Links 14/05/2024: Microsoft Edelman Works for Climate Change Deniers, NATO Draws a Cyber Red Line in Tensions With Russia
Contents
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Leftovers
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Science
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-05-08 [Older] The reconstruction of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman’s face makes her look quite friendly – there’s a problem with that
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-05-09 [Older] Why evolution often favours small animals and other organisms
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-05-10 [Older] Small but mighty, plankton are some of the most powerful creatures on Earth
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The Conversation ☛ 2024-05-09 [Older] Is dark matter’s main rival theory dead? There’s bad news from the Cassini spacecraft and other recent tests
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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Defence/Aggression
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NL Times ☛ 2024-05-10 [Older] Eurovision suspends Joost Klein after physical altercation with photographer: Report
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Green Party UK ☛ 2024-05-10 [Older] Greens call for safe and legal routes
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Democracy Now ☛ NYPD Kills Bangladeshi Teen Win Rozario After He Calls 911 for Help, as His Mom Pleads for His Life
The police fatal shooting of Win Rozario, a 19-year-old Bangladeshi teen who lived in Queens, New York, has set off protests and demands for justice from the family. Rozario had called 911 in late March asking for help as he experienced a mental health crisis, but two New York police officers who arrived at the family’s home shot him at least four times within minutes after entering the Rozario residence. The NYPD claimed Rozario “came at” the officers with a pair of scissors when they fired at him, but police body-camera footage shows he was standing on the other side of the kitchen, several feet away from the officers, as his mother desperately tried to shield her son. “He needed help, and what they did instead was kill him,” says New York City Councilmember Shahana Hanif, who represents the city’s 39th Council District. She also discusses progressives’ ongoing efforts to pass a ceasefire resolution at City Council to demand an end to the war in Gaza, as well as Mayor Eric Adams’s crackdown on asylum seekers.
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Democracy Now ☛ The Killing of Roger Fortson: Police Shoot Dead Black Airman After Entering Wrong Home
We speak with civil rights attorney Ben Crump about the police killing of Roger Fortson, a Black 23-year-old Air Force member who was fatally shot by a Florida police officer mere moments after opening the door of his apartment. Fortson’s family says the police had arrived at the wrong home and that Fortson had grabbed his legal firearm as a precaution. Police body-camera footage shows Fortson answered the door with his gun at his side, not posing an imminent threat to the officer, who immediately shot Fortson six times. “The Second Amendment applies to Black people, too,” says Crump, who has represented victims of police violence in many high-profile cases. The police claim that officers were responding to a domestic dispute is contradicted by the fact that Fortson was home alone, Crump says. “They need to go ahead and admit that it was the wrong apartment and quit trying to justify this unjustifiable killing.”
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Pro Publica ☛ Mississippi Lawmakers Move to Limit Jail Detentions During Civil Commitment
Mississippi lawmakers have overhauled the state’s civil commitment laws after Mississippi Today and ProPublica reported that hundreds of people in the state are jailed without criminal charges every year as they wait for court-ordered mental health treatment.
Right now, anyone going through the civil commitment process can be jailed if county officials decide they have no other place to hold them. House Bill 1640, which Gov. Tate Reeves signed Wednesday, would limit the practice. It says people can be jailed as they go through the civil commitment process only if they are “actively violent” and for a maximum of 48 hours. It requires the mental health professional who recommends commitment to document why less-restrictive treatment is not an option. And before paperwork can be filed to initiate the commitment process, a staffer with a local community mental health center must assess the person’s condition.
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Site36 ☛ Springer’s Palestine pranger: German tabloids denounce university members for their call for reflection
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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France24 ☛ Putin defence minister shake-up a sign of plans for ‘long confrontation’ with West
President Vladimir Putin's nomination of top economic official Andrei Belousov as defence minister is a sign of the importance the Russian leader places on the war economy in gaining the upper hand in what he expects will be a long conflict against Ukraine, analysts say.
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New York Times ☛ Putin’s New Defense Minister Signals Russia’s Plan for a Long War in Ukraine
In his first public appearance as the newly appointed defense minister, Andrei R. Belousov spoke about veterans’ benefits and overcrowded hospitals rather than a new offensive in Ukraine.
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Meduza ☛ ‘Just one question: who is he?’ How Russia’s pro-war bloggers reacted to Putin’s sudden replacement of Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu — Meduza
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European Commission ☛ EU extends trade support to Ukraine for one more year *
European Commission Press release Brussels, 13 May 2024 The suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports to the European Union will be extended for another year, following today's adoption by the Council and April 23 vote in the European Parliament.
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Security Week ☛ NATO Draws a Cyber Red Line in Tensions With Russia
Weakening liberal democracies and weakening the NATO alliance are conjoined in the hybrid war that Russia is conducting against Ukraine.
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France24 ☛ Blinken visits Ukraine in show of US support as Russian attacks intensify
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support as it struggles to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks.
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LRT ☛ EU must start ‘real’ accession talks with Ukraine, Moldova this summer – Lithuanian PM
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has urged the European Union to open “real” membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova by July.
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RFERL ☛ Ukraine's Kharkiv Front Commander Replaced
Ukrainian media reports say the commander responsible for the defense of the northeastern Kharkiv front, General Yuriy Halushkin, has been replaced by General Mykhaylo Drapatiy.
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RFERL ☛ Heavy Fighting Continues In Kharkiv As Russia Tries to Stretch Ukrainian Forces
Ukraine's military says Russian forces have stepped up the large-scale assault on the border region of Kharkiv and the situation in the area of the town of Vovchansk has become very difficult, prompting the evacuation of the inhabitants of the small town.
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RFERL ☛ Five Ukrainians In Crimea Receive Lengthy Prison Sentences On Espionage Charges
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on May 13 that the Moscow-installed Supreme Court of Ukraine's Crimea region sentenced five Ukrainian citizens to prison terms of between 11 and 16 years on espionage charges.
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New York Times ☛ As Russia Advances on Kharkiv, Ukraine Faces Shortages of Weapons and Troops
Ukraine’s forces are stretched thin and have minimal reserves to draw on, the chief of military intelligence said, in addition to shortages of weapons.
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New York Times ☛ Blinken Arrives in Ukraine Amid Russian Military Gains
The Biden administration had warned for months that the delay by Congress to approve an aid package would leave the Ukrainians vulnerable.
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France24 ☛ Blinken visits Ukraine, shows US solidarity as Russian attacks intensify
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support as it struggles to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks.
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France24 ☛ Threats against NGO leaders multiply as Georgia green lights ‘Russian law’ for final vote
A decisive vote on Tuesday could see the final adoption of a law, dubbed the “Russian law” by critics, that targets civil society organisations and independent media in Georgia that receive foreign funding. For ten days now, the pro-Russian government in power in Tbilisi has made no secret of its intention to use force to impose the law as a means to silence opponents.
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France24 ☛ Georgians protest in last-ditch effort to block controversial ‘Russian law’
Hundreds of young Georgians crowded outside the Caucasus country's parliament on Monday after a night-long demonstration against a controversial "foreign influence" law that critics say was inspired by repressive Russian legislation.
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RFERL ☛ Kremlin Approves Bill Expanding 'Undesirable' Tag To State-Funded Organizations
The Russian government on May 13 approved a bill allowing it to label any foreign organization, including those established by a government, as an "undesirable organization."
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RFERL ☛ Father Of Rights Defender In Exile Detained In Moscow
The Memorial human rights group says the father of the group's self-exiled member, Konstantin Konoplyanko, was detained in Moscow on May 12 on unspecified charges.
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RFERL ☛ Floods Caused By Mass Snowmelt Continue In Russia, Kazakhstan
A state of emergency was introduced in the Siberian region of Yakutia on May 13 after four local villages were hit by floods. Residents of four other Siberian villages in the Omsk region were evacuated on May 12 over as water level in the Irtysh River went up dramatically.
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Marcy Wheeler ☛ The Cultivation of Don Jr: A Framework to Think of the Russian Attack
With the 2016 attack, Russia didn't need cooperation from Trump's people (though they got it from at least Manafort and Stone and idiot who proved useful Don Jr). They just needed to make any already improbable conciliation impossible, impossible politically and impossible for a Narcissist like Trump to do.
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teleSUR ☛ Russia: Belousov Replaces Shoigu as Defense Minister
Russian armed forces made significant gains in the Kharkov region after capturing four settlements.
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Meduza ☛ Russian authorities arrest Defense Ministry personnel chief Yuri Kuznetsov — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Explosion causes apartment building in Russia’s Belgorod to partially collapse, killing 15 — Meduza
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Latvia ☛ Illegal migrant group caught in Baldone, Latvia
Border guards, while inspecting information about suspicious individuals, detained a group of 12 on the grounds of Baldone sanatorium on Monday, May 13. 11 Indian citizens and one Pakistani citizen had crossed the Latvian-Belarusian border illegally, the border Guard told the media in a statement.
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Environment
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Green Party UK ☛ 2024-05-09 [Older] Greens call for nature protection in wake of river report
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Green Party UK ☛ 2024-05-08 [Older] Greens call for action on rooftop solar as new temperature records broken
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New York Times ☛ Cold Lava and Floods Kill 37 on Indonesian Island of Sumatra
Heavy rain on the island of Sumatra caused torrents of rock and ash to flow down a volcano and into nearby towns. At least 17 people were still missing.
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Energy/Transportation
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CBC ☛ 2024-05-10 [Older] Flair Airlines CEO bullish on future of discount airlines. Others aren't so sure
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DeSmog ☛ Edelman and Shell Renew Their Global PR Deal [Ed: Edelman, which Microsoft uses to bribe bloggers and infiltrate (attack) "Linux" Foundation]
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DeSmog ☛ State Agency Met with Oil-by-Rail Firm in Private Ahead of Permit Application
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Wildlife/Nature
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The Revelator ☛ Conservation Works — and Science Just Proved It
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-05-10 [Older] In the Peruvian Amazon, Iquitos Searches for Paths to Development
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Finance
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CBC ☛ 2024-05-10 [Older] Canada unexpectedly added 90,000 jobs in April, though unemployment stayed flat at 6.1% [Ed: Misleading numbers as only about 65% of Canadian adults actually work; this means 35% or more do not]
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Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] What the Decline of Lean Production Means for Workers
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CoryDoctorow ☛ 2024-05-06 [Older] Pluralistic: Amazon illegally interferes with an historic UK warehouse election (06 May 2024)
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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CBC ☛ 2024-05-11 [Older] B.C. village residents mull moving out amid council dysfunction
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FAIR ☛ The Media Mogul Trying to Buy Baltimore’s Mayoral Race
Smith heads up the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and if Sinclair rings a bell, it’s likely from the Orwellian splash the network made six years ago when it required anchors at its local TV stations across the country to read from the same Trump-like anti-media script. This departure from journalistic norms was far from a one-off for Smith or his family’s network, which has quietly become the second-largest in the country, owning or operating 294 TV stations in 89 markets across the country.
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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Gizmodo ☛ 2024-05-08 [Older] Good Luck Watching Fallout Now That Amazon Prime Video Will Have Even More Ads
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Make Tech Easier ☛ 2024-05-09 [Older] Get Ready for More Ads on Amazon Prime Video
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The New York Times flubs it discussing COVID-19 vaccine injury
Those of us who have been writing about medical misinformation, disinformation, and quackery are very familiar with a certain type of story or anecdote frequently presented by those who have lost faith in science-based medicine to argue for unproven and unscientific medical claims. One example is the person with a longstanding and often vague constellation of health symptoms that conventional medicine has not dealt with well and often cannot explain who becomes convinced that the cause is something like chronic Lyme disease, “adrenal fatigue” (as opposed to the real disease adrenal insufficiency), “electromagnetic sensitivity,” or any of the number of other fake diagnoses that quacks use to offer these patients hope when conventional medicine is struggling. (Similar stories used to abound for “vaccine injury,” as well.) Besides the inexplicable symptoms, a key component of these anecdotes is that “conventional” medical doctors are portrayed as, at best, ignoring their stories or, at worse, being dismissive of their symptoms and suffering, sometimes haughtily and even contemptuously so. (Worse, sometimes they are not exaggerating by much.) Before the pandemic, another common example of these sorts of stories consisted of parents—like Jenny McCarthy—who were utterly convinced that vaccines had been the cause of their child’s autism and treated even gentle attempts to persuade them that copious existing science does not support such a link angrily, as though doctors were denying their knowledge. Such stories, unsurprisingly, make for compelling human-interest stories and long before the pandemic sometimes tripped up journalists into giving too much credence to pseudoscientific diagnoses like CLD, vaccine-induced autism, and electromagnetic insufficiency, often based on the question, “What else could be causing these symptoms?”
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Censorship/Free Speech
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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EFF ☛ Victory! FCC Closes Loopholes and Restores Net Neutrality
The FCC’s initial order had a narrow interpretation of throttling that could have allowed ISPs to create so-called fast lanes, speeding up access to certain sites and services and effectively slowing down other traffic flowing through your network. The order’s bright line rule against throttling now explicitly bans this kind of conduct, finding that the “decision to speed up ‘on the basis of Internet content, applications, or services’ would ‘impair or degrade’ other content, applications, or services which are not given the same treatment.” With this language, the order both hews more closely to the 2015 Order and further aligns with the strong protections Californians already enjoy via California’s net neutrality law.
As we celebrate this victory, it is important to remember that net neutrality is more than just bright line rules against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization: It is the principle that ISPs should treat all traffic coming over their networks without discrimination. Customers, not ISPs, should decide for themselves how they would like to experience the internet. EFF–standing with users, innovators, creators, public interest advocates, libraries, educators and everyone else who relies on the open internet–will continue to champion this principle.
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EFF ☛ Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"
One DMA rule forces the powerful “gatekeeper” tech companies to allow third-party app stores. That means that you, the owner of a device, can decide who you trust to provide you with software for it.
Another rule requires those tech gatekeepers to offer interoperable gateways that other platforms can plug into - so you can quit using a chat client, switch to a rival, and still connect with the people you left behind (similar measures may come to social media in the future).
There’s a rule banning “self-preferencing.” That’s when platforms push their often inferior, in-house products and hide superior products made by their rivals.
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Patents
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Kangaroo Courts
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IP Kat ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] [UPCKat] Preliminary injunctions in the UPC: Edwards Lifesciences v Meril [Ed: UPC is illegal, but former Bristows propagandist keeps promoting this illegality, trying to legitimise what's basically corruption, a crime, kangaroo court]
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Trademarks
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TTAB Blog ☛ In a Split Decision, TTAB Reverses Mere Descriptiveness Refusal of ARBATA for Tea Despite the Word's Lithuanian Meaning
The USPTO refused to register the mark ARBATA for "tea" on the ground of mere descriptiveness, relying on the doctrine of foreign equivalents: the word "arbata" means "tea" in Lithuanian. Applicant MJ Cobalt, LLC argued that the doctrine should not apply because Lithuanian is not a "common" language in the United States. The panel majority agreed, finding it "very unlikely that the ordinary American consumer of tea would 'stop and translate [ARBATA] into its English equivalent.'" The dissent criticized the majority's "sole emphasis on [a] statistical analysis" and its reliance on precedents dealing with likelihood of confusion rather than descriptiveness or genericness. In re MJ Cobalt, LLC, Serial No. 97673097 (May 9, 2024) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Christopher C. Larkin, dissent by Judge Angela Lykos).
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Copyrights
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Torrent Freak ☛ Google Requests Default Judgment Against DMCA Scammers
Google's lawsuit against two men who it accuses of 'weaponizing' DMCA takedown notices is entering its final stage. The defendants allegedly targeted tens of thousands of URLs with fraudulent notices. Since the defendants failed to respond, Google now requests a default judgment at a California federal court. The company doesn't seek any money, but wants to put an end to the abusive and fraudulent actions.
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Torrent Freak ☛ Kim Dotcom Expects New Raid & Bail Revocation After "Secret Orders" Issued in U.S.
To avoid spending decades in a U.S. prison, last summer Megaupload coders Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk received sentences of 2.5 years in New Zealand as part of a plea deal. Kim Dotcom says the men are already free after providing "false confessions" for use against him. After eight years, the criminal case against him in the U.S. showed action recently, with secret orders handed down by the court. Dotcom predicts a new raid and revocation of his bail.
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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