Vegan Potato Salad | Summer Side Dish | Oh My Veggies

This Vegan Potato Salad is creamy and loaded with tender potatoes, onion, carrots, and celery in each bite. Whip up a batch for dinner or a summer side dish that will win over any crowd.

Source: Vegan Potato Salad | Summer Side Dish | Oh My Veggies

Tesla stops accepting Bitcoin as payment for its cars. – The New York Times

Three months after Tesla said it would begin accepting the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as payment, the electric carmaker has abruptly reversed course. In a message posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, said Tesla had suspended accepting Bitcoin because of concern about the energy consumed by computers crunching the calculations that underpin the currency. “Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at a great cost to the environment,” Mr. Musk wrote. “We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.”

Biden Signs Executive Order to Bolster Federal Government’s Cybersecurity – The New York Times

For the first time, the United States will require all software purchased by the federal government to meet, within six months, a series of new cybersecurity standards. Although the companies would have to “self-certify,” violators would be removed from federal procurement lists, which could kill their chances of selling their products on the commercial market.

The order also establishes an incident review board, much like the teams that investigate airline accidents, to learn lessons from major hacking episodes. The White House is mandating that the first incident under review will be the SolarWinds hack, in which Russia’s premier intelligence agency altered the computer code of an American company’s network management software. It gave Russia broad access to 18,000 agencies, organizations and companies, mostly in the United States.

The new order also requires all federal agencies to encrypt data, whether it is in storage or while it is being transmitted — two very different challenges. When China stole 21.5 million files about federal employees and contractors holding security clearances, none of the files were encrypted, meaning they could be easily read. (Chinese hackers, investigators later concluded, encrypted the files themselves — to avoid being detected as they sent the sensitive records back to Beijing.)

For the first time, the United States will require all software purchased by the federal government to meet, within six months, a series of new cybersecurity standards. Although the companies would have to “self-certify,” violators would be removed from federal procurement lists, which could kill their chances of selling their products on the commercial market. The order also establishes an incident review board, much like the teams that investigate airline accidents, to learn lessons from major hacking episodes. The White House is mandating that the first incident under review will be the SolarWinds hack, in which Russia’s premier intelligence agency altered the computer code of an American company’s network management software. It gave Russia broad access to 18,000 agencies, organizations and companies, mostly in the United States. The new order also requires all federal agencies to encrypt data, whether it is in storage or while it is being transmitted — two very different challenges. When China stole 21.5 million files about federal employees and contractors holding security clearances, none of the files were encrypted, meaning they could be easily read. (Chinese hackers, inv

Netanyahu’s ‘disastrous strategy’ is ‘blowing up in Israel’s face’ – In the press

As violence continues, Israel’s The Jerusalem Post calls on other countries to “stand with Israel”, while Haaretz blames PM Benjamin Netanyahu for pursuing a “disastrous strategy” that is now ‘blowing up in Israel’s face”. Emirati paper The National and Saudi paper Arab News decry Israel for “raining death on Gaza”, while other regional papers criticise Palestinian leaders and the Trump administration. In the US, The Washington Post warns Joe Biden against getting dragged back into the “long-moribund” peace process.  Source: Netanyahu’s ‘disastrous strategy’ is ‘blowing up in Israel’s face’ – In the press

Israeli unrest: Arab citizens protest over Gaza and Jerusalem – The Washington Post

“It was like a war here,” said Yousef, 35, a resident of the mixed city of Ramle in central Israel, who declined to give his last name for fear of arrest. He accused Israeli police of failing to stop religious Jews from assaulting people outside his mosque and instead attacking local Arabs.

In Ramle, videos circulated of right-wing Israelis pelting cars driven by Arabs. In nearby Lod, close to Israel’s international airport, Arabs attacked several synagogues and shops. And clashes and rioting erupted in other Israeli cities, including Haifa, Acre and Sakhnin.

Source: Israeli unrest: Arab citizens protest over Gaza and Jerusalem – The Washington Post

Uruguay coronavirus: Cases, deaths surge in South American nation – The Washington Post (Me: Brazil’s inaction has heavy costs ofr its neighbors)

Analysts blame a range of factors, from a breakdown in social distancing to the arrival of the P.1 variant, spawned next door in Brazil. The popular sportscaster Alberto Sonsol died in April, as did a pregnant woman — a first for the country — and then another.

“The situation is dramatic,” said epidemiologist Jacqueline Ponzo, who serves on an interdisciplinary panel that studies coronavirus data. “I don’t usually like to use adjectives to explain these things, but it really is fitting.”

The government has been adding hospital beds to meet the surge, but the health system is struggling to staff intensive care units, and the primary care system, where most coronavirus patients are treated, is showing signs of saturation.

Source: Uruguay coronavirus: Cases, deaths surge in South American nation – The Washington Post

Israel-Gaza violence: Netanyahu and Hamas could gain politically – The Washington Post

The sudden escalation of violence between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza could offer a boon to the leaders of both camps — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas militants — who have been struggling and scraping to salvage their political standing.

Source: Israel-Gaza violence: Netanyahu and Hamas could gain politically – The Washington Post

11 Reasons to Keep Wearing a Mask After You’re Vaccinated and the Pandemic is “Over”

    1. You 100% do not want to get Covid-19.
    2. You are immunocompromised. Millions of people have immune conditions that make contracting Covid-19 much more dangerous for them.
    3. You’re traumatized from “the mental and emotional toll of the last year”.
    4. Because you need to be around people you suspect may not be vaccinated or taking Covid-19 seriously (e.g. as part of your job).
    5. You’re not feeling well and want to make sure to protect others around you.
    6. Because you want to signal to others that you are being safe and thinking of the health and wellness of those around you.
    7. You live in a household with unvaccinated people (kids, for example) and want to make sure to protect them.
    8. Because your personal risk tolerance is lower than other people’s.
    9. You need some time to feel comfortable enough taking your mask off around others after more than a year of that very behavior being dangerous.
    10. Because you want to.
    11. But mostly because… (Click below to read rest of the post)

Source: 11 Reasons to Keep Wearing a Mask After You’re Vaccinated and the Pandemic is “Over”