WORLD NEWS
WTO could prevent India from striking deal with protesting farmers – reports
The world’s largest exporting countries are opposed to the introduction of minimum pricing for agricultural crops
A group of the world’s largest agricultural exporters has raised concerns over India’s subsidization of farmers with the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing that it harms the global market, the Indian Express reported on Thursday.
The Cairns Group, whose 25 members include Australia, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, favors the liberalization of agricultural trade and opposes high levels of protectionism or subsidies.
It claimed last year that India’s support for farmers in the form of procuring crops at fixed prices was “distorting” global markets. The WTO is meeting later this month to discuss rules for subsidized procurement of food security stocks.
Members of the Cairns Group have submitted a proposal to slash “trade-distorting” farm support among WTO member countries. This would essentially put developing countries like India, with a population of 1.4 billion, on the back foot.
India has refused to discuss the proposal and said a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding of food grains should be identified before any WTO negotiations proceed on other topics concerning agriculture, including domestic support to the farm sector.
Argentine inflation catapults past 250%
Consumer prices in the South American country have been soaring after the devaluation of the peso by the new government
Annual inflation in Argentina hit a three-decade high of 254% in January even as the rate slowed slightly in monthly terms, according to official data released on Wednesday.
Newly installed President Javier Milei has subjected the country to a number of ‘shock therapy’ reforms aimed at stabilizing the ailing economy, including devaluing the nation’s currency by 50% against the dollar and hiking the key interest rate to 133%.
“If one takes the number alone, isolated, it is horrifying. And indeed, it is, but you have to look at where we were and what the trend was,” Milei said in comments about the inflation data during a public appearance on the television station La Nacion Mas. The president estimated that inflation would come under control within two years.
Meanwhile, monthly inflation in the country stood at 20.6% in January, down from the 25.5% registered for December. Annual inflation in December was 211%. According to the report, transport in Argentina soared 26.3% in price, while the cost of goods and services skyrocketed 44.4% in January.
French Populists Set to Trounce Macron in EU Parliament Elections as Support Hits Record High
French populist parties are on pace to see record support in the European Parliament elections and deal a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron’s standing at home and abroad.
According to a recent survey, the National Rally (RN) party of Marine Le Pen is on pace for its best-ever result in the EU Parliament elections in June.
The survey, which polled 1,034 people in late January, projected that the National Rally would secure 33 per cent of the vote, far outpacing the neo-liberal Ensemble! coalition that includes Macron’s Renaissance party, which is on pace to pick up just 14 per cent of the vote.
Border Encounters Rise to Record January High, CBP Says
U.S. Border Patrol agents reported more than 176,000 encounters with illegal immigrants at the border during January, eclipsing the previous January record of just over 157,000 in 2023.
On the same day that the data were released, Republicans in the House voted to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who became just the second Cabinet member ever to be impeached; The last one was in 1876. Don’t worry. The Senate won’t vote to kick Mayorkas out with all the RINOs in it, allowing the mass migration to continue.
‘F*ck That P*to’: Rank-And-File DHS Officials Applaud Impeachment Of Secretary Mayorkas
Nine rank-and-file Department of Homeland Security officials told the Daily Caller News Foundation they supported the House’s passage of impeachment articles against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The Daily Caller granted anonymity to the officials, who are not authorized to speak publicly.
“We have laws in place that are not being enforced due to Mayorkas’ leadership,” an ICE official told the DCNF. “If agents and officers were authorized to enforce the laws enacted by Congress this influx would not have occurred, but instead he pushes for agents and officers to process and release individuals as quickly as possible. Individuals are released into the United States with minimal background checks and minimal follow up.”
One Border Patrol agent responded to the news of Mayorkas’ impeachment by saying “f**k that puto,” referring to masculine version of the Spanish slur meaning “prostitute.”
“This most likely won’t change anything BUT it is a symbolic win and one heck of a statement to make in an election year,” the first agent said.
“Mayorkas was a total dumpster fire who never owned up to the crisis he created with his disastrous policies. But I don’t think the Senate is gonna remove him which sucks,” a second agent said.
Venezuela’s Maduro Allowed Tren de Aragua Leader to Escape Prison Before Gang Became Menace in NYC
Venezuela’s socialist regime allowed Héctor “the Child” Guerrero, the leader of Venezuela’s largest mega-gang, the Tren de Aragua (“Aragua Train”), to escape prison months before the organized crime syndicate established a criminal presence in New York City.
The Aragua Train, which began in 2012 as a local trade union gang in the eponymous state of Aragua, rapidly grew into a full-fledged transnational criminal organization with active cells in other regional countries and now the United States with tacit impunity provided by the regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro.
FBI officials suspect that the criminal organization, which has found its way to New York, has established an alliance with El Salvador’s Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang to conduct violent criminal activities in New York.
Desperation: UK Govt to Pay TikTokers to Try to Convince Illegal Migrants to Stay Away
In a move of desperation, the UK is planning to pay influencers on TikTok to try to persuade migrants from entering the country illegally in small boats run by people-smuggling gangs in France.
EU lawmakers back hefty fines for companies making false green claims
Companies making claims like “eco” and “green” will need to send them for prior verification before using them or face fines of “at least at 4% of their annual turnover”, according to a draft EU law voted on in the European Parliament on Wednesday (14 February).
The Green Claims Directive, presented by the European Commission in March last year, seeks to put an end to greenwashing by requiring companies to make sure environmental claims are verified and backed by scientific evidence.
The law passed a key hurdle yesterday when it was voted in a joint session of the European Parliament’s committees on the environment and the internal market, with 85 votes in favour, 2 against and 14 abstentions.
Overall, there are 230 sustainability labels and 100 green energy labels in the EU, with vastly different levels of transparency, the Commission says. An EU study found that 40% of green claims made by companies were “completely unsubstantiated” while 53% were found to be “vague, misleading or unfounded”.
“Consumers and entrepreneurs deserve transparency, legal clarity, and equal conditions of competition,” said Andrus Ansip, a lawmaker from Estonia who is the Parliament’s speaker on the proposal for the internal market committee.
According to the text adopted by the two Parliament committees, claims will have to be assessed by accredited verifiers within 30 days. To accelerate procedures, MEPs tasked the Commission with drawing up a list of less complex claims that could benefit from faster verification.
“Traders are willing to pay for it, but not more than they gain from it,” Ansip explained, saying this will make the directive less burdensome for businesses.
Micro-enterprises will be excluded from the rules, while small companies will benefit from a one-year delay.
In case of infringement, companies will face penalties, including confiscation of revenues and “a fine of at least at 4% of their annual turnover,” the Parliament said in a statement.
Penalties will be enforced by national authorities, which have to regularly control green claims, publicly disclose their findings, and fine companies who mislead consumers.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Report: Joe Biden’s DHS Drafts Plan to ‘Mass Release’ Illegal Aliens into U.S.
President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is drafting plans that would include a “mass release” of illegal aliens currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody into the United States, a Washington Post report reveals.
The DHS is considering having ICE release thousands of illegal aliens in the agency’s custody into American cities and towns as the Biden administration claims they need billions from Congress to avoid carrying out the plan in a seemingly quasi-extortion scheme.
At Least 22 Shot, 1 Killed at Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl Victory Celebration
Officials said that multiple people were struck by gunfire that erupted near the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City on Wednesday, leaving at least 22 victims injured and one dead.
“Shots were fired west of Union Station near the garage and multiple people were struck. “We do have three persons detained and under investigation for the incident,” Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said. At the press conference, Kansas City Fire Chief Ross Grundyson said that officials weren’t expecting the outbreak of violence but were ready for it.
‘Extremely Alarming’ Election Threats Trigger Warning From FBI
An FBI official warned that state election systems are being targeted as the 2024 election approaches, describing them as “extremely alarming.”
“The threat environment, unfortunately, is very high,” said Tim Langan, executive assistant director for the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch of the FBI during a Washington conference with secretaries of state, according to Stateline. “It is extremely alarming.”
Officials said that voter databases could be hacked via phishing or ransomware attacks. They also warned about the rising use of artificial intelligence (AI) that could be used to potentially trick voters, according to the report.
Google, Meta, TikTok, OpenAI to Sign Agreement to Combat AI-Generated ‘Election Misinformation’
Major technology companies including Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, OpenAI, Google and China’s TikTok are signing an agreement aimed at curbing the malicious use of artificial intelligence to meddle in elections.
AP News reports that at least six prominent technology firms intend to finalize an accord on AI election interference at the Munich Security Conference this week. The deal comes as over 50 countries prepare for significant national elections in 2024, with AI disinformation threats already emerging. For example, AI voice cloning robocalls sought to deter voting in New Hampshire’s primary election by impersonating President Joe Biden.
The companies — which reportedly include Adobe, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and TikTok — allegedly hope the agreement will guide joint efforts to halt the deceptive use of AI targeting voters. Details remain undisclosed, and it is unclear why the rest of the world would trust TikTok, accused of being a Chinese psyop on western nations, to make any good faith effort to preserve election integrity.
Elections worldwide face rising threats from deepfake media — falsely attributed images and recordings produced using AI generative models. Deepfakes could be weaponized to undermine candidates and mislead voters via propaganda. The companies aim to counter these risks through a unified stance against AI disinformation campaigns.
Google, Meta, TikTok, OpenAI to Sign Agreement to Combat AI-Generated ‘Election Misinformation’
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) remarked yesterday that the House will not be “forced” by the Senate to accept a foreign assistance package that includes funding for Ukraine.
“They’re important issues on the table. We are not forced into action by the Senate, who in the latest product they sent us over does not have one word in the bill about America’s border, not one word about security,” he told reporters following the weekly House GOP conference meeting.
Mr. Johnson’s comments come two days after the Senate passed a $95.3 billion foreign aid package in a 70–29 vote that includes more than $61 billion in assistance to Ukraine, $14 billion to Israel in its war against Hamas, and $4.83 billion for Indo-Pacific partners, including Taiwan, to counter communist China’s aggression.
It has attracted opposition from some Republicans who say the U.S.–Mexico border should be secured before funds are given to overseas partners.
“The reason that the other one was dead on arrival is because it did not meet the moment,” Mr. Johnson said. “It would not have solved the problem. You can’t leave giant loopholes and codify some of the things that have gotten us into this situation.
“What we’re doing right now is the House is working its will.” he said.
Trump Denies Biden Is ‘Too Old’ to Be President
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he doesn’t believe President Joe Biden is “too old” to be president following the release of a special counsel report that cast doubt on his memory.
The comment was made on Truth Social days after a special counsel report described the current president as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” and amid years of speculation that he’s suffering from cognitive issues due to gaffes he makes during speeches. Polls have also shown that a large number of Americans believe he’s too old for the job.
So far, the former president has eschewed going after President Biden’s age, 81, or the verbal slip-ups he’s made. Several months ago, President Trump told Megyn Kelly that he doesn’t think the current president’s age is a concern.
“No, he’s not too old at all. He’s grossly incompetent,” President Trump, 77, told the podcast host in September, The Hill reported, adding there were world leaders who “were phenomenal in their 80s.”
Trump set to attend Stormy Daniels hush-money court hearing in New York
Donald Trump is expected to appear in Manhattan state court this morning for a hearing in his hush-money criminal case involving the adult film star Stormy Daniels and the playboy model Karen McDougal. The judge, Juan Merchan, is expected to announce his decision on several issues, including the former US president’s motion to throw out the case. Merchan is also expected to announce whether Trump’s trial will start on 25 March. Should Trump’s trial begin on this date, it would be the first of four criminal cases against him to go before a jury.
Russian efforts to create anti-satellite weapons are cause for US concern – The Associated Press
The U.S. has gathered highly sensitive intelligence about Russian anti-satellite weapons that has been shared in recent weeks with the upper echelons of government, according to four people who have been briefed on the intelligence. The people, who were not authorized to comment publicly, said the capability was not yet operational.
The intelligence sparked an urgent but vague warning Wednesday from the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee, who urged the Biden administration to declassify information about what he called a serious national security threat.
Rep. Mike Turner gave no details about the nature of the threat, and the Biden administration also declined to address it. But several leading lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, cautioned against being overly alarmed.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Ex-CEO Warns Inflation and Mass Layoffs Reveal ‘Tremendous Shift’ in Economy
A former top corporate executive warned that the economy doesn’t appear to be on a fast path to recovery due to higher-than-anticipated inflation and recent mass layoffs.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.3 percent last month after gaining 0.2 percent in December, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed. Shelter, which includes rents, accounted for more than two-thirds of the rise in the CPI. On a year-by-year basis, the rate increased 3.1 percent.
“We’ve seen companies where we’ve had $2 million of interest rates now explode to $12, $13, $14 million. And the free cash flow that we generate is going to pay the man,” former Home Depot and Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli said this week. “We cannot afford the type of interest rates that we’re buried [in] today. I mean, you couldn’t afford it as an individual in trying to balance your budget.”
The American public, he added, doesn’t fully understand how high interest rates “are killing” lower- and middle-market companies.
So far in 2024, tech companies have laid off more than 34,000 employees, according to a report.
George Soros is poised to take a massive stake in the nation’s second-largest radio company, which owns more than 220 stations nationwide, according to court filings and sources close to the situation.
The left-leaning billionaire’s Soros Fund Management has bought up $400 million of debt in Audacy — the No. 2 US radio broadcaster behind iHeartMedia with stations including New York’s WFAN and 1010 WINS, as well as Los Angeles-based KROQ, according to bankruptcy filings.
One insider close to the situation, noting that he was a Republican, said he believed it was possible Soros was buying the stake to exert influence on public opinion in the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election.
“This is scary,” the source said.
Sources told The New York Post that Soros’s stake is equal to about 40% of the company’s senior debt — a massive chunk which, although not a majority, could yield effective control of the media giant when it emerges from bankruptcy.
Last summer, a fund linked to Soros joined a consortium of former lenders who paid $350 million for bankrupt Vice Media — an outlet that at its peak was once valued at $6 billion.
A judge in Manhattan federal bankruptcy court ruled that Soros Fund Management and Fortress Investment Group represented the best option to take the Brooklyn-based company out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
NYC: Migrant Teen Charged with Robbing Macy’s Store Weeks After Assaulting Officers
Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, a migrant teen, has been charged with participating in a robbery of a Macy’s store just weeks after he allegedly engaged in a mob assault on police officers.
Gomez-Izquiel, 19, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with robbery and petit larceny for allegedly robbing a Macy’s store in Queen. He and three others allegedly entered the Queens Center Mall on Tuesday and participated in a coordinated effort to steal clothes and other products.
The teen had been previously charged with second-degree assault on a police officer during a mob assault in Time Square in January. Video at the time allegedly showed him with a gang of other migrants kicking two NYPD officers in the head before fleeing the scene.
Calif: Dem Rep. Barbara Lee Defends Demand To Make Minimum Wage $50/Hour
Rep. Barbara Lee justified her call for a $50 federal minimum wage this week by pointing out how expensive living expenses are in her state.
The statements were made during a Senate debate in which the Democrat opponents of Representative Lee (D-Calif) demanded minimum hourly pay between $20 and $25.
Later, while citing a United Way report, the official went on to say that $127,000 is “just barely enough to get by” for a family of four in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Additionally, Lee used another example to assert that someone earning $104,000 a year would be considered low-income in the state.
“Just do that math. Just do that math,” Rep. Lee said. “Of course we have national minimum wages that we need to raise to a living wage. You’re talking about 20, 25 dollars, fine. But I have got to be focused on what California needs and what the affordability factor is when we calculate this wage.”
Lee is currently running to replace Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died last year in 2023. Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif) has decided not to seek reelection.
Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) mocked the idea and jokingly posted, “Why not $500 per hour?” on social media on Tuesday.
HEALTH
Oregon Reports First Human Case of Bubonic Plague in Nearly a Decade
Oregon health officials have confirmed a rare case of human plague in a resident who was likely infected by their symptomatic house cat.
In a statement issued on Feb. 7, Deschutes County Health Services said it was the state’s first human case of bubonic plague—known as the Black Death in the Middle Ages—since 2015.
Dr. Richard Fawcett, the Deschutes County health officer, said it was the first human case of bubonic plague, known as the Black Death in the Middle Ages, since 2015 and that all those who’d been in close contact with the infected person were given medication to prevent any potential infections from developing into symptoms.
Laxative Drug MiraLAX Side Effect Reports Include Brain Dysfunction in Children
Licensed by the FDA in 1999, the active ingredient in MiraLAX is known as PEG 3350 or polyethylene glycol. Despite being the number one prescribed laxative for children, MiraLAX is not recommended for anyone under 17 years of age, However, doctors are prescribing it off-label for children. The FDA has stated there is little data on the absorption of MiraLAX in children and the regulatory agency has never licensed MiraLAX for long-term daily laxative use, even in adults.
According to Children’s Mercy Pediatric Partners, “most kids need 6-12 months of regular MiraLAX use” despite the drug insert stating the product should be used for two weeks or less and that “safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients has not been established.”
Alaskapox: elderly man becomes first known death from virus
An elderly man has died from Alaskapox, the first known fatality from the recently discovered virus, Alaskan state health officials have said.
The man, who lived in the remote Kenai Peninsula, was hospitalized in November last year and died in late January, according to a bulletin issued last week by public health officials.
The man was undergoing cancer treatment and had a suppressed immune system because of the drugs, which may have contributed to the severity of his Alaskapox, also known as AKPV, is related to smallpox, cowpox and mpox, health officials said. Symptoms can include a rash, swollen lymph nodes and joint or muscle pain.
Only six other cases of the virus have been reported to Alaska health officials since the first one in 2015. All involved people were living in the Fairbanks area, more than 483km (300 miles) from the Kenai Peninsula, health officials said.
All had mild cases and recovered without being hospitalized.
The man who died “resided alone in a forested area and reported no recent travel and no close contacts with recent travel, illness, or similar lesions,” the health bulletin said.
Exposing the Hidden Dangers in Vaping Clouds: How E-Cig Chemicals Intensify Metal Exposures
That satisfying vapor cloud from your vape conceals an invisible menace – toxic metals that can silently scar your lungs. New research brings this stealthy threat to light
The e-cigarette market evolves so swiftly that potentially hazardous aspects easily elude surveillance. Lung-damaging toxic metals lurking unseen in vaping emissions pose one such stealthy threat. But new research illuminates a critical relationship most vapers likely remain unaware of – how e-cigarette chemical formulas impact metal levels in vapor.1
The study examined four popular pod-style e-cigarette brands using different acids to form nicotine salts: benzoic acid in Juul, levulinic acid in glas, and lactic acid in NJoy, Vuse, and blu.2 After analyzing metal content in aerosols from 50 puffs, researchers made an unsettling discovery: formulas with nicotine lactic acid salt yielded far higher airborne chromium, zinc, and especially nickel than benzoic or levulinic versions – by over 15 times for nickel.
Since the team found metals largely originated inside e-cigarette device components corroded by liquids, harsher corrosion from lactic acid salts likely boosted metal transfer into aerosols.3 Lactic acid’s chemical structure may particularly effectively extract metals.4 Alarmingly, in some cases just 10 lactic acid vapor puffs packed hundreds of times more nickel than inhaled from smoking a cigarette.5 Nickel and compounds like chromium pose well-established respiratory health hazards, including inflammation, weakened lung function, and cancer upon chronic exposures.6 While long-term implications remain uncertain, vapers surely don’t wish to inhale heightened levels of substances known to scar lungs.
By elucidating how common e-liquid chemicals modify device corrosion and metal vaporization differently, these findings highlight the complex inner workings determining what enters vapers’ lungs.7 This variable vulnerability means manufacturers and regulators should vigilantly monitor popular e-cigarette brands for stealth metal amplification. Users deserve awareness of which formulas minimize metal inhalation risks.
Moving forward, manufacturers should also list manufacturing dates and expiration times to enable research on corrosion over products’ lifespans.8 Additional work might explore metal particulate versus the inherent toxicity of the chemicals present in the vapor clouds, given differing lung impacts.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
We Have Liftoff: Another Private U.S. Company Launches Moon Shot
Another week, another private U.S. company launches a Moon shot. That was the result early Thursday morning as SpaceX’s Falcon rocket blasted off and slipped the surly bonds of earth, setting course for a lunar touchdown.
If successful, it will be the first U.S. moon landing in five decades after an eight-day journey into the unknown.
The launching comes a month after a U.S. rival’s lunar lander missed its mark and came crashing back after burning up on reentry, as Breitbart News reported.
It also marks the latest attempt by the U.S. to regain its space dominance, unseen since the Apollo program ended more than five decades ago.
AP reports NASA, the main sponsor with experiments on board, is hoping for success as it seeks to jumpstart the lunar economy ahead of astronaut missions.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
Speaker Johnson Pulls Surveillance Bill After House Intel Lawmakers Fold
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced on Wednesday that the House will no longer consider a government surveillance bill after the House Intelligence Committee was “smoked” by pro-reform lawmakers.
Johnson’s office announced that, “In order to allow Congress more time to reach consensus on how best to reform FISA and Section 702 while maintaining the integrity of our critical national security programs, the House will consider the reform and reauthorization bill at a later date.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s (R-MN) office announced in a press release that lawmakers would no longer vote on H.R. 7320, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, this week.
This announcement followed as the House Rules Committee held a hearing on the legislation to reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which is expiring on April 19.
Government Funds AI Tools For Whole-Of-Internet Surveillance And Censorship
Internet-wide surveillance and censorship, enabled by the unimaginably vast computational power of artificial intelligence (AI), is here.
This is not a futuristic dystopia. It’s happening now.
Government agencies are now working with universities and nonprofits to use AI tools to surveil and censor content on the Internet.
This is not political or partisan. This is not about any particular opinion or idea.
What’s happening is that a tool powerful enough to surveil everything that’s said and done on the Internet (or large portions of it) is becoming available to the government to monitor all of us, all the time. And, based on that monitoring, the government – and any organization or company the government partners with – can then use the same tool to suppress, silence, and shut down whatever speech it doesn’t like. Two Words: Canadian Truckers.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Texas ranks 3rd in the U.S. for residential solar power generation, new report says
The report from Environment Texas found that the state’s solar power generation increased by nearly 3,700% over the last decade.
Texas generates the third highest amount of residential solar power in the nation, according to a new report. Overall, the report found that the state’s total solar power generation increased by nearly 3,700% over the last decade.
The report, published by Environment Texas, outlines the increase in rooftop solar power from 2012 to 2022 across the U.S. and found that the country was producing 10 times as much power in 2022 compared to a decade earlier. When it comes to nationwide residential solar power, 39,510 GWh of electricity was generated in 2022 — 64% of all electricity produced from small-scale solar installations that year.
Additionally, the report also found that Texas ranked third in the nation for residential solar power generation with 2,575 GWh in 2022, placing the state just behind Arizona. California took the lead in 2022 by a wide margin, generating 15,912 GWh in residential solar power.
“That’s a testament to the many Texans who are excited about the technology,” said Luke Metzger, the executive director of Environment Texas. “Being able to generate their own clean electricity that doesn’t draw from dirty power plants on the grid, helping save money on their electric bills.”
According to a University of Houston poll from February 2023, 64% of Texas voters said they would support expanding U.S. reliance on solar power plants as an energy source.
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar files bill to connect Texas grid to rest of the country
Of the numerous vulnerabilities exposed by the deadly 2021 Texas blackouts, one caught people’s attention more than the rest: Texas exists as an energy island.
Unlike any other power grid in the continental U.S., the energy system that serves 90% of Texans cannot share much electricity with neighboring grids. That means when the Electric Reliability Council of Texas cannot meet demand, there is no way to import enough power to make up the difference. That leaves the grid operator with no option but to cut electricity to homes and businesses to balance the system.
That is exactly what ERCOT had to do in 2021, when a historic winter storm crippled the state energy infrastructure while raising power demand to historic highs.
Now, three years after the disaster, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, has filed a bill to end that energy isolation.
“This is the first bill ever in the U.S. Congress to require ERCOT to finally interconnect,“ the former Austin City Council member told KUT in an exclusive interview ahead of the bill’s filing on Wednesday. “When we’re in trouble we should be able to pull in energy from our neighboring states, and when we have a surplus of energy … we should be able to sell it to them. “
Casar’s Connect the Grid Act would mandate that ERCOT coordinate with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the grid-operating organizations along the state’s borders — the Southwest Power Pool, MISO and the Western Interconnection — to create high-voltage interconnections.
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
5 Cucumber Pruning Secrets to Grow More Crisp Cucumbers, Not Just Leaves!
If your cucumber plants are getting unruly and taking over the garden, it is probably time to bring out the pruners. Cucumbers can grow into large vines that are notorious for suckering, and pruning can help keep your plants healthy, productive, and tidy especially if you are growing them up a trellis.
While you have your shears out, you can trim off some of the bottom leaves to help air circulation and let sunlight in. Or, you can pick off fruits that won’t have time to ripen. Will pruning the cucumber improve your harvest or make the cukes taste better? Keep reading to find out as we discuss the 5 steps to successfully prune your cucumbers.
5 Never-Fail Tips for Direct Sowing Seeds in the Garden for Optimal Success
I love starting seeds indoors, but planting Veg (and Flower) seeds directly in the garden also has its perks, especially for certain plants that thrive better this way and might suffer from transplant shock. Of course, direct sowing brings its own set of challenges, like losing the predictability that indoor starts provide.
Uneven germination might discourage you from planting seeds directly in the soil, but don’t worry—there are straightforward strategies you can apply to improve germination rates and get consistently amazing results.
To make sure you get a good germination rate, and the seedlings grow into healthy plants, you need to hedge your bets with these five simple steps.
CANCEL CULTURE
Black Lives Matter PAC Spent Most Of Its Money In 2023 Paying Its Own Treasurer For ‘Consulting’
A political action committee (PAC) affiliated with the nation’s primary Black Lives Matter organization spent the majority of its 2023 expenditures paying a consulting firm owned by the PAC’s treasurer, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show.
Black Lives Matter PAC paid $90,000 to Bowers Consulting Firm in 2023 for “strategic consulting services,” according to FEC disbursement filings. Shalomyah Bowers is both the treasurer of Black Lives Matter PAC and the founding president of Bowers Consulting Firm.
Super PAC treasurers, like Bowers, have the legal authority to authorize expenditures on behalf of a political committee, according to the FEC.
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