Russia: Ruble Down 20%, Stock and Derivatives Markets Closed
February 28th, 2022Via: CNBC:
Russia’s central bank on Monday more than doubled the country’s key interest rate from 9.5% to 20% as its currency, the ruble, hit a record low against the dollar on the back of a slew of new sanctions and penalties imposed on Russia by Europe and the U.S. for its invasion of Ukraine.
The rate hike, the central bank said, “is designed to offset increased risk of ruble depreciation and inflation.”
This follows the central bank’s order to halt foreigners’ bids to sell Russian securities in an effort to contain the market fallout. The ruble fell as far as 119.50 per dollar, down a whopping 30% from Friday’s close. It later pared some of its losses, trading at 93.04 per dollar by 3:30 p.m. in Moscow, still down roughly 20% against the dollar in the last year.
Not The Onion: George W. Bush Slams Putin For Illegal Invasion
February 28th, 2022Via: Summit News:
After George W. Bush slammed Vladimir Putin for illegally invading a country, Twitter users who weren’t born yesterday had some choice reactions.
“Russia’s attack on Ukraine constitutes the gravest security crisis on the European continent since World War II. I join the international community in condemning Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” said Bush in a statement.
“We cannot tolerate the authoritarian bullying and danger that Putin poses,” he added.
For anyone who has no memory or is unable to perform a basic Google search, Bush was president when America illegally invaded Iraq on the pretext of finding “weapons of mass destruction” that never existed.
Humans Find AI-Generated Faces More Trustworthy Than the Real Thing
February 28th, 2022Via: Scientific American:
One tell for a deepfake used to be the “uncanny valley” effect, an unsettling feeling triggered by the hollow look in a synthetic person’s eyes. But increasingly convincing images are pulling viewers out of the valley and into the world of deception promulgated by deepfakes.
The startling realism has implications for malevolent uses of the technology: its potential weaponization in disinformation campaigns for political or other gain, the creation of false porn for blackmail, and any number of intricate manipulations for novel forms of abuse and fraud. Developing countermeasures to identify deepfakes has turned into an “arms race” between security sleuths on one side and cybercriminals and cyberwarfare operatives on the other.
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA provides a measure of how far the technology has progressed. The results suggest that real humans can easily fall for machine-generated faces—and even interpret them as more trustworthy than the genuine article. “We found that not only are synthetic faces highly realistic, they are deemed more trustworthy than real faces,” says study co-author Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. The result raises concerns that “these faces could be highly effective when used for nefarious purposes.”
A National Vaccine Pass Has Quietly Rolled Out – And Red States Are Getting On Board
February 27th, 2022Convenience.
Via: Forbes:
Even as the omicron variant loosens its grip on the world, destinations continue to require travelers to show proof of vaccination. And, increasingly, a paper CDC vaccination card is not cutting it.
While the United States government has not issued a federal digital vaccine pass, a national standard has nevertheless emerged. To date, 21 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico offer accessibility to the SMART Health Card, a verifiable digital proof of vaccination developed through the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI), a global coalition of public and private stakeholders including Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, the Mayo Clinic and other health and tech heavyweights.
And very soon, at least four more states will be rolling out access to SMART Health Cards. “We’ve seen a notable uptick in states that have officially launched public portals where individuals can get verifiable vaccination credentials in the form of SMART Health Cards with a QR code,” says Dr. Brian Anderson, co-founder of the VCI and chief digital health physician at MITRE.
Research Credit: Jente
PUTIN ORDERS RUSSIA’S STRATEGIC NUCLEAR FORCES TO HIGHEST ALERT LEVEL
February 27th, 2022Via: BBC:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to put its nuclear forces on “special alert” – the highest level of alert for Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces.
Speaking to top military officials, including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, he said Western nations had taken “unfriendly actions” towards Russia and imposed “illegitimate sanctions”.
NATO ACTIVATION
February 26th, 2022Now we hold our collective breath and hope that nobody messes with GPS and/or GLONASS systems.
Increasingly, it seems like Ernst Blofeld and SPECTRE are running this show.
Via: Time:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has for the first time activated a military response force designed to boost the defenses of frontline nations in eastern Europe that feel vulnerable after Russia’s military assault on Ukraine.
Gen. Tod Wolters, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander and the top U.S. military officer in Europe, said the multinational force consisting of land, air, sea and special operations troops intended to deter Russia from further aggression.
“This is an historic moment,” Wolters said in a statement. “These deterrence measures are prudent and enhance our speed, responsiveness and capability to shield and protect the one billion citizens we swore to protect.”
The first-time activation of thousands of NATO troops in Europe represents the latest escalation in a volatile ground war that has no modern precedent. In recent months, U.S. and European allies have increased air-policing missions over allied nations and moved troops, naval ships and heavy weaponry eastward on the continent, near where the Russian military is operating.
Ukraine is not a NATO member, but it borders four nations that are: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. The U.S. and other NATO allies have pledged to protect their eastern and central European members under the alliance’s defining Article 5 mutual defense commitments.
Germany: Large Arms Shipment to Ukraine
February 26th, 2022I wonder what the plan is for keeping track of those Stinger missiles…
Is there a plan?
Via: ABC:
In a significant shift, the German government said Saturday it will send weapons and other supplies directly to Ukraine, which is fighting to keep Russia from invading its capital city. Germany is also ready to also support some restrictions of the SWIFT global banking system for Russia, officials said.
Germany’s chancellery announced Saturday evening that it will send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 “Stinger” surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine “as quickly as possible.”
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a turning point. It threatens our entire post-war order,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement. “In this situation, it is our duty to help Ukraine, to the best of our ability, to defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s invading army.”
Chernobyl: Hostage Situation [???]
February 26th, 2022Update: Russia Reportedly Takes Hostages at Chernobyl Nuclear Site
Via: News:
Ninety-two members of the Chernobyl power plant operational personnel were being held hostage, the Ukrainian ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova said during a press conference in Washington, D.C.
—
According to Jen…
Via: Fox:
Staffers at the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear site in northern Ukraine were being held “hostage” by invading Russian soldiers, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday.
“We are outraged by credible reports that Russian soldiers are currently holding the staff of the Chernobyl facilities hostage,” Psaki said, according to Britain’s BBC.
“This unlawful and dangerous hostage-taking, which could upend the routine civil service efforts required to maintain and protect the nuclear waste facilities, is obviously incredibly alarming and gravely concerning,” Psaki continued.
Musk Activates Starlink Internet Service in Ukraine
February 26th, 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.
Flash forward to today: Musk Activates Starlink Internet Service in Ukraine:
Elon Musk said Saturday his company SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband service had been activated in Ukraine, after a Kyiv official urged the tech titan to provide his embattled country with stations.
“Starlink service is now active in Ukraine,” Musk tweeted, adding “more terminals en route.”
The tweet came some 10 hours after Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov urged Musk to provide Starlink services to Ukraine, days after it was invaded by neighboring Russia.
I have no doubt that this is part of a U.S. coordinated effort to ensure that the Ukrainian government maintains command and control and PSYOP capabilities. While the U.S. could use classified systems to deliver realtime battlefield intelligence to the Ukrainians, my guess is that Starlink will enable wider distribution of it, especially to irregular forces who will, as if my magic, find that they will have Internet access again on their phones.
Also, how will the Starlink systems be delivered in Ukraine, a country in which the largest war in Europe since World World War II is currently underway? My guess is that they will be included alongside the hundreds of tons of weapons that are being sent to the Ukrainians from NATO.
Ukraine Says Russian Forces Blew Up Gas Pipeline in Kharkiv
February 26th, 2022If you live in continental Europe, you might want to make sure you have some extra sweaters and jackets on hand.
Via: CBC:
Zelensky’s office also said Russian forces blew up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city.
