Epstein and Prince Andrew Victim Virginia Giuffre Tweets That She Is Not Suicidal
December 12th, 2019Via: Virginia Giuffre:
I am making it publicy known that in no way, shape or form am I sucidal. I have made this known to my therapist and GP- If something happens to me- in the sake of my family do not let this go away and help me to protect them. Too many evil people want to see me quiteted ? https://t.co/8463mPR6YU
— Virginia Giuffre (@VRSVirginia) December 11, 2019
Local mirror:
More: Epstein and Prince Andrew Accuser Posts Chilling Tweet: “I Am Not Suicidal”
Ultrasound Destroys 80 Percent of Prostate Cancers in One-Year Study
December 11th, 2019Via: New Atlas:
Treating prostate cancer through traditional means such as surgery or radiotherapy carries certain risks, with some patients experiencing impotence, urinary problems and bowel trouble, among other unwanted side effects. Safer and less invasive treatment options could soon be on the table, however, including a novel MRI-guided ultrasound technique that eliminated significant cancers in 80 percent of subjects in a year-long study.
The new technique is called MRI-guided transurethral ultrasound ablation (TULSA) and has been under development for a number of years. The minimally invasive technology involves a rod that enters the prostate gland via the urethra and emits highly controlled sound waves in order to heat and destroy diseased tissue, while leaving healthy tissue unharmed.
These waves come from 10 heating elements built into the length of the rod to treat the entire prostate gland. An algorithm controls which of these elements emit the sound waves at any one time, along with their shape, direction and strength. All of this takes place within an MRI scanner, allowing doctors to keep a close eye on which tissues are being heated and by how much.
World’s First Electric Commercial Airplane Completes Test Flight
December 11th, 2019Via: Business Insider:
A Vancouver-based airline is one step closer to launching the world’s first all-electric commercial plane after a successful test flight on December 10. Harbour Air’s ePlane completed a 10-minute trip across the Fraser River in Richmond, BC.
The ePlane is a six-passenger DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver, a Canadian-designed aircraft that has been in use since 1946. Harbour Air developed the ePlane alongside magniX, a company that’s designed multiple electronic propulsion systems for planes. Harbour Air plans to build a full fleet of commercial seaplanes based on the ePlane’s design.
No Safe Spaces
December 11th, 2019Via: No Safe Spaces:
These Secretive Oil Companies Control $3 Trillion In Wealth
December 11th, 2019Via: OilPrice:
They control the vast majority of the world’s oil and gas assets, yet the average person has never even heard of them, outside of those that are famous for things like getting attacked by missiles or becoming embroiled in a high-profile corruption scandal.
State-owned oil and gas companies (aka, the national oil companies, or NOCs) control at least US$3 trillion in oil and gas assets, compared to around $2.5 trillion as of 2017, and hold an estimated 90% of all known reserves–considerably more than publicly listed companies such as BP, ExxonMobil and Shell. Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco leads the pack as the world’s most profitable company.
That means that NOCs control about as much wealth as all U.S. billionaires or roughly twice the assets of global multilateral development banks.
The Afghanistan Papers
December 11th, 2019
Via: Washington Post:
A confidential trove of government documents obtained by The Washington Post reveals that senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.
Related, 2007: The War in Afghanistan is Simply a Big Money Heroin Racket
White House Veterans Helped UAE Build Secret Surveillance Unit
December 11th, 2019Via: Reuters:
In the years after 9/11, former U.S. counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke warned Congress that the country needed more expansive spying powers to prevent another catastrophe. Five years after leaving government, he shopped the same idea to an enthusiastic partner: an Arab monarchy with deep pockets.
In 2008, Clarke went to work as a consultant guiding the United Arab Emirates as it created a cyber surveillance capability that would utilize top American intelligence contractors to help monitor threats against the tiny nation.
The secret unit Clarke helped create had an ominous acronym: DREAD, short for Development Research Exploitation and Analysis Department. In the years that followed, the UAE unit expanded its hunt far beyond suspected extremists to include a Saudi women’s rights activist, diplomats at the United Nations and personnel at FIFA, the world soccer body. By 2012, the program would be known among its American operatives by a codename: Project Raven.
Reuters reports this year revealed how a group of former National Security Agency operatives and other elite American intelligence veterans helped the UAE spy on a wide range of targets through the previously undisclosed program — from terrorists to human rights activists, journalists and dissidents.
Student Loans A Lot Like The Subprime Mortgage Debacle
December 11th, 2019Via: NPR:
Calhoun’s the president of the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending. For decades he’s been keeping watch to protect people from reckless lending. He says that with student loans, just like with the housing crisis, there’s no consideration about whether the person getting the loan will be able to repay it.
“Once again, it’s the mismatch between the debt and the borrower’s income, their ability to repay,” Calhoun says. This time around it’s the government making the vast majority of the loans. That’s effectively turned the Department of Education into the country’s largest consumer lender.
And, Calhoun says, more and more people can’t pay. “Already in the student loan world, we are seeing default levels that approach what there was in the subprime mortgage world,” he says.
U.S. Army Will Fund Rare Earths Processing Facilities
December 11th, 2019Via: Reuters:
The U.S. Army plans to fund construction of rare earths processing facilities, part of an urgent push by Washington to secure domestic supply of the minerals used to make military weapons and electronics, according to a government document seen by Reuters.
…
The Army said it will fund up to two-thirds of a refiner’s cost and that it would fund at least one project and potentially more. Applicants must provide a detailed business plan and specify where they will source their ore, among other factors.
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The rare earths tension between the U.S. and China goes back to at least 2010, when China limited exports to Japan after a diplomatic dispute, sending prices for the niche metals spiking and fueling concerns across the U.S. military that China could do the same to the United States.
With a Gun to Its Head, Toyota Will Build Electric Vehicles
December 10th, 2019The blah specs and Toyota’s 100% half ass effort on this compliance car remind me of this hilarious/true meme I saw somewhere last week:
Via: Electrek:
The Toyota Motor Corporation will launch its first all-electric Lexus in 2020. Nikkei’s Asian Review confirmed that the Lexus UX300e battery-powered SUV will go on sale as soon as next spring in China. The UX300e will then debut in Europe in summer 2020 and Japan in early 2021.
The plan was first unveiled at the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition last month.
The move to launch the UX300e aligns with Beijing’s announcement last week to create EV quotas. China aims to have so-called new-energy cars represent 25% of auto sales by 2025.
The 2020 Lexus UX300e SUV has a driving range of about 200 miles. It will use a 54.3-kilowatt-hour battery pack powering a 201-horsepower motor driving the front wheels. The on-board charger is rated at 6.6 kilowatts. DC fast charging is set for 50 kilowatts.
