America’s Secret Data War

Until recently the biggest source of global conflict had to do with energy, oil, and gas resources, but today data is more valuable, and much more disruptive.  The bits and bytes of the information revolution are, it turns out, are disruptive economically and geopolitically.  In The Economist’s words highlighting this tectonic shift: “Data are to this century what oil was to the last one: a driver of growth and change.”  That change is coming swiftly, and — in the coming years — violently. Governments are slow to recognize this fact. It is…

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North Korea’s Next Secret

North Korea may soon conduct its first underwater-launched ballistic missile test in about a year, a top South Korean military official said Wednesday, amid long-stalled nuclear talks between the North and the United States. In written remarks to lawmakers ahead of a confirmation hearing, Won In-choul, the nominee for chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said North Korea has been repairing recent typhoon damage at its northeastern Sinpo shipyard, a place where it builds submarines. Shortly after the repairs are complete, there is a chance it will carry…

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China’s Strange Control Over Hollywood

Filmmaker Judd Apatow gave a recent interview in which he criticized the film industry for essentially censoring content that’s critical of places like China where human rights abuses are happening. The director of hits like “Knocked Up” and “Anchorman” sat down for an interview for MSNBC’s “Mavericks with Ari Melber” in which he briefly touched upon the “chilling” idea that corporations linked to the filmmaking industry are so reliant on capital from markets like China that they’re unwilling to allow anything critical of the country to make their way onto the…

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Rich Liberal Kids Decide Next Steps For BLM

The so-called revolutionaries who were busted for rioting at a New Afrikan Black Panther Party rally took a break from their yacht club lives and modeling careers to be a part of the mayhem. The seven “comrades” — including wealthy Upper East Sider Clara Kraebber — had their mugshots tweeted out by the NYPD early Wednesday, days after their arrests for smashing storefront windows in the Flatiron District. They were cuffed during a protest organized by the Panthers and the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement groups condemning the death of Daniel Prude,…

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El Chapo’s Real Addiction

Joaquín ‘El Chapo‘ Guzmán admitted the only addiction he ever suffered from was ‘women’ and that he was the father of 23 children. The revelations were made during a tell all interview with renown criminologist Mónica Ramírez Cano after Mexican security forces had captured the fugitive co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel. Ramírez Cano, who in the past profiled some of Mexico most infamous drug lords, shared a five-second clip of the interview session that was recorded in 2016. She sat across from El Chapo and asked ‘what have you liked the…

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Should This Be Iran’s Final Threat?

Iran said it had warned U.S. aircraft to keep away from military drills its holding over three days in a large maritime region reaching from the Persian Gulf to the northern Indian Ocean. Military spokesman Commodore Shahram Irani said foreign manned and unmanned aircraft had been cautioned on Wednesday to avoid the exercises taking place over 2 million square kilometers of ocean, state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The area lies to the east of the Strait of Hormuz, a major choke point for oil shipments. Iran and the U.S.…

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Pentagon Plans Human/AI Sky Battle

The Pentagon is planning a 2024 showdown between an F-16 piloted by a human and one controlled by artificial intelligence, a man versus machine matchup that military officials believe could represent a key turning point in technological development. Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced the 2024 contest during a speech on AI development Wednesday at the Pentagon. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, already has held numerous combat simulations between human pilots and machines. In the most recent round, officials said the AI-controlled system easily defeated the human. “The…

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Let’s Keep R. Kelly In Jail

R. Kelly’s appeal to be released on bail ahead of his trial was denied by an appeals court Tuesday. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision said prosecutors presented “clear and convincing evidence” that Kelly presents a potential danger to the community and he is a flight risk. R. Kelly’s attorneys asked for his release from federal custody before the panel of three judges Friday morning, arguing that the singer has been unable to prepare for his upcoming trial for nearly six months. The singer has not seen his attorneys…

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What’s Going On With the Russian Vaccine?

A group of international scientists questioned results from a study of Russia’s fast-moving coronavirus vaccine that were published in the Lancet medical journal, saying some of the findings appeared improbable. The researchers flagged concerns over seemingly identical levels of antibodies in a number of study participants who were inoculated with the experimental vaccine. This and other patterns in the data present “several different points of concern,” according to an open letter written by Temple University professor Enrico Bucci and signed by more than a dozen other scientists. Russia is sticking…

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2016 all over again?

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Market volatility is back – and investors expect more wild swings in the coming weeks and months as the U.S. presidential election closes in. Regardless of who wins the Nov. 3 election, some market watchers say, markets are likely to grow more turbulent. Economic uncertainty resulting from the coronavirus pandemic still looms large, and the possibility of a delayed vote count due to a large number of mail-in ballots has also unsettled some investors. Moreover, a buildup of positions in big tech-related stocks has increased risk,…

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