Congress Demands Tech CEOs Censor the Internet Even More Aggressively
March 29th, 2021Via: Glenn Greenwald:
Over the course of five-plus hours on Thursday, a House Committee along with two subcommittees badgered three tech CEOs, repeatedly demanding that they censor more political content from their platforms and vowing legislative retaliation if they fail to comply. The hearing — convened by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Chair Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and the two Chairs of its Subcommittees, Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) — was one of the most stunning displays of the growing authoritarian effort in Congress to commandeer the control which these companies wield over political discourse for their own political interests and purposes.
Boston Dynamics Stretch
March 29th, 2021Via: Boston Dynamics:
U.S. Military Ordered ‘Clandestine Burning’ of Toxic Chemicals in Poor Neighborhoods
March 26th, 2021Via: Common Dreams:
New research conducted by environmental justice scholars at Vermont’s Bennington College reveals that between 2016 and 2020, the U.S. military oversaw the “clandestine burning” of more than 20 million pounds of Aqueous Fire Fighting Foam in low-income communities around the country—even though there is no evidence that incineration destroys the toxic “forever chemicals” that make up the foam and are linked to a range of cancers, developmental disorders, immune dysfunction, and infertility.
“In defiance of common sense and environmental expertise, the Department of Defense (DOD) has enlisted poor communities across the U.S. as unwilling test subjects in its toxic experiment with burning AFFF,” David Bond, associate director of the Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College, said in a statement earlier this week.
Noting that scientists, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and even Pentagon officials have warned that “burning AFFF is an unproven method and dangerous mix that threatens the health of millions of Americans,” Bond characterized the decision of the military to dump huge stockpiles of AFFF and AFFF wastewater into “a handful of habitually negligent incinerators” as a “harebrained” operation as well as a manifestation of environmental injustice.
“In effect,” he added, “the Pentagon redistributed its AFFF problem into poor and working-class neighborhoods.”
The Ancient Method That Keeps Afghanistan’s Grapes Fresh All Winter
March 26th, 2021Via: Atlas Obscura:
“We use mud from the village, mix it with straw and water, and then form the bowls,” explains Ahmadi’s daughter Sabsina, 11, who, during the harvest, helps her father after school.
After laying the bowls in the sun for about five hours, they place the grapes in the dry bowls, which they seal with more mud and store in a dry, cool corner over the winter. Most families in the village do the same, in a process that takes up to 20 days. Grapes that aren’t preserved are either eaten or dried and made into raisins.
“This Is The Thing That Biden Does Not Want You To See”
March 26th, 2021“This is absolutely an open border situation.”
Via: Senator James Lankford:
Suez Canal: Attempts to Refloat the Massive Container Ship Have Failed
March 26th, 2021Via: Al Jazeera:
Dislodging the ship that is stuck in the Suez Canal could take days or even weeks, experts said, as an ever-greater backlog of ships is gathering in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean waiting for passage.
As of Friday morning, the giant Ever Given vessel remained grounded in the same position, with tugboats and dredgers still working to free it, according to Canal service provider Leth Agencies.
Former CDC Director Says COVID ‘Escaped’ from Wuhan Lab, Contradicting Fauci
March 26th, 2021Via: Independent:
The former head of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says Covid-19 “most likely” came from a laboratory in Wuhan where Chinese scientists were conducting research on coronaviruses.
Robert Redfield, the CDC director in the Trump administration, said in a new interview with CNN on Friday that Covid-19 likely began spreading in September or October of 2019 after likely infecting a lab worker accidentally.
“I am of the point of view that I still think the most likely ideology of this pathogen in Wuhan was from a laboratory. Escaped. Other people don’t believe that. That’s fine. Science will eventually figure it out,” he said.
Damning Video Details Tesla’s ‘Full Self Driving’ Claims Versus Reality
March 26th, 2021Via: ZeroHedge:
On Thursday, a video dropped on YouTube that laid out Elon Musk’s statements about Full Self Driving over the last 5 years, compared to what the company has actually been able to achieve and deliver. The 12 minute video laid out a blatantly obvious case for Full Self Driving to be, as one FinTwit user described it, “one of the biggest bait and switch scams in history”.
Related:
Ford Spokeperson Calls Tesla’s Full Self-Driving ‘Vaporware’
Automakers Are Rethinking the Timetable for Fully Autonomous Cars
Multiple U.S. Navy Destroyers Were Swarmed By Mysterious ‘Drones’ Off California Over Numerous Nights
March 24th, 2021Highly recommended reading. This is an extremely weird one.
Via: The War Zone:
In July of 2019, a truly bizarre series of events unfolded around California’s Channel Islands. Over a number of days, groups of unidentified aircraft, which the U.S. Navy simply refers to as ‘drones’ or ‘UAVs,’ pursued that service’s vessels, prompting a high-level investigation.
During the evening encounters, as many as six aircraft were reported swarming around the ships at once. The drones were described as flying for prolonged periods in low-visibility conditions, and performing brazen maneuvers over the Navy warships near a sensitive military training range less than 100 miles off Los Angeles. The ensuing investigation included elements of the Navy, Coast Guard, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The incidents received major attention, including from the Chief of Naval Operations—the apex of the Navy’s chain of command.
…
Among the more dramatic entries in the logs from this incident is the one below from the USS Rafael Peralta, describing a white light hovering over the ship’s flight deck.
The log reflects that the drone managed to match the destroyer’s speed with the craft moving at 16 knots in order to maintain a hovering position over the ship’s helicopter landing pad. To further complicate what was already a complex maneuver, the drone was operating in low visibility conditions (less than a nautical mile) and at night.
By this point, the encounter had lasted over 90 minutes—significantly longer than what commercially available drones can typically sustain.
…
Meanwhile, the USS Rafael Peralta received a radio call from a passing cruise ship, the Carnival Imagination, notifying them that the drones are not theirs, and that they also see as many as five or six drones maneuvering nearby.
…
It is unclear why anyone would operate drones near Navy warships in such a brazen manner. Commercially available drones are not commonly capable of flying for such long durations across great distances with speeds in excess of 45 miles an hour. Based on the pooled data available from the deck logs, we estimate the drones traversed at least 100 nautical miles in the July 14th incident.
Furthermore, the drones were able to locate and catch a destroyer traveling at 16 knots in conditions with less than one nautical mile of visibility. Equally baffling, their operators appear to have coordinated at least five to six drones simultaneously. Then there is the question of line-of-sight control, and control methods in general, which make the capabilities described all that much more puzzling.
Amazon Delivery Drivers Forced to Sign ‘Biometric Consent’ Form or Lose Job
March 24th, 2021Via: Vice:
Amazon delivery drivers nationwide have to sign a “biometric consent” form this week that grants the tech behemoth permission to use AI-powered cameras to access drivers’ location, movement, and biometric data.
If the company’s delivery drivers, who number around 75,000 in the United States, refuse to sign these forms, they lose their jobs. The form requires drivers to agree to facial recognition and other biometric data collection within the trucks they drive.
“Amazon may… use certain Technology that processes Biometric Information, including on-board safety camera technology which collects your photograph for the purposes of confirming your identity and connecting you to your driver account,” the form reads. “Using your photograph, this Technology, may create Biometric Information, and collect, store, and use Biometric Information from such photographs.”
It adds that “this Technology tracks vehicle location and movement, including miles driven, speed, acceleration, braking, turns, and following distance …as a condition of delivery packages for Amazon, you consent to the use of Technology.”
Research Credit: BVegas
