The new FISA reauthorization bill includes a sneaky provision that will force all US businesses to act as pawns of the National Security Agency’s surveillance grid‚ whether they agree to or not. The Section 702 [...] The post FISA Bill Will Require All U.S. Businesses To ‘Become NSA Spies’ appeared first on The People's Voice.

With hits like Mony Mony and Crimson And Clover‚ Tommy James should have had the time of his life. Instead‚ he found himself robbed and threatened by the Mafia

U2's first US tour‚ in December 1980‚ was intense‚ not least when they stopped one show to brawl

A Nashville‚ Tennessee court is set to hear long-awaited arguments over whether or not to release documents that belonged to the transgender-identifying shooter who murdered six people at the Covenant School‚ which have been kept sealed from the public for more than a year. The court proceedings‚ overseen by Judge I’Ashea L. Myles‚ will decide whether a trove of documents belonging to the shooter‚ who took the lives of three children and three staff members at the private Christian academy on March 27th‚ 2023‚ will be made available to the public. Included is not only the shooter’s manifesto‚ but also 14 different home videos‚ 20 journals‚ a suicide note‚ and a psych folder with medical information about the shooter. There are also three folders with information on school shootings and firearms courses‚ as well as a memoir and notes written by the shooter. The hearing hinges on the Tennessee Public Records Act‚ which controls what documents should be classified as public records‚ as well as which ones should not. Five different parties are part of the suit — the Tennessee Firearms Association‚ The Tennessean‚ The Tennessee Star‚ Republican state legislator Todd Gardenhire‚ and the National Police Association. On the other side is a group of families from the Covenant School that filed a motion to block the release of the documents‚ arguing that their release could further traumatize those who were personally affected by the shooting. Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake previously said that he would release records pertaining to the case before later backtracking. Multiple entities have submitted public records requests‚ including The Daily Wire‚ but all have been declined. A small portion of the manifesto was leaked in November by podcaster Steven Crowder‚ who obtained three photographs of the alleged manifesto. The pages included racial slurs against white children as well as an itinerary for “death day‚” which articulated her intent to have a “high death count.” David Rausch‚ the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation‚ has stated that the shooter did not write about politics or social issues‚ with her writings largely dedicated to idolizing previous school shooters. Rausch also says the documents show shooter planned the attack on the Covenant School for months.  Judicial Watch‚ which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the groups‚ has also called for the public release of the documents and charged that the secrecy is due to politics. “We urge the court to place the public’s right to know above any political considerations‚” the organization’s president‚ Tom Fitton‚ said on Monday.

No way we lose the gold this year ... just no way

Less than a year after the discovery of one of the closest supernovae of the century‚ another has popped up only slightly further away. So far‚ no professional images of the exploding star have been released‚ but amateurs are filling the gap‚ although many live too far north to be able to participate.Since the invention of the telescope there has not been a supernova explosion in our galaxy (with a possibility of some hidden by dust clouds). Expanding to our local group of galaxies adds just one in astronomers’ lifetime: 1987a. That’s frustrating‚ because these are some of the most exciting and scientifically useful events in astronomy‚ and a galaxy the size of the Milky Way should average one a century.That puts even more emphasis on the next ring out of galaxies beyond the local group‚ where there have been five this century at 22 million light-years away or closer. The latest of these‚ named SN 2024ggi‚ was first spotted on April 11 and may still be getting brighter.The most recent previous nearby supernova‚ 2023ixf‚ was visible with small telescopes last year. It had the advantage of being in the Pinwheel galaxy‚ a favorite target for amateur astronomers at any time.SN 2024ggi lies in the NGC 3621‚ which is not quite as spectacular‚ mainly because we see it nearly edge on. Nevertheless‚ it’s still an impressive sight if you have a good enough telescope. Officially NGC 3621 is 22 million light-years away‚ a million more than the Pinwheel‚ but there is enough uncertainty in these measurements that it’s possible its slightly closer. The two are in almost opposite directions‚ with the Pinwheel being so far to the north that it never sets from Europe and most of North America. On the other hand‚ NGC 3621 is at 33 degrees south – almost impossible to see from Britain‚ and it's visible only fairly briefly from most of the United States.A star's brightness is measured in magnitude‚ with magnitudes 5 and below visible to the naked eye under dark skies‚ while higher magnitudes are progressively fainter.The new discovery was made by ATLAS (the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System). Besides its prime job to look for nearby space rocks‚ ATLAS now finds more supernovae using four telescopes on three continents than any other sky survey. At detection‚ SN 2024ggi was about 19th magnitude‚ requiring an unusually large telescope by the standards of backyard astronomers. That’s not exceptional; this year alone there have been dozens of supernovae recorded at 16th or 17th magnitude‚ but very few that got brighter than that‚ simply because they were too far away. 2023ixf was spotted at a similar brightness‚ but brightened more than a hundred-fold to peak at 10.9. Almost a year later‚ it's down to 17th magnitude.Official records show 2024ggi increasing to 14th magnitude‚ but some observers claim it's brighter than a 12th magnitude star close to it in the sky. If so‚ that would greatly increase the number of people with suitable instruments to catch it.Whereas the Pinwheel galaxy is so active in star formation that five supernovae have been seen there since 1900‚ this is the first supernova spotted in NGC 3621.

The glittering golden hue of a cracked lump of pyrite gives false promises of riches for a rock that’s not really all that valuable – but a new announcement suggests there could be more to “fool’s gold” than meets the eye. Pyrite sampled from the United States was found to contain a surprising amount of the chemical element lithium (Li)‚ something the world is in dire need of if we’re going to fuel the battery revolution.Pyrite's association with lithium “is unheard of” said Shailee Bhattacharya‚ a sedimentary geochemist and doctoral student working with Professor Shikha Sharma in the IsoBioGeM Lab at West Virginia University‚ in a statement. They will present their team’s findings at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2024.Their study focused on 15 middle-Devonian sedimentary rock samples from the Appalachian basin in the United States. Analyses revealed that there was a surprising amount of lithium in pyrite minerals in shale‚ which was an unexpected result.“I am trying to understand how lithium and pyrite could be associated with one another‚” said Bhattacharya. The surprise discovery was made during an investigation into whether old industrial sites could be a source of lithium. Such sites could include mining tailings‚ which are the by-product lumps of minerals left behind when the target mineral has been extracted.It turned out that pyrite minerals in shale were a particularly good source of lithium‚ which could be great news for the battery revolution – but the team urges not to get too excited just yet. This is because we don’t yet know if the findings are site-specific‚ meaning pyrite everywhere might not contain as much lithium as the samples tested in this study.Shining a light on potential new sources of lithium – also known as “white gold” – is big news in the modern era‚ as the world looks to battery production for a greener future. Lithium is highly reactive‚ allowing it to store and release electrical energy efficiently‚ but as it stands‚ we’re going to need a lot more of it to move ahead with sustainability plans.“We currently produce around 100‚000 tonnes [of lithium] each year‚” explained Data scientist at Oxford University Hannah Ritchie in a blog oist titled “Does the world have enough lithium to move to electric vehicles&;#63;” .“By 2030‚ the IEA projects that we’ll need 2.5 to 5 times as much: 240‚000 to 450‚000 tonnes.”In short‚ it seems scarcity isn’t so much the problem as our capacity to produce it‚ so new potential sources like humble ole’ pyrite could be very good news indeed. Better yet‚ finding white gold in this way could even be the greenest solution.“While the primary ores of Li (pegmatite‚ salar brine‚ and volcanic-associated clay) are generally well-understood‚ it would be desirable to identify additional Li sources that could be safely and economically exploited‚” wrote the researchers in their abstract. “Using material from previous industrial operations (e.g.‚ mine tailings or drill cuttings) as a source of additional Li would be attractive as it would generate little or no new waste material.”The team will present their findings at the EGU General Assembly 2024.