Pentagon Video Warns of “Unavoidable” Dystopian Future for World’s Biggest Cities
October 13th, 2016Via: The Intercept:
The year is 2030. Forget about the flying cars, robot maids, and moving sidewalks we were promised. They’re not happening. But that doesn’t mean the future is a total unknown.
According to a startling Pentagon video obtained by The Intercept, the future of global cities will be an amalgam of the settings of “Escape from New York” and “Robocop” — with dashes of the “Warriors” and “Divergent” thrown in. It will be a world of Robert Kaplan-esque urban hellscapes — brutal and anarchic supercities filled with gangs of youth-gone-wild, a restive underclass, criminal syndicates, and bands of malicious hackers.
At least that’s the scenario outlined in “Megacities: Urban Future, the Emerging Complexity,” a five-minute video that has been used at the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations University. All that stands between the coming chaos and the good people of Lagos and Dhaka (or maybe even New York City) is the U.S. Army, according to the video, which The Intercept obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.
Tesla Dominates U.S. Luxury Car Market
October 12th, 2016A disruptive innovation is an innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market leading firms, products and alliances.
Via: Electrek:
Tesla shocked the industry earlier this year when it confirmed having delivered 25,202 Model S sedans in the U.S. in 2015, which gave the company a 25% market share in the premium sedan market. For the first time, Tesla had surpassed market leaders like BMW and Mercedes. Furthermore, every single other large luxury sedan has seen its sales decrease during the same period.
Now the electric automaker is increasing its lead on the US luxury sedan market to such a point that the Model S is now twice as popular as the Mercedes S-Class or the BMW 7-Series. Tesla is literally selling more all-electric sedans in the US than Mercedes and BMW are selling S-Class and 7-Series combined.
Related: Daimler to Invest Over $1 Billion in Batteries for Upcoming Electric Vehicle Models
Shine Your Love – Tiki Taane – Greenpeace Stop the Solar Tax Petition Delivery
October 12th, 2016Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ.
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Here’s what the message to the electricity retailers and grid operators in NZ should be:
You solar tax me, I disconnect from the grid.
I signed the petition referenced in the video below, but the reality is that petitions typically don’t accomplish anything. How many petitions would it take to convince Darth Vader to stop using the Death Star to blow up planets?
To wit:
The Electricity Authority has given Unison the green light for their solar tax.
These guys aren’t very smart, so keep it simple:
Solar Tax = Grid Defection.
I love the freaks tossing their paper suns around, etc., but grid defection and the prospect of the utility death spiral is the threat that actually frightens the crooked electricity cartel.
The government should also keep in mind that when people disconnect from the grid, the GST stream from their electricity use disappears forever.
Can you hear me now?
Sing songs, dance around… Carry a big stick.
Via: Tiki Taane / Greenpeace:
Military Hydrogen-Powered Chevy Colorado ZH2
October 11th, 2016Nothing but WTF? on this one…
Don’t look at me, I just work here.
Via: Green Car Reports:
Almost a year after it was first announced, General Motors and the U.S. Army will soon begin testing their jointly-developed hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle.
Called the Chevrolet Colorado ZH2, it is based on a stretched version of the Chevy Colorado mid-size pickup truck chassis, with radically-different bodywork and numerous other modifications.
Unveiled at a meeting of the Association of the United States Army in Washington, D.C., the Colorado ZH2 is to begin field testing next year.
GM and the Army were reticent about details of the actual fuel-cell powertrain, but did note that the truck rides on 37-inch tires and a beefed-up suspension.
While the cab is still somewhat recognizable as that of a current-generation Colorado, the hood, fenders, front end design, and bed are quite different.
The ZH2 features an Exportable Power Take-Off (EPTO) unit, which allows its fuel cells to power equipment in remote areas without electricity infrastructure.
Air Force’s X-37B Space Plane Mystery Mission Wings by 500 Days in Orbit
October 11th, 2016Via: Space:
The latest secretive mission of the United States Air Force’s X-37B space plane has cruised beyond 500 days in Earth orbit since its launch last year.
The U.S. military launched the robotic X-37B space plane on May 20, 2015, marking the fourth flight for the Air Force program. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lofted the spacecraft from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to kick off the OTV-4 mission (short for Orbital Test Vehicle-4).
Exactly what the winged space plane’s duties are while it’s in orbit continues to remain a tight-lipped affair. Similarly, how long the vehicle will remain in orbit has not been detailed.
London Police Charge Man with Terrorism Over Use of Encryption
October 11th, 2016Via: ZDnet:
A man has appeared in court in London on six counts of terrorism — one of which was related to researching and using encryption.
Samata Ullah, 33, appeared in court last week charged under the Terrorism Act 2006.
The Metropolitan Police said in a press release that Ullah was charged with one count of providing instructions in the use of encryption to a person who was preparing an act of terrorism.
But a second charge relating to his use of encryption cites a controversial statute under British law, which in the name of a terrorism offense can criminalize acts that on their own are legal.
Specifically, Ullah was charged with a count of preparing to engage in an act of terrorism namely by “researching an encryption program, developing an encrypted version of his blog site and publishing the instructions around the use of program on his blog site.”
Nearly 7 in 10 Americans Have Less Than $1,000 in Savings
October 9th, 2016Via: USA Today:
Last year, GoBankingRates surveyed more than 5,000 Americans only to uncover that 62% of them had less than $1,000 in savings. Last month GoBankingRates again posed the question to Americans of how much they had in their savings account, only this time it asked 7,052 people. The result? Nearly seven in 10 Americans (69%) had less than $1,000 in their savings account.
Breaking the survey data down a bit further, we find that 34% of Americans don’t have a dime in their savings account, while another 35% have less than $1,000. Of the remaining survey-takers, 11% have between $1,000 and $4,999, 4% have between $5,000 and $9,999, and 15% have more than $10,000.
Furthermore, even though lower-income adults struggle with saving money more than middle- and upper-income folks, no income group did particularly well. Some 29% of adults earning more than $150,000 a year, and 44% making between $100,000 and $149,999, had less than $1,000 in savings. Comparatively, 73% of the lowest income adults (those earnings $24,999 or less annually) had less than $1,000 in their savings account.
Tesla Wants to Nearly Double the Size of Fremont Auto Plant
October 8th, 2016Via: Mercury News:
Tesla Motors has proposed construction of 4.6 million square feet of new space next to its electric vehicle factory in Fremont, a move that could create 3,100 new jobs and would nearly double the size of its existing auto plant.
“The proposed master plan contemplates construction of approximately 4.6 million square
feet of new structures to support additional automobile production” by Tesla, according to documents prepared for a Fremont Planning Commission meeting on Oct. 13.
All told, Tesla is considering the construction of 11 buildings sprinkled next to or near its cavernous factory for production of electric vehicles.
Trump Bragged On Hot Mic About Being Able To Grope Women
October 7th, 2016I’m trying to understand this Trump situation and the hysterical freakout that’s ensuing in elite and media circles.
Trump could have been vote-frauded into oblivion by now.
Why hasn’t that happened?
My best guess is that the primary purpose of the Donald Trump candidacy—whether he knows it or not—is to escort Hillary to the White House by simply drawing attention away from the Clintons’ life of crime.
Via: CNN:
Donald Trump bragged about trying to have sex with a married woman and being able to grope women in previously unaired footage from 2005 that surfaced on Friday.
Trump is heard discussing women in vulgar terms during off-camera banter during the taping of a segment for “Access Hollywood,” footage which was obtained by The Washington Post.
During the lewd conversation captured by a microphone Trump was wearing on his lapel, Trump recounts how he tried to “fuck” an unidentified married woman before bragging that he is “automatically attracted to beautiful (women)” and just starts “kissing them.” The conversation came just months after Trump married his third and current wife, Melania.
He also said: “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
Children Inherit Their Intelligence from Their Mother Not Their Father
October 7th, 2016Via: Independent:
A mother’s genetics determines how clever her children are, according to researchers, and the father makes no difference.
Women are more likely to transmit intelligence genes to their children because they are carried on the X chromosome and women have two of these, while men only have one.
But in addition to this, scientists now believe genes for advanced cognitive functions which are inherited from the father may be automatically deactivated.
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Concerned that people might not be like mice, researchers in Glasgow took a more human approach to exploring intelligence. They found the theories extrapolated from mice studies bear out in reality when they interviewed 12,686 young people between the ages of 14 and 22 every year from 1994. Despite taking into account several factors, from the participants education to their race and socio-economic status, the team still found the best predictor of intelligence was the IQ of the mother.
However, research also makes it clear that genetics are not the only determinant of intelligence – only 40 to 60 per cent of intelligence is estimated to be hereditary, leaving a similar chunk dependent on the environment.
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But mothers have also been found to play an extremely significant role in this non-genetic part of intelligence, with some studies suggesting a secure bond between mother and child is intimately tied to intelligence.
