Free Republic

The people in this northern Myanmar forest have lost a way of life that goes back generations. But if they complain, they, too, face the threat of death. This forest is the source of several key metallic elements known as rare earths, often called the vitamins of the modern world. Rare earths now reach into the lives of almost everyone on the planet, turning up in everything from hard drives and cellphones to elevators and trains. They are especially vital to the fast-growing field of green energy, feeding wind turbines and electric car engines. And they end up in the...

Ever wondered what types of batteries are used to power electric and hybrid vehicles (EHVs)? Well, the majority of EHVs being driven on our roads today will use lithium-ion (Li-ion) or lithium polymer batteries. ... They pose a potentially lethal chemical hazard to anyone working on or near EHVs. ... Since the electrolyte is a liquid, there is always the possibility that it could leak from inside the battery – we’ve all seen standard AA batteries that have leaked leaving white potassium hydroxide crystals on their outer casing, right? Well, that’s the danger with lithium-ion batteries. If the electrolyte inside...

Visitors to the Chicago zoo showing the 415lb Amare pictures and videos through the glass wall has made him dismissive to other male gorillas A teenage gorilla in a Chicago zoo has been getting too much screen time, according to zoo officials. Amare, a 415-pound gorilla at Chicago’s Lincoln Park zoo, has been staring a little too frequently at the screens of cellphones from visitors who show him pictures and videos through the glass wall – including selfies, family photos, pet videos and even footage of Amare himself. He has apparently become so distracted as a result that last week,...

In a time when various “developed world” intelligence agencies are filling up petabytes of hard disk space with domestic phone recordings and tracking their own citizens who – in the pursuit of a “liberal” agenda – have been escalated to a greater terrorist threat than actual foreign terrorists, some people have had enough and are throwing their smart phones into the trash and replacing them with “dumbphones” instead. One among them is seventeen-year-old Robin West, who according to the BBC is an anomaly among her peers: “she doesn’t have a smartphone.” Instead of scrolling through apps like TikTok and Instagram...

30 Russian cruise missiles pulverised the Yavoriv facility, near the Polish border, on March 13. The target on the base is believed to have been the International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security, where Ukraine has been training foreign civilian recruits for its international brigade. Now, the Telegraph has learned that around 12 to 14 phone numbers starting with +44 were visible to surveillance equipment in the area in the hours before the missile strike. Security sources said mercenaries paid by the Wagner Group, a secretive military company with links to the Kremlin, were suspected of operating on the ground at...

I want to dump Verizon. Does anyone have experience with Patriot Mobile? Is the coverage and 4G comparable to the big, leftist outfits? I’m sick of spending my dollars supporting a company that doesn’t support my beliefs.

A new court filing by special counsel John Durham reveals that Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz concealed crucial information from Durham in connection with the ongoing prosecution of Michael Sussmann, a former attorney to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. The filing also reveals that Horowitz failed to disclose that his office is in possession of two cellphones used by former FBI general counsel James Baker. The phones may contain information that’s important to the Sussmann case, as well as to a separate criminal leak investigation of Baker that Durham personally conducted between 2017 and 2019. Horowitz first...

From social media platforms to email providers, tons of places on the web want to scoop up your private data. Don’t forget about online stores and personal services, either. Your details are major commodities to most businesses on the web - and most have little regard for your privacy. Advertisers and marketers don't know who you are. But your behavior is tracked and assigned a unique identifier, called a Mobile Advertising ID (MAID). This tiny snippet of information contains where you live, what you shop for or what you recently searched online. Until recently, there had been very little that...

A U.S. intelligence report for the first time links China’s largest telecommunications company to Beijing’s KGB-like intelligence service and says the company recently received nearly a quarter-billion dollars from the Chinese government. The disclosures are a setback for Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.’s efforts to break into the U.S. telecommunications market. The company has been blocked from doing so three times by the U.S. government because of concerns about its links to the Chinese government. The report by the CIA-based Open Source Center states that Huawei’s chairwoman, Sun Yafang, worked for the Ministry of State Security (MSS) Communications Department before joining...

Criminals thought encrypted Sky ECC cellphones were impregnable, but cops tapped a billion messages, yielding arrests and drug seizures Using supposedly impregnable encrypted phones, the Serbian hit men discussed earlier this year how wind direction and distance could affect the sniper’s bullet and planned their getaway. Unbeknown to them, their messages were also flashing up on the computer screens of a secret police team in Belgium that had hacked into the messenger service, called Sky ECC. The Belgians warned police in Serbia, who whisked the judge to safety. The infiltration was a signature success in efforts by authorities across the...

The wireless networks that underpin an assortment of devices, including life-alert alarms, older cellphones and tablets, are about to shut down, an action that consumer advocates say will leave some of society's most vulnerable people without critical communications tools.

Stevie Nicks is very particular about certain things in her life. She has to put her mattress on the floor whenever she’s feeling overwhelmed by fame and wants to return to simple times. There have to be rainbow lightbulbs in her home, as well as “fabulous” sheets. A photo of her and George Harrison has to be on her at all times when she’s on tour, as does her expensive massage chair. However, there is one thing that Nicks is the most particular about, excessive cellphone and computer use. If you’re around Nicks, don’t expect any technology to be around....

If your mobile phone is more than a few years old, you may need to upgrade your device before your mobile provider shuts down its 3G network, to avoid losing service. For more information on your mobile providers’ plans for 3G retirement and how you can prepare, contact your provider directly.What is happening? Mobile carriers are shutting down their 3G networks, which rely on older technology, to make room for more advanced network services, including 5G. As a result, many older cell phones will be unable to make or receive calls and texts, including calls to 911, or use data...

Abstract Context: The current science is not definitive about health risks from wireless phones; however, the legitimate questions about safety that have arisen from recent studies make claims of absolute safety no longer supportable. Objective: The objective of this paper is to outline for primary care providers the results of the most current research on the possible impact of wireless phone use on human health. Presented are study results from Wireless Technology Research (WTR) program, the 7-year, $27 million effort funded by the wireless industry in the United States, that represents the world's most comprehensive research effort addressing this issue...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Californians could have higher cellphone bills after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two laws on Friday aimed at giving the state more money to build high-speed internet connections in unserved areas. California is one of 41 states that collect a tax on phone bills and uses the money to build high-speed internet connections. The laws Newsom signed Friday make sure the state will keep collecting that tax — and collect more of it. The laws don’t increase the tax, but it extends the tax, which was scheduled to expire at the end of next year. The laws...

A Michigan man is accused of placing pipe bombs outside cellphone stores as part of a crusade to halt telecommunications “containing immoral content,” like porn and cursing, court documents show. John Douglas Allen, 75 was charged with extortion and attempted destruction of interstate commerce buildings, the feds said in a press release Tuesday. Allen was allegedly caught on camera placing homemade explosive packages outside an AT&T Store in Sault Ste. Marie, and a Verizon Store in Cheboygan last week, according to officials. The alleged would-be vigilante then left threatening letters, placed inside polka dot envelopes, at cell towers in the...

The masks were made in China. In Guangzhou, to be exact. By a company called ‘Sunrise Nursing’. And they are expiring. Slowly. A box of 50. Just your basic, disposable, three-ply mask, with “unique elastic material to reduce ear pain and bruising.” The type of mask you’d want to wear, if you want to avoid being bruised. But also, the kind of mask you would not use if they have reached their expiration date. “It is forbidden to use after expiration. Production date and batch number of the masks are stated in the packing box.” It is also forbidden to...

At the crest of his political career Meng Hongwei, the first-ever Chinese president of Interpol, was proudly hailed by state media as a testimony to the international community’s “full recognition” of China’s law enforcement capacity and status as a country based on the rule of law. Less than a year after he took the helm of the global policing body, Meng hosted its general assembly in Beijing – only the second time in the country’s history. At the opening ceremony, he was given the rare privilege of sitting next to the country’s most powerful man, President Xi Jinping, who –...

Female journalists and activists say they had their private photos shared on social media by governments seeking to intimidate and silence them. Ghada Oueiss, a Lebanese broadcast journalist at Al-Jazeera, was eating dinner at home with her husband last June when she received a message from a colleague telling her to check Twitter. Oueiss opened up the account and was horrified: A private photo taken when she was wearing a bikini in a jacuzzi was being circulated by a network of accounts, accompanied by false claims that the photos were taken at her boss’s house. Over the next few days...

Israel shared three cell phone numbers used by Qasem Soleimani with U.S. intelligence in the hours before American drones unleashed Hellfire missiles on the Iranian general last year, Yahoo News reported Saturday. The revelation sheds new light on the role that Israel played in the killing of Soleimani, who the State Department says was responsible for hundreds of U.S. troop deaths as the head of the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force. The drone strike occurred shortly after midnight on Jan. 2, 2020, as Soleimani and his entourage were leaving Baghdad's international airport. As three Delta Force sniper teams monitored Soleimani...