Society's ChildS


MIB

Explosion rocks UK's only munitions factory, day after US shell plant bursts into flames

Jon Brady
Daily Mail
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 15:51 UTC
UK BAE explosion
Emergency services outside the BAE Systems Glascoed plant in Monmouthshire, South Wales
Locals living close to a BAE Systems weapons plant rocked by an explosion earlier today say the blast 'felt like an earthquake' as a shell went off.

The blast took place at the BAE Systems munitions factory in Glascoed, Monmouthshire shortly before 10.50am.

MailOnline understands the explosion relates to a single shell going off at the munitions filling factory, run by BAE, Europe's biggest military contractor.

Emergency services were deployed to the site, which is spread across a large field close to the south-eastern village; locals say the blast 'wasn't loud, but felt like an earthquake'.

BAE Systems has promised a full investigation into the incident at the factory, which is the UK's last remaining munitions filling factory.

Comment: Whilst there have been a myriad of suspect fires, explosions, derailments, and crashes, at Western foodand energy suppliers, incidents at munitions factories seems to have primarily been occurring in Russia (and likely perpetrated by Western agents) - a selection of these reports can be found at the end.

Regarding the fire at the US munitions site, Mehr reports:
Fire breaks out at US ammunition factory

The US Army factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania that specializes in artillery ammunition caught fire on Monday afternoon, according to local media reports and eyewitnesses.

The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant started spewing black smoke shortly before 3pm local time. Local emergency services were summoned to deal with what was described as a "structure fire."

No further details were available.

The Joint Munitions Command (JMC) facility is owned by the US military but operated by General Dynamics-Ordnance and Tactical Systems. It makes 155mm and 105mm artillery projectiles, 120mm mortar rounds, 203mm naval shells, as well as a variety of smoke, illumination and incendiary rounds.

The US has been trying to ramp up production of artillery ammunition to supply Ukraine for its conflict with Russia.

Scranton is a community of about 75,000 residents in northeastern Pennsylvania. It is the birthplace of US President Joe Biden. He is scheduled to visit the town on Tuesday.


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MIB

Сyberattack strikes New York State Legislature whilst drafting state budget bill


Voice of Europe
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 15:38 UTC
Explosions et tremblement de terre à New York: la ville se réveille en panique
© UnsplashFILE
Early Wednesday, the bill drafting office of the New York state Legislature experienced what appears to be a cyberattack, according to officials. The full extent of the attack is still unclear, but officials confirmed that the bill drafting system has been offline since early Wednesday. This office plays a crucial role in printing legislation for state lawmakers at the Capitol in Albany, as reported by AP News.

The cyberattack coincides with the Legislature's efforts to finalize the state budget bills. However, Governor Kathy Hochul indicated that the incident is not expected to cause significant delays in the process.

"We've had to revert to the older system we used back in 1994 due to this incident that occurred very early in the morning. We've been actively addressing the situation," Hochul, a Democrat, explained in an interview with WNYC radio.

Comment: Cyberattacks and unexplained 'disruptions' appear to be on the rise, effecting everything from the British library to government systems: See also: Predatory Sparrow: The terrorist attacks of an Israel-linked hacker group

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Dollars

Red states fight growing efforts to give 'basic income' cash to residents

Kevin Hardy
Stateline
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 05:00 UTC
US bank card
© Rich Pedroncelli/The Associated PressA woman displays a city-provided debit card she receives monthly through a trial program in Stockton, Calif., in 2019. That year, Stockton launched a basic income experiment that has set off a major expansion of such programs across the country. Research has shown basic income programs can boost employment and health, but GOP lawmakers in some states are pushing back on the concept of free cash
Basic income advocates say the concept is an effective way of reducing poverty.

South Dakota state Sen. John Wiik likes to think of himself as a lookout of sorts — keeping an eye on new laws, programs and ideas brewing across the states.

"I don't bring a ton of legislation," said Wiik, a Republican. "The main thing I like to do is try and stay ahead of trends and try and prevent bad things from coming into our state."

This session, that meant sponsoring successful legislation banning cities or counties from creating basic income programs, which provide direct, regular cash payments to low-income residents to help alleviate poverty.

While Wiik isn't aware of any local governments publicly floating the idea in South Dakota, he describes such programs as "bureaucrats trying to hand out checks to make sure that your party registration matches whoever signed the checks for the rest of your life."

Comment: While there's a lot to be said for giving the struggling families the help they may need to make life bearable, and we have no doubt that there may be some good intentions involved here, these policies are being brought to the public by the same party that will likely demand the most totalitarian controls in the way of health mandates, behavioral control and the use of their free money through CBDC's.

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No Entry

The end of the Neo-Liberal Order

Dalwhinnie
Bombthrower
Wed, 10 Apr 2024 00:00 UTC
nep-liberals
It's no longer about markets.
It's about identity.

The historian Prof. Gary Gerstle maintained that the neo liberal order was coming to an end, that free movement of goods, money, ideas and talent characterized the neo liberal order and that it was in the process of losing ascendancy. Losing ascendancy does not mean disappearing, it means losing ascendancy. Peter Zeihan says much the same and locates the issue in the guarantee offered by the US Navy since WW2 to police the sea lanes of the world. Also large diesel engines and cheap fuel may have as much to do with trade as any deliberate policy measures. I digress.

Somewhat to my surprise I agreed with the leftist professor of history.

So far so good. I have ordered his book and will read it skeptically. (The Rise and Fall of the Neo-Liberal Order).
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NPC

New NPR CEO gave Ted Talk asserting "truth" is a "distraction"

Paul Joseph Watson
Modernity
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 00:00 UTC
NPR CEO Katherine Maher
New NPR CEO Katherine Maher gave a Ted Talk during which she asserted that "truth" is a "distraction" which is "getting in the way of getting things done."

Calls are growing for NPR to have its government funding withdrawn after a series of tweets by Maher were uncovered in which she supported far-left causes, including endorsing racial reparations and making claims that the planet is "burning."

But the content of the Ted Talk she gave is raising even more eyebrows.

Maher ludicrously suggested during the speech that far-left Wikipedia had a model "which actually works really well" in determining "what the truth really is."
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Light Saber

'Googlers against genocide': Tech workers protest AI and cloud contracts with Israel

Maxwell Zeff
Gizmodo
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 20:11 UTC
Gaza Protestors Google’s Chelsea office
© Maxwell ZeffProtestors lined outside of Google’s Chelsea office on Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Google employees are protesting their company's "Project Nimbus" contracts with the Israeli government after a No Tech For Apartheid protestor was fired.

More than 10 workers held a sit-in on the 10th floor of Google's New York City headquarters on Tuesday to protest Google's ties to Israel, organizers from "No Tech for Apartheid" tell Gizmodo. The New Yorkers were joined by a simultaneous sit-in inside of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian's office in Sunnyvale, California. The protestors demand their company drop Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract held by Google and Amazon to provide AI and cloud computing services to the Israeli government and military.

"Our desired outcome would be for Google to drop Project Nimbus, and really all support for the Israeli military," said Cheyne Anderson, a Google software engineer and No Tech For Apartheid organizer in a phone interview with Gizmodo. "How can you stand by and continue to do business as usual with the news that's coming out of Gaza?"

Comment: Google and Israel have had an unholy alliance for quite a while, but the company's serfs are now chafing under it.

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Bacon n Eggs

Food is now an investment - here's why inflation isn't going away anytime soon

Brandon Smith
Alt-Market.us
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 00:00 UTC
food inflation
One of the more difficult aspects of working in economic analysis is the problem of rampant disinformation that you have to dig through in order to get to the truth of any particular issue. In this regard, economics is very similar to politics. The propaganda is endless and debunking it sometimes feels like moving a mountain with a teaspoon.

Establishment media sources lie incessantly about our financial conditions, and when they are finally cornered and forced to admit how bad things are, they then lie about the causes. That said, I find that these lies are usually designed to do one of two things: Over-complicate the problem so that people give up thinking about it, or, distract from the problem so that people blame a scapegoat.

As for inflation, here is the bottom line:
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Yoda

A turf war threatens to break out after the EU takes the Irish government to court

Rhoda Wilson
The Exposé
Fri, 12 Apr 2024 00:00 UTC
peat war
© BBC Travel
The commercial peat extraction industry has been wound up in Ireland but domestic use divides rural traditionalists and followers of the European Commission's climate change agenda.

In mid-March, the European Commission referred the Irish government to the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") for not complying with the European Union's ("EU") Habitats Directive.

This threatens to reignite the Irish turf war.
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Star of David

An ultra-Orthodox ultimatum, and the future of the 'Jewish' state

Robert Inlakesh
The Cradle
Fri, 12 Apr 2024 00:00 UTC
ultra-Orthodox
The widening schism between Israel's secular and ultra-Orthodox communities impacts not only the state's military and economic wellbeing, but poses an existential threat to the stability of the entire Zionist project.

Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, known as the Haredim, is the fastest-growing segment of the country's population. This demographic shift is occurring amid escalating tensions between secular right-wing and religious-nationalist factions in Israel, raising concerns about the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's extremist coalition - particularly over contentious issues like Haredi military conscription.

Projected to constitute approximately 16 percent of the occupation state's population by 2030, the Haredim's burgeoning numbers have triggered a broader societal debate about Israel's future direction. This includes the challenge of reconciling today's Jewish ethno-religious identity politics with the original Israeli aspirations for a modern "liberal-democratic" state framework.
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Mr. Potato

Transport Minister threatens Germans with an "indefinite weekend driving ban" to meet mandated emissions targets

eugyppius
eugyppius: a plague chronicle
Sun, 14 Apr 2024 00:00 UTC
Volker Wissing
Volker Wissing does not really want to ban driving.
This story has even made it into the Anglophone press, so you know it's a big deal: "German transport minister warns of weekend driving ban," says The Telegraph. "German minister threatens 'indefinite driving bans' on weekends," proclaims Politico. "German transport minister under fire for weekend driving ban threat," declares Reuters.

But no, despite the headlines, they are not going to take away our cars. Amazingly, not even the Greens want to do that. For once the story is not about German authoritarianism, or woke insanity or anything like that. Rather, it's about how nobody can really bring himself to care about the climate anymore - not even our forward-thinking, progressively minded, environmentally responsible political establishment.

For the backstory, we must go all the way back to the pre-Covid era, when aggressive climate legislation was popular even with centre-right CDU voters, and before the electorate had a taste of what Green policies like the draconian home heating ordinances really feel like on the ground.
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