Tuesday Links - 8 October

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony starts things off with another story about the SEC. Daily News Stuff 5 October 2024: The Magic Word Is Tapioca Edition

After getting smacked down by the courts last year, the SEC is going after the Ripple blockchain yet again. (CNBC)

It's the usual thing: The SEC says that everything and anything is a security without ever issuing any written regulations.

They just show up out of the blue with a lawsuit, and if you win, they just do it again the next year.

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Supposed New Hezbollah Head Presumed Exploded

At this point, does anyone want to become a big wig in Hezbollah and Hamas? Because Israel keeps bumping them off with impunity

Miguel Gonzalez - Must be Election Year: Hurricane? What Hurricane? Victims, Death and Destruction you say?

This is CNN home page just know. the section in red are all the coverage given to the aftermath of Helene.

The Other McCain - Happy [Belated] Birthday to Me. (October 6th)

Today is my 65th birthday — old enough to qualify for Social Security, but still working. It’s been four days since I updated the blog, but my day job kind of interfered with the blogging schedule this week. Also, I keep doing that thing where I begin an article, write hundreds or even thousands of words, and then abandon the draft because some news event interrupts.

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 6 October 2024: Dexanthanisation Edition

Back at the dawn of time - which is to say, a few years ago - when an AI didn't know how to answer a question it would say it didn't know how to answer the question. Either that or tie itself into knots, spit out an entire ream of gibberish, and crash.

AIs today are much more sophisticated. Like many humans when they don't know how to answer a question, they lie. (Ars Technica)

Roberta X - Like Ball Bearings

The oak trees produce acorns. Any more, they produce a lot of acorns. I was walking across the lot, both hands full, and managed to look one direction while turning the other way. I put my foot down on a mess of acorns, and it started to go out from under me. I took a big step to get my balance back -- and put my other foot onto more acorns. They might as well have been marbles. Zip! I was going over and I knew it. I tossed the conduit parts away (a condulet and some 1" rigid couplers and locknuts), tried to get my hands up, managed to avoid smashing my face into a curb and came down hard and sliding on my right hand and left knee, followed by right knee and right breast. Knocked the wind out of me and I laid there.

Jews Can Shoot - The Poisoned River of Communism and the Flowing Corpses of the Drowned

In communism, the state, incarnated in one political party, owns all means of production, distribution, and even consumption, ostensibly under an egalitarian and “on need” basis. In practice, communist party officials, as political elites, are “more equal than others,” and reserve to themselves their “fair share” at the expense of the masses. Moreover, communism comes about by the “class struggle” and imposition by force and violent revolution, for the establishment of the “dictatorship of the proletariat.”

Professor David Yamane at Gun Culture 2.0 - Final Stretch of Gun Curious Appearances?

I am up early this morning traveling to Wilmington, Delaware to talk about American gun culture and Gun Curious: A Liberal Professor’s Surprising Journey Inside America’s Gun Culture.

Clayton Cramer - Where Did All the Workers Go?

Is everyone under 30 in Mom's basement playing video games or trying to be an influencer?

Again from The Other McCain - Death by Online Misadventure

Among the many possible lessons that might be learned from this bizarre case, arguably the most crucial is this: You have no idea who is really behind that sexy-looking online profile you might encounter in your Internet browsing. It is very easy to create fake personas on the Internet — or so I have been told by the former deputy Minister of the Interior of Nigeria, who sent me an email inviting me to get rich with his assistance.

Adaptive Curmudgeon gets the last word. WYBDR: Wobbly Launch Into A Herd Of Cattle

The first part of my trip was on pavement, which was disappointing. Immediately, I rode smack dab into the middle of a cattle drive! How cool is that? [SNIP]

I idled quietly on the opposite side of the pavement. A meek tourist watching a trainload of steak shuffle past; skillfully escorted by horse mounted testosterone and some smart dogs.

I took no pictures. I was there. I saw it. That’s all I need.