Is Taiwan Next?

‘Russia’s invasion of Ukraine makes the frightening possibility of China seizing control of the island more real….’

 

Can Russia actually control the entire landmass of Ukraine

 

‘A conversation with David Petraeus on what the American experience in Iraq means for Russia’s conflict with Ukraine…’

 

How Much Will the West Sacrifice for Ukraine?

 

‘The Western world will have to prove that it has not become all of the things Vladimir Putin has long believed it to be….’

 

The Russian Incursion No One Is Talking About

 

‘While the world watches Ukraine, Moscow is making moves in neighboring Belarus, too….’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

’Sarah Palin’s lawsuit accusing the New York Times of defaming her by incorrectly linking her to a mass murder was thrown out on Monday.

US District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said he will order the dismissal of the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate’s lawsuit, but in an unusual twist, he will enter his order after the jury finishes its own deliberations.

“I think this is an example of very unfortunate editorializing on the part of the Times but having said that, that’s not the issue before this court,” Rakoff said in court on Monday. “The law here sets a very high standard [for actual malice]. The court finds that that standard has not been met.”…’

— via The Guardian

I think it is true that, since the 1964 case New York Times v. Sullivan that established the malice standard for defamation suits, the Times has not lost one of these challenges.

This article, about the ‘cult of pi’ and the sport of finding ever more of its digits, grabbed me because of this fascinating mention about a different number:

’Interestingly, although pi goes on forever, its digits never repeating, it is not the most complicated number imaginable – at least according to algorithmic information theory. This mathematical field, developed by a 15-year-old Argentinean-American called Gregory Chaitin, equates the complexity of a number with the length of the computer program – written in the 0s and 1s of binary arithmetic – needed to generate it. Pi requires a relatively short computer program to create, and so, by this measure, is not a very complex number. By contrast, omega (Ω), otherwise known as “Chaitin’s number”, requires an infinitely long computer program. Incapable of being summarised by, or compressed into, fewer digits than its actual length, it makes pi appear a mere pipsqueak.

But this does not lessen people’s fascination with pi.…’

— via New Humanist

A former pastor holds the skull of his wife, who was accused of sorcery in central Papua New Guinea and killed by axe

 

’According to the Witchcraft and Human Rights Information Network, there have been over 20,000 victims of accusations of witchcraft and related harmful practices over the last decade, spread across 60 countries. The research, published in November 2020, includes reports of over 5,250 murders, 60 disappearances in suspicious circumstances, and 14,700 attempted killings and physical attacks. While Papua New Guinea suffers disproportionately from the phenomenon, many parts of Africa and India also have high rates. Wealthier countries in the west are affected too. In 2019 the number of children known to have been abused in England as a result of beliefs in witchcraft and possession was reported to have risen by a third in two years, with almost 2,000 identified victims.…’

— via New Humanist

‘The World Meteorological Organization has certified that two lightning flashes that occurred in 2020 have broken historical records in length and duration. A lightning bolt in April 2020 spanned 477 miles across the southern United States. Two months later, a flash across the Uruguay-Argentina border lasted an incredible 17 seconds. Neither lightning bolt hit the ground….’

— via Boing Boing

‘A week before the school board in McMinn County, Tennessee banned the Pulitzer-prize winning graphic novel – which has been used to teach many 8th–12th graders across America the atrocities of the Holocaust – none of the Maus stories were in the top 1000 books on Amazon, according to Slate. As of this morning, however, The Complete Maus is #1 on Amazon’s bestseller list, while Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale is #3….’

— via Boing Boing