Daily News Thread 3/29

EU leaders react as UK PM Theresa May officially triggers Brexit

"After nine months the UK has delivered," declared EU Council President Donald Tusk in a portentous tweet on receipt of the letter triggering Brexit from Prime Minister Theresa May.
bbc.com/news/world-europe-39432658

Vote to repeal U.S. broadband privacy rules sparks interest in VPNs

The vote by the U.S. Congress to repeal rules that limit how internet service providers can use customer data has generated renewed interest in an old internet technology: virtual private networks, or VPNs.
reuters.com/article/us-usa-internet-privacy-idUSKBN17005Y

British volunteers preparing for 'bloodbath' fighting Isis in Raqqa as offensive on Syrian stronghold looms

'Dying for socialism is an honour,' say volunteers facing terrorists' car bombs, mines and snipers.
independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-raqqa-offensive-british-fighters-volunteers-kurdish-ypg-ypj-sdf-syria-kimmie-taylor-bob-crow-a7654781.html

In Russia's once-quiet provinces, young people lead protest

The city of Tambov in southern Russia is one of those sleepy, provincial centers that have in the past been the heartland of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Not anymore.
apnews.com/2af6b3b3edda4c20a86d61ecceee07e0/In-Russia's-once-quiet-provinces,-young-people-lead-protest

IS holds terrified civilians as human shields in Syrian city

Residents of the northern Syrian city of Raqqa live in terror, trapped as a massive human shield in the Islamic State's de facto capital ahead of the final battle with U.S.-backed opposition forces for the militant group's last major urban stronghold.
apnews.com/923782723d8b4193a115a8cac0717b62/IS-holds-terrified-civilians-as-human-shields-in-Syrian-city

‘Culture change’: DNC orders all staff to submit resignations

The new leadership of the Democratic National Committee has asked its entire staff to resign as the party seeks to rebuild from the 2016 electoral losses.
rt.com/usa/382638-perez-dnc-letter-resignation/

China affirms climate pledge after Trump rolls back rules

China promised Wednesday to stick to its climate commitments after President Donald Trump eased U.S. curbs on coal and oil use, opening the way for Beijing to assert itself as a leader in environmental policy.
apnews.com/23fd3616c67042b4a44f17f3763b61b9/China-affirms-climate-pledge-after-Trump-rolls-back-rules

Arab leaders reaffirm support for Palestinian state amid unease over U.S. stance

Arab leaders reaffirmed on Wednesday their commitment to a two-state solution to the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict amid increased unease over the stance of the United States under the new administration of President Donald Trump.
reuters.com/article/us-arabs-summit-king-idUSKBN170129

Scotland Votes to Demand a Post-‘Brexit’ Independence Referendum

Only hours before Britain is to embark on its momentous journey out of the European Union, Scotland's Parliament on Tuesday underscored one of the risks along that path by voting to demand a new referendum on Scottish independence.
nytimes.com/2017/03/28/world/europe/scotland-britain-brexit-european-union.html?_r=0

‘Excessively objectionable’ app tracking US drone strikes cut from Apple store

Apple has come under fire for its decision to pull an app that tracks US drone strikes from its App Store, after the controversial app was briefly accepted after 12 rejections.
rt.com/viral/382679-apple-us-drone-strikes-app/

Mexican man cleared of raping 17yo girl because he didn’t ‘satisfy his sexual appetite’

A Mexican man has been cleared of sexually assaulting an underage girl because he hadn’t “satisfied his sexual appetite” and didn’t intend “to copulate,” a judge in Mexico has ruled.
rt.com/news/382681-mexican-rape-no-pleasure/

A scramble at Cisco exposes uncomfortable truths about U.S. cyber defense

When WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange disclosed earlier this month that his anti-secrecy group had obtained CIA tools for hacking into technology products made by U.S. companies, security engineers at Cisco Systems swung into action.
reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-defense-idUSKBN17013U

Other urls found in this thread:

bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-28/instagram-killed-the-retail-store
bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-29/how-an-american-tech-icon-bet-on-nuclear-and-lost-its-way
rt.com/op-edge/382685-airstrikes-us-mosul-isis/
rt.com/op-edge/382565-nuclear-weapons-north-korea-china/
theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/03/black-wages-labor/521172/?utm_source=feed
boingboing.net/2017/03/29/democratizing-crime.html
daily.jstor.org/global-jellyfish-crisis-perspective/
nakedcapitalism.com/2017/03/american-opioid-epidemic.html
truthdig.com/report/item/the_worlds_reefs_are_now_damaged_beyond_repair_20170329/
truthdig.com/report/item/chomsky_if_trump_falters_with_supporters_a_staged_terrorist_20170329/
wolfstreet.com/2017/03/29/how-many-jobs-do-robots-destroy-answers-emerge/
twitter.com/NSFWRedditImage

OP/ED

Instagram Killed the Retail Store

The members of Gen Z are rewriting the rules of selling fashion.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-28/instagram-killed-the-retail-store

How an American Tech Icon Bet on Nuclear – and Lost its Way

Westinghouse Electric Co., once synonymous with America’s industrial might, wagered its future on nuclear power – and lost.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-29/how-an-american-tech-icon-bet-on-nuclear-and-lost-its-way

'US airstrikes that kill civilians in Mosul allow ISIS to thrive'

Deploying more troops on the ground in Mosul shows people are concerned about the consequences of large-scale airstrikes, which have killed hundreds of people in the city, Simon Mabon, Lecturer in International Relations at Lancaster University, told RT.
rt.com/op-edge/382685-airstrikes-us-mosul-isis/

‘China could do more to restrain North Korea’s nuke ambitions’ – Michael Pillsbury

China has done enough pushing on North Korean over the nuclear issue that Pyongyang is beginning to complain, but the two countries are nowhere near a high level of friction, US Defense Department consultant Michael Pillsbury told RT America’s News With Ed.
rt.com/op-edge/382565-nuclear-weapons-north-korea-china/

Black Americans Are Working More—With Little to Show for It

The discrepancies in earnings, wealth and other markers of financial success between black and white Americans are stark.
theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/03/black-wages-labor/521172/?utm_source=feed

Stingray for criminals: spreading mobile malware with fake cellphone towers

Police who rely on vulnerabilities in crooks' devices are terminally compromised; the best way to protect crime-victims is to publicize and repair defects in systems, but every time a hole is patched, the cops lose a tool they rely on the attack their own adversaries.
boingboing.net/2017/03/29/democratizing-crime.html

The Global Jellyfish Crisis in Perspective

Seen from high above, a jellyfish bloom is a single mass, a brushstroke on the ocean’s vast surface.
daily.jstor.org/global-jellyfish-crisis-perspective/

The American Opioid Epidemic

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.
nakedcapitalism.com/2017/03/american-opioid-epidemic.html

The World’s Reefs Are Now Damaged Beyond Repair

The Great Barrier Reef, one of the wonders of the Pacific Ocean, may never fully recover from the combined effects of global warming and an El Niño year.
truthdig.com/report/item/the_worlds_reefs_are_now_damaged_beyond_repair_20170329/

Chomsky: If Trump Falters With Supporters, a ‘Staged or Alleged’ Terrorist Attack Could Follow

The linguist and social critic discusses the president’s agenda and warns about the scapegoating of vulnerable people.
truthdig.com/report/item/chomsky_if_trump_falters_with_supporters_a_staged_terrorist_20170329/

Pace and Costs of Automation pick up
wolfstreet.com/2017/03/29/how-many-jobs-do-robots-destroy-answers-emerge/

Just today, BlackRock announced a plan to consolidate $30 billion of their actively managed mutual fund activities with funds that are managed by algorithms and quantitative models. As these software robots take over, “53 stock pickers are expected to step down from their funds. Dozens more are expected to leave the firm,” as the New York Times put it. “We have to change the ecosystem – that means relying more on big data, artificial intelligence, factors and models within quant and traditional investment strategies,” BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink told The Times.

Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepo studied how the increase of industrial robots between 1990 through 2007 has impacted US jobs and wages. They found “large and robust negative effects of robots on employment and wages across commuting zones.
Specifically, they found that in a “commuting zone” with exposure to robots versus a “commuting zone” without exposure to robots:
Each additional robot reduces employment by a net of 6.2 workers.
Each additional robot per 1,000 workers reduces average wages by 0.73%.
One more robot per thousand workers reduces the US employment-to-population ratio by about 0.18-0.34 percentage points.
One more robot per thousand workers reduces US wages by 0.25% to 0.5%.

The researchers said they were surprised to see very little employment increase in other occupations to offset the job losses in manufacturing. That increase could still happen, they said, but for now there are large numbers of people out of work, with no clear path forward – especially blue-collar men without college degrees.

Oh shit, I know people at BlackRock.
Good, I hope they get fucked.

It's the first "big" white collar automation roll out I've heard of
Which means it's gonna massively accelerate across the rest of white collar professions soon
GIG ECONOMY FOR EVERYONE SOON

War with either North Korea or Iran at some point in the future
given that Trump's already limited support is collapsing it's probable he'll move for a rally round the flag event

Tax reform will probably implode as well, and there's a decent chance of government shutdown this year too

lel I can't wait for england to collapse, the anglo has had it coming for a LOOONG time

lel at the US/UK

I think my boss's job is in danger. Everyone in my department got new phones that we use for work, and basically everything he does can be done through the phone. The phones already tell us where in the store to go and what to do when we get there, but now we can get project information from it, and now they want us to capture our work with the phone camera, so theoretically someone can check all of our work in a matter of minutes rather than hours. With the cameras you could even talk directly to your supervisor of you had a question. So, theoretically, a single manager could oversee several stores from a single, central location, eliminating thousands of jobs across the company.

And the dope won't stop talking the things up as great tools for work etc. He has no idea that he's training us to use his replacement.

The alternative for US was to start WW3.

No way in hell it'll be North Korea. That would be a bloodbath.