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Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Attorney General Todd Blanche has long maintained that the so-called Epstein files, even those kept from the public, contain no secret information related to national security. When the document releases began last winter, Blanche noted that the Epstein Files Transparency Act authorized withholding information in the interest of national security or foreign policy, but said, "no files are being withheld or redacted on that basis."


President Donald Trump's allies have questioned the integrity of the Brazilian election. But if Trump were to intervene, it would threaten a fragile trade detente between the two countries. read more


Tuesday, October 27, 2026

"Rapid destabilization is now a diagnosis rather than a warning for the future," says co-lead author William Ripple, an ecologist at the Oregon State University College of Forestry. read more


The Democrat who is in line for a key committee chair says any imports would violate the law -- though the White House says it's all legal. read more


At the nexus of an ongoing affordability crisis and midterm election push, the Trump administration's effort to reduce beef prices appears to be falling short. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation in August to temporarily increase the quantity of beef in the U.S. by importing 300,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings into the country at a reduced tariff rate.


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More from the article ...

... "There's not some tranche of super-secret documents about Jeffrey Epstein that we're withholding, we're actually not withholding anything based upon [national defense information]," said Blanche, who was deputy attorney general at the time.

But the contents of at least three documents in the massive tranche of files indicate classified information was included in files collected by the DOJ.

One of the documents shows Blanche's Office of the Deputy Attorney General itself received classified material related to Epstein in March 2025. By law, material can only be classified for national security purposes.

What exactly was classified and why remains a mystery. ...

Clues about classified material

Included among the Epstein files is an eight-page timeline of the FBI's New York office's initial efforts last year to track down and deliver its voluminous files to the Justice Department's Washington headquarters.

On March 25, 2025, one document shows delivery of "16 Epstein items to ODAG," referring to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. Among them, items No. 2 and No. 6 are described as "Epstein Transparency Project - Classified Material" and "CDs with classified materials (x2)."

The Epstein Transparency Project refers to the Justice Department's effort to review the files and redact, withhold or clear them for release. It is not clear what exactly was identified as classified. Each CD was likely capable of holding hundreds of megabytes of material. ...


Related ...

Trump to roll back methane rules in latest Texas campaign push
www.reuters.com

... President Donald Trump will use a campaign swing through Texas on Tuesday to announce a plan to ease methane rules for oil and gas producers, seeking to show voters he is working to bring down gasoline prices a week before the midterm elections. ...

Trump plans to announce an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to roll back Biden-era rules that required companies to fix leaky equipment and regularly check wells for escaping methane, a potent greenhouse gas, a White House official said. The administration is casting it as a way to produce more energy and lower costs.

The plan would give relief to small, low-output wells and end a program that used outside groups to report large methane leaks, the official said. It would also ease rules aimed at phasing out the routine burning off of gas at oil wells. ...


@#2 ... Couch ------ Vance named one of his spawn Vivek. ...

Vivek
en.wikipedia.org

... Vivek (or Bibek/Bivek in some regions) is a masculine given name that is popular in South Asia, particularly in India and Nepal. It is of Sanskrit origin and means "wisdom" and/or "conscience". ...


@#1 ... Notably, this past weekend France hosted its first NFL game in Paris ...

Paris welcomes first NFL game with party a day after protests
www.france24.com

... The Stade de France near Paris made history Sunday when it hosted the first regular-season NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints in a festive atmosphere a day after police clashed with demonstrators across France. While security issues dominated the headlines in the leadup to the game, the mood at the stadium was joyous with half-time shows including a rap performance. ...



Yazoo / Yaz - Good Times (1983)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

www.azlyrics.com

...
Sometimes I feel,
I'll never belong
I want to get there so bad
But it's taking so long
Sometimes I feel
Like letting go
But when it comes right down to it, baby
Who wants to know? (no-one)
...


One thing to note regarding data centers is the difference between sound pressure level and sound power level.

Unfortunately, it may not be an easy thing to understand.

To that end ...

Sound Pressure and Sound Power - what's the difference?
www.parkerjonesacoustics.com

... The difference between sound pressure and sound power can be tricky to get your head around. For predicting noise levels from noise polluting sources like plant, it is very important.

As a consultant, I'm often verbally quoted noise levels by clients, i.e. this unit has a level of 60 dB'. Unfortunately, based on that alone, I can't do a great deal, without making a lot of assumptions. If you tell me it's 140 dB I know it's going to be very loud and problematic! But at 60 dB, depending on the situation, it's difficult to assess the risk.

What is a sound pressure level (SPL)?

A sound pressure is the pressure deviation from atmospheric pressure caused by a sound wave, in pascals. The sound pressure level (SPL) is a logarithmic measure of the ratio of a sound pressure over a reference sound pressure (corresponding to the hearing threshold of a young, healthy ear), quoted as a dB. If these two pressures are the same, we have an SPL of 0 dB.

A sound pressure level is what we can physically measure using a sound level meter. Most noise level parameters in a report are based upon an SPL, albeit they are mostly adjusted in some way, i.e. weighted to a single number (dB(A)), or a level difference such as a Dw.

A sound power level (SWL) is theoretical. A sound power is in Watts (W), a sound power level like above, is in dB, a logarithmic ratio of the sound power over a reference sound power. W for Watts, hence SWL (as SPL is already taken!) I'll explain more shortly.

Why do we need sound power levels (SWL)?

The sound pressure level (SPL) depends on distance, the position of the source and the environment, i.e. reflections from the ground, or if inside the surfaces of the room and therefore the reverberation time and volume of the room. So if we measure the SPL of a fan unit inside a plant room, and move this fan outside, the SPL is unlikely to be the same because of more sound energy escaping into the atmosphere. Similarly, if the unit is in the corner of a room, condensing sound radiation by the surfaces close around it, and then move this unit into the centre of the room on the floor, where it radiates more hemi spherically, the SPL will be different. Simply moving further away from a sound source, will reduce the SPL, particularly noticeable when outside.

If we take a large plant enclosure, with many different machines from different manufacturers, who all give us noise data as a sound pressure level, but all measured at varying distances, some in a lab, some outside, some in an anechoic chamber (or very often not referencing how it was measured at all which is effectively useless data as it could be measured at 1m or 10m!), we'll have a hard time predicting the sum of noise levels from our plant enclosure.

The sound power level (SWL) helps us around this. It is not dependent on distance, position or environment. This is the crucial difference. It is a theoretical value; it is not directly measurable. A noise source will have the same sound power irrespective of where it is placed. It gives us a level playing field to directly compare two sound sources. Predicting the noise levels from our plant enclosure is now much simpler, we can apply the same calculation to all of our equipment. ...


How Loud Is a Data Center? How Far Does the Noise Travel?
www.lsars.com

... Continuous noise from cooling fans and transformers reaches 60 to 80 dB at the property line. Generator load tests can be heard up to a mile away. The defining problem is the 24/7 nature of the noise, not the peak loudness. ...

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