"From #1 New York Times bestselling author Thomas E. Ricks, a dual biography of Winston Churchill and George Orwell, with a focus on the pivotal years from the mid-1930s through the 1940s, when their farsighted vision and inspired action in the face of the threat of fascism and communism helped preserve democracy for the world. Both George Orwell and Winston Churchill came close to death in the mid-1930's— Orwell shot in the neck in a trench line in the Spanish Civil War, and Churchill struck by a car in New York City. If they'd died then, history would scarcely remember them. At the time, Churchill was a politician on the outs, his loyalty to his class and party suspect. Orwell was a mildly successful novelist, to put it generously. No one would have predicted that by the end of the 20th century they would be considered two of the most important people in British history for having the vision and courage to campaign tirelessly, in words and in deeds, against the totalitarian threat from both the left and the right. Together, to an extent not sufficiently appreciated, they kept the West's compass set toward freedom as its due north. It's not easy to recall now how lonely a position both men once occupied. By the late 1930's, democracy was discredited in many circles, and authoritarian rulers were everywhere in the ascent. There were some who decried the scourge of communism, but saw in Hitler and Mussolini 'men we could do business with,' if not in fact saviors. And there were others who saw the Nazi and fascist threat as malign, but tended to view communism as the path to salvation. Churchill and Orwell, on the other hand, had the foresight to see clearly that the issue was human freedom— that whatever its coloration, a government that denied its people basic freedoms was a totalitarian menace and had to be resisted. In the end, Churchill and Orwell proved their age's necessary men. The glorious climax of Churchill and Orwell is the work they both did in the decade of the 1940'sto triumph over freedom's enemies. And though Churchill played the larger role in the defeat of Hitler and the Axis, Orwell's reckoning with the menace of authoritarian rule in Animal Farm and 1984 would define the stakes of the Cold War for its 50-year course, and continues to give inspiration to fighters for freedom to this day. Taken together, in Thomas E. Ricks's masterful hands, their lives are a beautiful testament to the power of moral conviction, and to the courage it can take to stay true to it, through thick and thin." -- Provided by publisher.

Event Begins: Wednesday, November 13, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Veteran and Military Services

Naval warfare was confined for centuries to surface combat and undersea clashes. In the 20th century, aerial warfare became the third domain, and shortly thereafter, the electromagnetic spectrum also appeared. When navies began to make use of the airwaves, they soon discovered those waves could also be exploited as a source of information about the opposing force, beginning the discipline of electronic intelligence (ELINT). Furthermore, navies learned the value of interrupting or corrupting the enemy’s communication signals that were transmitted in the “ether," leading to the method of fighting termed electronic warfare (EW).

In this book, Wildenberg cuts through the secrecy about this understandably mysterious domain of combat. He offers details on aircraft and methods and provides a layman’s set of definitions of terms. Wildenberg shares lessons learned from World War II skirmishes as well as clashes in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, while providing the audience with a foundational understanding of this complex form of combat in all its forms.

This book discloses rarely covered concepts and methods that will shape future conflict among great powers.

About the Author:
Thomas Wildenberg is an independent historian and scholar with special interests in aviators, naval aviation, and technological innovation in the military. He has written extensively about the U.S. Navy during the interwar period. His articles have appeared in several scholarly journals, including the Journal of Military History, American Neptune, Air Power History, and U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings. He is the author of several books on naval history covering such varied topics as replenishment at sea, the development of dive bombing, and the history of the torpedo in the U.S. Navy. His interest in the personalities of innovators has led to books on Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves, Billy Mitchel, Charles Stark Draper, and Howard Hughes. His latest work, “The Origins of Aegis,” has just been released by the Naval Institute Press.

Mr. Wildenberg served as a Ramsey Fellow at the National Air and Space Museum from 1999-2000. He is a recipient of the Arthur W. Radford Award for Excellence in Naval Aviation History (2012), the Surface Navy Association Literary Award (2005), and two John Laymen Awards from the North American Society for Oceanic History for best naval history (2013) and best biography (2003). He received the Air Force Historical Foundation's award for the best article in the 2009 volume of Air Power History, was awarded an honorable mention in the Ernest J. Eller Prize in Naval History (1994), and received the Edward S. Miller Naval War College Research Fellowship (1998).

How war bonds, controlled prices, and a national network of nosy neighbors helped beat inflation during WWII. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.

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"ESG" investing – Environmental, Social, Governance – has attracted a lot of attention from investors, and from Republican politicians who call it "woke investing." On today's show, what the fight over ESG reveals about the potential and limitations of sustainable investing.

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Back in 2005, Burt Banks inherited a plot of old family land in Delaware. But when it came time to sell it, he ran into a problem: his neighbor had a goat pen, and about half of it crossed over onto his property.

Burt asked the goats' owner to move the pen, but when neighborly persuasion failed to get the job done, he changed his strategy. He sued her. And that is when things got complicated.

Protecting private property is one of the fundamental jobs of the American legal system. If you hold a deed saying you own a plot of land, it's your land. End of story. Right?

But, as Burt would soon learn, the law can get really complicated when it comes to determining who actually owns something. And when goats are involved ... anything can happen.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and Dylan Sloan and edited by Molly Messick. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Katherine Silva engineered this episode. Jess Jiang is Planet Money's acting executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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Music: "Fruit Salad," "Keep With It" and "Purple Sun."

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Back in the 1990s, Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar was in his office in New Delhi when he came across a puzzling story in the newspaper. Some university scientists in the U.S. had apparently filed a patent for using turmeric to help heal wounds. Mashelkar was shocked, because he knew that using turmeric that way was a well known remedy in traditional Indian medicine. And he knew that patents are for brand new inventions. So, he decided to do something about it – to go to battle against the turmeric patent.

But as he would soon discover, turmeric wasn't the only piece of traditional or indigenous knowledge that had been claimed in Western patent offices. The practice even had its own menacing nickname - biopiracy. And what started out as a plan to rescue one Indian remedy from the clutches of the U.S. patent office, eventually turned into a much bigger mission – to build a new kind of digital fortress, strong enough to keep even the most rapacious of bio-pirates at bay.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from James Sneed and Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Molly Messick. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Our engineers were Josh Newell and James Willetts. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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Graphite is sort of the one-hit wonder of minerals. And that hit? Pencils. Everyone loves to talk about pencils when it comes to graphite. If graphite were to perform a concert, they'd close out the show with "pencils," and everyone would clap and cheer. But true fans of graphite would be shouting out "batteries!" Because graphite is a key ingredient in another important thing that we all use in our everyday lives: lithium ion batteries.

Almost all of the battery-ready graphite in the world comes from one place: China. That's actually true of lots of the materials that go into batteries, like processed lithium and processed cobalt. Which is why it was such a big deal when, earlier this year, President Biden announced a tariff package that will make a bunch of Chinese imports more expensive. Included in this package are some tariffs on Chinese graphite. He wants to create a new battery future—one that doesn't rely so much on China.

In this episode, we get down on the ground to look at this big supply chain story through the lens of one critical mineral. And we visit a small town that realizes that it might be the perfect place to create an American graphite industry. And we find that declaring a new battery future is one thing, but making it happen is another thing entirely.

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Partnership unites nine institutions in fight against diabetesToronto, ON — A new national research network was launched today to transform the health outcomes of individuals with diabetes and its related complications. It will be led by two of Canada’s top researchers in the field and includes researchers conducting leading-edge health and biomedical research at nine institutions […]

In this hour, five stories of picking our battles. The internal and external pressures that guide how we speak up, speak out, or stay silent. Hosted by The Moth's Artistic Director Catherine Burns. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media.

Hosted by: Catherine Burns

Storytellers:

Hillary Boone and her mother scheme to save Vermont from hate.

Maria Hodermarska fights for services for her son.

Ed Mabaya finds himself in danger while visiting his girlfriend.

Brad Lawrence and his sister work their mom's last nerve with their brawling.

Angela Lush struggles to speak up.

Even with accessible technology developed to support their growth, the sad truth is that only a few manufacturers have fully explored the power of automation. The majority are still figuring out the best way to get started.

In Greek mythology, Argus was a son of Zeus. Having the king of the gods up on Mount Olympus for a dad probably raised the bar in terms of expectations. Fortunately, Tecumseh seemed comfortable with that kind of lofty namesake for its biggest launch at this year’s AHR Expo, the ARGUS condensing unit platform.

At the AHR Expo, RectorSeal LLC highlighted several new products designed to combat leaks and corrosion, both on the inside of the unit and from salty sea breezes on the coast.

Honeywell announced the launch of Honeywell Forge Energy Optimization, a cloud-based, closed-loop, machine learning solution.

After a 2021 leak at the U.S. military’s Red Hill fuel storage facility poisoned thousands, activists, Native Hawaiians, and affected military families have become unlikely allies in the fight for accountability.

Four decades after the deadly gas leak, Dow Chemical continues to avoid accountability for the world's worst industrial accident.

The Unemployed Workers United wants to raise the financial and political costs of illegally firing workers for union activity.

A two-step card check process is efficient, making it easier for workers to unionize with a simple majority.

Street selling is a risky activity in Mexico City. But the mercaditas movement aims to empower women and nonbinary sellers to protect themselves from economic exploitation.

Online bullying has become more of a problem now that more people have mobile phones and computers. Find out more about it with Newsround's guide.

Florida Association sees lawsuit dismissed, ABC wins in court, and IICRC is included in legislation.

Alpine Cleaning & Restoration Specialists team up with ROC Solid Foundation to build a backyard playset for Adlee Frampton, a brave three-year-old battling Stage 2 Wilms Tumor. This generous act not only brings joy to Adlee but also highlights the powerful impact of community support and the healing power of play during challenging times.

DUSHANBE, 26 July 2016 – The Parents Against Terrorism training series, organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, started yesterday in Kulyab in the country’s Khatlon region with the aim of enhancing the knowledge and understanding of the local population about Violent Extremism and Radicalization that lead to Terrorism (VERLT) in order to build the community’s resilience to this phenomenon.

The trainees came from different layers of society, representing local government bodies, law enforcement agencies, educational institutions, as well as the local population. The course was led by local trainers from civil society, the Ministry of Labour, Migration, and Employment, and the Committee on Religious Affairs.

“The government of Tajikistan is seriously concerned about the growing threat of global terrorism and violent extremism,” said Khurshed Kenjaev, a representative of the Security Council under the President, in his opening remarks. “It is taking solid preventative measures to tackle this phenomenon, since it cannot be the sole responsibility of law enforcement agencies to deal with the threat.” 

Ivan Ene, OSCE Field Officer in Kurgan Tyube, said: “Countering violent extremism and radicalization that may lead to terrorism requires a holistic approach. The intervention of law enforcement agencies to dissolute the problem of violent extremism and terrorism is effective to only a certain extent, therefore, if we want to apply more effective measures to fight this phenomenon, we need to engage and use the capacity of local communities and parents.”

The course focuses on the role of mothers as “positive agents of change” within Tajik culture. They are informed about the early signs of violent extremism and radicalization that may lead to terrorism. The training participants were also briefed on the violent extremist groups that are believed to be active in Tajikistan.

In the coming days, similar training sessions will be held in Kurgan-Tyube and Shaartuz. A similar activity was organized across Tajikistan in 2015 and recently held in Sughd region. 

Related Stories

• OSCE Office in Tajikistan donates audio-visual material to enhance interactive teaching at Police Academy
• OSCE Office in Tajikistan support Garm’s local authorities in strengthening referral mechanisms for protecting domestic violence victims
• OSCE Office in Tajikistan organizes workshop on verifying the authenticity of security documents

"We are worth more when we are addicted, polarized, and misinformed... than we are if we are living, breathing, free citizens." Neon revealed a second trailer for 2073, a frightening doc about climate change and the destructive future we're headed towards. Now set for a release in December in the US. It's the latest documentary film from Oscar-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia, known for Senna, Amy, Diego Maradona, and others. 2073 is a hybrid doc - featuring a live-action sci-fi segment starring Samantha Morton living in a dystopian future ruined by climate change & authoritarianism (the year 2073); along with doc segments showing how we could get there, giving clear-eyed facts about the rise of right-wing authoritarianism and libertarianism worldwide – which won't stop climate change. "Through a genre-busting mix of archive and drama Ghost witnesses the terrifying threats facing us: a Democratic recession, the rise of neo-fascism, the Climate Disaster and the intrusion of surveillance technology. This is not science fiction. This is happening now." This premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival - where I saw it. Alas despite being a good idea, the film is rather boring and won't have much of an impact. Sadly. Though we do […]

Fox and Friends – Fox News Channel – Broadcast November 11, 2024 Partial Transcript: Morano: “When Donald Trump won the first time in 2016, their attitude was: ‘We’re going to hold this off — this is an anomaly. We have a net zero climate agenda.’ Fast forward eight years later to 2024, and that entire […]

United Nations annual climate talks stuttered to a start Monday with more than nine hours of backroom bickering over what should be on the agenda for the next two weeks. It then turned to the main issue: money.

In Baku, Azerbaijan, where the world’s first oil well was drilled and the smell of the fuel was noticeable outdoors, the talks were more about the smell of money — in huge amounts. Countries are negotiating how rich nations can pay up so poor countries can reduce carbon pollution by transitioning away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy, compensate for climate disasters and adapt to future extreme weather.

In order to try to start the 12 days of talks, called COP29, with a win, Monday’s session seemed to find a resolution to a nagging financial issue about trading carbon pollution rights — one that has eluded negotiators for years. It could free up to $250 billion in spending a year to help poor nations, said new COP29 president, Mukhtar Babayev.

But Erika Lennon, Center for International Environmental Law’s Senior Attorney, warned that pushing through resolutions this early in the conference “without discussion or debate, sets a dangerous precedent for the entire negotiation process.”

When it comes to discussions on finance, the amount of money being talked about to help poor nations could be as high as $1.3 trillion a year. That’s the need in the developing world, according to African nations, which have produced 7% of the heat-trapping gases in the air but have faced multiple climate crises, from floods to drought.

Whatever amount the nations come up with would replace an old agreement that had a goal of $100 billion a year. Richer nations have wanted numbers closer to that figure. If an agreement is struck, money is likely to come from a variety of sources including grants, loans and private finance.

“These numbers may sound big but they are nothing compared to the cost of inaction,” Babayev, said as he took over.

Signs of climate disasters abound

This year, the world is on pace for 1.5 degrees of warming and is heading to become the hottest year in human civilization.

A goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times was set in the Paris Agreement in 2015. But that’s about two or three decades, not one year of that amount of warming and “it is not possible, simply not possible,” to abandon the 1.5 goal yet, said World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

The effects of climate change in disasters such as hurricanes, droughts and floods are already here and hurting, Babayev said.

“We are on the road to ruin,” he said. “Whether you see them or not, people are suffering in the shadows. They are dying in the dark. And they need more than compassion. More than prayers and paperwork. They are crying out for leadership and action.”

United Nations Climate Secretary Simon Stiell, whose home island of Carriacou was devasted earlier this year by Hurricane Beryl, used the story of his neighbor, an 85-year-old named Florence, to help find “a way out of this mess.”

Her home was demolished and Florence focused one thing: “Being strong for her family and for her community. There are people like Florence in every country on Earth. Knocked down, and getting back up again.”

That’s what the world must do with climate change, Stiell said.

A backdrop of war and upheaval hangs over talks

In the past year, nation after nation has seen political upheaval, with the latest being in the United States — the largest historic carbon emitter — and Germany, a climate leading nation.

The election of Donald Trump, who disputes climate change and its impact, and the collapse of the German governing coalition are altering climate negotiation dynamics here, experts said.

“The global north needs to be cutting emissions even faster … but instead we’ve got Trump, we’ve got a German government that just fell apart because part of it wanted to be even slightly ambitious (on climate action),” said Imperial College London climate scientist Friederike Otto. “We are very far off.”

Initially, Azerbaijan organizers hoped to have nations across the globe stop fighting during the negotiations. That didn’t happen as wars in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere continued.

Dozens of climate activists at the conference — many of them wearing Palestinian kaffiyehs — held up banners calling for climate justice and for nations to “stop fueling genocide.”

“It’s the same systems of oppression and discrimination that are putting people on the frontlines of climate change and putting people on the front lines of conflict in Palestine,” said Lise Masson, a protester from Friends of the Earth International. She slammed the United States, the U.K. and the EU for not spending more on climate finance while also supplying arms to Israel.

Mohammed Ursof, a climate activist from Gaza, called for the world to “get power back to the Indigenous, power back to the people.”

Jacob Johns, a Hopi and Akimel O’odham community organizer, came to the conference with hope for a better world.

“Within sight of the destruction lies the seed of creation,” he said at a panel about Indigenous people’s hopes for climate action. “We have to realize that we are not citizens of one nation, we are the Earth.”

Hopes for a strong financial outcome

The financial package being hashed out at this year’s talks is important because every nation has until early next year to submit new — and presumably stronger — targets for curbing emissions of heat-trapping gases from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.

How much money is on the table could inform how ambitious some nations can be with their climate plans.

Some Pacific climate researchers said that the amount of money on offer was not the biggest problem for small island nations, which are some of the world’s most imperiled by rising seas.

“There might be funding out there, but to get access to this funding for us here in the Pacific is quite an impediment,” said Hilda Sakiti-Waqa, from the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. “The Pacific really needs a lot of technical help in order to put together these applications.”

And despite the stalled start, there was still a sense of optimism.

“My experience right now is that countries are really here to negotiate,” said German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan.

“We cannot leave Baku without a substantial outcome,” Stiell said. “Now is the time to show that global cooperation is not down for the count. It is rising to the moment.”

—Seth Borenstein, Melina Walling and Sibi Arasu, Associated Press

Charlotte Graham-McLay, AP reporter, contributed to this report.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Cal Fire San Diego shows off latest technology to fight fires  CBS News 8

Cal Fire San Diego shows off latest technology to fight fires  CBS News 8

MRSA is an antibiotic resistant superbug that causes 120,000 deaths annually.

Read more: UCD research offers potential for new ways to fight MRSA superbug

Avoiding a bad situation is always better than trying to get out of one, so make sure you’re up-to-date on your rights and legal options. 

TAMKO announced that StormFighter FLEX, its newest product offering in the Proline shingle series, won the Experts’ Choice Award for roofing products at the International Roofing Expo.

Learn about TAMKO’s new laminated asphalt shingles that are designed for easier installation and higher performance in extreme weather conditions.

Resemble AI, providers of a platform that uses generative AI to create realistic-sounding voices, in July released Resemble Detect, which can validate the authenticity of audio data to expose speech deepfakes in real time .

In the aftermath of the recent Nestle E. coli outbreak, the false labelling controversy of foreign pork as British, the UK honey debacle, and a plethora of other cases, the prevalence of food fraud is at an all-time high.

NFFE says skipped-over job duties that wildland firefighters perform for the Forest Service could mean they’re missing out on thousands of dollars a year.

The post Wildland firefighters at the Forest Service work beyond their job duties. Their union says that’s a big problem first appeared on Federal News Network.

The U.S. is sending additional fighter jets and a warship to the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman to increase security in the wake of Iranian attempts to seize commercial ships there. The Pentagon says the USS Thomas Hudner, a destroyer, and a number of F-35 fighter jets will be heading to the region. Defense officials last week announced the deployment of F-16s to the area over the past weekend and there have been A-10 attack aircraft there for nearly two weeks in response to the Iranian activity. The latest deployments come after Iran tried to seize two oil tankers near the strait early this month, opening fire on one of them.

The post US sending fighter jets, warship to Gulf region to protect ships from Iranian seizures first appeared on Federal News Network.

Officials say the United States has given its approval for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver F-16s to Ukraine. The defense ministers of those two NATO countries announced the decision Friday. It is a major gain for Kyiv even though the fighter jets won’t have an impact any time soon on the almost 18-month war. It was not immediately clear when the first F-16s might enter the conflict. Denmark says it will hand over some of its F-16s only after receiving its new F-35 jet fighters, which are due to start arriving on Oct. 1. Officials have previously said that Ukrainian pilots will need six to eight months of training on the F-16s.

The post Ukraine will get F-16 fighter jets from the Dutch and Danes after the US agrees to allow transfers first appeared on Federal News Network.

Congress has ended the threat of a government shutdown until after the holidays. The Senate gave final approval to a temporary government funding package Wednesday night and sent it to President Joe Biden for his signature. The bill sets up a final confrontation on the government budget in the new year. The Senate worked into the night to pass the bill with days to spare before government funding expires Saturday. The spending package keeps government funding levels at current levels for roughly two more months while a long-term package is negotiated.

The post Congress approves temporary funding and pushes the fight over the federal budget into the new year first appeared on Federal News Network.

Lawmakers have introduced a $1.2 trillion spending package that sets the stage for avoiding a partial government shutdown for several key federal agencies.

The post Congress unveils $1.2 trillion plan to avert government shutdown and bring budget fight to a close first appeared on Federal News Network.

Wetlands managers have spent years using fire and chemicals to fight phragmites, an invasive reed that chokes everything else out. But coaxing native plants to move back in is difficult.

A recent poll showed that large numbers of Democrats and young people would rather flee the United States than “stay and fight” if the nation were attacked. This alarming revelation has caused many to criticize Democrats, but the bigger focus should be on why they are wrong.

'Something that Sunrise has taught me, and that I've learned from the world around me, is that hope comes through collective action but is also something that you need to practice.'

An experimental program seeks to protect California almond trees from a pesky moth by using X-rays to sterilize the insects.

The House welcomed two new members to its ranks on Tuesday, putting the chamber at near-full capacity as lawmakers prepare for another spending fight and Democrats look to pass any final pieces of legislation before Republicans take control of Congress next year.  Reps. Tony Weid (R-OH) and Erica Lee Carter (D-TX) were sworn into office […]

After years of complaining about Google's dominance in search, Yelp sued after a federal judge recently ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly in search.

Zymo Research believes that Qiagen’s lawsuit is part of a larger strategy to misuse litigation as a tool to stifle innovation and delay the adoption of groundbreaking technologies that benefit the scientific and medical communities.  

There was a moment when Dave Grohl stopped the music and quizzed the adoring, rambunctious, rafter-packing, sold out crowd at the Spokane Arena last Friday…

In Spokane County, a single person died of a fentanyl-related overdose in 2018, according to official records…