It's a Girl Thing

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*1. It's a Girl Thing

From NYT - Paula Broadwell, David Petraeus and the Afterlife of a Scandal

"This is also the Paula Broadwell who would be publicly portrayed as a "homewrecker," a "stalker," a "temptress," the woman who "brought down the director of the C.I.A." And, perhaps with the most frequency, as the "mistress," a word for which there is no male equivalent."

"Mr. Petraeus is now a partner in a New York private equity firm, and has advised the White House on the war against the Islamic State. He publishes op-ed articles, speaks publicly and has affiliations with three universities, including Harvard."

"Ms. Broadwell has struggled to find her footing."

In the article, Broadwell asks how long she has to pay for her mistake. She has a point. Petraeus kind of gets a pass and is largely moving on. She is still in purgatory. It takes two to tango.

+ From Quartz - To be a female politician in Japan, sometimes you have to put up with being groped by voters

"A Kyodo News survey found that 59% of female local politicians reported sexual harassment from male colleagues and voters."

+ From Quartz - A Chinese parking lot has extra-wide “female only” spaces because women “can’t reverse”

"The spots are outlined in pink and feature the universal symbol for "woman." The female-only spaces are 50% larger than ordinary spaces."

How about some positive female news...

+ From Quartz - A female James Bond is exactly what the franchise needs right now

That female would be Gillian Anderson and I would be okay with her as Bond. However, Idris Elba still gets my vote for the next Bond. What is clear, though, is the Bond franchise is due for a little shakeup.

*2. Tragedy on the High Seas

From BBC - European migrant crisis: Shipwrecks 'kill up to 700 migrants'

"The deaths...point to the lack of solutions to the migrant crisis."

It has been a rough week for migrants trying to get to Europe launching from the North African coast into the Mediterranean Sea. Something is going to have to be done about this.

*3. A Real Life "Minority Report"

From Reveal - Can an algorithm be any better than a coin toss at finding criminals?

"...the risk formula wrongly flagged black defendants as future criminals...the tool was exceptionally bad at predicting future acts of violence."

+ From Ozy - Can This Woman Predict Campus Rape?

"The main innovation of her [Jessica Ladd] platform is that it allows victims to write a report online...without going to the authorities."

We are horrible at predicting the future of ANYTHING - from the stock market, to crime, to social uprisings. Big data trends may hold some promise, but for now the data shows we have a LONG way to go.

*4. Nancy Reagan turned to him [Miles Davis] and asked what he'd done with his life to merit an invitation [to dinner at the White House]...

Miles replied, "Well, I've changed the course of music five or six times."

From FastCompany - Celebrate Miles Davis With This Interactive Website Mapping His Creative Universe

This year is the 25th anniversary of Miles' death. I've only started playing with the tool referenced in the FastCompany article, but it is way more easier than the 75 pages I printed from Wikipedia trying to get my arms around the Miles Davis discography.

*5. Creating a Broken Generation

From NYT - Those With Multiple Tours of War Overseas Struggle at Home

"After 14 years of war, the number of veterans with multiple tours of combat duty is the largest in modern American history. Researchers are finding that [contemporary] fighters do not easily fit into the classic mold of veterans traumatized by their experience in war. [Contemporary] veterans must unlearn the very skills that kept them alive [in combat]: unceasing vigilance; snap decision making; intolerance for carelessness; the urge to act fast and decisively."

We knew something was going to happen to the men we sent into battle. We are understanding better what that something is and now the VA must move rapidly to address this issue, or risk a broken generation.

*BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

* Technology is changing how we live, but it needs to change how we work

* How America Lost Its Mojo (Hint: Cost of housing in most productive cities)

* Map: These are the cities that climate change will hit first (Hint: It's coming faster then we think)

*BONUS STUFF

*From WaPo - The odd story of a crow that meddled in a crime scene — by stealing a knife

You may have seen the above photo on Facebook. I guess that answers that...

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In Service for America

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*1. In Service for America

From NYT - The Graves of the Marines I Lost

It's Memorial Day. Take a moment and remember those that have given the full measure.  Also, if you know a service member thank them, too. They serve for many reasons - their fellow service members, for a job, for college money..., but ultimately they serve for our great country. Deep down they know they are a conflict away from coming home in a box, and by the grace of God do they go. And they do go - whenever they are called - and sometimes they don't come home. And we all reap the amazing rewards of the service they provide. Don't ever take it for granted.

*2. You Gawking Me?!

What started as an entertainment headline along the lines of, "Silicon Valley billionaire takes on Gawker," has now become a deep dive study into how billionaires are trying to take over the media and a full blown First Amendment argument against tech billionaire Peter Thiel's vendetta against Gawker for outing him as gay.

From NYT - Tech Titans Raise Their Guard, Pushing Back Against News Media

"The situation is complicated by the fact that these days rich tech companies, their owners or venture capitalists are as much the owners and producers of the media as the subject."

As a counter to Thiel, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, who also owns First Look Media will...

"in keeping with its mission to protect the First Amendment, be helping to organize supporting briefs for Gawker."

+ From Vox - Gawker was irresponsible, but the precedent Peter Thiel is setting is dangerous

"The crucial point here is that Thiel isn't actually using the legal system as a venue in which to adjudicate his dispute with Gawker; hell, his lawsuit isn't even about his personal dispute with Gawker. Rather, Thiel is using the legal system as a weapon to bleed Gawker in every case."

+ From NYT - Thiel-Gawker Fight Raises Concerns About Press Freedom

+ From WaPo - The chilling effect Peter Thiel’s battle with Gawker could have on Silicon Valley journalism

*3. Fascism?!

From WaPo - In San Diego, Trump shames local ‘Mexican’ judge as protesters storm streets

Is it reasonable to use a political rally to threaten a federal judge?

"'I’ll be seeing you [Judge Gonzalo Curiel] in November, either as president…” Trump said, trailing off. “I think Judge Curiel should be ashamed of himself. I think it’s a disgrace that he’s doing this.” Trump brought up Curiel’s ethnicity: “The judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican…I think the Mexicans are going to end up loving Donald Trump.'"

So, what does he do if he becomes president? Maybe Robert Kagan has it right. In an May 18th WaPo opinion piece he said...

"And is a man like Trump, with infinitely greater power in his hands, likely to become more humble, more judicious, more generous, less vengeful than he is today, than he has been his whole life? Does vast power un-corrupt?"

A couple other interesting articles on this topic...

+ From NYT - Rise of Donald Trump Tracks Growing Debate Over Global Fascism

+ From WaPo - Carl Bildt: Austria's narrow election is a warning signal to all

*4. America is Still Great

From WaPo - America is still great - but it needs to stay strong

This is a timely article given the depressing stories in the previous article compilation. I tend to agree with its conclusion...

"The reality is that America remains the world's leading power, but it can achieve its objectives only by defining its interests broadly, working with others and creating a network of cooperation. That, alas, does not fit on a campaign cap."

*5. Pearl

From Fast Company - Don’t Be Surprised If Google’s New Animated Short Wins An Oscar

"Pearl is the story of a little girl growing up with a struggling, traveling musician for a father. Set completely inside and around a car, the duo drives across the U.S...playing the same song for anyone who will listen. The girl grows up, meets new friends, gets in trouble, and forms a band of her own. The dad grows old, sells out, and never regrets a minute of it."

"There are films that make you feel like a kid again. There are films that make you feel the invincible freedom of your teenage years. And there are films that capture the pangs of parenthood."

"Pearl manages to do all at once—in about six minutes."

Pearl was made by Google Spotlight Stories, which is a team of Pixar and Dreamworks alums, and what they made is pretty awesome. Watch the six minute video and use the 360 view arrows. You will not be disappointed.

*6. North Korean Nonsense

From NYT - North Korea Linked to Digital Attacks on Global Banks

"Security researchers have tied the recent spate of digital breaches on Asian banks to North Korea, in what they say appears to be the first known case of a nation using digital attacks for financial gain." To the tune of $81 million.

Sanctions might be having their intended affects.

+ From WaPo - The secret life of Kim Jong Un’s aunt, who has lived in the U.S. since 1998

"'My friends here tell me I’m so lucky, that I have everything,' Ko Yong Suk...told the Washington Post. 'My kids went to great schools and they’re successful, and I have my husband, who can fix anything. There’s nothing we can envy.'"

"Her husband...chimes in with laughter: 'I think we have achieved the American Dream.'"

Truth be told, I reviewed these two articles because I really wanted to justify writing about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's aunt living in the U.S. Das it!

*BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

* Could you endure the world’s longest nonstop flight? Find out who’s king of the long haul (Hint: It's 17hrs/15min)

* Stunning onboard view follows SpaceX's rocket from space to ocean landing (Hint: SpaceX nailed it AGAIN)

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American Dream

Happy Memorial Day weekend.

Don't want to read? Listen to the Podcast.

*1. American Dream

From WaPo - The story behind the ‘American Dream’ photo at West Point that went viral

This is a great story. 2nd Lt. Alix Idrache is from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I spent a few months in Port-au-Prince and, while it is a beautiful tropical environment, it is probably the worst humanitarian environment I have visited - and I have been to some God-awful places. This story is what the American dream is. It is what makes America the most amazing place on the planet.

"'People where I’m from don’t grow up to be pilots, right?” Idrache said. “Like they don’t dream of flying a helicopter, that’s not something you do. You don’t just say I’m going to be a pilot and make it happen. There’re no aviation, there’re no helicopters, no flight schools. There’re none of that.'"

"'Knowing that one day I will be a pilot is humbling beyond words,” Idrache wrote. “I could not help but be flooded with emotions knowing that I will be leading these men and women who are willing to give their all to preserve what we value as the American way of life. To me, that is the greatest honor. Once again, thank you.'"

*2. Mo Money, NO Problem

From New Yorker - Making It Harder to Hold Banks Accountable

"To federal prosecutors—and to a jury in Manhattan—the hustle [a high risk housing loan created by Countrywide] sounded like fraud. And in 2013, Bank of America, which had by then taken over Countrywide, was found liable for fraud and later ordered to pay a $1.27 billion judgment to the government."

"But this week, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals looked at that judgment and asked this question: If an entity (in this case, a bank) enters into a contract pure of heart and only deceives its partners afterward, is that fraud?"

"The three-judge panel’s answer was no. Bank of America is no longer required to pay the judgment."

And that, friends, is how big business, or big banks, make bazillions of dollars at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer.

In other financial news...

+ From Reuters - New York financial regulator prepares to probe online lenders

"Hailed as a “fintech” rival to traditional banks in the wake of the financial crisis, lenders like LendingClub enjoyed rapid growth and attracted plenty of investor dollars through their promise to provide quick and cheap unsecured personal and business loans online. Unlike banks, which retain some of the risk from the loans they make, marketplace lenders sell the loans on to hedge funds, pension funds or individual investors."

The spirit of this type of lending - letting "Joe American" get a piece of, or create, a venture business - is how America sustains its entrepreneurial spirit. But where this gets ugly is when traditional finance (think hedge funds and big banks) get into the game and start to create monetary instruments to hedge against the success or failure of these ventures.

*3. TSA

From Wired - The Woeful TSA Doesn’t Need More Staff. It Needs This Tech

If you travel, or, especially, if you are traveling this holiday weekend, you are dreading the airport security process. It's broke, has been broke for a long time and everyone knows it. The problem is it's there to keep everyone safe, and, generally speaking, it has in the U.S. We have not had a significant flight related terror incidents in a while.

(@ Also, see In Through the Out Door: There Has to Be a Better Way to Manage Airport Security Breaches)

*4. The Superbug Has Arrived in America

From WaPo - Researchers discover dangerous bacteria in Pa. resistant to last-resort antibiotics

"For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that a top U.S. public health official says could signal 'the end of the road' for antibiotics."

"Scientists and public health officials have long warned that if the resistant bacteria continue to spread, treatment options could be seriously limited. Routine operations could become deadly. Minor infections could become life threatening"

I think we take the miracle of antibiotics for granted and we have over prescribed them and used them illogically in modern livestock practices, and now we could be without their life saving abilities. To me, this ranks up with opioid addiction as a serious public health concern, but I don't think it is getting the attention it requires.

(@ Also, see The Growing Antibiotic Resistance Problem)

In other scary infectious disease news...

+ From NYT - He Survived Ebola. Now He’s Fighting to Keep It From Spreading.

"During the [2014 Western Africa] epidemic, Western media outlets focused much attention on the billion-dollar scramble for high-tech medical solutions...that are still making their way through clinical trials and certifications. But the initiative that holds the most promise for preventing another epidemic is as rudimentary as they come. The governments of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, with assistance from the W.H.O. and NGOs, have tried to train all government health workers in a standard set of practices called Infection Prevention and Control (I.P.C.) and provide these workers with the low-tech, inexpensive equipment — soap, wash buckets, hand sanitizer, gloves, masks, long-sleeved gowns — needed to put those practices into effect. It amounts to basic hygiene, with an emphasis on hand-washing, which remains the single most effective practice for preventing the transmission of infectious disease."

*5. Bracing for Chaos

From WaPo - A growing concern in Cleveland: Chaos off the convention floor

"Amid recurring violence at political rallies held by presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, many local [Cleveland] officials and activists are increasingly worried that this lakeside city is ill-prepared to deal with tens of thousands of protesters and agitators expected to descend on the Republican National Convention here in July."

Boy, I'm glad I don't live in Cleveland (I used to). Starting July 18th, for four days it's going to be the epicenter of the anti-Trump movement, and it's liable to get ugly.

Continuing the violence in America theme...

From WaPo - This could be the reason America is becoming more violent

"But the early reports for 2015 show big increases in violence (up 1.7 percent) and even bigger increases in homicide (up 6.2 percent)."

"There are about 25,000 fewer law enforcement officers in 2012 today than in 2009, which means the number of sworn law enforcement per citizen has declined to a level not seen since 1996."

"There’s no way to know if these numbers are consistent and comparable. But public spending is down overall and the body of evidence suggests that our collective investment in law enforcement has declined. And violence is up."

+ From A.P. - Donald Trump Has Delegate Majority for Republican Nomination, The A.P. Says

*BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

* Elon Musk's quest to make rocket landings routine continues today (Hint: It's going to be coming in hot and fast)

* Is 10,000-steps goal more myth than science? Study seeks fitness truths through our phones and more (Hint: Probably. But the good news is at least you're moving)

* End of an Art Form? The Persian Rug May Not Be Long for This World (Hint: Society values quantity over quality)

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Top of the News Podcast, 26 May

This is a work in progress, so it's ugly, but fun. :-) It will get better.

Top of the News Podcast, 26 May

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"What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here!"

Listen to the Podcast (it's not very good, but I'm trying :-))

*1. "What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here!"

Let's see, Republicans are considering voting for Hillary and Democrats are considering voting for Donald...

From NYT - Explaining Hillary Clinton’s Lost Ground in the Polls

"There has been weakening in her support among Mr. Sanders’s supporters over the last month or so. In April, Mrs. Clinton held between 71 and 82 percent of Mr. Sanders’s supporters; today it’s between 55 and 72 percent."

++ From WaPo - Why so many Sanders supporters don't want to be Democrats

+ From Politico - Trump rally rocked by chaotic protests

This kind of violence didn't even happen during the Bush-Gore battle for the White House. I'd hate to see what happens in a close vote this election...

"Protesters numbered in the hundreds. Down the road from the convention center, protesters waved Mexican flags and chanted “F--- Donald Trump.”

++ From WaPo - Elizabeth Warren just absolutely shredded Donald Trump. There's a lot more like this to come

++ From WaPo - Paul Ryan says he will not be rushed into a Trump endorsement

Ok, now that all that official messiness is out of the way, let's have some fun!

*2. "Brother!"

From NYT - Peter Thiel Is Said to Bankroll Hulk Hogan’s Suit Against Gawker

"A self-described libertarian, Mr. Thiel has a long history with Gawker, which published an article in 2007 outing him as gay. Mr. Thiel, who is now open about his sexual orientation, once described the Gawker-owned site Valleywag as 'the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda.'"

++ From NYT - Gawker Fails to Persuade Judge to Retry Hulk Hogan Case

+ One rich guy (Peter Thiel) started a war (with Gawker). This rich guy (Henry Ford) tried to stop a war (WWI). From OZY - When One of the Richest Men in the World Tried to Stop a War

*3. A Fallen Starr?

So this is why Ken Starr is being nice to Bill Clinton...

From WaPo - Baylor not commenting on reports of President Kenneth Starr's firing

"On Starr’s watch, the school is accused of failing to respond to rapes or sexual assaults reported by at least six women students from 2009-2016."

(@ Also, see Unattractive Losers)

*4. Ride hail, self driving car, or both?

There is a big paradigm shift going on with personal transportation. Google, Apple, Tesla and others are attempting to turn the transportation model (you buy a car and drive it) on its head. And it's working. The future of personal transportation is ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft and self driving cars, or all the above.

From Wired - Calling an Uber Is Cooler Than Owning a Car - And Automakers Want In

While the news headlines make it seem as though the paradigm shift is upon us, the reality (at least by the numbers) is a little different...

+ From Business Insider - The vast majority of people have never tried Uber or Lyft

...but that doesn't mean the auto companies don't see the writing on the wall.

*5. A Day in the Life of a 13yo Girl

Reading this article actually made my heart rate increase. This girl's activity seems so manic, but that is where we are with constantly connected children. Is it a good thing or bad thing?

From WaPo - 13, right now

"She doesn’t respond, her thumb on Instagram. A Barbara Walters meme is on the screen. She scrolls, and another meme appears. Then another meme, and she closes the app. She opens BuzzFeed. There’s a story about Florida Gov. Rick Scott, which she scrolls past to get to a story about Janet Jackson, then “28 Things You’ll Understand If You’re Both British and American.” She closes it. She opens Instagram. She opens the NBA app. She shuts the screen off. She turns it back on. She opens Spotify. Opens Fitbit. She has 7,427 steps. Opens Instagram again. Opens Snapchat. She watches a sparkly rainbow flow from her friend’s mouth. She watches a YouTube star make pouty faces at the camera. She watches a tutorial on nail art. She feels the bump of the driveway and looks up. They’re home. Twelve minutes have passed."

"Nothing her dad could find on her phone shows that for as good as Katherine is at math, basketball and singing, she wants to get better at her phone. To be one of the girls who knows what to post, how to caption it, when to like, what to comment."

*BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

* The Next 007 Could Be Gay, Black Or A Woman (Hint: I vote for Idris Elba)

* Is Donald Trump’s Hair a $60,000 Weave? A Gawker Investigation (Hint: It's all about “microcylinder intervention”)

* Scientists have figured out exactly how much fun it is to get drunk (Hint: Science says it is fun)

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Unattractive losers

*1. Unattractive losers

Ugh... It's already started and we haven't really even started. I guess the question is: which Clinton is Trump running against? Hillary or Bill? This is going to be UGLY.

From WaPo - Trump escalates attack on Bill Clinton

"Trump’s latest shot came Monday when he released an incendiary Instagram video that includes the voices of two women who accused the former president of sexual assault, underscoring the presumptive Republican nominee’s willingness to go far beyond political norms in his critique of his likely Democratic rival."

+ From WaPo - Donald Trump once called Bill Clinton's women unattractive losers

"In other words, Trump is indicting both Clintons for their treatment of women such as Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky, and Juanita Broaddrick, and positioning himself as their chivalrous defender — in order to defuse attacks on his own misogyny."

"It turns out, though, that Trump did not think much of those same women at the time: He dismissed Paula Jones as a “loser” and suggested that Clinton would have gotten into less trouble over Monica Lewinsky if he had had an affair with a woman who was more 'beautiful.'"

And the hits keep coming. You can't make this stuff up...

+ From WaPo - Donald Trump calls global warming a hoax, until it threatens his golf course

"The Trump International Golf Links Ireland, a golf course by the sea in Ireland’s County Clare, faces the Atlantic’s pounding waves and coastal erosion. As Politico reported Monday, the Trump Organization has submitted a permit to build a sea wall, which cites rising sea levels from climate change as a threat. Not just any wall will do — one plan called for a limestone barricade 20 meters wide, what Friends of the Irish Environment’s Tony Lowes described to CNBC as a “monster sea wall” in March."

Finally, in a strange twist of fate...

From NYT - Kenneth Star, Who Tried to Bury Bill Clinton, Now Only Praises Him

"An unlikely voice recently bemoaned the decline of civility in presidential politics, warned that “deep anger” was fueling an “almost radical populism” and sang the praises of former President Bill Clinton — particularly his “redemptive” years of philanthropic work since leaving the White House."

Those around during the Lewinsky/Whitewater investigation know how big of a debacle that was.

*2. What's a Brexit?

Ok, I've been trying to avoid this topic, but it just keeps popping up, and as the vote gets closer (23 June), it will probably only get worse. So, here's the Top of the News piece on Brexit.

First, what is a 'Brexit'? It's the British vote on whether their country should leave the European Union.

From WaPo - What's a 'Brexit'? A guide to Britain's E.U. drama for confused non-Europeans

"No country as large as Britain has voted to leave the union before. By proving that membership in the union is reversible, a Brexit could severely damage the very foundations of the E.U., itself a hugely important attempt to create unity on the continent after the ravages of World War II."

And if you are still interested in Brexit...

+ From New Yorker - The Economic Arguments Against Brexit

"But despite the critiques, the central argument that the Treasury report makes is a sound one. Britain has been a member of the E.U. for more than forty years, and a decision to go it alone would create a period of economic uncertainty for businesses and households, which could in turn have a negative impact on spending. Whether this negative shock would be sufficient to cause an economy that grew at a rate of 2.2. per cent last year to fall into recession can be debated—a lot would depend, as the Guardian’s Allen pointed out, on the policy response. But the effect would be considerable."

Once again, an overarching theme for a Brexit appears to be a rising right-wing "migrants are taking local jobs argument." (@ Also, see "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free")

*3. The Great (Fire)Wall

I think the key here is that you can try to keep the information barbarians at the gate, but people will not be denied information in the information age.

From WaPo - China's scary lesson to the world: Censoring Internet works

"What China calls the “Golden Shield” is a giant mechanism of censorship and surveillance that blocks tens of thousands of websites deemed inimical to the Communist Party’s narrative and control, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and even Instagram."

"Indeed, China’s Firewall is far more sophisticated and multi-tiered than a simple on-off switch: It is an attempt to bridge one of the country’s most fundamental contradictions — to have an economy intricately connected to the outside world but a political culture closed off from such “Western values” as free speech and democracy."

*4. Steak and Eggs for Breakfast

I'm not a big breakfast eater. If it comes to a choice of a few extra minutes of sleep or breakfast, I opt for the sleep.

From NYT - Sorry, There's Nothing Magical About Breakfast

"The bottom line is that the evidence for the importance of breakfast is something of a mess. If you’re hungry, eat it. But don’t feel bad if you’d rather skip it, and don’t listen to those who lecture you. Breakfast has no mystical powers."

*5. It's a small world, after all...or is it the Veteran's Affairs?

From NYT - Veterans Affairs Leader Compares Health Care Delays to Disney Lines

"'The days to an appointment is really not what we should be measuring,” Mr. McDonald responded. “What we should be measuring is the veteran’s satisfaction. What really counts is how does the veteran feel about their encounter with the V.A.? When you go to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? What is important is, what is your satisfaction with the experience.'"

Whoa! What a poor choice of an analogy. After more than 15 years of constant fighting, and thousands of deaths and combat related injuries, the U.S. military service members deserve better than this. The VA should be measuring everything to try to right this ship. What's measured is managed.

BONUS MATERIAL

* Which Rock Star Will Historians of the Future Remember (Hint: Think Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Rolling Stones) (@ Also, see Walk This Way and A Question)

* Neighborhoods Can Shape Success Down to the Level of a City Block (Hint: It's about $$ and education)

Wednesday Art - vertical

"There's something happening here..."

*1. "There's something happening here..."

"What it is ain't exactly clear." It's actually perfectly clear. What China is doing in the South China Sea is making waves. The fact that the U.S. just ended an arms embargo with Vietnam should give you an idea how big the waves are.

From WaPo - In historic move, U.S. lifts embargo on arms sales to Vietnam

"'The decision to lift the ban was not based on China or any other considerations,” he [Obama] said, with the Vietnamese president, Tran Dai Quang, standing stiffly by his side. 'It was based on our desire to complete what has been a lengthy process of moving toward normalization with Vietnam.'"

Uhhh, yea, right...

*2. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"

While there are economic and dissatisfaction with political establishment movements sweeping across Europe and the U.S., the one overarching theme driving a move to the right seems to be migration. Migration because of war or other reasons.

From NYT - Austrian Far-Right Candidate Norbert Hofer Narrowly Loses Presidential Vote

"Just 0.6 percent of the vote kept Norbert Hofer from becoming the first far-right European president since the end of the Nazi era."

"Mr. Hofer campaigned on strengthening the country’s borders and its army, limiting benefits for immigrants and favoring Austrians in the job market."

+ The right-wing is gaining in just about every European country.

*3. This is confusing, but important...and some other tech news

A judge is about to rule whether Google violated copyright laws when it used Oracle's Java application programming interface (API) code in its Android software. It's important because API's (there are many different API's, some proprietary, some open source) create a link between the helpful apps we use to, say, do our banking, to other platforms. A victory for Google means, pretty much, business as usual. App makers can keep using proprietary API for development. A victory for Oracle and the entire app developing ecosystem could get turned on its head.

+ From TechCrunch - The rise of APIs

+ If Google's right about AI, that's a problem for Apple - Google (and Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook) has been sinking a ton of capital into artificial intelligence (AI) development. Apple has not. To facilitate AI resources development, the key requirement is massive amounts of data to help machine learning. The data being used is customer data. Apple has decided to protect its customer data. This could be Apple's downfall.

+ From Wired - Project Ara Lives: Google's Modular Phone Is Ready for you Now

*4. Greenhouse Gas for Greenhouse Cash

This is the first time I've seen global warming issues spill over into investing and it makes complete sense.

From NYT - Exxon Investors Seek Assurance as Climate Shifts, Along With Attitudes

"But there is a growing chorus of investors, many of them large institutional shareholders, who say they are worried that ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded energy company in the world, is not adequately preparing for tighter times if countries start acting on the pledges they made last December as part of the Paris climate change accord."

+ From Fortune - Meet the Private Company That Has Changed the Face of the World

*5. Hey, hey, hey!

From WaPo - At 78, Bill Cosby's life is a blur of legal minutia, lawyers and judges

This is a sad story. Sad if the alleged assaults happened and sad that it took so long for them to come to light. And sad for a generation who grew up with this guy, but now feel hoodwinked. It kind of reminds me of the sad state of the Joe Paterno legacy.

*BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

* Why Google beat Yahoo in the war for the internet (hint: backend engineering)

* How the Elephant Became the Newest Celebrity Cause (hint: stars attract other stars)

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"Y'all Qaeda" or "Vanilla ISIS"

*1. "Y'all Qaeda" or "Vanilla ISIS"

Evidently, "Y'all Qaeda" or "Vanilla ISIS" is what some opponents call members of the rapidly growing anti-government movement popping up around the country (that's kind of funny). This WaPo article is a pretty good rundown on one of these groups. It's kind of scary, but these folks truly think they must take up arms against the government to protect their constitutional rights.

"But a bedrock of their mission is to be an armed and trained paramilitary force. Soper said group members train on “basic infantry” skills: “working a patrol, patrolling with a vehicle, arriving at ‘contact’ and how to protect yourself and escape from that.'"

Another trend is that these groups are political outliers who disassociate with mainstream politics, so they are trending towards Donald Trump's aggressive message.

"MacNab, the George Washington University researcher, said Trump has been a powerful recruiting tool for groups angry at the government. 'The tea party built little bridges between the fringe and the mainstream,” she said. “With Trump, it’s an 18-lane superhighway. He’s literally telling them they’re right.'"

Unfortunately, for the groups that actually do end up fighting the government, it almost never ends well for them.

+ This WaPo opinion piece (This is how fascism comes to America) from Robert Kagan raises some good points that align with the above article. I focussed more on the tie to the anti-government groups than the fascism angle.

"What he [Trump] offers is an attitude, an aura of crude strength and machismo, a boasting disrespect for the niceties of the democratic culture that he claims, and his followers believe, has produced national weakness and incompetence. His incoherent and contradictory utterances have one thing in common: They provoke and play on feelings of resentment and disdain, intermingled with bits of fear, hatred and anger."

"But the phenomenon he has created and now leads has become something larger than him, and something far more dangerous."

"And is a man like Trump, with infinitely greater power in his hands, likely to become more humble, more judicious, more generous, less vengeful than he is today, than he has been his whole life? Does vast power uncorrupt?"

*2. Gun Safety?

And this keeps happening...

'My sister shot herself': 5-year-old dies playing with father's unsecured handgun

"So far in 2016, at least 94 children younger than 18 have picked up a firearm and accidentally shot themselves or someone else, according to data from Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun-control group funded by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. The advocacy group, which compiles shooting data using news reports, found that 278 such shootings occurred in 2015."

Some will read the above quote and say, "Ahhh, that's Bloomberg's data. He's against my constitutional rights to bear arms," or say the article is from the left-leaning Washington Post, so the headline and content is anti-gun. I really don't care whose data it is, or the politics of the news source, there is a dead child and the cause of that death is unacceptable.

"She [neighbor] told the Times-Picayune that Moore [father of the child] is a responsible parent who took gun safety seriously. She told WDSU that Moore’s children were “aware” of their father’s guns but that anytime they were in his home, he put the firearms away."

It only took one time for him not to put the gun away.

*3. Are you crazy?!

According to this article (Most mass shooters aren't mentally ill. So why push better treatment as the answer?), mentally ill people (think schizophrenia and delusions) are not the majority of mass shooters.  Those with sociopathic disorders are the problem. What's the difference? The mentally ill do not know what they are doing, but sociopaths know exactly what they are doing.

"While acknowledging that some of the country’s worst mass shooters were psychotic...experts say the vast majority of such killers did not have any classic form of serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia or psychosis."

"Instead, they were more often ruthless sociopaths whose ­behavior, while unfathomable, can’t typically be treated as mental illness."

*4. Supply Side Economics

I always wondered how the supply-side economic theory (the best way to raise more revenue is to cut taxes and stimulate an economy into overdrive) actually worked in practice. Well, if the state of Kansas is any indication, not well.

"He'd [Kansas governor Sam Brownback] been elected in the tea party wave of 2010 and, with the enthusiastic backing of Republican legislative majorities, launched a "pro-growth tax policy" of dramatic cuts for business and high-earning individuals in 2012 that he promised would be a "shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy" that would create thousands of jobs and boost funding for schools and local governments."

Here's a couple telling datapoints:

"U.S. Department of Commerce data show that, prior to Brownback's tax cuts, Kansas ranked 12th in the nation in personal income growth; after the tax cuts it fell to 41st."

"A handful of school districts in the state had to close early last year for lack of funds, and the state Supreme Court has had to issue orders requiring Kansas to cough up enough money to pay for K-12 education."

*5. Just a taste, man, just a taste...

From WaPo - The dark side of the Internet is costing young people their jobs and social lives

I'm not discounting the fact that someone can be addicted to the Internet. I think it's possible to be addicted to just about anything.  I do call "shenanigans" on the "treatment" being offered.  For $25k the "mission is to help detox residents and teach them the basic life skills they need to properly balance their tech use."

"Residents learn to shop for groceries or do laundry; many come not even knowing how to clean a bathroom."

Come on, man! Those are life skills! Sounds more like a parenting failure.

BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

Do You Love Music? Silicon Valley Doesn't (Also, see Payola from 20 May, Top of the News)

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22 May

*1. One man's dictatorship is another man's...democracy?

Several interesting reads over the weekend about political power. What is a dictatorship and what is a democracy? And a specific dictatorship with ties to Star Wars.

From Ozy - How to Get Away With Dictatorship in the Age of Democracy

"In its 2015 Democracy Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit reckons that just 12 percent of the world's population lives in what it calls "full democracy," down from about 15 percent in 2014. Three in 10 people live under regimes where challenging the status quo is likely to land them in prison, get them tortured or worse."

"The Democracy Index counts 51 dictatorships around the world. These are states without free elections, civil liberties and an independent media, governed by rulers who knock down...others who try to stand up."

"There are those who argue that dictatorship has its benefits — and not just for the dictators."

and this may surprise many (or not)

"The Democracy Index rates the United States a full democracy — but only barely, thanks to race-based police violence, Congressional gridlock and wiretapping."

+ From Ozy  - Yahya Jammeh: The Worst Dictator You've Never Heard Of

"He [Yahya Jammeh] prefers that subjects address him by his full name — His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh — and says he can cure AIDS."

+ From Ozy - Here's one dictator that did not survive the long arm of international justice. How Saddam Hussein Modeled a Paramilitary Unit After Darth Vader

and, speaking of Star Wars, just for fun, this video is VERY funny. You will laugh. Trust me.

Laughing Chewbacca Mask Lady

*2. One man's contractor (mercenary) in another man's...soldier?

"...there are roughly three contractors (28,626) for every U.S. troops (9,800) in Afghanistan, far above the contractor per uniformed military personnel average of America's previous wars. In Iraq today, 7,773 contractors support U.S. government operations — and 4,087 U.S. troops."

Pretty interesting statistics from this FP article. I'm of no opinion whether using contractors is the right approach to modern war, but it's definitely a paradigm shift for conducting the business of war.

+ From NYT - For Obama, an Unexpected Legacy of Two Full Terms at War

"'Americans have learned that it's harder to end wars than it is to begin them,' the president said in the Rose Garden."

++ From WaPo - Since we are talking about Obama, I found this interesting - Don't look now, but Barack Obama is suddenly popular

"But over the course of the year, Obama's approval numbers changed -- quickly, and a lot. In Gallup's most recent weekly average, Obama is at 51-45 -- the exact opposite of where he was on Jan. 1 and a 12-point swing since then."

++ From FP - A slightly different topic, but related to ongoing conflicts and potential future conflicts - Ex-Generals March Into 2016's Political Wars

*3. Brother, can you lend a hand?

I'm no expert on the the cost of college tuition, but it seems to me that the rapid rate of tuition escalation is not sustainable.

From NYT - The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much

"What cannot be defended, however, is the claim that tuition has risen because public funding for higher education has been cut. Despite its ubiquity, this claim flies directly in the face of the facts."

"In fact, public investment in higher education in America is vastly larger today, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than it was during the supposed golden age of public funding in the 1960s."

"In other words, far from being caused by funding cuts, the astonishing rise in college tuition correlates closely with a huge increase in public subsidies for higher education."

"On the other hand, there are no valid arguments to support the recent trend toward seven-figure salaries for high-ranking university administrators..."

@ Also, see 2 May Top of the News, story number 4

*4. Pregnancy In the Time of Zika

From WaPo - CDC monitoring nearly 300 pregnant women with Zika in U.S. states, territories

"The CDC said...it will begin posting a weekly update on the number of Zika-related pregnancy cases it is monitoring. The numbers are expected to rise as the summer mosquito season approaches."

"The escalating numbers [of countries with verified Zika cases] have prompted the CDC to urge pregnant women in particular to avoid traveling to Zika-affected areas, and to abstain from sexual contact for a prolonged period with anyone who has traveled to countries where the virus is circulating."

"In late February, the CDC reported that at least two pregnant women in the United States infected with the Zika virus had chosen to have abortions, while two others had suffered miscarriages. One woman gave birth to an infant with serious birth defects, while two others delivered healthy infants."

"Countries such as El Salvador and Jamaica have urged women to consider postpone pregnancy while the outbreak continues."

Postpone pregnancies. Abort fetuses. Deliver infants with birth defects. Deliver healthy babies. Abstain from sex. Wow! Those are some seriously difficult decisions.

*5. We don't swim in your toilet, please don't pee in our pool. Gross!

"Routine inspection...revealed that 80 percent of public pools, hot tubs, and spas presented at least one health or safety violation. And one of every eight of those venues had to be closed immediately because of a serious threat to public health."

"But it gets worse. Of all the pools that inspectors looked at, kiddie pools had the highest proportion of violations that led to closures. The researchers found that a fifth of kiddie pools had to be shut down immediately following an inspection. So kids clearly aren't swimming in the cleanest of waters."

From The Verge - Pools are gross, new CDC study confirms

BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

* Presidential Swag and the Gift Horse

* The average age for a child getting their first smartphone is now 10.3 years

* Opioid Prescriptions Drop for First Time in Two Decades (@ Also, see 5 May Top of the News, story number 1)

* In Sweden, an Experiment Turns Shorter Workdays Into Bigger Gains and How to adopt a 5-hour workday and make time for extraordinary living

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Top of the News - 20 May

*1. The Growing Antibiotic Resistance Problem

It's well documented and it is scary. Many common, treatable infections are becoming resistant to antibiotics. A sobering report to be released by the UK government estimates

"If antibiotics continue to lose their sting, resistant infections will sap $100 trillion from the world economy between now and 2050, equivalent to $10,000 for every person alive today. Ten million people will die every year, roughly one every three seconds, and more than currently die from cancer. These are conservative estimates: They don’t account for procedures that are only safe or possible because of antibiotics, like hip and joint replacements, gut surgeries, C-sections, cancer chemotherapy, and organ transplants."

The main causes of the antibiotic resistance are

"Of the 40 million people who get antibiotics in the U.S. every year, only 13 million actually need them; the rest have viral infections that can’t be treated with these drugs."

and

"In the U.S. alone, 70 percent of antibiotics that are medically useful to humans are given to animals instead, and not just for treating disease but for promoting growth or compensating for poor farming practices."

This appears to be an "all hands on deck" type problem, but I don't think it's getting the attention it requires.

*2. Faster - Higher - Stronger???

Given the latest discovery of alleged systematic doping by the Russians at the Sochi Olympics, the Zika virus issue in Brazil, the ever increasing cost (and decreasing gain) for countries to host the Olympics and longstanding corruption associated with just about every aspect of the games, you have to ask: Have the Olympics outlived the "Olympic ideal?"

From WaPo - The Olympic Sinkhole and Stop the Olympics

+ From NYT - Integrity of Olympics Takes Blow, But Does That Deter Fans?

*3. Winter is coming for the AI war

The Big 5 tech companies (Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook. You could add IBM and make it the Big 6) are all betting big on artificial intelligence (AI) as a platform. If they can dominate AI as a platform (think Microsoft dominating personal computing with Windows and Office software), they think they dominate the next stage of the information age. The key buzzword in AI is "machine learning," and trying to incorporate that machine learning into tools (or Internet of Things) that will make your life easier and keep you coming back, so they can sell you more stuff.

From NYT - The Race Is On to Control Artificial Intelligence, and Tech's Future

+ From Wired - Say 'Hello" to Allo, Google's New AI-Powered Messaging App and Google Home Is Cool, But Catching Amazon's Echo Won't Be Easy

*4. Payola

If you are a fan of music services like Pandora, Spotify, iTunes, etc., the issue of fair pay for fair play (and write and produce and market and...you get the idea) is a big deal. The music industry compensation model is way antiquated and not evolving fast enough to keep up with modern technology. And that not only applies to pay for music, it's the laws that govern the compensation for the creative process in the Internet age. And, to be fair to companies like Pandora and Spotify, it's codifying the business rules for what is required compensation for the creative process.

From New Yorker - Congress’s Chance to Be Fair to Musicians

"The music business is at a paradoxical crossroads. Listeners consume more music in more ways and in more places than at any time in history. Many Americans spend their waking hours with buds in their ears: walking down the street, commuting, even when working. This kind of immersion in music was never previously possible. But this abundance has not meant prosperity for the people who make it possible—quite the opposite."

"The only countries that don’t pay performers for their work on the radio are, amazingly, China, Iran, North Korea—and the United States."

*5. Mirror, Mirror...

Finally, a scientific answer to why some women spend so much time getting ready. Drum roll, please..................it's all about money.

From WaPo - The real reason that so many women have to spend so much time getting ready

"Controlling for other differences like age, race and education, individuals who were rated as more attractive by an interviewer earned around 20% more than people who were rated as having just average attractiveness."

This explains why I am so poor...

BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

* Google's 'wacky' idea that will leave pedestrians glued to cars after crashes

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Top of the News - 19 May

*1. Day 1: Google I/O Wrap-up

Google's annual I/O Conference is in full swing and the tech company is announcing a bunch of new stuff. Key product announcements: Google Home to compete with Amazon Echo; Allo messaging app to compete with FB Messenger (WhatsApp); and Duo video chat app to compete with FaceTime. The foundation behind these new tools is Google assistant, which is Google Now on AI steroids.

None of this stuff is available for use, yet. Google says, "This summer."

The Verge has a good rundown of all the big stuff announced - The 10 biggest announcements from Google I/O 2016

+ From WaPo - Google Home, Google Assistant and other big announcements from Google’s developer conference

+ And in Google's own words, from Official Google Blog - I/O: Building the next evolution of Google

*2. There goes the market...

From NYT - Fed Is Seriously Considering Raising Interest Rates in June, Meeting Minutes Say

"The Federal Reserve sent a sharp, simple message to financial markets on Wednesday: Pay attention."

And that message caused this...

Market Is Mixed After Release of Fed Minutes

Ugh...

*3. "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue"

From NYT - U.S. Returns a Stolen Christopher Columbus Letter, but Mystery Remains

"What remain a mystery — or at least the subject of a continuing investigation — are the crucial particulars to fill in the gaps of an intriguing, international case of whodunit."

+ And just because it's funny... - The Sopranos Guys attacking Columbus Day protesters

*4. Building tires for electric cars

From Wired - The Obsessive, Secretive Race to Make the Perfect Tire for Electric Cars

"Electric vehicles complicate things further, because they demand more of everything. They lack the roar of an engine to drown out the brain-numbing drone of rubber on asphalt, so quiet matters. Range is crucial, so the tires must play their part in pulling every mile from every watt. The torquey performance demands rubber stout enough to keep up. And electrics are expensive enough without worrying about buying them new shoes every few thousand miles."

*5. A Hangar Filled With Tragic Memories

From NYT - Once Filled With Symbols of Hope and Despair, a 9/11 Repository Is Set to Close

"Hangar 17 at Kennedy International Airport is large enough to house a Boeing 747. For 14 years, however, it has held something much larger: the morning of Sept. 11, 2001."

BONUS MATERIAL

*"Walk This Way" (Spend some time with this. Really. You won't be disappointed.)

This WaPo interactive article on the making of the Aerosmith/Run-DMC "Walk This Way" collaboration is AWESOME. I'm always intrigued by the creative process that delivers iconic art, and this is a special look at how this collaboration came to be.

The inside story of when Run‑DMC met Aerosmith and changed music forever

"It’s 1986. Rap music is explosive and on the rise but still misunderstood and barely represented in the mainstream. The leading innovators are Run-DMC, a trio from Queens who sport black leather jackets and unlaced Adidas sneakers. Two albums into their career, Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell are already minor stars and musical revolutionaries. For their third album, producer Rick Rubin, a 22-year-old white kid from New York University, comes up with a crazy idea: He recruits Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the leaders of the down-and-out arena-rock group Aerosmith, to collaborate with Run-DMC on a new version of their 1970s staple “Walk This Way.”

BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

* Heavenly Aerials of Pools Will Send You Right Into Summer

* Why High-Skilled Freelancers Are Leaving Corporate Life Behind

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Top of the News - 18 May

*1. Who's zooming who?

If you follow the financial markets, or are concerned with the state of the American economy in general, this article from Time is a must read. It's the best summary of the problems our economy has been having that I have read. The central question of the article, which is adapted from the book "Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and the Fall of American Business" by Rana Foroohar, is: Are financial institutions doing things that provide clear, measurable benefit to the real economy? The simple answer is no, and it's kind of a big deal.

"America's economic illness has a name: financialization. It's an academic term for the trend by which Wall Street and its methods have come to reign supreme in America, permeating not just the financial industry but also much of American business. It includes everything from the growth in size and scope of finance and financial activity in the economy; to the rise of debt-fueled speculation over productive lending; to the ascendancy of shareholder value as the sole model for corporate governance; to the proliferation of risky, selfish thinking in both the private and public sectors; to the increasing political power of financiers and the CEOs they enrich; to the way in which a 'markets know best' ideology remains the status quo. Financialization is a big, unfriendly word with broad, disconcerting implications."

*2. Spaces

Google is still trying to figure out the social Web with this confusing new app

"Here's the basic concept: Spaces wants to give you new ways to set up group chats with your friends. In these chatrooms, you can plan trips, talk about shared interests and, of course, link each other to relevant YouTube videos and Google search results."

+ From Official Google Blog - Introducing Spaces, a tool for small group sharing

++ Not related to Spaces, but tangentially related to Google - We now know who owns the government surveillance SUV disguised as a Google Maps car

"On Thursday, the Philadelphia Police Department admitted to Motherboard that the SUV is one of its vehicles. But not all of the questions surrounding the surveillance SUV are solved."

++ Also, not related to Spaces, this article talks about what Google is doing with a ridesharing initiative using Waze. Most people don't know Google owns Waze. It does. From WaPo - This experiment puts Google one step closer to driverless ridesharing

"The pilot program, which is being offered via Google's Waze navigation app, aims to connect commuters who need a ride with drivers who can supply one. In exchange, riders will help cover the drivers' fuel costs. Consolidating rides means fewer cars on the road — which is better for traffic congestion and the environment, according to Waze."

*3. Is Buffett getting bullish on tech stocks?

First, we learned he was in cahoots with Dan Gilbert in a bid for Yahoo! Now this...

Warren Buffett's Berkshire takes $1 billion bite of Apple

All the Berkshire Hathaway folks gotta be wondering what is going on.

+ Warren Buffett never liked tech stocks. So why does he own Apple?

*4. Girl Power!

From WaPo - Girls outscore boys on inaugural national test of technology, engineering skills

"The test was designed to measure students’ abilities in areas such as understanding technological principles, designing solutions and communicating and collaborating. Girls were particularly strong in the latter."

"Among eighth-grade students in public and private schools, 45 percent of girls and 42 percent of boys scored proficient on the exam, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. Overall, 43 percent of all students were proficient."

More proof for my theory that woman should run the world.

*5. DON'T. FEED. THE. ANIMALS.

Recent news that a baby bison had to be euthanized because of careless actions by tourists visiting Yellowstone is heartbreaking and ridiculous.

From WaPo - Baby bison dies after Yellowstone tourists put it in their car because it looked cold

"The bison’s death was the latest in a seemingly unending parade of incidents that underscore the foolishness of approaching, feeding, taking selfies with — or, in this case, trying to help — wildlife."

+ From NPR - Keeping Bears Wild — Or Trying To — At National Parks

BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

* What do we really want out of Facebook?

* Finding Organ Donors Concealed in Plain Sight

LONG WEEKEND READS

* What the AI Behind AlphaGo Can Teach Us About Being Human

"Move 37 was the moment machines and humanity finally began to evolve together."

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