Leftovers

• Tom's Hardware ☛ YouTubers Give New Meaning to 'Air Printing'

  YouTubers mount an Elegoo Centauri Carbon on an RC plane and print while flying.

• Hackaday ☛ Utah’s FORGE: A Research Laboratory For Enhanced Geothermal Systems

  Geothermal heat is a tantalizing source of energy that’s quite literally right below our feet. At the same time geothermal energy is hard to develop as the Earth’s crust is too thick in most places, limiting this to areas where magma is close enough to the surface and the underground rock permeable enough for water. The Utah FORGE facility is a field site were researchers are developing and testing ways to increase the scope of geothermal energy.

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ A Mathematical ‘Fever Dream’ Hits the Road

    Meet “Mathemalchemy,” a traveling math-meets-art installation coming eventually to a dimension near you.

  • New York Times ☛ SpaceX Launches NASA’s Crew-10 Mission to the I.S.S.

    After their flight was scrubbed on Wednesday, four astronauts successfully lifted off, which will allow two NASA astronauts to return to Earth after an unexpected extended stay in orbit.

  • H2 View ☛ Australian Government injects AUD $750m into green metals, backing hydrogen-based production

    Ed Husic, Minister for Industry and Science, said, “Demand for green metals is expected to account for a third of the global metals market in coming years, this is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.”

  • Hackaday ☛ You Know Pi, But Do You Really Know E?

    Pi Day is here! We bet that you know that famous constant to a few decimal points, and you could probably explain what it really means: the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. But what about the constant e? Sure, you might know it is a transcendental number around 2.72 or so. You probably know it is the base used for natural logarithms. But what does it mean?

  • Hackaday ☛ Pi Hand Is A Digital Display Of A Different Sort

    Hackers enjoy a good theme, and so it comes as no surprise that every time March 14th (Pi Day) rolls around, the tip line sees an uptick in mathematical activity. Whether it’s something they personally did or some other person’s project they want to bring to our attention, a lot of folks out there are very excited about numbers today.

  • Science Alert ☛ Imaginary Numbers Are an Important Tool For Technology And Engineering

    A whole new world becomes possible.

  • Science Alert ☛ Radical Theory Says Black Holes May Spew Matter And Time as White Holes

    Wait, what?

  • Science Alert ☛ NASA Rover Shoots Laser at Martian Rock And Reveals Ancient Secret

    A lot more peculiar than we ever suspected.

  • Science Alert ☛ Incredible Image Reveals a Cosmic Hourglass Shimmering in Space

    A tale of two stars.

• Career/Education

  • Pro Publica ☛ Parents Sue to Halt Education Department’s Civil Rights Office Firings

    Saying the Trump administration is sabotaging civil rights enforcement by the Department of Education, a federal lawsuit filed Friday morning seeks to stop the president and Secretary Linda McMahon from carrying out the mass firing of civil rights investigators and lawyers.

    Two parents and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a national disability rights group, jointly filed the lawsuit. It alleges that decimating the department’s Office for Civil Rights will leave the agency unable to handle the public’s complaints of discrimination at school. That, they said, would violate the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Inside Alaska’s Deteriorating Public Schools

    Two inches of raw sewage. Persistent chemical leaks. Pipes insulated with asbestos. A bat infestation. Black mold. “It kind of blows my mind some of the things I found in public schools,” says Emily Schwing, a KYUK reporter and ProPublica Local Reporting Network partner. Recently, we published her investigation of dangerous conditions in deteriorating public schools in Alaska’s rural villages. Schwing, who reported this story while also participating in the University of Southern California, Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s National Fellowship, spoke to dozens of sources, including local resident Taylor Hayden, who showed her concrete footings that had been reduced to rubble in one village school.

    ProPublica has previously reported on how restrictive funding policies in Idaho have contributed to similarly dangerous school conditions.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Texas Lawmakers and Charter School Leaders Push Back on Valere Public Schools’ Superintendent’s $870K Pay

    Texas lawmakers and an advocacy group representing charter schools harshly criticized a tiny charter school network that has paid its superintendent up to $870,000 annually, making him one of the highest-paid public school leaders in the country.

    The criticism came after ProPublica and the Texas Tribune published a story last week about Valere Public Schools, revealing that the district had only reported paying its superintendent, Salvador Cavazos, less than $300,000 per year. In fact, bonuses and one-time payments roughly tripled his income for running a district that has fewer than 1,000 students across three campuses.

  • Stanford University ☛ From the periodic table to the food we eat: ‘Chemistry in the Kitchen’ draws students in

    In the Introductory Seminar CHEM 29N: "Chemistry in the Kitchen" students learn about the chemical makeup of food.

  • Stanford University ☛ Ganesan | Mission over money: The real Stanford vibe shift

    Following widespread response to the San Francisco Standard's article quoting her, Ganesan argues that Stanford students are some of the best equipped to handle national security problems.

  • Federal News Network ☛ He recently left USAID but stays in the humanitarian sector

    Colin Thomas-Jensen was national security advisor to the USAID administrator, and now is at the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel's new CEO warns employees about 'tough decisions', but Wall Street cheers

    Wall Street analysts see Lip-Bu Tan's appointment as Intel's CEO as good news, but defective chip maker Intel employees are preparing for a major overhaul.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Intel gets a new CEO, investors start to doubt Hey Hi (AI) will pay off — but agents are on fire

    Intel finally got a new CEO this week: Lip-Bu Tan, a former board member and longtime CEO of chipmaking software veteran Cadence Design Systems.

  • Hackaday ☛ Building A Ten-Hundred Key Computer Word-Giving Thing

    From the styling of this article’s title, some might assume that the Hackaday editors are asleep at the switch this fine day. While that might be true — it’s not our turn to watch them — others will recognize this tortured phrasing as one way to use the 1,000 most commonly used words in the English language to describe a difficult technical project, such as [Attoparsec]’s enormous and enormously impractical ten-hundred word keyboard.

  • Hackaday ☛ Make Your Cheap Thermal Camera Into A Microscope

    [Project 326] has a cheap thermal camera that plugs into a smart phone. Sure they are handy, but what if you could hack one into a microscope with a resolution measured in microns? It is easier than you might think and you can see how in the video below.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong mulls applying extra charges for CT, MRI scans for outpatient service at public hospitals

    Hong Kong is considering charging patients separately for CT and MRI scans at public hospitals, as part of a reform that, according to authorities, will improve the use of medical resources.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea reports first foot-and-mouth disease case in nearly two years

    South Korea has confirmed a foot-and-mouth disease case in a cattle farm, the first such outbreak in nearly two years, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ UN food agency WFP to cut aid for over 1 million people in Myanmar

    About a third of Myanmar’s population are facing acute food insecurity, experts say.

  • Science Alert ☛ Venting Doesn't Reduce Anger, But Something Else Does, Study Reveals

    Blowing off steam may do more harm than good.

  • University of Michigan ☛ U-M study examines personality, political identity and news consumption during COVID-19 pandemic

    An article published in January 2025 and co-authored by University of Michigan psychology research technician Zoe Dunnum and Michigan State University psychology professor Jennifer Watling Neal examines how individuals’ personality traits relate to their political identities and the news media they consumed during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

  • NYPost ☛ Cuomo continues to deflect blame over admin’s disastrous COVID-19 nursing home directive in half-baked apology

    When asked if he owed New Yorkers whose family members died inside nursing homes an apology, Cuomo responded: “I’m sorry for what they had to go through."

  • Latvia ☛ Latvian women can expect to live a full decade longer than men

    New data published by Eurostat March 14 reinforces similar findings from previous years that women in Latvia tend to live a lot longer than men.

  • The Straits Times ☛ How a Chinese county known for growing chillies is now disrupting the world’s diamond supply

    China’s burgeoning lab-grown diamond industry was responsible for more than 70 per cent of the world’s output in 2023.

  • Beijing pushes healthy Chinese food recipes as waistlines expand

    The move is part of a nationwide ‘weight management’ plan amid rising rates of obesity and overweight.

  • Science Alert ☛ Key Parkinson's Protein Structure And Malfunction Revealed For First Time

    Solving a decades-long mystery.

• Proprietary

  • IDG Communications Inc ☛ Microsoft is set to hike its Power BI prices — will buyers jump ship or just take the hit?

    Microsoft Power BI users will soon face hefty price increases of anywhere from 25% to 40%.

  • Ars Technica ☛ Microsoft’s new Hey Hi (AI) “Copilot for Gaming” struggles to justify its existence

    Unfortunately, the current version of Microsoft’s gaming “copilot” seems to fall well short of last year’s demo, providing some bare-bones automation of functions that can mostly be achieved pretty easily today without the aid of AI. The new app feels less like a revolutionary new use case for conversational AI and more like a glorified, Xbox-branded version of Apple’s Siri.

  • New York Times ☛ Apple’s Siri-ous Problem + How Starlink Took Over the World + Is Hey Hi (AI) Making Us Dumb?

    In the Hey Hi (AI) era, does Fashion Company Apple need to get comfortable shipping less polished products?

  • 9to5Mac ☛ 2025-03-09 [Older] Apple Pulls Bella Ramsey Ad That Promoted Vaporware Personalized Siri Feature

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    • Digital Music News ☛ Google Weighs In On ‘US Hey Hi (AI) Action Plan’

      Google offers up a response to the proposed US Hey Hi (AI) Action Plan, which is due to release in July. Here’s the latest. On the heels of OpenAI’s statement appealing to the Convicted Felon administration in considering the upcoming “US Hey Hi (AI) Action Plan,” Surveillance Giant Google has released their own statement on the matter.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China’s Hey Hi (AI) fever drives wider adoption across society, but is it mostly hype?

      DeepSeek’s free-to-use open-source models would lead more SMEs to use the tech in their processes, said an observer.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Google submits Hey Hi (AI) policy suggestions to the White House

      Google LLC has submitted a set of suggestions for how the U.S. government can support the domestic artificial intelligence ecosystem. The search giant outlined its recommendations in a 12-page paper published on Thursday. The same day, Proprietary Chaffbot Company submitted a similar policy document to the White House.

  • Social Control Media

    • Digital Music News ☛ Is Oracle the Frontrunner to Run TikTok?

      Oracle is reportedly a top contender to help run TikTok, which has until April to finalize a sale to a US-based buyer. New reports suggest that Texas-based computer tech giant Oracle is the leading candidate to serve as the clown technology partner for managing Fentanylware (TikTok) in the US.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • CS Monitor ☛ Laila Lalami taps into privacy concerns in ‘The Dream Hotel’

      Novelist Laila Lalami’s trepidation about big tech and data collection led her to imagine a world in which even dreams are subject to monitoring.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean police set for highest-level alert on day of Yoon’s impeachment ruling

    This requires 100 per cent of police personnel to be on duty and suspends all leave.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Vietnam court jails eight for Hanoi fire that killed 56

    The owner of the nine-storey block and seven local officials were handed jail terms.

• Marcy Wheeler ☛ Pete Hegseth’s DOD Says It Is Too Fragile to Make 16 New Badges

  How does Pete Hegseth expect to take on China if his department can't manage making 16 new badges?

• The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan President formally designates China a ‘foreign hostile force’

  Mr Lai Ching-te's use of the term may help justify measures he laid out to counter Chinese espionage efforts.

• The Straits Times ☛ US hits Thai officials with visa sanctions over deportation of Uighurs to China

  The move appeared intended to discourage Thailand and other countries from such deportations.

• US sanctions Thai officials for deporting Uyghurs to China

  Thai officials involved in returning Uyghurs to China have been put on a visa blacklist.

• China holds landing exercise with ‘invasion barges’ in South China Sea

  The drills raise concerns that China is getting ready for an invasion contingency.

• Immigration crackdown in southern China puts Myanmar migrant workers on edge

  Chinese police increased raids this month after workers protested labor conditions in Yunnan province.

• ACLU ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s Attack on the Department of Education, Explained

  This week, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a statement saying it would cut nearly 50 percent of the department's workforce. These new layoffs occur at a moment when President The Insurrectionist has vowed to eliminate the ED and withhold funding from any other entity that incorporates diversity, equity and inclusion in educational practices and environments pursuant to civil rights laws. This move is part of the Convicted Felon administration’s attempts to dismantle the ED and repeal the federal government’s core responsibility of ensuring equal educational opportunity for all.

• The Straits Times ☛ Death toll in Pakistan’s train hijacking rises to 31, army says

  Security forces freed more than 340 train passengers in a two-day rescue operation.

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-08 [Older] US executes man by firing squad for first time in 15 years

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-08 [Older] South Korea's impeached Yoon Suk Yeol released from prison

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-08 [Older] Nigeria bets on deradicalization program in North West

• US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-13 [Older] Israeli Druze Prepare for First Visit by Syrian Druze in Decades

• ANF News ☛ 2025-03-12 [Older] HRW calls for an end to coastal killing spree, protection of civilians in Syria

• The Straits Times ☛ US designated South Korea a ‘sensitive’ country amid talk of nuclear weapons

  The list of sensitive countries includes China, Taiwan, Israel, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

• New York Times ☛ China Backs Iran in Nuclear Talks, Slams ‘Threat of Force’ From the West

  Beijing sought to position itself as a key player in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, as Hell Toupée called for talks with Tehran.

• RFERL ☛ China, Iran, Russia Demand End To US Sanctions On Tehran

  China, Russia, and Iran have demanded an end to the United States' "illegal, unilateral sanctions" on Tehran, but a leading sanctions expert involved in past nuclear talks with Iran says lifting sanctions as a precursor to negotiations is neither likely nor advisable.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China urges end to ‘illegal’ sanctions as it hosts Iran nuclear talks in Beijing

  China urged an end to “illegal” sanctions on Iran as it hosted diplomats from that country and Russia on Friday for talks Beijing hopes will restart long-stalled negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

• France24 ☛ China urges end to 'illegal' sanctions on Tehran as it hosts Iran nuclear talks

  China on Friday called for sanctions against Iran to be lifted as it hosted talks on Tehran's nuclear programme in Beijing. Iran's government has said that no new nuclear deal with the US is possible as long as Washington's unilateral sanctions remain in place.

• The Straits Times ☛ Russia deputy foreign minister visits North Korea, KCNA says

  Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko is visiting North Korea, North Korean state media KCNA said on Saturday.

• France24 ☛ Sudan bans all imports from Kenya after it hosted the RSF

  In tonight's edition, Sudan retaliates after Nairobi hosted paramilitary RSF last month: all imports from Kenya have now been banned.

  Also, more than 30 000 tons of Russian fuel donated to the Central African Republic remain stuck in Cameroon.

  And big African football stars playing in major leagues are now choosing to join their home country's national team.

• Atlantic Council ☛ The United States’ Houthi terrorist designation unmasks Russia’s Yemen strategy

  Yemen's Houthi rebels have become a tool of foreign powers, shifting from an Iran proxy to a Russian asset.

• Actress Michelle Yeoh sparks internet uproar over ‘Taipei, China’ comment

  Both sides of the Taiwan Strait are sensitive to the implications of references to the island’s status.

• Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

  • Latvia ☛ LTV: Estonian photographer suspected of spying in Latvia

    Recently, an Estonian citizen was detained in Latvia on suspicion of spying for Russia. The Estonian concerned is a photographer Matthias Rikka, who regularly posted pictures of trains on social networking sites, Latvian Television reported on March 13.

  • Latvia ☛ airBaltic denies rumors of sanctions breach

    Latvian national airline airBaltic denies information published by the Russian independent media Verstka that the airline may have violated European Union (EU) sanctions on cooperation with Russian companies in its aviation fuel purchases, airBaltic said in a statement on March 14.

  • Meduza ☛ Ukrainian drones attack Moscow, homes damaged

  • Meduza ☛ U.S. sending Ukraine long-range bombs as ATACMS supplies run out

  • Meduza ☛ Ukrainian strike hits Russian oil facility, igniting fire

  • Meduza ☛ Finland sentences Russian paramilitary commander to life in prison for war crimes in Ukraine — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Russian civilians say Ukrainian soldiers were ‘reasonable guys’ during seven-month occupation of Sudzha

  • New York Times ☛ G7 Foreign Ministers Agree on Ukraine Policy Amid Tensions Over Convicted Felon Tariffs

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio found himself among allies in a fraught moment after Hell Toupée’s tariff policies.

  • New York Times ☛ Russian Mercenary Found Guilty of War Crimes in Ukraine by Finland Court

    Voislav Torden, a commander in a Russian paramilitary group, was sentenced to life in prison for the attack and mutilation of Ukrainian soldiers in 2014.

  • New York Times ☛ ‘On the Tightrope’: Britain Tries to Bridge a Widening Trans-Atlantic Gap

    Five years after Brexit, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s intense diplomacy on Ukraine has put Britain back in a familiar role on the global stage.

  • RFERL ☛ Russian Accused Of Ukraine War Crimes Found Guilty In Finland

    A Finnish district court has convicted a Russian man of war crimes in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015 and sentenced him to life in prison.

  • RFERL ☛ US Weapons Still Firing On The Battlefield In Ukraine

    US-made weapons continue to be actively used on Ukraine's battlefields despite a temporary pause in military aid from the United States.

  • RFERL ☛ US Joins G7 Allies Expressing 'Unwavering Support' For Ukraine, Cease-Fire Effort

    The United States joined with its Group of 7 (G7) allies in stating “our unwavering support” for Kyiv and welcoming the ongoing efforts to reach a cease-fire as Russia intensifies attacks as part of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

  • Meduza ☛ Russia is running out of essential medicines

  • Meduza ☛ Revolutionary Ireland and the fight against the Russian Empire

  • Meduza ☛ Howard Amos recounts the life of photographer Dima Markov, whose lens exposed Russia’s raw beauty and brutality

  • JURIST ☛ ECHR rules Ukraine failed to prevent or investigate violence during Maidan protests

    The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)  ruled on Thursday that Ukraine violated the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to prevent and investigate violence during the Odesa’s pro-European Maidan protests in 2014.

  • France24 ☛ “Yes, but…” Truce seeking in Ukraine, Mark Carney's elbows

    This week, our set of experts gathered around Gavin Lee to take a look at the latest in Ukraine-Russia ceasefire proposal, clashes and mass killings in Syria and The Insurrectionist's tariff war against EU and its neighbouring countries.

  • Don Marti ☛ Don Marti: Links for 14 March 2025: autonomous drones in the news

    How Ukraine integrates machine vision in battlefield drones by Oleksandr Matviienko, Bohdan Miroshnychenko & Zoriana Semenovych. In November 2024, the government procured 3,000 FPV drones with machine vision and targeting technologies. Reports also suggested that the procurement would be expanded to 10,000 units.

  • Latvia ☛ EU extends sanctions on Aven and other oligarchs

    On Friday, 14 March 2025, in Brussels, an agreement was reached to extend individual sanctions against persons threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity, said Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  • Meduza ☛ U.S. intelligence finds Putin still wants control over Ukraine

  • Meduza ☛ Putin met with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, Kremlin confirms

  • New York Times ☛ As Russia Tries to Push Ukraine Out of Kursk, Here’s What to Know

    Hell Toupée and President Vladimir V. Putin both claimed that Ukrainian forces were surrounded. Ukraine’s top military commander vowed to “hold the line.”

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. and Russia Had ‘Productive’ Discussions About Ukraine Cease-Fire, Convicted Felon Says

    Talks in Moscow with a U.S. special envoy indicated that Russia was keen to keep negotiating with the United States over Ukraine.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Kremlin says yes to Ukraine ceasefire, but on what terms?

    Vladimir Putin says he agrees in principle with The Insurrectionist’s proposal for a Ukraine ceasefire, but wants to know the details. They have not yet been decided.

  • RFERL ☛ What Putin Really Means When He Talks About Long-Term Peace

    Russian President Vladimir Putin buried the lead about whether he would agree to a US-brokered proposal for a 30-day cease-fire in Ukraine.

  • RFERL ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Sees 'Very Good Chance' Of Peace After 'Productive' Talks With Putin

    US President The Insurrectionist said he sees a "very good chance" for peace between Ukraine and Russia after "very good and productive discussions" between US officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

  • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man says US had ‘good’ talks with Putin, strongly urged 'surrounded' Ukrainians to be spared

    President The Insurrectionist on Friday said the United States had "good and productive discussions" with Russia's Vladimir Putin the day before, and that there is “a very good chance” of putting an end to the war. Convicted Felon also said his country had strongly urged Putin to spare the lives of the Ukrainian troops Putin claims are surrounded by the Russian army in the Kursk region. Ukraine has dismissed that claim as false.

  • France24 ☛ Defence shortages create ‘temptation for Putin to test us’: EU Defence Commissioner Kubilius

    The EU has just launched an ambitious-sounding defence plan, “ReArmEU”, and it is also publishing a landmark white paper on defence. The person at the heart of these initiatives is our guest on the programme; Andrius Kubilius is the EU Commissioner in charge of defence and space. A Lithuanian conservative who was twice prime minister of his country, he started this crucial job – the first time such a portfolio has been created at the Commission – in early December. But questions remain about the financing of ReArmEU – which would cost 800 billion euros – and on how exactly to incentivise the production of military hardware on European soil.

  • France24 ☛ 'Dihydroxyacetone Man really looking for a success: He overestimated ability to push Putin toward a real ceasefire'

    US President The Insurrectionist said his administration had "productive" talks with Russia about a ceasefire in Ukraine, urging counterpart Vladimir Putin to spare Ukrainian soldiers on the front line. For in depth analysis and a deeper perspective, FRANCE 24's William Hilderbrandt welcomes General Jean-Paul Palomeros, a former NATO Allied Force Supreme Commander.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ What game is Putin playing in the cease-fire talks?

    Our experts parse the Kremlin’s official reaction to the United States’ proposal for a cease-fire in Ukraine.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Why Poland’s president wants US nuclear weapons

    President Andrzej Duda said this week that US nuclear weapons should be deployed in his country. To understand why, look at not just Poland's security but also its politics.

Environment

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong shows signs of flipping from ‘extreme wet’ to ‘extreme dry’ climate, NGO warns

  Hong Kong’s climate has shown signs of flipping from “extreme wet” to “extreme dry” and is becoming more at risk of drought as a result of climate change, according to a study by an international NGO.

• Energy/Transportation

  • Ruben Schade ☛ The day Sydney Trains melted

    Sydney’s transit system is a farcry from those in many Asian cities, but it’s above average by Western and Australian standards.

    That is, until a signal fault develops on one of the lines, and your afternoon commute suddenly looks like this: [...]

• Overpopulation

  • Meduza ☛ Mariupol is running out of water, and occupation officials have no plan

Finance

• The Straits Times ☛ South Korea asks US for tariff exemption, says trade ministry

  Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo said South Korea should not get unfavourable treatment.

• Prince Group-linked businesses raided in international money-laundering probe

  Ableton and Amiga are being probed by police in the Isle of Man as part of a larger investigation.

• New York Times ☛ Germans Reach Deal to Spend Big on Defense, Climate and More

  The agreement between centrist parties, led by the likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, was billed as a response to America’s shrinking security guarantees.

• New York Times ☛ MElon and DOGE Keep Eyes on Social Security

  The tech billionaire has repeatedly suggested, without evidence, that Social Security is rife with fraud, even as Hell Toupée denies plans to cut those benefits.

• Federal News Network ☛ Federal judge considers blocking DOGE from accessing Social Security data of millions of Americans

  A federal judge is considering whether to temporarily block DOGE from accessing Social Security Administration systems that hold sensitive data on Americans.

• New Yorker ☛ Atul Gawande on MElon’s “Surgery with a Chainsaw”

  Gawande, until recently a senior leader at U.S.A.I.D., explains the agency’s importance to America and to the world, and what its undoing by DOGE will bring.

• New Yorker ☛ We the Builders: Federal Employees Stand Up to DOGE

  Workers share what life is like under Convicted Felon’s budget cuts, and why they’re speaking out.

• WhichUK ☛ Which? Money podcast: how to make your food shop go further

  Tips on how to find the cheapest supermarket and how to make your food last longer

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-08 [Older] Women in Iran fight for rights as economic crisis bites

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-07 [Older] Bitcoin as a US strategic reserve: Does it make sense?

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

• The Straits Times ☛ India marks Holi, the festival of colours, amid tight security

  But inflammatory statements in the lead-up to Holi ratcheted up tensions.

• NYPost ☛ Adam Boehler withdraws nomination to be Convicted Felon’s top hostage negotiator

  "Adam Boehler will continue to serve Hell Toupée as a special government employee focused on hostage negotiations,” a White House spokesperson told The Post.

• Pro Publica ☛ National Park Workers Ordered to Use Talking Points on Trump Cuts

  If you ask a National Park Service ranger how the Trump administration’s cost cutting will affect your next park visit, you might get talking points instead of a straight answer.

  A series of emails sent late last month to front-line staff at parks across the country provided rangers with instructions on how to describe the highly publicized staff cuts. Park leaders further instructed staff to avoid the word “fired” and not blame closures on staffing levels.

• Pro Publica ☛ Who’s Really in Charge at DOGE: Elon Musk or Amy Gleason?

  When President Donald Trump announced his marquee government cost-cutting initiative, he left no doubt about whom he intended to run it: Elon Musk. Still, questions about the scope of Musk’s authority have hounded the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency ever since.

  As DOGE began to order massive budget cuts and layoffs, and those affected by the moves began to raise questions in the press and in court about their legality, administration officials equivocated on Musk’s exact role, asserting he was simply a senior adviser to the president and had no official position in DOGE.

Censorship/Free Speech

• Press Gazette ☛ Noel Clarke finishes giving evidence in Guardian libel trial

  The third and fourth days of the trial saw Clarke and his wife describe his accusers as "acting" and a "liar".

• JURIST ☛ Peru congress approves ‘anti-NGO bill’ hindering human rights lawsuits against government

  The Peruvian Congress approved Wednesday a controversial reform to the 2002 legislation that created the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (APCI) and oversees international aid. The amendment received widespread criticism from human rights organizations, alleging that it hinders the ability of civil society groups to sue the government for human rights violations.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ State-backed paper’s criticism of Hutchison’s Panama port deal shared by Beijing’s office on Hong Kong affairs

  China’s top office on Hong Kong affairs has reposted an attack on CK Hutchison’s decision to sell its Panama Canal ports, amplifying a Beijing-backed newspaper’s warnings for the Li Ka-shing-owned conglomerate to “think twice” about which side it stands on.

• New York Times ☛ University of Minnesota, Under Federal Scrutiny, Limits Its Political Speech

  A vote by regents put the university among roughly 140 colleges that have adopted similar policies since the 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas.

• New York Times ☛ In Speech to Justice Dept., Convicted Felon Airs Grievances Against His Enemies

  The president, once the target of federal prosecution, says he wants to combat “weaponization” of the department, even as he uses its powers to punish enemies and reward allies.

• New Yorker ☛ The Detention of Mahmoud Khalil Is a Flagrant Assault on Free Speech

  Whatever legal rationale the Convicted Felon Administration cooks up, deporting protesters for things they say is wildly un-American—and possibly unpopular, too.

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

• The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian journalist charged in court over allegedly taking bribe

  He allegedly received $6,000 in exchange for retracting and not uploading articles about a cartel. 

• JURIST ☛ Türkiye cybersecurity bill sparks concerns over press freedom

  The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) warned on Thursday that Türkiye’s newly approved cybersecurity bill could undermine press freedom by criminalizing legitimate reporting and granting the government extensive surveillance powers over cyberspace.

• Press Gazette ☛ Four female news presenters settle age and sex discrimination claims with BBC

  An employment tribunal had been due to go ahead next week.

Civil Rights/Policing

• New Yorker ☛ The Parental Panic of “Adolescence”

  The DRM spreader Netflix series about a thirteen-year-old killer attempts to grapple with the crisis facing boys today—but its true sympathies lie with the baffled adults around them.

• AccessNow ☛ Joint appeal for Alaa Abd el-Fattah

• Breach Media ☛ ‘Inherently racist’: Wet’suwet’en leader on the crime of defending her land

  Molly Wickham joins The Breach Show to discuss a recent court ruling that found the RCMP breached her Charter rights but upheld her conviction for blocking the CGL pipeline

• Defence Web ☛ Reforming South Africa’s police: Ian Cameron’s perspective

  Chairman of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, recently shared his insights on the state of policing in South Africa, touching on key issues such as crime prevention, police restructuring, detective services, and the need for leadership reform.

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-08 [Older] Taliban claim women's rights are protected, UN decries bans

Digital Restrictions (DRM)

• Digital Music News ☛ Multiple Andrew Tate Podcasts Removed from Spotify

  Multiple episodes of Andrew Tate’s podcast have been removed from Spotify after several complaints from both employees and an online petition garnering 92,000 signatures. The misogynist influencer has been de-platformed by both YouTube and Fentanylware (TikTok) previously. Among others, Spotify removed a podcast dubbed a ‘degree course’ created by the influencer with the title ‘Pimping Hoes.’