Bulgarian archaeologists undertaking routine excavations found something that was anything but routine in an ancient sewer system. A pristine marble statue of the messenger god Hermes, perhaps buried to protect it from overzealous Christianized Romans, was located in the sewers of Heraclea Sintica, a lesser-known ancient site near the border with Greee. The Greco-Bulgarian border […] The post Archaeologists Find Remarkable Marble Statue of Greek God Hermes in Ancient Sewer appeared first on Good News Network.

Navy Joan Roberts has never met her grandfather, President Joe Biden. Navy, the 5-year-old daughter of Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts, has seen her grandfather, though—on TV. Roberts, author of the forthcoming, “Out of the Shadows: My Life Inside the Wild World of Hunter Biden,” recounts Navy seeing President Biden’s image. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lunden Roberts (@lundentownn_) “We were in a nail salon one time, and she’s like, ‘Mom, look, there’s my grandpa.’ And I’m like, ‘First of all, lower your voice. Second off, yes,’” Roberts told The Daily Signal in an exclusive interview. “And so, she sees him as this grandfather that she loves from a distance, but has this relationship where it doesn’t exist. But she knows that that’s her grandfather. She’s aware.” For years, including after a paternity test proved that Hunter Biden was Navy’s father, President Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, ignored Navy’s existence. Only last year did the couple acknowledge their granddaughter in a formal statement to People magazine. Roberts has tried to justify the Bidens’ behavior to Navy. “I tell her about the president, how he has all these different tasks, and he’s so important. He’s the leader of the free world. I go into all these details with her, kind of like the books about kings and queens, like, ‘Well, we have a president.’ And she understands to that extent,” Roberts recounts. “She says, ‘Oh, well, that’s why he hasn’t been to see me, because he’s out there helping so many other people. But when he’s done, he’s going to come see me,’” Roberts adds. Currently, after years of no contact, Navy sees her father, Hunter, via Zoom. Roberts says, “I felt like sober Hunter could have been a good father.” But she acknowledges that Hunter, who was using drugs during their romantic relationship, had his demons: “I guess that’s part of falling for somebody. You just toss the red flags to the side.” “He grasped that he was the black sheep of the family,” Roberts also said of her ex. Watch our full interview above, or read a transcript, lightly edited for clarity and length, below. Katrina Trinko: Joining me today is Lunden Roberts. She is the author of the new book, which is available for preorder, “Out of the Shadows: My Life Inside the Wild World of Hunter Biden.” Lunden Roberts: Thanks for having me. It actually comes out Aug. 20. It’s the week before my daughter’s birthday. What better birthday gift can you give your daughter than your mother’s story, right? Trinko: That’s wonderful. I’m sure she will love going to the bookstore and seeing her mom’s book. Roberts: I hope so. Trinko: So, before we get into your relationship with Hunter Biden, you’re from Arkansas, you came to D.C. You said you love D.C. What brought you to the city? Roberts: I came for a CSI school. And I’ve always been obsessed with crime and who isn’t these days? Everybody loves those crime series and whatnot, and you get infatuated with them. But I actually came on a field trip to D.C. when I was in seventh grade and fell in love with the city then. Our teacher, our science teacher, was Teacher at Sea … and there was a banquet up here. And so, she brought some of her students up. I always knew I wanted to live up here and I love it. I always have. Trinko: Do you have a favorite place in D.C.? Roberts: Anywhere. Well, I love Arlington. Arlington area is my favorite. I used to live close to the cemetery, and I just thought it was beautiful out there. Gorgeous. Trinko: And do you have a favorite true crime show or podcast, now that you’ve confessed to this? Roberts: I like “The Following.” I like the serial killer-type stuff. Ted Bundy was— Trinko: So weird. How did someone so charming … do so much damage? Roberts: Well— Trinko: Right. In not related topics—so, you’ve talked a lot in interviews about some of the, let’s say, less pleasant parts about your relationship with Hunter Biden. You talked about meeting him. I think he was in his boxers maybe doing drugs or getting ready to do drugs. But I assume your relationship is more than that. What were some of the good moments? What were the happy times that made you say, “I’m going to stay in this relationship”? Roberts: Hunter had a way of making me laugh. And we would get under each other’s skin. And wittiness, he was so witty, and we’d go back and forth. And I thought he was so intelligent, and he’s one of them people you come into a room, he’s like a magnet. People want to get to know him. Maybe not— Trinko: I’ve never been in a room with him. Roberts: But he attracts people. He does. He’s very charming. Trinko: And did you know right away that he was Joe Biden’s son, or did you find that out later? Roberts: No, it was a few minutes in. Trinko: A few minutes. Roberts: It took a little bit. Yeah. It was in a conversation. I was sitting in Sen. Barack Obama’s chair. And it had his label on the wooden panel on the side and the years that he served in the Senate. And then the wheels are turning and it’s starting to make sense. Trinko: So, were you at Hunter’s house at this point? Roberts: No, I was at Rosemont Seneca. Trinko: Oh, and they had the chair. Yeah, that would trigger some thinking. Roberts: Yeah. Right? Trinko: So, tell me about the relationship. Did you ever think, “Oh, maybe we’ll get married. Maybe this is my happily ever after”? Or was it meant to be casual? Roberts: Well, the thing is, during that time—and I’ve always kind of been someone, I talk about that throughout the book, someone who’s been kind of detached from feelings. Not someone who’s dedicated to commitment, when it comes to relationships and stuff. I’ve always reacted on impulse and just lived in the moment. And that was the time in my life when I was living in the moment. And Hunter was suffering from an addiction he’s been very candid about. And throughout the darkest times of his addiction was around the time that I knew him. And you know, a quality of addiction is in and out. Sometimes you’re there, sometimes you go missing for a little bit, and then you come back. And that’s kind of what our relationship consisted of. I had been attracted to him. I talk about the first night I meet him and seeing his eyes and these beautiful blue, gray eyes. And they’re the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. And then I talk about how William Shakespeare even said the eyes [are] the windows to the soul. And I knew he was more complex than I knew. And it intrigued me. And I see that he’s suffering from all this in front of me and I can’t help but want to know more because he seemed so brilliant. Trinko: And did you have any experience in your own life or in loved ones with addiction before this? Is there something that made you ready to take it on, I guess? Roberts: Not really. And maybe that also intrigued me because I’d not. That just dawned on me just now. But yeah. No, not really. … Trinko: No, it’s a hard life. Roberts: It is. And it’s different because I can say before you know somebody and loved and cared for somebody that suffers from addiction, you don’t know what it’s like to love and care for somebody who suffers from addiction. Trinko: Right. Roberts: And I think that’s a real thing. Trinko: So, did Hunter ever talk to you before you were pregnant about his kids or how he felt about being a father? Roberts: Yes. Hunter felt, in a lot of ways, that he had let a lot of people down. And he had been through a whole lot in his life and now he’s at one of the darkest times in his life. And I talked throughout the book how Hunter felt like—there were many times he confided in me about how he felt like a disappointment. And maybe he wasn’t the best. But … in his sober years … he had the potential to be the best. Because even with this addiction, I saw this endless potential in him. And I guess that’s part of falling for somebody. You just toss the red flags to the side. Trinko: But I mean, it’s also real, the potential. Roberts: And I think that he was just in a dark place, but I felt like sober Hunter could have been a good father. Trinko: Did he talk at all about being in a political family himself? I mean, my family’s Christmas letter feels like enough pressure sometimes. But [his] father being the vice president and then, obviously, looking to run again. Was there a lot of emphasis about being picture-perfect? I mean, I know his addiction has come out, but did he grow up in an atmosphere of everything has to be just right? Roberts: I would say yes and no, because the conversations that him and I had about it—and I talk about this throughout the book “Out of the Shadows,” I say Hunter, like I said, felt like a disappointment. Because he wasn’t always perfect and he didn’t live up to that. But he claims that his brother did. And there were stories about his childhood I can remember. I can’t remember the exact name, but he had said that his friend’s parents would call Beau chief or sheriff or general, something along those lines. And it was because he was the one that would do everything right. And they knew that if their kid was with Beau, then their kid was probably in good hands and was making the right decisions. And I was like, “They say that about you?” And he’s like, “No.” He knew. He grasped that he was the black sheep of the family. He didn’t do well with it, though. I know he didn’t like being a disappointment. The scandal-plagued son of a political family. You could tell that it pained him. Trinko: So, you tell him you’re pregnant. And I believe you said he didn’t pressure you to make a decision one way or the other. But then he, correct me if I’m wrong, he just disappeared at some point? Roberts: Yes, yes. And like I’ve said, that was in the darkest times of his addiction. And you chalk that up to his addiction, because you see the ins and outs of that throughout the first few chapters in the book. And you start to make excuses and enable, you know, that, “Well, he’s ignoring me. He’s addicted. That’s a quality, it’s a trait of someone who suffers from addiction.” And so, at first when I told him, he was OK with it. And then you become this burden, kind like the addiction. And so, it’s like a deflection, dismissive abandonment. Trinko: So, when you gave birth to your daughter, Navy, were you alone in the room? Was anyone able to be with you? Roberts: My mom was with me. Trinko: Oh, good. Roberts: I actually drove myself. Well, my mom was with me, but I drove after my water broke about 2 o’clock in the morning. I drove the hour, hour and a half to the hospital. Trinko: So, you’re having contractions and driving? Roberts: Yeah. Trinko: Did you speed a little? Because I would’ve. Roberts: Probably, probably. I think. So much trauma, I don’t remember all the details of that because that time specifically, I get into detail throughout the book about how dark of a place that his dark place led me to. And you’re alone, you’re pregnant, the father is suffering from addiction. The father is absent, the future is unknown. This might be the first son. His father might run for presidency. I’m finding out my dad has cancer. I’m becoming a mom. The future is—there’s a lot of stuff. And you go through all of that with me in the book. I know it sounds like a lot, me telling you that. But you go through it step by step with me through the book. And that’s why I talk about so many emotions that are put into here because I become … I become Hunter’s scandal. And I was somebody that he had claimed that he could trust and somebody that he can confide in, or at least that’s what I was told. And now I’ve let him down. So, I spent that entire time in a really dark place. And I go into detail throughout the book describing that to the point where it felt like I was not only a burden to Hunter, I was a burden to my family. I’ve brought this scandal upon them, I’ve brought this scandal upon a daughter who didn’t ask for it. And maybe things would be better if I wasn’t here. And that dark place, mental health is real. And if you let yourself get to that dark place, it can get pretty dark. And you’ll think about things that you would never think of with a healthy mind. Trinko: So, how did you pick the name Navy? Roberts: That’s a good question. So, I was against it at first. I loved it when I first heard it. … So, I was actually on the rooftop of House of Sweden where Rosemont Seneca was located. And me and another one of Hunter’s assistants were moving a couch from the house, having one of his couches moved. And we’re watching these movers and stuff from this rooftop. My sister calls me and she’s like, “If it’s a girl, I have found the most perfect name.” And I was like, “What?” And she’s like, “Navy.” And I was like, “Yeah, I like it.” And I was like, “No, I can’t do that.” And she says, “Why?” I said, “Well, Hunter was discharged from the Navy.” And she’s like, “Oh. Well, nobody will ever know, right?” And I’m like, “Yeah, you’re right. Nobody’s ever going to know about it anyways.” But I love the name. I wanted something short and I wanted something unique. And I’ll say, it had absolutely nothing to do with Hunter’s relation to the Navy. That’s not why I picked that name. It was solely because of that phone call, I’ll say. Trinko: So, how was being a single mom for you, especially in the early days? I’m assuming Navy was a normal baby and cried at night a lot. Did anyone else get up at night with you, help out? Roberts: I talked about the dark place that I was in. And in the book, I talk about coming out of that dark place while being a mother. And once you’re out of that dark place and, I don’t know if you have children, but becoming … a mother, you find this selfless, unconditional love. And you know that you will break down any barrier for your child. And you’ll do whatever it takes for your child to have the best life possible, and for your child to get what they rightfully deserve in any way. And so, yeah, becoming a mother changed everything. Trinko: You had the strength to do it. Roberts: It took a lot. It took a lot of time. That’s why I’m here today and not five years ago, right? Trinko: Not in the middle of the 3 a.m. crying. So, does your daughter ever remind you of Hunter or are there ways in which you’re like, “Oh, she must be getting that from the Biden side. I don’t recognize this”? Roberts: Yes. Initially, when she was first born, I hadn’t seen her. And my mom had seen her first. And I talk about being detached, and I was like, “Who does she look like?” Because mom was like, “She had a head full of black hair.” Well, I was born with a head full of black hair. So I immediately was like, “Does she look like me?” Mom was like, “She looks like someone I’ve never [met] … ” Got to be kidding me. Nine months of this and she looks like him? And she does. She got his beautiful eyes. And there’s a lot of similarities there where even my friend—him and I had a mutual friend from D.C. And when she comes around me and Navy, she laughs. She’s like, “Oh my God, Navy, you were giving me PTSD. Like, this is so bad.” And it’s funny and we can laugh about it now. But I’ve always seen great qualities in Hunter. And people think that I’m just clueless and I’m stupid and oblivious. And it’s a girl in love, despite everything else. And I always saw great qualities in him. And I can remember when I was pregnant, I might’ve been nine months. I was on the line. I mean, I was fixing to have this baby. And I think in my head I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this baby is going to be half of him. What if it looks like him? What if it talks like him? Nature over nurture. What do I do?” And so, I call that mutual friend, and she’s like, “OK.” She said, “Well, think about it this way. What is one good thing that you would want her to get from Hunter?” And I was like, “OK.” I was like, “Well, his heart.” And he had a good heart and he was caring. He went out of his way to try to help people. He did. And I witnessed that several times. And even going to stories throughout the book where that happens. And it seems genuine and sincere. She says, “OK, well, what’s one thing you don’t want her to get from Hunter?” And I was like, “His feet.” Turns out she got both of them and a lot more, so you deal with it. Trinko: Wow, that’s beautiful in a way. The potential you saw in him, you’re seeing in your daughter, all those good things. Roberts: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Trinko: So, was there ever a time where you were thinking, “He’s disappeared. Is she better off with him in her life?” I know you fought very hard legally for that. But was there ever a time where you thought, “Maybe I should just let him go”? Roberts: I wanted him to take accountability for that. And I’d even had friends that he had met with after she was born. And me standing here today able to write this book is embracing my story. And that’s something I want my daughter to be able to do. … Was I supposed to just tell her that her father was some random man or tell her that I didn’t know who her father was? because I did. And I mean, if he was Joe Blow on the street, I was going to tell her who her father was when that day came. And I don’t ever want her to think I didn’t fight for her or at least offer that relationship. And another part was that accountability. When he had met with some of my friends after I’d had Navy and told them, “Well, how do I even know it’s mine?” And they even told him, “You know it’s yours.” He’s like, “I know, I know.” But I knew then in my head. So, throughout the pregnancy and stuff, I talk about how I make excuses for him and I protect him. And I feel like that’s what I’m doing by staying hidden in these shadows. And then coming out of them is not sabotaging him, is not sabotaging anyone other than just telling my story. And that’s something that I want Navy to be able to admire her mother for. Stand 10 toes down and tell your story and have that accountability. And also, it’s also a story of forgiveness and redemption and having grace for people. And those are things that I want to instill in her. So, would it be easier if he weren’t my child’s father? Absolutely. But these are the cards I was dealt. He is her father. I don’t ever want her to be ashamed of where she comes from, or I don’t want her to ever question that, as she shouldn’t. And so, I think part of me getting him to take that accountability was just owning the truth. I want you to own this. Trinko: So, my understanding is that there was a legal settlement last year that resulted in Navy getting to talk to her father on a regular basis, but also in her getting some of his art for her room if she wanted. Did she pick out a painting of his? What does it look like? Roberts: Yes. And normally I’m there when she’s Zooming him and stuff, but I’m not in the screen, “Hey, how you doing? What’s going on?” We chat, we co-parent through Zoom. And he’s asked her which painting and whatnot, and she’ll pick one. But I haven’t paid attention to those. And I’ll be honest, me and Hunter are still working out a place to put them. Because even though she’s picked them out and stuff, he’s got them wrapped and at an attorney’s office. And they take up a lot of space, and so we’ve talked about even, like, “Do you have enough room for these? Where can these go?” And it’s like, “Ah, I’m going to decorate my house in paintings. Or?” Trinko: Did he even paint when you were together? Roberts: No. Trinko: No. OK. Roberts: No, he didn’t. Trinko: This has been a new interest. OK. Roberts: I think it helped him during his recovery. He’s always been kind of artistic and doodled and stuff, but not to this extreme, that I was aware of. Trinko: So, with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, they have not met Navy yet. Right? Roberts: They have not. Trinko: What would you say to them? If you could get 10, 15 minutes in a room alone with them, what would you want to say? Roberts: They’ve missed out. And I would let them know that. They’ve missed out on some great years and a great child that they probably could have learned a lot from. I know me and my family have learned a lot. And I’d tell them about how she is and what they’ve missed out on, things that they’ve missed out on. And I just want to know why, because that didn’t have to be the case. And if you want to blame me for this toxic litigation that was surrounding her, that was just accountability. That was just me trying to say, “You have a grandchild out there and Hunter has a child. And it’s scientific certainty. It’s proven.” Trinko: And does your daughter, does she ever see President Biden on TV? Does she know who he is? Roberts: I keep the news and stuff off at the house and the media, for obvious reasons. And she does. She’s walked by TV screens. I can’t help what other people have on. But we were in a nail salon one time and she’s like, “Mom, look, there’s my grandpa.” And I’m like, “First of all, lower your voice. Second off, yes.” And so, she sees him as this grandfather that she loves from a distance but has this relationship where it doesn’t exist. But she knows that that’s her grandfather. She’s aware. And throughout this book, I also talk—listen, it’s a wild ride, OK? We go from this relationship to this pregnancy and these dark places and coming out of them, and being a mom, and the legal stuff that takes place. But there’s also, toward the ending, she gets of an age where she wants to know, “Why don’t I have a dad?” And I want her to be resilient, I want her to be strong, I want her to be open-minded. I tell her, I make excuses and tell her—”Well, why haven’t I seen him?” “Well, he lives far away. He’s a busy man. He lives far away.” And I tell her about her grandparents and why everyone’s so busy. And I take her with me my first election, or my first election, her first election since she was born, not mine. Trinko: The 2020 election? Roberts: Yeah. And I let her know who they are and what she comes from. I tell her about the president, how he has all these different tasks and he’s so important. He’s the leader of the free world. I go into all these details with her kind of like the books about kings and queens, like, “Well, we have a president.” And she understands to that extent. And I talk about one of the stories throughout the book is telling her that. And she says, “Oh, well, that’s why he hasn’t been to see me, because he’s out there helping so many other people. But when he’s done, he’s going to come see me.” Trinko: That’s beautiful and heartbreaking. Roberts: I can only hope. Yeah. And I mean, she gives them grace from afar as well. Trinko: Did you tell Hunter you were writing this book? Roberts: I could not. You signed different terms and stuff with publishers. And I wasn’t allowed to speak with people about the book until a certain date. Trinko: And you’ve been a figure who’s been covered by the media for years and yet without you, I think, ever speaking out until this book came out, correct me if I’m wrong. Roberts: I couldn’t. I wasn’t able to. I’m telling you today, people say, “Why now? Oh, it’s because it’s an election year and she wants fame.” Well, people don’t see the anxiety that I have behind the scenes. And coming on and being able to talk to you and stuff, I wouldn’t have been able to do that years ago. I wouldn’t have been able to do that this time last year. This has been a healing journey. And I think that this story, this book is something that could impact a lot of people’s lives who need that sort of healing in their life. Trinko: So, what do you want Americans to know about you? Who’s the real Lunden Roberts, not the one that’s been in all these articles all these years, with all these rumors spreading around? Who do you see yourself as? Roberts: I talk throughout the book about identifying—I detached from who I am and these feelings. But one thing I’ve always put on, the only label I’ve ever wore is mother. And that’s something I wear proudly. I’m a proud mom and I love my child to the end of the world. But I talk about all those things throughout the book. And this is “Out of the Shadows,” it’s part of it. Coming out, embracing this, embracing who I am, and embracing my daughter and where she comes from and standing on that. That’s something that I would hope that she could only admire me for at one point, when she’s old enough to. Right now, I’m just mom. Trinko: It’s a good place to be. Roberts: Yeah. Trinko: Well, thank you so much for joining us. Roberts: Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. The post ‘He’s Going to Come See Me’: Biden Granddaughter’s Mom Talks About Her Daughter’s Hope to Meet Her Grandpa appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Parts of the US are preparing for dust storms this week as a large mass of dry, dusty air is set to make landfall after traveling across the Atlantic from the Sahara Desert – but how is it able to make this over 8,000-kilometer (5,000-mile) journey?It’s all down to seasonal changes in the wind, which is why the arrival of long-distance dust in the US isn’t actually an unusual event – Saharan dust makes this voyage every summer.An uptick in winds in the Sahara, peaking in late June to mid-August, picks up dust and injects it into the troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere. There, it forms into the Saharan Air Layer, a 3 to 4-kilometer (2 to 2.5-mile) thick plume of extremely dry and dusty air, starting around 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) above the surface.And when we say dry, we mean dry – the Saharan Air Layer has around 50 percent less moisture than you’d usually expect in the atmosphere over tropical regions.Then, every three to five days at its peak, the trade winds – the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds over the equator – blow the layer across the Atlantic Ocean towards the US, where it can have all kinds of impacts.One of the main ways the Saharan Air Layer can make its mark is in the weather. “The dry air can really suppress afternoon clouds and help cool things down,” Jason Dunion, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Hurricane Program Field Director and a meteorologist, told Space.com. It can also help to weaken tropical storms by promoting downdrafts, “but you can still get storms popping in the late afternoon," Dunion added.The downside of storm suppression, the meteorologist explains, is that it can also “make for some of your hottest days when these dust outbreaks come overhead in places like Texas and Alabama." Then there’s the potential health effects; at a low enough altitude, the presence of dust drops the air quality and can make conditions involving the lungs, like asthma, worse than usual.The issue is that, while dust storms have a role to play in Earth’s biogeochemical cycles, their frequency is also on the up, which is of concern to officials because of the effects they can have on people’s health, economies and infrastructure, and the environment.According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), around 2 billion tons of sand and dust end up in the atmosphere each year – the same weight as 350 Great Pyramids of Giza. Around 25 percent of that matter is thought to stem from human activity, which the UN is hoping to target by dedicating the next decade to combating sand and dust storms, with an annual awareness day each July 12. This year’s awareness day, the first ever, marks the launch of a policy guide that aims to help governments adapt to the problems of sand and dust storms.“The Policy Guideline will support countries to develop and implement sand and dust storms-related initiatives, improve land use and management, enhance food security, and build resilience to climate change,” said Lifeng Li, Director of the Land and Water Division at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, in a statement.All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text, images, and links may be edited, removed, or added to at a later date to keep information current. 

The risk of a solar storm destroying power networks and submarine cables – and potentially even bringing down civilization – depends on the angle at which it hits the Earth’s magnetic field and the local time of night. Unsurprisingly, the strength of the incoming shock is also important, but new research emphasizes the influence of the angle at which an irregularity in the solar wind arrives. The work will improve predictions on which shocks will be most dangerous, allowing for mitigation measures to be put in place.With the Sun at around the maximum of its cycle, the main effect most people have experienced has been beautiful auroras. A few radio communications have been disrupted, without substantial harm. However, the history of past events shows something much more serious is possible, and our technology makes us far more vulnerable than ever before.Although auroras are ultimately a product of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) lifting plasma off the Sun, most CMEs cause no auroras, let alone damage. That’s because the vast majority of CMEs are directed nowhere near Earth – it’s a big Solar System out there and we are quite a small target. When something does hit the Earth’s magnetic field, most often it is at a substantial enough angle to produce a glancing blow, rather than a direct hit. This diminishes the power of the auroras, but since negative effects are rarer, we know less about how they are affected.The reason CMEs have recently become a much greater threat is that they can produce currents in long stretches of conducting material. That didn’t matter when a spear was the longest piece of metal around, but modern electricity powerlines and pipelines are a different matter. "Auroras and geomagnetically induced currents are caused by similar space weather drivers," said Dr Denny Oliveira of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in a statement to Frontiers News. "The aurora is a visual warning that indicates that electric currents in space can generate these geomagnetically induced currents on the ground."Most auroras are restricted to polar regions, but in May this year they were seen at latitudes of less than 30 degrees. Induced currents are also most common near the magnetic poles.Even somewhere as far from the poles as Perth, Australia, got magnificent auroras in May.Image Credit: Shane O'Reilly via wikimedia commons (CC BY 3.0)Auroras are famously produced when particles from the Sun reach the Earth’s magnetic field, which bends their path towards the magnetic poles where they ionize atmospheric molecules. However, a secondary mechanism is squeezing of our magnetic field from so called “interplanetary shocks” caused by changes in density and temperature of the solar wind. It’s the latter component that produces the ground currents."Arguably, the most intense deleterious effects on power infrastructure occurred in March 1989 following a severe geomagnetic storm – the Hydro-Quebec system in Canada was shut down for nearly nine hours, leaving millions of people with no electricity," Oliveira said.Oliveira and colleagues compared the angles and times of day of 332 shocks striking between 1999 and 2023 with the currents induced in a gas pipeline in Mäntsälä, Finland. The strongest currents (above 20 amps) were created when shocks struck most directly and around midnight when the magnetic north pole was between Mäntsälä and the Sun. Unsurprisingly, these coincided with strong auroras, but at this latitude auroras are far more frequent."Moderate currents occur shortly after the perturbation impact when Mäntsälä is around dusk local time, whereas more intense currents occur around midnight local time," Oliveira said.Shocks take days to travel from Sun to Earth, but we are unable to predict their arrival with much precision for most of that time, a matter of great frustration to aurora chasers. However, according to Oliveira, the shock angle is sufficiently well-known two hours beforehand. That’s a lot more useful than the half an hour warning NASA has recently started providing.                Nevertheless, the data Oliveira and colleagues used didn’t reveal a strong relationship between the shock angle and the delay before the current was produced. Unless other methods can address this, infrastructure may need to remain in safe mode longer than would be ideal following each shock."Although Mäntsälä is at a critical location, it does not provide a worldwide picture. In addition, the Mäntsälä data is missing several days in the period investigated, which forced us to discard many events in our shock database. It would be nice to have worldwide power companies make their data accessible to scientists for studies,” Oliveira noted. This team might not be the first to discover that those concerned enough about the public good to share proprietary information seldom go into the fossil fuel business.The study is published open access in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences. 

Are you a good driver? Big deal, turns out half the animal kingdom are too. Here are some of the times humans taught animals to drive vehicles for… science reasons.Driving tiny cars helps relax ratsIn a bid to establish the effects of an enriching environment, researchers from the University of Richmond in Virginia made an interesting discovery in 2019 when they taught 11 rats to operate tiny vehicles.The rodent-operated vehicles (ROV) consisted of a plastic jar atop electric-powered wheels which the rats controlled by pressing on a copper bar.                   Of the group of 11 rodents, six were housed in standard laboratory cages with little enrichment, while the remaining five lived in a toy-filled “enriched environment”. The effects of these environmental differences were then tested by examining the rats’ driving ability and enthusiasm for learning a new skill.As hypothesized, the rats housed in an enriched environment showed a strong interest in learning how to drive, and their interest persisted even after the food reward was removed. Their keen motoring interest also made them better drivers, showing them to be more competent at learning a new skill than the non-enriched group.Despite the non-enriched group showing little interest in the task, when stool samples were tested the team found both groups had an increase in the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone, a stress controller, and a decrease in corticosterone, a stress marker.These findings suggest that all the animals in the study, regardless of how enriching their living conditions were, found mastering the skill of cruising in the whip relaxing.Scientists taught goldfish to drive on landIn 2022, researchers at Ben-Gurion University gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “fish out of water” by teaching goldfish to drive on dry land.                 With the aim of exploring how species characteristics, environment, and brain structure impact navigational skills, the team constructed fish-operated vehicles (FOV) which consisted of a small plastic fish tank on motorized wheels which reacted to the fish’s movements.Teaching the fish how to operate the machines was done through a food-based conditioning procedure. The fish were then tasked with “driving” towards a visual target before being rewarded with a tasty food pellet.Not only were these greedy goldfish capable of reaching the targets, but researchers found they were also able to overcome obstacles, navigate dead ends and wrong turns, and could even discern the false targets the team laid out."The study hints that navigational ability is universal rather than specific to the environment,” said lead author Shachar Givon in a statement emailed to IFLScience. “Second, it shows that goldfish have the cognitive ability to learn a complex task in an environment completely unlike the one they evolved in. As anyone who has tried to learn how to ride a bike or to drive a car knows, it is challenging at first.”Three rescue dogs learnt how to drive an actual carNew Zealand rescue dogs Monty, Ginny, and Porter took driving lessons in 2012 under the instruction of animal trainer Mark Vette and his team in a publicity stunt that aimed to change the perception of intelligence in rescue dogs.The campaign was led by the New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), who were caring for the young dogs.                "Sometimes people think because they're getting an animal that's been abandoned that somehow it's a second-class animal," SPCA Auckland CEO Christine Kalin told the New Zealand Herald. "Driving a car actively demonstrates to potential rescue dog adopters that you can teach an old dog new tricks."While the stunt wasn’t performed strictly in the name of science, the dogs, who trained for several weeks, demonstrated a remarkable ability to drive an adapted car with the help of some basic verbal commands and some minor steering wheel adjustments.There was even a star pupil that showed more competent driving ability than the others. The 10-month-old bearded collie cross Porter was awarded the chance to zip around in a donated Mini Countryman.For their next trick, let’s see them parallel bark.Honorable mentionsRambo the orangutan gets an honorable mention as she reportedly taught herself to drive the orange golf cart she is frequently filmed using. The Dubai zoo that raised the primate claims she grew up driving smaller toy vehicles around the facility, before graduating onto golf carts. However, footage of Rambo dressed up in human clothes suggests she is primarily there to entertain.Despite appearing to enjoy the ride, the zoo that keeps Rambo, along with a menagerie of other exotic species, has been heavily criticized for its use of animals in human entertainment. Another honorable mention comes in the form of a snake with robot legs. Although not technically driving as the snake doesn’t have control of the four-legged machine, the video provides a stark glimpse into a reality in which snakes never lost their little limbs.Created by inventor and Youtuber Allen Pan, the machine was controlled via a chip in the device that’s synced to a laptop, making the snake a mere passenger in its new cyborg body. The female ball python didn’t seem to mind, though, as she’s shown sitting happily in the tube, enjoying the view.

Clients of cryonics companies set up trusts to protect their wealth after death and pay for their potential resurrection. Although cryonics currently only involves freezing, not resurrection, lawyers for wealthy individuals are already preparing for future possibilities. A new type of service has emerged, focused on preserving clients’ wealth until they can be revived from suspended animation, according to Futurism. Estate planners are now creating “revival trusts” for wealthy individuals who will be cryogenically frozen after death. If cryonic revival technology becomes feasible, these individuals would be able to access their funds hundreds of years later. “The idea of cryopreservation has shifted from being seen as crazy to merely eccentric. It’s somewhat of a new trend,” says estate lawyer Mark House. House works with the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a cryonics facility that has already served 230 clients. Alcor, believed to be the largest facility of its kind, has about 1,400 clients preparing for cryogenic preservation. Estate planners require clients to allocate at least $500,000 to cryonics trusts to ensure that ongoing fees do not deplete the accounts over time. As with other trusts, beneficiaries and executors are appointed. However, there are significant challenges: no one has been successfully revived from cryogenic preservation, and legally, a death certificate cannot be annulled. To navigate these bureaucratic hurdles, clients are advised to appoint a fiduciary protector—an individual or organization with the authority to decide whether to revive the client. “Some people say resurrection is only successful if the person retains their past memories. Others are satisfied with a similar clone. There are also those who believe uploading their brain into a computer would suffice,” explains estate planner Peggy Hoyt. Regardless of the method, these individuals aim to reclaim their property upon revival. Initially, they will need funds to finance the resurrection process, should it become possible. The post Wealthy people freeze themselves—and their fortunes—for future revival appeared first on Anomalien.com.

Wednesday night’s episode of MSNBC’s The ReidOut included yet another round of Democrat condemnation from President Joe Biden’s number one fan: host Joy Reid. During the segment, she invited never-Trumper and Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson to spew a macabre and disgusting mess of anti-Trump rhetoric to her immense amusement, suggesting Republicans would be okay with cannibalism if former President Trump said he ate babies. Before turning to Wilson, Reid stumbled through a couple of quotes from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who had begun expressing their doubts about Biden’s continued reelection campaign, adding actor George Clooney’s recent opinion on the matter and mocking him as no longer “as up to speed as he used to be.”  She also bashed his wife, Amal Clooney, for her failed arrest warrants recommendation to the International Criminal Court (ICC), back in May, against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and leaders of Hamas.     Obviously, if anyone dares to even breathe a word against Biden they instantly incur the wrath of one of his chief toadies. Reid proceeded to draw a parallel between Democrats’ attitude towards Biden and Republicans’ handling of Richard Nixon’s resignation following the Watergate scandal: He was given more dignity than Democrats are giving their own sitting president who’s done, you know, nothing much for them except give them like a giant infrastructure bill, paid off a bunch of people’s student loans, which is life-changing for people, giving them $35 insulin to run on…I mean, if they want him to go, isn't there a more dignified way for Democrats to maybe behave than to publicly humiliate him? Wilson seized the opportunity to contribute a despicable juxtaposition of loyalty in both parties: This is an example of the difference in the two parties that, as a former Republican I can tell you, if Donald Trump tomorrow said, ‘I'm a cannibal I love to eat live babies. I barbecue them at Mar-a-Lago everyday,’ every single Republican would go, ‘Why, yes, it's the new fashionable meat. This is what we should all be doing.’ They would get in lock-step. Ironically, race-obsessed Reid was apparently unaware that Wilson and his wife had posted several (since-deleted) pictures that clearly displayed a Confederate-theme cooler flaunting the words “the south will rise again.” Hey @TheRickWilson, why did you delete this? pic.twitter.com/DkeyTDiYo9 — Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) June 16, 2020 It was no surprise that the aggressively anti-life Reid was particularly entertained by Wilson’s revolting analogy. After all, she and Congresswoman Pramila Jaypal (D-WA) laughed off Fox News reporting on the rape of 13-year-old girl by an illegal immigrant in New York City as Republican “fear-mongering.” Wilson then proudly declared how he thought his time each day was “best used,” urging all Democrats to follow his example: It's my job and it should be everyone's job in the Democratic Party right now to turn their fire on the one person who will destroy them and the country: Donald Trump! Every single day I wake up and go, ‘What is the best and highest use of my time?’ And my time is best used taking an iron pipe to Donald Trump's kneecaps. Wilson finally ended his rant with an emphatic call to action for all Democrats to “attack Trump every minute, every day, every hour, without stop,” supplemented by Reid’s screeching “Amen!” The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: MSNBC’s The ReidOut 7/10/2024 07:23:48 PM EST JOY REID: Yeah, it's embarrassing. Let me play Chuck Schumer. Here is Chuck Schumer's new quotes from today. (long pause) Oh, it’s–I'm sorry. Let me read it. I apologize. My bad. I'm gonna read it. “Chuck Schumer is privately signaling to donors that he’s open to a Democratic presidential ticket that isn't led by President Biden. Schumer has been listening to donors’ ideas” –donors’ ideas!– “and suggestions about the best way forward for the party, according to three people familiar with the”–with–with what the, you know, Senate leader has said.  Hakeem Jeffries, who is the upcoming leader in the House, the minority leader, here’s what he said. “We're having conversations with ourselves. It's a family discussion, that's important. We're a separate and coequal branch of government…We have the right and responsibility on behalf of the people we represent to have their [sic] conversations with ourselves on the best [sic] forward. What’s interest in [sic] the American people, and that’s all we’re doing right now.” Which is a change from what he had said before.  Rick Wilson, we’ve got George Clooney saying, “Biden’s gotta go.” (Laughs) And then, you know, he's like–he’s, you know, he wasn't as up to speed as he used to be and I know that there were some issues Amal Clooney had had with on her Gaza stuff that’s happening. You know, you’ve got Hollywood moguls of all kinds jumping in and saying things, op-ed writers have fun ideas.  What strikes me about this that is weird, is that when Richard Nixon, who was a crook, was driven out of the party in the 1970s, he was given more dignity by his party. Barry Goldwater went to him–it came out afterwards that he had gone to him privately and said, “We want to spare you the indignity of an impeachment. You need to step down before that happens.” A deal was cut, in advance, for him to be pardoned by Gerald Ford.  He was given more dignity than Democrats are giving their own sitting president who’s done, you know, nothing much for them except give them like a giant infrastructure bill, paid off a bunch of people’s student loans, which is life-changing for people, giving them $35 insulin to run on. So it’s not like he’s not giving them anything to run on and he’s not the one benefitting from that. That's supposed to benefit them. But all they needed was the Cook Political Report to come out and re-do their rankings for all these districts. And they're like, “Destroy him! Publicly!” (Laughs) I mean, if they want him to go, isn't there a more dignified way for Democrats to maybe behave than to publicly humiliate him? RICK WILSON: You know, and Joy, this is an example of the difference in the two parties that, as a former Republican I can tell you, if Donald Trump tomorrow said, “I'm a cannibal… REID: (Laughs). WILSON: …I love to eat live babies. I barbecue them at Mar-a-Lago everyday,” every single Republican would go, “Why, yes, it's the–it’s the new–it’s the new fan–fashionable meat… REID: (Laughs). WILSON: …This is what we should all be doing.” They would get in lock-step. Here is why they have a political powerhouse, you know, in that unity and that loyalty. Is they understand that this is a race that matters. If Democrats think right now they're gonna have some baroque, bizarro world, candidates switch, flip-flop, they're overlooking two things. Joe Biden had 14 million Democratic voters come out and vote for him in the primary this year. He has all the delegates at the convention.  It's not my job to tell Joe Biden what to do. It's my job and it should be everyone's job in the Democratic Party right now to turn their fire on the one person who will destroy them and the country: Donald Trump! Every single day I wake up and go, “What is the best and highest use of my time?” And my time is best used taking an iron pipe to Donald Trump's kneecaps. It is best for everyone to remember that if you play this game out past the convention, you will have given Donald Trump a two-month vacation where he works on his golf game as Democrats sit in a circular firing squad. This has got to stop.  The unity–look, and at the end of the day, whether the candidate is Joe Biden, or Kamala Harris, or some guy from behind the bus station… REID: (Laughs). WILSON: …we're running against a guy who will destroy this country by implementing his Project 2025 blueprint. And no matter how much Donald Trump says he didn't do Project 2025, it’s got his revolting DNA all over it. This is a guy who if we don't focus on the fact that this is a race against Donald Trump, a referendum in this country against Donald Trump, we are going to end up with four more years of Donald Trump.  This is something–I hope my Democratic friends and allies and colleagues will wake the hell up and understand that no matter what your inner-party dispute about Joe Biden is right now, you better turn the machine back on and attack Trump every minute, every day, every hour, without stop. REID: Amen! (...)

On Wednesday, Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro testified before Congress about media censorship. Invited to speak by Republicans, Shapiro started with a five-minute blistering prepared statement that chastised Democrats and others for creating an unfair system that financially penalizes conservative media companies. “There is, in fact, an informal pressure system created by Democratic legislators, this White House, legacy media, advertisers, and pseudo-objective brand-safety organizations. That system guarantees that advertising dollars flow only to left-wing media brands,” he said. The country that used to believe that it took sticks and stones to break bones is transitioning to the belief that words snatch lives. The Alphabet Mafia powered this transition. Shapiro played the role of fearless establishment Republican and champion of free speech beautifully. I was unimpressed. And it had nothing to do with his feud with and separation from Candace Owens. I was unimpressed because Shapiro’s more than 1,000-word screed lambasted the wrong targets. Non-governmental organizations are the primary drivers of censorship and the assault on free speech. There was no mention of the Anti-Defamation League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Black Lives Matter, the LGBTQIA+Silent P, or the Southern Poverty Law Center. He left out the NGOs that specialize in making politicians, media executives, influencers, celebrities, advertisers, and brand-safety organizations offers that they can’t refuse. The ADL, NAACP, BLM, LGBTQIA+, and SPLC put smear guns to the head of any person or business that dares to violate their orthodoxy. Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, lived in fear of the Alphabet Mafia. Elon Musk’s and X’s problem with advertisers can be directly tied to his battle with Jonathan Greenblatt and the ADL. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Google adjust their algorithms to comply with the Alphabet Mafia. Whether Democrat or Republican, politicians always pay tribute — through self-censorship, votes, or legislation — to the NGO pressure groups. Censorship is not a partisan issue. America’s two main political parties support some level of censorship. It’s no different from “illegal immigration.” Democrats are for it. And Republicans pretend they want to stop it. It’s a fake war. They’re all actors. Thanks to Republicans and Democrats, America inches closer and closer to passing “hate speech” laws that make it illegal to read certain passages in the Bible because they’ve been deemed “anti-Semitic.” The country that used to believe that it took sticks and stones to break bones is transitioning to the belief that words snatch lives. The Alphabet Mafia powered this transition. We need to awaken from the denial of the influence of these NGOs. In Shapiro’s Wednesday testimony, he zeroed in on criticizing the Global Alliance for Responsible Media. It’s a 5-year-old globalist organization promoted by the World Economic Forum. GARM sets “brand safety” guidelines for corporations. “In reality, GARM acts as a cartel. Its members account for 90% of ad spending in the United States, almost a trillion dollars,” Shapiro explained. “In other words, if you’re not getting ad dollars from GARM members, it’s nearly impossible to run an ad-based business. And if you’re not following their preferred political narratives — the ones that Kara Swisher and Dianne Feinstein would follow — you will not be deemed brand-safe. Your business will be throttled.” I have no desire to defend GARM. It’s a globalist and Marxist advocacy group. GARM is the gun, a tool the WEF developed. The girls and guys holding the guns work for the ADL, NAACP, BLM, SPLC, and LGBTQIA+Silent P. GARM is harmless if we eliminate the shooters. The shooters are the clowns with the fancy titles within the Alphabet Mafia. ADL’s Greenblatt, Derrick Johnson of the NAACP, Margaret Huang of the SPLC, Patrisse Cullors of BLM, and the army of LGBTQIA+ advocates pull the trigger and financially blackmail our political leaders. Demonizing and voting out Democrats will not stop the censorship movement. The power driving the Alphabet Mafia must be destroyed. That power is the victimhood mentality. Victims desire special privileges and rights, and they will acquire those privileges by any means necessary. Republicans want to cast themselves as victims of censorship. They’re not. They’re victims of their own cowardice. Same as American Christians. We, Christians, are unwilling to defend our beliefs without shame because we fear being smeared by the Alphabet Mafia. We want to be inclusive. God wants us to be exclusive to Him.

Cancel culture, we're assured, either never existed or has been effectively eliminated. But try telling this to Jeffrey Sachs, a globally respected economist who faced cancellation simply for telling the truth. To this day, he is treated as a pariah by the very outlets that once sought his commentary. Once he veered from the preapproved talking points, he faced immediate exile. Banned, never to return. To understand exactly why, we must revisit September 26, 2022, when a brazen act of war occurred. 'The mainstream media have dissembled, hidden the truth, denied basic history, and promoted the false narrative that the Ukraine war was "unprovoked."' On this day, the world was rattled by the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, a crucial conduit for natural gas supplies from Russia to Europe. Speculations were rampant, but amid the litany of accusations and counter-accusations, one voice cut through the noise with a simple, albeit controversial, take. Shortly after the attack, Sachs appeared on Bloomberg Live. When asked who was responsible for the attack, the academic had the audacity to state the obvious: the United States. Biden's boast This assertion, grounded in a series of well-documented threats and policy statements, should have sparked a serious debate. Instead, it led to Sachs being effectively ostracized from the mainstream media. His sin was not spreading falsehoods but rather refusing to parrot the sanctioned narrative. Sachs was simply joining the dots. In a much-discussed exchange on February 7, 2022, a reporter asked President Biden what would happen to Nord Stream 2 in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Biden responded, "If Russia invades, then Nord Stream 2 will cease to exist. We will bring an end to it." When the reporter inquired how this would be achieved, the president assured, "I promise you, we'll be able to do it." It seems this was one promise Joe Biden actually kept. “This was not the first time that a senior U.S. politician promised to end Nord Stream,” Sachs told me. “Many leading U.S. politicians had vowed to block Nord Stream 2 from operating. Of course, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, with his sources in the U.S. intelligence agencies, explained later the precise mechanics of how the U.S. blew up the pipeline.” “Not surprisingly,” added the outspoken pundit, “European countries have played stupid, refusing to say anything sensible on the topic. Their silence speaks volumes. It is actually pathetic how they avoid the truth or the search for the truth." Exile on mainstream Sachs' truth-telling led to his alienation from the mainstream media. Once a frequent commentator on outlets such as MSNBC and CNN, he swiftly fell out of favor. Rather incredibly, CNN refuses to have Sachs on but is more than willing to have Jeffrey Toobin, a man known for his vigorous, hands-on approach during Zoom calls, back on. "Basically, the mainstream media fell into line with the official narratives not only about Nord Stream 2 but about the war in Ukraine more generally. They don’t want to hear from me or others who challenge the official narrative,” said Sachs. “The mainstream media have dissembled, hidden the truth, denied basic history, and promoted the false narrative that the Ukraine war was 'unprovoked.'” Sachs is not a Russian apologist. Rather, he argues that the Ukraine war originated with U.S. involvement in the violent overthrow of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. Yanukovych, who favored neutrality for Ukraine over NATO membership, was opposed by the U.S. and major European nations, who would not tolerate such a stance. Consequently, a coup was instigated. Petro Poroshenko, a strong advocate for Ukraine's integration into NATO, was installed. Digging deeper For those skeptical of U.S. involvement in Yanukovych's overthrow, it's essential to remember that over the past six decades, the U.S., often through the CIA, has been involved in numerous coups and regime changes worldwide, particularly during the Cold War era. These actions were usually justified under the guise of protecting American interests, promoting democracy, or countering the spread of communism. In 1953, the CIA orchestrated a coup to overthrow Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh after he nationalized the British-controlled oil industry. The coup reinstated the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who ruled as an autocrat until the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Similarly, in 1954, the CIA led Operation PBSUCCESS to oust Guatemala's democratically elected President Jacobo Árbenz, who had initiated land reforms threatening the interests of the American-owned United Fruit Company. The coup led to decades of military rule and civil war. Following Congo's independence from Belgium in 1960, the CIA played a significant role in the overthrow and eventual assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, perceived as a potential ally of the Soviet Union. This led to the rise of Mobutu Sese Seko, who established a dictatorial regime.In 1973, the CIA supported the military coup that overthrew Chile's democratically elected President Salvador Allende, whose socialist policies and alignment with the Soviet bloc alarmed the U.S. The coup installed General Augusto Pinochet, who led a brutal dictatorship. In Indonesia, the CIA provided support and intelligence to the Indonesian military during the anti-communist purge that led to the overthrow of President Sukarno in 1965. This purge, resulting in the massacre of up to a million suspected communists, brought General Suharto to power. The U.S. also backed the coup that led to the assassination of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963. Diem's oppressive regime and failure to garner broad support complicated U.S. efforts in the Vietnam War. His removal was intended to stabilize the government, though it resulted in further chaos. During the 1980s, the CIA funded and trained the Contras, a rebel group fighting against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, which had overthrown the U.S.-backed Somoza dictatorship. This was part of the larger strategy to counter Soviet influence in Latin America. The list is extensive Naturally, no mainstream media outlet will entertain the idea of the U.S. government's involvement in the events of February 2014. The intertwining of mainstream media and branches of government is no secret. "The media outlets are deeply aligned with the U.S. military-industrial complex, and especially the U.S. intelligence community. This is all very well documented over the course of many decades,” said Sachs. Of course, he’s right. The New York Times, for instance, played a pivotal role in justifying the invasion of Iraq post-9/11 by propagating false narratives about weapons of mass destruction, narratives fed to outlet by government sources. This symbiotic relationship ensures that dissenting voices like Sachs' are systematically silenced. Sachs and violence It's important to note that Sachs is not some disgruntled madman. His credentials are impeccable, and his CV speaks volumes. He has worked with governments around the world for decades. He understands the intricacies of governance and the motives behind prolonged conflicts more than most. A seasoned macroeconomist, the Harvard graduate previously advised national governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union on transitioning from Marxism-Leninism to market economies. Despite his exile from mainstream media, Sachs continues his work undeterred. "I study and promote economic development, environmental sustainability, social inclusion (e.g., ensuring that all children can get a good education), and practical solutions to end and prevent wars.” To carry out this work, he travels extensively. When he answered my questions, he was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. When he isn’t advising governments in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, the 69-year-old can be found teaching at Columbia University. On the future of the Ukraine conflict, Sachs remains clear-eyed and pragmatic. "The war will end either with negotiations based on Ukrainian neutrality, or it will end with Ukraine’s defeat on the battlefield, or it will end in nuclear war if the U.S. continues to escalate and in turn provokes Russia to escalate. Ukrainian neutrality is the only way to peace and security for Ukraine,” he contends. Will the establishment heed his warning? The chances border on nonexistent. Sachs' cancellation serves as a sobering reminder that, in the land of the free, telling the truth can exact a significant personal and professional toll. Even in 2024, the United States is a nation where narratives are tightly controlled and dissent is swiftly punished. The word "courage" is often recklessly tossed around, like confetti at a Pride parade. But Sachs is courageous. Remember, he works at Columbia. Like many other elite universities, Columbia has been gripped by a sort of pathological progressivism. Here, dissenting opinions are neither sought nor tolerated. Those who deviate from a very specific script are met with vocal opposition. Sachs’ exile from the mainstream media is not merely a personal loss but a societal one, depriving the public of informed and critical perspectives at a time when they are desperately needed.