Anonymous ID: 8caa2d April 15, 2020, 9:59 p.m. No.8809835   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>9848 >>9866 >>0174 >>0294 >>0338

Hoyer: Congress might cast votes using Apple's FaceTime during COVID-19 pandemic

 

Hoyer also says Congress is considering conducting remote hearings with Zoom or Microsoft Teams

 

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday that Congress is considering conducting hearings remotely with Zoom or Microsoft Teams software and voting remotely with Apple's FaceTime technology. Hoyer told reporters that allowing lawmakers to cast votes remotely is under consideration for emergencies only, stressing that it would not become a "regular practice" for Congress. "The rules will have to be modified. There will have to be agreement between the parties," Hoyer told reporters on a conference call. "I'm hopeful that Republicans and Democrats will agree on processes that are appropriate and are acceptable in trying to respond to a crisis where people aren't supposed to travel and not supposed to aggregate."

 

Hoyer said he has personally "suggested" using Apple's FaceTime software for voting remotely. "I don't know that FaceTime is a perfect way to do it but I had suggested you have a number of clerks so that it could be done relatively quickly. The member gets on FaceTime and says I vote aye or nay but it would be hard to have debate in that process," Hoyer said. "It is certainly a technology on which you could vote." Hoyer added that Zoom is "perceived to not be as secure" as FaceTime but millions of businesses are using it in addition to Microsoft Teams software. "We're looking at those," he said. "We are not going to be able to do that immediately because we need to change the rules and we need to create agreement. We are working at that and we are exploring technologies that are available."

 

The Maryland Democrat also said that the House plans to come back in session on May 4 depending on the conditions on the ground with the COVID-19 pandemic. Hoyer explained that congressional leaders are currently debating the contents of a forth economic relief package referred to as CARES II. Lawmakers are also discussing an interim package that would increase the funding for small businesses provided in the original CARES Act which President Trump signed into law at the end of March.

 

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/hoyer-congress-considering-conducting-remote-hearings-zoom-or-microsoft-teams

Anonymous ID: 8caa2d April 15, 2020, 10:25 p.m. No.8809957   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>9988 >>0028 >>0174 >>0294 >>0338

>>8809838 >>8809926 >>8809872 >>8809915 >>8809928 >>8809934

 

The potential of Greenland’s rare earth minerals over China’s supply chain control

 

Hidden away beneath the melting ice, Greenland has an abundance of rare earth minerals — the kind that are used to power just about all modern technology, yet China controls the majority of the world’s supply. You may recall last year when US President Donald Trump was looking into how much Greenland would cost, and all the press coverage it received. Access to Greenland is desired by the US and other nations for a number of reasons, including rights to mine its rare earth minerals that are essential to modern technology.

 

There are 17 rare earth metals derived from rare earth minerals that go into making everything from smart phones, tablets, and solar panels to advanced weapons systems and sensors. In Greenland, the hills surrounding the southern town of Narsaq “are estimated to hold about a quarter of the world’s rare earth minerals,” according to NPR. Right now, the United States imports 80% of its rare earth minerals from China, which is the world’s top producer.

 

On the economic front, China currently supplies what American enterprise demands, so it is in a very good bargaining position, but China could cut off the supply at anytime. On the military front, China could simply stop exporting critical materials, and the US wouldn’t be able to build its fighter jets and weapons systems. The idea of having a more secure supply chain makes Greenland a coveted prospect for the United States and other nations not wanting to rely on China.

 

However, as an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland isn’t a fully independent nation, but there is an independence movement already underway. “The mandate we have from our people says that we must work towards independence,” Greenland Premier Kim Kielsen told High North News in January. More than 70 percent of our population want us to move towards independence, and it is stipulated in the law on Greenland’s Self Rule how this must happen,” he added. Last year, Kielsen made it clear that Greenland was open for business, but not for sale. According to the BBC, “Greenland’s economy is reliant upon two things; fishing, which accounts for 95% of its exports, and an annual grant from the Danish government.”

 

If Greenland does gain independence, it’s economy would rest on fishing, but it looks like it could make a fortune in rare earth mineral extraction. The Arctic region is home to an estimated 30% of the world’s undiscovered natural gas, 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil, and an abundance of rare earth and other minerals. As Greenland’s ice melts, it is presenting new opportunities for exploitation, and who knows what else that may uncover.

 

https://sociable.co/technology/greenland-rare-earth-minerals-china-supply-chain-control/