NASA engineers investigate Voyager 1 spacecraft data mystery


This image details an artist's concept of the NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft with its antenna pointing toward Earth. Photo courtesy of NASA/UPI | License Photo

May 19 (UPI) -- NASA engineers are investigating a mystery with telemetry data from the aging Voyager 1 probe.

The Voyager 1 probe, currently 14.5 billion miles from Earth, is receiving and executing commands from NASA team on Earth and sending back science data, according to a NASA statement.


But data readouts from its attitude articulation and control system, or AACS, which controls the spacecraft's orientation, don't reflect what the Voyager actually does, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said.

The AACS keeps Voyager 1's high-gain antenna pointed precisely at Earth, which allows it to send data home.

Voyager 1's signal hasn't weakened, which suggests its antenna remains properly aligned, but the telemetry data it's returning appears random or impossible, engineers said.



All signs suggest that the AACS is working, and the telemetry data anomaly hasn't triggered any onboard fault protection systems, which would put the spacecraft into "safe mode," where only essential operations could be performed.

The engineering team plans to continue monitoring the signal to determine whether the invalid telemetry data is coming directly from AACS or another system involved in producing and sending such data.

Due to the spacecraft's distance from Earth, it takes two days for the team on the ground to send a message to Voyager 1 and get a response.

"Until the nature of the issue is better understood, the team cannot anticipate whether this might affect how long the spacecraft can collect and transmit science data," NASA and JPL said in the statement.

Voyager 1's twin, Voyager 2, currently 12.1 billion miles from Earth, still operates normally.

Both probes were launched in 1977 and are the only spacecraft to collect data on interstellar space, according to NASA.

They've also provided new insights into the heliosphere, a protective bubble the Sun has created that extends past the orbit of Pluto.

"A mystery like this is sort of par for the course at this stage of the Voyager mission," said Suzanne Dodd, project manager for Voyager 1 and 2 at JPL.

"The spacecraft are both almost 45 years old, which is far beyond what mission planners anticipated. We're also in interstellar space -- a high radiation environment that no spacecraft have flown in before. So there are some big challenges for the engineering team. But I think if there's a way to solve this issue with the AACS, our team will find it."

Voyager is sending ‘impossible data’ back to Nasa from the edge of the Solar System

Adam Smith

Thu, May 19, 2022,

Nasa’s engineering team is investigating a mystery taking place on the Voyager 1 spacecraft.

Voyager 1 is the most distant human-made object in existence, having launched 44 years ago. It is currently operating at the edge of the solar system, flying through the “interstellar medium” beyond the Sun’s influence.

However, scientists found that the craft is receiving and executing commands from Earth successfully – but the readouts from the probe’s attitude articulation and control system (AACS) do not reflect what is actually happening on board Voyager 1.

The system maintains the craft’s orientation, keeping its antenna pointed precisely to the Earth so that data can be sent from it to Nasa. While all indications suggest that the AACS is working as normal, the telemetry data it is returning appears to be randomly generated – failing to reflect any possible state that the system could be in.

Further, the issue has not triggered any fault protection system that could put Voyager into safe mode, and the signal has not weakened – suggesting that the antenna is still in its normal position, pointing towards Earth.

Nasa says that it will continue to monitor the situation, as it is possible that the invalid data could be being produced by another system, but says that it does not understand why it is happening or how long this issue could continue. It takes approximately two days for a message from Earth to reach Voyager and get a response from the craft.

“A mystery like this is sort of par for the course at this stage of the Voyager mission,” said Suzanne Dodd, project manager for Voyager 1 and 2 at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

“The spacecraft are both almost 45 years old, which is far beyond what the mission planners anticipated. We’re also in interstellar space – a high-radiation environment that no spacecraft have flown in before. So there are some big challenges for the engineering team. But I think if there’s a way to solve this issue with the AACS, our team will find it.”

There is a possibility that Nasa will not find the source of the issue and instead have to issue software changes or use one of the craft’s backup systems – something that has been done before in 2017 when Voyager had to switch from its primary thrusters to secondary ones because of signs of degradation.

NASA's Voyager 1 is sending mysterious data from beyond our solar system. Scientists are unsure what it means.


Paola Rosa-Aquino
Thu, May 19, 2022

An illustration depicting one of NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft. Both Voyagers have entered interstellar space.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA said Voyager 1 is sending data that doesn't match the spacecraft's movements.

The veteran spacecraft has been exploring our solar system and interstellar space since 1977.

It is now 14.5 billion miles away from Earth, making it the most distant human-made object.

NASA's Voyager 1 is continuing its journey beyond our solar system, 45 years after it was launched. But now the veteran spacecraft is sending back strange data, puzzling its engineers.

NASA said on Wednesday that while the probe is still operating properly, readouts from its attitude articulation and control system — AACS for short — don't seem to match the spacecraft's movements and orientation, suggesting the craft is confused about its location in space. The AACS is essential for Voyager to send NASA data about its surrounding interstellar environment as it keeps the craft's antenna pointing right at our planet

"A mystery like this is sort of par for the course at this stage of the Voyager mission," Suzanne Dodd, a project manager for Voyager 1 and 2 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. "The spacecraft are both almost 45 years old, which is far beyond what the mission planners anticipated." NASA said Voyager 1's twin, the Voyager 2 probe, is behaving normally.

Launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets in our solar system, Voyager 1 has remained operational long past expectations and continues to send information about its journeys back to Earth. The trailblazing craft left our solar system and entered interstellar space in 2012. It is now 14.5 billion miles away from Earth, making it the most distant human-made object.

An engineer works on a dish-shaped Voyager high-gain antenna on July 9, 1976.NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA said that from what its engineers can tell, Voyager 1's AACS is sending randomly generated data that does not "reflect what's actually happening onboard." But even if system data suggests otherwise, the spacecraft's antenna seems to be properly aligned — it is receiving and executing commands from NASA and sending data back to Earth. It said that so far the system issue hasn't triggered the aging spacecraft to go into "safe mode," during which it carries out only essential operations.

"Until the nature of the issue is better understood, the team cannot anticipate whether this might affect how long the spacecraft can collect and transmit science data," NASA said.

Dodd and her team hope to figure out what's prompting the robot emissary from Earth to send junky data. "There are some big challenges for the engineering team," Dodd said. A major one: It takes light 20 hours and 33 minutes to get to Voyager's current interstellar location, so a round-trip message between the space agency and Voyager takes two days.

"But I think if there's a way to solve this issue with the AACS, our team will find it," Dodd added.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a Forgotten Masterpiece | The Breakdown

Premiered Jan 30, 2020

GammaRay

Although often ridiculed, Gene Roddenberry's first effort to bring Star Trek to the big screen is actually a masterpiece of science fiction despite reactions. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" displays all the great qualities of sci-fi, not merely for how powerful its visuals are, but also because of its thematic exploration around the concept of freewill. It examines if we are capable of operating beyond what our deterministic coding suggests, or whether we have the power to act of our own volition. This is why "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" is great, and we should all give it another chance.

'This is not a life': Palestinians in violence-hit Jenin camp

A woman stands in front of a mural, part of an art exhibit honouring slain Palestinian Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, at the spot where she was killed while covering an Israeli army raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank - RONALDO SCHEMIDT

by Claire Gounon
May 20, 2022 — 

Jenin (Palestinian Territories) (AFP)

Weeks of Israeli raids and clashes with Palestinians have filled residents of the flashpoint Jenin refugee camp with fear and anxiety, and a longing to "live in dignity".

A hub of armed Palestinian groups, the Jenin area in the north of the occupied West Bank has been targeted by Israeli raids time and again since a wave of anti-Israeli attacks in late March.

The operations to track down suspects and clashes with Palestinians have often turned deadly for both sides.

Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot in the head and killed near the camp on May 11, while covering an Israeli raid.

"We sleep and wake to the sound of clashes, so we are worried and afraid," said 16-year-old Majd Owis.

"This is not a life. We want to live in dignity and peace," added artist Fidaa Sammar.

Mother of three Ahlam Benara said for weeks most of the Israeli raids, and ensuing clashes with Palestinians, have erupted in the early morning hours.

"Between 7:30 and 8:30 am," just when she has to prepare her children for school.

"My eight-year-old says he no longer wants to go to school because it's located near the main road," which Israeli jeeps use, she added.

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and controls all entry points to the territory.

About 475,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, alongside 2.9 million Palestinians -- 14,000 of whom live in Jenin camp.

During the second intifada against Israeli occupation, an uprising that broke out in 2000 and lasted five years, Jenin was in the spotlight of violence.

- Fear and 'painful' stories -

In 2002, the army besieged the camp for more than a month amid fierce fighting that killed 52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers.

Twenty years later, portraits of the Palestinians killed in clashes with Israelis over the years cover drab grey cement walls in the camp, where residents consider them "heroes" while Israel brands them "terrorists".

The army says it has launched "counter-terrorism" operations in Jenin camp to arrest suspects responsible for the wave of anti-Israeli attacks since March 22.

The raids spark clashes with Palestinians punctuated by heavy gunfire.

"Sometimes I have to turn the volume on the TV high to drown out the sound because it scares my (10-year-old) daughter," said Benara.

"She has not been sleeping well" and lately began wetting her bed, she added.

Owis, the 16-year-old, lives near the street where Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli army raid on May 11.

Outside his house stands a tree, now surrounded by flowers and portraits of the well-respected Al-Jazeera journalist.

Mourners have also left messages of farewell such as "thank you Shireen" and "goodbye Shireen".

There are also drawings of her and other Palestinian "martyrs", including the late iconic leader Yasser Arafat, on easels.

Dark paint or charcoal were used for the drawings, "to show (our) sadness", said Sammar, the artist who made them.

"Every home (in Jenin), has its own sad and painful story," she said, referring to residents killed in decades of violence.

"The situation is frightening. We wake up to the sounds of gunfire and fear grows that Israeli army tanks will roll in," she said.

Like most Palestinians, Sammar blames the Israeli army for the violence saying Palestinians confronting them are merely "resisting" occupation.

Benara, who was born in Algeria, said she would like to leave Jenin for the sake of her children.

"But my (Palestinian) husband says to me: 'This is life, we have to get used to it.' But I just can't."

B.C. to end fossil fuel subsidies under new oil and gas royalty system

The Canadian Press

VICTORIA — British Columbia is changing its decades-old royalty system, the fees it charges companies to extract publicly owned oil and gas, in an effort to align with provincial climate goals.

Premier John Horgan said the "broken system" of fossil-fuel subsidies doesn't fit with his government's climate plans or ensure people benefit from the resources.

"This new regime will benefit all British Columbians and help us address the challenge of our time, quite frankly, as we meet the challenge of climate change brought home so graphically to British Columbians over the past number of summers and then into the fall and even indeed into the winter," he told a news conference Thursday.

The province will eliminate the deep well royalty program, which is the largest oil and gas subsidy, he said.

The minimum royalty rate for oil and gas firms will move up from three to five per cent, Horgan added. This system applies to all new wells, while it will be phased in over two years for those currently operating.

B.C. is blessed with an abundance of natural resources, Horgan said.

"But those resources, (we) have to be reminded every now and again, belong to all of us. And for too long, the system of royalties for oil and gas has set us up to a situation whereby rather than British Columbians benefiting completely from these resources, we've seen extremely large profits for oil and gas companies, while British Columbians have had to pay more for their heating costs as a result."

The government said the elimination of the deep well program means a loss of credits amounting to between $440,000 and $2.81 million for companies, depending on the depth of the wells. The change is expected to bring in $200 million more in revenue annually for the government.

Bruce Ralston, the minister of energy, mines and low carbon innovation, said the deep well royalty program was created in 2003 with the intention to offset higher drilling and completion costs for wells considered particularly deep.

Since it was set up, he said a "patchwork of royalty deductions were introduced to reduce royalties," including those for deep wells.

"Market conditions and technological advancements have changed natural resource development significantly since then," he said.

The province undertook a review of its royalty program last year, which showed that about 77 per cent of B.C. residents were in favour of revamping the system, said a January news release from the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation.

Ralston said the new system will ensure the public return of half the profits over the life of any oil and natural gas well. He said the old system is complicated.

"It adds not only to the administrative costs for government, but it adds to the business cost of the companies that are trying to navigate through and calculate how they are going to pay their royalties. So, by eliminating the royalties programs we will introduce a measure of simplicity and clarity."

A Shell Canada Ltd. spokesperson said in a statement the company is reviewing the details of the announcement and looks forward to "continuing to work constructively with the government to ensure the competitive and responsible development of resources in British Columbia.”

Petronas Canada, Tourmaline Oil Corp. and Ovintiv Inc. did not immediately return a request for comment on how the changes will affect their operations in B.C.

Peter McCartney of the Wilderness Committee, a non-profit environmental group, said the new royalty system eliminates the province’s worst fossil fuel subsidies while creating a new one and fails to meet the moment of climate emergency.

Oil and gas extraction creates about 20 per cent of the province's carbon pollution, he said in a statement.

“But this latest subsidy offers a money-back guarantee for the most polluting activity in the province.”

— By Hina Alam in Vancouver

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHEL)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2022.

Trump claims immigrants are voting illegally. The real problem is foreign fat cats funding US campaigns


Non-Americans – whose interests don’t necessarily align with the interests of the US – assert growing influence over American politics

Russian financier Yuri Milner bought large shares of Facebook and Twitter. Photograph: Steve Jennings/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize

Robert Reich
Thu 19 May 2022

In 2017, Donald Trump repeatedly claimed without evidence that between 3 million and 5 million unauthorized immigrants had voted for Hillary Clinton. In the last few weeks, Trump has resurrected his lie during campaign rallies for Republican primary candidates he has endorsed – whipping up fears of “open borders and horrible elections”, and calling for stricter voter ID laws and proof of citizenship at the ballot box.

Trump endorsees and wannabes are amplifying this lie. JD Vance, the Trump-backed winner of last week’s Ohio Republican senate primary, claimed that President Biden’s immigration policy has resulted in “more Democrat voters pouring into this country”.

In fact, voter fraud is exceptionally rare, and claims that widespread numbers of undocumented immigrants are voting have been repeatedly discredited.

There is a problem of foreigners influencing American elections, however – but it has nothing to do with immigrants or fraudulent voting.

It’s foreign money flowing into US campaigns.

Some of the flow is clearly illegal. Last October, Lev Parnas, a Florida businessman who helped Rudy Giuliani’s effort to dig up dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine, was convicted of funneling a Russian entrepreneur’s money to US politicians.

The real scandal is how much foreign money flows into US elections legally.

The US supreme court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission opened the gates. It allows foreigners to influence US elections through their investments in politically active American corporations.

The five-justice conservative majority said that when it comes to political speech, the identity of the speaker is irrelevant, and that more speech is always better.

In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens argued that the logic of the court’s ruling would allow foreign spending on American elections, threatening American interests.

Stevens was right. If the identity of the speaker doesn’t matter and more speech is always better, what’s to stop foreign spending on US elections?

Non-Americans whose money is now finding its way into American campaigns – mostly benefiting Republican candidates – include Russian oligarchs, the Saudi royal family, European financiers, Chinese corporate conglomerates and many other people and organizations that owe their allegiance to powers other than the United States.

The growing problem centers on three realities:

First, foreign investors now own a whopping 40% of the shares of American corporations. That’s up from just 5% in 1982.

Second, American corporations are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to influence elections – counting their separate corporate political action committees or personal donations by executives and employees. Much of this spending is through dark money channels that opened after the Citizens United decision.

Third, by law, corporate directors and managers are accountable to their shareholders, including foreign shareholders – not to America. As the then-CEO of US-based Exxon Mobil unabashedly stated, “I’m not a US company and I don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the US.”

The second and third points pose substantial threats to American democracy on their own. Add in the first, and you’ve got a sieve through which non-Americans – whose interests don’t necessarily correspond to the interests of the United States – assert growing influence over American politics.

Follow the money. In recent years, Russian billionaire oligarchs have bought significant amounts of Facebook, Twitter and Airbnb. Saudi Arabia owns about 10% of US-based Uber and has a seat on its board.

Many of America’s largest corporations with substantial foreign ownership (including AT&T, Comcast and Citigroup) have contributed millions of dollars to the Republican Attorney Generals Association, which in turn bankrolled the pro-Trump rally on the morning of the January 6 insurrection.

What to do about this? The Center for American Progress has a sensible proposal: it recommends that no US corporation with 5% or more of its stock under foreign ownership or 1% or more controlled by a single foreign owner be allowed to spend money to sway the outcomes of US elections or ballot measures.

Corporate governance experts and regulators agree that these thresholds capture the level of ownership necessary to influence corporate decision-making.

OK, but how to get this proposal enacted, when big American-based corporations with significant foreign investment have so much influence over Congress?

Democrats should make this an issue in the run-up to the 2022 midterms. While Republicans rail against the utterly fake danger to the United States of undocumented immigrants voting in American elections, Democrats should rail against the real danger to American democracy of foreign money affecting American elections through foreign investments in American corporations.

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com

U.S. doctors often mistreated by patients, families, study finds


Many doctors in the United States are mistreated by patients or their families, according to a new study.

 Photo by fernandozhiminaicela/Pixabay

May 19 (UPI) -- Nearly one-third of doctors in the United States have experienced mistreatment from patients or their families, including racist or sexist remarks, a study published Thursday found.

Among more than 6,500 responding physicians from across the country, just under 30% said they were "subjected to racially or ethnically offensive remarks" within the past year, data published Thursday by JAMA Network Open showed.

A similar percentage indicated they had had "offensive sexist remarks" directed toward them at least once over the past year, while just over one in five said they experienced "unwanted sexual advances" from patients, their families or other visitors over the same period, the researchers said.

In addition, roughly one in five physicians surveyed said a patient or their family refused to allow them to provide care because of the physician's personal attributes, such as race or gender, according to the researchers.

RELATED Race, gender doesn't affect patient view of doctors, survey says

"Physicians commonly experience mistreatment and discrimination by patients, families and visitors," study co-author Dr. Lotte Dyrbye told UPI.

"Everyone has a role in addressing prejudice, harassment and mistreatment, including the government, the press, medical institutions, healthcare workers and the public, said Dyrbye, senior associate dean of faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora.

Recent surveys of patients have suggested that race and gender do not affect how they view their doctors.

RELATED New study shows online reviews stressful for doctors

However, doctors who report being victimized by racial/ethnic and/or gender bias are up to twice as likely to experience burnout, Dyrbye and her colleagues found.

Female physicians were more than twice as likely to be victims of mistreatment or discrimination from patients, families or visitors, compared with their male peers, the data showed.

Black or African American physicians had a 59% higher risk for mistreatment or discrimination than White doctors, the researchers said.

RELATED Study: Doctor burnout may increase effect of biases on care

The survey did not ask whether bias incidents have increased or decreased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, they said.

"Physicians who have [these] experiences are more likely to be burned out," Dyrbye said.

And, "When physicians are burned out, they are more likely to leave their practice, reduce their time taking care of patients, make medical mistakes and deliver more costly care to patients," she said.

Jersey Shore drama: Not enough sand at beach ahead of Memorial Day

By Allison Finch, AccuWeather, Accuweather.com

The beaches, boardwalk and a shopping mall are shown in Atlantic City in the 1970s.

WHEN AL MARTINO WAS THE HOUSE SINGER ON THE BOARDWALK

Photo by loc.gov/pictures/item/2017881730/, CC0,/Wikimedia Commons

With the unofficial start to summer quickly approaching and AccuWeather meteorologists forecasting temperatures in the 90s for areas along the East Coast this weekend, the summerlike weather is bound to make many people eager to grab their towels and head to the beach, but one part of the beach on the Jersey Shore won't be opening anytime soon.

Due to a recent storm that had stalled off the coast earlier this month, some beaches along the Jersey Shore don't have enough sand to accommodate beachgoers.

The Jersey Shore encompasses about 141 miles of beaches bordering the Atlantic Ocean, and tourism is the economic lifeline for many of the beach towns along that stretch of coastline.

Each time a coastal storm rolls through, residents of Ortley Beach, which is roughly 45 miles north of Atlantic City, are reminded of the ongoing erosion that is eating away the beach and damaging dunes throughout the barrier island.

Drone images showed a long stretch of the beach in Ortley Beach was wiped out by heavy surf from a recent coastal storm. The beaches there don't have enough sand to be opened for Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer.

RELATED 116-year-old 'ghost tracks' unearthed following pesky coastal storm

While the erosion on Ortley Beach is not a new problem, the recent Mother's Day coastal storm that washed away homes in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and exposed "ghost tracks" on a beach in Cape May, N.J., also wiped out a massive amount of sand along the 4,000-foot-long beach and left cliffs as tall as 6 feet.

The high tide reached all the way up to the base of the cliffs, and as waves continue to come crashing down, more and more of the beach is eroded away in a vicious cycle. Drone footage shot this week from above Ortley Beach showed lengthy cliffs carved out by heavy surf kicked up by the recent coastal storm.

"After the Army Corps [of Engineers] came out, they had built us a nice, flat beach, and that's very good for energy dissipation," Robert Chanklian, the Toms River town engineer, told AccuWeather National Reporter Jillian Angeline.

RELATED   Watch: Beachfront homes along Outer Banks, N.C., keep crumbling into the ocean

"The waves roll gently up a beach their energy is dissipated. As the storm erodes the sand and ends up with these vertical surfaces, the waves, instead of giving up the beach, they pound into this and create more erosion."

Robert Chanklian, Toms River Town Engineer

According to Toms River Mayor Maurice "Mo" Hill, the storms that create significant coastal erosion along the Jersey Shore typically occur in the winter months. This allows officials ample amount of time to clean up and rebuild the beaches and dunes before the warmer months come around -- and the beachgoers arrive in droves.

Ortley Beach officials said that they must rebuild the beach and surrounding dunes on the closed section of Ortley Beach before reopening it to the public because it poses a fall hazard to beachgoers. And officials say the replenishing won't happen quickly.

While a combined effort from local engineers and the Army Corps will be needed to fully restore the beaches along the Jersey Shore from erosion, a local contractor has been hired to rebuild the section of Ortley Beach.

Workers will bring in truckloads of sand to fill the beach and surrounding dunes. Officials estimate the damaged area will be filled by the end of June, which is just time for the beginning of local schools' summer vacation.

The Army Corps will then come to the beach later in the year, or early next year, to address the erosion even further as part of a federal, state and locally funded, 50-year agreement to upkeep the beach. Crews from the Army Corps will have the horsepower to rebuild the beach so that the small refilling project won't be needed as often, according to Chanklian.

"They use a dredge," Chanklian said. "It scours up the sand, sucks it up like a vacuum, pumps it onto the beach, and then as they pump that slurry of sand and water on the beach, the water runs down, and we're left with sand."

Avalon Beach, New Jersey, also suffered significant coastal erosion during the Mother's Day storm. (Evan D'Ambrosio)


Ortley Beach was hardly the only town impacted by the recent storm. Beaches in Avalon, which is about 67 miles south of Ortley Beach, were left with cliffs after strong waves ate away at the beach. Similar scenes were spotted in nearby Ocean City as well.

A team at Stockton University Coastal Research Center has been tasked with surveying the damage along the Jersey Shore. Evan D'Ambrosio, a field specialist, shared a photo of the massive cliffs lined along Avalon Beach.

"That's the most substantial damage I've ever seen since I've been working for four or five years now," is how D'Ambrosio described the recent erosion.

The team D'Ambrosio is a part of will deliver the damage assessment survey results to the impacted towns when completed. This will help give town officials a better idea of how much work will be needed to repair the beaches and surrounding dunes.

Rebuilding the dunes is crucial ahead of the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane season, which is predicted to be an above-normal season according to AccuWeather's veteran meteorologist and hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski.

"The beaches are nice to have, but the dunes are what we need to protect everything," said Hill. "This dune is going to protect the coastline, and that's what's important."

AccuWeather National Reporter Jillian Angeline stands next to cliffs left in the sand at Ortley Beach after heavy surf from a recent coastal storm devoured the town's beaches.

Sand dunes protect inland areas from storm surges and large waves propagating inland, which in turn reduces the amount of coastal flooding and structural damage in an area. Coastal areas without dunes are more susceptible to higher rates of erosions and more frequent coastal flooding.

Along with restoring the dunes, the reopening of beaches along the Jersey Shore is vital for many business owners as well as the state. Tourism at the Jersey Shore is key for the New Jersey economy.

Many business owners along the shore depend on vacationers visiting during the summer months to make their income for the year, and with beaches being closed, business owners could take a hit in their earnings.

"The beach is a big economic driver for the Jersey Shore," said Hall. "A lot of businesses will make their money over the summer months."

Defense watchdog: Trump administration targeted brother of impeachment witness

A defense watchdog report released Wednesday found the brother of Trump impeachment witness Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman was illegally targeted for whistleblower complaint.

 File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

May 18 (UPI) -- Trump administration officials illegally retaliated against the brother of a key witness in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pentagon Inspector General's office.

The report supported Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman's allegation that he was unfairly ousted from his role as ethics counsel to the National Security Council on Feb. 7, 2020, the same day his twin brother was escorted out of the White House for raising concerns about Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Yevgeny Vindman's brother, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, was on the July 2019 call and went to Yevgeny Vindman with his concerns after Trump asked Zelensky to open an investigation into Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

In addition to his firing from the NSC, Yevgeny Vindman received poor performance reviews for his service and was not recommended for an end-of-tour award after raising concerns about possible "sexist conduct" at the NSC.

RELATED Alexander Vindman sues Trump allies for alleged intimidation, retaliation

"Based on a preponderance of evidence, we conclude that it is more likely than not that the complainant was the subject of unfavorable personnel actions and that these were in reprisal for his protected communications," the report said.

The report did not recommend any punishment for military or Trump administration officials, but verified Yevgeny Vindman's claim that he was unfairly punished for protected whistleblower statements.

Yevgeny Vindman's lawyer said the report "fully vindicates" his client.

RELATED Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman retires from Army citing 'bullying,' 'retaliation' by Trump

"Through his protected lawful whistleblowing activities, Lt. Col. Vindman properly reported misconduct involving officials within the Trump administration's White House and National Security Council," attorney Mark Zaid said in a statement.

Top Democrats, who urged the inspector general to open the investigation, issued a joint statement Wednesday calling for added measures to protect whistleblowers.

"After Watergate, Congress passed significant reforms to ensure that whenever federal personnel made disclosures, they would be protected from reprisal. The Trump administration broke that promise by targeting whistleblowers and individuals connected to them with a vengeance. That can never be allowed to happen again, under any administration."

Google honors disability justice activist Stacey Park Milbern with Doodle

Google is paying homage to queer,Korean-American disability justice activist Stacey Park Milbern, with a new Doodle. Image courtesy of Google

May 19 (UPI) -- Google is celebrating queer, Korean-American disability justice activist Stacey Park Milbern with a new Doodle on what would have been her 35th birthday.

Google's homepage features artwork of Milbern by San Francisco-based guest artist Art Twink. The company is paying homage to Milbern in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

Milbern is credited with co-founding the disability justice movement and for dedicating her life to advocating for marginalized communities.

The activist was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1987, but grew up in Fort Bragg, N.C. She started pursuing disability justice at the age of 16 and helped start the movement with other activists in 2015.

At 24, Milbern moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and became the Director of Programs at the Center of Independent Living. She was later added to the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities and served as an advisor to the national administration in 2014.

She died at the age of 33 in May 2020.

"I want to leave a legacy of disabled people knowing we are powerful and beautiful because of who we are, not despite of it," Milbern is quoted as saying.

Google also released a video that explores the making of the Doodle and Milbern's career as an activist.

Illinois becomes first state in Midwest to ban sale, possession of 'ghost guns'

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is seen after signing the bill banning "ghost guns" during a ceremony at St. Sabina Church's gymnasium in Chicago, Ill., on Wednesday. 

Photo courtesy Chicago Police Department/Twitter/UPI


May 19 (UPI) -- Illinois on Wednesday became the first state in the Midwest to enact a ban on ghost guns -- those that are manufactured privately and without serial numbers, which authorities are seeing more often in crimes.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill into law prohibiting the sale and possession of ghost guns, which are often sold as a set of parts to be assembled at home.

Ghost gun opponents have argued that the weapons allow owners to circumvent background checks and cannot be traced by conventional means.

"The people creating, selling and purchasing these firearms know that they're working to circumvent common-sense gun laws that ensure guns stay out of the hands of traffickers, abusers, and convicted criminals," Pritzker said in a statement after signing the law.

"We are seeing these unseralized guns being built in basements by those who should never have had access to such dangerous weapons and then used to commit heinous crimes, and it must be stopped to keep Illinoisans safe."

A "ghost gun kit" is seen during an event at the White House on April 11, when President Joe Biden announced federal actions to fight gun crime. 

Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who supported the bill, said ghost guns are being found more often at crime scenes in the nation's third-largest city and they have been difficult for investigators to resolve. Chicago in recent years has seen a spike in gun violence.

"This is a crisis moment for us around violence in general, but also around the proliferation of these ghost guns," Lightfoot said according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

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"Folks, we gotta wake up. The gun manufacturers are getting rich while we are burying boys and girls and elders all over this country without any consequences for the people who are part and parcel of the problem. And that's also the gun manufacturers."

The bill was passed in the face of opposition from the National Rifle Association, which urged its members last month to contact Pritzker and ask him to reject the law.

"[The ban] essentially ends the centuries-old practice of individuals building lawful firearms for personal use," the NRA's Institute of Legislative Action said in a statement.

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"This only harasses and inconveniences law-abiding hobbyists who like to build their own firearms. It is already illegal under state and federal law for prohibited persons, such as felons, to possess any firearms, whether commercially made or home built."

A month ago, President Joe Biden announced new federal measures to fight the proliferation of ghost guns and called on states to prohibit sales and possession of the controversial weapons.

US gun production has almost tripled over the past 20 years and 'ghost guns' are on the rise

Grace Kay
Thu, May 19, 2022

Gun sales on Black Friday 2021 soared, ranking among the top ten highest days for gun-related background checks.Keith Srakocic/AP

US gunmakers made almost three times as many firearms in 2020 as 2000, a new federal report said.


The number of untraceable "ghost guns" is also on the rise in the US, the report said.


The expansive report is part of Biden's efforts to stop illegal gun sales.

US gunmakers made 11.3 million legal firearms in 2020 — almost triple the 3.9 million guns that were produced 20 years prior, said a federal report that was released on Tuesday.

Three days after a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, left 10 people dead and three more injured, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives released the first comprehensive analysis of gun sales in over 20 years. The report is a part of President Joe Biden's work to stop illegal gun sales.

The report showed that in 2020 — the same year gun sales surged — firearm-related homicides in the US hit their highest level in 26 years, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated. In 2020, the agency reported 19,350 firearm homicides, 35% more than the previous year.

The data is not altogether unexpected. Last year, Insider reported that the FBI processed 39.7 million firearm background checks in 2020. Background checks are not a direct representation of the number of guns sold, as the data includes checks related to concealed-carry permits and suppressor sales, in addition to gun sales. But they're still an important indicator of sales, and the number of background checks was the most the agency had ever seen since it started recording the data in 1998. The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimated at the time that about 8.5 million people bought their first gun in 2020.

The ATF report also provided data on "ghost guns," which are firearms that can be bought online or 3D-printed and assembled at home. They are virtually untraceable and can be purchased without a background check. The agency said that police discovered over 19,000 ghost guns in 2021 — 10 times as many as were found in 2016.

Last month, Biden announced efforts to crack down on ghost guns, requiring the gun kits be recognized as "firearms" under the Gun Control Act and treated the same as other commercially assembled firearms. The new rule is set to go into effect next year.

Most gun-related crimes in the nation are caused by guns that are made legally in the US but then stolen, the report said. It said 39,147 firearms were reported stolen by gun stores between 2016 and 2020. That number doesn't include guns that were taken from individuals, which would likely push the number even higher. The Wall Street Journal reported in April that gun thefts had surged over the past two years.

The ATF also reported a shift in consumer interest in guns as semiautomatic handguns began to outsell rifles as early as 2009, which indicates a potential shift in gun purchases for hunting sport versus for physical defense.

"We can only address the current rise in violence if we have the best available information and use the most effective tools and research to fuel our efforts," Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said in the press release from the Department of Justice. "This report is an important step in that direction. The Department will continue to gather the data necessary to tailor our approach at the most significant drivers of gun violence and take shooters off the streets."

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2021-04-09 · Proponents of stricter gun laws have been pushing for action on ghost guns to address the growing problem before it becomes a full-blown catastrophe. In Philadelphia, for instance, 250 ghost guns ...

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'Ghost guns,' handguns growing concern in Saskatoon, police firearms report says

Theresa Kliem - cbc.ca

Handguns and untraceable firearms are a growing concern in Saskatoon, the city's Board of Police Commissioners heard Thursday during a discussion of the Saskatoon Police Service's first firearms report.


© Robert Short/CBC

Twenty-two of the 54 gunshot incidents reported in 2021 involved handguns, compared to 10 involving rifles and 12 involving shotguns, a Saskatoon Police Service report says.

The report is connected to the development of a Saskatoon Police Service gun crime strategy.

"When you start looking at national trends with respect to firearms and firearms activity, being a major centre, we know that there's going to be … firearms coming into our community and leaving our community," said Patrick Nogier, the service's superintendent in charge of the criminal investigation division.

Last year, police in the city recorded 168 incidents involving firearms.

While the number was the same as in 2020, it still reflects a 17 per cent increase compared to the five-year average of 143 occurrences, according to the report.

In 2021, officers responded to 54 gunshot incidents in Saskatoon, meaning incidents where someone actually pulled the trigger on weapon.

In 70 per cent of these events, there was a person who was shot, or being shot at.

The other 30 per cent include reports of gunshots that were not directed at a specific person or group, as well as shots fired at a home or business, the report says.

In 23 of the 54 incidents, police say they don't know the motivation behind firing the shots. However, 28 per cent of the gun crime events were gang motivated or associated, they say.

The report further showed that none of the seven homicides in the city in 2021 came as a result of illegal gun activity.
Handguns pose 'significant threat'

In total, police seized 590 firearms in 2021. Of those, 66 per cent are considered "crime guns" and 34 per cent were firearms turned over to police by the public without any association to a criminal event.

Of the 392 crime guns, 210 — 54 per cent — were handguns, the report says.

Those weapons are particularly dominant when it comes to crimes involving guns being fired, which Nogier said is concerning.

Twenty-two of the 54 gunshot incidents in 2021 involved handguns, compared to 10 involving rifles and 12 involving shotguns, the report says.

"Being able to access a handgun and hide a handgun and predominantly use a handgun poses a significant threat in the community," said Nogier.

"When you start seeing what's being taken and being reported as thefts from residences, we're not seeing a lot of handguns. So where are the handguns coming from?"

There were 39 stolen firearms reported in 2021. The vast majority were long guns such as rifles, while only 13 per cent were handguns, according to the report.

That suggests that handguns are being transported into Saskatchewan or manufactured locally, said Nogier.

Ghost guns an emerging problem

Another emerging concern across Canada are "ghost guns," or untraceable guns, due to 3D printing becoming more readily available to the public, the report says.

In January, officers in the city executed a search warrant for 3D-printed firearms and components.

"These are guns that do not show up and you cannot track or trace," said Nogier.

"We know that this is going to be a potential threat for us."

Looking south of the border, as an example, officers in California took roughly 35,000 firearms off the street in 2021, he said — 30 per cent of which were ghost guns.

"Historically what we experience in Canada is roughly 10 per cent of what they experience in the States with respects to gun activity," he said.

"In California, next year, they're anticipating that 50 per cent of the guns that they will be dealing with are ghost guns."

Nogier added this raises some alarms in regard to what might happen in this community.

The findings in the report generally raise concerns for police officers, he said.

"There is more of an awareness from our front-line personnel that when they do pull a vehicle over that's been suspected of being involved in criminal activity, the likelihood of guns has never been higher now than it has been in the last two decades," said Nogier.

But in spite of some of the troubling numbers in the report, he told CBC that it's not intended to create fear in the city.

"We want to make sure that we get in front of it rather than have to react to problems that might arise," he said.

Canada takes aim at ‘ghost guns’ made with 3D printers

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2022/03/25/canada-takes-aim-at...

2022-03-25 · Canada takes aim at ‘ghost guns’ made with 3D printers The widespread availability of printers that can make illegal guns is one of the biggest rising concerns of law enforcement in Canada and the...

• Email: ekeenan@thestar.ca

Ghost gun proliferation needs federal attention - Brandon Sun

https://www.brandonsun.com/opinion/editorials/ghost-gun-proliferation...

2022-03-11 · Here in Canada, ghost guns, like all 

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https://www.lcp-law.com/legal-status-of-3d-printed-guns-in-canada

The Federal Government has already proposed tightening Canada’s firearm law by introducing gun bill C-71. The bill intends to enhance existing background checks along with changing how vendors document the sale of firearms. The bill does …

Hyundai to invest $16.5B in electric vehicles

By Kim Hye-ran & Kim Tae-gyu, UPI News Korea

Hyundai Motor’s electric vehicle brand Ioniq 5 cars are assembled in a South Korean factory. Photo courtesy of Hyundai Motor

SEOUL, May 19 (UPI) -- Hyundai Motor, South Korea's largest automaker, announced plans to invest $16.5 billion through 2030 to expand its electric vehicle business, along with its sister company Kia.

Through the investment, the Seoul-based company said Wednesday it would be able to produce 1.44 million units of electric cars a year by 2030 in South Korea alone.

Globally, the company plans to build an annual capacity of 3.23 million EVs, which is a tenfold increase from its current capacity of 350,000 units.

Hyundai is scheduled to come up with 18 EV models through 2030, including its luxury brand Genesis and EV-specific Ioniq models. Kia is set to release 13 EV models by then.

Hyundai and Kia said they hope to achieve a combined market share of 12% by 2030.

Last year, Hyundai said it would channel $7.4 billion in the United States by 2025 to manufacture EVs and upgrade its production facilities in the world's No. 2 automotive market.

It remains to be seen whether Hyundai Motor and Kia would be capable of attaining their goal of the 12% EV market share by 2030, as global carmakers are driving up competition in the market, according to experts.

"Hyundai Motor and Kia have chalked up an early success in the EV market by building a dedicated EV platform. In particular, Hyundai's Ioniq 5 has won so many awards over the past year," Daelim University automotive Professor Kim Pil-soo told UPI News Korea.

"However, global powerhouses in the car business are going all out to secure their competitive edge in the EV business. The competition will be really strong," he said.

The Ioniq 5 was voted World Car of the Year at the 2022 World Car Awards, a program conducted by automotive journalists from across the world.

Global automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and General Motors, have joined the transition toward electric models.