Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 27/07/2022: Twenty Years of Valgrind and Tor Browser 11.5.1



  • GNU/Linux

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • OSTechNixHow To Automatically Update Running Docker Containers Using Watchtower

        Keeping the Docker containers up-to-date is one of the important job of a DevOps engineer. Manually updating Docker containers is a quite time consuming task. This guide explains what is Watchtower, how to install Watchtower, and how to automatically update running Docker containers using Watchtower in Linux.

      • TechRepublicHow to sync time on Linux servers with Chrony

        Recently, I ran into an issue where I discovered a few Linux servers I work with were operating under an assumed time zone. Because of that time drift, certain services wouldn’t function properly. In particular, two servers both served as nodes on a Docker Swarm cluster and were unable to perform their duties and MariaDB database replication failed. After fixing that simple issue, I realized it was time to start paying closer attention to the time on my servers.

        With that, I was reminded of a tool that helps make this simple. Said tool is Chrony, which will constantly keep your time in sync on your servers and desktops.

    • Games

      • Boiling SteamNew Steam Games with Native Linux Clients - 2022-07-27 Edition - Boiling Steam

        Between 2022-07-20 and 2022-07-27 there were 31 New Steam games released with Native Linux clients. For reference, during the same time, there were 263 games released for Windows on Steam, so the Linux versions represent about 11.8 % of total released titles. Here’s a quick pick of the most interesting ones...

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • Its FOSSPop!_OS 22.04 Linux Distro is Finally Adding Raspberry Pi 4 Support
      Pop!_OS is one of the best beginner-friendly Linux distributions.

      It is based on Ubuntu, and obviously, Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

      However, unlike Ubuntu, Pop!_OS 22.04 did not officially support Raspberry Pi at the time of release.

    • 9to5LinuxEndless OS 5 Promises Refreshed Desktop Experience, All-New App Center, and More

       Endless OS 5 is coming later this year and promises a refreshed desktop experience based on the latest GNOME desktop environment. The new desktop experience includes a cleaner and more spacious look by separating apps from system status, a dock that shows favorite and running apps, and a transparent top panel with a calendar, date & time, system tray, and app menu.

      Endless OS’ signature look with the app grid and search on the wallpaper will remain, but it will only display installed apps in the next version of the GNU/Linux distribution.

    • PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandriva/OpenMandriva Family

      • LinuxiacOpenMandriva Lx 5.0 ROME Technical Preview Released

        The next release of OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, ROME, is an excellent choice for long-time Linux fans and newbies. So that’s what is new!

        If you’re looking for another rolling-release Linux distribution to try, one with roots in the legendary Mandrake Linux, look no further.

        OpenMandriva Lx is a KDE-focused community-driven Linux distribution inspired by and forked from Mandriva Linux that includes plenty of open-source software. The distro was created by the OpenMandriva Association and aimed at both experienced and first-time Linux users.

        The latest stable release of the distribution, OpenMandriva Lx 4.3, was released earlier this year on February 7th.

    • Fedora Family / IBM

      • Enterprisers ProjectRed Hat: 5 lessons from 'The Hero's Journey' to empower your IT team

        To survive and thrive in today’s fast-paced IT industry, you must stay on the cutting-edge of technology and techniques. This can put enormous pressure on individuals to take risks and try new things. As a leader, you must support your team members in taking on these challenges and help them grow their skills and confidence.

        Looking at the story of The Hero’s Journey from a personal perspective can help us relate. But more importantly, it can help us understand the importance of this journey to those we lead.

      • Enterprisers ProjectRed Hat: 3 ways artificial intelligence can help unite remote teams

        In the last decade, artificial intelligence has matured from a novel, fast-emerging technology to one embraced by every industry around the globe. And in the last few years, workplaces have increasingly become remote or hybrid, accelerating the amount of data being created, consumed, and scrutinized daily.

        But remote work has made quick in-person communication more challenging, causing many traditional organizational practices to fumble. Workers increasingly rely on a growing amount of data accessed, processed, and organized across networks.

        These trends have prompted companies to rely on technologies like AI to bring workers together and help managers lead them more effectively.

      • Red Hat OfficialCustomer success stories: How Red Hat products and services are enabling banking, automotive and urban planning innovation

        In this month’s customer success highlights, learn how Banfico, Porsche Informatik and Korea Land and Housing Corporation are making use of Red Hat products and services to expand partnerships, scale business growth, reduce application delivery times and more.

    • Devices/Embedded

      • The DIY LifePi Shortage - Are These Worthwhile Raspberry Pi Alternatives? - The DIY Life

        If you’ve tried to buy a Raspberry Pi in the past year or so then you’ve probably experienced some level of difficulty in getting one. They’re out of stock almost everywhere, there are generally purchasing limits on any that are in stock, and they’re often being sold at way over their recommended retail price.

        A big part of what makes Raspberry Pi boards so attractive is that they’ve got really good documentation and support and a large online community, so you’ll easily find projects, tutorials and answers to any issues you run into along the way.

        With that said, there are a large number of single-board computers available that offer similar features to Raspberry Pi’s, so I thought it would be interesting to get a few and try them out.

    • Open Hardware/Modding

      • ArduinoThis system detects leaks by listening to water flowing through pipes | Arduino Blog

        Damaged, leaking pipes are not only a nuisance to clean up after, but they can also create major inefficiencies within water delivery systems, leading to a loss in both the water itself and the electricity required to disinfect and pump it. Over the past decade, water pipeline detection systems have been upgraded to include state-of-the-art sensors, which can precisely locate where a leak is. Due to their high price, Manivannan Sivan designed his own leak detection system that can be produced for far less cost.

        Sivan’s project involves the placement of two microphones next to a pipe and reading the acoustic signatures they pick up. For this task, he chose a single Arduino Portenta H7 and an accompanying Vision Shield due to its pair of onboard mics and fast processor. He then collected samples for no water flow, water flow without leaks, and water flow with leaks. The resulting machine learning model achieved an accuracy of 99.1% and a mere 0.02 loss.

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Web Browsers

    • Programming/Development [Valgrind's birthday and GitHub seen as enemy]

      • LinuxInsiderFeuding Developers, Dueling Distros Make Linux Lineage Revival Legendary

        The Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC), a non-profit focused on free and open source software (FOSS), has stopped using Microsoft-owned GitHub for project hosting and wants other software developers to stop using it as well.

        In a June 30 blog post SFC officials complained that GitHub over the past decade became a dominant role in FOSS development by building an interface and social features around Git, a widely used open source version control software. That growth involved convincing FOSS developers to contribute to the development of a proprietary service that exploits FOSS.

        SFC is pursuing a long-term plan to assist FOSS projects to migrate away from GitHub, according to Denver Gingerich, SFC FOSS license compliance engineer, and Bradley M. Kuhn, SFC policy fellow. They said the SFC will not accept new member projects without a long-term plan to migrate away from GitHub.

      • LLVM Discussion Forums: Release/15.x has branched

        The release/15.x branch has been created. If you would like to backport a patch to the branch, please use the instructions https://llvm.org/docs/GitHub.html#backporting-fixes-to-the-release-branches. The goal is to stablize the release branch over the next few days so we can release 15.0.0-rc1 on Friday.

      • LWNVetter: Locking Engineering Principles [LWN.net]

        Daniel Vetter offers some advice for developers of locking schemes in the kernel.

      • Mark J. Wielaard €» Blog Archive €» Happy birthday, Valgrind!

        Make sure to read Nicholas Nethercote’s Twenty years of Valgrind to learn about the early days, Valgrind “skins”, the influence Valgrind had on raising the bar when it comes to correctness for C and C++ programs, and why a hacker on the Rust programming language still uses Valgrind.

      • LWNNethercote: Twenty years of Valgrind [Ed: LWN should link to the original, not to Microsoft GitHub
      • Twenty years of Valgrind | Nicholas Nethercote

        I first met Julian Seward in late 2001. I had moved from Australia to Cambridge in the UK to pursue a PhD on the topic of “cache optimizations for functional languages”. The Cambridge Computer Laboratory is literally next door to a Microsoft Research office, and I was soon interacting with the people there working on the Glasgow Haskell Compiler. Julian was one of them.

        Shortly after that, Julian’s stint working on GHC came to a close. On his last day he dropped by my office in the Computer Laboratory to say goodbye. I asked what he would be doing now, and he said he was going to spend some time on a project of his called Valgrind. “What’s Valgrind?” I asked. It was one of those this-will-change-your-life moments.

      • Tapping the Breaks | Coder Radio 476

        We're looking at the big picture and, surprisingly, seeing a lot of possibilities.

  • Leftovers

    • Science

      • HackadayBiomimetic Surfaces: Copying Nature To Deter Bacteria And Keep Ship Hulls Smooth

        You might not think that keeping a boat hull smooth in the water has anything in common with keeping a scalpel clean for surgery, but there it does: in both cases you’re trying to prevent nature — barnacles or biofilm — from growing on a surface. Science has looked to nature, and found that the micro-patterning formed by the scales of certain sharks or the leaves of lotus plants demonstrate a highly elegant way to prevent biofouling that we can copy.

      • HackadayMini Falcon 9 Uses NASA Software

        [T-Zero Systems] has been working on his model Falcon 9 rocket for a while now. It’s an impressive model, complete with thrust vectoring, a microcontroller which follows a predetermined flight plan, a working launch pad, and even legs to attempt vertical landings. During his first tests of his model, though, there were some issues with the control system software that he wrote so he’s back with a new system that borrows software from the Space Shuttle.

    • Hardware

      • HackadayHackaday Prize 2022: Digital Dice Towers Built In Beautiful Retro Cases

        Retro hardware often looks fantastic, but we may find we no longer need it for its original function. [John Anderson] found that to be the case with some old Heathkit gear, and set about giving them a fun overhaul.

      • HackadayA New Way To Produce PCBs With Your 3D Printer

        With the low-cost PCB fabrication services available to hackers and makers these days, we’ll admit that making your own boards at home doesn’t hold quite the appeal that it did in the past. But even if getting your boards professionally made is cheaper and easier than it ever has been before, at-home production still can’t be beat when you absolutely must have a usable board before the end of the day.

      • HackadayOmnidirectional Walker With Wheeled Feet

        [James Bruton] is on a quest to explore all the weird and wonderful methods of robot locomotion, and in his latest project created an omnidirectional walker that can move in any direction instantaneously.

      • HackadayBalloons Are The User Interface Of The Future

        We’ve seen all kinds of interfaces come and go over the years, from keyboards and mice to lightpens and touchscreens. Now, a group of researchers at the University of Tokyo have built a device that enables haptic interaction with a balloon.

      • HackadayLarge Format 3D Printer Is A Serious Engineering Challenge

        When you want to build a large format 3D printer, you can’t just scale up the design of a desktop machine. In an excellent four-part build series (videos after the break), [Dr. D-Flo] takes us through all the engineering challenges he had to contend with when building a 3D printer with a 4x4x4 ft (1.2 m cube) print volume.

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • Meduza‘The agreement won’t last long’: What the Black Sea grain deal means for Ukraine, Russia, and the wider world — Meduza

        On July 22, Ukraine and Russia signed agreements with Turkey and the United Nations designed to restore the export of grain from Ukrainian ports. The deal stipulates that Kyiv can export grain from the Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne ports on the Black Sea. However, Ukraine will not remove the mines protecting its ports: ships will travel through safe clearways instead. In addition, the Russian side will be involved in inspecting ships destined for Ukraine’s ports for any weapons. The day after the agreements were signed, however, Russian missiles struck the port of Odesa. For insight into what the Black Sea grain deal means for Ukraine, Russia, and the wider world, Meduza turned to Andrey Sizov, an expert on agricultural markets and the CEO of the research firm SovEcon.€ € 

      • Common DreamsStudy Ties 'Forever Chemicals' Exposure to Billions in US Health Costs

        Research published Tuesday warns that "forever chemicals" used in everyday products could lead to tens of billions of dollars in medical costs in the United States, globally infamous for its for-profit healthcare system.

        "Our findings add to the substantial and still-mounting body of evidence suggesting that exposure to PFAS is harming our health and undermining the economy."

    • Security [Some phony security approach and real bugs, which have patches]

      • Bruce SchneierSecuring Open-Source Software [Ed: Diversion away from the urgent need to get rid of back-doored proprietary software; in recent years, in the name of "critical infrastructure", the military tried to take more and more control over Free software, e.g. by letting Microsoft "manage" it in GitHub and subjecting it to more autocracy/bureaucracy, developer 'culls' etc.]
      • LawfareOpen-Source Security: How Digital Infrastructure Is Built on a House of Cards - Lawfare

        Open source is free software built collaboratively by a community of developers, often volunteers, for public use. Google, iPhones, the national power grid, surgical operating rooms, baby monitors, and military databases all run on this unique asset.

        However, open source has an urgent security problem. Open source is more ubiquitous and susceptible to persistent threats than ever before. Proprietary software has responded to threats by implementing thorough institutional security measures. The same care is not being given to open-source software—primarily due to misaligned incentives.

      • LWNSecurity updates for Wednesday [LWN.net]

        Security updates have been issued by Debian (kernel and openjdk-17), Fedora (ceph, lua, and moodle), Oracle (java-1.8.0-openjdk), Red Hat (grafana), SUSE (git, kernel, libxml2, nodejs16, and squid), and Ubuntu (imagemagick, protobuf-c, and vim).

      • QtSecurity advisory: FreeType in Qt

        There have been three vulnerabilities found in FreeType recently and they have been assigned the CVE ids CVE-2022-27404, CVE-2022-27405, CVE-2022-27406. This has been fixed in the latest version of FreeType – v2.12.1

        These effects configurations of Qt that have been built against the bundled version of FreeType. If you are using a pre-built version of Qt then this will be using the bundled version of FreeType by default, otherwise you will be using the system version by default, in which case you should check if the system needs to be updated or not. If the system needs to be updated, then updating it is enough to solve the issue. There is no need to rebuild Qt in that case.

      • Attacking EFB updates | Pen Test Partners

        When considering the ‘installed’ EFB then the chances are software will originate from a combination of the aircraft manufacturer, the device manufacturer, and any specifically approved software. These will have gone through various stages of testing and will likely have been developed by a well-known company with an established and proven security methodology/framework for software development.

        This is primarily as an installed EFB is considered to be ‘part’ of the aircraft and subject to the same safety and security regime as the aircraft itself.

        But what about the ‘portable’ EFBs, many of which are allocated to specific crew members as personal devices? In this case, the variety of software installed is likely to be much greater than the installed EFBs and thus will have a much greater range of possibilities for the origin of installed software. Many airlines which assign their pilots with EFBs that are classed as portable allow their pilots to install 3rd party applications on their devices without approval from the airline (however they will generally be restricted to only installing applications from an approved application store).

        It is common for portable EFBs to contain other applications e.g. games and social media applications, as well as publicly available 3rd party tools for pilots e.g. weather apps and unit conversion apps.

    • Defence/Aggression

      • Common DreamsOpinion | UN Nuclear Review: A Prime Time to Stop the New Arms Race

        In the run-up to August’s United Nation’s 10th Annual Review of the landmark Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a review undertaken every five years, Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s State Department issued a surprising reaffirmation of the U.S. commitment to this treaty and the “ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons.”

      • Counter PunchSergei Karaganov Reveals a Russian Elite’s World Vision

        This was not always the case. The previous Cold War (1.0) was not as cold as it is presented. There was some dialogue. Georgi Arbatov, adviser to five Communist Party general secretaries and founder of the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies in Moscow, once told me he had had constant contacts with American officials during the Cold War. “Averell Harriman [American politician, businessman, and diplomat] and I spoke frequently about what we could do to avert an out-and-out conflict,” he confided. “It was in no one’s interest to have a nuclear confrontation.”

        So, with no Arbatov or Harriman around in Cold War 2.0., Serge Schmemann’s interview with Sergei Karaganov in the NY Times warrants careful reading as an insight into what the Kremlin is thinking. Amid Western unilateral condemnations of the February 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have had little information from intellectual, cosmopolitan Russians who have had decades of contacts with Western elites. Professors at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations or Moscow’s Higher School of Economics or members of think tanks like the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies, many of whom have also held government positions, have not been heard from in the mainstream Western press.

      • Counter PunchThe Pope, the War Bonnet and the Real Meaning of the Doctrine of Discovery

        Willie along with other delegates from various Native Nations throughout time have been part of efforts seeking something from the Vatican … whether it be an apology, rescinding of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery, returning of all of our ceremonial items … all are true and righteous asks.

        It is extremely hard to understand the ramifications and the extent of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery. Proper context, understanding details, and nuances are of upmost critical importance … and the importance of this is why I’ve chosen to write this.

      • Counter PunchAUKUS, Technology and Militarising Australia

        The author of the report, non-resident fellow of the US Centre’s Foreign Policy and Defence program Jennifer Jackett gushes about the “more consequential” nature of various “technological developments in quantum, cyber, artificial intelligence, undersea, hypersonics and electronic warfare” than nuclear-powered submarines. The latter are, after all, slated to appear much later on the horizon.€  In the meantime, warring potential could be harnessed in other realms.

        Jackett stresses the urgency of appreciating these fields, given that Australia faces “a more hostile Indo-Pacific”.€  No ironic reflection follows that such hostility has been aided, in no small part, by the AUKUS security pact that has put countries in the region, with China being the primary target, on military notice.

      • Counter PunchRussia-Ukraine Conflict: The Propaganda War

        During the early part of World War II, Bandera had been in charge of OUN’s more ruthless faction that collaborated with the Nazi occupation and actively participated in the slaughter of millions of Poles, Ukrainian Jews, and ethnically Russian communists in the region. A CIA clandestine operations chief in Berlin at the time, Peter Sichel, stated that “They [OUN] were Nazis, pure and simple,” and indeed, “Worse than that, because a lot of them did the Nazis’ dirty work for them.” More recently, under pressure from the extreme right-wing forces in the country, including the Azov Battalion, Bandera was proclaimed by the president, Viktor Yushchenko, as “Hero of Ukraine,” the country’s highest honor, a status that was later abrogated by his successor, Victor Yanukovych.

        The award was condemned by the European Parliament and by Polish, Jewish, and Russian organizations representing the hundreds of thousands of their ancestors who were directly murdered under Bandera’s leadership. But the pro-fascists in Ukraine’s power complex would not be deterred. Under the US selectee for president in the post-coup government, Petro (“Chocolate King”) Poroshenko, previously an active informant at the US embassy in Kiev, Bandera was again restored to the highest status and his birthday was made a national holiday. In Lviv, a startling Bandera monument and triumphal arch, stands next to a former Polish Catholic church, along with other monuments and renamed streets in western Ukraine in tribute to this wartime criminal.

      • The NationDistorting the Holocaust to Boost the International Arms Trade

        One of the most grotesque distortions of Holocaust history is when those involved in the international arms trade use it to legitimize war and mass violence.

      • Common DreamsCorporate Interests Have Given $21.5 Million to GOP 'Sedition Caucus' Since Jan. 6 Attack

        In the month of June, as the House January 6 committee revealed alarming new details on former President Donald Trump's coup attempt, corporate trade groups and Fortune 500 companies donated more than $819,000 to the Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.

        That's according to a new analysis provided to Common Dreams by the watchdog organization Accountable.US, which has been tracking corporate contributions to the so-called "Sedition Caucus"—the group of 147 Republican lawmakers who, just hours after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, voted to overturn the 2020 election in an attempt to help Trump maintain his grip on power.

      • TechdirtIrrational Fear Of Undocumented Immigrants May Have Contributed To Botched Response To Uvalde School Shooting

        The bad news keeps pouring in. No doubt, the United States (and US law enforcement) will ultimately walk this debacle off, but it’s going to take just a bit longer this time.

      • The NationBattle Lines
      • Common DreamsOpinion | Trump Is the GOP and the GOP Is Trump—Both Must Be Vanquished

        Last Thursday night’s hearing of the House January 6 Committee was a blockbuster.

      • Meduza‘They define themselves through their experience of the war’ Katrin Nenasheva on trying to build a safe environment for forcibly deported Ukrainian children — Meduza

        Over the last seven years, Russian artist and activist Katrin Nenasheva has accomplished an impressive amount: in addition to her numerous public protest pieces, she founded PsychoActive, a support group for people living with mental illness, as well as Teens and Cats, a similar group for teenagers. Since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine, Nenasheva has remained busy, putting her more high-concept work on hold to do all she can to help people affected by the war. She spoke to Meduza about two of the projects she's helped launch in the last five months: a summer camp for Ukrainian refugee children and a support group for anti-war Russians who chose to remain in the country.

      • The NationMohammed bin Salman

        He ordered the murder, our own report said, But we remain true to the oil he commands: Joe Biden decided to fist bump the man, As if a clenched fist hides the blood on one’s hands.

    • Environment

      • Common DreamsRejecting 'Business as Usual' While Planet Burns, Students Vow to Occupy Schools Worldwide

        Students from around the world announced Tuesday their intention to "disrupt business as usual" at their universities and schools this fall, pressuring administrators and policymakers to ramp up efforts to combat the climate crisis by holding occupations and refusing to attend classes as normal.

        Dozens of students and student groups co-signed an op-ed published by The Guardian, promising that their new campaign, "End Fossil: Occupy!" will include young people from across the globe demanding "the end of the fossil economy."

      • Common DreamsOpinion | The Global Ruling Class Is Frog-Marching Us Towards Extinction

        The past week has seen record-breaking€ heat waves€ across Europe.€ Wildfires€ have ripped through Spain, Portugal and France. London's fire brigade experienced its€ busiest day€ since World War II. The U.K. saw its€ hottest day€ on record of 104.54 Fahrenheit. In China, more than a dozen cities€ issued€ the "highest possible heat warning" this weekend with over 900 million people in China€ enduring€ a scorching heat wave along with severe flooding and landslides across large swathes of southern China. Dozens of people have died. Millions of Chinese have been displaced. Economic losses run into the billions of yuan. Droughts, which have destroyed crops, killed livestock and forced many to flee their homes, are creating€ a potential famine€ in the Horn of Africa. More than 100 million people in the United States€ are under heat alerts€ in more than two dozen states from temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90s and low 100s. Wildfires have destroyed€ thousands of acres in California. More than 73 percent of€ New Mexico€ is suffering from an "extreme" or "severe" drought. Thousands of people had to flee from a fast-moving brush fire near€ Yosemite National Park€ on Saturday and 2,000 homes and businesses lost power.€ 

      • Energy

        • Common DreamsGreenpeace Sues UK Government to Stop Massive Offshore Drilling Project

          Greenpeace filed suit against the United Kingdom government on Tuesday, contending that the recent approval of a new North Sea gas field was unlawful because officials refused to evaluate how greenhouse gas pollution from Shell's so-called Jackdaw project will exacerbate the climate emergency.

          "Whenever we see the government acting unlawfully to greenlight new fossil fuels we stand ready to fight in the courts."

      • Wildlife/Nature

        • Counter PunchBackcountry Dealing-Making on Montana Wilderness

          The old trope about “backcountry” designation being basically the same as Wilderness is embraced by “collaborative” organizations who say it’s “wilderness lite.” But it means Multiple-Use, a euphemism for “multiple-abuse.”

          Inspired by the Gallatin Forest Partnership collaborative the revised Forest Plan for the Custer-Gallatin National Forest designated four backcountry areas in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (see map). Two cut chunks out of the Hyalite Porcupine Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area, another claims the adjacent proposed Wilderness in South Cottonwood and a fourth absorbs the Lionhead area, a crucial wildlife linkage habitat.

    • Finance

      • Counter PunchWhy U.S. Must “Join the Club” and Give Blank Checks to Microchip Companies While Ignoring Other Major Issues

        There is no doubt that there is a global shortage in microchips and semiconductors which is making it harder for manufacturers to produce the cars, cell phones, household appliances and electronic equipment that we need. This shortage is costing American workers good jobs and raising prices for families. That is why I fully support efforts to expand U.S. microchip production.

        But the question we should be asking is this: Should American taxpayers provide the micro-chip industry with a blank check of over $76 billion at a time when semiconductor companies are making tens of billions of dollars in profits and paying their executives exorbitant compensation packages? I think the answer to that question should be a resounding NO.

      • Common DreamsOpinion | The Enduring Tyranny of Oil: War, Inflation, Geopolitical Rivalry, and Soaring World Temperatures

        It may seem hard to believe, but only 15 years ago many of us were talking confidently about "peak oil"—the moment of maximum global oil output after which, with world reserves dwindling, its use would begin an irreversible decline. Then along came hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and the very notion of peak oil largely vanished. Instead, some analysts began speaking of "peak oil demand"—a moment, not so far away, when electric vehicle (EV) ownership would be so widespread that the need for petroleum would largely disappear, even if there was still plenty of it to frack or drill. However, in 2020, EVs made up less than 1% of the global light-vehicle fleet and are only expected to reach 20% of the total by 2040. So peak-oil demand remains a distant mirage, leaving us deeply beholden to the tyranny of petroleum, with all its perilous consequences.

      • Common Dreams'Really Inexcusable': Progressives Lament Democrats' Failure to Reverse Trump Tax Cuts

        Not a single Democrat in either the House or the Senate voted yes in 2017 when Republicans and then-President Donald Trump—hellbent on delivering big for their wealthy donors—rammed through legislation that slashed the corporate tax rate to 21% and lowered the top marginal rate for the richest people in the United States.

        But despite the law's deep unpopularity with the American public, it remains largely intact five years later even as Democrats—many of whom campaigned on reversing some or all of the regressive GOP tax law—narrowly control Congress and the presidency.

      • The NationDemocrats Are Losing the Working Class, but You Shouldn’t Blame the Left

        It’s no surprise that Democrats are up against it this fall. The president’s party generally does worse in midterm elections. Inflation is at a 40-year high. Crime is up. And the centerpiece of President Biden’s domestic agenda has been torpedoed by united Republican obstruction—and a West Virginia Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III.

      • The NationWhat’s At Stake for Young Voters

        The most pressing issue for young people in the upcoming midterm elections is student loan cancellation—not only because of the uncertainty that has surrounded the student loan debt crisis over the past two years but also because many young people will likely graduate into recessionary conditions. Student debt is an issue that impacts more than 45 million Americans, and one that carries far beyond one’s collegiate years. Expensive degrees have become more of a necessity, rather than a choice. Yet getting one holds so many people back from opportunities that their education was supposed to bring them. During Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, he made alleviating student debt a core part of his messaging, particularly as something that can be accomplished through executive power.

      • The NationProgressives Unite Behind Mandela Barnes in the Wisconsin Senate Race

        Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, who has opened a narrow lead in polls of the crowded contest for the state’s Democratic US Senate nomination, got a significant boost last week when US Senator Bernie Sanders announced his endorsement. Barnes got another boost over the weekend when US Senator Elizabeth Warren flew into the state to campaign with the 35-year-old contender at rallies in Milwaukee and Madison. But what may turn out to be the biggest boost came Monday morning, when another contender who had drawn considerable progressive support quit the race and endorsed the lieutenant governor in the August 9 primary.

      • Common DreamsWarren, Padilla Demand Buttigieg Crack Down on Airline Industry's 'Rampant Unfair Practices'

        Calling on the Biden administration to use its authority to protect U.S. travelers from "rampant unfair practices" by commercial airliners, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Alex Padilla wrote to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday to condemn the exorbitant costs, frequent flight cancellations and delays, and lack of transparency in the industry.

        It is well within the Transportation Department's power to rein in airline companies, the two Democrats emphasized.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • Counter PunchWhite Lies: Liberal Panic in the South African Media

        From the outset, New Frame was strikingly different from much of the online media in South Africa. Uniquely, the foundations from which it received the bulk of its funding were primarily supported by a Black funder, a radical Black funder. The publication was largely and at times exclusively run by Black women, in terms of both its day-to-day editorial work and management. Moreover, New Frame explicitly aspired to be an editorially independent left publication that was African in terms of how it sought to make sense of the world as well as its geographic location. It did not assume that it was or should be part of the West, that the West has a right to rule the world, or that the West holds moral superiority.

        New Frame was far more intellectually serious than the most influential online publications in the country – News24 and the Daily Maverick – and far, far more committed to professionally and ethically rigorous forms of reporting. This commitment wasn’t just a matter of holding to high professional standards. The rigour that we tried to develop and sustain with regard to facts, argument and process – including having six sets of eyes on every story before publication – was central to our political project. One of the guiding principles of the project was that intellectual seriousness and rigour, and ethical forms of engagement, should be foundational values of the left.

      • Common DreamsOpinion | State Lawmakers Must Act to Save Democracy From GOP Attacks

        The January 6 commission hearings cement what even the most casual observer has known for years: The state of American democracy is in absolute crisis, and it’s only going to get worse without immediate intervention. While our institutions were strong enough to prevent Donald Trump from stealing the 2020 election, America’s remaining democratic safeguards continue to crumble, especially at the state level.

      • Common DreamsOpinion | Performative Cruelty Is Republicans' Only Remaining Policy

        Do you remember the incident during the 2016 campaign when Donald Trump mocked a reporter with a physical disability? The crowd of his supporters thought it was screamingly funny. Or the following year when he told an audience of police "please don't be too nice" to suspects, suggesting they could bang the arrestee's head against the patrol car when putting him in the seat?

      • Common DreamsOpinion | It's Time to Break up the Secret Service and Send Its People to Jail for Their Role in the Jan. 6 Cover-Up

        Sometimes the irony of America in the 2020s is just too much. Consider the case of James Murray, the current head of the U.S. Secret Service and a 27-year veteran of the force best known for protecting presidents and their families. Earlier this month, Murray abruptly announced that he's leaving to become the security chief for the parent company of Snapchat, the social media platform that's famous for messages that rapidly disappear.

      • Common DreamsDoctors Warn Christian Zealots' ACA Lawsuit Threatens Preventive Care for Millions

        A lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act's requirement that insurers and group health plans cover dozens of preventive services at no cost to consumers jeopardizes access to lifesaving healthcare for tens of millions of people, a coalition of U.S.-based medical organizations warned Monday.

        "The cruelty of MAGA extremists always breaks new barriers."

      • Project CensoredProtections of the Sixth Amendment and Third Party Ballot Issues - The Project Censored Show

        Notes: Mark Loudon-Brown is a senior attorney at the Southern Center for Human Rights, and previously was a public defender in New York City. He holds law degrees from New York University and Georgetown University.

    • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

      • Common DreamsAfter Meeting Blinken, Shireen Abu Akleh's Family 'Still Waiting' for Justice

        Relatives of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian-American journalist shot dead by Israeli forces in occupied Palestine in May, followed up a Tuesday meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken by imploring the Biden administration to pursue justice for the slain Al Jazeera reporter.

        "If we allow Shireen's killing to be swept under the rug, we send a message that the lives of U.S. citizens abroad don't matter."

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • Counter PunchEssential Workers -- Who Gets a Place in the Pandemic Picket Line?

        The response to the pandemic and surrounding conversations are about much more than masks, vaccines, and school policies. Beyond the vote, petitions and protests have been an advocacy tool for either stronger protections or the removal of pandemic restrictions.

        The spectrum of protest and political engagement may have the appearance of representing a range of voices in the spirit of democracy. In a country where free speech is paramount, aren’t all voices heard if they simply speak loudly enough?

      • Counter PunchRising Sea Level and Settler Hubris Ahead

        Recent news about climate change has not been good, but those grasping roots demanded I pay more attention. In February 2022 NOAA, NASA and five other agencies released a report projecting a foot of sea level rise by 2050 – and that’s regardless of any reduction in emissions. In mid-July we learned Senator Joe Manchin killed President Biden’s climate bill. That same week, an historic south swell tied to sea level rise swamped homes, businesses and roads on all the Hawaiian islands. Then the UK declared its first ever code-red extreme heat warning and President Biden said the U.S. is in a climate “emergency,” but didn’t officially declare it. Every year the students in my classes are increasingly mad at me and my peers for not doing enough, for saddling them with climate catastrophe. We can’t seem to think one generation in the future, much less seven.

        At COP26 last fall in Glasgow, former President Obama told young people to “stay angry.” He noted that he has two daughters in their early 20s, so he knows that it’s “not easy being young today.” One of those daughters carries a Hawaiian name, and all of the Obamas spent lots of time on Kailua beach during his presidency. Furthermore, Barack/Barry didn’t just frequent Sandy’s (the body surfing beach) when he was in high school, like me, he also came to Kailua beach to hang out.

      • Common DreamsTexas Abortion Ban Turned One Woman's Pregnancy Into a 'Dystopian Nightmare'

        Reproductive healthcare advocates on Tuesday recoiled at a harrowing report describing how one Texas woman's wanted pregnancy became a "dystopian nightmare" after she suffered potentially deadly complications but was still initially denied lifesaving care under the state's extreme abortion ban.

        "The horror this woman endured because of the abortion bans they've pushed for for decades is unimaginable."

      • TechdirtMore Horror Stories About Hertz’s False Theft Accusations Pile Up As Class Action Suit Moves Forward

        Hertz rents cars, like many of its competitors do. What separates Hertz from the rental car pack is its willingness to let law enforcement perform its collection work by filing criminal charges against people. Maybe some people prefer a tough-on-crime rental agency, but it’s unlikely any of Hertz’s falsely accused customers choose Hertz for its unique ability to have renters imprisoned.

      • The NationRoe Is the Past, Human Rights Are the Future

        All of us in the abortion rights movement have long prepared for the day Roe v. Wade would be reversed. But nothing could fully brace us for the pain of reading Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion, which categorically declared that abortion is not a constitutional right. While we took to the streets to rage and mourn the destruction of our rights, we heard from feminist allies and partners around the world—some of whom had successfully fought deeply entrenched patriarchal forces to secure historic advances for abortion rights in their country and offered lessons for our struggle. There is an immense amount to learn from them, but there is one lesson in particular to embrace: We must place human rights at the center of our demands for unfettered access to abortion.

      • Telex (Hungary)Orbán’s long-time advisor resigns, calling his speech on mixed-race Goebbels-like
      • Telex (Hungary)The head of the government's media holding: Telex is fake news
    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

      • TechdirtWith All The Other Nonsense Going On, Senate Democrats’ Priority Is To Spy On Kids Online?

        I do not understand the Democratic Party in the US for a wide variety of reasons. But one of the most confusing thing about them is their priorities. With everything else going on in the world that needs serious attention from Congress right now, Senate Dems have decided to host a markup on one of the worst, most ridiculous bills they’ve come up with in a long, long time: the “Kids Online Safety Act.”

    • Digital Restrictions (DRM)

      • TechdirtHackers Already Prepared To Screw Up BMW’s Subscription Heated Seat Model

        Earlier this month BMW took ample heat for its plans to turn heated seats into a costly $18 per month subscription in numerous countries. As we noted at the time, BMW is already including the hardware in new cars and adjusting the sale price accordingly. So it’s effectively charging users a new, recurring fee to enable technology that already exists in the car and consumers already paid for.

    • Monopolies

      • Patents

        • Common DreamsBiden Told Not to Give Publicly Owned Covid-19 Vaccine Tech Over to Corporations

          A coalition of advocacy groups on Tuesday implored U.S. President Joe Biden not to give control of emerging, publicly funded coronavirus vaccine technology to profit-seeking corporations, warning such a move would double down on a privatized approach that has failed to ensure equitable vaccine access worldwide.

          Released ahead of the White House's Summit on the Future of Covid-19 Vaccines that kicked off Tuesday morning, a new open letter signed by 29 progressive organizations argues "there is no compelling reason to offer this technology on a monopoly basis to a corporation, and a profoundly compelling reason to make the technology as open and readily accessible as possible across the globe."

        • TechdirtTexas Courts Fix Its Judge Alan Albright Problem By Automatically Reassigning Most Of His Patent Cases

          Remember Judge Alan Albright? He was the former patent litigator who became a federal judge (the only federal judge) in Waco, Texas, which is part of the Western District of Texas. You may remember, going further back, that the Eastern District of Texas became quite infamous for being the favored venue for of patent trolls, after a bunch of judges there made it clear that they were super friendly to them. That resulted in two courts in the district, Marshall and Tyler, being flooded with patent cases. The Supreme Court cut back on that a little bit, by saying that such cases should be filed in the proper venue. And, even though the West Texas judges tried their best to ignore the Supreme Court, things began to finally settle down a bit.

        • Common Dreams'Is It Better Than Nothing? I Suppose': Sanders Disappointed by Dems' Drug Pricing Plan

          Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders on Tuesday blasted Democrats' watered-down drug pricing plan and suggested pharmaceutical industry lobbying weakened the proposal.

          "It goes nowhere near as far as it should."

  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

      • Unchoir



        I preach to the choir too much.

        This is for people who aren’t already onboard.

        Now, most humans when they find something like this, they’ll find one sentence that they see as flawed and then dismiss the whole thing.

        There are nuances to everything. This is just super broad strokes.

        [...]

        Capitalism’s two biggest problems are exploitation and externalities.

        Capitalist proponents argue that exploitation is a good thing. Aspirational. It’s a well-known political cleavage.

      • SpellBinding: EHNOSTY Wordo: PUSHY

* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



Recent Techrights' Posts

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Other Editors Who Agree "Hey Hi" (AI) is Just Hype But Won't Say So Publicly as It Might Upset Key Sponsors
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Basically, when it comes to patents, IBM is demonstrably part of the problem, not the solution
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