Non-IT News Thread
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President Biden cancels funding for Trump border wall
US President Joe Biden has rescinded the national emergency order used to fund Donald Trump's border wall.
In a letter to Congress on Thursday, Mr Biden wrote that the order was "unwarranted" and said that no further tax dollars will be spent on the wall. Mr Trump declared a state of emergency over the southern border in 2019, which allowed him to bypass Congress and use military funds for its construction. When Mr Trump left office, about $25bn (£18bn) had been spent on the project. The announcement from President Biden is the latest in a series of executive orders that have rolled back key parts of the former president's agenda. Last week, Mr Biden signed orders seeking to reunite migrant families split up by Trump-era policies, and ordered a probe of his predecessor's immigration agenda. -
@Obsolesce said in Non-IT News Thread:
@dbeato said in Non-IT News Thread:
@Obsolesce Why is it that we need to talk like we are know it all? it is so pedantic.
That isn't knowing more than anyone whose been familiar with IT the last decade+. I cant ever remember a time where checking the firewall wasn't part of the basic troubleshooting steps. It was just surprising that he pretended to have basis for the thought based on a blip like 20 years ago.
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Russia warns EU it could cut ties over sanctions
Russia is ready to sever ties with the EU if the bloc imposes new, economically painful sanctions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says.
The EU has raised the prospect of further sanctions amid a row over the treatment of the jailed Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. When an interviewer asked if Russia was heading for a "break" with the EU, Mr Lavrov said "we're ready for that". "If you want peace, prepare for war," he said. He said a break in ties could be triggered by EU sanctions that "create risks for our economy, including in the most sensitive areas". "We don't want to isolate ourselves from world affairs, but we have to be prepared for that." He was speaking on the Russian YouTube channel Solovyov Live. -
US snow: Winter storm tightens grip in southern states
Authorities across the US are on alert as a winter storm brings freezing winds, ice and snow to many areas that rarely see such frigid conditions.
President Joe Biden has approved a state of emergency in Texas where a surge in demand for electricity has led to widespread power cuts. The National Weather Service (NWS) said more than 150 million Americans were now under winter storm warnings. Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Oregon and Oklahoma are among states affected. The freezing storm even reached northern parts of Mexico where more than four million homes and businesses lost power early on Monday. -
Covid-19: World's first human trials given green light in UK
Healthy, young volunteers will be infected with coronavirus to test vaccines and treatments in the world's first Covid-19 "human challenge" study, which will take place in the UK.
The study, which has received ethics approval, will start in the next few weeks and recruit 90 people aged 18-30. They will be exposed to the virus in a safe and controlled environment while medics monitor their health. The UK has given doses of a Covid vaccine to more than 15 million people. Human challenge studies have played a vital role in pushing the development of treatments for a number of diseases, including malaria, typhoid, cholera and flu. The trials will help scientists work out the smallest amount of coronavirus needed to cause infection, and how the body's immune system reacts to it. This will give doctors a better understanding of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, which will feed into the development of vaccines and treatments. -
Nasa's Perseverance rover lands on Mars
There's a new robot on the surface of Mars.
The American space agency has successfully landed its Perseverance rover in a deep crater near the planet's equator called Jezero. Engineers at Nasa's mission control in California erupted with joy when confirmation of touchdown came through. The six-wheeled vehicle will now spend at least the next two years drilling into the local rocks, looking for evidence of past life. Jezero is thought to have held a giant lake billions of years ago. And where there's been water, there's the possibility there might also have been life. -
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@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
In recent months, Ortega’s government has proposed, passed and implemented a number of laws making it more difficult for nongovernmental organizations to operate.
yeah, that seems like a good place to work... but we also know that Scott likes the idea of Dictators (benevolent ones I would assume).
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Texas weather: President Biden declares major disaster
President Joe Biden has declared a major disaster in Texas, clearing the way for more federal funds to be spent on relief efforts in the US state.
Power is returning across Texas and temperatures are set to rise but some 13 million people are still facing difficulties accessing clean water. Mr Biden has said he will visit Texas as long as his presence is not a burden on relief efforts. Nearly 60 deaths have been attributed to cold weather across the US. In a statement released by the White House, President Biden said he had "ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe winter storms". "Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programmes to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster," the statement said. Mr Biden has been in touch with the mayors of some of Texas' biggest cities, such as Houston, Austin and Dallas, to ensure they have access to government resources, an administration official said. -
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https://nypost.com/2021/02/20/johns-hopkins-expert-says-covid-19-pandemic-could-end-by-april/
Johns Hopkins "expert" says pandemic might be over in April.
Of course, another Johns Hopkins expert professor and surgeon says the Egyptian pyramids are grain storage systems.
So "expert" means something very different there than in other situations.
Maybe their "experts" are doing heroin with the Columbia faculty.
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Security officials testify Capitol rioters 'came prepared for war'
US Capitol security officials who were ousted in the wake of the 6 January attack on Congress have blamed intelligence failures for the breach.
Testifying to a Senate committee, the officials said that the rioters "came prepared for war" with weapons, radios and climbing gear. Ex-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said he had prepared for a protest, not "a military-style coordinated assault". Four people died after pro-Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol. Three of the four officials testifying on Tuesday to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee resigned in the immediate wake of the attack, in which one Capitol Police officer was killed. -
And the award for bad ass actress goes to...
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@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
https://nypost.com/2021/02/20/johns-hopkins-expert-says-covid-19-pandemic-could-end-by-april/
Johns Hopkins "expert" says pandemic might be over in April.
Of course, another Johns Hopkins expert professor and surgeon says the Egyptian pyramids are grain storage systems.
So "expert" means something very different there than in other situations.
Maybe their "experts" are doing heroin with the Columbia faculty.
LOL - probably....
April - puah....
What we don't know, can't really know without mandatory testing and billions of dollars - is how many people actually have had it.
I know a few people who say they had it - yet they never got tested, they just assumed so due to symptoms and quarantined...
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@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
I know a few people who say they had it - yet they never got tested, they just assumed so due to symptoms and quarantined...
I'm fine with this, keep your germs to yourself (I know I don't want to be sick)
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@DustinB3403 said in Non-IT News Thread:
@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
I know a few people who say they had it - yet they never got tested, they just assumed so due to symptoms and quarantined...
I'm fine with this, keep your germs to yourself (I know I don't want to be sick)
It will be interesting to see how the next few years go during cold/flu season.
In the past, most people I know just worked through those things, and I'm sure eventually they will yet again, but in the short term, I'm guessing employers will require them to leave if they have visible symptoms.
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Johnson and Johnson vaccine: FDA finds the single-shot jab safe
A review by US regulators of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine has found it is safe and effective.
It paves the way for it to become the third Covid-19 vaccine to be authorised in the US, possibly within days. The vaccine would be a cost-effective alternative to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and can be stored in a refrigerator instead of a freezer. Results from trials were released by Johnson & Johnson last month. The Belgian company Janssen, which is owned by the pharmaceutical giant, said its data showed the product was highly effective against severe disease. It comes as Ghana became the first country to receive coronavirus vaccines through the Covax vaccine-sharing initiative. -
Jamal Khashoggi: Biden raises human rights in call with Saudi king
US President Joe Biden has talked by phone with King Salman of Saudi Arabia as he seeks to put relations with America's old ally on a new footing.
He "affirmed the importance" the US "places on universal human rights and the rule of law", the White House says. Mr Biden made the call after reading a forthcoming US report into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The report, due to be released shortly, is expected to implicate the king's son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Mr Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, pursued closer ties with Saudi Arabia. -
US suspends tariffs on single malt Scotch whisky
The US has agreed to suspend tariffs on UK goods including single malt whiskies that were imposed in retaliation over subsidies to the aircraft maker Airbus.
Tariffs will also be lifted on UK cheese, cashmere and machinery. The duties will be suspended for four months while the two sides seek a long-term settlement. On 1 January, the UK dropped its own tariffs on some US goods, put in place over a related dispute about US subsidies to Boeing. It is the latest twist in a decades-old trade row that has seen the EU and the US target billions of dollars worth of each other's exports with taxes. The UK is part of the dispute as a former EU member. Airbus makes wings and other parts in the UK, but assembles its commercial aircraft in the EU.
