2022-02-06

Worthy

• A night with the untouchables – The Reformed Physicist

  I have read a lot about what my new neighbours are supposedly like, mostly from reporters and columnists who write from distant vantage points somewhere in the media heartland of Canada. Apparently the people who inhabit the patch of asphalt next to my bedroom are white supremacists, racists, hatemongers, pseudo-Trumpian grifters, and even QAnon-style nutters. I have a perfect view down Kent Street – the absolute ground zero of the convoy. In the morning, I see some protesters emerge from their trucks to stretch their legs, but mostly throughout the day they remain in their cabs honking their horns. At night I see small groups huddled in quiet conversations in their new found companionship. There is no honking at night. What I haven’t noticed, not even once, are reporters from any of Canada’s news agencies walking among the trucks to find out who these people are. So last night, I decided to do just that – I introduced myself to my new neighbours.

  Instead, they see their government willing to push a class of people outside the boundaries of society, deny them a livelihood, and deny them full membership in the most welcoming country in the world; and they said enough. Last night I learned my new neighbours are not a monstrous faceless occupying mob. They are our moral conscience reminding us – with every blow of their horns – what we should have never forgotten: We are not a country that makes an untouchable class out of our citizens.

• So you want to use less concrete - by Brian Potter

etc

• The Death of Rusty n Edie’s, One of the Horniest Places on the 90s Internet

  Earlier this month, people remembered Rusty n Edie’s in a thread on the tech forum Hacker News. “95% of the porn I downloaded when I was 12 was watermarked with these two names,” one commenter wrote.

  • I suspected that was a seed when it went by; but in this case i call it good technique.

Horseshit

• Celebrities and NFTs Are a Match Made in Hell

  • Mapping the celebrity NFT complex - by Max Read - Read Max

    I don't quite know what to make of this. Is it a … scam? A dodge? A conspiracy? One of the funny things that the world of web3 seems intent on revealing is the extent to which the boundaries between concepts like "Ponzi scam," "pyramid scheme," "multi-level marketing," "conspiracy," and "just regular old financial capitalism working as intended" are not really as clear as we might like or hope.

• Someone gets a Blockfi loan for a mortgage, loses over $300K | Hacker News

  • Implications... How much of the money "in" bitcoin will ever come back out?

• Bitcoin has become a lifeline for sex workers

celebrity gossip

• More than 1k Dutch residents plan to throw rotten eggs at Jeff Bezos' superyacht

• Trouble in paradise? Scowling Barack Obama inspects the construction of his new multimillion-dollar Hawaii mansion and controversial sea wall which his neighbors fear will erode the beachline

Obit

• Todd Gitlin, a Voice and Critic of the New Left, Dies at 79

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing

• Sweden returns to cold war tactics to battle fake news

• A merger of state and privatized power asserts a monopoly on virtue and truth

• Facebook removes 'Convoy to DC 2022' group

COVID / VaxCult

• Censoring Joe Rogan Is No Solution to Vaccine Misinformation

• Younger Americans Benefit Less from Booster Shots Than Older People

• What did Covid do to life expectancy?

• Alzheimer's-like signaling in brains of Covid-19 patients

• No, Face Masks Aren’t Dehumanizing

• Free Covid tests are meant to reduce inequity, but they’re highlighting it

• Some British children have been changed by Covid-19, probably for good

• Vastly unequal US has world’s highest Covid death toll – it’s no coincidence

• Pentagon Responds To DoD Whistleblowers' Claim Of Spiking Disease Rates In The Military After COVID Vaccine Mandate | ZeroHedge

• Gay and lesbian adults have higher Covid-19 vaccination rates than heterosexual

• Israel's rise in Covid deaths: why it's happening, and the lessons for the UK

• Newsalert: (Photo) Health Icon , Maskless Stacey Abrams with Masked Children in Georgia

• Israeli study offers strongest proof yet of Vitamin D’s power to fight Covid

Culture War / Tribal / Re segregation

• The Right-Wing Conspiracy Theorists and the Butterflies

• BLM’s millions unaccounted for after leaders quietly jumped ship.

• The Flawed Claims About Bias in Facial Recognition

Media / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Source: Spotify took down episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience at Rogans request

• Can Joe Rogan Save Free Speech? – JONATHAN TURLEY

• J&J tried to get federal judge to block publication of Reuters story

  Johnson & Johnson tried to get a U.S. judge to block Reuters from publishing a story based on what it said were confidential company documents about the healthcare giant's legal maneuvers to fight lawsuits claiming its Baby Powder caused cancer.

• Twitter got a ‘downvote’ button. Here’s what happens if you click it

• Why Musicians Are Angry over Spotify: Not Enough Money to Go Around

• Meta threatens to pull Facebook and Instagram from Europe if it can't target ads

• Tiny Seattle knitting startup pushing to ‘unravel’ Apple in App Store fight

• Olympics Opening Ceremony draws record-low ratings

TechSuck

• Last call to voluntarily migrate Java accounts | Minecraft

• Where did it all go wrong for chipmaker Intel? - Asia Times

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Food Prices Approach Record Highs, Threatening the World’s Poorest

• Expanded Child Tax Policy Slashed Child Poverty

• Why the world is saving too much money

• Modern Monetary Theory Got a Pandemic Tryout. Inflation Is Now Testing It.

• Inflation has Fed critics pointing to spike in money supply

• The New Post-60 Career Paths

• Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study | Hacker News

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Biden Admin Halts $11.3 Billion Refresh Of Post Office's 165,000 Gas-Powered Truck Fleet, Citing Environmental Concerns | ZeroHedge

• Are Secret 'Puppeteers' Still Directing American Public Policy?* :: Gatestone Institute

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• A Jan. 6 suspect died. Now the FBI has to prep for conspiracies.

• FBI used geofence warrant in Seattle after BLM protest attack, documents show

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Ukraine crisis: Russia has in place 70% of military needed for full invasion

• Iran welcomes US sanctions relief, but says ‘not enough’

• US: Russian Invasion of Ukraine ‘Could Happen at Any Time’

World

• Ukraine Gave Up Nuclear Weapons 30 Years Ago. Today There Are Regrets. - The New York Times

• North Korea: Missile programme funded through stolen crypto, UN report says

Health / Medicine

• The World Is Likely Sicker Than It Has Been in 100 Years

• (July 2020) Phenethylamines I have feared and loathed

• Should you be concerned about a low resting heart rate?

• Regulation of Neurotransmitters by the Gut Microbiota and Effects on Cognition

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Climate change is altering the smell of snow

• Americans exposed to toxic BPA at levels far above what EU considers safe

• Climate Change Enters the Therapy Room

• Climate Models Are Working Strangely, Bedeviling Scientists, Complicating Policy