expect comms blackout
How conspiracy theories spread from the Internet’s darkest corners
QAnon’s “researchers” have figured out how to shape national conversations.
Tuesday, Oct 2, 2018
Iran fires six ballistic missiles from its own territory at ISIL targets near the Euphrates river valley in eastern Syria, in response to the Ahvaz military parade attack. (The Independent)
Trump touts new trade deal with Canada and Mexico President Trump on Monday announced a trade deal with Canada and Mexico, saying the updated agreement would ensure fair treatment for American workers and the manufacturing industry. The deal, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is an update to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Trump called the “worst trade deal ever made.” He said that dairy products will now be traded tariff-free with Canada, and that 40 percent of car manufacturing must now be done by “high-wage workers.” Trump asserted that it is a “privilege” for other countries to trade with the U.S., and that the USMCA will reflect that in requiring Canada and Mexico to “treat us fairly.” Source: White House
Kavanaugh reportedly asked friend to defend him before accusation was public Text messages obtained by NBC News suggest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh spoke with at least one Yale classmate about Deborah Ramirez before The New Yorker published Ramirez’s accusation that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party freshman year. The texts are between Kerry Berchem and Karen Yarasavage, college friends of Kavanaugh and Ramirez. One of the messages from Yarasavage states that Kavanaugh asked her to go on the record refuting Ramirez’s allegation. During his Senate Judiciary Committee testimony last week, Kavanaugh said under oath the first time he heard of Ramirez’s accusation was when The New Yorker published her account on Sept. 23. Berchem says the FBI has not responded to her offer to hand over the texts. Source: NBC News
Amazon announces $15 minimum wage for all U.S. workers On Tuesday morning, Amazon announced that starting Nov. 1, it will pay all 350,000 of its U.S. employees no less than $15 an hour. The change will affect all full-time and temporary workers at its warehouses, in customer service, and at Whole Foods. “We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement. “We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us.” The company said in exchange for the wage hike it will stop granting stock options to those workers. Bezos is the world’s wealthiest person. Source: ReCode
Physics Nobel Prize awarded for laser breakthroughs On Tuesday morning, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics to three scientists “for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics.” American Arthur Ashkin was awarded half of the Nobel for inventing “optical tweezers and their application to biological systems,” while Gérard Mourou of France and Canadian Donna Strickland were jointly awarded the other half “for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses.” Mourou and Strickland created a technique called chirped pulse amplication (CPA), paving the way “toward the shortest and most intense laser pulses created by humankind.” Source: Nobel Committee
At least 1347 people are now known to have died in the Indonesian earthquake and tsunami. (BBC)
Monday, Oct 1, 2018
North Korea and South Korea begin removing landmines and other explosives from the Korean Demilitarized Zone. (CBS News)
Mauricio Vila Dosal takes office as Governor of the Mexican state of Yucatán. (Diario de Yucatán)
The discovery of a third Sednoid, 2015 TG387, is announced. The 200–600-kilometre (120–370 mi) wide asteroid never approaches less than 65 astronomical units from the Sun, more than twice Neptune’s distance. (Nature)
The End
Mykobar 