bertolett, “The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel” adapted by Renee Nault, others

Media / Many Ministries of Truths / Censorship

• HN on: Making the dislike count private across YouTube

Facebook

• Facebook Allows Stolen Content to Flourish, Its Researchers Warned

TechSuck

• Valve delays the Steam Deck into 2022

• AT&T Alien Labs finds Golang malware targeting millions of routers/IoT devices

• Google sent Pixel users a useless update

• Playdate delays to 2022 amid scramble to revise the entire handheld console | Ars Technica

  Barely a day after Valve announced that its upcoming handheld PC would be delayed "two months," the quirky, indie-minded Playdate console, initially slated to arrive by the end of 2021, followed suit on Thursday.

• Latest iOS beta blurs nude images for children using Messages app

Economicon

• Rivian shares leap in market debut, topping value of Ford, GM

  • Rivian valued at over $100B after biggest IPO of 2021

• Evergrande teeters on edge of default as $148M payment falls due

  + [HN thread](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29178102)
  

  • China's Evergrande Group officially defaults | Daily Sabah

• Chinese Property Stocks Soar Most In 6 Years Amid Sudden Reversal In Bearish Sentiment, Massive Short Squeeze | ZeroHedge

• Inflation has taken away all the wage gains for workers and then some

• Inflation is real. Now it’s up to the Fed

• Elon Musk sells $1.1B in Tesla stock in plan set before Twitter poll

  + [Elon Musk sells $1.1B in Tesla stock for tax
  reasons](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/11/10/elon-musk-tesla-stock/)
  

  • Elon Musk sells $5bn in Tesla stock days after Twitter poll

• Red-Hot Housing Market Drives Biggest Home-Equity Drawdown Since 2007

• Real consumption must at some point fall

• Reddit theorizing that a complex Fed facility is flashing signs of market crash Archive link

  According to Bloomberg, one user going by the name pctracer began posting daily RRP results starting this past May. The user noticed that the figure invested by participating firms have been growing. "Numbers here are out of control, a very BIG crash is incoming," ptracer posted. It did not help that soon after he began updating the post, usage of the facility ballooned to more than $1 trillion for the first time since its inception in September 2013.

• Supply Chain Update for November 10, 2021 « Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog

• Inflation is wiping out wage increases for many workers

• We need to talk about the real reason behind US inflation

  Viewed this way, the underlying problem isn’t inflation per se. It’s lack of competition. Corporations are using the excuse of inflation to raise prices and make fatter profits.

• MoviePass co-founder has bought back the company and wants to relaunch next year

• Johnson and Johnson’s ‘Texas-two-step’ sparks outcry over US bankruptcy regime

Gubmint / Poilitcks

• Biden Asks If You Ever Thought You'd Pay This Much for Gas

  “Did you ever think you’d be paying this much for a gallon of gas?” Biden asked. “In some parts of California they’re paying four dollars and fifty cents a gallon!”

• NJ senate president concedes to newcomer Edward Durr, cites ‘red wave.’

• The Infrastructure Bill Has Passed. What Now?

• People exposed to lead in Flint, Mich., water will get a $626M settlement

• Drunken-Driving Warning Systems Would Be Required for New Cars Under U.S. Bill

• Six Degrees From Brookings: How a Liberal Think Tank Keeps Coming Up in the Russian Collusion Investigation – JONATHAN TURLEY

• Rupert Murdoch Falsely Claims FCC Nom Will Censor Conservatives, Is Proven Wrong

  One ironic bit that ruins AT&T's and News Corporation's lobbying efforts here: right-wing disinformation mills Newsmax and OAN (who both opposed the threat the Sinclair merger posed to smaller right wing disinformation mills) released statements in support of Sohn's nomination.

Law / Crime / Police

• Rittenhouse trial: lawyers argue about whether “zooming” distorts a video

  • Rittenhouse lawyer claims iPad pinch-to-zoom fakes video - 9to5Mac

  • You shall not pinch to zoom: Rittenhouse trial judge disallows basic iPad

    • Judge Bruce Schroeder Reveals Someone Filmed the Kyle Rittenhouse Trial Jurors

  there was someone there and video recording the jury, which officers approached the person and required [them]...to delete the video and return the phone to him. I've instructed that if it happens again, they are to take the phone and bring it here," Schroeder said.

  • "Grave Constitutional Violation": Rittenhouse Defense Asks For Mistrial After Insane Day At Court | ZeroHedge

Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• The World Is Fed Up with China’s Belligerence

• US warns EU that Russian troops may invade Ukraine

• Iran-Backed Militants Storm US Embassy in Yemen, Seize Hostages and Equipment

  • Group Biden Took Off Terror List Commits Terrorist Act – PJ Media

• Propulsion problems bring USS Nimitz home after 3 days at sea

World

• Belarus leader floats idea of cutting gas to Europe in migrant standoff

Health / Medicine

• Researchers uncover software flaws leaving medical devices vulnerable to hackers

• As the U.K. nears elimination of cervical cancer, the U.S. isn't close

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Methane Plume Seen by Satellite over Alabama Mystifies Experts

• COP26: Germany fails to sign up to 2040 combustion engine phaseout

• China and the US announce plan to work together on cutting emissions

• A Woman Warned Us About Climate Change 165 Years Ago. Naturally, We Ignored Her

• Deer Wars and Death Threats | The New Yorker

• Public sex with strangers is destroying fragile dune ecosystems in Gran Canaria

• Did Cars Rescue Our Cities from Horses?

• Climate Pledges Fall Dangerously Short of the 1.5 °C Target

• The EPA allows polluters to turn neighborhoods into “sacrifice zones”

• New method shows today’s warming ‘unprecedented’ over past 24,000 years