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Thursday, September 29, 2016

Off The Map ClickBaiting Virtual Stories

Don’t be too quick to judge -- you might not realize what you're missing as we tend to create the right enemies...


Josh Barro tweeted:

People pretending to be better than they are is what holds society together. Lies ever better than hypocrisy. ...


Startups that become successful are also beset by the Peter principle – the idea that people are promoted to the level of their incompetence.
The secret life of a startup employee: it’s like being a firefighter led by an arsonist 

Rating Lester Holt on the Potted-Plant-O-Meter

NPR’s real-time fact-checking drew millions of readers 



horse-and-foal-links

The west looks on as corruption and bigotry rule in the ‘new Ukraine’Guardian

I’ve spent many years referencing Wikipedia’s list of cognitive biases whenever I have a hunch that a certain type of thinking is an official bias but I can’t recall the name or details. It’s been an invaluable reference for helping me identify the hidden flaws in my own thinking. Nothing else I’ve come across seems to be both as comprehensive and as succinct. However, characters like born around the time BC was born prefer other cheat sheet for biases ...
Better Humans ...


"Women have been central to American spycraft since 1776, and they continued to play important roles in the World War II–era Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the CIA’s predecessor. Even so, the agency has a long history as a chauvinistic old boys’ club rife with sexism." (Newsweek)
wonder-woman-power-poseDana
 Carney one of the co-authors of the famous paper (462 citations) that led to thefamous TED talk (36 million views) and innumerable articles in the popular press on “power poses” (e.g. This Simple ‘Power Pose’ Can Change Your Life And Career) writes that after reviewing the evidence:
    1. I do not have any faith in the embodied effects of “power poses.” I do not think the effect is real.
Who’s Afraid of ‘Russia Today’? Nation. Resilc: “Gotta have shit overseas to cover up the shit at home.”

HOW THE WEST HELPED INVENT RUSSIA’S ELECTION FRAUD: OSCE WHISTLEBLOWER EXPOSES 1996 WHITEWASH A Mark Ames classic via John Helmer

“Dunning-Kruger effect”  was inspired by the tale of an incompetent bank robber who thought rubbing lemon juice on his face would make him invisible on security cameras ... There are still some high paying leaders in Adelaide who even today are asking why bank robbers rob the banks
If you’re worried you don’t measure up, that could well be a sign that you do - Speaking of Adelaide . Read about the SA power outage - how many bank roberries ...

Neha Narula wrote a post on Medium last Monday about the MIT Digital Currency Initiative at the Media Lab (DCI) and her new role as the Research Director. Also on Monday, TED posted her talk on the future of money, which I think is one of clearest "what is Bitcoin" explanations I've seen. I saw her a few days later and did a Facebook Live conversation with her which I've uploaded to YouTubeSoundCloud and iTunes.
Joi.ito - Why We will be even richer at the cemetery ...

Liverpool councillors call on shops to stop selling the Sun Guardian. From last week, still of interest. Jon M: “If only this sort of corrective were more widespread… Imagine town councils and shop owners refusing to peddle the NYT and WaPo and WSJ etc. for e.g. WMD war starting government-lie-spewing …”

“Dear readers: Please stop calling us ‘the media.’ There is no such thing,”

Australia’s second richest money manager, Chris Mackay, keeps a low profile for someone with a fortune last valued at $604 million. 
But however discreet you might be in your deals, nothing draws attention like a big, yellow, permanent crane — like the one currently perched on the former UBS Australasia chairman’s holiday patch in Whale Beach, which sits just around the corner from Palm Beach, an easy drive north of Sydney. Some rock the boat other rock the Cold River - rarely whale is rocked

loneliness
“A large new study published online last week in the Naturejournal Neuropsychopharmacology …finds that loneliness appears to be a ‘modestly heritable’ trait. A predisposition to feeling lonely may run in the family, in other words. But there’s a caveat here.”

SPENGLER: A LETTER TO ANDREW KLAVAN: FOR A JEW TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN, HE FIRST MUST BE A JEW.

David P. Goldman, aka “Spengler,” weighs in on Andrew’s new book, The Great Good Thing. Read the whole thing.
UPDATE: Klavan responds to Goldman: Coming Under Jewish Fire.

Combating Wildlife Trafficking: Agencies Are Taking a Range of Actions, but the Task Force Lacks Performance Targets for Assessing Progress, GAO-16-717: Published: Sep 22, 2016. 
Africa’s iconic elephants and rhinos face extinction The illegal trade in wildlife is worth an estimated $7 billion to $23 billion annually—and is pushing some animals to the brink of extinction. To help combat wildlife trafficking and the transnational and other criminal groups profiting from it, President Obama established a federal task force in 2013. While the task force has helped address trafficking by assisting local law enforcement and supporting conservation efforts, it is difficult to gauge its progress. We recommend that the task force develop specific performance targets to assess progress and identify areas for improvement.”


Yaa Gyasi: “This novel was an attempt for me to say: We cannot look away when something like this is happening. We can’t look away. We don’t get to.”
What Happens When A Novel You’ve Been Working On For Seven Years Finally Gets Published?

Why the Silencing of KrebsOnSecurity Opens a Troubling Chapter For the Internet Slashdot

Malware Evades Detection with Novel Technique Threatpost


Religious institutions, like all institutions, are staffed by humans, and reflect human failings. I went through 16 years of Catholic education and can assure you I encountered clergy who were not even civil, let alone saintly. It is worth remembering that Jesus didn't exactly get along with the church leadership of his day. Power corrupts, including ecclesiastical power.  Solitary Praxis: Salem Witch Trials: embracing the dark side

Instapundit - Driving the 2017 Mazda CX-3. I’ve liked all the Mazdas I’ve owned. I had a 1980 RX-7, a 1993 MX-6, and, of course, my 2004 RX-8. All were great cars.

Labour’s shadow minister for domestic violence was once cautioned over a bust-up with her husband after hitting him with a framed painting.

It's time to reduce the amount of physical cash floating around the globe to help combat tax evasion and other illicit activities, Harvard professor and renowned economist Ken Rogoff told CNBC on Tuesday.

"I'd eventually phase out the $100 note. I'd phase out the $50. And over 10 or 20 years, I'm phasing out the $20s," he argued, while explaining the thesis of his new book "The Curse of Cash" in a "Squawk Box" interview.