#procurement as a service 2020

[batboyblog]

The Biden-⁠Harris Administration Advances Equity and Opportunity for Black Americans

Growing Economic Opportunity for Black Families and Communities Through the President’s legislative victories, including the American Rescue Plan (ARP), the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—as well as the President’s historic executive orders on racial equity—the Biden-Harris Administration is ensuring that federal investments through the President’s landmark Investing in America agenda are equitably flowing to communities to address longstanding economic inequities that impact people’s economic security, health, and safety. And this vision is already delivering results. The Biden-Harris Administration has:

Powered a historic economic recovery that created 2.6 million jobs for Black workers—and achieved both the lowest Black unemployment rate on record and the lowest gap between Black and White unemployment on record.

Helped Black working families build wealth. Black wealth is up by 60% relative to pre-pandemic—the largest increase on record.

Cut in half the number of Black children living in poverty in 2021 through ARP’s Child Tax Credit expansion. This expansion provided breathing room to the families of over 9 million Black children.

Began reversing decades of infrastructure disinvestment, including with $4 billion to reconnect communities that were previously cut off from economic opportunities by building needed transportation infrastructure in underserved communities, including Black communities.

Connected an estimated 5.5 million Black households to affordable high-speed internet through the Affordable Connectivity Program, closing the digital divide for millions of Black families.

Helping Black-Owned Businesses Grow and Thrive Since the President entered office, a record 16 million new business applications have been filed, and the share of Black households owning a business has more than doubled. Building on this momentum, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

Achieved the fastest creation rate of Black-owned businesses in more than 30 years—and more than doubled the share of Black business owners from 2019 to 2022.

Improved the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) flagship loan guarantee programs to expand the availability of capital to underserved communities. Since 2020, the number and dollar value of SBA-backed loans to Black-owned businesses have more than doubled.

Launched a whole-of-government effort to expand access to federal contracts for small businesses, awarding a record $69.9 billion to small disadvantaged businesses in 2022.

Through Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative, invested $10 billion to expand access to capital and invest in early-stage businesses in all 50 states—including $2.5 billion in funding and incentive allocations dedicated to support the provision of capital to underserved businesses with $1 billion of these funds to be awarded to the jurisdictions that are most successful in reaching underserved businesses.

Helped more than 37,000 farmers and ranchers who were in financial distress, including Black farmers and ranchers, stay on their farms and keep farming, thanks to resources provided through IRA. The IRA allocated $3.1 billion for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide relief for distressed borrowers with at-risk agricultural operations with outstanding direct or guaranteed Farm Service Agency loans. USDA has provided over $2 billion and counting in timely assistance.

Supported small and disadvantaged businesses through CHIPS Act funding by requiring funding applicants to develop a workforce plan to create equitable pathways for economically disadvantaged individuals in their region, as well as a plan to support procurement from small, minority-owned, veteran-owned, and women-owned businesses.

Created the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that will invest in clean energy projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

Increasing Access to Housing and Rooting Out Discrimination in the Housing Market for Black Communities To increase access to housing and root out discrimination in the housing market, including for Black families and communities, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

Set up the first-ever national infrastructure to stop evictions, scaling up the ARP-funded Emergency Rental Assistance program in over 400 communities across the country, helping 8 million renters and their families stay in their homes. Over 40% of all renters helped are Black—and this support prevented millions of evictions, with the largest effects seen in majority-Black neighborhoods.

Published a proposed “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” rule through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which will help overcome patterns of segregation and hold states, localities, and public housing agencies that receive federal funds accountable for ensuring that underserved communities have equitable access to affordable housing opportunities.

Created the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity, or PAVE, a first-of-its-kind interagency effort to root out bias in the home appraisal process, which is taking sweeping action to advance equity and remove racial and ethnic bias in home valuations, including cracking down on algorithmic bias and empowering consumers to take action against misvaluation.

Taken additional steps through HUD to support wealth-generation activities for prospective and current homeowners by expanding access to credit by incorporating a borrower’s positive rental payment history into the mortgage underwriting process. HUD estimates this policy change will enable an additional 5,000 borrowers per year to qualify for an FHA-insured loan.

Ensuring Equitable Educational Opportunity for Black Students To expand educational opportunity for the Black community in early childhood and beyond, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

Approved more than $136 billion in student loan debt cancellation for 3.7 million Americans through various actions and launched a new student loan repayment plan—the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan—to help many students and families cut in half their total lifetime payments per dollar borrowed.

Championed the largest increase to Pell Grants in the last decade—a combined increase of $900 to the maximum award over the past two years, affecting the over 60% of Black undergraduates who rely on Pell grants.

Fixed the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, so all qualified borrowers get the debt relief to which they are entitled. More than 790,000 public servants have received more than $56 billion in loan forgiveness since October 2021. Prior to these fixes, only 7,000 people had ever received forgiveness through PSLF.

Delivered a historic investment of over $7 billion to support HBCUs.

Reestablished the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans.

Through ARP, secured $130 billion—the largest investment in public education in history—to help students get back to school, recover academically in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and address student mental health.

Secured a 30% increase in child care assistance funding last year. Black families comprise 38% of families benefiting from federal child care assistance. Additionally, the President secured an additional $1 billion for Head Start, a program where more than 28% of children and pregnant women who benefit identify as Black.

Improving Health Outcomes for Black Families and Communities To improve health outcomes for the Black community, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

Increased Black enrollment in health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act by 49%—or by around 400,000—from 2020 to 2022, helping more Black families gain health insurance than ever before.

Through IRA, locked in lower monthly premiums for health insurance, capped the cost of insulin at $35 per covered insulin product for Medicare beneficiaries, and helped further close the gap in access to medication by improving prescription drug coverage and lowering drug costs in Medicare. 

Through ARP, expanded postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months in 43 states and Washington, D.C., covering 700,000 more women in the year after childbirth. Medicaid covers approximately 65% of births for Black mothers, and this investment is a critical step to address maternal health disparities.

Financed projects that will replace hundreds of thousands of lead pipes, helping protect against lead poisoning that disproportionately affects Black communities.

Provided 264 grants with $1 billion in Bipartisan Safer Communities Act funds to more than 40 states to increase the supply of school-based mental health professionals in communities with high rates of poverty.

Launched An Unprecedented Whole-Of-Government Equity Agenda to Ensure the Promise of America for All Communities, including Black Communities President Biden believes that advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our government, which will require sustained leadership and partnership with all communities. To make the promise of America real for every American, including for the Black Community, the President has:

Signed two Executive Orders directing the Federal Government to advance an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda that matches the scale of the challenges we face as a country and the opportunities we have to build a more perfect union.

Nominated the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court and more Black women to federal circuit courts than every President combined.

Countered hateful attempts to rewrite history including: the signing of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act; establishing Juneteenth as a national holiday; and designating the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois. The Department of the Interior has invested more than $295 million in infrastructure funding and historic preservation grants to protect and restore places significant to Black history.

Created the Justice40 Initiative, which is delivering 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments in clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, clean water, and other programs to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution as part of the most ambitious climate, conservation, and environmental justice agenda in history.

Protecting the Sacred Right to Vote for Black Families and Communities Since their first days in office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have prioritized strengthening our democracy and protecting the sacred right to vote in free, fair, and secure elections. To do so, the President has:

Signed an Executive Order to leverage the resources of the Federal Government to provide nonpartisan information about the election process and increase access to voter registration. Agencies across the Federal Government are taking action to respond to the President’s call for an all-of-government effort to enhance the ability of all eligible Americans to participate in our democracy.

Repeatedly and forcefully called on Congress to pass essential legislation, including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, including calling for an exception to the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation.

Increased funding for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, which has more than doubled the number of voting rights enforcement attorneys. The Justice Department also created the Election Threats Task Force to assess allegations and reports of threats against election workers, and investigate and prosecute these matters where appropriate.

Signed into law the bipartisan Electoral Reform Count Act, which establishes clear guidelines for our system of certifying and counting electoral votes for President and Vice President, to preserve the will of the people and to protect against the type of attempts to overturn our elections that led to the January 6 insurrection.

Addressing the Crisis of Gun Violence in Black Communities Gun violence has become the leading cause of death for all youth and Black men in America, as well as the second leading cause of death for Black women. To address this national crisis, the President has:

Launched the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, and taken more executive action on gun violence than any President in history, including investments in violence reduction strategies that address the root causes of gun violence and address emerging threats like ghost guns. In 2022, the Administration’s investments in evidence-based, lifesaving programs combined with aggressive action to stop the flow of illegal guns and hold shooters accountable yielded a 12.4% reduction in homicides across the United States.

Signed into the law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun violence reduction legislation enacted in nearly 30 years, including investments in violence reduction strategies and historic policy changes to enhance background checks for individuals under age 21, narrow the dating partner loophole in the gun background check system, and provide law enforcement with tools to crack down on gun trafficking.

Secured the first-ever dedicated federal funding stream for community violence intervention programs, which have been shown to reduce violence by as much as 60%. These programs are effective because they leverage trusted messengers who work directly with individuals most likely to commit gun violence, intervene in conflicts, and connect people to social, health and wellness, and economic services to reduce the likelihood of violence as an answer to conflict.

Enhancing Public Trust and Strengthening Public Safety for Black Communities Our criminal justice system must protect the public and ensure fair and impartial justice for all. These are mutually reinforcing goals. To enhance equal justice and public safety for all communities, including the Black community, the President has:

Signed a historic Executive Order to put federal policing on the path to becoming the gold standard of effectiveness and accountability by requiring federal law enforcement agencies to ban chokeholds; restrict no-knock warrants; mandate the use of body-worn cameras; implement stronger use-of-force policies; provide de-escalation training; submit use-of-force data; submit officer misconduct records into a new national accountability database; and restrict the sale or transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies, among other things. 

Taken steps to right the wrongs stemming from our Nation’s failed approach to marijuana by directing the Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice to expeditiously review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law and in October 2022 issued categorical pardons of prior federal and D.C. offenses of simple possession of marijuana and in December 2023 pardoned additional offenses of simple possession and use of marijuana under federal and D.C. law. While white, Black, and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionately higher rates.

Announced over 100 concrete policy actions as part of a White House evidence-informed, multi-year Alternatives, Rehabilitation, and Reentry Strategic Plan to safely reduce unnecessary criminal justice system interactions so police officers can focus on fighting crime; supporting rehabilitation during incarceration; and facilitating successful reentry.

FACT SHEET

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A consultant accused of overbilling the federal government by roughly $250,000 has been charged with fraud, the RCMP said Tuesday. In a media release, the RCMP said 62-year-old Clara Elaine Visser faces one charge of fraud over $5,000. The RCMP said that in the summer of 2021, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) launched an investigation of a federal consultant who did contract work with eight separate federal government departments and Crown corporations. "Evidence indicated that the consultant had submitted fraudulent timesheets that resulted in overbilling by an estimated $250,000 between January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021," the RCMP said in the media release.

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[thoughtportal]

Can this really be constitutional? Seattle is about to make it illegal for some people accused of low-level prostitution and drug offenses to visit certain popular areas of the city. It’s calling these places “stay out” zones, and violating an order to stay out could lead to almost a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Under policies passed by the council last week, people could be subject to stay-out orders for up to two years, cutting off their access to any businesses, family, friends, employers, entertainment, or educational opportunities in those areas. And the orders don’t necessarily even require a conviction; a judge could issue one to someone merely charged with a crime as a condition of being released from jail before the trial.

The city is also bringing back penalties for loitering for prostitution, having done away with an earlier version of this restriction in 2020. Loitering for prostitution laws allow police to arrest people merely for being a suspected sex worker or or engaging with one; they don’t require cops to prove any sex for pay or offers of sex for pay took place. They’ve been widely criticized for encouraging police harassment, particularly of groups—such as transgender people—who cops may be more likely to see as sex workers. The new loitering law is much like the old one, except it targets prostitution customers and promoters rather than sex workers per se.

SOAP & SODA

SOAP and SODA sounds like a weird but possibly fun party theme. They’re not. These are the monikers given to the six “stay out” zones the Seattle City Council approved last Tuesday. SOAP stands for “Stay Out of Area of Prostitution” and SODA is “Stay Out of Drug Area.”

These are not small or isolated parts of town. The SOAP zone encompasses a huge chunk of Seattle’s Aurora Avenue North and surrounding blocks, from North 85th Street all the way up to North 145th Street. And six SODA zones are located throughout the city, including areas around downtown Seattle, Chinatown, the University District, and Capitol Hill. “The SODA and SOAP zones include a number of sites where nonprofits provide services,” notes The Seattle Times.

Mayor Bruce Harrell has not yet signed the new bills into law, but a spokesperson for his office told the Times that Harrell is “supportive of additional tools to help keep neighborhoods safe.”

The SOAP bill, sponsored by Council Member Cathy Moore, would also create a new prostitution loitering offense, targeting prostitution customers. Someone is guilty of this misdemeanor “if he or she remains in a public place and intentionally solicits, induces, entices, or procures another to commit prostitution,” the bill says.

Police may decide that someone is guilty of prostitution loitering if a person “repeatedly…engages passersby in conversation,” makes a “bodily gesture” that is “indicative of soliciting for prostitution,” stops a car to talk to someone thought to be a sex worker, or “circles an area in a motor vehicle and repeatedly beckons to, contacts, or attempts to stop pedestrians,” among other things. (Woe to the lost driver trying to get directions, or to someone stopping to talk with a friend who the police think is dressed too skimpily!) People will be considered especially suspicious if they are “in a known prostitution area or designated Stay Out of Area.”

The bill also creates the gross misdemeanor crime of “promoting loitering for the purpose of prostitution,” aimed at people “acting in a manner and under circumstances that demonstrate the purpose of directing, supervising, recruiting, arranging for, enticing, or inducing another person to engage in loitering for the purpose of prostitution.”

Lastly, the bill creates the prostitution “stay out” zone and stipulates that a judge may bar “anyone charged with, or convicted of” either prostitution loitering offense to stay out of this area, “either as a condition of pretrial release…or as a condition of sentence.” A judge can also issue a SOAP order to anyone charged with or convicted of a crime that occurred in a SOAP zone if the court decides there is “a nexus between the offense and prostitution-related crimes.”

Violating a SOAP order can net someone an additional gross misdemeanor charge and net them up to 364 days in prison and/or a $5,000 fine.

Unlike the old prostitution loitering law, this theoretically doesn’t target people selling sex. But it’s easy to imagine how sex workers still wind up charged under these laws for working together or talking to one another, which police could easily classify as “promoting” one another’s prostitution. The fear that this law will target sellers is backed up by an amendment requiring the city’s Office of the Inspector General to report arrest numbers “with arrests for prostitution loitering as a buyer disaggregated from arrests for prostitution loitering as a seller.”

Interestingly, the findings section of the bill states that it’s needed because “the federal government’s closure of Backpage in April 2018 resulted in increased prostitution activity in public spaces”—an acknowledgment that shutting down avenues for online advertising of sex work doesn’t actually stop it from happening. And yet, somehow, the council thinks that the same principle doesn’t apply to driving it off of certain streets?

The SODA bill would create “Stay Out of Drug Area” zones similar to the “Stay Out of Area of Prostitution” zone. A judge could issue a SODA order to “anyone charged with, or convicted of, any criminal violation of the Controlled Substances Act” that occurs in a SODA zone, or to anyone “charged with, or convicted of, assault, harassment, theft, criminal trespass, property destruction, or unlawful use or possession of weapons occurring in a designated SODA zone in which the court finds a nexus between the offense and illegal drug activity.”

‘Performative Regulations’ 

What may be most amazing about these laws is that they manage to be such an egregious violation of civil liberties for so little payoff. What do city leaders expect to happen—that people will suddenly stop selling or buying drugs and sex if they can’t do it on certain streets?

It seems fairly obvious that some drug and prostitution activity will just migrate to other areas, some folks subject to the stay-out orders will simply ignore them (these are, by definition, people already OK with breaking some laws), and some banned individuals will find workarounds (like sending associates into banned areas for any business that needs to be done there). What most certainly won’t happen—as evidenced by decades and decades of failed prohibition policies—is any substantial decrease in drug use, drug sales, or prostitution.

At least one city council member gets this. Tammy Morales voted against both bills, calling them “performative regulations” and “Band-Aids” that would not be “truly meaningful solutions to the problems we seek to address,” according to the Times.

But Morales was the sole dissenting vote against both bills.

The SOAP and SODA bills have ample detractors in social services organizations, civil liberties groups, and public defenders.

“Since the bills emerged this summer, opponents have accused the council majority of trying to banish poor people from core Seattle neighborhoods rather than address root causes of addiction, gun violence and sexual exploitation through more investments in social services,” reports the Times. “They’ve said the exclusion bills will empower police to arrest people for merely existing in public spaces—especially people of color, who are disproportionately arrested for relevant crimes, according to council staff.”

“Proposals like SOAP and SODA do not work and cruelly target our most vulnerable populations, including those struggling with poverty and substance use disorder,” said Jazmyn Clark of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in a press release. “Exclusion zones like SOAP and SODA have been tried before and have consistently failed to achieve their intended goals,” Clark added.

The SOAP and SODA laws “raise serious constitutional concerns,” the ACLU of Washington told city council members in an August 7 letter. “SODA and SOAP orders are likely unconstitutional as conditions of pretrial release for people who have never been convicted of offenses related to drug possession or sex work. SOAP and SODA orders raise identical concerns of violating the constitutional right to travel and associate.” {read}

[mostlysignssomeportents]

We should ban TikTok('s surveillance)

With the RESTRICT Act, Congress is proposing to continue Trump’s war on Tiktok, enacting a US ban on the Chinese-owned service. How will they do this? Congress isn’t clear. In practice, banning stuff on the internet is hard, especially if you don’t have a national firewall:

https://doctorow.medium.com/theyre-still-trying-to-ban-cryptography-33aa668dc602

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/30/tik-tok-tow/#good-politics-for-electoral-victories

My guess is that they’re thinking of ordering the mobile duopoly of Google and Apple to nuke the Tiktok app from their app stores. That’s how they do it in China, after all: when China wanted to ban VPNs and other privacy tools, they just ordered Apple to remove them from the App Store, and Apple rolled over:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/11/foreseeable-consequences/#airdropped

That’s the completely foreseeable consequence of arrogating the power to decide which software every mobile user on earth is entitled to use — as Google and Apple have done. Once you put that gun on the mantelpiece in Act I, you damn betcha that some strong-man backed by a powerful state is going to come along and shoot it by Act III.

The same goes for commercial surveillance: once you collect massive, nonconsensual dossiers on every technology user alive, you don’t get to act surprised when cops and spies show up and order your company to serve as deputies for a massive, off-the-books warrantless surveillance project.

Hell, a cynic might even say that commercial surveillance companies are betting on this. The surveillance public-private partnership is a vicious cycle: corporations let cops and spies plunder our data; then the cops and spies lobby against privacy laws that would prevent these corporations from spying on us:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/25/nationalize-moderna/#hun-sen

Which makes the RESTRICT Act an especially foolish project. If the Chinese state wants to procure data on Americans, it need not convince us to install Tiktok. It can simply plunk down a credit card with any of the many unregulated data-brokers who feed the American tech giants the dossiers that the NSA and local cops rely on.

Every American tech giant is at least as bad for privacy as Tiktok is — yes, even Apple. Sure, Apple lets its users block Facebook spying with a single tap — but even if you opt out of “tracking,” Apple still secretly gathers exactly the same kinds of data as Facebook, and uses it to power its own ad product:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

There is no such thing as a privacy-respecting tech giant. Long before Apple plastered our cities with lying billboards proclaiming its reverence for privacy, Microsoft positioned itself as the non-spying alternative to Google, which would be great, except Microsoft spies on hundreds of millions of people and sells the data:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/25/the-peoples-amazon/#clippys-revenge

Tech’s surveillance addiction means that Tiktok’s own alternative to the RESTRICT Act is also unbelievably stupid. The company has proposed to put itself under Oracle’s supervision, letting Oracle host its data and audit its code. You know, Oracle, the company that built the Great Firewall of China 1.0:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/01/selling-china-surveillance

We should not trust Tiktok any more than we trust Apple, Facebook, Google or Microsoft. Tiktok lied about whether it was sending data to China before:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-tapes-us-user-data-china-bytedance-access

And even if it keeps its promise not to send user data to China, that promise is meaningless — it can still send the vectors and models it creates with that data to China — these being far more useful for things like disinformation campaigns and population-scale inferences than the mere logs from your Tiktok sessions.

There are so many potentially harmful ways to process commercial surveillance data that trying to enumerate all the things that a corporation is allowed to do with the data it extracts from us is a fool’s errand. Instead, we should ban companies from spying on us, whether they are Chinese or American.

Corporations are remorseless, paperclip-maximizing colony organisms that perceive us as inconvenient gut-flora, and they lack any executive function (as do their “executives”), and they cannot self-regulate. To keep corporations from harming us, we must make it illegal for them to enact harm, and punish them when they break the law:

https://doctorow.medium.com/small-government-fd5870a9462e

After all, the problem with Tiktok isn’t the delightful videos or the fact that it’s teaching a generation of children to be expert sound- and video-editors. The problem with Tiktok is that it spies on us. Just like the problem with Facebook isn’t that it lets us communicate with our friends, and the problem with Google isn’t that it operates a search engine.

Now, these companies will tell you that the two can’t be separated, that a bearded prophet came down off a mountain with two stone tablets, intoning, “Larry, Sergey, thou shalt stop rotating thine logfiles and, lo, thou wilt data-mine them for actionable market intelligence.” But it’s nonsense. Google ran for years without surveillance. Facebook billed itself as the privacy-forward alternative to Myspace and promised never to spy on us:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3247362

The inevitabilist narrative that says that corporations must violate our rights in order to make the products we love is unadulterated Mr Gotcha nonsense: “Yet you participate in society. Curious. I am very intelligent”:

https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha/

Of course, corporations push this narrative all the time, which is why American Big Tech has been quietly supporting a ban on Tiktok, which (coincidentally) has managed to gain a foothold in the otherwise impregnable, decaying, enshittified oligarchy that US companies have created.

They have conspicuously failed to call for any kind of working solution, like a federal privacy law that would ban commercial surveillance, and extend a “private right of action,” so people could sue tech giants and data-brokers who violated the law, without having to convince a regulator, DA or Attorney General to bestir themselves:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/01/you-should-have-right-sue-companies-violate-your-privacy

Instead, the tech giants have the incredible gall to characterize themselves as the defenders of our privacy — at least, so long as the Chinese government is the adversary, and so long as its privacy violations come via an app, and not buy handing a credit card to the data-brokers that are the soil bacteria that keeps Big Tech’s ecosystem circulating. In the upside-down land of Big Tech lobbying, privacy is a benefit of monopoly — not something we have to smash monopolies to attain:

https://www.eff.org/wp/interoperability-and-privacy

Not everyone in Congress is onboard with the RESTRICT Act. AOC has come out for a federal privacy law that applies to all companies, rather than a ban on an app that tens of millions of young Americans love:

https://www.businessinsider.com/aoc-first-tiktok-congress-ban-without-being-clued-in-2023-3

You know who agrees with AOC? Rand Paul. Yes, that absolute piece of shit. Paul told his caucusmates in the GOP that banning an app that millions of young American voters love is bad electoral politics. This fact is so obvious that even Rand fucking Paul can understand it:

https://gizmodo.com/rand-paul-opposes-tiktok-ban-warns-republicans-1850278167

Paul is absolutely right to call a Tiktok ban a “national strategy to permanently lose elections for a generation.” The Democrats should listen to him, because the GOP won’t. As between the two parties, the GOP is far more in thrall to the Chamber of Commerce and the rest of the business lobby. They are never going to back a policy that’s as good for the people and as bad for big business as a federal privacy law.

The Democrats have the opportunity to position themselves as “the party that wants to keep Tiktok but force it to stop being creepy, along with all the other tech companies,” while the GOP positions itself as “the party of angry technophobes who want to make sure that any fun you have is closely monitored by Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pinchai and Tim Cook and their pale imitations of the things you love about Tiktok.”

That’s not just good electoral politics — it’s good policy. Young voters aren’t going to turn out to the polls for performative Cold War 2.0 nonsense, but they will be pissed as hell at whoever takes away their Tiktok.

And if you do care about Cold War 2.0, then you should be banning surveillance, not Tiktok; the Chinese government has plenty of US dollars at its disposal to spend in America’s freewheeling, unregulated data markets — as do criminals, petty and organized, and every other nation-state adversary of the USA.

The RESTRICT Act is a garbage law straight out of the Clinton era, a kind of King Canute decree that goes so far as to potentially prohibit the use of VPNs to circumvent its provisions. America doesn’t need a Great Firewall to keep itself safe from tech spying — it needs a privacy law.

Have you ever wanted to say thank you for these posts? Here’s how you can: I’m kickstarting the audiobook for my next novel, a post-cyberpunk anti-finance finance thriller about Silicon Valley scams called Red Team Blues. Amazon’s Audible refuses to carry my audiobooks because they’re DRM free, but crowdfunding makes them possible.

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[Image ID: A modified vintage editorial cartoon. Uncle Sam peeks out over a 'frowning battlement' whose cannon-slots are filled with telescopes from which peer the red glaring eyes of HAL 9000 from '2001: A Space Odyssey.' Topping the battlements in a row are Uncle Sam and three business-suited figures with dollar-sign-bags for heads. The three dollar-bag men have corporate logos on their breasts: Facebook, Google, Apple. Standing on the strand below the battlements, peering up, is a forlorn figure with a Tiktok logo for a head. The fortress wall bears the words 'RESTRICT Act.']

[mariacallous]

This week, as every week, Brexit enfeebled the UK. It was not a one-off disaster, like a fatal heart attack. Rather Brexit is showing itself to be a debilitating disease that never grants us a moment’s peace.

In the past few days

The post-Brexit trade talks between the UK and Canada collapsed. Despite all the promises of global Britain crossing the clear blue oceans and cutting deals with India, the US, Canada and China, we remain isolated.

After years of being too scared to actually take control of the UK’s borders, the government promised checks on imported food from the EU. The effect, according to the food industry, will be to raise prices and produce shortages. (Romantics searching for flowers for Valentine’s Day may well have their work cut out, despairing florists are already warning.)

Brexit took away the right of Brits to live and work where we pleased in the EU. For a while in 2023 it looked as if France would allow British expats to stay for longer than 90 days at a stretch. But the French courts blocked that concession to second home owners in the Dordogne.

Meanwhile the Brexit inspired border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK continued to enrage Ulster Unionists, who in their hearts must now know that English Tories have played them for fools.

Finally, the Guardian reported that the EU's plans to increase bulk medicine procurement across the bloc risk creating shortages in Britain.

That’s just in the past few days.  

And yet the politicians who promised the electorate that leaving the EU would turn us into a world leader are simply not held to account.

You would have to be 35 or older to remember how the BBC used to deal with politicians who failed to deliver on their promises. In 2003 Tony Blair backed the US invasion of Iraq on the grounds that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

He didn’t.

BBC journalists tore into the then Labour government. Its ministers had taken us to war on a false prospectus, they claimed. Lied, in short.

And yet in a dereliction of journalistic duty the BBC has let the false prospectus of Brexit pass without the smallest attempt to remind its authors of their false promises.

Here is Daniel Hannan, the Zelig of British nationalism. For more than two decades, he popped up at what felt like every right-wing meeting and rally, urging ever more Utopian fantasies on the luckless British public.  

In 2016, he promised the revival of depressed British cities, a Silicon Valley in the East End of London, and falling prices and booming wages for us all.

Is he or any other Conservative or Faragist politician questioned to within an inch of his life by the BBC?

Of course not. Continuous funding cuts and right-wing attacks have destroyed the corporation’s ability to provide a vital news service. It’s given up on democratic accountability.

I can make one argument in its defence. If a BBC presenter were in the room with me now, I am sure they would say that the Labour opposition is giving them nothing to report. It is staying silent for fear of alienating elderly voters. The Liberal Democrats shut up for the same reason.

In its politicians and media, the UK is like the caricature Victorian family that puts on a show of respectability and says nothing about its dirty secrets.

No one, however, can shut up Professor Chris Grey, and our culture is the better for it. His Brexit & Beyond blog is the best source of information on our national malaise, and I was delighted to have him on podcast.

I will write a longer piece, which will bounce off our conversation about the purity spiral on the right Brexit set off. With a bit of luck that should be up tomorrow or on Wednesday. I am also working of a read on the lessons from the 1920s for the 2020s.

[ukrfeminism]

5 minute read

Thousands of protesters marched through central London (Saturday) afternoon as they demanded Carla Foster to be freed from jail, after her sentencing earlier this week reignited calls for abortion to be decriminalised.

Ms Foster was given a 28-month extended sentence on Monday after she admitted illegally procuring her own abortion during the pandemic when she was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant.

Protesters marched from the Royal Courts of Justice to Whitehall today chanting “Free Carla Foster” and waving signs saying “abortion is healthcare”.

They called for an end to Victorian legislation that renders abortion a criminal act in England, Scotland and Wales, with women granted exemptions in certain circumstances up until 24 weeks of pregnancy.

There are seven exemptions that can be granted to allow a woman to have an abortion, but none stating that a woman simply does not want a baby. For 98 per cent of women who had an abortion last year, it was recorded as being “performed because of a risk to the woman’s mental health”, classified as “F99 (mental disorder, not otherwise specified)”.

Under current legislation, abortions can only take place after 24 weeks in specific circumstances including when the mother’s life is at risk or if the child will be severely disabled.

Labour MP Stella Creasy delivered a speech to protesters who gathered in Whitehall this afternoon, claiming that current abortion legislation is no longer “fit for purpose”.

“This week proves what some of us have been trying to tell, often at length, patiently, to middle-aged men on Twitter,” she said.

“We do not have a legal right to choose in England and Wales, and that has very real consequences.”

She later told i that the significant turnout to the march “shows women aren’t prepared to accept to the possibility of prosecution hanging over their right to choose”.

“Lawmakers who think they can ignore these concerns fail to understand how important protecting a womans right to choose is to so many,” she said. “Parliament has to act as with more prosecutions on the way this issue isn’t going away.”

Lucy Wing, a 21-year-old from Walthamstow in London who attended the march, said she was “outraged” at Ms Foster’s case.

“I am here because I do not believe that the law that Carla Foster was sentenced under was at all just,” she said.

“A legal understanding of what a person is does not encompass a foetus and it does not encompass a child that was born not breathing. That child does not have any human rights because it is not seen as a person.”

Ms Foster was jailed earlier this week after being found to have ended her pregnancy in May 2020 with “pills by post” that allowed women under 10 weeks pregnant to receive abortion medication during the first Covid lockdown, when access to health services ground to a halt.

The “pills by post” scheme, which was intended to be a temporary measure ushered in during the pandemic, has now been introduced permanently.

Ms Foster, a mother-of-three, pleaded guilty to administering drugs to procure abortion significantly beyond the 10-week time limit, contrary to the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act. The offence carried a maximum life sentence.

The judge, Mr Justice Pepperall, had received a letter from medical bodies including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives urging him to pass a non-custodial sentence.

However, he said this was “inappropriate” and sentenced the woman on the basis of the law as it stands.

The case has reignited calls to decriminalise abortion in the UK, with charities launching a fresh campaign to reform “outdated” laws that allow woman to face life imprisonment for ending their own pregnancies. 

Ed Dorman, 64, an obstetrician and gynaecologist who also attended the march, said that Ms Foster’s case had “galvanised” the abortion movement and drawn attention to the punity of current laws. 

“As you can tell from today, it has galvanised a lot of very strong feeling about the inappropriateness of the way the law, if it’s applied, can result in somebody being sent to prison for ending their own pregnancy,” he said. 

“I would like to see, as in Northern Ireland, the whole remit of abortion care being taken out of the criminal law and, whilst still regulated, be like any other part of healthcare.”

Abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in October 2019 after Westminster passed laws while the government at Stormont had collapsed.

However, abortion is still technically illegal in the rest of the UK as legislation brought into force in 1861 has not yet been repealed.

No 10 said earlier this week that the Government has no plans to alter abortion laws despite outrage over Ms Foster’s sentencing. 

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Tuesday: “Through the Abortion Act, all women have access to safe abortions on the NHS up to 24 weeks and we have made changes so that now includes taking abortion pills at home.

“We think this approach provides the right balance and … there are no plans to change this.”

The spokesman added: “We recognise that this is a highly emotive issue and obviously we recognise that the strength of feeling on all sides.”

[beardedmrbean]

The government decided on Thursday to extradite to the United States an Estonian citizen, Andrey Shevlyakov, who is suspected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of procuring US-made electronic equipment for the Russian military.

Shevlyakov was detained by Estonia's Internal Security Service in March last year at the request of the FBI and has been in custody since then.

Justice Minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta told a government press conference on Thursday that the government made the decision to extradite Andrey Shevlyakov to the United States, but Shevlyakov is likely to use the opportunity to appeal the decision.

FBI Houston announced on social media in April 2023 that in cooperation with the Bureau of Industry and Security of the US Department of Commerce and Estonian Internal Security Service, a man who allegedly procured US-made electronics on behalf of the Russian government and military for more than a decade had been arrested.

Special agent in charge James Smith said that the Estonian citizen, Andrey Shevlyakov, was arrested on March 28 of that year on suspicion of procuring US-made electronics, including radar components and hacking software, on behalf of the Russian government and military.

«For years, Mr Shevlyakov's elaborate web of deceit allowed him to allegedly procure sensitive American-made electronics on behalf of the Russian military. His illegal acquisitions of sophisticated US technology endangered citizens in both Ukraine and the United States,» Smith said. The announcement says that at the time of his arrest, deliveries meant for Shevlyakov in Estonia, including 130 kilograms of radio equipment, were confiscated.

Shevlyakov purchased multiple items, including low-noise pre-scalers and synthesizers, used to conduct high-frequency communications, and analog-to-digital converters, which are components used in defense systems such as electronic warfare systems and missiles. In May 2020, Shevlyakov used one of his front companies to buy a licensed copy of the penetration testing platform Metasploit Pro. Shevlyakov allegedly exported at least 800,000 US dollars worth of items from US electronics manufacturers and distributors between approximately October 2012 and January 2022.

Shevlyakov engaged in this conduct despite being listed on a Department of Commerce-maintained list, known as the Entity List, that designates individuals and companies who are barred from exporting items from the United States without a license. He used false names and a web of front companies to evade the Entity List's restrictions.

If convicted, he faces a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment.

[usafphantom2]

Britain’s top-scoring naval fighter of World War II was not what you think it was

Hush KitMarch 24, 2020

Fulmar-photo

As World War II loomed into sight, the Admiralty was desperate for anything approximating a modern fighter aircraft. This need was met by a modified light dive-bomber originally intended for a cancelled RAF requirement. The resulting Fulmar shared the engine and armament with the Spitfire and Hurricane, but there though the similarity ended. With a pathetic flat-out speed of 247mph and a feeble service ceiling of 16,000’ it was far inferior to its contemporaries. More worryingly, it was also 30mph slower than the Luftwaffe’s Heinkel He 111 bombers. Fair to say as a fighter it made an adequate cancelled dive-bomber. So how did it became the top Royal Navy fighter of World War II?

Bing Chandler is a former Lynx Observer, current Air Safety Officer and struggling Naval History MA student. He also has some great offers on his internal organs now Seafire PP972 is up for sale.

During World War II, no aircraft carrier force operated a greater number of types than the Royal Navy. Although partly due to the length of time Britain was involved in the conflict, the Admiralty’s haphazard approach to aviation doctrine and procurement bears a lot of the blame (although nothing can excuse the diabolical Blackburn Firebrand). It is still however something of an anomaly that the Fleet Air Arm’s highest scoring fighter of the war was the relatively slow and staid Fairey Fulmar — with 112 kills (more than double the total achieved by the far more potent Corsair). Despite this, the Fulmar has never really caught the popular imagination. Post-war historians have damned with faint praise by acknowledging that while it was at least capable of taking on torpedo-bombers, the Fulmar’s manoeuvrability was far inferior to Axis dive-bombers. To give some idea of the limited esteem in which it was held at the time, it is perhaps worth reading a verse from 809 Naval Air Squadron’s Fulmar Song (to the tune of ‘Any old iron‘:

‘Any old iron, any old iron,

Any, any, any old iron;

Talk about a treat

Chasing round the Fleet

Any ole Eyetie or Hun you meet!

Weighs six ton,

No rear gun

Damn all to rely on!

You know what you can do

With your Fulmar Two;

Old iron, old iron!’

Fighter Direction is everything

To understand this apparent contradiction, of how such a sluggish machine was the Navy’s best fighter, it is necessary to look at a technology that at the time made the aeroplane look positively middle-aged: radar. The Royal Navy had been at the forefront of developing naval radar, but even so, by 1939 its capabilities were extremely limited. Rather than the top down ‘God’s eye view’ of a modern display, operators would look at a single wiggling line with increases in amplitude indicating a contact. Despite entering the war without a full understanding of what radar could achieve – and after some teething troubles – the Navy soon found ways to make up for the deficiencies of its aircraft. This would allow Fairey’s converted dive-bomber to hold its own in aerial combat through the opening years of the war in a way that belied its poor headline performance. The actions in the Mediterranean to escort convoys to Malta showed time and again the value of Fighter Direction where controllers onboard ship would direct the aircraft to intercept incoming attacks. Often these aircraft would be Fulmars, which were in the front line throughout that period, before being relegated to the role of night fighter. Somewhat ironically, the addition of radar antenna for this role would finally render its performance unequivocally unacceptable. Fighter Direction would give the Fulmar the edge it needed to overcome its shortcomings while engaged in some of the heaviest aerial combat the Royal Navy would face during the Second World War.

The Royal Navy’s inter-war doctrine for the Fleet Air Arm, as described in an Admiralty Memorandum from December 1936, concentrated on the search for enemy shipping, air attack of that shipping, and subsequent observation of the fall of shot for the fleet’s big guns . It was considered that air superiority would be achieved by the immobilisation of the enemy’s carriers no apparent thought being given to air to air combat. The reverse was also true in that it was not considered possible for naval fighters to defend the fleet from air attack, especially when faced with land-based air forces able to deploy heavy bombers . To counter the air threat the Third Sea Lord, Rear Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson, decided that the next class of carrier would feature extensive armour plating turning the hangar into a protective enclosure for the air group able to resist a direct hit from 500lb bombs and 4.7” gunfire . The Dido class cruisers optimised for air defence would then provide the defence against air attack , in addition to the Illustrious classes own extensive outfit of sixteen 4.5” guns. That the doctrine was so un-ambitious can in part be laid at the confused status of naval aviation between the wars, it was, until 1938, the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force not of the Royal Navy . In fairness to the Admiralty at the same time despite the Imperial Japanese Navy controlling its air arm its doctrine was also confused and poorly regarded by its air officers perhaps indicating the difficulties inherent in developing high level policy for a new form of warfare. The Royal Navy’s use of fighter aircraft would therefore have to develop as lessons were learnt. A memorandum from January 1940 while acknowledging the need to intercept enemy strikes and scouting aircraft as well as escorting the fleets own strikes still showed a degree of indecision over whether they would still require a second crewmember as the Fulmar did, a confusion that had not been resolved three months later . Ultimately this indecision would lead to both single and two seat fighters being produced for the Royal Navy. Where the Royal Navy had a serious disadvantage was in the actual procurement of aircraft where the Admiralty drew up the specifications for them while the Air Ministry then had responsibility for their design and production.41_803_sdn_fulmar_take_off.jpg

Due to the lack of air officers at the right level the Admiralty had scant expertise in the specification of aircraft which led to it entering the war with several poorly performing aircraft either in service or on the way. These included the Blackburn Roc, a turret equipped fighter which could barely stay airborne at full power; the Fairey Barracuda which provided panoramic views for the Observer but had a tendency not to pull out of dives , and the Blackburn Firebrand which took longer to develop than the war lasted. Consequently, at the outbreak of war the navy found itself back in control of its air arm, but with limited understanding of the capabilities air power brought, no real thought given to air defence of the fleet by aircraft, and a procurement plan that could best be described as flawed. It was from this background that the requirement for the Fulmar would emerge, to some extent explaining the compromises that were accepted.

Screenshot 2020-03-23 at 22.17.42.png Though confusion over the use of naval air power was hampering the acquisition of suitable aircraft, by the late 1930s there was at least an acknowledgment that a new fleet fighter would be required. It was a pressing need, as the Skua it would replace was predicted to be obsolete by as soon as 1940. Consequently, it was a requirement that the chosen aircraft be in production by September 1939 which effectively limited the options to something already in production. The Admiralty’s preference was for a two-seat aircraft, due to the difficulties of navigating over the sea and communicating at long range from the carrier. Outright speed was considered less important as there was an assumption that the carrier-borne fighter would only encounter aircraft of other navies which would be similarly restricted. It is perhaps ironic that at the same time the most likely naval opponent was being designed by Mitsubishi in Japan, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, a type which faced neither of these restrictions. The design selected for the Royal Navy was a modification of a design submitted to the RAF as a light dive-bomber. This RAF original requirement had been dropped, but prototypes had already been constructed – which allowed a rapid assessment to be made of their suitability. The Fairey P.4/34 bomber (with minor changes) thus became the Fulmar naval fighter (with a secondary reconnaissance role). The first production aircraft was completed in December 1939, effectively running around three months behind the Admiralty’s timeline.. or ahead of schedule compared to most defence projects. The Fulmar shared an engine, the Merlin, and armament, eight 0.303” guns, with the Spitfire and Hurricane. There though the similarity ended. The early Spitfire’s top speed was 364mph at an altitude of 18,500’ , the Fulmar by comparison had a maximum speed of only 247mph at 9,000’ and a service ceiling of 16,000’ (half that of the Spitfire).

[luckypuppyunknown]

Electrical Services - EC Electrical Services - Electrician

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Some of the functionality and menus is in all probability not out there with this browser. Please improve your browser and/or operating system to enhance your person experience. In December 2020, our team undertook rectification of a hazardous space light fitting in Northiam. In our previous news article, we shared the importance of ATEX awareness and tips on how to determine an ATEX zone using HSE classifications. Once a zone where a potential explosive environment has been identified, there are a quantity of important necessities a business must apply. All Electrical companies which would possibly be a solidly grounded wye with more than 150V to floor and bigger than 1,000 AMPS are required to be Ground-Fault Protected (CEC Article 230.95).

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[udyamregister]

Forgot Udyam Registration Number (URN) or Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum: A Complete Guide

Udyam Registration is an essential step for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India to avail of government benefits, schemes, and programs. As part of the process, businesses are provided with a unique Udyam Registration Number (URN) or Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM), which is a one-time identification number issued by the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME). This number is crucial for the recognition of a business in the MSME sector, enabling it to access various benefits, including subsidies, financial assistance, and priority sector lending.

However, what happens if you forget your Udyam Registration Number or Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum? Losing or forgetting this number can create significant difficulties, especially when applying for loans, government schemes, or renewing registration. Fortunately, there are straightforward steps you can take to retrieve your URN or UAM. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of recovering a forgotten Udyam Registration Number, its significance, and how to ensure the continued smooth operation of your business in compliance with MSME guidelines.

What is Udyam Registration and Why is it Important?

Udyam Registration is an online registration process launched by the Indian government in 2020 as part of its effort to formalize and support small and medium-sized businesses. Before Udyam, businesses had to register under the Udyog Aadhaar system, which was replaced to streamline the process and improve efficiency.

The registration is mandatory for any MSME business that wants to take advantage of government schemes, subsidies, and incentives. Some of the benefits of Udyam Registration include:

Access to government subsidies: Registered MSMEs can apply for various government grants and funding opportunities.

Ease in securing loans: MSMEs with Udyam registration find it easier to access loans and financial services with better terms.

Protection against delayed payments: MSMEs are given legal protection in case of delayed payments from buyers.

Eligibility for government procurement schemes: Businesses can participate in government tenders and procurement opportunities reserved for MSMEs.

With the introduction of the Udyam Registration Number (URN), businesses are now given a unique identification number that serves as a reference for various official processes.

How to Retrieve Your Forgotten Udyam Registration Number (URN)?

If you have forgotten your Udyam Registration Number (URN) or Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM), there are a few ways to recover it. The process is relatively simple and can be done online, making it convenient for business owners.

Step 1: Visit the Official Udyam Registration Portal

The first step is to visit the official Udyam Registration portal.

Step 2: Click on the "Forgot Udyam Registration Number" Option

On the homepage of the Udyam Registration website, you will find a link for "Forgot Udyam Registration Number" or "Forgot Udyog Aadhaar Number." Click on this option to proceed with the recovery process.

Step 3: Provide Required Details

You will be asked to provide some basic details to retrieve your registration number. These typically include:

Aadhaar Number: The Aadhaar number of the business owner or authorized signatory.

Name of the Entrepreneur: The name that was provided during the Udyam/Udyog Aadhaar registration.

Email ID or Mobile Number: The contact information used during registration.

Once you enter these details, the system will verify them against the existing records in the database.

Step 4: Receive Your Udyam Registration Number (URN)

After the verification process is completed successfully, the system will retrieve your Udyam Registration Number (URN) and display it on the screen. You may also receive a confirmation email or SMS with the URN.

Step 5: Download the Udyam Certificate

Once you've recovered your Udyam Registration Number, you can download the Udyam Certificate, which is a document that includes your URN, business details, and registration information. It is recommended to keep a copy of this certificate for future reference.

What If You Can’t Retrieve Your Udyam Registration Number?

In some cases, the details entered may not match the records in the system, or there might be other issues preventing the retrieval of the URN. If this happens, consider the following steps:

1. Check the Details Carefully

Ensure that the information you entered (such as Aadhaar Number, Name, and Contact Details) is correct and matches what was submitted during the registration process.

2. Contact the Udyam Support Team

If you are still unable to retrieve your udyam certificate download, you can contact the Udyam Registration support team for assistance. The official contact number and email address are available on the Udyam Registration website.

3. Visit the Local MSME Office

Alternatively, you can visit your local Ministry of MSME office or the nearest Udyam registration center for help. They can assist you in recovering your URN by verifying your business details.

How to Prevent Forgetting the Udyam Registration Number in the Future?

Once you retrieve your Udyam Registration Number, it’s important to store it safely to avoid future issues. Here are some tips to keep track of your URN and related details:

Store it in a secure document management system: Keep a digital or physical copy of your Udyam Registration Certificate in a secure, easily accessible location.

Create backups: Save the document in multiple formats (such as PDF or JPG) and store it on cloud storage or external drives.

Record it in your business records: Include the URN in your business’s legal and financial documents.

Use email alerts: Set up reminders for any renewal or updates required for your Udyam registration.

Importance of Keeping Your Udyam Registration Updated

An important point to note is that your Udyam registration needs to be kept up-to-date. If any changes occur in your business, such as a change in ownership, type of business, or address, these changes should be updated in the Udyam portal to avoid discrepancies. Failure to update your registration could lead to difficulties in availing of government schemes or in legal processes.

Conclusion

Losing or forgetting your udyam certificate download pdf (URN) or Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum can cause disruptions to your business, but the process of retrieving it is simple and straightforward. By following the steps outlined above, you can quickly recover your URN and ensure that your business continues to benefit from government schemes and financial assistance. It is also important to maintain accurate records of your Udyam Registration Number and ensure that your business information remains updated to avoid future complications.

[recoveredzamboni]

15 examples of government waste. via Charlie Kirk

1. Payments to Deceased Individuals: The federal government has disbursed approximately $1.3 billion to individuals who are no longer alive, highlighting significant inefficiencies in payment systems.

2. Unemployment and Social Security Payments to Prisoners: An estimated $171 million has been improperly paid to incarcerated individuals, underscoring vulnerabilities in benefit distribution processes.

3. Medicaid and Medicare Fraud: Fraudulent activities within Medicaid and Medicare programs have resulted in losses of about $101 billion, indicating a need for stricter oversight and fraud prevention measures.

4. Extravagant Government Travel: For instance, a trip by the Biden administration to Ireland cost taxpayers $4 million, raising questions about the necessity and cost-effectiveness of such expenditures.

5. Maintenance of Underutilized Federal Buildings: The government spends approximately $2 billion annually on buildings that are underused or vacant, suggesting a need for better asset management.

6. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives: Around $38.7 million has been allocated to DEI hires, prompting debates about the effectiveness and necessity of such spending.

7. Weapons for Non-Military Agencies: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has spent $620,000 on weapons, raising concerns about the militarization of civilian agencies.

8. Tax Delinquencies by IRS Employees: Internal Revenue Service employees have accumulated $50 million in unpaid taxes, highlighting issues within the agency responsible for tax collection.

9. Research on Russian Cats: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) allocated $549,000 to study the movement of Russian cats on treadmills, a project criticized for its questionable value.

10. Transgender Monkeys Research: The NIH also spent $477,000 on studies involving transgender monkeys, sparking debates over the relevance and ethics of such research.

11. Drag Shows in Ecuador: A State Department grant of $20,600 funded drag shows in Ecuador, leading to discussions about the appropriateness of funding cultural events abroad.

12. Improper Payments in Federal Programs: In fiscal year 2020, the government made $98 billion in improper payments, including overpayments and underpayments, indicating systemic issues in financial management.

13. Overpayments in Medicare and Medicaid: Improper payments in these programs have been a persistent issue, with billions lost annually due to fraud and errors.

14. Unused Military Equipment: The Department of Defense has been criticized for spending billions on equipment that remains unused or is obsolete, reflecting inefficiencies in defense procurement.

15. Excessive Spending on Public Relations: Federal agencies have spent over $4.5 billion on public relations and advertising, raising questions about the necessity and impact of such expenditures.

8:33 AM · Nov 15, 2024

[darko-china]

Transforming Cement Production with Darko’s Ceramic Damper

01 Issues with Conventional Three-Way Dampers

Darko makes high-performance three-way dampers. They focus on "damper craftsmanship" to improve product quality. Many cement companies face short service lives for their dampers, especially at the kiln inlet. Often, these dampers last less than a year.

Traditional three-way dampers use heat-resistant steel and refractory materials. However, they have several problems:

Wear-resistant refractory materials do not have enough surface strength for high temperatures.

The kiln inlet can reach 1400°C. Common refractory materials cannot handle this heat, leading to weak structures.

Metal materials expand with heat, causing the damper to crack or jam.

It is hard to control the quality of refractory materials, resulting in inconsistent products.

The various damage forms of traditional three-way dampers made of heat-resistant steel and refractory material are shown in the figure below.

02 Features of Darko Dampers

Darko's silicon carbide ceramic three-way damper solves these issues. It features:

Innovative Design: It focuses on modern three-way damper design.

Prefabricated Delivery: Customers can install the product right away, saving time and costs.

High-performance Materials: It uses hard silicon carbide and alumina, which resist wear and corrosion.

Reduced Metal Usage: The main material is ceramic, which lowers metal use and reduces cracking risks.

Strict Quality Control: The dampers are prefabricated in a factory to ensure quality and reduce breakage risks.

03 Usage of Darko Dampers Near the Kiln Outlet

In June 2018, a cement plant in Henan installed Darko's three-way damper in a new dry-process rotary kiln with a capacity of 5000 T/D. After five months, inspections showed no cracks or wear. The plant was very satisfied.

In 2020, during maintenance, the Darko damper was still in excellent condition. It showed no signs of wear or breakage, greatly increasing its service life.

04 Usage of Darko Dampers Near the Kiln Inlet

Many cement plants place three-way dampers near the kiln inlet for precise control. However, high temperatures and airflow can deform traditional dampers. Darko's ceramic dampers can withstand temperatures up to 1300°C while keeping their strength. This ensures they perform well in high-temperature environments.

Currently, Darko dampers are used in several cement plants. They can last up to one year without frequent maintenance, earning high praise from customers.

05 Summary of Darko Damper Usage

Darko dampers near the kiln outlet can last up to two years. In contrast, traditional dampers last only six months. This significantly improves performance. Darko dampers maintain their integrity with minimal wear, which reduces maintenance costs and downtime.

06 Value Analysis of Darko Dampers

The direct benefits include a long lifespan and high cost-effectiveness. Darko dampers last three to four times longer than traditional ones, reducing replacement frequency and safety risks. Prefabricated delivery and easy installation also lower maintenance costs.

The indirect benefits include better cement quality and lower coal consumption. For a 5000 T/D kiln, Darko dampers help stabilize the production of high-quality cement clinker. This value far exceeds the procurement costs. Additionally, Darko's products support better management and efficiency in the cement industry.

Darko's prefabricated silicon carbide ceramic three-way damper has a long lifespan and reliable performance. It meets the current needs of the cement industry. This damper provides significant benefits for users.

[industrynewsupdates]

Breast Imaging Market: A Global Overview of Key Players and Competitors

The global breast imaging market was valued at USD 4.7 billion in 2022 and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.6% from 2023 to 2030. Several factors contribute to the growth of this market, including the rising prevalence of breast cancer, technological advancements in breast imaging technologies, and increased investments by various organizations in breast cancer screening programs. Breast cancer continues to be one of the most common cancers among women, which directly influences the demand for breast imaging as a primary diagnostic tool.

According to the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), by 2030, the global number of breast cancer cases is expected to reach approximately 2.1 million. In line with these projections, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported in March 2021 that over 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer globally in 2020, and roughly 685,000 women succumbed to the disease that year. The growing incidence of breast cancer, coupled with the importance of early detection for effective treatment, underscores the critical role of breast imaging in diagnosing and managing the disease. Given this context, the demand for breast imaging services is expected to significantly grow in the coming years, driven by the need for more accurate, reliable, and accessible diagnostic solutions.

Gather more insights about the market drivers, restrains and growth of the Breast Imaging Market

End-Use Insights

In 2022, hospitals dominated the end-use segment of the breast imaging market, accounting for around 42.2% of the total revenue. This dominance is attributed to the presence of advanced and well-equipped breast imaging facilities within hospitals, which contribute positively to a variety of factors, including the duration of hospital stays, overall healthcare costs, quality of care, and availability of emergency care services. Hospitals are critical providers of comprehensive healthcare services, and the inclusion of state-of-the-art breast imaging technology in these facilities enhances their ability to diagnose and treat breast cancer more efficiently.

For example, in September 2019, Parkside Hospital in Wimbledon installed a 3D mammography system from Hologic, a move that enabled the hospital to offer high-resolution breast tomosynthesis—a cutting-edge breast imaging technique. As investments in healthcare infrastructure continue to rise globally, this trend is expected to positively impact the growth of the breast imaging market in the coming years. These investments allow hospitals to procure more advanced diagnostic equipment, improve their service offerings, and provide higher-quality healthcare. This is particularly important as the demand for accurate and early breast cancer detection continues to grow.

However, it’s worth noting that large hospitals often face challenges when it comes to maintaining in-house breast imaging facilities. The high cost of equipment, frequent maintenance needs, space constraints, and the demand for skilled professionals to operate imaging systems can create barriers for hospitals looking to provide these services. These factors can result in financial strain, especially for smaller or less well-funded institutions. To mitigate these challenges, hospitals are increasingly partnering with diagnostic imaging centers to expand the availability of breast imaging services. This collaboration helps hospitals manage costs, optimize resources, and increase their outreach to a broader patient population.

The diagnostic imaging centers segment is expected to experience significant growth during the forecast period. This is largely due to the increased awareness of breast cancer and the growing demand for breast imaging procedures used for early diagnosis, treatment planning, and disease prevention. As more people become aware of the importance of breast cancer screening, the demand for accessible and affordable breast imaging services has surged. Diagnostic imaging centers provide a viable alternative to hospitals, offering specialized diagnostic services in more localized settings, which are often more convenient and less costly.

In both developed and developing economies, countries such as the U.S., Germany, the U.K., Japan, China, and India are witnessing an increasing number of advanced breast imaging services being made available at diagnostic centers. This expansion is expected to further fuel the growth of the segment. By offering more accessible and convenient screening options, these centers are likely to play a pivotal role in the early detection and management of breast cancer, which will continue to drive demand for advanced imaging technologies.

Order a free sample PDF of the Breast Imaging Market Intelligence Study, published by Grand View Research.