Leftovers

• New York Times ☛ Why Leap Day Is Really About Party Planning

  Judah Levine, top time researcher, explains how Feb. 29 was invented to keep the major holidays from colliding.

• Kev Quirk ☛ I've Finally Completed 100 Days to Offload

  I started the #100DaysToOffload challenge back in April 2020, but I've never been able to complete it. That has now changed. 🎉

  100 posts in the space of a year doesn't sound like a lot, but it's actually very difficult to do. So much so that I've never been able to complete my own challenge, not until now, at least.

  This is actually post number 99 in the last year, but if we add in all the posts I've written as part of the PenPals project I'm easily over 100 posts.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ In a Science First, Astronomers Map Water Right Where Planets Are Expected to Form

    Could this be Earth’s story too?

  • Science Alert ☛ Alzheimer's Might Not Actually Be a Brain Disease, Expert Reveals

    Are we looking at this the wrong way?

  • Science Alert ☛ Earth's Crust Flipped Upside Down After 'Nosediving' Beneath The Mediterranean

    How the heck did that happen?

  • Science Alert ☛ The ISS Has Sprung An Air Leak, But NASA Says There's No Need to Panic

    This problem isn't going away.

• Hardware

  • Linux Gizmos ☛ Analog Discovery Pro ADP2230: New Mixed Signal Oscilloscope from Digilent

  • Hackaday ☛ Piano Feeder Gets Pets Playing For Their Supper

    If you ever watched a video of Piano Cat and wondered if your cat could learn to play, then [Sebastian Sokołowski] has a possible solution with this combination piano tutor and cat feeder.

  • Hackaday ☛ Washing Machine Motors Unlocked

    There’s great potential in salvaging a motor from a broken appliance, but so often the part in question is very specific to its application, presenting a puzzle of wires to the experimenter. This was very much the case with older washing machines and other white goods, and while their modern equivalents may have switched to more understandable motors, there are still plenty of the older ones to be had. [Matthias random stuff] sheds a bit of light on how these motors worked, by means of a 1980s Maytag washing machine motor.

  • Hackaday ☛ A 3-tool Selector Box For A JBC Soldering Station

    Soldering is one of those jobs that are conceptually simple enough, but there’s quite a bit of devil in the detail and having precisely the right tool for the job in hand is essential for speed and quality of results. The higher-quality soldering stations have many options for the hot end, but switching from a simple pencil to hot tweezers often means unplugging one and reattaching the other, and hoping the station recognises the change and does the right thing. [Lajt] had three soldering options and a single output station. Their solution was a custom-built three-way frontend box that provides a push-button selection of the tool to be connected to the station sitting atop.

  • Hackaday ☛ Easily Add Link Cable Support To Your Homebrew GBA Game

    The Game Boy Advance (GBA) link cable is the third generation of this feature which originated with the Gameboy. It not only allows for peripherals to be connected, but also for multiplayer between GBAs – even with just one game copy – and item sharing and unlocking of features in specific games. This makes it an interesting feature to support in today’s homebrew GBA games and applications, made easy by libraries such as [Rodrigo Alfonso]’s gba-link-connection.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ Surprise Discovery: Hair Loss Drug May Lower Risk of Heart Disease

    We had no idea.

  • Science Alert ☛ Surprising Link Found Between Gut Bacteria And Vision Loss

    This could change how we treat it.

  • New York Times ☛ Vaccines Didn’t Turn Back Mpox, Study Finds. People Did. [Ed: Vaccines for mpox did not work. It's just patented junk, scarcely tested and then marketed in the media using mass hysteria. There's some homophobia there, too; they "taught" gays how to behave.]

    Behavior change among gay and bisexual men was more important than shots in curbing the spread, researchers concluded.

  • France24 ☛ More than 100 killed as they queued for aid, Gaza health ministry says

    At least 112 people were killed as Palestinians gathered at an aid distribution point in northern Gaza on Thursday, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said. The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident. The news came hours after the health ministry said the death toll in Gaza had surpassed 30,000 people.

  • teleSUR ☛ Children in Gaza Die in Hospitals From Malnutrition [Ed: Half the population of Gaza is children]

    According to the health authority, famine and drought will devastate Gaza and the most affected will be pregnant women and children.

  • RFERL ☛ German-Iranian Woman Returned To Tehran Prison After Medical Furlough Cut Short

    A German-Iranian woman has been ordered back to jail in Tehran after several weeks of medical leave despite mounting concerns over her health, her daughter said on February 29.

  • JURIST ☛ Alabama senator proposes bill to protect IVF practitioners amidst state supreme court ruling backlash

    Alabama State Senator Tim Melson filed a bill Tuesday in an effort to protect the state’s in-vitro fertilization (IVF) industry following the recent state Supreme Court ruling. Senator Melson proposed Senate Bill 160 in order to prevent more clinics from halting operation.

  • France24 ☛ More than 40 killed in fire in Bangladesh capital

    At least 43 people were killed and dozens injured after a fire blazed through a seven-storey building in an upscale neighbourhood in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka late Thursday, health authorities said.

  • Stanford University ☛ Shining a Light on Healthcare Challenges in Rural India

    The remote and picturesque region of rural Ladakh frequently faces power outages that severely disrupt the delivery of critical medical services. In emergencies, the lack of power hampers critical diagnostic tests, making providing prompt and accurate treatment difficult.

  • Latvia ☛ Doctors ask for better legal protection from violent patients

    Professional organizations of Latvian medical practitioners call for increased responsibility for attacks on medical workers. An open letter signed by the industry's nine organizations and the Emergency Medical Service was sent to the interior, justice, and health ministers, Latvian Radio reported February 29.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Techdirt ☛ Two Screw Ups In 5 Months Give Unauthorized Access To Wyze ‘Smart’ Cameras

      Much like the phrase “smart technology,” the word “security” just doesn’t mean what it used to.

    • New York Times ☛ Biden Calls Chinese Electric Vehicles a Security Threat

      The president ordered an investigation into auto technology that could track U.S. drivers, part of a broader effort to stop E.V. and other smart-car imports from China.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ China has become an electric vehicle export behemoth. How should the US and EU respond?

      The United States and European countries need to better understand the security risks sensor-laden electric vehicles from China could pose.

    • The Strategist ☛ ASIO: We love it when the A-Team’s plan doesn’t come together

      Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Director General Mike Burgess’ Annual Threat Assessment highlighted the principal threats to Australia’s security—in ASIO’s 75th anniversary year.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ US launches ‘unprecedented’ investigation into Chinese connected cars, citing national security concerns

      The Biden administration today announced that it’s launching a probe into Chinese-made smart cars, alleging that the vehicles could be used to collect sensitive information on Americans and cause various kinds of mayhem.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ US to launch probe into security risks of ‘connected vehicles’ using China-made tech

      The United States is launching an investigation into the national security risks of “connected vehicles,” focusing in particular on China-made technology, the US government said Thursday, as worries over data security grow.

• Defence/Aggression

  • RFA ☛ Exclusive: Kim Jong Un is now ‘Great Comrade,’ no longer ‘Great Leader’

    A new oath signals a shift away from his predecessors and elevates Kim Jong Un’s status.

  • New York Times ☛ Scientists in Canada Passed Secrets to China, Investigations Find

    After a prolonged Parliamentary debate, details about two microbiology researchers who were found to have shared secrets with China have been released.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan faces steady 'drip' of pressure as China tightens pre-inauguration squeeze

    Taiwan is facing a steady "drip, drip" of Chinese pressure ahead of the inauguration of its next president in May, with officials in Taipei fearing Beijing could further squeeze the island's room to manoeuvre without resorting to direct conflict.

  • RFA ☛ Philippines will not yield ‘one square inch’ of maritime territory, Marcos says

    The Philippine president told Australia’s Parliament that the two countries must fight together to uphold rules-based order.

  • RFA ☛ Report: Freedom continued to erode in 2023

    Hong Kong and Tibet were among the worst hit. But Thailand, Fiji, Bhutan and Nepal improved.

  • The Strategist ☛ Developing effective deterrence—from the war fighters’ perspective

    The state of deterrence against China in the Indo-Pacific is constantly adapting to the evolving threat Beijing poses to the United States and its allies on multiple fronts.

  • New York Times ☛ In Britain, Shockwaves From Israel-Hamas War Are Jolting Domestic Politics

    The United States and several European nations have been caught up in toxic debates that have altered election campaigns and led to eruptions of inflammatory language over the conflict.

  • Defence Web ☛ Police seize homemade river crossing equipment

    Police have prevented suspected smugglers from using makeshift equipment to cross the Limpopo River. A statement issued by the SA Police Service (SAPS) Provincial Commissioner’s Office in Limpopo has it “operationalised information gathered” saw a homemade wooden ferry and two ladders “seized”.

  • New York Times ☛ Friday Briefing: Many Killed in Gaza as Israelis Open Fire

    Plus Donald Trump’s delay tactics paid off.

  • AntiWar ☛ Washington DC: War Capital of the World

    Holy Moly! Just imagine if Washington discovered Russia or China had placed 12 spy stations on the Texas border.

  • Reason ☛ SCOTUS Takes on Trump

    Plus: Balkan begging, California corruption, Russian gravediggers, and more...

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Who Smuggled Military Technology Pleads Guilty In U.S. Court

      A Russian man pled guilty on February 29 to U.S. charges that he smuggled large quantities of American-made, military-grade microelectronics to Russia, U.S. justice officials said

    • RFERL ☛ Russians Jailed In Mass Cider-Poisoning Case

      A Russian court on February 29 sentenced a former police officer and a father and son to prison terms of between 3 1/4 and 3 1/2 years for their involvement in making and selling cider tainted with methanol, a highly poisonous type of industrial alcohol, that killed 40 people last summer

    • RFERL ☛ Novaya Gazeta Editor In Chief Charged With Discrediting Russia's Military

      The Moscow-based Novaya gazeta newspaper said on February 29 that police detained its chief editor, Sergei Sokolov, and charged him with discrediting Russia's military.

    • Meduza ☛ Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Sergey Sokolov arrested on charges of ‘discrediting’ Russian army — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ U.S.- Russian Citizen's Appeal Against Treason Charge Rejected

      A court in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on February 29 rejected an appeal filed by Russian-American Ksenia Karelina (aka Khavana) against her arrest on a treason charge.

    • teleSUR ☛ Russia to Develop Measures Against Sweden's NATO Membership

      On Monday, Hungarian lawmakers approved a bill on Sweden's bid to join NATO, clearing the way for Sweden's accession to the U.S.-led alliance.​​​​​​

    • YLE ☛ Thursday's papers: Niinistö's final days, Finnish arms sold to Russia, English-only ban proposal

      President Sauli Niinistö has had a busy final week in office as the nation prepares to mark a transition of power with the inauguration of Alexander Stubb on Friday.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania set to close two more checkpoints on border with Belarus

      Only two border checkpoints – at Medininkai and Šalčininkai – will remain open on Lithuania’s border with Belarus following the closure of the Lavoriškės and Raigardas crossings at midnight on Thursday.

    • France24 ☛ Putin says West risks nuclear war if NATO sends troops to Ukraine

      President Vladimir Putin warned Western countries on Thursday that there was a genuine risk of nuclear war if they sent their own troops to fight in Ukraine, and he said Moscow had the weapons to strike targets in the West.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. 'Too Slow' To See Putin Was 'Different Character' When He Returned To Presidency: Former Obama Adviser

      A former top adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama says the United States should have been quicker to recognize a change in Vladimir Putin when he returned to the Kremlin as president in 2012 and more outspoken in confronting his corruption.

    • RFERL ☛ In Address To Russians, Putin Warns Of 'Tragic' Consequences If West Sends Troops To Ukraine

      President Vladimir Putin gave his state of the nation address to Russians on February 29, outlining his view on how the war against Ukraine is progressing and Russia's relations with the West, which he threatened with "tragic" consequences if it sent troops into Ukraine.

    • teleSUR ☛ Russia Will Soon Become the World's 4th Largest Economy: Putin

      Education is the most important guarantee for Russia's sovereignty, President Putin said.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Bowing to Putin’s nuclear blackmail will make nuclear war more likely

      By allowing themselves to be intimidated by Putin’s nuclear threats, Western leaders risk plunging the world into a dark new era of insecurity and aggression, writes Peter Dickinson.

    • New York Times ☛ Putin’s Nuclear Threats Become Background Theme of Ukraine War

      Repeated threats by President Vladimir Putin of Russia to make use of nuclear weapons have become the background theme of the war in Ukraine, often timed for maximum effect.

    • New York Times ☛ Biden Urged Trump to Join Him in Cracking Down on the Border

      Also, Putin threatened nuclear war over NATO intervention. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.

    • New York Times ☛ Putin Warns West of Nuclear War if It Intervenes More in Ukraine

      “We also have weapons that can strike targets on their territory,” Mr. Putin said in an annual speech. “Do they not understand this?”

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Two-pronged approach to Africa pays dividends for Russia

      In the African countries with which Russia has longstanding ties, diplomats lead the way. Elsewhere on the continent, Wagner Group fighters are Moscow's more active representatives. Both official and covert approaches exploit local grievances to push Russia's narrative.

    • RFERL ☛ Former Wagner Fighter Recruited From Russian Prison Gets 17 Years For Sexual Assault

      A former fighter from the Wagner mercenary group, who was recruited from prison to fight in Ukraine, was sentenced to 17 years in prison on February 28 after a court in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk found him guilty of sexually assaulting two schoolgirls last year.

    • Meduza ☛ Former Wagner Group fighter sentenced to 17 years in prison for sexual violence against minors — Meduza

    • Federal News Network ☛ The House approves a short-term extension to avoid a shutdown. Senators are up next to vote

      The House has passed another short-term spending measure that would keep one set of federal agencies operating through March 8 and another set through March 22. The legislation approved Thursday will allow Congress to avoid a shutdown for parts of the federal government set to kick in Saturday. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill later in the day. The short-term extension is the fourth in recent months. The House GOP leadership is voicing increasing expectation that it'll be the last before Congress approves a final spending package for the full year that exceeds $1.6 trillion. The renewed focus on this year’s spending bills doesn’t include a separate effort to provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel.

    • The Strategist ☛ How will Russia’s war on Ukraine end?

      As Russia’s war on Ukraine enters its third year, we need to ask how will this war end? I will examine first, how the military fight is changing and what the prospects are for winners ...

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Gulf region markets offer huge growth potential for Ukraine’s IT sector

      The Gulf region offers opportunities for Ukraine's war-ravaged but vibrant tech sector to reduce its dependence on Western markets and return to growth, writes Anatoly Motkin.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Complicated history helps Russian narratives about Ukraine find a foothold in the Middle East

      Across the Arabic-speaking world, the narratives amplified by Russian state media and local media partners are framed in a way that appeals to audiences in the region and their complicated history with the West.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ After Prigozhin, Russia clamps down online

      Russia rolled out a new internet surveillance system in 2023 to crack down domestically on anti-war content, while pushing false narratives to undermine Ukraine at home and abroad.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ In Latin America, Russia’s ambassadors and state media tailor anti-Ukraine content to the local context

      In the second year of Russia's war on Ukraine, Moscow tried to sell a wider global audience on its version of events. In Latin America, Kremlin media outlets RT en Español and Sputnik Mundo were key players in this effort.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ In Ukraine, Russia tries to discredit leaders and amplify internal divisions

      On the information front, Russia had two goals in year two of its war: convince Ukrainians of their government’s inability to rule the country honestly, and persuade Ukraine’s allies that investing in Ukraine would be wasteful.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ In Europe and the South Caucasus, the Kremlin leans on energy blackmail and scare tactics

      Moscow tried to sow fear among Moldovans, Georgians, and Armenians that what happened to Ukrainians could happen to them.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Undermining Ukraine: How Russia widened its global information war in 2023

      On the battlefield, Russia has made strategic gains. In the information sphere, it has the resources and will to outlast the West.

    • France24 ☛ Pro-Russian separatists in Moldova seek Moscow's 'protection'

      Pro-Russian rebel officials in Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria on Wednesday appealed to Russia for "protection", amid fears the territory could become a new flashpoint in Moscow's conflict with neighbouring Ukraine.

    • LRT ☛ Suspects in Lithuanian filmmaker’s murder in Ukraine identified

      Suspects in the murder of a prominent Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius in Ukraine have been identified, the Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office said on Thursday.

    • RFA ☛ Russia hails Pyongyang for supporting its war against Ukraine

      The move came a few days after Seoul said N Korea has sent over 3 million artillery shells to Russia.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Says 19 Russian Soldiers Killed In Missile Strike In Donetsk Region

      Ukraine's armed forces said on February 29 that 19 Russian soldiers were killed and 12 wounded in a missile strike on a group of Russian troops in the town of Olenivka in the Russian-occupied part of the Donetsk region.

    • RFERL ☛ Two More Billionaires Renounce Russian Citizenship In Wake Of Ukraine War

      Forbes reported on February 29 that billionaires Andrei Baronov and Ratmir Timashev have become the latest tycoons to renounce their Russian citizenship since Moscow launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukrainian Military Says Soldiers Killed In Special Operation In Occupied Kherson

      An unspecified number of Ukrainian special forces soldiers were killed during an operation in the occupied part of Ukraine's southern region of Kherson, the Special Operations Forces of the Ukrainian military said in a statement on February 29.

    • YLE ☛ Niinistö wraps up 12-year presidency with final press conference as Finland's head of state

      Among other things, the president said that Europe needs to be more active in supporting Ukraine.

    • YLE ☛ Finland has not set limits on use of weapons sent to Ukraine

      Ukraine is free to use military aid provided by Finland however it sees fit, say Finnish officials.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Took the City. Now It’s Coming for Their Villages.

      Ukrainian farmers and miners and their families who live to the west of the recently captured Avdiivka are poised to flee in the face of a Russian onslaught.

    • Meduza ☛ Dueling claims on Ukrainian losses What we know — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Plan to Arm Ukraine Would Bypass Aid Blockade by Mike Johnson and the House

      A short-term measure carries political and military risks as the Biden administration considers whether to tap into U.S. stockpiles again.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Federal News Network ☛ Federal employee whistleblower complaints to OSC fall by nearly half over 5 years

    During the same time, OSC saw a more than 40% drop in the number of complaints of prohibited personnel practices, such as whistleblower retaliation complaints.

• Environment

  • YLE ☛ Finland's winter has been exceptionally snowy, cold and long

    While in most parts of the world the weather has been warmer than average, this winter has been snowier, colder and longer than usual in Finland.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • YLE ☛ Energy Authority: Vattenfall manipulated electricity prices, but won't be fined

      The watchdog has been investigating the Swedish energy company's activities since last spring.

    • New York Times ☛ A.I. Frenzy Complicates Efforts to Keep Power-Hungry Data Sites Green [Ed: The "Hey Hi" hype and Ponzi scheme (to bamboozle investors with vapourware) is destroying the planet and making life worse]

      Artificial intelligence’s booming growth is radically reshaping an already red-hot data center market, raising questions about whether these sites can be operated sustainably.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Science Alert ☛ First Ever Footage of Humpback Whales Having Sex Raises Some Awkward Questions

    • Science Alert ☛ This Ancient Vampire Squid Is Destined to Clutch Its Last Prey Forever

      Never let go.

    • YLE ☛ Forest agency: More hunting and fishing crimes last year

      Eastern Finland police are investigating a major poaching ring, in which dozens of people are suspected of killing large predators and protected birds.

    • YLE ☛ Fur farms get over €50m in compensation for bird flu culls

      More than 70 fur farms were ordered to cull animals after avian influenza was found on their premises. Last year, state compensation funds ran out.

• Finance

  • YLE ☛ Finnish economy slipped into recession in late 2023

    In October-December, Finland's gross domestic product contracted by 0.7 percent from the previous quarter and by 1.8 percent year-on-year.

  • YLE ☛ Employment Fund to shrink staff due to adult-education budget cuts

    The state fund said it may have to cut up to 80 jobs due to government plans to end funding for its adult education programme.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Democracy Now ☛ Sen. Merkley: McConnell Paralyzed the Senate & Turned Supreme Court into “Far-Right Legislature”

    As Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell announces he will step down as the Senate’s Republican leader after 17 years — the longest term in Senate history — we speak with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who says, “McConnell’s legacy has been one of obstruction.” He describes McConnell’s “aggressive” use of the filibuster, the topic of Merkley’s new book, Filibustered!: How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America, as having “broken the cycle in which government can function.” Merkley also discusses Republican manipulation of judicial appointments and the cloture motion in pushing the legislature further right.

  • LRT ☛ China resumes visa issuance to Lithuanian citizens

    The Chinese mission in Vilnius has resumed issuing visas to Lithuanian citizens, Paulinas Levickytė, a spokesperson for the foreign minister, confirmed to the ELTA news agency.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia PM supports spy chief decision not to name ex politician who 'sold out'

    
    

    SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday he supported the spy chief's decision not to name a former politician who had "sold out" to a foreign intelligence service.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • France24 ☛ Another Ukraine: a disinformation platform run by an exiled Ukrainian oligarch in Russia

      Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch who is close to Vladimir Putin, found refuge in Russia after leaving Ukraine, where he faces treason charges. He runs a Russian-language portal pushing Kremlin narratives on Ukraine and the war, but his latest foray into disinformation has run into its own challenges.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • RFA ☛ Vietnam police detain YouTube activist on anti-state charges

    One of Nguyen Chi Tuyen’s channels attracted nearly 100,000 followers for commentary on political issues.

  • CCIA ☛ What Is at Stake in the Florida, Texas First Amendment Cases

    After almost three years of litigation, CCIA’s First Amendment challenges to two Florida and Texas social control media laws...

  • RFA ☛ Public trust dives as Hong Kong accelerates security law legislation

    Proposed law will hurt Hong Kong’s status as East-West melting pot, warns poll researcher.

  • JURIST ☛ Hong Kong government concludes public consultation for local security law

    The Hong Kong government announced Wednesday that it concluded the four-week public consultation period for a new local security law under Article 23 of the Basic Law, which is Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.

  • RFA ☛ China's secrets law could mean new risks linked to 'work secrets'

    Analysts say the concept of 'work secrets' extends the domain of state security, could damage confidence.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong says 99% back new security law in public consultation, though participation 15% of 2002 exercise

    Almost 99 per cent of public consultation participants support Hong Kong’s looming homegrown security law, the Security Bureau said on Thursday citing provisional figures. Authorities said they received 13,147 submissions, representing 15 per cent of the more than 90,000 views received during the same exercise in 2002.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong 47: Partner of detained democrat laments ‘less public attention’ on 3rd anniversary of mass prosecution

    Three years after their prosecution in a landmark national security case, a group of 47 leading Hong Kong democrats – most of them behind bars – are still waiting to learn their fate. Emilia Wong, the girlfriend of Ventus Lau, has visited him in prison every day since then.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • The Dissenter ☛ UK Police Targeted Two Journalists With Surveillance Trap

  • France24 ☛ French journalist detained in Ethiopia released after a week

    A French journalist arrested last week in Ethiopia on suspicion of conspiring to create chaos was released on Thursday, his employer, the specialist publication Africa Intelligence, said.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • EFF ☛ We Flew a Plane Over San Francisco to Fight Proposition E. Here's Why.

    Despite the fact that the San Francisco Chronicle has endorsed a NO vote on Prop E, and even quoted some police who don’t find its changes useful to keeping the public safe, proponents of Prop E have raised over $1 million to push this unnecessary, ill-thought out, and downright dangerous ballot measure.

    Prop E is a haphazard mess of proposals that tries to capitalize on residents’ fear of crime in an attempt to gut commonsense democratic oversight of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD). In addition to removing certain police oversight authority from the civilian-staffed Police Commission and expanding the circumstances under which police may conduct high-speed vehicle chases, Prop E would also amend existing law passed in 2019 to protect San Franciscans from invasive, untested, or biased police surveillance technologies. Currently, if the SFPD wants to acquire a new technology, they must provide a detailed use policy to the democratically-elected Board of Supervisors, in a process that allows for public comment. The Board then votes on whether and how the police can use the technology.

  • Techdirt ☛ Alabama Couple Awarded $1 Million Over Warrantless Raid Of Their House That Saw Cops Walk Off With All Their Cash

    Very rarely do you see anyone prevail in court when any form of forfeiture is in play. The forfeiture litigation deck is firmly stacked in favor of the government, which rarely needs anything approaching actual proof to walk off with someone’s property.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Techdirt ☛ The Net Neutrality Fight Will Soon Return, And The Bickering Will Be As Stupid As Ever

    I know people are bored to death after years of infighting over net neutrality. But the FCC’s attempts to impose something vaguely resembling oversight upon a bunch of shitty regional telecom monopolies that have bludgeoned U.S. broadband into uncompetitive rubble still matters, no matter how tired the press and public might be of the debate, or what telecom industry lobbyists might say.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Trademarks

  • Techdirt ☛ BrewDog Wants To Keep Streisanding A Critical Documentary Into The Public View

    Full disclosure as a matter of throat-clearing: I generally like BrewDog, a brewery based in the UK. Between really enjoying their beer in the past and the fact that the company underwent a concerted effort to change its previously draconian stance on IP issues, the company has just generally rubbed me the right way, so to speak.