47.4 F
Chicago
Friday, April 4, 2025
Home Blog Page 2616

Credit Suisse Sues, Files Criminal Complaint, Against Financial Blog “Harshly Critical” Of The Bank

0
Credit Suisse Sues, Files Criminal Complaint, Against Financial Blog “Harshly Critical” Of The Bank

Today in things not to do when you’re not panicking news…

Credit Suisse has reportedly filed a criminal complaint against a financial blog in Zurich, escalating a legal attack the bank has been putting in place over reader comments that were appended to a series of stories the blog ran about the bank earlier this year.

Bloomberg reports that the complaint follows a 265 page civil lawsuit that was filed over the comments, which the bank said “were harshly critical of it and some of its executives”, including the bank’s new CEO Ulrich Koerner. 

The civil claim against the publisher was for 300,000 Swiss francs ($322,000) and demanded the retraction of comments on the blogs. The bank has argued that the blog, Inside Paradeplatz, should have exercised more discretion in picking what comments it allowed to publish. 

Filing a criminal claim now escalates the situation, as a conviction of defamation could result in a fine or up to three years in prison, Bloomberg wrote on Friday.

Credit Suisse would not comment on the complaint and simply told Bloomberg it had “decided to proceed with a legal review of the legality of reader comments and texts. We are taking this step to protect our employees, who are regularly the subject of abusive and disparaging comments on the blog.”

Sure sounds like everything is going just peachy over at Credit Suisse… 

Tyler Durden
Sat, 12/24/2022 – 09:55

Utilities Impose Rolling Blackouts As US Power Grid In Emergency Amid Cold Blast

0
Utilities Impose Rolling Blackouts As US Power Grid In Emergency Amid Cold Blast

Update (1200ET):

Utilities have issued rolling power blackouts across North Carolina and Tennessee this morning. 

News just hit Bloomberg that Tennessee Titans delayed the home game against Houston Texans over power concerns. 

Extreme cold temperatures are pressuring power grids in the eastern half of the US. Rolling blackouts have affected many Americans, some of which have taken to Twitter to complain: 

This is unacceptable. 

*  *  * 

Update (1115ET):

PJM Interconnection’s power generation mix this morning is primarily coal, natural gas, nuclear, and crude oil. So much for unreliable renewables helping out when the regional grid that supplies power to 65 million Americans in 13 states and the District of Columbia is in an emergency. 

It’s time for Americans to realize renewables are unreliable — also, decommissioning fossil fuel power generation in the name of ‘climate change’ is idiotic at this point. 

*  *  * 

The powerful winter storm that battered a large swath of the eastern half of the US has left behind an Arctic chill Saturday morning. A regional power grid with 65 million customers in 13 states and the District of Columbia has declared a rare emergency, over a million people have no power, air travel remains disrupted, and reports of highway accidents are some of the most trending topics this morning. 

Let’s begin with PJM Interconnection, a regional power grid that stretches from Illinois to New Jersey, which declared a Stage 2 emergency late Friday and asked customers to conserve electricity due to the rising risk of grid instability. 

“PJM is asking consumers to reduce their use of electricity, if health permits, between the hours of 4 a.m. on December 24, 2022, and 10 a.m. on December 25, 2022,” PJM wrote in a press release. 

PJM’s request for customers to reduce power comes as the grid manager is trying to prevent a Stage 3 emergency, which would result in rolling blackouts across the 13 states and the District of Columbia. 

“Demand soared more than 9 gigawatts above forecasts Friday evening — much faster and higher than anticipated. That’s the equivalent of about 9 million homes just popping up on the grid on a typical day,” Bloomberg said. 

PJM spokeswoman Susan Buehler told Bloomberg that Stage 2 emergency would “certainly be enough” to avert blackouts across the regional grid because the Arctic blast is only temporary. 

In the Carolinas, Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress, and several other utilities, have asked customers to conserve power due to energy shortfalls. 

Duke wrote in a statement Saturday morning it has “implemented load shedding steps that include interruptions in service.” This means power is being curtailed for some customers to protect the grid from collapse. 

With power grids in an emergency across the eastern half of the US, there are also a million customers without power — most outages are in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Maine. 

Bloomberg said 200 million Americans — around 60% of the country — are under winter weather alerts this morning. 

The Ambient Weather network of weather stations across the US shows much of the country is below freezing this morning. 

And for the third day, travel remains disrupted. FlightAware showed over 1,600 flights within, into, or out of the US were canceled. Another 1,700 were delayed. Most of the disruptions were at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, O’Hare International Airport, and John F. Kennedy International Airport.

And it wasn’t just air travel that experienced troubles. As millions of Americans hit the highways to see loved ones, there were numerous reports of massive pileup crashes. One of the most spoken about this morning is the 46-car pileup on the Ohio Turnpike.  

The good news is the unbearable cold blast will begin to dissipate next week. Average temperatures across the Lower 48 will jump from 24 degrees Fahrenheit to over 50 degrees by January 1. 

Hoping for a White Christmas? 

There’s not one peep from climate alarmists about the cold blast after they spewed nonsense this past summer about the world imminently burning. ‘Trust the science,’ they say… 

Guess what’s trending on Twitter this morning. 

Tyler Durden
Sat, 12/24/2022 – 09:20

British Woman Arrested For Silently Praying Near Abortion Clinic

0
British Woman Arrested For Silently Praying Near Abortion Clinic

Americans tend to believe that freedom of speech is a value represented across all of western culture from the US to Europe to Australia and beyond.  However, this is simply not the case.  While there have been numerous attempts to degrade the 1st Amendment in America, being arrested outright by police for your thoughts alone is not a low we have sunk to yet.  In the UK and through most of Europe it’s a different story.

UK laws designed to prevent the obstruction of businesses have opened the door to policies called Public Space Protection Orders, which create a “buffer zone” around certain areas or buildings and prohibit activities that, in the words of UK authorities, foster “anti-social behavior.”  Yes, this is as Orwellian as one could imagine, but it gets even worse. 

In October, a PSPO was declared around an abortion facility in Bournemouth, U.K. A picture of a sign, obtained by ChristianConcern.com, outlined where a number of activities were banned. Among them were “prayer or counseling” as well as “holding vigils where members audibly pray, recite scripture, genuflect, sprinkle holy water on the ground or cross themselves if they perceive a service-users is passing by.”  These activities do not obstruct the operations of the clinic in question, but they do make pro-abortion advocates angry. 

In other words, the neighborhoods around abortion clinics are now consecrated ground where even private thoughts against the establishment’s practices are illegal.  If the simple presence of Christians near the building makes people uncomfortable, then they have broken the law and can be arrested.  It sounds ridiculous, but here is the proof:

A pro-life woman was arrested earlier this month for silently praying outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham, U.K. on the grounds that she had breached a speech buffer zone established by the local city council.  Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was subsequently charged with four counts of failing to comply with a Public Space Protection Order.

The greater threat inherent in these kinds of laws is that they can be broadly interpreted and are often broadly applied over time.  A PSPO might apply to one building this year, and next year it could apply to an entire city, or the entire country.  Once a government is given the power to arbitrate “anti-social behavior” and punish citizens for something as subjective ideas that offend other citizens, that society is now on the fast track to full blown tyranny.  The government is no longer a protector of rights and is now an oppressor of liberties. 

It would appear that the UK, in legal terms, is utterly lost.  

Tyler Durden
Sat, 12/24/2022 – 08:45

First African Nation Jumps On The ‘Arm Ukraine’ Bandwagon With Sale Of Over 100 Tanks

0
First African Nation Jumps On The ‘Arm Ukraine’ Bandwagon With Sale Of Over 100 Tanks

Authored by Kyle Anzalone & Will Porter via The Libertarian Institute,

The United States and the Netherlands are set to buy dozens of T-72 tanks from Morocco and then forward the weapons on to Ukraine, in a deal negotiated in secret between Washington and Rabat. Notably, the move marks a deviation from Morocco’s neutral stance toward the conflict with Russia.

Under the agreement, the US and the Netherlands will buy 90 T-72B Main Battle Tanks for $95 million, and there is an option to add 30 tanks to the sale next year. Rabat will provide spare parts, and the tanks will be upgraded by Excalibur, a Czech military contractor. 

T-72M1 tanks donated to Ukraine by Poland and Czech Republic, via General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Though Morocco owns the vehicles, at least some are already undergoing upgrades in the Czech Republic. The first five tanks will be sent out next week, while Excalibur plans to ship 18 T-72s by the end of the year, according to the company’s commercial director Richard Kubena.

The Czech Ministry of Defense confirmed the sale in a statement, saying “the final customer has satisfied the request of the above-mentioned countries and considers the agreement reached on the transfer of tanks (in exchange for other equipment) as assistance to the government of Ukraine.”

Morocco will become the first African nation to provide weapons to Kiev, but was previously hesitant to support any side in the Russo-Ukrainian war. In March, Rabat abstained from a UN vote that condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

According to reports by Military Africa and the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), the United States played a key role in facilitating the T-72 agreement, though Rabat has yet to confirm the transfer. 

Morocco buys 91% of its arms from American suppliers, and Washington is a key backer of Rabat’s claim over Western Sahara – where some 500,000 people currently live under Moroccan military occupation. 

Morocco’s claim to the disputed region has caused friction with its neighbor, Algeria. Rabat believes Algiers has strengthened ties with Moscow in recent months, and reportedly agreed to sell tanks bound for Ukraine as a way to spite Russia.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 12/24/2022 – 08:10

‘Drunk’ Santas Driving Tank To UK Pub Cause Chaos

0
‘Drunk’ Santas Driving Tank To UK Pub Cause Chaos

A group of ‘drunk’ Santas tried to navigate a large tank through a tiny Cornish village and got stuck, blocking street access to residents and festive revelers. 

Local English newspaper The Cornishman said the tank got stuck in a narrow street of Angarrack in Cornwall, and residents fumed at the drunken Santas for their lousy driving of a vintage armored personnel carrier. 

One traffic warden can be heard telling them off and insisting they can go no further. “You cannot come in with your tank. There are cars parked there,” she told the Santa tank driver, pointing towards the centre of the village. “You are not going to get through.”

One of the Santas – not the driver – tries to argue but is visibly too drunk, while the driver then argues with the traffic warden about being allowed into the village. There has been no suggestion that the driver had been drinking.

Devon and Cornwall Police have confirmed they attended the scene. Some people who had tried to go to Angarrack to enjoy the village’s amazing Christmas lights took to social media either seeing the funny side or to complain at the chaos the Santas and their tank caused.

One woman said: “Well that was eventful. An army tank, yes an actual Army tank, driven by several inebriated Santas trying to get to the pub in Angarrack who got stuck on the way.”

Another woman said: “I have seen it all now. A tank being driven by several Santas tried to drive into Angarrack, got wedged and blocked the entrance to the village.”

The tank full of drunk Santas was also spotted earlier in the day driving around town. 

By Thursday night, people on Twitter posted videos of the stuck tank blocking traffic to the village’s entrance.

One person said, “Come on Santa you can get a tank through there!” 

Another said: “A wonderful evening down at Mousehole to see the fantastic lights! Shame we couldn’t carry on to Angarrack as the road was closed due a stuck tank!!” 

Tyler Durden
Sat, 12/24/2022 – 07:35

Escobar: Rest In Peace JCPOA

0
Escobar: Rest In Peace JCPOA

Authored by Pepe Escobar via PressTV,

The Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is now, for all practical purposes, dead. Just like in the legendary Dead Parrot sketch  by Monty Python, this deal is no more. It has gone to meet its maker. This is a former deal.

The undertaker, significantly, was none other than the senile character currently impersonating the “leader of the free world”.

His name may be Joe Biden, but “Biden” is in fact a combo in the background dictating every line of the script the Crash Test Dummy in question haltingly tries to deliver, either mimicking the words whispered to his earpiece or struggling to read a teleprompter.

A new video, shot in early November, surfaced earlier this week where “Biden” says the JCPOA deal is dead. “But we’re not going to announce it. Long story.”    

The long story it is. When he was relatively less senile, on his campaign trail over two years ago, “Biden” promised that Washington would rejoin the JCPOA, which was unilaterally torn apart by his predecessor Donald Trump in 2018.

After he arrived at the White House, “Biden” – actually his handlers – appointed Robert Malley as special envoy to Iran, tasked to oversee the whole process, including discussions towards a renewed JCPOA.

Malley played the spoiler role to perfection. The sanctions obsession prevailed over any serious attempt to revive the JCPOA. 

In parallel, what former CIA analyst Ray McGovern has memorably defined as MICIMATT – the military-industrial-Congressional-intelligence-media-academia-think tank complex – revved up the blame game on Iran 24/7, now guilty because of a “hardline new president” incapable of “constructive dialogue with the West”. 

The original JCPOA clinched in Vienna in 2015 – I followed most of the process live – was very convenient at the time for the then-Barack Obama administration, the so-called EU3 (France, UK and Germany) and even Russia and China.

Obama believed that a deal would lead Tehran to be more amenable toward Washington.

Now the geopolitical chessboard has completely changed. The European Union plus the Brexiters have been reduced to an outsize satrapy of the American Empire.

The Russia-China strategic partnership is considered by the Americans as an existential threat. And Iran on top of it has been admitted as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). 

So there’s no incentive whatsoever for the Straussians/neo-cons and neoliberalcons who control Washington’s foreign policy to revive the JCPOA.   

The waltz of the EU satraps

The JCPOA was essentially a clone of the Minsk agreement: the Empire just playing for time before coming up with renewed mischief. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel herself has revealed, on the record, that Minsk was nothing but a gigantic farce. 

Tehran though never fell into the trap. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, a smart geopolitical strategist, saw through it from the start: never trust the Americans.

He intuitively knew that whoever succeeded Obama – Hawkish Hillary or, as it happened, Trump – in the end, would not respect what was signed, and ratified by the United Nations.

As for the European satraps, they didn’t even make an effort to implement sanctions relief towards Iran via the INSTEX mechanism after Trump tore up the deal.

The unspoken mantra was to keep Iran down. It was as if this collective West combo was just waiting for the next color revolution bonanza – which in the end happened, too little, too late, a few months ago.  

If “Biden” handlers were really interested from the start in reviving the JCPOA, the straightforward path would have been to ditch the sanctions and go for it.

Instead, what happened was Malley and others demanding more concessions and turning sanctions relief into a mirage. The negotiations in Vienna this year reached a dead end. 

When the E3 countries came up with a draft agreement presented to the Iranian negotiators in Vienna, they made a few “reasonable” (EU terminology) changes and sent the package back to the Europeans, who submitted it to the Americans.

The changes were deemed “not constructive”. Dead end – all over again.

So “maximum pressure”, that Trump thing, but slightly less blunt, continued to dictate the proceedings under “Biden’s” handlers. Yet Tehran didn’t fold and diplomatically always insisted it was ready for a deal.

Malley himself had already hinted, nearly two months ago, that the revival of the deal was not a priority anymore; a new attempt at color revolution was the new game in town.

Hence the Blame Tehran Game reaching a fever pitch all over again: they are killing protesters in the streets, they are feeding weapons to Russia in Ukraine, and they want to build a nuclear bomb.  

At least now it’s in the open: the only thing that matters for US intel –and for the MICIMATT – is to facilitate attacks on Iranian security by their Kurd and Baloch assets, and to bribe as many “protesters” (read rioters) as possible to go Full-Color Revolution. 

The Empire of No Deals

Everyone analyzing West Asia with an IQ above room temperature knows that Iran’s “nuclear weapon program” is a gigantic farce – a massive propaganda campaign developed for decades by the usual suspects.

What really matters for Tehran is to increase its civilian nuclear capabilities. And that’s what’s already happening.

Iranian capacity for uranium enrichment is now twice as high as the total volume produced since the onset of its nuclear industry. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) just announced it’s enriching uranium at a historic 60 percent rate, using new advanced centrifuges – and will not wait for the resumption of negotiations in Vienna.

The leadership in Tehran has fully grasped the future is in Eurasia – from fully joining the SCO to becoming a member of BRICS+ perhaps as early as next year. Interlocking strategic partnerships with BRICS members Russia, China and India are in progress.

Iran is involved in the drive towards multipolarity across the spectrum. The latest example is Russia’s second-largest bank, VTB – sanctioned by the collective West – launching a new money transfer service to Iranian individuals and businesses, bypassing the US dollar.  

Nobody will miss the JCPOA. What matters in fact in this long-running saga is the valuable lesson learned by the whole Global South: it’s now blatantly clear the decaying Empire is non-agreement capable, and an eminently untrustworthy entit

Tyler Durden
Sat, 12/24/2022 – 07:00

Anything Mao Can Do I Can Do Better: Xi Jinping

0
Anything Mao Can Do I Can Do Better: Xi Jinping

Authored by Stu Cvrk via The Epoch Times,

For months, China watchers have been focused like laser beams on the Taiwan Strait, with much speculation on whether and when communist China will attempt a cross-Strait invasion to “absorb” Taiwan by force into the “People’s Republic.”

That speculation became a fever pitch due to two events: Nancy Pelosi’s 19-hour visit to Taipei back in July and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s triumphant report to the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress in October.

The first event led to a surge in People’s Liberation Army (PLA) intimidation of Taiwan, while the second reemphasized “unification” as “a natural requirement for realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” to be achieved by the hundred-year anniversary of the founding of the Chinese communist dictatorship.

Will Xi pull the trigger, or won’t he? And when might that happen? Within the next year or perhaps by 2027? The opinions are all over the map.

Xi elevated himself to Mao Zedong-level status by receiving an unprecedented third five-year term as general secretary of the CCP and chairman of the Central Military Commission. The 20th Congress was a complete triumph for Xi: the constitution was modified to essentially allow him to be “emperor for life,” his allies filled all important positions in the new Standing Politburo, and former leader Hu Jintao was humiliated and frog-marched out of the plenary session by Xi’s thugs.

Furthermore, the Congress did not designate a successor to Xi. And the cult of Xi is advanced daily by state-run Chinese media in the same way they propagandized that Mao could do no wrong during his cruel reign.

Xi’s rhetoric about “peaceful unification with Taiwan” is meaningless, as reunification will be accomplished at the end of the PLA’s bayonets unless Taiwan and its allies surrender. With the continued modernization and growth of the PLA and PLA Navy, Taiwan watchers are rightfully concerned that Xi has completely consolidated political power and has the means and will to use the Chinese military to achieve his stated goals, including “reunification.”

And Xi is not afraid to use authoritarian methods to achieve his goals, as the last 10 years have shown: reeducation camps in Xinjiang, increased persecution of minority populations and religious groups, arbitrary and brutal zero-COVID lockdowns, and outright genocide against Uyghurs and others, including Tibetans.

Speaking of Tibet, could territorial gains in South China be a more immediate goal for Xi than the absorption of Taiwan?

After all, PLA ground forces have a record of success in capturing and occupying territory. In contrast, the PLA Navy is untested and faces logistics hurdles in supporting and sustaining a cross-Strait invasion.

China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning takes part in a military drill of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in the western Pacific Ocean on April 18, 2018. (Reuters)

Mao left some unfinished business after the PLA invaded Tibet in 1949. After defeating the small Tibetan army and occupying the country, the communists imposed the sham “17-Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet” on the Tibetan government in 1951. The communists annexed Tibet and began the genocide and pacification efforts that continue today, including torture, suppression of Tibetan culture, forced imprisonment and “reeducation,” and other brutality. Over a million Tibetans perished, and more than 6,000 monasteries were looted and razed as the CCP systematically destroyed Tibet’s ancient Buddhist civilization. The Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers subsequently fled to India in 1959 and established a government in exile.

Five Fingers Policy

The Chinese communists’ actions in Tibet were part of a long-expressed foreign policy developed by Mao during the 1940s—the so-called “Five Fingers Policy.” The essence of the policy is this: “While Tibet was the right hand of China, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Ladakh were its ‘five fingers’ of its periphery and that it was China’s duty to ‘liberate’ these areas,” according to India-based education tech company Byju’s. Never mind the wishes and dreams of the peaceful inhabitants of these areas!

The policy, of course, was nothing but a bald-faced characterization of communist China’s expansionist goals in the region, which could only be achieved at the expense of India—the Seven Sister States of northeast India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura), Sikkim, the Siliguri Corridor, Utter Pradesh, and the western states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. Previously quasi-independent, Sikkim joined the rest of India as a state in 1975—probably as much in fear of the Chinese communists as anything. These are all on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), a disputed demarcation that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.

Chinese soldiers are pictured at the Nathu La Pass area at the India-China border in the north-eastern Indian state of Sikkim in August 2003. The two sides had a minor face-off at another pass called the Naku La on Jan. 20, 2021, according to the Indian army. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

The PLA and the Indian Army have crossed swords in various military skirmishes and a border war in 1962 over LAC disputes. Here are some of those confrontations:

  • The 1962 Sino-Indian Border War, which killed 8,000 Indians and 2,000 Chinese, resulted in the establishment of a 12-mile-wide demilitarized zone along the LAC.

  • Nathu La and Cho La skirmishes near Sikkim in 1967 over India’s construction of an iron fence to prevent Chinese incursions.

  • The Tulung La Incident in 1975 along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh.

  • The Sumdorong Chu Valley standoff in 1987 after India granted statehood to Arunachal Pradesh (claimed by China as “South Tibet”).

  • The Daulat Beg Oldi and Chumar standoffs in 2013 over the construction of various structures and encampments.

  • The Demchok standoff in 2014 over reciprocal claims of “illegal construction” in disputed areas.

  • The Burtse incident in 2015 in which India destroyed a watchtower that was “too close” to the mutually agreed-upon patrolling lane.

  • The Doklam standoff in 2017 after China began building a road through southern Bhutan that threatened the Siliguri Corridor.

  • The Sino-Indian skirmishes in 2020 near Pangong Tso Lake and the Galwan Valley in Ladakh. Beijing subsequently asserted sovereignty over the entire Galwan Valley, representing a significant change to the status quo in the western part of the LAC. During this incident, “dozens of Indian and Chinese soldiers died beating each other with sticks, clubs, and other rudimentary weapons,” Breitbart reported.

  • The 2022 standoff in Arunachal Pradesh state over a Chinese village.

And now there have been multiple reports of Indian and Chinese troops clashing on the border at the Tawang sector in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh on Dec. 9. “PLA troops crossed the LAC in the Tawang sector, which was contested by [India’s] own troops in a firm and resolute manner. This face-off led to minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides,” according to an Indian army spokesman.

An Indian army convoy moves on the Srinagar-Ladakh highway at Gagangeer, northeast of Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, on Sept. 9, 2020. (Dar Yasin/AP Photo)

While Mao’s “Five Fingers Policy” seemed to have died with him—as there have been no public utterances of it by subsequent Chinese leaders and diplomats since Mao’s passing—it is entirely possible that Xi has resurrected the policy, given that the preponderance of China-India skirmishes along the LAC has occurred during his tenure (and seem to be accelerating in frequency).

Concluding Thoughts

Xi has elevated himself to the stature of Mao, at least on the political level. To transcend Mao in the eyes of the CCP cadre and the Chinese people, in general, may be his ultimate personal goal. Mao left two major policies unfulfilled: the annexation of the Five Fingers and unification with Taiwan. To achieve either or both would cement Xi’s claim to be at least the equal of Mao by finishing what the Great Helmsman himself could not do.

Xi claims to have read various Western authors, including Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Faust), Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, and Victor Hugo, according to CCP mouthpiece People’s Daily. Such claims undoubtedly help cement the cult of Xi in the minds of many.

Has the apparently well-read Xi partaken of any books from ancient Greece? If so, perhaps he understands the concept of the alpha and the omega—the beginning and the end. God-willing, Mao was the alpha of the Chinese communist regime, and Xi is the omega.

Keep your eyes on Tibet and India’s Seven Sisters in the meantime.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/23/2022 – 23:55

Putin References Ukraine “War” For 1st Time, In Response To Zelensky’s D.C. Visit

0
Putin References Ukraine “War” For 1st Time, In Response To Zelensky’s D.C. Visit

This perhaps marks the biggest signal thus far over more than 10 months of fighting that the Ukraine conflict could grind on for years… 

Russian President Vladimir Putin called his “special military operation” in Ukraine a “war” for the first time since he launched a full-scale invasion into Russia’s neighbor nearly 10 months ago.

Putin said at a Thursday televised news conference: “Our goal is not to spin this flywheel of a military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” adding that “This is what we are striving for.” The words came as the Kremlin is still reacting to Zelensky’s Wednesday speech wherein he pressed US lawmakers to authorize tanks, warplanes, and longer-range missiles while talking up future “victory”.

Getty Images

The Russian president as well as all his top officials, including state media pundits, have until now been very careful in using the officially sanctioned language of “special military operation” in describing the Ukraine invasion which began on Feb.24.

All the way back in April, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told Congress that he expects the conflict to take “years”

“It’s a bit early, still. Even though we’re a month-plus into the war, there is much of the ground war left in Ukraine,” he added. “But I do think this is a very protracted conflict, and I think it’s at least measured in years. I don’t know about a decade, but at least years for sure.”

“This is a very extended conflict that Russia has initiated,” Milley went on, “and I think that NATO, the United States, Ukraine and all of the allies and partners that are supporting Ukraine are going to be involved in this for quite some time.”

This week US national security spokesman John Kirby asserted that Putin is “obviously not interested in diplomacy right now.”

“Quite the contrary,” Kirby said. “He’s interested in killing more civilian Ukrainians and knocking out the lights and knocking out the heat as the winter approaches,” he alleged.

It should also be noted that Putin’s unprecedented word choice of “war” came the day after Ukrainian President Zelensky visited Washington and met with President Biden, and gave an address before Congress, wherein he pledged “absolute victory”

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/23/2022 – 23:30

Scientists Develop Gelatinous Robots To Crawl Through Human Body To Deliver Medical Payloads, Diagnose Illnesses

0
Scientists Develop Gelatinous Robots To Crawl Through Human Body To Deliver Medical Payloads, Diagnose Illnesses

Authored by Bryan Jung via The Epoch Times,

Scientists have developed miniature gelatinous robots that can crawl through the human body to deliver medicine or diagnose illnesses.

The “gelbot” is powered by little more than temperature changes, and its innovative design, which resembles an inchworm, is one of the most promising concepts in the field of soft roboticsaccording to Jill Rosen of John Hopkins University.

“It seems very simplistic, but this is an object moving without batteries, without wiring, without an external power supply of any kind—just on the swelling and shrinking of gel,” said David Gracias, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and a senior project leader.

“Our study shows how the manipulation of shape, dimensions, and patterning of gels can tune morphology to embody a kind of intelligence for locomotion.”

The 3D-printed robot, which is made out of gelatin, is intended to replace pills or intravenous injections, which could cause problematic side effects.

The prototype was announced in the journal Science Robotics, on Dec. 14.

Gelbot May Revolutionize Medicine in the 21st Century

Compared to most robots that are made out of hard materials like metals or plastics, the revolutionary “gelbot”consists an innovative water-based gel which feels like a gummy bear, making it more suitable for its task.

The team at John Hopkins said that the gels can “swell or shrink” in response to temperature, in order to be used to “create smart structures,” and they were able to demonstrate how they could move the jelly-like robots forward and backward on flat surfaces and maneuver them in certain directions, with an undulating, wave-like motion.

Gracias envisions the medical devices crawling through a patient’s body to deliver medication to a tumor, blood clot, or an infection directly, while not disturbing healthy tissue.

Unlike swallowed tablets or injected liquids, which have a time delayed effect, the tiny robot could hold back a dose of medicine and then immediately inject it when it reaches its target.

The researchers foresee the “gelbot” revolutionizing how doctors examine their patients by working as minimally invasive devices to assist with diagnoses and treatments.

Gracias is also planning to program the robots to crawl in response to variations in human biomarkers and biochemicals and test other worm and marine organism-inspired designs, along with the addition of cameras and sensors to their bodies.

He further plans to use the “gelbot” for other purposes such as marine exploration, or to patrol and monitor the ocean’s surface to fight maritime pollution.

Other Research Teams Are Working on Similar Robotic Designs

The team at John Hopkins are not the only ones looking to come up with a miniature medical robot device.

Two and a half years ago, researchers at Cornell University announced a project to develop tiny microscopic machines with legs that could move inside a patient to deliver drugs or assist with diagnoses like the “gelbot.”

This design, utilizing a mini-computer, was able to move via laser impulses and was small enough to live next to microorganisms that already lived inside a human body.

“The new robots are about 5 microns thick (a micron is one-millionth of a meter), 40 microns wide, and range from 40 to 70 microns in length,” said the Cornell report.

“Each bot consists of a simple circuit made from silicon photovoltaics—which essentially functions as the torso and brain—and four electrochemical actuators that function as legs.”

Meanwhile, another team at Stanford University earlier this year revealed a “Transformers-style robot” inspired by Japanese origami, the New York Post reported.

The “millibot,”much like the “gelbot,” is designed to carry medical payloads directly to a tumor, blood clot, or infection to dispense drugs or investigate a patient’s inner workings, said Dr. Ruike Zhao, one of the project’s co-leaders.

Zhao claims that the “spinning-enabled wireless amphibious origami millirobot” is “the most robust and multifunctional robot we have ever developed,”  and that it “has broad potential application in the biomedical field.”

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/23/2022 – 23:05

Christmas Comes Early For 1 In 5 American Families

0
Christmas Comes Early For 1 In 5 American Families

Christmas traditions vary greatly across the world.

As Statista’s Felix Richter notes, while some countries hold the main celebration on Christmas Eve, others wait until Christmas Day to get festive and, most importantly at least to kids, to open presents.

In the United States, most families unwrap their gifts on Christmas Day, with the majority not waiting until breakfast to get cracking or unpacking.

Infographic: Christmas Comes Early for 1 in 5 American Families | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

According to data from Statista’s Global Consumer Survey, Santa comes early to 1 in 5 families, however, as 18 percent of respondents said they open presents on Christmas Eve in their household.

None of which makes sense since everyone knows Santa does not actually drop off his haul at your house until after you’re asleep on Christmas Eve!

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/23/2022 – 22:40