Leftovers

• Thomas Rigby ☛ Blogging Expectations

  I don't want to "increase my visibility" but I would like "more people to read my blog". And there is the difference; writing for "engagement" is a cancer on the internet.

  I write my own thoughts and opinions on topics I choose and I don't temper my language or tone for any reason.

• Manuel Moreale ☛ When a side project finds you

  I didn’t plan to start working on a new side project and yet, here we are. Back in the summer of 2023 when I had the idea for People and Blogs and I purchased the peopleandblogs.com domain name I said to myself “This is the last domain I’m gonna buy for a side project”.

• James G ☛ How audible is this URL?

  I want URLs that I say in speech to be as easy to remember and type as possible – indeed, these are properties that I want of all URLs. For example, if I want to mention my web blog posts, I can say that you can go to jamesg.blog/web. You can go to /coffee to see my coffee blog posts.

• Mike Brock ☛ The Theater of Intimacy

  The center must be held—not because it is easy, but because it is ours to hold. And holding it requires recognizing that private charm is not a moral category that offsets public harm, that being likable in person is not a counterweight to undermining democratic institutions, that the coherence we should seek is not about reconciling contradictory impressions but about recognizing how they function together in the service of power.

• Matt Keeter ☛ A warning story about continuity

  Most of the time, modeling with distance fields is flexible and robust. Discontinuities are one of the few cases where you have to think about the actual shape of the field. If you're building tools in this vein, it's worth thinking about helping users to diagnose and debug these kinds of issues!

• Standards/Consortia

  • CNX Software ☛ BPS is a GPS alternative working over ATSC 3.0 digital TV signals

    Broadcast Positioning System (BPS) is an alternative to GPS designed for timing and positioning over ATSC 3.0 digital TV signals, and mainly designed as a backup solution for national security. GPS is critical in providing not only location data, but also timing data for critical infrastructure such as power grid, telecommunication networks, and so on. However, GPS signals can be spoofed, and/or satellites could potentially be damaged or even taken down.

• Career/Education

  • The New Stack ☛ Beyond ROWE: Why Results-Only Work Isn’t Always a Win

    The idea behind ROWE is to give employees high autonomy to decide how they achieve their performance metrics. This way, they can work when and where they do their best work and find the ideas that will contribute the most to the outcomes. Employees who get a say in their work tend to be more motivated and creative.

    In some ways, a results-only workplace allows employees to have similar drivers as a small business founder. They can choose when and how they work and are motivated to achieve good outcomes.

  • New York Times ☛ Harvard Professors Sue Convicted Felon Administration Over Threat to Federal Funds

    The administration is reviewing about $9 billion in federal funding that the university receives.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Hacking A Cheap Rechargeable Lamp With Non-Standard USB-C Connector

    Recently [Dillan Stock] over at The Stock Pot YouTube channel bought a $17 ‘mushroom’ lamp from his local Kmart that listed ‘USB-C rechargeable’ as one of its features, the only problem being that although this is technically true, there’s a major asterisk. This Inaya-branded lamp namely comes with a USB-C cable with a rather prominent label attached to it that tells you that this lamp requires that specific cable. After trying with a regular USB-C cable, [Dillan] indeed confirmed that the lamp does not charge from a standard USB-C cable. So he did what any reasonable person would do: he bought a second unit and set about to hacking it.

  • Hackaday ☛ Biting Off More Than I Can Chew

    Earlier this year, I bought one of those K40-style laser machines that was listed at a ridiculously low price, and it arrived broken. Well, let me qualify that: the laser tube and the power supply work perfectly, but that’s about the best you can say about it.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Adds Tariff Exemptions for Smartphones, Computers and Other Electronics

    A long list of electronic products got a reprieve for now from at least some of the levies on China, which had been expected to take a toll on tech giants like Apple.

  • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man exempts smartphones, computers from 'reciprocal' tariffs

    The Forrest Dump administration has exempted smartphones, computers and other electronics from new tariffs on Chinese imports, according to a notice published late Friday – softening the blow for US consumers and tech firms as broader trade penalties take effect.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man exempts computers, smartphones, and more from tariffs

    The tech industry is delighted that computers, smartphones, semiconductor chips, and more are officially exempt from tariffs on foreign imports.

  Smartphones and computers are now exempt from Trump’s latest tariffs

  Smartphones, computer monitors and various electronic parts are among the exempted products. The exemption applies to products entering the United States or removed from warehouses as early as April 5, according to the notice.

• Bryan Lunduke ☛ On Tariffs & Computer Production

  I put on my "Guy Who Was an Executive at Computer Hardware Companies" hat to talk about China, Tariffs, Computer production, and Framework Computer making a political statement.

• Hackaday ☛ A 17th Century Music Computer

  We don’t think of computers as something you’d find in the 17th century. But [Levi McClain] found plans for one in a book — books, actually — by [Athanasius Kirker] about music. The arca musarithmica, a machine to allow people with no experience to compose church music, might not fit our usual definition of a computer, but as [Levi] points out in the video below, there are a number of similarities to mechanical computers like slide rules.

• Hackaday ☛ DIY Soldering Tweezers, Extra Thrifty

  It started when [Mitxela] was faced with about a hundred incorrectly-placed 0603 parts. Given that he already owned two TS101 soldering irons, a 3D printer, and knows how to use FreeCAD (he had just finished designing a custom TS101 holder) it didn’t take long to create cost-effective DIY soldering tweezers.

• Hackaday ☛ Tiny Pogo Robot Gets Wings, Does Flips

  Most robots depend on controlled environments, because the real world is hard to get around in. The smaller the robot, the bigger this problem because little wheels (or legs) can take only little steps. One way around that is MIT’s latest one-legged hopping robot, which sports a set of four insect-like wings on its top end and can quickly pogo-hop its way across different terrain with ease.

• Science Alert ☛ Trillionth of a Second Shutter Speed Camera Snaps Chaos in Action

  Blink and you'll miss it.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

• The Straits Times ☛ Japan probes medical insurance for foreigners amid misuse concerns

  Foreigners staying in the country for over 3 months must enrol in the National Health Insurance programme.

• JURIST ☛ Rights group highlights global healthcare funding inequalities using WHO data

  Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday that most countries are failing to meet their human rights obligations by not allocating sufficient public funding to ensure the right to health. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published its Global Health Expenditure Database (GHED), which offers data on healthcare spending across 194 countries and territories since 2022.

• Science Alert ☛ A Sprinkle of Artificial Sweetener Could Help Battle Drug-Resistant Bacteria

  A sweet surprise.

• Science Alert ☛ The Mere Thought of Being Hungry Could Alter Your Immune System

  The brain makes it real.

• Science Alert ☛ This Simple Trick Could Help You Hear Better in a Noisy Room

  An astonishing finding!

• Science Alert ☛ This Fungus Contains The Most Bitter Substance Known to Humankind

  Do not eat this.

• Science Alert ☛ Bird Flu Is Evolving Dangerously, But We Can Prevent a Disaster

  We need to act.

• TruthOut ☛ Thousands of Water Systems Across US Have Dangerous Cancer-Causing Chemicals

  An analysis of testing results from community water systems in 49 states found that nearly 6,000 such systems serving 122 million people recorded an unsafe level of chemicals known as trihalomethanes at least once during testing from 2019 to 2023.

• Jacobin Magazine ☛ Young Men Are Not Lazily Opting Out of Work

  This leaves us with about 6 to 7 percent of young men who are not in the labor force in a long-term way. Some of those individuals are simply disabled or face other kinds of legitimate employment challenges. I’m sure at least some others are jobless gamers who live at home, the Hikikomori of America.

• CoryDoctorow ☛ Pluralistic: Blue Cross of Louisiana doesn’t give a shit about breast cancer

  A jury has ordered Blue Cross of Louisiana to pay $421m to a hospital specializing in a much sought-after type of breast reconstruction, primarily for cancer survivors. The insurer "preapproved" surgeries for thousands of patients, but then held back 92% of the payments it owed, with CEO Steven Udvarhelyi insisting that "authorization never says we’re going to pay you": [...]

• Pro Publica ☛ Blue Cross Defrauded Breast Cancer Center, Must Pay $421M, Jury Finds

  However, interviews with scores of doctors, patients and insurance executives, as well as reviews of internal documents, regulatory filings and academic studies, reveal a fundamental truth: The two sides are not evenly matched. Insurance companies are players in the fight over money, and they are also the referees. Insurers produce their own guidelines to determine whether to pay claims. When a doctor appeals a denial, insurers make all the initial decisions. In legal settings, insurers are often given favorable standing in their ability to set what conditions they are required to cover. Federal and state insurance regulators lack the resources to pursue individual complaints against multibillion-dollar companies. Six major insurers, which include some of the nation’s largest companies, cover half of all Americans. They are pitted against tens of thousands of doctors’ practices and large hospital chains.

Proprietary

• India Times ☛ ChatGPT overtakes TikTok, Instagram to become most downloaded app globally in March

  In the Apple App Store, ChatGPT led with 13 million downloads. On the Google Play Store, it secured the third position with 33 million downloads, behind Instagram and TikTok. However, its combined total of 46 million app installations made it the most downloaded app in the world.

• One-Click Checkout Startup Bolt Laying Off 10% of Workforce

  Bolt reportedly laid off 10% of its workforce on Tuesday (Jan. 24).

  The Information reported Tuesday that with the layoffs of these 50 employees, the one-click checkout startup has reduced its headcount by more than half since last May.

  Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla attributed the latest cuts to “quite a few” company projects not working out and some proposed deals with retailers being delayed, according to the report, which cited unnamed sources.

  Reached for comment, a Bolt spokesperson told PYMNTS via email, “we regretfully had to let go some of our talented employees.”

  When the company began to cut staff in May, Bloomberg reported that Kuruvilla said in a memo to staff that it was “no secret” that the market conditions in the industry had been changing.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • The Straits Times ☛ More police reports lodged against Johor teen over AI-doctored lewd pics

    Suspect used Hey Hi (AI) to edit photos of victims, obtained through social control media before selling.

  • The Register UK ☛ Report: Massive amounts of $$$ still being pumped into AI

    If you think that sounds depressing, the report also stresses that complex reasoning is still out of reach for AI models. Even with mechanisms such as chain-of-thought reasoning to boost their performance, large language models (LLMs) are unable to reliably solve problems for which a solution can be found using logical reasoning, making them unsuitable still for many applications.

  • SANS ☛ Exploit Attempts for Recent Langflow Hey Hi (AI) Vulnerability (CVE-2025-3248), (Sat, Apr 12th)

    Two weeks ago, version 1.3.0 of Langflow was released. The release notes list many fixes but do not mention that one of the "Bug Fixes" addresses a major vulnerability.

  • Hackaday ☛ The Incomplete JSON Pretty Printer (Brought To You By Vibes)

    Incomplete JSON (such as from a log that terminates unexpectedly) doesn’t parse cleanly, which means anything that usually prints JSON nicely, won’t. Frustration with this is what led [Simon Willison] to make The Incomplete JSON pretty printer, a single-purpose web tool that pretty-prints JSON regardless of whether it’s complete or not.

  • Chris Done ☛ The LLM Curse

    How a language interacts with the people that use it is quite important.

  • Hackaday ☛ Vibe Check: False Packages A New LLM Security Risk?

    Lots of people swear by large-language model (LLM) AIs for writing code. Lots of people swear at them. Still others may be planning to exploit their peculiarities, according to [Joe Spracklen] and other researchers at USTA. At least, the researchers have found a potential exploit in ‘vibe coding’.

  • The Register UK ☛ AI code suggestions sabotage software supply chain

    AI coding assistants, like large language models in general, have a habit of hallucinating. They suggest code that incorporates software packages that don't exist.

  • Rolling Stone ☛ 'ChatGPT Hyphen': Are Em Dashes a Giveaway of AI Writing?

    But there was nothing grammatically incorrect or aesthetically objectionable about how the fashion brand had used the em dashes. Nor is there reason to believe — when even purportedly sophisticated AI filters can falsely identify authentic writing as ChatGPT-generated — that the appearance of any single form of punctuation is a telltale marker of bot text. ChatGPT itself, which if nothing else should know about the history of its own training, will inform you that em dashes “by themselves are not a reliable sign that a text was AI-generated,” and that the popular misconception to the contrary may be a vestige of earlier, less sophisticated models.

Security

• Privacy/Surveillance

  • NDTV ☛ Why All US Immigrants, H-1B Workers, Green Card Holders Must Carry ID 24x7

    Mandatory Registration: All non-citizens above 14 years old staying in the US for 30 days or more must register with the government using "Form G-325R". Parents will need to register for their children under 14.

    - Documentation Requirements: Those arriving in the US on or after April 11 must register within 30 days of arrival. Failure to comply may result in fines, imprisonment, or both.

  • EFF ☛ Florida’s New Social Media Bill Says the Quiet Part Out Loud and Demands an Encryption Backdoor

    At least Florida’s SB 868/HB 743, “Social Media Use By Minors” bill isn’t beating around the bush when it states that it would require “social media platforms to provide a mechanism to decrypt end-to-end encryption when law enforcement obtains a subpoena.” Usually these sorts of sweeping mandates are hidden behind smoke and mirrors, but this time it’s out in the open: Florida wants a backdoor into any end-to-end encrypted social media platforms that allow accounts for minors. This would likely lead to companies not offering end-to-end encryption to minors at all, making them less safe online.

  • Android Police ☛ 5 smart TV features that could be spying on you and how to stop them

    To make your viewing experience convenient, most TV brands include features such as voice commands, built-in microphones, trackers, internet access, and cameras. Some of these innovative features can be used to access your private life without your knowledge. These sophisticated technologies collect data such as the browser you use, email address, payment information, geolocation, device identifiers, and what you like to watch. Then, they report it back to the manufacturers for targeted advertising.

  • Wired ☛ Sex-Fantasy Chatbots Are Leaking a Constant Stream of Explicit Messages

    However, Boine says, there is often a power imbalance in becoming emotionally attached to an AI created by a corporate entity. “Sometimes people engage with those chats in the first place to develop that type of relationship,” Boine says. “But then I feel like once they've developed it, they can't really opt out that easily.”

  • AdWeek ☛ Lawsuits Allege Trade Desk Secretly Breaks US Privacy Laws

    Filed on March 31 in the Central District of California, one of the class action cases takes aim at The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) identifier, alleging that the tracking tech collects personally identifiable information, like email addresses and phone numbers, and uses it to enable user profiling and real-time bidding.

    Plaintiffs say that while the status quo has shifted away from user-tied online tracking in alignment with consumer privacy demands, “The Trade Desk saw this trend away from traditional ad-targeting tools as an opportunity to build a new form of online tracking that circumvented existing privacy controls.”

  • Wired ☛ Labor Leaders Fear Elon Musk and DOGE [sic] Could Gain Access to Whistleblower Files

    One of the largest federations of unions and several former officials of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration have raised concerns about the possibility that Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency could potentially gain access to sensitive information shared with OSHA and the Department of Labor by whistleblowers at the centibillionaire’s companies.

• Confidentiality

  • University of Toronto ☛ Mandatory short duration TLS certificates are probably coming soon

    The news of the time interval is that the maximum validity period for TLS certificates will be lowered to 47 days by March 2029, unless the CA/Browser Forum changes its mind (or is forced to) before then. The details are discussed in SC-081. In skimming the mailing list thread on the votes, a number of organizations that voted to abstain seem unenthused (and uncertain that it can actually be implemented), so this may not come to pass, especially on the timeline proposed here.

  • PC World ☛ Need to surf the web anonymously? These 4 tools can help

    VPN providers usually not only enable IP masking, but also the circumvention of geo-IP blocks. Such measures are intended to prevent users from certain countries from using services — usually video streaming — that are either not available or only available to a limited extent in their countries.

Defence/Aggression

• New York Times ☛ Manchester Arena Bomber’s Brother Is Accused of Attack on Prison Guards

  Hashem Abedi allegedly stabbed the officers with homemade weapons inside a high-security prison.

• JURIST ☛ Political transition in Syria at risk due to Israel military action, UN Security Council hears

  Israel’s recent military actions in Syria undermine the country’s political transition and the opportunity for Syria and Israel to form a new security agreement, Assistant Secretary General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Khaled Khiari said before the UN Security Council on Thursday.

• Cost Rica ☛ U.S. Troops to Deploy Near Panama Canal Under New Agreement

  While visiting Lima on Thursday, Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino stated he rejected the Pentagon’s attempts to include terms like “permanent military presence,” “military bases,” and “territorial concessions” in the agreement. “That is simply unacceptable,” Mulino said, noting that he sent back “four versions” of the agreement drafted by the U.S. Department of Defense for this reason.

• Los Angeles Times ☛ At L.A. rally, Bernie Sanders says U.S. facing 'extraordinary danger'

  A rally with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew tens of thousands of people to downtown Los Angeles. “Despair is not an option,” Sanders told the crowd. “Giving up and hiding under the covers is not acceptable. The stakes are just too high.”

• Kyle Ford ☛ Take America Back

  It started last weekend with a shockingly good turnout for our local “Hands Off” protest, and extended through today as a few of us took the train downtown for LA’s giant “Fight The Oligarchy” rally.

• New York Times ☛ How the G.O.P. Fell in Love With Putin’s Russia

  What explains the Convicted Felon administration’s radical reversal toward Moscow?

• The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s ousted Yoon to face trial over martial law: Yonhap

  Under court rules, Yoon is required to attend the hearing in person.

• The Straits Times ☛ Digital sex crime victims surpass 10,000 in South Korea; majority in teens, 20s

  Teenagers accounted for 27.9 per cent of the victims in 2023.

• Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

  • RFERL ☛ Russia, Ukraine Pound Each Other With Drones, As US Envoy Meets With Putin

    Russia and Ukraine have pounded each other with drones, with Moscow complaining that Kyiv had targeted its energy facilities in violation of a tenuous cease-fire agreement that has yet to take hold.

  • New York Times ☛ Prepping for War With Russia on the Ice and Snow

    Hell Toupée may be turning relations with NATO and Russia inside out, but winter war games revealed that two militaries’ cooperation was unchanged.

  • LRT ☛ Brown bear spotted in Lithuania near border with Belarus – video

    Last week, news spread across Lithuania about a bear cub spotted in the Kupiškis district near the border with Latvia Over the weekend, Marek Kislovskij shared his own encounter – he had captured footage of a bear near Belarus.

Environment

• [Old] Cornell University ☛ Costa Ricans Join Hands to Cultivate a Quetzal Community

  The secret here, as carefully tended as that farmer’s fields, has been collaboration, in this case between a local conservation group, a birding lodge, and a community of farmers. Each brought something of value to the table: the farmers—land that left space and resources for wildlife; the lodge—tourists eager for quality time with quetzals, and willing to pay to get it; and the conservationists—knowledge of how to manage land for these birds.

• The Register UK ☛ PIRG post parade of devices doomed by end of support

  The US-based non-profit has campaigned against the growing tide of electronic waste for years, and its latest effort is an online "rogues' gallery" showcasing more than 100 tech products that no longer function properly or were effectively junked after manufacturers ended support.

• Omicron Limited ☛ Trump wants to halt climate research by key agency: Reports

  "Trump's budget plan for NOAA is both outrageous and dangerous," said Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, the ranking Democrat on the House science committee, warning that the administration is "wholly destroying" essential services in a statement.

  About 75% of funding for NOAA's research branch could be eliminated from the 2026 budget—drastic cuts to the prestigious agency that could be implemented starting this year.

• New York Times ☛ Beijing Tells City Residents to Stay Home as Strong Winds Hit China

  Beijing residents were told to stay home, tourist sites were closed and thousands of flights were canceled across the country.

• Energy/Transportation

  • Greece ☛ EU irked by Turkish warnings against Greece-Cyprus-Israel electricity cable link, Cyprus says

    The European Union is “strongly displeased” with Turkish government warnings that it would obstruct the laying of an electricity cable linking the power grids of Greece and Cyprus, the Cypriot president said Friday.

  • Futurism ☛ Former Google CEO Tells Congress That 99 Percent of All Electricity Will Be Used to Power Superintelligent AI

    It's a grim setting, but evidently one that billionaire tech tycoon and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt imagines for the future of humanity, if his comments to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce are any indication.

  • Renewable Energy World ☛ As Congress slashes spending, will clean energy tax credits survive?

    To date, more than 362 large scale clean energy projects totalling $132 billion have been announced since passage of the IRA, according to a tally by Manufacturing Dive. Electric vehicle, battery and solar manufacturing are the three top areas of investment.

  • The Register UK ☛ Tesla tycoon Musk's DOGE [sic] unit trims staff at NHTSA

    In February, Elon's Musketeers at President Trump's cost-trimming DOGE [sic] operation turned up at the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates the kinds of self-driving cars the billionaire wants to build.

    DOGE [sic] promptly culled four percent of the federal watchdog's staff.

  • Andrea Contino ☛ Fixing bikes, fixing lives

    This past weekend, however, Noemi decided to commit to finding a second-hand bike. We have many cycling paths that go from Marina del Rey north to Santa Monica and south much farther, all the way to Redondo Beach.

  • The Register UK ☛ Datacenter energy usage to more than double in next 5 years

    The IEA this week published a sweeping study on the crucial intersection of AI and the energy it gobbles up, and believes datacenters will drive more than 20 percent of electricity demand growth in advanced economies over the next five years, with AI driving most of that energy consumption.

    The US, which accounted for 45 percent of global datacenter electricity consumption in 2024, according to the agency, is expected to see that share grow significantly by 2030. By then, American datacenters are set to consume more electricity than the country's entire energy-intensive manufacturing sector, including aluminium, steel, cement, and chemicals.

• Wildlife/Nature

  • France24 ☛ 🌟The Bright Side: Giant rodents charm visitors at Florida's Capybara Cafe

    A hit cafe in Florida is letting animal lovers cosy up to capybaras, the internet’s latest obsession. Since opening in October, the venue has welcomed hundreds of visitors eager to pet the gentle rodents – alongside skunks, wallabies and armadillos.

  • Wired ☛ One Man’s Quest to Reforest the Rio Grande Valley

    Today, less than 10 percent of the forest that once blanketed the region still stands. Learning what had been lost inspired Dale to try bringing some of it back. He was just 15 when, in a bid to attract more avians, he began planting several hundred native seedlings beside his house to create a 2-acre thorn forest—a term he prefers over the more common thornscrub, which sounds to him like something “to get rid of.” He collected seeds from around the neighborhood and sought advice from the state wildlife agency, which began replanting thorn forest tracts in the 1950s to create habitat for game birds, as well as the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which joined the cause after it listed ocelots as endangered in 1982. (The agency has since restored 16,000 acres.) The project kept dirt under his nails for the better part of a decade. “I’d go out and turn the lights on and do it in the middle of the night,” he said. “When I’m into something, that’s pretty much it.”

  • NBC ☛ Parrot gets award for warning about choking tot

    Willie repeatedly yelled "Mama, baby" and flapped his wings, and Howard returned in time to find the girl already turning blue.

• Overpopulation

  • CS Monitor ☛ Kenya’s Tatu City bucks African trend of failed satellite cities

    That meant making sure the site had good industrial land with reliable services. For instance, Tatu City runs its own water, internet, and power services, dodging the blackouts and shortages Nairobi residents and businesses face on a regular basis. The developers also negotiated for the city to be designated a special economic zone, offering businesses low tax rates and other financial benefits. So far, over 100 companies have opened their doors in Tatu City, employing about 25,000 people.

Finance

• France24 ☛ Investors dump US government bonds as faith in America falters

  Investors are dumping once-reliable US government bonds, sparking fears that major banks and traders are losing faith in America as a safe place to store their money. That could be bad news for US President The Insurrectionist, who had hoped his tariff pause earlier this week would restore confidence in the markets.

• France24 ☛ US trade war could divert Chinese goods to European markets

  US President The Insurrectionist’s tariffs could prompt China to sell more products in Europe – even if it means slashing prices. Some analysts say this could undermine Europe’s own industries, which are already struggling against Chinese competition.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Global plastic recycling rates ‘stagnant’ at under 10%, Chinese researchers say

  The amount of plastic being recycled around the world is stagnant at less than 10 percent with most new plastic still made from fossil fuels, a new study said Thursday.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ ‘We cannot be bullied’: Chinese manufacturers in fighting spirits despite scrapped US orders

  On a sweltering spring day, workers at a Christmas tree factory in eastern China rhythmically assembled piles of branches, wiping away sweat as they daubed white-paint snow onto plastic pine needles.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China raises tariffs on US goods to 125% as trade war escalates

  By Sam Davies with Sebastian Smith in Washington China said Friday it would raise its tariffs on US goods to 125 percent in a further escalation of a trade war that threatens to bring exports to a halt between the world’s two biggest economies.

• Shipments from Chinese ports slow as US tariffs bite

  Businessmen in southern China report that containers are piling up in Shanghai, Guangdong.

• The Straits Times ☛ Xi seeks to capitalise on trade turbulence in South-east Asia countries caught in Convicted Felon tariff bind

  Countries in the region and beyond will be looking for proof that China can be the dependable power it says it is.

• The Straits Times ☛ Chinese minister says US tariffs could trigger humanitarian crisis

  Least developed countries face some of the greatest risks from US tariffs, said China's Wang Wentao.

• The Straits Times ☛ ‘We’re not afraid’: Chinese manufacturers in fighting spirits despite scrapped US orders

  The unease has given way to defiance and resolve in many factories across China.

• New Yorker ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Gets a “Spanking” from the Bond Market

  “His tolerance for chaos is perhaps going to end up running up against China’s tolerance for pain,” the staff writer Evan Osnos says.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

• The Straits Times ☛ Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon opts out of presidential race

  People will vote on June 3.

• The Straits Times ☛ Parties bank on Asian-Australian candidates at May election Down Under

  Howard Ong, brother of Singapore Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, is the Liberal candidate for Tangey in Western Australia.

• Variety ☛ Keith Olbermann Slams Bill Maher Over Trump Dinner

  Media firebrand Keith Olbermann has unleashed a scathing rebuke of comedian and HBO/Max host Bill Maher for Maher’s praise for President Donald Trump following a dinner set up by Kid Rock.

• Silicon Angle ☛ Google reportedly lays off hundreds of employees from consumer hardware group

  Google LLC has reportedly laid off hundreds of employees from its Platforms & Devices group, which develops the company’s Pixel phones and other consumer devices.

• Silicon Angle ☛ How cyber insurers are modernizing risk with cloud data

  Google Cloud is expanding its Risk Protection Program with two new partners, Beazley PLC and Chubb INA International Holdings Ltd., alongside its founding partner, Munich Re. Designed to offer discounted coverage based on an organization’s actual security posture, the program pairs verified cloud controls with modern underwriting to reduce risk and build customer trust, according to Monica Shokrai (pictured, right), head of business risk and insurance for Google Cloud at Google.

• New York Times ☛ Gavin Newsom Tries to Understand ‘Bro Culture.’ Will It Change Him in the Process?

  California’s governor has diagnosed one problem for Democrats — connecting with young men — and he sees his podcast as a way to address that. Other Democrats aren’t so sure.

Censorship/Free Speech

• NYPost ☛ Jordan Spieth fumes over Masters censorship: ‘frustrating’ problem that can’t be talked about

  Jordan Spieth has alluded to some censorship going on at the Masters.

• RFA ☛ Vigil, prayer and protest demand probe into death of Tibetan Buddhist leader

  Human rights groups contend that Tulku Hungkar Dorje was arrested from his hotel room in Ho Chi Minh City in a joint operation by local police and Chinese government agents. He was reportedly transferred to Chinese custody where he mysteriously died the same day, they added.

• EFF ☛ Cybersecurity Community Must Not Remain Silent On Executive Order Attacking Former CISA Director

  President Trump has targeted the former Director of the government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Chris Krebs, with an executive order cancelling the security clearances of employees at SentinelOne, where Krebs is now the CIO, and launching a probe of his work in the White House. President Trump had previously fired Krebs in 2020 when, in his capacity as CISA Director, Krebs released a statement calling that election, which Trump lost, "the most secure in American history.”

• Jacobin Magazine ☛ Thailand Is Clamping Down on Critics of the Monarchy

  Paul Chambers, an eminent US scholar of Thailand, has been arrested on charges of criticizing the Thai monarchy. Chambers is one of the most high-profile targets of a clampdown on dissent against the world’s richest king.

• BoingBoing ☛ Thanks, Donald! Tourist travel to the US falls off a cliff

  It has become too dangerous to visit the United States. Entering and exiting the nation has found tourists abused and incarcerated. Contents of people's smartphones are being inspected, and folks are harassed for text messages the current US administration disagrees with. For scientists on the way to conferences and influencers looking to renew their visas, the United States has become a bad trip.

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

• BIA Net ☛ Prosecutor seeks prison terms for journalists who covered İmamoğlu protests

  The Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS) previously denounced the investigation as a “setup,” claiming that the case file included photos taken from angles that deliberately obscured the journalists’ cameras and press cards, to create the impression that they were protesters rather than members of the press.

• The Nation ☛ Robert McChesney, the Great Champion of Journalism and Democracy, Has Died

  The program was framed as a debate about the future of journalism. Bob was positioned as the doomsayer, warning about how media consolidation was killing journalism. I was expected to counter that the future was actually bright. As it turned out, neither of us wanted to follow the script. Instead of arguing, we both agreed that profit-obsessed corporations were destroying American journalism, and that this destruction would pose an ever more serious threat to American democracy.

• Free Press ☛ Free Press Mourns the Death of Co-Founder and Scholar Robert W. McChesney

  “While McChesney spent much of his career charting the problems of the media and the critical junctures that created our current crises, he believed fundamentally in the public’s ability to solve those problems and build a media system that serves people’s needs and sustains democracy. His ideas were bold and transformative, and he had little patience for tinkering around the edges. Rather than fighting over Washington’s narrow vision of what was possible, he always said — and Bob loved a good sports metaphor — that we needed to throw the puck down to the other end of the ice.

Civil Rights/Policing

• JURIST ☛ Imprisonment of political activist in Azerbaijan sparks international concern amid hunger strike

  Amnesty International on Friday called for the urgent release of political activist Tofig Yagublu following his hunger strike that began on April 1, 2025.

• JURIST ☛ Sentencing of Côte d’Ivoire union leader sparks international condemnation

  Amnesty International called for the release of Côte d’Ivoire unionist Ghislain Duggary Assy on Thursday, urging authorities to respect the right to strike. Amnesty International’s Interim Regional Director for West and Central Africa Marceau Sivieude stated: Teachers cannot be treated as criminals for exercising their fundamental rights.

• CBS ☛ ACLU of Michigan sues Trump administration over international student visa revocation cases - CBS Detroit

  The ACLU of Michigan announced Thursday it had filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of four international students attending Michigan schools whose student visa status was revoked.

• Digital First Media ☛ ACLU of Michigan sues Trump administration to restore students' visas

  The lawsuit asks the court for an temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction requiring the government to reinstate the students "so that they will be able to complete their studies and avoid facing the risk of detention and deportation," the ACLU said in a news release announcing the lawsuit.

• ACLU ☛ ACLU and Michigan Immigrant Rights Center Condemn Trump Administration’s Authoritarian Attacks on International Students and Higher Education | ACLU of Michigan

  The termination of status for many of these students is an even more insidious threat to due process. These determinations provide no opportunity to respond and cannot easily be challenged within the United States by the students or the universities and colleges.

• University of Michigan ☛ Four UMich and Wayne State international students sue Trump administration for revoking student visas

  The ACLU of Michigan announced Thursday they have filed a federal lawsuit and request for an emergency injunction on behalf of four international students who attend Michigan universities, two of which attend the University of Michigan, after their F-1 student visa statuses were revoked.

• CS Monitor ☛ In mass deportation push, Trump revives rarely used laws

  “It appears that the Trump administration is attempting to use all of the tools left in the toolbox to assist in deporting, excluding, and surveilling foreign nationals,” writes Julia Rose Kraut, author of “Threat of Dissent: A History of Ideological Exclusion and Deportation in the United States,” in an email.

• Wired ☛ Homeland Security Email Tells a US Citizen to 'Immediately' Self-Deport

  “I don't feel like I'm actually going to be deported in seven days, but it's concerning that this is the level of care they're using to send these out,” Micheroni says. She adds that it’s possible that the DHS email was “intended for one of my clients or somebody else,” as it’s not uncommon for immigrants in the US to list their attorneys as the point of contact.