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Air Force Has Troops Remove Names, Unit Patches from Uniforms During Deportation Flights
  • Same thing they did when beating up and shooting BLM.

    Edit: It’a really hard to find any report on the events during the BLM protests. I distinctly remember many mentions of the LEOs involved in shooting “rubber bullets” at protesters and beating them not having any identifying information on them. No names, no agency tags, nothing.

    https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/politics/law-enforcement-badges-protests/index.html

  • A Trumpian Fascistic Coup is Underway—Stop It Before the Terror Starts
  • There’s only one way ever that has worked to end fascism, authoritarianism, or a tyrant’s power. Only one.

  • Gen Z are over having their work ethic questioned: ‘Most boomers don’t know what it’s like to work 40+ hours a week and still not be able to afford a house’
  • it takes substantial money to accumulate wealth.

    Yeah, this is huge.

    Right now you need a half mil cash invested and stable investments to start seeing a measurable return. A mil before you might think investing is worth it. Two mil and retirement might be something you could realistically consider and have a life. 3 and now you can have a real retirement.* This doesn’t include a CoL increase starting now until when you retire, $3 mil today will get you $150k before taxes and any major expenses like mortgage or medical. In 20 years who knows, it might take 5 mil to retire if everything hasn’t turned into a shitshow otherwise.

    (*With a conservative 5% estimate on return and not touching the principal).

  • Trump given power to rename Greenland 'Red, White and Blueland' under new bill tabled by Republicans
  • Ever seen those movies like OG Running Man where there’s a dystopian tv show within the wreckage of society and people love it? Well, life imitates art in this case except it’s our government that is the dystopian show and the uneducated masses love it. They want the violence to happen and the sex offenders in charge. It’s their shitshow and they aren’t offended by it, they want more.

  • Elon Musk just offered to buy OpenAI for $97.4 billion
  • Is he going to buy a “founder” clause in the contract?

  • Elon Musk has deep ties to the Chinese dictatorship. The risk to U.S. national security is unimaginable.
  • The most dangerous thing is that he believes himself untouchable. The only interest he operates in is his own.

  • Hypocritical Oligarchic Rulers
  • It’s proven time and time again that it doesn’t matter if they’re doing it. Hypocrisy isn’t a word in their dictionary.

  • You stupid socialist
  • Your care is limited to Thoughts and Prayers.

    But not money or action.

  • Because "reasons"
  • Because actual fanfics are done by people that love the source material and wish to remain true to it.

    Expanded works are done by people who want to: make changes for the sake of their own “artistic” originality, do what they think will make people watch it (doesn’t mean it has to be good), which are both tied to studio execs all wanting to push their pet version of whatever the product will be based on budget or ego.

  • I hate guns. They are engineered from the ground up to take lives of other people. That is their sole purpose. To kill
  • I’ve held this position for a long time. Guns are designed to kill. They are they threat of death even if the trigger isn’t pulled. They are there to force compliance with the bearer, for good or for ill. Even as a “tool” to put food on the table, they kill the thing that is to be food.

    That said, I don’t have too much problem with guns. I have major problems with those who own them, make them, or turn them into part of identity politics.

    They are exploited for profit and control, and the mulish obstinacy of gun owners in general is in part their enslavement to identity politics and those that profit from it - the politicians looking for election and money in the pockets of the manufacturers and supporting lobbies. Guns have become fashion accessories for the owners, and are often treated with similar gravity. Gun owners feed guns to criminals because of lax storage security on the owner’s part - just leave them in the car or closet unsecured - and they get stolen, used in crimes, for which they gun nuts “need” to buy more guns to leave laying about for instant access and which can be stolen. Nearly 80% of guns used in crimes are taken without permission or stolen from owners.

    And the worst part are the killing sprees, workplace or schools, where gun owners just distance themselves so that the rest of society can be the victims of their refusal to regulate their hobby.

    Guns can be safely kept in a society. There are plenty of countries that manage it. In this context I’m going to use this line: “Guns don’t kill people, people do”….and the people doing the killing are the owners that refuse to deal with regulating and securing guns.

  • 13 states to sue over DOGE access to government payment systems containing personal data
  • If this administration dgaf about the rules thar should have prevented them from operating in such a manner what are the odds that they’ll give a damn about a suit and not just let it die in the courts? Especially seeing as that even were a suit to win, trump et al would just ignore it. We’re at the point that direct action is the only action that will stop this takeover.

  • 'Not in a democracy anymore': Senator sounds alarm as Trump's FCC threatens journalists
  • I note your argument extends no further than the election results - the same election that was being panned as “rigged” or unfair…until trump won.

  • Anon visits a bookstore
  • Yep. The recycling of profundity.

  • Anon visits a bookstore
  • Awards are meaningless. “NYT bestseller”, just as meaningless.

    Books are personal, like art, you probably will not actually like the vast majority of what you see. Even if you appreciate the effort that went into it you wouldn’t want it hanging in your home. Some of it is just hotel art. Mass produced for consumption, everyone sees it, but it has no staying power at all. A lot of books are crap, and I really like books.

  • imagine
  • I’m sure it’s already been done. Just locked away until nothing more than strong concerns can be voiced by ineffective authorities.

  • Tech support
  • And done nothing about it.

    I must not be visiting those websites.

  • AOC says she's worth less than $500,000 after kickback claims — and seems to get kudos from Trump fans in response
  • It’s pretty absurd that y’all qaeda bitch about all the money that (insert lib politician) makes while throwing money or votes at billionaires who then turn around and accuse lib politicians like AOC or Sanders of being rich.

  • More than 1,100 EPA employees warned of immediate termination

    “President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American people, and he is following through on his promises. On Administrator Zeldin's first day in the office, he met with tons of career staff throughout EPA's headquarters spanning two city blocks in downtown D.C. and took to heart their advice as we work together to advance the agency's core mission of protecting human health and the environment," the EPA statement said.

    Owens-Powell says she was on a national call with other union leaders who represent workers at various government agencies, and no one else said their probationary employees received such an email.

    "Every day, folks are afraid to turn their computers on," said Owens-Powell, "They don't know what message will be coming out next."

    2

    The digital equivalent of bookburning:

    >Since President Trump was sworn into office, almost three thousand datasets have disappeared from Data.gov, the U.S. government's repository of open data.

    >According to 404 Media, online archivist communities discovered since Trump took office on Jan. 21, the number of datasets on Data.gov has decreased to 305,564 from 307,854 datasets. Screenshots of Data.gov's homepage archived in the Wayback Machine show the number of datasets one day before (Jan. 20) and nine days after (Jan. 30) the Trump administration began.

    4
    Eggs are marked up in the Northeast, too!

    But a dozen brown, large, grade A eggs can be had for less than $5.

    20
    www.masslive.com Trump blames Biden, DEI hiring in press conference on deadly DC plane crash

    President Donald Trump called a plane crash that has left 67 people presumed dead an "hour of anguish" but later claimed diversity, equity and inclusion hiring policies could be responsible.

    Trump blames Biden, DEI hiring in press conference on deadly DC plane crash

    Trump blames everyone he can.

    >“The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website,” said Trump, noting that the program allowed for the hiring of people with hearing and vision issues as well as paralysis, epilepsy and “dwarfism.”

    25
    Donald Trump To Be Put on Mount Rushmore Under Republican Bill

    A bill to add a carving of President Donald Trumpto Mount Rushmore has been introduced by a MAGA politician.

    Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna announced the bill Tuesday calling for Trump to be added to the South Dakota monument with the message: "Let's get carving."

    67
    Future of CHIPS Act under Trump admin in question

    The Biden administration has already awarded tens of billions of dollars under the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act passed in 2022 for the purpose of boosting domestic semiconductor production, but President Donald Trump's return to the White House has sparked speculation over the future of the projects.

    !

    Trump slammed the legislation ahead of the election, saying during his interview on "The Joe Rogan Experience" in October, "That chip deal is so bad." The president criticized sending billions of taxpayer dollars to "rich companies" and suggested imposing tariffs on foreign-made chips would be a better way to move production to the U

    1
    A massive battery fire in California could cast a dark shadow on clean energy expansion

    Days before President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office and took actions to stall the transition to clean energy, a disaster unfolded on the other side of the country that may have an outsize effect on the pace of the transition.

    A fire broke out last Thursday at the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California, one of the largest battery energy storage systems in the world. The fire raged through the weekend, forcing local officials to evacuate nearby homes and close roads.

    Battery storage is an essential part of the transition away from fossil fuels. It works in tandem with solar and wind power to provide electricity during periods when the renewable resources aren’t available. But lithium-ion batteries, the most common technology used in storage systems, are flammable. And if they catch fire, it can be difficult to extinguish.

    Last week’s fire is the latest and largest of several at the Moss Landing site in recent years, and I expect that it will become the main example opponents of carbon-free electricity use to try to stop battery development in other places.

    45
    Interior Department officially renames Mount McKinley, Gulf of America

    The Trump administration has officially implemented name changes for Alaska's Mount Denali and the Gulf of Mexico, as requested by the new president.

    The Interior Department announced Friday that the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America and North America's highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley to "honor the legacy of American greatness."

    40
    Trump to sign executive order to fundamentally change or get rid of FEMA

    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he would sign an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally overhauling or eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "FEMA has turned out to be a disaster ... I think we recommend that FEMA go away," he said during a tour of North Carolina to see damage done by Hurricane Helene last year.

    10
    Trump to sign executive order to fundamentally change or get rid of FEMA

    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he would sign an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally overhauling or eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "FEMA has turned out to be a disaster ... I think we recommend that FEMA go away," he said during a tour of North Carolina to see damage done by Hurricane Helene last year.

    69
    apnews.com State Department freezes new funding for nearly all US aid programs worldwide

    The State Department has frozen new funding for almost all U.S. aid programs worldwide, making exceptions to allow humanitarian food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt to continue.

    State Department freezes new funding for nearly all US aid programs worldwide

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department ordered a sweeping freeze Friday on new funding for almost all U.S. foreign assistance, making exceptions for emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt.

    The order threatened a quick halt to many of the billions of dollars in U.S.-funded projects globally to support health, education, development, job training, anti-corruption, security assistance and other efforts.

    The U.S. provides more foreign aid globally than any other country, budgeting about $60 billion in 2023, or about 1% of the U.S. budget.

    2
    apnews.com State Department freezes new funding for nearly all US aid programs worldwide

    The State Department has frozen new funding for almost all U.S. aid programs worldwide, making exceptions to allow humanitarian food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt to continue.

    State Department freezes new funding for nearly all US aid programs worldwide

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department ordered a sweeping freeze Friday on new funding for almost all U.S. foreign assistance, making exceptions for emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt.

    The order threatened a quick halt to many of the billions of dollars in U.S.-funded projects globally to support health, education, development, job training, anti-corruption, security assistance and other efforts.

    The U.S. provides more foreign aid globally than any other country, budgeting about $60 billion in 2023, or about 1% of the U.S. budget.

    3
    The Myth of Man (2025)

    Anyone interested in this movie or heard much about it? I know nothing other than what the trailer shows, and that’s pretty surrealist and lots of Dadaism framed in the ‘20s-‘30s style. Reminiscent of styling similar to Metropolis. I’ll go see it for the spectacle and style alone.

    3
    Donald Trump has gone silent on working class cost of living issues
    www.usatoday.com Donald Trump has gone silent on working class cost of living issues | Opinion

    Now that Trump has been elected, he says nothing about working class cost of living issues and many of his statements are outlandish and disrespectful.

    Donald Trump has gone silent on working class cost of living issues | Opinion

    For the past two years, Donald Trump has spread fear about the state of the United States and championed himself as the only man capable of saving the country from itself. Only he could bring down the price of groceries and gas. Only he could fix the broken health care system. Only he could fix the broken immigration system. Only he could end the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East.

    Now that the voters have drunk the Kool-Aid, the jig is up. The grift is over and the prize of the presidency is won. But will the buyers of the golden sneakers have buyer’s remorse? I suspect that for all but the most cult-following MAGA lemmings, the answer to that question is yes.

    Despite two years of constant finger-pointing at the Biden administration for rising grocery prices that were actually decreasing during that time, since the election, Trump has gone dead silent on the issue of working class cost of living issues. His only comment on grocery prices was during his interview with Time magazine for his man of the year article in which he admitted that there isn’t much he can do to bring grocery prices back down to the levels of 2019. Economically, the only thing that will do that is a strong recession that no one wants. He has said virtually nothing about the cost of gasoline, in large part because the prices were already falling to four-year lows before the election and have continued to fall since.

    86
    ‘Pizzagate’ gunman killed by police in North Carolina after traffic stop, authorities say
    apnews.com 'Pizzagate' gunman killed by police in North Carolina after traffic stop, authorities say

    Authorities say the man who traveled armed to a pizzeria in the nation's capital nearly a decade ago because of a fake online conspiracy theory has been shot and killed by police in North Carolina.

    'Pizzagate' gunman killed by police in North Carolina after traffic stop, authorities say

    KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (AP) — A man who fired a gun inside a restaurant in the nation’s capital after a fake online conspiracy theory called “Pizzagate” motivated him to do so nearly a decade ago was shot and killed by North Carolina police during a weekend traffic stop.

    Edgar Maddison Welch was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by officers in Kannapolis on Saturday night, according to a Kannapolis Police Department news release. One of the officers recognized the car as the vehicle of someone he had arrested and who had an outstanding warrant for a felony probation violation — Welch, police said.

    When the officers approached the vehicle to arrest Welch, police said the man pulled out a handgun and pointed it at one of the officers. After he was instructed to drop the weapon but didn’t, two officers shot Welch, authorities said.

    Emergency responders took Welch to the hospital and he died from his injuries two days later, according to the release. None of the officers, nor the driver and another passenger, were injured.

    In 2016, authorities said, Welch drove from North Carolina with an assault rifle to Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington after believing an unfounded conspiracy theory that prominent Democrats were operating a child sex trafficking ring out of the pizzeria. The fake theory, dubbed “Pizzagate,” began circulating online during the 2016 presidential election.

    He entered the restaurant armed, and as customers fled the scene, Welch shot at a locked closet inside. After realizing there were no children held captive in the pizzeria, Welch peacefully surrendered. No one was injured.

    At the time, Comet Ping Pong’s owner, James Alefantis, said the conspiracy theory and subsequent violence from it traumatized him and his staff.

    Welch later pled guilty to interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition and assault with a dangerous weapon in 2017. His judge, now Supreme Court Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson, subsequently sentenced him to four years in prison.

    City of Kannapolis communications director Annette Privette Keller confirmed the man who died was the same one involved in the “Pizzagate” incident.

    The shooting death of Welch, a resident of Salisbury, is under review by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the officers who fired at him are on administrative leave, per the department’s protocol.

    24
    ‘Pizzagate’ gunman killed by police in North Carolina after traffic stop, authorities say
    apnews.com 'Pizzagate' gunman killed by police in North Carolina after traffic stop, authorities say

    Authorities say the man who traveled armed to a pizzeria in the nation's capital nearly a decade ago because of a fake online conspiracy theory has been shot and killed by police in North Carolina.

    'Pizzagate' gunman killed by police in North Carolina after traffic stop, authorities say

    KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (AP) — A man who fired a gun inside a restaurant in the nation’s capital after a fake online conspiracy theory called “Pizzagate” motivated him to do so nearly a decade ago was shot and killed by North Carolina police during a weekend traffic stop.

    Edgar Maddison Welch was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by officers in Kannapolis on Saturday night, according to a Kannapolis Police Department news release. One of the officers recognized the car as the vehicle of someone he had arrested and who had an outstanding warrant for a felony probation violation — Welch, police said.

    When the officers approached the vehicle to arrest Welch, police said the man pulled out a handgun and pointed it at one of the officers. After he was instructed to drop the weapon but didn’t, two officers shot Welch, authorities said.

    Emergency responders took Welch to the hospital and he died from his injuries two days later, according to the release. None of the officers, nor the driver and another passenger, were injured.

    In 2016, authorities said, Welch drove from North Carolina with an assault rifle to Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington after believing an unfounded conspiracy theory that prominent Democrats were operating a child sex trafficking ring out of the pizzeria. The fake theory, dubbed “Pizzagate,” began circulating online during the 2016 presidential election.

    He entered the restaurant armed, and as customers fled the scene, Welch shot at a locked closet inside. After realizing there were no children held captive in the pizzeria, Welch peacefully surrendered. No one was injured.

    At the time, Comet Ping Pong’s owner, James Alefantis, said the conspiracy theory and subsequent violence from it traumatized him and his staff.

    Welch later pled guilty to interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition and assault with a dangerous weapon in 2017. His judge, now Supreme Court Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson, subsequently sentenced him to four years in prison.

    City of Kannapolis communications director Annette Privette Keller confirmed the man who died was the same one involved in the “Pizzagate” incident.

    The shooting death of Welch, a resident of Salisbury, is under review by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the officers who fired at him are on administrative leave, per the department’s protocol.

    3
    Matthew Livelsberger Alleged Manifesto: Read Full Email Sent to Retired Soldier
    www.newsweek.com Matthew Livelsberger alleged manifesto: Read full email to retired soldier

    Retired Army officer Sam Shoemate reportedly received an email from the suspect days before the Trump Hotel car bomb in Las Vegas.

    Matthew Livelsberger alleged manifesto: Read full email to retired soldier

    Matthew Livelsberger, a Green Beret and the main suspect in the Cybertruck attack in Las Vegas, reportedly sent a manifesto-like email to retired U.S. Army intelligence officer Sam Shoemate just days before a car bomb exploded in front of Trump International Hotel.

    Shoemate revealed the email on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast, describing its contents as allegations of advanced drone technology, a cover-up of a 2019 airstrike in Afghanistan, and claims of being under U.S. government surveillance.

    Newsweek reached out to The Shawn Ryan Show for comment on Friday via email.

    Why It Matters

    Firework mortars and camp fuel canisters were found inside the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel early Wednesday. The blast resulted in a single casualty, the suspect inside the vehicle, and sparked a thorough investigation into potential terrorism.

    Sheriff Kevin McMahill described the body in the Cybertruck as "almost beyond recognition." On Thursday, authorities identified the victim as Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old U.S. Army veteran, who reportedly shot himself in the head moments before the explosion.

    While investigators are still determining Livelsberger's motives for detonating the explosives outside the hotel, his alleged manifesto has provided some clues. In the document, Livelsberger raised questions about national security and U.S. military transparency, offering potential insight into his actions. Tesla Car Bomb Las Vegas Matthew Livelsberger, a Green Beret and the main suspect in the Cybertruck attack in Las Vegas, reportedly sent a manifesto-like email to retired U.S. Army intelligence officer Sam Shoemate just days before a car bomb... Associated Press What To Know

    Livelsberger allegedly sent an email to retired U.S. Army intelligence officer Sam Shoemate, detailing concerns about advanced drones using "GDIC propulsion systems," which he described as anti-gravity technology.

    In the email, read on "The Shawn Ryan Podcast," Livelsberger claimed that the U.S. and China developed and deployed the drones. He alleged that China launched them from submarines along the U.S. East Coast, calling them "the most dangerous threat to national security" because of their stealth, ability to evade detection and unlimited payload capacity.

    Livelsberger also referenced his involvement in a 2019 U.S. airstrike in Nimruz Province, Afghanistan. He claimed the operation, which targeted drug facilities, caused civilian casualties, including women and children, and was covered up by U.S. authorities. The allegations align with a 2019 U.N. report criticizing the strikes as unlawful. Livelsberger said the incident pushed him to speak out.

    Additionally, he accused the FBI and Homeland Security of monitoring and tracking him, describing efforts to avoid being detained.

    The only person who died as a result of the incident was the suspect, from a self-inflicted gunshot, according to police. Is Manifesto Real?

    After the alleged manifesto began circulating on social media following the podcast, reporters asked Las Vegas police and the FBI at a press conference if the suspect had written it. Authorities said they believe the letter shared by Shawn Ryan was authored by the bombing suspect. What Does Manifesto Say?

    Shoemate said Friday that he received an email from Livelsberger on Tuesday. According to Shoemate, the email said:

    "In case I do not make it to my decision point or on to the Mexico border I am sending this now. Please do not release this until 1JAN and keep my identity private until then.

    "First off I am not under duress or hostile influence or control. My first car was a 2006 Black Ford Mustang V6 for verification.

    "What we have been seeing with "drones" is the operational use of gravitic propulsion systems powered aircraft by most recently China in the east coast, but throughout history, the US. Only we and China have this capability. Our OPEN location for this activity in the box is below.

    "China has been launching them from the Atlantic from submarines for years, but this activity recently has picked up. As of now, it is just a show of force and they are using it similar to how they used the balloon for sigint and isr, which are also part of the integrated coms system. There are dozens of those balloons in the air at any given time.

    "The so what is because of the speed and stealth of these unmanned AC, they are the most dangerous threat to national security that has ever existed. They basically have an unlimited payload capacity and can park it over the WH if they wanted. It's checkmate.

    "USG needs to give the history of this, how we are employing it and weaponizing it, how China is employing them and what the way forward is. China is poised to attack anywhere in the east coast

    "I've been followed for over a week now from likely homeland or FBI, and they are looking to move on me and are unlikely going to let me cross into Mexico, but won't because they know I am armed and I have a massive VBIED. I've been trying to maintain a very visible profile and have kept my phone and they are definitely digitally tracking me.

    "I have knowledge of this program and also war crimes that were covered up during airstrikes in Nimruz province Afghanistan in 2019 by the admin, DoD, DEA and CIA. I conducted targeting for these strikes of over 125 buildings (65 were struck because of CIVCAS) that killed hundreds of civilians in a single day. USFORA continued strikes after spotting civilians on initial ISR, it was supposed to take 6 minutes and scramble all aircraft in CENTCOM. The UN basically called these war crimes, but the administration made them disappear. I was part of that cover-up with USFORA and Agent [Redacted] of the DEA. So I don't know if my abduction attempt is related to either. I worked with GEN Millers 10 staff on this as well as the response to Bala Murghab. AOB-S Commander at the time. [Redacted] can validate this.

    "You need to elevate this to the media so we avoid a world war because this is a mutually assured destruction situation.

    "For vetting my Linkedin is Matt Berg or Matthew Livelsberger, an active duty 18Z out of 1-10 my profile is public. I have an active TSSCI with UAP USAP access."

    17
    www.cbsnews.com Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside Trump Hotel in Las Vegas investigated as possible act of terrorism

    The explosion outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on New Year's Day is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism, sources said.

    Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside Trump Hotel in Las Vegas investigated as possible act of terrorism

    … Law enforcement sources told CBS News that the Cybertruck was rented to Matthew Alan Livelsberger, an active duty U.S. Army servicemember who was serving in Germany but was on leave in Colorado at the time of the incident. CBS News spoke to two relatives of Livelsberger who were unaware of any involvement in the incident, but who confirmed he had rented a Cybertruck. One relative told CBS News that Livelsberger's wife had not heard from him in several days.

    McMahill said gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters and large firework mortars were found in the back of the vehicle after the explosion, which occurred about 15 seconds after the vehicle pulled in front of the building. It's still unclear how the explosives were ignited, he said.

    47
    [news] Google Says It Appears to Have Accessed Parallel Universes
    futurism.com Google Says It Appears to Have Accessed Parallel Universes

    Google argued that its new uber-powerful quantum computer is so fast that it may have tapped a parallel universe.

    Google Says It Appears to Have Accessed Parallel Universes

    Google has made an eyebrow-raising claim, saying that its new quantum chip may be tapping into parallel universes to achieve its results.

    The search giant recently unveiled a new quantum computer chip, dubbed Willow, which — on a specific benchmark, at least — the company says can outperform any supercomputer in the world.

    "Willow’s performance on this benchmark is astonishing," Google Quantum AI founder Hartmut Neven wrote in a blog post announcing the chip. "It performed a computation in under five minutes that would take one of today’s fastest supercomputers 10²⁵ or 10 septillion years."

    "This mind-boggling number exceeds known timescales in physics and vastly exceeds the age of the universe," he argued. "It lends credence to the notion that quantum computation occurs in many parallel universes, in line with the idea that we live in a multiverse, a prediction first made by David Deutsch."

    Deutsch is a physicist who laid out his multiverse hypothesis in a 1997 book called "The Fabric of Reality," in which he suggested that quantum computers' calculations take place across multiple universes at the same time.

    Put another way, Google is suggesting that its chip is so fast that its computations may have taken place across parallel universes — a bombastic statement that unsurprisingly drew plenty of skepticism online.

    For one, the calculation Willow was tasked to solve wasn't really anything useful to anybody.

    "The particular calculation in question is to produce a random distribution," German physicist and science communicator Sabine Hossenfelder tweeted in response to Google's announcement. "The result of this calculation has no practical use."

    "They use this particular problem because it has been formally proven (with some technical caveats) that the calculation is difficult to do on a conventional computer (because it uses a lot of entanglement)," she added. "That also allows them to say things like 'this would have taken a septillion years on a conventional computer' etc."

    Willow is a 100-qubit, or quantum-bit, chip. Unlike conventional computers, which use zeroes and ones for a binary system, quantum computers rely on qubits, which can be on, off, or — counterintuitively — both thanks to quantum entanglement, the mysterious phenomenon that allows particles to influence each other's states even when separated by distance.

    "It's exactly the same calculation that they did in 2019 on a circa 50 qubit chip," Hossenfelder wrote.

    At the time, Google made a similarly bombastic claim, arguing that it had achieved "quantum supremacy," or "the point where quantum computers can do things that classical computers can’t, regardless of whether those tasks are useful," as John Preskill, who first coined the term in 2012, wrote in a 2019 Quanta Magazine column.

    That last part appears to be particularly relevant, given Google's latest claim.

    "So while the announcement is super impressive from a scientific point of view and all, the consequences for everyday life are zero," Hossenfelder argued. "Estimates say that we will need about 1 million qubits for practically useful applications and we're still about 1 million qubits away from that."

    The physicist also suggested that such wild claims may eventually "evaporate because some other group finds a clever way to do it on a conventional computer after all."

    Google's claim of quantum supremacy drew immediate criticism in 2019, sparking a years-long feud between the company and quantum computing rival IBM. At the time, IBM researchers charged that Google had exaggerated its claims.

    In a 2023 follow-up blog post, IBM researchers argued that the problem Google's quantum computer was instructed to solve in 2019 could be "performed on a classical system in 2.5 days and with far greater fidelity."

    "This is in fact a conservative, worst-case estimate, and we expect that with additional refinements the classical cost of the simulation can be further reduced," the researchers wrote at the time.

    In short, there's still a good reason to believe that Google's latest claim that Willow could be operating in the multiverse will be debunked. Apart from Deutsch's interpretation, researchers have also suggested that quantum particles are instead in a state of all positions before measurement, a theory known as the Copenhagen interpretation.

    Where all of this leaves Google's breakthrough and its significance remains debatable.

    But the company is already looking far ahead, promising to continue to scale up Willow to a point where it may actually become useful.

    "This is the most convincing prototype for a scalable logical qubit built to date," Neven wrote in the announcement. "It’s a strong sign that useful, very large quantum computers can indeed be built."

    6
    www.theguardian.com RFK Jr key adviser petitioned regulators to revoke approval of polio vaccine

    Aaron Siri is helping Trump’s health secretary pick to select top jobs despite long history of attacking vaccines

    RFK Jr key adviser petitioned regulators to revoke approval of polio vaccine

    A key legal adviser to Robert Kennedy JrDonald Trump’s pick for health secretary, is at the center of efforts to push federal drug regulators to revoke approval for the polio and hepatitis B vaccines and block distribution of 13 other critical vaccines.

    Aaron Siri, a lawyer who has been helping Kennedy select top health administrators as part of the Trump transition process, is deeply embedded in longstanding efforts to force the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to withdraw a raft of vaccines that have saved the lives and health of millions of Americans.

    Siri has been sitting alongside Kennedy in interviews in which they have asked candidates for top health jobs where they stand on vaccines, the New York Times reported on Friday.

    Kennedy, a leading vaccine sceptic, has insisted he has no plans to revoke vaccines should he be confirmed by the US Senate for the health secretary position. But his close ties with Siri are raising concerns about the incoming Trump administration’s intentions, given the lawyer’s intimate involvement in the anti-vaccine movement.

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    Siri works closely with the Informed Consent Action Network (Ican), a “medical freedom” non-profit founded by Del Bigtree, whose has long waged war on vaccines including as producer of the anti-vaccination documentary, Vaxxed. The New York Times report noted that Siri filed the 2022 petition calling for the FDA to revoke approval for the polio vaccine on behalf of ICAN.

    Poliovirus, the cause of a disease that used to be one of the most feared by Americans, has been eliminated from the country by the US through polio vaccines. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that the best way to avoid its return and keep people safe is through vaccination.

    Siri has not only been involved in lawsuits calling for the withdrawal or suspension of the polio and hepatitis B vaccines, but he has also petitioned the FDA to “pause distribution” of 13 other vaccines, according to the Times.

    Trump said this week that Kennedy may investigate vaccines for a supposed link with autism. The remark to NBC suggests that his pick for health secretary may run with the conspiracy theory that there is a connection between childhood vaccinations and autism that has been thoroughly debunked yet is repeatedly peddled by Kennedy.

    Kennedy’s spokesperson, Katie Miller, confirmed to the Times that Siri has been advising Kennedy but said his vaccine petitions had not been discussed.

    “Mr Kennedy has long said that he wants transparency in vaccines and to give people choice,” she said.

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