Starlink Mini
June 21st, 2024SpaceX is rolling out the Starlink Mini; a portable Starlink groundstation roughly the size of a laptop computer.
Musk said, “This product will change the world.”
I can see how that could be true in some ways, in theory. But here’s the unpleasant part:
This will enable the fielding of a wide variety of autonomous combat systems and sensors, on a terrifying scale, anywhere on the planet.
Via: Ars Technica:
The new compact DC-powered Starlink Mini is about the size of a thick laptop and integrates the Wi-Fi router right inside the dish. And despite using less power than other Starlink terminals, it can still deliver speeds over 100Mbps.
“This product will change the world,” claimed SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on X, saying it took less than five minutes to setup.
Gates and EcoHealth Alliance: Global Virome Project
June 21st, 2024“What could go wrong?”
Via: Dr. John Campbell:
Vaccine Group Gavi Seeks $9 Billion to Immunise World’s Poorest Children
June 20th, 2024Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -> GAVI
Via: Reuters:
The global vaccine organisation Gavi wants $9 billion from governments and foundations to fund immunisation efforts in the world’s poorest countries over five years, it said on Thursday.
The amount was finalised at a meeting in Paris, where donors also began announcing commitments for the organisation’s plan for 2026-2030. Gavi said it had already raised $2.4 billion of the total with months more fundraising to go, including $1.58 billion from the United States.
Senate Considering Bill Requiring Women to Register for the Draft
June 20th, 2024Via: The Hill:
Senate Democrats have added language to the annual defense authorization bill to require women to register for the draft, prompting a backlash from Republicans and social conservatives and complicating the chances of moving the bill on the Senate floor before Election Day.
Conservatives led by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are certain to attempt to remove the provision requiring women to register for the draft, which could present a tough vote for Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and other Democrats in tight reelection races.
The Gates Foundation Gave $9.5 Million to UW-Madison Scientist to Modify H5N1 Viruses to Preferentially Recognize Human-Type Receptors and Transmit Efficiently in Mammals
June 20th, 2024The Gates Foundation gave $9.5 million to UW-Madison and principal investigator Yoshihiro Kawaoka to modify H5N1 viruses to preferentially recognize human-type receptors and transmit efficiently in mammals.
The @gatesfoundation money was also used in a project headed by both… pic.twitter.com/gNl9JTHt33
— McCullough Foundation (@McCulloughFund) June 8, 2024
Migration 5: Five Eyes Biometric Data Sharing, “Known to One, Known to All”
June 20th, 2024“They are locking this place down, and it’s going to be for everyone.”
Via: Radio New Zealand:
What started as a scheme to check the identities of a few thousand asylum seekers has spiraled into a vast network of data about everyone who comes and goes from the ‘Five Eyes’ nations.
…
Instead of keeping fingerprints of only criminals and terrorists on a centralised database and comparing travellers’ prints against them, Migration 5 took the opposite approach. Its countries would keep biometrics of any traveller, and allow its partners to access them if they found a match. They did not need to have a reason to look at the records.
Large Power Outage in New Zealand
June 19th, 2024Update 0200NZST (UTC+12): Grid Up At The Moment
The grid is up for us at the moment. This is the latest status from my grid operator:
“As we manage the Transpower event there is a potential for current power outages continue with possibility of further outages in the morning as we mange load restrictions.”
I’m holding 80% charge on the Powerwall for backup until this is resolved. Good to go, no matter what.
—
If updates aren’t happening on Cryptogon it means that we’re still dealing with a grid down situation here. Solar (at winter solstice with rain *groan*) plus Powerwall is enough for lights and refrigeration/freezer, but we will be conserving hard until we get a more definite ETA for restoration.
From years of experience, we know that our house is in the, “Fix Last” basket in terms of priority. Other areas will have backup and be restored long before us.
Transpower Issues Grid Emergency Notice, Nearly 100,000 Lose Power:
Transpower has issued a grid emergency notice and launched a “full investigation” into a mass power failure across the Northland region.
The lines operator is working to restore electricity to some areas in while others will continue to experience power cuts, potentially until noon tomorrow.
The sweeping failure has left nearly 100,000 customers without electricity.
Not A Single American Has Received Biden’s High-Speed Internet Despite $42.5 Billion Funding In 2021: FCC Commissioner
June 19th, 2024Via: ZeroHedge:
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr slammed the Biden administration on Friday – writing on X that President Joe Biden has yet to connect a single American with high-speed internet.
“In 2021, the Biden Administration got $42.45 billion from Congress to deploy high-speed Internet to millions of Americans. Years later, it has not connected even 1 person with those funds. In fact, it now says that no construction projects will even start until 2025 at earliest,” Carr wrote.
“Meanwhile, the Biden Admin has been layering a partisan political agenda on top of this $42.45B program – a liberal wish list that has nothing to do with connecting Americans. Climate change mandates, tech biases, DEI requirements, favoring government-run networks + more.”
U.S. Giving Up On $230 Million Gaza Air Pier
June 19th, 2024Via: ZeroHedge:
A vivid metaphor for American global geopolitical incompetence is about to float off into the sunset, as the White House is poised to give up on the $230 million Gaza aid pier it built to alleviate an Israel-imposed humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Disassembly could begin in July, officials told New York Times.
First announced as a White House aim in March during President Biden’s State of the Union address, the pier required hundreds of millions of dollars and the work of some 1,000 service members to plan, assemble and operate. Now, the surrender on the pier idea comes after it was operational for just 10 days — at $23 million each.
The pier will go down as one of history’s costliest publicity stunts. The impetus for the pier was mounting political pressure on Biden — particularly from his own party — as Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion killed tens of thousands, displaced more than a million, and caused a territory-wide food and medical-supply crisis.
Japan Banking Giant Norinchukin To Liquidate $63 Billion In Treasuries & European Bonds To Plug Massive Unrealized Losses
June 19th, 2024Via: ZeroHedge:
…what’s happened in Japan is not that different from what is happening in the US, where as the FDIC keeps reminding us quarter after quarter, US banks are still sitting on over half a trillion dollars in unrealized losses, as a result of the huge jump in interest rates which has blown up the banks’ long-duration fixed income holdings, sending them trading far below par and forcing banks (and the Fed, see BTFP) to come up with creative ways of shoving these massive losses under the rug.
And while Japanese rates have barely budged – the BOJ only just raised rates for the first time in decades in April – the move is already cascading into the form of huge losses for domestic banks…
