Leftovers

• Don Marti ☛ Don Marti: tires, myths, and reality

  Previously: reinventing Gosplan

  Doc Searls went to Tieman Tire in Bloomington, Indiana to get a tire fixed. Tieman Tire is clearly a post-surveillance business, far out ahead of the innovation curve.

  surveillance myth: the most valuable parts of a business are based on personalization
  reality: for almost all brands the most valuable parts are common to most or all customers (there aren’t some people who want leaky tires and some people who want the fixed kind)

• Open Data

  • DataGeeek ☛ Trend-Anomaly Analysis of U.S. Federal Budget Balance

    According to the Trend-Anomaly chart, after the liberation day tariffs, the U.S. Federal Budget Balance has recovered from the extremely high level deficit.

• Defence/Aggression

  • JURIST ☛ Mali criticized over summary executions and enforced disappearances of ethnic Fulani men

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday reported that Mali’s armed forces and the allied Russia-backed Wagner Group have carried out numerous “summary executions and enforced disappearances of ethnic Fulani men.”

  • RFERL ☛ Iran Says It's Set To Meet With European Nations On July 25 Over Nuclear Issues

    Iran is set to meet with officials from Britain, France, and Germany -- the so-called European three (E3) -- on July 25 in Istanbul to discuss the country’s nuclear program as Western nations turn up the pressure on Tehran to reach a settlement or face new sanctions.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ Fiona Hill on Convicted Felon, Putin and Why Great Powers Fall

      The former White House aide recently returned to her roots, advising Britain on defense and taking a role at Durham University in northeastern England. She still has her eye on global threats.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Strikes On Cities Across Ukraine Kill Child Ahead Of New Round Of Peace Talks

      Russian air strikes targeted several Ukrainian cities early on July 22, leaving one child dead and at least two dozen injured a day ahead of a fresh round of peace talks expected in Turkey.

    • LRT ☛ No plans to lift sanctions on Belarusian fertiliser transit via Lithuania – official

      Lithuania is not considering resuming Belarusian fertiliser transit, a presidential adviser said on Tuesday amid suggestions to ease sanctions on the neighbouring country’s potash exports.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian politicians dismiss Belarus opposition leader’s autonomy proposal as ‘absurd’

      Lithuanian lawmakers have dismissed as “absurd” a recent suggestion by Belarusian opposition figure Siarhei Tsikhanouski to create autonomous Belarusian “islands” abroad, though they do not view the opposition as a threat to national security.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania sends new group of border guards to assist Latvia

      A new group of Lithuanian border guards is heading to Latvia on Monday to help patrol its border with Belarus amid an intensification of irregular migration.

    • Meduza ☛ Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport hands out mattresses to passengers facing flight delays due to drone attacks — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia passes law penalizing online searches for ‘extremist’ content, including via VPNs — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia bans distribution permits for films that discredit ‘traditional values’ — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russian authorities raid popular Telegram channel with law enforcement ties and arrest its head over alleged leaks — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russian lawmakers introduce bill to allow year-round military conscription — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Dressing the part In wartime Russia, political elites are literally wearing their patriotism on their sleeves — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Space wars don’t work like Star Wars Inside Russia’s ‘nesting doll’ anti-satellite tech and the real threats in orbit — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Austria Prepares to Give Up ‘Dream’ of Disarmament

      Historically neutral, the country is set to double military spending, even in the midst of a budget crisis, as its neighbors also spend big to counter Russia.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan, EU both face threats of ‘external infiltration’, President Lai tells European lawmakers

      Many European countries say Russia has been seeking to discredit European governments and destabilise the EU.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian-based Hegelmann shareholder visited Russia

      Anton Hegelmann, a shareholder of the German-owned international transport and logistics company Hegelmann Group and a resident of Lithuania, visited Russia in June.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian pilots and captains battle suspected Russian GPS disruptions

      The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has given Russia one month to explain its interference with the Global Positioning System (GPS), which is disrupting the work of aircraft pilots and ship captains. Faulty signals are especially prevalent along the coast and in the Curonian Lagoon.

    • NYPost ☛ American father of three who joined Russian army to escape ‘woke’ US has been sent to the frontlines, wife says

      A Texas father-of-three who moved his family to Russia and joined the military to escape "wokeness" in the US has been sent to the frontlines of Moscow's meatgrinder, his wife said.

    • Meduza ☛ Despite protests in major cities, Zelensky signs controversial law stripping Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies of independence — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Russia and Ukraine to Renew Talks, but Peace Remains Elusive

      Russia and Ukraine are expected to hold another round of negotiations on Wednesday in Istanbul, but the two warring countries have flatly rejected each other’s demands.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine-Russia talks overshadowed by child deportations and renewed strikes

      As Ukraine and Russia prepare for new talks, Kyiv says its top priority is the return of over 19,000 children allegedly deported to Russian foster families—a move Ukraine and the UN call a war crime. Meanwhile, Russia continues overnight assaults on cities like Sumy and Odesa, and insists on keeping territories it currently occupies, including Crimea. The Kremlin maintains its hardline stance ahead of negotiations, despite The Insurrectionist issuing a 50-day ultimatum for a deal or fresh US sanctions.

    • New York Times ☛ Zelensky’s Government Takes Aim at Ukraine’s Corruption Fighters

      Ukraine’s president ran on a promise to clean things up, but critics say his government is cracking down on anti-corruption activists, critics and agencies.

    • New York Times ☛ Zelensky Targeted in Wartime Protests in Ukraine for the First Time

      The demonstrators were angered by government moves to dismantle anticorruption efforts and quell dissent.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Can independent news outlets in Ukraine survive loss of USAID funding?

      USAID funding helped nurture new independent media outlets in Ukraine to play their part in strengthening democracy. Now there are concerns about a return to the days of media dominated by oligarchs, political parties, and the state.

    • RFERL ☛ Protests Erupt As Ukraine Tightens Control Over Anti-Corruption Agencies, Raising International Alarm

      Ukrainian lawmakers have approved a tightening of restrictions on two crucial anticorruption agencies, heightening concerns over the country's commitment to rooting out deep-seated graft.

    • France24 ☛ EU says Ukraine's blocks on anti-graft bodies 'a serious step back'

      The EU on Tuesday said Ukrainian lawmakers were responsible for "a serious step back" as they voted to remove the independence of two anti-corruption agencies. Opponents say the new rules neuter the agencies ability to investigate those close to the upper echelons of politics by placing them under the command of a Prosecutor General, directly appointed by the president.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine rocked by first wartime protests amid attacks on anti-corruption agencies

      For more than a decade, Ukrainians have been fighting a two-front war: against Russian aggression and against high-level political corruption. So it's puzzling to see Kyiv move to gut independent anti-corruption agencies, writes Andrew D'Anieri.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskyy Signs Controversial Bill Restricting Autonomy Of Anti-Corruption Agencies

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a bill tightening restrictions on two crucial anti-corruption agencies despite protests against the legislation and criticism from Ukraine's European allies.

    • LRT ☛ Utena College offers courses in Russian – ministry says it's legal, but some are upset

      Utena College, in north-eastern Lithuania, is offering several academic programmes in Russian. According to the higher education institution, these courses are most commonly chosen by Ukrainian students. Critics argue that the college should discontinue such programmes and focus instead on promoting Lithuanian language learning, rather than opting for what they describe as the easiest path.

    • NYPost ☛ Inside the elite Ukrainian combat unit revolutionizing modern drone warfare — and its offer to the US

      As the more than three-year war turns to the skies, The Post visited a Ukrainian assault unit, which falls under the elite 3rd Assault Brigade, pioneering land and air drones to use in battle.

    • Security Week ☛ UK Sanctions Russian Hackers Tied to Assassination Attempts

      The UK government has sanctioned three Russian APTs and 18 individuals for their involvement in cyber operations against Ukraine, NATO allies, and EU.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia's bomb threat e-mail sender detained in Ukraine

      Last week, a person was detained in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in connection with terrorist threats and the sending of fake e-mails containing bomb threats to thousands of educational institutions in several European countries, including Latvia, the State Police said.

• Finance

  • Rlang ☛ Trend-Anomaly Analysis of U.S. Federal Budget Balance

    According to the Trend-Anomaly chart, after the liberation day tariffs, the U.S. Federal Budget Balance has recovered from the extremely high level deficit.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ New Hong Kong media outlet takes over social control media accounts of defunct news platform Channel C

    A new Hong Kong media outlet has taken over the social control media accounts of defunct news platform Channel C, which halted operations in April following the arrest of its parent company’s director over alleged fraud.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ OPAL for Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)

    No new transformative technology has become so widely adopted, so thoroughly, or as quickly as Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). And none is so poorly understood.  

    As the marketplace value for GenAI has exploded, the legal risks have grown exponentially. Companies that appeared yesterday are competing with industry titans and all are racing to be the first to innovate—and patent monopoly the field.

    To help, Unified Patents has created the first-ever GenAI patent monopoly landscape.

• Copyrights

  • Hawley-Blumenthal Bill Aims to Rein in Hey Hi (AI) Companies’ Use of Copyrighted Works

    Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) on Monday, July 21, introduced the Hey Hi (AI) Accountability and Personal Data Protection Act, which would chiefly bar artificial intelligence (AI) companies from using copyrighted works to train their generative Hey Hi (AI) tools without authors’ permission. The bill was announced less than a week after Hawley held a hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism in which he called generative Hey Hi (AI) companies’ use of copyrighted works to train their chatbots and other large language models (LLMs) “the largest IP theft in American history.”