NASA's Voyager spacecraft carry golden records loaded with music and photos, to explain our world to aliens

Paola Rosa-Aquino

Sat, July 16, 2022 

NASA's Voyager spacecraft carry golden records loaded with music and photos, to explain our world to aliens

On board each Voyager probe is a golden record, with sounds and images that show life on Earth.NASA/JPL

• NASA's been slowly shutting down non-essential instruments on the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft to save power.

• Aboard each spacecraft is a golden record, with images, sounds, greetings, and music from Earth.

• The twin probes launched in 1977, on a grand tour of the solar system and interstellar space.

Over the past few decades — and more aggressively in recent years — NASA's been slowly shutting down non-essential instruments on its Voyager spacecraft, to save power. If all goes well, it could stay energized until about 2030. But after that, the spacecraft will likely be on their own, which scientists planned for.

"When the spacecraft don't have enough power to transmit a signal back to us on Earth, they'll continue in the direction they're going, which over hundreds of thousands of years is around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy," Suzanne Dodd, project manager for the Voyager mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told Insider.

"It's a little piece of the Earth that's traveling out away from us and through our galaxy."

When Voyager 1 and 2 launched into space in 1977, each carried on board a golden record — an interstellar collection of human sounds and images meant to represent life on Earth for any alien civilization that might come across it.

Over the decades, the twin probes hurtled through space at a rate of 35,000 miles per hour, sending back detailed views of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and their moons. After completing grand tours of our solar system, Voyager 1 and 2 entered interstellar space in 2012 and 2018, respectively. That makes them the most distant human-made objects from Earth.

This image of astronaut Ed White during a spacewalk is part of the collection included on the golden record.NASA

Mounted on the outside of each spacecraft is an identical gold-plated copper record protected by an aluminum case that, if discovered by aliens, represents humanity. As NASA puts it, the records "communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials."

Humanity's time capsule

In order to illustrate life on Earth to any aliens that come across it, the golden records contain instructions — using the universal language of math and science we would expect extraterrestrials to have in common with us — on how to extract a trove of sounds, music, images, and diagrams showing human anatomy and humanity's location in the galaxy.

An image from the golden record depicts humans drinking, licking ice cream, and eating.National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC)

The 115 analog photographs — encoded as audio signals — include a snapshot of a woman licking an ice-cream cone, a man taking a bite out of a sandwich, and a man drinking water, to show how humans eat. The record also includes photos of the Great Barrier Reef, the Taj Mahal, Ansel Adams landscapes, and more.

It contains greetings to prospective otherworldly beings in more than 55 languages and a 12-minute compilation of sounds from Earth, including thunder, the calls of a humpback whale, brainwaves, and a kiss. The cosmic mixtape also has nearly 90 minutes worth of music from around the world, ranging from Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" to a Navajo chant.

A photo of a musical score with a violin was included on the record.National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC)/Cornell University

The record includes a copy of a letter penned by Jimmy Carter, who was president when the twin probes launched:

"This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours," Carter wrote, adding, "We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe."

This image of woman looking at an X-ray photo of what seems to be her own hand, was included on the golden record.National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC)

Making a cosmic mixtape

Astronomer Carl Sagan, who helped design similar physical messages to send to space aboard the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft, was tapped by NASA to head the creation of Voyager's records. He asked for help curating its contents from science writers Timothy Ferris and Ann Druyan, who recorded her own heartbeat and brainwaves for the record.

"The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space," Sagan wrote, according to NASA. "But the launching of this 'bottle' into the cosmic 'ocean' says something very hopeful about life on this planet."

Biden vowing 'strong' climate action despite dual setbacks

Sat, July 16, 2022 


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is promising “strong executive action” to combat climate change, despite dual setbacks in recent weeks that have restricted his ability to regulate carbon emissions and boost clean energy such as wind and solar power.

The Supreme Court last month limited how the nation’s main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Then late Thursday, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he wants to delay sweeping environmental legislation that Democrats have pushed as central to achieving Biden's ambitious climate goals.

Biden, who has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, compared with 2005 levels, said Friday that "action on climate change and clean energy remains more urgent than ever.''

If the Senate will not act to address climate change and boost clean energy, “I will take strong executive action to meet this moment,'' Biden said in a statement from Saudi Arabia, where he met Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Biden did not specify what actions he will take on climate, but said they will create jobs, improve energy security, bolster domestic manufacturing and protect consumers from oil and gas price increases. “I will not back down,'' he promised.

Some advocates urged Biden to use the moment to declare a national climate emergency and reinstate a ban on crude oil exports, among other steps.

Declaring a climate emergency would allow Biden to redirect spending to accelerate renewable energy such as wind and solar and speed the nation’s transition away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.

Climate advocates, including some of Manchin's Democratic colleagues in the Senate, said Manchin's announcement that he cannot back the climate provisions in the Senate bill — at least for now — frees Biden of the obligation to cater to a powerful, coal-state senator eager to protect his energy-producing home state. Manchin's vote is decisive in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans unanimously oppose climate action.

"Free at last. Let’s roll. Do it all and start it now,'' tweeted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. who has long pushed stronger action on climate. “With legislative climate options now closed, it’s now time for executive Beast Mode,'' Whitehouse wrote.

Whitehouse suggested a series of actions Biden could take, including “a robust social cost of carbon rule″ that would force energy producers to account for greenhouse gas emissions as a cost of doing business. The senator also urged Biden to require major polluters to use technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions and impose stronger pollution controls on cars, light trucks and heavy-duty vehicles.

Advocates also urged Biden to reject all onshore and offshore drilling on federal lands and in federal waters — a step he promised during the 2020 campaign but has not enacted — and restrict approval of natural gas pipelines and other fossil fuel projects.

“For too long, we’ve been waiting on a single legislative package to save us and a single legislator to determine our fate,'' said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. “Now that it’s clear legislation to address our climate crisis is dead, President Biden needs to put us on an emergency footing to address this disaster.''

Citing Biden's campaign promise to end new drilling on federal lands and waters, Merkley said, "Now is the time to show the American people he’s serious by saying ‘no’ to expanding our addiction to fossil fuels.''

Even before Manchin's apparent rejection of the climate measures, Democrats had slimmed their down their plan from about $555 billion in climate spending to just over $300 billion in a bid to secure his support. Proposed tax credits for wind, solar and nuclear energy, along with still-unproven carbon-capture technology, could reduce emissions by up to 40% by 2030, advocates said.

Manchin had already forced Democrats to drop two tax provisions he opposes: direct payments of clean energy credits and tax credits for drivers who purchase electric vehicles. Manchin forced other concessions last year, including killing a proposal that would have paid utilities that increase clean energy while penalizing those that do not.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he still hopes to salvage the clean energy tax provisions and said failure “really is not an option here.”

Manchin's request to postpone action on the climate measure follows a June 30 ruling by the Supreme Court, which said in a 6-3 vote that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

The ruling by the court's conservative majority likely complicates the Biden administration’s plan to manage power plant pollution, but does not eliminate its authority to regulate greenhouse gases. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has said the agency is moving forward with proposed rules for power plants in the coming months.

Ann Clancy, associate climate policy director for Indivisible, a progressive advocacy group, said it was time for Biden to "stop waiting for corporate-backed Democrats and their bad faith negotiations and deliver real wins for the American people on climate.''

"We don’t have any more time to waste,'' Clancy said.

Manchin, in a radio interview Friday, said climate activists want an immediate end to U.S. use of oil, coal and gas. "That's crazy,'' he told West Virginia talk show host Hoppy Kercheval. “I’m not throwing caution to the wind. I think we need an energy policy that works for our country.”

Matthew Daly, The Associated Press

Biden pivots to boosting oil supply to combat high gas prices

Ben Adler
·Senior Editor
Fri, July 15, 2022 

President Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia on Friday to meet with officials from the desert kingdom — which holds the world’s largest oil reserves — and is expected to meet with leaders from five other oil-producing Persian Gulf nations on Saturday, in what will be the latest in a series of moves by the Biden administration to boost oil supplies to reduce high gasoline prices.

This approach represents a significant shift for the president, who campaigned on promises to restrict domestic fossil fuel development as part of his effort to combat climate change.

Earlier this month, Biden threatened to break a campaign pledge to stop selling leases for oil and gas production offshore and on federal land when the Department of the Interior (DOI) released a proposed five-year plan for offshore oil and gas drilling that could allow new lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and in Cook Inlet in Alaska.

President Biden is welcomed at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

And last Friday, the administration moved toward approving a giant oil drilling project in Alaska that is opposed by climate change activists. The project, owned by ConocoPhillips and known as Willow, was previously blocked by a federal judge who ruled its environmental review did not adequately consider the effects on climate change. DOI issued a new environmental impact analysis that reviewed several options and caused opponents to fear that the administration was signaling support for the project.

“Giving the Willow Project a stamp of approval after this rushed and incomplete review process could be the kiss of death for any chance at meeting President Biden’s climate commitments,” said Lena Moffitt, chief of staff at Evergreen Action, in a statement responding to the new analysis.

Given the longtime lag between the new fossil fuel leasing and any effect on prices, experts say that none of these measures are likely to lower prices in the foreseeable future.

“There are few options in the U.S. presidential toolkit to lower fuel prices in the short term. Biden has been using the ones he has, from the wise move of selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the more economically questionable proposal of a federal gas tax holiday,” noted Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution, in a blog post published Thursday on the think tank’s website.

A sign at a gas station in Williams, Ariz., on July 6. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

“The Biden administration’s decision to sell off more public lands for drilling might be good for Big Oil, but it won’t lower gasoline prices and it certainly will worsen climate chaos,” Alan Zibel, research director for Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, told Yahoo News. “That’s because any oil extracted from leases issued now will have no conceivable effect on today’s gasoline prices.”

Oil extraction — which requires multiple steps such as seismic testing, obtaining permits and laying out infrastructure to transport equipment and oil before the drilling can even begin — is a slow process. Offshore, to go from a lease sale to oil production takes four to 10 years, depending on factors such as water depth, the drilling depth of the reservoir below the ocean floor, the distance from shore and so on.

“The outlook for the economy is a far bigger driver of oil prices than anything the Biden administration is doing on supply,” Zibel observed, noting that fears of a recession have caused crude oil prices to recently drop below $100 per barrel, bringing average U.S. gasoline prices down by 38 cents per gallon over the last month, to $4.63.

Even Biden’s Saudi swing is unlikely to yield an increase in immediate oil production. Rather, it may be a reciprocation for OPEC’s larger-than-expected increase in oil production announced in June.

“If Biden asks for increased oil production during his trip to Saudi Arabia, he is unlikely to be successful,” wrote Gross in her post for Brookings. “Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the only countries with spare capacity today. However, that capacity is believed to be limited and they have no motivation to increase production. Both countries are enjoying today’s high oil prices, particularly in light of a coming energy transition that will eventually erode demand.”

Processing facilities in the Khurais oil field in Khurais, Saudi Arabia, in 2021. (Maya Siddiqui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Despite disappointing environmentalists, Biden’s moves also have angered the oil and gas industry, which argues that the areas potentially opened to new drilling are too limited. The offshore drilling plan, for instance, would not include any new lease sales in the Atlantic, Pacific or Arctic oceans.

Fossil fuel companies also are irritated that DOI waited until the day after the previous five-year plan expired on June 30 before proposing a new one, which won’t take effect until the fall at the soonest. And they are especially concerned about the possibility that none of the areas being considered for future fossil fuel leasing will actually be opened when the final rule is issued.

“At a time when Americans are facing record high energy costs and the world is seeking American energy leadership, tonight’s announcement [on July 1] leaves open the possibility of no new offshore lease sales, the continuation of a policy that has gone on for far too long,” said Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute (API). “Because of their failure to act, the U.S. is now in the unprecedented position of having a substantial gap between programs for the first time.”

API also would like to see oil production increased domestically rather than in the Middle East. “President Biden, on behalf of the men and women fueling America’s economic recovery, I invite you to visit America’s vast energy fields and infrastructure,” API president and CEO Mike Sommers said in a video released Thursday. “Instead of meeting with foreign governments to ask them to increase energy production, look to reliable U.S. energy sources here at home.”

Then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki at the daily press briefing on March 3. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The animosity is mutual, as the Biden administration has blamed oil companies for holding back on increasing supply. In March, Biden’s then press secretary Jen Psaki pointed out that “there are 9,000 approved oil leases that the oil companies are not tapping into currently” and the White House released a plan for lowering gasoline prices that asked Congress “to make companies pay fees on wells from their leases that they haven’t used in years and on acres of public lands that they are hoarding without producing.”

Oil companies are booking record profits, but one Wall Street Journal analysis found that in the first quarter of this year, the nine largest U.S. oil producers spent 54% more on paying dividends and buying back shares of their companies than they invested in new oil development. On June 15, Biden sent a letter to the major oil refiners, including Marathon Petroleum, Valero Energy, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Chevron, BP and Shell, asking for an increase in production.

“At a time of war — historically high refinery profit margins being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable,” Biden wrote. “Your companies need to work with my Administration to bring forward concrete, near-term solutions that address the crisis.”

The oil companies were unmoved, however, noting that refinery utilization rates are already at 94.2%, the highest rate since 2019, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data, and that expanding refining capacity would take time. They also argued that the administration’s reluctance to embrace additional federal fossil fuel leasing discourages them from investing in capacity expansion.

A crude oil collection pipeline in an oil field in Utah. (Jon G. Fuller/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“Unfortunately, what we have seen since January 2021 are policies that send a message that the Administration aims to impose obstacles to our industry delivering energy resources the world needs,” wrote Chevron in a response to Biden.

But if selling more leases or imploring Saudi Arabia won’t bring down gasoline prices in the short term, what would? Some climate change activists and consumer advocates are calling for a tax on the windfall profits being enjoyed by oil companies; the federal government could then pass that money along to taxpayers.

“Last year, four fossil fuel multinational giants — ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, and BP — earned more than $75 billion in a single year in profits,” noted the Center for American Progress in a brief arguing for a windfall profits tax.

In March, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act, which would tax excess corporate revenue from barrels sold over the average Brent crude price between 2015 to 2019, roughly $66 a barrel. That could raise an estimated $35 billion to $40 billion per year that would be sent to consumers as relief checks.

The proposal is not as radical as it may seem. In May, Britain’s Conservative government unveiled a 25% tax on the profits of oil and gas firms that will pay for $19 billion in subsidies to low-income households struggling with the increased cost of living.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. (Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Another possibility is using laws against price gouging to restrict price increases. A bill passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in May would give the president power to declare an energy emergency that would outlaw “excessive” increases in gasoline prices, but it has gone nowhere in the closely divided Senate due to Republican opposition.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on what it hopes to achieve on oil supply, but expert observers see the recent moves as an effort to at least give the appearance of combating high prices.

“They’re clearly terrified of what high prices at the pump mean for Biden’s approval rating and the midterms in November,” Zibel said. “Any president in this situation would do whatever they can to either lower gasoline prices or be seen as lowering gasoline prices. These prices are not his fault, but he still has a political imperative to do anything he can to try to bring them down.”

Joe Biden Urges Democrats To Take Manchin's Offer, Punt On Climate Spending

Igor Bobic

Fri, July 15, 2022 

President Joe Biden on Friday urged his party to quickly pass legislation lowering the cost of prescription drugs and health care insurance ― and to set aside the rest of his economic and climate agenda in Congress for now.

It’s a bitter blow for Democrats who had hoped to take robust action to fight climate change and expand the social safety net. But it’s one made of political necessity.

With Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) opposition to new spending aimed at combatting climate change ― something he argues would contribute to record inflation ― and looming health insurance premium hikes this fall, Biden was forced to accept reality and swallow a slimmed-down bill that would give Democrats a big legislative victory ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The president urged passage of the legislation this month and pledged to take “strong executive action” to address the climate crisis.

“After decades of fierce opposition from powerful special interests, Democrats have come together, beaten back the pharmaceutical industry and are prepared to give Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices and to prevent an increase in health insurance premiums for millions of families with coverage under the Affordable Care Act,” Biden said in a statement issued by the White House.

“Families all over the nation will sleep easier if Congress takes this action. The Senate should move forward, pass it before the August recess, and get it to my desk so I can sign it,” he added.

The drug pricing reforms would be the biggest step in decades to address health care costs. The proposal would require Medicare to negotiate prices of some drugs directly with manufacturers, leveraging the social insurance program’s massive buying power to wring savings from drugmakers.

The new proposal would also cap a Medicare patient’s out-of-pocket expenses at $2,000 per year.

In addition to the prescription drug plan, Manchin also agreed to support a temporary, two-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies to help keep health insurance costs from increasing this year. Democrats worried that voters would get hit by insurance premium hikes before the election if they failed to take action.

“It’s not prudent to do the other right now,” Manchin said Friday, referring to climate provisions sought by Democrats.

Democrats reacted with shock and anger to the news that Manchin had balked on several provisions they said he had already agreed to ― at least before a historically bad consumer price spending report that was released this week.

“It’s infuriating and nothing short of tragic that Senator Manchin is walking away, again, from taking essential action on climate. The world is literally burning up while he joins every single Republican to stop strong action to cut emissions,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said in a statement.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Colo.) suggested Manchin wasn’t acting in good faith during the course of a year-long negotiation with Democrats.

“We have made concession upon concession. In response to his request, we’ve taken him at his word even as he continued to break his word. And I think now we’re at a point where we have to stop empowering this puppet of the coal industry to be his own branch of government,” Huffman said Friday, referring to Manchin’s cozy ties to the oil and gas industry.

Democrats and climate activists are calling on Biden to take a number of executive actions to tackle climate change, including by declaring a national emergency over climate. It’s unclear how much of it would survive the conservative 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court, which recently kneecapped the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gases.

Still, executive actions could signal to voters ― especially younger ones who already hold skeptical views of Biden ― that he is committed to addressing the climate crisis.

Getting the scaled-back health care bill to Biden’s desk is no sure thing yet, either. Democrats hold a very slim majority in the House, so it only takes a few members to derail legislation. If progressives decide to reject Manchin’s offer, the party may not get anything passed before November.

Jonathan Nicholson contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

COMMODITY FETISHISM

Rolex Daytona prices continue to slide on the resale market as the crypto crash wipes out wealth of newer collectors

Dominick Reuter Sat, July 16, 2022 

Bob's Watches

• Rolex watches are on track to erase all the price gains they made this year on the resale market.

• The drop follows steeper crashes for stocks and crypto that are hitting new collectors' wealth.

• Even with the decline, experts say Daytonas and other top-tier timepieces are still a resilient asset class.

After a surprising two-year run in which preowned luxury watches increased in value like equities, real estate, and cryptocurrencies, it appears the Rolex Daytona is not immune to the forces of financial gravity.

The crowd-favorite Cosmograph Ref. 116500 has been in a months-long slide from its peak in mid-March at around $48,500, down more than 16% to about $39,500 today, according to data from Watch Charts.

The decline of that particular referent, along with others in its family, is driving a wider drop in the brand's performance on the secondary market, which is down more than 10% over the past three months, per Watch Charts.

Watch Charts

An echo chamber supercharged demand for top-tier models

Similar drops are also happening to the two other Holy Grail watches that collectors flocked to during the pandemic: the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus.

"The watch world has, in the last couple of years, become kind of a big echo chamber in some ways," WatchCharts founder Charles Tian told Insider.

Ultimately, this has created an extreme level of interest not just in the leading three brands, but also very specific individual models that are basically impossible to buy new in a store.

The fascination has even given a major lift to other well-established Swiss brands that happen to offer models that look a lot like the top picks.

Still, something seemed to kick in late last year that pushed buyers of the Daytona, Royal Oak, and Nautilus into a frenzy.

Bob's Watches

Paul Altieri, founder of Bob's Watches, a leading Rolex reseller, told Insider the market was particularly hot from October until early May, during which prices jumped "it seemed like overnight."

Since then, Altieri said he's seen a dip in the market for Daytonas at his shop, albeit somewhat less pronounced than the larger resale market tracked by Watch Charts.

One possible reason Daytonas are faring better for Altieri is that his company doesn't accept cryptocurrencies, which have been in a free-fall since April.

The crypto-fueled 'bling boom' comes to an end

As Bloomberg columnist Andrea Felsted observed, a "bling boom" bubble emerged in the secondhand watch market that was inflated by gains in crypto and stocks, citing a Jeffries analysis that crypto wealth accounted for at least a quarter of the growth in luxury sales in the US.

Altieri said his customers tend to have their eye on their 401k when considering a purchase, and stocks and bonds have both taken a beating in 2022.

A Goldman Sachs analysis found that the classic 60-40 portfolio — generally known to be the most conservative investing strategy balancing stocks and bonds — lost 17% in the first six months of this year, the biggest decline since 1932.

Meanwhile, even the cash in US bank accounts has lost 9.1% of its purchasing power since a year ago as inflation climbs to the highest level since 1981.

Interestingly, it was the geopolitical uncertainty, market volatility, and high inflation of the '70s and '80s that in large part helped to fuel the rise of Swiss luxury watches as an alternative investment.

Bob's Watches

By those measures, the declining quarter for Daytona looks rather less bad, and more like a necessary correction of a market.

"While the level of growth in the secondary market since 2021 may be unsustainable, we believe that there is a strong baseline of value to be found in 'investment-grade' luxury watches," Morgan Stanley analysts Edouard Aubin and Elena Mariani wrote in a research note.

What makes luxury watches a different asset from securities or crypto is the baseline of value established by enthusiast collectors across decades, Tian said. "Those people aren't going to go away just because the market drops."

A new generation of collectors is now figuring out a new balance between purely enjoying the horology and expecting a return on investment, he added.

In addition, US households — mostly the wealthiest ones who like to buy stuff like luxury watches — are still sitting on massive amounts of excess savings from pandemic emergency spending.

"That money is still out there," Altieri said, "and it's gonna find good quality assets to buy. There's just an insatiable appetite."

The "bling boom" may be over, but demand for certain rare and discontinued models continues to exceed supply, and you still won't have any luck finding a Daytona to buy at retail price.

CANADIAN NATO FORCES ARE STATIONED IN LATVIA

Russia's neighbor Latvia wants to bring back the military draft because it fears Russia will attack so quickly that NATO can't help, defense minister says

Sinéad Baker

Sat, July 16, 2022 

Members of Latvia's National Guard attend a shooting exercise during basic military training camp near Daugavpils, Latvia.REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

• Latvia, which borders Russia, wants to bring back the military draft in light of Russia's war on Ukraine.

• Its defense minister told Insider Latvia must be ready for a Russian attack, including one with little warning.

• He said Russia could attack so suddenly that NATO would not be ready for it.

The defense minister of Latvia wants to reintroduce mandatory military service so his country can defend itself in case Russia launches an attack so sudden that NATO can't help prevent it.

Latvia — a NATO and EU member state that borders Russia — ended the mandatory service in 2007.

But earlier this month, Defence Minister Artis Pabriks announced plans to re-introduce the service for 18-to-27-year-olds after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying it was a necessary step for the country to "survive." Latvia's president said he also supported the move.

In an interview with Insider this week, Pabriks, who is also Latvia's deputy prime minister, said that more citizens need military training because the country is expecting an attack from Russia.

He said Latvian intelligence suggested a Russian attack could come with little warning, meaning NATO's defenses might not be prepared to stop it.

A map showing the border between Latvia and Russia.Google Maps/Insider

"Even if we are a NATO member country, our first challenge and danger is coming from a very quick attack from Russia," Pabriks said.

"We have been of course calculating how many forces Russia can gather at our borders within 24 or 48 hours. And knowing that NATO will need a certain time to reflect on that, we must be ready ourselves to defend every inch and every centimeter of our territory."

NATO's charter says that an attack on one member state is treated as an attack on all, meaning other nations would come to Latvia's defense.

But Pabriks said Latvia — which was occupied by the Soviets before declaring independence in 1990 — needs to considerably boost its own defenses as an Russian attack is so likely.

"We are ready to do anything to not repeat our bitter history lessons of when the Soviet Union occupied us," he said.

"We cannot afford to appear weak. We must be strong. We are not scared and we're simply vigilant, ready, because we're not going anymore to live under this foreign rule and this occupation like our ancestors."

Latvia's defense minister, Artis Pabriks, in England in February 2022.Alberto Pezzali/Associated Press

Service starting next year

Introducing mandatory military service still needs approval from the country's parliament and new legislation.

Pabriks expects to this to pass, and said it could happen this year — meaning the first 500 people could enter the service in January 2023.

These first people would volunteer as part of the plan's first phase, and eventually all Latvian men aged 18 to 27 would be required to do 11 months of service.

The 11 months would be made up of three months of basic training, three months of a specialty course, and five months of "integration into units and collective training."

They would also receive a monthly salary of "up to 400 euros, free food and accommodation in army barracks," the defense ministry said.

Pabriks said he also believes the plan is popular among most of the population.

NATO troops gather during military exercises in Adazi Military base in Kadaga, Latvia, Tuesday, March. 8, 2022AP Photo/Roman Koksarov

Expecting an attack

Pabriks said Russia's invasion of Ukraine proved the need to bring back mandatory military service in Latvia.

He said Latvia believes that regardless of whether Russia wins or loses in Ukraine, "Russia will remain an unreliable neighbor with imperial ambitions for the next decade."

Ukraine, like Latvia, was previously occupied by the Soviet Union, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Ukraine is rightly part of Russia as a justification to invade.

"This means Ukraine gives us time to prepare," Pabriks said. "While Ukrainians are fighting, I am sorry to say, we have a chance as Latvians and as Europeans to prepare."

People seen digging graves in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 5, 2022.REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Pabriks said the service would both bolster Latvia's military so it could fight a Russian attack, and also act as a deterrent to Russia's plans.

"Russians are not crazy. They will see we are ready to defend," he said.

"And secondly, if the disaster happens, then we would have enough forces to stand for our freedoms."

In terms of what kind of attack Russia could make, Pabriks said "anything could happen, because this imperial country never gave up these ambitions."

Latvian President Egils Levits speaks to Latvian troops during his visit to Adazi Military base in Kadaga, Latvia, on March 8, 2022.AP Photo/Roman Koksarov

Russia has so far made vague treats against the Baltic countries, of which Latvia is one. In April, Russia said it would put nuclear weapons in the Baltic region, and Estonia has said that Russia was simulating missile attacks against it.

Latvia's neighbors have also stepped up their defenses over Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO, Finland plans to build barriers along its Russian border, and Estonia and Lithuania increased military drills.

Pabriks said that when his country brings back the military draft, he can't see it ending again as it did 15 years ago.

"The Rubicon is crossed," he said. "We will not drop it anymore."

Autoimmune patients are losing access to essential medications as states crack down on abortions. The reason? The drugs can also be used to end pregnancies.


Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert
Sat, July 16, 2022 

Abortion-rights protesters hold signs during a demonstration outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Sunday, May 8, 2022

.(AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

Following the reversal of Roe v. Wade, some patients are losing access to regular prescriptions.


Some drugs, like methotrexate, can be used for treating autoimmune disease or ending a pregnancy.


A Virginia-based Lupus patient told the LA Times her prescription is no longer being filled.

Autoimmune patients in states with abortion restrictions are losing access to essential medications because some of the drugs may also be used to end a pregnancy.

Becky Schwarz, a Virginia-based lupus patient, told The Los Angeles Times that within a week of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade her rheumatologist refused to refill her methotrexate prescription.

Methotrexate, a chemotherapy and immunosuppressive drug, is widely prescribed for patients living with chronic autoimmune conditions, like lupus and Crohn's disease. The medication also has an off-label use of inducing abortion when taken in high doses and can be used to treat ectopic pregnancies, which are the leading cause of maternal mortality, accounting for 10-15% of all maternal deaths.

"This is a notice to let you know that we are pausing all prescriptions and subsequent refills of methotrexate," read a message Schwarz received from her rheumatologist, The Times reported. "This decision has been made in response to the reversal of Roe vs. Wade."

In Virginia, abortion is not currently banned, though GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin is pursuing a 15-week cutoff. However, in a post-Roe political landscape, confusion over who can prescribe medications that can terminate pregnancies may be preventing patients like Schwarz from accessing their medicine.

"I have gotten some reports where children have been denied methotrexate for their juvenile arthritis until they've proven they're not pregnant," Dr. Cuoghi Edens, an assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at University of Chicago Medicine and a rheumatology expert, told The Times.

Access to this particular medication is essential, Edens added, because of its efficacy and because some patients may experience side effects or drug interactions that make it impractical or dangerous to their health to try something different.

Edens did not immediately reply to Insider's request for comment.

"As a physician I took an oath to do no harm," Edens told The Times. "To me, this is doing harm."

IRONY

Biden no longer set to nominate anti-abortion conservative to life-long federal judgeship following objection from Rand Paul

Taiyler Simone Mitchell
Fri, July 15, 2022

President Joe Biden addresses the Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization to overturn Roe v. Wade June 24, 2022 in Cross Hall at the White House in Washington, DC. The Court's decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health overturns the landmark 50-year-old Roe v Wade case and erases a federal right to an abortion.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Image

President Joe Biden will no longer appoint an anti-abortion attorney to a federal judgeship position.

Biden rescinded his potential nomination after Sen. Rand Paul objected to the nomination.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, suspected to be part of a deal with Biden, called Paul's opposition "utterly pointless."

Resistance from Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has scotched President Joe Biden's plan to appoint a conservative attorney to a federal judgeship, The New York Times reported Friday.

Biden's plan to nominate Chad Meredith, an anti-abortion Republican, in a suspected deal with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell caused backlash from Democrats and advocates following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Rep. John Yarmuth, a Louisville Democrat and the chairman of the House Budget Committee, told The Courier-Journal that the deal was "some kind of effort to appease Mitch McConnell, which is something this state and country should be very upset about."

McConnell has had a significant influence on judicial nominations throughout his tenure, Bloomberg reported. Pending the November midterm elections and a possible Republican majority in the Senate, Biden would need McConnell's support to pass judicial nominations, Insider previously reported.

"I said, what's in it for us?" Senator Richard J. Durbin, an Illinois Democrat serving as the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said to reporters about the potential nomination, according to The Times. "They haven't given me a specific answer."

McConnell denied the deal in his interview with The Times, calling it a "personal friendship gesture."

"In considering potential District Court nominees, the White House learned that Senator Rand Paul will not return a blue slip on Chad Meredith," Andrew Bates, the deputy press secretary, said Friday. "Therefore, the White House will not nominate Mr. Meredith."

The "blue slip" Bates referred to, according to the Committee on the Judiciary, is a document that would establish the Senate's consent to the White House's choice for a federal judge appointment. Paul's rejection of the blue slip indicates a dissent towards Meredith's potential appointment.

"The net result of this is it has prevented me from getting my kind of judge out of a liberal Democratic president," McConnell told The New York Times.

He also called Paul's opposition "just utterly pointless."

Meredith, the solicitor general to Kentucky's attorney general, was set to be appointed to the Eastern District Court in Kentucky.

In 2017, he defended a law that would force providers to make abortion-seeking patients listen to the heartbeat of their developing fetus, the Courier-Journal reported in 2019.

Meredith also has ties to the conservative Federalist Society, of which Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh also have connections.

"We're pleased that the Biden administration made this decision — it's the right call," the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, Mini Timmaraju, said in a statement, according to USA Today.

"With abortion rights and access on the line in Kentucky and across the country, it is absolutely essential that all judges defend and uphold our fundamental rights and freedoms, including reproductive freedom," Timmaraju added.

The White House, Sen. Rand Paul, Chad Meredith, and Mitch McConnell did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Texas AG challenger says lawsuit preventing the Biden administration from protecting abortions in medical emergencies is 'state-sanctioned femicide'

Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert

Fri, July 15, 2022 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.Brandon Bell/Getty Images

• Texas AG Ken Paxton is suing the Biden administration over its guidance about emergency abortions.

• Biden reaffirmed federal rules that women must have access to abortion when their life is in danger.

• His challenger, nominee Rochelle Garza, told MSNBC Paxton's stance is "state-sanctioned femicide."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a suit against the Biden administration over its guidance supporting emergency abortions in a move his opponent argues is "state-sanctioned femicide."

President Joe Biden last week signed an executive order that reaffirmed federal rules in place by the Department of Health and Human Services that say patients must have access to abortion in the event of a medical emergency. On Thursday, in response to the order, Paxton filed a suit arguing the president was "attempting to twist federal law to force abortions" in the state of Texas.

"SCOTUS returned the issue to states. TX law protects pre-born life. Biden's HHS is attempting to undo all that," Paxton said in a statement. "Not on my watch. I just filed suit. I'll ensure the left's abortion agenda can't reach TX babies."

Paxton's lawsuit, which calls Roe v. Wade a "terrible regime," argues that, through the use of the executive order, the Biden administration is attempting "to use federal law to transform every emergency room in the country into a walk-in abortion clinic." The suit seeks to allow Texas to disregard the guidance from HHS, allowing the state to determine what medical procedures are legal and allowable in their hospitals.

"This is state-sanctioned femicide that he is advocating for. He is advocating for the intentional killing of women," Rochelle Garza, a Democratic nominee for Attorney General and challenger against Paxton told MSNBC. "We need to vote him out before he turns Texas into a morgue and takes that nationwide."

Representatives for Paxton and Garza did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

"This is absolute extremism," Garza added. "Taking away rights from women like they did with the fall of Roe wasn't enough for them. Now they're going after all women."

Amazon pauses work on six new U.S. office buildings to weigh hybrid work needs

Fri, July 15, 2022 

Amazon logo is displayed outside LDJ5 sortation center in New York City


(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is pausing the construction of six new office buildings in Bellevue and Nashville to reevaluate the designs to suit hybrid work, the tech giant said on Friday.

The pausing and delay of construction will not affect Amazon's hiring plans, a company spokesperson said, reiterating the firm's proposal to create 25,000 jobs in Bellevue and another 5,000 in Nashville.

"The pandemic has significantly changed the way people work ... Our offices are long-term investments and we want to make sure that we design them in a way that meets our employees' needs in the future," said John Schoettler, vice president of Global Real Estate and Facilities at Amazon.

Separately, Bloomberg News reported on Friday that Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Amazon have pulled back on their office expansion plans in New York City. (https://bit.ly/3PvFMeD)

Meta has decided not to take an additional 300,000 square feet of space at 770 Broadway, a building near Astor Place where it is already located and Amazon has cut down the amount of space it intended to lease from JPMorgan Chase & Co at Hudson Yards, the report said.

"There are often a number of reasons why we wouldn't proceed with a particular deal, including office utilization. The past few years have brought new possibilities around the ways we connect and work," a Meta spokesperson told Reuters without confirming or denying the report.

"We remain firmly committed to New York and look forward to opening the Farley in the coming months," the spokesperson added.

Amazon declined to comment on the report.