Leftovers

• Tom MacWright ☛ Val Town 2023-2025 Retrospective

  When I initially joined, we had a prototype and a bit of hype. The interface was heavily inspired by Ex-Twitter - every time that you ran code, it would save a new ‘val’ and add it to an infinite-scrolling list.

• Firstpost ☛ History Today: How fall of the Berlin Wall shaped modern Germany

  One of the most defining incidents of the 20th century took place on November 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall, a concrete symbol of the Cold War that had divided East and West Berlin for 28 years, was opened. The wall, erected in 1961 by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), had separated families, restricted freedom, and stood as a powerful representation of the ideological divide between the communist East and the democratic West.

• Jarrod Blundy ☛ Micro.blog offers an indie alternative to YouTube with its ‘Studio’ video hosting plan

  All of this is hosted on your own website, (optionally, but strongly encouraged) at your own domain name. I’ve never seen anything else like it.

• Kev Quirk ☛ What Happens After We Die?

  Every element that makes us - oxygen, nitrogen, iron, calcium etc. were forged in the heart of a star through nuclear fusion. Lighter elements like hydrogen and helium came from earlier processes, but the vast majority of what we’re made of was created in stars.

• Derek Kędziora ☛ The academic-hobbyist divide in fish keeping

  There is one academic paper that I’ve seen cited about bettas needing larger tanks. What it actually shows is that bettas, not surprisingly, don’t thrive in unenriched cups and bowls. But what the paper does show is that at 1.5 gallons with enrichment, bettas do thrive. So the whole five gallon thing is just arbitrary nonsense. That said, it’s easier to maintain stable water parameters in bigger volumes, but a well-enriched smaller space is fine. But posting this in the main betta sub on Reddit will get you downvoted into oblivion.

• J B Crawford ☛ memories of .us

  Anyway, the analogy to file paths also illustrates the way that DNS has ossified. The highest "real" or non-root component of a domain name is called the top-level domain or TLD, while the component below it is called a second-level domain. In the US, it was long the case that top-level domains were fixed while second-level domains were available for registration. There have always been exceptions in other countries and our modern proliferation of TLDs has changed this somewhat, but it's still pretty much true. When you look at "gatech.edu" you know that "edu" is just a fixed name in the hierarchy, used to organize domain names by organization type, while "gatech" is a name that belongs to a registrant.

• Vijay Prema ☛ Perfectionism and Courage

  Given the above motivations, when I started I decided that each post should be a polished and timeless document that people would come back to and still find useful for many years to come. This is in contrast to ephemeral social media - that type of post I reserve for micro-blogging on Mastodon. Since my last blog post I have continued to make dozens of Mastodon posts. So if I found real blogging fulfilling, why did I stop?

• Science

  • The Conversation ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] The psychology of generation Alpha

  • The Conversation ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Daylight robbery? How London’s skyscrapers deprive marginalised people of light

  • The Conversation ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] How a medieval Oxford friar used light and colour to find out what stars and planets are made of

  • The Conversation ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] A psychedelic tour of Earth’s ecosystems – from the desert to Siberia

• Career/Education

  • Stanford University ☛ Liu | Democracy Day needs a higher calling

    Liu argues that Stanford needs to engage politically during Democracy Day, and future programming needs to be more conducive to student activism.

  • VOLE.wtf ☛ DOCTYPE magazine 🚀⌨️

    ’80s BASIC type-in mags are back, but this time for HTML!

  • 404 Media ☛ Visualize All 23 Years of BYTE Magazine in All Its Glory, All at Once

    “The article was amazing but I was captivated by the adverts,” Dearman said. “I kept coming back to them and the more I did the more I realized what an incredible core sample BYTE was—both of the personal computing revolution and of the changes in graphic design and printing over those decades. That compulsion eventually turned into this project.”

  • Chris Aldrich ☛ You’re Invited to Another Southern California Type-In!

    With attendees from 8 months old to over 80, our Spring type-in was so successful, we’re hosting another one before the end of the year. Bringing your own typewriter(s) and related ephemera is definitely encouraged, but is entirely optional.

  • Bertrand Meyer ☛ A revolutionary approach to university teaching

    The most subversive — and hard to implement — feature of this arrangement is that all participants are actually together, under the same roof, for the entire duration of the lecture, and can communicate directly without the help of any network device!

• Hardware

  • AdaCore ☛ Proving Safety at Scale: SPARK, RISC-V, and NVIDIA’s Security Strategy

    Modern systems, from data centers to embedded systems, are built from an ever-growing assortment of embedded controllers, accelerators, and firmware components. At scale, traditional “test more” approaches struggle to keep pace: tests can show the presence of bugs but cannot guarantee the absence of whole classes of failures that attackers routinely exploit. That is why the conversation is shifting from securing software after it is written to engineering security into the software from the start.

    In a presentation by Adam Zabrocki and Marko Mitic of NVIDIA at DEF CON, they discuss the challenge of securing a proprietary, billion-core architecture.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Conversation ☛ 2025-11-04 [Older] Can you treat a narcissist?

  • Simon Collison ☛ Simon Collison

    Over the past year or so, I’ve found comfort in realising that it’s OK to just shut myself away from the Internet and get stuff done. It’s encouraging me to return to how I worked in the ’90s: staying focused and largely private, journaling primarily for myself, and simply doing the work. If something meaningful happens, I can share it when everything’s truly ready.

• Proprietary

  • Death of an iPod

    Adam didn't just own Fashion Company Apple products; he professed a faith in them. At thirty-eight, a coder by trade, he'd spent the better part of two decades cultivating an identity as a man of taste, and the high priest of that taste was a company in Cupertino. His friends, his family, his colleagues - they all knew him as "the Fashion Company Apple guy", the one who could explain, with the patient conviction of a missionary, why their choices were... less considered. His identity wasn't merely in using the products, but in understanding and evangelizing their inherent "genius."

    Adam's most sacred object, the gleaming testament to his long devotion, was a 160GB iPod Classic. It was the last of its kind, a dense, polished brick of chrome and anodized aluminum that held fifteen years of his life in its spinning magnetic platters. It was, he often said, the complete works of Adam, meticulously curated.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ What’s left to worry (and not worry) about in the F5 breach aftermath

    Researchers aren’t very concerned about the dozens of undisclosed F5 vulnerabilities a nation-state attacker stole during a prolonged attack on F5’s internal systems. Yet, the heist of sensitive intelligence from a widely used vendor’s internal network resembles previous espionage-driven attacks that could pose long-term consequences downstream.

    F5, which became aware of the attack Aug. 9 and disclosed Oct. 15, said “a highly sophisticated nation-state threat actor” stole segments of BIG-IP source code and details on 44 vulnerabilities the company was addressing internally at the time.

  • Andre Franca ☛ Thoughts on Webapps — Andre Franca

    I've been thinking about webapps lately, especially as I watch the endless cycle of software updates, permission requests, and the nagging feeling that every binary I download might be doing something I didn't agree to in the background.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • The Atlantic ☛ The New Brutality of OpenAI

      Whatever the motivations, this legal strategy represents the new normal for OpenAI: an outwardly aggressive approach. OpenAI’s determination to shift from the nonprofit model was apparently motivated in part by the desire to fundraise. The Japanese investment group SoftBank, for instance, had conditioned $22.5 billion on OpenAI making such a change. (OpenAI completed its transition to a more traditional for-profit model last week. The actual structure is a bit more complicated than it initially seemed, and a nonprofit board still technically retains control of the business side. But nothing about OpenAI’s recent actions or the board’s makeup—Altman is himself a member—suggests any changes to the company’s commercial ambitions.)

    • Sightline Media Group ☛ Military experts warn security hole in most AI chatbots can sow chaos

      The vulnerability to such “prompt injection attacks” exists because large language models, the backbone of chatbots that digest hordes of user text to generate responses, cannot distinguish between malicious and trusted user instructions.

    • Robert Reich ☛ An Urgent Message: What You Need to Know About AI

      Call me skeptical.

      Without any public guidance or oversight, the only force now guiding the development of AI is greed.

      Greed won’t cause AI to work for humanity. It’s more likely to cause humanity to work for AI.

    • The Verge ☛ The algorithm failed music

      Music recommendation algorithms were supposed to help us cut through the noise, but they just served us up slop.

    • Hindustan Times ☛ Wikipedia warns AI companies to stop scraping and pay for data use or lose access

      Wikipedia has sent a clear message to AI developer companies: stop scraping its pages and start using its paid API service. The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates the free online encyclopedia, has urged AI developers to access its content responsibly through its paid Wikimedia Enterprise platform to ensure continued support for the website in the evolving digital age.

    • Scoop News Group ☛ OpenAI offers year of free ChatGPT to service members, veterans

      The new offer, announced Monday ahead of Veterans Day, is available to service members who are within 12 months of separation or retirement, and any veteran within their first year of leaving service.

    • C4ISRNET ☛ Military experts warn security hole in most AI chatbots can sow chaos

      The vulnerability to such “prompt injection attacks” exists because large language models, the backbone of chatbots that digest hordes of user text to generate responses, cannot distinguish between malicious and trusted user instructions.

      “The AI is not smart enough to understand that it has an injection inside, so it carries out something it’s not supposed to do,” Liav Caspi, a former member of the Israel Defense Forces cyberwarfare unit, told Defense News.

    • Omicron Limited ☛ Is your child's school using generative AI? Here are eight questions to ask

      While parents may be hearing about AI in their work or in the news, they may not realize it is also being introduced into their child's classrooms.

      As part of our new book published this week, we outline the questions parents should be asking their schools about AI.

    • The Register UK ☛ Bluff your way to AI credibility with the right buzzwords

      To survive the transition, it might be helpful to at least sound like you are up on the latest terminology, even if you can’t bring yourself to use it. That way, you can understand what others think they mean as they style their way through the new era.

      So here are the five key buzzwords and phrases to look out for.

    • PC World ☛ Black Friday traps! New AI scams are plaguing this shopping season

      Black Friday started as a day for bargain sales, but has evolved into a global shopping phenomenon. But the bigger the participation, the more attractive it all becomes… for criminals.

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ Prompt Injection in AI Browsers

      In a realistic scenario, no credentials or user interaction are required and a threat actor can leverage the attack by simply exposing a maliciously crafted URL to targeted users.

    • Wired ☛ The Former Staffer Calling Out OpenAI’s Erotica Claims

      Last month Adler, who spent four years in various safety roles at OpenAI, wrote a piece for The New York Times with a rather alarming title: “I Led Product Safety at OpenAI. Don’t Trust Its Claims About ‘Erotica.’” In it, he laid out the problems OpenAI faced when it came to allowing users to have erotic conversations with chatbots while also protecting them from any impacts those interactions could have on their mental health. “Nobody wanted to be the morality police, but we lacked ways to measure and manage erotic usage carefully,” he wrote. “We decided AI-powered erotica would have to wait.”

  • Social Control Media

    • Dan Q ☛ Two modes of Internet use

      I dropped Facebook about 14 years ago, but it’s still the case that my offline-first friends will sometimes assume that I’ll know something that they posted there (or to some other platform). And it’s still the case that I’m not as good as I could be at reaching-out and checking-in. (At least that latter point is something actionable that I can work with, I suppose.)

      After thirty years online, it seems to me that converting an online relationship to an offline one is a rarity. But converting one born-offline into an online one, or a “hybrid” one that somehow exhibits some of the worst characteristics of both, is distressingly easy… even when you don’t intend it.

    • Rodrigo Ghedin ☛ Facebook and Instagram are paradises for scammers, reveal Meta’s internal documents

      Reuters shed light on Meta’s lucrative business built on selling fraudulent ads on its platforms — Facebook and Instagram. Internal company documents obtained by the news agency show that 10.1% of Meta’s 2024 revenue, or US$ 16 billion, came from fraudulent/scam ads.

    • International Business Times ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] Who Is Mariam Cisse? Brother 'Was in the Crowd' for TikTok Star's Public Execution

    • The Age AU ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] TikTok generation meets Socrates: Is this the new education battleground?

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] Germany cracks down on 'TikTok Islamism'

    • International Business Times ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] White House Uses Taylor Swift Song In TikTok About Cheeto Mussolini — Fans Howl At Irony

  • Windows TCO / Windows Bot Nets

    • Eliseo Martelli ☛ Contact and Newsletter temporarily offline

      The spam volume received through the contact function and the newsletter function has recently crossed the threshold of "annoying" into "actively degrading my life." The signal-to-noise ratio in my inbox is now approaching zero, and sifting through junk to find legitimate messages is no longer a sustainable task.

      Effective immediately, I am temporarily disabling all site-based contact forms and the newsletter subscription function.

    • Google ☛ Unauthenticated Remote Access via Triofox Vulnerability CVE-2025-12480 | Google Cloud Blog

      For this investigation, Mandiant received a composite detection alert identifying potential threat actor activity on a customer's Triofox server. The alert identified the deployment and use of remote access utilities (using PLINK to tunnel RDP externally) and file activity in potential staging directories (file downloads to C:\WINDOWS\Temp).

• Pseudo-Open Source

  • Openwashing

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Google debuts new open-source AI tools, GKE Pod Snapshots

      The first open-source tool that Google debuted today, Agent Sandbox, is designed to ease the creation of AI agent sandboxes. It’s implemented as an extension to Kubernetes’ core feature set. According to the search giant, AI applications can use Agent Sandbox to launch upwards of thousands of isolated AI agent environments and delete them when the agents complete their work.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Patrick Breyer ☛ CHAT CONTROL 2.0 THROUGH THE BACK DOOR – Breyer warns: “The EU is playing us for fools – now they’re scanning our texts and banning teens!”

      Just before a decisive meeting in Brussels, digital rights expert and former Member of the European Parliament Dr. Patrick Breyer is sounding the alarm. Using a “deceptive sleight of hand,” a mandatory and expanded Chat Control is being pushed through the back door, in a form even more intrusive than the originally rejected plan. The legislative package could be greenlit tomorrow in a closed-door EU working group session.

      “This is a political deception of the highest order,” warns Breyer. “Following loud public protests, several member states including Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and Austria said ‘No’ to indiscriminate Chat Control. Now it’s coming back through the back door – disguised, more dangerous, and more comprehensive than ever. The public is being played for fools.”

      According to Breyer, the new compromise proposal is a Trojan horse containing three poison pills for digital freedom: [...]

    • NYOB ☛ Open letter: Digital omnibus brings deregulation, not simplification

      noyb has joined forces with EDRi and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) to send an open letter to the EU Commission. There are serious concerns about the potential threat that the internal draft for the Digital Omnibus poses to Europeans' fundamental rights. The Commission has secretly set in motion a potentially massive reform of the GDPR. If internal drafts become reality, this would have significant impact on people's fundamental right to privacy and data protection. Instead of the announced targeted adjustments, the Commission proposes changes to core elements like the definition of personal data and data subject rights under the GDPR. The leaked draft also suggests to give AI companies a blank check to suck up European's personal data. This is highly concerning.

    • NYOB ☛ EU Commission about to wreck core principles of the GDPR

      As gradually leaked the last days by various news outlets, the EU Commission has secretly set in motion a potentially massive reform of the GDPR. If internal drafts become reality, this would have significant impact on people's fundamental right to privacy and data protection. The reform would be part of the so-called "Digital Omnibus" which was supposed to only bring targeted adjustments to simplify compliance for businesses. Now, the Commission proposes changes to core elements like the definition of "personal data" and all data subject's rights under the GDPR. The leaked draft also suggests to give AI companies (like Google, Meta or OpenAI) a blank check to suck up European's personal data. In addition, the special protection of sensitive data like health data, political views or sexual orientation would be significantly reduced. Also, remote access to personal data on PCs or smart phones without consent of the user would be enabled. Many elements of the envisaged reform would overturn CJEU case law, violate European Conventions and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. If this extreme draft will become the official position of the European Commission, will only become clear on 19 November, when the "Digital Omnibus" will be officially presented. Schrems: "This would be a massive downgrading of European's privacy ten years after the GDPR was adopted."

    • Silicon Angle ☛ EU set to relax data protection rules to boost AI growth

      In response, the EU is preparing a series of revisions, collectively known as the “Digital Omnibus,” aimed at easing some of these concerns and adapting the framework to a rapidly evolving industry. Proposed amendments would introduce new exemptions allowing AI developers lawfully to process sensitive categories of data such as information on a person’s political or religious beliefs, ethnicity or health, for the purposes of training and operating their systems.

    • The Record ☛ Enforcement begins for New York’s algorithmic pricing law

      Algorithmic pricing allows firms to automatically change prices based on data like consumers’ income, previous shopping behaviors and location.

    • The Register UK ☛ EU’s leaked GDPR, AI reforms slated by privacy activists

      Max Schrems, founder of privacy group Noyb, warned: "One part of the European Commission (EC) seems to try overrunning everyone else in Brussels, disregarding rules on good lawmaking, with potentially terrible results."

      He compared the approach to Trump administration tactics, arguing the proposals masquerade as small business relief while actually benefiting tech and advertising giants.

    • Cyble Inc ☛ Personalized Algorithmic Pricing Law Takes Effect In New York

      Under the Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act, businesses operating in or serving customers within New York must disclose if they use personalized algorithmic pricing — defined as dynamic pricing set by an algorithm that uses personal data.

      The law broadly defines personal data as any information that identifies or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to a specific consumer or device. This includes data derived from online behavior, purchase history, device identifiers, or other digital footprints — regardless of whether users voluntarily provided such data.

    • 404 Media ☛ DHS Is Deploying a Powerful Surveillance Tool at College Football Games

      Public records show DHS is deploying the "Homeland Security Information Network" at college protests and football games.

    • Project Censored ☛ #1. ICE Solicits Social Media Surveillance Contracts to Identify Critics

      US Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to hire private contractors to “monitor and locate ‘negative’ social media discussion” about the federal agency, according to February 2025 articles by Sam Biddle for The Intercept and Brett Wilkins for Common Dreams. Biddle and Wilkins reviewed a lengthy request for bids from contractors to monitor threats and criticism directed against ICE and its officials. The document cited increased threats to immigration and customs agents and leadership as a justification for the expanded digital surveillance.

      The call for proposals specified that, for any social media content the contractors deemed hostile to ICE, the content creator’s “proclivity for violence” should be assessed using “social and behavioral sciences” and “psychological profiles.” Assisted by facial recognition technology, the contractors would also be expected to assemble dossiers with information about critics’ offline identities, including their Social Security numbers, phone numbers, personal information, and family ties.

• Defence/Aggression

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] African Union Election Observers Say Tanzania Polls Did Not Comply With Democratic Standards

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] Sudan: Dozens killed in attack on funeral in Kordofan region

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] Pakistani Taliban complicate Afghanistan ceasefire push

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Taiwan Vice President Makes Rare Trip to Europe for Parliament Speech

  • Mike Brock ☛ They’re Not Hiding It and It's Not Irony

    Never mind the very weird comfort many right-wing Indian-Americans display with white supremacy—having convinced themselves they’re Aryans too, that the racial hierarchy has room for them near the top if they just align with the right forces. Never mind that “model minority” has always been a wedge concept designed to pit non-white groups against each other while leaving white supremacy intact.

    They removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died fighting fascism. They did it quietly. They thought you wouldn’t notice or wouldn’t care.

  • RFERL ☛ Expert Tells RFE/RL Iran Accelerating Construction of Underground Nuclear Site After US Strikes

    Recent satellite images analyzed by experts at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) suggest that while there is little to no activity at the three sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow, Iran has stepped up construction at a site buried in Pickaxe Mountain near Natanz.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine's drone war lesson for Europe: Technology is nothing without training

    As Europe races to strengthen its defenses against the mounting threat posed by Russian drones, more and more countries are looking to learn from Ukraine’s experience. Speaking in October, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen acknowledged that Ukraine is currently a world leader in drone warfare and called on her European colleagues to “take all the experiences, all the new technology, all the innovation from Ukraine, and put it into our own rearming.”

  • El País ☛ David Fritz, victim of 2015 mass shooting at Bataclan in Paris: ‘The worst wound for a survivor is guilt’

    Friendship is a strange feeling forged over the course of years, but it can also develop in two and a half hours through extreme experiences. David Fritz Goeppinger, 33, met some of his best friends on the night of November 13, 2015, in a hallway of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, as they waited for the arrival of a police assault team in the company of a terrorist armed with an AK-47 and an explosive belt. Shortly before that, he had spent a good 10 minutes hanging from a window of the building alongside two other victims of what would become the largest terrorist attack in French history.

  • La Prensa Latina ☛ Iconic sculpture stolen in Sweden

    The piece is too recognizable for the black market for art, the expert affirmed, warning of a wave of thefts of outdoor sculptures in the Nordic country.

  • JURIST ☛ UN commission warns climate change exacerbates refugee crisis

    Roughly 117 million people are displaced by violence or persecution today. UN experts found that while climate change and environmental degradation do not directly cause war or conflict, it can exacerbate or prolong violence in complex, context-specific ways. Climate may worsen poverty, heighten tensions over scarce resources such as food, water, and land, and increase economic and political insecurity. Climate impacts often lead to the loss of livelihoods, which can in turn raise the risk of recruitment into armed groups.

  • The Next Move ☛ Four Veterans’ Perspectives for Veterans Day

    The oath of enlistment:

    " I, ___, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; [...] "

  • Pete Brown ☛ There wasn’t much else the Senate Democrats could have done, but that is beside the point. - Exploding Comma

    I remain unconvinced that, had Senate Democrats managed to hold out for another month on the budget standoff, the outcome would have been any different. The Republicans hold all the cards and are indifferent to the suffering of the American people.

  • JURIST ☛ US Supreme Court to decide if states can count mail-in ballots received after election day

    The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Spring 2026. The case stands to set important precedent regarding federal preemption of state election laws in what continues to be a contentious subject matter.

  • JURIST ☛ Judge rules US Education Department violated workers' rights with partisan shutdown emails

    In his decision, issued Friday, US District Judge Christopher Cooper stated that while political officials are free to blame “whoever they wish for the shutdown,” the use of rank-and-file civil servants as “unwilling” spokespeople is prohibited and must cease. Cooper added that nonpartisanship is a core tenet of the federal civil service, enshrined in the Hatch Act, ensuring that the government serves “the public, not the politicians.”

  • SBS ☛ Australia's spy boss warned of a Russian threat — and it's unfolding in real time | SBS News

    Australia's spy chief has expressed concern about the potential for AI to take online radicalisation and disinformation to new levels.

  • The Strategist ☛ The digital battlefield around Australia’s South China Sea patrols

    We have documented an influence campaign between 20 and 24 October that used social media to shape the information space and paint Australia as a territorial intruder. While the campaign’s reach may not be significant, it was likely a coordinated effort to amplify Beijing’s preferred narrative through state media, social accounts and a farm news network. This makes it an important learning opportunity for Australia.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • CNN ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] Russian authorities detain suspect over St. Petersburg cafe blast

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] Russia Destroys Four Ukrainian Drone Boats Near Black Sea's Tuapse

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] Teenage Russian Street Musician Jailed Over Anti-Kremlin Songs Is Detained as She Leaves Jail

    • NL Times ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] Widow of late Russian opposition leader Navalny unveils memorial plaque in The Hague

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] Ukraine hits Russian energy, leaving thousands without power

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] Russia's Lavrov: I Am Ready to Meet Rubio

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] Russia's Taganrog Restores Power Supply After Emergency Shutdown of High-Voltage Line

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] Ukraine Drone Strike Temporarily Cuts Utilities in Russia's Voronezh, Governor Says

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] Ukrainian Strikes Disrupt Power and Heating to 2 Major Cities in Russia

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Cheeto Mussolini exempts Hungary from sanctions for buying Russian oil

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Ukraine's battle with Russia for Pokrovsk at pivotal point

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Ukraine updates: Russia strikes cause deaths, power outages

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Justice Department Issues Flurry of Subpoenas in Fresh Inquiry Into Cheeto Mussolini-Russia Probe: AP Sources

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Hungary Gets Exemption From US Sanctions Over Russian Energy Use, White House Official Says

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Russian Strikes Hit an Apartment Building and Energy Sites in Ukraine, Killing 4

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Drone Drops Paint and Unknown Sticky Substance Onto Russian Trade Delegation's Villa in Sweden

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Hungary's Waiver From US Sanctions on Russia Energy Is Indefinite, Minister Says

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Russia Attacks Ukraine Energy Facilities, Kills Three People

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Russia Says House-To-House Advance Continues in Pokrovsk, Tiny Village Captured

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Russia's Lavrov Says Work Under Way on Putin's Order on Possible Russian Nuclear Test

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Ukrainian Drones Hit Electricity Substation in Northern Russia, Governor Says

    • NL Times ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Dutch Navy escorts Russian spy ship out of North Sea

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] EU to stop issuing multiple-entry visas for Russians

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Germany news: AfD trip to Russia sparks 'treason' accusation

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Russian network for conducting hybrid warfare in Europe

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] EU Toughens Visa Rules for Russians

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] German General Says Russia Could Launch Limited Attack on NATO Any Time

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Germany Links Belgium Drone Incidents to Frozen Russian Assets Dispute

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Russia Must Never Assume It Can Beat NATO, Says German General

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Russia Opens First Known Investigation Into Online Searches for 'Extremist' Material

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Russia Urges Cheeto Mussolini Administration to Clarify 'Contradictory' Signals on Nuclear Testing

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Cheeto Mussolini to Meet Hungary's Orban to Discuss Russian Oil, Economic Cooperation

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Ukraine Says More Than 1,400 Africans From Dozens of Countries Fighting for Russia

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Ukraine Stepping up Assaults on Russian Forces in Dobropillia to Ease Pressure on Pokrovsk, General Says

    • 2025-11-06 [Older] Pro-Russian hackers target Belgian telecom websites in DDoS attack

    • CBC ☛ 2025-11-06 [Older] How the son of Russian spies paved the legal path for B.C. ostrich cull

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-06 [Older] Ukraine: Russia says advances made in key city of Pokrovsk

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-06 [Older] France Says Insecurity in Mali Shows Its Pivot to Russia Has Failed

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-06 [Older] US Preparing Subpoenas Related to 2016 Russia Election-Interference Intelligence, Sources Say

    • University of Michigan ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza receives 30th annual Wallenberg Medal

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] Putin Orders Proposals on Possible Russian Nuclear Test

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-04 [Older] Ukraine: How successful is Russia's offensive near Pokrovsk?

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] Fact check: AI videos of crying Ukrainian soldiers are fake

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] Ukrainian Authorities Investigating Alleged Large-Scale Corruption in Energy Sector

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] US Secretary of State Rubio Heads to Canada for G7 Meeting on Ukraine, Gaza, Trade

    • The Local SE ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Sweden to set up joint weapons development hub in Ukraine

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] European Military Trainers Should Be Part of Ukraine Security Guarantees, EU General Says

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Ukraine's Zelenskiy Appoints Drone Air Defence Commander

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-06 [Older] Sweden Can Help Fund Ukraine's Gripen Deal, Defence Minister Says

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] From Pokrovsk Defenders: Drones Alone Can't Hold Embattled Ukrainian City

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-04 [Older] Ukraine's Zelenskyy visits troops near threatened Pokrovsk

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • The Independent UK ☛ Swearing in of Democrat Adelita Grijalva 7 weeks after winning House election could force vote on releasing Epstein files

    Democrats in the chamber have loudly insisted for weeks that Johnson’s real aim in delaying Grijalva’s swearing-in was to prevent a vote on a resolution forcing the release of the so-called Epstein files, co-sponsored by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Ro Khanna (D-California).

    With Grijalva’s signature the vote would be forced to the House floor as privileged legislation. With the votes of every Democrat in the chamber, and several Republicans, it’s expected to pass in an embarrassing defeat for the Trump administration.

  • Robert Reich ☛ Office Hours: Why isn't the media reporting on Trump's dramatic mental decline?

    Yet the media isn’t covering his mental deterioration. Why not? When I ask in the media, I usually get one of the following responses: [...]

  • The Record ☛ Data privacy whistleblowers would get expanded protections under California proposal

    The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA), which has a track record of successfully advocating for proposals in the state legislature, approved the three draft bills on Friday. The agency recently scored a victory when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill requiring web browsers to make it easier for consumers to opt out of data sharing.

    The whistleblower protection proposal is especially significant. It includes anti-retaliation safeguards and financial rewards for insiders who make regulators aware of company practices that violate state privacy law. It also would allow officials in the CPPA enforcement division to collaborate with whistleblowers’ attorneys.

• Environment

  • Ethical Consumer Research Association Ltd ☛ Boycott Black Friday and Cyber Monday

    The carbon cost of Black Friday and Cyber Monday is high. In 2023 it was estimated that 429,000 tonnes of CO2 would be admitted into the atmosphere from product deliveries on Black Friday. This is equivalent to over 4 billion miles driven by an average gasoline-powered car.

    According to logistics company Optoro, returning items bought during the sales used over 1.2 billion gallons of diesel and emitted 12 million metric tonnes of CO2 in the US alone.

  • JURIST ☛ UN experts say COP30 must use human rights approach in climate action

    The experts’ statement asserts that climate action is “essential to prevent and redress disproportionate human rights harm on those in most vulnerable situations.” It calls on states to regulate the emissions of public and private actors and target fossil fuels within their economies. However, the experts warn that these actions should be carried out in an “inclusive and gender-responsive manner, grounded in equality and non-discrimination,” and be “fair and inclusive for workers and communities.”

  • The Register UK ☛ US taxpayers kept in the dark over datacenter subsidies

    Hundreds of billions is being lavished on datacenter construction across the country, however, a report published today claims many of these projects are being funded at the expense of taxpayers, with few states confirming the names of the beneficiaries.

  • Copenhagen Post ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] EU countries make emergency climate deal for COP30

  • Copenhagen Post ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] Mette Frederiksen skips climate summit COP30

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] EU Agrees on New Emissions Targets Before Global Climate Summit in Brazil

  • CBC ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] Brazil’s climate credentials tested by search for oil off Amazon coast

  • Counter Punch ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] The Global South Is Drowning in Climate Debt

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] COP30: 'Climate conference of truth' in Brazil?

  • New Yorker ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] Governments and Billionaires Retreat Ahead of COP30 Climate Talks

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] Climate Talks Start With Call for Faster Action and More Togetherness, but Without the US

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] Indigenous Leaders Join COP30 Climate Summit as It Opens With Unclear Outcome Ahead

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] Labor’s Climate Fight Requires Public Ownership

  • Scheerpost ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] Will Climate Change force Tehran to Evacuate?

  • The Age AU ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] If this is the world’s most hopeful chart, then why are we staring at catastrophe?

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] As COP30 Gathers, What's the Latest in Climate Science?

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] Explainer-What Is the COP30 Climate Summit, and Why Does It Matter?

  • TruthOut ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Hurricane Melissa Recovery Puts Jamaica’s Climate Resilience Plan to the Test

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Cautious hopes for Brazil as host of COP30 climate talks

  • Copenhagen Post ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Climate Minister dramatically reduces funding for wind farms

  • Truthdig ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Bill Gates Gave $3.5M to Climate Denier Bjorn Lomborg’s Think Tank

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Biofuel Pledge at Climate Summit Highlights India’s Ethanol Blending Debate

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Climate Risk Rarely Leads to ECB Collateral Downgrade, Blog Finds

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-07 [Older] Diplomats Worry Absent US Could Still Seek to Influence COP30 Climate Summit

  • Copenhagen Post ☛ 2025-11-06 [Older] Queen Mary to Attend COP30 Climate Summit in Brazil

  • CBC ☛ 2025-11-06 [Older] Danielle Smith wants climate laws scrapped before Grey Cup. What will she offer in return?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] The global race to slash emissions — in nine charts

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Futurism ☛ Man Builds Huge Battery Bank From 500 Disposable Vapes to Power His Entire House

      "This is just amazing, isn't it."

    • TruthOut ☛ Data Centers Devour Electricity. Private Equity Is Buying Utilities to Cash In.

      Ratepayers across the U.S. are facing rising electric bills — a trend that could be turbocharged by Wall Street’s growing effort to capture the electric utilities we all depend on.

      A critical turning point in this development occurred in October when Minnesota state regulators greenlit the acquisition of Allete by asset management behemoth BlackRock — set to become Allete’s majority stakeholder — and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Allete owns Minnesota Power, the main electric utility in northern Minnesota. The approval came against significant community opposition and, as Truthout previously reported, an administrative law judge’s report that strongly recommended against the deal.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Conversation ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] Children’s books feature tidy nuclear families – but the animal kingdom tells a different story

    • Omicron Limited ☛ Bees learn to read simple 'Morse code'

      Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have shown for the first time that an insect—the bumblebee Bombus terrestris—can decide where to forage for food based on different durations of visual cues. Their paper is published in the journal Biology Letters.

    • Omicron Limited ☛ CAM photosynthesis discovered in carnivorous plants

      Carnivorous plants of the genus Pinguicula (butterworts) from Mexico apparently use the same water-saving photosynthesis type as many succulent plants, such as cacti. Botanists from the SNSB and LMU Munich have now demonstrated CAM photosynthesis in carnivorous plants for the first time.

  • Overpopulation

    • Project Censored ☛ #2. Water Scarcity Threatens 27 Million People in the United States

      This “first-of-its-kind report,” Gillam wrote, sounded the alarm on what USGS Director David Applegate characterized as “increasing challenges to this vital resource.” About 27 million people live in areas where the USGS found a “high degree of local water stress.” As Gillam reported, “People who are considered ‘socially vulnerable’ have a higher risk of experiencing limited water supplies.”

    • RFERL ☛ Iranian Officials Plan Major Water Cuts For Tehran Amid Drought Crisis

      The warnings on November 8 came a day after President Masud Pezeshkian said the Iranian capital might have to be evacuated if the situation continues to worsen.

• Finance

  • Truthdig ☛ 2025-11-06 [Older] Rising Energy Bills Are Rewiring American Politics

  • International Business Times ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] Cheeto Mussolini's Lavish 'Gatsby Party' Sparks Fury As Food Banks Face Shortages, Calls it 'Dystopian'

  • TruthOut ☛ 2025-11-08 [Older] Supreme Court Lets Cheeto Mussolini Pause SNAP — Food Banks Scramble to Respond

  • Scheerpost ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] With Food Banks in ‘Disaster Response Mode,’ Supreme Court Lets Cheeto Mussolini Pause SNAP Funds

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] Shein opens Paris store as France moves to suspend website

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] Should Germany return Nefertiti bust to Egypt?

  • RTE ☛ 2025-11-03 [Older] Brand New RTÉ Documentary Series Tonight New RTÉ Documentary Series – Trackers: The People v The Banks

  • Gameskart Layoffs: Bengaluru-Based Gaming Firm Lays Off Over 400 Employees So Far Amid RMG Ban in India, Says Report

    Gameskart layoffs have surged as the Bengaluru-based real-money gaming business faces challenges after India’s RMG ban. The company reportedly let go of over 400 employees, marking continuation of layoffs in the sector. These job cuts highlight the ongoing impact of the RMG ban on India’s evolving online gaming industry.

  • The Truth Tech Leaders Don't Tell

    Major tech firms like Amazon, Meta, and IBM have announced layoffs. While South Korea’s stricter labor laws make layoffs less visible, the job market has undeniably tightened. A statistic from August revealed that one in three young people had given up seeking work, classified as “discouraged workers”—a trend likely linked to this shift.

  • Stephen Kell ☛ Support for Stephen (to be measured out in coffee spoons?)

    You can now crowdfund me! As I mooted a while back, I have gone part-time on my academic job and am exploring new ways to help get my research done. In fact I have created a standing page about this, so the rest of this post just consists of what it currently says! I may tweak things as we go along, so do check the standing page if you are reading this in the future.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-04 [Older] EU enlargement report praises Montenegro, slams Georgia

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-04 [Older] How Germany aims to increase deportations

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] US troops given German food bank advice amid shutdown

  • Le Monde ☛ Wikipedia, under fire from conservatives and shaken by AI

    Nearing its 25th anniversary, the online encyclopedia faces multiple challenges: accusations of 'woke' bias, threats to contributors, AI-generated content and declining readership. Despite these issues, Wikipedia remains resilient. But for how long?

  • Digital Music News ☛ iHeartMedia and TikTok Expand Partnership Into Podcasts & More

    Will TikTok stars’ short-form video talents translate into long-form audio success? We’re about to find out, as the app has finalized a “multiplatform partnership” deal, extending to radio, podcasts, and more, with iHeartMedia.

  • New York Times ☛ SoftBank Sells $5.8 Billion Stake in Nvidia to Pay for OpenAI Deals

    The move has further stoked concerns among some investors that the rally in artificial intelligence stocks was overdone.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ SoftBank offloads $5.8B stake in Nvidia to free up cash for OpenAI investment

    The Japanese company said in its latest financial earnings report today that it sold all 32.1 million shares it held in Nvidia last month, raising $5.83 billion. It also offloaded part of its stake in the wireless carrier T-Mobile USA Inc. for $9.17 billion. The sale, along with money raised from a recent margin loan on SoftBank’s holding in the British chip designer Arm Holdings Plc, will help provide much needed cash for the company’s commitment to OpenAI, which was made earlier this year.

  • BoingBoing ☛ The dirty truth about Black Friday from someone who worked the con

    This Black Friday, I'd advise you not to buy a damn thing. There are no deals when the economy is so tight that some people are forced to choose between food and shelter. And to be clear, there are precious few decent deals when times are good.

  • Inside Political Science ☛ Anti-Consumerism Examples That Challenge Modern Materialism

    Anti-consumerism is a social and ethical stance that challenges the idea that happiness and success come from owning more. It questions the constant drive to buy, upgrade, and replace—urging people to live intentionally instead of impulsively. At its core, anti-consumerism promotes mindful consumption and prioritizes well-being over material gain. This perspective sees excessive consumption as harmful not just to personal happiness but also to the environment and society. By choosing to consume less, individuals reduce waste, save resources, and build a more sustainable and meaningful way of life.

  • The Register UK ☛ Tech's Control Grab Fuels Flight to Open Source

    There are three ways this is hurting hard enough to threaten America’s imperial dominance over enterprise IT, only two of which can be blamed on AI. The other is more immediate, more political and potentially more permanent, and it came home to roost recently as lead pigeon of what may be a sky-darkening flock.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Rumble plans to acquire AI infrastructure company Northern Data to expand cloud operations

    Global stablecoin issuer Tether Ltd. also offered an agreement to buy services from Rumble with an initial commitment to buy $150 million in graphics processing unit services over two years after closing the Northern Data deal. Tether also agreed on a $100 million advertising service agreement with Rumble.

  • The Register UK ☛ Intel CTO and AI boss quits to join OpenAI

    Katti’s departure is a terrible look for Intel, which has struggled to develop competitive AI accelerators to match those from established rivals Nvidia and AMD. Intel is also arguably behind hyperscalers like Google and AWS that developed their own AI silicon and probably trails Broadcom’s ability to design AI hardware – a capability OpenAI apparently rates so highly it tapped the firm to build its own custom accelerators.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • RFERL ☛ Wider Europe Briefing: A New EU Effort To Fight Disinfo, And The Next Country To Join The Club

      The paper suggests the European Commission should push such companies to do more to "demonetize disinformation" and improve the detection and labeling of AI-generated and manipulated content. The focus of the "democracy shield" is threefold: improving situational awareness, supporting democratic institutions and free media, and boosting citizen engagement. The main proposal is for the creation of a European Center for Democratic Resilience. This would be a hub that would "link together existing networks and structures working on prevention, detection, analysis, and response to patterns of threats in the information space, and work to develop joint approaches, practices and methodologies and exchanging relevant data and analyses."

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • El País ☛ Ortega and Murillo intensify internet censorship, the last bastion of freedom of expression in Nicaragua

    According to opposition groups, who have dubbed it the “gag law,” one of the most alarming aspects is the total power granted to the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Services (TELCOR). At the head of this agency is Nahima Díaz Flores, daughter of the National Police Chief, Commissioner Francisco Díaz, and sister-in-law of one of the presidential couple’s sons. According to Law No. 1223, among its many broad prerogatives, the regulatory body will be able to demand statistical and georeferenced data from audiovisual operators and providers.

  • Court House News ☛ Turkey seeks more than 2,000 years behind bars for Erdogan rival

    Imamoglu is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival and seen as the only politician capable of beating him at the ballot box, with his arrest in March sparking Turkey’s worst bout of street unrest since 2013.

  • International Business Times ☛ Mark Zuckerberg 'Threatens' Sony Over Aaron Sorkin's Jan 6 Sequel, Insiders Allege

    New insider claims allege that the Meta co-founder has issued a stern warning to Sony Pictures over the development of Aaron Sorkin's upcoming project, which is set to probe the social media giant's alleged role in the seismic events of 6 January 2021 at the US Capitol.

  • Becky Spratford ☛ RA for All: How Booksellers Decide What to Sell: Why Aren't We Getting This Info Out About Libraries?

    Our biggest issue is that we are unwilling to explain how we build our collections. We have allowed bad actors to define how we build collections. We are not out there screaming about the Masters level classes we had to take on collection development. How hard we work to have books that our patrons want and need. How we DO NOT buy everything that is published. And most importantly, how we want our collections to represent the world we live in, meaning we have titles at all age levels, for all identities.

    I could go on and on. But the point is, as a profession, we have decided that we are better off not talking about it. We don't want to get extra attention. But this has proven to be more harmful that good (just like all soft censorship-- and yes, not talking about how we craft collections is a form of soft censorship).

  • ANF News ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] MKG: Pressure and censorship against women journalists increased in October

  • Project Censored ☛ 2025-11-03 [Older] The Weight of Humanity: Gaza, Academia, and Acts of Solidarity

  • Project Censored ☛ 2025-11-06 [Older] When Algorithms Break the News

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • The Kyiv Independent ☛ The Kyiv Independent marks its 4-year anniversary and launches its biggest membership drive

    The Kyiv Independent was born out of a fight for freedom of speech. It was founded on November 11 by the team that got fired from another Ukrainian publication for defending editorial independence.

  • US News And World Report ☛ A Happy Circumstance: Bob Ross Paintings Sell for More Than $600K to Help Public TV Stations

    Three paintings from famously chill public television legend Bob Ross sold Tuesday for more than $600,000 at auction. The paintings were the first of 30 Ross works being sold to benefit public TV stations hurt by cuts in federal funding.

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ Paramount sheds another 1,600 workers as David Ellison team digs in

    Tech scion David Ellison marked his 96th day running Paramount by disclosing an upbeat financial outlook for next year and a plan to reduce an additional 1,600 workers.

    Monday’s conference call with analysts was the first time Ellison, Paramount’s chairman and chief executive, directly addressed Wall Street after merging his production company, Skydance Media, with Paramount in August — an $8-billion deal that ushered the Redstone family from the entertainment stage.

  • New York Times ☛ Why the BBC Is Facing Its Gravest Crisis in Decades

    But the British Broadcasting Corporation is not CBS or ABC, both of which settled lawsuits brought by Mr. Trump over their coverage of him. Its current crisis — the gravest the BBC has faced in decades — is less about Mr. Trump, experts said, than about the insoluble tensions of a renowned public service broadcaster operating in a bitterly divided political and media world.

  • Sean Monahan ☛ is new media a term we should still be using?

    Let’s focus on the first map, as the second has less to do with new media and more to do with the political funding of certain media outlets.

  • New Statesman ☛ The BBC is worth fighting for

    What stands out in so many of the examples cited in Prescott’s memo is that there has been a failure to ask the most basic questions: is what I am being told true? Might this be down to something else? Most news journalists at the BBC work exceptionally hard. In the fast-moving world of 24-hour coverage, it can be difficult to find the time to probe properly before rushing something to air. But this is much less so for more in-depth, longer form pieces. That investigations have had to be pulled in their entirety – as in the case of an alleged “ethnic penalty” in car insurance premiums story – is deeply troubling.

  • The Independent UK ☛ Every time Trump has sued the media after he threatens $1 billion BBC legal action

    However, this is far from the first time that Trump has threatened a media company with legal action over perceived damages to his reputation.

  • CBC ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] BBC News says it received legal threat from Cheeto Mussolini over speech edit

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] BBC Faces Leadership Crisis After News Bosses Quit Over Cheeto Mussolini Speech Edit and Bias Claims

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] BBC News Says It Received Legal Threat From Cheeto Mussolini Over Speech Edit

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] BBC Chairman Apologises for 'Error of Judgment' in Cheeto Mussolini Speech Edit

  • CBC ☛ 2025-11-09 [Older] BBC director, head of news resign after criticism of Cheeto Mussolini speech edits

  • Press Gazette ☛ How crime content is powering Daily Mail’s podcast expansion

    It's back to the future for a title which has always been strong on crime coverage.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • RFERL ☛ Taliban Bars Women Without A Burqa From Entering Hospitals In Afghanistan

    The Taliban has barred female patients, visitors, and medical staff who do not wear the all-encompassing burqa from entering public hospitals in western Afghanistan, the latest restriction by the hard-line Islamist group targeting women.

  • TruthOut ☛ Chicagoans Refuse to Be Cowed in the Face of Unrelenting State Violence

    More than 3,000 people have been abducted by ICE across Chicagoland since early September. For those of us responding to that crisis, it can be hard to respond to anything else.

  • Site36 ☛ German attack on Channel route: Government wants to punish “illegal migration” to Great Britain

  • Site36 ☛ New police unit for Frontex could also be deployed at sporting events and summit meetings

    Frontex is planning to set up a “Quick Reaction Force”. It is intended to operate beyond direct border protection and could be deployed against the will of a member state.

  • Jamie Zawinski ☛ DHS Just Pepper-Sprayed a Baby

    Gregory Bovino's Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago has hit a new low: [...]

  • Paste Media Group ☛ DHS Just Pepper-Sprayed a Baby - Jezebel

    For months, border agents have been brutalizing civilians [sic] and making absurd excuses for their barbarity. After ICE detained a clarinet player performing with her band outside an ICE facility, they alleged she “attacked” an officer; when agents shot a priest in the head with a pepper ball, the Department of Homeland Security claimed he once flipped Secretary Kristi Noem “the bird”; and the 79-year-old man who was dogpiled by a gaggle of agents—as assault that left him with broken ribs and a concussion—was said to have “impeded” officers. How will they spin pepper-spraying a baby?

  • Gray Media Group ☛ Inside the threat that almost landed an innocent man in prison

    Officers tried to speak with Waltson, but he refused. Body camera video captured the pivotal moment that led to his wrongful arrest.

    “If you have no warrant, get away from my house. Get away from my house or I’ll sue your department,” Waltson said to officers behind his front door.

  • teleSUR ☛ The U.S. Withdraws from the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights

    The UPR is a key UN mechanism where all member states conduct candid, equal exchanges on human rights issues and seek constructive dialogue and cooperation. Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Cyprus’s representative called the UPR a unique and vital instrument for advancing human rights globally, precisely because of its universal nature.

    The EU expressed regret that the United States chose not to take part. The U.S. government informed the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in August that it would not join this review cycle — a unilateral decision that quickly drew criticism.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • RIPE ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] How IGP Leaks Put IXP Route Servers in the DDoS Shooting Range

  • APNIC ☛ Where the evolution of the Internet may be heading

    This article is based on a presentation I made to the ARIN 56 meeting in October 2025.

    Here, I’d like to elevate the typical Regional Internet Registry (RIR) policy conversations above the day-to-day work of address allocation policies with its vocabulary of address block sizes and needs-based justifications, fairness, and efficiency. Instead, we’ll look more broadly at the context of the industry we operate in, and try to gain an understanding of where we are right now, and speculate on where it’s all going.

  • Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ SpaceX grows impatient over licensing delays for Starlink in South Africa

    Icasa regulations require 30% of the equity of local telecoms licensees to be in the hands of “historically disadvantaged groups”. SpaceX has said it – as well as many other multinational companies – can’t comply with those requirements and would prefer a regime of equity equivalence that allows them to make equivalent investments in other areas, such as skills development.

  • RTL ☛ As UN reviews [Internet] rules: 'Splinternets' threat to be avoided, says web address controller

    The risk of the [Internet] fragmenting into national "splinternets" will likely be averted in a UN vote next month, the head of the authority that manages web addresses told AFP on Tuesday.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Undersea comms cable investments double to $13 billion in over two years — ever-growing danger of cable cuts looms

    CNBC says this amount is roughly twice that of the 2022-2024 spend, and much as you'd expect, it's driven primarily by the big tech companies, including Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. The report claims that existing cables already cover roughly 1 million miles (1.1 million km), and that number is getting larger every year. Paul Gabla from Alcatel, the world's largest undersea cable maker and installer, remarks that in the last decade, the Big Tech companies made up about 50% of the respective market.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Arena Media Brands LLC ☛ Hyundai Is Now Locking DIY Owners Out of Their Own Brake Repairs

    At the heart of the issue is the car’s electronic parking brake, which must be disengaged and reset digitally before swapping pads. To do that, Hyundai requires its J2534 Diagnostic Tool, software hidden behind a $60 weekly subscription and a $2,000 hardware adapter. Yet, even with those hurdles cleared, reports indicate that the system doesn’t function on the latest 2025 models.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • IP Kat ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] Insufficiency resulting from mutually exclusive definitions: The repercussive effect of dependent claims (T 0878/23)

  • Software Patents

    • IP Kat ☛ 2025-11-10 [Older] [Guest Post] USPTO Director orders re-examination of video game patent, citing prior art not considered by the Examiner

• Trademarks

  • Right of Publicity

    • IP Kat ☛ 2025-11-06 [Older] Berlin Regional Court indirectly exclaims ‘Yippee-ki-yay’ to AI-voice cloning Bruce Willis’ German dubbing artist’s voice

• Copyrights

  • IP Kat ☛ 2025-11-05 [Older] Getty Images v Stability: Long-awaited judgment rejects majority of Getty's claim

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ OpenAI loses song lyrics copyright case in German court

    The German association GEMA that seeks to defend authors' rights brought the lawsuit.

    Authors' rights law (or Urheberrecht in German) is separate from and not to be confused with the more commonly understood Anglo-American copyright law. It places more emphasis on the individual artist or author and considers the rights non-transferable, rather than the property of the owner of the content (like a publisher or record label).

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Redditor Convicted for Sharing Nude Scenes in Landmark 'Moral Rights' Copyright Case

    A Danish court has handed down a historic verdict, convicting a Reddit moderator in the country's first-ever criminal case for violating copyright's "right of respect". The now 40-year-old man was given a 7-month suspended prison term for sharing 347 nude scenes featuring actresses from Danish films and TV shows on the "SeDetForPlottet" subreddit. The man also shared over 25 terabytes of pirated content on private torrent tracker Superbits.org.

  • 404 Media ☛ Danish Redditor Charged for Posting Nude Scenes from Films

    He’s convicted of “gross violations of copyright, including violating the right of publicity of more than 100 aggrieved female actors relating to their artistic integrity,” Danish police reported Monday.

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Cox Accuses Labels of 'Distancing' Themselves From "Two-Strike" Piracy Theory

    In its final written argument to the Supreme Court, Cox Communications accuses the major record labels of "distancing" themselves from the "two-notices-and-terminate" rule that was the basis of their trial victory. The ISP's reply brief forces the labels to either defend a "flawed theory" that Cox claims would lead to "mass evictions" of hospitals and senior citizens, or abandon the legal basis for their billion-dollar win.