Army Corps of Engineers Denies Dakota Access Pipeline Route
December 4th, 2016Via: NBC:
The secretary of the Army Corps of Engineers told Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II Sunday that the current route for the controversial Dakota Access pipeline will be denied.
Archambaut told NBC News after he heard the decision that he was “thankful that there were some leaders in the federal government that realized that something is not right even though it’s legal.”
“This is something that will go down in history and I know that it’s a blessing for all indigenous peoples,” he said.
The Army Corps of Engineers later released a statement saying they will not approve the easement that would have allowed the proposed pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe, a large reservoir on the Missouri River in North Dakota.
“Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it’s clear that there’s more work to do,” the Army’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Works, Jo-Ellen Darcy said in the statement Sunday. “The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing.”
UK: Politicians Exempt Themselves from New Wide-Ranging Spying Laws
December 4th, 2016Via: Independent:
Politicians have exempted themselves from Britain’s new wide-ranging spying laws.
The Investigatory Powers Act, which has just passed into law, brings some of the most extreme and invasive surveillance powers ever given to spies in a democratic state. But protections against those spying powers have been given to MPs.
Research Credit: Jb
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda to Run Electric-Car Division
December 4th, 2016Via: Green Car Reports:
It’s now abundantly clear that Toyota is changing course when it comes to zero-emission vehicles.
After years of promoting hydrogen fuel cells while shunning and disparaging battery-electric cars, the company now plans to introduce a mass-market electric car by 2020.
The fact that Toyota is reportedly only now assembling the team to develop that car indicates how recent this decision seems to be.
But the company’s choice of leader for the team indicates the company is taking electric cars very, very seriously indeed.
Toyota has appointed CEO Akio Toyoda to lead its electric-car division personally, according to a Reuters report.
The company hopes putting Toyoda—the grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda—in charge will speed the development, a spokesperson told the news service.
Apple Confirms Work on Autonomous Systems for Transportation
December 3rd, 2016Via: Electrek:
Apple’s car plans have long been kept under wrap by the company itself, but a new regulatory filing shows it publicly address the industry for the time. In a letter to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) uncovered by VentureBeat, Apple urges the government not to restrict testing of self-driving vehicles…
In the letter, written by Apple’s director of product integrity Steve Kenner, the company comments on the recently announced plan from the U.S. Department of Transportation to ensure that there’s a safe deployment of ” highly automated vehicles.”
In the letter, Apple explains that it uses machine learning in a variety of different aspects, including with transportation technology.
Hawaii’s Forecast: Icy and Dangerous Conditions. No, Really.
December 2nd, 2016Via: USA Today:
Forget the swimsuits for Hawaii and pack raincoats and winter parkas.
The National Weather Service issued a winter-storm warning until 6 p.m. Saturday local time, with heavy, flooding rainfall across the chain of Pacific islands and up to 30 inches of snow on the peaks of the Big Island.
Drifting snow, freezing fog and gusting wind are forecast for the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa volcanoes above 11,000 feet. Visibility could be less than a quarter-mile, making driving and hiking dangerous.
“A winter storm warning means significant amounts of snow,” the weather service said early Friday local time. “This will make travel very hazardous or impossible.”
Gallery of Cold War Ruins
December 2nd, 2016Via: Washington Post:
This rapid-fire upgrade in technologies combined with both nations’ relentless manufacture of missiles left a quiet mark across the remote parts of each country. Early-generation nuclear missile silos were left to rust and quietly collapse, marking the map like a secret Braille. To the uninitiated, defunct Cold War sites give little outward indication of their former purpose. Many of these facilities were designed to be obscure, showing only a small surface footprint that barely hinted at the extent of what was hidden just below the earth’s surface. Aside from former missileers and a small, passionate network of urban explorers, these long-ago vacated sites remain largely unknown, scattered across the globe in varying states of decay.
Uber Now Tracks Passengers’ Locations Even After They’re Dropped Off
December 1st, 2016Via: NPR:
Uber’s latest update allows the ride-hailing app to track user location data even when the application is running in the background. The change in location data gathering is quite apparent — after the update is completed, Uber prompts users to accept the new policy by enabling their phones to make the change.
Previously, Uber only collected data from the user if the rider had the application open. Now, if a rider calls for an Uber and closes the app, Uber says it will continue to collect location data up until five minutes after the ride ends. That means Uber can see where you end up after you leave the car.
Los Angeles: Unclaimed Dead To Be Buried In Mass Grave
November 30th, 2016I thought this would be one for the Collapse category, but it doesn’t really fit because the practice is standard operating procedure:
The county has interred unclaimed remains every year since 1896.
Via: Los Angeles Daily News:
Many were homeless. Most are now nameless. A few came from families hopeless of having enough money to give their loved ones a decent burial.
The cremated remains of 1,430 down-and-out Los Angeles County residents will be laid to rest Wednesday at a mass grave at the L.A. County Crematory and Cemetery in Boyle Heights.
“This holiday season, many of us are reminded of how fortunate we are to be surrounded by our loved ones,” said Supervisor Don Knabe, who will attend his last pauper’s funeral before retiring Friday after 20 years of representing the 4th District, in a statement.
“These are individuals who, for one reason or another, have no one but the county to provide them with a respectful and dignified burial.”
The simple but solemn ceremony, with prayers conducted in many languages for each of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist faiths, has become an end-of-year ritual at the five-acre potter’s field.
The county has interred unclaimed remains every year since 1896.
A Radioactive Berry-Picking Boom Outside Chernobyl
November 30th, 2016Via: CNBC:
While many rural towns across Eastern Europe face economic struggle, the Ukrainian region of Polesia, 200 miles east of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site, has become something of a boomtown for foragers seeking mushrooms and berries — nearly all of which are contaminated with radiation.
…
The berry picking brings in money for locals as well. A picker can earn $20 to $30 a day, whereas a local schoolteacher earns $80 a month.
However, Brown also says there could be some hidden costs — the berries end up in the hands of European customers who often do not know they are ingesting foods containing radioactive isotopes. In addition, Brown notes, the berries can be labeled organic, since radioactivity is not covered under common organic designations.
And the locals who are harvesting the berries may be suffering the effects of accumulated radiation. There is evidence of higher rates of certain birth defects and diseases in some of the areas affected by the disaster.
More: The Harvests of Chernobyl
Oil Prices Surge 7% After OPEC Output Cut
November 30th, 2016Update: OPEC Agrees to Cut Production in Drive to End Record Glut
—
Via: Reuters:
Oil prices jumped as much as 8 percent on Wednesday to a five-week high as some of the world’s largest oil producers gathered in Vienna to try to agree to a production cut that could be bigger than expected.
An OPEC source said the group had agreed on a plan to cut output based on an outline hammered out in Algiers in September.
Brent crude futures for delivery in January were up $3.54, or 7.6 percent, at $49.92 a barrel by 8:31 a.m. ET (1331 GMT), recovering from a drop of nearly 4 percent on Tuesday and on course for their biggest one-day move in nine months. Brent crude for delivery in February was up $3.76 at $51.08 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $3.16, or 7 percent, to $48.39 a barrel, a one-week high.
