Using Coinbase to facilitate racism and hate is apparently no longer against the cryptocurrency platform’s rules under little-noticed revisions the company made to its terms of service several years ago. 

Until August 2021, the “Prohibited Uses” section of Coinbase’s user agreement banned customers from wielding the platform to “incite, threaten, facilitate, promote, or encourage hate, racial intolerance, or violent acts against others.” That month, Coinbase stripped that section from the agreement.

“Coinbase quietly removing hate speech and racism clauses from its terms of service sends a clear message: Coinbase does not care about the safety and well-being of Black people who use their site,” said an emailed statement from Jade Magnus Ogunnaike, a vice president at Color Of Change, a civil rights group focused on inequity and technology. “Without strong content moderation policies, Coinbase will continue to put Black consumers, their own employees and stakeholders in harm’s way in order to enact a long broken vision for Big Tech.”

Coinbase’s move to strip its user agreement of language explicitly barring hate took place about a year after the company, amid national racial justice protests, banned internal discussion of nominally external political issues and promptly faced public accusations of racism from Black employees.

Financial tech companies, including both PayPal and Square, often have language in their user agreement policies banning their use to promote “hate” or “racial intolerance.” White nationalist Richard Spencer, for example, was banned from receiving money on Paypal in 2017 following the violent Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virgina. Prominent Islamaphobe Laura Loomer has also been banned from the digital payments platform.

Marcus, Luke and Andy react to an electric night at Old Trafford! And that was just because of Erik ten Hag’s roll neck.

We also contemplate buying a dog that might excrete Carabao Cup final tickets and begin to engineer Jose Mourinho’s return to Chelsea via Andy’s mates at The One Show.

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Andy travels to the City Ground for a truly incredible atmosphere as Nottingham Forest fought back against Manchester City on Saturday.

He’s joined by lifelong Forest fan and Ramble producer Tom Whalley to find out more about what being back at the top table means to a city and a club still pining for the glory years under Brian Clough. Plus, we get a valuable education in the local Notts chants! They didn’t make much of Pep’s trainers…

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The Galactic Empire flexed their imperial muscles at Anfield this week! Today Dotun, Andy and Nicky Bandini explain why it feels so inevitable that Real will go far again in this season's Champions League – and why Vinicius Jr and Carlo Ancelotti are the perfect duo to do it...

From the Empire to the Rebel Alliance, we discuss whether Napoli can also be considered serious contenders in this season’s competition and Andy gives his case for why fiery Porto coach, Sérgio Conceição, could be the perfect successor to fiery Diego Simeone at Atlético Madrid!

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Marcus and Luke check in with prickly Pep after his Man City side played quite well… for a bit? To be fair, they did concede to a fishmonger’s son.

We also have to ask the dreaded question after Liverpool were hammered by Real Madrid on Tuesday: is Jürgen Klopp’s time on Merseyside finally up?

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Today, Shakhtar Dontsk’s most capped player and stalwart of the Croatian national team Darijo Srna joins us from leafy west London. But his life and that of his football club have been anything but peaceful.

Almost a year on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Shakhtar Donetsk’s sporting director talk to Kate bout escaping Kyiv, why FIFA are destroying the Ukrainian league, and what football can mean right now in a time of conflict.

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Join Marcus, Luke and Pete for a look back at modern football’s definitive double act and a doomed journey neither of them were suited to in any shape or form. It’s Gary and Phil Neville’s time in the dugout!

Gary’s since confessed he had no right to get that ill-fated Valencia gig - managing his brother directly - while Phil only got the Inter Miami job after spying Becks’ text in the lads’ WhatsApp group. We assess their regular failures at home with England and abroad, all while Gary lines up the top job at Qatari-owned Man United and Phil reminds us to steer clear of Miami Beach.

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Haven’t you heard? Pete is Jules’ new makeup artist for the Carabao Cup final on Sunday. Or he’s going to climb through a sewer - one or the other.

Jules, Pete, Andy and Luke digest a dramatic turning point in the title race courtesy of Emi Martinez’s unlucky bit really quite deserving bonce. We discuss what Arsenal could have done to the MOTM award in celebration – plus, Nick Pope’s own calamities has us thinking about times we’ve made a mistake and tried (and failed) to make things better, while fittest human in history Nathan Jones has bounced back from his sacking! By playing 12th-tier football in Dorset and getting injured…

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Arsenal’s center-back position is one that could need to be addressed. When Emmanuel Petit recently claimed that Arsenal defenders William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes were playing averagely, some didn’t take him seriously.

Now, days after Petit’s claims, another Arsenal legend, Alan Smith, has come out to expose the concerns he has about Arsenal’s defense. Smith has called out Gabriel as a loophole in Arsenal’s defense, and he feels he fails Arteta in big games.

“Gabriel would be a concern for Arteta in the future,” said Smith on BestGamblingsites (via MSN)

“He can be so emotional on these occasions, and that can affect his game. If you look at Saliba, you hardly notice him because he’s so calm.

“He does the simple things really effectively. Whereas Gabriel catches the eye for a number of reasons and I think it’s something Arteta will consider if he can rely on him going into these big games.

Former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole believes Arsenal’s 4-2 win against Aston Villa means we are now in a proper title race.

Manchester City had overtaken the Gunners earlier after beating Mikel Arteta’s side, but the Gunners are back at the top after the win, with City dropping points against Nottingham Forest.

The two clubs have continued to chase each other and much credit must be given to Arsenal, who have done very well to hold their own in the competition so far.

After the game, Cole said via the Daily Mail:

‘Fantastic. We wanted a title race and Arsenal have given it. Asked a lot of questions about this team over the past six months. About their character. Their personality.

Martin Keown has hailed Arsenal for their performance against Aston Villa in the Premier League this afternoon.

Mikel Arteta’s side faced a tough test against the Villans after enduring a rough run of form.

The Gunners were winless in three league games before the match and were under pressure to perform.

Villa had extra motivation with Unai Emery returning to his former club after his sacking by the Gunners in 2019.

However, Arsenal recovered from their bad form and a poor start to win the game, which delighted Keown.

The water level at Lake Powell, the massive reservoir on the Colorado River whose southern reaches straddle the Utah-Arizona border, hit a record low this week, sinking to just 3,522 feet above sea level. A 23-year megadrought combined with climate change has left the reservoir at just 22 percent of its capacity—so low that it threatens to cause the collapse of a water supply system serving 40 million people throughout the arid west.

Created by the 1963 construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell is the nation’s second-largest reservoir. Over the past year, federal officials have ordered emergency water releases from upstream reservoirs, such as Utah’s Flaming Gorge, to prop up the lake and keep the dam’s turbines turning and providing electricity. While this year’s above average snowpack may help, even the Bureau of Reclamation, which historically has wildly overestimated the Colorado River’s flow, expects Lake Powell to drop another 30 feet by September.

One underappreciated element of this looming crisis is Glen Canyon Dam itself. If the water level in Lake Powell falls another 150 feet from its current level, the reservoir will hit dead pool, meaning that the Colorado River will no longer run through the dam, stopping flow to booming populations in Arizona and Nevada, as well as to Mexico and the agricultural areas of California’s Imperial Valley.

“Lake Powell is quickly approaching the point at which it may soon become physically impossible to pass enough water through the dam,” warned an August report by regional environmental groups. “Such an event would likely be the most calamitous in the Colorado River System’s history, causing legal complications, economic harm, and a water supply crisis across the seven states and Mexico.”

Environmentalists have long hated the Glen Canyon Dam, which submerged beautiful canyons, caused environmental degradation, and harmed endangered fish in the Grand Canyon. Edward Abbey’s landmark novel The Monkey Wrench Gang was based on a plot to blow up the structure.

Former President Jimmy Carter has decided to begin hospice care in his Plains, Georgia home. The news was disclosed on Saturday in a brief statement from the Carter Center:

After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention. He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers.

Carter is America’s longest-lived former president. After leaving the White House in 1981, he forged a remarkable second career as a statesmen and human rights advocate—not to mention Habitat for Humanity volunteer and Sunday school instructor. He turned 98 in October.

Gary Neville enjoyed watching Bukayo Saka in Arsenal’s 4-2 win against Aston Villa this afternoon as the attacker dazzled against the Villans.

Saka has been one of the best players in England this season and deserves all the praise he is getting now.

The Arsenal man has worked so hard to help the Gunners stay atop the league table and his performance against Villa shows he is only getting better.

As he tormented Villa in the game, Neville tweeted:

“Saka been very good in this game.”

Analysts for Arsenal and Aston Villa clashed during the Gunners’ 4-2 win over Unai Emery’s side, according to reports.

The Gunners secured the victory despite being 2-1 down at half-time and now are back on top of the league table before Manchester City plays.

Standard Sports reports that when Jorginho’s shot went in off Emi Martinez, it sparked a commotion in the press box and Arsenal analyst Miguel Molina and Victor Manas of Villa clashed and had a go at each other.

The situation was eventually diffused when Molina left for another section of the box.

Just Arsenal Opinion

“You’re in!” the email said. “Welcome to the new Bing!” Last Sunday, I joined a small wave of users granted early access to Microsoft’s new chatbot backed search engine, put forward as an “AI-powered copilot for the web.” Given that “multiple millions” across 169 countries were stuck on the waitlist, I felt like Charlie waving a Golden Ticket. Little did I know that I, like Roald Dahl’s beloved character, would too be led by a mercurial and untrustworthy host into a world of pure imagination.

I have already spent months awe-struck by the new Bing’s underlying technology. It also powers ChatGPT, the wildly popular interface created by OpenAI, a lab backed by billions of Microsoft bucks. Since its founding in 2015 (co-chair: Elon Musk), OpenAI’s algorithms have devoured astonishing amounts of data to learn the intricacies of language, enabling programs to generate human-like responses—translations, summaries, essays, workout and recipe plans, sonnets… whatever you like. ChatGPT is a great party trick. It’s also a powerful work tool, capable of jumpstarting creativity, automating mundane tasks, or composing a bloodless email. It can function as a teacher, coder, or wedding planner. (I used it to proofread this paragraph.) But for all its potential, any user will tell you that it can deceive with the ease of George Santos.

I had my first chance to chat with Bing at length during two recent cross-country flights. At first, it was marvelous. To test how specific it could get, I asked Bing to provide a timeline of the development of China’s J-series fighter jet, complete with quotes from allies and enemies. Its answers were detailed and conveniently embroidered with links and references. I also learned how to write a lease renegotiation email, using templates, and with reference to New York City’s current rules. I asked it to locate my most recent Mother Jones article and to summarize it. Bing got this last task wrong several times, but I nudged it in the right direction, and eventually we got there.

But the more I ventured into this Willy Wonka-esque wonderland, the more I noticed strange inconsistencies, glimpses of Bing’s wiring, and dangerously convincing falsehoods.

Upon closer examination of our conversations about Chinese fighter jets, I discovered that I couldn’t independently find any of the direct quotes it presented. The chatbot quoted former Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell as saying, “it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they are testing it,” linking an article in The Diplomat. But Bing was deep-faking Morrell: He doesn’t appear anywhere in that story. In fact, I couldn’t find any proof that Morrell ever said these words, even using Bing’s regular search interface. (Or Google’s.) Likewise, quotes from former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a former top Indian military chief, and a journalist, all appeared to be made up. This was an utterly convincing but ultimately synthetic history about a very real arms race between superpowers. What could go wrong?

Former Arsenal star Martin Keown has mocked Emi Martinez after he scored an own goal in Arsenal’s 4-2 win against Aston Villa today.

The game seemed to be heading for another Arsenal defeat, but the Gunners came back from 2-1 down to win.

With the match finely poised at 2-2, Jorginho let fly from distance and it cannoned off the woodwork only to hit Martinez and go in to give Arsenal a 3-2 lead.

The Gunners then scored another late goal from a sweet counter-attack and Keown was delighted Martinez conceded that goal.

He said via Standard Sport:

Arsenal earned a 4-2 win against Aston Villa this afternoon, with Jorginho continuing in place of Thomas Partey in the starting lineup.

Partey has missed the Gunners’ last two matches due to an injury problem and the Ghanaian midfielder has been a notable absentee.

The Gunners added Jorginho to their squad in the last transfer window and the experienced Italy international had a good game against the Villans.

However, Daily Mail’s Sami Mokbel still believes they missed the influence and authority of Partey in their midfield.

He writes in his column:

On Friday evening, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted the “breaking” news that father would visit East Palestine, Ohio, next week, in the wake of the train derailment there whose aftermath has cloaked the region in a toxic cloud, killed thousands of fish, and required the evacuation of residents who fear longterm health risks. 

Breaking News: Trump will visit East Palestine, Ohio next week.
If our “leaders” are too afraid to actually lead real leaders will step up and fill the void.

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 18, 2023

On Saturday, the former president himself claimed, with no evidence, that news of his planned visit had prompted the Biden administration to finally send a disaster relief team to the beleaguered city. 

Fabrizio Romano was delighted to have watched Arsenal’s thrilling 4-2 win at Aston Villa this afternoon and admits it is the reason the Premier League is the best in the world.

Villa went into the break 2-1 up after Ollie Watkins and Philippe Coutinho scored either side of a Bukayo Saka goal.

It seemed Unai Emery would earn a win in his first match against Arsenal as Villa’s boss, but Arsenal showed great character in the second half to turn it around with three goals.

It was a contest that could have gone either way and until Gabriel Martinelli scored the last goal, no one knew how the fixture would end.

After the game, Romano tweeted: