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12 MIssionaries Still Held After Haitan Gang Releases 3 More

Haitian Protests Lead to 3 More Missionaries Freed from 400 Mawozo

Paul Collier December 6, 2021

On November 12th, 2021, 17 people were kidnapped by the 400 Mawozo gang, a violent Haitian gang. The 17 people are 16 Americans and 1 Canadian. The group includes men, women, and five children, including an 18-month-old child. The group comes from Ohio and came to Haiti to do missionary work representing Christian Aid Ministries.
The 400 Maowozo gang leader has threatened to kill the hostages if his ransom is not met, $1 million per person, which seems to include the 18-month-old child. The gang released two adults earlier and has now released 3 more hostages.

So far, the missionaries being released are not being done so due to a ransom being met, but rather, the kidnappers are being pressured by Haitians, who have been staging protests, demanding the group release the kidnapped missionaries.

Here is how the mainstream media covered this story:

Three more hostages released in Haiti, US missionary group says | Crime News

From www.aljazeera.com
2021-12-06 16:32:39

Excerpt:

The 400 Mawozo gang still holds 12 hostages, including children, kidnapped in October and is seeking ransom payments.

Three more hostages kidnapped by a gang in Haiti have been released, the United States-based missionary group that organised their trip to the Caribbean nation said, while another 12 are still held….

Sixteen Americans and one Canadian, including five children, were abducted after visiting an orphanage in Haiti in October……

The leader of the 400 Mawozo gang has threatened to kill the hostages unless his demands are met. Authorities have said the gang was seeking $1m per person, although it was not immediately clear if that included the children in the group.

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Three more hostages released in Haiti, Ohio missionary group says

From www.washingtontimes.com
2021-12-06 15:21:27
David R. Sands
Excerpt:

Three more U.S.-based missionaries were freed by their Haitian kidnappers Sunday evening, Berlin, Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries said in a statement Monday.

Just two of the 17 hostages — 16 Americans and one Canadian, including three hostages under the age of 7 — had previously been released by the Haitian gang 400 Mawozo since their seizure on Oct. 16. A leader of the gang has publicly demanded a $1 million ransom for the release of each hostage.

..

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US Religious Group Says Haitian Gang Releases 3 More Missionary Hostages

From www.cbn.com
2021-12-06 14:46:56

Excerpt:

A religious group based in Ohio announced Monday that a violent gang in Haiti has released three more hostages, while another 12 remain abducted.

On Nov. 21,(Christian Aid Ministries) announced that the 400 Mawozo gang had released the first two hostages of a group of 17 kidnapped in mid-October. There are 12 adults and five children in the group of 16 U.S. citizens and one Canadian, including an 8-month-old.

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Haiti gang releases three hostages from US missionary group abducted in October

From www.france24.com
2021-12-06 16:47:48
NEWS WIRES
Excerpt:

Three of 17 North Americans kidnapped in Haiti in October have been freed, their church group said on Monday.

The missionaries and family members — a group of 16 Americans and one Canadian — were abducted while returning from an orphanage in an area east of the capital Port-au-Prince controlled by one of Haiti‘s most powerful crime gangs.

Two of them were released in November, leaving 12 currently still in captivity.

Christian Aid Ministries, which is based in the US state of Ohio, has said the hostages were 12 adults aged 18 to 48, and five children ranging in age from eight months to 15 years.

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Haiti kidnapping: 3 more missionaries released, unclear if Canadian included – National

From globalnews.ca
2021-12-06 17:17:48

Excerpt:

A religious group based in Ohio announced Monday that a violent gang in Haiti has released three more hostages, while another 12 remain abducted.

The statement from Christian Aid Ministries said the people were released on Sunday in Haiti and are “safe and seem to be in good spirits.” The group provided no further details.

On Nov. 21, the religious organization announced that the 400 Mawozo gang had released the first two hostages of a group of 17 kidnapped in mid-October. There are 12 adults and five children in the group of 16 U.S. citizens and one Canadian, including an 8-month-old.

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Myanmar Junta Sentences Deposed PM to 2 Years

Myanmar Junta Sentences Deposed PM to 2 Years

Mark Clouse December 6, 2021

Here is a news blurb report to give you a sense of the latest news out of Myanmar. In the wake of the military coup, the junta has gotten around to sentencing the deposed Prime Minister, Aung San Suu Kyi. She would be sentenced to four years in prison, only to get a bit of a junta pr reprieve in the form of a reduction of her sentence from 4 years to 2 years.

Myanmar junta sentences deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to prison almost a year after seizing power in coup

From www.cbsnews.com
2021-12-06 14:59:00

Excerpt:

Seoul — Aung San Suu Kyi, the 76-year-old Nobel laureate who spent years under house arrest for advocating for democracy under the military dictatorship in her native Myanmar, was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday by the generals who toppled her civilian government almost a year ago. The military junta seized power in February, arresting Suu Kyi and many other politicians and activists in the process.

State television later reported her sentence for incitement was reduced to two years, but it’s just a fraction of the time Suu Kyi is facing once the junta’s courts have heard all the cases pending against her.

All of the charges were laid by the military commanders that deposed her and her democratically elected government in February. The overthrow led to huge street protests in Myanmar, and then violent repression by the army.

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Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyii receives four-year jail sentence – World News

From www.mirror.co.uk
2021-12-06 06:33:39
[email protected] (Abigail O’Leary)
Excerpt:

Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyii has received a four-year jail term on charges of incitement and violations of a law on natural disasters.

The ruling is the first in a series of cases brought against the 76-year-old Nobel laureate since the army seized power on February 1, blocking her National League for Democracy party from starting a second term in office.

The legal official, who insisted on anonymity for fear of being punished by the authorities, said Suu Kyi received two years in prison on each of the two charges.

The incitement case involved statements posted on her party’s Facebook page after she and other party leaders had already been detained by the military, while the coronavirus charge involved a campaign…

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Suu Kyi sentence reduced to 2 years from 4: Myanmar TV

From timesofindia.indiatimes.com
2021-12-06 15:50:43

Excerpt:

Myanmar’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi has had her sentence reduced from four years to two years after a partial pardon by the head of the military-appointed government, the country’s state television reported on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, a court in Myanmar found Suu Kyi, ousted in a Feb. 1 coup, guilty of charges of incitement and breaching coronavirus restrictions, drawing international outrage at what some critics described as a “sham trial”.
President Win Myint was sentenced to four years’ detention, Myanmar’s state-run broadcaster MRTV reported.
Both Suu Kyi and Win Myint will serve their sentences where they are currently being detained, an undisclosed location, suggesting they will not be sent to prison.

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Myanmar: Unbridled destruction of freedoms as Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced

From www.amnesty.org
2021-12-06 06:23:57

Excerpt:

In response to the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns Ming Yu Hah said:

“The harsh sentences handed down to Aung San Suu Kyi on these bogus charges are the latest example of the military’s determination to eliminate all opposition and suffocate freedoms in Myanmar. The court’s farcical and corrupt decision is part of a devastating pattern of arbitrary punishment that has seen more than 1,300 people killed and thousands arrested since the military coup in February.

“There are many detainees without the profile of Aung San Suu Kyi who currently face the terrifying prospect of years behind bars simply for peacefully exercising their human rights. They must not be forgotten and left to their fate.

“As violence escalates, displacing tens of thousands of people and setting up a humanitarian crisis in the middle of an ongoing pandemic, the situation in Myanmar today is alarming in the extreme. Without a decisive, unified and swift international response this can and will get worse.

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Is Solar the Future Queen of Sustainably-Reliant Energy?

Is Solar the Future Queen of Sustainably-Reliant Energy?

Paul Collier November 30, 2021

Solar Energy is not the magic bullet that it was once lauded to be, but it is, nonetheless, emerging as the potential long-term solution for most of our human energy needs. The technology still has hurdles to overcome, but thanks to a combination of other emerging technologies, like nanotechnology and the emergence of graphene, not to mention other biochemical breakthroughs that have also contributed, solar power might very well be on the cusp of finally becoming affordable, efficient, and long-lasting.

If new solar tech can overcome these drawbacks, then solar as a viable solution for onsite creation of energy might be the dominant energy of the future. As we almost always point out here at the Freedomist when talking about emerging tech, the real impediments are not in our opportunities to further develop and perfect these technologies, but in assuring that we have open source tech which can empower individuals and free associations with the same tech power as the largest corporations of the world, a possibility that is very real if not now, very, very soon.

In combination with other technologies, such as 3D printing, an individual could go into an unsettled place with nothing but a 3D printer and the resources required for the printer to print, resources that can become increasingly plant-based. With the plans at hand, a whole world can emerge from the 3D printer, including more 3D printers to increase productivity efficiency.

That world might be more in the distance than I’d like, but we are most likely closer to that reality than you, the reader, perhaps imagine. In that world, solar is the portable power that, increasingly, can pull power from the sun’s rays, even through clouds, and maybe someday even storms.

This is a world that has increasing opportunities for individuals and free associations to create their own realities, sustainably reliant spaces where the demands of central authority have little impact in a world where our wants and our needs are met by our small circle of people that mostly live right next to us. That is a dangerous world for factions, but a glorious one for those who favor consensual exchange.

As Technology Costs Fall & Efficiencies Increase, Solar Expected to Become a Primary Source of New Electrical Capacity in U.S. |

From www.kilgorenewsherald.com
2021-11-30 13:45:00

Excerpt:

A growing number of landlords and property owners have been installing solar energy systems on rooftops, open land, and canopy-style carports at commercial properties of all kinds. These investments reduce operating costs, promote sustainability, and boost returns on investment. As solar power technology continues to improve with each advancement, the USE of those technologies is also creating a surge in property owners earning new revenues by becoming a host site for solar farms. The positive impact of solar energy on commercial properties continues to expand. As technology costs have fallen and efficiencies have increased, providing more energy output per square foot, solar has become one of the primary sources of new electrical capacity installed across the United States. An article in Commercial Property Executive, quoting Con Edision Clean Energy Businesses executives, said: “Beyond asset-by-asset investment in solar, commercial real estate owners in a growing number of states can realize even greater savings and efficiency by participating in an increasingly popular program—community solar… under a community solar approach, if your commercial property can host more solar-based electricity than your property requires, the additional energy produced can be sold for the benefit of the surrounding community…….

The article continued: “Community solar also delivers community relations benefits by serving as a quiet, clean source of sustainable energy for the local area. Landlords benefit from lower cost energy while positively…

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Black Man Arrested for Stealing His Own Car He Reported Stolen

Black Man Arrested for Stealing His Own Car He Reported Stolen

Paul Collier November 30, 2021

Isaiah 32:7

As for the scoundrel—his devices are evil;
he plans wicked schemes
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.

The verse listed above is one of those verses that keep coming up in our line of work, which is to be witness for Christians to serve in the civic in a land of many beliefs, a land where fundamentally Christ is not Lord.

Scripture is excellent for wisdom regarding the nature of the scoundrel, the one that comes along and tells the true suffering that if they just kill their neighbors their life will be bananas. Of course, the only thing being made bananas, as in, living the high good life, is the one who promised the suffering a reward if they just do violent things, or support violent things, or remain silent when violent things happen.

Ben Crump is one of the poster kids for such a person, the scoundrel that exploits the plea of the needy and turns it into his own personal gold and their own dissatisfied outcomes. No one but Ben gets the high good life after the sacrifices are made.

Yet still, every once in a while, Ben finds an ACTUAL EXAMPLE of the kind of fear and hate he’s hoping to hype and cash in on, race hate, especially systemic race hate in an institution such as policing.

With this caveat added, that even with some investigation, even much, the facts of this story are subject to change, and thus my take on this story is subject to change accordingly. As near as I can tell, this is a real example of what systemic-type racism looks like. I say systemic-like as opposed to systemic because the full definition of systemic as utilized in the Crump-empowered world is not one I would ever wish to endorse.

But still, there is a manner of systemic-type racism that becomes part of an institution’s culture, and when that institution is the police it’s the most dangerous of institutions to have such an anti-Bill-of-rights sentiment to take hold. Police, above all others, since they have the power to use lethal force to enforce the law of the land, should be steeped in a Bill of Rights culture, so wherever we see evidence of a racist culture in a police department, well, that should be the end of that department and the creation of a new one.

If this story holds up, and so far it does for me, then we may very well have a police department that is so prone to view black skin as evidence of potential criminal activity that they literally arrested a man on suspicion of stealing his own car that he had reported stolen.

I kid you not, the long set-up was all about getting to this story, a story that is sure to fill Crump with righteous power, as his grifting might yet still do some good work for someone truly in need and truly worthy of relief. That Police Department should surely pay, at the very least economically. This should be this man’s horror story turned lottery winner type happy ending.

It is a pity that a scoundrel like Crump will glean such unrighteous gold from this whole affair, but it is also a blessing if a wronged man is righted and his Bill of Rights are honored.

Black man accused of stealing his own Jeep

From www.dailykos.com
2021-11-30 01:15:04
Lauren Floyd
Excerpt:

x

Officers falsely arrested Samuel Scott Jr. for stealing his OWN car in 2018! Scott who reported his car stolen, was searched & detained after police wrongly suspected his description matched the carjacker! Now, he’s rightfully suing the city of Miami & all officers involved! pic.twitter.com/nIxD7RXjj4

— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) November 29, 2021

The officers named in the suit filed in federal court on Nov. 13 are Jonathan Guzman, Michael Bloom, Brandon Williams, Miguel Hernandez, and Randy Carriel, Miami New Times reported.

Guzman first encountered Scott’s Jeep being driven 20 mph over the speed limit, according to an arrest report New Times obtained. Guzman accused the driver of attempting to flee on foot after the Jeep crashed with another vehicle. The driver was described in the report as a heavy-set “Black male, bald, about 6’2″, wearing a white tank top.”

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How the Media Reported the End of Jack

Freedomist Editor November 30, 2021

The Big Bad Jack is dead. He committed resignation Hari Kari. Jack Dorsey is no more at Twitter, and the media would have you believe it was mostly a non-event, with little in the way of sensationalist headlines coming our way, and little controversy being offered regarding the new CEO, the current CFO and tech whiz kid turned tech whiz middle-aged guy, Parag Agrawal.

The news was trickled out at first, with headlines like this from the New York Times, teasing the resignation.

Jack Dorsey Expected to Step Down as C.E.O. of Twitter

From www.nytimes.com
2021-11-29 21:15:48

Excerpt:

In March 2020, Elliott Management struck a deal with Silver Lake, one of Silicon Valley’s biggest investors in technology companies, that allowed Mr. Dorsey to remain at Twitter. The deal also gave Jesse Cohn, the Elliott executive who oversaw the Twitter campaign, a seat on Twitter’s board. Mr. Cohn joined a five-member committee that led a review of Twitter’s C.E.O. succession planning.

Last November, that committee completed its review, saying that it had “updated the C.E.O. succession plan in line with best practices,” according to a regulatory filing, laying a path for the transition. Twitter’s stock began to climb, and in February, Mr. Dorsey announced an ambitious plan to double Twitter’s revenue by the end of 2023. The company also sped up its product pace, releasing new features like audio chat, newsletters, tipping and other updates.

Elliott’s Mr. Cohn stepped down from Twitter’s board in June.

Read Full Article

Seeing the writing in the wall after that evaluation, apparently, Dorsey decided a self-yeet was the best approach, so he did the appropriate, self-preserving thing and exited stage extreme far left to the point that it becomes far right.

Having left the stage, the media decides to ponder on the metaphysical ramifications of a King walking away at the height of his power.

Let us remember, this King took the reins of this machine back in 2015, after one ouster in 2008. What he brought with him was security, and safety, and safety, and security, and a safety and security team led by moon-beamed children who had little regard or care for concepts such as the rights of individuals to express their own beliefs.

Dorsey oversaw the dismantling of what Twitter became after his first ouster, after 2008, a secured place for dissidents to exchange information. Nothing highlighted this more than #greenelection, the hashtag that raged on Twitter in 2010 during the Iran Green Revolution that tragically failed. I was there for that, and Twitter was once the wonderful wild west of expression.

Dorsey saw to it that the adults were once again treated like children, and that Twitter would become nothing but a machine of DNC Inc, a subsidiary of CCP Inc, though one hoping one day to usurp its benefactor.

Now that he’s left, the tech nerd will ride in and free the weird and the offensive once again.,

Jack Dorsey goes Square—leaving Twitter at a time of his choosing

From www.economist.com
2021-11-30 00:00:00

Excerpt:

“THE COMPANY IS ready to move on from its founders,” explained Jack Dorsey, chief executive of Twitter, a distributor of short messages, as he announced on November 29th that he would step down and hand the reins to the firm’s chief technology officer, Parag Agrawal. “About time,” was the grumpy reaction of more than one stockmarket analyst, many of whom had long criticised Mr Dorsey for spreading himself too thinly by running both Twitter and Square, a fast-growing fintech company which he will continue to head. (The chairman of The Economist’s parent company is a director of Square.)

Yet the timing makes sense. Over the past several years Mr Dorsey has pushed through changes at the company that only a founder could (he launched the company with several friends in 2006, was ousted as chief executive in 2008 and took over again in 2015). Now Mr Agrawal will build on the foundations Jack built.

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Dorsey’s “Finally Time for me to Leave” became a part of many headlines reporting this story, the kind of benign phrase that sanitizes the world’s biggest nerd school hall monitor ever created. Jack Dorsey probed the digital halls looking to turn people in for school violations, even inventing many of his own to catch more people.

But what you get here is a glass of artisanal water, a noble nothing, the stoic CEO who walked away from world power.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Steps Down: ‘Finally Time For Me To Leave’ – Forbes – Video Link

From www.forbes.com
2021-11-29 18:08:00

Excerpt:

Twitter CEO and cofounder Jack Dorsey has stepped down as the chief executive, the social media platform announced Monday morning, with Dorsey saying he decided to leave because Twitter is “ready to move on from its founders.”

Here, we can spoil the headline that follows, the reason he is resigning is because it is time for Jack to move on.

Jack Dorsey: Why is Jack Dorsey resigning as Twitter CEO? Who will replace Dorsey and what’s his net worth?

From www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com
2021-11-29 18:06:39

Excerpt:

Twitter stock spiked by 11% in value on the last 24 hours on Monday (29 November) following reports that Twitter co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Jack Dorsey would be stepping down from his position at the company.

Dorsey has steered the company through controversies such as the platform’s decision to ban former US President Donald Trump from Twitter after the 6 January riots at the Capital and his refusal to accept his loss in the 2020 US Presidential Election.

But the former Twitter CEO confirmed reports this afternoon, announcing his immediate resignation after 15 years at the platform on Monday afternoon.

….According to Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, Dorsey is worth roughly $12.3 billion (£9.25bn) as the co-founder of Twitter and Square, Inc…..

In Jack Dorsey’s resignation email sent to Twitter employees this afternoon, Dorsey requested that Chief Technology Officer of Parag Agrawal take over as Twitter CEO – saying his trust in Agrawal as new CEO was “bone deep”…..

Read Full Article

Finally we are introduced to the successor, Parag himself, the tech nerd turned world leader. Whole nations quake at the censorship decisions this man is set to decide to favor. Will he keep going DNC-cringe-woke or will he find sanity and turn back towards the Bill of Rights?

Methinks Woketarianizm will still reign on Twitter, whose very power is born from its ‘willingness’ to censor American Presidents, so no politician is safe from the power of Parag, the new leader of the unfree world (ok, so I might be laying it a tiny tad thick, but, in spirit, I am spot on, friends, spot on).

Twitter CTO Parag Agrawal will replace Jack Dorsey as CEO

From www.cnbc.com
2021-11-29 14:20:17

Excerpt:

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is stepping down as chief of the social media company, effective immediately. Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s chief technology officer, will take over the helm, the company said Monday.

Shares of Twitter closed down 2.74% on the day.

Dorsey, 45, was serving as both the CEO of Twitter and Square, his digital payments company. Dorsey will remain a member of the board until his term expires at the 2022 meeting of stockholders, the company said. Salesforce President and COO Bret Taylor will become the chairman of the board, succeeding Patrick Pichette, a former Google executive, who will remain on the board as chair of the audit committee.

“I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders,” Dorsey said in a statement, though he didn’t provide any additional detail on why he decided to resign.

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Dorsey says a whole lot of nothing in his departure, but Crypto folks love the news. One Crypto wiz is convinced the new tech nerd CEO, the most powerful man in the unfree world, will suddenly turn Twitter towards Bitcoin again. Methinks Twitter will one day soon produce its own crap coin to join the pile of crap coins, so Bitcoin is still not going to be welcome there.

Jack Dorsey Resigning as CEO of Twitter Is Bullish for Crypto, Says Fundstrat – News Bitcoin News

From news.bitcoin.com
2021-11-30 15:37:27

Excerpt:

Twitter now has a new chief executive officer after Jack Dorsey resigned Monday. Dorsey, who is still the CEO of Square Inc., previously said that he wants to focus on bitcoin. Fundstrat Global Advisors’ managing director and head of research explained why Dorsey’s departure from Twitter is bullish for crypto.

Jack Dorsey announced Monday that he has resigned from Twitter. In his letter to the Twitter team, the former CEO explained that it was his decision to leave. Parag Agrawal, who served as Twitter’s chief technology officer, is the new CEO. Dorsey is still the CEO of Square Inc., which is currently working on several bitcoin projects.

Tom Lee, managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, believes that Dorsey’s resignation from Twitter is bullish for the crypto market. In an interview with CNBC Monday, he was asked what Dorsey’s exit from Twitter means for the bitcoin and cryptocurrency…

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What you can expect from the new tech nerd lord of the unfree world is more aggressive monetization, more aggressive pursuit of corporate buying to expand Twitter’s range of products, so that one day we will choose between having all of our life’s needs met through Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet, and TikTok. We’ll have Twitter Ice Cream, Twitter Cars, Amazon Pizzas, etc, etc, etc. Wait, we already have Amazon Pizzas.

Expect more expansion in monetization and acquisition, but little change in their DNC inc implementation of woketarianizm, though some tweaks might be offered to World Leaders in an effort to not encourage more states from developing their own Twitters, free from the tyranny of Parag The Tech Nerd, the Leader of the Unfree World.

Texas Swings for Roe v Wade

Texas Swings for Roe v Wade

Freedomist Editor November 30, 2021

After Texas passed one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation, the abortion rights activists have been coming for Texas, and many of their corporate, media, and state compatriots have joined in that assault. The push is to create a climate where even questioning the morality of abortion could end up leaving you blacklisted on their social access cards.
As abortion rights activists become more and more militant, to no one’s surprise the prolife crowd is coming back more determined than ever to make abortion illegal across the land. Rather than intimidating and silencing the prolife, they’ve made them more determined than ever to end abortion once and for all.
As sure as one side is of their moral right, so too is the other of theirs, and the divide is unbreachable. The old method of settling the greys, the spaces where our Bill of Rights do not clearly define how we should approach such an exchange of potential action, through the courts, through legislation, through elections, seems to be going out the window, and the ‘left’ fired the first existential shots that made it clear to the prolife, that there could be no compromise.
You accept the full abortion program, from beginning to end. You don’t question the morality. You don’t dare support laws restricting it. If you do, you get suspended from your social access card. Your life is to scratch the dirt in the underground, a shadow of what you might be if you lived in a land that did not use violence to silence dissent.
The response is not fear, however, as the now-DNC-normal-once-radical-left is soon to find out, it’s more determination, and less compromise in return should the ‘right’ win back power from the ‘left,’ now fat in their cups and feeling invincible in their current overwhelming concentration of power.
Texas is a symbol of that defiance, but also of the further breakdown of any hope of these divides ever finding common ground again. Texas is making abortion as existentially threatened and abortion rights activists have been making being prolife an existentially threatened position in society.
The cost of supporting or not supporting abortion is high in America after Texas. It’s no longer a one-sided affair.
I predict Roe v Wade may not be overturned so much as limits clearly defined for states to operate within, if they address Roe at all, as some of the issues involved in the Texas abortion law go beyond abortion rights or unborn rights questions alone, and, while I won’t get into those particulars right here, there are elements that, I would suggest, should be concerning for Americans, be the for or against the right to abort. These vulnerabilities could ultimately be what does this law in (and I predict it will be shut down, at least in the enforcement part of the law).
I predict the court will sidestep the Roe v Wade question altogether and leave it to Texas to write a law that doesn’t violate numerous other Bills of Rights of citizens (as I predict the court will find, but, again, based on the enforcement part of the law, not on the issue of restricting abortion itself).
One of the underlying problems of enforcing an abortion ban is how suspected abortions are reported in the first place. Here, I believe, is where the Texas Law might run into more than enough legal troubles to render it a non-law, a declaration with no teeth. This problem, of how to create a reporting mechanism that doesn’t give the state powers it is most assuredly sure to extend beyond mere abortion investigating.
Whatever your belief regarding abortion, the issues around it are complex, and they deserve a hearing for we the people to listen to, to take part in, to form, through a caucus-type process to form something as close to a consensual national spirit regarding abortion. For myself, I am decidedly pro life, and unapologetically so, but we live in a Democratic Republic, limited by a Constitution, by a Bill of Rights.
Within that pluralistic frame, it is consensus we should seek with such a difficult issue as abortion, in a land populated by people of diverse views. We have no real consensus even fundamentally in faith, let alone politics, or even in ethics at this point. But we have the Bill of Rights, and around this a diverse people can ‘progress’ towards a greater total fulfilment of the idea that all humans are individually sacred but integrally dependent. We start with the sacredness of the individual before we design our human zoos. We will not negotiate on this matter.
In order to be that place for these diverse peoples, we must give consensual exchange a chance to give this nation a shared understanding, in overwhelming aggregate, of our Bill of Rights standards as they apply to such a difficult issue as abortion. I hope, I pray, and I even believe, that, in the end, in a spirit of reason, a spirit of logic, a spirit of symbolic understanding, a spirit of faith understanding, we as a nation find a way to end abortion in this land without creating horror from our effort to end it.
This is the key, to end one horror without causing others. If we don’t take everyone seriously, we will surely cause horror no matter what we decide to do.

Texas Asks Supreme Court To ‘Reconsider’ Roe V. Wade If It Takes Up Abortion Law Case

From www.forbes.com
2021-10-21 07:00:00

Excerpt:

Texas’ attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to deny the Biden administration’s request to reimpose a lower court injunction against the the state’s controversial abortion law as litigation over it proceeds—but argued in a court filing that if the justices take up the case, they should also consider more broadly whether to overturn the court’s precedent on abortion entirely.

Texas AG Ken Paxton filed a response to the U.S. Department of Justice’s request for the Supreme Court to block an appeals court order that keeps the abortion law in effect, which would stop Texas’ Senate Bill 8 (SB 8) from being enforced while the litigation plays out.

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The Assassination of Kosmos 1408

Paul Collier November 30, 2021

Kosmos 1408 was lolling across the skies between earth and space, minding its own business, when all of the sudden a smash could be heard, could be felt by the machine that soon sent it tumbling into a sea of fire.

That poor machine was a satellite called Kosmos 1408. F in Chat, first of all, before we go on.

That poor satellite was taken out by a missile that was designed, built, equipped by, and fired by the Russian government. Poor Kosmos 1408 had become the same stuff as targets, ducks in a carnival lined up for an unfair sporting. Poor Kosmos 1408 was blown to smithereens by its own government (I won’t assume the gender here, folks).

The net effect, of course, is that now there is space debris hurtling towards, well, us, you and me. We are all surely about to…ok, so we’re not all about to die, but who knows, some unlucky human might be felled by the chance encounter with the remnant of that sad machine, that satellite, Kosmos 1408.

Needless to say, the world community is not too pleased with this little Top Gun stunt, and formal complaints are sure to follow the public rheotric that has emerged in response to this senseless assassination of Kosmos 1408.

RIP Kosmos 1408. May your death not kill me or anyone I know. Thanks.

Russia Blew Up One of Its Satellites Creating Dangerous Space Debris | by Nabil Alouani | Nov, 2021

From onezero.medium.com
2021-11-30 13:40:01

Excerpt:

Earlier this month, a Russian satellite called Kosmos 1408 exploded, resulting in a cloud of debris that endangered the International Space Station (ISS) and the safety of its seven astronauts.

The explosion was no accident.

The Russian military destroyed Kosmos 1408 using an anti-satellite missile fired from the ground. Upon impact, the old craft shattered into thousands of pieces of space junk that began to race around the earth at high speeds.

The problem with space debris is its destructive power. An object the size of a can of soda can inflict the same damage as 15 pounds of TNT — enough power to pierce through the most solid metallic structures ever built.

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Vertical Farming as the Future of our Material Needs

Vertical Farming as the Future of our Material Needs

Paul Collier November 30, 2021

A prefabricated building expert and a vertical farming developer are joining up in a venture to improve the efficiency of vertical farming through better physics.

The venture is one of many across the world working on cracking the vertical farming nut, to make vertical farming potentially the main method through which we not only grow our food, but our materials, our fuels, even our medicines.

With advances in technology that are enabling the manipulation of plant DNA, we are already seeing small-scale examples of plants that are engineered to grow the particular chemicals or material elements we need to create everything from medicine to cars. Coupling this technology with bioprinting and 3D printing, and you begin to see a potential future where your local hospital has a vertical farm and processing center in one tower next to the hospital, growing and manufacturing most of its medicinal needs onsite with considerable reduction in expense.

Imagine being able to grow whatever resource you need, reducing the scarcity of significant ranges of chemicals and materials.

The fight ahead will be between technology developed through open source and technology developed behind Intellectual Property protocols. If you favor consensual exchange, you should favor the open-source side, as through this tech, not centrally controlled and rationed off in the form of monthly subscriptions, more and more human beings will be able to make decisions about their lives based on their preferences and not the party’s current year program.

Breaking the Material Mold with Quantum Observations

Breaking the Material Mold with Quantum Observations

Paul Collier November 30, 2021

Scientists have discovered a way to unleash a myriad of new property potentials in materials that can be created from simple defects in atomic structures. By observing these defects in nature, they can now study these anomalies and learn to identify the types of unique properties they produce, enabling them, in time, to plan out intentional defect creation to unleash a whole range of new materials with properties we might not even now begin to imagine.

A unique quantum-mechanical interaction between electrons and topological defects in layered materials

From phys.org
2021-11-30 12:42:43

Excerpt:

An international team led by EPFL scientists, has unveiled a unique quantum-mechanical interaction between electrons and topological defects in layered materials that has only been observed in engineered atomic thin layers. The phenomenon can be reproduced by the native defects of lab grown large crystals, making future investigation of Kondo systems and quantum electronic devices more accessible.

The properties of materials that are technologically interesting often originate from defects on their atomic structure. For example, changing the optical properties of rubies with chrome inclusions has helped develop lasers, while nitrogen-vacancy in diamonds are paving the way for applications such as quantum magnetometers. Even in the metallurgical industry, atomic-scale defects like dislocation enhances the strength of forged steel…..

Working with the Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses in Grenoble and Toulouse, they accessed some of the world’s most powerful magnets. The collaboration performed experiments up to 34 Tesla in static conditions and with pulses up to 70 Tesla for a few milliseconds.

“My first guess was that it is a new type form of Kondo effect, despite the fact that we did not introduces magnetic species in the crystal,” says Konstantin Semeniuk, a scientist who worked on the study.

“Once we completed our investigation, the result was clear,” says Martino. “The atomically thin defects create a sort of magnetic wall in the material that bounces back some of the electrons that try to cross it. Unraveling the source of the Kondo effect has shown that thermodynamics can make big surprises. We believe there is a lot more to discover in this field, better understanding of atomic-scale defects by electronic microscopy, local magnetic measurements, and new quantum simulations to understand the formation and effect of such defects in layered materials.”

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Jab Reprieve for Federal Employees Tha

Jab Reprieve for Federal Employees Thanks to Biden

Mark Clouse November 30, 2021

The Biden Administration might be getting more resistance than they thought they would get judging by the recent move to extend the deadline for Federal Workers to get the jab until 2022.

Federal workers get reprieve from vax mandate penalties until 2022

From nypost.com
2021-11-29 21:55:30
Mark Moore
Excerpt:

The Biden administration has told government agencies that they can hold off on disciplining workers who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 until after the holidays, saying the mandate was intended to “protect federal workers, not to punish them.”

The White House originally set a Nov. 22 deadline for federal workers to be fully vaccinated or face suspension or dismissal unless they were granted a religious or medical exemption.

But the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget said on Monday that noncompliant workers should not be penalized until January in order to allow officials more time to convince holdouts to get inoculated against the coronavirus.

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