2024-11-26

Illuminati seekrits, condemnation squared, anonymity NewSpeak, Musk disputes Kessler, unFellowship, Senate remembers confirmation, space equity, spooks fear Trump, alcohol deaths up, don't be icky

Worthy

• 50 Awful Things About The Illuminati

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• DHL cargo plane crashes into house near Lithuania airport, killing one; 3 hurt

• Archaeologists discover canals used by predecessors of ancient Maya

Horseshit

• What delusions can tell us about the cognitive nature of belief

• Isabella Rossellini: People never talk about the freedom, the lightness of aging

• The Influencer Factory: A Marxist Theory of Corporate Personhood

• DigiDeed – Democratizing Real Estate Investment with Fractional Ownership

• The ‘condemning the condemners’ neutralization technique

  To justify their own deviant acts, criminals often shift the focus of attention to the motives and behavior of those who disapprove of their violations. ‘Judges are corrupt,’ they might say. This process is called ‘condemning the condemners’. It’s a type of neutralization technique, which people who participate in a crime use to forgo accepted norms temporarily without compromising societal morality (Sykes and Matza, 1957). The validity of statements such as ‘judges are corrupt’ is not so important as their rhetorical function. Namely, by attacking others, the wrongfulness of the criminal’s own behavior is more easily repressed or lost to view.

• How Do We Stop Deepfakes from Tricking Juries?

• What happened when a city started accepting - not evicting - homeless camps

• Ethics and Cultural Background as Key Factors for an Attractive Metaverse

• Overthinking what you said? It's your 'lizard brain'

• Ref needs glasses? No longer. Lasik company offers free procedures for referees

• Moneyness: Pricing the anonymity of banknotes

  To help think about why we might want to price anonymous banknote usage, I’m going to make an analogy. Imagine Walmart sells special suits that allow people to become invisible. While most Walmart customers always pay for the goods they find in the aisles, a few try these invisible suits on, grab a bunch of stuff, and sneak out without paying. The product is weaponized and turned against its provider. This same sort of weaponization characterizes the modern provision of banknotes. The government, like Walmart, provides citizens with a privacy-enhancing product: cash. Because its coins and banknotes don’t leave a paper trail, they act as a financial cloak. In the same way that an invisible suit can be used to evade Walmart’s checkout counter, a government-issued banknote can be turned against its provider by allowing users to avoid paying for the government services they have consumed.

  A ban on cash would help reduce tax evasion and improve government finances. But since banknotes are the only anonymous financial product, and no other entity is permitted to provide banknotes, a ban would put an immediate end to financial privacy. Because privacy is something that regular folks value for licit reasons, their welfare would be reduced. By setting a levy or negative interest rate of 5 to 10 percent per year on high-denomination notes (there are various ways to do this), the government would be able to earn a large-enough stream of revenue to help offset the shortfall created by cash-using tax evaders. The effect would be a lower tax bill for all non-cheaters, both for those who generally do not use cash and those who use only small-denomination notes ($1 and €5s). In effect, the anonymity provided by $100s and €200s would now be directly paid for by the users of those $100s and €200s. Unlike an all-out ban on banknotes, financial anonymity would still be provided.

• The Future of Online Privacy Hinges on Thousands of New Jersey Cops

• The Myth of the Loneliness Epidemic

• Japan's 'Human Washing Machine' Will Have You Clean in 15 Minutes

celebrity gossip

• Kim Dotcom Recovering from "Serious Stroke"

Obit

• South African anti-apartheid writer Breytenbach dies

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• The Indian Cyber-Security Giant Silencing Media Outlets Worldwide

• WhatsApp becomes the latest social media app blocked in Pakistan

• Australian government drops misinformation bill

Bluesky

• I tried out this extension to bring my followers from Twitter to Bluesky

• 'Huge influx' of neuroscientists migrates to Bluesky

• Bluesky breaching rules around disclosure of information, says EU

• Bluesky is breaking the rules in the EU

Musk

• As Musk Assumes Deregulation Role, Tesla Racks Up Pollution Violations

• Will Elon Musk Buy MSNBC?

• Musk agrees Starlink orbit traffic jam a 'silly narrative' • The Register

  There's a silly narrative being pushed that there are too many satellites in orbit, that there's some sort of orbital traffic jam and, naturally, the intent is to portray Elon Musk's SpaceX as a 'bad guy.'

  The poster added: "People look at images like this one and don't seem to realize these satellite dots are not to scale, they're the size of the island of Maui – We can easily 10× the number satellites in orbit and there still wouldn't be any problem." Musk's response? "Exactly."

  The worrying thing is Musk's response, which appears to give credence to those who deny that the Kessler syndrome is a looming problem. Although atmospheric drag would eventually pull the debris back down to Earth, the rate at which debris could be created would be such that some orbits might end up inaccessible for decades.

• The F-35 design was broken at the requirements level

• Musk has pledged to settle Mars. A prize-winning book offers a reality check

Electric / Self Driving cars

• Auto industry pulling back on capital after unprecedented spending on EVs

• Battery Replacement Costs Are Poised to Plunge: 'Cheaper Than Fixing an Engine'

• Singapore became the ideal testing ground for self-driving cars

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• Jaguar's Rebrand Is a China Story

  • Jaguar boss disappointed by 'vile hatred and intolerance' over new advert

• Journalist Ezra Levant arrested while reporting on ‘Free Palestine’ rally for ‘breach of the peace.’

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• BishopBlog: Why I have resigned from the Royal Society

  a group of 74 Fellows formulated a letter of concern that was sent in early August to the President of the Royal Society, raising doubts as to whether he was "a fit and proper person to hold the considerable honour of being a Fellow of the Royal Society". The letter specifically mentioned the way Musk had used his platform on X to make unjustified and divisive statements that served to inflame right-wing thuggery and racist violence in the UK.

  the Royal Society Council opted to consult a top lawyer to determine whether Musk's behaviour breached their Code of Conduct. The problem with this course of action is that if you are uncertain about doing something that seems morally right but may have consequences, then it is easy to find a lawyer who will advise against doing it. That's just how lawyers work. They're paid to rescue people from ethical impulses that may get them into trouble. And, sure enough, the lawyer determined that Musk hadn't breached the Code of Conduct. If you want to see if you agree, you can find the Code of Conduct here. Many of the signatories of the letter, including me, were unhappy with this response. We set about assembling further evidence of behaviours incompatible with the Code of Conduct.

  • HN comments

  • Oxford scientist resigns from Royal Society over Elon Musk's fellowship

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• GitHub removes 42 "basic functionality" features from their roadmap

• Judge's Investigation into Patent Troll Results in Criminal Referrals

• Apple Tends to Do Right by Apps It Acquires

• Men Who Swear They're Making Thousands Self-Publishing Classic Literature

• Google's empire is under siege

• FCC launches first review of submarine cable rules since 2001

• 'Wolfs' sequel canceled because director 'no longer trusted' Apple

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Super Cassette Vision

  The Epoch Cassette Vision was a moderate success. But in 1983, that all ended, when Nintendo and Sega released new consoles, which had more advanced hardware that allowed for better graphics and games stored on ROM. Epoch went from dominating the cartridge-based game market in Japan to a distant third practically overnight.

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Labelers training AI say they're overworked, underpaid and exploited

• Jensen Huang says solving AI hallucination problems is 'several years away,'

• LLMs: AGI's Head-Fake?

• Could AI Ghosts of Ancient Civilizations Help Us Connect with Bygone Cultures?

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• After Russian ship docks to space station, astronauts report a foul smell

• FAA updates environmental review for increased Starship launches.

• Mysteries in polar orbit – space's oldest working hardware keeps its secrets

  The first mystery is unambiguously attested. In 2002, 21 years after the satellite died, a British radio ham picked up telemetry signals proclaiming it had returned to life. One of the shorted cells in the battery had somehow gone open circuit, letting all the power from those fortuitously robust solar cells to flow back into the electronics. Oscar 7 worked again, providing it was in sunlight, and since it's in a polar orbit that rarely dips into eclipse, that's most of the time. The problem? Those kinds of batteries never do that. They stay short circuited. This one didn't, and nobody knows why.

Crypto con games

• Texas PUC passes rule requiring cryptocurrency mines to register

• MicroStrategy spends $5.4B buying another 55,000 bitcoins, shares slide

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Intel wants to sell, lease back its Folsom, Sacramento campus

  • Washington curtails Intel's CHIPS Act grant after company stumbles

• Macy's Says Accounting Employee Hid Up to $154M in Expenses

  • Macy's says an employee hid up to $154M in expenses

• California loses professional workers to low-tax states like Arizona, Texas

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Adultery is no longer illegal in New York

Trump

• Senators Signal Trump Nominees Gabbard, Hegseth Will Face Grilling in Congress | The Epoch Times

  Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Nov. 24 on CNN that his panel will have “lots of questions” for Gabbard, singling out her meeting as a congresswoman with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad as a point of contention.

  Also on Nov. 24, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) told the network that she believes Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer, is “unqualified” to head up the Pentagon and also criticized the choice of Gabbard for DNI. “I do think that we have a real deep concern whether or not she’s a compromised person,” Duckworth said, referring to the Assad meeting and her previous comments on Russia.

• Jack Smith files to drop Jan. 6 charges against Donald Trump

  • Jack Smith, in Stunning Conclusion to January 6 Capitol Riot Case Against Trump, Files Motion To Dismiss.

Democrats / Biden Inc

• These Four Democratic Firms Raked in $600 Million Running Ads for Kamala's Failed Campaign

  The latest available FEC data show the Harris campaign exceeded $880 million in total spending as of October 16, though that number is expected to balloon to $1.5 billion after the Harris campaign files its post-election FEC report on December 5. Seventy percent of the campaign's known total spending flowed through four firms: Media Buying & Analytics, Gambit Strategies, Bully Pulpit Interactive, and Dupont Circle Strategies.

  Media Buying & Analytics doesn't have a website, its business is registered to a law office in Atlanta, and the Harris campaign's checks to the company were made out to a UPS store in the city.

  Founded in September 2023, Dupont Circle Strategies has no website and worked exclusively with the Harris campaign, according to FEC records. It's unclear who or what owns Dupont Circle Strategies. As a Delaware corporation, ownership information is shielded from the public. And though the Harris campaign cut its checks to Dupont Circle Strategies to an address in Washington, D.C., the company does not have a business license or permit to operate in the district, according to business records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

Left Angst

• Donald Trump to kick transgender troops out of US military

  Donald Trump is planning an executive order that would lead to the removal of all transgender members of the US military, defence sources say. The order could come on his first day back in the White House, January 20. There are believed to be about 15,000 active service personnel who are transgender. They would be medically discharged, which would determine that they were unfit to serve. It would also lead to a ban on trans people joining the military and would come at a time when almost all branches of the American armed forces are failing to meet recruitment targets.

  Paulo Batista, a transgender analyst in the US navy, said that a ban would not only put a premature end to his career, it would also cause upheaval across the forces. “I have four years left on my contract,” he said. “But you take 15,000 of us out — there’s more but that’s the number that is always mentioned — that’s 15,000 leadership positions, every one of us play a vital role."

• How Trump could help Musk win his space war against Bezos - POLITICO

  Blue Origin has been closely following what effect Musk may have on Trump’s pick to lead NASA, the agency that has contracted out billions of dollars to both Blue Origin and SpaceX, according to a person who works with Blue Origin. The industry is particularly concerned that Musk may move the government to appoint Kathryn Lueders, general manager at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas, to run the agency, according to a space industry lobbyist. Both people were granted anonymity to discuss private details about strategy in Washington. On Capitol Hill, Blue Origin is trying to raise alarms about potential unfair advantages in the space race. The company has been arguing that any policy that crowds out competition and capacity in civil or military space business could hurt the country’s space program and national security, according to the person who works with Blue Origin. Another person familiar with Blue Origin’s Washington strategy said the company has been trying to remind those on the Hill that its technology will be flying soon and intends to be a competitor.

  • Space firms see government contracting shakeup in second Trump term

  • Hasn't Musk already "won"? Is this another bit of newspeak where it is necessary for Musk to lose something he has created in order for there to be equity?

• The View Hosts Issue Four Legal Notes in One Broadcast

  “I have a legal note,” she said. “Matt Gaetz has long denied all allegations and has not been charged with any crime.” “Also, another legal note,” Hostin said. “Pete Hegseth’s lawyer said he paid the woman [his accuser] in 2023 to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. He has denied any wrongdoing.” The hosts had to issue a couple of other notes regarding Trump’s new AG pick, Pam Bondi, and former GOP congressman George Santos.

• Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard are coming for the spooks

  history suggests that Mr Trump and his appointees will seek dramatic reforms, even purges, in the spy agencies and at the FBI. The bureau, the premier federal law-enforcement agency, houses big counterintelligence and counterterrorism sections that collect and analyse intelligence. It is likely to be first in line for Mr Trump’s plans to neuter perceived enemies. Kash Patel, an inexperienced loyalist whom Mr Trump sought and failed to install as deputy CIA director in the dying days of his first administration, has been linked to Mr Wray’s job. “We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media,” promised Mr Patel last December. “Whether it’s criminally or civilly…we’re putting you all on notice.” The bureau might also be checked in other ways. Mr Trump and Ms Gabbard are both opposed to Section 702 of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence (FISA) Act, which authorises electronic surveillance on American soil. It was renewed this year after a fierce debate in the Senate but will lapse in 2026. “The [FISA] court has proven to be a dependable rubber stamp for government requests,” argues Ms Gabbard (not inaccurately). If Mr Trump quashes it, the FBI will lose a major source of intelligence.

• Elon Musk's first order of business in Trump administration: Kill remote work

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• Craigslist Founder Gives $300M to Fund Critical US Infrastructure Cybersecurity

• Court rejects bid for compensation after police raid damaged Texas woman's house

• Cover Up at Red Onion, Prisoners Are Setting Themselves on Fire

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Declassified Pentagon F-35 Study Details Reliability, Security Woes

• China has utterly pwned 'thousands and thousands' of devices at US telcos

World

• Hackers Exploit Glastonbury Ticket System–Priority Access Sold for Profit

• We Did Not Consent: a restaging of Britain's undercover police scandal

• Why Indians are risking it all to chase the American Dream

• German steel giant ThyssenKrupp to slash 11,000 jobs

• 'Royalties for everyone': Suriname president plans to share oil wealth

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Europe is under attack from Russia. Why isn't it fighting back?

• Russia plotting to use AI to enhance cyber-attacks against UK

• Angela Merkel defends ties with Russia and blocking Ukraine from NATO

China

• Chinese startups suffer as IPO freeze leads investors exercise redemption rights

Health / Medicine

• A Shampoo Preservative Triggered a Rash Epidemic

• Lonely individuals tend to think and talk in an unusual way, study finds

• Rethinking Obesity: New Study Challenges Weight Loss as the Key to Health

• Fentanyl overdoses in decline

• Alcohol Deaths Have More Than Doubled in Two Decades, Study Finds - The New York Times

  The number of deaths caused by alcohol-related diseases more than doubled among Americans between 1999 and 2020, according to new research. Alcohol was involved in nearly 50,000 deaths among adults ages 25 to 85 in 2020, up from just under 20,000 in 1999. The increases were in all age groups. The biggest spike was observed among adults ages 25 to 34, whose fatality rate increased nearly fourfold between 1999 and 2020. Women are still far less likely than men to die of an illness caused by alcohol, but they also experienced a steep surge, with rates rising 2.5-fold over 20 years.

• You can reduce your risk of dementia

• The Great Fluoride Debate

• Cassava shares sink on plans to stop Alzheimer's drug studies

• 'I had no idea being a social drinker would damage my liver by 31'

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• CDPH: Bird flu virus found in raw milk for sale

• Raw milk recalled for containing bird flu virus, California reports

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• World's First successful IVF rhino pregnancy

• The Environment Will Be Saved If We Just Avoid Doing Icky Things

  One merely needs to avoid a few “icky” things – the list changes all the time, but for now, merely avoiding using “generative AI” and “fast fashion” suffices to save the planet. If you doubt me, go ahead and review the endless articles about how “AI is cooking the planet”. Alternately, you can write one yourself. I provide a helpful guide to some valuable techniques to write one of these planet-saving articles. These techniques will be just as valuable in the future if we discover some new things that “give us the ick” (gaming, streaming music and videos, washing dishes the wrong way, etc.).

• Why the Caspian Sea is shrinking

• California has so much solar power that increasingly it goes to waste

• Swirls and scoops: Antarctica's upside down ice-scape we had no idea existed

• Ethiopian wolves reported to feed on nectar

• A smelly seaweed could fuel cars

• 'We lost': How COP29 ended with a deal that made the whole world unhappy

  • $300B pledge at COP29 climate summit a "paltry sum"

• Fiji is already relocating villages because of climate change

• Hydrogen wildcatters are betting big on Kansas to strike it rich

• Cheers, angst as US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen