January 8th, 2023 • 3h 0m
Shownotes
Every new episode of No Agenda is accompanied by a comprehensive list of shownotes curated by Adam while preparing for the show. Clips played by the hosts during the show can also be found here.
TODAY
Progressive dinner
4 sick
2 homes
Aviation Lawyer - C130's to Uganda
Cary listens to NA - She was packing a LV 380
A lot of concern about the border and what is coming trough our towns
Climate Change
Resident HVAC Show Producer BOTG
An air conditioner absorbs heat into the freon from the inside of the house and puts it outside. A heat pump has a reversing valve in it and now absorbs heat from outside and puts it inside the house using the freon.
This process does not work well as the outdoor temperatures start to go into the 30’s since there is not enough heat to absorb outside to heat a house which is why heat pumps are popular in southern states and not areas that have colder winters such as Chicago where I work.
The newer heat pumps with “inverter” or variable speed compressors can now go closer to zero degrees outside. But even so may rely on a back up electric “strip heater” in case this happens. Strip heaters are the worse efficiency you can use to heat a house.
Even though I am watching the push for for these things even here in Chicago and the midwest in general here are some points these shouldn’t be mandated like they are trying to do with electric cars.
The outdoor unit has to be free from snow. In Chicago a good snow storm will at least cover the unit partially. They do put them on stands but thats not enough. Look what happened to Buffalo
A BTU is a BTU. My AC unit in Chicago is 2-tons. A ton is 12,000 BTU’s. My gas furnace is 80,000 BTU’s. See the problem?
You are relying on freon to heat your house. Ever turn the AC on right before summer and the tech has to come and top off the freon? Thats winter too. You get a leak in the summer. You’re hot. You get a freon leak in the winter, your house freezes over.
They are already talking about replacing the newest freon they introduced 12 years ago. R410a. As your system ages freon will go up in price
Noone has ever had their natural gas go out for days if ever. You can easily run the electric side of your natural gas furnace off a small generator to heat your house.
As always, Thanks guys
Dave Trotsky
Heat pumps BOTG
All air conditioners are heat pumps already. Geothermal heat pumps are among the most efficient cooling systems available, so it's no surprise that they are finally getting some press. Heat pumps are not great heating systems. The only reason you'd want to use one is because the upfront cost of geothermal is so great that you can't afford a separate heating system. They are really only viable as primary heating in climates that don't need much heating to begin with.
In theory, you could run a heat pump off any rotating power source (for example an engine), but in reality only car AC and refrigerated transport containers actually work that way.
Ministry of Truthiness
Artificial Intelligence
Chat AI parlor trick
The biggest parlor trick AGI plays is the "typing" of the answer, the blinking cursor when it pauses. There is no technical reason to do that. It's a cheap but effective method of humanizing the 'answers'
Big Pharma
Prime Time takedown
BLM LGBBTQQIAAPK+ Noodle Boy
Digital ID + CBDC
Great Reset
Southwest won't suffer BOTG form Joe
People forget so quickly that I don't think Southwest will see impact beyond March from the meltdown unless a) they quickly have another one or b) the DOT/Senate keep it in the news. Today, Southwest said the cost of the meltdown would be up to $850 million with half from revenue loss and half from elevated compensation offerings they put in place. The trick there is it ignores the cost savings from not operating all those cancelled flights. IMHO, almost all of the cost of the crisis is in the above and beyond reimbursements that they put into place at the DOT's behest. This is notable because it means that without that extra largely voluntary cost, the cost of this sort of meltdown from an earnings point of view is almost nothing, which has in the past given airlines little reason to make big changes. The reason cancels had started to cost airlines almost nothing dates back to when airlines slowly stopped reaccomodating (re-uhh-com-uhh-dating) passengers to other airlines (it still happens, but massively less than it used to). Once that went away, airlines largely kept the revenue from cancellations by giving vouchers and credits, but saved the expense by not flying the flight. If these reimbursements stay in place it may change the economic decision for airlines, but a better alternative would be forcing airlines back to reaccomodating to other airlines.
#label:weight="promoted,number,single,precision=1"
Mandates & Boosters
STORIES
NYC Bans Students and Teachers from Using ChatGPT
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 18:01
New York City's education department has banned access to ChatGPT, a chatbot that uses machine learning to craft realistic text, out of concern for ''safety and accuracy.''
As first reported by Chalkbeat New York, the ban will apply to devices and internet networks belonging to the education department. Individual schools can request access to ChatGPT for the purpose of studying AI and technology-related education, according to a department spokesperson.
''Due to concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content, access to ChatGPT is restricted on New York City Public Schools' networks and devices,'' education department spokesperson Jenna Lyle told Motherboard in a statement. ''While the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success.''
OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022. Since then, it's generated a lot of hype, debate, and fear-mongering about the continued rise of artificially intelligent systems in creative industries. In reality, the chatbot isn't that smart. In December, Stack Overflow banned it for consistently giving incorrect answers to programming questions. Even OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman doesn't think it's that good; he tweeted last month that ''ChatGPT is incredibly limited, but good enough at some things to create a misleading impression of greatness,'' and that it's ''a mistake to be relying on it for anything important right now.''
At the same time, some teachers are reportedly ''in a near-panic'' about the technology enabling students to cheat on assignments, according to the Washington Post. The New York Times recently showed writers and educators samples of ChatGPT's writing side-by-side with writing by human students, and none of them could reliably discern the bot from the real thing.
A spokesperson for OpenAI told Motherboard in a statement: ''We made ChatGPT available as a research preview to learn from real-world use, which we believe is a critical part of developing and deploying capable, safe AI systems. We are constantly incorporating feedback and lessons learned. We've always called for transparency around the use of AI-generated text. Our policies require that users be up-front with their audience when using our API and creative tools like DALL-E and GPT-3. We don't want ChatGPT to be used for misleading purposes in schools or anywhere else, so we're already developing mitigations to help anyone identify text generated by that system. We look forward to working with educators on useful solutions, and other ways to help teachers and students benefit from artificial intelligence.''
When I asked ChatGPT what it thought about the ban, it gave an impartial response: ''It is important to consider the potential risks and benefits of using ChatGPT in education, and to carefully weigh the evidence before making a decision. It is also essential to listen to the perspectives and concerns of all stakeholders, including educators, students, and parents, in order to make informed and fair decisions.''
This story has been updated with comment from OpenAI.
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McDonald's plans reorganization, job cuts as it accelerates restaurant openings
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 18:00
Noam Galai | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
McDonald's is planning job cuts and a reorganization as the company refocuses its priorities to accelerate restaurant expansion, CEO Chris Kempczinski told employees Friday.
The fast-food giant said the job cuts aren't a cost-cutting measure but are instead intended to help the company innovate faster and work more efficiently. As part of the reorganization, the company will be deprioritizing and halting certain initiatives, according to a company-wide memo from Kempczinski. It's unclear what those projects are.
"Today, we're divided into silos with a center, segments, and markets," Kempczinski wrote. "This approach is outdated and self-limiting '' we are trying to solve the same problems multiple times, aren't always sharing ideas and can be slow to innovate."
Currently, McDonald's organization is divided into three segments: the U.S., international operated markets and international developmental licensed markets. The company operates in 119 markets across the world.
Additionally, McDonald's said Friday it will speed up its development plans for new restaurants.
"We must accelerate the pace of our restaurant openings to fully capture the increased demand we've driven over the past few years," Kempczinski said in the memo.
McDonald's hadn't previously released a forecast for how many new restaurants it plans to build in 2023, but the company said in November that new units would contribute about 1.5% to system-wide sales growth in 2022.
The company has not decided how many new restaurants it will build yet nor how many jobs will be eliminated as part of the reorganization. Kempczinski said that the company will finalize and begin to communicate decisions on the layoffs by April 3.
Kempczinski also announced a handful of internal promotions, effective Feb. 1, to help the company carry out its new strategy. Global Chief Marketing Officer Morgan Flatley will also oversee new business ventures. Skye Anderson will move from McDonald's U.S. west zone to global business services. Andrew Gregory's role as global franchising officer will also include leading global development, and Spero Droulias will transition from senior vice president of finance to the company's chief transformation officer.
Shares of McDonald's closed up more than 2% on Friday. The company is expected to report its fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 31.
BREAKING: DOD CONTROLLED COVID 'VACCINES' FROM THE START UNDER NATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM '' LIED THE ENTIRE TIME '' Were NEVER 'Safe and Effective' - Armed Forces Press
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 17:58
CDM has interviewed Sasha Latyapova multiple times regarding the vaccines. She is breaking big news now on the Covid 'vaccines' and the Department of Defense.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 5, 2022
New Docs Reveal Department of Defense Controlled COVID-19 Program from the Start
FDA Vaccine Approval Process was Theater
A combinationofthePREP Act, Emergency Use Authorization, and Other Transactions Authority (OTA) Shielded Big Pharma, Agencies,and Medical Participants that Delivered Unregulated Vaccines from Any Liability
WASHINGTON, DC -According to congressionally passed statutes, research of active laws,and extra details obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the Department of Defense owns, implements, and oversees the COVID-19 vaccine program as a''Countermeasure'' to foreign attack.While the public was bombarded with an orchestrated fear campaign,the U.S.Government managed the Covid response as a national security threat.
The research and documentswere obtained bya former executive of a pharmaceutical Contract Research Organization (CRO), Sasha Latypova,and intensive legal researcherKatherine Watt.
The Three-Legged Stool
The undercover operation was orchestrated utilizing three critical legal maneuvers:
1. Emergency Use Authorization EUA.
2. Prep Act,
3. Other Transactions Authority
President Trump declared a Public Health Emergency (PHE) on March 13, 2020, under the Stafford Act, putting the National Security Council in charge of the Covid policy.Covid-19 vaccines are ''medical countermeasures'' '' a grey area of products that are not regulated as vaccines or medicines.
''They put the National Security Council in charge and treated it as an act of war,'' said Latypova.
According to Operation Warp Speed/ASPR reports, the DoD ordered, oversaw, and tightly managed the development, manufacture, and distribution of Covid countermeasures,mainly utilizing the DoD's previously established network of military contractors and consortia.
Department of Defense, BARDA, and HHS ordered all Covid countermeasures, including ''vaccines'' as prototype demonstrations of large-scale manufacturing, avoiding regulations and transparency under Other Transaction Authority. As prototypes used under EUA during PHE, Covid countermeasures, including ''vaccines,'' need not comply with the U.S. laws for manufacturing quality, safety, and labeling.
''The implication is that theU.S.Government authorized and funded the deployment of noncompliant biological materials on Americans without clarifying their ''prototype'' legal status, making the materials not subject to normal regulatory oversight, all while maintaining a fraudulent pseudo- ''regulatory'' presentation to the public,'' said Latypova.
''Most incredible is the fact that current Laws enacted by the United States Congress appear to make the coverup actions LEGAL!''
Under the PHE, medical countermeasures are not regulated or safeguarded as pharmaceutical products (21 USC 360bbb-3(k).
The American people were led to believe thatthe FDA, CDC, and figureheads like Anthony Fauci oversaw the COVID-19 vaccine program.Their involvement was an orchestrated information operation. All decisions concerning the COVID-19 vaccine research, materials acquisition, distribution, and information sharing were tightly controlled by the DoD.
Hundreds of Covid countermeasurescontractshave been uncovered. Many disclosures are in redacted form. However, Latypova and Watt have found sources to fill in the details. A review of these contracts indicates a high degree of control by the U.S. Government (DoD/BARDA). It specifies the scope of deliverables as ''demonstrations'' and ''prototypes'' only while excluding clinical trials and manufacturing quality control from the scope of work paid for by the contracts. To ensure that the Pharma is free to conduct the fake clinical trials without financial risk, the contracts include the removal of all liability for the manufacturers and any contractors along the supply and distribution chain under the 2005 PREP Act and related federal legislation.
Why is no action by regulators or courts? According to Latypova and Watt, a combination of recently passed legislation and executive orders make it LEGAL to LIE! The HHS Secretary is accountable to no one if the Health National Emergency continues to be extended by Congress every three months.
A significant information operation was set in motion the minute COVID-19 hit. The U.S. government, the intelligence community, the media, and Big Tech colluded to orchestrate and implement an intense pressure campaign designed to get the vaccine legally designated under the Emergency Use Authorization Act while vilifying dissenting doctors, critics, and viable alternative treatments. This designation allowed for speedy manufacturing devoid of the standard safety and public health protocols.
For a vaccine to receive designation under the EUA, there can be no other known treatments or cures. Therefore, many proven treatments such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were blacklisted in the media and dismissed as ''horse dewormers'' when these cheap, readily available drugs were in the past heralded for their effectiveness.
Eminent COVID-treating doctors such as Peter M. McCullough and Pierre Kory have faced unprecedented attacks on their medical credentials.
Here is a typical contract scope for ''vaccines''.
The Twitter Files Part 4 '' The Removal Of TrumpThe U.S. Needs To Bring Home All Americans Held As Political Hostages Overseas
Why C-SPAN's Camera Work Is Suddenly So Interesting
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 17:49
Screenshot: C-SPAN via Twitter
The fight over the House speakership is now in its third day, with Republican Kevin McCarthy losing an astounding seven votes in a row. The darkly comic proceedings have been captured in full view by roaming cameras of the House floor, and broadcast on C-SPAN, which has captured such moments as progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez conferring with far-right GOP member Paul Gosar who once tweeted an anime video of him killing her . Many of these moments have gone viral and have caused people to ask why the videos we get out of Congress aren't always this exciting.
This speaker fight is an extraordinary event for many reasons, but an underappreciated one is central to the way the media is covering the event and the general public is witnessing it. For the first time ever, independent media cameras are capturing a contentious, unscripted political fight on the House floor.
Normally, these types of moments would not be captured on film, much less broadcast on TV and posted to the internet. There are long-standing rules that restrict what can be filmed and broadcast during Congressional proceedings, typically restricted to the person speaking and extremely wide angles where people are not easily distinguishable. But, during this extraordinary political event, three C-SPAN cameras have been able to film whatever they like, from reaction shots of McCarthy losing another vote to following meandering conversations between unlikely conferees across the floor.
''Because we have cameras in the chamber, we're able to tell the story of what's happening on the House floor,'' said Ben O'Connell, director of editorial operations at C-SPAN, in an interview with Motherboard. ''You're able to see the migrating scrums of Congressmen on the House floor as they negotiate with each other. You're able to see extraordinary conversations'' such as the one between Ocasio-Cortez and Gosar. ''And you're able to see conversations that sometimes look somewhat contentious among some members. You'd never be able to see that with the standard House feed.''
Some prominent Twitter voices have made it sound like this is only possible because of the House speaker power vacuum, temporarily resulting in a filming free-for-all in the halls of power that will only last until a speaker is elected and exerts dictatorial control over filming techniques. But that's not the case. Instead, the reason for this confluence of events, much like the speaker fight itself, boils down to arcane rules and procedures initially created so politicians could exert control over their own image.
''Typically, during normal run of the mill House sessions, the cameras are all totally controlled by government employees,'' O'Connell said, referring to the cameras run by the House Recording Studio . That footage is used by networks, news programs, and most notably C-SPAN, which is not a government entity but a non-profit funded by telecom companies that provides ''live gavel-to-gavel proceedings'' of the House and Senate among other public policy programming. For House proceedings, footage is captured by the House Recording Studio and broadcast by C-SPAN.
Since the beginning of televised Congressional proceedings in 1979'--the Senate, in typical fashion, followed unfashionably late in 1986'--there have been strict rules about what the cameras can and cannot capture. During normal proceedings, cameras focus on whoever is speaking at the podium and must ignore everything else, even though reporters and spectators in the gallery have the entire chamber within view and can report what they see, a discrepancy that has become even more important in the internet age.
''''On a pretty regular basis, I'll see tweets from reporters sitting in the gallery saying, 'I see Congressman X speaking with Congressman Y working on some amendment,' and we can't see it,'' O'Connell said. ''We'd love to see it.''
For decades, C-SPAN has formally asked Congress for greater range of camera coverage , permitting such staples of filming techniques invented more than a century ago like pans and reaction shots from other members in the chamber.
''Currently, house floor debates are not in full public view because private news media cameras are still not permitted in the House chamber,'' wrote C-SPAN Chairperson Brian Lamb in a 2010 letter to House leadership asking for access to health care legislation debates. ''C-SPAN's request is for the addition of a few small robotically-operated cameras in the House chamber.'' Its requests have always been denied.
However, there are different rules for special events like joint sessions, State of the Union addresses, and the first day of session for swearing in ceremonies, where VIPs still want to be seen even if they are not heard. For these events, TV networks and other accredited media will ask the speaker's office for permission to bring their own cameras into the chambers. These requests are almost always granted on a ''pool'' basis, a common arrangement in political journalism where a reporter or TV crew is allowed access on the condition that they share all the footage and reportage with the rest of the accredited media. For all of O'Connell's 22 years at C-SPAN, they've been the pool camera crews for the speaker vote.
In that sense, and only in that sense, this year's speaker vote has gone just as all others in recent history. C-SPAN has three cameras in the House chambers and they can stay there until the Speaker is elected and new members have been sworn in. Of course, what is different this year is that it was not a routine, two- or three-hour long event. It is now on its third day, and the proceedings are highly contentious.
O'Connell says his crew are welcoming this brief window of opportunity. ''First, we're absolutely thrilled people are paying attention,'' he said. ''This is really important stuff and it is a thrill to be able to show it to people, to tell that story. And internally, what we are doing minute to minute, there are tons of conversations about what's working, what we might want to tweak, things like that, just operational stuff, that's an ongoing conversation.''
To his knowledge, C-SPAN has no plans to send the future House speaker'--whoever that may be'--a letter immediately after getting elected asking for the more permissive camera rules to be permanent. But the network's push for greater transparency and media access has been constant for decades, he says, and it will continue.
''We firmly believe that having independent media in the House and Senate chambers and Supreme Court for that matter leads to greater transparency to the American voter,'' O'Connell said. ''They would be able to see what their member is doing in the chamber even if they're not speaking. For major pieces of legislation, I can't imagine a downside to that.''
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Colorado is busing migrants to New York and other major cities
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 17:48
Migrants from the southern border are being housed in Denver shelters. Photo: Courtesy of the city of Denver
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is busing migrants who recently arrived in Denver from the southern U.S. border to other major cities.
Why it matters: The Democratic governor's move echoes actions by Republican governors in Texas and Florida that were labeled callous and cruel.
Driving the news: In a statement Tuesday, Polis said his administration is helping migrants reach their intended destinations because 70% don't plan to stay in Colorado.
But Polis acknowledged the number of people being bused out-of-state has escalated in recent days to clear a backlog of people stuck in Colorado because of harsh winter weather.
Colorado earmarked $5 million to assist people identified as migrants, including helping them purchase bus tickets. About half the money is allocated already."There is a lot of pent-up demand right now and a lot of frustration among our migrants who have been trapped for a week or two in a place they didn't want to be through no fault of their own," Polis told Politico.The other side: New York Mayor Eric Adams revealed Polis' plan in a radio interview earlier Tuesday.
"We were notified [Monday] that the governor of Colorado is now stating that they are going to be sending migrants to places like New York and Chicago," Adams said. "This is just unfair for local governments to have to take on this national obligation."By the numbers: At least 3,500 people have arrived in Denver from the southern border since Dec. 9. Their immigration status is unknown, but officials have suggested some are asylum seekers from Central and South America.
225 arrived overnight on New Year's Day and more than 1,000 are staying at city-run emergency shelters, Denver officials report. Another 740 are housed at other shelters run by nonprofits.Context: Denver Mayor Michael Hancock declared a state of emergency Dec. 15 as a surge of migrants pushed the city to a breaking point. He also called on the federal government to provide aid, a demand Polis reiterated Tuesday.
"States and cities not on the border are ill-equipped to address these challenges, and absent federal support and leadership, we're left to strategize and take actions to ensure this vulnerable population '' people who've come here with no resources or means '' are safe and treated humanely," Hancock said in a statement. City officials have spent more than $1 million in assistance as of Dec. 31, and project to spend roughly $3 million "over the next few months."The city and nonprofits are helping with the busing, but Hancock's spokesperson deferred all questions to the state's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, which declined to comment.Polis' spokesperson declined to respond to additional questions from Axios about the busing plans.Of note: Two days before Christmas, Polis visited warming shelters to thank volunteers and National Guard members he activated as a brutal cold front arrived. He brought presents for children, too.
"Too many people, in our opinion, view this through a political lens or as playing politics '-- and it's terrible that in some places, people have been used as political props," Polis said. "But what we are doing here is just honoring our values by treating people with dignity and respect."Editor's note: This story has been updated with new details throughout.
Geoengineering startup mimicking volcanic eruption to cool Earth
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 17:33
Luke Iseman conducting his balloon launch in Apr. 2022, before Make Sunsets was formally incorporated.
When Luke Iseman was thinking of launching a solar geoengineering startup, he talked to experts in the field. The strongest advice they gave him was not to use the word "geoengineering."
The term refers to manipulating the Earth's climate for human benefit, but in recent years it's been used as shorthand for "solar geoengineering," a theoretical process of releasing chemicals into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from the Earth and mitigate the effects of global warming. It's controversial because it hasn't been studied comprehensively, and we don't know whether the unintended side effects will be better or worse than the impacts of climate change.
Iseman's startup Make Sunsets, which has raised at least half a million dollars in venture capital, mostly skates around the hot-button word on its website.
"We make reflective, high-altitude, biodegradable clouds that cool the planet. Mimicking natural processes, our 'shiny clouds' are going to prevent catastrophic global warming," reads the site's About page. On the FAQ page, Make Sunsets calls what it is doing "albedo enhancement," a scientific term for reflecting sunlight.
But Iseman confronted it head-on in an interview.
"I'm very opposed to geoengineering. I want no geoengineering to occur," Iseman told CNBC. "Unfortunately, I was born into a world with a poorly geoengineered atmosphere where I, and everyone before me for the last couple hundred years, were emitting huge quantities of carbon dioxide to build the modern world. So I want to do as little geoengineering as necessary to fix that."
I'm doing this because it needs to be done. And no one else is.
Luke Iseman
founder, Make Sunsets
Whatever you call it, we know the cooling part works. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines released thousands of tons of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, temporarily lowering average global temperatures by about 1 degree Fahrenheit, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The idea of replicating these conditions to fight climate change has generally been dismissed as more science fiction than real science. But as the effects of climate change have grown more dire and obvious, the idea has gotten more serious attention, and the White House is in the process of coordinating a five-year research plan to study it.
On the downside, injecting sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere could damage the ozone layer, cause respiratory illness and create acid rain. It would also cost as little as $10 billion per year to run a program that cools the Earth by 1 degree Celsius, UCLA environmental law professor Edward Parson told CNBC in 2022. That's remarkably cheap compared to other mitigation techniques.
So which of these two scenarios is less bad? Most scientists who study the problem aren't sure, but they think it's important to begin studying the ramifications.
Iseman doesn't want to wait for those studies. There isn't time, he says.
"There is not really anything that I've been able to find, other than albedo enhancement, that even has a chance of keeping us below more than two degrees Celsius of climate change. And that's a that's a pretty terrifying world to imagine," Iseman told CNBC. "Basically, long answer short, I'm doing this because it needs to be done. And no one else is."
Launching balloons in Baja and selling 'cooling credits'In January, Make Sunsets plans to launch three latex weather balloons that will release anywhere between 10 and 500 grams of sulfur dioxide. The balloons will include a flight tracking computer, a geo-locating tracking device, and a camera, mostly provided by hobbyist suppliers. Within a week of each flight, Make Sunsets will publish data on its website about what it was able to find.
Iseman is an experienced doer. He has designed, invented, built and deployed biochar kilns in rural Kenya, a solar-powered wifi-connected garden sensor, and tiny homes made out of shipping containers, among other projects. For a year and a half, Iseman worked as the director of hardware at the leading Silicon Valley startup shop, Y Combinator.
He is currently living off the grid in Baja, Mexico, on land he bought a couple years ago, where he continues to tinker. He has a publicly viewable Google document with 40 ideas he wants to build or test, including a solar-assisted composting toilet with time and temperature monitoring, freediving safety gear and a floating solar panel.
Make Sunsets started as simply an idea to test solar geoengineering in a quick, cheap way.
Iseman says the academic consensus starts with spending $20 billion over 10 years to build a high-altitude plane, or to put mirrors high in space.
That wasn't practical enough for him. "Here in reality, I was like, 'OK, what can I buy, ideally, on my credit card, ideally on Amazon, to see if I can even do this?' Maybe I'm missing something fundamental about how hard this is."
Back in April, Iseman did his own rudimentary experiment with a 6-foot weather balloon, sulfur, a stainless steel kitchen pot with a lid, a pump that he took out of a water dispenser, and a tank of helium. (That experiment can been seen in the photo here.)
Luke Iseman launching a balloon in April 2022 on his property in Baja, California.
Photo courtesy Luke Iseman
He gave himself until the end of 2022 to raise money to run more tests, or just publish a description of what he had done. Eventually, he got a bite for a half-million dollars, and incorporated on Oct. 1.
Make Sunsets is also selling what it calls "cooling credits," starting at $10, which companies will be able to buy to offset the effects of their carbon emissions.
Iseman has been wary of the the idea of companies or individuals paying to remove carbon or mitigate global warming effects. "Initially, I was really skeptical entirely of the of the voluntary carbon credit market," Iseman told CNBC. "I thought it was either really expensive for very legit things that in 50 to 200 years will save the world, hopefully. Or it was inexpensive things where you're like trading the right to not cut down a future tree. Basically, most of the credits that I've found below $50 per ton feel very scammy."
But Iseman believes future carbon markets will evolve to include two things that actually work: permanent carbon dioxide removal, which will be expensive, and sunlight reflection technology, which Iseman says will be incredibly inexpensive at scale. The primary cost of sunlight reflection technology efforts at scale is sulfur dioxide.
Apart from the unknown side effects, there's another moral conundrum with solar geoengineering: If there's a cheap and easy way to mitigate climate change, then there's no incentive to do the hard work of eliminating carbon emissions.
"That's a real concern philosophically and academically. However, back here in the real world, people are dying, right? Maybe 20 years ago should have had those discussions and had the time to think about that. And if we had a magical world government that could organize all of these things, then yeah, that would be great," Iseman told CNBC. "If international law for that matter held meaningful teeth, or if we didn't have a land war in Europe, then maybe we could have an adult conversation about this '-- that's not the reality that we live in, unfortunately."
Brayton Williams, a co-founder of San Mateo-headquartered venture capital firm BoostVC, told CNBC the firm invested $500,000 in Make Sunsets because they were impressed with Iseman's dedication, and because tackling climate change is the kind of big, complicated problem the firm likes to tackle.
"We have invested in companies working on banking the unbanked of Latin America, eradicating heart disease, abundant nuclear energy, one-hour global travel and many, many more," Williams told CNBC. "These are moonshot opportunities, but if they work they really do make a huge positive impact on the world."
Williams knows the investment is a bit of a risk, but cautions that the firm is still at a very early stage and the details could change along the way.
"I always encourage people to not judge an early stage two-person startup like you might a public entity," Williams said. "If nothing else, I hope Make Sunsets helps encourage a bunch more founders to take action to really make a positive impact on our planet."
Make Sunsets has also received venture capital funding from Pioneer Fund, which did not respond to requests for comment.
'Crazy yes, but perhaps sign of the times?'Janos Pasztor, executive director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative, mostly disparaged the idea of Make Sunsets because there are no international governance standards for solar geoengineering yet.
But he's not surprised someone's trying it.
"This all sounds crazy. A for-profit company trying to make money by cooling the planet. Crazy, yes, but perhaps a sign of the times?" Pasztor told CNBC. "The climate crisis is getting worse by the day. The world is getting '-- and will continue to get '-- warmer. Governments are not taking their responsibilities seriously enough. And we live in a capitalist society where actors make money in many different ways, like it or not. So how surprising is this?"
UCLA's Parson wasn't particularly surprised either, as he wrote in a blog post for Legal Planet. "Those following debates on active climate interventions have been expecting '-- and worrying about '-- something like this for a few years."
The climate crisis is getting worse by the day. The world is getting '' and will continue to get '-- warmer. Governments are not taking their responsibilities seriously enough. And we live in a capitalist society where actors make money in many different ways, like it or not. So how surprising is this?
Janos Pasztor
Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative
Unsurprising or not, experts in the field object to what they see as rogue and dangerous boundary pushing.
"It makes no sense as a business nor as a statement," said Harvard professor David Keith, who has been working on the topic since the late 1980s.
The critical issue with solar geoengineering is trust and that trust must be earned carefully, Keith said on Twitter after the MIT Technology Review earlier wrote about Make Sunsets.
"There is no reasonable doubt that commercial-off-the-shelf tech could be adapted to cool the planet at a tiny cost using strat aerosols. Science suggests benefits could be far larger than risks," Keith wrote. "But the research community is thin and distrust is widespread. Trust must be earned with a far broader, more inclusive research effort, one that makes systematic efforts to look for errors and uncertainty."
Kelly Wanser, the executive director of SilverLining, an organization promoting research and governance of climate interventions, says that it's impossible to measure the effects of solar geoengineering accurately enough to sell cooling credits.
"Currently, the effect of releasing quantities of particles into the atmosphere cannot be attributed or quantified, due to two major areas of uncertainty in related climate science: the effects of particles (aerosols) on clouds and climate, and uncertain side effects of specific approaches, for which any credits would have to be adjusted," Wanser told CNBC. "No one who supports meaningful climate outcomes or healthy credit markets should engage with this now."
Pasztor objects because the impacts of solar geoengineering are global, so he believes it's inappropriate for a single entity to be moving forward without careful governance structures and buy-in from a wide group of stakeholders.
Parson thinks the balloon launches aren't codified enough for providing real research answers. He also believes injecting sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere shouldn't be the work of a private company.
"There is plenty of incentive for self-interested actors, particularly those with revenues on the line, to misrepresent these. Nothing about this process, except perhaps specific aspects of implementation under some hypothetical future governmental or intergovernmental control, can be entrusted to private firms," he wrote.
Iseman isn't entirely comfortable with the idea of solar geoengineering being managed by a private company, either. But he doesn't think international governments will cooperate and coordinate in enough time.
"While we don't have meaningful enough international cooperation for something like the UN to run this right now, we do have plenty of companies that dominate their category worldwide. So as as depressing philosophically as that sounds, the most likely way that I think this will happen is that one company gets the social permission and government sign off '-- or at least turning a blind eye '-- to do this worldwide," Iseman told CNBC.
"That is millions of lives and hundreds of thousands of species saved '-- compared to not doing this at all," Iseman said.
Bomb cyclone to inundate California with more torrential rain thanks to atmospheric rivers in SKY | Daily Mail Online
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 15:25
California braced for more stormy weather with rain expected to sweep across the northern part the state on Saturday, raising the potential for road flooding, rising rivers and mudslides.
Rain was forecast for the Bay Area Saturday with a brief dry period on Sunday and heavier storms due to arrive Monday.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for a large swathe of Northern and Central California with 6 to 12 inches of rain expected through Wednesday in the Sacramento-area foothills.
The Weather Prediction Center has warned that multiple storms will hit the area over the next few days, with the main focus expected to be in northern California.
Yards along Soquel Creek in Capitola Village are flooded by storm surge in Capitola, California
A pedestrian and the Golden Gate Bridge are reflected in a puddle on a path near Crissy Field in San Francisco. San Francisco has just experienced its wettest 10-day period on record for since 1871 with more than a foot of rain since December 1
Surfers ride waves in front of a Golden Gate Bridge tower at Fort Point in San Francisco, Friday
San Francisco has just experienced its wettest 10-day period on record for since 1871 with more than a foot of rain since December 1.
Between 4 and 6 inches are rain are expected to fall in the coming days.
Further north, Sacramento will also experience between 4-7 inches of rain in the valleys with between 6-12 inches in the foothills.
'We do expect an even stronger storm to impact the state Sunday night through Tuesday than the one we will see early on this weekend,' said meteorologist Matt Solum to CNN. 'We encourage everyone to take the time over the weekend to make any needed preparations for the next storm coming in.'
'Additional rain on already saturated soils will contribute to additional flooding concerns across much of the state. There will continue to be an increased risk of rock slides and mud slides across much of the state as well,' Solum added.
Additional storm systems remain in the pipeline, including a major system early next week
T'he chance of flooding will be highest from Monday into early Tuesday, where the NOAA's Weather Prediction Center has issued a moderate risk for flooding across roughly half of the entire state of California
Widespread r'ainfall totals through Tuesday will likely be 3 inches or more in lower elevations across coastal and Northern California. Up to 10 inches of rain are possible
Hot off the presses: Here are updated summary graphics for total precipitation from the series of atmospheric rivers affecting California, dating back to December 26th
This chart shows the total amount of snowfall as a result of the series of atmospheric rivers affecting California, dating back to December 26th
Storms will hit northern California in particular, according to the Weather Prediction Center, and are expected to be even stronger than storms this week
The storms are expected to bring an increased risk of rock slides and mudslides across the state, as well as flooding and power outages
More than 15 million people are under flood watches in California, with an increased risk of excessive rainfall expected over the weekend
A bicyclist rides near mud and debris on a closed road near Fort Point in San Francisco, Friday
Drone photos provided by Gerry Jensen show the aftermath of a bomb cyclone that hit Santa Cruz, California, earlier this week on January 4
Damage from a powerful storm is visible in Capitola, California
Debris is seen piled up in front of a restaurant following a massive storm that hit the area on January 6 in Capitola, California
Damage is visible on the Capitola Wharf following a powerful winter storm with part of the pier having appeared to have broken apart
The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes has predicted a level 5 atmospheric river event, the highest level possible, in the next few days, which is expected to bring intense moisture to the Monterey and Big Sur areas, as well as surrounding areas including San Francisco and San Jose.
In the Los Angeles area, light rain was forecast for the weekend with stormy conditions expected to return Monday with the potential for up to 8 inches of rain in the foothills.
High surf was expected through Tuesday, with large waves on west-facing beaches, the National Weather Service said.
The wet weather comes after days of rain in California from Pacific storms which caused widespread flooding, knocked out power, and felled trees across the state.
The weather systems flooded streets, battered the coastline and caused at least six deaths.
Multiple blocks of the Aptos Beach Flats neighborhood are flooded in Aptos, California on Thursday
Aptos Beach Flats resident Dawn Wilkinson walks through floodwaters from her house
Damaging hurricane-force winds, surging surf and heavy rains from a powerful 'atmospheric river' pounded California on Thursday, knocking out power to tens of thousands
Waves crash into a seawall in Pacifica, California weather calmed Friday but the lull was expected to be brief as more Pacific storms lined up to blast into the state
A lighthouse is seen after rainstorms known as 'atmospheric river' slammed northern California, in Santa Cruz
A local resident looks at the debris at a beach in Santa Cruz after rainstorms slammed northern California
This weekend, coastal communities are expected to experience widespread flooding, gusty winds, and dangerous beach and marine conditions, while higher elevations will see heavy snow and strong winds leading to near whiteout conditions on the roads.
Winds are forecast to be around 40-50 mph in the valleys and up to 70 mph in the mountains.
'While these winds won't be on the order of the previous/stronger system it really won't take much to bring trees down given saturated conditions and weakened trees from the last event,' the weather service in San Francisco tweeted.
Since December 26, San Francisco received more than 10 inches of rain, while Mammoth Mountain, a popular ski area in the Eastern Sierra, received nearly 10 feet of snow, the National Weather Service reported.
Anthony Tablit, 5, is is soaked as waves crash into a seawall in Pacifica. Successive powerful weather systems have knocked out power to thousands, battered the coastline, flooded streets, toppled trees and caused at least six deaths
Firefighters patrol a neighborhood after it was flooded from large waves at high tide in Stinson Beach, California
A powerful storm pounded the West Coast uprooted trees and cut power for tens of thousands on the heels of record rainfall over the weekend
Utility workers prepare to make repairs to downed power lines on Nicasio Valley Road after utility poles were toppled by high winds in Nicasio, California
Pedestrians look at a flooded road in Sebastopol, California
Dominic King, owner of My Thai Beach, surveys storm damage that destroyed his restaurant in Captiola, California on Thursday
A Marin County firefighter looks on as a backhoe removes sand from a street after large waves flooded a neighborhood in Stinson Beach, California
A member of a Pacific Gas & Electric crew works to repair a power line, following storms in Mendocino, California
'Snow totals are looking to be 1-2 feet with some of the higher elevations seeing 3 feet or more leading to significant travel impacts,' the weather service office in Sacramento said in relation to the next batch of storms.
Flooding is expected to be a widespread concern due to the multiple atmospheric river events and record rainfall already seen in the state.
Over 15 million people in California are under flood watches this weekend, and there is a slight-to-moderate risk of excessive rainfall across much of northern and central California, increasing to a more widespread moderate risk by Monday.
All the storms won't be enough to officially end California's ongoing drought but they are helping. they have helped.
People watch as waves crash into a seawall in Pacifica, California. The weather calmed on Friday but the lull was expected to be brief
Floodwaters inundate acres of vineyards at the Balletto Vineyards after a new bout of rainstorms in Santa Rosa, California
Debris is strewn in Capitola Village after 30-foot waves and powerful tidal surges and gusty winds battered the beaches, cottages, and businesses early in the morning in Capitola
Debris is strewn in Capitola Village after 30-foot waves and powerful tidal surges and gusty winds battered the beaches, cottages, and businesses early in the morning in Capitola
A resident stands in the doorway of his home on a flooded street, after 'atmospheric river' rainstorms slammed northern California, in the coastal town of Aptos. Another powerful storm is set to hit Northern California over the weekend and is expected to bring flooding rains
Microsoft, GitHub and OpenAI Accused of Software Piracy, Sued for $9B in Damages | Spiceworks
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 15:24
Programmer-cum-lawyer Matthew Butterick is claiming damages to the tune of $9 billion from Microsoft, GitHub, and OpenAI in a lawsuit against the three companies over copyright issues and the use of open-source code with restrictive licenses to train GitHub Copilot.
Released as a technical preview in mid-2021, GitHub Copilot , Microsoft's latest attempt at developing a program/code synthesizer, is now turning into a major legal headache.
In June 2021, GitHub assessed that OpenAI's AI Codex-based text-to-code conversion tool would reproduce only 0.1% of the code. A few months down the line, research by academics from New York University discovered that GitHub Copilot produces buggy code laden with vulnerabilities as much as 40% of the time because of billions of lines of unfiltered open-source code and natural language it was trained on.
However, the class-action lawsuit filed by Matthew Butterick on behalf of ''possibly millions of GitHub users'' contends the legality of GitHub Copilot not for reproducing code copies or security issues but for violating licensing terms.
GitHub Copilot alleged violations and damages claim GitHub Copilot was designed to streamline software development by enabling developers with relevant artificial intelligence-generated code suggestions as and when they type the code. Meanwhile, the code it is trained on is licensed under the MIT license, GPL, Boost Software License (BSL-1.0), BSL 2, Eclipse Public License, Mozilla Public License 2.0, the Apache license and others.
Litigants claim that Microsoft, GitHub, and OpenAI ingested and distributed licensed materials (i.e., the training code) without appropriate attribution, copyright notice, or adherence to licensing terms.
As such, the AI pair programmer, viz., a tool that works alongside a programmer that reviews each line of code, didn't provide the necessary attribution or a copy of the license it was released under. An example cited under the class-action lawsuit includes that of Tim Davis, a Texas A&M computer-science professor. He discovered several times that Copilot reproduced code without attributing it to him, which is required under the license agreement.
''In June 2022, Copilot had 1,200,000 users. If only 1% of users have ever received Output based on Licensed Materials and only once each, Defendants have 'only' breached Plaintiffs' and the Class's Licenses 12,000 times,'' the class-action lawsuit reads .
''However, each time Copilot outputs Licensed Materials without attribution, the copyright notice, or the License Terms it violates the DMCA three times. Thus, even using this extreme underestimate, Copilot has 'only' violated the DMCA 36,000 times.''
Suppose that same is applied to all 1.2 million users. In that case, the lawsuit estimates that distributing licensed code without attribution, copyright notice, and license terms, the damages claim is as much as $9 billion.
''If each user receives just one Output that violates Section 1202 throughout their time using Copilot (up to fifteen months for the earliest adopters), then GitHub and OpenAI have violated the DMCA 3,600,000 times. At minimum statutory damages of $2500 per violation, that translates to $9,000,000,000,'' the litigants stated.
Besides open-source licenses and DMCA (§ 1202, which forbids the removal of copyright-management information), the lawsuit alleges violation of GitHub's terms of service and privacy policies, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and other laws.
The suit is on twelve (12) counts:'' Violation of the DMCA.'' Breach of contract. x2'' Tortuous interference.'' Fraud.'' False designation of origin.'' Unjust enrichment.'' Unfair competition.'' Violation of privacy act.'' Negligence.'' Civil conspiracy.'' Declaratory relief.
'-- Alex J. Champandard ð @alexjc@creative.ai (@alexjc) November 3, 2022
After Copilot was out of the technical preview in June 2022, GitHub competitor Fossa.com spoke with IP lawyer Kate Downing who concluded that GitHub is not committing copyright infringement if the code that Copilot is trained on is hosted on GitHub. If not, a lack of legal precedence means this would have to play out in a court of law.
Additionally, Downing suggested that any Copilot-generated code/suggestion derivative of training code that comes under the purview of any of the licenses mentioned above would have to be looked at on a case-to-case basis.
See More: What is Dynamic Programming? Working, Algorithms, and Examples
Is GitHub Copilot anti-open-source? The class-action lawsuit seems to be a pushback against Microsoft, GitHub and OpenAI's creation that allegedly doesn't pay the open-source community their due and harms it in the process.
It goes on to delineate Microsoft's history of dismal licensing practices, actions against open source software, engagement in vaporware, FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), and other business practices all the way back to the DOS days.
Microsoft strived to reposition itself as a company that ''loves open source'' post-Satya Nadella taking over as CEO. The tech giant acquired GitHub for $7.5 billion in 2018, the year it became the largest Git (open source repository) hosting service.
''Future AI products may represent a bold and innovative step forward. GitHub Copilot and OpenAI Codex, however, do not,'' the lawsuit adds.
''Defendants have made no attempt to comply with the open-source licenses that are attached to much of their training data. Instead, they have pretended those licenses do not exist, and trained Codex and Copilot to do the same. By simultaneously violating the open-source licenses of tens-of-thousands'--possibly millions'--of software developers, Defendants have accomplished software piracy on an unprecedented scale.''
Alex Champandard, former AI programmer at Rockstar Games, founder of Creative.ai, and current event director for nucl.ai Conference at AiGameDev.com, stated the litigation to be ''a solid piece of work! My assessment is that the defendants, GitHub, Microsoft and OpenAI are in a very bad position'...''
Drew DeVault, the creator of Git repository host Sourcehut and several other projects wrote on his blog in June 2022, ''GitHub Copilot is a bad idea as designed. It represents a flagrant disregard of FOSS licensing in of itself, and it enables similar disregard '-- deliberate or otherwise '-- among its users. I hope they will heed my suggestions, and I hope that my words to the free software community offer some concrete ways to move forward with this problem.''
His suggestions included allowing GitHub users to opt-out their repositories from being used in Copilot's training or output model, informing users of Copilot of their obligation to attribute the original code developers, eliminating copyleft code unless the output model is treated as free or compensating original developers with a portion of Copilot's charges.
This also puts into perspective the deep concerns the open-source community may have for Github Copilot.
''The walled garden of Copilot is antithetical'--and poisonous'--to open source,'' writes Butterick. ''It's therefore also a betrayal of everything GitHub stood for before being acquired by Microsoft. If you were born before 2005, you remember that GitHub built its reputation on its goodies for open-source developers and fostering that community. Copilot, by contrast, is the Multiverse-of-Madness inversion of this idea.''
Microsoft's previous ventures into AI-driven programming include the failed RobustFill and DeepCoder . Copilot is its most successful one yet. In June 2022, Amazon also launched its own AI-pair programming tool CodeWhisperer . Google maintains its presence in the area through its subsidiary Deepmind's AlphaCode. The only difference between Copilot and AlphaCode is that the former suggests code while the latter generates it from scratch.
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Image source: Shutterstock
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Buried News: Obama muscled Zuckerberg to censor Trump -- and made an example of him - American Thinker
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 15:21
'); googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1609270282082-0'); }); }Has Barack Obama gone from ex-president to Democrat party crime boss?
'); googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1609268089992-0'); }); }It sure looks like it, based on a new report about his treatment of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Investigative reporter Lee Smith has got a stunning report that ran this week in Tablet, comparable in impact to that report by Molly Ball at Time who wrote about how elites conspired to "fortify democracy" by rigging the election against President Trump in 2020 and afterwards thought it was a smart thing to crow about.
Smith's report beginns with how the FBI "hacked" Twitter, not just engaging in a "master-canine" relationship as Twitter files reporter Matt Taibbi put it in one of his reports, but actually infiltrating the company and controlling it from within, rendering it a corporate Zombie.
'); googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1609270365559-0'); }); }According to Smith:
The Twitter files' disclosures about the coordination between the company and spy agencies to fix presidential elections sheds light on the nature of Twitter v. Holder, which was eventually decided in the government's favor shortly before Baker joined the company.
...
But something else was going on behind the scenes: Social media platforms were already being assimilated into the intelligence services.
That Twitter section alone is well worth reading, very well-explained by Smith for its details on the collusion that was deeper than many suspected -- leading to a never-told-before story about how Obama muscled Facebook like a mafia don.
The Obama administration also realized that it could lean hard on monopoly social media platforms in order to gain political advantages'--and it could make companies that weren't compliant pay a price.
'); googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1609270282082-0'); }); } if (publir_show_ads) { document.write("Here's how it worked, emphasis mine:
First strike got you a dressing down from the White House: Weeks after the 2016 vote, for instance, Obama pulled Mark Zuckerberg aside at a conference in Peru and read him out about not doing more to keep Russian disinformation off Facebook. The reality is that Russia spent around $135,000 on Facebook ads, a small percentage of what presidential campaigns typically spend on a single day before lunch. But Obama wasn't worried about Russia'--he struck deals with Vladimir Putin to advance his own idiosyncratic foreign policy goals, like the nuclear agreement with Russia's ally Iran. Obama's problem was Trump.
As he was leaving office, Obama stamped the U.S. government's seal of approval on Russiagate, ordering his spy chiefs to draft an official assessment claiming Putin helped put Trump in the White House. Since then, in Deep State parlance, ''Russia'' equals Trump and stopping ''Russian disinformation'' means censoring Trump, his supporters, and anyone else opposed to the national security apparatus's takeover of the public communications infrastructure. Since Zuckerberg didn't keep Trump off Facebook in 2016, he had to put up $400 million to drive votes to Democrats in 2020'--and even that wasn't enough. In 2021, Democratic Party insiders working together with Zuckerberg's Big Tech competitor, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, sent a fake whistleblower after him to testify before congress that Facebook was bad for teenage girls.
Suddenly all the pieces fit together -- the Obama pieties about Russia he knew couldn't be true; the forced cash cough-up for Zuckerberg's Democrat operatives to take over election apparats even as elected officials protested -- which was actually declared bribery in Wisconsin; the phony whistleblower.
Smith continued, telling us how it all came together (emphasis mine):
In April, as Musk first said he wanted to buy Twitter and save free speech, Obama embarked on a ''disinformation'' tour, which took him to several college campuses to promote the un-American virtues of censorship. He first visited his hometown to speak at a University of Chicago conference, ''Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy.'' Other guests included Anne Applebaum, an early advocate of the collusion conspiracy theory who pushed the spy-service fiction in dozens of her Washington Post columns. Also in attendance was former CISA head Chris Krebs, now famous for congressional testimony in which he claimed the 2020 election was the most secure ever.
EIP principals from the Stanford Internet Observatory were featured speakers at the daylong seminar at the Palo Alto university where Obama made the second stop on his April ''disinformation'' tour. Regulation, Obama told the Stanford audience, has to be part of the answer to solve the disinformation crisis. In other words, he went to Silicon Valley to threaten his listeners that he would ruin their financial model by stripping away social media's liability exemptions.
The purpose of Obama's speech was to present a choice to his audience: Either you impose a scorched-earth policy against the establishment's opponents, or else you will face the kind of regulation that every company knows will be its death knell. Moreover, if they made the right choice, Obama showed, there was money in it for them.
''In effect, Obama announced that the funding channels are open for people who want to do disinformation work,'' said Mike Benz, executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online. ''It's like what happened with climate change. If you were an academic who wanted federal funding for anything, you made sure you made reference to climate to get grants. Same now with disinformation. Obama was saying, 'here's where the puck is moving, so skate here if you want federal funding.'''
So like a crime boss, Obama made them an offer they couldn't refuse. And for good measure, he made an example out of Zuckerberg, effectively ensuring that Zuck woke up with a horse's head in his bed.
But oh, he added sweeteners to the obedient. And yes, he was powerful enough to control distribution of federal funding, even out of office with his little operatives still in place. Obama determined who'd get what, distributing the spoils to loyalists on the very fakey-fake matter of "disinformation" which is why we saw freaks like that Mary Poppins woman, Nina Jankowicz, show up as a "disinformation expert" for a federal job as Joe Biden's "disinformation czar" even though she had an account on TikTok of all places, a Red Chinese data-gathering operation that spies on its users and builds profiles on them. Jankowicz didn't know much about disinformation, at least not enough to avoid some very avoidable spying on her by China. It was the money, honey, where Obama said the money was.
And Smith noted that there was a lot of money shoveled out for this purpose by the Biden administration on various characters in attendence at universities who attended this Obama speech tour. In some cases, it was a surge of federal money.
So, fail to censor President Trump, get dressed down, get "fined" $400 million to rig the next elections, get a phony whistleblower coming after your company. Sign up for the phony disinformation gig, hit the swamp jackpot.
What an ugly picture this paints for how the federal government has been transformed by leftists. Once upon a time, one could trust that the government would try to do the right thing. Now, all we can see is that Obama still runs the government from his retirement, plays a key role in muscling corporations into wokedom, including the all-important business of electing Democrats and nothing is beyond bounds, nor being done about it.
Is this an ex-president or a crime boss? It's pretty obvious what the answer to that is.
Read the whole thing here.
Image: FreeSVG // public domain
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Man faces terror charge for damaging power plant outside Las Vegas
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 14:47
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) '-- A man is facing terror-related charges after police said he rammed his car through a gate at a solar plant outside Las Vegas and set his car on fire, disabling the huge facility, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.
Around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Las Vegas Metro police responded to the solar plant on U.S. 93 north of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, sources told the 8 News Now Investigators. Employees at the plant said they found a car smoldering in a generator pit.
The Mega Solar Array facility provides energy to MGM properties but is run by a company called Invenergy.
The driver, later identified as Mohammad Mesmarian, 34, is accused of ramming through a fence and setting the car on fire. The car is registered out of Idaho, documents said.
A man is facing terror-related charges after police said he broke into a solar energy facility and set his car on fire. (KLAS)Police suspect Mesmarian drove through the fence Tuesday afternoon after employees had left for the day. It was not until 12 a.m. Wednesday when video reportedly shows Mesmarian setting the car on fire, documents said.
Mesmarian reportedly watched the car burn, sitting in a chair for about 15 minutes before walking off, documents said.
Investigators also believe Mesmarian siphoned gasoline from his car to put on wires at the transformer, documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained said.
Investigators found an iPhone in the burnt car with an account connected to Mesmarian, documents said. Police also found two laptops.
A man is facing terror-related charges after police say he rammed his car through a gate at a solar plant outside Las Vegas and set his car on fire, disabling the huge facility. (KLAS)Police located Mesmarian at a campground Thursday '-- a day after the fire '-- in Boulder Beach at Lake Mead. It was unclear how Mesmarian made it from the solar site to Boulder City, a 30-mile drive.
''Mesmarian clarified he burned the Toyota Camry a couple of days ago,'' police said. ''Mesmarian stayed he burned the vehicle at a Tesla solar plant and did it 'for the future.'''
Metro police said a person from Republic Services, which is near the solar plant, called police earlier on Wednesday about a person who was trespassing, documents said.
Police noted numerous recent attacks on power infrastructure in recent months.
The driver of the car, later identified as Mohammad Mesmarian, 34, is accused of driving through a fence and setting his car on fire. (KLAS)Mesmarian faces charges of committing an act of terrorism, arson, destroying or injuring real or personal property of another and escape by a felony prisoner.
No MGM facility was impacted by the incident.
An employee at the plant said the fire caused ''major damage,'' estimating it would take two years to receive replacement parts, police said. The damaged unit remained shut down due to the fire and the plant was not producing electricity, police said.
''Following an incident at the Mega Solar Array facility, on-site personnel immediately notified authorities and shut down the plant's operations as a precaution in accordance with industry-standard safety protocols,'' an Invenergy spokesperson said, ''No one was injured, and we are currently restoring the facility's full operations.''
Court officials said Mesmarian was disruptive before his first court appearance Friday. He did not appear for the hearing. Judge Danial Westmeyer denied bail.
Mesmarian was due in court Tuesday.
The trainwreck of all trainwrecks: Billions of people stuck with a broken immune response '' Rintrah
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 14:32
Do me a favor and pour yourself a drink, you'll need it by the end of this article.
I'll try to avoid repeating what we already addressed in the previous two articles on this subject. After mRNA vaccination the immune response against Spike is shifting to IgG4, which is how your body responds after repeat exposure to stuff it needs to tolerate, like bee venom, pollen or peanut proteins.
First the big chart, of what you want to see after a SARS-COV-2 infection:
Left you see who does the neutralization, right you see what percentage of total antibodies they are. Despite being just 3% of your antibody mass, IgG3 is carrying out 42.2% of the neutralization.
IgA is busy in mucus dealing with this virus, IgM responds to the infection by bringing the viral load down, IgG3 then joins the fight and tags any remaining hide-outs this virus has, so that your body doesn't end up tolerating this nasty sarbecovirus in the background.
If it wasn't obvious yet, for whatever reason our bodies do seem to be tolerating the spread of this virus through our population. Look at what's happening to my poor little country:
Levels of this virus in sewage are back to record heights. Clearly the population isn't learning to force this virus into the background.
The death toll is rising in unison with the viral load, because the excess mortality is not a direct product of the vaccine, it is an indirect product of the vaccine interfering with our response to this virus:
We have a big wave of deaths in march 2020, then we had two deadly winters, so excess mortality is now supposed to be negative. We already ''ran out'' of the people who would die during the flu season. Yet 27% more people died than you would expect last week. That's supposed to worry people with an IQ above room temperature, but they just call it ''unexplained'' and try to ignore it.
I point this out to you, because I've been arguing on Twitter with one of the authors of the study we're going to look at, who insists that his findings, which fit the other teams whose findings I reported on in the past two posts are ''unexpected'', but ''nothing to worry about''. I honestly somewhat doubt he genuinely believes this. I want to explain here why the findings are worrying, so let's start by looking at their findings and what is actually new.
You already know the story: After the second shot, IgG4 begins to show up. This gets worse with the breakthrough infections, then it gets worse again with the third shot. Now we have updated findings from breakthrough infections after the third shot. And this will shock you, but it gets worse again:
On average, the four who had a breakthrough infection after their booster are now at 42.45% IgG4. The cohort as a whole is at 19.27%, up from just 0.04%, so the ones who haven't had a breakthrough infection yet will end up at a similar position: A response that is entirely IgG4 dominated.
The one useful new thing these guys and gals did was to ask the obvious question: Is this normal for other pathogens we're commonly exposed to? So they looked at another virus, the virus causing misery for a lot of kids right now, RSV. They saw we don't respond to RSV with an IgG4 response:
Nobody showed this response to RSV and it's not even really seen after constant tetanus vaccination.
You just don't want to see an IgG4 response to a respiratory infection. Out of the IgG's, it's mainly IgG3 and some IgG1 you want to see. One of the authors claims that it doesn't matter that they're switching to IgG4, because the antibodies don't just matter for triggering phagocytosis (your immune cells eating the virus particles), they also matter for neutralization.
This is nice and well, but you run into two problems:
The virus evolves. It rapidly evolves to avoid the most neutralizing antibodies. Neutralizing potential against XBB and BQ.1 is basically gone.IgG4 isn't really meant for neutralization. Out of the IgG's, IgG3 is the excellent virus neutralizer. What IgG3 does in the case of SARS2, is that they have their tails bind together. This means that out of all the four subclasses, IgG3 is showing 50-fold stronger neutralization than the other three subclasses against SARS2.And now it's time to drink, because have a look at what happens to IgG3 after three shots:
There is some IgG3 left in some people after the second shot, but by the time they get the third shot, they're all universally down to a flat zero.
If you're wondering how we end up with these fancy graphs:
It probably has something to do with us ridding our bodies of the most competent IgG antibody against this virus, replacing it with one we use to tolerate stuff like pollen, peanut proteins or bee venom.
This has never happened before. There are now the known unknowns, like whether the body ends up tolerating persisting infections due to this completely IgG4 dominated response, along with the unknown unknowns, questions we should be asking ourselves that most people haven't even realized we need to be asking ourselves.
Here's the big question I run into: So your experiment failed, you created an IgG4 dominant antibody response in soon to be billions of people. The IgG4 antibody response is homogeneous, it's the same epitopes that everyone is learning now to tolerate.
Are you ready for this one?
What does it mean for other viruses?
That's the big painful question. If you told me everyone has a different immune response to different regions of Spike, but everyone now deploys IgG4 antibodies to those regions, that would be bad enough for our relationship to SARS-COV-2.
But bear with me, as I pull up this old chart again:
You see the unvaccinated immune response in A at the bottom. You see that it's pretty different in everyone.
You see the immune response of the vaccinated at the top. You see it's rather similar in everyone, with distinct regions that receive the strongest response.
For some of those regions the virus doesn't mind our antibody response, so those regions tend to stay the same. In other regions the antibody response is interfering, so the virus mutates to change those regions. This means that after a while, the IgG response is recalled for a shrinking subset of these regions, so you get a strong IgG4 response for a handful of epitopes, BUT THOSE EPITOPES ARE THE SAME FOR BASICALLY EVERYONE!
What I'm trying to say, is that there are now certain non-self amino acid chains that billions of human beings around the world are suddenly learning to tolerate. RNA respiratory viruses all work with pretty similar building blocks.
Some of these amino acid chains that we now tolerate in the case of SARS2, are chains that also show up in other respiratory viruses. And there will be respiratory viruses, that don't have those chains yet, but can mutate themselves, to incorporate them in positions where they now currently have to deal with potent IgG3 antibodies.
In other words: A homogeneous population-wide shift towards IgG4 for certain antibodies, can end up impacting our relationship to respiratory viruses other than SARS2 as well. You could expect for example, that vaccinated people may become better asymptomatic spreaders of other respiratory viruses, like RSV. We see evidence of cross-reactive antibodies between SARS2 and the human corona viruses. Do you want those to switch from IgG3 to IgG4? Probably not.
It seems a plausible hypothesis worth investigating to me, that the massive surge in RSV that Western nations are seeing, is a consequence of vaccinated adults now beginning to tolerate RSV, thus leading to a jump in infections in children, as they're exposed to it more often. With children now getting these infections from vaccinated adults rather than from other children, the infectious dose they receive will tend to be higher. This could be sufficient to explain the higher virulence observed in children.
Immune damage in children from SARS2 infection is also a hypothesis worth investigating of course, but asymptomatic spread from adults is also possible.
You have to keep in mind: The complete IgG4 shift only happens after breakthrough infections after the booster shot. In other words, the non-SARS2 viruses have not had much time yet, to evolve to adjust to the brave new world we now live in, where everyone is stuck with a strange subset of IgG4 antibodies for certain epitopes.
The IgG antibodies mainly bind to regions about 5 to 6 amino acids long, although it varies quite a lot. If some other virus like RSV, Influenza or the human corona viruses has such a region, it may find itself very happy! One of those nasty IgG3 antibodies that made its life miserable is gone, now replaced with an IgG4 antibody that is not capable of binding its tail to the other IgG4 antibodies for enhanced neutralization.
And if it doesn't have such a region yet, but it could eventually get there after swapping one amino acid for another, then in due time you may find yourself wondering why you now suddenly have a big influenza problem, or a big RSV problem, or a big problem with some other pathogen.
Again, I'm sorry that I didn't fully understand this two years ago. I understood it rather basically. I understood the big important principle: You can't go out and homogenize the population's immune response to a respiratory virus, this is profoundly dangerous.
Look back at what I wrote long ago:
One of the factors required for our species to reach such high population densities as we have reached today is the diversity of our immune response from person to person.
If we had HLA genes with very little diversity, we would all have a very similar immune response to pathogens. The lack of diversity in their HLA genes is one of the factors that made Native Americans so vulnerable to the viruses introduced by European colonizers: These viruses could spread in an environment of a homogeneous immune response, which allowed these viruses to evolve to make optimal use of that particular environment.
If we had HLA genes with little diversity, pathogens would evolve variants that overcome that particular immune response. The diversity of our immune response prohibits this from happening: Any particular change can't help a pathogen much, when everyone responds to the pathogen in a different way.
With the spike based vaccines, we have done the exact worst thing you could possibly do: We homogenized the human immune response, to a new virus that is rapidly becoming more genetically diverse.
It's again just this same basic principle I outlined here above, but this time we're zooming in on this class switch to IgG4. I wouldn't be worried about the impact on other pathogens if we had some switch to IgG4 that differs from person to person. But everyone now has select amino acid combinations that don't occur in our own body (that is, peptides that we would normally not tolerate and chase down with antibodies if they show up in our blood), that everyone is now learning to tolerate!
We intervened in something that we just don't properly understand, at the scale of billions of people.
Allow me to give you an anecdote. Long ago, in the 19th century, a Swedish man named Arrhenius, related to an autistic Swedish girl you might have heard of, realized that we were changing the atmosphere. People thought this was pretty nice, as they assumed it would happen slowly. Eventually most people forgot about it again.
By the 60's we realized we were now emitting quite a lot of this strange gas, it was changing the atmosphere. Again the experts were not worried. ''The ocean will probably deal with it'' was the consensus among very smart people, WHOSE SPECIALTY IT WAS TO STUDY THIS SORT OF STUFF. It was only really in the 1980's, that basically everyone agreed we were dealing with a real problem.
In this context, I want you to have a look at the scientist who announced his findings on Twitter:
If we believed billions were doomed, we would not have celebrated. It's an interesting finding, but no need to worry.
'-- Kilian Schober (@kischober) December 24, 2022I'm an anonymous Dutch college dropout with a predilection for obscure psychedelics, he is a virologist with a Phd. I'd perfectly understand if you wish to believe him over me, that's the response most people seem to have.
But what I see, is a scientist saying ''eh, the ocean will deal with it''.
He is a virologist and things are not going well in the field of viruses. We have too many people dying. We have a sarbecovirus that is not going away. The hospitals around the Western world can't deal with the burden of sick people anymore.
And most important of all: The children are getting sick.
Maybe you don't want to endow billions of people with a similar looking IgG4 antibody repertoire targeted at an RNA respiratory virus. Maybe all sorts of respiratory viruses and other pathogens can use that as an opportunity.
You committed an unprecedented experiment with billions of people, our immune systems are now responding in an unprecedented manner to a respiratory pathogen and we now see unprecedented numbers of people sick from respiratory infections.
If you are a virologist, I think you're supposed to be worried right now.
Update 1: A critique you might have of my warning, that a shift towards IgG4 may impact other respiratory pathogens too, is that cross-reactivity of antibodies may not be sufficient.
And yet, we already know there must be substantial cross-reactivity between SARS2 and a number of other RNA respiratory viruses, for a simple reason: Subunit influenza vaccines (ie not live vaccines) showed a clear 89% reduction in risk of a severe SARS-COV-2 infection.
If influenza antibodies impact SARS2, SARS2 antibodies impact influenza. And if SARS2 antibodies are shifting towards tolerance, that will impact influenza. The impact will merely get more relevant over time, as these other viruses adjust through mutation and natural selection to benefit optimally from this shift towards IgG4.
Revolutionary Cancer Vaccine Simultaneously Kills and Prevents Brain Tumors
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 19:33
Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have found a way to use cancer cells to fight cancer. In a study published in Science Translational Medicine, the team led by Khalid Shah demonstrated that their cell therapy could eliminate established tumors and create long-term immunity in an advanced mouse model of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. The vaccine works by training the immune system to prevent cancer from returning. These results are encouraging and suggest that this approach may be effective in treating cancer in humans.
Dual-action cell therapy engineered to eliminate established tumors and train the immune system to eradicate primary tumor and prevent cancer's recurrence.
Scientists are harnessing a new way to turn cancer cells into potent, anti-cancer agents. In the latest work from the lab of Khalid Shah, MS, PhD, at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, investigators have developed a new cell therapy approach to eliminate established tumors and induce long-term immunity, training the immune system so that it can prevent cancer from recurring. The team tested their dual-action, cancer-killing vaccine in an advanced mouse model of the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma, with promising results. Findings are published in Science Translational Medicine.
''Our team has pursued a simple idea: to take cancer cells and transform them into cancer killers and vaccines,'' said corresponding author Khalid Shah, MS, PhD, director of the Center for Stem Cell and Translational Immunotherapy (CSTI) and the vice chair of research in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Brigham and faculty at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI). ''Using gene engineering, we are repurposing cancer cells to develop a therapeutic that kills tumor cells and stimulates the immune system to both destroy primary tumors and prevent cancer.''
Scientists developed a bifunctional therapeutic strategy by transforming living tumor cells into a therapeutic. Shah's team engineered living tumor cells using the gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 and repurposed them to release tumor cell killing agent. In addition, the engineered tumor cells were designed to express factors that would make them easy for the immune system to spot, tag and remember, priming the immune system for a long-term anti-tumor response. The team tested their repurposed CRISPR-enhanced and reverse-engineered therapeutic tumor cells (ThTC) in different mice strains including the one that bore bone marrow, liver and thymus cells derived from humans, mimicking the human immune microenvironment. Shah's team also built a two-layered safety switch into the cancer cell, which, when activated, eradicates ThTCs if needed. Credit: Kok Siong Chen and Khalid Shah
Cancer vaccines are an active area of research for many labs, but the approach that Shah and his colleagues have taken is distinct. Instead of using inactivated tumor cells, the team repurposes living tumor cells, which possess an unusual feature. Like homing pigeons returning to roost, living tumor cells will travel long distances across the brain to return to the site of their fellow tumor cells. Taking advantage of this unique property, Shah's team engineered living tumor cells using the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 and repurposed them to release tumor cell killing agent. In addition, the engineered tumor cells were designed to express factors that would make them easy for the immune system to spot, tag, and remember, priming the immune system for a long-term anti-tumor response.
The team tested their repurposed CRISPR-enhanced and reverse-engineered therapeutic tumor cells (ThTC) in different mice strains including the one that bore bone marrow, liver and thymus cells derived from humans, mimicking the human immune microenvironment. Shah's team also built a two-layered safety switch into the cancer cell, which, when activated, eradicates ThTCs if needed. This dual-action cell therapy was safe, applicable, and efficacious in these models, suggesting a roadmap toward therapy. While further testing and development is needed, Shah's team specifically chose this model and used human cells to smooth the path of translating their findings for patient settings.
''Throughout all of the work that we do in the Center, even when it is highly technical, we never lose sight of the patient,'' said Shah. ''Our goal is to take an innovative but translatable approach so that we can develop a therapeutic, cancer-killing vaccine that ultimately will have a lasting impact in medicine.'' Shah and colleagues note that this therapeutic strategy is applicable to a wider range of solid tumors and that further investigations of its applications are warranted.
Reference: ''Bifunctional cancer cell-based vaccine concomitantly drives direct tumor killing and antitumor immunity'' by Kok-Siong Chen, Clemens Reinshagen, Thijs A. Van Schaik, Filippo Rossignoli, Paulo Borges, Natalia Claire Mendonca, Reza Abdi, Brennan Simon, David A. Reardon, Hiroaki Wakimoto and Khalid Shah, 4 January 2023, Science Translational Medicine.DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abo4778
Disclosures: Shah owns equity in and is a member of the Board of Directors of AMASA Therapeutics, a company developing stem cell-based therapies for cancer.
Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant R01-NS121096).
USDA approves vaccine for honeybees, biotech company says - CBS News
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 19:31
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a conditional license for a vaccine that protects honeybees against American Foulbrood disease, Dalan Animal Health, the biotech company behind the drug, announced Wednesday.
The disease, which is caused by Paenibacillus larvae, infects the bee's larvae. Traditionally, when bees get sick with American Foulbrood disease, their hives, as well as any equipment in contact with the infected hives, must be incinerated, the statement said. This in turn, reduces the honeybee population, and in turn, affects the world's food supply.
This new vaccine is the first of its kind to prevent this from happening, the biotech company said.
The vaccine, which contains a dead cell of the virus, is administered to the bees through the queen feed that worker bees consume. The worker bees then transfer the vaccine into the royal jelly and feed it to the queen. As a result, the vaccine gets deposited into her ovaries, giving larvae immunity when they hatch.
The drug is non-GMO, Dalan Animal Health said, and can be utilized in organic farming.
Honeybees are an important part of agriculture as they pollinate crops needed to supply the world's food supply, Dalan Animal Health explained.
"This is an exciting step forward for beekeepers, as we rely on antibiotic treatment that has limited effectiveness and requires lots of time and energy to apply to our hives," said Trevor Tauzer, a board member of the California State Beekeepers Association, in the news release. "If we can prevent an infection in our hives, we can avoid costly treatments and focus our energy on other important elements of keeping our bees healthy."
Dalan Animal Health develops immune treatments for invertebrates to prevent harmful diseases from spreading amongst honeybees, shrimp, worms and other insects.
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BREAKING: Biden Falsely Blames Murder of Capitol Police Officer By Black Nationalist On Trump Supporters
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 14:59
On Friday, President Joe Biden told another blatant lie about January 6th, claiming that Capitol Police Officer William Evans died as a result of the riots on that day.What is the lie, you ask? Well, Officer Evans didn't die on January 6th at all. In fact, he actually died on April 2, 2021 when he was rammed by a car driven by a Nation of Islam supporter, Noah Green.
Green was a staunch follower of the Nation of Islam and a Louis Farrakhan devotee. However, that didn't stop Biden from blatantly lying today.
Sleepy Joe said Evans' death was the result of ''threats by these sick insurrectionists''.
WATCH:
Joe Biden just said that Capitol Police Officer William Evans died as a result of "threats by these sick insurrectionists."
Officers Evans was killed by a black Nation of Islam supporter who rammed him with a car. pic.twitter.com/5FIb6tIOtz
'-- Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 6, 2023
Sadly, this is not the first time that Biden has perpetrated this lie.
During a speech last year, Biden said: ''One year since Jan. 6, 2021, the lies that drove the anger and madness we saw in this place, they have not abated. So we have to be firm, resolute, and unyielding in our defense of the right to vote and to have that vote counted. Some have already made the ultimate sacrifice in this sacred effort.'' He went on to say: ''Jill and I have mourned police officers in this Capitol rotunda, not once but twice, in the wake of Jan. 6. Once to honor Officer Brian Sicknick, who lost his life the day after the attack. The second time to honor Officer Billy Evans, who lost his life defending the Capitol as well.''
Others on Twitter pushed this fake news without shame, and Greg Price called them out for it:
So who wants to tell Charlie Baker that William Evans was actually the Capitol police officer killed by a Farrakhan supporter driving a car into him https://t.co/6kqQHCgLMY
'-- Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 6, 2022
Biden must get a sick satisfaction of using January 6th to score as many political points as humanly possible, even if they are completely false.
Deep Learning Algorithm Can Hear Alcohol in Voice - Neuroscience News
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 14:52
Summary: New AI technology can instantly determine whether a person is above the legal alcohol limit by analyzing a 12-second clip of their voice.
Source: La Trobe University
La Trobe University researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that could work alongside expensive and potentially biased breath testing devices in pubs and clubs.
The technology can instantly determine whether a person has exceeded the legal alcohol limit purely on using a 12-seconds recording of their voice.
In a paper published in the journal Alcohol, the study led by Ph.D. student Abraham Albert Bonela and supervised by Professors Emmanuel Kuntsche and Associate Professor Zhen He, from the Center for Alcohol Policy Research and the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology at La Trobe University, respectively, describes the development of the Audio-based Deep Learning Algorithm to Identify Alcohol Inebriation (ADLAIA) that can determine an individual's intoxication status based on a 12-second recording of their speech.
According to Albert Bonela, acute alcohol intoxication impairs cognitive and psychomotor abilities leading to various public health hazards such as road traffic accidents and alcohol-related violence.
''Intoxicated individuals are usually identified by measuring their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) using breathalyzers that are expensive and labor-intensive,'' Albert Bonela said.
The technology can instantly determine whether a person has exceeded the legal alcohol limit purely on using a 12-seconds recording of their voice. Image is in the public domain''A test that could simply rely on someone speaking into a microphone would be a game changer.''
The algorithm was developed, and tested against, using a database dataset of 12,360 audio clips of inebriated and sober speakers. According to the researchers, ADLAIA was able to identify inebriated speakers'--with BAC of 0.05% or higher'--with an accuracy of almost 70%. The algorithm had a higher performance of almost 76%, in identifying intoxicated speakers with a BAC of higher than 0.12%.
The researchers suggest that one potential future application of ADLAIA could be the integration into mobile applications and to be used in environments (such as bars and sports stadiums) to get instantaneous results about inebriation status of individuals.
''Being able to identify intoxicated individuals solely based on their speech would be a much cheaper alternative to current systems where breath-based alcohol testing in these places is expensive and often unreliable,'' Albert Bonela said.
''Upon further improvement in its overall performance, ADLAIA could be integrated into mobile applications and used as a preliminary tool for identifying alcohol- inebriated individuals.''
About this AI research newsAuthor: Press OfficeSource: La Trobe UniversityContact: Press Office '' La Trobe University
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Closed access.''Audio-based Deep Learning Algorithm to Identify Alcohol Inebriation'' by Abraham Albert Bonela et al. Alcohol
See also
Abstract
Audio-based Deep Learning Algorithm to Identify Alcohol Inebriation
BackgroundAcute alcohol intoxication impairs cognitive and psychomotor abilities leading to various public health hazards such as road traffic accidents and alcohol-related violence. Intoxicated individuals are usually identified by measuring their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) using breathalysers that are expensive and labour-intensive. In this paper, we developed the Audio-based Deep Learning Algorithm to Identify Alcohol Inebriation (ADLAIA) that can instantly predict an individual's intoxication status based on a 12-second recording of their speech.
MethodsADLAIA was trained on a publicly available German Alcohol Language Corpus that comprises a total of 12,360 audio clips of inebriated and sober speakers (total of 162, aged 21-64, 47.7% female). ADLAIA's performance was determined by computing the unweighted average recall (UAR) and accuracy of inebriation prediction.
ResultsADLAIA was able to identify inebriated speakers'--with BAC of 0.05% or higher'--with an UAR of 68.09% and accuracy of 67.67%. ADLAIA had a higher performance (UAR of 75.7%) in identifying intoxicated speakers (BAC > 0.12%).
ConclusionBeing able to identify intoxicated individuals solely based on their speech, ADLAIA could be integrated in mobile applications and used in environments (such as bars, sports stadiums) to get instantaneous results about inebriation status of individuals.
Matt Gaetz sinks Kevin McCarthy's 14th Speaker bid in House chaos | Daily Mail Online
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 14:42
On the 15th ballot over a series of four days, Rep. Kevin McCarthy finally won the coveted title: Speaker of the House.
'That was easy, huh?' McCarthy began in his victory speech - shortly after South Carolina Representative Mike Rogers had to be held back from attacking Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.
The two Republicans almost came to blows over Gaetz's refusal to back McCarthy during the 14th vote, costing him that contest, with the violent clash coming as tempers frayed over the mammoth voting-process.
'Hakeem, I gotta warn ya, two years ago I got 100 percent of the vote from my conference,' McCarthy continued in a bid to act as peacemaker.
He looked over at Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whose party was united behind him throughout the race for speaker.
'Leader Jeffries there will be times we agree. And many times we will differ. I promise our debates will be passionate but they will never be personal,' McCarthy said.
'Now, the hard work begins.'
'We're going to pass bills to fix the nation's challenges from wide open southern borders, to American last energy policies to woke indoctrination in our schools,' he added. 'We will use the power of the purse and the power of the subpoena to get the job done.'
The new Speaker added: 'We will also address America's long-term challenges: the debt and the Chinese Communist Party. Congress must speak with one voice on both of these issues.'
McCarthy holds the gavel at long last
He said one of the House's 'very first hearings' would be on the U.S.-Mexico border and the first bill it brought forward would be to 'repeal funding for 87,000 new IRS agents.'
After the longest vote for the gavel since the Civil War, McCarthy's victory was confirmed on the final ballot at 12.30am on Saturday morning when four Republican hardliners caved in by voting 'present'.
His victory followed absolute mayhem on the House floor when Republican Rep. Mike Rogers lunged at Matt Gaetz and had to be held back by his colleagues.
The Republican House got to his win by making major concessions to the group of rebels who have demanded more power in the party.
After four protracted days of multiple elections and flagging patience, McCarthy flipped more than a dozen conservative holdouts to become supporters, including the chairman of the chamber's Freedom Caucus, leaving him just a few shy of seizing the gavel for the new Congress.
As the House resumed for the late night session of Friday, the California Republican had been on the cusp of victory in the 14th round but fell one vote short.
But after the 15th ballot a 'USA' chant broke out among raucous Republicans as the House Clerk, Cheryl Johnson, announced McCarthy would lead the 118th Congress.
On the final ballot, four Republican holdouts - Reps. Bob Good, Va., Eli Crane, Ariz., Matt Rosendale, Mont., and Andy Biggs, Ariz., all switched their votes to 'present,' giving McCarthy the majority vote he needed for victory.
They joined Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado in switching to 'present' votes after days of voting for a candidate other than McCarthy.
The final vote tally was 216 for McCarthy, 212 for Democrat Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York and six 'present' votes.
Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama is restrained after yelling at Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida
On the final vote, even Gaetz stood to clap with the most of the rest of the caucus when McCarthy cast his vote for himself. It had been reported that Gaetz would vote 'yes' for McCarthy on this final round, but he did not do so after it became clear McCarthy would win even if he continued to vote present.
Moments earlier absolute mayhem broke out on the House floor as the 14th Speaker's ballot left McCarthy one vote short.
The California Republican immediately walked up to Gaetz and Boebert, presumably with the intent of persuading them to change their 'present' votes to 'yes.'
Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama then lunged at Gaetz and had to be held back by Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina before an all-out fist fight could break out on the House floor.
'Stay civil!' someone shouted.
Republicans quickly moved to adjourn, but then McCarthy rushed forward to switch his vote to remain in session as colleagues chanted 'One more time!'
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a McCarthy ally and Trump acolyte, reportedly went up to Rosendale and told him that was Trump on the phone and that Rosendale needed to speak with him. 'Don't you ever do me like that,' Rosendale reportedly told her.
Trump reportedly also spoke with Biggs and Gaetz.
After a whirlwind back-and-forth where 21 anti-McCarthy holdouts were whittled down to just four by the 14th ballot, McCarthy was on the precipice of finally taking the speakership where the business of the House under Republican control could begin, before he fell one vote short.
During that vote, Gaetz waited till the end of the roll call to cast his 'present' vote, keeping the chamber on edge as the clerk ticked off all 435 names.
Reps. Eli Crane of Arizona and Matt Rosendale of Montana cast their vote for Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Rep. Bob Good of Virginia cast his vote for Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
Rep. Wesley Hunt, Texas, got a standing ovation for casting his vote for McCarthy. He'd missed earlier votes as his wife gave birth but returned to Washington to set the California Republican on a path to victory. McCarthy walked across the House floor and gave him a hug.
Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama is restrained after yelling at Matt Gaetz of Florida
U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (left) talks to Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz of Florida in the House Chamber after Gaetz voted present during the fourth day of voting for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 06, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia pulls out all the stops: the initials 'DT' for Donald Trump are seen on her phone
Greene tries to shove her phone over to Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana so he can answer to Trump on why he refuses to vote for Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California
Rep. Lauren Boebert also got a round of applause for switching her vote from Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma to 'present.'
Ahead of the vote, longtime McCarthy defector Gaetz said on Fox News: 'I'm running out of things to ask for.'
For days, the firebrand from Florida bragged that the only way he would vote for McCarthy is if the rules concessions made it so that he was wearing a 'straitjacket.'
The debate played out on the second anniversary of the January 6th attack and the irony did not go unnoticed.
McCarthy told reporters earlier he would have the votes to become Speaker as the House moved to adjourn until 10 p.m.
'You'll be calling me the Comeback Kid,' the California Republican boasted after losing an unprecedented 13 elections for Speaker.
Asked how he knew he'd have the votes by the 14th ballot, he snarked: 'Because I counted.'
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reacts after being nominated for a 14th time in the House chamber as the House meets for the fourth day to elect a speaker
McCarthy seems in a far better mood as he expected to have the votes to pull off the Speaker's bid Friday night
Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado changed her anti-McCarthy vote to 'present' helping McCarthy by lowering the threshold of votes he needs to win
Last ones standing - these are the final GOP McCarthy dissenters' Andy Biggs (AZ)
' Lauren Boebert (CO)
' Eli Crane (AZ)
' Matt Gaetz (FL)
' Bob Good (VA)
' Matt Rosendale (MT)
In a startling development, the GOP leader won more votes than he has seen in the last four days of the farce after his party held a conference call to try and strike a deal with the hardliners who have sunk his bid.
McCarthy managed to score 214 votes in the last round of elections, leaving him short of winning the gavel but tantalizing close to victory.
The leeway comes after days of stalemate and crucial negotiations over concessions on Friday morning.
The rebels flipped after McCarthy made more concessions in the package that includes votes on lawmaker term limits and border security, the motion to vacate the speaker and more roles on House committees.
Rep. Keith Self of Texas switched his vote because he supported the 'significant' rules changes that were made overnight.
'It has become clear to me that a couple of individuals are simply obstructionists, more interested in self-promotion than restoring the republic,' he said.
McCarthy had previously agreed to allow more members of the conservative Freedom Caucus to serve on the House Rules Committee, which dictates what bills make it to the House floor.
He also agreed that his leadership PAC would stay out of safe primary races, therefore allowing conservatives to challenge more moderate Republicans in red districts.
McCarthy also agreed to a Church-style committee to go after weaponization of the Department of Justice and FBI, named after late Sen. Frank Church, who oversaw investigations into intelligence agencies.
GOP Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida told DailyMail.com he has 'some issues' with the concessions McCarthy made to the House Rebels, but 'nothing that can't be worked out.'
He said he absolutely would not support the reported $76 billion cut to Defense spending that was reportedly part of the Freedom Caucus deal McCarthy made.
No House Speaker vote has gone on this long in modern US political history, and it's set Republicans' new majority in the chamber off to a rocky start.
In 1856, it took former House Speaker Nathaniel Prentice Banks two months and 133 rounds of voting for the House of Representatives to settle on a leader - the longest stretch on record.
In the first round of voting on Friday, Rep. Matt Gaetz nominated Jordan and tore into McCarthy, causing approximately two dozen furious members of his caucus to stage a walk-out of the House floor.
Gaetz called McCarthy 'the Lebron James of special interest fundraising. He said McCarthy's bid for Speaker was an 'exercise in vanity' driven by 'personal ambition.'
'That ambition is paralyzing the House now,' Gaetz said.
'You only earn the position of Speaker of the House. If you can get the votes. Mr. McCarthy doesn't have the votes today. He will not have the votes tomorrow and he will not have the votes next week, next month, next year.'
At one point, GOP Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois stood up and started shouting at Gaetz before being quieted by House Clerk Cheryl Johnson.
In a petulant manner, Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana walked out the chamber by beginning his vote with 'Kevin...' and pausing before adding 'Hern!' followed by groans from the GOP delegation supporting McCarthy.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy reportedly offered the 20 rogue Republicans a list of concessions he would make in exchange for their votes in the speakership race
Rep. Kevin McCarthy is captured leaving the House chamber Thursday night after losing another round of votes in bid to become next Speaker of the House
Each time a McCarthy dissenter switched their vote on Friday, the rest of the pro-McCarthy faction of the conference stood up and applauded.
Rep. Tim Burchett, Tennessee earned a standing ovation and cheers when he cast his vote by saying: 'Based on the fact no one cheers when I speak, and I've never been asked to give a nomination speech - but I'm not bitter about it - Kevin McCarthy.'
Lawmakers appeared exhausted as the House Speaker vote dragged out across a third day
Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona sits by himself during the tenth vote for Speaker, and fourth vote of Thursday
McCarthy spent much of the third day of votes walking around the chamber speaking to both allies and holdouts (seen speaking with Republican Rep.-elect Cory Mills of Florida)
Firebrand GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia were seen sitting next to each other, despite their public break over McCarthy's Speakership bid
For the seventh round, McCarthy was nominated by Michigan Rep-elect John James
The historic gridlock has paralyzed Capitol Hill; with no Speaker, the 118th House of Representatives cannot be sworn in, and new legislation cannot move to the floor or through committees - which do not have formal chairs yet.
And on Wednesday, a group of Republican military veterans held a press conference warning that the disarray was leading to significant national security vulnerabilities.
Florida Rep. Michael Waltz said from the podium, 'Authoritarian regimes all over the world are pointing to what's going on in the House of Representatives and saying, 'Look at the messiness of democracy, look at how it doesn't work, can't function.''
MCCARTHY OFFERS FRESH CONCESSIONS TO WIN OVER HARD-RIGHT REPUBLICANS IN A STUNNING REVERSAL, THE GOP LEADER IS NOW OPEN TO ONCE 'RED-LINE' DEMANDS FROM RIGHT-WING REBELS
' ONE-MEMBER 'MOTION TO VACATE' THE CHAIR
In a major concession to the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, the California Republican has offered to lower the number of members required to sponsor a resolution to force a vote to remove the speaker - from five to one - a change that the GOP leader had previously said he would not accept.
' FREEDOM CAUCUS TO HAVE RULES COMMITTEE SEATS
McCarthy is open to allowing GOP hardliners to handpick four of the party's members on the powerful Rules Committee - no small concession as it controls what legislation reaches the floor, as well as allowing ANY lawmaker to propose changes on spending legislation, including any that would tank the measure.
' A VOTE ON TERM LIMITS
There were also discussions of introducing legislation limiting House members to three terms and Senators to two terms. The upper chamber is currently led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York meaning the proposal to limit the Senate is a no-go.
' REBELS TO CHAIR SUB-COMMITTEE
Several 'Never Kevin Caucus' members want high-profile assignments including Florida's Matt Gaetz as chair of the House Armed Services subcommittee and Maryland's Andy Harris as the head of the Appropriations subcommittee on Health and Human Services
' CHANGES TO APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS
The Freedom Caucus wants rule changes that would decentralize power in both the House GOP - and the rest of the chamber - to give more power to individual members. The demand that committee chairs are selected by the committee and not the leadership, and rewards fundraising and party loyalty.
US to send '¬3.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine and its neighbours | Euronews
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 13:32
By Euronews with AP ' Updated: 07/01/2023 - 12:00
file - Copyright ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP or licensors
The US will send $3.75 billion ('¬3.52 billion) in military weapons and other aid to Ukraine and its neighbours on NATO's eastern flank, the White House announced Friday, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine grinds on.
The biggest US assistance package to date for Kyiv includes a $2.85 billion ('¬2.67 billion) drawdown from the Pentagon's stocks that will be sent directly to Ukraine and $225 million ('¬211 million) in foreign military financing to build the long-term capacity and support modernisation of Ukraine's military, according to the White House.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with US senators Jack Reed and Angus King in the capital Kyiv on Friday.
The Ukrainian president's office said in a statement that the politicians "discussed the current situation on the frontline and the risks of a possible escalation."
"Thank you very much for everything. I think, today I can say it very honestly and openly," Zelenskyy said during the meeting.
The direct assistance for Ukraine includes 50 Bradleys as well as 500 anti-tank missiles and 250,000 rounds of ammunition for the carriers. The US is also sending 100 M113 armoured personnel carriers, 55 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, or MRAPS, and 138 Humvees, as well as ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and air defence systems and other weapons and thousands of rounds of artillery, according to the Pentagon.
Germany following suitGermany also announced its intention to send the Marder APCs following a phone call between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Joe Biden on Thursday.
''These 40 vehicles should be ready in the first quarter already so that they can be handed over to Ukraine,'' Scholz's spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, told reporters in Berlin. Germany plans to train Ukrainian forces to use the vehicles, and Hebestreit said experts expect that process to take around eight weeks.
Germany last year secured deals in which eastern NATO allies sent familiar Soviet-era equipment to Ukraine, with Germany, in turn, supplying those countries with more modern Western-made equipment.
Click on the video link in the player above for more
VIDEO - The World After Coronavirus: The Future of Population and Extinction | Paul R. Ehrlich - YouTube
Project Cedar: Improving Cross-Border Payments With Blockchain Technology - FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 22:22
Project Cedar is the inaugural project of the New York Innovation Center (NYIC). It is a multiphase research effort to develop a technical framework for a theoretical wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) in the Federal Reserve context.
In Phase I of Project Cedar, a prototype for a wholesale central bank digital currency was developed to demonstrate the potential of blockchain to improve the speed, cost, and access to a critical element of the wholesale cross-border payments market'--a foreign exchange (FX) spot transaction.
Problem Space
Wholesale cross-border payments are financial transactions between central banks, private sector banks, corporations, and other institutions based in separate jurisdictions. FX spot trades are among the most common wholesale cross-border payments, as they are often required to support broader transactions, such as for international trade or foreign asset investment.
While cross-border payments function well, there are opportunities for improvement. In general, it takes around two days for a FX spot transaction to settle. During these two days, counterparties are exposed to settlement, counterparty, and credit risk which, among other things, can hinder an institution's ability to access liquidity.
Solution Concept
In a simulated wholesale FX spot transaction, Project Cedar developed a wholesale central bank digital currency prototype to test whether blockchain technology can deliver fast and safe payments. Core to Project Cedar's solution concept was the distributed ledger infrastructure'--a multi-ledger construct in which each currency was maintained on a separate ledger, operated by its respective simulated central bank.
The Phase I prototype included design choices such as a permissioned blockchain network, utilizing an Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) data model, and Rust as the primary programming language.
Results
Project Cedar showed that blockchain-enabled cross-border payments can be faster, simultaneous, and safer:
Faster Payments: In the test environment, transactions on the blockchain-enabled distributed ledger system settled under 15 seconds on average. Atomic Settlement: The simulated ledger network enabled atomic settlement, meaning both sides of the simulated transactions were settled either simultaneously or not at all, and reducing the risks currently borne by counterparties.Safer and Accessible Transactions: The distributed ledger system design enabled payments on a 24/7/365 basis and supported objectives related to interoperability by enabling transactions across separate, homogeneous ledgers networks representing a variety of financial institutions, including central and private sector banks.Next Steps
Phase I of Project Cedar revealed key questions and highlighted areas for further research, specifically around ledger platform design, interoperability, and security. As part of its continued wCBDC research, the NYIC announced Project Cedar Phase II x Ubin+, a joint experiment with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to explore questions related to interoperability and ledger design, including how to achieve concurrence and best enforce atomic transactions across different blockchain-based payment systems.
Project Cedar Phase II x Ubin+ will enhance designs for atomic settlement of cross-border cross-currency transactions, leveraging wCBDCs as a settlement asset. The effort, which entails establishing connectivity across multiple heterogeneous simulated currency ledgers, aims to significantly reduce settlement risk, a key pain point in cross-border cross-currency transactions.
Download the Phase I Report
NZ aviation tech company Skybase develops pilotless planes to fight bushfires - NZ Herald
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 22:10
Canterbury-based aviation technology company Skybase has developed pilotless technology to help fight fires. Photo / George Heard
A New Zealand aviation technology company is developing pilotless planes to fight bushfires from the skies.
Canterbury-based Skybase is converting aircraft to fly remotely in a world-leading move designed to revolutionise firefighting.
It involves putting high-tech artificial-intelligence computer systems inside Kiwi-made Fletcher top-dressing planes and keeping pilots safely behind computer screens on the ground.
The move will mean when conditions - such as poor weather, fading light or firefighter fatigue - ground planes and helicopters, the converted drone aircraft can still take to the air and drop vast litres of water and fire retardant on flames and hotspots.
Michael Read, founder of Skybase, says the technology to convert planes to drones could be used across many different sectors. Photo / George HeardIn a New Zealand-first, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) granted Skybase certification in May 2022 to carry out remotely operated test flights on the condition a pilot was on board.
''That was a key moment for aviation in New Zealand,'' said Skybase founder Michael Read.
The company, which was founded in Christchurch in 2017, has been testing the technology out of Rangiora airfield, 30km north of the city.
Its long-term vision is for the aircraft to be completely autonomous. But for now, they are reliant on pilots to supervise and step in when needed.
The remote pilot on the ground has to be qualified in the New Zealand-made Pacific Aerospace Fletcher - often described as a ''workhorse'' utility plane - but can be based anywhere in the world.
Pilots fly as if they're inside the cockpit, talking to air traffic control, and watching several monitors.
''You're doing everything from the ground that you would do from the air,'' said Read, a former Royal Australian Airforce pilot.
The ground technology is connected to the aircraft through several communication modes, including tracking antennae, satellite and mobile phone network.
A trained pilot controls the aircraft from the ground. Photo / George HeardAnd the development of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet constellation could prove a ''gamechanger'' in the future.
Read envisages the flight autonomy upgrade system for existing aircraft, dubbed SOFI, also becoming useful for other sectors, including agriculture, mapping, surveillance, cargo operations, first responders, medevac missions and natural disaster responses.
The plane can carry 1500kg and could air-drop emergency supplies after floods or cyclones and in weather deemed too dangerous for manned planes.
''There are a lot of reasons to do this technology other than aerial firefighting,'' Read said.
''But right now, that is the focus because [fires] are extremely dangerous and increasingly prevalent.''
He cites key statistics to support his arguments, including that around 80 per cent of all aviation accidents are caused by humans and, in 2021, 17 per cent of the world's carbon emissions came from uncontained bushfires.
The technology is being trialled at Rangiora airfield. Photo / George HeardThe ability for pilotless planes to be on standby 24/7 could help eliminate wildfires ''as a catastrophic threat'', Read said.
''Speed is the key to fighting uncontrolled fires.''
But about 75 per cent of the time, safety regulations around risk factors such as poor visibility mean planes are grounded while the fire burns on.
Most blazes start late in the day when it's hot and thunderstorms are active.
And overnight, when manned aircraft aren't able to fly, can be the best time to fight fires, with lower winds and temperatures.
''This technology changes what is possible, unlocking flight at times or in places where it wouldn't otherwise be possible if a pilot was on board. It increases safety and capability, but also commercial returns,'' said Read.
''Not having a human pilot on board means the risk benefit is very favourable.''
Skybase expects SOFI units to be rolled out commercially in 2024.
Pzp Vaccine - SpayVac
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 22:05
Humans have had a profound impact on Earth's ecosystemsSpayVac®: A humane alternative offering an important tool in animal conservation and population control of overabundant and invasive species.SpayVac®: A humane alternative offering an important tool in animal conservation and population control of overabundant and invasive species.
The Anthropocene is proposed as the current epoch, which is ''viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment''. Many wildlife species, even if they are considered endangered, are overabundant in the ever-shrinking habitat ranges they occupy. SpayVac pzp vaccine is an effective tool to manage overpopulation.
SpayVac®: A humane alternative offering an important tool in animal conservation and population control of overabundant and invasive species.SpayVac®: A humane alternative offering an important tool in animal conservation and population control of overabundant and invasive species.SpayVac®: A humane alternative offering an important tool in animal conservation and population control of overabundant and invasive species.
Overabundant species, even native ones, can reduce biodiversity by monopolizing resources, spreading infectious diseases, and changing species composition or relative abundance.
Why Use Podverse - Boo Bury: Mothman of the Minneapocalypse
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 20:27
Playing around with some ideas.
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podcastindex.social · Home
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 19:03
Pinafore is a web client for Mastodon, designed for speed and simplicity.
Read the introductory blog post, or get started by logging in to an instance:
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ChatGPT creator OpenAI in talks for tender offer at $29B valuation - report | Seeking Alpha
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 16:26
WANAN YOSSINGKUM/iStock via Getty Images
OpenAi, the firm behind the ChatGPT chatbot, is said in talks to sell existing shares in a tender offer that would value the company at about $29 billion.
Venture capital firms Thrive Capital and Founders Fund are in discussions to invest in the deal, which would include at least $300 million in shares sales, according to a WSJ report , which cited people familiar. The transaction is structured as a tender offer, where investor buy shares from existing holders.
The $29 billion valuation for OpenAI would be about double the $14 billion valuation the company was valued at in 2021, when it last completed a tender offer, according to the WSJ.
The WSJ reported in late October that Microsoft (MSFT) was said to be in advanced discussions for a new funding round for OpenAI. Microsoft disclosed in July 2019 that it invested $1 billion in OpenAI.
The Information reported on Tuesday that Microsoft (MSFT) is reportedly working on a version of its Bing search engine that uses the artificial intelligence software behind ChatGPT, to help with search inquiries, as it looks to close the gap with search engine leader Google (GOOGL).
Idaho jail will try to accommodate Bryan Kohberger's vegan diet
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 16:21
The Idaho jail holding accused college student killer Bryan Kohberger will attempt to accommodate his vegan diet, but won't buy any new kitchen equipment to cook his prison meals, according to a report.
Latah County Sheriff Richard Skiles told NewsNation Latah County Jail staff is trying to satisfy the quadruple homicide suspect's dietary needs, ''but we are not going to buy new pots and pans or anything like that.''
The sheriff's comment comes almost a week after an exclusive report in The Post where a former aunt said relatives of Kohberger had to purchase ''new pots and pans because he would not eat from anything that had ever had meat cooked in them.''
The former aunt told The Post that Kohberger's dietary restrictions were ''very, very weird'' and ''it was above and beyond vegan.''
Spoke with the Latah County Sheriff. He says he has heard of nothing out of the ordinary with Kohberger in the jail so far. He says they are trying to accommodate Kohberger's vegan diet restrictions '-- "but we are not going to buy new pots and pans or anything like that."
'-- Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) January 5, 2023The woman, who declined to identify herself, said she was previously married into the family.
''His aunt and uncle had to buy new pots and pans because he would not eat from anything that had ever had meat cooked in them. He seemed very OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder].''
Besides touching on Kohberger's jailhouse meal plan, the Latah lawman also told NewsNation the high profile suspect's time behind bars has been nothing out of the ordinary so far.
Madison Mogen, 21, top left, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, bottom left, Ethan Chapin, 20, center, and Xana Kernodle, 20, right.The Latah County Courthouse where Kohberger is being held on first-degree murder charges in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students. REUTERS Advertisement
Kohberger landed in Idaho late Wednesday from Pennsylvania to face murder charges tied to the gruesome slaughter of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin in the early hours of Nov. 13.
More details about how authorities zeroed in on Kohberger came out Thursday after an affidavit was unsealed in the case. He faces four first-degree murder charges.
Louisiana's New Porn Law Is a Privacy Time Bomb | by PCMag | PC Magazine | Jan, 2023 | Medium
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 16:20
(Credit: Ren(C) Ramos; Pornhub)A new law requiring adult sites to verify visitor's ages with IDs or other information will create confusion and only benefit scammers and identity thieves.
By Max Eddy
As of Jan. 1, 2023, a Louisiana law requiring pornographic websites to verify visitor age with identification documents or other personal information is now in effect. In addition to being'...
Why C-SPAN's Camera Work Is Suddenly So Interesting
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 16:03
Screenshot: C-SPAN via Twitter
The fight over the House speakership is now in its third day, with Republican Kevin McCarthy losing an astounding seven votes in a row. The darkly comic proceedings have been captured in full view by roaming cameras of the House floor, and broadcast on C-SPAN, which has captured such moments as progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez conferring with far-right GOP member Paul Gosar who once tweeted an anime video of him killing her . Many of these moments have gone viral and have caused people to ask why the videos we get out of Congress aren't always this exciting.
This speaker fight is an extraordinary event for many reasons, but an underappreciated one is central to the way the media is covering the event and the general public is witnessing it. For the first time ever, independent media cameras are capturing a contentious, unscripted political fight on the House floor.
Normally, these types of moments would not be captured on film, much less broadcast on TV and posted to the internet. There are long-standing rules that restrict what can be filmed and broadcast during Congressional proceedings, typically restricted to the person speaking and extremely wide angles where people are not easily distinguishable. But, during this extraordinary political event, three C-SPAN cameras have been able to film whatever they like, from reaction shots of McCarthy losing another vote to following meandering conversations between unlikely conferees across the floor.
''Because we have cameras in the chamber, we're able to tell the story of what's happening on the House floor,'' said Ben O'Connell, director of editorial operations at C-SPAN, in an interview with Motherboard. ''You're able to see the migrating scrums of Congressmen on the House floor as they negotiate with each other. You're able to see extraordinary conversations'' such as the one between Ocasio-Cortez and Gosar. ''And you're able to see conversations that sometimes look somewhat contentious among some members. You'd never be able to see that with the standard House feed.''
Some prominent Twitter voices have made it sound like this is only possible because of the House speaker power vacuum, temporarily resulting in a filming free-for-all in the halls of power that will only last until a speaker is elected and exerts dictatorial control over filming techniques. But that's not the case. Instead, the reason for this confluence of events, much like the speaker fight itself, boils down to arcane rules and procedures initially created so politicians could exert control over their own image.
''Typically, during normal run of the mill House sessions, the cameras are all totally controlled by government employees,'' O'Connell said, referring to the cameras run by the House Recording Studio . That footage is used by networks, news programs, and most notably C-SPAN, which is not a government entity but a non-profit funded by telecom companies that provides ''live gavel-to-gavel proceedings'' of the House and Senate among other public policy programming. For House proceedings, footage is captured by the House Recording Studio and broadcast by C-SPAN.
Since the beginning of televised Congressional proceedings in 1979'--the Senate, in typical fashion, followed unfashionably late in 1986'--there have been strict rules about what the cameras can and cannot capture. During normal proceedings, cameras focus on whoever is speaking at the podium and must ignore everything else, even though reporters and spectators in the gallery have the entire chamber within view and can report what they see, a discrepancy that has become even more important in the internet age.
''''On a pretty regular basis, I'll see tweets from reporters sitting in the gallery saying, 'I see Congressman X speaking with Congressman Y working on some amendment,' and we can't see it,'' O'Connell said. ''We'd love to see it.''
For decades, C-SPAN has formally asked Congress for greater range of camera coverage , permitting such staples of filming techniques invented more than a century ago like pans and reaction shots from other members in the chamber.
''Currently, house floor debates are not in full public view because private news media cameras are still not permitted in the House chamber,'' wrote C-SPAN Chairperson Brian Lamb in a 2010 letter to House leadership asking for access to health care legislation debates. ''C-SPAN's request is for the addition of a few small robotically-operated cameras in the House chamber.'' Its requests have always been denied.
However, there are different rules for special events like joint sessions, State of the Union addresses, and the first day of session for swearing in ceremonies, where VIPs still want to be seen even if they are not heard. For these events, TV networks and other accredited media will ask the speaker's office for permission to bring their own cameras into the chambers. These requests are almost always granted on a ''pool'' basis, a common arrangement in political journalism where a reporter or TV crew is allowed access on the condition that they share all the footage and reportage with the rest of the accredited media. For all of O'Connell's 22 years at C-SPAN, they've been the pool camera crews for the speaker vote.
In that sense, and only in that sense, this year's speaker vote has gone just as all others in recent history. C-SPAN has three cameras in the House chambers and they can stay there until the Speaker is elected and new members have been sworn in. Of course, what is different this year is that it was not a routine, two- or three-hour long event. It is now on its third day, and the proceedings are highly contentious.
O'Connell says his crew are welcoming this brief window of opportunity. ''First, we're absolutely thrilled people are paying attention,'' he said. ''This is really important stuff and it is a thrill to be able to show it to people, to tell that story. And internally, what we are doing minute to minute, there are tons of conversations about what's working, what we might want to tweak, things like that, just operational stuff, that's an ongoing conversation.''
To his knowledge, C-SPAN has no plans to send the future House speaker'--whoever that may be'--a letter immediately after getting elected asking for the more permissive camera rules to be permanent. But the network's push for greater transparency and media access has been constant for decades, he says, and it will continue.
''We firmly believe that having independent media in the House and Senate chambers and Supreme Court for that matter leads to greater transparency to the American voter,'' O'Connell said. ''They would be able to see what their member is doing in the chamber even if they're not speaking. For major pieces of legislation, I can't imagine a downside to that.''
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Nepotism babies and the myth of American meritocracy - Alternet.org
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 16:01
Image via Shutterstock.
There is a common feeling that many of us have experienced in professional or academic environments, especially when we struggle against gender or racial bias. It's called ''imposter syndrome'''--the feeling that one doesn't deserve one's position and that others will discover this lack of competence at any moment. I felt this way as a female graduate student in a science field in the 1990s. I felt it as a young journalist of color in a white-dominated industry.
This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.
The rich and the elite among us appear to feel the opposite'--that they are deserving of unearned privilege. A recent series of stories in New York Magazine headlined ''The Year of the Nepo Baby'' has struck a chord among those who are being outed for having benefited from insider status. Nepo babies are the children of the rich and famous, the ones who are borne of naked nepotism and whose ubiquity exposes the myth of American meritocracy. Nepo babies can be found everywhere there is power.
The New York Magazine stories have predictably generated defensive responses from nepo babies. Jamie Lee Curtis, actor and daughter of famed Hollywood stars Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, wrote a lengthy post on Instagram defending her status. Although she admitted that she benefitted from her parents' fame'--''I have navigated 44 years with the advantages my associated and reflected fame brought me, I don't pretend there aren't any'''--she also clapped back at critics, saying she was tired of assumptions that a nepo baby like her ''would somehow have no talent whatsoever.'' Curtis went further in claiming that the current focus on people like her was ''designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.''
Curtis is clearly a talented actor, of that there is no doubt. But, in defending her privilege from critique, she reveals just how deserving she considers herself. It is the converse of imposter syndrome'--the insider syndrome.
The act of calling out nepotism doesn't necessarily imply that nepo babies are not talented. (Nepo babies are sometimes talented'--and sometimes not.) It means pointing out that some talented people are able to benefit from family connections and fame that other equally talented people are not able to.
The critique is intended to call out elitism, not ''diminish,'' ''denigrate'' or ''hurt,'' as Curtis accuses journalists of doing. Journalism that exposes power and its corruptive influence among elites punches up, not down. Curtis is hardly a disadvantaged person whose well-being will suffer from such coverage. Rather, stories pointing out her parental advantages could potentially help to even the playing field so that it is unacceptable in the future to consider family connections in film and TV auditions.
Recall the college admissions scandal of 2019 when it was revealed'--again through good journalism'--that wealthy parents like TV star Lori Loughlin used all the power and money at their disposal to bend the rules of elite school admissions for their children. Many of those children may well have deserved to get into the schools they attended. But, in the face of stiff competition, untold numbers of equally deserving youth who did not have powerful and wealthy parents willing to break rules were not admitted. Now, many of those same nepo babies' parents who were tried and convicted are using their money and connections to win shortened prison sentences.
But Hollywood celebrities, however much they enjoy prestige and privilege, are an easy target. Nepotism is rife in all the halls of power'--in the world of art, sports, and even journalism, and especially in corporate and political circles.
Billionaires (especially those in tech) may propagate the myth of the merit-based American dream, but some of the most dramatic success stories began with a parent using their wealth or connections to give their child the upper hand. Take Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, who became one of the world's wealthiest people in his 30s. Gates's early success was largely due to the well-documented connections that his parents flexed on his behalf to get his fledgling company off the ground. Other tech nepo babies include Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose father loaned him $100,000 to start his company, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose parents were early investors in his online retail business to the tune of nearly $250,000.
Nepotism is part of the fabric of capitalism. For centuries, unfair advantages were available to those who have historically faced fewer hurdles, through the sheer luck of being born into a family with wealth, connections, or respect within their field. Indeed, in order to beat back the imposter syndrome, many advise channeling the unearned confidence of a mediocre straight white man.
Our economy is rigged to encourage nepotism by ensuring that the already wealthy pass their wealth'--and by extension the power that their money buys'--to their children. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) pointed out how the tax code is written in order to benefit the moneyed classes. According to a CBPP report, ''High-income, and especially high-wealth, filers enjoy a number of generous tax benefits that can dramatically lower their tax bills.''
Nepo babies who defend their status reinforce the notion that wealth, fame, and privilege equal brilliance, talent, and genius. The reality is that the privileged among us simply have the means to cheat. The rest of us are sold the lie that working hard will bring rewards'--rather than unearned wealth.
This, in turn, encourages cheating among those who cannot rely on nepotism to gain power. One well-known example of the ''fake-it-till-you-make-it'' approach is Anna Sorokin, a woman whose fabricated lies about wealth and power landed her in prison and made her the focus of a Netflix show. Sorokin faked being a nepo baby'--a German heiress'--in order to live a lavish lifestyle. Sorokin learned that to gain the edge that moneyed elites have, one must internalize the insider syndrome.
Republican Congressman George Santos, who was recently exposed as a fraud for lying about his work experience, wealth, and even ethnicity, is another prime example. His political party has made a habit of encouraging (real or fake) nepo babies like Donald Trump, who openly admitted to tax avoidance in a debate and whose company was convicted of criminal tax fraud.
The GOP has for years led the charge to protect the interests of the wealthy while insisting on means testing and drug testing for the rest of us to receive benefits.
In truth, the emperor has no clothes. The meritocracy of American capitalism is a myth built on smoke and mirrors, on lies and false confidence. The current long-overdue conversation around nepo babies may help to further class consciousness among Americans who may see a bit more clearly now just how scantily clad the emperor really is.
Author Bio: Sonali Kolhatkar is an award-winning multimedia journalist. She is the founder, host, and executive producer of ''Rising Up With Sonali,'' a weekly television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. Her forthcoming book is Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice (City Lights Books, 2023). She is a writing fellow for the Economy for All project at the Independent Media Institute and the racial justice and civil liberties editor at Yes! Magazine. She serves as the co-director of the nonprofit solidarity organization the Afghan Women's Mission and is a co-author of Bleeding Afghanistan. She also sits on the board of directors of Justice Action Center, an immigrant rights organization.
Colorado is busing migrants to New York and other major cities
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 15:31
Migrants from the southern border are being housed in Denver shelters. Photo: Courtesy of the city of Denver
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is busing migrants who recently arrived in Denver from the southern U.S. border to other major cities.
Why it matters: The Democratic governor's move echoes actions by Republican governors in Texas and Florida that were labeled callous and cruel.
Driving the news: In a statement Tuesday, Polis said his administration is helping migrants reach their intended destinations because 70% don't plan to stay in Colorado.
But Polis acknowledged the number of people being bused out-of-state has escalated in recent days to clear a backlog of people stuck in Colorado because of harsh winter weather.
Colorado earmarked $5 million to assist people identified as migrants, including helping them purchase bus tickets. About half the money is allocated already."There is a lot of pent-up demand right now and a lot of frustration among our migrants who have been trapped for a week or two in a place they didn't want to be through no fault of their own," Polis told Politico.The other side: New York Mayor Eric Adams revealed Polis' plan in a radio interview earlier Tuesday.
"We were notified [Monday] that the governor of Colorado is now stating that they are going to be sending migrants to places like New York and Chicago," Adams said. "This is just unfair for local governments to have to take on this national obligation."By the numbers: At least 3,500 people have arrived in Denver from the southern border since Dec. 9. Their immigration status is unknown, but officials have suggested some are asylum seekers from Central and South America.
225 arrived overnight on New Year's Day and more than 1,000 are staying at city-run emergency shelters, Denver officials report. Another 740 are housed at other shelters run by nonprofits.Context: Denver Mayor Michael Hancock declared a state of emergency Dec. 15 as a surge of migrants pushed the city to a breaking point. He also called on the federal government to provide aid, a demand Polis reiterated Tuesday.
"States and cities not on the border are ill-equipped to address these challenges, and absent federal support and leadership, we're left to strategize and take actions to ensure this vulnerable population '' people who've come here with no resources or means '' are safe and treated humanely," Hancock said in a statement. City officials have spent more than $1 million in assistance as of Dec. 31, and project to spend roughly $3 million "over the next few months."The city and nonprofits are helping with the busing, but Hancock's spokesperson deferred all questions to the state's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, which declined to comment.Polis' spokesperson declined to respond to additional questions from Axios about the busing plans.Of note: Two days before Christmas, Polis visited warming shelters to thank volunteers and National Guard members he activated as a brutal cold front arrived. He brought presents for children, too.
"Too many people, in our opinion, view this through a political lens or as playing politics '-- and it's terrible that in some places, people have been used as political props," Polis said. "But what we are doing here is just honoring our values by treating people with dignity and respect."Editor's note: This story has been updated with new details throughout.
What is the Mysterious Handbag Seen in Ancient Carvings Across Cultures and Countries? | Ancient Origins
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 15:28
One of the more mysterious symbols that has been found in ancient carvings is an image that looks uncannily like a handbag. The shape appears in depictions made by the Sumerians of Iraq, in the ruins of ancient Turkish temples, in decorations of the Maori of New Zealand, and in crafts made by the Olmecs of Central America. Handbags can be seen in the art of disparate cultures from around the world and throughout time, with the first known instance of a handbag appearing at the end of the Ice Age. What is this mysterious symbol that can be found throughout the ancient world?
A Representation of the Cosmos? The handbag image is so called because it looks very similar to the modern-day purse. The objects ''typically feature a rounded handle-like top and a rectangular bottom, and may include varying degrees of additional details of texture or pattern'' (Scranton, 2016). The images sometimes appear as stand-alone objects; sometimes they are depicted in the hand of a person, god, or mythical being in a manner similar to how one would hold a basket.
One possible theory for the proliferation of this image is its simple and straightforward representation of the cosmos. The semi-circle of the image (what would appear to be the bag's strap) represents the hemisphere of the sky. Meanwhile, the solid square base represents the earth. ''In ancient cultures from Africa to India to China, the figure of a circle was associated symbolically with concepts of spirituality or non-materiality, while that of a square was often associated with concepts of the Earth and of materiality'' (Scranton, 2016). Thus, the image is used to symbolize the (re)unification of the earth and sky, of the material and the non-material elements of existence.
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Could the mysterious handbag really represent the cosmos? Assyrian relief carving from Nimrud, 883''859 B.C. ( Metropolitan Museum of Art )
Oldest Depictions of the 'Handbag' One of the earliest instances of the handbag motif can be seen in the ruins of G¶bekli Tepe, located at the top of a mountain ridge in southeastern Turkey. Dating back to approximately 11,000 BC, G¶bekli Tepe is one of the oldest temple complexes ever discovered (Tinfoil Hat, 2014). The exact purpose of the mountain sanctuary is unknown; however, it appears that temple may have served as a site for religious sacrifices (archaeologists unearthed many butchered animal bones). The walls and pillars of the temple are decorated with finely carved animals, gods, and mythical creatures, perhaps in an effort to portray the many different creations of the cosmos. Amidst these other carvings are three handbags.
Experts believe that early religions worshiped the fundamental elements of life on earth. Therefore, ''the three G¶bekli Tepe handbags, taken as an early form of those icons, could be said to symbolically define the site as a temple'' (Scranton, 2016).
Pillar 43 from Gobekli Tepe in Turkey shows three 'handbag' carvings along the top. Credit: Alistair Coombs
From the Middle East to South America, the Strange Carving Can Be Found Elsewhere, the handbag image shows up with striking similarities in two stone reliefs, one made by the Assyrians of ancient Iraq sometime between 880-859 BC and the other made by the Olmecs of ancient Mesoamerica sometime between 1200 '' 400 BC. In both of these images, a man-like figure carries the handbag in his hand, as if it were a basket or purse. ''When used in Assyrian art it is said the purse holds magic dust. When depicted in Olmec art they postulate it contains herbs for getting high'' (Freeborn, 2013). This suggests that the handbag may have been a standard of measurement uniquely discovered by both cultures.
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Olmec Monument 19, from La Venta, Tabasco, shows a man holding the handbag in his hand. ( Xuan Che )
Another instance of ancient handbag imagery can be found in faraway New Zealand. A Maori myth tells of a hero who once ascended to the home of the gods and returned to earth carrying three baskets full of wisdom. Thus, much like the G¶bekli Tepe handbags, the Maori handbags symbolize worship and gratitude for divinely inspired knowledge.
Finally, in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the handbag-like image can be seen. This time serving as a home for the gods and goddesses, with the purse straps being the domed poles of the portable tent and the square bottom being the cloth or animal skins laid across the poles. This structure is quite similar to the Native American teepee or the central Asian yurt.
The many instances of this symbol seem to confirm the use of a handbag as a cosmological symbol represented as a commonplace household item (a basket that is, not the handbag) so as to be better understood by ordinary people.
Top image: Assyrian relief carving, 883 '' 859 BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art .
By Kerry Sullivan
Sources:Freeborn, B. L. "The Odd Little Purse in Olmec and Assyrian Art." Noahsage. Noah's Age, 1 July 2013. Web. https://noahsage.com/2013/07/01/the-odd-little-purse-in-olmec-and-assyrian-art/.
Scranton, Laird. "Perspectives on Ancient Handbag Images." Lost Origins . Lost Origins, 21 Feb. 2016. Web. http://lost-origins.com/perspectives-on-ancient-handbag-images/.
Tinfoil Hat. "Ancient Purses and Balls of Power." Tinfoil Hat Lady . Tinfoil Hat Lady, 10 June 2014. Web. https://tinfoilhatlady.com/2014/06/10/ancient-purses-and-balls-of-power/.
Alex Jones Attorney's Law License Suspended '' NBC Connecticut
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 15:26
A judge has suspended the law license of Norm Pattis, Alex Jones' attorney, for six months after he allegedly released unauthorized Sandy Hook files.
The files released include the personal medical records of several Sandy Hook families during the Connecticut defamation case.
"Simply put, given his experience, there is no acceptable excuse for his misconduct," Judge Barbara Bellis said in a court decision released Thursday.
Pattis is one of the state's most well-known defense attorneys. He said he plans to appeal the decision.
"We cannot expect our system of justice or our attorneys to be perfect but we can expect fundamental fairness and decency. There was no fairness or decency in the treatment of the plaintiffs' most sensitive and personal information, and no excuse for the respondent's misconduct," Bellis wrote.
She goes on to say that because of this, the court agrees with the Disciplinary Counsel's recommendation to suspend Pattis from practicing law for several months.
In a statement to NBC Connecticut, Pattis acknowledged the judgment, saying he's currently in Washington, D.C. for the Proud Boys insurrection case.
"My lawyers will request a stay pending appeal tomorrow and I will notify the trial judge here in Washington," he said.
How Twitter misleads us about how many people have left '-- and what to do about it | by J. Nathan Matias | Jan, 2023 | Medium
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 14:48
Social feeds are engines for distorting social understanding. Here's how to push back against the algorithm.
A Mountain Bluebird attacks its own reflection in a car mirror. Photo CC-By-2.0 Tom KoernerWhy are so many people staying on Twitter, even after the company gutted its child safety team, struggled with information security problems, violated user privacy for political ends, and brought nazis back to the platform?
To outside observers, it can seem like Twitter users are continuing as before, seemingly unaware of the millions of people who have left. ''You left Twitter?'' a friend recently remarked, ''I hadn't noticed.'' Yet many of the accounts I follow haven't tweeted in ages, and roughly 15% of them have already set up accounts on Mastodon. (I'm at @natematias@social.coop)
By filling feeds with a continuous stream of voices, platforms create the illusion that the room is full when many people have already left
How can so many people be unaware of a mass exodus from the platform? One reason is that social media feeds are designed to mislead us about the average opinions and behaviors of the people in our lives. The distorting effects of Twitter's timeline and algorithm cause people to stay on the platform by making it seem like life continues as normal, despite the wasteland they occupy.
How can this happen? One answer lies in social norms. As a scientist, I study the relationship between algorithms and collective behavior'-- especially when social norms escalate online violence or prevent it. When people make decisions about how to behave, we think about the different groups that matter to us, guess how they will respond, and adjust our behaviors in response. Decades of research in social psychology have shown that while it's hard to change someone's mind, it's much easier to influence behavior by changing people's understanding of what's common or expected.
As a business, social media is an engine for influencing behavior by shaping our beliefs about others. That's one argument that Sinan Aral makes in his 2021 book The Hype Machine. When people see multiple friends voting in elections, taking on eating disorders, donating to charities, or joining a genocide, we start to believe that it's common and expected. Whether or not the social feed has misled us about how common those behaviors are, we're still more likely to follow suit.
Social media feeds are designed to mislead us about the opinions and behaviors of the people in our lives
Whatever the algorithm, the feed itself creates the simplest, most misleading distortion from social media. By giving us a continuous stream of voices, platforms create the illusion that the room is full when many people have already left. If you leave a lecture, the room will have a visible absence. Leave a social media platform, and the feed will fill the empty space with something.
How can we overcome the distorting influence of social media feeds to make it clear that more people are leaving Twitter? The answer can be found in a classic idea from social science: threshold models of collective behavior.
In ''Threshold Models of Collective Behavior,'' Mark Granovetter pointed out that people often need to see a certain number of other people take an action before they're willing to do the same. That can be hard when people's beliefs or views are unknown to each other. Consider this example I show to my undergraduate class at Cornell, with a network of blue smileys and orange smileys.
Illustrating the Threshold Model of Collective Action. Image by Drew MargolinIn this example, five orange smiley faces are all willing to take some kind of action. But they each have a threshold of others they need to see act first. When the network is controlled by an entity that prevents them from seeing each other, only one person does anything, and no one sees it. That's the current situation with Twitter.
We typically think of social media platforms as systems that enable collective action by making like-minded people visible to each other, as pointed out by Jackson, Bailey and Welles in their book #HashtagActivism. The opposite can also happen '-- platforms also prevent collective action by making departures invisible.
When people try to leave, social media platforms are designed to instantly fill in the empty chairs with more voices from the algorithm. That's also why Twitter has banned people who mention competing services, added more people you don't follow to the feed, and show (unreliable) view metrics on every tweet in a desperate attempt to convince people to stay.
So how can we make our departures more visible to others and encourage the same? One powerful idea from Daniel Gillmor is to set up the equivalent of an ''out of office'' message on Twitter.
If you have left entirely, post a message about your departure once or twice a day.Even if you are still posting to Twitter, it's still worth pointing people to other places where you have set up accounts, so they can follow you elsewhereIf enough of us do this, our departures will be more visible, and more people will realize this and follow suit as their threshold for action is met.
In a discussion on Mastodon, Darius Kazemi made a great suggestion for how to quickly and easily set up an out-of-office note. Cheap Bots Done Quick is a service that will automatically tweet a custom message for you on a regular schedule.
Log into the site with your Twitter accountCustomize the textTell it how often to post your out-of-office messageIf you want to add variety to your message, Cheap Bots Done Quick allows you to create a template that will cycle through different combinations of phrases when tweeting the announcement. Feel free to copy and edit my version.
While I've decided to move to social.coop on Mastodon, I agree that all our digital environments are feeling polluted and exploited '-- just as our rivers must have seemed in the era before conservation. I understand why people have accepted living in a digital trashfire '-- and if they're online at all '-- staying wherever the audience seems to be. That's why it's so important to make our departures visible, so people can see there are other options.
It's going to take collective effort to imagine and achieve a better vision for social media. That's our vision at the Citizens and Technology Lab, where we organize community/citizen science for a world where digital power is guided by evidence and accountable to the public.
Just like scientists and communities work together to understand our rivers, air, and biodiversity, CAT Lab works with communities to understand our digital environments. I hope this post helps people see one small way that science can help us achieve a better ecosystem, and start putting it into action.
The 'breakthrough' obesity drugs that have stunned researchers
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 14:47
The hotel ballroom was packed to near capacity with scientists when Susan Yanovski arrived. Despite being 10 minutes early, she had to manoeuvre her way to one of the few empty seats near the back. The audience at the ObesityWeek conference in San Diego, California, in November 2022, was waiting to hear the results of a hotly anticipated drug trial.
The presenters '-- researchers affiliated with pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, based in Bagsv...rd, Denmark '-- did not disappoint. They described the details of an investigation of a promising anti-obesity medication in teenagers, a group that is notoriously resistant to such treatment. The results astonished researchers: a weekly injection for almost 16 months, along with some lifestyle changes, reduced body weight by at least 20% in more than one-third of the participants1. Previous studies2,3 had shown that the drug, semaglutide, was just as impressive in adults.
The presentation concluded like no other at the conference, says Yanovski, co-director of the Office of Obesity Research at the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland. Sustained applause echoed through the room ''like you were at a Broadway show'', she says.
This energy has pervaded the field of obesity medicine for the past few years. After decades of work, researchers are finally seeing signs of success: a new generation of anti-obesity medications that drastically diminish weight without the serious side effects that have plagued previous efforts.
These drugs are arriving in an era in which obesity is growing exponentially. Worldwide obesity has tripled since 1975; in 2016, about 40% of adults were considered overweight and 13% had obesity, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). With extra weight often comes heightened risk of health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers. The WHO recommends healthier diets and physical activity to reduce obesity, but medication might help when lifestyle changes aren't enough. The new drugs mimic hormones known as incretins, which lower blood sugar and curb appetite. Some have already been approved for treating type 2 diabetes, and they are starting to win approval for inducing weight loss.
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The ability to melt weight away by tweaking biology gives credence to the idea that obesity is a disease. In the past, scientists and the public often thought that those with obesity simply lacked the willpower to lose weight. But evidence is growing that most people's bodies have a natural size that can be hard to change. ''The body will defend its weight,'' says Richard DiMarchi, a chemist at Indiana University Bloomington.
However, some researchers worry that these drugs play into some societies' obsession with being thin. Body size isn't always a good predictor of health. ''I'm really hesitant to be excited about something that I think is potentially harmful from a weight stigma perspective,'' says Sarah Nutter, a psychologist at the University of Victoria in Canada, who specializes in weight stigma and body image.
Research questions abound, including who will respond to treatment and whether people will have to take these drugs for life '-- a huge barrier to access, given that they also carry a hefty price tag: the injections often cost upwards of US$1,000 each month.
Still, obesity researchers are celebrating these developments. For the first time, scientists can pharmacologically alter weight safely, says physician-scientist Matthias Tsch¶p, chief executive of Helmholtz Munich in Germany. ''It indeed is 'the' transformative breakthrough.''
Hormone huntThe seeds of today's success were sown decades ago, when Jeffrey Friedman was racing to figure out which gene mutation was making the mice in his laboratory eat until they became obese. In 1994, Friedman, a molecular geneticist at The Rockefeller University in New York City, discovered that the faulty gene encoded leptin, a hormone that is produced by fat tissue and induces a feeling of fullness4. Giving leptin supplements to mice that lacked it reduced their hunger and body weight.
''That really revolutionized our thinking about the biological basis of obesity and appetite regulation,'' Yanovski says.
An explosion of research into obesity's underpinnings followed, alongside research into pharmacological treatments. But these early drugs led to only modest weight loss and serious side effects, especially on the heart.
Even before leptin's discovery, researchers had been looking for hormones that regulate blood glucose levels, and had found one called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1). It seemed to have the opposite effect of type 2 diabetes '-- GLP-1 enhanced insulin production and reduced blood sugar5 '-- making it an appealing approach to treating obesity, says Jens Juul Holst, a medical physiologist at the University of Copenhagen, who discovered and characterized GLP-1.
In the 2000s, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began approving drugs that mimicked GLP-1 as type 2 diabetes treatments (see 'Weight busters'). But scientists noticed that participants in clinical trials also lost weight, owing to GLP-1's effect on receptors in the brain that govern appetite and those in the gut that slow digestion. Over time, companies began to trial these diabetes medications for weight loss. By the mid-2010s, one such drug, liraglutide, was capable of eliciting a loss in body weight of about 8% on average, 5 percentage points more than for people taking a placebo6 '-- clinically relevant, but not astonishing.
But in early 2021, scientists were wowed by a phase III clinical trial2 investigating a new drug of the same type: semaglutide. The molecule, a modified version of liraglutide, acts on the same pathways but remains intact and active in the body for longer, says DiMarchi. It might also have better access to brain regions that regulate appetite, he adds.
Those receiving weekly injections of semaglutide lost, on average, 14.9% of their body weight after 16 months of treatment; those who received a placebo lost 2.4% on average. In 2021, four years after approving it for diabetes, the FDA approved semaglutide for weight loss for adults with obesity.
Historically, it hasn't been possible to safely decrease body weight by more than 10% through pharmacological methods, says Timo M¼ller, a biologist and director of the Helmholtz Munich Institute for Diabetes and Obesity. But these newer treatments also improve cardiovascular health, he adds '-- the opposite of past iterations.
There could now be an even more effective drug in town: tirzepatide. Tirzepatide doesn't just target the GLP-1 receptor; it also mimics another hormone involved in insulin secretion, known as glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). Approved in 2022 for type 2 diabetes, this treatment '-- developed by Eli Lilly, based in Indianapolis, Indiana '-- led to a 21% drop in body weight, on average, at the highest dose, compared with 3% for placebo7.
How obesity could create problems for a COVID vaccine
It's unclear why mimicking both hormones works better than imitating just one. M¼ller says that tirzepatide might be a more potent activator of the GLP-1 receptor, and that GIP might help to make GLP-1's side effects more tolerable, allowing for higher doses. It's also possible that GIP might drive some weight loss on its own.
Despite the uncertainties, the levels of weight loss following tirzepatide treatment approach those typically achievable only through bariatric surgery. This procedure reduces body weight by 30% or more after six months, and the weight loss continues for the next year or two.
''Ten years ago, if you had told me we have something that gets us pretty close [to bariatric surgery], I would have said that's not possible,'' says Ruth Gimeno, group vice-president of diabetes, obesity and cardiometabolic research and early clinical development at Eli Lilly. The company plans to apply for the drug to be approved, pending results from a second phase III trial wrapping up in April 2023.
Mechanism mysteryDespite tirzepatide's promising results, it has researchers puzzled. It's clear how GLP-1 helps to spur weight loss, but GIP's role is a surprise. In fact, scientists have long thought that GIP actually encourages obesity: mice with dysfunctional GIP receptors are resistant to obesity8. Therefore, to induce weight loss, researchers thought the receptor should be switched off. But tirzepatide does the opposite.
''We were the first who came up with this crazy idea,'' says M¼ller, who collaborates with Novo Nordisk. ''And we were quite heavily criticized in the field.''
M¼ller and his colleagues '-- including DiMarchi and Tsch¶p '-- knew that GIP stimulates insulin secretion depending on blood glucose levels, just like GLP-1, says M¼ller. So they developed molecules that mimicked both hormones. After initial studies demonstrated that activating both the GIP and GLP-1 receptors caused weight loss, pharmaceutical companies created their own molecules achieving the same results, thus confirming that the method worked.
A doctor weighs a woman in Spain as part of a weight loss challenge. Diet and lifestyle changes are recommended approaches to weight loss, but a new class of drugs could help. Credit: Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty
However, not everyone has changed their views on GIP. Holst feels that tirzepatide is simply a super powerful GLP-1 imitator.
It can also mimic GIP, ''but it doesn't really matter in patients with diabetes and obesity, because the GIP part doesn't really do anything,'' says Holst. Eli Lilly is conducting early-stage clinical trials with drugs that target GIP alone, which Holst says will resolve the ongoing debate.
And biopharmaceutical company Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, California, is pursuing a drug that activates the GLP-1 receptor while thwarting the GIP receptor. Early clinical-trial data show that this treatment reduced body weight by up to around 15% after 12 weeks.
Other approaches include 'triple agonists' that mimic the actions of GLP-1, GIP and a third hormone, glucagon, which also stimulates insulin secretion9. Still other gut hormones involved in appetite, such as peptide YY, are being explored, too. And some researchers are investigating the monoclonal antibody bimagrumab, which increases muscle mass while decreasing fat.
Open questionsOne big question facing researchers now is whether people will need to take these medications for life to maintain their weight. A subset of clinical-trial participants who ceased taking semaglutide and stopped the study's lifestyle interventions regained about two-thirds of their lost weight after one year10.
Another unknown is who will respond to these drugs '-- and who won't. It's too early to tell now, but the drugs seem to be less effective for weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes than in those without. Conditions such as fatty liver disease and having fat around the organs, known as visceral body fat, might also affect how people respond to different drugs, Tsch¶p says.
Some researchers also worry that by offering a weight solution in societies that prize thinness, these drugs could also inadvertently reinforce the disputed link between excess weight and health. One study found that nearly 30% of people who are considered obese are metabolically healthy11. Another showed that other health problems tend to be a better predictor of someone's risk of death than is weight12, demonstrating the need to consider factors other than weight when judging health, says Nutter.
''To pathologize a person's health simply based on their body weight is potentially really, really harmful,'' she adds.
Nutter is concerned that people might start these treatments '-- whose side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, can be severe '-- to escape weight stigma, rather than to serve a true health need.
Others worry about the idea that these drugs offer a quick fix. This is a common misconception about bariatric surgery, says Leslie Heinberg, a clinical psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio who specializes in bariatric behavioural health and body image. ''Some people who still hold on to those mistaken beliefs will say, 'Oh, now people can just take this pill and that's the easy way out of obesity,''' she says.
Still, there is plenty of demand. And although these drugs are entering the market, not everyone who needs them will have access.
For a start, they are pricey '-- semaglutide for weight loss, branded as Wegovy, costs about $1,300 a month '-- and many insurance companies in the United States refuse to cover the expense, primarily owing to a misunderstanding of what causes obesity and viewing the treatments as 'vanity drugs'.
''People talk about some of these drugs as being game-changers,'' says Patty Nece, chair of the board of directors of the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC), an advocacy group based in Tampa, Florida. But, she adds, ''for an individual patient, it's never going to be a game-changer if they can't afford it or don't get access to it''.
Organizations such as the OAC are pushing pharmaceutical companies to offer affordability programmes. Eli Lilly, for example, has a 'bridging programme' for Mounjaro '-- tirzepatide for type 2 diabetes '-- under which the medication can cost as little as $25 for the first three months. Novo Nordisk has a similar programme for Wegovy.
Whatever the upfront costs, some scientists stress that addressing obesity could allow health-care systems to save enormous amounts of money by reducing a slew of conditions that are linked to the disease.
Although researchers are still chipping away at obesity's complex combination of causes '-- including genetics, environment and behaviour '-- many support the idea that biology plays a significant part. Eating healthily and exercising will always be part of treatment, but many think that these drugs are a promising add-on. And some researchers think that because these drugs act through biological mechanisms, they will help people to understand that a person's body weight is often beyond their control through lifestyle changes alone. ''Tirzepatide very clearly shows that it's not about willpower,'' Gimeno says.
California's "Misinformation" Bill Has Chilling Effect on Doctors - UncoverDC
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 14:43
California's ''misinformation bill'' is now in effect, signed by Gov. Newsom in September. Assembly Bill 2098 authorizes the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California to ''designate the dissemination of misinformation of disinformation related to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus as unprofessional conduct.'' Despite growing evidence to the contrary, the bill also fails to recognize the mRNA shots as even minimally harmful or life-threatening. In fact, the misinformation bill quotes CDC data showing that ''unvaccinated individuals are at a risk of dying from COVID-19 that is 11 times greater than those who are fully vaccinated.'' You would have to twist yourself into a pretzel to believe that statement at this point. A growing body of evidence simply does not support that belief. Keep in mind Florida State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo has already recommended against the administration of mRNA shots for males ages 18-39.
The misinformation bill goes hard on vaccine disinformation and misinformation, stating it has ''weakened public confidence and placed lives at serious risk.'' As a result of ''dangerous'' information from physicians who ''engage in the dissemination of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and disinformation,'' the bill advocates for the removal of their medical licenses if they continue to spread unapproved information. ''Physicians,'' the bill continues, ''have a duty to provide their patients with accurate, science-based information.'' It is a ''public health crisis'' to have physicians practicing in ways they have freely practiced in the past. In my opinion, it is absurd to punish doctors for what amounts to educated and practiced clinical judgment, especially in light of where we are with the data found on the CDC's own website.
Many physicians are concerned about the bill's implications on health practitioners in the state. Two physicians represented by the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the Medical Board of California and the Attorney General of California. Mark McDonald, MD, a Los Angeles psychiatrist, and Jeff Barke, MD, an Orange County primary care physician, also filed ''papers seeking a preliminary injunction to protect their free speech rights as the case unfolds.'' Some attorneys believe the bill is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment. Barke says the bill is tyrannical, and a ''giant gag order to physicians,'' and many will simply move out of state'--a state that is already experiencing a ''shortage of primary care doctors.''
Dr. McCullough, who has been a fervent supporter of medical freedom and informed consent throughout much of the pandemic, believes the doctors are doing the right thing.
Drs McDonald and Barke with Liberty Justice have filed this bill against CA AB2098. McDonald is the author of "United States of Fear" and "Freedom from Fear" with Dr. McCullough back-cover. These doctors are taking the correct bold step to break this grip of totalitarianism. pic.twitter.com/g8U7IEWXtu
'-- Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH' (@P_McCulloughMD) October 5, 2022
In an interview with KUSI News in early October, Dr. Barke quoted the bill's language, concluding it sets a precedent for the country and is ''unAmerican and totalitarianism.'' He believes the bill will ''ultimately be defeated.'' Barke also says AB2098 amounts to nothing more than a dangerous precedent for the censorship of doctors.
AB2098, he states, ''says misinformation means false information that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus, contrary to the standard of care. So scientific consensus is what this bill talks about. You know, the reality is there's no such thing as scientific consensus. Unless, of course, you censor all the doctors that disagree with the government, which is exactly what they're trying to do. Science is the opposite of consensus. It's challenging consensus.''
If it is consensus that our government has been striving for, then it has done a pisspoor job. Those who have been objectively following governmental policy on the pandemic understand that COVID-19 has ushered in an unprecedented era of shifting goalposts that appear to have very little to do with ''science'' or the well-being of Americans. You name it; whether it was masks, social distancing, or lockdowns, the policy and narrative shifts have been dizzying. It really begs the question of whether some of the turbulence has been meant to keep people off balance and, therefore, fearful and controllable.
Barke reviews some of the shifting narratives below:
''A few weeks ago, we were told that it was important to mask people who are asymptomatic. Now the CDC's guidelines came out and say just the opposite. Recently, they say no longer do we need to mask or test asymptomatic people. That was the whole premise upon which the closure of schools were enacted. Meaning that we were told that children would go to school, have no symptoms, spread the virus to other kids and teachers, and then those kids and teachers would come home and kill grandma and grandpa. Now the CDC tells us that's not true, so scientific consensus changes because we challenge the consensus. And the same thing with the CDC guidelines that say vaccinated and unvaccinated are now to be treated equally, meaning that the vaccine, whether you're vaccinated or unvaccinated, you're still susceptible to getting this illness and spreading this illness.''
pic.twitter.com/kFNPtyZ5Gk
'-- Dr. Jeff Barke (@RX_forLiberty) November 2, 2022
Throughout the pandemic, Fauci often struggled to keep his story straight, with his unwavering commitment to the mRNA shots being the sole exception to the rule. Emails and the Twitter files prove that much more is happening behind the scenes to help Americans arrive at the ''approved narrative.'' Most importantly, the consequences of the ''approved'' messaging have proven to be unnecessarily harmful to many. Translated, it feels as though consensus really means whatever the government tells us to do, we should do, consequences be damned. Most sensible doctors will say that good clinical decisions are more often made when doctors challenge assumptions, engage in healthy discourse, and think outside the box.
This is the risk of California bill AB2098. Science evolves, particularly clinical science. And getting to the truth requires physicians to challenge one another. https://t.co/kjoF5T6852
'-- Dr. Drew (@drdrew) September 10, 2022
Dr. Pierre Kory, another doctor who has managed to retain independent thoughts during the pandemic, writes in his rebuttal for The Desert Review that the bill is filled with contradictions and ''absurdities.'' He points out that historically consensus for the standard of care in the health field has involved a more robust guideline that requires ''numerous studies over an average of 17 years.'' Kory continues:
''So, am I not allowed to voice an opinion until 17 years of studies pass? In a novel pandemic in which insights and data accumulate rapidly? What if I am an expert way ahead of the curve based on research I am doing and/or the ever-evolving data and insights I gain from treating patients with this novel disease? Should I be quiet for 17 years until such a time when my insights and expertise are more widely established and accepted?
How will our silence ever get us to that consensus? How will my patients fare during that time? Stay home, wait until your lips turn blue because I am not allowed to have an opinion or practice in treating you if it differs from either non-treatment or giving pathetic Paxlovid, a drug which has one mechanism of action identical to that of just one of Ivermectin's many mechanisms. This is exhausting.''
Kory believes the bill is not only absurd but it is dangerous. The bill says nothing about the millions of people saved worldwide because of early treatment with medications and nutraceuticals. With viable treatments available, the Emergency Use Authorization was illegal and should have disappeared. Safe and effective medications like Ivermectin are difficult to obtain in places like California. Honestly, it is nothing short of criminal to deny people the right to try.
Just treated another Covid patient '' fully vaxed and boosted. Once again CVS refuses to dispense Ivermectin.https://t.co/Vbu8N1AJL1
'-- Dr. Jeff Barke (@RX_forLiberty) December 29, 2022
Three Mass police officers die 'suddenly' in past week'... '' CITIZEN FREE PRESS
Fri, 06 Jan 2023 14:43
Posted by Kane on January 5, 2023 11:43 pmNEWS JUNKIES -- CHECK OUT OUR HOMEPAGE
TEXT FROM FACEBOOK PAGEThis week has been a difficult one in the Massachusetts Law Enforcement community.
Three active-duty Law Enforcement Officers, all from South Shore communities, passed away suddenly within the last seven days. One of whom, 25-year-old Officer John F. Santos of The Plymouth County Sheriff's Department, would have been a member of the Massachusetts State Police 88th Recruit Training Troop. He would have undoubtedly served a long and distinguished career with this department.
On Wednesday, December 28, 2022, Officer Santos passed away at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston after succumbing to a Brain Aneurysm. He was also a member of the United States Air Force, reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant, and served overseas in 2019. Officer Santos has a fianc(C) and an unborn son.
On Thursday, December 29, 2022, Officer Sean Besarick, a 24-year veteran of the Brockton Police Department, passed away suddenly at the age of 48-years-old. Officer Besarick was long-time member of the Brockton Community, graduating from Brockton High School in 1992 before serving in the United States Navy for six years. He became a member of the Brockton Police Department in 1998. Officer Besarick is married and has two daughters.
On Saturday December 31, 2022, Officer Christopher A. Davis, a 17-year veteran of the Stoughton Police Department, passed away at the Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton at the age of 42-years-old. He was a member of the Stoughton Police Special Operations Unit and was the department's defensive tactics instructor. Additionally, he has served as a certified arson investigator, investigating fire incidents alongside the Stoughton Fire Department since 2011. He has been awarded numerous commendations from the SPD during his 17 years of service, including a Distinguished Service Award in 2012. Officer Davis has a fianc(C) and a daughter.
ALL VIDEOS
VIDEO - Matt Gaetz Nominates Donald Trump for Speaker of the House - YouTube
VIDEO - (5) Joel Berry on Twitter: "Everything on broadcast television is paid for by Pfizer. https://t.co/uwm7IkRv6L" / Twitter
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 16:08
Joel Berry : Everything on broadcast television is paid for by Pfizer. https://t.co/uwm7IkRv6L
Sun Jan 08 03:28:14 +0000 2023
J. Toons! : @JoelWBerry This was so terrible, I had to comment twice:Absolutely bottom-of-the-barrel "entertainment" right th'... https://t.co/cQdA8pj2pK
Sun Jan 08 15:33:25 +0000 2023
Ben Masters : @JoelWBerry Haven't watched late-night TV in over a decade.
Sun Jan 08 15:13:45 +0000 2023
Multi-Task Male : @JoelWBerry The same pharmacy rep 10's that typically engage in direct sales to doctors were literally tasked to vi'... https://t.co/CnHqYBRAHi
Sun Jan 08 14:53:31 +0000 2023
Grimrod : @JoelWBerry https://t.co/tInj6UlMmn
Sun Jan 08 14:52:57 +0000 2023
RedWhiteAndScrewed : @JoelWBerry Subject matter - played, performance - cringe, writing - boring
Sun Jan 08 14:50:46 +0000 2023
Amy Neville : @JoelWBerry Who's he all prostituting for now? Clearly this isn't him being original. He's bought and paid for. Good little lemming.
Sun Jan 08 14:37:30 +0000 2023
Evil eric (checkmark) : @JoelWBerry who would watch this lol
Sun Jan 08 14:33:02 +0000 2023
thatbrian® : @JoelWBerry We are witnessing the birth of the dystopian world we read about in Jr High.
Sun Jan 08 13:41:19 +0000 2023
VIDEO - US marks Capitol attack anniversary - YouTube
VIDEO - (18) Benny Johnson on Twitter: "Absolute cringe https://t.co/anx0Pbouvp" / Twitter
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 14:39
Benny Johnson : Absolute cringehttps://t.co/anx0Pbouvp
Sat Jan 07 15:53:58 +0000 2023
In Pursuit - Sovereign Borders : @bennyjohnson He's projecting! Such divisive rhetoric.
Sun Jan 08 14:39:05 +0000 2023
jim hartley : @bennyjohnson It's show time at the Apollo
Sun Jan 08 14:39:03 +0000 2023
EazyRyder : @bennyjohnson I just say don't let it be just words that sound good, make that shit happen'...'...but like always the gov'... https://t.co/qbDNCsSqP1
Sun Jan 08 14:38:55 +0000 2023
Jay Hansen : @bennyjohnson ''Maturity'' '... remember folks he makes 170k+ per year to be ''mature''
Sun Jan 08 14:38:49 +0000 2023
Jamie : @bennyjohnson ð¤®
Sun Jan 08 14:38:47 +0000 2023
Shannon ðºð¸1776 : @bennyjohnson Too bad he doesn't believe his own bull ð'(C), gaslighter comparisons..
Sun Jan 08 14:38:20 +0000 2023
Kathy Concerned back to@Kathy Terrified6/3/21 : @bennyjohnson Jelious?
Sun Jan 08 14:38:15 +0000 2023
RC10GT : @bennyjohnson Oh you just know he was practicing that speech in front of a mirror all night.
Sun Jan 08 14:38:13 +0000 2023
Cheryl A.McLaughlin : @bennyjohnson You apparently dont listen to the Laws if the land that you place your feet in '....Thats Not Good! Farm'... https://t.co/s3iytrzn1m
Sun Jan 08 14:38:08 +0000 2023
Cl Gu : @bennyjohnson Is this guy describing the demoncrated party. He is right on. https://t.co/v99kYIkYrt
Sun Jan 08 14:37:55 +0000 2023
Super Maga Florida Old Dude : @bennyjohnson @RepJeffries sounds and acts like @BarackObama
Sun Jan 08 14:37:50 +0000 2023
Eugene Hoover : @bennyjohnson Put it to music, he's got the Obama stylin bob down pat. ð¤®
Sun Jan 08 14:37:48 +0000 2023
Jim Ragsdale : @bennyjohnson Spoke more lies in 5 minutes than a stool pigeon
Sun Jan 08 14:37:39 +0000 2023
The Last Waltz : @bennyjohnson Brilliantly stated!
Sun Jan 08 14:37:33 +0000 2023
Jana Gegone : @bennyjohnson Reverend @RepJeffries at the pulpit! Keeping stereotypes alive and well! Just missing a sweaty face r'... https://t.co/gN28EBFZav
Sun Jan 08 14:36:41 +0000 2023
Will ðºð¸ : @bennyjohnson More cringe from the Uniparty.
Sun Jan 08 14:36:32 +0000 2023
TheeMaxPower : @bennyjohnson Narcissism at it's best.
Sun Jan 08 14:36:12 +0000 2023
John W. : @bennyjohnson Reminder'... all the Dems voted for this guy to be Speaker'..... 15 times
Sun Jan 08 14:36:07 +0000 2023
JULIE GRANADOS : @bennyjohnson @bennyjohnson ...yes dear Ben, you are an absolute cringe ð¬
Sun Jan 08 14:35:33 +0000 2023
Hugh Gipinis : @bennyjohnson Everything about you is cringe. JFC
Sun Jan 08 14:35:33 +0000 2023
SpasticConiption : @bennyjohnson ''Politics, the art of words which mean nothing''. ~Jimi Hendrix
Sun Jan 08 14:35:20 +0000 2023
Dave Daley : @bennyjohnson Truth, every word. Pelosi was a great Speaker of the House but not a great speaker generally, Jeffries has no such weakness.
Sun Jan 08 14:35:18 +0000 2023
Mick : @bennyjohnson I LOVED it!
Sun Jan 08 14:35:12 +0000 2023
Jdogg : @bennyjohnson Hakeem is such a TOOL I won't even watch (ð) moving onð¤
Sun Jan 08 14:33:49 +0000 2023
redwave : @bennyjohnson https://t.co/44ug2BqKeG
Sun Jan 08 14:33:33 +0000 2023
@ELDONHOKE : @bennyjohnson Is he rapping? Lol
Sun Jan 08 14:33:22 +0000 2023
Randy Browning : @bennyjohnson He sounds like he was hit in the head at some point in his life.
Sun Jan 08 14:33:08 +0000 2023
Marla : @bennyjohnson Useless, contrived platitudes, peppered with the inevitable Trump swipe.His Obama impersonation was entertaining, though.
Sun Jan 08 14:33:04 +0000 2023
OurVoicesWILLNOTBeSilenced : @bennyjohnson He is pulling a tantrum like a 2yr old, waaa I didn't get the votes to become Speaker, as he throws h'... https://t.co/sPPVy0bVIG
Sun Jan 08 14:32:48 +0000 2023
Andrew Kennedy : @bennyjohnson He nailed it. That's the perfect description of the difference between Democrats and Republiqans.
Sun Jan 08 14:32:46 +0000 2023
Moley Russels Wart ($7.99) : @bennyjohnson affirmative action in progress. and this is the best they got lol!!!
Sun Jan 08 14:32:44 +0000 2023
Nick Hodge : @bennyjohnson If you find the ''A to Z'' speech ''cringe,'' you are exactly the problem in this country, indeed Western'... https://t.co/trsO5ulrlr
Sun Jan 08 14:32:42 +0000 2023
Theresa adeimy febles : @bennyjohnson he is disgusting vile racists!!! that speech was very easy for him to write because he and his party'... https://t.co/8IhCtfjqCj
Sun Jan 08 14:32:30 +0000 2023
LESTER CANAL : @bennyjohnson ð'(C)ð'(C)ð'(C)ð'(C)ð'(C)ð¥²ð'(C)ð'(C)ð'(C)ð'(C)ð'(C)
Sun Jan 08 14:32:19 +0000 2023
VIDEO - 16-year-old high school student dies after 'medical emergency' during flag football game
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 14:35
LAS VEGAS (KVVU/Gray News) '' A 16-year-old high school student in the south Las Vegas Valley died after a ''medical emergency'' during a sporting event Thursday night, according to the school's principal.
In a letter sent to parents Friday morning, Desert Oasis High School Principal Ian Salzman wrote, ''It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that the student passed away. The school and the entire district mourn the loss of this young life.''
He continued, writing that the student ''suffered a medical emergency during an athletic event.''
Salzman said staff immediately began rendering medical aid and continued until paramedics arrived. However, she did not survive.
The Clark County Coroner's office has identified the student as 16-year-old Ashari Hughes. Her cause and manner of death are still pending as of Friday morning.
A family member told KVVU that Hughes was playing flag football and was experiencing chest problems. She moved to the sidelines to take a break when she collapsed.
The family member also said Hughes had been having ongoing heart problems, and she was seeing a cardiologist. A doctor had cleared her to play sports, but given the ongoing issues, Hughes' family was planning on pulling her from sports to evaluate her condition.
The letter from the school principal said the district's Crisis Response Team will be available for anyone who may need their services.
A GoFundMe campaign has been created to help Hughes' family.
Hughes' death comes amid Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin's recovery after he suffered cardiac arrest on the field during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this week.
Copyright 2023 KVVU via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
VIDEO - German police arrest Iranian man for planning chemical attack | DW News - YouTube
VIDEO - Annual Event 2022 - Peter Zeihan Presentation - YouTube
VIDEO - Greater Greenville Sanitation ending recycling pickup due to cost
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 23:34
GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Greater Greenville Sanitation District is ending recycling collection in March, citing the rising cost.
Steve Cole, the executive director of Greater Greenville Sanitation, said the cost of collection and disposal for recyclable items is more than four times the cost of garbage.
The district, which provides waste management services to more than 60,000 customers, is funded by fees and property taxes.
Although recycling collection will end on Mar. 30, the district said it will not change the millage or fees that residents and businesses in the district pay. Cole said the savings from eliminating recycling pickup will be invested in automated garbage and yard waste collection equipment.
Customers can keep the blue carts or recycling dumpsters for garbage overflow if needed, or you can contact Greater Greenville Sanitation to pick up the bins.
Recycling can be dropped off at centers across Greenville County. Click here for a list of locations.
Copyright 2023 WHNS. All rights reserved.
VIDEO - Bernie's Tweets on Twitter: "AUSTRALIA - Senator Alex Antic. ''your streets are spying on you, your mobile phone is spying on you, your cities are spying on you '...don't be fooled'' SMART is the new word for control. Can you see it yet? ð--¥ h
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 15:51
Bernie's Tweets : AUSTRALIA - Senator Alex Antic. ''your streets are spying on you, your mobile phone is spying on you, your cities'... https://t.co/R9ikG743l3
Fri Jan 06 12:24:37 +0000 2023
VIDEO - WHO: Anti-Vaccine Activism Is Deadlier Than Global Terrorism | ZeroHedge
Sat, 07 Jan 2023 15:44
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,
The World Health Organization shared a video on Twitter promoting the claim that anti-vaccine activism is deadlier than global terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and gun violence.
Yes, really.
The video quoted Baylor College of Medicine's Dr. Peter Hotez, who stated, ''We have to recognize that anti-vaccine activism, which I actually call anti-science aggression, has now become a major killing force globally.''
Hotez went on to assert that 200,000 Americans died from COVID because they refused to get the vaccine, a claim that isn't backed up by any source.
''And now the anti-vaccine activism is expanding across the world, even into low and middle income countries,'' added Hotez.
''Anti-vaccine activism, which I actually call anti-science aggression, has now become a major killing force globally."- @PeterHotez, Professor and Dean @BCM_TropMed, on the devastating impact of #misinformation and disinformation. pic.twitter.com/ZluiMGJ2gX
'-- World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) December 14, 2022Once again with providing any source for his dubious claims, Hotez asserted that ''anti-science now kills more people than things like gun violence, global terrorism, nuclear proliferation or cyber attacks.''
The doctor went on to complain about how anti-vaccine skepticism had now become a ''political movement'' linked to ''far-right extremism'' in both the United States and Germany.
Hotez ominously called for ''political solutions to address this.''
Unsurprisingly, respondents to the tweet completely savaged the WHO for sharing the video, with one pointing to stats that suggest, ''Doctors and ''medicine'' kill more people than car accidents and guns.''
Doctors and ''medicine'' kill more people than car accidents and guns. YOU are killing people with ''science'' and dangerous untested drugs and vaccines. pic.twitter.com/sSGnxXNr8A
'-- Henrik Palmgren ð¸ðª á (@Henrik_Palmgren) December 23, 2022''The biggest anti-science dissemination has come from the @who when you tried to shut the world down over a mild virus with a 99.97% survival rate and for which even the most dire mortality rate was fraudulently reported (ie 'positive test'). You only have yourselves to blame,'' remarked another.
The biggest anti-science dissemination has come from the @who when you tried to shut the world down over a mild virus with a 99.97% survival rate and for which even the most dire mortality rate was fraudulently reported (ie 'positive test'). You only have yourselves to blame.
'-- banthebbc (@banthebbc) December 18, 2022''You are an absolute menace to society, Peter. Not just wrong in medicine. A menace to civilized society,'' commented lawyer Viva Frei, posting screenshots of how Hotez has continually called for the masking and vaccination of children.
You are an absolute menace to society, Peter. Not just wrong in medicine. A menace to civilized society. pic.twitter.com/n99LlCwVrc
'-- Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) December 23, 2022Despite his vehement enthusiasm for face coverings and vaccines, which he claimed stopped transmission of COVID, Hotez himself caught COVID in May last year and, of course, responded by thanking the vaccine.
Looks like I've tested positive for COVID, moderate symptoms of fatigue, headache, sore throat, isolating at home doing zoom meetings. I'm grateful to have been vaccinated/boosted, which certainly prevented more severe illness. Just started Paxlovid. Transmission up, be careful.
'-- Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) May 9, 2022Meanwhile, as we document in the video below, diehard advocates for the vaccine are now going full Jonestown with their rhetoric.
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