Costs of California’s troubled bullet
train rise again, by an estimated $5 billion
Posted By: Ribicon, 2/9/2022 12:12:06 AM
California bullet train officials on Tuesday released a new draft project blueprint that acknowledges that costs have risen roughly $5 billion but seeks to address several issues that have generated blowback. The 2022 business plan estimates that the full, 500-mile, high-speed system between Los Angeles and San Francisco will cost as much as $105 billion, up from $100 billion two years ago. In 2008, when voters approved a bond to help build the railroad, the authority estimated that the system would cost $33 billion.(Snip)The recently enacted $1.2-trillion infrastructure bill in Washington offers hope for some additional funding, though nothing has been granted yet.
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The CIA has been collecting the personal information of Americans for years in a secret surveillance program that has no congressional approval, according to a newly declassified letter released by a pair of Democratic senators said late Thursday night. Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico are branding the collection 'warrantless backdoor searches.' They sent a letter to top intelligence officials calling more details about the program to be declassified and demanded immediate action. The program is 'entirely outside the statutory framework that Congress and the public believe govern this collection, and without any of the judicial, congressional or even executive branch oversight that comes from
A convicted sex trafficker who considering pimping a “family business” and forced women to have sex with dozens of men a day was given 25 years in prison Thursday during a dramatic sentencing hearing at Brooklyn federal court. Francisco Melendez-Perez, 27, and five of his family members ran a Mexican sex trafficking ring for at least a decade where they’d convince women and young girls to come with them to the United States for a better life and then force them into prostitution.(Snip)Unbeknownst to Delia, Melendez-Perez was part of a family of sex traffickers from Tenancingo—considered the sex trafficking capital of Mexico
Washington—The CIA has a secret, undisclosed data repository that includes information collected about Americans, two Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee said. While neither the agency nor lawmakers would disclose specifics about the data, the senators alleged the CIA had long hidden details about the program from the public and Congress. Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico sent a letter to top intelligence officials calling for more details about the program to be declassified. Large parts of the letter, which was sent in April 2021 and declassified Thursday, and documents released by the CIA were blacked out.
Army looking for new combat vehicles
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The Army wants a new combat vehicle and is willing to pay more than $7 billion to the defense contractor that can provide it. The service released a bid this week for the next generation Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), designed to allow troops to carry out a range of missions “while providing protected, sustained and networked mobility for personnel and payloads across the full spectrum of military operations.”(Snip)The current provider, Oshkosh Defense, says it plans to compete for the new contract with a hybrid-electric light tactical vehicle. The Army’s recently released climate strategy said transitioning to more eco-friendly combat vehicles is a priority
The Biden administration is putting out new details on its effort to create 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations–with new efforts to push out funds to have them line interstates at 50-mile intervals. The administration is awarding $5 billion over five years to states to have them build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations. Another $2.5 billion will go out in grants to be decided later. It all comes from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan that was enacted late last year and that the administration continues to sell, amid the collapse of Biden's Build Back Better plan. The charging stations would work with all electric vehicles
New York—Mayor Eric Adams has made his position clear: city employees have to be vaccinated against COVID-19. But more than two dozen unions—including police, fire and teachers—are asking courts to block what will lead to mass firings. Angry municipal workers, who filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court, argue that Adams’ mandate doesn’t specify that unvaccinated employees should be fired. Instead, they argue, alternatives like weekly testing and remote work should be offered. About 95% of the city’s 370,000 workers have received at least one vaccine dose.(Snip)Municipal workers have argued the city has no right to decide what’s best for their health,
President Biden on Thursday said his search for a nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer is focused on four Black women. He started the search with at least a dozen Black women on his list. “What I’ve done is I’ve taken about four people and done a deep dive on them, meaning thorough background checks to see if there’s anything in their background that would make them not qualified,” Mr. Biden said in an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt. The president described his shortlist of nominees as “well qualified.” “They were honor students, they come from the best universities, they have experience,
Critics ripped the Department of Defense on Wednesday for a woke tweet promoting the need for “diversity” and “inclusion” in the military. The tweet linked to a news story about remarks Bishop Garrison, the senior advisor to the secretary of defense for human capital and diversity, equity, and inclusion, made to the Center for a New American Security. Garrison said the need for diversity, equity and inclusion to be a consideration or a part of all decisions in the military. "I would hope that as many leaders and members of the total force as possible see [diversity, equity and inclusion] efforts as a force multiplier," he said.
Investigators with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service frequently work to thwart a variety of environmental offenses, from illegal deforestation to hunting without a license. While these are real crimes, they’re not typically associated with invasive phone hacking tools. But Fish and Wildlife agents are among the increasingly broad set of government employees who can now break into encrypted phones and siphon off mounds of data with technology purchased from the surveillance company Cellebrite. Across the federal government, agencies that don’t use Cellebrite technology are increasingly the exception, not the rule. Federal purchasing records and Cellebrite securities documents reviewed by The Intercept show that all but one of the 15
The IRS cost the government more than $400 million over the last three years because it didn’t bother to fix broken mail machines, the agency’s inspector general said in a new report Thursday. The machines are supposed to automatically identify which envelopes contain payments to Uncle Sam, so they can be quickly processed and deposited. But the 20-year-old machines are in such disrepair that they kept missing envelopes with remitted payments. Employees shut them off and resorted to looking for payments by hand—a much slower process. The delays meant checks were deposited more slowly, costing the government hundreds of millions of dollars in lost interest payments, the inspector
Full House star Bob Saget was Covid positive when he died from a freak head injury in his Florida hotel room. The diagnosis did not play any part in the actor's sudden death, however, according to an autopsy report released Thursday by Orange County medical examiner, Dr. Joshua Stephany. His findings reiterate a statement issued by Saget's family earlier this week stating that the 65-year-old died from accidental head trauma, most likely suffered in a freak fall.
Saget was found dead in his hotel room at The Ritz-Carlton, Orlando, on January 9, hours after coming off stage from a stand-up show. His death stunned his global community
The suspect accused of fatally shooting a woman and wounding two others inside a Colorado church was killed by police officers after days on the run. Authorities had been searching for Jose De Jesus Montoya-Villa since Friday, when he unleashed gunfire inside the Iglesia Faro De Luz Church around 8 p.m. More than a dozen people were gathered inside the house of worship for an evening event, including a 36-year-old woman who died in the violence. The 31-year-old is also a suspect in several recent crimes in the Aurora area, including a shooting late Wednesday afternoon.(Snip)Witnesses said he carjacked another person at gunpoint
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Joe Biden has tapped an LGBTQ+ activist, drag queen “pup” fetishist to be the deputy assistant secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
The Politico reported the news on Thursday: (snip) Sam Brinton, according to his profile on an LGBTQ website, has “a dual Master’s degree in engineering systems and nuclear science and engineering from MIT.”
In his spare time, Brinton also enjoys roleplaying as a “pup handler,” and talking about having sex with animals. His drag queen alter ego is “Sister Ray Dee O’Active,” The National Pulse reported. Brinton is reportedly the son of Southern Baptist missionaries
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has conceded that January 6th was a 'violent insurrection,' saying he agreed with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's description of that day. 'No one would disagree with that,' McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.His clarification comes after McCarthy was mocked by Democrats for walking away from an ABC News reporter who was asking him about the Republican National Committee censure of Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney for serving on the committee investigating the insurrection.
The Biden administration is putting out new details on its effort to create 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations–with new efforts to push out funds to have them line interstates at 50-mile intervals. The administration is awarding $5 billion over five years to states to have them build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations. Another $2.5 billion will go out in grants to be decided later. It all comes from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan that was enacted late last year and that the administration continues to sell, amid the collapse of Biden's Build Back Better plan. The charging stations would work with all electric vehicles
A majority of New York City residents say they agree with COVID-19 vaccine mandates–and they’re angry with the minority who refuse to get jabbed, a survey released Thursday shows. Residents polled by the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health said the coronavirus vaccine should be required for people who work in service industries and schools, and should be a mandate for indoor activities and airplane travel. More than half of New York respondents—54 percent—said they are angry with the small percentage of residents who have refused to get vaxxed.(Snip)“The mask lifting heightens the need to get vaccinated,” said Dr. Aymen El-Mohandes, dean of
A new Toyota commercial featuring Colin Kaepernick claims the former NFL quarterback's controversial national anthem protest was a "sign of respect to the military." The ad, which aired Friday morning on Howard University's radio station, says Kaepernick's decision to go "on one knee" during the national anthem "came as a sign of respect to the military" and "changed the world." The commercial also calls Kaepernick a "two-time Super Bowl quarterback," which is false. Kaepernick appeared in one Super Bowl, a 34-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned on Wednesday that the hyper-partisan state of politics has taken the country to the brink of crisis when it comes to nominating justices to the Supreme Court. She laid out her fears during a virtual event with New York University, amid calls to reform the nation's highest court and as the confirmation battle to fill Justice Stephen Breyer's seat looms.'I have concerns that we might be in crisis as norms in the nomination process are broken,' she said, according to CNN.'As norms of the nomination process are broken, as more senators, congressional representatives, governors, mayors, local politicians and the media question the legitimacy of the court,
With COVID deaths now topping 910,000, the Biden administration and the rest of the Democratic left are deciding to ease up on their mandate regime. We need to learn to live with COVID, they say – repeating advice President Donald Trump issued back in October 2020.
We’re all for ditching the left’s COVID police state, even if Democrats’ reason is political, as we pointed out in this space yesterday.
But that leaves us with a question: Was any of it worth it? Did any of the guidelines, mandates, orders, shutdowns, cancelations, lockdowns do anything to alter the course of the disease, or
After shunning her native country and choosing to compete for China, many have questioned US-born Olympic freeskier Eileen Gu’s true allegiances. However, there is one group that Gu proudly associates with, Black Lives Matter.
In March of last year, the California native gave an interview to the South China Morning Post, in which she called herself an “ally” of Black Lives Matter. In the article, Gu lamented the rash of anti-Asian hate crimes occurring across the country. Gu said that she and her grandmother had fallen victim to such an attack.
A former Obama administration official is suggesting that Canadian authorities arrest members of the Freedom Convoy and encouraging people to "slash the tires" of their trucks.
Juliette Kayyem, who was assistant secretary of homeland security for intergovernmental affairs under President Barack Obama, tweeted the message Thursday in response to footage showing trucks creating gridlock on the Ambassador Bridge, which links the United States and Canada.
"Slash the tires, empty gas tanks, arrest the drivers, and move the trucks," Kayyem wrote. [Tweet]
Kayyem is now a senior lecturer of international security at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government
Earlier this week, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger released a statement in response to a complaint from Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who says the USCP illegally entered his office, took photos, and later interrogated his staff. According to Manger, “The weekend before Thanksgiving, one of our vigilant officers spotted the Congressman’s door was wide open.” As such, Manger said it is the responsibility of the USCP to document the incident and secure the office.
There’s just one problem with this explanation: (snip) This is the exact door @CapitolPolice claims their officer found “wide open” on that Saturday.
The door automatically closes. See for yourself.
How could this door be found wide open?
Madison Shaw left college in Boston for an online classroom as Covid spread in 2020 because she’s immunocompromised. She also had to flee New York City the following year as infection rates skyrocketed there again. Now 22 and having lived in Newport, Rhode Island, for a few months, Shaw said she’s wondering where she can find refuge next. Finding a safe place to live and work with common variable immunodeficiency — a condition that limits her body’s ability to produce antibodies and fight infections — is difficult outside of a pandemic. Right now, however, it's becoming near impossible. Even as
A school district in Enfield, Connecticut was left with pie on its face after asking eighth-graders to share their sexual desires in the form of pizza toppings. 'Now that you know this metaphor for sex, let's explore your preferences!' explained the instruction pamphlet distributed to students in a recent health class at John F. Kennedy Middle School. 'Draw and color your favorite type of pizza,' it added. 'What's your favorite style of pizza? Your favorite toppings? What are your pizza no-nos? Now mirror these preferences in relation to sex!'As if that wasn't explicit enough, the instructions offered some suggestions. 'Here are some examples:
Likes: Cheese = Kissing. Dislikes:
Comments:
In true Pelosi style, you have to approve it before you find out what it costs. And of course, they want "federal funding." It would probably be cheaper to buy everyone a car, with enough bribe money left over to satisfy the politicians.