Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Earth is under the influence of a coronal hole on the Sun, which may cause weak magnetic storms. Sergei Bogachev,head of the Solar Astronomy Laboratory at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke with Regnum News Agency on Tuesday, August 18.
Earth recorded its lowest-level magnetic storm on August 18. Due to the influence of a coronal hole, similar events may recur this week.
"The Earth is within the solar coronal hole's field of influence, so its impact is heightened. This heightened background influence causes isolated bursts. Right now, a small burst is occurring locally—a minor storm," Bogachev noted.
According to the scientist, the coronal hole's impact on Earth will be noticeable for another two to three days. During this period, a subsequent disturbance, potentially resulting in a weak magnetic storm, is possible.
"There were no strong solar events, no major flares. We don't expect any severe storms, but the background is complicated. This is a fairly common event. Globally, the Sun is currently calm. If the current situation persists, the end of August will be calm, but unexpected changes are also possible," Bogachev concluded.
The last magnetic storm hit Earth on August 12. Its intensity reached G1 on a five-point scale—the threshold for what scientists consider a magnetic storm. It lasted about four hours.
Bogachev previously stated that magnetic storms will continue to occur regularly on Earth for at least the next two years. He added that the current solar activity cycle has already peaked, but during its decline, geomagnetic disturbances will continue to occur due to coronal holes on the Sun.
A magnetic storm suddenly hit Earth between 7:00 and 8:00 AM Moscow time. This was reported on August 18 by the Solar Astronomy Laboratory of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Around 9:00 Moscow time, scientists noted that the storm was weak, with an amplitude of G1.
"The current event is expected to be short-lived. According to forecasts, the Earth's field will return to a slightly disturbed state by midday Moscow time. However, it may take two to three days for the situation to fully stabilize," the institution's Telegram channel stated.
Another magnetic storm occurred on Earth on the evening of August 2. The disturbance, of moderate intensity, was caused by the approach of a plasma cloud ejected by a solar flare on July 30 toward the planet.
[FBI.gov] "The 2025 crime data in this report shows the single largest decrease in violent crime and murder since 1937 — as well as huge decreases across the board in terms of aggravated assault, rape, and robbery," said FBI Director Kash Patel.
The preliminary data show violent crime decreased an estimated 9.3% from 2024 to 2025.
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter decreased an estimated 18.1%
Rape decreased an estimated 7.6%.
Robbery decreased an estimated 18.5%.
Aggravated assault decreased an estimated 7.2%.
Property crime decreased an estimated 12.4% from 2024 to 2025. Let's see the Dems claim this is Biden's legacy.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/19/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[130 views]
Top|| File under:
[Reuters] China has completed the first phase of construction on Antelope Reef in the Paracels archipelago, building a man-made island in the hotly-disputed South China Sea that analysts say will form part of its largest military base.
Satellite images reviewed by Reuters show the reclaimed feature in outline for the first time, with barges and dredgers having left after at least six months of work in the busy waterway.
Make sense of global markets with the Trading Day newsletter. Sign up here.
The completion shows the South China Sea as an increasingly militarised arena of competition between China and the United States and its allies, as both sides jostle for advantages that could prove critical in any future conflict over Taiwan.
"The northern part of the South China Sea would be particularly important in a Taiwan conflict scenario, so Antelope is ideally placed," said Ben Lewis, founder of the open-source data platform PLATracker.
Construction of buildings work has started in the southeast corner of the island, including a helicopter pad, in the July 19 images taken by Vantor, a commercial provider of satellite images.
China's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
China has yet to acknowledge construction of a new military base, while state media have said Antelope will serve civilian needs such as weather forecasting and scientific research.
[GPB] Meta will head into federal court on Tuesday to fend off accusations from a group of state attorneys general that it designed its social media platforms to hook children, lied to the public about the risks those platforms posed and gathered data on kids in violation of the law.
If the world was a fair place, that would be a quick loss for Meta.
The case is the latest in a wave of suits against social media companies, meant to hold them accountable for the way they design their products. Legal experts compare it to landmark litigation against tobacco and opioid manufacturers that changed those companies' behaviors as well as the public discussion about the risks of cigarettes and prescription painkillers.
Four states; California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey; are seeking up to $1.4 trillion in penalties and product changes under consumer protection laws that they allege were broken by Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. They say Meta also violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by hoovering up data about children.
================
a lot of people expect a settlement before verdict
[Yahoo] A Wall Street that's mostly bullish on Nike (NKE) continues to be proven dead wrong about the athletic-wear giant's stock price.
Nike stock collapsed to its lowest level since September 2024 on Monday, dropping more than 4% to below $40, per Yahoo Finance a. The stock has crashed about 78% from its all-time high in 2021.
....................
Nike actually did pretty well after going woke after partnering with Colin Kaepernick in 2016 going from about $40/share to about $150/share by 2022. Then Nike started partnering with 'body positives' and 'trans'. It is now back to about $40/share. Still with positive income but diminishing sales.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/19/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[189 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Nike is pretty much dead. It doesn't have the market share it did and not many people really want them anymore.
#2
So many were stolen during the Biden / BLM Riots, Looting and etc (AKA peaceful protests) . That Nile sneaks are no longer a status symbol in the hood. So sells and shoplifting has moved on to another $250+ a pair brand ☺
[JTN] Philip Qiu and Family Foundation purchased the 100-year-old Securities Building on 15th Street in July for $8.4 million.
A senior intelligence official in the Chinese Communist Party purchased a historic building overlooking the White House Complex.
Philip Qiu and Family Foundation purchased the 100-year-old Securities Building on 15th Street in July for $8.4 million, the Daily Caller reported.
Qiu has held numerous positions within Chinese intelligence and state security entities, according to university records and government announcements the Daily Caller translated from Chinese.
In a 2021 announcement from a Chinese intelligence entity, Qui described the Chinese Communist Party as a "kind but firm parent" that guides "people out of hardship, led China's sons and daughters to build a new country," and steers Chinese citizens "toward great national rejuvenation."
Bryan Dean Wright, former CIA operations officer, told the Daily Caller that Qui's ownership of the building poses a national security risk.
#3
China would not permit US to buy a building near the Zhongnanhai so why should we let China buy a building near the White House, much less anywhere in the USA?
[Reuters] A former adviser to infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiring to evade public records laws and conceal government documents related to grant research funding and the COVID-19 pandemic.
David Morens, who had worked under Fauci as a senior official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during the pandemic, entered his plea to a conspiracy charge during a hearing in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The 78-year-old had been indicted in April on charges related to what prosecutors said was a scheme to thwart public records requests received by the agency beginning in April 2020 related to COVID-19 research grants.
He faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on November 12.
“By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did, and he will continue to do so," Timothy Belevetz, his lawyer, said in a statement.
The plea came after Fauci, who led the NIAID for 38 years and became the face of the U.S. pandemic response, appeared before a Senate panel last month and repeatedly invoked his right against self-incrimination as he accused Republican Senator Rand Paul, a longtime adversary from Kentucky, of pursuing an "unhinged" campaign to see him imprisoned.
COVID's origins remain unresolved. The FBI said in 2023 that a leak from a Wuhan laboratory likely caused the pandemic, a claim China said had "no credibility whatsoever." The CIA said in January 2025 a lab leak was likely, but with "low confidence," while four other U.S. intelligence agencies and the National Intelligence Council believe the virus most likely emerged via natural transmission from some animal.
Prosecutors said that Morens' plea related to the National Institutes of Health's decision to cancel a research grant related to bat coronavirus, based on allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the Wuhan lab. The China-based lab had received a sub-award from the company that had received the grant.
Prosecutors said that Morens pledged to help restore the bat coronavirus grant and counter the narrative COVID-19 leaked from a lab.
Anticipating their communications would be sought through Freedom of Information Act requests, Morens and others agreed to correspond using Morens’ personal email account instead of his government one, prosecutors said.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
08/19/2026 05:25 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[185 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
Let's see.... a 78 y/o pleads guilty.
He might live to serve 4 to 6 years with intensive medical care.
But hiding deadly facts from 1/2 of Congress, the a US President in office (Trump) and the WORLD does note seem to bother the Left, Socialists or Democrats. Information that could have saved 10's of 1000's of lives and $100's billions of dollars.
Notice I did not include the Biden admin and only 1/2 of congress. Want to bet Nancy and others in the DNC knew?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[FBI.gov] "The 2025 crime data in this report shows the single largest decrease in violent crime and murder since 1937 — as well as huge decreases across the board in terms of aggravated assault, rape, and robbery," said FBI Director Kash Patel.
