2023-12-31

Worthy

• 20th Anniversary Repost: Kaboom Kids

  Kaboom was for people -- children, I mean -- who had decided to give up on life. And it's a sad thing for a six-year-old to have already thrown in the towel and said, "Ah well. The hopes and dreams of kindergarten are ultimately exposed as so much folly. Give me the Kaboom, Ma. I'm ready to settle." Because that's all such a cereal is fit for, those who settle, who accept, those who lower their gaze in defeat and shame. This, this horrid Clown Cereal that looks like it's some kind of weird generic brand but it's actually marketed by General Mills. I suppose this was General Mills' attempt to tap the "downscale demographic" in six-year-olds.

  Nothing says "part of a balanced breakfast" like the Faces of the Unquiet Dead. The famous "death mask imagery" of Kaboom teaches children that aspiration is vanity and all dreams are lies

etc

• Couples race to get married in Las Vegas this numerical New Year's Eve

• Sacred Stones Worshipped for Generations in India Turn Out to Be Dinosaur Eggs

• Fire on Cargo Ship Carrying Lithium-Ion Batteries Near Dutch Harbor

Horseshit

• The Internet Is About to Get Weird Again

• Driverless cars immune from traffic tickets in California under current laws

• Emoji Are Legally Actionable

• Nvidia's CEO Was the Man of This Year, Next Year, and the One After That

• More than 100 ice fishers rescued from ice floe in Minnesota

  • 122 anglers had to be rescued from a Minnesota lake after becoming stranded on an ice floe

• The Year the Millennial Internet Died

• Can we build solar power satellites?

  • A space based microwave power transmitter is a "finger of God" weapon.

Obit

• Tom Wilkinson, Oscar-Nominated Actor Known for ‘Michael Clayton’ and ‘The Full Monty,’ Dies at 75

Musk

• 'Too Big To Cancel': Elon Musk Is Once Again World's Richest Person | ZeroHedge

• The Elon Musk industrial complex

• Twitter Was 2023's Best Movie Theater

• So how is X still working after so many people fired year ago?

Trump / War against the Right / Jan6

• The Mess in Maine - by Matt Taibbi - Racket News

• "Utterly unrelated, but we get to mention Trump!" Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen accidentally cited fake court cases from Bard

  The document in question was a motion that asked a federal judge to shorten the length of Cohen’s three-year probation,

  • Michael Cohen accidentally gave his lawyer fake citations, court filing says

  • Michael Cohen says he unknowingly submitted fake AI-generated legal cases

• Chris Matthews Says Addressing Rural Americans' Anger Is Like 'Fighting Terrorism' – RedState

  every time we make fun of Trump, we're making fun of them. That's the weird... It's a weird thing, but in a way, it's like fighting terrorism. We think we just put the army in or Israel just puts the IDF and they're going to solve the problem. It never solves the problem because you enrage people. And we did it with Afghanistan and we did it with Iraq. We enraged the enemy to the point where they were more fiery than ever and they hate us more than ever."

• Here’s What SCOTUS Should Do With the Trump Ballot Cases

• Maine Election Official Reports ‘Truly Unacceptable’ Threats After Trump Ruling

• Trump ballot eligibility also under challenge in multiple states after Maine ruling

• Trump to appeal Maine ballot disqualification

• Maine secretary of state who opted to keep Trump off primary ballot is facing threat of impeachment

• (Aug 2023) Trump Indictment Showcases Enron-Era Law’s Use in Jan. 6 Cases

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• States trashing troves of masks and protective gear as costly stockpiles expire

• Characteristics and predictors of Long Covid among diagnosed cases of Covid-19

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• In a Surprising Move, Ohio Governor Vetoes Trans Sports and Gender-Affirming Care Ban

  • Conservatives blast Republican Ohio governor as 'coward' for transgender bill veto

  • Gov. Mike DeWine Vetoes Bill Protecting Kids From ‘Gender-Affirming Care.’

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Judge Tears Apart Iowa Book Ban, LGBTQ Education Law

• Students, Alumni Slam Wisconsin Chancellor’s Firing for Porn Hobby

  • University Chancellor Fired for Making Pornographic Videos with His Wife

• The DEI cosa nostra: Why Claudine Gay will survive Harvard’s antisemitism scandal

Entertainment / ShowBiz / Advertising

• ScummVM 2.8.0 released with tons of new games

• People have forgot what happened months ago; now we can tell them what they should remember. Social media's biggest user protest rocked Reddit

• Big Layoff at Duolingo

  In December 2023, Duolingo “off boarded” a huge percentage of their contractors who did translations. Of course this is because they figured out that AI can do these translations in a fraction of the time.

• Marketing company brags it can listen in on people's 'whispers' using phones

• Why can't we sort and filter movies TV shows on streaming services?

• We Aren't Posting on Social Media as Much Anymore. Will We Ever?

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• Vizio agrees to pay $3M for alleged 'false' refresh rate claims

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• When Silicon Valley's AI Warriors Came to Washington

• Toothpick producers violate NYT copyright

Crypto con games

• Sam Bankman-Fried: Convicted 'Crypto King' will not face second trial

  • Feds say they won't bring second trial against Sam Bankman-Fried

  • Sam Bankman-Fried spared from second trial

  • IP thread

  • Bankman-Fried Dodges Bribery Trial After Feds Drop Charges | ZeroHedge

  • Bankman-Fried Won’t Face Second Trial on Remaining Charges - Bloomberg

  • US prosecutors opt out of second trial for crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried

  • Sam Bankman-Fried will not face second trial after multibillion-dollar crypto fraud

  • Prosecutors say they will not pursue second Sam Bankman-Fried trial

  • Sam Bankman-Fried Avoids 2nd Fraud Trial

  • Prosecutors say they will not pursue a second Sam Bankman-Fried trial

  • Sam Bankman-Fried Won’t Face a Second Criminal Trial - WSJ

• Tether Reveals Partnerships with Secret Service, FBI

Economicon / Business / Finance

• US F-1 Student Visa Holders Can Now Work for Startups

• Minimum-wage workers in 22 states will be getting raises on Jan. 1

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Nikki Haley deals with fallout of Civil War remarks

  • Nikki Haley's Civil War flub proves distracting in key state of New Hampshire

• All undocumented immigrants in California will be eligible for health care

• Biden Admin Targets Fridges, Freezers in Latest Slew of Appliance Crackdowns.

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• Seattle dismantles BLM garden after rampant homelessness, drug use create ‘public health and … safety issues.’

• FBI Lists San Fran as ‘Attractive Target’ for Terrorist Attack on New Year’s Eve

• Authorities prepare for New Year’s Eve in Times Square and across the US as Israel-Hamas war presents elevated threats

• Chicago and New York at 'Breaking Point' as Surge of Migrants Heads North

• After Rise in Murders During the Pandemic, a Sharp Decline in 2023

• Foreign Exchange Student Was Likely Abducted and Being Held Captive in Utah, Police Say

• California 14-year-old arrested in parents' deaths, tried to kill sister, sheriff says

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Drastic Increase in Army Coyote Drone Interceptor Purchase Plans

• Lindsey Graham Urges Biden To Blow Iran "Off The Map" Over Red Sea Attacks | ZeroHedge

• Biden administration again bypasses Congress on emergency weapons sale to Israel

World

• Xi Goes Full Stalin with Purge

• France Fears New Year's Eve Terror Attack

  • France on 'very high' alert for possible terrorist threat on New Year's Eve

• Brexit has failed for UK, say clear majority of Britons – poll

• Argentina Won't Join BRICS Alliance in Milei's Latest Policy Shift

• Eurostar cancels all trains today after Thames tunnel floods

Israel

• Iran Executes Four 'Saboteurs' It Says Worked For Israel's Mossad | ZeroHedge

• Israel Rejects "With Disgust" South Africa's Gaza-Related Genocide Case At World Court | ZeroHedge

  • South Africa accuses Israel of genocide, seeks UN court intervention

• Beyond Maghazi: What controversial weapons has Israel used in Gaza war?

• White House announces $147M emergency arms sale to Israel

• Airstrikes hit refugee camps in Gaza as U.S. approves new weapons sales to Israel

• Israel Strikes Syria After Rocket Fire, Army Says

• On the sexual atrocities Hamas committed on Oct. 7: We cannot ignore the depravity of these attacks, or what they mean for women.

  the men of Gaza bore a particular rage for these women who lived free and secular lives - in particular the teens and twenty- and thirty-something women they captured at the Nova rave. The freedom of these women, in particular their sexual freedom, became worthy of the most hellish punishment (un)imaginable. They were unworthy even of being vessels for children. And so they weren’t bred. Instead their sexual organs were mutilated and their bodies desecrated even as they were raped - and sometimes further after they had been killed.

• Israel's Leading Comedy Show Is Going After BBC, the UN and Hamas Sympathizers

• ‘Not a Crime’ To Kill an Israeli Soldier, UN Official Says.

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Analysis: Putin promises Xi to 'fight for five years' in Ukraine - Nikkei Asia

• Ukraine Mounts Massive Series Of Attacks On Russian City, Killing At Least 14

  • Ukrainian Missile Attack on Belgorod in Russia Kills at Least 14

Health / Medicine

• Fascia, neglected part of our body, starting to receive attention

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• The Punt Gun and the Race to Save America’s Wildlife | Boone and Crockett Club

• More dangerously large swells forecast for southern California

  • Powerful Pacific Swell Brings Threat of More Dangerous Surf to California

  • Towering Waves Batter West Coast

• Most money for endangered species goes to a small number of creatures, leaving others in limbo

  • Most US Endangered Species Money Goes to Handful of Species

• Spain confirms nuclear power phase-out, extends renewable projects deadlines