Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“NASA has fixed a problem with malfunctioning equipment on a new rocket designed to take astronauts to the Moon. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been preparing the giant Space Launch System (SLS) for its maiden flight, set for March. Last month, it identified a glitch with an onboard engine controller. But the component has now been replaced and all four engine controllers performed well in tests last week. They act as the ‘brains’ for each of the powerful RS-25 engines, which help propel the SLS into orbit, communicating with the rocket to provide precision control of the engine and diagnose any problems. At the end of last year, some electronics on the controller for engine four failed to power up consistently during a test.” (01/17/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60021533
Source: Antiwar.com
by Doug Bandow
“Washington spent two decades at war in Afghanistan. America’s troops are home, but US policy continues to punish the Afghan people. Millions could starve this winter. The Biden administration should make peace with the Taliban. Washington should restore diplomatic relations, negotiate a working relationship with the new regime, and allow Kabul access to what is the Afghan people’s money.” (01/17/22)
https://original.antiwar.com/doug-bandow/2022/01/16/us-should-stop-starving-the-afghan-people-negotiate-with-kabul-and-release-frozen-funds/
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“I’ve been kicking around some ideas for a dystopian novel lately, and I was hoping readers might be able to provide me with some feedback. I’m picturing a story set in a world where everyone’s a slave but doesn’t know it. People think thoughts they believe they came up with themselves, make decisions and lifestyle choices that they think are their own, buy things they sincerely believe they want, consume entertainment they honestly feel they enjoy, vote for political candidates they truly think they support, when in reality they’re all marching in complete obedience to an elite ruling class whose high-level mastery of mass-scale psychological manipulation has bent the public to their will..” (01/17/22)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/01/17/ideas-for-a-dystopian-novel/
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Three people were killed in a suspected drone attack that set off a blast and a fire in Abu Dhabi on Monday, officials said, as Yemen’s rebels [sic] announced military operations in the United Arab Emirates. Two Indians and a Pakistani died as three petrol tanks exploded near the storage facility of oil giant ADNOC, while a fire ignited in a construction area at Abu Dhabi airport. … Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi [sic] rebels did not claim the attacks. But the Huthis’ military spokesman announced a ‘military operation’ in the UAE, a partner in Yemen’s pro-government coalition, in what would be a major escalation in the seven-year war. … Drone attacks are a hallmark of the Huthis’ assaults on Saudi Arabia, the UAE ally which is leading the [invasion force attempting to install a puppet] government in a grinding civil [sic] war.” (01/17/22)
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20220117-three-people-killed-in-suspected-drone-attack-in-abu-dhabi
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Breaking Down SCOTUS’s Vax Mandate Ruling guest Patrick MacFarlane.” [various formats] (01/16/22)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-217-breaking-down-scotuss-vax-mandate-ruling-guest-patrick-macfarlane/
Source: spiked
by Tom Slater
“So the Novak Djokovic saga Down Under has come to its grubby close, with the tennis champion deported from Australia as thousands gleefully tracked his flight online. Djokovic will no longer play in the Australian Open, which he has won an unprecedented nine times …. Djokovic’s fate was sealed when a judge rejected his last-minute challenge to Australian immigration minister Alex Hawke’s decision to strip him of his visa. … Hawke cited Djokovic’s opposition to Covid vaccinations, arguing that his presence risked boosting anti-vax sentiment. What began as a row over the exemption Djokovic procured to Australian vaccine mandates … quickly turned into something altogether more sinister. In the end, he was deported because of what he thinks, his mere presence in Australia apparently deemed too dangerous to go on a moment longer.” (01/16/22)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/01/16/novak-djokovic-thoughtcriminal/
Source: Politico
“Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is negotiating a plea deal in his corruption case, a person involved in the talks said Sunday. The deal, which could be signed as early as this week, could usher Netanyahu off the Israeli political stage for years, paving the way for a leadership race in his Likud party and shaking up Israeli politics. Any deal could spare Netanyahu an embarrassing and protracted trial over an issue that has gripped the nation and risks tarnishing his legacy. Reports of a deal angered critics who said a it would undermine the rule of law. … Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. The former premier, now opposition leader, denies wrongdoing.” (01/16/22)
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/16/netanyahu-israel-plea-deal-corruption-527198
Source: EconLog
by Bryan Caplan
“A commenter to one of my recent posts blamed me forcefully for suggesting that wokism and fascism ‘are not so different anyway.’ The kinship between wokism and socialism on the one hand and fascism on the other is often blurred by the fact that they cater to different beneficiaries and pursues different victims; but they demonstrate the same ignorance of economics, the same preference for coercive collective choices, the same hatred for anything that looks like classical liberalism or libertarianism, and, in practice if not in theory, the same attraction for political power. … Labels are only labels, but it is often useful to realize that different phenomena with different names share some common denominators. Sometimes and despite political propaganda, they can be seen as different shades of the same color.” (01/14/22)
https://www.econlib.org/different-shades-of-red/
Source: Free Talk Live
“Sheep in the shape of a syringe :: Russian feminist activist artist on trial for porn :: Inflation and the Federal Reserve :: Communist red light cameras :: Midwifery bill bad :: A Drive-Thru Window Saved His Business, but Now He’s Being Forced To Shut It Down :: Show: 2022-01-16 Captain Kickass, Nikki, Peakless Mountaineer.” [Flash audio or MP3] (01/16/22)
Source: Newsday
“The number of new COVID-19 cases across New York has declined sharply, with the percentage of new positive tests less than 13%, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday. Hochul, who was at a storm briefing in Albany, said almost 400,000 New Yorkers were tested for COVID-19 on Saturday and 51,264 — or 12.90% — were positive for COVID-19. ‘That is a dramatic improvement over our statewide average, just a couple weeks ago of 23%,’ she said. ‘So what a decline we’ve seen.’ … Federal health officials have said while parts of the northeast U.S. are seeing a plateau in COVID-19 cases, a national peak isn’t coming anytime soon. ‘The entire country is not moving at the same pace,’ U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Sunday during an appearance on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ ‘The omicron wave started later in other parts of the country. So we shouldn’t expect a national peak in the next coming days.'” (01/16/22)
https://www.newsday.com/news/health/coronavirus/new-covid-19-cases-gov-kathy-hochul-1.50478810
