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Biden-Harris' FCC Nuked 20,000 Starlink Terminals For North Carolina That Could've Saved Lives by Tyler Durden
Friday October 4th, 2024 at 10:08 AM

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Biden-Harris' FCC Nuked 20,000 Starlink Terminals For North Carolina That Could've Saved Lives 

On Monday, the North Carolina State Climate Office said Hurricane Helene was a "monster storm" that unleashed every "worst-case scenario" for western North Carolina. 

Ashville Mayor Esther Manheimer told CNN's The Source with Kaitlan Collins on Monday that over 600 people are unaccounted for. 

Some towns have been wiped off the map after torrential rains dumped from Helene unleashed 'biblical' floods.

Power outages across western North Carolina remain widespread on Tuesday morning. Folks on X are saying entire cellular networks have been damaged as a humanitarian crisis unfolds. 

Helene shows how fragile modern society is when a monster storm invades the Appalachian region. Yet, Elon Musk's space internet company could've supplied residents with Starlink terminals over the years through a rural federal program. However, the Biden administration's weaponization of the FCC blocked nearly 20,000 terminals for the state that would've been crucial communication links for residents that have been cut off from the world. 

But-But-But. 

Ha. 

Also on Monday, former President Trump visited Valdosta, Ga., where he toured storm-ravaged neighborhoods. He told the press that he spoke to Musk about providing Starlink terminals for disaster areas. 

Musk tweeted:

Here's what X users are saying about the weaponization of Biden's FCC against Musk's Starlink: 

This is yet another classic example of elections having real-world consequences. Starlink terminals, by the thousands, could've been operating across the storm-damaged area; instead, the far-left in the Biden-Harris camp were hellbent on weaponizing federal agencies against Musk's companies over his 'free speech' X platform. This is insane. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 10/01/2024 - 12:05
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Neel2000
27 days ago
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Critical Unauthenticated RCE Flaw Impacts All GNU/Linux Systems by BeauHD
Friday September 27th, 2024 at 12:27 PM

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"Looks like there's a storm brewing, and it's not good news," writes ancient Slashdot reader jd. "Whether or not the bugs are classically security defects or not, this is extremely bad PR for the Linux and Open Source community. It's not clear from the article whether this affects other Open Source projects, such as FreeBSD." From a report: A critical unauthenticated Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability has been discovered, impacting all GNU/Linux systems. As per agreements with developers, the flaw, which has existed for over a decade, will be fully disclosed in less than two weeks. Despite the severity of the issue, no Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) identifiers have been assigned yet, although experts suggest there should be at least three to six. Leading Linux distributors such as Canonical and RedHat have confirmed the flaw's severity, rating it 9.9 out of 10. This indicates the potential for catastrophic damage if exploited. However, despite this acknowledgment, no working fix is still available. Developers remain embroiled in debates over whether some aspects of the vulnerability impact security.

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Neel2000
34 days ago
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US Military Says Niger Withdrawal Is Complete by Dave DeCamp
Wednesday September 18th, 2024 at 12:00 PM

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US Africa Command said on Monday that it had completed its withdrawal from Niger by the September 15 deadline.

The command said that the withdrawal of approximately 1,000 military personnel began in May. AFRICOM completed its withdrawal from Air Base 101 in Niamey on July 7, and the last US troops left Air Base 201 in Agadez on August 5.

“Additionally, the US Africa Command Coordination Element, consisting of a two-star General Officer and staff, has departed from Niger,” AFRICOM said.

The US was ordered to leave by the government that came to power following a July 2023 coup that ousted former President Mohamed Bazoum. The US was looking to stay in the country but was asked to leave following a meeting with the government, known as the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), back in March.

Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine said the US was asked to leave due to threats made by US officials in the meeting about Niger’s relationship with Russia and Iran.

The US is working to beef up its presence elsewhere in West Africa after losing Air Base 201, which served as a drone hub for US military operations across the region.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Pentagon is refurbishing an airfield in Benin to accommodate US helicopters, deploying Green Berets to Ivory Coast, and working on a deal with Chad to send troops to a base that used to be occupied by US forces.

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Neel2000
43 days ago
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Australia Plans Age Limit To Ban Children From Social Media by BeauHD
Friday September 13th, 2024 at 4:09 PM

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Agence France-Presse: Australia will ban children from using social media with a minimum age limit as high as 16, the prime minister said Tuesday, vowing to get kids off their devices and "onto the footy fields." Federal legislation to keep children off social media will be introduced this year, Anthony Albanese said, describing the impact of the sites on young people as a "scourge." The minimum age for children to log into sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok has not been decided but is expected to be between 14 and 16 years, Albanese said. The prime minister said his own preference would be a block on users aged below 16. An age verification trial to test various approaches is being conducted over the coming months, the centre-left leader said. [...] It is not even clear that the technology exists to reliably enforce such bans, said the University of Melbourne's associate professor in computing and information technology, Toby Murray. "The government is currently trialling age assurance technology. But we already know that present age verification methods are unreliable, too easy to circumvent, or risk user privacy," he said. But the prime minister said parents expected a response to online bullying and the access social media gave to harmful material. "These social media companies think they're above everyone," he told a radio interviewer. "Well, they have a social responsibility and at the moment, they're not exercising it. And we're determined to make sure that they do," he said.

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Neel2000
48 days ago
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yeah this will certainly go well
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Google's AI Will Help Decide Whether Unemployed Workers Get Benefits by BeauHD
Wednesday September 11th, 2024 at 4:38 PM

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Within the next several months, Nevada plans to launch a generative AI system powered by Google that will analyze transcripts of unemployment appeals hearings and issue recommendations to human referees about whether or not claimants should receive benefits. The system will be the first of its kind in the country and represents a significant experiment by state officials and Google in allowing generative AI to influence a high-stakes government decision -- one that could put thousands of dollars in unemployed Nevadans' pockets or take it away. Nevada officials say the Google system will speed up the appeals process -- cutting the time it takes referees to write a determination from several hours to just five minutes, in some cases -- helping the state work through a stubborn backlog of cases that have been pending since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tool will generate recommendations based on hearing transcripts and evidentiary documents, supplying its own analysis of whether a person's unemployment claim should be approved, denied, or modified. At least one human referee will then review each recommendation, said Christopher Sewell, director of the Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR). If the referee agrees with the recommendation, they will sign and issue the decision. If they don't agree, the referee will revise the document and DETR will investigate the discrepancy. "There's no AI [written decisions] that are going out without having human interaction and that human review," Sewell said. "We can get decisions out quicker so that it actually helps the claimant." Judicial scholars, a former U.S. Department of Labor official, and lawyers who represent Nevadans in appeal hearings told Gizmodo they worry the emphasis on speed could undermine any human guardrails Nevada puts in place. "The time savings they're looking for only happens if the review is very cursory," said Morgan Shah, director of community engagement for Nevada Legal Services. "If someone is reviewing something thoroughly and properly, they're really not saving that much time. At what point are you creating an environment where people are sort of being encouraged to take a shortcut?" Michele Evermore, a former deputy director for unemployment modernization policy at the Department of Labor, shared similar concerns. "If a robot's just handed you a recommendation and you just have to check a box and there's pressure to clear out a backlog, that's a little bit concerning," she said. In response to those fears about automation bias Google spokesperson Ashley Simms said "we work with our customers to identify and address any potential bias, and help them comply with federal and state requirements." "There's a level of risk we have to be willing to accept with humans and with AI," added Amy Perez, who oversaw unemployment modernization efforts in Colorado and at the U.S. Department of Labor. "We should only be putting these tools out into production if we've established it's as good as or better than a human."

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Neel2000
50 days ago
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Illinois Bans Mini Shampoo Bottles In Hotel Rooms by Tyler Durden
Thursday September 5th, 2024 at 4:21 PM

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Illinois Bans Mini Shampoo Bottles In Hotel Rooms

Authored by Dylan Sharkey via IllinoisPolicy.org,

Tiny hotel toiletries will soon be outlawed in Illinois. A new law will make Illinois hotels ditch small plastic bottles for shampoo and other care products.

The days are numbered for small shampoo bottles in Illinois hotels because of a new law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Hotels with more than 50 rooms are banned from providing single-use plastic bottles of shampoo, mouthwash and other toiletries starting July 1, 2025.

If a hotel has less than 50 rooms, the law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026. Hotels will then be expected to transition to refillable containers or face a written warning followed by a fine of up to $1,500.

Washington, New York and California have enacted similar laws. The Illinois General Assembly previously had a bill that would have banned the use of Styrofoam containers, but a partial ban passed instead that applies only to state facilities and agencies.

Illinois has more than $142 billion in pension debt, the nation’s second-worst unemployment rate, second-highest corporate income tax rate, second-highest property taxes and fourth highest in-state tuition for public universities.

Those major problems have festered for years without state lawmakers finding the political will to fix them.

But when it comes to the plastic perils found in hotel bathrooms, Illinois’ political leaders are shiny and manageable.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/04/2024 - 17:00
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Neel2000
56 days ago
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