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Treasure Chest

China launches antitrust probe into tech giant Alibaba

Julie Zhu, Kane Wu, Cheng Leng
Reuters
Wed, 23 Dec 2020 20:49 UTC
Jack Ma Alibaba Group
Jack Ma, Chairman of Alibaba Group
China has launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba Group and will summon the tech giant's Ant Group affiliate to meet in coming days, regulators said on Thursday, in the latest blow for Jack Ma's e-commerce and fintech empire.

The probe is part of an accelerating crackdown on anticompetitive behaviour in China's booming internet space, and the latest setback for Ma, the 56-year-old former school teacher who founded Alibaba and became China's most famous entrepreneur.

It follows China's dramatic suspension last month of Ant's planned $37 billion initial public offering, which had been on track to be the world's largest, just two days before its shares were due to begin trading in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

In a strongly worded editorial, the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily said if "monopoly is tolerated, and companies are allowed to expand in a disorderly and barbarian manner, the industry won't develop in a healthy, and sustainable way."

Shares in Alibaba fell nearly 9% in Hong Kong, their lowest since July, while rivals Meituan and JD.com both fell more than 2%.
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Cell Phone

Embracing the future or risking voter fraud? In 2024, Russia could vote for its president using the internet, top official reveals

Jonny Tickle
RT
Thu, 24 Dec 2020 20:10 UTC
cellphone
© Sputnik / Vldimir Astapkovich
Electronic voting will be rolled out further across Russia next year, with parliamentary elections going online in a number of regions. By 2024, it's possible that the next presidential election will be conducted on the web.

That's according to Ella Pamfilova, the chairwoman of Russia's Central Election Commission, the body responsible for conducting and overseeing how the country votes.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Pamfilova revealed that internet voting would be used in the 2021 State Duma elections in between five to seven regions. It was originally planned to be used in around 20, but this was reduced due to "a number of factors."
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Hiliter

Top Trump aide Mark Meadows visits Georgia ballot signature audit

Mark Niesse
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tue, 22 Dec 2020 00:00 UTC
TrumpMeadows
© Getty Images/Alex WongPresident Donald Trump • WH Chief of Staff Mark Meadows
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows made a surprise visit Tuesday to observe Georgia's audit of absentee ballot envelope signatures and ask questions about the process.

Meadows, accompanied by Secret Service agents, showed up at the Cobb County Civic Center, where investigators from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and secretary of state's office were reviewing absentee ballot envelopes to check whether voter signatures match those on file.

He met with Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs to inquire about the signature audit and what it would find. He wasn't permitted inside the room where investigators were examining ballot envelopes.

"I'm not making any allegations as much as I am trying to get to the truth," Meadows was overheard saying.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has said the signature audit will restore confidence in Georgia's elections and further dispel unsubstantiated fraud claims.
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Bad Guys

Cancel culture win: Authors of article on female vs male mentorship have now retracted their own paper


Uncommon Descent
Tue, 22 Dec 2020 19:40 UTC
retraction
In a muted way, the authors make clear that they do stand behind their findings:
In a retraction notice published today, the authors wrote that they recognized the validity of some of the complaints, including concerns about "the use of co-authorship as a measure of mentorship." The authors added that although they "believe that all the key findings of the paper with regards to co-authorship between junior and senior researchers are still valid," they "feel deep regret that the publication of our research has both caused pain on an individual level and triggered such a profound response among many in the scientific community."

Science News Staff, "Researchers retract controversial female mentorship paper" at Science
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Bad Guys

Papers, please! NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio will be sending police to hotels and HOMES to make sure travelers from UK are quarantining

Marlo Safi
The Daily Caller
Wed, 23 Dec 2020 19:23 UTC
Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio
Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city will be sending sheriff's deputies to homes and hotels where travelers from the United Kingdom are staying to check that they're complying with quarantine orders.

The new measure was announced during a Wednesday news conference and is in response to a new, more contagious strain of coronavirus that is spreading in the U.K.

De Blasio emphasized that the measure applies to every traveler coming from the U.K. and initially involves filling out a form at the airport notifying city officials that they're entering the city. Each traveler will receive a commissioner's order from the Department of Health which will direct them to quarantine.

Comment:

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Eye 1

'Fascist': Michigan AG Dana Nessel threatens lawyer who released results of forensic exam of 16 Dominion Voting machines in Antrim County

Jim Hoft
Gateway Pundit
Wed, 23 Dec 2020 19:20 UTC
Dana Nessel
© Screengrab via Twitter@MIAttyGen
Constitutional Attorney Matthew DePerno is an American hero. Two weeks ago, Michigan 13th Circuit Court Judge Kevin A Elsenheimer agreed to allow Mr. DePerno's client, William Bailey, and a highly skilled team of IT experts to perform a forensic examination on 16 of the Dominion voting machines in Antrim County, MI. On Monday, Judge Elsenheimer agreed to allow the results of the forensic examination to be released to the public. The results were damning.

After the forensic examination of 16 Dominion Voting machines in Antrim, Co., MI, Allied Security Operations Group has concluded that the Dominion Voting machines were assigned a 68.05% error rate. DePerno explained that when ballots are put through the machine, a whopping 68.05% error rate means that 68.05% of the ballots are sent for bulk adjudication, which means they collect the ballots in a folder. "The ballots are sent somewhere where people in another location can change the vote," DePerno explained. The allowable election error rate established by the Federal Election Commission guidelines is 1 in 250,000 ballots or .0008%.
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X

Appeals court extends stay order blocking San Diego restaurants from reopening


Fox 5 San Diego
Wed, 23 Dec 2020 19:11 UTC
Demonstrators in San Diego, CA
© Sandy Huffaker/Getty ImagesDemonstrators protest during a "Freedom Rally" against Stay-At-Home Directives on April 18, 2020 in San Diego, California.
An appeals court Wednesday extended a stay on a San Diego judge's ruling that would have allowed county restaurants and live adult entertainment venues to reopen amid COVID-19 restrictions.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal will hear oral arguments Jan. 19 in the case originally brought on by two San Diego strip clubs, which challenged the state's pandemic restrictions.

The case was expanded to encompass all county restaurants through a preliminary injunction issued by San Diego Superior Court Judge Joel R. Wohlfeil.

Two days after Wohlfeil's ruling, which blocked enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions against live adult entertainment and county businesses that provide "restaurant service," the appellate court issued a temporary stay on Wohlfeil's order at the state and county's behest.

On Wednesday, the same appellate court ruled that the stay should be extended and the appeal expedited.

"This appeal highlights the incredible hardships that so many people are suffering as a result of the global pandemic, and it requires us to consider the scope of the government's authority to impose restrictions designed to curb the pandemic and protect public health," the court's Wednesday order reads.

"We are aware of the delicate balance of interests at stake, and we understand that reasonable minds can differ on the appropriate balance to strike."

Comment: "Expedited." In a month. California doesn't care about Californians. Which is why people and businesses are leaving in droves.

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Key

Caged by lockdowns & curfews, flocks of people & businesses are fleeing California

Michael Rectenwald
RT
Thu, 24 Dec 2020 19:06 UTC
California exodus
© Getty Images/Mindy Schauer/DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA/Orange County Register
Compounded with the exorbitant real estate prices, gouging tax rates, and a prohibitive cost of living, the draconian Covid-19 restrictions have made Californication all but untenable.

2020 has brought an unprecedented exodus from California, once a preferred destination for millions. Now people are bolting almost as quickly as they once rushed in. And who can blame them? The place is virtually uninhabitable.

The Covid-19 pandemic - or rather, local governments' responses to it - have proven to be the catalyst for the unprecedented emigration. For the first time since 1900, California's population has declined, this year by over 70,000 residents. With the prospect of losing a congressional seat, the implications are politically significant. Let's hope the emigres don't take their politics with them.

As working remotely has become the 'new normal', geographic flexibility is now the rule. Individuals and corporations alike have capitalized by relocating en masse, refusing the exorbitant taxes, draconian lockdowns, and the high cost of living that comes with living in the Eureka state.
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Newspaper

Less "Progressive" than Trump? Biden says he's 'unlikely' to cancel $50,000 in student debt


RT
Thu, 24 Dec 2020 18:30 UTC
Biden and Kamala Harris
© Reuters / Leah MillisU.S. President-elect Joe Biden enters the room followed by Vice President- elect Kamala Harris and their nominee for secretary of education, Miguel Cardona in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., December 23, 2020.
US President-elect Joe Biden will not go out of his way to cancel $50,000 in student loan debt by executive action amid the pandemic, ignoring calls from some of the top Democrats to do so.

While speaking to journalists on Wednesday Biden prefaced his response to the student loan forgiveness plan by saying: "I'm going to get in trouble for saying this." He then went on to call the idea of canceling it via executive powers "pretty questionable," adding, "I'm unsure of that. I'd be unlikely to do that."

The president-elect's comment appears to be an outright dismissal of the plan championed by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and also Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) in the House.

Comment: See also:

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Bullseye

Destructive 'charity': The billions given away by the ex-Mrs Bezos result from dodgy business practices that kill competition

Damian Wilson
RT
Thu, 24 Dec 2020 18:24 UTC
MacKenzie Scott bezos ex wife
© Getty Images/Amanda Edwards/WireImageMacKenzie Scott, September 20, 2015
The money donated to worthy causes by MacKenzie Scott comes from Amazon profits built on its aggressive, take-no-prisoners tactics that destroy our small stores and malls and ruin enterprise.

One of Muhammad Ali's best boasts was, "I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark," and that comes to mind every time an Amazon package turns up on my doorstep.

The doorbell rings, I make my way to the front door and open it to find another Amazon box, abandoned like a Christmas orphan on my doormat with no sign of the delivery driver.

Comment:

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