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● 03.10.23

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● Links 10/03/2023: New siduction

Posted in News Roundup at 9:13 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Server

=> ↺ Kubernetes Blog: Forensic container analysis

• Authors: Adrian Reber (Red Hat)

• In my previous article, Forensic container checkpointing in Kubernetes, I introduced checkpointing in Kubernetes and how it has to be setup and how it can be used. The name of the feature is Forensic container checkpointing, but I did not go into any details how to do the actual analysis of the checkpoint created by Kubernetes. In this article I want to provide details how the checkpoint can be analyzed.

• Checkpointing is still an alpha feature in Kubernetes and this article wants to provide a preview how the feature might work in the future.

• Details about how to configure Kubernetes and the underlying CRI implementation to enable checkpointing support can be found in my Forensic container checkpointing in Kubernetes article.

Audiocasts/Shows

=> ↺ New Video: How to Draw Dynamic Figures in Krita

• This week, we have released the latest of Ramon’s Krita videos!

=> ↺ 2023-03-09 Learn The Linux Terminal In 30 Minutes

=> ↺ 2023-03-09 Nitrux 2.7.0 overview | #YourNextOS — Boldly Different

=> ↺ 2023-03-09 Refusing To Use Windows For “Religious Reasons”

=> ↺ Feeding pro-Microsoft trolls or straw men

=> ↺ 2023-03-09 How to install Lightworks on Linux Lite 6.2

=> ↺ The Linux Software Store War Rages On

• Listen now (25 min) | The Lunduke Journal of Technology Podcast – Mar 8, 2023

Instructionals/Technical

Linux Handbook ☛ LHB Monthly #23.03: Free Kubernetes Courses, chage and pgrep Linux CommandsKubernetes is perhaps the hottest term in the DevOps industry today. I have got a hidden gem for you in this newsletter.💭 Let’s have a look at the interesting things included here:Free Kubernetes courseSelected LHB Linux articlesMemes that can only be understood by Linux

=> ↺ How to write a Bash script to run commands

=> ↺ 2023-03-09 How to replace Windows with Linux Mint on your PC

Desktop Environments/WMs

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

=> ↺ Slimbook Titan, Kubuntu, installation, hybrid graphics

• I’m a little bit torn about what I ought to feel and think. The first installation attempt is worrying. The fact the BIOS won’t respect my backlight settings, or the fact the lighting pattern changes seemingly randomly, and/or after any login, is also quite annoying. But then, apart from that, second install three days in, the system is stable, fast, and works rather well.

• If I ignore the first attempt, then things have gone pretty smoothly. The dual-graphics setup works great, I have a solid array of programs installed and running (more on that soon), the performance is very good, and the battery holds its charge quite reasonably. Well, I guess that’s all for now. Stay tuned for the next episode of Dedoimedo’s Titan adventures. To wit, applications and games. Bye bye now.

Distributions and Operating Systems

BSD

=> ↺ Order Books for BSDCan Delivery

• BSDCan 2023 is happening in meatspace. Folks like getting books from me personally, so normally I bring a few copies of each old title and about ten copies of each book released since the previous con. I’ve released eighteen books since the last meatspace BSDCan, plus innumerable chapbooks and collections and anthologies…

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ What is an edge-native application?

• Cloud-native. Those two simple words redefined how we build, deploy, and even consume software. Twenty-five years ago, when I had hair I could pull on when having trouble with my code, the idea that I would use an office suite contained in my web browser would have sounded like science fiction. And yet, here we are. Gone are the days of installing an office suite from a pile of floppy disks. Naturally, the three or four years gap between releases is also a thing of the past. Nowadays, new features may appear anytime and anywhere, with no installation required. It’s an understatement to say that the velocity of the software industry increased by an order of magnitude.

• This evolution is a tremendous achievement from my perspective. Of course, if you are a bit younger than me or even one of those “cloud-native” developers who never experienced anything else, you surely see things differently. At this point, cloud-native is de facto how things are done—even for me. It is not exciting or new, just assumed. However, there are still applications living outside the cloud. Those applications are increasingly impacting our personal and professional lives. You see, software is eating the world. And this means cloud-native applications are increasingly supplemented with edge-native ones.

• In this article, I will define edge applications and describe their characteristics. But before I get to that, it’s important to understand how the cloud and edge environments differ.

Debian Family

=> ↺ siduction 2022.1.1 “Masters of War” Arrives with Linux Kernel 6.2 and KDE Plasma 5.27

• Synced with the Debian Sid (Unstable) repositories as of March 8th, 2023, siduction 2022.1.1 is here to bump the kernel packages to the latest Linux 6.2 release shipping with Linux kernel 6.2.2 by default.

• It also bumps the KDE Plasma version in the standalone Plasma edition to the latest KDE Plasma 5.27.2 release, which is accompanied by the latest KDE Frameworks 5.103 and KDE Gear 22.12.3 software suites. The KDE Plasma flavor remains the flagship edition of siduction.

Devices/Embedded

=> ↺ STMicro introduces cost-optimized STM32MP13 Cortex-A7 microprocessor

• STMicroelectronics’ STM32MP13 1 GHz single-core Arm Cortex-A7 microprocessor series is the latest addition to the Linux-capable STM32MP1 family, with a cost-optimized design that does without the Cortex-M4 real-time core found in the original STM32MP15 series, while still offering Ethernet, CAN FD, camera and display depending on the specific SKU: STM32MP131, STTM32MP133, or STM32MP135.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ Videos Teach Bare Metal RP2040

• When we write about retrocomputers, we realize that back in the day, people knew all the details of their computer. You had to, really, if you wanted to get anything done. These days, we more often pick peripherals and just assume our C or other high level code will fit and run on the CPU.

=> ↺ New Raspberry Pi Camera With Global Shutter

• Raspberry Pi has just introduced a new camera module in the high-quality camera format. For the same $50 price you would shell out for the HQ camera, you get roughly eight times fewer pixels. But this is a global shutter camera, and if you need a global shutter, there’s just no substitute. That’s a big deal for the Raspberry Pi ecosystem.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ Xenomorph Android Banking Trojan Returns with a New and More Powerful Variant

=> ↺ Android: Enabling choice, competition, and diversity in the mobile industry – Manila Bulletin

=> ↺ Millions of Android fans must not ignore three free upgrades – not using them is a waste | The US Sun

=> ↺ All Samsung Galaxy owners urged to download ‘critical’ Android update today – Mirror Online

=> ↺ The Death of Speed Boosting Apps? Android 14 makes this fundamental change

=> ↺ Google Pixel 7a, Android 14 to launch at Google I/O 2023 event?

=> ↺ OnePlus Nord CE is now receiving the update to OxygenOS 13 based on Android 13 – GSMArena.com news

=> ↺ Motorola backtracks One 5G Ace Android 12 update plans

=> ↺ 8 Best Password Apps for Android Tablets

=> ↺ Review of SONOFF ZBCurtain Zigbee Smart Curtain Motor – CNX Software

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ Revolutionizing Customer and Patient Satisfaction With Open Source

• As the world continues to rely heavily on technology, customer and patient satisfaction is becoming progressively important. The rise of open-source software has brought about new ways to improve satisfaction levels, leading to tremendous overall success.

=> ↺ Open Source Cloud Solutions for Healthcare

• In recent years, the healthcare industry has been increasingly adopting cloud computing solutions to enhance the quality of healthcare services. One of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to implement cloud solutions in healthcare is through open-source software.

=> ↺ FOSS Weekly #23.10: Nix Package Manager, DOSBox, GNOME Workspaces and More Linux Stuff

• The latest and colorful edition of FOSS Weekly discusses package management in Nix OS among other things.

Programming/Development

=> ↺ How the GDB debugger and other tools use call frame information to determine the active function calls

• In my previous article, I showed how debuginfo is used to map between the current instruction pointer (IP) and the function or line containing it. That information is valuable in showing what code the processor is currently executing. However, having more context for the calls that lead up to the current function and line being executed is also extremely helpful.

• For example, suppose a function in a library has an illegal memory access due to a null pointer being passed as a parameter into the function. Just looking at the current function and line shows that the fault was triggered by attempted access through a null pointer. However, what you really want to know is the full context of the active function calls leading up to that null pointer access, so you can determine how that null pointer was initially passed into the library function. This context information is provided by a backtrace, and allows you to determine which functions could be responsible for the bogus parameter.

• One thing’s certain: Determining the currently active function calls is a non-trivial operation.

Leftovers

=> ↺ What’s the scam with Nine’s “Panel of Experts”? Red alert, it’s ASPI

• The backlash over Nine Entertainment’s “Reds Under the Beds” campaign continues as they defend their stories by pointing to “panel of experts”. Who are these experts?

• Most of them are connected to the pro-war think tank ASPI (Australian Strategic Policy Institute) which is funded by the government and global arms manufacturers – in other words, the SMH and Age “Red Alert” campaign is supported by confirmation bias of the most dangerous kind, the kind which takes countries to war.

=> ↺ The Evolution of Baseball

• It was a Saturday afternoon. I was flipping through channels between sporting events. I landed on Roy Firestone’s “Up Close” interview program. He hosted hundreds of great sports personalities and heroes.

• Today was a bit different. Damn, one of the most exciting baseball players in the Los Angeles Dodger folklore was talking to Roy; Maury Wills. My childhood memories were raging. I couldn’t divert my stare. I am pretty sure my nose was almost touching the tv screen.

=> ↺ Looking at the Skeletons Inside the NFL’s Closet

• Renowned sports journalist Dave Zirin talks about his latest documentary, which explores the unjust, unfair and deeply racist history of the NFL coupled with its commitment to nationalism, militarism and corporatism.

=> ↺ Stuck in the Labyrinth

• Crises in Mexico have a way of taking on their own unique expression. Indeed, many in Mexico have come to believe that, rather than marking a sharp turning point, crisis is the permanent state of affairs.

Education

=> ↺ Capitalist Higher Education Didn’t Break the American Dream, Capitalism Did

• Will Bunch, After the Fall of the Ivory Tower: How College Broke the American Dream and Blew Up Our Politics – and How to Fix It (William Morrow, 2022)

• The Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch wants you to know that the extreme cost and class exclusiveness of higher education is driving the polarization of US-American society and politics between liberal blue (Democrat) and revanchist red (Republican).

=> ↺ Bernie Sanders Introduces Bill to Raise Minimum Teacher Pay to $60,000

=> ↺ ‘Educators Are Nation Builders’: Sanders Bill Would Ensure Minimum $60K Salary for All Teachers

• Demanding an end to “the international embarrassment” of low teacher pay in the United States, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday introduced legislation to guarantee a minimum salary for public school educators of $60,000 per year, moving to fulfill a pledge he made during his 2020 presidential campaign.

=> ↺ AI Won’t Destroy Education—But It May Expose So Much of What We’re Already Doing Wrong

• The future tapped me quietly on the shoulder the other day and suggested that I take a moment to learn about the writing bots.

Hardware

=> ↺ Physics-Controlled Component Auto-Placer

• [Jarrett] recently stumbled upon a class of drawing algorithms called force-directed graphs, which artificially apply forces to the elements. The final graph is then generated by applying the laws of physics and letting the system reach equilibrium. This can often result in a pleasing presentation of things like mind maps and other diagrams without having to hand-place everything. He realized that this approach almost mimics the way he places components when doing a PCB layout. Out of curiosity or intense boredom, we’re not sure which, he decided to implement this in a tool that interacts with KiCad ( see animated GIF below the break ).

=> ↺ A Guided Tour Of The NES

• No matter your age or background, there’s an excellent chance you’ll recognize the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) at first glance. The iconic 8-bit system not only revitalized the gaming industry, but helped to establish the “blueprint” of console gaming for decades to come. It’s a machine so legendary and transformative that even today, it enjoys a considerable following. Some appreciate the more austere approach to gaming from a bygone era, while others are fascinated with the functional aspects of console.

=> ↺ Measuring A Millisecond Mechanically

• If you are manufacturing something, you have to test it. It wouldn’t do, for example, for your car to say it was going 60 MPH when it was really going 90 MPH. But if you were making a classic Leica camera back in the early 20th century, how do you measure a shutter that operates at 1/1000 of a second — a millisecond — without modern electronics? The answer is a special stroboscope that would look at home in any cyberpunk novel. [SmarterEveryDay] visited a camera restoration operation in Finland, and you can see the machine in action in the video below.

=> ↺ Power Tool Battery Fume Extractor

• A solder fume extractor is something we could probably all use. While there isn’t much to them, [Steven Bennett] put a lot of thought into making one that was better for him, and we admired his design process, as well as the extractor fan itself. You can see the finished result in the video below.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ Environmental Watchdog Says Buttigieg ‘Can and Must’ Restore Obama-Era Railway Safety Rules

• As industry employees push for improvements to bipartisan railway safety legislation and reject efforts by rail companies to introduce new safety rules on their own, one public health advocacy group on Thursday called on the Biden administration to do everything in its power to make trains safer for workers and American communities.

=> ↺ Norfolk Southern CEO Refuses to Commit to Giving Workers 7 Paid Sick Days, Halting Stock Buybacks

• Thursday’s U.S. Senate hearing about the ongoing environmental and public health disaster in East Palestine, Ohio “did not go well” for Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw, the progressive media outlet More Perfect Union declared.

=> ↺ Key takeaways from the Senate hearing on the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment

• A powerful Senate panel held a hearing Thursday on the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle call for answers and action in the wake of the disaster.

=> ↺ In the Era of Legal Marijuana, Less Teen Use

• Opponents thought legalization would lead to more teens using marijuana. Ten years since the first states legalized, the reverse has happened.

=> ↺ California Will End $54M Walgreens Deal After Company Curbed Abortion Pill Sales

=> ↺ Healthcare As Punishment: Seeking Medical Care In Washington Prisons

• This article was funded by the Marvel Cooke Fellowship. Read more about this reporting project and make a contribution to fund our fellowship budget.

• About one year after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Washington State prisons, sick prisoners at Stafford Creek Correctional Center found themselves huddled into the gym to isolate from the rest of the population. 

=> ↺ How Obamacare Enabled a Christian Health Care Cash Grab

• Joe Guarino rescued an entire industry with help from what some called “divine” intervention.

• A little-known lobbyist from Virginia, Guarino was hired in 2007 by the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, the trade association for nonprofit alternatives to medical insurance founded on Christian principles. Health care sharing ministries take fees from members, which are then used to pay other members’ health bills.

=> ↺ In the Era of Legal Marijuana, the Kids are Alright

=> ↺ Health regulator fights to revoke cannabis permits it issued

• Cofepris says it was forced by the Supreme Court to grant the permits without knowing if the company’s products are safe.

=> ↺ A massive study of the pandemic found something surprising in global mental health: resilience

• Back in 2020, people were suffering.

Security

=> ↺ Who’s Behind the NetWire Remote Access Trojan?

• A Croatian national has been arrested for allegedly operating NetWire, a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) marketed on cybercrime forums since 2012 as a stealthy way to spy on infected systems and siphon passwords. The arrest coincided with a seizure of the NetWire sales website by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). While the defendant in this case hasn’t yet been named publicly, the NetWire website has been leaking information about the likely true identity and location of its owner for the past 11 years.

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ Hearing Brings Attention To US Agency’s Effort To Compel Twitter To Identify Journalists Working On ‘Twitter Files’

=> ↺ Matt Taibbi: My Statement to Congress

• In testimony to the House Judiciary Committee about the Twitter Files, a few words about why state-funded “anti-disinformation” and free speech can’t coexist.

=> ↺ DHS Oversight Report Says ICE, Secret Service Illegally Deployed Stingray Devices

• For years, Stingray devices (the most famous brand name for cell site simulators) flew under the radar. Law enforcement had them and used them, but often hid their use under court orders and subpoenas designed to obtain phone records, rather than the precise location of phone owners.

=> ↺ So Much For The 4th: Ring Allows Cops To Acquire Recordings Of Non-Suspect’s Home And Business

• Amazon’s doorbell surveillance acquisition, Ring, has spent most of its time, money, and energy courting cops. If law enforcement agencies are willing to forgo a little dignity and autonomy, the company will given them cameras free of charge, allowing cops to expand their surveillance capabilities by outfitting homes with recording devices.

=> ↺ Reflecting on How We Plant and Grow Onions

• In February of 2022 we launched a small team within the Tor Project called the Onion Support group. It was initiated with the simple goal to increase onion service adoption among civil society groups, human rights organizations, and news media outlets.

• What drove us to create the group was realizing that onion services were not being used to their fullest extent and their features were not well understood among those promoting human rights. More importantly, there’s not enough support and guidance for groups around the world who want to set up their own onion site.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ Progressives Praise Biden Budget for Investments in ‘Widespread Prosperity and Economic Growth’

• While blasting the White House’s proposed $886 billion in military spending as “madness,” progressives on Thursday also praised portions of U.S. President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget for sizable social investments that could lead to “broader opportunity, greater economic and health security, lower levels of hardship, and a nation where everyone can thrive.”

=> ↺ Ukraine’s Future: Like Korea’s or Yugoslavia’s?

• On February 24, the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to commemorate the occasion with a speech.

• There wasn’t much for Putin to celebrate. The invasion had failed to dislodge the government of Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv or incorporate all of Ukrainian territory into greater Russia.

=> ↺ UN Disarmament Official Lays Out Path to Reverse ‘Dangerous’ Nuclear Trends

• The head of the United Nations disarmament division warned Thursday of the need for urgent global action to eliminate atomic weapons, especially during the current heightened tensions between the United States and Russia—the world’s leading nuclear powers—over the latter’s thermonuclear threats during its invasion of Ukraine.

=> ↺ ‘Madness’: Biden Requests Record $886 Billion Military Budget

• President Joe Biden unveiled a budget blueprint Thursday that requests $886.4 billion in military spending for fiscal year 2024, pushing for a nearly $30 billion increase over current outlays as progressives demand cuts to the bloated and notoriously fraud-ridden Pentagon.

=> ↺ Fearing Future Probes of US Atrocities, Pentagon Blocks ICC From Russian War Crimes Evidence

• The Pentagon is helping to shield Russia from International Criminal Court accountability for its atrocities in Ukraine, fearing such a reckoning could set a precedent allowing the tribunal to prosecute U.S. war crimes, a report published Wednesday revealed.

=> ↺ The American War from Hell, 20 Years Later

• Juan Cole on how Washington lost Its moral compass in Iraq.

=> ↺ How Washington Lost Its Moral Compass in Iraq

• Who remembers anymore that, in 2003, we were Vladimir Putin? Today, our cable and social-media news feeds are blanketed with denunciations of the president of the Russian Federation for his lawless and brutal invasion of Ukraine. When Secretary of State Antony Blinken met briefly with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New Delhi on March 2nd, he told him in no uncertain terms, “End this war of aggression.”

• Putin himself, however, has a longer memory. In the speech that launched his “special operation,” he pointedly denounced the U.S. for “the invasion of Iraq without any legal grounds.” Then he added, “We witnessed lies made at the highest state level and voiced from the high U.N. rostrum. As a result, we see a tremendous loss in human life, damage, destruction, and a colossal upsurge of terrorism.”

=> ↺ “One Day Our Luck Will Run Out”: Ukraine Nuclear Plant Loses Power Again

=> ↺ Turkey as an ally and a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine War. What does it want from it?

• During the course of the conflict in Russia-Ukraine, Ankara has managed to preserve its strategic autonomy and has avoided siding with the West in placing sanctions on Russia while yet managing to maintain its connections with both Moscow and Kyiv without jeopardizing its own geostrategic calculations.

=> ↺ One year on, here’s how the Ukraine conflict is changing the world order

• In his recent landmark address to Russia’s parliament, President Vladimir Putin cited the war in Ukraine and US/NATO involvement in the conflict as the main reason for his decision to “suspend” Moscow’s participation in the 2010 New START Treaty on strategic nuclear weapons.

=> ↺ Transnistrian State Security Ministry says it thwarted assassination attempt order by Ukraine — Meduza

• The State Security Ministry of Transnistria, the Moscow-backed breakaway region in Moldova, said Thursday that it prevented a “terrorist attack” against “multiple officials” that was ordered by the Ukrainian Security Service.

=> ↺ Ethiopia: The Agony of Tribal Nationalism

• In whatever form it manifests, whether it’s distaste for foreigners, refugees and asylum seekers, a nationalistic economic policy or flag-waving patriotism, tribal nationalism is a cancer upon the world. Violent, ugly, and often deadly, it creates and strengthens divisions, often resulting in war, one after another after another throughout history.

• Ethiopia is a land rich with ethnic diversity: Some 70 tribal groups live within this ancient nation, all with their own cultures, traditions, and dialects. Tolerance, understanding, and cooperation are essential within such a bountiful landscape.

=> ↺ John Bolton, the Washington Post and the Death of Arms Control

• Arms control and disarmament are on life support, and John Bolton and the Washington Post have predictably come along to try to prevent any resuscitation.  The Post masthead daily proclaims that “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” but the paper fails to recognize that there are seminal issues that affect the interests of democratic regimes.  Arms control is one of these issues.

• Bolton has been fighting arms control and disarmament for the past several decades, and the Post has willingly provided a sounding board for his specious arguments.  In tracing the dangerous demise of disarmament, Bolton emerges as a dangerous and permanent presence.  He was the key adviser to the Bush and Trump administrations when they abrogated the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the Iranian nuclear accord).

=> ↺ Ukrainian military confirms identity of man shot on video as Oleksandr Matsiyevsky — Meduza

• Representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have confirmed that the soldier, who was shot in a video that appeared on social networks on March 6, was a fighter from the 163rd battalion of the 119th separate brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Chernihiv region, Oleksandr Matsiyevsky.

=> ↺ ‘Invisible’ migrants Ukrainian refugees in Poland brace themselves for a long war — Meduza

• After Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Polish government and public welcomed Ukrainian refugees with open arms. But as the war grinds into its second year, and with spring offensives reportedly on the horizon, the reality that many Ukrainians won’t be returning home any time soon is setting in. Meduza special correspondent Kristina Safonova traveled to Warsaw, Kraków, and Przemyśl to get a glimpse of what life is like for the 1.56 million refugees from Ukraine who have sought refuge in Poland.

=> ↺ Russian ‘foreign agents’ ask authorities in Georgia not to adopt its own ‘foreign agent’ law — Meduza

• Dozens of Russian journalists, activists, musicians, and public figures — all of whom are have been designated “foreign agents” by the Russian government — have signed an appeal to the parliament of Georgia, asking lawmakers there not to adopt an analogous law.

=> ↺ Why Sabotage is a Growing Form of Warfare in Ukraine

=> ↺ War Over Taiwan: Australia’s Gang of Five

• Diligently, obediently and with a degree of dangerous imbecility, a number of Australian media outlets are manufacturing a consensus for war with a country that has never been a natural, historical enemy, nor sought to be.  But as Australia remains the satellite of a Sino-suspicious US imperium, its officials and their dutiful advocates in the press seem obligated to pave the way for conflict.

• The latest example of this came in articles run in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age of Melbourne.  The premise is already clear from the columnists, Peter Hartcher and Matthew Knott.  Australia faces a “Red Alert”, and, to that end, needs a warring fan club.  Not since the domino theory bewitched strategists and confused military planners have Australians witnessed this: a series of articles featuring a gang of five with one purpose: to render the Australian public so witless as to reject any peaceful accommodation.

=> ↺ Heavy traffic buildup reported at Georgia’s Verkhnii Lars border crossing — Meduza

• A line of vehicles multiple kilometers long formed on the Georgian side of the Verkhnii Lars border crossing between Russia and Georgia early on the morning of March 9, according to media and eyewitness reports on Telegram, as well as Yandex Maps.

=> ↺ ‘Sent there to be meat’: Why Russian draftees are suddenly publishing so many video pleas to Putin — Meduza

• Since the start of 2023, Russian draftees have released numerous public video statements in which they complain about being assigned to units based in the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and sent into battle with inadequate training, insufficient supplies, and poor service conditions. According to military analysts, there’s a reason these public appeals have suddenly become so frequent: it used to be Donbas local draftees who were sent on these missions, but now there are few left, so it’s Russians’ turn to go. The independent news outlet iStories looked into the situation. Meduza is publishing a lightly abridged translation of their report.

=> ↺ Volunteer group fighting in Ukraine registers as a commercial enterprise in Russia — Meduza

• Russia’s Federal Tax Service has registered a group called the P. A. Sudoplatov Volunteer Battalion as a legal entity. BBC News Russian writes that this is the first instance of a company fighting in Ukraine officially registering as a commercial structure in Russia.

Environment

=> ↺ Ben Jealous’s New Mission: Saving the Planet

• Ben Jealous has spent much of his career fighting for voting rights and prison reform. Now, as he takes the helm of the Sierra Club, he’s thinking about other ways to fight injustice. That means pushing back against freeways that cut through neighborhoods, demanding accountability when a train derailment spills toxic chemicals into a community, and continuing the organization’s work to shutter coal plants. This article originally appeared in Nexus Media News.

=> ↺ Cleanup of Oceans ‘Futile’ If Plastic Production Continues at Current Rate: Scientist

• On the heels of a historic agreement to protect the biodiversity of the high seas, researchers from around the world published a study this week underscoring the need for rapid, sweeping action to address “unprecedented” plastic pollution of oceans and sharply reduce global production.

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ Top U.S. Law Schools Accused of Creating a Student ‘Pipeline’ into Firms Serving Fossil Fuel Industry

• Elite law schools in the United States are disproportionately funneling their students into jobs serving fossil fuel clients, according to a new report published Thursday.

• The Law Students for Climate Accountability (LSCA) report finds that the top 20 schools have produced fossil fuel lawyers at more than three times the rate of the average law school, based on the US News & World Report’s law school rankings. Nearly half (49 percent) of the corporate lawyers working for the fossil fuel industry, according to the report’s data set, came from one of the top 20-ranked schools.

=> ↺ Solar Mitigation Battleground

• A battle over how to protect the planet from overheating is heating up.

• Academics are coming out of the woodwork, forming coalitions, issuing declarations. A subdued debate over the merits versus demerits of solar geoengineering (SRM) has been ongoing for years. Now battle lines are forming.

=> ↺ India’s anti-money laundering laws will now apply to crypto transactions

• The Indian government will apply anti-money laundering provisions to transactions related to cryptocurrencies or virtual tokens, in an effort to tighten its supervision of digital assets.

=> ↺ A Dozen Years after Fukushima, Nuclear Power is Still a Death Wish

• A dozen years after four atomic reactors exploded at Fukushima, the plant STILL daily irradiates 150 tons of water which must be treated and stored forever.

• Thousands of tons more of such lethal liquid are still held in rotting tanks. The Japanese government wants to dump them in the Pacific, but local resistance is fierce. The build-up will continue for countless years to come, with gargantuan quantities of deadly liquid ever-readier to destroy our oceans….and perhaps, eventually, human life, whose irrational addiction to atomic power has yet to abate.

=> ↺ ‘One Day Our Luck Will Run Out,’ Warns IAEA Chief Over Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant

• The largest nuclear energy plant in Europe, located in southern Ukraine, lost all off-site power for the sixth time in a year as Russian forces carried out a massive missile attack on Thursday, once again raising fears of a nuclear catastrophe with continent-wide implications.

=> ↺ How Simple Can A Wind Generator Get?

• As the world has moved towards sustainable energy sources over the last few years, it’s increasingly common to be close to a wind turbine. The huge turbines visible on the horizon from where this is being written are the upper end of the scale though, and along comes [Robert Murray Smith] with the opposite, probably the simplest and smallest wind turbine we’ve seen.

=> ↺ India fears a torrid summer of long power cuts

• India has just witnessed its hottest February in the last 122 years—and the country’s weather department thinks it’s only going to get worse. But between drastic weather conditions and fear of brutal heat waves lies another worry: hourslong power cuts.

Wildlife/Nature

=> ↺ There’s No Such Thing as the Humane Slaughter

• Most meat-eaters want to believe that the animals they eat don’t suffer, but time and again, federal records have shown that they do. It’s not unreasonable to assume otherwise; after all, most U.S. meat production is subject to the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which requires that animals be stunned (rapidly rendered insensible to pain) before they’re hoisted upside down and killed. But this law doesn’t apply to all animals—chickens, turkeys, ducks, and fish are excluded—and federal inspection records reveal horrifying violations in which cows, pigs, and other animals have endured physical pain and psychological terror at slaughterhouses, where prolonged deaths occur disturbingly frequently.

• Reports from around the country read like horror stories. For example, on three different days between June and August 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) staff at South 40 Farms in North Dakota saw pigs cry out after being shot in the head during botched attempts to render them unconscious, and on another day in April 2022, a steer attempted to sit up after an employee from the same establishment shot him twice in the head. At Lightfoot Farm Market & Processing in Tennessee, a steer cried out and remained conscious after three rifle shots to the head until a fourth shot finally ended his suffering in June 2022. A similar scene was witnessed at the same facility in 2021, when a cow remained conscious, bleeding from the nose after the slaughterhouse owner shot her in the head the first time.

Overpopulation

=> ↺ Some Hungarian regions heading towards depopulation, demographic data reveals

Finance

=> ↺ Applause as Michigan House Dems Vote to Repeal Anti-Union ‘Right-to-Work’ Laws

• Progressives celebrated Thursday after Michigan’s Democratic-led House approved legislation that would rescind anti-union “right-to-work” laws imposed by Republican lawmakers in 2012 and restore prevailing wage requirements eliminated by the GOP in 2018.

=> ↺ A Very Brief History of Capitalism, Empire, and the Yellow Peril

• Unlike the propagandists that publish most of the textbooks that we brainwash our children with in the US, reality-based historians have oft observed that the history of civilization is a history of the ongoing conflict between the haves and the have-nots, the rich and the poor, the ruling class and those they would like to rule.  One of the main factors that continually makes this conflict a very dynamic one that is forever unfolding in new ways is the obvious inequity of the whole thing, with a small class of rulers, owners, and landlords always trying to control a very large majority of subjects, workers and tenants.  In order to maintain such a state of constant inequality, particularly in severely unequal societies/empires like the United States, strategies of divide and rule are always in play, whether we’re talking about maintaining domestic tranquility, or running the global American empire.

• From the time of British colonization of the Americas, the colonial rulers and later the sovereign US rulers of this land have sought to keep the bulk of the population — the tenant farmers, the small landowners, the urban workers and renters, the immigrant and the native-born, the enslaved and the free — at each other’s throats, and thus distracted with fratricidal conflict, rather than united in opposition to their common oppressors.  The ways society is divided and the ways the rulers seek to exploit those divisions locally and globally evolves over time, just as other things evolve, such as technology, and different forms of organization, such as corporations, unions, parliaments, and developments such as the massive US military industrial complex.

=> ↺ The Widespread Cruelty of Death Care Disparities

• So many crises—from war to mass species die-offs to climate meltdown—afflict our world that we often don’t take time to draw insights from what generally passes for the small stuff, the things that happen all too close to home, including aging. Most of us don’t relish the prospect of getting old, much less watching our parents approach their deaths, something that’s even worse if you’re dying poor.

=> ↺ Why Railway Workers Are Calling for a Nationalized Rail System

• If the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials in East Palestine, Ohio, tells us anything, it is that the corporate CEOs, billionaire speculators and profit-hungry investors who control America’s transportation systems are not up to the job of running railroads.

=> ↺ Who Will Bring the Railroads to Heel? Not This White House

• Some months back, Biden and congress smacked down a railroad workers’ strike. A key issue was working conditions: no sick days, crews that were too small for safety, etc. The Biden team, in cahoots with congressional Dems like Steny Hoyer and practically the entire GOP didn’t care. They, like the big rail corporations, wanted the trains to run on time. Nothing else mattered. Where was transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg during this hullaballoo? Nowhere to be found.

• Incidentally, during holiday season, Southwest Airlines seriously inconvenienced tens of thousands of customers by cancelling thousands of flights. Where was Buttigieg? AWOL. Then on February 3 a train jumped the tracks passing through East Palestine, Ohio, and 38 cars derailed in flames. What did Buttigieg say? Bupkis, until over a week later. Did he hurry to East Palestine, a hamlet poisoned by vinyl chloride and the other toxins released first by the accident and second by the train company, Norfolk Southern’s decision to burn these compounds, the better for business by clearing the tracks and getting freight moving again? He did not. At first he complained that his hands were tied. Buttigieg waited till February 23 to visit the stricken town. Biden didn’t bother to go at all.

=> ↺ Inflation declines in February

• Inflation rates declined in February compared to the previous month, indicating record interest rates are moderating prices.

=> ↺ The leisure and hospitality industry is driving US job growth

• The labor market remains strong but job openings are declining, according to the newly released January job openings and labor turnover report by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

=> ↺ JP Morgan is suing a former executive over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein

• JP Morgan is suing former private banking head Jes Staley over his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

=> ↺ Inequality Costs Social Security Trillions

=> ↺ NPR and the Bad Economy

• Like much of the rest of the media, NPR is determined to convince the public that the economy is terrible under President Biden, regardless of what the data show. In real world land there are lots of good things about this economy.

• We have the lowest unemployment rate in a half century. Real wages for workers at the bottom end of the income distribution are rising rapidly (that means wages are rising faster than prices). Workers have unprecedented freedom to quit jobs they don’t like. Tens of millions of homeowners are saving thousands of dollars a year in interest expenses as a result of refinancing their mortgages. And, tens of millions of workers are saving thousands a year in commuting costs, as well as hundreds of hours in commuting time, as a result of the explosion in work from home since the pandemic.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ Maggie Thatcher Sucked, But the Music She Inspired Didn’t

• Maggie Thatcher’s rule in Britain was, like the same years in Ronnie Reagan’s United States, a vicious attempt to move their nations as far right as they could.  The process they began continues today with a ruthlessness that is only matched by its idiotic insistence that it  is beneficial for the very demographic that has probably lost the most–the white working class. On the other hand, the attacks on working people and their unions, the theft of their nation’s wealth by the wealthiest people in the world, the blatant racism and the intensified love affair with nuclear weapons and power created some of the best political popular music since the Sixties, at least in Britain.

• It is that music which inspires and informs Hugh Hodges recent book, titled The Fascist Groove Thing: A History of Thatcher’s Britain in 21 Mixtapes.  Likewise, it is the history of Margaret Thatcher and her brand of selfishness packaged as politics that inspired and informed the music on those mixtapes.  From Heaven 17’s recording of “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thing” to Linton Kwesi Johnson’s radical reggae putting the police in their place and from the brash, even abrasive sounds of Penny Rimbaud and his band Crass to the Tom Robinson Band’s straight out rock against racism and homophobia, author Hodge’s story of the opening decade of neoliberal capitalism in Britain makes one thing clear: not everyone was buying the repackaged version of robber baron capitalism Maggie and her heartless henchmen were selling.

=> ↺ A Great Museum in Zagreb, Croatia

• Normal art museums present visual artifacts that have aesthetic value. The Museum of Broken Relationships is not a normal art museum. It collects objects, 1343 as of 2014 (in the most recent catalogue) associated with falling out of love. A normal museum usually is organized historically, with wall labels indicating the title and provenance of the individual works. In this museum, which has an international collection, the relatively small objects, displayed in no obvious order, are each accompanied by a statement from the donor. Some of these commentaries are as short as two words, while a couple are a few pages long. As the donation form which is filled out by each donor indicates, the objects are presented anonymously. Like a normal museum, the museum of broken relationships has a shop and a cafe.

• There are memorials to broken relationships of straight and gay couples, and people from varied nationalities, races and ages. And the artifacts exhibited here are very varied. In general, no detailed explanation is given why these relations failed. A relationship between an American diplomat and a British banker that only lasted one day is memorialized by a gingerbread cookie. Love between a Parisian and an Indonesia lasting 2 1/2 years was defined by a hockey puck. A London love affair is identified by 252 paper cranes. A two year long relationship ended by a sex change is related to Bob Dylan’s novel Tarantula. A sculpted frog was given by a mother to her three year old, 36 years ago when she left that child. Sometimes the objects presented to the museum were obviously meaningful for the broken relationship. A magnifying glass was given to someone who felt small when she was around the person she loved. And many of the objects are extremely sad. A pregnancy stick memorializes a child who died at 20 weeks. The parents write: “Life is hard, but joy and love make it worth the pain.” But a few exhibits have funny captions. A toaster is left by a lover, who asks her former partner: “How are you going to toast anything now?”

=> ↺ Trump Likely to Face Criminal Charges Over Stormy Daniels Hush Money Payment: Report

• Former U.S. President Donald Trump may soon face criminal charges in connection with the payment of hush money to the adult entertainer Stormy Daniels, The New York Times reported Thursday, citing four unnamed “people with knowledge of the matter.”

=> ↺ Hungarian President meets Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis met Hungarian President Katalin Novák on Tuesday after his State of the State Address in Tallahassee. Novak, a close ally to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban also spoke with the Governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis.

• According to the Hungarian news agency’s (MTI) report, the “warm and trusting conversation” was based on the fact that the Hungarian President and the Florida governor share similar views on protecting families, parents’ right to education, and border security. Novak congratulated the Governor on his successes in politics and the development of Florida. DeSantis praised Hungary’s achievements and the President’s work, highlighting her “efforts to protect families”. 

=> ↺ Biden Budget Would Help Lift Up Those With the Least by Asking a Little More From Those With the Most

• President Biden’s 2024 budget invests in people and communities and creates a 21st century tax system that supports these investments to build toward an economy that works for everyone. It lays out an agenda that would move us closer to a nation where everyone — regardless of their background, identities, or where they live — has the resources they need to thrive and share in the nation’s prosperity.

=> ↺ WaPo’s All-White Edit Board Decides DC Can’t Be Trusted With Democracy After All

• President Joe Biden surprised fellow Democrats when he reversed course and announced he would support a Republican resolution to nullify an overhaul of crime laws passed by the Washington, DC, Council. While Congress has the authority to override DC legislation, it hasn’t done so in more than 30 years, making this move a dangerous new precedent at a time when Republicans are eager to use state power to swat down any progressive advances.

=> ↺ Indigenous Rebellion Continues as Post-Coup Peruvian Government Flounders

• Revived democratic struggle in Peru is well along into a second act. There was the parliamentary coup December 7 that removed democratically elected President Pedro Castillo and the “First Taking of Lima” in mid-January, embittered and excluded Peruvians occupied Lima and faced violent repression. Then on March 1 protests renewed as the indigenous inhabitants of Peru’s extreme southern regions prepared once more to demonstrate in Lima and would shortly be protesting in their own regions. The resistance’s make-up was fully on display.

• Protesters throughout Peru were rejecting a replacement president and an elite-dominated congress and calling for early elections and a new constitution. They belonged for the most part belonged to Aymara communities in districts south of Lima extending from Lake Titicaca both west and northeast, into the Andes region.

=> ↺ Right-Wing Media’s ‘Grooming’ Rhetoric Has Nothing to Do With Concern for Children

• In front of a graphic of fluffy pink handcuffs and “Kink for Kids” spelled out in blocks and crayon font, a red-faced Tucker Carlson (Fox News, 9/19/22) ranted about the story of a transgender Canadian high school teacher whose photos went viral on social media for wearing comically large prosthetic breasts to work.

=> ↺ WH Blasts Fox News Report on Jan. 6, Describing Tucker Carlson as “Not Credible”

=> ↺ Women in Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping Efforts in South Asia

• While interstate wars have declined significantly in recent decades, a considerable number of nations have been dealing with intrastate conflicts of various intensity and duration, demonstrating the relevance of both peacekeeping and peacebuilding processes.

=> ↺ Former Ohio speaker, GOP chair found guilty of racketeering

• Ohio Capital Journal Cincinatti — After more than nine hours of deliberation, a jury on Thursday found former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and state Republican Chairman Matt Borges guilty of felony racketeering charges in connection with a billion-dollar utility bailout that was passed in 2019.

=> ↺ An Alternative Future: Buen vivir’s Economic and Political Implication in South America

• An alternative approach of development stemming from the cosmo-visions of the Quechua peoples of the Andes’s sumak kawsay, the Aymara of Bolivia’s suma qamana, the Shuar people of Ecuador’s shiir waras, Guarani of Bolivia’s nandereko, and the Mapuche of Chile and Argentina—better known for its Spanish name Buen vivir, is a community-centric, ecologically-balanced…

=> ↺ Wassenaar Arrangement and its Significance for India’s Chairmanship

• During 30 November – 1 December 2022, the twenty-sixth Plenary meeting of the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) was held in Vienna, for the first time since 2019 because of the pandemic constraints.

=> ↺ Mississippi State GOP Puts Forth Bills to Take Over Majority-Black Capital

=> ↺ Anti-Corruption Foundation Chairman Leonid Volkov ‘pauses’ his leadership role amid scandal over letter requesting sanctions relief for Alfa Group shareholders — Meduza

• Leonid Volkov, the chairman of Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, announced Thursday that he’s “taking a break from his public socio-political activity” as head of the organization.

=> ↺ Some Election Officials Refused to Certify Results. Few Were Held Accountable.

• A week and a half after last November’s vote, members of the Board of Elections in Surry County, North Carolina, gathered in a windowless room to certify the results. It was supposed to be a routine task, marking the end of a controversial season during which election deniers harassed and retaliated against the county’s elections director. Not long into the meeting, however, a staffer distributed a letter from two board members stating that they were refusing to certify.

• According to the letter, the two members had decided — “with regard for the sacred blood shed of both my Redeemer and His servants” and “past Patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice”— that they “must not call these election results credible and bow to the perversion of truth.”

=> ↺ US Still Trying To Bury ‘Collateral Murder’ Video That WikiLeaks Released

• There is no shortage of activists, journalists, academics, and people of conscience who have some story to share about the impact of the “Collateral Murder” video.The U.S. military footage of an Apache helicopter crew shooting indiscriminately at a dozen Iraqi civilians — including Reuters journalists Namir Noor Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh, and two young children — is widely recognized for exposing the true nature of the United States war in Iraq and for making WikiLeaks and Julian Assange household names.

=> ↺ Private, Conservative Teneo Seeks Political, Cultural Influence

• A few months ago, Leonard Leo laid out his next audacious project.

• Ever since the longtime Federalist Society leader helped create a conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court, and then received more than a billion dollars from a wealthy Chicago business owner to disburse to conservative causes, Leo’s next moves had been the subject of speculation.

=> ↺ Where Should Palestinians Search for Justice?

• A London hospital removes Palestinian children’s art because it upset some patients. Meanwhile, seemingly unassociated, far away in the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinian men, women and children are being ‘removed’ from their homes through a daily sustained process of genocidal cleansing.

• So abundant are the grievances of Palestinians, so relentless the attacks on their bodies, their voices, their land– on the very idea of Palestine– that any record or explanation of those erasures becomes buried behind the latest onslaught.

=> ↺ Violence and Resistance in Israel and Palestine Ramps Up

• Just this week, elite fighter pilots of the Israeli Air Force’s 69th squadron refused to attend training.

• This is one of many acts of resistance against the new Israeli government, which is the most right-wing and nationalist in Israeli history. This new government is run by Benjamin Netanyahu, who won the election for Prime Minister in November. Netanyahu’s coalition is known for, among other things, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism.

=> ↺ Israel’s Liberal Supporters Are Taking Their Denial to a New Level

• This week, when the New York Times featured an opinion piece by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, it harmonized with a crescendo of other recent pleas from prominent American supporters of Israel. Bloomberg warned that Israel’s new governing coalition is trying to give parliament the power to “overrule the nation’s Supreme Court and run roughshod over individual rights, including on matters such as speech and press freedoms, equal rights for minorities and voting rights.” Such a change would, Bloomberg added, undermine Israel’s “strong commitment to freedom.”

• Strong commitment to freedom? That would sure be news to the more than 5 million Palestinian people living under Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank.

=> ↺ Israel’s Liberal Supporters Are Taking Their Denial to a New Level

• This week, when the New York Times featured an opinion piece by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, it harmonized with a crescendo of other recent pleas from prominent American supporters of Israel. Bloomberg warned that Israel’s new governing coalition is trying to give parliament the power to “overrule the nation’s Supreme Court and run roughshod over individual rights, including on matters such as speech and press freedoms, equal rights for minorities and voting rights.” Such a change would, Bloomberg added, undermine Israel’s “strong commitment to freedom.”

=> ↺ The Better and Worse Angels of Jimmy Carter’s Nature

• Every time an ex-president dies a demon gets his wings. It’s a time-honored tradition in these hallowed halls of Babylon. Lucifer himself could drop dead and provided that motherfucker spent no less than a hot minute in the Oval Office, every self-proclaimed journalist from the Wall Street Journal to Penthouse Forum would be lined around the block to polish his horns with their filthy flicking tongues. In fact, fuck Satan, just look to Ronald Reagan if you don’t believe me. That B-grade cowboy slung crack to grade school kids for rapists in Nicaragua and limp-wristed Bay area liberals are still tripping over the AIDS quilt to throw themselves sobbing on his casket.

• Naturally, being the terminally jaded cunt that I am, I have made it my own private jihad in life to pop a squat over the graves of the powerful and unleash a hot steamy piss on their sacred soil. I have plenty of reverence for the dead, but nobody lights a candle for Hitler during Suicide Awareness Month. What the hell makes our monsters so fucking special? A cult of personality is a cult of personality and if I’m not game to deface a few monuments then I might as well turn in my slingshot with my shoplifted copy of Never Mind the Bollocks and call it quits on being an anarcho-anything.

=> ↺ Jimmy Carter Was Right, But There is Malaise When Power Speaks the Truth

• Speaking truth to power has been used by dissidents throughout history. But what about when power speaks the truth? As tributes pour in for Jimmy Carter and his many accomplishments, he should be remembered and venerated for giving a speech that was truthful but had negative consequences for his political career.

• On July 15, 1979, President Carter spoke truth to the American people from the Oval Office.  He began his 33-minute speech in a most unusual fashion, a form of self-critique. Instead of making a traditional presidential declaration, he spoke in a reflective tone: “Ten days ago I had planned to speak to you again about a very important subject – energy.” He then went on to describe why he changed the subject, why he wanted to share with the American people what he felt and what he thought they felt beyond immediate concerns: “It’s clear that the true problems of our Nation are much deeper – deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages, deeper even than inflation or recession.”

=> ↺ The Great TikTok Moral Panic Continues As Senators Thune, Warner Attempt A More Elaborate Ban

• We’ve noted for a while now how most of the outrage surrounding TikTok isn’t exactly based in factual reality.

=> ↺ To See Fellows Crying

• The Department of Justice is investigating the Memphis Police Department, two months after police beat up Tyre Nichols. The fatal incident unfolded in front of anyone with a screen, anyone with Twitter. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, souvenir pictures of lynchings became postcards. Mailings of the physical images, an early form of social media, served as extensions of the lynching spectacle.

• “He cried out for me,” said Tyre’s mother.

=> ↺ EC may assess whether Hungary has fulfilled commitments by April or May – Navracsics on Erasmus funds

=> ↺ Marianne Williamson: “Anything Is Possible”

• Marianne Williamson announced her presidential run on March 4 in Washington, making her the first prominent Democratic challenger to President Biden’s expected reelection bid. The best-selling author, spiritual counselor, and unsuccessful 2020 presidential contender faces a daunting task at a point when prominent Democrats—including many of the president’s 2020 rivals—say they want him to run and win in 2024. As she was preparing for campaign swings in South Carolina and New Hampshire, I spoke with Williamson about why she’s making this run.

=> ↺ GOP Warheads

=> ↺ The suspension of EU funding for universities is anti-Hungarian, racially motivated revenge – Gulyás

=> ↺ Driven by ‘Mass Fear-Mongering’ on Crime, 31 Senate Dems Join GOP to Block DC Reforms

• Progressives on Thursday lambasted dozens of U.S. Senate Democrats for dealing “a huge blow to commonsense criminal justice reform efforts” by siding with the Republican Party on a resolution to block a criminal code passed by the Council of the District of Columbia—a move that one civil rights lawyer said was transparently made in response to GOP “fear-mongering” about crime, and not in the interest of keeping residents safe.

=> ↺ “Unscrupulous politicians are doing everything to turn Hungarians and Ukrainians against each other, but people are wiser than that.”

=> ↺ Kicking the Encampment Around Again

• On Jan. 31 of this year, the city did what it had been doing for years to no effect; it had again raided the encampment called “First They Came for the Homeless.” It had been situated on Adeline St. at 64th for years. But not because of city largess. It was only because of external circumstances, like a federal suit (the Boise decision), and the pandemic. The fact that it represented the main principled and ethical response to homelessness would not have mattered. That encampment had been raided and torn apart more times than this city knew how to count. For some reason, even a liberal city like Berkeley could not bring itself to live with the effects of its own corporate structure, not with the autonomy of those dealing with that structure.

• They (the encampment) had set themselves up at city hall first, way back in 2016; it was at the old one, the one right under the noses of the police, whose HQ was 100 feet away. They had signs set up, saying why they were there, and what they hoped to accomplish by this protest. After about a week or so, the cops got tired of looking at them, and kicked them out of there. That was not what they wanted, but it what they expected — a level of dehumanization that matched the fact that the entire society seemed unable to live with its growing number of “unhoused” people.

=> ↺ Roaming Charges: The Man Who Came Out of the Darkness

• In 1996, Majid Khan moved with his family from Pakistan to Catonsville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. Two years later, the Khan family was granted political asylum and given permanent residence in the US. Majid graduated from nearby Owings Mills High School, worked at his dad’s gas station, dated girls, smoked pot, played video games and got a job at the telecom company that managed the Pentagon’s phone system.

• Then in 2001 his mom died, the Towers came down and his life spiraled out of control. He moved to Pakistan, became a courier for Al Qaeda, got captured by Pakistani security, was turned over to the CIA and renditioned to a black site for what the Agency coyly called “enhanced interrogation.”

=> ↺ Wounded Knee 50 Years Later: the Fight for Self-Determination Continues

• The 1973 Siege at Wounded Knee is the longest “civil unrest” in the history of the US Marshal Service. For 71 days, the American Indian Movement (AIM) and members of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) nation were under siege in a violent standoff with the FBI and US Marshals equipped with high powered rifles and armored personnel carriers.  Two people were killed, over two dozen wounded.  At stake, sovereignty and self-determination guaranteed through treaty rights.

• Fifty years have passed but for American Indians the struggle for recognition of the nation-to-nation treaties continues to be seen as survival.  At the end of February, young Indian leaders joined older activists to gather at Wounded Knee to commemorate the violent events that began on February 27, 1973, and renew their call for self-determination and recognition of their treaties.

=> ↺ Modernisation, Chinese Style

• Chinese-style modernisation has given a shot in the arm of the maxim “The Socialist Road is the broadest of all” (社会主义道路最宽广) which has enjoyed an unprecedented authority in Chinese decision-making circles for decades.

=> ↺ The Michael Flynn Complaint For Damages Against The US

• Michael Flynn has filed a complaint against the government demanding damages for all his grievances. No, it is not going anywhere.

=> ↺ Jenna Ellis Lied and Lied and Lied and Lied and Lied and Lied and Lied and Lied and Lied and Lied

• To save her CO bar license, Jenna Ellis stipulated to lying ten times during the period when she was also using those false claims to convince electors and Mike Pence to violate the law. The stipulation may be a useful admission for Jack Smith.

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

=> ↺ Fox News Doesn’t Believe Its Own Bullshit

• For anyone curious to learn what it would be like to serve as a juror in the upcoming defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, you can create a simple life hack in the comfort of your home. First, tee up Tucker Carlson’s recklessly mendacious segment devoted to clumsily decontextualized footage from the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Then, consult the recent barrage of headlines concerning the latest tranche of evidence from Dominion’s legal team that the judge in the case has unsealed.

=> ↺ Fox News May Finally Pay the Price for Its Lies

• Fox News is in trouble. The network has been sued for $1.6 billion by Dominion Voting Systems for false claims it aired about the 2020 presidential election. Fox hosts, and many of the guests they showcased, claimed that Dominion’s technology “stole” votes from defeated President Donald Trump, and, among their more wild allegations, claimed that Dominion’s machines were engineered in Venezuela with the help of Hugo Chávez (who died in 2013) to rig elections.

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ Another Casualty If Section 230 Gets Repealed: Food Safety Data

• I’m a latecomer to the whole “podcasts” phenomenon. I didn’t start listening to them until 2020, when the pandemic suddenly gave me the free time and the incentive to get out of my small apartment and go on long walks. That’s my excuse for only recently discovering “Maintenance Phase,” a terrific podcast that “debunks and decodes” the wellness and weight-loss industries. 

=> ↺ Turkmenistan’s walled garden How Central Asia’s most autocratic country plans to build its own ‘autonomous Internet’ — Meduza

=> ↺ Utah’s Governor Should Veto “Social Media Regulations” Bill S.B. 152

• S.B. 152 would require a social media company to stop a resident minor from creating an account unless they have the express consent of a parent or guardian. The law targets any site with over ten million account holders that allows a user to post their own content, and so would impact many sites that aren’t generally considered social media—for example, a site like AllTrails, which helps you find and share hiking spots, for example. 

• We requested that the governor veto the bill for four main reasons: 

• First, young people have a First Amendment right to information that S.B. 152 will infringe upon. If S.B. 152 is implemented as written, the majority of young Utahns will find themselves effectively locked out of much of the web. 

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ Florida Passes Law Helping Election Police Bypass Judicial Scrutiny

=> ↺ Incarcerated Individuals & Advocacy Groups Challenge California County’s Policy of Digitizing and Destroying Jail Mail

• The lawsuit was filed on behalf of five people incarcerated in San Mateo County jails, several of their family members, and A.B.O. Comix, a collective of artists who correspond with people in jail. The complaint argues that the new mail policy violates the expressive, associational, and privacy rights of those in the county’s jails, and their family, friends, and supporters who send them letters. This lawsuit is the first major challenge to the digitization of personal mail in U.S. jails. 

• “Banning physical mail is completely antithetical to the criminal justice system’s goal of reducing recidivism,” said Hannah Zhao, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Numerous studies have shown that letter-writing between incarcerated folks and loved ones outside lowers stress, reduces depression, and tightens relationships. For those in jail, communicating this way is an integral part of establishing strong interpersonal ties and feelings of community, which are universally considered to decrease the likelihood of reoffending.” 

• Under the current policy, the county prohibits people in jail from receiving any physical mail other than attorney communications. Members of the public must route letters to a private for-profit company, Smart Communications, which scans and stores digital copies of mail for at least seven years—even if its recipient has long been released from jail. The original letters, cards, drawings, and religious and educational materials are destroyed, while the scanned copies are retained in a database that allows the county—and anyone to whom the county has provided login credentials—to monitor, read, and search through mail for any reason, or for no reason at all.  

=> ↺ Flipper Zero Devices Being Seized by Brazil’s Telecom Agency

• The device itself doesn’t introduce any fundamentally new technologies. All of the hardware—the infrared transceiver, RFID reader/emulator, SDR and Bluetooth LE capabilities—are available in other, perhaps more specialized products. What is novel about the Flipper Zero is its form factor and interface, which make it portable and easy to use in the field. 

• The Flipper Zero has been called a hacking multi-tool. And like a physical multi-tool, there are no doubt uses of it which would facilitate committing a crime. But also like a physical multi-tool, this is no justification for banning access to the device wholesale. Laws are already in place which criminalize acts of malicious hacking. Banning trade tools will only make security systems more vulnerable by limiting the access of those working to secure these systems. The malicious hacking that concerns Anatel and that Flipper Zero would allow is dependent on systems’ vulnerabilities—those are the actual problems that deserve a fix. But we can only patch security flaws once we know they exist, and that’s what security research is for.

=> ↺ The GOP’s Abhorrent Attack on Child Labor Laws

• Brad Greve has been a Scout leader for more than 20 years. The Davenport, Iowa retiree leads 50-mile canoe trips on Minnesota’s Boundary Waters that test teens’ mettle while teaching them essential skills.

=> ↺ The Unconscionable Push to Bring Back Child Labor

=> ↺ This International Women’s Day, Iranian Feminists Are at the Front Lines

• There is much that the global feminist movement can learn from the current women’s struggle in Iran and their vision.

=> ↺ Political scientist Demuri Voronin sentenced to 13 years in prison — Meduza

• A Moscow court has sentenced political scientist Demuri Voronin to 13 years and 3 months in prison, Interfax reports. The court found Voronin guilty of treason.

=> ↺ “Corrupt”: DOJ Report Slams Louisville Police for Abuse, Discrimination After Breonna Taylor Killing

• The Department of Justice has released a scathing report accusing the Louisville, Kentucky, police department of unlawfully discriminating against the city’s Black population, as well as against people with behavioral health disabilities. The report concludes an investigation that began after the police killing of Breonna Taylor, who was shot dead in her own home during a no-knock police raid on March 13, 2020. The DOJ also announced the establishment of a consent decree with Louisville police and an independent monitor who will oversee police reforms. “What we have are systems that absolutely need to be disrupted,” says Sadiqa Reynolds, longtime attorney and community activist in Louisville.

=> ↺ “Plantation Politics”: How White Mississippi Lawmakers Want to Seize Power in Majority-Black Jackson

• Mississippi’s Republican majority in the state Legislature has put forth a slew of bills in recent months to put the majority-Black capital of Jackson under a white-led superstructure. Under the proposed bills, the Capitol Police would be expanded and given greater authority over much of Jackson without being accountable to local leaders or residents, and a separate court system would be set up in the city, composed of judges appointed directly by white state officials. This comes after Jackson suffered a number of water crises in recent years stemming from systematic disinvestment by the state, and after the federal government approved $600 million late last year to address the city’s infrastructure problems. “These bills are an attack on Black leadership, a way to seize power of a majority-Black city which cannot be seized democratically through an election,” says Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba. We also speak with community activist Makani Themba, who described the state’s plans in a recent piece for The Nation as “Apartheid American-Style.”

=> ↺ Opposition Grows to Atlanta “Cop City” as More Forest Defenders Charged with Domestic Terrorism

• Prosecutors in Atlanta have charged 23 forest defenders with “domestic terrorism” after their arrests late Sunday at a festival near the site of Cop City, a massive police training facility being built in the Weelaunee Forest. The arrests followed clashes between police and protesters on Sunday afternoon and came less than two months after Atlanta police shot and killed Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán, a 26-year-old environmental defender. For an update on the growing movement to fight Cop City in Atlanta, we’re joined by Micah Herskind, a local community organizer, and Kamau Franklin, founder of Community Movement Builders.

=> ↺ Hungarian Justice Minister lodges defense with EU Court of Justice on infringement procedure

=> ↺ What Lund University Did to Umut Özkirimli

• Lund University, founded in 1666 and “consistently ranked among the top 100 universities in the world”, boasts, “We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition”. In the case of Turkish-Swedish political scientist Umut Özkırımlı, author of several books on nationalism and of the about-to-appear Cancelled: The Left Way Back from Woke (Polity, 2023), it failed on all counts and exhibited a woeful debasement of the “human[e] condition” of its administrators and some of its academic staff. What follows are just some aspects of what Lund University did to Umut. All documents, several hundred pages, are available. I give some of the details because they show the mechanisms of disempowerment at work when the system victimises or makes an example of an individual. This account isn’t only a lament for Umut but also my personal protest against the whole vile system.

• But, first, I should explain what this has to do with me. To begin with, Umut is part of my elective family and I’ve seen, up close and throughout the process, the suffering the university has knowingly caused him. Also, I believe, as Audre Lorde said, “Focused with precision [anger] can become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change”. And, yes, I’m angry, not only because of what Lund University did to Umut but because of what it represents in general. OK, so it’s just one guy and one more neoliberal university and, probably, nothing I say will change anything. But if we don’t speak out about what we know, we’re somehow abettors in offenses that are ever more routine.

Monopolies

=> ↺ The Microsoft, Sony Fight Over The Activision Purchase Is Getting Ugly

• This took a bit longer than I expected, but the dirty tactics are starting to come out between Microsoft and Sony over the former’s desire to purchase Activision Blizzard. While we’ve been talking about the $69 billion mega-deal for some time, the conversation more recently has focused on three regulatory bodies that have expressed varying levels of concern about the deal: the FTC in the States, the CMA in the UK, and EU regulators. The last of those has begun signaling that the proposed and/or signed deals Microsoft has struck with other platforms to keep Activision games on those systems is likely to win them over. The FTC and CMA have yet to come off of their previously stated positions publicly.

Patents

=> ↺ Sanders, Bush Unveil Bill to Prohibit Pharma Companies From Charging More Than $20 for Insulin

• Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Cori Bush on Thursday introduced legislation that would prohibit pharmaceutical companies from charging more than $20 for a vial of insulin, a move that comes a week after Eli Lilly pledged to cap out-of-pocket payments for its insulin products at $35 per month.

Copyrights

=> ↺ ACE & New Anti-Piracy Coalition Target South Korean Video Piracy Globally

• With South Korean movies and TV shows like ‘Squid Game’ enormously popular in the West , tackling pirate sites is seen as a priority in South Korea. Filmmakers, broadcasters and distributors have formed a new anti-piracy coalition and in collaboration with the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, a $3.7 billion criminal complaint will get the ball rolling today.

=> ↺ EU Upload Filters Mark the End For File-Sharing Site Hellspy

• In January, the Czech Republic updated national copyright law to reflect the provisions of the EU Copyright Directive. The updated legislation requires online services to prevent pirated content from being re-uploaded. File-sharing service Hellspy attempted to comply with the new rules but when that turned out to be unworkable, decided to shut down instead.

=> ↺ Copyright Has Been One Of Life’s Certainties: But Will It Always Be?

• Copyright seems to be a fixture of our legal, economic and social systems. For 300 years, it has formed the backbone of the structures used to incentivize and remunerate creators. During that time, copyright has been extended repeatedly in length and breadth. The original term of the 1710 Statute of Anne – 14 years’ monopoly protection with a provision for renewal for a further 14 years – has blossomed into life plus 70 years for much of the world. Copyright now applies to areas far beyond the original scope of printed works. These constant and unidirectional moves by legislators around the world might seem to confirm that copyright is an effective approach where more is better, and that it is working as a means of rewarding artists fairly. The facts suggest otherwise.

Gemini* and Gopher

Personal

=> ↺ 🔤SpellBinding: AEHITSK Wordo: SICKS

Technical

=> ↺ Ham Radio, Silent Key Archive, and Starting my journey

• So, I’ve recently been getting into ham radio. And by recently, I mean over the last 3 years I’ve tried a number of times to really get into learning the hobby, ultimately for something else to get in the way and lead to me falling off the path again. And this time, I’m bound and determined to jump in headfirst, considering that in a lot of ways I’m quite burned out of tech as a hobby beyond cozy stuff like the Ctrl-C pubnix or Gemini.

• And today I came across just about the saddest thing I’ve heard in a while: the National Silent Key Archive.

Internet/Gemini

=> ↺ Presenting gmir, a reader for gmi files

• Although there are currently many Gemini servers and clients, there is still no standalone reader for gmi files. This is why I wrote gmir.

• Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It’s like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter. Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. Permalink  Send this to a friend

=> Techrights

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