A wave of IT outages created massive problems around the world today hitting several industries hard.  Airlines seeing thousands of flight cancellations, internal and external tech systems affecting hospital banks, stock exchanges and other institutions have also been affected.  Within many operational systems, Microsoft-based computers ceased to work.

The issue was traced to Crowdstrike, a familiar tech industry name for those who remember the DNC “data breech” and the subsequent Russian conspiracy theories / accusations it spawned {GO DEEP}.

ABC NEWS – […] CrowdStrike — an American cybersecurity technology firm that provides cloud workload protection, threat intelligence and cyberattack response services — said the outage is not a due to a cyber attack; it was caused by a software issue that has been identified and a fix had been deployed.

Some systems can be fixed and back up and running immediately — but for others it “could be hours, could be a bit longer” before everything is back up and running, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz told CNBC in an on-air interview. For some customers, it will take more than rebooting systems to work through fixes.

“CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted,” Kurtz said earlier Friday.

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Thankfully, the 379 people on the Airbus 350 survived. Unfortunately, 5 of the six people in the coast guard plane were killed.

CCTV Video from the airport shows the stunning moment that JAL flight 516 hits the coast guard plane. It is remarkable that more people were not hurt.

Jan. 2 (UPI) — Five people were killed Tuesday after an incoming Japan Airlines Airbus A350 collided with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft on the runway as it touched down at Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport, authorities said.

All 367 passengers and 12 crew of JAL Flight 516 from Sapporo on Hokkaido escaped without serious injury after the aircraft erupted in a fireball, but police confirmed five of the six crew aboard the Coast Guard plane delivering aid to the earthquake-struck region of Ishikawa were killed.

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On January 2nd, the entire FAA system in Florida went offline after some kind of technical glitch that screwed up the works.  All flights into and out of Florida were temporarily halted.

Interestingly enough, earlier today the entire FAA system had the same “glitch.”

As noted by Fox News: “The travel chaos was caused by the failure of the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which alerts pilots and other personnel about airborne issues and other delays at airports across the country. More than 1,000 flights were canceled in the U.S., and more than 6,700 more flights in the U.S. were delayed, as of 11:30 a.m. ET.  FAA investigators are continuing to search for the cause of the outage.” (link)

According to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, Joe Biden “was briefed by Secretary Pete Buttigieg early this morning.  Biden directed DOT/FAA to restore the system quickly and safely, and to determine causes. Secretary Pete will provide Biden an update later this morning.”

Brilliant plan by the White House pointing the two top men to the problem, top men.

Because, well, without telling DOT/FAA to “restore the system quickly and safely” they may not have realized the need to restore the system, and secondarily could, according to the emphasis from the White House, have done a slow and unsafe restoration.

Yes comrades, fearless leader haz the smarts, see?

Secretary Pete then provided an update on the television.

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Yesterday Italian officials announced that half the airline passengers arriving from China tested positive for COVID-19.  However, in a follow-up today Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said so far all of the testing shows the omicron variant, no new sub-variants of the virus.

The Biden administration CDC announced yesterday that effective January 5, 2023, all passengers traveling to the U.S. from China will be required to show a negative COVID-19 test prior to arrival.

(Bloomberg) — Italy didn’t find any new concerning Covid-19 mutations among recent arrivals from China who tested positive for the virus, a relief for officials worried about fresh health threats.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy already sequenced half of the samples tested in Milan and they all show the omicron strain of the coronavirus. “This is quite reassuring,” she said at a press conference Thursday. “The situation in Italy is under control, and there are no immediate concerns.”

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China has loosened travel restrictions internally.  As a result, there has been an uptick in COVID-19 infections throughout China.  Along with the loosened domestic travel restrictions, many Chinese are booking flights out of the country.

Despite previously accusing the Trump administration of promoting ‘Asian hate‘ and xenophobia, the Biden CDC is now requiring travelers from China to provide evidence of a negative COVID test prior to travel to the U.S, and entry into the United States.

(Via Axios) – The United States will require travelers from China to show a negative COVID-19 test result before flying to the country amid China’s recent uptick in cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

The big picture: The CDC’s decision comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in China, which recently loosened its travel restrictions and opened its borders for overseas travel.

The CDC said it is mainly concerned about slowing the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. The agency also wants to prevent any variants of concern from leaking into the country.

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During a White House announcement today, Joe Biden pledged to have all agencies in the federal bureaucracy begin to target private industry for charging service fees, or what the administration calls “junk fees.”   The junk fees relate to everything from bank overdraft charges, to hidden cleaning fees on car rentals, to hotel resort fees and even fees on airlines for seats with more legroom.

According to the White House, the junk service fees disproportionately impact marginalized communities, minorities and low-income households.  The airline fees are particularly racist because the airline prices for more comfortable seats have a “disparate impact” (legal term for federal intervention) on protected categories of people.

Poor people cannot afford bigger seats.  Poor people are disproportionately minority. Ergo a higher percentage of minority people cannot afford the comfortable seats.  That makes charging more for comfortable seats an illegal practice according to the legal theory of ‘disparate impact.’  WATCH:

[Transcript] – […]  Some airlines, if you want six more inches between you and the seat in front, you pay more money.  But you don’t know it until you purchase your ticket.

Look, folks, these are junk fees.  They’re unfair, and they hit marginalized Americans the hardest, especially low-income folks and people of color.  They benefit big corporations, not consumers, not working families.  And that changes now.

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Joe Biden previously called President Donald Trump, “the great MAGA king” in an effort to disparage both Trump and MAGA supporters everywhere.  It didn’t work.

As anticipation builds around the question of President Trump running for office in 2024, the Great MAGA King provides an update:

“During my four years in the White House, I didn’t use everybody’s favorite airplane, the Boeing 757 we campaigned on for our big 2016 WIN. Now it has been completely modernized and renovated, and looks GREAT, all done in the Great State of Louisiana, and coming back to the skies in the Fall of 2022, or maybe sooner. Get ready! ” ~ Donald J Trump WATCH:

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She is beautiful.

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Following a federal judge vacating the federal mask mandate on transportation, the TSA responded, “TSA (Transportation Security Administration) will not enforce its Security Directives and Emergency Amendment requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time.”

Within hours, various airlines began notifying customers the mask mandate is gone:

♦ American Airlines – “In accordance with the Transportation Security Administration no longer enforcing the federal face mask mandate, face masks will no longer be required for our customers and team members at U.S. airports and on domestic flights.” (link)

♦ Southwest Airlines – “As a result of this development, effectively immediately, Southwest Employees and Customers will be able to choose whether they would like to wear a mask, and we encourage individuals to make the best decision to support their personal wellbeing.” (link)

♦ Delta Airlines – “Effective immediately, masks are optional for all airport employees, crew members and customers inside U.S. airports and on board all aircraft domestically, as well as on most international flights.” (link)

♦ Alaska Airlines – “Effective immediately, all Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air guests and employees have the option to wear a mask while traveling in the U.S. and at work. Masks are no longer required for travel and will be optional.” (link)

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Moments after a Florida federal judge vacated the CDC federal mask mandate for transportation, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki was asked the obvious question about airline travelers right now.  What does this mean for passengers in the immediate future?

Psaki noted she was unsure about what steps could be or would be taken, and she deferred to the FAA and Dept of Homeland Security who will need to make immediate decisions. The most substantive aspect at 11:49 of video, prompted:

The White House is very committed to all their mandates around COVID-19, the mask mandate is no different.  From the perspective of the professional political left, the theater of forced mask wearing represents the visible power and authority of government to rule the lives of the irrelevant proles.

Any pesky legal rulings, that seek to reduce or remove the power of government, are viewed by the left as arbitrary and insignificant efforts to block their almighty power of government.  They can choose to wear a mask if they want, but that’s not really the issue behind the mask mandate.  The true power of the left is in the ability to force everyone to comply to their whims regardless of individual freedom.

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A federal judge in Tampa, Florida has vacated the federal transportation mask mandate for planes, trains, buses and public Transporation.  [PDF Ruling Available Here]

In essence, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle found the CDC exceeded its statutory authority with the mask mandate and violated the rules that guide CDC regulations.   After Joe Biden arbitrarily announced the federal transportation mandate, the CDC triggered enforcement of the mask mandate without any required time for public feedback on a new regulation.

(SEE FULL RULING HERE)

Within the ruling, one of the commonsense arguments against the federal mandate was noted.  Prior to Joe Biden taking office there was no mask mandate.  At the time Joe Biden took office and invoked the mask mandate, there was nothing substantively different in/around the spread of COVID-19 and the mitigation efforts underway.

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