NASA makes strides to support a sustainable deep space exploration system…
March 11, 2019
These advancements have come in both space and ground systems, and indicate the agency is still on the path to permanently expand crewed space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.
House Rules Committee Hearing on Special Counsel Mueller Report…
March 11, 2019
Watch live @ 5PM ET
Senator Graham says he will lobby Trump to recognize Golan as part of Israel…
March 11, 2019
Graham spoke during a tour of the plateau, captured from Syria during the 1967 Middle East War, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ... "There is no construct I can imagine now or any time in the future for the state of Israel to give the Golan up," Graham told reporters.
[...]
Graham said he would talk to Trump about recognizing the rugged, strategically located plateau as part of Israel as it was "inconceivable that Israel could ever give it to anyone given the threats Israel faces".Google Manager Said Company Must Stop ‘Fake News’ Because ‘That’s How Trump Won’…
March 11, 2019
A manager at Google allegedly cautioned a lower-level employee for questioning the company’s stance on “fake news,” telling him that the company had to stop fake news and “hate speech,” because “that’s how Trump won,” according to a post aired publicly by another Google employee on social media.
Mike Wacker, a software engineer at Google, published on social media a redacted email he claims he received from a fellow employee in 2017, which alleged political bias at the company. According to Wacker’s post, his colleague at Google wrote:On the topic of political bias at Google, I have decided to publish the following email I received from another Google employee in July of 2017. (For privacy reasons, parts have been redacted, including the employee's identity.) The contents of this email speak for itself. pic.twitter.com/X5nze8rsF4
— Mike Wacker (@m_wacker) March 11, 2019
Trump’s 2020 budget calls for $2.7T in spending cuts, promises to erase deficit in 15 years…
Read the White House Fact Sheet...
March 11, 2019
...the White House in the new budget requested an additional $8.6 billion to build the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border—seeking $5 billion from Congress, plus $3.6 billion from the military construction budget, for fiscal 2020.
[...]
Meanwhile, the budget aims to implement new welfare requirements -- namely, that Americans 18-65 years old work at least 20 hours a week in a job, a job training program or a community service program to secure a range of benefits and aid. According to the administration, the work requirement would apply to federal programs like food stamps, Medicaid, and federal housing, but would come with a hardship exemption...
[...]
The budget also includes a national paid family leave proposal and seeks money to establish the Space Force as a new branch of the military, while sharply curbing spending on domestic safety-net programs. The outline includes a total of $2.7 trillion in nondefense spending cuts and the administration says the proposal would put the federal government on track to balance the budget by 2034.
[...]
Trump also proposed $750 billion for defense, representing a 5 percent increase, while cutting non-defense discretionary spending by 5 percent below the cap.Nasa finds Water molecules on the moon…
March 11, 2019
NASA's satellite that orbits the moon uses a new UV light technology to detect water on the moons surface. The satellite saw minuscule amounts of water creeped out of the surface at the hottest time of the moons day and would creep back in at other times. This way of measuring water has never been used before and no other method could before show how miniscule amounts of water comes in and out of the surface as the time of day on the moon changes. It could be used on other objects that are rocky and have no atmosphere, like the moon.
AI Advancements Are Making It Easier to Hack Biometric Systems…
March 11, 2019
Biometric systems may not be the best way to protect your data as hackers find new creative ways to steal your identity.
Amazon is hiring 3,000 remote workers in 18 states…
March 11, 2019
The job listing for customer service associates, posted on March 4th, indicates that the role pays $15 an hour, provides health care coverage after 90 days of employment and offers overtime pay.
[...]
The part-time work-from-home role "generally consists of 20 to 29 hours per week, with the expectations to work up to 60 hours a week if there is a customer need," and specifies that workers cannot live in a zip code that is within 50 miles of an Amazon customer service site.Democratic National Committee picks Milwaukee for 2020 convention…
March 11, 2019
Milwaukee won out over Houston and Miami to host its first major party convention in the city’s history, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The convention will be held July 13-16 at the Fiserv Forum.
The newspaper suggested that Democrats picked Wisconsin, deep in America’s heartland, because Hillary Clinton lost the swing state to President Trump in the 2016 election.
Another One? FAA Investigating Houston Incident Involving Another Boeing 737…
March 11, 2019
Flight 1168 was carrying 174 passengers and six crew members when engine trouble began late Sunday as the plane neared George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The Boeing 737-900 was traveling from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
One passenger told Houston media outlets that he heard a loud bang, felt a strong vibration and saw a flash of light.
Occasional-Cortex At SXSW 2019…
March 11, 2019
Numerous requests to locate the full and unedited AOC segment from SXSW 2019. Here it is.
Poll: 51% of Young Americans are embracing socialism…
Read the Harvard/Harris Poll - pg 223
March 11, 2019
Gen Z and millennials are projected to make up 37% of the electorate in 2020, and what they're looking for in a presidential candidate is shifting.
- The top three voting issues for Gen Z, according to the Harris poll, are mass shootings, racial equality, and immigration policy and treatment of immigrants.
- Millennials' top issues are access to health care, global warming/climate change and mass shootings.
- Gen X's top issues are: access to health care, terrorism/national security and the national debt — the same top issues for boomers and older.
Mumps, other outbreaks force U.S. detention centers to quarantine…
March 11, 2019
Internal emails reviewed by Reuters reveal the complications of managing outbreaks like the one at Pine Prairie, since immigrant detainees often are transferred around the country and infected people do not necessarily show symptoms of viral diseases even when they are contagious.
[...]
ICE health officials have been notified of 236 confirmed or probable cases of mumps among detainees in 51 facilities in the past 12 months, compared to no cases detected between January 2016 and February 2018. Last year, 423 detainees were determined to have influenza and 461 to have chicken pox. All three diseases are largely preventable by vaccine.No End in Sight to Venezuela’s Blackout, Experts Warn…
Venezuela blackout has killed 21 people, opposition leaders say...
Guaido calls for 'state of alarm'...
March 11, 2019
Sporadic looting and spontaneous protests. Desperate patients begging doctors to be kept alive. Residents bracing for wider attacks on markets and restaurants after the sun goes down.
Sunday was the fourth day since Venezuela’s power system went down, plunging most of the country, including Caracas, the capital, into sporadic darkness and dampening hopes of imminent resolution to a devastating blackout that has brought the country to the verge of social implosion.
Scientists Thread A Nano-Needle To Modify The Genes Of Plants…
March 11, 2019
Is there an efficient way to tinker with the genes of plants? Being able to do that would make breeding new varieties of crop plants faster and easier, but figuring out exactly how to do it has stumped plant scientists for decades.
Now researchers may have cracked it.
Directed Energy Weapons Market Is Likely to Experience a Tremendous Growth in Near Future…
March 11, 2019
A key driver propelling growth of the global DEW market is the defense of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials so that civilian lives and national security of a country can be preserved. DEW equipment like lasers, radiation detectors, and biosensors are being used to defend against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) emergencies. Training fire department personnel, police and paramilitary forces to use these weapons will help them be more effective in performing their roles. These factors will lead to the purchase of different types of DEW and result in the growth of the global DEW market during the forecast period. The global directed energy weapons market is highly competitive, and manufacturers vie for market share based on product quality, cost, reliability, and after-market service.
Debit card with built-in fingerprint reader begins trial in the UK…
March 11, 2019
The fingerprint data is stored locally on the card, meaning there’s no security information for a hacker to be able to steal from a bank’s central database. It’s not foolproof — there’s always the risk a sufficiently determined thief could steal and imitate your fingerprint — but it’s much more secure than a PIN that someone could learn by simply looking over your shoulder as you enter it.
Bolsonaro Will Have Dinner With Conservative Luminaries During US Visit. The Brazilian president is also expected to meet with Donald Trump at the White House…
March 11, 2019
When president Bolsonaro arrives in Washington DC on March 17th, he will be received at a sort of conservative "Last Supper" arranged by the Brazilian ambassador Sérgio Amaral. Philosophers, journalists and investors, all aligned with conservatism, were invited for the welcome dinner and are expected to influence Bolsonaro's decisions during his visit to US president Donald Trump. Writer Olavo de Carvalho and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, both longtime Bolsonaro supporters, are also confirmed.
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The guests share Bolsonaro's worldview and ideology, which is something the president and his aides have been looking for since the beginning of his term.Trump: “Making Daylight Saving Time Permanent Is O.K. With Me!”…
March 11, 2019
Support for ditching Daylight Saving Time (Saving not Savings) has been gaining popularity in recent years, as studies have shown that it's not helpful for farmers and doesn't conserve energy (which is why many Americans believe we use it), prompting many to wonder why we use it in the first place (the US adopted across the country after World War II). Studies have also shown that the shift leads to an increase in car accidents, heart attacks and strokes also climb, according to the Chicago Tribune.
But staying on DST would have the same result: avoiding the annoying time shifts. Wall Street traders would no doubt appreciate the extra hour of overlap with London markets that would accompany making DST permanent.
Long overdue!
New Mexico Governor Signs Bill That Outlaws Private Gun Sales…
March 11, 2019
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill Friday to drastically expand mandatory background checks on firearms sales in New Mexico, as she shot down opposition against the measure and other proposed gun reforms as being part of a national “misinformation campaign.”