Politics

Elon Musk, a multi-billionaire who has devoted his whole adult life to getting as rich as possible, often by selling out all free market principles to gain government protections and special government contracts, and an overgrown baby who flirts with libertarianism in the post-Ayn-Rand-follower sense, i.e., freedom redefined as license to indulge in recreational drugs and have all the mindless fun you want “as long as you’re not hurting anyone,” has flown his very own peace plan for ending the war in Ukraine, which just happens to be the kind of peace plan that would give the Kremlin tremendous cover for getting out of Putin’s quagmire with some semblance of an “achievement” to sell to the slaves back home, while requiring Ukraine to forfeit Crimea and any other portion of its territory that is alleged to have voted for Russian annexation under UN-supervised referenda. 

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The $49.99 Philips Hue Tap Dial switch is a smart lighting controller for the Hue superuser. It’s the most powerful and innovative Hue accessory so far, with four buttons and a physical dial for dimming. Out of the box, the buttons and dial are tied to a zone or room, making it seem like an overpowered Hue Smart Dimmer Switch. But why limit yourself to one room when this can control your Hue lights throughout your house?
The Tap Dial is a wireless, battery-operated smart switch that can turn your Philips Hue lights on and off, brighten and dim them, and set lighting scenes. With a magnetic base, it can be attached to its included wall plate like a regular wall switch or placed on any metallic or flat surface for use as a remote control.

The Tap Dial shines as a multizone controller for people with lots of Hue lights

Pity to see folks not getting it:

The Bible and an adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary are among books withdrawn from Texan schools in the past year after parental complaints.
In the latest example of the battle playing out across America over what material children should see, officials in Keller independent school district, near Fort Worth, said books previously cleared as suitable for pupils would have to be assessed again.
At least one person objected to the Bible due to its “sexual content, violence including rape, murder, human sacrifice, misogyny, homophobia, discrimination, and other inappropriate content,” the Dallas Morning News reported. Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation was questioned on the grounds that it should be viewed with an adult, the newspaper reported.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) is not letting up.

by Jason Crawford: History teaches us how to be brutally honest about a problem and yet optimistic…

Debates about technology and progress are often framed in terms of “optimism” vs. “pessimism.” For instance, Steven Pinker, Matt Ridley, Johan Norberg, Max Roser, and the late Hans Rosling have been called the “New Optimists” for their focus on the economic, scientific, and social progress of the last two centuries. Their opponents, such as David Runciman and Jason Hickel, accuse them of being blind to real problems in the world, such as poverty, and to risks of catastrophe, such as nuclear war.

 
After a radical pro-abortion bill made it through both chambers of the New Jersey state legislature and was signed Thursday by Governor Phil Murphy, New Jersey is codifying the “right to reproductive freedom.”
“Right now in New Jersey, our right to reproductive freedom is dependent on a set of legal precedents—but it is not state law,” Murphy and state lieutenant governor Sheila Oliver wrote in an op-ed last month.
The legislation would allow abortion up to the point of birth, with no requirement to notify parents if the pregnant mother is a minor. It has been condemned for allowing late-term abortions, which Murphy and Oliver argue is not extreme because “those who need these critical medical services do so overwhelmingly because there is a threat to their health or there are severe fetal anomalies that would result in suffering and death of the infant.”

The Morrison government’s Better Advice Bill threaded the parliamentary needle Thursday, securing the final major reform from the Hayne royal commission and kick-starting a new era in the regulatory oversight of financial advisers.
From January 1 next year ASIC’s Financial Services and Credit Panel (FSCP) will become the single disciplinary body for advisers, and any complaints about advisers adherance to the Code of Ethics will be heard by a panel of industry members appointed by the relevant minister.
Peer review will now become the “primary channel by which misconduct is assessed and sanctioned,” the government stated.
Speaking to Professional Planner Friday morning, financial services minister Jane Hume said she was “pleased” to gain support of the crossbench and get the Bill across the line.
For advisers, Hume continued, having their conduct assessed by peers is a big step towards graduating from an industry to a profession.

Bitcoin appears to meet the definition of an energy-backed currency proposed by the famed American inventor during the interbellum period.
In 1921, American industrialist Henry Ford proposed the creation of an “energy currency” that could form the basis of a new monetary system — offering striking similarities to the peer-to-peer electronic cash system outlined in Satoshi Nakamoto’s 2008 Bitcoin (BTC) whitepaper. 
Front page of the New York Tribune dated Sunday, December 4, 1921. Source: Library of Congress
Bitcoin as an energy currency

In a society where we refer to our homes as our castles, it makes sense that we also want to feel safe and secure in our residences. But as we spend more time inside looking at screens and less time outside making connections with neighbors, it also makes sense that many homeowners today feel less safe and secure than they did a few decades ago.The irony is that violent crime rates have decreased even as our feelings of danger lurking around every corner have increased. So what can you do to help assuage your fears — and actually make your community safer in the bargain?Plenty! Establishing yourself as a community and working together with your neighbors is one of the best ways to increase feelings of safety while actually reducing crime in your area.

Last Monday, following over a month in exile after being dropped from Amazon Web Services, Google’s Play Store, and Apple’s App Store, the social media app Parler returned to life with a new hosting service and new content guidelines. Parler has become popular among the pro-Donald Trump right, as tech companies have increasingly cracked down on far-right content over the last year, and it now boasts 20 million users on what it calls “the world’s premier free speech platform.” Parler is just one part of a mass conservative reaction to increasing social media scrutiny of Republican commentators and politicians, culminating in Twitter’s permanent ban of President Trump. But although legal experts agree the social media bans that have led to the migration to Parler do not violate free speech, the fact that so few companies control the dissemination of speech in America should concern those across the political spectrum.