Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Crypto Bank Silvergate ito Shut Down and Liquidate, After FDIC Examiners Show Up. Shares Collapse Entirely Silvergate

A teacher asks a class a question: 

There are ten sheep in a pen. One jumps out, how many are left? 

Everyone but one boy said nine are left. 

That one boy said none are left. 

The teacher said you don’t understand arithmetic and he said:

"You don’t understand sheep."


The cost of failure is far greater than the cost of investment."


Weekly SSRN Tax Article Review And Roundup: Kim Reviews Alarie's The Rise Of The Robotic Tax Analyst


Crypto Bank Silvergate to Shut Down and Liquidate, After FDIC Examiners Show Up. Shares Collapse Entirely

Silvergate: In 16 months from $239 at peak crypto consensual hallucination to $2.76, including the 44% plunge afterhours.


New analysis of ancient human protein could unlock secrets of evolution Guardian


Vikings fashion: they filed their teeth, had female warriors and loved bling ZME Science


The Day Explorers Finally Found One of the World’s Great Lost Shipwrecks Literary Hub


 A global mystery: What’s known about Nord Stream explosions AP. Maybe not so much. The cat that did not mewl in the night


Nord Stream Attack – ‘Officials’ Throw More Chaff To Hide The Real Perpetrators Moon of Alabama. “On the table in the cabin, the investigators were able to detect traces of explosives.” Amateurs, then. Amateurs whose passports were subsquently found — how? — to be forged. Five amateurs in a tiny yacht (plus their funder to make six) who somehow blew up an enormous pipeline with high explosives. Smell test, laugh test, I expect higher quality deception operations from our organs of state security, even German ones. This whole episode reminds of me of Nobby and Sergeant Colon doing some “patient detectoring” in Terry Pratchett’s Jingo. They find a Clue, although not on a table:

‘Why would the Klatchians give him money to shoot a Klatchian?’ said Nobby. Colon tapped the side of his nose. ‘Politics,’ he said. ‘Ah, politics,’ said Nobby. ‘Ah, well, politics. I see. Politics. Right. So why?’

‘Ah, but that’s ‘cos you don’t know about politics,’ said Colon. ‘You can’t do that stuff any more. Mark my words, this case has got politics written all over it….’

[Nobby] looked up at the bare walls and down at the rough floorboards. ‘There’s a bit of sand on the floor,’ he said. ‘Another Clue, then,’ said Colon happily. ‘A Klatchian has been here. Bugger all else but sand in Klatch. Still got some in his sandals.’ 

On NYT Nord Stream theory, German official raises specter of ‘false flag’ Responsible Statecraft. Machiavellistisch:


Grammarly’s new ChatGPT-like AI generator can do a lot more than proofread your writing

Digital Trends: “Grammarly, one of the biggest names in writing tools, is adding AI-generated text to its repertoire on the heels of the wild popularity of ChatGPT. Known as GrammarlyGO, this new tool is focused on improving writing rather than replacing the writer
GrammarlyGO will roll out in beta form to existing users in April. All tiers, including developers, business, education, and premium users, will have access. You can even use GrammarlyGO with a free account. Many generative text options are available, with ChatGPT being the most prominent, so you might wonder what makes GrammarlyGO different. The company told us Grammarly’s 14 years of expertise in AI assistance and responsible development sets it apart from the rest…”


Wired: “Obscure government algorithms are making life-changing decisions about millions of people around the world. Here, for the first time, we reveal how one of these systems works…
Machine learning algorithms like Rotterdam’s are being used to make more and more decisions about people’s lives, including what schools their children attendwho gets interviewed for jobs, and which family gets a loan. Millions of people are being scored and ranked as they go about their daily lives, with profound implications. The spread of risk-scoring models is presented as progress, promising mathematical objectivity and fairness. 
Yet citizens have no real way to understand or question the decisions such systems make. Governments typically refuse to provide any technical details to back up claims of accuracy and neutrality. In the rare cases where watchdogs have overcame official stonewalling, they’ve found the systems to be anything but unbiased. Reports have found discriminatory patterns in credit scoringcriminal justice, and hiring practices, among others…”