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The seemingly dormant push to target ultrapopular video platform TikTok on national security grounds roared back to life this week as the House teed up a surprise bipartisan vote on forced divestment of the app's US operations. An attempt by Chinese parent company ByteDance to mobilize users against the legislation clearly backfired, angering lawmakers into delivering a unanimous vote to proceed. Critics warn the app offers the increasingly authoritarian CCP government reams of sensitive data and an unprecedented insight into the American psyche (along with a potent avenue for propaganda and influence operations), while defenders cite the company's diversified ownership and ongoing efforts at re-shoring US data operations. Bolstered by support from the White House (and a troubling intelligence report on election interference), the bill sees likely passage in the House today and an uncertain path in the Senate, as well as a long legal battle after that. The biggest twist: former president Trump, a longtime Sinophobe who signed a failed executive order banning the app, has suddenly flipped in favor of it as a counterweight to Facebook -- a move many insiders see as calculated to undercut Biden's already precarious support from young voters.
comment posted at 7:45 AM on Mar-13-24

Canada’s House speaker Anthony Rota sorry for honoring Nazi veteran [Washington Post] The speaker of Canada’s House of Commons has apologized for celebrating a man who served in a notorious Nazi military unit during World War II. Speaker Anthony Rota introduced 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka of North Bay, Ontario, to fellow lawmakers on Friday during Ukrainian President Volodymyr’s visit to Parliament. After Zelensky addressed the body, thanking Canada for supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia and urging it to stay committed, Rota pointed out Hunka and described him as a war hero “who fought [for] Ukrainian independence against the Russians, and continues to support the troops today.” But on Sunday, Jewish groups condemned the honor, saying Hunka had been a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division, a Waffen-SS unit composed of ethnic Ukrainians.
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The streets of India’s capital were rife with speculation Wednesday that the government might be about to scrap the use of the country’s English name — a dramatic new step in an effort to break with its colonial heritage and appeal to its hard-line Hindu nationalist base.
comment posted at 6:21 AM on Sep-7-23

McSweeney’s: “Dear Fat-Headed Roald Dahl-Censoring Fuckers, You’re censors. You’re not editors, and you’re not readers. You’re censors. You are exactly what Orwell warned us about. So fuck you.”
comment posted at 5:38 AM on Mar-14-23

As lions return to hunting fur seals on the Skeleton Coast, a new geofencing project tries to keep people out of the way.
comment posted at 6:27 AM on Mar-9-23

Among the "biofuels" approved under a new speedy EPA process, about half come from waste products, especially plastics, which "the EPA acknowledges .. may present an 'unreasonable risk' to human health or the environment."  Among these, one new jet fuel by Chevron "could emit air pollution that is so toxic, 1 out of 4 people exposed to it over a lifetime could get cancer", a risk "250,000 times greater than the level usually considered acceptable by the EPA."
comment posted at 11:05 AM on Feb-24-23

China accuses US of 10 balloon incursions in its airspace (archived)
comment posted at 6:19 AM on Feb-14-23

When a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist publishes a poorly sourced controversial story who is to decide whether it is True or False?. Coverage was sparse across the spectrum, with most major outlets appearing to publish no coverage of Hersh’s story or the White House’s rebuttal. Whilest many Reddit posts were deleted the sub reddit Boring Distoptia has a small discussion.
Seymour Hersh's wiki page has links to some interesting reading.
comment posted at 5:32 AM on Feb-9-23

The US Pentagon invests $90M in a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) [archive.ph]
comment posted at 12:19 PM on Jan-25-23

"Car Brain" - the cultural blind spot that makes people apply double standards when they think about driving - is real, measurable and pervasive.
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comment posted at 11:24 AM on Jan-17-23

How Wednesday Addams Birthed a Generation of Cynics Nearly 30 years ago, Christina Ricci’s version of the character reinforced millennials’ suspicion that “the bright side” is an illusion (Emily Alford for Longreads).
comment posted at 6:15 AM on Dec-2-22

The World Cup is the world’s most-watched sports event, with the last one held in Russia in 2018 attracting 3.6 billion television and online viewers. The next World Cup begins in Qatar on 20 November. As noted by Sky News: Qatar won the bid for the 2022 Men's World Cup over the USA by 14 votes to eight. But given the country's strict Islamic laws, its questionable human rights record, and searing temperatures, there were immediate corruption concerns over the decision. Soon after, FIFA commissioned its own investigation into Qatar's methods, which found "no evidence of any improper activity by the bid team".
comment posted at 8:14 AM on Oct-28-22

The next time Wikipedia asks for a donation, ignore it: The online encyclopaedia is not short on cash. "$400 million of cash as of March [...i]n the 2012/13 year the Foundation budgeted for $1.9m to provide all its free information on tap." "550 employees. Top tier managers earn between $300,000 and $400,000 a year, and dozens are employed exclusively on fund-raising."
comment posted at 11:50 AM on Oct-14-22

Audiophile deceptions: Mobile Fidelity and the master tape deception. MoFi claimed their vinyl was made straight from the master tape. That wasn't true. (Washington Post guest link)
comment posted at 8:47 AM on Aug-12-22

Surely, this big protest wave [in 2003 against the Iraq War] — possibly the largest in history — would help stop the relentless march toward this ill-advised war. We all know how that went. I Was Wrong About Why Protests Work (NYT)
comment posted at 11:53 AM on Jul-22-22

Ryan Stiles in the hot seat for the most adorable eight-year old ever (she’s almost nine!). (SLYT)
comment posted at 6:22 AM on Jul-14-22

Xiao Qian Feng, a maker from Guangdong, China, recorded the process of building her own home and studio from scratch over the course of 300 days. The end result: a calming, satisfying, beautiful nearly-wordless video featuring both the beauty of her surroundings and the very cool process of building her own space from start to finish.
comment posted at 10:56 AM on Jul-8-22

How to defeat the billionaire class. Chris Hedges on Kshama Sawant as a model for effective strategy for change.
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As the main post on the Ukrainian war is dedicated to discussion of current events, this post is an attempt to gather a variety of viewpoints on the origins and implications of the war. Please feel free to add more links in the comments, and please keep the discussion respectful.
comment posted at 6:07 AM on Mar-3-22

The Toronto Star reports on the many varied impressions of the convoy worldwide

Politico writes that there are fears that the protests are galvanizing the Right worldwide

Bill Maher pipes up that Truckers "Not Wrong" To Be "Pissed Off" at The Elites Corrupting The System, Trudeau Sounds Like Hitler.

The New York Times reports that leaked data shows Canadians are responsible for roughly half the money raised online for the trucker convoy.

If that's the case, the BBC wants to talk about Trudeau's strategy: Why is he taking such a hard line?

EuracTIF reports on Brussels and Paris pre-emptively banning similar convoys.

comment posted at 7:46 AM on Feb-15-22
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Cyd Harrell, at wired.com: Intrusive surveillance has become a parental rite of passage in America. But the parental panopticon is not a mark of maturity and responsibility but rather of paranoia, distrust, and devolvement. The Kid Surveillance Complex Locks Parents in a Trap.
comment posted at 6:04 AM on Feb-9-22

The leading candidates to replace Erin O'Toole The knives have been out for a while. The so-called "Freedom Convoy" activity in the country is one of the most visible signs of where conservatism in Canada is heading, and I find my hopeful side looking in Peter McKay's direction as one of the least objectionable replacements. Any thoughts?
comment posted at 11:50 AM on Feb-2-22

What happens when cartoons try to make cartoons and fail? This. I Like Pink (1994). Wacky Delly (1996). Dedede: Comin' At Ya! (2002/2003). Handsome Keroro (2004 - skip to 48:53). Mint's Hints (2011).
comment posted at 1:12 AM on Jan-26-22

The Restoration of the Red M&M.
comment posted at 10:40 AM on Jan-20-22

Professional football coach and commentator John Madden has passed away at the age of 85.
comment posted at 7:15 PM on Dec-29-21

Yesterday on Reddit's popular "Am I the Asshole" sub, someone asked 'AITA for ‘enforcing an ethnic stereotype’ by joking that orange cats are often dumb?' about a work conflict between the poster and another (human) employee over potential unfair treatment of new [feline] employee Jorts vis a vis existing [feline] employee Jean. HR stepped in and a recent update shares the resolved situation: mediation has ended with all parties happy with the outcome. Jorts will receive an apology, a new photo of himself to accompany his official staff bio rather than a photo of a sweet potato, and all employees will vow to refrain from buttering other employees in the future, no matter how good their intentions.
comment posted at 8:28 AM on Dec-15-21

Max Verstappen is the 2021 F1 World Champion. Sergio Perez brilliantly blocked Lewis Hamilton for over two minutes turning an 8.5 second gap between Verstappen and Hamilton into a 1.05 second gap and the final lap with that incredible overtake and subsequent defense.
comment posted at 12:47 PM on Dec-12-21

Is China's catch-up growth over? "All things come to an end. Every other spurt of rapid development has eventually slowed to the stately pace of a mature economy. There are basically two reasons this happens. First, as you build more physical capital — more buildings, roads, railways, machine tools, vehicles — the added output of each new piece of capital goes down, while the upkeep costs just keep rising. This is the basis of the famous Solow growth model, and we’ve seen this happen again and again to fast-developing countries. The second reason rapid growth peters out is that it’s easier to copy existing technologies from other countries than to invent new ones yourself." By Noah Smith.
comment posted at 9:04 AM on Nov-22-21
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Tennis star Peng Shuai has not made a public appearance since she accused Zhang Gaoli, a former Chinese vice premier, of sexual assault, sparking off discussions of #MeToo allegations. While the post was removed within minutes, the attention surrounding her has only grown as her silence has gained international attention. A statement and a few photos posted to social media supposedly by Peng Shuai by an employee of Chinese state media was unconvincing to an international audience. High-profile tennis players such as Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and Novak Djokovic are calling for proof of her uncoerced safety. In an unprecedented statement, the WTA CEO Steve Simon has publicly declared that he is willing to lose hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business in China if Peng is not fully accounted for and her allegations are not properly investigated.
comment posted at 5:41 AM on Nov-21-21

What happened to Eric Clapton? The guitar legend has long been inscrutable, but his covid turn has friends and fans puzzled like never before. (Archive link)
comment posted at 10:39 AM on Nov-14-21

In a pop world ruled by Harry Styles, some hard rockers are going Trumpy. Politico spends a medium-length read examining the evolution of the image of men in the music world and what it might imply for politics. It's an interesting prism through which to view the present moment, certainly.
comment posted at 7:26 AM on Nov-1-21

Norm MacDonald, former SNL comedian (among many things) has passed away at 61.
comment posted at 9:48 AM on Sep-15-21

China and Big Tech: Xi's blueprint for a digital dictatorship [ungated] - "By controlling a huge volume of data, Beijing is conducting a grand experiment in 21st century authoritarian governance."
comment posted at 6:35 AM on Sep-10-21

A brief oral history of Idiocracy.
comment posted at 6:05 AM on Sep-9-21

Let's find something new to read! NPR assembled a list of the best Science Fiction and Fantasy books of the last decade. See anything you like?
comment posted at 10:12 AM on Aug-18-21

A Black uprising is shaking Cuba’s Communist regime. Millions around the world know “Patria y Vida” — “Fatherland and Life” — the scintillating music video that inverted the Cuban Communist Party’s slogan — “Fatherland or Death” — and became the anthem of protests in Cuba on July 11. Less familiar is “Oe’ Policia Pinga” — roughly, “F--- the Police” — by the rappers Marichal and Daryelo Sánchez.
comment posted at 5:37 AM on Jul-29-21
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comment posted at 10:17 PM on Jul-29-21

How TV Went From David Brent to Ted Lasso (NYT – non-paywalled link) – Two decades ago, TV’s most distinctive stories were defined by a tone of ironic detachment. Today, they’re more often sincere and direct. How did we get here?
comment posted at 5:43 AM on Jul-27-21

The condition — officially called "cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome" but now known to health care workers as "scromiting," — has popped up with increasing frequency at hospitals in Colorado
comment posted at 9:29 AM on Jul-15-21

The dominant age cohorts today are people who came of age after the Soviet collapse. Their experience of “the Revolution” is one of interminable shortages and unfulfilled promises for reform. Fidel and Raúl Castro, whose prestige as regime founders bolstered popular support among older Cubans, are gone, replaced by a new generation of leaders who have to prove their right to rule by performance. They have to deliver the goods, literally, and so far, they have not been able to do it. [The Nation]
comment posted at 5:47 AM on Jul-14-21