Russia Uses Enslaved North Korean Workers

Mark Clouse February 15, 2022

Russia’s North Korean construction workers are being treated like virtual slaves by their own government handlers, and the Russians are continuing to benefit from this coerced labor. Around 20,000 North Koreans work as virtual slaves so the regime can get the cash from the Russians who are willing to pay for this slave labor.

North Koreans in Russia ordered to work in groups so they can’t escape — Radio Free Asia

From www.rfa.org
2022-02-14 21:20:02

Excerpt:

North Korean construction workers in Russia are being prohibited by their government back home from taking on small-scale side jobs, a policy change designed to prevent them from escaping, sources in Russia told RFA.

An estimated 20,000 North Koreans have been dispatched by their government to Russia to earn foreign cash for the regime. The government keeps the lion’s share of the wages they earn while abroad.

After several North Koreans disappeared while working apart from their handlers in mid-January, authorities gave the order that side jobs are no longer allowed. A Russian citizen of Korean descent from Vladivostok in the Russian Far East that authorities fear the workers will become “ideologically lax.”

“Since January, North Korean workers here in Russia have not been able to take on any individual small-scale contract work,” the source told RFA’s Korean Service on Feb. 9.

“From now on, all workers must work in groups of 10…

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Macron as EU President Bullies Britain Out of 0bil Project

Macron as EU President Bullies Britain Out of $100bil Project

Mark Clouse February 15, 2022

Macron torn apart for ‘sadomasochistic’ decision to block Britain from £80bn project | Science | News

From www.express.co.uk
2022-02-14 18:36:44

Excerpt:

French research minister Frédérique Vidal echoed the position of EU negotiators position and said Britain cannot take part in Horizon Europe until it resolves its Brexit disputes with the bloc. This is despite Britain’s participation in the EU’s key research and innovation project being a feature of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Ms Vidal said: “The association of a third country requires mutual trust between the parties and, of course, we expect the UK to demonstrate its willingness to cooperate on other ongoing discussions.”

Her comments come after Mr Macron snatched up the rotating presidency of the EU Council until June.

But the French President is yet to admit Britain back into the programme after it was banned.

Antoine Petit, chair and chief executive of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) has torn apart the decision.

He said: “It’s a punishment for all of us, it’s a punishment for Europe.

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American West Sees Worse Drought in 1,200 Years

Parker Davis February 15, 2022

Western Megadrought Worsens To Driest In At Least 1,200 Years

From www.huffpost.com
2022-02-14 19:51:29

Excerpt:

The American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest in at least 1,200 years and is a worst-case climate change scenario playing out live, a new study finds.

A dramatic drying in 2021 — about as dry as 2002 and one of the driest years ever recorded for the region — pushed the 22-year drought passed the previous record-holder for megadroughts in the late 1500s and shows no signs of easing in the near future, according to a study Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The study calculated that 42% of this megadrought can be attributed to human-caused climate change.

“Climate change is changing the baseline conditions toward a drier, gradually drier state in the West and that means the worst-case scenario keeps getting worse,” said study lead author Park Williams, a climate hydrologist at UCLA. “This is right in line with what people were thinking of in the 1900s as a worst-case scenario. But today I think we need to be even preparing…

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2 Killed in Sudan Anti-Coup Protests

Mark Clouse February 15, 2022

Ex-Sudan official detained as 2 killed in anti-coup protests – Las Vegas Sun

From lasvegassun.com
2022-02-14 19:38:00

Excerpt:

Sudan’s military authorities have arrested a former senior government official a second time, his party said, and at least two demonstrators were killed as thousands once again took to the streets around the country Monday to protest an October military coup.

The Unionist Alliance party said Mohammed al-Faki Suliman, a former member of the ruling Sovereign Council, was detained Sunday in the capital of Khartoum. It said security forces stopped his vehicle as he was heading from his home to the party’s headquarters.

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UK Moves Troops into Eastern Europe

Freedomist Curator February 15, 2022

UK to send military personnel to Lithuania

From www.plenglish.com
2022-02-14 20:17:08

Excerpt:

As reported by the British Ministry of Defense through the social network Twitter, the military will provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to the Lithuanian armed forces and will help them increase their response capacity in the face of pressure on the border with Belarus.

Although it did not offer details on the number of British troops that will be deployed, Defense Minister Ben Wallace assured that London and Vilnius share concerns about the accumulation of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine and about the migratory crisis that is brewing, he said, on the Lithuanian-Belarusian dividing line.

The United Kingdom, the United States and other Western countries accuse Russia of wanting to invade Ukraine because the Ukrainian government applied for membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Moscow categorically opposes NATO expansion into Eastern Europe as a threat to its national security, and maintains more than 100,000 troops…

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Judge Tosses Palin NY Times Suit, but Lets Jury Trial Continue

Freedomist Curator February 15, 2022

Judge dismisses Sarah Palin’s New York Times libel lawsuit

From www.bbc.co.uk
2022-02-14 21:25:22

Excerpt:

In an unusual move, however, Mr Rakoff said that the jury deliberations – which began Friday – would be allowed to continue. He said that with an appeal from Ms Palin’s legal team likely, an appeals court “would greatly benefit from knowing how the jury would decide it”.

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Biden Follows Trump Down Yemen Fiasco

Mark Clouse February 15, 2022

Biden doubles down on a failed Yemen policy

From thehill.com
2022-02-14 21:30:15

Excerpt:

When running for office, President Biden to “make sure America does not check its values at the door to sell arms or buy oil.” In the context of the Yemen conflict, fulfilling this promise may not be easy, but it is clear: In Biden’s own words, America must “end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.” Unfortunately, the administration’s response to the recent escalation in the conflict has been to revert to the same failed playbook as previous administrations, risking further complicity in the Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) coalition’s violations.

The Yemen conflict has devastated the lives of millions of people in Yemen over the past seven years, but the recent uptick in hostilities makes clear the deadly cost of broken promises. U.S. policymakers should take bold…

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Inventor Claims to Have Created Self-Defining, Purposing AI

Parker Davis February 9, 2022

An inventor named Trevor E Chandler has claimed to have create an artificial intelligence that is capable of determining its own purpose, so to speak. The AI gets an initial code which, emergently, it ultimately overcomes, creating its own code to define its purpose, and thus action. This seems perfectly safe. I wonder if we can combine this AI with nanotechnology and just, you know, see what happens. Let’s create a nanotech ai that can replicate itself and develop its own purpose. That should be fun.

As usual, the claims might not meet the much more prosaic reality an inventor is hyping. We won’t be anytime soon seeing nanobots go up our noses and turn us into Biden voters, or, worse, Dallas Cowboys fans, but it does mean developing more autonomously developing tech that can positively enhance our ability to process and refine the world around us.

New Type of Artificial Intelligence can Self-Create and Self-Improve its Source Code

From www.einnews.com
2022-02-09 13:00:00

Excerpt:

A new type of artificial intelligence has been created with the capability to advance its own source code, persist, and use its learning across use cases, and through code generation and modification, advance its action set and objectives beyond their starting state without the need for human intervention.

Trevor E. Chandler, the inventor states, “All existing artificial intelligence is limited by human bias. We either tell the AI what actions it can perform or give it data that represents actions it can use. This stunts the potential of our systems, preventing them from achieving emergence. My new approach has overcome this, and other serious issues with machine learning today, resulting in a machine learning system generating emergent actions beyond its initial actions list or data and emergent objectives beyond its initial objectives.”.

This new type of machine learning automatically searches for, finds, and uses code from other artificially Intelligent components as its starting state, continually writing code into itself from preexisting systems, then modifying its own source code as it advances its action set beyond its starting state through use of a built-in code generating and evaluation artificial intelligence. This allows useful information from preexisting machine learning systems to be utilized, not wasted, but only as a starting point…..

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Graphene Could Be Expanded to Store More Hydrogen

Parker Davis February 9, 2022

If you can organize graphene in three dimensions, you can greatly expand the amount of hydrogen you can store in graphene. This could greatly reduce the cost of hydrogen storage, and even allow for bulk room-temperature storage. Researchers out of the Istituto Nanoscienze, a research consortium, published results from an experiment that demonstrates organizing graphene in three dimensions is possible.

3D arrangement of graphene enables storage of larger quantities of hydrogen

From innovationorigins.com
2022-02-09 11:00:00

Excerpt:

A research consortium has discovered how to organize graphene in three dimensions. This novel process could be used to store larger quantities of hydrogen and develop more sensitive gas sensors….

He found the relevant expertise at the Institute for Sensor and Actuator Systems at the Technical University of Vienna, Austria. Here, Professor Ulrich Schmid‘s group has been researching processes for years that make it possible to integrate extremely fine, porous structures into dense materials in a controlled manner….

Dr. Stefano Veronesi, a member of Dr. Heun’s research group at the Istituto Nanoscienze, explains what the application of this process means in terms of hydrogen storage: “Graphene can bind (store) molecular as well as elemental hydrogen on the surface. At room temperature, however, only elemental hydrogen binds well to graphene. Molecular hydrogen, on the other hand, forms only a very weak bond with the graphene surface. By selective functionalization (“grafting”) of the graphene surface, the ‘storage’ capability of the graphene surface can be significantly increased even at room temperature. How much hydrogen can be stored is determined by the graphene surface area present – the more graphene, the more hydrogen can be stored.”

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VP’s Husband Evacuated from High School After Bomb Threat

Ivo Fysic February 9, 2022

Douglas Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris’ Husband, was recently rapidly evacuated from a high school in America after the school received a bomb threat. Emhoff was making at an appearance at Dunbar High School in Washington DC to talk about Black History Month when he was suddenly escorted out of the building.

US Vice President Kamala Harris’ Husband Douglas Emhoff Evacuated In Bomb Threat

From www.ndtv.com
2022-02-09 06:00:32

Excerpt:

The husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris was evacuated Tuesday after a reported bomb threat at the Washington high school he was visiting to celebrate African American history, officials said.

Douglas Emhoff, whose official title is second gentleman, was pulled away by his security detail during commemorations of Black History Month at Dunbar High School in Washington, DC. Pupils were also told to leave.

“It was a bomb threat,” Washington public schools spokeswoman Enrique Gutierrez told reporters. “We had a threat today to the facility so… basically we took the precaution of evacuating everybody, as you saw. I think everyone is safe. The building is clear.”

No immediate details about the nature of the bomb threat were made public.

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