Author Archives: Richard Fernandez

Countries, unlike companies, are defined by the International system as “too big to fail”. What foreign assistance tries to accomplish would be called a bailout. Unfortunately some countries fail anyway. Venezuela is a dramatic example. It failed largely because of mismanagement. No amount of foreign aid will fix it. Not even intervention may work. Nobody …

Continue reading “The problem of failing states”

Does the state spell technology ‘control ‘? “It seems that politicians believe driver training or road maintenance won’t improve anytime soon, so instead they want to limit your car’s engine power to make sure you don’t break the speed limit while robots determine whether you’re fit to drive in the first place. At least that’s …

Continue reading “Europe Wants Cars To Have Speed Limiters and More by 2022”

As economy suffers multiple organ failure. It turned out that Venezuela wasn’t rich enough to afford socialism.

Revealed in detail by new techniques in the fossil record. One moment an entire era seemed unstoppable. The next it was gone. It’s a sobering story.  What Nature’s left hand is doing may be undone by its right.  Yet the end of the dinosaurs meant the birth of the mammalian age — and us.

If they want a Brexit delay. Meanwhile Bolton says US will give post Brexit UK priority access

As US Russia tensions rise in Venezuela

Helicopters circled the London Central Mosque on the edge of Regent’s Park after the street attack about half a mile away in St John’s Wood. London Times

The hands

The woman who forgave the boy who smashed her face

Benitez subjected the ban both to the constitutional analysis he argued was required by the U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller and a more complicated and flexible test the Ninth Circuit has applied in prior Second Amendment cases.

$50 to get in $500 to get out defines a joint you should avoid

Top Venezuelan brass getting messages from Bolton. No longer master of the house.

“How could a 100% failure rate go on for so long without anyone taking action?” So what can be done?

From Stripes: In a “60 Minutes” interview last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that “Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible.” What happens if one day there’s another 9/11?

Nature is both terrible and wonderful. The real threat when it comes will be a surprise not some preannounced UN catastrophe like global warming. NYT

No twist was too minuscule or outlandish for Maddow; every night, seemingly, brought another nail in the coffin of the soon-to-be-dead Trump presidency. Guardian

Spygate. How the Collusion narrative started. Fascinating for its description of process as well as substance.

No point giving birth because of Climate Change. “Though Laura Formisano says she never felt a huge desire to have children, she used to presume that would change. But climate change could make the planet so uninhabitable, she says, she’s not sure she can ever bring herself to become a parent.” It all makes sense …

Continue reading “Willing a civilization to death”

What’s patriotism? Maybe it’s not cool to be patriotic but it’s acceptable to be an ‘antihero’. “In June 2018, following an outcry from thousands of employees, Google ended its participation in the Pentagon’s so-called Project Maven. That initiative focuses on improving U.S. targeting capabilities by using AI to identify objects captured in countless hours of surveillance …

Continue reading ““Google Needs a Lesson in Patriotism””

“The bill underlines how Canadians are not immune to the populism and concerns about immigration that have affected the United States, France, Britain and other Western countries. France has banned Muslim head scarves and other conspicuous religious symbols at state schools. Denmark has barred judges from wearing head scarves, crucifixes, Jewish skull caps and turbans …

Continue reading ““It will push Muslims away from Quebec””