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Links 28/06/2022: Plasma Mobile Gear 22.06 and KDE Plasma 5.25.2



  • GNU/Linux

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • VideoEasy OS 4.1.....A Quick First Look - Invidious

        Here we have the current version of easy os and pretty good it is too, this is just a quick run-through as we will go more in-depth over the next week or two so enjoy.

      • Barry KaulerYoutube video on EasyOS 4.1

        In the comments, rmcellig posted that samba doesn't work. In the last couple of releases of Easy, samba is not builtin. Installing it via the package manager, it is broken.

      • Going Linux #426 €· Listener Feedback

        In this episode we discuss feedback on Pop!_OS, installing Linux to replace Windows, and a tutorial on the top command.

    • Graphics Stack

      • 9to5LinuxNVIDIA 515.57 Released with Better NvFBC Direct Capture Support, Vulkan Fixes

         NVIDIA 515.57 is a small release compared to the previous 515.48.07 release, addressing only a few issues related to the NvFBC direct capture support. For example, it adds support for NvFBC direct capture to composite the mouse cursor onto frames, fixes an issue in cases where NvFBC direct capture waits for multiple queued frames to finish rendering, and fixes another issue where NvFBC returned an incorrect frame when a capture request timed out.

    • Applications

      • Its FOSSLinux Release Roundup #22.26: KaOS 2022.6, EndeavourOS 22.6, digiKam 7.7 and More Releases - It's FOSS News

        digiKam is a photo manager app that lets you organize the images you have. With the latest upgrade, it supports JPEG-XL format, and AVID/AOM.

        If you had some photos that did not show up, you can give them a try again. Learn more about it in its official announcement post.

      • DebugPointHandBrake: Free Tool for Converting Videos from Any Format

        Learn about HandBrake, an excellent utility for converting videos from any format to the destination types.

      • LinuxTechLabTOP 12 LINUX HACKING and PEN TESTING IN 2022

        Did you know? An operating system that is highly focused on security is the best friend to any hacker. Why? Because it helps the hacker to detect all the weaknesses available in the computer system and networks.

        In recent times, it has become more intriguing to compare ethical hacking and vulnerability scanning than it has been to compare Windows vs. OS X vs. Linux in the past. It is possible for a hacker to detect holes in a computer system or network by using a special operating system that is designed specifically for security. So, without further ado, let's get started.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • LinuxTechiHow to Install and Configure HAProxy on Ubuntu 22.04

        In this post, we will demonstrate how to install HAProxy on Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish) step by step. We will later configure it to act as a load balancer by distributing incoming requests between two web servers.

        HaProxy, short for High Availability Proxy, is a free and open-source HTTP load balancer and reverse-proxy solution that is widely used to provide high availability to web applications and guarantee maximum possible uptime.

      • Trend OceansHow to use DNF Software Package Manager with Examples - TREND OCEANS

        The dandified yum (DNF) command is the next-generation version of the YUM package manager for Fedora, CentOS, AlmaLinux, and other RHEL-based distributions.

        This command was first implemented after the Fedora 22, CentOS 8, and RHEL 8 release. The launch was to remove the bottleneck involved in the YUM command.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install FFmpeg on CentOS 9 Stream

        FFmpeg is the leading free, open-source multimedia framework, able to decode, encode, transcode, mux, demux, stream, filter, and play nearly all multimedia files that have been created on any platform. FFmpeg compiles and runs on Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, BSD systems, and Solaris.

        The following tutorial will teach you how to install FFmpeg on CentOS 9 Stream using the RPM Fusion free repository command line terminal.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install ClamAV on Arch Linux

        ClamAV is an open-source and free antivirus toolkit that detects many types of malicious software, including viruses, trojans, malware, adware, rootkits, and other malicious threats. One of its primary uses of ClamAV is on mail servers as a server-side email virus scanner or file hosting servers to periodically scan to ensure files are clean, especially if the public can upload to the server.

        ClamAV supports multiple file formats (documents, executables, or archives), utilizes multi-thread scanner features, and receives updates for its signature database daily to sometimes numerous times per day for the latest protection.

        The following tutorial will teach you how to configure ClamAV on Arch Linux desktop or server and some basic scan commands using the command line terminal.

      • OpenSource.comLinux su vs sudo: what's the difference? | Opensource.com

        Both the su and the sudo commands allow users to perform system administration tasks that are not permitted for non-privileged users—that is, everyone but the root user. Some people prefer the sudo command: For example, Seth Kenlon recently published "5 reasons to use sudo on Linux", in which he extols its many virtues.

        I, on the other hand, am partial to the su command and prefer it to sudo for most of the system administration work I do. In this article, I compare the two commands and explain why I prefer su over sudo but still use both.

      • TecMintA Detailed Guide on How to Work with Documents in Nextcloud

        Nextcloud is an open-source content collaboration platform that makes it possible to create secure file storage with sharing and synchronization features. It’s not too much to say that Nextcloud is an ideal solution for file management, as this platform allows you to share files and folders on your computer, and instantly synchronize them with your Nextcloud server.

      • Linux Shell TipsHow to Reset Forgotten Root Password in Fedora

        The only way any Linux user can boldly claim to have full control of their operating system environment is if they can be identified as root or Sudoer users.

      • Linux HintHow to Change the Default Interface in Linux?

        “Almost everything productive we can do in Linux requires us to have a network connection. Whether developing apps, installing software, scripting, sharing files, or even watching movies, we need a working network connection. Hence, “I require a network connection” is simply an understatement. The only way to enable network connection on a machine is through a network interface.

        A network interface is a device or a point of connection between a device and a private or public network. In most cases, a network interface is a physical card such as a wireless adapter, a network card, etc. However, this does not necessarily mean that a network interface should be a physical device. For example, a loopback adapter that is not physically visible is implemented by software and available on all devices.”

        This quick tutorial will show you how to set the default interface in Linux.

      • UNIX CopCoreOS in VirtualBox

        Three Fedora CoreOS (FCOS) update streams are available: stable, testing, and next. In general, you will want to use stable, but it is recommended to run some machines on testing and next and provide feedback.

        Each stream has a canonical URL representing its current state in JSON format, known as “stream metadata.” For example, the stream metadata URL for stable is: https://builds.coreos.fedoraproject.org/streams/stable.json

        For automating Fedora CoreOS installations, it is expected that you will interact with stream metadata. While Fedora CoreOS does automatic in-place updates, it is generally a good practice to start provisioning new machines from the latest images.

    • Games

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • Plasma Mobile Gear âš™ 22.06 is Out

          The Plasma Mobile team is happy to announce the releases of Plasma Mobile’s updates for May-June 2022, as well as the release of Plasma Mobile Gear âš™ 22.06.

          Plasma 5.25 was released on June 14 and that brought all the improvements developed from February to May 2022 to the shell.

        • 9to5LinuxKDE Plasma 5.25.2 Released to Improve Flatpak Support, Present Windows Effect

           Coming just one week after the KDE Plasma 5.25.1 point release, the KDE Plasma 5.25.2 update is here to improve support for Flapak apps by implementing a new mechanism in the Plasma Discover package manager to determine the priority of your Flatpak repositories, as well as to always keep them in sync if you change their priority manually from the command-line.

        • 9to5LinuxKDE Releases Plasma Mobile Gear 22.06 for Linux Phones, Here’s What’s New

           Coming just two months after Plasma Mobile Gear 22.04, the Plasma Mobile Gear 22.06 release is here to improve the Task Switcher by adding support for sorting apps by the last opened app instead of alphabetically, and to improve the action drawer to accommodate more quick settings, add support for scrolling labels, and allow you to pull down the full quick settings panel in just one stroke from the corner of the screen.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • New Releases

      • Barry KaulerMaking the update more bullet-proof

        Wanting to make the update more "bullet proof", I have put in an extra check in /usr/local/easy_version/easy-update. It now checks the md5sum of the local pre-update image file.

        That is, if you are currently running 4.2 and have /mnt/wkg/easy-4.2-amd64.img, the 'md5sum.txt' file will be downloaded and the image file checked.

      • IPFire Official BlogIPFire 2.27 - Core Update 169 is available for testing

        The next Core Update - one of the biggest in size we have ever put together - is available for testing. It introduces the support of two-factor authentication (2FA) for OpenVPN clients, updates several core parts of the system, provides mitigations for another two types of CPU side-channel attacks, as well as package updates, bug fixes and other security improvements.

        For OpenVPN clients, the setup of two-factor authentication based on time-based one-time password (TOTP) is now supported. It can either be enforced on a per-client basis, preserving the flexibility of mixing end-user devices with machine clients, where no manual interaction is feasible during OpenVPN connection establishment.

      • Its FOSSEndeavourOS Artemis is the First ISO with ARM Installation Support

         The popular Arch-based Linux distribution EndeavourOS released their latest ISO refresh called Artemis. Interestingly, the release is named after NASA’s upcoming lunar mission.

        Apart from the usual improvements, the latest upgrade includes the latest Linux Kernel 5.18.5 and an updated Calamares installer.

    • SUSE/OpenSUSE

    • Fedora Family / IBM

      • Fedora ProjectOutreachy Interns introduction – May to August 2022 – Fedora Community Blog

        Last month, Outreachy announced the interns selected for duration May 2022 to August 2022, and we have three interns with us. This blog introduces them to the community. If you see them around, please welcome them and share some virtual cookies.

        Outreachy is a paid, remote internship program that helps traditionally underrepresented people in tech make their first contributions to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) communities. Fedora Project is participating in this round of Outreachy as a mentoring organization. We asked our Outreachy interns to tell us some things about themselves! Here are they, in their own words.

      • Red HatCross-site scripting: Explanation and prevention with Go | Red Hat Developer

        Have you ever encountered a pop-up when visiting a web page or browsing a particular item on a site? Imagine if these pop-ups were carriers that delivered malicious payloads to your devices or captured confidential information. This is a type of cyber attack called cross-site scripting, or XSS. Cross-site scripting is one of the most common attacks in 2022, and it made the OWASP top 10 web application security risks. Let's take a tour of cross-site scripting and learn how an attacker executes malicious JavaScript code on input parameters, creates pop-ups to deface web applications, and can hijack an active user session.

      • Enterprisers ProjectMoving cloud workloads: 4 essential strategies [Ed: Clown computing nonsense or the false dichotomy of outsourcing]

        Workload portability – the ability to move an application (or at least part of it) from one environment to another – is a common goal in hybrid cloud and multi-cloud environments.

        In practice, this is easier said than done – the image of an engineer moving an entire application from one cloud to another on a daily whim isn’t really what the term is meant to convey. Rather, workload portability reflects that both short-term choice and long-term flexibility are both possible. Making a decision to run a particular application in a particular cloud or on-premises environment does not mean it needs to run in that environment forever.

        Containerization, orchestration, and other facets of modern software development and operations are key foundations. Workload portability also suggests, of course, that you have at least two clouds and/or on-premises/bare metal environments to choose from.

      • Enterprisers ProjectWhat defines a high-performing IT team? 5 CIOs speak out

        Being a part of a high-trust, high-performing team can feel a bit like magic. But CIOs know there is a lot of work that goes into building and nurturing a team that can continually meet challenges and exceed goals.

        CIOs who recently won the 2022 Chicago CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards shared with us a few telltale signs of a high-performing team, the qualities that set them apart, and how IT leaders can bring out the best in their own teams.

      • Red Hat OfficialHow to troubleshoot SELinux policy violations | Enable Sysadmin

        For Linux systems, SELinux is another option. This article will focus on diagnosing and addressing SELinux policy violations.

    • Devices/Embedded

      • CNX SoftwareMNT Pocket Reform 7-inch modular mini laptop takes a range of Arm (and FPGA) modules - CNX Software

        MNT Pocket Reform is an open-source hardware mini laptop with a 7-inch Full HD display, an ortholinear mechanical keyboard, and trackball, that follows the path of its older and bigger sibling: the MNT Reform 2 laptop initially launched with an NXP i.MX 8M quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 module.

        The new laptop will not only support a similar “NXP i.MX 8M Plus” module but also a range of other Arm modules namely an NXP Layerscape LS1028A module with up to 16GB RAM, the Raspberry Pi CM4 module via an adapter, Pine64 SOQuartz (RK3566, up to 8GB RAM), as well as based on AMD Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA for industrial use.

      • Linux GizmosSTEPFPGA supports Verilog on cloud-based IDE and Lattice’s Diamond IDE

        The STEPFPGA MXO2Core is a compact platform based on the Lattice MX02-4000 FPGA. The low cost device is loaded with several I/O peripherals and it’s targeted towards FPGA beginners. The STEPFGA costs around $46 through a Kickstarter campaign that already surpassed its funding goal.

        According to the developer company called EIM Technology, the STEPFPGA MXO2Core is an immersion gold four-layer PCB that it’s built around the Lattice MX02-4000. The learning board features a base clock frequency of 12MHz and maximum clock frequency up to 400MHz (boosted by internal PLL) and up to 36 GPIO pins.€ 

      • HackadayHackaday Prize 2022: A CM4 Upgrade For Your Old IPad

        There’s no shortage of nicely built tablets out there, but unfortunately many of them are powered by what are by now severely outdated motherboards. Since manufacturers releasing replacement motherboards for their old hardware doesn’t look like its likely to be common practice anytime soon, the community will have to take things into their own hands. This is where [Evan]’s project comes in — designing a Raspberry Pi CM4-powered motherboard for the original iPad. It aims to have support for everything you’d expect: display, touchscreen, audio, WiFi, Bluetooth, and even the dock port. Plus it gives you way more computing power to make use of it all.

    • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Programming/Development

      • Linux Links9 Top Free and Open Source Elixir Web Frameworks

         One of the types of software that’s important for a web developer is the web framework. A framework “is a code library that makes a developer’s life easier when building reliable, scalable, and maintainable web applications” by providing reusable code or extensions for common operations. By saving development time, developers can concentrate on application logic rather than mundane elements.

        A web framework offers the developer a choice about how to solve a specific problem. By using a framework, a developer lets the framework control portions of their application. While it’s perfectly possible to code a web application without using a framework, it’s more practical to use one.

      • Jamie Brandon0025: preimp, focus + mach, emergent ventures, clockwork labs, success, hytradboi ideas, zig debugging tips, dev-setup.sh, clojurescript blues, analogies for end-user programming, half-arsed workflows, javascript vs serialization, links

        I've made a lot of progress on preimp. Persistence, server/client sync and collaborative editing are all working. Values are nicely rendered as tables. Functions are rendered as forms, which you can fill out to call the function. Functions can call edit! to change the value of data cells. Metadata can be used to tweak the rendering of values.

      • RlangCustom colour palettes for {ggplot2} | R-bloggers

        Choosing which colours to use in a plot is an important design decision. A good choice of colour palette can highlight important aspects of your data, but a poor choice can make it impossible to interpret correctly. There are numerous colour palette R packages out there that are already compatible with {ggplot2}. For example, the {RColorBrewer} or {viridis} packages are both widely used.

        If you regularly make plots at work, it’s great to have them be consistent with your company’s branding. Maybe you’re already doing this manually with the scale_colour_manual() function in {ggplot2} but it’s getting a bit tedious? Or maybe you just want your plots to look a little bit prettier? This blog post will show you how to make a basic colour palette that is compatible with {ggplot2}. It assumes you have some experience with {ggplot2} – you know your geoms from your aesthetics.

    • Standards/Consortia

      • Smashing MagazineVoice Control Usability Considerations For Partially Visually Hidden Link Names — Smashing Magazine

        Overcorrecting for one form of disability may unintentionally negatively impact the experience for other forms of disability. For example, partially visually hidden link names may work great for people who use screen readers, but this approach can be problematic for people who rely on voice control software. Because of this, your designs need to be flexible and adaptable, as well as accommodate the many different ways people can interact with them.

        Digital accessibility tends to be taught through the lens of how your experience works (or fails to work) with a screen reader. It makes sense to think that, if it works for a screen reader, it will also work for a lot of other kinds of assistive technology.

  • Leftovers

    • HackadayTeardown: KC Bearifone Could Talk Circles Around Teddy Ruxpin

      At the risk of dating myself, I will tell you that grew up in the 80s — that decade of excess that was half drab and half brightly colored, depending on where you looked, and how much money you had for stuff like Memphis design. Technology seemed to move quickly in almost every aspect of life as the people of the Me decade demanded convenience, variety, and style in everything from their toilet paper (remember the colors?) to their telephones. Even though long distance cost a fortune back then, we were encouraged to ‘reach out and touch someone’.

    • Twenty Years of Flying Meat

      On this day twenty years ago I registered the flyingmeat.com domain. I had no idea what I was doing back then, only that I loved coding, I loved sharing what I worked on, and indie companies were undisputedly cool.

      Twenty years later I still have no idea what I'm doing, but I still love coding and sharing what I make, and indie companies are still the best.

    • The NationBaroque Monsters

      Throughout the Middle Ages and up until the era of Romanticism, most literature written in Europe and its colonies was decidedly allegorical in nature: Its concrete signifiers (characters, images, plot points) were understood to refer to abstract entities (ideas, concepts, teachings). The first readers of The Divine Comedy, to take the most obvious example, saw Dante the pilgrim not just as a middle-aged conspirator exiled from Florence and mad with mourning for a teenage girl, but as a personification of the soul in search of God. But in the 18th century, allegory began to go out of fashion. The explicit correspondences between the literal and the figurative began to seem staid, inferior, even boring. In its place, realism and a concern for the unique rather than the typical emerged. This shift did not entirely banish allegory. One could list countless modern examples, both “highbrow” (Brecht, Beckett, Kafka) and “popular” (The Lord of the Rings, Dune, Get Out). But even if allegory has yet to go extinct in Western literature, it has become more and more uncommon.

    • Telex (Hungary)Gulyás: Ryanair CEO had too much alcohol at too young an age
    • HackadayOdd Inputs And Peculiar Peripherals: RoenDi Smart Knob Thinks Outside The Box

      When it comes to design decisions, we’re often advised to “think outside the box.” It’s generally good advice, if a bit abstract — it could really mean anything. But it appears that someone took it quite literally with this nifty little smart knob display and input device.

    • Hardware

      • HackadayHomebrew Optical Sensor Helps Your Diesel Pass The Smoke Test

        We’ve all heard of the smoke test, and we know that it’s the lowest possible bar for performance of an electronic device. If it doesn’t burst into flames when power is applied, you’re good to go for more functional testing. But the smoke test means something else for cars, especially those powered by diesel fuel. And passing diesel exhaust tests can become something of a chore.

      • HackadayAtari At 50: The Story Of Our Lives

        It’s been a year of anniversaries, what with the 40th birthday of both the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. But there’s another anniversary that in a sense tops them all, today marks 50 years since Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney incorporated Atari Inc, a name that will forever be synonymous with the development of the computer game industry. PC Magazine have marked the event with a retrospective, an affectionate look at the progress from Spacewar! coin-ops to the unsuccessful Jaguar console of the 1990s, and it pulls no punches over the lacklustre management that oversaw its decline in later years.

      • HackadayMetal Detector Gets Help From Smartphone

        [mircemk] is quite a wizard when it comes to using coils of wires in projects, especially when their application is within easy-to-build metal detectors. There are all kinds of ways to send signals through coiled wire to detect metal objects in the ground, and today [mircemk] is demonstrating a new method he is experimenting with which uses a smartphone to detect the frequency changes generated by the metal detector.

      • The NationNative Growers Can Help the US Meet Its Climate Goals. Will the New Farm Bill Offer Enough Support?
    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • OracSBM isn’t so great when you can’t afford it

        It’s been nearly 18 years now that I’ve been promoting science-based medicine (SBM) on this blog. Through it all, I’ve sought to champion medicine that is based on rigorous science as the safest and most effective medicine. Before the pandemic, much of what I used to write about was the infiltration of pseudoscientific medicine and medicine based far more on prescientific or religious ideas than science, although common threads even since the pandemic remain. These include, but are not limited to, the antivaccine movement,€ COVID-19€ minimization/denial (much like germ theory denial that undergirds a lot of alternative medicine and antivaccine beliefs), resistance to public health measures, and, of course, the promotion of quackery, in the case of the pandemic (among many other things) the€ promotion of drugs that were unproven but are now disproven€ as effective treatments for COVID-19; i.e.,€ ivermectin,€ hydroxychloroquine, and others.

      • Are COVID-19-Linked Arrhythmias Caused by Viral Damage to the Heart’s Pacemaker Cells? | Newsroom | Weill Cornell Medicine

        SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein (green) staining in the pacemaker cells (red) of SARS-CoV-2 infected hamsters. The nuclei of the cells are stained blue. Image courtesy of Dr. Shuibing Chen.

        The SARS-CoV-2 virus can infect specialized pacemaker cells that maintain the heart’s rhythmic beat, setting off a self-destruction process within the cells, according to a preclinical study co-led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian and NYU Grossman School of Medicine. The findings offer a possible explanation for the heart arrhythmias that are commonly observed in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

        In the study, reported March 8 in Circulation Research, the researchers used an animal model as well as human stem cell-derived pacemaker cells to show that SARS-CoV-2 can readily infect pacemaker cells and trigger a process called ferroptosis, in which the cells self-destruct but also produce reactive oxygen molecules that can impact nearby cells.

        “This is a surprising and apparently unique vulnerability of these cells—we looked at a variety of other human cell types that can be infected by SARS-CoV-2, including even heart muscle cells, but found signs of ferroptosis only in the pacemaker cells,” said study co-senior author Dr. Shuibing Chen, the Kilts Family Professor of Surgery and a professor of chemical biology in surgery and of chemical biology in biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine.

    • Security

      • LinuxTechLabZero Trust Security Is Here To Stay For Decades

        Though lockdown was temporary, the trends that arose because of COVID-19 seem permanent. One such trend is the migration from physical workplaces to remote and hybrid workforce. Organizations are still opting to expand their workplaces to remote environments despite lifting lockdown. The reasons are the perks that come with the remote workforce; flexibility and reduction in expenses.

        So, a remote workspace seems like a permanent trend. Though many users are dealing with zoom fatigue, they generally like to work from the comfort of their homes. According to a survey by Gartner, 90 percent of the HR leaders are planning to introduce a remote workforce despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccination. With the shifting from physical to virtual workspace, the demands for the security of a network become tenfold. The traditional security postures do not meet the remote workforce's security demands.

      • TecMintTop PHP Hardening Security Tips for Linux Servers

        It’s no brainier that PHP is one of the most used server scripting programming languages. It makes sense for an attacker to find various ways by which he can manipulate PHP as it is often paired with MySQL and enable access to the private data of your users.

        By any means, we are not claiming PHP is vulnerable or has some serious issues by default but we have to make sure that we tweak PHP in such a way that it can be more robust than ever before.

      • Privacy/Surveillance

        • PurismHow to Challenge Big Tech with Privacy-First Alternatives

          The market dominance of Big Tech companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook has shed ample light on how they (mis) handle consumer data.€ They own tons of personally identifiable information, which may be sold to third-parties at their discretion. Their products and services are designed-to-snoop on their users. It has taken them several decades to create ecosystems that “lock-in” users to their hardware, app subscriptions and compel users to hit “Accept All” on their privacy demands. These empires are built on favoring their own apps above the security, privacy and freedom of their users. Why not provide viable alternatives that respect users?

          “To break up the dominance of big tech companies, we have to give control to individuals to choose from privacy-first options.” says Todd Weaver, Founder and CEO of Purism.

        • TechdirtGermany Says “Hell, No” To EU Proposal To Outlaw Encryption

          Last month, we noted that there was a new “protect the children” bill that was proposed in the EU that would effectively outlaw encryption, while simultaneously require full internet scanning of basically all activity.

        • TechdirtDangerous Ruling Says If Someone Goes Onto Your Openly Shared Google Drive, You Can Sue Them For Unauthorized Access

          If you accidentally leave your Google Drive accessible to anyone with the URL, and someone goes there and deletes stuff, is that “unauthorized access” and a violation of the CFAA? To me, the answer should be absolutely not. But in this recent ruling the judge went the other direction (first noted by Evan Brown).

    • Defence/Aggression

      • Common DreamsPointing to 'Recently Obtained Evidence,' Jan. 6 Panel Calls Surprise Tuesday Hearing

        The House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol unexpectedly announced Monday that it will be holding a public hearing Tuesday afternoon to "present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony."

        The congressional panel did not offer any details about the new evidence it will be unveiling Tuesday, which will mark the sixth hearing examining the Capitol attack and the central role that former President Donald Trump and his administration played in sparking the violence.

      • ScheerpostCIA, European Commandos Operating on the Ground in Ukraine: NYT

        Previous reporting from the New York Times and CNN said the White House had incomplete intelligence about the war because of a lack of personnel in Ukraine.

      • Counter PunchHypocrisies and Successes at UN Meeting to Ban Nuclear Weapons

        At 1MSP, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany — all three of whom use€ U.S. nuclear weapons on their air force bases — participated as Observer States. The three have not ratified the TPNW, having acquiesced with a string of U.S. administrations — Obama’s, Trump’s, and Biden’s — that conspired at every opportunity to derail, prevent, delay, weaken, and boycott the new ban — in spite of broad public support for nuclear disarmament. Mr. Trump demanded that States Parties withdraw their ratifications. None did. Biden’s White House reportedly urged Japan not to attend the 1MSP as an Observer, and they stayed away.

        German and Dutch representatives took their turn and spoke to the MSP on June 22, but both NATO members used exactly the same words to note their government’s explicit disapproval of the TPNW, and to voice their supposed support for the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Both representatives said their governments “will not accede to” the nuclear ban treaty “because the TPNW is inconsistent with NATO doctrine.”

      • TruthOutWar in Ukraine Is Nowhere Near Ending. Here Are Possible Paths Ahead.
      • Common DreamsOpinion | The War in Ukraine Needs to End

        When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, I was easing my way into a new job and in the throes of the teaching year. But that war quickly hijacked my life. I spend most of my day poring over multiple newspapers, magazines, blogs, and the Twitter feeds of various military mavens, a few of whom have been catapulted by the war from obscurity to a modicum of fame. Then there are all those websites to check out, their color-coded maps and daily summaries catching that conflict's rapid twists and turns.

      • Common DreamsScores Feared Dead and Wounded as Russian Missiles Hit Ukraine Shopping Center

        Officials in Ukraine said Monday that scores of civilians are feared killed or wounded by a Russian missile attack on a crowded shopping center in the central city of Kremenchuk.

        Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there were more than 1,000 people inside the shopping center at the time of the attack.

      • Meduza‘No strategic value’ Ukraine reports at least 50 injured, 13 dead following Russian missile strike on Kremenchuk shopping mall

        A Russian missile strike hit a crowded shopping center in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday afternoon, killing at least two people and injuring twenty others, the Ukrainian authorities said.€ 

      • ScheerpostAnti-NATO in Madrid

        Four days before the NATO summit in Madrid and by way of a “welcome”, the “Summit for Peace. NATO NO” prelude to the demonstration against NATO and the wars, which…

      • Common DreamsNATO to Boost Ranks of High-Readiness Forces by 650% to Over 300,000

        The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization announced Monday that the military alliance will dramatically increase the ranks of its high-readiness forces from 40,000 at present to "well over 300,000"—a 650% boost—as Russia's invasion of Ukraine rages on for the fifth consecutive month.

        NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg painted the planned move, which alliance leaders are set to adopt during a summit in Madrid this week, as part of the 30-member organization's efforts to bolster its defense of the Baltic nations, which have been clamoring for a "credible military construct... that will deter" Russian President Vladimir Putin.

      • Site36Vertical take-off: German military buys modernised reconnaissance drones

        After more than a decade, the Bundeswehr is replacing its 145 quadrocopters with a revised model. It comes from the same company, is foldable and can mark targets. The overall system in the backpack weighs 15 kilograms.

      • The NationChina Will Decide the Fate of Ukraine

        In its attempt to swallow Ukraine whole, Russia has so far managed to bite off only the eastern Donbas region and a portion of its southern coast. The rest of the country remains independent, with its capital, Kyiv, intact.

      • The NationBad Guy With a Gun
      • Counter PunchRussian Exiles

        Just like a century ago, the wave of Russian exiles engendered by Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, has involved a significant brain drain. Of the 150,000 Russian refugees to date, it is estimated that the majority are relatively young people who have been well educated in Russian universities, a third of whom are computer specialists. Among this migratory wave, received in the West without much enthusiasm, just like a century ago, are some famous creative people.

        Chulpan Khamatova, one of the most revered Russian actresses – in the West we saw her in the film Goodbye Lenin, among others – signed a manifesto against the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the beginning of the war. The Kremlin authorities warned her that her signature could get her into trouble. Faced with this threat, Khamatova fled with her daughters to Latvia, where she is now hastily learning Latvian in order to return to the stage as soon as possible. Olga Smirnova, one of the great stars of classical ballet, left her job at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow to join the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam. “Every fiber of my soul is against this war,” Smirnova, whose grandfather was Ukrainian, said as she left Russia.

      • Meduza‘The most interesting part hasn’t even begun’ Yekaterinburg’s premier street artist on the war, his latest piece, and Russia’s rapid authoritarian turn

        On June 12, Yekaterinburg-based street artist Timofey Radya posted a video and some pictures of his latest piece: the words “Live in the past!” bolted on the roofs of two nine-story buildings on the city’s Kosmonavtov Prospekt. Radya first had the idea for the project long before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but he waited until this month to bring it to life. Two days after it went up, the installation was dismantled by the city authorities —€ they simply knocked the letters off of the roof. Meduza spoke with Radya about why he chose the words he chose, why he’s remained in Russia during the war, and why he continues to make street art.

      • Common DreamsAmnesty Report Demands Biden Take Action to End Death Penalty

        International human rights group Amnesty International on Monday called on U.S. President Joe Biden to follow through on his campaign promise to eliminate the federal death penalty and commute the sentences of death row inmates as the country approaches the 50th anniversary of the landmark capital punishment case Furman v. Georgia.

        In a new report, The Power of Example, the organization notes that Biden made history when he was elected as the first U.S. president to oppose the death penalty, asking, "Whither the Biden death penalty promise?"

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

      • The DissenterUS Supreme Court May Take Aim At Whistleblower Protection Law

        A network of dark money has transformed the Supreme Court into an illegitimate and partisan institution. The same court that overturned Roe v. Wade—ending nearly 50 years of abortion rights—could gut one of the few laws available to private citizens to challenge corporate corruption.

      • TechdirtVictims’ Rights Laws Abused Again To Hide Identities Of Officers Who Killed Someone

        Ten states are currently home to a version of California’s “Marsy’s Law.” This law is a “victim’s rights” law, named after a California murder victim. It was written with the intent of involving crime victims in the criminal justice process, giving them a “right” to be heard during court proceedings, choose their own representation (rather than be solely represented by the prosecution), and — as is most relevant here — prevent crime victims’ names from being released publicly.

    • Environment

      • Energy

        • DeSmogClimate Denial Funder Set to Become Tory Peer

          A Tory donor who has helped fund the UK’s leading climate science denial group is to be made a member of the House of Lords, prompting Green MP Caroline Lucas to call for an “urgent” investigation.€ 

          Billionaire Australian hedge fund manager Michael Hintze, one of the few known funders of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), is set to receive a peerage, according to a Sunday Times report over the weekend.€ € 

    • Finance

      • Counter PunchThe WTO After the 12th Ministerial Conference

        The agreements should herald a warning to all: rich country governments professing new commitments to sustainable and worker-centered trade are just as likely to push anti-development outcomes and cosmetic window-dressing when it comes to protecting Big Business profits above the public interest. Their version of WTO “reform” will facilitate the further deterioration of multilateralism and cement-in discredited pro-corporate rules on globalization.

        MC12: Setting the Scenario

      • Robert Reich4 Myths About Raising the Minimum Wage

        We’re the richest country in the world, home to the richest people on the planet. We can, and we must, treat our workers with the dignity and respect they deserve. That starts with paying them a living wage.

      • Common DreamsGlobal Windfall Profit Tax of 90% Needed to Address 'Catastrophic' Food, Climate Crises: Oxfam

        With G7 leaders meeting in Germany for their annual summit, Oxfam International is demanding a global windfall profits tax on the massive financial gains made by large corporations over the last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic—a tax that could fund major international initiatives to address the spiraling crises of hunger, poverty, and the climate emergency.

        With billions of people around the world struggling to afford food and millions "facing acute hunger and famine-like conditions," the group said in a communique released Friday that G7 leaders must drive straight into the unique and dire circumstances triggered by the pandemic—during which many major companies profited mightily—to "set out a properly funded plan" that would tackle the food crisis, end vaccine apartheid, and provide people of developing nations the resources needed to fend off the worst impacts of a rapidly heating planet.

      • The NationWe Shouldn’t Destroy What Is Working in Our Economy

        When people are asked what is the number one problem facing the economy, they overwhelmingly say it’s inflation—and they aren’t wrong. Inflation has been higher, broader, and more persistent than most experts predicted last year. The US annual inflation rate in May was 8.6 percent—the highest since 1981. Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent energy and food prices soaring, inflation had been higher than economists and lawmakers should have been comfortable with. Combating it requires an all-of-the-above approach, from investments in infrastructure to alleviate supply chain problems to public funding of care work to help with the labor supply. The Federal Reserve will need to tamp down demand, but it is not the solution. If the Fed raises interest rates too high too fast, it could trigger another recession. Only the government can provide the industrial policy that we need to ensure stability in food and energy prices.

      • Common DreamsOpinion | Prospects for World Peace After South Korean President Yoon's Acceptance of Biden's New Cold War

        During his campaign, presidential candidate Joe Biden pledged to end "forever wars." After taking office, in January 2021, during his first State of the Union address, he explained that his administration would be committed to "engaging our adversaries and our competitors diplomatically." Consider, however, the phrase modifying it, i.e., "where it's in our interest." This focus, of course, is related to the growing sense in the U.S. of threats to its global supremacy. With the rise of many developing economies, in particular, the Chinese economy, the U.S.'s position as the sole global superpower has been challenged. In response, the Trump administration began a trade war with China, which aggravated the antagonism between the two countries and ushered in a more unstable world. Despite Biden's campaign promise of diplomacy over conflict, his administration has been intent on enhancing and amplifying Trump's anti-China policy. This undertaking has led to a full-out China containment policy, as represented by the appointment of Kurt Campbell, a prominent anti-China ideologue, as the first National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific.

      • Common DreamsOpinion | Tax Extreme Wealth to Save Planet Earth

        On April 25, Twitter's board of directors announced an agreement to sell the company to Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest person, for $44 billion. That sounds like a lot of money. But Musk can afford it. One recent estimate of the Musk fortune puts his wealth at $214 billion, a sum a bit down from the more than quarter trillion he held earlier this year.

      • Michael West MediaAlan Joyce's $5000 "gift" really a $5,000 grift. What's the scam Qantas? - Michael West

        Lavish in their praise of their big advertiser, the media is extolling Qantas chief Alan Joyce for his “$5,000 gift” to the embattled airline’s employees. What’s the scam?

        The scam is that Joyce, a mathematics prodigy, is really betting on his staff signing up to a fall in real wages for a one-off sugar hit of $5k. They have to sign the new EBA to get it and, if they do, they are signing up to a 1.2% wage rise over five years at at time when inflation is soaring 6% or more.

        He has also had the chutzpah to claim it’s 2% rises. “We can’t afford to permanently increase salaries beyond the 2 per cent threshold we’ve set, but we can afford to make this one-off payment on top of the Qantas share rights we’ve already given.”

      • The NationThe NYU Policing Project’s Dirty Money Dilemma

        The New York University Policing Project, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to partner with communities to promote public safety through democratic engagement, is facing a dilemma.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • Scheerpost‘Infuriating’: Biden Rebuked for Continued Opposition to Supreme Court Expansion

        “What does Biden ‘agree’ with doing?” Mehdi Hasan asked. “What does the leader of this country want to do to stop the increasingly fascistic assault on our democratic …

      • MeduzaArgentina and Iran apply to join BRICS

        Iran and Argentina have applied to join BRICS,€ the group of emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

      • Counter PunchThe Era of Northern Hegemony Over Mexico Is Coming to an End

        Despite the wide lead he had in all the polls before the elections, López Obrador’s victory in 2018 took almost everyone by surprise. Even the Morena militants remained doubtful for some days, since the dynamics of electoral fraud in Mexican politics had made defeat seem inevitable.

        Few of us knew what to expect from Mexico’s new government since AMLO is the first leftist president in our country’s modern political history. The first two years of his term were marked by the absence of any concrete foreign policy, at least publicly. The theory that the best foreign policy is domestic policy led President López Obrador to concentrate his efforts on trying to solve the larger problems being faced by the Mexican people, as well as dealing with former U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive anti-immigration policy that was mainly directed toward the Mexican migrant population entering and already in the United States.

      • Counter PunchThe Biden Problem and the Midterm Elections

        As sitting president, Joe Biden is the head of his party. Although former President Donald Trump is out of office, the public still sees him as the Republican party’s leader. Consequently, their stature shapes how voters value that party and their party’s candidates in the midterm elections.

        Although Biden and Trump are not on the ballot this November, speculation abounds on whether either will run in 2024. Despite their extreme policy differences, they are more alike than any of their potential in-party challengers, except for 80-year-old Senator Bernie Sanders. They are old men. Only three years separate Biden, who is 79, and Trump at 76. Their legacies and persona will help or hinder their party. Consequently, they present a challenge for candidates campaigning in local districts and states.

      • Counter PunchLatin America's New New Left

        Petro has called for “a transition from an economy of death to an economy of life,” saying that “we cannot accept that the wealth and foreign exchange reserves in Colombia come from the export of three of humanity’s poisons: petroleum, coal, and cocaine.” Since oil and coal are Colombia’s largest export earners—and the country remains the largest cocaine producer in the world—this is not going to be an easy transition for a Colombian politician to implement or sell to the public.

        But Gustavo Petro is no ordinary politician. He began his political career as an urban guerrilla, joining the revolutionary group M-19 as a 17-year-old. He was never part of the inner circle, but he did spend time in prison for his involvement in underground activities. Later, after becoming an economist, he served in the Colombian parliament and as the mayor of Bogota.

      • Common DreamsOpinion | An Anonymous Note to Liberals From a Right-Wing Supreme Court Justice

        To all you liberals, you Democrats, you quislings and cowards...

      • ScheerpostA Staggering Story of Palestinian Exile

        Mona Mansour’s The Vagrant Trilogy is the Public Theater’s first full-length, main-stage production to address the aftermath of the Nakba.

      • Counter PunchTwo Evils vs. One People-United

        When a majority of voters have opinions on gun control, public healthcare, campaign financing, voting rights reforms, decriminalization of marijuana, tax reform, environmental stewardship or abortion rights, etc. and those issues remain unaddressed and therefore go on representing the minority point of view, then we know, logic demands of us, that we recognize that the problem is not in any one particular party or in one particular branch of government or even the failure of one particular effort of advocacy by passionate activists. The problem is running through both parties, all 3 branches of government, through our media and even running its corruption through activist organizations that are spied on, disrupted, co-opted and set up for failure. So except for a minority of voters, I think that it is safe to say that we have all been set up for failure.

        Now of course the argument that many will make, will be that it’s all the fault of the Republicans who push for these unsatisfactory and down-right repulsive outcomes. The Republicans, the party leaders that is, certainly are known for their strange positions and legislation but even so, we should remember that these positions and political agendas aren’t always supported by a majority of Republican voters in the same way that Democratic leaders are not always working in the best interests of their constituents.

      • Telex (Hungary)Hungarian government sends response the EC's questions on Rule of Law
      • Common DreamsIlhan Omar Says Plan to Fix Supreme Court Must Include Impeachment Probes

        Rep. Ilhan Omar on Sunday demanded that the U.S. House launch impeachment probes into right-wing Supreme Court justices as part of a broader plan to reform the nation's chief judicial body following its decision to end the constitutional right to abortion.

        "It is not enough to tell people to vote. We need a comprehensive plan to fix this court."

      • The NationProgressives Call on Voters to Stop Sending Millionaires to the Senate

        When Elizabeth Warren recently stumped in Wisconsin for the progressive US Senate candidate Mandela Barnes, she reminded crowds that Barnes is not a billionaire who can “just write a check” to pay for his campaign. The Massachusetts senator was picking up on a major theme for Wisconsin’s 35-year-old lieutenant governor in his bid for the Democratic nomination, in one of the highest-profile Senate races of 2022. With Warren at his side, Barnes told supporters in Madison, “I don’t have millions and personal wealth.”

      • The NationA Football Coach’s Prayer Is Not About Freedom. It’s About Coercion.

        ’Tis the season of coercion for the illegitimate majority of the US Supreme Court. While forcing pregnant people to either die on the operating table, engage in illegal abortions, or give birth has rightly garnered most of the coverage, our ruling clerics issued another celebration of coercion on Monday. In a 6-3 ruling—the only vote that seems to matter any longer—they ruled that a football coach could lead his team in prayer at a public school. The case, Kennedy vs. Bremerton, involved Coach Joseph Kennedy’s “right” to pray in the Bremerton High School locker room before kickoff and on the field at the end of games.

      • Common DreamsLooming US Supreme Court Climate Decision Could 'Doom' Hope for Livable Future

        Amid widespread outrage over recent rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue another decision this week that legal experts and activists warn could imperil the Biden administration's climate goals and thus, the planet itself.

        "The public health and environmental consequences would be profoundly damaging to human health, the planet, and future generations."

      • TruthOutWarren Says US Is Just Two Anti-Filibuster Democrats Away From Codifying “Roe”
      • Common DreamsAbortion Rights Defenders Applaud Judge's Block on Utah 'Trigger Ban'

        Reproductive rights defenders on Monday welcomed a Utah judge's 14-day injunction against the state's so-called "trigger law" banning abortions in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade last week.

        "Without a temporary restraining order, the act will cause irreparable harm to PPAU, its patients, and its staff."

      • TruthOutSupreme Court Protects Public School Coach’s Ability to Lead Students in Prayer
      • The NationThe Right-Wing Supreme Court’s Next Targets

        When Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement on January 27, 2018, farsighted observers like New York Senator Chuck Schumer accurately predicted that he’d be replaced by a nominee who would help end Roe v. Wade, Casey v. Planned Parenthood, and the constitutional right to an abortion. On July 3, 2018, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial mocking those claims as “the abortion scare campaign.” According to the Journal, “The liberal line is always that Roe hangs by a judicial thread, and one more conservative Justice will doom it. Yet Roe still stands after nearly five decades. Our guess is that this will be true even if President Trump nominates another Justice Gorsuch. The reason is the power of stare decisis, or precedent, and how conservatives view the role of the Court in supporting the credibility of the law.”1

      • TruthOut“Crisis of Our Democracy”: AOC Calls for Supreme Court Justices to Be Impeached
      • TruthOutAs Supreme Court Rapidly Erodes Rights, Senator Cornyn Says "Now Do 'Plessy'"
      • TruthOutAs a Former Abortion Doula, Here’s How I’m Facing the Dawn of a Post-Roe World.
      • TruthOutPeople of Color Will Be Most Impacted by the Overturn of "Roe"
      • TruthOutPoll: SCOTUS Anti-Abortion Ruling Could Motivate Strong Dem Turnout in Midterms
      • TruthOutSelf-Determination Has Been Wrenched Away From Half the US Population
      • Counter PunchWomen: Victims of the Hypocrites on the Supreme Court

        Judges should be immune from partisan and sectarian pressures when deciding cases.

        This is especially true when the case involves a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body and her private reproductive choices in consultation with her healthcare provider free from government interference. Before Dobbs, this “medical model” adopted in Roe, had been acknowledged to be “settled law” by the men and women who have been appointed to the Supreme Court since Roe was handed down in 1973.

      • Democracy NowCaught on Tape: “He Punched Me in the Face,” says RI Dem Hit by GOP Rival, a Cop, at Abortion Rally

        During an abortion rights rally in Providence, Rhode Island, on Friday, Jennifer Rourke, Democratic candidate for state Senate, was punched multiple times by her Republican opponent Jeann Lugo, an off-duty Providence police officer. A video recording shows Lugo confronting Rourke before striking her in the face. Lugo dropped out of the race after being placed on paid administrative leave and charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct. We speak with Rourke about the attack, and her longtime activism for reproductive rights and her current campaign in Rhode Island. “As a senator, I will work hard to pass the Equality in Abortion Care Act, and that’s to provide coverage to people on Medicaid and state employees to have the abortion care that they need,” says Rourke. She also warns that interracial and same-sex marriage rights are at risk from the Supreme Court.

      • Counter PunchDemocracy in America on a Knife’s Edge

        2022: a year of climate emergency and war

        But 2022 is not a normal year. It is a year of climate chaos and war.

      • Common DreamsOpinion | The Rise of American Fascism

        The Supreme Court is relentlessly funding and empowering Christian fascism. It not only overturned Roe v. Wade, ending a constitutional right to an abortion, but€ ruled€ on June 21 that Maine may not exclude religious schools from a state tuition program. It has ruled that a Montana state program to support private schools€ must include religious€ schools. It ruled that a 40-foot cross€ could remain on state property in suburban Maryland. It upheld the Trump administration regulation allowing employers to€ deny birth control coverage to female employees on religious grounds. It ruled that€ employment discrimination laws do not apply€ to teachers at religious schools. It ruled that a Catholic social services agency in Philadelphia€ could ignore city rules€ and refuse to screen same-sex couples applying to take in foster children. It€ neutered the 1965 Voting Rights Act.€ It€ watered down€ laws allowing workers to combat sexual and racial harassment in court. It reversed century-old campaign finance restrictions to permit corporations, private groups and oligarchs to spend unlimited funds on elections, a system of legalized bribery, in€ Citizens United v Federal Election Commission. It permitted states to€ opt out€ of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. It€ undercut€ the ability of public sector unions to raise funds. It forced workers with legal grievances to submit their complaints to privatized arbitration boards. It ruled that states€ cannot restrict the right to carry concealed weapons€ in public. It ruled that€ suspects cannot sue police€ who neglect to read them their Miranda warnings and use their statements against them in court. Outlawing contraception, same-sex marriage and same-sex consensual relations are probably next. Only€ 25 percent of those polled say they have confidence in Supreme Court decisions.

      • ScheerpostHedges: Fascists in Our Midst

        Opinion column by Chris Hedges argues that "an American fascism, wrapped in the flag and clutching the Christian cross, was organizing to extinguish our anemic democracy" and that "this assault is very far advanced".

      • Common DreamsOpinion | The US Supreme Court Is Now a Fascist Institution

        The US Supreme Court is a fascist organization.

      • Counter PunchAbort the Court

        These are the kinds of rulings that occur in courts in “illiberal” states like Hungary and Poland, or former fascist ones. Recent legislation in Missouri, Texas, and Louisiana, intended to impose prison sentences on abortion providers, prevent out of state abortions, and even punish friends and family who help women obtain abortions, harken back to similar laws in Nazi Germany. In 1943, already stringent laws forbidding abortion – except when one partner was “of impure blood” — were strengthened: “A woman who kills her fetus or permits such a killing by another will be punished by a prison sentence…. Whoever else kills the fetus of a pregnant woman will be also punished by prison. If the perpetrator… continuously impairs the vitality of the German Volk, the death penalty can be imposed.”€ Laws already on the books in Louisiana, Texas, Indiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee would, under certain circumstances, allow abortion providers to be charged with murder. All those states have death penalties.

        And there is more bad news coming from the Supreme Court. This week, the court is likely to hand down a ruling restricting the EPA and other federal agencies from regulating the release into the atmosphere of CO2, methane and other global greenhouse gases and pollutants. The stakes in that case are nothing less than civilizational. The U.S. is by far the leading, per capita emitter of global warming gases€ (twice the rate of China). Unless we halt their release, and further regulate energy and industrial production, we haven’t a chance of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5€°C or even 2.0€°C. The human consequences of a heat increase beyond that already high threshold are catastrophic, according to the most recent IPCC reports.

      • Democracy NowMissouri Enacts Abortion Ban Trigger Law. Planned Parenthood Opens Clinic 15 Mins. Away in Illinois.

        We look at how reproductive health clinics are reacting to the overturning of Roe v. Wade last week. In at least 13 states, including Missouri, trigger laws that criminalize abortions are either already in effect or expected to soon kick in. Clinics have mobilized to center patient care by moving or referring them to safer states. We speak to Yamelsie Rodríguez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. Following abortion bans in neighboring states, Planned Parenthood opened a clinic about 15 minutes away in Fairview Heights, Illinois, which has the capacity to serve up to 15,000 abortion-seeking patients a year. She says the clinic has seen a rapid increase in “patients that were traveling from out of state having to flee draconian restrictions and laws in their home state to access basic, fundamental, essential care,” says Rodríguez.

      • Democracy Now“A Devastating Ruling”: Law Prof. Michele Goodwin & SCOTUS Attorney Kitty Kolbert on Overturning Roe

        As protests continue across the country in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, speak with two leading legal scholars. Kathryn “Kitty” Kolbert is co-founder of the Center for Reproductive Rights and argued the landmark case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992, which upheld Roe v. Wade. She is the co-author of “Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom.” Michele Goodwin is chancellor’s professor at University of California, Irvine School of Law and author of “Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood.” Her new piece for The New York Times is headlined “No, Justice Alito, Reproductive Justice Is in the Constitution.”

      • Democracy NowOverturning Roe: Slavery, Abortion, Maternal Mortality and the Disparate Effect on Women of Color

        The conservative-led Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 on Friday to uphold a Republican-backed Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, while voting 5 to 4 to overturn Roe v. Wade. Chief Justice John Roberts supported upholding the Mississippi law but not overturning Roe. Nine states have already banned abortion since Friday, and 17 more states are expected to do so soon. We speak with Michele Goodwin, chancellor’s professor at University of California, Irvine School of Law, whose new piece for The New York Times is headlined “No, Justice Alito, Reproductive Justice Is in the Constitution.”

      • Common DreamsLouisiana Judge Blocks State's Post-Roe Abortion Ban

        Update:

        A Louisiana judge on Monday temporarily blocked enforcement of the state's trigger ban on abortion after rights groups took legal action, calling the law "unconstitutionally vague."

      • Common DreamsSupreme Court Takes 'Wrecking Ball' to Separation of Church and State With Prayer Ruling

        A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Monday offered "another example" of the court's "conservative supermajority continuing its politicized agenda," said the head of one of the nation's largest teachers unions as the decision overturned decades of precedent which prohibited educators from leading students in religious displays.

        "It is disappointing that today's decision erodes protections for public school students to learn and grow free of coercion."

      • Common DreamsProgressives Launch 'Four More' Campaign to Demand Supreme Court Expansion

        Asserting that expanding the U.S. Supreme Court from nine to 13 members is the best way to protect Americans' rights from the right-wing supermajority's attacks, progressive advocates on Monday launched a campaign in support of a bill to add four more justices to the nation's highest court.

        "If we don't do something to stop the right-wing radicals on the court, they will continue to attack our fundamental rights."

      • Common DreamsPoll Shows Majority Oppose Supreme Court's Attack on Fundamental Rights

        The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overrule Roe v. Wade and strip away abortion rights for millions of women has left the majority of Americans opposing the ruling and fearing what the high court will do next.

        Fifty-six percent of respondents in an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll taken after Friday's ruling said they disagreed with the court's decision, including 45% who said they strongly disagreed with it.

    • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

      • ScheerpostMerrick Garland: Drop the Charges Against Julian Assange

        I turned on the news yesterday and there was Attorney General Merrick Garland somewhere in Ukraine, talking about being part of the eff…

      • Counter PunchThe Media Celebrated Julian Assange and is Now Too Afraid to Defend Him

        US intelligence agencies concluded in a report declassified by President Joe Biden that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Biden began by treating him as a pariah, but is now reversing this policy in the run-up to his visit to Saudi Arabia next month which is aimed at persuading MBS to pump more crude to replace Russian exports and bring down the oil price.

        In other words, the murderers of Khashoggi have got what they wanted and shown with grisly brutality that no Saudi dissident journalist is safe, a precedent that will be taken to heart in Turkey, where MBS has been visiting this week. All is now forgiven by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, newly allied to Saudi Arabia, while the trial in absentia of the 26 alleged murderers of Khashoggi had already been transferred from Ankara to Riyadh.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • ScheerpostThousands of Workers on Strike at South Africa’s Impala Platinum Mines

        The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) went on strike at the Impala Platinum mines in Rustenburg this week. Among the key demands raised by the workers is an end to exploitation…

      • TruthOutThis Country Is a Living Nightmare
      • Mother recalls rescuing 2 sons from Uvalde school shooting

        Since that harrowing day, Gomez claims she’s been faced with scrutiny from law enforcement, even at her own home.

        “The other night, we were exercising, and we had a cop parked at the corner, flickering us with his headlights,” she said.

        Due to incidents like this, Gomez says she is currently separated from her boys.

        “Just so my sons don’t feel like they have to watch cops passing by, stopping, parking,” she said.

      • [Old] People MagazineUvalde Mom Says She Was Handcuffed While Trying to Save Kids — and that Authorities Threatened Her to Not Speak Out

        But now, Gomez says that someone is trying to silence her. She told CBS News that she has received a threatening call from someone in law enforcement who wanted her to stop speaking out. She claims she was told that if she continued to talk to the media, she would be charged with a probation violation for obstruction of justice. Gomez did not specify further who the call came from.

        Law enforcement has faced sharp criticism for their response to the shooting.

        Three days after the shooting, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety told reporters that the incident commander on the scene made the "wrong decision" to wait at least 45 minutes before breaching the classroom doors.

      • TechdirtSupreme Court To Citizens: Miranda Rights Aren’t Actually Rights So No More Suing About Them

        The “Miranda rights” established by the Supreme Court in 1966 are a little less guaranteed going forward. The Supreme Court has issued an opinion [PDF] that limits what citizens whose rights have been violated can do — limiting them to exercising these rights during criminal trials as a component of their Fifth Amendment rights.

      • Counter PunchTo the Police State, We’re All Criminals Until We Prove Otherwise

        No longer are we presumed innocent. Now we’re presumed guilty unless we can prove our innocence beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Rarely, are we even given the opportunity to do so.

        Although the Constitution requires the government to provide solid proof of criminal activity before it can deprive a citizen of life or liberty, the government has turned that fundamental assurance of due process on its head.

      • DaemonFC (Ryan Farmer)Facebook censors posts about how to get abortion pills. Allows posts about illegally transferring guns and marijuana. – BaronHK's Rants

        Facebook is censoring information about how to get abortion pills, but won’t remove my dad’s posts calling immigrants “diseased” and black people “sub-human” and “undesirable”.

        It also told me they couldn’t see anything wrong with a lot of posts where people were calling for people to kill protesters or which were saying the people ran over by that pickup truck in Iowa the other day “deserved it”.

    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

    • Monopolies

      • Patents

      • Trademarks

        • TechdirtFacepalm: USPTO Grants Ohio State University Trademark On The Word ‘The’

          For at least three years now, we have been discussing the goings on concerning a trademark application submitted by Ohio State University for using the word “the” on apparel. If your brain just came to a screeching halt, it may be because you’re not a college sports fan. See, Ohio State University absolutely loves referring to itself as The Ohio State University. Part of the tradition is for athletes who go on to have professional careers always announce their college affiliation by really leaning into the word “the”. Even college sports commentators think it’s all very stupid and the USPTO initially rejected the trademark application based largely on technical grounds.

      • Copyrights

        • TechdirtCopyright Has Failed For Game Streaming, So Alternatives Have Emerged

          An interesting development in the digital world has been the continuing rise of gaming as a hugely popular activity, and a hugely profitable industry. Flowing from that rise and popularity, there is yet another fascinating aspect: streaming games for entertainment. The best-known example of this phenomenon is€ Twitch, now owned by Amazon.

        • Torrent FreakSupreme Court: File-Sharing Platform Must Block Search Terms to Stop Piracy

          Czech file-sharing and hosting platform Ulož.to must block searches and downloads related to six movies, the Supreme Court has confirmed. The Court rejected a request from rightsholders for more far-reaching anti-piracy filters but confirmed that online services can also be required to use technical restrictions for other content.

        • Torrent FreakMegaupload Pair Convicted: The Specific Crimes They Admitted in Detail

          After signing a deal to avoid extradition to the United States, former Megaupload executives Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk were convicted last week in the New Zealand High Court. In theory they face up to 10 years in prison so today we take a look at the specific charges and what they could mean for the two businessmen.

  • Gemini (Primer)

    • Personal

    • Technical

      • WINNUKE Post Morte

        At the beginning of the month I released my small roguelike project, WINNUKE into the world.

        I've been a game development tinkerer for a couple of years now, but I've never really finished anything due to scope creep, my lack of art skills or just sometimes getting bored and moving on to something else. THe goal of WINNUKE was to be an exercise in aggressively scoping a game and sticking to it. The majority of hte game was written in a month during my commute to and from work on the bus.

        I settled on a pretty abstract art style which is pretty easy to create assets for and I feel doesn't look half bad.

      • Called To The Giallo



        There is nothing quite like being able to witness a really good Giallo picture on the big screen.

        I distinctly remember what it was like to attend a month of Giallo movies at the local movie theater, four in all, one per week. I saw Deep Red, and Opera, and Four Flies on Grey Velvet if I remember correctly. I had already been hooked by the genre since I saw Suspiria on VHS around 2010, however these screenings only strengthened my respect for Dario Argento as a filmmaker. I became aware of the subtle connective threads of the genre, which continued from one film to the next in a chronological fashion, whereby each film utilized slightly different techniques from the span of 1969 to 1980.

      • Programming

        • Coverage testing with CMake and GCov



          This took me 3 days of on and off work to figure out. So I decide to write it down in case I need it again. And I want this to be more widely known.

          CMake is the most popular build system (generator) for C++. While test coverage is an important tool to find where bugs can hide. Testing usually tries to exercise all features and make sure every edge case is covered. But how can you sure that's the case? Coverage records where code execution reaches and tells you which line has been executed when running. This is standard tool for Go and other languages. In C and C++. We have GCov, yet build system level support seems to be lacking. Turns out CMake supports coverage testing out of the box. It's just that it's not used much nor documented well.



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