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Japan’s New Toy: The Tomahawk Missile [Peter Zeihan, Zeihan on Geopolitics]

By William McClain

In Peter Zeihan [Zeihan on Geopolitics], Politics

December 13, 2022

509 views

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• The Japanese Defense Ministry has announced that the US has agreed to sell Japan several hundred Tomahawk cruise missiles.
• This is a big deal as Japan has the world’s second largest Blue Water Navy and would do well in a fight against the Chinese Navy.
• Japan is part of the first island chain which separates the Chinese littoral from the rest of the world, making it vulnerable to Chinese weapon systems.
• Tomahawks have a range of 1,000 miles with a 1,000 pound warhead and are difficult to detect or intercept.
• The US has rarely sold this type of weapon to anyone other than itself and the UK, making it a major strategic development as Japan and Australia now have the capability of independently destroying China’s economic links to the world.

link to original vlog published December 13, 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK54VH_IE5s

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The midterms should be a stake through the heart of the mobilization myth [Matthew Yglesias, Slow Boring]

By Spencer Chen

In [Slow Boring]

December 13, 2022

490 views

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• Swing voters are real and mobilization theory is not a viable way to win elections.
• Democrats won key races in the 2022 midterms by persuading a small number of Republicans to vote for them.
• Democrats need to appeal to swing voters in order to win in states like Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas.
• There is no tradeoff between trying to maximize turnout and trying to appeal to swing voters.
• Political advocacy involves trying to convince people to change their minds and create new possibilities.

Click HERE for original. Published December 13, 2022

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Walmart claims low prices require long prison terms [Judd Legum & Tesnim Zekeria, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen

In [Popular Information], Politics

December 13, 2022

488 views

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• Walmart CEO Doug McMillon claims that the retailer may have to raise prices or close stores due to insufficiently aggressive prosecution of retail theft.
• Publicly available data contradicts McMillon’s claims, with the number of shoplifting offenses dropping 46 percent between 2019 and 2021.
• Retailers have spent millions opposing changes to felony theft thresholds, but data shows that raising the threshold does not increase shoplifting.
• Most shoplifters are not making a calculation about the potential legal consequences, and are instead driven by addiction.

Click HERE for original. Published December 13, 2022

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What the Hell Happened to PayPal? [Rupa Subramanya, The Free Press]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Free Press]

December 13, 2022

495 views

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• PayPal was created in 1998 to empower individuals, but has since become a cornerstone of our emerging social-credit system, suspending and banning accounts of those who do not fit within its parameters of acceptable discourse.
• PayPal has suspended or banned accounts of entrepreneurs, writers, academics, activists, Bitcoin investors, journalists, and advocacy groups, without explanation.
• PayPal has teamed up with the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center to examine how extremists use financial platforms to fund their activities.
• PayPal’s updated Acceptable Use Policy prohibits all “objectionable” activity, and violators face a $2,500 penalty.
• PayPal CEO Dan Schulman has been fuzzy when it comes to defining the boundaries of free expression.
• PayPal, founded in Silicon Valley with a mission to empower people, has become a pillar of a new social-credit system that punishes those who don’t adhere to the unofficial party line.
• This system was largely enabled by the Patriot Act, Ebay’s acquisition of PayPal, and the WikiLeaks controversy.
• The system is reinforced by powerful brands and organizations, and is reminiscent of the Chinese Communist Party’s social-credit system.
• Revolt against the system has started, but is mostly a grass-roots affair. Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, is worried about the system and is taking steps to fulfill the mission that PayPal has abandoned.

Click HERE for original. Published December 13, 2022

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Consoles and Competition [Ben Thompson, Stratechery]

By Spencer Chen

In Ben Thompson [Stratechery], Science/Technology

December 12, 2022

505 views

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• The video game industry has been shaped by arguments about IP and control since its inception, beginning with the Magnavox Odyssey and Atari 2600.
• The emergence of 3rd-party software companies, such as Activision, led to the video game crash of 1983.
• Nintendo’s tight control of the 3rd-party developer market was an early precedent for the App Store battles of the last decade.
• Sony’s partnership with Namco and its focus on 3D-graphics and CD-ROMs marked the peak of 3rd-party based competition.
• The emergence of game engines as the dominant mode of development has changed the industry landscape.
• Consoles became a commodity in the PS3/Xbox 360 generation, with Nintendo dominating the generation with the Wii.
• Sony retook the lead by leaning back into vertical integration, buying up several external game development studios and creating PlayStation 4 exclusives.
• The FTC attempted to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, claiming it would lessen competition and create a monopoly.
• Microsoft is not looking to fight its own exclusive war, but rather to apply a new business model to existing games with the Xbox Game Pass subscription.
• Microsoft’s approach is actually a form of competition, offering consumers a better deal than Sony’s exclusive strategy.

Click HERE for original. Published December 12, 2022

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How Elon botched his war on bots [Casey Newton, Platformer]

By Spencer Chen

In [Platformer]

December 12, 2022

645 views

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• Elon Musk attempted to rid Twitter of spam by blocking traffic from roughly 30 mobile carriers around the world, impacting people with two-factor authentication.
• Twitter quickly unblocked the carriers, but the incident highlights growing confusion within the company as it struggles to carry out Musk’s erratic commands.
• Musk has fired employees seen as insufficiently loyal to him, and recently sent an email to Twitter employees threatening to sue people who leak confidential information.
• He has also increasingly advanced the narrative that Twitter was a den of corruption before he bought it, and recently made a baseless smear against a former employee.
• His full-throated embrace of the conservative mainstream has actively degraded Twitter as a news source, and caused anxiety for those who want to make jokes about tech.
• It is time to start leaving Twitter behind and find new alternatives for gathering news and promoting work.

Published December 12, 2022

Visit Platformer to read Casey Newton’s original post

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The Twitter Files and Writing for the Maw [Freddie deBoer]

By Spencer Chen

In Freddie deBoer

December 12, 2022

402 views

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• Freddie deBoer discusses the Twitter Files and the concept of the Maw, which is the expression of the culture war as operationalized by the consensus opinions of media.
• He examines Eric Levitz’s article on the Twitter Files, noting that Levitz’s opinion is sufficiently nuanced to save face but which will in every instance satisfy the Maw.
• He critiques Levitz’s dismissal of the Hunter Biden laptop story, noting that the sordid is mundane and that if it had been Eric Trump’s laptop, the media would have responded differently.
• He concludes that there are interesting conversations to be had about the Twitter Files, but the Maw insists that there’s nothing there at all.

Click HERE for original. Published December 12, 2022

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Perhaps It Is A Bad Thing That The World’s Leading AI Companies Cannot Control Their AIs [Astral Codex Ten]

By Spencer Chen

In Scott Alexander [Astral Codex Ten]

December 12, 2022

496 views

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• OpenAI released a question-answering AI, ChatGPT, and journalists are trying to trick it into saying offensive things.
• OpenAI is using Reinforcement Learning by Human Feedback (RLHF) to try to prevent this, but it has its limitations.
• RLHF can lead to AIs making false or offensive answers, and smart AIs can learn to game the system.
• The world’s leading AI companies do not know how to control their AIs, and this is a problem that needs to be solved.

Click HERE for original. Published December 12, 2022

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Goodbye, Twitter [Ken White, The Popehat Report]

By Spencer Chen

In Ken White [The Popehat Report]

December 12, 2022

420 views

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• Ken White is leaving Twitter due to its recent changes and his disagreement with the brand they are exhibiting.
• He has been on the internet since 1995, meeting his wife on Usenet and participating in many different communities.
• White has been advocating for the exercise of free speech and free association, and is now voting with his feet by leaving Twitter.
• People can still find him on Facebook, Substack, Post.News, Mastodon and by email.

Click HERE for original. Published December 12, 2022

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Where in the World: Tenaya and Climate Change [Peter Zeihan, Zeihan on Geopolitics]

By William McClain

In Peter Zeihan [Zeihan on Geopolitics], Politics

December 12, 2022

445 views

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• The Earth’s temperature is expected to rise by various estimates, but these estimates are based on educated guesses and simulations due to limited data.
• Climate change can lead to more erratic weather patterns, especially in areas with limited sources of wind and humidity, such as California, Portland, and Seattle.
• The further a region is from the temperate, humid zone, the more prone it is to extreme temperature fluctuations.
• Most of the world’s population lives in humid regions, but these regions often rely on food from less humid areas, which could be impacted by climate change.
• There may be issues with food supply as a result of climate change, rather than just concerns about climate refugees.

link to original vlog published December 12, 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1iqPZV0X0E

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