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● 08.28.23

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● Links 28/08/2023: Microsoft Collapsing in Web Servers and Mozilla Firefox 117 Released

Posted in News Roundup at 10:02 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Desktop/Laptop

=> ↺ HowTo Geek ☛ You Don’t Have to Leave Windows: 8 Ways to Start Using Linux

• If the technical work or fiddly nature of all the previous options doesn’t appeal to you, you can always just buy a computer with a Linux distribution reinstalled. These let you forget about the nonsense of installation media and virtualization layers and just get to work. You buy it like you would any computer, only when you power it on, instead of Windows or macOS, you get Linux.

• Linux computers are a niche market, so it may not seem obvious where to start looking for one. Small retailers like System76 and Star Labs design and sell laptops and desktop PCs specifically with Linux in mind. We’ve reviewed some of them, in fact, like the System76 Gazelle and the Kubuntu Focus Ir14. Some manufacturers you’re probably familiar with also let you configure one of their models with Linux pre-installed, like our favorite Linux laptop, the Dell XPS 13 Plus.

Server

=> ↺ Kubernetes Blog ☛ Kubernetes 1.28: A New (alpha) Mechanism For Safer Cluster Upgrades

• This blog describes the mixed version proxy, a new alpha feature in Kubernetes 1.28. The mixed version proxy enables an HTTP request for a resource to be served by the correct API server in cases where there are multiple API servers at varied versions in a cluster. For example, this is useful during a cluster upgrade, or when you’re rolling out the runtime configuration of the cluster’s control plane.

=> ↺ August 2023 Web Server Survey

• Microsoft saw the largest loss this month, losing 3.1 million sites (-9.52%), 123,295 domains (-1.74%) and 10,571 computers (-0.89%). Microsoft now accounts for 2.73% of sites seen by Netcraft, down by 0.27pp.

Audiocasts/Shows

=> ↺ Tux Digital ☛ This Week in Linux 231: Bodhi Linux, Kali Linux, LibreOffice, GNOME, KDE & more Linux news!

• On This Week in Linux (231), we’ve got a jam-packed show for you. Libre Office 7.6 and Bodhi Linux 7.0 have been announced. Hold onto your hats, whatever color they may be, because Kali Linux 2023.3 is out.

=> ↺ Open Source Security (Audio Show) ☛ Free Software Security Podcast Episode 390 – Rust shipping binaries doesn’t matter

• Josh and Kurt talk about a blog post that explains how C and C++ compilers prioritize performance over correctness. This is the class story of security vs usability. Security is never the primary goal. If a security requirement doesn’t also enable other business goals it will fail. We also touch on the news of a Rust package containing binary files. It doesn’t really have anything to do with security, it’s all about convenience.

=> ↺ Jupiter Broadcasting ☛ Beating Apple to the Sauce | LINUX Unplugged 525

• We daily drive Asahi Linux on a MacBook, chat about how the team beat Apple to a major GPU milestone, and an easy way to self-host open-source ChatGPT alternatives. Special Guest: Neal Gompa.

=> ↺ GNU World Order (Audio Show) ☛ GNU World Order 527

• gsl , gstreamer and plugins, a bunch of gtk libs, and gvfs

• from the l software series of Slackware.

• shasum -a256=7ca272717d660a768d3bbcba6249e3e6fb4f3675e361e96185774e2574010659

Kernel Space

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ Linux Kernel 6.5: Deep Dive into Features & Enhancements

• The Linux community is abuzz with excitement and for a good reason. Just days after celebrating its 32nd anniversary, the much-anticipated Linux Kernel 6.5 has been unveiled.

=> ↺ Bootlin ☛ Linux 6.5 released, Bootlin contributions

• Linux 6.5 was released yesterday, with as usual over 10,000 commits from a large number of contributors. We recommend reading LWN.net articles on the merge window (part 1, part 2), but also the CNX Software page that focuses on embedded-related improvements.

Applications

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ 7 Best Free and Open Source Graphical Linux Diff Tools

• Linux has many good GUI tools that enable you to clearly see the difference between two files or two versions of the same file.

• These utilities are an essential software development tool, as they visualize the differences between files or directories, merge files with differences, resolve conflicts and save output to a new file or patch, and assist file changes reviewing and comment production (e.g. approving source code changes before they get merged into a source tree). They help developers work on a file, passing it back and forth between each other. The diff tools are not only useful for showing differences in source code files; they can be used on many text-based file types as well. The visualizations make it easier to compare files.

• Here’s our ratings chart capturing our verdict. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion. DiffPDF is different from the other tools, as it compares two PDF files.

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ Awesome Linux Game Tools: noise-suppression-for-voice

• noise-suppression-for-voice is a noise suppression plugin based on RNNoise, a noise suppression library based on a recurrent neural network.

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ diskover: Open-source File Search and Indexer Tool For Data Engineers

• Diskover is an open source file system indexer that uses Elasticsearch to index and manage data across different storage systems. This means that Diskover is a powerful tool for system administrators to manage their storage infrastructure and make informed decisions about new infrastructure purchases.

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ 35 Free Open-source Data and Files Recovery and Forensic Apps, and Scripts

• Data recovery is the process of retrieving lost, corrupted, or deleted data from a storage device such as a hard drive, USB drive, or memory card. Data recovery is often used to restore important files that have been accidentally deleted or lost due to hardware failure or other issues.

=> ↺ OMG! Linux ☛ KDE Video App Haruna Adds Some Neat New Features

• When I watch videos on KDE Plasma I do so using Haruna, a Qt-based media app with a pleasant UI and a potent feature set.

=> ↺ OMG! Linux ☛ Nautilus Has a New Look in GNOME 45

• The latest nightly builds of the Nautilus file manager sport a split header-bar look.

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Corel WinZip

• WinZip is a file archiver and compressor. What are the best free and open source alternatives?

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ Linux Handbook ☛ Using Finger Command in Linux

• The finger command is a user information lookup utility that allows users (mostly system admins) to list logged-in users including login time, terminal type, and more.

=> ↺ Own HowTo ☛ Manage multiple social media accounts with Rambox on Linux Mint

• Rambox is a an app that allows you to connect multiple social media sites into one application.

=> ↺ Red Hat ☛ How Ansible lint improves playbook debugging

• Ansible lint is a command line tool that checks Ansible Playbooks for errors and suggests improvements for the code written in the playbooks. This helps the users adhere to certain standards to follow while writing the playbooks to maintain the integrity of their code.

• This article demonstrates how to install Ansible lint. We will also explore use cases and how to prevent errors during execution of playbooks and save debugging time.

=> ↺ How to Install MySQL Workbench on Linux

• MySQL Workbench is a GUI front-end (or IDE) tool that integrates SQL development, enabling developers to easily design, model, and manage MySQL databases in a visual and efficient manner.

=> ↺ nixCraft ☛ How to install vim in Alpine Linux

• Learn how to install Vim, the most popular text editor for server-based environments, on Alpine Linux using the command “apk add vim” command and Docker or LXD (Linux container) image.

=> ↺ How to Configure Network Bonding or Teaming on RHEL

• Bonding is a Linux kernel feature that allows multiple network interfaces (such as ens192, ens224) to be aggregated into a single virtual network interface called channel bonding (bond0).

=> ↺ It’s FOSS ☛ Using Your Phone as Camera and Mic in Ubuntu Linux

• You can use your smartphone if you don’t have a webcam and dedicated mic with your desktop system. Here’s how to do that in Ubuntu Linux.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ What You Need to Know About HTTP Requests

• Welcome to the comprehensive guide to HTTP Requests! As a web developer, understanding how HTTP Requests work is crucial for building efficient and secure web applications. In this article, we will delve deep into the world of HTTP Requests, exploring their structure, functionality, and best practices.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install Redis on Fedora 38

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Redis on Fedora 38. For those of you who didn’t know, Redis is more than just a database; it’s an efficient and versatile in-memory data structure store.

=> ↺ It’s Ubuntu ☛ How To Install Canon Printer Driver In Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• Canon Printer is one of the most widely used printers right now. Due to its increasing usage, Canon started to provide support for Linux users too.

=> ↺ It’s Ubuntu ☛ How To Install Grub Customizer On Ubuntu 22.04 LTS And Linux Distros

• Grub Customizer is a software package that allows the user to customize the Grub boot menu.

=> ↺ It’s Ubuntu ☛ How to Fix the “sudo: command not found” Error on Linux

• \sudo is installed by default in most of the Linux but this might not be the case on all distros.

=> ↺ LinuxConfig ☛ How to create and manage snippets in Vim with Ultisnips

Distributions and Operating Systems

Gentoo Family

=> ↺ Gentoo ☛ Final Report, Automated Gentoo System Updater

• Main goal of the project was to write an app that will automatically handle updates on Gentoo Linux systems and send notifications with update summaries. More specifically, I wanted to: [...]

=> ↺ Gentoo ☛ gentoo_update User Guide

• This article will go through the basic usage of gentoo_update CLI tool and the mobile app.

• But before that, here is a demo of this project: [...]

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ Anaconda F39′s Advanced Partioner (Bivet-GUI) vs Calamares 3.2.61

• Sequence of snapshots down here demostrates F39WKS KVM Guest setup via Fedora-39-20230827.n.0 (netinst-everything boot ISO image).

• [...]

• In my very personal opinion Anaconda F39′s Advanced Partioner (Blivet-GUI) behaves pretty much the same way as the most recent versions of Calamares on SparkyLinux 7, Manjaro 22.1, Ubuntu 23.04 DDE Remix . However , at the moment I was forced to perform manual inputs of names of filesystems like /boot/efi in Anaconda Blivet-GUI environment versus picking them up from drop-down Calamares’s menu and setting to partitions required flags.

• `

Debian Family

=> ↺ Jonathan McDowell: OMGWTFBBQ 2023

• As is traditional for the UK August Bank Holiday weekend I made my way to Cambridge for the Debian UK BBQ. As was pointed out we’ve been doing this for more than 20 years now, and it’s always good to catch up with old friends and meet new folk.

=> ↺ Steve McIntyre ☛ Steve McIntyre: We’re back!

• It’s August Bank Holiday Weekend, we’re in Cambridge. It must be the Debian UK OMGWTFBBQ!.

• We’re about halfway through, and we’ve already polished off lots and lots of good food and beer. Lars is making pancakes as I write this, We had an awesome game of Mao last night. People are having fun!

=> ↺ Andrew Cater: 20230826 – OMGWTFBBQ – Breakfast is happening more or less

• And nothing changes: rediscovered from past Andrew at his first Cambridge BBQ and almost the first blog post here:

• “Thirty second rule on sofa space – if you left for more than about 30 seconds you had to sit on the floor when you got back (I jammed myself onto a corner of the sofa once I realised I’d barely get through the crush )[Forget students in a mini / UK telephone box - how many DDs can you fit into a very narrow kitchen ]

• It’s a huge, dysfunctional family with its own rules, geeky humour and in-jokes but it’s MINE – it’s the people I want to hang out with and, as perverse as it sounds, just being there gave me a whole new reaffirmed sense of identity and a large amount of determination to carry on “wasting my time with Linux” and Debian”

• The frightening thing – this is from August 31st 2009 … where have the years gone in between.

=> ↺ Debian 12 templates available

• The following new templates are now available:

• Qube OS 4.1

• [...]

Devices/Embedded

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ Sipeed unveils RISC-V tablet, portable Linux console, and cluster

• Sipeed has unveiled three new hardware platforms based on the LM4A RISC-V system-on-module found in their LicheePi 4A SBC, namely the Lichee Cluster 4A cluster for native RISC-V compilation, the Lichee Pad 4A 10.1-inch tablet running Android 13 or Debian, and the Lichee Console 4A a portable Linux console with a small 7-inch display and a built-in keyboard.

• As a quick reminder, the Sipeed LM4A SoM is based on the Alibaba T-Head TH1520 quad-core RISC-V processor @ 1.8 to 2.5 GHz that has just gotten some support in Linux 6.5, comes with up to 16GB RAM and up to 64 GB eMMC flash, integrates two Gigabit Ethernet PHY, and exposes all I/Os through a 260-pin SO-DIMM connector. We’ve previously noticed the TH1520 module delivers performance similar to the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 and even more when using a customized toolchain.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Card/IO Is A Credit Card-Sized, Open Source ECG Monitor

• Of all the electrical signals generated by the human body, those coming from the heart are probably the most familiar to the average person. And because it’s also quite simple to implement the required sensors, it makes sense that electrocardiogram (ECG) machines are a popular choice among introductory medical electronics projects. [Dániel Buga], for instance, designed a compact ECG system the size of a credit card, cleverly dubbed Card/IO, that clearly demonstrates how to implement a single-lead ECG.

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ How to Send Alerts From Raspberry Pi Pico W to a Phone or Tablet

• Want to send notifications, messages, files without the hard work? With a Raspberry Pi Pico W and ntfy.sh we can do that, and more.

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ Tasty Raspberry Pi Project Cooks Up Actual Raspberry Pie

• Steve Kasuya is using a Raspberry Pi to bake an actual Raspberry Pie with his Pi-powered temperature-controlled oven.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ Network 18 Media and Investments Ltd ☛ InMobi’s Glance Launches In Japan, Aims For 40 Percent Of Android Market – Forbes India

=> ↺ Hindustan Times ☛ Android’s Find My Device likely to get a major upgrade soon: Track anything, anywhere, safely | Tech News

=> ↺ Tom’s Guide ☛ Android 14 brings a feature that iPhones have had for ages — here’s how to turn it on | Tom’s Guide

=> ↺ Android Police ☛ How to bookmark all Chrome tabs on Android

=> ↺ Gadget Bridge ☛ How to Change Instagram Privacy Settings on Android?

=> ↺ Make Use Of ☛ How to Create More Helpful Notes in Google Keep on Android

=> ↺ Hindustan Times ☛ YouTube tests a new hum-to-search feature on Android | Tech News

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ Terence Eden ☛ Mosh supports .ssh/config

• I’ve recently started using Mosh. It’s a clever bit of software that keeps your SSH sessions running, even if your client goes offline or changes IP address.

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Explore FFmpeg From The Comfort Of Your Browser

• If you’re looking to manipulate video, FFmpeg is one of the most powerful tools out there. But with this power comes a considerable degree of complexity, and a learning curve that looks suspiciously like a brick wall. To try and make this incredible tool a bit less obtuse, [Sam Lavigne] has developed a web interface that lets you play around with FFmpeg’s vast collection of audio and video filters.

Web Browsers/Web Servers

Mozilla

=> ↺ 9to5Linux ☛ Mozilla Firefox 117 Is Now Available for Download, Here’s What’s New

• During the beta phase, Firefox 117 offered an awesome new feature that other browsers already have, namely a built-in and automatic translation engine for websites, but that’s privacy-aware as it does all the translation locally in your web browser. Unfortunately, the final release doesn’t ship with this long-anticipated feature!

• For Linux users, the Mozilla Firefox 117 release appears to remove the screen-sharing indicator on Wayland systems. According to Mozilla, the screen sharing indicator never worked well on other platforms, including Wayland.

Content Management Systems (CMS)

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ AuroraCMS: Open-source CMS for Australian Businesses That can Manage Farms

• AuroraCMS is an exceptional and completely free Australian open source content management system that is specifically designed to cater to the needs of businesses. The CMS is built using PHP, jQuery, and iCONS.

Programming/Development

=> ↺ Rlang ☛ How to make Data Visualizations THAT GO VIRAL (with ggplot2 in R)

• Quit “storytelling with data”. There’s a reason your data visualizations aren’t working. Hear me out.

=> ↺ Xe’s Blog ☛ How to use Tailwind CSS in your Go programs

• When I work on some of my smaller projects, I end up hitting a point where I need more than minimal CSS configuration. I don’t want to totally change my development flow to bring in a bunch of complicated toolkits or totally rewrite my frontend in React or something, I just want to make things not look like garbage. Working with CSS by itself can be annoying.

=> ↺ Xe’s Blog ☛ Reaching the Unix Philosophy’s Logical Extreme with Webassembly

• Good morning Berlin! How’re you doing this fine morning? I’m Xe and today I’m gonna talk about something that I’m really excited about:

• WebAssembly. WebAssembly is a compiler target for an imaginary CPU that your phones, tablets, laptops, gaming towers and even watches can run. It’s intended to be a level below JavaScript to allow us to ship code in maintainable languages. Today I’m gonna be talking about fun ways you can take advantage of WebAssembly, but first we need to talk about the other main part of this subject: [...]

=> ↺ Akshay Warrier: GSoC 2023 Final Project Report

• Make GNOME Platform demos and create offline documentation viewer for Workbench

• Sonny Piers, Andy Holmes

• Workbench is an application that lets you experiment and tinker with GNOME technologies. It’s aimed at beginners who want to get into GTK development or developers who want to prototype a feature for their apps.

=> ↺ Felipe Borges: An update on GNOME Settings

• There’s no question that GNOME Settings is important to the overall GNOME experience and I feel flattered to share the responsibility of being one of its maintainers. I have been involved with Settings for almost a decade now but only in the last few months I have  started to wear the general maintainer hat “officially”.

Rust

=> ↺ Dave Patrick Caberto: GSoC 2023: Rust and GTK 4 Bustle Rewrite (Final Overview)

• Over the summer, I worked on rewriting Bustle in Rust and GTK 4 as part of the Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2023 program. This post is an overview of the work done and the future plans for the project.

=> ↺ From tui-rs to Ratatui: 6 Months of Cooking Up Rust TUIs

• Let’s take a look at what is new in the new version of “Ratatui” and how it became the successor of tui-rs.

Leftovers

=> ↺ India Times ☛ Steve Jobs’ handwritten ad sells for over Rs 1.4 crores

• A handwritten advertisement penned by Steve Jobs has recently fetched a remarkable sum of over $175,000 (Rs 1.4 crores) in a notable sale. This document offers a revealing glimpse into Jobs’ visionary creativity and unparalleled attention to detail, qualities that set him apart from others in the industry at that time. The item, auctioned by Boston RR Auction, holds significant historical value as an original piece written by Steve Jobs himself specifically for the Apple 1 computer. Through this artefact, the embryonic stages of Apple’s genesis within Jobs’ garage, as well as his entrepreneurial zeal and meticulous nature, come to light.

=> ↺ Ruben Schade ☛ Using what you have is better than not!

• I’ve caught myself making another logical mistake over, and over, and over again, and thought I’d share it.

• I was trying to figure out why I’m able to work through and resolve technical issues for clients at work so quickly, yet things I have at home languish for weeks, months, or even years. We’ve all heard the phrase that the cobbler’s children walk barefoot, but I wanted to know why.

=> ↺ Shirish Agarwal: FSCKing /home

• There is a bit of context that needs to be shared before I get to this and would be a long one. For reasons known and unknown, I have a lot of sudden electricity outages. Not just me, all those who are on my line. A discussion with a lineman revealed that around 200+ families and businesses are on the same line and when for whatever reason the electricity goes for all. Even some of the traffic lights don’t work. This affects hardware more than hardware. And more specifically HDD’s are vulnerable.

=> ↺ Ruben Schade ☛ The pushback against productivity hacks

• Remember the early 2010s when it seemed everyone was getting into #productivity? The idea that all these emergent tools could be used to unlock a new, more productive, and happier you? Heck, maybe even more handsome or beautiful, because you’d be disruptively synergising all those nuanced paradigms with such orthogonal elegance.

• More than a decade on, and most people are still living out of text editors and glorified #TODO lists. In the words of moral philosopher Curtis Stigers, I wonder why?

Science

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Text Compression Gets Weirdly Efficient With LLMs

• It used to be that memory and storage space were so precious and so limited of a resource that handling nontrivial amounts of text was a serious problem. Text compression was a highly practical application of computing power.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Physicists Visualize Quantum Yin-Yang in Entangled Light Experiment

• A new way of measuring quantum states.

Education

=> ↺ uni Michigan ☛ Massive Wi-Fi outage at UMich affects all three campuses

• With the fall semester beginning tomorrow, the University is working toward restoration this evening. In an email to The Michigan Daily, a university spokesperson encouraged students to stay updated via the U-M ITS X account.

Hardware

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Turning Soviet Electronics Into A Nixie Tube Clock

• Sometimes you find something that looks really cool but doesn’t work, but that’s an opportunity to give it a new life. That was the case when [Davis DeWitt] got his hands on a weird Soviet-era box with four original Nixie tubes inside. He tears the unit down, shows off the engineering that went into it and explains what it took to give the unit a new life as a clock.

=> ↺ Ruben Schade ☛ Configuring Adaptec SCSI CD-ROMs on DOS

• I’ve been experimenting with various CD-ROMs in my Am386’s cute but weird AT case. The vertical orientation makes traditional tray loading drives difficult to use, even ones sporting those special clips. I found a slot-loading SCSI Pioneer drive that might do the trick, so this weekend I set about configuring it.

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ When Does Impedance Matching A PCB Trace Become Unavoidable?

• A common joke in electronics is that every piece of wire and PCB trace is an antenna, with the only difference being whether this was intentional or not. In practical terms, low-frequency wiring is generally considered to be ‘safe’, while higher frequency circuits require special considerations, including impedance (Z) matching.  Where the cut-off is between these two types of circuits is not entirely clear, however, with various rules-of-thumb in existence, as [Sebastian] over at Baltic Lab explains.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ Kansas Reflector ☛ Screen time contributes to sleep deprivation in tweens, teens. Rest is critical to mental health.

• A growing body of research is finding strong links between sleep, mental health and screen time in teens and tweens — the term for pre-adolescent children around the ages of 10 to 12. Amid an unprecedented mental health crisis in which some 42% of adolescents in the U.S. are suffering from mental health issues, teens are also getting too little sleep.

• And it is a vicious cycle: Both a lack of sleep and the heightened activity involved in the consumption of social media and video games before bedtime can exacerbate or even trigger anxiety and depression that warrant intervention.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Covid Closed the Nation’s Schools. Cleaner Air Can Keep Them Open.

• Scientists and educators are searching for ways to improve air quality in the nation’s often dilapidated school buildings.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Not Over Yet: Late-Summer Covid Wave Brings Warning of More to Come

• Hospitalizations are still low but are on the rise in recent weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

=> ↺ Simon Willison ☛ Making Large Language Models work for you

• I gave an invited keynote at WordCamp 2023 in National Harbor, Maryland on Friday.

• I was invited to provide a practical take on Large Language Models: what they are, how they work, what you can do with them and what kind of things you can build with them that could not be built before.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ AI could choke on its own exhaust as it fills the web

• The internet is beginning to fill up with more and more content generated by artificial intelligence rather than human beings, posing weird new dangers both to human society and to the AI programs themselves.

Windows TCO

=> ↺ Texas Public Radio ☛ System outage crashes Texas’ vehicle inspection system

• DPS said in a release the outage was ongoing and did not allow stations in “safety-only” counties to conduct proper inspections.

=> ↺ SANS ☛ Analysis of RAR Exploit Files (CVE-2023-38831), (Mon, Aug 28th)

• My tool zipdump.py can be used to analyse the latest exploits of vulnerability CVE-2023-38831 in WinRAR.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ 3 Malware Loaders Detected in 80% of Attacks: Security Firm

• QakBot, SocGholish, and Raspberry Robin are the three most popular malware loaders, accounting for 80% of the observed incidents.

Security

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ Jacobin Magazine ☛ Juggalos Are the Targets of Clownish Discrimination and Police Harassment

• The SACB was abolished in 1972, but the damage was already done — Congress had set the standard for military and federal law enforcement agencies, who continue to use the act, officially known as Security Act 50 U.S.C. § 797, as a framework for group surveillance to this day.

• And if state investigations of the Left were a farce, the investigation into Juggalos was a clown show.

• In recent years, a large dossier on the now-abandoned investigation has been unclassified. The ultimately fruitless 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment linked Juggalos to a number of nonviolent crimes such as narcotics possession and graffiti. Almost half the dossier is dedicated to reports of “Juggalo gang action” perpetrated by groups as small as three — though most alleged gang crime was carried out by a lone actor. Perpetrators become “button men” based on loose associations, while Juggalo friends become “shot callers.” Those Juggalos who have engaged in physical violence are mostly those who are also members of actual gangs, like the Crips or the Aryan Brotherhood.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ Jacobin Magazine ☛ It’s Never a Bad Time to Remind Ourselves That Henry Kissinger Is a Murderous War Criminal

• Unlike other war criminals from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger’s reputation has never received public rehabilitation. He hasn’t needed it — despite his murderous rap sheet, the media and political establishment has always fawned over him.

=> ↺ CBS ☛ Kentucky high school teens charged with “terroristic threats” after TikTok challenge

• Investigators said that three separate incidents at Oldham County High School on Aug. 14, 15, and 17 were related to the TikTok challenge, which encourages students to record a video of themselves telling a teacher there was a bomb or gun in their backpack as a “joke.”

=> ↺ Vice Media Group ☛ Kias and Hyundais Keep Getting Stolen by the Thousands and Cities Are Suing

• A viral Tiktok trend that began in 2021 demonstrated how the companies failed to install a basic anti-theft technology that made them trivially easy to steal.

=> ↺ VOA News ☛ US Airstrike Kills 13 Al-Shabab Militants

• Meanwhile, al-Shabab militants raided the recently liberated village of Cowsweyne in the central Galmudug state, killing government soldiers early Saturday, security sources told VOA.

=> ↺ NPR ☛ Islamic State group almost doubled its territory in Mali in under a year, U.N. says

• Islamic State extremists have almost doubled the territory they control in Mali in less than a year, and their al-Qaida-linked rivals are capitalizing on the deadlock and perceived weakness of armed groups that signed a 2015 peace agreement, United Nations experts said in a new report.

=> ↺ VOA News ☛ Iran Says Uranium Enrichment Continues Based on Domestic Law

• In 2020, Iran’s hardline parliament passed a law requiring the government to take measures such as stepping up uranium enrichment beyond the limit set under Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal if other parties did not fully comply with the deal.

=> ↺ India Times ☛ France to ban wearing Islamic abayas in schools

• “When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them,” the minister said.

• France, which has enforced a strict ban on religious signs in state schools since 19th century laws removed any traditional Catholic influence from public education, has struggled to update guidelines to deal with a growing Muslim minority.

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ France to ban Muslim abaya dresses in schools

• The Education Ministry at the time issued a circular including the abaya in a group of items of clothing which could be banned should they be donned “in a manner as to openly display a religious affiliation.” The circular also singled out bandanas and long skirts.

• The controversy surrounding the abaya intensified in 2020, when a radicalized Chechen Muslim beheaded a teacher. The teacher had shown students caricatures of Muslim prophet Mohammed.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ U.S. Knew Saudis Were Killing African Migrants

• Last fall, American diplomats received grim news that border guards in Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. partner in the Middle East, were using lethal force against African migrants who were trying to enter the kingdom from Yemen.

=> ↺ Site36 ☛ What is Frontex doing in Senegal? Secret services also participate in their network of “Risk Analysis Cells”

=> ↺ Site36 ☛ Second Frontex drone crashed near Crete: Airbus was allowed to fly the “Heron 1” alongside civilian aircraft

=> ↺ Reports of torture, ill-treatment rise in 2022, says rights group

• The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey has released its annual report on torture and ill-treatment based on the submissions received by the organization.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Aleppo airport out of service after Israeli strike, says Syrian media

• An Israeli airstrike hit the international airport in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria early on Monday, damaging a runway and putting it out of service, Syrian state media said.

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ French ambassador stays in Niger, defying junta, as Macron defends French policy

• French President Emmanuel Macron says France’s ambassador is staying at his post in Niger despite being asked to leave by the ruling junta. Macron spoke out firmly against the coup leaders while insisting Monday that France is not Niger’s enemy. The junta has been exploiting grievances among the population toward former colonial ruler France, and has turned to Russian mercenary group Wagner for help. Macron dismissed concerns that standing up to the junta could be dangerous. French Ambassador Sylvain Itte was asked to leave Niger within 48 hours in a letter Friday from the Nigerien Foreign Ministry. France has consistently acknowledged only the authority of Bazoum..

Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

=> ↺ Latvia ☛ Baltics and Poland demand Wagner mercenaries leave Belarus

• Interior Ministers from Poland and the Baltic States met in Warsaw August 28 to discuss further coordination of their border security efforts in view of the Belarusian regime’s hybrid warfare people-smuggling operation and the threat posed by aggressor state Russia

=> ↺ Bruce Schneier ☛ Remotely Stopping Polish Trains

• Turns out that it’s easy to broadcast radio commands that force Polish trains to stop:

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Poland, Baltics Warn Of Further Border Closures Over Wagner Fears

• Poland and the Baltic states of Lithuania and Latvia say they will completely seal off their borders with Belarus if a “critical incident” involving Wagner mercenaries occurs.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Two Russian Soldiers Incarcerated For Refusing To Return To War In Ukraine

• A military court in the Russian city of Sochi has sentenced two soldiers to terms of at least two years in penal colonies for refusing to return to the war in Ukraine.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Finland starts training drone pilots

• Finland has been closely monitoring the use of unmanned drones in Ukraine, according to the Finnish Defence Forces.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Russia Charges Former U.S. Consulate Employee for Collecting Information About the War

• Robert Shonov, a Russian national, faces up to eight years in prison. The U.S. has said the allegations against him are “wholly without merit.”

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Sweden Charges Man Arrested Last Year In Predawn Raid With Spying For Russia

• A Russian-born Swedish citizen was charged August 28 with collecting information for the Russian military intelligence service GRU for almost a decade.

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ Sweden charges man arrested last year in predawn raid with spying for Russia

• A Russian-born Swedish citizen has been charged with collecting information for Russia’s military intelligence service GRU for almost a decade. Sweden’s Prosecution Authority said Monday that 60-year-old Sergey Skvortsov is accused of “gross illegal intelligence activities against Sweden and against a foreign power.” Prosecutor Henrik Olin later said the other foreign power was the United States. Skvortsov and his wife were arrested in November in a predawn operation in Nacka, outside Stockholm. Swedish media earlier reported that elite police rappelled from two Black Hawk helicopters to arrest the couple. Skvortsov has been held in custody since his arrest and denies any wrongdoing. The trial is to start Sept. 4.

=> ↺ Latvia ☛ Thousands of Russians may be asked to leave Latvia from September

• It is possible that several thousands of Russian citizens living in Latvia may have to leave Latvia in the near future because they have not done anything to extend their residence permit status, as is required by law.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Lithuania plans to close two more border checkpoints with Belarus – minister

• Lithuania is planning to close two more checkpoints on the border with Belarus, Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said on Monday.

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ An evacuation order finds few followers in northeastern Ukraine despite Russia’s push in the region

• Neighborhood children frolic in a playground in the village of Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi, seemingly immune to the war unfolding a short distance away on a front line where Russia has assembled combat troops. The mother of a 5-year-old says the thunder of mortar fire that punctuates the monotony of daily life is normal, but Ukrainian authorities have advised residents of 37 villages and towns in Kharkiv province to evacuate. Most people near the renewed hostilities are ignoring calls to leave as the battle inches closer to their backyards. Some are paralyzed by indecision, while others say they can’t bring themselves to face the hardships of displacement.

=> ↺ NYPost ☛ Ukraine says it has liberated strategic southeastern settlement Robotyne

• Ukraine said on Monday its troops had liberated the southeastern settlement of Robotyne and were trying to push further south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ 🔴 Live: Second civilian cargo ship from Ukrainian port reaches Istanbul

• A second civilian cargo ship to sail from Ukraine since Russia withdrew from a UN-backed Black Sea grain export agreement safely reached Istanbul on Monday, marine traffic monitors said. The news came after Ukraine said its troops had liberated the southeastern village of Robotyne and were trying to advance further south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine..

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ ‘Even the establishment is in shock’: Meduza examines the rise and fall of Grigory Melkonyants, Russia’s leading electoral observer — Meduza

• Grigory Melkonyants, co-chairman of the independent voter protection movement Golos and one of the foremost figures in Russian electoral monitoring, has been arrested in Moscow. The case is far from credible. The Russian authorities brought criminal charges on the grounds that Golos has ties to the “undesirable” European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), despite that relationship having been severed a few years ago. Meduza how Melkoyants, who long maintained a consistent dialogue with the Kremlin, dared to stay in Russia following the start of the full-scale war, despite the obvious danger, and what could become of him now.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Russia’s Investigative Committee confirms Prigozhin’s death — Meduza

• Russia’s Investigative Committee announced that it has established the identities of the 10 people who died in an August 23 plane crash in the Tver region, saying the identities correspond to the flight’s passenger list.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT, says two drones have come down near her house this week — Meduza

• Propagandist and Editor-in-chief of RT Margarita Simonyan told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that a second drone this week came down near her house outside of Moscow.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Source in Ukraine intelligence reports drone attack on military airfield in Russia’s Kursk region — Meduza

• Ukrainian counterintelligence launched a drone attack on a military airfield in Russia’s Kursk region, a source in Ukraine’s special services told the publication RBC Ukraine.

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ Ukraine’s best high jumper wins gold for her country at world championships

• Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh won a gold medal to bring an emotional close to the track and field world championships. The very last person competing in the final event of the nine-day meet, Mahuchikh cleared 2.01 meters to win her first major outdoor title and set herself up as a favorite at the Olympics next year. Her evening came to a close moments after Femke Bol of the Netherlands, whose fall cost her team a medal in the mixed 4×400 relay on opening night, made up some 20 meters down the homestretch to win the women’s version of the race.

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine upgrades digital education efforts

• The full-scale Russian invasion has thrust Ukraine’s vibrant tech sector into the limelight and led to an upgrade of the country’s flagship digital education and training initiative, writes Valeriya Ionan.

=> ↺ Reason ☛ The Wind

• He founded what is apparently the oldest continuing Russian rock band, Time Machine, in 1969, and has continued to record and perform to this day.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ 🔴 Live: Ukraine has ‘liberated’ Robotyne village in Zaporizhzhia region, says official

• Ukraine on Monday said its troops had liberated the southeastern village of Robotyne and were trying to advance further south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces. The announcement came hours after Russia said it destroyed a drone approaching Moscow and two others in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Corruption and ‘wild mobilisation’: Ukraine vows to shake up military enlistment system

• For months following Russia’s full-scale invasion, the phrase “volunteered to fight” kept coming up in casual conversations and in the media as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians joined the war effort to resist the unprovoked aggression despite the uncertain future and immense risks.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Migrants Reportedly Being Forced To Sign Contracts With Defense Ministry To Obtain Russian Citizenship

• Rights activists says migrants from Central Asian countries are being pressured into signing contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry as the Kremlin tries to bolster the pool of recruits to help fight its war against Ukraine.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Russia-Ukraine War: Ukraine Claims to Retake a Small Southern Village

• Reclaiming the village of Robotyne would suggest Ukrainian forces have pushed through initial Russian defenses, but tougher terrain lies ahead.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Predicts ‘Powerful September’ As Ukraine Fends Off Latest Russian Air Attacks

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he expects “a powerful September for Ukraine,” including key decisions from Western allies regarding the provision of important weapons and equipment.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ World Athletics President: No Change In Ban On Russian Athletes ‘Anytime Soon’

• World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said he would not be changing his views “anytime soon” when it comes to welcoming Russia back into the fold.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy To Propose Legislation Equating Corruption With Treason During War

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says corruption can be equated with treason and he will ask parliament to increase penalties for people found guilty of corruption during wartime.

=> ↺ Latvia ☛ LTV’s De Facto looks at businesses continuing exports to Russia

• Despite sanctions and other risks related to business with Russia, many Latvian companies still export to this country. Recently, the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) published a list of businesses continuing exports to Russia after the war began, and Latvian Television’s De Facto attempted to take a closer look at it on August 28.

=> ↺ The Strategist ☛ For whom the BRICS toll

• Last week’s BRICS summit—bringing together the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—was touted as a pivotal event that could change the contours of international relations.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russian Who Worked At U.S. Consulate In Vladivostok Accused Of Spying For Washington

• Russia’s top domestic security agency said a detained former employee of the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok is accused of collecting information about Russia’s action in Ukraine and related issues for U.S. diplomats.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Dead, Wounded In Russian Attack On Poltava As Kyiv Confirms Liberation Of Robotyne

• Russia struck Ukraine’s eastern region of Poltava overnight, causing deaths and damage, regional authorities reported on August 28, as Russia reported more drone attacks on its territory.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ US journalist detained in Russia appeals latest extension of pre-trial detention

• US journalist Evan Gershkovich appealed the latest extension of his pre-trial detention in Russia on espionage charges Saturday, according to Russian state media. This is Gershkovich’s third appeal, having appealed his previous extension of pre-trial detention and his original arrest and detention in April.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Interior minister asks president to strip Russian businessman Kudimov of Lithuanian citizenship

• Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė has formally asked President Gitanas Nausėda to strip Yuri Kudimov, a Russian businessman, of his Lithuanian citizenship granted to him by way of exception.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Father takes child from mother, flees Lithuania for Russia

• A father with restricted custody took his child from the mother and crossed to Russia by boat, the Lithuanian Police reported on Monday.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Former Head Of Yeltsin Administration Dies Aged 87

• The former head of the administration of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Sergei Filatov, has died at the age of 87.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Probe finds Indian national died of hypothermia on Lithuania-Belarus border

• A migrant found dead earlier this year in Lithuania’s Ignalina District bordering Belarus died of hypothermia, a law enforcement forensic examination showed.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ With Prigozhin Dead, Russia’s Wagner Faces an Uncertain Future

• It could be hard for the Kremlin to find a way to neutralize the mercenary group after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death while retaining its fighting power and geopolitical links.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ After Prigozhin’s Death, Mourners Gather at Wagner Memorial in Moscow

• Visitors, some tearful, left flowers and other tributes to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private military company, at a sidewalk memorial.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Man Arrested In Russia After Al-Jazeera Journalist Beaten While Reporting On Wagner

• Igor Berdov, a 36-year-old resident of Russia’s Karelia region, was arrested on August 28 for allegedly assaulting Al-Jazeera journalist Rania Dridi near the building where the Wagner mercenary group has offices in St. Petersburg.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Wagner chief Prigozhin’s death in plane crash confirmed by genetic tests, Russian inquiry says

• Russian investigators said on Sunday that genetic tests had confirmed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the Wagner mercenary group, was among the 10 people killed in a plane crash last week.

=> ↺ AntiWar ☛ Who Killed Yevgeny Prigozhin?

• Although Wagner leader Yevgeni Prigozhin had reportedly been banished to Belarus after his brief and spectacularly unsuccessful rebellion, he seemingly enjoyed a surprising freedom of movement. He apparently traveled between Belarus and Africa and traveled frequently between St. Petersburg and Moscow.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ PM Orpo: Russian instability poses threat to Finland

• Finland’s Prime Minister said that various forces within Russia are engaged in an ongoing power struggle and that Russian President Vladimir Putin no longer has full control over the situation.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russian Authorities Confirm Death Of Wagner Leader Prigozhin

• Russia’s Investigative Committee has confirmed the death of Wagner mercenary group head Yevgeny Prigozhin in a private-jet crash north of Moscow on August 23.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Putin orders members of Wagner Group to swear oath of allegiance to Russia

• Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an executive order on Friday ordering military units to swear an oath of allegiance to the Russian state.

Environment

=> ↺ Local World ☛ Activists deflate tyres on more than 80 ‘gas guzzlers’ in Falmouth and St Mawes

• The poster reads: “We have deflated one or more of your tyres. You’ll be angry, but don’t take it personally. It’s not you. It’s your car. We did this because driving around urban areas in your massive vehicle has consequences for others.” It goes on to state that urgent action is needed to reduce emissions and that SUVs are likely to cause more pollution than smaller cars.

=> ↺ The Telegraph UK ☛ Cornwall holidaymakers warned over tyre slashing attacks by eco-activists

• According to the post, flyers left on cars read: “Attention – Your gas guzzler kills… We did this because driving around urban areas in your massive vehicle has consequences for others. SUVs cause more air pollution than smaller cars. SUVs are more likely to kill people than normal cars in collisions. SUVs are unnecessary and pure vanity.”

=> ↺ Express ☛ Cornwall tourists warned after tyres left with ‘gaping holes’ after being slashed

• The group said in a statement: “SUVs are a danger for the climate, safety and our health, all so that a privileged few can flaunt their wealth in their shiny status symbols. This is an act of retaliation, and is intended as a peaceful and non-violent demonstration to draw attention to the presence of grossly inappropriate private vehicles in our town.”

=> ↺ Wales UK ☛ Climate activists deflate tyres on more than 80 ‘gas guzzler’ SUVs in rampage

• “SUVs are a climate disaster: If SUV drivers were a country, they would be the sixth largest emitter on the planet, International Energy Agency researchers were shocked in 2019 to find that SUVs are the second-largest cause of the global rise in carbon dioxide emissions over the past decade – more than shipping, aviation or heavy industry.

=> ↺ Associated Press ☛ Maui’s fire became deadly fast. Climate change, flash drought, invasive grass and more fueled it

• Flash droughts are so dry and hot that the air literally sucks moisture out of the ground and plants in a vicious cycle of hotter-and-drier that often leads to wildfires. And Hawaii’s situation is a textbook case, two scientists told The Associated Press.

=> ↺ Indian Express ☛ Wildfires ravage Hawaii’s Maui island: How climate change has a link to the fires

• “Over the past few decades, wildfire has been increasing in Hawaii as a result of changing climate, as a result of increases in invasive species, and a lot of our active agriculture going out… and becoming fallow. And so we have invasive species, we have fuels on the ground, we have all the conditions that make for a ripe wildfire environment…,” Elizabeth Pickett, co-executive director of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, told Sky News in an interview.

=> ↺ CNN ☛ Why did the Maui fire spread so fast? Drought, nonnative species and climate change among possible reasons

• While scientists are still trying to fully understand how the climate crisis will affect Hawaii, they have noted that drought will get worse as global temperature increases. As heat sets in, the dried-out land and vegetation can provide fuel for wildfires, which can swiftly turn deadly if strong winds fan the flames into communities.

• Maui has moderate drought covering more than one-third of the island, with some areas seeing severe drought, according to the US Drought Monitor. And the areas in drought coincide with some of the fires.

=> ↺ VOA News ☛ Scientists Report Mass Antarctic Penguin Die-Off

• Warming seas prematurely melted the ocean ice, killing baby penguins before they were mature enough to survive. Scientists say when the ice breaks up too soon because of global warming, the chicks fall into the water and drown or freeze. The study by the British Antarctic Survey, the national polar research institute, was published Friday in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.

=> ↺ Omicron Limited ☛ oxygen

• “As the temperature in the water increases, the amount of oxygen available decreases. And too little oxygen spells trouble for fish. It’s hard to imagine, but a fish can drown,” explained Martin Grosell, professor and chair of the Department of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science.

=> ↺ Omicron Limited ☛ How dangerous is extreme heat to humans?

• Perhaps more alarmingly, “the UK may become too hot to endure within three decades”, which would surely be a concern to the 97% of humanity who live in places with hotter summers than the UK.

• The good news: Britons won’t have to move to Sweden by 2050. The bad news: deadly heat is already here, is getting worse, and soon may become a vastly bigger problem than it is even now in nearly every part of the world.

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ Vermont Journalism Trust Ltd ☛ Letter to the editor: Public light-rail system would be helpful

• That said, we are strongly of the opinion that the long-term sustainable solution for everyone to travel is actually European-style light-rail networks across city, state and region. The origins of light-rail transit systems were electric trolleys.

• I think Vermont’s late Marty Jezer wrote the best history of how General Motors systematically purchased and destroyed the electric trolley systems of cities across the U.S., beginning almost a century ago. (His book is “The Dark Ages: Life in the United States 1945-1960.”)

=> ↺ [Old] Internet Archive ☛ The dark ages, life in the United States, 1945-1960

Wildlife/Nature

=> ↺ Irish Times ☛ Healthy hedgerows are nature’s kitchen larder, bedroom, livingroom, secret chamber and funeral parlour

• It’s hard to overstate the importance of diverse, flowering hedgerows to wildlife – they are where species nest, breed, feed, hide, hibernate and die. For birds of prey such as the sparrowhawk and the barn owl, vibrant hedgerows are like a restaurant. When allowed to thrive, they are nature’s kitchen larder, bedroom, livingroom, secret chamber and funeral parlour all in one.

Finance

=> ↺ Latvia ☛ Nearly 900 ATMs operating across Latvia

• Nearly 400 million non-cash payments were processed by banks in Latvia during the first six months of the year, according to latest data from the Latvian central bank (Latvijas Banka, LB)

=> ↺ Reason ☛ Did Banks Hand Private Financial Data to the FBI Without Legal Process?

• Banks routinely snitch on customers and even deny services to people politicians don’t like.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Finnish firm Stora Enso bans Tiktok from company phones

• A growing number of companies and organisations have banned the social media platform from their devices due to cybersecurity concerns.

=> ↺ Daniel Pocock ☛ Daniel Pocock: Will Fowles, the ALP, women & Parliament culture scandal

• Victorians have been scratching their heads for the last few weeks wondering what is really behind the mysterious resignation of Will Fowles. The premier, Daniel Andrews, told us he was personally notified of an accusation late on Friday, 4 August. The following day, Saturday, 5 August, Dan asked Will to resign from the parliamentary caucus. Furthermore, Dan’s public statements suggest he is taking sides with an anonymous accuser.

• Will’s Wikipedia page gives some basic facts about Will’s career up to this point but I felt it would be useful to fill in some gaps, going right back to student politics, while simultaneously looking at the problems of the Victorian parliament. Let’s not forget where the name Victoria comes from.

• To put it in perspective, here are some photos I took in Canberra. The man speaking to the group is the highly distinguished leader of the party at that time, Kim Beazley. In the second photo, Will is the student holding a coffee cup and Mr Beazley appears to be looking directly at him. The student on Will’s left, not visible in the photos, would become one of the Premier’s most trusted advisors before moving into the private sector.

• As noted in a previous blog, I was fortunate enough to receive my first reference letter from Mr Beazley after creating a web site about Native Title.

• Mr Beazley has no connection with the current problems in Victoria. These pictures show us how Australian political parties have opened their doors to young people and given people opportunities, for better or for worse.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Chamisa alleges ‘gigantic fraud’ in presidential vote

• Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa on Sunday alleged “blatant and gigantic fraud” after the country’s electoral commission said President Emmerson Mnangagwa had won a second term. International observers reported an atmosphere of intimidation against voters. FRANCE 24′s Erin Bates reports from South Africa.

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ Zimbabwe’s opposition alleges ‘gigantic fraud’ in vote that extends the ZANU-PF party’s 43-year rule

• Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader has alleged “blatant and gigantic fraud” after President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the winner of another troubled election in the southern African nation. Returns were announced Saturday night, two days earlier than expected. International observers reported an atmosphere of intimidation against voters. Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s Citizens Coalition for Change party said it would challenge the election results as “hastily assembled without proper verification.” The announced outcome of the voting on Wednesday and Thursday extends the ruling ZANU-PF party’s 43-year hold on power in Zimbabwe.

=> ↺ Digital Music News ☛ TikTok Shop Isn’t Profitable—Will Outside E-Commerce Links Be Banned?

• TikTok Shop isn’t profitable and is on track to lose $500 million this year. Will the social media giant ban outside e-commerce links to create a walled shopping garden?

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Billionaire Foxconn founder Terry Gou announces Taiwan presidential bid as independent

• Foxconn’s billionaire founder Terry Gou announced Monday that he will run for president of Taiwan as an independent candidate. Gou made his fortune turning Foxconn into the world’s largest contract producer of electronics, including for Apple’s iPhones.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Pakistan Court Drops Sedition Charges Against Former PM Imran Khan

• A court in Pakistan on August 28 dismissed a sedition case against former Prime Minister Imran Khan, his lawyer said on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Burmese hip-hop artist sentenced to 20 years for criticizing Myanmar military leadership

• On Thursday, 38-year-old Burmese hip-hop artist Byu Har was sentenced to 20 years in prison for purportedly critiquing the present military-administered state.  A family member of Har shared the verdict details with the Associated Press (AP).

=> ↺ The Washington Post ☛ In some schools, dread over the new year: ‘We’re scared to teach’

• Across the country, teachers are reporting to their unions and principals what they describe as a list of accruing traumas from their classrooms. From disruptions to hallway melees to pushy parents to anxieties around censorship and the increasingly political nature of their jobs, many educators say they are starting this school year on edge.

• The concerns differ, in kind and degree, from district to district. But the growing disrespect some teachers feel is a unifying theme.

=> ↺ Book Riot ☛ Library Bomb Threats Continue to Increase: Book Censorship News, August 25, 2023

• It’s not just the Chicago area dealing with an increase in library bomb threats, but it makes for an important point about what’s happening that needs to be emphasized again and again. Bad actors aren’t just in states that folks like to malign; they’re even in “good” states where there are new laws protecting libraries from book bans. The belief that we should only care about “good” states plays right into the very systems that the christian nationalist book censors create. They’ve done enough gerrymandering and disenfranchised voters so deeply that saying “this is what Florida/Texas/fill-in-the-blank” state voted for only adds fuel to their fire. It also deeply harms those living in those states who, through no choice of their own, have had their voting power stolen from them.

=> ↺ VOA News ☛ Iran Files Legal Case Against Singer Urging Veil Removal

• Authorities in Iran have begun legal proceedings against a prominent pop singer over his latest song urging women to take off their mandatory headscarves, the judiciary said Sunday.

• The action against Mehdi Yarrahi comes almost a year after the death in custody of Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini, 22, triggered months of protests around the country.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ How Free Speech and Willful Blindness Will Play Out in the Trump Prosecution

• The First Amendment and the former president’s claim he that believed he won won’t help him.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Biden and Harris to meet King’s family on ‘I Have a Dream’ speech anniversary

• President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s family to mark Monday’s 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, where King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ US sanctions China officials over Tibetan assimilation policies

• The US Department of State announced visa restrictions on Chinese officials linked to the alleged systematic assimilation of over a million Tibetan children in state-operated boarding schools. This decision is part of a broader strategy by the Biden administration to address China’s treatment of its ethnic minorities, with a particular focus on the Tibetan and Xinjiang Uighur regions.

=> ↺ India Times ☛ The Taliban say security forces will stop women from visiting Afghan national park

• The Taliban will use security forces to stop women from visiting one of Afghanistan’s most popular national parks, according to information shared by a spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry. The ministry alleges that women have not been observing the proper way to wear the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, when going to Band-e-Amir in the central Bamiyan province.

• This comes a week after the minister, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, visited the province and told officials and religious clerics that women haven’t been adhering to the correct way of wearing the hijab, asking security personnel to stop women from visiting the tourist hotspot.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Taliban Says Security Forces Will Stop Women From Visiting Afghan National Park

• [...] The ministry alleges that women have not been observing the proper way to wear the hijab, or Islamic head scarf, at Band-e-Amir in Bamiyan Province. [...]

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

=> ↺ ! Avi Alkalay ¡: Handling Inbox spam

• I’m a serial unsubscriber — absolutely ruthless when it comes to keeping my inbox in order. If I get a new ad or newsletter on my inbox I immediately scroll to the end of it to click on the tiny “unsubscribe” link. I admit I have great pleasure doing this without even seeing the ad.

• I also never ever give my personal e-mail address in account registrations. Instead, if an e-mail address is absolutely necessary, I have my own mail relay service that creates a unique address for each account registration. If you think about it, real people do not communicate through e-mail anymore, only chat nowadays. You keep your e-mail address to communicate mostly with companies only, not friends and family.

=> ↺ Adriaan de Groot ☛ Message media (IRC)

• Because I wanted to change some messaging settings for Calamares, I needed to connect to IRC again.

• [..]

• Given the available emotional energy (e.g. lack of desire to monitor two chat applications), it is really likely that IRC is going to fall by the wayside.

=> ↺ Jeff Geerling ☛ A Pigeon is still faster than the Internet

• In 2009, a company in South Africa proved a homing pigeon was faster than an ADSL connection, flying a 4 GB USB flash drive to prove it.

• Besides IEEE’s speculative work, nobody’s actually re-run the ‘bird vs. Internet’ race in over a decade.

Monopolies

Patents

=> ↺ Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ 9th Circuit Revives False Claims Act Action for Fraud on the Patent Office

• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently issued a pair of decisions in the qui tam case Silbersher v. Valeant Pharmaceuticals concerning the False Claims Act’s (FCA) public disclosure bar.  The case sets significant precedent in linking FCA claims to patent prosecution and fraud upon the patent office.  The case can be contrasted with Silbersher v. Allergan, Inc., 21-15420, — F.4th — (9th Cir. Aug. 25, 2022) [21-15420], that Silbersher lost.

Trademarks

=> ↺ TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Which of These Section 2(d) Refusals Was/Were Reversed?

• Here are three recent appeals from Section 2(d) refusals. At least one of the refusals was reversed. How do you think these came out? Answers will be found in the first comment.

• In re Neptune Eyewear Pty. Ltd., Serial No. 90544913 (August 22, 2023) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Christopher C. Larkin). [Section 2(d) refusal of the mark AVANTI for “Frames for spectacles and sunglasses, excluding frames for protective eyeglasses,” in view of the registered mark AVANTÉ for “protective eyeglasses.”]

Copyrights

=> ↺ Digital Music News ☛ Major Labels Demand $46.8 Million Payment — Plus Interest — from ISP Grande Communications

• Back in November of 2022, a jury awarded the major labels over $46.76 million in damages as part of their copyright infringement lawsuit against Grande Communications Networks. Now, with the decision having been upheld by a federal court, the Big Three have officially moved to assure that the internet service provider (ISP) will in fact cough up the sizable sum if its ongoing appeal falls short.

=> ↺ Torrent Freak ☛ Selling ‘Handmade’ USB Drives with Pirated Movies is a Thing

• A quarter century ago, computer aficionados had to spend a lot of time and effort to get the latest warez. That’s no longer the case today. Pirates can get nearly everything they want on demand. And for those who prefer something tangible, there are opportunistic online sellers of ‘handmade’ USB drives or hard drives, preloaded with pirated films and TV shows.

Gemini* and Gopher

Photography

=> ↺ Billsmugs’s Photography: Photos (14)

Technology and Free Software

Internet/Gemini

=> ↺ the web revival space as a refuge for harmful ideas: part II

• I’ve recently written a bit about how the web revival scene (used as an umbrella term for the indie web, the small web, the retro web and so on) can be used as a refuge by some who have harmful and dehumanizing views.

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