[Business Insider] "Voyager" — explorer, famous NASA mission, and now ... billionaire tech mogul?
That's the code name that Elon Musk's security team uses to refers to him, The New York Times reported as part of an investigation into the Tesla CEO's protective services.
And "Voyager" doesn't go very far without his bodyguards, flanked by as many as 20 security personnel, some armed — plus a medical professional — wherever he goes, according to the outlet.
In many ways, Musk's deep bench of security personnel makes sense. With a net worth of over $250 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, he's the world's richest person, and that stratosphere of wealth brings some very real risks into the equation.
[BBC] Flying into Antarctica is an enormous challenge for both pilots and aircraft. A 60-year-old Canadian plane turns out to be perfect for the job.
"It's a massive adventure," says Vicky Auld.
Deputy chief pilot for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Auld is preparing for the organisation's annual autumn ferry flight from Canada to Antarctica. Months in the planning, this will be an epic 55-hour journey over 12 days, covering some 13,700km (8,500 miles) as the crow flies. This year, Auld will be piloting BAS' relatively luxurious and spacious four-engine de Havilland Dash-7, but most of her pilot colleagues will be heading south in 40-year-old twin-engine aircraft with unpressurised cabins.
Designed in the 1960s and still in production today, de Havilland Twin Otters have been described by some as the Land Rover of the skies. "They're overengineered, adaptable and rugged, designed for bush flying," says Auld. "Whether it's on skis, floats or big tundra tyres, with their short take-off and landing you can get into places that you just couldn't think about with other aircraft."
In Antarctica, BAS uses Twin Otters for everything from airborne scientific research to delivering fuel, supplies and field parties to remote locations. "It's unique," Auld says. "I can land at places where no-one has ever landed before."
[BBC] Thirty-seven people - including three Americans, a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian national - have been sentenced to death over an attempt to overthrow the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The men were accused of leading an attack on both the presidential palace and the home of an ally of President Félix Tshisekedi in May.
Christian Malanga, a US national of Congolese origin, the suspected leader of the plot, was killed during the attack, along with five others. Some personal risk appears to have been involved.
In total 51 people were tried in a military court, with hearings broadcast on national TV and radio.
#3
No, no protest. No media. The matter will likely be handled quietly. Tshisekedi will be seen as a benevalent dictator who wishes to put the entire matter behind him, for the right price of course.
[MoneyMetals] The Saudis have joined other Asian countries in ditching their long-term sensitivity to the gold price. Evidence suggests theSaudi central bank has been covertly buying 160 tonnes of gold in Switzerland since early 2022, contributing to the current gold bull market.
Although the Saudis played a key role in the birth of the global dollar standard in the early 1970s, this time around they might even become a lynchpin for its dissolution.
INTRODUCTION
Until recently, Saudi Arabia’s gold demand would decline when the gold price went up and strengthen when the price went south. This dampened volatility in the gold market, which for many decades was ruled by the West.
Ever since the West immobilized Russia’s dollar assets in February 2022, those with diplomatic disagreements with the West are increasingly exchanging their dollars for physical gold. Saudi Arabia is the latest country—after China and Thailand—of which I have found cross-border trade statistics showing it has shifted from being price sensitive to a price driver.
[DhakaTribune] At least 45 shrines across the country had been attacked and vandalized in recent days
A video circulated on social media Thursday evening, showing Rafiqul Islam Madani, popularly known as "Shishu Bokta," calling on local people to participate in the vandalism of a shrine in the Netrokona district on Friday after the Jummah prayer.
In the video, he urged that for the sake of Islam, they should destroy the shrine, alleging that drugs and anti-social activities were being practised there.
However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... speaking to Dhaka Tribune on Friday evening, Foyez Ahmed, Superintendent of Police in Netrokona, said: "After watching the video, we took action and prevented any vandalism. What Rafiqul Islam Madani called for did not occur today (on Friday)."
The SP noted that Army and police personnel had spoken with both parties and resolved the issue on Thursday night.
Not only in Netrokona, but Army and police forces are also working in several other places to prevent attacks on shrines. Despite their efforts, multiple acts of violence have been reported in the last few days across the country.
on Friday afternoon, a group of people protested in front of the National Press Club under the banner of "Bangladesh Asheqe Awlia," representing followers of shrines in Bangladesh.
During the protest, they claimed that at least 45 shrines across the country had been attacked and vandalized in recent days, and they demanded justice for the vandalism.
They also called for increased security for shrines to protect their sites and the lives of shrine followers.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2024 00:00 ||
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[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Interactive map shows which jails are bursting at the seams as Keir Starmer releases 5,700 criminals early
An estimated 5,700 prisoners will be released early as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defends the controversial policy.
Sir Keir, who is in the United States, blasted the inaction of the previous government for leaving the criminal justice system in such a perilous situation.
Critics have said the new Labour government is determined to lock up right wing protesters involved in anti-immigrant protesters.
Sir Keir lashed out at former prime minister Rishi Sunak in the Commons, repeating claims he had no choice but to cut the amount of time prisoners would serve behind bars amid urgent efforts to tackle the jail overcrowding crisis. His comments were in response to accusations from Reform UK's leader that Sir Keir was presiding over a two-tier justice system.
One inmate was arrested by police moments after he was released from jail.
Nigel Farage described 'some extraordinary celebratory scenes outside Britain's prisons, where in some cases serious career criminals were released' after pictures emerged of an inmate being sprayed with frothing bottles of bubbly by friends as they left jail.
Tuesday's exodus of 1,700 prisoners from jails across England and Wales came after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans in July to temporarily cut the proportion of sentences which inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40% as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said overcrowding had pushed jails to the 'point of collapse'.
At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Mr Farage said: 'This to make way for, yes, rioters, but equally those who have said unpleasant things on Facebook and elsewhere on social media.
'Does the Prime Minister understand there is a growing feeling of anger in this country that we are living through two-tier policing and a two-tier justice system?'
Sir Keir hit back, telling MPs: 'I'm angry to be put in a position of having to release people who should be in prison because the last government broke the prison system.
'The prime minister was repeatedly warned that he had to adopt the scheme that we put in place.'
Referring to reports on Alex Chalk's pleas to enact the scheme when in post, he said the former justice secretary 'said if we don't do it we will have to get down on our knees and pray'.
Police chiefs also 'made it absolutely clear' to Mr Sunak before the election that he 'needed to take action', he said - in reference to a letter police chiefs sent him in June urging him to put the plan in motion immediately as prison overcrowding was hampering officers' ability to do their jobs.
Prisons watchdog Charlie Taylor has warned the scheme is 'risky' and it was 'inevitable' some prisoners released early would reoffend and end up back behind bars.
Some who are homeless on release could be temporarily placed in taxpayer-funded budget hotels if there is not enough space in bail hostels and other community accommodation typically used for offenders.
The number freed is in addition to the around 1,000 inmates normally released each week.
Communist law enforcement presented as the ideal to the world. Joy.
[DailyTimesPakistain] China will train thousands of law enforcement officers from different countries over the next 12 months, its police chief said Monday, as it seeks to cement its role as a global security provider.
Police from China have trained 2,700 officers in the past year and are planning to coach 3,000 more from various countries over the next 12 months, public security minister Wang Xiaohong said in a speech at a conference in eastern China.
"We will (also) send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities," Wang said.
The security conference held in the port city of Lianyungang in Jiangsu province drew law enforcement officers from 122 countries, regions, and international organizations including Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistain and global police body Interpol.
The annual Lianyungang conference is seen as part of the Global Security Initiative (GSI) proposed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2022, which aims to address international issues through cooperation with other countries.
However analysts have described the GSI as a way of expanding China’s global influence and chipping away at the current US-led security order.
"It’s almost like saying ’if you don’t like the Western way of doing things, we’ve got the Chinese alternative’," Benjamin Ho, an assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ China Programme, told AFP.
"So certainly, China is trying to highlight some of these (policing) initiatives in a big way, and that’s part and parcel of its jostling for influence vis-a-vis the West," Ho said.
Wang said in his speech to hundreds of conference delegates that law enforcement had been "politicized."
"Normal international cooperation has been demonized," Wang said, adding that China "rejects any form of hegemonism and bullying."
He also said that regional security risks continue to "spill over," including from the Ukraine war, the Israel-Paleostinian conflict and tensions in the Red Sea.
Rose-gold handcuffs, batons and bulletproof vests were on display for potential overseas buyers at the conference venue.
…for those here like me who don’t keep up with such things, once upon a time they were the Big (whatever) accounting firm Price Waterhouse. Now they account, consult, advise, and are keen on artificial intelligence, all for a very big paycheck…
Chinese auditing arm has been suspended from the country for six months over its work on the collapsed Chinese property giant Evergrande.
The Big Four accountancy firm is also being fined more than $62m (£47m) after Chinese authorities said it had helped cover up fraud at Evergrande.
The real estate firm collapsed in January under a mountain of debt.
PwC China admitted the work had fallen "unacceptably below the standards" expected within the firm and apologised for the impact on its clients.
Nothing said here about people being fired and going to prison…
The Chinese authorities said PwC knew there were "major misstatements" in Evergrande's financial statements when it audited the firm.
As a result, the Chinese Ministry of Finance has imposed "administrative penalties" and suspended the operations of PwC's auditing business PwC ZhongTian for six months.
Other PwC operations providing non-audit services in China are not affected. In addition, China's securities regulator has confiscated the revenue PwC earned auditing Evergrande and has also issued a fine.
An investigation by the regulator said PwC had "seriously eroded the basis of law and good faith, and damaged investors' interest".
In response to the penalties, PwC said it had taken "a number of accountability and remedial actions", including the sacking of six partners and the launch of a process to fine responsible team leaders. You find a large openable window above the 30th floor...
An additional five staff have also left, and Hemione Hudson, PwC's global risk and regulatory leader, has been parachuted in to run the Chinese unit on an interim basis.
PwC admitted the work done on the Evergrande audit had been "well below" standards expected at the firm.
“It is not representative of what we stand for as a network and there is no room for this at PwC," the firm’s global chair Mohamed Kande said.
“That is why, following a thorough investigation, we ensured that actions were taken to hold those responsible to account.
“I remain confident in the China firm’s partners and staff as we work together to rebuild trust with stakeholders,” he added.
PwC China said in a statement: "We deeply regret and apologise for the impact this has had on our clients and people. We will work tirelessly to regain their trust."
Evergrande, which built property in more than 280 Chinese cities and branched out into other business sectors, teetered, then finally went into liquidation in January.
The Chinese authorities have accused Evergrande and its founder, Hui Ka Yan, of falsely inflating revenues at the firm to the tune of $78bn (£61.6bn) and imposed fines and bans on him personally as well as the business.
#1
"Auditors" are hired to look at a situation, and come to a conclusion that the people that hired them want. They're not auditors, they're justifiers.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
09/14/2024 8:17 Comments ||
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[BBC] North Korea has for the first time offered a glimpse into a uranium enrichment facility which produces material for its nuclear weapons.
Photographs showed its leader Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... , who had earlier vowed to "exponentially" increase the country's stash of nuclear weapons, inspecting the area.
The state's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a report on Friday that he had similarly called for the uranium facility to increase its production.
Enriched uranium is essential in the manufacturing of nuclear warheads.
The photograph shows Mr Kim walking past rows of centrifuges and talking to military officials. Their publication comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea did not reveal when Mr Kim made the visit, nor which facility he visited – whether this is part of its sprawling Yongbyon nuclear complex, or another undisclosed site. Experts have long suspected that North Korea is covertly running at least one uranium enrichment facility, in addition to its well-known Yongbyon site.
It is not known how many nuclear weapons North Korea has, but one recent estimate puts the number at 50, with sufficient material to produce another 40.
[ZERO] Whatever you think of Donald Trump's performance during Monday's debate, or the fact that Kamala Harris didn't turn into a puddle of word salad before our very eyes, it didn't hurt the former president.
According to several post-debate polls, Trump not only gained swing voters, pollster Nate Silver projects that Trump will win the election.
🚨 BREAKING: Trump ticks back to being the 61% favorite in Nate Silver’s election model after more polls release
🔴 Trump: 61% (+22.3) 🔵 Harris: 38.7%
The model also gives Trump a 63% chance of winning PENNSYLVANIA, and a 52% chance at MICHIGAN.
[Breitbart] Authorities in Bihar, India, arrested three men on Thursday after an incident in a private hospital in which a doctor and several other staffers attempted to gang-rape a nurse. The nurse escaped, multiple reports noted, by using a surgical blade to cut the doctor’s genitals.
Dr. Sanjay Kumar Sanju is one of three people arrested for the attempted rape, according to the Hindustan Times. Citing the police report, the newspaper reported that the men involved had been consuming alcohol and committed several acts that indicate a premeditated attempt to rape the woman. It is not clear from reports at press time if police believe the men intended to otherwise hurt or kill the nurse in question. The men are reportedly facing charges directly related to the attack as well as the charge of consuming alcohol, which is illegal in Bihar.
The harrowing details of the alleged assault follow weeks of political turmoil in India over the threat of rape consistently looming over Indian healthcare workers. Indian women doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals have denounced the government and private medical facilities for not offering enough security to prevent sexual assault and the killing of staff in hospitals.
A nationwide doctor’s strike erupted in August in response to the rape and murder of a resident doctor in Kolkata that occurred while she attempted to nap in a hospital seminar room. Despite the suspect not working in the hospital and the hospital being fully operational during the rape and murder, no one intervened to protect the woman or stop the accused, Sanjoy Roy, from entering doctors’ space in the complex.
While the nationwide strike has subsided, a local doctors’ strike in Kolkata has persisted through this week.
India Today reported that the survivor of the Bihar incident was a nurse employed at the RBS Health Care Centre in Gangapur, Bihar, for ten to 15 months. Police reportedly found her hiding in an empty field.
“The nurse … recounted how the doctor, a physiotherapist, and his two associates had been drinking before they began harassing her,” India Today narrated, citing the police report. “When she resisted the doctor’s advances, she initially struggled to fend him off. In an act of self-defense, she used a surgical blade to attack the doctor, giving her a chance to escape and call for help.”
“The presence of mind and courage shown by the survivor is praiseworthy,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kumar Pandey told reporters.
The Hindustan Times reported that police “found blood-stained bedsheets, mobile phones and alcohol bottles from the hospital,” corroborating the nurse’s story, and they found that the clinic’s private camera system had been disabled, potentially by the attackers to eliminate evidence of the crime.
In addition to Dr. Kumar, two men identified as Sunil Kumar Gupta and Awadhesh Kumar are in police custody over the incident.
The incident occurs as India stands in the throes of a nationwide controversy prompted by a similar incident in which the victim did not survive. In early August, a 31-year-old resident working at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a government facility in Kolkata, attempted to nap in a seminar room of the hospital when a man identified as Sanjoy Roy attacked her, raping and killing her. The woman was found with a broken neck and “eye injuries” suggesting extreme violence during the last moments of her life.
Roy reportedly confessed immediately to the crime. The man was known to locals for spending significant time in the hospital and often acting inappropriately to women working there, but he did not work there nor was he related to any patients. It is unclear why he was allowed to loiter on the premises. Roy claimed to be a “civic volunteer” with Kolkata with police and reportedly often impersonated a police officer despite having no legitimate law enforcement authority.
Police later told reporters that Roy’s phone contained “quite disturbing and violent” pornographic content, to which he was reportedly addicted. No evidence suggests anyone in a position of authority at the government-run hospital attempted to ban Roy from the premises despite widespread reports that he was, at best, a nuisance to those working there and ultimately a major threat.
Doctors nationwide went on strike to protest the gruesome rape and murder, and several protests in August became violent. In one such incident, unknown individuals described as “miscreants” unaffiliated with the protesting doctors reportedly attacked the medical hospital in Kolkata, ransacking the site and causing significant property destruction. Several “miscreants” also destroyed police vehicles and physically beat the protesting doctors.
“A mob of miscreants entered the hospital. The agitating doctors were attacked and had to flee,” senior resident Subhendu Mullick told the Indian World Is One News agency (WION). “They even tried to enter the building where the junior doctor was raped and murdered. Police stood as mute spectators.”
[Breitbart] A recent academic study has uncovered evidence that AI chatbots powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) have an inherent leftist political bias, potentially influencing the information and advice they provide to users.
ScienceAlert reports that in an increasingly digital world, AI chatbots are becoming a go-to source for information and guidance especially for young people. However, a new study conducted by David Rozado, a computer scientist from Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand, has revealed that these AI engines may have a political bias that could unknowingly sway society’s values and attitudes.
The study, published in academic journal PLOS ONE, involved testing 24 different LLMs, including popular chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, using 11 standard political questionnaires such as The Political Compass test. The results showed that the average political stance across all the models was not neutral but rather left-leaning.
This will not surprise those who have closely followed AI. For example, Google Gemini ran amok when it was launched, rewriting history into a woke mess of leftist fantasy.
While the average bias was not strong, it was still significant. Further experiments on custom bots, where users can fine-tune the LLMs’ training data, demonstrated that these AIs could be influenced to express political leanings using left-of-center or right-of-center texts.
Rozado also examined foundation models like GPT-3.5, which serve as the basis for conversational chatbots. Although no evidence of political bias was found in these models, the lack of a chatbot front-end made it challenging to collate the responses meaningfully.
As AI chatbots increasingly replace traditional information sources like search engines and Wikipedia, the societal implications of embedded political biases become substantial. With tech giants like Google incorporating AI answers into search results and more people turning to AI bots for information, there is a growing concern that these systems could influence users’ thinking through the responses they provide.
The exact cause of this bias remains unclear. One possible explanation is an imbalance of left-leaning material in the vast amounts of online text used to train these models. Additionally, the dominance of ChatGPT in training other models could be a contributing factor, as the bot has previously been shown to have a left-of-center political perspective.
It is important to note that bots based on LLMs rely on probabilities to determine the sequence of words in their responses, which can lead to inaccuracies even before considering various types of bias.
Despite the enthusiasm of tech companies to promote AI chatbots, it may be time to reevaluate how we should be using this technology and prioritize areas where AI can be genuinely beneficial. As Rozado emphasizes in his paper, “It is crucial to critically examine and address the potential political biases embedded in LLMs to ensure a balanced, fair, and accurate representation of information in their responses to user queries.”
[FoxNews] A National Institute of Health internal review board found patients were pressured to join the research.
A long-term study of Havana Syndrome patients was shut down after a National Institute of Health (NIH) internal review board found the mishandling of medical data and participants who reported being pressured to join the research. The study had until now not found evidence linking the participants to the same symptoms and brain injuries. The internal investigation that halted the study was prompted by complaints from the participants about unethical practices.
This comes after the intelligence community released an interim report last year concluding a foreign adversary is "very unlikely" to be behind the symptoms hundreds of U.S. intelligence officers are experiencing, despite qualifying for U.S. government funded treatment of their brain injuries.
"The NIH investigation found that regulatory and NIH policy requirements for informed consent were not met due to coercion, although not on the part of NIH researchers," an NIH spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News.
A former CIA officer, who goes by Adam to protect his identity, was not shocked that the study was shut down.
"The way the study was conducted, at best, was dishonest and, at worst, wades into the criminal side of the scale," Adam said.
Adam is Havana Syndrome's Patient Zero because he was the first to experience the severe sensory phenomena that hundreds of other U.S. government workers have experienced while stationed overseas in places like Havana and Moscow, even China. Adam described pressure to the brain that led to vertigo, tinnitus and cognitive impairment.
Active-duty service members, spies, FBI agents, diplomats and even children and pets have experienced this debilitating sensation that patients believe is caused by a pulsed energy weapon. 334 Americans have qualified to get treatment for Havana Syndrome in specialized military health facilities, according to a study released by the U.S. government accountability office earlier this year.
Adam, who was first attacked in December 2016 in his bedroom in Havana described hearing a loud sound penetrating his room. "Kind of like someone was taking a pencil and bouncing it off your eardrum… Eventually I started blacking out," Adam said.
Patients, like Adam, who participated in the NIH study raised concerns the CIA was including patients who didn't really qualify as Havana Syndrome patients, watering down the data being analyzed by NIH researchers. Meanwhile, also pressuring those who needed treatment at Walter Reed to participate in the NIH study in order to get treatment at Walter Reed.
"It became pretty clear quite quickly that something was amiss and how it was being handled and how patients were being filtered… the CIA dictated who would go. NIH often complained to us behind the scenes that the CIA was not providing adequate, matched control groups, and they flooded in a whole litany of people that likely weren't connected or had other medical issues that really muddied the water," Adam said, accusing the NIH of working with the CIA.
The CIA is cooperating.
"We cannot comment on whether any CIA officers participated in the study. However, we take any claim of coercion, or perceived coercion, extremely seriously and fully cooperated with NIH’s review of this matter, and have offered access to any information requested," a CIA official told Fox News in a statement noting that the "CIA Inspector General has been made aware of the NIH findings and prior related allegations."
Havana Syndrome victims now want to pressure the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) to retract the two articles published last spring using early data from the NIH study that concluded there were no significant MRI-detectable evidence of brain injury among the group of participants compared with a group of matched control participants.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Comprehensive, precision-laser surveys, conducted via aircraft over the tiny Pacific island of Temwen, have revealed just how advanced its lost city Nan Madol once was.
Sometimes called 'the Venice of the Pacific,' this megalithic stone city has drawn comparisons to mythic Atlantis — and even inspired horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, who drew upon news of the site's 1928 discovery as he wrote 'The Call of Cthulhu.'
But now scores of researchers are in a race to uncover the full extent of Nan Madol's ruins as they undertake plans to preserve the city as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Their aerial surveys, conducted via LiDAR or 'Light Detection and Ranging' laser-mapping, has uncovered 'a sophisticated and extensive landscape of cultivation features hidden under Temwen Island's vegetation.'
The discovery has promised to rewrite the history of many Pacific Island cultures, showing that societies once presumed to have relied on subsistence fishing and natural tropical bounty, were in fact engaged in sophisticated agricultural planning.
[DM] "According to the Wall Street Journal, United's deal is part of a larger initiative to improve its high-end offerings to first class and business class travelers." = $$
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[BBC] Flying into Antarctica is an enormous challenge for both pilots and aircraft. A 60-year-old Canadian plane turns out to be perfect for the job.
[BBC] 
[BBC] North Korea has for the first time offered a glimpse into a uranium enrichment facility which produces material for its nuclear weapons.
