“Digital rights [sic] advocates called on the U.S. Senate to swiftly confirm three nominations expected from the White House on Tuesday, as President Joe Biden was reportedly preparing to name acting Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel as the agency’s permanent leader, as well as nominating two other open [sic] internet advocates to top positions. The president is expected to nominate Gigi Sohn, a longtime defender of net neutrality rules and co-founder of advocacy group Public Knowledge, to the third Democratic seat on the commission. That would give Democrats a majority on the five-seat panel after months of being locked in a stalemate, with two Democrats and two Republicans — including one whose confirmation former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed through during the lame-duck session late last year.” (10/26/21)
“If you own assets abroad (a bank account, a trust, shares in a foreign brokerage, a company) you won’t get into trouble if you tell the right people what you’re doing. In the U.S., the IRS requires disclosure of foreign bank accounts and companies, for starters. If you hold more than $10,000 in a foreign bank account (or that sum in total across all of your foreign financial accounts), you need to tell the IRS about your foreign financial accounts through what’s called the Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) form, also called FinCEN form 114. You’ll need to itemize and detail your accounts and provide a figure for the maximum balance during the year. … It’s a minor hassle … But going to prison or paying a nosebleed penalty for breaking the rules is a far bigger hassle, so pick your poison.” (10/26/21)
“A United Kingdom student described feeling ‘vulnerable’ and ‘violated’ after being a victim of ‘needle spiking’ at a nightclub in Nottingham. Hers is one of many cases reported across Britain, in which an injection is administered to someone without their knowledge or consent, usually in a nightclub or bar setting — sometimes through the clothes. Chiefs of police across the country have been tasked by the Commons Home Affairs Committee to urgently assess the scale of the problem around the country. Groups from more than 30 U.K. universities have joined an online campaign calling for the boycott of nightclubs. Campaigners say they are seeking ‘tangible’ changes to make nighttime venues safer, so no woman has to endure hours of memory blackouts, or worse. A United Kingdom student described feeling ‘vulnerable’ and ‘violated’ after being a victim of ‘needle spiking’ at a nightclub in Nottingham.” (10/26/21)
“Astronomers have found hints of what could be the first planet ever to be discovered outside our galaxy. Nearly 5,000 ‘exoplanets’ (worlds orbiting stars beyond our Sun) have been found so far, but all of these have been located within the Milky Way galaxy. The possible Saturn-sized planet discovered by Nasa’s Chandra X-Ray Telescope is in the Messier 51 galaxy. This is located some 28 million light-years away from the Milky Way. This new result is based on transits, where the passage of a planet in front of a star blocks some of the star’s light and yields a characteristic dip in brightness that can be detected by telescopes.” (10/26/21)
“In Washington, good things happen only rarely. But even when they do, they must happen for the dumbest reasons. In a nation like America where the middle 60% of earners hold less combined wealth than the top 1%, a wealth tax on the rich is a very good idea. And, against all odds, we are now on the precipice of maybe, just maybe, getting a wealth tax on billionaires signed into law. Have we come to this point because the democratically elected representatives of the citizens of America looked at some charts and said to themselves, ‘“Damn, those billionaires really have too much of the wealth?’ Not at all. We have come to this point for very dumb reasons. But we’ll take it.” (10/26/21)
“The first rule of gun safety is you don’t point a gun a something unless you intend to shoot it. Even if you believe the gun is unloaded, you don’t point it directly at others. Alec Baldwin didn’t follow basic gun safety when he accidentally shot his cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, 42. Anyone who has been to a shooting range would have that drilled into them. And Baldwin, an actor who has been in many movies using guns, must surely have had this explained to him many times.” [editor’s note: It is actually the SECOND rule; first one is “check gun to see if it is loaded” – SAT] [editor’s note: There are two kinds of firearms discharges, intentional and negligent. In this case, the negligence seems to have been on the part of the person whose job its was to turn a “gun” into a “prop” – TLK] (10/25/21)
“School board meetings have been in the news lately, with parents and community members taking aim at board members and the policies they’re trying to implement. Frightening incidents have taken place at school board meetings in Florida, Texas, Michigan, and Wisconsin, among others, with angry citizens shouting and using Nazi salutes in the face of mask mandates, and some even sending death threats to board members over decisions with which they disagree. In Minnesota, assault charges were recently filed against Thomas W. Kahlbaugh, a forty-seven-year-old man who attacked a fellow attendee at the Chaska school district’s school board meeting in the suburbs of Minneapolis for supporting school mask mandates. The furor against mask mandates, of course, has risen alongside readily stoked anger over other flashpoints such as critical race theory and the rights of transgender students.” (10/24/21)
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by Mark Sappenfield
“Once you see the word, you start seeing it everywhere: resilience. If 2020 was the year of turmoil, 2021 might well be the year of resilience. There’s the need for individual resilience amid the pandemic or natural disasters, and there’s a push to build a broader resilience in communities and countries: helping them weather climate change, political dysfunction, or economic shocks. In that spirit, our newest project is called Finding Resilience. You may have already seen stories or attended our webinar discussion earlier this month. The intent is to seek out where resilience is operating and chronicle how people are finding it in themselves and their neighbors.” (10/25/21)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The US government is reportedly close to securing a deal with Pakistan that will ensure its ability to continue military and intelligence operations in Afghanistan, the nation where the Biden administration proudly ‘ended’ a decades-long war. ‘The Biden administration has told lawmakers that the US is nearing a formalized agreement with Pakistan for use of its airspace to conduct military and intelligence operations in Afghanistan, according to three sources familiar with the details of a classified briefing with members of Congress that took place on Friday morning,’ reads a new report from CNN. ‘The briefing comes as the White House is still trying to ensure that it can carry out counterterrorism operations against ISIS-K and other adversaries in Afghanistan now that there is no longer a US presence on the ground for the first time in two decades after the NATO withdrawal from the country,’ the report reads.” (10/24/21)
“A former Wisconsin high school teacher accused of secretly videotaping undressed students during field trips was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison after reaching a plea deal with federal prosecutors. David Kruchten, 39, of Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, earlier pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to produce child pornography. Prosecutors alleged Kruchten used his position as a business teacher at Madison East High School to secretly videotape students during field trips in Wisconsin and Minnesota. According to court documents, he accompanied East High’s business club students on overnight trips to Wisconsin Dells and Lake Geneva as well as Minneapolis in 2019. Students discovered hidden cameras planted in air fresheners in their hotel rooms during the Minneapolis trip. Investigators discovered similar air freshener cans in photos taken by students during the Wisconsin trips, prosecutors said.” (10/25/21)
