Musk Has a New Message for Ukrainians Fighting Russian Invasion

The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has become one of Ukraine's 

biggest supporters since the unprovoked Russian invasion.

• LUC OLINGA
• 1 DAY AGO

Since the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, Elon Musk has established himself as an important supporter of Ukraine. 

He has publicly expressed this support, a rare thing for a CEO of multinationals like Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Tesla Inc Report and SpaceX. In doing so, he enabled other CEOs to do the same. 

Besides words, the billionaire has also taken various actions to help Ukraine and Ukrainians even though he is aware that he does not hold the key to ending this war. Musk sent multiple shipments of Starlink terminals -- the satellite internet service offered by his space company SpaceX -- to Ukraine.

These terminals allow remote areas, towns, and villages destroyed by Russian bombing and Ukrainians in general to stay connected to the world. They essentially allow the country whose communications infrastructure was destroyed by the Russian army to continue to have access to a fast, secure and independent internet. 

This is very important because in an armed conflict each side tries to make its own propaganda to gain the sympathy of the world. Everything must therefore be done to prevent one side from winning the communication war. By sending Starlink terminals to Ukraine, Musk allows ordinary Ukrainians to continue to tell the inside story of their daily lives and avoid Moscow dictating and shaping the narrative

VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images

Russia Uses Massive Cyberattacks in Ukraine

The billionaire also quietly sent some Tesla Powerwalls, an integrated battery system that stores solar energy, to Ukraine to help the war-torn country.

But in addition to the war on the ground, Russia has engaged in another confrontation and this one concerns cyberattacks, in particular against communication infrastructures.

U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that Russian military spy hackers were behind a cyberattack on a satellite broadband service that disrupted Ukraine’s military communications at the start of the war last month, according to The Washington Post.

Last month, before the invasion, Russian government hackers had probably broadly penetrated Ukrainian military, energy and other critical computer networks to collect intelligence and position themselves to potentially disrupt the systems.

The recent outages, which began Feb. 24 — the day Russia invaded Ukraine — resulted from the hack of satellite modems belonging to tens of thousands of people in Ukraine and other countries in Europe, an official with the U.S. firm Viasat, headquartered in Carlsbad, Calif, told The Post. Agencies affected included civilians as well as Ukraine’s military and other government agencies, Ukrainian officials told the newspaper.

The Viasat official told the Post that distributors would be shipped new modems to be provided to those affected by the cyberattack.

These cyberattacks raise questions about the vulnerability of other broadband services with poorly-maintained firmware on their customer network infrastructure. 

Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty

Starlink Terminals Not Hacked by Russians Yet

But despite their power, these Russian cyberattacks have yet to affect Starlink internet stations which help Ukrainians stay in touch with the world, Musk just said.

"Starlink, at least so far, has resisted all hacking & jamming attempts," Musk stated on Twitter on March 25.

This statement by Musk is something of a relief for Ukraine and Ukrainians as it suggests that Russia does not control all communications to and from Ukraine. This is an important point because this conflict which has already caused hundreds of deaths and the displacement of millions of others is here to stay. No doubt the communication war will also intensify.

Starlink technology is being used by civilians in areas under attack that have lost Internet service, and by government officials.

"A new batch of Starlink stations!" Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov posted on Twitter on March 18, with a photo showing the hardware. "While Russia is blocking access to the Internet, Ukraine is becoming more open to the entire world. Ukraine is the truth. The truth always wins. Thank you, @elonmusk, the Government of Poland, and Orlen."

American President Joe Biden said this week that the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the resulting sanctions on aggressor Russia, may lead to a rash of cybersecurity breaches unleashed by the Kremlin and other quasi-official sources in Russia.

Biden said that his administration has "evolving intelligence" that cyber warfare will be part of Russia's striking back against American sanctions.

"It’s part of Russia’s playbook. Today, my Administration is reiterating those warnings based on evolving intelligence that the Russian Government is exploring options for potential cyberattack," Biden said.

Elon Musk says the US has 'very, very ancient leadership,' believes there's 'a serious issue with gerontocracy' in many countries

John L. Dorman

Sat, March 26, 2022, 

Elon Musk says he is a free speech absolutist.Jae C. Hong/AP

• Elon Musk told Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner that the US has "very, very ancient leadership."

• "For a democracy to function, the leaders must be reasonably in touch with the bulk of the population," he said.

• Musk said he'd like to see political leaders be within 10-20 years of the average population age.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a recent interview said that the United States has a "very, very ancient leadership" and questioned how leading figures can "stay in touch with the people" if they are several generations removed from most of the population.

The comments from the electric vehicle and clean energy company leader came this week during a conversation with Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California.

Musk spoke about everything from Russian President Vladimir Putin to revelations that he sometimes feels "lonely," but he had pointed criticism for leaders whom he feels are disconnected from their citizenry.

When Musk was asked about humans having "a significantly increased lifespan," he offered a straightforward view about human life.

"I don't think we should try to have people live for a really long time," he told Döpfner. "That it would cause asphyxiation of society because the truth is, most people don't change their mind. They just die."

He continued: "So if they don't die, we will be stuck with old ideas and society wouldn't advance."

Musk then said that a "gerontocracy" — where a government is essentially controlled by citizens significantly older than the bulk of the population — is not healthy.

"I think we already have quite a serious issue with gerontocracy, where the leaders of so many countries are extremely old," he revealed. "In the US, it's a very, very ancient leadership. And it is just impossible to stay in touch with the people if you are many generations older than them."

He added: "The founders of the USA put minimum ages for a local office. But they did not put maximum ages because they did not expect that people will be living so long. They should have. Because for a democracy to function, the leaders must be reasonably in touch with the bulk of the population. And if you're too young or too old, you can't say that you will be attached."

Musk said that he'd like to see political leaders "be ideally within 10 or at least, 20 years of the average age of the population."

He said that while he would like to sustain good health over an extended period of time, he doesn't fear death.

"I am not afraid of dying. I think it would come as a relief," he said in the interview.

Over the course of President Joe Biden's tenure, Musk — who seemed pumped about the administration's push to combat climate change early last year — began to criticize Biden, who is 79, over his failure to include Tesla in the national conversation about electric vehicles.

In January, the billionaire on Twitter blasted Biden as "a damp sock puppet in human form."

Last month, the president during a speech called Tesla the country's "largest electric-vehicle manufacturer" after facing repeated criticism for not acknowledging the company as a leader in the automotive industry.

Elon Musk says people might download their personalities onto a humanoid robot Tesla is making, which he says could be in 'moderate volume production' next year

Sarah Jackson

Sat, March 26, 2022,

Elon MuskREUTERS/Mike Blake

• Elon Musk recently sat down with Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Insider's parent company, Axel Springer.

• Musk shared on his thoughts on potential uses for Optimus, a humanoid robot Tesla is developing.

• He said it could help preserve memories and personalities if people "download" those things onto Optimus.

Elon Musk has high hopes for a future with humanoid robots.

"Humanoid robots are happening," he said. "The rate of advancement of AI is very rapid."

Musk shared his thoughts during a recent conversation with Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California.

He spoke about potential future uses for Optimus, a humanoid robot Tesla is making.

"Optimus is a general purpose, sort of worker-droid," the Tesla CEO said. "The initial role must be in work that is repetitive, boring, or dangerous. Basically, work that people don't want to do."

When asked if Optimus could feature in people's daily lives, such as by lending a hand around the house, Musk concurred, saying it'd be a "general focused humanoid."

He said he thinks it's possible that people may one day be able to download their brain capacities into an Optimus.

"We could download the things that we believe make ourselves so unique," he said. "Now, of course, if you're not in that body anymore, that is definitely going to be a difference, but as far as preserving our memories, our personality, I think we could do that."

Musk also spoke to the robot's bipedal design.

"Humanity has designed the world to interact with a bipedal humanoid with two arms and ten fingers," he said. "So if you want to have a robot fit in and be able to do things that humans can do, it must be approximately the same size and shape and capability."

Musk said he thinks Tesla will have "something pretty good at the prototype level" this year and might have "at least a moderate volume production" around the end of 2023.

He first unveiled the 5-foot-8, 125-pound "Tesla Bot" during a company AI event in August 2021. In January, he called it "the most important product development we're doing this year."

Besides Optimus, Musk spoke about a range of other topics in the interview. He shared his thoughts on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying, "We cannot let Putin take over Ukraine." He added that he thinks Putin is "significantly richer" than him even though Musk is the world's richest person on record.

Russian forces are kidnapping Ukrainian journalists, holding them hostage, and torturing them in captivity, nonprofit says



Joshua Zitser
Sat, March 26, 2022

Russian forces are kidnapping journalists and holding them hostage, according to Reporters Without Borders.

At least two journalists were tortured while in captivity, RSF said.

An editor says her 75-year-old father is a hostage as punishment for her criticism of Putin's invasion.

Russian forces are kidnapping Ukrainian journalists, holding them hostage, and torturing them, the nonprofit Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Friday, per NPR.

Journalists and their relatives are being abducted to prevent them from reporting the facts on the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, RSF added.

"By taking hostages, after bombing TV towers and shooting at cars marked 'Press,' the Russian authorities are demonstrating their determination to censor all reporting that contradicts their military propaganda," said Jeanne Cavelier, head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.

"We strongly condemn these acts of intimidation and call on the Russian authorities to stop targeting journalists. They will have to answer for their actions before international courts," Cavelier continued.

At least 36 cases of civilian detentions in Ukraine have been verified by the UN, a spokesperson for the UN's Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNOHR) told BBC News.

The targeted people are "mostly" journalists and those who have been "vocal about their pro-Ukrainian positions," the spokesperson said on Friday.

In the occupied city of Melitopol, where the mayor was kidnapped and then released, four journalists were detained and later released, according to Ukraine's National Union of Journalists, per BBC News.

In Melitopol, a journalist says her father is being held hostage to intimidate her into submission.

Svetlana Zalizetskaya, the editor of newspaper Golovna Gazeta Melitopola and the RIA-Melitopol news website, has accused Russian troops of abducting her 75-year-old father as punishment for her criticism of the Russian invasion.

Zalizetskaya was told that her dad would only be released if she turned herself in, she wrote on Facebook.

Another journalist, war photographer and documentarian Maks Levin, has been missing since March 13, The Daily Beast reported.

Levin's colleague Markiian Lyseiko wrote on Facebook that "it is assumed that he may have been injured or captured by Russian troops."

His phone has been offline since the morning of March 13, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"We are deeply concerned about the disappearance of Ukrainian journalist Maks Levin, and call on anyone with information on his whereabouts to come forward immediately," said CPJ's Europe and Central Asia program coordinator Gulnoza Said.

"Far too many journalists have gone missing while covering Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and all parties to the conflict should ensure that the press can work safely and without fear of abduction," Said continued.

Last week, the office of the Prosecutor General in Ukraine accused Russian security and military forces of kidnapping a Ukrainian journalist covering the Russian offensive.

Journalist Victoria Roschyna was detained for 10 days and then released after she posted a video saying the Russians "saved her life," Insider previously reported. Her publisher claimed the video was a condition of her release.

In the Kherson region, RSF said that journalist Oleg Baturin was held and tortured for eight days and then released. An unnamed Radio France fixer was held for nine days, according to RSF, and was beaten with an iron bar and tortured with electricity.

A report by the Institute of Mass Information has accused Russia of committing 148 crimes against journalists and the media in Ukraine since the start of the invasion.

Ukrainians protest as Russians move into city north of Kyiv

Sat, March 26, 2022,

A sign the color of the Ukrainian flag with a peace symbol

Ukrainians in a city north of Kyiv took to the streets to protest as Russians began to take over the area.

Videos and pictures captured by CNN showed a crowd of around several hundred people headed to the main square in the city of Slavutych on Saturday.

Mayor Yuri Fomichev called on residents to show up to the square with Ukrainian symbols and speak out against Russia's invasion.

Protesters brought a flag to the main square and chanted "Slavutych is Ukraine" and "Glory to Ukraine," according to CNN.

Fomichev posted on Facebook Friday that "Our defenders defended bravely and selflessly! But we do not have equal strength! Unfortunately, we have our dead."

After the city was taken over, Oleksandr Pavliuk, head of the Kyiv regional administration, said the mayor was kidnapped by the Russian forces.

CNN reported amid that the demonstrations, gunfire could be heard and the square was hit by three stun grenades.

The news comes a day after U.S. officials reported that Russian forces are no longer in full control of Kherson, the first Ukrainian city captured by Kremlin troops at the start of the war.

"We've seen reports of resistance there in areas that were previously reported to be in Russian control," a senior Defense official told reporters on Friday. "We can't corroborate exactly who is in control of Kherson, but the point is it doesn't appear to be as solidly in Russian control as it was before ... we would argue that Kherson is actually contested territory again."

The Ukrainian military has fought hard to defend its country, fending off Russian forces from the capital city of Kyiv and keeping the Kremlin from making large military gains.

Great white sharks may have secret social lives that make them even more terrifying

Joshua Hawkins
Sat, March 26, 2022


Scientists may have discovered the secret social lives of great white sharks, a new study reveals. While tracking multiple great whites, a team of researchers says it found that some would stick together for more than an hour when patrolling areas around Guadalupe Island. The reason they roam in groups may be simple, yet scary. Apparently, the sharks may have discovered that they can kill larger prey when they work as a team.

The results were published in a new study.

How researchers discovered the secret social lives of great white sharks

But how exactly did these researchers stumble upon this revelation? The group of researchers, including Florida International University marine scientist Yannis Papastamatiou, say they wanted to learn more about the white sharks that gather around Guadalupe Island each year. The waters around the island are teeming with tuna and seals, which makes it a living buffet for the sharks.

To study them, the team created a “super social tag”. This tag allowed them to track the sharks. They were also able to capture video footage of them using an array of different sensors. These sensors showed them depth, direction, and even how quickly the sharks turned when swimming. The secret weapon of the tracker, though, was the sensor that detected nearby sharks with tags issued during previous studies.

The new tags were designed to collect data for up to five days. Then, once the five days were completed, the tags would pop off the dorsal fin and float to the surface of the water for collecting. Altogether the team tagged six great white sharks, three males and three females, throughout a four-year period.

What researchers learned from the social tags

great white shark

Following a study into the data collected by the “super social tags”, researchers discovered that some sharks would gather in groups to patrol around the island. Many of the interactions were short, never lasting more than seven minutes or so.

However, some sharks chose to stay together and hunt for more than an hour.

This data about the secret social lives of great white sharks is a huge step towards understanding how these marine predators live. There’s a lot we still don’t understand about these animals because it’s so difficult to study them without being noticed. For example, in 2018, scientists were trying to understand why a bunch of sharks kept gathering at one spot in the middle of nowhere.

The tracker also gave the researchers a good look at the shark’s different hunting habits. For example, some great whites preferred to hunt in deeper water, while others stayed in shallow areas. Even more, some chose to hunt at night, while others hunted during the day.

The footage of the sharks hunting also showed multiple attempts where the prey managed to get away from the sharks. This isn’t abnormal, as predators do not always manage to catch their prey when hunting. However, Papastamatiou says it could help prove why great white sharks congregate together at times (via Phys.org).

Ultimately, though, there’s still a lot that we don’t understand. Technology may have helped give us a glimpse at the secret social lives of great white sharks, but we still don’t know why these sharks choose to be social.

Papastamatiou says they aren’t necessarily doing it to work together. Instead, it may just be a way of sharing information, should one shark manage to kill some large prey while the others were unsuccessful.

Officials: Taliban blocked unaccompanied women from flights



Afghan women chant and hold signs of protest during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, March 26, 2022. Afghanistan's Taliban rulers refused to allow dozens of women to board several flights, including some overseas, because they were traveling without a male guardian, two Afghan airline officials said Saturday.

 (AP Photo/Mohammed Shoaib Amin)

KATHY GANNON
Sat, March 26, 2022

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Afghanistan's Taliban rulers refused to allow dozens of women to board several flights, including some overseas, because they were traveling without a male guardian, two Afghan airline officials said Saturday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions from the Taliban, said dozens of women who arrived at Kabul's international airport Friday to board domestic and international flights were told they couldn't do so without a male guardian.

Some of the women were dual nationals returning to their homes overseas, including some from Canada, according to one of the officials. Women were denied boarding on flights to Islamabad, Dubai and Turkey on Kam Air and the state-owned Ariana Airline, said the officials.

The order came from the Taliban leadership, said one official.

By Saturday, some women traveling alone were given permission to board an Ariana Airlines flight to western Herat province, the official said. However, by the time the permission was granted they had missed their flight, he said.

The airport's president and police chief, both from the Taliban movement and both Islamic clerics, were meeting Saturday with airline officials.

“They are trying to solve it,” the official said.

It was still unclear whether the Taliban would exempt air travel from an order issued months ago requiring women traveling more than 45 miles (72 kilometers) to be accompanied by a male relative.

Taliban officials contacted by The Associated Press did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Since taking power last August, the Taliban leadership have been squabbling among themselves as they struggle to transition from war to governing. It has pit hard-liners — like acting Prime Minister Mullah Hasan Akhund, who is deeply rooted in the old guard — against the more pragmatic among them, like Sirajuddin Haqqani. He took over leadership of the powerful Haqqani network from his father Jalaluddin Haqanni. The elder Haqqani, who died several years ago, is from Akhund's generation, who ruled Afghanistan under the strict and unchallenged leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Infuriating many Afghans is the knowledge that many of the Taliban of the younger generation, like Sirajuddin Haqqani, are educating their girls in Pakistan, while in Afghanistan women and girls have been targeted by their repressive edicts since taking power.

This latest assault on women's rights in Taliban-run Afghanistan denying women air travel, comes just days after the all-male religiously driven government broke its promise to allow girls to return to school after the sixth grade.

The move enraged the international community, which has been reluctant to recognize the Taliban-run government since the Taliban swept into power last August, fearing they would revert to their harsh rule of the 1990s. The Taliban's refusal to open up education to all Afghan children also infuriated large swaths of the Afghan population. On Saturday, dozens of girls demonstrated in the Afghan capital demanding the right to go to school.

After the Taliban's ban on girls education beyond the sixth grade, women's rights activist Mahbouba Seraj went on Afghanistan's TOLO TV to ask: “How do we as a nation trust you with your words anymore? What should we do to please you? Should we all die?”

An Afghan charity called PenPath, which runs dozens of "secret' schools with thousands of volunteers, is planning to stage countrywide protests to demand the Taliban reverse its order, said Matiullah Wesa, PenPath founder.

On Saturday at the Doha Forum 2022 in Qatar, Roya Mahboob, an Afghan businesswoman who founded an all-girl robotics team in Afghanistan, was given the Forum Award for her work and commitment to girls education.

U.S. special representative for Afghanistan Tom West canceled meetings with the Taliban at the Doha Forum after classes for older girls were halted.

Deputy U.S. State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter said in a statement that “We have canceled some of our engagements, including planned meetings in Doha and around the Doha Forum, and have made clear that we see this decision as a potential turning point in our engagement.

"The decision by the Taliban, if it is not swiftly reversed, will profoundly harm the Afghan people, the country’s prospects for economic growth, and the Taliban’s ambition to improve their relations with the international community,” she said.

West acknowledged that the Taliban had made promises since their takeover to allow girls and women to go to school. He said that both the U.S. and the international community received “the necessary assurances” that was going to happen.

“I was surprised at the turnaround this past Wednesday and I think you’ve seen the world react in condemning this move,” West said. “It is a breach, first and foremost, of the Afghan people’s trust because they made the commitment.”

He added: “I believe hope is not lost. I’ve talked to a lot of Afghans here who also believe that. I’m hopeful that we will see a reversal of this decision in the coming days.”

In an interview after receiving the Doha Forum award, Mahboob called on the many global leaders and policy makers attending the forum to press the Taliban to open schools for all Afghan children.

The robotics team fled Afghanistan when the Taliban returned to power but Mahboob said she still hoped a science and technology center she had hoped to build in Afghanistan for girls could still be constructed.

“I hope that the international community, the Muslim communities (have not) forgotten about Afghanistan and (will) not abandon us,” she said. "Afghanistan is a poor country. It doesn’t have enough resources. And if you take (away) our knowledge, I don’t know what’s going to happen."

___

Associated Press writer Lujain Jo in Doha, Qatar, contributed to this report.

Nevada casino to pay $8M for serving chemicals, not beer

Fri, March 25, 2022,

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A jury in Las Vegas has awarded $8 million to a middle school special education teacher who sued after being permanently injured when he was served cleaning solvents instead of tap beer at a casino bar.

Lon Enwright, 38, used to also work as a wine steward at Las Vegas Strip restaurants but lost his sense of taste due to the December 2018 injury at a Barley’s Casino & Brewing Co. in Henderson, his attorney, Andre Lagomarsino, said Friday.

Enwright, a Ph.D., continues to teach and coach basketball, but has stomach and esophageal ulcers and is at increased of risk of cancer, Lagomarsino said. The attorney characterized the jury award as compensation for “the loss of enjoyment of life.”

A spokesman for Station Casinos, corporate parent of Barley’s, did not immediately respond to messages about the verdict that was reached March 18 in Clark County District Court.

Enwright’s attorneys, including Rahul Ravipudi, said Barley’s admitted liability and offered $300,000 in damages before trial.

Enwright's negligence lawsuit said he was sickened and experienced convulsions after he asked for a sample of Honey Blonde ale on tap and was served caustic chemicals commonly used to clean beer taps and lines.

His lawyers said bar employees knew the beer lines were out of service for cleaning.

Bernie Sanders wants a 95% tax on big corporations' pandemic-era profits to bring down rising prices

Joseph Zeballos-Roig,Juliana Kaplan

Fri, March 25, 2022,

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

• Sanders wants to hit all large firms with a 95% windfall tax on their revenue.

• Under the plan, Amazon would have paid $28.6 billion in 2021.

• Its reach goes far beyond the oil and gas industry.

Bernie Sanders once again wants to tax big corporations. This time, he's proposing a 95% tax on the record profits firms are raking in amidst 40-year-high inflation, ballooning costs, and a pandemic.

On Friday, Sanders introduced the "Ending Corporate Greed Act," cosponsored by fellow progressive Senator Ed Markey, with New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman introducing the legislation in the House.

Under Sanders' plan, companies that make over $500 million in annual revenue would be taxed 95% on their "windfall profits." That amount would be calculated based on their average profit level in the five years leading up to the pandemic. Deemed a "temporary emergency measure," the tax would only be in place from 2022 to 2024. In a release, Sanders said the levy would bring in $400 billion in just one year.

"We cannot allow big oil companies and other large, profitable corporations to continue to use the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the specter of inflation to make obscene profits by price gouging Americans at the gas pump, the grocery store, or any other sector of our economy," Sanders said in a release.

The Sanders bill would pursue excess profits more aggressively than other Democratic proposals in Congress. That's due to its planned tax on every large US corporation, not just those in the oil and gas sector. Another windfall tax proposal from Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island would target only oil and gas companies, and use the funds to provide direct payments.

Here's how much some firms would have paid in 2021, based on calculations from Sanders's office:

• Berkshire Hathaway: $66.1 billion

• Amazon: $28.6 billion

• JP Morgan Chase: $18.8 billion

• Chevron: $12.9 billion

It's not an unheard of measure: As Sanders notes, similar taxes were enacted during World War Two and the Korean War.

Windfall profit taxes have also historically targeted oil prices and profits. In fact, President Richard Nixon proposed such a tax on oil prices.

"It just isn't fair, for example, for millions of Americans to make sacrifices in order to deal with the crisis we confront and for a few to make excess profits or what we would call windfall profits," Nixon said in 1973.

It's not likely to get through Congress. Republicans tend to be averse to any tax increases and some centrist Democrats may also squirm at levying a tax on excess profits on every US company.

"During these troubling times, the working class cannot bear the brunt of this economic crisis, while corporate CEOs, wealthy shareholders, and the billionaire class make out like bandits," Sanders said.