Society's ChildS


Stock Down

EU's largest economy projected to stall


RT
Wed, 16 Aug 2023 05:30 UTC
Germany
© Getty Images/mf-guddyx
The German economy will remain stagnant in the second half of the year as it continues to grapple with the fallout from a winter recession, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

According to a survey conducted by the outlet in early August, economic output in Germany shrank in the second quarter and will stall in the three months through September, marking a deeper-than-expected decline.

The EU's largest economy will be the only G7 member to face a contraction this year, the International Monetary Fund previously predicted.

The forecast for the German economy has been revised downwards with expected growth of just 0.1% in the fourth quarter, as domestic demand and the expectations of exporters have both weakened, according to Bloomberg.
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Doberman

Cadaver dogs are in Maui to help find the dead. Here's how it works and why it's difficult

Zoe Sottile
CNN
Mon, 14 Aug 2023 09:47 UTC
Dog and handler
© Rick Bowmer/APDogs trained to detect live victims and human remains have been dispatched to the ruins of west Maui from California, Nevada and Washington
The dogs and their handlers have taken on the harrowing job of searching through the ruins to identify human remains that might be burnt beyond recognition, so authorities can begin the process of matching them with names and notifying families.

Twisted metal. The carcases of burned sedans. Charred shells of what once were homes, thriving businesses and cultural landmarks. As Maui officials continue searching through the wreckage for the many who are still missing after wildfires tore through the island, they have a new tool at hand: human remains detection dogs, often called cadaver dogs.

The wildfires, whipped by strong winds from Hurricane Dora offshore, ravaged the once vibrant Hawaiian island, killing at least 96 people. Only two of the dead have been identified as of Saturday.

The disaster is the deadliest US wildfire in over 100 years, according to research from the National Fire Protection Association. Officials have acknowledged the death toll is likely to increase and the true scale of the casualties is unclear. And spotty cell phone coverage has added to the confusion over missing friends and family.

Cell signals are improving - some families have finally been able to reach their loved ones through text - and Maui County has said that a community center is open to provide resources for people looking for information about missing people.

There were a total of 10 search dogs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search and Rescue teams in Maui as of Friday, a representative from the agency told CNN, and more are set to join the search effort. The dogs and their handlers have taken on the harrowing job of searching through the ruins to identify human remains that might be burnt beyond recognition, so authorities can begin the process of matching them with names and notifying families.

Comment: The Oklahoma City bombing, the World Trade Center sabotage and Katrina's devastation were prominent tragedies that utilized search dog teams. In the case of Katrina, the teams were restricted from deployment for over a week after arrival - National Disaster Search Dog Foundation.

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No Entry

Germany considers ban on far-Right AfD

James Jackson
Telegraph
Sun, 13 Aug 2023 03:18 UTC
Weidel/Chrup
© Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa/APAlice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, co-chairmen of Alternative for Germany
Call to 'defend democracy' as party surges to 21pc in opinion polls...

Germany is debating whether to ban the far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) as the party surges to 21 per cent in the polls, amid warnings from intelligence officials that its members are becoming increasingly extreme.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German president, warned in a speech to the country's domestic intelligence agency that "we all have it in our hands to put those who despise our democracy in their place".

His speech at the castle where the German post-war constitution was created has widely been seen as support for a ban after Thomas Haldenwang, the domestic spy chief, warned about growing Right-wing extremist influence in the party.

Mr Haldenwang said: "We see a considerable number of protagonists in this party that spread hate against all types of minorities here in Germany." It comes amid warnings of the increasing influence of Björn Höcke, the leader of the AfD in the eastern state of Thuringia.
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Briefcase

African journalist Simon Ateba sues Karine, White House Secret Service, for First Amendment violation

Nicole Silverio
Daily Caller
Fri, 11 Aug 2023 10:59 UTC
JP/Ateba
© Win McNamee/Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesWH Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre • Africa WH correspondent Simon Ateba
Today News Africa White House correspondent Simon Ateba filed a lawsuit late Thursday against White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the U.S. Secret Service for deactivating his hard pass.

Ateba has accused Jean-Pierre of violating his First Amendment right to freedom of the press and the Fifth Amendment's due process clause after hundreds of hard passes were revoked from White House journalists working for smaller, non-corporate outlets. These hard passes allow journalists to gain access to White House press events, including press conferences.

Ateba first received a hard pass in Feb. 2021 and had his questions and interview requests repeatedly ignored, according to the lawsuit. The White House informed reporters on May 5 that it was restricting who could receive a hard pass. He, along with over 440 reporters, officially lost their passes on Aug. 1.

The lawsuit's introduction reads:
"'The press' does not just include a small class of elite journalists, credentialed by one another. The First Amendment's guarantees protect the public's right to engage in constitutionally protected press activity. Indeed, the inclusion of the words 'the press' in the First Amendment does not confer upon [journalists] a title of nobility."
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Arrow Down

Your EV shall be the backup battery for the grid to make wind and solar profits possible

Jo Nova
joannenova.com.au
Tue, 15 Aug 2023 19:10 UTC
The plan: The hapless homeowners will buy the back up battery for the grid and install it in their garage. Sometimes they might drive it too.
EV's Charging
© Nerijus jakimavičius / Pixabay
Instead of solar and wind investors paying for the storage they need to produce useful reliable electricity, the plan, apparently, is to force the people to buy electric cars then use their batteries to save the grid instead. When someone plugs their car in to charge, the grid or their house might draw electricity out instead. It's called two-way-charging, bi-directional charging, Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) or Vehicle-to-Home.

There are moves to make this happen in California, Australia and Europe. There have already been 170 trials around the world costing millions of dollars to try to figure out how to do this. Clearly it's a big agenda.

Repeated charges and discharges must shorten the life of the battery, and possibly inconvenience car owners too if they get caught without the fuel in the tank. What if there is family emergency at 11pm? (Well, you can catch a cab.) As well as this, every EV added to the grid is like adding "3 to 20 new houses". Energy losses with batteries are around 20% and worse as the battery ages.

Despite the downsides, network managers are excited at the thought of using the collected mass of EV batteries to stabilize the grid, and it's being sold as "a great way to reduce your power bills".
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Yellow Vest

Australia's farmers protest gov't 'green power lines' plan over biosecurity risks

Mike Foley
The Sydney Morning Herald
Tue, 15 Aug 2023 16:53 UTC
farmer protest australia
© . Joe ArmaoWestern Victoria farmers are upset over power grid operator AusNet installing power cables through their properties.
Farmers protesting the rollout of power lines drove their tractors into the heart of Melbourne on Tuesday, as the federal government declared Australia had no time to lose after a decade of inaction on renewables under the Coalition.

The mounting community backlash against new transmission lines needed to shift the electricity grid from coal-fired power to renewable energy looms as a crucial fight for federal and state governments, which have each set pressing climate targets.


Comment: It can only really be considered a 'shift' if the renewable energy is capable of providing an equal amount of power as the current grid, and that it's highly unlikely, because, as of yet, no country has been able to achieve this.


The Albanese government has pledged to more than double the amount of power the electricity grid sources from renewables to 82 per cent by 2030 to help achieve its target of cutting greenhouse emissions 43 per cent by the same deadline.

Comment: It's telling that the article gives less than a paragraph for why the farmers are protesting, but farmers don't usually have the luxury of leaving their jobs for the day (even if it is winter in Australia) unless the reasons for them doing so are significant.

7News.au provides a bit more information - but still not much - regarding the risks involved in these power lines:
But some remain concerned about construction disruptions, health and biosecurity risks, environmental impacts, the bushfire threat from high-voltage power lines and towers, land devaluation, farming limitations, and ceding access to their properties.
It's rather ironic that, yet again, these supposedly 'green policies' are putting farming, and the food supply, at risk: Netherlands threatens 600 'illegal' farmers with fines for failing to buy emissions licenses

A strong contingent of Victorian farmers made the long distance trek to Parliament House in Melbourne with 45 Tractors to voice their displeasure with the Daniel Andrews Labor government over a controversial project to run renewable energy power towers/lines through their prime agricultural land and farming properties. I spoke to some of the farmers that were present, and included their thoughts and concerns in this highlight video, alongside some of the comments made by activists and politicians that were present at the protest in Melbourne today.


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Bizarro Earth

Political leader in Ecuador is killed, less than a week after presidential candidate's assassination, total violent deaths doubled last year

Regina Garcia Cano
Associated Press
Tue, 15 Aug 2023 06:21 UTC
soldier ecuador
© AP/Dolores OchoaA soldier monitoring traffic in Guayaquil, Ecuador, July 20, 2023.
The unprecedented violence shaking Ecuador claimed the life of another political leader Monday, bringing the number of politics-related slayings within the last four weeks to three, including that of a presidential candidate.

The fatal shooting of Pedro Briones, a local leader of Revolución Ciudadana, the party of former President Rafael Correa, was confirmed by Luisa González, the frontrunner in Sunday's special presidential election and member of the same party.

The shooting happened in the northern province of Esmeraldas. Details were not immediately available.

"Ecuador is experiencing its bloodiest era," González tweeted. "A heartfelt hug to the family of colleague Pedro Briones, fallen by the hands of violence."

Comment: This has happened despite Ecuador declaring a state of emergency following the assassination: Ecuador declares state of emergency after killing of presidential candidate at campaign event

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Microscope 1

COVID victims' families sue EcoHealth Alliance for 'funding, releasing' virus

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Mon, 14 Aug 2023 01:15 UTC
covid deaths families
The families of four people who died from COVID-19 are suing EcoHealth alliance, the New York-based nonprofit that was conducting gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China, before COVID-19 broke out across town.

According to the Aug. 2 lawsuit filed before the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, EcoHealth and its president, Peter Daszak, knew the virus was "capable of causing a worldwide pandemic."

Not only did EcoHealth help to create a 'genetically manipulated virus,' the lawsuit claims, it worked to cover up the origins of the outbreak.

Comment: See also:

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Pistol

Federal employees in San Francisco told to work from home amid soaring violent crime


The Post Millennial
Mon, 14 Aug 2023 00:01 UTC
san francisco federal building
The 18-story building on Seventh and Mission Streets houses multiple federal agencies, including the US Department of Labor, the US Department of Transportation, and an office for Nancy Pelosi, for whom the building is named.
Federal employees in San Francisco have been told to work from home because it is too dangerous to come to work.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the US Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Administration Cheryl R. Campbell issued the stay-home recommendation in an Aug. 4 memo to regional leaders, writing, "In light of the conditions at the (Federal Building) we recommend employees ... maximize the use of telework for the foreseeable future."

"This recommendation should be extended to all Region IX employees, including those not currently utilizing telework flexibilities," Campbell added, referencing California and other Western states included in the same federal government zone, according to the outlet.

Comment: See also:

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Biohazard

RFK Jr tells Tucker Carlson we have bio labs in Ukraine 'because we are developing bioweapons'


The Post Millennial
Mon, 14 Aug 2023 00:01 UTC
RFK tucker carlson kennedy
In the latest episode of his show on X, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson sat down with Democratic presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr. During that conversation, Kennedy stated emphatically that there are "biolabs in Ukraine," and it is because the US is "developing bioweapons."

"Victoria Nuland kind of blindly announced during Congressional testimony last year that 'oh by the way, we have these biolabs in Ukraine,'" Carlson began, before asking, "Why would we have biolabs in Ukraine?"

"We have biolabs in Ukraine because we're developing bioweapons," answered Kennedy. "And those bioweapons are using all kinds of new synthetic biology, and CRISPR technology, and genetic engineering techniques that were not available to the previous generation and they can make frightening, frightening stuff."

Comment: The whole interview is well worth watching.


See also:

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