2025-02-21

qubit quibbles, raw eggs, retraction stats, search suck, Amazon Bondage, rocket shows, $GME games, coins and wasting tax money, Mitch to retire, DOGE refund, IRS layoffs, Mexico to sue, knife bans

etc

• Delta offers $30k to passengers in Canada plane flip – 'no strings attached'

Horseshit

• Trillions of Viruses Live in Your Body. A.I. Is Trying to Find Them

• Microsoft claims creation of new state of matter in quantum computing

  • Microsoft Says It Has Created a New State of Matter to Power Quantum Computers

  • FAQ on Microsoft's topological qubit thing

  What is a topological qubit? It’s a special kind of qubit built using nonabelian anyons, which are excitations that can exist in a two-dimensional medium, behaving neither as fermions nor as bosons. The idea grew out of seminal work by Alexei Kitaev, Michael Freedman, and others starting in the late 1990s. Topological qubits have proved harder to create and control than ordinary qubits.

• Is It Safe to Eat An Egg With a Runny Yolk? - The New York Times

  It’s hard to beat a yolk-soaked breakfast sandwich. But undercooking your eggs carries real health risks.

• Housing affordability so squeezed office-to-apartment conversions spiked 484%

• Airlines Sue to Avoid Consequences for Breaking Disabled Travelers' Wheelchairs

celebrity gossip

• Shelburne Museum acquires Norman Rockwell paintings celebrating Vermont granite

• How Americans View Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg

Obit

• Roger Mandigo, Who Made Chicken Nuggets and the McRib Possible, Dies at 85

Musk

• X Hinted at Possible Deal Trouble in Talks with Ad Giant to Increase Spending

• Tesla dealership in Salem hit by gunfire, investigation underway

  • Salem Police investigate shooting at Tesla dealership

  • All the folks who were so eager to prosecute "hate crimes" a couple years ago that they had to manufacture examples should be delighted now to have some real hate crimes to work on... right?

  • Yikes: Shots Fired at Tesla Dealership in Oregon (and That's Not All) – RedState

  This is the second incident at the same dealership. Last month -- on Jan. 20, Trump's inauguration -- there was vandalism, a window was broken, and a car was set on fire.

• Behind Musk's X Turnaround: Pick-and-Choose Financials

• Elon Musk Says He'll 'Fix' Community Notes on X After It Disagreed with Him

• Elon Musk Is Focused on Doge. What About Tesla?

• UK's oldest scientific academy may do to Musk what it hasn't done in 150 years

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• Shopify lays off team supporting Black, Indigenous and women entrepreneurs

• Dimon Says He'd Be Cutting 'Stupid' DEI Costs Even Without Trump

• Black men in the U.S. who 'passed' as white lived longer in 20th century

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Has there been enough retractions? - by Sergey Frolov

  In my opinion, PRL retraction statistics are extreme. They are not evidence of how good the system works but of the opposite. Of how the journal suppresses quality control mechanisms by refusing to act on critical concerns, and through this undermines the scientific process. The retraction rate is between one and two orders of magnitude too low, and this sends a message that anything goes, so as long as you somehow make it through peer review you are all set and will face no consequences for any exaggerations, manipulations, fabrications or falsifications. And if you know of any, there is nothing you can do. Indeed, retractions like the one that just happened are of very high-profile works and they took enormous efforts to put through, made reluctantly under extreme community pressure and after initially dismissing concerns. Any smaller problem is viewed as not a big deal.

• Schools Should Pursue Excellence

  For over half a century, inspired by visions of equity, American education has pursued an intoxicating dream: that with the right policies, the right funding, the right teaching methods, we could make every child learn the same ideas, the same way, at the same pace. We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on that dream. We have oriented every education school in the country around it. We have passed sweeping policy based on it, both national and local. And, step by step, over three generations of determined effort, we have buried that dream under a mountain of failed experiments. A different vision, though, has lingered around the edges of this system: it is possible and worthwhile for students at all levels to push themselves to their limits. Different learning speeds are not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be embraced. Education is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor through which all should be dragged dully along a single path. It is a never-ending upward climb along which people should be enabled to proceed as far and as fast as they can. This tension between Equity and Excellence has long defined education, but the dominant frame in education schools has set excellence aside altogether. The time has come for a fundamental reorientation. One-size-fits-all has failed: not once, not twice, but for three generations. Progress in education cannot mean pushing all kids into the same mold and neglecting those who break it. To reignite the flame of progress in schools, we must embrace the pursuit of excellence.

• We've Been Misreading a Major Law of Physics for Almost 300 Years

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Gamers brace for a new Twitch storage limit on "all highlights and uploads"

• The World's Largest Search Doesn't Want You to Search

  Techies once described the Internet as a digital highway. But we need a different metaphor nowadays. Web platforms want to trap you on their app, and keep you there forever. So, instead of a digital highway, we have a digital roach motel. They let the roaches check in—but not check out.

• The glibc 2.41 update has been causing problems for Linux gaming

• iPhone 16e Is Equipped with 8GB of RAM for Apple Intelligence

• The Amazon Appstore for Android devices will be discontinued on August 20, 2025

• Streaming used to make stuff networks wouldn't. Now it's seeking safer bets

• The BBC's library of classic sci-fi sounds is now available to sample

• Meta Says It Made Sure Not to Seed Any Pirated Books

• Amazon Gains Creative Control of James Bond Franchise from Broccoli Family

  • Amazon's MGM Studios gains creative control over 'James Bond' franchise

  • James Bond's long-serving producers give control to Amazon

• Nvidia's Big Plan to Beat Back RTX 5090 Scalpers Is the Same as Everybody Else's

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• Calculating Pi

  100 million iterations took 180 seconds on my computer, and it's now accurate to the 8th decimal. (someone suggested) this one line version of the algorithm:

  sum(-(i*8%16-4)/(i*2+1) for i in range(10**6))

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• All of Humane's AI pins will stop working in 10 days

• Humane

  in response to any skepticism I had about Humane, people told me—publicly and privately—to “wait and see.” Some of these people knew Imran Chaudhri, Humane’s founder. Others had no idea who he was. Either way, a lot of people were giving him and Humane the benefit of the doubt from the start. I think we have to stop doing that in this industry. Next time, let’s not “wait and see.” Instead, let’s spot the red flags more easily and have them be addressed.

  Around when the company was founded, a Wikipedia article suddenly appeared about Imran Chaudhri that he paid for, proven by a disclaimer left on the article’s Talk page, which I’m sure very few people look at. I don’t think any media outlet ever picked up on this. In 2018, like Imran himself, Humane was barely something anyone knew about. They were in “stealth mode” for three years. Before manufacturing any product for customers, the company was manufacturing hype for itself.

• Humane acquisition: HP offers big raises to some, others laid off

• Grok 3: Another Win For The Bitter Lesson

  In one word, Grok 3 is great. But more than just a win for xAI, Grok 3 represents yet another victory for the Bitter Lesson. Perhaps the clearest one so far. Contrary to what the press and critics keep saying, the scaling laws still govern AI progress—more than ever before.

• The reason behind the DeepSeek hype, according to AI experts

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• SatTrackCam Leiden (b)log: The reentry of a Falcon 9 upper stage over NW Europe on 19 February

  A possible piece of debris has been found at Komorniki near Poznan in Poland, media reports. The object on the photograph looks like a Composite Overwrap Pressure Vessel, a component of the Falcon 9 upper stage that has survived reentry before, e.g. in March 2021 when a Falcon 9 upper stage reentered over Washington. The location of the find matches well with the reentry trajectory, as can be seen in the map above. [update: reportedly two more of these composite-wrapped pressure tanks were subsequently found in Poland]

• Dark Skies Bring New Observations of Asteroid 2024 YR4, Lower Impact Probability

• New ETF To Invest In 'Reverse-Engineered Alien Technology' | ZeroHedge

  • It ain't real until someone runs a scam promising to profit off it.

• Elon Musk recommends that the International Space Station be deorbited ASAP

• Mere weeks after Starship's breakup, the vehicle may soon fly again

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Palantir Drops 10% on Report of Pentagon Slashing Budget

• GameStop announces plans to sell off French and Canadian outlets, while its CEO yells about 'Wokeness and DEI' in bizarre, self-defeating promotion | PC Gamer

  An SEC filing made in February last year stated GameStop had a total of 332 stores in France, and 203 retail outlets in Canada. No specific reason was given for the sale, but in a bizarre statement on X, Gamestop CEO Ryan Cohen seemed to take issue with the progressive nature of both countries. Requesting emails from individuals interested in "buying GameStop Canada or Micromania France", Cohen added that "High taxes, Liberalism, Socialism, Progressivism, Wokeness and DEI included at no additional cost if you buy today!" Setting aside the unprofessional nature of Cohen's statement, it's bizarre to see a CEO advertise the sale of part of his business by highlighting all the things he thinks is bad about it. It's like a market stall hawker yelling "Come and buy my apples, a free worm in every bite!". Here, of course, the worms are entirely imagined, but even if they weren't, you don't promote the fact. It's a deeply irrational and counterproductive mindset.

• Surprising no-one, TSMC has found that it costs twice as much and takes twice as long to build fabs in the US as it does in Taiwan.

• Dow tumbles 500 points as Walmart forecast raises concern about earnings

• Amazon Surpasses Walmart in Revenue

• Airbus CEO says company could prioritize deliveries to non-U.S. customers

• Meta approves plan for bigger executive bonuses following 5% layoffs

• Netflix to invest $1B in Mexico over next 4 years

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• So, You Want to Get Rid of the Penny. Do You Have a Plan for the Nickel? - The New York Times

  A nickel is worth half as much as a dime but costs twice as much to mint. A penny, which used to cost less than 1 cent to make, now costs 3.7. In 2011, a quarter was cheaper to make than a nickel; today the two coins cost about the same.

  the cash ecosystem also has its drawbacks. The government’s main source of revenue is tax collection, not coin minting. Studies have estimated that over $100 billion of income goes unreported each year because of cash transactions, amounting to tens of billions in lost tax revenue. If eliminating coins led to even a modest decrease in untraceable transactions, the effects could be far greater than the profits or losses of the U.S. Mint.

• Zeldin EPA discovers $2 billion stashed away by Biden admin for Stacey Abrams-linked climate group.

  he money was earmarked for Power Forward Communities – a nonprofit partnered with multiple left-wing groups founded by Abrams and which the Georgia Democrat has stated she was “thrilled” to be part of, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Wednesday. The funds were set aside at an outside financial institution – Citibank – before Biden left office and part of a larger, $20 billion pot of money the former president’s EPA received through the Inflation Reduction Act to dole out to climate groups. “It’s extremely concerning that an organization that reported just $100 in revenue in 2023 was chosen to receive $2 billion,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin told the outlet, referring to Power Forward Communities latest tax filings. “That’s 20 million times the organization’s reported revenue.”

• How USAID Assisted the Corporate Takeover of Ukrainian Agriculture ⋆ Brownstone Institute

  Revelations about the evil doings of the Orwellian-monikered “United States Agency of International Development” (USAID) reveal a roadmap to totalitarian control unwittingly funded by America’s taxpaying proles. USAID’s clandestine machinations have long focused on controlling local and global food supplies as “soft colonization” by multinational chemical, agricultural, and financial corporations. European farmers revolting against climate, wildlife, and animal rights policies are harbingers of this tightening globalist noose. The roots of the current globalist plan to “save humanity from climate change” link directly to the infamous Kissinger Report, which called to control world food supplies and agriculture as part of a globalist collaboration between nation-states and NGOs to advance US national security interests and “save the world” from human overpopulation using “fertility reduction technologies.” Kissinger’s 1974 Report was created by USAID, the CIA, and various federal agencies, including the USDA.

• SEC Announces Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit to Protect Retail Investors

• McConnell Announces He Won't Seek Reelection Next Year | National Review

  Senator Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history, announced on Thursday he will not be seeking reelection in 2026. McConnell intends to serve the remainder of his term, which ends in January 2027. The former Senate minority leader announced the news on his 83rd birthday.

• A fiscal crisis is looming for many US cities

Trump

• Trump Signs Executive Order Terminating All Federal Taxpayer Benefits Going to Illegal Aliens › American Greatness

• Trump, Musk To Discuss Sending US Taxpayers $5,000 Checks Using DOGE Savings | ZeroHedge

  The SpaceX and Tesla founder made the remarks in response to a suggestion from James Fishback, CEO of investment firm Azoria, that a “tax refund check” be sent out to Americans after DOGE completes its work in July 2026. The refund would be funded “exclusively with a portion of the total savings delivered by DOGE,” according to Fishback’s proposal.

• Trump says he is speaking to China about TikTok

• A Frustrated Trump Wants His New Air Force One Planes Pronto

Left Angst

• ICE Prosecutor in Dallas Runs White Supremacist X Account

  • Are we doing "doxxing is bad" this week or not?

• These Are the SpaceX Engineers Working Inside the FAA

• Trump signs order declaring only president and AG can interpret US law

• USDS Engineering Director Resigns: 'This Is Not the Mission I Came to Serve'

• Yes, Newsweek Really DID Say That Out Loud... – HotAir

  There are concerns that the Ukrainian president could be voted out of office if the country holds an election.

• Police search for woman who escaped Panama hotel where US deportees are held

  • Hotel? Yesterday it was a "camp in the jungle"

• How the Trump administration wants to reshape American science

• DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

• Trump administration yanks CDC flu vaccine campaign

• Britain dances to JD Vance's tune as it renames AI institute

• Trump says he will check amount of gold stored at Fort Knox

• Doge Teen with Cybercrime Connections Now Inside Cybersecurity Agency CISA

• Mexico issues legal threat to Google

  In a press conference on Monday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that Mexico will sue Google if the company does not change the “Gulf of America” label to cover only the portion of the body of water under U.S. jurisdiction, which is just a small portion of the gulf.

• State Department orders cancellation of media subscriptions around world

• Trump appears to contradict White House, says Elon Musk in charge of DOGE

• Elon Musk's Waste.gov Is Just a WordPress Theme Placeholder Page

• IRS to fire 6,700 staff

• Pharma CEOS Speaking Up, Damn It | Science | AAAS

  I do not expect a high executive from any industry to speak from his or her heart, but I what I would like is for some other organs to participate, starting with the head. It is transparently obvious what such people are playing at. They do indeed see opportunities with the new administration, which is mostly led by people who only have a faint idea of what they are doing when it comes to biopharma regulation and health care. The likes of Bourla and Ubl see a chance for regulations to be tossed aside and larger profits than ever to be made, just so long as the new administration believes that these actions look Tough and Decisive and are somehow Making America Great Again. They are determined to make the best of the situation, and talking about boldly breaking the status quo and all that horseshit looks like the most direct way to do it.

  I'm enough of a man of the world myself (and enough of a student of history) to have seen many examples of people who hoped to get ahead by flattering vengeful authoritarians only to have it blow up on them.

• The Incompetence of Doge Is a Feature, Not a Bug

• The Plot Against America - by Mike Brock

  What follows is not speculation or dystopian fiction. It is a carefully documented account of how a dangerous ideology, born in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, has moved from the fringes of tech culture to the heart of American governance. The story of how it begins starts sixteen years ago. Curtis Yarvin, writing under the pseudonym Mencius Moldbug, had been developing a critique of modern democracy on his blog Unqualified Reservations since 2007. As the financial crisis unfolded, Yarvin applied his unconventional analysis to the economic turmoil.

• The crisis coming for our national parks, explained in two charts

• The Threat of Political Violence Informing Trump's Grip on Congress

• Trump's Turn to Russia Spooks U.S. Allies Who Fear a Weakened NATO

• Trump Dismantles Government Fight Against Foreign Influence Operations - The New York Times

  The cuts have focused on people who were not only combating false content online but also working on broader safeguards to protect elections from cyberattacks or other attempts to disrupt voting systems. In last year’s election, the teams tracked and publicized numerous influence operations from Russia, China and Iran to blunt their impact on unsuspecting voters. Experts are alarmed that the cuts could leave the United States defenseless against covert foreign influence operations and embolden foreign adversaries seeking to disrupt democratic governments.

  • and also that they wont have the crew to label opinions they dislike as "foreign disinformation".

• Social media posts falsely link houses for sale in DC area to federal firings

• DOGE Puts $1 Spending Limit on Government Employee Credit Cards

• Treasury agrees to block DOGE's access to personal taxpayer data at IRS

• Elon Musk and Donald Trump Have Declared War on Veterans

• Elon Musk says he is thinking of auditing the Federal Reserve

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• "Uber with Guns": On-Demand Armed Guard App Launched After UHC CEO Killing

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• The US Military’s Unsecured UFO Satellites And Their Use By Russia

  As described in the video, if you listen in on WebSDR streams from Ukraine, you can not only find encrypted military comms, but also unencrypted Russian radio traffic. It seems that in lieu of being provided with proper (encrypted) radio systems, Russian forces are using these US military satellites for communication much like how US (and NATO) forces would have.

  • The ability to listen to your opponent's communications is so valuable that it can be worth providing them the means to communicate.

• Saronic raises $600M in Series C to mass-produce autonomous warships

• US will not co-sponsor UN motion backing Ukraine

World

• Germany: Far-right political bias ahead of federal elections in X and TikTok

• Tourists flock to see Etna eruption, blocking rescue services

• High-speed rail line with 300kph trains will run between Toronto and Quebec City

  • Canada pledges billions for high-speed rail linking Quebec City and Toronto

• Welsh secretary of state promises "toughest ever crackdown" on kitchen knives

  If you just ban the knives all the would-be psychos killing people with knives will automatically become upstanding citizens!

• EU approves 920M euro German aid for Infineon chips plant

Israel

• BBC Runs Heart-Wrenching “Documentary” About a Young Boy’s Struggle to Surive in the Israeli-Made Warzone of Gaza… Without Ever Disclosing This Boy is the Son of Hamas’s Minister of Agriculture

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Putin's secret weapon: The threat to the cables on our sea beds

• Russia's nostalgia machine works for strongman Putin

• The American who went undercover in Ukraine, for Russia

Health / Medicine

• Man whose eye 'melted' in acid attack thanks placenta donor who helped him heal

• Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared

• The Air Around Us Is Full of Life

• Early Adult Death Rates 70% Higher Than Expected in 2023

• New York sues vape distributors over fruit and candy e-cigarette flavors

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Scientists Are Pulling Fresh Water from Fog

• Droughts are getting worse. Is fog-farming a fix?

• Automotive brake wear particles perturb human alveolar cellular homeostasis

• Does what you scroll burn coal? Mythbusting energy consumption on the web

• Using dark mode to save energy? You might want to rethink

• Glaciers melting faster than ever recorded

• Earth's ice caps are temporary and rare, study suggests

• Uruguay's Green Energy Success Story Takes an Unexpected Turn