Flesh-Eating Drug ‘Tranq’
September 26th, 2022Via: New York Post:
The flesh-eating animal tranquilizer xylazine has been linked to thousands of drug overdoses across the country as it inundates heroin and fentanyl supplies in places such as Philadelphia, Delaware and Michigan, reports say.
Known on the street as “tranq,” the sedative is now found in 91% of Philly’s heroin and fentanyl supplies, according to a report earlier this month in the peer-reviewed journal Science Direct.
Research Credit: RP
Lights Out, Ovens Off: Europe Preps for Winter Energy Crisis
September 26th, 2022Via: AP:
As Europe heads into winter in the throes of an energy crisis, offices are getting chillier. Statues and historic buildings are going dark. Bakers who can’t afford to heat their ovens are talking about giving up, while fruit and vegetable growers face letting greenhouses stand idle.
In poorer eastern Europe, people are stocking up on firewood, while in wealthier Germany, the wait for an energy-saving heat pump can take half a year. And businesses don’t know how much more they can cut back.
Billionaire Bunkers: How the World’s Wealthiest Are Paying to Escape Reality
September 25th, 2022Via: New York Post:
And while many billionaires have claimed that their interests are in saving the world—sometimes they even get into pissing matches on social media about who is more benevolent — Rushkoff argues that the ultimate goal of the super-rich is to protect themselves.
For the wealthy and privileged, writes Rushkoff, the future of technology is about “only one thing: escape from the rest of us.”
Finland Shuts Borders With Russia As Military Age Men Flee
September 25th, 2022Via: ZeroHedge:
Finland on Friday announced that it is blocking all land border crossings with Russia at a moment thousands of young military age men are seeking to exit the country on fears of being drafted for war and sent to the front lines in Ukraine.
The Finnish government said it will “significantly restrict” the number of Russian “tourists” allowed to cross in the coming days, also describing fears that too many Russians flooding in would cause “serious damage to Finland’s international position.”
London Banks Prepare For Possible Blackouts
September 25th, 2022Via: OilPrice:
Banking and financial firms in London are closely studying and updating contingency electricity supply plans to protect themselves and their customers in case power outages hit the UK this winter.
Some banks are discussing the idea of again encouraging the work-from-home policies from previous Covid lockdowns or using offsite locations, representatives of the trade association UK Finance, coordinating the talks, told Bloomberg.
The UK and the rest of Europe are preparing for potential blackouts this winter, especially if the weather is colder than usual and gas and power shortages strain the grids. Governments in Europe are asking people to conserve energy to avoid rolling outages.
New Insignia for Air Domain Intelligence Has a UFO
September 24th, 2022Update: Logo Containing UFO Removed
Via: The Warzone:
“NIM Aviation erroneously posted an unofficial and incorrect logo.”
—
Slowly, but surely, cranking it up.
Via: airdomainintelligence.mil:
U.S. Eases Iran Tech Sanctions To Make Way For Musk’s Starlink Amid Protests
September 23rd, 2022Cryptogon 2019: Recently Retired USAF General Makes Eyebrow Raising Claims About Advanced Space Technology:
If you’re like me, you’ve been wondering: What is Starlink’s actual purpose?
I didn’t entirely believe the prosaic narrative about better rural broadband Internet and a funding source for Elon Musk’s Mars aspirations, etc. Well, it might be about those things at some level, but the massive scale of the project and the rapid approval by the U.S. Government made me think that there had to be some sort of national security element in play.
What I don’t understand is why the Iranian government would allow the importation of the Starlink systems if the stated purpose is to increase anti-government protests???
Keep in mind, Starlink was deployed by Ukraine soon after the start of the war with Russia.
Via: ZeroHedge:
It’s not often these days that the US administration announces it is easing sanctions on Iran, but that’s what the US Treasury Department unveiled on Friday.
It appears a strategy for encouraging protests by freeing up communications and social media platforms. The anti-government protests have now been raging for a full week: “The Treasury Department announced exceptions to Iranian sanctions Friday to allow companies to provide more online services in the country after Iran’s government cut internet access for most of the country amid protests,” The Hill reports.
“With these changes, we are helping the Iranian people be better equipped to counter the government’s efforts to surveil and censor them,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo explained of the new measure.
Specifically the partial sanctions rollback applies to US and international tech companies which are in a position to help the Iranian population access outside secure platforms and services, in the hopes of the freer flows of information, especially on social media platforms. According to the new US Treasury text:
“As courageous Iranians take to the streets to protest the death of Mahsa Amini, the United States is redoubling its support for the free flow of information to the Iranian people,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. ”
“Today, Treasury is announcing the expansion of Iran General License D-2, which will expand the range of internet services available to Iranians. With these changes, we are helping the Iranian people be better equipped to counter the government’s efforts to surveil and censor them. In the coming weeks, OFAC will continue issuing guidance to support the Administration’s commitment to promoting the free flow of information, which the Iranian regime has consistently denied to its people.”
The Islamic Republic reportedly blocked Instagram and other popular sites this week as part of a broadening crackdown on anti-hijab protests in the wake of the death of 22-year old Mahsa Amini.
2011: U.S. Has Secret Tools to Force Internet on Dictators
U.S. Military Bought Mass Monitoring Tool That Includes Internet Browsing, Email Data
September 22nd, 2022Rabbi Rob Thomas also sits on the board of the Tor Project…
Via: Vice:
Multiple branches of the U.S. military have bought access to a powerful internet monitoring tool that claims to cover over 90 percent of the world’s internet traffic, and which in some cases provides access to people’s email data, browsing history, and other information such as their sensitive internet cookies, according to contracting data and other documents reviewed by Motherboard.
Additionally, Sen. Ron Wyden says that a whistleblower has contacted his office concerning the alleged warrantless use and purchase of this data by NCIS, a civilian law enforcement agency that’s part of the Navy, after filing a complaint through the official reporting process with the Department of Defense, according to a copy of the letter shared by Wyden’s office with Motherboard.
The material reveals the sale and use of a previously little known monitoring capability that is powered by data purchases from the private sector. The tool, called Augury, is developed by cybersecurity firm Team Cymru and bundles a massive amount of data together and makes it available to government and corporate customers as a paid service. In the private industry, cybersecurity analysts use it for following hackers’ activity or attributing cyberattacks. In the government world, analysts can do the same, but agencies that deal with criminal investigations have also purchased the capability. The military agencies did not describe their use cases for the tool.
…
Beyond his day job as CEO of Team Cymru, Rabbi Rob Thomas also sits on the board of the Tor Project, a privacy focused non-profit that maintains the Tor software. That software is what underpins the Tor anonymity network, a collection of thousands of volunteer-run servers that allow anyone to anonymously browse the internet.
“Just like Tor users, the developers, researchers, and founders who’ve made Tor possible are a diverse group of people. But all of the people who have been involved in Tor are united by a common belief: internet users should have private access to an uncensored web,” the Tor Project’s website reads.
When asked by Motherboard in April about Thomas’ position on the Tor Project board while also being the CEO of a company that sells a capability for attributing activity on the internet, Isabela Bagueros, executive director for the Tor Project, said in an email that “Rabbi Rob’s potential conflicts of interest have been vetted according to the standard conflicts disclosure process required of all board members. Based on the board’s understanding of Rabbi Rob’s work with Team Cymru, the board has not identified any conflicts of interest.”
Rand Paul Promises To ‘Find The Paper Trail’ For Lab Leak COVID Origin
September 22nd, 2022Via: Summit News:
Senator Rand Paul vowed this week to continue to expose the origins of the COVID pandemic and uncover a paper trail that he is positive will lead back to the Wuhan lab research funded by Anthony Fauci and the National Institutes of Health.
“The entire pandemic, if it came from a lab, the fact that he approved the research and funded the lab would draw culpability to himself.” Paul said of Fauci during an appearance on Fox Business.
…
“And then we have another couple of e-mails where Dr. Collins and Dr. Fauci are talking about how they are science, and this would be really damaging to science and the NIH, and all the taxpayer money we get and also to themselves personally,” Paul further stated, asserting “So they began a cover-up.”
“I think it is probably the biggest in the history of science and we will get to the bottom of this. I promise you, there will be a paper trail,” Paul urged.
World’s Second-Largest Steelmaker Closes European Plant
September 22nd, 2022Via: OilPrice:
The world’s second-largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, is the latest industrial company to announce a plant closure in Europe due to soaring gas and energy prices.
ArcelorMittal will shut one of its two blast furnaces at its steelworks site in Bremen, Germany, from the end of September until further notice, due to the “exorbitant rise in energy prices,” the company said in a statement on Friday.
