2024-03-17
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Horseshit
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Are Billionaires prepping for the apocalypse – or pioneering a new feudalism?
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Surgeon who burnt his initials on a patient's liver
It was the beginning of a very slow end to Bramhall’s career. He didn’t lose his job at QEHB, instead leaving of his own accord after the end of his five-month suspension. He continued to practise surgery in another hospital until June 2020, and was struck off the medical register in 2022, four years after he was convicted of battery for branding the livers of Patients A and B, and almost a decade after his initials were first discovered.
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Florida man who refused to sell his home to a developer now lives in the shadows
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The War Between Knowledge and Stupidity ⋆ Brownstone Institute
It is no exaggeration to say that making believable information and credible analysis available to citizens at present is probably indispensable for resisting the behemoth of lies and betrayal confronting us. This has never been more necessary than it is today, given that we face what is probably the greatest crisis in the history of humanity, with nothing less than our freedom, let alone our lives, at stake.
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Montana Mountain King and de-extinct mammoths: They have a few things in common
On Tuesday, Montana rancher Arthur Schubarth pleaded guilty to a pair of felonies. He’d spent a decade creating what he called a “Montana Mountain King,” a huge animal whose semen he allegedly sold to other sheep breeders so they could make their own hybrids suitable for trophy hunting on private ranches. I’m sure we’ll get a dramatic documentary series about all the lurid details eventually. But in the meantime, the bizarre case reminds me of something else: the well-publicized and often-lauded project to recreate a woolly mammoth, undertaken by a private biotech company called Colossal Biosciences. In these projects, we’ve already arrived at a Jurassic Park future we’re not prepared for.
One of these genetic engineering projects was fundamentally illegal, and was aimed at creating bulky creatures so wealthy hunters could feel big by blowing holes in custom-made prey. The other, despite the misgivings of many experts, often gets positive press coverage. It’s marketed as a biotech moonshot to inspire people to care about biodiversity. And yet, it is also focused on creating a novel animal whose place in the world is likely to be restricted to private reserves. Both aim to create, but with apparently little thought to the cruelty of their plans.
Boeing
Electric / Self Driving cars
Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering
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DARPA to launch efforts that will bolster defenses against manipulated media
Through the Semantic Forensics (SemaFor) program, and previously the Media Forensics program, DARPA’s research investments in detecting, attributing, and characterizing manipulated and synthesized media, known as deepfakes, have resulted in hundreds of analytics and methods that can help organizations and individuals protect themselves against the multitude of threats of manipulated media. With SemaFor in its final phase, DARPA’s investments have systemically driven down developmental risks – paving the way for a new era of defenses against the mounting threat of deepfakes. Now, the agency is calling on the broader community – including commercial industry and academia doing research in this space – to leverage these investments.
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(Jan 2023) (PDF) Free Speech: When and Why Content-Based Laws Are Presumptively Unconstitutional
TikTok
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Questions to Ask Before Backing the TikTok Ban
there has been little public justification that the extreme measure of banning TikTok (rather than addressing specific harms) is properly tailored to prevent these risks. And it has been well-established law for almost 60 years that U.S. people have a First Amendment right to receive foreign propaganda. People in the U.S. deserve an explicit explanation of the immediate risks posed by TikTok — something the government will have to do in court if this bill becomes law and is challenged.
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How the House revived the TikTok ban before most of us noticed
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U.S. Intelligence Says TikTok Is a Threat – But Only in Theory
Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp
Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation
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Evangelicals Use Digital Surveillance to Target the Unconverted
The hot new thing in proselytizing is an app that allows Christian conservatives to collect data on whole neighborhoods of potential converts.
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NIUS spoke to a father whose daughter goes to the class in question. He says: “At dinner we always talk about how the day was. I asked my daughter what was new at school. She then told us that two teachers had forbidden the students from drinking in class because three of the 27 children were fasting.” The father continued: “We found this announcement strange. On the one hand, the children in fifth grade are between 10 and 11 years old. Even for religious Muslims, the fasting requirement only applies from the age of 14. And: The fact that 24 children have to take three children into consideration when it comes to basic physical needs – that’s a strange intervention.”
Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts
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Harvard professor of honesty tampered with data and should be fired: probe
A celebrated Harvard honesty professor who researched why people cheat tampered with data in her work — and should be fired, a university probe released this week found. Francesca Gino, a star behavioral scientist at Harvard Business School whose work has focused on dishonesty, was found to have tweaked observations in four studies so that their findings boosted their hypotheses, according to a nearly 1,300-page report detailing the school’s months-long investigation. “The committee concludes that Professor Gino has engaged in multiple instances of research misconduct, across all four studies at issue in these allegations,” the report read.
Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising
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Reddit IPO reveals the reality check for Silicon Valley
Despite the combined nearly $35bn write-off of supposed shareholder value, these “down round” IPOs are not being met with derision in Silicon Valley. Instead, they are a signal that rationality is slowly returning to venture capital. Down round IPOs “are not only going to become common, they will become the standard for the class of 2021”, says Venky Ganesan, a partner at Menlo Ventures. He is referring to a group of late-stage companies whose valuations soared that year as investors, punch drunk on low interest rates, poured in astronomical sums. US venture investment in 2021 was a record $345bn, more than double the previous year. Now start-ups are running out of cash and venture capital funds need to return some money to their investors. “I am encouraging all of our companies who have the financials to support going public to go public,” Ganesan adds. “Down is the new up.”
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U.S. Is Investigating Meta for Role in Drug Sales (Archive)
The prosecutors have requested records related to “violative drug content on Meta’s platforms and/or the illicit sale of drugs via Meta’s platforms,” according to copies of subpoenas reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The subpoenas were delivered last year.
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Radio Station nabs San Francisco's last unclaimed FM frequency
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"It's a Silent Fire": Decaying Digital Movie and TV Shows Are a Hollywood Crisis
he custodians of Hollywood’s digital era have an even greater fear: wholesale decay of feature and episodic files. Behind closed doors and NDAs, the fragility of archives is a perpetual Topic A, with pros sweating the possibility that contemporary pop culture’s master files might be true goners, destined to the same fate as so many vanished silent movies, among them Alfred Hitchcock’s second feature, The Mountain Eagle, and Ernst Lubitsch’s Oscar-winning The Patriot.
Specialists across the space don’t publicly speak about specific lost works, citing confidentiality issues. So, only disquieting rumors circulate — along with rare, heart-stopping lore that breaches public consciousness. One infamous example: In 1998, a Pixar employee accidentally typed a fatal command function, instructing the computer system to delete Toy Story 2, which was then almost complete. Luckily, a supervising technical director who’d been working from home (she’d just had a baby) had a 2-week-old backup file.
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Pre-DMA alternative iOS app stores are already riddled with malware
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Dreamworks Animation to Significantly Cut Staff in Coming Months
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Lawsuit proceeds over Amazon revoking "purchased" digital movie content
TechSuck / Geek Bait
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Ad agency boss had two Ferraris but wouldn’t buy a server • The Register
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CISA and open-source operators of Rust, JavaScript make new cybersecurity commitments
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The 360’s are searching for a new home – IBM 360 Model 20 Rescue and Restoration
It is extremely rare that systems such as this become available, and these are two of only a handful of privately held IBM 360’s in the world.
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Overcoming the Iotlb Wall for Multi-100-Gbps Linux-Based Networking
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Ethernet-style SerDes are much less constrained by stringent PCIe specifications, allowing it to be much faster and have higher bandwidth. As a result, NVlink has higher latency, but this doesn’t matter as much in the AI world of massively parallel workloads, where ~100ns vs ~30ns is not a worthy consideration. AMD’s lack of high quality SerDes are severely limiting them in the competitiveness of their products long term. They have come up with the Open xGMI / Open Infinity Fabric / Accelerated Fabric Link, because CXL is not the correct protocol for AI.
AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World
Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO
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Comet that passes by Earth once every 71 years visible in night sky
Dr Argo said that while 12P/Pons-Brooks is developing a nice tail, it is "not quite visible without binoculars or a telescope just yet". For those looking to spot the comet, it is below - and slightly to the left - of the Andromeda Galaxy.
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After Thursday's flight, Starship is the most revolutionary rocket ever built
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Aging Voyager 1 sends back surprising response after 'poke' from Earth
Economicon / Business / Finance
Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making
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Political violence in polarized U.S. at its worst since 1970s
The Nov. 5 killing of Anthony King was among 213 cases of political violence identified by Reuters since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump on the U.S. Capitol. Three academics who reviewed the cases say they add to growing evidence that America is grappling with the biggest and most sustained increase in political violence since the 1970s. The violence has killed at least 39 people, including King, roiling many aspects of American life, from small gatherings to large-scale public events. Some deaths followed one-on-one disputes, such as a fatal brawl last year between two Florida men arguing over Trump’s business acumen. Others happened in public settings, such as the shooting of five social justice protesters in Portland last year by a man immersed in far-right political rhetoric. Politically motivated mass killings claimed 24 of the lives, including the May 2022 shooting of 10 Black shoppers in Buffalo by a white supremacist who called for a race war.
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Homeowners are red, renters are blue | Fortune
Sunderji’s analysis dove into data from the American National Election Studies (which surveys thousands of households) and found homeowners are twice as likely to identify themselves as strongly Republican than renters—and renters far more often identify themselves as strongly Democrat. And the gap between homeowners who identify as strongly Republican compared to renters amounts to roughly 14%, his recent analysis showed. In the dataset, there was a seven-point scale in which voters were asked to gauge their political affiliation, and “the most common response from renters is that they are strong Democrats and from homeowners, that they’re strong Republicans,” he told Fortune.
It’s a huge divide, and one that’s much bigger than separate topics among other demographics. In the analysis, Sunderji gave the example of education: there is only a 6% gap between non-college education and college-educated people who say they’re strongly Republican, and the gap between men and women who identify as strongly Republican is smaller.
The gap between owners and renters really starts to widen after 2004. This mirrors the broader trend across American society. But the especially dramatic cleavage between owners and renters may have been exacerbated by demographic changes—particularly, the growing urban/rural split between liberals and conservatives (since renters are concentrated in cities). We will explore this topic more fully in the coming days and weeks.
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Bar exam will no longer be required to become attorney in Washington State
Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security
External Security / Militaria / Diplomania
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SpaceX is building spy satellite network for US intelligence agency, sources say
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America Is Bigger: The USA Expanded the Size of Two Californias - Atlas Obscura
America’s most significant enlargement since the 1867 Alaska Purchase was reported by the U.S. State Department in a terse communiqué, saying it had defined “the outer limits of the U.S. continental shelf in areas beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast, known as the extended continental shelf (ECS),” which the department noted is an “extension of a country’s land territory under the sea.”
- (Dec 2023) Announcement of U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Outer Limits - United States Department of State
Today, the Department released the geographic coordinates defining the outer limits of the U.S. continental shelf in areas beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast, known as the extended continental shelf (ECS). The continental shelf is the extension of a country’s land territory under the sea. Like other countries, the United States has rights under international law to conserve and manage the resources and vital habitats on and under its ECS.
- I'm pretty sure we're still bitching about China's version of this announcement.
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From the Deep Sea to D.C.—How China Fears Have Put Ocean-Floor Mining on Washington’s Radar - WSJ
Next week, members of the International Seabed Authority, a United Nations observer organization, are due to meet in Kingston, Jamaica, to hash out the final steps of a mining code that eventually should lead to the final rules and regulations of deep-sea mining. The U.S. will be in attendance, though it hasn’t ratified the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, meaning it doesn’t have voting rights over the new laws. A group of former military and political leaders have called for the U.S. to ratify the Law of the Sea in an effort to spur the country’s interest in deep-sea mining, according to a draft letter seen by The Wall Street Journal.
Opposition though remains fierce. Groups like Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature have lobbied against deep-sea mining for years. They say such mining would cause irreparable damage to the seabed, and that the nodules targeted by mining companies are important habitats for sea life. “ The urgency around the climate crisis cannot be overstated, but the U.S. can’t just sleepwalk into an environmental disaster,” said Katherine Tsantiris, director of government relations at the Ocean Conservancy, an environment advocacy nonprofit. She added that pinning the argument on defense creates a false sense of urgency for the need for deep-sea mining.
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"Law of the Sea Treaty" from back when (1996?) was full of horseshit about seabed resources and how they should be held in trust for all humanity by the United Nations which would own everything and license its use by some mechanism To Be Decided.
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someone dug this up: (1980) (PDF) NOAA Issue Outline 801-: Manganese Nodules
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see also the 1974 Glomar Explorer
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Haiti
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"Our Florida Fish and Wildlife offices interdicted a vessel that had 25 illegal immigrants, potential illegal immigrants from Haiti in their boat. In their vessel, they had firearms, they had drugs, they had night vision gear, and were boating very recklessly, which would potentially endanger other folks," DeSantis said at a press conference where he signed three pieces of legislation to deter illegal immigration.
Iran / Houthi / Red Sea / Mediterranean
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US held secret talks with Iran over Red Sea attacks
The indirect negotiations, during which Washington also raised concerns about Iran’s expanding nuclear programme, took place in Oman in January and were the first between the foes in 10 months, the officials said. The US delegation was led by the White House’s Middle East adviser Brett McGurk and its Iran envoy Abram Paley. Iranian deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani, who is also Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator, represented the Islamic republic. Omani officials shuttled between the Iranian and American representatives so they did not speak directly, the officials said.
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Yemen's Houthis reported to have a hypersonic missile
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia’s state media reported Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unidentified official but provided no evidence for the claim.
Israel
Russia Bad / Ukraine War
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Microsoft, Amazon suspend access to their cloud products in Russia from March 20
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In this Ukrainian village, almost no men are left (Archive)
The young men cleaning her yard acknowledged that they fear the draft. But Artem said he also resents men from eastern Ukraine who came west for refuge instead of staying to fight. “They came here to hide, and our guys have to die there,” he said. Artem’s father, who was drafted, is now fighting near the eastern city of Lyman.
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News From the Near Future: Putin Wins Election in a Landslide! – HotAir
Health / Medicine
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McKinsey Proposed Paying Pharmacy Companies Rebates for OxyContin Overdoses (Archive)
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How the iron lung paved the way for the modern-day intensive care unit
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Outbreak Linked to Morel Mushroom Exposure – Montana, 2023
During March–April 2023, a total of 51 persons reported gastrointestinal illness after dining at a Montana restaurant; two patients died.
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Psilocybin therapy alters prefrontal brain circuitry in alcohol use disorder
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Why your doctor's office is spamming you with appointment reminders
Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda
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Scientists divided over whether record heat is acceleration of climate crisis
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Tick-killing pill shows promising results in human trial (Archive)
If you have a dog or cat, chances are you’ve given your pet a flavored chewable tablet for tick prevention at some point. What if you could take a similar pill to protect yourself from getting Lyme disease? Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is developing such a pill for humans—minus the tasty flavoring—that could provide protection against the tick-borne disease for several weeks at a time. In February, the Irvine, California–based biotech company announced results from a small, early-stage trial showing that 24 hours after taking the drug, it can kill ticks on people, with the effects lasting for up to 30 days.
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'Cold blob' of Arctic meltwater may be causing European heat waves
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New EPA Forever Chemical Rules Could Escalate Water Bills, US Cities Warn
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Climate change: The 'insane' plan to save the Arctic's sea-ice
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In Cleveland, mushrooms digest entire houses: How fungi can be used to clean up pollution
"All of the material from demolition – the studs, the floors, cellulosic mass [the primary structural component of plants], and even things like ceiling tiles and asphalt material like roof shingles, can be mixed into substrate that then becomes good for growing fungus," says Chris Maurer, founder of Cleveland-based architect firm Redhouse Studio. Through his firm, Maurer has been advocating for the use of substrate to address Cleveland's housing crisis, which is also a health crisis for the city's inhabitants.