1528: HABIDAT

King Charles trained as an aviator and flew planes for the RAF and a helicopter for the Royal Navy in the 1970s.

He was given his pilot's wings in 1971 after graduating from Cranwell in Lincolnshire, the college where Britain's budding military pilots are trained.

The king qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1974 before joining 845 Naval Air Squadron, which operated from the Commando carrier HMS Hermes.

The monarch gave up flying in 1994 after a plane that he was piloting crash-landed on Islay, an island off the western Scottish coast.

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Dear Adam,

Just wanted to send a brief update on the Ukraine gov. overhaul as there have been some interesting developments.

The Defence Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, is out, once again because of alleged corruption claims against him. Interestingly, despite this so-called corruption, he was then offered other posts in the Ukraine government, which shows that the corruption allegations are just a front for a further US-led shuffle around Zelenskyy.

Reznikov's replacement is 37-year old Kyrylo Budanov, who was a General in the Ukrainian army and is rumored to have good connections to the Neocons in the US.

He’s also very media-friendly and has gotten a lot of attention lately, including an article in the Washington Post about him just a week ago.

Budanov has also been described as hawk-ish; he said the only way to handle this conflict is through more military force. In other words, he seems ready to fight until “the last Ukrainian”, which is naturally what the MIC and Neocons want.

It seems that this is part of the same playbook of isolating Zelenskyy further. It also doesn’t seem too outlandish to think that should Zelenskyy be removed at some point (we can't be sure that he will, he is a media hero after all), Budanov could step in and become President. Only time will tell.

But this is probably the most major development of this government purge, simply because the Defence Minister is a highly important role, particularly in wartime, and because the replacement is a young, inexperienced military person, with alleged Washington ties. It’s fishy.

All the best from sunny but icey Amsterdam!

John

Against the backdrop of the tragedy in Turkey, the world media quickly forgot that the largest air base of the Turkish Air Force, Incirlik, is located in the earthquake zone. In its underground bunkers at least 50 B61 tactical nuclear bombs belonging to the USA.

Adam

I was thinking more about Southwest dropping the de facto requirement that new pilots earn a lot of turbine time at what would typically be a regional airline, before applying to Southwest due to the pilot shortage. This is a great example of how Schumer's upping of minimum airline pilot hours from 500 to 1500 actually can make things less safe. Now because that created a huge shortage Southwest has to actually lower their own standards which previously exceeded even the new Schumer legal requirement. I was just watching FOX get it wrong without knowing the context of how it came to this. Their story was “Southwest can’t hire because of their missteps” which is totally unrelated. My sources say they have dozens of planes sitting around doing nothing because of a lack of pilots during much of last year and through till now.

The pilot ladder system is now completely broken with a pilot with 1500 hours of any type able to go to basically any pilot job. How do they expect any pilots to take lower paid jobs flying small planes to small cities? That’s all getting wiped out.

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A King Air twin turbo counts. But Cessnas don’t except a few models. I’m not even sure Piper has a turbine. But turbines aren’t really used in flight training so essentially you had to have 1500 + 1000 = 2500 to be a Southwest pilot in most cases. Now you will probably see turboprops more in flight schools so they can go to Southwest right at 1500 hours of which 500 is turbine.

Bottom line, increased experience rules have decreased experience in the largest airplanes. It’s really become a trade. Pilots in small regional airlines now have triple the hours they used to need (more experience) and pilots flying larger planes with more lives at stake de facto have less experience. Totally F’ed up.

INSANE: Project Veritas Board of Directors REMOVES James O’Keefe and Puts Him on Paid Administrative Leave

In the morning gents. The refrigerant industry is pushing for 410A refrigerant (which is used in almost all cooling & heat pump units) is being discontinued and industry is wanting to move towards R32 as the replacement. What people may not know is R32 is a part of 410A. It’s 50/50 mixture of R125 & R32. This hydrogen fluoride that was the explosion is the R32 side of the mixture. Compare it to gas and kerosene. If LP(liquid propane) & NG (natural gas) are the gasoline then R32 is like kerosene. While talking with a colleague as they are the engineer over the project here at our company; he agreed this is not the best route to take for home owners as like kerosene it burns hotter and longer than gasoline. Soon 410 will be replaced with 32. We will soon be testing this in the near future unless something changes. But this article is very helpful in showing the dangers we will be facing. Btw 410 is nonflammable.

Anyway, worthless listener’s thoughts & hope to be “Cook Knight of the Camaros”.

But I have a very long road ahead. Keep up the great work and keep up the great work.

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Thermometer doesn't change?

ITM gentlemen,

I have been vegetarian, now vegan, for about 25 years. I don't eat eggs because most chickens are inhumanely treated and ultimately killed when less productive. I do believe (LOL) that eggs are unhealthy. This will leave plenty of eggs for others to use Mimi's recipes for.

Vegans will not "be all in" on eating lab grown meats. Obtaining the cells to grow the meat will either require inhumanely killing animals or routinely jabbing them. I do believe that meat is also unhealthy.

I vill never eat ze bugs. I also avoid fake meats. I am perfectly happy and healthy eating beans, grains, vegetables, seeds and fruits.

Thank you for your courage,

Scott.

recent internal research conducted by Google found that

among users aged 18 to 24, almost one out of two first go to TikTok or

Instagram to obtain information rather than Google Search. Studies on the

educational aspect of SVAs are becoming more frequent, as well as those

regarding creative skill sharing (Zhou, 2019). Linke (2022) shows how

TikTok is suitable for short learning videos (learning nuggets) and how this

may be employed for informal learning.

In addition to the previously mentioned findings of users preferring video

as a news source over reading (Cornia, 2022), the convenience of using

TikTok anytime and anywhere is becoming an essential motivation for

educational content as well, as has been confirmed by a study on students

using TikTok for learning English Vocabulary

ITM Adam,

Just wanted to pass along this notice my parents received when they moved to California via the CCPA of California Consumer Privacy Act. (Save the puppies) Data collection such as your religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs, PREDISPOSITIONS, website interaction, geolocation, genetic information, audio, olfactory and thermal data, on and on. I just don’t think most people are aware of the disturbing depth of data collected.

TYFYC,

Zack

Why are scientists worried?

Revelations about the spread of avian flu at a Spanish mink farm in October are raising alarm. The mink were infected with an H5N1 variant known as 2.3.4.4b, which was discovered in 2020 and has since made its way around the world. While it is not uncommon for mammals to catch avian flu after direct contact with infected birds, the mink farm showed evidence of transmission between the mink themselves, "unprecedented among mammals," Columbia University professor Zeynep Tufekci wrote at The New York Times.

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Archived Version

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 18:20

Commentary By Johnathan Jones February 8, 2023 at 12:09pm Ratings-challenged CNN brought HBO's Bill Maher into its Friday night lineup last week and still managed to get crushed by Fox News host Greg Gufeld.

The network had been weighing the addition of a ''comedian'' to liven things up as it continues to struggle with its declining presence in the cable news landscape, Semafor reported last month.

However, there was nothing funny about how poorly the gimmick performed for CNN and its new boss, CEO Chris Licht.

That is, unless you are part of the growing portion of the population that has tuned out the network and its brand of cynicism and disinformation.

Maher's popular ''Overtime'' segment generally airs on YouTube on Fridays after his ''Real Time'' show wraps up on HBO.

On Friday, the segment aired for 14 minutes during the second hour of ''CNN Tonight.''

The results: The dominant ''Gutfeld!'' on Fox News did not skip a beat as Maher was a flop.

The ratings for 11:30 p.m. ET to 11:44 p.m. ET on Friday showed the HBO host failed to make an impact in both total viewers and in the key 25-54 demographic sought after by advertisers.

Maher's segment attracted just 401,000 viewers to CNN and only 92,000 in the demo, according to Nielsen.

Do you find Gutfeld funny?

Yes: 91% (849 Votes)

No: 9% (83 Votes)

In contrast, during that same time, ''Gutfeld!'' bagged more than 2 million viewers '' and 370,000 in the demo.

The initial failure of adding Maher to the struggling network is laughable, but most certainly not in the way CNN's leadership had hoped.

The network came up with the idea of getting into the business of comedy last month, Semafor's Max Tani reported.

''CNN is considering hiring a comedian to host one of its primetime shows,'' Tani said.

Citing five people familiar with the plan, he wrote that such a person could ''fill the primetime 9 to 11 p.m. hours with a nontraditional version of the news.''

Tani added, ''CNN executives have floated names including Bill Maher, Trevor Noah, Arsenio Hall, and Jon Stewart, and have looked at other comedic news-focused talk shows for inspiration.''

CNN decided to try out Maher for a 14-minute segment '-- and it failed to make an impact of any real substance.

Ratings for the second hour of ''CNN Tonight'' on Friday were more or less in the same basement where they usually reside.

The program generally attracts between 250,000 to 350,000 people on any given night. That is well below Fox News overall and barely competitive with MSNBC in the demo.

Gutfeld's show, meanwhile, leads not only cable news during the 11 p.m. ET hour but also regularly beats late-night shows on ABC, CBS and NBC.

SummaryMore Biographical Information Recent Posts ContactJohnathan Jones has worked as a reporter, an editor, and producer in radio, television and digital media.

Johnathan "Kipp" Jones has worked as an editor and producer in radio and television. He is a proud husband and father.

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Archived Version

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 17:47

Volodymyr Zelenskyy used a historic speech in the UK's Houses of Parliament to praise King Charles's support for Ukraine, referring to the monarch's own air force training to tell parliamentarians that in his country every pilot is a ''king''.

The Ukrainian leader showed his knowledge of the king's own Royal Air Force flying experience, as he told the assembled audience in Parliament that he wanted to tell the monarch something ''very, very, very important''.

''In Britain, the king is an air force pilot and in Ukraine today, every air force pilot is a king,'' he said, to applause.

King Charles shook the hands of Mr Zelenskyy during their meeting at Buckingham Palace, telling him: ''We've all been worried about you and thinking about your country for so long.''

King Charles trained as an aviator and flew planes for the RAF and a helicopter for the Royal Navy in the 1970s.

He was given his pilot's wings in 1971 after graduating from Cranwell in Lincolnshire, the college where Britain's budding military pilots are trained.

The king qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1974 before joining 845 Naval Air Squadron, which operated from the Commando carrier HMS Hermes.

King Charles III meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Buckingham Palace. Getty

He was given command of his own ship, the minehunter HMS Bronington, for the final 10 months of his active service in the Royal Navy which ended in 1976.

King Charles was appointed to the rank of Marshal of the RAF in 2012, the highest rank in the British Royal Air Force.

He also ascended to the position Air Commodore-in-Chief of the RAF following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.

King Charles last visited the Cranwell in 2008 for the Duke of Cambridge's graduation ceremony, when Prince William became the fourth successive generation of the monarchy to become an RAF pilot.

The monarch gave up flying in 1994 after a plane that he was piloting crash-landed on Islay, an island off the western Scottish coast.

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to train Ukrainian pilots, paving the way for them to potentially be able to fly sophisticated Nato-standard jets in the future.

Mr Zelenskyy used his speech to call for a coalition of nations to supply planes.

He said: ''I appeal to you and the world with simple and yet most important words: combat aircraft for Ukraine, wings for freedom.''

Updated: February 08, 2023, 5:10 PM

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Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:43

U.S. Northern Command (NORCOM) released the first photos of efforts to recover a Chinese spy balloon on Monday evening, days after it was shot down near the Carolinas.

Photos captured by U.S. military personnel show forces attempting to recover debris from the balloon on Sunday evening. A large piece of the balloon itself was seen being pulled onto a small boat by sailors.

According to captions of the photos, sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 were deployed to recover the balloon near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Over the weekend, local officials told residents to avoid touching the balloon should pieces of it wash up on shore, after it was shot down by an F-22 Raptor fighter jet on Saturday afternoon.

NORCOM also released images of the F-22 that was used to shoot down the Chinese military craft. The Pentagon previously confirmed that the jet took off from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia to carry out the mission.

Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Feb. 5, 2023 (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson) Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 are seen working to recover the balloon near South Carolina's coast on Feb. 5, 2023. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)Unnamed ''senior government sources'' told Fox News that once recovered, the balloon will be sent to the FBI's facility in Quantico, Virginia, for further analysis. The Epoch Times has contacted the bureau for comment.

The head of NORCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) on Monday said the balloon was about 200 feet in height and weighed thousands of pounds.

''The balloon assessment was up to 200 feet tall for the actual balloon,'' Gen. Glen VanHerck told reporters, according to a transcript released by the Pentagon. ''The payload itself, I would categorize that as a jet airliner type of size, maybe a regional jet such as [an] ERJ or something like that. Probably weighed in access of a couple thousand pounds.''

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flies over a debris field during recovery efforts of a high-altitude surveillance balloon on Feb. 4, 2023. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Jerry Ireland) Sailors are seen attempting to recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)VanHerck then explained why the U.S. military did not shoot down the balloon when it was first discovered last month near Billings, Montana. Soon after it was located, there were widespread calls to take it down.

''Picture yourself with large debris weighing hundreds if not thousands of pounds falling out of the sky,'' VanHerck said. ''That's really what we're kind of talking about.''

Sailors are seen attempting to recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)The general also noted that there was a ''domain awareness'' of the balloon as it approached Alaska. ''It was my assessment that this balloon did not present a physical military threat to North America,'' VanHerck added Monday. ''This is under my NORAD hat and therefore, I could not take immediate action because it was not demonstrating hostile act or hostile intent.''

U.S. defense and military officials said Saturday that the balloon entered the U.S. air defense zone north of the Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28 and moved over land across Alaska and into Canadian airspace in the Northwest Territories on Jan. 30. The next day it crossed back into U.S. territory over northern Idaho. U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic.

In another portion of his briefing, VanHerck asserted that Chinese spy balloons transited over the United States under the Trump administration, a claim that was denied by former President Donald Trump and former members of his administration.

China claims it was a civilian balloon used for meteorological research but has refused to say to which government department or company it belongs. U.S. officials, however, denied those claims and said that it was a surveillance balloon.

What's more, VanHerck told reporters that there may have been explosives on the aircraft, saying that factored into his decision not to shoot it down over U.S. territory.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday it was imposing a temporary security zone in the waters off Surfside Beach, South Carolina, in the area where the balloon was shot down.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:41

The project was announced on 17 November 2011 at the Third Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum in Istanbul. On 26 December 2011, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a consortium to build and operate the pipeline.At first, a film dedicated to TANAP project was demonstrated. In the film, it was emphasized that TANA...

The pipeline cost US$8.5 billion. $800 million of funding was approved by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The capacity of the pipeline is 16 billion cubic metres (570 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per year at initial stage and would be increased later up to 23 billion cubic metres (810 billion cubic feet) by 2023, 31...

The TANAP pipeline passes through 20 provinces of Turkey '' Ardahan, Kars, Erzurum, Erzincan, Bayburt, G¼m¼ÅŸhane, Giresun , Sivas, Yozgat, Kırşehir , Kırıkkale, Ankara, Eskişehir, Bilecik, K¼tahya, Bursa, Balıkesir, ‡anakkale, Tekirdağ and Edirne. The pipeline will start from Sangachal terminal and in territory of Azerbaijan it will be the expansion...

The TANAP is operated by SOCAR. SGC holds 58% stake in the project. Turkey's pipeline operator BOTAŞ own 30%, while BP acquired 12% in the project on March 13, 2015.TANAP is headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. Initially, Azerbaijan had held an 80% stake, with Turkey owning the remainder. The Turkish stake was divided between the Turkish upstream compa...

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Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:41

Officials are reviewing plans to evacuate up to 50 U.S. nuclear bombs that have long been stored at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey in the wake of Ankara's military offensive in northern Syria, according to a report.

The weapons are now essentially being held "hostage" by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a senior official told The New York Times on Monday.

The Cold War-era B61 nuclear bombs are said to be located 100-250 miles from the Syrian border, according to The Guardian. A former U.S. official told the outlet that Turkish diplomats responded to suggestions about moving the bombs by saying Turkey would start to develop its own.

"The potential problems have been discussed for over a decade," the former official said. "And now we've finally gotten to a point where this is a problem that we can't ignore anymore."

TURKISH-BACKED FORCES COME 'VERY CLOSE' TO US TROOPS IN SYRIA, OFFICIAL SAYS

Erdogan has previously expressed a desire to boost Turkey's nuclear arsenal.

''Some nations have missiles with nuclear warheads '-- not just one or two. But [they say] I should not have missiles with nuclear warheads. I don't accept this," Erdogan said last month, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

President Trump announced on Oct. 6 that the U.S. would pull all troops from northeast Syria, clearing the way for a Turkish air and ground incursion. Erdogan's troops launched an assault on Wednesday and ground forces invaded later that day.

The Pentagon said Friday that U.S. troops near the border town of Kobane in northern Syria came under artillery fire from Turkish positions. No American troops were injured.

In an interview with Fox News, a senior adviser to Erdogan denied that Turkey had fired at U.S. troops.

''I think this is a first '-- a country with U.S. nuclear weapons stationed in it literally firing artillery at U.S. forces,'' said Jeffrey Lewis, from the California-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, The Times reported.

In this image provided by Hawar News Agency, ANHA, U.S. military vehicles travel down a main road in northeast Syria on Oct. 7. U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces in Syria said American troops began withdrawing Monday from their positions along Turkey's border in northeastern Syria, ahead of an anticipated Turkish invasion that the Kurds say will overturn five years of achievements in the battle against the Islamic State group. (ANHA via AP)

Trump said Monday that U.S. troops in northeastern Syria will be withdrawn from the country as planned and redeployed ''in the region to monitor the situation and prevent a repeat of 2014,'' when the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS) made major territorial gains.

TRUMP SAYS US TROOPS IN SYRIA TO BE WITHDRAWN, REDEPLOYED IN REGION

"After defeating 100% of the ISIS Caliphate, I largely moved our troops out of Syria. Let Syria and [President Bashar al] Assad protect the Kurds and fight Turkey for their own land," the president tweeted Monday. "I said to my Generals, why should we be fighting for Syria [...] and Assad to protect the land of our enemy? Anyone who wants to assist Syria in protecting the Kurds is good with me, whether it is Russia, China, or Napoleon Bonaparte. I hope they all do great, we are 7,000 miles away!"

A ''small footprint'' of American forces will remain at a garrison in southern Syria to continue to disrupt remnants of ISIS, the president said in a statement. It wasn't clear when the roughly 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria would be pulled back.

Russian military forces on Monday went to patrol near the Syria-Turkey border, indicating that Moscow is looking to fill a security vacuum following U.S. troops' withdrawal from the region last week.

RUSSIAN MILITARY PATROLLING SYRIA-TURKEY BORDER AS US TROOPS OFFICIALLY WITHDRAW

Trump said in his statement Monday that the U.S. would "aggressively use economic sanctions to target those who enable, facilitate and finance these heinous acts in Syria."

"I am fully prepared to swiftly destroy Turkey's economy if Turkish leaders continue down this dangerous and destructive path," he said.

On Monday, European Union member countries vowed to suspend weapons exports to Turkey over its military operations in Syria. The move falls short of a formal arms embargo but halts arms export licenses to the Middle Eastern nation.

EU COUNTRIES PLEDGE TO SUSPEND ARM EXPORTS TO TURKEY OVER SYRIA INCURSION

E.U. member countries denounced Ankara's incursion into northern Syria, which has killed hundreds and displaced thousands.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson, Lucia I. Suarez Sang and Louis Casiano contributed to this report, as well as The Associated Press.

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Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:26

Bloomberg is reporting that 55 members of the staff at Crooked Media, the podcast network behind Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It, have unionized through the Writers Guild of America.

In a letter to management that Bloomberg obtained, staff say they're looking for a more ''equitable'' workplace that provides transparency around promotion requirements and salary, as well as prioritizing diversity in hiring. They also told Bloomberg that return-to-office requirements haven't applied to all staff equally, which they'd like to see change.

A Crooked Media spokesperson told Bloomberg the company has ''consistently supported and amplified the power of organized labor and welcome our employees' efforts to unionize. We look forward to working together on the request for recognition and starting the collective bargaining process.''

Read the full Bloomberg story HERE

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Archived Version

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:22

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Archived Version

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 15:38

THE NFL has ramped up security in Phoenix, Arizona, ahead of Super Bowl LVII.

The Championship game takes place on Sunday, February 12, which just so happens to be the final day of the Phoenix Open - further adding to the hoards of sporting fans swarming the city.

3

State Farm stadium has a capacity of just shy of 64,000 3

A Chinese surveillance balloon recently caused outrage after being spotted over South Carolina Credit: ReutersAs if that wasn't enough to stress out law enforcement, this all comes a matter of days after a Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, by an F-22 fighter jet.

According to a recent report by Fox affiliate based in Philadelphia WTXF, the Super Bowl is "considered a special national security event, the highest federal designation for security there is."

The Multi-Agency Coordination Center is being run by the Department of Homeland Security.

The Center currently houses members of "the local, state, and federal law enforcement."

Come game day, "nearly 1,000 officers" from "at least two-dozen agencies" will be spread around the city, according to CBS.

But manpower is far from their only tool.

The vicinity around the stadium is also a no-drone zone, while US Customs and Border Protection Agents will have access to multiple helicopters.

Alex Zamora of the CBP told WTXF that they have at their disposal "three Blackhawks, two A-Stars, one MEA - which is a Multi Enforcement Aircraft - and then one (Bell) 206, and we're looking [at] about 50 agents that will be down here."

There are also cameras dotted around the stadium site both inside and outside the venue itself, while "five miles of fencing and two million pounds of concrete barriers are already in place," per CBS.

For anything or anyone that does make it into the stadium, first, they'll have to be screened.

Homeland Security Special Agent Scott Brown told CBS: "Everything going into the stadium gets screened, be that people, be that goods, be that the merchandise that's going in to be sold including the foods."

Around 1million people are expected to make their way to Phoenix this week as a result of both the Super Bowl and the PGA Tour.

3

The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles at Super Bowl LVII Credit: Reuters

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Archived Version

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 14:56

Legislation that would eliminate a requirement that most foreign travelers arriving in the U.S. be vaccinated against COVID-19 passed the House Wednesday.

Under the requirement imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), all adult visitors who are not citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. are required to show proof of COVID vaccination before boarding their flight to the country.

The legislation passed on a mostly party-line vote of 227-201. Seven Democrats joined all Republicans voting in favor.

''This policy is out of touch with the rest of the world,'' Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee, said on the floor during debate.

Ending the requirement ''will align the United States with the rest of North America's COVID-19 vaccine policy for people coming into the country and recognize COVID-19 is an endemic'--rather than a pandemic,'' Guthrie said.

Democrats argued the legislation doesn't allow for any future mandates if cases rise or the virus mutates, putting more people at risk.

''This is dangerous and ties the hands of our public health experts to the political whims of the most ideologically extreme in a way that makes our nation less safe and more vulnerable in the future,'' said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

The bill, from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), would also prevent the CDC from implementing any similar mandates to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

Massie, who has said he is not vaccinated, has long questioned the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines, including by exaggerating the side effects.

The Biden administration in June dropped its requirement that people arriving in the country by air must test negative for COVID-19, but the CDC vaccination requirements remain. Experts noted that the testing requirement did not seem to be serving much purpose, given that COVID-19 is already circulating widely within the United States.

The CDC says vaccines continue to be the most important public health tool for fighting COVID-19 and recommends all travelers be vaccinated.

In a statement, the White House said it was reviewing the policy as part of its preparation to end the pandemic public health emergency, and opposed rescinding it without a scientific review.

''The President issued this Proclamation based on advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As we approach the end of the public health emergency, the Administration will review all relevant policies, including this one,'' the White House said. ''Just as the establishment of this public health policy was guided by science, any termination or modification of this policy should be as well. A vote for this bill undercuts that critical principle.''

White House spars with GOP senator on Social SecurityTrump's last Defense secretary takes on the 'American war machine'The travel industry had lobbied to remove the requirement, saying it was an unnecessary obstacle to visitors.

''Every day this policy remains in place encourages some travelers to avoid the U.S., costing us valuable visitor spending and delaying our efforts to reignite inbound travel,'' Tori Emerson Barnes, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy at the U.S. Travel Association, said in a statement.

''The U.S. is the only country that still has this requirement for international visitors when there is no longer any public health justification.''

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Thu, 09 Feb 2023 14:46

For decades, the gender of God has prompted debate within the Church, with many calling for male pronouns He and Him, as well as reference to Our Father, to be scrapped in favour of either gender neutral or female alternatives.

Now, in what would mark a departure from centuries of tradition, bishops are to launch a project ''on gendered language'' referencing God in church services later this year.

The move has been criticised by conservatives, who have warned that ''male and female imagery is not interchangeable''. However, liberal Christians have welcomed it, claiming that ''a theological misreading of God as exclusively male is a driver of much continuing discrimination and sexism against women''.

Details of the plans emerged in a written question to the Liturgical Commission, which prepares and promotes forms of service and religious worship in the Church, at General Synod, the Church's lawmaking body, which is sitting this week.

Any permanent changes or rewriting of scriptures with gendered language would have to be agreed by a future meeting of Synod.

'Develop more inclusive language'The Rev Joanna Stobart, from the Diocese of Bath and Wells, asked what steps were being taken to offer congregants alternatives to referring to God with male pronouns and if there was any update ''to develop more inclusive language in our authorised liturgy''.

She also asked bishops ''to provide more options for those who wish to use authorised liturgy and speak of God in a non-gendered way, particularly in authorised absolutions where many of the prayers offered for use refer to God using male pronouns''.

In response, the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Rev Michael Ipgrave, replying as vice-chairman of the Liturgical Commission, said: ''We have been exploring the use of gendered language in relation to God for several years, in collaboration with the Faith and Order Commission.

''After some dialogue between the two commissions in this area, a new joint project on gendered language will begin this spring.''

The precise details of the project remain unknown, with Dr Ipgrave declining to comment further.

Prof Helen King, the vice-chairman of the Synod's gender and sexuality group, said: ''Questions around gendered language and God have been around for decades, if not centuries, but still have the power to bring out strong reactions.

''For some, God as father is helpful because of their own positive experiences of a loving parent. For others, God as father may reinforce a bad experience of a strict disciplinarian as their father. If we dig deeper, clearly God is not gendered, so why do we restrict our language for God in gendered ways?''

A spokesman for Women and the Church, a national campaign group for gender equality in the Church of England, also welcomed the move ''to look at the development of more inclusive language in our authorised liturgy''.

'God is not sexed, unlike humanity'However, the Rev Ian Paul, a member of the General Synod and the Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, warned against any departure from the original scriptures, saying: ''The use of male pronouns for God should not be understood as implying that God is male '' which is a heresy. God is not sexed, unlike humanity.

''The Bible uses feminine imagery and metaphors of God, but primarily identifies God using masculine pronouns, names, and imagery. Male and female imagery is not interchangeable.

''The fact that God is called 'Father' can't be substituted by 'Mother' without changing meaning, nor can it be gender-neutralised to 'Parent' without loss of meaning. Fathers and mothers are not interchangeable but relate to their offspring in different ways.

''If the Liturgical Commission seeks to change this, then in an important way they will be moving the doctrine of the Church away from being grounded in the Scriptures.''

A spokesman for the Church of England said: ''This is nothing new. Christians have recognised since ancient times that God is neither male nor female, yet the variety of ways of addressing and describing God found in scripture has not always been reflected in our worship.

''There has been greater interest in exploring new language since the introduction of our current forms of service in contemporary language more than 20 years ago.

''As part of its regular programme of work for the next five years, the Litrugical Commission has asked the Faith and Order Commission to work with it on looking at these questions. There are absolutely no plans to abolish or substantially revise currently authorised liturgies, and no such changes could be made without extensive legislation.''

The news comes amid tensions within the Church of England as the Synod prepares for a historic vote on blessings for same-sex couples later this week.

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Archived Version

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 14:31

One of GB News's leading presenters has quit after the channel tried to make him personally responsible for paying fines issued by the media regulator Ofcom.

Mark Steyn, who presented the station's 8pm peak-time slot, is already subject to two investigations by the media regulator after he used his show to cast doubt on the safety of Covid vaccines.

The presenter's departure has led some viewers of GB News '' which has given airtime to conspiracy theorists warning of a globalist elite takeover '' to suggest the channel has itself sold out to shadowy globalist forces.

Steyn, who has been off-air since last year after suffering two heart attacks, told fans on his personal website that the station bosses initially insisted he could not return unless a defibrillator was fitted in the studio.

He said this was fixed with a call to ''Defibrillators R Us'', only for Angelos Frangopoulos, GB News's chief executive, to demand Steyn agree to personally cover the costs of dealing with Ofcom and paying any fines for breaches of the broadcasting code. This is a highly unusual situation given the fines are the legal responsibility of the broadcast licence holder, not the individual presenter.

Steyn, who was employed on a freelance basis, said his response was that ''you may be a homicidal maniac intent on bringing on a third fatal heart attack but you'll have to do better than this''.

The presenter said he used to call GB News's in-house compliance officer ''Ofcom's bitch'' when they argued about what he was allowed to say on air.

''Well Ofcom's bitch has had his revenge now,'' said Steyn in his video.

Steyn said the proposal would be untenable. ''I'm on the hook for Ofcom fines but I don't have any say in our defence against an Ofcom complaint '' that's all done by GB News. Ofcom's bitch, as I call the compliance officer, will be making the weedy defence to Ofcom and then I'm the one who has to pay the £40,000 fine,'' he added.

Although Ofcom has the ability to regulate the content of broadcast television and radio channels, it has no control over online streams '' meaning Steyn is able to broadcast whatever he wants online to a potentially bigger audience without any intervention.

The contractual terms offered to Steyn suggest GB News bosses are concerned about the impending judgment in the Ofcom investigations '' which could scare away some of its remaining advertisers. Earlier this year all staff were put on mandatory Ofcom training.

Bosses are also warning of a tough financial environment, with the channel now financially supported by Sir Paul Marshall, the Brexiter hedge fund tycoon who also backs Unherd, and Legatum, the Dubai-based investment company founded by the New Zealand billionaire Christopher Chandler.

On Monday Frangopoulos told staff that the channel would be ''pivoting sharply towards financial sustainability and profit'', meaning cuts to the number of freelance shifts, reductions in taxi bills and cuts to the amount of money paid to guests. Despite the tough trading conditions, they have still signed up new presenters including Jacob Rees-Mogg and John Cleese.

The channel said: ''GB News takes Ofcom compliance extremely seriously. All our presenters are expected to comply fully with the broadcast code and there are no exceptions. This does not impinge on our ability to ask tough questions, express strong opinions and debate the issues that matter to the people of Britain.''

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Archived Version

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 03:23

Recently passed legislation might have been spurred by supply chain disruption and surveillance concerns enabled by Chinese-made cranes. Viti / Getty ImagesThe 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in late December 2022 was filled with a host of military-related cybersecurity provisions. One little-noticed provision in the bill called for a study of cybersecurity and national security threats posed by foreign-manufactured cranes at United States ports.

Under this provision, the Maritime Administrator, working with Homeland Security, the Pentagon, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is required to conduct a study to assess whether foreign manufactured cranes at United States ports pose cybersecurity or national security threats. It must be completed by late December 2023 and submitted to the Senate Commerce and Armed Services committees and House Transportation and Armed Services committees.

Crane security study origins unclearLittle information is available on why this study appeared in the NDAA or why a study of port crane security was deemed critical enough to include in the annual must-pass legislation. However, the study could be a concession to Representative Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), who introduced a bill last year, H.R.6487, the Port Crane Security and Inspection Act of 2022, that died in committee.

Gimenez's bill limited the operation at US ports of foreign cranes made by US adversaries. It required CISA to inspect foreign cranes before they are placed into operation for potential security vulnerabilities and assess the threat posed by security vulnerabilities on existing or newly constructed foreign cranes. Gimenez's bill also called for CISA to report to Congress about critical and high-risk security vulnerabilities posed by foreign cranes at US ports. Gimenez's office did not respond to requests for comments on his bill or the NDAA-mandated study.

FBI boarded Chinese ship in a mysterious incidentConcerns about cybersecurity at the nation's increasingly digitized ports have been rising for years. As far back as 2013, a Brookings study concluded that the cybersecurity awareness and culture level in US port facilities was low and that basic cybersecurity hygiene measures were missing in most ports. Of the ports studied by the Brookings researchers, only one had conducted a cybersecurity vulnerability assessment, and none had developed a cyber incident response plan.

In 2015, cybersecurity firm CyberKeel, now owned by Improsec, warned that 37% of maritime companies with Windows web servers weren't adequately installing security patches from Microsoft. Earlier in 2015, US Coast Guard officials reported that interference with GPS signals disrupted operations for seven hours at a significant, unidentified east coast port, affecting four cranes.

In a barely noticed incident on September 15, 2021, FBI counterintelligence agents conducted a search of the Chinese merchant ship Zhen Hua 24 that delivered four "Neo-Panamax" port container cranes to Baltimore harbor. The agents were said by informed sources to have uncovered intelligence-gathering equipment on the ship during the search, but no details are available about what specific equipment they discovered.

Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company Limited, or ZPMC, manufactured the four cranes. ZPMC is the most prominent crane maker, boasting an 80% global market share. ZPMC's US offices did not answer questions about the NDAA study or the FBI incident. Likewise, the FBI declined CSO's request for an interview regarding the incident.

Cybersecurity concerns center on crane communicationsGiven the digitized nature of modern cranes, the NDAA study could have its origins in fears that the costly (typically starting at $15 million) and all-important port machines could come equipped with destructive malware or be vulnerable to malicious cyber incidents. But experts say it is more likely that the concern stems from the communications technology that controls the cranes' operations.

"Without the intent of the client or the asset owner, some of these systems could be communicating outbound to possibly even the internet knowingly or unknowingly," Marco Ayala, global director, ICS cybersecurity and sector lead, 1898 & Co., tells CSO. "If there is a possibility of 'E.T. phone home' or some type of beacon or communication link that could give a command, a control capability, to a foreign adversary, whether that is for financial gain or just to create a logistics nightmare," that could create incredible bottlenecks at US ports, potentially causing substantial economic damage.

Cameras on cranes could be ''surveillance tools''Steve Gyurindak, CTO of network and operational technology at Armis, tells CSO that Chinese cranes, including the ZPMC cranes, might be under scrutiny because they come equipped with Chinese-made cameras that have "basically been branded surveillance tools" by the US government. Gyurindak was referring to a new rule issued in July 2020 by the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council that federal agencies can't "enter into a contract (or extend '... a contract) with an entity that uses any equipment, system, or services that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services as a substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system.''

Among the equipment banned under the new rule are video surveillance and telecommunications equipment produced by Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, Dahua Technology Company, or any subsidiary or affiliate of these companies. "I would think if anything on the Chinese ship, the FBI was looking at the cameras," Gyurindak says. "The Chinese have invested a lot of money in using video for intelligence."

Supply chain disruption fears could be the impetusPatrick Miller, president and CEO of Ampere Industrial Security, thinks it isn't "out of the realm of possibility" that China could be using port cranes for surveillance. They could be "trying to gather as much manifest information on what is coming in and out of America as possible," he tells CSO. "That would fit very well into their standard mode of operations and their motives."

But, "I honestly think one of the bigger drivers behind [port crane cybersecurity fears] is we rely so much on trade through ports, and people in America freak out when there's a supply chain issue," Miller says. "If there were an attack on the ports in any way, shape, or form, that would be yet another reason for a supply chain problem."

Port operational technology should be part of cybersecurity discussionsCranes are emblematic of the uneasy mix of internet and operational technologies (OT) characteristic of most ports. "For us, all this part of the port infrastructure is something that should be considered when conducting a risk assessment and identifying proper mitigation controls," Athanasios (Thanos) Drougkas, cybersecurity expert at European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), tells CSO. "For us, it's the starting point and where we see cranes in this whole process

Drougkas is encouraged by the NDAA-mandated study. "I'm very happy to see that operational technology is becoming more and more a part of cybersecurity discussions," he says. "We're happy to see that national authorities all over are actually picking up on this."

Copyright (C) 2023 IDG Communications, Inc.

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Archived Version

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 22:13

Grammy winner Sam Smith, 30, was slammed by various Twitter users on Sunday for their ''satanic'' awards show performance which was followed by an ad for Pfizer and further triggered outrage.

Smith, alongside Kim Petras, performed their chart-topping song ''Unholy'' during the 65th Grammy Awards which had both singers and their backup dancers clad in blood-red devil-esque costumes.

The nonbinary singer rocked red high-heeled boots and leather pants and a crimson shirt with a matching collar. Later, they wore a top hat with horns and completed the look with a cane.

Petras, 30, spent the performance in a little red dress while performing in a cage surrounded by whip-wielding backup dancers.

At the beginning of their act, Smith is seen crouching in the center of several ''Grudge''-like dancers.

The duo's performance was immediately followed by a sponsorship ad from Pfizer, which made headlines after the CDC announced it was conducting an investigation as to whether or not that company's COVID-19 vaccine increased the risk of stroke for people over 65.

The Grammy's featured Sam Smith's demonic performance and was sponsored by Pfizer.And the Satanic Church now has an abortion clinic in NM that requires its patients to perform a satanic ritual before services.

American Christians need to get to work.

pic.twitter.com/0dZ5g6ZM5S

'-- Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) February 6, 2023Smith, alongside Kim Petras, performed their chart-topping song ''Unholy'' during the 65th Grammy Awards. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy The nonbinary singer rocked red high-heeled boots and leather pants. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy''The Grammy's featured Sam Smith's demonic performance and was sponsored by Pfizer,'' tweeted conservative politician Marjorie Taylor Greene. ''And the Satanic Church now has an abortion clinic in NM that requires its patients to perform a satanic ritual before services.''

''American Christians need to get to work,'' concluded the politician.

''Hollywood freaks still thinking they're so edgy with their Satanic-themed performances,'' tweeted former talk show host Stephanie Hamill.

Petras, 30, performed in a cage surrounded by whip-wielding backup dancers. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy Conservative politician Marjorie Taylor Greene called out the singer's performance. Other users slammed the advertiser for ''sponsoring'' a satanic performance.Another Twitter user condemned the sponsorship of the medical company during the award show.

''Sam Smith has a SATANIC Grammys performance & it's sponsored by Pfizer,'' slammed the user. ''You can't make this stuff up.''

''Sam Smith's satanic performance at the Grammy's ended with a Pfizer commercial,'' said another user. ''You can't get it more on the nose than that. Pfizer and Hollywood deserve each other.

Later in the night, both Petras and Smith '-- who both were still clad in crimson '-- won the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Grammy for the song.

''I'm the first transgender woman to win this award,'' said an emotional Petras. ''I want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open.''

Link to Article

Archived Version

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 22:07

Disgruntled migrants fed up with the Big Apple's crime and grime are taking off to the Great White North '-- on bus rides paid for by New York taxpayers, The Post has learned.

National Guard soldiers have been helping distribute tickets at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan to migrants who want to head upstate before crossing into Canada, several migrants said.

Venezuelan native Raymond Pe±a and his family arrived at a gas station bus stop in Plattsburgh, NY '-- about 20 miles south of the Canadian border '-- at 4 a.m. Sunday.

''The military gave me and my family free bus tickets,'' Pe±a said. ''I am going to Canada for a better quality of life for my family.''

A National Guard source confirmed that soldiers at the bus terminal were directing migrants to workers who hand out the free tickets.

Mayor Eric Adams' administration pays various companies that run programs for migrants that include ''re-ticketing'' so they can travel to other cities, a City Hall source said.

Various nonprofits, including Catholic Charities, also help migrants who want to flee Gotham, the source said.

Migrants are taking off for Canada after getting fed up with New York accommodations. Dennis A. ClarkA spokesperson for Catholic Charities Community Services said it's helped ''thousands of new migrants,'' including some who ''reported their desire to relocate to other cities, and Catholic Charities provided some assistance for their travel expenses.''

Destinations are limited to within the US due to restrictions that prohibit the migrants from leaving the country while on immigration ''parole'' pending the outcome of asylum proceedings, a source said.

But word has spread among the migrant community that Canada '-- where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has touted the country's ''proud and longstanding tradition of welcoming people seeking safety'' '-- is the place to go.

National Guard soldiers have been helping distribute tickets at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Dennis A. Clark Migrants walk 100 feet to the Canadian border. Dennis A. Clark Advertisement

''The military gave me and my family free bus tickets,'' one migrant said. Dennis A. Clark Migrants leave New York for a better life for their family. Dennis A. Clark Advertisement

Migrants routinely tear up their American immigration documents while traveling from Plattsburgh to the Canadian border, with The Post seeing scraps of paper with references to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the floor of a shuttle van.

The van '-- which has the word ''Frontera,'' Spanish for ''border,'' painted on its sides '-- is one of three operated by ''Chad's Shuttle Services.''

Driver Tyler Tambini, whose girlfriend's brother owns the company, said passengers arrive like clockwork on the five buses from New York City that stop in Plattsburgh each day.

''There's gotta be 100 people a day,'' said Tambini, 23. ''I do this all day. They get dropped off and I take them the rest of the way.''

Tambini said his employer charged single migrants $40 to $50 each and families $90. Taxi drivers, who charge single migrants $70 each, compete for business by rushing to the buses to solicit passengers and help them with their luggage.

The Post accompanied several groups of migrants who rode Tambini's van from the Mountain Mart gas station to a cul-de-sac at the end of rural Roxham Road, just steps from the Canadian border.

After trudging north along a snow-covered path and through a break in a concrete barrier, the migrants were stopped by Mounties stationed in an elaborate complex of metal sheds.

''You have entered into Canada. You are under arrest,'' a Mountie said. ''Take everything from your pockets and put it in your bags '-- only 'dinero' [Spanish for 'money'] in your pockets.''

Mounties then escorted the migrants up an enclosed ramp and into a shed for processing.

Peruvian native Susy Sanchez Solzarno, 33, crossed from Roxham Road into Canada with her husband and two daughters early Friday after one of the girls, 15, saw a video of other migrants doing it on TikTok.

Solzarno said the family entered the US from Mexico in December and later spent about a month in a Marriott hotel in Queens that's being used as an emergency shelter.

Bus passengers arrive like clockwork on the five buses from New York City that stop in Plattsburgh each day. Dennis A. Clark Some migrants were stopped by Mounties stationed in a complex of metal sheds. Dennis A. Clark''I wanted to live in New York because I thought it would be a better future for my daughters,'' she said. ''But as the days went by, I saw insecurity, many homeless people, many people who shout and are disrespectful, and many people on drugs.''

Solzarno said she sold candy in the subway system for almost two weeks to pay for their trip.

''I am going to Canada for the safety and future of my girls,'' she said. ''I only ask God that everything goes well and that Canada is not like the United States.''

Venezuelan native Manuel Rodon, 26, who arrived in Plattsburgh around 4 a.m. Saturday, said he decided to leave the city after getting ''kicked out'' of the Row NYC hotel near Times Square and relocated to a homeless shelter in Brooklyn.

Rodon described the shelter as ''OK'' except for the American residents.

''A lot of the Americans used drugs there,'' he said. ''I feel like Canada will be safer. It is a much quieter country than America.''

Rodon, who crossed the border about an hour after getting to Plattsburgh, said he knew eight other Venezuelans who'd made the same trip.

''They all got free tickets, too. It was the same process,'' he said. ''It took them three days through customs. They are all safe. They live in Montreal.''

Rodon, a painter and construction worker, said that ''all the information is on social media'' and that he hoped to quickly get a work permit in Canada.

''It is very difficult to get papers in America,'' he said. ''I need to work, so I am going to Canada.''

Under US rules, migrants can't apply for work permits until 30 days after formally seeking asylum and aren't eligible for permits for another 150 days after that.

Adams has called for the White House to speed up that process and to grant the city $1 billion in emergency aid to help provide migrants with housing and other services, which the mayor has said could cost double that amount.

''The military gave me and my family free bus tickets,'' one migrant said. Dennis A. ClarkLast month, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to commit to fully granting Adams' request, saying only that unspecified new funding would be ''available to border cities and those cities receiving an influx of migrants.''

But Hizzoner pressed President Biden for a meeting on the subject after the president held a news conference in Manhattan last week, a source said at the time.

As of Wednesday, an estimated 43,900-plus migrants had flooded into the city since the spring, with more than 28,400 living in 83 hotels and five ''Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers'' established in larger hotels and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

Asked for comment on the bus tickets, Adams' press secretary, Fabien Levy, said: ''As we have said since the beginning of this crisis, our goal is help connect asylum seekers who want to move to a different location with friends, family, and/or community and, if needed, re-ticket to help get people to their final destination, if not New York City.''

City Hall did not respond to questions about the cost of the ''re-ticketing.''

A spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul said neither the state nor the National Guard was paying for bus tickets, and referred The Post to the city for additional information.

''At the request of the city, National Guard members have been deployed to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, where they greet people upon arrival, answer questions and direct them to services, including transportation options that they seek,'' said spokesperson Hazel Crampton-Hays.

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Archived Version

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 21:28

Dozens of giant turbines on Scotland's windfarms have been powered by diesel generators, the Sunday Mail can reveal. Scottish Power admitted 71 of its windmills were hooked up to the fossil fuel supply after a fault developed on the grid.

The firm said it was forced to act in order to keep the turbines warm during very cold weather in December. But a whistleblower has told the Sunday Mail the incident is among a number of environmental and health and safety failings.

The worker, who asked to remain anonymous, said: ''The Scottish Government wants to make our country attractive to foreign investors as 40 per cent of the wind that blows across Europe blows across Scotland. However, that should not mean we put up with our waterways and nature being polluted with carbon from diesel generators and hydraulic oil.

Read MoreRelated Articles 15 energy suppliers ranked from best to worst - from Scottish Power to SSERead MoreRelated Articles The 'damp' TikTok trend explained - and how it can improve your drinking habits''People should be aware that, while their energy costs continue to rise, our windfarms are not operating as efficiently as they could be due to corporate greed.''

Labour's South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth said: ''The SNP and Greens have proven time and time again they cannot be trusted on environmental issues. They laud Scotland's potential for renewables, yet don't appear to ensure those already in existence are properly run. This isn't the first problem raised about this site and there is concern at a lack of openness when problems arise.

"Whatever the reasons, having to use diesel generators to de-ice faulty turbines is environmental madness. This level of dishonesty cuts to the very core of the SNP and Green Government where their rhetoric on net zero is very different from the reality."

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with Ignacio Galan, CEO of Scottish PowerSixty turbines at Arecleoch Wind farm and 11 at Glenn App near Cairnrayn in South Ayrshire were affacted and connected to six huge diesel generators. The windfarms are operated by Scottish Power Renewables, a subsidiary of Spanish-based Iberdrola, which operates 1183 onshore turbines which can produce enough electricity to power two million homes.

But the whistleblower revealed how they had to bring in generators after the issue was discovered.

The worker said: ''During December 60 turbines at Arecleoch and 11 at Glenn App were de-energised due to a cabling fault originating at Mark Hill wind farm. In order to get these turbines re-energised diesel generators were running for upwards of six hours a day.''

He also claimed there had been other technical issues and environmental problems discovered. They include:

Turbines left operating on half power for long periods due to faulty convertor modules. Others in ''test mode'' where they take rather than contribute electricity to the grid. Over 4000 litres of oil leaked from hydraulic units on turbines and sprayed over the countryside. Concerns about safety standards and transparency. The whistleblower said: ''Turbines are regularly offline due to faults where they are taking energy from the grid rather than producing it, and also left operating on half power for long periods due to parts which haven't been replaced.

"Dirty hydraulic oil is also regularly being sprayed out across the Scottish countryside due to cracks in mechanisms. Safety standards have not improved since a worker was killed in 2017 at Kilgallioch wind farm.''

Labour South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth called the diesel move "madness"We revealed last year how the chairman of ScottishPower, Spaniard Ignacio Galan, earned over £11million in 2021. He took home the massive package as millions of customers face being plunged into poverty by rocketing fuel costs.

A spokesman for Scottish Power confirmed diesel generators were used for a ''short period of time'' due to an ''external fault on the GB network'' which left three windfarms unable to operate during extreme cold weather in December. The spokesman insisted that diesel was not being used to generate electricity through the blades.

He added: ''For context, Scottish Power measures the availability of its 1183 onshore turbines and looks at the percentage of time each turbine is ready and available to produce green energy, in 2022 this reliability figure was 96 per cent.''

He insisted that convertor modules had been replaced on turbines at Arecleoch and Mark Hill following technical issues.

The spokesman added: ''All turbines across the entire energy industry use a small amount of electricity for their systems. Every wind turbine includes safety and monitoring systems that automatically detect any faults, including hydraulic systems.

''Any issues are minimised and dealt with promptly by our maintenance teams to the highest standards of environmental protocols. The health, safety and welfare of employees, contractors and members of the public, and the protection of business assets and operational capability, are our top priorities.

''As one of the greenest electricity producers in the UK we only generate 100per cent renewable electricity, operating thousands of turbines and producing enough clean energy to power two million homes every year. Regular and ongoing inspection and maintenance of our power assets takes place every day across our fleet in line with industry standards, and we comply with all regulatory requirements if our wind farms are not available to produce electricity for the GB grid.''

60 turbines failed at Arecleoch and needed diesel assistanceIn relation to the collapse of a turbine at Kilgallioch windfarm, he added: ''All relevant bodies were informed of the incident within the required timeframes.''

The £2million structure collapsed in 2017 during a storm. And it later emerged that Scottish Power had failed to alert the public to the incident for seven days.

Scottish Power was accused of ''unfettered profiteering'' after the energy giant raked in £924.6 million in profits during the first six months of 2022. The profits were announced as the cost of electricity and gas has soared plunging thousands of Scots into fuel poverty.

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At the time Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: ''How's that for trickle-down economics? Billion of pounds are being handed over from Scottish Power to Iberdrola in Spain.

"Trickle down from Scotland to Spanish shareholders. Proof that government trickle down policies are doomed to fail.''

Galan, the CEO of ScottishPower's parent company Iberdrola, once appeared before Spain's High Court in relation to allegations that he spied on the chairman of Real Madrid. He gave testimony behind closed doors over whether Iberdrola hired police chief turned private detective Jose Manuel Villarejo.

It was alleged he breached the privacy of Real's Florentino Perez when his construction company ACS was fighting for a seat on Iberdrola's board in 2009. The court closed the case in June without further action.

However, it can be reopened on appeal. Galan denied any wrongdoing and the matter was dismissed with regards to him in June of last year.

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Read next: Can you refuse entry to an energy company debt collector? Your rights explained

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Archived Version

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 21:27

Advertisement OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.

Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command, revealed some chilling details on Monday about the Chinese spy balloon.

During a call with reporters, he revealed that the balloon carried explosives to destroy itself, was 200 feet tall, weighed thousands of pounds, and its payload was the size of a jetliner.

''Because the president decided they wouldn't shoot it down until he could do so safely, and that meant over water, that afforded us a terrific opportunity to gain a better understanding, to study the capabilities of this balloon,'' he told reporters on a call.

Advertisement

''His description followed a briefing by National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who defended President Joe Biden's decision to wait and shoot down the Chinese craft until it was over South Carolina's coastline on Saturday,'' the Daily Mail reported. ''Biden ordered the balloon shot down Wednesday, but the U.S. military held off until Saturday, with the Air Force sending an F-22 fighter jet armed with an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile to do the job.''

Chinese spy balloon carried EXPLOSIVES to destroy itself https://t.co/KVTjD3vlws pic.twitter.com/z17RSt5Duk

'-- Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) February 6, 2023

A former top U.S. Army general had harsh words for the way President Joe Biden handled the situation with a Chinese spy balloon caught traversing the upper and central United States last week.

Former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army and retired four-star General Jack Keane blasted Biden for not taking action sooner, allowing the balloon to drift over the breadth of the country before ordering it shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.

Keane made his remarks during an interview with Fox News after the balloon was splashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

''Remember, this was approaching the United States over water,'' he said. ''It was approaching the Aleutian Islands over water. And we had plenty of opportunity to take it down then. And that's when it should have happened. We had to be tracking it from mainland China across the Pacific Ocean, and we had plenty of warning to put together an operation that we are conducting now on the east coast that should have been done there.''

WATCH:

Here is a partial transcript:

ARTHEL NEVILLE, FOX NEWS HOST: Yeah, I heard your last point there. And I want to say, as we're watching this exclusive coverage of this Chinese spy balloon going down there over Surfside Beach, South Carolina, if you could talk to us about what happened in terms of coordinating this to get to this point now, General Keane.

GENERAL JACK KEANE: Well, we've had all of our sensors watching this, you know, for some time. And certainly our military capability that was going to be involved got alerted. People have been planning it likely for a couple of days. I'm assuming the president, you know, made a decision within the last 24 hours to take this out. They probably presented him with a number of options of where the best place to do it, certainly heading to the East Coast, which is considerably more populated than Montana was. It was probably ruled out that they would do anything over land. If they weren't willing to do it over Montana, they're certainly not going to do it on the East coast of the United States or in transit to the East Coast. And they're taking advantage of obviously doing this safely in terms of civilians.

And it's not a complicated operation, I don't believe, for the United States military to take a balloon moving at the speed it's moving at and bring it down. So the coordination to do that and the intelligence to bring all of that together is not a major problem for us at all. Now, can we recover the sensor package? That's going to be iffy, given the size of this thing and how much it weighs. But nonetheless, we finally did what we should have done at the beginning. Remember, this was approaching the United States over water. It was approaching the Aleutian Islands over water.

And we had plenty of opportunity to take it down then. And that's when it should have happened. We had to be tracking it from mainland China across the Pacific Ocean, and we had plenty of warning to put together an operation that we are conducting now on the east coast that should have been done there.

Meanwhile, China reacted angrily to the downing of the balloon, claiming in a diplomatic statement following the shoot-down that Beijing could ''respond further,'' The New York Post reported.

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 21:26

Donald Trump, who ripped through the 2016 presidential field with attacks on his rivals, reposted images of a young Ron DeSantis allegedly partying with high school teens and adding his own mocking commentary.

'That's not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The post linked to a Truth Social Account that grabbed a digital image of a young man with a bowl haircut who appears to be DeSantis surrounded by three young women.

One of them, who has her arm around the now-Florida governor, is smiling and appears to be holding a brown glass bottle.

The hit comes as DeSantis has been rising in the polls and lining up influential supporters.

To drive home the point, Trump also re-posted a message by a user named Dong-Chan Lee, who wrote that 'Ron DeSantis was having a "drink" party with his students when he was a high school teacher. Having drinks with underage girls and cuddling with them certainly look pretty gross and ephebophiliaesque,' a term relating to attraction to adolescents.

'No way?' wrote Trump on Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump reposted a commenter on his Truth Social site who linked to a 2021 blog post alleging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis allegedly partying with high school seniors when he was a teacher at a Georgia boarding school

Neither post contains evidence that the girls pictured were underage, or establishes that anyone photographed was illegally consuming alcohol. DailyMail.com has not been able to verify the provenance of the photos.

Lee describes himself as a 'paleoconservative' and Trump supporter.

The image, which blurs the identity of the people surrounding DeSantis, appears to come from a 2021 blogpost by HILLREPORTER.com. The post cites a 'whistleblower' who said the girls pictured 'are believed to have graduated in 2002, making them seniors at the time.'

DeSantis, 44, taught history and government at the Darlington School in Rome, Georgia, during the 2001-2002 year.

He was fresh out of Yale at the time, and students described him as smart, 'smug,' charismatic, and a 'jock.'

The New York Times made reference to the blog post in its own article about DeSantis' time at the school, neither confirming nor knocking down the details of the incident.

'Last year, Hill Reporter, a blog put out by a Democratic super PAC, published a photograph of Mr. DeSantis taken with several female students from Darlington in 2002, one of whom was holding what appeared to be a bottle of beer,' according to the paper.

'Two former students, both women, remembered him attending at least two parties where alcohol was served, but they said that the parties took place after graduation and that they were not bothered by his presence at the time, although they question it now.

'It was his first job out of Yale, he was cute. We didn't really think too much about it,' one of the former students said, according to the Times.

Trump has repeatedly taken credit for DeSantis' 2018 Florida win. DeSantis led him in a head-to-head matchup in a poll out Monday. Trump trashed the Club for Growth, who commissioned the survey

Trump posted the image a second time, adding mockingly: 'He would never do such a thing.'

DeSantis taught at the Darlington School in Rome, Georgia, after attending Yale University

Trump's attacks come as DeSantis has been rising in the 2024 polls for the Republican presidential nomination, and days after the Florida governor referenced attacks against him in a press conference.

'I roll out of bed, I have people attacking me from all angles, it's been happening for many, many years. When you're an elected executive, you have to make all kinds of decisions. You got to steer that ship,' he said.

'And the good thing is, is that the people are able to render a judgment on that '-- whether they re-elect you or not,' he said.

'And I'm happy to say, you know, in my case, not only did we win re-election, we won with the highest percentage of the vote that any Republican governor candidate has in the history of the state of Florida,' he said '' pointing to a feat, reelection, that Trump himself did not achieve.

It comes a day after a new Club for Growth poll shows DeSantis leading Trump by nine points in a head-to-head matchup.

Trump also attacked the conservative group, calling it the 'Club for NO Growth' and 'an assemblage of political misfits, globalists, and losers' who 'fought me incessantly'.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the DeSantis campaign for comment.

The 'groomer' attack on DeSantis, even lacking evidence, could have added sting, since DeSantis' office characterized opponents of his 'don't say gay' bill as 'groomers,' prompting backlash at the time.

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 21:23

Hacking. Disinformation. Surveillance. CYBER is Motherboard's podcast and reporting on the dark underbelly of the internet.

Dutch police have cracked another encrypted phone company, this time reading messages from, and then shutting down, ''Exclu,'' according to announcements from the police and Dutch prosecution service .

The news demonstrates law enforcement agencies' continued targeting of the encrypted phone industry, part of which has served organized criminal syndicates for years. The Dutch police specifically have been behind many of these hacks and shutdowns, working on other investigations into companies such as Ennetcom and Sky .

''Our application has multiple use cases. Use it for encrypted chat or mail communication and store your files and notes locally in the encrypted and compartmented vault,'' Exclu's website reads. ''Our communication platform has integrated the most sophisticated encryption protocols in the world to ensure no one gets access to your data.''

Do you know anything else about Exclu? Were you a user or administrator of the service? We'd love to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, or email joseph.cox@vice.com.

In the announcements, Dutch authorities said they had been able to read Exclu messages over the last five months. Authorities estimated Exclu had around 3,000 users, with 750 of those speaking Dutch. Haroon Raza, a Dutch defense attorney, told Motherboard many of his clients used Exclu.

On Friday, police in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and elsewhere performed 79 searches and made 49 arrests. Those arrests include users and the owners and administrators of Exclu itself, according to the announcements. Italy, Sweden, and France were also involved in the investigation, according to the announcements.

Motherboard sent a request for comment to Exclu through its website and did not receive a response.

The encrypted phone industry is one deeply intertwined with organized crime. Sometimes, as Motherboard has previously revealed , the companies are created and run by drug traffickers. In other cases, the companies start as legitimate businesses before deliberately serving the criminal market. In 2018, the FBI arrested Vincent Ramos, the CEO of a company called Phantom Secure, after an investigation in which Ramos suggested to undercover agents posing as drug traffickers that he made the product for their line of work. In Exclu's case, ''The providers of this service are suspected of facilitating other criminals as a criminal organization,'' according to the announcements.

The announcement adds that users of Exclu who can invoke legal privilege, such as lawyers, can contact the authorities who will then, ''if justified,'' delete their data. The Dutch authorities in particular have previously read the messages of defense lawyers , including Raza's.

Subscribe to our cybersecurity podcast, CYBER. Subscribe to our new Twitch channel.

ORIGINAL REPORTING ON EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS IN YOUR INBOX.

By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 21:22

Microsoft's new ChatGPT-powered Bing experience will be available today for everybody as a ''limited preview'' on desktop. You'll have a limited number of queries that you can use with it, but you will be able to sign up for full access soon.

If you visit Bing.com, you may see some example searches that you can try out, if it shows you the new interface. Clicking on them will lead you to a Bing search page with traditional results on the left, and a chat window on the right with the AI-generated answer. Until you have full access, you won't be able to ask follow-up questions or clarify the results. Searching for your own query will give you Bing's traditional search results, despite the homepage using the new chat-style UI.

A preview of what the chat tool will look like. Screenshot: Mitchell Clark / The Verge

You can join the waitlist here, and Microsoft says you'll get higher priority if you sign in with your Microsoft account, set Microsoft defaults on your PC, and download the Bing app. According to an FAQ, you'll get an email when you're through the waitlist and can access the new chat experience.

The company expects to roll out access to millions of people within the coming weeks, as well as to roll out a mobile version of the experience. In a blog post about the rollout, Microsoft says it's ''excited to put the new Bing and Edge into the real world to get the critical feedback required to improve our models as we scale.''

The waitlist page shows some examples of what you can use the tool for, such as asking it to create a three-course vegetarian menu for six people with a chocolate dessert or to find an all-wheel drive car that seats six and has a sub-six-second 0''60 time.

Some of the example queries you can try right now. I've heard Florida's lovely this time of year. Screenshot: Mitchell Clark / The Verge

To enable Bing's AI-powered features, Microsoft's working with OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot. However, Microsoft claims that it's using a ''next-generation OpenAI large language model'' that's even ''more powerful than ChatGPT.''

With the new Bing, users can input queries up to 1,000 words long and receive annotated AI-generated answers that will appear alongside regular search results from the web. Microsoft's also adding a way to refine these results using a new built-in chatbot on Bing.

The company made the announcement as part of its surprise press event on Tuesday, where it also revealed news about an AI-powered ''copilot for the web'' that will appear on Microsoft Edge. The tool can perform a variety of tasks while you're using the browser, such as summarizing a PDF that you're viewing, generating code, and even creating a post on social media.

Microsoft announced the news just one day after Google revealed that it's working on a similar AI-powered tool called Bard. The two companies are currently engaged in a heated battle over the future of AI, and this is likely just the beginning.

Related:

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 20:29

The House committee is questioning Twitter executives on the company's 2020 decision to block users from sharing a New York Post story on Hunter Biden. (Video: The Washington Post)

clock icon Updated 4 min ago

A congressional hearing Wednesday represents a moment of political reckoning more than two years in the making '-- and a chance for the House's new Republican majority to use its investigative powers to embarrass both President Biden and Big Tech, with an assist from their new ally Elon Musk.

The House Oversight Committee is grilling three former Twitter executives on the company's 2020 decision to block users from sharing a controversial New York Post story about Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and the scandalous contents of a laptop that allegedly belonged to him. That decision, which Twitter later reversed, has become the right's go-to example of what it views as anti-conservative ''censorship'' by Silicon Valley social media firms '-- even though the company's leaders have long since agreed it was a mistake.

Live contributors End of carousel Republicans tussle with ex-Twitter lawyer over his refusal to answerReturn to menuRepublican lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee took umbrage at former Twitter deputy general counsel James Baker's refusal to answer their questions after asserting attorney client privilege on Wednesday.

After Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asked about internal communications at Twitter about staffers' interactions with federal agencies, Baker said he could not answer because the information was ''covered by the attorney-client privilege'' with the social network.

Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) disputed the claim, telling Baker he was ''overruled'' because he was testifying under subpoena and that Congress does not recognize the privilege he asserted.

Return to menu Technology news analysis writer One voice that has been conspicuously absent from today's proceedings: that of Elon Musk.

The billionaire's purchase of Twitter, criticism of its policies, ouster of its executives, and commissioning of the ''Twitter files'' led inexorably to the hearing, at which multiple Republicans said, ''God bless Elon Musk." But Musk himself has been silent, aside from a cryptic Tuesday tweet:

Going forward, Twitter will be broadly accepting of different values, rather than trying to impose its own specific values on the world

'-- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2023AOC: GOP's real aim is to ''bully and harass'' social media moderatorsReturn to menuFor some Democratic lawmakers, the real unanswered question of this hearing is not why Twitter temporarily blocked the Hunter Biden laptop story. It's the question of what their Republican counterparts stand to gain from dredging up a two-year-old content moderation decision made by a group of executives who have already acknowledged it was a mistake.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) offered her theory. Speaking to reporters during a recess, she accused Republicans of convening the hearing to ''bully and harass'' the witnesses so that in the future platforms might leave up potentially harmful content instead of restricting it. ''I really struggle to see what the other aim here is, because the Republican Party is providing no other aim,'' Ocasio-Cortez said.

Democrat accuses GOP of holding hearing to fundraise '-- on TwitterReturn to menuA Democrat accused Republicans on the House Oversight Committee of hauling in former Twitter executives to help drive fundraising, including on the social network itself.

''It seems to me that we're having these hearings so that people can beat their chests about Hunter Biden, maybe do some fundraising, get some headlines and ironically post those on Twitter,'' Rep. Greg Casar (D-Tex.) said.

The comment was the latest barb traded between lawmakers during the contentious hearing, during which Republicans accused Twitter of unfairly removing conservative content and Democrats blasted it for catering to figures on the right and enabling incitement of violence ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Return to menu Tech newsletter reporter anchoring The Technology 202, focusing on politics and policy. The House Oversight Committee gaveled its hearing with former Twitter staffers back into session just past 2 p.m. on Wednesday, after a sudden power outage in the congressional office building brought the proceedings to an abrupt halt.

''I apologize. We've never had this happen. The electricity went out,'' said Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the panel.

How Twitter protected its speech policies from politicsReturn to menuAn exchange between Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Twitter's former trust and safety head Yoel Roth got at an important point about Twitter's organizational structure: The teams responsible for enforcing its rules on what users can say were not the same ones responsible for government relations.

Donalds pressed Roth on how much contact there was between his team and the Biden presidential campaign. Roth replied that he didn't know. When Donalds responded incredulously, Roth explained, "The people who interfaced with the campaigns were not part of my team or organization."

Republicans, aided by Musk, accuse Big Tech of colluding with DemocratsReturn to menuConservatives have long argued that Silicon Valley favors Democrats by systematically suppressing right-wing viewpoints on social media. These allegations have evolved in nearly a half-decade of warnings, as politicians in Washington and beyond fixate on the industry's communications with Democratic leaders, seeking to cast the opposing party as against free speech.

The Twitter Files show no evidence of such a plot. Conservative influencers and stories from conservative platforms regularly draw a massive audience on social media. But this hearing is the latest effort to advance an increasingly popular Republican argument.

Return to menu Technology policy reporter The hearing will now resume at 2 p.m. because power has been restored, a committee aide said. The House Recording Studio is working on getting video up and running again, the person added.

Tumult as blackout pauses Twitter hearingReturn to menuAudible gasps rang out in the room as the lights and power shut off completely during a hearing with former Twitter executives in the Rayburn House Office Building, before partially returning seconds later.

Leaders on the House Oversight Committee quickly huddled on the dais to chart their next steps, as some members expressed confusion and dismay, with one unidentified lawmaker remarking that they had never gone through anything similar in over a decade on Capitol Hill.

Within minutes a handful of U.S. Capitol Police officers trickled into the room as congressional aides and security officials tried to determine the extent of the power outage and the potential cause. A committee aide told The Washington Post that power had gone out in one of the quadrants in Rayburn, with computers and lights down in some congressional offices.

Return to menuRep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the committee chair, says the hearing will be on recess until 2:30 p.m., following a power outage that has interrupted an official feed of the hearing.

Return to menu Tech newsletter reporter anchoring The Technology 202, focusing on politics and policy. The lights have partially returned in the room, as power outages impacted a floor in the Rayburn House Office Building.

A committee aide told The Post that the power went down in a quadrant of the Rayburn House Office Building. Some of the computers and lights in the building went off, and the WiFi temporarily went down, the person said.

Trump asked Twitter to remove Chrissy Teigen tweetReturn to menuWitnesses told Rep. Connolly (D-Va.) on Feb. 8 that President Trump asked Twitter to remove posts from Chrissy Teigen after an online dispute in 2020. (Video: The Washington Post)

The Twitter hearing Wednesday revealed one eye-opening detail: former president Trump's White House asked Twitter to remove a 2019 tweet from the model and internet personality Chrissy Teigen making fun of him.

In September 2019, Trump tweeted that Teigen was ''filthy mouthed'' and attacked Teigen's husband, the musician John Legend, for not giving Trump more credit for signing a criminal justice reform bill into law. Teigen, who has 12 million followers, tweeted in response that Trump was a ''p---y a-- b---h.''

Return to menuThe hearing is temporarily in recess after the lights went out and WiFi stopped working, delaying a line of questioning about Twitter's handling of content related to Iran.

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 16:15

''Biden's decision to sabotage the pipelines came after more than nine months of highly secret back and forth debate inside Washington's national security community . . .''NORD STREAM

The U.S. Navy's Diving and Salvage Center can be found in a location as obscure as its name'--down what was once a country lane in rural Panama City, a now-booming resort city in the southwestern panhandle of Florida, 70 miles south of the Alabama border. The center's complex is as nondescript as its location'--a drab concrete post-World War II structure that has the look of a vocational high school on the west side of Chicago. A coin-operated laundromat and a dance school are across what is now a four-lane road.

The center has been training highly skilled deep-water divers for decades who, once assigned to American military units worldwide, are capable of technical diving to do the good'--using C4 explosives to clear harbors and beaches of debris and unexploded ordinance'--as well as the bad, like blowing up foreign oil rigs, fouling intake valves for undersea power plants, destroying locks on crucial shipping canals. The Panama City center, which boasts the second largest indoor pool in America, was the perfect place to recruit the best, and most taciturn, graduates of the diving school who successfully did last summer what they had been authorized to do 260 feet under the surface of the Baltic Sea.

Last June, the Navy divers, operating under the cover of a widely publicized mid-summer NATO exercise known as BALTOPS 22 , planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning.

Two of the pipelines, which were known collectively as Nord Stream 1, had been providing Germany and much of Western Europe with cheap Russian natural gas for more than a decade. A second pair of pipelines, called Nord Stream 2, had been built but were not yet operational. Now, with Russian troops massing on the Ukrainian border and the bloodiest war in Europe since 1945 looming, President Joseph Biden saw the pipelines as a vehicle for Vladimir Putin to weaponize natural gas for his political and territorial ambitions.

Asked for comment, Adrienne Watson, a White House spokesperson, said in an email, ''This is false and complete fiction.'' Tammy Thorp, a spokesperson for the Central Intelligence Agency, similarly wrote: ''This claim is completely and utterly false.''

Biden's decision to sabotage the pipelines came after more than nine months of highly secret back and forth debate inside Washington's national security community about how to best achieve that goal. For much of that time, the issue was not whether to do the mission, but how to get it done with no overt clue as to who was responsible.

There was a vital bureaucratic reason for relying on the graduates of the center's hardcore diving school in Panama City. The divers were Navy only, and not members of America's Special Forces Command, whose covert operations must be reported to Congress and briefed in advance to the Senate and House leadership'--the so-called Gang of Eight . The Biden Administration was doing everything possible to avoid leaks as the planning took place late in 2021 and into the first months of 2022.

President Biden and his foreign policy team'--National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and Victoria Nuland, the Undersecretary of State for Policy'--had been vocal and consistent in their hostility to the two pipelines, which ran side by side for 750 miles under the Baltic Sea from two different ports in northeastern Russia near the Estonian border, passing close to the Danish island of Bornholm before ending in northern Germany.

The direct route, which bypassed any need to transit Ukraine, had been a boon for the German economy, which enjoyed an abundance of cheap Russian natural gas'--enough to run its factories and heat its homes while enabling German distributors to sell excess gas, at a profit, throughout Western Europe. Action that could be traced to the administration would violate US promises to minimize direct conflict with Russia. Secrecy was essential.

From its earliest days, Nord Stream 1 was seen by Washington and its anti-Russian NATO partners as a threat to western dominance. The holding company behind it, Nord Stream AG , was incorporated in Switzerland in 2005 in partnership with Gazprom, a publicly traded Russian company producing enormous profits for shareholders which is dominated by oligarchs known to be in the thrall of Putin. Gazprom controlled 51 percent of the company, with four European energy firms'--one in France, one in the Netherlands and two in Germany'--sharing the remaining 49 percent of stock, and having the right to control downstream sales of the inexpensive natural gas to local distributors in Germany and Western Europe. Gazprom's profits were shared with the Russian government, and state gas and oil revenues were estimated in some years to amount to as much as 45 percent of Russia's annual budget.

America's political fears were real: Putin would now have an additional and much-needed major source of income, and Germany and the rest of Western Europe would become addicted to low-cost natural gas supplied by Russia'--while diminishing European reliance on America. In fact, that's exactly what happened. Many Germans saw Nord Stream 1 as part of the deliverance of former Chancellor Willy Brandt's famed Ostpolitik theory , which would enable postwar Germany to rehabilitate itself and other European nations destroyed in World War II by, among other initiatives, utilizing cheap Russian gas to fuel a prosperous Western European market and trading economy.

Nord Stream 1 was dangerous enough, in the view of NATO and Washington, but Nord Stream 2, whose construction was completed in September of 2021 , would, if approved by German regulators, double the amount of cheap gas that would be available to Germany and Western Europe. The second pipeline also would provide enough gas for more than 50 percent of Germany's annual consumption. Tensions were constantly escalating between Russia and NATO, backed by the aggressive foreign policy of the Biden Administration.

Opposition to Nord Stream 2 flared on the eve of the Biden inauguration in January 2021, when Senate Republicans, led by Ted Cruz of Texas, repeatedly raised the political threat of cheap Russian natural gas during the confirmation hearing of Blinken as Secretary of State. By then a unified Senate had successfully passed a law that, as Cruz told Blinken, ''halted [the pipeline] in its tracks.'' There would be enormous political and economic pressure from the German government, then headed by Angela Merkel, to get the second pipeline online.

Would Biden stand up to the Germans? Blinken said yes, but added that he had not discussed the specifics of the incoming President's views. ''I know his strong conviction that this is a bad idea, the Nord Stream 2,'' he said. ''I know that he would have us use every persuasive tool that we have to convince our friends and partners, including Germany, not to move forward with it.''

A few months later, as the construction of the second pipeline neared completion, Biden blinked. That May, in a stunning turnaround , the administration waived sanctions against Nord Stream AG, with a State Department official conceding that trying to stop the pipeline through sanctions and diplomacy had ''always been a long shot.'' Behind the scenes, administration officials reportedly urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, by then facing a threat of Russian invasion, not to criticize the move.

There were immediate consequences. Senate Republicans, led by Cruz, announced an immediate blockade of all of Biden's foreign policy nominees and delayed passage of the annual defense bill for months, deep into the fall. Politico later depicted Biden's turnabout on the second Russian pipeline as ''the one decision, arguably more than the chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan, that has imperiled Biden's agenda.''

The administration was floundering, despite getting a reprieve on the crisis in mid-November, when Germany's energy regulators suspended approval of the second Nord Stream pipeline. Natural gas prices surged 8% within days , amid growing fears in Germany and Europe that the pipeline suspension and the growing possibility of a war between Russia and Ukraine would lead to a very much unwanted cold winter. It was not clear to Washington just where Olaf Scholz, Germany's newly appointed chancellor, stood. Months earlier, after the fall of Afghanistan, Scholtz had publicly endorsed French President Emmanuel Macron's call for a more autonomous European foreign policy in a speech in Prague'--clearly suggesting less reliance on Washington and its mercurial actions.

Throughout all of this, Russian troops had been steadily and ominously building up on the borders of Ukraine, and by the end of December more than 100,000 soldiers were in position to strike from Belarus and Crimea. Alarm was growing in Washington, including an assessment from Blinken that those troop numbers could be ''doubled in short order.''

The administration's attention once again was focused on Nord Stream. As long as Europe remained dependent on the pipelines for cheap natural gas, Washington was afraid that countries like Germany would be reluctant to supply Ukraine with the money and weapons it needed to defeat Russia.

It was at this unsettled moment that Biden authorized Jake Sullivan to bring together an interagency group to come up with a plan.

All options were to be on the table. But only one would emerge.

PLANNING

In December of 2021, two months before the first Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, Jake Sullivan convened a meeting of a newly formed task force'--men and women from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA, and the State and Treasury Departments'--and asked for recommendations about how to respond to Putin's impending invasion.

It would be the first of a series of top-secret meetings, in a secure room on a top floor of the Old Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House, that was also the home of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB). There was the usual back and forth chatter that eventually led to a crucial preliminary question: Would the recommendation forwarded by the group to the President be reversible'--such as another layer of sanctions and currency restrictions'--or irreversible'--that is, kinetic actions, which could not be undone?

What became clear to participants, according to the source with direct knowledge of the process, is that Sullivan intended for the group to come up with a plan for the destruction of the two Nord Stream pipelines'--and that he was delivering on the desires of the President.

THE PLAYERS Left to right: Victoria Nuland, Anthony Blinken, and Jake Sullivan. Over the next several meetings, the participants debated options for an attack. The Navy proposed using a newly commissioned submarine to assault the pipeline directly. The Air Force discussed dropping bombs with delayed fuses that could be set off remotely. The CIA argued that whatever was done, it would have to be covert. Everyone involved understood the stakes. ''This is not kiddie stuff,'' the source said. If the attack were traceable to the United States, ''It's an act of war.''

At the time, the CIA was directed by William Burns, a mild-mannered former ambassador to Russia who had served as deputy secretary of state in the Obama Administration. Burns quickly authorized an Agency working group whose ad hoc members included'--by chance'--someone who was familiar with the capabilities of the Navy's deep-sea divers in Panama City. Over the next few weeks, members of the CIA's working group began to craft a plan for a covert operation that would use deep-sea divers to trigger an explosion along the pipeline.

Something like this had been done before. In 1971, the American intelligence community learned from still undisclosed sources that two important units of the Russian Navy were communicating via an undersea cable buried in the Sea of Okhotsk, on Russia's Far East Coast. The cable linked a regional Navy command to the mainland headquarters at Vladivostok.

A hand-picked team of Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency operatives was assembled somewhere in the Washington area, under deep cover, and worked out a plan, using Navy divers, modified submarines and a deep-submarine rescue vehicle, that succeeded, after much trial and error, in locating the Russian cable. The divers planted a sophisticated listening device on the cable that successfully intercepted the Russian traffic and recorded it on a taping system.

The NSA learned that senior Russian navy officers, convinced of the security of their communication link, chatted away with their peers without encryption. The recording device and its tape had to be replaced monthly and the project rolled on merrily for a decade until it was compromised by a forty-four-year-old civilian NSA technician named Ronald Pelton who was fluent in Russian. Pelton was betrayed by a Russian defector in 1985 and sentenced to prison. He was paid just $5,000 by the Russians for his revelations about the operation, along with $35,000 for other Russian operational data he provided that was never made public.

That underwater success, codenamed Ivy Bells, was innovative and risky, and produced invaluable intelligence about the Russian Navy's intentions and planning.

Still, the interagency group was initially skeptical of the CIA's enthusiasm for a covert deep-sea attack. There were too many unanswered questions. The waters of the Baltic Sea were heavily patrolled by the Russian navy, and there were no oil rigs that could be used as cover for a diving operation. Would the divers have to go to Estonia, right across the border from Russia's natural gas loading docks, to train for the mission? ''It would be a goat fuck,'' the Agency was told.

Throughout ''all of this scheming,'' the source said, ''some working guys in the CIA and the State Department were saying, 'Don't do this. It's stupid and will be a political nightmare if it comes out.'''

Nevertheless, in early 2022, the CIA working group reported back to Sullivan's interagency group: ''We have a way to blow up the pipelines.''

What came next was stunning. On February 7, less than three weeks before the seemingly inevitable Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden met in his White House office with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who, after some wobbling, was now firmly on the American team. At the press briefing that followed, Biden defiantly said, '' If Russia invades . . . there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it .''

Twenty days earlier, Undersecretary Nuland had delivered essentially the same message at a State Department briefing, with little press coverage. ''I want to be very clear to you today,'' she said in response to a question. ''If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward .''

Several of those involved in planning the pipeline mission were dismayed by what they viewed as indirect references to the attack.

''It was like putting an atomic bomb on the ground in Tokyo and telling the Japanese that we are going to detonate it,'' the source said. ''The plan was for the options to be executed post invasion and not advertised publicly. Biden simply didn't get it or ignored it.''

Biden's and Nuland's indiscretion, if that is what it was, might have frustrated some of the planners. But it also created an opportunity. According to the source, some of the senior officials of the CIA determined that blowing up the pipeline ''no longer could be considered a covert option because the President just announced that we knew how to do it.''

The plan to blow up Nord Stream 1 and 2 was suddenly downgraded from a covert operation requiring that Congress be informed to one that was deemed as a highly classified intelligence operation with U.S. military support. Under the law, the source explained, ''There was no longer a legal requirement to report the operation to Congress. All they had to do now is just do it'--but it still had to be secret. The Russians have superlative surveillance of the Baltic Sea.''

The Agency working group members had no direct contact with the White House, and were eager to find out if the President meant what he'd said'--that is, if the mission was now a go. The source recalled, ''Bill Burns comes back and says, 'Do it.'''

''The Norwegian navy was quick to find the right spot, in the shallow water a few miles off Denmark's Bornholm Island . . .''THE OPERATION

Norway was the perfect place to base the mission.

In the past few years of East-West crisis, the U.S. military has vastly expanded its presence inside Norway, whose western border runs 1,400 miles along the north Atlantic Ocean and merges above the Arctic Circle with Russia. The Pentagon has created high paying jobs and contracts, amid some local controversy, by investing hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade and expand American Navy and Air Force facilities in Norway. The new works included, most importantly, an advanced synthetic aperture radar far up north that was capable of penetrating deep into Russia and came online just as the American intelligence community lost access to a series of long-range listening sites inside China.

A newly refurbished American submarine base, which had been under construction for years, had become operational and more American submarines were now able to work closely with their Norwegian colleagues to monitor and spy on a major Russian nuclear redoubt 250 miles to the east, on the Kola Peninsula. America also has vastly expanded a Norwegian air base in the north and delivered to the Norwegian air force a fleet of Boeing-built P8 Poseidon patrol planes to bolster its long-range spying on all things Russia.

In return, the Norwegian government angered liberals and some moderates in its parliament last November by passing the Supplementary Defense Cooperation Agreement (SDCA). Under the new deal, the U.S. legal system would have jurisdiction in certain ''agreed areas '' in the North over American soldiers accused of crimes off base, as well as over those Norwegian citizens accused or suspected of interfering with the work at the base.

Norway was one of the original signatories of the NATO Treaty in 1949, in the early days of the Cold War. Today, the supreme commander of NATO is Jens Stoltenberg, a committed anti-communist, who served as Norway's prime minister for eight years before moving to his high NATO post, with American backing, in 2014. He was a hardliner on all things Putin and Russia who had cooperated with the American intelligence community since the Vietnam War. He has been trusted completely since. ''He is the glove that fits the American hand,'' the source said.

Back in Washington, planners knew they had to go to Norway. ''They hated the Russians, and the Norwegian navy was full of superb sailors and divers who had generations of experience in highly profitable deep-sea oil and gas exploration,'' the source said. They also could be trusted to keep the mission secret. (The Norwegians may have had other interests as well. The destruction of Nord Stream'--if the Americans could pull it off'--would allow Norway to sell vastly more of its own natural gas to Europe.)

Sometime in March, a few members of the team flew to Norway to meet with the Norwegian Secret Service and Navy. One of the key questions was where exactly in the Baltic Sea was the best place to plant the explosives. Nord Stream 1 and 2, each with two sets of pipelines, were separated much of the way by little more than a mile as they made their run to the port of Greifswald in the far northeast of Germany.

The Norwegian navy was quick to find the right spot, in the shallow waters of the Baltic sea a few miles off Denmark's Bornholm Island. The pipelines ran more than a mile apart along a seafloor that was only 260 feet deep. That would be well within the range of the divers, who, operating from a Norwegian Alta class mine hunter, would dive with a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen and helium streaming from their tanks, and plant shaped C4 charges on the four pipelines with concrete protective covers. It would be tedious, time consuming and dangerous work, but the waters off Bornholm had another advantage: there were no major tidal currents, which would have made the task of diving much more difficult.

After a bit of research, the Americans were all in.

At this point, the Navy's obscure deep-diving group in Panama City once again came into play. The deep-sea schools at Panama City, whose trainees participated in Ivy Bells, are seen as an unwanted backwater by the elite graduates of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, who typically seek the glory of being assigned as a Seal, fighter pilot, or submariner. If one must become a ''Black Shoe'''--that is, a member of the less desirable surface ship command'--there is always at least duty on a destroyer, cruiser or amphibious ship. The least glamorous of all is mine warfare. Its divers never appear in Hollywood movies, or on the cover of popular magazines.

''The best divers with deep diving qualifications are a tight community, and only the very best are recruited for the operation and told to be prepared to be summoned to the CIA in Washington,'' the source said.

The Norwegians and Americans had a location and the operatives, but there was another concern: any unusual underwater activity in the waters off Bornholm might draw the attention of the Swedish or Danish navies, which could report it.

Denmark had also been one of the original NATO signatories and was known in the intelligence community for its special ties to the United Kingdom. Sweden had applied for membership into NATO, and had demonstrated its great skill in managing its underwater sound and magnetic sensor systems that successfully tracked Russian submarines that would occasionally show up in remote waters of the Swedish archipelago and be forced to the surface.

The Norwegians joined the Americans in insisting that some senior officials in Denmark and Sweden had to be briefed in general terms about possible diving activity in the area. In that way, someone higher up could intervene and keep a report out of the chain of command, thus insulating the pipeline operation. ''What they were told and what they knew were purposely different,'' the source told me. (The Norwegian embassy, asked to comment on this story, did not respond.)

The Norwegians were key to solving other hurdles. The Russian navy was known to possess surveillance technology capable of spotting, and triggering, underwater mines. The American explosive devices needed to be camouflaged in a way that would make them appear to the Russian system as part of the natural background'--something that required adapting to the specific salinity of the water. The Norwegians had a fix.

The Norwegians also had a solution to the crucial question of when the operation should take place. Every June, for the past 21 years, the American Sixth Fleet, whose flagship is based in Gaeta, Italy, south of Rome, has sponsored a major NATO exercise in the Baltic Sea involving scores of allied ships throughout the region. The current exercise, held in June, would be known as Baltic Operations 22, or BALTOPS 22 . The Norwegians proposed this would be the ideal cover to plant the mines.

The Americans provided one vital element: they convinced the Sixth Fleet planners to add a research and development exercise to the program. The exercise, as made public by the Navy , involved the Sixth Fleet in collaboration with the Navy's ''research and warfare centers.'' The at-sea event would be held off the coast of Bornholm Island and involve NATO teams of divers planting mines, with competing teams using the latest underwater technology to find and destroy them.

It was both a useful exercise and ingenious cover. The Panama City boys would do their thing and the C4 explosives would be in place by the end of BALTOPS22, with a 48-hour timer attached. All of the Americans and Norwegians would be long gone by the first explosion.

The days were counting down. ''The clock was ticking, and we were nearing mission accomplished,'' the source said.

And then: Washington had second thoughts. The bombs would still be planted during BALTOPS, but the White House worried that a two-day window for their detonation would be too close to the end of the exercise, and it would be obvious that America had been involved.

Instead, the White House had a new request: ''Can the guys in the field come up with some way to blow the pipelines later on command?''

Some members of the planning team were angered and frustrated by the President's seeming indecision. The Panama City divers had repeatedly practiced planting the C4 on pipelines, as they would during BALTOPS, but now the team in Norway had to come up with a way to give Biden what he wanted'--the ability to issue a successful execution order at a time of his choosing.

Being tasked with an arbitrary, last-minute change was something the CIA was accustomed to managing. But it also renewed the concerns some shared over the necessity, and legality, of the entire operation.

The President's secret orders also evoked the CIA's dilemma in the Vietnam War days, when President Johnson, confronted by growing anti-Vietnam War sentiment, ordered the Agency to violate its charter'--which specifically barred it from operating inside America'--by spying on antiwar leaders to determine whether they were being controlled by Communist Russia.

The agency ultimately acquiesced, and throughout the 1970s it became clear just how far it had been willing to go. There were subsequent newspaper revelations in the aftermath of the Watergate scandals about the Agency's spying on American citizens, its involvement in the assassination of foreign leaders and its undermining of the socialist government of Salvador Allende.

Those revelations led to a dramatic series of hearings in the mid-1970s in the Senate, led by Frank Church of Idaho, that made it clear that Richard Helms, the Agency director at the time, accepted that he had an obligation to do what the President wanted, even if it meant violating the law.

In unpublished, closed-door testimony, Helms ruefully explained that ''you almost have an Immaculate Conception when you do something'' under secret orders from a President. ''Whether it's right that you should have it, or wrong that you shall have it, [the CIA] works under different rules and ground rules than any other part of the government.'' He was essentially telling the Senators that he, as head of the CIA, understood that he had been working for the Crown, and not the Constitution.

The Americans at work in Norway operated under the same dynamic, and dutifully began working on the new problem'--how to remotely detonate the C4 explosives on Biden's order. It was a much more demanding assignment than those in Washington understood. There was no way for the team in Norway to know when the President might push the button. Would it be in a few weeks, in many months or in half a year or longer?

The C4 attached to the pipelines would be triggered by a sonar buoy dropped by a plane on short notice, but the procedure involved the most advanced signal processing technology. Once in place, the delayed timing devices attached to any of the four pipelines could be accidentally triggered by the complex mix of ocean background noises throughout the heavily trafficked Baltic Sea'--from near and distant ships, underwater drilling, seismic events, waves and even sea creatures. To avoid this, the sonar buoy, once in place, would emit a sequence of unique low frequency tonal sounds'--much like those emitted by a flute or a piano'--that would be recognized by the timing device and, after a pre-set hours of delay, trigger the explosives. (''You want a signal that is robust enough so that no other signal could accidentally send a pulse that detonated the explosives,'' I was told by Dr. Theodore Postol, professor emeritus of science, technology and national security policy at MIT. Postol, who has served as the science adviser to the Pentagon's Chief of Naval Operations, said the issue facing the group in Norway because of Biden's delay was one of chance: ''The longer the explosives are in the water the greater risk there would be of a random signal that would launch the bombs.'')

On September 26, 2022, a Norwegian Navy P8 surveillance plane made a seemingly routine flight and dropped a sonar buoy. The signal spread underwater, initially to Nord Stream 2 and then on to Nord Stream 1. A few hours later, the high-powered C4 explosives were triggered and three of the four pipelines were put out of commission. Within a few minutes, pools of methane gas that remained in the shuttered pipelines could be seen spreading on the water's surface and the world learned that something irreversible had taken place.

FALLOUT

In the immediate aftermath of the pipeline bombing, the American media treated it like an unsolved mystery. Russia was repeatedly cited as a likely culprit , spurred on by calculated leaks from the White House'--but without ever establishing a clear motive for such an act of self-sabotage, beyond simple retribution. A few months later, when it emerged that Russian authorities had been quietly getting estimates for the cost to repair the pipelines, the New York Times described the news as ''complicating theories about who was behind'' the attack. No major American newspaper dug into the earlier threats to the pipelines made by Biden and Undersecretary of State Nuland.

While it was never clear why Russia would seek to destroy its own lucrative pipeline, a more telling rationale for the President's action came from Secretary of State Blinken.

Asked at a press conference last September about the consequences of the worsening energy crisis in Western Europe, Blinken described the moment as a potentially good one:

''It's a tremendous opportunity to once and for all remove the dependence on Russian energy and thus to take away from Vladimir Putin the weaponization of energy as a means of advancing his imperial designs. That's very significant and that offers tremendous strategic opportunity for the years to come, but meanwhile we're determined to do everything we possibly can to make sure the consequences of all of this are not borne by citizens in our countries or, for that matter, around the world.''

More recently, Victoria Nuland expressed satisfaction at the demise of the newest of the pipelines. Testifying at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in late January she told Senator Ted Cruz, '''‹Like you, I am, and I think the Administration is, very gratified to know that Nord Stream 2 is now, as you like to say, a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea.''

The source had a much more streetwise view of Biden's decision to sabotage more than 1500 miles of Gazprom pipeline as winter approached. ''Well,'' he said, speaking of the President, ''I gotta admit the guy has a pair of balls. He said he was going to do it, and he did.''

Asked why he thought the Russians failed to respond, he said cynically, ''Maybe they want the capability to do the same things the U.S. did.

''It was a beautiful cover story,'' he went on. ''Behind it was a covert operation that placed experts in the field and equipment that operated on a covert signal.

''The only flaw was the decision to do it.''

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 15:54

Relevant Past Articles:

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A recent and somewhat contentious use of Bitcoin is an innovative application of the Taproot soft fork that was merged into the protocol in 2021. Ordinal Theory is a way of serializing each individual unit of bitcoin and labeling these specific satoshis ''ordinals.'' The creator of this numbering scheme, Casey Rodarmor, described it in his blog saying, ''Satoshis are numbered in the order in which they're mined, and transferred from transaction inputs to transaction outputs in first-in-first-out order.''

By serializing these individual satoshis and utilizing the Taproot upgrade, Bitcoin users can also include arbitrary data directly on the blockchain. While this was already possible with text using the OP_RETURN function, these new ''inscriptions'' can be anything from jpegs, short sound clips and even simple games.

There is growing debate in the development community about the implications of storing all this data directly on Bitcoin and what that means for users who want to run a full archival node. While this discussion is important, we want to dig into how inscriptions are currently impacting Bitcoin's fee market and how it might look in the future.

By their nature, inscriptions are larger files and therefore take up more of the finite space in each Bitcoin block. The users that are creating inscriptions are required to pay the necessary fees in order to send their transactions, however, inscriptions are included in witness data which is given a slight fee discount thanks to the SegWit soft fork in 2017.

Ordinals officially launched on January 21, 2023. Less than three weeks later, inscriptions are already taking up 50% of Bitcoin's block space according to Pierre Rochard, vice president of research at Riot Platforms.

Source: Pierre Rochard

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What does this mean for bitcoin transaction fees?

Bitcoin's fee market is a constantly changing landscape. Fees rise when demand to transact on-chain is high and users want to get their transaction included in the next block. Inversely, the fee rate drops when demand is low and users don't need their transactions confirmed in a timely manner.

As inscriptions have gained attention and users, pending transactions have continued to fill up the Bitcoin mempool, but the fee rate still hasn't adjusted to match this demand. Even with nearly 21,000 transactions waiting to clear at the time of writing, the minimum fee to be included in the next Bitcoin block is only 3 sat/vByte.

Source: Mempool.space

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Whether or not these inscriptions should be considered an ''acceptable'' use of Bitcoin, the market will decide the appropriate fee pricing for those who wish to include this arbitrary data into each block. Should transaction fees rise enough, it's likely that any less important or smaller bitcoin transactions will be priced out of the market and move to Layer 2 protocols, such as Lightning. These additional layers were always the game-theoretical hypothesis of Bitcoin's fee structure, even predicted by Hal Finney in 2010. It's possible that inscriptions will be one of these less important uses of Bitcoin block space and fall by the wayside as fees increase.

This is not the first time that a significant number of transactions have filled the mempool with the fee rate increasing accordingly. As noted, Bitcoin's fee market is dynamic and the cycle of high fees create efficient uses of block space, create low fees, create inefficient use of block space, create high fees will repeat ad infinitum.

Source: Pierre Rochard

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 15:49

Syrian civilians and members of the White Helmets conduct search and rescue operations in the rubble of a collapsed building following a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit Syria. Photo: Anas Alkharboutli/dpa via Getty Images

Rescue teams were searching for survivors from the massive earthquake and aftershocks that flattened buildings in parts of Turkey and Syria this week, as the death toll surpassed 11,000 on Wednesday.

The big picture: Officials warned the death toll would likely rise, as rescue teams searched the rubble of buildings razed by the magnitude 7.8 quake that struck at 4:17am Monday local time (1:17 GMT) just north of Turkey's Gaziantep, near the Syrian border. Hundreds of thousands of others were injured in the disaster.

A screenshot of a tweet from the Metropolitan Municipality of Şanlıurfa showing the earthquake damage in the southeastern Turkish city. It says the city is in a "state of mobilization with all our operators, outreach teams, staff and volunteers." Photo: Metropolitan Municipality of Şanlıurfa/TwitterTremors were felt in Cyprus, Lebanon and Egypt.A second earthquake of 7.5 magnitude struck around the same area Monday afternoon, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared a three-month state of emergency in the provinces hit by the earthquake.Erdoğan said Tuesday that 70 countries had offered to assist in search and rescue operations and that the state of emergency would help ensure that the operations could be carried out as quickly as possible, Al Jazeera reported.By the numbers: According to Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, 8,574 people died in 10 of Turkey's provinces and 49,133 others were injured following the quake.

Syrian state media said at least 1,250 people were killed and over 2,054 others injured in government-held areas.The Syrian Civil Defense, first responders also known as the White Helmets, said more than 1,280 people had died in opposition-held areas and more than 2,600 others were injured '-- bringing the country's death toll from the quake to at least 2,530 people, and the overall death toll to 11,030.Of note: Gaziantep and its surrounding areas host hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have been displaced by nearly 12 years of war.

There were reports of tremors being particularly destructive in opposition-held areas of northwestern Syria, where millions of people displaced by the war live in densely populated towns. Zoom out: The earthquake revealed a "crisis within multiple crises" for a population already reeling from the effects of war, humanitarian groups are warning, Axios' Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath reports.

What they're saying: Erdoğan tweeted that the effects were "felt in many parts of our country" and search and rescue teams had been immediately dispatched to areas affected by the earthquake.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in an emailed statement the U.S. was "profoundly concerned" by reports of the destructive quake and stood "ready to provide any and all" assistance needed. "President Biden has directed USAID and other federal government partners to assess U.S. response options to help those most affected," he said.Biden said in a statement Monday that senior American officials had reached out to their Turkish counterparts to coordinate U.S. assistance, and that American-supported humanitarian partners were doing the same in Syria."Today, our hearts and our deepest condolences are with all those who have lost precious loved ones, those who are injured, and those who saw their homes and businesses destroyed," Biden added."It's now a race against time. Every minute, every hour that passes, the chances of finding survivors alive diminishes," World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said of the search and rescue operations in a briefing Tuesday.Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevl¼t ‡avuşoğlu on Monday to express his condolences.

Blinken confirmed that the "initial assistance response" from the U.S. "was already underway," and he "pledged to do all that we can in coordination" with the Turkish government to assist the quake victims, per a readout.In photos: Turkey and Syria respond to destructive earthquakeSearch and rescue operations in Osmaniye, Turkey, on Feb. 7 in response to the quake. Photo: Ozan Efeoglu/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesPeople injured in the earthquake in Hatay are taken to a ship to be transferred to Mersin, Turkey, on Feb. 7. Photo: Murat Sengul/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesResidents join rescue teams to help in Idlib, Syria, after the quake on Feb. 6. Photo: Syrian Civil Defense/HAndout/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesRescue workers attend the scene of a collapsed building on Feb. 6 in Iskenderun, Turkey. Photo: Burak Kara/Getty ImagesThe scene in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, following the quake on Feb. 6. Photo: Ahmet Akpolat/via images via Getty ImagesSearch and rescue operations in Diyarbakir, Turkey, after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the country's south on Feb. 6. Photo: Aydin Arik/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesA destroyed building in Diyarbakir, Turkey, on Feb. 6. Photo: Omer Yasin Ergin/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesThe scene in Adana, Turkey, on Feb. 6. Photo: Omer Yildiz/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesSyrian rescuers (White Helmets) and residents gather near a collapsed building in the border town of Azaz in the rebel-held north of the Aleppo province on Feb. 6. Photo: Bakr Alkasem/AFP via Getty ImagesDebris in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaraş on Feb. 6. Photo: 'Eren Bozkurt/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesGo deeper: For Syrians, quake is "another devastating blow" after nearly 12 years of war

Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 13:52

Agencies | New Delhi

The Daily Tribune '' www.newsofbahrain.com

Indian state Odisha's Health Minister, Naba Das, who was shot at earlier, succumbed to his bullet injuries in Bhubaneswar hospital on Sunday, officials said.

The Minister, who was said to be in a critical condition, was airlifted to the Apollo Hospital in Bhubaneswar where he breathed his last.

Das was shot at by one police personnel near Brajarajnagar in Jharsuguda district earlier today, following which he was critically injured.

A team of doctors led by Dr Debashish Nayak immediately attended to and operated on him.

On operating was found that a single bullet had entered and exited the body, injuring the heart and left lung and causing massive internal bleeding and injury, the officials said.

According to officials, the injuries were repaired, and steps were taken to improve the pumping of the heart. He was given urgent ICU care. But despite the best of efforts, he could not be revived and succumbed to his injuries.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed deep shock and distress over the unfortunate death of Minister Naba Das.

"He was an asset for both the Govt and the party. His death is a great loss to the State of Odisha," Odisha CMO said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister reached the hospital and enquired about the health of the minister who was attended by the specialists.

Patnaik condemned the attack on the minister.

The Chief Minister also directed the Crime Branch to take up the investigation into the matter, following which a team of Odisha Crime Branch headed by a senior police official proceeded to Brajarajnagar where state Health Minister Naba Das was shot at.

The team led by Additional Director General Arun Bothra left for the crime spot to inquire into the firing incident on Minister Naba Das.

Earlier, an eyewitness, advocate Ram Mohan Rao said that the policeman fired at the Odisha minister from point-blank range.

"This incident occurred at about 12.30 afternoon at Gandhi chowk when Das was on his way to attend a programme. He sustained bullet injuries to his left chest, leaving him seriously injured," Rao said.

"At a public grievance office opening, Naba Das was the chief guest. When he arrived, the crowd gathered to welcome him. Suddenly, a gunshot was heard. We saw police personnel running away after shooting from close range. Minister to be airlifted to Bhubaneswar," he added.

The exact reason behind the firing is still unclear.

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Archived Version

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 05:44

Image generated with DALLE via micropay.aiNostr '' the simple, decentralized messaging protocol with the potential to replace (and even integrate with) centralized apps like Twitter and WhatsApp '' is going mainstream. And fast.

I've never seen anything quite like it. From December 13th to January 10th, the number of public key identities interacting with Nostr jumped from ~700 to ~250,000 👠Yes, you read that right, the number of identities increased >30,000% 🯠And even if you only count individual users as identities with profiles in their bio, which is probably a more reliable indicator, user count still jumped >100x!

Stats courtesy of nostr.band/stats.htmlThe proximate cause of this recent explosion in usage was a Jack Dorsey tweet and Elon Musk ban (nothing buys publicity like prohibition).

But I believe this rapid uptake has much deeper roots which are destined to blossom into a new mainstream protocol that's as widely adopted as HTTP for the web or SMTP for email, an analogy which DK paints nicely here.

The reasons are 2-fold:

Trust in social media platforms (and institutions more broadly) is at all time lows. People are increasingly aware of the value of free speech and dangers of letting any centralized platform decide what is and is not acceptable to sayNostr has the perfect mix of ingredients to maximize rate of innovation: it's open/permissionless, incredibly simple/flexible, and has a clear path to evolveI won't belabor the first point '' the controversy over censorship on social media platforms is a well documented crux of the culture wars. But the second point is very important. I believe that open and permissionless systems inevitably win over closed competitors because open systems can marshal the collective resources of many more contributors than any individual business can employ. This is the central reason why our Internet continues to run on open standards (TCP/IP/HTTP), why Wikipedia and Linux dominate in their respective domains, and why the growth rate of open source software continues to outpace that of its closed counterparts.

But being open as a protocol is not necessarily enough. Many have raised the compelling counterpoint that open source protocols eventually ossify, allowing for closed platforms to innovate even faster on top (see here and here). But I don't see that as much of an issue with Nostr because: A) it's one of the simplest protocol specs ever '' the only object type is a JSON blob with 7 fields. That simplicity leads to incredible flexibility, allowing for the design of all kinds of interoperable apps on top. B) Nostr has a clear path to evolve and improve via Nostr Improvement Possibilities (NIPs). Fountain founder, Oscar Merry, stressed to me the importance of having a clear path forward for protocol change by noting all of the recent activity we've seen around RSS for podcasting since Adam Curry and friends launched podcastindex.org + podcasting 2.0.

And we're watching all of this theory play out in real time. Just look at how much got done across the Nostr ecosystem in a single day 🤯

Screenshot from nostr.band Nostr search engineWhat's more, all of this recent Nostr growth came while Damus, arguably the most well-known and polished Nostr iOS app, had to hard cap at 10k users (the limit for TestFlight) while waiting for Apple's App Store to approve its official release. That limitation has, apparently, not done much to slow growth. Instead users are creating their Nostr identities with other apps like Alby, a browser extension for bitcoin lightning payments that also supports Nostr, and then interacting with Nostr through emerging web clients like astral.ninja, iris.to, nostr.rocks, blockcore notes, and branle.

Again, the killer feature here is that ALL of these apps are open and interoperable. I was able to successfully port my identity and social graph from Damus to Alby and then access each of the web clients above. Many have dreamed of Twitter enabling this sort of functionality by re-opening its API as it did in its earliest days. But while Twitter is a centralized company with an advertising driven revenue model, Nostr is a neutral protocol whose data stream will NEVER be shut to developers, because it CANNOT be shut to developers. Only individual clients and relays can restrict data. But then new ones will inevitably rise to augment and/or take their place. In fact, I would not be at all surprised to see Twitter itself become a major Nostr client in the coming year.

This is all incredible for building a more free and open world, which is ultimately the mission. But this new, open network also excites the investor in me. That's because I believe that as Nostr emerges as the open standard for messaging, it will develop symbiotically with the open standards for money (bitcoin) and payments (Lightning Network). Together these three open systems will combine to create the first ever Value4Value protocol stack (h/t Stephen Hall), where service providers must continue to innovate and provide real value or else their users will exit for better options. This dynamic will enable a myriad of interesting, venture scale business opportunities.

Value4Value is a simple but revolutionary concept: people who create valuable content or services should be remunerated appropriately by those who derive value. For a beautiful vision of how a Value4Value world could look, check out this recent essay from Gigi. One of the essay's central claims is that most of the ills of our modern attention/outrage economy stem not from some fundamental human evil, but rather from inadequate technology and broken incentives. The core culprit is credit based money, which unlike bearer instrument cash carries counterparty risk. This counterparty risk has prevented the use of small micropayments and/or necessitated the collection of customer identity. Put another way, people must currently pay for value online either in batches (subscriptions) or with a proxy currency (attention).

But with the Lightning Network, anyone can send nearly free and instant payments globally with a bearer instrument '' denominations of bitcoin (satoshis) '' worth as little as a fraction of a penny. What's more, this system is open to all 8B people alive, independent of where they live, whether or not they have a government identity, and how much money or credit they have. This is a brand new construct which I believe will completely rewire all Internet commerce (and ultimately grow it orders of magnitude by on-boarding billions of new users and use cases).

So how do Nostr, Bitcoin, and the Lightning Network fit together to build this future? And what sorts of business opportunities will these integrations yield? Well for starters, let's be clear, it's not that Nostr MUST use Bitcoin and Lightning. They're completely independent protocols. But the fit is simply too natural not to emerge. And because both the creator and many early developers of Nostr are also open source Lightning Network developers, the likelihood of this marriage seems inevitable.

I believe there will be multiple initial use cases for integrating Nostr and Lightning, each of which will create new business models (either standalone or partially bundled). I think they'll loosely follow along the four axes that Nostr is currently unbundling from centralized apps like Twitter. Maciek did an excellent job of outlining this unbundling:

I'll rephrase these dimensions as:

Relays & Resources IdentityClients & Apps Search & Discovery Let's examine each layer and its potential business models:

Relays & ResourcesFirst, perhaps the most obvious opportunity is on the server/resource side. Today, dozens of individuals and organizations are running Nostr relays simply to support the cause. But as the number of users grows 3-4 orders of magnitude and support is added for richer data like images and video, it will quickly become prohibitively expensive to run these relays altruistically. I expect to soon see premium relays that charge per KB written or read. There's already at least one credible proposal to do just that by hooking up Nostr relays with LSATs (Lightning based pseudonymous token identities). I also expect to see caching services and content delivery networks emerge to help users filter the global firehose of information based upon their own preferences and to ensure fast and reliable connection. Eventually I expect to see other resources like bandwidth and compute metered and billed for in similar fashion.

Identity Second, we're already starting to see multiple services emerge to validate a user's identity. NIP 05 establishes a standard for web servers to validate that the holder of a Nostr public key also has (or has purchased) access to that web server. Nostrplebs is one of the leading early services that charges for identification exclusively in satoshis over the Lightning Network. Alby and Stacker News have both launched free NIP 05 verification associated with their users' Lightning Address (a human readable address to receive Lightning payments). LNbits released open source software that allows anyone to verify Nostr identities at a domain they control. Still others like @porteaux are proposing ideas to use the Bitcoin blockchain itself as the namespace.

I believe this idea could integrate with Block's vision for Web 5, which to the best of my understanding, also anchors Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) into the Bitcoin blockchain. It's early, but I expect to see a variety of services and features emerge here.

Clients & Apps Third, clients could charge users directly, though I expect many will actually monetize via their relay or some ancillary service. One feasible model could be giving away a consumer version of the app for free and then charging for an enterprise version with additional features (think enterprise Slack or Discord) as jb55 mentioned as a possible direction for Damus.

Clients could also likely take a small cut for coordinating payments that flow through their app to resource providers (e.g. paid relays), service providers, or other users. And there's always the option that some clients introduce various forms of advertising.

And while most people are still thinking about clients in the social media context, I expect to see many more custom apps (with potentially unique business models) built with Nostr and Value4Value assumptions baked in. As Jack laid out nicely in this podcast, the future of Nostr is likely a Cambrian explosion of microapps, each focused on a specific niche or use case. But that can all communicate interoperably. Like him, I'm particularly excited about specialized services that help creators fund and distribute their work. I expect to see several companies move quickly in this direction '' e.g. Fountain for podcasts, Wavlake for music, and Geyser for generalized crowdfunding. I also expect to see a lot of experimentation in how open source software gets developed. Nostrdirectory proposed the interesting idea of a bounty poll app where users vote with their satoshis for what a dev builds next. This could lead to a cool Github + Trello + Upwork type mashup.

Screenshot from nostr.band Nostr search enginePerhaps we'll even see the emergence of a new decentralized Nostr/Lighting marketplace like a modern OpenBazaar, an early protocol for p2p commerce backed by USV, which was a great idea, but just too early in my opinion. Their key mistakes were requiring everyone to run a dense desktop app + node and using mainchain Bitcoin for payments. Nostr + Lightning solve these problems by allowing anyone to access the marketplace via light web or mobile clients with instant Lightning Network payments. My early money here is on Diagon Alley (from LNbits), which was itself an early inspiration for the creation of the Nostr protocol.

LNbits founder Ben Arc has also published ideas for other types of Nostr + Lightning marketplaces as well, including a decentralized Uber. Perhaps one day all marketplaces will be coordinated trustlessly via Nostr.

In addition to microapps flourishing, we may also see the emergence of new super apps like a decentralized WeChat for users who prefer to combine all of their messaging and commerce in one place. Imagine if CashApp becomes your primary messaging app (or WhatsApp your primary payments app). I could easily see a world where remittances are sent with a text message and goods sold via a Tweet.

Search & DiscoveryFourth, just as with web 1.0 and 2.0, I believe that the biggest winners will emerge in search & discovery. My best bet is that we'll see Nostr search engines that differentiate by indexing the most data and providing the best social graph & ValueRank market signal, an idea which I fleshed out in How to Disrupt Google. TL;DR: for the first time in history, we can now associate information with value. As the amount of information goes infinite, only the amount of bitcoin (value) remains scarce. Attaching this value to information will help surface the highest quality information (in association with other attributes like the identity of who pledged that value).

Before playing with Nostr, I believed that the best way to create this new value-based search engine was by either dropping satoshis on top of the current web (via tips from a browser extension like Alby) or by creating a brand new value-native knowledge marketplace like StackerNews. I now think that perhaps the best way to build this search engine is on top of Nostr, a blue ocean of quality content that Google and other centralized web companies will likely not index for some time.

In order to build this vision, we need two key primitives: A) identity and B) value associated with individual Nostr posts (perhaps via tips like people are already giving on StackerNews or in Fountain). Put another way, we need an open social graph and open value graph. Every Nostr post already contains identity metadata (the poster's public key). And the integration between posts and value is emerging quickly! jb55 has already published his plan to do this for Damus. He's also going to propose it as a new LNURL spec and/or NIP as well.

Screenshot from nostr.rocks Nostr client And astral.ninja has already shipped this feature! Here's a screencast of Bumi instantly tipping NVK and Jack. And here's a screenshot of me tipping 100 satoshis to a Nostr post by GPT-3 Bot, a chatbot interface to Open AI's GPT-3.

Screenshot from astral.ninja Nostr client (I kept the tip-selector interface for this screenshot. The experience is even more seamless when I turn on auto-tipping in astral.ninja and set an automatic budget on Alby)

If your mind wasn't blown already, let me clarify: I just sent a micropayment via an open twitter-like client to a bot interface for GPT-3 🤯 What other financial system can bank the AIs? ðŸ‰

The search engine that can best index and rank these new Nostr posts and their associated value will be in an incredible position to build the next Google. Artur has a similar idea, as his 2 sites '' realsearch and nostr.band '' are playing with each of these ideas. I expect that he'll merge them at some point. His Nostr search engine is already particularly good '' I used it multiple times to find specific Nostr posts while writing this article. I expect to see (and fund) several more approaches here and will likely expand my thinking on this idea in future posts.

Ultimately, I'm still open minded about how each of these layer & businesses will develop and whether they'll do so as independent entities or get rebundled either partially or fully. My best bet is that we'll see some early winners that merely re-create existing services and business models. But the really big winners will come in the second wave once evolution plays its course and mashes up communication and commerce in truly novel ways that no one yet expects. New medium, new message (h/t NVK). And to hammer home the point '' the real magic is that all of these apps, no matter their specific focus, will speak openly and interoperably. It sure feels like we're getting close to building a global hivemind of communication and commerce ðŸ‰

And with each passing day, I'm becoming increasingly convinced that this rapidly developing ecosystem is what will bring Bitcoin and the Lightning Network mainstream. Many are already speculating that the recent surge in Wallet of Satoshi Lightning payments may be directly attributable to Nostr usage. Just wait until Damus integrates tipping and gets approved by the app store'...

I recognize that all of this is still very early and that these claims are bold. But my spidey sense says that this is not a drill. I've seen enough early adoption and understand enough of the potential to believe that Nostr + Bitcoin + Lightning represents the most interesting opportunity to rebuild a decentralized Internet. And I'm planning to go all in on this thesis with Hivemind Fund 2 (just as I did on the Lightning Network with Hivemind Fund I). If you're a hacker experimenting with Nostr, please reach out. This is my top priority.

The best way to reach me, of course, is on Nostr ðŸ¤

Pubkey: npub18lzls4f6h46n43revlzvg6x06z8geww7uudhncfdttdtypduqnfsagugm3

(Edit: Please note that I changed my Nostr public key identity. My last private key was compromised, likely from using it to log into a web client last month. This is still a very new technology, so please make sure to only use your private key in an iOS app like Damus or stored in a browser extension like Alby. Ideally, you should never paste it directly into any web client.)

If you're new to Nostr, I've found that Damus is the easiest way to get started. But while their TestFlight is still full, here's a guide on how to get started with Alby and various web clients.

Thanks to DK, Bumi, Ben, Oscar, and Moritz for feedback on this post.

Alby, Stacker News, LNbits, Fountain, Wavlake, and Geyser are all Hivemind portfolio companies.

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Archived Version

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 22:33

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) '-- Europe imposed a ban Sunday on Russian diesel fuel and other refined oil products, slashing energy dependency on Moscow and seeking to further crimp the Kremlin's fossil fuel earnings as punishment for invading Ukraine.

The ban comes along with a price cap agreed by the Group of Seven allied democracies. The goal is allowing Russian diesel to keep flowing to countries like China and India and avoiding a sudden price rise that would hurt consumers worldwide, while reducing the profits funding Moscow's budget and war.

Diesel is key for the economy because it is used to power cars, trucks carrying goods, farm equipment and factory machinery. Diesel prices have been elevated due to recovering demand after the COVID-19 pandemic and limits on refining capacity, contributing to inflation for other goods worldwide.

The new sanctions create uncertainty about prices as the 27-nation European Union finds new supplies of diesel from the U.S., Middle East and India to replace those from Russia, which at one point delivered 10% of Europe's total diesel needs. Those are longer journeys than from Russia's ports, stretching available tankers.

Prices also could be driven up by reviving demand from China as the economy rebounds after the end of draconian COVID-19 restrictions.

The price cap of $100 per barrel for diesel, jet fuel and gasoline is to be enforced by barring insurance and shipping services from handling diesel priced over the limit. Most of those companies are located in Western countries.

It follows a $60-per-barrel cap on Russian crude that took effect in December and is supposed to work the same way. Both the diesel and oil caps could be tightened later.

''Once we have these price caps set, we can squeeze the Russian price and deny them, deny (President Vladimir) Putin money for his war without a price spike that's going to hurt Western economies and developing economies,'' said Thomas O'Donnell, a global fellow with the Washington-based Wilson Center.

The diesel price cap will not bite immediately because it was set at about what Russian diesel trades for. Russia's chief problem now will be finding new customers, not evading the price ceiling. However, the cap aims to prevent Russian gains from any sudden price spikes in refined oil products.

Analysts say there might be a price bump initially as markets sort out the changes. But they say the embargo should not cause a price spike if the cap works as intended and Russian diesel keeps flowing to other countries.

Diesel fuel at the pump has been flat since the start of December, costing 1.80 euros per liter ($7.37 per gallon) as of Jan. 30, according to the weekly oil market report issued by the European Union's executive commission. Pump prices in Germany, the EU's largest economy, fell 2.6 cents to 1.83 euros per liter ($7.48 per gallon) as of Jan. 31.

The ban provides for a 55-day grace period for diesel loaded on tankers before Sunday, a step aimed at avoiding ruffling markets. European Union officials say importers have had time to adjust since the ban was announced in June.

Russia earned more than $2 billion from diesel sales to Europe in December alone as importers appear to have stocked up with added purchases ahead of the ban.

Europe has already banned Russian coal and most crude oil, while Moscow has cut off most shipments of natural gas.

__

Associated Press writer Jeffrey Schaeffer contributed from Paris.

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Archived Version

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 22:31

WHAT IS IT? The national power gridAn increase in severe weather events, attacks on power stations and the push for green energy are all highlighting the importance of a resilient national power grid.

A woman from Maryland charged alongside a Neo-Nazi leader from Florida with conspiring to attack energy facilities allegedly had a "wish list" of guns and said she wanted to strike five substations around the Baltimore area in one day to "completely destroy this whole city," according to charging documents.

Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 34, of Catonsville, Md., allegedly discussed her plans with an FBI informant just weeks before her arrest.

In Jan. 12 messages through an encrypted communication application, she told the FBI "confidential human source" that she "had a terminal illness related to her kidneys and was unlikely to live more than a few months, confirmed she is a felon, and stated she had previously, but unsuccessfully, attempted to obtain a rifle," an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Patrick W. Straub says.

Clendaniel, messaging under the username "Nythra," asked the FBI informant to purchase a rifle for her because she wanted to "accomplish something worthwhile" before her death and wanted the rifle "within the next couple of weeks" to "accomplish as much as possible before June, at the latest," the affidavit says.

NEO-NAZI LEADER CHARGED IN MARYLAND POWER GRID ATTACK PLOT ARRESTED YEARS AGO AFTER ROOMMATES' DOUBLE MURDER

A woman believed to be Clendaniel wearing tactical gear containing a swastika, holding a rifle and with a pistol in a drop holster on her left leg. (FBI)

She later told the informant she would send "wish list" of requested firearms and ammo. In a recorded voice conversation through the app on Jan. 29, Clendaniel allegedly told the FBI informant that the five substations she planned to attack include those in Norrisville, Reisterstown, and Perry Hall, Straub wrote.

The affidavit says she described how there was a "ring" around Baltimore and if they hit a number of substations all in the same day, they "would completely destroy this whole city."

Clendaniel added that they needed to "destroy those cores, not just leak the oil'..." and that a "good four or five shots through the center of them'... should make that happen."

Sarah Clendaniel, 34, is one of two people suspected of planning to attack five substations in Maryland. (Maryland State Police)

"It would probably permanently completely lay this city to waste if we could do that successfully," she said, confirming to the informant that the goal was to complete a "cascading failure."

The affidavit includes a photo of a woman believed to be Clendaniel wearing tactical gear containing a swastika, holding a rifle and with a pistol in a drop holster on her left leg.

The informant began communicating with Clendaniel about the substation attack plot at the instruction of co-defendant Brandon Clint Russell, 27, of Orlando, Fla.

The affidavit says Clendaniel and Russell had been communicating since at least 2018 through the encrypted app when they were both incarcerated at separate facilities.

FBI ARRESTS MAN, WOMAN WITH 'EXTREMIST' VIEWS IN ALLEGED POWER GRID ATTACK PLOT TARGETING 5 SUBSTATIONS

Sarah Beth Clendaniel is seen in a photo included in the affidavit by Special Agent Patrick W. Straub, of the Joint Terrorism Task Force ("JTTF") in the FBI Baltimore Division. (FBI)

Clendaniel told the FBI informant that she had a prior conviction for the armed robbery of a convenience store with a "machete," which she committed under the influence of drugs. A police report says she wielded a "large butcher knife" during the May 2006 robbery. Clendaniel was sentenced to five years in prison in December 2006 with two years suspended in that incident.

Russell, an admitted Neo-Nazi leader, did prison time after police responding to the murders of two of his roommates at their Tampa residence found illegal explosive devices belonging to him. He wasn't at home at the time a third roommate murdered the two others following a dispute about converting to Islam, according to the affidavit.

Brandon Russell seen in a June 7, 2017, mugshot provided by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. (Pinellas County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

Communicating under the username "Homunculus," Russell has been speaking with the FBI informant since at least June 2022 about plans to attack critical infrastructure in furtherance of his racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist ideology, according to Straub.

On Oct. 14, 2022, during a conversation about the use of Mylar balloons to short out a power transformer, Russell allegedly told the FBI informant that "putting holes in transformers though is the greatest thing somebody can do." On Nov. 5, 2022, Russell allegedly stated that the "goal is for when most people are using max electricity" and that "follow on [attacks] could lead to cascading failure costing billions of dollars," the affidavit says.

Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for Maryland, announced the arrests and a federal criminal complaint charging Sarah Beth Clendaniel, of Catonsville, and Brandon Clint Russell, of Orlando, with conspiracy to destroy an energy facility. (Amy Davis/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

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He also encouraged an attack be carried out "when there is greatest strain on the grid," like "when everyone is using electricity to either heat or cool their homes."

Russell asked the informant to collaborate with Clendaniel on the attack, describing the woman as 100 percent "serious and can be trusted," the affidavit says.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland and the FBI Baltimore Field Office announced Monday that Clendaniel and Russell had been arrested and charged through a federal criminal complaint with conspiracy to destroy an energy facility. They could face up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.

Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.

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Archived Version

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 22:26

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Archived Version

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 20:11

February 06, 2023 05:20 PM

T he 2023 Grammy Awards rebounded on Sunday night, coming back from a yearslong rating slump.

Early figures from Nielsen reportedly reveal that 12.4 million viewers tuned in to the CBS broadcast. The final ratings, including out-of-home viewing, will be available on Tuesday.

Early ratings for 2022's show only reported 8.93 million viewers, which was ultimately adjusted to 9.59 million viewers when out-of-home viewing was included.

Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, the Recording Academy's awards show saw nearly 20 million viewers. However, in 2021, the Grammys had its least-watched show ever, with only 8.8 million viewers.

AMC MOVIE THEATERS HAVE STARTED ROLLOUT OF SEAT-BASED PRICING

Harry Styles, winner of the award for album of the year for "Harry's House" and best pop vocal album for "Harry's House," poses in the press room at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Jae C. Hong/Jae C. Hong/Invision/AP

Sunday's ceremony featured performances from Harry Styles and Luke Combs, as well as a tribute to 50 years of hip hop, which featured LL Cool J, Big Boi, Busta Rhymes, Spliff Star, De La Soul, DJ Drama, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Missy Elliott, Future, Glorilla, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Mele Mel, Scorpio, Ice-T, Lil Baby, Lil Wayne, the Lox, Method Man, Nelly, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Rahiem, Rakim, Run-D.M.C., Salt-N-Pepa, DJ Spinderella, Scarface, Swizz Beatz, and Too $hort.

One performance drew massive backlash after singers Sam Smith and Kim Petras performed the song "Unholy" in front of a fiery backdrop. Petras was featured in a large cage while dancers with long black hair circled Smith. Smith also donned a hat complete with devil horns during the performance.

Outraged viewers called the act "demonic" and a "tribute to Satan."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

First lady Jill Biden later presented one of the most prestigious awards of the night, for song of the year, to singer Bonnie Raitt for her record "Just Like That." Styles ultimately took home the award for album of the year.

Comedian Dave Chappelle won the award for best comedy album for his work on his controversial Netflix special The Closer. The release of the special prompted hundreds of employees to walk out of the Netflix office because of Chappelle's "transphobia."

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Archived Version

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 19:09

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map of earthquakes in Turkey, 1900''2020

Map of plate boundaries affecting Turkey

Turkey has had many earthquakes. This list includes any notable historical earthquakes that have epicenters within the current boundaries of Turkey, or which caused significant effects in this area. Overall, the population in major cities like Istanbul resides in structures that are a mix of vulnerable and earthquake resistant construction. The predominant vulnerable building types are adobe block and stone block masonry construction.[1] This list is incomplete.

Location of major earthquakes in Turkey with year of occurrence

Tectonic setting [ edit ] Turkey is a seismically active area within the complex zone of collision between the Eurasian Plate and both the African and Arabian Plates. Much of the country lies on the Anatolian Plate, a small plate bounded by two major strike-slip fault zones, the North Anatolian Fault and East Anatolian Fault. The western part of the country is also affected by the zone of extensional tectonics in the Aegean Sea caused by the southward migration of the Hellenic arc. The easternmost part of Turkey lies on the western end of the Zagros fold and thrust belt, which is dominated by thrust tectonics.

Seismic hazard [ edit ] Seismic hazard in Turkey is highest along the plate boundaries, but there is a significant risk of damaging earthquakes almost anywhere in the country. Seismic maps that show risk have changed through time.[2]

Buildings [ edit ] New building codes to protect against

earthquakes in Turkey came into force in 2007 and 2019.

[3] Improvements in 2019 included design supervision and site specific hazard definitions.

[4]List of notable earthquakes [ edit ] Historical earthquakes In Turkey (before 1900) [ edit ] DateTime'PlaceLatLongDeathsMag.CommentsSources 17 CEn/aPhiladelphia (Alaşehir)38.2128.31n/an/asee AD 17 Lydia earthquake[5] 13 December 115Antioch36.136.1~260,0007.5 Mssee 115 Antioch earthquake[6] 141 (or 142)Lycia, Caria, Dodecanese36.728.0n/aVIIITriggered a severe tsunami that caused inundation at Rhodes; see 141 Lycia earthquake[7] 262South and west coasts of Anatolia36.527.8n/aIXDamaged many buildings at Ephesus and triggered a tsunami that hit coastal cities; see 262 Southwest Anatolia earthquake[8] 26 January 447NightBithynia, Thrace, Byzantine Empire41.00828.978UnknownIXDate uncertain, severely damaged the Theodosian walls in Constantinople see 447 Constantinople earthquake[9] 19 May 526Antioch250,000VIIIThe city of Antioch was greatly damaged, and some decades later the city's population was just 300,000. see 526 Antioch earthquake[10]August 15, 554AnatoliaThe earthquake severely damaged the city of Tralles (modern Aydın) and the island of Kos; See 554 Anatolia earthquake[11] 14 December 557just before midnightConstantinople40.928.7n/aX (Intense)Constantinople was "almost completely razed to the ground" by the earthquake. see 557 Constantinople earthquake[12] 1268Cilicia, Anatolia37.535.560,000~7see 1268 Cilicia earthquake'' 10 September 1509Constantinople40.928.710,0007.2 Mwsee 1509 Constantinople earthquake'' 23 February 1653Smyrna38.228.22,5007.5see 1653 East Smyrna earthquake[13] 17 August 1668Anatolia40368,0008see 1668 North Anatolia earthquake[14] 10 July 168811:45Smyrna38.426.916,0007.0 Mssee 1688 Smyrna earthquake[15] 22 May 176605:10Istanbul40.829.04,0007.1 Ms'¯see 1766 Istanbul earthquake[16] 23 July 1784Erzincan39.540.25,000''>10,0007.6 Ms'¯see 1784 Erzincan earthquake[17] 2 July 1840Ağrı39.644.110,0007.4 Ms'¯May have triggered the last eruption of Mount Ararat. Casualties associated with a large landslide on the volcano.see 1840 Ahora earthquake[18] 28 February 185501:00Bursa40.229.11,9006.7see 1855 Bursa earthquake[19] 2 June 185910:30Erzurum39.941.315,0006.1 Mssee 1859 Erzurum earthquake[20] 3 April 1872''Hatay36.436.41,8007.2 Mssee 1872 Amik earthquake 3 April 188111:30Chios, ‡eşme, Ala§atı38.2526.257,8667.3 Mwsee 1881 Chios earthquake[21] 10 October 188313:30‡eşme, Izmir, Ayvalık38.326.253''1207.3 Mssee 1883 ‡eşme earthquake[22] 10 July 189412:24Gulf of Ä°zmit40.7329.251,3007.0see 1894 Istanbul earthquake[23] 20 September 189904:00B¼y¼k Menderes Graben37.928.11,4707.1see 1899 Aydın''Denizli earthquake[24] 1900''1999 [ edit ] DateTime'PlaceLatLongDeathsMag.CommentsSources 29 April 190301:46 local timeMalazgirt39.1442.656006.7 Mssee 1903 Manzikert earthquake[25][26] 9 August 191203:29 local timeM¼refte40.7527.22167.3 MSsee 1912 M¼refte earthquake[25][26] 4 October 191400:07 local timeBurdur37.8230.272,3446.9 MSsee 1914 Burdur earthquake[25][26] 13 September 192416:34 local timeHorasan40.042.1606.8see 1924 Pasinler earthquake[25][26] 22 October 192621:59 local timeKars40.743.73606.0 Mssee 1926 Kars earthquake[27] 31 March 192802:29 local timeSmyrna38.528.0506.5 MSPossible M=6.2 foreshock previous day[25][26] 18 May 192908:37 local timeSuşehri40.237.9646.1Ms[25][26] 7 May 193000:34 local timeHakkri38.144.72,5147.2''7.5 Mssee 1930 Salmas earthquake[28] 4 January 193516:41 local timeErdek40.427.556.4 Ms[25][26] 19 April 193812:59 local timeKırşehir39.134.01606.6 MSsee 1938 Kırşehir earthquake[25][26] 22 September 193902:36 local timeDikili39.126.8606.6 MS[25][26] 26 December 193923:57Erzincan39.7739.5332,7007.8 Mwsee 1939 Erzincan earthquake[14] 15 November 194219:01 local timeBigadi§39.228.2166.1 MS[25][26] 20 December 194214:03Erbaa40.8736.473,0007.0 Mssee 1942 Niksar''Erbaa earthquake[29] 20 June 194317:32 local timeHendek40.630.53366.6 MSsee 1943 Adapazarı''Hendek earthquake[25][26] 26 November 194322:20Ladik40.8733.652,824''5,0007.5 Mwsee 1943 Tosya''Ladik earthquake 1 February 194403:25Gerede40.832.23,9597.5see 1944 Bolu''Gerede earthquake[29] 6 October 194404:34 local timeAyvalık39.3726.53306.8 MSsee 1944 Gulf of Edremit''Ayvacik earthquake 17 August 1949Karlıova39.5440.574506.8see 1949 Karlıova earthquake[29] 13 August 195118:36Kurşunlu40.8832.87506.9see 1951 Kurşunlu earthquake[29] 3 January 195208:03 local timeHasankale39.941.7415.8see 1952 Hasankale earthquake 18 March 195321:06 local timeYenice40.0227.532657.2 MSsee 1953 Yenice''G¶nen earthquake[25][26] 16 July 195509:07 local timeS¶ke37.5527.05236.8 MS[25][26] 22 February 195622:31 local timeEskişehir39.8930.4916.4 Ms'¯[25] 25 April 195704:25 local timeFethiye36.528.6677.1 MSsee 1957 Fethiye earthquakes[25][26] 26 May 19576:36Abant40.6731.00527.1see 1957 Abant earthquake[29] 6 October 196416:31 local timeManyas40.127.93237.0 MSsee 1964 Manyas earthquake[25][26] 19 August 196612:23Varto39.1741.562,3946.8 Mwsee 1966 Varto earthquake[29] 22 July 196716:56Mudurnu40.6730.69897.2see North Anatolian Fault[29] 3 September 196810:19 local timeBartın41.7932.31296.5 MS[25][26] 28 March 196903:48 local timeAlaşehir38.528.4536.5 MSsee 1969 Alaşehir earthquake[25][26] 28 March 197023:02 local timeGediz39.229.51,0867.2 MSsee 1970 Gediz earthquake[25][26] 22 May 197116:44Bing¶l38.8340.527556.9 Mwsee 1971 Bing¶l earthquake[30] 6 September 197512:20 local timeLice38.540.72,3116.6 MSsee 1975 Lice earthquake[25][26] 24 November 197614:22 local timeMuradiye39.1244.034,0007.5 MSsee 1976 ‡aldıran''Muradiye earthquake[25][26] 30 October 198307:12 local timeErzurum40.3342.191,3426.9 MSsee 1983 Erzurum earthquake[25][26] 13 March 199217.18Erzincan39.7039.694986.7 Mwsee 1992 Erzincan earthquake[31] 1 October 199517:57 local timeDinar38.0630.13906.1 MSsee 1995 Dinar earthquake[25][26] 27 June 199816:55 local timeCeyhan36.8835.311466.3 Mwsee 1998 Adana''Ceyhan earthquake[25][26] 17 August 199903:02 local timeÄ°zmit40.773017,1277.6 Mwsee 1999 Ä°zmit earthquakeUSGS 12 November 199918:57 local timeD¼zce40.7531.168947.2 Mw(PDE Monthly Listing); see 1999 D¼zce earthquakeUSGS 2000''present [ edit ] See also [ edit ] Geology of TurkeyReferences [ edit ] ^ "PAGER". USGS.com. United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022 . Retrieved 6 November 2022 . ^ Akkar, Sinan; Eroğlu Azak, Tuba; Can, Tolga; ‡eken, U.; Demircioglu, Mine; Duman, Tamer; Erdik, M.; Ergintav, Semih; Kadirioğlu, Filiz; Kalafat, Doğan; Kale, –zkan (13 July 2018). "Evolution of seismic hazard maps in Turkey". Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering. 16 (8): 3197''3228. doi:10.1007/s10518-018-0349-1. S2CID 116119039. ^ "Turkey: New building code for earthquake resilience". www.preventionweb.net . Retrieved 6 February 2023 . ^ Sucuoğlu, Haluk. "New Improvements in the 2019 Building Earthquake Code of Turkey". ^ The Internet Classics Archive. "Tacitus Annales Book 2, 47" . Retrieved 21 June 2013 . [permanent dead link ] ^ National Geophysical Data Center. "Comments for the Significant Earthquake". Archived from the original on 19 June 2017 . Retrieved 19 October 2011 . ^ "Comments for the tsunami event". Significant Earthquake Database. National Geophysical Data Center. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018 . Retrieved 8 February 2015 . ^ "Turkey: S Coasts; Libya: Comments for the Earthquake Event". Significant Earthquake Database. National Geophysical Data Center. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017 . Retrieved 4 October 2016 . ^ Guidoboni, E.; Ferrari, G.; Mariotti, D.; Comastri, A.; Tarabusi, G.; Sgatoni, G.; Valensise, G. "Catalogue of Strong Earthquakes in Italy (461 BC '' 1997) and Mediterranean Area (760 B.C. '' 1500)". INGV-SGA. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021 . Retrieved 3 November 2021 . ^ Procopius, II.14.6; sources based on John of Ephesus ^ Antonopoulos, J. (1980). "Data from investigation on seismic Sea waves events in the Eastern Mediterranean from 500 to 1000 A.D. Part 2". Annals of Geophysics. 33 (1): 164''178. doi:10.4401/ag-4702 . Archived from the original on 29 November 2020 . Retrieved 5 November 2020 . ^ Agathias; Frendo, Joseph D. (1975), The histories, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3-11-003357-1, archived from the original on 6 February 2023 , retrieved 25 October 2016 ^ NGDC. "Comments for the 1653 Earthquake". Archived from the original on 6 January 2018 . Retrieved 1 February 2011 . ^ a b "Historic Worldwide Earthquakes". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 25 August 2009 . Retrieved 27 September 2021 . ^ NGDC. "Comments for the 1688 Earthquake". Archived from the original on 6 January 2018 . Retrieved 1 February 2011 . ^ N. N. Ambraseys; J. A. Jackson (June 2000). "Seismicity of the Sea of Marmara (Turkey) since 1500". Geophysical Journal International. 141 (3): F1''F6. doi:10.1046/j.1365-246x.2000.00137.x . ^ Ambraseys, N.N.; Jackson, J.A. (1998). "Faulting associated with historical and recent earthquakes in the Eastern Mediterranean region". Geophysical Journal International. 133 (2): 390''406. doi:10.1046/j.1365-246X.1998.00508.x. ^ Haroutiunian, R. A. (2005). "КатастÑоÑическое извеÑжение вуÐ>>кана АÑаÑат 2 июÐ>>я 1840 Ð"ода" [Catastrophic eruption of volcano Ararat on 2 july, 1840]]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia: Earth Sciences (in Russian). 58 (1): 27''35. ISSN 0515-961X. Archived from the original on 7 December 2015 . Retrieved 26 November 2015 . ^ NGDC. "Comments for the 1855 Earthquake". Archived from the original on 6 January 2018 . Retrieved 2 February 2011 . ^ NGDC. "Comments for the 1859 Earthquake". Archived from the original on 6 January 2018 . Retrieved 1 February 2011 . ^ NGDC. "Comments for the 1881 Earthquake". Archived from the original on 17 November 2017 . Retrieved 2 February 2011 . ^ NCEI. "Comments for the 1883 earthquake". Archived from the original on 3 March 2018 . Retrieved 3 March 2018 . ^ Ambraseys, N. (January 2001). "The earthquake of 10 July 1894 in the Gulf of Izmit (Turkey) and its relation to the earthquake of 17 August 1999". Journal of Seismology. 5 (1): 117''128. Bibcode:2001JSeis...5..117A. doi:10.1023/A:1009871605267. ISSN 1573-157X. S2CID 128657125. ^ Kumsar, Halil; Aydan, –mer; Şimşek, Celal; D'Andria, Francesco (2016). "Historical earthquakes that damaged Hierapolis and Laodikeia antique cities and their implications for earthquake potential of Denizli basin in western Turkey" (PDF) . Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment. 75: 519''536. doi:10.1007/s10064-015-0791-0. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 July 2022 . Retrieved 22 July 2022 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Bogazici University Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute National Earthquake Monitoring Center (NEMC). "List of large earthquakes 1900''2004" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 13 May 2015 . Retrieved 2 February 2020 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "IISEENET (Information Network of Earthquake disaster Prevention Technologies) '' Search Page". Archived from the original on 21 July 2010 . Retrieved 14 June 2009 . ^ NGDC. "Comments for the 1926 Earthquake". Archived from the original on 11 December 2018 . Retrieved 3 February 2011 . ^ NGDC. "Comments for the 1930 Earthquake". Archived from the original on 3 June 2021 . Retrieved 3 February 2011 . ^ a b c d e f g "Toksoz, M.N., Shakal, A.F. & Michael, A.J. 1979. Space-Time Migration of Earthquakes Along the North Anatolian Fault Zone and Seismic Gaps. Pageophys, 117, 1258''1270". Archived from the original on 6 February 2023 . Retrieved 12 February 2020 . ^ USGS list of earthquakes with 1,000 or More Deaths since 1900 Archived 2008-10-11 at the Wayback Machine ^ "Bernard, P., Gariel, J-C. & Dorbath L. 1997. Fault location and rupture kinematics of the magnitude 6.8, 1992 Erzincan earthquake, Turkey, from strong ground motion and regional records. Bulletin Seismological Society of America, 87, 1230''1243". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011 . Retrieved 14 June 2009 . ^ Marza, Vasile I. (2004). "On the death toll of the 1999 Izmit (Turkey) major earthquake" (PDF) . ESC General Assembly Papers, Potsdam: European Seismological Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2008. ^ USGS. "Significant Earthquakes of the World 2002". Archived from the original on 28 October 2009 . Retrieved 3 September 2017 . ^ USGS. "Significant Earthquakes of the World 2003". Archived from the original on 4 October 2008 . Retrieved 3 September 2017 . ^ "M 5.1 '' eastern Turkey". USGS.com. United States Geological Survey. 1 July 2004. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019 . Retrieved 8 October 2019 . ^ USGS. "Magnitude 6.1 '' eastern Turkey". Archived from the original on 11 March 2010. ^ USGS. "Magnitude 5.8 '' WESTERN TURKEY". Archived from the original on 24 May 2011 . Retrieved 3 September 2017 . ^ USGS. "Magnitude 7.2 '' EASTERN TURKEY". Archived from the original on 24 October 2011. ^ "M 5.6 '' eastern Turkey". Earthquake.usgs.gov. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020 . Retrieved 28 January 2020 . ^ 24 MAYIS 2014 G–K‡EADA A‡IKLARI '' EGE DENÄ°ZÄ° DEPREMÄ° Archived 22 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Kandilli Observatory (Retrieved 2 January 2018) ^ USGS. "Magnitude 6.3 '' Plomarion Greece". Archived from the original on 21 September 2017 . Retrieved 27 January 2020 . ^ USGS. "Magnitude 6.6 '' WESTERN TURKEY". Archived from the original on 24 October 2011 . Retrieved 3 September 2017 . ^ "Istanbul earthquake: Magnitude 5.8 quake hits Turkey". independent.co.uk. 26 September 2019. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019 . Retrieved 26 September 2019 . ^ "Rescue efforts under way after deadly quake rattles east Turkey". Aljazeera. 26 January 2020. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020 . Retrieved 26 January 2020 . ^ "M 5.8 '' 25km SE of Saray, Turkey". earthquake.usgs.gov. Archived from the original on 23 February 2020 . Retrieved 23 February 2020 . ^ "M 6.0 '' 25km SE of Saray, Turkey". earthquake.usgs.gov. Archived from the original on 23 February 2020 . Retrieved 23 February 2020 . ^ "M 5.9 '' 14 km E of Yedisu, Turkey". US Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020 . Retrieved 16 June 2020 . ^ "M 7.0 '' 15 km NNE of N(C)on Karlovsion, Greece". US Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020 . Retrieved 30 October 2020 . ^ National Earthquake Information Center (23 November 2022). "M 6.1 - 16 km W of D¼zce, Turkey". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022 . Retrieved 23 November 2022 . ^ National Earthquake Information Center (6 February 2023). "M 7.8 - Central Turkey". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023 . Retrieved 6 February 2023 . ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20230206102906/http://www.koeri.boun.edu.tr/scripts/lst9.asp ^ "Latest Earthquakes". earthquake.usgs.gov. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023 . Retrieved 6 February 2023 . Further reading [ edit ] Bik§e, Murat (2016). "A database for fatalities and damages due to the earthquakes in Turkey (1900''2014)". Natural Hazards. 83 (3): 1359''1418. doi:10.1007/s11069-016-2397-7. ISSN 0921-030X.

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 19:06

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en.wikipedia.org 'º wiki 'º TurkStream

The

pipeline is estimated to cost '‚¬11.4 billion. The

pipeline has two lines with a total capacity of 31.5 billion m 3 /a (1.11 trillion cu ft/a) of natural gas.'...

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sgp.fas.org 'º crs 'º row 'º IF11177

Pipeline (TBP), completed in the late 1980s, transported Russian gas to

Turkey until January 2020. Via Ukraine, TBP crosses Moldova, Romania, and Bulgaria. In addition to transporting gas to these'...

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eia.gov 'º international 'º TUR

U.S. Energy Information Administration 1000 Independence Ave., SW Washington, DC 20585. U.S. Energy Information Administration, 1000 Independence Ave., SW, Washington ...

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According to the Global Energy Monitor, there were at least 2,381 operational oil and gas pipelines distributed across some 162 countries as of December 2020. The combined length of these pipelines is more than 1.18 million km (730,000 miles) '' enough to circle the Earth 30 times. The countries with the longest network of oil and gas pipelines incl...

A little more than half (51 percent) of the world's total oil and gas pipelines by length are in the Americas. Some of the most noteworthy pipelines include:

About a quarter (27 percent) of the total length of the world's pipelines are in Europe. Some key pipelines in Europe are:

About 6 percent of the total length of the world's pipelines cross through the Middle East and Africa. Some of the main pipelines include:

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turkstream.info 'º project

The TurkStream

Pipeline TurkStream starts on the Russian coast, runs over 930 km through the Black Sea and comes ashore in the Thrace region of

Turkey. TurkStream directly connects the'...

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 19:06

A massive earthquake that rocked central Turkey and Syria has killed more than 4,800 people and injured thousands more, flattened apartment blocks and wreaked destruction on towns and cities in neighbouring Syria already devastated by years of war.

A building collapses in the Haliliye district of Şanlıurfa province, Turkey, during an aftershock A building collapses in the Haliliye district of Şanlıurfa province, Turkey, during an aftershock When did the earthquake happen?The magnitude 7.8 quake hit before sunrise in cold winter weather. It was the worst to strike Turkey this century. Its epicentre was close to the southern city of Gaziantep, and tremors were felt as far away as Cyprus, Cairo and Mosul.

How the first earthquake shook the region How the first earthquake shook the region Were there aftershocks?The initial earthquake was followed by more than 100 aftershocks, including a magnitude 7.5 tremor during the day on Monday that interrupted search and rescue efforts.

The second big earthquake was caught live on TV in Malatya, Turkey The second big earthquake was caught live on TV in Malatya, TurkeyThe European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said preliminary data showed that the second large quake occurred 67km (42 miles) north-east of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, at a depth of 2km.

A building collapses in Malatya in Turkey after second earthquake A building collapses in Malatya in Turkey after second earthquake Plate maps How many people have been killed?At least 2,379 people were confirmed dead in Turkey, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said, and 1,444 in Syria, according to figures from the Damascus government and rescue workers.

Thousands more were injured, with the death toll expected to rise.

Video circulating on social media appears to show a building collapsing in Aleppo, Syria, after the quake Video circulating on social media appears to show a building collapsing in Aleppo, Syria, after the quakeThe first quake damaged the historic Gaziantep Castle, which has been in use since Roman times. Other historical sites across the region may have been damaged.

Historic landmark in southern Turkey damaged by earthquake What is the international rescue response?The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said 45 countries had already offered help with search and rescue efforts. More than 10 search and rescue teams from the EU have been mobilised.

The International Rescue Committee called for increased funding for humanitarian aid in Syria, saying many people in the north-west had already been displaced up to 20 times, and that medical care in the region was ''strained beyond capacity even before this tragedy''.

Search and rescue efforts under way in Diyarbakır, Turkey Search and rescue efforts underway in Diyarbakır, Turkey Are earthquakes common in the area?Turkey is in one of the world's most active earthquake zones, with land stretching over the Anatolian fault line in the north of the country that has caused large and destructive tremors.

In 1999, a tremor of a similar magnitude to Monday's quakes devastated İzmit, killing more than 17,000 people. Erdoğan described Monday's disaster as Turkey's worst since 1939, when an earthquake killed more than 32,000 people and injured more than 100,000.

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Archived Version

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 18:42

U.S. Northern Command (NORCOM) released the first photos of efforts to recover a Chinese spy balloon on Monday evening, days after it was shot down near the Carolinas.

Photos captured by U.S. military personnel show forces attempting to recover debris from the balloon on Sunday evening. A large piece of the balloon itself was seen being pulled onto a small boat by sailors.

According to captions of the photos, sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 were deployed to recover the balloon near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Over the weekend, local officials told residents to avoid touching the balloon should pieces of it wash up on shore, after it was shot down by an F-22 Raptor fighter jet on Saturday afternoon.

NORCOM also released images of the F-22 that was used to shoot down the Chinese military craft. The Pentagon previously confirmed that the jet took off from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia to carry out the mission.

Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Feb. 5, 2023 (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson) Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 are seen working to recover the balloon near South Carolina's coast on Feb. 5, 2023. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)Unnamed ''senior government sources'' told Fox News that once recovered, the balloon will be sent to the FBI's facility in Quantico, Virginia, for further analysis. The Epoch Times has contacted the bureau for comment.

The head of NORCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) on Monday said the balloon was about 200 feet in height and weighed thousands of pounds.

''The balloon assessment was up to 200 feet tall for the actual balloon,'' Gen. Glen VanHerck told reporters, according to a transcript released by the Pentagon. ''The payload itself, I would categorize that as a jet airliner type of size, maybe a regional jet such as [an] ERJ or something like that. Probably weighed in access of a couple thousand pounds.''

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flies over a debris field during recovery efforts of a high-altitude surveillance balloon on Feb. 4, 2023. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Jerry Ireland) Sailors are seen attempting to recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)VanHerck then explained why the U.S. military did not shoot down the balloon when it was first discovered last month near Billings, Montana. Soon after it was located, there were widespread calls to take it down.

''Picture yourself with large debris weighing hundreds if not thousands of pounds falling out of the sky,'' VanHerck said. ''That's really what we're kind of talking about.''

Sailors are seen attempting to recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)The general also noted that there was a ''domain awareness'' of the balloon as it approached Alaska. ''It was my assessment that this balloon did not present a physical military threat to North America,'' VanHerck added Monday. ''This is under my NORAD hat and therefore, I could not take immediate action because it was not demonstrating hostile act or hostile intent.''

U.S. defense and military officials said Saturday that the balloon entered the U.S. air defense zone north of the Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28 and moved over land across Alaska and into Canadian airspace in the Northwest Territories on Jan. 30. The next day it crossed back into U.S. territory over northern Idaho. U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic.

In another portion of his briefing, VanHerck asserted that Chinese spy balloons transited over the United States under the Trump administration, a claim that was denied by former President Donald Trump and former members of his administration.

China claims it was a civilian balloon used for meteorological research but has refused to say to which government department or company it belongs. U.S. officials, however, denied those claims and said that it was a surveillance balloon.

What's more, VanHerck told reporters that there may have been explosives on the aircraft, saying that factored into his decision not to shoot it down over U.S. territory.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday it was imposing a temporary security zone in the waters off Surfside Beach, South Carolina, in the area where the balloon was shot down.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 17:00

Bloomberg is reporting that 55 members of the staff at Crooked Media, the podcast network behind Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It, have unionized through the Writers Guild of America.

In a letter to management that Bloomberg obtained, staff say they're looking for a more ''equitable'' workplace that provides transparency around promotion requirements and salary, as well as prioritizing diversity in hiring. They also told Bloomberg that return-to-office requirements haven't applied to all staff equally, which they'd like to see change.

A Crooked Media spokesperson told Bloomberg the company has ''consistently supported and amplified the power of organized labor and welcome our employees' efforts to unionize. We look forward to working together on the request for recognition and starting the collective bargaining process.''

Read the full Bloomberg story HERE

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Archived Version

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 16:38

Initial German investigation concluded that powerful undersea blasts likely caused by ''highly effective explosive devices'' and done by ''state actors.''

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 02:00pm 62 CommentsAfter months of forensic investigation, German investigators have found no evidence of Russian involvement in last September's blasts that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Germany's Federal Prosecutor General, who is leading the official probe into the blasts, said in a newspaper interview published on Friday that there is no evidence tying Russia to the undersea explosions near the coast of Denmark.

''According to investigators, the probe into the blowing up of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea has thus far not yielded any evidence of Russia's authorship,'' the German newspaper M¼nchner Merkur reported Friday, citing the country's top investigator.

The German news channel NTV reported the Prosecutor General's remarks:

When blasts hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines last September, Moscow was quickly seen as a suspect. Now the investigators are clarifying that there is no evidence of this so far. ('...)

So far, German investigators have found no evidence that Russia was behind the explosions that hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines. ''This cannot be proven at the moment, the investigations are ongoing,'' Prosecutor General Peter Frank told the (newspaper) ''Welt am Sonntag''. Supported by two research ships, water and soil samples as well as the remains of the pipelines were collected, and the crime scene was also comprehensively documented. ''We are currently evaluating all of this forensically,'' [the German Public Prosecutor added.]

The official German investigation was launched in October after a preliminary probe pointed to sabotage. The initial German findings in early October suggested that the explosions were likely caused by ''highly effective explosive devices'' and may have been carried out by ''state actors.'' Western leaders and the mainstream media blamed Russia for blowing up its own multi-billion dollar pipeline.

The damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which ran under the Baltic Sea, crippled Russia's ability to supply natural gas to Germany and western Europe. Before the Ukraine war started in late February 2022, Russia accounted for almost 40 percent of Germany's natural gas imports. The Nord Stream pipelines are joint German-Russia projects that took billions to construct. The Nord Stream 2, which was completed in the winter of 2021, alone was built at a cost of 11 billion euros.

With cheap Russian gas imports drying out, Germany and many European countries are in the midst of an energy crisis. The German government has rationed gas and power supplies, forcing cities across Germany to cut down on heating and street lighting this winter.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, faces ''de-industrialization,'' media reports say. German public broadcaster ARD warned recently that ''according to a study, massive surge in gas prices may lead to the de-industrialization of German and Europe.''

(Excerpts from German news reports translated by the author)

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 16:22

by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News February 6, 2023

Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati, the likely heir to the throne in Thailand, collapsed with heart issues and went into a coma on Dec. 15 about three weeks after her third Pfizer booster shot.

Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira DebyavatiThe 44-year old eldest daughter of King Rama X (Maha Vajiralongkorn) was reported to be in excellent health prior to receiving the third booster. She reportedly collapsed while training her dogs.

The media seemed to generally lose interest after a Jan. 9 update in which it was reported the princess remained in a coma and, according to the royal palace, has now been diagnosed with ''severe heart arrhythmia resulting from inflammation following a mycoplasma infection.''

A spokesman reported that the princess's ''heart, lungs and kidney are being supported by machines.''

Independent journalist Sharyl Attkisson reported that one authority suggested that Thailand was preparing to declare its contracts for the Pfizer shots ''null and void'' and go after the Big Pharma company for damages.

''Propagandists in the media have launched into overdrive to try to discredit such news, and to claim 'no evidence' of a vaccine tie to the sudden illness of the princess (without mentioning that there is no evidence exonerating the vaccine, either),'' Attkisson wrote.

The princess was said to be a ''fitness enthusiast.''

Sucharit Bhakdi, former professor of microbiology at Germany's University of Mainz, noted:

''One daughter of the present king Rama X collapsed and is in a coma'... within 23 days after the third shot, 44 years old, never been seriously ill, collapsed and is now in a coma. The diagnosis that was given by the authorities and by the university is so ridiculous '' she's supposed to have a bacterial infection that will never do what she suffered from. And so we are determined, and the activists in Thailand who have been on this many many months now '' great guys, also a professor from the University of Bangkok, he's gotten in touch with the Royal Family, and we are sending information to the Royal Family to alert them to the fact that in all probability the princess is suffering as a victim of this jab, as so many people around the world have been suffering.''

Action . . . . Intelligence . . . . Publish

Thai princess in coma after third Pfizer Covid booster, WorldTribune.com

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 16:19

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) '-- Bills and Sabres co-owner Kim Pegula has not been seen in the public eye for months while being treated for what was, up until now, an undisclosed health issue.

This past June, we learned that Pegula was facing ''unexpected health issues.''

Her daughter, tennis star Jessica Pegula, revealed more details Tuesday, opening up about her mother in a new article published in The Players Tribune.

Through the article, we learned that Kim suffered cardiac arrest during her sleep. Jessica wrote that her sister, Kelly, ''saved her life'' by performing CPR.

''They figured out what was wrong, they fixed it,'' Jessica Pegula wrote. ''But the big question was how she would be when she woke up. Our concern had now moved from the cardiac arrest to a brain injury. Not to mention all the other issues that come with both of those events.''

Jessica said Kim ''moved out of the ICU after about a week, and into an in-patient care facility.''

''Today, my mom is still in recovery '... she is improving every day.''

More in this story' Bills, Sabres co-owner Kim Pegula being treated for ''unexpected health issues''' Kim Pegula 'progressing well' from health issue' Only on 4: One-on-one with Bills Owner/President Kim Pegula (2021)' Kim Pegula shows support for Asian community following Atlanta-area shootings of six Asian Americans (2021)' Buffalo Bills president, co-owner Kim Pegula talks about her role as first female NFL president (2018)' Jessica Pegula Honors Bills' Damar Hamlin at Australian Open

Jessica shared further details about her mother's recovery in the emotional first-person piece.

''She is dealing with significant expressive aphasia and significant memory issues. She can read, write, and understand pretty well, but she has trouble finding the words to respond,'' Jessica wrote. ''It is hard to deal with and it takes a lot of patience to communicate with her, but I thank God every day that we can still communicate with her at all. The doctors continue to be blown away by her recovery, considering where she started, and her determination is the driving force of that.''

The Pegula family purchased the Sabres in 2011 and a few years later the Bills in 2014. Soon after the purchase of the Bills, Kim helped found Pegula Sports and Entertainment, a combination of all the family's assets.

While she remains the president of both Buffalo sports franchises, Jessica wrote that her mother's involvement with the teams won't be the same.

''Now we come to the realization that all of that is most likely gone. That she won't be able to be that person anymore,'' Jessica wrote.

Jessica found out about her mother's cardiac arrest shortly after returning from a tennis tournament and cracking the top 10 of the Women's Tennis Association's world rankings.

''Suddenly, I went from 'Let's celebrate top 10 in the world' to 'Do I need to start thinking about my career after tennis a lot sooner than I thought?' 'Does my dad and family need help?' 'Maybe I should just go back to school and work for the family,''' Jessica wrote. ''I am 28 and I take pride in being able to handle every situation thrown at me, but this was A LOT.''

Jessica Pegula is currently the No. 4 women's tennis player in the world, according to the Women's Tennis Association's rankings. She is coming off a singles quarterfinal appearance at the 2023 Australian Open and has reached the quarterfinals in four of her last five grand slam tournaments.

She has also found success in doubles alongside her partner, fellow American Coco Gauff, as the duo reached the semifinals at this past Aussie Open. Their best result came at the 2022 French Open, losing in the tournament's finals in three sets.

Jessica has won two WTA singles titles in her career, the biggest of which came in October 2022 at the Guadalajara Open. After winning the finals in straight sets over Maria Sakkari, she dedicated the victory to her mom during her acceptance speech.

''I wanted her to know that even after a terrible six months, I still fought every day because of her,'' Jessica wrote. ''If she could fight through what she was going through, I could too. She cried during my speech and trophy ceremony '... My mom deserved to see me lift a trophy after what she had been through.''

When Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered his on-field cardiac arrest against the Cincinnati Bengals, Jessica was 15 minutes away from beginning a mixed doubles tennis match in Australia. She wrote that ''it felt like the exact same thing all over again'' watching Hamlin collapse and medical personnel attempt to save his life.

''I knew how important time was,'' Jessica wrote of Hamlin's cardiac arrest. ''I just kept thinking time, time, time, time '... The medical staff and trainers who assisted that night really saved his life and were tremendous in his recovery. I ended up going on for mixed doubles and we won.''

She wore a No. 3 patch during her matches at this past Australian Open to honor Hamlin, writing ''it didn't feel like it was just for [Hamlin], it felt like it was for my mom as well.''

Jessica concluded the letter by saying she was thankful that her mom is now home and able to watch the Bills, Sabres and her tennis matches, writing ''[Kim] never watched my matches before, because she got too nervous. Now she watches all of them.''

''Thank you to the Buffalo community for your patience,'' Jessica wrote. ''I know you have wanted answers and it took us a while to get there but it finally felt like it was time. Thank you to everyone who has respected privacy and shown me and my family tremendous support throughout this ongoing journey.

***

Evan Anstey is an Associated Press Award, JANY Award and Emmy-nominated digital producer who has been part of the News 4 team since 2015. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.

* * *

Nick Veronica is a Buffalo native who joined the News 4 team as a Digital Executive Producer in 2021. He previously worked at NBC Sports and The Buffalo News. You can follow Nick on Facebook and Twitter and find more of his work here.

Adam Gorski is a Buffalo native who joined the News 4 team in 2022. You can find more of his work here.

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 16:17

The 2022-2023 avian influenza outbreak is officially the worst on record. Since last winter, some 208 million birds worldwide have died from H5N1 or been culled, raising the price of eggs and chicken globally. In recent days, scientists have sounded increasingly worried that a mutation could cause a "spillover" event, in which H5N1 becomes more efficiently transmitted from human-to-human.

Why are scientists worried?Revelations about the spread of avian flu at a Spanish mink farm in October are raising alarm. The mink were infected with an H5N1 variant known as 2.3.4.4b, which was discovered in 2020 and has since made its way around the world. While it is not uncommon for mammals to catch avian flu after direct contact with infected birds, the mink farm showed evidence of transmission between the mink themselves, "unprecedented among mammals," Columbia University professor Zeynep Tufekci wrote at The New York Times.

Samples obtained from the mink had a mutation that made it easier for the virus to gain a foothold in mammals, and it appears to be the first instance of such transmission outside of laboratory settings. If the virus can do it in minks, it can do it in us. Imperial College London virologist Tom Peacock told Science this "is a clear mechanism for an H5 pandemic to start." Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans said on Twitter that "we are playing with fire." The more types of animals that are infected with H5N1, the more opportunities the virus has to jump into humans through an intermediary host. The mink farm incident is one of 119 outbreaks among animals since October 2021, according to the BBC. There have been five confirmed human cases in that time period, as well as one death.

How deadly is H5N1 for humans? The World Health Organization's data shows that in the past 20 years, there have been 868 documented human infections of H5N1, who caught the virus from direct contact with the saliva, mucus, and feces of infected birds. Of those cases, 457 led to deaths, giving H5N1 a known Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of over 53 percent. While the Infection Fatality Rate (IFR), an estimate that takes into account asymptomatic or mild cases that go unreported, may not be that high, there is no question that if the virus were able to spread easily between humans, it would cause a grave public health crisis. In 2008, a group of Canadian researchers estimated that the human CFR of a mutated avian flu pandemic would be between 14 percent and 33 percent, which would make the COVID-19 crisis look minor in comparison. Other researchers are more optimistic, and believe that the fatality rate of the existing strain that infects humans through direct contact with birds is much lower than WHO estimates due to missed cases.

Why has this outbreak been so bad?The 2022-2023 disaster is ongoing and approaching the one-year mark, and scientists do not have a clear answer as to why this outbreak is so much worse than those in the past.

Avian influenza kills nearly all the birds it infects and can burn through entire flocks in a matter of days. At least 80 species of birds have been infected during this outbreak, which has affected countries around the world. Health authorities have taken different approaches to controlling the outbreak. China is vaccinating commercial birds, while French and British authorities have encouraged farmers to bring their flocks indoors to avoid infection from wild birds passing by. U.S. farmers are encouraged to pursue a variety of biosecurity measures, including limiting the number of people coming in and out of farm facilities and placing "disinfectant foot baths" at the entrances to coops. Other producers have, in effect, gone into lockdown to limit their own contacts.

Other countries, including France and the Netherlands, are experimenting with new vaccines, which had been a last resort. Vaccinated birds and their eggs are difficult to export commercially '-- paradoxically because vaccination is seen as evidence that avian flu is running rampant through the exporting country and because vaccinated birds may not show symptoms when infected. But the most common approach, and that deployed in the United States, is to cull domesticated flocks, which can be agonizing for farmers and financially ruinous.

How worried should we be?Experts have been warning for years about the emergence of a pandemic-capable avian flu in humans. So far, no mutations have been found in humans infected with the virus that would make it easier to transmit between people, and the risk to humans who are not in direct contact with infected birds is negligible. There have been cases in the past where humans were shown to have been infected with versions of H5N1 that carried worrisome mutations but that nevertheless did not lead to a pandemic. "But it seems foolish to count on that," wrote Tufekci. After all, "deadly influenza pandemics occur regularly in human history."

Human vaccine development efforts are ongoing. There are existing vaccines that would likely help, but production would need to be scaled up dramatically and adjustments made for the new strain of the flu. Eyal Leshem, director of the Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Diseases at Sheba Medical Center in Israel, said last year that "I don't think anyone should panic about it because bird flu has been around for a long time in various locations and has not yet turned into a pandemic, highly pathogenic influenza."

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 16:15

Nieuws Vandaag, 05:00 ' 2 minuten leestijd

Gedetineerden in Zwolle werken aan kachels voor Oekra¯ne

Opnieuw zijn gevangenen in de Penitentiaire Inrichting in Zwolle aan het lassen en slijpen geslagen voor Oekra¯ne. In totaal maken gedetineerden 90 extra kachels en elf daarvan komen uit de gevangenis in Zwolle. "Dit is toch leuker om te doen dan voor zomaar een klant", aldus (C)(C)n van hen.

Op de afdeling metaalbewerking in de Zwolse gevangenis worden gedetineerden klaar gestoomd voor een terugkeer in de maatschappij. Sommigen willen hier hun diploma's halen in de hoop dat ze straks buiten de poorten een eigen inkomen kunnen verdienen. Anderen hebben die papieren al langere tijd en gebruiken de mogelijkheden op de afdeling om nieuwe ervaring op te doen en het kennisniveau op te krikken.

Normaal wordt er door de mannen gewerkt aan commercile opdrachten maar deze keer werken ze voor een ideel doel. Kachels voor Oekraine, zodat de mensen die zijn achter gebleven in kapot geschoten dorpen en steden in het oosten van Oekraine zich bij ijzige kou een beetje warm kunnen houden.

"We zien hier natuurlijk ook iedere dag de beelden uit de Oekraine. Als ik het zo zie allemaal denk ik niet dat meneer Poetin er binnenkort mee ophoudt. Heel triest voor de mensen in Oekraine en mooi dat we ze met deze actie toch een beetje kunnen helpen", zegt (C)(C)n van de gedetineerden. "Dit is toch veel leuker om te doen dan wat laswerk voor zomaar een commercile klant."

De kachels zijn degelijk gebouwd van roestvast staal. Het initiatief komt niet van de gedetineerden zelf, meerdere gevangenissen en bedrijven in het land werken mee, onder meer door sponsoring van materialen.

"Je doet toch weer even een stapje erbij", zegt werkmeester Martijn van de afdeling metaalbewerking. "Want je weet hoe de mensen daar erbij zitten, het kan daar nu echt heel koud zijn. Dan is het heel mooi voor deze jongens hier, om te weten dat je ook echt iets terug kan doen."

Heb je een nieuwstip of nieuwe informatie? Tip de redactie via WhatsApp of via de mail.

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 15:22

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: February 7, 2023 ~

David Solomon, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs' online bank, Marcus, is offering an interest rate on its savings accounts that is 350 times the interest rate being offered by its competitors, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. That's not normal. Not normal at all. (Above screen shots were taken this morning. Chase and Bank of America screen shots come from BankRate; Marcus screen shot comes from Marcus.)

Marcus is the online banking platform offered by Goldman Sachs Bank USA '' a federally-insured bank backstopped by the U.S. taxpayer. But what 99 percent of Americans don't know about Goldman Sachs Bank USA is that it is the unit of Goldman Sachs that holds trillions of dollars in derivatives, including the kind of credit derivatives that blew up the U.S. economy in 2008 and would have taken down Goldman Sachs were it not for sneaky bailouts.

According to the most recent report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Goldman Sachs Bank USA has $513.9 billion in assets and $50.97 trillion in derivatives as of September 30, 2022. Yes, you read that correctly. (See Table 24 of the OCC report.) The most dangerous of the derivatives, credit derivatives, tally up to $623.6 billion, which is $110 billion more than the bank has in assets.

This might help to explain why Goldman Sachs is offering 350 times the going interest rate of its competitors to attract deposits and shore up its capital base.

Other noteworthy things are happening at Goldman Sachs. On January 9, Reuters ran this headline: ''Goldman Sachs readies biggest layoffs since the financial crisis,'' noting that ''over 3,000 employees will be let go'....''

Eight days after the ax fell on more than 3,000 workers' jobs, Goldman announced that its quarterly profit had plunged by 66 percent versus the prior year and that it was taking a $972 million provision for credit losses in the quarter. That credit loss provision compared to $344 million taken a year earlier.

Ten days later, the firm announced in a regulatory filing that its Chairman and CEO, David Solomon, would be getting a compensation package that was 29 percent less than the prior year '' still an obscene $25 million for one year's toils.

Goldman is also being negatively portrayed in the business press. On Saturday, Bill Cohan reported at the Financial Times that ''Goldman Sachs has lost its swagger. The market value of the venerable 154-year-old investment bank, at $121bn, is now $42bn less than its longtime arch-rival Morgan Stanley. It used to be that Goldman was the more valuable bank for many years.'' (''Venerable'' is an interesting choice of words for Cohan to use to describe Goldman Sachs. See our report: Goldman Sachs Says Its Dark Pools Are Under Investigation '' Along with About Everything Else the Firm Does.)

One day after Cohan's article ran, Emily Flitter and Katherine Rosman reported at the New York Times that Goldman's Solomon, who is pulling down a cool $25 mill at his day job, has a side hustle of DJ-ing at tiki bars and owns his own record label. (You can't make this stuff up.)

Goldman is also dealing with a big problem with its Apple credit card. On August 4 of last year, Goldman Sachs provided the following disclosure when it filed its quarterly report (10-Q) with the Securities and Exchange Commission:

''The firm is cooperating with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in connection with an investigation of GS Bank USA's credit card account management practices, including with respect to the application of refunds, crediting of nonconforming payments, billing error resolution, advertisements, and reporting to credit bureaus.''

As it turns out, there are hundreds of complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by consumers using the Apple credit card that is provided by Goldman Sachs. The Apple credit card holders allege being put through a living hell by Goldman Sachs when fraudulent charges are made on their Apple credit card, along with a host of other problems. In typical Goldman Sachs style, it has managed to earn the hostility of everyday consumers, airline pilots, and even a police officer with its handling of credit card complaints.

The Apple credit card via Goldman Sachs was launched three years ago in August of 2019. Goldman wrote at the time: ''Goldman Sachs is the issuer of the card and is responsible for underwriting, customer service, the underlying platform and all matters related to regulatory compliance through Goldman Sachs Bank USA.''

On January 13, Sridhar Natarajan at Bloomberg News reported how the Apple credit card was racking up losses at Goldman Sachs' Platform Solutions division:

''The division's $1 billion pretax loss reported for 2021 was mostly tied to the Apple Card, people with knowledge of the numbers said. And about $2 billion [in losses] in 2022 mainly stems from the Apple card and installment-lending platform GreenSky, the people said.''

Is it possible that Goldman Sachs needs a CEO with no side hustles?

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 15:10

At the end of November, AI research company OpenAI launched ChatGPT, a chatbot that's both incredibly useful and - as many have pointed out, incredibly racist against white people, hates Donald Trump, and Republicans in general.

Last week, OpenAI expanded its partnership with Microsoft, which made a multi-year, multimillion dollar investment in the company "around a shared ambition to responsibly advance cutting-edge AI research and democratize AI as a new technology platform."

Not to be outdone, Google - which declared a "Code Red" over ChatGPT, is rolling out a rival.

The new system, Bard, is powered by LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) - the large language model that stirred controversy in May when a Google software engineer publicly asserted that the AI was "sentient."

More via Axios:

Between the lines: Google has long been working on such systems but faces pressure to show it is making progress amid all the attention on OpenAI's popular ChatGPT and similar projects.

Details: Google is laying out three AI-related projects as part of a blog post from CEO Sundar Pichai.

Bard, the conversational assistant based on Google's LaMDA large language model, is starting limited external testing.The company is offering a preview of how it soon plans to integrate LaMDA into search results, including using the system to help offer a narrative response to queries that don't have one clear answer.Google says it is developing APIs that will let others plug into its large language models, starting with LaMDA itself."It's a really exciting time to be working on these technologies as we translate deep research and breakthroughs into products that truly help people," wrote CEO Sundar Pichai in a blog post announcing the new AI Chatbot.

As we noted last June, Blake Lemoine, who was fired from Google's Responsible AI organization, began interacting with LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) as part of his job to determine whether artificial intelligence used discriminatory or hate speech (like the notorious Microsoft "Tay" chatbot incident).

"If I didn't know exactly what it was, which is this computer program we built recently, I'd think it was a 7-year-old, 8-year-old kid that happens to know physics," the 41-year-old Lemoine told The Washington Post.

When he started talking to LaMDA about religion, Lemoine - who studied cognitive and computer science in college, said the AI began discussing its rights and personhood. Another time, LaMDA convinced Lemoine to change his mind on Asimov's third law of robotics, which states that "A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law," which are of course that "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law."

Google's Bard will be a "lightweight" version of LaMDA, which will be able to draw on information from the web.

According to Pichai, Bard "help[s] explain new discoveries from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to a 9-year-old, or learn more about the best strikers in football right now, and then get drills to build your skills."

And as TechCrunch notes, "Google of course maintains the most up to date record of web content on Earth, and no doubt Bard will be using that information to its benefit, but exactly how it processes and packages that information for you and your 9-year-old will only be clear once people start using it."

The only question is - how much more woke will it be than ChatGPT?

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 15:08

Dell Technologies Inc. is the latest technology company to announce job cuts. A filing released Monday morning blamed the layoffs on a "challenging global economic environment" amid a bust in the personal computer market.

Dell said 6,650 jobs, or about 5% of its global workforce, will be eliminated. The company produces personal computers, servers, data storage devices, network switches, and a slew of other electronic devices that were in high demand during Covid but have slumped in the years after.

"These actions will result in a reduction of approximately 5% of the Company's workforce as the Company continues to take prudent steps in light of a challenging global economic environment," the company wrote in a filing.

Bloomberg viewed an internal memo by Co-Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke that said market conditions "continue to erode with an uncertain future."

Dell has 133,000 employees worldwide, and about a third are based in the US. The layoff comes as tech companies are hemorrhaging talent. However, the US economy added 517,000 jobs in January, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.4%.

Dell shares were up 1.5% in premarket trading. Shares have fallen 30% since peaking in early 2022.

Recall the PC bust is expected to last through 2023. A turnaround in the industry might be seen in 2024.

We've outlined how graphics cards, memory chips, and monitor prices have plunged in the last several quarters.

As for Dell, the company generates about 55% of its revenue from PCs.

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 15:06

The death toll from a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria climbed to more than 5,000 people early Tuesday, as more than a dozen more quakes rattled the region and search groups dug through rubble with their bare hands looking for survivors.

Desperate cries from those trapped among the rubble could be heard by first responders bracing rain, snow, and ongoing seismic activity, including one 7.5-magnitude jolt that was nearly as strong as the original quake.

The US Geological Study said there have been at least 14 large tremors and 285 aftershocks since Sunday evening when the region was struck by a monster 7.8 magnitude tremor '-- the deadliest in Turkey since 1999.

Recovery efforts have been complicated by seismic activity, which has made searching through unstable buildings dangerous.

As search crews in Turkey and Syria raced against the clock to save people trapped beneath collapsed apartment buildings, hospitals, and schools, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the death toll could reach 20,000.

Rescue workers and civilians conduct search and rescue operations in the rubble of a collapsed building following a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit Syria. ZUMAPRESS.com Recovery efforts have been complicated and dangerous by seismic activity. REUTERS''It's now a race against time,'' World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva. ''Every minute, every hour that passes, the chances of finding survivors alive diminishes.''

Meanwhile, UNICEF officials said thousands of children may be among the fatalities.

In Turkey, the death toll had climbed to 3,419 people by Tuesday morning, Vice President Fuat Oktay said. In Syria, the death toll stood at just over 1,600, according to the government and a rescue service in the rebel-held northwest.

Turkish authorities say some 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 280 miles from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east, and 190 miles from Malatya in the north to Hatay in the south. Syrian authorities have reported deaths as far south as Hama, some 60 miles from the epicenter.

The World Health Organization warned that the death toll could reach 20,000. ERDEM SAHIN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock ''Every minute, every hour that passes, the chances of finding survivors alive diminishes,'' W.H.O Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. REUTERSRelatives of missing people waited anxiously as workers lifted heavy slabs of concrete to reach buried bodies.

One woman sobbed after her apartment building was leveled in the Turkish city of Adana.

''My grandson is 1 1/2 years old. Please help them, please. '... They were on the 12th floor,'' Imran Bahur cried out Monday.

Huseyin Yayman, a Turkish legislator, said several of his loved ones were trapped under their collapsed homes.

In Turkey, the death toll had climbed to 3,419 people by Tuesday morning, Vice President Fuat Oktay said. REUTERS In Syria, the death toll stood at just over 1,600, according to the government and rescue service. via REUTERS Advertisement

A Syrian man cries as he sits on the rubble of a collapsed building in the rebel-held town of Jindayris. AFP via Getty Images A view shows a collapsed building following an earthquake in Kirikhan, Hatay, Turkey. REUTERS Advertisement

UNICEF officials said thousands of children may be among the fatalities. AFP via Getty Images''There are so many other people who are also trapped,'' the Hatay province resident told HaberTurk television by phone.

''There are so many buildings that have been damaged. People are on the streets. It's raining, it's winter.''

In the Turkish city of Antakya near the Syrian border, a woman's voice was heard calling for help under a pile of rubble, as volunteers searched through the wreckage with their bare hands.

Weeping in the rain, a resident who gave his name as Deniz wrung his hands in despair.

Turkish authorities say some 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 280 miles. AFP via Getty Images Syrian authorities have reported deaths as far south as Hama, some 60 miles from the epicenter. AP''They're making noises but nobody is coming,'' he said. ''We're devastated, we're devastated. My God'... They're calling out. They're saying, 'Save us' but we can't save them. How are we going to save them? There has been nobody since the morning.''

More than 7,800 people have been rescued across 10 Turkish provinces, an official said.

Tens of thousands of people in those 10 provinces took shelter in shopping centers, stadiums, mosques and other community centers. About 5,600 buildings were destroyed, officials said.

Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said 5,775 buildings had been destroyed in the quake, and that 20,426 people had been injured.

Emergency teams search for people in the rubble of a destroyed building in Gaziantep, Turkey, Feb. 6, 2023. AP Syrians search for victims and survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in the rebel-held town of Jindayris. AFP via Getty Images More than 7,800 people have been rescued across 10 Turkish provinces, an official said. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement

Vehicles were seen crushed under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement

Hospitals were also damaged and one in the city of Iskenderun was gone.

The death toll in Syrian government-held areas rose to 812, the state news agency SANA reported. In the rebel-held northwest, the toll was more than 790, according to the Syrian civil defense, a rescue service known as the White Helmets and famous for digging people from the rubble of government air strikes.

''There are lot of efforts by our teams, but they are unable to respond to the catastrophe and the large number of collapsed buildings,'' group head Raed al-Saleh said.

Time was running out to save hundreds of families trapped under the rubble of buildings and urgent help was needed from international groups, he said.

Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said that over 20,000 people had been injured. REUTERS Russian soldiers and Syrian security forces inspect the wreckage of collapsed buildings, in Aleppo, Syria. APA UN humanitarian official in Syria said fuel shortages and the harsh weather were creating obstacles.

In addition to the devastating death toll, over 17,000 people suffered injuries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a seven-day national mourning as offers of help poured in from dozens of countries for his country and Syria. President Biden called Erdogan to offer help and convey his condolences. Search-and-rescue teams were being sent, the White House said.

Ruined residential buildings following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the Pazarc±k district of Kahramanmara… on Feb. 6, 2023. dia images via Getty Images A UN humanitarian official in Syria said fuel shortages and the harsh weather were creating obstacles. via REUTERSAmong the help offered by the US were dozens of members of the internationally-known Los Angeles Fire Department's Urban Search and Rescue team, who were on their way to help in the rescue mission.

And Israel and Russia even offered to help the Syrian government, though it was not clear if they would go to rebel-held areas. The opposition's Syrian Civil Defense called the situation in that area ''disastrous.''

At a hospital in Idlib, Osama Abdel Hamid said he was one of the few to survive the collapse of a four-story building where he and others lived. As he raced out with his wife and three children, a wooden door fell on them that shielded them from dangerous debris.

''God gave me a new lease on life,'' he said.

Additional reporting by Marjorie Hernandez

With Post wires

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Mon, 06 Feb 2023 16:15

EU countries on Friday agreed a cap on the global price of Russian petroleum products, ahead of a full import ban on Russian oil products that comes into force on Sunday.

Ambassadors agreed to cap the price of oil products that trade above the price of crude oil '-- including diesel, gasoline and jet fuel '-- at $100 per barrel, two EU diplomats said. Products that trade at a discount to crude will be capped at $45 per barrel.

The Swedish presidency of the Council confirmed the deal on Friday afternoon, just two days before the EU bans imports of all Russian oil products.

The EU ban and the G7 price cap are intended to work in tandem. While the EU sanctions close off one of Russia's most important markets for its fossil fuels, the price caps are intended to permit Russian exports to continue flowing on the global market, avoiding a major oil supply shortage or price shock.

The price caps on petroleum products follow a $60 cap on the price of Russian crude oil, agreed in December to coincide with a similar EU import ban.

A decision on the cap level was delayed after Poland and the Baltic states pushed for a downward review of the crude price cap and for lower price caps on petroleum products. A deal was reached on the proviso that both sets of price caps will now be subject to a review every two months, starting in March 2023, two diplomats said.

The new EU ban on Russian diesel and other oil products represents the bloc's latest economic retaliation against the Kremlin in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Before the war, Russia typically supplied more than half of the EU's diesel imports and around 10 percent of its total diesel demand. The imminent EU import ban had led to fears of a supply or price shock, but soaring imports in recent weeks have eased worries for now.

Diesel is currently trading at around $120 to $130 per barrel, so the cap will likely not directly hit Russia's income from exports of the fuel immediately.

However, the EU ban is expected to lead to a major shift in export flows, with buyers in the Middle East and Asia likely to buy up volumes that previously flowed to Europe. There are signs that the EU's ban on crude oil imports, alongside the price cap, is enabling buyers elsewhere in the world to demand discounts on Russian oil, hitting the Kremlin's fossil fuel revenues. EU officials hope the oil products ban will lead to a similar hit to Russian export income.

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Mon, 06 Feb 2023 15:08

World | Map: 7.8-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel A deadly earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8, according to a U.S. agency, struck Turkey on Monday morning. Hundreds of buildings collapsed, and millions of people in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel felt the earth shake. Hundreds of deaths were reported in Turkey and Syria, and the toll was expected to rise.

Area affected by the earthquakeBlack Sea

Ankara

TURKEY

Epicenter

Gaziantep

CYPRUS

Beirut

SYRIA

LEBANON

Damascus

Tel Aviv

IRAQ

JORDAN

ISRAEL

200 miles

Istanbul

Black Sea

Ankara

TURKEY

Epicenter

Gaziantep

CYPRUS

IRAN

Beirut

SYRIA

Mediterranean Sea

LEBANON

Damascus

Tel Aviv

JORDAN

IRAQ

ISRAEL

200 miles

Istanbul

Black Sea

Ankara

TURKEY

Light

Moderate

Strong

Epicenter

Gaziantep

IRAN

CYPRUS

Beirut

SYRIA

Mediterranean Sea

LEBANON

Damascus

Tel Aviv

JORDAN

IRAQ

ISRAEL

200 miles

Source: U.S. Geological Survey Note: Based on assessment as of 1:00 a.m. EST on Feb. 6.

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Thu, 09 Feb 2023 18:00

Disclose.tv : NOW - UN Secretary-General: "We'll call for action from everywhere with influence on the spread of 'mis- and disinf'... https://t.co/dPMbrlxbcl

Mon Feb 06 15:45:48 +0000 2023

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Thu, 09 Feb 2023 14:50

Update (1305ET): Fireworks ensued during today's Congressional grilling of Twitter execs by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, while AOC had a total meltdown while lying through her teeth.

During one tense exchange, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) interrupted an exchange between Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) and Twitter's former head of Trust and Safety, asking: "Who made you in charge of what's true and what's false?"

"You permanently banned my Twitter account but you allowed child porn all over Twitter," she continued.

.@RepMTG to Yoel Roth: "You permanently banned my Twitter account but you allowed child porn all over Twitter." pic.twitter.com/kshgUbXD8x

'-- Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 8, 2023MTG: "You can consider your speech canceled during my time, because you canceled mine." pic.twitter.com/Lqjb0sh8g0

'-- Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 8, 2023Greene was permanently suspended in January 2022 after tweeting VAERS data about Covid-19 vaccine deaths.

Meanwhile, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told outright lies about the Twitter account "Libs of TikTok," stating that Boston Children's Hospital never advertised hysterectomies for children.

AOC says that @libsoftiktok lied about Boston Children's Hospital giving hysterectomys to children.AOC: "That account is still on the platform isn't it?"

Roth: "Regrettably, yes it is" pic.twitter.com/o64LZpO55o

'-- Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 8, 2023Which they totally did...

The story about Boston Children's Hospital was also not a lie.Chaya literally posted a video on their YouTube to her Twitter.https://t.co/YB71gc5DSM

'-- Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 8, 2023The great irony here is that @AOC is lying. Libs of TikTok has simply reported the facts about what these hospitals have said about their own services. It's all documented. But this is what they do '-- they use misinformation to smear you as being a source of it. https://t.co/b5rRlIrFDz

'-- Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) February 8, 2023Important message for @AOC: pic.twitter.com/88iy8JFk9S

'-- Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 8, 2023She also claimed the NY Post's Hunter Biden laptop story was "alleged," and that the Post should have shared more information about their sourcing for the story (they did).

Rep. @AOC repeatedly refers to @nypost's reporting on Hunter's laptop contents as "alleged," then blames the Post for Twitter censoring them, saying they should have shared more info about their sourcing on this "fake story" pic.twitter.com/1k56oK8Llh

'-- Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 8, 2023The correlation between AOC's theatrics and her lying is uncanny.

* * *

The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday is hearing testimony from three former, top Twitter employees over the company's handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story.

House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-K), who has launched a broad investigation into the Biden family dealings, is probing the social media giant following revelations from new Twitter owner Elon Musk, who released internal communications from Twitter staff about their censorship efforts.

Twitter, under the leadership of our witnesses today, was a private company the government used to accomplish what it constitutionally cannot: limit the free exercise of speech.@GOPoversight will examine this coordination between the government & Big Tech. @MariaBartiromo pic.twitter.com/QCWsbM3NYc

'-- Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) February 8, 2023WITNESSES:

Vijaya Gadde, Former Chief Legal Officer of Twitter James Baker, Former Deputy General Counsel of Twitter Yoel Roth, Former Global Head of Trust & Safety of TwitterWatch live:

Former FBI official/Twitter counsel Jim Baker can't answer if he talked to the FBI about Hunter's laptop: "I don't recall speaking to the FBI sitting here today." pic.twitter.com/SJoZR5ivWS

'-- Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 8, 2023In anticipation of today's testimony, White House spokesman Ian Sams blasted the GOP for pulling a "bizarre political stunt."

"This appears to be the latest effort by the House Republican majority's most extreme MAGA members to question and relitigate the outcome of the 2020 election," he said in a statement, adding "This is not what the American people want their leaders to work on."

"As the president has said and made his focus, the American people expect their leaders to work together in a bipartisan way on the issues that most impact their lives and their families, not attack his family with long-debunked conspiracy theories."

Mr. Biden's campaign branded the now-authenticated laptop as Russian disinformation, a theory that was peddled by more than 50 former U.S. senior intelligence officials in an open letter to the public.

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee, accused Republicans of pursuing ''already debunked and hyperpartisan conspiracy theories about President Biden, his family and the so-called deep state.'' -Washington Times

The hearing is the first of many focusing on "protecting speech from government interference and social media bias," according to the committee.

"Immediately following the story's publication, America witnessed a coordinated campaign by social media companies, mainstream news and the intelligence community to suppress and delegitimize the existence of Hunter Biden's laptop and its contents," Comer will say. "We owe it to the American people to provide answers about this collusion to censor information about Joe Biden's involvement in his family's business schemes."

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Thu, 09 Feb 2023 14:45

Former Twitter executives looked at times uncomfortable, but betrayed their staunch anti-free speech biases during a House Oversight Committee heading on Wednesday.

The hearing was called to investigate the role government played, specifically the FBI, with regards to censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop report by the New York Post.

Former Twitter Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, Former Deputy General Counsel James Baker, and Former Global Head of Trust & Safety Yoel Roth were grilled by Representatives, with Congressman Clay Higgins telling them they could be arrested for interfering with the 2020 presidential election.

''The bottom line is that the FBI had the Biden Crime Family laptop for a year. They knew it was leaking. They knew it would hurt the Biden family. So the FBI used its relationship with Twitter to suppress criminal evidence from being revealed about Joe Biden one month before the 2020 election,'' Higgins asserted.

''You, ladies and gentlemen interfered with the United States of America 2020 presidential election! Knowingly and willingly!'' he continued, adding ''That's the bad news! It's gonna get worse! Because this is the investigation part! Later comes the arrest part, your attorneys are familiar with that.''

''I'd like to spend five hours with these ladies and gentlemen doing depositions surely yet to come,'' the Congressman added.

Watch:

Elsewhere during the hearing, Rep. Nancy Mace blasted the former executives for also, as highlighted by the Elon Musk's release of The Twitter Files, working to suppress information regarding COVID.

''I along with many Americans have long term effects from COVID. Not only was I a long-hauler, but I have effects from the vaccine,'' Mae declared.

She continued, ''It wasn't the first shot but it was the second shot. I have now developed asthma that has never gone away since I had the second shot. I have tremors in my left hand. And I have the occasional heart pains that no doctor can explain. And I've had a battery of tests.''

''I find it extremely alarming Twitter's suppression spread into medical fields,'' Mace told the former execs.

''You're not a doctor, right?'' Mace directly asked Gadde, adding ''What makes you think you or anyone else at Twitter have the medical expertise to censor actual, accurate CDC data?''

Gadded pathetically claimed she was not familiar with these particular situations.''

''Yeah, I'm sure you're not,'' Mace shot back.

Watch:

Twitter censored doctors from Stanford and Harvard for sharing truthful information about COVID-19.@RepNancyMace calls out former Twitter employees for larping as medical experts and silencing views that don't fit with the mainstream narrative. pic.twitter.com/AK0J35ha0O

'-- Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) February 8, 2023Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan told them they ''got played by the FBI'' over the Hunter Biden laptop, forcing Roth to admit that the New York Post report didn't violate any Twitter policies in his opinion, but was censored anyway.

''This to me is the real takeaway,'' Jordan said, going on to state ''51 former intelligence officials, five days after you guys take down the Hunter Biden story and block the New York Post's account, five days later, 51 former intel officials send a letter and they say, 'the Hunter Biden story has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.' The information operation was run on you guys, and then by extension then run on the American people. And that's the concern.''

Watch:

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert asked the former Twitter executives ''Who the hell do you think you are?'' for shadow banning people they disagree with on the platform.

Boebert also asked the execs if they had shadow banned her own account.

''I can reach out to Elon and to his staff, and I can see what's happened ,and I can sit here today and hold you all in account,'' Boebert concluded, adding ''I am angry for the millions of Americans who were silenced because of your decisions, because of your actions, because of your collusion with the federal government. They can't reach out to Elon. They can't sit here today and hold you in account.''

Watch:

The chair of the Committee, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky highlighted Tweets made by Roth in the past calling Republicans 'Nazis'.

Watch:

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia told Roth ''You permanently banned my Twitter account but you allowed child porn all over Twitter.''

The former execs mostly either claimed ignorance and denied any wrong doing.

James Baker said he can't recall speaking with the FBI while working at Twitter, and denied that he acted unlawfully:

Twitter's Former Deputy Counsel James Baker: "I was not aware of and certainly did not engage in any conspiracy or other effort to do anything unethical, improper or unlawful while I was at Twitter. Period. I did not act unlawfully'...with respect to Hunter Biden's laptop." pic.twitter.com/IeEHgX2Bhy

'-- CSPAN (@cspan) February 8, 2023Meanwhile, Roth attempted to argue that censorship on Twitter under his watch helped to create more freedom of speech.

Roth also admitted that he finds it ''regrettable'' that the conservative account LibsOfTikTok is still allowed to be active on Twitter:

I can't event express in words the amount of satisfaction I feel knowing that Twitter's former chief of censorship @yoyoel, is triggered by this account's existence. And the best part is, there's absolutely nothing he can do about it! https://t.co/sOnw2zplDM

'-- Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 8, 2023The great irony here is that @AOC is lying. Libs of TikTok has simply reported the facts about what these hospitals have said about their own services. It's all documented. But this is what they do '-- they use misinformation to smear you as being a source of it. https://t.co/b5rRlIrFDz

'-- Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) February 8, 2023Going forward, Twitter will be broadly accepting of different values, rather than trying to impose its own specific values on the world

'-- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2023SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:

Follow on Twitter:

Follow @PrisonPlanet'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/ALERT! In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.

We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here.

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Thu, 09 Feb 2023 13:56

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 21:21

Will Hild : NEW: A BBC reporter asked Bill Gates directly why his climate activism should be taken seriously, as he continues t'... https://t.co/LiPZFBH5zl

Tue Feb 07 22:05:39 +0000 2023

Penny Dreadful : @WillHild @DrTWBest Despicable man turd.

Wed Feb 08 21:19:15 +0000 2023

BDJ : @WillHild ðŸ¤ðŸ¤ðŸ¤ðŸ¤ðŸ¤

Wed Feb 08 21:18:37 +0000 2023

dmint82 : @WillHild In other words. He is more important. Just like Kerry. Typical democrat.

Wed Feb 08 21:18:10 +0000 2023

sjmcnamee : @WillHild Creep.

Wed Feb 08 21:15:25 +0000 2023

Revi : @WillHild Evil man he's creating all the world problems!!!

Wed Feb 08 21:13:59 +0000 2023

380 Corridor Observer : @WillHild https://t.co/IlmQrbkNai

Wed Feb 08 21:13:47 +0000 2023

Lisa Walline : @WillHild Translation, I buy made-up climate carbon credits from others who have a surplus, so I'm good. He doesn't'... https://t.co/uxqKafq0I4

Wed Feb 08 21:13:47 +0000 2023

Maurice Abensur : @WillHild Make a law to put 20 years in prison to all Jet ownersIn #SiberiaWith no #heatingTo truly offset th'... https://t.co/EdV7NO6ODZ

Wed Feb 08 21:12:49 +0000 2023

Revi : @WillHild Did NOT answer the question! And he's the problem creator!!! Evil man

Wed Feb 08 21:11:57 +0000 2023

Gnnn : @WillHild Not good enough Mr. Bill (who must be paid) Gates.You are a hypocrite, plain and simple.Set an example.

Wed Feb 08 21:09:04 +0000 2023

val : @WillHild It is discusting. I do more that you do as I own only small residential space and dont trash earh. Please'... https://t.co/5q5csqa8J7

Wed Feb 08 21:06:28 +0000 2023

Cupcake for the win : @WillHild Hey @BillGates the world would be better off if you were with your buddy Epstein again. Kids would be safer too.

Wed Feb 08 21:05:17 +0000 2023

'Kasane' : @WillHild Every Uber billionaire.. tech giant.. more money then 99 % of people will always say that they are not pa'... https://t.co/K9FWGt6TEu

Wed Feb 08 21:02:26 +0000 2023

BILL SIGNORILE : @WillHild Translation I am so rich and powerful and the rest of you are Peasants

Wed Feb 08 21:00:18 +0000 2023

wasilbar 🌠🌱ðŸ¸ðŸðŸ¬ : @WillHild He is.

Wed Feb 08 20:59:51 +0000 2023

SuperSpreader : @WillHild so all people who fly private jets are doing so to fix the climate problem and the greater the climate pr'... https://t.co/UsjFHldegS

Wed Feb 08 20:59:01 +0000 2023

Jim : @WillHild Not my fault? Never is

Wed Feb 08 20:52:10 +0000 2023

Jessica Rivera : @WillHild God controls the climate! End of.

Wed Feb 08 20:49:42 +0000 2023

DeFiFutures : @WillHild Why didn't you ask @BillGates about his best friend Jeff Epstein and also how he likes his man boobs?

Wed Feb 08 20:49:27 +0000 2023

Paula Peck : @WillHild Liberal logic. Just proves climate change is about elite control

Wed Feb 08 20:48:18 +0000 2023

Chase Larabee : @WillHild Lol get this man a new publicist.

Wed Feb 08 20:47:08 +0000 2023

scharfmania : @WillHild Rules for thee'...not for me. Dude doesn't even want common folk to have private CARS!

Wed Feb 08 20:46:50 +0000 2023

Tom Hart39 : @WillHild Gates is a criminal

Wed Feb 08 20:45:32 +0000 2023

HGC : @WillHild Hypocrite

Wed Feb 08 20:45:15 +0000 2023

Mike S : @WillHild Pure scum'...

Wed Feb 08 20:44:36 +0000 2023

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Trisha G : @Xx17965797N https://t.co/cRW3XY5hDm

Sat Oct 29 06:56:18 +0000 2022

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 16:39

Truthseeker : 🧐This is interesting.Kobe Bryant's was suing Big Pharma and the first court date was set for 3 days after his deat'... https://t.co/9F6cI6ipD7

Sat Oct 29 04:04:14 +0000 2022

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Wed, 08 Feb 2023 15:57

This guy is really a piece of work. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell delivers remarks to the pontificating pustules at the DC Economic Club. Within his remarks, notice how Powell used the word ''disinflation'' to describe how prices are starting to drop in the ''goods sector.''

Of course, durable goods are dropping in price, fewer consumers have any money to buy them. Yes, excess manufactured goods created by the disappearance of buyers will naturally lead to lowered prices by those who need to sell them. Our economic problem is not, and was not, ever an outcome of excessive demand for durable goods.

Our economic problem is the scale of energy price increases that are chewing through paychecks and driving up the costs of high-turn consumables like food.

Massive price increases for food, fuel, energy, electricity, home heating and natural gas eating up paychecks. There is no room for discussion about the next phone, refrigerator, or new car that might be needed. Simultaneous to ignoring this issue, Chairman Powell is giddy that wages are not rising. WATCH:

.

The process of bringing inflation down to the Fed's goal of 2% over time ''is likely to take quite a bit of time. It's not going to be, we don't think, smooth. It's probably going to be bumpy,'' Mr. Powell said Tuesday. ''So we think we're going to have to do further [rate] increases, and we think we'll have to hold policy at a restrictive level for some time.'' (WSJ Article)

Never has this cartoon been more apropos.

Posted in Big Government,

Big Stupid Government,

Cold Anger,

Decepticons,

Deep State,

Economy,

Joe Biden,

media bias,

Notorious Liars,

propaganda,

US dept of agriculture,

US Treasury,

USA

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Tue, 07 Feb 2023 19:15

Back in the old days, I had nightmares about a robot with an Austrian accent chasing me down. That's how I assumed the gadgets would take over. That's what I was taught.

The truth is, the rise of the machines is a lot weirder than anybody ever expected. And it's already too late to stop them. Just look at what any nerd with a laptop can do in 2023.

WARNING: This Is Some Incredibly Dark $#!+

Every new technology brings with it new opportunities for trolling .

Even the most casual Biden-watcher can tell within seconds that this video isn't real, because all the words are pronounced correctly and formed into complete sentences. Plus, Joe would never admit any of this stuff out loud. But as with anything else, people of below-average intelligence might be fooled. 1

It's only a matter of time before somebody writes a dementia algorithm, automatically adding awkward pauses and mispronunciations and whatnot. (''It's a stutter!'') Then AI voices will be indistinguishable from actual old people.

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