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Progressives are feeling pretty good that reformers have gotten major posts on climate and energy and in key financial regulatory agencies such as the SEC (Gary Gensler) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Rohit Chopra). But watch out for whats happening under the radar.

Last Friday, I wrote about how Cass Sunstein was primed to return to a White House job. More than any other person, he was the scourge of progressive regulation when he was head of OIRA under Obama.

Biden and his team promise to do a lot of needed re-regulation. Why on earth bring back Sunstein?

One explanation could be the influence of one Jessica Hertz. She is a longtime protg of Sunstein, both in his days at the University of Chicago and as his counselor when both were at OIRA.

From there, after a stint as deputy counsel for thenVice President Biden, Hertz went on to work as the key house counsel in charge of fending off regulation for Facebook, the number one target for reformers of platform monopolies. And then she got herself a prime job as general counsel in the Biden transition, where she was the ultimate arbiter of ethics and conflict-of-interest issues.

But it gets worse. Hertz was recently named to the post of staff secretary in the Biden administration itself, a powerful role that among other things filters the paperwork flow to the president.

Do you think maybe Hertz is foaming the runway for Sunstein? And who foamed the runway for her?

The Hertz/Sunstein story is part of a larger pattern that deserves much more scrutiny. Just below the good news of progressives leading some agencies is the infiltration of people into hundreds of subcabinet and senior staff posts, either coming directly from Silicon Valley platform monopolies and Wall Street investment banks, or serving as their longtime allies and enablers.

Continue reading here:
Bidens Progressive Appointees: Watch Out Below the Radar - The American Prospect

There are plenty of takeaways from this weeks GameStop/Reddit/Robinhood saga.

For your sake (and mine), I would prefer not to delve into the financial weeds here. Sure, Ive watched The Wolf of Wall Street twice and Ive read 3.5 stories on shorting but that does not a financial wizard make.

The debacle did cause quite a stir on Twitter, though, and thats where my expertise comes in. I have one main piece of advice: Conservatives, stop being so thirsty for progressives praise their hatred of you means youre never going to get it.

When Robinhood stopped its users from trading GameStop stocks, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tweeted that the move was unacceptable.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) retweeted the AOCs statement with the reply, Fully agree.

Many naive onlookers thought this was a rare moment of bipartisan harmony, reaching across the aisle, extending the olive branch, etc.

But alas, it was not to be. Instead, AOC reminded Ted Cruz in her typical drama-queen fashion that she despises him.

I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where theres common ground, but you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out, she tweeted. Happy to work w/almost any other GOP that arent trying to get me killed. In the meantime if you want to help, you can resign.

As always, AOCs hysterics launched a thousand breathless headlines.

Politico: You almost had me murdered: AOC rebukes Cruzs shared interest in trading oversight. The Cut: AOC tells Ted Cruz to Take a Seat. New York Daily News: AOC torches Cruz for trying to get her killed after he backs push for WallStreet reform.

On its face, her latest accusation is hilariously hypocritical, especially given the Democrats history of violent rhetoric and action.

Cruz did not try to have her murdered. He objected to the electoral votes on Jan. 6, much like, say, Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern in 2017, or then-Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in 2001.

Perhaps Sen. Rand Paul can enlighten AOC why blaming politicians for their fringe supporters is a bad idea. Maybe he can start with the story of the Congressional baseball practice and then segue into the time his neighbor broke his ribs while Paul was cutting his lawn in Kentucky.

But my real frustration with this entire back-and-forth is not with AOC.

Its with Ted Cruz.

As Karol Markowicz, a columnist from the New York Post, replied to the seasoned senator: Why tweet that you fully agree with AOC? Who is Ted Cruz trying to impress? She hates you, shes open about it, stop being so thirsty. That goes for every conservative trying to catch AOCs eye. Stop giving her so much power. Enough.

The word thirsty is defined by Urban Dictionary as too eager to get something or desperate.

Now, am I thirsty on Twitter? You bet! In fact, Ive been trying to get verified on the app for years.

But Im the peanut gallery. Ted Cruz is a U.S. senator, a former candidate for president. Doesnt he have bigger fish to fry than bonding with AOC over GameStop?

Between the Keystone Pipeline, the border, coronavirus lockdowns, election integrity and 2022, Cruz and his fellow conservatives might want to give their keyboards a break.

Leave the Twitter dunks and meme wars to those of us who dont cash paychecks from the American taxpayers.

Furthermore, if youre going to tweet, at least know your audience. While Donald Trump spent plenty of time on Jack Dorseys app, he didnt try to appease his haters. If anything, he trolled the left knowing they were going to hate him even more.

But Trump, unlike some of these Republican leaders, welcomed the idea that people loathed him. In politics (and in life) you have a big edge if you can just accept the fact some of your detractors will never like you.

Some people will always think youre racist or evil simply because you challenge their ideas.

But most Republicans, despite the Democrats glaring disdain for them, perpetually want their Sally Fields Oscar moment in the sun.

Its never going to happen. Listen closely Republican pols: They hate you they really hate you.

The sooner you accept it, the better off we will all be.

Cruz and company need to stop reaching for that strange new respect from Hollywood and the media and the Democrat stars.

Remember John McCain? When he was running in 2008 against more conservative Republicans, the press raved about the maverick. But once McCain got the GOP nod and was running against their hero Obama, the press turned on a dime.

It was ever thus.

Republicans are never going to get chairs at the cool kids table and thats OK. The nerd table is way more fun, anyway.

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Curley: Conservatives need to cut out their thirst for progressive approval - Boston Herald

In our everyday classical computers, 0s and 1s are associated with switches and electronic circuits turning on and off as part of the computer using a binary number system to calculate possibilities and perform operations. For example, when a computer mouse moves, a sensor tells the computer that an electrical signal has been converted into a binary value or number. Further, this number represents a location that is then represented on the computer screen all of which is embodied by the byte that is the building block of current computers. The sensor message to the computer is also saved to memory. Some calculations have too many possibilities for even a traditional computer to calculate like simulating the weather or calculating scrambled combinations of prime numbers.Quantum is the state of things being unknown at the subatomic level until they can be observed and moves from the byte to the qubit. In a quantum computer, it is said that the values assigned to 0 and 1 can occur at the same time. The reason this impossibility is possible is because of quantums subatomic level where protons and electrons are acting in a wild way beyond the rules of nature as we tend to think of them. Picture The Avengers superhero Antman shrinking into the quantum zone where time did not even move in a linear fashion.In computer terms, once the values of 0 and 1 can happen at the same time, it allows the quantum computer to consider trillions of possibilities or more in the same instant, dwarfing the number of calculations that our traditional computers, stuck in binary counting, can do.This process is called superposition. Superposition ends once a specialized particle, or qubit, slows/is observable, thereby emerging from its quantum state. We stick the qubit in an artificial space vacuum so that it does not get observed or interfered with and remains dynamic. Pictures of quantum computers often show tubes the size of a household refrigerator. But most of the tubing is not the central computer processor as much as the process used to maintain the qubits at the absolute zero quantum state.Since around 1977, RSA has been among the most widely used systems for secure data transmission underlying the Internet, serving as the backbone of the NYSE, most large institutions and most individual online users. What is stopping an average person from hacking anyones elses website is that RSA is easy to build, and being based on two pseudo-random prime numbers, hard to burst for traditional computers limited binary system calculation capacity.

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Quantum Computing 101 -What it is, how is it different and why it matters - The Jerusalem Post

Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, sought to amplify the pressure on Mr. Biden this week during a visit to Russia, which, along with China, Britain, France and Germany, still honors the accord and has sought to preserve it. With the change of administration in the U.S. we have heard words but have seen no action, said Mr. Zarif.

He reiterated a threat by Iran to restrict visits by international nuclear inspectors a flagrant violation of the accord as of Feb. 21, under the law passed by Parliament, which followed the assassination in November of Irans top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Iran has blamed Israel and the United States for the killing.

Mr. Bidens caution toward an opening with Iran is rooted in the antipathy that has dominated the U.S.-Iranian relationship since the 1979 Islamic revolution, the American hostage crisis and the severing of diplomatic relations. There is strong bipartisan support for a tough stand toward Iran, which the State Department has classified since 1984 as a state sponsor of terrorism, and is regarded by both Israel and Saudi Arabia, the closest American allies in the region, as a dangerous threat.

While Iran has done nothing to provoke a military confrontation with the United States since Mr. Bidens election, it has taken steps to at least get his attention. On Jan. 4, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps seamen seized a South Korean ship amid a simmering dispute over South Koreas impounding $7 billion in Iranian oil revenue, frozen by American sanctions.

Just days before Mr. Bidens inauguration, Iranian media reported the conviction of an Iranian-American businessman, Emad Sharghi, on unspecified espionage charges. Mr. Sharghi joined at least three other American citizens of Iranian descent held in Iran, according to a list compiled by the Center for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group.

In a signal of Mr. Bidens own suspicions toward Iran, the American military said Wednesday that a B-52 bomber had flown over the Middle East for the third time this year and for the first time since he had become commander in chief. The B-52 operations, aimed at deterring Iran from any military provocations, had begun under Mr. Trump.

Mr. Biden also may be reluctant to re-engage with Iran until that countrys own internal politics signal some clarity. President Rouhani, who helped negotiate the nuclear deal, is now in the last six months of his final term. He has been severely criticized by hard-liners who could wield more power after elections in June.

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Iran Presses Biden to Restore Nuclear Deal and Drop Sanctions - The New York Times

The USS Nimitz carrier has been pulled out of the region potentially easing heightened tensions with Tehran.

US President Joe Bidens administration has pulled an aircraft carrier out of the Gulf in a move to potentially ease tensions with Iran, which had soared under former President Donald Trump.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group had sailed from the US militarys Central Command in the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific Command region.

Kirby did not confirm reports the Nimitz was headed back to the United States after some nine months at sea.

But he indicated that, after the Trump administration ramped up the US military presence in the Gulf, the Biden administration did not see keeping the carrier there as necessary for US security needs.

Kirby declined to discuss the Pentagons current assessment of a potential Iranian military threat to US bases or Gulf allies.

However, he said: We dont make decisions like this lightly.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin believes that we have a robust presence in the Middle East to respond to any threat, Kirby added.

The secretary was mindful of the larger geostrategic picture when he approved the movement of the carrier strike group from the Central Command area of responsibility to the Indo PACOM area of responsibility, he said.

Kirby would not say if the Nimitz would be replaced in the region in the near future, noting the US Navy has a limited number of aircraft carriers.

Were constantly watching the threat. Were constantly trying to meet that threat with proper capabilities, he said.

The move came after the US reversed a decision last month to bring the aircraft carrier home from the Gulf, with the Pentagon saying due to recent threats by Iran, the USS Nimitz would stay in position.

Iran has conducted military exercises and war games in the past several weeks amid the heightened tension between Tehran and Washington and its regional allies, particularly Israel. Last month, Tehran carried out the fifth military drill in two weeks as the US flew nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over the Middle East.

Iran has also boosted its nuclear activity in the past few months, drawing concerns from the new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who told NBC News on Monday Tehran could be months away from developing enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb.

But Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected the allegations, saying Tehran was not seeking a nuclear weapon.

The Biden administration has expressed interest in reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, from which Trump withdrew and slapped back punishing sanctions.

Iran has demanded Washington first lift the sanctions before talks could be resumed.

Speaking from Tehran on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the nuclear deal would remain unchanged with only the original signatories to the deal taking part in any talks.

If they [the US] want it, they can come join. If they dont want it then they can go back to their own lives and well go about our business, said Rouhani.

Meanwhile, Israel has opposed the nuclear deal. Last month, a top Israeli general warned attack plans against Iran were being revised and said any US return to the 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran would be wrong.

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US moves carrier from Gulf in a sign of ebbing tensions with Iran - Al Jazeera English