2024-07-11
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Man stopped at customs with 100 live snakes down his pants
Customs officers in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen intercepted the man traveling through Futian Port, a checkpoint between Hong Kong and mainland China, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
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New NIST Hemp Reference Material Will Help Ensure Accurate Cannabis Measurements
However, recent studies, including one by NIST researchers, have found that THC measurements as shown on product labels are not consistently reliable, causing potentially serious safety and regulatory challenges. The new hemp material from NIST will help address this issue by serving as a reference material — that is, a material that labs use to ensure the accuracy of their measurements.
The NIST Hemp Plant Reference Material (RM 8210) comes with an information sheet listing the precise amounts of total THC, CBD (a nonintoxicating compound with purported health benefits) and several toxic elements sometimes found in agricultural products, along with uncertainty estimates for each. To ensure that their measurement methods are working properly, labs can analyze a bit of this material. If their numbers match those from NIST to within an accepted margin of error, all is well. If not, they’ll know they need to recalibrate their instruments or otherwise troubleshoot their methods.
NIST’s hemp reference material was made from commercially purchased dried hemp. To make it, NIST researchers ground the hemp, sieved it to achieve a consistent particle size, blended a bit of lower-THC material into it to achieve a total THC concentration just below the legal threshold, and measured the amounts of the various components to a very high degree of accuracy and precision. Finally, NIST statisticians analyzed the measurement results to estimate the uncertainty values for each measurement. Each unit of the material contains three packets with 1.5 grams each of ground hemp — some of the most carefully quantified cannabis ever sold.
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Intellectual courage as the scarcest resource
if I had to choose a failure mode of our current intellectual/epistemic environment, it would probably be a lack of intellectual courage. The Biden situation is just one example that happens to have had a very outsized impact, an impact that more and more people are waking up to, so that’s why I chose it as an opener example. But the consequences of intellectual cowardice are often much less obvious. Tiny and scattered all over the place as they are, it’s easy to ignore them. But they do add up to create an intellectual environment that’s bland, stultified and worst of all, incapable of guiding people to the truth. Because the truth emerges via constant argumentation — something that cannot exist if everyone is afraid to say what they think. As a result, I think intellectual cowardice (as well as educational polarization) is at least to some extent to blame for what Matthew Yglesias describes as the problem of “elite misinformation.”
The extent to which academia suffers from this issue was made clear to me after I started writing on the Internet. I get a lot of DMs from academics, often with much more job security than me, who tell me they agree with this article or the other but that they cannot say it because of x,y,z reason. Now, don’t get me wrong: it’s totally normal to keep your opinions on some topics private. But I am talking about things that are often adjacent to their work and which are not even that controversial. For example, this happened a lot when I wrote about why I think the premise behind misinformation studies is fundamentally flawed. And from academics doing social science related stuff! If people are afraid to voice opinions about this relatively milquetoast topic, it seems to me like we are in a bad place in terms of our ability to openly criticize ideas.
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A third hiker has died in the Grand Canyon in less than a month
The 50-year-old man was identified as being from San Angelo, Texas, according to the National Park Service. After staying overnight at the Havasupai Gardens campground, he began hiking toward the canyon’s rim. A similar incident happened on June 29, when Scott Sims, 69, from Austin, was found semi-conscious on the River Trail. And on June 16, a 41-year-old man was found unconscious on Bright Angel Trail. Neither were able to be resuscitated.
Horseshit
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Spoiler alert! Singapore has just approved 16 insects to eat as food
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How Wikipedia Admin David Gerard Launders His Grudges into the Public Record
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Opinion | Why Are People Unhappy About a Strong Economy? - The New York Times
The past two years have been very good for the U.S. economy. Unemployment has crept up a bit, but not by a lot, and the employed share of Americans in their prime working years is higher than, to make a random comparison, it was at any point during the Trump years. At the same time, inflation has come way down, defying the pessimistic predictions of many economists.
Yet Americans on average remain very negative on the economy. I’ve written about this puzzle many times, and today’s letter isn’t an effort to persuade people that they’re wrong. It is, instead, more of a forensic exercise.
It’s notable that Republican economic sentiment plunged after President Biden was elected, even before inflation took off. if things were really bad, you’d expect them to be bad for Democrats as well as for Republicans. Anger at past inflation scores better as an explanation. Recent research by Stefanie Stantcheva confirms an old insight into why people hate inflation: Even when people’s incomes keep up with rising prices, they believe that they’ve earned their pay increases and blame the economy for snatching away their hard-won gains.
Where do negative narratives about the economy come from? Many Americans get their news from Fox and other partisan sources; even mainstream media often seem to take an “if it bleeds, it leads” approach to economic reporting, highlighting bad news while giving short shrift to good news. Social media platforms are also breeding grounds for false narratives. The owners of the platforms don’t have to deliberately spread misinformation, although that happens too (hello, Elon Musk). Even when social media companies don’t have any agenda, algorithms that make suggestions in service of higher “engagement” can produce extreme confirmation bias. Click on a few articles even hinting at conspiracy theories and you’re rapidly led deep into the fever swamp; presumably something similar happens when you click on negative economic stories.
Electric / Self Driving cars
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A new Electrify America pilot will limit EVs to 85% state of charge
The point of the pilot is to reduce wait times. If someone sets their EV to charge to 90-100%, then it takes a much longer time to charge and can cause congestion. Once a charging EV reaches 85% state of charge, the session will automatically end, and drivers will have 10 minutes to move their vehicle before idle fees are incurred.
celebrity gossip
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Hip-Hop Band Cypress Hill to Perform with London Symphony Orchestra
“We mostly know classical, but we could give it a shot,” the conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra tells hip-hop group Cypress Hill when discussing a potential collaboration in a 1996 episode of “The Simpsons” titled “Homerpalooza.” Now, 28 years later, the two acclaimed ensembles are making it happen, performing together in real life at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday night. “This idea of doing this show has been a conversation for several years,” B Real said. “Fortunately as fate would have it, we will fulfill this objective tonight. Love to everyone coming thru for this experience.” According to the event’s description on the Royal Albert Hall website, the two groups will perform a “special rendition” of Cypress Hill’s four-times platinum album “Black Sunday,” as well as other hits from its catalogue.
Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering
Musk
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Elon Musk on voting fraud: Mail-in and drop box ballots should not be allowed
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Elon Musk's Assistant of 12 Years Asked for a Raise, He Told to Go on Vacation
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Elon Musk Forcing Tesla to Train Self-Driving Cars on His Own Driving
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Tesla is replacing Cybertruck motors free of charge but not calling it a recall
Trump / War against the Right / Jan6
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Elections allow national conversation resets
It’s 2020 coursing through 2024. The most powerful and richest democracy in the world is having a crisis of confidence in its own legal and electoral institutions. A leading political theorist, Francis Fukuyama, nails it, saying that: ‘Political decay occurs when a society’s institutions fail to adapt to changing circumstances.’ The former president, who decisively lost his re-election in 2020 – denied that he had lost, proclaiming the ‘election had been stolen’. His fellow legislator party members are also required to say the ‘election had been stolen’ in public, or run the risk of him bringing his demon hordes of true believers with their threats of malignant violence down on their heads. His fellow legislator party members must engage in ‘surface compliance’ – mere obedience to his demands – by mouthing the required words. They don’t really believe the election was stolen – but they buckle under the threat of violence from his legions of gun-toting fanatics.
No doubt a few true believers come to accept this nonsense – they engage in ‘deep compliance’ in thought and emotion, as well as behavioural obedience. This bizarre situation obtains despite the empirical evidence, tested endlessly and expensively in the courts, that there was no election fraud, and that the election was not stolen. Moreover, the studied hypocrisy corrodes the splendid and ancient political party from within, risking electoral annihilation. A decent fraction of the population – perhaps a quarter or so - seem not believe in democracy unless they are the winners. This is almost certainly true across the world – those who would repudiate democratic institutions in favour of authoritarian institutions are everywhere. This is a cognitively-curious position to be in: it requires that you repudiate the evidence of your own eyes and ears - the plain truth - in favour of an identity-based (and not evidence-based) shared reality. You must say you believe the election was stolen.
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Russia Seeks to Boost Trump in 2024 Election, U.S. Intelligence Officials Say.
Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation
Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts
Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising
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FCC to block phone company over robocalls pushing scam "Tax Relief Program"
Veriwave Telco "has not complied with FCC call blocking rules for providers suspected of carrying illegal traffic" and now has two weeks to contest an order that would require all downstream voice providers to block all of the telco's call traffic, the FCC announced yesterday.
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Judge dismisses lawsuit over GitHub Copilot coding assistant
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Republicans angry that ISPs receiving US grants must offer low-cost plans
TechSuck / Geek Bait
AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World
Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO
Crypto con games
Economicon / Business / Finance
Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making
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Senators strike bipartisan deal for ban on stock trading by members of Congress
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AOC files articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justice
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., introduced articles of impeachment Wednesday against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito over their refusal to recuse themselves from certain cases. "Absent resignation, they must be removed," Ocasio-Cortez said on the House floor, arguing that the two justices pose a threat to the rule of law.
The first charge centers on two controversial flags that were flown outside Alito’s homes — an upside-down American flag and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag. Both have been carried in recent years by members of the "Stop the Steal" movement, whose supporters claim President Joe Biden did not lawfully win the 2020 presidential election. The second charge against Alito appears to refer to his relationship with hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, who ProPublica reported took Alito on a fishing trip to Alaska that Alito did not disclose in ethics reports. Alito later did not recuse himself from cases involving Singer.
Thomas' impeachment article centers on his “failure to disclose financial income, gifts and reimbursements, property interests, liabilities, and transactions, among other information, refusal to recuse from matters concerning his spouse’s legal interest in cases before the court [and] refusal to recuse from matters involving his spouse’s financial interest in cases before the court.” Thomas' relationship with GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow has been the subject of intense scrutiny for months.
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“Climate change has exacerbated flood risk across the country, especially when it comes to sea-level rise. The Biden-Harris Administration is taking action to address these heightened risks by getting this new standard over the finish line,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
“As climate change increases the frequency and severity extreme weather events, President Biden is taking bold action – mobilizing historic investments to protect communities before the storm strikes, upgrade critical infrastructure to reduce vulnerability and risk and boost our collective capacity to recover quickly after disasters,” said National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “By using common-sense solutions like elevating or floodproofing critical infrastructure, today’s rule will help local communities harness the best in science and engineering to better prepare for flood risks from rising sea levels and damaging storms. This important step will help protect taxpayer-funded projects, including fire and police stations and hospitals, from flood risks and is an integral part of the Biden-Harris administration’s broader efforts to enhance climate resilience across the country.”
This rule allows FEMA to consider the best available science in making projects and communities more resilient to increased flood conditions. The standard applies to FEMA-funded actions involving new construction, substantial improvement, or repairs to substantial damage.
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ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos Apologizes for Remark on Biden’s White House Chances
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Nancy Pelosi suggests Joe Biden should reconsider staying in US presidential race
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Trump challenges Biden to $1 million charity golf tournament.
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Biden support slips in deep blue New York: ‘We’re a battleground state now.’
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Biden is on track to lose badly to Donald Trump
Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) got outed by the media for saying privately that Biden is on track to lose badly to Donald Trump. He went on CNN to own his comments publicly.
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Opinion | President Biden, Do the Right Thing and Step Aside - The New York Times
Last month’s presidential debate gave Biden a golden opportunity to let the American people see both who he is and who Trump is, to be calm and reassuring while Trump ranted. And Biden utterly failed the test. The only real hope for salvaging the situation would have been for Biden to get out there as soon as possible and as often as possible to do open-ended news conferences and interviews to show that his bad night was a fluke. For whatever reason, he didn’t. What he did instead was an interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos that didn’t repair the damage. Never mind the theater of it, how he came across or whatever. The crucial moment, as I see it, was when Biden was asked how he’d feel if Trump won the election and replied, “As long as I gave it my all and I did the good as job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about.”
No, it’s not. I have huge admiration for Biden, but this isn’t a game where you get points for giving it your all and still get to feel good if that turns out not to be enough. For this is an election with the highest possible stakes. If Trump wins, it may be the last real election — that is, an election in which the party currently holding power allows its opponents to take that power away — America will hold for a long time. If you think that’s hyperbole, after Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election, you haven’t been paying attention. So at this point it’s all about defending democracy.
Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security
External Security / Militaria / Diplomania
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Feds who forced Ukrainian investor to sell rocket company backtrack years later
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Z-Library admins on the lam ahead of US extradition; officials shocked
Two Russian citizens arrested for running the pirate e-book site Z-Library have reportedly escaped house arrest in Argentina and vanished after a court approved their extradition to the United States.
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The President Ordered Board to Probe Massive Russian Cyberattack. It Never Did
Iran / Houthi
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Statement from Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on Recent Iranian Influence Efforts
In recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, using a playbook we’ve seen other actors use over the years. We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters.
Israel
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Gaza and the truth famine - The Conservative Woman
A Gazan resident recently told the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, Jake Wallis Simons: ‘Food is available, everything is available . . . Meat, chicken, vegetables. It is not aid. It is coming from Israel, brought in by private people through the Keren Shalom crossing and sold to us as a business. The prices are much better, just a little bit higher than before the war.’ This was a relief, he added, as for seven months Hamas had been stealing humanitarian aid and selling it to the population at exorbitant rates. Now, he said, goods are being bought and sold as normal. Even the Palestinian Authority’s own TV reporter in the Gaza Strip said that central Gaza is ‘overflowing’ with products and that what prevents the PA’s public employees from buying food and other necessities is the fact that they ‘can’t take their money from the banks because Hamas is acting as if the ATMs are their private property and no one else can make withdrawals’.
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America’s Invisible Hostage Crisis in Gaza.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas killed more than 30 American citizens and took as many as a dozen Americans hostage. Of those who were taken, at least two have been murdered. Five, we pray, are still alive. Do you know any of their names? Have you seen one yellow ribbon?
Russia Bad / Ukraine War
Health / Medicine
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PMDD Is a Menstrual Disorder Much More Than PMS
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a condition triggered by hormonal changes that can cause severe symptoms such as despair and suicidal thoughts.
For decades, a lack of investment in women’s health has created gaps in medicine. The problem is so prevalent that, this year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to advance women’s health research and innovation. Women are less likely than men to get early diagnoses for conditions from heart disease to cancer, studies have found, and they are more likely to have their medical concerns dismissed or misdiagnosed. Because disorders specifically affecting women have long been understudied, much remains unknown about causes and treatments.
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Gen X Faces Higher Cancer Rates Than Any Previous Generation
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Playing youth sports is linked to better mental health in adults
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Autism linked to specific gut bugs, promising quick, accurate diagnosis