𝕿𝖊𝖈𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖘 Bulletin for Friday, February 24, 2023 ┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅ Generated Sat 25 Feb 02:41:53 GMT 2023 Created by Dr. Roy Schestowitz (𝚛𝚘𝚢 (at) 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚣 (dot) 𝚌𝚘𝚖) Full hyperlinks for navigation omitted but are fully available in the originals The corresponding HTML versions are at 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈 Latest in 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑://𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈/𝒕𝒙𝒕 and older bulletins can be found at 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑://𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈/𝒕𝒙𝒕-𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 Full IPFS index in 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑://𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈/𝒊𝒑𝒇𝒔 and as plain text in 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑://𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈/𝒊𝒑𝒇𝒔/𝒕𝒙𝒕 Gemini index for the day: gemini://gemini.techrights.org/2023/02/24/ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐒 ════════════════════════════════════╕ Previous bulletins in IPFS (past 21 days, in chronological order): QmXCyRSEqZvXQpdJJgNTZ2SmscGBN8faNeNbNZcV8zoX6D QmbqEc6DR3dJD1Zez6UEB9NiyCWswQvsYE1yFxnM6ghvgG QmaVY3HqyuHpVGyMxeT4Bud2vNW78oYnx8dJCM6ZZK5ziE QmSUai4xNvwMKU2TbSerbPiWGAVberWqCyRsFtpfBmSJUA QmdqfApkUHoNL7LgRhijLyQ917yqySCE8TFPFh8Efixmuk QmYUwzBTiff9y3NpVBbZgEPJYspVVxmzVVYkzar4igJRiY QmWU4whiYNSNx6oxSqvGVEkr1unaGuqfGtoiphqZLBAxVJ QmQUWdJviNhacCKbEie2yYrdrQaNYjUhGH7B8majeYU6Vb Qmckkfq1rqb7mTK7w6RbFZJjskRKcnUk8PdtMmcLwUhXgV QmVY5cAKghhEttE24TaNrAQgciJau5j7EoeaEmfjYdbLMD QmUUEWf3hsUuMVJFPVavJpe7kPpi5bCmXqN9PPz7qbVMEu QmVBn9QkCHpe2cDLPr9H2kyS7vx3eRh5a9NN8CDSJEKw58 QmYGXGQ6SW216dEJ4TMfGyb7yDMBF4n6zCEwza8SfCQjDJ QmbPtsyc7sJxSwGRbURzMBpmJpQAgABouVYWUyXdfGhcFh QmSCXZVE6CQ7coFZMzXzjrALhoFTURwUpGRmU6CktGzSQz QmPbC3tAdXsThGxVyQYA3w5ThD5inZGhqy6fsNKHm55vAM QmfXoJrbKnWSQ2LZPdcn6D62y58ADQrCM6VaEptoYdSLz7 QmVFthGmR5Kh2aG2L3dgjZk4cCYoHhxwUKnwVSzKutqpZ9 Qmb1ifnMR1HKQVZSvpC4pPPzaFprCcVWkqqqznNJrvKGMT QmRmM7KSPSMNkJa65wrPNTYM2RSbSjrTUjyFydLzyeS74W QmcGKU7J3P2cV9jwQZBuJGz5uH9cKMjzpiF2ZKW9ZitXGr ╒═══════════════════ 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐗 ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ⦿ IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 23, 2023 | Techrights ䷼ Bulletin articles (as HTML) to comment on (requires login): http://techrights.org/2023/02/24/irc-log-230223/#comments ䷞ Followed by Daily Links (assorted news picks curated and categorised): http://techrights.org/2023/02/24/easyos-5/#comments http://techrights.org/2023/02/24/mostly-devices/#comments ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 48 ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ (ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2023/02/24/irc-log-230223/#comments Gemini version at gemini://gemini.techrights.org/2023/02/24/irc-log-230223/ ⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 02.24.23⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧ Gemini_version_available_♊︎ ✐ IRC_Proceedings:_Thursday,_February_23,_2023⠀✐ Posted in IRC_Logs at 2:38 am by Needs Sunlight Also available via the Gemini protocol at: * gemini://gemini.techrights.org/irc-gmi/irc-log-techrights-230223.gmi * gemini://gemini.techrights.org/irc-gmi/irc-log-230223.gmi * gemini://gemini.techrights.org/irc-gmi/irc-log-social-230223.gmi * gemini://gemini.techrights.org/irc-gmi/irc-log-techbytes-230223.gmi Over HTTP: 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇H 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇HTML5_logs⦈_ #techrights_log_as_HTML5 #boycottnovell_log_as_HTML5 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇H 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇HTML5_logs⦈_ #boycottnovell-social_log_as_HTML5 #techbytes_log_as_HTML5 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇t 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇text_logs⦈_ #techrights_log_as_text #boycottnovell_log_as_text 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇t 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇text_logs⦈_ #boycottnovell-social_log_as_text #techbytes_log_as_text Enter_the_IRC_channels_now =============================================================================== § IPFS Mirrors⠀➾ CID Description Object type IRC log for  QmUozqNzY4J6kGjP3uDHwpTAFpsQzY5ZwRL9hmKNfHPtZ5 #boycottnovell 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇HTML5 logs⦈ (full IRC log as HTML) IRC log for #boycottnovell  QmTjbLwvWwZfyb9RvHuqVzgfyy4FHYGpgAFG2YyK88MBg4 (full IRC log 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇text logs⦈ as plain/ASCII text) IRC log for #boycottnovell-  QmWHnvRnxjHRUKetpKU9zjdc1WbZfVfbxZLmwEQuCDpMtX social 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇HTML5 logs⦈ (full IRC log as HTML) IRC log for #boycottnovell-  QmZKtAvh1S3ndF93qxd8be643CQsdW8Y6i2LeXM928HgT1 social 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇text logs⦈ (full IRC log as plain/ASCII text) IRC log for  QmeDoU6HMBiRKVGPdwrb7dxBxDKhsco3285hRa8ddouMaG #techbytes 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇HTML5 logs⦈ (full IRC log as HTML) IRC log for #techbytes  QmTCwrqXgV3b1XX1hi8Bq3VrXEUF6UBTUaUkLAr11kjVGj (full IRC log 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇text logs⦈ as plain/ASCII text) IRC log for  QmYYdNX71mdp3nS8oEznK8UpZnCs8THGpuAx47UhnMZLQh #techrights 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇HTML5 logs⦈ (full IRC log as HTML) IRC log for #techrights  QmQpLrhQgXos5z4pmL9VyASGgZGMVnJtzJ75JCc6ZBgMwH (full IRC log 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇text logs⦈ as plain/ASCII text) 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇IPFS logo⦈ § Bulletin for Yesterday⠀➾ Local_copy | CID (IPFS): QmcGKU7J3P2cV9jwQZBuJGz5uH9cKMjzpiF2ZKW9ZitXGr ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 175 ╒═══════════════════ 𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 ═════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 02.24.23⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧ Gemini_version_available_♊︎ ✐ Links_24/02/2023:_EasyOS_Progress_and_China_Claims_It_Wants_Ukraine Ceasefire⠀✐ Posted in News_Roundup at 1:40 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇GNOME bluefish⦈ § Contents⠀➾ * GNU/Linux o Audiocasts/Shows o Kernel_Space o Graphics_Stack o Applications o Instructionals/Technical o Games * Distributions_and_Operating_Systems o EasyOS o BSD o SUSE/OpenSUSE o Fedora_/_Red_Hat_/_IBM o Debian_Family o Canonical/Ubuntu_Family o Devices/Embedded o Open_Hardware/Modding o Mobile_Systems/Mobile_Applications * Free,_Libre,_and_Open_Source_Software o Events o Web_Browsers/Web_Servers o Education o FSF o Programming/Development # Rust * Leftovers o Science o Education o Hardware o Health/Nutrition/Agriculture o Proprietary o Entrapment_(Microsoft_GitHub) o Security # Integrity/Availability/Authenticity # Privacy/Surveillance o Defence/Aggression o Environment # Energy/Transportation # Wildlife/Nature o Finance o AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics o Censorship/Free_Speech o Freedom_of_Information_/_Freedom_of_the_Press o Civil_Rights/Policing o Internet_Policy/Net_Neutrality o Digital_Restrictions_(DRM) o Monopolies # Patents # Copyrights * Gemini*_and_Gopher o Personal o Technical # Programming * § GNU/Linux⠀➾ o § Audiocasts/Shows⠀➾ # ⚓ The BSD Now Podcast ☛ BSDNow_495:_Limited_Jail_Time⠀⇛ FreeBSD Status Report Fourth Quarter 2022, How to limit a jail, the parallel port, Hello System 0.8, Solbournes in space, and more # ⚓ Video ☛ Is_Ubuntu_22.04_Really_LTS?_|_Ubuntu_Kernel Weirdness_–_Invidious⠀⇛ # ⚓ Video ☛ A_Quick_Look_At_Linux_Mint_Debian_Edition_5_– Invidious⠀⇛ # ⚓ Video ☛ LINUX_vs_WINDOWS:_complete_performance_test!_– Invidious⠀⇛ # ⚓ Video ☛ How_to_install_Shotcut_video_editor_on_KDE_Neon_– Invidious⠀⇛ # ⚓ Video ☛ How_to_install_Wire_Desktop_on_KDE_Neon_– Invidious⠀⇛ # ⚓ Video ☛ KaOS_2023.02_overview_|_An_independent_distribution focused_on_Qt_and_KDE._–_Invidious⠀⇛ o § Kernel Space⠀➾ # ⚓ Make Use Of ☛ Linux_6.2_Makes_Apple_Silicon_Support Official⠀⇛ # ⚓ LWN ☛ The_extensible_scheduler_class⠀⇛ It was only a matter of time before somebody tried to bring BPF to the kernel’s CPU scheduler. At the end of January, Tejun Heo posted the second revision of a 30-part patch series, co-written with David Vernet, Josh Don, and Barret Rhoden, that does just that. There are clearly interesting things that could be done by deferring scheduling decisions to a BPF program, but it may take some work to sell this idea to the development community as a whole. The core idea behind BPF is that it allows programs to be loaded into the kernel from user space at run time; using BPF for scheduling has the potential to enable significantly different scheduling behavior than is seen in Linux systems now. The idea of “pluggable” schedulers is not new; it came up in this 2004 discussion of yet another doomed patch series from Con Kolivas, for example. At that time, the idea of pluggable schedulers was strongly rejected; only by focusing energy on a single scheduler, it was argued, could the development community find a way to satisfy all workloads without filling the kernel with a confusion of special-purpose schedulers. # ⚓ LWN ☛ A_proposed_threat_model_for_confidential_computing [Ed: Linux getting infected by fake "privacy" for the clown computing ploy]⠀⇛ The field of confidential computing is still in its infancy, to the point where it lacks a clear, agreed, and established problem description. Elena Reshetova and Andi Kleen from Intel recently started the conversation by sharing their view of a potential threat model in the form of this document, which is specific to the Intel Trust Domain Extension (TDX) on Linux, but which is intended to be applicable to other confidential- computing solutions as well. The resulting conversation showed that there is some ground to be covered to achieve a consensus on the model in the community. o § Graphics Stack⠀➾ # ⚓ GamingOnLinux ☛ Mesa_23.0_out_now_improving_open_source graphics_drivers⠀⇛ Mesa 23.0.0 has been released today upgrading open source graphics drivers for Linux. As usual you should wait for the first point release for stability. o § Applications⠀➾ # ⚓ Linux Links ☛ Machine_Learning_in_Linux:_astroML_– statistical_data_analysis_in_astronomy_and_astrophysics⠀⇛ In essence, Machine Learning is the practice of using algorithms to parse data, learn insights from that data, and then make a determination or prediction. The machine is ‘trained’ using huge amounts of data. In other words, Machine Learning is about building programs with tunable parameters (typically an array of floating point values) that are adjusted automatically so as to improve their behavior by adapting to previously seen data. astroML is a Python module for machine learning and data mining built on NumPy, SciPy, scikit-learn, matplotlib, and Astropy. The aim of the project is to offer a repository of Python implementations of common tools and routines used for statistical data analysis in astronomy and astrophysics, and to provide a uniform and easy-to- use interface to freely available astronomical datasets. # ⚓ Linux Links ☛ Machine_Learning_in_Linux:_Software_Apps⠀⇛ This is a new series looking at practical applications of Machine Learning from a Linux perspective. We only feature free and open source software in this series. Let’s clear up one potential source of confusion at the outset. What’s the difference between Machine Learning and Deep Learning? The two terms mean different things. In essence, Machine Learning is the practice of using algorithms to parse data, learn insights from that data, and then make a determination or prediction. The machine is ‘trained’ using huge amounts of data. o § Instructionals/Technical⠀➾ # ⚓ OSTechNix ☛ How_To_Use_Proxmox_Backup_Client_To_Backup Files_In_Linux⠀⇛ This guide explains what is Proxmox Backup Client, how to install Proxmox Backup Client and how to create file level backups using Proxmox Backup Client application. # ⚓ Philip_Withnall:_Tip_for_debugging_refcounting_issues: change_ref_calls_to_copy⠀⇛ Over the last couple of days I’ve been looking at a refcounting_issue_in_GLib’s_D-Bus_implementation. As with many things in GLib, the allocations in this code use refcounting, rather than new/free, to manage object lifecycles. This makes it quite hard to debug lifecycle issues, because the location of a bug (a ref or unref call which isn’t correct) can be quite far removed (in time and code) from where the effects of that bug become visible. This is because the effects of refcounting problems only become visible when an object’s refcount reaches zero, or when the program ends and its refcount still hasn’t reached zero. # ⚓ Connect_to_a_server_behind_a_NAT_using_mosh⠀⇛ # ⚓ TechRepublic ☛ How_to_deploy_the_Helpy_help_desk_platform with_Docker⠀⇛ # ⚓ Make Use Of ☛ How_to_Delete_One_or_More_Lines_in_Vi_and Vim⠀⇛ # ⚓ Make Use Of ☛ How_to_Configure_Static_IP_Address_on_Ubuntu 22.04_LTS_and_22.10⠀⇛ # ⚓ H2S Media ☛ Steps_to_Install_Magento_2_on_Ubuntu_22.04 Linux⠀⇛ # ⚓ H2S Media ☛ Install_Linux_Kernel_6.2_in_Ubuntu_22.04_| 20.04_Linux⠀⇛ # ⚓ Linux Made Simple ☛ How_to_install_Sublime_Text_on_a Chromebook⠀⇛ # ⚓ Linux Made Simple ☛ How_to_install_Wire_Desktop_on_KDE Neon⠀⇛ # ⚓ Linux Made Simple ☛ How_to_install_0_A.D._on_a_Chromebook in_2023⠀⇛ # ⚓ Linux Made Simple ☛ How_to_install_Shotcut_video_editor_on KDE_Neon⠀⇛ # ⚓ Linux Capable ☛ How_to_Install_ClamAV_on_Ubuntu_22.04_or 20.04⠀⇛ ClamAV, short for Clam AntiVirus, is an open- source, cross-platform antivirus software tool designed to detect and remove malicious software from computer systems, such as viruses, malware, and spyware. # ⚓ Linux Capable ☛ How_to_Install_Cockpit_on_Fedora_Linux⠀⇛ Cockpit is a powerful and popular web-based interface allowing users to easily manage Linux servers. A simple and intuitive design provides a user-friendly way for system administrators to manage multiple servers from a single interface, making it an increasingly popular choice in recent years. # ⚓ H2S Media ☛ Difference_between_Mainline,_Stable,_and Longterm_Kernel_in_Linux⠀⇛ The Linux kernel (developed by Linus Torvalds) is a basic fundamental component of the operating system. It is responsible for managing all the essential hardware and software components by acting as a bridge between them, hence without it we cannot have Linux-based systems. # ⚓ H2S Media ☛ Install_Linux_Kernel_6.2_in_Ubuntu_22.04_| 20.04_Linux⠀⇛ Ubuntu is one of the most popular operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel, developed by Linus Torvalds. # ⚓ Linux Shell Tips ☛ How_to_Switch_Between_CLI_and_GUI_on Linux_Server⠀⇛ If we trace the evolution of computers, we can see that initially, we don’t have Mouse. So, we used to interact with computers having # ⚓ Linux Shell Tips ☛ How_to_Find_Out_File_Creation_Date_and Time_in_Linux⠀⇛ Sometimes, you might be interested to know when a file was created on a Linux system. In this guide, we will check out how # ⚓ Dan Langille ☛ Wrong_recordsize_on_zfs_send_|_zfs_recv filesystems⠀⇛ Over the past few days, I’ve posted a lot about transferring jails from two hosts into one host. One of the steps involves using zfs send | zfs recv to send the files from one host to another. I’m using syncoide for that transfer. A new fileystem’s recordsize defaults to 128K. In my case, that is usually OK, except for some specific datasets. For example: [...] # ⚓ [Old] uni Linköping ☛ Silent_Corruptions [PDF]⠀⇛ ● Corruption: data is changed unintentionally # ⚓ University of Toronto ☛ How_to_block_people’s_automatic mail_forwarding_(to_GMail,_at_least)⠀⇛ Here’s what you do. First, configure a strict DMARC policy for your domain, one that tells receivers that you want them to reject any email that doesn’t pass DMARC. Then, set up a restrictive SPF policy, one that definitely only passes things sent from your server. Finally, the important step: don’t sign your outgoing email with DKIM. # ⚓ OSTechNix ☛ How_To_Use_Proxmox_Backup_Client_To_Backup Files_In_Linux⠀⇛ In our previous tutorial titled “Getting Started with Proxmox Backup Server”, we discussed how to backup and restore Proxmox VMs and Containers. Today, we will learn how to create file level backups using Proxmox Backup Client application. Proxmox Backup Client comes in handy when you want to backup certain files instead of backing up the whole VM or Container. It also can be useful when you want to backup files from non-VMs or non- Containers (i.e. a physical machine). # ⚓ Linux Capable ☛ How_to_Install_Ubuntu_Mainline_Kernel Installer_on_Ubuntu_22.04_or_20.04⠀⇛ The Ubuntu Mainline, Kernel Installer tool is a popular utility for Ubuntu users who wish to install the latest stable version of the Linux kernel on their system. This tool provides a simple way to install and manage the mainline kernel on Ubuntu, which can offer better hardware support, improved performance, and new features. # ⚓ Linux Capable ☛ How_to_Install_Linux_Kernel_6.2_on_CentOS Stream_EL9_or_EL8⠀⇛ Linux Kernel 6.2 introduces an impressive array of new and improved features that enhance its performance and expand its hardware support. # ⚓ Linux Capable ☛ How_to_Create_a_Database_in_MySQL_Terminal on_Linux⠀⇛ Welcome to MySQL, a popular and widely-used open- source relational database management system. New users of MySQL and Linux might feel overwhelmed when first learning to work with databases in the MySQL terminal. However, creating a database is an essential and straightforward process you can easily accomplish with simple commands. # ⚓ Linux Capable ☛ How_to_Install_FFmpeg_5_on_Ubuntu_22.04_or 20.04⠀⇛ FFmpeg 5 is a major release of the popular open- source multimedia framework, offering a powerful command-line tool for processing and converting audio and video files. This update has many new features and improvements that make it an attractive choice for developers, video editors, and anyone needing to work with multimedia files. # ⚓ H2S Media ☛ Steps_to_Install_Magento_2_on_Ubuntu_22.04 Linux⠀⇛ Magento is an open-source, cloud-based eCommerce platform owned by Adobe. The community version of the e-commerce platform can be self-hosted by users who wish to start their e-commerce website. # ⚓ Linux Capable ☛ How_to_Install_Android_Studio_on_Linux_Mint 21_or_20⠀⇛ Android Studio is a widely used integrated development environment (IDE) for developing Android applications. It is a powerful tool that is used by millions of developers around the world. With comprehensive features, it is the go-to IDE for Android development. o § Games⠀➾ # ⚓ GamingOnLinux ☛ ChimeraOS_39_released_switching_to_the_new Steam_Big_Picture_Mode⠀⇛ ChimeraOS, the Linux distribution designed for couch gaming much like SteamOS, has version 39 out now. This is the first release since Valve swapped to the New Big Picture Mode from the Steam Deck. Designed very much to be just like SteamOS, except with a bunch of added extras, it boots directly into Steam Big Picture Mode. # ⚓ GamingOnLinux ☛ New_Steam_Desktop_and_Steam_Deck_Beta includes_various_controller_fixes⠀⇛ Another fresh Beta update is now available for Steam Deck and Steam Desktop, pulling in some good sounding fixes for various controllers. According to both changelogs, it’s the same across both since they’re now sharing most things since the new Big Picture Mode has been moved over to desktop (although they’re still cleaning all the Steam Deck specific bits from it). # ⚓ GamingOnLinux ☛ No_Man’s_Sky_Fractal_gets_a_VR_overhaul, new_Expedition,_Gyro_update⠀⇛ No Man’s Sky has another big update out now that includes an overhaul of quite a few features like much better VR support, and a new Expedition. The game continues to run nicely on Steam Deck and Linux Desktop with Proton. # ⚓ GamingOnLinux ☛ Valve_reveals_a_whole_bunch_of_upcoming Steam_Sales⠀⇛ Valve has now revealed most of their upcoming big Steam Sales and Steam Fests, here’s all the details. They’re giving out all the dates, to enable developers to get in early on planning a year of promotional activities. Nice that it’s public, as it gives us normal people the ability to build up our wallets ready to unload them on Valve for some new goodies. # ⚓ GamingOnLinux ☛ Totally_Accurate_Battlegrounds_now_works_on Linux_and_Steam_Deck⠀⇛ Totally Accurate Battlegrounds got upgraded recently due to needing to implement new anti- cheat, and thanks to that this free to play game now works on Linux Desktop and Steam Deck. # ⚓ GamingOnLinux ☛ Stellaris:_First_Contact_releasing_March 14th_with_a_free_update⠀⇛ Paradox have announced that the Stellaris: First Contact Story Pack will be releasing on March 14th, along with the Canis Minor free update for all players. # ⚓ GamingOnLinux ☛ Check_out_the_Safe_in_Our_World_Charity Bundle_2023⠀⇛ Mental health charity, Safe In Our World, which focuses on the video game industry has teamed up with Fanatical for a full charity bundle full of games. 100% of the proceeds go to Safe In Our World. # ⚓ FSF ☛ FSF_Blogs:_Experience_the_fifteen_years_of LibrePlanet_celebration_firsthand_as_a_volunteer⠀⇛ # ⚓ Daniel Stenberg ☛ Restocked_on_stickers⠀⇛ I attended FOSDEM 2023 and over the two days of conference I gave away well over a thousand curl stickers. Every last curl sticker I had in my possession. # ⚓ FSFE ☛ Call_for_Papers_for_foss-north_open_(Gothenburg, April_2023)⠀⇛ foss-north is a Free Software conference in Gothenburg that brings together Nordic Free Software communities. This year, the Free Software Foundation Europe is organising a track covering political and legal aspects of Free Software, as well as best practices from Scandinavia. We’re looking forward to your contribution by March 5! * § Distributions and Operating Systems⠀➾ o § EasyOS⠀➾ # ⚓ Barry Kauler ☛ openssl_updated_to_3.0.8⠀⇛ Jon (scsijon in the forum) posted a warning about security vulnerabilities in ‘openssl’ and the need to update to version 3.0.8 (or 1.1.1t): https://forum.puppylinux.com/ viewtopic.php?p=80939#p80939 As I compile every package in OpenEmbedded, and the recipe for ‘openssl’ is rather complicated, I had to wait until the OE devs have updated. Within the last few days, they have: http://layers.openembedded.org/layerindex/recipe/ 68561/ I downloaded the 3.0.8 recipe and compiled the package. Commits: [...] # ⚓ Barry Kauler ☛ French_translations_contribution⠀⇛ JJM (esmourguit in the forum) has been maintaining the French langpack for years. Now that there are no longer langpack PETs, emourguit has booted Easy 4.101 and used MoManager to examine the current state of translations. He has contributed some fr translations: https://github.com/bkauler/woofq/commit/ 679002f6dcfb3094a9d5ae9aaca8464e4080e961 There was a problem with translating the ‘vobcopy’ binary executable, discussed on the forum: [...] # ⚓ Barry Kauler ☛ youtube-dl_downloader_update_fixed⠀⇛ A few days ago, I posted that YouTube Downloader is broken: https://bkhome.org/news/202302/youtube-dl-youtube- downloader-is-broken.html Smithy had sent me an email, with an alternative download URL, but I misunderstood. The official youtube-dl site last release was December 17, 2021. The project is very active, with regular commits, but the “Update” button in the menu “Internet -> YouTubeDL YouTube downloader” only downloads the Dec. 2021 release. That was one of my misunderstandings; it only downloads the latest tagged release, not from the latest commit. # ⚓ Barry Kauler ☛ Non-translated_desktop_icon_labels_in container_fixed⠀⇛ I posted about the problem in the Easy 4.101 announcement, issue-1: o § BSD⠀➾ # ⚓ Ruben Schade ☛ rsync(1)_on_FreeBSD_with_a_modern_Walkman⠀⇛ One of the primary draws to a modern Walkman is that it presents as a generic storage device, meaning my FreeBSD tower can now act as a media hub, rather than relying on dedicated software like iTunes or Apple Music. o § SUSE/OpenSUSE⠀➾ # ⚓ OpenSUSE ☛ Ruby_Default_Switches_in_Tumbleweed⠀⇛ This week’s openSUSE Tumbleweed roundup will look at five snapshots that have been released since last Friday. Snapshots include switching the default Ruby for the rolling release along with software updates for packages like pidgin, parole, OpenSSL, php, sudo, tigervnc and more. Snapshot, 20230222 updated just four packages. The major release of gnu-unifont-fonts 15.0.01 arrived in the snapshot and it introduced a couple new subpackages and cleaned up the spec file. The curses emulation library ncurses 6.4.20230218 added a patch and provided some configuration script improvements. The ibus-m17n 1.4.19 update added a parrot icon emoji and made some Weblate translations for the Sinhala language, which is spoken in Sri Lanka. There was also an update for Ark Logic video cards with the xf86-video-ark 0.7.6 update, which brings a decade worth of accumulated changes that has the ability to build against xorg- server 1.14 and newer out of the box. o § Fedora / Red Hat / IBM⠀➾ # ⚓ Jakub Steiner ☛ Flathub_Brand_Refresh⠀⇛ While Flatpak itself is an architecturally decentralized way to distribute apps, Flathub embraces the convenience for people to come to one place to install apps. There’s some fairly big changes coming to Flathub that I’m extremely excited about, that will make sure the new wave of Linux apps doesn’t fizzle out and we’ll maintain a sustainable application ecosystem. # ⚓ Enterprisers Project ☛ Artificial_intelligence:_6_tips_to get_started⠀⇛ # ⚓ Enterprisers Project ☛ 5_Harvard_Business_Review_articles that_will_resonate_with_CIOs_right_now⠀⇛ # ⚓ LWN ☛ An_overview_of_single-purpose_Linux_distributions⠀⇛ Akashdeep Dhar and Sumantro Mukherjee, who are both members of the Fedora Council and work at Red Hat as software engineers, explained how they use Fedora CoreOS as the base operating system to run multiplayer game servers in containers. As described in its documentation, Fedora CoreOS is “an automatically updating, minimal, monolithic, container-focused operating system”. Fedora CoreOS (sometimes abbreviated FCOS) provides the host operating system for these containers; it only includes those packages that are needed for a minimal networking-enabled and container-ready setup. At the time of this writing, the latest stable release had 415 packages. It supports the x86_64, aarch64 (including the Raspberry Pi 4), and s390x architectures; it runs on bare metal, virtualized, or on various cloud platforms. A Fedora CoreOS machine is provisioned using Ignition, which is a tool that partitions disks, formats partitions, enables systemd units, and configures users. Ignition only runs once during the first boot of the system, from the initramfs. An Ignition configuration file is formatted as JSON, but for end users Fedora CoreOS recommends using a Butane configuration, which is a YAML file that Butane translates into an Ignition configuration. The “System Configuration” section in Fedora CoreOS’s documentation shows some examples of how to configure storage, network, containers, users and groups, time zones, and more in a Butane configuration. In their talk, Dhar and Mukherjee showed a Butane configuration to set up a Minecraft server in a container, and they also published it in their GitHub repository. When installing Fedora CoreOS, you choose one of three update streams. “Next” is for experimenting with new features, “testing” represents what is coming in the next stable stream, and “stable” is the stream with changes that have spent a time in the testing stream. Most end users should choose the stable stream. You refer to the Ignition file with your customizations, in a manner that depends on your installation type. For instance, when installing from PXE you append the coreos.inst.ignition_url=URL option to the kernel, referring it to the location of the Ignition file on a web server. # ⚓ Red Hat Official ☛ Build_a_Grafana_dashboard_to_visualize data_using_Ansible_and_Podman⠀⇛ Examine your data in a user-friendly dashboard that shows multiple views of the same data. # ⚓ Fedora Project ☛ Fedora_Community_Blog:_CPE_Weekly_update_– Week_8⠀⇛ This is a weekly report from the CPE (Community Platform Engineering) Team. If you have any questions or feedback, please respond to this report or contact us on #redhat-cpe channel on libera.chat. We provide you both infographics and text version of the weekly report. If you just want to quickly look at what we did, just look at the infographic. If you are interested in more in depth details look below the infographic. # ⚓ Fedora Magazine ☛ Fedora_Magazine:_rpmdistro-repoquery:_a cross-distribution_repoquery_tool⠀⇛ This article showcases rpmdistro-repoquery, and describes how to use it to simplify doing RPM-based package operations across multiple distributions. This does not require using SSH to log into another host or starting a container or VM. ✐ Introduction⠀✐ Whether you’re a packager, system administrator, or a user of Fedora Linux, CentOS Stream, or their derivatives (RHEL, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux etc.), you might already be familiar with dnf repoquery. This tool allows you to query the repositories configured on the system for information about available packages, whether or not they are currently installed on the local machine. This is great, within limits. For instance, on Fedora Linux, you can query packages built for stable and branched Fedora Linux releases and, if you install fedora-repos-rawhide, packages in the development branch. Sufficient care is required to make sure you don’t enable repos meant for different Fedora Linux releases by default and thus accidentally upgrade the running system. # ⚓ SparkFun Electronics ☛ Dr._Mark_Dean_and_the_Personal Computer⠀⇛ Prior to 1980, IBM had mainly been known for manufacturing computers for businesses to use, and they were falling behind in the market for at-home microcomputers where companies like Apple, Tandy and Commodore were excelling. Other large companies like HP were starting to enter the space, and IBM buyers were buying Apple devices for at-home computers. IBM got to work with designing the first PC. Mark Dean is an inventor and engineer who had a long career with IBM. During that time, he was part of the race to design the first personal computer and holds three of the nine patents associated with IBM’s first PC. o § Debian Family⠀➾ # ⚓ OMG! Linux ☛ Raspberry_Pi_OS_Update_Adds_New_Touchscreen Driver⠀⇛ The first update to the official operating system for Raspberry Pi devices in 5 months features a handful of interesting changes, new drivers, and always-important bug fixes. Chief amongst the changes is a new touchscreen driver available from the Screen Resolution tool, which also sees some ‘minor’ UI changes. There’s also support for a new msdri3 video driver, and the kms++-utils package is now included by default (saving you an apt install). o § Canonical/Ubuntu Family⠀➾ # ⚓ GamingOnLinux ☛ Ubuntu_flavours_to_drop_Flatpak_by_default and_stick_to_Snaps⠀⇛ Canonical has announced a change in the packaging defaults for the various “flavours” like Kubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Budgie and so on to exclude Flatpak and stick with Snap. Yes that’s flavours, not flavors but also flavors in the announcement. # ⚓ Ubuntu News ☛ Ubuntu_22.04.2_LTS_released⠀⇛ The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS (Long-Term Support) for its Desktop, Server, and Cloud products, as well as other flavours of Ubuntu with long-term support. # ⚓ Ubuntu Fridge ☛ The_Fridge:_Ubuntu_22.04.2_LTS_released⠀⇛ # ⚓ Lubuntu ☛ Lubuntu_Blog:_Lubuntu_22.04.2_LTS_is_Released!⠀⇛ Thanks to all the hard work from our contributors, Lubuntu 22.04.2 LTS has been released. With the codename Jammy Jellyfish, Lubuntu 22.04 is the 22nd release of Lubuntu, the eighth release of Lubuntu with LXQt as the default desktop environment. # ⚓ Ubuntu ☛ Harnessing_the_potential_of_5G_with_Kubernetes⠀⇛ Harnessing the potential of 5G with Kubernetes 5G is the fifth generation of wireless technology which is transforming the way we connect and communicate. With data transfer speeds up to 100 times faster than 4G, 5G technology enables faster download and upload times, lower latency and a higher number of connected devices. # ⚓ Ubuntu ☛ What_is_real-time_Linux?_Part_I⠀⇛ Welcome to this three-part blog series on real-time Linux. Throughout the series, we will assess the key features of a real-time system. We will understand how a real-time capable Linux kernel differs from mainline, and touch upon the performance trade-offs you should consider when choosing real-time versus a low-latency kernel, for instance. # ⚓ Ubuntu ☛ Closed_loop_architecture_and_persistent_volumes for_network_functions_–_Highlights_in_OSM_release_THIRTEEN⠀⇛ Open Source MANO (OSM) has announced its thirteenth version which is supported for six months (short- term support). This release targets feature enhancements for VNF vendors residing in the OSM ecosystem. It features new scalable architecture for service assurance and closed-loop operations, using Apache Airflow and Prometheus. It is capable of handling service assurance scenarios including auto scaling and auto healing in cloud environments and various edge locations. Additional features include enhancements in the deployment of Network Services (NS), execution environments, life cycle management (LCM), air-gapped installation, improved persistent volume management, and a few advancements in the OSM client. Service providers are adopting new technologies such as 5G and IoT, each with its own set of needs. OSM is model-driven and offers convenience in designing complex network functions (NFs) having interconnectivity with each other. The reusability of NFs abstracts the underlying details of network function virtualisation (NFV). On the whole, release THIRTEEN’s new features offer opportunities for service providers to address scalability challenges and expand their range of orchestration features. # ⚓ LWN ☛ No_more_Flatpak_(by_default)_in_Ubuntu_Flavors⠀⇛ The Ubuntu Flavors offerings (Kubuntu and the like) have decided that the way to improve the user experience is to put more emphasis on the Snap package format. o § Devices/Embedded⠀➾ # ⚓ Linux Gizmos ☛ Firefly_launches_8K_AI_Core_board_in_BGA package⠀⇛ Firefly mentions that they will provide support for Android 12.0, Ubuntu, Debian 11, Buildroot, RTLinux and Kylin Linux. It appears that the Resource page for this device isn’t available yet. There might be a compatible development board for the Core-3588SG that looks similar to the ROC- RK3588S-PC as shown above, but there isn’t much information available on the product page. # ⚓ CNX Software ☛ SONOFF_MINI_Extreme_(MINIR4)_ESP32_WiFi smart_switch_can_fit_into_most_gang_boxes⠀⇛ SONOFF MINI Extreme (aka MINIR4) is a ridiculously small WiFi smart switch based on ESP32 wireless microcontroller and designed to be connected to a load such as a light bulb and a wall switch that can be a momentary switch, a door exit switch, an SPDT switch, a latching switch, or even dry contact sensors. The tiny form factor (39.5×33 x16.8mm) enables the WiFi smart switch to fit into various boxes, even the smaller European gang boxes. # ⚓ CNX Software ☛ Embit_EMB-LR1280-mPCIe-4x_is_a_2.4GHz_LoRa mPCIe_module_based_on_Semtech_SX1280_chipset⠀⇛ Embit EMB-LR1280-mPCIe-4x is an mPCIe (mini PCIe) module based on four Semtech SX1280 2.4 GHz LoRa transceivers and designed for OEM gateways that can work worldwide thanks to the use of the 2.4GHz ISM band and supports ranging. We first covered 2.4GHz LoRa and the SX1280 transceiver two years ago as a solution to design region-independent products specially suited to maritime and intercontinental logistics applications. o § Open Hardware/Modding⠀➾ # ⚓ Arduino ☛ Controlling_a_model_railroad_with_a_vintage_Atari ST⠀⇛ Rossignol’s model railroad features DCC (Digital Command Control), which controls the amount of power and its polarity going to the tracks, as well as switches. Rossignol just needed a way for his Atari to communicate with the DCC. For that, he chose an Arduino Mega 2560 board. The Atari talks to the Arduino via an RS232-to-TTL converter, and the Arduino, in turn, talks to Rossignol’s DCC-EX via I2C. # ⚓ Purism ☛ Update_on_Librem-EC_1.12⠀⇛ Librem-EC 1.12 for the Librem 14 has been released with a fix to the PL4 power limit to address sudden shutoffs that still remained in the 1.11 release.  Once again, the issue was in a subtle corner case, which we were able to identify with help from testers.  Update to 1.12 with our update instructions, and check out the source code. Thank you to all those who helped us troubleshoot and fix this issue! # ⚓ Purism ☛ Lapdock_Kit:_Transform_your_Librem_5_into_a laptop⠀⇛ The Lapdock Kit allows you to experience the full potential of the Librem 5 and the Nexdock 360 while getting expert support from the Purism support team. Have all of your apps and all of your data in one device that can fit in your pocket and act like a phone when you need it to, but then transform into a laptop when you want to type out an email, do some image editing or watch a video on a larger screen. # ⚓ Raspberry Pi ☛ Desert_Eye_2.0_robot_|_The_MagPi_#127⠀⇛ Desert Eye is also a great showcase for Raspberry Pi 4, which Aviv chose for its video processing capabilities – “a large consideration in this robot” – as well as controlling its motion and communications. Aside from the cameras, Raspberry Pi 4 controls the two main DC motors, a stepper motor so the camera can rotate while being stabilised, the GPS and wireless connectivity, and a three-axis sensor and fan. o § Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications⠀➾ # ⚓ Digital Trends ☛ This_new_Android_phone_is_crazy_tough_and talks_to_satellites_|_Digital_Trends⠀⇛ # ⚓ Gadget Bridge ☛ How_to_add_a_password_to_any_file_or_app_on Android?⠀⇛ # ⚓ Gadget Bridge ☛ How_to_Fix_‘Can’t_Delete_Apps’_on_Android smartphones_or_tablets⠀⇛ # ⚓ Ghacks ☛ Mozilla:_Top_Android_apps_exploit_privacy loopholes⠀⇛ # ⚓ Phone Arena ☛ Nokia’s_new_Android_12_Go_edition_phone_is_as basic_as_it_gets_–_PhoneArena⠀⇛ # ⚓ 9to5Mac ☛ Android_Emergency_SOS_via_Satellite_rivals_will soon_be_common⠀⇛ # ⚓ The Verge ☛ LumaFusion_video_editor_now_widely_available for_Android_and_ChromeOS_–_The_Verge⠀⇛ # ⚓ Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd ☛ Nothing_Phone_1 receives_Android_13_based_Nothing_OS_1.5:_How_to_download update_and_new_features⠀⇛ # ⚓ Android Police ☛ How_to_print_text_messages_from_your Android_phone_or_tablet⠀⇛ # ⚓ Geeky Gadgets ☛ How_to_clear_cache_on_an_Android_phone_– Geeky_Gadgets⠀⇛ # ⚓ Android Authority ☛ Your_Android_phone_might_soon_be_able to_generate_AI_images_in_seconds⠀⇛ # ⚓ Hacker News ☛ Even_Top-Ranked_Android_Apps_in_Google_Play Store_Provide_Misleading_Data_Safety_Labels⠀⇛ * § Free, Libre, and Open Source Software⠀➾ o ⚓ OpenSource.com ☛ 5_open_source_tools_to_take_control_of_your_own data⠀⇛ These are just a few services you can install on any Linux PC or laptop. You need a server that’s always on to ensure your services are constantly available. That doesn’t necessitate a major investment, though. You can use many kinds of computers as Linux servers. The easiest and most inexpensive is a Raspberry Pi, which has excellent support with a helpful and enthusiastic community. Getting a Raspberry Pi set up is “as easy as pie,” thanks to the Raspberry Pi imager. It only needs about 5W of power, so it doesn’t take much energy to keep it running. There are many similar low-powered devices, including the Odroid, Orange Pi, and Rockpi. You can also install Linux on any PC or laptop and run it as a server. It’s a great way to repurpose old computers. o ⚓ Linux Links ☛ 7_Best_Free_and_Open_Source_Virtual_Globes⠀⇛ Google Earth is a very popular virtual globe app. While it’s available for Linux the software is freeware, and therefore not open source. In this article we recommend the best free and open source virtual globe software. We also include related software in this roundup. While none of the software applications featured in this article have all of the features offered by Google Earth (although some offer some different features), and they are not exactly comparable, they are all worthy of investigating. o ⚓ Joinup ☛ Luxembourg_launches_open_source_chat_for_officials_and citizens⠀⇛ The Luxchat services provide end-to-end encryption and retain all messages in decentralised servers located in Luxembourg. Luxchat and Luxchat4Gov will offer the same features, but the infrastructures are kept separate, as the government version is intended for professional use in the public sector. o ⚓ Gregory Hammond ☛ My_experience_going_viral_on_Mastodon⠀⇛ I learned that you can’t keep up with your notifications when this happens (especially if you don’t check them that often). You just have to accept it. o ⚓ PowerDNS ☛ First_Release_Candidate_of_PowerDNS_DNSdist_1.8.0⠀⇛ We are very happy to release the first candidate of what will become dnsdist 1.8.0! This release contains a significant amount of changes since the last major release, 1.7.0, which was released a bit over a year ago. We try to stick to a major release every six months, but this one took a bit longer than expected as we tackled a few challenges: [...] o ⚓ Terence Eden ☛ Signal’s_new(ish)_URI_Scheme⠀⇛ Sadly, they’ve taken the same xenophobic attitude as GitHub and insist that only good ol’ American letters and numbers can be used. No fancy accents, right-to-left languages, or Korean Hangul. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if this prompts a surge in Signal take-up. Especially important as Signal are dropping SMS support o ⚓ PowerDNS ☛ First_Release_Candidate_of_PowerDNS_DNSdist_1.8.0⠀⇛ Hello! We are very happy to release the first candidate of what will become dnsdist 1.8.0! o ⚓ LWN ☛ NASA_and_open-source_software⠀⇛ From the moon landing to the James Webb Space Telescope and many other scientific missions, software is critical for the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Sharing information has also been in the DNA of the space agency from the beginning. As a result, NASA also contributes to and releases open-source software and open data. In a keynote at FOSDEM 2023, Science Data Officer Steve Crawford talked about NASA and open-source software, including the challenges NASA has faced in using open source and the agency’s recent initiatives to lower barriers. Software has always been a big part of NASA’s work. Who hasn’t seen the photo of computer scientist Margaret Hamilton next to a hard-copy stack of the Apollo software she and her team at MIT produced? The stack of code is as tall as she is. In 2016, the original Apollo 11 Guidance Computer source code for the command and lunar modules was published on GitHub in the public domain. You can even compile the code and run it in a simulator. o § Events⠀➾ # ⚓ FSFE ☛ Call_for_Papers_for_foss-north_open_(Gothenburg, April_2023)⠀⇛ foss-north is a Free Software conference in Gothenburg that brings together Nordic Free Software communities. This year, the Free Software Foundation Europe is organising a track covering political and legal aspects of Free Software, as well as best practices from Scandinavia. We’re looking forward to your contribution by March 5! o § Web Browsers/Web Servers⠀➾ # ⚓ Daniel Stenberg ☛ Restocked_on_stickers⠀⇛ I attended FOSDEM 2023 and over the two days of conference I gave away well over a thousand curl stickers. Every last curl sticker I had in my possession. o § Education⠀➾ # ⚓ Adafruit ☛ Headlamp_for_BSA_Electronics_Merit_Badge #3DPrinting⠀⇛ This is a headlamp I designed to be used to complete the BSA Electronics Merit Badge. All you should need to complete the merit badge is included in the PowerPoint slides that are also included. It takes about 3 hours to finish all the requirements. You could also use this to teach anyone about basic circuit design using KCL and KVL. o § FSF⠀➾ # ⚓ FSF ☛ FSF_Blogs:_Experience_the_fifteen_years_of LibrePlanet_celebration_firsthand_as_a_volunteer⠀⇛ o § Programming/Development⠀➾ # ⚓ Ruben Schade ☛ ChatGPT_shovelware_was_inevitable⠀⇛ Last September, Dan Olson of Folding Ideas released a documentary about a pair of grifters who underpaid gig-econonmy ghost writers to churn out audio book spam. The books are designed to exploit trending topics in Audible in lieu of any expertise, and achieve “passive income” with as little effort (on your part) as possible: [...] # ⚓ Earthly ☛ Earthly_CI:_Launching_a_new_era_for_CI⠀⇛ After digging deeper and swapping notes with software engineers daily for the last 3 years, here’s what we believe are the stickiest CI/CD situations developers face daily. # ⚓ Anders Borch ☛ Monorepos_Lead_To_Bad_Developer_Culture⠀⇛ A monorepo is a version controlled code repository that contains many projects. Although these projects may be related, they are usually logically separate and maintained by different teams. The opposite of a monorepo is a multirepo, where each project is stored in a completely separate, versioned repository. Multirepos come naturally – most of us do it when we start a new project. At first glance, choosing between monorepos and multirepos may not seem like a big deal, but it’s a decision that will greatly affect your company’s development workflow. # ⚓ Idiomdrottning ☛ Federation_and_forges⠀⇛ Having a forge set up to provide a fancy schmancy UI around send-email (like sourcehut) and/or pull- request would solve everything. No need for ForgeFed when we’ve already got email. There are three use-case a good forge needs to support. # ⚓ Joe Brockmeier ☛ Joe_Brockmeier:_The_right_way_to_name music_files_and_my_Picard_file-naming_script⠀⇛ Last year I got deep into using MusicBrainz_Picard to help tag music before I add it to my collection. The MusicBrainz database is fantastic, and it saves me a lot of time tweaking metadata. Most of the time I can just look up an album and it finds the correct info automagically. As an added bonus, it’ll rename the files so that the folder and filenames all match the same scheme. You know, the right way to name and organize music files. ✐ Random filenames⠀✐ I think I downloaded my first MP3 somewhere around 1997, using a super-speedy 56K modem. This was when you had to have a download manager for huge downloads that measured in the multiple megabytes, and a 1GB disk drive would be consider spacious. My MP3 collection grew pretty slowly, since portable MP3 players were still a few years off and CDs were still the most convenient way to listen to music. Digital downloads were just for novelty or rarities that I couldn’t get on CD like some unofficial Tori Amos tracks off a fan page. My collection grew slowly and organically, and there wasn’t much organization to it. Eventually I got a Creative Nomad player the size of portable CD player. It had, I think, a whopping 6GB of space. Eventually I got an iPod and kept adding to the collection. ✐ The correct directory (folder) and filename scheme for MP3s, FLACs, and other music files⠀✐ At some point, after the collection passed the 200GB mark, the digital mess started bugging me and I started experimenting with naming schemes and attempts to clean up the structure and tagging of all the files. # ⚓ KDAB ☛ FMA_Woes⠀⇛ Given a strictly positive integer i, this code will calculate i+1 “equally spaced” values between 1 and 0: const double scale = 1.0 / i; for (int j = 0; j <= i; ++j) { const double r = 1.0 - j * scale; assert(r >= 0); } If you’re looking for a trap, this does actually work for any i > 0. One can verify it experimentally; run the code with i from 1 to INT_MAX. For simplicity, just consider the case j = i (the maximum for j, in the last loop of iteration above): const double scale = 1.0 / i; const double r = 1.0 - i * scale; assert(r >= 0); # ⚓ FLOSS_Weekly_720:_Fostering_an_Open_Source_Culture_–_Aurn Gupta_on_Generative_AI,_OpenJDK,_CNCF⠀⇛ Arun Gupta, VP and General Manager of Open Ecosystems at Intel Corporation, joins Doc Searls and Simon Phipps on this episode of FLOSS Weekly. Gupta has been an open source strateg… # ⚓ Telemetry_required?_Ask_users_first!⠀⇛ In this article, I will discuss the recent problems with compiling LibreOffice using Microsoft Visual Studio, things that I did to debug and find the root cause, the source of problem itself – which is problems in Microsoft’s telemetry – and how I could fix it. # § Rust⠀➾ # ⚓ Rust Blog ☛ Governance_Reform_RFC_Announcement [Ed: Rust outsourced some more to proprietary Microsoft stuff]⠀⇛ # ⚓ LWN ☛ An_RFC_for_governance_of_the_Rust_project [Ed: Microsoft already controls the development process, in proprietary prison (GitHub), so why not also outsource governance to Microsoft? Rust is hopeless.]⠀⇛ The Rust community has been working to reform its governance model; that work is now being presented as a draft document describing how that model will work. * § Leftovers⠀➾ o ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Caravaggio/Poussin:_The_Politics_of_Art_History Writing⠀⇛ Our visual culture, focused on art of the immediate present, identifies three old masters as grand culture heroes: Piero della Francesca; Vermeer; and of course Caravaggio. (And now, Artemisia Gentileschi also belongs on that short list, as a feminist hero. ) Almost nothing is known about the lives of Piero and Vermeer, but we know something about Caravaggio (1573-1610). And this relatively short lived, gay, violent superstar, a rebel as if sent from central casting, inspires not only art historical research, but fictional biographies and even movies. A quarter of a century ago, I summarized this literature, little knowing how much was still to be written. A great deal more is known about Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665). We have, for example, his extensive correspondence. He is most famous nowadays for saying that Caravaggio came into the world to destroy painting. Indeed, one French book about Caravaggio is simply called: To Destroy Painting. But unlike Caravaggio, Poussin doesn’t have a mystique. And outside of France, he isn’t a culture hero. Caravaggio and Poussin never met, for by the time that Poussin got to Italy Caravaggio had died. Caravaggio has a great story. His fame is justified. But recent research has revealed that Poussin, too, has a story, which deserves to be better known. Born in Northern France, it took him some years to make his way to Rome, which was the center of the European art world in the way that in the 1940s New York City was the epicenter of ours. Poussin arrived only in his late twenties. Along the way he painted some pictures, which recently have been rediscovered. One of these early works, The Sack and Destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem by Titus (1625-6), discovered in a London auction house by the famous connoisseur, Denis Mahon, has found an appropriate home, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. This large picture is recognizably in the style of Poussin’s later best known history paintings. A number of other early works, Sleeping Venus and Cupid and Venus (or a Nymph) Spied On by Satyr are two, from this period are more puzzling. They have been questioned for an interesting reason: these frankly lascivious scenes, textbook examples of male voyeurism, seem inconsistent , as one catalogue puts it, with “the conventional view of Poussin as an austere and serious artist.” And just last year the museum at Lyons presented an exhibition centered around another recently rediscovered work, also found in a London auction, La Mort de Chioné (1622). The subject is rare and disconcerting: Chione, who was the lover of Apollo and Hermes, vainly compared her own beauty to that of Artemis, and so Apollo’s sister killed her by shooting an arrow through her tongue. Learning that this painting was made in Lyons, it’s possible to fill in some of the gaps in Poussin’s early movements to Rome. o ⚓ New York Times ☛ Turkish_Builders_Come_Under_Intense_Scrutiny Over_Shoddy_Construction⠀⇛ More than 43,000 deaths in Turkey from an earthquake have raised painful and angry questions over whether some of those fatalities could have been avoided with better building standards. o ⚓ Thousands_of_İstanbulites_request_earthquake_inspection_after Maraş_quakes,_says_official⠀⇛ The devastating earthquakes on February 6 revived the fears of an anticipated powerful earthquake in the metropolis. o ⚓ France24 ☛ View_from_Aleppo:_‘Syrians_are_angry_with_the_West’ over_lack_of_earthquake_aid⠀⇛ With international aid still struggling to reach Syria two weeks after the devastating February 6 earthquakes, calls are mounting for Western countries to lift diplomatic sanctions on the Syrian regime and facilitate the flow of aid. A local doctor helping the humanitarian efforts in Aleppo, in northwestern Syria, tells FRANCE 24 that people feel abandoned by the West. o ⚓ teleSUR ☛ Earthquake_of_Magnitude_6.8_Strikes_Eastern Tajikistan⠀⇛ Several aftershocks followed the initial earthquake, which was felt at 05H37 local time o ⚓ The Atlantic ☛ When_a_Christian_Revival_Goes_Viral⠀⇛ As of this Friday, the university will no longer hold public worship services. “I have been asked if Asbury is ‘stopping’ this outpouring of God’s Spirit and the stirring of human hearts,” the university president said in a statement. “I have responded by pointing out that we cannot stop something we did not start.” Indeed, the phenomenon has been reported to have spread to other schools, including Samford University, Lee University, and Cedarville University. o ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ A_Looming_Book_of_Soul_Fragments⠀⇛ Confession: I have a few books out there that no one knows about because I haven’t written them . . . well, finished them. I’ve talked in previous columns about “wrestling with infinity” — the match I always lose — by which I mean, picking a subject too large to reduce to words and eventually getting hopelessly lost in it, e.g.: shifting human consciousness, transcending what we think we know, truly creating peace (whatever that is). o ⚓ Geshan ☛ 5_similarities_between_software_systems_and_being married_(read_with_a_pinch_of_salt)⠀⇛ Software systems and marriages have many things in common and there are differences too. In this post, you will learn about 5 things that are similar in both software systems and marriages, let’s get going! o § Science⠀➾ # ⚓ IDA ☛ Ynys_Enlli_named_first_International_Dark_Sky Sanctuary_in_Wales,_United_Kingdom⠀⇛ YNYS ENLLI, Wales, UK – Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island), north Wales, has received International Dark Sky Sanctuary (IDSS) certification from the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). # ⚓ Omicron Limited ☛ Mushrooms_could_help_replace_plastics_in new_high-performance_ultra-light_materials⠀⇛ A research group from VTT Technical Research Center of Finland has unlocked the secret behind the extraordinary mechanical properties and ultra-light weight of certain fungi. The complex architectural design of mushrooms could be mimicked and used to create new materials to replace plastics. The research results were published on February 22, 2023, in Science Advances. # ⚓ Quillette ☛ The_Overregulation_of_Science⠀⇛ Forces that discourage brilliant action and timely investigation of hypotheses are bad for science. One such force is excessive regulation. When rules and regulations are illogical and overly burdensome, their primary effect is to dampen enthusiasm for research and to delay scientific progress. In the realm of medical research with human subjects, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) is often the culprit. To get a sense of the costs of over-regulation by the IRB, it is instructive to look back to episodes that predate the IRB entirely, predate the modern all- encompassing IRB, or were outside the IRB’s purview. o § Education⠀➾ # ⚓ RIPE ☛ The_RIPE_Labs_Article_Competition_is_Open⠀⇛ As we launch our third RIPE Labs article competition, we’re again looking to be reminded of just how interesting a phenomenon the Internet is. As always, we’re looking for articles about where the Internet came from, where it’s going, and how we measure and understand where it is right now. That’s quite an open brief, for sure. But the important thing to keep in mind is that we’re looking for stories and analyses that are truly eye-opening for the people who help keep the Internet running. # ⚓ Copenhagen Post ☛ Make_learning_Danish_mandatory,_argues language_school_interest_group⠀⇛ De Danske Sprogcentre recommends abolishing the rule that the right to free lessons disappears after five years of residence o § Hardware⠀➾ # ⚓ Hackaday ☛ Fixing_A_Reflow_Oven’s_Conveyer_Belt_With_An NE555_And_Stepper_Motors⠀⇛ Some design choices on manufacturing equipment really leave you scratching your head for a while, as recently happened to [Chris Cecil] when the belt on a reflow oven’s conveyer snapped. Although the solution seems simple enough, getting a new belt on the thing would involve essentially taking the entire machine apart, before reassembling it again. Thus the frayed belt went through the oven over and over until during a recent production run of Smoothieboard controller boards until [Chris] heard a funny noise and the conveyer ground to a halt. # ⚓ Hackaday ☛ Supercon_2022:_Tap_Your_Rich_Uncle_To_Fund_Your Amateur_Radio_Dreams⠀⇛ Imagine you had a rich uncle who wanted to fund some of your projects. Like, seriously rich — thanks to shrewd investments, he’s sitting on a pile of cash and is now legally obligated to give away $5,000,000 a year to deserving recipients. That would be pretty cool indeed, but like anything else, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, right? # ⚓ Hackaday ☛ Supersized_Laptop_Laughs_In_The_Face_Of Portability⠀⇛ Sometimes a project needs to go big, and [Evan and Katelyn] threw portability to the wind to build the “world’s biggest” laptop. # ⚓ Hackaday ☛ Sneaky_Clock_Displays_Wrong_Time_If_It_Catches You_Looking⠀⇛ We have a soft spot for devices that subvert purpose and expectation, and that definitely sums up [Guy Dupont]’s Clock That Is Wrong. It knows the correct time, but whether or not it displays the correct time is another story. That’s because nestled just above the 7-segment display is a person sensor module, and when it detects that a person is looking towards it, the clock will display an incorrect time, therefore self-defeating both the purpose and primary use case of a clock in one stroke. # ⚓ Hackaday ☛ Sailing_On_A_Sea_Of_Seven-Segment_Displays⠀⇛ The amount of information the humble seven-segment display can convey is surprising. There are the ten numerals, dead-ringers or reasonable approximations for about half the alphabet, and even a few not- quite-canonical symbols. But when you put 12,288 segments to work, you get all that and much more. # ⚓ New York Times ☛ Inside_Taiwanese_Chip_Giant,_a_U.S. Expansion_Stokes_Tensions⠀⇛ Employee doubts are rising about Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s $40 billion investment in an Arizona factory. # ⚓ New York Times ☛ How_Arizona_Is_Positioning_Itself_for_$52 Billion_to_the_Chips_Industry⠀⇛ The state has become a hub for chip makers including Intel and TSMC, as the government prepares to release a gusher of funds for the strategic industry. o § Health/Nutrition/Agriculture⠀➾ # ⚓ Deutsche Welle ☛ ‘Forever_chemicals:’_The_hidden_toxins_in your_body⠀⇛ The “Forever Pollution Project” has found more than 17,000 sites in Europe that are contaminated by perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS). More than 2,000 of these sites can be considered hotspots. Known as “forever chemicals” by experts, they could be damaging human health. Roland Weber, an environmental consultant with the United Nations, describes them as “one of the most threatening chemicals ever invented.” # ⚓ Jacobin Magazine ☛ Rail_Carriers’_Cost-Cutting_Is Endangering_All_of_Us⠀⇛ Rail carriers are operating longer, heavier freight trains, and with fewer workers than ever. The train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, is a reminder that the issues railworkers nearly struck over last year are far from resolved. # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Demanding_Transparency_in_East_Palestine, Ohio⠀⇛ Norfolk Southern’s toxic train wreck disaster in East Palestine, Ohio is one of America’s worst environmental catastrophes in memory. The Trump regime’s slash-and-burn approach to government regulation is a clear culprit for the railroad safety issues that paved the way for the crash, yet the Biden administration’s hands aren’t clean either since President Biden busted a potential railroad worker strike by forcing their union to take a deal the majority didn’t like. The situation highlights a disturbing level of regulatory capture in America by corporations that always prioritize profits over people and safety, regardless of which party occupies the White House. Then there are the citizens of East Palestine and the surrounding region who are left to pick up the pieces, with grave concern about whether the air, water, and soil in their town are still safe. # ⚓ New York Times ☛ Politics_Invade_the_East_Palestine,_Ohio, Train_Crisis⠀⇛ The train derailment in Eastern Ohio has spawned conspiracy theories and contradictory narratives, with politicians from both parties parading through town to further their agendas. # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Khanna_Leads_Call_for_FDA_to_Address_Flu and_Cold_Medicine_Shortage⠀⇛ U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna led several Democratic members of Congress in calling on the Food and Drug Administration to take more aggressive action to ensure families and healthcare providers have access to common over-the-counter medicines that have been depleted on drugstore shelves across the U.S. this winter. # ⚓ Copenhagen Post ☛ Dangerous_opioid_trend_developing_in Denmark⠀⇛ Children between 14 and 17 are increasingly becoming addicted to the drugs. For many it is their first taste of narcotics # ⚓ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Covid-19:_Hong_Kong_extends_mask mandate_again,_as_rapid_tests_for_secondary_students_axed from_next_Wed⠀⇛ The compulsory Covid-19 mask mandate – which has been in place for over two-and-a-half years – is to be extended for another 14 days again on Thursday. # ⚓ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong_Kong_Budget_2023:_Cigarette packs_rise_by_HK$12_in_bid_to_disincentivise_smoking⠀⇛ The typical cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes has risen by HK$12, from around HK$62 to HK$74. Finance Secretary Paul Chan increased the duty on individual cigarettes by 60 cents with immediate effect in a bid to encourage Hongkongers to quit smoking. # ⚓ RFA ☛ Chinese_police_detain_at_least_five_people_over medical_insurance_protests⠀⇛ Activist is taken away by Shenzhen authorities after tweeting video of rallies in Wuhan and Dalian # ⚓ Axios ☛ Norfolk_Southern_blames_misinformation_for_its derailed_response⠀⇛ Data: Memo, Twitter, Axios research; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals Rail operator Norfolk Southern is getting slammed for its response following the derailment_of_one_of_its_trains carrying hazardous materials near East Palestine, Ohio, this month. ⚓ JURIST ☛ EPA_orders_Norfolk_Southern_to_cover_costs_of_Ohio_train_derailment cleanup⠀⇛ The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tuesday announced that it has ordered Norfolk Southern to manage cleanup operations resulting from a February 3 train derailment in Ohio. ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ NTSB_Report_Suggests_Overheated_Wheel_Bearing_May_Have Derailed_Toxic_Train_in_Ohio⠀⇛ Federal investigators on Thursday released a highly anticipated preliminary report about the February 3 derailment of a train carrying hazardous materials in East Palestine, Ohio, where residents are now worried about health and environmental effects. ⚓ Pro Publica ☛ Legislators_Demand_Hearings_on_Choate⠀⇛ All 59 Republican members of the Illinois General Assembly are calling for legislative hearings on a state-run mental health center in rural southern Illinois, citing findings of a culture of abuse, cover-ups and poor patient care from a monthslong investigative series by Lee Enterprises Midwest, Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica. Late last week, the members sent a letter to key Democratic committee chairs in the Illinois House and Senate asking them to schedule a bicameral public hearing on the facility. ⚓ NBC ☛ What’s_really_behind_the_wave_of_sadness_among_teenage_girls?_We_asked 9_of_them.⠀⇛ Sahak said she thinks girls’ levels of sadness might be more serious than what was reflected in the survey. Teens her age are trapped in a cycle of comparison on social media, she said — viewing themselves relative to friends, celebrities and influencers, which can worsen insecurities and feelings of inadequacy. As an example, she pointed to a trend on TikTok in which people compare their faces from the side to see whether they have “good profiles.” ⚓ Gannett ☛ Michigan’s_children_remain_targets_of_big_tobacco⠀⇛ “In Detroit, there is a tobacco retailer within 1,000 feet of every school,” said Jones. “The tobacco industry spends nearly $300 million in Michigan each year to keep people addicted and attract new, young customers.” The costs of their addictions in public health costs and loss of life will only be amplified as these children age into tobacco-consuming adults. Health care costs for smoking-related illness in Michigan total around $4.5 billion in a year. ⚓ India Times ☛ European_Commission_bans_TikTok_on_official_devices: spokesperson⠀⇛ The ban also means that European Commission staff cannot use the Chinese-owned video-sharing app on personal devices, including phones, that have official apps installed, the spokesperson said, confirming a report by news website Euractiv. ⚓ Security Week ☛ TikTok_Banned_From_EU_Commission_Phones_Over_Cybersecurity⠀⇛ The European Union’s executive branch said Thursday that it has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure, reflecting widening worries from Western officials over the Chinese-owned video sharing app. In a first for the European Commission, its Corporate Management Board suspended the use of TikTok on devices issued to staff or personal devices that staff use for work. ⚓ CNN ☛ European_Commission_bans_TikTok_from_official_devices⠀⇛ The European Commission has banned TikTok from official devices because of concerns about cybersecurity, a move sharply criticized by the company in its latest run-in with Western governments over how it handles user data. ⚓ TruthOut ☛ Trump_Lies_About_Slashing_Rail_Safety_Rules_During_Visit_to_East Palestine⠀⇛ ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ A_Health_Care_Cliff_is_Coming⠀⇛ I’m one of the 84 million Americans who get our health care through Medicaid. And I’m one of the 18 million who might lose it starting this spring unless our policymakers take action. I went to college, got a degree, and planned on being self- sufficient. But in my early 20s, I was struck by an autoimmune condition that caused painful, chronic flare ups that affected my ability to stand or walk. ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Health_Care_is_Sick_and_Profit_is_the_Disease⠀⇛ Your doctor is out and unable to see you now. Not out for lunch or out on vacation — but out of medical practice. America’s perverse health care system, which sublimates care to the profiteering demands of Wall Street speculators who essentially own today’s system, has been driving out hordes of nurses, pharmacists, and now doctors too. ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Does_Being_Balanced_at_the_New_York_Times_Mean_Giving_the Right_Space_to_Lie?⠀⇛ Guess so since it gave Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, plenty of space to say things that are extremely deceptive, if not outright lies. The gist of Riedl’s piece is that it will not be possible to sustain Social Security and Medicare without tax increases on the middle class. Much of the piece is the standard line about an aging population posing an impossible burden that we have been reading about in the NYT and elsewhere for many decades. For example, Riedl includes an old favorite: § Proprietary⠀➾ * ⚓ The Economist ☛ It’s_time_for_Alphabet_to_spin_off_YouTube⠀⇛ Compared with the attention heaped on Bob Iger’s return to the helm of Disney and the stepping back of Reed Hastings at Netflix, news on February 16th that Susan Wojcicki would resign from YouTube after nine years as ceo caused barely a rustle in the media pages. That is a sign of two things. First, how little attention Wall Street analysts and entertainment- industry scribblers pay to the business of YouTube, even though it has become a hub—as well as a byword—for global video. Second, how overshadowed it is by the teetering ramparts of its parent company, Alphabet. Sundar Pichai, the tech giant’s beleaguered boss, is fighting wars on so many fronts, from Microsoft’s ChatGPT-inspired encroachment on Google search to trustbusters and the Supreme Court, that the goings-on at YouTube must seem like a sideshow. * ⚓ India Times ☛ Adobe_signs_chip_supplier_Qualcomm_for_marketing_tech software⠀⇛ Once best known for tools like Photoshop used to create websites and digital marketing materials, Adobe has expanded its business to include software for managing those materials and tracking how well they work at bringing customers in the door. * ⚓ Scoop News Group ☛ Russian_national_accused_of_developing,_selling malware_appears_in_U.S._court [iophk: Windows TCO]⠀⇛ Pankov stands accused of developing NLBrute — also known as nl.exe or nlbrute.exe — and advertising it for sale on an underground forum as early as June 2016, according to an indictment unsealed this week. During that time he also sold more than 35,000 compromised login credentials for access to systems around the world, including in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Australia. At least two of those sales were to undercover U.S. law enforcement officers, according to the indictment, and involved login credentials for two separate Florida-based law firms. * ⚓ Barry W Jones ☛ How_Microsoft_Became_Phishing’s_Biggest_Enabler⠀⇛ It might sound strange to hear that Microsoft, a company who goes to great lengths to protect computers and networks, is one of the biggest contributors to phishing and fraud on the planet. It’s true unfortunately. They aren’t actually committing the acts themselves of course, but they are enabling the problem by withdrawing support for standards designed to help stop it. Here’s why this is such a big deal. * ⚓ Rlang ☛ Why_should_I_use_R:_The_Excel_R_Data_Wrangling_comparison:_Part 1 [Ed:Why assume everyone uses Microsoft's proprietary stuff?]⠀⇛ This is part 1 of an ongoing series on why you should use R. Future blogs will be linked here as they are released. The era of data manipulation and analysis using programming languages has arrived. But it can be tough to find the time and the right resources to fully switch over from more manual, time-consuming solutions, such as Excel. In this blog we will show a comparison between Excel and R to get you started! When choosing between R and Excel, it is important to understand how both solutions can get you the results you need. However, one can make it an easy, reputable, convenient process, whereas the other can make it an extremely frustrating, time-consuming process prone to human errors. * ⚓ Daniel Miessler ☛ How_to_Access_ChatGPT_via_Voice_Command_(Using Siri)⠀⇛ Here’s how to call ChatGPT using an Apple Shortcut in 3 steps. § Entrapment (Microsoft GitHub)⠀➾ * ⚓ The Register UK ☛ Who_writes_Linux_and_open_source_software? [Ed: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols is having another senior moment. He judges Free software only by the catalogue that Microsoft controls, using proprietary software. He needs to retire to avoid alienating the few who still trusted his writings. SJVN is either willfully ignorant or lying; judging Microsoft "contributions" based only on what it is controlling in its platform is propaganda that goes back to 2014, when it made plans to buy the company; those who don't trust Microsoft don't host anything there and SJVN does not count them. How foolish. This is not your daddy's "SJVN"; this is a clown.]⠀⇛ Even now, I run into those who think Linux and open source software is made by people living in their parents’ basement and writing the code out of the goodness of their hearts. Wrong. So, so wrong. § Security⠀➾ * ⚓ SANS ☛ Internet_Wide_Scan_Fingerprinting_Confluence_Servers,_(Wed,_Feb 22nd)⠀⇛ * ⚓ Bruce Schneier ☛ A_Device_to_Turn_Traffic_Lights_Green⠀⇛ * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ The_5×5—Strengthening_the_cyber_workforce⠀⇛ Experts provide insights into ways for the United States and its allies to bolster their cyber workforces. * ⚓ New York Times ☛ Why_You_Should_Listen_to_Twitter_on_Two-Factor Authentication⠀⇛ Elon Musk was right: Text messages are not the most secure way to protect your account. * § Integrity/Availability/Authenticity⠀➾ o ⚓ University of Toronto ☛ The_web_single_sign_on_versus availability_problem⠀⇛ A SSO system is very convenient when it works, but if and when it’s down for some reason, it’s a single point that prevents you from using anything else (unless you happen to be lucky). Many of the staff things that we could protect with SSO are in fact exactly the things we most want to be available when the rest of our systems are falling over; for example, it would be pretty bad if our metrics system’s dashboards weren’t accessible during an outage. Grafana Loki? Our searchable archive of our worklogs? All things that we really, really want to have access to if at all possible, and that need access restrictions. o ⚓ Vice Media Group ☛ How_I_Broke_Into_a_Bank_Account_With_an_AI- Generated_Voice⠀⇛ Banks in the U.S. and Europe tout voice ID as a secure way to log into your account. I proved it’s possible to trick such systems with free or cheap AI-generated voices. * § Privacy/Surveillance⠀➾ o ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Spying_on_Muslims,_Good;_Spying_on_Christians, Bad⠀⇛ The FBI has retracted a document showing that its “Richmond division launched an investigation into ‘radical traditionalist’ Catholics and their possible ties to ‘the far-right white nationalist movement,’” because, as the FBI said, the document “does not meet our exacting standards” (Catholic News Agency, 2/9/23). With the US right using the FBI’s investigation into former President Donald Trump as proof that the federal law enforcement agency is run by the radical left (Mother Jones, 9/4/22), the latest news has become new ammo in the conservative cultural offensive. o ⚓ Techdirt ☛ Thousands_Of_Bite-Sized_Privacy_Law_Violations_Could See_White_Castle_Subjected_To_Billions_In_Fines⠀⇛ Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), passed in 2008, continues to be the Little Legislation That Could. While occasionally hijacked by opportunistic litigants whose privacy hasn’t actually been violated, it’s also been used to achieve some objective good. o ⚓ JURIST ☛ Amazon_completes_$3.9B_acquisition_of_healthcare provider⠀⇛ Amazon and 1Life Healthcare, Inc. (One Medical) Wednesday announced Amazon’s completed $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical. Amazon announced its intended acquisition of the membership-based healthcare provider in July 2022. [...] However, there may be ramifications for both One Medical customers’ health data privacy and the accessibility of healthcare. Although the FTC declined to challenge the acquisition, spokesperson Douglas Farrar said the FTC will continue to investigate any potential harm to competition the merger may cause, as well as potential consumer harm resulting from Amazon’s control and use of One Medical’s sensitive consumer health data. o ⚓ Tor ☛ Meeting_You_Where_You_Are:_We’ve_added_WhatsApp_User Support⠀⇛ Providing support and necessary tools for those who find themselves in places where Tor access is restricted has become one of our top priorities. And as our community continues to grow, we are constantly looking for ways that make it easier and safer to connect with us. That’s why, over the last two years, we have been working on improving Tor online user support: from launching the Tor Forum and bridging Tor IRC channels to Matrix in 2021 to rolling out support channels on messaging apps like Telegram and Signal in 2022. Today, we are excited to announce the addition of our WhatsApp user support — providing another option for users across the world to get in touch with us. o ⚓ New Statesman ☛ UK_police_still_relying_heavily_on_Chinese surveillance_camera_technology⠀⇛ o ⚓ Techdirt ☛ UK_Proposes_Even_More_Stupid_Ideas_For_Directly Regulating_The_Internet,_Service_Providers⠀⇛ The UK government has made no secret of its desire to convert providing encryption into a criminal act. The fact that some things are beyond the government’s reach is unacceptable. While lawmakers may suggest this will only target “criminal” purveyors and users, there’s no reason to believe this won’t be expanded every time law enforcement finds it slightly difficult to access information it believes it’s entitled to. o ⚓ CoryDoctorow ☛ Fighting_the_privacy_wars,_state_by_state⠀⇛ In 2021, Apple updated its mobile OS so that users could opt out of app tracking with one click. More than 96% opted out, costing Facebook $10b in one year. The kicker? Even if you opted out, Apple continued to spy on you, just as invasively as Facebook had, as part of its competing targeted ad product: [...] o ⚓ The Hill ☛ Facebook,_Twitter,_Minecraft_report_inconsistent policies_in_Google_Play_about_how_they_use_your_data,_study_finds⠀⇛ Mozilla, the not-for-profit organization behind the Firefox browser, looked at the 20 most popular paid and free apps in the Google Play app store for its report. It found that nearly 80 percent of the 40 apps reviewed had “some discrepancies” between the app’s privacy policies and the information the app reported on Google’s data safety form. o ⚓ RTL ☛ Facebook,_Instagram_roll_out_paid_subscription_in Australia,_New_Zealand⠀⇛ Some attempts to join Meta Verified from Sydney found the service was not available on the first day of the rollout. o ⚓ uni Stanford ☛ My_Comment_to_the_UK_Government_on_Its_Proposal_to Ban_“Bespoke,”_“Sophisticated”_Encrypted_Phones⠀⇛ I don’t like this proposal, as I told Joseph Cox at Motherboard. (Joseph is a journalist who’s both British and, as the foregoing links reveal, has extensively covered secure phone networks and their infiltration by the police, including for his upcoming book on ANOM.) It would effectively turn owning or offering one of these devices into a strict liability crime. That’s because the only defense the proposal carves out is one that would be impossible for defendants to invoke in practice, due to the Government’s stance (which it states overtly in the proposal) that everyone who owns one is a criminal. § Defence/Aggression⠀➾ * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ The_Case_for_Diplomacy_in_Ukraine⠀⇛ As 2023 unfolds, we fear that American policy will continue to be characterized by both mission creep and the absence of any sort of diplomatic engagement with Russia. Throughout the course of the war, the Biden administration has slowly, steadily, even stealthily increased America’s involvement. Calls from Kiev for more and more weapons have, at every turn, been met with President Biden’s acquiescence. Meantime, Congress has continued in its decades-long abdication of its constitutional responsibilities, opting instead to act as a rubber stamp on ever-increasing amounts of financial and military assistance to Ukraine. All the while, Kiev’s appetite has grown larger with the eating. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Moldova’s_Future_is_Bleak_Unless_it_Saves_Itself⠀⇛ Moldova, a small landlocked country in Eastern Europe is the poorest nation in Europe. Despite its natural beauty, cultural richness, and strategic location, the country has been struggling with economic, political, and social challenges that have hindered its development and prosperity. There are several reasons why Moldova is so poor and there are numerous challenges it faces in its journey towards growth and stability. The economy heavily relies on agriculture, particularly on wine and fruits production, which account for a significant portion of its exports. However, the country faces challenges in terms of modernizing its agricultural practices and infrastructure, which limits its competitiveness in the global market. Additionally, corruption, limited foreign investment, and weak economic policies have hindered the country’s economic growth. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ The_War_on_Terror_and_the_Battle_for_Young_Minds⠀⇛ During a Veterans Day celebration in my small Maryland community, a teacher clicked through a slideshow of smiling men and women in military uniforms. “Girls and boys, can anyone tell me what courage is?” she asked the crowd, mostly children from local elementary schools, including my two young kids. A boy raised his hand. “Not being scared?” he asked. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ The_Ukraine_War_One_Year_in:_Nine_False_Narratives⠀⇛ Here we are one year after Russia’s blood-drenched invasion of Ukraine, the country that has always been the leading tripwire for a global nuclear war in the post-Soviet era. The subsequent United States (US)-Russia proxy war that has unfolded and escalated there is a rolling slaughterhouse with a body count in the tens if not the hundreds of thousands. It feels increasingly like a chapter in a dystopian novel depicting the march to World War III. And, of course, the fog of propagandistic stupefaction surrounding this deadly conflict has been extremely thick on all sides, including what’s left of the shattered and lame US “left.” The intra-portside polarization over Ukraine is darkly comedic at this point. If you stake out a consistent communist anti-imperialist position on the Ukraine War, as I try to do in this essay, one group of white male lefties calls you a NATO fan and another group of white male lefties calls you a Putinist. Both charges are absurd and idiotic. * ⚓ CNN ☛ UK_defense_secretary_criticizes_Prince_Harry_for_‘boasting’_about Taliban_deaths⠀⇛ UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said he disagrees with the Duke of Sussex’s decision to reveal how many Taliban fighters he killed while serving in the British Army in Afghanistan, saying “boasting about tallies” lets down others in the armed forces. * ⚓ New York Times ☛ U.N._General_Assembly_Calls_for_Lasting_Peace_Deal_in Ukraine⠀⇛ The assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling for a peace agreement that guarantees Ukraine’s sovereignty. Several of Russia’s key allies abstained, including China, Iran and India. * ⚓ Copenhagen Post ☛ One_year_on:_Numerous_events_to_mark_anniversary_of invasion⠀⇛ Demonstrations, marches, speeches and commemorations will take place across the country in support of Ukraine today * ⚓ Copenhagen Post ☛ Danish_donations_to_Ukraine_exceed_all_expectations⠀⇛ Well over a billion kroner and counting * ⚓ CNN ☛ Hear_US_Defense_Secretary’s_prediction_about_Russia’s_war_in Ukraine⠀⇛ In a clip from an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin discusses Russia’s war with Ukraine, the role of the United States, and his predictions. * ⚓ CNN ☛ China_calls_for_Russia-Ukraine_cease-fire_as_neutrality questioned_and_social⠀⇛ * ⚓ Axios ☛ China_calls_for_cease-fire_in_Russia-Ukraine_war⠀⇛ China’s government called for a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine and for the start of peace talks to end the yearlong war. * ⚓ CNN ☛ Why_US_officials_believe_China_will_send_‘lethal_support’_to Russia⠀⇛ Reports obtained by CNN appear to show China is sending parts labeled for military use to Russia as aid in Ukraine war. CNN’s Will Ripley explains. * ⚓ CNN ☛ US_plans_to_expand_training_of_Taiwanese_forces⠀⇛ * ⚓ Tech Times ☛ US_Air_Force’s_Drones_To_Have_Face_Recognition!_New_Tech Now_Raises_Fears—Here’s_Why⠀⇛ This means that these UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) will be able to identify their targets easily by just looking at their faces. For some individuals, this is a great innovation since it will make defense drones more accurate. However, this technology raises fears among other people because they can easily kill specified individuals. * ⚓ Spiegel ☛ China_Reportedly_Negotiating_with_Russia_To_Supply_Kamikaze Drones⠀⇛ China reacted quickly, with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson accusing Blinken of spreading disinformation. But information obtained by DER SPIEGEL indicates that the planned cooperation between Beijing and Moscow goes even further than Blinken makes it sound. * ⚓ Defence Web ☛ Islamist_terrorism_is_rising_in_the_Sahel,_but_not_in Chad_–_what’s_different?⠀⇛ Since the rise of Boko Haram in Nigeria and the emergence of Islamist-Salafist groups in northern Mali in 2013, the Sahel has increasingly been caught in the maelstrom of Islamist terrorism. * ⚓ ADF ☛ Illicit_Weapons_Trade_Plagues_Lake_Chad_Basin⠀⇛ A group of herders were tending to their cattle in a pasture near Airamne village in Nigeria’s restive northeastern borderlands when the shooting began. Boko Haram fighters emerged from their camps in Gajiganna forest on December 24, 2022 to launch an attack. The herders returned fire. * ⚓ Bruce Schneier ☛ Cyberwar_Lessons_from_the_War_in_Ukraine⠀⇛ The Aspen Institute has published a good analysis of the successes, failures, and absences of cyberattacks as part of the current war in Ukraine: “The Cyber Defense Assistance Imperative ­ Lessons from Ukraine.” * ⚓ Aspen Institute ☛ The_Cyber_Defense_Assistance_Imperative_–_Lessons from_Ukraine [iophk: Windows TCO]⠀⇛ Informed by the ongoing work of a variety of organizations providing operational cyber support to Ukrainian institutions through the Cyber Defense Assistance Collaborative, this paper seeks to define cyber defense assistance, outline its primary component parts, and identify key lessons learned that can help inform how such assistance can be provided in future geopolitical conflicts. It also makes the case that an effective national security toolkit requires the ability to deliver cyber defense assistance to allies. * ⚓ Meduza ☛ Russia_doubles_down_on_claims_that_Kyiv_is_preparing_to_attack Transnistria_—_Meduza⠀⇛ Less than 24 hours after claiming Ukraine is preparing to carry out a false-flag attack in Transnistria, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday evening that it had detected a “significant build-up” of Ukrainian troops and military vehicles near the “Ukrainian-Transnistrian border.” * ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Children_of_War⠀⇛ During a Veterans Day celebration in my small Maryland community, a teacher clicked through a slideshow of smiling men and women in military uniforms. “Girls and boys, can anyone tell me what courage is?” she asked the crowd, mostly children from local elementary schools, including my two young kids. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ The_Forgotten_Terrorist_Pretext_of_the_Vietnam_War⠀⇛ After the 9/11 attacks, terrorism became the ultimate entitlement program for America’s political elite. Whether it is illegally spying on Americans or blowing Somali dissidents to smithereens, invoking terrorism justifies any attack favored by for Washington policymakers. But the disastrous results of granting politicians a blank check should have been undeniable almost 60 years ago. Back in the 1960s, terrorism was what the communists did. Antiterrorist moral fervor and ideological blinders propelled the U.S. into its biggest foreign policy blunder since World War Two. * ⚓ Meduza ☛ ‘We_don’t_have_another_motherland’:_Nine_years_into_Russian occupation_and_oppression,_Crimean_Tatars_hold_out_hope_for_Ukraine’s return_—_Meduza⠀⇛ * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Russia_in_Africa⠀⇛ In January 2022, armed Russian militants operating under the banner of the notorious Wagner Group of mercenaries – a Private Military Company (PMC) operating internationally with Kremlin support – began a security operation targeting the villages of Aïgbado and Yanga, 600km to the east of Bangui, the capital city of the Central African Republic. The result was the brutal massacre of almost 70 Black African men, women, and children, conducted in both villages at the hands of the Russian mercenaries and their comrades among the Central African government troops. Countless more were injured and displaced – with images across various social media reports and news sites indicating the graphic torture and murder of unarmed civilians, hands bound behind their backs[1] as they are subjected to violence well past the legal threshold for war crimes. The United Nations (UN) Mission in the country, MINUSCA, confirmed through a statement released by Stéphane Dujarric, also the spokesperson for Secretary-General António Guterres, that they had received reports of violence involving government troops and unnamed external “security personnel”, with many casualties and displacements running in the hundreds[2]. A UN Probe was subsequently announced earlier this year amid increasing media attention and reports, local accusations and international speculation concerning the Wagner Group’s involvement; it has been long confirmed by the Central African Republic’s (CAR) government that Russian mercenaries are indeed present in the country, having been hired as ‘advisors’. Further online reports have since suggested the UN probe was hampered by the intentional placing of landmines to prevent access for UN Peacekeepers and investigators – but information confirming this fact is hard to find. What can be verified regarding the UN investigation of this Wagner-perpetrated massacre is this: * ⚓ Hackaday ☛ German_Air_Force_Surplus_Teardown⠀⇛ It isn’t clear to us how [mrsylvain59] came into possession of a late-model piece of military gear from the German airforce, but we enjoyed watching the teardown below anyway. According to the documentation, the thing has a huge price tag, although we all know that the military usually pays top dollar for various reasons, so we are guessing the cost of the parts is quite a bit less than the price tag. * ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ Swedish-Finnish_NATO_membership_to_be_put_before Hungarian_Parliament_next_week⠀⇛ * ⚓ Meduza ☛ ‘The_war_is_bad_for_Russia_but_good_for_the_regime’_Ukraine’s Defense_Intelligence_Chief_Kyrylo_Budanov_on_defending_Bakhmut, ‘technological_penetration,’_and_why_recruiting_spies_still_matters_— Meduza⠀⇛ This article is a very brief summary of what Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov told Forbes Ukraine, in an extended interview that surveyed the first year of Russia’s invasion, what it revealed about Russia to Ukrainian intelligence, and what predictions can be made on that basis. The full interview is available in Ukrainian and Russian. Here are Budanov’s main insights, in our own words. * ⚓ Meduza ☛ Dispatch_from_Dnipro_How_‘Ukraine’s_outpost’_and_its_people are_faring_after_one_year_of_all-out_war_—_Meduza⠀⇛ * ⚓ The Nation ☛ The_Possible_Murder_of_Pablo_Neruda⠀⇛ On September 23, 1973, just 12 days after the bloody military coup in Chile, one of the world’s most famous poets, Pablo Neruda, died in the Santa María medical clinic in Santiago, where he was being treated for prostate cancer. At the time of his death at age 69, a private plane sent by the Mexican government was waiting to transport the Nobel laureate into the safety of exile. Given his long history as a leading member of Chile’s Communist Party, and his close ties to the deposed government of Salvador Allende, Neruda had many reasons to flee Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s forces. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Chile’s_Battle_for_Memory⠀⇛ Every morning, as I take my daily walk up toward the nearby Andes mountains, I pass by the Aeródromo Tobalaba, an airfield catering to a wide variety of private planes. For most neighbors in La Reina, the district in Santiago where my wife and I keep a house, this is a welcome open space in a congested city—a guarantee that no high-rises will blot out the horizon. For me, in a year that marks the 50th anniversary of the coup against the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende, the Aeródromo stirs up less-warm feelings. * ⚓ Meduza ☛ Poland_begins_installing_anti-tank_barriers_on_borders_with Russia_and_Belarus_—_Meduza⠀⇛ Poland has begun installing anti-tank barriers on its borders with Russia and Belarus, the country’s defense minister, Mariusz Błaszczak, announced Thursday evening. * ⚓ Pro Publica ☛ Texas_Governor_Says_Most_Gun_Crimes_Involve_Illegally Owned_Weapons._That’s_Not_True_for_Mass_Shootings.⠀⇛ Without mentioning the Uvalde mass shooting, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week declared school safety a priority for the current legislative session and again dismissed calls for more laws that would restrict access to guns. “Some want more gun laws, but too many local officials won’t even enforce the gun laws that are already on the books,” the governor said during his annual State of the State address. Without providing a source or clear data, he then asserted that “most gun crimes are committed by criminals who possess guns illegally.” Abbott proposed a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for people who are not legally allowed to have a firearm but have them anyway. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Energy_Wars:_Outing_the_Nordstream_Saboteurs⠀⇛ When news first emerged over explosions endured by the NordStream pipelines, known collectively as Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, an army of guessers was mobilised.  The accusation that Russia had done it seemed counterintuitive, given that the Russian state company Gazprom is a majority shareholder of Nord Stream 1 and sole owner of NordStream 2.  But this less than convenient fact did not discourage those from the Moscow-is-behind everything School of Thinking.  “It’s pretty predictable and predictably stupid to express such versions,” snarled Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. The first reports noted three leaks in both the NordStream 1 and NordStream 2 pipeline systems.  A fourth was subsequently revealed.  Then came news that the first explosion had taken place in a Russian built section of the pipeline.  Der Spiegel summed up the various questions.  Was Moscow behind it?  Or the United States, which had always been implacably opposed to the project?  And what of Ukraine or perhaps “rogue” agents?  For those wishing for a more savoury sauce, there was babbling that Mossad might have been behind it. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Does_South_Korea_Really_Need_the_F-35?⠀⇛ In a recent article a retired Republic of Korea Army [ROKA] Lieutenant General talked about how important the F-35 is to the security of his country. General Chun In-bum said: “For reasons of interoperability and to maintain the highest quality armed forces, the South Korean military uses U.S. arms to conduct its mission to maintain peace. These include Apache attack helicopters, F-15 and F-16 fighters, and the F-35 stealth fighter. The South Korean Air force [ROKAF] operates forty F-35s and is planning to acquire twenty more to supplement its capabilities.” But he is concerned that political issues will make the F-35 even more expensive than it already is and it is the most expensive fighter plane in history. He continued: “The main concern is the ongoing dispute in Washington about the F135 engine that powers the F-35. There are those in the Pentagon and Congress who have called for an upgrade to the propulsion system—and rightfully so, given the F-35’s need for better thrust and vertical lift—but there are also voices calling for a completely new engine system called the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP). Thus far, we have seen hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for the development of this new engine and this year is a pivotal year for the future of the F- 35 program. The proposed creation of an entirely new engine, compared to upgrading the existing F135, would greatly burden South Korea and other allies who operate the F-35.” * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ When_the_World_Said_No_to_War⠀⇛ Twenty years ago — on February 15, 2003 — the world said no to war. People rose up in almost 800 cities around the world in an unprecedented movement for peace. The world stood on the precipice of war. U.S. and U.K. warplanes and warships — filled with soldiers and sailors and armed with the most powerful weapons ever used in conventional warfare — were streaming towards the Middle East, aimed at Iraq. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Oakland_Police_Department:_Above_the_Law?⠀⇛ When I first moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1978, I lived in East Oakland.  My friend and I shared a run down three-bedroom Victorian with a couple guys we met at a daily free meal in Berkeley.  Our house was a block away from Foothill Avenue on East 17th Street.  We were the only white- skinned folks for a couple blocks.  A dozen or so blocks to our east was a neighborhood where lots of Hells Angels lived.  Although the Oakland police were constantly stopping young Black people in the streets, emptying their pockets, rolling  up their sleeves and either arresting or punching them, I was only bothered once by those uniforms.  It was while I waited for the bus that would take me to Berkeley, where I hung out.  Fortunately, I had no marijuana or other illegal substances on me.  After the cops emptied my pockets, took my name and called it in to see if I had any warrants, they let me go and told me I was stupid for living around so many n**gers.  Both the cops were white. Unfortunately, my interactions with the police in Berkeley were not as uneventful.  I was knocked around by them, harassed too many times to count, arrested on bullshit charges a half-dozen times, and even taken to the hills, threatened with a severe beating and then told to get out and walk back.  But, that’s another story.  The only real link to the subject of this piece–the Oakland Police Department–is that one of the cops who relished harassing me and many other people on the Berkeley streets had been fired for “accidentally” shooting a four-year old in an Oakland police raid of questionable legality.  That same cop broke the arm of a friend of mine when he challenged an arrest he was making. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ “Qualified_Immunity”_Strikes_Again⠀⇛ Over the last few decades, we’ve seen numerous bad actors escape punishment for their bad acts — ranging from theft to sexual misconduct to summary execution — for no better reason than that they were government employees, under the doctrine of “qualified immunity.” Now the US Supreme Court appears to have dropped the “qualified” part in favor of just plain immunity, full stop. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Liquidating_the_Legacy_of_Revolution:_Ideology_of_the Russian_Invasion⠀⇛ 1991, Leningrad. The private office of the deputy mayor of the city. A reporter for the city’s television channel interviews a young official from Anatoly Sobchak’s team. In the frame — a man with a childish face in a white shirt. Behind him, you can see window blinds, a television, a table lamp, a telephone, open folders with papers. A typical Soviet office environment. But something does not add up. From behind the scenes, the voice of the journalist says that yesterday, he could still see a bust of Lenin in this office, but today it had disappeared somewhere. What had happened? ‘I find it difficult to answer what happened. Because this, probably, was done by one of my assistants,’ the official answers. ‘If you are interested in my opinion of this person, of the doctrine he supposedly represented, then I would say […] that all this is no more than a beautiful and harmful fairy tale. Harmful because the implementation, or attempt to implement it in the life of our country has caused it enormous damage. And in this regard, I would like to speak about the tragedy we are experiencing today. Namely, the tragedy of the collapse of our state. You can’t call it anything but a tragedy. I think it was the leaders of October 17th who laid a time bomb under the foundation of the unitary state called Russia. What did they do? They split our fatherland into separate principalities, which previously did not appear on the world map at all, endowed these principalities with governments and parliaments, and so now we have what we have […] it’s largely those people’s fault, whether they wanted it or not.’ * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ A_Dangerous_Fishing_Expedition:_The_Select_Committee_on China⠀⇛ Riled up against China, GOP congressmembers have long felt that Washington’s new cold war needed a special venue. So as soon as the baton passed to Republicans in the House, they set up a select committee on China. This is majority leader Kevin “Trump’s the Man” McCarthy’s baby, and if it sounds to you like a forum for much grandstanding and frothing about the communist menace, the yellow peril and the need to beef up the FBI, CIA, DIA and NSA, so they can hunt down China’s spies from the halls of government to the groves of academe – “they’re everywhere” supposedly – you may be onto something. I’m not sure what that something is, but it’s a good bet it ends with U.S. navy aircraft carriers steaming toward Taiwan. In fact, a four-star general, Mike Minihan, said as much January 27. “My gut tells me we will fight in 2025,” he wrote in a memo to his subordinates. In which case it’s time to head for the hills – since every place else will be radioactive. Proving the veracity of Minihan’s talkative gut, we learned February 8 that the U.S., U.K. and Australian militaries engaged in joint air drills over the Nevada desert, in preparation for…war with China. Specifically, reported Reuters February 8, “to simulate high-end combat operations, against Chinese fighter aircraft and defenses.” Also in early February, there bubbled up more murmurings in the press about Tokyo beefing up its military and boosting ties with the Philippines, the better to confront Beijing – at Washington’s behest, of course. So the storm clouds gather, as China, too, speeds up its production of nuclear missiles and muscles up its army, the better, Beijing hopes, to deter the U.S. from provoking the invasion of Taiwan that it would use as an excuse for war. Kinda like the Ukraine incitement redux, except this time the Washington sociopaths are ready to make the China war nuclear from the get-go. * ⚓ RFA ☛ India_is_keeping_close_ties_with_Myanmar,_even_transferring weapons,_NGOs_say⠀⇛ Radar technology, automatic rifles and air defense systems sold to junta despite human rights abuses * ⚓ RFA ☛ Philippines_and_Australia_advance_defense_cooperation_in_South China_Sea⠀⇛ Canberra pushes for joint patrols with the Philippines, as Manila and Washington discuss same * ⚓ JURIST ☛ Idaho_legislature_proposes_bill_to_reintroduce_firing_squad_as execution_method⠀⇛ The Idaho Ways and Means Committee Wednesday introduced House Bill 186 in the Idaho House of Representatives, which would provide for execution by firing squad. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ US_foreign_policy:_China_is_important_but_the_top priority_is_stopping_Russia⠀⇛ Members of the US foreign policy establishment are wrong to prioritize a “China First” perspective at a time when Putin’s Russia is waging a major war of aggression in Ukraine, writes Richard D. Hooker, Jr. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ What_I_heard_in_Munich:_Four_fears_are_holding_the West_back_from_quicker,_bolder_support_for_Ukraine⠀⇛ There is fear of escalation, fear of having Ukraine fully in the European family, fear of a defeated Russia, and fear of a defeated Ukraine. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ Superhumans_Center:_Symbol_of_Ukrainian_defiance amid_Russia’s_war⠀⇛ Opening in the coming months, the Superhumans Center war trauma hospital in western Ukraine is a symbol of Ukrainian defiance as Russia’s brutal invasion enters its second year, writes co- founder Andrey Stavnitser. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ Russia_policy_after_the_war:_A_new_strategy_of containment⠀⇛ To prevent further damage to the rules-based international order, the United States and its allies will need a strategy of containment to deter Russia militarily and decouple Russia from the international community, until Moscow has earned the right to be considered a partner once more. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ The_balloon_drama_was_a_drill._Here’s_how_the_US_and China_can_prepare_for_a_real_crisis.⠀⇛ The communication breakdown between the United States and China could prove disastrous if a crisis arises that’s bigger than a balloon—which is why they need to start talking now. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ Undermining_Ukraine⠀⇛ From the very start of the war, the Kremlin emphasized demoralizing Ukrainian audiences and destroying their will to fight. Building on daily monitoring of the Kremlin media ecosystem, this report analyzes Russia’s attempts to undermine Ukraine by targeting local, regional, and global audiences since February 2022. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Russian_Troops_Breached_Ukrainian_Defenses_On_February_21,_But Were_Pushed_Back,_Says_Governor⠀⇛ Russian troops managed to break through Ukrainian defenses near the eastern town of Kreminna on February 21 but were pushed back and lost some of their heavy equipment, a senior Ukrainian official said. * ⚓ RFA ☛ Satellite_photos_show_expansion_of_Chinese-funded_naval_base_in Cambodia⠀⇛ Ream Naval Base now has two new piers * ⚓ TruthOut ☛ Our_Children_Are_Experiencing_Militarization_of_the_US_Up Close_and_Personally⠀⇛ * ⚓ TruthOut ☛ One_Year_After_Russian_Invasion_of_Ukraine,_Much_of_Africa Remains_Neutral⠀⇛ * ⚓ RFA ☛ NGOs_demand_better_conditions_for_detainees_in_Thailand_after Uyghur_man’s_death⠀⇛ Aziz Abdullah, a Uyghur detainee, died after falling sick at the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ Putin_could_still_win_unless_the_West_speeds_up efforts_to_arm_Ukraine⠀⇛ Ukraine’s international partners are gradually providing the country with the weapons it needs to beat Russia, but excessive caution and continued delays could still allow Vladimir Putin to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Ukraine_Allies_Vow_To_Strengthen_Defenses⠀⇛ U.S. President Joe Biden met NATO and European leaders in Warsaw on February 22, with the allies vowing in a statement afterward to further “reinforce our deterrence and defense posture across the entire Eastern flank from the Baltic to the Black Sea.” * ⚓ RFERL ☛ U.S._Ambassador_Condemns_Bosnian_Serb_Leader_‘Reprehensible’ Genocide_Denial⠀⇛ The U.S. ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina has issued a scathing condemnation of longtime Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik’s latest denial of a genocide in the massacre of 8,000 men and boys at Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia in 1995, calling such efforts “reprehensible,” illegal, and destabilizing. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Marking_One_Year_Of_War_In_Ukraine,_UN_Chief_Denounces_Russia⠀⇛ United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the founding UN Charter and international law and called out Russian threats about its possible use of nuclear weapons. * ⚓ JURIST ☛ UK_immigration_court_upholds_revocation_of_ISIS_trafficking victim’s_citizenship⠀⇛ The UK Special Immigration Appeals Commission Wednesday rejected 23-year-old Shamima Begum’s appeal against the government’s 2019 revocation of her British citizenship. The East London native was only 15 when she traveled to Syria to align with ISIL and marry an ISIL fighter. * ⚓ RFA ☛ China_appoints_special_envoy_to_Pacific_island_countries⠀⇛ Qian Bo, who was China’s envoy to Fiji, will attempt to strengthen ties with small island states. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ Narrative_warfare⠀⇛ In the weeks and months leading up to Russia invading Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Kremlin and pro-Kremlin media employed false and misleading narratives to justify military action against Ukraine, mask the Kremlin’s operational planning, and deny any responsibility for the coming war. Dive into a full accounting of the road to war. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ Our_experts_decode_the_Putin_speech_that_launched Russia’s_invasion_of_Ukraine⠀⇛ Vladimir Putin’s February 24, 2022, speech launching a war of aggression in Ukraine was full of false, misleading narratives that Putin, official Kremlin channels, and pro-Kremlin Russian media outlets had been circulating since 2014. Experts unpack the narrative themes that Russia used to justify the war. * ⚓ France24 ☛ In_Ukraine’s_Kherson,_dozens_of_children_deported_to Russia⠀⇛ The Ukrainian government says Russia has illegally deported more than 16,000 children to Russian territory since 2014, a practice that intensified after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago. Not all children are taken by force, but evidence is mounting of a coordinated effort to indoctrinate Ukrainian children and send them to Russian foster families. In the southern city of Kherson, witnesses say Russian forces took children from at least two orphanages as they pulled out of the city last October. * ⚓ France24 ☛ Tunisian_president_says influx_of_sub-Sahara_African migrants_must_end⠀⇛ Tunisia’s President Kais Saied denounced undocumented sub- Saharan African immigration to his country on Tuesday, saying in comments criticised by rights groups that it was aimed at changing Tunisia’s demographic make-up. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Jailed_Georgian_Ex-President_Alleges_‘Murder’_Plot,_Appeals_For Help⠀⇛ Jailed former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has alleged a widening plot by officials and others to “murder” him and appealed via social media for his country and the world to prevent “this criminal corporation” from carrying out “their evil intentions.” * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Two_Senior_U.S._Lawmakers_Chide_Austria_For_Granting_Visas_To Russian_Deputies_For_OSCE_Meeting⠀⇛ Two senior U.S. lawmakers say Austria erred by issuing visas to the Russian delegation — all of whom are under European Union sanctions due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine — for this week’s meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Blinken_To_Meet_With_UN’s_Guterres_About_Ukraine_And_Will Stress_Expanding_Grain_Deal⠀⇛ U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of a UN Security Council ministerial meeting this week coinciding with the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Hungary_To_Vote_On_Finland,_Sweden_NATO_Bids_In_Early_March⠀⇛ Hungarian lawmakers will vote on the NATO bids by Finland and Sweden in early March, according to the parliamentary agenda published on February 22. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ China_Did_Not_Consult_Ukraine_On_Its_Purported_Peace_Plan, Official_Says⠀⇛ Ukraine’s top diplomat, Dmytro Kuleba, said his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, shared “key elements of the Chinese peace plan” during their meeting in Germany earlier this week. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Biden_Reassures_NATO’s_Eastern_Flank_Of_Protection_From Russia⠀⇛ U.S. President Joe Biden once again reassured countries on NATO’s eastern flank, all of which used to be under the thumb of the former Soviet Union, that the Western defense alliance would help them in the event of an attack. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Russia,_China_Show_Off_Ties_Amid_Maneuvering_Over_Ukraine⠀⇛ Russia and China showcased their deepening ties on February 22 in meetings others are watching for signs that Beijing might offer the Kremlin stronger support for its war in Ukraine. * ⚓ JURIST ☛ Mexico_ex-official_convicted_of_bribery_in_US_over_cartel ties⠀⇛ Genaro Garcia Luna, formerly the highest-ranking law enforcement official in Mexico, was convicted Tuesday by a federal jury in New York for assisting the Sinaloa drug cartel. * ⚓ RFA ☛ Back-to-back_patriotic_February_holidays_prove_exhausting_ordeal for_North_Koreans⠀⇛ “They wish the holidays would just disappear.” * ⚓ France24 ☛ Fighter_jets,_quakes,_NATO_stakes:_Are_US-Turkish_ties_on_a reset?⠀⇛ US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Monday came in the wake of the devastating earthquakes that have rattled the Turkish leader’s projection of his country as a regional hegemon. With Turkey turning into a recipient of generous US humanitarian aid, will Ankara play the role of Washington’s friend rather than foe? * ⚓ France24 ☛ Germany_expels_two_Iranian_diplomats_over_dual_national’s death_sentence⠀⇛ Germany on Wednesday said it was expelling two diplomats from the Iranian embassy in Berlin over the death sentence an Iranian court handed down against an Iranian-German national. * ⚓ France24 ☛ French_high-school_student_stabs_teacher_to_death_during class⠀⇛ A teenage pupil stabbed to death a teacher in the middle of a lesson at a school in southwest France on Wednesday, the regional prosecutor said. * ⚓ France24 ☛ Ukraine_won_the_‘geek_war’_but_it_wasn’t_enough_on_the_front line⠀⇛ In the early stages of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian ingenuity and ability to adapt commercially available equipment helped stem the Russian advance. It proved less useful on the eastern front line, when Ukraine needed heavy weapons. But a year after the invasion, there’s little doubt that Ukraine’s DIY ingenuity has left a lasting mark on modern warfare. * ⚓ France24 ☛ Live:_‘No_evidence’_Russia_moving_closer_to_nuclear_weapon use,_Biden_says⠀⇛ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday criticised Russia’s decision to suspend a key nuclear treaty, but said there was “no evidence” that Moscow was moving closer to actually using an atomic weapon. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia will maintain increased attention on boosting its nuclear forces in an address to mark Thursday’s Defender of the Fatherland public holiday and a day before the first anniversary of his invasion of Ukraine. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Eastern_European_Countries_Jointly_Condemn_Russia’s_War_In Ukraine,_Says_Polish_Official⠀⇛ All members of the Bucharest Nine, the nations on NATO’s eastern flank that joined the alliance after being dominated by Moscow during the Cold War, have jointly condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine, a Polish presidential adviser said on February 22. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ UN_Court_Orders_Azerbaijan_To_Unblock_Lachin_Corridor_Amid Armenian_Accusations_Of_‘Ethnic_Cleansing’⠀⇛ The UN’s top court has ordered Azerbaijan to allow free passage through the Lachin Corridor, which extends between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, a part of Azerbaijan clawed back from ethnic Armenians in 2020 in a six-week intensification of a decades- old conflict between the post-Soviet foes. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Finland_And_Sweden_Are_Heading_Into_NATO_‘Hand_In_Hand,’ Finnish_President_Says⠀⇛ Finland and Sweden are proceeding “hand in hand” toward NATO membership but that the decision to ratify the applications for the two Nordic countries lies with Turkey, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on February 22. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ President_Sandu_Invites_Biden_To_‘Revisit’_Moldova_Amid_Russia Tensions⠀⇛ Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on February 22 that at a meeting the previous day in Warsaw she invited U.S. President Joe Biden to “revisit” her country, which shares a 1,200- kilometer border with Ukraine. * ⚓ LRT ☛ Ukraine’s_President_Zelensky_to_come_to_Vilnius_for_NATO_summit_– ambassador⠀⇛ President Volodymyr Zelensky is planning to travel to Vilnius for NATO’s summit in July, Petro Beshta, Ukraine’s ambassador to Lithuania, has told BNS in an interview. * ⚓ France24 ☛ Wagner_Group’s_bloody_year_in_Ukraine:_From_murder_squad_to cannon_fodder⠀⇛ It was supposed to be Russia’s secret weapon for a swift and efficient victory in Ukraine. But in the year since Wagner Group mercenaries were dispatched to Kyiv to hunt down Ukraine’s president, what was once an elite murder squad has become a group of mostly ill-trained and unequipped convicts who today serve as “cannon fodder”. * ⚓ Defence Web ☛ Islamist_terrorism_is_rising_in_the_Sahel,_but_not_in Chad_–_what’s_different?⠀⇛ Since the rise of Boko Haram in Nigeria and the emergence of Islamist-Salafist groups in northern Mali in 2013, the Sahel has increasingly been caught in the maelstrom of Islamist terrorism. The region is now described as the new global epicentre of violent extremism. * ⚓ LRT ☛ Ukraine’s_war_trophy_tank_to_go_on_display_in_Vilnius⠀⇛ Russian tanks destroyed by the Ukrainian forces will go on display in Lithuania and three other European countries. * ⚓ LRT ☛ With_Moscow_visit,_China_shows_it’s_leaning_toward_Russia,_says Lithuanian_FM⠀⇛ While Beijing insists on neutrality in the Ukraine war, Lithuania’s foreign minister insists that a recent visit by China’s top diplomat to Moscow shows its sympathies lie with Russia. * ⚓ LRT ☛ Measures_against_sanctions_dodging_are_‘sufficient’,_says_EC_rep in_Lithuania⠀⇛ Russia and Belarus are constantly looking for ways to get round EU sanctions, but it is necessary to find ways to prevent this from happening, says Marius Vaščega, head of the European Commission Representation in Lithuania. * ⚓ teleSUR ☛ China-Russia_Partnership_Never_Targets_Any_Third_Party: China⠀⇛ The China-Russia relationship, which has stood the test of the drastic changes in the world situation, is mature, tough and as stable as Mount Tai. § Environment⠀➾ * ⚓ CNN ☛ It’s_never_been_this_warm_in_February._Here’s_why_that’s_not_a good_thing⠀⇛ Record warmth in February — a time that’s supposed to still feel like winter — might not sound like such a bad thing, but its negative consequences spread across the plant world, sports, tourism and agriculture. And it is another clear sign that our planet is warming rapidly, experts say. “Whenever we get these events, we should always be thinking there’s the possibility or likelihood that human-induced climate change is increasing the likelihood of strange weather,” Richard Seager, climate researcher at the Lamont- Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, told CNN. “The more it goes on, the more they can bring such tremendous damage.” * ⚓ RTL ☛ Global_wildlife_contaminated_by_‘forever_chemicals’⠀⇛ Over 300 wildlife species showed traces of the nearly indestructible synthetic chemicals, according to a report from the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) PFAS Project Lab released on Wednesday. The mapping of over 125 peer-reviewed scientific studies is the first global scoping of the problem in wildlife, the authors said. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Climate_Code_Red_Analysis_and_Sea_Level_Warnings⠀⇛ Climate Code Red, a very thorough and well-respected source on climate change/global warming, recently issued a three-part study on where things stand with the climate system via looking through the rearview mirror at 2022 and reflecting that charred image into the future: Faster, Higher, Hotter: What We Learned About the Climate System in 2022 by David Spratt, Research Director, Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration, Feb. 20, 2023. For starters, several aspects of global warming are at all-time highs, for example, coal use is at an all-time high and not surprisingly all three of the major greenhouse gases CO2, CH4, and N2O hit record highs in 2022. According to the Global Carbon Project: Carbon emissions from fossil fuels hit a new record of 37.5B tons. Topping off these all-time records, the International Energy Agency expects fossil fuel emissions to possibly peak in 2025 but remain at a “high plateau at a high level” for a decade or more with no significant decline expected in the foreseeable future. Good luck with Net Zero. * ⚓ Copenhagen Post ☛ From_good_intentions_to_good_actions⠀⇛ In September 2020, India and Denmark marked a historic partnership. By launching the first Green Strategic Partnership of its kind, the two countries chose each other as preferred partners to fast-track climate solutions and reconcile economic growth with ambitious green * § Energy/Transportation⠀➾ o ⚓ France24 ☛ Economists_urge_China_to_adopt_new_model_to_head_off climate_risks⠀⇛ A team of influential economists has urged China to adopt a new development model based on “wellbeing” rather than GDP growth in order to fulfil its 2060 net-zero emissions goals and head off the mounting threats of climate change. o ⚓ New York Times ☛ Wind_and_Solar_Energy_Projects_Risk_Overwhelming America’s_Antiquated_Electrical_Grids⠀⇛ An explosion in proposed clean energy ventures has overwhelmed the system for connecting new power sources to homes and businesses. o ⚓ Bridge Michigan ☛ 5_(mostly)_good_things_to_know_about_Michigan’s progress_on_EVs⠀⇛ The move appears to have come at the right time: EV battery investment topped $73.6 billion in 2022, up from about $25 billion a year earlier, according to data from the Chicago Federal Reserve. The increase underscores the urgency of automakers to ramp up EV production and move the vehicles’ critical supply chains to the U.S. o ⚓ The Economist ☛ North_Korean_hackers_stole_a_record_$1.7bn_of crypto_last_year⠀⇛ Despite being unable to feed its people, North Korea has found innovative ways to fund its missiles programme, including by forging foreign currency, committing insurance fraud and making and selling arms and narcotics. A more novel revenue stream is stolen cryptocurrency. Last year its hackers pinched a record $1.7bn of the stuff, according to a report published this month by Chainalysis, a data firm based in New York. o ⚓ Rocky Mountain Institute ☛ Cryptocurrency’s_Energy_Consumption Problem⠀⇛ Cryptocurrency has an energy consumption problem. Bitcoin alone is estimated to consume 127 terawatt-hours (TWh) a year — more than many countries, including Norway. In the United States, cryptocurrency activity is estimated to emit from 25 to 50 million tons of CO2 each year, on par with the annual emissions from diesel fuel used by US railroads. o ⚓ Popular Mechanics ☛ The_First_Nuclear-Powered_Bitcoin_Mine_Is Here._Maybe_It_Can_Clean_Up_[Cryptocurrecy].⠀⇛ Electricity usage from global [cryptocurrency] mining quadrupled from 2018 to 2022, according to the U.S. government. By mid-2022, [cryptocurency] assets were using upward of 240 billion kilowatt hours per year—more than the annual electricity of countries such as Argentina or Australia. [Cryptocurrency] electricity usage made up nearly 1 percent of all annual global electricity usage, and [cryptocurrency] operations consume up to 1.7 percent of all U.S. electricity usage. o ⚓ Associated Press ☛ Police:_[Cryptocurrency]_mining_operation found_in_school_crawl_space⠀⇛ A former employee of a Massachusetts town is facing charges of allegedly setting up a secret cryptocurrency mining operation in a remote crawl space at a school, police said. Nadeam Nahas, 39, was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on charges of fraudulent use of electricity and vandalizing a school, but he did not show up and a judge issued a default warrant after rejecting a defense motion to reschedule, a spokesperson for the Norfolk district attorney’s office said. o ⚓ Michael West Media ☛ Farmers,_elders,_Teals_meet_to_thwart_Santos fracking_the_Pilliga_and_the_Liverpool_Plains⠀⇛ Kamilaroi elders, farmers and politicians gathered under a temporary pavilion on the Gunn property east of Gunnedah this week, right in the middle of the Liverpool Plains. They want to stop the fossil fuel developments that threaten our food supply, reports Callum Foote. Farmers and landholders organised a conference this week with the sole intent of stopping Santos’s expansion into the Liverpool plains through the proposed development of the Hunter Gas Pipeline; and if possible, stop the development of the Narrabri and Pilliga gas fields. Cattle farmer Rosemary Nankivell told the meeting: o ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ The_Dark_Side_of_Renewable_Energy:_How_Bioenergy Causes_Air_Pollution⠀⇛ Bioenergy is often seen as a more environmentally- friendly alternative to other forms of energy generation. But the truth is that it can actually be quite harmful to the environment. Bioenergy has a dark side: It contributes to air pollution. Biomass, or bioenergy, creates energy by burning living materials like plants and trees. The wood pellet industry uses trees to make wood pellets. It then ships them to Europe and Asia and burns them in power plants to create electricity. Wood pellet plants are as dirty and problematic as coal plants. o ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Groups_Launch_World’s_First-Ever_Climate_Lawsuit Against_a_Commercial_Bank⠀⇛ A trio of advocacy groups on Thursday launched the world’s first climate lawsuit against a commercial bank, alleging that the Paris-based firm BNP Paribas is violating its legal obligations by continuing to finance planet-wrecking oil and gas development on a massive scale. o ⚓ CNN ☛ FTX_founder_Sam_Bankman-Fried_indicted_on_new_criminal charges⠀⇛ Federal prosecutors announced new criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of crypto trading platform FTX, expanding his potential liability in what authorities allege is a billion dollar fraud. o ⚓ LWN ☛ Free_software_and_fiduciary_duty⠀⇛ Serial litigant Craig Wright recently won a procedural ruling in a London court that allows a multi-billion- dollar Bitcoin-related lawsuit to proceed. This case has raised a fair amount of concern within the free-software community, where it is seen as threatening the “no warranty” language included in almost every free-software license. As it happens, this case does not actually involve that language, but it has some potentially worrisome implications anyway. Wright is known for, among other things, claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the author of the original paper describing Bitcoin, and for filing numerous lawsuits within the cryptocurrency community. In the case at hand, he (in the form of his company “Tulip Trading Limited”) claims to own about $4 billion in Bitcoin sitting in the blockchain — a claim that, like his others, is not universally acknowledged — but to have lost the keys giving access to that Bitcoin after his home network was broken into. It is, Wright claims, incumbent upon the maintainers of the Bitcoin network software to develop and merge a patch allowing the claimed Bitcoin to be transferred to a key that he controls. The various Bitcoin developers, it turns out, are unconvinced by Wright’s claim to that Bitcoin and even less convinced that the Bitcoin miners would accept a software update that included such a patch. Wright, allegedly backed by some deep pockets with eyes on part of a $4 billion prize, has taken 15 of these developers (and one organization) to court. The case fared poorly in in its first round, but now an appeals court has issued a ruling allowing an appeal to proceed, saying that there are issues of interest to be litigated. At a first look, this case appears to be a warranty issue, and many observers have seen it that way. Wright is asserting that a bug in the Bitcoin system is keeping him from getting his hands on his well-earned billions, and that the maintainers of that code owe him a fix. The code in question is covered by the MIT license, which explicitly disclaims the existence of any warranty; if the court were to find that a warranty obligation exists anyway, the resulting precedent could put free-software developers at risk worldwide. It is not surprising that people are concerned. * § Wildlife/Nature⠀➾ o ⚓ RFA ☛ Nearly_four_tons_of_slaughtered_cats_found_in_Vietnam,_as well_as_480_live_cats⠀⇛ The carcasses were likely meant to be used for traditional medicine o ⚓ Federal News Network ☛ 1st_baby_pangolin_in_Europe_born_in_Prague zoo,_doing_well⠀⇛ A Chinese pangolin has been born in the Prague zoo, the first birth of the critically endangered animal in captivity in Europe, and is doing well after initial troubles, the park said on Thursday. § Finance⠀➾ * ⚓ New York Times ☛ Chip_Makers_Turn_Cutthroat_in_Fight_for_Share_of Federal_Money⠀⇛ Semiconductor companies, which united to get the CHIPS Act approved, have set off a lobbying frenzy as they argue for more cash than their competitors. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ When_Neoliberals_Declared_War_on_the_Poor⠀⇛ For Bill Clinton and Dick Morris polls were everything. Morris developed what he called a “neuro-psychological profile” of the American voter, and established an iron rule that no initiative could be undertaken by the White House unless polling showed an approval rating of 60 percent. By constant polling, he concocted what he called a “values agenda,” for Clinton. At the top of the list was affirmative action. “Mend it, don’t end it” was the mantra, which meant, in practice, destroy affirmative action from the inside while professing support for the general principle. Next came TV violence. Intimidate the networks, Morris advised, into adopting a “voluntary” system of ratings for TV shows and movies. Soon media executives were summoned to the White House for a session with Clinton and Al Gore. Simultaneously Clinton pushed for the installation of the so-called V-chip in all new TV sets, which would allow parents to block all offensive material. Next came teen pregnancy, an issue pounded on by the Clinton White House, even though the rate had been falling. Education: go after tenured teachers, an attack increasingly popular in Morris’s focus groups, and demand that at least they be tested. Youth: advocate school uniforms and curfews for teens. Gay marriage: on Morris’s advice Clinton embraced the Defense of Marriage Act, a purely grandstanding piece of legislation that preemptively barred gay marriages from recognition under federal law for any purpose. Immigration: the poll numbers were off the chart, and the Clinton White House duly set a goal to double the number of turn-backs by the Immigration and Naturalization Service–among other things, enlisting the Labor Department to help speed the pace and breadth of workplace raids. Taxes: Morris believed that Main Street America was now playing the market, so that a 20 percent reduction in the capital gains tax rate would be hugely popular. * ⚓ India Times ☛ Google_tells_developers_to_implement_alternative_billing from_April_26;_developers_cry_foul⠀⇛ The CCI in its two rulings — one on October 20 and the second on October 25 — had directed the American company to make close to 20 changes in the operation of its services in India which included providing alternative payment options to developers. * ⚓ 37signals LLC ☛ Caring_about_costs_is_cool⠀⇛ But costs aren’t just about the bottomline, they’re also a measure of efficiency. I have a distinct distaste for waste. Money spent on the frivolous or the ill-considered is money that can’t be spent elsewhere. Like an engine drinking too much oil just to run. Tight tolerances (but not too tight!) are a joy in themselves. * ⚓ DroidGazzette ☛ Stripe_launches_Tap_to_Pay_on_Android⠀⇛ As it leverages the Terminal, Tap to Pay is fully integrated with Stripe, thus aiming to support businesses with managing both in-person and online payments in a single place. This lets them track customer transactions across channels, offer improved customer experience, and simplify reporting and revenue reconciliation. What is more, the Terminal and Tap to Pay solutions are fully compatible with Stripe Connect, which helps platform businesses to offer their users the capability of accepting in-person payments in an easy manner. Businesses running on platforms that can now accept these payments on Android devices include Squire, Fareharbor, Oddle, and GiveTap. * ⚓ CBC ☛ As_tip_amounts_rise,_many_Canadians_say_they’d_rather_skip_the tip_—_and_some_restaurants_agree⠀⇛ Folke introduced its no-tipping policy when the vegan restaurant opened in June 2022. Deo says employees earn well above minimum wage ($15.65 per hour in B.C.) and get full benefits. All overhead costs, including salaries, have already been factored into the menu prices, so customers simply pay the bill. “It was really important to us to have an inclusive work environment where everyone was compensated fairly,” said Deo. “It’s not our customers’ responsibility to pay our staff properly. … It’s our responsibility to make sure that our staff are taken care of.” * ⚓ CNN ☛ India’s_opposition_vows_to_keep_‘raising_questions_about_Adani group’_after_spokesperson_arrested⠀⇛ When dozens of security personnel crowded onto the runway of New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport on Thursday, it was not to capture a terrorist or fleeing criminal mastermind, or even to apprehend an unruly passenger. * ⚓ Meduza ☛ Ukrainian_court_seizes_property_worth_150_million_USD_from Oksana_Marchenko,_Viktor_Medvedchuk’s_wife_—_Meduza⠀⇛ A Ukrainian court seized the property of Oksana Marchenko, wife of former Ukrainian pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk. Marchenko is suspected of financing Russian law enforcement agencies. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ On_the_Great_Resignation:_Interrogating_the_Neoliberal Narrative⠀⇛ One of my acquaintances, a university employee, told me that she was shocked when she heard in a high-level staff meeting a senior administrator say, “we are quite aware of the trending ‘quiet quitting’ culture, and we warn our staff that doing so will result in quiet firing.” She was shocked partly “because I didn’t even know at the time how widely this debate has been circulating in the mainstream media. I don’t follow the news. But even more shocking to me is that a place like a university would use such a threatening tone to address an issue that may have much more serious underlying causes.” My acquaintance’s concerns are legitimate. In that same conversation, I asked: “did it occur to that senior university administrator that there would be no quiet quitting if people didn’t feel that they are being quietly marginalized and bullied in the first place?” “Well, people would not have resorted to this approach if they felt fulfilled, are paid decent living wages, and allowed to create and contribute rather than just serve as cogs in a bigger machine,” she added. We both found that countering “quiet quitting” with “quiet firing” is immature and vindictive, because it totally ignores the causes that got people to this point. Our conversation took place around the time the narrative of “the great resignation” and “quiet quitting” began trending in the mainstream media, so I decided to interrogate the mainstream narrative, while at the same time talk to as many people on the ground as I can, and research as many resources as possible to capture what the working and struggling people at the receiving end of this serious issue have to say about it. Not surprisingly, I found a frightening discord in the ways the mainstream media is framing the issues by focusing almost exclusively on the neoliberal, elitist, and privileged viewpoints, while deliberately ignoring the workers’ side of the story. This is when I decided that, as an independent anthropologist with a great interest in labor issues, I needed to dig deeper and share what I find publicly. My hope is not only to raise critical questions that we must wrestle with in the U.S., but also to expose the extent to which the ruling class totally disregards people’s voices. After all, it is these hundreds of millions of working people who struggle to make a living, and when all their struggle doesn’t result in living fulfilling, dignified, and meaningful lives, we are ignoring serious issues that could have detrimental effects on the entire society. * ⚓ Copenhagen Post ☛ Denmark_ranks_among_top_countries_to_launch_a startup⠀⇛ Business Name Generator rated 50 countries on its 2023 Global Startup Index and the Danes came in the top 10 * ⚓ Copenhagen Post ☛ Government_confident_new_bill_will_enable_companies to_more_easily_recruit_foreign_labour⠀⇛ But economy minister cautions that new law will not open the floodgates, setting a provisional limit of 15,000 on the number that can be employed * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy_Sends_Ukrainian_Lawmakers_Sweeping_Sanctions_On Russian_Financial_Institutions⠀⇛ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has submitted a resolution to lawmakers endorsing a decision by his National Security and Defense Council to impose sweeping sanctions against Russian financial institutions, including the Russian central bank, insurers, and a host of other enterprises. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ Russia_and_China_have_been_teaming_up_to_reduce reliance_on_the_dollar._Here’s_how_it’s_going.⠀⇛ Squeezed by sanctions, Russia has turned to Chinese yuan and gold, but both introduced new vulnerabilities and inconveniences. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ Iran’s_economic_future_is_uncertain._It’s_no surprise_why_Raisi_visited_China.⠀⇛ From February 14-16, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was in Beijing for his first foreign trip of the year and the first official visit to China for an Iranian leader in twenty years. * ⚓ JURIST ☛ US_financial_regulator_orders_Mormon_church_to_pay_$1M_penalty for_inaccurate_investment_filings⠀⇛ The Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday announced charges against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its investment management company for failing to file necessary forms and providing inaccurate information. The SEC first raised concerns about the church’s reporting practices in 2019. * ⚓ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong_Kong_Budget:_Radio_caller_chides_‘stingy’ finance_chief_after_consumption_vouchers_halved_to_HK$5k⠀⇛ Hong Kong’s finance chief said the city must be cautious how it spends its surplus after a radio caller chided him for a “stingy” decision to halve the value of the consumption voucher to HK$5,000 in the budget for the coming year. * ⚓ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong_Kong_Budget_2023:_HK$5,000_consumption vouchers_for_all_eligible_residents⠀⇛ Hongkongers are set to receive another round of consumption vouchers totalling HK$5,000, Finance Secretary Paul Chan has announced. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ China_and_private_lenders_are_blocking_a_solution_to the_global_debt_crisis._The_G20_must_step_in.⠀⇛ The international community must apply pressure so that China and private-sector lenders join in facilitating a collective haircut that includes all lenders. * ⚓ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong_Kong_Budget_2023:_Mixed_reviews_as_critics slam_gov’t_for_overlooking_the_poor⠀⇛ Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan announced the first budget of Chief Executive John Lee’s administration on Wednesday. The city is expected to see a HK$140 billion deficit, over double of the original estimation of HK$56.8 billion. * ⚓ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong_Kong_Budget_2023:_Tax_cuts_scaled_back, transport_subsidy_extended,_other_relief_measures⠀⇛ Tax cuts for Hong Kong taxpayers have been scaled back as the city’s financial minister announced a series of measures to alleviate economic pressure on the public. * ⚓ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong_Kong_unveils_HK$761_billion_budget_in_bid to_boost_post-Covid_recovery⠀⇛ Hong Kong’s finance chief unveiled a HK$761 billion (US$97 billion) budget on Wednesday, plunging into the coffers to pay for the recession-hit city’s post-Covid recovery. Hoping to kickstart the finance centre’s economy, Finance Secretary Paul Chan announced tax cuts and more consumer spending vouchers. * ⚓ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong_Kong_Budget_2023:_Police_equipment_budget rises_59%,_despite_spending_just_8.5%_of_2022_allocation⠀⇛ Funding for the Hong Kong Police Force is to remain largely frozen in the coming financial year, though the “plant, vehicle and equipment” budget was increased by 59 per cent in finance chief Paul Chan’s 2023 budget. * ⚓ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong_Kong_Budget_2023:_City_expects_HK$140 billion_deficit,_but_predicts_‘visible_rebound’_in_economy⠀⇛ The Hong Kong government expects to record a deficit of HK$140 billion in 2022-23, more than double the HK$56 billion initial estimate. The estimated fiscal deficit was revealed by Financial Secretary Paul Chan when he delivered the budget for the upcoming fiscal year at the Legislative Council on Wednesday. * ⚓ JURIST ☛ US_Supreme_Court_rules_‘daily-rate’_oil_rig_employee_qualifies for_overtime⠀⇛ The US Supreme Court Wednesday issued a 6-3 opinion ruling that Michael Hewitt, an oil rig employee making over $200,000 annually, qualified for overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA). The court held that Hewitt, a daily-rate employee, was not an executive exempt from the FSLA’s overtime pay guarantee. * ⚓ JURIST ☛ US_Department_of_Justice_announces_policy_incentivizing companies_to_report_misconduct⠀⇛ The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday announced a policy incentivizing companies to voluntarily self-report criminal conduct. The United States Attorney’s Offices’ Voluntary Self- Disclosure Policy, which is effective immediately, aims to nationally standardize these disclosures and encourage companies to maintain effective compliance programs, efficiently remediate misconduct and cooperate with the government in corporate investigations. * ⚓ JURIST ☛ US_Supreme_Court_rules_bankruptcy_debtor_liable_for_partner’s fraud⠀⇛ The US Supreme Court Wednesday ruled in a slip opinion that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy debtor cannot discharge a debt that resulted from her partner’s fraudulent activity under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(7)(A). Justice Amy Coney Barrett authored the unanimous opinion. * ⚓ teleSUR ☛ German_Inflation_Rises_to_8.7_Pct_in_January:_Destatis⠀⇛ The measures to curb inflation are mostly focused on energy. However, food prices are also driving inflation in Europe’s largest economy. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ EU_Echoes_Inflation_Fears_Behind_Bulgarian_Delay_In_Joining Eurozone⠀⇛ The European Commission says Bulgaria’s adoption of the euro by next January is “no longer realistic” because of inflation, an acknowledgement that sheds greater light on the caretaker government in Sofia’s announcement last week that its new “target date” is January 2025. § AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics⠀➾ * ⚓ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong_Kong’s_Democratic_Party_postpones_spring dinner_after_restaurant_pulls_out_last_minute_for_‘urgent_repair’⠀⇛ The Democratic Party – the largest remaining opposition party in the city – has been forced to postpone its spring dinner after three restaurants pulled out of hosting the party and its supporters. * ⚓ New York Times ☛ Tech_Leaders_in_Israel_Wonder_if_It’s_Time_to_Leave⠀⇛ Ahead of a judicial overhaul that could transform the country and frighten away investors, the executives of Start-Up Nation are mulling an exodus. * ⚓ France24 ☛ Israeli_troops_conduct_deadly_raid_in_flashpoint_West_Bank city⠀⇛ Israeli troops killed 11 Palestinians, including at least four gunmen and four civilians, and wounded more than 100 people during a Wednesday raid on a city in the occupied West Bank, witnesses, militant groups and medical officials said. * ⚓ France24 ☛ Mexico’s_Senate_approves_controversial_electoral_reform bill⠀⇛ Mexico’s Senate on Wednesday approved a reform of the country’s electoral institute, a move that opponents say will undercut democracy but which the president contends will save money and reduce political privileges. * ⚓ France24 ☛ ‘Putin_has_lost_influence_in_the_world,’_top_Ukrainian lawmaker_tells_FRANCE_24⠀⇛ In an interview with FRANCE 24′s Gulliver Cragg in Kyiv, the head of the parliamentary faction of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party discussed the situation in Ukraine, one year after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. David Arakhamia said Russian President Vladimir Putin had “lost influence in the world” as a result of Moscow’s military setbacks in Ukraine. Arakhamia said “everyone” should worry after Putin said he would suspend his country’s participation in New START, the last remaining major nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia. * ⚓ France24 ☛ UN_chief_calls_Russia’s_war_in_Ukraine_‘affront_to collective_conscience’⠀⇛ UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it “an affront to our collective conscience” as the General Assembly met in a special session two days before the anniversary of Moscow’s attack. Read FRANCE 24′s blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1). * ⚓ France24 ☛ ‘Putin_is_a_global_problem,’_Ukraine’s_foreign_minister tells_FRANCE_24⠀⇛ Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed confidence that Ukraine would win the war against the invading force of Russia, in an interview with FRANCE 24. Speaking in Brussels a few days ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, the top Ukrainian diplomat explained why he thinks President Vladimir Putin represents a global threat for the international community, saying that the Russian president’s strategy was “destruction and undermining stability”. Kuleba added, “No one is interested in having a UN Security Council member and a nuclear power messing up the world.” * ⚓ RFA ☛ Vietnam_arrests_Facebook_user_for_allegedly_posting_‘illegal content’⠀⇛ Le Minh The recently served a 2-year sentence on the same charge. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ Charai_in_The_Hill:_A_reminder_for_the_fight_against despots:_Citizens_are_victims⠀⇛ The current generation is challenged by democracy’s enemies. On the feeblest pretexts, a charismatic dictator has sent soldiers into a neighboring nation. Once again, the dictator imagines his prey is weak because it is a democracy, backed by other democracies. * ⚓ Atlantic Council ☛ #BalkansDebrief_–_What_is_the_future_for_Kosovo Serbs_in_the_north?_|_A_Debrief_with_Tatjana_Lazarevic⠀⇛ Nonresident Senior Fellow Ilva Tare interviews Tatjana Lazarevic, the Editor-in-Chief of the KoSSev news portal and a resident of the Kosovo Serb-majority city of Mitrovica in the north of Kosovo. * ⚓ New York Times ☛ How_the_U.S._Adopted_a_New_Intelligence_Playbook_to Expose_Russia’s_War_Plans⠀⇛ In a previous era, the warning might have remained private, at least for some time. But a new intelligence playbook honed just before and during the war in Ukraine has redefined how the United States uses its classified knowledge to undercut Russia and its partners. The playbook is not just about naming and shaming Russia and its allies; it has become a powerful tool in the United States’ arsenal to try to stymie the Kremlin’s offensive by exposing Russia’s military plans and in aligning support for Kyiv’s war effort in allied capitals. * ⚓ India Times ☛ Facebook-parent_Meta_planning_fresh_layoffs,_to_impact thousands:_report⠀⇛ In a statement shared with Meta employees, co-founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg had said going ahead, the company would make further cuts on discretionary spending and extend the freeze on fresh hiring until March 2023. * ⚓ India Times ☛ SAP_Labs_lays_off_300_staffers_in_India⠀⇛ SAP Labs, research and development business unit of German technology firm SAP, last week laid off around 300 executives across its India centres, people aware of the matter told ET. The layoffs majorly impacted Bengaluru and Gurgaon offices, they said. It was a result of shuttering of a global delivery centre that housed custom development roles to undertake SAP implementation projects, one of the sources said. * ⚓ Broadband Breakfast ☛ Supreme_Court_Considers_Liability_for_Twitter_Not Removing_Terrorist_Content⠀⇛ Many of Wednesday’s arguments hinged on specific interpretations of the ATA, which states that liability for injuries caused by international terrorism “may be asserted as to any person who aids and abets, by knowingly providing substantial assistance, or who conspires with the person who committed such an act of international terrorism.” * ⚓ India Times ☛ SAP_Labs_lays_off_300_staffers_in_India⠀⇛ It was a result of shuttering of a global delivery centre that housed custom development roles to undertake SAP implementation projects, one of the sources said. The affected employees, some of whom with 10-15 years of experience, have been provided severance packages of salaries equating the number of years they served at the company, among other benefits, the person said. * ⚓ India Times ☛ Alibaba_laid_off_19,000_employees_in_2022_to_improve_cost efficiency⠀⇛ Alibaba, which still has a workforce of 239,740, per its latest report, remains one of China’s biggest private-sector employers. * ⚓ Hindustan Times ☛ Elon_Musk_fires_Twitter_staff_again_despite_promises of_no_more_layoffs:_Report⠀⇛ Despite promising in November 2022 that there will be no more layoffs, Elon Musk has fired more employees from Twitter, as per a report in The Verge. Tech site The Information first reported about layoffs hitting the sales team last week. In the third round of job cuts since November, dozens of employees from the sales and engineering departments were affected. * ⚓ Unmitigated Risk ☛ Global_Trend_in_Tech_Regulation_and_its_Consequences for_the_EU_and_the_US⠀⇛ It’s worth noting that the EU’s approach to regulation has been very implementation-specific when compared to the U.S. approach to similar regulation, as seen with the EIdAS, the EU’s digital signature legislation, and the associated supporting efforts which choose which technologies must be used. The first version of which left the topic of interoperability as a footnote and ignored the concept of reciprocity. This essentially created member-state monopolies around the legislation where country- to-country transactions would still be signed on pen and paper. That did change a few years ago, but better technological approaches to solving the associated problems were established and proven since the initial legislation was proposed two decades ago, and their adoption was held back due to this legislation’s technical specificity. * ⚓ RiskyBiz ☛ An_interview_with_Andrew_Boyd,_director_of_the_CIA’s_Centre for_Cyber_Intelligence⠀⇛ In this interview the director of the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence (CCI) sits down with Risky Business podcast host Patrick Gray to talk about: [...] * ⚓ Michael Geist ☛ Mandated_Payment_for_Links_To_Cover_35%_of_News Expenditures?:_Google_Responds_to_Bill_C-18_By_Testing_Blocking_Links_to News_Content⠀⇛ The battle between Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez and Internet giants Google and Facebook continues to head toward a seeming inevitable collision in which the government repeatedly says it will not be intimidated even as the two Internet companies block or reduce access to news content on their platforms in Canada. Reports last night indicate that Google is now testing blocking news links for a small percentage of Canadian users, with the company saying it needs to assess potential responses to Bill C-18. This follows earlier Facebook comments indicating that it would consider blocking news sharing on its platform if the bill is enacted in its current form. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ The_Problem_with_Israel’s_So-Called_‘Crisis_of Democracy’⠀⇛ Since the start of the new year, reading about Israel in the Hebrew-language press has been an unnerving experience. One article described a maternity ward in which a Palestinian woman from Nazareth was persuaded to move rooms after a Jewish woman complained about sharing the same space with a non-Jew. * ⚓ TruthOut ☛ Ivanka_Trump,_Jared_Kushner_Subpoenaed_to_Testify_in_DOJ’s Trump_Investigation⠀⇛ * ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ Loss_of_trust_and_a_deepening_rift:_the_Hungarian_EU commissioner_and_his_comment_about_idiots⠀⇛ * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ From_Russiagate_with_Love⠀⇛ A January 2023 publication from the Columbia Journalism Review  (CJR) spawned the latest round of spin and shifting baselines from Russiagate apologists. Russiagate refers to the claims that Russia meddled in and influenced the outcome of the U.S. election in 2016, had direct connections to Donald Trump and his associates, and worked to help defeat Hillary Clinton for the presidency. A recent article from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, written by investigative reporter Jeff Gerth, utilized exiting media reports, and “dozens of people at the center of the story—editors and reporters, Trump himself, and others in his orbit,” to conclude that the legacy news media inaccurately covered the connection between Russia and Donald J. Trump during his Presidency. While this may be news to some diehard Democrats and their allies in the “liberal” press, the media’s reporting failures on the matter were not missed by all. In addition to concluding Russiagate was a failure of the Fourth Estate, Gerth’s report reveals that rather than reckoning with their failures, many in the news media continue to avoid the topic altogether. Gerth explained that “my final concern, and frustration, was the lack of transparency by media organizations in responding to my questions. I reached out to more than sixty journalists; only about half responded.” * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ America_in_Denial:_Exposing_the_Religious,_Racial,_and Class_Dimensions_of_Rightwing_Extremism⠀⇛ The last few years have seen the emergence of one of the largest progressive movements in history – Black Lives Matter – which spotlights America’s continued crisis of white supremacy. Progressive movements historically provoke significant rightwing backlash, and the modern era is no exception. A new poll sponsored by the Marcon Institute for anti-racist studies and social justice provides comprehensive evidence of how white Christian nationalist politics are mainstreamed in contemporary society. Yet the purveyors of hate, who vehemently deny their role in normalizing white supremacist politics, are making it increasingly difficult to expose bigotry. The Marcon poll contacted a nationally representative sample of 1,021 Americans and asked them a battery of questions to gauge their level of support for white Christian nationalism. In an era marked by record inequality, the poll also provides hints about whether this ideology is fueled by economic insecurity. In a comprehensive examination of white supremacy and public opinion, our poll asked many questions about race in America. The results paint an ugly picture – large numbers of people embrace all sorts of white nationalist-compatible beliefs, even as they insist that they are not racist or affiliated with extremist ideology. We include each of the questions in our white nationalism index immediately below, along with information about how Republicans, Democrats, and the public overall reacted. * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Balloongate:_Lots_of_Hot_Air_and_the_Cold_U.S./China Hotline⠀⇛ During the recent Balloongate, the United States Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, tried to call someone in the Chinese military to ease tensions. The fact that he apparently asked to speak to someone in the Central Military Commission instead of the Defense Minister is not crucial. What is of primary concern is that Beijing reported that Austin’s calls were rejected three times. Direct communication between the defense ministers of the world’s leading military powers in the 21st century seems like a no brainer. Whatever tensions may exist between China and the United States, instant communication between the military leaders should be indispensable to guaranteeing that a major confrontation doesn’t begin because of some trivial misunderstanding. * § Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda⠀➾ o ⚓ BBC ☛ Moldova_warns_of_Russian_‘psy-ops’_as_tensions_rise⠀⇛ Russia’s defence ministry alleged, with no evidence, that Ukrainian saboteurs would stage an invasion of Transnistria dressed as Russian soldiers as a pretext for a Ukrainian invasion. Moldova has warned for weeks that Russia is plotting to seize power. And officials rejected Russia’s claims as “psy-ops” as part of the war. o ⚓ Scoop News Group ☛ Russia’s_information_war_against_Ukraine_went stealth_after_Meta_crackdown⠀⇛ The new assessment of Russian influence operations comes from data that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, released Thursday just as the war in Ukraine nears its one-year anniversary. Similarly, data out this week from other social media researchers concludes that Russian state- sponsored media influence operations aren’t as potent as they once were. o ⚓ LRT ☛ Researcher_of_conspiracy_theories:_‘If_you_tell_someone they_are_stupid,_they_won’t_go:_I’m_sorry,_I’ll_stop’_–_interview⠀⇛ Sociologist Karolis Jonutis has been studying populism, but recently turned his attention to conspiracy theories. In an interview with LRT.lt, he discusses what gives rise to unsubstantiated beliefs and whether arguments on social media can be effective. o ⚓ CNN ☛ ‘It’s_a_major_blow’:_Dominion_has_uncovered_‘smoking_gun’ evidence_in_case_against_Fox_News,_legal_experts_say⠀⇛ Fox News is in serious hot water. § Censorship/Free Speech⠀➾ * ⚓ IT Wire ☛ Google_blocks_some_news_content_in_Canada_ahead_of_online law⠀⇛ The law, known as Bill C-18, makes it compulsory for companies like Google and Meta, the parent of Facebook, to work out deals with media companies for the re-use of their content. The Canadian Press quoted Google spokesman Shay Purdy as saying on Wednesday: “We’re briefly testing potential product responses to Bill C-18 that impact a very small percentage of Canadian users.” * ⚓ RFA ☛ Tibetans_tell_relatives_abroad_not_to_call_them_during_Tibetan New_Year⠀⇛ The holiday comes just before a politically sensitive anniversary on March 10, commemorating the Tibetan uprising of 1959 during which tens of thousands of Tibetans took to the streets of the regional capital Lhasa in protest against China’s invasion and occupation of their homeland a decade earlier. * ⚓ Computer World ☛ Supreme_Court_justices_parse_US_antiterrorism_law_in Twitter_case⠀⇛ Much of the hearing was devoted to a careful parsing of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), the law under which the Tammneh family brought their lawsuit. Their argument, essentially, is that Twitter is liable for providing a platform to terrorists who used it to communicate and plan the attack. Twitter, for its part, argued that it couldn’t be held responsible without a demonstration that it had been informed of a specific attack and failed to do anything about it. * ⚓ Techdirt ☛ NY’s_‘Hateful_Conduct’_Social_Media_Law_Blocked_As Unconstitutional⠀⇛ Last summer, we wrote about New York’s law to require websites to have “hateful conduct” policies, noting that it was “ridiculous” and “likely unconstitutional.” The law was passed in the wake of the horrific Buffalo super market shooting, where the state’s Governor and Attorney General sought to blame the internet, rather than the government’s own failings that contributed to the death toll. * ⚓ NCAC ☛ NCAC,_FIRE_release_joint_letter_on_censorship_of_State_College of_Florida_art_exhibition⠀⇛ Photo Credit: Clifford McDonald, Good Trouble, 2023 The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) are alarmed by reports of the apparently politically motivated censorship of an art exhibition entitled “Embracing Kindness” at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota’s Bradenton campus. * ⚓ NCAC ☛ NCAC_Identifies_Books_Secretly_Banned_By_Michigan_School District⠀⇛ NEW YORK – On February 17, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) delivered a letter to the Forest Hills Public School Board in Grand Rapids, Michigan, identifying 10 books that were secretly removed by Superintendent Dan Behm in violation of the school district’s reconsideration policy. § Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press⠀➾ * ⚓ RFERL ☛ International_Federation_Of_Journalists_Suspends_Russian_Union Of_Journalists⠀⇛ The International Federation of Journalists has suspended with immediate effect the Russian Union of Journalists over its action since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its role in annexed Ukrainian territories. * ⚓ Variety ☛ NPR_to_Cut_10%_of_Workforce_as_Ad_Revenue_Slumps⠀⇛ Final decisions about which jobs will be cut are expected to be made by March 20, in consultation with unions representing NPR’s workers, according to a memo NPR CEO John Lansing sent to staff Wednesday. The not-for-profit organization has a yearly budget of about $300 million; in 2023, revenue is likely to fall short of that by $30 million-$32 million, he said, according to an NPR report. * ⚓ Variety ☛ Indian_Income_Tax_Department_Searches_BBC_Offices_Following Controversial_Modi_Documentary⠀⇛ A BBC spokesperson said: “The Income Tax Authorities remain at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. Many staff have now left the building but some have been asked to remain and are continuing to cooperate with the ongoing enquiries. We are supporting our staff during this time and continue to hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible. Our output and journalism continues as normal and we are committed to serving our audiences in India.” * ⚓ CNN ☛ BBC_won’t_be_‘put_off’_covering_India_by_tax_raids_and censorship⠀⇛ The BBC says it will not be “put off” from reporting in India after the government prevented a documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from airing in the country and raided the broadcaster’s offices. * ⚓ CNN ☛ Florida_shooting_spree_leaves_3_people_dead,_including_a_child and_a_TV_news_employee_covering_one_of_the_shootings⠀⇛ Mina said the two journalists – a photographer and reporter – were on the scene to cover the homicide that morning and were shot in or around their vehicle. * ⚓ Gannett ☛ Journalist_and_9-year-old_among_3_dead_in_Florida_shootings, sheriff_says;_suspect_arrested⠀⇛ While authorities have not previously seen violence against media in the area, Mina said they are investigating. “But certainly we have seen (violence against media) around the nation and around the world,” Mina said. “So that’s something we’re definitely going to be taking a look at and see if we can put the pieces together and see why this happened.” * ⚓ Marcy Wheeler ☛ Maggie_Haberman’s_Foray_into_Campaign_Finance Journalism⠀⇛ For some reason, Maggie Haberman went to FEC filings to understand a prong of the January 6 investigation that might implicate her sources rather than the January 6 Committee transcripts where she is named personally. § Civil Rights/Policing⠀➾ * ⚓ Jacobin Magazine ☛ The_Capitalist_Road_to_Serfdom⠀⇛ By design, the corporation is not a democratic enterprise. Its management is hierarchical, its imperatives are growth and profit, and its structure is a de facto class system of owners, managers, and workers. You could argue that in the earliest days of capitalism, something like the concept of free enterprise actually existed: firms of various sizes competed, with even the largest dwarfed in both size and influence by most nation states. Today, the world’s biggest companies not only wield monopolistic power and exert considerable political influence, but in many cases have market capitalizations exceeding the GDPs of entire countries. * ⚓ Business Insider ☛ A_former_Google_exec_is_suing_the_company,_saying_a coworker_sexually_harassed_and_drunkenly_berated_him⠀⇛ Olohan, a New Jersey resident, says in the complaint, which was first reported by Bloomberg, that he suffered workplace retaliation by Miller after rejecting advances from her and reporting them to Google’s human-resources department. * ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Poor_People’s_Campaign,_Families_Demand_DOJ_Probe_of Over_100_West_Virginia_Jail_Deaths⠀⇛ Activists with the Poor People’s Campaign and relatives of some of the 13 inmates who died at West Virginia’s Southern Regional Jail last year held a press conference Thursday to implore the Biden administration to investigate conditions at the notorious lockup, as well as the deaths of more than 100 prisoners in the state during the last 10 years. * ⚓ EFF ☛ Fourth_Circuit:_Individuals_Have_a_First_Amendment_Right_to Livestream_Their_Own_Traffic_Stops⠀⇛ After police officers tased, choked, and severely beat Dijon Sharpe during a traffic stop, he decided that next time he was in a car that was pulled over, he would livestream and record the encounter. Ten months later, in October 2018, Sharpe, sitting in the passenger seat of a stopped car, took out his phone and started livestreaming on Facebook. When an officer saw that he was livestreaming, he grabbed Sharpe and tried to take the phone. The officer explained that Sharpe was free to record the encounter, but he could not livestream due to supposed concerns about officers’ real-time safety (a policy later ascribed to the city of Winterville, NC). Sharpe sued to vindicate his First Amendment rights. It’s great that the Fourth Circuit held that individuals have a First Amendment right to livestream their own traffic stops. The court rightly acknowledged, “Creating and disseminating information is protected speech under the First Amendment.” * ⚓ Reviving_the_lost_work_of_a_groundbreaking_Black_composer⠀⇛ Ph.D. candidate Bryan Ijames followed his ear, his heart and some scholarly detective work to resurrect a forgotten piece by composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor that will be performed March 16 at Hill Auditorium. * ⚓ NYPost ☛ Google_exec_fired_after_a_female_boss_groped_him_at_drunken bash,_suit_says⠀⇛ Olohan said he reported the issue to Google’s human resources department the following week, but nothing ever came of the complaint. * ⚓ Hindustan Times ☛ Google_worker_claims_he_was_fired_for_rejecting female_colleague’s_advances:_Report⠀⇛ Olohan also accused Miller of false complaints against him for “microaggressions” in retaliation for reporting the 2019 incident to HR, which caused him anxiety. Olohan continued to face hostility as he was publicly reprimanded by an inebriated Miller at a Google event in December 2021. Although Miller apologised, she repeated the same behaviour at a bar in April 2022. Olohan’s lawsuit accuses Google of taking no action despite knowing that “Miller’s harassment stemmed from his rejection of her sexual advances”. * ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ US_Strike_Activity_Surged_in_2022_as_SCOTUS_Workers’ Rights_Ruling_Looms⠀⇛ The number of U.S. workers who staged work stoppages in a wide array of industries in 2022 surged by nearly 50% from the previous year, new federal data shows—but the resolve among employees demanding fair pay after years without a raise, better working conditions, and paid sick leave may be under threat as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs a key labor case. * ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Expanding_Social_Security_Is_Winning_Policy_and Politics_for_Democrats⠀⇛ Democrats learned the wrong lesson about Social Security in the 1990s. That incorrect lesson was unfortunately reinforced in 2005. Now is the time to learn the right lesson. President Joe Biden is on the right track, but to truly succeed, he must shake off the wrong lessons of the past. * ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Can_an_Apartheid_State_Have_a_‘Crisis_of_Democracy’?⠀⇛ Since the start of the new year, reading about Israel in the Hebrew-language press has been an unnerving experience. * ⚓ The Nation ☛ I_Signed_the_New_York_Times_Open_Letter._I_Have_More_to Say.⠀⇛ To say that it was a decision for me to put my name on the open letter to The New York Times condemning the publication for its continuous anti-trans rhetoric suggests that it required more thought than it actually did. I received an email at 11:02 on a Saturday evening from a friend who was one of the organizers of the letter, and I replied at 11:04 pm that “I would absolutely love to sign the letter.” * ⚓ The Nation ☛ Who’s_Afraid_of_Tommie_Smith?⠀⇛ Tommie Smith can still make the craven recoil like a vampire confronted with sunlight. And the track legend, who along with John Carlos raised his fist following their 200-meter race at the 1968 Olympics, is still needing to fight to have his story told. Smith and Carlos felt compelled to act on the medal stand because their personal glory was less important to them than standing up against racism, white supremacy, and poverty. But in some parts of the United States, just acknowledging that moment has been barred or even criminalized. * ⚓ TruthOut ☛ Democrats:_Biden’s_New_Asylum_Policy_Is_“Almost_Identical” to_Trump_Transit_Ban⠀⇛ * ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Our_Man_in_Iran⠀⇛ * ⚓ France24 ☛ Tunisia_detains_prominent_dissidents_amid_growing crackdown⠀⇛ Tunisian police detained two prominent dissidents and surrounded the home of a third on Wednesday, part of an escalating crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied, who has labelled his opponents traitors and criminals. * ⚓ RFERL ☛ Posthumous_Trial_Of_Russian_Ultranationalist_Martsinkevich Halted_At_Parents’_Request⠀⇛ A court in Russia has stopped a posthumous case against Maksim Martsinkevich, a notorious Russian ultranationalist who died while in detention in 2020, at the request of his parents, the family’s lawyer, Aleksei Mikhalchik, said on February 22. * ⚓ LRT ☛ Lithuania_is_making_‘tepid’_progress_in_improving_social_rights_– NGOs⠀⇛ Lithuania has made minor improvements in protection of human and social rights, NGOs say, but they are “tepid”. * ⚓ JURIST ☛ American_Bar_Association:_high_plea_bargain_rate_hurts criminal_justice_system_integrity⠀⇛ The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Plea Bargain Task Force Wednesday released its 2023 report, which found that 98 percent of criminal proceedings end in a plea bargain instead of a jury trial. * ⚓ JURIST ☛ Seattle_becomes_first_US_city_to_ban_caste_discrimination⠀⇛ Seattle’s city council Tuesday voted to ban discrimination on the basis of caste. Seattle is the first city to adds “caste” to other anti-discrimination provisions of its municipal code, following the California state university system’s decision last January to prohibit discrimination on this basis. * ⚓ JURIST ☛ US_appeals_court_rules_students_cannot_be_prosecuted_under South_Carolina_school_disturbance_laws⠀⇛ The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Wednesday ruled that two South Carolina school disturbance laws cannot be used to prosecute students for disruptive behavior. The could said that children as young as seven were referred to prosecutors by their schools under these laws. * ⚓ Meduza ☛ Russia_has_started_expelling_transgender_women_who_lack Russian_citizenship_—_Meduza⠀⇛ Moscow courts have ordered the deportation of at least four trans women under the new law on “LGBT propaganda,” reports Mediazona. § Internet Policy/Net Neutrality⠀➾ * ⚓ JURIST ☛ Australia_royal_commission:_head_government_lawyer_knew Robodebt_scheme_was_illegal⠀⇛ A former Australian government lawyer Tuesday informed a royal commission that he withheld legal advice that the Robodebt scheme, an automated debt assessment and recovery method utilized by Services Australia from 2015 through 2019, was illegal. * ⚓ New York Times ☛ Supreme_Court_Wrestles_With_Suit_Claiming_Twitter Aided_Terrorists⠀⇛ The case, arising from an attack in Istanbul, was a companion to a case argued a day before that tested a shield for technology platforms. * ⚓ JURIST ☛ US_Supreme_Court_weighs_online_platforms’_liability_in_Google recommendations_case⠀⇛ The US Supreme Court Tuesday heard oral arguments in Gonzales v. Google, a case that could upend how social media companies handle content distribution. At the heart of the case is a question of whether tech giants like Google can face liability when their algorithm recommends ISIS recruitment videos. * ⚓ JURIST ☛ US_Supreme_Court_considers_whether_internet_service_providers are_liable_for_terrorism-related_content⠀⇛ The US Supreme Court Wednesday heard oral arguments in Twitter v. Taamneh and considered whether internet service providers are liable under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act when users post terrorism-related content.  * ⚓ Techdirt ☛ Your_‘Simple_Solution’_To_Section_230_Is_Bad:_Julia_Angwin Edition⠀⇛ It’s getting to be somewhat exhausting watching people who don’t understand Section 230 insisting they have a simple solution for whatever problems they think (mostly incorrectly) are created by Section 230. And, of course, the NY Times seems willing to publish all of them. This is the same NY Times that had to run a correction that basically overturned the entire premise of an article attacking Section 230. And it did so twice. * ⚓ Jim Nielsen ☛ Introducing:_notes.jim-nielsen.com⠀⇛ I have a new website at notes.jim-nielsen.com where I’ll publish my reading notes going forward (a link, excerpt, and sometimes brief commentary from things I read). You can subscribe to the RSS or JSON feed if you feel so inclined, but it’s really more for me than anybody else. § Digital Restrictions (DRM)⠀➾ * ⚓ Digital Music News ☛ More_Shakeups_at_Spotify’s_Podcast_Unit_—_Max Cutler_Departing_Just_Weeks_After_Dawn_Ostroff’s_Exit⠀⇛ More shakeups are headed for Spotify’s podcast division after Dawn Ostroff’s departure. Max Cutler, Head of Audio Talk Shows & partnerships is departing to start a new venture. According to a company memo obtained by Bloomberg, Cutler will depart his position on May 1. * ⚓ India Times ☛ Netflix_cuts_subscription_cost_in_more_than_30_countries: report⠀⇛ In Latin America, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Venezuela, among others, have seen a reduction in subscription costs, as have Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines in Asia, the report said. Netflix has in some cases reduced the price of subscriptions by up to 50%. * ⚓ Techdirt ☛ DOJ_Supports_‘Right_To_Repair’_Class_Action_Against_John Deere⠀⇛ U.S. consumer protection in general has had an ugly few decades. One bright spot however has been the shift in the “right to repair” movement from niche nerdy fare to the mainstream. § Monopolies⠀➾ * ⚓ India Times ☛ US_Justice_Department_accuses_Google_of_evidence destruction_in_antitrust_case⠀⇛ The government said Google “falsely” told the U.S. in 2019 that it had suspended “auto-deletion” and was preserving chat communications as it was required to do under a federal court rule governing electronically stored information. * § Patents⠀➾ o ⚓ TruthOut ☛ Warren,_Sanders:_Merck’s_Hunt_to_Extend_Cancer_Drug Patent_May_Be_Patent_Abuse⠀⇛ o ⚓ IP Kat ☛ Spotting_the_difference_between_the_priority_document and_the_claims_(T_1303/18) [Ed: EPO kangaroo courts in action again]⠀⇛ o ⚓ JUVE ☛ Alcon_and_AMO_reach_global_settlement_over_cataract surgery_equipment [Ed: Juve conflates patents with "intellectual property", as usual]⠀⇛ To end their ongoing global proceedings, Alcon has reported making a one-time payment of $199 million to competitor AMO, which settles litigaton over medical devices for cataract surgery. o ⚓ Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Federal_Circuit_Gives_Stare_Decisis Effect_to_a_Judgment_of_Claim_Validity⠀⇛ C.R. Bard, Inc. v. Med. Components, Inc., 2023 WL 2064163 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 17, 2023) In Blonder-Tongue Laboratories, Inc. v. University of Illinois Foundation (1971), the Supreme Court held that a judgment of invalidity in a suit against one infringer accrues to the benefit of any other accused infringer unless the patent owner shows that he did not have a fair opportunity procedurally, substantively and evidentially to pursue his patent claim the first time.  Collateral estoppel (i.e., issue preclusion) under Blonder-Tongue is non-mutual.  While a judgment of invalidity binds the patent owner and its successors in interest because it is a party to the suit with adequate opportunity to contest the matter, a judgment of validity cannot operate in the patent owner’s favor to bind persons who are neither parties nor in privity with parties to the suit. * § Copyrights⠀➾ o ⚓ Techdirt ☛ Lego_Confirms_Zelda_Lego_Set_By_Trying_To_DMCA_Leaks Of_It_To_Hide_It⠀⇛ The Streisand Effect. Some folks know it. Some folks even think that some people that know it use it purposefully to their own advantage. Other times people who should know better simply flail around and end up turning content viral which they had intended on burying. So, whenever we do these kinds of posts, someone will inevitably show up in the comments to suggest we’re being gamed by even reporting on a thing, typically absent any actual evidence that such gaming is occurring. o ⚓ Torrent Freak ☛ ‘Time_for_U.S._Lawmakers_to_Discuss_Pirate_Site Blocking’⠀⇛ The CreativeFuture coalition, which represents companies and individuals in the film, TV, music, and publishing industries, wants pirate site blocking put back on the political agenda. CEO Ruth Vitale finds it incomprehensible that an anti-piracy measure commonplace in other Western democracies is unavailable in the United States. o ⚓ Michael Geist ☛ Canadian_Copyright,_Fair_Dealing_and_Education, Part_Three:_Millions_Spent_on_Transactional_Licences_Demonstrate Fair_Dealing_is_No_Free_For_All⠀⇛ Canadian copyright lobby groups have repeatedly tried to convince the government that the 2012 copyright reforms and Supreme Court fair dealing jurisprudence created a free-for-all in which education refuses to pay licence fees due to their reliance on fair dealing. The data from yesterday’s post on massive shift to site licences tells a different story, namely that Canadian educational institutions spend hundreds of millions annually on licences that provide both access works and the flexibility to use them in a myriad of ways. My Fair Dealing Week series on Canadian copyright, fair dealing and education (Setting the Record Straight) continues with another type of licence that has grown in importance in recent years: the pay-per-use or transactional licence. These licences, which grant access to, and use of, individual works, demonstrate that lobby group claims bear little relationship to reality. Indeed, if the lobby groups were right about unlimited uncompensated copying, why would education still spend millions a pay-per-use licences? They obviously wouldn’t, but since fair dealing represents a fair approach to both creators and users, education recognizes that fair dealing does not lead to the complete elimination of licensed copying. o ⚓ Walled Culture ☛ Copyright_has_been_one_of_life’s_certainties: but_will_it_always_be?⠀⇛ Copyright seems to serve the public well enough – there’s no shortage of books, music or films being produced each year. But here, too, there are problems, albeit of a less obvious kind – for example, the issue of orphan works. These are works, typically books, that are still covered by copyright, but unavailable because the original publisher has gone out of business, or simply isn’t interested in keeping them in circulation. Copyright means that unless the current owner can be located – a difficult task for obscure works that were created decades ago – it is against the law for someone else to reprint them. Nobody benefits from this, but attempts to address this situation, like the EU’s Orphan Works Directive have been half-hearted and ineffectual, and the problem remains. The situation is arguably worse in the world of cinema. While books held in libraries are durable, and are likely to survive until such time as their copyright expires and reprints may be made, that’s not true for films, which often exist as a unique copy on extremely flammable or delicate media. It is estimated that already half of all U.S. films made before 1950 have been lost, while the figure for films shot before 1929 is over 90%. Copyright restrictions prevented copies being made of the films, which could have preserved them for posterity. o ⚓ [Old] The United Kingdom ☛ Research_and_analysis:_Executive summary⠀⇛ These factors may be exacerbated by the fact that it is challenging for music companies to know who among the growing pool of creators will be successful. This inherent uncertainty combined with consumer tastes that tend to tip to a relatively small number of artists means that it is challenging for creators to succeed. We do not think that these factors arise from how firms compete in the market. We have found that it is unlikely that the outcomes that concern many stakeholders are primarily driven by competition. Consequently, it is unlikely that a competition intervention would improve outcomes overall, and release more money in the system to pay creators more. In such circumstances, there is a greater risk that a competition intervention will result in unintended consequences and worse outcomes for both consumers and creators. The costs, risks and uncertainty created by a market investigation (which could run for 2 years) would be imposed on the industry and borne, ultimately, by consumers. We have therefore decided to not undertake a market investigation. o ⚓ The Verge ☛ The_US_Copyright_Office_says_you_can’t_copyright Midjourney_AI-generated_images⠀⇛ The images themselves, however, “are not the product of human authorship,” and the registration originally granted for them has been canceled. To justify the decision, the Copyright Office cites previous cases where people weren’t able to copyright words or songs that listed “non-human spiritual beings” or the Holy Spirit as the author — as well as the infamous incident where a selfie was taken by a monkey. o ⚓ Forbes ☛ AI-Created_Images_Aren’t_Protected_By_Copyright_Law According_To_U.S._Copyright_Office⠀⇛ The U.S. Copyright Office has ruled that illustrations in a new comic book that were created with the AI program Midjourney are not protected by copyright law, according to a letter issued by the Copyright Office. News of the decision, first reported by Reuters, comes as internet users become accustomed to a new world of content creation that increasingly depends on artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney. o ⚓ Reuters ☛ AI-created_images_lose_U.S._copyrights_in_test_for_new technology⠀⇛ Images in a graphic novel that were created using the artificial-intelligence system Midjourney should not have been granted copyright protection, the U.S. Copyright Office said in a letter seen by Reuters. “Zarya of the Dawn” author Kris Kashtanova is entitled to a copyright for the parts of the book Kashtanova wrote and arranged, but not for the images produced by Midjourney, the office said in its letter, dated Tuesday. o ⚓ The Register UK ☛ America:_AI_artwork_is_not_authored_by_humans, so_can’t_be_protected_by_copyright⠀⇛ Last September, the USCO approved an application for Zarya Of The Dawn, a graphic novel created by Kristina Kashtanova, registering the work as intellectual property protected by copyright. The decision reinvigorated the legal debate over whether digital artwork created by the latest AI text-to-image tools could be copyrighted or not. However, the USCO has reversed its initial decision and scrapped the copyright certificate previously issued for Kashtanova’s comic book. After reviewing the case officials ruled that the text, selection, coordination, and arrangement of images used to create the novel are the work of Kashtanova and can be protected by copyright – but the individual software-generated images themselves cannot be. As the USCO sees it, the layout of the novel and its text is copyright Kashtanova, but the images in the frames – created from written prompts – is not copyright protected because no person created it. o ⚓ New York Times ☛ Science_Fiction_Magazines_Battle_a_Flood_of Chatbot-Generated_Stories⠀⇛ While the deluge has become a nuisance, the stories are easy to spot. The writing is “bad in spectacular ways,” one editor said. § Gemini* and Gopher⠀➾ * § Personal⠀➾ o ⚓ and_so,_some_time_passed…⠀⇛ i’ve actually been thinking about the geminispace for a while. i made a little post on station a few weeks ago, i think. what’ve i been up to? well, in the past six months i: learned how to drive again. still need to fill out the logbook and get my hours. i’m still incredibly behind, since i’m scared i procrastinate. but right now my car is being worked on, and when it comes back i’m motivated to finally get it done! i only need 14 hours logged, and then i can take the big test for my full license. wish me luck in that regard! started making a lot more art again, and i also coded my website from scratch this time. learned to crochet. changed my name. switched insurance providers, started mastectomy process. o ⚓ 🔤SpellBinding:_FLRSTUY_Wordo:_OGLED⠀⇛ o ⚓ Democracy_WTF⠀⇛ There are protests in Israel against the Judicial Reform and for democracy. Recently, I sam a post on LinkedIn calling hi-tech employess to change their job titles to “Chief Democracy Officer”. That’s a great opportunity to be promoted to CXO. * § Technical⠀➾ o § Programming⠀➾ # ⚓ Side_Project:_Interactive_Fiction⠀⇛ For the past two weeks, I’ve been working on a little Interactive Fiction side project. It has been a nice palate cleanser between all the daily routines and longer-term projects like Lagrange. There’s something about Interactive Fiction engines that has fascinated me for a long time. I bought a copy of TADS version 2.2 back in ~1994 and had some fun times building little games with it. =============================================================================== * Gemini_(Primer) links can be opened using Gemini_software. It’s like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter. ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 5626 ╒═══════════════════ 𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 ═════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 02.24.23⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧ Gemini_version_available_♊︎ ✐ Links_24/02/2023:_Devices_and_General_News⠀✐ Posted in News_Roundup at 1:58 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇GNOME bluefish⦈ § Contents⠀➾ * GNU/Linux * Distributions_and_Operating_Systems o Devices/Embedded o Open_Hardware/Modding * Leftovers o Health/Nutrition/Agriculture o Security # Privacy/Surveillance o Defence/Aggression o Environment # Energy/Transportation # Wildlife/Nature # Overpopulation o Finance o AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics o Censorship/Free_Speech o Freedom_of_Information_/_Freedom_of_the_Press o Civil_Rights/Policing o Internet_Policy/Net_Neutrality o Digital_Restrictions_(DRM) o Monopolies # Patents # Copyrights * Gemini*_and_Gopher o Personal o Technical # Programming * § GNU/Linux⠀➾ o ⚓ Linux Gizmos ☛ Beryl_AX_Wi-Fi6_Router_runs_on_OpenWrt_v21.02⠀⇛ The company GL.iNet recently launched a compact Wi-Fi6 router offering 1x 2.5GbE WAN port and 1x GbE LAN port. The Beryl AX (GL-MT3000) supports both 2.4GHz/5.0GHz bands and it’s capable of running OpenVPN at 150Mbps. * § Distributions and Operating Systems⠀➾ o § Devices/Embedded⠀➾ # ⚓ Linux Gizmos ☛ Mini_PC_equipped_with_12th_Gen_Intel processors_and_dual_2.5GbE_ports⠀⇛ The KC12 is a compact Mini-PC featuring the Intel Core i5-1240P and the Intel Core i7-1240P. The device is equipped with 2x HDMI 2.0, 2x M.2280 slots, 1x Thunderbolt, Wi-Fi6/Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity and other various peripherals. # ⚓ CNX Software ☛ ZBMINI_Extreme_Zigbee_smart_switch_review with_Home_Assistant⠀⇛ But in this review, we will show you how to manage the ZBMINI Extreme using another approach namely with integration with Home Assistant home automation framework. Home Assistant is a very popular open-source software, contributed by lots of great people around the world. We will use Home Assistant version 2023.2.0 installed on a Raspberry Pi 4 SBC with 4GB or 8GB RAM and a 128GB SD card. We won’t use an external Zigbee Bridge, and instead, we will make use of a Zigbee USB Dongle that connects directly to the Raspberry P i4 USB port. For the dongle, we have a Conbee II Zigbee USB dongle to create a Zigbee network in order to communicate with other Zigbee devices o § Open Hardware/Modding⠀➾ # ⚓ Hackaday ☛ Testing_The_Raspberry_Pi_Debug_Probe⠀⇛ We mentioned the Raspberry Pi Debug Probe when it was launched, a little RP2040-based board that provides both a USB-to-UART and an ARM SWD debug interface. [Jeff Geerling] was lucky enough to snag one, and he’s put it through its paces in a handy blog post. # ⚓ Hackaday ☛ Laser_Scanner_Upgraded_To_Use_PCB_Motor⠀⇛ [Rik]’s Hexastorm laser scanner project originally used a discrete polygon mirror controller+motor module from Sharp to spin a prism. But the scanner head was a bit difficult to assemble and had a lot of messy wires. This has all been replaced by a single board featuring a PCB-printed motor, based on the work of [Carl Bugeja]. The results are promising so far — see video below the break. # ⚓ Hackaday ☛ An_Amiga_Mouse,_The_Modern_Way⠀⇛ When we recently featured an Amiga upgrade project, [EmberHeavyIndustries ] was prompted to share one of their own, an adapter to allow a modern USB HID mouse to be used with the Commodore quadrature mouse port. * § Leftovers⠀➾ o ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Stirring_Humor_into_‘Old_Age’⠀⇛ No doubt everyone grows old in their own way. But once you actually hit it — that three letter word, “old” — watch out: “An aged man is but a paltry thing,/ A tattered coat upon a stick . . .” o ⚓ Hackaday ☛ Lo-Fi_Tchaikovsky⠀⇛ [Kevin] over at Simple DIY ElectroMusic Projects recently upgraded his Lo-Fi Orchestra. To celebrate his 400th blog post, he programmed it to play Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. Two Arduino Nanos, four Arduino Unos, four Raspberry Pi Picos, and one Raspberry Pi have joined the Lo-Fi Orchestra this year, conducted by a new Pico MIDI Splitter. Changes were made in every section of the orchestra except percussion. We are delighted that the Pringles tom and plastic tub bass drums remain, not to mention the usual assortment of cheap mixers, amps, and speakers. o ⚓ Hackaday ☛ NASA_Help_Wanted:_Ham_Radio_Operators_Please_Apply⠀⇛ NASA’s been recruiting citizen scientists lately, and their latest call is looking for help from ham radio operators. They want you to make and report radio contacts during the 2023 and 2024 North American eclipses. From their website: o ⚓ The Nation ☛ The_Tragedy_of_Till_Is_Our_Failure_to_Grasp_Its Radical_Politics⠀⇛ Danielle Deadwyler was widely expected to receive an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Mamie Till-Mobley in Chinonye Chukwu’s extraordinary film Till. She consistently received the strongest reviews of any lead actress. Manhola Dargis wrote in The New York Times, “With fixed intensity and supple quicksilver emotional changes, Deadwyler rises to the occasion as Mamie, delivering a quiet, centralizing performance.” Ronda Penrice of The Wrap concurred: “This magnificent performance elevates Deadwyler to the ranks of the great actors of our time.” The New Yorker’s Richard Brody described her performance as “one of the most radiantly, resonantly expressive to grace the screen this year.” Even before she snagged the Gotham Award for outstanding lead performance in November, she had already secured a spot on virtually every critic’s Oscar prediction list. So when neither Deadwyler nor Viola Davis received Oscar nods, it sent tremors through the industry and beyond. Rolling Stone critic Marlow Stern noted, “Deadwyler’s snub is perhaps the most shocking, given the gravity of the role and how she rose to the occasion.” Richard Brody was also “shocked,” as was fellow New Yorker critic Michael Shulman, who called Deadwyler “a contender” for how she “took a grieving-mother role that could have been clichéd and made her thrillingly alive and complicated.” Sarah Polley, writer/director of the Oscar-nominated Women Talking, urged her Twitter followers to see Till, adding that Deadwyler “gave one of the best performances of all time.” o ⚓ Pro Publica ☛ What_Happened_to_Jefferson_Rodríguez⠀⇛ The call to 911 came in a little after 11 p.m. A man said a small boy on his dairy farm had severe head injuries. He said he thought the boy had been trampled by a cow. Ann Ingolia, a deputy for the Dane County Sheriff’s Office, was in the middle of her shift when she heard the dispatch on this warm summer night in 2019. She turned on her siren and headed over, down winding roads and rolling hills, past the farms and fields that mark the landscape of this part of south-central Wisconsin. o ⚓ Pro Publica ☛ Why_It’s_So_Hard_to_Sue_Doctors_for_Sexual_Assault in_Utah⠀⇛ At 19 years old and about to be married, Stephanie Mateer went to an OB-GYN within walking distance of her student housing near Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She wanted to start using birth control, and she was looking for guidance about having sex for the first time on her 2008 wedding night. o ⚓ Hackaday ☛ Keebin’_With_Kristina:_The_One_Where_Shift_(Really) Happens⠀⇛ Hooray, the system works! [Sasha K.] wrote to let me know about their Thumbs Up! keyboard, which is the culmination of a long journey down the DIY rabbit hole to end game. (Seriously, it’s kind of a wild ride, and there’s a ton of pictures). o ⚓ The Nation ☛ Jay_Jackson’s_Audacious_Comics⠀⇛ In June 1941, Harold Gray’s nationally syndicated comic strip Little Orphan Annie made a singular contribution to the war effort: The titular heroine formed a group called the Junior Commandos, a club for boys and girls who wanted to fight fascism. The logic behind the Junior Commandos was that because the United States was in a total war, kids had to pitch in too. Some of the Junior Commandos’ adventures were fanciful, such as foiling a Nazi submarine attack off the shores of America. Others reflected the ways that total war had transformed everyday American life: starting up vegetable gardens, buying war bonds, rationing and recycling. The concept of the Junior Commandos took off in real life too, with many actual kids’ organizations mimicking the good citizenship promoted in the strip. o ⚓ Spiegel ☛ Zelenskyy’s_Heroes:_Ukraine’s_Best_Respond_to_the Earthquake_in_Turkey⠀⇛ Rescue workers from Ukraine have been working nonstop since the Russian invasion to save civilians from the ruins of their buildings. After the earthquake in Turkey, though, some of them took a break from the war to help out in the disaster zone. o § Health/Nutrition/Agriculture⠀➾ # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Moderna’s_2022_Windfall_a_‘Scandalous’ Result_of_Pandemic_Profiteering,_Campaigners_Say⠀⇛ The Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical giant Moderna announced Thursday that it brought in over $19 billion in revenue and $8.4 billion in profits in 2022 thanks primarily to its Covid-19 vaccine, which was made possible by federal funding and government technology. # ⚓ The Nation ☛ Jackson’s_Water_System_Is_Broken_by_Design⠀⇛ Every March, cardinals arrive in Kali Akuno’s front yard in Jackson, Miss., to build nests in his trees. But in spring 2017, something odd happened: The chicks hatched on cue but then died. “They didn’t fall out of the nest,” Akuno says. “They starved.”1This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center and produced in partnership with the Jackson Advocate. # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Toxic_Forever_Chemicals_Found_in_More_Than 330_Animal_Species⠀⇛ More than 330 animal species around the world are at risk of harm from exposure to toxic “forever chemicals,” according to an Environmental Working Group analysis published Wednesday. # ⚓ Pro Publica ☛ Regulators_Overhaul_Inspections_of_Hospice Providers⠀⇛ In late January, amid intensifying scrutiny of the quality of care provided by the American end-of- life care industry, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has reformed how it inspects hospice providers. The changes, detailed in a 196- page document, went into effect immediately. Under the new protocol, inspectors must sample data from multiple locations where the hospice operates and evaluate a broader range of metrics. These include records on the hospice’s inpatient care, bereavement practices and reasons patients are leaving the service alive. “An unusually high rate of live discharges could indicate that a hospice provider is not meeting the needs of patients and families or is admitting patients who do not meet the eligibility criteria,” the revised rules note. # ⚓ The Nation ☛ Want_to_Fix_Public_Health?_Stop_Thinking_Like a_Doctor.⠀⇛ A changing of the guard in US public health is impending—and, with it, a chance to rejuvenate a flailing field. Anthony Fauci has retired in the shadow of one of the worst preventable disasters in history, and President Biden is moving to make new appointments while establishing a permanent White House Office for Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy. In doing so, Biden and his advisers must confront the fact that the rot in public health is structural: It cannot be cured by simply rotating the figureheads who preside over it. Building effective national health infrastructure will require confronting pervasive distortions of public health and remaking the leadership appointment systems that have left US public health agencies captive to partisan interests. # ⚓ Pro Publica ☛ Pollution_From_a_Plastics-Based_Fuel_Has_a_1- in-4_Lifetime_Cancer_Risk⠀⇛ The Environmental Protection Agency recently gave a Chevron refinery the green light to create fuel from discarded plastics as part of a “climate- friendly” initiative to boost alternatives to petroleum. But, according to agency records obtained by ProPublica and The Guardian, the production of one of the fuels could emit air pollution that is so toxic, 1 out of 4 people exposed to it over a lifetime could get cancer. “That kind of risk is obscene,” said Linda Birnbaum, former head of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “You can’t let that get out.” o § Security⠀➾ # § Privacy/Surveillance⠀➾ # ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ Cyber_companies_accompanied Netanyahu_on_his_visit_to_Budapest,_one_of_them_later trained_foreign_intelligence_officers_in_Hungary⠀⇛ # ⚓ The Nation ☛ The_Supreme_Court_Needs_to_Rein_In_the Surveillance_State⠀⇛ Rapidly advancing technologies are giving the government dramatically more power to track us and peer into our lives, with “national security” often the justification for intrusive new forms of surveillance. But if these technologies lead us toward a surveillance state, it will be in part because our courts failed to play their constitutional role as a check on Executive Branch power. o § Defence/Aggression⠀➾ # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Who’s_Winning_and_Losing_the_Economic_War Over_Ukraine?⠀⇛ With the Ukraine war now reaching its one-year mark on February 24, the Russians have not achieved a military victory but neither has the West achieved its goals on the economic front. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States and its European allies vowed to impose crippling sanctions that would bring Russia to its knees and force it to withdraw. Western sanctions would erect a new Iron Curtain, hundreds of miles to the east of the old one, separating an isolated, defeated, bankrupt Russia from a reunited, triumphant and prosperous West. Not only has Russia withstood the economic assault, but the sanctions have boomeranged–hitting the very countries that imposed them. # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ Putin_Announces_Suspension_of_the_New_START Treaty⠀⇛ New START is the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia. # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ German_Lawmaker_Calls_for_Nord_Stream_Probe⠀⇛ Sevim Dagdelen takes the Scholz government to task for its lack of “strength and will” in responding to Seymour Hersh’s reporting on the U.S. sabotage of the Russian pipeline. Video and text of her Feb. 10 speech to the Bundestag. # ⚓ The Dissenter ☛ March_to_Iraq_War,_20_Years_Later:_February 22,_2003⠀⇛ # ⚓ The Dissenter ☛ March_To_Iraq_War,_20_Years_Later:_February 23,_2003⠀⇛ # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ At_Least_10_Palestinians_Killed,_More_Than 100_Injured_in_Israeli_West_Bank_Raid⠀⇛ A child and two elderly people were among at least 10 Palestinians who were killed Wednesday morning by Israeli military forces conducting a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus. # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Seven_Things_We_Could_Do_If_We_Cut_the Pentagon_by_$100_Billion⠀⇛ What would be possible if we had an extra $100 billion to spend on urgent human needs? # ⚓ TruthOut ☛ Democrats_Introduce_Bill_to_Return_$100B_From Pentagon_Budget_to_the_Public⠀⇛ # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Lee,_Pocan_Revive_Bill_to_Cut_Military Budget_by_$100_Billion⠀⇛ U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan on Wednesday reintroduced their People Over Pentagon Act, which would slash $100 billion from the nation’s military budget and reallocate that money to urgent needs, from investments in education and healthcare to combating the climate emergency. # ⚓ The Nation ☛ Chile’s_Battle_for_Memory:_A_Report_From_the Latest_Front⠀⇛ Santiago, Chile—Every morning, as I take my daily walk up toward the nearby Andes mountains, I pass by the Aeródromo Tobalaba, an airfield catering to a wide variety of private planes. # ⚓ TruthOut ☛ Chomsky:_A_Stronger_NATO_Is_the_Last_Thing_We Need_as_Russia-Ukraine_War_Turns_1⠀⇛ # ⚓ Democracy Now ☛ Kenyan_Writer:_History_Explains_Why_Much_of Africa_Chooses_Neutrality_Over_West’s_Support_of_Ukraine⠀⇛ One year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many African countries have tried to avoid strong denunciations or shows of support for either side in the conflict, walking a diplomatic tightrope even as the war has had a major impact on food and fuel prices across the continent. Kenyan writer and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola says that neutrality is influenced by memories of Africa as a conflict zone during the Cold War, as well as a desire to chart foreign policies independent of former colonial European powers. # ⚓ Democracy Now ☛ Scholar_Ho-fung_Hung_on_China-Russia Relations_&_Whether_Beijing_Could_Mediate_Ukraine_Peace Deal⠀⇛ China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow this week, where they reaffirmed the close relationship between the two countries. The high-profile visit comes just days before the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For more on China’s relationship with Russia and its role in the Ukraine war, we speak with Ho-fung Hung, professor of political economy and sociology at Johns Hopkins University. # ⚓ Democracy Now ☛ “A_War_of_Imperial_Aggression”:_How Russia’s_Invasion_One_Year_Ago_Changed_Ukraine_&_the_World⠀⇛ Friday marks one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Over the past year, at least 8,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the United Nations, but the true death toll is believed to be higher. The U.N. refugee agency said this week that more than 8 million refugees have fled the fighting in Ukraine. This week, U.S. President Joe Biden met with NATO leaders in Warsaw, while Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Western countries sending military aid to Ukraine bear responsibility for prolonging the death and destruction of the war. We begin today’s show looking at the war’s impact and future with Nina Krushcheva, a professor of international affairs at The New School and the great- granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, and Hanna Perekhoda, a Ph.D. student in history at the University of Lausanne and member of the democratic socialist organization Sotsialnyi Rukh. Perekhoda is from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Malcolm_X_Would_Call_Biden_a_‘Pretender Public_Defender’⠀⇛ Malcolm X, one of the most effective critics white America has ever known, who decried “straight- jacketed thinking, and straight-jacketed societies,” believed: “In our mutual sincerity we might be able to show a road to the salvation of America’s very soul.” Malcolm X wasn’t ever, to put it blandly — an adjective one could never pin to the charismatic firebrand — naïve about how difficult such an effort would be, and the challenge for white people who accepted it. He explained: “Indeed, how can white society atone for enslaving, for raping, for unmanning, for otherwise brutalizing millions of human beings, for centuries? What atonement would the God of Justice demand for the robbery of Black people’s labor, their lives, their true identities, their culture, their history — and even their human dignity?” # ⚓ Democracy Now ☛ Who_Killed_Malcolm_X?_Family_to_File_$100M Suit_v._FBI,_CIA,_NYPD_&_Others_to_Find_the_Truth⠀⇛ On the 58th anniversary of Malcolm X’s assassination, civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump announced a new lawsuit from Malcolm X’s surviving family seeking compensation from the NYPD, CIA and FBI for its role in concealing evidence in his murder case. This lawsuit comes more than a year after it was confirmed that federal and local agencies had a role in the wrongful conviction of Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam for the murder. Aziz and Islam’s convictions were overturned in 2021, and they were awarded a $36 million settlement for wrongful imprisonment by the state and city of New York. We air excerpts of Tuesday’s public comments from Crump and one of Malcolm X’s daughters, Ilyasah Shabazz, of their intent to file a wrongful death lawsuit over evidence concealed in the murder investigation, in part to seek answers on the extent of the government’s involvement in the civil rights leader’s death. # ⚓ Democracy Now ☛ As_Putin_Suspends_New_START_Treaty,_Is There_Still_Hope_for_Nuclear_Disarmament?⠀⇛ Russian President Vladmir Putin’s announcement that Moscow would suspend its participation in the New START treaty threatens to end the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia. Putin made the pledge during his annual State of the Nation address on Tuesday, when he accused Western nations of provoking the conflict in Ukraine. The treaty limits the U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapon stockpiles and gives each country opportunities to inspect the other’s nuclear sites. Russia says it will continue to respect the caps established by the treaty, but that it will no longer allow inspections. For more on the treaty and the wider challenge of nuclear proliferation, we speak with Dr. Ira Helfand, a longtime advocate for nuclear disarmament, who says the need to end nuclear weapons “transcends” all other issues between the U.S. and Russia. “If we don’t get rid of nuclear weapons, they’re going to be used. And if they’re used, nothing else that we’re doing is going to make any difference,” says Helfand. He is the former president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which received the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, a member of the steering group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, as well as the co-founder and past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility. # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ ‘Victory_for_the_Afghan_People’_as_US_Judge Blocks_9/11_Families_From_Seizing_Frozen_Assets⠀⇛ A coalition of Afghan-American community organizations on Wednesday welcomed a U.S. federal judge’s ruling rejecting a bid by relatives of 9/11 victims to seize billions of dollars in assets belonging to the people of Afghanistan. # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ ‘Victory_for_the_Afghan_People’_as_US_Judge Blocks_9/11_Families_From_Seizing_Frozen_Assets⠀⇛ “This money belongs to the Afghan people, and no one else,” said Afghans for a Better Tomorrow, a coalition of Afghan-American community groups. # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ It’s_Not_All_Balloon_Buffoonery:_Weaponizing Anti-China_Paranoia⠀⇛ By Blake Fleetwood / Original to ScheerPost The U.S. suffered worldwide embarrassment in the last two weeks while the American media and  Republican and Democratic politicians hyperventilated over four UFO balloons that turned out to be harmless. # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ The_Chinese_Balloon_the_Biden_Team’s_Hot Air⠀⇛ Over the past 60 years, U.S. presidents have benefitted from advice from moderate and pragmatic advisers as well as examples of presidents ignoring such advice and suffering the consequences. President John F. Kennedy was not admirably served by his secretaries of state and defense, Dean Rusk and Robert McNamara, but a little-known U.S. Foreign Service Officer, Llewellyn Thompson, former ambassador to the USSR, provided the off-ramp that resolved the Cuban missile crisis without use of force.  An official in the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson, George Ball, provided superb advice that challenged the Cold War thinking of the “best and brightest” leftovers from the Kennedy administration, but Johnson ignored Ball and blundered into the tragic Vietnam war. President Jimmy Carter had advisors to his left (e.g. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Marshall Shulman) and right (National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski), but unfortunately ignored the wisdom of Vance and Shulman on key issues involving the USSR.  The Reagan administration was going nowhere in resolving national security issues, until a new secretary of state, George P. Shultz, and a Foreign Service Officer, Jack Matlock, provided the guidance that led to the breakthrough on arms control negotiations and detente in the 1980s.   # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ UN_Security_Council_on_Nord_Stream_Attack_With Ray_McGovern_and_Jeffrey_Sachs⠀⇛ Ray McGovern and Jeffery Sachs addressed the U.N. Security Council Tuesday on the Nord Stream pipelines sabotage in light of Sy Hersh’s reporting. # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ Patrick_Lawrence:_Russia_Takes_Another_Step Back_From_the_West⠀⇛ News that Russia will suspend its participation in the New START nuclear arms pact, which arrived Tuesday via Vladimir Putin’s annual address to the Federal Assembly, had to land hard. # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ Scott_Ritter:_Arms_Control_or_Ukraine?⠀⇛ As Russia suspends New START, the sooner the Ukraine war ends, the sooner the U.S. and Russia can work to preserve arms control to avert the ultimate disaster. # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Why_Environmental_Groups_Must_Oppose_War⠀⇛ Should an environment-protecting group like W.A.T.E.R. get involved in issues of international war? Or conversely, should W.A.T.E.R. “stay in its own lane”? More generally, should pro-environmental groups also be anti-war? The US government has been involved with fighting or funding wars for much of the past 80 years, so the question for us, as Americans, is not new. It is particularly pressing now because of the war in Ukraine. Everyone knows that wars are hugely destructive to both people and the environment; that is indeed the tactical intent of every exploding bomb and lethal projectile. Escalation to nuclear use would be a worldwide humanitarian and ecological disaster. Fighting around nuclear power plants – an especially stupid thing to do – may well lead to catastrophic toxic radioactive waste release spread over huge swaths of land. It is obvious that military action (and preparation for action) itself consumes a huge amount of energy and produces a huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions. According to a 2019 study at Boston and Brown Universities1, “the DOD is the world’s largest institutional user of petroleum and correspondingly, the single largest institutional producer of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the world.” # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ The_Proxy_War_in_Ukraine_Must_End⠀⇛ * No Guns For Nazis, No Love For Putin! * End The Proxy War Between NATO & Russia Now! # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ War_in_Ukraine_and_ICBMs:_The_Untold_Story of_How_They_Could_Blow_Up_the_World⠀⇛ Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, media coverage of the war hasn’t included even the slightest mention of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Yet the war has boosted the chances that ICBMs will set off a global holocaust. Four hundred of them — always on hair-trigger alert — are fully armed with nuclear warheads in underground silos scattered across Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming, while Russia deploys about 300 of its own. Former Defense Secretary William Perry has called ICBMs “some of the most dangerous weapons in the world,” warning that “they could even trigger an accidental nuclear war.” Now, with sky-high tensions between the world’s two nuclear superpowers, the chances of ICBMs starting a nuclear conflagration have increased as American and Russian forces face off in close proximity. Mistaking a false alarm for a nuclear-missile attack becomes more likely amid the stresses, fatigue and paranoia that come with protracted warfare and maneuvers. # ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ EU_foreign_ministers_express_support_for Ukraine_in_joint_video,_Hungarian_FM_only_one_to_send substitute⠀⇛ # ⚓ Meduza ☛ Putin_announces_plans_to_deploy_nuclear-capable Sarmat_missiles_amid_media_reports_of_failed_tests_—_Meduza⠀⇛ In a video released by the Kremlin’s press service to mark Russia’s Defender of the Fatherland Day on Thursday, Vladimir Putin announced that the country’s nuclear-capable Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles will be moved to combat readiness this year. # ⚓ Meduza ☛ In_Defender_of_the_Fatherland_Day_message,_Russian State_Duma_speaker_says_holiday_‘doesn’t_apply_to_those_who fled’_the_country_—_Meduza⠀⇛ In a Telegram post marking Russia’s Defender of the Fatherland Day, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that the holiday is an occasion to celebrate “both the men and the women” who “faithfully serve Russia.” # ⚓ Meduza ☛ After_days_of_pointed_complaints,_Evgeny_Prigozhin says_Wagner_Group_to_begin_receiving_ammunition_—_Meduza⠀⇛ Wagner Group founder Evgeny Prigozhin said Thursday that shipments of ammunition for the mercenary company are on their way. # ⚓ Meduza ☛ Evgeny_Prigozhin_blames_Wagner_Group_casualties_on Defense_Ministry,_demands_‘ammo_for_Wagner’_—_Meduza⠀⇛ Evgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group has published a photo of several dozen dead mercenaries. Prigozhin himself explains that all of them were killed on February 21, and that their deaths could have been avoided if not for the scarcity of ammunition supplied by the Defense Ministry. # ⚓ Meduza ☛ Russia_charges_Ukrainian_soldier_with_using prohibited_methods_of_warfare_in_first-of-its-kind_case_— Meduza⠀⇛ Investigators in Rostov-on-Don have filed charges against Ukrainian soldier Anton Cherednik for allegedly using prohibited methods of warfare and forcibly seizing power, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Wednesday. # ⚓ Meduza ☛ Russian_State_Duma_unanimously_approves_bill_to suspend_Russia’s_cooperation_with_New_START_Treaty_—_Meduza⠀⇛ Russia’s State Duma has voted unanimously to suspend Russia’s cooperation with the New START Treaty, which is the U.S. and Russia’s only remaining nuclear arms control agreement. # ⚓ Meduza ☛ Stadium_rally_in_support_of_invading_Ukraine begins_in_Moscow._Putin_is_expected_to_speak._—_Meduza⠀⇛ A patriotic rally whose motto is “Glory to the defenders of our Fatherland!” is beginning in Moscow. TASS is running a live broadcast of the event. o § Environment⠀➾ # ⚓ The Revelator ☛ The_First_Must-Read_Environmental_Books_of 2023_Have_Arrived⠀⇛ # ⚓ DeSmog ☛ Vivian_Krause_to_‘Oil_Mafia’_Supporters:_‘The Environmentalists_Have_Won’⠀⇛ Vivian Krause may well claim the title of the Canadian woman who launched a thousand op-eds.  For over a decade Krause’s claim — that American philanthropic organizations are influencing Canadian environmental groups — provided the basis for hundreds of editorials alleging a far-reaching conspiracy to landlock Canadian oil and gas resources. Columnists pointed to Krause’s research as evidence that American-backed eco-radicals had taken over federal and provincial governments in Canada, halted major pipeline projects, and “played right into the business interests of U.S. billionaires by becoming their useful idiots.” # § Energy/Transportation⠀➾ # ⚓ TruthOut ☛ Policy_Lets_Norfolk_Southern_Officials Order_Crews_to_Ignore_Safety_Alerts⠀⇛ # ⚓ TruthOut ☛ Norfolk_Southern_Agrees_to_Paid_Sick_Leave for_3,000_Workers_Amid_Ohio_Crisis⠀⇛ # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Trump_Is_Returning_to_the_Scene_of His_Crime_When_He_Visits_the_East_Palestine_Train Wreck⠀⇛ When Donald Trump accepted the GOP presidential nod in Cleveland in July 2016, he might have been picturing a place like East Palestine, Ohio — just 85 miles southeast of the massive podium where he was standing — as he promised voters he’d “deliver a better life for the people all across this nation that have been ignored, neglected, and abandoned.” # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ As_Trump_Visits_East_Palestine, Critics_Say_‘He_Should_Be_Apologizing’_for_Safety Rollbacks⠀⇛ Ahead of former President Donald Trump’s Wednesday visit to East Palestine, Ohio—where a Norfolk Southern-owned train transporting carcinogenic chemicals derailed on February 3, prompting a mass evacuation and release of pollutants—progressive critics highlighted the key role his administration played in making the fiery crash and its toxic aftermath more likely. # ⚓ Pro Publica ☛ Norfolk_Southern_Lets_Officials_Order Crews_to_Ignore_Safety_Alerts⠀⇛ Norfolk Southern allows a monitoring team to instruct crews to ignore alerts from train track sensors designed to flag potential mechanical problems. ProPublica learned of the policy after reviewing the rules of the company, which is engulfed in controversy after one of its trains derailed this month, releasing toxic flammable gas over East Palestine, Ohio. # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Under_Massive_Pressure_Amid_Ohio Crisis,_Norfolk_Southern_Agrees_to_Paid_Sick_Leave Deal⠀⇛ Facing intense scrutiny and backlash over the toxic derailment of one of its trains in eastern Ohio, Norfolk Southern on Wednesday reached a deal with a leading rail union to provide up to a week of paid sick leave per year to around 3,000 track maintenance workers. # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ A_Norfolk_Southern_Policy_Lets_Officials Order_Crews_To_Ignore_Safety_Alerts⠀⇛ In October, months before the East Palestine derailment, the company also directed a train to keep moving with an overheated wheel that caused it to derail miles later in Sandusky, Ohio. # ⚓ The Nation ☛ It’s_Time_to_Talk_About_Nationalizing America’s_Railroads⠀⇛ If the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials in East Palestine, Ohio, tells us anything, it is that the corporate CEOs, billionaire speculators, and profit-hungry investors who control America’s transportation systems are not up to the job of running railroads. As Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown told CNN, “There’s no question [that the railroad company] caused it with this derailment because they underinvested in their employees.” # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Electric_Vehicles_Are_No_Silver Bullet—Transportation_Fixes_Must_Go_Further⠀⇛ The U.S. faces a critical juncture for the decarbonization of its transportation system.Will zero emissions transportation be an electrified status quo, with ever more massive electric SUVs stuck in traffic on highways connecting sprawling metropolitan regions? Or will it diverge from car dependency to take the form of e-bikes and e- buses zipping around denser, more walkable cities and suburbs? # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Report_Urges_Biden_to_Stop_Aiding_Big Oil_‘Ploy_to_Prolong_the_Era_of_Fossil_Fuels’⠀⇛ Titled Liquefied Natural Cash: How Methane Exports Reverse Climate Progress, Harm Consumers and Endanger Communities, the report highlights the surge of methane gas delivery contracts inked in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago, a boom aided in part by the Biden administration’s efforts to export more U.S. gas to European allies. # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Biden_Proposes_First_Gulf_of_Mexico Offshore_Wind_Lease_Sales⠀⇛ Clean energy advocates on Wednesday applauded an announcement from U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who said her department is proposing the first-ever offshore lease sale for wind power in the Gulf of Mexico, long a center of oil and gas extraction. # ⚓ DeSmog ☛ The_Natural_Gas_Industry_Sees_Cow_Manure_Gas as_the_Key_to_a_Net_Zero_Future⠀⇛ Chevron has been talking a lot about cows lately. Alongside POLITICO articles about clean energy, in D.C. newsletters, on Facebook and LinkedIn, are Chevron’s recent ads featuring taglines like “We’re looking to turn the methane from cow 💩 into the fuels of the future.” Each ad links to a page on Chevron’s website which explains how methane captured from manure is actually “renewable natural gas.”  But Chevron isn’t the only one talking cow manure. As world leaders convened in Egypt last November to negotiate climate action at the United Nations COP27 summit, a dairy industry trade association also ran a social media campaign highlighting efforts to “upcycle methane” from cattle. The ads showed anaerobic digester machines capturing methane emissions from manure and turning it into biomethane, which can be upgraded into natural gas. The public relations behemoth Edelman, which has come under fire for its work for the oil industry, created Facebook, Twitter, and even TikTok ads for this campaign. # § Wildlife/Nature⠀➾ # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Two_Minutes⠀⇛ I recently read an article discussing Held, et al v. Montana. This case, the first of its kind in the United States to go to trial, was filed in Montana First Judicial District Court by 16 young Montanans. These plaintiffs are suing to enforce their inalienable right to a clean and healthful environment, guaranteed under Article II, section 3 of our Montana Constitution. The article prompted me to reflect upon the evolutionary history of our species, homo sapiens–a story of soaring accomplishment and abject failure. # § Overpopulation⠀➾ # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ An_Aging_Population_Poses_Issues, Just_Like_the_Baby_Boom_Did⠀⇛ The New York Times had an interesting piece on aging societies in Asia and elsewhere. The piece rightly points out that as the elderly comprise a larger share of the population, societies will have to make adjustments to meet their needs. This is not some sort of crisis, as it is often portrayed, by rather a challenge that has to be recognized, similar to other challenge posed by past demographic changes. The NYT piece noted that older people are likely to need more medical care than younger adults. Also, many will face chronic conditions like dementia, which will be difficult to deal with, especially for those without children or other family members to help them. It also pointed out that many older people are forced to work late in life because they don’t have a sufficient income on which to retire. o § Finance⠀➾ # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ More_Drivel_Over_the_National_Debt!⠀⇛ How the hell can we expect Americans to understand what the national debt means if the media doesn’t report it accurately? # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ Distortion_of_Breakfast_Price_Hikes_Leaves_WSJ With_Egg_on_Face⠀⇛ At the same time these companies are acting like their hands are tied by supply disruptions, their profits have skyrocketed. # ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ Inflation_of_food_prices_in_Hungary decreased_for_first_time_in_20_months,_but_we_are_still_way ahead_of_rest_of_EU⠀⇛ # ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ Hungarian_inflation_now_more_than_two_and a_half_times_the_EU_average_at_26.2⠀⇛ # ⚓ MIT Technology Review ☛ Digital_business_building_driven_by conviction_and_experimentation⠀⇛ Investors today no longer reward companies for incremental changes in their core business. Embracing digital throughout the business can help traditional companies exponentially increase value and their ability to compete with digital natives, if done correctly. # ⚓ Michael West Media ☛ Shareholders_re-Joyce_again,_as_Qantas ignores_tax-payers,_passengers_and_staff⠀⇛ The ebullience with which Qantas chief Alan Joyce announced the airline’s well telegraphed record half year pre-tax profit of $1.4 billion, underscored perfectly the jarring disconnect now at play in the company. Michael Sainsbury reports. True to its priorities, the company also announced a share buyback of $500 million, its second in the past 12 months designed to prop up its share price. That’s a cool $840 million diverted to shareholders instead of investing much needed funds on its aging fleet, maintenance division and staff wages that continue – for the majority of employees – to go backwards in real terms, as inflation neutralises the small increases. # ⚓ Michael West Media ☛ Shine_Justice?_Class_action_law_firm poised_to_sue_class_action_law_firm⠀⇛ It is understood that a class action law firm is planning to take a class action against class action law firm Shine Justice. What’s the scam? The scam is shonky accounting, as per the story below. The question is, is this law firm breaking the law? We posed questions to them and their auditors PwC but they declined to respond. Then they came out with more of the same today when they disclosed their financial statements and the share price tanked 20%. # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Humanity_Faces_Converging_Debt_Crises⠀⇛ An enormous debt bomb threatens the U.S. federal government and the nation’s financial system unless warring politicians can agree on a plan to defuse it. However, there are even bigger debt bombs ticking away beneath us all, of which fewer people are aware. It may be impossible to disarm all of them, but action is required to minimize the casualties. # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ What_Will_Happen_When_Banks_Go_Bust?_Bank Runs,_Bail-Ins_and_Systemic_Risk⠀⇛ Financial podcasts have been featuring ominous headlines lately along the lines of “Your Bank Can Legally Seize Your Money” and “Banks Can STEAL Your Money?! Here’s How!” # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ Biden’s_Missing_Word:_Inequality⠀⇛ On February 2nd, Pres. Joe Biden delivered his annual State of the Union address and received considerable praise for both the “progressive” positions he took and his combative tone. He seemed awake, getting ready to announce his 2024 candidacy. According to one source, former Pres. Donald Trump offered some praise. However, the word “inequality” was absent from Biden’s speech. # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ The_Lesson_We_Need_to_Teach_Our_Nation’s Rich⠀⇛ # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ The_Day_the_World_Should_Have_Changed⠀⇛ There was a day when humanity was invited to reinvent its relation with power, when we should have realized that competition among nations as we knew it was obsolete, as well as pretty well all our relations based on power and domination. The day was July 16, 1945, the day of the Trinity test at Alamogordo, New Mexico, when the first nuclear weapon was exploded, proving that humanity had pierced the secrets of the atom and could now build weapons staggeringly larger than the 25- kiloton bomb exploded that day. The hydrogen bomb was already envisioned. It would use fission devices such as the Trinity bomb to create a fusion reaction that would unleash energies hundreds of times greater. Even the name of the test indicated that scientists understood humanity had obtained a godlike power. # ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ Price_of_ticket_for_100E_airport_bus_in Budapest_to_increase_by_HUF_700_in_April⠀⇛ o § AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics⠀➾ # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ McCarthyism,_Then_and_Now⠀⇛ And the (True) One-Party State in America. # ⚓ TruthOut ☛ GA_Grand_Jury_Foreperson_Implies_Trump_Will_Face Charges_for_Raffensperger_Call⠀⇛ # ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ President_Novák_shakes_hands_with_US President_Biden_at_B9_meeting⠀⇛ # ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ Orbán’s_visit_to_Kyiv_is_being_planned⠀⇛ # ⚓ Techdirt ☛ New_York_Court_Says_Fox,_Rudy_Giuliani_Can’t Escape_Defamation_Lawsuit_Over_BS_Stolen_Election_Claims⠀⇛ Donald Trump and his supporters are unable to process facts. That inability led to many of them engaging in questionable election-related lawsuits and extremely questionable election-related public statements. Alleging a “stolen” election, Trump and his backers claimed, without any supporting evidence, voting machines/software made by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic conspired to rob the lame duck of a second term in office. # ⚓ Democracy Now ☛ Will_Trump_&_Allies_Finally_Face_Jail_for Election_Lies?_Georgia_Grand_Jury_Recommends_Indictments⠀⇛ The special grand jury in Georgia that is investigating attempts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election has recommended more than a dozen indictments, and the list could include Trump. Emily Kohrs, the foreperson of the grand jury, confirmed the indictments on Tuesday, though it’s still unclear if they will include crimes other than perjury. Prosecutors will ultimately decide what charges to bring in the coming days. For more, we speak with The Nation’s D.C. bureau chief, Chris Lehmann, who says convictions are still unlikely, given that “the legal system favors heavily entrenched power.” # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ By_Caving_to_Israel,_Biden_Opens_the_Door to_War_With_Iran⠀⇛ As all eyes were on Ukraine and Chinese balloons in the sky, the Biden administration seemingly shifted America’s longstanding opposition to Israel starting a disastrous war with Iran. # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ Biden_Administration_Takes_Its_Capitulation_to Israel_to_an_Absurd_New_Level⠀⇛ An independent human rights expert was denied a post for accurately criticizing Israel. # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ Mark_Fiore:_Freedom_Liberry⠀⇛ The movement to ban certain books is gaining traction in Florida and around the country. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is riding the book ban bandwagon to national fame (after first riding Covid misinformation bandwagon) as he prepares to run for president.  # ⚓ Site36 ☛ „Brussels_farce“:_Hungary’s_justice_minister_rails against_EU_committee⠀⇛ A parliamentary EU committee investigated political persecution in Hungary using the „Pegasus“ spyware. The government suspected a left-wing conspiracy and was apparently poorly informed about it. # ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ Orbán_lists_his_opponents:_a_harsh outburst_against_the_West_at_the_Fidesz-KDNP_caucus_meeting⠀⇛ # ⚓ The Nation ☛ The_Real_Problem_With_Marjorie_Taylor_Greene’s Call_for_a_“National_Divorce”⠀⇛ Over Presidents’ Day weekend, House GOP darling Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia caused yet another firestorm by calling for a “national divorce.” She tweeted: “We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government. Everyone I talk to says this.” # ⚓ The Nation ☛ The_Unfulfilled_Promise⠀⇛ When it comes to understanding modern politics, analogies abound. We have the 1938 Munich conference as a metaphor for the perils of being “weak” on foreign policy. Modern hyper-partisanship has driven comparisons to the 1850s and the lead-up to the Civil War. With the combination of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, and a new wave of strikes roiling the nation, scholars and journalists have compared our current moment to the 1918 influenza pandemic and the following year’s Red Summer, when the United States appeared to be on fire with strikes and protests from coast to coast.1 # ⚓ The Nation ☛ Leadership,_Kevin_McCarthy–Style⠀⇛ He bowed to the wackos’ demands. He’d needed their votes. Those were vital To winning the office he craved. Now all he has left is the title. # ⚓ The Nation ☛ Rosa_Parks,_Courage_and_Leadership⠀⇛ # ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ Politico:_Orbán_threatening_with_veto unless_4_individuals_removed_from_sanctions_list⠀⇛ # ⚓ Telex (Hungary) ☛ Judit_Varga’s_talk_about_dollar-funded left_ridiculous_and_shameful_–_chair_of_Pegasus_delegation⠀⇛ # ⚓ The Nation ☛ Ralph_Nader_Remembers_Michael_Pertschuk⠀⇛ The tumultuous start of the 118th Congress has planted it squarely in the public eye. We should broaden out our field of vision to include congressional staff members. These unsung but influential aides should be made aware of what their predecessors accomplished in the past, led by Michael Pertschuk. # ⚓ Meduza ☛ Putin_spends_3.5_minutes_speaking_to_Russians gathered_at_stadium_rally_—_Meduza⠀⇛ President Vladimir Putin gave a much-anticipated speech before thousands of Russians gathered at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. # ⚓ Meduza ☛ Air_defense_system_spotted_near_Moscow’s_Luzhniki Stadium,_ahead_of_Putin_speech_—_Meduza⠀⇛ A Pantsir missile system has been spotted opposite Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, where Vladimir Putin spoke today, as part of a patriotic rally commemorating a year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. TV Rain has published a video of the air defense installation near the Moscow State University building. # § Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda⠀➾ # ⚓ Democracy Now ☛ Lawsuit_Shows_Hannity,_Carlson, Ingraham_Among_Fox_News_Hosts_Who_Knew_Election_Claims Were_Baseless⠀⇛ As Donald Trump and his inner circle potentially face indictments over their efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Fox News is also in legal hot water for amplifying the same unfounded claims about election fraud. Dominion Voting Systems, which makes voting machines, has sued the conservative cable news outlet for $1.6 billion in a defamation suit that has exposed how top hosts and executives knew they were spreading misinformation but continued to push the conspiracy theories on air. “Fox News, despite its corporate name, is not in fact a news organization,” says Chris Lehmann, D.C. bureau chief for The Nation. “What they are doing is promulgating lies for the sake of maintaining audience share and high profitability.” # ⚓ The Nation ☛ Crazy_Like_a_Fox_(Satire_Alert)⠀⇛ In a recent defamation lawsuit against Fox News, Dominion Voting Systems contends that dozens of people with editorial responsibility—from the top of the organization to the producers of specific shows to the hosts themselves—made false on- air statements that Dominion’s voting machines were programed to change the results of the 2020 presidential vote so that Trump could lose. The late Roger Ailes, founder and former chairman of Fox News, was instrumental in setting up the network’s news division. In their play Rupert!, Marvin Kitman and Richard Lingeman imagine Ailes explaining the philosophy behind his proposed news channel. # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Climate_Misinformation_Is_Now_Our Main_Competitor⠀⇛ What do people across the U.K. really think about climate misinformation? Outright denial that climate change is real is waning, but there are still real barriers to engagement and effective climate action. Today, most people are neither climate activists nor climate deniers. Confronted with ever- worsening climate impacts, the majority believe that climate change is real—but they aren’t actively engaged in trying to create change to tackle it. o § Censorship/Free Speech⠀➾ # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Ron_DeSantis_Carves_Out_a_Brand_as_a_Book- Burning,_Anti-LGBTQ+,_Racist_Authoritarian⠀⇛ Ideological attacks on public education are central to the politics of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is carving out a brand as a book-burning, gay- phobic, transphobic, racist authoritarian. A Fauci- hater and anti-vax hero of right-wing media, DeSantis restricted instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation with his “Don’t Say Gay” law. He limited what schools can teach about racism and diversity with his “Stop WOKE” law. He rejected math textbooks en masse for what the state called “prohibited topics,” such as critical race theory; and he banned an Advanced Placement course in African-American studies for high school students on the grounds that it is a tool for “political indoctrination.” Playing the wannabe tough guy, he wants to troll his way to the White House as America’s premiere culture warrior. o § Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press⠀➾ # ⚓ The Dissenter ☛ LuxLeaks_Whistleblower_Wins_Case_Before Europe’s_Top_Human_Rights_Court⠀⇛ # ⚓ Scheerpost ☛ LuxLeaks_Whistleblower_Wins_Case_Before Europe’s_Top_Human_Rights_Court⠀⇛ By Kevin Gosztola / The Dissenter The grand chamber of the European Court of Human Rights recently ruled in favor of a whistleblower who worked for the multinational accounting conglomerate PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and exposed tax evasion schemes in Luxembourg. # ⚓ Don’t Extradite Assange ☛ Darkness_into_light:_Night Carnival_for_Assange⠀⇛ The latest expression of support for Assange was the Night Carnival protest in London, the very spot where Dickens pictured the poisonous fog to be thickest. Its slogan is ‘Light into Darkness’, using the age-old subversive nature of carnival to shine a light on this very dark corner of the political and legal system. o § Civil Rights/Policing⠀➾ # ⚓ TruthOut ☛ Sanders_Says_US_Must_Condition_Aid_to_Israel_to Rein_in_“Racist_Government”⠀⇛ # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Seattle_Becomes_First_US_City_to_Ban_Caste Discrimination_With_Kshama_Sawant_Ordinance⠀⇛ The Seattle City Council voted Tuesday for the first U.S. ban on caste-based discrimination, a move the measure’s socialist sponsor hopes will inspire similar legislation nationwide. # ⚓ TruthOut ☛ WI_Supreme_Court_Election_Candidate_Is_Trump Loyalist_Involved_in_Electors_Plot⠀⇛ # ⚓ TruthOut ☛ “It’s_White_Supremacy”_—_Critics_Lambaste Greene’s_Call_for_“National_Divorce”⠀⇛ # ⚓ The Nation ☛ The_Supreme_Court_Just_Heard_2_Cases_That Could_Break_the_Internet⠀⇛ Humility, thoughtfulness, and restraint are not virtues one can in good faith associate with our current Supreme Court. The past few years have seen a rash of extremist rulings from the conservatives who control the court, with the six archconservatives assuming the power to invalidate human rights, grant new rights to guns and corporations, and win the culture wars for their far-right confederates. The Supreme Court no longer acts as an impartial panel of jurists but as a cabal of rulers eager to foist their worldview upon the rest of us.  # ⚓ The Nation ☛ Progressives_Score_a_Major_Win_in_the Wisconsin_Supreme_Court_Primary⠀⇛ Just 33 minutes after polls closed in the primary election for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat that will determine the balance of power on one of the most powerful and contentious judicial benches in the country, the Associated Press announced that liberal candidate Janet Protasiewicz will advance to the general election on April 4. The Milwaukee County judge, who ran as an unapologetic defender of abortion rights and fair elections, overwhelmed the other three contenders in the first round of a contest that political observers on both sides of the nation’s partisan divide consider the most consequential election fight of 2023. # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ In_‘Extremely_Rare’_Ruling,_SCOTUS_Orders Resentencing_of_Arizona_Prisoner⠀⇛ The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a rare rebuke of Arizona’s criminal justice system as the majority ruled in favor of a death row inmate who has called for a resentencing, saying the state ignored legal precedents during his trial. # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ Supreme_Court_Declines_to_Hear_Challenge_to ‘Unconstitutional’_Arkansas_Anti-BDS_Law⠀⇛ In a move decried by one critic as a “significant loss for the First Amendment,” the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a challenge to an Arkansas law requiring companies doing business with the state to sign a pledge vowing not to boycott Israel. # ⚓ Counter Punch ☛ The_Cult_of_Violence:_New_Poll_Finds Evidence_of_Authoritarian_Values_Driving_U.S._Public Opinion⠀⇛ Social scientists have long expressed concerns that a large number of Americans embrace authoritarian modes of thinking that are centered on suppression of dissent, violence, and an infatuation with strong leaders. New evidence reveals that these authoritarian values are endorsed by a disturbing number of Americans, with the trend being most acute on the American right. A new national poll sponsored by the Marcon Institute for anti-racist studies and social justice suggests that the way in which authoritarian values are manifested with the American public may be shifting. The poll was conducted from February 7-9, and contacted a nationally representative sample of 1,021 Americans. # ⚓ TruthOut ☛ Disability_Justice_Organizers_Dream_Big_and Resist_a_Culture_of_Disposability⠀⇛ # ⚓ Democracy Now ☛ Guilty:_Mexico’s_Ex-Top_Cop_García_Luna Convicted_in_U.S._Drug_Trafficking_Case⠀⇛ A New York court on Tuesday convicted Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former secretary of public security and a close ally of U.S. law enforcement for decades, of drug trafficking and money laundering, among other charges. Prosecutors said García Luna accepted millions in bribes from the very criminal groups he was meant to be fighting, including the infamous Sinaloa Cartel formerly led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. García Luna faces up to life in prison and is the most high-ranking Mexican official ever tried in the U.S. For more, we speak with award-winning journalists Peniley Ramírez and Maria Hinojosa, co-hosts of Futuro Media’s podcast USA v. García Luna. They say the case exposes how corrupt the so-called war on drugs has been on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. “The U.S. government, the DEA, the entire security apparatus failed here,” says Hinojosa. # ⚓ TruthOut ☛ While_Ex-Elected_Officials_Invest_in_Cannabis,_I Remain_in_Prison_for_Selling_It⠀⇛ # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ The_Democratic_Party_Failed_Striking Warrior_Met_Coal_Miners_in_Alabama⠀⇛ After almost two years on the picket line, the hundreds of United Mine Workers of America members who have been on strike at Warrior Met Coal in Alabama have offered to go back to work. They still do not have the fair contract they have sacrificed so much for. Their negotiations will continue, but they did not win this strike—and that is tragic. The company and its private equity owners bear the most direct responsibility for precipitating this heartless, inhuman struggle. But if you are looking for a meaningful place to focus your rage over the way that this strike has turned out, look directly at the Democratic Party. # ⚓ Common Dreams ☛ New_Biden_Rule_Denounced_as_‘Trump’s_Asylum Ban_Under_a_Different_Name’⠀⇛ The Biden administration on Tuesday proposed a rule that immigrant rights groups, civil liberties organizations, and some Democratic lawmakers condemned as an illegal attack on asylum-seekers that resembles an inhumane policy pursued by former President Donald Trump. # ⚓ Pro Publica ☛ Help_ProPublica_and_The_Salt_Lake_Tribune Investigate_Sexual_Assault_in_Utah⠀⇛ We’re reporting on sexual assault by health care professionals, an issue we highlighted in our story about a Provo OB-GYN who was sued by nearly 100 women who said he sexually assaulted them during treatments. You can fill out our confidential form below to tell us about other practitioners and health care institutions you think we should report on. # ⚓ The Nation ☛ In_the_Dominican_Republic,_the_Fight_for Abortion_Rights_Is_a_Fight_Against_Anti-Blackness⠀⇛ Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic—There’s a citywide blackout. No street lights, no shop lights—just headlights from passing cars. “This is just your typical Friday night,” Alicia Mendez Medina says, and a bodega worker nods from behind her. Alicia bids her goodbye and we head to Parque Duarte, the place many have described as “the it spot” for nightlife in Santo Domingo. She orders some wine. # ⚓ Techdirt ☛ I_Explained_To_A_Court_How_California’s_‘Kid’s Code’_Is_Both_Impossible_To_Comply_With_&_An_Attack_On_Our Expression⠀⇛ Last year, Techdirt was one of only a very few sites where you could find out information on California’s AB 2273, officially the “California Age Appropriate Design Code” or “Kid’s code.” As with so many bills that talk about “protecting the children,” everyone we talked to said they were afraid to speak up, because they worried that they’d be branded as being against child safety. Indeed, I even had some people within some larger tech companies reach out to me suggesting it was dangerous to speak out against the bill. o § Internet Policy/Net Neutrality⠀➾ # ⚓ Techdirt ☛ After_Introducing_Caps_And_Raising_Prices, Starlink_Introduces_$200_Global_Roaming_Charge⠀⇛ To be clear, Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband service is great if you have no other options and can afford it. Especially if you’ve spent an eternity stuck on an expensive 3 Mbps DSL line straight out of 2003, or a traditional, capped, expensive satellite broadband connection. The ability to get somewhere between 10 and 100 Mbps in your cabin in the woods (if it works) is a great thing. # ⚓ Techdirt ☛ Some_Initial_Thoughts_On_The_Supreme_Court_Oral Arguments_In_Gonzalez:_Non-Experts_Might_Still_Make_A_Mess_Of Things,_But_Without_Understanding_Why⠀⇛ Despite the Supreme Court hearing what could be the most consequential case regarding the future of the internet in decades, I decided to log off for most of Tuesday and go do something fun, far away from any internet connection. I didn’t listen live to the oral arguments, but rather chose to listen (at 3x speed) to the arguments Tuesday evening, while simultaneously reading the transcript. My colleague Cathy Gellis didn’t just listen to the oral arguments, but attended live at the Supreme Court (and is doing the same today with the associated Taamneh case), so I expect that she’ll have a more thorough analysis from her later. # ⚓ Techdirt ☛ Supreme_Court_Passes_On_Important_Parody_Case, Allows_Cops_To_Treat_Satire_As_A_Criminal_Act_In_The_Sixth Circuit⠀⇛ While we’re all waiting to see if the Supreme Court is willing to destroy Section 230 immunity the way it did abortion rights, more bad news has been delivered by the top court in the land. Hidden among the list [PDF] of dozens of cases the Supreme Court will not be reviewing is this one, rejected without comment by the justices. # ⚓ Zimbabwe ☛ Liquid_(Zol)_facing_another_service_degradation nationwide,_its_slow_speeds_until_further_notice⠀⇛ It was just under two weeks ago that we were talking about Liquid having an outage. Then, we were told the outage was as a result of a fibre break. The outage did not lead to people being cut off completely, but rather getting slow speeds, Well, it’s just happened again. o § Digital Restrictions (DRM)⠀➾ # ⚓ Techdirt ☛ Colorado_Passes_Landmark_Agricultural_‘Right_To Repair’_Bill⠀⇛ Colorado is the latest state to move forward on new “right to repair” legislation despite a growing and sustained lobbying effort by industry. The Colorado House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Consumer Right to Repair Agricultural Equipment Act (HB23-1011) with a 44-17 vote on Tuesday, the first major right to repair legislation to be passed so far in 2023. o § Monopolies⠀➾ # § Patents⠀➾ # ⚓ The Nation ☛ Destroying_Culture_With_Modified_Corn [Ed: Modified Corn = patented]⠀⇛ # § Copyrights⠀➾ # ⚓ Torrent Freak ☛ Russia_Claims_Ukraine_&_Allies_Use Pirate_Sites_to_Spread_Propaganda⠀⇛ A Russian security company is reporting a surge in movie and TV show-related domain registrations. Some believe that pirates are buying domains to exploit an upcoming gap in the market when Hollywood licenses expire at the end of the month. Telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor claims that Ukraine and its allies are running pirate sites for propaganda purposes. # ⚓ Torrent Freak ☛ The_European_Union’s_Official_Site Has_a_Persistent_‘Piracy’_Problem⠀⇛ The European Union warns that pirate sites can lead users to malware and other unwanted content. Unfortunately, the EU also has its own piracy problem; its official website continues to be exploited by bad actors to advertise piracy-related scams. Meanwhile, male enhancement gummies, Onlyfans hacks, gift card generators, and other scams are promoted too. # ⚓ Torrent Freak ☛ MPA:_Pluto_TV_.m3u_Playlists Facilitate_Piracy_on_a_Massive_Scale⠀⇛ A condition of watching streaming service Pluto TV is that users must use approved methods such as official apps. This is the reason that Pluto TV is free, since revenue is generated through advertising. Unofficial Pluto TV .m3u playlists are easy to access and do away with advertising and user behavior tracking mechanisms. A copyright complaint sent by the MPA this week pulls no punches; these playlists facilitate piracy on a massive scale. * § Gemini* and Gopher⠀➾ o § Personal⠀➾ # ⚓ Contrasting_Visual_and_Nonvisual⠀⇛ I’m aggressively non-visual. So much so that I am still utterly baffled by the idea of a picture. I mean, how on Earth do you squish three-dimensional reality into two dimensions on a page, a screen, a canvas, or what have you? If I sit here and try to grok it, you’d probably see figurative smoke coming out of the top of my head. And yet, I love Lisp. Lisp, and S-expressions in particular, helped me understand trees. o § Technical⠀➾ # ⚓ My_Pinebook_Pro_Lives!⠀⇛ Really, that’s it. I just goofed up the eMMC and since it boots to that first by default I had to remove the chip in order to be able to mess with it again using Armbian on an SD card. Now I’ve just gotta get around to grabbing an eMMC to USB adapter of some sort so I can re-flash it with a copy of the OS as it lives on the SD card, and I’ll be back up to 64GB of cheap storage. For the kinda stuff I’ll likely wind up doing here that’s about as convoluted as I’d need my storage size to be.. anything more than that and I should probably be offloading it to a storage hard drive anyway. # ⚓ A_breakdown_of_the_triple-star_pointer⠀⇛ I few days ago I read “Lessons learnt while trying to modernize some C code [1]” (via Lobsters [2]) and one of the problems of C stated stood out to me: “Avoid constructs like `char ***`. I thought it was a joke, but people do pass around `char ***` and it’s insane—almost impossible to comprehend why do you need a pointer to a pointer to a pointer.” Yes, it happens, but come on! That doesn’t happen often enough to complain about! # ⚓ GPT-3_On_Electronic_Pets⠀⇛ I’ve lately wanted a pet, but no animal lives up to my criteria. Jokingly both I and friends have said that maybe I should get an e-pet instead, like a tamagotchi. Of course, an e-pet doesn’t alleviate loneliness in the least! But don’t just take my word for it; listen to an AI explain it for you. # § Programming⠀➾ # ⚓ Reply_–_Christina_–_February_2023_Five_Questions_ (5Q)⠀⇛ Christina, looks like the questions as posted on your gemcap have been truncated a bit by Nano or Emacs &c. FYI. I still cleave to Nano as my default $EDITOR, but have aliased it to always run with flags for line numbers and line wrap for this reason. Highly recommended. Not to mention setting the config for endearing ansi colours! Anyway, no worries, I shall make do with inference. If clarification is needful and interesting, please ping me by XMPP. # ⚓ I’m_learn-ding⠀⇛ Illness aside, I’ve been trying to keep myself busy over the last month, mostly in my attempts to continue learning C. I still have no real desire to make my own applications, but I want to maintain and modify applications that I already use, like adding Atom support to `snownews`, and fixing some problems that I found when compiling it for Snow Leopard. I also kinda want to toy with other applications, like I did when learning what I know of Perl. Lua will come soon enough, as I use `wordgrinder` on a daily basis, and I’d like to be able to eventually fork the older 7.2 version I modified since it runs better on my OS of choice than the current version does. =============================================================================== * Gemini_(Primer) links can be opened using Gemini_software. It’s like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter. ╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ ¶ Lines in total: 7734 ➮ Generation completed at 02:42, i.e. 14 seconds to (re)generate ⟲