Leftovers

• The Local SE ☛ How to watch Swedish Lucia celebrations if you live outside of Sweden

  The easiest way to join in on December 13th is by watching Swedish public broadcaster SVT's Lucia programme on SVT Play. You can watch it from anywhere in the world.

• New York Times ☛ Why Some U.K. Pubs Are Running Out of Guinness

  The black liquid has surged in popularity on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean in the past year. Once seen as an old-timer’s beer, it has recently become a Gen Z darling, thanks to savvy marketing, celebrity endorsements and a viral drinking challenge. Influencers and ordinary drinkers alike have been trying to “split the G,” which means drinking enough in one chug to leave the foam scything the first letter of the branded pint glasses.

• Los Angeles Times ☛ The cursed Bahia Emerald ruins lives. Or is something else to blame?

  “Bahia Emerald” is a misnomer because it is not one gem but nine dazzling crystals encased in a rough black rock 30 inches wide and 33 inches high. Each crystal is as thick as a Coke bottle, and one is believed to be the largest single emerald ever found.

• Yukinu ☛ How I Choose Software

  How do you choose which apps to use? Applications are designed to solve particular problems, with many applications having an overlap in the goals that they attempt to solve. For example, RSS clients are designed to allow users to subscribe to and read RSS news feeds. The basic functionality is the same across all readers (subscribe and read), with variations on more advanced features. So then, how do you pick an RSS client from the many that are available?

  In this article, I'll discuss 2 approaches for choosing applications, focusing on what I've observed to be the approach most commonly used by people, and then discussing my own personal method. As always, there are pros and cons to each approach, and so I don't necessarily advocate for using my method (as you'll see, it's complex). Nevertheless, I believe that finding a middle ground between these two approaches, by dashing a bit on logic on top of your existing app choosing approach, can add a lot of value in the long term. After all, learning an application requires a time investment, and making better decisions early on can return a bigger payoff down the road.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Our Sun Could Be Overdue For a Violent Superflare, Study Warns

    By looking for stars like our Sun – G-type yellow dwarfs – and hoping to catch some of them in the act of flaring, researchers could estimate the frequency of large-scale events. There's just one problem: we can't always easily measure the rotation rates of these stars, and since rotation might be linked to flare activity, the information we obtain from them is incomplete.

  • Science Alert ☛ We've Probably Been Wrong About T. Rex Again, Study Says

    "The possibility that T. rex might have been as intelligent as a baboon is fascinating and terrifying, with the potential to reinvent our view of the past," explained University of Southampton paleontologist Darren Naish when the new results were published in April.

    "But our study shows how all the data we have is against this idea."

    Led by zoologist Kai Caspar from Heinrich Heine University in Germany, the researchers found that the brain size measurements in the 2023 study were inaccurate, inflating estimates on the number of neurons the prehistoric reptiles could fit in their noggin, particularly in the forebrain.

  • Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ South Africa is falling behind in weather forecasting technology

    The South African Weather Service (Saws), a government agency, gives daily guidance on potentially catastrophic weather systems in Southern African countries. For short-range forecasts (up to six hours), meteorological services like Saws rely on weather radars and satellite information. For just about everything else, high-performance computing (HPC) is crucial.

    Observations (data) from weather stations and the upper atmosphere are used as input for models (codes). The ageing Cray XC30 supercomputer in use by Saws is decrepit and lacks the capacity to store weather radar data.

• Career/Education

  • California State University Northridge ☛ Tips For Parents: Enhancing Home Education With Online School Resources – Daily Sundial

    With the growing availability of online school resources, parents have more flexibility than ever in shaping their children’s education at home. These resources enable parents to create customized learning experiences that align with their children’s specific needs, abilities, and interests.

    However, using these resources effectively requires thoughtful planning and an understanding of how best to incorporate them into a balanced and engaging home education environment. This guide will help you manage these tools with useful tips. Learn how to enhance your child’s educational journey through structured learning, creative exploration, and proper time management.

  • Annie Mueller ☛ I will trade you this muddy shitball for that shiny marble - annie's blog

    Reading Lou’s recent post on delight got me thinking. There’s a phrase I started repeating to myself at a time when literally everything had been falling apart for a while and was continuing to fall apart in new and even worse ways: [...]

  • New York Times ☛ What Happened to the Tech Industry’s ‘Perks Culture’?

    But widespread industry layoffs and an expensive pivot to building artificial intelligence led to a decline of perks culture. Tech companies have started scaling back on the goodies that differentiated their workplaces.

  • The Korea Times ☛ Library on unification and North Korea to open in Goyang in 2027

    A four-story library specializing in unification and North Korea will open in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, in 2027, the unification ministry said Friday.

    Construction of the unification information center will begin Monday with a total budget of 48.4 billion won ($33.8 million), aiming to launch it in the first half of 2027, according to the ministry.

  • Society for Scholarly Publishing ☛ The Society for Scholarly Publishing Announces the EPIC Awards

    Last month, the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) proudly launched the EPIC (Excellence in Publishing, Information Technology and Communications) Awards, celebrating outstanding achievements throughout our industry. This inaugural awards program recognizes the valuable work invested in accomplishments that help our community remain adaptable in the face of exciting trends and emerging challenges.

    The program commemorates contributions in five key disciplines central to scholarly publishing: tools and products, publications, marketing, media, and visionary initiatives. Each of these disciplines has several subcategories that honor the diverse, creative, inclusive, and equitable approaches to advance that particular area. We invite SSP members, nonmembers, and scholarly publishing adjacent industries to submit their works for consideration. You can find out more about the categories below: [...]

  • The Hill ☛ Air Force Academy sued over race-conscious admissions

    Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging the academy was violating the Fifth Amendment in using race as a factor in its admission process.

  • New York Times ☛ University of Michigan May Fire D.E.I. Official Over Antisemitism Claim

    The administrator, Rachel Dawson, was director of the university’s office of academic multicultural initiatives. She was accused of saying in a conversation at a conference in March that the university was “controlled by wealthy Jews,” according to documents obtained by The New York Times through a freedom of information request.

    She was also accused of saying that Jewish students were “wealthy and privileged” and not in need of her office’s diversity services, and that “Jewish people have no genetic DNA that would connect them to the land of Israel,” according to the documents, which were part of a complaint from the Anti-Defamation League of Michigan.

  • Lou Plummer ☛ Why I Am a History Fan

    I don't know if those who forget history are really condemned to repeat it. Having always been interested in the past, I am amazed when I encounter intelligent people who can't tell you the decade in which the majority of World War Two was fought. Some can't tell you who was president of the US when they were born. I can't even wrap my mind around being able to name who a pop star is married to while not knowing basic historical facts. I interpret almost everything that is currently happening in the world through a historical lens. I can't imagine functioning without being able to do that. That’s just me.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Army slashes popular credentialing assistance benefit in half

    In an effort to curb the rising costs of the service’s extremely popular Credentialing Assistance program, Army officials are slashing the benefit in half and limiting soldiers to one credential a year and no more than three credentials in ten years.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • International Business Times ☛ NHS Battles Rise In Inbreeding-Related Consequences As MPs Mull Banning First-Cousin Marriages

    He also drew attention to international data, noting that in Pakistan, where approximately 65% of marriages are between first cousins, the prevalence of the blood disorder thalassaemia is 7%, compared to a global average of 1%.

    Holden has called for the UK to align its marriage laws with modern health standards, framing the proposal as a necessary step to prevent avoidable suffering. However, opposition from certain quarters remains strong.

    Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed argued that cousin marriages can strengthen family bonds and provide financial stability, though he acknowledged the associated health risks.

  • Lou Plummer ☛ There Are No Vigilante Armies Being Formed - Yet

    In the 60s, the folk singer, Phil Ochs recorded a scathing song called Love Me, I'm a Liberal. Its lyrics are dated now with references to people long forgotten, but its spirit lives on. It jabs at people who want change, as long as it isn't messy. I wonder what exactly the pearl clutching crowd thinks it's going to take to get the kind of change we need to our healthcare system. Do they think that all those billionaires Trump is appointing to government positions are going to suddenly give a shit about sick middle-class and poor people? I suspect most of them have never experienced anything more than a slight inconvenience when it comes to the for-profit healthcare system.

  • Omicron Limited ☛ The secret to living to 110? Bad record-keeping, researcher says

    Contrary to what one might expect, he found that supercentenarians tended to come from areas with poor health, high levels of poverty—and bad record-keeping.

    The true secret to extreme longevity seems to be to "move where birth certificates are rare, teach your kids pension fraud and start lying", Newman said as he accepted an Ig Nobel prize, a humorous version of the Nobel, in September.

  • The Verge ☛ Texas sues New York doctor for prescribing telemedicine abortion pills

    Texas is suing a New York doctor for prescribing mifepristone and misoprostol — the pills used for medication abortion — to a Texas resident via telemedicine, an alleged violation of the state’s strict abortion law.

  • La Prensa Latina ☛ Cambodia bans energy drink sales at schools

    Phnom Penh, Dec 13 (Prensa Latina) Prohibiting the sale, consumption, and advertising of energy drinks within and around educational institutions in Cambodia was welcomed by public health experts in this capital on Thursday.

  • The Age AU ☛ When a 10-year-old wants a $40 lip balm

    My 10-year-old daughter, standing expectantly next to me, was carrying a blue wallet in which she’d squirrelled a surprisingly large wad of cash: a few $50 notes from grandparents for Christmas and birthdays, money for chores. I’d told her she could spend it on whatever she wanted. This, I reasoned, would give her some independence and if she wasted it, that in itself would be a valuable lesson. This was a mistake, I now realised. At $40, this 15 millilitres of lip balm she coveted was a bridge too far.

  • [Old] Spaceweather.com ☛ Spaceweather.com Time Machine

    Modern farmers rely heavily on GPS. Guided by satellites, smart tractors can work around the clock, seeding perfectly straight rows with precise amounts of seed and fertilizer. When harvesting time comes, the tractors can return to exactly the same spots to pick the crops.

    This kind of precision agriculture has become widespread. "I would guess 80% or more of all farmers in the Midwest use at least basic GPS for something--whether it's auto-steer or yield mapping," says Ethan Smidt, a service manager for John Deere. "At least 50% of all farmers are VERY reliant on GPS and use it on every machine all year long."

  • Futurism ☛ Farmers Say Intelligent Tractors "Acted Like They Were Demon Possessed" After Signal Out of Space

    One example of how that stellar fury affects the Earth, apart from triggering gorgeous auroras in the night sky: farmers say the barrage of solar particles has wreaked havoc on their high-tech agricultural equipment.

    The issue is that modern tractors are highly dependent on GPS, which is provided by sensitive satellites in our planet's orbit. One extreme solar storm in May, they say, threw off equipment when planting season was already in full swing.

  • Maine Morning Star ☛ A man radicalized by statistics

    On life expectancy, the U.S. ranks somewhere in the 60s among the world’s countries, according to data from the United Nations, falling in between Panama and Estonia. Among the wealthy subset of countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, we rate 32nd out of 38.

    The U.S. also spends far more on health care than any other country in the world: around $12,000 per person each year, thousands of dollars more than the next-highest spenders.

    The discrepancy between the staggering amount of health care spending and our relatively short lives has been perennial fodder for commentary and political debate: Where is all that money going?

    The answer, to a significant degree, is that it’s being skimmed off by the private health insurance industry.

  • The Atlantic ☛ When a shooting spurs a social-media cycle

    In the hours and days that followed the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, even before any information was known about the suspect, social media was flooded with speculation and opinion. When Luigi Mangione’s identity was made public on Monday, the digital trail he left behind—and the difficulties of tying him to a particular ideology or movement—only intensified the cycle of reaction. I spoke with my colleague Charlie Warzel, who covers technology, about how the past week played out online, and why social media rewards the urge to make meaning even in situations where it’s not readily apparent.

  • Deseret Media ☛ Certain foods may disrupt your body's fight against cancer cells, study says

    A new study suggests omega-6 fatty acids from ultraprocessed foods may hinder cancer defense. The imbalance with omega-3s could exacerbate inflammation, promoting colorectal cancer growth, researchers found.

  • Dan Q ☛ The Edge of Burnout

    My mistake these last few weeks has been to focus on time, and the superfluity of it with which I imagined myself to have.

    Being on my sabbatical, I figured that I’d temporarily gained up-to-40 hours a week for “free”, and reasoned that I could just bolt some significant portion of that on top of the up-to-10 hours a week I was already giving to Three Rings. But while time works like that, it’s not the only resource that you “spend” when you’re giving your entire focus to a deep, detailed, and complicated project. In fact, focussing on time is incredibly deceptive, because it tricks you into completely sidestepping any consideration for the mental effort your mind’s engaged in. An effort that takes place even in your “downtime”.

    A critical project with high stakes and which stokes your passion can quickly grow into something that occupies your thoughts when you’re trying to unwind… and when you’re trying to socialise… and when you’re trying to sleep. I’d been burning hard at my server move project for months without letting my brain take a break, and it took until the job was complete before I stopped and thought for even a moment that “hey, that was fucking exhausting wasn’t it?”

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-08 [Older] DR Congo on high alert over deadly mystery illness

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Disease X: What is the illness spreading in Congo?

  • CBC ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] At first punishing, then healing: How running helped me find myself again

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Vox ☛ 2024-12-05 [Older] Is AI progress slowing down?

  • Make Tech Easier ☛ 2024-12-06 [Older] 8 of the Best Twitter Alternatives

  • Wired ☛ Human Misuse Will Make Artificial Intelligence More Dangerous

    AI creates what it’s told to, from plucking fanciful evidence from thin air, to arbitrarily removing people’s rights, to sowing doubt over public misdeeds.

  • Wired ☛ Wayve’s AI Self-Driving System Is Here to Drive Like a Human and Take On Waymo and Tesla

    The front doors are permanently shut. Signs direct you to the side, where between the slats of a heavy steel fence you can peer into a yard housing a small fleet of subtly modified, monochrome Jaguar I-Paces and Ford Mustang Mach-Es. The Jaguars have just six small additional cameras mounted above the front and rear windscreens; the Fords have a slightly more obvious slim box containing both cameras and radar.

  • BBC ☛ BBC complains to Apple over misleading shooting headline

    This week, the AI-powered summary falsely made it appear BBC News had published an article claiming Luigi Mangione, the man arrested following the murder of healthcare insurance CEO Brian Thompson in New York, had shot himself. He has not.

    A spokesperson from the BBC said the corporation had contacted Apple "to raise this concern and fix the problem".

    Apple declined to comment.

  • India Times ☛ Adobe: Adobe shares drop as annual revenue forecast triggers concerns on delayed AI returns

    Adobe's shares tumbled nearly 10% premarket after the company issued a disappointing full-year revenue forecast. Investors are concerned about the timeline for returns on AI investments, despite Adobe's assurances about its generative AI roadmap. Analysts point to a disconnect between management's optimism and tangible monetization metrics, especially given competition from AI-focused startups.

  • The Guardian UK ☛ Kate Bush joins campaign against AI using artists’ work without permission

    Kate Bush has called on ministers to protect artists from AI using their copyrighted works amid growing concerns from high-profile creatives and ongoing political uncertainty over how to handle the issue.

    The reclusive singer-songwriter has joined the actors Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon, Rosario Dawson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Bonneville in signing a petition, now backed by over 36,000 creatives, which states the “unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted”.

  • Futurism ☛ Google-Backed AI Startup Announces Plans to Stop Grooming Teenagers

    The troubling accusations highlight the highly problematic content being hosted on Character.AI. Chatbots hosted by the company, we've found in previous investigations, have engaged underage users on alarming topics including pedophilia, eating disorders, self-harm, and suicide.

  • The Register UK ☛ Apple is reportedly building an AI server chip with Broadcom

    The idea that Apple might be building custom chips for GenAI isn't surprising. The iBiz has designed its own Arm-based silicon for years. The idea that Broadcom might be involved in this process shouldn't come as a shock either as the two companies already work together on 5G componentry.

  • The Register UK ☛ Broadcom turns VMware into a prolific money-making machine

    Broadcom has told investors its integration of VMware is all but done, ahead of schedule, and that it has turned the virtualization giant into an even more prolific money machine than it hoped it would be possible.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Google Cloud moves its AI-focused Trillium chips into general availability

    The launch of the TPU comes seven months after the search giant first detailed the custom processor. It offers up to three times the inference throughput of Google’s previous-generation chip.

    When used for AI training, it can provide two and a half times the performance. Google says that the chip delivers those speed increases using 67% less power, which means AI workloads can run more cost-efficiently in the company’s cloud.

  • Howard Oakley ☛ Has Apple stopped updating EFI firmware?

    If, like me, you pay close attention to firmware updates released with macOS, you may have noticed something highly unusual if not unique this week, in the firmware updates that came with macOS Sequoia 15.2, Sonoma 14.7.2 and Ventura 13.7.2: those could mark the end of an era.

  • Markup from Hell ☛ Improving User Experience for Multilingual Web Browsing

    However, using the translate="no" attribute, which is now part of the HTML specification, is a more robust and reliable approach, ensuring consistency across current and future translation APIs and localization standards.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Senators, witnesses: $3B for ‘rip and replace’ a good start to preventing Salt Typhoon-style breaches

    The fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the House by a 281-140 vote Wednesday, contains language authorizing funds to fill that gap. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, the New Mexico Democrat who chairs the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband, said at Wednesday’s hearing of his panel that Congress should approve that funding even though there’s much still unknown about the attacks from the Chinese government [intruders] known as Salt Typhoon.

  • Cyble Inc ☛ CISA Cyber Resiliency Toolkit Update For Public Safety

    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has updated its Public Safety Communications and Cyber Resiliency Toolkit with the release of seven new resources aimed at improving the security and resilience of communication systems used by public safety agencies nationwide.

  • Inside Towers ☛ Carr: Salt Typhoon U.S. Network Breach Needs to be Fixed ASAP - Inside Towers

    Soon to be FCC Chairman Commissioner Brendan Carr calls the Chinese-backed “Salt Typhoon” breach into U.S. telecom networks “one of the most significant cyber attacks in U.S. history.” He told reporters after yesterday’s agency meeting, he believes the country “should never have been in this situation.”

  • PC World ☛ Windows PCs are full of ads. These 9 settings turn off the worst ones

    Obviously, if Microsoft was giving something away, it was going to come with a catch. In this case, it’s all the ads that are being added to Windows 11, going above and beyond what we’ve seen in previous versions. Fortunately, we can disable those ads… for now, at least.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • [Repeat] NYOB ☛ BeReal: The app that won’t take no for an answer

      Today, noyb has filed a complaint against the social media platform BeReal over the latest “dark pattern” to get consent. When people open the app, they are confronted with a pop-up asking them to say “yes” or “no” to the use of their personal data for advertising purposes. So far so good, but BeReal wants to force a specific choice: if users click “accept”, they will never see the consent banner again. If they dare to click “reject”, however, the banner will appear every day – until the end of your days, or until you click on the “right” button and accept. Annoying people into consent is the latest trend in “dark pattern”.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Washington Spectator ☛ “Project Russia,” Reveals Putin’s Playbook

    The books were published by EKSMO, one of the country’s largest publishers, and are widely believed to have been commissioned by the Kremlin, and also possibly connected to Putin pal Vladimir Yakunin. The series went on to become a well-known bestseller, with an audience of at least 3 million.

    The books assert that democracies do not work and cannot be salvaged. They argue that democracies are necessarily decadent, and that Russia is morally superior. This moral superiority is interpreted to mean that all democracies are a natural enemy, and must be fought. That fight will necessarily lead to a controlled global collapse, after which a new supranational state may be established under the leadership of an enlightened elite.

  • The Record ☛ Ukraine uncovers Russian spy network recruiting teens for espionage

    The teenagers were allegedly tasked with carrying out espionage, directing missile strikes, and committing arson on behalf of Russian operatives. To conceal their activities, the groups operated independently from one another, according to an SBU statement released on Friday.

    Under the guise of "quest game" rules devised by the FSB — where players complete tasks as part of a game — the minors were given geolocation coordinates and were instructed to travel to those locations, take photographs and videos of targets, and provide brief descriptions of the areas to Russian spies via anonymous messaging apps, Ukrainian authorities said.

  • International Business Times ☛ Were The Drones Flying Over New Jersey From Iran? Pentagon Official Responds To Republican's Claims

    However, the Pentagon has firmly denied these claims, further deepening the intrigue.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Large number of mysterious drones seen across New Jersey

    The FBI is among several agencies investigating, and it has asked residents to share videos, photos, and other information they may have about the drones.

  • Wired ☛ Why the US Military Can't Just Shoot Down the Mystery Drones

    Despite the growing chorus of concern from New Jersey lawmakers, the US military appears relatively unimpressed with the sudden incursions. In a December 11 statement, US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) revealed that the command had “conducted a deliberate analysis of the events, in consultation with other military organizations and interagency partners, and at this time we have not been requested to assist with these events.” The following day, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby stated that many of the alleged drone sightings that had alarmed civilian observers on the ground in recent weeks were, in fact, conventional manned aircraft. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security echoed this assessment in a statement on Thursday, saying, “it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully. There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space.”

  • Gannett ☛ Drones over NJ: FBI tells Congress bureau doesn't know who is behind it

    "They are flying over sensitive infrastructure," she said, "and the fact that we don't know what they are, or who's behind them, or what they're doing is very concerning to me, particularly in a post-Chinese spy-ballon world."

  • The Hill ☛ Lawmakers tell Apple, Google to prepare for TikTok ban

    Under a law passed by Congress earlier this year, TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance is required to divest from the popular social media app or face a ban on U.S. networks and app stores.

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ Court denies TikTok's request to halt enforcement of potential U.S. ban until Supreme Court review

    The statute, which was signed by President Biden earlier this year, requires ByteDance to sell TikTok to an approved buyer due to national security concerns or face a ban in the U.S.The U.S. has said it sees TikTok as a national security risk because ByteDance could be coerced by Chinese authorities to hand over U.S. user data or manipulate content on the platform for Beijing’s interests. TikTok has denied those claims and has argued that the government’s case rests on hypothetical future risks instead of proven facts.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Court Denies TikTok’s Request to Freeze Sale-or-Ban Law

    A House committee sent letters to the chief executives of Apple and Google on Friday, warning them to comply with the law in the absence of a sale. The law requires app store operators like Apple and Google to stop distributing and updating the TikTok app. Apple did not respond to a request for comment on its plans to comply with the law. Google declined to comment.

  • The Atlantic ☛ What If Free Speech Means Banning TikTok?

    But in its decision, the court did something unexpected. In addition to crediting the government’s national-security arguments, it highlighted an important tension within pro-free-expression arguments: the right to access and speak on the platform of one’s choosing versus the right to have platforms free from foreign manipulation and control. The court explained:

    "In this case, a foreign government threatens to distort free speech on an important medium of communication. Using its hybrid commercial strategy, the [People’s Republic of China] has positioned itself to manipulate public discourse on TikTok in order to serve its own ends. The PRC’s ability to do so is at odds with free speech fundamentals. Here the Congress, as the Executive proposed, acted to end the PRC’s ability to control TikTok. Understood in that way, the Act actually vindicates the values that undergird the First Amendment."

  • Axios ☛ Why some House Democrats are showing interest in Trump and Musk's DOGE plan

    Why it matters: Trump's "Department [sic] of Government Efficiency," or DOGE, has been a mostly Republican brainstorm so far, but centrist and progressive Democrats have begun offering ideas for it.

  • VOA News ☛ Rights group accuses Russian mercenaries of abuses against civilians in Mali

    "The Malian army with the Wagner Group and Islamist armed groups have been targeting civilians and their property in violation of the laws of war," Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in the report.

  • YLE ☛ Far-right activists target Hämeenlinna library despite city ban

    On Thursday a similar event at Pori library was sparsely attended, with local media reporting that just two party members turned up and started a live stream using a smartphone.

  • Greece ☛ The gates of hell have opened

    The second – and also very important – issue concerns the possibility that the upheaval will trigger new waves of migration from Syria, an eventuality that cannot be ruled out despite assurances from the jihadist and other rebel forces. If this were to happen, however, it would be a problem that would have to be dealt with by the European Union as a whole and not just by Greece.

    The situation is entirely different in Turkey, which played a role – though to what extent remains unclear – in the effort to remove Assad from power. Undoubtedly, a significant part of this operation involved intelligence operatives from Western powers, and perhaps beyond.

  • AntiWar ☛ Trading Iran for Al-Qaeda

    In a reversal of the old proverb “Better the devil you know,” the U.S. and its partners in the Political West have embraced the devil they don’t. In Syria, they have traded Iran for al-Qaeda.

  • RFERL ☛ Assad's Fall Is A Blow To Russia. Here's What It Means For The War In Ukraine.

    When he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently believed Russian forces would topple the government within weeks and restore Moscow's dominance over the country after 30 years of independence.

  • The Atlantic ☛ Decivilization May Already Be Under Way

    The brazen murder of a CEO in Midtown Manhattan—and the cheering reaction to his execution—amounts to a blinking-and-blaring warning signal for a society that has become already too inured to bloodshed.

  • New York Times ☛ Chinese-Flagged Ship Suspected of Cutting Cables Remains Halted Weeks Later

    Asked for an update, Sweden’s foreign ministry referred to a statement from last month about the need to “await the findings of this investigation.” A spokesperson for Sweden’s Prosecution Authority reiterated that the matter was being jointly investigated, but said no further details were available.

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ DMV apologizes for license plate that mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel

    The plate seems to reference Oct. 7, when Hamas militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250. The attack triggered an ongoing retaliation by Israel in neighboring Gaza.

  • The Register UK ☛ North Korea's fake IT worker scam hauled in $88 million

    The scam sees North Korean (DPRK) techies mask their identities and locations to secure remote jobs. They then funnel their ill-gotten booty into Pyongyang's coffers. Some also use their access privileges to steal info such as proprietary source code and then extort their employers with threats to expose corporate assets if not paid to keep quiet.

    Even infosec businesses have fallen for the scam, which is sufficiently prevalent the FBI has offered guidance on how to avoid it.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Court indicts 14 North Korean IT workers tied to $88 million in illicit gains

    The Justice Department said the 14 indicted workers generated at least $88 million throughout a conspiracy that stretched over approximately six years, ending in March 2023. North Korea-controlled companies in China and Russia — Yanbian Silverstar and Volasys Silverstar, respectively — used the so-called “IT Warriors” to obtain false U.S. identities, pose as employees doing remote IT work in the United States and transfer funds from their employers to eventually end up in the hands of the North Korean government, according to the indictment.

  • Security Week ☛ Fake IT Workers Funneled Millions to North Korea, DOJ Says

    The Justice Department announced indictments against 14 North Koreans for involvement in a scheme to pose as remote IT workers to violate sanctions and commit wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft.

  • C4ISRNET ☛ This new tool lets brigades ‘see’ their electronic warfare footprint

    TLS BCT is a configurable radio system that can survey radio frequencies, collect signals, perform direction-finding operations, detect electromagnetic attacks and visualize electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) data.

  • Sightline Media Group ☛ Trump says he’ll begin Jan. 6 pardons ‘the first hour’ in office

    President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to pardon people convicted of or charged with crimes for their roles in breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and he will start immediately after taking office in January.

  • RFERL ☛ Islamic State Seeks Comeback Amid Power Vacuum In Syria

    Experts say the group will look to exploit the sectarian and ethnic fault lines in Syria to reestablish a foothold in the country.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-08 [Older] Burkina Faso junta names new PM after dismissing government

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Female deminers drive Sri Lanka's postwar recovery

  • Defence Web ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Pakistan to receive South African-modified maritime patrol aircraft from 2026

  • Defence Web ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Djibouti Code of Conduct signatories meet in Dar es Salaam

  • Defence Web ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Puma M36 APCs originally bound for Niger going to Benin, Ghana, and Cote d’Ivoire

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Ex-President Mahama's comeback sparks hope for Ghana's future

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] India: Bomb threats sent to 40 New Delhi schools

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Haiti gang massacres 110 after accusing them of using voodoo

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Germany returns ritual items to Colombia's Kogi people

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Jay-Z accused of raping minor with Sean 'Diddy' Combs

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Netherlands starts border controls to curb illegal migration

  • Bankok Post ☛ Bangkok Post - South Korean president impeached

    South Korea’s opposition-led parliament impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday, voting to suspend him from his official duties over his short-lived attempt last week to impose martial law.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-07 [Older] Netherlands: Several killed in explosion in The Hague

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-08 [Older] South Korea arrests ex-defense minister over martial law

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] South Korean democracy tested as Yoon clings to power

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-08 [Older] Why are thousands of Georgians protesting day after day?

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • The Dissenter ☛ Unauthorized Disclosure: Shealeigh Voitl

  • The Atlantic ☛ Luigi Mangione Has to Mean Something

    As people pored over Mangione’s digital footprint, the stakes of the moment came into focus. People were less concerned about the facts of the situation—which have been few and far between—than they were about finding some greater meaning in the violence and using it to say something about what it means to be alive right now. As the details of Mangione’s life were dug up earlier this week, I watched people struggling in real time to sort the shooter into a familiar framework. It would make sense if his online activity offered a profile of a cartoonish partisan, or evidence of the kind of alienation we’ve come to expect from violent men. It would be reassuring, or at least coherent, to see a history of steady radicalization in his posts, moving him from promising young man toward extremism. There’s plenty we don’t know, but so much of what we do is banal—which is, in its own right, unsettling. In addition to the back pain, he seems to have suffered from brain fog, and struggled at times to find relief and satisfactory diagnoses. This may have been a radicalizing force in its own right, or the precipitating incident in a series of events that could have led to the shooting. We don’t really know yet.

  • The Atlantic ☛ This Is How Political Violence Goes Mainstream

    A Goodreads profile that appears to have been Mangione’s showed that he had read books written by the popular science writer Michael Pollan and by Dr. Seuss (he gave The Lorax a five-star review). On what is believed to be his X account, he followed a mélange of very popular (and ideologically mixed) people, including Joe Rogan, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ezra Klein, and Edward Snowden. In at least one instance, he praised Tucker Carlson’s perspectives on postmodern architecture. His most extreme signal was a sympathetic review he gave to the manifesto written by Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. But as the writer Max Read points out, that’s not uncommon for a lot of younger politically active people who identify with Kaczynski’s environmentalist and anti-tech views, though it’s unlikely many of them are in lockstep with the Unabomber’s tactics.

• Environment

  • Smithsonian Magazine ☛ Scientists Warn of an 'Unprecedented Risk' From Synthetic 'Mirror Life,' Built With a Reverse Version of Natural Proteins and Sugars

    So-called mirror cells could rampage through our ecosystems, food supply and immune systems, experts say, potentially without existing barriers to protect against them

  • The Hill ☛ Half of Alaskan bird species dies from ocean heatwave

    Scientists have noticed an increase in marine heatwaves, which are periods of warmer-than-usual ocean waters. A study published in the journal “Science” on Thursday assesses how marine heatwaves have impacted wildlife.

  • EcoWatch ☛ Arctic Tundra Goes From Carbon Sink to Carbon Source for the First Time in Millennia: NOAA Report

    “The Arctic continues to warm at a faster rate than the global average. The 2024 Arctic Report Card highlights record-breaking and near-record-breaking observations that demonstrate dramatic change, including Arctic tundra transformation from carbon sink to carbon source, declines of previously large inland caribou herds, and increasing winter precipitation,” NOAA said. “Adaptation is increasingly necessary and Indigenous Knowledge and community-led research programs are essential to understand and respond to rapid Arctic changes.”

  • The Register UK ☛ Japan's Astroscale got within 15m of its space junk target

    Japanese orbital janitor Astroscale says it has completed the closest ever approach by a commercial operator to space junk when it came within 15 meters of a defunct upper stage rocket.

    The Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) spacecraft was selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for Phase I of its Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration – an initiative focused on demonstrating the ability to approach and perform detailed observations of the organization's H-IIA rocket.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Indonesia: Flash flooding kills at least 10 on Java island

  • TruthOut ☛ 2024-12-04 [Older] ICJ Hearings Offer New Chance to Get Rich Countries to Pay for Climate Crisis

  • Truthdig ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] How Exxon and Atlas Network Worked to Block Global Climate Action

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] In a Climate Dystopia, Solidarity Will Be Key to Survival

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2024-12-06 [Older] MSNBC Has Traded Climate Coverage for Trump Talk

  • Vox ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Yes, you can fight climate change in your backyard

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-07 [Older] What's been said at the landmark ICJ climate hearings?

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Semafor Inc ☛ UK government overhauls energy grid, prioritizing renewables

      UK energy officials unveiled plans for a sweeping overhaul of the country’s power system, aiming to nearly eliminate fossil fuels from the mix by 2030.

      The plan will offer express access to the power grid for some new clean energy projects, and make it easier for national-level officials to overrule municipal governments in approving proposals, particularly large onshore wind farms.

    • Austin White ☛ Flying with Pets

      In the end, the decision they made was to drive down with their other car. For me, it seemed like one of the worst customer experiences ever. They followed all the rules and were to be tossed off a plane at their age with a 14lb dog that seemed over the top. Needless to say, I don’t think they will ever fly on Jet Blue again.

    • Ruben Schade ☛ Adventures with a power company

      Australia has a partially privatised power grid, meaning there are companies between customers and producers. These middlemen speculate on the wholesale price of electricity to generate profit; or what often happens, go out of business. Clara and I have been with four of these “energy retailers” since we moved in together. It’s all a bit of a farce.

    • Stephen Smith ☛ City of Vancouver to Use Bitcoin

      The City of Vancouver recently started a committee to look at taking Bitcoin for payments and to hold some of the city’s financial reserves in Bitcoin. It’s been pointed out that this is illegal under current provincial government regulations, but part of the plan is to change these. People are all over the place on this, whether it’s the future, a scam, or a waste of time. This article will look at some of the issues that the city will face.

    • The Hill ☛ Bitcoin cryptocurrency to be used for taxes, political contributions in Texas

      The reserve would be held for a minimum of five years.

    • CBC ☛ Why Bitcoin surged to $100K US after Trump's election and where it goes now

      It's unclear what prompted his change of heart. But he and his family launched their own cryptocurrency during the recent campaign.

    • Hindustan Times ☛ Pregnant Chinese woman forced to walk to hospital after unable to start car due to software update

      In a troubling incident highlighting the potential drawbacks of modern technology, a pregnant woman in China was unable to start her car reportedly due to a mandatory over-the-air (OTA) system update. The delay, caused by the 51-minute upgrade, left the vehicle immobilized while the woman experienced labor pains. With no other option, she walked to a nearby taxi to reach the hospital, where she later underwent an emergency C-section.

    • SCMP ☛ China woman in labour unable to start car due to software update, undergoes emergency C-section

      Their vehicle was an SUV from Li Auto, a Chinese smart electric vehicle manufacturer, with average prices typically exceeding 300,000 yuan (US$41,000).

    • The Walrus ☛ How a Lost Buoy Brought Me Home

      This past June, Air Greenland restarted its much-anticipated weekly route between Nuuk and Iqaluit, the two eastern Arctic metropolises, for the summer. There had not been a regular direct route between Greenland and Canada for nine years, and the only options during that time were sporadic and exorbitant chartered flights.

    • Ruben Schade ☛ Those dashcam videos and road design

      Australian roads, like most in the world, do the former but not the latter. We spend millions in taxpayer money putting up speed limit signs, and paying traffic police to enforce them (I love when TV news used to report where speed cameras would be the following day too, because safety is for squares and “revenue raisers”). But if you still design the road like a drag-racing circuit… what do you expect people will do? All that’s missing from them are chequered flags!

    • USMC ☛ These Marine units will field new mobile command vehicle in 2025

      Under a contract with U.S defense firm Science Applications International Corporation, an initial purchase of 18 mobile command vehicles, or MCVs, will be delivered to Marine littoral regiments’ medium-range missile firing units between January and July of next year, according to a Marine Corps release.

    • CBC ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] He thought his car's crash-prevention technology would make him safer. Now he no longer trusts it

    • TruthOut ☛ 2024-12-04 [Older] NC Town Files US’s First Climate “Deception” Lawsuit Against an Electric Utility

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Volkswagen: 'Furious' union threatens strike 'escalation'

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Trenitalia tops list of Europe's rail operators — study

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Scholz promises help for steel industry, urges EU action

    • CBC ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] As Canada Post strike drags on, frustration mounts over 'prohibitive' courier costs

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Revelator ☛ Protect This Place: Latin America’s Gran Chaco Forest

    • Vox ☛ 2024-12-05 [Older] This is how many animals could go extinct from climate change

    • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-12-04 [Older] Anthropocene Epoch and Multi-Generational Legacy of Climate Change

  • Overpopulation/Hunger

    • BIA Net ☛ 2024-12-05 [Older] 'One in four children in Turkey goes to school hungry'

    • BIA Net ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Study reveals journalists in Turkey living at hunger threshold

    • The Guardian UK ☛ ‘The water war’: how drought threatens survival of Sicily’s towns

      An ancient Sicilian proverb goes like this: “When water to two fountains flows, one will stay dry – that’s how it goes.” The residents of the small town of Troina in the heart of Sicily, struck by a long and unprecedented drought, perhaps understand its meaning better than anyone else. When authorities decreed that the little water left in their dam should be shared with the villages of another province, they took action, and, on 30 November, occupied the distribution centre of the reservoir, blocking access.

• Finance

  • FAIR ☛ Corporate Fearmongering Over Fast Food Wage Hike Aged Like Cold French Fries

    In September 2023, California passed a law requiring fast food restaurants with more than 60 locations nationwide to pay workers a minimum of $20 an hour, affecting more than 700,000 people working in the state’s fast food industry.

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] How Canada’s Auto Union Lost Its Way

  • CBC ☛ 2024-12-09 [Older] Calgary's unemployment rate is trending higher than Canada's — but it's not because of layoffs

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-12-05 [Older] McKinsey Africa to Pay $122 Million in South Africa Bribery Scheme, US Justice Department Says

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-12-05 [Older] McKinsey Subsidiary Will Pay $122M for Scheme to Bribe South African Officials, US Says

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-07 [Older] Can Germany still pay for arts funding?

  • The Local DK ☛ 2024-12-05 [Older] Copenhagen to get Banksy exhibition in 2025

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-08 [Older] Ghana: Ruling party candidate Bawumia concedes election loss

  • The Nation ☛ What Luigi Mangione and Daniel Penny Are Telling Us About America

    When social structures corrode, as they are doing now, they trigger desperate deeds like Mangione’s, and rightist vigilantes like Penny.

  • Wired ☛ As the Mastermind of Far-Right ‘Active Clubs’ Goes to Prison, His Violent Movement Goes Global

    Seemingly harmless from the outside, Active Clubs are small groups of young men who go on hikes, train in combat sports, weight-lift, and build camaraderie—all part of the Rise Above Movement’s original program. But the darkness is in the details: The groups’ membership often overlaps with other extremist organizations like Patriot Front, criminal skinhead groups like the Hammerskins, and other violent extremists in foreign nations. Some US-based Active Clubs are branching out into political intimidation and violence, like the Rise Above Movement before them.

  • India Times ☛ Remake of Bill Gates incident? Enron new CEO Connor Gaydos hit with 'pie in face' - watch viral video

    His video is now being circulated in the online space, going viral with one comparing it to Bill Gates 'pie in the face' incident.

  • Variety ☛ Meta, Google, TikTok Face New Australian Tax Over News Revenue

    The measure, set to take effect Jan. 1, will impact tech companies earning over AU$250 million ($159 million) annually in Australia, including Meta, Google parent Alphabet, and ByteDance’s TikTok. Australian government Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones underlined the tax’s primary function as leverage rather than revenue generation.

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ Tech billionaires help bankroll Trump's inauguration. What to know

    Tech executives, attempting to ease tensions with President-elect Donald Trump, are opening up their wallets after the former president staged a historic return to the White House.

  • The Verge ☛ Tim Cook is the latest tech CEO to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago

    During Trump’s first term, Cook established a direct relationship with the president that other tech CEOs have wanted to replicate. As Trump prepares for his second term, Cook may want to discuss potential tariffs, which could significantly affect Apple’s business.

  • New York Times ☛ Tim Cook to Dine With Trump at Mar-a-Lago

    Mr. Cook and Mr. Trump later dined on the patio at Mar-a-Lago, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting. The two men had a warm relationship during Mr. Trump’s first term — much warmer than Mr. Trump’s with other tech executives, like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg or Google’s Sundar Pichai, both of whom recently had their own meals with Mr. Trump.

  • The Hill ☛ Sam Altman to donate $1 million in personal funds to Trump’s inauguration fund

    The $1 million donation will come from Altman’s funds rather than from the ChatGPT maker itself, his spokesperson confirmed to The Hill. This differs from his industry competitors, including Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta and Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, which each made $1 million contributions as companies.

  • The Washington Post ☛ Zuckerberg’s Meta donates $1 million to Trump inauguration fund

    The donation, which was confirmed by Meta spokesman Andy Stone, is the latest effort by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to mend fences with the political right, which has persistently criticized him following the company’s 2021 decision to ban Trump from Meta’s social platforms. The donation arrives nearly two weeks after Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November.

  • The Washington Post ☛ Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg join tech leaders reaching out to Trump

    Top executives in the technology industry have long been a target of Donald Trump’s vitriol. As he prepares to return to the White House, they’re lining up to gain favor with the president-elect. Some come bearing checkbooks.

  • India Times ☛ Meta donates $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund

    Stephen Miller, who has been appointed deputy chief of staff for Trump's second term, has said that Zuckerberg, like other business leaders, wants to support Trump's economic plans. The tech CEO has been seeking to change his company's perception on the right following a rocky relationship with Trump.

  • Deccan Chronicle ☛ Meta donates $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund

    Facebook did not donate to either Biden's 2021 inaugural or Trump’s 2017 inaugural.

  • The Korea Times ☛ Meta donates $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund

    Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund.

    The donation comes just weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump privately at Mar-a-Lago. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the offering Thursday. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

  • Task And Purpose ☛ Space Force wants its own boot camp

    No further information about the proposal for Space Force’s boot camp was immediately available, an Air Force spokesperson said. As of December, the Space Force has 9,523 Guardians in the force. For comparison, the Air Force has an authorized end strength of 320,000 active-duty airmen, 108,300 Air National Guardsmen, and 67,000 reservists under the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which has been passed by the House of Representatives and awaits Senate approval.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • VOA News ☛ Pro-Russia activist falsely accuses US of new disease outbreak in Congo

      For decades, Russia has launched widespread disinformation campaigns in Africa attacking U.S. public health campaigns.

      On February 12, the Global Engagement Center, the State Department's unit countering disinformation, published The Kremlin's efforts to spread deadly disinformation in Africa, a report that exposed a web operated by the Russian intelligence services through a news agency, Africa Initiative.

    • VOA News ☛ Kremlin falsely claims Trump’s report of 600,000 Russian casualties in Ukraine came from Kyiv

      The figures for casualties in the war between Russia and Ukraine cited by Trump are close to estimates given in recent months by Ukraine, Western defense and intelligence officials, and Western media reports. All the data indicates that Russia has lost more soldiers than Ukraine.

      According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as of Dec. 8, Russia's losses in the war with Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022, in killed and wounded, amount to about 751,910 soldiers – higher than the 600,000 figure mentioned by Trump.

    • International Business Times ☛ TikTok or Therapy? Two Million UK Youths Rely on Social Media for Mental Health Advice

      While influencers might share their experiences online to destigmatise mental health and relate to their audience, these stories can be misleading and may not apply to everyone, as everyone's experience with mental health varies.

      Dr Will Shield, a psychologist from the University of Exeter, warns: 'Social media can be incredibly powerful, but it's rife with misinformation. Without professional insight, young people may misinterpret ordinary feelings as signs of serious conditions.'

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • BIA Net ☛ 2024-12-04 [Older] Activists jailed for protesting Turkey’s trade with Israel call for support for Palestine

  • Malay Mail ☛ What got Malaysian press, civil groups so concerned? A look at Putrajaya’s proposed changes to media laws

    The proposed amendments will purportedly expand the definition of “publication” to include digital and electronic content. This means online news portals, which currently don’t need a licence, could be required to follow the same rules as print media under the Home Ministry.

    Currently, digital media falls under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA), which is enforced by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). This law penalises online content deemed obscene, false, or offensive.

  • Rest of World ☛ Malaysia’s internet crackdown forces creators to self-censor - Rest of World

    Malaysian officials have blocked dozens of sites this year, and ordered social media sites to tighten their moderation policies. They have introduced a new regulatory framework and a new code of conduct for online platforms, made licensing mandatory, and passed the Cyber Security Act, which allows the seizure of any information without a warrant. A new Online Safety Bill will give authorities even more power to access information, and use a “kill switch” to shut down sites deemed harmful. Proposed changes to a 25-year-old communication law would compel service providers to disclose user data, and empower authorities to order surveillance measures.

    These actions have tightened the government’s grip on online content, raising concerns about greater censorship and surveillance in Malaysia, digital rights groups say. Content creation in the Muslim-majority nation was already “tricky” before the raft of recent measures, entertainer Blake Yap, known as Chinepaiyen, told Rest of World.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • The Nation ☛ Prison Journalism Is Having a Renaissance. Rahsaan Thomas Is One of Its Champions.

    Thomas and his colleagues at Empowerment Avenue are subverting the established narrative that prisoners are only subjects or sources, never authors of their own experience.

  • VOA News ☛ ‘We have nowhere to go’: Exiled from Myanmar, journalists fear new Thai law

    But a new law being debated in the Thai parliament could damage the fragile existence that he and so many others in exile from Myanmar have.

    The Association and Foundations Bill was proposed in the Thai parliament in October. If passed, it would require nonprofits to register with the Minister of Interior and to have of a minimum of 30 Thai staff members.

  • VOA News ☛ Calls rise for accountability in Assad's crimes against journalists in Syria

    In 2019, a U.S. court determined that the Syrian military had tracked the broadcasts of the journalists covering the siege of Homs, then deliberately targeted the makeshift media center.

  • VOA News ☛ ETA terrorists jailed in Spain for attempted murder of journalists

    In previous years, the organization had targeted only police and soldiers but began killing and threatening journalists, judges, local politicians, women and children in a campaign it called the “socialization of suffering.”

  • VOA News ☛ Korean journalists recount night of fear under Yoon’s martial law

    Yoon’s decree late last Tuesday declared "all media and publishing [to be] under the control of Martial Law Command," evoking memories of South Korea’s past military dictatorships, with their strict media censorship.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • HRW ☛ 2024-12-04 [Older] Saudi Arabia: ‘Giga-Projects’ Built on Widespread Labor Abuses

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-12-07 [Older] UK's Starmer to Push for Stronger Ties With UAE, Saudi Arabia in First Gulf Visit

  • International Business Times ☛ NHS Battles Rise In Inbreeding-Related Consequences As MPs Mull Banning First-Cousin Marriages | IBTimes UK

    It has been revealed that the NHS is already hiring specialised midwives to deal with the higher numbers of birth defects resulting from cousin marriage.

  • Hakai Magazine ☛ To Speak the Language of the Land

    The day is hot and still, the front doors open to the lazy hum of a rural summer afternoon—the kihikihi of cicadas, the warbling of black-and-green honeyeaters called tūī, and a small plane droning above Lake Rotoiti. The buzz inside, though, sounds different from your usual Kiwi gathering. Everyone here is speaking te reo Māori, the language shared by all 120-odd Māori tribes. Even in a country where one in five people is Indigenous, hearing only te reo is rare.

  • Hamilton Nolan ☛ You Can't Rebrand a Class War

    This week, a federal judge blocked the largest proposed grocery merger in history, between Albertson’s and Kroger. The merger, which would have further consolidated the industry, raised prices for consumers, and hurt the power of workers, was strenuously opposed by unions. It was brought down by a lawsuit filed by Lina Khan, the Biden administration’s crusading FTC chair, who fought against the consolidation of corporate power harder than any of her predecessors. Khan said that it was “the first time the FTC has ever sought to block a merger not just because it’s gonna be bad for consumers, but also for workers.”

  • CoryDoctorow ☛ Pluralistic: The GOP is not the party of workers

    The best way to understand the GOP's relationship to worker is through "boss politics" – that's where one group of elites consolidates its power by crushing rival elites. All elites are bad for working people, so any attack on any elite is, in some narrow sense, "pro-worker." What's more, all elites cheat the system, so any attack on any elite is, again, "pro-fairness."

    In other words, if you want to prosecute a company for hurting workers, customers, neighbors and the environment, you have a target-rich environment. But just because you crush a corrupt enterprise that's hurting workers, it doesn't mean you did it for the workers, and – most importantly – it doesn't mean that you will take workers' side next time.

  • Kansas Reflector ☛ For fiery abolitionist John Brown, justice and violence commingled in Kansas struggles

    The next evening, Brown and his men helped four members of the Daniels family — plus seven additional enslaved people from three farms — to liberate themselves. One owner was killed when he attempted to interfere with the liberation. Brown instructed the freedom seekers to take livestock and supplies only in proportion to the wages they were denied in bondage. During a brutal winter, the group headed north, toward Lawrence, bypassing the Adair cabin in Osawatomie, traveling only at night.

  • India Times ☛ Man gives 'triple talaq' to wife for going alone for walk

    Police have registered a case against the man under the Indian Penal Code and the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, which criminalises the practice of instant divorce.

  • Techdirt ☛ Just Another Reminder That Undercover Cops Are Criminals Capable Of Ruining Innocent People’s Lives

    What’s often ignored is that undercover officers can also engage in illegal activities without being treated like criminals. Obviously, the nature of job means undercover officers can’t obey all the laws without exposing themselves as cops. But officers working undercover or (more temporarily) engaging in stings seem to consider undercover work a useful excuse to engage in criminal acts.

    But what’s often ignored is the other damage these officers do. Not only do they aid and abet criminal organizations while engaging in undercover investigations, but anything they do to maintain their cover is considered acceptable collateral damage. While society may — in general — obtain next to noting in terms of public safety gains, members of the same society these officers consider themselves to be saving are often the victims of cops granted an excessive amount of discretion and impunity.

  • Maine Morning Star ☛ Maine could have helped stop people like her from becoming homeless. It didn’t.

    But when she fell behind on her rent and was evicted two years later, the fact that she was in public housing made her future more dire: Maine public housing authorities’ rules bar evicted tenants from returning to government-subsidized units and from receiving other benefits that could help them relocate.

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ If an Informant Narcs on a Riot But No FBI Agent Asks about It, Did It Really Happen?

    The report is, nevertheless, unbelievably soft on the FBI, which built and sustained a phone dragnet for fourteen years after 9/11 because the FBI missed one phone call involving Osama bin Laden. Here, FBI’s informants gave it multiple warnings about plans men since convicted of sedition had on January 6. And a number of those warnings weren’t shared.

    Instead of hammering the FBI for missing such leads from its informants, the report concluded that the FBI didn’t miss anything “critical” by failing to call on its extensive informant network to find out what they knew.

  • Wired ☛ The Billion-Dollar Adult Streaming Industry Is Fueled by Horrific Labor Abuses

    Research released this week by Human Rights Watch shines a light on conditions in one of the adult camming industry's hubs, Colombia. Working with two sex-worker-led organizations in the country, HRW found that models stream for hours on end in filthy studios that provide the bare minimum of equipment and facilities. The studios typically keep workers under constant surveillance to make sure they aren't taking breaks, even to drink water. And most charge extra for essentials like soap, sanitizer, and tissues.

  • Futurism ☛ Befuddled Elon Musk Proposes Theory That Homeless People Don't Actually Exist

    He's long surrounded himself with sycophants, going as far as to buy himself a social media network to systematically tune out his critics.

    Musk has also long looked down on those far less privileged than him, baselessly accusing them of crimes and insulting them.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Cory Dransfeldt ☛ An aspirational web

    The W3C released a statement on ethical web principles and — before proceeding any further — I'd strongly encourage you to go read it. It's a brief read and one well worth reflecting on.

  • World Wide Web Consortium ☛ W3C Statement on Ethical Web Principles guides the community to build a better web | 2024 | Blog | W3C

    The web is a fundamental part of our lives, shaping how we work, connect, and learn. We understand that with this profound impact comes the responsibility to ensure that the web serves as a platform that benefits people and delivers positive social outcomes. As we continue to advance the web platform, we must therefore consider the consequences of our work.

    In response to this need, the W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG) has published the Ethical Web Principles as a W3C Statement. This is the first W3C Statement being published since the W3C Process Document introduced them in November 2021. W3C Statements provide a stable reference for documents not intended to be formal standards, but have been formally reviewed and are endorsed by W3C.

  • Inside Towers ☛ AT&T Shares Vision of a Predominant Fiber Future

    In the 1970s, the AT&T Bell System mantra was, “The System is the solution.” That was at a time when AT&T (NYSE: T) had a monopoly on analog voice local and long-distance circuit-switched calls to over 90 percent of the country. AT&T’s complete dominance of U.S. telephone service and telecom equipment manufacturing led to its breakup by the Justice Department in 1984. The AT&T we see today is a smaller, reconstituted version of parts of the old Bell System. Its grand ambitions have not diminished, however.

    This week, John Stankey, AT&T CEO, at the UBS Global Media & Communications Conference in New York, reiterated the company’s plans to gain a leading position in the fiber businesses by building the most advanced and far-reaching network that is complemented by the company’s wireless network. These days, AT&T’s mantra is, “The network is the killer app!”, a 21st century take on the company’s telephone network culture.

  • Inside Towers ☛ FCC Opens Entire 6 GHz Band to Very Low Power Devices

    VLP devices operate at very low power across short distances and provide very high connection speeds, which are ideal for the types of high-data rate cutting-edge applications, according to the Commission. The FCC says its actions in the 6 GHz band will spur innovation by providing more capacity for emerging technologies and applications, such as augmented reality and virtual reality, in-car connectivity, wearable on-body devices, healthcare monitoring, short-range mobile hotspots, high accuracy location and navigation, and automation.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • The Guardian UK ☛ Why did China hack the world’s phone networks? [iophj: the term backdoor is not mentioned, let alone CALEA or CALEA2]

    Chinese hackers have breached dozens of telecommunications companies around the world. The breach, christened Salt Typhoon by Microsoft cybersecurity researchers, has afforded the cybercriminals unprecedented access not only to information on who has been texting or calling whom and when, but also on the contents of some messages, a much higher technical bar to clear in a cyber-attack.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • 2024-12-04 [Older] USPTO Drops Proposal to Change Terminal Disclaimer Practice

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • IP Kat ☛ 2024-12-05 [Older] [UPCKat] UPC Court of Appeal confirms that opt-outs may be withdrawn for patents subject to pre-UPC national litigation [Ed: UPC is illegal, so "opt-out" just means not pursuing an illegal system tied to a failing EU and EPO corruption]

• Trademarks

  • NYPost ☛ ‘Blindsided’ Raygun reveals why her lawyers shut down musical tribute to Olympian’s story

    “And the reason we did that is because we were notified there were applications from other parties trying to trademark my name and image for commercial purposes. I mean totally wild,” Gunn added.

• Copyrights

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Cox to Appeals Court: DMCA Subpoenas Don't Apply to Us, Period

    In a recent filing at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, ISP Cox maintains that DMCA subpoenas don't apply to Internet providers. Several movie studios hope to convince the court otherwise, as that would strengthen their piracy enforcement efforts, making it easier to identify online pirates. According to Cox, however, Congress clearly excluded ISPs from this legal 'shortcut'.