Los Angeles Rolls Out Early Warning Earthquake App

The city of Los Angeles has unveiled an earthquake early warning app for Android and iOS smartphones, which can currently be downloaded from app stores.

Created under the oversight of Mayor Eric Garcetti and the city, ShakeAlertLA has been designed to tap into the US Geological Survey's early warning system, which has been under development for several years. The app is designed to give users seconds (and perhaps even tens of seconds) of warning before shaking from an earthquake arrives at a user's location.

"ShakeAlertLA sends you information when a 5.0 or greater earthquake happens in Los Angeles County, often before you feel shaking," according to the app's description.

The app, which is also available in Spanish, was built under a contract with AT&T. It was published quietly online on New Year's Eve, and by Wednesday morning, users of social media had already found it and begun tweeting their excitement about the release of the app.

For more than a year, the mayor has talked about providing an earthquake early warning app for Los Angeles residents, even as it seemed that making it a reality would be difficult.

But in October, Garcetti seemed optimistic that ShakeAlertLA would be unveiled by the end of 2018 if it passed initial testing among thousands of city employees. -LA Times

"By advancing earthquake early warning technology, we are making Los Angeles stronger, making Angelenos safer," Garcetti told reporters in October. "And it'll help save lives, most important, by giving people those precious seconds to stop elevators, to pull to the side of the road, to drop, cover and hold on."

"All that will not happen the first day we launch," Garcetti noted, "But together, with the private sector, we will build the software and the hardware that will allow us to be able to anticipate and react to an earthquake before we even feel it here."

The system could soon be made available broadly across the state.

Josh Bashioum, founder of the Santa Monica company Early Warning Labs, which has been closely working with the USGS, said it hopes to release a beta version of its app, QuakeAlert, to as many as 100,000 test users across California soon.

So far, 90,000 people have signed up to be on the company's wait list. That release will be kept on a test basis as experts determine whether there are any bottleneck delays in issuing push alerts. -LA Times

According to the Times, the early warning system will allow utilities to turn off large high-pressure fuel lines, and even stop trains.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-03/los-angeles-rolls-out-early-warning-earthquake-app

Over Half of US Dioceses Start Investigating Child Sex Abuse Claims

More than half of the 187 Roman Catholic dioceses across the United States have started investigating clergy child sex abuse claims or have announced plans to do so in the coming months, marking an extraordinary, renewed shift into scandals plaguing the church.

The dioceses, just in the past four months, have also released the names of an additional 1000 priests and other clergy accused of sexually abusing children, an Associated Press Investigation has found.

Meanwhile, nearly 20 local, state or federal investigations, either criminal or civil, have launched since a Pennsylvania bombshell grand jury report was released last year. The investigations could potentially lead to the release of even more names and accusations. Nearly 50 dioceses have since publicly listed child-molesting priests since that report, and 55 more have announced they would list them.

Even though the misconduct of some priests has already been exposed Laura Ahearn, a New York attorney in private practice who has represented clergy abuse victims for nearly 20 years, told The Epoch Times it is still not enough.

“I think it is a significant underestimation of the number of priests. I think the dioceses should release all the names,” Ahearn said. “The community has to understand the Catholic church has facilitated the largest cover-up of the victimization of children in our history.”

Some of the recently disclosed accusations date back nearly 70 years ago, with one of the oldest cases being from the 1910s in Louisiana. The Associated Press examination found more than 60 percent of priests were now dead and in most cases the statute of limitations had already run out.

Ahearn said she still receives phone calls from child sex abuse victims everyday, including those abused by priests or clergy. She said the average age of victims ranged from 50 to even 82 years old because the trauma kept them silent for so many years.

“Four individuals contacted me yesterday. This happens pretty regularly,” Ahearn said. “There are individuals who are contacting me out of the country as well. Yesterday, I had an individual contacting me from Puerto Rico.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/over-half-of-us-dioceses-start-investigating-child-sex-abuse-claims_2755998.html

Texas indicts ‘3D gun guy’ Cody Wilson for child sexual assault…faces 20 years in prison

In Texas, ‘3D gun’ guy Cody Wilson has been indicted on multiple counts of sexual assault against a minor.

Wilson rose to national attention as a self-styled advocate of 3D-printed guns, with the entities “Ghost Gunner Inc” and “Defense Distributed.”

He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, plus fines.

The charges involve a female “child younger than 17 years of age” whom he is said to have solicited through the website SugarDaddyMeet.com.

From reporting by Nathan Matisse at Ars Technica, who has been following the case in Austin, Texas:

More than three months have passed since a warrant (PDF) initially went out for Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson’s arrest. That document detailed Wilson’s alleged sexual assault against a female “child younger than 17 years of age” whom he reportedly solicited through the website SugarDaddyMeet.com. Last Friday, December 28, the State of Texas finally formally indicted (PDF) Wilson. The 3D printed gun advocate now faces multiple charges: four counts of sexual assault of a child, two charges of indecency with a child by contact, and two charges of indecency with a child by exposure.

These charges are all second-degree felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000.

Wilson’s two previously scheduled initial court appearances in November and December had each been pushed back, as often happens in cases still waiting on a formal indictment. This recent filing may make it more likely that the newest tentative date (scheduled for early February) will occur, meaning Wilson’s team would need to finally appear at the Travis County Courthouse.

Today, Wilson is a relatively free man at home, out of jail on a $150,000 bond.

https://boingboing.net/2019/01/03/3d-gun-advocate-child-sex.html

Ecuador to audit Julian Assange’s asylum & citizenship as country eyes IMF bailout

Ecuador has begun a “Special Examination” of Julian Assange’s asylum and citizenship as it looks to the IMF for a bailout, the whistleblowing site reports, with conditions including handing over the WikiLeaks founder.

Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa tweeted an image of the letter he received from the State Comptroller General on December 19, which outlines the upcoming examination by the Direction National de Auditoria.

The audit will “determine whether the procedures for granting asylum and naturalization to Julian Assange were carried out in accordance with national and international law,” and will cover the period between January 1, 2012 and September 20, 2018.

Assange has been in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since he sought asylum there in 2012. He was granted Ecuadorian citizenship last December in a bid to protect him from being extradited to the US where he fears he faces secret charges for publishing US government cables and documents.

https://www.rt.com/news/448012-ecuador-audit-assange-citizen-imf/

Looks like Ecuador is trying to sell Assange for 10B

>>4586383

set up???

>>4586408

>>4586393

>>4586464

Screen…….more like

MO: if we can leverage this person with something they are controllable your hired

>>4586596

>>4586383

>>4586403

>>4586464

>>4586608

>>4586596