“I think some of those choosing these new business leaders themselves
forgot about the special nature of the news business. It won’t be
enough, for instance, at least in most cases, for someone who aspires to
run a news organization to recognize the importance of the role of the
press in democratic governance—although that ought to be essential.”
“[…] More subtly, a CEO without news experience may not grasp how large
of an asset is newsroom morale, or how much sapping it may cost an
enterprise. Such issues can become particularly tricky in a unionized
environment— especially one in which there are no profits over which to
haggle, either because the organization is a nonprofit, or because it is
no longer profitable.”
Dick Tofel was the founding general manager of
ProPublica, and generally knows a
thing or two about the news business.
There’s a line to walk here: there’s certainly risk, as Tofel describes,
of picking a news CEO who is not familiar with the news business. At the
same time, as I’ve previously lamented,
the
industry needs an injection of new, outside ideas. It’s certainly
true that the CEO must deeply understand how news works, but they also
can’t be to afraid to change some of those dynamics - as long as they’re
cognizant of the position and responsibility that journalism holds in a
democracy.
Any CEO needs to be very aware of organizational culture and morale.
Many news CEOs are hyper-focused on their journalism (which is good!) at
the expense of thinking too deeply about culture (which is bad).
Hopefully any good incoming CEO would be an expert at building culture,
although most of us know that this often isn’t the case.
It’s complicated, in other words. But journalism is at least as
important as it’s ever been, and getting news leadership right is
crucial.
It
May Soon Be Legal to Jailbreak AI to Expose How it Works
date: 2024-07-18, from: 404 Media Group
A proposed exemption to the DMCA would give researchers permission to
break terms of service on AI tools to expose bias, training data, and
potentially harmful outputs.
Generative
AI Hype Cycle Is Hitting ‘Trough of Disillusionment’
date: 2024-07-18, from: 404 Media Group
“Investment in AI has reached a new high with a focus on generative
AI, which, in most cases, has yet to deliver its anticipated business
value,” Gartner has said.
Space
firms pitch SpaceX workers hurt by Elon Musk’s plane to move company out
of California
date: 2024-07-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
Offering perks and inclusive office cultures, space startups are
making a drive to recruit SpaceX workers disillusioned by Elon Musk’s
plans to move his rocket launcher’s headquarters from California to
Texas.
First, semiconductor manufacturer TSMC has seen a surge in sales, yet
its stock took a hit yesterday. That followed news the U.S. might
further curb exports to China and comments by former President Donald
Trump that TSMC’s home base of Taiwan would need to start paying for its
own defense. Then, as the U.S.-China economic relationship becomes more
contentious, where does that leave Europe? We dig in. And later: why
women’s health is so far behind the curve.
Pittsburg
Theatre Company to host benefit concert after devastating fire
date: 2024-07-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
The fire on June 9 destroyed over 40 years’ worth of costumes, props,
set pieces, furniture, and equipment, leaving the theatre company
members devastated.
UKIs can run on UEFI systems and simplify the distribution of small
kernel images. For example, they simplify network booting with iPXE.
UKIs make rootfs and kernels composable, making it possible to derive a
rootfs for multiple kernel versions with one file for each pair. A
Unified Kernel Image (UKI) is a combination of a UEFI boot stub program,
a Linux kernel image, an initramfs, and further resources in a single
UEFI PE file (device tree, cpu µcode, splash screen, secure boot
sig/key, …). This file can either be directly invoked by the UEFI
firmware or through a boot loader. ↫ Hugues If you’re still a bit
unfamiliar with unified kernel images, this post contains a ton of
detailed practical information. Unified kernel images might become a
staple for forward-looking Linux distributions, and I know for a fact
that my distribution of choice, Fedora, has been working on it for a
while now. The goal is to eventually simplify the boot process as a
whole, and make better, more optimal use of the advanced capabilities
UEFI gives us over the old, limited, 1980s BIOS model. Like I said a few
posts ago, I really don’t want to be using traditional bootloaders
anymore. UEFI is explicitly designed to just boot operating systems on
its own, and modern PCs just don’t need bootloaders anymore. They’re
points of failure users shouldn’t be dealing with anymore in 2024, and
I’m glad to see the Linux world is seriously moving towards negating the
need for their existence.
Seeking
Authors & Books to Feature in Our Book Talk Series with Internet
Archive
date: 2024-07-18, from: Authors Union blogs
Authors and Publishers: We are looking for books (both new &
classic titles) to feature in our popular book talk series. Starting in
2023, Authors Alliance and Internet Archive have partnered on a series
of virtual book talks highlighting issues of importance to the library
and information communities. Last year, more than 2,000 people attended
[…]
Russia’s
FIN7 is peddling its EDR-nerfing malware to ransomware gangs
date: 2024-07-18, updated: 2024-07-18, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Major vendors’ products scuppered by novel techniques
Prolific Russian cybercrime syndicate FIN7 is using various pseudonyms
to sell its custom security solution-disabling malware to different
ransomware gangs.…
JD Vance is an obvious, bald-faced opportunist. It makes sense that
Trump would pick him as his Vice Presidential candidate; they probably
understand each other quite well.
Biden’s proposal to tax unrealized capital gains is what Andreessen
called “the final straw” that forced him to switch from supporting the
current president to voting for Trump. If the unrealized capital gains
tax goes into effect, startups may have to pay taxes on valuation
increases. (Private companies’ appreciation is not liquid. However, the
U.S. government collects tax in dollars.)
One could argue, of course, that the future of America is at
stake.
As
The 19th reported about Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s
suggested plan for a next Trump administration whose authors include
over 140 people who were a part of the last one:
Much of Project 2025 relates to gender, sexuality and race, aiming to
end most all of the federal government’s efforts to achieve equity and
even collect data that could be used to track outcomes across the public
and private sectors.
The
other
sweeping changes it proposes include firing civil servants and
replacing them with Trump loyalists, removing the Department of
Education, gutting our already-insufficient climate change protections,
reinstating the military draft, conducting sweeping immigration raids
and mass deportations, and condemning more people to death sentences
while making them swift enough to avoid retrial.
All this despite being on shaky legal ground:
Some of these ideas are impractical or possibly illegal. Analysts are
divided about whether Trump can politicize the civil workforce to fire
them at will, for example. And the plan calls for using the military to
carry out mass deportations on a historic scale, which could be
constitutionally iffy.
“This is a great group and they’re going to lay the groundwork and
detail plans for exactly what our movement will do, and what your
movement will do, when the American people give us a colossal mandate to
save America.”
We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will
remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.
JD Vance is walking this line too. My employer, ProPublica,
recently
reported that he, among other things, believes that the Devil is
real, and that he had some unpleasant things to say about trans people:
He said that Americans were “terrified to tell the truth” and “point out
the obvious,” including that “there are real biological, cultural,
religious, spiritual distinctions between men and women.” He added, “I
think that’s what the whole transgender thing is about, is like
fundamentally denying basic reality.”
So, yes, all things considered, it feels a bit like America is in the
balance.
What’s particularly bald about involvement from the Silicon Valley crowd
is that they are, according to them, overlooking all of this and
concentrating solely on their business interests. If policies like a tax
on unrealized capital gains or tighter anti-trust actions are enacted,
those investors may have to re-think some of their investment
strategies.
For what it’s worth,
those
taxes are only applicable for individuals with a net worth of over
$100M, with payments at an automatic minimum tax rate treated as
prepayments against future realized gains. The effect could actually be
to encourage startups to go public and realize their value sooner, which
wouldn’t be a terrible thing for the ecosystem (but might limit the
heights private valuations can reach). Given that people with that level
of worth don’t usually make taxable income, this new levied tax
on investment gains makes sense as a way to encourage the very wealthy
to pay the same sorts of tax rates as the rest of us — but, clearly,
Musk, Thiel, et al feel differently. (Invasive thought: where’s Sacks
and Palihapitiya’s podcast co-host Jason Calacanis on this? Is he a
sympathizer or just an enabler?)
Do tighter regulations and a new minimum tax for the wealthy risk the
future of America, though? Maybe they have a different definition of
America than I do. If, to them, it’s a place where you can make a bunch
of money without oversight or accountability, then I can see how they
might be upset. If, on the other hand, America is a place where
immigrants are welcome and everyone can succeed, and where everyone has
the freedom to be themselves, all built on a bedrock of infrastructure
and support, then one might choose to take a different view. The tax
proposal at hand is hardly socialism; it’s more like a correction. Even
if you accept their premise, single-issue voting when the other issues
include mass deportations and gutting public education is myopically
self-serving, leave alone the barren inhumanity of leaving vulnerable
communities out to dry.
Responses by prominent Republican supporters to the inclusion of a Sikh
prayer in Punjabi in the Republican National Convention — one line
reading, “in your grace and through your benevolence, we experience
peace and happiness” —
lay
bare what the unhinged Christian nationalist contingent believes in:
Andrew Torba, CEO of the far-right social media platform Gab, ranted to
his 400,000 followers on X, “Last night you saw why Christian
Nationalism must be exclusively and explicitly Christian. No tolerance
for pagan false gods and the synagogue of Satan.” Republican Oklahoma
state Sen. Dusty Deevers seemed to agree. “Christians in the Republican
party nodding silently along to a prayer to a demon god is shameful,” he
posted.
From my perspective, there are no upsides to a Trump win. Even if you
accept the idea that Project 2025 has nothing to do with him (which, as
I’ve discussed, is laughable), his own self-published
Agenda 47 for his
next administration is similarly horrible, and includes provisions like
sending the National Guard into cities, destroying climate crisis
mitigations, mass deportations, and removing federal funding for any
educational institution that dares to teach the history of race in
America. It also includes a version of Project 2025’s call to fire civil
servants who are seen as disloyal. JD Vance
wants
to end no-fault divorce(ironically, given his running mate),
trapping people in abusive relationships. The effects on the judicial
system from his first administration will be felt for generations; a
second administration will be similarly seismic. He will gut support for
vulnerable communities. I have friends who will directly suffer as a
result of his Presidency; he will create an America that I do not want
to bring my son up in.
Silicon Valley is supposed to invent the future. That’s what’s so
inspiring about it: for generations, it’s created new ways of sharing
and working that have allowed people to communicate and work together
wherever they are. These new moves make it clearer than ever that a
portion of it has never believed in that manifesto; that it is there
solely to establish itself as a new set of power-brokers, trying to
remake the world in their own image. The rest of us need to oppose them
with our full voices and everything we can muster.
Inside an
IBM/Motorola mainframe controller chip from 1981
date: 2024-07-18, from: OS News
In this article, I look inside a chip in the IBM 3274 Control Unit.1
But before I discuss the chip, I need to give some background on
mainframes. ↫ Ken Shirriff Whenever we talk about mainframes, I am
obligated to link to the story of an 18 year old buying a mainframe,
while still living at his parents. One of the greatest presentations of
all time.
“She gets things done.” This is how colleagues describe Brooke
Weborg, machine learning data scientist and engineer at NASA. Weborg was
nominated as Digital Transformer of the Month for her work on the AI/ML
(artificial intelligence/machine learning) consultation portal, the type
of ambitious project that computer scientist Herb Schilling had seen
fail in the past. […]
TSMC
boss predicts AI chip shortage through 2025, says Trump comments don’t
change his strategy
date: 2024-07-18, updated: 2024-07-18, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Overseas expansion to continue, insists C.C. Wei
The CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is
predicting that supply won’t balance out demand for advanced chips until
2025 or 2026.…
Common sense has been viewed as one of the hardest challenges in AI.
That said, ChatGPT4 has acquired what some believe is an impressive
sense of humanity. How is this possible? Listen to this week’s “The Joy
of Why” with co-host Steven Strogatz.
The
Grateful Dead and Francis Ford Coppola are among the newest Kennedy
Center Honors recipients
date: 2024-07-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
Coppola and The Dead will be honored for lifetime achievement in the
arts, along with jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, blues legend Bonnie
Raitt and the legendary Harlem theater The Apollo.
Those who know me well know that, since the 2020 election, I have feared
political violence in connection with the 2024 election and its
aftermath. Most of my friends think […]
The Democrats will eventually win the argument that Joe Biden just had a
bad night. That is the wrong debate. Biden has had a bad three and a
half years. […]
It’s interesting that you can have an approval rating, as reported in
The Signal, of 80-plus percent and still lose your job. Usually that
would get you a bonus. The […]
The letter from Christopher Lucero (June 12) was pretty decent up until
the second-to-last paragraph. How will he vote, according to Democratic
dogma/programming or according to his own best interest? […]
Europe’s
largest council could face £12M manual audit bill after Oracle project
disaster
date: 2024-07-18, updated: 2024-07-18, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Thank goodness for pen and paper. Re-implemented system might not arrive
until March 2026, four years after initial roll-out
Europe’s largest local authority faces a $15.58 million (£12 million)
bill for manually auditing accounts which should have been supported by
an Oracle ERP systems installed in April 2022.…
An
Ancient Partnership: Co-Evolution of Earth Environments and Microbial
Life
date: 2024-07-18, from: NASA breaking news
NASA-supported scientists have examined the long and intricately
linked history of microbial life and the Earth’s environment. By
reviewing the current state of knowledge across fields like
microbiology, molecular biology, and geology, the study looks at how
microorganisms have both shaped and been shaped by chemical properties
of our planet’s oceans, land, and atmosphere.
Milwaukee Former President Donald Trump once privately told associates
that the problem he faced selecting a running mate was that the field of
potential partners did not include a no-brainer […]
Curating
Colonization: On Sharing Visuals of the Dead
date: 2024-07-18, from: Care
<p>“Using images to highlight the gruesome and merciless power of an oppressor does not necessarily generate sympathy for the oppressed; it can be a tool to reinforce the ruling order.”</p>
At the start of this week’s Republican National Convention, Republicans
adopted a new platform that promises to preserve Social Security and
Medicare with no cuts, while also pledging to cut taxes for working
Americans. Can those two objectives be squared? We’ll also hear more
about the economics of J.D. Vance and learn how Gaza’s farmers are
faring amid war. Plus, from today’s “Marketplace Tech,” how can we limit
the fallout from misinformation after political violence?
US
says China’s halt of arms-control talks undermines strategic
stability
date: 2024-07-18, from: VOA News USA
State Department — The United States called China’s decision to
suspend nascent arms-control talks with Washington “unfortunate,” noting
that China has opted not to engage in efforts to manage strategic risks
and prevent costly arms races.
“We think this approach undermines strategic stability. It increases
the risk of arms race dynamics. We have made efforts to bolster the
defense of our allies and partners in the Indo Pacific, and we will
continue to make those efforts in the face of Chinese threats to their
security,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters
during a briefing on Wednesday.
The Chinese foreign ministry announced on Wednesday that Beijing has
decided to hold off on discussions with the U.S. regarding a new round
of consultations on arms control and non-proliferation.
This decision is a protest against Washington’s arms sales to Taiwan,
a self-ruled democracy that Beijing claims as its territory.
“China has chosen to follow Russia’s lead in asserting that
engagement on arms control can’t proceed when there are other challenges
in the bilateral relationship,” Miller added.
On November 6, 2023, officials from the U.S. and China convened for a
new strategic risk reduction discussion at the State Department.
Leading the U.S. delegation was Mallory Stewart, assistant secretary
for the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence and
Stability (ADS). The Chinese delegation was headed by Sun Xiaobo,
director general for arms control at China’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, with other civilian officials also in attendance.
The U.S. has proposed three measures to China aimed at reducing
strategic risks related to missile launches or potential missile
launches. These include establishing a strategic crisis hotline between
their respective Strategic Commands, implementing space deconfliction
measures, and adopting missile launch notifications, a practice observed
by China with Russia.
China’s decision to halt the new round of strategic risk reduction
talks was described as not a significant loss to the U.S., as Chinese
officials did not propose any initiatives during the November
discussions, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The source also noted that similar talks between the U.S. and China
under previous administrations had yielded no tangible results.
“China stands ready to maintain communication with the U.S. on
international arms control issues in line with the principles of mutual
respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation,” said Chinese
foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Wednesday.
“But the U.S. must respect China’s core interests and create
necessary conditions for dialogue and exchange,” he said.
Some former U.S. intelligence officials doubt the effectiveness of
ongoing government-to-government engagements and exchanges. They argue
that Beijing’s recent suspension of risk reduction talks in response to
U.S. arms sales to Taiwan serves as a convenient pretext for China to
persist with its internal nuclear arms buildup and external
proliferation.
James Fanell, a retired U.S. Navy captain and former director of
intelligence and information operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet,
commented that “talks can and will be held when the Chinese Communist
Party changes its nefarious actions and destabilizing behavior.”
In a report mandated by Congress last October, the Pentagon revealed
that China was developing its nuclear arsenal more quickly than the U.S.
had previously estimated.
As of May 2023, China had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads,
with projections indicating they could exceed 1,000 by 2030.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute,
the United States currently has about 3,700 nuclear warheads, fewer than
Russia’s estimated 4,500.
The U.S. switched its diplomatic recognition from the government in
Taipei to the government in Beijing in 1979.
Since then, the U.S. policy has maintained that differences between
the two sides should be settled peacefully and in accordance with the
will of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The United States
acknowledges but has never endorsed Beijing’s sovereignty claim over
Taiwan.
Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse.
What
Republicans Have Been Saying About Energy at the RNC
date: 2024-07-18, from: Heatmap News
Current conditions: The Acropolis in Greece was
closed yesterday due to excessive heat • The Persian Gulf International
Airport
recorded
a heat index of 149 degrees Fahrenheit • Recent flooding in Brazil
exposed a 233-million-year-old dinosaur fossil.
THE TOP FIVE
Republicans slam Biden energy policy at RNC
Energy hasn’t dominated the conversation at the Republican National
Convention this week, but it’s certainly been a talking point. Last
night North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum gave a
speech
focusing on the topic. “Teddy Roosevelt encouraged America to speak
softly and carry a big stick,” Burgum said. “Energy dominance will be
the big stick that President Trump will carry.” He accused President
Biden of making Russia and Iran “filthy rich” with his energy policies,
blamed him for higher electric bills and grid problems, and said “four
more years of Joe will usher in an era of Biden brownouts and
blackouts.” Oh, and he promised that Trump would “let all of you keep
driving your gas-powered cars.” CNN
called
the speech “Burgum’s audition to be energy secretary.”
Republicans at the event have been blaming Biden for high gas prices
(which are
heavily
influenced by global market forces) and saying that Trump will give
America “energy independence” (even though the U.S.
continued
to rely on foreign oil imports during Trump’s presidency). And
there’s been a lot of complaining about Biden’s pause on new LNG export
terminals.
But it hasn’t been all Biden bashing or fossil fuel fawning. During a
Punchbowl
News fireside chat, execs from American Clean Power, American Gas
Association, Edison Electric Institute, and the Nuclear Energy Institute
touted U.S. energy policy as “one of the greatest strengths in this
country.” They called for building out new energy infrastructure more
quickly, more inclusive tax codes (“rather than say we only like this
type of molecule for hydrogen, it should be let’s create a hydrogen
market and let the best man win”), and looked ahead to an exciting
future for nuclear power.
Today is the final day of the RNC, and it will culminate with a speech
from Donald Trump.
2. Report finds greener steelmaking is taking off
A new
report
from Global Energy Monitor found that the iron and steel industries
worldwide “made major strides towards net zero goals” last year.
Steelmaking alone accounts for about 10% of global carbon dioxide
emissions, so greener production is essential. The GEM report found that
93% of new planned steel capacity will use low-emission electric arc
furnaces instead of the much dirtier blast furnace. It projects that the
global steelmaking fleet could be very close to meeting the
International Energy Agency’s net zero emissions targets by 2030. “The
transition to greener steel is afoot,” the report said, but it
acknowledged that the blast furnace isn’t going away just yet and
remains a climate risk.
GEM
Insured losses from Hurricane Beryl could top $6 billion
The cost of insured property damages from Hurricane Beryl could top $6
billion,
according
to Moody’s. In Texas alone, insurers might be on the hook for $4.5
billion. Most U.S. losses are projected to be from destructive wind.
Katrina in 2005 was the
most
expensive hurricane on record, with insured property losses topping
$65 billion. Last year, natural disasters cost
$95
billion in insured losses globally.
U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell this week made an impassioned
plea
for the world to urgently cut fossil fuel use after his grandmother’s
home on the Caribbean island of Carriacou was destroyed by Beryl. “What
the climate crisis did to my grandmother’s house must not become
humanity’s new normal,” Stiell said. “We can still prevent that, but
only if people everywhere speak up, and demand bolder climate actions
now, before it’s too late.” Beryl struck Carriacou as a category 5
storm, the earliest storm of that magnitude ever recorded in the
Atlantic.
4. Attorneys general push FEMA on extreme heat and wildfire
smoke disasters
A group of 14 state attorneys general are ramping up the pressure on
FEMA to declare extreme heat and wildfire smoke major disasters. They
sent a
letter
to the agency this week, urging it to “update its regulations to prepare
for this hotter, smokier future.” Last month a coalition of about 30
groups
filed
a petition pushing for the change. Such a declaration could allow
communities access to federal funds to prepare for heat and fire
emergencies and could help pressure employers to provide better heat
protections for workers. Heat waves
kill
more Americans each year than all other weather events combined. In
case you’ve forgotten, last year was the hottest year on record, and
climate change is making heat waves
more
likely and
more
intense.
Saudi Arabia to buy 50 Lilium electric jets
Saudi Arabia is
buying
50 electric jets for its state-owned national carrier, the Saudia Group.
The “electric vertical take-off and landing” (or eVTOL) jets are made by
a German manufacturer called
Lilium
and have electric engines that use less power while cruising. One jet
can carry
up
to six passengers, and Saudi Arabia will deploy the aircraft for
regional trips, most likely to and from tourist attractions. The planes
cost $9 million each, bringing the deal to a total of about $450
million, and the kingdom has the option of purchasing another 50.
As climate change threatens to reduce access to fresh water, and rising
seas encroach on farm land, researchers are
studying
ways to breed crops that could grow and thrive in saltwater.
Four key
learnings from teaching Experience AI lessons
date: 2024-07-18, from: Raspberry Pi (.org)
Developed by us and Google DeepMind, Experience AI provides teachers
with free resources to help them confidently deliver lessons that
inspire and educate young people about artificial intelligence (AI) and
the role it could play in their lives. Tracy Mayhead is a computer
science teacher at Arthur Mellows Village College in Cambridgeshire. She
recently taught…
From the BBC World Service: Despite big profits for chipmakers,
the prospect of further curbs on exports of semiconductor technology to
China has prompted a major sell-off by investors. Plus, a court in South
Korea has ruled same-sex couples should be eligible for the same health
insurance benefits as their heterosexual counterparts. And we hear how
conflict in Gaza is affecting those who earn a living from the land.
Don’t
blame AI for rise in carbon emissions, says Google exec
date: 2024-07-18, updated: 2024-07-18, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Datacenter pollution is rising… but LLM workload not as big as you think
Google’s chief scientist claims that AI is being unfairly blamed for the
rise in his company’s carbon dioxide emissions, and says the tech
giant’s efforts to switch to entirely clean energy by 2030 remains on
track.…
I’m going to be out of commission for a while, as the date for planned
surgery has rolled around. Hopefully, I’ll be back in reasonable working
order next month. Meanwhile, let’s have a musical intermission, from two
of my very favourite pianists from different generations. First, the
transcendentally great Maria Joāo Pires playing Beethoven’s Sonata […]
Marsha
McLean | Summer Camps at Your Local Community Centers
date: 2024-07-18, from: The Signal
“Summer camp is a great opportunity for children to be independent and
self-reliant, but also to have a great time and create wonderful
memories.” – Michael Eisner Summer is here! […]
<p>In a <a href="https://kevquirk.com/blog/could-you-give-up-social-media">recent post</a>, Kev used the magic words to summon me and make me write something on this site: he talked about social media, mentioned me, and posed a question. Rather than focusing on the could/should/would why don’t we focus on the actual product and figure out what is that we’re getting out of social media? And I’m saying “we” even though I’m not really on any traditional social media platform. But more on that later.</p>
The quality and usefulness of a social platform are a by-product of
three factors: my inputs, other people’s inputs, and the platform
creator’s intentions. The first two are quite obvious since social media
is the product of what people decide to put into it. The third is what
really shapes a platform. Not all platforms are created equal and as a
result of that the mixture of inputs and outputs can differ widely from
one digital place to another. Fame and money are terrible incentives
when it comes to digital spaces because people are willing to do pretty
much everything to get a following if that can help them earn money. So
every time a platform gets big enough you just know things are doomed to
turn to shit. That’s an inescapable reality of social platforms. So if
you’re looking for a decent social media space you probably want to stay
on one that’s designed to either stay small in size or one that’s
designed to stay small in scope.
You might be tempted to think that a Mastodon server is a good example
of the first type but you’d be wrong. The decentralised social media
experiments—Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky—are not designed to stay small.
Quite the contrary. They can stay small but you have to fight against
the main concept behind those platforms. In the past, I argued that
small
communities are the best type of communities and so one potential
solution to this social media conundrum is to find—or create!—a
closed-door, small community that wants to stay small on purpose in
order to keep it sane.
Another potential solution is to not join a kitchen-sink social platform
where (almost) everything goes and instead join one that is specifically
designed to cater for a specific audience.
Literal is a good example. It’s a
social platform but the focus is books so everything that’s happening
there is related to books and book reading. You won’t find people
sharing memes or random links or anything like that but if you care
about books you’ll find plenty of those.
Another good example is read.cv and its
sibling, posts.cv. The first one gives
out very early Dribbble vibes but with a different overall aesthetic and
the second, since it’s tied to the first one, is a Twitter clone where
everyone’s a designer posting stuff about design or photography. I have
a profile on both so technically I am on social media but my activity on
there is non-existent. I update the
read.cv profile periodically
since it’s my online CV and I never posted anything on post.cv even
though every three or four weeks I scroll through it for 5 minutes to
see what people are creating. And it’s an incredibly positive
experience. No flame wars, no memes, and nobody is trying to crypto scam
anyone. Just a chill place that’s mainly focused on design (and cats).
The main issue with social media is that we want them to be everything.
We want them to be a place for casual interactions, for discovery, for
news, for serious discourse. And that’s a mistake. Because the moment
you put a stupid amount of people in one room and you let them do
whatever they want the only reasonable outcome you can expect is chaos.
Sure, you might get some positive results out of it but you’ll also
likely get someone shitting in a corner and someone trying to fuck the
power outlet. Because that’s the world we live in. Now sprinkle some
nonsense AI on top of it all and Bob’s your uncle.
So, to circle back to the original question you asked Kev, I don’t think
it’s a matter of wanting to give up social media entirely. You should be
asking if you’re willing to give up this specific flavour of social
media, you should be asking what parts of this type of social media
you’re treasuring and then figure out if there are saner ways to get
those same things elsewhere.
<hr>
<p>Thank you for keeping RSS alive. You're awesome.</p>
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Semiconductor
shares slump – possibly thanks to Biden and Trump
date: 2024-07-18, updated: 2024-07-18, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
More sanctions and weaker support for Taiwan are bad news … except for
Intel?
The share price of several major semiconductor producers has taken a
sharp dive, seemingly in response to a pair of political developments in
the United States.…
Trump
vice presidential nominee takes center stage at Republican Party
convention
date: 2024-07-18, from: VOA News USA
Republican Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance took center stage
at the third night of the Republican National Convention Wednesday.
Donald Trump’s running mate embraced an “America First” approach to
foreign policy and security. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine
Gypson has more from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Samsung
buys UK AI startup to give its products the personal touch
date: 2024-07-18, updated: 2024-07-18, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Oxford Semantic could help your fridge and smartphone pick up on your
proclivities
Samsung announced the acquisition of UK knowledge graph startup Oxford
Semantic Technologies on Thursday, to boost its AI smarts and offer more
personalized experiences and content on its devices.…
Tech
upgrade broke the casino – took slots offline for days
date: 2024-07-18, updated: 2024-07-18, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
A fresh mess for the Australian outfit that previously managed to pay
winnings more than once
Australia’s Star Entertainment Group, operator of three casinos down
under, has seen its slot machines and other electronic games go offline
for at least three days after an upgrade went awry.…
JD
Vance will introduce himself to the nation at the RNC as Trump’s running
mate
date: 2024-07-18, from: VOA News USA
MILWAUKEE — Introducing himself to the nation after being tapped as
Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance is planning to use his Wednesday
night address to the Republican National Convention to share the story
of his hardscrabble upbringing and make the case that his party best
understands the challenges facing struggling Americans.
The 39-year-old Ohio senator is a relative political unknown. In his
first primetime speech since becoming the nominee for vice president,
Vance is expected to talk about growing up poor in Kentucky and Ohio,
his mother addicted to drugs and his father absent, and how he later
went on to the highest levels of U.S. politics.
Vance, who rapidly morphed in recent years from a bitter critic of
the former president to an aggressive defender, is positioned to become
the future leader of the party and the torch-bearer of Trump’s “Make
America Great Again” political movement, which has reshaped the
Republican Party and broken longtime political norms. The first
millennial to join the top of a major party ticket, he enters the race
as questions about the age of the men at the top — 78-year-old Trump and
81-year-old Biden — have been high on the list of voters’ concerns.
Speaking earlier Wednesday, at his first fundraiser as Trump’s
running mate, Vance said he will use the speech to highlight the
contrast between Trump and Biden.
“The guy who actually connects with working people in this country is
not Fake Scranton Joe, it’s Real President Donald Trump,” he said.
Vance was introduced at the fundraiser by Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, who
said Trump’s decision to choose Vance wasn’t about picking a running
mate or the next vice president.
“Donald Trump’s decision this week in picking JD Vance was about the
future,” he said. “Donald Trump picked a man in JD Vance that is the
future of the country, the future of the Republican Party, the future of
the America First movement.”
Along with his relative youth, Vance is new to some of the hallmarks
of Republican presidential politics: This year’s gathering is the first
RNC that Vance has attended, according to a Trump campaign official who
was not authorized to speak publicly.
Trump, who entered the arena to a version of the song “It’s a Man’s
World” by James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti, will be watching from his
family box.
Convention organizers had stressed a theme of unity, even before
Trump survived an attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania
Saturday. Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and
the subsequent attack on the U.S. Capitol, officials said, would be
absent from the stage.
But that changed with former White House official Peter Navarro, who
was greeted with enthusiastic cheers and a standing ovation hours after
he was released from a Miami prison where he served four months for
defying a subpoena from the congressional committee investigating the
Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of the former
president’s supporter.
“If they can come for me, if they can come for Donald Trump, be
careful. They will come for you,” he said in a fiery speech. He compared
his legal troubles to those faced by Trump, who earlier this year was
convicted on 34 felony charges in his criminal hush money trial. Trump
is also facing two indictments for his efforts to overturn the 2020
election.
“They did not break me,” Navarro said, “and they will never break
Donald Trump.”
Also spotted on the floor of the convention: Paul Manafort, Trump’s
2016 campaign chair, who was convicted as part of the investigation into
Russia’s meddling in that election.
Vance is an Ivy League graduate and former businessman, but gained
prominence following the publication of his bestselling 2016 memoir
“Hillbilly Elegy,” which tells the story of his blue-collar roots. The
book became a must-read for those seeking to understand the cultural
forces that propelled Trump to the White House that year.
Still, most Americans — and Republicans — don’t know much about
Vance. According to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public
Affairs Research, which was conducted before Trump selected the freshman
senator as his choice, 6 in 10 Americans don’t know enough about him to
have formed an opinion.
About 2 in 10 U.S. adults have a favorable view of him, and 22% view
him negatively. Among Republicans, 61% don’t know enough to have an
opinion of Vance. About one-quarter have a positive view of him, and
roughly 1 in 10 have a negative one.
Vance will be introduced Wednesday night by his wife, Usha Chilukuri
Vance. Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is a close friend of
Vance, will also speak.
Beyond Vance’s prime-time speech, the Republican Party focused
Wednesday on a theme of American global strength. Speakers were to
include family members of service members killed during the withdrawal
of troops from Afghanistan and someone taken hostage during the Oct. 7
attack in Israel, according to a person familiar with the program.
Republicans contend that the country has become a “global
laughingstock” under Biden’s watch. The party that was once home to
defense hawks and neoconservatives has fully embraced Trump’s “America
First” foreign policy that redefined relationships with allies and
adversaries.
Democrats have sharply criticized Trump — and Vance — for their
positions, including their questioning of U.S. support for Ukraine in
its defense against Russia’s invasion.
In a video released Wednesday by Biden’s reelection campaign, Vice
President Kamala Harris dismissed Vance as someone Trump “knew would be
a rubber stamp for his extreme agenda.”
“Make no mistake: JD Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our
country,” Harris says in a video.
The Friends of Santa Clarita Public Library is hosting a “Summer Bag
Sale” event at the Valencia, Canyon Country and Newhall branches of the
Santa Clarita Public Library, during normal operating hours from
Saturday, Aug. 3 to Sunday, Aug.
New
Valencia baseball coach aiming to put Vikings back on top
date: 2024-07-18, from: The Signal
After eight years as an assistant coach with the Valencia Vikings
baseball program, Tim Pennell has his shot to lead the Vikings back to
the pinnacle of the Santa Clarita […]
Ryan Mathiesen, the power-hitting, power-throwing pitcher/third
baseman for The Master’s University baseball team, has been chosen by
the Houston Astros in the 14th round of the MLB Draft
US
arrests Syrian who oversaw prison where alleged abuse took place
date: 2024-07-18, from: VOA News USA
LOS ANGELES — A former Syrian military official who oversaw a prison
where human rights officials say torture and abuse routinely took place
has been arrested, authorities said Wednesday.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents took Samir Ousman
al-Sheikh into custody last week at Los Angeles International Airport,
said agency spokesperson Greg Hoegner.
The 72-year-old has been charged with immigration fraud, specifically
that he denied on his U.S. visa and citizenship applications that he had
ever persecuted anyone in Syria, according to a criminal complaint filed
on July 9 and reviewed by The Associated Press. Investigators are
considering additional charges against al-Sheikh, the complaint
shows.
He was in charge of Syria’s infamous Adra Prison from 2005 to 2008
under President Bashar Assad. Human rights groups and United Nations
officials have accused the Syrian government of widespread abuses in its
detention facilities, including torture and arbitrary detention of
thousands of people, in many cases without informing their families
about their fate. Many remain missing and are presumed to have died or
been executed.
“This is the highest-level Assad regime official arrested anywhere in
the world. … This is a really big deal,” said Mouaz Moustafa, executive
director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a U.S.-based opposition
organization.
Moustafa said Wednesday that one of his staff members, a former
Syrian detainee, was first tipped off in 2022 by a refugee that there
was “potentially a war criminal” in the United States. His organization
alerted several federal agencies and began working with them to build a
case against al-Sheikh.
Al-Sheikh’s attorney, Peter Hardin, called it a “simple
misunderstanding of immigration forms” that has been politicized and
said al-Sheikh “finds himself being made a pawn caught up in a larger
international struggle.”
“He vigorously denies these abhorrent accusations,” Hardin said.
Investigators interviewed five former inmates at the Syrian prison,
who described being hanged by their arms from the ceiling, severely
beaten with electrical cables, and witnessing other prisoners being
branded by hot rods, according to court documents. One inmate described
how guards broke his back.
According to the complaint, al-Sheikh, a resident of Los Angeles
since 2020, stated in his citizenship application that he had “never
persecuted (either directly or indirectly) any person because of race,
religion, national origin, membership in a particular social group, or
political opinion” and “never been involved in killing or trying to kill
someone.” This was false, as al-Sheikh persecuted political dissidents
and ordered the execution of prisoners while he was head of Adra, the
complaint states.
He began his career working police command posts before transferring
to Syria’s domestic intelligence agency, which focused on countering
political dissent, the complaint says. He later became head of Adra
Prison and brigadier general in 2005. He also served for one year as the
governor of Deir Ez-Zour, a region northeast of the Syrian capital of
Damascus, where there were violent crackdowns against protesters.
He had purchased a one-way plane ticket to depart LAX on July 10, en
route to Beirut, Lebanon, which shares a border with Syria, according to
the complaint. After his arrest, al-Sheikh made his first appearance in
Los Angeles federal court last Friday. He has family in the United
States, including a daughter living in the Los Angeles area, according
to the Syrian Emergency Task Force.
Syria’s civil war, which has left nearly half a million people dead
and displaced half the country’s prewar population of 23 million, began
as peaceful protests against Assad’s government in March 2011.
Other players in the war, now in its 14th year, have also been
accused of abuse of detainees, including insurgent groups and the
U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which guard suspected
and convicted Islamic State members imprisoned in northeastern
Syria.
In May, a French court sentenced three high-ranking Syrian officials
in absentia to life in prison for complicity in war crimes in a landmark
case against Assad’s regime and the first such case in Europe.
The court proceedings came as Assad had begun to shed his longtime
status as a pariah because of the violence unleashed on his opponents.
Human rights groups involved in the case hoped it would refocus
attention on alleged atrocities.
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS)
announced the nominees for the 76th Annual Emmy Awards on Wednesday,
July 17 at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. Several California
Institute of the Arts alums were recognized for excellence in television
across 118 categories
Sept. 6:
Cocktails on the Roof Benefits Hart District Student Programs
date: 2024-07-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The WiSH Education Foundation Cocktails on the Roof fundraiser will
be held Friday, Sept. 6, 7-10 p.m. to benefit student programs in the
William S. Hart Union School District.
Release
the hounds! Securing datacenters may soon need sniffer dogs
date: 2024-07-18, updated: 2024-07-18, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Nothing else can detect attackers with implants designed to foil
physical security
Sniffer dogs may soon become a useful means of improving physical
security in datacenters, as increasing numbers of people are adopting
implants like NFC chips that have the potential to enable novel attacks
on access control tools.…
SCV
business owner attends first RNC, details ‘crazy’ energy
date: 2024-07-18, from: The Signal
Harleen Grewal moved to the United States from India in 2008. Five years
later, she got her U.S. citizenship, and 11 years after that, she’s at
her first Republican National […]
July 22:
CalCompetes Tax Credit Applications Begin
date: 2024-07-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The California Competes Tax Credit application periods, amounts
available, and committee meeting dates for fiscal year 2024-2025 have
been posted here.
Former
diplomats, Google CEO discuss possible impact of Trump, Biden
victories
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
washington — American businessman and former diplomat Stephen Biegun
says that while China is carefully and quietly watching the U.S.
presidential election to avoid the appearance of taking sides, most of
the Chinese counterparts that he speaks with say they want former
President Donald Trump to be re-elected.
“There is a certain fascination about him in China and a sense that
unpredictability can also deliver outcomes that the Chinese want,”
Biegun said in remarks at an Aspen Security Forum discussion Tuesday.
“President Trump was not afraid to engage with the Chinese and he did
so.”
Biegun served as the U.S. deputy secretary of state and special
representative for North Korea during the Trump administration. He is
currently senior vice president of global public policy at Boeing
Company.
He was asked about what a second Trump presidency versus a second
term for Joe Biden would look like on China policy.
Both President Joe Biden and Trump have been tough on China. Trump
has proposed that if elected, he would impose a general tariff of 10% on
all foreign goods and increasing tariffs on goods from China to 60%.
Biegun said that a bigger concern of a second Trump presidency in his
view would be managing relations beyond China’s borders.
Across-the-board tariffs are going to make it very difficult for “us
to turn around and enlist those countries in a set of sensible policies
on a coordinated basis that addresses our national concerns,” he
said.
Asked about the current U.S.-China relationship, Anja Manuel, former
diplomat and executive director of the Aspen Strategy Group and the
Aspen Security Forum, said that regardless of who is elected, “no one
is under any illusions that you’re going to have a positive upward
swing” in U.S.-China relations.
Manuel, who has worked for Democratic and Republican administrations,
said Biden’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Woodside,
California, late last year set a baseline for U.S.-China relations.
“If there is a second Biden administration, I think you’ll have a lot
of continuity,” Manuel said. “They’ve talked about managed competition
and they’re handling it the way they are handling it. I think you’re
going to see steady as she goes.”
If Trump is re-elected, she said, U.S.-China relations will be a wild
ride, noting that right now there seem to be widely different views from
former members of the Trump administration and the former
president.
She said that on the one hand, people who once worked for Trump, such
as his deputy national security adviser, Matt Pottinger, and former
House Select Committee on China Chairman Mike Gallagher, have written
that the United States must defeat China, not just manage competition
with it. They made the argument in an article titled “No Substitute for
Victory” in Foreign Affairs magazine.
“And then you have Trump saying things like 60% tariffs. That’s
probably not good for his base,” she said.
Referring to an interview with the former president released Tuesday
by Bloomberg Businessweek, she added that Trump’s comments on Taiwan
also raise questions.
“You have Trump, on the other hand, saying, well, Taiwan, they stole
business and the semiconductor business from America, why should we
protect them?” Manuel said.
“If I were the Chinese, that would leave me to believe that he
wouldn’t be as strong on the protection of Taiwan or, because he’s so
unpredictable, that he might do something even more rash, so I don’t
know if that’s a positive or negative. But boy, it’s going to be a wild
ride.”
In his response, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt focused on Trump’s
campaign promise to impose a 60% tariff on products from China and a
general tariff on all products from all other countries.
“This would ultimately result in higher costs for those of you who
shop at Walmart and those of you who shop at everywhere else,” Schmidt
said.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health cautions residents
who are planning to visit the below Los Angeles County beaches to avoid
swimming, surfing, and playing in ocean waters
Russia,
China taking space into dangerous territory, US says
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
Washington — Russia and China are edging ever closer to unleashing
space-based weapons, a decision that could have far-reaching
implications for America’s ability to defend itself, U.S. military and
intelligence agencies warn.
Adding to the concern, they say, is what appears to be a growing
willingness by both countries to set aside long-running suspicions and
animosity in order to gain an edge over the United States.
“I would highlight … the increasing amount in intent to use
counterspace capabilities,” said Lieutenant General Jeff Kruse, director
of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
“Both Russia and China view the use of space early on, even ahead of
conflict, as important capabilities to deter or to compel behaviors,”
Kruse told the annual Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday. “We just need
to be ready.”
Concerns about the safety of space surged earlier this year when
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner called for the
declassification of “all information” related to what was described as a
new Russian anti-satellite capability involving nuclear weapons.
More recently, Turner has warned that the U.S. is “sleepwalking” into
a disaster, saying that Russia is on the verge of being able to detonate
a nuclear weapon in space, which would impose high costs on the U.S.
military and economy.
The White House has responded repeatedly that U.S. officials have
been aware of the Russian plans, and that Moscow has not yet deployed a
space-based nuclear capability.
It is a stance that Kruse reaffirmed Wednesday, with added
caution.
“We have been tracking for almost a decade Russia’s intent to design
the ability to put a nuclear weapon in space,” he said. “They have
progressed down to a point where we think they’re getting close.”
The Russians “don’t intend to slow down, and until there’s
repercussions, will not slow down,” he said.
Russian and Chinese officials have yet to respond to VOA’s requests
for reaction to the latest U.S. accusations, but both countries have
repeatedly denied U.S. criticisms of their space policies.
In May, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov dismissed U.S.
concerns about Moscow trying to put nuclear weapons in space as “fake
news.”
But the Chinese Embassy in Washington, while admitting there are some
“difficulties” when it comes to China-U.S. relations in space, rejected
any suggestion Beijing is acting belligerently in space.
“China always advocates the peaceful use of outer space, opposes
weaponizing space or an arms race in space and works actively toward the
vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind in
space,” spokesperson Liu Pengyu told VOA in an email.
“The U.S. has been weaving a narrative about the so-called threat
posed by China in outer space in an attempt to justify its own military
buildup to seek space hegemony,” Liu said. “It is just another
illustration of how the U.S. clings on to the Cold War mentality and
deflects responsibility.”
Despite Beijing’s public posture, the Defense Intelligence Agency’s
Kruse suggested Wednesday that China’s rapid expansion into the space
domain is just as worrisome.
“They’re in multiple orbits that they did not used to be before,” he
told the audience in Aspen, Colorado, warning that Beijing has already
invested heavily in directed energy weapons, electronic warfare
capabilities and anti-satellite technology.
“China is the one country that more so even than the United States
has a space doctrine, a space strategy, and they train and exercise the
use of space and counterspace capabilities in a way that we just don’t
see elsewhere,” he said.
The general in charge of U.S. Space Command described the Chinese
threat in even starker terms.
“China is building a kill web, if you will, in space,” said General
Stephen Whiting, speaking alongside Kruse at the Aspen conference.
“In the last six years, they’ve tripled the number of intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance satellites they have on orbit — hundreds
and hundreds of satellites, again, purpose built and designed to find,
fix, track target and, yes, potentially engage U.S. and allied forces
across the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Whiting also raised concerns about the lack of clear military
communication with China about space.
“We want to have a way to talk to them about space safety as they put
more satellites on orbit,” he said, “so that we can operate effectively
and don’t have any miscommunication or unintended actions that cause a
misunderstanding.”
Beach
volleyball Olympian headlines Hart district mini rally
date: 2024-07-17, from: The Signal
The William S. Hart Union High School District’s special education
department hosted its first ever mini rally on Wednesday with speaker
Annett Davis, silver medalist from the 1999 Beach Volleyball […]
Merged
Exabeam and LogRhythm cut jobs, face lawsuit
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Unconfirmed reports suggest 30 percent reduction in headcount
Exabeam and LogRhythm – a pair of cyber security firms – finalized their
merger on Wednesday, an occasion The Register understands was
marked by swift job cuts and shareholder action to investigate the
transaction.…
US to
dismantle temporary pier built to deliver aid into Gaza
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
Pentagon — The U.S. military is dismantling the temporary pier it
built to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza via the sea but will
continue to help transfer aid for Gaza from Cyprus to the Israeli port
of Ashdod, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
“The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete, so
there’s no more need to use the pier,” Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy
commander for U.S. Central Command, told reporters on Wednesday.
At least 5 million pounds of aid remains in Cyprus, according to
Cooper, which the U.S. military will help transfer to Ashdod, about 40
kilometers south of Tel Aviv. The U.S. plans to use the same vessels
that have transported aid from Cypress to the temporary pier to
transport aid from Cypress to Ashdod.
Through coordination with the U.S. World Food Program, that aid will
be loaded onto trucks to enter Gaza through a northern entry point, he
added.
The temporary pier, known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS),
delivered 8.7 million kilograms (19.4 million pounds) of aid to Gaza in
the 20 or so days it was operational, which Cooper said was a
“historically unprecedented operation to deliver aid into an active
combat zone without any U.S. boots on the ground.”
“It’s the highest volume of humanitarian assistance that the U.S.
military has ever delivered into the Middle East,” Cooper said.
U.S. and partner airdrops have delivered 1.08 million kilograms (2.4
million pounds) of aid into Gaza since the war began, while trucks have
delivered 15 million kilograms (33.5 million pounds) of aid through land
routes.
The Pentagon had planned to re-anchor the temporary pier to the Gaza
shore one last time after detaching it late last month because of rough
seas, but weather conditions kept the pier in Ashdod, according to
officials.
Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden said he was “disappointed” the
temporary pier he ordered be established off the coast of Gaza had not
met his expectations.
“I was hopeful that would be more successful,” he said.
Cooper said the aid mission for Gaza would end up costing less than
the $230 million initially estimated for the mission. He did not provide
a specific number. He added that the Gaza aid mission was more
cost-efficient than previous U.S. military aid missions of comparable
size. For example, the U.S. aid delivery mission to Haiti following an
earthquake in 2010 cost about $460 million to deliver 10 million
kilometers (23 million pounds) of aid.
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, the highest-ranking Republican on the U.S.
Senate Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday the pier project had
caused “national embarrassment.”
“The only miracle is that this doomed-from-the-start operation did
not cost any American lives,” he said. “We cannot buy back the $230
million needlessly spent, and significant questions remain about the
Biden administration’s poor planning for this mission.”
Wicker said transporting the pier took “roughly double” the amount of
time it was actually in use.
The pier was moved to the Israeli port on June 28 to protect it from
weather damage. At the time, officials said there was a chance it would
not be reattached.
The pier allowed for aid to enter Gaza via a sea route from Cyprus, a
delivery method that officials deemed a “temporary” fix as land routes
to get aid into Gaza stalled with long backups of vehicles at Israeli
inspection points.
The arrangement was part of an effort to boost what humanitarian
organizations say is a vastly insufficient amount of aid for Palestinian
civilians.
“We know that there is an urgent need for humanitarian assistance,”
Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder told reporters Tuesday
at the Pentagon in response to a question from VOA.
Fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror
group, had prevented the aid from leaving the Gaza beach and making it
to civilians in need during some of the pier’s deployment.
The late-June pier detachment was not the first time the temporary
pier was taken offline because of rough seas.
Following its completion in mid-May, the pier operated for just a few
days before it was damaged by stormy weather in late May. That damage
stopped operations until June 8.
US
prosecutors appeal dismissal of Trump classified documents case
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
Washington — U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday formally appealed a
federal judge’s decision to throw out the criminal case brought by
Special Counsel Jack Smith accusing Donald Trump of illegally holding on
to classified documents following the end of his presidency.
Smith’s office filed a notice indicating it would ask the
Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revive the case and
reverse Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling on
Monday that Smith had been unlawfully appointed by Attorney General
Merrick Garland.
Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump in 2020, ruled that
Smith’s 2022 appointment violated the U.S. Constitution because Congress
did not authorize Garland to name a special counsel with the degree of
power and independence wielded by Smith.
The decision was the latest in a series of legal victories for Trump.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that Trump has broad immunity
from prosecution for official actions taken as president, a decision
that has tied up another criminal case brought by Smith involving
Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Trump is the Republican candidate challenging Democratic President
Joe Biden in the November 5 U.S. election in a rematch from four years
ago.
A Trump campaign spokesperson reiterated Trump’s previous call to
dismiss all four criminal cases against him in light of Cannon’s
decision.
Cannon broke with decades of rulings by other federal courts that
have upheld the authority of the attorney general to empower a special
counsel to handle politically sensitive investigations.
The practice has been used for decades by administrations of both
political parties. Special counsels have also investigated Biden and his
son, Hunter Biden.
Cannon’s ruling dismissed the charges against Trump and co-defendants
Walt Nauta, a personal aide to Trump, and Carlos De Oliveira, a property
manager at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida where the
documents were found during an FBI search.
Trump was accused of illegally retaining sensitive national security
documents, including records related to the U.S. nuclear program and
potential military vulnerabilities, at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office
in January 2021. Trump and the two co-defendants also were accused of
obstructing an investigation into Trump’s handling of the material.
Trump and his co-defendants had pleaded not guilty.
In addition to the two indictments obtained by Smith, Trump faced
criminal charges in a pair of other cases.
He became the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime
when a jury in New York state court found him guilty in May of felony
charges related to hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to avert
a sex scandal before the 2016 election. He faces sentencing in
September. Trump also faces state charges in Georgia related to his
efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat.
The two remaining criminal cases are not expected to be completed
before the election.
Smith, a public corruption and international war crimes prosecutor,
was appointed to give investigations involving Trump a degree of
independence from the Justice Department under the Biden administration.
Trump’s lawyers have not challenged Smith’s appointment in Smith’s
election-related case.
Six of the 12 active judges on the 11th Circuit were appointed by
Trump. The 11th Circuit dealt Trump a defeat earlier over the classified
documents. In 2022, before the charges were filed, a three-judge 11th
Circuit panel reversed a ruling by Cannon to appoint a third-party
“special master” to vet evidence FBI agents seized during a search of
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.
A Homicide Bureau with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department confirmed
Wednesday a second suspect has been arrested in Santa Clarita in
connection with the fatal shooting June 17 outside Valencia […]
Biden
tests positive for COVID, cancels Nevada campaign event
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
Washington — President Joe Biden told reporters late Wednesday that
he was “doing well,” hours after testing positive for COVID-19. The
White House made the announcement earlier this evening, shortly after he
abruptly canceled a Las Vegas speech where he planned to appeal to
Latino voters.
The 81-year-old president tested positive after his first event in
Las Vegas on Wednesday and is experiencing “mild symptoms,” White House
press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in the statement. She added that
he is vaccinated and boosted against the virus and will return to his
home in Rehoboth, Delaware, where he will self-isolate.
“The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s
status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while
in isolation,” she said.
The news was first announced by the president of UnidosUS, the
nation’s largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization.
“Regrettably I was just on the phone with President Biden,” UnidosUS
President Janet Murguía told the crowd gathered in a Las Vegas ballroom
to hear the president. “And he shared his deep disappointment at not
being able to join us this afternoon. The president has been at many
events as we all know, and he just tested positive for COVID. So, of
course, we understand that he needs to take the precautions that have
been recommended, and he did not obviously want to put anybody at
risk.”
A message from Biden’s doctor followed Jean-Pierre’s statement,
adding that Biden’s respiratory rate, temperature and blood oxygen
levels are all normal, and that he has received a dose of treatment. The
doctor, whose name was not given in the statement, said Biden had shown
symptoms including a runny nose, a cough and general malaise.
“His symptoms remain mild, his respiratory rate is normal at 16, his
temperature is normal at 97.8 and his pulse oximetry is normal at 97%,”
the note said. “The president has received his first dose of Paxlovid.
He will be self-isolating at his home in Rehoboth.”
The diagnosis came the same day as the latest call from a member of
Biden’s Democratic Party for the president to drop his reelection
bid.
Congressman Adam Schiff warned in a statement that a win by Biden’s
opponent, former President Donald Trump, “will undermine the very
foundation of our democracy,” and that Schiff has “serious concerns”
about whether Biden can win in November.
“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s
alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff said.
“And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to
defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”
Santa
Clarita Receives Nationally Acclaimed Finance Award For 30th Year
date: 2024-07-17, from: SCV New (TV Station)
For the 30th year in a row, the city of Santa Clarita has received an
Investment Policy Certificate of Excellence Award from the Association
of Public Treasurers of the United States and Canada for its Investment
Policy
Media
work to combat disinformation on Trump shooting
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
Following the attempted assassination of former President Donald
Trump, the media are working to verify details of the attack and to
combat fast-spreading mis- and disinformation. Ethics experts are
looking at how the attack is being framed. With Liam Scott, Cristina
Caicedo Smit has the story for VOA News.
The
World’s Rarest Whale May Have Just Washed Ashore in New Zealand
date: 2024-07-17, from: Smithsonian Magazine
No one has ever recorded a live sighting of the spade-toothed whale,
but experts say the dolphin-like creature found earlier this month is
“no doubt” a member of the elusive species
City
of Santa Clarita Receives Nationally Acclaimed Finance Award for the
30th Consecutive Year
date: 2024-07-17, from: City of Santa Clarita
For the 30th year in a row, the City of Santa Clarita has received an
Investment Policy Certificate of Excellence Award from the Association
of Public Treasurers of the United States and Canada for its Investment
Policy. The City is being recognized for its Fiscal Year 2024-25
Investment Policy due to its success in developing […]
NASA Ships Moon Rocket Stage Ahead of First Crewed Artemis Flight
NASA rolled out the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s core stage for
the Artemis II test flight from its Michoud Assembly Facility on Tuesday
for shipment to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center. The rollout is key
progress on the path to NASA’s first crewed mission to […]
NASA Ends
VIPER Project, Continues Moon Exploration
date: 2024-07-17, from: NASA breaking news
Following a comprehensive internal review, NASA announced Wednesday
its intent to discontinue development of its VIPER (Volatiles
Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) project. NASA stated cost
increases, delays to the launch date, and the risks of future cost
growth as the reasons to stand down on the mission. The rover was
originally planned to launch in […]
Watch
Chatty Beluga Families Migrate With These Stunning Live Cams in
Canada
date: 2024-07-17, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Polar Bears International and Explore.org are once again capturing
video footage and audio recordings of the social marine mammals as tens
of thousands congregate in the Churchill River this summer
“In 2023, intense competition among over 100 LLMs has emerged in
China, resulting in a significant waste of resources, particularly
computing power. I’ve noticed that many people still primarily focus on
foundational models. But I want to ask: How about real-world
applications? Who has benefitted from them?” Robin Li Yanhong, the
founder and CEO of Baidu …
Here
we go again. And again. Musk threatens to pull Twitter, SpaceX out of
California
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Over here, look at me, Donald, I’m over here, don’t you want to tweet
again? Woke! Trans! Antifa! Immigration!
Comment Elon Musk is threatening yet again to take his
ball and go home, this time claiming he’s going to move X and SpaceX
from California to Texas because he’s upset over a new state law
designed to prevent teachers from being required to out LGBTQ students.…
Frege on
seeing what is in front of his nose, revisited
date: 2024-07-17, from: Logic Matters blog
There’s a new piece just published by Jamie Tappenden with the promising
title ‘Following Bobzien: Some Notes on Frege’s Development and
Engagement with his Environment’ (History and Philosophy of Logic
https://doi.org/10.1080/01445340.2024.2360349). But, for me a bit
disappointingly, this turns out to be — yet once more — mostly about
Frege’s engagement with, in a broad […]
The Biden administration
loves
a hub. There are the
hydrogen
hubs, the
direct
air capture hubs, and now there are the
tech
hubs. Established as a part of the CHIPS and Science Act of
2022, the $10 billion program has so far seeded 12 such hubs across the
country. Four of these are focused on clean energy and sustainability,
and one is located in the great state of Florida, which
recently
passed legislation essentially deleting the words “climate
change” from state law.
The
South
Florida ClimateReady Tech Hub did not, in the end, eliminate
climate from its name. But while Governor Ron DeSantis might not
approve, the federal government didn’t seem to mind, as the Department
of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration awarded the hub $19.5
million to “advance its global leadership in sustainable and resilient
infrastructure.”
“Regardless of how you feel about the word climate or the words climate
change, what I have found in this process is what deeply resonates with
folks is that their relationship with water is changing,” Francesca
Covey, chief of economic innovation and development for Miami-Dade
County, told me.
Sea levels around Florida have
risen
about 8 inches since 1950, and the rate of rise is only
accelerating, putting the state’s extensive, low-lying coastlines at
high risk for flooding and, eventually, total submersion.
The
United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
estimates that by 2100, average sea levels will have risen
between 1.4 and 2.8 feet, with more drastic scenarios possible if little
is done to curb emissions.
Covey, who grew up in Miami, said everyone agrees there are simply more
puddles and flooded roads to navigate than when she was a kid. “So there
is an understanding that regardless of how you think it happened, or why
you think it happened, that our everyday life is harder because the
environment around us is changing.”
This narrative, she believes, can help form a basis of bipartisan
support for Florida’s hub, which she told me has three technical focus
areas: limiting coastal hazards due to sea level rise and extreme
weather events, implementing energy efficient technologies, and building
resilient structures using low-carbon concrete and cement. South
Florida, Covey said, is the perfect place to undertake these projects,
as the state has been investing in climate adaptation and mitigation
since 1992, when Hurricane Andrew touched down in Miami-Dade County,
causing $25 billion in damages. Since then, she says the state’s
universities have been churning out climate tech intellectual property.
“We’re seeing the IP grow 10% year-over-year over the last few years,”
Covey said. Nine colleges and universities are tech hub partners, with
the bulk of the funding going to
Florida
International University, which will receive $10.3 million to
help scale up low-carbon concrete tech, establish an infrastructure
innovation center, and improve upon industry building codes and
standards.
Miami
Tech Works, which aims to build a pipeline of tech talent in
South Florida, is set to receive $6 million for workforce development
programs while the Miami-Dade County government will get $3.2 million
for governance and oversight. Two private companies working on advanced
concrete products, Titan America and Carbon Limit, are also getting a
portion of the FIU funding — $740,000 for Carbon Limit and an
undisclosed amount for Titan.
Tim Sperry, CEO of Carbon Limit, is used to getting questions about why
he based his early-stage startup out of Florida, his home state. “Great
that you guys are a climate tech company, but why would you be in South
Florida?” Sperry said people wonder. “Florida at all was a bad look for
climate tech companies until this hub actually came together,” he told
me. Since the hub was
initially
announced last October, Sperry says he’s seen more money for
climate tech flowing into the state.
Carbon Limit has a patented powder additive for concrete mixes, which
enhances concrete’s natural ability to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere
and sequester it permanently, thereby reducing the carbon intensity of
built infrastructure such as buildings and roads. So far the company has
worked with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to pave a section
of interstate highway, and
with
Google to pave a portion of its campus. Carbon Limit raised a $1
million pre-seed round two years ago, and its business model revolves
around licensing the formula for its additive to concrete producers.
Sperry sees Florida as “ground zero” for climate-related natural
disasters, and thus a natural home for this type of technology. When he
worked in Miami, he saw people kayaking down the streets during king
tides, and found crabs in his office after floods. “They actually raised
the road four feet and put pumps and did all this stuff down there. So I
think, why shouldn’t it be South Florida?” he asked, “Short of the
government stuff …”
Ah yes, the government stuff. While DeSantis hasn’t weighed in publicly
on the ClimateReady Tech Hub, Covey said the state’s DeSantis-appointed
Chief Resilience Officer, Wesley Brooks, is supportive. Brooks helped
craft the “state support” section of the hub’s application, which calls
the Office of Resilience “an advocate for the Hub and an ally in
providing technical guidance to local governments.”
Climate tech startups can’t eat guidance, however. If the hub is going
to accomplish its lofty technical and workforce development goals, it’s
going to need a lot more than $19.5 million, and a lack of state-level
support could make securing additional funds that much more difficult.
“We requested $70 million,” Covey told me, the maximum amount of federal
funding that tech hubs could apply for. Most of the
other
hubs received between $40 million and $50 million, putting the
South Florida hub at the small end of the bunch. Covey said the county
didn’t receive feedback as to why. “The way that we’re looking at $19.5
[million] is that this is our first investment tranche. We will be going
back to the federal government. We will be going back to private
funders. We will be going back to philanthropic funders in order to
achieve our metrics,” she told me.
Ultimately, Miami-Dade County wants to leverage the ClimateReady Tech
Hub to create 23,000 green jobs with an average base salary of $83,000
over a 10-year period. Thus far, Miami-Dade has raised an additional
$500,000 — not nothing, but far from its ultimate goal of raising
another $50 million. The increasing probability of a Trump win in
November could put future federal funding for the hub at the whims of a
notoriously mercurial and climate-adverse cabinet.
But if the tech hub does achieve its goals, Covey estimates the payoff
will be huge, adding $41 billion to the region’s GDP. Given all the
growth South Florida has seen over the last four years, with
entrepreneurs and venture capitalists
flooding
into the region during the pandemic, Covey thinks the hub’s got
a real shot of securing the money it needs. She even told me she views
South Florida as “the most competitive place when it comes to climate
technology.”
When I noted that the San Francisco Bay Area might beg to differ, Covey
emphasized how much it matters that Miami-Dade County is experiencing
the impacts of climate change in real time. “The Bay Area doesn’t have
those sort of real life testing conditions that we have here. We have
$3.5 trillion exposed to climate change right now,” she told me, citing
a figure from a
National
Wildlife Federation report showing that out of all the cities in
the world, Miami stands to lose the most from coastal flooding. In other
words, in South Florida climate tech isn’t a matter of theoretical
tinkering and ideating. As Covey says, “Our economy depends on it.”
California
Democrat Adam Schiff calls on Biden to drop out of presidential
race
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The LAist
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) called Biden “one of the most
consequential presidents in our nation’s history” but said it was “time
for him to pass the torch.”
Jesse Squires: The first is waitForNonExistence(withTimeout:), which
provides the inverse of the existing waitForExistence(timeout:) API.
Finally! This is such a welcome change. Often in UI testing it is more
semantic to wait for an element to disappear rather than appear — for
example, waiting for a loading indicator or waiting for a
UIContentUnavailableView to disappear. […]
Stuart Montgomery (September 2023): I’m excited to announce a new
open source project exploring improvements to the testing experience for
Swift. John McCall: I’m pleased to announce that the Swift project has
accepted a vision document for A New Direction for Testing in Swift. The
vision: It should gracefully coexist with projects that use XCTest
[…]
Apple: Discover the latest productivity and performance improvements
in Xcode 16. Learn about enhancements to code completion, diagnostics,
and Xcode Previews. Find out more about updates in builds and explore
improvements in debugging and Instruments. See also: Download, Release
Notes, Updates. • • • Adam Bell: The new Xcode 16 AI autocomplete tech
is actually […]
William Gallagher: Overall, the global PC market grew by 3.4% year on
year in Q2 2024, for a total of 62.8 million shipped. Of those, laptops
represented 50 million, which by itself is a 4% rise YoY. Global desktop
computer shipments rose by 1% to reach 12.8 million. Across both laptops
and desktops, Apple came […]
Orange
Pi 5 Max is a credit card-sized RK3588 PC with 2.5 GbE Ethernet, PCIe
3.0, and WiFi 6E
date: 2024-07-17, from: Liliputing
At first glance it would be easy to mistake the new Orange Pi 5 Max for
a Raspberry Pi. It’s a similarly-sized single-board computer that’s easy
to hold in one hand or slide into a pocket and it has Raspberry Pi-like
features including a combination of Ethernet, USB, and HDMI ports. But
the Orange Pi […]
$3.935
Million State Grant is a ‘Game Changer’ for Port of Hueneme as Governor
Ramps Up California Port Data Partnership Program
date: 2024-07-17, from: Port Hueneme
Download Press Release Contact: Letitia Austin Public and Gov’t
Relations Manager Laustin@Portofh.org [Port Hueneme, CA] — The The
Port of Hueneme is excited to support and enhance the movement…
Kaspersky
gives US customers six months of free updates as a parting gift
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
So long, farewell, do svidaniya, goodbye
Updated Embattled Russian infosec shop Kaspersky is
giving US customers six months of security updates for free as a parting
gift as Uncle Sam kicks the antivirus maker out of the American market.…
Navy
exonerates 256 Black sailors unjustly punished after deadly 1944
explosion
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy has exonerated 256 Black sailors who were
found to be unjustly punished in 1944 following a horrific port
explosion that killed hundreds of service members and exposed racist
double standards among the then-segregated ranks.
On July 17, 1944, munitions being loaded onto a cargo ship detonated,
causing secondary blasts that ignited 5,000 tons (4,535 metric tonnes)
of explosives at Port Chicago naval weapons station near San
Francisco.
The explosion killed 320 sailors and civilians, nearly 75% of whom
were Black, and injured another 400 personnel. Surviving Black sailors
had to pick up the human remains and clear the blast site while white
officers were granted leave to recuperate.
The pier was a critical ammunition supply site for forces in the
Pacific during World War II, and the job of loading those ships was left
primarily to Black enlisted sailors overseen by white officers.
Before the explosion, the Black sailors working the dock had
expressed concerns about the loading operations. Shortly after the
blast, they were ordered to return to loading ships even though no
changes had been made to improve their safety.
The sailors refused, saying they needed training on how to more
safely handle the bombs before they returned.
What followed affected the rest of their lives, including punishments
that kept them from receiving honorable discharges even as the vast
majority returned to work at the pier under immense pressure and served
throughout the war. Fifty sailors who held fast to their demands for
safety and training were tried as a group on charges of conspiracy to
commit mutiny and were convicted and sent to prison.
The whole episode was unjust, and none of the sailors received the
legal due process they were owed, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said in
an interview with The Associated Press.
It was “a horrific situation for those Black sailors that remained,”
Del Toro said. The Navy’s office of general counsel reviewed the
military judicial proceedings used to punish the sailors and found
“there were so many inconsistencies and so many legal violations that
came to the forefront,” he said.
Thurgood Marshall, who was then a defense attorney for the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, defended the 50
sailors who were convicted of mutiny. Marshall went on to become the
first Black justice on the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, the 80th anniversary of the Port Chicago disaster, Del
Toro signed paperwork officially clearing the sailors, who are now
deceased. Del Toro handed the first pen to Thurgood Marshall Jr., the
late justice’s son.
The exonerations “are deeply moving,” Marshall Jr. said. “They, of
course, are all gone, and that’s a painful aspect of it. But so many
fought for so long for that kind of fairness and recognition.”
The events have stung surviving family members for decades, but an
earlier effort in the 1990s to pardon the sailors fell short. Two
additional sailors were previously cleared — one was found mentally
incompetent to stand trial, and one was cleared on insufficient
evidence. Wednesday’s action goes beyond a pardon and vacates the
military judicial proceedings carried out in 1944 against all of the
men.
“This decision clears their names and restores their honor and
acknowledges the courage that they displayed in the face of immense
danger,” Del Toro said.
The racism that the Black sailors faced reflected the military’s
views at the time — ranks were segregated, and the Navy had only
reluctantly opened some positions it considered less desirable to Black
service members.
The official court of inquiry looking into why the explosion occurred
cleared all the white officers and praised them for the “great effort”
they had to exert to run the dock. It left open the suggestion that the
Black sailors were to blame for the accident.
Del Toro’s action converts the discharges to honorable unless there
were other circumstances surrounding them. After the Navy upgrades the
discharges, surviving family members can work with the Department of
Veterans Affairs on past benefits that may be owed, the Navy said.
Experience
the Launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Mission
date: 2024-07-17, from: NASA breaking news
Digital content creators are invited to register to attend the launch
of the ninth SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket that will
carry astronauts to the International Space Station for a science
expedition mission. This mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew
Program. Launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission is targeted for no
earlier […]
SpaceX
asks the FAA: ‘Can we launch our rockets again, please?’
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Company keen to get back on the horse before the investigation is
complete
SpaceX wants to get back to launching Falcon 9 after one of the rockets
experienced an upper stage malfunction last week, which forced it to
ditch its satellites in a lower than planned orbit. It has requested a
public safety determination from the US Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) to allow it to return to flight.…
Interaction bait is killing social media. You know what I’m talking
about. Those posts that are designed to get you to comment, like, or
share. They’re everywhere, and they’re getting more and more annoying.
People are posting things that are clearly designed to get a reaction.
And it’s not just the posts themselves that are …
After a vape with a screen showing Twitter and Facebook icons on it
went viral, I ordered the “Swype Vape 30K Puffs Touch Screen Disposable”
to see if I could inhale some social media myself.
NASA,
SpaceX Invite Media to Watch Crew-9 Launch to Space Station
date: 2024-07-17, from: NASA breaking news
Media accreditation now is open for the launch of NASA’s ninth
rotational mission of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft
that will carry astronauts to the International Space Station for a
science expedition. This mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew
Program. Launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission is targeted for no
earlier […]
The Next Full Moon is the Buck or Thunder Moon; the Hay or Mead Moon;
Guru Purnima; Asalha Puja (aka Dharma Day or Esala Poya); and the start
of Vassa. The next full Moon will be Sunday morning, July 21, 2024,
appearing opposite the Sun (in Earth-based longitude) at 6:17 AM EDT.
For the International […]
This
mini ITX board combines Alder Lake-N processor with 10 Gb and 2.5 GbE
networking and up to 8 storage devices (2 x NVMe + 6 x SATA)
date: 2024-07-17, from: Liliputing
A new mini ITX motherboard making the rounds on AliExpress is designed
for folks looking to build their own network-attached storage, firewall,
or other appliance-like PC. The MW-100-NAS board features a 6-watt Intel
Alder Lake-N processor, support for up to 32GB of DDR5-4800 memory, and
up to eight storage devices thanks to 6 SATA 3.0 […]
GlobalWafers
scores $400M to help build US’s first 300mm wafer plants in Texas and
Missouri
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
CHIPS ACT grant will help cover the Taiwanese semiconductor firm’s $4B
budget
US government is granting GlobalWafers up to $400 million in CHIPS Act
cash to help fund its 300mm wafer manufacturing facilities in Texas and
Missouri.…
This is somewhere between a call to action and a wake-up call:
“If you wish to be moral, you have to also pay attention to whether what
you’re doing actually works. And the best way to do that is to set up a
forcing function for it: that’s what checks and balances do.”
“[…] Imagination isn’t just a trite word to make your heart glow in
pulp-class young-adult dystopia — imagination is the ability to depict
justice, to see what we ought to aspire to. It is not a gift but rather
a skill to hone.”
There is an inherent question here about how you can create binding
systems that enforce ethical standards - but also, how you can determine
which ethical standards actually lead to the outcomes you want to
establish.
I think there’s a lot here that can be addressed through more
distributed equity. As Robin says, “anywhere a powerful entity operates
it is at risk of unethical behavior and therefore must be held in check
by a control mechanism”. One system of control - insufficient in itself
but I think still necessary - is to ensure that power is spread among
more people who are more connected to the effects of that power.
Distributing equity literally means handing over the means of production
not just to workers but to those impacted by the work, reconnecting the
decisions to their consequences. I don’t know that you can have
ethical tech that is motivated by centralized power. As Robin implies:
so far, it hasn’t worked.
On the second day of Amazon’s Prime Day sale, here’s a roundup of some
of the best deals on small desktop computers. Some models are small
enough to fit in a pocket. Others are fanless, allowing for silent
operation. And some pack all the power of a high-performance laptop
computer into a compact body with […]
How
much did CalPERS claw back from retiree who grossly inflated his
pension?
date: 2024-07-17, from: San Jose Mercury News
We’ve been revisiting the saga of Huntington Beach resident Bruce
Malkenhorst Sr. — poster boy for public pension reform and once the most
handsomely paid retiree in all of California, with pension checks
totaling more than $551,000 a year.
Three
days after attempted assassination, Trump shooter remains an elusive
enigma
date: 2024-07-17, from: San Jose Mercury News
Neighbors describe Thomas Matthew Crooks as an intelligent loner with
few friends who left a vanishingly thin social media footprint and no
hint of strong political beliefs.
Science
Activation’s PLACES Team Facilitates Second Professional Learning
Institute
date: 2024-07-17, from: NASA breaking news
The NASA Science Activation Program’s Place-Based Learning to Advance
Connections, Education, and Stewardship (PLACES) team successfully led
their second Professional Learning (PL) Summer Institute (SI) at
Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, Arizona from June 11-13,
2024. The team led a group of 13 educators through a variety of powerful
place-based data-rich (PBDR) experiences across […]
Woman,
man wounded by stray bullets while driving in West Oakland
date: 2024-07-17, from: San Jose Mercury News
The 65-year-old man was in stable condition with a gunshot wound to
his jaw, authorities said. The 53-year-old woman was in stable
condition with a wound to her arm.
The GOP wants to be clear that it’s pro-cryptocurrency. The official
Republican platform adopted earlier this week says the party will
“defend the right to mine bitcoin.” We’ll hear more about the
intersection of digital assets and politics. Plus, dinners in Spain tend
to start pretty darn late — after 9 p.m. on average. One reason is that
the working day runs deep into the evening. But could things be
changing?
Coming
of Age during Wartime in Sudan: A Conversation with Omnia Mustafa
date: 2024-07-17, from: Care
<p>“When we are engaging with African people, they tell us, ‘You’re too Arab for us.’ And when we engage with Arab people, they tell us, ‘You’re too African for us.’”</p>
FOSS
funding vanishes from EU’s 2025 Horizon program plans
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Elimination of most Next Generation Internet funding ‘incomprehensible,’
says OW2 CEO Pierre-Yves Gibello
Funding for free and open source software (FOSS) initiatives under the
EU’s Horizon program has mostly vanished from next year’s proposal,
claim advocates who are worried for the future of many ongoing
projects. …
NASA
STEM Program for Indigenous Communities Honored for Excellence
date: 2024-07-17, from: NASA breaking news
NASA has been selected by the International Astronautical Federation
to receive its 2024 “3G” Diversity Award, which recognizes organizations
for their contributions to fostering geographic, generational, and
gender diversity in the space sector. NASA’s Indigenous Community-Based
Education (CBE) Program is a consortium of partnerships between NASA and
numerous, diverse Indigenous communities which co-create unique
educational […]
NASA
STEM Program for Indigenous Communities Honored for Excellence
date: 2024-07-17, from: NASA breaking news
NASA has been selected by the International Astronautical Federation
to receive its 2024 “3G” Diversity Award, which recognizes organizations
for their contributions to fostering geographic, generational, and
gender diversity in the space sector. NASA’s Indigenous Community-Based
Education (CBE) Program is a consortium of partnerships between NASA and
numerous, diverse Indigenous communities which co-create unique
educational […]
Tight-Knit
Microbes Live Together to Make a Vital Nutrient
date: 2024-07-17, from: Quanta Magazine
At sea, biologists discovered microbial partners that together produce
nitrogen, a nutrient essential for life. The pair are in the process of
merging into a single organism.
America is melting. Roads are buckling everywhere from
Houston
to
Aurora,
Colorado, and in June caused traffic jams in
Oshkosh,
Wisconsin. Last week, a New York City bridge that had opened to
let a ship pass
got
stuck after expanding in the heat, forcing thousands of
commuters to detour. The mid-June heat wave led to thousands of
flight
delays; more recently, even Toronto’s Pearson International
Airport
warned
travelers to brace for heat-related complications. Commuters
along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor have been
harried
by heat-induced delays for weeks.
The train delays have affected an especially large population. The
Northeast Corridor is the most trafficked commuter rail system in the
country, with over 750,000 daily commuters. In late June, Amtrak
notified customers that trains in the corridor could face delays of up
to an hour in the coming weeks as heat interfered with tracks and
overhead power lines. Since it issued that warning, tens of thousands of
people have experienced heat-related delays.
Amtrak estimates that severe weather, including extreme heat, storms,
and floods, will incur $220 million in lost revenue in the coming
decade. That will only compound problems for the beleaguered rail
company, which is facing a backlog of $45 billion in Northeast Corridor
repairs, Fortunereported.
Some of the corridor’s bridges and tunnels were built more than a
century ago, and the price tag for repairs has been accumulating for
years.
Making the necessary infrastructure improvements won’t just mean
replacing old equipment with new. It will also require that new
equipment be able to withstand high temperatures that were far less
common just a decade ago. Solids, and especially metals, expand in the
heat, which can warp rail lines if they’re not protected against high
temperatures. Overhead power lines, meanwhile, tend to sag on hot days,
Mikhail Chester, the director of the Metis Center for Infrastructure and
Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University, told me. Most light
rail lines have counterweights to balance that sag, but those often
aren’t heavy enough to counteract the extreme effects of high heat.
Asphalt, too, tends to expand and soften in the heat, causing headaches
for motorists and road crews. In
Wisconsin
and
Washington
State, where asphalt is the favored paving material, heat warped some
roads so badly they were forced to close, and traffic on Wisconsin’s
I-41 was partially
restricted
when high temperatures caused a joint to fail. In June, a highway
through Wyoming’s Teton Pass
collapsed
from a landslide that authorities have attributed to unusually rapid
snowmelt, blocking a critical route for commuters to Jackson Hole and
Yellowstone. The closure could prevent nearly half of the workforce in
the area from making it to work, CBS reported.
While cities in the Southeast and Southwest have also reckoned with
heat-related challenges, it’s notable that many of the most pronounced
infrastructure meltdowns recently have occurred in ordinarily cooler
parts of the country. The reasons are twofold, Chester told me. First,
cities in the hottest part of the country tend to be newer, meaning they
built more of their base infrastructure in more recent (and warmer)
decades. Second, these cities are simply more used to the heat. In
Phoenix, it’s not unusual for a summer day to top 110 degrees Fahrenheit
— on Friday, when I spoke to Chester, it reached 116 degrees. That kind
of heat poses an undeniable risk to outdoor workers, young athletes, and
under-resourced populations, Chester said, but it also means that civil
engineers build infrastructure with heat in mind.
In Phoenix, “the infrastructure is much more designed to the
environments — these high temperatures — than a place like Rhode Island
is,” Chester said. Whereas Phoenix has always been hot, the climate in
the Northeast is “significantly different at this point, climate change
being one of those major changes.”
I appreciated the ironic signs warning me of deadly floods as I ran this
morning in the brutal Phoenix desert heat
pic.twitter.com/dKiZtCmL8s —
Chet Haase (@chethaase)
July
14, 2024
That’s not to say Southwestern infrastructure is anything close to
heatproof. Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory found that
pavement temperatures on Phoenix streets frequently exceed 120 degrees
on hot days, with many reaching between 140 and 160 degrees.
Skin-to-pavement contact at those temperatures can cause severe burns;
one Arizona burn center saw a 60% uptick in severe contact burns between
2022 and 2023,
Axios
reported.
National media coverage of climate-resilient infrastructure tends to
focus on large federal legislation such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law and Inflation Reduction Act, but the standards set by professional
societies like the American Society of Civil Engineers are at least as —
if not more — influential, and far less sensitive to the ebbs and flows
of national politics. Though not legally binding, these standards are
often used as a model for local licensing authorities.
“A lot of states and regions and cities in the United States will look
to those guidelines to adapt,” Chester said.
What
exactly did Microsoft promise CISPE in its settlement?
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Analysts: ‘At the end of the day, the settlement is nothing’
Analysis Microsoft’s deal to settle an antitrust
complaint taken to the European Commission by a group of cloud providers
is good for Microsoft, but no so meaningful for enterprise customers,
says a well respected analyst.…
If you’re waiting for permission to build something, or if you want to
see how well something has worked for your peers or competitors before
you implement it yourself, you will never, ever innovate.
That’s the trap that news media seems to be in: nobody wants to be the
first to build something new. Perhaps it’s that times are so dire that
experimentation feels like too much of a risk; perhaps it’s just an
extension of top-down editorial culture. But there’s nothing out-there
in media technology right now. I’m aware of some stuff coming down the
pipe that I’m really excited about, but the most innovative thing that’s
actually been shipped is getting people to subscribe by
addicting them to puzzle games. Forgive me for thinking that’s not
particularly exciting.
How can the news industry break out of its shell? How can it act like
technology is something that it can shape, rather than something that
just happens to it? How can it put value not just in product management
but actual nuts-and-bolts technical innovation?
This feels existentially important.
Thinking about it. Working on it. I know I’m not alone.
I’m, uh, very bad at task management. I wouldn’t want to
pathologize, but I’ve never been a particularly organized
person. I’ve always aspired to be more organized, but I’ve never found a
tool or a methodology that really works for me. They were either too
rigid and opinionated or brought too much overhead: I had to remember to
use them, and that was enough of a blocker to not.
Over the last two months, everything has — weirdly — changed.
Someone mentioned Todoist over on
Threads, and although I had a vague memory of trying it years ago and it
not working for me, I decided to install it again. Maybe it was just the
right time for me now, or maybe the design has evolved, but it clicked
pretty much immediately.
There are two things that make it great:
It’s everywhere I work
It gets the hell out of my way
Whenever I need to remember to do something, I press a key combo — I’ve
configured shift-command-T — and a modal lets me quickly tap it in using
relatively natural language. That’s a similar workflow to what I’ve been
doing with Alfred for years and
years, so adding this new combo isn’t a giant feat of muscle memory.
Then, whenever I want to check what’s on my plate, I can bring up the
app (desktop via ctrl-command-T, or phone), or click the toolbar icon in
my browser to bring up the browser extension version. Because I spend
most of my life in my browser, that’s particularly handy. It’s just
always there.
I’ve found myself adding new tasks via modal while I’ve been in
meetings, so I don’t forget to follow up. Or I’ll be in a Google Doc and
add a task the same way. (There’s a way to automatically sync Google
Tasks with Todoist, but I don’t use that — I’d rather have direct
control over my task inbox.)
It’s made me more productive, more organized, and as a result, much less
anxious. And I feel really good about it.
This post isn’t an ad, by the way. It’s just so rare that I really love
a piece of software, so I thought I’d let you know.
The Anaheim Police Department said it wanted to be the first
department with a Cybertruck, according to an internal email obtained by
404 Media. But the company advertising the modified vehicles hasn’t
actually made one yet, the police said.
Rising
ASML sales overshadowed by fears of more drastic US restrictions
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Market immediately responds as shares in Dutch maker of crucial
photolithography tech dip
Europe’s tech darling ASML is forecasting increased sales following a
mixed calendar Q2, but its share price is down amid talk of tighter
restrictions on China exports being considered by the US government.…
Current conditions: Torrential rain brought flash
flooding to Toronto • A wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Kauai has
been contained • Parts of southern Spain could hit 111 degrees
Fahrenheit this week.
THE TOP FIVE
Intense heat waves and thunderstorms torment millions of Americans
The extreme heat wave over the East Coast may very well
break
a record in Washington, D.C., today that was set during the 1930s
Dust Bowl: the longest stretch of days with temperatures above 100
degrees Fahrenheit. The mercury yesterday hit 104 degrees, after
similarly scorching numbers on Monday and Sunday, tying the existing
record of three days. The National Weather Service forecasts a high of
98 degrees for Wednesday but The Washington Post said
there’s “an outside chance that it hits 100 (or higher).” Either way,
with humidity at 55%, it will feel torturously hot, with a potential
heat index of 110 degrees. An “Extended Heat Emergency” is in effect in
the city through today. Nearly 75 major cities across the Northeast,
South, and Southwest are currently facing dangerous heat levels,
according
to The New York Times.
A different dangerous weather pattern is playing out in the Midwest,
where intense storms caused terrible floods. Residents of Nashville,
Illinois, were ordered to evacuate due to an “imminent” dam failure. In
St. Louis, Missouri, some streets were inundated, and water was
seen
pouring into the basement of a local fire house.
Vineyard Wind project shut down ‘until further notice’ after broken
turbine scatters debris
The Vineyard Wind project, a large-scale commercial offshore wind farm
off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, has been
“shut
down until further notice” after debris from a damaged turbine blade
began washing up on nearby beaches. One of the project’s 351-foot-long
turbine blades reportedly broke off on Saturday, though nobody seems to
know why yet. Green and white debris, as well as sharp fragments of
fiberglass, have been littering Nantucket beaches, many of which are
closed for cleanup. A company notice
said
debris will be “1 square foot or less,” but some pieces appear
significantly larger, like this one spotted by the Nantucket
Current:
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is investigating
the incident. Vineyard Wind is the second U.S. commercial offshore wind
farm and is only partially constructed, though its existing 21 turbines
are already sending power to the grid. Once completed, it is expected to
produce enough electricity to power 400,000 homes. This incident is
more
bad news (and bad press) for America’s nascent and struggling
offshore wind industry.
COP29 president says new climate finance goal will be summit’s top
priority
The agenda for this year’s COP29 U.N. climate summit is coming into
view. This morning the COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev (who is
Azerbaijan’s environment minister as well as a former state oil company
exec), published a letter outlining the “plan and expectations” for the
event, which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital. While the top
priority is to agree “a fair and ambitious” New Collective Quantified
Goal on climate finance, “this is not just our priority,” Babayev wrote,
adding: “We all must go the extra mile together to deliver this historic
milestone.” The letter urges nations to put forward new National
Determined Contributions that are in keeping with the Paris Agreement’s
1.5 degree Celsius warming limit, submit climate adaptation plans, and
finalize Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which
sets
out “how countries can reduce their emissions using international
carbon markets.”
There are several references to Azerbaijan “leading by example” but the
underlying message is one of shared responsibility between nations to
tackle the climate crisis. The letter includes this rather ominous line:
“The multilateral system is under pressure to show it can deliver at the
speed and scale needed. COP29 will be a litmus test for the Paris
Agreement and global climate action and cooperation.” You can
read
the full document here.
U.K. sets out plans for state-owned energy company
The U.K. is going to
create
a state-owned energy company, called Great British Energy, that will
be a key pillar of the new Labour government’s promise to decarbonize
the nation’s energy sector by 2030. GB Energy will not supply
electricity directly to households. Instead, it will receive £8 billion
(about $10.4 billion – which will come partly from increased taxes on
oil and gas companies) to own and operate clean energy assets alongside
the private sector, “financing and helping to build low-carbon
infrastructure,” The Guardian
explained.
It’s not clear yet which projects GB Energy will invest in. Analysis
from energy think tank Ember suggests that if the U.K. hits its 2030
decarbonization goal, annual household energy bills could be £300 lower.
Growth in global fusion investment stalls
Investment growth in fusion energy research and technology is down for
the second year in a row,
according
to the Fusion Industry Association. Overall global investment has
risen more than $900 million this year, but that’s less than last year’s
$1.4 billion in growth, which was below the 2022 number, marking a
downward trend. FIA CEO Andrew Holland called for more support, both
private and public. The good news is that public funding in private
fusion companies has jumped globally by almost 60%.
THE KICKER
Sales of used electric vehicles were
up
63% in the U.K. in the first half of 2024 as prices fall to match
those of used combustion engine cars.
We explain why the AT&T breach is possibly the worst one to hit a
telecom ever. Then, the world of AI through the eye’s of JD Vance, and
inside a face fraud factory.
Everyone
Is Judging AI by These Tests. But Experts Say They’re Close to
Meaningless
date: 2024-07-17, from: The Markup blog
Benchmarks used to rank AI models are several years old, often
sourced from amateur websites, and, experts worry, lending automated
systems a dubious sense of authority
Mega-city’s
Oracle system won’t have effective cash management until 2025
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Birmingham, Europe’s largest local authority, plans to reimplement
software years after it replaced SAP
Europe’s largest local authority will not have a fully functioning cash
system until April next year, three years after it went live on an
Oracle ERP system intended to perform the task.…
I never had a regular “lunch break” until recently. Early in my
career it was not by choice — in surgery training there’s really no such
thing as a break, only a stolen minute or two here and there to pee or
wolf down whatever food you can scrounge or nap in a chair if it’s the
middle of the night and you’re on call. We did get a $5 meal coupon for
the hospital cafeteria which could get you a cup of terrible coffee and
a bagel drier than a bag of silica gel in the Sahara desert.
Saving
Modernist Houses with the Help of the Internet Archive
date: 2024-07-17, from: Internet Archive Blog
George Smart is on a mission to save mid-century modern houses. He
believes the structures are works of art that people should respect—if
they only realized their significance and knew […]
According to Milwaukee’s visitors bureau, hosting the Republican
National Convention this week comes with $200 million in additional
economic activity. But that figure doesn’t include business lost when
locals try to avoid the crowds. Plus, stock prices wake up with a
hangover. And later, it’s day 2 of Amazon Prime Day. Today, we check in
on Amazon’s pledge to spend $1.2 billion to provide free job training to
about 300,000 employees.
London
council accuses watchdog of ‘exaggerating’ danger of 2020 raid on
residents’ data
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
You escaped a big fat fine! Take the win and run, won’t you?
London’s inner city district of Hackney says the UK’s data protection
watchdog has misunderstood and “exaggerated” details surrounding a
ransomware attack on its systems in 2020.…
From the BBC World Service: Workers at an Amazon warehouse in
the United Kingdom have failed to gain union recognition by the slimmest
of margins. A majority of support was needed but just under 50% voted in
favor. Then, in Bangladesh, thousands of students have been protesting
over a lack of jobs. And in Spain, some are questioning the culture of
working well into the evening.
date: 2024-07-17, from: National Archives, Pieces of History blog
When architect John Russell Pope was designing the National Archives
Building, he included numerous symbolic elements to convey the ideas of
protection. Around the building are swords, shields, and spear-topped
gates to remind the public of the significance and importance of
protecting the building’s contents. He also included a granite moat
surrounding the building. Moats …
Continue
reading Protecting the National
Archives
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Running with coordinate transformations and the pitfalls of asynchronous
code
Remember when the Windows Start Menu was a pure thing, unsullied by ads
and decades of tinkering? Former Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer has
shared his role in bringing an iconic piece of Windows 95 into the world
of Windows NT.…
Jesse is on vacation until August, so this is a special, Rob-only
summer episode of Shift Key.
Shipping is the backbone of the modern economy. At least 80% of all
goods worldwide are shipped as ocean cargo, and the global economy rises
and falls on the free movement of gigantic ships across the sea. But
container ships and bulk carriers burn what’s known as bunker fuel, one
of the dirtiest fossil fuels. The international shipping industry
generates 3% of global carbon emissions, a proportion that’s projected
to rise through the century.
Most proposals to decarbonize ocean freight have focused on using
ammonia or other zero-carbon liquid fuels. But Fleetzero, a Bill
Gates-backed startup, is trying to use the only technology that it says
can get cheap enough to compete with oil: batteries. The Alabama-based
company is building batteries big enough to hybridize — and, eventually,
power outright — the world’s largest ships.
This week, Rob chats with Steven Henderson, the cofounder and CEO of
Fleetzero and a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. They talk
about Steven’s history in the oil and gas industry, why batteries will
beat liquid fuels, and how to put out a fire in the middle of the ocean.
This episode of Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding
executive editor of Heatmap.
Subscribe to “Shift Key” and find this episode on
Apple
Podcasts,
Spotify,
Amazon,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also add
the
show’s RSS feed to your podcast app to follow us directly.
Here is an excerpt from our conversation:
Steven Henderson: What’s good about batteries, you can
step into that, where you can use existing infrastructure and build on
it. You don’t need a new fundamental technology to do this. The numbers
to do this are not outside the realm of possibility.And if you think
about it in terms of global … it’s about one-fifth of what you would
need for electric cars and trucks.
So it’s not — yeah, these
are big numbers. But if you think about an electric future, this is one
of many parts, you know, so this is not going to be the hardest part on
the grid. In fact, it’s a bunch easier because you don’t have to go send
it across the country, and there are generating capabilities in and
around ports, and you can use existing stuff.
Robinson Meyer: I would imagine even switching a ship
from bunker fuel to electricity generated by natural gas, which is often
just right there would be …
Henderson: Yeah,
it’s a huge savings from carbon. And honestly, if you went to coal, it’s
still cleaner. Ships, because of just the way they operate, there’s CO2
emissions, but it’s a huge SOx and NOx, it’s a sulfur and nitrous oxides
emission. And at least with a stationary coal powered plant, at least in
the West, there’s regulations on what you can send out the stack. When
you’re in the middle of the ocean, these things, you know, sometimes
they’re choking up some pretty nasty stuff.
So it’s an
advantage, even if you go from coal. Obviously, we hope that all
electricity coming into this is going to be clean over time. But if you
suddenly have, oh, I need 100 megawatts of power, and I need to,
you know, swap out this power plant — well, what if I need 300
megawatts of power? Now I’m going to build a new power plant, and the
economics on that are going to stand on their own, and I can build it
clean from the beginning, so I don’t have to scrap the existing
infrastructure to make the grid clean.
So that’s why it’s
super important to electrify the consumers, and that increased demand on
the grid is how you clean up the grid.
This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …
Watershed’s climate data engine helps companies measure
and reduce their emissions, turning the data they already have into an
audit-ready carbon footprint backed by the latest climate science. Get
the sustainability data you need in weeks, not months. Learn more at
watershed.com.
As a global leader in PV and ESS solutions, Sungrow
invests heavily in research and development, constantly pushing the
boundaries of solar and battery inverter technology. Discover why
Sungrow is the essential component of the clean energy transition by
visiting
sungrowpower.com.
My student Aneesha gave me a book a few weeks ago before she headed
off to do her PhD in energy systems at Berkeley, The Grid by Gretchen
Bakke. OK, I thought, I’ll give it a try – but how …
Continue
reading →
Craig
Wright admits he isn’t the inventor of Bitcoin after High Court judgment
in UK
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-18, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Aussie definitely not Satoshi Nakamoto, faces £6M legal bill and
possible perjury trial
Australian Craig Wright has finally admitted he is not the inventor of
Bitcoin after losing several cases in the High Court of England and
Wales, whose judge has suggested he be investigated for perjury.…
Increased
security around Trump is apparent, agents wall him off from RNC
crowds
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
Milwaukee — On the floor of the Republican National Convention
Tuesday evening, vice presidential candidate JD Vance greeted and shook
hands with excited delegates as he walked toward his seat.
It was a marked contrast from former President Donald Trump, who
entered the hall a few minutes later and was separated from supporters
by a column of Secret Service agents. His ear still bandaged after an
attempted assassination, Trump closely hugged the wall. Instead of
handshakes or hellos for those gathered, he offered fist pumps to the
cameras.
The contrast underscores the new reality facing Trump after a gunman
opened fire at his rally in Pennsylvania Saturday, raising serious
questions about the agency that is tasked with protecting the president,
former presidents and major-party candidates. Trump’s campaign must also
adjust to a new reality after he came millimeters from death or serious
injury — and as law enforcement warns of the potential for more
political violence.
Trump campaign officials declined to comment on the stepped-up
security and how it might impact his interactions going forward.
“We do not comment on President Trump’s security detail. All
questions should be directed to the United States Secret Service,” said
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose agency oversees
the Secret Service, said Monday that he could not discuss “specifics of
the protection or the enhancements made, as they involve sensitive
tactics and procedures. I can say, however, that personnel and other
protective resources, technology, and capabilities have been added.”
The Secret Service had already stepped up Trump’s protection in the
days before the attack following an unrelated threat from Iran, two U.S.
officials said Tuesday. But that extra security didn’t stop the gunman,
who fired from an adjacent roof, from killing one audience member and
injuring two others along with Trump.
The FBI and Homeland Security officials remain “concerned about the
potential for follow-on or retaliatory acts of violence following this
attack,” according to a joint intelligence bulletin by Homeland Security
and the FBI and obtained by The Associated Press. The bulletin warned
that lone actors and small groups will “continue to see rallies and
campaign events as attractive targets.”
Underscoring the security risks, a man armed with an AK-47 pistol,
wearing a ski mask and carrying a tactical backpack was taken into
custody Monday near the Fiserv Forum, where the convention is being
held.
The attack has led to stepped-up security not only for Trump.
President Joe Biden’s security has also been bolstered, with more agents
surrounding him as he boarded Air Force One to Las Vegas on Monday
night. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also received Secret
Service protection in the shooting’s wake.
Trump’s campaign has also responded in other ways, including placing
armed security at all hours outside their offices in Florida and
Washington, D.C.
Trump has already scheduled his next rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan,
on Saturday. That’s where he will appear with Vance for their first
event as a presidential ticket.
But the new posture complicates, at least for now, the interactions
Trump regularly has with supporters as he signs autographs, shakes hands
and poses for selfies at events and on airplane tarmacs.
The
Savvy Senior | How to Prevent and Treat Age-Related Macular
Degeneration
date: 2024-07-17, from: The Signal
Dear Savvy Senior, Is macular degeneration hereditary? My mother lost
much of her vision from it before she died, and now at age 65, I’m
concerned I may get […]
1834 – Sinforosa, daughter of Narciso and Crisanta, born at Mission
San Fernando; mom from Tejon, dad from Piru; believed to be last speaker
of Tataviam language (died 1915).[record
Trump’s
former foes pay homage at Republican Party convention
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
The U.S. Republican Party put some of Donald Trump’s intra-party
former foes briefly back in the spotlight on the second night of its
nominating convention. VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman
was on the convention floor Tuesday and has details from Milwaukee.
ESA
starts work on planetary defence mission, because Bruce Willis is
retired
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Asteroid Apophis will come within 32,000km of Earth in 2029, which makes
it very much worth a visit
The European Space Agency has begun work on a planetary defence mission
that will intercept an asteroid predicted to come within 32,000km of
Earth in 2029.…
The Office of Inspector General Max Huntsman has issued a report
entitled Fourth Report Back on Meeting the Sheriff’s Department’s
Obligations Under Senate Bill 1421.
Holy
Cross, SoCal Providence Hospitals Highly Ranked by U.S. News
date: 2024-07-17, from: SCV New (TV Station)
All eight eligible Providence hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange
counties, including Holy Cross in Mission Hills, have earned high
ratings from U.S. News & World Report, including two that ranked
nationally for orthopedics care and one for rehabilitation
Fujitsu
picks model-maker Cohere as its partner for the rapid LLM-development
dance
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Will become exclusive route to market for joint projects
Fujitsu has made a “significant investment” in Toronto-based Cohere, a
developer of large language models and associated tech, and will bring
the five-year-old startup’s wares to the world.…
Washington-Seoul
alliance is a ‘nuclear alliance,’ US official says
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — A high-ranking U.S. official stressed Tuesday that the
U.S.-South Korea alliance is a “nuclear alliance,” reinforcing the South
Korean government’s description of the two allies, after the United
States and South Korea signed new deterrence guidelines last week.
Vipin Narang, U.S. acting assistant secretary of defense for Space
Policy, told VOA’s Korean Service in an exclusive interview that “when
we formally extend nuclear deterrence to our allies, it is a nuclear
alliance, and South Korea is an example of that.”
Narang explained that it would be similar to what the United States
has with the European allies through NATO.
“NATO publicly says, for example, that so long as nuclear weapons
exist, NATO will be a nuclear alliance. And the relationship with ROK,
similarly, is a formal extension of U.S. nuclear,” he said, referring to
South Korea with the abbreviated form of its official name, the Republic
of Korea. “We commit to defend South Korea with all capabilities.”
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said earlier on Tuesday in a
Cabinet meeting that South Korea’s alliance with the United States has
been upgraded to a “nuclear-based alliance,” adding that the U.S nuclear
assets will now be “specially assigned to missions on the Korean
Peninsula” under the newly agreed guidelines between the two allies.
On Thursday, Yoon met U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of
the NATO summit in Washington, reaffirming their commitments to the
Washington Declaration unveiled in 2023, which outlines the two
countries’ commitment to engage in deeper dialogue and information
sharing to strengthen nuclear deterrence efforts on the Korean
Peninsula.
According to the joint statement released after the two leaders’
latest meeting, Biden reiterated that the U.S. commitment to extended
deterrence to South Korea is backed by “the full range of U.S.
capabilities, including nuclear.”
In line with such a move, Narang, who co-chairs the Nuclear
Consultative Group, a bilateral body set up by the United States and
South Korea under the Washington Declaration, met his South Korean
counterpart, Cho Chang Lae, in Washington last week and signed “the
United States and Republic of Korea Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence
and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula.”
The guidelines, according to the Department of Defense, provide
principles and procedures to assist policymakers and military officials
of both countries “in maintaining an effective nuclear deterrence policy
and posture.”
Narang emphasized that the guidelines would help the Nuclear
Consultative Group (NCG) evolve in accordance with the threats faced by
the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
“The guidelines document is the not the end, it’s the beginning, and
sort of sets up the NCG as an enduring body,” he said. “The NCG is a
living body, and the work streams evolve with the threat environment and
the capabilities, just as North Korea’s capabilities continue to expand
and diversify.”
However, he made it clear that only the U.S. president will be able
to authorize the use and employment of U.S. nuclear weapons, while
underscoring Washington and Seoul will be approaching the extended
deterrence “as equal partners.”
“We have extended deterrence relationships. We need conventional
support from our allies,” he stressed.
His remarks come amid growing skepticism in South Korea over the U.S.
extended deterrence, especially after Russia and North Korea signed a
defense pact, which indicated Moscow’s willingness to engage in
full-fledged military cooperation with Pyongyang.
An increasing number of South Korean people are calling for South
Korea’s own nuclear weapons, arguing that the U.S.-ROK alliance’s
existing deterrence strategy would not be enough to protect South Korea
from the possible attacks from North Korea, if it joins hands with
Russia.
The acting assistant secretary of defense gave a strong warning
against South Korea having its own nuclear weapons.
“It would be in violation of the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty),” Narang said, adding that South Korea would probably face
international sanctions.
He also suggested that Seoul would be “an international pariah” and
would become vulnerable to North Korea’s nuclear attacks during the time
it is pursuing nuclear weapons.
Experts in Washington remained cautious about what the new guidelines
could mean for the extended deterrence for South Korea.
“It shows that the United States is taking seriously South Korea as a
partner in all aspects of defense,” said Scott Snyder, president of
Korea Economic Institute of America.
Snyder told VOA’s Korean Service on Tuesday that the decision to
employ a nuclear weapon should be made in a closely integrated manner
between Seoul and Washington.
“If it’s not integrated, the alliance will fail,” he said.
He added that the decision will heavily depend on the U.S.
inclination.
Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, told
VOA’s Korean Service on Tuesday that it is difficult to see the
U.S.-South Korea alliance as a “nuclear alliance.”
“If South Korea has been given a role in planning the nuclear
options, yes, but the U.S. has been implying that that hasn’t occurred,”
Bennett said.
“If they are a nuclear alliance, then it ought to describe in what
way it’s a nuclear alliance – is South Korea being included in planning
how nuclear weapons will be used? That’s what President Yoon asked for.
It’s not clear to me.”
Plan to replace the market draws numerous questions, concerns The owner
of the land that hosts the Saugus Swap Meet confirmed Tuesday evening
the market is expected to continue until […]
TikTok’s
Asian e-commerce haul quadrupled in a single year
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Rescued its partner in Indonesia as it dodged regulations
Chinese short video platform TikTok is fast becoming an Asian e-commerce
giant, according to analysis released by Singapore-based consultancy
Momentum Works on Tuesday.…
In
speech to Black voters, Biden links violence on Trump to racial, gun
violence
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
President Joe Biden addressed Black supporters in the battleground
state of Nevada Tuesday, his first campaign appearance since the
assassination attempt on his Republican rival, former President Donald
Trump. He linked the attack on Trump to racial and gun violence,
imploring Americans to “condemn violence in any form.” White House
Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
A Pew Research Center survey finds most people recognize China’s
economic influence in their country, but are divided on whether that
influence is good. The poll also finds more people in the U.S. view
China’s economic influence negatively compared to other countries.
Michael Baturin reports. Camera: Elizabeth Lee.
Steven Nassif, a native of the Santa Clarita Valley, wrote and
directed “Homecoming” which will premiere at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 20 at
the Lumiere Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA
Discovery
Alert: With Six New Worlds, 5,500 Discovery Milestone Passed!
date: 2024-07-17, from: NASA breaking news
On Aug. 24, 2023, more than three decades after the first
confirmation of planets beyond our own solar system, scientists
announced the discovery of six new exoplanets, stretching that number to
5,502. From zero exoplanet confirmations to over 5,500 in just a few
decades, this new milestone marks another major step in the journey to
[…]
Republicans
lean into Trump’s border message during a convention night focused on
immigration
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
MILWAUKEE — Immigration took center stage as the Republican National
Convention resumed Tuesday, with speakers spotlighting a key element of
former President Donald Trump’s political brand that helped endear him
to the GOP base when he began his first campaign in 2015.
Among speakers slated for Tuesday night were families who’ve been
impacted by violent crime — part of a GOP strategy to link crime to
border policies. They include the family of Rachel Morin, a Maryland
woman whom prosecutors say was killed and raped by a fugitive from El
Salvador and whose story has been frequently highlighted by Trump on the
campaign trail.
Immigration has long been one of Trump’s banner issues, as he has
criticized the unprecedented number of migrants entering the country
illegally through the U.S. border with Mexico. The numbers of
unauthorized crossings have fallen abruptly after President Joe Biden
issued a rule suspending many asylum claims at the border.
At rallies and other campaign events, Trump has pointed to examples
of migrants who committed heinous crimes and has blamed migration for
the trafficking of drugs like fentanyl, even though federal data
suggests many people smuggling fentanyl across the border are U.S.
citizens. He has vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in
U.S. history.
Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric has also strayed into talking points
not backed by evidence, including unfounded claims that migrants are
entering the country to vote in the 2024 election.
Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House majority leader, made that
statement in his remarks, declaring, “Biden and Harris want illegals to
vote now that they’ve opened up the border.”
Senate candidates who were addressing the convention Tuesday not only
blamed Biden for the number of migrants crossing the border, but just as
often faulted Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Republicans have
increasingly focused on amid speculation that she could replace Biden as
the Democratic nominee after the president’s poor debate
performance.
The GOP candidates, mindful of their own races, sought to blame their
Democratic opponents as well. Pennsylvania candidate David McCormick,
for example, tied in his challenger, Sen. Bob Casey, with the term
“Biden-Harris-Casey wide open borders.”
Kari Lake, the party’s Senate candidate in Arizona, stuck to a
message that appealed largely to the GOP base and her reputation as a
former television news anchor turned conservative firebrand. She blasted
the “fake news” for spending “the last eight years lying about President
Donald Trump and his amazing patriotic supporters.” She also blamed
Biden and Democrats for the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border, saying
they’re “full of bad ideas.”
In the latest signal the party is solidifying to take on Biden in
November, several of Trump’s fiercest GOP primary rivals will also speak
Tuesday. They include former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump’s survival of an attempted assassination Saturday at a rally in
Pennsylvania was on the minds of many inside the hall. One of the
delegates in the crowd could be seen with a folded white piece of paper
over his ear — an apparent tribute to the bandage Trump wore when he
entered the hall Monday to a roaring crowd.
Scalise, who was injured in a politically motivated shooting in 2017
while he was practicing for a charity baseball game, spoke of his own
experience when he touched on Trump’s attack.
“While I was fighting for my life, Donald Trump was one of the first
to come to console my family at the hospital. That’s the kind of leader
he is. Courageous under fire, compassionate towards others,” Scalise
said.
In the wake of Saturday’s attempt on Trump’s life, there was a
heightened focus on security at the convention, which drew thousands of
people to downtown Milwaukee, including a number of high-profile elected
officials.
A man armed with an AK-47 pistol and wearing a ski mask was taken
into custody Monday, the convention’s first day, near the Fiserv Forum
where the convention is being held, a federal law enforcement official
said Tuesday.
The 21-year-old was arrested after being encountered by U.S. Capitol
Police and Homeland Security Investigations agents who said he was
acting suspicious, according to the official, who was not authorized to
publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The
Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Police found the weapon in his backpack, the official said.
On Tuesday, five Ohio police officers who were in Wisconsin for the
convention shot a man who was in a knife fight near the convention,
killing him, Milwaukee’s police chief said.
The man who police shot had a knife in each hand and refused police
commands, Milwaukee Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a news conference. Two
knives were recovered from the scene, the chief said.
Trump and Vance were expected to appear in the hall each of the last
three nights of the convention. Vance will speak Wednesday and Trump
will speak Thursday.
Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Lawrence Tabas said he hoped
the assassination attempt on Trump would reset the tone nationally,
beginning with Trump’s scheduled remarks Thursday.
“After a brush with death, I do believe — going through that — that
his message will be better, and I think will appeal to our better
emotions,” Tabas said in an interview after the Pennsylvania GOP’s
delegation breakfast in suburban Milwaukee.
Trump, who has long decried rivals with harsh language and talked
about prosecuting opponents if he wins a second term, seemed poised to
deliver a more toned-down speech. His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said
in an Axios interview outside the RNC that he spent three or four hours
going through his father’s convention speech with him, “trying to
de-escalate some of that rhetoric.”
“I think it lasts,” the younger Trump said of the change in his
father’s rhetoric. “There are events that change you for a couple
minutes, and there are events that change you permanently.”
Eternal
Valley issues statement on ‘cemetery conditions’
date: 2024-07-17, from: The Signal
A local water official confirmed plans are in place to provide a portion
of the water needed to add a little more green to the grass at Eternal
Valley Memorial […]
Newsom
Signs AB 1955 SAFETY Act to Protect Rights of LGBTQ+ Students
date: 2024-07-17, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Following outcry from LGBTQ+ students and families whose local
districts enacted “forced outing” policies over the past year, State
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today celebrated the
signage of AB 1955: Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s
Youth Act (SAFETY Act) into law by Governor Gavin Newsom
If
you think AI labs wouldn’t stoop to using scraped YouTube subtitles for
training, think again
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
What next, nutrition labels on cartons? Probably
Comment FYI: It’s not just Reddit posts, books,
articles, webpages, code, music, images, and so forth being used by
multi-billion-dollar businesses for training neural networks. AI labs
have been teaching models using subtitles scraped from at least tens of
thousands of YouTube videos, much to the surprise of the footage
creators.…
The legal fallout from a camera found in the family restroom of a local
chiropractic office continues, with a pair of lawsuits alleging The
Joint Chiropractic location on McBean Parkway […]
Salvation
Army Opens Registration for School Backpack Giveaway
date: 2024-07-17, from: SCV New (TV Station)
As families across the country prepare for the upcoming school year,
The Salvation Army in Santa Clarita has announced its continued
partnership with the Toyota Lexus Minority Owners Dealership Association
to provide school backpacks to families in need
Iran’s
Islamist rulers silent on attempted assassination of Trump
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — Iran’s Islamist rulers have made no public comment on
the attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump in the
three days since the shooting attack on the man whom they have long seen
as their nemesis and targeted with threats of vengeance since he left
office.
The only references in Iranian state media to Saturday’s attack on
Trump have been articles citing details of the shooting at his election
rally in Pennsylvania, showing images of the aftermath and amplifying
conspiracy theories about whether it was real or staged.
Iran has threatened revenge against Trump and his key aides for
carrying out the January 2020 assassination of top Iranian commander
Qassem Soleimani in a Baghdad drone strike. It was part of what Trump
called a campaign of “maximum pressure” against Tehran for its nuclear
and other perceived malign activities.
Since then, one of the most explicit threats against Trump has come
from Amir Ali Hajizadeh, aerospace chief of Iran’s top military force,
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He told state TV in
February 2023 that “we are looking to kill Trump” to avenge
Soleimani.
There is no indication of Iranian involvement in the Trump rally
shooting, with U.S. authorities naming only one suspect, the 20-year-old
American male shooter whom U.S. Secret Service personnel shot and killed
at the scene.
CNN reported on Tuesday that the Secret Service had increased
security around Trump “in recent weeks” in response to an alleged
Iranian assassination plot that U.S. authorities purportedly learned
about from intelligence attributed to an unidentified “human
source.”
The Washington Post and New York Times published their own reports on
the alleged Iranian threat, sourcing it to unnamed U.S. officials.
Iran’s U.N. Mission in New York told VOA the accusations are
“unsubstantiated and malicious.”
“Trump is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court
of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani. Iran has
chosen the legal path to bring him to justice,” the mission said in a
statement.
U.S. Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi responded
to the CNN report by telling VOA that his security agency and others are
“constantly receiving new potential threat information and taking action
to adjust resources, as needed.”
“We cannot comment on any specific threat stream other than to say
that the Secret Service takes threats seriously and responds
accordingly,” Guglielmi wrote.
One of the Iranian state media reports highlighting conspiracy
theories about Saturday’s incident was published by the IRGC-run Tasnim
news agency on Sunday.
It published a collage of photos of the bloodied former president
with a superimposed three-word headline in Persian: “Blood and pig.”
Other state media articles published photos of Trump defiantly
raising and pumping his fist to his supporters after Secret Service
agents helped him to get back on his feet.
Shahram Kholdi, an Iranian Canadian teacher of Middle East history at
Canada’s University of Waterloo, discussed Iran’s state media coverage
of the shooting in the Tuesday edition of VOA’s Flashpoint Global Crises
program.
The following interview transcript is edited for brevity and
clarity.
VOA: Why would Iran allow its state media to publish photos of the
wounded former president showing what many Americans see as his
triumphant stance in the face of danger?
Shahram Kholdi, University of Waterloo, Canada: The Iranian regime’s
hardcore supporters in the Basiji paramilitary force and the IRGC — the
people who are willing to kill and die to keep this regime in power —
they don’t see what you see as a positive. They see the weakness, they
see division in the American masses, they see fractures in the U.S.
democratic system. And the regime actually uses those pictures of Trump
to reinforce this propaganda trope that the U.S. is a facade of a
democracy, that there is something more sinister happening behind the
scenes.
We should not be surprised to see the Iranian regime’s propaganda
machine focus on such sinister scenarios in the next few weeks. Even
though their propaganda machine is heavily equipped and well-manned, it
has been only a few days since the shooting, and it takes time for them
to churn out these kinds of stories.
VOA: Given Trump’s record of being tough on Iran, does the Iranian
leadership have any fear that highlighting his survival of an
assassination attempt will boost his election prospects and return him
to power?
Kholdi: Iranian officials are fearful of that. There has been an
atypical restraint by officials who are generally quick to react and
make all sorts of preposterous statements on such occasions. They did
not do so this time. They are on their toes right now.
The regime’s Chinese and Russian allies may have assured Tehran that
if Trump is reelected, they will protect its interests in any
negotiations with him.
President Joe Biden’s failure to stop U.S.-sanctioned Iranian oil
being from exported to China, and to stop Iran from assisting Russia’s
war effort in Ukraine, also has emboldened the regime.
But on the other hand, given the prospect of the Islamic republic
once again facing the massive pressure campaign that Trump previously
imposed on it, with a massive reduction in Iranian oil production and
exports and interceptions of tankers, I think the regime is erring on
the side of caution in its response to the assassination attempt. But
the Chinese and Russians may have advised them to do so. I wouldn’t
attribute that to any impeccable wisdom on their part.
Biden
stands ground on gun policy, asks Americans to cool down
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
white house — With the recent assassination attempt against former
President Donald Trump, the conversation around guns and gun policy is
heating up — even as President Joe Biden is asking the country to cool
down.
This is the first assassination attempt on a former or current U.S.
president since 1981, when Ronald Reagan was shot
“First of all, that is preposterous,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland
Security Alejandro Mayorkas when asked about rumors that the
assassination attempt was an inside job involving the current
administration.
“It is also dangerous to propagate rumors that are so unequivocally
false and provocative,” he said at a Monday news briefing. “As the
president so powerfully said to the entire nation, we have to tamp down
the rhetoric in this country.”
U.S. gun policy may see particular focus in campaigns and debates in
the final approach to the 2024 presidential election.
Biden, even before the recent shooting, has been a strong advocate
for stricter gun policy.
Biden served as vice president under President Barack Obama, who
tried to tighten gun policy following the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook
Elementary school that killed 26 people, mostly 6- and 7-year-olds, but
was unable to pass major gun legislation.
After the Sandy Hook shooting, Obama asked Biden to lead a more
concrete initiative on gun reform, and Biden met with a range of
citizens to seek their thoughts on gun policy.
Trump has advocated a less stringent gun policy. His campaign calls
for deregulation of firearms, and he has said he will undo some
executive actions introduced by Biden.
White House reaffirms position
At the news briefing with Mayorkas on Monday, White House press
secretary Karine Jean-Pierre affirmed Biden’s position on gun
policy.
“The president has been, obviously, a strong advocate on gun control.
He has been throughout his career as a senator, as vice president, as
now as president,” Jean-Pierre said in answer to a question from
VOA.
She noted that Congress in 2022 approved the first major gun safety
legislation in 30 years. “The president led on that effort and was able
to get that done. … The president has signed more than two dozen
executive actions [on gun control],” she said.
‘Lower the temperature’
This week, Biden has also condemned the recent violence, asking the
country to minimize its divisiveness.
“We have to lower the temperature … there is no place in America for
violence. It is important that we are really clear about that,” said
Jean-Pierre when asked if Biden plans to tone down his political
rhetoric.
The message from the White House comes after Biden called Trump a
“threat to democracy” on several occasions. Trump has repeatedly said
“you will not have a country” if Biden is re-elected.
J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s recently chosen candidate for vice
president, blamed Biden’s political rhetoric for the assassination
attempt.
“Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the
Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian
fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to
President Trump’s attempted assassination,” he posted on X shortly after
the incident.
In a Monday interview with NBC News, Biden said he regretted saying
“it was time to put Trump in the bull’s-eye.” But he defended saying
that the former president is a “threat.”
“Look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real,
when a president says things like he says?” Biden said in the
interview
Some analysts doubt that Biden’s call for a calmer climate will bring
about big changes to the political landscape.
“I think the immediate effect [after the shooting] is going to be
that it will escalate violent rhetoric and that people are going to be
more vehement and vocal in vilifying their political rivals,” Valentine
said.
“Unfortunately, I think that’s where we’re at, and that’s what we’re
beginning to see already.”
Anita Powell contributed to this report from the White House.
SCV
leaders react to new law banning parent notification of student gender
identity
date: 2024-07-17, from: The Signal
Supporters of the LGBTQ community are calling Gov. Gavin Newsom’s
signing of the SAFETY Act a win, while other local leaders say that it
is simply another case of local […]
Deputies:
18-year-old arrested for trespassing, carrying loaded firearm, nitrous
oxide
date: 2024-07-17, from: The Signal
A report Sunday evening of an alleged trespassing at a Canyon Country
pool led to the arrest of multiple people, including juveniles, with an
18-year-old man arrested on suspicion of […]
Man on
probation arrested on suspicion of vandalism
date: 2024-07-17, from: The Signal
A 23-year-old man already on probation for vandalism was arrested Monday
evening on suspicion of vandalism after causing approximately $1,000 in
damage at a Castaic residence, according to Santa Clarita […]
Castaic
district’s preschool programs growing after director’s first year
date: 2024-07-17, from: The Signal
Melanie Long said she was surprised when she learned that she was being
honored by the Castaic Union School District for, as she put it simply,
doing her job. The […]
Vice
presidential nominee Vance calls China ‘biggest threat to our
country’
date: 2024-07-17, from: VOA News USA
Washington — In his short time in the U.S. Senate, J.D. Vance, the
newly tapped Republican vice presidential nominee, has been a hawk on
China.
He has introduced legislation to restrict Chinese access to U.S.
financial markets and to protect U.S. higher education from Chinese
influence.
In an interview with Fox News shortly after being named as former
President Donald Trump’s running mate on Monday, Vance called China “the
biggest threat” to the United States.
When asked about Russia’s war in Ukraine, Vance said Trump would
negotiate with Moscow and Kyiv to “bring this thing to a rapid close so
America can focus on the real issue, which is China.”
“That’s the biggest threat to our country and we are completely
distracted from it,” said Vance, a staunch supporter of Trump’s Make
America Great Again agenda.
The 39-year-old author and venture capitalist rose to fame with his
2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” He advocates for a hands-off approach to
foreign policy and is dubious about military intervention.
Tariffs and more tariffs
Both Trump and Vance have supported strong tariffs on China. In an
interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” news program in May, Vance said
the U.S. needs to apply across-the-board tariffs on imports.
“If you apply tariffs, really what it is you’re saying [is] that
we’re going to penalize you for using slave labor in China and importing
that stuff in the United States. What you end up doing is, you end up
making more stuff in America, in Pennsylvania, in Ohio and in Michigan,”
he said.
Trump has repeatedly accused China of stealing manufacturing jobs
from the U.S., especially those jobs in the Midwestern part of the
country.
“Vance has supported more economic restrictions and tariffs on
Chinese imports and investments,” Dean Chen, a professor of political
science at the Ramapo College of New Jersey, told VOA. “Hence, I expect
his position on China to be in line with Trump nationalists in their
potential new administration.”
Trump has promised that, if elected, he would impose 10%
across-the-board levies on imported goods and a tariff of 60% or higher
on Chinese goods to protect American industries.
Joel Goldstein, professor emeritus of law at Saint Louis University
and an expert on the vice presidency, said Vance was selected because he
is “a very loyal supporter who has embraced Trump’s policies and style
and who seems disposed to defend Trump’s words and conduct.”
“The choice seems designed to appeal to Trump’s MAGA base, not to
unify the Republican Party or the nation,” he told VOA.
Taiwan
Experts say Vance might be more of an isolationist than Trump, as
Vance was vehemently opposed to funding the war in Ukraine.
“He previously served as a U.S. Marine in Iraq and felt that the
lessons from that war should prevent future entanglements,” Chen
said.
Chen added that whether that attitude translates to lessened support
for a Taiwan military contingency remains to be seen.
“We all know that Trump has been clear that he won’t announce whether
he would send troops to help Taiwan should Beijing invade the island
democracy, saying that a lucid explanation would undercut his
negotiating position,” he said. “I expect Vance to toe the same line as
President Trump.”
Attracting Rust Belt voters
Vance was born on August 2, 1984, in Middletown, Ohio. He served in
the Marine Corps before attending The Ohio State University and Yale Law
School.
His 2016 bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” detailed his family’s
struggles with poverty, addiction and instability. The book focuses on
the hardship faced by white working-class people in the Rust Belt — the
manufacturing region in the U.S. that includes parts of the Northeast
and Midwest and has experienced economic decline and population
loss.
“Senator Vance’s life story and diverse accomplishments are
impressive,” Karen Hult, a political science professor at Virginia Tech,
told VOA.
“He not only is from a ‘red’ Republican state, but one that is near
the battleground state of Pennsylvania and may be seen as appealing to
many more rural and smaller town residents in much of the Middle West,”
Hult said.
In the 2020 presidential election, Trump lost Pennsylvania, Wisconsin
and Michigan, three important swing states along the Rust Belt.
Hult said that in most presidential elections, the choice of running
mates makes little difference in voting results.
“That, of course, may differ in 2024, given the age of the two major
party candidates and in light of Saturday’s assassination attempt,” she
added.
SCVi, a TK-12 tuition-free public charter school in Castaic has
announced an Ice Cream Social event on Friday, July 26, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
at the school campus
Iran’s
MuddyWater phishes Israeli orgs with custom BugSleep backdoor
date: 2024-07-17, updated: 2024-07-17, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
India, Turkey, also being targeted by campaign that relies on corporate
email compromise
MuddyWater, an Iranian government-backed cyber espionage crew, has
upgraded its malware with a custom backdoor, which it’s used to target
Israeli organizations.…
GEM
