World News

Former Apprentice staffer claims Trump "abused Adderall." NZ Herald:

Noel Casler allegedly worked in talent logistics [and claims], [President Trump], "... gets nervous and he crushes up these pills. That's why he's sniffing when you see him in debates, and when you see him reading."

- - -
The Guardian - U.S. Gov Shutdown Looms:

Monday brought few signs of progress in solving a dispute between Republicans and Democrats over keeping the government open. A partial shutdown that could occur at midnight Friday[.]

- - -

SMH - Twitter hacked by 'state sponsored actors'?:

Twitter observed a large amount of traffic to the customer support site coming from individual internet IP addresses in China and Saudi Arabia.

"While we cannot confirm intent or attribution for certain, it is possible that some of these IP addresses may have ties to state-sponsored actors," the blog said.

- - -
TRT World - Russia meddled in social media in U.S. politics:

Russia’s sweeping political disinformation campaign on US social media was more far-reaching than originally thought, with troll farms working to discourage black voters and “blur the lines between reality and fiction”[.]

This story will never make sense to me. How is the above any different from me (or any other blogger or writer, or group of,) writing a factual, fictional, or embellished blog entry on Hillary Clinton, or Theresa May or any other public figure seeking office? Unless people have more faith in social media than I ever thought possible and they really believe that "it must be true, I read it on the internets."
- - -
Daily Mail - Goldman Sachs hit by Malaysia fraud scandal:

Goldman Sachs has been hit with fraud charges in Malaysia after allegedly helping to pillage £2.1 billion from a sovereign wealth fund.
[.]
It is the latest twist in a saga which has been catastrophic for Goldman's reputation, with shares down over a third this year. The stock was hit again yesterday, dropping nearly 3 per cent in New York.

- - -

CSM: No-deal Brexit brings risk of traffic gridlock:

In the event of a major backlog at the Port of Dover, 50 miles away, this stretch of highway would become a temporary truck park.

What kind of calamity might cause such a monstrous snarl-up?

In a word, Brexit.

The Herald-Scotland - Corbyn increases pressure on Theresa May with no-confidence vote:

Jeremy Corbyn has sought to pile the pressure on Theresa May by tabling a no-confidence vote in her[.]

The Scotsman - May dares Labour to topple government:

Theresa May has dared Labour to try and topple her government after she announced the Commons would not vote on her proposed Brexit deal until the middle of January[.]

- - -
Protesters converge on Hungary public broadcaster. AFP:

Anti-government protests in Hungary hit the country's public broadcaster on Monday, with the opposition galvanised by the furious reaction to a controversial new labour law.
[.]
MPs had demanded access to the studios to read out a petition against the government and what they call its "slave" labour law.

MTVA security guards forcibly ejected independent MPs Akos Hadhazy and Bernadett Szel, sparking criticism online.

NHL Fight: Chicago Blackhawks Mascot Tommy Hawk vs a Fan

Blackhawks mascot Tommy Hawk was attacked at the United Center by a fan.

From Second City Hockey:

A man attacked Blackhawks mascot Tommy Hawk in a United Center concourse Friday during the team’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Jets at the United Center.
[.]
“Look out for the children,” the man exclaims as the Blackhawks mascot suplexes him to the floor in front of three other people. Tommy Hawk then attempts to control the man on the ground before putting him in a headlock and driving him into a trash receptacle in front of a Blackhawks team store.

View the fight here. Remember to enable the volume.

Tommy...maybe needs anger management?

Tommy Hawk; Climate Change made him do it.

The Best .45 Calibur Guns Ever

Ever. Well, that's the story title. The National Interest:

What would you pick?
Wilson Combat Tactical Carry
Ed Brown Executive Carry
Glock 21
Heckler & Koch HK45
Springfield Armory XD45 Mod 2 Service Model

In the 9mm category, HK's VP9 is darn nice and gets rave reviews. Gun Advice:

It’s hard to be mad at the HK VP9 because it’s so tough and beautiful. The ergonomics are outstanding and the accuracy admirable. Overall, the gun seems to be rock-solid and dependable. Not many things can be said against it unless you don’t like some of the design choices HK made. You can either love or hate the paddle-style magazine release or the loaded chamber indicator.

One thing’s for certain – the trigger is one of the best ones you will find within a striker pistol.

The HK VP9 was in development for more than four years and is [their] first striker-fired handgun since the P7 series introduced in the 1980s.

Leave a comment if you've fired any of these, or any others. Likes / dislikes?

Albert Gore, Junior 15-year old Greta is mature enough to lecture on Global Warming Cimate Change. Big Tech gets a pass.

I didn't know my life was in such grave danger of being killed by global warming, climate change. Why? Because I'm addicted to fossil fuels. I didn't even know I was addicted to fossil fuels. That can only be explained by addicts being the last one in understanding they are addicts. 

How much fossil fuel has been exhausted over the past twenty years in all the global summits, in all the combined gatherings of the climate change alarmists?

The majority of these alarmists are VIPs, fly by jet (do they jet-pool?), have an entourage, travel in motorcades (or do they Uber/Lyft-pool?), with security personnel. I'll go out on a limb and state these VIPs and their staff stay at some rather high-end hotels or other rented residences and that all of their meals are a feast.

And every single one of them is overloaded with electronics; cell phone, laptop, ThisPadThatPad. Think there's a lot of waste produced by these folks? Think they leave a large carbon footprint? Do they even think about child-labor cobalt-lithium mining? Why should we leave oil in the ground yet scoop out cobalt and lithium? Take a look at who and where has the lithium. Follow the money. Where is the cheapest labor? Who can monopolize on cobalt and lithium mining? If I were A Liberal, I'd say the evil culprit is...Big Tech. But they're exempt from criticism. Why? They're technology. 

Again, The Alarmists resort to fifteen-year old Albert Gore, Junior, Greta who continues admonishing adults over climate change. Metro:

Headline: Fearless girl, 15, stuns world leaders...("Stuns world leaders"? Really? No hyperbole here...they aren't "leaders").

Climate activist Greta Thunberg, from Sweden, had the opportunity to address a global climate change conference this week, where she didn’t mince her words.

She told diplomats and ministers assembled at the COP24 climate talks in Katowice, Poland: ‘You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.’

I wonder how she traveled from Sweden to Poland? On foot?

Maybe...global warming climate change is caused by the large increase in air travel. The answer, of course, is all-electric airplanes. 

Mercury News has an Op/Ed today on the dangerous air quality in Bay area neighborhoods, advocating that much of this problem is solvable by drastic reduction in fossil fuel use:

Part of the solution is to electrify transportation, a technology which is fully available today.  Electric drives and fuel cell engines, powered by renewable energy sources, can meet society’s need for mobility and gradually make fossil fuels obsolete.

Again, The Alarmists advise the answer is substituting our addiction to fossil fuels by replacing it with cobalt and lithium? How is this rational?

Almost ten years ago, the rise of sea levels "over-flowing" was debunked. The Telegraph: 

... if there is one scientist who knows more about sea levels than anyone else in the world it is the Swedish geologist and physicist Nils-Axel Mörner, formerly chairman of the INQUA International Commission on Sea Level Change. And the uncompromising verdict of Dr Mörner, who for 35 years has been using every known scientific method to study sea levels all over the globe, is that all this talk about the sea rising is nothing but a colossal scare story.

It's not surprising the Alarmists once again trot out the polar bears and their many dilemmas due to global warming climate change. How many times have we seen various images of the poor polar bears "stranded" on ice sheets?

Polar bears can swim. And they don't need wear a life preserver. I hear polar bears love swimming with Liberals. Just love it! They are known to be very friendly and hospitable to humans, especially Global Warming Climate Change Alarmists.

A Quick Look Back

1985: Action Urged to combat Global Climate Shift. The People's Republic of North Korea The NYT:

Senator Albert Gore Jr., Democrat of Tennessee, said he would introduce legislation to expand and focus scientific efforts on this greenhouse effect.
[.]
Mr. Gore said his bill would call for ''an international year of scientific study of the greenhouse effect and would request that the President take steps to begin this worldwide cooperative investigation.''

2016: Al Gore's Global Warming Racket - IBD:

Not one of [Gore's] dire predictions he and the rest of the alarmist community made has come to pass. In fact, there is plenty of evidence that they have been running a racket.

Let's revisit the 1970 Earth Day predictions - BarbWire:

• End of civilization in 15-30 years
• 100-200 million deaths to starvation yearly for 10 years
• A new ice age by 2000

Yeaaahhhh...that ice age of 2000? We all remember that. I have trouble, though, remembering if it was before or after the end of civilization. Anyone?

Of course climate change is real. Was it colder this morning than this afternoon? Was it warmer yesterday than today? Or cooler? Global warming Climate changes. Where doesn't the climate change?

Peruse at your own waste of time the Science News Global Warming Climate Change Alarmist Bible. I'll paraphrase the link's over 5,800 words: The sky is fucking falling and we're all going to die because of global warming climate change.

Weather patterns change. NASA:

El Niño is not caused by climate change[.]

Well, how about tha...oops, hold on. We have a contrary view: El Niños to strengthen because of global warming, will cause 'more extreme weather'. USA MacPaper:

El Niños will be stronger and more frequent in the decades ahead  because of global warming, causing “more extreme events” in the United States and around the world, a news study says.

Both are true, for no other reason than both fit the global warming climate change Alarmists' Agenda. 

Well...what about Oregon? Will 2019 be the year Oregon gets climate change bill to the finish line?

Blaming Big Tech Capitalism

TruthOut.org (Truth? LOL) says Confronting Capitalism is needed to solve the Climate Crisis.

What, pray tell, IS a "Climate Crisis"?

The Alarmists are disappointed in the outcome of the recent climate summit. CBC News:

...some green groups and certain countries expressed frustration that more ambitious climate goals were not achieved during intense negotiations that ran into the weekend.

Oh...the hoor-rah.

It looks like the Alarmist Nations still need to figure out that global carbon tax. Gulf Today:

One major sticking point was how to create a functioning market in carbon credits. Economists believe that an international trading system could be an effective way to drive down greenhouse gas emissions and raise large amounts of money for measures to curb global warming.

Whoa...did they just say climate change global warming?

In 2017, U.S. carbon emissions decreased by more than 42 million tons...the largest decline in carbon emissions in the world for the 9th time this century[.] Capital Research:

China, the Paris Protocol’s champion and the world’s most notorious polluter, produced the largest increase of carbon in the atmosphere in 2017. Coupled with India, China’s carbon contributions accounted for nearly half of the total surge in 2017 global carbon emissions.

On an unrelated note, according to the Centers for Disease Control, in year 2016, 35,862 people died from falling (page 14). That's a lot of people.

Image: Keysigns

- - -
Typo fix 12/16/2018

Christmas carol lyrics altered to advance global warming climate change and other reasons.

Here we go. Again. Still.

The Daily Mail - "Silent Night, Smoky Night":

Christian choirs nationwide will change the lyrics of traditional Christmas carols in a bid to force action on climate change.
[.]
Lyrics to songs such as 'Joy To The World' were rewritten as: 'Cool down the world, the time has come, for targets tight and fair'.
[.]
'Silent Night, Holy Night,' was changed to 'Silent Night, Smokey Night' and 'We Wish You a Steady Climate' replaced 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'.

We Wish You a Steady Climate. That's really good. Some one, or group, mentally chose those were the words to replace the original lyrics. I'd like to thank these people for the humour content. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor when HE gives us material like this? If this was fiction or stand-up comedy, it would be mildly amusing. But this comes from real people (I guess, anyway) who earnestly believe their lyric changes will make things better. God Bless them.

And in Wisconsin, the land of Ed Gein, Dahmer and others, ABC News -  'Silent Night' Lyrics Change to "Cold in the Night":

Dodgeville School District officials say traditional, unaltered carols will also be sung, and that "Cold in the Night" is part of a decades-old Christmas play that students have performed in years past, and is not an attack on the religious nature of the holiday.

Friday Morning Music Video

Suggested volume: " 11 ".

High Voltage, from the album High Voltage, by AC/DC.

From the second link:

...initially the album ["High Voltage"] was panned by some critics upon its release, including a review by Rolling Stone magazine's Billy Altman that called it an "all-time low" for the hard rock genre.

Heh...some folks suffer life-long from teh stupid.

Whiskey Goes 3-D Printing

I was going to do a quick world news roundup, but I'm guessing most people have heard that the French Police have shot and killed Cherif Chekatt, the suspected Strasbourg shooter.

A lot of sadness in the headlines recently, so I found a story on the lighter side. Mix one part hooch and another part Tech; a story on whiskey and 3-D printing. Maxim (Good ol' Maxim):

Bulleit Frontier Whiskey is blending whiskey, art, design, music and technology for the Bulleit 3D Printed Frontier, a groundbreaking traveling experience that heroes a 3D-printed bar, 3D-printed cocktails and immersive art.

The award-winning Kentucky distillery is curating a series of private events where attendees can enjoy a completely unique, 3D-printed drinking experience.
[.]
[Architecture firm] FAR used a freaking algorithmic script that defines the geometry of the piece through a series of digital data sets. Nope, this wasn't your typical woodshop build. Not by a long shot.

Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Bar

Hit the link for other images of what 3-D printing brings to the drinking experience.

It's not Ted Kennedy's Irish Whiskey, but then...what is? 

World News

Japan Today - Theresa May survives; Brexit still teeters:

...200 Conservative lawmakers voted in support of May as leader, 117 dissented, indicating opposition not only from several dozen supporters of a hard Brexit but also from many more pragmatic lawmakers - and signalling that she was no nearer to passing her EU divorce agreement.

- - -
Singapore Straits Times -  China to reduce auto tariffs; buy more soy:

...the moves by Beijing will "prove that President Trump was right when he announced his summary of the talks" held recently with China's President Xi Jinping, [said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross].

- - -
The Local (FR) - Photo of suspect Cherif Chekatt, Strasbourg gunman:

French police tweeted out a public appeal for help in hunting down the gunman. Members of the public are warned not to approach "the dangerous individual" but to alert authorities[.]

Cherif Chekatt. Photo: Police Nationale

France24 live coverage.

TASS - Russia calls Strasbourg "act of terror."

"Recent events once again prove that it is necessary to promptly join efforts of the entire international community facing a threat of terrorism," the foreign ministry said.

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Italy News Net - Pope removes two scandalous cardinals.

- - -

Italian Narco King captured in Argentina after eight year manhunt. Daily Mail:

Giancarlo Massidda was nabbed during a raid in the Buenos Aires city of Berazategui on Tuesday. [.]

... Massidda had been living in the area under a false identity after he escaped from Italy in 2010 while under house arrest.

It is unknown how long he was living in the South American country.

- - -
DW - Germany inks big lithium deal with Bolivia: 

Lithium deposits hidden below Bolivia's Uyuni salt flat are believed to be the largest in the world. On Wednesday, Germany's privately owned ACI Systems agreed to a partnership with Bolivian state company YLB to exploit the element.

Lithium. The new petrol. I couldn't find any sites advocated for keeping lithium in the ground.
- - -
RT: Migrants at border want $50K from U.S. to go home.

Two groups of Central American migrants, a fraction of the 7,000-strong human tide that massed at the border during US elections, are demanding speedy approval of their asylum claims – or $50,000 to go home.

Good luck with that. Drop a note and let us know how it turns out.
- - -
Asia News - Japan approves tech that will allow jamming hostile satellites:

The new national defense guidelines are characterized as reinforcement of counter-capabilities in new domains including space, cyberspace and electromagnetic waves. 

Tax Texting

California considers text tax. CBS News:

...texting may soon come with an extra fee on their mobile phone bills. State regulators are weighing a tax on text messaging to help fund a program that makes phone service available to low-income residents.
[.]
A texting surcharge could help sustain the Public Purpose Program budget, which has risen to $998 million in 2017 from $670 million in 2011, according to a report from the California Public Utilities Commission. Revenue from the telecom industry that funds the program has declined to $11.3 billion last year from $16.5 billion in 2011, the CPUC report stated.
[.]
The California Chamber of Commerce and other trade organizations estimate the proposed fee could cost wireless customers $44.5 million a year, according to the Mercury News in San Jose, Calif.

Yes, PLEASE GOD YES, PASS THIS TEXT TAX. I'm all for it. It has my FULL SUPPORT.

A comment that this tax could be regressive to five years.USA MacPaper:

    People need to realize that the proposed California texting tax could go back and tax you on text messages sent the past 5 years.

    Imagine getting a tax bill for all text messages you've sent since 2013.
    — 🇺🇸🍻 Mark 🍻🇺🇸 (@BartenderMB) December 12, 2018

May I suggest it go back TEN YEARS and whatever the amount being considered for the tax - PLEASE TRIPLE IT !

I SUPPORT THE BIKE TAX, THE FAT TAX, THE SUGAR TAX, THE BIG-GULP SODA TAX, THE CALORIE TAX, THE TEXT TAX, THE WALKING TAX, THE BREATHING TAX, THE BLINKING TAX AND THE TAX TAX.

The text tax is Liberalism coming back to bite Liberalism in the ass. I love it when that happens.

Let the Millennials and Gen Z's get accustomed to the pain of over-taxation. Besides, it's for the Public Good, and how can anyone be against the общественная польза?

World News

ITV - Four dead in Strasbourg shooting; search for 'extremist' gunman:

A suspected extremist is on the run after a shooting which left four people dead near a Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg.

French authorities have launched a terror investigation into the shooting, which left several others injured, some seriously.

The 29-year-old alleged gunman has a criminal record and, according to the prefect of the Strasbourg region, was known by the security services as a suspected extremist.

France 24 - Live coverage

MEPs stranded. France 24:

The European Parliament in Strasbourg was under lockdown late Tuesday after a deadly shooting near a Christmas market rocked the eastern French city, shocking and stranding hundreds of MEPs, staff and officials.

ISIS celebrates Strasbourg shooting. The Express:

No terrorist group has officially claimed responsibility yet, but ISIS supporters have boasted the attack happened just “days after our threats.”

- - -
Detained Huawei exec granted bail - The International News: 

A Canadian judge granted bail Tuesday [Meng Wanzhou,] a top Huawei executive after her arrest on a US warrant, in a case that has frayed relations between the North American allies and China.

[She] is is wanted by US authorities for violating Iran sanctions but Beijing has expressed outrage over her detention and is holding a former Canadian diplomat in China, intensifying the row.

Hong Kong Free Press: China detains Canadian, believed to be former diplomat:

“We are aware of the situation of a Canadian detained in China. We have been in direct contact with the Chinese,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters, adding that Ottawa was taking his arrest “very seriously.”

- - -
These are the...

Sky News: Theresa May on brink of leadership challenge.

Web Financial Group - May tours "like a child":

May toured European capitals like a child presenting a parent with a new toy broken on Christmas morning. She gained plenty of sympathy but also stern reminder that there would be no renegotiation or quick fixes.

ITV: May fights, critics circle.

Aspen Daily News: May heads to Ireland.

The Irish Times: Ireland "collateral damage" in Brexit.

New Statesman: May in Tory Trouble.

- - -
China.org: Church shooting in Brazil leaves five dead.
- - -
Stuff (NZ/AU)- Bodies scattered, truck veers into pedestrians.

Police were told the truck, carrying bricks, was travelling south on Botany Road when it veered into northbound lanes before hitting a power pole, a bus stop, a building and pedestrians.

- - -
The Independent (IE) - A street paved with milk chocolate:

...a tonne of chocolate flowed out of a factory and solidified.
[.]
After hitting the chilly pavement, the milk chocolate quickly hardened.

Emoji has different meanings in different cultures

Here we go.

The next agenda for HR departments around the world will be employee training for Emoji - "sensitivity". From 'da BBC:

...emojis do not and cannot by themselves constitute a meaningful code of communication between two parties.

So, back to acronyms we go. WTF? STFU!

Tech News

Tech Radar: How DOOM changed PC gaming 25 years ago.

...despite its age, this dusty old relic lives on every shooter that’s come and gone since. Every single First Person Shooter that’s taken over the world – or failed miserably – can doff its cap to Id Software’s seminal piece of software.

 - - -

Technocracy: Robert Mueller, Technocrat Operative?

I don’t think I witnessed anything more anti-democratic, anti-freedom, and anti-everything I always thought America stood for than the actions of the MuelIer Special Counsel. I always thought entrapment was a crime.

- - -
PC Mag: Google+ shutting down earlier than planned.

On Monday, the Web giant revealed it recently discovered a new bug, which may have exposed the personal information of 52.5 million Google+ users.
[.]
In addition, "apps with access to a user's Google+ profile data also had access to the profile data that had been shared with the consenting user by another Google+ user but that was not shared publicly," wrote G Suite VP of Product Management David Thacker.

- - -
C|Net - Europe has tech companies under a microscope:

Whenever a Silicon Valley company makes a move, the EU is watching over its shoulder to make sure it's abiding by local laws, providing the best possible experience for European citizens and taking full responsibility for its mistakes.

- - -
IT ProPortal - UK NHS will stop using "absurd" fax machines:

The NHS has been ordered to get rid of its fax devices, and advised that they be replaced by email.

- - -

Tech Xplore - Detecting unreliable Facebook pages:

Detecting and identifying unreliable pages is of key importance, as it might help to warn users and reduce malicious activity on the platform.

- - -
ArsTechnia - Win Installer Build upgrades Notepad:

Notepad is also going to support a convention that's literally decades old: when the currently loaded file has been modified, an asterisk will be shown in the title bar.

- - -
Wish I would've thought of this: TechEBlog - Column-climbers: 

This shoe attachment basically turns a steel column into a ladder, or in other words, it securely grips the flanges of the column, thanks to its high strength 514 steel construction. They’re so strong, that they can hold up to 700 pounds per foot.

- - -
The name Uniblue ring a bell?, if not, how about RegistryBooster? BetaNews:

Users started to realize that they were being warned that their system always had errors.
[.]
An individual cottoned on to the fact that this was bogus software as a brand new out-of-the-box PC would be deemed to have "errors that need fixing" even after the first boot. Indeed, someone proved you could install a fresh copy of Windows, with no third-party software, install RegistryBooster and it would still claim your system had errors.

Uniblue is closing for good. Good.
- - -
Typo fixed 12/12/2018

World News

Brexit on, off, or?

The Express: Second Referendum planned to save Brexit.

Daily Mail: Lib Dem says Brexit won't happen. Or,  'hell of a backlash'.

ING: It's A Mess.

DW: May warns of risk if no Brexit.

Business Standard: Brexit defeat could topple UK.

The Irish Times: Psychologists try to make sense of Brexit.

- - -

UNIAN: Russian inference in "yellow jacket" protests probe opens.

The Mirror: Macron apologizes, "I'm sorry," to nation.

President Emmanuel Macron will deliver an 'I'm sorry' TV address and announce further tax cuts after nationwide riots have rocked France.

On Sunday a Parisien newspaper reported that ‘after eight days of silence, the head of state’ has told supporters ‘he will speak on Monday night on television to respond to the angry French’.

Sky News: Over 1,700 yellow vests arrested.

The Algemeiner: Paris cleans up.

Workers in Paris swept up broken glass and towed away burnt-out cars on Sunday after the latest violent “yellow vest” protest[.]

The Irish Independent: Yellow vest protests an economic disaster for France, says finance minister.
 

- - -
BBC: Saudis refuse Turkish extradition request for Khashoggi killer suspects.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, "We do not extradite our citizens."

- - -
SCMP: Why was Huawei's CFO Meng Wanzhou arrested now?

Western spy agencies have long been aware of Huawei’s intelligence-gathering function, and have exploited their knowledge to feed the Chinese with misleading information in a classic “Concordski” ploy.

- - -

Times of India: Putin's daughter appears on television.

...an interview on state TV with a woman who has been described as [Putin's]  daughter.

Putin's daughter?

 - - -

The HR Director: Are you getting enough sleep? 

- - -

WTOP: Slide-show of the snowfall out east. 

- - -

SMH: HORROR STORIES from the fast food industry. 

A customer threatened to kill a shop assistant and their entire family if they refused to remake a cheeseburger that was too cold.
[.]
"It's not just fast food, it happens everywhere."
[.]
Zackary Stereff from central Queensland said he was physically abused at a fast food drive through.

"I asked for the correct money and the customer threw a black sock full of 50 cent pieces into my stomach," he said. "It left me with a bruise."

Theresa May's Brexit in Uncharted Waters

From WA Today:

Britain's Brexit minister on Sunday insists a crucial vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal would go ahead after a newspaper reported she planned to delay it to make way for a last-minute dash to Brussels to seek a better offer.

Tech News

Why driving is hard for AI. ArsTechnia:

The Society for Automotive Engineering and the US Department of Transportation specify six degrees of autonomy, running from Level 0 (human drivers in complete control) to Level 5 (a fully self-driving vehicle). The commercially available car currently considered the most autonomous—the Cadillac CT6 with Super Cruise—makes it to Level 2... but only on the 130,000 miles (many of them highways) that its maps know. Tesla's Autopilot mode, the name notwithstanding, is also considered Level 2. Neither of them are anything like set-and-forget systems.

- - -
Duckduckgo discovers Google personalizing searches in incognito mode and when not signed in.
BetaNews:

[The study] found that even when people searched without logging into a Google account -- or when they used private browsing mode --  "most participants saw results unique to them".

- - -
China denounces U.S. as "despicable rogue" over Huawei CFO arrest. BGR:

The Chinese government has demanded [CFO Meng Wanzhou] be released and claimed that her arrest is a potential human rights violation.

The accusations, CBC.ca:

[CFO Meng Wanzhou, 46] is wanted for extradition from Vancouver to the U.S. on allegations of fraud, including using a shell company to skirt international American sanctions over five years, court heard.

The Justice Department affidavit painted a picture of a woman with immense financial resources who had already attempted to evade U.S. arrest warrants for allegedly violating American and European Union sanctions.

It said she possesses "no fewer than seven passports from both China and Hong Kong."

The lesson here is if you're going to have seven passports, mix-up more countries. Use Luxembourg, Lithuania, Liechtenstein and Monaco. No one will question them.
- - -
If you're looking at buying a new TV, a review on Smart display models at C|Net.
- - -

Here's a rare item. MicroSoft surrenders. Computer World: 

After a years-long pummeling, Microsoft this week surrendered in the browser war, saying that it will junk Edge's home-grown rendering engine and replace it with Blink, the engine that powers Google's Chrome.

More...

RIP MS Edge. ZD Net:

Microsoft today confirmed the rumors that have been swirling all week. As part of a sweeping change to one of the flagship components of Windows 10, it will rebuild its Microsoft Edge browser from the ground up, ripping out its proprietary EdgeHTML rendering engine and replacing it with the open-source Chromium code base.

Image: ZD Net

- - -

Are you a member of Quora? Looks like it was hacked. WIRED:

In a blog post on Monday, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo admitted that Quora was breached. The company discovered the problem last Friday, and more than 100 million accounts may have had their data taken.

- - -
Expired certificate causes millions to lose Ericsson network. TechSpot:

Certificates are software keys that enable certain functionality, but they can require occasional updates so that they don’t expire, something Swedish owned telecommunication equipment manufacturer Ericsson didn’t do.

They forgot to use a sticky-note.
- - -
Gizmodo - A free streaming service you didn't know you had. (Not Reddit?)

I want to tell you about a free streaming service that’s in many ways just as good as Filmstruck, offers Criterion films, and has at least one feature that no one else does.

Kanopy is not new, it got its start in Australia a decade ago and has slowly expanded its services around the globe.

- - -
UberGizmo: Teen electrocuted to death wearing charging headphones:

It has been suggested that you not use your headphones while they’re plugged into a phone that’s charging, or to use them if their wires are frayed and exposed.

The above never occurred to me. I'd never heard of anyone dying from this until now. Makes sense. What a way to go, geeez.
- - -
I can't quite make the stretch to classify this under Tech News, but here goes.

From The Independent:  Mom sends five-year old son to school nativity with...(plastic blowup, think adult) ...sheep doll.

Helen Cox said she had no idea what the real purpose of the product when she bought it for her son Alfie.

Yeeeaaahhhhhhhh....click the link and read the story.

 Image: The Independent.

I obscured the kid's face, I just had to. The image at the link is intact.

Teh Shopping

A couple interesting accounts of shopping that I've read. Phil writes about a day holiday shopping. Like Phil, I avoid malls like the plague. I try to avoid the busier shopping hours too, when I can. It was four weeks ago when I had had my fill of Christmas music and commercials.

Today was pretty tolerable for what I needed to get done. I was "given the choice" to either go with, or not, to one of the local, busier malls by Mrs D. She knows the answer before she asks. I had to get to a local hardware store and, ugh, Wal Mart. I drop Mrs D. in the land of the Shopping Dead, wishing her luck. She'll be there til closing, with her sister.

Wal Mart. Busy but not packed. Got there around 3PM, knew what I wanted, got it, got out by 3:30. Needed a furnace filter. They were out of the one I like, so I had to go up to the next level which was a few more dollars. Not a big deal. I couldn't find something else I was looking for so quit that. Then remembered I did have a list with me and went back to the other end of the store to get something I'd forgotten when I started out there. And you know where this is going. Got to the other end of the store when I remembered something else, not on the list, that was where I'd just been, so back across the box again. Again, not a big deal. Inside stores I navigate through the least-occupied aisles. Or try to, and that helps. Headed for self-checkout, paid cash, gone. Done.

Then, to a local hardware store, not a chain big-box. Overheard a conversation of someone unhappy with the mix of their paint color. That would be the least of my worries. Oh, but the hardware store had the Christmas Muzak on. Haven't heard enough yet. Able to get in and out in fifteen. I survived.

It's so easy paying cash at checkout. For those of you ahead of us who pay by any type of card, why don't you know by now which kind of card it is; debit or credit? And why do you waste the time of those waiting behind you in not knowing which button to press? You have a 50-50 chance of getting it right. Just fucking press one of the buttons. If it doesn't accept the charge - then PRESS the OTHER button. WTF? It can't be the FIRST TIME you're using that card. Depending on the card-reader and card type, a credit card may be debit or credit. Take a guess, make it fast, enough with the deer-in-the-headlights-look when you get the "charge-declined" beep. JUST PRESS THE OTHER FUCKING BUTTON if this happens.

I can't complain about running errands today. It can always be worse.

December 7 NHL Game Recap

My ability to predict final scores continues its historical pattern of being wildly inaccurate. I forgot to add my Disclaimer on that post, but if you're wagering anything of value on my purely speculative guesses on final scores, you need to see your doctor immediately.

The results:

Final: MN 3 - Edmonton 7
My prediction: MN 4 - Oilers 2

Final: Carolina 4 - Ducks 1
My prediction: Ducks 5 - Canes 3

Final: SJ Sharks 2 - Dallas Stars 3
My prediction: Sharks 4 - Stars 2

Final: St. Louis 1 - Winnipeg 0
My prediction: Jets 3 - Blues 1

The Oilers played an excellent game. No doubt about it, their offense was flawless. The Wild couldn't get their act together for consistency. Goalie Devan Dubnyk was pulled in the first period after allowing three goals on six shots. Dubnyk is a great goalie, he had an off night. The Wild looked tired. Their desire was there but they couldn't get it to gel. The Wild had two power plays during the game, on which they did not score. Well, at least they didn't give up a goal on the power play which is a problem they still experience. Why this persists with them, I don't know.

I thought the Ducks - Hurricanes game would be tighter. I could analyze the game, but Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said it best:

"It was one of those games where nothing we seemed to try to do had any effect on it, any positive effect. It was all frustration and lack of ability to execute. They were faster, quicker, and executed to a higher rate than we did."

I watched most of the Sharks - Stars game, it being the most competitive game of the night, and it was. Stars' goalie Ben Bishop had a season-high 41 saves, which pretty much tells the story of why this game was a one point difference. Ducks Left Wing Evander Kane said of his team they were too relaxed and lacked intensity. That may be their problem, as in last season's playoffs the Sharks were two different teams on any given night. They either played as the top-notch, cohesive team they are or, they played like they've never been on ice before.

St. Louis beat the Jets 1 to 0. No one anywhere on the planet would have guessed that the bottom-ranked team would beat the third-place team in the Central Division. No one. Blues defense Colton Payrako scored the one and winning goal in the second period. A final score in any hockey game of 1 - 0 points directly to the success of the goalie, so chalk this Blues win to goalie Jake Allen's incredible performance as well as the Blues' defense. Maybe they're about to turn their game around and rise up from the bottom of the rankings.

Ten games play today. I'm not doing predictions for any of them. It's too early in the season.

December 7 NHL Games on Tap Tonight

Four games on tap tonight in the NHL.

Win/Loss follows each team.

MN vs Edmonton
Minnesota 15-11 (5th place Central) vs Edmonton 14-12 (5th place Pacific)

Ducks vs Hurricanes
Anaheim 15-10 (2nd place Pacific) vs Carolina 12-11 (6th place Metro)

Sharks at Stars
Dallas 15-10 (4th place Central) vs San Jose 14-10 (3rd place Pacific)

Blues at Jets
St. Louis 9-13 (7th place Central) vs Winnipeg 17-8 (3rd place Central)

Predictions:

MN over Edmonton, 4-2. MN lost 0-2 to Calgary last night. I'm looking for the Wild to bounce back. Edmonton beat the Blues on Wednesday 3-2, so they'll be strong.

The Ducks are on a winning streak, five in a row. They're looking for six against Carolina, also playing well, but they lost 5-1 to the Sharks Wednesday night. They might put up a tough game. This is a tough call. Caro's Center Jordan Staal is on the injury list for tonight. Ducks have momentum. Ducks 5 - Carolina 3.

The Sharks have won two in a row. They want three tonight in the Land of Southern Stars. Dallas hasn't played since Tuesday, when they beat Edmonton 4-1. Dallas is rested, maybe too rested? Sharks over Stars, 4-2.

St. Louis at Winnipeg. I'd like to see St. Louis win considering their performance has been so (ahem...) disappointing so far this year. The Jets beat the Islanders 3-1 on Tuesday; look for another Jets win here. Tonight: Jets over St. Louis, 3-1.

Check out NHL game predictions at Oddsshark. Use the menu at the top of their site to view each game analysis and prediction. Oddsshark is a fun site, for all sports, not just the NHL.

Game times and viewings are updated and available around 20-30 minutes before start time.

Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941

AZ Central: Pearl Harbor, 77 years ago:

After 77 years, the story of the mighty battleship has been told again and again: how it took heavy fire, how a bomb blew it apart, how it sank into the harbor.

Over time, other stories from the Arizona have emerged, about unsung heroes and harrowing escapes. But some stories have never been told, especially stories about the 1,177 crew members who died in the attack.

Las Vegas Review-Journal: 77 years later, families honor the dead.

Time and Date: December 7, 2018 - Pearl Harbor

The flag should be flown at half-mast to honor those who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

National Today: Day of Remembrance.

From Holidays Today

The personal stories.

The Salt Lake Tribune: “It’s strange, isn’t it," Bruce Holmes said, “to be here honoring a 19-year-old kid killed 77 years ago.”

EyeWitness To History: The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55 it was all over.

Reader's Digest - A Must Read:

It has been said that when an old person dies, it is like a library burning down. For the past 75 years, I have tried to share what I remember of World War II, but a day will come when I can no longer speak. Then what will become of everything I experienced on December 7, 1941? That’s why I wrote this account.

Liberty Letters: Eyewitness account by Ruth Erickson

My heart was racing, the telephone was ringing, the chief nurse, Gertrude Arnest, was saying, "Girls, get into your uniforms at once, This is the real thing!"

I was in my room by that time changing into uniform. It was getting dusky, almost like evening. Smoke was rising from burning ships.

Bustle (from December 7, 2015) - Five Pearl Harbor Survivor Stories.

USS Arizona Pearl Harbor Memorial

More on Pearl Harbor at:

Ninety Miles From Tyranny

The Right Way

The War on Guns 

It Ain't Holy Water

The Last Tradition

Political Clown Parade

Blogodidact

This Ain't Hell

Minnesota Budget Surplus $1.5 Billion. And it's gone.

Feh, The Dems will have it spent before I'm done typing this. US News:

Minnesota Gov.-elect Tim Walz says the projected $1.5 billion budget surplus shows a legacy of fiscal responsibility under outgoing Gov. Mark Dayton.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton Richie Rich

About that "legacy of financial responsibility" helmed by Gov Richie Rich Dayton, (scion of the abundantly wealthy Dayton family,) that's not quite right. Not even close.

A Dem gov in MN leaves office and the incoming gov-elect is a Dem. Who would expect the inherited budget be anything other than glowing and sparkling?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez upset over Tesla not giving back to taxpayers.

Her name is too many keystrokes, so from now on, she's AOC.

AOC to Tesla, "taxpayers have not seen a return on their investment." RT News:

Incoming New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is taking aim at that most sacred of American cows, the public-private partnership, criticizing Tesla for accepting government subsidies without giving back to the taxpayer.

“When we as a public choose to invest in new technologies, we deserve a return on that investment,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a climate change town hall event on Monday.
[.]
While Tesla has certainly benefited from government subsidies, racking up $2.4 billion as of 2016, the company does not receive nearly as much from the taxpayer as other automakers like Ford, which received $4 billion during that same time, or GM, which got $5.8 billion.

Does she remember Solyndra and other green energy failures that cost taxpayers over $2.2 billion?  Or $4 billion annually to oil companies? (It's the NYT so it has to be true).

Is anyone documenting AOC's every clouded non-sequitur statement at some site or blog? How could anyone keep up? When would you sleep? It's not possible.