October 8-9 Safe Tech International News and Notes
October 8-9 Safe Tech International News and Notes
Early Puberty, Cortisol, Neurotransmitters, Brain Cancer, Lighting, Smart TVs
A new editor has taken over Techscape, a newsletter by the Guardian, a UK paper. In a recent post (no sharable link) the editor reported that this week he spent six hours a day on his cellphone, and cast shade on school cellphone bans. I’m not worried that the Guardian will replace this effort by Safe Tech International. I would be grateful if the mainstream media held less presumption of the inevitability of tech, and that the need for this news summary could evaporate like water cooling a data center. If you wish, you can register for the Guardian’s tech coverage HERE.)
The fact is that this week, many diverse groups gathered, discussing underwater mining, tech sobriety, tech warfare, and more. Seismic changes are occurring as more light is shining - including recognizing the need for natural light frequencies to balance circadian rhythms, and the rise of so many ignored issues, for example - how we have pivoted from the need for time- of-use billing enabled by smart meters back to nuclear to support AI?
And, prayers for safety, healing, grace, support for all who need them.
FEATURED
Beautiful video about parent’s use of tech: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1197190371560585 COURTESY KATE
FEATURED
THE POWER COUPLE ARTICLE: Could smartphones cause early puberty? Our children's blue light pandemic | Impacts on fertility | Melatonin as a master hormone 1. Why did the pandemic cause early puberty in girls? 2. How does our skin sense and absorb blue light? 3. Why melatonin is our master hormone 4. How do melatonin levels affect fertility? 5. What is the fertility clock? 6. Why are most babies born in the middle of the night? 7. How do our homes make us blue light-toxic? 8. How does blue light cause rapid aging? 9. How does blue light affect puberty? 10. Basic ancestral solutions to a complex modern problem
NEWSLETTERS
EMF NEWS, SAFE LIVING TECHNOLOGIES André Fauteux, Editor/ÉditeurMagazine La Maison du 21e siècle OCT. 8, 2024: Less Screen, More Green, Apple Watches do not belong in water, Increased Risk of Central Nervous System Tumors, Quebec collective action vs Apple and Samsung, MORE HERE (this is a quick list of links, easy to read if you prefer less to read through)
NEWS AND NOTES
AI DATA CENTERS: Why AI isn't the whole data center story AI's huge power appetite is the talk of energy circles, but what's less certain is precisely how much it explains the wider data center growth underway. Why it matters: It's a key question as policymakers and other stakeholders weigh AI's benefits against its carbon footprint. The big picture: Data centers are one reason U.S. electricity use is rising after about 15 static years. The International Energy Agency projects data centers will be 6% of U.S. power demand by 2026, up from 4% in 2022. Further out, Barclays researchers see data centers accounting for 9% of demand in 2030 and far higher in their "upside" case, up from 3.5% today. McKinsey analysts estimate it even higher at 11%-12% in 2030. Reality check: It's hard to predict how computing efficiency gains will stack up against rising AI use. And there's no bright line between what's AI vs. other advanced forms of machine learning. Complicating things further, traditional data centers handle some generative AI use. This is also a local story. Clusters of huge data centers for AI can bring big localized challenges for utilities and grid regulators. AXIOS
AI ENERGY ERIC SCHMIDT: The intrigue: Former Google chairman Eric Schmidt caused a stir last week with comments suggesting efforts to limit carbon emissions were hopeless, and AI was the only solution."My own opinion is that we're not going to hit the climate goals anyway, because we're not organized to do it," he said at a conference in Washington. Schmidt admitted that even the most optimistic improvements in energy efficiency "will be swamped by the enormous needs of this new technology.""The needs in this area will be a problem," he said. "But I'd rather bet on AI solving the problem than constraining it." AXIOS
AUTOMOBILES: How To Cancel Toyota's Radio Wave Irradiation Stop Mode https://erwinsalarda.com/how-to-cancel-toyotas-radio-wave-irradiation-stop-mode
BROADBAND INDUSTRY ‘DIGITAL DIVIDE’: Every State Identifies Broadband Affordability as Primary Barrier to Closing Digital Divide Analysis of digital equity plans shows push to resolve gaps in availability, awareness, and cost Pew’s analysis found that every state plan identified the lack of affordable access as the leading barrier to digital equity. These findings are not surprising, given that price, not availability, is one of the leading obstacles to unconnected households getting home broadband services. For low-income households and people living on fixed incomes, such as many people age 60 and older, the price burden of internet results in them being cut off from the benefits that a high-speed connection can provide: from access to health care and education to staying connected to family and friends. PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS
CANADA UPDATE BARB PAYNE INCLUDES LIGHITING REPORT : UPDATE 2024-10-07 Tuesday action | Driving | Shining a new light on light 2. Reducing wireless RF emissions and exposures when driving. Dr. Magda Havas suggests: “Check out this link on how to reduce your radio wave exposure in a Toyota and please share this information even if you don't own a Toyota.” https://erwinsalarda.com/how-to-cancel-toyotas-radio-wave-irradiation-stop-mode/ AND LIGHTING HEALTH: 3. New report dated October 1, 2024: “Solid State Lighting: Review of Health Effects. about the new report… Authors are: 1 in France; 2 in Canada; 4 in Australia. This is an excerpt from its official News Release [bold emphasis added by Barb]: One of the key health-related topics of interest with lighting is temporal light modulation (TLM), more commonly known as “flicker”. Dr. Jennifer Veitch from the National Research Council of Canada and one of the report’s lead authors noted, “There is ample evidence that TLM affects human physiology and behaviour, with implications for health and well-being. TLM is detrimental to lighting quality and to health, disrupting brain activity and eye movements, and affecting cognitive performance. It can cause eyestrain, headache, fatigue, and other symptoms, particularly over longer periods. These effects can be debilitating to the fraction of the population showing a higher sensitivity to TLM and degrade lighting quality for everyone.” [end of excerpt] I read the News Release and glanced through the 140-page report. I believe it is important, for various reasons, that you read the NEWS RELEASE https://www.iea-4e.org/ssl/news/new-comprehensive-report-on-health-effects-of-solid-state-lighting/ and at least glance at THE REPORT (140-page pdf) to notice what is available in it, because most of its chapters have their own “Conclusions” and “Recommendations” sections; then there are two overall chapters “Conclusions” and “Recommendations;” and References are plentiful (pages 107–139). [Canada’s Dr. Veitch is an author in 18 of the References.]
https://www.iea-4e.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HEALTH-REPORT-IEA-4E-SSLC-Platform.pdf three accompanying free webinars (registration is required):
“The findings of this report will be presented across three webinars on 19, 20 and 21 November. Each of these webinars will be held twice, covering the same content, once for the Australian / Asian time zones and once for the European / American time zones.” - THANK YOU BARB PAYNE
CELLPHONES, COVERAGE, AUSTRALIA, SURVEILLANCE?: Australian government taps postal vans to track remote network coverage, Postal vehicles will measure mobile coverage across 180,000 km of rural and outback roads as part of an Australian government program. [] Under the same scheme, the government recently allocated AU$480 million (US$326 million) to NBN Co to boost rural fixed wireless and satellite. This has meant the upgrade of 120,000 satellite-connected premises to enable them to shift to fixed wireless, while the FWA network is being enhanced to support speeds of up to 100 Mbit/s, with 85% of premises able to access 250 Mbit/s. https://www.lightreading.com/digital-divide/australian-government-taps-postal-vans-to-track-remote-network-coverage
CELLPHONES STORMS: Starlink’s direct-to-cell satellite service approved for areas hit by Hurricane Helene The FCC has granted a temporary clearance for Starlink’s direct-to-cell service, which could include testing text via satellite for T-Mobile customers in North Carolina. THE VERGE
CELLPHONES STORMS OUTAGES: The Troubling Quiet of North Carolina’s Cell Service Outages More than a week after the remnants of Hurricane Helene unleashed catastrophic flooding in much of western North Carolina, cell service remains spotty—or, in many cases, nonexistent. Not being able to text or call has complicated relief efforts, made previously straightforward daily tasks difficult and even kept people in the dark about whether or not their loved ones perished in the storm. Relief workers said the lack of cell service is making them less efficient. Some described multiple aid groups, unable to coordinate on the go, arriving at the same house one after another. In areas of North Carolina that were affected by the storm, more than 20 percent of cell sites were still down on October 4, according to the Federal Communications Commission. On Sept. 28, a day after the area suffered its worst damage, about 82 percent of Buncombe County’s cell towers were offline, mostly because of power outages and disruptions between the fiber optic lines and cell towers. BENTON
CHILDREN THE ANALOG FAMILY: How to Encourage Independent Play A lengthy list of practical ideas for getting kids to play on their own SUBSTACK
CHILDREN: Why Your Child Should Know About “Problematic Social Media Use” SCREENAGERS
CHILDREN ACTIVIST POST: How To Free The Anxious Generation: Jonathan Haidt
CHILDREN YOUTH BE SCREEN STRONG: Balancing Your Child’s Screens During the School Week How to give your child what they REALLY need after a hectic school day
CHILDREN YOUTH GEN Z FREYA INDIA: The Age of Abandonment We simply don’t believe anyone will stay [] For one, fear of abandonment explains much of Gen Z’s lack of resilience. []the answer cannot be to retreat from relationships. It has to be to take them more seriously. To kill that urge to run and avoid. Because we’ve got two choices here—crumble under the weight of this thing or go all in, against the odds. Forget pretending that love and family aren’t important, that they are oppressive, that loving ourselves is enough. Forget torching the whole thing. We have to try even harder. And become an example. GIRLS SUBSTACK
CHILDREN SCHOOLS: THE GUARDIAN An elite Silicon Valley school tests a tech fast | TechScape An elite school in the heart of Silicon Valley is asking students to reconsider their relationships with technology by putting their devices down. Castilleja, an all-girls private school where tuition is $62,400 per year, has banned cell phones on its Palo Alto, California, campus since before middle school head Laura Zappas can remember. Smart watches, too. The school is home to 185 students in grades six, seven, and eight, ages 11 to 14. This past school year, Zappas instituted an entirely tech-free week, telling every Castilleja student to lock up their devices – smartphones, smart watches, tablets and school-issued laptops – at the start of the day for a week in March. The girls took notes and completed all assignments on paper, recording data from science experiments in graph journals. They wrote down what homework they needed to finish in paper planners personally distributed by Zappas. They complained of cramps from hand-writing more lines in one day than in all the rest of the school year. []“We’ve found that students with laptops – they can have a couple screens open at the same time,” said Zappas. “They could be messaging or they could be playing a game instead of taking notes. Or their immediate impulse to start the class was to come in and open their laptops right away rather than waiting for direction from the teacher or what they were doing. It was just this constant pull to the laptop.” The initiative, simply dubbed “Tech-Free Week”, served as a reset for the digital-first teaching practices of the pandemic era, Zappas said: “Before Covid, I think we were using a blend of paper and technology. And then I know that my own teaching shifted pretty dramatically with Covid and having to have all assignments had to be electronically submitted. And so after Covid, that just became our routine.” The administrator described Tech-Free Week as a pause for reconsideration: “What would going unplugged look like as a way for our students and our teachers to really think more deeply about our relationship with technology? How can we engage as a community together without screens?” []Zappas advocates for striking healthy balances with screen time rather than wholesale abandonment of devices. She finds the debate over Jonathan Haidt’s Anxious Generation, which advocates for forbidding children from having smartphones until high school, rather overheated. []“I don’t think that there’s one way to think about it. I think it has to be about referencing things and not just banning them. Because we all have to be interacting with technology. That’s how we’re going to prepare our students to live in the world in which we live,” she said. Zappas is not alone. On a local level – that is, among elite private schools in the US – the prevailing wisdom is shifting toward allowing access to devices, though only in controlled educational settings, one that casts the technology as what Zappas describes as “a school tool and a source for creation”. TechScape: An elite Silicon Valley school tests a tech fast | Technology | The Guardian (I do not agree with his conclusion)
CONSUMERS, RIGHT TO REPAIR JuiceBricks: Company Behind Popular Home EV Chargers Walks Away, Breaking Devices The maker of the JuiceBox EV charging station said it is ending product support immediately in the US and Canada. Also: Mazda faces backlash on $120 annual remote start subscription. [] The impact on U.S. and Canadian JuiceBox customers will be severe. According to the company’s own statement, all Enel X Way software will be discontinued causing commercial charging stations that use the company’s hardware to “lose functionality in the absence of software continuity.” FIGHT TO REPAIR
CONSUMER PRODUCTS, SMART GLASSES: The policy risk inside Mark Zuckerberg's glasses Meta has always insisted that building the “metaverse” is a long-term play, but a flashy recent demo from Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated just how immediate a policy concern it might become if people really start to inhabit virtual reality at scale. At Meta’s annual Connect conference, Zuckerberg strode onstage to demonstrate the company’s prototype Orion augmented reality glasses. The glasses resemble a strange combination of Buddy Holly, Iris Apfel and semi-opaque drive-in 3D glasses, and functioned, as Zuckerberg demonstrated in a video, exactly how he and the metaverse’s biggest boosters have promised it: cleanly laying virtual elements onto physical reality, controllable with a wrist-bound “neural interface,” with no clunky visor or joysticks required. But while the device might be far from ready for the public, tech-watchers are saying it’s a bright red warning sign that regulators need to prepare themselves for the next wave of omnipresent, data-hoovering smart devices. BENTON
ENERGY, INDUSTRY: Why artificial intelligence and clean energy need each other A geopolitical battle is raging over the future of AI. The key to winning it is a clean-energy revolution. MIT TECH REVIEW
ENVIRONMENT MAX WILBERT OF BRIGHT GREEN LIES: Behind-the-Scenes for October 2024 Campaign and Project Updates Federal Government postpones Oregon offshore wind energy lease auction after Tribe sues, Call for Solidarity with Indigenous Communities in the Philippines, New Interview from Thacker Pass, A List of U.S. Facilities Which Are Producing Weapons for the Israeli Military, Mining Resistance, Green Jobs or Greenwashing? MORE AT SUBSTACK LINK
FCC: FCC Chair Proposes Expanding 6 GHz Band Use for Very Low Power Devices https://insidetowers.com/fcc-chair-proposes-expanding-6-ghz-band-use-for-very-low-power-devices/
5G PRECISION AGRICULTURE: Private 5G will be standard operating procedure for John Deere John Deere foresees 80% of its factory equipment being connected to cellular networks. The manufacturer sees expertise in private 5G as a competitive advantage. The company predicts a 20x increase in connected factory devices []Private wireless networks are also replacing miles of Ethernet, which helps Deere with its sustainability goals. Wallin said every 1,000 feet of wire requires about 15 pounds of copper. “It’s really an exciting time for us because that’s a lot of copper that doesn’t have to get mined,” he said. Wallin said multi-million dollar machines like laser cutters will remain connected by wires until they reach end of life, and will then be replaced by machines that can connect to cellular, either directly or through a bridge or gateway. Wi-Fi will continue to be part of Deere’s factories as well, simply because there are so many Wi-Fi dependent devices. But for mobile factory equipment like robots and automated guided vehicles, Deere wants to put as much as possible onto private cellular networks. “The biggest advantage that we see over Wi-Fi is for things that move around the shop,” he said. “It’s really important for us that we hand off quickly and cleanly between each one of those radios and we were not able to do that with the traditional Wi-Fi of the past.”Deere executives were not completely sure where private cellular would take them when they first invested in CBRS, but now the company is convinced it made the right choice, especially with CBRS 2.0 on the horizon. “When we started in 2020 this was a completely wild notion,” said Wallin. “Now, this is certainly mainstream for deployments going forward. I think what we see is we are probably two to three years ahead of where the market is at this point, and we’ll see more and more of those integrations going forward.” Private 5G will be standard operating procedure for John Deere (fierce-network.com)
5G HEALTH EINAR NORWAY: With the 5G rollout came excess mortality – and brain cancer is rising "The excess mortality in recent years around the world is primarily caused by the large increase in radio waves, the way these are constructed, and the large spread of new frequency ranges in our societies." This means, among other things, that the findings of health damage from 5G have been drowned out and made invisible in the hunt for Covid-19 effects. And then you can't help but think: Maybe "long covid" is mostly about 5G effects? Hardly anyone has checked that. Instead, researchers have jumped on the Covid-19 train and researched further into a more familiar hunting ground: the effects of viruses. … BLOG
HACKING; U.S. Investigates Foreign Hacking of Telecom https://insidetowers.com/u-s-investigates-foreign-hacking-of-telecom/
HEALTH DR. MERCOLA: Is Elevated Cortisol Affecting Your Child's Behavior? Higher hair cortisol levels in children, especially boys, are linked to behavioral problems and environmental stressors. Maternal stress indirectly affects child behavior through elevated cortisol levels Bullying experiences affect cortisol levels and patterns in children, with gender differences observed. Cortisol levels influence how victimization impacts mental health and brain development Chronically elevated cortisol leads to various health issues, including brain tissue damage, accelerated aging and unhealthy eating habits. It's crucial to maintain balanced cortisol levels To reduce cortisol levels, increase intake of healthy carbohydrates while avoiding processed foods. For those with compromised gut health, starting with pure glucose (dextrose) helps heal the gut. MERCOLA
HEALTH COURTNEY SNYDER M.D.: 12 MINUTE AUDIO How Estrogen, Progesterone & Testosterone Impact Neurotransmitters The Relationship Between Sex Hormones & Mental Health Conditions, COMT, MAOA, High Copper, NMDA, RCCX Theory, 21-Hydroxylase & Why Our Personalities May Change Over Our Lifetime HOLISTIC PSYCHIATRY (Holistic Psychiatry For anyone experiencing brain symptoms, your guide to demystifying root causes and learning about surprising paths to healing. From a holistic - functional adult and child psychiatrist dedicated to helping people heal and thrive.)
HEALTH: Increasing incidence of CNS-tumours in Denmark Swedish Radiation Protection Foundation, Oct 7, 2024 The latest report on the number of new cancer cases in Denmark for 2023 shows that central nervous system (CNS) tumors, including brain tumors, have been increasing among both men and women. On September 30, 2024, the Danish Cancer Registry published a new report on the number of newly diagnosed cancers during the last year 2023. The data shows that tumors of the central nervous system, CNS, including brain tumors, are increasing and are among the cancers that have increased most rapidly over the past ten years between 2014 and 2023. This applies to all tumor types combined. The statistics thus contradict those who argue that brain tumor incidence is not increasing, an argument that been used to argue that mobile phone use is not linked to an increased risk of brain tumors or cancers in general.The Swedish Radiation Protection Foundation has examined three reports from the Danish Cancer Registry (see sources below). These reports include the number of new cases of CNS tumors per 100,000 inhabitants, age-standardized to the Danish population in 2000. We compiled the data from 1995 through 2023…Increasing incidence of CNS-tumours in Denmark - Radiationprotection
HEALTH RESOURCE DR ZACH BUSH: Gut health and Galaxies The Library of Zach Bush MD Completely free digital library including Zach's 300+ interviews and webinars on life, human health, & planetary health. Free Digital Library
HEALTH OT: New Cochrane Review Finds Water Fluoridation Has Minimal Effect on Dental Health Adding fluoride to drinking water provides very limited dental benefits, according to an updated Cochrane Review published Friday. THE DEFENDER/CHD
INDUSTRY SUPPLY CHAIN: Disasters and the Supply Chain One of the unexpected consequences of Hurricane Helene is that it disrupted and shut down the high-quality quartz mines near Spruce Pine, North Carolina. This will cause a temporary disruption for the semiconductor industry. One of the most important steps in making silicon chips and key components for solar panels is to melt down a highly purified substance called polysilicon. This can only be done in crucibles that don’t react with the polysilicon, and the best material for making the crucibles is the ultra-pure quartz that is mined at Spruce Pine. The mines there are said to have the highest-purity quartz in the world and most of the crucibles in the world used for making chips come from Spruce Pine. POTS AND PANS
MINING: One Of The Most Important Substances In The World Comes From An Area Of North Carolina Devastated By Hurricane Helene ACTIVIST POST
NATIONAL CALL; Links to the recordings of our two September meetings Friday, September 13th, 2024 here ; Friday, September 27th, 2024: here
POLITICS: Breaking News: “Policies for the People” Launches A New Open-Source Platform Invites Ideas From Experts and the Public
POLITICS PUBLIC TRUST FREE PRESS “DEMOCRACY” ‘What’s at stake is the world’: Nobel winner Maria Ressa warns US election a ‘tipping point’ for democracy, American voters are headed to the polls amid rampant disinformation and rising anger, a political firestorm that the longtime journalist says Silicon Valley companies have fueled “Nobel laureate and journalist Maria Ressa wants to scare some sense into American voters. The U.S. election is just a month away, and she considers the outcome to be a “tipping point” in the fight for democracy over autocracy.[] Ressa warns that the erosion of trust in public institutions that she witnessed in the Philippines is happening in the U.S. And that reversing course will require the collective action of fact-based media and a fresh set of guardrails on technology companies.” SUMMARY BENTON AND What’s at stake is the world’: Nobel winner Maria Ressa warns US election a ‘tipping point’ for democracy, American voters are headed to the polls amid rampant disinformation and rising anger, a political firestorm that the longtime journalist says Silicon Valley companies have fueled 12 MINUTES AUDIO POLITICO
SATELLITES TOWERS: No, satellites aren’t going to make terrestrial towers obsolete American Tower, which is an investor in AST SpaceMobile, believes that direct-to-device satellite service could complement rather than compete with macro tower infrastructure in low-population density or remote areas. With satellites being the technology du jour, a lot of people wonder if they’re going to replace ground-based towers. Fierce posed that question to several sources and the resounding answer is: No, satellites aren’t going to obliterate traditional cell towers. Where satellites will make a difference is in extremely remote areas where it’s challenging and expensive to operate terrestrial towers ABC: Always best connected According to Steel in the Air President and CEO Ken Schmidt, towers will continue to be built because carriers need additional sites to meet the growing demands for mobile data and video. But Schmidt admits to getting a lot of questions about satellites negating the needs for towers. The bottom line is the consumer always wants to be best connected – or “ABC, always best connected,” he said. “If you have access to a terrestrial-based network, you’re going to connect to it first, almost always,” with the exception of places that are underdeveloped or not developed at all – primarily rural areas. “It’s not that satellite won’t do what a cellular phone will do, provided you’re outside of your car or outside of your house and you have a line of sight to a satellite,” Schmidt said. “It’s that the network demands on a traditional cellular network are substantially higher than what the satellite constellations can handle. No, satellites aren’t going to make terrestrial towers obsolete (fierce-network.com) COURTESY MONIQUE
SECURITY SURVEILLANCE HEALTHIER TECH: Are You Really Safe Online? The Biggest Misconceptions About Digital Security Aaron Zar Explains In this episode, you will hear: What it means to have your right to disconnect. Why humans are not meant to be connected to all information, but should be grounded to the earth. The evolution of Faraday protection from cages to fabrics and everything in between. Taking your digital privacy and security far beyond airplane mode or turning off your device. The biggest misconceptions and incorrect frames of thought people have around digital security. And so much more.. https://www.healthiertech.co/s4-ep-084-aaron-zar/ 46 MINUTES
SURVEILLANCE: REPOSTED FROM SLASH DOT. How TV Watches Us Commercial Surveillance in the Streaming Era “CTV networks and programming services have built far-reaching operations and partnerships to maximize the harvesting of data in order to serve the interests of advertisers.” An anonymous reader shares a report:The companies behind the streaming industry, including smart TV and streaming stick manufacturers and streaming service providers, have developed a "surveillance system" that has "long undermined privacy and consumer protection," according to a report from the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) published today and sent to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Unprecedented tracking techniques aimed at pleasing advertisers have resulted in connected TVs (CTVs) being a "privacy nightmare," according to Jeffrey Chester, report co-author and CDD executive director, resulting in calls for stronger regulation. The 48-page report, How TV Watches Us: Commercial Surveillance in the Streaming Era [PDF], cites Ars Technica, other news publications, trade publications, blog posts, and statements from big players in streaming -- from Amazon to NBCUniversal and Tubi, to LG, Samsung, and Vizio. It provides a detailed overview of the various ways that streaming services and streaming hardware target viewers in newfound ways that the CDD argues pose severe privacy risks. The nonprofit composed the report as part of efforts to encourage regulation. Today, the CDD sent letters to the FTC [PDF], Federal Communications Commission (FCC), California attorney general [PDF], and California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) [PDF], regarding its concerns. "Not only does CTV operate in ways that are unfair to consumers, it is also putting them and their families at risk as it gathers and uses sensitive data about health, children, race, and political interests,â Chester said in a statement. SLASHDOT LINK TO REPORT: Regulating the Digital Obesogenic Ecosystem (arstechnica.net)
UTILITIES AEI: Hurricane Helene Power Outages Leave Over 4 Million in the Dark – History Shows Poorer Areas Often Wait Longest for Electricity to Be Restored How to make power recovery less biased []There are ways to improve power recovery times for everyone, beyond the necessary work of improving the stability of power distribution. Policymakers and utilities can start by reexamining power restoration practices and power infrastructure maintenance, such as replacing aging utility poles and trimming trees, with disadvantaged communities in mind. Power providers already have granular data on power usage and grid performance in their service regions. They can begin experimenting with alternative recovery routines that consider the vulnerability of their customers in ways that do not substantially affect average recovery duration. For socioeconomically vulnerable regions that are likely to experience long outages because of their locations and possibly the aging energy infrastructure, utilities and policymakers can proactively ensure that households are well prepared to evacuate or have access to backup sources of power.For example, the U.S. Department of Energy announced in October 2023 that it would invest in developing dozens of resilience hubs and microgrids to help supply local power to key buildings within communities when the wider grid goes down. Louisiana plans several of these hubs, using solar and large-scale batteries, in or near disadvantaged communities. AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE
WARFARE: Ukraine: Air defence shots down Iranian-designed Shahed drone allegedly fitted with Starlink terminal; incl. co. non-response Ukrainian outlet Defence Express reported that a Shahed-136 drone recently downed by Ukrainian air defences had an Starlink terminal installed. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited SpaceX to respond to allegations. The company did not. BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
WARFARE GREEN MED: Storm Warnings and Constitutional Alarms: Urgent Report on DoD's Pre-Election Policy Shift DoD Directive 5240.01: The Stealth Expansion of Military Intelligence Powers in Life-or-Death Domestic Scenarios []As the U.S. prepares for one of the most controversial and closely watched elections in its history, a concerning update to DoD Directive 5240.01 has quietly been put into effect. Reissued on September 27, 2024, this directive governs the Department of Defense's (DoD) intelligence activities and now includes provisions authorizing lethal force in certain circumstances when assisting civilian law enforcement. While the directive forbids assassination, it opens the door to lethal interventions under "national security" conditions, albeit with stringent restrictions on how such interventions are to be authorized. This directive, reissued under the authority of the Secretary of Defense as per standard Department of Defense procedures, carries significant weight in shaping military operations and intelligence activities. While DoD Directives are typically internal policy documents, the implications of this particular update extend far beyond the walls of the Pentagon, potentially affecting civilian life and constitutional rights.DoD Directive 5240.01: The Stealth Expansion of Military Intelligence (greenmedinfo.com)
EVENTS
10/11 The National Call registration link, Friday October 11, 2024, 1-3pm ET Here is the registration link for Friday's National Call for Safe Technology: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvce2grjgsHNG0E9XrjZvpZQ8LAsX14rDg *After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
10/16 MA4SAFETECH MONTHLY MEETING CECE DOUCETTE: Monthly Update Meeting We generally meet via Zoom on the third Wednesday of the month at noon Eastern to discuss ways in which citizens and public servants are are moving the needle toward safe technology in our communities. Join us to share your inroads and/or be inspired by others! You needn’t be from MA to attend, all are welcome. Meeting Registration - Zoom
CORRECTION
Due to an import issue between Wordpress and Substack, several youtube videos did not appear in the recent post by Sarah Aminoff. The post is now repaired. Sorry for the inconvenience. (Image courtesy Flo Freshman). (We are not endorsing putting a device on the brain stem, or face i.e. smart glasses)
