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German ‘Flying Taxi’ Firm Lilium Raises $90 Million
Via:
Reuters: Lilium, a German start-up with Silicon Valley-scale ambitions
to develop a 5-passenger “flying taxi”, has raised a second, $90 million
round of financing from top tech investors, making it one of the
best-funded electric aircraft projects to date. The company, which took
in $11.4 million only last year, has emerged as one of […]
Yesterday
Japan Preparing for Evacuation of Tens of Thousands in South Korea
Via:
Japan Times: As tensions on the Korean Peninsula reach new heights with
Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test, Japan is planning for a possible mass
evacuation of the nearly 60,000 Japanese citizens currently living in or
visiting South Korea. “There is a possibility of further provocations,”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a Monday meeting […]
Sep 03
Toxic Waste Sites Flooded in Houston Area
Via:
physorg: Long a center of the nation’s petrochemical industry, the
Houston metro area has more than a dozen Superfund sites, designated by
the Environmental Protection Agency as being among America’s most
intensely contaminated places. Many are now flooded, with the risk that
waters were stirring dangerous sediment.
New Zealand: Polluted Paradise
Via:
Al Jazeera: I also discovered that the country is harbouring a
disturbing secret, little known to the rest of the world: its freshwater
is in severe crisis. Two-thirds of New Zealand’s rivers are too
polluted to swim in and half its lakes are irreversibly damaged. This
pollution, say many independent environmentalists, scientists and
economists, […]
North Korea Tests Nuclear Weapon
Via:
Reuters: North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test
on Sunday, which it said was a successful detonation of an advanced
hydrogen bomb, in a dramatic escalation of the isolated state’s
stand-off with the United States and its allies. The announcement from
Pyongyang came a few hours after international seismic agencies detected
[…]
Sep 02
Utah: Nurse Arrested for Refusing to Take Blood from Unconscious Patient for Police
Via:
BBC: A US police officer who forcibly arrested a nurse for refusing to
take a blood sample from an unconscious patient has been placed on
administrative leave. An investigation is under way after footage of the
incident at a hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, emerged. It shows nurse
Alex Wubbels screaming for help […]
Aug 31
Won’t You Be My Neighbour?
Hello,
Neighbour! Are you interested in a relatively cheap getaway shack for
when the living hell of Auckland gets to be too much to handle? Maybe a
bugout location… Our friends are selling their property. The entire
thing can flood during winter storms, but you can park in our driveway
during floods if you want. […]
Motiva: Flooding Shuts Largest U.S. Refinery
Via:
CNBC: The largest U.S. refinery was shutting down completely on
Wednesday morning as heavy rains from Tropical Storm Harvey flooded the
603,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, plant, owner Motiva
Enterprises said in a statement. “At 5 a.m. (CDT (1000 GMT) on
Wednesday, Motiva began a controlled shutdown of the Port Arthur
refinery in […]
Aug 30
‘The Story of Replika, the AI App that Becomes You’
Oh
sure, share your most personal information with this Magic 8 Ball. In
other news: On Internet Privacy, Be Very Afraid. Via: Quartz: Research
Credit: GB
Aug 29
Pentagon Says Up to 30,000 National Guard Troops Prepared to Assist in Response to Harvey
Via:
Los Angeles Times: Pentagon officials said Tuesday that National Guard
assets are at full readiness to assist in the unfolding disaster in
Texas wrought by Tropical Storm Harvey. Maj. Gen. James C. Witham,
director of domestic operations for the National Guard, told Pentagon
reporters that up to 30,000 guardsmen as well as a U.S. […]
Afghanistan: America’s Trillion Dollar War
Via:
ZeroHedge: 16 years since the Bush administration launched its military
intervention in Afghanistan, President Trump has announced his
intention to increase the U.S. military presence in the country. As
Statista’s Niall McCarthy notes, there are approximately 8,400 U.S.
troops on the ground in Afghanistan and reinforcements could start
arriving within days. Trump’s new strategy […]
Aug 27
Trump Expected to Lift Ban on Military Gear to Local Police Forces
Via:
USA Today: The Trump administration is preparing to lift a
controversial ban on the transfer of some surplus military equipment to
police departments whose battlefield-style response to rioting in a St.
Louis suburb three years ago prompted a halt to the program. The new
plan, outlined in documents obtained by USA TODAY, would roll […]
Weekend Entertainment: Video Explorations Around Area 51
Visits
to the various gates of Area 51 comprise an entire genre of videos on
YouTube. Click bait titles and corny theremin soundtracks are par for
the course here. If you are interested in the topic at all, you have
probably seen many of these. I’ve watched dozens of videos where someone
drives up to […]
Energy Storage: Lithium from Supervolcanoes?
Cobalt
is a much more serious blocker than lithium. Via: Smithsonian: There’s
no doubt that in coming years, we’re going to need a lot of lithium. The
growing market of electric automobiles, plus new household energy
storage and large-scale battery farms, and the current lack of any
technology better for storage than lithium ion batteries, […]
Aug 25
Elon Musk’s Boring Company Wins Approval to Dig a Two-Mile Test Tunnel in California
Via:
The Verge: The City Council in Hawthorne, California voted four to one
last night in favor of a plan from Elon Musk’s Boring Company to dig a
two-mile-long underground test tunnel. The Boring Company, which
operates from SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne outside Los Angeles,
had until now only dug into and under its own […]
Aug 24
Most Americans Live Paycheck to Paycheck
Via:
CNBC: No matter how much you earn, getting by is still a struggle for
most people these days. Seventy-eight percent of full-time workers said
they live paycheck to paycheck, up from 75 percent last year, according
to a recent report from CareerBuilder. Overall, 71 percent of all U.S.
workers said they’re now in debt, […]
Aug 23
Bill Gates and Richard Branson Back Startup That Grows ‘Clean Meat’
haha
oh sure! Via: Bloomberg: Cargill Inc., one of the largest global
agricultural companies, has joined Bill Gates and other business giants
to invest in a nascent technology to make meat from self-producing
animal cells amid rising consumer demand for protein that’s less reliant
on feed, land and water. Memphis Meats, which produces beef, chicken
[…]
Aug 22
A Glut Has Used-Car Depreciation Accelerating
Via:
Bloomberg: Car sales in the U.S. have been rising for seven consecutive
years now, and it’s denting the value of whatever is currently parked
in your garage or driveway. With so many new cars rolling out of
dealerships lots and instantly becoming used cars, the secondary market
is glutted and the pace of depreciation […]
Aug 21
Magneto-Thermal Genetic Deep Brain Stimulation of Motor Behaviors in Awake, Freely Moving Mice
Via:
eLIFE: Establishing how neurocircuit activation causes particular
behaviors requires modulating the activity of specific neurons. Here, we
demonstrate that magnetothermal genetic stimulation provides tetherless
deep brain activation sufficient to evoke motor behavior in awake mice.
The approach uses alternating magnetic fields to heat superparamagnetic
nanoparticles on the neuronal membrane.
Killer Robots: Experts Warn of ‘Third Revolution in Warfare’
I
was warning about this 15 years ago. Nowadays, I’m more into yawning
and wondering why the mushroom clouds haven’t gone up yet. Via: BBC:
More than 100 leading robotics experts are urging the United Nations to
take action in order to prevent the development of “killer robots”. In a
letter to the organisation, artificial […]
Journalist Who Helped Expose Jimmy Savile Dies After Stroke
Via:
BBC: Ex-BBC News correspondent Liz MacKean has died after suffering a
stroke. MacKean, 52, worked for the corporation for more than 20 years
but left in 2013 amid a row over the decision to shelve her
investigation for Newsnight about disgraced DJ Jimmy Savile. She began
her career at BBC Hereford and Worcester, before […]
Eclipse
I
think the past few days have been the lightest posting period in
fifteen years of running Cryptogon. People are wondering if I’m still
alive. By the time I’ve read through 10 million headlines about Trump,
the statues and the sign wavers, it starts to seem like not much is
happening. I think that I […]
Aug 18
CIA ‘Torture Psychologists’ Avoid Trial with Secret Settlement
Via:
AFP: Two psychologists who helped design the CIA’s post-9/11
interrogation program settled a lawsuit Thursday by detainees alleging
they were illegally tortured. The secret settlement in the suit, brought
on behalf of two living ex-detainees and one who died of hypothermia
after brutal questioning in US custody, avoided what would have been the
first […]
Aug 17
Call from Tesla
Disclosure:
I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — I had a call from a Tesla
energy specialist yesterday. She confirmed what we learned a few days
ago about the Powerwall 2’s ability to island grid tied inverters for
backup purposes. She also said that Powerwall 2 demand is, “Extreme,”
and far in excess […]
Aug 14
Fleas Found to Carry the Plague in at Least 2 Arizona Counties
Really?
In other news: Imagine the coincidence… A plague expert, with links to
the DoD bioweapons milieu, is involved with a weird murder along with a
foreign national, who happens to be from the same country where this
happened several years ago: Britain: Scientists Reconstruct Black Death
Plague with Genetic Material Taken from Ancient Corpses […]
Aug 13
Confirmed: Grid Tie Inverter Continues to Generate Electricity During Grid Failure with Powerwall 2
Disclosure:
I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Man, I’ve been waiting a
long time to see this confirmed. Here it is! Tesla remains silent on
generator backup options, but I have no doubt that people are going to
start rolling their own if Tesla doesn’t address it. In any event, very
special […]
Aug 12
WTF Is Happening in Charlottesville?
Scroll
down, check out the photo gallery!? Via: Daily Mail: At least one
person is dead after a driver intentionally plowed into a group of
anti-fascist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, following violent
clashes that erupted between white nationalists and activists on
Saturday. James Alex Fields Jr, of Maumee, Ohio, is being held at the
Albemarle-Charlottesville […]
“Is Alexa Spying On Us? We’re Too Busy to Care”
Oblivion.
Via: McClatchy: It’s an experience every computer or smart phone user
has had. After downloading new software or an app, a window pops up with
a legal agreement. At the bottom is an “I agree” button. One click, and
it’s gone. Most users have no clue what they’ve agreed to. That single
action can […]
Aug 11
Audits Show Lax Oversight by Wisconsin Agency Counting Foxconn Jobs
From,
Taiwan’s Foxconn, Assembler of iPhones, Considering Wisconsin Plant: My
guess is that the plant will be centered around robotic manufacturing
and the thousands of workers thing is being thrown out there for
political fodder to secure corporate welfare from the state. And now…
Via: Reuters: The Wisconsin agency tasked with holding Foxconn
accountable for […]
Trump Threatens Venezuela with Unspecified ‘Military Option’
Via:
Reuters: U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened military
intervention in Venezuela, a surprise escalation in Washington’s
response to Venezuela’s political crisis. Venezuela has appeared to
slide toward a more volatile stage of unrest in recent days, with
anti-government forces looting weapons from a military base after a new
legislative body usurped the authority […]
Guam: ‘Take Cover, Avoid Bomb Flash’
Via:
Reuters: Guam posted emergency guidelines on Friday to help residents
prepare for any potential nuclear attack after a threat from North Korea
to fire missiles in the vicinity of the U.S. Pacific territory.
Pyongyang’s state-run KCNA news agency said on Thursday its army would
complete plans in mid-August to fire four intermediate-range missiles
over […]
North Korea Warns of Nuclear War, Trump Says U.S. Is ‘Locked and Loaded’
Via:
Reuters: President Donald Trump issued a new threat to North Korea on
Friday, saying what he called U.S. military solutions were “locked and
loaded” as Pyongyang accused him of driving the Korean peninsula to the
brink of nuclear war. Russia, China and Germany expressed alarm at the
escalating rhetoric from Pyongyang and Washington, while […]
Aug 10
Tesla Is Looking to Test Self-Driving, Electric Trucks With No Driver On Board
Via:
Reuters: Tesla Inc is developing a long-haul, electric semi-truck that
can drive itself and move in “platoons” that automatically follow a lead
vehicle, and is getting closer to testing a prototype, according to an
email discussion of potential road tests between the car company and the
Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), seen by […]
Aug 09
‘You Will Get Chipped – Eventually’
Mmm
hmm. Via: USA Today: You will get chipped. It’s just a matter of time. …
“It will happen to everybody,” says Noelle Chesley, 49, associate
professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “But
not this year, and not in 2018. Maybe not my generation, but certainly
that of my kids.” Related: Cyborgs at […]
Americans Are Dying Younger, Saving Corporations Billions
#missionaccomplished
Via: Bloomberg: Steady improvements in American life expectancy have
stalled, and more Americans are dying at younger ages. But for companies
straining under the burden of their pension obligations, the
distressing trend could have a grim upside: If people don’t end up
living as long as they were projected to just a few years […]
Monsanto’s Weed Killer Crisis
Via:
Reuters: As the U.S. growing season entered its peak this summer,
farmers began posting startling pictures on social media: fields of
beans, peach orchards and vegetable gardens withering away. The
photographs served as early warnings of a crisis that has damaged
millions of acres of farmland. New versions of the herbicide dicamba
developed by […]
Monsanto Was Its Own Ghostwriter for Some Safety Reviews
Via: Bloomberg: Academic papers vindicating its Roundup herbicide were written with the help of its employees.
Aug 08
The Strange Case of Wyndham Lathem, Andrew Warren and Trenton James Cornell-Duranleau
Update:
Latham Was Denied Security Clearance to Work in France I wonder if
French intelligence suspected or knew that he was contracting for U.S.
DoD or intel agencies… This article suggest that, “It may have been due
to internal politics at the institution.” Although, if it was some sort
of hissy fit at the institution […]
Aug 07
Americans Now Have the Highest Credit-Card Debt in U.S. History
I
had this open in another tab, I wonder if it’s related: In 2016, Drug
Overdoses Likely Killed More Americans than Wars in Vietnam and Iraq
#greenshoots Via: MarketWatch: American consumers just hit a scary
milestone. They now collectively have the most outstanding revolving
debt — often summarized as credit card debt — in U.S. […]
New Zealand: Solar Battery Packs May Have to Be Stored Outside in Fireproof Enclosure Under Proposed New Rules
Disclosure:
I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Behold, the batshit insane
machinations of an out of control retail electricity cartel in its
death throes. Via: Stuff: A new proposed battery safety standard would
stop the installation of solar power systems’ battery packs, which have
been described as the “future of energy”. Consultation […]
Aug 06
Blackwater Founder Wants to Provide a “Turn Key” Mercenary Air Force for Afghanistan
Via:
The Drive: Though a debate remains over the exact reasons why, it’s
increasingly widely accepted that the United States and its allies are
not winning the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan at the moment.
One suggestion for how to turn things around – unsurprisingly proffered
up by the infamous Erik Prince and Stephen A. […]
Aug 05
This Mysterious Military Spy Plane Has Been Flying Circles Over Seattle For Days
Via:
The Drive: A very unique USAF surveillance aircraft has been flying
highly defined circles over Seattle and its various suburbs for nine
days now. Nobody at the DoD seems to know who the aircraft belongs to or
what exactly it is doing flying so many missions over the Seattle are
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