2024-02-08

etc

• Powerful solar flare unleashes colossal plasma plume, sparks radio blackouts across South Pacific.

Horseshit

• Coke's first new permanent flavor in years adds a spicy twist

  Coca-Cola announced the new Spiced flavor Wednesday, saying it blends the traditional Coke flavor with raspberry and spiced flavors. It will be available both in full sugar and zero-sugar varieties

• Southwest ridiculed after proudly showing off cramped new seating: ‘Is there an option to stand?’

• When It Comes to Dating, Ambition Might Matter More Than Politics

• Neal Stephenson's Most Stunning Prediction | Hacker News

• The pets flying on private jets

• The 15-Minute City Can Work in the US

• Massachusetts legislature moving to ban wearing VR headsets while driving (Archive)

• Welcome to the "neomedieval era": are states becoming obsolete?

  • HN comments

• MadRadar Attack Causes Automotive Radar to 'Hallucinate'

Electric / Self Driving cars

• GM to spend $19B through 2035 to source EV battery materials from LG Chem

• Hertz went all in on Tesla — and is paying the price.

• Secretive Ford 'Skunkworks' Team Developing Cheap EV to Beat Tesla and China

  • Ford beats expectations, sees more profit growth ahead. It did, however, lose billions on EVs.

  • Ford's F-150 Lightning, Once in Hot Demand, Lost Its Luster

• Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

  • HN comments

  Not a Tesla fanboy (I'm turning mine in for a Rivian),

• EV sales plummet after clean car scheme scrapped (in New Zealand)

• Waymo driverless car hit bicyclist in SF intersection, company says

Obit

• John Walker, founder of Autodesk, has died

  • HN comments

• Mojo Nixon, Unabashed Outlaw Cult Hero, Dead at 66

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• Paperwall: Chinese Sites Mimic Local News, Promote Pro-Beijing Agenda Globally

• Homeland Security Cited Inaccurate Allegation to Censor New York Times Journalist | RealClearWire

  Eight minutes later Epstein sent a follow-up tweet giving the all-clear: “Clerk has returned with printer ink!” This tiny drama from Wednesday, Nov. 4, would be lost to history but for the deep consternation it ignited among influential members of the government and tech industry. Details uncovered in the Twitter Files and revealed here for the first time show that Epstein’s tweet prompted immediate and mostly successful speech suppression efforts by the Department of Homeland Security and others who were intent on undermining any facts or claims that might possibly be used to question the integrity of the 2020 election.

  The episode is of more than passing historical note because it is the first known case of the agency attempting to silence a social media account associated with a national newspaper – and because the Times, which has long professed to report the news “without fear or favor,” did little to push back against the censorship, even though nothing has emerged to invalidate Epstein’s reporting.

• After Libs of TikTok posted, at least 21 bomb threats followed

  “It appears this all stems from a post made earlier this week by Chaya Raichik and her ‘Libs of TikTok’ account,” Dvorak wrote in a report to her superiors. Raichik, 29, is not accused of making any bomb threats in Iowa or anywhere else. But about a day and a half before authorities responded to the threat at Coralville’s Northwest Junior High, Raichik posted that the school offers a “pornographic” book in its library that “teaches kids about gay sex.”

Musk

• Tesla Sold Only One Car in Korea in January

• Tesla is the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 this year

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• Mainstream science mulls 'global moratorium' on COVID vaccines as cancers rise, boosters flub | Just The News

• So Long Ago That It Never Really Happened ⋆ Brownstone Institute

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• Young Kansas City Chiefs Fan Sues Deadspin Over Racism Allegations.

• Disney Entertainment "Inclusion Standards"

  "Anyone involved in hiring decisions is prohibited from asking candidates and talent about their actual or perceived race, religion, color, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, military or veteran status, age disability, or any other legally protected categories"

  • That seems to make it impossible to tell if a prospect is an under-represented group, no?

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Cast as Criminals, America's Librarians Rally to Their Own Defense

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• How Google Killed the Blogger - by JJ Pryor

• "Don't let them drop us " Landline users protest AT&T copper retirement plan

• Woman Got Cremation Ads in the Mail After Getting Chemotherapy

  • HN comments

• Queen seeks to sell their catalog for $1.2B

• Disney to take $1.5B stake in Epic Games

  • Disney to invest $1.5B for an equity stake in Epic Games

  • Disney invests $1.5B in Epic Games

• Disney+ Drops 1.3M Subscribers Amid Price Hike, Streaming Loss Shrinks by $300M

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• Not Lenovo or HP this time? Mini PC maker ships systems with factory-installed spyware

• A search engine in 80 lines of Python

  • HN comments

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Think tank funded by Big Tech argues AI's climate impact nothing to worry about

• Unicorn alert Homeland Security posts rare ad for all-remote AI Corps

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• Can space-based solar power work? Here are the pros and cons

• UFOs and Aliens: As a Scientist I Believe in Both – Here's Where I Draw the Line

Crypto con games

• Texas Man Charged for Underreporting Cryptocurrency Gains on Tax Returns

Economicon / Business / Finance

• 'A slow fiscal death' awaits some countries in this 'decade of debt.'

• US Trade Deficit with China Narrows to Lowest Level Since 2010

  • For First Time in Two Decades, U.S. Buys More From Mexico Than China - The New York Times

• UAW has signed majority of VW workers at Tennessee plant to join union

• CPU shipments surpass levels during the pandemic era

• Will U.S. Oil Boom Keep Booming?

• A record number of Americans can't afford rent

• Why One Shaky Bank Is Stirring Fears of a Wider Financial Mess

• U.S. to Tackle Anonymity in All-Cash Home Purchases

• NASA lays off 530 workers at JPL, endangering future space missions

• McDonald's pushed customers to the brink on price. They're starting to push back

  • HN comments

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Nikki Haley Just Lost A GOP Primary To 'None Of These Candidates'

  Haley’s campaign issued a statement declaring “We have not spent a dime nor an ounce of energy on Nevada. We made the decision early on that we were not going to pay $55,000 to a Trump entity to participate in a process that is rigged for Trump.”

• Haley vows to stay in race following embarrassing Nevada defeat

• Inside Biden's obsession with "Morning Joe"

• Porsche Can't Sell Most of Its Cars in the U.S. Because of Chip Source

• Biden Poised to Restrict American's Personal Data Going to China

• Texas firm allegedly behind fake Biden robocall that told people not to vote

• Beware of E-Filing Your Tax Return - WSJ

  Wayne Lee’s CPA failed to e-file his client’s returns for 2014, 2015 and 2016. The accountant told the IRS that the software he used couldn’t handle Mr. Lee’s complex returns. But Mr. Lee said the accountant never told him about this problem. In 2019 the IRS assessed Mr. Lee more than $70,000 in penalties and barred him from applying his six-figure 2014 overpayment to taxes owed in 2015 and 2016. An appellate court ruled that reliance on his CPA wasn’t an excuse for making errors.

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• How many people die each year in jails and prisons? No one knows

• Arrests in 2 illicit tech transfer schemes benefitting Iran and China

• Chinese Hackers Embedded in US Networks for at Least Five Years

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• U.S. Drone Strike Kills Iraq Militia Leader Behind Deadly Attack on American Base.

World

• TSMC to build second Japan chip factory, raising investment to $20B

• German court rules against Intel in patent row over chips

Iran / Houthi / Red Sea / Mediterranean

• Could Houthis sabotage undersea internet cables?

• HMS Richmond Takes over for HMS Diamond in Red Sea's OPG

Israel

• Israel's Ruthless Propaganda Campaign to Dehumanize Palestinians

• Is there a way to achieve peace in Israel and Palestine? I believe there is

• Israel-Hamas Deal Is Dead As Netanyahu Dismisses 'Delusional' Terms, War To 'Expand'

• Iran accelerates cyber ops against Israel from chaotic start

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Of course you interview Putin - Don Surber

• EU Lawmakers Want To Sanction Tucker Carlson Over Putin Interview

• Tucker Carlson 'may face sanctions over Vladimir Putin interview'

China

• US says China's Volt Typhoon is readying destructive cyberattacks

Health / Medicine

• Smart earrings can monitor a person's temperature

• New dental guidelines limit use of opioids for teens, adults.

• Obesity changes the brain, with 'no sign of reversibility,' expert says

• Running sober vs. high: How weed affects your workout

• Immune cells in the gut may explain why some people can't lose weight

• We may now know who's behind the lead-tainted cinnamon in toddler fruit pouches

  A spice grinder named Carlos Aguilera of Ecuador is the likely source of contaminated cinnamon containing extremely high levels of lead and chromium, which made its way into the apple cinnamon fruit pouches of US toddlers, according to an announcement by the Food and Drug Administration this week. To date, there have been 413 cases of poisoning across 43 US states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  Austrofoods never tested its product for heavy metals at any point in production and repeatedly failed to identify the cinnamon as a raw ingredient needing such testing.

• Can an experimental cell phone app screen coughs for TB? Scientists say 'yes'

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Making steel without emitting CO2

  • HN comments

• States, including CA and NY, sign heat pump memorandum to reduce air pollution

  Nine states inked an agreement today to promote heat pump sales. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) sets a 2030 target for heat pumps to make up 65 of residential heating, cooling, and water heating equipment sales. By 2040, the goal is for heat pumps to account for 90 percent of the HVAC and water heating market.

• EPA finalizes stronger standards for harmful soot pollution

  • EPA tightens rules on some air pollution in over a decade

  • The US strengthens air quality rule for soot

• The right bacteria turn farms into carbon sinks

• Shell permanently closes Hydrogen filling stations in CA

• First year-long breach of key 1.5C warming limit