New York Post, Tuesday, December 1, 2020
nypost.com
NATO Secretary-General
Jens Stoltenberg said Mon-
day that the military alliance
is grappling with a dilemma
over its future in Afghani-
stan, as the United States
starts pulling troops out
while attacks by the Taliban
and extremist groups mount.
More than 17 years after tak-
ing the lead on international
security efforts in Afghanistan,
NATO now has around 11,
troops from dozens of nations
there helping to train and ad-
vise the national security for-
ces. Most of the personnel are
from Europe and other NATO
partner countries.
But the alliance relies heav-
ily on the US armed forces for
air support, transport and lo-
gistics. European allies would
struggle even to leave the
country without American
help, and President Trump’s
decision to pull almost half
the US troops out by mid-Jan-
uary leaves NATO in a bind.
“We face a difficult di-
lemma. Whether to leave,
and risk that Afghanistan be-
comes once again a safe ha-
ven for international terror-
ists — or stay, and risk a
longer mission, with re-
newed violence,” Stoltenberg
told reporters on the eve of a
videoconference between
NATO foreign ministers.APNATO’s dilemma
as US exits A’stan
A man was fatally struck
by an MTA bus on Staten
Island Monday night, police
said.
The unidentified victim
was hit at the intersection
of Hylan Boulevard and
Ebbitts Street in New Dorp
at about 10:25 p.m., authori-
ties said.
He was taken to Staten Is-
land University Hospital
North, but could not be
saved, cops said.
It was unclear what
caused the accident. The
area had been hit by high
winds and rain for most of
Monday evening.
The driver remained at
the scene, and there did not
appear to be any criminal-
ity. Larry CelonaBus kills SI
pedestrian
By SteveN NelSoNAfter being confronted by
The Post, Twitter on Mon-
day flagged as “sensitive” —
but not fake — a phony im-
age of an Australian soldier
beheading an Afghan child
posted by a Chinese Com-
munist Party official.
The image of the grinning
Aussie pressing a bloody
knife to the child’s throat
was shared Sunday by bom-
bastic Chinese government
spokesman Zhao Lijian,
sparking an outcry Down
Under.
Zhao captioned the photo:
“Shocked by murder of Af-
ghan civilians & prisoners
by Australian soldiers. We
strongly condemn such acts,
&call for holding them ac-
countable.” He then pinned
the tweet to the top of his
feed.
Shortly after the posting,
Australian Prime Minister
Scott Morrison demanded
an apology and said China
should be “utterly ashamed”
over the “repugnant” photo.
Morrison said the Austra-
lian government asked
Twitter to remove the post,
but it was not flagged as
“sensitive” until hours later.
It’s unclear why the photo
was not annotated as “ma-
nipulated media” — a label
applied to some tweets from
President Trump, including
a satirical video showing
CNN coverage of a “racist
b a b y.”
A Twitter spokesperson
told The Post, “The image
contained within the Tweet
in question has been marked
as sensitive media. For more
information on these poli-
cies and how to control your
individual media settings onTwitter, see here.”
To see Zhao’s tweet, view-
ers must now click through
a warning message that says,
“The following media in-
cludes potentially sensitive
content.”
Zhao is known as an ag-
gressive and often inaccu-
rate spokesman for China’s
Communist government. In
March, he falsely claimed on
Twitter that “[i]t might be
US army who brought the
[COVID-19] epidemic to
Wuhan.”
That tweet received a fact-
check box in May following
prodding from The Post —
after Trump’s tweets saying
that mail-in ballots are vul-
nerable to fraud were fact-
checked.
A recent Australian gov-
ernment report found that
its nation’s troops commit-
ted at least 39 unlawful kill-ings during the long-run-
ning war in Afghanistan.
Republicans in Congress
this year rallied behind
modifying Section 230 of
the Communications De-
cency Act, a foundational
Internet liability shield for
third-party content, after
Twitter blocked distribution
of The Post’s reporting in
October on a Hunter Biden
hard drive implicating his
father, Joe Biden, in business
relationships in China and
Ukraine.
Republicans said protec-
tions should not apply if In-
ternet platforms act as pub-
lishers rather than as neutral
forums. President-elect Joe
Biden and many Democrats
also want to revise or elimi-
nate the law.
Twitter is blocked in
China, but many people cir-
cumvent the ban.Behead fake
isn’t a fake
to Twitter
Vile China post merely ‘sensitive’
‘repugnant’ photo: A top Chinese Communist
Party official shared this fake image of a grinning Austra-
lian soldier appearing to behead an Afghan child. Twitter
has responded by marking the post as “sensitive.”TwitterCon Edison Proposes Changes to its Demand Response
Programs Starting with the 2021 Capability Period
Consolidated Edison Company of NewYork, Inc. (“Con Edison”
or the “Company”) has filed with the New York State Public
Service Commission (the “Commission”) proposed changes to
its Schedule for Electricity Service, P. S.C. No. 10 – Electricity
(“ElectricTariff”).
Con Edison proposed changes to its demand response
programs as follows: (1) allow calling of Commercial System
Relief Program (“CSRP”) Events on days when heat and/or
humidity are projectedto exceeda given threshold so that the
CSRP program can contribute to managing localized system
peaks on days when the system as a whole is less likely to
reach a peak load threshold; (2) allow Distribution Load Relief
Program (“DLRP”) participants to differentiate their pledged
demand reductions between weekdays and weekends with two
separate pledges with accompanying changes to Performance
Factors; (3) allow the Company to call DLRP events after
6:00 pm; (4) extend emission control requirements to
DLRP Participants for consistency with recently amended
Department of Environmental Conservation regulations for
distributed generation; and (5) extend changes to metering
communicationsrequirements.
The filing, which is subject to Commission review and
approval, was filed on November 2, 2020, and is proposed to
become effective on February 28, 2021.A complete copy of the
filing is available for your inspection at the office of the
Commission, 90 Church Street, 4th floor, New York, New York
10007, and at offices where applications for Con Edison service
may be made.You can also view the filing on the PSC’s website
at http://www.dps.ny.gov under Case 20-E-0547.
CONSOLIDATED EDISON COMPANY OF NEW YORK, INC.