Monday, June 6, 2016

WENT TO A DONALD TRUMP RALLY AND A FIGHT BROKE OUT

Listen to the PODCAST (5:56)

*1. WENT TO A DONALD TRUMP RALLY AND A FIGHT BROKE OUT

"Donald Trump's campaign has become a locus for confrontation and instability, and that attracts the sort of people who see violence as an acceptable way to get things done." We are better than this. From Vox - Donald Trump rallies are only going to get more dangerous for everyone

+"Just since he [Trump] announced his candidacy a year ago, at least 70 new cases have been filed, about evenly divided between lawsuits filed by him and his companies and those filed against them. And the records review found at least 50 civil lawsuits remain open even as he moves toward claiming the nomination. Trump’s history of legal actions provides clues about his style as a leader and manager. While he is quick to take credit for anything associated with his name, he is just as quick to distance himself from failures and to place responsibility on others. The number of lawsuits raises questions about potential conflicts and complications if Trump does win the White House. Dozens of cases remain unresolved, about half in which he is the plaintiff. It raises the possibility of individuals being sued by the president of the United States, or suing him, in non-governmental disputes." From USA Today - Trump's 3,500 lawsuits unprecedented for a presidential nominee

+ And it just keep coming... "Mr. Dickerson ["Face the Nation" host] asked Mr. Trump if, in his view, a Muslim judge would be similarly biased because of the Republican presumptive nominee’s call for a ban on Muslim immigrants. 'It’s possible, yes,' Mr. Trump said. 'Yeah. That would be possible. Absolutely.'" From NYT - Could a Muslim Judge Be Donald Trump Neutral? Trump Thinks Not

+ And finally, from WaPo - The media have reached a turning point in covering Donald Trump. He may not survive it. "It was excellent work [coverage of Trump's fundraiser for military charities]. And Trump’s attack on them [journalists] for doing their jobs the way those jobs are supposed to be done couldn’t have been better designed to get every other journalist to want to do the same. They’re no different than anyone else: When you make a direct attack on their professionalism, they’re likely to react by reaching back to their profession’s core values to demonstrate that they can live up to them. So we’re beginning to see [those] corrections appear right in the body of stories: the reporter relays what Trump said, and notes immediately that it’s false. Trump may have wanted to intimidate them [journalists] , but it’s likely to have the opposite effect."

*2. THE DOUBLE HELIX

"Scientists [last week] formally announced the start of a 10-year project aimed at vastly improving the ability to chemically manufacture DNA, with one of the goals being to synthetically create an entire human genome. The project, which will be run by a new nonprofit organization called the Center of Excellence for Engineering Biology. Whether the federal government will support the project is still unknown." From NYT - Scientists Announce HGP-Write, Project to Synthesize the Human Genome

+ "Crispr describes a series of DNA sequences discovered in microbes, part of a system to defend against attacking viruses. Microbes make thousands of forms of Crispr, most of which are just starting to be investigated by scientists. If they can be harnessed, some may bring changes to medicine that we can barely imagine." Last week, scientist "found that an ordinary mouth bacterium makes a form of Crispr that breaks apart not DNA, but RNA — the molecular messenger used by cells to turn genes into proteins. If scientists can get this process to work in human cells, they may open up a new front in gene engineering, gaining the ability to precisely adjust the proteins in cells, for instance, or to target cancer cells." From NYT - Scientists Find Form of Crispr Gene Editing With New Capabilities

*3. GREEN ALL THE WAY

"The country’s [Norway's] four leading political parties have reportedly agreed to a plan to stop selling gasoline-powered cars by 2025, according to energy blog Electrek, citing a report in the Norwegian business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv. From Quartz - Norway has reportedly reached a deal to ban gas-powered car sales by 2025

+ So, will self-driving cars and Uber's lead to change in the secondary businesses created by the automobile industry? Think drive-through windows; life as we know it in the suburbs, driving to Walmart or getting a pickup truck full of supplies from Home Depot. How about roadside hotels? Do you really need to stop for the night when your self-driving car will keep going? From TechCrunch - Dear auto entrepreneurs, please think outside the gearbox

*4. WANNA GET AWAY?

Given the state of the U.S. political system and this year's battle for the White House, we all would like to just get away. Maybe move to Mars. On tech entrepreneur Elon Musk's (owner of SpacEx and Tesla) Mars, "The form of government on [Mars] would be a direct democracy, not representative," Musk explained without missing a beat. "So it would be people voting directly on issues. And I think that's probably better because the potential of corruption is substantially diminished in a direct versus a representative democracy." I guess, based on his ownership of SpacEx, Musk might actually have a say in a Mars government because he might be one of the first there... From Recode - Here’s how government will work on Mars, according to Elon Musk

*5. MONEY FOR NOTHING

"Swiss voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to guarantee an income to Switzerland’s residents, whether or not they are employed, an idea that has also been raised in other countries amid an intensifying debate over wealth disparities and dwindling employment opportunities." The vote was important because, "A recent poll done by DemoScope, in January 2016, showed 59% of people under 35 believe basic income will become reality in Switzerland. Young people seem to overwhelmingly support a universal basic income – making it a political likelihood in the decades to come." From NYT - Guaranteed Income for All? Switzerland’s Voters Say No Thanks and from Quartz - Why Switzerland’s Universal Basic Income referendum matters, even though it failed

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