China is working aggressively to spread its influence and promote its interests throughout the globe, exploiting nations and flaunting individual rights and sovereignty as it does so. And it’s doing a pretty good job.
China invests huge amounts of capital into developing countries, with overseas investment and construction exceeding $2 trillion since 2005. Many of these projects fail to meet international standards and use illegal funds, according to The Heritage Foundation’s 2021 China Transparency Report. (The Daily Signal is the news and commentary platform of The Heritage Foundation.)
China uses these investments to influence voting at the United Nations. One William and Mary AidData research study found that “if African countries voted with China in the U.N. General Assembly an extra 10% of the time, they would get an 86% bump in official development assistance on average.” //
Despite its seeming successes, China lacks the most important ingredient for a thriving country, what the interim National Security Strategic Guidance calls “our most fundamental advantage”: democracy.
China lacks the basic freedoms that enable society and people to flourish. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, China remains a mostly unfree country with weak property rights and a protectionist financial system. New reports appear regularly about government interference stifling human expression in China. //
It is time to hold China accountable for such abuses. It is vital, however, that the U.S. and other Western nations not fall into the trap of countering the growth of Chinese influence by replicating authoritarian Chinese actions. It is the responsibility of democracies to work together to expose the corruption and authoritativeness of the Chinese Communist Party while emphasizing and staying true to their own values of democracy, respect for human rights, and economic freedom.
China isn’t invincible. Its regime lacks freedoms that people inherently desire. It is imperative that the U.S. makes it clear to other countries that cooperating with China means cooperating with a “regime that systematically violates the human rights of its citizens.”
It’s summer, and that means a fresh wave of stories about COVID-19 in Florida.
Last year, the press fixated on the state’s rising case and hospitalization rates, blaming them on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decisions to eschew government mask mandates and allow businesses to reopen, children to attend school, and residents to recreate without excessive restraints.
DeSantis was often unfavorably compared with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose iron-fisted restrictions were considered the epitome of enlightened governance.
Enthusiasm for Cuomo has waned, but heaping scorn on DeSantis is still in vogue. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson has dubbed DeSantis “public enemy number one,” first in line among “cynical and irresponsible Republican politicians [who] have created an environment that is killing Americans.”
So what’s really going on in Florida? Is DeSantis a cynical and irresponsible killer? Here are the facts.
Peter Doocy asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki a great question: in regard to Gov. DeSantis defending parents’ rights to decide for their own children whether to have them in masks or not, does Joe Biden think that parents should have that kind of power, to opt out of mask policies?
Psaki didn’t actually answer the question. She said she thought public health experts should be making the decision instead of politicians. //
Her non-answer was basically an answer in itself. While she says public health experts should be making the decision, she refuses to say that parents should have that right for their own children. So in her mind that public health experts hold more weight than the parents, on the matter. //
The choice isn’t between masks or no school. That’s a false dichotomy. The choice is between a sane approach, giving the parents power over their own children vs. operating under unnecessary and/or even unwise state dictates. //
emptypockets
an hour ago edited
"That’s a false dichotomy."
That is one of their first go-to tactics, the false dichotomy or as Gutfeld terms it, "the prison of two ideas". Set it up as though there is ONLY this--what they say--or an extreme evil with nothing between the two, no other choices. That's when they don't just insult and try delegitimizing you with "racist" or whatever. That and setting up of false dichotomies and strawmen is their only effort at "persuasion" and yeah, they really suck at that, too. //
Robal
an hour ago
When democrats claim they care about the health and safety of our children, remember: its the same democrats who prefer we abort our children instead of giving birth to them.
Anyone who tells you that they expected the first promotional image for the LOTR on Prime series to reveal an iconic panorama of Valinor — the land of angelic beings of Middle-earth — is either a liar or is inside the production. //
At first, you think: “Well, it’s another Middle-earth city. But, hey, it’s pretty cool.” You’re expecting, perhaps, Armenelos or Rómenna on the island of Númenór. After all, we know the series is supposed to encompass the rise and fall of the island kingdom and there does seem to be a glittering body of water even if it’s a bit small to be a bay, much less the ocean.
Then your eye is drawn inexorably to the background glow and it dawns that what you thought was merely the sun nearly (and neatly) conceals a pair of colossal trees.
And in an instant your whole worldview of the series just … changes.
Because, you know — if you’ve tried your hand at reading The Silmarillion or have delved into the pre-history of The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit — that these aren’t just any pair of trees.
It’s the Two Trees.
The tree of silver and the tree of gold that are the source of all light in Valinor. That provide the light for Fëanor’s Silmarils, and ultimately for the Phial of Galadriel. And whose destruction triggers a cascade of events that stretches all the way to the end of the Third Age.
If anything can be, this is the heart of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth mythmaking.
LOTR on Prime has enormous ambitions and it’s not afraid to declare as much.
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Sprint 3G network shutdown date: January 1, 2022
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Sprint 4G LTE network sunset date: June 30, 2022
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T-Mobile 3G network shutdown date: April 1, 2022 (formerly October 1st, 2021)
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T-Mobile 2G network shutdown date: January 1, 2023
-
Verizon 3G network sunset: January 1, 2023
After December 31st, 2022, says Verizon, if you are a Big Red customer still using a device that is 3G (CDMA) or 4G that does not support HD Voice (Non-VoLTE), the device will no longer make/receive calls, send/receive text messages, or use data services.
- AT&T 3G network sunset: February 1, 2022
- Free phone: AT&T RADIANT Core
Sometimes, locking down a laptop with the latest defenses isn't enough. ///
Typing in a password is still better than relying entirely on credentials stored in TPM.
Trends in Number of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in the US Reported to CDC, by State/Territory
Reported to the CDC by State or Territory; Maps, charts, and data provided by CDC, updates Mon-Sat by 8 pm ET
“What is your response to Gov. DeSantis, who is using your words about ‘don’t be in the way’ and he’s saying ‘I am in the way, to block too much interference from the federal government.’ Your response, Mr. President?” O’Donnell inquired.
“Governor who?” Biden responded as people, presumably other reporters, could be heard laughing. “That’s my response.” //
DESANTIS: Well, I guess I’m not surprised that Biden doesn’t remember me, I guess the question is what else has he forgotten? Biden’s forgotten about the crisis at our southern border. I can tell you that biden has forgotten about the inflation that’s biting the budgets of families all throughout our country. Biden has forgotten about the demonstrators who are fighting for freedom down in Cuba and Biden’s even forgotten about the Constitution itself as we saw with what he did with this moratorium. And I can just tell you I’m the governor who protects parents in their ability to make the right choices for their kids’ education. I’m the governor who protects the jobs and education and businesses in Florida by not letting the federal government lock us down. I’m the governor who answers to the people of Florida not to bureaucrats in Washington. //
greginfla
44 minutes ago
The best thing the media could do for the leftist cause is to ignore DeSantis. They are giving DeSantis nationwide exposure, and as someone said, making him a peer with POTUS. This is similar to how Trump got tons of free marketing from the media. //
DeeInFL
....
I don’t know where you’re getting your data from but Florida is not out pacing Covid deaths from the delta variant. According to the CDC Covid tracker the 7 day average per 100,000 is the highest in Arkansas followed by Louisiana. Even looking at total Covid deaths prior to the delta variant Florida ranked 26th out of all deaths in Covid deaths per capita.
While scouring the bowels of the Internet, I came across some videos by a personality named Hotep God Drelly. A new face for me among individuals I follow, who identify with the Conscious Black Conservative movement. //
All you ngg@s who hate the Republican Party so much, the Republican Party, without bloodshed, is gone be the only way you get out of this sht my n*gg@s! It’s the only way! Conservatives, Libertarians, these are the only people that’s gone save yo’ Black ass!
“You keep on voting Democrat if you want to! I’m telling you—either yo’ ass need to f#ckin’ move, or get that Democrat government out yo’ damn state. Because soon you will not be able to do anything without getting vaccinated.” //
Vaccine passports are a modern-day version of the “freedom papers” that Blacks had to carry around with them pre-civil war in order to have the freedom to travel from the North to the South unmolested. If you saw the movie 12 Years A Slave, you see how well that worked.
What is the difference between “freedom papers” and carrying around proof to prove you have been vaccinated and are not going to infect anyone? Especially since the public and private sector are attempting to attach who is and is not allowed freedoms based on that fact. We already have a black market for fake vaccine passports. Where else will this lead?
This is beyond Orwellian; it’s positively Stalinesque. //
To a greater degree, if you know the history of Black Americans and the government via the medical establishment, from the Tuskegee Experiment to Henrietta Lacks to the CDC study on MMR Vaccines, you would think that if this vaccine is truly in our self-interest, they would be more measured and serious in their approach, as well as acknowledge what has been done wrong in the past, and give us evidence on how this time it will be different.
The vaccine lottery, music ditty, fatty food perks and giveaways tomfoolery is what you do with something that is not that urgent or serious. So, that leads me, and probably other Blacks to believe, that if this vaccine and COVID-19 was as serious as they claim it is, the dissemination of information and access to the vaccines would also be done in a more consequential manner.
No matter what your race, we all know that the COVID-19 response and the vaccine distribution have not been handled seriously, consequentially, or even competently. From the shifting standards, the lies, and the gaslighting done by the Biden administration and the CDC, to the well-paid state health officials and their sleight of hand with testing, actual cases, and actual deaths, they have killed all credibility and all trust. Then there is the fact that the so-called Black leaders in the Democrat Party, from 44th President Barack Obama and his 60th birthday bash with 700 of his closest friends to D.C. Mayor Marxist Muriel Bowser attending a maskless wedding after instituting the mask mandates back into that city, have shown that they are not taking it seriously.
So, why should we?
It's taller than NASA's Saturn V moon rocket.
SpaceX's newest Starship prototype was briefly placed atop of its massive booster for the first time on Friday (Aug. 6), setting a new record for the world's tallest rocket ahead of a planned orbital test flight this year.
Engineers performed the stacking test at the SpaceX Starbase facility in South Texas, near the village of Boca Chica, in view of livestreams from NASA Spaceflight and Spadre.com. SpaceX has not commented on the stacking procedure yet on Twitter, although founder Elon Musk sent an update suggesting the company actually wanted to complete the stacking Thursday (Aug. 5), a few hours after Starship completed its rollout to the launch pad, but winds were too high. //
Super Heavy alone stands 230 feet (70 meters) tall and Starship SN4 added another 165 feet (50 m) of height. Together they stood a whopping 395 feet tall (120 m), taller than NASA's massive Saturn V moon rocket, which was 363 feet tall (110 m).
Communication should travel via the shortest path necessary to get the job done, not through the "chain of command." Any manager who attempts to enforce chain of command communication will soon find themselves working elsewhere.
Musk adds, "If, in order to get something done between departments, an individual contributor has to talk to their manager, who talks to a director, who talks to a VP, who talks to another VP, who talks to a director, who talks to a manager, who talks to someone doing the actual work, then super dumb things will happen. It must be OK for people to talk directly and just make the right thing happen." //
Set your people free
In a knowledge economy, top-down hierarchical management styles that direct traffic one-way -- up the chain -- will collapse, especially since knowledge workers typically know more than their managers about their own areas of specialization.
The right approach here is to give smart people the keys to solving problems on their own. You'll find that in high-performing organizations that empower their knowledge workers, information is shared openly across fewer reporting levels, and people are able to use it to make the right decisions quickly.
The starting point is to empower workers by giving them autonomy to make decisions in the moment. Workers need the right data, insights, and technology to make high-quality decisions. Putting this trust and power in the hands of workers is seen as critical to agility and success.
It starts with leadership
Arming workers with the power of making decisions and acting with the data they have requires big changes in both process and culture, and senior leaders must drive this change from the top by providing their full support and leading by example.
Replacing babies with pets stifles a person’s capacity to give and receive love, as it wrongly directs our greatest earthly affections toward ourselves. //
In a recent Fox News piece, sociologist Andrea Laurent-Simpson writes of the emergence of “multispecies families,” explaining that in “child-free families…dogs and cats paw in to fill a longing to nurture” and would-be grandparents “readily shift over to spoiling the granddog as their daughters and sons choose instead to pursue lucrative careers.” But this is neither good nor new.
The ancient historian Plutarch began his life of Pericles with an anecdote about Caesar, who, upon seeing “wealthy foreigners in Rome carrying puppies and young monkeys about in their bosoms and fondling them” asked, “if the women in their country did not bear children.” Plutarch thought this a “princely” rebuke of “those who squander on animals that proneness to love and loving affection which is ours by nature, and which is due only to our fellow-men.”
Another ancient text tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. There is certainly nothing new about treating pets as substitutes for children, though it does seem to be more common of late, a trend that debases us and deforms our pets — literally in some cases. The overbreeding of dogs has, for instance, produced breeds that struggle to breathe or routinely need C-sections to give birth. If these people love dogs, then it is with a selfish and consumerist sort of love.
Of course, we ought to love our pets. But this love must be directed to them as the animals they are, rather than as mere objects for our amusement, or as substitutes for children. I love my dogs and try to take good care of them. They were bred to be loveable, and they are entertaining and affectionate. And they have a place in family life. With the right training and supervision, dogs and kids are great for each other. My daughter really, really loves our dogs. Notably, neither she nor the dogs are confused about who is the human. That sort of disordered affection requires an adult.
Pets may be valuable companions to the lonely and childless, but it is perverse to make this palliative measure into a preference, deliberately rejecting children in favor of a pampered pet. //
But what we need are other persons. We are, in important ways, incomplete and not fully human on our own. As Aristotle long ago noted, man is a social animal, and a man who can live without others must be either a beast or a god — people who don’t need people aren’t really people.
The Christian may add that in exceptional circumstances or vocations a few people may need to rely entirely on animal companionship and the person of God, but there is no good reason to deliberately turn to beasts in place of persons.
Praxis
Another solution in search of a problem.
The fact is that per gallon tax takes all the factors into account all by itself. Weight, mileage, distance driven, all inherent to this very simple and defensible system. No need for armies of planners and seat moisteners 'estimating' costs and impacts.
What they want is twofold...yet more costs ladled onto drivers in an attempt to force them off the road with economic pain, and the ability to micromanage your driving down to the tiniest detail. And they want a wedge to start having scaled rates for distance as economic punishment, and to ration mobility, all while reaping punitive taxation windfalls.
There is zero reason not to simply do this for electric vehicles, and leave everyone else alone.
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[ORDER HERE]The cs.cmu.edu Coke machine was hooked up to a computer by John Zsarnay and/or Lawrence Butcher (now at Xerox PARC); essentially, the six little out-of-product lights on the pushbuttons were monitored. These would flash on for a couple seconds while a particular bottle was dispensed, and of course stay on when a column was empty. They were connected, I believe, to a terminal server machine that was programmed by Mike Kazar to keep track of the time of the last transition (short-term and long-term) for each column. He and Dave Nichols put together a simple Coke@+(TM) protocol by which any machine on the local University-grant Ethernet, and later the Internet as a whole, could probe the current status of the machine; Dave wrote the program that became the ``coke'' command, which printed out the length of time since each column had been totally empty. (The idea, you see, was to notice when a column, having gone empty, was refilled with (warm, room-temperature) Coke, because in principle you wanted to select the coldest Coke available, and thus avoid those colums that had recently been refilled.
- I’m a teapot.
The requested entity body is short and stout.
Tip me over and pour me out.
The Save 418 Movement
We are the teapots.
Status Code 418 states that
Any attempt to brew coffee with a teapot should result in the error code "418 I'm a teapot". The resulting entity body MAY be short and stout.
-- See RFC2324 Section 2.3.2
Go to Google.com/teapot, and see for yourself.
- A Tesla Megapack fire at the Victorian Big Battery in Southeast Australia was brought under control Monday afternoon.
- Results of the investigation will be closely watched, and could influence the way such systems are designed and built, according to Paul Christensen, a professor of electrochemistry at Newcastle University whose research focuses on lithium ion battery fires and safety.
- His recommendations include monitors within the systems, and enough space for fire crews to maneuver and aim a hose. //
Christensen also said these systems should be designed to allow space for first responders to maneuver around and aim a hose. Plenty of water should available on site, with enough hydrants installed. Containers would ideally have "dead pipes" that are capped and stick out, allowing firefighters to connect a hose, then step away and flood the container to extinguish the flames from a safe distance.
At the moment, water remains the best way to suppress a fire in any lithium ion battery energy storage system //
The Tesla Megapack fire first occurred within the 300 megawatt (450 megawatt hours) system in Geelong, Victoria starting Friday morning. More than 30 fire trucks and support vehicles and about 150 fire fighters from the CFA and local Fire Rescue Victoria responded, containing the flames so they only affected two Megapacks of the approximately 210 that make up the system. //
There have been around 40 known fires that have occurred within large-scale, lithium ion battery energy storage systems, according to Christensen's research. Those incidents, most of which occurred in the past three years, date back to 2012, and include four fires at three facilities in the U.S. in Arizona, Wisconsin and Illinois.
- Galileo/GPS/BeiDou/Glonass open source monitor
- Live observer map
- Status (coverage, DOP) map