Hi there, !
Today Sun 12/18/2022 Sat 12/17/2022 Fri 12/16/2022 Thu 12/15/2022 Wed 12/14/2022 Tue 12/13/2022 Mon 12/12/2022 Archives
Rantburg
534800 articles and 1865126 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 69 articles and 176 comments as of 0:35.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion    Local News    Politix   
DOJ Arrests Sam Bankman-Fried For Running Out Of Bribery Money
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
1 10:00 Skidmark [5] 
4 21:13 Anomalous Sources [8] 
7 12:54 DarthVader [9] 
8 22:24 Spike the Hairy6811 [8] 
2 22:21 Spike the Hairy6811 [6] 
9 16:52 Procopius2k [3] 
4 23:41 Solomon Bourbon5424 [14] 
1 13:19 3dc [1] 
1 22:28 Canuckistan sniper [3] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
0 [2]
0 [9]
0 [10]
0 [4]
0 [12]
1 15:24 Slavising Unineting5672 [5]
0 [2]
0 [6]
1 12:12 Super Hose [4]
0 [5]
0 [6]
0 [7]
0 [5]
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [12]
0 [5]
0 [4]
3 22:10 Solomon Bourbon5424 [8]
0 [3]
0 [4]
0 [7]
0 [4]
1 12:13 Super Hose [7]
7 11:44 Crusader [4]
0 [5]
1 10:55 Rex Mundi [10]
0 [8]
0 [9]
0 [10]
2 14:18 trailing wife [13]
Page 4: Opinion
4 17:11 Anomalous Sources [7]
0 [8]
3 16:28 M. Murcek [13]
5 16:54 Procopius2k [4]
2 12:45 mossomo [4]
0 [3]
3 17:51 trailing wife [9]
1 05:19 3dc [6]
18 23:34 Silentbrick [11]
2 22:19 Spike the Hairy6811 [8]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
2 13:59 magpie [4]
0 [3]
1 13:58 Matt [15]
2 21:29 Jise Elmeang4932 [4]
2 13:51 trailing wife [2]
0 [5]
2 12:52 mossomo [2]
0 [1]
0 [3]
4 20:06 Angstrom [11]
3 21:38 Jise Elmeang4932 [4]
4 15:37 JHH [4]
2 10:51 Chris [6]
Page 6: Politix
0 [4]
1 12:49 DarthVader [6]
5 21:14 Anomalous Sources [12]
11 23:09 Silentbrick [5]
20 19:46 Frank G [16]
6 20:27 NoMoreBS [6]
11 16:41 ed in texas [8]
12 12:14 Tennessee [8]
-Short Attention Span Theater-
Duo Saves 1952 Chevy
[Finding Old Cars] Chevrolet automobiles from the 1950s are some of the most iconic vehicles to ever hit the American market. Throughout their time, they boasted a very unique style which is unlike anything built since. It makes sense, everyone these days likes looking at cars that reflect design cues of the 1960s and ’70s but 1950s we’re an era in design that could be regarded as a spur of the moment type idea. This particular car is a great showcase of those ideas, the only problem being it has been sitting in a barn for years.

Find more old cars here.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/15/2022 08:07 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:



Firefighter is fired after punching drugged-up patient who spat on him in Miami hospital
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Don't seem right.
  • First responder Robert Webster was fired after he punched a shirtless and drugged up man who spit on him

  • Antonio Cruz, 29, was arrested and taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital after first responders received a call he was under the influence of cocaine

  • Surveillance footage from October 15 at Jackson Memorial Hospital showed the confrontation occur as Cruz was handcuffed to a stretcher
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/15/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe they should have cuffed him to a gator/
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 12/15/2022 22:28 Comments || Top||


Cyber
Twitter Files Part 5: Employees From Commie Countries Thought Censoring Trump Was a Bad Idea
[PJMedia] Independent journalist Bari Weiss dropped Part 5 of the Twitter Files on Monday and revealed internal Slack chat messages between Twitter employees regarding the banning of President Donald Trump’s account. The revelations were expected, yet still upsetting, to anyone who values free speech. But one surprising internal discussion showed that not all employees were down with censorship, including at least one from communist China who pointed out that censorship is deadly to freedom.

“Maybe because I am from China I deeply understand how censorship can destroy the public conversation,” wrote one employee with concern. The flippant response to the employee’s concern should be noted. “I understand this fear, but I also understand that censorship by the government is very different than censorship of the government,” wrote another employee, basically shrugging off the concern.

What’s particularly grating about this response is that Yoel Roth was meeting with the FBI (the government), who encouraged the censorship of conservative voices on Twitter. This was the government censoring the citizenry.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/15/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Those would be the old 20th Century Commies. Today, we've not the new n improved American Commieism, and by God we're gonna get it right this time!
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 12/15/2022 10:57 Comments || Top||

#2  censorship by the government is very different than censorship of the government

They were doing this at the behest of the US government and the Democrats. It's proxy censorship and is still illegal under the First Amendment.

Say, what's it called when the government and corporations merge? All in the state, nothing outside the state, something like that? Can anyone help me out?
Posted by: Spike the Hairy6811 || 12/15/2022 22:21 Comments || Top||


Will Epic Games Lead the New Internet Era?
[ZeroHedge] Long before Mark Zuckerberg’s rebranded Facebook, this company has been musing about the notion of metaverse. Similar to how Amazon was associated with a bookstore in 1999, Epic Games is currently known as a gaming company because of the success of Fortnite. However, is it truly a gaming company? Let’s dive into the perspectives of one of the most promising players of the Metaverse and Web3 race.

ALL SET TO STORM THE METAVERSE
While some just shake the air with the word “Metaverse”, others have been paving their way to it for years and are now far ahead. Epic Games is best known for creating the wildly popular game Fortnite, as well as the Unreal Engine, a real-time 3D creation tool. But this is only the tip of Epic’s iceberg.

HOW THEY MAKE MONEY:
- Games. Epic’s ultra-popular game Fortnite has over 350 million accounts and 2.5 billion friend connections. In 2021 Fortnite generated $5.8B in revenue through in-app purchases. It is estimated that Fortnite currently brings 85-90% of the company's total revenue.
- Unreal Engine. This toolbox lets people create interactive things that feel real, even though they're just on a screen. Originally invented to create characters and landscapes for games, Unreal Engine is widely used across industries. Have you seen the new Star Wars series, Mandalorian? West World, Love Death + Robots, Ford vs Ferrari, Harry Potter? Then you’ve seen Unreal Engine’s work. Porsche, Volvo and Rivian all use Unreal Engine to help increase safety and test automated functions. Zaha Hadid Architects incorporated this tech throughout its design process.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/15/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Epic is the new Google - "Don't care if we are evil".
When they muscled into the game vending market, they adopted tactics that adversely impacted gamers in order to get a larger market share. Considering how they treated existing vendors, publishers and gamers, I wouldn't trust them any more than I trust (or use) Google. As for Fortnite, I don't play online games. I play games to get away from the a$$holes of the world so why would I want to surround myself with them?
Posted by: Mercutio || 12/15/2022 9:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Unreal Tournament was a fav of mine.
"Head shot!"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/15/2022 10:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Epic offers free games alot, so along with steam, who are also evil, I shamelessly use them to get free games. Unless they have a massive sale through, I prefer to buy new games directly.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 12/15/2022 22:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Lost an embarrassing amount of time to a hopeless addiction to the UTII demo. Still pop out the occasional "Gawdlike!" or "Killing spree!"
Posted by: Solomon Bourbon5424 || 12/15/2022 23:41 Comments || Top||


Economy
Another Increase in USA Fed Funds Rate
[CNBC] The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest level in 15 years, indicating the fight against inflation is not over despite some promising signs lately.

Keeping with expectations, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted to boost the overnight borrowing rate half a percentage point, taking it to a targeted range between 4.25% and 4.5%. The increase broke a string of four straight three-quarter point hikes, the most aggressive policy moves since the early 1980s.
as others have noted, the increase in rate this year has been steep but it started from near zero --- the average rate over the past 50 years has been about 5%
Posted by: Lord Garth || 12/15/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Need to raise it near 10% and tell the banks to start offering something more than .02% on savings.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/15/2022 8:39 Comments || Top||

#2  I second Procopius2k remark above!

Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance || 12/15/2022 9:58 Comments || Top||

#3  as others have noted, the increase in rate this year has been steep but it started from near zero --- the average rate over the past 50 years has been about 5%

Yes, and until just recently, economists were saying it would be ZIRP or even negative rates for as far into the future as anyone could imagine.

But, oh, yeah, that was economists saying that...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/15/2022 10:09 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't think the economists expected a US President to reduce the flow of oil in the US making the country dependent on foreign oil again.
Posted by: Vespasian Ebboting9735 || 12/15/2022 10:50 Comments || Top||

#5  Normally tightening by the Fed, which has been going for a year or so, would lead to a recession. However, the Fed did throw $3 trillion into the economy back in 2022 and has only taken about $400 billion out. Yes, this is tightening--but against a backdrop of extraordinary and profligate looseness in 2020. This money is still in the economy, and the Fed has a long way to go to sop it up. https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttrends.htm

By the way, this is the reason why banks are paying you so little in interest. There is so much money floating around that they really don't need your deposits. So why pay for them?

Posted by: Tom || 12/15/2022 13:27 Comments || Top||

#6  Tom

True the interest rate on regular svg accounts is near zero.

However, some banks have created 'preferred savings' accounts paying 3%+/yr.

Also 6 month Certificate of Dep are going for nearly 5%/yr.

Interestingly, the long T instruments (30yr) paying only about 3.5%
Posted by: Lord Garth || 12/15/2022 13:44 Comments || Top||

#7  they really don't need your deposits

Hell, sone EU banks are charging customers to keep their money and lots of US banks want to start. I suspect they will need some kind of go-ahead from the FDIC to do it, and I imagine our GOPe betters, having just gotten trashed on their effort to do lame duck amnesty, might see it as a viable punishment in the next Congress.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/15/2022 13:46 Comments || Top||

#8  What happened to the days when you got a toaster if you opened an account?
Posted by: DooDahMan || 12/15/2022 13:49 Comments || Top||

#9  There is so much money floating around

Well, when you can call up the Fed and basically get near 0 interest money anytime, yeah. Call up the Fed and be told it will be 10%, they'll start looking elsewhere.

If everyone has so much savings, why is credit card debt now reaching record levels?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/15/2022 16:52 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
Denver drops drug charges against ‘mushroom rabbi' who promotes religious psychedelic use
[Jpost] A Denver rabbi
… that should be “rabbi” in this particular case…
who promotes psychedelic use as part of spiritual practice will no longer face prosecution after Coloradans voted last month to legalize psilocybin, the chemical compound found in psychedelic mushrooms.

Denver’s district attorney’s office announced last week that it was dropping charges against Ben Gorelick, the founder of Sacred Tribe, a multifaith community that integrates psilocybin use and ideas rooted in Jewish tradition. A spokesperson for the office told the Denver Post that the move was “in light of the voters’ decision” to pass Proposition 122, which makes growing and sharing psilocybin and other related substances legal for adults over 21 in Colorado.

Gorelick had been charged in February with possessing a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or distribute it, a felony that carried mandatory prison time, even though Denver voters had already chosen to decriminalize psilocybin’s use.

“It’s been a long year for the community, it’s been a long year for us, and we look forward to getting back to practicing our religion, which is what the whole point of this is,” Gorelick told the Denver Post this week.

The charges had sidelined Sacred Tribe’s central purpose, although the group continued to hold Shabbat dinners and other activities for its roughly 270 members, who do not have to be Jewish. Gorelick, who was ordained in 2019 as a rabbi by the Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute, an online program, had sought publicity and funding to fight the charges on religious freedom grounds.

He argues that there is a longstanding tradition of psychedelic drug use within Judaism, which even other Jewish advocates of psychedelics as part of spiritual practice dispute. Those advocates told the Guardian last summer that Gorelick, who said he screened community members to make sure they sought psilocybin for religious use, had not been known to their tight-knit community before his arrest.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/15/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There is this little relative of a common weed from the denser rain forest in central America... one that actually requires > %90 humidity to grow... that contains real LSD. There is a "Church" in LA that uses it as part of it's communion. There is no evidence that congress-critters or even the DEA have any idea this plant exists.
Posted by: 3dc || 12/15/2022 13:19 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Mars rover recorded sounds of Martian dust devil
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/15/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Uh, Mr. Bloomberg Quicktake? There are now audio cameras as well as video cameras?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/15/2022 5:34 Comments || Top||

#2  "Wheeerree isss ttthhhee earthhhhh shaaaattterrringggg kabbbooooommmm???"
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/15/2022 6:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Beeeshuuretodrrrriiinkkkyourrovaltiiiine.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/15/2022 17:47 Comments || Top||

#4  I was expecting Kansas.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 12/15/2022 21:13 Comments || Top||


ISS: A Russian spacecraft started leaking uncontrollably on Wednesday night
[Ars Technica] After three hours Monday night the leak remained ongoing.

A Russian spacewalk was canceled at the last minute on Wednesday night when a spacecraft attached to the International Space Station unexpectedly sprang a large leak.

Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin were dressed in spacesuits, with the airlock depressurized, when flight controllers told them to standby while the leak in a Soyuz spacecraft was investigated. The spacewalk was subsequently called off shortly before 10pm ET (03:00 UTC Thursday).

The leak appears to have originated in an external cooling loop located at the aft end of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. Public affairs officer Rob Navias, who was commentating on the spacewalk for NASA Television, characterized the spacecraft as leaking "fairly substantially." Video of the leak showed particles streaming continuously from the Soyuz, a rather remarkable sight. This was likely ammonia, which is used as a spacecraft coolant, although Russian officials have not confirmed this.

At no time were any of the crew members on the space station in danger, including Prokopyev and Petelin, their fellow cosmonaut Anna Kikina; NASA astronauts Frank Rubio, Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada; and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata. The leak was external to the station, not inside the orbiting laboratory.

However, the leak does raise questions about the viability of the Soyuz spacecraft, which is the ride back to Earth for Prokopyev, Petelin, and NASA's Frank Rubio. They launched to the space station back in September on board this Soyuz vehicle, and are due to return to Earth next spring. After three hours Monday night the leak remained ongoing, showing no sign of abating.
Posted by: 3dc || 12/15/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  ...The videos are...not good.

Mike
Posted by: MikeKozlowski || 12/15/2022 8:01 Comments || Top||

#2  I think they use ammonia in the solar wings as well.
Posted by: ruprecht || 12/15/2022 9:55 Comments || Top||

#3  ...but maybe that's part of what they meant by 'cooling'.
Posted by: ruprecht || 12/15/2022 9:56 Comments || Top||

#4  "Phil Swift here with Flex Seal!"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/15/2022 10:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Hah!
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/15/2022 11:08 Comments || Top||


#7  It had too much vodka.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/15/2022 12:54 Comments || Top||


Even a dead drunk Dr. Fraudci would not believe this
[Fortune] People who skipped their COVID vaccine are at higher risk of traffic accidents, according to a new study
By Erin Prater
Apparently Erin didn't study much
If you passed on getting the COVID vaccine, you might be a lot more likely to get into a car crash.

Or at least those are the findings of a new study published this month in The American Journal of Medicine. During the summer of 2021, Canadian researchers examined the encrypted government-held records of more than 11 million adults, 16% of whom hadn't received the COVID vaccine.
Oh got it, encrypted Canadian intel, got to be true, on their planet
They claim that the unvaccinated people were 72% more likely to be involved in a severe traffic crash in which at least one person was transported to the hospital than those who were vaccinated (and passed out on the sofa). That's similar to the increased risk of car crashes for people with sleep apnea, though only about half that of people who abuse alcohol, researchers pretended.

The excess risk of car crash posed by unvaccinated drivers "exceeds the safety gains from modern automobile engineering advances and also imposes risks on other road users," the authors wrote.

Of course, skipping a COVID vaccine does not mean that someone will get into a car crash. Instead, the authors theorize that people who resist public health recommendations might also "neglect basic road safety guidelines."

Why would they ignore the rules of the road? Distrust of the government, a belief in freedom, misconceptions of daily risks, "faith in natural protection," "antipathy toward regulation," poverty, misinformation, a lack of resources, and personal beliefs are potential reasons made up- lied proposed by the authors.

Presented by CVS
The drug vultures at CVS? Shocker
Posted by: Woodrow || 12/15/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats

#1  Do the numbers also include those who are "suddenly dead"?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/15/2022 5:28 Comments || Top||

#2  I heard that 100% of all serial killers at one time drank water. Better stop drinking it and stay away from that stuff!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/15/2022 6:22 Comments || Top||

#3  They've fallen into the old logic trap of correlation equaling causation
Posted by: Warthog || 12/15/2022 9:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Many who took the covid vaccine are afraid to leave their home let alone get in a car.

I'm curious about the safety records of those who drive alone with a mask on.
Posted by: ruprecht || 12/15/2022 9:53 Comments || Top||

#5  I swear reading shit like this on a daily basis is causing my alcoholism to grow 10 fold.
Posted by: Chris || 12/15/2022 10:45 Comments || Top||

#6  people who resist public health recommendations might also "neglect basic road safety guidelines."

More statistics wrangling by lazy, dishonest motherfcukers in the service of their establishment. Study indeed.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/15/2022 10:50 Comments || Top||

#7  It's important to remember, the more convoluted and tortured the logic, the more it appeals to a certain class of "intellectual."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/15/2022 10:58 Comments || Top||

#8  The phrase is "died suddenly" not "suddenly dead", get your damn memes right. They don't propagate unless you do them correctly.

Distrust of the government, oh my goodness gracious. Remember how the left were 100% distrustful of the government the moment Trump was in control of it? And then in a 1984-style "we have always been at war with Eurasia" moment they flipped when Biden cheated and seized the White House.
Posted by: Spike the Hairy6811 || 12/15/2022 22:24 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
38[untagged]
7Govt of Iran
4Commies
4al-Shabaab (AQ)
3Hamas
3Islamic State
2Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life,
1Taliban/IEA
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
1Antifa/BLM
1Govt of Syria
1Hezbollah
1Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
1Narcos
1Sublime Porte

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2022-12-15
  DOJ Arrests Sam Bankman-Fried For Running Out Of Bribery Money
Wed 2022-12-14
  Ugandan army says 11 Islamists killed
Tue 2022-12-13
  Ukraine tightens the noose on Putin's armies: 'Saboteurs' destroy bridge in Melitopol choking off key supply route for Russia's troops
Mon 2022-12-12
  Lockerbie bombing suspect in US custody two years after being charged
Sun 2022-12-11
  Mass graves of 800 civilians found in Severodonetsk
Sat 2022-12-10
  Bulgaria will send military aid to Ukraine for the first time
Fri 2022-12-09
  A Russian couple were detained by Mexican law enforcement in Tijuana, Baja California with $587,550 in cash with them
Thu 2022-12-08
  Five electricity substations in Oregon and Washington are attacked just days after two in North Carolina were shot up causing widespread power outages
Wed 2022-12-07
  Iraqi security arrests 11 ISIS terrorists in different governorates
Tue 2022-12-06
  ISIS Families Flee al-Hole In Syria's Hasakah
Mon 2022-12-05
  Suicide bombers in women's veils - ISIS claims Pak embassy attack
Sun 2022-12-04
  California man accused of throwing Molotov cocktail at police
Sat 2022-12-03
  Thread: THE TWITTER FILES
Fri 2022-12-02
  Army kills 40 terrorists in Somalia
Thu 2022-12-01
  3 teens among 15 Iranians facing death penalty over killing of paramilitary officer


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.
3.147.47.59
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (13)    WoT Background (16)    Opinion (10)    Local News (13)    Politix (8)