Could it be? Could it really be?
Britain’s economy will grow faster than those of other major European countries this year as chief executives regard it as an increasingly attractive place to invest, two studies have found.
Amid growing optimism over Britain’s economic outlook, the International Monetary Fund said that it would outperform the eurozone this year and next.
But… but… but…
Could Paul Krugman have been wrong again?
Fill in the conversation (She:/He: or vice-versa)
Your contributions in Comments…
Longtime Readers know that I detest the way tech companies strip-mine our personal information so they can sell it off to various other companies. Here’s one take on it:
Over the weekend, The New York Times ran a frightening story about a small company named Clearview AI that can identify the person in a picture someone uploads to its service. The New York Times said Clearview AI has more than 3 billion images “scraped from Facebook, YouTube, Venmo and millions of other websites” and that more than 600 law enforcement agencies have started using it.
The report raises some really valid concerns about our privacy: If a picture of you exists somewhere online, and you participate in a protest or a rally, then it’s plausible law enforcement could upload a picture of you at the rally, run it through the Clearview system and easily find out who you are.
But fear not:
Facebook has a setting that can recognize your face so that you’re automatically suggested as a tag in pictures and video that your friends upload. (It won’t work if a stranger uploads your picture.) It’s not available for everyone, including people under 18. Facebook has been rolling it out in stages, and says it’s turned off by default, but I’ve had it for a while and have no recollection of how or when I turned it on.
- Open Facebook.com in your web browser.
- Tap the down arrow on the top right of the page.
- Choose Settings.
- Pick Face Recognition from the left side. If you don’t see it, your account might not have the feature.
- Next to “Do you want Facebook to be able to recognize you in photos and videos?” select No.
When you do that, Facebook says it will “delete your face recognition template” so you’re no longer recognized.
And if you honestly believe that your “face recognition template” has now actually been deleted, I have some snake oil to sell you, guaranteed to make you live forever, you witless simpleton.
I don’t trust any of these fucking bastards.
“Feminism is mixed up with a muddled idea that women are free when they serve their employers but slaves when they help their husbands.” — G.K. Chesterton
Let’s hear it for the HR Department…
Following on from my earlier post about taking care of vermin (actual rats, not politicians, of course), I had this thought.
Given my ummm tendencies, I’d rather address the rat problem like this — I mean, why let dogs have all the fun? I think I’d prefer an inexpensive .22 rifle (semi-auto, for a quick follow-up shot if needed) over an airgun, but I’m open to suggestions.
And no post of mine would be complete without at least a brief look at the guns one would consider. I’m thinking of a heavy barrel semi-auto, like the Ruger 10/22 Competition:
…or the Thompson TC/R22:
…or a ringer, the Browning Buck Mark FLD Target (which might possibly have the best trigger of the three):
No bad choices there. But I’d be at a loss for which optics to choose. Daytime, no problem: either a red-dot or conventional rimfire scope would work. But a night-vision scope? Never owned one.
Tell me your suggestions, in Comments. And remember: I’m a Cheap Bastard, so no $900 EOTech miracles need apply.
From J.J. Sefton at Ace Of Spades :
On a granular level, I cannot imagine the Democrats succeeding in peeling away not just two or three but 20 GOP senators in order to reach a two-thirds majority for conviction and removal. Despite the Democrats attempt to paint McConnell as a Russian agent and/or rigging the trial in Trump’s favor, this too like everything else before will blow up in their face. And yet, they will continue with more smears, more charges and more attempts to sabotage the President and sway voters from now all the way to November. That’s all they have. They have no candidates or positions that even remotely reflect the politics of the average American citizen. They know it and we know it. The only thing left is to either replace the American people with illiterate peasantry from south of the border or, failing that, round us all up and put us in gulags or mass graves.
And the story of the film to come:
The big question remains whither America in a post-Trump (that is, post 1/20/25) landscape? The attempted coup and the concomitant attempt at impeachment means we have a political party and movement that will stop at nothing to attain power. And that means absolute power going forward. The Constitution when it is to be observed will be used as both shield and cudgel, or more than likely abandoned entirely. There is no way to use legal methods and regular order or precedent to thwart them. It is refreshing to see anecdotal things like Martha McSally calling out Manure Raju, Lindsey Graham calling out the Dems’ lust for power during the attempted high tech lynching of Justice Kavanaugh, and more substantively Mitch McConnell going pedal to the metal to confirm as many Trump judicial picks as possible. I hope it’s a bellwether of things to come, and of a dam bursting wide open with an unrelenting torrent of same from now on. Because, sure as G-d made little green apples, the next time the Democrats gain the White House, it’ll be lights out for sure.
There it is, folks: the political landscape, admirably (and perfectly) summarized in a dozen or so sentences.