>And there I was baking
me too; potato rolls
Dear Q, glad you stopped by. So sorry I missed you. You are smashing them, yes? #Winning
>The [D] party will cease to exist
Because they are China. Death to traitors.
Berkeley moves to 'lock down' students' browsers to prevent cheating
from proctoring virtual exams to ensure students don't cheat. Rather, the university has opted to implement a "browser lockdown" method.
Campus Reform obtained a campus-wide email sent by Paul Alvisatos, the Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost on this decision. While professors are being told not to proctor exams online, a “browser lockdown” software program appears to be the approved alternative. While it has not yet been implemented, the software would prevent students from switching between windows or tabs while taking online tests.
https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14683
UK's Johnson 'improving' as he fights COVID-19 in intensive care
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's condition is improving and he is able to sit up in bed and engage with clinical staff, finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday as Johnson remained in intensive care battling COVID-19.
https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN21Q0O5?
get well soon, sir
Trump signs executive order encouraging US to mine for minerals on the moon
President Trump's latest executive order may have some ready to brush off their "drill, baby, drill" memorabilia.
On Monday, the president signed an executive order that encourages the United States to harvest minerals from the moon, Mars, and any other celestial bodies. The order allows both government and private companies to use resources gathered in space while directing the State Department to garner international support for the practice.
This order shows the U.S. promoting a different path than the 18 nations who signed the 1979 Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, an international pact also known as the Moon Agreement, which said all resources from space fall under international jurisdiction. The U.S. did not join the moon agreement and objects to it being used as international law.
Instead, the Trump administration claimed the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, which 109 nations and the U.S. signed, allows for any country to harvest minerals found in space.
"Americans should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space, consistent with applicable law. Outer space is a legally and physically unique domain of human activity, and the United States does not view it as a global commons," the order reads. "Accordingly, it shall be the policy of the United States to encourage international support for the public and private recovery and use of resources in outer space, consistent with applicable law."
The order requires the State Department to "encourage international support" for resource exploration by individual countries and the private sector. The department will also consider international agreements with other nations that allow for the "safe and sustainable" use of celestial minerals.
In a statement about the order, Trump said, "After braving the vast unknown and discovering the new world, our forefathers did not only merely sail home — and, in some cases, never to return. They stayed, they explored, they built, they guided, and through that pioneering spirit, they imagined all of the possibilities that few dared to dream."
Scott Pace, the deputy assistant to the president and executive secretary of the U.S. National Space Council, added, "As America prepares to return humans to the moon and journey on to Mars, this executive order establishes U.S. policy toward the recovery and use of space resources, such as water and certain minerals, in order to encourage the commercial development of space."
Congress has already approved private companies using minerals from the moon in legislation passed in 2015. NASA is slated to return to the moon in 2024.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-signs-executive-order-encouraging-us-to-mine-for-minerals-on-the-moon?
The Intrepid Life of Sir William Stephenson
Pilot, prisoner, inventor, spy – Sir William Stephenson lived a courageous life full of adventure and derring-do. (Many people consider him one of the real-life inspirations for James Bond.)
In honor of his 118th birthday last month, here are a few tales of one of WWII’s most infamous intelligence officers, the man code-named “Intrepid.”
Stephenson, born in Winnipeg, Canada on January 23, 1897, distinguished himself at a young age.
In WWI he was a fighter pilot in the Royal Flying Corps, bringing down 12 German aircraft. Shot down and captured on a mission, Stephenson managed to escape in October 1918.
After the war ended, Stephenson became an entrepreneur and inventor, but he grew concerned about the growing power of Nazi Germany.
He was a friend of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who sent Stephenson to New York City in 1940 to run the British Security Coordination Office, the operational and liaison arm of UK Intelligence in the US.Transmitter_1922
The job made Stephenson Britain’s top intelligence officer in the United States.
He used his contacts in American industry and government to improve US-British relations and to push the US towards war with the Axis powers.
According to documents in the UK National Archives, British authorities tasked him to launch covert operations against the American isolationist movement (his effort was no doubt aided by his many contacts in the entertainment industry.)
He also urged the Roosevelt Administration to establish a “coordinator” to oversee US intelligence collection and analysis efforts.
In the summer of 1941, President Roosevelt did just that by establishing the Coordinator of Information office (COI). Col. William “Wild Bill” Donovan was picked to run the organization, much to Stephenson’s delight. Donovan had already visited London to study British Intelligence and bonded with Churchill during a meeting organized by Stephenson.
Stephenson alerted Donovan that Germany would declare war on the US before Roosevelt could declare war on Germany. With the US and Britain officially allied after the Pearl Harbor attack, Stephenson became the central liaison officer between the intelligence services of both countries.
In spite of his covert activities in the US prior to Pearl Harbor, he was well-regarded by his American counterparts. He was a strong supporter of the COI and its successor organization, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).
Medal_Pinning
Donovan presenting Stephenson with the Medal of Merit in 1946.
His friendship with Donovan helped create a lasting partnership between US and British intelligence.
In a 1946 ceremony, he became the first foreigner to receive the highest US civilian honor: the Medal of Merit.
In 1999 the Intrepid Society, dedicated to honoring the memory of Stephenson (who died at the age of 92 on January 31, 1989), presented the city of Winnipeg with a statue of Stephenson.
Sculpted by artist Leo Mol, the statue featured him dressed in his pilot’s suit. Mol and the Society presented a 22-inch tall replica to CIA the following year.
Though not the father of CIA or OSS, Stephenson played a key role in the vision that established both and helped revolutionize America’s intelligence capabilities.
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2015-featured-story-archive/the-intrepid-life-of-sir-william-stephenson.html