2022-02-15

Cool

• Witchcraft – a Minecraft server, written in Bash

etc

• Pastor Resigns After Incorrectly Performing Thousands of Baptisms

• 26% of Americans didn't have sex once over the past 12 months

• China, Not SpaceX, May Be Source of Rocket Part Crashing into Moon

• Americans retiring to Vietnam for standard of living and cheap healthcare

Horseshit

• The Age of Anti-Ambition

• Critique of Blockchainism

  Think of the people who talk about masking as a "personal choice." Human beings have an undeniably entwined epidemiological destiny. There are few epidemiological choices that are purely personal – they redound to the people around you.

• Does China think long-term while America thinks short-term?

  part of the idea that “China thinks long-term” probably just comes from the fact that it’s so old. Allison argues this explicitly, contrasting America’s two and a half centuries with China’s millennia of existence. Maybe only if you can think of history on that time-scale can you think of the future on a similar time-scale.

celebrity gossip

• Judge Tosses Sarah Palin’s Defamation Case Against New York Times.

  • Judge throws out Sarah Palin libel case against New York Times

• Navalny faces more time in prison ‘as world looks away’

• Elon Musk donated $5.7B of Tesla shares to charity

• Prince Andrew Settles Pedo Trial, Pays Accuser Undisclosed Sum

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing

• The “misinformation problem” seems like misinformation

  I think the only sensible thing to say about all this is that discerning the truth is hard, and it requires debate and dissent. Functional expert communities and well-run journalism institutions are open to new information, to changing their minds, and to correcting the record. But that process doesn’t work if the fact-check squad slaps a “misinformation” label on you for saying the CDC is wrong about masks.

• US accuses financial website of spreading Russian propaganda

  The officials said Zero Hedge, which has 1.2 million Twitter followers, published articles created by Moscow-controlled media that were then shared by outlets and people unaware of their nexus to Russian intelligence. The officials did not say whether they thought Zero Hedge knew of any links to spy agencies and did not allege direct links between the website and Russia.

  The officials briefed The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence sources. It was the latest effort by President Joe Biden’s administration to release U.S. intelligence findings about Russian activity involving Ukraine as part of a concerted push to expose and influence the moves of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

  + [Now We've Done It: We Pissed Off The CIA |
  ZeroHedge](https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/now-weve-done-it-we-pissed-cia)
  

  • U.S. Accuses Zero Hedge of Spreading Russian Propaganda

Freedom Convoy

• Hacked Canadian convoy data shows more than half of donations came from U.S.

  + [New Leak Suggests Most Users Funding Canada's 'Freedom Convoy'
  Reside in
  U.S.](https://gizmodo.com/givesendgo-leak-freedom-convoy-canada-trucker-protest-d-1848534782)
  

  • Foreign money funding ‘extremism’ in Canada

• Two-thirds of Canadians support military force to end Ottawa protests: poll | CityNews Toronto

• Mounties seize guns and arrest 11 protesters at border blockade in Alberta | CBC News

• Trudeau Invokes Emergencies Act

  • HN thread

  • Trudeau vows to freeze anti-mandate protesters' bank accounts - BBC News

    • HN thread

    • Trudeau Unleashes 'Emergency Powers Act', Threatens Crowd-Funding Platforms With "Terrorist-Financing" For Protesters | ZeroHedge

• Toronto Bank Freezes $1 Million in Freedom Convoy Money.

• The New York Times Exposes Media Hypocrisy as It Echoes Tom Cotton in Call to End Trucker Protest – RedState

• Canadian leader Justin Trudeau invokes emergency powers to end disruptive protests; Hong Kong vaccinating 3-year-olds: Live COVID updates

• What the Truckers Want

• "their communications were infiltrated, leading to organizational collapse"

• EXCLUSIVE: ‘These Very Powers … Are Why We Are Here’: Canadian Protesters ‘Dig Their Heels In’ Against Trudeau’s Crackdown | The Daily Wire

• Freedom Convoy Organizers Say They Notified Police After Being Told "Nefarious Elements" Plan To Discredit Protest

• (Feb 2) CBC: Russian actors are behind 50k-strong 'Freedom Convoy' of truckers

• ‘Freedom Convoy’ Truckers Struggle to Cash Out Bitcoin Worth $1M

• Peter Sloly resigns as Ottawa's police chief as critics denounce his handling of convoy protest | CBC News

COVID / VaxCult

• Pfizer pulls back from plan to expedite review of Covid shots in young kids

• NYC Mayor Eric Adams Fires 1,430 Workers Who Refused the COVID Vaccine.

• Midterm Variant Wrecking Flu Manchu Mandates « Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog

• Omicron-targeted vaccines do no better than original jabs in early tests

• A 60B tweet study of anti-vaccine misinformation

  Using newly developed methods within ‘deep learning’ and ‘natural language processing’, we taught a computer to identify which attitude to vaccines was expressed in a given tweet.

  Provaxx profiles often refer to news media and science sites, while antivaxx profiles are far more likely to use links to YouTube videos and to sites known for spreading false news and conspiracy theories. We then grouped the sources into a few categories. Using the online Media bias/fact check service, we identified sites that are known for sharing pseudoscience and conspiracy theories.

• Novak Djokovic: I’m not anti-vax but will sacrifice trophies if told to get jab

• Risk of Long COVID explained

• An Undiscovered Coronavirus? The Mystery of the ‘Russian Flu’

• Thousands of Australian nurses go on strike as Covid cases mount

• The Netherlands to drop all Covid restrictions by Feb, 25

• The Forever Emergency

• How the CDC Abandoned Science

  Ultimately, science is not a political sport. It is a method to ascertain truth in a chaotic, uncertain universe. Science itself is transcendent, and will outlast our current challenges no matter what we choose to believe. But the more it becomes subordinate to politics—the more it becomes a slogan rather than a method of discovery and understanding—the more impoverished we all become. The next decade will be critical as we face an increasingly existential question: Is science autonomous and sacred, or a branch of politics? I hope we choose wisely, but I fear the die is already cast.

• A short story about pandemic misinformation and biased reporting

• Is Our Pandemic the Ghost of the 1889 Russian Flu?

• Covid-19: Northern Ireland to remove all remaining restrictions

• Forbes Contributor Fired Over Investigative Stories On Fauci | ZeroHedge

Culture War / Tribal / Re segregation

• When "Freedom" Is Problematic, Discussion Ends

  Plus, the individual is the smallest minority possible. If you protect individual freedom, you protect freedom for each and every collective group you care to name.

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• More than 400k student loan borrowers will get debt relief from Navient

  The settlement covers borrowers who live in 38 states and Washington, DC. Those who qualify for relief under the settlement don't need to take any action and can expect to automatically receive notification from Navient later this year after the court approves the agreement.

  • Attorney General Josh Shapiro Announces $1.85 Billion Landmark Settlement with Student Loan Servicer Navient – PA Office of Attorney General

• How Can This University Charge Nothing for Tuition?

Media / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Roblox: The children's game with a sex problem

• Peter Thiel backs conservative dating app The Right Stuff

TechSuck

• Weeks after announcing it, Nvidia has gone silent on its flagship RTX 3090 Ti

• Intel designs new crypto mining chip 1000x better than current processors

• Intel's plan to license x86 cores for chips with Arm, RISC-V and more inside

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Semiconductor Edition

• The 3G network shutdown will impact more than just phones

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Ford Sending Bronco to Dealers Who Mark Up Prices, Reserve Holders Told to Wait

• Intel Nears Roughly $6B Deal to Buy Tower Semiconductor

• Berkshire bought about $1B worth of Activision shares before Microsoft deal

• Fed’s Bullard says the central bank’s ‘credibility is on the line’

• The true cost of empty offices

• A Day Without Immigrants Actions Nationwide – Tucson Restaurant Workers Strike – Rural Louisiana Bus Drivers Strike

• No Garage Doors: Supply-chain complications are giving the industry fits

• Most Americans have come out ahead economically in the pandemic, despite inflation - CNNPolitics

• Wholesale prices jump 9.7% in January, further evidence of red-hot inflation.

• Michael Burry places a bet on electric motorcycles

• 'People are unhappy': Fed official warns on high inflation

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Senior Biden Communications Adviser Leaving Ahead Of State Of The Union Address.

• Special counsel alleges Clinton lawyer used data to raise suspicions about Trump

  + [Turns out the real threat to ‘norms’ was the Clinton campaign](https://nypost.com/2022/02/14/turns-out-the-real-threat-to-norms-was-the-clinton-campaign/)
  
  + [WSJ: Trump Really Was Spied
    On.](https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-really-was-spied-on-2016-clinton-campaign-john-durham-court-filing-11644878973?mod=opinion_lead_pos1)
  

  • What We Learned From Sussmann’s Response To The Special Counsel

  • Tech exec used access to White House computers to look for dirt on Trump

• Congressman echoes Trump’s claim that Clinton aides deserved to die

• Blumenthal Bought Robinhood Shares as He Called for Congress To Investigate GameStop Trading Frenzy

• Exclusive: Systemic Voting Issues In Pennsylvania County More Extensive

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• San Francisco police linked a woman to a crime using DNA from her rape exam

  • DNA from Rape Kits Is Now Being Used to Connect Survivors to Crimes

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• US Army goes green, announcing new climate strategy.

Ukraine

• US Still "Watching Very Carefully" For Russian False Flag: Sullivan | ZeroHedge

• US remain hopeful for diplomatic path in Ukraine

• Ask HN: How do you expect the world to change if Russia invades Ukraine? | Hacker News

• Pentagon chief orders 160 US troops in Ukraine to reposition in Europe

• Amid Skepticism, Russia Publishes Video Of Tanks Leaving Ukrainian Border - Stoltenberg 'Optimistic' | ZeroHedge

• Russia Withdraws Troops From Ukraine Border After Media Said Invasion Was Imminent – Summit News

• Pentagon Seeking To Verify Russian Troop Reduction Near Ukraine | ZeroHedge

• Ukraine-Russia tensions: Russia pulls some troops back from border

• In Ukraine, we’re terrified of an invasion

• What a Russian invasion of Ukraine would mean for the global economy

• Russia says it's begun partial troop pullback from Ukraine border

• Ukraine reports cyber attack on defence ministry website, banks – TASS

  • Russia to blame for Ukraine cyber-attack, says Kyiv

  • Attack takes Ukraine military, big banks offline

• The Crisis in Ukraine is not about Ukraine. It's about Germany

World

• Belgian Government Warns about Risk of Espionage from Xiaomi Products

• New Zealand passes law banning conversion therapy

Health / Medicine

• Majority of Pregnant U.S. Women Were Already in Poor Health: Study

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Thawing permafrost bodes ill for the global climate

• U.S. corn-based ethanol worse for the climate than gasoline

• Drugs have dangerously polluted the world’s rivers, scientists warn

• Michigan beef found to contain dangerous levels of ‘forever chemicals’

• The kitchen of the future won’t be cooking with gas