2024-03-27
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Baltimore's Key Bridge collapses due to ship strike
The Port of Baltimore — the biggest handler of US imports and exports of cars and light trucks — looks to be out of commission indefinitely. The resulting bottleneck could accelerate a shift of goods through West Coast ports. Another crucial question: Which other ports have spare capacity to handle the Ro-Ro vessels that carry automobiles if Baltimore is closed for an extended period.
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The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland Has Collapsed
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(Video) Bridge collapses
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Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses after being struck by ship, mass casualty declared
Quick-thinking authorities at the bridge were able to stop cars from crossing the 1.6-mile span, an act that “saved lots of lives,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said. “The ship issued a mayday loss of power. The workers on the bridge halted traffic right before impact. They saved lots of lives,” Moore said at a press conference. However, six people still remain missing after multiple vehicles plunged into the chilly waters of the Patapsco River as the bridge crumbled, its steel arches and roadway tumbling down. Horrifying footage shows the bridge collapsing after the Dali, a Singapore-flagged vessel heading to Sri Lanka, crashed into the central part of the structure around 1:40 a.m. shortly after it left the Port of Baltimore.
According to Marine Traffic the ship departed the Seagirt Marine Terminal in the Port of Baltimore at approximately 00:30 local time, sailed northwest past the Nuclear Ship Savanah then turned southeast to depart the harbor, released the tugboats, and collided with the bridge at approximately 01:38.
This is not the first time DALI has struck city infrastructure while transporting goods — a similar but far less serious incident took place in Antwerp in 2016. Presumably it was a different pilot driving the ship back then.
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Why Did Supersonic Airliners Fail?
After the sound barrier was broken in 1947, a series of military jets capable of supersonic flight were developed and flown in the 1950s. It seemed obvious that civilian supersonic aircraft would follow shortly behind. Just as jet engines had displaced piston engines in commercial aircraft, so too would supersonic aircraft replace subsonic ones. It was the nature of aviation technology. But this didn’t happen, though not for lack of trying. Since the late 1950s, there have been numerous plans to build a supersonic airliner. Most of them never got past the planning stages, and only two – the Soviet Tu-144 and the Concorde – were ultimately built and entered commercial service. Neither the Tu-144 or the Concorde were a commercial success, and today there are no supersonic aircraft in commercial service. Modern airliners fly at roughly the same speed as Boeing’s first jet airliner, the 707.
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Swedish landowner can keep 14kg meteorite after court battle with geologists
Horseshit
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officially the Juche idea, is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il Sung, the country's founder and first leader. Juche was originally regarded as a variant of Marxism–Leninism until Kim Jong Il, Kim Il Sung's son and successor, declared it a distinct ideology in the 1970s. Kim Jong Il further developed Juche in the 1980s and 1990s by making ideological breaks from Marxism–Leninism and increasing the importance of his father's ideas.
A number of far-right groups have also adopted Juche. The Order of Nine Angles-affiliated Rural People's Party adheres to Juche and reportedly has connections with North Korean officials. The Atomwaffen Division also promotes Juche.
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Sound Mirrors – The concrete blocks that once protected Britain
During World War II on the coast of southern England, a network of large concrete acoustic mirrors was in the process of being built when the project was cancelled owing to the development of the Chain Home radar system.
Acoustic mirrors had a limited effectiveness, and the increasing speed of aircraft in the 1930s meant that they would already be too close to engage by the time they had been detected. The development of radar put an end to further experimentation with the technique.
- Have read elsewhere that most of the "Acoustic" program was a cover story to provide an alternate explanation for the successes of the very secret early radar systems.
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(PDF) Passing Stars as Driver of Paleoclimate and the Solar System's Orbital Evolution
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Krispy Kreme donuts are coming to McDonald’s | CNN Business
Three types of Krispy Kreme doughnuts — original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced “kreme” filled — will go on sale at McDonald’s restaurants starting later this year, the companies told CNN on Monday. Krispy Kreme shares jumped roughly 18% on Tuesday morning. McDonald’s shares lost 0.2%.
- apparently they will not be offering the "KKQP" where the buns are donuts. Alas.
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Tire manufacturer Goodyear faces global blowout scandal (Archive)
'The Goodyear affair' (1/4). In a four-part series, Le Monde reveals how the American tire giant opaquely managed a major crisis concerning its truck tires, which are suspected of being the cause of numerous accidents in France and beyond.
So as not to frighten the general public, Goodyear had chosen to offer a simple exchange, the CSP, an optional program based on the goodwill of dealers, truck manufacturers, and other owners of suspicious tires, instead of sounding the alarm by ordering an official product recall.
Electric / Self Driving cars
celebrity gossip
Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering
Musk
Trump / War against the Right / Jan6
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The Face of Donald Trump's Deceptively Savvy Media Strategy (Archive)
The former President and his spokesman, Steven Cheung, like to hurl insults at their political rivals, but behind the scenes the campaign has maintained a cozy relationship with much of the mainstream press.
Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp
Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation
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The death of a church - New Statesman
am not calling for new chapels in every street. I am saying that their absence leaves a gap in who we are. If all history is contemporary history, all community is face-to-face. There are still coffee shops and cafés, and, of course, mosques and temples – and the pubs are clinging on. But, for the most part, a great deal of our society has been “demutualised” (terrible word), and so-called social media is anything but social. Scanning a screen is not the same as belonging to anything as complex as a church. When we lose real contact (or should I say contact with the real?) we lose some part of what makes us human.
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Everything in our universe may be conscious, scientists say (Archive)
The inability of empirical sciences to solve the hard problem of consciousness—why and how matter gives rise to the experiences of consciousness—has recently rekindled interest in panpsychism. So have developments in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and quantum physics. In 2004, Italian neuroscientist and psychiatrist Giulio Tononi, Ph.D., proposed the integrated information theory of consciousness, which says that consciousness is widespread and can be found even in some simple systems. In his article in Scientific American, leading American neuroscientist Christof Koch, Ph.D., bashed materialism and its view of emerging consciousness 10 years later. The notion of subjective feelings springing from physical stuff is at odds with a commonly applied axiom in philosophy and modern science: the “ex nihilo nihil fit,” or that “out of nothing, nothing comes,” wrote Koch in the article. He argued that elementary particles either have some charge, or they have none; similarly, where there are organized lumps of matter, consciousness follows.
Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts
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Fewer U.S. scientists are pursuing postdoc positions, new data show
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Indenture remissions to be the next "student loan forgiveness" An RCT for income-sharing agreements
We offered students a hypothetical choice: either a federal loan with income-driven repayment or an income-share agreement (ISA), with randomized framing of downside protections. Emphasizing income insurance increased ISA uptake by 43%. We observe that students are responsive to changes in contract terms and possible student loan cancellation, which is evidence of preference adjustment or adverse selection.
Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising
AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World
Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO
Crypto con games
Economicon / Business / Finance
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Card Networks Settle with Merchants- capping fees for next 5 years
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Visa, Mastercard agree to $30B settlement that will lower merchant fees
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Visa, Mastercard Agree to Lower Swipe Fees, Settling Long-Running Lawsuit
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Visa, Mastercard Reach $30 Billion Swipe-Fee Deal With Merchants - Bloomberg
Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. agreed to cap credit-card swipe fees — a deal that US merchants say will save them at least $30 billion over five years — in one of the most significant antitrust settlements ever, following a legal fight that spanned almost two decades. The deal, which is subject to court approval, also would allow retailers to charge consumers extra at checkout for using Visa or Mastercard credit cards and use pricing tactics to steer customers to lower-cost cards, according to a statement Tuesday from attorneys representing the merchants.
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Gucci owner Kering issues profit warning after China sales slump
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Bank of Canada says the country faces a productivity 'emergency'
Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making
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Bloomberg reports, Newsom gave Panera Bread an exemption to a new minimum wage law in California. Why? Because he went to highschool with the owner and didn’t want to see his buddy’s business tank. Assembly Bill (AB) 1228 passed in 2023 and mandates that fast-food franchises with at least 60 national branches must pay a minimum wage of $20 dollars per hour to their employees. The law, however, had a very specific exemption for “chains that bake bread and sell it as a standalone item.” Panera has 24 locations in California owned by Gregg Flynn, Newsom’s friend and billionaire campaign donor. Newsom denies helping his friend out, though the Bloomberg article reports that he and Flynn have a long business relationship with each other, with Flynn apparently bragging to colleagues that he is on a texting basis with the governor.
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Senators Shocked TikTok Does Things Made Possible by Failure to Pass Privacy Law
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Anti-abortion activists plan backdoor strategy to US ban
US anti-abortion activists, including allies of Donald Trump, have a strategy to ban abortion nationwide - one that bypasses Congress and the American people. It's a plan that hinges on Mr Trump's re-election in November and the use of a little-known 19th Century law. The Comstock Act, championed by anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock and passed in 1873, made it a federal crime to send or receive any material deemed "obscene, lewd or lascivious". The statute makes specific mention of birth control and abortion, barring any materials designed or intended for "the prevention of conception or procuring of abortion".
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What in the Actual F— Is Wrong With These People? (NBC News Edition)
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the reports indicate a systemic effort geared toward reducing the choices for voters. What is striking is that this is coming from democratic groups and the DNC, which are raising money on the “save democracy” narrative. The contradiction is spellbinding. On the same sites promising to oppose the third party candidates, the DNC and other groups push the narrative that only the Democrats are working to protect the right to vote.
The DNC is reportedly to be joined in this effort by a well-financed array of groups including the liberal think tank Third Way (which has filed complaints with secretaries of states); American Bridge (a Democratic opposition operation), and Clear Choice (a super PAC composed of “allies of President Biden”).
The open discussion of these efforts in the media illustrates the contempt for voters, who need to be protected from their bad choices. I have previously compared the underlying assumptions to a type of electoral Big Gulp law. Before they were also struck down, these laws sought to take away the dietary choices of citizens because they were making the wrong choice in the view of experts. Activists are now big gulping the election. Voters cannot be trusted with something as important as democracy.
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"It's my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort." Biden added. "The people of Baltimore can count on us to stick with them at every step of the way." Biden further added that he would not wait for an investigation to see who was at fault in the collapse of the bridge when a reporter inquired about the fault of the shipping company in charge of the boat. "We’re not going to wait for that to happen. We’re going to prepay to get the bridge built and reopen," he told reporters.
Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security
External Security / Militaria / Diplomania
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Last Wednesday (March 20), the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, did something rather extraordinary. He landed in Buenos Aires for an unannounced visit to the Casa Rosada where he met with the Milei government’s Chief of Staff, Nicolás Posse, the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, and the head of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI), Silvestre Sívori. It is the second time Burns has met with Posse since Milei came to office, the first being in January when the Argentine politician visited Washington.This visit by Burns was yet another reminder of just how important Argentina is becoming to US strategic interests in South America, and came on the heels of a visit just weeks earlier by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Then, in two weeks time, the Commander of US Southern Command Laura Richardson will be paying a call. According to the journalist Raúl Kollmann, no other Argentine government has received the dubious honour of an in-person visit from the CIA director.
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US sanctions spree continues with 15 more for Russian entities
World
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New blow to British smart meter rollout as number of faulty machines leaps to 4M
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Time to break the glass: Fixing Canada's productivity problem
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Porsche Will Stop Selling Boxster, Cayman in Europe Due to Anti-Hacking Law
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Plunging births push Japanese diaper maker to switch to adult market
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Inside the Feminist Revolution in Northern Syria
A ‘utopian’ society promoting gender equality continues to rise from the ashes of ISIS — despite ongoing Turkish attacks.
The more Zibo learned about Ocalan’s ideology, the more she said she liked it. Even from his island prison cell, Ocalan, a brilliant thinker with a cult-like following, kept issuing updated guidance to the Kurdish revolutionaries. At first, Ocalan told the Kurds to fight for an independent state. He later revised this plea, saying that instead, the Kurds should call for autonomous rule wherever they were, while being inclusive of residents from other backgrounds. A hungry reader of history and philosophy, Ocalan also emphasized women’s roles in the revolutionary struggle, writing in a later paper that “the 5,000-year-old history of civilization is essentially the history of the enslavement of women,” and that it was time for women to rise up.
Israel
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Report on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
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For America, Israel Is a Liability, Not an Asset
Proponents claim that unfaltering support is critical for the advancement of U.S. interests in the Middle East. Sen. Lindsey Graham, for example, once referred to Israel as the “eyes and ears of America” in the region. While intelligence-sharing may have some strategic value, the past five months of war in Gaza have made clear the numerous negative effects of the relationship, namely how Washington’s emphatic embrace of Israel has undermined its strategic position in the Middle East while damaging its global image. The war has starkly highlighted the underlying failures of U.S. Middle East policy. It’s past time for a fundamental reevaluation of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Russia Bad / Ukraine War
China
Health / Medicine
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Amazon launches same-day prescription delivery in New York, LA
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Genome study shows humans pass more viruses to animals than we catch from them
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After Appalachian Hospitals Merged into a Monopoly, Their ERs Slowed to a Crawl
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Dementia Risk May Fall as Younger Generations Have Larger Brains (Archive)
In total, 3,226 participants received MRIs. By comparing scans from those born in the 1930s to those born in the 1970s, the team saw a gradual but consistent increase in several brain structures. For example, participants born in the 1970s showed a 6.6 percent greater brain volume on average and a 15 percent increase in surface area.
- Trends in Intracranial and Cerebral Volumes of Framingham Heart Study Participants Born 1930 to 1970
the fact that more than 90% of participants were imaged on just 2 MRI machines also helped reduce the effect machine differences, which were further reduced using the neuroHarmonize statistical harmonization method.
This study is not without limitations. First, and most importantly, the FHS cohort is predominately non-Hispanic White, healthy, and well educated and therefore not representative of the broader US population. For example, current evidence indicates that social-cultural and health disparities, which are more common among non-White individuals in the US, may adversely affect brain health.
Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda
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A Weak Spot in Carbon Sequestration: Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells
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Ecological countermeasures to prevent pathogen spillover and subsequent pandemic
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Household chemicals post threat to brain health, study indicates.
A study by the Ohio-based Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, published in Nature Neuroscience, found that 292 of the 1,823 common chemicals examined were poisonous to a special type of brain cell called an oligodendrocyte, which creates a protective insulation around nerve cells. Tesar noted that "We now show that specific chemicals in consumer products can directly harm oligodendrocytes, representing a previously unrecognized risk factor for neurological disease."
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The Worst Climate Disaster You Haven't Heard of Just Got More Deadly