Start worrying when Americans begin evacuating South Korea.
Very scary.
But Economist believes war in 2018 is unlikely. U.S. should use Cold War tactics to contain. Tougher sanctions.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Category: things getting worse
American politics went batshit crazy starting with Newt Gingrich
I ignored American politics until 2004 when — inexplicably — George W. Bush was elected for a second term after being unbelievably bad in his first term.
What the Hell was going on?
Jim VandeHei explains why the USA has such extreme politics in 2017: Newt Gingrich, Fox News (1996), MSNBC, CNN, Facebook and later Twitter, Sarah Palin and finally Trump.
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert documented the idiocy.
How American politics went batshit crazy
It’s easy to say Americans deserve the politicians they have.
My fear is that other nations will evolve in the direction of the American way. 😦
you might be killed by a drone
Greg linked to this video. I thought it was real … for the first few minutes.
It’s fiction. Black Mirror scary.
Click PLAY or watch Slaughterbots on YouTube.
The video was created by Autonomousweapons.org and Stuart Russell, a Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley. …
Google, Facebook, Amazon and Twitter should be regulated
Great article.
Al Franken:
Last week’s hearings demonstrated that these companies may not be up to the challenge that they’ve created for themselves. In some instances, it seems that they’ve failed to take commonsense precautions to prevent the spread of propaganda, misinformation, and hate speech. …
… we can’t trust the companies to get it right …
… as has become alarmingly clear in recent months, these companies have unprecedented power to guide Americans’ access to information and potentially shape the future of journalism. It should go without saying that such power comes with great responsibility. …
ProPublica recently revealed that up until two months ago, Facebook allowed advertisers using the company’s self-service ad-buying platform to target more than 2,000 people who expressed interest in the topic of quote “Jew hater” and other antisemitic themes. …
As it stands now, Google and Facebook control 75% of all internet news traffic referrals …
Currently, Amazon controls over 83% of e-book sales, nearly 90% of online print sales, and almost 99% of digital audio sales.
Amazon has since used its unprecedented monopsony power to force publishers to agree to contract terms and conditions that the publishers say have stalled price competition …
… how do we ensure transparency and accountability from them going forward?
We must not let big tech threaten our security, freedoms and democracy
Has the USA already peaked?
Some argue that the USA peaked in the 1990s.
Under Trump it certainly seems that the States now have far less world authority and moral influence. Americans consider their politicians corrupt and ineffective.
The Republican / Democrat split solidified by gerrymandering would seem to make gridlock inevitable.
But having toured Washington DC the past 3 days, I’m not so sure the USA is on permanent decline.
My favourite attraction on the mall was the Washington Monument.
Very inspiring.
It’s the world’s tallest stone structure and the world’s tallest obelisk.
George Washington is inspiring too:
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.
Like the USA, the Washington Monument has problems. $2-3 million is needed to modernize the elevator.
Has the USA peaked? For some reason I think the best is yet to come.
The nation will have to rally around one leader and Party. A fiscally conservative Democrat. Or moderate Republican.
Dinosaurs like Jeff Sessions will need to go extinct for the nation to move forward. Trump is the worst American leader of all time. By far. The sooner his regime ends, the better.
neo-Nazis in southern California
The twist on these Nazi wannabes is that they are into inflicting physical violence.
For some reason authorities haven’t done much yet to put them in jail. Or back in jail. Many have a criminal history.
Guys like this are energized by Trump, of course.
Racist, Violent, Unpunished: A White Hate Group’s Campaign of Menace
Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.
THE definitive commentary on #TakeAKnee
I think people should just stick to their profession, that is, unless they agree with me politically
Best quote:
Thinking NFL players are protesting the flag and the military is like thinking Rosa Parks was protesting public transportation
“America’s Team” — along with its famous billionaire owner Jerry Jones — kneeled BEFORE the national anthem on Monday Night Football. Good move, Cowboys. A smart compromise.
Stephen King – The Stand
Stephen King has 7 book adaptations coming to TV or film in 2017. He’s bigger than ever.
This may be the second Stephen King book I’ve read after 11/22/63: A Novel. Millions love The Stand, many considering it to be his best.
Obviously King’s a great story teller with mass appeal.
There are some terrific characters in this book. King understands people. He understands Trump voters, I’m sure.
Stephen King hates Trump. That might be one reason I read this book.
The Stand is a post-apocalyptichorror/fantasy novel by American author Stephen King. …
… the total breakdown of society after the accidental release of a strain of influenza that had been modified for biological warfare causes an apocalyptic pandemic which kills off the majority of the world’s human population. …
The novel was originally published in 1978 in hardcover, with a setting date of 1980. … The book was later re-released in 1990 as The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition (the longest book published by King at 1152 pages); King restored some text originally cut for brevity, added and revised sections, changed the setting of the story to 1990 …
The miniseries was broadcast in 1994 … In February 2016, The Stand movie had been put on hold …
Some criticize the book for being racist. I didn’t feel that way. It’s an epic of Good v Evil. The evil guys are racist.
I didn’t love the book. But liked it enough to download Stephen King – It: A Novel (2016).
related – Zack Handlen – What I Learned From Re-Reading Stephen King’s The Stand
the future of the NEWS
What will the most popular news sources of the future look like?
I’m hopeful for the soon to be launched Wikitribune.
Evidence-based journalism
People today mostly get their news from TV (not bad) and social media (terrible).
My favourite news source right now is Axios, just 6 months old.
Smart brevity.
Axios covers 7 areas: politics, tech, media trends, health, science, energy, and future of work (AI, robotics, etc.).
They want to deliver the cleanest, smartest, most efficient and trust-worthy experience for readers and advertisers alike.
It was founded by Mike Allen, former chief political reporter for Politico. I like Politico too, founded in 2007. And Jim VandeHei.
John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei left The Washington Post to become The Politico‘s editor-in-chief and executive editor, respectively.
So … Washington Post begat Politico begat Axios.
If interested, start by signing up for any of the Axios email newsletters.
Rick McCharles 