Tag: 400,000
Extremely rare CS:GO AK-47 skin sold for over $400,000
Occasionally, we hear of an outlandishly ridiculous sale for some virtual product that has us shaking our heads and asking ourselves, “Why would anybody pay so much for that?” Case in point, the guy that just dropped over $500,000 down on two items in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). Yes, you…
400,000 Gallons of Radioactive Water Leaked from a Nuclear Plant in Minnesota
“Xcel Energy took swift action to contain the leak to the plant site, which poses no health and safety risk to the local community or the environment,” the Minneapolis-based utility said in a statement. While Xcel reported the leak of water containing tritium to state and federal authorities in late November, the spill had not been made public before Thursday.
State officials said they waited to get more information before going public with it…. “Now that we have all the information about where the leak occurred, how much was released into groundwater, and that contaminated groundwater had moved beyond the original location, we are sharing this information,” said Minnesota Pollution Control Agency spokesman Michael Rafferty, adding the water remains contained on Xcel’s property and poses no immediate public health risk.
The company said it notified the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the state on Nov. 22, the day after it confirmed the leak, which came from a pipe between two buildings. Since then, it has been pumping groundwater, storing and processing the contaminated water, which contains tritium levels below federal thresholds. “Ongoing monitoring from over two dozen on-site monitoring wells confirms that the leaked water is fully contained on-site and has not been detected beyond the facility or in any local drinking water,” the Xcel Energy statement said.
When asked why Xcel Energy didn’t notify the public earlier, the company said: “We understand the importance of quickly informing the communities we serve if a situation poses an immediate threat to health and safety. In this case, there was no such threat.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The Moneyist: ‘We live in purgatory’: My wife has a multimillion-dollar trust fund, but my mother-in-law controls it. We earn $400,000 and spend beyond our means. What’s our next move?
US Air Force ‘missed in first attempt to shoot down UFO’ over Lake Huron & deployed second $400,000 ‘Sidewinder’ missile
THE US Air Force reportedly “missed” in its first attempt to shoot down a UFO yesterday and had to deploy a second $400,000 Sidewinder missile.
It’s unclear where the first missile landed, reported Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson, and what exactly was shot down over Lake Huron is still unknown.
An E-3 Sentry, an airborne warning and control system aircraft, was spotted flying toward Lake Huron the same day an unidentified object was shot down[/caption]
Two missiles, both costing $400,000 each, were reportedly needed to take down the object[/caption]
“U.S. Air Force F-16 that shot down an unknown object over Lake Huron yesterday missed on its first attempt, U.S. officials say,” Tomlinson wrote.
“It’s not clear where the first missile landed. A second Sidewinder air-to-air missile was needed.”
The reported missed attempt drew flack and jokes on social media as Twitter users speculated where the first missile went.
“Well that’s a spendy missed shot at a balloon,” wrote one person with laughing emojis.
“So there’s an unexploded sidewinder missile just chillin [sic] in someone’s backyard in Michigan?” said another person.
Others were shocked about the reported costly mistake.
“So $800,000 to kill what we believe to be some kid’s science project?” a third person said.
Michigan Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin said the incident wasn’t a national security concern.
“NORAD, which has the mission of protecting the United States, is paying extremely close attention to anything that’s flying in our skies,” she said on Monday.
“They’ve really lowered the threshold of what they’re looking at and this pinged on their radars about 24 hours ago.”
The U.S. Sun asked the Department of Defense for confirmation that a second missile was used to down the object.
A spokesperson said: “In light of the People’s Republic of China balloon that we took down last Saturday, we have been more closely scrutinizing our air space at these altitudes, including enhancing our radar, which may at least partly explain the increase in objects that we’ve detected over the past week.”
The spokesperson added that the unidentified object was spotted flying across several states and the agency began tracking it as they tried to find the best way to intercept it.
“We monitored the track of interest as it passed over Lake Michigan. We assessed that it was no threat, physical threat, military threat, (inaudible) infrastructure. That’s my assessment. It continues to be today.”
The Air Force didn’t immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
In a news conference on Sunday, officials confirmed an AIM-9X missile was used. However, information about how many shots were fired was not immediately clear.
Glen VanHerck, a general in the Air Force who serves as the commander of both the US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said: “First of all, maintaining a radar track on an object this small is very hard. So taking a radar shot such as AIM-120 would be a lower probability of success.
“We assessed taking a gunshot yesterday in that event, as well as today. And the pilots in each situation felt that that was really unachievable because of the size, especially yesterday in the altitude, and also because of a – the challenge to acquire it visually because it’s so small.”
He added that there was also “potentially a safety of flight issue” due to getting close to the object before actually seeing it.
“Therefore, in each situation, the AIM-9X, a heat-seeking missile or infrared missile that sees contrast, has been the weapon of choice against the objects we’ve been seeing.”
“In each case, we have taken extreme caution to ensure that we limit potential collateral damage. So today, we worked closely with the FAA to clear out the airspace. I gave directions specifically to the pilots to use their visual acuity to check for mariners on the ground, airplanes in the air, to clear with their radars as well.
“And when they were comfortable that we could minimize collateral damage, they selected the best weapon. Today, that was the AIM-9X, and they took the shot.”
The increased attention on American skies comes after the U.S. shot down a Chinese “spy balloon” on February 5.
On Monday, the Navy recovered a “significant” portion of the spy balloon, according to a defense official.
Crews are working to get parts of the balloon off the ocean floor near South Carolina.
It’s unclear how big the balloon was but officials said it was “significant” in size and that crews were able to get “the electronics they were looking for.”
Key sensors “presumably used for intelligence gathering” were recovered, according to Reuters.
Megan Thee Stallion’s Home Broken Into, Thieves Steal Belongings Worth $400,000 from Star’s BEDROOM
Megan Thee Stallion was dealt a devasting blow this week. For, the rapper’s Los Angeles home was burgled.
Full story below…
TMZ reports that the male assailants rocked hoodies and gloves and shattered a glass door at the femcee’s residence, which enabled them to break in.
Upon entry, they ventured to the star’s bedroom and ransacked the private space for items to the tune of $300,000-$400,000.
The post Megan Thee Stallion’s Home Broken Into, Thieves Steal Belongings Worth $400,000 from Star’s BEDROOM appeared first on ..::That Grape Juice.net::.. – Thirsty?.
Boris Johnson’s artist mother Charlotte Johnson Wahl ‘left ex-PM £400,000 in her will’
How Taiwan deployed 400,000 iPads in a few weeks
Is it possible to deploy hundreds of thousands of iPads across multiple locations to a huge group of people with different skill levels? Absolutely. That’s what’s happened in Taiwan, where the Ministry of Education invested millions to put tens of thousands of tablets into the K-12 education sector.
Smart education to make kids smarter
Taiwan wants to offer its children world-class digital classrooms. That’s why it recently moved to extend tablet provision to elementary and junior schools, as well as K-12. (It already offers high-speed internet access and smart classrooms.)
Almost 400,000 workers to get cost of living pay rise as real living wage increases
THOUSAND of workers employed by over 11,000 companies paying the real living wage, will get a pay boost from today.
Over 390,000 employees will see their hourly rate hiked by 10%.
The real living wage is calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK and is strictly voluntary[/caption]
Workers on the real living wage will see their hourly pay hiked from £9.90 to £10.90 to help with the rising cost of living.
Those in London will see their hourly rate rise from £11.05 to £11.95.
Over 390,000 workers are set to get the salary boost.
The rates are separate from the government’s national living wage which sets the minimum hourly rate at £9.50 for 4.8million UK workers over the age of 23.
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The national minimum wage is also set by the government and it is the minimum pay per hour for workers under the age of 23.
We’ve listed the new rates for the national minimum wage here.
Unlike the national pay floors, the The Real Living Wage Foundation sets the hourly rates for the voluntary real living wage scheme.
Companies can then choose to sign up to pay their employees this amount – so it’s not a legal requirement that you have to be paid the real living wage.
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The rates are calculated based on data about the cost of living in London and in the UK.
Some 11,000 companies have agreed to pay the new real living wage which will now be worth £3,000 a year more per year than than the national living wage for the average worker.
Companies paying the real living wage include Aviva, Nationwide, Brewdog and Heathrow Airport.
It is estimated that half of the FTSE 100 companies pay their employees the higher wages.
You can find out which companies are signed up to pay the Real Living Wage on the foundation’s website.
The announcement of the new rates was brought forward in recognition of the sharp increase in living costs over the past year, said the foundation.
Katherine Chapman, Living Wage Foundation director, said: “With living costs rising so rapidly, millions are facing an awful ‘heat or eat’ choice this winter – that’s why a real living wage is more vital than ever.
“Today’s new rates will provide hundreds of thousands of workers and their families with greater security and stability during these incredibly difficult times.
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“We are facing unprecedented challenges with the cost-of-living crisis, but businesses continue to step up and support workers by signing up to the Living Wage in record numbers.”
The new rates are usually announced in November, but come into force today (September 22).
Urgent warning as 400,000 Brits face being left out of pocket -because they’re unprotected by energy price cap
BRITS have been given an urgent warning as it’s revealed around 400,000 households are not protected by the energy price cap.
Many of those affected are vulnerable older people and urgent help is needed, the National Housing Federation (NHF) has warned.
Many of those affected are vulnerable older people, according to the NHF[/caption]
The households are on communal networks and have their heating supplied through a central boiler that reaches all homes in a building, rather than having an individual boiler in their home.
They pay for their heating bills via service charges.
Heat networks usually save residents money as housing associations can secure cheaper prices than individuals on domestic contracts by bulk buying energy.
However they are not regulated by Ofgem, which sets the domestic gas and electricity price cap.
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The NHF said a large proportion of people on communal heat networks lived in supported or sheltered housing, a form of social rented home for people on low incomes with support needs.
Some 72 per cent are vulnerable older people over the age of 55.
Without the domestic cap, the price these people will pay for energy will depend on the commercial contract their housing provider negotiates with the energy company.
The NHF said recent contracts were as much as 500 per cent more expensive than the previous year, with bills for low-usage homes projected to rise by as much as £68 a week – £1,130 per year over October’s energy price cap.
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The Government confirmed earlier this month that residents on heat networks will now receive the £400 energy rebate, although it is yet to be confirmed how this will be administered.
While many housing associations were actively looking at whether they could cover some of the cost from other funds, rather than pass on the full increases to residents, they were not-for-profit and this would mean cutting back on other services for residents or reducing investment, the NHF said.
It is calling on the Government to act urgently to ensure people on heat networks receive the same protection as customers on domestic energy supplies.
Either by allowing heat network operators to buy energy at the capped domestic tariff rates and pass on the saving to consumers or by providing additional payments to compensate for prices increases above the cap.
NHF chief executive Kate Henderson said: “It is unjust that hundreds of thousands of people, through no fault of their own, are exposed to uncapped heating bills just because of the way they pay for their energy.
“Worse still, the majority of those affected are vulnerable people on the lowest incomes in this country, who will already be struggling to pay for food and essentials.
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“The Government has a duty to act urgently and fairly to protect these people in the same way as the rest of the country.
“With the price cap coming into force in October, it is essential that the Government acts now and negotiates with energy companies to ensure every resident is protected from rising energy bills.”
People on communal heat networks could see prices shoot up[/caption]