Oscar Mayer Introduces Scorching Canine Popsicles

hot dog

If you enjoy a hot dog, you can have it as a popsicle, thanks to Oscar Mayer, CNN reports.

The company announced it will introduce the “Cold Dog,” a frozen popsicle that tastes like its hot dog with “both refreshing and smokey, umami notes” and a mustard swirl.

The popsicle comes after lovers of the food brand asked for a poll, and followers of the Instagram account stated this was a “genius” idea.

After the overwhelming fan excitement for our beloved Cold Dog, it was a no-brainer to make this hot dog-inspired frozen pop a reality,” said Anne Field, an Oscar Mayer spokesperson, said in a press release.

The frozen weiner isn’t available nationwide just yet. Right now, you can find it in Long Beach, New York City, New Orleans, and Alpharetta, GA at Popbar locations for just $2.

Oscar Mayer is known for making shocking food items. A bologna face mask was also introduced by the company owned by Kraft earlier this year that sold out on Amazon.

Roomies, what do you think of this?

The hire disaster on Important Avenue simply took a flip for the more serious

The Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said on Friday there will be “pain” to come in the economy as a result of the central bank’s battle with inflation, and right now, small businesses are experiencing that pain on both sides of the fight.

Inflation has been the No. 1 concern of small businesses for some time, as high prices in raw materials, labor, energy and transportation cut into margins. Higher rents, and landlords feeling more aggressive the farther away the nation moves from the peak of Covid, have compounded the hit from inflation being felt on Main Street. While there are some signs of inflation easing across the economy, that’s because the Fed is intentionally cooling demand, and that has small business owners anticipating a sales decline.

What does it all add up to? According to a new national survey of small business owners by Alignable, a big jump in August in the percentage of small business owner who couldn’t pay full rent in August.

Nationally, apartment rental prices, which have soared, are among the inflation indicators that may have recently peaked. But the Alignable data shows that the rent inflation crisis for small businesses is actually getting worse. Forty percent of small business said they could not pay their rent in full this month, up 6% month over month and setting a record for 2022.

“I’ve been following this closely every month since March 2020, and I was shocked,” said Chuck Casto, head of research and communications for Alignable.

The percentage of small business owners unable to make rent hasn’t been this high since March 2021. “This is a number we would have expected right in the middle of the pandemic, when a third of places were shut down, everyone was wearing masks or not going out to restaurants,” Casto said.

Alignable’s poll was conducted from August 13-August 22 among 7,331 randomly selected small business owners.

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The small business rent crisis could make the holiday quarter of the year, always the most important for consumer-facing Main Street entrepreneurs, a critical one for survival.

It is not new that inflation has become a much bigger concern than Covid on Main Street, but until it eases “and eases significantly,” Casto said, all the small business costs are adding up to another existential crisis for Main Street, highlighted by the concerns about rent.

Forty-five percent of small business owners surveyed by Alignable say they’re paying at least 50% more in rent than they did prior to Covid. Twenty-four percent say their landlords have doubled rent; 12% say they are now paying three times more.

Back to peak Covid concerns about business survival

The Alignable data also shows that many small businesses are still struggling to get back to pre-Covid revenue levels, just as the Fed is taking steps that are slowing overall demand. Casto said Alignable would hope that the numbers would be trending down among small business owners who say they have not returned to pre-Covid sales marks, but that’s not happening now. Last December, amid the critical holiday season for many small businesses, 43% said they were “fully back,” according to Alignable. “It’s 23% now,” Casto said, “and has just been slipping. … even people who thought they were out of the woods in December or January, all of a sudden they’re not.”

That’s the worst this indicator has been in over a year, according to Alignable.

The Alignable data matches the recent CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey in mood, which showed small business confidence hitting an all-time low. And Casto says the rent data is critical because it is a tell about the full picture of what is going on with the finances of small businesses.

Alignable asks small businesses if inflationary pressures including increased rent could jeopardize their ability to stay open over the next six months, and while that data point has not changed considerably in August, it remains uncomfortably high, at roughly 47%-48%. Of that, 20% are “highly concerned.”

As recently as the spring, that figure was as low as 28%.

Casto said that’s the key figure he will be watching in the months ahead alongside the data on ability to pay rent.

“Many of them still haven’t bounced back from Covid, and then you have inflation on top of it, and then, whether you consider this a recession or not, we have an economic slowing and consumer spending down,” he said.

The CNBC small business survey found that expectations of lower sales were the biggest contributor to the quarterly decline in confidence, and many small business owners believe the recession has already begun.

“We’re definitely seeing things recede in terms of activity and customer counts in stores,” Casto said. The inability to get back to pre-Covid sales in terms of monthly revenue generated doesn’t even take into account the extra expenses that inflation has created and a slowing economy. “It’s a combination of everything … everything builds on itself,” he added.

Real estate options to consider

It’s not all bad news on Main Street. By some recent measures, many small businesses in the service sector, in particular, are doing better and benefitting from the shift in consumer behavior from goods to services purchases. That’s what Intuit data shows, and small business is its biggest lines of business. But the Alignable data on rent shows that the impact of inflation remains broad across sectors of the small business economy, even as some sectors are getting hitter harder and faster than others. In real estate, 40% of small businesses said they couldn’t make rent in August, up from 18% last December.

“Lots of storefronts, even in fancy towns, are no longer there,” Casto said. “We’re not quite to ghost town level, but we’re worried. … We’re at another level of ‘paying rent or not paying rent’. … It’s a much bigger issue.”

There are options for small businesses that are facing a rent crisis. One is negotiating with landlords, though that is getting tougher to do the farther away we move from peak Covid.

“Landlords feel like they let it slide for a year and a half and did everything they could, but now, two years in the hole, need to start asking for money,” Casto said. “Because they could lose their buildings, they are paying mortgages.”

Comments Alignable is receiving from small business owners it surveyed show that more are afraid to ask landlords at this point for even more rent relief, and landlord patience after the past two years is running thin. But the survey also indicates that many landlords still prefer to have a tenant making a good faith effort to pay rent, and catch up on any past due rent, than face an empty storefront during the economic slowing.

“Sometimes these landlords are happy to have the place filled even if it is just getting a portion of the rent, it’s better than not getting any of it,” Casto said.

For business to business owners, he recommends at least considering the ability to go fully remote, and take that overhead from real estate and apply it to other areas of the business. This is a move that Alignable says more B2B owners are making, according to the comments it receives in with the survey data.

The situation makes the fourth quarter, always the most critical for B2C small businesses, and for whom rent is now the No. 1 or no. 2 issue, even more important this year. Small businesses always count on holiday sales to be the biggest sales period of the year, and that’s no different this year, but it’s jut escalated to make-or-break for many businesses.

As the Fed seeks a “soft landing” for an economy it says has not entered a recession, there is the chance that if inflation’s trajectory continues lower, that will mean lower costs across the board for small businesses, and a potential equilibrium point for Main Street could be reached between a smaller hit on margins and the lower sales that will come with a weaker economy. Small businesses have been adjusting for these past few years, pivoting during the pandemic, taking on side gigs to make their financials work (sometimes more than one), and in some cases, retiring earlier than expected (those numbers are up, too). But if there’s a soft landing for Main Street, it’s not likely to be apparent until after the end of this year.

“We’ve heard from small businesses they are counting on Q4,” Casto said. “Q4 will really be telling, and if these numbers don’t improve in Q4, I don’t even want to say what could happen based on what I am seeing. … Hopefully, it will be a ‘make it’ situation for most of them.”

scientists fear virus might infect animals

Monkeypox virus illustration.

Tom Leach | Science Photo Library | Getty Images

In 2003, 47 people across six Midwestern states caught monkeypox from pet prairie dogs that were infected after they were housed with rodents imported from Ghana, Africa.

Today’s outbreak, which has already infected more than 14,100 people in the US and more than 41,000 across the globe, is spreading mostly through close human contact among gay and bisexual men. But scientists reported the first presumed human-to-pet transmission in a dog in France this month, prompting US and global health officials to step up warnings to ensure the virus doesn’t spread to other pets and animals.

The recommendation stems from concerns that monkeypox could spill into wildlife or rodent populations as the human outbreak grows, allowing the virus to pass back-and-forth between humans and animals and giving the virus a permanent foothold in countries where it hasn’t historically circulated .

Prior to the global outbreak this year, monkeypox spread primarily in remote parts of West and Central Africa where people caught the virus after exposure to infected animals. The 2003 outbreak, which was contained, was the first documented case of humans catching the virus outside Africa.

The current global outbreak differs dramatically from past patterns of transmission. Monkeypox is now spreading almost entirely through close physical contact between people in major urban areas in the US, European nations and Brazil.

But the first presumed case of people infecting an animal in the current outbreak was reported in France this month. A pet dog tested positive for the virus after a couple in Paris fell ill with monkeypox and shared their bed with the animal.

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WHO officials have said a single incident of a pet catching the virus is not surprising or a cause for major concern, but there is a risk that monkeypox could start circulating in animals if people don’t know they can infect other species.

If monkeypox becomes established in animal populations outside Africa, the virus would have more opportunities to mutate, which carries the risk of higher transmissibility and severity. Animals could then potentially give the virus to people, increasing the risk of future outbreaks.

“What we don’t want to see happen is disease moving from one species to the next and then remaining in that species,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, said during a press conference in Geneva last week. “It’s through that process of one animal affecting the next and the next and the next that you see rapid evolution of the virus.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not received any reports of pets infected with monkeypox in the US, said Kristen Nordlund, an agency spokesperson. But the virus can spread from people to animals or from animals to people, according to the CDC.

“While we are still learning which species of animals can get monkeypox, we should assume any mammal can be infected with monkeypox virus,” Nordlund said. “We do not know if reptiles, amphibians, or birds can get monkeypox, but it is unlikely since these animals have not been found to be infected with viruses in the same family as monkeypox.”

dr Rosamund Lewis, the WHO’s lead monkeypox expert, said it’s important to dispose of potentially contaminated waste properly to avoid the risk of rodents and other animals becoming infected when they rummage through garbage.

“While these have been hypothetical risks all along, we believe that they are important enough that people should have information on how to protect their pets, as well as how to manage their waste, so that animals in general are not exposed to the monkeypox virus ,” Lewis said.

Ryan said that while vigilance is important, animals and pets do not represent a risk to people at the current time.

“It’s important that we don’t allow these viruses to establish themselves in other animal populations,” Ryan said. “Single exposures or single infections in particular animals is not unexpected.”

Rodents in Africa

Although scientists have done some research on monkeypox in Africa, where it’s historically circulated, their work was limited due to a lack of funding. So scientists don’t know how many different species of animals can carry the virus and transmit it to humans.

Scientists have only isolated monkeypox from wild animals a handful of times in Africa over the past 40 years. They included rope squirrels, target rats and giant pouched rats in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as two types of monkeys in Cote d’Ivoire. Rodents, not monkeys, are thought to be the host animal population in Africa, though the precise animal reservoir is unknown.

Public health officials don’t know whether the types of animals in close proximity to people in urban settings in the US — racoons, mice and rats — can pick up and transmit the virus. Some types of mice and rats can get monkeypox but not all species are susceptible, according to the CDC.

“We know this is a virus that’s transmitted from rodents in West Africa,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, an infectious disease expert at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. “Could rats or other rodents in urban environments mean that it gains a foothold there and it also becomes more of a permanent fixture — we don’t want that to happen,” he said.

The CDC recommends that people who have monkeypox avoid contact with animals — pets, livestock, domestic animas and wildlife. If a pet becomes sick within 21 days of contact with someone who has monkeypox, the animal should be evaluated by a veterinarian.

Waste contaminated with monkeypox should go into in a lined, dedicated trash can and shouldn’t be left outside because wildlife could potentially become exposed the virus, according to CDC.

US outbreak in 2003

In the 2003 outbreak, the CDC was able to quickly administer vaccines and quarantine patients before the virus could spread farther. There were no cases of monkeypox spreading between people. The CDC then banned the importation of rodents from Africa.

Containing the 2003 outbreak took 10,000 hours of work to trace the virus back to Gambian rats and other rodents imported from Ghana to an animal distributor in Texas, according to Marguerite Pappaioanou, a former CDC official who worked on the outbreak.

The Food and Drug Administration banned the importation of all African rodents in the wake of the 2003 outbreak. The agency also prohibited the interstate distribution of prairie dogs and their release into the wild over concerns monkeypox could become established in wildlife populations.

The US Georgical Survey and Department of Agriculture subsequently trapped 200 wild animals in Wisconsin at sites close to where humans contracted monkeypox from pet prairie dogs. They did not find any evidence that the virus had spread into wild animals, and the FDA lifted the ban on distributing prairie dogs between states. It’s still illegal to import rodents from Africa.

Wastewater worries

Scientists in California detected monkeypox DNA in sewage samples this summer. New York is also conducting wastewater surveillance for the virus, according to the state health department, though results have not been publicly released yet. The wastewater findings in California have raised concern among some health experts that the virus could infect rodents through the sewage.

“There is the risk because of the widespread nature of infections and the fact that it’s sewage and wastewater,” said Dr. James Lawler, an infectious disease expert at the Global Center for Health Security at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. “That’s a concern, about getting into an animal population and having a zoonotic risk reservoir and honestly, if that’s the case that I think it’s game over for us.”

But it’s not clear if live virus is present in wastewater. The study measured monkeypox DNA in sewage samples, not whether the virus was still infectious, according to Marlene Wolfe, a scientist at Emory University who is working on the project.

Wastewater is treated in most urban areas so the probability of the virus surviving and replicating in such an environment is low, according to Amira Roess, a former official with the CDC’s Epidemiological Intelligence Service. Roess said garbage that contains contaminated materials such as bedsheets or towels likely poses a higher risk than wastewater.

“There are wildlife species that rummage in your garbage and then they’re more likely to pick up virus that is able to replicate. “There’s a lot of ifs, but it happens,” said Roess, who is now a professor of epidemiology at George Mason University.

Low-probability

Several steps would have to take place for the monkeypox virus to spill over from humans into animals and then spill back into people causing another outbreak, according to Richard Reithinger, an epidemiologist at RTI International.

The virus would have to circulate in an animal population with a wide geographic distribution, but not cause so much mortality in the species that the train of transmission is snuffed out, Reithinger said. Humans would also need to have some level of regular contact with animals.

“Each step has a certain probability. Once once you kind of add up all the probabilities of these steps, the probability actually becomes quite low,” Reithinger said.

It’s also possible that monkeypox might be transmitting more efficiently among people in the current outbreak due to some sort of viral mutation, Roess said. If the virus has adapted to humans, it could be more difficult for people to give the disease to animals, she added. It also depends on what kind animal comes into contact with the virus, according to Pappaioanou.

“All animals are not susceptible. We don’t even know which ones are,” said Pappaioanou, who is now an affiliate professor at the University of Washington.

Better surveillance needed

Although the risk of the virus becoming entrenched in a US animal population and causing future human outbreaks is low, the US needs a more robust surveillance system to prepare for such a possibility, according to Pappaioanou and Roess. There are major gaps in the ability of public health agencies to monitor animal populations for infectious diseases, the former CDC officials said.

“It’s a very big gap. We don’t have a good surveillance system for humans,” Roess said. “For wildlife, it depends on who is interested in what pathogen and if they’re able to convince someone to fund surveillance. A lot of our surveillance is just really sporadic”

Livestock such as cows, sheep and poultry are monitored by the Department of Agriculture, Pappaioanou said. But wildlife surveillance is underfunded and it takes a tremendous amount of work to monitor these animals for infectious disease, she said There’s no government agency that overseas the health of dogs and cats, she said. Local health departments may monitor rodents and have population control programs but this also requires funding and significant staffing, she added.

“More and more people around the world are moving to cities,” Pappaioanou said. “What would it mean in a highly urbanized city to have a reservoir of infection? We don’t know the answer.”

John Dean Powerfully Argues That Trump Should Be Prosecuted – PoliticusUSA

Former White House counsel John Dean made a powerful and compelling argument for why Donald Trump must be fully prosecuted.

John Dean Argues For Prosecuting Trump

Video of Dean:

John Dean said to CNN’s Jim Acosta:

Well, the initial reaction to Trump — excuse me, of Gerald Ford pardoning Nixon has implications down to Trump. The initial reactions were this was a healthy thing, stopped the nightmare, stopped the issues that were then plaguing the Ford administration when he said I’m going to issue a pardon on Nixon.

Second thought and later wave realized this was probably a mistake Nixon was not held to account. He clearly obstructed justice, was part of a conspiracy, also subborn perjury yet he got a pass, a get out of jail free card. And that has rippled through subsequent presidencies to this day they raise the issues should we hold the president of the United States to the same standard of everybody else. I think the consensus now, at least amongst the thinking people is we should they should be held accountable. There will be a lot of debate, the partisans will stand their feet and bang their pots and pans, but it’s still, in the end we need to get to the bottom of this, a good trial.

As many Republicans, some of my friends, Republican friends are now backing off. They initially thought this was over the top they’re trying to get him, it’s another effort to nail him. This wasn’t stimulated that by kind of thinking. This, they were confronted with boxes of classified documents that were this the — anybody else in the government, there wouldn’t be a question that they would be prosecuted for this kind of serious abuse. So I think this has to go the distance. I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t. I think it’ll really hurt the American presidency if it — if not.

For the Good Of The Country, Trump Must Be Fully Prosecuted

Dean makes a compelling argument that prosecuting Trump isn’t about partisan politics but about protecting democratic institutions and the rule of law.

Donald Trump’s defenders want to keep the discussion in the realm of partisan politics. Republicans don’t want to focus on the potential criminality and damage done to the nation’s national security by Trump’s actions.

The question of whether or not to prosecute Donald Trump has risen beyond politics and is now a question of if the United States is willing to do what is necessary to protect and preserve democratic institutions.

Mr Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

Local weather change might deliver again wind as the facility supply for ocean ships

Airseas, the maritime unit of France’s Airbus, has developed a gigantic, automated kite called Seawing, which essentially tows a ship.

Airseas

The shipping industry accounts for nearly 3% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, producing as much manmade carbon dioxide as all the coal-fired power plants in the US combined. Still, it’s a relatively small output within the overall transportation sector, which is responsible for 37% of annual global greenhouse gases.

Yet as international trade continues to grow and heavily rely on oceangoing vessels to move cargo — they currently carry more than 80% of it — some scientists warn that by 2050 shipping could account for 17% of greenhouse gases.

That’s why, after years of lackluster efforts to decarbonize, the industry’s regulatory body is getting on board. In 2018, the International Maritime Organization, or IMO, a London-based United Nations agency comprising 175 member countries — many with delegates directly tied to businesses resistant to curbing emissions — adopted a strategy to reduce greenhouse gases by 50% by 2050 compared to the 2008 levels.

Critics say that goal is too little and too late, insisting the IMO reset its target to 100% decarbonization by mid-century, or preferably sooner.

“The IMO has been rather late to the party, in terms of developing climate measures and coming up with a strategy,” said Lucy Gilliam, shipping policy officer at Seas at Risk and a board member of the Clean Shipping Coalition, both environmental NGOs. She cited the fact that international shipping is not included in the Paris climate accord. Plus, a recent study found that only 33 out of the 94 largest shipping companies have a clearly expressed policy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and/or have committed to the IMO’s goal.

The simplest green shipping solution

Nonetheless, the private sector is undertaking some initiatives to lessen its climate impact. The simplest solution would be for ships to simply slow down, thus using less carbon-emitting fuel. Shipbuilders are also experimenting with hulls coated with air bubbles to reduce drag, as well as sleeker bows, more efficient engines, propellers and thrusters, and AI-assisted navigation systems.

Meanwhile, the industry is beginning to establish green corridors, or specific shipping routes and ports that support zero-emission solutions and policies. The financial world is joining the decarbonization movement as well, with 29 institutions signing onto the Poseidon Principles, an agreement to consider efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions when lending to shipping companies. The signatories represent more than $185 billion in loans to international shipping — nearly half of the global ship finance portfolio.

But with a global supply chain designed for speedy deliveries, the big breakthrough bets are being made on the development of low-emission or zero-emission fuels — including green methanol, hydrogen, liquid natural gas (LNG) and ammonia — to reduce or replace the molasses-thick, noxious bunker fuel that feeds most ships’ massive diesel engines.

These efforts include electric propulsion, several wind-power technologies and nuclear energy, which has driven naval vessels since the mid-1950s and is getting some attention as it generates zero emissions, though safety and security concerns are major impediments.

Here’s an overview of the biggest bets being placed on low-carbon and no-carbon breakthroughs in ocean shipping.

Green methanol

Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk, which moves 17% of the world’s shipping containers, has 13 ships on order from South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries that run on green methanol. The first, a small vessel with a capacity to carry 2,000 containers (the largest such ships transport 24,000 containers) will launch next year and operate in the Baltics and northern Europe, said Lee Kindberg, Maersk’s head of environment and sustainability in North America.

“Beginning in 2024, every quarter we are going to launch two 16,000 TEU vessels that will operate on transpacific routes,” she said, using the logistics acronym for twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard measurement of 20-foot-long containers. “Our current commitment is to go to net-zero carbon shipping by 2040.”

An artist’s rendering of a Maersk 16,000-TEU container ship that will run on green methanol.

AP Moller-Maersk

Most of the methanol produced today is derived from fossil fuels, but Maersk, CMA CGM and other leading shipping companies are testing two different green, carbon-neutral versions. One is made from solid and liquid biomass extracted from agricultural and forest residues and farming and poultry waste. The other is e-methanol, made by combining CO2 with hydrogen produced from water using renewable electricity. Both are liquids that can be safely stored in non-pressurized tanks at ambient temperatures. Although more expensive than bunker fuel and in limited supply, green methanol can be mixed with bunker in dual-fuel engines to effectively lower carbon emissions.

Liquid hydrogen is another fuel option, often touted because it produces almost no carbon emissions when combusted. Yet about 95% of hydrogen is produced by reforming natural gas or other fossil fuels. It can be made renewably, however, by splitting water using energy from solar, wind, nuclear and hydro power. Green hydrogen can be used in a ship’s internal combustion engine or in fuel cells that generate emission-free electricity. And it may become a cheaper and more attractive alternative due to production tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Washington, DC-based International Council on Clean Transportation conducted a study in 2020 on the potential of using renewable hydrogen fuel cells to power container ships servicing the busy corridor between China and the San Pedro Bay near Los Angeles. “Without making any other changes to the vessels, around 43% of the voyages made in 2015 could be made with that technology,” said Xiaoli Mao, a senior marine researcher at the nonprofit organization. “And with minor adjustments to ship design or adding one more refueling stop, 99% could be realized.”

LNG as an alternative fuel source

LNG tops the list of alternative fuels currently used in commercial ships, including some large container vessels, according to Clarksons Research, a shipping analytics firm based in London. Although less than 5% of the current cargo fleet of around 55,000 ships can run on lower-emission fuels, 38% of new builds will have the option, up from 28% a year ago and 12% five years ago. LNG will power nearly a third (741) of those new vessels, while 24 will run on methanol and six on hydrogen.

The knock on LNG for shipping is it’s still a fossil fuel that emits methane and requires considerable capital investment for retrofitting existing engines and fuel tanks. What’s more, it would extend the use of carbon-based fuels for at least another 20 years, which is a typical lifespan for large ships.

Green ammonia

Ammonia is garnering attention, too. It’s in abundant supply and can be used in dual-fuel engines and fuel cells. As with hydrogen, most ammonia is derived from fossil fuels and its production releases considerable CO2, although it is made environmentally friendly by combining green hydrogen with nitrogen from the air. Safety is the biggest concern, because ammonia is dangerously toxic to humans and marine life, which could dissuade ports from storing it.

Last December, LMG Marin, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine, agreed to design what it describes as the first green ammonia-fueled tanker for a unit of Norway’s Grieg Maritime Group. Planned for launch in 2024, the MS Green Ammonia will, appropriately, transport green ammonia.

On a larger scale, in June, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, announced the completion of the conceptual design of a very large gas carrier (VLGC) initially powered by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), but adaptable for future use of ammonia as the main fuel. The Tokyo-based shipbuilder previously built more than 80 VLGCs, and the new design will allow retrofitting of those vessels to run on ammonia.

Electric robo ships

Mitsubishi’s designers are also pioneering electric-powered ships with a vessel called Roboship, which will be built by Honda Heavy Industries and launched next year. The 550-ton ship will replace a conventional diesel engine with a hybrid-electric system, including storage batteries, propellers, motors, switchboards and generators. The digital platform used to control the electric propulsion equipment was developed by e5 Lab, a Tokyo startup promoting electric propulsion and digitization of ships.

e5 is collaborating with another Japanese shipbuilder, Asahi Tanker, to build a pair of all-electric, zero-emissions tankers, powered by large-capacity lithium-ion batteries. The workload of the bunker vessels’ crews will be lightened with automated equipment and digital tools. The first model delivered marine fuel to ships in Tokyo Bay in April, with the second scheduled to begin operating next year.

As with electric cars, travel range and battery charging are issues with e-ships, so they’re being designed for short, local voyages. Electrified ferries, pilot boats and cruise ships are showing up in ports and harbors in Japan, Sweden and Denmark.

The Yara Birkeland, billed as the first fully electric and autonomous container vessel, began transporting small loads of fertilizer in Norway last spring. During its initial two years, the ship will operate with a full crew while gradually transitioning toward full autonomy, including unmanned navigation, loading, unloading and mooring. Electrifying larger TEU-capacity container ships capable of traversing longer regional routes would require lower-cost battery storage and expanding on-shore charging infrastructure.

The return of wind-powered cargo ships

The Flettner rotor system used by shipping industry wind power company Anemoia, was invented by German engineer Anton Flettner in the 1920s. It features smokestack-like cylinders mounted on a ship’s deck that rotate rapidly with the wind, generating thrust.

anemoi

Of course, the earliest cargo ships sailed the seas solely under wind power, a concept being modernized today.

“There are currently 20 large vessels under some wind-assisted technology,” said Gavin Allwright, secretary for the London-based International Windship Association. They include tankers, bulk carriers and vehicle transporters, he said, which have enough deck space to accommodate different systems.

The front runner, Allwright said, is the Flettner rotor system, a concept invented by Anton Flettner in the 1920s. It features tall, smokestack-like cylinders, mounted on a ship’s deck, that rotate rapidly with the wind and thrust the vessel forward. Among recent applications, the Australian mining company BHP is partnering with Pan Pacific Copper and Nippon Marine to test a rotor sail system aboard a bulk carrier.

Cargill, the food and agriculture behemoth that charters more than 600 dry bulk carriers, is set to test a ship outfitted with WindWings, solid sails designed by BAR Technologies. “Through this partnership we will bring bespoke wind solutions to customers who are actively seeking to reduce CO2 emissions from their supply chain,” said Jan Dieleman, president of Cargill’s Ocean Transportation business. The company reportedly plans to charter at least 20 new wind-assisted ships in the coming years.

A ship outfitted with Wind Wings, solid sails designed by BAR Technologies. Cargill reportedly has plans to charter at least 20 ships using the technology in coming years.

BAR Technologies

Airseas, the maritime unit of France’s Airbus, has developed a gigantic, automated kite called Seawing, which essentially tows a ship. The wind-assist technology, Airseas claims, can reduce fuel consumption by an average of 20%. Another French company, Michelin, is testing its inflatable, retractable, automated wing sail mobility prototype on a ferry running between the UK and Spain.

Despite its embrace of these various decarbonization projects, the maritime industry will have a tough time weaning itself off fossil fuels. Indeed, Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, is financing some of the IMO’s green shipping efforts. But as Amazon, Ikea, Unilever and other major movers of cargo seek ways to meet their net-zero goals, shipping is a prime target.

“If they want to reduce their emissions,” said Maersk’s Kindberg, “they need us to reduce ours.”

Vanessa Bryant to Donate Proceeds From $16M Lawsuit Win to Charity

Vanessa plans to donate from her proceeds to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation as a way to “to shine a light on Kobe and Gigi’s legacy,” he attorney told the Los Angeles Times in a statement, without specifying the exact amount of money the group would receive.

Vanessa, also a mom to daughters Natalia Bryant19, Bianka5, and capri, 3, had been tested during the 11-day trial. After the verdict was read, she wept in court and later exchanged a hug with Chris. She later shared an Instagram photo of herself with Kobe and Gianna, writing, “All for you! I love you! JUSTICE for Kobe and Gigi!”

Also following the verdict, LA County attorney Mira Hashmall said in a statement, “We are grateful for the jury’s hard work in this case. While we disagree with the jury’s findings as to the County’s liability, we believe the monetary award shows that jurors didn’t believe the evidence supported the Plaintiffs’ request of $75 million for emotional distress.”

The statement said they will discuss next steps with their client, adding, “Meanwhile, we hope the Bryant and Chester families continue to heal from their tragic loss.”

Secret Service returns fraudulent pandemic loans to federal SBA

The US Secret Service returned $286 million in fraudulently obtained pandemic aid loans to the Small Business Administration, the agency announced Friday.

The funds sent back to the SBA were obtained via the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program using both fabricated information and stolen identities.

The suspects used Green Dot Bank, a fintech institution, to hold and move the fraudulent funds. More than 15,000 accounts were used in the conspiracy, by individuals in the US as well as domestic and transnational organized crime rings, the agency said.

Investigations are ongoing and further information about suspects was not immediately released. the Investigation was initiated by the Secret Service field office in Orlando, Florida, and Green Dot bank worked with the agency to identify the fraudulent accounts.

“Fraudsters in general are always looking for ways and techniques to better do their crimes and modern conveniences are just one of those things they use. So currently, cryptocurrency is a big thing, fintechs, third-party payment systems. But there’s not an institution , even our traditional financial institutions, that weren’t targeted during the pandemic,” Roy Dotson, lead investigator for the Secret Service, told CNBC in an interview.

Initial investigations indicated the majority of the fraudulent accounts at Green Dot were established with synthetic and stolen identities, and involved using “willing and unwilling money mules,” Dotson said.

The Secret Service and SBA Office of Inspector General put out advisories to 30,000 financial institutions in early 2020 to lay out fraud indicators and guide the banks to partner with federal agencies to recover fraudulent funds, Dotson said. He added these investigations will likely last years due to their size and scope.

OIG Inspector General Hannibal Ware said the partnership with the Secret Service has to date resulted in more than 400 indictments and nearly 300 convictions related to pandemic fraud.

The US government allocated more than $1 trillion to Main Street under both the Paycheck Protection Program and EIDL program. The PPP allowed small businesses to borrow loans that may be forgiven if the borrower used the majority of the capital on payroll, while the Covid-19 EIDL program allowed borrowers to access loans based on temporary losses of revenue due to the pandemic. An advance grant was also available under the EIDL.

Reviews of the two programs by the SBA’s Office of Inspector General warned that criminals would potentially exploit the system due to the fast-moving nature of the rollout and demand for aid. CNBC investigations revealed, in some cases, how easy it was for criminals to obtain fraudulent aid via stolen identities.

The SBA OIG said it has identified $87 billion of potentially fraudulent EIDL loans.

Over the past two years, the Secret Service said it has seized over $1.4 billion in fraudulently obtained funds and assisted in returning some $2.3 billion to state unemployment insurance programs. Nearly 4,000 pandemic-related fraud investigations and inquiries have been initiated by the Secret Service. More than 150 field offices and 40 cyber task forces are involved.

“This is not going to be a quick fix. As we talked about today, 15,325 accounts at one financial institution — this is one case, so you can just think of the potential number of suspects and how many investigations that could come out of those . And with all of our federal, state and local partners working this and having the same mission. It’s going to be a long process,” Dotson said at a news conference announcing the returned funds.

CDC cautiously optimistic outbreak is likely to be slowing

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is cautiously optimistic that the US is slowing the spread of monkeypox as new cases fall in several major cities.

“We’re watching this with cautious optimism, and really hopeful that many of our harm-reduction messages and our vaccines are getting out there and working,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters Friday during an update on the monkeypox outbreak.

Although monkeypox cases are still increasing nationally, the speed of the outbreak appears to be slowing, Walensky said. The US has reported nearly 17,000 monkeypox cases since May, more than any other country in the world, according to CDC data.

In New York City, which has reported more infections than any other jurisdiction, new monkeypox cases have dropped from more than 70 per day on average to nine as of Thursday, according to data from the city health department.

dr Aswhin Vasan, the city health commissioner, said earlier this week the outbreak has slowed due to increased vaccination and community outreach efforts. New York City has reported a total of 2,888 monkeypox cases.

In Chicago, another major epicenter of the outbreak, new cases have dropped from 141 during the week ended July 30 to 74 for the week ended Aug. 20, according to that city’s health department. Chicago has reported a total of 807 cases.

“We’re not seeing the potentially exponential growth that we were seeing early on so that is reassuring,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago’s public health commissioner, during a Facebook live event earlier this week. “Too early to say things look really good, but definitely some signs of slowing of cases.”

The US is nearing the point where the entire community of gay and bisexual men who currently face the greatest health risk from monkeypox rwill have access to two doses of the monkeypox vaccine, according to Dawn O’Connell, head of the office responsible for the national stockpile at the Health and Human Services Department.

The CDC previously estimated that up to 1.7 million gay and bisexual men who are HIV-positive or are eligible for medicine to reduce their chance of contracting HIV face the greatest health risk from monkeypox.

The US has distributed 1.5 million doses of the monkeypox vaccine so far and more than 3 million doses should be available by when the latest distribution round is complete, according to O’Connell.

To date, the outbreak is disproportionately affecting Black and Hispanic men. About 30% of monkeypox patients are white, 32% are Hispanic and 23% are Black, according to CDC data. Whites make up about 59% of the US population while Hispanics and Blacks account for 19% and 13%, respectively.

The monkeypox vaccine, called Jynneos in the US, is administered in two doses 28 days apart. The patients will not have full protection from the vaccine until two weeks after the second dose is administered, according to the CDC. Data from 19 jurisdictions show that nearly 97% of the shots administered so far were first doses, according to Walensky.

About 94% of monkeypox cases are associated with sexual contact and nearly all of the people who have contracted the virus are men who have sex with men, according to Demetre Daskalakis, the deputy head of the White House monkeypox response team.

A CDC survey of 824 gay and bisexual men found that 48% respondents have reduced their number of sexual partners and 50% have reduced one-time sexual encounters during the current outbreak. A separate CDC study found that a 40% decrease in one-time sexual encounters would reduce the final percentage of gay and bisexual men infected with monkeypox by up to 31%.

“We’re actually seeing vaccine get out, behaviors change, harm reduction messages being heard and implemented,” Walensky said. “And all of that working together to bend the curve.”

Blake Masters warned to boost extra cash vs. Mark Kelly

Republican US senatorial candidate Blake Masters speaks at a campaign event on the eve of the primary, on August 01, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Republican leaders and megadonors are warning Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters to improve his fundraising or else be doomed in his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in November’s election, according to people familiar with the matter.

Masters has received urgent private calls in recent weeks from GOP leaders like Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, these people explained. The NRSC is the official campaign arm for the Senate GOP, and has spent over $6 million taking on Masters’ rival Kelly, according to data from the nonpartisan OpenSecrets.

Kelly’s seat has long been considered a potential pickup opportunity for Republicans, as forecaster Cook Political Report labels the race a toss-up. Recent polling, however, suggests that Masters is falling behind. A Fox News poll taken in August shows Kelly leading Masters by 8 points, while an Arizona Republican pollster told NBC News that his own surveys showed Masters trailing Kelly by 10 points.

Longtime GOP megadonors, who want to help Masters overtake Kelly but have not heard from him since he won the party’s primary, have inundated the Republican candidate with calls, these people explained.

A person familiar with one of the recent calls to Masters said a veteran GOP financier “read him the riot act” and told him, in part, that he must start raising money from more wealthy Republican donors and stop relying on billionaire tech executive Peter Thiel , his longtime colleague and friend, to help him like he did in the primary. These people declined to be named in order to speak freely about private conversations.

Shortly after publication of this story, Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for the Masters campaign, denied that the candidate ever heard from a GOP megadonor who “read him the riot act.” Miller told CNBC in an email: “It didn’t happen.”

Kelly has massively outraised Masters, who won a Republican primary in Arizona this month. The incumbent’s campaign has amassed more than $54 million during the 2022 election cycle, compared with just over $4 million for Masters’ campaign, according to the latest Federal Election Commission data.

Thiel contributed $15 million during the primary to a pro-Masters super PAC, Saving Arizona, and he donated $1.5 million to the committee as recently as July. Masters was the chief operating officer at Thiel Capital, an investment firm founded by Thiel.

The calls to Masters come as even some Republican leaders seem to be questioning their Senate candidates. When asked about his predictions for the midterms, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said “candidate quality” has a lot to do with winning Senate elections. He added that he believes there will be an “extremely close Senate” after November’s elections.

The Senate is currently split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans.

In a statement to CNBC, NRSC spokesman Chris Hartline did not deny that Scott called Masters to urge him to improve his fundraising operation.

“Mark Kelly votes with Joe Biden almost 100% of the time. While he claims to be a moderate, he’s supported reckless Washington spending and done nothing to address the border crisis that’s raging in Arizona. The NRSC will continue to remind Arizona voters of Mark Kelly’s radical agenda and Blake Masters’ plans to fight for Arizona families,” Hartline said in response to questions about Scott’s contact with Masters.

Data from ad tracker AdImpact shows that the NRSC has booked just over $3.8 million in ads in Arizona for September, but nothing yet for October or November. The ad tracker also shows that Masters’ campaign has not yet booked airtime for the fall while Kelly’s team has reserved over $10 million in ad space from September through November.

AdImpact says it has not yet seen data showing the Thiel-backed Saving Arizona reserve airtime for the fall. The last spending it saw from the super PAC was on Aug. 2, the day of the Arizona Senate Republican primary. The super PAC spent over $10 million during the primary, including almost $8.5 million backing Masters, according to OpenSecrets.

Masters and his campaign did not return requests for comment. A spokesman for Saving Arizona did not return requests for comment. Thiel and his spokesman did not return requests for comment, including about whether the billionaire GOP donor plans to help Masters further.

The candidates and outside groups from both sides of the aisle have combined to spend over $90 million in the general election Senate race in Arizona. Yet Democratic organizations appear to be outspending their Republican rivals in the Grand Canyon State on ads in the coming months.

AdImpact’s data shows Democratic outside groups are reserving nearly $28 million worth of ad time in Arizona over the next three months. Republican committees have so far spent just over $16 million on ad buys within the same time span trying to help Masters overtake Kelly, according to the data.

Meta Horizon vp Vivek Sharma is leaving the corporate

Facebook is opening up Horizon World, its virtual reality world of avatars, to anyone 18 and older in the US and Canada.

Courtesy of Meta

The vice president of Meta’s Horizon social media virtual reality software, Vivek Sharma, is leaving the company, a spokesperson said Friday.

Sharma has been with Facebook parent Meta for the past six years, holding high-ranking positions in marketplace and gaming, and most recently its nascent metaverse-related business unit.

As VP of Horizon, Sharma, who is based in the Seattle area, oversaw various VR projects such as the Horizon Worlds social media service, which is akin to the online game Second Life that’s been retrofitted to virtual reality. Other Horizon products include the VR-based workplace collaboration app Horizon Workrooms, and the Horizon Venues app for live events, which was moved into the core Worlds app this summer.

“Thanks to his leadership, the Horizon product group has built a strong team with an ambitious vision, and it is just getting started,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “Meta continues to be a source for developing great leaders, and we’re excited to see what Vivek accomplishes in his next chapter.”

The spokesperson added that the Horizon team will now directly report to Vishal Shah, Meta’s VP of the Metaverse.

Meta is betting that the metaverse, a collection of digital worlds that people can access through VR and related augmented reality technologies, represents the next frontier of computing.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast that his company will debut a new VR headset in October, which is the month that Meta typically holds its Connect VR conference.

Watch: What is the metaverse and why are billions of dollars being spent on it?