Monday, April 2, 2018

The Peanut Gallery

Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.

1. All these social media platforms that gather your information and your friend info are in for a rocky legal and PR ride. Anyone who thought Zuckerberg, @facebook and co would keep your data "safe" was never paying attention. When the product is free, YOU are the product! We haven't heard the last of this.

2. So the march of a million on the Gaza border turned into a march of 30,000. Then a few hundred, including Hamas gunmen who tried to storm the fence, and 17 were shot dead. Note to Hamas: The more you try to create an international incident, the more your people will die. You can thank the heavens and Alluah Akbar that this cynical attempt to provoke media attention did not take place on the Egyptian border. You would be burying 30,000 people today. The IDF has sent a clear message. Pay attention.

3.Geopolitics traditionally studies the links between political power and geographic space, and examines strategic prescriptions based on the relative importance of land power and sea power in world history - Wikipedia
During an October 2012 presidential debate, Obama ridiculed Romney about his concern over Russia’s “geopolitical” threat. He criticized the former Massachusetts governor for saying Russia -- not Al Qaeda -- was America's "No. 1 geopolitical foe."
“You said Russia. Not Al Qaeda. You said Russia,” Obama said regarding a question, which involved the biggest threats facing the world. “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because … the Cold War’s been over for 20 years,” he chided the Republican presidential contender. COMMENT: In case you have been blinded by Trump's stupidity, this would be a factual reminder of the ridiculous and dangerous Obama worldview.

4.USA Today: Six weeks ago, they were just high school kids in Parkland, Fla.: cramming for tests, plodding through college essays, jousting with friends. Now, they are a thundering force on the national stage, unrelenting voices determined to upend the history of gun violence in the U.S.  "Welcome to the revolution,” said Cameron Kasky. COMMENT: Total U.S. military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan: 6,950 vs Number of U.S. children killed by gun violence in past five years: 6,984. And Americans wonder why the planet looks at their country with derision. These kids will change America. They bring hope. 

5.Patrick Watson: Unlike virtual reality, AI-driven “fake” video is ready for primetime.
With tools that are available right now, computers can study a person’s voice and facial expressions, then produce a convincing video of that person saying… anything. Adventurous FakeApp users have used it to create realistic-looking celebrity porn, replacing the original heads of the actors with those of movie stars and singers. And that’s not even the worst you can do with this new technology.
Take politicians or top business leaders, for example. Stock prices often move when a CEO or a Federal Reserve official says something important. But did they really say it? With this technology out there, you can’t be 100% sure unless you were in the room.
The potential for mischief is obvious. Worse, the mischief-makers can make a bundle by generating price movements, so you can bet it will happen. We just don’t know where or when.COMMENT: Welcome to a new and dangerous world. If you are not nervous about the  Nasdaq...now is the time.

6.Nitsana Darshan-Leitner: In the face of the enactment of the Taylor Force Act the current entrenched Palestinian leadership now has some difficult choices to make. The long waited enactment of the United States’ Taylor Force Act, which could require the State Department to withhold $350 million of its annual American aid to the Palestinians if they continue using these taxpayer funds to pay monthly stipends to the families of imprisoned terrorists and suicide bombers, has created a crisis for their leadership. COMMENT: Life is getting tougher for the so-called Palestinian Arabs and who fall under the heading of liars, cheats, loud-mouths, scam artists and cowards....and now that the oil weapon is non-existent....

7. A huge controversy has exploded in the cricket world as the Australian Coach, captain, vice-captain and some team members are caught cheating on camera in an international test match against South Africa. Brydon Coverdale: To understand the public response, and why the incident touched such a nerve, you need to understand the role sport has always played in Australia's national identity. The Australian public has a line, too. And with their culture of sledging, whingeing, hypocrisy and arrogance, our cricketers have been head-butting it for so long that they have become an insufferable national migraine. "What sort of leaders not only hatch a plan like this, but have the team's most junior member take all the risk? That is not leadership, it is cowardice." COMMENT: Enough said.

Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) - You gotta hand it to Putin. If you wanted to pick a President to divide our nation, destroy our morale and lower our standin' in the world, you couldn't have made a better decision than Donald Trump. 

A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will in time produce a people as base as itself - Joseph Pulitzer

It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow - Robert H. Schuller

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