World Divide Web | Modicare | The Robots Are Coming!

“Experts who acknowledge the full extent of their ignorance may expect to be replaced by more confident competitors, who are better able to gain the trust of clients. An unbiased appreciation of uncertainty is a cornerstone of rationality—but it is not what people and organizations want.”

– Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow

“A general “law of least effort” applies to cognitive as well as physical exertion. The law asserts that if there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will eventually gravitate to the least demanding course of action. In the economy of action, effort is a cost, and the acquisition of skill is driven by the balance of benefits and costs. Laziness is built deep into our nature.” – Ibid.

World Divide Web: Former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, predicts that in 10 to 15 years there will be two versions of the internet, a Chinese-led one and an American-led one. Speaking at a private event in San Francisco last week, Schmidt said the growth of Chinese companies being built and services being offered was phenomenal; the internet is a greater percentage of China’s GDP than it is of America’s GDP. His comments had a bit of a cautionary overtone: “I think you’re going to see fantastic leadership in products and services from China. There’s a real danger that along with those products and services comes a different leadership regime from government, with censorship, controls, etc.”

China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Schmidt continued, is designed to increase its global influence politically and economically by connecting and facilitating all kinds of trade, including digital trade. It is certainly possible the 60 some odd countries involved with China in its BRI will take on some of Beijing’s same restrictive infrastructure. Critics inside and outside Google have questioned CEO Sundar Pichai, Schmidt’s successor, for his strategy in China. Pichai has reportedly been developing a censored version of the company’s search engine in an effort to appease Chinese authorities. “Project Dragonfly” allegedly includes a way to suppress some search results, booting them off the first page, as well as a means to fully block results for sensitive queries, such as anything having to do with “peaceful protests.”

Red Hawk Down: The Russian Defense Ministry is blaming Israel for the downing a week ago of a Russian military plane by Syrian government forces. The Il-20 reconnaissance plane was mistaken for an Israeli jet and shot down, killing all 15 on board. A Russian general said an Israeli fighter jet flying over Syria’s Mediterranean coast deliberately used the Russian plane as a shield. A statement released by Israeli military Sunday denied the charges, saying its air force “did not hide behind any aircraft.” (WaPo)

Iran’s Resistance Attacks Parade: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is blaming a US-backed, anti-government Arab resistance group for a deadly attack Saturday on a military parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz. 25 people were killed, including 12 soldiers, civilians watching the parade and a four year old girl. US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said “The United States condemns any terrorist attack anywhere,” and suggested Rouhani look among his own oppressed people for the culprits. Both Rouhani and President Trump will be at the UN General Assembly in New York this week. (BBC)

Bishop To China 7. China Checkmates Catholic Church: One of Pope Francis’ goals is to reach out to parts of the world where he hopes to increase the church’s presence and spread its message. In furtherance of that goal, it was reported Saturday by the Vatican that the pontiff had agreed to end a long-standing power struggle over the right to appoint bishops in China. Francis recognized the legitimacy of seven bishops appointed by the Chinese government. Critics say making a deal with an authoritarian government was a shameful retreat from the church’s authority and will set a dangerous precedent for future relations with other countries. (NYT)

– “France Bans Smartphones in Schools Through 9th Grade. Will It Help Students?: ‘Annoying,’ was the assessment of Zoélinh Masson, 12, as her friend Grace Blahourou, 13, agreed.” (NYT)

Modi Does Good: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is launching an ambitious humanitarian program inside his own country. He is introducing a health care plan aimed at the poorest 40% of India’s 1.3 billion people. The plan is a key plank of the PM’s campaign platform ahead of next year’s national elections; local media have dubbed it “Modicare.” It will be a monumental task to cover a half billion Indian citizens, but Modi is determined to try alleviating the health costs that cause millions to fall below the poverty line every year. Currently government-funded hospitals are understaffed and ill-equipped, meaning many must pay for expensive private care.

Modi’s plan relies heavily on partnerships with private hospitals. Like the US Medicare system, the government will pay public and private hospitals fixed rates for treating people covered under the plan. So far 15,000 hospitals have applied for certification, but because government rates are much lower, there is a shortage of applications from hospitals that can provide complex surgeries. The president of the Public Health Foundation of India said “Private hospitals are not happy but have accepted because the government has convinced them to help them with the launch, and then revise rates next year.” One doctor described Modi’s vision as a “very, very Indian program”, as it will include promoting traditional ideas of holistic health care such as incorporating yoga into daily routines.

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More Accusations: Another woman has come forward to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Debbie Ramirez, a former college classmate of Kavanaugh, reported that he exposed himself to her at a party when they were freshmen. Because of this new allegation, Senator Dianne Feinstein has requested that the committee postpone any and all proceedings related to the nomination of Kavanaugh. Attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford reached an agreement over the weekend with the Senate Judiciary Committee for their client to testify in an open hearing Thursday at 10 am. (WaPo)

Hold Your Four Horses: As of this writing, advisers to President Trump have persuaded him not to immediately fire Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein over memos written by Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI, that say Rosenstein proposed secretly recording the president and pushed for his removal from office. Firing Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia investigation, just prior to the midterm elections would be politically damaging. Plus, as one ally said of the president: “He doesn’t trust McCabe and thinks McCabe is maybe playing a game with memos — maybe because of his book deal, maybe trying to take down [Trump]. So, he’s staying cool, for now.” (WaPo)

Canned Nuts:

“Cody Wilson, 3-D Printed Gun Proponent, Is Arrested in Taiwan on Sex Assault Charge: Cody Wilson, a leading proponent of 3-D printed guns, has been arrested in Taiwan after being charged in Texas with sexually assaulting a 16-year old girl there, Taiwanese officials said on Friday.” (NYT)

“Kent Sorenson Was a Tea Party Hero. Then He Lost Everything.” (Politico)

c:\DailyPnut/LooseNuts>run robot_stories.exe

Running robot_stories.exe…

“The Week in Tech: Are Robots Coming for Your Job? Eventually, Yes.” (NYT)

“These Robots Run, Dance and Flip. But Are They a Business?” (NYT)

“He’s one of the only humans at work — and he loves it” (WaPo)

– “Let Teenagers Sleep In: Starting schools before 8:30 a.m. shows a tragic disregard for both the mental health of children and for science” This op-ed was written by John Adultman. (NYT)

– “Computers Can Solve Your Problem. You May Not Like The Answer.:Last year, the Boston Public Schools set out to reconfigure start times. The district wanted high school students to start later in the morning so they could get more sleep, improving their health and academic performance. It also wanted to trim transportation costs. Officials asked a pair of MIT graduate students to build an algorithm that could do the job.” Algorithm x (people + politics) = irrational numbers. (Boston Globe)

– “Coca-Cola Is Eyeing the Cannabis Market: Coca-Cola says it’s monitoring the nascent industry and is interested in drinks infused with CBD — the non-psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that treats pain but doesn’t get you high.” (Bloomberg)

– “A giant crawling brain: the jaw-dropping world of termites: At least half of termite studies used to be about how to kill them. But science is discovering their extraordinary usefulness” You wood not believe just how useful they are. (Guardian)

“The easiest way to increase happiness is to control your use of time. Can you find more time to do the things you enjoy doing?” – Daniel Kahneman

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