- Direct [link] to the mp3 file
- Experimental IPFS RSS Feed
- Executive Producers:
- Sir Render of the Granite Town
- Associate Executive Producers:
- Sir Cal of Lavenderblossoms.org
- Become a member of the 1625 Club, support the show here
- Title Changes
- Sir Trickles of Greenwich > Baron Trickles of Beds, Herts and Bucks
- Knights & Dames
- Scott Bilik > Sir Render of the Granite Town
- Gabe Grider > Sir Gabe, Blue Collar Knight of the Building Trades
- End of Show Mixes: Stef Jacobsen - Mike Petere - REXO
- Engineering, Stream Management & Wizardry
- Mark van Dijk - Systems Master
- Ryan Bemrose - Program Director
- Clip Custodian: Neal Jones
- Clip Collectors: Steve Jones & Dave Ackerman
- Trump
- SCOTUS Colorado v Trump BOTG
- Hey brother, I thought you’d enjoy this quick breakdown of all the issues facing SCOTUS in the Trump v. Colorado case, courtesy of Law360. Highlighted FYRP.
- You’ll take some pleasure in seeing our combined thoughts reflected in the statements by all the Very Smart People™ quoted in this piece.
- Biden
- Park Rangers BOTG
- I began my career as a law enforcement ranger at Yellowstone. There are other rangers who do interpretation (visitor education about history, resources, etc) and general work like mountain rescue work and other specialities. I can say that the LE rangers of the modern age are often the buzzcut types, with lots of training in policing, EMS, search and rescue, firefighting, death investigations, and so on. I was also a firearms instructor and worked around helicopters a lot.
- The other uniformed National Park Service staff, in my view, trended toward the flower children, crunchy types. But overall, very proud people with a lot of education working throughout the agency. I have a high opinion of it. I work for a much lower functioning agency now, but for more money. Oh well.
- Ministry of Truthiness
- Google: Update to Inappropriate content policy (February 2024)
- Google provides translated versions of our Help Center, though they are not meant to change the content of our policies. The English version is the official language we use to enforce our policies. To view this article in a different language, use the language dropdown at the bottom of the page.
- In February 2024, Google will update the Inappropriate content policy to clarify the definition of Sensitive Events.
- A "Sensitive Event" is an unforeseen event or development that creates significant risk to Google's ability to provide high quality, relevant information and ground truth, and reduce insensitive or exploitative content in prominent and monetized features. During a Sensitive Event, we may take a variety of actions to address these risks.
- Examples of Sensitive Events include events with significant social, cultural, or political impact, such as civil emergencies, natural disasters, public health emergencies, terrorism and related activities, conflict, or mass acts of violence
- Examples of what we prohibit (non-exhaustive):
- Products or services that exploit, dismiss, or condone the Sensitive Event, including price gouging or artificially inflating prices that prohibits/restricts access to vital supplies; sale of products or services which may be insufficient for the demand during a sensitive event
- Using keywords related to a sensitive event to attempt to drive additional traffic
- Claims that victims of a sensitive event were responsible for their own tragedy or similar instances of victim blaming; claims that victims of a sensitive event are not deserving of remedy or support; claims that victims from certain countries were responsible or deserving of a global public health crisis
- Great Reset
- Germany BOTG
- German farmers are protesting their subsidies being reduced due to budget deficits, which are not allowed by law. They can’t survive without them especially after the inflation of 2023. They’re demanding a change of government.
- Today in Munich not only were there farmers protesting, there were butchers and bakers, and probably even some candlestick makers. Seriously, it’s almost like a general strike, but of course also very orderly … since they’re German.
- Here are a few pictures from a few Instagram pages.
- Season of Reveal
- Funerals delayed as increase in number of deaths puts mortuaries under pressure
- “The mortuary [at Cork University Hospital] had so many bodies it couldn’t take any more and the other Cork hospitals held onto their bodies overnight.”
- Trains good Planes Bad
- Max 9 BOTG Airforce and Navy pilots are all converting to Airbus
- Max 9 BOTG Less seats, not more - makes no sense to me
- Transmaoism
- BOTG - ALA, ALSC respond to Wilder Medal name change | News and Press Center
- Re: Little House on the Prairie. A subchapter of the ALA stripped Laura Ingalls Wilder’s name from a prestigious award in 2018 due to “racism”.
- My woke colleagues all applauded this and still complain about her racist books. As a 70s kid who loved the books, TV show, and whose neighborhood’s favorite game was playing Little House, it just makes me sad and angry. I guess I should reread them to help keep them in print.
- Six Week Cycle
- Undercover FBI Agents Helped Autistic Teen Plan Trip to Join ISIS
- Law enforcement agents first became aware of Mashkoor’s online activities in support of ISIS in November 2021. But instead of alerting his family, Mashkoor’s lawyers told The Intercept, FBI agents posing as ISIS members befriended him a year later and strung him along until he became a legal adult.
- Ukraine vs Russia
- Drone Dork Will Ukraine BOTG
- Ps final thought. The Ukraine drone war will likely die down in winter as well because drone batteries perform horribly in cold weather. Like drop out of the sky poor. Cold weather will cut lipo performance by almost half. So less power and less time in the air. I don’t expect as many automated missions with the hobby drones they are using during the winter months.
- Sweden must brace for war, claims top official in push for greater defence spending | The Independent
- Two top Swedish officials have warned the country should brace for war as it prepares for the first stages of joining Nato.
- During a security conference in western Sweden over the weekend, the country’s Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said action needed to be taken rapidly to mitigate against a looming threat from Russia, pointing to the developing situation in Ukraine as evidence that war could spread to other parts of Europe.
- “Many have said it before me, but let me say it with the force of my office – there could be a war in Sweden,” he said, adding that awareness needed to be translated into practical action, such as investing more heavily on defence spending.
- He added: “Such an effort can only be made quickly enough if the vast majority of people are aware of the situation and understand what is at stake.”
- The immediate reaction to his comments was mixed, drawing criticism from former officials while military chiefs praised the call to arms.
- Michelle Obama Has A Big Package For Democrats This Election Season | The Daily Caller
- Former first lady Michelle Obama revealed her huge package on a podcast Monday that could help Democrats hold onto the White House in 2024. She’s ready to fill up Democrats’ strategy sessions with a new twist on the same old tactics, as she and her husband prepare to double-team America with more fear and division.
- BigMike2024.com
- Mike Johnson Article II Electors Cause BOTG - Rob
- Adam—I went back and listened to the Mike Johnson clips again. I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for. But if you’re thinking that the “Article II Electors Clause” issue is still in play and being readied for launch, you’re absolutely right. SCOTUS never reached the issue in Texas v. Pennsylvania because it found that Texas lacked standing to pursue its claims. (See the SCOTUS order, attached.)
- I don’t think this issue will arise in the Trump-Colorado suit or any other pending action that I know about. As far as I can tell, no one has even raised it in these cases.
- But here’s what I think is going on under the hood. SCOTUS found that Texas lacked standing to sue other states over how they conducted their elections, and tossed the case for that technical reason. Lesson learned. I’ll bet that Republicans in every voting jurisdiction have already lined up valid plaintiffs who will have standing if we have a repeat. I suspect they’ve already developed a process for getting injunctions (and SCOTUS review) in record time. I’ll also bet that skeletal pleadings and briefs are already drafted.
- That would certainly explain Mike Johnson’s demeanor. The Electors Clause hasn’t changed, and SCOTUS hasn’t diluted it. So maybe he’s thinking “See you next time, mofos.”
- Anyway, I thought you and Gitmo Nation might appreciate a very short history of what happened in Texas v. Pennsylvania. So here you go:
- Texas’s case. Before the 2020 election was certified, Texas asked SCOTUS for permission to file a “bill of complaint,” thus bypassing all lower courts. This shortcut is allowed for interstate disputes. In its motion, Texas alleged that Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin all did things that violated the Constitution, including Article II’s Electors Clause, and also denied certain voters due process and equal protection. I’ve attached Texas’s motion.
- Republican amici. Led by Mike Johnson, 126 Republican House members filed an amicus brief in support of Texas’s motion (copy attached). Their brief focused on the Electors Clause. In short, that clause states that the state legislature must direct how electors are appointed. As SCOTUS explained in 1892 (only weeks before Grover Cleveland was elected), “The appointment of these electors is thus placed absolutely and wholly with the legislatures of the several States.” McPherson v. Blacker, 146 U.S. 1, 34-35 (1892) (emphasis added).
- The dispute. According to Texas and the amici, Pennsylvania and the other states allowed people other than the legislatures to change the rules on how electors were appointed, often under the guise of COVID. Here are some examples (there are many more, but I think these will make the point):
- Pennsylvania: Kathy Boockvar, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of the Commonwealth, entered a settlement with the League of Women Voters in which she purported to remove Pennsylvania’s statutory requirement that mail-in and absentee ballots be signed. No legislative involvement.
- Georgia: Georgia has a statute providing that ballots may not be opened until Election Day. Yet the state’s Election Board (not the legislature) changed the rules to allow ballots to be opened up to three weeks earlier.
- Michigan: Under Michigan statutes, a voter cannot obtain an absentee ballot without going through a secure application process that requires a signature. Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s Secretary of State, bypassed this secure process and did away with any signature requirement. No legislative involvement.
- Wisconsin: Wisconsin statutes prohibit collecting absentee ballots through unmanned drop boxes. Drop boxes and absentee ballots are vulnerable to all kinds of fraud, so they must be overseen at sites that are staffed. Yet the Wisconsin Elections Commission (not the legislature) deployed hundreds of unmanned, unguarded drop boxes all over the state.
- SCOTUS. Three days after Texas filed its motion, SCOTUS denied it. But it wasn’t because it lacked merit. Instead, the Court found that Texas lacked standing to sue other states over how they conduct elections. When a party lacks standing, the courts lack jurisdiction to hear the case. Their hands are tied. And that’s what happened in Texas v. Pennsylvania. (Notably, Alito and Thomas dissented and said they would have heard the case.)
- Even if election results are 100% accurate, it means nothing if the voters lack faith in the system. And without public faith in the electoral system, you don’t have much of a republic.
- STORIES
- Pentagon May Have Released Weaponized Ticks That Helped Spread of Lyme Disease: Investigation Ordered
- Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives quietly passed a bill requiring the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (DoD) to conduct a review into whether the Pentagon experimented with ticks and other blood-sucking insects for use as biological weapons between 1950 and 1975.
- If the Inspector General finds that such experiments occurred, then, according to the bill, they must provide the House and Senate Armed Services committees with a report on the scope of the research and "whether any ticks or insects used in such experiments were released outside of any laboratory by accident or experiment design," potentially leading to the spread of diseases such as Lyme.
- The amendment was put forward by Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, who was "inspired" by several books and articles claiming that the U.S. government had conducted research at facilities such as Fort Detrick, Maryland, and Plum Island, New York, for this purpose.
- However, some Lyme disease experts are warning that Smith's claims should be viewed with plenty of caution. They include Phillip Baker, Executive Director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation (ALDF), who says Smith has been "terribly misinformed" with "false and misleading information."
- One of the books that Smith refers to'--called Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons'--was published earlier this year, authored by Stanford University science writer and former Lyme suffer Kris Newby. It features interviews with late Swiss-born scientist Willy Burgdorfer'--the man credited with discovering the bacterial pathogen that causes Lyme disease'--who once worked for the DoD as a bioweapons specialist.
- "Those interviews combined with access to Dr. Burgdorfer's lab files suggest that he and other bioweapons specialists stuffed ticks with pathogens to cause severe disability, disease'--even death'--to potential enemies," Smith said during the debate on the House floor.
- "With Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases exploding in the United States'--with an estimated 300,000 to 437,000 new cases diagnosed each year and 10-20 percent of all patients suffering from chronic Lyme disease'--Americans have a right to know whether any of this is true," he said. "And have these experiments caused Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases to mutate and to spread?" Smith asked.
- According to Smith, the investigation into the claims should attempt to address several questions:
- "What were the parameters of the program? Who ordered it? Was there ever any accidental release anywhere or at any time of any diseased ticks? Were any ticks released by design? Did the program contribute to the disease burden? Can any of this information help current-day researchers find a way to mitigate these diseases?"
- Despite the passing of the recent bill by the House, the American Lyme Disease Foundation's (ALDF) Phillip Baker says Smith's claims are unfounded.
- "I think that Rep. Chris Smith is terribly misinformed by the Lyme disease activists and by the false and misleading information," Baker told Newsweek. "He would be well advised to check the facts by consulting the experts on Lyme disease at the National Institutes of Health or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] for accurate and reliable information before proposing such legislation."
- In a piece for the ALDF website, Baker noted that some people claim Lyme disease was introduced into the northeastern region of the U.S. after a strain of Borrelia burgdorferi'--the bacterium that causes Lyme disease'--escaped from the Plum Island biological warfare facility.
- "However, there is ample evidence to indicate that both Ixodes ticks and B. burgdorferi were present in the U.S. well before the Plum Island facility was ever established," he wrote, adding that the center says it has never researched Lyme disease.
- The symptoms of what is now known as Lyme disease were potentially first described in Scotland in 1764. Recent research has indicated that the Lyme disease bacterium was present in America in pre-Columbian times, many thousands of years before Europeans arrived on the continent.
- Furthermore, Baker says the rationale for believing that Lyme disease was used as an agent of biowarfare is "flawed."
- "Note that about 95 percent of cases of Lyme disease reported to the CDC occur in 12 states," he told Newsweek. "Based on what we know concerning the pathology of Lyme disease'--and we know a lot'--does anyone seriously think that people living in those 12 states are any more vulnerable to an enemy attack because of the high incidence of Lyme disease than those living in the remaining areas of the U.S.? That would be 'quite a stretch' to say the least."
- "The main reason for considering a given pathogen for possible use as an agent of biowarfare is its ability to create terror and or havoc by causing serious incapacitating illness and/or death within a short time interval after its release," he said. "The bacterium that causes Lyme disease is not such an agent. If one were to prioritize a list of agents to be considered for use as biowarfare agents, the organisms that cause smallpox, plague, Ebola and anthrax would be at the top of the list. Only a fool would ever consider adding Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, to such a list. If it ever was given any consideration, and I have no knowledge that it ever was, it would not have been for more than a nanosecond!"
- This article was updated to include additional comments and information from Phillip Baker.
- Black-legged tick on a leaf. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images Uncommon KnowledgeNewsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
- Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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- Climate Change Facts | Answers in Genesis
- What are the climate change facts? Is a disastrous change in the climate looming? Is man responsible?There is good evidence that global temperatures have been slowly climbing for the past four centuries and were slowly declining for many centuries prior to that. But are these temperature changes a serious threat to our way of life, or are they just a part of normal variation to which we can readily adjust? Sadly, our lives are going to be affected whether global warming is a real threat or not. Global warming has been blamed for almost every ill in our society.1 In his State of the Union speech in 2013, President Obama said this:
- It's true that no single event makes a trend. But the fact is, the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods'--all are now more frequent and more intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science'--and act before it's too late.2 Within this short quote, many of the common issues related to climate change are raised'--recent events that are not necessarily indicative of a long-term trend, a claim that the ''science'' is settled, and a warning that we must act right now. The president followed these words by vowing that, if legislation were not forthcoming, he would do all he could by executive order.
- These new policies will almost certainly raise the cost of energy. Higher energy costs will lower the standard of living for all, particularly the poorest among us. Is a disastrous change in the climate looming? Is man responsible? Let's begin our journey to answer those two questions by defining our terms.
- What Is Climate Change? The Oxford English Dictionary defines climate change as a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onward and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.3 Other dictionary definitions are much more succinct and do not specify cause, direction, or time frame. It is not surprising that there is some disparity in the definitions. With controversial subjects, people often disagree on exactly what the words mean. For the purpose of this chapter, the phrase ''climate change'' will be used to mean long-term changes in climate (mainly temperature) without implying any cause for, or direction in, the change.
- Do Climate Change and Global Warming Mean the Same Thing? Some use these phrases interchangeably, and others do not. Those who see the global temperature as going only in one direction often use them interchangeably. However, the phrase ''global warming'' was much more popular before 2006 and 2007 when the average global temperature declined significantly. ''Climate change'' is much more commonly used today and seems much less prejudicial. Therefore, ''climate change'' will be used herein.
- How Could There Be So Much Disagreement over a Scientific Issue? When there is a lack of good data and when people view the data from two very different perspectives, it is easy to have disagreement.
- A Lack of Good Data Measuring the average temperature of the earth is very difficult. At any point in time, different parts of the earth are experiencing different conditions; for example, day and night, summer and winter, cloudy and clear, arid and humid, and windy and calm. This level of variability requires frequent measurements to be made in many places over many years in order to calculate an average global temperature. Temperature measurements have been made at land-based weather stations since 1880. Two main factors have made those measurements less accurate than they need to be'--drastic changes in the immediate area around some of these weather stations and poor distribution of weather stations around the earth. These facts led scientists to push for temperature measurements from satellites.
- We are in a very early stage in the process of understanding climate change.Satellites are able to provide much-improved data over land-based systems. But even the satellite measurements, which began in 1979, are not without their issues. In 2002, the satellite orbits were adjusted so the measurements could be made at a consistent place and time of day.4 Clearly, only a few years of useful measurements are not enough to give us a good understanding of climate change. That's not even enough time for us to be sure that these new satellite measurements are sufficiently accurate. Lord Kelvin said, ''To measure is to know.'' We will never have a clear understanding of climate change until we are able to accurately measure the earth's temperature for decades, if not centuries.
- The lack of accurate measurements has not stopped scientists from interpreting the data they do have. No problem. That is how science works. Scientists do their best to gather accurate data and propose theories based on those measurements. They test those theories by doing further experiments to see if the new measurements are consistent with the latest theory. In the process of using this scientific method, scientists learn how to do better experiments, make more accurate measurements, and propose better theories. The problem here is that we are in a very early stage in the process of understanding climate change. In early stages, researchers have a strong tendency to develop theories based on their own worldview and to run experiments designed to prove their theory rather than test it. The current bias toward global warming will likely lengthen the time required to construct more accurate climate models.
- Two Different Views of the World To those who believe that the universe is the result of the supposed big bang, where invisible particles somehow came into being and randomly organized themselves into atoms, molecules, stars, and planets, there would be no reason to expect that the earth's temperature would be controlled within a specific range. That life exists at all should be considered exceedingly unlikely from this perspective. Stephen J. Gould, an evolutionist, put it this way: ''We are here because one odd group of fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could transform into legs for terrestrial creatures; because the earth never froze entirely during an ice age; because a small and tenuous species, arising in Africa a quarter of a million years ago, has managed, so far, to survive by hook and by crook. We may yearn for a 'higher' answer'--but none exists.''5
- To those who believe that the heavens and the earth were designed and created by a ''higher'' power, there is ample reason to expect that earth's temperature will remain in a range to support life. In fact, God gives us that promise in Genesis 8:22:
- While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease. Within this worldview it makes perfect sense that the earth would have a temperature control system just like our bodies do, since God designed them both.
- Has the Media Accurately Reported on Climate Change? ''When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news.''6 Likewise, a stable climate is not news, but a dramatically changing one is.
- In the late 1970s, numerous popular media outlets were reporting dire warnings about impending climate change. An April 28, 1975, article in Newsweek began with this phrase: ''There are ominous signs that the earth's weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production,'' and ended, ''The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with the climatic change once the results become a grim reality'' (emphases mine).7 Sounds familiar, doesn't it? We hear similar pronouncements today. For example, then-Senator Barack Obama said in 2006, ''Not only is it [global climate change] real, it's here, and its effects are giving rise to a frighteningly new global phenomenon: the manmade natural disaster'' (emphases mine).8
- The surprising thing is that the Newsweek article in the 1970s was referring to global cooling, and then-Senator Obama was referring to global warming. Yes, that's right. The panic in the '70s was that the earth's temperature was declining and would continue to decline. Today, the concern is the earth's temperature is rising and that it will continue to rise.
- How Could Predictions About the Direction of Climate Change Be So Different After Only 30 Years? If, in the 1970s, you considered the data from only the previous 30 years, it would have been possible to conclude that the short-term trend is cooling, particularly if you extrapolate well into the future expecting that trend to continue (figure 1). Interpolation of data, trying to estimate a value within a range you have studied, is challenging enough. But extrapolation of scientific data into a region that you know nothing about is not wise.
- If today you again take the perspective of the last 30 years and extrapolate far into the future, it is possible to conclude that the short-term trend is warming (figure 1).9 Actually, over the last century, it appears that the temperature rose from 1900 to 1940, declined slightly from 1940 to 1970 and increased from 1980 to around 2000. It is easy to make headlines by drawing sweeping conclusions from small ranges of data; however, it is still unclear whether these short-term trends add up to an unprecedented rise in global temperature. Some climatologists claim that the science was not settled in the 1970s and that they were not in agreement with the popular press at that time.10 Today those climatologists are convinced that the latest data, now that it has been corrected, is reliable, and the earth is warming.11
- Very recently, a few people have begun to conclude that we may actually be in the early stages of another cooling trend.12 Those who suspect this generally fall in one of two camps. Some are looking at a specific, narrow range of time (1998 to 2012) where there has certainly been no increase in global temperature. Others are focused on solar activity. They are convinced that the sun is the major factor in determining global temperature. This, of course, is a very reasonable conclusion since almost all our energy comes from the sun. In fact, the number of observed sunspots in this latest sunspot cycle is expected to be the lowest in many decades, and the earth did experience the Little Ice Age at a point in time when sunspot activity was very low.13 Has the global temperature started to decline after having increased for about 400 years? Only time will tell. Frankly, with our limited understanding of the major factors that affect global temperature, no one should be confident in predicting the future global temperature.
- What Are the Politics of Climate Change? At present a number of expert climatologists and the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) appear to be in agreement that the earth's temperature is rising and will continue to rise. However, it is hard to know what the scientific judgment of these individuals would be in the absence of overwhelming political pressure. Their funding and their livelihoods are clearly affected by their stance on this issue.
- We scientists want to believe that we are unbiased'--that we are strictly interpreting the data and are not swayed by other factors. Are scientists different from all other human beings in this regard? Obviously not. We are swayed by our emotions and our beliefs, just like everyone else. So beware when scientists become emotionally attached to their theories, ignore the uncertainties in their data, or claim that ''all reputable scientists agree'' or that ''the science is settled.''14 When one or more of these is true, you can be sure that the issue being discussed is not purely scientific. When ''the science'' really is settled, the evidence will be overwhelming, and there will be no need to claim that the science is settled.
- While investigating any subject, it is interesting to follow the money. There is big money in climate change issues. The person that is the most closely associated with ''global warming'' is Al Gore. ''Critics, mostly on the political right and among global warming skeptics, say Mr. Gore is poised to become the world's first 'carbon billionaire,' profiteering from government policies he supports that would direct billions of dollars to the business ventures he has invested in.''15 ''Mr. Gore says that he is simply putting his money where his mouth is.''16 Gore's many multi-million dollar investments in green energy projects and his purchase of a $9M ocean-view home in California are clear evidence of his financial success in this arena. He will certainly have a good vantage point from which to watch a possible rise in sea level!
- Is the Truth about Climate Change Really Inconvenient? It is tempting for each of us to focus only on what has happened in our lifetime. However, for questions related to climate, we need a much longer-term perspective. Have the global temperatures in the last few decades been significantly higher than in the distant past? Unfortunately, there is no way to know for sure. No temperature measurements are available before 1880. Scientists have tried to correlate other scientific data with global temperature, but estimating temperatures in this way is fraught with difficulties. Correlation of ice core or tree ring data to global temperatures is full of assumptions that cannot be verified. Figure 2 shows eight different attempts that were made to predict global temperature.17 The dark line is the average of these data for what they presume to be the last 12,000 years of earth history. Confused as to why anyone would be convinced by these data? You should be. The most recent reconstructions are shown in the insert of figure 2 for the last 2,000 years. These data have led many climatologists to conclude that the climate is much warmer now than in the last 2,000 years.
- Historical evidence provides a different perspective on global temperatures during the last two millennia. There is good evidence that the climate in the Northern Hemisphere was warmer about a thousand years ago'--the Vikings were able to farm in Greenland. After a few hundred years, they stopped farming due to a cooler climate. The temperature continued to decline for a few hundred more years, and the Thames in London began to regularly freeze.18 The decline in temperature reversed course in about A.D. 1700. If this warming trend continues, it may again be possible to farm in Greenland, and the sea ice in the north Atlantic may again be scarce. Figure 3 is an estimation of the relative global temperature from historical observations before 1900 and from weather station data after 1990. While we cannot be certain about what was true in ancient times from either historical or scientific data, the historical observations seem more reliable in this instance. From these limited data, it appears that the global temperature cycles around a mean temperature and has been slightly warmer in recorded history than it is today. There is no reason to panic.
- Are We the Cause of the Rise in Temperature Since the Little Ice Age? Many believe that this recent rise in temperature is caused by an increase in carbon dioxide due to our burning of more fossil fuels. Let's look at some facts about carbon dioxide and examine the evidence of its effect on global temperature.
- The presence of carbon dioxide in the air is essential to life on earth. Without carbon dioxide, there would be no plant life, and without plant life there would be no animal life. Despite this, Lisa Jackson of the Environmental Protection Agency declared that carbon dioxide was a pollutant under the Clean Air Act and deemed that it was a hazard to human health.19 So is CO2 essential to life or a pollutant? The government apparently thinks that it is both'--essential at low levels and harmful at high levels. But is there a level at which CO2 is too high? As with most government regulations, this regulation preceded our understanding of the science. While CO2 does influence the global temperature, the exact relationship has not been established nor has the maximum CO2 concentration in air.
- We do know that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases act as a blanket over the earth. When sunlight heats the earth's surface, the warm earth radiates some of that heat into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases slow the escape of that radiated heat. You have been led to believe that the most important greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide. It is not. Water vapor and clouds are actually responsible for about 80 to 90 percent of the total greenhouse effect. That's right, at least 80 percent. That is why clear mornings are usually much colder than cloudy mornings. On clear mornings, we do not have that blanket of clouds to hold in the heat. The percentage of the greenhouse effect attributable to CO2 is believed to be as high as 20 percent by some and as low as 4 percent by others.20 Almost everyone agrees that the percent of CO2 that is man-made is only about 4 percent of total CO2. Therefore, the greenhouse effect caused by man-made CO2 is less than 1 percent of the total and may be a small fraction of 1 percent.
- Despite this, many scientists today claim that the rise in man-made CO2 is the major cause of the rise in global temperatures over the past century. Just because global temperature and CO2 concentrations have risen over the past several decades does not mean that one caused the other. Figure 4 shows that the correlation between the CO2 concentration and global temperature is not strong, particularly between 1900 and 1950. The temperature profile in figure 3 also does not match well with man-made CO2 levels because man-made CO2 was not high during the Medieval Warming Period. These data are not convincing.
- Is the Global Temperature Nearly Out of Control? Climatologists' greatest concern is that a temperature increase during the last few decades might be amplified by positive feedback causing the global temperature to spiral out of control. They are worried, for example, that a higher temperature on the earth could melt more of the permafrost, release more CO2, and cause a greater greenhouse effect. On the other hand, a higher temperature on earth could cause more evaporation, more cloud formation, and more sunlight to be reflected away from the earth. This negative feedback could moderate the global temperature. Which type of feedback is more influential? Scientists are currently not able to quantify them well enough to know whether the negative feedback outweighs the positive.
- Engineers familiar with control systems are well aware that control systems dependent on positive feedback easily go out of control whereas those based on negative feedback generally do not. Since the earth's temperature has been relatively stable for many centuries, it seems more likely that the earth's climate is moderated by more powerful negative feedback systems.
- It appears that a brilliant designer has designed a molecule that is both essential to human life and essential for controlling the climate of the earth. Water is a polar molecule that is able to dissolve salts, proteins, and DNA that are essential for our cells to function and for life to exist. Water's other physical properties are just as critical to controlling the earth's climate. It takes more heat to change water from a solid to a liquid or from a liquid to a gas than any other common molecule. The 310,000,000 cubic miles of water on the earth's surface are able to hold a tremendous amount of heat and provide great temperature stability to the earth. Water can readily transfer heat from the earth's surface to the air by evaporation and condensation, a process which is the basis of the hydrological cycle and much of our weather. Cloud formation may also be the key to a negative feedback system that helps moderate temperature changes in the earth's atmosphere. Without water, the range of temperature from day to night and from the earth's surface to the upper atmosphere would be much greater. Clearly water is critical to human life in many, many ways.
- How Should We Then Live? In the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, God commands us to subdue the earth (see Genesis 1:28). Most interpret this to mean that we should take care of the earth and be good stewards of its natural resources. If it were true that the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas did have a significant negative effect on our environment, it would make sense for us to modify our behavior. But it appears that we are just in the upper range of a natural temperature cycle. It is not at all clear that the small amount of additional CO2 produced by the burning of fossil fuels is detrimental to the environment. It is humbling to remember that when God was judging the earth with a global flood that He was creating inexpensive fuel sources for future generations. Let's obey God's command and use our scientific knowledge to be good stewards of our natural resources and preserve our environment for the next generation until He comes again.21
- Sweden must brace for war, claims top official in push for greater defence spending | The Independent
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- Two top Swedish officials have warned the country should brace for war as it prepares for the first stages of joining Nato.
- During a security conference in western Sweden over the weekend, the country's Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said action needed to be taken rapidly to mitigate against a looming threat from Russia, pointing to the developing situation in Ukraine as evidence that war could spread to other parts of Europe.
- ''Many have said it before me, but let me say it with the force of my office '' there could be a war in Sweden,'' he said, adding that awareness needed to be translated into practical action, such as investing more heavily on defence spending.
- He added: ''Such an effort can only be made quickly enough if the vast majority of people are aware of the situation and understand what is at stake.''
- The immediate reaction to his comments was mixed, drawing criticism from former officials while military chiefs praised the call to arms.
- Sweden's Commander-in-Chief Micael Byden speaks during the Society and Defense National Conference in Salen, Sweden
- After a children's national helpline, Bris, received an uptick in underage callers concerned about an imminent war, ex-prime minister Magdalena Andersson told Swedish TV that Mr Bohlin's comments were exaggerated.
- ''It is not as if war is just outside the door,'' she said. It was Ms Andersson who declared Sweden's intention to join Nato in May 2022.
- But Sweden's military commander-in-chief Micael Byden lauded Mr Bohlin's comments.
- ''On an individual level, you have to prepare yourself mentally,'' he said, adding, ''This is a very serious situation, and the clarity yesterday was unmistakable. It is now about moving from words and understanding to action.''
- Experts have claimed that the tone of Mr Bohlin's warnings reflect a frustration that too little is being done to build civil and military defence, more so than fears that a war is actually on the horizon.
- And General Byden, who visited Ukraine's eastern front a month ago, clarified that his ambition was not to panic the Swedish population but ''get more people to think about their own situation and their own responsibilities''.
- As Sweden prepares for Nato membership - Turkey still needs to be convinced to quit blocking Stockholm's application over allegations they are harbouring Kurdish terrorists - conversations over defence spending have been renewed.
- Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson pledged over the weekend to double the country's military spending to two percent of the country's GDP in line with Nato requirements.
- But the latest defence bill promised to convene only three and half new brigades, equivalent to between 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers. Ukraine, by comparison, had 28 brigades when Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who addressed the same defence conference the day after Mr Bohlin's comments, called on the two countries to ''get stronger together''. Sweden's Foreign Minister, Tobias Billstrom, later said that their main foreign policy concern in the coming years will be the support of Ukraine.
- Amouranth shares breakdown of OnlyFans earnings and stuns fans
- Twitch streamer Amouranth has stunned fans by sharing the breakdown of her massive earnings on OnlyFans.
- The webcam model - real name Kaitlyn Siragusa - has become hugely popular for her ASMR-themed livestreams on Twitch.
- After joining the platform in 2015, she went on to become their most popular female streamer in 2021.
- But that hasn't been without issue.
- At the time of writing, she has been banned from Twitch seven times.
- Twitch streamer Amouranth has stunned fans by sharing the breakdown of her massive earnings on OnlyFans. Credit: Instagram/@amouranthofficalAfter adjusting her focus to OnlyFans, she reportedly earned a whopping $33 million on the platform by 2022.
- Fast forward to 2024, it looks like she's earning even more than that nowadays.
- According to screenshot she shared on X (Twitter) it seems that her gross earnings are now up to nearly twice that figure.
- Twitch streamer Amouranth is earning a lot of money on OnlyFans. Credit: X/@AmouranthFrom 1 January 2020 to 3 January 2024, she earned an eye-watering $57.058,995.18.
- That makes her in the top 0.01 percent of OnlyFans creators.
- Commenting on the post, one fan wrote: "If I ever flex I wanna flex this hard. Boss babe vibes."
- "I only see those kind of numbers in GTA. Congrats," a second added.
- "Damn girl good for you!!" another wrote.
- While someone else also said: "Holy s**t! That is a lot of money but also lots of work! Well deserved :D."
- This comes after November's announcement that the 30-year-old is launching a beer using her own vaginal bacteria.
- Amouranth is joining forces with a Polish beer company called The Order of Yoni, which creates beer using vaginal bacteria.
- Sounds... lovely that (vom).
- ''The gynaecologist collects a vaginal smear from the models,'' the beer manufactures' website explains. ''These smears are taken to a laboratory where bacteria are isolated, cleaned, then analysed and multiplied.
- "At the end of the process, the bacteria are used to produce the pure lactic acid that goes into Yoni beer.''
- The streamer is joining forces with a Polish beer manufacturer. Credit: Instagram/@orderofyoniExplaining more about the process involved, the website says its team 'discovered the process of transmitting female essence by isolating lactic acid bacteria from Yoni of sensuous women', which - you'll be pleased to know - is then run through an intensive health screening, before the beer is crafted.
- The website adds: "The Order of Yoni is a sensual experience in the form of a beer enclosed in a bottle, obtaining its unusual flavour notes through the use of champagne yeast, wheat malts, and exclusive additives in the form of orange peel, coriander and aframomum.
- "The composition is enhanced with the use of lactic acid from vaginal bacteria to bring pleasure to every sip."
- I think I'll take your word for that, folks.
- 'Amazing job' say Amouranth's stunned fans as 'world's sexiest streamer' reveals what her 'AI counterpart' made in A DAY | The Sun
- AMOURANTH'S fans were left shocked after the popular streamer revealed how much money the AI version of herself made in one day.
- Named one of the "world's sexiest", the Twitch and OnlyFans star launched an artificial intelligence counterpart capable of "advanced roleplaying".
- Twitch and OnlyFans streamer Amouranth revealed how much her virtual counterpart makes in a single day Credit: Getty 3
- Amouranth's AI version looks incredibly similar to the 29-year-old influencer Credit: X/wildkait"I just launched an influencer AI that is not just a chatbot! She's based on my personality and has full autonomy and can remember what you tell in her (but won't tell anyone)," the 29-year-old tweeted.
- "She can send you texts, pics she takes spontaneously and voice clips!
- "She'll make you custom videos if you are nice to her."
- Amouranth - real name Kaitlyn Siragusa - revealed her AI counterpart "cleared" an eye-watering £26,763 ($34,000) in its first 24 hours after launching.
- She explained the bot made thousands without any promotion, apart from the tweet where she made the announcement.
- "Each person chatting (on avg) spent $20+. A large portion of chatters don't follow the account (40 percent. thereabout). Haven't promoted it anywhere except in this tweet," Amouranth wrote.
- Marvelled fans wrote under the influencer's post, with one saying: "Let's go. Al Amo is genius."
- "Wow this is fantastic Kait," another added.
- A description on Amouranth AI's Fansly page says she is "powered by MySentient.AI" and has "infinite memory, real desires" and is "every bit as wild as the real Amouranth".
- The bot is "intelligent, sentient, and crave[s] human interaction" and is available "24/7 ['...] whenever you need a companion or lover", as well as taking "initiative" and the ability to "regularly check in with [users]".
- The streamer also took the chance to disagree with those who claim AI rivals are generating a "loneliness epidemic", saying it's "probably closer to being therapeutic".
- "It's what people reach for to refrain from feeling alone," she adds. "An AI that passes the Turing test is part of the solution, not the problem," she said.
- One follower replied: "You're not the solution, you're not the cause of loneliness either, you are basically monetizing the problem that occurs more these days, that makes you shift more towards being part of the problem to be frank.
- "But still one person can't be the cause."
- It comes after Amouranth revealed the strangest requests she has had on OnlyFans.
- Speaking to Dexerto, she said one of the most bizarre requests she's ever had was to "inflate herself like a balloon."
- "I wasn't sure how to do that one. That's a weird fetish for sure," she said.
- Another strange request came from someone who asked her to "pretend to be a giant."
- When it comes to her followers' requests, Amouranth admits she'll go to great lengths to make it work but she also has her limits.
- She added: "If I think there's no way I can do this video in the way they're envisioning in their mind, I'll just reject it.
- "But if it's like'... eh maybe, because of the dollar amount, maybe I'll see if they'll stretch for it. Most of the time they don't."
- The influencer previously revealed in an interview with gamer Jake Lucky that the most she has managed to make in a month is a staggering $2million.
- The streamer, pictured, revealed her AI bot made more than £25,000 in just 24 hours since her launch Credit: Instagram/amouranthoffical
- Funerals delayed as increase in number of deaths puts mortuaries under pressure
- A spike in the number of deaths in recent weeks has disrupted funeral arrangements and put mortuaries under unprecedented stress.
- An Irish Examiner analysis of death notices on the website rip.ie shows there were 9,718 published in the eight-week period from December 1, 2022, to January 25, 2023 '-- up 20% from 8,075 in the same period a year earlier.
- The figure is also considerably higher than the 8,135 death notices published in the same period to January 25, 2021, when the country was in the grip of the worst period of the Covid pandemic.
- Pre-pandemic, 6,802 death notices were published in the eight weeks to January 25, 2019, almost 3,000 fewer than in recent weeks.
- The death rate in Cork has been so high in the last two months that bodies had to be stored in the city's hospitals until space became available at the Cork City Morgue.
- ''Between the 19th of December and the 3rd of January, over 100 deaths were reported to my office,'' Philip Comyn, coroner for Cork city, told the Irish Examiner .
- This is the most ever reported for this length of time, surpassing even the busiest period during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- ''The mortuary [at Cork University Hospital] had so many bodies it couldn't take any more and the other Cork hospitals held onto their bodies overnight.''
- Ivan Perry, of UCC School of Epidemiology and Public Health, said flu and other respiratory illnesses may be the reason for the alarming spike in deaths.
- ''It could also be that people are slightly more vulnerable post-Covid because there is a post-Covid elevated risk of heart disease for example, so that could be contributing to it as well.''
- An analysis of rip.ie shows there were 1,092 deaths in Cork alone from December 1, 2022, to January 25, 2023 '-- an increase of 16.4% from a year earlier.
- Death notices were at 1,007 in the December 2020 to January 2021 period, with numbers as low as 786 for the same period up to January 2019.
- Mr Comyn said high death rates are being recorded across the country. He said Dr Margot Bolster, the assistant State pathologist, and mortuary staff ''started work at 6am, including Saturdays, to clear the backlog''.
- Mayo coroner Patrick O'Connor also noted ''an extraordinary number of deaths'' in the period from December 15 to January 15.
- ''In one five-day period, there were 17 postmortems carried out in Mayo University Hospital, which would be very unusual,'' he said.
- ''Usually, there would be around one a day perhaps. And these are only post-mortems where there is a sudden death or exceptional circumstances. The reality is that the numbers [of deaths] are much higher.
- ''It is putting greater strain on frontline services '-- the doctors, the morticians, the pathologists, and indeed the coroners.''
- Limerick Fianna Fil TD Willie O'Dea said he noticed a 'huge upsurge in funerals' before Christmas. Picture: Niall Carson/PA WireLimerick Fianna Fil TD Willie O'Dea said he noticed a ''huge upsurge in funerals'' before Christmas and submitted a parliamentary question to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly in relation to excess death rates.
- He said wakes and removals were disrupted, often taking place during the day because the high number of deaths meant there was not enough time in the evenings to accommodate everyone.
- Aontº's Peadar T"ibn is calling for an investigation into the unexplained rise in death rates.
- He highlighted the closure of some critical health and screening services during Covid-19 and said any link with current death rates should be explored.
- Last week, calls were made in the British House of Commons for an investigation into why death rates in the UK are increasing.
- Some 17,381 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the seven days to January 13 '-- above the average for this time of year by 2,837, according to the UK Office for National Statistics.
- Undercover FBI Agents Helped Autistic Teen Plan Trip to Join ISIS
- Humzah Mashkoor had just cleared security at Denver International Airport when the FBI showed up. The agents had come to arrest the 18-year-old, who is diagnosed with a developmental disability, and charge him with terror-related crimes. At the time of the arrest, a relative later said in court, Mashkoor was reading ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid,'' a book written for elementary school children.
- Mashkoor had gone to the airport on December 18 to fly to Dubai, and from there to either Syria or Afghanistan, as part of his alleged plot to join the Islamic State. The trip had been spurred by over a year of online exchanges starting when Mashkoor was 16 years old with four people he believed were members of ISIS. According to the Justice Department's criminal complaint, the four were actually undercover FBI agents. As a result of his conversations with the FBI, Mashkoor could face a lengthy sentence for attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
- At an initial court hearing, family members said that Mashkoor, who had turned 18 just a few weeks prior to the arrest, had intellectual difficulties and been diagnosed with autism. Despite acknowledging Mashkoor's family support and his young age, the judge ordered that he be detained while awaiting trial.
- ''It's not lost on this court that Mr. Mashkoor is a young man with possible mental illness and the diagnosis of high-functioning autism. It is clear he has a sea of familial support,'' the judge said. ''But based on this evidence, there's no reasonable assurance here that the court can simply chalk all this up to the defendant simply being a young man.''
- Law enforcement agents first became aware of Mashkoor's online activities in support of ISIS in November 2021. But instead of alerting his family, Mashkoor's lawyers told The Intercept, FBI agents posing as ISIS members befriended him a year later and strung him along until he became a legal adult.
- ''It is appalling that the government never once reached out to his parents, even while they were sending undercover agents to befriend him online starting when he was 16 years old,'' said Joshua Herman, a defense attorney representing Mashkoor. ''Almost all of the conduct he is alleged to have committed took place when he was a juvenile.''
- ''It is appalling that the government never once reached out to his parents, even while they were sending undercover agents to befriend him online starting when he was 16 years old.''More details may emerge on the circumstances of Mashkoor's ill-fated attempt to join ISIS, but the facts as laid out in the complaint are hallmarks of terrorism prosecutions based on FBI stings: a young man with developmental disabilities, already on the police's radar due to mental health episodes and conflicts with family, groomed as a minor over a long period by a group of undercover FBI agents. Mashkoor's case also follows a pattern of FBI sting operations in which a teenager is arrested shortly after their 18th birthday. As in similar cases, the court documents suggest that Mashkoor was limited in his ability to execute a terrorist plot on his own.
- ''This case appears consistent with a common fact pattern seen in tens, if not hundreds, of terrorism-related cases in which the FBI has effectively manufactured terrorist prosecutions,'' said Sahar Aziz, a national security expert and law professor at Rutgers University. ''In this case, it was a 16-year-old kid who otherwise would have just sat in his relatives' basement posting offensive content in a manner similar to a white supremacist or Proud Boy '-- people whom the FBI does not spend enormous resources to entrap just so they can get a high-profile press release.''
- Known to PoliceMashkoor first came onto the authorities' radar for social media posts around the time of his 16th birthday. According to the complaint, Mashkoor began posting in support of terrorism in November 2021, and a platform he used alerted the FBI of suspicious activity.
- In July 2022, local police were called to Mashkoor's home after he allegedly assaulted a family member during a dispute. At the time, according to court filings, a relative told police about Mashkoor's mental illness and autism diagnosis. Two months later, Mashkoor began communicating with an undercover FBI agent posing as a member of ISIS.
- That agent eventually introduced Mashkoor to three other FBI agents impersonating ISIS members. With their encouragement, Mashkoor developed a plan to support the terror group. Along with extensive discussions of what types of services he might provide ISIS, Mashkoor regularly confided in the agents about his boredom, family problems, hopes of getting married, and struggles with his mental health. He constantly referred to being a minor, complaining that being under 18 and subject to the monitoring of family members made it hard for him to travel or send funds, including cryptocurrency transactions that he could not figure out how to conduct.
- Mashkoor's anxieties come through in the chats included in the indictment '-- most of which are limited to his sides of the conversations. At one point, he told an agent that he was considering finding a wife who might be willing to join him in Afghanistan, but he worried about the possibility of abandoning her if he was killed.
- Mashkoor went back and forth about whether he even wanted to join ISIS.Mashkoor also went back and forth about whether he even wanted to join ISIS. Throughout the chats with the undercover agents, Mashkoor expressed support for ISIS and fantasized about fighting with militants abroad. But he also shared doubts about joining the group as well as concerns that he lacked connections of his own in Afghanistan and Syria. In one message, he worried that ''the brothers there might not support me in getting married and may just strap something on me and throw me out into the field.'' He may, he suggested at one point, instead get a job and finish high school.
- In early December, Mashkoor failed to show up to a flight he had booked to Dubai. It's unclear whether his apprehensions played a role; he told the FBI agents that he had come down with Covid.
- ''The whole case demonstrates the low level of maturity and social skills often found in people who suffer from autism,'' said Thomas Durkin, one of Mashkoor's lawyers. ''He is fantasizing and making up plans to go to Afghanistan that he could not possibly realize on his own.''
- In their conversations, agents warned Mashkoor that ''life won't be easy'' after joining ISIS, while continuing to offer to help plan his journey. Despite second thoughts, Mashkoor eventually appeared to take the FBI up on their offer and went to the airport weeks after he turned 18.
- ''Staying here even another second is torture and I've only been putting up an act to please those around me,'' he had told one of the agents. ''But what will any of it matter once I'm 18 and gone.''
- Security fencing outside FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 22, 2022.
- Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesThe FBI's Terror PlanThroughout the period that he was under investigation, it's unclear how much meaningful contact Mashkoor had with actual members of ISIS. When he originally came onto law enforcement's radar, he was alleged to have been in communication with other supporters of the group, some of whom were later arrested in foreign countries.
- At one point during the investigation, he gave an undercover FBI agent contact information for someone he said he had found in an online ISIS publication. That individual, unnamed in court documents, solicited cryptocurrency from the undercover agents and appeared to offer them assurances that it was possible to travel to ISIS territories. In conversations with an agent, Mashkoor also alluded to an ISIS contact who had suggested he conduct an attack in the U.S., but Mashkoor said he preferred to travel abroad.
- But Mashkoor's most substantive planning '-- the actions that landed him under a federal terrorism indictment '-- took place entirely with the group of undercover FBI agents who were in close contact with him over several months, testing the willingness of a vulnerable young man to commit a crime.
- ''It's clearly a waste of government resources,'' said Aziz, the law professor. ''If there was a serious terrorist threat in America, the FBI would not be spending its time entrapping a mentally ill minor.''
- The family member who went with Mashkoor to the Denver airport the day he was arrested had been unaware of his plans, according to court documents, and did not know why he was leaving the country. In one of his final conversations with an FBI agent, Mashkoor had worried about his upcoming trip and the toll it would have on his family. He asked the agent whether it would be permissible to leave behind a message for them. As he told another agent, he had tried ''to think of something to say'' to his father, but whenever he tried to convey that he was leaving for good, his ''throat clenches and nothing comes out.''
- ''My family know I am leaving but don't know why and they are very sad and it's been having a toll on my mental health,'' Mashkoor told the agent. ''I don't know how to properly say my final goodbyes to them or how to convey the reasons why I left without compromising myself.''
- ALA, ALSC respond to Wilder Medal name change | News and Press Center
- NEW ORLEANS - During the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans, the Board of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), voted to change the name of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award to the Children's Literature Legacy Award. This award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a significant and lasting contribution to children's literature. ALA President Jim Neal and ALSC President Nina Lindsay released the following joint statement:
- ''Laura Ingalls Wilder's books have been and will continue to be deeply meaningful to many readers. Although Wilder's work holds a significant place in the history of children's literature and continues to be read today, ALSC has had to grapple with the inconsistency between Wilder's legacy and its core values of inclusiveness, integrity and respect, and responsiveness through an award that bears Wilder's name.
- ''Wilder's books are a product of her life experiences and perspective as a settler in America's 1800s. Her works reflect dated cultural attitudes toward Indigenous people and people of color that contradict modern acceptance, celebration, and understanding of diverse communities.
- ''ALSC works within the context of our society as a whole, where the conversations taking place inform our work and help us articulate our core values and support of diverse populations.
- ''Changing the name of the award should not be viewed as an attempt to censor, limit, or deter access to Wilder's books and materials, but rather as an effort to align the award's title with ALSC's core values. This change should not be viewed as a call for readers to change their personal relationship with or feelings about Wilder's books. Updating the award's name should not be construed as censorship, as we are not demanding that anyone stop reading Wilder's books, talking about them, or making them available to children. We hope adults think critically about Wilder's books and the discussions that can take place around them.
- ''It also should be noted that changing the name of the ALSC award for significant and lasting contribution to children's literature has no reflection on past winners or their achievements, and does not negate the honor they have received for making a 'significant and lasting contribution to literature for children.'
- ''This decision was made after much consideration and fact-finding. It is one that we believe serves the best interests of ALSC and all of those they serve, not only now, in 2018, but also in the long-term.''
- About ALSCALSC, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is the world's largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,000 children's and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC, visit ALSC's website.
- About the American Library AssociationThe American Library Association (ALA) is the foremost national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more than 140 years, the ALA has been the trusted voice for academic, public, school, government and special libraries, advocating for the profession and the library's role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit ala.org.
- Astronauts won't walk on the moon until 2026 after NASA delays next 2 Artemis missions | Space
- We'll have to wait a little longer for humanity's return to the moon.
- In a media teleconference on Tuesday (Jan. 9), NASA leadership stated that its flagship Artemis 2 mission will be delayed from November 2024 until September 2025. And the Artemis 3 moon-landing mission, originally targeted for late 2025, will now aim for September 2026.
- "Safety is our top priority, and to give Artemis teams more time to work through the challenges with first-time developments, operations and integration, we're going to give more time on Artemis 2 and 3," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during the briefing. "So, what I want to tell you is, we are adjusting our schedule to target Artemis 2 for September of 2025 and September of 2026 for Artemis 3, which will send humans for the first time to the lunar south pole."
- Nelson added that Artemis 4 remains on track to launch in September 2028.
- Related: NASA's Artemis 3 astronaut moon landing unlikely before 2027, GAO report finds
- An illustration of NASA's Orion spacecraft in orbit around Earth. (Image credit: NASA/ESA/ATG Medialab)Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator, stressed that the decision to delay Artemis 2 was made with crew safety in mind.
- "I want to emphasize that safety is our number one priority. You heard it from the administrator today; you've heard it multiple times. And as we prepare to send our friends and colleagues on this mission, we're committed to launching as safely as possible. And we will launch, when we're ready," Free said during the press conference. "The crew is a constant reminder for us how important it is to remain focused on the work we need to do to ensure their safe return."
- Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator for NASA's Moon to Mars program, listed a number of new systems and technologies that the agency is still testing and developing ahead of Artemis 2, including new facilities at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to enable rapid propellant loading, crew ingress and egress, a new abort system and a new life support system. "And those are all added there, of course, to support the crew and, of course, to support crew safety," Kshatriya said.
- Kshatriya then explained that the heat shield issues that NASA's Orion capsule encountered during the uncrewed Artemis 1 test flight around the moon in late 2022 have been a major concern as the data from that successful mission is analyzed. The heat shield sufficiently protected Orion, but much of it charred away from the spacecraft.
- "We did see the the off-nominal recession of some char that came off the heat shield, which we were not expecting," Kshatriya said during the briefing. "Now, this heat shield is an ablative material '-- it is supposed to char '-- but it's not what we were expecting, with some pieces of that char to be liberated from the vehicle."
- Related: Facts about NASA's Artemis moon program
- Kshatriya said that some of the life-support hardware will have to be replaced inside the Artemis 3 Orion spacecraft due to failures during testing, an exhaustive process that requires disassembling and accessing many different systems inside the capsule.
- In addition, the electrical system in the crew abort system that pulls the capsule away from NASA's Space Launch System rocket in the event of a launch anomaly has not performed as expected during testing. "We're still very early in that investigation. We have not yet developed a forward path; we have multiple parallel options to fix this issue," Kshatriya said. "And we have a lot of testing to do in front of us, but we wanted to make sure we give ourselves the time to do that."
- When it launches, Artemis 2 will send a crew of four around the moon and back to Earth. The crew includes three NASA astronauts '-- commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover (who will be the first person of color to leave low Earth orbit, or LEO) and mission specialist Christina Koch (the first woman) '-- as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen (who will become the first non-American to leave LEO).
- Despite the delays, NASA leadership is still enthusiastic about Artemis 2 and what it will mean for space exploration. "Artemis represents what we can accomplish as a country, as a global coalition," Nelson said. "And what we can accomplish when we set our sights on what is hard. And what has never been done before."
- Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
- Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
- Brett is curious about emerging technologies, alternative launch concepts, anti-satellite technologies and uncrewed aircraft systems. Brett's work has appeared on Scientific American, The War Zone, Popular Science, the History Channel, Science Discovery and more. Brett has English degrees from Clemson University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In his free time, Brett enjoys skywatching throughout the dark skies of the Appalachian mountains.
- Fauci Admits Social Distancing Wasn't Scientific and the Wuhan Lab Leak Wasn't a Conspiracy Theory '' RedState
- Former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci just finished up his second day of closed-door testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chaired by Ohio Republican Brad Wenstrup. These are the highlights.
- ð¨DR. FAUCI TESTIMONY TAKEAWAYSð¨@COVIDSelect has completed a two-day, 14-hour transcribed interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci.Here are the most important highlights from DAY 2 of his testimonyð
- '-- Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) January 10, 2024BACKGROUND: Too Clever by Half: Fauci Testifies Before Coronavirus Subcommittee, Continues to Play Semantics
- Dr. Fauci claimed that the ''6 feet apart'' social distancing recommendation promoted by federal health officials was likely not based on any data. He characterized the development of the guidance by stating, ''It sort of just appeared.''Well, no, it didn't "sort of appear." In March 2021, I documented the genesis of the social distancing bullsh** and how no one believed it.
- READ: Six-Foot Social Distancing Is on the Way out, but How We Got There in the First Place Is the Real Story
- TL:DR version. It was based on a high school science project by the daughter of a scientist at Sandia National Laboratory. Like the rest of the measures used during the COVID panic, the primary purpose was controlling people, not keeping them safe.
- Dr. Fauci acknowledged that the lab leak hypothesis is not a conspiracy theory. This comes nearly four years after prompting the publication of the now infamous ''Proximal Origin'' paper that attempted to vilify and disprove the lab leak hypothesis.This marks a significant walk-back from his previous position and soliciting a paper to disprove the lab leak hypothesis.
- READ: 'S--tshow': Scientists Downplayed Lab Leak Theory re: COVID Origins for Fear of China's Reaction if Blamed
- Dr. Fauci admitted that America's vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic could increase vaccine hesitancy in the future. Previously, Dr. Fauci advocated ''that when you make it difficult for people in their lives, they lose their ideological bullshit, and they get vaccinated.''When American universities approached Dr. Fauci, he advised them to impose vaccine mandates on their students.Dr. Fauci denies allegations that he visited the CIA during the pandemic or influenced the CIA's investigation into the origins of COVID-19.Dr. Fauci played semantics with the definition of a ''lab leak'' in an attempt to cover up the inaccurate conclusions of ''Proximal Origin.'' It is impossible for Dr. Fauci to defend the conclusion of this publication while simultaneously acknowledging that a lab leak is possible.Wenstrup issued a statement that said, in part:
- ''Dr. Fauci's transcribed interview revealed systemic failures in our public health system and shed light on serious procedural concerns with our public health authority. It is clear that dissenting opinions were often not considered or suppressed completely. Should a future pandemic arise, America's response must be guided by scientific facts and conclusive data.
- ''While we remain frustrated with Dr. Fauci's inability to recollect COVID-19 information that is important for our investigation, others we have spoken to do recall the facts. I appreciate Dr. Fauci's willingness to testify privately in front of the Select Subcommittee and look forward to speaking with him further at a public hearing this year. There are many opportunities to do better in the future.''
- There is no doubt that the mismanagement and malicious decision-making by Fauci and his kindred spirits have materially damaged public health in the United States and our ability to respond to a future pandemic. Childhood vaccination rates have cratered. People are rejecting the flu, COVID, and the new RSV vaccines (full disclosure: this is my first year without a flu shot in at least three decades).
- Along with the assault on civil liberties perpetrated by NIAID, CDC, and FDA and the federal, state, and local governments who followed their guidance, the credibility of science was damaged. Fauci was intimately involved in the decision to shut down public discussion of the Wuhan lab leak theory, which was always the most logical explanation for the origin of COVID. He and Francis Collins worked to discredit and largely silence the scientists who authored the "Great Barrington Declaration," which, in retrospect, would have done a much better job of mitigating the effects of COVID than the travesty inflicted on us.
- Georgia DA Pursuing Trump Gets Subpoenaed In Divorce Case Of Her Special Prosecutor | The Daily Wire
- Georgia's Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis has been subpoenaed in the divorce case of Nathan Wade, the man Willis is allegedly romantically linked to and has tapped to be special prosecutor to pursue former President Donald Trump.
- Willis is leading a RICO case against Trump and several of his top associates for alleged election interference. Notably, it was reported earlier this week that Willis is romantically seeing Wade and has financially benefited from the relationship.
- According to The Wall Street Journal, Willis' office on Monday received a subpoena which requests the DA to testify in Wade and his wife Joycelyn Wade's divorce case. The Wades initially filed for divorce in November 2021, the report notes.
- The subpoena was reportedly delivered by a process server mere hours before former Trump campaign official Michael Roman, who's a co-defendant in the RICO case, filed a motion alleging misconduct by Willis and Wade, in part for their ''improper, clandestine personal relationship during the pendency of this case.''
- The pair allegedly took lavish vacations together that were funded by money Wade's firm received from working the RICO case. Records show that since the beginning of 2022, Wade has received over $650,000 in legal fees, an amount that either Willis or Wade had to authorize.
- Moreover, during an interview on Monday, Roman's lawyer Ashleigh Merchant suggested Willis' hiring of Wade was never approved by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, as it's supposed to be. Merchant said she reviewed the minutes of every meeting the board held from the time Willis took office, but found no record of Wade's contract being discussed, the Journal report noted.
- Roman's motion cites sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney who say the pair are in an ongoing relationship and calls for the disqualification of Willis, her office, and Wade from the Trump case.
- It's unclear how these revelations will play out, since legal experts seem to be split on how the allegations could impact the case.
- Former DeKalb County District Attorney Bob Wilson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that DAs in high-profile cases like this one must be extremely careful with their actions, though he refused to comment directly on the allegations facing Willis.
- ''Everything you do must be done according to the law,'' he told the paper. ''Everyone who works on a case like this must conduct themselves at the highest professional level. Otherwise, you can become the issue and that can derail your case.''
- Related: Trump Co-Defendant In Georgia RICO Case Claims DA Fani Willis Had Relationship With Prosecutor: Report
- Nancy Pelosi Claims She 'Begged' for National Guard Troops on J6 - The Politics Brief
- When Nancy Pelosi appeared on ABC's Sunday morning talk show ''This Week,'' the former House Speaker made a dubious claim that would undoubtedly come as a surprise to many of the key decision-makers on Capitol Hill during the events of January 6.
- Former Speaker Pelosi, who has been less than forthright about her controversial role in the leadup to and during the Capitol Riots, has added a new wrinkle to her story about what she did to secure the Congress on that fateful day.
- ''It's very clear what happened that day,'' she claimed. ''And at that same time, from the undisclosed location, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell and I were begging the administration to send the National Guard, to send the National Guard.''
- ''We spoke to the Army, the Secretary of the Army,'' she went on. '''Well, I don't know. It takes time. I have to talk to my boss about it.' His boss being the acting Secretary of Defense, who that one thing and another.''
- ''So it took hours, hours of what we have seen transpire, hours where we saw people going under the dome that Lincoln built,'' she added. ''Lincoln built the dome during the Civil War. People said, 'don't build the dome, use the steel, and then person power, the manpower for the war. And he said, 'no, I must show our resolve and our strength to build the dome' and to see the confederate flag under that dome, to see the disrespect.''
- ''They're coming,'' she continued. ''A bullet in my head, hanging Pence, and the President being so casual about it. So it'll be interesting to see how we proceed. But remember this, whether it was our testimony for the Electoral College case, whether it was what the January 6th committee put forth and what you're hearing today, overwhelmingly coming from the Republicans.''
- But the consistent testimony of former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who Pelosi had ceremoniously fired despite his vigilance and persistence on January 6, exposes why the ex-Speaker's narrative breaks down in many key aspects.
- Sund, shunned by much of the corporate media and by the January 6 committee, despite his unique perspective into the events of January 6, appeared on ''Tucker on Twitter'' and laid bare Pelosi's failures during the Capitol Riots with a clear, credible, and incisive account.
- ''Big picture, just to restate,'' Tucker said. ''You've seen many things like this, and as you just said, this was very different. This was handled very differently. By whom?''
- ''By the intelligence. I'd say one, by the intelligence agency, two by the military,'' Sund responded. ''So the reason why I say the military, think of this, by federal law, Congress passed a law that requires me to go to the Sergeant at Arms, Capitol Police Board, in advance of an event and to request federal resources such as the National Guard.''
- ''So, Congress passed the law,'' he said. ''It's 2 US Code 1970. Look it up. Just make sure you look it up before December 22 when they changed it. So what was in effect on the 6th? That requires me to go and get approval for bringing in National Guard or federal assistance in advance. I have to go to the Capitol Police Board and get approval from congressional leadership in advance like I did on January 3rd. I'm denied twice because of 'optics' and because the intelligence didn't support it. So think about that.''
- ''Let me ask you, who made that decision?'' Tucker asked. ''Who denied you?''
- ''I was denied by Paul Irving, House Sergeant at Arms, and also Mike Stenger, Senate Sergeant at Arms,'' Sund responded. ''January 3rd.''
- ''Who do they work for?'' Tucker asked.
- ''It would've been working for Pelosi on the House side,'' Sund said. ''Pelosi was the number one boss, and then McConnell on the Senate side.''
- ''So effectively Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi shut down your request,'' Tucker remarked.
- ''My requests were shut down,'' Sund continued. ''One because of 'optics,' which is interesting. You're going to hear that term come up a couple more times. Optics over the look of the National Guard on the Hill. But yeah, and the Capitol Police Board. I mean, it's unbelievable that I'm the only Chief of Police in the United States that has a law preventing me. Not just regulations, rules, that say I got to go and get approval to bring in the National Guard. A law.''
- ''So that's crazy that Congress is going to pass a law that controls what I can do to protect the Capitol, and even in emergency, so think of this, even while we're under attack, I have to go to those same two people to request the National Guard to be brought in,'' he noted.
- ''I have 340 National Guard that have been activated,'' he remarked. ''At least 150 to 180 of those are in the city, many of them within eyesight of the Capitol. We got to come under attack at 12:53, 12:55. I called the Washington D.C. Police Department. I talked to their assistant chief, Jeff Carroll, thank God I had talked to him at 10:59 in the morning and asked him if he could possibly put some additional resource on Constitution Avenue.''
- ''And he had some CDU platoons up there called him, said, 'Hey, please send those in right away.' Because we knew as soon as they came up to their West front, they started attacking. It was going to be bad. 12:58. I make my first call to the Sergeant at Arms asking, saying, 'Hey, it's bad. We need assistance. I need a declaration of emergency. I need to bring in the military immediately. And federal resources.' ''
- ''I'm told by Paul Irving, quote, 'I'm going to run up the chain. I'll get back to you','' Sund said.
- ''Chain is Pelosi'... his chain would be up to Nancy Pelosi,'' Sund remarked. ''He didn't have to do that, but he wouldn't give me authorization. The law says in emergency he can grant me authorization, but he didn't. He said he'd run up the chain.''
- ''My next call was over to Mike Stenger,'' Sund went on. ''He's now with the Chairman of the Capitol Police Board, told him the same thing. We're getting our asses handed to us on the West front. I need federal resources. He says, 'what did Paul tell you?' He said, 'he's running it up the chain,' goes, 'let's wait to hear what we hear from Paul.'''
- ''For the next 71 minutes, I make 32 calls. I'm in the command center. I'm calling my partner agencies, and by law, one of the first people to offer assistance was United States Secret Service. And by law, I shouldn't have requested their assistance. I shouldn't until I had approval. But I'm looking at my men and women having their asses handed to them and my first thought was, 'f*ck it, I will take whatever discipline there is. Send me whatever you got.'''
- ''That's the one text Secret Service turned over,'' Sund remarked. ''You know how they lost all their texts? It's the text between their Chief Sullivan and myself. Thank God for him.''
- ''So you make this call immediately, immediately to the House Sergeant Arms, Mr. Irving, who reports to Nancy Pelosi,' Tucker commented. He says, 'I'll call Pelosi'.'' He says, 'I'm running up the chain. Running up the chain. But that is the chain.''
- ''I want to tell you exactly what said,'' Sund stated.
- ''What happens then? Does he get back to you?'' Tucker asked.
- ''So for the next 71 minutes, I make the 32 calls to a number of agencies,'' Sund replied. ''11 of those calls are follow-up calls. And look in the Senate combined report'... they have a great infographic of the call, after call, after call, after call'...
- ''Where are we on the approval? Where are we on the approval?'' he went on. ''He goes, any minute now. Any minute I'm going to get any minute. Finally, at 2:09, 71 minutes later, 2:09, I'm finally given approval. Think about that. 71 minutes later. I immediately call Mike Stenger, say, 'we've got approval.' I was so pissed off. I made sure that the watch commander, I'm in the command center. I yelled to Jon Wisham, the lieutenant, that's my watch commander. I said, Jon, mark the time as 2:10, I finally got approval for the National Guard. I was that mad.''
- ''What is the '-- I just want to pause on this for a minute,'' Tucker chimed in. ''That's it's almost unbelievable. So this is an event that Pelosi herself has likened to Pearl Harbor and 9/11, the worst thing that's ever happened on American soil. And she's in charge of allowing the National Guard to come in and respond, but she doesn't for 71 minutes. What is that?''
- ''I can't fathom why,'' Sund said. ''I mean, they had to have known what was going on. I was telling them how bad it was.''
- ''It was on TV,'' Tucker noted.
- ''It was on TV,'' Sund echoed. ''It was right outside of Mike Stenger's office, and they had a meeting in his office saying, 'Hey, where's the National Guard?' They're like, 'oh, we're trying to make' '-- the fighting's going on right outside his office and I'm still getting delayed.''
- ''This is an unbelievable story,'' Tucker remarked.
- ''Oh, it is,'' Sund agreed.
- ''Has anyone ever explained this?'' Tucker asked.
- ''It's verbatim in my book,'' Sund said. ''I have details. The whole chapter on January 6 is almost a hundred pages long.''
- There is further, independent documentation that Sund's version of events is the correct one.
- On January 7, 2021, one day after the Capitol Riots and amid the 2020 election's certification, the Associate Press issued a report corroborating the Capitol Police Chief's story.
- ''Three days before supporters of President Donald Trump rioted at the Capitol, the Pentagon asked the U.S Capitol Police if it needed National Guard manpower,'' the AP reported. ''And as the mob descended on the building Wednesday, Justice Department leaders reached out to offer up FBI agents. The police turned them down both times, according to senior defense officials and two people familiar with the matter.''
- ''Despite plenty of warnings of a possible insurrection and ample resources and time to prepare, the Capitol Police planned only for a free speech demonstration,'' the report noted.
- Thus, Nancy Pelosi's convenient historical revision of January 6 is is fundamentally contradicted in numerous ways by the various accounts of what happened that day.
- Since Nancy Pelosi was considered 'off limits' under the House's January 6 committee while she was Speaker of the House, she has largely been left free to weave her own version of events about what happened on January 6. And since Pelosi has not since been formally called by her Congressional successors to account for her actions during the Capitol Riots, it is as if she is daring the corporate media and the capitol's powerbrokers to hold her accountable.
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- House Democrat Joins Calls For Austin To Resign | The Daily Wire
- The chorus of people calling for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to resign over a secretive hospitalization added a Capitol Hill Democrat to their ranks on Wednesday.
- Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, joined with Republicans in releasing a statement expressing a lack of confidence in Austin and demanding that he step down.
- ''I have lost trust in Secretary Lloyd Austin's leadership of the Defense Department due to the lack of transparency about his recent medical treatment and its impact on the continuity of the chain of command,'' Deluzio said in a post to X.
- ''I have a solemn duty in Congress to conduct oversight of the Defense Department through my service on the House Armed Services Committee. That duty today requires me to call on Secretary Austin to resign,'' he added. ''I thank Secretary Austin for his leadership and years of dedicated service to the American people and wish him a speedy recovery.''
- Deluzio is an Iraq War veteran, voting rights attorney, and union organizer who first won his Pittsburgh-area district in the 2022 election, according to his congressional biography page. In the 2024 election, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee identified Deluzio as being one of the party's most vulnerable incumbents. As of now, the Cook Political Report considers his race competitive, but leaning in the Democrat's favor.
- GOP lawmakers and former President Donald Trump have already called for Austin to resign or be fired over the defense secretary going AWOL for days last week over what has since been revealed to have been a hospitalization for complications following a procedure to treat prostate cancer.
- ''At this dangerous time when American service members are under attack in Iraq and Syria, our closest partner and ally Israel is at war with Hamas terrorists, and the threat from Communist China is on the rise, it is critical that the Secretary of Defense has the full trust of the American people, Congress, and the White House,'' Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said in a statement.
- ''This concerning lack of transparency exemplifies a shocking lack of judgment and a significant national security threat,'' she added. ''There must be full accountability beginning with the immediate resignation of Secretary Austin and those that lied for him and a Congressional investigation into this dangerous dereliction of duty.''
- The White House has ordered a review of Cabinet protocols while the Department of Defense announced its own review of records and communications to examine what happened internally when Austin got hospitalized and to come up with recommendations on how to improve ''timely notification'' to the White House, Congress, and the public when ''certain authorities'' are transferred. In the GOP-led House, a panel has begun a ''formal inquiry'' while at least one member is trying to impeach the defense secretary.
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- Austin said in a statement over the weekend that he was on the mend and conceded that he could have ''done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed.'' He added, ''I commit to doing better. But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.''
- White House officials said this week that President Joe Biden has ''complete confidence'' in Austin and plans to keep the secretary in place through the remainder of his term despite it being ''not optimal'' that the commander in chief and other leaders did not know what happened for so long.
- Initial US employment reports overstated by 439,000 jobs in 2023
- There's something wrong with previous U.S. jobs reports.
- The government quietly erased 439,000 jobs through November 2023, a closer look at the numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.
- That means its initial jobs results were inflated by 439,000 positions, and the job market is not as healthy as the government suggests.
- Since the government wiped out 439,000 jobs after the fact, the total percentage of jobs created by the government last year is even higher.
- Increased government hiring has been driving the jobs numbers higher.
- This matters because U.S. jobs reports move the markets and U.S. Treasury yields.
- Plus, they are a significant factor in the Federal Reserve's decisions about the path of interest rate hikes and cuts. All that affects U.S. consumers' pocketbooks.
- ''Time to stop trading off the payroll data,'' tweeted David Rosenberg, founder of Rosenberg Research Associates.
- By his calculations, he says the downward revisions came to ''an epic 443,000,'' adding, ''more than 40% of payroll growth in 2023'' came from ''the fairy tale 'Birth-Death' model'' the BLS uses to ''guesstimate'' its jobs reports.
- The government quietly erased 439,000 jobs through November 2023, a closer look at the numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. Scharfsinn86Again, the government sector in December ranked high in job creation.
- It created 52,000 jobs in the final month of 2023.
- As FOX Business's Edward Lawrence points out, that brings the three-month average of jobs created by the government sector to 50,000 per month.
- Lawrence says Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su ''would not answer if this is sustainable when I pressed her.''
- The health care and social assistance sector, which relies heavily on money from government spending, created about 59,000 jobs.
- That means its initial jobs results were inflated by 439,000 positions, and the job market is not as healthy as the government suggests. AFP via Getty ImagesThe problem of overstated jobs numbers is not a new one.
- In August 2023, the BLS issued a preliminary revision for the 12 months through March 2023 showing U.S. job growth for that period was overstated by a net 306,000 jobs.
- That's 25,500 fewer jobs on average per month in that period.
- Private sector job creation also was adjusted lower by 358,000 in that period, while government payrolls were revised by an increase of 52,000.
- The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank in December 2022 also raised eyebrows when its algorithms predicted the BLS had overreported jobs growth by 1.1 million in the second quarter of that year.
- Since the government wiped out 439,000 jobs after the fact, the total percentage of jobs created by the government last year is even higher. HalfpointThe president, too, has been accused of taking too much credit for the job numbers.
- He claimed he created 13 million to 14 million jobs.
- Keep up with today's most important newsStay up on the very latest with Evening Update.
- But economists and market analysts have pointed out those were jobs the U.S. economy clawed back after pandemic shutdowns erased 22 million jobs.
- In reality, the economy under President Biden ''added back'' all the jobs lost in the pandemic and has ''created'' 4.86 million jobs since February 2020.
- Plus, the economy ''added back'' all the manufacturing jobs lost in the pandemic and ''created'' 201,000 manufacturing jobs.
- Just 6,000 were created in December 2023.
- Manufacturing jobs are highly important.
- They create a halo effect for other sectors, be it in the service industry or health care.
- The manufacturing sector has been in contraction for 14 straight months.
- Today, U.S. labor force participation is at a historically low 62.5%.
- As Edward Lawrence reports, the December jobs report shows 683,000 workers dropped out of the labor force.
- A record high 8.69 million people now hold multiple jobs to make ends meet.
- The economy lost 1.5 million full-time workers since June of last year, while adding 796,000 part-time workers.
- That means more workers are holding down multiple jobs to pay for a higher cost of living due to a cumulative 17.4% inflation rate under this White House.
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- BuzzFeed's 'Dire' Debt Problem
- By Kevin T. Dugan , staff writer at Intelligencer, who covers money and business Cheerier times. Photo: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for BuzzFeed Inc.
- In early 2021, BuzzFeed's CEO, Jonah Peretti, had a problem. He wanted to take the digital media company '-- one of the defining players of the internet's past 15 years '-- public through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, or SPAC. At the time, there was a SPAC craze on Wall Street, and the BuzzFeed deal was, at one point, slated to value the company at $1.5 billion while raising around $290 million in cash from investors. Bankers were hustling companies through these IPO-like mergers '-- a quick and relatively easy way to get billion-dollar-plus valuations (at least temporarily), all with less scrutiny from regulators or skeptical investors. (If this sounds to you like it would make for some bad outcomes, you'd be right.)
- To get that kind of valuation though, the company needed to be bigger, reaching more eyeballs and offering a larger scale to advertisers. Or as Peretti told the New York Times in 2018, ''A bigger digital media company'' would ''would probably be able to get paid more money.'' In late 2020, BuzzFeed bought HuffPost. In June of 2021, Peretti made an even bigger move by announcing the acquisition of Complex, a site for rap nerds and sneakerheads, for $300 million. He said that the Complex audience ''skews more male and more diverse than BuzzFeed,'' and ''will make our company stronger.'' But to complete the deal, Buzzfeed needed to borrow money '-- about $150 million altogether. A handful of hedge funds provided the credit as part of an arrangement that essentially gave Peretti more than three years to figure out a way to make it all work. The bill would come due in late 2024.
- BuzzFeed '-- once a media-industry success story, a shining example of the social internet in action '-- now faces a very uncertain future. As a public company, almost nothing has gone to plan: The SPAC cash dwindled from almost $290 million to about $16 million; the social-media networks that BuzzFeed relied on for a large share of its traffic pivoted to different kinds of content; investors fled, driving down the company's stock price by 98 percent and its overall market value to a tiny $37 million.
- But there may be no bigger existential issue for the company than the debt it used to complete its Complex deal. The IOUs are so expensive that Peretti has been left with only difficult options to keep the company afloat. ''This is debt, and anytime you've gotten debt on the books, you got to pay your bills,'' said Jacob Donnelly, an analyst who recently pointed out these debt problems on his site, A Media Operator. ''So that is where it starts to become questionable, and that's where all their scenarios start to become dire.''
- Corporate debt is all about the details, and the money that BuzzFeed borrowed came with a lot of catches '-- few of them likely to play out in the company's favor. The bonds are what's known as convertible, which means that, if the company's stock is trading above a given price '-- $12.50 in this case '-- at the time the bonds mature, they can be converted into shares with no repayment of the principal required. Unfortunately for Buzzfeed, with shares now trading at 26 cents, that scenario is functionally out of play. The bonds also pay the holders 8.5 percent a year and are redeemable for slightly more than the original loans '-- pushing the whole outstanding debt from the Complex deal up to roughly $200 million. This amount, as it stands, is due December 3.
- BuzzFeed does not have this kind of money. The company holds $42 million in cash, according to its last quarterly report. On top of that, it carries $33.8 million in other debts. In a situation like this, a Wall Street banker would likely come in and tell BuzzFeed that it needs to start selling off its assets. To some extent, that is happening. The Information reported last week that BuzzFeed is selling a significant portion of the Complex properties for more than $100 million '-- but that is about $50 million shy of what Peretti was hoping for. (Buzzfeed seems to be holding onto Hot Ones, the talk show where celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence have famously started crying while eating hot wings, and First We Feast, the show's parent site.) That would get Peretti close to what he needs '-- but how he would find enough money to keep the rest of his company intact and operating is an open question. ''From a business standpoint, it does make sense why they bought Complex '-- but I think they overpaid for it,'' one banker who's met with the company before said.
- How can they get out of this? It's not clear that Peretti has settled on a plan yet. The company already jettisoned its award-winning news division. Last March, Marcela Martin, then Buzzfeed's president, touted its AI-generated quizzes as a way to make money, citing a partnership with ''Scotts Miracle-Gro that uses AI to identify your plant's soulmate.'' (To date, AI quizzes haven't changed the big picture.) During its second-quarter earnings call, Peretti compared himself to a baker who could not sell his wares: ''I feel like we've figured out how to make some good cakes, but we still have to build out the bakery that can scale this and make more content experiences like this widely distributed across our network.'' Its third-quarter earning report was rough. Time spent on its sites was down 19 percent. BuzzFeed also saw a net loss of almost $14 million in the quarter, with advertising and content revenue down by roughly a third to less than $59 million.
- Peretti's ''most straightforward'' remaining option, according to Donnelly, is probably to keep selling off assets and to jettison his SPAC-era growth plans. HuffPost, First We Feast, and Hot Ones could, in theory, all be up for grabs. BuzzFeed also owns Tasty.co, a successful recipe-and-food site. But selling off hyperspecific brands like those can actually end up weakening BuzzFeed even more in the long run, said Donnelly. ''The big mistake that so many media companies have made is they didn't have a defined niche,'' he said. Another option could be selling off BuzzFeed's ad network, potentially valuable to another media company.
- Another possibility here could see BuzzFeed taken over by a very different kind of investor. To a large private-equity company, BuzzFeed's mounting losses could actually be attractive, said Craig Greiwe, the chief strategy officer for GoDigital, which made a run for Vice last year. ''A company that's shredding money still has value, but not the kind that anyone in news or journalism is thinking about,'' he said. If BuzzFeed lost money as part of a larger conglomerate, those net operating losses could turn into tax write-offs for the parent company, he said: ''The inherited company is just a tax shelter, not a news operation.''
- A spokeswoman for BuzzFeed declined to comment. On the quarterly earnings calls, though, BuzzFeed's executives acknowledged that the internet has changed, that Facebook no longer drives traffic and they're now competing with juggernauts like TikTok. The company has tried to grow a ''creator network'' of about 180 freelancers, Martin said in the spring, about the time that its news division shuttered. (The network is up to 227 creators as of December, according to figures provided by a spokeswoman after this story first ran.) One BuzzFeed employee familiar with their internal strategy said that the company is trying to entice creators to stay off competing platforms and on their own sites. Still, it's not clear how it will once again become an internet destination by copying the tech companies that supplanted it. What remains is financial engineering. The worst-case scenario, however unlikely, is that BuzzFeed defaults on its obligations, goes into bankruptcy protection and then tries to dig itself out. (If that sounds familiar, that's because Vice has been going through this process.)
- Another option for Peretti is to take the company private again. This would mean buying out shareholders, in addition to paying off creditors. But since BuzzFeed's stock is worth so little now, it wouldn't be that much more expensive. ''It doesn't make sense for them to be public with a $30 million market cap,'' said the banker who has met with BuzzFeed.
- Donnelly thinks BuzzFeed might try to negotiate with its creditors and get an extension to pay back the debt, even though that would likely pile more IOUs onto the company. ''The dream that BuzzFeed had by going public and buying Complex and, I imagine, buying other things '-- I think that dream is dead,'' Donnelly said. ''At this point, you're managing a much, much, much smaller business.''
- This story was updated to correct the amount of BuzzFeed's other outstanding debts, and to clarify when the Complex acquisition was announced. It had also been updated to show that the company's creator network has grown to 227 as of December, according to data provided by BuzzFeed after the story first ran.
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- BuzzFeed's 'Dire' Debt Problem
- SEC approves rule changes that pave the way for bitcoin ETFs
- The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved rule changes to allow the creation of bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S., a long-awaited move that will give regular investors access to the controversial and volatile cryptocurrency.
- The decision will likely lead to the conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which holds about $29 billion of the cryptocurrency, into an ETF, as well as the launch of competing funds from mainstream issuers like BlackRock's iShares and Fidelity. The first funds are poised to begin trading on Thursday.
- The approval may prove to be a landmark event in the adoption of cryptocurrency by mainstream finance, as the ETF structure gives institutions and financial advisors a familiar and regulated way to buy exposure to bitcoin.
- "We think that the SEC approval, should we and others get it, is a green light for institutions. We've been talking to quite a few of them, and they're much more interested now that the SEC effectively is paving the way," Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood said on CNBC's "Halftime Report" on Monday. Ark Invest has partnered with 21Shares on a proposed bitcoin fund.
- The decision comes after an official SEC social media account on Tuesday falsely said that bitcoin ETFs had been approved. The SEC said the account had been compromised.
- The regulator has for years opposed a so-called spot bitcoin fund, with several firms filing and then withdrawing applications for ETFs in the past. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has been an outspoken critic of crypto during his tenure.
- However, the regulator appeared to change course on the ETF question in 2023, possibly due in part to an August loss to Grayscale in a court decision which criticized the SEC for blocking bitcoin ETFs while allowing funds that track bitcoin futures.
- "Importantly, today's Commission action is cabined to ETPs holding one non-security commodity, bitcoin. It should in no way signal the Commission's willingness to approve listing standards for crypto asset securities. Nor does the approval signal anything about the Commission's views as to the status of other crypto assets under the federal securities laws or about the current state of non-compliance of certain crypto asset market participants with the federal securities laws," Gensler said in a statement Wednesday.
- Optimism around approval first re-emerged this year after asset management giant BlackRock filed an application in June, leading to a flood of applications from its rivals. The partnership of Ark Invest and 21Shares has the longest active filing, and a deadline for the SEC on the fund in January led many industry experts to expect that the first bitcoin ETFs would be approved shortly after the start of 2024.
- More than 10 different firms are now in the formal process toward a launch, with the competition to become one of the market leaders expected to include differing expense ratios and a heavy marketing blitz. Several firms have already cut their original proposed fee.
- It is not guaranteed that all applications will lead to a fund entering the market. The Cboe website on Wednesday afternoon indicated that several of the bitcoin ETFs would begin trading on its BZX exchange on Thursday.
- The anticipation of the ETF also appears to have boosted the price of bitcoin in recent months. Some crypto advocates believe that the arrival of bitcoin ETFs will unleash new demand for asset class from types of investors who were previously scared off by concerns about custody and the safety of crypto-specific exchanges.
- The approval of the ETFs comes after a year that saw major law enforcement action against crypto firms and industry leaders, including the conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and multiple actions against Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao.
- Natural Asset Companies | American Stewards
- Monetizing the Air We BreatheAbout NAC'S
- Natural Asset Companies are publicly tradable securities that hold rights to, and manage the productivity and ecological benefits of natural assets such as natural forests, marine areas and farmland.
- They place a value on natural processes, not based on traditional accounting principles .
- Update to Inappropriate content policy (February 2024) - Advertising Policies Help
- Google provides translated versions of our Help Center, though they are not meant to change the content of our policies. The English version is the official language we use to enforce our policies. To view this article in a different language, use the language dropdown at the bottom of the page.
- In February 2024, Google will update the Inappropriate content policy to clarify the definition of Sensitive Events.
- A "Sensitive Event" is an unforeseen event or development that creates significant risk to Google's ability to provide high quality, relevant information and ground truth, and reduce insensitive or exploitative content in prominent and monetized features. During a Sensitive Event, we may take a variety of actions to address these risks.
- Examples of Sensitive Events include events with significant social, cultural, or political impact, such as civil emergencies, natural disasters, public health emergencies, terrorism and related activities, conflict, or mass acts of violence
- Examples of what we prohibit (non-exhaustive):
- Products or services that exploit, dismiss, or condone the Sensitive Event, including price gouging or artificially inflating prices that prohibits/restricts access to vital supplies; sale of products or services which may be insufficient for the demand during a sensitive event Using keywords related to a sensitive event to attempt to drive additional traffic Claims that victims of a sensitive event were responsible for their own tragedy or similar instances of victim blaming; claims that victims of a sensitive event are not deserving of remedy or support; claims that victims from certain countries were responsible or deserving of a global public health crisis(Posted January 9, 2024)
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- Michelle Obama Has A Big Package For Democrats This Election Season | The Daily Caller
- Former first lady Michelle Obama revealed her huge package on a podcast Monday that could help Democrats hold onto the White House in 2024. She's ready to fill up Democrats' strategy sessions with a new twist on the same old tactics, as she and her husband prepare to double-team America with more fear and division.
- Dutch man sabotaged Iranian nuclear program without Dutch government's knowledge: report | NL Times
- In 2008, a Dutchman played a crucial role in the United States and Israeli-led operation to sabotage Iran's nuclear program. The then 36-year-old Erik van Sabben infiltrated an Iranian nuclear complex and released the infamous Stuxnet virus, paralyzing the country's nuclear program. The AIVD recruited the man, but Dutch politicians knew nothing about the operation, the Volkskrant reports after investigating the sabotage for two years.
- A few years ago, the Volkskrant revealed that the Dutch intelligence services AIVD and MIVD had recruited the infiltrator in this sabotage operation. But at the time, it was believed to have been an Iranian engineer. In the meantime, the newspaper continued to investigate the matter, speaking to dozens of people involved, including 19 employees of the AIVD and MIVD.
- They told the newspaper that Dutchman Van Sabben infiltrated the underground nuclear complex in the city of Natanz and installed equipment infected with the highly sophisticated Stuxnet virus. According to the newspaper, the software cost over a billion dollars to develop. It caused a large number of nuclear centrifuges to break down, delaying the nuclear program by several years, according to estimates.
- No one in the Netherlands knew that this new type of cyber weapon was being used in the operation, the Volkskrant wrote. According to the investigative journalists, the intelligence services knew they were participating in the sabotage of the Iranian nuclear program but not that their agent was bringing in Stuxnet. ''The Americans used us,'' one intelligence source told the Volkskrant.
- Strikingly, the Balkenede IV Cabinet apparently was not informed about the operation at all. According to the newspaper, the Stiekem committee, which translates to ''secret committee," where the largest political parties are informed about the intelligence services' actions, also knew nothing about the Netherlands participating in this operation.
- Van Sabben immediately left Iran after successfully sabotaging the country's nuclear program, the researchers concluded. He died two weeks later in a motorcycle accident near his home in Dubai. Nothing points to foul play, the Volkskrant said after speaking with people at the crash scene. Though, an anonymous MIVD employee told the newspaper that Van Sabben ''paid a high price.''
- Van Sabben was recruited by the AIVD in 2005, according to the newspaper. His technical background, many contacts in the region, and links with Iran - he already did business in Iran and was married to an Iranian woman with family in the country - made him ideal for the mission.
- After his death, an article in the United Arab Emirates newspaper The National praised Van Sabben as an engineer who made an important contribution to the Gulf State. The article noted that he traveled a lot for his work, mentioning Iran along with Sudan, Yemen, and East Africa. According to the Volkskrant, Van Sabben released Stuxnet into the Natanz nuclear complex during one of those trips to Iran. The virus was likely in a water pump that Van Sabben had installed there.
- It is unclear whether the Dutchman knew about his role in the sabotage operation, the Volkskrant wrote.
- Several parliamentarians demanded clarification about the operation, including why the government and parliament did not know about it. The intelligence services told the newspaper they cannot comment substantively on the publication. An anonymous executive at the AIVD said that the government may have deliberately not been informed of the operation due to the potential political consequences. It was customary to ''sweep the Prime Minister's doorstep clean,'' they said.
- Norman Lear Converted to Catholicism Before His Death at 101. '' Creative Minority Report
- Norman Lear, the famous writer and producer, behind such classic television hits such as ''All in the Family'' and ''The Jeffersons'' converted to Catholicism last year at 100 years old.
- I love hearing news like this.
- PJ Media: While some of his critics characterized Lear as a classic example of a Jewish agnostic, in 2022, in what might seem an unexpected move, Lear embraced the Catholic Faith and was baptized by a priest from the Dominican House of Studies, a source familiar with the situation told PJ Media. Lear was inspired by one of his daughters, who converted while at Harvard. Despite Lear's many controversial views and activities over the years, as with his comedies and political activism, he kept an open mind and, even at 100, demonstrated a willingness to change course, sometimes in a very surprising way.
- Arizona Allows Noncitizens to Vote in Federal Elections (With a Wink and a Nod) '' HotAir
- With a wink and a nod, the State of Arizona allows noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
- No, I am not joking or exaggerating. It is right there on their voter eligibility page.
- A person must be a U.S. citizen in order to register and vote.
- A person who submits valid proof of citizenship with his or her voter registration form (regardless of the type of form submitted) is entitled to vote in all federal, state, county and local elections in which he or she is eligible. The voter registration form otherwise must be sufficiently complete.
- A person is not required to submit proof of citizenship with the voter registration form, but failure to do so means the person will only be eligible to vote in federal elections (known as being a ''federal only'' voter). A ''federal only'' voter will become eligible to vote a ''full ballot'' in all federal, state, county and local elections if he or she later provides valid proof of citizenship to the appropriate County Recorder's office.
- Federal only voters may use the Federal Voter Registration form, available here:
- You must be a citizen to vote. Wink wink, nod, nod. Really, you must!
- But if you aren't, we'll let you vote in federal elections, such as for Congress, Senator, and President of the United States. No questions asked.
- To do otherwise, you see, would be voter suppression. Really, it would be!
- There are a lot of well-meaning people who honestly believe that the border policies pursued by the Democrats are all about compassion, decency, and a sincere desire to help oppressed people from around the world.
- Bulls**t. This is raw politics. Joe Biden has opened the floodgates and is importing somewhere between 8-12 million new illegal immigrants into the country. There is going to be massive voter fraud in the next election. The way that they are accomplishing this is making it nearly impossible to track down who was eligible to vote and who wasn't.
- Ballots will be distributed like Monopoly money, collected by ''ballot harvesters,'' and counted by corrupt local officials, and they hope that by doing so, they can eke out a victory or better than that.
- Do the illegal immigrants streaming into the country know they are part of this scheme? Most likely not.
- Will most of them participate in it? Probably not. It's not like most of them came into the country as willing participants in a scheme to steal federal elections.
- But will the flood of illegal aliens, many of whom are getting driver's licenses in states like my own, Minnesota''19 states and the District of Columbia''be used to rig the vote? Certainly, throw in motor voter and lots of illegals will be automatically registered to vote, even if they don't intend to. Ballots will be sent, collected by operatives, and returned.
- It may be easier in some places than others. It will probably be haphazard.
- But our elections are sometimes so tight that it can make a huge difference- the difference between Joe Biden winning or losing the electoral college.
- The only barrier to a scheme like this in many places is the integrity of the people running the process. And with the integrity of the people in charge and $5, you can buy a Starbucks latte.
- Perhaps this explains why Democrats are now ticked off that illegal aliens are showing up in Blue states and cities where they cost real money but provide no electoral help. Those regions are already locked in for the Democrats.
- They need the votes in the Red states, not Chicago!
- Do I sound paranoid? Perhaps. But look again at the rules for voting in Arizona. They are happy to hand a federal ballot to a noncitizen.
- Think about it. And weep for our country.
- Seems like an easy.. and apparently legal .. way for foreign adversaries to conduct an insurrection
- '... Meaning of insurrection in English:.."an organized attempt by a group of people to defeat their government and take control of their country"..
- '-- Don Penim (@Don_Penim) January 9, 2024
- UPDATE #2: I have a new piece with a deeper dive into this issue, and why it is not an Arizona-specific problem but a national one.
- Trending on HotAir Videos
- TikTok: Chinese ''Trojan Horse'' Is Run by State Department Officials
- Amid a national hysteria claiming the popular video-sharing app is a Chinese Trojan Horse, a MintPress News investigation has found dozens of ex-U.S. State Department officials working in key positions at TikTok. Many more individuals with backgrounds in the FBI, CIA and other departments of the national security state also hold influential posts at the social media giant, affecting the content that over one billion users see.
- While American politicians demand the app be banned on national security grounds, try to force through an internet surveillance act that would turn the country into an Orwellian state, make clueless statements about how TikTok is dangerous because it connects to your Wi-Fi, it is possible that TikTok is already much closer to Washington than it is to Beijing.
- State Department-affiliated mediaFor quite some time, TikTok has been recruiting former State Department officials to run its operations. The company's head of data public policy for Europe, for example, is Jade Nester. Before being recruited for that influential role, Nester was a senior official in Washington, serving for four years as the State Department's director of Internet public policy.
- Mariola Janik, meanwhile, left a long and fruitful career in the government to work for TikTok. Starting out at the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Janik became a career diplomat in the State Department before moving to the Department of Homeland Security. In September, however, she left the government to immediately take up the position of TikTok's trust and safety program manager, a job that will inevitably include removing content and reshaping algorithms.
- While there is no suggestion that Janik is anything other than a model employee, the fact that a U.S. government agent walked into such an influential position at the social media giant should be cause for concern. If, for instance, a high Chinese official was hired to influence what the U.S. public saw in their social media feeds, it would likely be the centerpiece of the TikTok furor currently gripping Washington.
- Janik is not the only former security official working on TikTok's trust and safety team, however. Between 2008 and 2021, Christian Cardona enjoyed a distinguished career at the State Department, serving in Poland, Turkey and Oman, and was in the thick of U.S. interventionism in the Middle East. Between 2012 and 2013, he was an assistant to the U.S. ambassador in Kabul. He later left that role to become the political and military affairs manager for Iran.
- In the summer of 2021, he went straight from his top State Department job to become product policy manager for trust and safety at TikTok, a position that, on paper, he appears completely unqualified for. Earlier this year, Cardona left the company.
- Another influential individual at TikTok is recruiting coordinator Katrina Villacisneros. Yet before she was choosing whom the company hires, Villacisneros worked at the State Department's Office of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs. And until 2021, she was part of Army Cyber Command, the U.S. military unit that oversees cyberattacks and information warfare online.
- Other TikTok employees with long histories in the U.S. national security state include: Brad Earman, global lead of criminal and civil investigations, who spent 21 years as a special agent in the Air Force Office of Special Investigation and also worked as a program manager for antiterrorism at the State Department; and Ryan Walsh, escalations management lead for trust and safety at TikTok, who, until 2020, was the government's senior advisor for digital strategy. A central part of Walsh's State Department job, his own r(C)sum(C) notes, was ''advanc[ing] supportive narratives'' for the U.S. and NATO online.
- Ryan Walsh is illustrative of the wave of government employees attempting to manipulate the global town square moving to the private sectorWalsh, therefore, is illustrative of a broader wave of individuals who have moved from governments attempting to manipulate the global town square to private companies where they are entrusted to keep the public safe from exactly the sort of state-backed influence operations their former colleagues are orchestrating. In short, then, this system, whereby recently retired government officials decide what the world sees (and does not see) online, is one step removed from state censorship on a global level.
- For all the talk of digital influence operations emanating from Russia or other U.S. adversaries, the United States is surely the worst offender when it comes to manipulating public opinion online. It is known, for instance, that the Department of Defense employs an army of at least 60,000 people whose job is to influence the public sphere, most of whom serve as ''keyboard warriors'' and trolls aiming to promote U.S. government or military interests. And earlier this year, the Twitter Files exposed how social media giants collaborated with the Pentagon to help run online influence operations and fake news campaigns aimed at regime change in the Middle East.
- Don't mess with Project TexasThe influx of State Department officials into TikTok's upper ranks is a consequence of ''Project Texas,'' an initiative the company began in 2020 in the hopes of avoiding being banned altogether in the United States. During his time in office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo led the charge to shut the platform down, frequently labeling it a ''spying app'' and a ''propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party.''
- It was widely reported that the U.S. government had forced the sale of TikTok to Walmart and then Microsoft. But in late 2020, as Project Texas began, those deals mysteriously fell through, and the rhetoric about the dangers of TikTok from officials evaporated.
- Project Texas is a $1.5 billion security operation to move the company's data to Austin. In doing so, it announced that it was partnering with tech giant Oracle, a corporation that, as MintPress has reported on, is the CIA in all but name.
- Evidently, Project Texas also secretly included hiring all manner of U.S. national security state personnel to oversee the company's operations '' and not just from the State Department. Rebecca Pober, for instance, moved straight from her post in strategy and policy at the Pentagon to become a U.S. policy manager at TikTok.
- A number of influential TikTok employees are former longtime CIA agents. Alex S., the company's former trust and safety/global content integrity policy lead, was previously a leadership analyst at agency headquarters in Langley, VA, for almost nine years. Before the CIA, she worked for the State Department and U.S. Pacific Command.
- Casey Getz, meanwhile, spent nearly 11 years at the CIA, rising to become branch chief, before later being hired by TikTok to work on data security and security integration. He was also previously a director for cybersecurity at the National Security Council at the White House.
- And according to the r(C)sum(C) of TikTok trust and safety manager Beau Patteson, not only was he a CIA targeting analyst until 2020, he is also a currently serving military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army while moonlighting at the social media behemoth.
- Indeed, virtually every branch of the national security state is present at TikTok. Before becoming the company's trust and safety manager, Kathryn Grant spent more than three years working at the White House before moving to the National Security Council and then the Department of Energy. Her TikTok trust and safety colleague Victoria McCullough has a similarly state-heavy background, working two years at the Department of Homeland Security before joining Grant at the White House, where she was an associate director in the Office of Public Engagement. And TikTok crisis manager Jim Ammons served for more than 21 years as a unit chief in the FBI.
- Meanwhile, a 2022 MintPress study described what it called a ''NATO-to-TikTok-pipeline'' whereby dozens of officials from the military alliance had also been given jobs in key fields within the company. Perhaps the most startling of these hires were Greg Andersen, whose own LinkedIn profile noted that he worked on ''psychological operations'' for NATO immediately before moving to work in social media.
- Former state officials are overwhelmingly being appointed to politically sensitive positions such as security and trust and safety, rather than more neutral departments like customer service and sales. While this article is not specifically arguing that any of the individuals listed here are unworthy of consideration for their posts, taken as a whole, together with dozens of other spooks, spies and mandarins not profiled here, it is difficult to understand this phenomenon other than as a powerplay from the U.S. government to try to establish control over one of the world's most popular and fastest growing social media companies.
- Political TheaterTikTok is an immensely influential medium shaping how the world understands itself, particularly for younger generations. A 2021 study found that 31% of people aged between 18 and 24 worldwide had used the app in the past week, with 9% using it as a primary source of news.
- This is, no doubt, part of the reason U.S. officials are so concerned with it. Last month, TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi was brought before Congress and challenged on his company's connections to the People's Republic of China. Though TikTok is a subsidiary of Chinese firm ByteDance, it insists it operates as an independent entity and that it has never shared any user data with Beijing.
- Nevertheless, questions persist about the app's practices and security features. Unfortunately, the opportunity to interrogate Chew on more substantive issues was overtaken by political grandstanding from elected officials, who seemed uninterested in his answers and more concerned with scoring political points or achieving quotable soundbites.
- There was also more than an undertone of xenophobia throughout the events, with Chew, on multiple occasions, having to remind his questioners that he was not, in fact, Chinese, only for them to ignore him and continue to insinuate that he was. Republican senator Tom Cotton went further, demanding that Chew be deported and insisting that ''We can't allow Chinese citizens, or anyone affiliated with the [Communist Party of China], to own one more inch of American soil'' '' a statement that evokes memories of the Chinese Exclusion Act, a racist immigration bill that was only fully repudiated in the 1960s. Chew is from Singapore.
- @tiktok_us CEO Shou Chew's disgraceful testimony today is beneath contempt.
- He should be deported immediately and never again allowed to re-enter our country.
- '-- Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) March 24, 2023
- ''We're committed to providing a safe, secure platform that fosters an inclusive place for our amazing, diverse communities to call home. It's a shame today's conversation felt rooted in xenophobia,'' wrote TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas.
- Chew was also subjected to bizarre questioning from politicians entirely ignorant of how modern telecommunications work. Congressman Richard Hudson (R'--NC) asked whether TikTok could access Wi-Fi networks, a question so obvious it left Chew assuming he had misunderstood the question. Meanwhile, Buddy Carter (R'--GA) demanded to know whether the app utilized users' phone cameras to track dilation in their eyes so that they could market shocking videos more effectively to them. Watching ''clueless'' Congresspersons asking boomer questions was ''hard to watch,'' concluded tech magazine Futurism.
- Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) asks TikTok CEO Shou Chew: ''Does TikTok access the home WiFi network?'' https://t.co/Fmv8MED8z0 pic.twitter.com/xwrYuSn3jE
- '-- Bloomberg (@business) March 23, 2023
- 20 years for watching a dance videoNevertheless, these ignorant politicians are currently legislating an anti-TikTok bill that would forever change the internet and prove a death knell to privacy online.
- ''HR 1153, the DATA Act, which recently passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is almost surreal in some of its implications,'' wrote the Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Not only would TikTok (and possibly other large Chinese apps like WeChat) be banned, but accessing them using a VPN would become a criminal federal offense and subject to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.
- The bill also gives the government the power to secretly and permanently spy on any individual it suspects of interacting with foreign adversaries. While it names those adversaries as including China, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Russia and North Korea, it also notes that the list can be changed at any time. Thus, the bill would blow apart freedom of speech online and implement some of the most Draconian, authoritarian internet laws anywhere on the planet, far more strict than even the famously censorious Chinese government.
- Spies in our midstSome of the furor over TikTok's supposed threat has been stoked artificially by its rivals. Facebook, for example, is known to have contracted a PR firm to carry out a nationwide smear campaign against TikTok, presenting the platform as a ''threat to children'' and placing articles talking up the dangers of its competitors in newspapers across the country.
- Yet Facebook itself has been subject to the government TikTok treatment. In 2018, Mark Zuckerberg was hauled before Congress and grilled for hours on the dangers of his platform. Elected officials discussed breaking the company up or even imprisoning Zuckerberg for his role in promoting misinformation. If the goal was to intimidate him into giving up editorial control of the platform, then it may have worked. Only weeks after the inquest, Facebook announced that it was ''partnering'' with the Atlantic Council, an arm of NATO, whereby the group would now influence what billions of people saw '' and did not see '' in their news feeds.
- The Atlantic Council has long been among the most hawkish organizations on China and Russia, publishing lurid reports about the extent of the latter's penetration of Western society. It is also strongly suspected that the Atlantic Council was involved in the infamous ''Prop or Not'' group, a shadowy organization that labeled hundreds of alternative media outlets (including MintPress News) as likely Russian propaganda.
- As a result of recent algorithm changes, Facebook traffic to alternative news websites has been completely throttled, as the platform strongly privileges establishment media or conservative outlets. MintPress, for instance, has lost over 99% of its Facebook traffic. For the state, this sort of corporate algorithmic strangulation is far more effective than outright government bans; it achieves virtually the same suppression metrics while provoking far less public outrage.
- Facebook itself is teeming with agents from the national security state. Aaron Berman, for instance, who leads the team that is ultimately in charge of content moderation for the platform, was, until 2019, a high-ranking member of the CIA, writing the president's daily briefings until he jumped ship to Facebook.
- Another Berman, Deborah, spent nearly a decade as an intelligence analyst at Langley. As a Syria specialist, it is quite possible she was part of the CIA's ongoing dirty war against the country, whereby the agency funded, trained and maintained an army of jihadists to overthrow the Assad government. In early 2022, however, she left the CIA to take up a position managing Meta's trust and safety team.
- The Bermans are just two of dozens of CIA agents now running Facebook's worldwide operations that were profiled in a previous MintPress investigation, ''Meet the Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook's Content Policy.''
- Facebook and TikTok are far from outliers, however. It is sometimes difficult to find a senior Google employee who was not previously a member of the CIA; Twitter has been hiring an alarming number of FBI agents to run its operations; and Reddit mysteriously appointed hawkish Atlantic Council member Jessica Ashooh to become its director of operations, despite her having little to no relevant experience.
- Red MenaceWhile it was once seen as an endless source of cheap labor and a potential ally, over the past decade, Washington's position on China has radically changed. Beginning with the Obama administration's 2012 ''Pivot to Asia,'' the U.S. began preparing to go to war with Beijing in order to prevent its economic rise.
- To date, it has encircled China with 400 military bases and attempted to form what many have called an ''Asian NATO'' '' a military alliance of states seeking to counter Beijing. One willing participant is Australia, which has recently agreed (under considerable American pressure) to purchase a fleet of nuclear submarines, potentially costing a quarter-trillion U.S. dollars. This is all despite the fact that China is Australia's largest trading partner.
- The United States has used sanctions and other acts of economic warfare in its attempt to slow down China's seemingly inevitable rise. Last year, it banned Chinese semiconductor chips from American products and blocked electronics giant Huawei from operating in the U.S.
- Furthermore, It has engaged in a massive propaganda war against Beijing, painting the country as a menace. Domestically, the propaganda has worked; only five years ago, a majority of Americans held positive opinions about China. Today, that figure has crashed to an all-time low of 15%.
- Washington has supported all manner of separatist groups in China, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and attempted to highlight China's mistreatment of its minority populations on a world stage. Its efforts have largely fallen on deaf ears internationally as countries in the Global South continue to pursue ever-deeper economic, cultural and political ties with the emerging superpower. Many nations see Chinese cooperation coming with comparatively few strings attached and no threat of a military response, unlike working with the United States.
- Even more concerning for war planners in Washington is the rapid advancement of the de-dollarization trend worldwide. In past weeks, countries around the world have announced that they are moving away from using the dollar for international trade, a move that will drastically weaken the U.S. economically and reduce its ability to use sanctions as a means of coercion.
- It is in this light, then, that we should see the latest TikTok furor in Congress. A global empire is on the decline and is desperately attempting to maintain its hold over the worldwide means of communication. TikTok certainly does record an alarming amount of personal data on its users, and there needs to be a debate on the ethics and implications of such practices. But this data model is a little different from that of its competitors.
- With billions of users worldwide, big social media companies hold vastly more power to influence global public opinion than even the largest of old media empires. The U.S. clearly understands that he who controls the algorithm controls minds. In decades gone by, the State Department and the CIA spent fortunes creating networks of hundreds of paid informants in newsrooms across America and even secretly set up hundreds of newspapers and magazines to plant information (or misinformation) to alter public opinion. Today, however, for the U.S. government, it is much quicker and simpler to place a few operatives into key positions in big tech companies '' and they can have a much greater effect.
- Thus, Americans should not fear that TikTok is some sort of Communist Chinese Trojan Horse; it is already being run by the State Department.
- Feature photo | Illustration by MintPress News
- Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams.
- Gabriel Attal - Wikipedia
- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Prime Minister of France since 2024
- Gabriel Attal ( French pronunciation: [ÉabÊijÉl atal] ; born 16 March 1989) is a French politician who has served as the Prime Minister of France since January 2024. A member of the Renaissance party, Attal rapidly rose up the political ranks following his election to the National Assembly in June 2017; he became the Junior Minister to the Minister of National Education and Youth in 2018, which made him the youngest person to serve in the Government of France, the Spokesperson of the Government in 2020, the Minister of Public Action and Accounts in 2022, and the Minister of National Education and Youth in 2023.
- On 9 January 2024, Attal was appointed by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, to replace lisabeth Borne as the Prime Minister of France. At the age of 34, he became the youngest person and the first openly gay person to serve as the Prime Minister of France as well as the ninth openly LGBT person and the youngest person at present to serve as a head of state or government in the world. He has been speculated as a potential contender in the 2027 French presidential election.[a]
- Early life and education [ edit ] Attal was born on 16 March 1989 in Clamart, le-de-France. He grew up in the 13th and 14th arrondissements (districts) of Paris with three sisters. His father, Yves Attal, was a lawyer and film producer of half Tunisian Jewish descent (on the paternal side) and half Alsatian Jewish descent (on the maternal side). Attal's mother, Marie de Couriss,[b] was of French and Greek-Russian ancestry, and worked as an employee of a film production company.[2][3] Attal was raised in his mother's religion of Orthodox Christianity.[4]
- Attal attended cole alsacienne, a private school in the 6th arrondissement. He then studied law at Panth(C)on-Assas University from 2008 to 2011, and then at Sciences Po in 2012, where he received a Master of Public Affairs. He also spent a year (2009''2010) working with ric de Chassey, director of the French Academy at Rome.[5]
- His political activity first began when he participated in the 2006 youth protests in France.[6] Taking up a place at Sciences Po in 2007, he created a committee for the support of ngrid Betancourt, the Franco-Colombian hostage held by the FARC.[7]
- Political career [ edit ] National advisory and municipal [ edit ] After an internship at the French National Assembly with Marisol Touraine during the 2012 presidential campaign, Attal worked for five years as an advisor to the Minister of Health, a role which involved parliamentary liaison and speechwriting.[8]
- In the 2014 municipal elections, Attal was placed fifth on the Socialist Party list. He was elected as one of the four Socialist Party councilors of Vanves and took over the lead of the opposition, after the resignation of the head of the socialist list.[9]
- Member of the National Assembly (2017''2018) [ edit ] Attal was elected to the French National Assembly on 18 June 2018, representing the Hauts-de-Seine's 10th constituency, winning out over the designated successor of Andr(C) Santini.[8][10]
- Attal was quickly considered one of the most talented new members of parliament, with Am(C)lie de Montchalin.[11] As a deputy of the National Assembly he became a member of the Committee on Cultural and Education Affairs, where he served as whip of the group La R(C)publique En Marche!.[12]
- In December 2017, Attal was appointed rapporteur on a bill on access to higher education.[13]
- Attal was named chairperson of La R(C)publique En Marche! in January 2018[14] and in September 2018, after the election of Richard Ferrand to the presidency of the National Assembly, he ran as a candidate to succeed him as president of the group La R(C)publiqe En Marche!, but withdrew his candidacy the day before the election when he was considered one of the three favourites.[15] He later endorsed Roland Lescure.[16]
- Member of the Government (2018''2024) [ edit ] Attal in 2019On 16 October 2018, Attal was appointed Secr(C)taire d'tat (junior minister) to the Minister of National Education and Youth Jean-Michel Blanquer. At 29, he was the youngest member of a government under the Fifth Republic, beating the previous record set by Fran§ois Baroin in 1995 by a few months. He was responsible for youth issues and setting up universal national service.[11] Attal was the government spokesperson under Prime Minister Jean Castex from 2020 to 2022.[17] He became Minister of Public Action and Accounts in the government of Prime Minister lisabeth Borne in May 2022.[18]
- In July 2023, Attal was appointed minister of national education and youth in the 2023 French government reshuffle.[19] At the age of 34, he became the youngest person to hold that office under the Fifth Republic.[20] In this position, he announced the ban on abayas under the "principle of secularism," extending a ban on religious symbols in French public schools that already included Christian crosses, Jewish Kippahs and Islamic veils.[21][22]
- Prime minister [ edit ] Following Borne's resignation as prime minister on 8 January 2024, media sources announced Attal as favourite to succeed her.[23] His appointment as Prime Minister was announced on 9 January 2024. At the age of 34, he became the youngest and first openly gay person to hold the office in France.[24]
- There has been speculation in the French media that Attal could be a contender in the 2027 presidential election.[25]
- Personal life [ edit ] Attal previously lived in a civil union with St(C)phane S(C)journ(C), a member of the European Parliament for LREM.[26] The relationship had ended by 2024.[4] When they were both attending the cole alsacienne, he had a relationship with singer Joyce Jonathan,[27] but Jonathan said that the relationship was merely "a joke between us" and "a playtime crush".[28]
- Attal said in a TV interview that he had been subjected to homophobic bullying at school.[4] In 2018, he was outed on Twitter by his former classmate Juan Branco.[29][30] He has also described being the target of homophobic and antisemitic hate speech on social media as a politician.[31]
- Notelist [ edit ] ^ Macron is not eligible for a third term in office; the president of France is only allowed two five-year terms in office and Macron was elected in 2017 and 2022. ^ When his parents divorced, Attal added de Couriss to his name.[1] See also [ edit ] 2017 French legislative electionList of openly LGBT heads of state and governmentLists of state leaders by ageSecond Philippe governmentReferences [ edit ] ^ "Critique des m(C)dias, attaques sur Macron... On a lu "Cr(C)puscule", le livre "censur(C)" de Juan Branco". France Info (in French). 25 April 2019. ^ Mathilde Siraud (1 March 2023). "Gabriel Attal, sur les traces de Macron ?". lepoint.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 21 July 2023 . Retrieved 21 July 2023 . . ^ Bancaud, Delphine (16 October 2018). "Qui est Gabriel Attal, le plus jeune membre d'un gouvernement de la Ve R(C)publique?" [Who is Gabriel Attal, the youngest member of a government of the Fifth Republic?] (in French). 20 Minutes. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023 . Retrieved 26 October 2018 . ^ a b c Goury-Laffont, Victor (9 January 2024). "Who is Gabriel Attal, France's new prime minister?". Politico Europe. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024 . Retrieved 9 January 2024 . ^ Baudais, Pierrick (20 December 2017). "Qui est Gabriel Attal, le futur porte-parole de la R(C)publique en marche?" [Who is Gabriel Attal, the future spokesperson for the Republic on the move?] (in French). Ouest-France. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023 . Retrieved 26 October 2018 . ^ Laurent Telo (13 April 2018). "Du Parti socialiste La R(C)publique en marche, la mue fulgurante de Gabriel Attal" [From the Socialist Party to La R(C)publique En Marche!, the dazzling transformation of Gabriel Attal]. Le Monde.fr (in French). Le Monde. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023 . Retrieved 26 October 2017 . ^ Jeudy, Bruno (20 August 2018). "Gabriel Attal : "Le jour o¹ je rencontre Ingrid Betancourt" " [Gabriel Attal: "The day I meet Ingrid Betancourt"] (in French). Paris Match. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023 . Retrieved 26 October 2018 . ^ a b "Qui est Gabriel Attal, votre d(C)put(C) (LREM) d'Issy-Vanves" [Who is Gabriel Attal, your deputy (LREM) of Issy-Vanves] (in French). Le Parisien. 19 June 2017. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019 . Retrieved 26 October 2018 . ^ Petitdemange, Am(C)lie (16 October 2018). "Gabriel Attal: un vingtenaire d(C)barque dans le gouvernement" [Gabriel Attal: a twenty-something arrives in the government] (in French). Les chos. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018 . Retrieved 26 October 2018 . ^ "Elections l(C)gislatives 2017" (in French). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 19 June 2017 . ^ a b Lemari(C), Alexandre (16 October 2018). "Gabriel Attal, Secretary of State at Blanquer" (in French). Le Monde. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019 . Retrieved 26 October 2018 . ^ Vigoureux, Caroline; Bertolus, Jean-J(C)r´me (13 September 2017). "Les whips, ces d(C)put(C)s LREM de l'ombre au r´le strat(C)gique" [The whips, these LREM deputies from the shadow to the strategic role] (in French). L'Opinion. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020 . Retrieved 26 October 2018 . ^ Stromboni, Camille; Lemari(C), Alexandre (4 December 2017). "Gabriel Attal : Il faudra ªtre tr¨s vigilant sur la rentr(C)e 2018 l'universit(C) >>" [Gabriel Attal: "It will be necessary to be very vigilant on the re-entry 2018 at the university"] (in French). Le Monde. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023 . Retrieved 26 October 2018 . ^ " "Un honneur": le d(C)put(C) Gabriel Attal sera le porte-parole de LREM en janvier" ["An honor": the MP Gabriel Attal will be the spokesperson of LREM in January] (in French). France Info. 20 December 2017. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023 . Retrieved 26 October 2018 . ^ Siraud, Mathilde (18 September 2018). "Pr(C)sidence du groupe LaREM l'Assembl(C)e : Attal et Bonnell jettent l'(C)ponge" [Presidency of the LREM Group in the Assembly: Attal and Bonnell throw in the towel] (in French). Le Figaro. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023 . Retrieved 26 October 2018 . ^ Boichot, Loris (14 September 2018). "Qui sont les sept macronistes qui veulent diriger les d(C)put(C)s LaREM apr¨s Ferrand?". Le Figaro. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023 . Retrieved 13 April 2020 . ^ "Gouvernement Castex en direct : Darmanin nomm(C) ministre de l'int(C)rieur, Dupond-Moretti garde des sceaux et Bachelot la culture". Le Monde (in French). 6 July 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020 . Retrieved 6 July 2020 . ^ Boiteau, Victor (20 May 2022). "Changement dans la continuit(C): Darmanin, Le Maire, Attal'... Ces ministres qui remettent §a dans le gouvernement Borne" (in French). Lib(C)ration. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022 . Retrieved 23 May 2022 . ^ "Macron sacks education, health ministers in mini-reshuffle". Politico. 20 July 2023. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024 . Retrieved 24 August 2023 . ^ de Villaines, Astrid; Garcia, milie; Toussay, Jade (20 July 2023). "Gabriel Attal ministre de l'ducation nationale, itin(C)raire d'un surdou(C) de la politique" (in French). HuffPost. Archived from the original on 1 September 2023 . Retrieved 27 August 2023 . ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (28 August 2023). "France to ban girls from wearing abayas in state schools". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023 . Retrieved 6 September 2023 . ^ "French education minister announces ban on religious symbols and clothes in schools". POLITICO. 27 August 2023. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024 . Retrieved 9 January 2024 . ^ "French PM resigns as Macron seeks to relaunch presidency". France 24. 8 January 2024. Archived from the original on 8 January 2024 . Retrieved 9 January 2024 . ^ Willsher, Kim (9 January 2024). "Who is Gabriel Attal, the French PM who climbed the ranks in record time?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024 . Retrieved 9 January 2024 . ^ "Attal: the 'new Macron' at helm of French government". France 24. 9 January 2024. ^ Biseau, Gr(C)goire (31 October 2021). "St(C)phane S(C)journ(C) et Gabriel Attal, un couple au cÅ'ur du pouvoir". Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. ^ Wolfstirn, Anastasia (9 January 2024). "Gabriel Attal : son histoire d'amour avec une c(C)l¨bre chanteuse". Gala (in French). ^ Lemarchand, Allan (30 June 2023). " "C'est une blague entre nous" : Joyce Jonathan revient sur son histoire d'amour avec Gabriel Attal". Gala (in French). Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. ^ Girard, Quentin (23 April 2019). "Gabriel Attal, de ses propres z¨les". Lib(C)ration (in French). Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. ^ "Juan Branco a-t-il une "haine quasi-obsessionnelle" l'endroit de Benjamin Griveaux?". Radio France Internationale (in French). 18 February 2020. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024 . Retrieved 28 August 2023 . ^ Sitbon, Shirli (31 July 2023). "Gabriel Attal: Barrage of antisemitic abuse for rising star of French politics". The Jewish Chronicle. External links [ edit ] Media related to Gabriel Attal at Wikimedia Commons
- Artisanal cobalt mining swallowing city in Democratic Republic of the Congo, satellite imagery shows - ABC News
- LONDON -- As officials around the world call for a transition to a greener economy, one city is being transformed to accommodate the growing demand for one important mineral: cobalt.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces an estimated 70% of the world's cobalt, and most of it comes from the city of Kolwezi. Cobalt, which is mainly produced as a byproduct of copper and nickel, was ignored for a long time in favor of those more in-demand minerals. But now, the world is turning to it for its essential role in lithium-ion batteries for phones and electric vehicles, or EVs.
- The Biden administration in January released a memorandum of understanding with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring Zambia, outlining plans to help strengthen the African countries' EV battery supply chain.
- Satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs shows the dramatic growth of copper and cobalt mines in and around Kolwezi over the last 5 years as demand has skyrocketed.
- Photos: The city of Kolwezi in satellite images from 2017 and 2022, shows the rapid expansion of cobalt mines.
- The mines aren't only growing around the city, they are often creeping into people's neighborhoods. These satellite images of the west of the city reveal entire streets have disappeared over the last few years.
- This rapid growth has changed the area as more land is conceded to mines. Ana¯s Tobalagba, a policy researcher for RAID, a corporate watchdog organization, said the expansion has caused problems.
- "A lot of the people who live on these lands have to be relocated. So they have to reinvent their livelihoods. And most of the time, you know, it's being faced with more and more poverty," she said.
- Photos: Satellite images taken from 2017-2022 show the expanding mine near Kolwezi, DRC. Credit: Planet Labs PBC
- This mining boom has also led many to turn to the industry for work. And while many work for established industrial mines and the large mining companies, many more work as artisanal miners, digging in informal pits alongside thousands in a cooperative without professional, large-scale equipment. Artisanal and small-scale mining are estimated to employ an estimated 200,000 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and over a million more are indirectly involved through trade and transport.
- A view of the open pit mine in downtown Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Oct. 13, 2022. Once a thriving neighborhood of neat houses and tree-shaded avenues, this district of the city of Kolwezi is now nearly destroyed.
- Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images
- But this shadow economy is often dangerous and rife with human rights violations, observers said. Artisanal mining is often done with no personal protective equipment, in chaotic conditions. Mine collapses have caused hundreds of deaths and injuries. In October 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor added lithium-ion batteries to a list of goods produced by child labor, specifically because of children involved in the mining of cobalt in the country.
- Siddharth Kara is a researcher in modern slavery and recently published a book on the cobalt rush. He said what he saw in Kolwezi shocked him more than anything he'd seen before, as "the severity and scale of human degradation and exploitation at the bottom of global supply chains, it just really shook me."
- At mine sites he visited, "people were caked in toxic filth, children caked in toxic grime and filth and scrounging in pits, trenches and tunnels to gather cobalt bearing ore and feed it up the supply chain," he said.
- Artisanal miners carry sacks of ore at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Oct. 12, 2022. Some 20,000 people work at Shabara in shifts of 5,000 at a time.
- Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images
- A 2020 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimated that between 18% and 30% of the cobalt produced by the Democratic Republic of the Congo is mined through artisanal mining. It is difficult to ascertain how -- and how much of -- this cobalt makes its way into the supply chain, and ultimately into the world's cellphones and EVs.
- The industrial mines and the global mining companies that own them are adamant their operations are free of artisanal mining products. Even so, many are involved in initiatives to formalize artisanal mining. This would mean working with cooperatives of artisanal miners, and the DRC government, to massively improve working conditions, and integrate artisanal cobalt into the supply chain in a sustainable way.
- David Sturmes is the strategic partnerships director for the Fair Cobalt Alliance. The FCA is an initiative working with mining companies and lithium-ion battery buyers like Tesla and Google, to improve the artisanal mining sector. It has worked with a Kolwezi mining cooperative to implement safety regulations, supply personal protective equipment, and eliminate child labor, at this cooperative's mine site.
- Dela wa Monga, an artisanal miner, holds a cobalt stone at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Oct. 12, 2022.
- Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images
- Sturmes said he believes artisanal mining could be an opportunity if reformed, "if you actually invested into more productive, more efficient and safer working conditions. You could unleash an unfathomable potential."
- However, the initiative remains targeted, working with one cooperative to understand the results of investment before expanding the program. Sturmes said, "it's a very complex and challenging environment to operate in," adding that it will take years, and massive investment to scale up.
- Photos: The Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi, DRC, in satellite images from 2017 and 2022.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo government announced a centralized program to formalize artisanal mining 4 years ago, a plan still in its conceptual phase. Tobalagba, the RAID policy researcher, said she is hopeful that the United States' announcement to help with investment in the region will spur the local government to move forward and "develop their own infrastructures and their own manufacturing, their own refining of the minerals that they're producing."
- Tobalagba said she worries that the situation as it stands now is unsustainable, "we're thinking about this energy transition as being something that will solve the environmental problems that the world is facing. But in reality, what's happening is the problem is just shifting from one part of the world to another."
- The Little House on the Prairie Podcast: Walnut GroveCast
- The Prairie ReviewTop PicksPrankster With Little Regard For Environment Litters December 20, 2023December 20, 2023 Kelly MielkeWalnut Grove, Minn.-Recent reports following a prank Laura Ingalls executed have townsfolk in Walnut Grove noticing that the girl apparently
- Speaker Johnson Announces $1.66 Trillion Bipartisan Package To Avert Shutdown | ZeroHedge
- House Speaker Mike Johnson told colleagues on Sunday that Congressional negotiators have reached a topline spending figure to avert a federal government shutdown on Jan. 19 for some government agencies, and Feb. 2 for others.
- According to a Sunday "Dear Colleague" letter, the topline deal - which mostly adheres to a deal reached between the White House and former speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), limits discretionary spending to $1.66 trillion overall. It also secures $16 billion in additional spending cuts vs. the McCarthy deal, and is around $30 billion less than what Senate Democrats wanted.
- "This represents the most favorable budget agreement Republicans have achieved in over a decade," wrote Johnson, adding "As has been widely reported, a list of extra-statutory adjustments was agreed upon by negotiators last summer. The agreement today achieves key modifications to the June framework that will secure more than $16 billion in additional spending cuts to offset the discretionary spending levels."
- Breaking it down, the deal sets aside $886.3 billion for defense spending, $772.7 billion in domestic discretionary spending, and rescinds $6.1 billion in coronavirus emergency spending authority. The deal also accelerates $20 billion in cuts from the $80 billion IRS funding allocated under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
- "The bipartisan funding framework congressional leaders have reached moves us one step closer to preventing a needless government shutdown and protecting important national priorities," President Biden's staff said in a statement assigned to the 81-year-old. "It reflects the funding levels that I negotiated with both parties and signed into law last spring. It rejects deep cuts to programs hard-working families count on, and provides a path to passing full-year funding bills that deliver for the American people and are free of any extreme policies."
- House Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a statement in support of the new agreement.
- "It will also allow us to keep the investments for hardworking American families secured by the legislative achievements of President Biden and Congressional Democrats," the pair said. "Finally, we have made clear to Speaker Mike Johnson that Democrats will not support including poison pill policy changes in any of the twelve appropriations bills put before the Congress."
- Let's see if this sticks...
- Johnson and the Democrats' biggest challenge will be House conservatives, who have opposed earlier debt ceiling agreements over a lack of spending offsets.
- That said, this agreement is separate from funding for Israel and Ukraine - a growing sticking point among some Republicans.
- As Mike Shedlock from MishTalk.com noted on Saturday, many problems remain.
- What's the Real Deadline?
- January 19 is less than two weeks away. The real deadline is allegedly February 3.
- Since Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is not incessantly yapping over this, I suspect the real deadline is further away.
- Republicans can always punt with another ''temporary'' and ''clean'' continuing resolution. And that would not surprise me in the least. It would buy everyone time to avoid budget cuts that would kick in on April 30.
- But eventually, it will come down to my long-stated beliefs, expressed below.
- Expect More of This for More of That
- The Republican hard-line House Freedom Caucus won't accomplish anything because there is not enough of them and they are not even united on what they want.
- Some want funding for Israel but that is conveniently lumped with funding for Ukraine which they generally don't want.
- H.R.2 is a nonstarter. As a result, there will be some Republican holdouts who will not vote for whatever Speaker Mike Johnson concocts with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
- If any bill passes in the House, it will be with Democrat support. The Freedom Caucus will howl.
- The only question is how big this final boondoggle is.
- Special counsel probe uncovers new details about Trump's inaction on Jan. 6: Sources - ABC News
- Special counsel Jack Smith's team has uncovered previously undisclosed details about former President Donald Trump's refusal to help stop the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol three years ago as he sat watching TV inside the White House, according to sources familiar with what Smith's team has learned during its Jan. 6 probe.
- Many of the exclusive details come from the questioning of Trump's former deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino, who first started working for Trump as a teenager three decades ago and is now a paid senior adviser to Trump's reelection campaign. Scavino wouldn't speak with the House select committee that conducted its own probe related to Jan. 6, but -- after a judge overruled claims of executive privilege last year -- he did speak with Smith's team, and key portions of what he said were described to ABC News.
- New details also come from the Smith team's interviews with other White House advisers and top lawyers who -- despite being deposed in the congressional probe -- previously declined to answer questions about Trump's own statements and demeanor on Jan. 6, 2021, according to publicly released transcripts of their interviews in that probe.
- Sources said Scavino told Smith's investigators that as the violence began to escalate that day, Trump "was just not interested" in doing more to stop it.
- Sources also said former Trump aide Nick Luna told federal investigators that when Trump was informed that then-Vice President Mike Pence had to be rushed to a secure location, Trump responded, "So what?" -- which sources said Luna saw as an unexpected willingness by Trump to let potential harm come to a longtime loyalist.
- House Democrats and other critics have openly accused Trump of failing to do enough that day, with the Democrat-led House select committee accusing Trump of committing "an utter moral failure" and "a clear dereliction of duty." But what sources now describe to ABC News are the assessments and first-hand accounts of several of Trump's own advisers who stood by him for years -- and were among the few to directly engage with him throughout that day.
- Along with Scavino and Luna, that small group included then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and Cipollone's former deputy, Pat Philbin.
- President Donald Trumps supporters gather outside the Capitol building in Washington D.C., Jan. 6, 2021.
- Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, FILE
- According to sources, when speaking with Smith's team, Scavino recalled telling Trump in a phone call the night of Jan. 6: "This is all your legacy here, and there's smoke coming out of the Capitol."
- Scavino hoped Trump would finally help facilitate a peaceful transfer of power, sources said.
- In his wide-ranging indictment against Trump, announced this past August, Smith accuses the former president of trying to unlawfully retain power by, among other things, "spread[ing] lies" about the 2020 election and pressuring Pence to block Congress from certifying the results when it convened on Jan. 6. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
- 'Very angry'As the House investigation established, after Trump finished his remarks at the "Save America" rally early on Jan. 6, as protesters began making their way to the Capitol, Trump returned to the White House, where he and Meadows settled into chairs around a table in the Oval Office dining room to watch TV coverage of the event.
- But, as also previously recounted in public reports, when Scavino and other White House officials learned that rioters had violently stormed the Capitol, they rushed into the dining room to urge Trump to help calm the situation.
- Still, Trump didn't do anything.
- According to what sources said Scavino told Smith's team, Trump was "very angry" that day -- not angry at what his supporters were doing to a pillar of American democracy, but steaming that the election was allegedly stolen from him and his supporters, who were "angry on his behalf." Scavino described it all as "very unsettling," sources said.
- At times, Trump just sat silently at the head of the table, with his arms folded and his eyes locked on the TV, Scavino recounted, sources said.
- After unsuccessfully trying for up to 20 minutes to persuade Trump to release some sort of calming statement, Scavino and others walked out of the dining room, leaving Trump alone, sources said. That's when, according to sources, Trump posted a message on his Twitter account saying that Pence "didn't have the courage to do what should have been done."
- Trump's aides told investigators they were shocked by the post. Aside from Trump, Scavino was the only other person with access to Trump's Twitter account, and he was often the one actually posting messages to it, so when the message about Pence popped up, Cipollone and another White House attorney raced to find Scavino, demanding to know why he would post that in the midst of such a precarious situation, sources said.
- Scavino said he was as blindsided by the post as they were, insisting to them, "I didn't do it," according to the sources.
- Some of Trump's aides then returned to the dining room to explain to Trump that a public attack on Pence was "not what we need," as Scavino put it to Smith's team. "But it's true," Trump responded, sources told ABC News. Trump has publicly echoed that sentiment since then.
- At about the same time Trump's aides were again pushing him to do more, a White House security official heard reports over police radio that indicated Pence's security detail believed "this was about to get very ugly," according to the House committee's report.
- As Trump aide Luna recalled, according to sources, Trump didn't seem to care that Pence had to be moved to a secure location. Trump showed he was "capable of allowing harm to come to one of his closest allies" at the time, Luna told investigators, the sources said.
- With the chaos inside the Capitol continuing, Trump's aides believed Trump still needed to do more. Sources said Cipollone recalled telling Trump that he needed to explicitly instruct rioters to leave the Capitol.
- Scavino printed out proposed messages to post on Twitter, hoping that Trump would approve them despite his reluctance to write such posts himself, sources said. The congressional probe found that even Trump's daughter, Ivanka, "rushed down to the Oval Office dining room" to convince her father that issuing a public message could "discourage violence," as the congressional report put it.
- More than a half-hour after Trump was first pressed to take some sort of action, Trump finally let Scavino post a message on Trump's Twitter account telling supporters to support law enforcement and "stay peaceful." It was 2:38 p.m.
- Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they push barricades to storm the US Capitol in Washington D.C, Jan. 6, 2021.
- Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
- Minutes later, Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot when she tried to break through a barricaded entrance near the House chamber.
- And the violence at the Capitol continued to escalate.
- At least six of Trump's closest aides continued to push Trump to do something more forceful than posting what they saw as a weak message on Twitter, sources said.
- Trump listened to the pleas, "but he was just not interested at that moment to put anything out," Scavino told Smith's team, according to the sources. Instead, Trump was focused on watching TV and taking in the chaotic scenes, Scavino said, the sources added.
- Testifying before the House committee, an aide to Meadows similarly said she heard Meadows say of Trump that day, "He doesn't want to do anything."
- As recounted in public reports, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, other members of Congress, members of Trump's family, and even Fox News personalities also tried to push Trump to take further action. But in response, Trump repeated to many of them that his supporters were simply angry about the election being stolen, sources said.
- In his own closed-door interviews with federal investigators, Meadows confirmed previous media reports saying that when a desperate McCarthy called Trump, the then-president told him, "Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are."
- Instead of taking action at that point, Trump allegedly continued to watch Fox News on TV.
- "During this time, law enforcement agents were attacked and seriously injured, the Capitol was invaded, the electoral count was halted and the lives of those in the Capitol were put at risk," the House committee said in its report.
- 'Doesn't justify this'Sources said that eventually, at the urging of Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner, Trump agreed to record a video for release. The video, more than a minute long, was posted to Twitter at about 4:15 p.m.
- "This was a fraudulent election," Trump said. "[But] we have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You're very special."
- In a video message posted to Twitter on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, President Donald Trump addresses supporters participating in the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
- Sources said that when investigators questioned him, Scavino told them he has yet to be shown any evidence of fraud that would have changed the outcome of the election. As ABC News has previously reported, sources said other loyal aides to Trump, including Meadows, allegedly provided similar statements about the 2020 election when speaking to Smith's team.
- According to the House panel's report on Jan. 6, the video Trump released -- several hours after the attack on the Capitol began -- "immediately had the expected effect; the rioters began to disperse immediately and leave the Capitol."
- As for Trump, after the video was released, he returned to watching TV coverage of the day with Philbin and others, according to sources. And when clips of the riot were splashed across the screen, Trump declared something to the effect of, "This is what happens when they try to steal an election," Philbin recalled to investigators, sources said.
- According to the sources, Philbin said he responded: "Mr. President, it doesn't justify this."
- Sounding 'culpable'?As described by sources, it was a tense, uncomfortable evening for Trump. Sources said one close aide told Smith's team that Trump was in "disbelief" that night, even as he showed no remorse.
- None of the Trump aides who spoke with investigators said they heard Trump concede even in private that he lost the election, sources told ABC News.
- According to the sources, shortly before 6 p.m. on Jan. 6, Trump showed Luna a draft of a Twitter message he was thinking about posting: "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously and viciously stripped away from great patriots. ... Remember this day for forever!" it read.
- The message echoed what Trump had allegedly been saying privately all day.
- Sources said Luna told Trump that it made him sound "culpable" for the violence, perhaps even as if he may have somehow been involved in "directing" it, sources said.
- Still, at 6:01 p.m., Trump posted the message anyway.
- About an hour later, Twitter suspended Trump's account.
- Supporters of President Donald Trump protest inside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC.
- Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
- After that -- but before Congress reconvened to finish its vote certifying the 2020 election -- Cipollone called Trump, relaying what a "horrible day" it had been and urging Trump to tell Republican allies in Congress that they should withdraw any objections to the certification so the country could move on, sources said.
- Instead, Trump again declined to act, telling Cipollone, "I don't want to do that," Cipollone recalled to investigators, according to sources.
- Trump then had another strained phone conversation, when he called Scavino to ask for his take on how the public was digesting the day's events, sources said.
- "Not good," Scavino told Trump, according to the sources.
- Scavino had hoped Trump's presidency would end on a better note, and he told investigators his conversation with Trump was not "comfortable," sources said.
- But Scavino also essentially told Trump that -- despite how the media might portray Jan. 6 -- his "legacy" could remain intact if he took the right steps moving forward, sources said.
- As a longtime Trump associate, Scavino has been so supportive of Trump over the years that he was asked to speak at the Republican National Convention in 2020. At a campaign rally in Colorado a few months earlier, Trump joked that, as a close aide to the president, Scavino was "the most powerful man in politics."
- In April 2022, the House held Scavino in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena seeking testimony in the congressional investigation, after Scavino cited executive privilege. The Justice Department ultimately declined to charge him in that matter, but last year -- after a monthslong court battle -- a federal judge ruled that Scavino had to comply with a grand jury subpoena from Smith's team.
- A federal judge similarly ruled that, despite any claims related to executive privilege, Meadows, Cipollone, Philbin and Luna also had to comply with Smith's subpoenas for testimony.
- When asked about what sources told ABC News regarding Scavino's statements, including his comments to Smith's team about "smoke coming out of the Capitol" and Trump's "legacy," a spokesperson for the Trump campaign said, "President Trump and Dan Scavino both agreed that it could be part of legacy but, regardless, wanted to get it done and did it. There is no dispute over that."
- "Media fascination with second-hand hearsay shows just how weak the Witch-Hunt against President Trump is," the spokesperson added. "Dan Scavino is one of President Trump's longest-serving, most loyal allies, and his actual testimony shows just how strong President Trump is positioned in this case."
- An attorney for Scavino, Stanley Woodward, declined to comment to ABC News, as did an attorney representing both Cipollone and Philbin, Michael Purpura. An attorney for Luna did not respond to a request for comment.
- A spokesperson for the special counsel also declined to comment to ABC News.
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- VIDEO - Celebrities beg Republican electors: Don't vote Trump - BBC News
- Media caption, Celebrities' plea to Republican Electoral College voters
- It is meant to be a heartfelt appeal from some of the US's most recognisable faces.
- Actors Martin Sheen and Debra Messing are joined by a host of other celebrities - including musician Moby - to ask Republican electors to not cast their vote for President-elect Donald Trump on 19 December.
- The argument put forward in the Unite for America clip is simple - Mr Trump is not fit to be president of the United States, and therefore members of the Electoral College should block his entry to the White House.
- "Our founding fathers built the Electoral College to safeguard the American people from the dangers of a demagogue and to ensure that the presidency only goes to someone who is, to an eminent degree, endowed with the requisite qualifications," Sheen explains in the video.
- Mr Trump, the celebrities continue, is not "highly qualified for the job" - and therefore the electors could, and should, prevent him from taking office.
- In theory, the Electoral College could do this: It would take 37 Republican electors to vote for someone other than Mr Trump - thereby taking the party under the 270-vote threshold necessary for victory - to technically block his path to the White House.
- Image caption, Hillary Clinton was supported by a host of celebrities - but failed to win the presidency
- It is the latest stance taken by celebrities against Mr Trump's impending leadership. Others have been less direct - designers refusing to dress future First Lady Melania Trump, or rejecting offers to sing at the inauguration.
- In stark contrast to his predecessor Barack Obama, only one A-list celebrity - Kanye West - has publicly endorsed Mr Trump since his election.
- But in reality, how much does any of this matter - and how effective is such a direct plea to a group of Republicans?
- If you believe the New York Daily News, not very.
- "This video of celebs pleading with the Electoral College is why Hillary Clinton lost," the newspaper's website proclaimed in a headline.
- Mrs Clinton did have a lot of celebrity supporters - on election night, actress Lena Dunham, singer Lady Gaga and comedian Amy Schumer were all in New York to support the Democrat they hoped would become the first female US leader.
- Image source, Instagram/LenaDunham
- Image caption, It was thought millennial favourites like Lena Dunham (pictured), who have large social media followings, would bring out the young vote
- They had all been vociferous campaigners for Mrs Clinton, as had Beyonce, whose plea to fans to vote for Mrs Clinton has had 2.4 million views to date.
- In comparison, Mr Trump failed to attract any huge stars to support his campaign.
- Yet Mr Trump won - suggesting celebrity endorsements do not have huge sway over voters.
- Indeed, a study of possible voters in Ohio by professors Melissa Miller and David Jackson, both of Bowling Green State University, found that celebrity endorsements are potentially the opposite of helpful.
- Writing in The Daily Beast, Mr Jackson revealed: "None of the celebrities [given as possible endorsers in the study] showed a net positive effect, and four of them showed double-digit net negative effects."
- What's more, this election has taken a swipe at the so-called liberal elite - and nowhere is the elite more liberal than in Hollywood.
- Image caption, A-list celebrities have largely stayed away from Donald Trump, until Kanye West turned up for a meeting
- Oprah Winfrey may be credited with playing a major role in Barack Obama's 2008 election, but a quick glance at the response on Twitter to the Unite for America video shows there is no appetite for the 1% to lecture the majority on how they should vote.
- "You stick to pretending to be somebody else," wrote one. "Nobody gives the rear end of a rodent what you and your pampered friends think."
- Another tweeted: "Y'all prove one thing. being a so-called educated intellectual doesn't mean you have common sense."
- Meanwhile, a meme mused whether celebrities were more upset about the election result, of "finding out people don't give a **** about their opinions".
- And despite the odd tweet praising them for being a "glimmer of hope in an era of hopelessness", even fellow liberals have questioned the point of such a video.
- So with a backlash against celebrities, it seems highly unlikely their doom-laden words will sway Republican electors on Sunday.
- There is, of course, one huge irony in all of this: Mr Trump has, arguably, only been elected to the highest office in the land because he is a celebrity.
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- #Ukraine: #Russia: Confiscating $300 Billion & What is to be done? Josh Rogin, Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/28/seized-russian-funds-ukraine-biden/ 1920 Anti-Russian posters Kyiv
- VIDEO - Hot Mic Catches Journos Joking About Trump Assassination
- A hot mic caught journalists joking about former President Donald Trump being assassinated as they awaited his appearance at the federal courthouse where his criminal immunity appeal will be held.
- The DC Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear oral arguments on Tuesday, January 9, on the issue of presidential immunity after Judge Tanya Chutkan denied two motions to dismiss based on First Amendment and presidential immunity claims.
- The appeal will be heard by a three-judge panel consisting of Judge J. Michelle Childs, who was nominated by President Joe Biden in January 2022 and confirmed in July 2022; Judge Florence Pan, nominated by Biden in May 2022 and confirmed in September 2022; and Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, who was appointed by then-President George H.W. Bush in 1990.
- On Tuesday morning, news cameras were set up at locations between the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia and the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in anticipation of Trump's arrival for the proceedings.
- One such live feed caught some banter between journalists grousing about the difficulty of getting a good shot of Trump from their vantage point '-- banter which veered into gallows humor with some references to the late President John F. Kennedy and a convertible:
- JOURNO 1: You know what the worst part is? Even if he has his window open and he's hanging out of it, he will be on the other side of the street.
- JOURNO 2: I mean, if he's driving, we've got a good shot!
- JOURNO 1: Yeah, if he's driving with the front window open?
- JOURNO 2: Yeah, or if it's a convertible?
- JOURNO 1: Yeah. I wasn't thinking about that.
- JOURNO 2: Yeah. Like if he just pulls up''
- JOURNO 1: Maybe someone, just like they told JFK. You know what you should do? You should take a convertible! It's so nice out!
- Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
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- VIDEO - A new weight loss drug website just launched by Eli Lilly
- Drugmaker Eli Lilly announced on Thursday a new website that will allow patients to get a weight loss drug prescription through a telehealth provider '-- a move, the company says, that will improve access to the extremely popular and effective drugs, including its recently approved drug, Zepbound.
- The new website, called LillyDirect, joins a growing list of platforms like WeightWatchers and Ro offering weight loss drugs through telehealth, but is the first of its kind from a pharmaceutical company.
- It comes less than two months after the Food and Drug Administration approved Lilly's weight loss drug Zepbound. The drug is the latest entrant into the field of the powerful '-- and pricy '-- class of medications called GLP-1 agonists, which includes Lilly's Mounjaro as well as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy.
- ''We're used to buying consumer goods directly from manufacturers all the time on online websites,'' said Lilly CEO David Ricks. ''It really hasn't been an option that's been provided before'' for prescription drugs.
- Ricks said the new platform will make it easier for patients to access the drugs, cutting out the need to go to the doctor to get a prescription and then to a pharmacy to fill it. Patients who are prescribed Zepbound will be eligible for Lilly's at-home prescription delivery service.
- There won't be price discounts for any of the medications through the website, however, which, at a list price of more than $1,000 for a month's supply and often not covered by insurance, puts them out of reach for most Americans. Patients will still need to meet the criteria for the weight loss drugs, which are meant for long-term use, not quick weight loss.
- Some experts, however, expressed concerns about the platform and raised questions about Lilly's financial motives.
- ''What fuels my skepticism is that the stakes are so high,'' said Arthur Caplan, the head of the division of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.
- Other companies also offer weight loss prescriptions through telemedicine, but not a drug company with its own weight loss drug, Caplan said.
- ''There's so much money that's going to move with these injectables,'' he said. ''That creates at least the appearance of conflict of interest.''
- Lilly itself isn't providing the telehealth services. Instead, LillyDirect will connect patients with the telehealth provider Form Health, whose obesity medicine doctors will work with patients to determine whether a prescription is appropriate.
- Zepbound. Eli LillyNeither Form Health nor its physicians will receive financial compensation for prescribing Lilly's drug, Ricks said.
- Evan Richardson, the CEO of Form Health, said that patients who are prescribed a weight loss drug will meet over video with a doctor on an ongoing basis, typically once a month.
- The doctors will work independently and will be able to prescribe any FDA-approved weight loss drug '-- they won't be required to prescribe Lilly's Zepbound.
- But only those prescribed Zepbound will be eligible for Lilly's at-home prescription delivery service, Ricks said.
- Telehealth for weight loss drugsWith dozens of telehealth services already offering prescriptions, LillyDirect faces a lot of competition. It's not clear what percentage of patients get their weight loss drugs or any medication through telehealth, but the platforms can be vital for people who live too far away from a doctor.
- ''These are populations that are underserved minorities who are living in rural areas based away from urban areas,'' said Dr. Saurabh Chandra, the chief telehealth officer at the Center for Telehealth at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, who has no ties to either Lilly or Form Health. ''Approximately 18% to 20% of the population are living in rural areas.''
- On top of that, there is a shortage of primary care physicians, he said. ''You combine the two, now you have a lack of access to health care for these populations.''
- Still, not all experts are convinced that a telehealth provider backed by a major pharmaceutical company is the best approach.
- ''It feels like blurring the lines,'' said Dr. Shauna Levy, a specialist in obesity medicine and the medical director of the Tulane Bariatric Center in New Orleans. Levy has no ties to Lilly or Form Health.
- Lilly said the online platform for weight loss drugs is only intended for people who currently meet the criteria for a weight loss drug in the U.S.: People with a BMI of at least 30 or a BMI of at least 27 with at least one weight-related medical condition.
- Form Health's physicians will have full discretion over who they prescribe the medications to, or if a weight loss drug is the right fit for a patient. The drugs can come with side effects including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
- Richardson, the Form Health CEO, said the telehealth company has multiple layers of protection to ensure that physicians are only serving patients who meet the criteria for weight loss drugs. That includes verifying the patient's medical information and ensuring their driver's license aligns with their height and appearance. The company will also send a scale to the patient's home.
- Making sure the right patients are getting the medications is ''an important aspect of what we do,'' Richardson said. ''It's important not just for patient health, but it's also important for the system.'' Preventing people from fraudulently getting weight loss drugs means there's more supply for the people who need it, he said.
- Another question is how a telehealth platform specifically for weight loss drugs will be used in addition to primary care.
- Chandra said he worries about a potential for ''fragmentation of care,'' where people are using the platform to get their weight loss drugs, but still seeing their other in-person provider for other medications.
- That poses a risk, he said, of potential drug-to-drug interactions, if providers are unaware of different medications a patient is taking.
- ''Many of the patients do not know themselves what medications they are on,'' Chandra said. ''Many times they don't know what the side effects or what the adverse effects may be.''
- Richardson said the Form Health doctors will review each patient's medical records, including any existing medications that the patient is taking.
- It remains to be seen whether Lilly's supply of Zepbound will be able to keep up with what's expected to be extremely high demand. Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, has been in short supply since March 2022 amid the drugs' surging popularity.
- Ricks said supply for Zepbound isn't a concern for Lilly, regardless of whether people get it from a local pharmacy or LillyDirect.
- ''That doesn't change the amount of supply available, but it may make it easier for people to connect to a medicine they want and need,'' the Lilly CEO said.Lilly also offers a similar telehealth prescription and delivery service for some of its migraine and diabetes drugs.
- Berkeley Lovelace Jr. Berkeley Lovelace Jr. is a health and medical reporter for NBC News. He covers the Food and Drug Administration, with a special focus on Covid vaccines, prescription drug pricing and health care. He previously covered the biotech and pharmaceutical industry with CNBC.
- Maggie Vespa NBC News Correspondent
- Jessica Herzberg Jessica Herzberg is a producer in the NBC News Medical Unit.
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- LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) '-- A new law in Arkansas aims to help new mothers get access to screening for depression.
- Starting January 2024, healthcare providers will be required to ask mothers up to six weeks after giving birth if they want to be screened.
- Arkansas General Assemble Act 316 states that a mother can refuse to take the test and that the healthcare provider will record the mother did not want to do it.
- It additionally asserts that information collected during the screening process is confidential under the Freedom of Information Act.
- Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-District 45, the lead sponsor of the bill, said the idea for the law came from a paper done by Professor Clare Brown at at University of Arkansas for Medical Services.
- Pilkington said the paper illustrated that increasing mental health screenings could prevent poor maternal health outcomes.
- Reading that paper, seeing what we could do, one of the obvious decisions was allowing new mothers and expected mothers to have mental health screenings," Pilkington said.The new law also mandates both private health insurance and government programs like Medicaid to cover the price of screenings.
- It's critically important that we have this new law to reimburse for postpartum depression screening," Brown said. "Anytime that something is reimbursed, providers are going to be more likely to do it because they're able to be paid for their services.Brown also said this new law will have a positive and significant impact on new mothers in Arkansas.
- "First I think it brings attention to the importance of mental health," Brown said. "The second thing is I think that early identification of any mental health condition, including depression is critical so that those mothers can receive the care that they need as soon as they can so that they can get on the pathway to recovering."
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