Today’s News 15th March 2024

• NATO's 'Welfare' States: Treating The US As 'Room Service'
  NATO’s ‘Welfare’ States: Treating The US As ‘Room Service’

  Authored by Pete Hoekstra via The Gatestone Institute,

  Last month, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg conceded what former US President Donald Trump has been warning about for nearly a decade: America’s allies are not paying their fair share — as they had agreed — for national defense. After four years in which Trump held our NATO allies accountable for funding their share of NATO’s collective defense, US President Joe Biden has once again allowed many of them to pass significant burdens of NATO spending on to American taxpayers – threatening the security of the NATO alliance in the process.

  The very nature of alliances is that they are a two-way street. Americans should rightly expect to realize benefits from U.S. participation in NATO, just as the citizens of other NATO nations can expect to benefit from their country’s relationship with the United States.

  Indeed, that was the original idea behind the North Atlantic Treaty Organization when it was founded in 1949. In the wake of WWII, 12 nations agreed to band together to guard against the threat of the Soviet Union, a number that has now grown to 32 with the recent addition of Sweden.

  The NATO alliance today, however, more closely resembles an international welfare program than a true alliance, with most countries failing to meet their defense commitments and instead relying on the generosity of the United States.

  

  As the eminent journalist Amir Taheri put it: “others… treat the US as a ‘room service’ reachable by pressing a button…”

  In 2014, every NATO member agreed to allocate just 2% of their nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) to defense spending. This minimum baseline target is crucial to ensuring military readiness in the face of growing threats from hostile nations such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

  A decade later, 19 out of 32 NATO member nations have failed to meet this goal. Moreover, most of those countries that have reached the 2% target, such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Greece, are smaller nations with smaller GDPs.

  The United States, meanwhile, accounts for a staggering 70% of all NATO defense spending — even though the combined GDP of the other 31 member nations is roughly equal to that of the United States. Germany, by far the richest NATO member behind the United States, allocates just 1.57% of its GDP to defense spending.

  The combined population of these 31 NATO member states, at more than 620 million, also now dwarfs that of the United States, at 333 million. In other words, each American citizen is now effectively responsible for funding the national defense of two people in another NATO nation.

  The situation in Europe today is far different than at the founding of NATO, when many nations were still relying on the Marshall Plan funding to be rebuilt. Our NATO allies have highly advanced economies and immensely capable citizens. American taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize their national defense.

  If NATO is to function as an effective deterrent to military aggression from Russia and other adversaries, there seriously needs to be a new commitment by every NATO member state to invest in a strong national defense. Yet, the failure of our European allies to meet their spending commitments means they are woefully unprepared from a military standpoint to defend their countries – thus endangering the United States as well as themselves by threatening to draw America into war unnecessarily because of European weakness.

  President Trump wisely recognized this threat and accordingly made holding our NATO allies accountable a top priority of his foreign policy. Under his leadership, NATO member countries increased their defense spending by $350 billion.

  President Biden has failed to continue the momentum Trump created. After our NATO allies’ defense spending increased 4.6% in 2020, it dropped to only a 2% increase by 2022.

  As U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, in a meeting with Dutch business professionals, I would be asked about the emphasis the Trump administration was putting on the 2% number. People would remark that the Dutch had other priorities, such as healthcare, infrastructure and education. They said they considered the military threat to Europe as miniscule.

  Other Dutch citizens asked at various times if Russia would really roll across the borders of Europe with tanks. They had a hard time believing that the Netherlands could ever be in danger. They seemed convinced Trump, and Americans in general, were being unreasonable, distraught and completely out of touch with the security situation in Europe.

  A couple of years later, the world discovered the truth. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in fact appears extremely willing to roll his tanks into battle in Europe. After Trump was ridiculed by our NATO allies for demanding European countries do more to protect themselves, unfortunately history has proven him correct.

  The United States and the world need an American president who is committed to ensuring our NATO allies share the burden of deterring conflict and attacks upon members of the alliance.

  The magnificent Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten, in the Netherlands, is the final resting place for 8,288 American servicemen and where another 1,722, whose names are engraved on the Tablets of the Missing, are remembered.

  The Dutch have a unique relationship with the cemetery. Every American grave since 1945 has been adopted by a Dutch family. It is a beautiful recognition of the personal sacrifices made for the sake of freedom and liberty – but also a stark reminder of the horrific cost of war and of the failure to deter it.

  The strengthening of the NATO alliance by insisting on burden-sharing by all the member states was a hallmark policy of Trump’s first term, and it most probably will be again if voters return him to the White House this November. All of America’s leaders also need to embrace the reality that if our allies are unwilling to do more to keep the world safe and secure, we may need to reassess the relationship we have with them, and cease being “room service.” Alliances are only alliances when the costs and benefits run both ways. Anything less, especially from the richest countries in Europe, is not only disrespectful, but an unacceptable breach of contract.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/15/2024 – 02:00

• The Statistical Proof That Gaza Casualty Numbers Are Fake
  The Statistical Proof That Gaza Casualty Numbers Are Fake

  Authored by Abraham Wyner via DailySceptic.org,

  The number of civilian casualties in Gaza has been at the centre of international attention since the start of the war. The main source for the data has been the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which now claims more than 30,000 dead, the majority of which it says are children and women. Recently, the Biden administration lent legitimacy to Hamas’s figure. When asked at a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week how many Palestinian women and children have been killed since October 7th, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said the number was “over 25,000”. The Pentagon quickly clarified that the Secretary “was citing an estimate from the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry”. President Biden himself had earlier cited this figure, asserting that “too many, too many of the over 27,000 Palestinians killed in this conflict have been innocent civilians and children, including thousands of children”. The White House also explained that the President “was referring to publicly available data about the total number of casualties”.

  

  Here’s the problem with these data: the numbers are not real. That much is obvious to anyone who understands how naturally occurring numbers work. The casualties are not overwhelmingly women and children, and the majority may be Hamas fighters.

  If Hamas’s numbers are faked or fraudulent in some way, there may be evidence in the numbers themselves that can demonstrate it. While there is not much data available, there is a little, and it is enough: from October 26th until November 10th 2023, the Gaza Health Ministry released daily casualty figures that include both a total number and a specific number of women and children.

  The first place to look is the reported ‘total’ number of deaths. The graph of total deaths by date is increasing with almost metronomical linearity, as the graph in Figure 1 reveals.

  

  The graph reveals an extremely regular increase in casualties over the period. Data aggregated by the author and provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), based on Gaza MoH figures.

  This regularity is almost surely not real. One would expect quite a bit of variation day to day. In fact, the daily reported casualty count over this period averages 270 plus or minus about 15%. This is strikingly little variation. There should be days with twice the average or more and others with half or less. Perhaps what is happening is the Gaza ministry is releasing fake daily numbers that vary too little because they do not have a clear understanding of the behaviour of naturally occurring numbers. Unfortunately, verified control data are not available to formally test this conclusion, but the details of the daily counts render the numbers suspicious.

  Similarly, we should see variation in the number of child casualties that tracks the variation in the number of women. This is because the daily variation in death counts is caused by the variation in the number of strikes on residential buildings and tunnels which should result in considerable variability in the totals but less variation in the percentage of deaths across groups. This is a basic statistical fact about chance variability. Consequently, on the days with many women casualties there should be large numbers of children casualties, and on the days when just a few women are reported to have been killed, just a few children should be reported. This relationship can be measured and quantified by the R-square (R2) statistic that measures how correlated the daily casualty count for women is with the daily casualty count for children. If the numbers were real, we would expect R2 to be substantively larger than zero, tending closer to 1.0. But R2 is .017 which is statistically and substantively not different from zero.

  

  The daily number of children reported to have been killed is totally unrelated to the number of women reported. The R2 is .017 and the relationship is statistically and substantively insignificant.

  This lack of correlation is the second circumstantial piece of evidence suggesting the numbers are not real.

  But there is more.

  The daily number of women casualties should be highly correlated with the number of non-women and non-children (i.e., men) reported. Again, this is expected because of the nature of battle. The ebbs and flows of the bombings and attacks by Israel should cause the daily count to move together. But that is not what the data show. Not only is there not a positive correlation, there is a strong negative correlation, which makes no sense at all and establishes the third piece of evidence that the numbers are not real.

  

  The correlation between the daily men and daily women death count is absurdly strong and negative (p-value < .0001).

  Consider some further anomalies in the data: first, the death count reported on October 29th contradicts the numbers reported on the 28th, insofar as they imply that 26 men came back to life. This can happen because of misattribution or just reporting error. There are a few other days where the numbers of men are reported to be near zero. If these were just reporting errors, then on those days where the death count for men appears to be in error, the women’s count should be typical, at least on average. But it turns out that on the three days when the men’s count is near zero, suggesting an error, the women’s count is high. In fact, the three highest daily women casualty count occurs on those three days.

  

  There are three days where the male casualty count is close to zero. These three days correspond to the three highest daily women’s casualty count.

  Taken together, what does this all imply?

  While the evidence is not dispositive, it is highly suggestive that a process unconnected or loosely connected to reality was used to report the numbers.

  Most likely, the Hamas ministry settled on a daily total arbitrarily.

  We know this because the daily totals increase too consistently to be real. Then they assigned about 70% of the total to be women and children, splitting that amount randomly from day to day.

  Then they in-filled the number of men as set by the predetermined total.

  This explains all the data observed.

  There are other obvious red flags. The Gaza Health Ministry has consistently claimed that about 70% of the casualties are women or children. This total is far higher than the numbers reported in earlier conflicts with Israel. Another red flag, raised by Salo Aizenberg and written about extensively, is that if 70% of the casualties are women and children and 25% of the population is adult male, then either Israel is not successfully eliminating Hamas fighters or adult male casualty counts are extremely low. This by itself strongly suggests that the numbers are at a minimum grossly inaccurate and quite probably outright faked.

  Finally, on February 15th, Hamas admitted to losing 6,000 of its fighters, which represents more than 20% of the total number of casualties reported. Taken together, Hamas is reporting not only that 70% of casualties are women and children but also that 20% are fighters. This is not possible unless Israel is somehow not killing noncombatant men, or else Hamas is claiming that almost all the men in Gaza are Hamas fighters.

  Are there better numbers?

  Some objective commentators have acknowledged Hamas’s numbers in previous battles with Israel to be roughly accurate. Nevertheless, this war is wholly unlike its predecessors in scale or scope; international observers who were able to monitor previous wars are now completely absent, so the past can’t be assumed to be a reliable guide. The fog of war is especially thick in Gaza, making it impossible to quickly determine civilian death totals with any accuracy. Not only do official Palestinian death counts fail to differentiate soldiers from children, but Hamas also blames all deaths on Israel even if caused by Hamas’s own misfired rockets, accidental explosions, deliberate killings or internal battles. One group of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health compared Hamas reports to data on UNRWA workers. The researchers argued that because the death rates were approximately similar, Hamas’s numbers must not be inflated. But their argument relied on a crucial and unverified assumption: that UNRWA workers are not disproportionately more likely to be killed than the general population. That premise exploded when it was uncovered that a sizable fraction of UNRWA workers are affiliated with Hamas. Some were even exposed as having participated in the October 7th massacre itself.

  The truth can’t yet be known and probably never will be. The total civilian casualty count is likely to be extremely overstated. Israel estimates that at least 12,000 fighters have been killed. If that number proves to be even reasonably accurate, then the ratio of noncombatant casualties to combatants is remarkably low: at most 1.4 to 1 and perhaps as low as 1 to 1.

  By historical standards of urban warfare, where combatants are embedded in and below civilian population centres, this is a remarkable and successful effort to prevent unnecessary loss of life while fighting an implacable enemy that protects itself with civilians.

  The data used in the article can be found here, with thanks to Salo Aizenberg who helped check and correct these numbers.

  Abraham Wyner is Professor of Statistics and Data Science at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Faculty Co-Director of the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 23:40

• Kim Jong Un Drives Tank In Live-Fire 'Preparations For War' Drill
  Kim Jong Un Drives Tank In Live-Fire ‘Preparations For War’ Drill

  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has staged some interesting military theatrics ahead of next week’s expected visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to South Korea for the third Summit for Democracy.

  The recent renewal of ongoing major US live-fire exercises on the peninsula has also triggered sharp denunciations from Pyongyang. On Thursday Kim oversaw his own live-fire exercises, while riding in the north’s newest battle tank.

  

  The North Korean leader wore a black leather jacket and mounted a new tank, supposedly driving it himself, according to state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

  State media ominously described the exercise as part of “preparations for war”:

  Kim expressed “great satisfaction” that the tank – first unveiled during a 2020 military parade – demonstrated its striking power in its inaugural performance display and told his troops to bolster their “fighting spirits” and complete “preparations for war”, KCNA said.

  Kim hailed the newly deployed North Korean-made battle tank as “the world’s most powerful” – and state media published a photograph that featured his head sticking out of the tank while in operation.

  

  Notably the exercises were said to have involved military units stationed close to the border wand within striking distance of the “enemy’s capital” – according to KCNA.

  Kim has meanwhile denounced the latest joint Washington-Seoul war exercises, which recently even included strategic assets, as a “rehearsal” for invasion of the north.

  The past month had already seen Kim reportedly oversee two prior drills, but this new live-fire “training march” appears the most impressive given the number of tanks and maneuvers, and Kim’s apparent direct participation.

  

  The New York Times recently wrote that the Kim Jong-un government has plans for escalation, saying that it will soon launch some kind of lethal military action against the south, but will still seek to avoid a full-scale war. 

  US officials indicated the recent spate of more aggressive statements from Kim should be taken seriously. “While the officials added that they did not see an imminent risk of a full-scale war on the Korean Peninsula, Mr. Kim could carry out strikes in a way that he thinks would avoid rapid escalation,” the report predicted.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 23:20

• California Activist Group Paying Teens $1,400 In Taxpayer Money To Undergo "Social Justice" Training
  California Activist Group Paying Teens $1,400 In Taxpayer Money To Undergo “Social Justice” Training

  By Ava Grace of Campus Insanity

  An activist group in California is reportedly paying $1,400 each in taxpayer money to teenagers who undergo “social justice” training.

  

  According to the Free Press, the group Californians for Justice (CFJ) inked contracts with the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) between 2019 and 2023 for this endeavor. These contracts, which the outlet obtained, showed that the LBUSD used taxpayer funds to pay CFJ almost $2 million to facilitate equity and leadership development training for students and teachers. Aside from this, the contracts also allotted a total of $20,200 to 13 parents for their participation in the group’s programs.

  The outlet added that from December 2019 until the present, the LBUSD has paid at least 78 students a total of nearly $100,000 for participating in CFJ’s programs. The programs are led by the group’s staff instead of officials from the school district. The most recent contract runs until June. (Related: Not just public schools: Ohio PRIVATE school reports mothers to FBI for questioning leftist curriculum.)

  “You get paid good,” one student answered when asked why others should join CFJ. While it’s unclear which students are eligible for the stipends, CFJ’s website states that its “leadership development” programs operate with a focus on youths from low-income, minority, LGBT, foster home and immigrant backgrounds.

  But four teachers who talked to the Free Press consider the payments to students and their families a “horrible propaganda strategy.” One teacher said she was “shocked and horrified” at such a fact.

  Another teacher who asked not to be named for fear of losing her job said the CFJ’s leadership trainings have transformed into a space for kids to air their grievances about school. She recalled one student saying that “they would come to class on time if we built relationships with them.”

  “It’s helpful to hear their voice and know what they think would help them learn better, but I feel like you can do that with a focus group. Plus, they’re obviously reading scripts that have words that they don’t know how to say,” the teacher remarked.

  “The way that [CFJ is] handing scripts to students, even the words coming out of the students’ mouths, it just feels like indoctrination and not information.”

  CFJ giving students “a scripted voice that isn’t their own”

  LBUSD high school history teacher Jay Goldfisher agreed with the anonymous educator. “One of the reasons that [CFJ was] hired is to help our students find their voice and be able to express it,” he said.

  “But in reality, CFJ is not helping students find their own voices. It’s giving them a scripted voice that’s not their own. They’re teaching them parroting, which is the exact opposite of how you empower children.”

  The Free Press gave one example of this parroting. Back in 2021, CFJ implemented three “student-led professional development” training sessions in LBUSD high schools. According to the contracts, this cost the school district $25,000. Students were encouraged to educate their teachers on topics like implicit bias, “student voice” and anti-Black racism during these trainings, instead of the other way around.

  CFJ, which was founded back in 1996, began as a policy advocacy organization before pivoting into working in schools in the mid-2000s. The registered nonprofit has nearly $16 million in total assets, according to its most recent tax filing.

  “Our agenda is not hidden and is simple: We want the LBUSD to be a place where every student is represented honestly in classrooms and curricula, and where they are safe to be in critical dialogue supportive of democratic participation across differences,” said a CFJ spokesman.

  But a Jewish high school teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity expressed worry that their concern “is becoming a reality.” The teacher noted that the partnership between the activist group and the school district is solidifying misinformation in young kids. “That’s something that they’re going to hold on to forever, because they learned it at school,” the teacher said.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 23:00

• "Urgent Action Needed" As Manhattan Rents Inch Towards Record Highs
  “Urgent Action Needed” As Manhattan Rents Inch Towards Record Highs

  Housing affordability is at a crisis level in crime-ridden New York City. Mayor Eric Adams and progressives have no real immediate solution as rent prices near record highs ahead of spring. 

  A new Bloomberg report, citing appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate data, shows the median rent in Manhattan on new leases reached $4,320, up 3.3% from the same month last year. This figure is about $170 off the record high reached last summer. 

  

  Rents in Brooklyn rose 2.9% to $3,499, and in northwest Queens, the median was up by $1 to $3,239. Manhattan is the hotspot that could see new highs in the coming months. 

  According to Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, rents typically subside in the winter months, yet this year, prices declined less than expected. A combination of a strong job market and low unemployment, coupled with high mortgage rates and low housing stock are some of the drivers in the rental market. 

  “The economy has been too strong, for the time being at least,” Miller said.

  In February, about 4,350 leases were signed in Manhattan, up 7.7% from the same month last year. Leases in Brooklyn soared 62% to 2,498, while in northwest Queens, it jumped to a record of 591. 

  The report did not cover if the more than 175,000 illegals that have flooded the metro area are pressuring rent prices higher. 

  New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar recently warned, “Housing affordability is at a crisis level in New York City. More than half of renters are rent-burdened. New housing construction is not keeping pace with population growth.” 

  “Urgent action is further needed to build more affordable housing in my district and across New York City,” New York State Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia said. 

  According to a Goldman report, one major problem deterring new affordable housing in metro areas is that office tower prices are still too high for conversions. 

  Finding a home in NYC has become a nightmare. The mayor has yet to provide an immediate solution, as rents in Manhattan are expected to reach new record highs this summer. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 22:40

• Republican Impeachment Investigators Subpoena 13 Years Of Hunter Biden’s Phone Records
  Republican Impeachment Investigators Subpoena 13 Years Of Hunter Biden’s Phone Records

  Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The Republican-led House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed telecommunications company AT&T for 13 years of phone records for President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

  

  The committee’s Democrat minority first revealed the subpoena in a memo between the minority members on Tuesday. Republican majority staff confirmed the AT&T subpoena in an email to NTD News on Wednesday.

  The subpoena comes as Republican House investigators continue an impeachment inquiry into allegations President Biden facilitated influence peddling through his family’s various business dealings throughout his political career. Witnesses in their impeachment inquiry have alleged the elder Biden ended up on the phone during multiple business meetings involving his son.

  Devon Archer, a businessman who worked with Hunter Biden on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings, has also claimed company executives urged Mr. Biden to “call D.C.” at a time when the company was facing pressure from Ukrainian government investigations. Mr. Archer testified that Mr. Biden may have “called D.C.”—potentially alluding to then-Vice President Joe Biden—during a business trip to Dubai on or around Dec. 4, 2015. According to a Republican timeline, then-Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Ukraine just days after the Dec. 4 call and communicated a request that Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin be removed from office.

  Mr. Comer noted Mr. Archer’s testimony in his March 6 subpoena cover letter to AT&T.

  Mr. Comer’s records request may also cover a personal phone line that President Biden used during his time as the Vice President.

  “The Oversight Committee has identified payments made by Hunter Biden for what appear to be bills associated with his own use, and a cellphone line for his father’s use,” Mr. Comer’s May 6 letter reads. “Based on records reviewed by the Committees, the total amount paid by Hunter Biden for his father’s use appears to be over $15,000, which was for a personal line Joe Biden utilized while Vice President.”

  Mr. Comer said Eric Schwerin—whom he described as a “close confidant” of the president and his son—testified to cutting a check from President Biden to Mr. Biden to repay his son for the phone bill.

  The subpoena calls on AT&T to turn over records since Jan. 1, 2011, of customer accounts in Hunter Biden’s name and in the names of three of his known business entities: Owasco P.C., Rosemont Seneca Paitners, LLC, and Rosemont Seneca Advisors, LLC. The subpoena gives the telecommunications company until March 20 to produce these records.

  Democrats Say Subpoena ‘Outrageously Broad and Invasive’

  Committee Democrats have routinely insisted their Republican counterparts have little to no evidence to support the ongoing investigation into the Biden family. The minority side reiterated those conclusions in their latest memo addressing the AT&T subpoena.

  “Rather than acknowledging the collapse of their allegations and failure of this investigation, Chairman Comer has instead decided to issue a subpoena, in secret, to compel AT&T to produce over 15 years’ worth of “account information, communications, and payment history of all AT&T accounts affiliated with Robert Hunter Biden,” the March 12 minority memo states.

  Committee Democrats continued to cast these latest Republican investigative steps as unduly intrusive and faulted the majority for citing Mr. Schwerin’s testimony in their subpoena despite not releasing the full transcript from Mr. Schwerin’s Jan. 30 congressional testimony.

  “Chairman Comer’s justification for this outrageously broad and invasive subpoena is flimsy at best. In the cover letter accompanying his subpoena to AT&T, Chairman Comer points to testimony from Eric Schwerin,” the minority memo reads. “. . .Mr. Schwerin’s statements during his transcribed interview—a transcript that Chairman Comer has refused to release publicly—makes clear that this payment was pedestrian and innocuous.”

  Democrats provided an excerpt of Mr. Schwerin’s transcribed interview in which he described the AT&T account Mr. Biden paid for as a multi-line “friends and family account” for which “Hunter would pay the full bill and his dad would reimburse him for his line.”

  According to the testimony excerpt, Mr. Schwerin said the monthly phone bill was about $100 to $120, and President Biden reimbursed his son for a period of about six months. The apparent reimbursements Mr. Schwerin describes in this testimony excerpt do not add up to the “over $15,000” figure Mr. Comer alleged Mr. Biden paid in total over the years to cover his father’s phone bill. NTD News reached out to Republican staff for clarification on the apparent discrepancy in the phone payments but did not receive a response by press time.

  Committee Republicans are pressing on with their investigation into the Biden family, despite the pushback coming from Democrats.

  Last week, the Republican majority extended an invitation for Mr. Biden to testify again, this time in a public setting along with other past witnesses in the investigation. Mr. Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has since formally rejected the invitation.

  Mr. Lowell said his client has a court hearing in California the following day, but also said the scheduling conflict is the “least of the issues“ with the invite. Hunter Biden’s attorney went on to describe the Republican hearing invitation as an “obvious attempt to throw a Hail Mary pass after the game has ended.”

  From NTD News

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 22:20

• Startup Says This Massive Plane Could Make Wind Energy Viable
  Startup Says This Massive Plane Could Make Wind Energy Viable

  Meet the WindRunner. At a jaw-dropping 365 feet long and 79 feet tall, it’s a cargo plane unlike anything the world has seen before — stretching 80 feet longer than the current champ, the Russian Antonov An-124. Also unlike other massive planes, this one is built to carry just one specific kind of cargo: The world’s largest wind turbine blades, which could be longer than a football field in coming years. 

  

  Don’t look for the WindRunner in the sky just yet. For now, it’s merely a design, albeit one that’s already seven years in the making.

  As first reported Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal, the plane is the brainchild of MIT-educated aerospace engineer Mark Lundstrom, whose Boulder-headquartered startup, Radia, will need a few more years of design work and certification. If the plane comes to life, it could fundamentally change the economics of wind energy. 

  Bigger blades are far more efficient than smaller ones, as they can capture more wind and are positioned higher, where winds blow more constantly. However, the size of onshore wind turbines are currently limited by the transportation limits imposed by ground infrastructure. Specifically, to turn corners and fit under highway overpasses, blades for onshore turbines can’t exceed 230 feet, according to Radia.

  

  That means that, today, the largest blades can only be employed in offshore wind farms. There, however, the high cost of building towers in the ocean is prompting many utilities to sour on the concept. The bad financials on sea and land have contributed to a wave of both offshore and onshore project cancellations, slashing a planned 8.5 gigawatts of wind power. 

  “Radia estimates the larger turbines could reduce the cost of energy by up to 35% and increase the consistency of power generation by 20% compared with today’s onshore turbines.” — WSJ

  Avoiding public highways and roads altogether will require that each onshore project is outfitted with a custom-made, 6,000-foot, packed-dirt runway for WindRunner to land on.  

  The larger blades will render far more of United States viable for potential wind projects, as depicted in these Radia graphics that compare standard onshore wind energy to “Gigawind” employing the much longer blades and far larger turbines: 

  

  

  However, the scale of the envisioned giant turbines is certain to cause an uproar among people who live near proposed wind farms: The Journal describes them as “roughly as tall as the U.S. Capitol with the Washington Monument stacked on top.” 

  You can read the Wall Street Journal’s full report here. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 22:00

• Rudy Giuliani May Be Forced To Sell His Homes To Pay $148 Million Election Case Judgment
  Rudy Giuliani May Be Forced To Sell His Homes To Pay $148 Million Election Case Judgment

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani may be forced to sell his homes in New York and Florida to raise cash for a massive defamation judgment against him as he works his way through bankruptcy proceedings, according to court statements by attorneys.

  

  Mr. Giuliani filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2023, a day after being ordered to pay $148 million to two former Georgia election workers who sued him for defamation while he was a lawyer for former President Donald Trump.

  Mr. Giuliani listed liabilities of $100 million to $500 million and assets of as much as $10 million, according to a bankruptcy form that was filed on Dec. 21 at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

  Attorneys said during a March 13 status conference at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York that several of Mr. Giulani’s properties may be put up for sale to raise cash to pay off his nearly $153 million debt, the bulk of which is the $148 million defamation judgment, according to Bloomberg Law.

  Heath Berger, of Berger Fischoff Shumer Wexler & Goodman LLP, who represents Mr. Giuliani, said in court on Wednesday that a draft listing agreement for Mr. Giuliani’s New York condo is being finalized, while Philip Dublin, of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, said that a committee representing Mr. Giuliani’s unsecured creditors is working on putting his Palm Beach, Florida, property up for sale, per the report.

  Mr. Giuliani’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the development.

  Defamation Judgment

  While the values of some of Mr. Giuliani’s debts were listed as “unknown” in his bankruptcy filing, the biggest specified liability was the $148 million a federal jury ordered him to pay to Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss, the two former Georgia election workers.

  Other creditors listed in Mr. Giuliani’s bankruptcy filing include the New York State Department of Taxation and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), with Mr. Giuliani’s total liabilities owed to the government totaling nearly $1 million.

  In October 2023, the IRS put a federal tax lien of nearly $500,000 on Mr. Giuliani’s Palm Beach condo, which at the time was appraised at around $3 million.

  At the time, the IRS said Mr. Giuliani owes them nearly $550,000 in unpaid income taxes for 2021, with his political advisor, Ted Goodman, telling media outlets that Mr. Giuliani had entered into a formal agreement with the IRS to pay off the liability.

  The $148 million payout demanded by the judge stems from a lawsuit in which Mr. Giuliani was accused of defaming the two former election workers with false accusations that they committed voter fraud while counting ballots in Georgia’s Fulton County in the 2020 presidential election.

  The two election workers claimed they were subjected to relentless abuse after they were identified in a video clip that became widely circulated after the 2020 general election. In the video, the election workers are seen allegedly mishandling ballots.

  However, an investigation by the Georgia Elections Board cleared Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss of any wrongdoing.

  ‘Equivalent of a Death Penalty’

  Mr. Giuliani’s attorney, Joseph Sibley, told the court after the $148 million judgment was issued that the multimillion-dollar payout would spell “the end” for his client and that it would be “the civil equivalent of a death penalty.”

  The former New York mayor opted not to contest allegations that he made false statements in the defamation lawsuit brought by the two election workers, though his adviser said it was a legal tactic to allow the case to move forward.

  Mr. Giuliani has defended his claims about the former election workers and told reporters on Dec. 11—the day the defamation damages trial began—that “everything I said about them is true.”

  Mr. Giuliani, who served as former President Trump’s legal adviser in 2020, has faced other financial troubles.

  In September 2023, Mr. Giuliani’s former lawyers sued him over allegations that he failed to pay roughly $1.36 million in legal fees. Mr. Giuliani has said he believes the amount being sought is too much.

  Besides financial woes, Mr. Giuliani is also facing disbarment over a lawsuit he filed challenging the 2020 election results.

  In July 2023, a District of Columbia disciplinary panel recommended that Mr. Giuliani be disbarred because he allegedly violated two legal ethics rules in what the panel described as a “frivolous” lawsuit.

  In particular, the disciplinary panel found that Mr. Giuliani made sweeping claims of voter fraud that failed to adequately support with evidence.

  In November 2023, Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers urged the disciplinary board to reject the panel’s recommendation that would strip him of his law license.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 21:40

• Criminals And Cannibals: Is The US About To Repeat The Caribbean Migrant Crisis Of The 1980s?
  Criminals And Cannibals: Is The US About To Repeat The Caribbean Migrant Crisis Of The 1980s?

  Why has the United States become the default retreat for migrants whenever a national crisis arises somewhere in the world? There are almost 200 countries on the planet yet only America is consistently called upon to take on the burden of other nation’s problems. The socialist argument for this is a typical one – America is “rich” and should pay a price for the wealth they enjoy. Yet, whenever America intervenes in a foreign problem the same people cry foul and make accusations of “colonialism.” The answer, it would seem, is to stay out of such matters completely and that includes cutting off mass migrations.

  However, those who understand the bigger picture know that there is an agenda underway, not to help desperate migrants and refugees with the wealth of western civilization, but to use those people as a weapon to deconstruct western civilization.  

  We are all aware of the continuing saga of the US southern border and the Biden Administration’s clear intent to leave it wide open for millions of illegal immigrants every year (the Democrat border legislation recently on the table was rejected widely by Republicans exactly because it allowed for the continuing tide of migrants at the rate of millions per year).  But, there are also more quiet attempts to ship in refugees from conflicts around the world, including the war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza and the civil breakdown in Haiti.

  Haiti in particular is being suggested as a potential hot spot that will lead to mass relocation to the US, specifically Florida.  Federal agencies and Biden officials are, of course, reticent to answer questions about the possibility of a migrant crisis from Haiti and refuse to make a definitive public statement on stopping such an event from unfolding.  

  🚨HATIAN INVASION INCOMING:

  DoD officials testify before the House Armed Services Committee that the Biden Administration is anticipating mass migration from Haiti into the US via Florida. pic.twitter.com/gCnidVeXgu

  — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 12, 2024

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  The majority of the people from these places would have ideologies that are completely incompatible with western values, and maybe that’s the point.  Maybe the goal is to drop these groups right into the middle of American communities as a way to wreak havoc?  It’s happened before; consider the Caribbean migrant crisis that started in 1980 under the Carter Administration.

  Featuring a combination of hundreds of thousands of Cuban and Haitian migrants, the Mariel Boatlift was an incident that changed US crime trends for decades and left an indelible mark on popular culture. In 1978, Carter sought to reduce restrictions on Cuban travel to the US and lift the embargo on trade.  Haitian immigrants began to slip into the US using makeshift boats at this time and this triggered a Cuban movement to relocate as well.  Carter’s lax policy of accepting Cuban and Haitian refugees in the same manner had opened the gateway to a Caribbean migration explosion.  

  Famously depicted in the 1983 film Scarface and the 1984 drama television series Miami Vice, the crime wave that erupted in the face of the migrant surge in Florida was not fictional, it was very real and it made a long lasting impression on American society.  Carter initially instituted migrant camps as a way to process refugees and determine if they were legitimate, but these efforts were half-hearted and eventually broke down.  

  Fidel Castro had played his strategy beautifully, using America as a steam valve to get rid of thousands of hardened criminals and malcontents from Cuba.  The communists could no longer afford to keep such people in prison, so they simply let them out and sent them to the US.  Castro had plenty of help from the other side, though, as US bureaucrats accepted the majority of them without question.  

  Mixed into the hordes of violent criminals were also communist agitators and spies, along with people who would quickly and efficiently establish organized syndicates and drug cartels.  Florida’s crime rate skyrocketed from 1980 through the 1990s as migrants poured into the state.  

  

  To be sure, there were good people among the refugees.  Some of the most staunch anti-communists are Cubans who came to America in the 1980s.  Also, a percentage of the rise in crime could be attributed to the stagflationary crisis which was in full swing in the early 1980s, but data from the era shows a distinctly higher criminal arrest rate for migrants arriving in the US through Mariel.  It was a fact: Migrants were causing a considerable spike in violence and murders in Florida.

  Keep in mind that the caliber of criminals coming from Haiti today would probably be even more dangerous than in the 1980s.  With eyewitness reports of mass murder and cannibalism ongoing in the region (which the corporate media and State Department have tried to dismiss), one wonders how many of these people would slip through the cracks and get into the US under Joe Biden?  It’s highly unlikely that Biden would even go as far as Jimmy Carter in establishing migrant camps and a rudimentary vetting process.  That would be considered by the political left to be “racially insensitive” or “fascist” and calls for unfiltered immigration would be constant.

  

  It was Carter’s reckless handling of immigration and stagflation (sound familiar?) that led to his eventual election loss to Ronald Reagan, but the damage had already been done.   

  The majority of countries in the world have strict migrant policies, seeking out only successful and productive people that add value to the national economy.  The US, on the other hand, is expected to do the opposite.  Why?  The only rational answer is that it serves the interests of the establishment to see American society undermined.  One can debate the end game of this plan, but the process in motion is obvious.           

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 21:20

• Harvard Fellow Charged With Attempting To Smuggle $4 Million In Weapons For Coup In South Sudan
  Harvard Fellow Charged With Attempting To Smuggle $4 Million In Weapons For Coup In South Sudan

  By Lisa Schiffren of The College Fix

  A Harvard University fellow has been charged with attempting to buy and smuggle millions of dollars in arms to South Sudan to aid in a coup.

  Peter Biar Ajak, 40, fled South Sudan with the help of the American government four years ago after claiming that he was a target of the country’s president, the Daily Mail reported. He was granted refugee status, and has been working as a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

  

  But Ajak, and his confederate Abraham Chol Keech, a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives and works in Utah, are now alleged to have been on a buying spree to send $4 million worth of Stinger missile systems, grenade launchers, sniper rifles, automatic rifles, and ammunition back home to support a violent uprising, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed March 4.

  “Keech and Ajak knew that smuggling the weapons and ammunition out of the country without a license from the U.S. government was illegal and would violate U.S. laws. Nevertheless, in or around February 2024, they caused funds to be transferred to undercover agents through U.S. Company-1 to purchase approximately $4 million worth of munitions and other goods for illegal export to South Sudan,” the complaint reads.

  

  Ajak, a former World Bank economist who lives in Maryland, had been in talks to buy arms with what turned out to be undercover federal agents since at least Feb. 20, 2023. The complaint alleges Ajak and Keech attempted to purchase arms from undercover law enforcement agents “to effect a nondemocratic regime change in South Sudan,” according to the Harvard Crimson.

  Ajak, who has a master’s in public administration from the Kennedy School in 2009, was put on administrative leave last Wednesday following the DOJ charges, the student newspaper reported. Ajak and Harvard declined to comment to the Crimson.

  “Ajak, a former child soldier, is well-known among the African community in Washington D.C. as an exiled South Sudanese opposition leader and purported peace activist,” the Daily Mail noted.

  South Sudan, which became a country in 2011, is subject to a U.N. arms embargo due to the extreme levels of violence between armed factions, as well as the displacement of thousands of people, the Department of Justice said in a March 5 news release:

  As alleged in court documents, between at least February 2023 and February 2024, Keech and Ajak sought to illegally purchase weapons and related export-controlled items from undercover law enforcement agents and smuggle those weapons and items from the United States to South Sudan through a third country. The defendants knew that South Sudan was subject to an arms embargo and that exporting weapons and ammunition from the United States to South Sudan without a license from the U.S. government was illegal and would violate U.S. law. For example, the defendants openly discussed the illegality of the transaction, expressed the need to be discreet, and agreed to pay a risk fee for the weapons because of the illegal nature of the arms sale. In addition, to facilitate the smuggling scheme, the defendants discussed disguising the weapons as humanitarian aid and paying bribes.

  If convicted, the department added, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison for conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act, up to 20 years for conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act, and up to 10 years for smuggling arms from the United States.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 21:00

• US Imposes 2nd Sanctions Round On Israeli Settlers, Same Day Schumer Attacks "Pariah" Netanyahu
  US Imposes 2nd Sanctions Round On Israeli Settlers, Same Day Schumer Attacks “Pariah” Netanyahu

  The United States slapped a second round of sanctions targeting Israeli settlers and ‘illegal outposts’ in the occupied West Bank on Thursday. The sanctions mark somewhat of an unprecedented escalation of tensions between Washington and Tel Aviv, given this newest round focuses not just on individual settlers, but entire settlements too.

  The Dept. of Treasury’s new action sanctions Moshe’s farm and Zvi’s farm, both described as being used as outposts from which settlers routinely launch attacks on Palestinian civilians.

  The two leaders of the settlements – Moshe Sharvit and Zvi Bar Yosef – are also targeted in the new Treasury action. Axios writes that “The sanctions freeze assets the three settlers and two outposts might have in the U.S., ban them from getting a visa to enter the U.S. and block them from using the U.S. financial system.”

  Likely the Biden administration took into consideration a recent report by the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), which documented nearly 500 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians between Oct. 7 and Jan. 31 of this year.

  A prior initial round of rare sanctions targeting Israelis only dealt with individuals accused of committing acts of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and not whole communities.

  

  Some of the same settlers were already under sanctions by the United Kingdom, as The Associated Press details:

  Moshe Sharvit, a settler also already sanctioned in the U.K., allegedly attacked Palestinians and Israeli human rights activists in the vicinity of his outpost, which is also now sanctioned by the U.S.

  British officials in February stated that Sharvit and another settler threatened Palestinian families at gunpoint and destroyed property as part of a “ targeted and calculated effort to displace Palestinian communities.”

  Additionally, sanctions were imposed on Neriya Ben Pazi, who attacked and expelled Palestinian shepherds from hundreds of acres of land as recently as August 2023.

  Israeli government officials have been angered by these US sanctions, which are small and targeted enough to perhaps be merely symbolic. Yet it adds to the growing distance between the Biden and Netanyahu governments over Gaza and West Bank policy. 

  And Thursday’s scathing attack on Prime Minister Netanyahu ratchets tensions further, at a moment President Biden has still refused to attach any conditions to Israel’s use of American weaponry:

  Schumer delivered what he deemed a “major address” on the escalating situation in the region, headlined by his comments directed at Netanyahu, the polarizing Israeli leader. He pressed that Netanyahu has “lost his way,” pointing to the political and legal battles he has faced recently while also allowing that the off-and-on prime minister’s “highest priority is the security of Israel.”

  The Senate majority leader further blasted Netanyahu’s “far-right extremists” and has been “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”

  Israeli settlers provoked Palestinian citizen by giving him milk that was in his refrigerator… pic.twitter.com/4GEt1Yw6Pd

  — Southland Post (@SouthlandPost) July 27, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  “As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer underscored. “The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”

  Schumer went so far as to call Netanyahu a “pariah”–but still critics have pointed out that even those US politicians leading the charge against Bibi are by and large unwilling to cut off the arms supplies and billions in funding to Israel…

  Schumer to call for ‘new election’ in Israel in scathing speech

  What’s the strategy here?

  First, you arm Israel to the teeth, protect it when it commits war crimes, shield it from all international pressure, and NOW you worry it has become a pariah?https://t.co/DhrC14fzup

  — Trita Parsi (@tparsi) March 14, 2024

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  A big question that remains is whether Israel will launch a full ground invasion of Rafah, despite Biden warnings not to. Israel is pledging to facilitate the safe exit of civilians before the operation, but there’s been little sign of this happening on a large scale.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 20:40

• Secret Service Agent Blocked Trump From Going To Capitol On Jan. 6: Driver
  Secret Service Agent Blocked Trump From Going To Capitol On Jan. 6: Driver

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  When then-President Donald Trump finished his speech on Jan. 6, 2021, he wanted to go to the U.S. Capitol.

  

  But a Secret Service agent blocked him from going, according to a newly disclosed account.

  “The president wanted to go to the Capitol,” the Secret Service agent who was driving the vehicle, told a U.S. House of Representatives panel.

  President Trump and Robert Engel, his lead Secret Service agent, entered the SUV around 1:10 p.m. after President Trump concluded his speech, which was delivered on the Ellipse.

  “He asked Bob Engel if we could go to the Capitol and why couldn’t we go to the Capitol and was insistent on going to the Capitol,” the driver testified, adding later that the president “was pushing pretty hard to go.”

  “Mr. Engel’s response was essentially to tell him that we didn’t have any people at the Capitol, we didn’t have a plan in place, and that we needed to essentially go back to the White House and assess what our options were and wait till we can get a plan in place before we went down there,” the driver added.

  President Trump responded by saying he felt it would be fine because he was not concerned about the people at the Capitol, describing them as being his supporters, according to the driver, although the driver could not recall specifically what words the president used.

  “Mr. Engel consistently had the same response, that we didn’t have a plan in place, we didn’t have people at the Capitol, and that we needed to go back to the White House and reassess,” the driver said, adding later that whether the crowd at the Capitol was comprised of supporters of President Trump “was immaterial.”

  President Trump did not say anything like, “I’m the president, I’ll decide where I get to go or where I’m going,” the driver said, responding to a question from the panel.

  The driver took President Trump and Mr. Engel to the White House, which is 1.2 miles from the Ellipse. By 1:25 p.m., President Trump was told about violence at the Capitol, according to a White House employee.

  After arriving at the White House, the driver communicated what transpired to other agents and said they should stand by as a decision was made as to whether the president would at some point be taken to the Capitol.

  The agents remained with the presidential vehicles until they were told they would not be going to the Capitol, according to the driver. The communication came within 15 minutes after Mr. Engel met with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows or Meadows’s deputy, the driver said. “My understanding was that … a decision came out of that meeting,” he said.

  The driver was speaking on Nov. 7, 2022, to a House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021. The transcript was obtained and reviewed by The Epoch Times. The transcript was not released by the committee when it published online a final report and accompanying materials, including many transcripts, as it disbanded in late 2022.

  The select committee also interviewed Mr. Engel, who could not be reached, but did not release a transcript of that interview. Portions of the interview, which have still not been disclosed, were quoted in the panel’s report.

  The report says that President Trump entered the SUV after the Ellipse speech ended and “forcefully expressed his intention that Bobby Engel, the head of his Secret Service detail, direct the motorcade to the Capitol.” It does not mention who made the decision not to adhere to the request.

  “I said … ‘let’s go down to the Capitol and the Secret Service very nicely said, ’Sir, really better for you to go back to the White House, it really is, you know, we’re not prepared to go down there,’” President Trump said on a Just the News podcast this week. “And I understood that and it was no big argument.”

  Former White House official Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified in public to the select committee, has claimed that President Trump grew irate after not being taken to the Capitol and lunged at the wheel of the vehicle. Both Mr. Engel, according to the select committee, and the driver, according to the transcript, refuted that claim.

  Ms. Hutchinson, whose lawyer has not returned an inquiry, changed her testimony dramatically after testifying to the panel three times, according to a new House Republican report. She did not mention the alleged grabbing incident until her fourth interview. Mr. Engel and Mr. Meadows could not be reached. The Secret Service did not respond to a request for comment.

  Word of Possible Trip

  President Trump was not scheduled to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but some officials received word that he might go there, according to testimony.

  Anthony Ornato, a Secret Service agent not on the scene, said in a recently released transcript that he was asked by officials if President Trump could walk to the Capitol after the speech on the Ellipse. He thought the idea was “ridiculous” and referred the officials to Mr. Engel.

  An email from an agent to the driver and others on Jan. 5 said that President Trump planned to go to the Ellipse the following day. “There are also unconfirmed rumors of a move to the Capitol following the event on the Ellipse, but that will be an OTR if it happens,” the email stated, according to the select committee.

  OTR stands for off-the-record movement, meaning the move would not be placed on the presidential schedule, according to the driver.

  He said his superior did not inform him on Jan. 6 of any plans to take President Trump to the Capitol.

  According to summaries released by House Republicans of testimony given by four White House employees to the select committee, several White House employees became aware of President Trump possibly going to the Capitol, although one said that both the Secret Service and Mr. Meadows told him such a trip was not happening. The White House employee transcripts were not released by the select committee and have not otherwise been disclosed.

  “The committee’s principal concern was that the President actually intended to participate personally in the January 6th efforts at the Capitol, leading the attempt to overturn the election either from inside the House Chamber, from a stage outside the Capitol, or otherwise. The committee regarded those facts as important because they are relevant to President Trump’s intent on January 6th. There is no question from all the evidence assembled that President Trump did have that intent,” according to the summary.

  After President Trump arrived back at the White House, the president said “he wanted to physically walk and be a part of the march” to the Capitol, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told the select committee. Mr. Meadows, according to Ms. Hutchinson, said President Trump was upset Mr. Engel did not arrange a Capitol trip, and that Mr. Meadows did not make plans for a trip official.

  President Trump remained at the White House, where he watched events at the Capitol unfold on television. He later released a video showing him standing outside the White House and telling people to “go home.”

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 20:20

• Foxconn Reports 33% Profit Surge On Booming Demand For AI Servers
  Foxconn Reports 33% Profit Surge On Booming Demand For AI Servers

  Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn – also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry – reported the second consecutive quarter of profit growth driven by a surge in demand for artificial intelligence servers. 

  For the quarter ending December, Foxconn reported a 33% jump in net profit to NT$53.2 billion ($1.7 billion). That beat the average analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, who expected around NT$43.8 billion. 

  Here’s a snapshot of the fourth quarter earnings (courtesy of Bloomberg):

  • Net income NT$53.15 billion, +33% y/y, estimate NT$43.81 billion (Bloomberg Consensus)

  • Operating profit NT$48.93 billion, +11% y/y, estimate NT$51.74 billion

  • EPS NT$3.83 vs. NT$2.88 y/y, estimate NT$3.18

  • Revenue NT$1.85 trillion, -5.5% y/y, estimate NT$1.83 trillion

  2023 fiscal year results:

  • Net income NT$142.10 billion, estimate NT$132.63 billion

  • Operating profit NT$166.53 billion, estimate NT$168 billion

  • EPS NT$10.25, estimate NT$9.51

  • Revenue NT$6.16 trillion, estimate NT$6.14 trillion

  “We see very strong demand for AI servers from our clients,” Foxconn Chairman Young Liu told investors during an earnings call earlier today. Thanks to the AI frenzy, he expects revenue growth of more than 40% this year. 

  

  Liu added that AI server market growth could average around 30% between 2023-25, with Foxconn’s growth projected to match or exceed this rate.  

  According to the tech blog DIGITIMES Asia, Foxconn was rumored to have secured a major deal from longtime US partner Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co, which would further boost its AI server business. 

  For the current quarter, Foxconn forecasts that sales will decline again as the Covid mania normalizes. AI sales are helping the company improve profit while experiencing a downturn in global iPhone demand (read: here and here). The company is the largest manufacturer of Apple devices. 

  “The business saw a good sequential rebound into Q4 partly driven by the AI-focused side, but if you take a step back and look at 2023 as a whole, it was a relatively weak year,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Robert Lea said, adding, “The company should have a much better year as their main customers start to rebuild inventory.”

  Foxconn shares trading in Taiwan have jumped in recent sessions towards record highs on optimism about AI orders.

  

  How long will the AI boom last?

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 20:00

• Poll Reveals Aspirin Overuse Despite New Guidelines Warning Of Bleeding Dangers
  Poll Reveals Aspirin Overuse Despite New Guidelines Warning Of Bleeding Dangers

  Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Millions of seniors pop aspirin every day, hoping to stave off heart attacks, but mounting evidence suggests many are needlessly putting themselves at risk of potentially life-threatening bleeding.

  A new poll reveals that over half of older Americans taking aspirin have no history of cardiovascular disease, taking the over-the-counter drug based on antiquated advice that the benefits outweigh the dangers for most older adults.

  

  Rethinking Aspirin Use and Recommendations

  The University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging found that 57 percent of people aged 50 to 80 who take aspirin have no history of cardiovascular disease, which includes several heart and blood vessel problems. Only 11 percent of those taking aspirin as a preventative measure had such a history.

  For decades, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an independent panel of medical experts, recommended low-dose aspirin for people at considerable risk of heart attack. Over time, research has demonstrated that aspirin benefited high-risk patients who were older, had diabetes, or additional cardiovascular conditions.

  Moreover, across multiple studies, the findings showed aspirin provided minimal clinical benefit for most people, as the modest potential advantages were outweighed by an increased risk of bleeding complications.

  Recommendations on aspirin use have recently changed. In 2022, the USPSTF advised against routine aspirin use for heart attack prevention in adults aged 60 and older. Furthermore, the independent group stated that even for those aged 40 to 59, the “ net benefit of aspirin use in this group is small.”

  Randomized Trials Sound Alarm on Aspirin’s Bleeding Hazards

  The USPSTF’s revised recommendations stem from new data highlighting the bleeding risks associated with aspirin use in clinical trials and studies.

  An analysis of a randomized clinical trial involving over 19,000 older adults revealed a statistically significant 38 percent higher risk of intracranial bleeding, including hemorrhagic stroke and other causes of intracerebral hemorrhage, among participants randomized to take aspirin.

  Notably, in a separate analysis of 10 studies, aspirin use was linked to a 58 percent increased risk of major gastrointestinal bleeding.

  The USPSTF found that the risk of bleeding occurred regardless of age, sex, race, ethnicity, level of cardiovascular disease, or presence of diabetes. However, the organization noted that “although the increase in relative risk does not appear to differ based on age, the absolute incidence of bleeding, and thus the magnitude of bleeding harm, increases with age, and more so in adults 60 years or older.”

  Currently, the USPSTF, along with the American College of Cardiology, recommends daily low-dose aspirin for people at increased risk of cardiovascular disease but not at increased risk of bleeding.

  Risk of Bleeding Relatively Unknown

  According to the University of Michigan poll, 42 percent of adults aged 75 to 80 are taking aspirin. However, 31 percent of those taking aspirin are unaware of the associated bleeding risks.

  “Aspirin is no longer a one-size-fits-all preventive tool for older adults, which for decades it was touted as,” Jordan Schaefer, a hematologist at Michigan Medicine who was part of the poll team, said in a press release. “ This poll shows we have a long way to go to make sure aspirin use is consistent with current knowledge.”

  Older individuals taking aspirin should consult their health care providers about the medication’s benefits and risks. About 71 percent of older adults who take aspirin have been doing so for four years or more, indicating they may be following outdated advice, the authors noted.

  With aspirin guidelines changing, adults over 40 consulting their doctors about their personalized cardiovascular risk profile is important, according to Geoffrey Barnes, a Michigan Medicine cardiologist who also worked on the poll.

  This evaluation should comprehensively consider family medical history, previous health conditions, current medications, recent clinical markers like blood pressure, cholesterol levels and blood sugar readings, as well as modifiable risk factors such as smoking status, exercise habits, and dietary patterns, he said in a statement. Any decision on preventive aspirin therapy, must be based on the individual’s age in conjunction with this constellation of risk factors, Dr. Barnes noted.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 19:40

• Toronto Police Gives Advice On Auto-Theft: Just 'Leave Your Keys Out'
  Toronto Police Gives Advice On Auto-Theft: Just ‘Leave Your Keys Out’

  Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,

  Toronto Police have given advice to residents worried about the city’s spiraling auto theft problem – just let thieves steal your car by leaving them the keys.

  

  Yes, really.

  Authorities are literally telling people that to stop criminals attacking them inside their home, they should just leave the key fob for the car at the front door.

  Canadian police are encouraging people to leave their car keys in the front to avoid conflict with thieves

  This is what an unarmed society looks like

  pic.twitter.com/MUnAcSe7kV

  — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 14, 2024

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Toronto Police Service Constable Marco Ricciardi said, “To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your [key] fobs at your front door because they’re breaking into your home to steal your car. They don’t want anything else.”

  And believe it or not, some people are actually taking the advice.

  “Spoken or not, though, some Torontonians have evidently taken the advice to heart,” reports the Drive.

  “Like one person who—after having their vehicle broken into three times—opted to leave their car unlocked (along with a big, handwritten note indicating this) so that would-be thieves don’t break the window again.”

  Respondents on X expressed their anger at the idiocy.

  “This is what an unarmed society looks like,” remarked one.

  Welcome to @JustinTrudeau’s Canada.

  Where guns are illegal. Except criminals have them, and you don’t.

  And the police are imploring you to leave your keys at the front door so armed criminals can steal your cars, and hopefully spare your life.

  It’s been a while since I’ve said… pic.twitter.com/I24IhC1LNF

  — Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) March 14, 2024

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  “Where guns are illegal. Except criminals have them, and you don’t,” commented lawyer Viva Frei.

  “And the police are imploring you to leave your keys at the front door so armed criminals can steal your cars, and hopefully spare your life. It’s been a while since I’ve said it, but FUCK YOU Justin Trudeau!”

  One car is stolen in Canada every six seconds.

  Toronto has experienced such a massive epidemic of car thefts that people are having to go to extraordinary lengths to try to combat it given the police seem completely disinterested.

  “One Toronto resident, Dennis Wilson, told the Times that he has to set aside an extra 15 minutes in his commutes to account for his many security measures, which include two car alarms, a tracking device, four Apple AirTags, motion-sensitive floodlights and a key fob kept in a hack-proof Faraday bag,” reports blogTo.

  *  *  *

  Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 19:00

• Yemen's Houthis Claim 1st Hypersonic Missile Test, Likely Sourced From IRGC
  Yemen’s Houthis Claim 1st Hypersonic Missile Test, Likely Sourced From IRGC

  The Houthis on Thursday claimed to have successfully tested a hypersonic missile for the first time while touting that it could eventually be used against Israel, and would easily be able to reach the Jewish state. Missiles are dubbed hypersonic that can travel at a speed of Mach 5 or higher.

  The Yemeni rebel group backed by Iran says the missile it tested can travel at eight times the speed of sound. “Missile forces of the movement have successfully tested a missile that can reach speeds of up to Mach 8 [6,200 miles per hour] and is powered by solid fuel,” a Houthis spokesman told Sputnik. Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency also initially reported the claim.

  

  “Yemen plans to begin manufacturing it for use in attacks in the Red and Arabian Seas and the Gulf of Aden, as well as against targets in Israel,” the statement threatened. At those speeds, inbound missiles become much harder for conventional anti-air systems to defend against.

  The Associated Press has speculated that the Houthis adding hypersonic missiles to their arsenal is the ‘surprise’ which was previewed by a spokesman last month:

  In Yemen, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the Houthi rebels’ secretive supreme leader, boasted about the rebels’ weapons efforts at the end of February, saying: “We have surprises that the enemies do not expect at all.”

  A week ago, he similarly warned: “What is coming is greater.”

  “The enemy … will see the level of achievements of strategic importance that place our country in its capabilities among the limited and numbered countries in this world,” al-Houthi said, without elaborating.

  Already many dozens of vessels have come under attack, including attempted drone and missile attacks against US warships. The Western coalition’s sporadic offensive counterattacks have so far done nothing to blunt Houthi resolve.

  As for whether the Houthis actually possess a hypersonic missile or not – it true then there’s a high likelihood they received it from Iran. Just last year, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – widely believed to be on the ground in Yemen currently – unveiled its hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile called the Fattah II. However, later in the afternoon Thursday the Pentagon rejected the claims:

  PENTAGON SAYS REPORTS THAT THE HOUTHIS HAVE HYPERSONIC MISSILES ARE INACCURATE

  Meanwhile, the US government is seeking to apprehend the “IRGC’s Man In Sanaa”…

  Abdul Reza Shahla’i, the IRGC’s Man in Sana’a, is wanted for Justice ⚖️

  The U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Shahla’i or to the disruption of the IRGC’s financial mechanisms in Yemen and in the region. pic.twitter.com/cyiojVfPmL

  — Rewards for Justice عربي (@Rewards4Justice) December 5, 2019

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  Clearly the Houthi arsenal is expanding, and Washington has long accused Tehran of being behind it, a charge which stretches back years. Their drone arsenal is also growing more sophisticated. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 18:40

• Far More Complex Than Fat: What Is Causing Heart Disease?
  Far More Complex Than Fat: What Is Causing Heart Disease?

  Authored by Vance Voetberg via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  For over half a century, Americans have been taught a simple explanation for the nation’s No. 1 killer: that saturated fat clogs our arteries, leading to heart failure.

  This diet-heart hypothesis, first put forth in the 1960s by physiologist Ancel Keys, remains firmly lodged in popular consciousness. But unbeknownst to most, modern medical research now understands heart disease to be far more complex than a matter of meat and butter consumption alone.

  

  Inflammatory Link Between Immune System and Heart Disease

  Inflammation is a leading theory for explaining the root of heart disease, according to Dr. Barbara Roberts, director of the Women’s Cardiac Center at The Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island.

  In a 2023 report published in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, researchers made a scientific case for why inflammation may underlie heart disease, especially atherosclerotic heart disease—hardening of the arteries due to plaque buildup—which accounts for most cardiovascular events.

  Just as the body mounts an immune response to infection or injury, a similar inflammatory reaction occurs in heart disease. The adaptive immune system has been shown to have an association with heart disease risk due to sustained chronic inflammation, according to the study.

  “Although immune cells are integral key players of cardiac healing, an unbalanced or unresolved immune reaction after [myocardial infarction] aggravates tissue damage that triggers maladaptive remodeling and heart failure,” according to a 2021 European Heart Journal review.

  In a 2022 Journal of Molecular Science report, researchers noted that atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease in which balancing inflammatory immune system agents determines disease progression or resolution.

  LDL Quality–Not Just Quantity–Matters

  Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) act as cholesterol transporters in the body, carrying it where needed to synthesize hormones. LDL also plays a supporting immune role, defending against pathogens and oxidative stress, according to research. However, poor lifestyle factors like diet, smoking, and inactivity can overwhelm the immune system, resulting in LDL oxidation.

  Emerging evidence indicates oxidized LDL—not total LDL—is key in heart disease. When oxidized, LDL carriers break down into smaller particles unable to attach to liver receptors. These particles then float freely in the blood, damaging arterial walls.

  Contrary to logic, smaller oxidized particles present a higher risk than larger LDL. “Even if you have low LDL cholesterol with high LDL particle count, you can have a greater chance of heart disease than someone with cholesterol that is through the roof but has a low LDL particle count,” Jonny Bowden, who holds a doctorate in holistic nutrition and is a board-certified nutritionist and author, told The Epoch Times.

  A 2020 study spanning eight years published in the Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis showed that individuals with the highest levels of small-dense LDL particles had over a five times greater risk of developing heart disease than those with the lowest levels.

  High LDL particle count doubled the risk of peripheral arterial disease—where narrowed blood vessels reduce blood flow to the limbs—while LDL level had no association, according to a 2018 study of almost 28,000 women 45 years old or older published in Circulation.

  “A higher amount of omega-6 in the LDL makes it more susceptible to oxidation,” James DiNicolantonio, a cardiovascular research scientist and doctor of pharmacy at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, told The Epoch Times. On the other hand, when LDL lacks antioxidants such as Coenzyme Q10 and carotenoids, and there is more inflammation in the body, LDL can also undergo oxidation, he added.

  Insulin Resistance Emerges as Key Driver

  Insulin facilitates glucose transportation and storage. Insulin resistance occurs when cells don’t respond to insulin and cannot easily store circulating glucose. While known as a Type 2 diabetes precursor, insulin resistance may also contribute to heart disease progression, indicates research.

  A 2022 study of 110,000 adults published in Diabetes Care linked insulin resistance and heart disease risk. In prediabetic adults, only those with insulin resistance and obesity had higher cardiovascular risk versus those with normal glucose tolerance. In diabetic adults, cardiovascular risk persisted regardless of obesity.

  A 2023 study in the Journal of International Medical Research explained that while the mechanisms connecting insulin resistance and heart disease remain unclear, the link has been established. Altered insulin responses result in cardiometabolic disorders like obesity, low-grade inflammation, and hypertension—all atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease precursors. Lifestyle changes like proper dieting and avoiding sedentary behavior are essential to manage insulin resistance and minimize cardiovascular risk, the authors noted.

  A 2019 review in Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews also argued that insulin resistance is potentially the single most important cause of coronary artery disease.

  Nutrient Deficiency

  The introduction of processed foods such as refined sugar and seed oils is closely linked to worsened heart health. A lack of nutrients is also to blame for increased cardiovascular disease, according to Mr. DiNicolantonio. “A lack of any essential nutrient will speed/lead to the production of atherosclerosis,” he told The Epoch Times.

  Key deficiencies closely tied to heart disease include magnesium and copper. Vitamin D deficiency is also associated with cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Antioxidant vitamins A, C, E, B6, and folate also support heart health.

  Despite his certainty that nutrient deficiency contributes to heart disease, Mr. DiNicolantonio said no single cause explains heart disease. “There are too many mechanisms to try and guess what is the primary cause of heart disease,” he noted.

  It starts with violations of his mantra, “Eat Well, Live Well, Think Well,” according to Dr. Jack Wolfson, a board-certified cardiologist. These violations prompt immune activation, inflammation, oxidative stress, nervous system dysfunction, and cell energy issues. “Ultimately, disease is the final outcome,” he added.

  Triglycerides as an Independent Risk Factor

  Triglycerides, the most abundant blood fat, have a well-documented role in heart disease. Elevated triglyceride levels from poor diet and inactivity disrupt lipid metabolism, increasing the risk of heart disease. High levels of circulating free fatty acids independently contribute to atherosclerosis.

  A 2021 Journal of Lipid and Atherosclerosis study of over 1.8 million Korean adults reconfirmed triglycerides as an independent heart disease risk factor, reaffirming findings from studies beginning in the late 1980s showing triglycerides and associated lifestyle factors significantly contribute to heart disease development.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 18:20

• UnitedHealth CEO Meets White House Officials After 'Biggest Cyber Attack On US Health Care System'
  UnitedHealth CEO Meets White House Officials After ‘Biggest Cyber Attack On US Health Care System’

  Following a devastating cyberattack on the nation’s largest health insurers that sparked chaos across the entire healthcare payments system, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group and other industry leaders met with White House officials on Tuesday. Simultaneously, the Department of Health and Human Services has opened up an investigation into the incident. 

  The cyberattack against UnitedHealth and its subsidiary Change Healthcare was first detected on Feb. 21. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, this forced UnitedHealth to sever some of Change Healthcare’s digital payment networks from its clients. Another filing said the company is working to restore payment systems this week. 

  Bloomberg said that “halting the normal flow of billions of dollars in payments between doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and insurers” triggered a “paralysis” across the industry as some healthcare clinics were thrown into “financial peril” in recent weeks. 

  “I can’t believe we’re in this mess,” said Kathy Oubre, chief executive officer of Pontchartrain Cancer Center in southeast Louisiana, adding, “It’s going to take us months to dig out.”

  The impact of a cyber attack on Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth, is still being felt three weeks later.

  Billions of dollars in payments have been stopped. Ike Swetlitz reports https://t.co/J91WWOo1vd pic.twitter.com/8OF0SwBfs0

  — Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) March 13, 2024

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  The extent of the cyberattack is still unknown. However, UnitedHealth told Forbes it’s working with local and federal officials to figure that out. UnitedHealth has named BlackCat, also known as ALPHV and Noberus, as the ransomware group behind the attack. The group reportedly posted on the dark web, claiming it had accessed “more than 6 TB of highly selective data, ” including medical and dental records and payment information.

  On Tuesday, UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty and other industry leaders met with White House officials to discuss the ransomware attack. The magnitude of the attack is realized when understanding that Change Healthcare processes 33% of medical payments in the US, hence why the federal government is extremely worried. 

  The US Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that it has launched an investigation into the attack:

  “Given the unprecedented magnitude of this cyberattack, and in the best interest of patients and health care providers, OCR is initiating an investigation into this incident.” 

  The statement continued:

  “Ransomware and hacking are the primary cyber-threats in health care. Over the past five years, there has been a 256% increase in large breaches reported to OCR involving hacking and a 264% increase in ransomware… The large breaches reported in 2023 affected over 134 million individuals, a 141% increase from 2022.”

  Dr. Celine Gounder, an editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, called the incident “the biggest ever cybersecurity attack on the American health care system ever.” 

  “This is a system, Change Healthcare, that processes medical payments and touches one out of every three patients in this country. So the magnitude of the scope of this attack is really quite large,” Gounder said. 

  UnitedHealth’s market capitalization has lost about 39 billion dollars since the attack was first reported late last month. Its current market cap stands at around 449 billion dollars. 

  

  “We are committed to providing relief for people affected by this malicious attack on the US health system,” UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty said in the update.

  Witty continued, “All of us at UnitedHealth Group feel a deep sense of responsibility for recovery and are working tirelessly to ensure that providers can care for their patients and run their practices, and that patients can get their medications. We’re determined to make this right as fast as possible.”

  And according to Axios, cybersecurity experts say UnitedHealth’s merger and acquisition spree is the reason to blame for the security breach. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 18:00

• Cellphone Radiation Research Was Halted After Worrisome Findings, Expert Questions Why
  Cellphone Radiation Research Was Halted After Worrisome Findings, Expert Questions Why

  Authored by George Citroner via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Decades of animal research point to serious health risks from cellphone radiation exposure, but examining a possible link stops now.

  

  The National Toxicology Program (NTP), tasked with studying potential toxins, recently announced it would no longer investigate evidence that cellphone radiation can harm animals or people. The move stunned scientists like Devra Davis, a former senior adviser to the assistant secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, who called the abrupt reversal scientifically unjustified.

  There’s “no scientific explanation or justification for this sudden reversal,” Ms. Davis told The Epoch Times.

  Unpublished NTP Research Undermines Decision to Halt Cellphone Radiation Studies

  The NTP recently claimed that additional radiofrequency radiation (RFR) studies are not planned, stating the research was “technically challenging and more resource-intensive than expected.”

  Ms. Davis criticized this decision, noting that technical challenges are not a reason to avoid studying something that appears to cause cancer in animals. “Everything that we know for sure causes cancer in people will produce it in animals when adequately studied,” she added.

  Despite admitting to developing a novel small-scale RFR exposure system in 2019 to clarify earlier findings, the NTP canceled further investigations. This system only studied older 2G and 3G devices, not newer 4G or 5G technologies.

  Ms. Davis, a former NTP advisor, said she helped recommend smaller test chambers. The agency takes years to plan studies, so scrapping this project is “beyond my comprehension at this point,” given millions of children’s daily exposure, she noted.

  In an emailed statement, the NTP confirmed that although work on the small-scale exposure system and accompanying research has been completed, the results will be publicly available and posted on the agency’s webpage only “when internal reviews are finished.” As of this writing, the 2019 research remains unpublished.

  Court Finds FCC Illegally Ignored 5G Health Risks

  The NTP published results in 2018 from two-year toxicology studies showing “clear evidence” of associations between 2G/3G cellphone radiation and tumors in male rats. Follow-up research in 2019 revealed DNA damage in the brains, livers, and blood cells of exposed rats and mice.

  Despite originally requesting and overseeing these studies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has since dismissed the NTP’s findings, Ms. Davis said.

  In 2019, the Federal Communications Commission affirmed outdated 1996 radiation exposure standards for new 5G technologies, which did not even exist then. To justify this, the FDA anonymously produced an unreviewed document in 2020. The Environmental Health Trust (EHT) sued the FCC.

  In 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against the FCC. The court said the FCC acted improperly and illegally by keeping its 1996 wireless radiation exposure limits. The court found the FCC ignored evidence that radiation below its current limits can cause adverse health effects besides cancer, noting that the FCC also failed to respond to comments about the environmental harm caused by radiation.

  The court ordered revised standards accounting for EHT’s records on risks to children and the environment.

  FCC Let Carriers Abandon Landlines

  Since 2019, France has mandated cellphones include warnings to keep such devices away from teens and pregnant women’s lower abdomens because of radiation risks. The European Union also funds extensive research on RFR hazards.

  “So why are we ignoring animal study results showing harm?” Ms. Davis said. “There’s only one reason: because there’s so much money involved.”

  Landlines offered an alternative to cellphones, but the FCC’s 2019 order let carriers abandon copper lines. Companies like Verizon have begun retiring landlines, leaving consumers with only wireless options.

  People can still reduce RFR exposure by:

  • Not carrying phones in pockets or bras
  • Using speakerphone and holding phones away from the head/body
  • Keeping devices away from reproductive organs
  • Using wired over WiFi internet
  • Not sleeping near phones

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/14/2024 – 17:40

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