Joshua Chen

The regulations suggest increasing unease in Beijing with the growing influence of digital platforms.

The combined terms of 13 top apps including TikTok, WhatsApp and Zoom would take 17 hours to read.

African forest elephants fight climate change by contributing in surprising ways to natural carbon capture, write Ralph Chami, Connel Fullenkamp, Thomas Cosimano, and Fabio Berzaghi.

75歲的整外耆宿，眼見台灣的顯微重建外科領先地位正下滑。他說「健保讓台灣人有尊嚴」，但長年對專業技術給付不重視，未來堪慮。投入「艱困科」的醫師也有同樣觀察⋯

Quantum technologies, such as quantum computers, quantum sensing devices and quantum memory, have often been found to outperform traditional electronics in speed and performance, and could thus soon help humans to tackle a variety of problems more efficiently. Despite their huge potential, most quantum systems are inherently susceptible to errors and noise, which poses a serious challenge to implementing and using them in real-world settings.

submitted by /u/parakite [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/wmredditor [link] [comments]

香港《國安法》黑手不只抓捕異議人士，更以國安教育為名，開始介入教育現場：暗中鼓勵舉報「黃師」、意圖審查通識科參考教材等。4千多名香港通識教育老師何去何從？

來台工作12年的的泰籍移工拜倫，因職災嚴重失能、難以下床，雇主至今只願意支付部分薪資，其餘賠償只能打官司。最終，拜倫因不願拖垮家庭而自我結束生命。他的兒子捧著遺照說：「我們希望在台灣爭取公平」⋯⋯

Russian human rights campaigner and chess supremo Gary Kasparov has said that the current economic crisis, which has led to unconventional monetary policy, will drive people towards bitcoin.

Bitcoin’s finite supply compares favorably to agenda-driven printing of money by governments, noted the Avast security ambassador, who also chairs the Human Rights Foundation and the Renew Democracy Initiative.

Speaking to Forbes on the intersection of human rights and new technologies, Kasparov said cryptocurrencies enable the public to regain control of personal finances at a time when unilateral moves by government and institutions are on the rise.

“The good thing about bitcoin is that you know exactly the number – the magic number of 21 million. And we understand the formula behind that. But when you look at the other side, the Fed for instance, you never know how many trillions of dollars will appear on the market tomorrow that will damage your savings,” he observed.

Kasparov said cryptocurrencies’ potential for abuse gets overstated but it is the upside which must be harnessed to empower individuals. Crypto offers means to protect personal finances against inflation and state interference and “anything that can offer us the opportunity to take back control or some control of our privacy is always welcome,” the chess grandmaster said.

“That’s why I think the steady rise in popularity of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology as a concept is inevitable, because it’s a response to the shift of power from individuals to states or other institutions that may act on our privacy without our consent,” he added.

As chairperson of the Human Rights Foundation, Kasparov has promoted blockchain and cryptocurrency as a means to empower dissidents around the world.

“For us, it was important for us to address every violation of human rights, and we were trying to help these people, most of them under severe attacks by their governments – even if they left their countries, their financial accounts were hacked, their information was stolen – so we have been providing special training courses.”

He continued: “We’ve invited famous hackers to help them and to work with them – we have been using every opportunity to offer them extra protection, and of course blockchain and bitcoin were very natural choices to incorporate into this strategy.”

Kasparov also criticised the discriminatory treatment of customers from one territory to the other by tech giants and encouraged internet users to practice “digital hygiene” to stay safe from governments and other third parties.

What do you think about Kasprov’s views toward crypto? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Chess Grandmaster Kasparov: Bitcoin Empowers the Public and Protects Dissidents appeared first on Bitcoin News.

UK consumers may unwittingly be buying meat linked to the destruction of the Amazon, experts say.

獨立攝影人林亦非在反送中運動期間擔任《紐約時報》特約攝影，拍下許多代表性重要照片傳入西方眼廉。他鏡頭下的畫面激情卻客觀，關鍵或許在於他對「沉默」的堅持。

加勒比公主號遊輪甲板下藏有不為人知的秘密：數千人生活廢水、船隻廢油傾倒大海「稀釋」。檢察官如何尋找犯罪證據？海平面之下還有那些前人汙染遺跡？

「我們第一代台籍江浙菜師傅，到我算最後一個了。」台北的老上海菜館4月不敵疫情熄燈，大廚「寶哥」彭永寶經歷，說出了上海菜在台灣起落的時代故事。

During the last six days, America has been feeling the wrath of a myriad of protests and riots in nearly every major city across the nation. The U.S. is experiencing an uprising like never before, but some of the protests and demonstrations could be more peaceful. Acts like not voting for the political class, and using alternative monies like bitcoin can go a long way when it comes to civil protest.

America Is on Fire, Governors Invoke Curfews, National Guard Deploys, and Martial Law Starts Trending on Twitter

The protests have become unruly and that is because law enforcement has attacked crowds of innocent peaceful protesters, there are hired groups of inciters there to start violence, state provocateurs have been caught on camera inciting violence, and people are fed up with the decades of police brutality.

However, there are other ways people can protest the nation-state’s wrongdoings and immorality, by simply not participating in the corrupt system. By leveraging bitcoin and other means of counter-economics, by not voting for masters, and avoiding the status quo at all costs can be far more peaceful than any street demonstration.

Just recently a man named George Floyd was killed when an officer kneeled on his neck for close to ten minutes. There is video footage of the incident and three other officers watched their coworker cause harm to the unarmed man. Floyd is not the only individual that American police have killed and most of the time, U.S. officers never get in trouble for police brutality or killing an innocent.

Floyd’s death was followed by six days of demonstrations, protests, and riots. Cities like Boston, LA, Oakland, Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, San Jose, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, Miami, Lincoln, Des Moines, Austin, Louisville, Dallas, Atlanta, Richmond, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, Indianapolis and many more saw major protests with tens of thousands of people.

What Pushed People Over the Edge?

We have to understand that people were locked down and told to stay-at-home for three straight months. They are forced into lines, plexiglass windows in their faces, and fined for not wearing masks. Three months later the data is very concrete— And Covid19 wasn’t as scary as everyone thought. The very “best estimate” was 0.4% by the CDC and a lot of people know it’s lower than that with antibody tests and the fudged death counts. People lost their jobs and they can’t eat.

Some people live in the projects and inner cities with barely anything to their name. Paycheck to paycheck they live. More than 1/3 of the American nation is unemployed. Many are hungry. Can’t pay the rent. Suicide and depression are rising super fast. Mortgages are not being paid. Rent can’t be paid. People are still being harassed for social distancing, masks, and the lines and circles painted on the ground. The media hyped them up. The government and ‘expert’ doctors lied and over-projected by 1000X or more. They scared people and caused trauma to their children and took them all out of school.

Then some officer kills a man for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill, after the Federal Reserve has been serving counterfeit money for decades. Police have done this so many times before. A man’s neck was kneeled on for close to ten minutes straight. It took the police days to put this officer in cuffs. The three other officers have not been cuffed. Crimes like this have been committed so many times before, and officers are hardly ever held accountable.

In addition to the police brutality that is never really addressed, the U.S. government has been manipulating the populace and stealing from the people for years on end with austerity measures and heavy taxation on income and property. They inflate the dollar and never have jailed a banker – except Bernie Madoff, because he stole from them. Wall Street, the banking cartel and Federal Reserve have destroyed the nation’s money system.

The elite in America and many other nation-states, has pushed and pulled people using division by leveraging democrat and republican parties, divided us by race, gender, and made us hate our brothers and sisters, family members. US healthcare sucks, the American education system is horrible, the monopoly of US law enforcement is more about revenue than protecting and serving.

There have been endless wars initiated by U.S. forces for 20 years straight. Multiple countries. Drones and bombs. Kids are taught violence on TV and they are taught to respect the militant officers. Salute them. Death by war is memorialized by the celebration of war. Kids from inner cities and kids who don’t know what to do with their lives are recruited into this madness. Children are taught violence is good and to solve things with force.

A new President Will Not Fix a Dysfunctional America, But Opting Out and Counter-Economics Will

The hierarchies and the system in America is wrong and immoral. And people should continue to peacefully assemble and protest if they want to because it is most definitely warranted. But they should refrain from violence, looting, and burning. That’s not the way to solve the issues at hand. “We the people” are made up of individuals and we need to evolve. Evolution, not Revolution. If we violently overthrow the system, then a violent regime will simply take over again.

The madness and insanity will never end, unless we remove the political class nonviolently. There are ways we can peacefully protest without madness. We can use the counter-economy and things like bitcoin to opt-out. We can walk away from the hierarchical systems of manipulation. Stop participating in the system. Don’t vote. A new President will not fix a dysfunctional America. Avoid the political class at all costs. Remove yourself from the division.

Libertarians have been saying things like this for years. The system of law is unjust and the monetary system is fraudulent. They use censorship-resistant money in order to avoid the corrupt system and the more people that follow, the more power “we the people” have. Think about it, instead of taking a chance of getting arrested and hurt in a violent mob, you can use your money to circumvent the elite instead. Without the power of money, the immoral state is useless. They could not fund endless wars and create machines of destruction.

If the people remove themselves from the fraudulent economy by leveraging barter and trade, hedging with precious metals, and leveraging digital assets, then there’s a great chance of removing the state’s monetary power. If we stop voting and ignore the left and right parties, we can opt-out of the political system and move forward. If we continue to participate in the corrupt system, then people will never learn and fraud will continue with no end in sight. Bitcoin is peaceful protest. Not voting is a peaceful protest. These two acts alone, can help the country a great deal than any mass protest will ever do in a lifetime.

What do you think about peaceful acts of protest like leveraging bitcoin and the counter-economy? Let us know in the comments below.

The post With Riots Erupting in US Cities, Using Tools of Peaceful Protest Can be More Meaningful appeared first on Bitcoin News.

新加坡COVID-19疫情因3月底爆發的客工宿舍群聚感染一夕失控。關鍵在於：把移工視為「他者」的思維，埋下了防疫失守的種子。

While most of the U.S. remains on lockdown, a few states across the nation are starting to open up businesses and lift restrictions. Meanwhile, politicians on the left have been trying to push a universal basic income (UBI) package through Congress, in order to give Americans in need a monthly check. This week, former U.S. Presidential candidate, Andrew Yang, got the #CongressPassUBI hashtag trending wildly on Twitter, as thousands of people tweeted the message.

Andrew Yang Pushes for Basic Income – UBI Supporters Respond: ‘If UBI Doesn’t Pass We’ll Eat the Rich’

Universal basic income (UBI) has been trending on Twitter lately, as the former candidate Andrew Yang got his followers to push the discussion on social media. The hashtag #CongressPassUBI started trending on Friday and continued throughout the day on Saturday. UBI is essentially a monthly paycheck from the government as long as you meet certain criteria. The recent UBI plans submitted by Democrat politicians, involve anywhere between $1,000 to $5,000 a month depending on the proposal. During the first 30 minutes Yang tweeted about UBI, nearly 10,000 people tweeted in response. A few hours later, the tweets were well over 40,000 posts about the topic of UBI, all showcasing the hashtag #CongressPassUBI. One person’s meme asked if people didn’t want the mob to eat the rich and said that passing a UBI program would “lead to us not eating the rich.”

Even if the lockdowns lifted tomorrow, the economic devastation will continue for years to come. We need to heal this country. We need to put money in regular Americans' hands, right now. #CongressPassUBI pic.twitter.com/vO6uSCCsfu

— James Treakle 🚀 (@JamesTreakle) April 24, 2020

Yang has been preaching about UBI for quite some time and the former candidate says the recent $1,200 per American checks are not enough. During a streaming video conversation, Yang told the host that he would like to see $2,000 a month payments sent to every American until Covid-19 ends. “When the house is on fire, you don’t worry that much about the water you’re using to put it out,” Yang stressed. “We have the equivalent of a $21 trillion fire on our hands, and we have to do everything we can to help people get through this.” Yang and many other U.S. politicians have been hooked on the economic concept called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).

For instance, with the help of MMT advocate Rohan Grey, Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib introduced a bill that would give Americans $2,000 per month. On April 14, three Democrat leaders Ro Khanna, Bernie Sanders, and Tim Ryan proposed legislation that would give $2,000 to every American. The catch with that specific bill, notes that the program would last until the current unemployment levels in the U.S. subside to pre-coronavirus levels.

Sound Money Advocates Say: ‘Forget Guaranteed Income — Governments Should Stop Destroying Income First’

However, most cryptocurrency supporters, gold bugs, and sound money advocates believe that UBI is a horrible plan that will keep unemployment levels the same and even make them rise. The biggest concern with UBI, from those who disagree with MMT, is that basic income would destroy the motivation to work and it could invoke millions of people to take advantage of the system.

The cost to implement a $2,000 per month UBI plan would be around $3.9 trillion per year. This money would stem from the Federal Reserve’s unlimited money creation scheme. UBI would also cause inequality because it would be impossible to cover everyone and there will always be individuals or groups who miss out on redistribution plans. Mises.org author, Antony Sammeroff, explains that the system would trust the current leaders would do good, even though they have defrauded the populace so many times in the past.

“Most people agree that politics is a dirty game and that political powers will inevitably be used to further the agenda of officeholders and their cronies,” Sammeroff details. “That said, despite being immersed in the current thinking regarding UBI for three years now, I have seen precious little worrying as to what the government — or a future government — might actually do once it has seized control over everyone’s purse strings. After all, these governments are composed of the same people who launched a permanent war in the Middle East, wasting trillions of dollars on destroying millions of lives. These governments bailed out the banks from the public purse and gave themselves raises after telling the rest of the nation we had to tighten our belts.” The Mises author further writes:

They have robbed the young of the opportunity to own a home by sending house prices through the roof and mean to leave them a nation in ruinous debt. They continue locking away huge numbers of people for decades for victimless crimes, leaving their children to be raised single-handed. They created an oligopoly of higher education provision forcing generations into student debt that cannot be defaulted on, and healthcare systems that are so restrictive that people must pay inordinate sums to get care or are otherwise forced onto government waiting lists so long that many of their conditions are chronic or untreatable before they are seen to.

In fact, the theories against UBI are astounding and there are many studies that show basic income would create even more wealth inequality and government corruption. Bitcoin advocates and free-market proponents believe that UBI is just another form of destructive Keynesian-styled communist idea. This is because UBI has stemmed from extreme left-leaning visionaries and the many experiments that have started derive from socialist regime-led countries. Mises author Lee Friday notes that people should “forget guaranteed income” and they should tell the “government to stop destroying income first.”

Economist @dlacalle_IA explains the subterfuge of UBI. pic.twitter.com/Mk93YwDbCd

— Jeff Deist (@jeffdeist) March 24, 2018

Not only that, but all of the prior UBI tests have failed miserably; like the experiment in the Italian city of Livorno, Ontario, Canada’s UBI trial, Namibia’s UBI, the test in Finland, Fife and Glasgow’s UBI schemes, and Alaska’s permanent fund have been widely considered “unsuccessful.” Moreover, all of these UBI trials indicated how harmful basic income can be because these tests have strengthened the bureaucracy and streamlined corrupt central planning systems. Despite Andrew Yang’s best intentions, UBI just might be the bait to hook a great majority of people into believing communism works and make them forget it has killed millions upon millions worldwide.

What do you think about Andrew Yang pushing for UBI discussions on Twitter? Let us know in the comments below.

The post $2K per Month for Every American: Andrew Yang Begs Congress to Pass Basic Income appeared first on Bitcoin News.

66間口罩國家隊工廠中，只配到一機台的加利科技是唯二隔日即能量產的，連經濟部都吃驚，人稱「怪咖」老闆的林明進如何辦到？

4年過去了，流亡在台的葛蘭運動相關土耳其公民一一被迫離台，台灣的難民法，卻仍卡在「國境問題」和「本國人優先」兩大困境上。

The global economic impact of coronavirus could leave nearly 200 million people jobless, a UN agency says.

Fiat currencies across the globe have experienced sharp declines in the wake of the coronavirus panic, with the Norwegian Krone falling over 30% lately last week. The Mexican peso and Australian dollar trailed close behind over the same period, with multiple fiat currencies also taking a nosedive. Though USD remains strong, some speculate this is due to flight from other markets, and that the bastion of fiat strength might not be able to withstand endless printing and reckless credit creation of QE much longer.

Also read: The Multi Trillion-Dollar Stimulus Package: These Are the US Corporations Begging for Bailouts

‘Unlimited Money’

Announcing an open-ended QE program Monday for unprecedented asset purchasing, the U.S. Federal Reserve has pledged to purchase assets “in the amounts needed,” signaling the beginning of a virtually unlimited easing effort which will include moving into corporate bonds for the first time.

As lockdown orders, enforced business closures and travel bans continue to wreck economies, world currencies are reeling from the massive shock spiked by coronavirus panic and containment measures. The Fed and other central banks of the world may have their eyes on unlimited support, but many fiat currencies are telling a different story.

Norwegian Krone and Others Knocked Down by Virus-Plagued Markets

The Norwegian krone has now hit a record low against the U.S. dollar, falling 25% from the end of December, and over 20% in just under two weeks from March 9 to 20. Other currencies have taken the same trajectory in that 11-day time frame, with the Mexican peso and Australian dollar falling 17% and 13% respectively.

In the last two weeks, some major currencies tanked by as much as 20% against the dollar. And currencies have historically had fairly low volatility. British Pound hit the lowest level since 1985. The imported products are going to suddenly get a lot more expensive pic.twitter.com/th91nL0YKm

— Larry Cermak (@lawmaster) March 23, 2020

NZD, GBP, SEK, and other fiat currencies aren’t doing a whole lot better. The British pound has tumbled downward past levels not seen since 1985, falling against the euro.

Quoted in a March 19 report by Bloomberg, European head of currency strategy at Toronto-Dominion Bank, Ned Rumpeltin, opined:

At a minimum, we think there is a strong impulse to liquidate what you can — before you can’t — as London’s trading floors are probably about to be slammed shut before too long.

Fears of circuit breakers and trading suspensions aren’t unwarranted. March has seen stock exchanges across the globe tighten restrictions and adjust trading rules, with a temporary suspension of all trading in the Philippines on March 17, and the NYSE opening yesterday for the first time in 228 years to an empty floor.

But What About the US Dollar?

Amidst all the chaos the U.S. dollar is surging against other world currencies. While the dollar remains strong for now, some are not certain the situation can continue, especially with the unadulterated market intervention happening currently, and talk of humongous stimulus packages. U.S. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer described his plan for “unemployment on steroids” Sunday:

You lose your job because of this crisis or any other reason, the federal government will pay you your full salary for 4 to 6 months.

.@SenSchumer on Dems’ Coronavirus “stimulus”: "You lose your job because of this crisis OR ANY OTHER REASON, the federal government will pay you your full salary for 4 to 6 months." pic.twitter.com/pcdr4I6CQY

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 21, 2020

While many imagine hyperinflation to be a freak economic phenomenon reserved only for non-U.S. countries, An Art Cashin piece from October 15, 2011 notes that “Hyperinflation requires a central bank to willingly commit economic suicide.”

Though Cashin thought this was unlikely for the U.S. almost a decade ago, his descriptions of the hyperinflation in Germany’s Weimar Republic now sound eerily familiar to some:

Things did not go badly instantly. Yes, the deficit soared but much of it was borne by foreign and domestic bond buyers … that means foreign bond buyers said – ‘Hey this is a great nation and this is probably just a speed bump in the economy.’

“When things began to disintegrate, no one dared to take away the punchbowl,” Cashin continues. “They feared shutting off the monetary heroin would lead to riots, civil war, and, worst of all communism. So, realizing that what they were doing was destructive, they kept doing it out of fear that stopping would be even more destructive.”

Future of Fiat Uncertain, as Governments Stave Off Painful Economic Realities

While it’s yet uncertain if such a fate awaits the USD, it is interesting to note the similarities. The Weimar Republic was a product of the first World War’s ravaging, prolonged effects on Germany.

With a war-torn economy that was unable to produce, the answer was to just print more money. Looking at U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent proclamation that he is a “wartime president” and that fighting the Covid-19 virus is now “a war — a different kind of war than we’ve ever had,” it raises suspicion about the forced shutdown of economies currently witnessed. Unemployment rates are expected to skyrocket in coming months. There’s no worries according to the U.S. leader, however, who maintains:

First of all, you never have to default because you print the money, I hate to tell you, OK?

As astute economists are quick to point out, you can print money infinitely, but you cannot print the scarce assets, resources, labor and expertise the money is meant to represent. This is one reason some now are moving value to perceived safer, hard-capped supply assets such as bitcoins or physical gold.

What do you think about the decline of national currencies being witnessed now? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Cash Crisis: National Currencies Plunge in the Wake of Coronavirus appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Venetians say they're seeing fish once again in the city's famous waters.

Some regions show significant drops in air pollutants as the coronavirus hits work and travel.

The Amazon boss and world's richest man gives 8% of his fortune to fight the planet's "biggest threat".