"Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) on Friday reported fewer monthly active users than analysts expected and warned that the closely-watched figure could keep falling as it deletes phony accounts, sending shares sharply lower in early trading." Wither the Social Media bubble?
"Lockheed Martin just made the largest 3D printed part they've ever ever built for space. The titanium domes used to take a couple of years to make from scratch, but this was completed in about three months." (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"For the first time ever, researchers have watched a star race past the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, verifying that its motion showed the effects of general relativity, as predicted by Albert Einstein."
"But more than just copying nature, Nocera’s technology outdoes it. While the most efficient plants can convert about 1 per cent of sunlight into energy, manmade versions could produce at least 10 times better results—though it’s early days yet… Considerable work remains to be done before the technology could produce power in a commercially useful way."
"For one, Akihito has been on the throne for almost the entirety of the information age, meaning that many systems have never had to deal with a switchover in era. For another, the official name of Naruhito's era has yet to be announced, causing concern for diary publishers, calendar printers and international standards bodies. It's why some are calling it 'Japan's Y2K problem.'" Stardates would be extremely helpful here. (Grokked from Dan)
"Home DNA test results from the 5 million customers of 23andMe will now be used by drug giant GlaxoSmithKline to design new drugs, the two companies announced Wednesday… 23andMe patrons are asked if they want to participate in scientific research. The new agreement moves this consent firmly into the field of active drug discovery research." Now we can all be Henrietta Lacks. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
"Brock Turner did not intend to rape an unconscious woman because he engaged only in "sexual outercourse" with her, a lawyer for the former Stanford University student argued in an effort to overthrow Turner's sexual assault conviction." Some fuckers just need killing.
How go the Trade Wars? "Reuters reports that three major grain milling companies in Mexico that have purchased the vast majority of their wheat and other grains from the U.S. are looking at Russian suppliers and other options in Latin America." There's not even a tariff on wheat, yet. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"President Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday that they have agreed to work toward removing all trade barriers between the two sides." Well what they really did was have a talk to set up a meeting that might lead to an actual meeting where something might be done. And if the president insists on zero tariffs and zero subsidies, it's going to make that $12b hush money payment, I mean Farm Relief, looks like chump change. Fuck, we just passed the Farm Bill. And without subsidies domestic sugar production will be eliminated.
"President Trump on Thursday vowed that the government would investigate Twitter for allegations that the social media giant has suppressed content from some conservative accounts." (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Alex Jones, the American conspiracy theorist who runs the InfoWars website, has been suspended from Facebook for bullying and hate speech." Well that only took for-fucking-ever. "The suspension will last for 30 days, and affects only Jones’s personal account on the social network, not the main InfoWars account. His profile will continue to be published, but he will not be not be able to post fresh content until the suspension elapses." Oh FFS. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"And this gets at something important about the (Democratic Socialists of America): while the DSA has its stated goals, there's no orthodoxy members have to follow."
"Did GDP growth top 4 percent in the second quarter — more than double the first-quarter pace — as many economists project?… Forecasts are all over the board, with estimates even among Federal Reserve economists diverging widely." Note how quickly the article delves into comparisons to 2008. But, by the time this is posted, we'll know the numbers.
And the numbers are… "The U.S. economy had a blockbuster second quarter, with growth surging to a 4.1 percent pace, the Commerce Department said Friday. That was nearly double the first quarter rate of 2.2 percent and the strongest pace in nearly four years." SO good for us. There's a lot of one time stuff baked in there, and the real fallout from the trade war has yet to hit. I'm still saying Q3 or Q4 will show negative growth (most likely Q4), although I'm leaning back (a little) from a recession (2 consecutive quarters of negative growth).
"Some 711 migrant children taken from their parents at the US-Mexico border have not yet been returned to them, despite a court-ordered deadline… The reasons given included a lack of confirmed family ties, or a parent having a criminal record or a communicable disease… In 431 cases the parents were no longer in the US, a court filing said."
"Trump administration stops asking drillers and miners to pay for damage to federal lands." Time to stop going to the outhouses, people. Just shit on the ground wherever you need to. Remember when SuperFund had to be set up because the companies that cause the environmental disasters either no longer existed, or declared bankruptcy just as the government asked them to clean their shit up? Remember how much that cost the American Taxpayers? Remember how the solution was to make companies prepay (or get insurance)? (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"A congressional watchdog agency found Thursday that the Department of Energy violated the law last year with a negative tweet about ObamaCare… The report from the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, finds that the Department of Energy violated the law because its funding is not directed to be used for health care messaging." Nope like anything will happen. (Grokked from Michele)
"'Come. We are ready,' (Quds Force Major-General Qassem) Soleimani said, accusing Trump of using 'the language of night clubs and gambling halls.'" Persians, am I right?
"Warren Police were called to a home on Southern Boulevard after a neighbor allegedly came to a man's house with a shotgun after a heated argument over Trump." So much winning.
"Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, claims that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, sources with knowledge tell CNN. Cohen is willing to make that assertion to special counsel Robert Mueller, the sources said." (Insert dramatic music here). Could be real, could be an attempt to make a deal to lessen his own legal jeopardy without any real content, but it's very interesting none the less. If true, several people in the administration are guilty of perjury to Congress and it makes the first direct tie from Russia to Trump (that we know about).
"The Moscow lawyer said to have promised Donald Trump’s presidential campaign dirt on his Democratic opponent worked more closely with senior Russian government officials than she previously let on, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press." (Grokked from Fran Wilde)
"To be clear, this was not a voting machine. The system that counts votes had software installed that allowed a person who was not on the scene to gain access to the voting results. But the strangest part of this revelation was why the machine was being audited in the first place… Pennsylvania voters complained that the ES&S machines were changing or 'flipping' votes." The cat is up on the roof, and won't come down, and hasn't eaten for several days… A lot of circumstantial evidence, but not a smoking gun (and as the author points out, most likely even if they did it wouldn't be found). (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)
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