Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 25/12/2021: Rescuezilla 2.3 and Growing Backlash Against COVID-19 Patents



  • GNU/Linux

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • A First Look At Elementary OS "Jolnir" - Invidious

        Elementary OS had a new release a few days ago, version 6.1 which is codenamed "Jolnir". I've always loved the great work that the Elementary team is doing, but the previous version of Elementary had some issues. I'm hoping some of those issues are addressed in this release.

    • Benchmarks

      • Linux 5.16 Has A Nice Performance Gift For AMD Ryzen Laptops With Radeon Graphics - Phoronix

        For those making use of integrated Radeon Vega-based graphics with modern Ryzen laptops at least, the Linux 5.16 kernel is offering some nice performance gains noticed recently as part of the Ryzen 7 PRO 5850U benchmarking with the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen2. Here is a look at the AMD Radeon Graphics performance for that Zen 3 laptop across varying Mesa and Linux kernel versions while then expanding the comparison to multiple devices given the Linux 5.16 performance boost.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Automatic login with startx and systemd

        If your workstation is using full-disk encryption, you may want to jump directly to your desktop environment after entering the passphrase to decrypt the disk. Many display managers like GDM and LightDM have an autologin feature. However, only GDM can run Xorg with standard user privileges.

      • Add a lightbox viewer for your Ghost blog in no time

        I have been using Ghost as my primary blogging system for some years now. Although it does not have a rich ecosystem like WordPress or other open-source CMS, it does the job.

        In Ghost, You will get used to doing everything manually, creating a search functionality using jQuery them Vue, trying out some embedded web widgets for messaging I built with Vue and CouchDB.

      • How to play Crab Game on Linux

        Crab Game is an FPS multiplayer game where players compete through minigames until one player remains. It is based upon the popular Netflix series “Squid Game.” Here’s how to play it on Linux.

      • How to play Super Flight on Linux

        Superflight is a wingsuit adventure game. It was developed and published by GrizzlyGames. The game was released on Windows. However, it is possible to it working on Linux. Here’s how to set it up on your Linux computer.

      • How To Reverse a String In Unix / Linux Shell?
      • How to configure static IP Address on FreeBSD

        his page explains setting up a static IP address on the FreeBSD Unix system using the command-line options.

      • How to install the Brave Beta Browser on Elementary OS 6.0 - Invidious

        In this video, we are looking at how to install the Brave Beta Browser on Elementary OS 6.0.

      • How to enable GPU acceleration for your Linux applications (Crostini) only on a Chromebook

        Today we are looking at how to enable GPU acceleration for your Linux applications (Crostini) only on a Chromebook. Please follow the video/audio guide as a tutorial where we explain the process step by step and use the commands below.

      • How to Check and Repair XFS Filesystem in RHEL/Centos - Unixcop the Unix / Linux the admins deams

        Hello, friends. In this post, we will explain a trick that can save a lot of work and even an entire system. So, today you will learn How to Check and Repair XFS Filesystem in RHEL/RockyLinux/CentOS.

        Before we start, we need to talk a little about XFS.

        XFS is a high-performance 64-bit journaling file system. Its virtues such as maturity, and debugged code, make it a preferred candidate for use on GNU/Linux servers.

      • 2 Ways to Install Homebrew on Debian 11 Bullseye Linux - Linux Shout

        Learn the commands to install Homebrew on Debian 11 Bullseye to install and manage various packages via “formulas” and “casks” on your Linux.

        Homebrew is an open-source project for providing a package manager to macOS because there is no default package manager, unlike Linux systems. However, the Homebrew is also present for Linux, popularly known as Linux brew.

        The homebrew was started by Max Howell. In 2009 the first version of Homebrew was released. To use it the user either has to be on Linux or Mac. However, using homebrew on Linux doesn’t make sense because all of them almost come with their package manager.

        Nevertheless, Homebrew does several things, it can be used to install, uninstall and update software.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • Krita 5.0 is Here As a Last-Minute Christmas Gift From KDE

          Alongside GIMP, Krita is among the most powerful graphics creation applications for Linux. While most well-known for its digital painting features, it is also a capable image editor and piece of animation software. Now, with its brand-new 5.0 release, many of these various aspects of Krita have been improved.

          Let’s take a closer look!

          [...]

          Using a technique called dithering, it is now possible to give the illusion of a smooth gradient in the same bit depth. In simple terms, it means combining the colors of surrounding pixels that the eye interprets as a color out of the range of the bit depth.

    • Distributions

      • 11 Most Popular Linux distros of the year 2021- To use in 2022

        Well, the year 2021 is about to end in a few days, of course, let’s welcome 2022 with a warm heart. However, before stepping into it, let’s have a glimpse of the best Linux distributions in 2021, downloaded most so far.

        Over the past few years, Linux distros have gained quite popularity, and users are now switching to them; as more and more applications are now available for it. Also, due to partly restriction because of the pandemic, many people have been busy learning or relearning the unfamiliar features of Linux; or simply jumping from one distribution to another to test new features.

        Well, if you are finally thinking to experience some other Linux operating system apart from the one you have right now on your PC or Laptop, then here are some best distributions for 2021 to look forward to in 2022.

      • 7 Reasons Why I Use Pop!_OS Linux Distro as My Daily Driver - It's FOSS

        Pop!_OS is a popular recommendation for Linux beginners and gamers alike. But, what are some of the reasons that Pop!_OS stands out from other Ubuntu-based distros available? Why should you consider it as a daily driver for your computer?

        I switched to Pop OS from Ubuntu three years ago and it has been my daily driver since then.

        Let me point out the benefits of choosing it as the operating system of your choice.

      • New Releases

        • Rescuezilla 2.3 “Swiss Army Knife of System Recovery” Is Here, Based on Ubuntu 21.10

          Based on Ubuntu 21.10 (Impish Indri) and powered by Linux kernel 5.13, Rescuezilla 2.3 is here seven months after Rescuezilla 2.2 to implement several new features, such as basic image verification and a new “Rescue” option to ignore file system inconsistencies and bad sectors.

          Rescuezilla 2.3 also adds the ability to restore and explore images created by theApart GTK graphical user interface for partclone, improves the image scanning feature to fix incomplete restore image lists, and improves restoring of images created by FSArchiver or the qt-fsarchiver GUI.

        • Rescuezilla 2.3 Released

          Rescuezilla 2.2 is the latest version for the operating system that is popular for system recovery. Powered by Linux kernel 5.13 and based on Ubuntu 21.10 (Impish Indri). Rescuezilla can create backups that are fully compatible with the Clonezilla tool.

    • Devices/Embedded

      • Open Hardware/Modding

        • Raspberry Pi Mega Cluster Costs More Than $5,000 to Build | Tom's Hardware

          Just when you thought one Raspberry Pi was enough, Skynet Network stepped up with this awesome Raspberry Pi cluster project. According to Skynet Network, it’s dubbed the Raspberry Pi Mega Cluster and costs more than €£4,000 (approximately $5,372) to build.

          The best Raspberry Pi projects typically have at least one Pi but this one has 83. As impressive as that sounds, the original plan was to pack it full of 100 Raspberry Pis. However, network latency had too much impact on performance for that many to be practical.

    • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

      • Cerebro: Your Desktop Search Assistant for Windows, macOS, and Linux

        Searching your local machine for files is no fun, especially when the built-in search tools are not useful to look deeper into file types, locations, and content.

        But with Cerebro it is different. So, what is Cerebro?

        Cerebro is a multi-platform desktop app that helps the user to search their machine or the internet with no more than a few clicks.

        The app is created by Alexandr Subbotin a Russian developer, who also created several useful plugins. Later then, the app attracted many developers who supply it with more plugins and support.

      • InvoiceLion: your self-hosted open-source invoice manager

        InvoiceLion is a free, open-source invoicing software for freelancers or anyone who is issuing invoices for customers.

        Self-hosted means you can download, host, install, and use it on your server.

        InvoiceLion is created by twin freelance developers, who created it out of their need to automate invoice creation and production.

      • 10+ Open-source Single-Sign On (SSO) Solutions

        Single Sign-On (SSO) is a login service layer that allows users to sign in to multiple apps with a single login. Using SSO service to improve security, save the user from having to deal with multiple passwords, login sessions, and losing time.

        In contrast, SSO "Single-Sign-On" is an authentication and authorization process through one login interface, designed to increase security issues, increase employee productivity, and improve customer experience.

        It is the user first engagement layer for many FIM as IAM services.

      • 11 Best free, open-source personal information organizer and personal CRM systems.

        Unlike business-oriented CRM solutions, personal CRM applications are minimal versions of CRM aimed to help individual users organize their contacts.

        It is challenging to keep track or manually organize your contacts, events, and notes.

        A Personal CRM system is a minimal CRM app that helps you organize your contact, events, journals, and appointments in one software package.

        Some personal CRM solutions took it further by managing family members, tasks, chores, shopping lists, and more.

        Some may disagree with the term CRM "Customer Relationship Management", and they prefer to call it PRM "Personal Relationship Management", a solution.

      • AMIDE: Open-source, free DICOM viewer for volumetric imaging

        AMIDE is a feature-rich free, open-source program for viewing, analyzing, and registering volumetric medical imaging data sets.

        It is one of the oldest open-source, free DICOM software. It provided aid to doctors, and researchers on platforms like Linux and macOS since 2003.

      • 17 free, open-source Bullet Journal apps to boost your productivity

        Bullet Journal is a multipurpose productivity booster journal-taking method, The journal can be anything from a calendar, a goal tracker, a project manager, activity tracker, to a to-do list.

        Originally created by designer Ryder Carroll, Bullet Journal, or as some may refer to as BuJo or Bujo, became the favorite tool for creative people.

        In contrast, it is up to you to figure out what and how will you use it.

      • Web Browsers

        • Mozilla

          • 2021 Retrospection – The Mozilla Support Blog

            This is probably a moment where we usually say to ourselves how time flies so fast. Despite the pandemic and the uncertainty that lingers this year, I’m proud and grateful that this community managed to keep being awesome and accomplished many things this year. Through this post, I’d like us to take a moment to flashback and celebrate what we’ve accomplished this year.

      • Programming/Development

        • Java

          • Open-source software holds the key to solving Log4Shell-like problems

            Earlier this month, the existence of a critical vulnerability in Apache Log4j 2 was revealed and a PoC for it published. Dubbed Log4Shell, it’s an issue in a logging library for Java applications that is widely used across popular open-source projects and enterprise-grade back-end applications. Log4Shell introduced a critical security risk, scoring 10 out of 10 in severity.

  • Leftovers

    • Blues Resurrected: the Second Coming of T-99 Nelson

      But on this Independence Day evening at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Allen wisely chose to tone down (for him anyway) his attire. Even the flamboyant Allen knew there was no way he could compete with the splendor of the Cannonballs’ guest singer for the night, the Jimmy T99 Nelson, the greatest living blues shouter and one of the true progenitors of rock and roll.

      Midway through the Cannonballs’ rollicking set Nelson strolled onto the stage in a cerulean-colored suit that shimmered so brightly it looked as if it had just been painted by Raphael. Adorned with a captain’s cap and fighter pilot shades, T99 looked like he was ready to rock all night. And damned if he didn’t! Indeed, the 83-year old blues shouter dominated the stage not only with the Cannonballs, but with a host of other top-notch acts, including guitarist€ Duke Robillard, piano player€ Marcia Ball€ and harp master€ Paul DeLay, stealing the show at what has become one of the nation’s biggest blues festivals.

    • Anthropocene Joyride

      That evidence was the signature of radioactivity (Carbon-14) from nuclear bomb test fallout incorporated into tree rings for the year 1965 (within October to December) at all latitudes and longitudes. Atmospheric nuclear bomb explosions were set off from 1945 to, primarily, 1963. The peak of such activity was an orgy of bomb tests by the U.S. and USSR in 1962. [1]

      Prior to 1965 many species had had geographically limited impact on altering environments, like pre-columbian humans in North American making pastures out of forests in Appalachian valleys, herd animals making permanent migration trails, and grazing animals nibbling bush down to grasslands.

    • Macedonian Ramble: To Lord Byron's Hellespont

      This is the eleventh part in a series about a journey across what used to be called Macedonia, which is now divided among Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, and Turkey.

      About 19:30 the train ended its day at the station in Drama, where the remaining passengers huddled in the cold and then were assigned to one of two replacement buses, depending on their destination. I was on the bus for Alexandroupolis, now a forgotten northern Greek port but once fought over by Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

    • The Best Albums of 2021

      If we all felt lost at times this year, uncertain in the face of tentative hopes and looming unknowns, it was good to know we could call Tyler, the Creator. His lush and multifarious album Call Me If You Get Lost offers comfort, escape, inspiration, and pretty much everything else anyone living in 2021 could use. In music as in the rest of life, the high points of the past year came in smaller numbers and with less impact than we might have expected. Still, they came with impressive persistence in every style of work or genre. Here are my picks for the 10 best albums of 2021. (The listing is alphabetical by album title, not a ranking by descending order of quality, though the top project happens to be my top choice of the year, too.)

    • "I Think of Myself as Attached to California:” Interviewing Joan Didion

      Q: Your book,€ Where I Was From (2003),€ was recently reviewed in€ The New York Times Book Review. The title was “Giving Up On California.” Have you given up on your native state?

      A: No, I haven’t. Their title was far broader than any intention I ever had. But people in New York often hope that Californians give up on California.

    • The Best to You Each Morning
    • Holiday Season Top Reading Recommendations

      Major book awards and prizes rarely select books addressing corporate crimes and what to do about them.

      Not surprisingly, you rarely read about these books or see or hear about them on television and radio shows, including PBS and NPR. Corporate funders prefer convenient alternatives such as art, culture, history, and entertainment.

    • Why Christopher Hitchens Still Matters

      Christopher Hitchens died 10 years ago this month. Many young leftists remember “Hitch,” if at all, as a militant atheist who alternated between debating pastors on the existence of God and defending the war in Iraq.

    • Life Meets Fiction

      And it mirrors a striking resemblance to American politics today.

      I am re-reading “Lord of the Flies” for the first time since high school. It’s a better, more meaningful read as an adult.

    • A Christmas Story

      Jenny was awakened about ten o’clock on Christmas Eve by a noise coming from the living room downstairs. She knew that it was her mother and father putting the Christmas gifts under the tree and filling the stockings, so that in the morning they could claim it was all the work of Santa Claus. For a moment she laid in bed listening, huddling under the covers as the street light cast a cool glow through the window, illuminating a bedroom filled with dolls.

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • In October, White House Dismissed Proposal for 'Free Rapid Tests for the Holidays': Report

        As the€ highly transmissible and now-dominant Omicron variant drives a nationwide surge in coronavirus infections amid a period of widespread air travel, President Joe Biden said earlier this week that he wishes he "had thought about ordering" 500 million at-home tests "two months ago."

        But new reporting reveals that his administration in October was presented with—and rejected—a plan to scale up rapid testing before the holidays.

      • 'A Huge Deal': Biden Rebuffs Georgia's Medicaid Work Requirement—Last in US

        After the White House on Thursday rejected a proposal to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients in Georgia—the last state with a federal waiver permitting such restrictions—President Joe Biden received€ praise€ for "quietly erasing" one of his predecessor's "cruelest legacies."

        "The announcement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, delivered in a 79-page€ letter to Georgia's health agency, also reversed a federal waiver allowing the state to charge premiums for the health insurance program for the poor," according to€ the New York Times.

    • Integrity/Availability

      • Proprietary

        • Security

          • Log4j vulnerability now used to install Dridex banking malware

            When executed, the VBS file will check if the user is part of a Windows domain by checking various environment variables. If the user is part of a domain, the VBS file will download the Dridex DLL and execute it using Rundll32.exe, as shown below.

          • Investigation Shows Egyptian Government Hacked A Dissident's Phone Twice, Using Two Different Companies' Malware

            Citizen Lab has uncovered more state-level spying targeting political opponents and journalists. There's a twist to this one, though. One of those targeted had his phone infected by two forms of malware produced by two different companies. And yet another twist: both companies have their roots in Israel, which is home to at least 19 entities that develop phone exploits. Here's the summary from Citizen Lab:

          • Privacy/Surveillance

            • Pushing Back on Police Surveillance: 2021 Year in Review

              The San Francisco Board of Supervisors kicked off the year by voting unanimously in favor of special business districts—such as the Union Square Business Improvement District (USBID)—disclosing any new surveillance plans to the Board. The Board acted in the wake of an EFF investigation and lawsuit that exposed the San Francisco Police Department’s (SFPD) spying on last year’s Black-led protests against police violence. The SFPD monitored the demonstrations by using the USBID’s camera network.

              EFF welcomes the Board’s small step toward transparency, but the city continues to defend the SFPD’s unlawful surveillance. In October 2020, EFF sued the SFPD on behalf of three activists who helped organize last year’s protests in the city. This fall, EFF asked the court to rule that the SFPD violated the city’s landmark surveillance technology ordinance and to prohibit the SFPD from using the USBID cameras without prior Board approval. While the SFPD initially claimed it did not monitor the camera feed, an SFPD officer admitted during a deposition that she repeatedly looked at the camera feed during the eight days that the department had access.

              EFF is also in court to protect your privacy from Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs), which police use to amass large databases of location and other sensitive information on millions of drivers. In October, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of immigrant rights activists to stop the Marin County Sheriff in California from sharing its ALPR data with over 400 out-of-state agencies and 18 federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which violates two state laws.

            • Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald & Chris Hedges on NSA Leaks, Assange & Protecting a Free Internet

              NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Glenn Greenwald and Chris Hedges discuss mass surveillance, government secrecy, internet freedom and U.S. attempts to extradite and prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. They spoke together on a panel moderated by Amy Goodman at the virtual War on Terror Film Festival after a screening of “Citizenfour” — the Oscar-winning documentary about Snowden by Laura Poitras.

    • Defence/Aggression

      • The Great Myth of the ”Great“ American Military

        Professional sports is a cutthroat business. Succeed and the people running the show reap rich rewards. Fail to meet expectations and you get handed your walking papers. American-style war in the 21st century is quite a different matter.

      • Few Surprises for the Serious as January 6 “Commemoration” Nears

        Thanks in no small part to the investigation being carried out by the US House January 6 Commission, we will continue to learn new details about the specifics of the Capitol Riot that Donald Trump and his cronies instigated in a last-ditch effort to prevent the Congressional certification and inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president. Still, no serious political observer should have been surprised by the Attack on the Capitol. In May of 2016, the liberal New Yorker commentator Adam Gopnik issued what turned out to be a prophetic warning seven months before Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton:

        There is a simple formula for descriptions of Donald Trump: add together a qualification, a hyphen, and the word “fascist” …his personality and his program belong exclusively to the same dark strain of modern politics:€ an incoherent program of national revenge led by a strongman; a€ contempt for parliamentary government and procedures; an insistence that the existing, democratically elected government…is in league with evil outsiders and has been secretly trying to undermine the nation; a hysterical militarism designed to no particular end other than the sheer spectacle of strength; an equally hysterical sense of beleaguerment and victimization; and a supposed suspicion of big capitalism entirely reconciled to the worship of wealth and ‘success.’… The€ idea that it can be bounded in by honest conservatives in a Cabinet or restrained by normal constitutional limits€ is, to put it mildly, unsupported by history (emphasis added).

      • US and NATO Nuclear Lunacy Still Raving

        Before the Joint Chiefs took it down, Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists managed to preserve a copy. The manual relies on abstractions and euphemism to depict the unthinkable. It says, “The employment of nuclear weapons could have a significant influence on ground operations.” Of course “employment” means detonation, and “significant influence” means searing fireballs, vaporized victims, blast and shock-wave devastation, demolished hospitals and schools, vast firestorms, and permanent radioactive contamination of water, soil, and the food chain.

        The manual explains that nuclear attacks create “conditions” without describing them. It says, “Using nuclear weapons could create conditions for decisive results and the restoration of strategic stability.” Then, as if US presidents had never said, “Nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” the report pretends it can and should. “[T]he use of a nuclear weapon will…create conditions that affect how commanders will prevail in conflict.”

      • The Dead and the Living: Britain’s Dirty War in Northern Ireland

        Stephen Travers talked to me of that summer’s night in July 1975 and how everything he saw around him, paradoxically and surreally, seemed more vivid and silent, even momentarily beautiful, as he lay wounded in a field surrounded by the aftermath of violent death in Ulster’s very own heart of darkness.

        “They all died…I spent about forty-five minutes crawling around reassuring them that everything would be alright…we’d get back to the music…I remember whispering into Fran’s ear…But you don’t accept that type of – it’s… the horror.”

      • Republicans With Gun-Themed Xmas Photos Are Usual Recipients of Gun Lobby Cash
    • Environment

      • Climate Change Brings Health Risks

        The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that global warming and rainfall changes cause the loss of at least 150,000 lives every year. This figure could increase significantly if current trends of climate change continue. The WHO also states that the risk of death and disease from climate change will at least double in the next 20 years. Paradoxically, the countries that have least contributed to global warming are the most vulnerable to its negative consequences.

        Global warming can affect the health of populations both directly and indirectly. Direct effects can result from heat-related deaths or weather-caused disasters such as hurricanes and drought-related wildfires. Indirect effects can result from alterations in complex ecological processes such as changes in the patterns of infectious diseases, in the quantity and quality of domestic food production, and altered potable water supplies. Experts predict that receding waters in the Ganges River could affect the lives of 400 million people.

      • Activists Are Using the "Climate Necessity Defense" in Court — and Winning
      • Opinion | Climate Change Brings Serious Health Risks

        Much attention has been devoted in recent times to the environmental and economic effects of climate change. Much less attention, however, has been given to the possible effects of climate change, particularly global warming, on the health of the populations, particularly those from the poorest countries. This is a trend that requires prompt attention if the negative effects of climate change on health are to be avoided or minimized. According to some estimates, at least 1 in 6 people worldwide will suffer the consequences of climate change.

      • Opinion | Climate Justice Is Reproductive Justice

        More than ever, people of childbearing age are choosing not to have children. There are a variety of factors that go into this choice —€ wage stagnation, the housing market, civil unrest, COVID-19. But a common denominator heard among many in their 20s and beyond is grave concern over our climate trajectory. They're not wrong to be worried about what kind of climate and resources would be available for their potential kids.€ Climate justice is a crucial part of reproductive justice.

      • Wildlife/Nature

        • What is a Wilderness Without Its Wolves?

          The Wilderness Act defines Wilderness as a place where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by humankind, retains its primeval character and where natural conditions are preserved. Simply stated, Wilderness is meant to exist with minimal human interference. Yet within the vast majority of Wilderness areas, the wolf, the apex species with profound ecosystem influence, is now absent—an absence due entirely to the relentless killing by humankind.

          We need look no farther than Yellowstone National Park to witness the influence wolves have on an ecosystem. The park’s wolves were exterminated by the early 1900s, ostensibly to protect the park’s favored elk herds. What followed was not surprising—an overabundance of elk which led to deleterious impacts to vegetation, particularly lower elevation riparian and willow communities.

        • A Dark Day in Montana as Wildlife Officials Sink to New Lows

          This decision is sickening and yet it doesn’t even begin to tell the whole horrific situation that imperiled wolves and grizzly bears have faced all year in Montana. And the stakes are only getting more dangerous as a long, cold winter descends.

          This year’s start of the wolf trapping season was delayed in parts of western Montana to give threatened grizzly bears more time to safely reach their dens. Despite this, threatened species like grizzlies were not spared from the brutality of indiscriminate trapping.

        • Watch: Yle launches 'Bird table' live stream

          While the human hustle and bustle of the pre-Christmas rush has subsided, and a Christmas peace descends, a hustle and bustle of a different kind continues in yards and gardens across the country - especially if it contains a bird feeding table.

          "Finns are very active feeders of birds," Chief Curator of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Aleksi Lehikoinen told Yle.

          Although the exact numbers of bird feeders is difficult to gauge, an estimate can be deduced from the amount of bird food imported into Finland. The latest report from the Food Agency is from 2019.

          "More than ten million kilos of sunflower seeds and more than two million kilos of nuts are imported into Finland every year for the purpose of feeding wildlife," Lehikoinen said.

      • Overpopulation

        • Do We Dare Stop Being Afraid of Ourselves?

          We tell stories, which evolve into myths — and myths are what hold us together. They create the collective entity known as the human race.

          And myths evolve.

        • There’s Only One Essential Role Humans Have on Earth: a Humbler Perspective Could Save the World

          This is a planet of water in continuous circulation moving through many phases, with each phase intimately linked at every stage. It is the water in the sea, the lakes, the rivers, and the streams. It is the water flowing underground and deep, deep down inside the planet, locked in rock. It is the water in the atmosphere or encased in ice.

          And it is the water moving through each and every living cell of every plant and animal on the planet.

    • Finance

      • Opinion | Don't Let the Deeper Meaning of Christmas Be Lost in Materialism

        On Saturday, millions of people across the world will celebrate Christmas. Even with COVID-19 still plaguing the world, families will gather; bells will ring; music will be in the air. Each year, I use this column to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.

      • How Public Workers Can Stop The Privatization of Everything

        With no VA union members present, and only a few veterans or VA patients in the crowd to present an alternative view, the initial consensus of the group was that public provision of veterans’ healthcare was inferior to private sector treatment—a perspective clearly shaped by corporate media coverage of the VA and an ongoing conservative push for its partial privatization. Before the end of the session, participants had a far better understanding of the inter-relatedness of political attacks on public services and jobs, at all levels of government, and the need for greater labor-community solidarity to fend them off. As Cohen and his co-author Allen Mikaelian make clear in€ The Privatization of Everything: How The Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back€ (New Press),€ any private sector incursion into the public sector is not just somebody else’s problem, it’s an injury to all.

        In their new book, Cohen and Mikaelian, describe and debunk the vast array of privatization schemes that now litter the landscape, from private prisons and charter schools to for-profit water treatment and trash collection. “Corporations entrusted with public goods have been given the power to lock people up, force them into a parallel justice system, deny them life-saving treatments, place vital information behind paywalls, divert money from poverty programs to wealthy investors, tie the hands of governments, and undermine our constitutional rights.” There are now 2.6 times as many federal contract employees as there are direct employees of federal agencies.

      • Opinion | What I'm Getting the American Oligarchs This Year for Christmas

        Ho-ho-ho, wait till you hear about the gifts I gave to some of America's power elites for Christmas.

      • Investing In Our Destruction
      • Retail Workers Are Organizing for Safety and Dignified Pay Amid Holiday Rush
      • Special Privilege in Admission to Elite U.S. Colleges

        Consider the fact that, according to€ a recent study, only about 57 percent of Harvard’s white students were admitted on the basis of academic merit. The other 43 percent received special treatment because their parents had made large donations to Harvard, or they had parents who had graduated from the school (“legacy admissions”) or taught there, or were recruited as athletes. Without this preferential status, some three-quarters of them would have been rejected in the intense competition for admission.

        Actually, a preferential status for the privileged has long been€ a tradition€ in the top ranks of American higher education. During their first decades, elite colleges considered only wealthy white students as worthy of admission. Even by the end of the nineteenth century, their campuses were populated primarily by graduates of private high schools. In the early twentieth century, worried administrators, anxious to€ limit the number of Jews and other new immigrants, leaned increasingly upon legacy status, family donations, and athletic recruiting.

      • Organizers Are Building Solidarity Through Holiday Mutual Aid Work
      • The Good News in 2022 Will Be the Economy

        In recent weeks, inflation has been front and center in people’s minds as the media have given us endless stories about higher prices for gasoline, milk, and other items. Many have been convinced that inflation will only get higher, outstripping wages and leaving most workers worse off. This is not going to be the case.

        We now see inflation driven by supply chain problems associated with reopening. This is demonstrated by the fact that we see big jumps in inflation almost everywhere. € The United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and many other countries have all seen a rise in prices similar to what we see in the United States.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • Opinion | It's Not Too Late To Save Democracy. Senate Showdown On Voting Rights Coming In January

        2021 has been a very difficult year for the country, starting with the devastating impact of the coronavirus.

      • Report Spotlights Massive GOP Push to 'Hijack Elections in This Country'

        A detailed analysis published Thursday shines further light on the Republican Party's sprawling assault on voting rights and the democratic process nationwide, an effort that includes legislation that would "politicize, criminalize, and interfere" with elections.

        Compiled by the States United Democracy Center, Protect Democracy, and Law Forward, the new report identifies at least 262 bills in 41 states that—if enacted—would "interfere with election administration." More than 30 such measures have become law in 17 Republican-led states.

      • Fighting the Power From Inside the Belly of the Beast: an Interview With Dennis Kucinich

        Bernstein: € Welcome Congressman Kucinich.€  It is good to talk with you again. Let’s start here. You saw the corporate muscles flexed at the national level as a member of Congress and running for President.€  Would you say that what we’ve just seen—some would say we were just Manchined, but what we’ve just seen in terms of Manchin, a right-wing Democrat controlling, essentially the flow of policy in the United States, is this about corporate power?€  Is that still the problem?

        Kucinich: €  Well, you know, € that’s one level of analysis, but I’d like to kind of expand the discussion.€  What we’re seeing here with the deadlock over Build Back Better is truly a symptom of a nation that is sharply divided among political and ideological lines.€  I mean, the basic requirement of a nation is that there be an underlying consensus.€  So, unity and purpose and that’s been severely eroded and the consequences are catastrophic, because you have these kinds of divisions that we have right now. This puts the country on a decline.€  We have a hyper-partisanship that doesn’t serve any purpose and it’s not just about one party. It’s about both.€  They’ve both been sidetracked by campaign financing laws, which make the government an auction to the highest bidder. You cited corporations, but that’s kinda the way it is.

      • 'Not True': Sanders Counters Manchin's Bogus Inflation Argument Against Build Back Better

        Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday countered fellow Sen. Joe Manchin's€ recent€ Fox News€ appearance with an op-ed on the right-wing outlet's website aimed at rebutting the West Virginia Democrat's falsehood-laden talking points against the Build Back Better Act.

        "Manchin, the Republicans, and corporate America say this bill will add to our national debt and make inflation worse. Not true," wrote Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the Senate Budget Committee. "Unlike the bloated military budget that Manchin recently voted for, which adds $778 billion to the deficit this year alone and costs four times more than the Build Back Better Act over a 10-year period, the White House has said this bill is fully paid for" with tax hikes on the wealthy.

      • Sanders Takes Aim at Manchin's Argument Against Build Back Better: "Not True"
      • 30 Years Ago, the Soviet€ Union Collapsed, But Socialism Was Worth Saving

        Yet Soviet socialism had more economic successes than failures. The US-USSR comparison used to demonstrate “capitalism good, socialism bad” was apples-to-oranges, and should never have been accepted.

        British economist Angus Maddison estimates that in 1913 the US’ Gross Domestic Product per capita was the highest in the world at $5,301 (in 1990 dollars). That of the Russian Empire—the future USSR—was only $1,488–17th in world, less than Mexico. Sixty years later, the US figure had risen to $16,689 and the USSR’s to $6,059, the USSR narrowing the gap by 23%–a considerable achievement considering the extremely different circumstances faced by each nation.

      • Trump’s True North: President for Life

        Trump also publicly asked Russia in 2016 for campaign help, a request he soon dropped. This was no secret conspiracy, no hidden collusion. As his son said, they were too stupid for that. Instead, this was an open pitch for intervention. Which doesn’t mean Russians were so cretinous as to comply in any big way. But promoters of the phony Russiagate claptrap mysteriously lost sight of all that, priming the populace for an election fraud narrative and eroding faith in the electoral process.

        In his hegira from winner to loser, Trump snapped up whatever weapons were at hand along the way, and this disillusionment, caused by the Russiagate fraud, proved most useful. Trump consiglieri like Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani turned it on its head, claiming Venezuela and China tampered with voting machines, helping to steal Trump’s crown, while chief of staff Mark Meadows pursued more arcane charges of Italian meddling via space satellites. The Russiagate ruse turned out to be a can of worms.

      • Trump Thinks He’s Still President: What Is the Evidence?

        +The Obama-Biden union card check proposal was not on Mr. Trump’s political horizon, nor is it on that of the current occupant in the White House.

        +The current occupant is ramping up Trump’s unhinged Sino-phobic hallucinations, sanctioning 34 Chinese entities for development of “brain-control weaponry.” Not that the Chinese have been angels. In an egregious suppression of freedom of information, the inscrutable Orientals have made it more difficult for US spies to operate in their country.

      • Leftist Presidential Candidate’s Landslide Promises Clean Sweep of Pinochet’s Fascist Legacy

        Now we have a shining example of what needs to be done, in a country that had its own 9-11, but has finally turned things around.

        Chile, in fact, was the scene of a far more brutal and deadly 9-11 event that occurred on September 11, 1973, when the country’s military, under the direction of a fascist military leader named Augusto Pinochet, in a coup backed if not orchestrated by the US under President Richard Nixon and his then National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, overthrew the democratically elected and hugely popular Marxist President Salvador Allende Gossens, murdering him in the presidential palace and launching a reign of terror that saw thousands of Allende supporters murdered or disappeared.

      • The Greatest Honor of a Star: an Unforgettable Goal Against Pinochet

        An Unforgettable Goal Against Pinochet

        Among the images that come to us from September 11, 1973, the day of the military coup against Salvador Allende, among so many vivid images, one could rightly be of President Allende resisting in a helmet as a last resort, with some loyal militants at the gates of La Moneda palace. This image speaks of a democratic socialist, who by the strength of the ballot box thought he had the power, who is destroyed in the end, defeated with the greatest eloquence of bombs and crime.

      • Leaked files expose Syria psyops veteran astroturfing BreadTube star to counter Covid restriction critics
      • Democratic Progress in Honduras, Set Backs in El Salvador

        The two countries have taken a 180-degree turn and are now immersed in very different political trends.

        During the past decade, El Salvador and Honduras went in opposite directions.

      • Suyapa Portillo Villeda on Honduran Election
      • Wisconsin Republican Vote Fraud

        They should each spend time in a witness stand explaining how and why they tried to bamboozle America. Criminal charges are possible, but no charges have been filed, yet.

        Throughout the history of America there have been occasions of lowly in-the-gutter personality types that cheat the American public by rigging an election, but in this particular case 10 low-lifes acted in concert to deceive America. They’re considered pillars of the Wisconsin Republican Party.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

    • Monopolies

      • The Future is in Interoperability Not Big Tech: 2021 in Review

        We’ve been here before. EFF’s been fighting tech abuses for 30 years, and we’re used to real tech problems giving rise to nonsensical legal “solutions,” that don’t address the problem - or make it worse. There’s been some of that (okay, there’s been a lot of that).

        But this year, something new happened: lawmakers, technologists, public interest groups, and regulators around the world converged on an idea we’re very fond of around here: interoperability.

        There’s a burgeoning, global understanding that the internet doesn’t have to be five giant websites, each filled with text from the other four. Sure, tech platforms have “network effects” on their side - meaning that the more they grow, the more useful they are. Every iPhone app is a reason to buy an iPhone; every person who buys an iPhone is a reason to create a new iPhone app. Likewise, every Facebook user is a reason to join Facebook (in order to socialize with them) and every time someone joins Facebook, they become a reason for more people to join.

      • 'Don't Cross the Picket Line': Apple Workers Organize Christmas Eve Walkout

        A group of Apple employees organized a Christmas Eve walkout, demanding better working conditions and calling on customers to not shop in the tech giant's retail or online stores.

        "We are Apple," Apple Together, the group organizing the walkout, tweeted Thursday. "We deserve a respectful workplace. We deserve paid sick time. We deserve protection on the frontlines. We deserve proper mental healthcare."

      • Patents

      • Copyrights

        • Nintendo Wins High Court Injunction to Block Access to Pirated Switch ROMs

          In an effort to restrict access to pirated ROMs illegally made available for its Switch console, Nintendo has obtained a UK High Court injunction against six internet service providers. Targeted against ROM portals with NSW2U and NSWROM branding, the two-year blocking order requires BT, Virgin, Sky, TalkTalk and others to block the sites after they failed to respond to infringement complaints.

        • "Strike 3" Filed Over 1,900 Online Piracy Lawsuits in the U.S. in 2021

          Strike 3 Holdings is continuing its quest against alleged BitTorrent pirates in U.S. courts. The adult entertainment company is the only prolific 'copyright troll' still left in the country and over the past months has filed over 1,900 lawsuits. Most cases have already been closed, with many being settled outside of court.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Amid Online Reports of XBox Sales Collapsing, Mass Layoffs in More Teams, and Windows Making Things Worse (Admission of Losses, Rumours About XBox Canceled as a Hardware Unit)...
Windows has loads of issues, also as a gaming platform
 
Consent & Debian's illegitimate constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The Time Our Server Host Died in a Car Accident
If Debian has internal problems, then they need to be illuminated and then tackled, at the very least in order to ensure we do not end up with "Deadian"
China's New 'IT' Rules Are a Massive Headache for Microsoft
On the issue of China we're neutral except when it comes to human rights issues
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 27, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 27, 2024
WeMakeFedora.org: harassment decision, victory for volunteers and Fedora Foundations
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 27/03/2024: Terrorism Grows in Africa, Unemployment in Finland Rose Sharply in a Year, Chinese Aggression Escalates
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2024: Ericsson and Tencent Layoffs
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2024: BBC Resorts to CG Cruft, Akamai Blocking Blunders in Piracy Shield
Links for the day
Android Approaches 90% of the Operating Systems Market in Chad (Windows Down From 99.5% 15 Years Ago to Just 2.5% Right Now)
Windows is down to about 2% on the Web-connected client side as measured by statCounter
Sainsbury's: Let Them Eat Yoghurts (and Microsoft Downtimes When They Need Proper Food)
a social control media 'scandal' this week
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Windows/Client at Microsoft Falling Sharply (Well Over 10% Decline Every Quarter), So For His Next Trick the Ponzi in Chief Merges Units, Spices Everything Up With "AI"
Hiding the steep decline of Windows/Client at Microsoft?
Free technology in housing and construction
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
We Need Open Standards With Free Software Implementations, Not "Interoperability" Alone
Sadly we're confronting misguided managers and a bunch of clowns trying to herd us all - sometimes without consent - into "clown computing"
Microsoft's Collapse in the Web Server Space Continued This Month
Microsoft is the "2%", just like Windows in some countries
Links 26/03/2024: Inflation Problems, Strikes in Finland
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Losing Children, Carbon Tax Discussed
Links for the day
Mark Shuttleworth resigns from Debian: volunteer suicide and Albania questions unanswered, mass resignations continue
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 26/03/2024: 6,000 Layoffs at Dell, Microsoft “XBox is in Real Trouble as a Hardware Manufacturer”
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Microsofters Still Trying to 'Extend' Gemini Protocol
Links for the day
Look What IBM's Red Hat is Turning CentOS Into
For 17 years our site ran on CentOS. Thankfully we're done with that...
The Julian Paul Assange Verdict: The High Court Has Granted Assange Leave to Appeal Extradition to the United States, Decision Adjourned to May 20th Pending Assurances
The decision is out
The Microsoft and Apple Antitrust Issues Have Some But Not Many Commonalities
gist of the comparison to Microsoft
ZDNet, Sponsored by Microsoft for Paid-for Propaganda (in 'Article' Clothing), Has Added Pop-Up or Overlay to All Pages, Saying "813 Partners Will Store and Access Information on Your Device"
Avoiding ZDNet may become imperative given what it has turned into
Julian Assange Verdict 3 Hours Away
Their decision is due to be published at 1030 GMT
People Who Cover Suicide Aren't Suicidal
Assange didn't just "deteriorate". This deterioration was involuntary and very much imposed upon him.
Overworking Kills
The body usually (but not always) knows best
Former Red Hat Chief (CEO), Who Decided to Leave the Company Earlier This Month, Talks About "Cloud Company Red Hat" to CNBC
shows a lack of foresight and dependence on buzzwords
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 25, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 25, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Discord Does Not Make Money, It's Spying on People and Selling Data/Control (38% is Allegedly Controlled by the Communist Party of China)
a considerable share exists
In At Least Two Nations Windows is Now Measured at 2% "Market Share" (Microsoft Really Does Not Want People to Notice That)
Ignore the mindless "AI"-washing
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Still Has Hundreds of Thousands of Simultaneously-Online Unique Users
The scale of IRC