2024-07-08
Horseshit
Electric / Self Driving cars
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Battery maker SK On declares ‘emergency’ as EV sales disappoint
A leading South Korean producer of electric vehicle batteries has declared itself in crisis as its customers struggle with disappointing EV sales in Europe and the US. SK On, the world’s fourth-largest EV battery maker behind Chinese giants CATL and BYD and South Korean rival LG Energy Solution, has recorded losses for 10 consecutive quarters since being spun off by its parent company in 2021. Its net debt has increased more than fivefold, from Won2.9tn ($2.1bn) to Won15.6tn over the same period, as western EV sales have fallen far short of its expectations. With losses snowballing, chief executive Lee Seok-hee announced a series of cost-cutting and working practice measures last Monday, describing them as a state of “emergency management”.
celebrity gossip
Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp
Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts
Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising
TechSuck / Geek Bait
AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World
Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO
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Low-intensity explosion caused Russian satellite to spew debris
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Starship Booster Might Have Exploded Suggests Fan Theory, Alleged Leaked Image
SpaceX's Starship booster, which was the first in the program's history to splash down in the water successfully softly, might have exploded after the test ended, suggests an alleged leaked image and a fan analysis circulating on social media.
Crypto con games
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After a 10-Year Wait, Mt. Gox Bitcoin Is Finally Being Returned
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Ex-directors allege fraud at Tether-backed crypto group Northern Data
In a complaint filed last month at the California Central District court, Joshua Porter and Gulsen Kama allege that Northern Data was “falsely misrepresenting the strength of its financial condition to investors, regulators and business partners”, and “was knowingly committing tax evasion to the tune of potentially tens of millions of dollars.” At pixel time, Northern Data has not responded to Alphaville’s questions about the lawsuit. Northern Data has been making headlines for other reasons this week, with Bloomberg News reporting on Monday that the company has been investigating a US IPO for its AI cloud computing and data centre businesses
Economicon / Business / Finance
Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making
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Juneau residents will vote whether to ban cruise ships on Saturdays
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The Sad State of Underground Retail in New York City - The New York Times
Nearly 75 percent of shops operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are vacant.
At Columbus Circle, only one of the 40 shops that opened in its underground market eight years ago is still open today. At Fulton Center, the decade-old mall in a Lower Manhattan subway station is nearly vacant. In Midtown, empty storefronts line the Port Authority and Rockefeller Center stations. The state of retail in New York City’s vast underground subway system is, in a word, bleak. Nearly three-quarters of spaces in the transit network are empty, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a downward trend that began before the coronavirus pandemic but was exacerbated by it and the rise of remote and hybrid work. For travelers, the empty storefronts have created a sense of unease and urban decay. Some doors have been locked with chains, their windows covered with for-lease signs. Others have discarded items like restaurant supplies strewed about. Homeless people have taken over empty corners of retail areas and sleep in stairwells.
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Growing number of Democrats want Biden to drop out by Friday
We're now in uncharted, historic waters: President Biden — backed by first lady Jill Biden and his convicted son, Hunter, who's serving as de facto gatekeeper for longtime friends — says that nothing, besides an act of God, will persuade him to quit his re-election campaign. But outside Biden's protective bubble, a fast-growing number of Democrats are praying for —and plotting — a more earthly intervention. They want everyone from the Obamas to congressional leaders to beg Biden to drop out by this Friday.
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2nd local radio host says they were given questions ahead of Biden interview - ABC News
A second local radio host on Saturday told ABC News that he was provided a list of questions in advance of his interview with President Joe Biden this week. "Yes, I was given some questions for Biden," Earl Ingram of CivicMedia told ABC News. Ingram, a prominent host of a Wisconsin radio station, interviewed Biden this week in the wake of his debate performance. Ingram said he was given five questions and ended up asking four of them. "I didn't get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask," he said. Ingram is the second interviewer who now says they were provided questions by Biden aides to ask the president this week. Earlier today, another local radio host who interviewed Biden this week told CNN she was given questions to ask Biden before the interview.
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The host of Joe Biden's first post-debate media appearance was fired after saying she received and used questions provided from the president's team ahead of the interview.
On July 3, the first post-debate interview with President Joe Biden was arranged and negotiated independently by WURD Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders without knowledge, consultation or collaboration with WURD management. The interview featured pre-determined questions provided by the White House, which violates our practice of remaining an independent media outlet accountable to our listeners. As a result, Ms. Lawful-Sanders and WURD Radio have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately.
WURD Radio remains an independent voice that our audience can trust will hold elected officials accountable. As Pennsylvania’s only independent Black-owned talk radio station, WURD Radio has cultivated that trust with our audience over our 20-year history. This is something we take very seriously. Agreeing to a pre-determined set of questions jeopardizes that trust and is not a practice that WURD Radio engages in or endorses as a matter of practice or official policy.
Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security
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China exerts new control over its young expats in the US
China is demanding acts of loyalty from its young professionals living and working in the US, sometimes putting them at odds with local law and immigration requirements, as it seeks more control over expatriates amid rising tensions between the two countries. The demands are increasingly being placed on Chinese nationals who joined the country’s Communist party as students or young professionals before they left home, in the hopes of career advancement once they eventually return. By some estimates, at least 10,000 members of the party are studying or working in the US. This is a small fraction of its 5.4mn Chinese diaspora but many are in top roles at leading universities and corporations in the technology and finance sectors. The directives have included participating in webinars during which they are coached to promote China’s image in front of their American peers, paying membership dues to the Communist party, studying political material sent from China and checking in with party officials to ensure their continued loyalty, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Financial Times. In interviews with 10 party members studying and working in the US, students said they had followed the demands to speak positively about China in public, while employees said they sought to hide their links to the party when applying for US work visas, denying membership when asked.
Iran / Houthi
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Masoud Pezeshkian Wins Iran Election - The New York Times
In an election upset in Iran, the reformist candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, who advocated for moderate policies at home and improved relations with the West, won the presidential runoff election, beating his hard-line rival, the Ministry of Interior said on Saturday morning. Mr. Pezeshkian, 69, a cardiac surgeon, secured more than 16.3 million votes over the hard-line candidate, Saeed Jalili, delivering a blow to the conservative faction and a major victory for the reformist faction that had been sidelined from politics for the past few years. Mr. Jalili received 13.5 million votes. After polls closed at midnight, turnout stood at 50 percent, about 10 percentage points higher than in the first round of the election with about 30.5 million ballots cast in total, according to Iran’s interior ministry. The first round saw a record-low turnout because many Iranians had boycotted the vote as an act of protest.
Israel
Russia Bad / Ukraine War
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In Ukraine, Killings of Unarmed Russians Divide a U.S.-Led Unit - The New York Times
Caspar Grosse, a German medic in that unit, said he saw the soldier plead for medical attention in a mix of broken English and Russian. It was dusk. A team member looked for bandages. That is when, Mr. Grosse said, a fellow soldier hobbled over and fired his weapon into the Russian soldier’s torso. He slumped, still breathing. Another soldier fired — “just shot him in the head,” Mr. Grosse recalled in an interview. Mr. Grosse said he was so upset by the episode that he confronted his commander. He said he spoke to The New York Times after what he regarded as unwarranted killings continued. It is highly unusual for a soldier to speak publicly about battlefield conduct, particularly involving men whom he still considers friends. But he said he was too troubled to keep silent.
China
Health / Medicine
Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda
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NASA spots unexpected X-shaped structures in Earth's upper atmosphere
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Did this citizen scientist develop the perfect, chemical-free lawn?
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California Imposes Permanent Water Restrictions on Residents
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'We've Got to Kill': Inside New Zealand's Mission to Wipe Out Predators
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A court in Ecuador rules that pollution has violated the rights of a river