🌞 Railroad Selfie – May 10 2021

The Lead: Massive Pipeline Hack

credit: colonial pipeline

The U.S. government issued an emergency waiver of fuel delivery rules after the Colonial Pipeline was hacked. The pipeline carries 45% of the East Coast’s fuel supply and it has been offline since Friday. 

The new rules say that drivers in 18 states can work more hours than normally permitted to make up for the supply chain disruption but this will not be enough to equal the normal pipeline delivery. This disruption is expected to increase fuel costs between 2-3%. 

How did this happen? 

Hackers were able to penetrate the computing system of Colonial Pipeline and install ransomware. That means that they control the system and lockout the company while they demand a large ransom payment. This group of hackers is known as DarkSide and they also claimed to have stolen 100 gigabytes of data from the company and threatened to post it publicly. 

Colonial did not say if it planned to pay this ransom but most companies end up paying when this happens to them. It is cheaper than re-building an entire system and in this case, time is of the essence. 

The Wall Street Journal points out that “the consequences of an infection spreading to that deeper layer are dire for any energy company. Many machines that control pipelines, refineries and power plants are well past their prime, have few protections against sophisticated attacks and could be manipulated to muck with equipment or cause damage, cybersecurity experts say.” 

So now, about that infrastructure plan? 

Genocide in Ethiopia

credit: reuters

The head of the Orthodox Church in Ethiopia is trying to bring attention to what he calls a genocide happening right now in the Tigray region.

Genocide in the year 2021. Okay, you have our attention. 

In November of last year, fighting broke out in this region between the ruling party and the federal government. Since then, many from this region have been singled out, oftentimes jailed, harassed, fired from their jobs or had their bank accounts frozen. There are also reports of church bombings, mass killings and gang rape.

Authorities say that they are doing this to root out rebel fighters and the Ethiopian Prime Minister told Reuters that if innocent people are detained, they are swiftly released. Not a very reassuring statement, is it? 

The statement by the head of the church was an attempt to call attention to “many barbarisms.” Western Leaders, including President Biden have called for the Prime Minister to end atrocities there. 

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Railroad Selfies

credit: thinkstock

This should go without saying but playing around on railroad tracks is dangerous. The national rail operator in France launched a no-selfies campaign because young people are trespassing onto tracks for social media posts. 

Both France and the UK have reported a 40% increase in youth railway trespassing incidents last year that resulted in 23 deaths and 11 serious injuries. The #SurLesRails campaign tells people that “taking pictures on the tracks is to risk never taking pictures again.” 

Sigh. Youth. 

Where's The Beef?

credit: getty

The Impossible Burger meatless hamburger could soon be on the public school lunch menu near you. The company received the Child Nutrition Label from the USDA, meaning that school districts can use their budgets to buy them. 

Impossible Burger makes meatless patties that the company says have a lower carbon footprint than beef burgers. The USDA says that they can be served to children but many want to make sure that they are not branded with the company’s logo. Schools rarely use corporate logos on food served to children and administrators want to make sure that Impossible Burgers get the same treatment. 

Some schools will start putting Impossible products on their menus but they do have branded names such as the “Impossible™ Street Tacos,” “Impossible™ Frito Pie,” and “Spaghetti with Impossible™ Meat Sauce.”

Agreed. School lunches should not have trademark stamps on them. 

News By The Numbers

330 feet. That is how high up a man was when a glass bridge shattered underneath him due to 90 mph winds. He did eventually crawl to safety and has been receiving psychological counseling ever since. I need it just looking at those images! 

$2,618. That was the amount of an Amazon order that a four-year-old boy made to his aunt’s house. He ordered 51 cases of SpongeBob popsicles. Amazon refused to return them but they worked it out with a GoFundMe page. 

45,000. That is how many people entered a lottery to get permission to kill 12 bison in the Grand Canyon. The National Park Service asked for hunting volunteers to help with population control. They only need 12. 

$32 trillion. That was the amount a Canadian man was suing for from the person that hit him while he was riding his bicycle. He also wanted 500,000 Tesla shares and a private audience with the Queen. The lawsuit was tossed out by a judge. 

Hurricane? More Like Slur-a-Cane!

credit: giphy

Hurricane season in the Pacific officially kicks off on May 15 and the National Hurricane Center already has a storm in its sights to name. 

The National Hurricane Center starts naming storms at the top of the alphabet and moves through from A to Z and then starts over again if necessary. Last year there was a record 17 named storms. If this storm picks up, it will be named Andres but it is not expected to hit land. 

Are you prepared?

This week is National Hurricane Preparedness Week. People are being asked to write out a family plan, read over their insurance policy, strengthen their homes and come up with neighborhood plans. Many insurance policies included “named storm coverage” meaning that if a storm does not get a name from the National Hurricane Center, your policy won’t cover it. But tropical storms are getting stronger and stronger so it is a good idea to consider a less finicky policy. Experts are saying that this year looks to be “above average” in hurricane activity, much like last year. 

Today's Live Show

4th STIMULUS COMING & WHY THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING IS RISING

Join us on today's live morning show. We'll be analyzing looking at why consumers are being squeezed as prices skyrocketed over the weekend. Dogecoin takes a massive nosedive and bounces back. And President Biden leans towards new stimulus checks to keep the recovery going. Click here to RSVP and I'll see you at 9 AM Eastern. 

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