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The idea of a robotaxi appeals to me. The day is not far off when someone—my wife, my daughter—will tell me I’m no longer safe behind the wheel. It would certainly be handy to call or text a robotaxi to drive to the grocery store, a show or a dentist appointment. So is that happening? “It turns out not even the people building Tesla’s self-driving tech trust Elon Musk’s extravagant claims about the company’s autonomous vehicles. “New reporting by Reuters interviewed nine former data labelers and a former self-driving engineer about their take on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving mode. The results were overwhelmingly negative, with seven of the data specialists admitting they wouldn’t ride in a Tesla in FSD.” *snip* “ In recent months, Tesla operating on FSD move have driven riders   into lakes ,   off bridges , and even into the path of   oncoming trains   — and those are just the incidents that get media exposure. Given these insiders’ direct access to terabytes’ worth of p...

We should be clear: Bari Weiss is murdering 60 Minutes. She is doing so not out of incompetence or foolishness, but with malice aforethought. She is doing it at the behest of her corporate patron, because while she may cause CBS News to lose millions of dollars, her stroking of Trump will gain David Ellison billions of dollars.   That’s what is happening. And anyone who pretends that this is about “free speech,” or adapting to an age of “new media,” or confronting “dangerous ideas,” or reclaiming some “forgotten audience” is selling you something.   ~Jonathan V. Last

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has claimed that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is ending contracts for mRNA vaccine development, citing concerns that the technology may pose “more risks than benefits.” According to Kennedy Jr., HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) reviewed 22 mRNA vaccine projects — most focused on flu and COVID — and began canceling them. He argued that mRNA vaccines only code for a small portion of viral proteins, usually a single antigen. This makes them vulnerable to mutations, which can render the vaccine less effective. Kennedy Jr. pointed to the Omicron variant as an example, noting that millions contracted it despite vaccination. He further warned that this dynamic could drive antigenic shift, encouraging new mutations and potentially prolonging pandemics. Look, the point of the COVID vaccine is to keep you out of the ED and the morgue. Nobody said it *prevents* infection. Yes, viruses evolve. Some, like flu virus ...

First the disclaimers: I’m a PhD scientist with a well-trained crap detector. And I was a medical school (allopathic medicine) professor for 37 years. While I’ve never practiced medicine, I have a pretty deep understanding of evidence-based medicine. “At a time when people are increasingly concerned about drug side effects, some consider acupuncture an attractive non-medication option. Unfortunately, many studies show that the potential benefits of acupuncture are short-lived. In my experience, I put acupuncture, massage, and chiropractic interventions in the same bucket. You may feel better for a day or two, but there is limited lasting improvement.” It’s not like acupuncture hadn’t been examined by the same rigorous scientific studies that drug and vaccines are subject to. “In one study, 249 people with migraines occurring two to eight times per month received either acupuncture, sham (fake/placebo) acupuncture, or were put on an acupuncture waiting list. The two treatment groups rec...

"Stahl then referenced Sorkin’s latest book, “1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History — and How It Shattered a Nation,” before further pressing him over whether he thinks America will face another economic disaster like in 1929. “The answer is, we will have a crash,” he said. “I just can’t tell you when, and I can’t tell you how deep. But I can assure you, unfortunately, I wish I wasn’t saying this, we will have the crash.” So it could be tomorrow or it could be in 15 years. It could be a 50% drop or it could be a 5% drop. I could have made this prediction. Do I get to be on Tee-Vee?   https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cnbc-host-market-crash-coming_n_6a1490e2e4b0457678e3f6b6?origin=home-latest-news-unit&fbclid=IwY2xjawSDjQ9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEejN85Hp12BPM60f2ArQRzQTKJRHS5WbqEHWxfRcdd_-glj8a_jIxB-sCjaAg_aem_iJnu2cYydrq9vyc2oGedxw

My dad was an officer in the US Naval reserve. He served in the Panama Canal Zone for two years in the late 50’s, when I was a toddler. He always spoke highly of the US Navy, although he admitted he was almost kicked out of OCS for infractions due to his inattention to petty rules. He eventually earned a PhD in chemical engineering and retired with four US patents, one of which he spun off into a company that supported him for several years after he retired from Martin-Marietta in Oak Ridge TN. This is all by way of saying that (a) he was no dummy and (b) he was supportive of the US military. He was also an early opponent of the Vietnam war in particular and US military adventurism in general. Pete Hegseth is a Princeton alum (which he chose over West Point) and former Army National Guard officer who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gitmo. Far from being sobered by those experiences, he seems to have become intoxicated. “Once the Global War on Terror became politically untenable to defe...