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Aide-Memoire

Author: sergneri

Dangerous

December 1, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the December 1st New York Times, this opinion piece on Trump’s mental health: To the Editor: I am the editor of “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.” We represent a much larger number of concerned mental health professionals who have come forward to warn against … [Read more…]

Posted in: Politics, Thinking about, This Day in History, Trump Tagged: mental health, mental health professionals, President, Psychiatrists, Trump

Disruption games

November 19, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

An analysis from the Guardian (11/19/17) on “Why are libertarians lining up with autocrats to undermine democracy?” is found here. However, the long-term corrosive effect of Russia’s use of disinformation to break down trust in western institutions is hard to measure and may be unmeasurable. What is clear is that it is continuing with the … [Read more…]

Posted in: Politics, Thinking about, Trump Tagged: Assange, Brexit, Edward Snowden, Fake News, fake Twitter accounts, libertarian, Putin, radical libertarians, Russia, Russian, Snowden, Sputnik, Trump, Twitter, Wikileaks

Tech Leaders Dismayed by Weaponization of Social Media

November 16, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

View From the Valley Telecom Internet Tech Leaders Dismayed by Weaponization of Social MediaBy Tekla S. Perry Posted 14 Nov 2017 | 15:00 GMT IEEE SPECTRUM The tech industry can’t hide from the information war, particularly when its own creations are being weaponized. That was the consensus of a panel at the Techonomy17 conference in … [Read more…]

Posted in: Politics, Science, Trump Tagged: AdSense, Advertising, Autodesk, clickbait, Facebook, GOOGLE, misinformation, Net Neutrality, Propaganda, social networks, Techonomy, Twitter, Verizon

Tim Berners-Lee on the future of the web: ‘The system is failing’

November 15, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

From the Guardian – Wednesday 15 November 2017 The inventor of the world wide web remains an optimist but sees a ‘nasty wind’ blowing amid concerns over advertising, net neutrality and fake news Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s optimism about the future of the web is starting to wane in the face of a “nasty storm” of … [Read more…]

Posted in: Politics, Science, Thinking about, Trump Tagged: AdSense, Advertising, Ajit Pai, AT&T, Cambridge Analytica, clickbait, Comcast, Facebook, GOOGLE, misinformation, Net Neutrality, Propaganda, social networks, Twitter, Verizon, Vint Cerf

The Trumps are a special problem

November 15, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the New York Review’s Daily blog, Marilynne Robinson’s essay “Year One: Rhetoric & Responsibility” reminds me that we had a President in Obama who could appreciate her gifts and actually carry on a conversation at this level. I specially like this paragraph: The Trumps are a special problem, unembarrassed money-grubbers in whom other motives … [Read more…]

Posted in: Politics, This Day in History, Trump Tagged: billionaire, Marilynne Robinson, money, President Trump, Russia, unembarrassed money-grubbers

What Explains U.S. Mass Shootings?

November 8, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the NY Times, a review of a study from by Adam Lankford, a professor at the University of Alabama, found that the enormous number of guns owned by Americans was the major correlation in mass killings. In rankings, Yemen is second to the US in both mass killings and gun ownership. Why are we … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Politics, Racism, Science, Thinking about

Trump’s War on Knowledge

October 13, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In a great article capturing the current efforts to make stupid “right”, Ariel Dorfman pulls together the stings in “Trump’s War on Knowledge.” From the NY Review of Books NYR Daily column, Oct 12, 2017.

Posted in: Politics, Science, Thinking about, Trump Tagged: ¡Abajo la inteligencia! ¡Viva la muerte!, Chile, Donald Trump, Falangist, Federico García Lorca, General Francisco Franco, General José Millán Astray, Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Salvador Allende, Trump, Viktor Orbán

How big is the federal workforce?

October 4, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

WAPO, Oct 3, 2017 … How big is the federal workforce? Much bigger than you think. A new study on “The True Size of Government,” by Paul C. Light, professor of public service at New York University, says the government’s “blended” workforce is 7 to 9 million strong — including contractors and grantees.

Posted in: Politics, Science, Thinking about Tagged: Congress, Contractors, Government, Grantees, IRS, military personnel, National Treasury Employees Union, personnel, Postal Service, workforce

How Big Banks Became Our Masters

September 27, 2017 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Well said, Rana Foroohar in the Sept. 27th NYT opinion piece which can be read here.

Posted in: Finanace, Politics Tagged: Adam Smith, banks, bored of banking, C-suite, Finance, financial industry, SoFi, Wall Street

the Label Ball – Part 2

September 21, 2017 by sergneri 1 Comment

Part one, Creation of the Label Ball, can be read here . I entered the label ball into the Sonoma County Fair’s Amateur – Adult Home Arts – Other Paper Arts – Altered Art (yes, that is the full category) and won a 2nd place ribbon! This also comes with a $4 check, so, after … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Science, Thinking about Tagged: 2017, 2nd Place, Apple, digestion, Fruit, grower, Label Ball, labels, Organic Food, produce, Recycling, Sonoma County Fair, Vegetable
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