Month: November 2023

How Osama bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’ reached millions online

Videos citing the document had been viewed far less than many TikTok posts. Then a journalist made a compilation and posted it to X, causing attention to the manifesto to explode.

Osama bin Laden in 1998. (Mazhar Ali Khan/AP) (Mazhar Ali Khan/AP)
Osama bin Laden in 1998. (Mazhar Ali Khan/AP) (Mazhar Ali Khan/AP)

On Monday, a TikTok user with 371 followers, using the screen name “_monix2,” posted a video where she read parts of Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America,” in which the late terrorist leader said his killings of nearly 3,000 Americans in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had been justified by the United States’ support of Israel’s “occupation” of the Palestinian territories.

LINK: https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2023/11/16/guardian-osama-bin-laden-letter-to-america/

“We May Have Doomed Humanity” – Eric Weinstein

Chris and Eric Weinstein explore the ramifications of sidelining physics. Why does Eric Weinstein believe it’s crucial to prioritize physics? How does Eric Weinstein attribute physics decline to events in the ’80s? What are Eric Weinstein’s suggestions for restoring interplanetary physics to prominence?

U.S. Lawyer Arrested After Fatally Shooting 2 Protesters on Camera in Panama

An American lawyer has been arrested in Panama after allegedly shooting two people taking part in an environmental protest Tuesday. Local media reports identified Kenneth Darlington, 77, as a Panama-born U.S. citizen. On Tuesday, he allegedly walked up to a group of protesters blocking the Pan-American Highway in the Chame District and remonstrated with the attendees. He then pulled out a pistol and—in front of a group of journalists reporting on the protest—allegedly opened fire. One victim, Abdiel Díaz Chávez, died at the scene, while another Iván Rodríguez Mendoza, was pronounced dead at a medical facility, according to TVN. Both victims were teachers, the report said, adding that Darlington has been charged with aggravated homicide and illegal possession of firearms.

An American lawyer has been arrested in Panama after allegedly shooting two people taking part in an environmental protest Tuesday. Local media reports identified Kenneth Darlington, 77, as a Panama-born U.S. citizen. On Tuesday, he allegedly walked up to a group of protesters blocking the Pan-American Highway in the Chame District and remonstrated with the attendees. He then pulled out a pistol and—in front of a group of journalists reporting on the protest—allegedly opened fire. One victim, Abdiel Díaz Chávez, died at the scene, while another Iván Rodríguez Mendoza, was pronounced dead at a medical facility, according to TVN. Both victims were teachers, the report said, adding that Darlington has been charged with aggravated homicide and illegal possession of firearms.

LINK: https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-lawyer-kenneth-darlington-arrested-after-fatally-shooting-2-environmental-protesters-on-camera-in-panama

Greenland’s ice shelves hold back sea level rise. There are just 5 left.

The vast floating ice platforms of northern Greenland, unrivaled features of the northern hemisphere that keep our seas lower by holding back many trillion tons of ice, are in stark decline, according to new scientific research published Tuesday.

These northern Greenland ice shelves, as they are called, have lost 35 percent of their overall volume since 1978, the research published in “Nature Communications” found. That’s equivalent to a loss of roughly 400 billion tons of floating ice that acted like the stopper of a decanter, preventing glaciers from flowing into the sea and accelerating sea level rise.

And now there are only five large shelves left, stretching out from their fjords toward the Greenland Sea and the Arctic Ocean. That includes three major ones — Petermann, Ryder and Nioghalvfjerdsbrae (often referred to as 79 North for its location in degrees Latitude) — whose respective glaciers could ultimately account for 3.6 feet of sea level rise if they were to melt entirely — a process that would take centuries to play out.

LINK: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/11/07/northern-greenland-ice-shelves-decline/

This year ‘virtually certain’ to be warmest in 125,000 years, EU scientists say

This year is "virtually certain" to be the warmest in 125,000 years, European Union scientists said on Wednesday

This year is “virtually certain” to be the warmest in 125,000 years, European Union scientists said on Wednesday, after data showed last month was the world’s hottest October in that period.

Last month smashed through the previous October temperature record, from 2019, by a massive margin, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said.

“The record was broken by 0.4 degrees Celsius, which is a huge margin,” said C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess, who described the October temperature anomaly as “very extreme”.

The heat is a result of continued greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, combined with the emergence this year of the El Nino weather pattern, which warms the surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Globally, the average surface air temperature in October was 1.7 degrees Celsius warmer than the same month in 1850-1900, which Copernicus defines as the pre-industrial period.

The record-breaking October means 2023 is now “virtually certain” to be the warmest year recorded, C3S said in a statement. The previous record was 2016 – another El Nino year.

Copernicus’ dataset goes back to 1940. “When we combine our data with the IPCC, then we can say that this is the warmest year for the last 125,000 years,” Burgess said.

LINK: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/this-year-virtually-certain-be-warmest-125000-years-eu-scientists-say-2023-11-08/

Leaked Nashville shooter manifesto shows motivation behind attack: ‘Kill all you little f******’

https://twitter.com/scrowder/status/1721545965402726734

https://twitter.com/scrowder/status/1721545965402726734

Portions of the manifesto belonging to Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale are circulating social media after months of debate regarding its release.

Steven Crowder, the host of the Louder with Crowder talk show, shared leaked images from the manifesto Monday morning. The pages released by Crowder allegedly reveal the intentions behind Hale’s deadly attack.

Wanna kill all you little c*******,” one page from the manifesto reads. “Bunch of little f****** w/ your white privlages f*** you f******.”

The National Desk has verified the authenticity of the leaked images through its Nashville affiliate, FOX 17 News.

 

https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/leaked-nashville-shooter-manifesto-shows-motivation-behind-attack-kill-all-you-little-f-audrey-hale-aiden-covenant-school-march-schooting-louder-with-crowder

a massive collection of prehistoric rock art spanning over 8 miles within the Serra da Capivara mountains