As More Data Centers Move East, Water Scarcity Concerns Rise for the Residents

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Leslie Park

Recently severe drought hit Virginia. In recent years, more data centers have moved from the West Coast to East Coast. This has many residents worrying about water scarcity. Data centers require electricity to run the computer equipment, and it also requires cooling down servers and maintaining a certain temperature. They currently use about 2% of the nation’s total electricity supplies. Data centers can use traditional air conditioning or use water to evaporate and cool down the servers; usually, water is preferred as the cheaper choice.

With more data centers being built across northern Virginia, residents are becoming increasingly concerned with the cutting down of trees, increase in traffic jams and congestion (even more), as well as noise (https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/verify-whats-all-the-data-center-noise-about/65-0a695ecf-9eac-44bc-93f8-9fd7f4bbfd88) from data centers to nearby neighborhoods and elementary schools.

Many residents have become concerned with the aesthetics of living next to a large, usually blocky concrete structure that emits loud noises and uses up too much water and electricity.

More than 30% of the world’s data centers are located in the United States, according to the Washington Post, and Virginia (VA) has over 300 data centers, making it the state which has the most data centers in the United States. Of this total, ~90% or 275 data centers reside in Northern Virginia, specifically in , Prince William County, and Fairfax County, according to a Google search (Aug 16, 2022).

Virginia is a very popular state for data centers as it offers lower taxes for the requirement of employment and meets the statutory investment. According to VEDP, “Virginia offers an exemption from retail sales and uses tax for qualifying computer equipment purchased by data centers that meet statutory investment and employment requirements. Virginia was the first state to allow the tenants of colocation data centers to receive the benefit of the sales tax exemption. In addition, local business property tax rates on computers and related equipment for data centers have been reduced by a number of localities.”

That’s great, Virginia, but Data Centers are also consuming significant amounts of water and electricity; as summer approaches and the burden on water and electricity increases, how will this impact us? Furthermore, as Virginia gets drier, who will have to bear the burden of the extensive amount of data centers now in place?

Discovered Liquid Meth in Tequila Bottles at the Port of Manzanillo, Mexico

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Leslie Park

Photo from CDC

10 tons of liquid methamphetamine stored in 11,520 bottles of tequila for distribution to the world has seized by the Mexican Navy on Monday. Authorities used sniffer dogs and a chemical identification system to locate a container housing where at least 8,640 kilograms of the drug were bottled as tequila liquor at the Port of Manzanillo, a city located on the western coast of Mexico.

The Navy investigators of this mission took the sample of the tequila bottle to the lab, and they seized the bottles after they were confirmed to be meth. The navy seized and destroyed 114 tons of meth earlier this year. According to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ), 106,699 people died from Drug overdose in 2021 in the U.S.

In 2021, 106,699 drug overdose deaths occurred, resulting in an age-adjusted rate of 32.4 per 100,000 standard population in the United States. Adults aged 65 and over had the largest percentage increase in rates from 2020 through 2021. Drug overdose death rates increased for each race and Hispanic-origin group except non-Hispanic Asian people between 2020 and 2021.

The rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone increased by 22%, while the rate of deaths involving heroin declined by 32% between 2020 and 2021. From 2020 through 2021, the rate of drug overdose deaths increased for deaths involving cocaine and those involving psychostimulants with abuse potential.

At the end of the 19th century, the Opium War between Britain and China was brought about by the trade deficit and destabilized the Chinese empire, fueling instability in the East. It seems that again in the 21st century, opium different from that has become a weapon to infiltrate economically superior countries and gradually collapse countries and their people. Perhaps the Mexican Navy can continue to do more in preventing the spread, and those in other developed nations can follow in destroying the opium that will surely bring about instability in their own nations.

Cease-Fire Agreement made in between SAF and RSF: Three days of Cease-Fire in Sudan for Exodus of 36 nationalities from War-Zone

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Leslie Park

Photo from Wikipedia

The Secretary of the U.S. State Department, Antony Blinken announced that a three-day cease-fire agreement was reached between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces starting midnight Monday. The civil war between the two military factions failed several times to reach a cease-fire agreement previously, and 36 nationalities had been at risk in the meantime.

Blinken said “To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan,” in a statement on Monday.

Many neighboring countries have been involved in this civil war and the capital of Sudan, Khartoum is deserted and the most vulnerable city in this power struggle. The WHO (World Health Organization) said that more than 400 people had been killed.

President Biden ordered the evacuation of all American personnel from the embassy in Khartoum on Saturday.

South Korea evacuated its 25 nationals from Sudan, and Saudi Arabia said Monday that it had evacuated 357 people from more than two dozen counties from Sudan, according to NBC News. Since April 15, Sudan’s conflict has overshadowed Ukraine’s ongoing war against Russia. There are allegations that Sudan has been sending Russia gold in exchange for weapons and soldiers, which has continued to heighten the conflict rather than calm it.

Successful Software Engineer found dead in Lake Churchill

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Leslie Park

Montgomery County Police found a body in Lake Churchill on Tuesday. He was identified as Ankit Bagai (30) of Germantown. Police officers were informed about the body in the lake around 8 a.m. Ankit was last seen on April 9 at approximately 11:30 a.m. in the 12000 block of Panthers Ridge Drive. His family had been searching for him since he disappeared.

Police believed there was no foul play involved in the young man’s death. Ankit’s family created a Facebook group to help search for Ankit. However, the question remains as to where he was between the time of his disappearance and his corpse’s reappearance.

On Wednesday, Ankit’s family posted on Facebook and let many know of Akit’s death. According to DC News Now, He was a successful software engineer from the University of Virginia, and he deeply cherished his time as a Wahoo, especially [during] his semester at sea. He was known as an avid golfer who loved Tiger Woods and his hometown championship teams, the Nationals, the Capitals, and his family.

May he rest in peace.

Poland Walls Up against Russia and Belarus

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Leslie Park

Photo from Google Maps

Poland has started to build walls and electronic barriers at its land border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to monitor and counteract any illegal activity, the Polish interior minister Mariusz Kaminski told in a news conference Tuesday.

Kaminski states that the barrier will be equipped with 24-hour monitoring cameras and motion detectors that will cover 210 kilometers (130 miles) and will be completely done by the fall of 2023.

He added, “We will have full monitoring of the border with Russia,” and “I am sure that this will be the best secured EU border.” According to AP, Poland put up anti-tank barriers on roads leading to border crossings with Kaliningrad. Last year, it put up a razor-wire barrier there.

Last year, Poland built a wall on its border with Belarus, a Russian ally to stop a massive illegal inflow of migrants. Poland is one of the members of the EU and has had an extensive history of being attacked and ruled by various Russian governments throughout its history. With the EU as a firm ally, Poland hopes to keep itself free from Russian influence.

Poland is one of the strong supporters of the war between Ukraine and Russia. PM Kaminski said, “Poland’s eastern borders with Russian and Belarus are also EU external borders, and it will be perfectly prepared for any type of illegal activities that are linked to crisis situations regarding our eastern neighbors.”

FBI raids Chinatown in Manhattan, Arrests Two Men

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Leslie Park

F.B.I. arrested two men in a Chinatown in lower Manhattan on early Monday. The two men are accused of acting as agents of the People’s Republic of China in connection with a police outpost that operated in Manhattan’s Chinatown.

The two men: Lu Jianwang (61) and Chen Jinping (59) have brought attention to the law enforcement authorities in how they have acted differently than what they said when they posed as volunteers to help renew Driver’s Licenses in Chinese.

Globally, more than 100 Chinese police operations which are not authorized by the local Governments seem to exist. However, this is the first time criminal charges in connection with the Chinese Police outpost have been brought and will likely bring more attention to Chinatowns globally.

F.B.I. and the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn are investigating the Chinatown outpost as existing without jurisdiction or diplomatic approval. They found out that one of the men, Mr. Lu is a naturalized American citizen and Mr. Chen has not yet confirmed his natural identity by F.B.I.

“The two men were charged with obstruction of justice and accused of destroying evidence as well as conspiring to act as agents of the People’s Republic of China, according to the people with knowledge of the matter,” according to NBC.

More detailed updated investigation will be announced by the F.B.I. as they are prepared for public awareness.

Discord leaker is a worker in the U.S. Military Base

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Leslie Park

The U.S. military has recently been shown to spy on its allies, revealing concerns for Ukraine’s war with Russia, and has otherwise been “compromised” due to a massive document leak on a Discord server. The culprit is a young gun enthusiast who shared the documents with acquaintances gathered for companionship during the pandemic.

The group began in 2020 and comprises around a dozen members, mostly focused on the love of guns, military gear, and God.

One of the members claimed to be in the military and shared many “classified documents” which were not allowed to be shared, as the base had also banned bringing in any electronic device that would allow sharing. The member painstakingly shared the documents, decoding any language term such as “NOFORN” which means “so sensitive that it must not be shared with foreign nationals.”

The documents were top secret, and there is no mistake that the leaker was intelligent, as the process of being cleared for such access requires significant background checks and other clearing processes.

There are also approximately 300 photos of classified documents, with not all of them having been made public. There are audio recordings and text files written out by the leaker.

A video posted by the leaker shows him yelling racial and antisemitic slurs into the camera before firing several rounds at a target. He is likely to be a man in his 20’s.

He was known as a strict administrator who enforced a pecking order and expected everyone on the server to read the classified information closely and would get angry if the attention waned.

As the attention waned, the leaker began to post real photos of the documents, which are now being used as ways to identify and track the leaker based on surrounding items such as a bed, gorilla glue, or nail clippers.

Some of the leaks showed the depth of the penetration into the Russian military, how Egypt planned to sell Russia a significant number of rockets, and how Russian mercenaries even approached Turkey to buy weapons to fight Ukraine.

It is notable that, unlike previous data leaks, this leaker was not presenting himself as any form of a whistleblower. Those he released this information to are also put in harm’s way for having been given classified information, which has exposed them to potential federal crimes. Of course, server members believe that the information ought to be released to the public so the world can see how the US government spends tax dollars.

It is at the moment unclear where their leaker is, but most server members believe that he will not be given a “fair trial.”

Volcano and Earthquake Erupts In Far-Eastern Island Russia

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Leslie Park

From Google

One of the most active volcanoes erupted on the far-eastern island of Kamchatka, Russia on Tuesday, and it spewed ash up to 12 kilometers into the sky. This volcano is a stratovolcano that is built up of alternate layers of lava and ash. The Shiveluch volcano erupted just after midnight and reached a crescendo about six hours later, spewing out an ash cloud over an area of 108,000 square kilometers (41,700 square miles), according to the Kamchatka Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Geophysical Survey, according to Reuter.

After the volcano erupted, the lava flowed from the volcano to the villages through the highway covered with ashes and mud as thick as 3.5 inches. Air flights are detouring to avoid the ash-covered sky.

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake broke the faultline in the town of Vilyuchinsk, on the Kamchatka peninsula. The epicenter is located in a mountainous region all the way up where the stratovolcano, Shiveluch volcano erupted on the same day. Kamchatka is normally known for winter sports and hot springs. About 300,000 people live on this peninsula, and most of them are indigenous people.

Sea Levels Rise Rapidly on the Southeast and Gulf Coasts in the U.S.

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Leslie Park

Sea levels have risen rapidly along the U.S. Southeast and Gulf coasts at record-breaking rates over the past 12 years, according to a new study from scientists. In the study, published in Nature Communications, researchers state that they had noticed the rate of sea levels rise of about half an inch per year since 2010 due to climate change and natural causes.

“These rapid rates are unprecedented over at least the 20^th century, and they have been three times higher than the global average over the same period,” says Sönke Dangendorf, lead author and the David and Jane Flowerree Assistant Professor in the Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering at Tulane.

Since 1900, many studies and measurements have been made alerting the public of the dangers of “global warming” or climate change, which would bring huge negative impacts on our ordinary lives. That “would” has become a “will,” and now, it’s simply become a matter of how much impact.

Beach communities from the Sun States, the Gulf Coast, and along the Southeast coastlines are going to be more vulnerable, both in terms of the real estate market and in the most real, physical sense.

This will likely impact the retirees and the fish industries the most as they struggle to adapt to a rapidly changing climate and environment that is no longer so kind to their way of life; simply, the waters are coming fast to eat up their real properties and the investment they’ve put down.

Cash App Founder Bob Lee Stabbed to death In San Francisco

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Leslie Park

One of the young and energetic Tech Executives, Bob Lee (43) is dead after a stabbing in San Francisco on Tuesday night, Sen Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said on Wednesday.

Bob Lee, Cash App founder and executive at cryptocurrency firm MobileCoin, was stabbed to death. According to a San Francisco Police Department report, Police responded to a report of a stabbing incident around 2:35 a.m. on Tuesday. They found a 43-year-old man suffering from stab wounds and transferred him to a nearby hospital. He succumbed to stab wounds at the hospital.

Jenkins said “We do not tolerate these horrific acts of violence in San Francisco,” on her Twitter on Wednesday. Lee helped to develop Android while he was working at Google and served as the first chief technology officer at Square, a digital payment company founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

Lee moved to Miami, Florida, and was visiting San Francisco to attend a Tech Summit. He was stabbed with life-threatening injuries and was found by a very wealthy neighbor in San Francisco.

He was survived by his family, friends, and coworkers.

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