23 Aug, 2022 22:06
UK PM hopeful ‘ready’ to use nukes
Liz Truss said she was prepared to unleash nuclear destruction during Conservative leadership debate
UK PM hopeful ‘ready’ to use nukes
Liz Truss feels “ready” to launch Trident nuclear weapons, the frontrunner for Conservative leadership declared at Tuesday’s hustings in Birmingham, confirming that making such a decision was an “important duty of the prime minister.”
The foreign secretary did not elaborate on which country the UK might be persuaded to use nuclear weapons against. She has delivered plenty of hawkish rhetoric along the campaign trail, primarily targeting Russia, and is an avid booster of the Ukrainian cause.
Truss also pledged to raise military spending by 3% of GDP by the end of the decade.
Both candidates have blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the dismal state of the British economy, plagued by high inflation, high gas prices and an increasingly unaffordable cost of living, widely seen as resulting from unilateral restrictions imposed by London and its allies.
Truss and Sunak have also taken issue with Putin's planned attendance at the upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia, though Sunak wants to see him barred entirely and Truss said she would prefer to personally confront him at the event.
As of Tuesday, Truss is 26 points ahead her rival and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, according to Politico. Whoever wins will replace Boris Johnson as the British prime minister.
While Sunak was among the first to quit his post in Johnson’s cabinet, Truss was among the handful of high-ranking officials who refused to do so despite the mounting scandals, citing loyalty as her reason.
https://www.rt.com/news/561420-truss-nuclear-weapons-debate-hawks/
23 Aug, 2022 22:41
Senator lays groundwork for potential Fauci probe
Rand Paul has demanded that records and communications be saved as he looks to investigate the US Covid-19 czar
Senator lays groundwork for potential Fauci probe
Dr. Anthony Fauci is shown being questioned by Senator Rand Paul in a Senate hearing last January. © Getty Images / Greg Nash
Fresh from vowing to investigate chief White House medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci for his role in the Covid-19 pandemic, Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has demanded that President Joe Biden’s administration preserve documents and messages that could become evidence in the potential probe.
Paul, who has sparred with Fauci in Senate hearings over government funding of potentially dangerous virus research, sent a letter to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Tuesday, calling for the Covid-19 czar’s documents and communications to be saved. The demand came one day after Fauci announced that, effective in December, he would step down as Biden’s chief medical advisor and as director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
“Fauci’s resignation will not prevent a full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic,” Paul said after the doctor’s announcement on Monday. That will include testimony under oath concerning discussions about the possible leak of Covid-19 from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, he said. The senator previously accused Fauci of directing public funding to gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab and lying about it under oath in congressional testimony.
Senator suggests plan to ax Fauci’s NIAID post
Read more Senator suggests plan to ax Fauci’s NIAID post
“Dr. Fauci misled the American people on public health guidance throughout the pandemic, lied to Congress under oath, and funneled tax dollars to fund dangerous research in communist China,” Paul told the Daily Caller on Tuesday.
However, Republicans will need to win back control of Congress in this year’s midterm elections to force such an investigation. Paul said in February that he would subpoena Fauci’s records if Republicans retake the Senate. In a CNN interview last month, Fauci said there was no reason for such a probe. “But if they want to, go ahead. My records are an open book.”
Paul requested in Tuesday’s letter that the NIH preserve all documents, data and messages created by or shared with Fauci relating to Covid-19, including NIAID-funded research. “The American people deserve transparency and accountability from the NIH regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of Dr. Fauci’s future employment plans,” he said.
https://www.rt.com/news/561421-rand-paul-documents-fauci-probe/
23 Aug, 2022 13:04
‘Solid’ reasons to microchip kids – WEF
An article on the institution’s website makes the case for implant technologies
‘Solid’ reasons to microchip kids – WEF
Human implant technologies will soon become a commodity, a blog post published on the World Economic Forum’s website last week suggests, arguing that there are “solid, rational” reasons for microchipping children with location trackers.
The author, Vice President R&D of the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (IMEC) Kathleen Philips, argues that augmented reality technology “has the ability to transform society and individual lives” and despite sounding “scary,” will undergo the same “natural evolution” as wearable tech.
“Hearing aids or glasses no longer carry a stigma. They are accessories and are even considered a fashion item. Likewise, implants will evolve into a commodity,“ she wrote.
Philips believes an augmented society is more or less inevitable and that the real question is how it will be regulated. “The limits on implants are going to be set by ethical arguments rather than scientific capacity.”
As an example of such “ethical” regulation, the author points to the question of whether or not children should be implanted with microchips. “There are solid, rational reasons for it, like safety,” she writes, noting that for some it might be a “bridge too far.”
As for who will oversee the ethics governing the use of such technologies, Philips states that “ethics should not be preached from an academic ivory tower.”
“Overarching or independent institutions should guide policymakers and researchers in the augmented society on the do’s and dont’s and help build the ethical framework on societal aspects of augmented reality technology,” she wrote.
Philips provides examples of such regulation by pointing to the Council of Europe, which recently launched a strategic action plan for issues raised by the application of neurotechnologies, as well as the Rathenau Institute, founded by the Dutch government, which assesses the impact of technology on our lives.
Meanwhile, World Economic Forum chief Klaus Schwab has previously suggested there will soon be a so-called “fourth industrial revolution,” which will “lead to a fusion of our physical, digital and biological identity.”
https://www.rt.com/news/561379-world-economic-forum-implants/