New York State Mandates Panic Buttons for Large Retailers Under New Law
September 6th, 2024Via: Reuters:
New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed a new law requiring retailers to boost safety protections for store workers, including requiring major chains to add panic buttons in all New York State locations.
…
The requirement to add panic buttons specifically at retail workplaces is the first of its kind among U.S. states. While California adopted similar but broader workplace requirements earlier this year, it did not mandate panic buttons.
Toxic Metals in Tampons
September 6th, 2024Via: Environment International:
We found measurable concentrations of all 16 metals assessed. We detected concentrations of several toxic metals, including elevated mean concentrations of lead (geometric mean [GM] = 120 ng/g), cadmium (GM = 6.74 ng/g), and arsenic (GM = 2.56 ng/g). Metal concentrations differed by region of tampon purchase (US versus European Union/United Kingdom), by organic versus non-organic material, and for store- versus name-brand tampons. Most metals differed by organic status; lead concentrations were higher in non-organic tampons while arsenic was higher in organic tampons. No category had consistently lower concentrations of all or most metals.
More: FDA Investigating Toxic Metals in Tampons
NYPD: 75% of People Arrested “For Crimes Like Assault, Robbery and Domestic Violence Are Migrants”
September 5th, 2024Via: New York Post:
Across New York, recently arrived migrants are flooding the criminal justice system — at far higher rates than public officials have acknowledged.
Police sources shared with The Post a staggering estimate that as many as 75% of the people they’ve been arresting in Midtown Manhattan in recent months for crimes like assault, robbery and domestic violence are migrants. In parts of Queens, the figure is more than 60%, sources there estimate.
On any given day, Big Apple criminal court dockets are packed with asylum seekers who have run afoul of the law.
The problem is made much worse by sanctuary city laws that mean New York cops aren’t allowed to work with ICE on cases in which they believe suspects are in the country illegally. Additionally, the NYPD says it is barred from tracking the immigration status of offenders.
Rich People and Brokies
September 5th, 2024Then throw in the Super Rich and the Super Brokies…
This is very watchable https://t.co/eK4GMAnlga
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) September 4, 2024
Lue Elizondo on His Failure to Investigate the Orbs He Claimed Repeatedly Flew Around His House: “It Wasn’t That Big of a Deal to Us.”
September 4th, 2024From my commentary on, “Imminent” by Luis Elizondo:
A quick note on one of the most frustrating parts of the book: Elizondo mentions that he and his family experienced multiple orb encounters at home. How many videos of these encounters do you think Lue has offered up to substantiate any of that? Maybe from mobile phones or security cameras in and around the home? Mmm hmm. None.
"Did you ever set up cameras?"
"It wasn't that big of a deal to us."
Lue Elizondo explains to Curt Jaimungal why he did not set up cameras to capture the orb UFOs visiting his family's home. #ufotwitter pic.twitter.com/11V1JqC9ZQ
— Red Panda Koala (@RedPandaKoala) September 4, 2024
He was supposedly in charge of investigating UFOs, but when he claims that they repeatedly flew around his house, “It wasn’t that big a deal to us.”
That’s great, Lue! Tell us another one!
I think I’ve figured out the Elizondo operation: It’s a time sink. If you are researching this topic, Elizondo is designed to waste as much of your time as possible.
Feel free to skip the whole interview. I listened to it (at 2x) so you don’t have to, and it was excruciating.
Complete interview: Lue Elizondo Speaks With Curt Jaimungal:
Billions of People Have Inadequate Micronutrients, Study Estimates
September 4th, 2024Thanks to Cryptogon readers who use my iHerb affiliate link, I am able to afford high quality supplements for my family. Those click throughs are very much appreciated.
Note: I think “Vitamin C” and “controlled demolition” are tied for the phrases that generate the most insane troll outbreaks for me.
Via: Epoch Times:
More than half the world’s population is deficient in micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals, according to a new study.
According to the results, published in Lancet Global Health journal, 99.3 percent of the global population is missing at least one important nutrient.
The study collected data from 31 countries to estimate micronutrient consumption in 185 countries.
…
Each micronutrient deficiency has unique consequences, with multiple deficiencies potentially lowering quality of life and lifespan. The study revealed several global deficiency rates:
Iodine (68 percent): Vital for cognitive development in infants. Iodine plays an essential role for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Common sources of iodine are iodized salt, seaweed, and seafood.
Vitamin E (67 percent): Deficiency can cause muscle weakness and impaired coordination. Nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils are common sources of vitamin E.
Calcium (66 percent): Deficiencies can cause weak and brittle bones. Dairy and fish are common sources of calcium.
Iron (65 percent): Deficiencies can cause anemia, affecting cognition and pregnancy outcomes. Red meat and eggs are common sources of iron.
Riboflavin (55 percent): Deficiencies can cause non-specific symptoms like eye sensitivity and neurological symptoms like seizures and migraines. Eggs, meat, and dairy are main sources of riboflavin.
Folate (54 percent): Folate is needed early in pregnancy to reduce the risk of stillbirths and severe birth defects of the brain and spinal cord. Nuts and leafy greens are main sources of folate.
Vitamin C (53 percent): Deficiencies can cause gum bleeding and poor wound healing. Peppers, tomatoes, and citrus fruits are common sources of vitamin C.
Other less common deficiencies include inadequate vitamin A and zinc. Vitamin A deficiencies can cause blindness and zinc helps prevent infectious disease.
“Stinky”: U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Sailors Installed Outlaw Starlink Network on Warship
September 4th, 2024How desperate is the U.S. Navy for personnel that these people weren’t thrown in jail or kicked out!?
Besides installing the Starlink system and lying about it, to boost wifi coverage around the ship, they installed wifi range extenders!
I wonder how many heads exploded in ONI/NSA/DIA when they heard about this one?
Most consumer grade wifi range extenders are made in China by Chinese companies and running closed source blobs. Here’s an example of what to expect from such devices:
…suspicious backdoors have been discovered in a Chinese-made Jetstream router, sold exclusively at Walmart as their new line of “affordable” wifi routers. This backdoor would allow an attacker the ability to remotely control not only the routers, but also any devices connected to that network.
Via: NavyTimes:
Today’s Navy sailors are likely familiar with the jarring loss of internet connectivity that can come with a ship’s deployment.
For a variety of reasons, including operational security, a crew’s internet access is regularly restricted while underway, to preserve bandwidth for the mission and to keep their ship safe from nefarious online attacks.
But the senior enlisted leaders among the littoral combat ship Manchester’s gold crew knew no such privation last year, when they installed and secretly used their very own Wi-Fi network during a deployment, according to a scathing internal investigation obtained by Navy Times.
As the ship prepared for a West Pacific deployment in April 2023, the enlisted leader onboard conspired with the ship’s chiefs to install the secret, unauthorized network aboard the ship, for use exclusively by them.
So while rank-and-file sailors lived without the level of internet connectivity they enjoyed ashore, the chiefs installed a Starlink satellite internet dish on the top of the ship and used a Wi-Fi network they dubbed “STINKY” to check sports scores, text home and stream movies.
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The enjoyment of those wireless creature comforts by enlisted leaders aboard the ship carried serious repercussions for the security of the ship and its crew.
“The danger such systems pose to the crew, the ship and the Navy cannot be understated,” the investigation notes.
Led by the senior enlisted leader of the ship’s gold crew, then-Command Senior Chief Grisel Marrero, the effort roped in the entire chiefs mess by the time it was uncovered a few months later.
Marrero was relieved in late 2023 after repeatedly misleading and lying to her ship’s command about the Wi-Fi network, and she was convicted at court-martial this spring in connection to the scheme.
She was sentenced to a reduction in rank to E-7 after the trial and did not respond to requests for comment for this report.
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Marrero’s background is in Navy intelligence, and she earned a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in information security and digital management, according to her biography.
The investigation notes that she should have known better.
“Her time in service and specialized training makes it clear the member knew or should have known the risks associated with an unauthorized Wi-Fi system,” the investigation states.
…
After Manchester got underway from San Diego, Marrero and the chiefs soon realized the Wi-Fi signal didn’t cover all areas of the ship, so the senior chief purchased signal repeaters and cable at the Navy Exchange store in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, during a port visit in late April or early May, according to the investigation.
Argentina Ships Gold Bars Abroad to Be Financially Certified
September 4th, 2024Hmm…
Via: Bloomberg:
Argentina’s central bank sent part of its gold reserves abroad in recent weeks to be validated for financial use, a move that could give the country some much-needed flexibility, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Once certified, the gold could eventually be used as collateral to obtain financing, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Before the move, about half of Argentina’s gold was in domestic vaults with the other half in London, another person said.
Officials from the central bank, known by its Spanish acronym BCRA, declined to comment on the matter.
“States Struggle to Vet Coders of Election Software”
September 4th, 2024I’m not sure when I first wrote this on Cryptogon, but here it is again: The U.S. is a banana republic with nuclear weapons.
Via: Politico:
When election officials in New Hampshire decided to replace the state’s aging voter registration database before the 2024 election, they knew that the smallest glitch in Election Day technology could become fodder for conspiracy theorists.
So they turned to one of the best — and only — choices on the market: A small, Connecticut-based IT firm that was just getting into election software.
But last fall, as the new company, WSD Digital, raced to complete the project, New Hampshire officials made an unsettling discovery: The firm had offshored part of the work. That meant unknown coders outside the U.S. had access to the software that would determine which New Hampshirites would be welcome at the polls this November.
The revelation prompted the state to take a precaution that is rare among election officials: It hired a forensic firm to scour the technology for signs that hackers had hidden malware deep inside the coding supply chain.
The probe unearthed some unwelcome surprises: software misconfigured to connect to servers in Russia and the use of open-source code — which is freely available online — overseen by a Russian computer engineer convicted of manslaughter, according to a person familiar with the examination and granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about it.
The company that conducted the scan, ReversingLabs, has also warned about those issues in a blog post and a talk at a hacking conference last year, though it did not specify the state and the vendor where the issues were found.
New Hampshire officials say the scan revealed another issue: A programmer had hard-coded the Ukrainian national anthem into the database, in an apparent gesture of solidarity with Kyiv.
Related: Everyday ‘Placebo Buttons’ Create Semblance of Control
Robert Reich Calls for the Arrest of Elon Musk for Resisting Censorship
September 3rd, 2024Via: Jonathan Turley:
We have previously discussed the anti-free speech views of Clinton’s former Labor Secretary, Robert Reich, who has tried to sell citizens on the perfectly Orwellian view that more freedom means tyranny when it comes to the freedom of expression. He also demanded that former president Donald Trump be banned from ballots as a “traitor” — all in the name of protecting democracy from itself. Last week, Reich wrote a column declaring Elon Musk “out of control” in his refusal to censor citizens and appeared to call for his arrest.
