Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ A Robot Meant For Humans

  Although humanity was hoping for a more optimistic robotic future in the post-war era, with media reflecting that sentiment like The Jetsons or Lost in Space, we seem to have shifted our collective consciousness (for good reasons) to a more Black Mirror/Terminator future as real-world companies like Boston Dynamics are actually building these styles of machines instead of helpful Rosies. But this future isn’t guaranteed, and a PhD researcher is hoping to claim back a more hopeful outlook with a robot called Blossom which is specifically built to investigate how humans interact with robots.

• Hackaday ☛ Recreating Unobtainium Weather Station Sensors

  Imagine you own a weather station. Then imagine that after some years have passed, you’ve had to replace one of the sensors multiple times. Your new problem is that the sensor is no longer available. What does a hacker like [Luca] do? Build a custom solution, of course!

• Hackaday ☛ Your Undocumented Project May Also Baffle People Someday

  What’s life without a little mystery? There’s one less rolling around after historians finally identified a donated mystery machine that had been in storage for years.

• Hackaday ☛ Massive Mural From Thermal Receipt Paper

  Turning trash into art is something we undoubtedly all admire. [Davis DeWitt] did just that with a massive mural made entirely from discarded receipt paper. [Davis] got lucky while doing some light dumpster diving, where he stumbled upon the box of thermal paper rolls. He saw the potential them and, armed with engineering skills and a rental-friendly approach, set out to create something original.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Qualcomm reportedly loses interest in defective chip maker Intel takeover

    Qualcomm is not interested in buying defective chip maker Intel anymore but could consider separate parts of it.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel and U.S. ink funding contract — $7.86 billion under the CHIPS Act, $3 billion from Pentagon

    Intel to get $7.86 billion under CHIPS & Science Act, $3 billion under Secure Enclave program.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Intel secures up to $7.86B in CHIPS Act funding for fab projects [Ed: Bailout of failing company [1, 2]]

    Intel Corp. has won $7.86 billion in funding from the U.S. Commerce Department to upgrade its U.S. chip production infrastructure. The financing, which officials announced today, will be provided under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. defective chip maker Intel is one of several chipmakers set to receive funding under the law.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ x86 reigns supreme as Snapdragon X Elite chips captured just 0.8% of the market with 720,000 units sold in Q3 2024 — Qualcomm misses out on rising Hey Hi (AI) PC sales with defective chip maker Intel and AMD taking charge

    Qualcomm is facing a lot of challenges in solidifying its position in the PC market - powering just 0.8% of all PCs sold in Q3 this year.

  • New York Times ☛ Biden Cuts Intel’s Chip Award by More Than $600 Million

    The Silicon Valley company will receive less money from the CHIPS Act after winning a $3 billion military contract and changing some of its investment commitments.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ Haunted Houses Have a Surprising Effect on The Immune System

    Freaky!

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Bird flu virus was found in raw milk. What to know about the risks

    Raw Farm LLC, of Fresno, California, voluntarily recalled one lot of “cream top” whole raw milk after Santa Clara County health officials found the bird flu virus in a sample last week.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s PM-designate confirms candidates for interior, healthcare ministers

    Lithuania’s Prime Minister-designate Gintautas Paluckas has confirmed that he is nominating Marija Jakubauskienė, the head of the Institute of Health Sciences at Vilnius University’s Faculty of Medicine, for the position of healthcare minister.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong urges early HIV testing amid increase in proportion of late diagnoses

    The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) has called on people to get tested for HIV as it revealed an increase in the proportion of patients getting diagnosed at advanced stages of the infection.

  • Science Alert ☛ There's a Surprisingly Easy Way to Remove Microplastics From Drinking Water

    You may already be doing it.

  • Science Alert ☛ Severe 'Melancholia' Depression Can Be Diagnosed by Facial Expression

    This could change lives.

  • Latvia ☛ Doctors say flu incidence on the rise in Latvia

    The first case of influenza this season was detected in August. Doctors estimate that the number of cases is now slightly higher than last year, TV Kurzeme reported November 25.

  • Latvia ☛ Healthcare union protests against planned changes in emergency services

    The Latvian Health and Social Care Workers' Trade Union (LVSADA) has submitted a request to the Emergency Medical Service (NMPD) to cancel the planned reforms in the service, the union said in a statement on November 26.

  • Latvia ☛ Medical facilities will be allowed to share flu vaccines

    Healthcare facilities will now be able to share unused influenza vaccines. This is foreseen in the changes to the vaccination and medicines rules approved by the Government on Tuesday, November 26.

  • The Kent Stater ☛ On-campus restaurant Tahini permanently closes due to repeated health violations

    Tahini Mediterranean Cuisine, a restaurant previously located in the basement of the student center at Kent State, was shut down by the university due to repeated health department violations with no correction, according to a termination letter obtained through a public records request. This information has not been publicly released by Tahini.

  • Federal News Network ☛ VA updates FY 2025 health care budget shortfall to $6.6B, nearly half its previous estimate

    The Veterans Health Administration saw about a 40% reduction in the use of payment incentives between fiscal 2023 and 2024.

  • France24 ☛ France promises to help chemical submission victims amid mass rape trial

    France will launch reforms to help women who fear they have been drugged and then raped, including state-funded test kits, Prime Minister Michel Barnier said on Monday, in the midst of a mass rape trial that has shocked the country. The kits, that could tell a woman if she had been given such drugs, will be funded through the state health insurance system in several regions on a trial basis, he said, without going into more details.

  • France24 ☛ The problems with plastic recycling: Is there a viable alternative?

    Will the international community manage to come to an agreement to fight plastic pollution? That question is on everyone's minds as representatives from across the globe meet in Busan, South Korea. The challenge is significant: plastics represent a threat to the environment, to biodiversity and to human health.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s vegetable prices soar in bad weather

    The gloomy weather has adversely affected crop yields due to the lack of sunshine.

  • New York Times ☛ Fentanyl Rises Again, This Time as Trump’s Diplomatic Weapon Against China

    The president-elect’s pledge to use tariffs to stem the flow of opioids from China could backfire if Beijing responds by ending counternarcotics cooperation.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Woman in China dies after a series of laser treatments to remove spots on her skin

    She fell into a coma and suffered cardiac arrest after her latest procedure on Oct 21.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Netcraft highlights growing role of Hey Hi (AI) models in Black Friday fake store scams

    A new report from cybercrime detection company Netcraft Ltd. today details the growing role of artificial intelligence large language models in creating fake online stores and content in the lead-up to the annual Black Friday shopping day.

  • Netcraft ☛ Black Friday Gets a Fakeover: Fake Stores Spike 110% by Using LLMs this Holiday Shopping Season

    This article explores Netcraft’s research into the global growth of fake stores, including activity that makes use of the e-commerce platform SHOPYY to target Black Friday shoppers.

  • MD video game studio reacts to volatile industry by unionizing

    The influx of capital brought about several high-profile acquisitions, especially at Microsoft, the owner of Xbox. In 2021, they acquired ZeniMax Media, which is based in Rockville, and includes Bethesda Game Studios, known for titles such as “Fallout” and “The Elder Scrolls.” Microsoft then purchased the publisher Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion in 2023, a deal so large federal regulators both in the U.S. and in the United Kingdom almost killed it.

    The industry consolidated around platformers — the few companies like Microsoft and Sony that own the platforms that games are played on — instead of the many publishers that produce games.

    [...]

    Bethesda faced a shocking round of layoffs at the beginning of 2023, said Taylor Welling, a content producer at Bethesda. Microsoft did not release a headcount of those affected.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian pastor charged with murder of mother; allegedly stuffed body in freezer

    He allegedly committed the offence in March 2021.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China sends naval, air forces to shadow US plane over Taiwan Strait

    Beijing also denounced the US for trying to “mislead“ the international community.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Myanmar rebel army ready for dialogue with junta, with China’s help

    This comes after a year-long battle along the Myanmar-China border.

  • Myanmar insurgent group agrees to talks after Chinese pressure

    China is keen to see an end to turmoil in a neighbor where it has extensive economic interests.

  • Defence Web ☛ Decoding South African military logistics: A bottom-up perspective

    To meet the challenges of the coming decades, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will require a substantial logistics capability that must be flexible and able to deploy quickly.

  • New York Times ☛ G.O.P. Senator Blocking Promotion of General Who Commanded Afghan Withdrawal

    Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue was recently selected to lead the U.S. Army’s Europe Command as the war in Ukraine heads into its fourth year.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea expressed regret to Japan over memorial for mine workers

    South Korea expressed regret to Japan on Monday over Tokyo's attitude towards a memorial service held for labourers including Koreans forced to work in Japan's Sado mines during World War Two, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

  • ADF ☛ Banditry Roils Nigeria’s North West Region

    The Nigerian Air Force, working as part of Operation Hadarin Daji, killed Zamfara-based bandit leader Kachalla Halilu Sububu on September 12, avenging his deadly 2021 attack on a Katsina military base.

  • ADF ☛ Uganda Gets Second Portable Hospital

    The United States has provided a second $5.5 million state-of-the-art Level 2 field hospital to the Ugandan military to help with rapid deployment to regional peacekeeping missions, humanitarian emergencies and medical crises. The 22-bed facility, which meets United Nations specifications, has specialized suites for dental and surgical care and for treating infectious diseases.

  • ADF ☛ RSF Accused Of Widespread Sexual Violence in Sudan

    Sexual violence against women and girls of all ages is rampant in war-torn Sudan, including rape, gang rape, forced marriages and sexual slavery. A new United Nations report found that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia is using sexual violence as a deliberate tactic “intending to terrorize civilians.”

  • ADF ☛ M23 Rebels ‘Version 2’ Seeks to Build Stronghold in DRC

    Heavily armed M23 rebels sat in trucks and on motorcycles at a checkpoint along the Sake-Kilolirwe-Kitshanga road in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They stopped every traveler, took stock of their inventory, demanded a tax payment and issued a hand-written receipt.

  • ADF ☛ DRC Struggles to Control Illegal Chinese Gold Mining Operations

    In the town of Kamituga, in the heavily forested eastern reaches of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, artisanal gold mining is big business. Thousands of people in South Kivu province work in vast open-pit mines in the faint hope of making a few dollars a day.

  • Defence Web ☛ Stilfontein’s dangerous and desperate illegal mining industry

    When zama zamas go hungry deep underground in the abandoned mines where they illegally mine for gold, they sometimes resort to eating a mixture of toothpaste and toilet paper. “You mix a soft porridge with water,” one of the miners said, miming his belly becoming full. “It hurts to swallow.

  • Defence Web ☛ Crime beginning to decrease says Mchunu, but DA says more work to be done

    Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu has released the second-quarter crime statistics and highlighted progress and challenges experienced by the South African Police Service (SAPS), indicating crime is beginning to slow down, but more work is needed to be done.

  • ADF ☛ New AU Mission in Somalia Will Have Defined Mandate, Huge Challenges

    The new African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) is expected to differ significantly from previous AU missions in the country. While the previous missions struggled with multiple, sometimes conflicting, roles and expectations, AUSSOM will have a more defined role, according to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Indonesia hasn’t signed a new weapons deal with Russia: ministry

      Russian media said last week Indonesia had asked to buy weapons.

    • RFERL ☛ Protests Against Pro-Russian Romanian Presidential Candidate Spread Beyond Bucharest

      Protests against the rise of pro-Russian politician Calin Georgescu spread beyond Bucharest to other Romanian cities on November 26 after his surprise victory in the presidential election over the weekend.

    • RFERL ☛ Former RFE/RL Contributor Gets 4 Years In Prison In Siberia

      A court in the Siberian city of Chita has sentenced journalist Nika Novak, a former contributor to RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities project, to four years in prison on a charge of "collaboration with a foreign organization on a confidential basis."

    • New York Times ☛ As Russia Advances in Ukraine, a Cop Has to Flee City After City

      For Volodymyr Nikulin, being a wartime police officer means aiding evacuees, surviving a shrapnel wound and tackling looters. It also means quickly switching cities when one falls to the invaders.

    • New York Times ☛ Blinken and U.S. Allies Struggle with Wars as Biden’s Presidency Wanes

      Top diplomats from the Group of 7 nations tried to project unity on Ukraine while discussing differences over Israel and anticipating the return of Donald J. Trump.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Fires Record Number of Drones in Overnight Assault, Ukraine Says

      On Tuesday, Ukraine also reported enduring an immense Russian air assault overnight that involved nearly 200 drones, as both sides intensified air attacks.

    • Meduza ☛ Ukraine’s Air Force reports record drone numbers in overnight Russian attack — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ British national, reportedly captured on Russian soil while fighting for Ukraine, remanded into custody — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Picking up speed As Kyiv struggles to counter Moscow’s multipronged offensive, Russia launches a surprise assault on another Ukrainian stronghold — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Expels British Diplomat Over Alleged Espionage Activities

      Russia has expelled Edward Prior Wilks, a second secretary in the Political Department of the British Embassy in Moscow, accusing him of espionage under diplomatic cover.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Opens Criminal Case Against Brit Accused Of Terrorism, Mercenary Activities

      Russia's Investigative Committee announced on November 26 that it had opened a criminal case against James Scott Rhys Anderson, a British citizen accused of committing terrorism and mercenary activities.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian-Installed Court In Donetsk Sentences Georgian Legion Leader In Absentia

      The so-called Supreme Court in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Donetsk has sentenced Mamuka Mamulashvili, the leader of the Georgian Legion, to 23 years in prison in absentia.

    • RFERL ☛ G7 Foreign Ministers Renew Support For Ukraine In Final Summit Document

      The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized countries expressed their support for Ukraine on November 26 in the final statement following their summit in Italy. They also condemned what they described as Russia's "irresponsible and threatening nuclear rhetoric."

    • North Korea sent 100 ballistic missiles to Russia: Ukraine

      A Ukrainian defense intelligence unit said Pyongyang also sent military specialists to help Moscow.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania hands in note to Russia over war crimes against Ukraine

      Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry has handed in a note to Russia, expressing strong protest over the country’s ongoing war crimes against Ukraine and its people.

    • France24 ☛ Russia says Ukraine has launched two more ATACMS missile strikes

      Russia on Tuesday accused Ukraine of launching two more attacks on its territory using US-supplied ATACMS missiles in recent days, adding that it was preparing "retaliatory actions".

    • France24 ☛ Russian court orders arrest of FRANCE 24 journalist who reported from Kursk

      A Russian court has ordered the arrest of FRANCE 24's senior reporter Catherine Norris Trent on charges of crossing illegally into its western Kursk region to file a report on the Ukrainian army's summer incursion.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian military reports two ATACMS attacks by Ukraine in past few days, claims to have shot down most missiles — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Biden asks Congress for additional $24 billion in aid to Ukraine — Politico — Meduza

    • NYPost ☛ Biden makes last-ditch ask of Congress for $24 billion to help Ukraine: report

      President Biden is reportedly making a last-minute plea to Congress for $24 billion in aid for war-torn Ukraine to bolster its military support and replenish US stocks that had dwindled under past aid.

    • Latvia ☛ Invitation to help Ukrainian kids this Christmas

      For a third year, the association "Tavi draugi" is launching its "Christmas Express Latvia – Ukraine" charity campaign, inviting Latvian residents to become Santa's elves and send Christmas gifts to children in Ukraine.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Abandoning Georgia to the Kremlin would be a big geopolitical blunder

      Georgia is far from a lost cause, but it will require bold Western leadership to prevent the country’s capture by the Kremlin, writes Zviad Adzinbaia.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Russia’s evolving information war poses a growing threat to the West

      Western governments have yet to adequately address the threat posed by Russia's highly sophisticated and rapidly evolving information warfare, write Kateryna Odarchenko and Elena Davlikanova.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian occupation officials outside Kherson report a failed Ukrainian assassination attempt that used drones — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ EU increased trade with Russia in third quarter

      Data published by Eurostat November 25 show that both imports and exports increased between the European Union and warmonger Russia in the third quarter of 2024.

    • Meduza ☛ Ukrainian prosecutors open another investigation — their 38th of the year — into Russian troops executing POWs — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Lawyer arrested over attacks on Russian opposition figures appears to ask Khodorkovsky for bail in newly published letter — Meduza

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong is becoming ‘critical player’ in ‘authoritarian axis’ with Russia and Iran, US lawmakers say

      US lawmakers urged the government Monday to rethink banking ties with Hong Kong, citing its “increasing role” in money laundering, sanctions evasions and reported funneling of banned technology to Russia.

    • LRT ☛ NATO must draw red lines for Russia over hybrid attacks – Lithuanian FM

      Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on Tuesday called on NATO to draw strict red lines for Russia over hybrid attacks and to send a unified message about the alliance’s response to such actions.

    • New York Times ☛ Saudi Arabia and Russia Block Mention of Fossil Fuel Exit in Climate Resolution

      A handful of oil-producing nations ensured that a United Nations General Assembly resolution on climate change steered clear of a call to transition away from fossil fuels.

    • ADF ☛ Arrest of Russian in Chad Lifts Veil on Continental Influence Operation

      The arrest of a shadowy political operative in Chad is shedding light on Russia’s efforts to interfere in the domestic affairs of African countries. On September 19, 2024, Maxim Shugaley was detained at the airport in N’Djamena along with two Russian colleagues and one from Belarus.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region without power, says Kremlin-installed head — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ Riga Security Forum podcast: 'Russia's war against Ukraine: stalemate or checkmate?'

      Another episode in the Riga Security Forum series of podcasts from the Latvian Institute of International Affairs (LIIA) is now available and this one takes as its topic Russia's war in Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Attacked With 'Record' 192 Drones, Missiles As NATO Gauges Russia's New Weapon

      Russia on November 26 launched 188 drones and four cruise missiles at targets in Ukraine -- a record number of projectiles in a single attack, as NATO and Ukrainian envoys prepared to gather in Brussels to assess Moscow's launching last week of an experimental missile at a Ukrainian city.

    • RFERL ☛ In New Book, Merkel Justifies Stance On Ukraine At 2008 NATO Summit

      Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has written an autobiography in which she reaffirms her decision to push back against offering Ukraine future membership in NATO at a summit in 2008 despite criticism that such a move may have prevented Russia from invading Ukraine.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Putin’s Ukraine obsession began 20 years ago with the Orange Revolution

      Vladimir Putin’s poisonous obsession with Ukraine first began to take root 20 years ago when millions of Ukrainians directly defied him during the Orange Revolution, writes Peter Dickinson.

    • Meduza ☛ HIV-related deaths decreased globally over 12-year period — but increased in Russia and many neighboring countries — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ New U.S. sanctions target the only bank handling European payments for Russian gas. But the effects will go beyond the energy sector. — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Pay up and keep living’: A Russian draftee who refused to take up arms recounts military life, torture in prison, and desertion — Mediazona — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russian military appoints new Southern District commander amid rumors of ‘systematic deception’ by predecessor — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Turkish court orders retrial in Russian feminist’s killing amid concerns of a cover-up — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Investigations, long reads, and open-data analysis: A selection of Meduza’s best English-language reporting — Meduza

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Ruben Schade ☛ Can I use toll rebates for public transport?

      A few of you have said you enjoy it when I get stuck into car culture and public transport, so here’s one for you! Last week I received a newsletter from the New South Wales state government, with the following subject line:

      Claim a toll rebate up to $340 a week

    • Business Insider ☛ The full list of auto companies cutting jobs, including GM, Ford, and Stellantis

      A protracted transition to electric vehicles is taking its toll on global car companies, many of which still have yet to profit from battery-powered vehicles.

    • Latvia ☛ Rīga Port to produce green fuel

      The first renewable fuel production plant in the Baltic region is to be established in the Port of Riga in cooperation with investors from Ukraine, said the Freeport of Riga Authority on November 26. The main raw material for the production of renewable fuels will be vegetable oils.

  • Overpopulation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Fertility rate in South Korea projected to rise for the first time in nine years [Ed: Fertility is the wrong term; it's about whether people choose to or not]

      The country’s fertility rate is projected to reach 0.74 in 2024.

• Finance

  • JURIST ☛ Hong Kong top court affirms same-sex couple rights in housing policies and inheritance law

    The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal ruled on Tuesday that the exclusion of homosexual couples in the current public housing policies and inheritance laws amounts to unlawful discrimination and is unconstitutional.

  • New York Times ☛ Judge Approves National Association of Realtors Lawsuit Settlement

    Following a lawsuit, the National Association of Realtors was ordered to rewrite its rules governing agents’ commissions and pay $418 million in damages.

  • France24 ☛ Zimbabwe charts ambitious return to global finance at debt conference

    Zimbabwe's president hosted creditors and finance executives on Monday to discuss ambitious goals to clear debt arrears and restructure $12.7 billion in external debt, as the country aims to eventually tap international capital markets for the first time in more than two decades. The Southern African nation's debt pile accounts for 81% of gross domestic product, and clearing it will be a tough challenge for a country that has faced numerous financial crises in recent decades, from repeated bouts of hyperinflation to multiple unsuccessful attempts to launch new currency regimes.

  • CS Monitor ☛ How Trump’s proposed tariffs could dramatically raise prices on consumer goods

    President-elect Donald Trump announced Nov. 25 he would impose sweeping new tariffs on countries he says have allowed illegal immigrants and drugs to enter the United States. If the import tax were implemented, prices could spike for Americans.

  • Software Freedom Conservancy ☛ 2024 Fundraiser launches with historic match challenge! [Ed: But who does this matching? GAFAM? That matters the most. That matching isn't enough to even pay Sandler's humongous salary.]

    The 2024 Software Freedom Conservancy match fundraiser launches today with an historic $204,887 match total!

  • North Korean women use wet wipes to flaunt their status

    Formerly only available via import, paper companies are now producing them domestically.

  • New York Times ☛ Trump Plans Tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico That Could Cripple Trade

    The president-elect said that he would impose the across-the-board tariffs on Day 1 and that they would stay in place until Canada, Mexico and China halted the flow of drugs and migrants.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Is Trump’s latest tariff threat on China the first step towards another trade war?

    Responding to Trump's threat, the Chinese embassy in Washington said: “Nobody wins in a tariff or trade war.”

  • Trump vows an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods

    The US president-elect blamed the ‘invasion’ of fentanyl and illegal immigrants.

  • New York Times ☛ Tariff Threats Show Trump’s Commitment to Upending Global Trade

    The president-elect’s threat to hit Canada, Mexico and China with new tariffs is already rocking business and diplomatic relationships and could topple the trade pacts he signed in his first term.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Ex-Bank of China chairman gets suspended death sentence for bribery: State media

    Liu "truthfully confessed" the crime and most of the stolen money and property has been recovered.

  • The Strategist ☛ China’s strategic shift to ‘small but beautiful’ projects

    Amid an economic downturn and intensifying competition in the Pacific, China is refining its foreign investment strategy, increasingly starting projects it calls ‘small but beautiful’.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ S’pore-China cooperation ‘especially valuable’ in troubled world, SM Lee tells President Xi

    ‘You are the Chinese people’s old friend, a good friend,’ President Pooh-tin tells SM Lee.

  • China seeks easing of Japan ties amid growing tension with US

    Beijing extends olive branch in hope of more Japanese investment.

  • New York Times ☛ Would Bernie Sanders Have Won?

    Faiz Shakir makes a case for the Democratic Party to embrace economic populism.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Immigrants’ Resentment Over New Arrivals Helped Boost Trump’s Popularity With Latino Voters

  • FAIR ☛ On Sports Gambling, ‘Are We Just Going to Let Companies Write the Rule Book?’

  • FAIR ☛ WaPo: When Israeli Leaders Commit War Crimes, They Can Prosecute Themselves

    Predictably, Israel and its allies condemned the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Washington Post, 11/21/24). A press release from the court (11/21/24) accused the Israeli leaders of “crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.” These consisted of “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare,” “the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts” and “the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.”

  • Pro Publica ☛ How Donald Trump Plans to Take Spending Control From Congress

    Donald Trump is entering his second term with vows to cut a vast array of government services and a radical plan to do so. Rather than relying on his party’s control of Congress to trim the budget, Trump and his advisers intend to test an obscure legal theory holding that presidents have sweeping power to withhold funding from programs they dislike.

    “We can simply choke off the money,” Trump said in a 2023 campaign video. “For 200 years under our system of government, it was undisputed that the president had the constitutional power to stop unnecessary spending.”

  • EFF ☛ EFF Tells the Second Circuit a Second Time That Electronic Device Searches at the Border Require a Warrant

    The case, U.S. v. Smith, involved a traveler who was stopped at Newark airport after returning from a trip to Jamaica. He was detained by border officers at the behest of the FBI and his cell phone was forensically searched. He had been under investigation for his involvement in a conspiracy to control the New York area emergency mitigation services (“EMS”) industry, which included (among other things) insurance fraud and extortion. He was subsequently prosecuted and sought to have the evidence from his cell phone thrown out of court.

    As we wrote about last year, the district court made history in holding that border searches of cell phones require a warrant and therefore warrantless device searches at the border violate the Fourth Amendment. However, the judge allowed the evidence to be used in Mr. Smith’s prosecution because, the judge concluded, the officers had a “good faith” belief that they were legally permitted to search his phone without a warrant.

    The number of warrantless device searches at the border and the significant invasion of privacy they represent is only increasing. In Fiscal Year 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) conducted 41,767 device searches.

  • GCHQ puzzles & FINMA Swiss secrets solved by the Irish

    In 2016, an Irishman called David McBryan found the solution to the British puzzle.

    In Septmeber 2023, FINMA, the Swiss financial regulator, published a dossier about the JuristGate affair. They redacted the names of the enterprises. They redacted the dates in the dossier.

    When Gaelle Jeanmonod published the document, she wrote "PTP" in the filename:

  • Conférence latine des Batonniers warned lawyers in Cantonal bar associations FR, BE, GE, JU, NE, TI, VD and VS

    We found a document in the Wayback Machine.

    According to the file, Julie Krattinger (ODA VD) created the document 28 april 2021.

    She wrote the acronym "PTP" in the filename. Parreaux, Thiébaud & Partners = PTP

    Nicolas Gillard, President of the Conférence latine des Batonniers signed the document.

    The bar association of Canton Geneva published the document on their web site and then it disappeared. Why?

  • Cybertorture in Ireland and the European Union

    In February 2020, The Guardian reported on work undertaken by Prof Nils Melzer, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment concerning the subject of Cybertorture.

    People were quick to prove the phenomena is real by creating fake web sites to mock the term cybertorture.

    Mr Pocock, on the other hand, began meticulously researching the evidence in distributed online communities, such as the open source developer community creating the Debian GNU/Linux software. Mr Pocock has created a detailed index of the incidents in the high-stress Debianist environment.

  • JuristGate: illegal cross-border legal insurance from Switzerland

    Customers who purchased the insurance have been victims of miscarriages of justice. The Swiss regulator FINMA has hidden details from the customers. Customers may be at risk of suicide and other adverse consequences.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • The Straits Times ☛ Philippines, China clashes trigger money-making disinformation networks

      Analysts say the content often mirrors China’s position on the dispute.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • France24 ☛ Algeria holds French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal on national security charges

    Algerian authorities have detained the prize-winning French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal on national security charges, his French lawyer said on Tuesday, days after French authorities expressed concern over the writer's fate.

  • Vietnam’s new internet rules bad for free speech, business: users

    A decree that will come into force next month tightens restrictions on data gathering and content removal.

  • Chinese censors delete fried rice gags linked to death of Mao’s son

    Nov. 25 is jokingly called China's 'Thanksgiving' for the country's escape from a North Korean-style Mao dynasty.

  • Zimbabwe ☛ China’s Firewall Tech Tested in Pakistan, Censorship on Steroids —Let’s Hope Zim Doesn’t Copy

    Pakistan’s government has deployed a national internet firewall using Chinese technology, costing between 20 to 30 billion rupees ($72m to $107m). The system is aimed at enhancing online surveillance and controlling popular apps.

    The firewall’s rollout coincides with heightened political tensions, including protests demanding the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, which have led to mobile internet suspensions and social media restrictions.

    See guys, it’s not just Zimbabwe engaging in stuff like this—governments love restricting social media use. Can’t have you free to discuss their shortcomings now, can they?

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ National World accuses shareholder seeking takeover of financial ‘irregularities’

    Media Concierge has rejected allegations of "irregularities" as "baseless".

  • Press Gazette ☛ Warning of imminent, ‘irreparable’ fracture of news landscape without action

    The UK’s news landscape could fracture “irreparably” in the next five to ten years with “grim” implications, a new Parliamentary report has warned.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • NYPost ☛ Teen athletes who protested trans teammate with ‘Save Girls’ Sports’ shirts sue district that compared apparel to swastika

    The lawsuit alleges the district infringed on their constitutional right when school authorities told them to remove or conceal their shirts, calling their attire hostile and intimidating -- likening the messaging to that of a swastika, according to the lawsuit.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ China’s atrocity crimes in Xinjiang are entering an even darker phase. The UN must act.

    The suffering of the Uyghur people continues in Xinjiang, and the United Nations has a responsibility to act on its recommendations.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Ruben Schade ☛ “Writing Month” so far

    I posted this on Mastodon, but thought it was fun to share.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Digital Music News ☛ Drake Claims UMG and Spotify Artificially Inflated the Popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ [Ed: It is just another form of social control media, this one with DRM]

    Drake alleges in a court filing that UMG and Spotify falsely inflated the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track about him. The feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar might escalate to a lawsuit.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Which of These Three Section 2(d) Refusals Was/Were Overturned on Appeal?

    The TTAB affirmance rate for Section 2(d) appeals continues to run at about 90% so far this year. Here three recent Board decisions, at least one of which reversed the refusal. How do you think they came out?

    In re Agrinova Science S.A., Serial No. 97636947 (November 12, 2024) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Jennifer L. Elgin). [Section 2(d) refusal of the mark AGRINOVA SCIENCE & Design for, inter alia, fertilizer, compost, and agricultural chemicals and for on-line retail store services featuring chemicals of all kinds for use in agriculture, horticulture and forestry [SCIENCE disclaimed], in view of the registered mark AGRINOVA for "Fresh agricultural products, namely, vegetables, fruits, herbs, living grass, natural turf, and seeds, none of the foregoing including potatoes."

• Copyrights

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Strange Gods: Charles Fort’s Book of the Damned (1919)

    Rains of blood and frogs, mysterious disappearances, baffling objects in the sky: these were the anomalies that fascinated Charles Fort in his *Book of the Damned*. “For every five people who read this book“, wrote one reviewer, “four will go insane”. Joshua Blu Buhs recounts Fort’s early life, unfinished manuscripts (“X”, “Y”), and the philosophical monism that informed his research.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Diagramming Dante: Michelangelo Caetani’s Maps of the Divina Commedia (1855/1872)

    Charts and maps that try to visualise the contours of heaven, the dimensions of hell.

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Kim Dotcom Suffers "Serious Stroke" and "Cannot Communicate Effectively"

    Kim Dotcom is recovering in hospital after reportedly suffering a stroke earlier this month. Dotcom was taken to a local hospital on November 7 and then rushed to a regional hospital for treatment. A post to X in Dotcom's name on Monday informed followers that after suffering "a serious stroke" his recovery is now in the hands of "the best health professionals."

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Supreme Court Seeks U.S. Govt's View on 'Repeat Infringer' Piracy Cases

    The Supreme Court has signaled its interest in a landmark case that could redefine anti-piracy enforcement. By calling on the Solicitor General to weigh in on the "repeat infringer" dispute between Cox Communications and several record labels, it has become more likely that the Supreme Court will eventually share its opinion on the "billion dollar" piracy controversy.