throwablePie

I think you are correct. That's something I failed to notice when I referenced your post.

Absence of the period (aka full stop) after the timestamp appears to indicate that a commenter had previously (perhaps recently) posted a comment which was subsequently flagged. Or that the commenter is new (see below).

Here's what I did:

I used ctrl-f/cmd-f on a well-commented post (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25190668) looking for the following search terms: ". [–]" and "o [–]"

Then I reviewed some of the posters' recent commenting history. Those that had no period after the time-stamp had recent grayed-out comments. I did not find any commenters with a period who had recent grayed out posts.

For instance, here's a page from esteemed commenter buran77's profile: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=buran77 . You'll notice that not only does buran77 have grayed out posts without the period-after-timestamp feature but so does grayed-out commenter elmo2you.

The absence of the period also appears to apply to recently created accounts. See green commenter jn6118 in this thread.

This appears to be a subtle indicator designed to be used in HN's comment moderation. If so, what can we glean from this quirk of HN's comment moderation procedures or policies?

It's a possible sign that the Chinese have not determined that the media outlet is being used for (semi-)automated astroturfing propaganda operations such as:

Earnest Voice: > Operation Earnest Voice is an astroturfing campaign by the Federal government of the United States.[1] The aim of the initiative is to use sockpuppets to spread pro-American propaganda on social networking services based outside of the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Earnest_Voice

and

JTRIG: > The scope of the JTRIG's mission includes using "dirty tricks" to "destroy, deny, degrade [and] disrupt" enemies by "discrediting" them, planting misinformation and shutting down their communications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Threat_Research_Intellig... https://theintercept.com/2014/02/24/jtrig-manipulation/

I look for balance in my news sources and since many powerful governments employ online propaganda ops, I look for signals of relative neutrality or non-bias. ZeroHedge used to have those in abundance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-sponsored_Internet_propa...

I read ZH regularly for the nuggets of truth found nowhere else. They have changed a lot over the years. And, not for the better.

The comment section used to be an equal opportunity Fight Club with omnidirectional contempt for mainstream orthodoxy regardless of source. The U.S., Chinese, and occasionally the Russian governments met with distrust and ridicule. So balanced was ZH that ZH (and HN) used to be available in China without a VPN. But now both ZH and HN are blocked there.

But, over the past two years or so, ZH content has become much more partisan and white nationalist; and the comment section has morphed from Fight Club into Racist and Anti-Semitic Sewer nonpareil.

The racism free-for-all in the comment section could be laid at the feet of non-moderation if ZH's comments section were indeed a free-fire zone. But ZH manually approves all commenter accounts and it consistently violates its stated policy on racism by refusing to remove blatantly racist comments or commenters.

> Racism, to include any religious affiliation, will not be tolerated in ANY FORM on this site, including the disparagment of people in the comments section.

> To report any form of discrimination, please right click on the comment number, copy the link to the comment, and send the comment link to abuse [at] zerohedge.com.

> Any user found to be discriminating against ANY race, religion, or affiliation, will be banned immediately, and have their comments removed from the system. https://www.zerohedge.com/help/notice-racism

> The original broadcast included a scene in which Major Gowen, a regular guest at the hotel, uses very strong racist language in relation to an anecdote about the West Indies cricket team. A decade ago many broadcasters began editing out this part of the programme, although the racist language can still be heard on the version hosted by Netflix. http://archive.is/ZLIqs

I'm African American and I'd prefer not to be turned into a perpetual victim by people who mean well. Rather than infantilizing censorship, I'd like to have the option to watch to watch this classic episode in its entirety. An embedded disclaimer wouldn't be inappropriate.

Apparently, many Germans find this scene very funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfl6Lu3xQW0

> "Caging me for a decade is not rehabilitating. I may be making excuses for myself, though there is a lesson that could have been learned with the same amount of value for justice if the sentence was 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, even 6 years." From the article at: https://forklog.media/ex-convicted-hacker-ghostexodus-severi...

I don't consider myself a bleeding heart lib but I think that a decade in prison is excessive for most non-violent crimes. I'm American but I live in Asia so maybe I'm now an outsider. I'm not aware of any other country that punishes this harshly.

Serious questions: Does any other country routinely punish so severely? To what end? At what financial and psychic cost to society? If we're unique (exceptional?) why do we do this to ourselves?

> Oakland PD should have something to do with those Democrats who have direct executive and legislative control over the city and state...

I agree. But that's not the whole story; perhaps not even the main story here. "Police act like laws don't apply to them because of Qualified Immunity": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23373329

Thanks to HN commenter @yyyk ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23382006 ), we learn that in 1967, the Supreme Court held that:

- "Few doctrines were more solidly established at common law than the immunity of judges from liability for damages for acts committed within their judicial jurisdiction... "

- "This immunity applies even when the judge is accused of acting maliciously and corruptly... " and - "... the immunity of legislators for acts within the legislative role was not abolished. The immunity of judges for acts within the judicial role is equally well established... "

- "The common law has never granted police officers an absolute and unqualified immunity" but "... a police officer is not charged with predicting the future course of constitutional law... " and "the defense of good faith and probable cause... available to the officers in the common-law action for false arrest and imprisonment, is also available to them in the action under § 1983 [Civil action for deprivation of rights]."

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Pierson_v._Ray/Opinion_of_the...

After which followed a cascade of case law that granted police officers, and others similarly anointed, a "qualified immunity" to trials (including pre-trial discovery): https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/qualified_immunity

Oakland lies within the ambit of the U.S. Supreme Court so, as long as qualified immunity remains the law of the land, local officials have limited ability to change a long-standing police culture of impunity.

> coded language a Republican Senator thousands of miles away uses belongs many paragraphs below that.

I disagree. Thanks to telecommunications, social media, and other new-fangled technologies, powerful and influential persons can cause action at a distance of thousands of miles. "Thousands of miles away" is meaningless in instances in which powerful persons can transmit or impose effects tens of thousands of miles away.

Edit: formatting

Race relations between Oakland's black residents and Oakland police have been fraught for decades (probably at least since the founding of the Black Panther Party in Oakland in the 60s). But that doesn't justify the violent actions you've described.

Unfortunately, some senior "dog whistle" politicians have labeled protesters "thugs" and "looters" and have called for "shooting" and "no quarter." These loose words are dangerous and may be unlawful: https://lawandcrime.com/george-floyd-death/republican-senato...

As a result of these statements, some armed enforcers including police, National Guard, and U.S. military may interpret these bellicose pronouncements as a declaration of war or a granting of letters of marque and reprisal against protesters and their property.

Good leadership would call for toning down the rhetoric but leadership appears to be in short supply. Gefickt, we are.

From his about page: "I studied music production in college, and after seeing the ambition of SpaceX, and the excitement in the new space industry, I was hooked. I wanted to work in aerospace... "

At first, I wondered what SpaceX role would suit him best and why SpaceX hadn't hired him. Then it occurred to me that humanity might be better off with passionate polymaths such as him working outside as opposed to inside the establishment. After all, Elon Musk started his aerospace career outside the establishment. And SpaceX is now establishment?

Polymaths have been quite productive in crypto and other low-startup-cost environments. But, apparently, not so much in autonomous vehicles, etc. This could be a function of the learnings required for physical world projects, to wit: quaternions, telematics, aerodynamics, etc.

So, would we/he be better off inside or outside the Borg? Thoughts?

SpaceX has a huge potential opportunity for raising funding / earning profits via toy licensing and sales: https://www.barrons.com/articles/spacex-overwhelmed-by-deman...

Wouldn't it be interesting if Elon could achieve his Mars objectives faster not by selling LEO satellite services or space launch capacity but by selling and/or licensing toys (and sparking dreams) here on Earth?

Despite the current pandemic, this is a great time to be a young person. Dreams and human potential seem infinite.

Edit: Who would own the IP, NASA or SpaceX or both?

You're entitled to an opinion. Even racists and JTRIG operatives have opinions. Quite often, racists are quick to dismiss black people's allegations of racism because they lack empathy... even when confronted with video evidence.

One thing I noticed while living in China is that it's not usually Africans and African Americans who complain the most about Chinese racism against black people. No, sir! It's usually non-black racists who have experienced discrimination for the first time and finally found an opportunity to camouflage and justify their own racism against blacks, Asians, etc. by using the Chinese as a canvas on which they can paint a narrative.

A person can travel to China (or elsewhere in Asia), date and marry the locals, have mixed race offspring and still have strong prejudice against Asians or other people of color. See for instance SerpentZA and Laowhy86 and their reactions to the physiognomy of their own children. And SerpentZA's expressed opinions on post-Apartheid South Africa.

Are there racists in China? Of course there are. Is there rampant discrimination against non-Han people. Yes! People of all colors can be racist or ethnocentric. But is Chinese anti-black racism worse than American anti-black racism as the recent narratives have proclaimed? No! An emphatic "NO"!

In China, most foreigners experience racism at some point during their stay. For a non-black person who has never experienced in-your-face racism, this has to be a jarring and disorienting experience.

For a black person in China, particularly an American black person, it's just "meh" racism. The cops aren't trying to murder you for simply existing and no one will try to lock you up in prison forever for not being the right color. Granted, as in America, some people may not date you and some employers will not hire you due to the color of your skin, but the vast majority of Chinese will be warm and friendly toward you and they won't clutch their pearls when they encounter you day or night.

So, in my opinion (as a black man) living in China was quite a refreshingly meh and relaxing experience. "I didn't even have to use my AK."

Apparently, your experience varied and you hold a different opinion about the relative toxicity of Chinese and American racism. But, as you noted, we are different people. Welcome to racism for the inexperienced... it hurts, doesn't it? I feel for you but I will not apologize for living a different experience than explained by your programming or your privilege. If that makes me a "troll", so be it.

I'm an African American living in Asia. I have lived in China. And I have experienced much more racism in America than in China. Some will not believe me so I'm prepared to prove it if necessary.

Recently, certain politicians have made grave proclamations about people/thugs fighting for freedom in HK, Minneapolis, and other places around the world.

It should be interesting and instructive to observe the cognitive dissonance and resulting contortions of U.S. and other Western politicians as they address this grave matter.

I have observed that whenever some of my compatriots are presented with information that lies outside their regular programming, they label the messenger either a Chinese or Russian troll. This Australian woman has noticed this phenomenon: https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/03/19/liberal-npcs-hate-ru...

These could be as a result of foreign influence operations by the Russians or the Chinese. Then again, this effect might simply be the result of the online labors of America's equivalent of GCHQ's JTRIG: https://theintercept.com/2014/02/24/jtrig-manipulation/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Threat_Research_Intellig...

We (Americans) are the masters of "foreign influence operations."

"We included patients hospitalised between Dec 20, 2019, and April 14, 2020, with a positive laboratory finding for SARS-CoV-2"

It may be the end of the road for hospitalized patients with heavy viral loads but, considering the fact that zinc is mentioned nowhere in the full text, it is not the end of the road for prophylaxis. Early action before hospitalization is necessary... see below.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...

Zinc does the hard work of inhibiting viral replication; HCQ is the zinc ionophore that lights the pathway. "First used in 1967, the term ionophore refers to the molecule’s ability to bind a metal ion and facilitate its transport across cellular membranes." In order to inhibit viral replication, zinc must enter the cell... HCQ and other zinc ionophores can facilitate this.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4896753/

Pasting my previous comment below with slight modifications:

Hydroxychloroquine is just one of several zinc ionophores that inhibit viral replication. "Zinc Ionophores Pyrithione Inhibits Herpes Simplex Virus Replication" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23867132/

"... the virus replicative cycle can be divided into 10 steps (Fig. 52-1): (1) adsorption, (2) penetration, (3) uncoating, (4) early transcription, (5) early translation, (6) replication of the viral genome, (7) late transcription, (8) late translation, (9) assembly, and (10) release of new virus particles."

If using HCQ as a zinc ionophore which targets replication, "antiviral drug treatment should be started early, before irreversible tissue damage occurs. Such timely treatment is not possible without early and accurate diagnosis, which is difficult for many viral infections (such as infections of the respiratory tract)" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8119/

"Results: The addition of zinc sulfate did not impact the length of hospitalization, duration of ventilation, or ICU duration. In univariate analyses, zinc sulfate increased the frequency of patients being discharged home, and decreased the need for ventilation, admission to the ICU, and mortality or transfer to hospice for patients who were never admitted to the ICU"

HCQ is an enabler; zinc does the heavy lifting but only if administered early.

See my other comment downvoted to oblivion below.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.02.20080036v...

Hydroxychloroquine is just one of several zinc ionophores that inhibit viral replication. "Zinc Ionophores Pyrithione Inhibits Herpes Simplex Virus Replication" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23867132/

"... the virus replicative cycle can be divided into 10 steps (Fig. 52-1): (1) adsorption, (2) penetration, (3) uncoating, (4) early transcription, (5) early translation, (6) replication of the viral genome, (7) late transcription, (8) late translation, (9) assembly, and (10) release of new virus particles."

If using HCQ as a zinc ionophore which targets replication, "antiviral drug treatment should be started early, before irreversible tissue damage occurs. Such timely treatment is not possible without early and accurate diagnosis, which is difficult for many viral infections (such as infections of the respiratory tract)" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8119/

Hydroxychloroquine is a zinc ionophore. It provides an ion channel that permits zinc to enter the cell and inhibit viral replication. In order to be effective, the zinc + ionophore antiviral should be administered early. Hospitalized ICU patients on ventilators are far from ideal candidates. Chinese (successful) studies used Zinc and Hydroxychloroquine; never Hydroxychloroquine without zinc.

Improving the efficacy of Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine against SARS-CoV-2 may require Zinc additives - A better synergy for future COVID-19 clinical trials https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/1795/

Zn2+ Inhibits Coronavirus and Arterivirus RNA Polymerase Activity In Vitro and Zinc Ionophores Block the Replication of These Viruses in Cell Culture https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2973827/

Does Zinc Supplementation Enhance the Clinical Efficacy of Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine to Win Todays Battle Against COVID-19? https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202004.0124/v1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionophore Zinc ionophores have been shown to inhibit replication of various viruses in vitro:

Coxsackievirus

Equine viral arteritis

Hepatitis C virus

Herpes simplex virus

Human coronavirus

Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Mengovirus

MERS coronavirus

Rhinovirus

SARS coronavirus

Zika virus

> might as well live in North Korea

... or Taiwan or South Korea or Singapore

... this is not what a "free country" with the largest prison population on Earth would do