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La Reina Creole is a an American writer, content creator, and pop culture analyst. She is known for her witty and insightful commentary on science fiction, fantasy, and theme parks. She also hosts the YouTube channel La Reina Creole, where she discusses a variety of topics related to pop culture and fandom.

La Reina Creole started her YouTube channel in 2019. Her videos have been viewed over 1 million times. She has also been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, The Nerdist, and The Verge.

La Reina Creole is a rising star in the world of pop culture criticism and commentary. She is a witty, insightful, and thought-provoking voice. She is known for her sharp wit, her deep knowledge of pop culture, and her willingness to speak her mind. She is a refreshing voice in a world that is often too afraid to challenge the status quo. She is sure to continue to be a force in the industry for years to come.

Here are some links to her social media accounts:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaReinaCreole
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2-WFEeMZEQw3BF8hKeA20A
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lareinacreole/

🔴LIVE! FRIDAY The 13th 😱 Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party 9.13.24 | Disney World

#DisneyWorld #Halloween #Livestream

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NewsWare's Trade Talk: Friday, October 18 | NewsWare‘s Trade Talk

NewsWare’s Trade Talk: Friday, October 18 | NewsWare‘s Trade Talk

S&P Futures are showing gains this morning due to economic and earnings news. China economic numbers came in better than expected & the PBOC indicates more stimulus to come. last night NFLX released a positive earnings report. Shares of SLB & PG are fractionally higher after releasing earnings this morning. CVS replaced its CEO and slashed its quarterly guidance. Nike credit rating was downgraded last night, and revenue is expected to contract next year. In Europe, markets are mostly higher with autos and luxury stocks showing gains. Oil prices have given up early morning gains and is now lower.

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Experts Gone Wild | ZeroHedge

Experts Gone Wild | ZeroHedge

Experts Gone Wild

Authored by Mike Scanlon via RealClearDefense.com,

An ability to win hearts and minds has long been seen by America’s leadership as essential to domestic and international politics and security.  For much of the Pax Americana, our government and intelligentsia have poured time, effort, and money into studying how to persuade everyone from allies to enemies and, conversely, how to counter an opponent’s influence campaigns. 

But something essential has changed since the rise of President Donald Trump as a political force. 

During the Cold War, President Dwight Eisenhower spoke up against censorship and for lay readers in the wake of an attempt by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s henchmen to eradicate communist books from libraries:

Don’t join the book burners.  Don’t think you are going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed.  Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book . . . .

How will we defeat communism unless we know what it is, and what it teaches, and why does it have such an appeal for men, why are so many people swearing allegiance to it?  . . .

And we have got to fight it with something better, not try to conceal the thinking of our own people.  They are part of America.  And even if they think ideas that are contrary to ours, their right to say them, their right to record them, and their right to have them at places where they are accessible to others is unquestioned, or it isn’t America.

These days, America’s most educated have grown distrustful of non-experts and their ability to process dangerous ideas

Our elites have launched a campaign to protect the undereducated from themselves. 

That crusade is not going well. 

As Martin Gurri has pointed out time and time again, America’s thought leaders and information curators are on the ropes.  Academics, think tankers, pundits, and policymakers no longer can hide the fact that they often either have no clue what they are doing or are all too willing to oversell their case—and will purposefully obfuscate or outright lie from time to time to get their way.  

Yet most experts are more than happy to pretend as if nothing were wrong as they claw their way up the professional ladder.  Some insist on singing paeans to themselves while demanding ever-greater protection from open competition and even outside criticism.

Take, for instance, the authorities advocating a muscular foreign policy or demanding robust countermeasures against domestic extremism.  The Global War on Terror was not America’s finest hour.  We lost Afghanistan.  It would be difficult to claim victory in Iraq.  The great hopes of the Arab Spring came to naught

But repeated failures did not cause self-doubt to creep into the minds of credentialed militarists of any stripe.  Most continued to insist that the next war would go our way.  Some have even been trying to expand their territory, such as the counterinsurgency specialists who tout their experience in (wildly unsuccessful) campaigns against international extremism and propaganda when marketing themselves as would-be, should-be leaders of the war against domestic extremism and disinformation. 

There was never any reason to assume that the pro-war clique would fare any better if provided yet another opportunity.  And failures have piled on missed opportunities in the Ukraine to the point where security specialists are, once againscrambling to protect the foreign policy establishment by blaming its most recent fiasco on a lack of American commitment to winning what may always have been an unwinnable war.   

The crisis afflicting much of America’s expert class is less that the internet has made it easier for the public to push back, and more that the elite’s preferred models just don’t work.  For instance, many disinformation experts justify censorship with a model positing that malevolent information drives malevolent acts.  Similarly, some domestic terrorism experts justify increased surveillance with a model positing that terrorists broadcast their “terrorist intent” before engaging in acts of terrorism. 

But, even if most people who commit violent acts were exposed to disinformation or made some announcement of terrorist intent, notably lacking is substantial evidence that a significant percentage of the people exposed to disinformation or of the individuals articulating terrorist intent go on to commit violent acts.  In other words, many of our leading domestic security experts seem unwilling or unable to differentiate between a hypothesis and a theory.  This is suboptimal. 

Worse, the smarter-than-thou crowd continues to push for surveillance and censorship despite the glaring problems with their firmly held beliefs about causality and causation.  The proposition that bad ideas lead to bad acts has been “disproven over and over again.”  And even many of the authorities seeking to elevate their profiles by fearmongering about “stochastic terrorism” must admit that the hateful speech in the establishment’s targets is unregulatable under American law.  Unlike “a call to lynch someone when a mob has gathered nearby,” the “use of mass media to provoke random acts of ideologically motivated violence that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable” just isn’t “advocacy . . .  directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and . . . likely to incite or produce such action.”  It can’t meet the standard required for the government to forbid or punish inflammatory speech.

To the extent that America still cares about freedom of speech or other civil libertiesthe surveilandcensor hacks should be laughed off the stage.  Yet the grandees of the so-called “Censorship-Industrial Complex” are overplaying an incredibly weak hand based on what appears to be little more than blind faith that the public isn’t qualified to question the elite.  This is silly; the emperor has no clothes

The collected academic expertise of the anti-disinformation movement proved itself worthless in the real world because disinformation specialists were incapable of preventing the Biden Administration’s Disinformation Governance Board from falling victim to—of all things—a disinformation campaign.  Given the anti-disinformation crowd’s admitted inability to effectively contest disinformation with speech and counter-speech in open competition, the public has every right to question whether the Biden Administration’s “Ministry of Truth” was meant to institute a de facto censorship regime where progressive- or establishment-led media and social media companies would collude with like-minded state actors to suppress populist voices.  

The disinformation that touched off the anti-disinformation crusade—propaganda propounded by the Russian government during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections—either appears far too ham-handed to be persuasive or seems all but indistinguishable from arguments and assertions made by America’s most highly esteemed progressive identitarians Given the anti-disinformation cult’s penchant for announcing causation rather than proving it, the public has every right to question whether disinformation specialists operate in a fantasy world of just-so stories where fancy academic degrees and enviable job titles can magically transform an “and” (the Russian government tried to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, and Donald Trump won) into a “so” (the Russian government tried to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, so Donald Trump won). 

The social media-based disinformation campaigns initiated by America’s enemies during the ongoing Trump era seem to be as ineffective as the failed social media-based information campaigns launched by America during the Global War on Terror.  Given how disproportionate the elite’s highly publicized panic over disinformation is to the actual threat from disinformation, the public has every right to question whether our leadership is conjuring up sham crises to exert tighter control over a nation that has grown largely unimpressed by even the shiniest of shiny credentials.

Although the stage has been set for a complete collapse of expert rule, it will be difficult for the current crop of experts to save themselves from—of all things—themselves.  The traditional authority system is almost uniquely unfit to deal with the very public failure of conventional models. 

The incentive structure of America’s credential-granting institutions is out of whack.  Expert careers are advanced by appealing to recognized authorities and representatives of wealthy benefactors  or powerful state actors in a more-or-less closed system, which the establishment zealously protects from outside interference

  • Freedom from open competition allows diplomas and job titles to trump the substance of arguments and the abilities of individuals in the cloistered world of experts.  Authorities can take the ostrich defense or declare victory when faced with a threat to their position, so experts often decry dissent while studiously avoiding anything resembling critical engagement with critiques of their work advanced by deplorables or members of the great unwashed. 

  • The need to appeal to recognized authorities stifles innovation.  Up-and-comers are best advised to avoid heterodox approaches, which are liable to offend a patron, and to adopt whatever orthodox approach happens to be favored by their most powerful backer, regardless of the merit of that approach.  Established experts can use the failed experiment that is peer review to prop up their favorite disproved theory, to advance a fashionable narrative, or to snuff out groundbreaking work capable of challenging the orthodoxies upon which their reputations rest.  

  • The authority system even incents experts to exaggerate.  To draw attention in crowded fields or obtain grant money from activist sources, specialists commonly conflate advocacy with analysis, make overly dire predictions, then demand radical measures to avert the impending crises.  And very rarely are experts punished for getting things wrong.  It is therefore reasonable for specialists to stake out the most aggressive position possible, rather than the most accurate or defensible one. 

The expert system has broken down and requires structural reform.  For example, it is as if academia—the crown jewel of the authority system—were designed to be as unfair and inefficient as possible.

  • Despite our knowledge that the “Next Big Thing” tends to be hit upon by someone who is young or new to a discipline and often languishes until the then-dominant cohort of scholars loses control over the field, the tenure system concentrates power and authority in exactly the wrong hands—those of established professors. 

  • The deference afforded to tenured faculty within the American academy not only makes our colleges and universities incredibly hostile environments for truly innovative ideas, but also creates ideal conditions for alpha-sycophants valiant enough to kowtow their way to the top

  • Protecting academic authorities from the consequences of their actions over-incents “brave stands” (by rendering them bravery-free) and allows indefensible arguments to overrun the academy and occasionally leak into the wider world—often to the detriment of the very non-elites whom the scholarly elite purports to represent.

In short, despite all the exhortations by the Spencerians in the mainstream media and other establishment outlets about the need for academics to remain a self-regulating profession, the greatest threats to the advance of learning and to academic freedom come from within the academy and are, at minimum, exacerbated by a system that permits faculty self-governance. 

It’s high time for a round of creative destructionThe non-experts who oversee or fund America’s colleges and universities should consider doing away with tenure and exposing academics to the crucible of competition.  After all, pretty much everyone outside the Ivory Tower realizes that the fairest and most efficient way to deal with the replication crisis in the social sciences is an employment crisis among social scientists

Tyler Durden
Mon, 09/16/2024 – 22:35

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WHO Admits Monkeypox Is ‘Side Effect’ of Covid ‘Vaccine’

WHO Admits Monkeypox Is ‘Side Effect’ of Covid ‘Vaccine’

by Frank Bergman, Slay News: The United Nations’ (UN) World Health Organization (WHO) has admitted that “monkeypox” is actually a “side effect” of Covid mRNA “vaccines.” The admission is buried on the WHO’s VigiAccess website. The website contains a database that lists all known side effects of all drugs and vaccines that have been approved for public […]

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"'We, Robot' 10/10 Event": Wall Street Reacts To Elon Musk's Big Cybercab Debut

“‘We, Robot’ 10/10 Event”: Wall Street Reacts To Elon Musk’s Big Cybercab Debut

“‘We, Robot’ 10/10 Event”: Wall Street Reacts To Elon Musk’s Big Cybercab Debut

Tesla’s shares stumbled in premarket trading after the company’s long-awaited robotaxi event in Burbank, California. The event showcased the robotaxi Cybercab, the futuristic-looking Robovan concept, and the latest version of the humanoid robot, Optimus.

Just hours after the event, some top Wall Street analysts began weighing in, praising the impressive lineup of new innovative products that will revolutionize transportation and other areas of the economy but noting a lack of technical details. 

A team of Goldman analysts led by Mark Delaney and Will Bryant attended the robotaxi Cybercab.

The analysts said Tesla “demonstrated very strong progress with the Optimus humanoid robot, and we think the Cybercab looked attractive,” but noted, “the lack of data shared on Full Self Driving (FSD) performance, relatively limited details on the robotaxi business plan, and absence of a lower-cost consumer vehicle unveil may be disappointing for some market participants.” 

Here are more of their thoughts about Cybercab and Optimus:

Cybercab

Tesla unveiled a two-seat Cybercab vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals/controls, and with winged doors. The company also showcased a Robovan that can carry up to 20 people or could transport goods. Tesla expects to start unsupervised FSD robotaxi operations in Texas and California next year with its currently available models (e.g. 3 and Y) and be in production with the Cybercab in 2026/before 2027 (although the company noted that it tends to be optimistic with timelines).

Given that vehicles are only typically used for several hours per week, Tesla believes that autonomous vehicles can offer 5X or even 10X higher utilization. Importantly on costs, Tesla believes the average operating cost of its Cybercab over time will be ~$0.20 per mile and may be priced at ~$0.30-$0.40 per mile including taxes and other costs. Tesla expects the Cybercab to cost ~$30K or less. Tesla also commented that it plans to over-spec the computer for the Cybercab (AI 5 computer) as the company believes that distributed inference compute can be utilized when the vehicle is not in use. Additionally, the robotaxi will use inductive charging, and Tesla indicated there would be self-cleaning capabilities. Finally, Tesla said one business model could be a person owning a small fleet that they put onto the network. Tesla did not provide other details on its business plan (e.g. scope of the initial deployments, pricing to start, if Tesla will own the early fleet, remote assistance, etc).

The timelines for AV deployment (next year with 3/Y in Texas and California) and with Cybercab (in 2026/by 2027) and lack of incremental FSD performance data will likely leave the debate on how close Tesla is to unsupervised FSD (L4) unresolved.

As we have previously written in our report, “Can new AI technology help accelerate AV deployments? Updating our global ADAS and AV forecast” we believe there is a material long-term revenue opportunity from robotaxis. However, revenues from initial smaller scale deployments would likely be more limited, as we show in Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2.

We also provide an illustrative cost model for an owned and operated fleet of robotaxis in Exhibit 3. At scale, we believe that Tesla could benefit from lower per mile costs for its vehicle depreciation (e.g. if Tesla can produce a robotaxi at $30k vs a competitor robotaxi at $50k-$75k, at 100k miles per year and a three year useful life, Tesla would have depreciation costs of $0.10/mi vs a standard robotaxi at $0.15-$0.25/mi). This is driven by the volume leverage Tesla already has making cars (with each vehicle already equipped with inference silicon), and its more narrow sensor stack (e.g. no lidar). Tesla said the cybercab will use vision and AI, implying that it may not use radar (and how it would handle operating in certain weather/lighting conditions without a secondary sensor type is something that may remain a debate).

Optimus

The progress with Optimus was impressive in our view especially given where Tesla was just a few years ago. The robots were very life like in several of the movements, and interacted via voice with attendees, danced, and gave out snacks. We had an impromptu conversation with one of the robots which asked us if we’d checked out the snack bar, and when we asked what it would suggest to eat, it said to ask its friend that was actually giving out snacks (which we found to be relatively human like). We expect Optiumus to be a growing part of the Tesla story.

The TAM for higher-end humanoid robots could be >$10 bn in 2030 per research from a report led by our colleague Jacqueline Du. Recall that on its 2Q24 earnings call, Tesla stated that it expects to have limited production of Optimus Version 1 starting early next year for internal Tesla use (and expects to have several thousand produced and deployed by the end of next year), and expects to ramp production and provide Optimus Version 2 to external customers in 2026.

The analysts are “Neutral-rated” on TSLA shares and believe “that Tesla can grow longer term including with FSD.” However, they noted that “headwinds in the auto business” will limit EPS growth in the near term. Their TSLA 12-month price target is $230, based on 65X applied to our Q5-Q8E EPS estimate, including SBC. 

Separately, other Wall Street analysts published notes to clients after the event, with many also detailing how Elon Musk and Tesla were light on details (list courtesy of Bloomberg):

Barclays analyst Dan Levy (equal weight, PT $220)

  • Tesla’s Cybercab demo was similar to prior sketches, but “the event was light on the details”
  • “Consumers able to buy Cybercab, but Tesla also likely planning to operate fleet,” Levy said
  • The near-term stock reaction is likely to be sell the news, “as the focus now shifts back to fundamentals – which has been neutral at best”

Baird analyst Ben Kallo (outperform, $280)

  • The company did not unveil a lower-cost vehicle which can be manufactured on existing factory lines.
  • Investor attention will now shift to auto margins in the near term as the company reports 3Q results on Wednesday

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Steve Man

  • “Tesla will likely need to add steering wheels and pedals to scale its robotaxi production by 2026”
  • However, the robotaxi announcement provides a better visibility of the company’s capabilities in affordable cars and autonomy

Citi analyst Ronald Josey

  • Tesla’s event clarified the company’s vision and timeline for its robotaxi — leading us to be “incrementally positive on Uber shares as a result”
  • “Importantly, details regarding distribution or a potential ride-hailing app for the Cybercab were limited, which leads us to believe it’s still possible that Tesla could partner with Uber for distribution in the future”

Jefferies analyst John Colantuoni

  • Tesla’s event is a best-case outcome for Uber as the automaker did not provide verifiable evidence of progress in its self driving technology and it also did not outline the number of robotaxis planned

Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak

  • Tesla’s $0.20 cost per mile estimate is in line with expectations, confirming its cost advantage
  • “This speaks to TSLA’s current theoretical cost advantage over Uber’s current cars and Waymo”

The market reaction to Thursday’s Tesla event this AM in premarket trading in NYC is simply underwhelming. Shares are down 6%. For the past two years, shares have traded sideways, facing resistance above $250. 

Nancy Tengler, the chief executive officer of Laffer Tengler Investments and a Tesla investor who attended the event, told Bloomberg that the only specifics Tesla gave were the $30,000 price tag for Cybercab. 

Tyler Durden
Fri, 10/11/2024 – 07:20

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Potential Tropical Cyclone Six Public Advisory

…SYSTEM IN GULF OF MEXICO LIKELY TO STRENGTHEN BEGINNING ON TUESDAY… …INCREASING RISK OF LIFE-THREATENING STORM SURGE AND DAMAGING WINDS ALONG THE UPPER TEXAS AND LOUISIANA COASTS BY MID-WEEK…
As of 4:00 PM CDT Sun Sep 8
the center of Six was located near 21.6, -94.6
with movement NW at 5 mph.
The minimum central pressure was 1003 mb
with maximum sustained winds of about 50 mph.

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Russia battles to contain Ukraine push

Russia on Monday ordered more evacuations in a region bordering Ukraine as it battled to contain an unprecedented push onto its territory by Kyiv forces. Ukraine last week sent troops into Russia’s border region of Kursk, in the largest cross-border operation by Kyiv since Moscow launched its offensive more than two years ago. The assault,…

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