Author Archives: Richard Fernandez

Forget Cambridge Analytica. Facebook has been leaking like a sieve beyond that well known incident. a Mexican digital publisher called Cultura Colectiva, openly stored 540 million records, including comments, names, likes, and reactions to posts, in a publicly accessible database hosted by Amazon Web Services. … Just yesterday Facebook was forced to stop asking users …

Continue reading “Facebook leaks”

Who knew that the economy would need people? Were it not for immigrants, the labor crunch would be even more intense. In 2016, immigrants accounted for one in four construction workers, according to a study by Natalia Siniavskaia of the home builders’ association, up from about one in five in 2004. In some of the …

Continue reading “All that Planned Parenthood”

Libya has been plunged into chaos since the ouster of the dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011, with rival cities and militias competing for power. The bedlam has slashed the country’s oil production, drained much of its sovereign wealth, offered havens to Islamist militants and turned its long Mediterranean coast into a major point of …

Continue reading “Tyranny or chaos, perhaps both”

Does Biden invade people’s personal space? The NYT writes: We each reserve around us a zone of about 18 inches — “intimate space,” he called it — for close friends and family. “Personal space,” from 18 inches to about 4 feet, is open to acquaintances and colleagues. And “social space,” from 4 feet to 12 …

Continue reading “Danger close”

The rival empires are no longer Britain and Russia but the US and China. The Indian Ocean is where America can blockade China’s energy supplies from the Middle East. Three major powers — which together account for nearly half of the global economy — are vying for influence in the Indian Ocean arena. India, China, …

Continue reading “The Indian Ocean and the Great Game”

Now – as in the Soviet Union – making a joke can be a dangerous, life-changing mistake. Spectator

The Greens weren’t the first to call for the elimination of cattle to save the universe.

And if that doesn’t work try a third. London Times

Or do they fear the irate Brexiteers?

Gut punch.

“First the bad news. It’s good news.” “Oh hell! Is it bad good news or good bad news?” Muller’s report is bad for ratings. Does the collapse in ratings reflect a disenchantment with the MSM or is the malaise more generic. Institutional credibility is at an all time low. Perhaps people are not just sick …

Continue reading “Good news, bad news”

In 1943 the Nazis made a movie version depicting the Titanic disaster. The plot makes it clear why Nazi stood for “national socialism”. A proclamation to the stockholders of the White Star Line declares the value of their stock is falling. The president of the Line, J. Bruce Ismay (E.F. Fürbringer), promises to reveal a secret during the maiden voyage of …

Continue reading “The Nazi version of the “Titanic””

What could go wrong? Technology Review

Laws, like spells, are supposed to do something. But sometimes it is uttered for its own sake, in a self idolatrous fashion. Reason

Countdown to crisis Sometimes you have to be a little crazy to succeed in history. Moving 6 inches in either direction doesn’t get you out of the path of events. Committee men can trim the ship of state but they are incapable of reacting to radical developments. Failure of imagination is related to unknown unknowns …

Continue reading ““I can no longer support our reckless PM and this watered-down Brexit””

No longer ruled out.

Hezbollah among Maduro’s allies

Paul Krugman explains why taxes are good for you.

The rescue and restructuring plan for Venezuela would involve getting dollars into the country, and the United States is working with banks in the region to help, Reuters

A petition started by Alyssa Milano, who’s currently in Atlanta shooting for the Netflix show “Insatiable,” was signed by more than 100 celebrities, including Amy Schumer, Alec Baldwin and Judd Apatow. CBS