2024-05-21

Horseshit

• Eco-brutalism: when angular concrete meets the wonder of nature

• There's more than one type of anxiety

• Dali back in Baltimore port, freed 55 days after striking and collapsing Bridge

Electric / Self Driving cars

• Self-driving cars on UK roads 'as soon as 2026' as Bill becomes law

• Caterpillar is putting 240-ton electric haul truck to work in Vale mine

• Volvo teams up with Aurora to reveal an autonomous semi truck

celebrity gossip

• Julian Assanges wins right to challenge extradition to US

• I’m rooting for Melinda French Gates to fix tech's broken ‘brilliant jerk’ culture | TechCrunch

Obit

• Ivan Boesky Dead: Disgraced Financier Who Inspired Gordon Gekko Was 87

Musk

• Elon Musk confirms threat: give me 25% of Tesla or you don't get AI and robotics

• Elon Finishes Migration to X domain

Trump / War against the Right / Jan6

• "You Stole From The Trump Organization, Correct?": Michael Cohen Hands Trump Prosecution Another Terrible Day | ZeroHedge

• Truth Social losses $300M on Q1

• Judge erupts in Trump hush money trial over witness Robert Costello - The Washington Post

  For most of the day, the trial seemed to be winding down; defense lawyers indicated they did not plan to call Trump as a witness, and might finish presenting their case in a few hours. That schedule suddenly changed when their second witness, lawyer Robert Costello, infuriated the judge.

  “Are you staring me down right now?” New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan asked incredulously of Costello, an outspoken critic of the case filed against Trump by the Manhattan district attorney. “Clear the courtroom,” the judge ordered.

  “I’m putting you on notice that your conduct is contemptuous," Merchan told Costello, according to an early transcript of the proceedings released Monday evening. “If you try to stare me down one more time, I will remove you from the stand.” He warned Trump’s lawyers that if Costello continued to misbehave, all of Costello’s testimony would be stricken from the court record.

  “Can I say something, please?” Costello asked. “No, no. This is not a conversation,” Merchan replied.

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• Bad Blood? The Uncertainty Around Microclots and Long Covid Republish

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• A.I. and education can go hand and hand, says Khan Academy's Sal Khan

• The parents who are saying no to "extracurriculars"

  • HN comments

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• The new, faster Surface Pro is Microsoft's all-purpose AI PC

• Actors Hit AI Startup with Class Action Lawsuit over Voice Theft

• People want 'dumbphones'. Will companies make them?

• Las Vegas' Mirage Resort to close after 34-year run. Volcano to go dormant

• Google cuts mystery check to US in bid to sidestep jury trial

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• Secret meeting between Apple and TSMC reported to reserve all 2nm capacity

• Enthusiast gets Windows XP running on an i486

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• OpenAI pulls its Scarlett Johansson-like voice for ChatGPT

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• Erosion rate of lunar soil under a landing rocket, part 2: Benchmarking and predictions - ScienceDirect

  about 4 to 10 times more soil was blown in each Apollo landing than previously believed, so the potential for sandblasting damage is worse than prior estimates.

Crypto con games

• Edited highlights from the evisceration of Craig Wright

  "Dr Wright presents himself as an extremely clever person. However, in my judgment, he is not nearly as clever as he thinks he is. In both his written evidence and in days of oral evidence under cross-examination, I am entirely satisfied that Dr Wright lied to the Court extensively and repeatedly. Most of his lies related to the documents he had forged which purported to support his claim. All his lies and forged documents were in support of his biggest lie: his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto."

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Child Care Is More Expensive Than Rent for the Average American Family

• Red Lobster files for bankruptcy: Blame focuses on shrimp deal

  • Red Lobster, the seafood chain, files for bankruptcy

• FDIC Chairman to Resign After Report into Regulator's Culture

• Stripe increasing "instant payout" fees by 50%

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• We are a step closer to taxing the super-rich

• California will be the first state to charge an excise tax on guns and ammo

• White House Denies Biden Used Drugs Before SOTU, Says POTUS Was High On ‘Confidence’ | The Daily Wire

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• Google Tries to Pay Off the Antitrust Division

• FBI Arrests Man for Generating AI Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

World

• Why half of Japan's cities are at risk of disappearing in 100 years

• UK to introduce new offence of causing death or injury by dangerous cycling

• Rishi Sunak apologizes as full scale of infected blood scandal revealed

Iran / Houthi

• Turkish drone drew star and crescent after finding helicopter

• Iran Announces Interim President After Raisi's Helicopter "Hit A Mountain & Disintegrated" | ZeroHedge

  Following Tehran's early Monday confirmation of the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, 63, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials after their helicopter went down over mountainous terrain near the border with Azerbaijan, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has named a new acting president of the Islamic Republic.

  Vice President Mohammad Mokhber has assume interim duties in the wake of Raisi's death. Additionally, Iran’s nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri, has been named acting foreign minister. This follows a Sunday statement by Khamenei assuring the public that there would be continuity and stability in the nation's leadership. Iranians have taken to the streets in what's expected to be several days of a national mourning period.

  State media has since indicated that aboard the presidential helicopter were nine people in total, including body guards and clerics. Their aging Bell helicopter had reportedly "hit a mountain and disintegrated" amid high fog, low visibility conditions. This was not at all the "hard landing" the world was initially informed about Sunday via state officials and media.

• Iran president Ebrahim Raisi death: Israel denies involvement in helicopter crash

• Watch: Top New York Times reporter caught on hot mic urging reporters NOT to interview prominent Iranian dissident

Israel

• ICC seeks arrest warrants against Sinwar and Netanyahu for war crimes

• Statement from President Joe Biden on the Warrant Applications by the International Criminal Court | The White House

  The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous. And let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.

China

• Why China is winning the weapons race

• China Is Winning the Minerals War

Health / Medicine

• The efficacy of duct tape vs. cryotherapy in the treatment of the common wart

  • HN comments

• People who live near green space are less likely to struggle with mental health

• Drug overdose deaths fell in 2023, first decrease in 5 years

• Another online pharmacy bypasses the FDA to offer cut-rate weight loss drugs

• Doctors Need a Better Way to Treat Patients Without Their Consent

  However, according to New York law — and the law of other states — such involuntary treatment would require a court order. As doctors, we would have to plead our case before a judge. But was a judge without medical or psychiatric expertise the best person to decide this man’s fate?

  In this case and also more generally, I think the answer is no. The law ought to be changed to keep such decisions in hospitals — in the hands of doctors, medical ethicists and other relevant experts. Doctors don’t always have to resort to the courts to treat patients without their consent. There are some notable exceptions, such as during a life-threatening emergency (if a competent patient has not previously refused such treatment) or when there is a pressing societal interest (such as requiring patients with communicable tuberculosis to take antibiotics).

• Ultra-processed US foods are ultra-bad for you. Here's what to know

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• 3M Execs Convinced a Scientist PFOS Found in Human Blood Were Safe

  • How 3M discovered, then concealed, the dangers of forever chemicals

• Seawater is rushing under Thwaites Glacier, potentially dire impact on sea level

• Environmental advocates heartbroken over sale of Florida seabird preserve

• Demonized as contributing to climate change, cattle may actually decrease emissions, research shows.

• Why the oceans are changing colour

• New research shows gas stove emissions contribute to 19,000 deaths annually.