Top 20 most-popular stories of 2018 from Ars Technia

Have at it. A few winners:

It took seven miles to pull over a Tesla with a seemingly asleep driver.

Gmail.com redesign leaks, looks pretty incredible. (No, it doesn't. Gmail sucks. That's a 5,000-word, well, 4,995-word, post I'll never write.)

Elon Musk built a “submarine” to rescue Thailand kids—here’s what it looks like.

Study: people tend to cluster into four distinct personality “types”.

Yes, we all need to work at being more "cluster-diverse."

I don't recall ever seeing, until now, the Musk sub.

 Musk rescue sub.

Which stories do you think were important in 2018?

World News - July 17, 2018

He appears to have a lot of practice sucking co... eating snow-cones.

Awwwwwww...The Kenyan returns home. SMH:

Former US president Barack Obama has arrived in Kenya for a lower-profile visit than the ones he made to the country as senator and president, still he is making headlines and meeting leaders.

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GlobalNews.ca - Thai cave rescuer called ‘pedo-guy’ by Elon Musk suggests he might take legal action. 

The British cave diver publicly called a “pedo” by tech billionaire Elon Musk is considering taking legal action against the Tesla CEO.
[.]
Musk gave no evidence for alleging [rescuer] Unsworth was a pedophile. Unsworth said he would consider taking legal action against Musk over the remarks[.]

I like, and have a lot of respect for, Musk, and I think we need to listen to what he says about AI and its potential to be used for harm. But his pedo comment is his ego leaping ahead of his intellect. C'mon Elon, you know better.
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Dying RINO John McCain still bitter he's not the president and that he still hates President Donald Trump.  AZ Central:

McCain's issued statement was among a number of Republican lawmakers who were condemning Trump's appearance in Helsinki, Finland.
[.]
McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a frequent Trump critic, said in a statement that "no prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant."

Yeah, well, fuck you John. I'll take "Word Phrases That We'll Never Hear For $500:" The Answer is: President John McCain. "What are words that John McCain will go to his death never hearing?" I am correct.
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GNewt GNingrich (who, IMO has never been able to decide what side of an issue he is on or for what length of time) and Lindsay Grahamcrackhead had apoplectical hissy-fits over Trump's words at the Trump-Putin Summit. BBC:

President Trump must clarify his statements in Helsinki on our intelligence system and Putin. It is the most serious mistake of his presidency and must be corrected—-immediately.
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) July 16, 2018
[.]
Senator Lindsey Graham...called the summit a "missed opportunity", a "bad day for the US" that will be sign of weakness to Russia."

Yeah, fuck these two dinosaurs. Both are irrelevant and long ago obsolete. And Lindsay...well, when one thinks of a "Strong America", the first person that pops into my mind is Lindsay. He's got that Bruce Willis/Charles Bronson/Clint Eastwood aura working for him. Am I wrong?
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France24 - The EU continues enabling Iran:

... the (European) Council has endorsed the update of the blocking statute annex on the nuclear deal with Iran[.]
[.]
The "blocking statute" forbids EU firms from complying with US sanctions, allowing them to recover damages from such penalties and nullifying any foreign court rulings against them.

And when Iran chomps the ass of any part of the EU...gee, I wonder who the EU will go whining to for protection and assistance?
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Google engineer was beaten to death . Deutsche Welle:

A 32-year-old Google engineer was beaten to death and three others were severely injured... on Friday in the latest incident of mob violence fueled by fake social media messages.
[.]
Since May, at least 25 people have become victims of vigilante justice triggered by fake warnings of kidnappers or organ harvesters circulated on the Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp.

Maybe Elon Musk has a plan to solve this problem.
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The ever-competent IMF says trade tensions could pose risks to global economic growth. Italy News Net:

'But the risk that current trade tensions escalate further - with adverse effects on confidence, asset prices, and investment - is the greatest near-term threat to global growth,' IMF Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld said.

And then again, maybe not. I love it when organizations like the IMF, or the World Bank, or the UN put out generalized statements that have as much value as saying, "you know, gambling in Las Vegas could harm you financially." Wow, would anyone think of this shit if it weren't for the IMF, WB or UN? And of course...the EU.
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New Zealand Herald - Vaping airline pilot causes plane to plunge 10,000 feet:

Air China Boeing 737 aircraft was flying to the Chinese city of Dalian from Hong Kong when it went down to 10,000 feet (3048m), with oxygen masks deployed.
[.]
"In the preliminary investigation, the co-pilot was found to be smoking an e-cigarette," state-owned China News said[.] 

See, in the U.S. we go and pay good money at amusement parks in order to experience the same kind of thing. With Air China you get two-for-one; one from Corrumn A and one from Corrumn B. It's a Win-Win!

Image: CBC

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VOA News: Greenhouse gases making food less nutritious.

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China cozies up to, and wants to be BFF with EU. Xinhua Net:

Chinese President Xi Jinping said], "China stands ready to work with the EU on the basis of mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation, to make still further progress in the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership and promote bilateral economic and social development and people's welfare.

No doubt China and the EU will get along...fabulously.
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Coming soon - Carnivore Free Menu? The Politicalization of Food. Globe and Mail:

Plant-based choices will be strongly encouraged and eating more animal proteins will be frowned upon. Switzerland just released a new food guide that encourages consumers to reduce their meat consumption by 70 per cent. It’s happening everywhere.

"When they take the bacon from my cold, dead hands."

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All the little critters living in your house. CBC:

... a team of entomologists spends a week delving into the dark crevices of a typical Toronto house, finding a whopping 112 distinct species. But they say that's no cause for concern; an insect census taken in homes all over the United States revealed that number is about average.

Well, there are worse things, I guess, that could be living in our homes.  (Fast-forward to the 2:30 time mark).
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NDTV -  Striking workers put dent in Amazon's Prime Day Shopping Bonanza: 

Nearly 1,800 Amazon workers in Spain went on strike Monday during Prime Day, the company's biggest sales day of the year, according to labor activitists [sic]. Thousands more Amazon employees in Germany are expected to walk off the job Tuesday, the second day of the 36-hour sale, for similar reasons. 

CNBC: Amazon's Jeff Bezos wealthiest man in modern history.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos’ fortune just crossed the $150 billion mark. That’s $55 billion richer than Bill Gates, at number two.

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Hmmmm...interesting.

Property owned by Pervez Musharraf seized. News Internationalist Pakistan:

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to seize [five luxury properties held] by General (retd) Pervez Musharraf after he failed to appear before the anti-corruption watchdog over allegations of Rs1,000 billion corruption and owning assets beyond means.

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TesFa News - it's a love fest now: Eritrean Embassy in Ethiopia Reopened:

“I feel boundless joy as I convey to you the message of peace, love and good wishes of the people of Eritrea. And, I congratulate you warmly for the successful and historic changes that you have brought about,” President Isaias said at a concert celebrating the peace process at the Millenial Hall in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

One. More. Time.
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The Week - Donald Trump's Weird Eating Habits:

The president’s diet has been ridiculed as childish and unhealthy. Here is what he eats and some of the weird ways he does it. He normally doesn’t eat breakfast.

OMG - what a heathen. He skips breakfast. (GAAAAASSSSP!) He must be the only one.  Why, I bet Trump wasn't even born in the United States.

World News - July 5, 2018

Some fun Independence day facts. Voice of America - Crunching Numbers of the 4th of July. 
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Sky News:  Meet the British divers who found the Thai football team trapped in the cave.

Rick Stanton and John Volanthen were the first rescuers to reach the group of young footballers and their coach[.]

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(At publishing time) British couple critically ill, exposed to Novichok nerve agent. Xinhua Net:

A British couple critically ill in hospital have been poisoned by the same nerve agent used in the recent attack on a former Russian agent and his daughter[.]
[.]
Britain's most senior counter-terrorism cop [confirmed] that a couple from Wiltshire have been exposed to the nerve agent Novichok, and are both critically ill in hospital.

More: Dawn Sturgess, 44, and her partner Charlie Rowley, 45 fighting for their lives. The Express:

It is not thought the couple had links to Russia.

More: The Express: Timeline of key events in the Novichok poisonings.

More: RT News: Twitter awash in conspiracy theories:

What is claimed to be a new case of Novichok poisoning of an unsuspecting British couple has made Twitter explode, with users finding links between the incident and the World Cup, Brexit, and even alleging it was an inside job.

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The EU Copyright Issue:

(At publishing time) Here comes the vote on the EU's controversial copyright law. BBC:

The two most controversial parts of it are Article 11 and Article 13.
[.]
The first of these is...called the "link tax."
[.]
Article 13 puts more onus on websites to enforce copyright laws and could mean that any online platform that allows users to post text, images, sounds or code will need a way to assess and filter content.

More: The Register: Privacy group raises eyebrows at EU copyright reform.

... the idea of getting web giants to proactively stop copyrighted material from appearing online is a good one in theory, but in practice is fraught with danger.

More: CityAM: Will the EU copyright reform break the internet?  (Internet inventor Albert Gore, Jr. will be able to fix it!)

More: CityAM: Paul McCartney pro EU copyright reform.

More: Billboard: Is this the expected outcome of the vote?

More: Crooked Timber: When copyright goes wrong.

More: Japan Times: Wikipedia protests EU copyright by going dark.

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Houston Chronicle: Angel Merkel warns of worldwide financial crisis.

(Is she setting the stage for the "big world event" to crash the global economy? Is she the Illuminati's messenger of bad news?)
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Jaguar Land Rover have Brexit fears. Daily Mail:

A hard Brexit would cost Jaguar Land Rover £1.2billion a year curtailing its future operations in the UK, the British carmaker's chief executive warned yesterday.

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The Epoch Times - Stress tests for Canadian mortgages:

The new rules mandate that borrowers must qualify for interest rates 2 percent higher than the rate of the mortgage they apply for.

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BBC:  Kim Dotcom loses appeal against extradition:

New Zealand's Court of Appeal upheld the decision that Mr Dotcom and three others can be extradited to stand trial for copyright infringement and fraud.

The charges are related to Mr Dotcom's now defunct fire-sharing website Megaupload, which allowed millions of people to download digital content.
[.]
It is now up to New Zealand's Justice Minister Andrew Little to decide whether extradition should take place.

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SMH: Sydney, a 24 hour city.

Round-the-clock public transport, less red tape for businesses, and a shift in the popular narrative that the city shuts down at night, are among the priorities identified by the City of Sydney's nightlife and creative sector advisory panel.

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The Express - China asks EU to join-up against the U.S. on trade and tariffs:

A European diplomat said: “China wants the European Union to stand with Beijing against Washington, to take sides.

“We won’t do it and we have told them that.”

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Trade War "D-Day" for Trump. The New Zealand Herald:

The first round of US tariffs - on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods - comes into effect on Friday night (NZT) and with it fears that we'll see the start of a full blown trade war.

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Is the Answer buying commodities? Live Mint:

...Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has poured cold water on the notion that a trade war between the US and China represents a serious threat to raw materials, saying most of them aren’t likely to be significantly impacted[.]
[.]
[The] trade war impact on commodity markets will be very small, with exception of soybeans[.]

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Dealers arrested; had two tons of gold coins.  Trend News:

Iranian police arrested two gold coin dealers in Tehran, saying that the arrested people were responsible for gold coin price stagnation in the market.
[.]
...police have seized 20 kilograms of gold coin and gold from [them].

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I hope this doesn't increase bacon prices. From The Hill - Tariffs will devastate US pork producers:

...some major U.S. pork producers fear they will lose a significant amount of money once China and Mexico implement the tariffs, forcing some to move their investments overseas.

Image: Pinterest