Michael moore in trump land

World Donald Trump North Korea Kim Jong Un Nuclear In the long view of history, North Korea getting a nuclear-tipped intercontinental missile in 2017 is the rough equivalent of an army showing up for World War II riding horses and shooting muskets. Nukes are so last century. War is changing, driven by cyberweapons, artificial intelligence (AI) and robots. Weapons of mass destruction are dumb, soon to be whipped by smart weapons of pinpoint disruption—which nations can use without risking annihilation of the human race. If the U.S. is innovative and forward-thinking, it can develop technology that ensures no ill-behaving government could ever get a nuke off the ground. Then we might be able to relax and return to laughing at Kim Jong Un for looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man topped by a small furry mammal. This is the argument in a new book , Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules of War , by international law … [Read more...] about Trump Can Destroy N. Korea’s Nukes Without a Land War

Former President Donald Trump is facing a possible indictment in connection with his involvement in an alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign. Close attention is on the Manhattan grand jury's schedule in the case, with speculation growing that an indictment could come this week. However, in Florida the Palm Beach County state attorney said that people are reading too much into the grand jury's schedule. A Manhattan grand jury considering evidence related to Donald Trump 's alleged hush money payment to an adult film star won't meet Wednesday , which has generated online speculation about when a possible indictment could be issued. The former president has been investigated by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in the case, which concerns a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels of $130,000 during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has denied all the allegations, including Daniels' claim that they had an … [Read more...] about Grand jury schedule sparks new speculation about Trump indictment

Sports Video games NBA Gamers The cramped room in Midtown Manhattan was packed wall-to-wall with YouTubers—a relentlessly cheery bunch—the lot of them excitedly live-streaming, likes and comments bobbing across their screens. It was August, and the crowd was previewing the latest product from the NBA 2K video game series—NBA 2K18, which was released Friday to those who pre-ordered—and the event was crowded with elite gamers, social media stars, 2K staffers and, pocked about the room, honest-to-God, in-the-flesh NBA players. Security stood at the front door. Booze flowed from a bar in the back. TVs pinstriped the length of the room, cutting it into even rows. That was the main attraction, with the gamers lining up, jostling through the morass of people to get their turn on the joysticks (all of this, of course, beamed over the internet to 2K devotees). In a room full of presumed NBA fans it was somewhat disorienting to see these NBA players—Brooklyn Nets guard … [Read more...] about Virtual Meets Reality: Inside NBA 2K and Pro Basketball

Tech & Science PETA Poop Most vegans are happy to list the reasons why a plant-based diet is superior. Going strictly animal-free can reduce one's carbon footprint, cut the risk for cancer and chronic diseases, prevent animal cruelty and provide an excuse to make a really great dessert. But one thing that's probably not on your average vegan's list is that this restrictive diet improves the quality of one's poop—at least according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). This week, the animal rights organization issued a call for more healthy vegans to consider becoming stool super donors (i.e., providing specimens on a regular basis) to serve the growing demand since fecal microbiotoa transplant is now considered the gold standard for treating recurrent Clostridium difficile ( C. difficile ) infections and other potentially life-threatening gastrointestinal illnesses. In this experimental medical procedure, stool from a healthy person is … [Read more...] about PETA Wants Vegans to Donate Their Poop

Along the riverbanks of Eastern Kentucky, the redbud trees are just starting to bloom, their branches still lumbering under the weight of last summer’s catastrophic flood: Lawn chairs, trampolines, twisted gutters and school backpacks remain high in the treetops, each item a persistent and disorienting sign of how life here was turned upside down last July when shallow streams surged more than 18 feet in 10 hours in parts of the state, killing more than 40 people and leaving hundreds homeless . Yet while residents reach for the possibility of renewal, the largest regional investment being offered is a federal prison proposed for Letcher County, the heart of the flood zone. The possible federal correctional institution adds insult to an already injured region. In 2019 activists defeated the proposal, demanding that the funds be used for more forward-thinking purposes, including safe and affordable housing — all the more needed since the flood. The Trump and Biden … [Read more...] about Eastern Kentucky Needs Flood Relief, Not Another Federal Prison

Not many people know how to wage nuclear war. I’m one of them. As a young U.S. Air Force fighter pilot in the late 1970s, I was trained to carry out nuclear strikes in a rigorous process designed to ensure that no contingencies — mechanical or ethical — deter your mission. Certain things remain burned into my memory: maps and photos of my target and the realization of the Armageddon I would leave in my wake. Training culminated with a sworn pledge to vaporize that target without hesitation. Much of my 33-year career was spent as a nuclear warrior — I later oversaw the U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile fleet and served as deputy commander of American military forces in the Pacific — experience that informs my deep alarm over the growing risk of nuclear conflict with North Korea. The United States has tried for decades to prevent the country from becoming a nuclear threat, veering from diplomacy to pressure to patience. None of these approaches have worked. Here’s something … [Read more...] about I Know How Nuclear War Is Waged, So I’m Calling for Peace With North Korea

WASHINGTON — After the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2010, it created a review mechanism intended to prevent exorbitant increases in health insurance rates by shaming companies that sought them. But this summer, insurers are turning that process on its head, using it to highlight the reasons they are losing money under the health care law and their case for raising premiums in 2017. That has ignited an election-year fight between insurers and consumers, who are complaining bitterly about the double-digit increases being sought across the country. The conflicts have been on vivid display at hearings in states like Pennsylvania, where Highmark, one of the state’s largest insurers, has proposed rate increases averaging 41 percent. “The health of the citizens of Pennsylvania is worth more than the profits desired by health insurance companies,” Rose Lynd, 35, of Pittsburgh, testified at a hearing in Harrisburg held late last month by the Pennsylvania insurance … [Read more...] about Health Insurers Use Process Intended to Curb Rate Increases to Justify Them

A Swiss chief returns UBS unexpectedly said on Wednesday that it was bringing back Sergio Ermotti as C.E.O., as the Swiss bank begins the tough task of digesting its archrival, Credit Suisse. It’s another sign of how tricky UBS considers the work of taking over its main competitor, via a $3.2 billion deal that continues to draw blowback from investors and Swiss lawmakers alike. The move had been in the works for days. Colm Kelleher, UBS’s chairman, said at a news conference that he first called Mr. Ermotti to discuss a potential return on March 20, less than a day after UBS announced it was buying Credit Suisse. Mr. Ermotti, who left UBS in 2020, will replace Ralph Hamers on April 5. The UBS board determined that “for this massive integration exercise, Sergio would be the better pilot for the next part of this voyage,” Mr. Kelleher said. Mr. Hamers will stay on for an unspecified period as an adviser to help with the transition. At the news conference, Mr. Hamers … [Read more...] about UBS Taps an Ex-C.E.O. to ‘Pilot’ Its Takeover of Credit Suisse

On the morning of Oct. 5, President Bush and his education secretary, Margaret Spellings, paid a visit, along with camera crews from CNN and Fox News, to Friendship-Woodridge Elementary and Middle Campus, a charter public school in Washington. The president dropped in on two classrooms, where he asked the students, almost all of whom were African-American and poor, if they were planning to go to college. Every hand went up. “See, that’s a good sign,” the president told the students when they assembled later in the gym. “Going to college is an important goal for the future of the United States of America.” He singled out one student, a black eighth grader named Asia Goode, who came to Woodridge four years earlier reading “well below grade level.” But things had changed for Asia, according to the president. “Her teachers stayed after school to tutor her, and she caught up,” he said. “Asia is now an honors student. She loves reading, and she sings in the school choir.” Bush’s Woodridge … [Read more...] about What It Takes to Make a Student