HEH: Diamond and Silk Tell Kamala Harris, ‘You Keep Your Reparations.’ “You don’t get to buy my silence.”
Archive for 2019
March 1, 2019
WHAT COULD GO WRONG?: Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signs nation’s first statewide rent control law.
SOUTH KOREA’S PRESIDENT MOON: In a ceremony commemorating the March 1, 1919 Korean protests against Japanese colonial rule, President Moon Jae-in articulated a vision for a “new Korean Peninsula regime.”
We will establish a permanent peace regime without fail on the basis of our unwavering will, close ROK-U.S. coordination, a settlement in North Korea-U.S. talks and support from the international community,” he said.
In his speech he promised close cooperation with Japan. He also said South Korea will establish an “inter-Korean” economic committee “when there is progress in denuclearization.”
This wire service report has some background on the 1919 protests. The Japanese colonial government brutally punished the pro-independence demonstrators. The Korea chapter of my latest book briefly discusses the hideous legacy of Japanese colonial rule. Here’s a condensed quote from a section discussing issues that hinder 21st century diplomacy: “East Asian ethnic savagery has seeded deep historical and ethno-nationalist resentments that hinder contemporary political relations and cultural interaction…North and South Koreans despise the Japanese—Tokyo’s brutal “integration” policies while Japan ruled Korea as a colony (1905–1945) and WWII sex slavery (Korean “comfort women” servicing Japanese troops) are two poisonous examples [of ethnic savagery]…” Ugly history precedes 1905 and the ugly history scars the present. Koreans still resent the war crimes committed against them by Japanese and Chinese soldiers in the Imjin War (1592–1598) — and the Chinese were nominally Korean allies. But change happens. South Korea and Japan have become allies. China and North Korea are a mutual threat. The U.S. has also served as a diplomatic and security connection.
THIS MAY BE THE FUNNIEST VIDEO YOU SEE THIS MONTH: Pint-sized Picasso Making Waves in the Art World. It would be hilarious if came from The Onion. It’s even funnier because it’s not meant to be satire.
THAT’S DIFFERENT BECAUSE SHUT UP: Yale’s cabinet is as white and male as Trump’s: analysis.
SURVEILLANCE STATE, AISLE SIX: Creeping on You in the Cold Drinks Aisle.
A new digital door technology from a company called Cooler Screens is now being tested in Walgreens, and it sounds absolutely awful. Rather than a basic, transparent glass door, coolers and freezers will be sealed by screens that show a sanitized image of the products behind them. Supposedly, these screens will:
• Save energy
• Help monitor inventory
• Help customers with poor eyesight
• Make products more visually appealing
That’s all nice enough, and those mild benefits might even be worth replacing a simple glass pane with a complex TV screen. However, further reading ultimately makes those benefits sound like nothing so much as an after-the-fact justification for the real motives behind this technology.
Flashing banner ads float between the digital rows of goods…in addition to the flashy ads and “smart” merchandising, these screens are equipped with sensors and cameras designed to watch and profile the appearance and actions of customers who find themselves in their path, like me. Approximate age and gender. How long my gaze lingers on the bottles of tea.
It’s a sure thing all the info collected will wind up in someone’s database.
MORTAR TRAINING, CAMP SCHWAB, OKINAWA: USMC mortar crew puts a round down range.
OH: Chinese Auto Market Not As Hot As Everyone Thought.
Despite amassing a network of factories that could theoretically outproduce the rest of the world, the Asian country’s automotive sector only operates at about half its total capacity. That’s disconcerting. Even Europe, site of some serious industrial headwinds of its own, manages to operate around 70 percent capacity.
While the reasons for China’s woes are ludicrously complicated, one of the most pressing issues is that its economy is slowing much earlier than anticipated. Automakers, both foreign and domestic, almost universally believed that The People’s Republic would surpass the United States as the world’s largest automotive market — and they were right. But investments kept pouring in, factories were built, and the market started to cool prematurely. The situation only grew worse as incentives dried up and people began buying fewer cars; now, 2019 is shaping up to be a very bad year for the nation’s automotive sector.
Voters in free countries get a chance to throw the bastards out during a downturn. I wonder how the Chinese will vent their frustrations.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: UC campuses are requiring math professor applicants to provide diversity statements. Both former and current academics have said that such requirements ‘trivialize’ diversity. Also, math.
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LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: It’s a condensed edition, but with more than enough linky goodness to start your day.
CYBERSECURITY: Comcast set Xfinity Mobile PINs to ‘0000’ by default, leaving customers vulnerable to hacks.
Comcast left customers of its Xfinity Mobile phone service vulnerable to hacks and identify theft by setting the default PIN codes of its accounts to “0000,” making it easy for malicious third parties to steal customers’ identities. The vulnerability was pointed out by one user who wrote in to The Washington Post to describe “a tech horror story,” which Comcast then confirmed.
The hacked user, from California, told the Post he had his phone number hijacked and transferred to a new account, with his credit card still attached to the new phone. The hacker then used the card to buy a new Apple computer in Georgia. If the PIN sounds familiar, that might be because Kanye West made headlines for setting his iPhone X password to 000000 — not a great look for any standard tech user or hip-hop mogul, but an even worse one for the IT department of a enormous telecommunications company servicing tens of millions of people.
There’s no excuse for this kind of thing in 2019, or even 2009.
WEIRD, THAT DOESN’T FIT THE NARRATIVE: Poll: Half of voters reject socialism, Democrats scared of label.
Despite the lure of free healthcare, free college, open borders and a costly “Green New Deal,” voters reject socialism by a wide margin, casting doubt on the leftward lurch of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.
A new Zogby Analytics survey found that 29 percent have a favorable view of socialism while 49 percent don’t.
And while Democrats have a favorable view of socialism, by a 44 percent to 26 percent margin, they thoroughly reject renaming the party after the Karl Marx philosophy.
Well, good.
READINESS: Navy Short 6,200 At-Sea Sailors Now to Meet New Manning Requirements.
According to the written testimony from Grady and U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. John Aquilino submitted for the hearing, the missing sailors are from the mid-grade and senior enlisted ranks that will take years to train and place in the fleet. The pair indicated there wasn’t a specific set of billets they needed to fill with the new sailors but rather that they were needed across platforms at sea.
That number could grow as the Navy adds ships to the fleet and personnel needs rise, Grady said. Growing sailors fast enough to the level of technical ability to operate the proposed 355 ships is set to be a major challenge for the service and a key focus of the Navy’s ongoing surface reform effort.
Acute manning problems were found to be a factor in the fatal collisions of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) and USS John McCain (DDG-56). For example, Fitzgerald did not have lookouts on the bridge wing immediately before the crash, and sailors aboard McCain weren’t qualified to use the helm controls which contributed to its collision.
Not good.
CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Oklahoma Becomes 15th Permitless Gun-Carry State.
MEGHAN MURPHY: Why I’m Suing Twitter.
Earlier this year, lawyers acting on my behalf filed a legal complaint against Twitter in California. The social media behemoth has been suspending accounts, not because users break Twitter rules, but because they break rank. Despite repeated claims that the platform exists as a space for free speech, and the company’s professed public commitment to refrain from banning users for ideological reasons, Twitter is now doing just that. Those who fail to adhere to the company’s preferred politics are picked off, with no accountability to speak of.
During an interview on a recent podcast, Sam Harris pressed Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on the recent ideological crackdown. Dorsey responded that the platform did not generally ban people for “one tweet,” but that it looked at “behaviours in the background” to determine which users should be suspended. Dorsey referenced behaviours like “doxing,” “threats of violence,” operating multiple accounts in order to harass particular people, and inducing “troll armies intending to silence someone.” I have done none of these things, yet was banned from the platform anyway, supposedly for breaking Twitter rules. Which rules? I can’t tell you—because Twitter hasn’t told me.
It’s Calvinball all the way down.
EVERYTHING IS SEEMINGLY SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL UNDER TRUMP: FBI: Crime Dropped in 2018: Violent crime rate declined 4.3%, robbery and burglary down double digits.
FORCE MULTIPLIER: Boeing unveils its 38ft-long autonomous ‘Loyal Wingman’ drone that uses AI to fly alongside piloted aircraft and is designed to carry missiles or bombs.
The unmanned drone, dubbed the ‘Loyal Wingman,’ is 38 feet long, has a 2,000 nautical mile range and is equipped with onboard sensors that enable it to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, as well as electronic warfare.
It’s particularly suited for long-distance surveillance missions that humans can’t typically perform, according to the firm.
Wingman may also be able to carry missiles or bombs at some point in the future. Boeing hopes to sell the planes to customers around the world, though for now it remains a prototype design.
Faster, please.