2024-02-03

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• US CDC Says the Best Way to Keep Kids from Smoking Weed Is to Legalize It

• Taxidermy polar bear stolen in Canadian heist

  The public has been asked to keep an eye out for the giant stuffed bear. The resort is located in Sturgeon County, about 30 miles (50km) north of Edmonton.

Horseshit

• Millennials Have the Children, but Boomers Have the Houses

• Doomsaying can become a self-fulfilling prophecy

  Twenty-first-century communalism is a peculiar kind of communalism. For starters, it’s very socially conscious and political. Whether you’re on the MAGA right or the social-justice left, you define your identity by how you stand against what you perceive to be the dominant structures of society. Groups on each side of the political divide are held together less by common affections than by a common sense of threat, an experience of collective oppression. Today’s communal culture is based on a shared belief that society is broken, systems are rotten, the game is rigged, injustice prevails, the venal elites are out to get us; we find solidarity and meaning in resisting their oppression together. Again, there is a right-wing version (Donald Trump’s “I am your retribution”) and a left-wing version (the intersectional community of oppressed groups), but what they share is an us-versus-them Manichaeism. The culture war gives life shape and meaning.

• The Hottest New Bedtime for 20-Somethings Is 9 p.m. - WSJ

• Technology is the Problem - Shyam Sankar

  In this way, technology has largely had the opposite effect from all the effects anticipated. The world thought technology would be a great leveling force, but it has led to more winner-take-most, power law outcomes. Technology was supposed to enable the median human to do so much more, but it has actually made the very best much more valuable. The world thought technology would make geography less important, but it has made it only more important by concentrating the relevance, wealth, and share of innovations from a handful of places. Silicon Valley is more relevant, while Europe lags further behind in Tech. China still has zero global enterprise software companies. Tim Cook says that Apple makes things in China because they are the best, not because they are the cheapest — a consequence of a flawed industrial policy in the West.

  • Comes close to seeing, and saying, the real problem is "rent seeking," but veers away.

  • HN comments

• 'I plan fewer outings': Britons on the scarcity of public toilets

• Why Don't We Teach People How to Parent?

• The New Luddites Aren’t Backing Down

• Suspected spy pigeon released after eight months in detention in India

• An affordability crisis is making young Americans give up on ever owning a home

• Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry

  • HN comments

Electric / Self Driving cars

• China's Geely launches 11 low-orbit satellites for autonomous cars

celebrity gossip

• Joe Rogan Gets New Spotify Deal Worth Up to $250M

  • Joe Rogan's new 'multiyear' Spotify deal worth as much as $250M: report

• Statement from the Embassy on Taylor Swift’s Reported Travel from Japan

Obit

• Carl Weathers, Apollo Creed from Rocky movies, dies aged 76

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• Russia amplifies calls for civil war in the U.S.

  there has also been a sudden surge of Russian-language tweets promoting the “Free Texas” secessionist movement, which was heavily promoted by the notorious Internet Research Agency during Russia’s 2016 election interference campaign. Taken together, this points to a possible ongoing and coordinated disinformation campaign being waged by Russia against the American public, raising concerns about potential on-the-ground activities in Texas as well as Russia’s intentions for future information operations targeting the upcoming presidential election.

  • (Dec 2018) Texas secession key theme in Russian disinformation campaign, report says

    A sprawling Russian disinformation campaign aimed at influencing the 2016 elections found success with social media accounts promoting the idea of Texas secession,

  • Pelosi tried "Russian Disinformation" on pro-Hamas protestors the other day, the media shut that down immediately.

Musk

• Tesla's week gets worse: Fines, safety investigation, and recall

• How a Heavy Metal Drummer Just Made Elon Musk Lose $56B

• Tesla facing another massive recall – affecting 2.2 million vehicles

• It’s The Impunity, Stupid – E.W. Niedermeyer

  the toxic core of Tesla’s profoundly cynical culture: a sham technology propping up a fake environmental mission, ripping off public subsidies in order to appear more economically viable than it was. It was a jarring glimpse of an embryonic monster that, after nearly a decade of metastasizing growth, now looms over our political and economic system.

• US investigation of Tesla steering problems is now one step closer to a recall

Trump / War against the Right / Jan6

• Federal judge indefinitely postpones Trump's election meddling trial

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• Opinion | As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do. - The New York Times

  right-wing demagogues are not the only ones who have inflamed this debate. Transgender activists have pushed their own ideological extremism, especially by pressing for a treatment orthodoxy that has faced increased scrutiny in recent years. Under that model of care, clinicians are expected to affirm a young person’s assertion of gender identity and even provide medical treatment before, or even without, exploring other possible sources of distress.

  Many who think there needs to be a more cautious approach — including well-meaning liberal parents, doctors and people who have undergone gender transition and subsequently regretted their procedures — have been attacked as anti-trans and intimidated into silencing their concerns.

• Meet the Knights of Malta

  Today the order is essentially a Catholic humanitarian NGO—and a very big one, with 13,500 knights and dames, almost 100,000 volunteers and more than 50,000 professional staff who care for the victims of natural disasters, wars, epidemics and poverty. In a room decorated with the coats of arms of scores of past dignitaries of the order, Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, its Grand Chancellor (similar to a prime minister), says its members do not proselytise. But, he adds, “If our work touches the heart of someone, well, we are very happy.”

  • Yesterday: This is the world’s rarest passport | CNN

• Farewell, after 20 years: Why we did what we did — GetReligion

  Many times, readers called GetReligion a “conservative” website because we kept stressing the need for the mainstream press to be accurate, fair-minded and even balanced when covering religious groups, on the left and right. The basic idea we kept hearing from some readers was that there are religious groups that have beliefs that are acceptable and others that do not. There was no need to accurately report the views of believers who were, according to many newsroom leaders, wrong.

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Rantz: School held candlelight vigil for Fidel Castro, 'martyred ... advancing civil rights' - MyNorthwest.com

  “Now we are continuing a tradition today to have a candlelight vigil to pay solemn tribute to a selection of the people who were martyred while working on behalf of advancing civil rights, social justice and decolonization,” the student presenter said, according to the assembly script. “This year we are selecting Black American civil rights leaders as well as leaders of developing nations who valiantly sought to liberate themselves from the shackles of Western imperialism, capitalism and a specter of war crimes.”

  Castro was not “martyred.” He died a peaceful death from natural causes. Yet he appeared alongside Nelson Mandela and Emmett Till during the vigil. Students took turns reading a short description of the accomplishments of the others they said were “martyred” for fighting to decolonize or advance various social justice causes. Castro’s description was glowing.The students were told that Castro was “a figure whose impact on Cuba and the world is undeniable.” While that’s true, it’s not for positive contributions.

• Harvard Professor's Papers Contain Copied Images, Says Science Sleuth (Archive)

• Why so many plagiarists are in denial about what they did wrong

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Welsh Government accused of 'breaking' Welsh Duolingo course

• Media meltdown: Why journalism is battered and bleeding | Fox News

  What’s remarkable to me is how many of these pieces, and there have been many, overlook the importance of political bias. Republicans have been complaining about a liberal tilt since I began to read newspapers. Now, in the Trump era, half the country believes the media have become the opposition party, determined to block their man from returning to the White House. But during the Biden presidency, a growing percentage of those on the left have lost trust in the business as well. You have Red and Blue America, each filled with anger, each side viewing the other as evil and dangerous, with the press having forfeited its standing as a neutral arbiter of facts.

• Messenger Implosion Shows Journalism Lead by Visionless, Fail-Upward Brunchlords

• Las Vegas Super Bowl Tickets Topped A Record $9,800 A Seat

• Google Search 'cached' link is officially dead

• I’m Done Punching Trees And Grabbing Rocks In Video Games

• Paramount Global is for sale. Who's buying and how did we get here?

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• They Are Trying to Ban Ham Radio – How This Affects You – Field Radio

  The proposal, which comes as part of a government drive for spectrum efficiency, would see ham operators forced off their frequencies between 420 and 450 MHz to make way for “public safety”.

• There Are Too Many Damn Honeypots - Blog - VulnCheck

  At the time of publication, there’s more than 235,000 internet-facing Confluence honeypots. There’s, at most, 4,000 real internet-facing Confluence servers.

• Bambu Lab A1 Recall: Company asks owners to turn off their 3D printers as Micro Center pulls product from shelves | Tom's Hardware

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Bodycam Maker Axon Is on a Mission to Surveil America with AI

• The campaign to take down the Biden AI executive order

  Republicans, right-of-center think tanks and tech lobbyists are working to defang the industry-facing sections of Biden’s AI executive order.

• The AI Industry Has a Not So Secret Weapon: Lobbyists

• Meta is bucking just about every AI trend, including the 'boys club'

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• 'City killer' asteroid makes its closest approach to Earth for centuries today

Crypto con games

• Crypto mines will have to start reporting their energy use in the US

• Three people indicted in $400M FTX crypto hack conspiracy

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Payroll employment rises by 353K in January; unemployment rate remains at 3.7%

  • U.S. Hiring Accelerated in January

  • U.S. economy adds whopping 353,000 jobs in January as labor market heats up

  • US Jobs and Wages Grow in January

  • U.S. economy added 353,000 jobs in January, much better than expected

  • 'Stunning' US jobs growth of 353,000 far outstrips estimates

• Productivity rises rapidly again in good sign for US economy

• U.S. winning world economic war

• Meta shares surge 20% on soaring profit

  • Meta's $200B Surge Is Biggest in Stock-Market History

  • Meta's $197 Billion Surge Is Biggest in Stock-Market History

• January hiring was the lowest for the month on record as layoffs surged.

• Banks are being rocked again as real estate losses mount

• WeWork closing biggest office in Boston

• OxyContin advertiser will pay $350M in first-ever opioid marketing settlement

• Tire-changing startup RoboTire files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy

• Unprofitable SF tech giant Okta lays off 400 workers, dozens in California

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• The Private Eye and the Senate’s Gay Porn Star | www.splicetoday.com

• A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define–Combine Procedure

  • HN comments

• Jamaal Bowman Says He Takes 'Marching Orders' From Activist Group Working To Defund Police

  That platform—which the group calls "Equity or Else"—demands lawmakers "reallocate/divest police budgets" and "institute policing-free schooling with no school resource officers." Bowman during his press conference lauded Journey for Justice Alliance and other activist groups for making his job "easy," saying he can merely adopt their proposals rather than craft his own. "My job is easy. Take my marching orders from them, write the resolution, introduce it."

• Oregon Supreme Court Bars 10 Republicans From Running for Reelection, but Not for the Reason You Think – PJ Media

  The weaponization of ballot access continues. On Thursday, the Oregon Supreme Court declared that ten Republican state senators could not seek reelection. Why? It has nothing to do with Trump. It’s because they staged a walkout for six weeks, preventing a quorum

  • Well then this aint an example of "weaponizing of ballot access" is it?

• Biden will veto attempts to kill off SEC's security breach reporting rules

• Singaporeans bemoan US senator's 'ignorant' grilling of TikTok CEO

• Biden won't hit Iran for killing three Americans — he helped the mullahs do it

• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont says state will be first to cancel medical debt for all eligible residents

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• Former CIA employee sentenced to 40 years in prison for Vault 7 leak

• US gives federal agencies 48 hours to disconnect flawed Ivanti VPN tech

• Former CEO of Wirecard Jan Marsalek Is Suspected of Being a Russian Spy

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Iraq and Iran Were Complicit in the Tower 22 Attack

  The Biden Administration is misleading the American public about the Tower 22 attack to obscure Iran's direct involvement and hide the fact that Iraq is complicit in the killing and wounding of our soldiers.

• US launches retaliatory strikes on Iran-linked militia targets in Iraq, Syria

  • U.S. Strikes Iran-Backed Groups in Syria and Iraq - WSJ

World

• Iraqi Parliament Is Calling To Ditch US Dollar For Oil Trade

• Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

• Olivier Guez on the freedom of movement through Europe

China

• Why China Would Struggle to Invade Taiwan

Health / Medicine

• FDA says 561 deaths tied to recalled Philips sleep apnea machines

  • HN comments

• The curious case of the people who can control their goosebumps

  • We actually have more control of our bodies than our cultural norms allow us to admit. see also: Breathing techniques | Wim Hof Method

• The Appendix is not, in fact, useless. This anatomy professor explains

• Depends on the limb, and the person using it. Some people are ok with "function", some get hung up over appearances. Why prosthetic limbs need not look like real ones

• Is pregnancy a disease? A normative approach

• Does fluoride in drinking water lower IQ? Question looms large in court battle

• Asthma rates climb for high school students as cannabis use increases

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• The Unseen Hero Protecting the 'Mona Lisa'

  On January 28, 2024, Guardian Clarity™ glass once again protected the Mona Lisa from would-be vandals, who attempted to throw canned soup at the famous piece of art. The Louvre has confirmed that no damage was done to the painting.

• The EPA is proposing that 'forever chemicals' be considered hazardous substances

• Largest cruise ship sets sail, bringing concerns about methane emissions

• Greta Thunberg acquitted of refusing to leave oil industry conference

• Why are people climate change deniers? Study reveals unexpected results

• Owls as Pets

  • most owls are active at night, so that's when they'll be hooting and calling during mating season. If the owl is imprinted on humans, it will expect the person it perceives to be its mate to hoot with them regularly.
  • If you're not prepared to thaw and cut up dead animals every night of your life for 10 years or more, you aren't up for having an owl.

• Could a Giant Parasol in Outer Space Help Solve the Climate Crisis?

  • Could become part of our initiative to TP the Planet