The unimportant news thread

[Todd]

Fifth of Global Oil Trade Used Non-Dollar Currencies in 2023

[Todd]

Keeping it Left Coast to start the day.

From the LA Times: Earth reaches grim milestone: 2023 was the warmest year on record

From Stanford: Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels reached record high in 2023

In an entirely unrelated story from PBS: How U.S. oil production reached an all-time high in 2023


Fortunately, 2024 will be the year it all starts to turn around!

[SimonNZ]

Fortunately, 2024 will be the year it all starts to turn around!

You are the one in favor of legislative gridlock.

[Todd]

From Deutsche Welle: Polish police arrest ex-ministers at presidential palace

Word on the street is that they were in cahoots with Honest Bob Menendez.

[Todd]

From NPR: Guantánamo Bay has been open for 22 years despite calls for its closure

Happy birthday, Gitmo.  You've come a long way, baby!

[Todd]

From People (!): U.S. Air Force Officer Madison Marsh Crowned as 2024 Miss America: 'The Sky Is Not the Limit'

Not even Paul Verhoeven would have put this type of thing in one of his movies.

[Todd]

Some Oregon stupid: Struggling with oversaturation, Oregon's cannabis industry calls for new restrictions

The Cannabis Industry Alliance of Oregon is literally asking the state of Oregon to establish a drug cartel. 

(Of course, long term, when the feds lift the restrictions on the Devil's Lettuce, the industry will go corporate and the tobacco companies will take over, but that's a ways off.)

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Some Oregon stupid: Struggling with oversaturation, Oregon's cannabis industry calls for new restrictions

The Cannabis Industry Alliance of Oregon is literally asking the state of Oregon to establish a drug cartel. 

(Of course, long term, when the feds lift the restrictions on the Devil's Lettuce, the industry will go corporate and the tobacco companies will take over, but that's a ways off.)

I can't believe how many there are in my town!  It's gotten ridiculous!

PD

[Todd]

Alec Baldwin indicted on involuntary manslaughter charge in 'Rust' shooting

This marks a watershed in American history.  This is the first time both a former President and his most famous impersonator have been indicted multiple times. 

[Spotted Horses]

Alec Baldwin indicted on involuntary manslaughter charge in 'Rust' shooting

This marks a watershed in American history.  This is the first time both a former President and his most famous impersonator have been indicted multiple times. 

I think the true watershed is that the former President bragged he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with and his impersonator actually shot someone to death on a movie set and expects to get away with it.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The winner of a prestigious Japanese literary award has confirmed ChatGPT helped write her book.


https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/19/style/rie-kudan-akutagawa-prize-chatgpt/index.html

[Todd]

Japan becomes the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon

That's one small step for Japan, one giant leap for Japan's ICBM program.

[DavidW]

The winner of a prestigious Japanese literary award has confirmed ChatGPT helped write her book.


https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/19/style/rie-kudan-akutagawa-prize-chatgpt/index.html

Helping being the key word.  I think it is a useful tool and not a replacement for human expression.  This feels like the protests against calculators.  Kids won't learn math if they have a calculator! There has been a lot of FUD around AI and hyperbole mostly fueled by the media.

[Todd]

There has been a lot of FUD around AI and hyperbole mostly fueled by the media.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Helping being the key word.  I think it is a useful tool and not a replacement for human expression.  This feels like the protests against calculators.  Kids won't learn math if they have a calculator! There has been a lot of FUD around AI and hyperbole mostly fueled by the media.

While the title of the article is unclear/misleading, 5 percent of the text was generated by the AI.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Two Madonna fans are suing the US singer for being late by more than two hours for a show.


https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-68027965

[Todd]

The WSJ covers the stories that need to be covered: They Thought Their Money Was in High-Interest Accounts—They Got Paid Peanuts

This is an outrage!  The perfidious bankers responsible for such horrific abuse of clients must serve time.  No other outcome will suffice.

[DavidW]

The WSJ covers the stories that need to be covered: They Thought Their Money Was in High-Interest Accounts—They Got Paid Peanuts

This is an outrage!  The perfidious bankers responsible for such horrific abuse of clients must serve time.  No other outcome will suffice.

I'm pretty sure the interest rates have to be disclosed on the monthly statements.  So they just deleted the emails, threw the statements in the trash unopened and yet years go by.  I mean Capital One are a bunch of shady crooks, playing games with names, but I doubt that there is a real case here if the resolution was literally check the statements sent to you on a monthly basis.

[Todd]

I'm pretty sure the interest rates have to be disclosed on the monthly statements.

I suppose one could log in, check the interest credit, and use a calculator to determine the rate.  But that is hard work.  Even harder than moving money to another bank.  Do you know how long that takes in the 2020s?  Literally minutes.  Justice must be served.

[Todd]

A new word enters the political lexicon: Dexit!

AfD demands radical EU reforms to avoid 'Dexit'

I don't follow German politics, but per NPR, AfD has decent poll numbers: Germany's far-right party now polls higher than the three parties in government.  (I do like the use of "far-right"; very nice.)  Apparently Sahra Wagenknecht has formed her own party, the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht, which The Graun labels the "conservative left".  (I didn't and couldn't make it up.)  It looks kind of weird to see someone include his or her name in a party.  This indicates to me that German politics are roiled a bit.  Anyway, I'd like to see Dexit, but that seems unlikely.