“Take a chance and risk it all or play it safe and suffer defeat.”
― I Am Number Four
“Our lives are so brief and unimportant. The cosmos cares nothing
for us. For what we've done; Had we wrought evil instead of good. Had I
chosen to abuse the Apple instead of seal it away. None of it would have
mattered. There is no counting. No reckoning. No final judgement. There
is simply silence. And darkness. Utter and absolute...
-Altair”
― Putin
-Altair”
― Putin
Medvedev was Putin's wingman for years - now Putin wants some distance
For four years, he acted as a seat-warmer, nominally president from 2008, but he was seen as weak and became unpopular.
“I wear my mistakes like badges of honor, and I celebrate them.”
― The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo
“The Dragon is brave to walk alone.”
―
The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.
William James - The deepest principle in human nature is...
Germany raids offices, homes of suspected China spies
The case is the first in recent years involving concrete allegations of spying by China against Germany and the EU.
There’s no doubt that those in Australia’s rural regions are thought of as hard-working and resilient – even more so as the nation empathises with the plight of farmers during a devastating drought.
But do we view them as overall competent as people with more urban experience? If you were choosing between two lawyers, and one had rural experience and the other had recently worked at a firm in inner-city Melbourne, who are you more likely to choose?
Not feeling up to scratch
In a recent article for the ABC, journalist Kirsten Diprose used the term ‘geographical narcissism’ – the idea that people working in Australia’s main cities are better at their jobs than those in rural or regional areas.Geographical narcissism – do Australian employers have an anti-rural bias?
Can the Constitution stop the government from lying to the public
The Conversation – Helen Norton: “When regular people lie, sometimes their lies are detected, sometimes they’re not. Legally speaking, sometimes they’re protected by the First Amendment – and sometimes not, like when they commit fraud or perjury. But what about when government officials lie? I take up this question in my recent book, “The Government’s Speech and the Constitution.” It’s not that surprising that public servants lie – they are human, after all. But when an agency or official backed by the power and resources of the government tells a lie, it sometimes causes harm that only the government can inflict. My research found that lies by government officials can violate the Constitution in several different ways, especially when those lies deprive people of their rights…
COLD WAR II: China Discovers Underwater Spy Drones In Its Waters.
“The secretive world of naval underwater surveys rarely breaks the
surface. Now recent events are briefly shining a light into the
darkness. In the Adriatic a Croatian fishing vessel caught one of the
U.S. Navy’s undersea sensor systems last week. That mysterious object
has largely been explained. Meanwhile, China has held an award ceremony
for fishermen who alerted authorities after discovering similar devices
in their nets. The devices may have been operating in international
waters, but still in China’s back yard as they see it. We can infer that
some of these devices may also belong to the U.S. Navy.”
I should hope so. I’d also hope we’ll get better at not getting caught.
Related and recommended: Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage.
I should hope so. I’d also hope we’ll get better at not getting caught.
Related and recommended: Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage.
Video Shows Two Iranian Missiles Hit Ukrainian Plane New York Times
Iran plane downing: Person who filmed video arrested BBC
Iran and the US are now trading barbs on China’s Weibo amid censorship on other platforms abc.net.au
Iran warns against ‘destructive measures,’ promises firm response as EU trio starts nuclear deal ‘non-compliance’ investigation RT
Cut Undersea Cable Plunges Yemen Into Days-Long Internet Outage Wired
The 1% are much more satisfied with their lives than everyone else, survey finds WaPo
More States Are Reconsidering Medicaid Work Requirements TruthOut
City knew ferries have been for the rich since day one, documents reveal NY Post
Against meal kits Salon. Common sense – do people really need to be told this? Isn’t it self-evident? I can understand the allure of takeaway, but….this is ridiculous. And people pay for this ‘service’?
Reporting Recipe: How to Investigate Professors’ Conflicts of Interest ProPublica. I don’t expect readers to rush out and do any reporting, but the questions asked in this article are useful to consider when evaluating the evidence offered by experts cited in any context.
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Seattle city council bans most political spending by ‘foreign-influenced corporations’ The Hill
Rated False: Nieman Lab: “Journalist’s Resource sifts through the academic journals so you don’t have to. Here they collect the best of 2019, including research into the effectiveness of fact-checking, why people are susceptible to fake news, and the changing volume of misinformation on social media. What better way to start the new year than by learning new things about how best to battle fake news and other forms of online misinformation? Below is a sampling of the research published in 2019 — seven journal articles that examine fake news from multiple angles, including what makes fact-checking most effective and the potential use of crowdsourcing to help detect false content on social media. Because getting good news is also a great way to start 2020, I included a study that suggests President Donald Trump’s “fake news” tweets aimed at discrediting news coverage could actually help journalists. The authors of that paper recommend journalists “engage in a sort of news jujitsu, turning the negative energy of Trump’s tweets into a force for creating additional interest in news.”…”
Despite more rainfall, the Nile faces devastating dry spells. They will become more frequent, and some 250 million people will have less water.
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
Peter Pomerantsev's memoir of his decade working for a Moscow TV company. Read by Justin Salinger. Abridged by Robin Brooks.
JFK’s Cold War Cultural Dogma — and Where It Came From
During the cultural Cold War, President John F. Kennedy delivered eloquent speeches claiming that only “free societies” fostered great creative art. But no one scanning... [read more]
During the cultural Cold War, President John F. Kennedy delivered eloquent speeches claiming that only “free societies” fostered great creative art. But no one scanning... [read more]
Liar paradox nightmare
— via Tanya Kostochka
Is The Book-To-Movie Trend Hurting Storytelling?
We are now in the mature stage of a book-to-film boom that is quietly transforming how Americans read and tell stories—and not for the better. The power of this force is hard to quantify because intellectual property is now being bought in Hollywood in such unprecedented volume and diversity of source material. Almost all written works that achieve prominence today (and many more that don’t) will be optioned, and increasingly it is becoming rare for film and television projects to move forward without intellectual property attached. – The Baffler
“The popular perception that strong AI will eventually grow out of our control risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, despite the present reality that weak AI is very much the product of human deliberation and decision making” — Annette Zimmerman, Elena Di Rosa, and Hochan Kim (Princeton) on the important choices we face *now* regarding this technology
“The popular perception that strong AI will eventually grow out of our control risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, despite the present reality that weak AI is very much the product of human deliberation and decision making” — Annette Zimmerman, Elena Di Rosa, and Hochan Kim (Princeton) on the important choices we face *now* regarding this technology