Now Germany is experiencing a 19% increase in deaths over the projected base line.

There seems to be relative silence about what appears to be potentially a growing campaign of sabotage on our power grid.

Quote:Attacks on power substations are growing. Why is the electric grid so hard to protect? (Dec 30, 2022)

Even before Christmas Day attacks on power substations in five states in the Pacific Northwest and Southeast, similar incidents of attacks, vandalism and suspicious activity were on the rise.

Federal energy reports through August – the most recent available – show an increase in physical attacks at electrical facilities across the nation this year, continuing a trend seen since 2017.

At least 108 human-related events were reported during the first eight months of 2022, compared with 99 in all of 2021 and 97 in 2020. More than a dozen cases of vandalism have been reported since September.

The attacks have prompted a flurry of calls to better protect the nation's power grid, but experts have warned for more than three decades that stepped-up protection was needed.

Attacks on power stations on the rise

Twice this year, the Department of Homeland Security warned "a heightened threat environment" remains for the nation, including its critical infrastructure.

A USA TODAY analysis of reports that utilities provided to the Department of Energy through August show:

• At least 20 actual physical attacks were reported, compared with six in all of 2021. 
  
• Suspicious-activity reports jumped three years ago, nearly doubling in 2020 to 32 events. In the first eight months of this year, 34 suspicious incidents were reported.
  
• Total human-related incidents – including vandalism, suspicious activity and cyber events – are on track to be the highest since the reports started showing such activity in 2011.
  

Attacks reported in at least 5 states

Since September, attacks or potential attacks have been reported on at least 18 additional substations and one power plant in Florida, Oregon, Washington and the Carolinas. Several involved firearms.

• In Florida: Six "intrusion events" occurred at Duke Energy substations in September, resulting in at least one brief power outage, according to the News Nation television network, which cited a report the utility sent to the Energy Department. Duke Energy spokesperson Ana Gibbs confirmed a related arrest, but the company declined to comment further.
  
• In Oregon and Washington state: Substations were attacked at least six times in November and December, with firearms used in some cases, local news outlets reported. On Christmas Day, four additional substations were vandalized in Washington State, cutting power to more than 14,000 customers.
  
• In North Carolina: A substation in Maysville was vandalized on Nov. 11. On Dec. 3, shootings that authorities called a "targeted attack" damaged two power substations in Moore County, leaving tens of thousands without power amid freezing temperatures.
  
• In South Carolina: Days later, gunfire was reported near a hydropower plant, but police said the shooting was a "random act."
  

It's not yet clear whether any of the attacks were coordinated. After the North Carolina attacks, a coordinating council between the electric power industry and the federal government ordered a security evaluation.

FBI mum on its investigations

The FBI is looking into some of the attacks, but it hasn't said how many it's investigating or where.

Shelley Lynch, a spokesperson for the FBI's Charlotte field office, confirmed the bureau was investigating the North Carolina attack. The Kershaw County Sheriff's Office reported the FBI was looking into the South Carolina incident.
Utilities in Oregon and Washington told news outlets they were cooperating with the FBI, but spokespeople for the agency's Seattle and Portland field offices said they couldn't confirm or deny an investigation.

Could domestic extremists be involved?

In January, the Department of Homeland Security said domestic extremists had been developing "credible, specific plans" since at least 2020 and would continue to "encourage physical attacks against electrical infrastructure."
In February, three men who ascribed to white supremacy and Neo-Nazism pleaded guilty to federal crimes related to a scheme to attack the grid with rifles.

In a news release, Timothy Langan, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, said the defendants "wanted to attack regional power substations and expected the damage would lead to economic distress and civil unrest."

Why is the power grid so hard to protect?

Industry experts, federal officials and others have warned in one report after another since at least 1990 that the power grid was at risk, said Granger Morgan, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University who chaired three National Academies of Sciences reports.

The reports urged state and federal agencies to collaborate to make the system more resilient to attacks and natural disasters such as hurricanes and storms.

"The system is inherently vulnerable. It's spread all across the countryside," which makes the lines and substations easy targets, Morgan said. The grid includes more than 7,300 power plants, 160,000 miles of high-voltage power lines and 55,000 transmission substations.

One challenge is that there's no single entity whose responsibilities span the entire system, Morgan said. And the risks are only increasing as the grid expands to include renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, he said.

Here's some more details on that ship that made headlines back in 2019.

How a Balkan Drug Cartel Infiltrated the world's largest container Shipping company. A Swiss company. Story is like straight out of a movie.





JP Morgan trafficking billions in cocaine & running child sex blackmail rings lines up perfectly with how I imagine the international banking cartel functions. Raise your hand if you know anything about this, But cannot be questioned due to rEaSoNs.



An explosive new lawsuit — which remains heavily redacted (of course) — alleges JP Morgan "pulled the levers" of Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking operation.

Quote:

• A new lawsuit alleges JP Morgan facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking scheme.
  
  
• The US Virgin Islands Attorney General also claims the bank covered up its involvement.
  
  
• "Red flag" laws were ignored until after Epstein's death, the lawsuit says.
  

A new lawsuit from the US Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George accuses JP Morgan Chase of facilitating Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking scheme and covering it up.

"Human trafficking," the lawsuit alleges, was the "principal business" of Epstein's accounts at the bank, but the bank "turned a blind eye" for more than a decade "because of the deals and clients that Epstein brought and promised to bring to the bank."
...
"JP Morgan knowingly, negligently, and unlawfully provided and pulled the levers through which recruiters and victims were paid and was indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise," the lawsuit says.

One of Epstein's accounts with JP Morgan, named Southern Trust, didn't perform the "cutting edge consulting services" Epstein claimed. In reality, the lawsuit alleges, it was "a conduit for payment to foreign women, credit cards, airplanes, and other instrumentalities."

Business Insider

Everyone of my generation who played guitar one of the requirements was to learn "Wipe Out"... The Ventures were part of our lives.

Happy New Year you mob from Australia.

Sydney fire works going off as I type.

They are the best,

Good year for Rogue.

Bally

As I have mentioned before, I am living/squatting in a house that was converted into an auto/machine shop and parts warehouse with very little space and massive amounts of chaotic clutter. I moved from a fully furnished 1800 sq ft home with a decked out garage/shop into basically a bedroom and a half so my own disaster was added into the already existing disaster but I’m fine with that. I’m not fancy. I also drive a 40 year old car too! Lol!

For example, this is what used to be the living room of this house. The rest of the place is pretty much the same and I have a huge combo mill and machine lathe in my kitchen!



I have one fairly large room, the master bedroom (you’re not supposed to call it that anymore) with a big sectional sofa and 60” TV. It is a cozy space where I can entertain guests comfortably with some degree of respectability with a boho/laidback flair. Not that I do that anymore as I dumped all my friends and quit going out to the bar and dragging folks home for an after party but it is nice to have the option.

The "nice" room


Since I moved in here three years ago, I have been sleeping (or trying to) on a very worn out bed that unfolds from the couch providing the most miserable nights of sleep I can remember so I decided to do something about it as my old bones just couldn’t take it any more so I purchased a small Twin XL size hybrid innerspring & memory foam mattress in a box on sale from Amazon. link

I didn’t want to just plop it down in my one good room that is reasonably nice as that would ruin its use as a living room so I decided to make room for it in the one other room I have access to. This room is mostly filled with storage, a workbench, my sim rig and my corner desk where I spend most of my time and there simply wasn’t room so I decided to tear things apart and move things around to make room.

I thought before I got too carried away, I would take a picture.



I managed to find space and put the mattress on the floor. I’ve been sleeping there for a month now and I really love my new bed but it is hard to get out of and some of the stuff I took out to make the room for it somehow needs to come back into this room so I have come up with a plan to build a bed frame that is also a storage rack.

How things are now. My "project" will be going where the bed is and that metal workbench will be moved up against the wall.


I have attached my plan below in the PDF. I am hoping some of you guys that know more about this stuff than I do will take a look at it and see if there are any problems with my design? It isn’t anything fancy and is just using lumber from Homo Depot but I think it will do?

I realize that 2x4s and 2x6s aren’t actually that size as shown in my blueprint but I will accommodate for that when building. I have built several things before and am not a complete novice.

I have a table saw that I will be making a crosscut jig for to get perfect cuts. I also have a circular saw and a long metal guide for cutting sheets of plywood and hand tools galore, 3 electric sanders and gaggle of different kinds of big and small clamps. For the majority of the joinery of key components, I am going to be using dowels for strength and have an awesome new dowel jig I’ll be putting to good use as my old one was crap. I have a pocket hole jig too but don’t think I’ll be using it for this project?

One thing I am not sure of is I will be corner joining two long 86” boards together and am unsure how many dowels to use or how far apart they should be so any advice would be appreciated.

I am hoping I can con my ex-hubby into coming over next week with his giant Sprinter van to take me to Home Depot so I can get started. He promised to take that metal cabinet off the wall too. I will update things as they progress.

I'm figuring it will probably cost around $550 and that's before I add the accessories like drapes and stuff and a TV  Yeah, I'm crazy, no doubt!

Attached Files

Thumbnail(s)
               

  Bed & Shelf Plans V2.pdf (Size: 680.66 KB / Downloads: 3)

As some have speculated Chinese leaving China's mainland are infected and the possibility of another global pandemic seems to have the ground work being laid by the stupid. It was supposed to be January before the Chinese were free to travel out of country but evidently some have been able to get their freedom pass early.

Hello all.  2nd attempt at this.  

Had the story all ready to send and suddenly everything went blank.  Please bare with me again.  I'll save as I go. 

So, take 2,  Listening to the Aussies -v- South Africa = cricket test

 1/.  I like cricket.  2/.  I watch the test cricket on the big screen.  3/.  My son bought me a radio for xmas so I can listen in the garden and elsewhere. 4/. I tuned into ABC "Australian Broadcasting Commission" A radio station sponsored by the Government.  Live commentary.

So the match ended early with the Aussies winning.

The program went to issues as is normal with ABC and while cooking dinner I listened on.  

One issue was the wearing of 'possum' fur/skins by aboriginal elders during ceremonial occasions. (possums are a protected species)   (I have no issue with this)  (We have aboriginal skin names and family) but the respondent to the journalist stated - "The Govment gave us blankets laced with smallpox instead" alluding to the fact of Genocide.  Gobsmacked! I was.  

Don't from now on give the Aboriginals any blankets or perhaps anything else of the like nature au gratis.  

What a stupid statement to make and the ABC ran with it.  No further questions or request for qualifying statements.  "BLANKETS LACED WITH SMALLPOX???"  On or about 6.50pm today EST.  

Maybe a rant but this is Australia mate.  

I cannot grasp the reason for this assumption.  Smallpox?  Give me a break.

Anyway, my Australian ABC story.

Bally

The Sum of All Fears? Anyone catch this story? Back to the old cold war days.

Quote:US prosecutors claimed the group worked with two Moscow-based companies controlled by Russian intelligence services to acquire electronic components in the US that have civilian uses, but can also be used to help make nuclear and hypersonic weapons and in quantum computing.

One of those indicted is 35-year-old Alexey Brayman, who holds Israeli citizenship but is a resident of Merrimack, New Hampshire.

According to The Boston Globe, Brayman was born in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The court agreed at a hearing on the charges that he would be allowed to return to his New Hampshire home, but he was fitted with a location tracker.

The indictment, cited by CBS, said Brayman “repeatedly used the New Hampshire residence as a transshipment point for repackaging sensitive military-grade and export-controlled items and forwarding them to intermediate locations in Europe and Asia, from where they were transshipped to Russia.”

The Boston Globe said prosecutors charged the equipment “could make a significant contribution to the military potential or nuclear proliferation of other nations or that could be detrimental to the… national security of the United States.”




According to the newspaper, supplies smuggled through the Drayman family home included semiconductors — key to producing the ballistic missiles that Russia has deployed to deadly effect in Ukraine.

The exporting of the technology involved in the case is heavily regulated and occurred in violation of US sanctions, according to a 16-count indictment unsealed Monday in Brooklyn.

“The Department of Justice and our international partners will not tolerate criminal schemes to bolster the Russian military’s war efforts,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement announcing the charges.

However, the Boston Globe noted Brayman had posted on Facebook a clip of Ukrainian performers on the “America’s Got Talent” television show highlighting the years-long conflict between Moscow and Kyiv.

The report said that even as equipment was allegedly smuggled through their New Hampshire home en route to Russia, Brayman’s wife Daria posted a call for donations to a charity that was helping Ukrainians amid the invasion.
The couple’s Facebook pages, now apparently taken down or set to private, also reportedly documented at least one vacation to Israel.

The Boston Globe likened the case to a plot line from “The Americans,” a drama in which a pair of Russian spies lived undercover in suburbia.

Neighbors told the outlet that the Braymans run an online crafting company and participated in community activities.
“It’s crazy. You just never know who’s in your neighborhood and what they’re doing behind closed doors,” neighbor Mike Benoit told CBS.

Brayman’s attorney David Lazarus said in an email that his client has not been convicted of anything and is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

The seven charged included five Russian nationals, including Vadim Konoshchenok, a suspected officer with Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB. He was arrested in Estonia last week and will undergo extradition proceedings to the United States, US authorities said.

About 375 pounds of ammunition originating from the United States was found by Estonian authorities in a warehouse used by Konoshchenok, according to federal prosecutors.

The four other Russian nationals remain at large.

Also arrested was Vadim Yermolenko, a US citizen living in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

US officials said the arrests had disrupted the procurement network allegedly used by Russian intelligence services, which they said had been operating as far back as 2017.

US scrutiny of efforts to evade sanctions on Russia intensified after the invasion of Ukraine last winter.

The Times of Israel

Quote:The group worked on behalf of Serniya, a global network of Russian agents and front companies with clients such as the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Federal Security Service, or FSB, according to the indictment. US officials have described Serniya as “instrumental” to Russia’s war machine.

Working at the behest of agents in Russia, Boris Livshits, a Russian national who once lived in Brooklyn, allegedly purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars in sanctioned items from American electronics companies, misleading sellers about the equipment’s ultimate destination.

Once purchased, authorities allege, Livshits, using the alias “David Wetzky” and a host of front companies, arranged for the items to be shipped to the Braymans’ Merrimack home. In March 2022, 18 days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Brayman and Livshits discussed sending items to Russia through Germany “by hook or by crook,” according to the indictment.

Brayman regularly sent shipments to Vadim Konoshchenok, a Russian national and suspected FSB agent in Estonia, who, authorities say, would then smuggle the goods across the border into Russia. On one such trip in late October, Konoshchenok was detained and found with 35 different types of semiconductors and electronic components, according to court documents. He has also been found with tens of thousands of rounds worth of American ammunition, including sniper bullets made in Nebraska. A search of his warehouse revealed some 375 pounds of ammunition.