First Derivative [8]
This week there's some religion/society, tech, finance, and foreign policy. Have a great weekend!
Pakistani student beaten to death after being accused of blasphemy
A Pakistani college student died Thursday after a mob of people beat him to death on campus for allegedly sharing blasphemous content on social media. Marshal Khan, whose age was not immediately clear, attended Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan…
This should get more coverage. Completely antithetical to Western values. A lesson for us (cc: SJWs): 'conflating words with violence legitimizes violence as a response to words'-TK
'Speak English, respect our values': PM's next citizenship crackdown
Would-be Australians will face tough new hurdles – including a new English language and 'Australian values' test – and have to wait several more years before being eligible for citizenship, under a major shake-up of the migration…
Facebook Livestreams a Murder, and Must Now Face the Limits of Its Freedoms
The video is shaky, like so many other handheld Facebook Live videos. A steering wheel fills the foreground, and a bright sunny day bobs by outside the car's windows. The man filming drives slowly, narrating as he goes. He isn't talking to just…
Tragic. You can't help but think this will happen more and more though. O brave new world...-TK
New AI Can Write and Rewrite Its Own Code to Increase Its Intelligence
Amex, Challenged by Chase, Is Losing the Snob War
To understand the anxiety inside American Express — which has announced its second consecutive year of declining revenue — you need to know about a story that made its way through the company's headquarters last fall. A few Amex…
I've been getting into and learning about the payment industry lately. Interesting piece on a trend I've been seeing in my own circle-TK
How Guggenheim's Minerd Pushed His Think-Slow Strategy to $260 Billion
Scott Minerd wadded up another piece of paper and looked out at the Pacific Ocean from his Santa Monica, Calif., office. He needed a better blueprint for his organization—a foundation for his investing process that could support consistent…
Puff piece but still an enjoyable read and character sketch-TK
America's Misadventures in the Middle East
“From now on,” President Donald Trump declared in his inaugural address, “it's going to be only America first, America first!” If so, no region stands to be more affected than West Asia and North Africa—what…
Long and the writing is a bit arduous. But comprehensive articulation of anti-hawkish FP. I think Freeman swings too much to the other extreme but it is an important strain of thought to consider. See Robert Kagan's book, The World America Made.-TK