Thursday, Mar 5 2020

Dose Of News Useful Today

Friday, March 6th

You Drive Me Crazy

Happy Friday. There is no objectively ‘correct’ way to raise a child. There are, however, many objectively incorrect ways to do so - a prime example is letting an 11-year-old drive a real car in an attempt to stop the youngster from playing Grand Theft Auto.

Daily Sprinkle

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

– Ferris, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

The ICC & Afghanistan

The International Criminal Court on Thursday ruled in favor of an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. troops, the Afghan government, and the Taliban over the past 17 years. The ruling by an ICC appeals judge overturned a lower court’s decision to put the investigation on hold.

A deeper dive…
The ICC chief prosecutor has been seeking a formal investigation into the alleged crimes since 2017, after an ICC report released the previous year found a reasonable basis to believe the following had occurred:

Crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated by the Taliban.
War crimes of torture by Afghan intelligence agencies and national police.
War crimes of torture by U.S. military forces in secret detention centers operated by the CIA.

Although the U.S. is not a party to the Rome statute upon which the ICC was founded (meaning the ICC has no jurisdiction on U.S. soil), American citizens can be subject to its jurisdiction if the court is investigating crimes committed within its member countries - of which Afghanistan is included.

U.S. Pushes Back
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced the court’s ruling, calling the timing of the judgment “reckless” (the U.S. and the Taliban signed a peace deal last Saturday, though the two sides clashed two days ago).

So… what are people saying?

The ICC was wrong to deny prosecution request for Afghan probe

LEFT CENTER → Al Jazeera (Opinion)

Ex-US military lawyer: ICC becoming a toothache

RIGHT CENTER → Jerusalem Post (Opinion)

Why does the Trump administration hate the International Criminal Court so much?

LEFT → The Washington Post (Opinion)

Trump should make the International Criminal Court pay for its anti-American idiocy

RIGHT → Washington Examiner (Opinion)

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Warren Ends Presidential Campaign

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced she is suspending her campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Warren, who declined to immediately endorse another candidate, had failed to win any of the state primaries or caucuses so far.

LEFT CENTER → NBC News	RIGHT CENTER → Washington Times

Russia & Turkey Agree To Ceasefire

Following six hours of talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan agreed to a ceasefire in northern Syria. Russia and Turkey had previously agreed to a 2018 ceasefire, along with the creation of de-escalation zones, but that deal has been violated repeatedly.

More: Turkey and Russia have been on opposite sides of the ongoing Syrian Civil War (the second-deadliest conflict so far this century).

LEFT CENTER → BBC	RIGHT CENTER → Wall Street Journal

Former UAW President Charged

Federal prosecutors have filed charges against former UAW president Gary Jones in connection to a widespread corruption probe into the union. Jones is one of several top officials accused of corruption, which included the embezzlement of millions of dollars - thirteen people have pled guilty since the scandal broke in 2017.

In unrelated corruption news: Self-proclaimed insurance billionaire Greg Lindberg was found guilty of attempting to bribe a North Carolina official with $2 million.

LEFT CENTER → USA Today	RIGHT CENTER → New York Post

Ro-Ro-Ro Your Boat

According to CNBC, online pharmacy startup Ro (Roman for men, Rory for women) is testing a service that offers more than 500 generic medications for just $5 per medication per month (shipping included). The company does not accept insurance, so users must pay out of pocket for their medications.

Payback

A San Francisco judge on Thursday confirmed that Anthony Levandowski, a former Google-turned-Uber employee, would have to pay $179 million to Alphabet’s autonomous driving company, Waymo, for theft of trade secrets. For an in-depth look at Levandowski’s subterfuge, click here.

More: Waymo and Uber settled a separate lawsuit in 2018 - however, an internal review conditioned by the settlement found that Uber will likely have to pay Waymo a licensing fee or significantly revamp its technology.

Big Tech & Child Exploitation

A coalition of tech companies - including Facebook, Google, Apple, and others - is backing 11 new principles put forth on Thursday to prevent the online spread of child exploitation. The governments of the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand will all be involved in upholding the voluntary principles.

Super Ski Skills

Since birth, DC resident Alison Reynolds’ daughter has suffered from a rare genetic condition called PKU, limiting her ability to process amino acids found in proteins and many other foods.

Alison trained for more than a year to be able to ski across the entire country of Norway (125 miles) in just eight days - and managed to raise over $1 million dollars for PKU research.

Barbie Girl in a Barbie World

For a long time, activist groups complained that popular Barbie dolls promoted an unrealistic standard of beauty for young girls - in recent years, however, parent company Mattel has taken steps towards becoming more inclusive.

Mattel’s new Barbie line features dolls of all shapes and sizes, including one confined to a wheelchair - much to the delight of 2-year-old Ella who suffers from spina bifida, and has an adorable reaction (video) when she realizes her new toy looks just like her.

Inner (And Outer) Beauty

It’s a commonly held notion that money can’t buy happiness, and Rachel Lapierre, a 53-year-old former Miss Quebec beauty queen, is a living testament to that belief.

Rachel won the Gagnant Lifetime Lottery ($1,000 per week, for the rest of her life) back in 2013, and has used the windfall to create and fund her charity, Le Book Humanitaire.

TOGETHER WITH

“Challenge + Perspective=Optimization”

It is my most humble honor to invite you all to join the Coach Kub network, where our main focus is seeking truth and challenge TOGETHER.

In accordance with this mission, it is my firm belief that placing ourselves in environments that stimulate challenge and offer opportunities to find common ground amongst our fellow men and women will always find us in a much better place, and that is the exact aim of the Coach Kub Podcast and Kub’s Korner.

The Coach Kub Podcast and Kub’s Korner includes:

• Weekly Challenges every Monday to set a clear standard for the week ahead.
• Friday Discussions with innovators and leaders from a variety of fields (today’s episode with Adam Powers covers how to stimulate creativity with structure, training for an ultra-marathon, and more).
• Work Out and Lifestyle coaching programs that aid in helping you become the best version of yourself.

If you are someone who is looking for perspective, conversation, and practical tools that will help you become the best version of yourself, then the Coach Kub Podcast, Kub’s Korner, and CoachKub.com are the resources for you.

For more details and to subscribe to the Coach Kub network, visit CoachKub.com, Kub’s Korner on Youtube, or the Coach Kub Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Make it a great one y’all!

Regeneration Education… scientists at the University of Kentucky have succeeded in sequencing the genome of an axolotl, long prized for its ability to regenerate nearly all body parts.

Mass Transit… Ford has announced an all-electric version of its best-selling Transit van, scheduled to launch in 2022 alongside an all-electric F-150.

Dimon in the rough… according to an internal company memo, longtime JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, 63, is recuperating following successful emergency heart surgery.

Robo-callers for good… a startup called DoNotPay has unveiled a $3 per month subscription service that contacts data brokers to demand they delete your personal data - and even sues the brokers should they not comply.