October 26th, 2023 • 3h 10m
Shownotes
Every new episode of No Agenda is accompanied by a comprehensive list of shownotes curated by Adam while preparing for the show. Clips played by the hosts during the show can also be found here.
Israel / Hamas
Ministry of Truthiness
Clarification on Missouri v Biden - Alito Thomas and Gorsuch Dissent
ITM Adam and John,
Listening to episode 1602, I heard the discussion around 02:01:00 about the lawsuit against the Biden administration for coercing social media. John asked for clarification on why Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch dissent the stay granted by the courts.
At the district level, the court granted an injunction against the government agencies that prevented them from engaging in their coercion of social media companies. These agencies could no longer send threatening messages and have intimidating meetings to censor whatever they want.
An appeal was filed and the fifth circuit supported the injunction that immediately prevented them from this behavior as an emergency form of relief to prevent further injury to First Amendment rights.
However, the Supreme court granted the government agencies a stay on this injunction! Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch wrote a dissent explaining how they would deny the stay and keep the injunction against the government agencies in place. Their last sentence summarizes this well:
"At this time in the history of our country, what the Court has done, I fear, will be seen by some as giving the Government a green light to use heavy-handed tactics to skew the presentation of views on the medium that increasingly dominates the dissemination of news. That is most unfortunate."
They explain how now these agencies can continue their behavior "until the Court completes its review of this case, an event that may not occur until late in the spring of next year.".
Hopefully this helps clarify why they dissented and the current state of this lawsuit.
TYFYC
SCOTUS 1st amendment follow -up
Adam—Just listened to yesterday’s podcast. Thank you so much for the kind words! It’s always nice to feel encouraged, but it means twice as much coming from someone like you. So again, thanks.
John requested some clarification; I presume he wants clarification on why three conservative judges (Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett) would prolong the stay and accept the case for review. Assuming that’s accurate, I’m happy to take a stab. Caveat: Reading the tea leaves is fraught with peril. Three main points here:
The first thing to keep in mind is that extending a stay to preserve the status quo is standard operating procedure. It’s often debatable whether the parties seeking the stay (here, the government) have carried their burden of proof to support it, but the ultimate decision is a matter of the court’s discretion. And like it or not, courts like to play it safe and will often grant a stay as long as there’s a plausible reason for doing so. So, as I’ve said from the beginning, don’t read too much into the extension of a stay.
The second thing to keep in mind is that it takes only four Justices to grant a cert petition. We don’t know who the four were here (and it might have been more). It could have been any combination, including the three dissenters who didn’t want to extend the stay—they could be eager to go after the government and want to grant cert, but without a stay. Again, don’t read too much into who agreed to grant cert.
The third thing to keep in mind is that there are many reasons why SCOTUS might grant cert. The Court doesn’t always review a case just to benchslap a lower court for committing legal error. Sometimes, a case simply presents a question of federal law that is so important that the Supreme Court should review it and provide clarity. In this case, the Fifth Circuit remarked about how extraordinary the case is, and how serious the government’s transgressions are. SCOTUS couldn’t resist examining this—it’s just too important and too juicy. Hence it’s easy to see why they’d grant cert. But other than the three dissenters, we can’t tell how the Justices are leaning on the issues to be decided. The good news is that the dissenters just need two more Justices to form a five-Justice majority that upholds the Fifth Circuit’s decision (unless any of these three change their view—that seems unlikely, but it happened with Roberts when SCOTUS upheld Obamacare).
At this point, Supreme Court Rule 45 gives the government 45 days to file its principal brief (that is, until Monday, December 4). Then the Respondents (Plaintiffs) will get 30 days to file an answering brief, and the government will get another 30 days to file a reply brief. There will also be a flurry of “amicus” briefs—briefs by nonparties who have something to say about the issues. These are often the most interesting ones; they also reveal much about the people who file them.
But be prepared—all of these deadlines will likely be extended, possibly many times. Once briefing is complete, SCOTUS will schedule oral argument, and then it will eventually issue an opinion. All of this will take many months.
So as we used to say in the Air Force, stand by to stand by!
Net Neutrality
Net Neutrality rebranding to Net Equity - From Brian Tucker
Andrew Lowenthal, Author at Brownstone Institute
Andrew Lowenthal is a Brownstone Institute fellow and co-founder and former executive director of EngageMedia, an Asia-Pacific digital rights, open and secure technology, and documentary non-profit, and a former fellow of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society and MIT’s Open Documentary Lab.
SG's Policy Brief on Information Integrity on Digital Platforms | United Nations
What is the relevant international legal framework?
The promotion of information integrity must be fully grounded in the pertinent international norms and standards, including human rights law and the principles of sovereignty and nonintervention in domestic affairs. In August 2022, I transmitted to the General Assembly a report entitled “Countering disinformation for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”.15 In the report, I laid out the international human rights law that applies to disinformation, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Under these international legal instruments, everyone has the right to freedom of expression.16
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 19 (2) of the Covenant protect the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, and through any media. The human right to freedom of expression is not limited to favourably received information (A/77/287, para. 13). Linked to freedom of expression, freedom of information is itself a right. The General Assembly has stated: “Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and is the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated” (ibid., para. 14). Freedom of expression and access to information may be subject to certain restrictions that meet specific criteria laid out in article 19 (3) of the Covenant.17 States cannot add additional grounds or restrict expression beyond what is permissible under international law.
The Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to hostility, discrimination or violence, adopted in 2012, provides practical legal and policy guidance to States on how best to implement article 20 (2) of the Covenant and article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which prohibit certain forms of hate speech. The Rabat Plan of Action has already been utilized by Member States in different contexts.18
Hate speech has been a precursor to atrocity crimes, including genocide. The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide prohibits “direct and public incitement to commit genocide”.
In its resolution 76/227, adopted in 2021, the General Assembly emphasized that all forms of disinformation can negatively impact the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Similarly, in its resolution 49/21, adopted in 2022, the Human Rights Council affirmed that disinformation can negatively affect the enjoyment and realization of all human rights.
BGP - Big Red Button
Climate Change
Mercedes-Benz sharesa fall 6% as CFO warns on 'brutal' EV space
Mercedes-Benz is targeting 50% hybrid and EV global sales by 2025, and says it will solely launch electric-only models from then on. The company said Thursday it remained committed to these targets.
Crews clear wreckage after I-55 'superfog' pile-up kills 7 near New Orleans | AP News
Hi John and Adam!
This just in….A multi car crash in Louisiana wasn’t caused by the same fog in similar crashes that have happend several times in the past. No! This 160 car pile up couldn’t have come from standard “fog”. This is a new “fog”. A weather phenomenon we have never seen. It’s “superfog”…..
WTF?
Were these terms invented as a service to mainstream media by members of writers guild when they were out of work? Writers pitch: “Hire me and I’ll give you words with power! I’ll future proof your lexicon with terms that’ll entice any progressive ideologue!”
Oh how I digress. Who am I kidding. This has to have been penned with generative AI because no Hollywood script writer (or news writer) could have come up with such a dandy term like “superfog”….
Superfog! I want it on a T Shirt with Boiling Ocean!
War on Guns / Maine Shooter
Great reset
Big Pharma SSRI's and Shrooms
Alaska Pilot Crash Attempt BOTG
Alaska Pilot Crash Attempt BOTG
You know we talk a lot about SSRIs and depression as a cause of people going nuts and mass shootings. Maybe micro-dosing mushrooms for depression is a big factor?
The Alaska Airlines pilot who attempted to crash the plane said he was “just trying to wake himself up” because he thought he was dreaming. He admitted to having used mushrooms. I suspect he was micro-dosing. He lived in San Francisco, but was flying back from Metro Seattle toward home on a personal trip. The vast majority of Alaska Airlines crew originally lived in Seattle as that is the main base. It’s possible his mental health caregiver for his reported depression is still in Seattle as it is common in the airline business to just use free travel for doctor appointments because you have to relocate all the time for work. I would speculate that he talked to this person about micro-dosing mushrooms for his depression. Otherwise why wouldn’t you do this at home away from a plane?
The articles below say this practice is growing rapidly, has promise as an treatment, and can trigger these exact type of episodes. I have a friend who has depression and there was a brochure in her psychiatrist office on micro-dosing she told me. So while it may not be fully legal, it is already integrating into unofficial treatment regimens. This pilot might have been effectively prescribed magic mushrooms, although not officially. Washington and Oregon appear to be leaders on laxing laws to allow this.
Biden
"Mr. Biden"
Adam,
ITM,
I'm seeing a shift. M5M has rolled out Mr. Biden.
1602 1:18:20
Go Podcasting!
Spotify Now Has 574 Million Active Users - Thurrott.com
Music streaming giant posted a net loss of €32 million on revenues of €3.4 billion in the quarter ending September 30.
Or, as Spotify put it, the quarter marked a “return to profitability.” Which is an interesting way to describe a net loss. But in looking over Spotify’s numbers and statements, I can see that this claim is based on €32 million in operating income in the quarter. Operating income is defined as net income minus non-operating expenses, such as interest and taxes. Apparently either can be defined as a “profit’ if the number is positive, but I’ve never seen a company use that number for this purpose.
Big Tech & AI
IT'S ABOUT THE ELECETIONS - Dozens of states sue Meta over addictive features harming kids - POLITICO
VAERS
Study: Antiviral Med Linked to COVID Mutations That Can Spread
Molnupiravir is an antiviral given to people after they show signs of having COVID-19. It interferes with the COVID-19 virus's ability to make copies of itself, thus stopping the spread of the virus throughout the body and keeping the virus level low.
The study found the virus can sometimes survive molnupiravir, resulting in mutations that have spread to other people.
STORIES
Dozens of states sue Meta over addictive features harming kids - POLITICO
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 15:34
If successful, the states' lawsuits could force Meta to change the way it designs and markets its platforms to the public, and lead to hefty fines. The legal strategy has drawn comparisons to the various lawsuits filed against the tobacco industry in the 1990s, which led to hundreds of billions of dollars in damages, and changed how the industry markets its products.
''We refuse to allow Meta to trample on our children's mental and physical health, all to promote its products and increase its profits,'' said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the federal lawsuit, during a virtual press conference with the other states. ''We refuse to allow the company to feign ignorance of the harm that's causing, we refuse to let it continue business as usual.''
At a separate press conference Tuesday in San Francisco, Bonta spoke of the importance of bipartisanship in bringing the federal case, which has 15 Republican and 18 Democratic AGs signed on. ''Folks that don't team up too often are teaming up today,'' Bonta said. ''I think that speaks volumes, less so about the success on the merits, but I think more about the scope of the problem and how it touches every corner of this country.''
The federal lawsuit alleges that Meta deceived users by making the ''false and misleading'' claims that its features were not manipulative, that its products weren't designed to promote unhealthy engagement with children and that its products are safe for younger users.
The lawsuits are designed to circumvent Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a decadesold law that protects platforms from being held liable for most content users post. The consumer protection lawsuits don't target specific content, instead claiming that Meta deceived the public about the safety of children on its apps.
Meta pushed back on the lawsuits, saying it has made more than 30 design changes to improve children's safety across its products. ''We're disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path,'' a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.
The federal lawsuit is the largest state-led challenge alleging a social media company violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and consumer protection laws. Tuesday's filing follows a similar strategy used by Indiana, Arkansas and Utah, which have each filed state consumer protection lawsuits against TikTok in the past year.
COPPA, a federal law passed in 1998, requires platforms to obtain parental consent before collecting data from children under the age of 13. The lawsuit claims Meta has ''actual knowledge'' that children under 13 are using its services, including Instagram and Facebook, but has failed to obtain parental consent before collecting those users' data. A significant portion of the details on the COPPA violations are redacted.
And while Meta has a policy of banning users who are younger than 13, the lawsuit argues the company does not enforce that restriction.
The lawsuit alleges that until December 2019, Instagram didn't ask new users to disclose their age to create new accounts. And when it began asking new users their ages, Meta's sign-up page would automatically generate a date of birth that would put the user's age at 13 years old, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit noted that Instagram only recently changed this to automatically generate the current date and year instead of auto-populating a birth date 13 years prior. Despite these changes, the attorneys general charge that it's still simple enough for children to lie about their age when signing up.
The lawsuit includes a viral exchange during a Facebook-hosted event in 2021 between teen influencer JoJo Siwa and Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, to highlight this lack of enforcement.
Siwa told Mosseri that she had been on Instagram since she was 8 years old, and had followers who were under 13, as well. Mosseri responded, ''I don't want to hear it,'' according to the lawsuit. The interaction was first documented by the Wall Street Journal.
The states are pushing for changes that would overhaul how Meta's platforms work. Bonta suggested limiting the frequency and duration of time young people can spend on the apps, as well as changing how the algorithms display content. ''It's an area of discussion and dialogue,'' Bonta said. If Meta doesn't engage, the states will get a judge to weigh in on what's necessary, he said.
Bonta declined to comment on the substance of any settlement negotiations, but said ''the door is wide open.''
The lawsuits come as Congress has failed to act on legislation to update COPPA or pass bills to create new protections, such as the Kids Online Safety Act. The bipartisan bill requiring platforms to audit their risks to minors advanced out of committee this summer but hasn't advanced to a Senate floor vote '-- in part because it has faced vocal pushback from civil rights and advocacy groups over the potential it could violate teens' privacy online and lead to detrimental impacts particularly on LGBTQ youth.
President Joe Biden urged Congress to pass kids' safety and privacy bills during his 2022 and 2023 State of the Union addresses. He reiterated his call for lawmakers to act days before a key Senate committee advanced KOSA. Additionally, his U.S. Surgeon General issued a warning in May that extended use of social media apps like Instagram and TikTok harm children's mental health.
The multi-state suit is the result of an investigation of Instagram by Bonta and a group of other state AGs that began in November 2021 after Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before Congress that Instagram knew its algorithms pushed unhealthy eating content to teen girls. Her testimony inspired KOSA and other legislation.
Haugen applauded the states stepping in the void of federal action. ''And the fact that the litigators are acting before the legislators isn't surprising, it's happened many times before,'' she told POLITICO, referring to past state lawsuits against tobacco companies in the 1990s.
The use of state consumer protection laws against social media companies is still a relatively novel legal approach and will be tested in the federal and state courts. During the virtual state AG press conference, the state AGs predicted that Meta will likely try to use Section 230 or raise First Amendment free speech claims in a bid to convince a judge to dismiss the lawsuits.
''We expect that will be their first line of defense: Section 230, the First Amendment,'' Bonta said in San Francisco and he remains confident their cases will succeed.
Kids safety advocates said that Congress still needs to pass a law, especially since litigation could take years to be resolved.
''Litigation is no substitute for legislation,'' said Alix Fraser, director of the Council for Responsible Social Media, a non-partisan group working to address mental health harms from social media, in a statement.
''It's time to put our children, our communities, and our national security before Big Tech profits. Congress needs to step up with solutions that hold the platforms accountable.''
Healing Our Troubled Information Ecosystem | by Melissa Fleming | Medium
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 15:20
Our information ecosystem is now so polluted with lies and hate that voices for positive change are seriously struggling to make themselves heard. In all my years in communications, I can't say I ever worked in such a troubled environment.
And the stakes are growing higher by the day as breakneck developments in generative AI threaten to take online hate speech, mis- and disinformation to new levels.
Wildly popular new tools can generate distorted histories and fake profiles and present them '-- convincingly, persuasively '-- as fact. This is what happens when safety by design is ignored and the guardrails that prevent abuse are forgotten.
It wasn't meant to be this way. When digital platforms first arrived, we communicators were so excited. For the UN, they held great potential to engage people directly with our advocacy and move them to act to improve the world.
And it's true these tools have brought many benefits '-- revolutionizing communications for everyone, everywhere, connecting those crying out for change, bringing together the isolated, and reuniting the displaced.
But we've also seen a darker side. Digital platforms have enabled the massive proliferation of lies and hate on an industrial scale, enabling malicious actors to pump lies and hate into our public sphere, day in, day out, over many years.
We've all seen them: Snake oil salesmen persuading people to refuse life-saving vaccinations or cancer treatments. Fossil fuel magnates undermining climate action for profit. Malicious actors stirring up old fears and hatreds for nefarious and violent ends.
These voices aren't new. But the global power of social media has meant lies and conspiracy theories can be instantly transmitted across the world, infecting millions of minds, eroding trust in science, and seeding hatred potent enough to spark bloodshed.
The impacts are devastating. In conflict settings, where information is weaponized to feed the worst of human nature, lies spread on social media have helped genocidal governments convince ordinary people to murder, rape, or drive out fellow citizens.
This has happened against a wider backdrop of rising online hate. Across the board, algorithms that prioritize engagement above all else have driven polarizing views into the mainstream, normalizing antisemitism, racism, and other hate speech in the process.
Spare a thought in all this for those whose daily task it is to provide trustworthy information to the public so they can make decisions based on the facts. In this polluted landscape it is getting harder and harder for these voices to make themselves heard.
That's true not only for journalists and communicators working in the public interest. All those pushing for positive change are finding it harder to operate online '-- from climate activists to peace advocates, to those trying to eradicate childhood diseases.
Existing responses have broadly been lacking. Some platforms have done too little, too late to prevent the spread of violence and hate, while some states resorted to drastic blanket internet shutdowns and bans that lack legal basis and infringe on human rights.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has long called for a response to address the grave global harm caused by the proliferation of hate and lies in the digital space, while vigorously safeguarding the rights to freedom of expression and information.
The UN is working on multiple fronts towards this goal '-- stepping up our online communications to elevate facts and science and working with the platforms to reduce the spread of hate, incitement to violence, and false science.
But now the time has come to massively ramp up our response and tackle this crisis as a global priority.
This week we introduced a first step of a new concerted global effort to work towards a healthier information ecosystem, one that puts human rights front and center of the response.
Just published, the Secretary-General's policy brief sets out the UN's perspective on these complex issues, the challenges we face and the changes we want to see, drawing on expertise from range of lawmakers, tech innovators, academics, and factcheckers.
These proposals will be built on in an upcoming UN Code of Conduct for Integrity on Digital Platforms to set global standards for a more humane internet and seek ways to promote independent media and the work of journalists.
Our response comes amid a wider ramping up of efforts to build more integrity into our digital world. Conversations in recent weeks, from the Nobel Summit in Washington to meetings in Nairobi, have shown me the world is now sitting up and taking notice.
Universities and think tanks across the world are dedicating more resources and researchers and establishing institutes and new fields of study to find the solutions and help work towards building a more humane online sphere that elevates facts, not lies.
That's as growing numbers of people are imagining a world in which digital platforms deliver on their early promises as inclusive spaces for exchange that safeguard the human rights of all '-- including the marginalized.
So, as the UN takes this next step, I'm excited to continue these fascinating discussions. Together, I know the efforts of those bringing much-needed healing to our troubled information ecosystem outweigh those intent on polluting it with lies, fear, and hate.
Pope Francis encourages more children to code, especially in Catholic countries - BBC News
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 14:55
Image source, Getty ImagesBy Shiona McCallum
Technology reporter
A Polish tech entrepreneur's global project, aimed at getting more children into computer programming, has been endorsed by Pope Francis.
Miron Mironiuk, founder of artificial intelligence company Cosmose AI, is drawing on his own experience of coding transforming his life.
He said the "Code with Pope" initiative would bridge "the glaring disparities in education" across the globe.
It is hoped the Pope's involvement will attract Catholic countries.
"We believe that the involvement of the Pope will help to convince them to spend some time and use this opportunity to learn programming for free," Mr Mironiuk told the BBC.
The initiative will champion access to coding education through a free online learning platform for students aged 11-15 across Europe, Africa and Latin America.
After 60 hours of dedicated learning, children will be equipped with the basics of Python, one of the world's most popular coding languages.
In the digital age, programming skills have become as fundamental as reading and writing.
World Economic Forum data released in 2023 revealed that "the majority of the fastest growing roles are technology-related roles".
However, a severe global shortage of tech skills threatens to leave 85 million job positions unfilled by 2030.
As a result, increasing access to high-quality programming education has become a necessity, particularly in low and middle-income countries - many of which are Catholic.
A large percentage of the Polish population identifies as Catholic.
The 33-year-old millionaire Mr Mironiuk told the BBC that he was proud of his Polish heritage and to be part of a crop of successful Polish people working in technology.
The country is making significant strides in the tech scene, particularly in AI, with companies like Google Brain, Cosmose AI and Open AI having significant numbers of Polish employees.
But Mr Mironiuk is also aware that many countries are not as fortunate, and hopes this educational programme could help change that.
The programme will be available in Spanish, English, Italian and Polish. It is expected to reach children all over South America except Brazil, and in English speaking nations in Africa and South East Asia.
This is not the first time the Pope has encouraged young people to get into coding, having helped write a line of code for a UN initiative in 2019.
Mr Mironiuk will meet the Pope at the Vatican. But he admits he's not anticipating the pontiff to emulate his students in acquiring new skills.
"I don't expect him to know Python very well, at least," he said. "But he will get a certificate for his efforts in helping start the programme."
You can hear more of Mr Mironiuk on Tech Life on the BBC World Service and BBC Sounds.
Newsguard Case Highlights the Pentagon's Censorship End-Around - LewRockwell
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 13:56
By Matt Taibbi Racket News
October 26, 2023
Monday, the independent website Consortium News filed suit against the United States of America and Newsguard Technologies. The complaint targeting both the government and a private media ratings service is an important one, putting the censorship-by-proxy system on trial.
On September 7, 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense gave an award of $749,387 to Newsguard Technologies, a private service that scores media outlets on ''reliability'' and ''trust.'' According to the suit, roughly 40,000 subscribers buy Newsguard subscriptions, getting in return a system of ''Nutrition Labels'' supposedly emphasizing ''safe'' content. Importantly, Newsguard's customers include universities and libraries, whose users are presented with labels warning you that CBS is great and Tucker Carlson is dangerous:
Consortium News was labeled a purveyor of ''disinformation,'' ''misinformation,'' and ''false content,'' and, worst of all, ''anti-U.S.'' This is despite the fact that, according to the suit, Newsguard only flagged six articles out of the tens of thousands Consortium News has published since the late award-winning reporter Robert Parry founded it in 1995. As Consortium News points out, Newsguard downgrades its entire 20,000+ library of available online articles with these flags based on the handful of edge cases, all of which involve criticism of U.S. foreign policy.
A particular irony is that Parry, a decorated AP and Newsweek reporter, founded Consortium News specifically to address topics suppressed by mainstream editors. Now Parry's old site is being downgraded for dissenting reports on subjects like the 2014 Ukrainian coup and neo-Nazism in Ukraine, coincidentally topics that are ''the subject of NewsGuard's 'Misinformation Fingerprints' project that is under contract with the Cyber Command,'' as the suit reads.
Newsguard denies it's influenced by the government. In fact, its denials are part of the reason for the suit. When Michael Shellenberger and I testified before Congress in March, we mentioned Newsguard as a ''government-funded'' ratings service. I was quickly contacted by email by co-CEO Gordon Crovitz, who hastened to correct me: Newsguard isn't government-funded, but merely an organization that receives government funds. He wrote:
As is public, our work for the Pentagon's Cyber Command is focused on the identification and analysis of information operations targeting the US and its allies conducted by hostile governments, including Russia and China.
Our analysts alert officials in the US and in other democracies, including Ukraine, about new false narratives targeting America and its allies, and we provide an understanding of how this disinformation spreads online. We are proud of our work countering Russian and Chinese disinformation on behalf of Western democracies.
Crovitz added that ''contrary to claims made in the hearings, we oppose any government involvement in rating news sources,'' saying Newsguard ''is entirely independent and free of any outside influence, including from the U.S. or any other government.''
Read the Whole Article
Is sharing photographs of prisoners of war banned by the Geneva Convention? - Full Fact
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 12:46
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, we've seen many images of Russian prisoners of war being shared on social media, and published by the media, including the Daily Mail, the Express, the Mirror, the Telegraph and the Times.
We've also seen claims that the Geneva Convention forbids this. For instance, on 26 February, the Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, who is chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) ''will explain that the Geneva Protocols forbid the use of the images of POWs''.
On 2 March, the Global Editor of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, James Ball, wrote on Twitter: ''It is often being done on here with absolutely no malicious intent, but: publishing and sharing identifiable pictures of prisoners of war is literally in breach of the Geneva Conventions.''
In a thread on Twitter about the Geneva Convention on 4 March, the ICRC has also said that prisoners or war ''must be treated with dignity, and not exposed to public curiosity '' like circulating images on social media''.
The ICRC is a neutral humanitarian organisation with a mandate to help the victims of armed conflict, established following the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
As far as we can tell, it isn't always true that sharing identifiable pictures of prisoners of war would breach the Geneva Convention. But in practice the Government and British Red Cross suggest such images should not normally be shared, and many journalists and social media users may choose not to do so. This is why we have not included links to photographs of prisoners of war in this article.
Full Fact asked the Daily Mail, the Express, the Mirror, the Telegraph and the Times about their policy on using photographs of prisoners of war, but at the time of writing, none of them had replied. When Full Fact contacted Mr Ball, he agreed with our assessment that taking and sharing photographs doesn't necessarily breach the Geneva Convention.
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What does the Geneva Convention say?The four Geneva Conventions set out how soldiers and civilians should be treated in war. The Third Geneva Convention of 1949, which explains how prisoners of war should be treated, does not explicitly mention photography or film. However it does say, in Article 13, that ''prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity''. These are the words generally considered relevant to photographs.
In its commentary on Article 13, the International Committee of the Red Cross says that it covers ''the disclosure of photographic and video images, recordings of interrogations or private conversations or personal correspondence or any other private data, irrespective of which public communication channel is used, including the internet [because] such disclosure could still be humiliating and jeopardize the safety of the prisoners' families and of the prisoners themselves once they are released''.
The publication or sharing of images of prisoners of war might not always have this effect, however. For instance, the ICRC commentary also says that ''photographic and other visual evidence has been used to prosecute war crimes, promote accountability and raise public awareness of abuses, contributing to greater respect for the Geneva Conventions''.
It therefore recommends that images that identify prisoners of war, or show them in humiliating or degrading situations, are not published unless there is a ''compelling public interest'' in doing so. This might include when a prisoner is very senior, is wanted by justice, or has gone missing, or in order to bring abuse to public attention. It also says that the same rules apply to deceased prisoners of war.
Who is bound by the law?The Geneva Convention only applies to those involved in the conflict. However, for journalists or members of the public elsewhere who wish to follow the Convention's principles, it may be simplest to avoid sharing any identifiable photographs or recordings of prisoners of war.
Obscuring prisoners' identities may also be a good alternative. ''In general,'' the ICRC commentary says, ''the media should always resort to appropriate methods, such as blurring, pixelating or otherwise obscuring faces and name tags, altering voices or filming from a certain distance, in order to serve their function without disclosing the prisoners' identities''.
Other legal experts have expressed similar opinions. Steven Haines, a professor of international public law at the University of Greenwich and a director of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War, told Full Fact: ''The way I would put it at the moment is there's no ban on taking photographs, but photographs must be taken for the right reasons [...] An awful lot would depend on what a court determined as being appropriate or inappropriate.''
When asked about whether people at home in the UK should share photographs of prisoners of war, Professor Haines said: ''They are not subject to international humanitarian law in those circumstances, because they're not in a war zone ['...] I would not do that, probably because of my background, but I don't think it would be reasonable for a court to convict somebody sitting on a sofa in Chipping Norton ['...] I think that would be an unreasonable prosecution.''
Major General Charles Dunlap Jr, a professor of law at Duke University in the US, also wrote a blog about the Convention on 27 February this year, in which he said it ''does not prohibit, per se, the release of photos or videos of prisoners of war ['...] Sometimes releasing photos or video may constitute 'insults and public curiosity' from which the prisoner is to be protected. That is not, however, always the case. One way to discern if the prohibition applies in a particular instance is to evaluate the 'intent' behind a given video or photo release.''
What to do in practiceIn reality, it may not be practical to assess the intent behind a photograph before deciding whether to share it. If you're unsure, the best approach may be simply not to publish or share any identifiable pictures of prisoners of war. In a statement in 2007, the government and the British Red Cross said that they ''recognise that it is not possible to have absolute, hard and fast rules'', but suggested two guiding principles:
''Any image of Prisoners of War (POWs) as identifiable individuals should normally be regarded as subjecting such individuals to public curiosity and should not be transmitted, published or broadcast. Where the specific circumstances of a case make it necessary in the public interest to reveal the identity of a POW (eg, because of the person's seniority, or because the person is a fugitive from international justice) great care should be taken to protect the person's human dignity.''Images of POWs individually or in groups in circumstances which undermine their public dignity, should not normally be transmitted, published or broadcast. In the exceptional circumstances where such images are transmitted, for example, to bring to public attention serious violations of international humanitarian law, individual identities must be protected.''The National Union of Journalists advises that ''journalists should ensure that individual prisoners are not identifiable in pictures or videos and that if necessary, faces, badges or other identifying symbols should be pixelated to protect the identity of individuals''.
Photo by Ye Jinghan on Unsplash
Mercedes-Benz shares fall 6% as CFO warns on 'brutal' EV space
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 10:26
Mercedes-AMG GT 43 4MATIC+ on display at Brussels Expo on January 9, 2020 in Brussels, Belgium.
Sjoerd Van Der Wal | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Mercedes-Benz shares were sharply lower Thursday after the German carmaker reported a decline in profit and revenue as challenges from electrical vehicle competition to supply chains.
Frankfurt-listed shares were down 5.8% at 10:56 a.m. London time (5:56 a.m. ET), putting the stock on course for its worst day since May 4, according to LSEG data.
The company said it had faced a "subdued market environment marked by intense price competition," particularly in EVs.
On an analyst call regarding the results, Chief Financial Officer Harald Wilhelm described the EV market as a "pretty brutal space," Reuters reported. It comes as some traditional automakers sell EVs for less than regular combustion-engine cars '-- despite higher production costs.
"I can hardly imagine the current status quo is fully sustainable for everybody," Wilhelm said, according to the news agency.
Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell 7% to 4.8 billion euros ($5.06 billion) in the third quarter. Revenue was down 1.4% to 37.2 billion euros, below the consensus estimate, as passenger car sales dropped 5%, partially due to supply chain challenges.
Stock Chart IconStock chart iconMercedes-Benz share price.
Inflation was a key challenge for the company, along with supply chain issues and foreign exchange losses.
Results showed overall car sales for the first nine months have been roughly stable, with growth in Germany and a decline in China.
Mercedes-Benz is targeting 50% hybrid and EV global sales by 2025, and says it will solely launch electric-only models from then on. The company said Thursday it remained committed to these targets.
Despite a sluggish start to the electric vehicle transition, legacy automakers have announced ambitious targets in recent years, but face intense competition from Elon Musk's Tesla and Chinese players such as Warren Buffett-backed BYD.
Mercesdes' share of all-electric vehicle sales rose from 6% to 11% in the first nine months of the year, the results showed.
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Spotify Now Has 574 Million Active Users - Thurrott.com
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 21:36
Music streaming giant posted a net loss of '¬32 million on revenues of '¬3.4 billion in the quarter ending September 30.
Or, as Spotify put it, the quarter marked a ''return to profitability.'' Which is an interesting way to describe a net loss. But in looking over Spotify's numbers and statements, I can see that this claim is based on '¬32 million in operating income in the quarter. Operating income is defined as net income minus non-operating expenses, such as interest and taxes. Apparently either can be defined as a ''profit' if the number is positive, but I've never seen a company use that number for this purpose.
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''The business delivered strong results in Q3 as all of our key indicators exceeded guidance and we returned to profitability,'' Spotify's announcement reads. ''Monthly Active Users were up 26% to 574 million and 2 million ahead of guidance. This represents our second largest Q3 net addition performance in history.''
The service now boasts 226 million paid subscribers, up 16 percent year-over-year (YOY), and 361 million ad-supported monthly active users (MAUs), up 32 percent, which explains that 574 million MAU figure. So about 39 percent of Spotify customers are paying subscribers.
As is always the case, those paying subscribers delivered far more revenue than the freeloaders: '¬2.9 billion of Spotify's '¬3.4 billion in revenues came from paying subscribers in the quarter. Ad-supported MAUs delivered just '¬447 million in revenues. Premium and ad-supported revenues were up 10 and 16 percent, respectively, in the quarter.
It's unclear if Spotify's expansion into other audio services like podcasts and audiobooks has paid off or ever will. But the firm's adjusted strategy now involves becoming the ''world's number one audio network,'' and it revealed earlier this month that Spotify Premium, its paid subscription offering, would include instant access to 15 hours of audiobook streaming each month from a library of over 150,000 titles.
Inside Los Angeles' sex market, where women sell sex for $40
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:26
Emboldened by new California laws that make it nearly impossible for cops to bust prostitutes, sex workers in Los Angeles' red light district stalk for business wearing no more than thongs, G-strings, and high heels in broad daylight.
A 40-block area of Figueroa Boulevard in South LA sees hundreds of prostitutes, some barely out of their teens, plying their trade since Gov. Gavin Newsom passed the controversial Safer Streets for All Act, which decriminalized loitering with the intent to work as a prostitute in January.
''Before, this type of activity only happened at night where most citizens wouldn't see it, but now it's 24/7,'' one source told The Post.
''Now you can drive by at 2 p.m. and see it. Families drive by and see 10 girls on the corner, condoms on the ground.
''You go by the alleys and you see a guy in the middle of the alley and a woman performing [fellatio]. And a mom and her kids have to pass by that. It's ridiculous, all in the open broad daylight. God only knows the impact it has on those kids who have to see this.''
Los Angeles Police Department sources who work in the area told The Post that prostitutes will perform sex acts for as little as $40 and many are selling their bodies for $160 or less at a time.
However, some sex workers who trawl Figueroa have claimed they make up to $1,000 a night and have regular clients who fly them away to exotic locations.
Prostitutes look for customers along Figueroa Street between 96th and 98th streets in Los Angeles on Oct. 17, 2023. New York PostAs part of the loitering rules, officers are no longer allowed to stop the women to offer them help, unless they look underage.
In those circumstances, they will take the women to the station and refer them to the Department of Children and Family Services.
Although the girls get sent to a shelter or another program, the LAPD sources say they usually see them back on the streets a few days later.
LAPD sources told The Post many of the women who are working the streets and are ''trafficked'' by pimps are not from California. New York PostNonprofits combating sex trafficking like Journey Out are also finding it more difficult to connect with the growing number of sex workers on the streets.
The charity's executive director, Nayeli May, said often young women don't even realize they are being trafficked because of the psychological and physical hold pimps have on them.
Many are recruited as young as possible from other states and brought to Los Angeles, so there's less chance of their families intervening.
''When law enforcement used to interact with them '-- often even before they would even try to press charges '-- what they used to do is if they recognized this person as possibly being a victim, they would link them with an organization such as ours,'' May said.
Potential ''johns'' block traffic on busy Figueroa Street while they try to speak to the women. New York Post''We would be able to get them some help, but that's not happening anymore. They can't even talk to the girls anymore.''
Last month there were a total of six rapes reported in the area, according to the latest data obtained by The Post.
51 rapes in the area have been reported so far this year.
Cmdr. Jon Pinto, assistant commander of the LAPD bureau where the red light district is located, told The Post about 95% of the women who are ''working'' have pimps, who are closely tied to street gangs.
''Before this type of activity only happened at night '... Now you can drive by at 2 p.m. and see it,'' said one police source. New York Post''Where we work in South Los Angeles, we're not addressing sex workers where there is a voluntary exchange between two people,'' Pinto said.
''What we are doing is addressing the human trafficking at the Figueroa corridor. There is a fear factor or coercion, and in the end, that pimp takes all of the money and she doesn't get any money back. It's been an ongoing problem for years, but the corridor has become an area where there's been an uptick in trafficking victims.''
Pinto said officers on Thursday rescued a 14-year-old who was being trafficked by a pimp at the Figueroa Street corridor.
Women wait for business at all times of the day, even if there are children or families around New York PostThe problem has become so bad that the city, the LAPD, the LA City Attorney's Office, local nonprofits, the Department of Children and Family Services, and the US Attorney's Office have banded together and started a new program in September called the ''Figueroa Initiative'' to help victims of human trafficking.
The Post took a ride down ''The Track'' on Figueroa '-- which is still gang territory, with various factions of the Bloods and Crips controlling nearby streets '-- at 6 p.m. on a Tuesday and saw girls wearing barely-there G-strings and waving to motorists as they passed by.
At the intersection of Figueroa and 96th to 98th streets, traffic backed up into a residential area because the ''johns'' in their cars were ''shopping'' and pulled up to the women to talk to them.
Prostitution and pimping have increased significantly at the Figueroa Street corridor in South Los Angeles since Gov. Gavin Newsom passed the Safer Streets for All Act. New York PostCop cars whizzed by, but the women didn't even run as the johns parked their cars in the neighborhood.
A young blond woman in a hot pink bikini and a white faux fur bolero jacket posed seductively and smiled for the men as she tried to balance herself on acrylic 6-inch stilettos.
Her smile quickly turned to frustration as the cars drove off.
Not too far away from the action was a taco truck, and people who were trying to get a meal got an eyeful as women in raunchy bathing suits walked by.
To attract business, the sex workers wear incredibly revealing outfits. Images provided to NY PostBy 9 p.m., the traffic was so congested that the women walked right up to the row of waiting johns.
About two blocks from that busy corner, a man who was naked from the waist down hassled two prostitutes.
''Why is your d'--k out,'' one of the women asked, unimpressed, while her friend shooed him away.
Some sex workers charge as little as $40 for their services. Images provided to NY PostShortly after, the atmosphere quickly changed and became threatening, making it unsafe, so The Post's reporter and photographer left.
The influx of sex workers hasn't just been in Los Angeles. Farther south in National City near San Diego, Mayor Ron Morrison has also been sounding the alarm, disgusted by the scantily clad people who have invaded the city's neighborhoods and are plying their trade.
''Police can't literally go and talk to them because they don't have a right to talk to them because they are not doing anything wrong '... Even if they are going out talking to someone in their car and sitting there when all they are wearing is less than a G-string,'' he told CBS8 news.
He also said prostitutes had been seen near schools and that they were also working the streets day and night.
The same is happening back in Figueroa.
The women and young girls who ''work'' the streets around 4 p.m. looked forlorn under the 85-degree heat one day last week.
A mother and her daughter walking from school tried to avoid a prostitute's gaze as they continued to eat shaved ice from tiny Styrofoam cups.
One police source told The Post they were seeing three times as many prostitutes as a year ago. New York PostThe young woman, wearing a sports bra and high-cut shorts, kept her eyes on the cars, hoping to spot her next customer.
A few blocks away, a large billboard loomed over the prostitutes and families walking on Figueroa Street.
Splashed across the billboard was a picture of a frail-looking young woman and next to her in bold letters: ''Pimps don't care. We do. There's a way out.''
Pilot Took Psychedelic Mushrooms Before He Tried To Cut Engines: DOJ | San Francisco, CA Patch
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:18
Skip to main contentWest Hollywood, CAStudio City, CAEcho Park-Silver Lake, CABeverly Hills, CANorth Hollywood-Toluca Lake, CALos Angeles, CAWestwood-Century City, CASherman Oaks, CAEagle Rock, CAHighland Park-Mount Washington, CACaliforniaTop National NewsSee All CommunitiesSAN FRANCISCO '-- An off-duty pilot accused of attempting to shut down the engines on an Alaska Airlines flight to San Francisco told investigators he had taken psychedelic mushrooms for the first time, had not slept in nearly two days, and believed he was having a "nervous breakdown" according to a criminal complaint filed federal court Tuesday.
Joseph Emerson, 44, of Pleasant Hill, was arrested Sunday after the incident aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 2059, a Horizon Air operated flight bound for San Francisco from Everett, Washington. Investigators allege Emerson was riding in a jump seat on the flight deck when he reached up and pulled two fire suppression handles that could have cut power to the aircraft's engines.
In the complaint released Tuesday, one pilot told investigators that Emerson failed to pull the handles down all the way, averting what may have been a tragedy.
Find out what's happening in Hollywood with free, real-time updates from Patch. "If Emerson had successfully pulled the red engine shutoff handles down all the way, then it would have shut down the hydraulics and fuel to the engines, turning the aircraft into a glider within seconds," the complaint reads. "[A pilot] stated that Emerson's actions interfered with their ability to operate the aircraft."
According to Alaska Airlines, the pilots worked quickly to reverse the handles and subdue Emerson, securing him in the rear of the plane with help from the flight crew. The flight diverted to Portland where Emerson was arrested and booked on suspicion of 83 counts of attempted murder and reckless endangerment.
Find out what's happening in Hollywood with free, real-time updates from Patch. According to the complaint, Emerson denied taking any medication but spoke with an officer about psychedelic mushrooms and said it was his first time taking them. Investigators said Emerson told them he had been depressed for six months, had not slept for 40 hours, and pulled the emergency handles because he thought he was dreaming and wanted to wake up.
The pilots told investigators Emerson had spoken casually with them earlier in the flight and "there was zero indication of anything wrong" before he sat up in his seat and declared "I'm not okay," reaching for the red handles. According to airline officials, Emerson was removed from the cockpit and handcuffed to a seat in the rear of the plane, where he later tried to grab an emergency exit handle and was stopped by a flight attendant.
Related: Newsom Vetoes Bill That Would Have Decriminalize Psychedelic MushroomsAirline officials reiterated Tuesday that nothing had seemed amiss in the leadup to the incident.
"Following well-established, FAA-mandated practices to authorize a jump-seat passenger, our Gate Agent confirmed that Emerson was an off-duty pilot for Alaska Airlines," the airline wrote in a blog post. "He was approved to join the flight as a passenger and was seated in the flight deck jump seat. All Gate Agents and Flight Attendants are trained to identify signs and symptoms of impairment. At no time during the check-in or boarding process did our Gate Agents or flight crew observe any signs of impairment that would have led them to prevent Emerson from flying on Flight 2059."
In federal court Tuesday, prosecutors filed one charge related to interfering with a flight crew. According to The New York Times, Emerson was also due to be arraigned separately on dozens of charges related to attempted murder, reckless endangerment, and endangering an aircraft at the Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland.
Alaska Airlines said Emerson was "removed from service indefinitely and relieved from all duties" pending consultation with the union regarding his employment status. Emerson was hired as a Horizon First Officer in August 2001, joined Virgin America as a pilot in 2012 and returned to Alaska Airlines as a captain in 2019.
The airline's leadership commended the flight crew for leaping into action and keeping their passengers safe.
"We are deeply proud of our Horizon flight crew and their quick actions both in the flight deck and in the rear of the aircraft," the statement reads in part. "Working together, consistent with their training, they performed their critical roles exceptionally well, representing the best of their profession."
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French Bedbug Scare May Be Russian Disinformation
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:11
Intelligence officials in France are ''taking seriously'' the notion that Russian agents may be responsible for disseminating stories about a bedbug crisis in Paris.
B edbugs have been making headlines in France in recent weeks, causing uneasiness among residents, politicians, and potential visitors . The genesis of the bedbug scare can be traced back to some social media posts by attendees of Paris Fashion Week, but sources in the French Military have said that some follow-up articles were posted, alleging that France's ability to combat bedbugs were hampered by French sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. The articles alleged that the insecticides designed for bedbugs were manufactured in Russia and in short supply because of the sanctions.
The reports cite the French periodical La Montagne for the article, but the French periodical denies having ever published such an article, saying the screenshots included in the social media posts highlighted by French Television station RNC were forgeries.
Surrounding countries have joined in the concern coming out of France, where the media and government have extensively covered the bedbug crisis, with politicians promising to get the ''crisis'' under control. Algerian officials announced in early October they would introduce ''preventative measures'' designed to limit the spread of bedbugs from French ships and aircraft.
Continue Reading Article After Our Video
Recommended Fodor's Video In early October, Russian propagandists also alleged that France's bedbug problem was caused by arriving Ukrainian refugees. Those posts followed a similar playbook, with various outlets sharing doctored screenshots from French publications Le Figaro, Lib(C)ration, and Contrepoints, which the outlets never published.
Local pest control companies in France have said the increase in bedbugs has been gradual, over the course of the past several years'--a boon to propagandists whose most effective tools include taking small truths and blowing them out of proportion, making them difficult to completely disprove. In essence, there is a bedbug problem in Paris and other parts of France, but the problem is not as sudden, and not as widespread or as large as is being reported in much of the media.
The panic comes at a fraught time for Paris. The city is slated to host the 2024 Olympics next summer. By late September, discussions about the perceived crisis were common in both the Parisian and French national governments, with politicians promising swift action to ensure that the problem does not adversely impact the millions of worldwide athletes and spectators planned to descend upon Paris next summer.
Bedbugs are small, flightless insects which feed on human blood. Their bites can be itchy and uncomfortable. Bedbugs can be difficult to eradicate. Recent crops of the insects have been resistant to insecticide. Bedbugs have also been observed slowing their metabolism almost to a standstill, being able to remain alive without a meal, allowing them to lie in wait for extended periods of time, or to travel long distances in passenger luggage.
Travelers can avoid bedbugs by staying in hotels with rooms that are cleaned every day, and not declining housekeeping services during their stay. In addition to cleaning, room attendants are also trained to look for the telltale signs of infestation by bedbugs and other pests, and how to eradicate them if found. Some travelers have posted hacks online, like keeping their suitcases in bathtubs to prevent the bugs from joining them on their journeys home.
From February 2022 to February 2023, France and the European Union adopted ten packages of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, primarily targeting individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, putting limits on Russian financial institutions, certain Russian media outlets, and select sectors of the Russian economy, including aviation, energy, transport, defense, commodities, and services.
Crews clear wreckage after I-55 'superfog' pile-up kills 7 near New Orleans | AP News
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:07
NEW ORLEANS (AP) '-- The toll from a series of crashes on a Louisiana interstate rose to eight dead and 63 injured Tuesday evening, a day after a ''super fog'' of marsh fire smoke and dense fog snared more than 160 vehicles in the fiery pileup, authorities said.
Lance Scott was among the many drivers caught in the wreckage on Interstate 55 west of New Orleans. The 51-year-old had been driving his daughter to the airport Monday morning when the fog thickened like a ''white-out on a ski slope.'' He slammed on his brakes, narrowly avoiding the cars in front of him while hearing ''the most horrendous clank of metal'' behind him.
''It was, 'Bang. Bang. Bang.' It just went on... for probably 45 seconds,'' Scott said. ''As every second went by the clanking of the metal got a little bit fainter, which told me it was backing up '-- so I knew there was layers and layers of collisions.''
Scott turned to his 24-year-old daughter, an intensive care unit nurse, and said to her, ''There's going to be a lot of people who need help and I need you to go out and do what you do.''
Amid the ominous crackling of flames in the wreckage, the fog slowly lifted afterward to reveal the extent of the pileup. Scott and his daughter helped people out of their cars, some with noticeably broken collarbones. One had to wait for first responders to bring the Jaws of Life.
An estimated 168 vehicles were involved in the crashes, Louisiana State Police said. By Tuesday evening the number of fatalities had increased from seven to eight and the number of reported injured more than doubled, Louisiana State Police said in a news release.
At least 63 people were injured, with injuries ranging from minor to critical, others sought medical aid on their own, authorities said in the update.
It is unclear whether it was the most significant crash ever handled by Louisiana State Police, given the number of vehicles and fatalities involved, state police Sgt. Kate Stegall told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
''However, I can tell you that this is an extensive and devastating incident, resulting in loss of lives and profound repercussions for both the community and first responders,'' Stegall said.
The crashes began before 9 a.m. Monday along a one-mile (1.6-kilometer) stretch of the elevated interstate, which passes over swamp and open water between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas, State Police Sgt. Kate Stegall said in a news briefing.
The crashes left a long stretch of mangled and scorched cars, trucks and tractor-trailers. Crushed vehicles were piled atop each other, blackened by flames. Some people got out of their vehicles and stood on the side of the road or on the roofs of their cars looking on in disbelief at the disaster. Others cried out for help.
Scott said there was ''great camaraderie'' as people sprang into action, helping others. With drivers warning others about a nearby fire from the crash, people moved away from the wreckage. They waited for 45 minutes for paramedics to reach them and for transportation off the bridge.
Clarencia Patterson Reed, 46, was driving to Manchac with her wife and niece and saw people waving for her to stop, but once she stopped, two other vehicles hit her car from behind and the side, she told The Associated Press. Patterson Reed escaped from her side of the car, but her wife was pinned inside, her side and a leg injured. Others stepped in to help, she said.
''I just thank God,'' she said. ''There was a casualty a few cars ahead of us.''
Another driver Christopher Coll, said he was already braking when a pickup truck ''drove up on top of my work trailer and took me for a ride.''
Coll could smell smoke as he heard cars crashing and tires popping. He was able to kick open his passenger door to escape and then helped others '-- pulling one person out a car window.
School buses were summoned to transport stranded motorists from the accident sites.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards asked for prayers ''for those hurt and killed'' Monday and issued a call for blood donors.
Crews removed the last vehicles Tuesday afternoon and began a cleanup of debris, diesel and other chemicals littering the area, authorities said. Additionally, the state's transportation department identified multiple areas requiring bridge repairs as inspections continued.
The National Weather Service said there were multiple wetland fires in the region Monday and smoke from the fires mixed with fog to create a ''super fog.''
Parts of the highway reopened Tuesday afternoon. But hazardous driving conditions Tuesday morning prompted several schools in the area to close or delay openings as tow trucks continued to haul debris off of the interstate.
___Associated Press photographer Gerald Herbert and writer Beatrice Dupuy contributed to this report. McGill reported from New Orleans and Cline from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
California sidelines GM Cruise's driverless cars, cites safety risk | Reuters
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 17:51
SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - California on Tuesday ordered General Motors' (GM.N) Cruise unit to remove its driverless cars from state roads, calling the vehicles a risk to the public and saying the company had "misrepresented" the safety of the technology.
California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) said it suspended Cruise's autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless testing permit, ending efforts by the company for the time being to test the cars without safety drivers.
"Based upon the performance of the vehicles, the department determines the manufacturer's vehicles are not safe for the public's operation," the DMV said in a statement, citing "an unreasonable risk to public safety."
The DMV added that Cruise had "misrepresented any information related to safety of the autonomous technology of its vehicles." The state agency said Cruise is allowed to challenge the suspension within five days. The company did not say if it planned to do that.
The suspension, following a series of accidents involving Cruise vehicles, is a major setback to the self-driving business that GM has called a major growth opportunity and to the autonomous vehicle (AV) industry. But unionized transit workers and other critics of robotaxis hailed the suspension, which was effective immediately.
"This could be a big blow to Cruise," said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina. "This plays into the narrative about the technology and the companies failing. The whole industry will suffer as a result."
Cruise said in a statement: "We will be pausing operations of our driverless AVs in San Francisco. Ultimately, we develop and deploy autonomous vehicles in an effort to save lives."
Cruise said the DMV was reviewing an Oct. 2 incident, where one of its self-driving vehicles was braking but did not avoid striking a pedestrian previously struck by a hit-and-run driver.
"When the AV tried to pull over, it continued before coming to a final stop, pulling the pedestrian forward," Cruise said.
"Our teams are currently doing an analysis to identify potential enhancements to the AV's response to this kind of extremely rare event," it added.
The DMV order said Cruise had not initially disclosed all video footage of the accident and said "Cruise's vehicles may lack the ability to respond in a safe and appropriate manner during incidents involving a pedestrian."
Cruise could not immediately be reached to comment on DMV report the company had not initially shared all videos of the incident.
GM executives have repeatedly called Cruise a giant growth opportunity, repeating that view during an earnings conference call on Tuesday before California's DMV announced its decision.
[1/2] A close up of a Bolt EV car is seen during a media event by Cruise, GM's autonomous car unit, in San Francisco, California, U.S. November 28, 2017. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage Acquire Licensing Rights
'TREMENDOUS UPSIDE'"We do believe that Cruise has tremendous opportunity to grow and expand," GM CEO Mary Barra told analysts. "We ... see tremendous upside opportunity and growth."
In June, Barra reiterated a forecast that Cruise could generate $50 billion a year in annual revenue by 2030. The company reported on Tuesday that it lost $723 million on Cruise during the third quarter.
In her call before the ruling, Barra said Cruise robotaxis have better safety records than human drivers.
In August, the DMV said it was investigating "concerning incidents" involving autonomous vehicles operated by Cruise in San Francisco and asked the company to take half its robotaxis off the roads. That month, a Cruise robotaxi was involved in a crash with an emergency vehicle in San Francisco.
This month, U.S. auto safety regulators opened a probe into whether Cruise was taking sufficient precautions with autonomous robotaxis to safeguard pedestrians.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it has received two reports from Cruise of incidents in which pedestrians were injured, and identified two further incidents via videos posted on websites.
NHTSA said its investigation into Cruise remains open, but declined to comment on the California DMV action.
Two months ago, California allowed Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Waymo and Cruise to take paying passengers day or night throughout San Francisco, a significant step.
Waymo declined to comment on the DMV action.
Critics of the self-driving technology pounced on the DMV decision.
The Transport Workers union of America (TWU), which represents airline, railroad, and transit workers and has harshly criticized self-driving vehicles, said in a statement that companies like Cruise must meet measurable safety standards.
"Despite the propaganda pushed by tech executives, Cruise has shown the world that robots are incapable of even coming close to achieving the high standards human operators meet each and every day,'' TWU President John Samuelsen said.
Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and David Shepardson, additional reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by David Gregorio
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
SG's Policy Brief on Information Integrity on Digital Platforms | United Nations
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 17:38
The Secretary-General launched his policy brief on information integrity on digital platforms, calling for guardrails to address the ''clear and present global threat'' of online hate speech, mis- and disinformation. Speaking at a press conference, he stressed the need for coordinated international action to make the digital space safer and more inclusive while vigorously protecting human rights.
The policy brief is focused on how threats to information integrity are having an impact on progress on global, national and local issues. In Our Common Agenda, I called for empirically backed consensus around facts, science and knowledge. To that end, the present brief outlines potential principles for a code of conduct that will help to guide Member States, the digital platforms and other stakeholders in their efforts to make the digital space more inclusive and safe for all, while vigorously defending the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to access information. The Code of Conduct for Information Integrity on Digital Platforms is being developed in the context of preparations for the Summit of the Future. It is the SG's hope is that it will provide a gold standard for guiding action to strengthen information integrity.
Read the blog by Melissa Fleming, "Healing Our Troubled Information Ecosystem"
Newsguard Case Highlights the Pentagon's Censorship End-Around
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 13:41
Monday, the independent website Consortium News filed suit against the United States of America and Newsguard Technologies . The complaint targeting both the government and a private media ratings service is an important one, putting the censorship-by-proxy system on trial.
On September 7, 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense gave an award of $749,387 to Newsguard Technologies, a private service that scores media outlets on ''reliability'' and ''trust.'' According to the suit, roughly 40,000 subscribers buy Newsguard subscriptions, getting in return a system of ''Nutrition Labels'' supposedly emphasizing ''safe'' content. Importantly, Newsguard's customers include universities and libraries, whose users are presented with labels warning you that CBS is great and Tucker Carlson is dangerous:
Consortium News was labeled a purveyor of ''disinformation,'' ''misinformation,'' and ''false content,'' and, worst of all, ''anti-U.S.'' This is despite the fact that, according to the suit, Newsguard only flagged six articles out of the tens of thousands Consortium News has published since the late award-winning reporter Robert Parry founded it in 1995. As Consortium News points out, Newsguard downgrades its entire 20,000+ library of available online articles with these flags based on the handful of edge cases, all of which involve criticism of U.S. foreign policy.
A particular irony is that Parry, a decorated AP and Newsweek reporter, founded Consortium News specifically to address topics suppressed by mainstream editors. Now Parry's old site is being downgraded for dissenting reports on subjects like the 2014 Ukrainian coup and neo-Nazism in Ukraine, coincidentally topics that are ''the subject of NewsGuard's 'Misinformation Fingerprints' project that is under contract with the Cyber Command,'' as the suit reads.
Newsguard denies it's influenced by the government. In fact, its denials are part of the reason for the suit. When Michael Shellenberger and I testified before Congress in March, we mentioned Newsguard as a ''government-funded'' ratings service. I was quickly contacted by email by co-CEO Gordon Crovitz, who hastened to correct me: Newsguard isn't government-funded, but merely an organization that receives government funds. He wrote:
As is public, our work for the Pentagon's Cyber Command is focused on the identification and analysis of information operations targeting the US and its allies conducted by hostile governments, including Russia and China.
Our analysts alert officials in the US and in other democracies, including Ukraine, about new false narratives targeting America and its allies, and we provide an understanding of how this disinformation spreads online. We are proud of our work countering Russian and Chinese disinformation on behalf of Western democracies .
Crovitz added that ''contrary to claims made in the hearings, we oppose any government involvement in rating news sources,'' saying Newsguard ''is entirely independent and free of any outside influence, including from the U.S. or any other government.''
The letter, CC'ed to co-CEO and editor Stephen Brill, was subject-lined ''Inaccuracies relating to NewsGuard.'' I immediately wrote back:
Crovitz didn't answer at the time, but Newsguard did simultaneously release the letter to the UK-based Press-Gazette. When I reached out for comment again after the filing of this litigation this week, asking once again how ''government-funded'' could be inaccurate, Crovitz finally answered, writing:
''We are 'government funded' in the same way that Verizon is 'government funded: We have licensed data to the government for a fee, just as Verizon has provided telco services for a fee.''
He added:
The government pays us both for our commercial offerings. Our Pentagon contract is a single-digit percent of our revenues.
So, they are government-funded, just not wholly government-funded. These are the people rating others on accuracy, remember.
The conceit about funding isn't complicated, but it works. Because Newsguard has other customers, it can claim to be an ''independent'' news service that just happens to downgrade news reports that contradict and/or criticize the policy of its major client, the Department of Defense. It's censorship, but through a silencer. As the Consortium News suit reads:
NewsGuard and the United States in violation of the First Amendment are carrying out a governmental program under the ''Misinformation Fingerprints'' contract to publicly label, target and stigmatize news organizations as disfavored, unreliable, as journalistically not responsible'... where said organizations differ or dissent from U.S. policy.
The suit also details what I think is the more insidious part of the system. In the guise of an independent news service, Newsguard contacts outlets and interrogates them about disputed content, not-so-subtly pressing for retractions. Again, from the suit:
In the course of the government contract, NewsGuard and the United States have acted to retaliate against those news entities and media organizations that refuse to retract or correct their articles; such retaliation consists of the ''false content'' warnings, the red flag and associated content described in this Amended Complaint'...
Racket received one of these irritating queries this year. Call it what you want, but it comes down to Pentagon Cyber Command giving a big check to ''analysts'' who happen to slap red revenue-sapping warning tags on outlets that report on controversial topics like war or government censorship.
As I wrote to Newsguard when they contacted me, ''media outlets should gain and lose trust based on how they are evaluated by audiences, not paid services.'' This system allows institutions like the Department of Defense that have no legal remit to meddle in the domestic news landscape to pressure private media outlets.
That's over and above the DoD's already hugest-on-earth-by-far public relations budget . Think of the scale of petty determination one must have to spend over $500 million a year on messaging and be so dissatisfied with the results that you feel the need to spend more on private services that downgrade independent news critics. It's particularly grating that your tax dollars are spent hiring private services that label news outlets using terms like ''anti-US.'' State-sponsored impugning of patriotism is a bold stroke, even by the low moral standards of the anti-disinformation era.
''When media groups are condemned by the government as 'anti-U.S.','' said Bruce Afran, attorney for Consortium News , ''the result is self-censorship and a destruction of the public debate intended by the First Amendment.''
I was remiss in not getting this story up before, but will have more as the case goes on.
Consortium News is seeking ''a permanent injunction'... barring the government and NewsGuard from continuing such practices'' and ''more than $13 million in damages for defamation and civil rights violations.'' You can read their coverage here .
Study: Antiviral Med Linked to COVID Mutations That Can Spread
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 13:31
The antiviral COVID medication made by Merck can cause mutations in the coronavirus that occasionally spread to other people, according to a study published in the online journal Nature.
There's no evidence that molnupiravir, sold under the brand name Lagevrio, has caused the creation of more transmissible or severe variants of COVID, the study says, but researchers called for more scrutiny of the drug.
Researchers looked at 15 million COVID genomes and discovered that hallmark mutations linked to molnupiravir increased in 2022, especially in places where the drug was widely used, such as the U.S. and the U.K. Levels of the mutations were also found in populations where the drug was heavily prescribed, such as seniors.
Molnupiravir is an antiviral given to people after they show signs of having COVID-19. It interferes with the COVID-19 virus's ability to make copies of itself, thus stopping the spread of the virus throughout the body and keeping the virus level low.
The study found the virus can sometimes survive molnupiravir, resulting in mutations that have spread to other people.
Theo Sanderson, the lead author on the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the Francis Crick Institute in London, told The Guardian that the implications of the mutations were unclear.
"The signature is very clear, but there aren't any widely circulating variants that have the signature. At the moment there's nothing that's transmitted very widely that's due to molnupiravir," he said.
The study doesn't say people should not use molnupiravir but calls for public health officials to scrutinize it.
"The observation that molnupiravir treatment has left a visible trace in global sequencing databases, including onwards transmission of molnupiravir-derived sequences, will be an important consideration for assessing the effects and evolutionary safety of this drug," the researchers concluded.
When reached for comment, Merck questioned the evidence.
"The authors assume these mutations were associated with viral spread from molnupiravir-treated patients without documented evidence of that transmission. Instead, the authors rely on circumstantial associations between the region from which the sequence was identified and timeframe of sequence collection in countries where molnupiravir is available to draw their conclusions," the company said.
The FDA authorized the use of molnupiravir for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults in December 2021. The FDA has also authorized the use of Paxlovid, an antiviral made by Pfizer.
Sources Nature: "A molnupiravir-associated mutational signature in global SARS-CoV-2 genomes"
The Guardian: "Use of antiviral may be fueling evolution of Covid, scientists say"
FDA: "Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes Additional Oral Antiviral for Treatment of COVID-19 in Certain Adults"
Zach For The People - Minneapolis City Council
Tue, 24 Oct 2023 18:26
HERE TO BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT
MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL WARD 13 CANDIDATE
We envision a Minneapolis that invests in the needs of its people. These needs include affordable housing, structurally supported public safety alternatives, protecting our green spaces and expanding social protections that protect all our residents. As a life long South-sider, Zach has made a career out of fighting for this vision and the needs of the people.
Zach has led campaigns, created laws and organized movements that have created lasting change. He has worked deeply with community and in the capitol as a legislative aide, with major policy wins, such as The Beyond Bullying Bill which ensures our schools are safe learning environments for every Minnesotan, no matter their race, religion, sexuality, gender, or disability.
We need a public safety system that works for everyone in Minneapolis & right now our public safety system is failing! We have spent 150 million tax payer dollars on police misconduct, PTSD claims & pensions. Our police budget went 36 up million dollars in two years with nothing to show for it other than two consent decrees.
We are experiencing a housing and homelessness crisis!
Our policies address housing disparities and promote affordable, accessible housing options, and ensure that all individuals and communities have access to secure, safe and stable housing.
We will stand up for homeowners and create green incentives for homeowners while ensuring equitable access to the benefits of homeownership and take measures to prevent homelessness in Minneapolis.
We need a radical, comprehensive and holistic approach to tackle the biggest problem we face as a planet. Minneapolis can become a beacon of what's possible in green energy, focusing on creating a sustainable future, reducing emissions, promoting renewable energy, fostering sustainable practices and ensuring a just transition.
Who is Zach Metzger? Organizer of pro-Palestine protest in Minneapolis claims to receive hate mails after protesters harass an elderly man - Opoyi
Tue, 24 Oct 2023 18:25
Zach Metzger, a prominent pro-Palestine organizer in Minneapolis, came under fire following an incident where protesters allegedly harassed an elderly man. Metzger claimed victimization, citing hate mail and threats as a result.
Who is Zach Metzger?
Zach Metzger, known as the organizer of a pro-Palestine protest in Minneapolis, has recently found himself embroiled in controversy. He has been a Ward 13 City Council candidate in the city.
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Following an incident where protesters harassed an elderly man, Metzger claimed to have become the victim of hate mail and threats, citing the ordeal as an attack on his advocacy for justice.
However, drone footage of the event presented a starkly different narrative. The footage revealed the elderly man being swarmed by the protesters, prompting him to pull out a knife in self-defense as the situation escalated. Metzger's attempt to paint himself as the victim received significant scrutiny in light of the visual evidence.
JUST IN: The pro-Palestine protest organizer in Minneapolis Zach Metzger, is now claiming to be the victim after dozens of protesters harassed an elderly man trying to drive on the road.Metzger says people were "screaming in fear" of the man while ignoring the fact that his'... pic.twitter.com/I5S7LreChE
'-- Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 24, 2023Metzger's account of the events appeared to conflict with the drone footage, leading to a heated debate about the nature of the protest and the ethical boundaries of demonstration. The incident underscores the complexity of navigating activism in the digital age, where divergent narratives can quickly shape public perception and discourse.
Also Read: Who was Tasha Butts? Georgetown women's basketball coach dies at 41
While Metzger's dedication to the Palestinian cause remains unwavering, the incident has highlighted the need for responsible and peaceful activism. The episode serves as a reminder of the importance of upholding the principles of non-violence and respectful protest, even in the face of deeply contentious and emotional issues.
Hamas Terrorists Cut Open Pregnant Woman's Stomach, Beheaded Her Unborn Baby, Claims IDF; Says Not Sharing Photo Due to X Guidelines | ð LatestLY
Tue, 24 Oct 2023 18:19
IDF claimed in a recent X (Formerly Twitter) post that the Hamas militants ripped open the belly of a pregnant woman and beheaded her unborn baby. Socially Team Latestly| Oct 23, 2023 10:24 PM ISTAs the Israel-Palestine war extends into its 17th day, the Isreal Defence Force (IDF) shed light on a horrifying account of the brutal attack carried out by Hamas militants on a pregnant Israeli woman and her unborn child. IDF claimed in a recent X (Formerly Twitter) post that the Hamas militants ripped open the belly of a pregnant woman and beheaded her unborn baby. The Israeli military further added that it cannot share the photo of the incident due to the X guidelines. Israel-Hamas War Death Toll: Over 5,000 People, Including 2,055 Children, Killed in Gaza So Far, Says Palestinian Health Ministry.
Hamas Terrorists Cut Open Pregnant Woman's Stomach, Claims IDF
pic.twitter.com/sluBf5FKC2
'-- Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 23, 2023
(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
Israeli think tank lays out a blueprint for the complete ethnic cleansing of Gaza '' Mondoweiss
Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:27
NewsAn Israeli think tank with ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a report on October 17 promoting the "unique and rare opportunity" for the ''relocation and final settlement of the entire Gaza population.''
The Hamas attack on Israeli towns surrounding Gaza on October 7 has provided a pretext for an unprecedented, genocidal revenge campaign by Israel involving the massacre of now nearly 5,000 Palestinians, including over 2,000 children '' and that may only be the beginning. Now, an Israeli think tank with ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promoting plans for the complete ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
On October 17, the Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy published a position paper advocating for the ''relocation and final settlement of the entire Gaza population.'' The report advocates exploiting the current moment to accomplish a long-held Zionist goal of moving Palestinians off the land of historic Palestine. The report's subtitle makes it clear: ''There is at the moment a unique and rare opportunity to evacuate the whole Gaza Strip in coordination with the Egyptian government.''
The Misgav Institute is headed by former Netanyahu National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat, who remains influential in Israeli security circles. The Institute's former chairpersons and founding associates include Yoaz Hendel (chair 2012-19), a right-centrist who was Minister of Communications intermittently in the years 2020-22; Moshe Yaalon, former Defense Minister (note that both Hendel and Yaalon have become opposed to Netanyahu in the recent years); Moshe Arens, also former Defense Minister '-- and other top political personas.
The main arguments of the report, which the Institute highlighted on social media upon the report's release, are translated as follows:
There is a need for an immediate, viable plan for the resettlement and economic rehabilitation of the entire Arab population in the Gaza Strip, which sits well with the geopolitical interests of Israel, Egypt, U.S.A. and Saudi Arabia.In 2017 it was reported that in Egypt there were 10 million available apartment units, of which half were built and half under construction. For example, in two of the biggest Cairo satellite cities, ''October 6'' and ''Ramadan 10'' there is an immense number of built and empty apartments under governmental and private ownership as well as empty lots for building that would in total suffice the housing of about 6 million residents.The average cost of a three-room apartment of 95 square meters for an average Gaza family of 5.14 people in one of the two mentioned cities stands at $19,000. In calculating the total population that resides in the Gaza Strip, which stands between 1.4-2.2 million people, it is possible to assess that the amount that would need to be transferred to Egypt in order to finance would be around $5 to 8 billion.An encouraging injection to the Egyptian economy at this magnitude would provide an enormous and immediate advantage to [Egyptian President] El-Sisi's regime. Such money sums, compared to the Israeli economy, are miniscule. The investment of a mere few billions of dollars (even if it is $20 or 30 billion) in order to solve this difficult issue is an innovative, cheap and viable solution. There is no doubt that in order for this plan to be enacted, many conditions need to exist in parallel. At the moment, these conditions exist, and it is unclear when such an opportunity will arise again, if at all. It appears that this ethnic-cleansing plan is based on a similar logic to that of the ''Abraham Accords,'' involving the infusion of massive sums towards despotic regimes to write off the Palestinian issue. But this time, it is not just about slow annexation and bantustanization through ''economic peace'' '-- but advocating for the complete population transfer of Palestinians from Gaza.
Previous calls for ethnic cleansingIt is not the first time that suggestions for a full ethnic cleansing have appeared from Israeli analysts or even politicians. In the midst of the 2014 Gaza onslaught, Moshe Feiglin, who was then part of Likud and deputy chair of the Knesset, sent Netanyahu a public, 7-point proposal for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. He repeated the genocidal advocacy in 2018. Feiglin is now a libertarian politician. In a recent interview on Channel 14, Feiglin called for a ''Dresden'' on Gaza (referring to the WW2 firebombing of Dresden in February 1945, killing some 25,000 people) '-- ''a storm of fire on all of Gaza!'' he proclaimed, demanding to ''not leave stone on stone'' and emphasizing ''total fire!'' and ''the end of ends!''
The Misgav Institute's thinking has also been reflected in the Israeli intelligentsia. In 2004, respected Israeli historian Benny Morris, who is a self-proclaimed leftist, shocked many by bemoaning the fact that Ben Gurion did not ''finish the job'' and carry out the full ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, saying it would have led to less conflict in the ensuing decades. But he also said that a ''transfer and expulsion'' policy is only a question of time, and timing. Morris argued that in ''normal'' times, such policies may be immoral '-- but in ''apocalyptic circumstances,'' they may be both moral, ''reasonable,'' and ''even essential.'' From his interview in Haaretz:
''If you are asking me whether I support the transfer and expulsion of the Arabs from the West Bank, Gaza and perhaps even from Galilee and the Triangle, I say not at this moment. I am not willing to be a partner to that act. In the present circumstances it is neither moral nor realistic. The world would not allow it, the Arab world would not allow it, it would destroy the Jewish society from within. But I am ready to tell you that in other circumstances, apocalyptic ones, which are liable to be realized in five or ten years, I can see expulsions.''
Thus, the Misgav report would seem not only to be arguing that to forcibly displace the Palestinian population from Gaza but that, similar to the conditions that Morris laid out, this is a historic opportunity to do it.
Israeli supportSince October 7, calls for flattening Gaza have been rampant among the Israeli leadership and widely espoused across the population. On October 12, Israeli Channel 12 published a report about how the desire to ethnically cleanse Gaza has taken hold in Israeli popular culture:
''People from the political left and center have called for the flattening of Gaza this week. A very short post fantasizing about a nature party that would take place on what was Gaza land received 100 thousand likes and 60 thousand shares''. The young Tel-Aviv woman who posted on Instagram had only 700 followers, but then the post ''exploded''. She claims to be a centrist who ''has always sanctified human rights, compassion is the first emotion that is activated in me'', she says. ''I do not want to kill Gazan babies, I never hated Arabs and it's not like I started hating them this week. But after what happened, I say to the Gaza residents '' your babies are your problem''.
This sentiment seems to match quite well with broad calls from Israeli politicians for collective punishment, which have been coming from across the political spectrum, including those considered centrist or liberal.
Meanwhile, while the world's eyes are on Gaza, ethnic cleansing is also being realized in the West Bank by Israeli settlers and soldiers. The terrorizing of mostly rural Palestinian communities in the West Bank had resulted in the uprooting of several communities before October 7 but has accelerated greatly since, with some 545 Palestinians forcibly displaced from at least 13 communities since October 7, according to information from the West Bank Protection Consortium (WBPC) and Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din (cited by Al Jazeera). The murderous settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank have gotten relatively little attention, like the murder of four Palestinians in Qusra on October 11 and then the murder of a Palestinian father and his son at the funeral. The number of killed Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7 is nearing 100 '-- in two weeks '-- an unfathomable pace.
Thus, these times are exceptionally dangerous for Palestinians. The Hamas attack seems to have reignited long-standing Zionist wishes, and now some want to exploit this public mood in support of a massive ethnic cleansing campaign. It doesn't mean that it will happen all at once, but as mentioned, in some places, it has already begun.
Mondoweiss's work is more important than ever. We are bringing you fact-checked news from trusted sources at a time when identifying the truth has become almost impossible. Our readers are asking our staff for more coverage. We need your help to provide it.
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NASA Is Struggling to Open Its Asteroid Sample Container
Tue, 24 Oct 2023 04:16
About a month ago, pristine samples from an asteroid landed on Earth while enclosed within a tight capsule. The sample canister was designed to keep the main chunk of the asteroid safe during its journey through space, but now teams at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) are struggling to open it to get at the space rocks.
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For the past week, the curation team for the OSIRIS-REx mission has been having a hard time opening the TAGSAM head, a round sampler head at the end of an articulated arm on the spacecraft that was used to grab the sample from the asteroid. The TAGSAM head (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) is where the bulk of the asteroid sample is, and it is therefore being carefully handled by members of the team through a specialized glovebox under the flow of nitrogen to prevent contamination.
''After multiple attempts at removal, the team discovered two of the 35 fasteners on the TAGSAM head could not be removed with the current tools approved for use in the OSIRIS-REx glovebox,'' NASA wrote in a blog post on Friday. ''The team has been working to develop and implement new approaches to extract the material inside the head, while continuing to keep the sample safe and pristine.''
When the aluminum lid to the sample canister was first removed, the mission team found black dust and debris on the avionics deck of the canister . On October 11, NASA revealed the first look at the samples collected from the outside of the TAGSAM head while adding that it still hasn't opened the sample canister yet. ''The only problem is a great problem and that's we've found a lot more sample than we're anticipating before even getting into the TAGSAM,'' Francis McCubbin, curator at NASA's JSC, said during a live event.
As it turns out, there's also a not-so-good problem. So far, the curation team has managed to remove some of the material from inside the canister with tweezers or a scoop while holding down the TAGSAM head's mylar flap. Over the next few weeks, the team will try to come up with new ways to extract the rest of the sample.
''The tools for any proposed solution to extract the remaining material from the head must be able to fit inside the glovebox and not compromise the scientific integrity of the collection, and any procedures must be consistent with the clean room's standards,'' NASA wrote in its blog post.
The asteroid samples extracted so far, however, exceed the mission's goal of collecting 60 grams of debris from the asteroid, according to NASA. To date, the space agency has recovered 2.48 ounces (70.3 grams) of rocks and dust. The team behind the mission has also gotten a head start in analyzing the samples and found an abundance of carbon and water molecules. Scientists were hoping to find evidence of organic matter embedded within the asteroid sample as it supports the theory that the building blocks of life hitch-hike their way through the universe aboard these ancient space rocks.
The OSIRIS-REx mission launched in September 2016 and reached asteroid Bennu in December 2018. After nearly two years of observations, the spacecraft landed on Bennu and snagged a sample from its surface in October 2020. OSIRIS-REx dropped off the asteroid samples in the Utah desert on September 24.
The mission may have recently hit a (hopefully temporary) snag, but early findings from the asteroid sample have proven to be quite promising so hopefully the remaining bits of the space rock make it out of that canister soon.
For more spaceflight in your life, follow us on X (formerly Twitter) and bookmark Gizmodo's dedicated Spaceflight page .
VCs Andreessen, Doerr among attendees at Schumer's next AI forum
Tue, 24 Oct 2023 03:54
Andreessen Horowitz partner Marc Andreessen speaks during the Fortune Global Forum.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Technologists and advocates are again set to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to discuss with Senate leaders the perils and promises of artificial intelligence.
Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen, co-founder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, and John Doerr, chair of Kleiner Perkins, will be among the 21 attendees at the second AI Insights Forum hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., according to a spokesperson for his office.
The session is a continuation of the Majority Leader's effort to get the chamber up to speed on AI to determine how best to approach AI regulation. It will likely include very different viewpoints on what the government's role should be in regulating AI.
Andreessen recently shared his perspective on AI in what he called The Techno-Optimist Manifesto.
"We believe any deceleration of AI will cost lives," he wrote in the blog post. "Deaths that were preventable by the AI that was prevented from existing is a form of murder."
While that idea may resonate with some lawmakers, especially when it comes to remaining competitive against China on AI, others present at Tuesday's discussion will likely feel differently.
For example, Future of Life Institute President Max Tegmark is also set to attend. The Future of Life Institute spearheaded the letter signed by Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk and other tech leaders calling for a pause on AI development so that appropriate safety measures could be put in place.
Other tech leaders such as Micron Executive Vice President Manish Bhatia, Revolution CEO Steve Case, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison and Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez will be in attendance. Academics and civil society leaders will also join the discussion, which will center on innovation and explore how the government can balance sustaining a leading position in AI while ensuring its safety, according to Schumer's office.
Advocates slated to attend include NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson and AFL-CIO Technology Institute Director Amanda Ballantyne.
The first AI Innovation Forum in September, which was closed to the press, featured Musk, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
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WATCH: How A.I. could impact jobs of outsourced coders in India
Recession Next Year Will Hit Stocks, Home Prices: Wall Street Veteran
Mon, 23 Oct 2023 20:48
The US economy will capitulate and enter a recession next year, Harley Bassman has said. The Wall Street veteran said stocks and house prices would fall once unemployment increased. He said he once ignored the "Big Short" investor Steve Eisman's warning about the mid-2000s bubble. Loading Something is loading.
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A recession will strike the US economy next year, pummeling stocks and house prices, a Wall Street veteran has said.
Harley Bassman, the managing partner of Simplify Asset Management, issued the bleak forecast during a recent Rosenberg Research webcast.
Bassman spent more than 25 years at Merrill Lynch, and has worked at both Pimco and Credit Suisse. He compared inflation to carbon monoxide and recalled that he once ignored a warning from one of the investors in "The Big Short" about the mid-2000s housing bubble.
Here are Bassman's 7 best quotes, lightly edited for length and clarity:1. "Inflation is nothing more than a slow-motion default. It's a nice tax, nice in the sense that it's quiet and silent. It's kind of like CO poisoning in your house. You can't feel it, and it goes across everybody."
2. "Housing is not going to go down because there's no sellers. Everyone is locked into their house. This is some weird form of rent control where you can't move unless your house burns down because you can't refinance at 7%. You already have a 3% mortgage. So that's why prices aren't going down. Until people lose their job, lose their income, they're going to stay in their houses."
3. "The Fed's going to keep tightening until they get that unemployment rate up, or at least they're not going to lower rates until then. When that happens, you get the housing down, and you get the stock market down." (Bassman said asset prices would fall once people started losing their jobs and defaulting on their mortgages and stopped piling money into their retirement accounts.)
4. "The Fed has told us, 'Inflation we don't like, we're going to slam on these brakes until something breaks,' which is the economy. When that happens, bad things will happen to credit. There will be defaults, by definition. That's how it plays out."
5. "I think we're going to get the recession a year from now. The Fed's done or close to being done. We're going to get the inflation down, but it's still a year away because we have not gone into that maturity wall yet. So, I predict that's going to happen not until sometime, at best, mid-next year." (Bassman was underscoring the fact that many companies will need to refinance loans at much higher interest rates next year.)
6. "I used to be on a finance committee for one of our kids' schools. There was this guy, kind of a crazy guy, named Steve Eisman, who was in this thing. I remember one day he walks in, and he says, 'You work at Merrill, right?' I go, 'Yes.' 'I've got some advice for you.' 'What's that?' 'Sell everything, you're going bankrupt.' And I didn't listen to him. That was a mistake." (Steve Carrell played a character named Mark Baum in "The Big Short" movie, which was based on Eisman.)
7. "You're welcome to be against immigration. You're welcome to go and lock the door and have nobody come in. But let's be clear '-- if you slam the door, you will get inflation, and you will have slower GDP because you have fewer workers."
Quarterly Warning On Copper Before It Derails The Energy Transition
Mon, 23 Oct 2023 20:12
Oct 22, 2023, 06:15pm EDT
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Oct 18, 2023, 07:14am EDT
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Oct 17, 2023, 08:15am EDT
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The vaccines are adulterated. The FDA should take them off the market. New court ruling shows how vax manufacturers are liable.
Mon, 23 Oct 2023 19:59
Discover more from Steve Kirsch's newsletterI write about COVID mitigation policies, vaccines, neurological diseases and conditions, corruption, censorship, and early treatments. The data shows that vaccines are ruining the health of Americans and driving the epidemic in neurological conditions.
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I've talked to multiple sources on this. Professor Byram Bridle first mentioned this to me, then Robert Malone, then attorney Warner Mendenhall. This is big.This is important.
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A Book You Need To Read - LewRockwell
Mon, 23 Oct 2023 19:44
The heroic Dr. Naomi Wolf's new book Facing the Beast: Courage, Faith, and Resistance in a New Dark Age exposes the plot to depopulate the world though the so-called Covid ''vaccines.'' And the book does much more than this. It encourages and inspires those who are fighting to preserve freedom by putting the struggle in a spiritual dimension that involves the whole universe.
The plot didn't reveal itself right away. The first stage was the imposition of quarantines and lockdowns, which Dr. Wolf compares to the early years of Nazism:
''I am asking how they can be suppressing the respiration of children intentionally; how they can be consigning friends and colleagues to eat in the street like outcasts, or sending cops to arrest a woman and terrify a nine-year-old child, whose crimes were that they tried to visit the Museum of Natural History in New York without ''papers''?
How could ''nice'' people in the humane West, can have be put on the agenda in Washington State just two weeks ago, plans to detain those exposed to a ''contagious disease'' in forcible quarantine, without charge or trial, and dependent on a court order and good behavior to get out?
All of this happened in America '' -in the land of people who, since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, have had the principle of equality governing human relations as a matter of law; a nation that had passed laws against the abuse of or corporal punishment of children in public schools in the 1970s in virtually every state; and a people who have been raised in a culture of freedom and civility compared with lawless or totalitarian regimes, that led them, for the most part, to be, on the scale of decency to cruelty, until two years ago, very decent people.
How could good people be going along with this?
There are lessons from history that we have to learn, or re-learn, and quickly.
Some leaders and commentators (including myself) have passionately and publicly been comparing these years, 2020-2022, in the West and in Australia, to the early years of Nazi leadership. Though we face criticism for doing so, I won't be silenced about this. The similarities must urgently be addressed.
People need to reread their Nazi history. They are getting it wrong in demanding, 'How dare you compare?''
While the popular imagination of the Nazi era is familiar with deaths camps, and think of them when Nazi policy is invoked, the fact is that many years led up to that horror. Germany invaded Poland in 1939. The extermination camps were established years into the Nazi drama: 1941. Dr Josef Mengele, ''The Angel of Death,'' began his medical experiments in Auschwitz after 1943.
No one sensible is talking about comparing what we are living through now to those years and those horrors.
Rather, the vivid similarities between our moment in the West since 2020, and the earliest years of Nazi Germany's civil society policies, are to the years 1931-33, when so many vicious norms and policies were set in place. But these were often culturally or professionally policed, rather than being policed by camp patrols. That's the point that better-informed analysts of these similarities, are making.
That is to say, during these years, mass societal cruelty, and a two-tier society itself that perpetuated this cruelty, was built up and policed, as like today, by polite civil society institutions tasked with snarling and baring its teeth.
Casual, escalating cruelty, a culture of degradation of the ''othered,'' and a two-tier society, were built up in those years certainly at the behest of Nazi social policy. But the construction of a world of evil out of what had been a modern civil society, if a fragile one, was also endorsed and even policed by doctors, by medical associations, by journalists, by famous composers and filmmakers, by universities; by neighbors, by teachers, by shopkeepers '-- for years before the death camp guards were tasked with their own far more heinous cruelty.
Amos Elon's poignant history, The Pity of it All: A History of Jews in Germany, 1743-1933, reveals how many Jewish civil society leaders warned about the imperceptible shifts day by day in the direction of evil. In 1931, street violence was directed against Jewish storefronts, and led to smashed-in windows. In other contexts, Jews were beaten upon leaving synagogues. Commentator Theodor Wolff warned, ''This simply cannot continue. All decent people, irrespective of party, must form a common front ['...]''
So one might say today.
But'....but decent people did not do so then; and Wolff's call to action was to no avail. Elon calls these years ''these last spasms of freedom.''
Wolff's publisher told him to ''tone down his warnings in the interest of advertising and circulation.'' [Elon, 388] As today, those issuing alarms were suppressed and censored.
As today, emergency laws then were the benchmarks that would allow democracy to collapse. ''Hitler wanted full powers like Mussolini's in Italy,'' writes Elon. ''He knew exactly what was needed to turn a government into a 'legal' dictatorship: emergency powers under Article 48.''
See if you notice any echoes here. Currently, forty-seven US states are operating with emergency measures, which suspend or bypass normal legislative checks and balances, including New York, the state in which I am writing. Under emergency measures, pretty much anything can be done.
The fact that people don't seem to understand that most of the country is living under emergency measures, is what is stunning about our current moment. This is why I keep saying these days that the coup d'etat has already taken place in America. By definition, when you are living under emergency measures, you no longer have a functioning democracy.
In Germany, to move back in time, the demonically intelligent incrementalism of Nazi policy continued. In 1933, the year Adolph Hitler was appointed Chancellor of a new cabinet, Hitler gave his word that ''the Nazis would remain a minority in any future cabinet.'' Even in 1933, though, some prominent Jews still believed that ''nothing can happen to us.''
But ''Theodor Wolff was one of the few who warned that Hitler's appointment was merely the first stage of a coup d'etat in installments.[Italics mine]['...] Wolff predicted that 'a cabinet whose members have been proclaiming for weeks and months that salvation '-- by which they mean their own '-- is at hand, in the form of a coup d'etat, a breach of the constitution, the elimination of the Reichstag, the muzzling of the opposition, and in unbridled dictatorial rule'...will do everything in its power to intimidate and silence its opponents.'''
''For millions of Berliners,'' writes Elon, ''nothing seemed to have changed at first ['...] Few seemed aware of the watershed they had just passed''
''Few seemed aware'...''
Let me just summarize where we are right now in America, as well as in the West, in case you have gotten too used to it to see it clearly. I warned in The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, that democracies usually do not die with a cinematic scene of goose-stepping Brownshirts suddenly in the streets. They tend to die, rather, just as Elon described '-- incrementally, day by day, collapsing grotesquely in some areas of society and in regards to some institutions, even as other aspects of society and other institutions look and feel, at least superficially, exactly the same as they did before.
Just because the settings are familiar to us now, does not mean that a 1931-like reality, if not yet a 1933-like reality, isn't upon us.
In this country, citizens are being forced to take their second or third experimental gene-therapy injection, in order to go back to school or to keep their jobs as truckers crossing borders, or as solders and sailors and military pilots and hospital workers. Millions of other workers just narrowly escaped this coercion; and millions have not escaped this coercive experiment, in effect, upon them, in parts of Europe. Minors are being forced to submit to this experimental gene therapy simply to keep playing high school basketball or tennis.
Thousands of adverse events are being recorded in VAERS, including deaths shortly after vaccination, but the forcing of injections continues despite their having no effect on transmission, and against all existing laws.
Voices of opposition to tyrannical overreach are being censored en masse; payment processors are declining to process funds of entities offering medical therapeutics. ''The View,'' that formerly cozy group of gals, just called for the censorship of podcaster Joe Rogan. Musician Neil Young also called for music streaming service Spotify to censor Rogan's ''misinformation.'' Calls for censorship of opposition voices echo across the internet. Dissident platforms such as Parler have been deplatformed from their hosting services or from their payment processors, a digital version of boycotting businesses.
Leaders are calling for one group of citizens to be denied health care; in some areas of Canada, leaders have told grocers that it is optional to allow this group to buy food. Children in Canada are being told, ''No mask, no voice.'' Children as young as two are subjected in New York, by a smiling new Governor, a woman, to facial coverings that restrict their breathing, and that impair their ability to acquire language, bond with other children, and to recognize and express emotions.
Certain citizens, set apart as ''other,'' falsely called infectious and positioned as ''unclean,'' may not enter buildings or restaurants in New York, in Washington D.C., in San Francisco, in Los Angeles. Everyone is being asked to hate and resent them, and irrationally to blame them for the nation's predicament.
People are asked to join a cult and offer up their bodies; if they don't, they are ostracized and denied social life and professional advancement.
Small businesses, restaurants and movies theaters; small hotels and venues, small real estate holdings, entire livelihoods, are being crushed by arbitrary dicta, by the unrestrained powers of Boards of Health and the CDC to crush whole sectors, and thus to destroy, or in effect to transfer, entire classes of assets from one targeted group into the hands of another group: to institutional investors, or shall we say, to allies of the current oligarchs.
In Washington State, as noted above, proposals were put forward '-- similar to those that have been enacted in Australia and elsewhere '-- to detain Americans, and turn the Boards of Health into entities with police powers; to establish militias, in effect, in the service of unelected, unaccountable Boards of Health. US ''fact-checkers'' claimed that this was not true, but it was true. Reports are proliferating of the unvaccinated treated abusively in hospitals, and therapeutics have, it is becoming clear, been withheld via government agencies' pressure, from an entire population, leading to countless avoidable deaths. A class of therapeutics, monoclonal antibodies, have just been withdrawn by the FDA from ill people's access Medical entities such as the formerly respected Mayo Clinic are being sued because they are refusing treatment to a dying man, for which his wife is begging. What do you call all of this, if not an early Nazi-like set of practices?
In the early years of Nazi policy, as Robert Proctor's magisterial 1990 Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis points out, it was doctors who were tasked by the State, and given special status and authority, with singling out ''life unworthy of life'' and elaborating racially-based policies that separated the ''clean'' and privileged, from the ''unclean,'' or ''degenerate,'' and restricted. In 1933, doctors began to sterilize the unfit. As Michael A Grodin, MD, Erin L Miller, BA, and Jonathan Miller, MA, point out, in ''The Nazi Physicians as Leaders in Eugenics and 'Euthanasia': Lessons for Today'':''A series of recurrent themes arose in Nazi medicine as physicians undertook the mission of cleansing the State: the devaluation and dehumanization of segments of the community, medicalization of social and political problems, training of physicians to identify with the political goals of the government, fear of consequences of refusing to cooperate with civil authority, bureaucratization of the medical role, and the lack of concern for medical ethics and human rights.''
Half of Germany's physicians joined the Nazi party.
''The devaluing and dehumanization of segments of the community'''....
Proctor shows how medical associations embraced the rise in the status and authority of physicians, and how, then as now, ''public health'' was the anodyne label under which the early structure of emerging horrors was erected. He shows how doctors led the way.
The author even addresses the ''health pass'' that was established by Nazi public health policy, a pass that separated those who could participate fully in Nazi society, from those who were singled out for deprivation and disgust.
Proctor tracks how eugenics allowed for increasing arguments, similar to those being resuscitated today, that ''useless eaters'' or the ''unfit'' do not deserve food, or are a burden on public resources, and should not be a drag on hospitals, or receive medical care.
Proctor shows what a short slide it was from public health officials identifying ''life unworthy of life'', these ''useless eaters'', to the same officials using the language of ''hygiene'' and public safety, to set up the first Nazi euthanasia programs '-- programs targeting those who were identified as ''less than,'' or in some way impaired.
Then as now, anodyne language, whether around ''public health'' or ''racial hygiene'', as in the 1930s, or around ''public health,'' ''safety'' and ''harm reduction,'' as today, concealed then, and now conceals, the true nature of what should be a visible, nauseating, daily-spreading evil.
Historians such as Proctor have argued that public health glosses, the invocation of medical authority, and compartmentalization and bureaucratization, permitted evil in the early Nazi past to flourish, in spite of its taking root in what was still supposed to have been a modern civil society.
I'd argue that the same exact things in similar guises, cloaked in similar language, are recurring today.''
But the vaccines made things much worse. They kill people, interfere with women's reproductive systems, and are truly ''Mengele medicine.'' We are in a battle with dark satanic forces.
''When ordinary would-be-tyrants try to take over societies, there is always some flaw, some human impulse undoing the headlong rush toward a negative goal. There are always factions, or rogue lieutenants, in ordinary human history; there is always a miscalculation, or a blunder, or a security breach; or differences of opinion at the top.
Mussolini's power was impaired in his entry to the Second World War by being forced to share the role of military commander with King Victor Immanuel. Hitler miscalculated his ability to master the Russian weather '-- right down to overlooking how badly his soldiers' stylish but flimsy uniforms would stand up to extreme cold. Before he could mount a counter-revolution against Stalinism, Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City in his bath.
But none of that fracturing or mismanagement of normal history took place in the global rush to ''lockdowns,'' the rollout of COVID hysteria, of ''mandates,'' masking, of global child abuse, of legacy media lying internationally at scale and all lying in one direction, of thousands of ''trusted messengers'' parroting a single script, and of forced or coerced mRNA injections into at least half of the humans on Planet Earth.
I reluctantly came to the conclusion that human agency alone could not coordinate a highly complicated set of lies about a virus, and propagate the lies in perfect uniformity around an entire globe, in hundreds of languages and dialects. Human beings, using their own resources alone, could not have turned hospitals overnight from having been places in which hundreds of staff members were united in and collectively devoted to the care of the infirm, the prolongation and salvation of human life, the cherishing of newborns, the helping of mothers to care for little ones, the support of the disabled, to killing factories in which the elderly were prescribed ''run-death-is-near (Remdesivir)'' at scale.
Also look at the speed of change. Institutions turned overnight into negative mirror images of themselves, with demonic policies replacing what had been at least on the surface, angelic ones. Human-history change is not that lightning fast.
The perception of the rollout, the unanimity of a mass delusion, cannot in my view be explained fully by psychology; not even as a ''mass formation.'' There have been other mass hysterias before in history, from ''blood libel'' '' the widespread belief in medieval Europe that Jews were sacrificing Christian children to make matzo, to the flareup of hysteria around witches in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, to the ''irrational exuberance'' of Tulipmania, also in the 17th century, in the Netherlands, detailed by Scottish journalist Charles MacKay in his classic account of group madness, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841).
But all of these examples of mass frenzy had dissidents, critics, and skeptics at the time; none of these lasted for years as a dominant uninterrupted delusional paradigm.
What we have lived through since 2020 is so sophisticated, so massive, so evil, and executed in such inhumane unison, that it cannot be accounted for without venturing into metaphysics. Something else, something metaphysical, must have done that.''
Let's do everything we can to support the great Dr. Naomi Wolf in her battle against the monsters of evil.
The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
*** WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT *** Horror: IDF Screens Raw Footage of Hamas Terror Attack for Media
Mon, 23 Oct 2023 19:41
GLILOT BASE, Israel '-- I wanted it to stop at 17 minutes in. But I had to watch. We had to bear witness.
This is what we saw.
A father and two sons, in their underwear, having just woken up, are trying to flee from their home.
The father picks up one boy and all three run to a shelter in the back yard.
A terrorist peers over the fence and lobs a grenade into the shelter. It bounces off the back wall and explodes.
The father's body falls forward. A boy appears, covered in his father's blood, looking at his father.
For a moment, you think the terrorists will shoot him.
Instead, the armed terrorists bring the boys inside, into the home.
One boy sits on a chair, the other on a couch, both still in their underwear, both covered in trickles of blood, theirs and their father's. They wail: ''Daddy! Daddy!'' The boy on the couch says, ''Itay, I think they are going to kill us.''
A terrorist '-- with a Palestinian flag patch on his flak jacket '-- opens the fridge and asks if they want water '-- ''mayim,'' in Hebrew. The one on the couch replies, in English, that he wants his mother '-- not ''mayim,'' but ''mommy.'' He repeats: ''Mommy. Mommy.''
Then comes the worst moment of all.
We see the boy on the couch, now doubled over on the rug. ''Why am I alive?'' he wails.
He then looks at the brother in the chair. There is a red, black space where his eye used to be. He asks if his brother can see out of that eye. He says that he cannot. The other brother asks again. Are you joking? He repeats that he cannot see.
Somehow, the boys escape together, out the back door.
Later, the footage shows the mother coming to the home with local security guards. She sees her husband's body, and her legs give way. She screams, and the security guards place a hand on her mouth and try to drag her away. The attack is still going on, and they are still at risk of being killed.
That was the worst, for me '-- the footage of that event compiled from multiple surveillance cameras in a town that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) asked us not to reveal, since the relatives of the dead have not yet seen the footage.
On Monday, the IDF invited journalists onto a military base to view 43 minutes of raw footage of the attack by the Palestinian Hamas terrorist group on October 17 '-- an attack that claimed over 1,400 lives and saw over 4,000 people wounded, and more than 200 taken prisoner.
A female IDF soldier displays an ISIS / Daesh flag found on the body of a terrorist killed during the Palestinian Hamas attack on Kibbutz Sufa in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Glilot military base, Israel, October 23, 2023 (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
The footage was compiled from both victims and perpetrators, from GoPro cameras, dashboard cameras, social media, surveillance cameras, and even audio recording apps on mobile phones. It is just a small part of what the IDF still possesses.
We were not allowed to bring cell phones, cameras, or laptops into the room, because the IDF does not want the public to see the footage before the families of the victims have seen it '-- if it is ever seen again at all. We were only allowed notepads and pens.
Throughout the screening, there were gasps, and cries in the audience. I heard some journalists whisper: ''Make it stop.''
Some of the footage had already appeared in snippets of news coverage, or on social media, during the attack on October 7, and in the hours that followed. But most had never been screened publicly before, or in full context.
We saw '-- we still see, in our memories '-- civilian drivers being murdered in their cars. We saw terrorists setting fires to homes. We saw the aftermath '-- burned bodies; corpses of people who had been bound and gagged; bodies of murdered children and babies; a decapitated soldier.
We see and hear the terrified screams of female IDF soldiers who had taken shelter against the attack. Some are murdered underneath a table as they scream '-- the incoherent, terrified scream of a living human being facing violent death, helplessly.
Again and again, we see Hamas terrorists pumping bullets into people who are already dead '-- just to make sure.
Some of the terrorists are visibly and audibly nervous in the footage. But they are not in a combat situation: they are coming for civilians.
They are hunting Jews, trying to find them in their hiding places, reveling in the piles of bodies, mutilating corpses, looting the victims.
The film also contains an audio sequence, recorded on the phone of one of the victims, used by a terrorist to call his parents back home in Gaza to boast that he had killed 10 Jews. He tells them to check their WhatsApp, where he has His father replies: ''Allahu akbar!'' (God is great!).
But then the realization sets in that his son is probably not coming back '-- that he intends to become a martyr, and to die fighting, so that he can kill as many Jews as possible. The mother comes to the phone and pleads with him to come back.
She is not, after all that murder, proud of him.
We see scenes of the carnage at the music festival '-- terrorists shooting into the closed doors of portable toilets, murdering those within. We see victims hiding in a dumpster; we see hostages, bloodied, in agony, being loaded onto trucks as their captors laugh.
There is no moment of redemption in the footage. We do not see the end, when the good guys arrive and save the victims. The only comfort is the knowledge that the GoPro footage, at least, was retrieved from the terrorists after they were killed or captured.
After the video was done, we were allowed to go outside to retrieve our equipment. I needed to start writing as soon as I did so.
But first, I had to sit down. I leaned against a wall and cried. I kept thinking about those little boys and the nightmare they endured.
IDF Spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the military had hesitated before sharing the footage. But he said the IDF ultimately decided to do so because ''we want to understand, ourselves, what we are fighting for.'' He spoke about the duty to create a ''collective memory,'' noting that Israel was doing so even while it was still fighting the enemy that had attacked it.
Hagari also said that the attacks had nothing to do with Islam. But it was impossible to ignore the shouts of ''Allahu Akbar!'' that accompanied so much of the killing, and that greeted the dead bodies and the bloodied captives when they arrived in Gaza.
Whatever this attack had to do with Islam is something that Islam has to deal with. For now, Israel has a war to fight and win.
And this is why: a terrible crime, a crime against humanity, demands justice.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: 'Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order'. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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VIDEO - BREAKING: Shooter ON LOOSE After Killing Spree In Maine | Breaking Points - YouTube
VIDEO - Lewiston, Maine, shootings: Manhunt underway for suspected after at least 16 killed | CNN
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 13:25
Lisbon, Maine CNN '--
A furious manhunt is underway after'¯at least 16 people were killed'¯and dozens injured in a mass shooting at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine '' with schools shuttered and people warned to stay indoors as more than 100 investigators and federal agents search for the killer, officials said.
Robert Card, 40, is being sought as a person of interest in the attacks, Lewiston police said around 11 p.m. ET Wednesday, adding he ''should be considered armed and dangerous.''
Card is a certified firearms instructor and a member of the US Army Reserves, law enforcement officials in Maine told CNN. He had recently threatened to carry out a shooting at a National Guard facility in Saco, Maine, and reported mental health issues, including hearing voices, the officials said.
Some in the area are waking up Thursday to officers with long guns scouring their neighborhoods.
''Nerves are rattled right now '' keeping an eye on the woods,'' said Lisbon resident Cory, whose 10-year-old daughter was inside his home. ''That actually made me feel better. Seeing the cops coming around here, that makes me feel a million times better.
''In the situation like this,'' he told CNN, ''I wish I had a firearm.''
Anyone who sees Card should not approach him ''or make contact with him in any way,'' Maine's Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said late Wednesday.
Follow live updates
At least 16 people are dead, law enforcement officials told CNN. Lewiston City Councilor Robert McCarthy has backed off his assertion to CNN on air Wednesday night of a ''confirmed'' death toll of 22, now calling it ''unconfirmed.'' Law enforcement has not addressed the death toll on the record.
''It's so surreal,'' McCarthy said. ''You just see it on the news and you say, 'That's never gonna happen here,' and then it happens here, and it just blows your mind.''
Dozens more were injured, though it wasn't immediately clear how many were hurt due to gunfire, the law enforcement sources told CNN.
More about Lewiston Second most populous city in Maine Population: 38,493 (2022) Median household income: $48,069 (2021) Demographics: 83.4% White, 7.3% Black The attack appears to be the deadliest mass shooting of 2023, adding to a grim docket of 565 such incidents reported this year across the United States, with four or more shot excluding the shooter, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
In Maine, the entire Lisbon Police Departure was called in to hunt for the shooter and make sure businesses are closed, Chief Ryan McGee said Thursday morning.
''We want to locate the individual, make sure our community's kept safe, so biggest thing I can say is make sure that if the community sees anything, stay inside, don't approach, call the police department '' just like we did here just here. Someone heard something, they called,'' McGee said. ''It's the right thing to do.''
The rampage began shortly before 7 p.m. and fueled calls for everyone in Lewiston to shelter in place as hundreds of officers searched for the gunman. Lewiston police shared images of a man walking into what appears to be a bowling alley holding a high-powered, assault-style rifle.
The active shooting incidents were reported at Just-in-Time Recreation, a bowling alley on Mollison Way, and about 4 miles away at Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant on Lincoln Street, Lewiston Police said. Authorities initially identified the bowling alley by its prior name, Sparetime Recreation.
''My heart is crushed. I am at a loss for words. In a split second your world gets turn upside down for no good reason,'' Schemengees said in a Facebook post. ''We loss great people in this community. How can we make any sense of this. Sending out prayers to everyone.''
People ran away from Just-in-Time Recreation as police cruisers responded to the scene, video obtained by CNN shows. A person on a stretcher was loaded into an ambulance, another video from outside the bowling alley shows.
Central Maine Medical Center was ''reacting to a mass casualty, mass shooter event,'' and coordinating with area hospitals to take in patients, it said.
''There are multiple scenes in the city to include multiple hospitals, multiple follow ups, a lot of witnesses we're speaking with and a lot of leads,'' Sauschuck said. ''The general public has been very cooperative, and very forthcoming with information.''
A ''vehicle of interest'' was found Wednesday night 8 miles from Lewiston in the town of Lisbon, prompting shelter-in-place-orders for that area as well, Sauschuck said.
Lewiston police earlier had shared an image of a small, white SUV with a front bumper that was believed to be painted black. Maine State Police confirmed to CNN the image is of the person of interest's car.
Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline is ''heartbroken for our city and our people,'' he said.
''Lewiston is known for our strength and grit and we will need both in the days to come,'' Sheline said in a statement to CNN Wednesday.
Auburn, Maine, Mayor Jason Levesque lost friends in the shooting, he told ''CNN This Morning.'' And a teenager who went to school with his son was shot and is expected to recover, he said.
''There's going to be very few people in this community that have not been touched by this,'' he said. ''It's going to be with me for the rest of my life, and it's really hard for me to explain that.''
Counselors, local clergy and state police representatives were at the reunification center in his city, less than 2 miles west of Lewiston, Levesque said.
''The other folks that I knew that were there either as witnesses or family members of witnesses; it's obviously traumatic,'' Levesque said. ''The bright spot was seeing individuals reunified with their loved ones after not knowing for so long, but on the on the other side, the ones that were waiting and waiting, probably would never be reunified.''
People in Bowdoin, Maine, were advised early Thursday not to go outside as the search continues for Card continues.
''We are expanding the shelter in place advisory and school closings to include the town of Bowdoin,'' Maine State Police announced on Facebook. ''Please stay inside your homes while more than 100 investigators, both local and federal work to locate Robert Card who is a person of interest in the Lewiston shootings.''
Nearby school districts canceled classes Thursday, including Lewiston Public Schools and Portland Public Schools, the largest school district in the state with approximately 6,500 students, according to the district's website. The city of Portland is more than 30 miles from Lewiston.
''Stay close to your loved ones. Embrace them. Our prayers go out to those who lost someone tonight. Our prayers go out to all those working to stop further loss of life,'' Lewiston Public Schools said in a post.
President Joe Biden has spoken by phone with Maine lawmakers and ''offered full federal support in the wake of this horrific attack,'' the White House said in a statement.
The shooting injected fear into Lewiston, the state's second-largest city located about 36 miles north of Portland.
Nichoel Wyman Arel was on her way home with her daughter from a Girl Scout meeting when she saw police lights and ambulances around the bowling alley and people running. At least one person looked to be covered in blood, she told CNN's Laura Coates.
Arel and her daughter saw officers patting people down as they came out of the bowling alley, she said.
''There were kids. Looking back, that was probably the hardest part is seeing just families; families pouring out of there,'' Arel said. ''And knowing that that happened in there while they were just probably trying to have a family night.''
When she got home, Arel locked up the house, including windows, she said. Her daughter ''was scared somebody was going to come into our home.''
''My house is located a half a mile from where this happened, and so it was a real scary event,'' McCarthy, the city councilor, said.
''I live on a dead-end street with woods behind me. We locked all the doors. We grabbed the guns, and we're just waiting to hear that they catch the individual or individuals that did this.''
Officials in Auburn also urged residents to shelter in place due to the active shooter situation, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter.
''You can train for this, but you can never be completely prepared,'' Levesque said, ''It's an all-hands-on deck situation.''
Timeline: The attack and the manhunt ' Around 7 p.m.: Two shootings are reported in Lewiston with multiple casualties, according to Sauschuck.' 8 p.m.: Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office releases photos of the armed person of interest and says it's investigating two active shooter incidents. The agency encourages ''all businesses to lock down and or close while we investigate.''' 8:09 p.m.: Maine State Police says there's ''an active shooter in Lewiston'' and tells people to stay inside with their doors locked. ''Law enforcement is currently investigating at multiple locations,'' the agency added.' 8:26 p.m.: The neighboring City of Auburn urges all residents to shelter in place.' 8:53 p.m.: Lewiston police identify the shooting locations as Schemengees and Sparetime Recreation.' 9:17 p.m.: Lewiston police release the image of a white vehicle, asking members of the public to contact them if they see it. The image is of the person of interest's car, Maine State Police told CNN.
' 10:18 p.m.: Lewiston City Councilor Robert McCarthy tells CNN the death toll was at 22 people killed.' 10:52 p.m.: Police on social media name Robert Card as a ''person of interest'' in the shootings and release his photo.' Around 11:30 p.m.: Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck says in a news conference that a ''vehicle of interest'' was found in Lisbon, but the person of interest remains at large.' 11:34 p.m.: Lisbon officials say all town offices will be closed on Thursday and tell people to keep sheltering in place.
The FBI office in Boston said it's ready to assist local authorities as they respond to the mass shootings.
''The FBI Boston Division continues to coordinate with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners in Maine and we stand ready to assist with any available resources they need, including evidence response, investigative and tactical support, as well as victim assistance,'' the FBI in Boston said in a statement.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Boston is also among agencies responding to the shootings, according to a post from the agency.
This story has been updated to reflect uncertainty about the death toll.
>>CNN's Jamiel Lynch, Josh Campbell, Chris Boyette and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.
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VIDEO - Israel-Gaza war: How to spot fake news on social media - BBC News
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 21:09
The conflict between Israel and Gaza has been full of claims and counter claims from both sides about what is happening on the ground.
Those claims have been turbocharged by social media, which has been flooded with pictures and videos. There's lots of misleading and false information, and conspiracy theories too.
The BBC's disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring shares her tips to help you tell what is real and what is fake.
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Wed, 25 Oct 2023 21:02
Intelligence leaders from the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand are issuing a stark warning on the danger of China's global espionage campaign.
VIDEO - Hamas fighters were carrying instructions on how to make chemical weapons, Israeli president claims | World News | Sky News
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 20:55
Hamas fighters who broke into Israel were carrying instructions on how to make chemical weapons, according to Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Israeli forces claim they discovered the material on the body of a dead fighter in Kibbutz Be'eri, where an estimated 20% of the 1,100 residents were killed or kidnapped.
The documents, complete with diagrams, were shown to Sky News by President Herzog in an exclusive interview on Sunday evening.
Sky News is unable to independently verify the claims.
There is also no suggestion the fighters were carrying the elements to make a bomb on them.
The source of the documents is a known 2003 al Qaeda manual, however this doesn't prove a link between the two organisations.
"It's al Qaeda material. Official al Qaeda material. We are dealing with ISIS, al Qaeda and Hamas," Mr Herzog said.
"This is how shocking the situation is where we're looking at the instructions that are given on how to operate and how to create a kind of non-professional chemical weapon with cyanide."
The intelligence, which has been declassified, shows the ingredients needed to make a chemical bomb. Sky News has taken the decision to blur some of the material.
Our security and defence editor Deborah Haynes asked Michael Edelstein, a major general in the Israeli Defence Forces, about Mr Herzog's comments during a news briefing.
He responded: "On the capabilities that you ask about, the chemicals ... we are still looking for evidence about whether they had it or not.
"But the orders were there, as our President Herzog mentioned yesterday, orders were there on how to kill, how many to kill, how many to take as hostages."
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Mr Herzog was speaking in his first British broadcast interview since he became president.
Asked whether he understands why many Israelis are angry and feel they've been let down by the government and security forces, Mr Herzog agreed.
"Absolutely. I hear it all day long. I hear it from families all day long and I hear it from refugees, those who have had to leave and are now in hotels and other places around the country and shelters, only with a simple bit of clothing and that's it. People are very, very frustrated and clearly very angry and justifiably so."
But he wouldn't point the finger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yet: "Because we are at war, because we have to overcome, because we are rising like a lion, because we have to defend our people and change reality, we will deal with all of that after the war."
Image: Kibbutz Be'eri, where the documents were allegedly found on a dead fighter Mr Herzog dismissed accusations that Israel's bombing of Gaza is having a disproportionate effect on civilians and argued that Israel has no choice but to eliminate Hamas.
"It's not true. We have realistic objectives. We say we want to wipe out the military infrastructure of Hamas. We've said it clearly. We are cautious. Already two weeks have gone by, and we haven't operated on the ground because we are cautious.
"I cry for the lives of Palestinians but first and foremost I cry for the lives of my nation."
Read more:How conflict could erupt into war with global impactFamily of British teen missing after attack say she was murdered
More than 4,500 people have been killed in 16 days of Israeli airstrikes, according to figures from the Hamas-controlled health ministry.
The United Nations and other humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza have said there is a humanitarian emergency in the Strip but Herzog claimed "most of Gaza" is "functioning".
"The problem is that part of the infrastructure, part of the aid is hijacked by Hamas. It's very easy to blame Israel."
Link between Hamas and Al Qaeda in planning attack far from clear
Sky News cannot independently verify the claims made, but they were shown during an interview with Israel's president and we must take them at face value.
We have sent the documents to a British chemical weapons expert - his assessment is that they show ingredients that could build a credible chemical weapon.
"Al Qaeda spent a lot of time and effort developing a chemical weapon based on cyanide," says Hamish de Bretton Gordon, former head of the UK military's Chemical, Biological and Nuclear Weapons regiment.
"Cyanide is a blood agent and AQ developed a chemical weapon using these types of chemicals."
President Herzog also showed us an image with the al Qaeda and Islamic State logos, suggesting a direct link between the groups.
It's not impossible, but certainly given Islamic State's current strength, and past ideology that separated them from any other group, it's unlikely those links would be strong, if at all.
The methodology might be similar, but it's far from clear whether there were direct links between the groups in the planning of the 7 October attacks.
Pushed on what happens to Gaza if Israel achieves its objectives and wipes out Hamas, Mr Herzog said that is the decision of Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Reality is shattered. People are asking themselves deep questions. Is it possible? Can I make peace with a neighbour who wants to chop my children's heads off? Is it feasible?"
"I can't go into this [a two-state solution] right now when my nation is bleeding, and in pain, and in agony.
"I'm always thinking about what kind of vision we can create. I believe in the inclusion of Israel in the region. As a part of the process we need to find a way to have a further life with the Palestinians, but not when they celebrate the fact that so many thousands of Israelis are being killed in the most horrendous terror attack in modern times."
Following the interview with Sky News, the president's office released a statement with further details about the discovery of the documents.
The documents were found on a USB stick on a dead Hamas fighter, they claimed. The source was an al Qaeda manual dated 2003, they said.
VIDEO - Why are migrants coming to Chicago? Asylum seekers in Texas are declaring Chicago as their desired city for resettlement - ABC7 Chicago
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 20:44
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (WLS) -- The first rough and tumble steps inside the United States that most migrants and asylum seekers take are on a path that is dusty and strewn with trampled clothes, shoes that have been abandoned and personal items tangled in barbed wire.
Many who've crossed are trying to make it 1,400 miles north to Chicago, but Chicago leaders visiting the border are trying to inform them that their life in Chicago may not be as easy as they think it will be.
RELATED: Chicago delegation hopes knowledge gained at Texas border will help migrant planning
Late into the night border patrol keeps guard at an unofficial crossing site near Brownsville. Agents say migrants often arrive en masse in the pitch dark.
When they finally make it through to the first step of immigration processing at the border many have declared Chicago as their desired city.
"Even though we might say Chicago is cold or it's going to be hard to find, that's not going to stop someone who now has the hope that there's possible work," said Deputy Mayor of Immigrant and Refugee Rights Beatriz Ponce de Leon. "It's been helpful to hear that from the folks who are on the ground."
Every one of them has legal papers that they visibly hold close, but this is just the beginning of a complicated legal process, that even seasoned immigration lawyers in Chicago are still learning to try and help navigate.
READ MORE: Chicago delegation warns migrants at Texas border of city's lack of shelter space, oncoming cold
"Immigration can issue them a notice to appear in Chicago. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's been filed with the court order that he's gotten to the court in Chicago or that the court system in Chicago recognizes them. So they're given this address, and there's lots of different addresses in Chicago that people are given. And they're coming to Chicago with hopes of entering the system, however the system is quite backed up," said Ellen Miller, pro bono manager for National Immigrant Justice Center.
Brownsville is just a way-station, and the border city has honed a quick plan to get migrants connected to legally declared sponsors.
"It's a process that we do to make sure that they are not going to your shelters, they are not going to your police stations, anywhere that you have designated as a shelter in your area," said Rene Tabarez, emergency management administrator. "We're not passing our issues, our city to our receiving city. That's the last thing we want."
Chicago city leaders said it's become clear through multiple stops in multiple cities that Texas is a temporary stop for migrants after crossing the border. They're also not part of the state's efforts to send buses of migrants to Chicago.
"The main kind of theme is everything is federally funded here and their operations are very tight in terms of the timeline," said Deputy Chief of Staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas.
With a migrant population of more than 18,000 and counting, and a small fraction of the federal funds these border cities have access to, Chicago's challenge is more permanent.
VIDEO - Off-duty pilot said he took mushrooms 48 hours before trying to cut jet's engines | king5.com
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 20:39
An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who police say tried to cut the engines on a jet midflight was charged with a federal count of interfering with a flight crew.
PORTLAND, Ore. '-- An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who police said tried to cut the engines on a jet midflight told investigators that he had not slept in 40 hours and had taken psychedelic mushrooms 48 hours before the flight.
Joseph David Emerson, 44, was initially arrested in Oregon on Sunday night after the flight crew reported that he attempted to shut down the engines on a Horizon Air flight while riding in the extra seat in the cockpit. Emerson lives in Pleasant Hill Calif. and grew up in Cheney, Washington.
There were 83 other people on board the flight, including 11 under the age of 14, according to a federal affidavit in support of the criminal complaint.
Emerson was charged with 83 counts of attempted murder in the second degree and one count of endangering an aircraft in the first degree in the Circuit Court in Multnomah County. Emerson pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder charges during his first court appearance Tuesday.
Emerson was also charged Tuesday with a federal count of interfering with a flight crew. The U.S. attorney's office in Portland filed the charge.
Two pilots on the flight from Everett's Paine Field to San Francisco told police that before the incident Emerson had a casual conversation with them about types of aircraft. The pilot who was flying the aircraft told police there was "zero indication of anything wrong," according to the federal affidavit.
About halfway between Astoria, Ore. and Portland, Ore., one pilot said Emerson threw his headset across the cockpit and said, "I'm not OK," before grabbing the red fire handles and pulling them down partway. The handles activate the system used to put out aircraft engine fires. It would also shut off the fuel supply to the engines and turn the airplane into a "glider" in seconds, according to the affidavit.
The pilot who was flying the aircraft grabbed Emerson's wrist while the second pilot declared an inflight emergency and changed the plane's course to Portland.
The second pilot told investigators Emerson and the other pilot "wrestled" for several seconds before Emerson stopped and left the cockpit.
Flight attendants told investigators that Emerson walked "peacefully" to the back of the plane and told the flight attendants to "cuff me right now or it's going to be bad.'' The flight attendant put Emerson in a flight attendant seat at the back of the plane.
''We've got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit. And he '-- doesn't sound like he's causing any issue in the back right now, and I think he's subdued," one of the pilots said on audio captured by LiveATC.net. "Other than that, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked.''
As the plane descended into Portland, the flight attendant said Emerson tried to grab the handle of an emergency exit door, and she put her hands on his to stop him.
Another flight attendant said Emerson made statements, such as "I messed everything up" and that he "tried to kill everybody," according to the affidavit.
Emerson was taken into custody after the plane landed. In interviews with investigators, Emerson said he believed he was having a nervous breakdown. He told investigators he pulled the red handles because he thought he was dreaming and just wanted to wake up.
''I didn't feel OK," Emerson told investigators. "It seemed like the pilots weren't paying attention to what was going on. They didn't '... it didn't seem right.''
Emerson said he had been depressed for about six months and wasn't taking any medication.
When the officer and Emerson talked about psychedelic mushrooms, Emerson said it was his first time taking them. He took them about 48 hours prior to the incident, according to the affidavit.
While psilocybin is illegal in most of the country '-- Oregon legalized it for adults this year '-- the Food and Drug Administration in 2018 designated it a ''breakthrough therapy'' that might be used for mental health conditions or substance use disorders.
In the Port of Portland police department, Emerson asked to waive his right to an attorney.
''I'm admitting to what I did," Emerson told investigators. "I'm not fighting any charges you want to bring against me, guys.''
According to Alaska Airlines, Emerson has been removed from services "indefinitely and relieved from all duties at Alaska Airlines."
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VIDEO - 7 dead in crashes involving 150 vehicles on Louisiana interstate
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:19
"Once the tanker is removed, first responders will be able to better assess the vehicles in that immediate area. It is possible that additional fatalities could be located," police said.
At a news conference Monday, State Police Sgt. Kate Stegall said the crashes began shortly before 9 a.m. and stretched across a mile.
Stegall said that the investigation was fluid and that said the interstate will remained closed throughout the night Monday while the wreckage is cleared.
State police cautioned drivers about fog in a Facebook post about the crashed Monday morning.
"There is heavy fog in the area and drivers should avoid the area if possible and use alternate routes," the post said.
The aftermath of a multi-vehicle pileup on I-55 in Manchac, La., on Monday. Gerald Herbert / APVideo of the aftermath of the pileup shows foggy conditions and at least one instance of pickup on top of another vehicle.
There were multiple fires, including marsh fires, in the area, the National Weather Service in New Orleans said Monday on X.
Dense fog and smoke combined to form "Superfog," which was "heavily impacting" parts of the interstate, the weather service said.
State police told reporters around midday that one vehicle went over the highway guardrail and into the water but that the driver escaped unharmed. The interstate passes over swamp and open waters between Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain.
Gov. John Bel Edwards asked for prayers for those killed and injured in a statement on X. He also pleaded for people to donate blood.
"The combination of wildfire smoke and dense fog is dangerous, and I want to encourage all Louisianans in affected areas to take extreme caution when traveling," he said. "I also want to thank first responders and medical personnel who have worked so diligently to save lives and render aid."
Antonio Planas Antonio Planas is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
John Filippelli Assignment editor
Maya Brown and The Associated Press contributed.
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VIDEO - ATC audio reveals moments after off-duty pilot Joseph Emerson allegedly tried to shut down engines of Horizon Air jet in midflight - ABC7 San Francisco
Tue, 24 Oct 2023 18:28
Joseph David Emerson from Pleasant Hill is charged with 83 counts of attempted murder, officials say
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 3:18AM
PORTLAND, Ore. (KGO) -- A San Francisco-bound flight from Washington took a drastic turn Sunday night after an off-duty pilot tried to shut down a Horizon Air passenger jet engines mid-flight.
Authorities in Oregon identified the man as Joseph David Emerson, 44, of Pleasant Hill. He was being held Monday on 83 counts each of attempted murder and reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office.
RELATED: Alaska Airlines passengers describe Bay Area pilot's demeanor, moments leading up to arrest
The frightening ordeal happened on a flight from Everett, Washington to San Francisco.
The plane ended up being diverted and safely landed in Portland, Oregon.
RELATED: What we know about off-duty Bay Area pilot accused of trying to shut down engines of SF-bound flight
ABC7 News has audio of the crew talking to air traffic control after Emerson was brought under control.
"Okay, I'll just give you a heads up. We got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit and he doesn't sound like he's causing an issue in the back right now. I think he's subdued. Other than that, yeah, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked."
You can listen to the full recording in the media player above
RELATED: Off-duty pilot tried to take control of SF-bound flight, charged with 83 counts of attempted murder
Alaska Airlines said the off-duty pilot was sitting in the flight deck jump seat -- which is in the cockpit -- and "unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines."
The captain and first officer "quickly responded," Alaska said, adding engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident.
There were 80 passengers and four crew members on the flight, according to Alaska.
If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
Copyright (C) 2023 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
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VIDEO - Caroline Ellison, who plead guilty for her involvement in defrauding FTX customers $14 billion of cryptocurrency, appeared in "A Word From Us Kids" segment from the PBS show kids show "Arthur" (2003) : r/ObscureMedia
Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:13
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