INFRASTRUCTURE
Security, fire, rescue, medical, food, power, water, sewage, phone, internet, roads, walls, dams, drainage, canals, water treatment, supply chains, shipping, freight, airports, ports, digital infrastructure, cyberattacks.
“Italy, Namibia and Mauritania are among the countries implementing SIM card activation via digital ID – and Italy has now reached the phase where its telecommunications regulator, AGCOM, has greenlit the practice.
A statement from AGCOM said that mobile operators are free to activate SIMs with either the electronic ID card (CIE), the national services charter (ID), known as CNS, or the SPID, the Public Digital ID System.
Namibia and Mauritania, meanwhile, are said to be facing quite a few difficulties in their race to meet deadlines.”
“A probe into a leak from an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia is proceeding on the premise that it was a deliberate act of destruction, according to people familiar with the matter.
Officials are expected to give more details on the investigation later on Tuesday. European gas prices rose.
The leak on the gas interconnector has revived concerns about the vulnerability of undersea infrastructure following the blasts on the nearby Nord Stream pipelines from Russia to Germany last year.”
“Several major U.S. airlines have discovered that some of their aircraft’s engines were equipped with unapproved parts, which has resulted in a lawsuit against the parts supplier.
The parts, allegedly supplied by London-based AOG Technics, have been found in a small number of jet engines on U.S. aircraft belonging to United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, as well as some European carriers. AOG Technics is a company that acquires engine parts and sells them to maintenance and repair organizations.”
The Biden admin delivers mixed messages on the border wall: “The Biden administration announced it would resume construction of the border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and would waive more than two dozen federal laws—like the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act—to expedite the process. “There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas,” the waiver notice, signed by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday morning, stated. By Thursday, Mayorkas was attempting to walk back the statement, saying the language “is being taken out of context, and it does not signify any change in policy whatsoever.” President Joe Biden said yesterday that his hands were tied since the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is required to spend funds appropriated in 2019 for border wall construction.”
“Current state of Maryland public schools. More than 200 schools (according to state data) have 5% or fewer students proficient in math. Meaning, in at least 200 schools, at best 95% of students are NOT math proficient.”
Analyst Comment: Homeschool your kids!
Major trucking company Estes was hit by a cyberattack that disabled much of its “IT infrastructure.”
“Estes’ annual revenue is roughly $4 billion and it is the fifth-largest LTL carrier.”
“Shrimp are slated to become the latest food source exposed to mRNA vaccines, courtesy of ViAqua Therapeutics, an Israeli-based biotechnology startup.
The company has secured $8.25 million in funding from venture capitalists for its oral RNA-based shrimp vaccine, which is intended to target the WSSV.
With plans to administer its RNA-based product via coated feed, ViAqua suggests the RNA molecules can inhibit gene expression, silencing disease-affected genes with every meal.
WSSV is a devastating condition in shrimp, leading to a 15% reduction in global shrimp production each year — an annual loss of about $3 billion.”
“A federally funded school-based health center (SBHC) in Maine reportedly gave prescription anti-depressant pills in a plastic baggy to a 17-year-old girl without her parents’ knowledge or consent, her father told The Maine Wire.
When the girl’s father, Eric Sack, found the pills — which his daughter told him were Zoloft — he complained to the school.
Zoloft carries a black box warning — which warns of possible serious adverse reactions — indicating the drug can cause suicidal ideation, particularly in people under age 24, when they first start taking the drug.
Sack kept his daughter home from school the following week to make appointments with a doctor and therapist — a decision that resulted in someone at the school or the health center reportedly contacting Child Protective Services, which investigated the family.”
Analyst Comment: Many states now have similar school-based health centers which are typically funded by a combination of federal and state-level grants and user fees. These centers provide a variety of services including vaccinations and treatments, which can be given without the parents explicit permission.
“The UK’s National Grid Plc is preparing for a possible power crunch in January as several planned nuclear outages coincide with peak winter demand.
Electricity consumption is projected to climb to a high during the first two weeks of January, just as nuclear availability is forecast to drop, according to National Grid’s winter outlook report published Thursday. Blackouts are a less likely than last winter but can’t be ruled out, the grid’s Electricity Supply Operator said.”
Analyst Comment: Europe faces similar risks. Although stores and supply of nat gas has expanded since last year, a cold winter could lead to mass power shortages at at least rising prices. Last year a mild winter still drove up energy prices to the point where energy-intensive businesses closed down. Some industrial operations moved to China and the US. Many out-of-season growers shut down winter operations resulting in produce shortages.
As predicted, facial recognition technologies continue to fail miserably:
“Randal Quran Reid, a 29-year-old man more commonly known by his middle name, Quran, was driving to his mother’s residence post-Thanksgiving when police stopped and arrested him on a Georgia interstate. Much to his chagrin, Quran learned he was a suspect for crimes in Louisiana – a state he had never even visited, AP reported.
Held in custody for multiple days, this mishap isn’t unique to Quran. At least four other individuals, including a woman eight months into her pregnancy falsely accused of carjacking, have filed lawsuits against law enforcement for being erroneously identified and arrested due to the controversial technology.”
Eagle-eyed crime watchers have noticed several recent bookings where non-white suspects are booked as white, in what could be a deliberate attempt to skew crime stats.
“Ambulances in Multnomah County [Oregon] were unavailable to immediately respond to more than 6,300 emergency calls between January 17 and June 8, according to Bureau of Emergency Communications data.
The data reflects a surge in “Level Zero” incidents — code for when dispatchers have zero available ambulances that they can assign to respond to a 911 call.”
“Over a dozen MGM Hotels & Casinos have had to shut down operations after a cyberattack on its computer systems Sunday left the resort chain vulnerable.
Computer systems at all MGM properties have been shut down for the immediate future until the issue is resolved.”
“A judge has found that Arizona’s signature matching process for mail-in ballots is unlawful, delivering what the plaintiffs in the lawsuit called a “massive win” for election integrity.
Yavapai County Superior Court Judge John Napper issued a ruling last week (pdf) in a lawsuit against Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes brought by public interest group Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE), which alleged that Mr. Fontes broke the law regarding mail-in ballot signature verification procedures.
Specifically, the group argued that Mr. Fontes’ interpretation of “registration record” in the Secretary of State’s Elections Procedures Manual was unreasonably broad and improperly expanded the pool of signatures to which an early ballot affidavit signature could be compared, increasing the risk of false positives.”
They’re coming for your water:
“An under-the-radar report by U.S. President Joe Biden’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council should not go unnoticed, said the national watchdog Food & Water Watch on Thursday, as buried in the document is a call for the privatization of U.S. water systems, which progressive lawmakers and civil society groups have long opposed.”
“The Biden administration issued new restrictions on oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico, in an effort to protect a whale species after it settled last month with a coalition of environmental groups.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which manages energy development in federal waters, published a Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) on Monday evening highlighting expanded protections for the Rice’s whale, a species listed under the Endangered Species Act. BOEM was slated to issue the NTL last week, but delayed it until Monday.”
“The recent push by the U.S. federal government to rapidly expand the use of school-based health centers (SBHCs) across the country has some critics concerned children will receive, or be pressured into receiving, unnecessary or unwanted medical interventions — including vaccines — without their parents’ knowledge or consent…
SBHCs are intended to provide high-quality healthcare to kids by offering ‘primary care, mental health care, and other health services in schools,’ particularly in underserved communities.
This includes services ‘to prevent disease, disability, and other health conditions or their progression’ such as ‘immunizations’ and ‘well-child care.’”
“In the fall of 2020, the National Security Agency made an alarming discovery: Chinese military hackers had compromised classified defense networks of the United States’ most important strategic ally in East Asia…
The hackers had deep, persistent access and appeared to be after anything they could get their hands on — plans, capabilities, assessments of military shortcomings, according to three former senior U.S. officials, who were among a dozen current and former U.S. and Japanese officials interviewed, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.”
“The UK’s Electoral Commission, which oversees the country’s elections, announced on Tuesday that it had been hacked by “hostile actors” who had access to its system for more than a year…
It did not name the attackers, who had access to servers that held its email, control systems and copies of electoral registers containing details of millions of voters…
The incident was identified in October 2022 after suspicious activity was detected on its systems.”
Yesterday Portland, OR reported no available ambulances to take patients. Ambulances had a backlog of around 25 people, 7 of those were overdose calls.
“Nigeria has cut its electricity supply to Niger after West African neighbours imposed sanctions on the junta that ousted the country’s elected leader last week, a Niger power company source said on Wednesday.
‘Since yesterday, Nigeria has disconnected the high-voltage line transporting electricity to Niger,’ a source at Niger’s power company Nigelec told AFP. Niger depends on Nigeria for 70 percent of its power.”
“A new nuclear reactor providing energy to 500,000 homes in the southern U.S. has come online.
The Plant Vogtle reactor in Georgia became commercially operational this week, and is the first new nuclear project to be built from scratch in three decades, following several years of construction delays and running $17 billion over budget.”
“Prime Minister Rishi Sunak committed to granting hundreds of new licenses for oil and gas production in the North Sea…”
“Authorities are probing potential China-affiliated malware targeting US global military operations, hidden in networks that control their power grids and water supplies, according to a report.
Biden administration officials believe the malicious computer code could be hiding in the infrastructure that powers US military bases around the world, according to a Saturday New York Times report.
One unnamed official told the newspaper the malware, installed by Chinese hackers, is ‘a ticking time bomb’ which could impair US military deployments by cutting off water, communications and power on US military bases…
The first signs of the hacking emerged in May on the Pacific island of Guam, when Microsoft said it had detected a mysterious computer code in its telecommunications systems, the newspaper reported. Guam is the site of a large US air base.”
An illegal bio-lab was discovered in Reedly, CA: “Reedley officials and personnel from CDPH and FCDPH executed a warrant on March 16 to inspect the warehouse at 850 I Street. According to a declaration from Humero Prado, Assistant Director of Fresno County Public Health, which was filed in superior court, investigators discovered that one room of the warehouse was used to produce COVID-19 and pregnancy tests. In other rooms, investigators found blood, tissue and other bodily fluid samples. They also found thousands of vials that contained unlabeled fluids… Over 900 mice were located at the facility. Court documents identify Wang Zhaolin as the Prestige representative onsite during the investigation. Zhaolin informed the investigators that ‘these mice were genetically engineered to catch and carry the COVID-19 virus.’ Court documents describe the conditions under which the mice were housed as ‘inhumane…’
From May 2 through May 4, the CDC’s Division of Select Agents and Toxins inspected 850 I Street. Court documents confirm the CDC found potentially infectious agents at the location. These included both bacterial and viral agents, including: chlamydia, E. Coli, streptococcus pneumonia, hepatitis B and C, herpes 1 and 5 and rubella. The CDC also found samples of malaria.”
“On May 1, 2020, an executive order declared a grid security emergency. It recognized that our bulk power system has become dependent on certain countries hostile to the United States, including communist China. In this case, the transformer was seized by the federal government in 2019 and brought to Sandia National Laboratory, where it was inspected.
Many experts consider these extra-high-voltage transformers to be the backbone of our modern grid. If this device that we depend on for the lifeblood of our modern civilization could be manipulated or turned off, then that would be extremely problematic for us. It’s a vector of attack that the Trump administration tried to address through executive order. Unfortunately, on the first day of the current Biden administration, that executive order was suspended. Our nation has since imported about another 100 transformers from China. There are now somewhere around 400 in the U.S. grid…
We imported this massive 500,000-pound electric transformer from China. They decided to send it to one of our national labs when it came into the country. They found hardware in it that had the ability for somebody in China to switch it off.”
“Health officials said that the tornado-caused damage to a Pfizer plant in North Carolina could cause future drug shortages in the United States.
On Wednesday, the Pfizer facility in Rocky Mount appeared to sustain a direct hit from what National Weather Service officials say was an EF-3 tornado, halting operations at the plant. The company has said that the plant makes about 25 percent of the firm’s sterile injection medicines that are used in U.S. hospitals…
The plant makes drugs for anesthesia, medicines that treat infections, and drugs needed for surgeries. The latter are used in surgeries or intensive care units for patients who are placed on ventilators, said Mike Ganio, who studies drug shortages at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
And hospitals across the U.S. have already seen shortages of sterile injectable drugs in recent months, said Tom Kraus, vice president of government relations at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The tornado damage will make the shortage worse, he said.”
“On Thursday, Alison Rose, chief executive of NatWest Group, of which Coutts is part of the wealth management division, wrote to the former Brexit Party leader Mr. Farage to apologise for ‘deeply inappropriate comments’ made about him in official documents.
Mrs. Rose did not give him the option of having his original Coutts account back.
In July, Mr. Farage claimed the prestigious bank he has been with for over 40 years has closed his account with ‘no explanation.’
He said that he believe that he had been persecuted for his views and that he may have been deemed a politically exposed person (PEP), a term used for someone who, through their prominent position or influence, is more susceptible to being involved in bribery or corruption.”
“The WSJ reports that hackers ‘linked to Beijing’ have accessed the email account of the U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, in an attack that reportedly has ‘compromised at least hundreds of thousands of individual U.S. government emails.’ Daniel Kritenbrink, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, was also hacked in the cyber-espionage attack. While it remains unconfirmed, the two diplomats are believed to be the two most senior officials at the State Department targeted in the alleged spying campaign disclosed last week… while the infiltration was limited to unclassified emails, ‘the inboxes of Burns and Kritenbrink could have allowed the hackers to glean insights into U.S. planning for a recent string of visits to China by senior Biden administration officials, as well as internal conversations about U.S. policies toward its rival amid a period of delicate diplomacy that has been challenged repeatedly in recent months.’ while the infiltration was limited to unclassified emails, ‘the inboxes of Burns and Kritenbrink could have allowed the hackers to glean insights into U.S. planning for a recent string of visits to China by senior Biden administration officials, as well as internal conversations about U.S. policies toward its rival amid a period of delicate diplomacy that has been challenged repeatedly in recent months.'”
“The UK announced a funding package to support nuclear power generated by small modular reactors in a bid to boost energy security while lowering the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels.
The government will provide grants totaling £157 million ($205 million) for companies to accelerate their nuclear business in the UK, as well as develop new reactors, it said on Tuesday with the launch of a competition. The bid is part of the “Great British Nuclear” initiative aimed at boosting the country’s industry, including to develop new technology so the UK can hit its target of providing up to a quarter of the its electricity from domestic nuclear energy by 2050.”
Analyst Comment: The WEF says you will own nothing and be happy. They also said nuclear energy is an environmental liability, before pivoting last year. Now Europe is moving hard back into nuclear. The WEF has lost again.