Links 10/10/2023: Climate Crisis and Wars
Contents
- Leftovers
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Leftovers
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Ruben Schade ☛ Deadlocked intersections, systems, and brains
Our apartment window overlooks a distant intersection with a decent amount of daily traffic. It’s also a thoroughfare for buses, and those articulated ones that deliver fewer people than a double-decker in twice the space. They’re also the ones who think pedestrian crossings are overflow, not that I’m bitter or anything!
Due to a combination of terrible street design, and obstinate drivers that break the law by queuing across the intersection, there are situations where it gets jammed for multiple light cycles without any movement. You know it hasn’t budged for a while when the horns start.
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Tedium ☛ The Post Of Revelations
Sufjan Stevens shares a significant part of his life in a single Tumblr post—a message that powerfully reshapes his already-powerful art.
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Science
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Science Alert ☛ Probe Blazes New Record For The Fastest Thing Ever Made by Humans
Incredible!
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Science Alert ☛ Popular New Weight Loss Drugs Linked to Digestive Problems
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Science Alert ☛ Does Humanity Really Face a 1 in 6 Chance of Dying This Century?
Grim probabilities.
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New York Times ☛ The Big Nobel Prize Winners Were Short and Fast
The awards for physics and chemistry were a reminder that the most important processes in nature unfold on a scale divorced from everyday human affairs.
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Science Alert ☛ Giant Solar Storm 14,000 Years Ago Leaves The Carrington Event in The Dust
At least 10 times more powerful!
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Science Alert ☛ Tiny Biological Particles Are Influencing Cloud Formation Over The Arctic
Biology has long messed with Earth’s weather.
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Science Alert ☛ Strange Mounds on Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth Could Be Traces of Where It Came From
An origin story.
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Science Alert ☛ Distant Objects Show Solar System Extends Further Than We Knew
There’s more after the credits roll.
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Science Alert ☛ Doctors Discover Needle Lodged in 80-Year-Old Woman's Brain
A terrible secret.
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Education
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LRT ☛ Mariupol State University Centre to open at Lithuania’s VDU
The Mariupol State University (MSU) Centre is being opened at Vytautas Magnus University (VDU) in Kaunas on Monday.
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Chronicle Of Higher Education ☛ China Was Long the Top Source of Foreign Students in the U.S. Now India Has Overtaken It.
Both countries saw big bumps in new students, a Chronicle analysis of visa data shows.
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Hardware
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Tom's Hardware ☛ China Wants 300 ExaFLOPS of Compute Power by 2025
China hopes to increase computing power by 50% before 2025.
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University of Michigan ☛ U-M a partner in CHIPS Act Midwest microelectronics hubs
As part of the federal CHIPS and Science Act, U-M is a founding member of two Microelectronics Commons regional innovation hubs announced by the U.S. Department of Defense.
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Science Alert ☛ Here's What Actually Happens if You Charge Your Phone Overnight
Don't do it.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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The Straits Times ☛ People in Johor urged to wear masks; haze to be discussed in Malaysia’s Parliament
October 09, 2023 10:59 AM
Johor’s state health committee chief recommended outdoor activities be reduced.
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The Straits Times ☛ Rescuers search for survivors days after deadly quakes hit northwest Afghanistan
October 09, 2023 3:05 PM
HERAT, Afghanistan - Rescue workers on Monday scrambled to pull out survivors, and the dead, from beneath the rubble two days after the northwestern city of Herat and its surroundings were struck by the deadliest earthquakes to rattle Afghanistan in years.
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Science Alert ☛ There's One Critical Thing We Can Do to Keep Alzheimer's Symptoms at Bay
Start tonight.
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Off Guardian ☛ “Where were all the anarchists during Covid19?”
This wide-ranging interview was conducted with Paul Cudenec of Winter Oak by two anarchist pro-freedom campaigners, MA and WS, from Brighton, England. WS: Please could you introduce yourself and say how you came to be a writer and create the website Winter Oak?
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New York Times ☛ Skeletons of 1918 Flu Victims Reveal Clues About Who Was Likely to Die
While a narrative emerged that the pandemic indiscriminately struck the young and healthy, new evidence suggests that frail young adults were most vulnerable.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Bruce Schneier ☛ AI Risks
There is no shortage of researchers and industry titans willing to warn us about the potential destructive power of artificial intelligence. Reading the headlines, one would hope that the rapid gains in AI technology have also brought forth a unifying realization of the risks—and the steps we need to take to mitigate them.
The reality, unfortunately, is quite different. Beneath almost all of the testimony, the manifestoes, the blog posts, and the public declarations issued about AI are battles among deeply divided factions. Some are concerned about far-future risks that sound like science fiction. Some are genuinely alarmed by the practical problems that chatbots and deepfake video generators are creating right now. Some are motivated by potential business revenue, others by national security concerns...
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Security
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Privacy/Surveillance and Banks
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Atlantic Council ☛ Less is more: Fewer reports would improve the IMF’s global surveillance
To improve its global analysis, the IMF should consolidate its conjunctural analysis into a single, shorter, and more pointed report.
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Atlantic Council ☛ The United States just sent a strong message to the IMF
A recent speech by a US Treasury Department official gave a tough appraisal of the IMF and its leadership. Martin Mühleisen explains what is behind the Biden administration’s change of tone.
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NYOB ☛ Streaming service DAZN took almost five years to answer a simple access request
Streaming service DAZN took almost five years to answer a simple access request
Under the GDPR, companies have one month to answer access requests.
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Zimbabwe ☛ Stop lying Zimbos, there’s no way half of you carefully read cookie policies as Potraz survey shows
I will be honest with you, I don’t particularly care about my data being collected online. Please don’t stone me, I know I should care but I don’t really lose sleep over Google knowing that I watch a ridiculous amount of videos on town planning in the Netherlands.
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Defence/Aggression
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Atlantic Council ☛ The Bretton Woods institutions under geopolitical fragmentation
Introduction The economic and military rise of China presents Western democracies with a challenge unlike any they have faced since the inception of the Bretton Woods system.
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The Strategist ☛ China’s ‘blue dragon’ strategy in the Indo-Pacific
To compete strategically with the United States and undermine President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific policy, China has quietly been advancing its stealthy divide-and-conquer foreign policy agenda on four different but connected frontiers.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Israel-Palestine: China says it’s ‘deeply concerned’ over ‘escalation’ of violence
Beijing, China China said on Sunday it was “deeply concerned” by the weekend’s dramatic escalation of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, urging all sides to show “calm”. “China is deeply concerned about the current escalation of tension and violence between Palestine and Israel,” Beijing’s foreign ministry said.
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The Straits Times ☛ In Beijing, US Senate leader Schumer ‘disappointed’ by China’s statement on Hamas attacks
Mr Schumer is leading a bipartisan congressional delegation to Asia.
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The Straits Times ☛ US senators meet with China's top diplomat Wang Yi - state media
U.S. senators met with China's top diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday, state media reported. REUTERS
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New York Times ☛ Israel-Gaza War: Israel Orders ‘Siege’ of Gaza; Hamas Threatens to Kill Hostages
Israel’s defense minister said the authorities would block deliveries of food, water and fuel into the already blockaded enclave. A spokesman for Hamas’s military wing threatened to execute a hostage each time an Israeli airstrike hits Gazans in their homes.
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France24 ☛ Israeli intelligence 'totally misunderstood Hamas', experts say
The devastating failure of the Israeli intelligence services to predict the deadly Hamas incursion stemmed from a total misunderstanding of the militant group, experts have said.
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New York Times ☛ Israeli Airstrike Hits a Marketplace in Gaza, Killing Dozens
The strikes also hit two hospitals, schools and infrastructure, the U.N. said.
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BIA Net ☛ 'Attacks on civilian targets in Rojava should immediately be stopped'
Six lawyers' organizations have issued a joint statement regarding the targeting of civilian settlements and harm to civilians in ongoing attacks in Northern Syria.
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JURIST ☛ Former Madagascar president injured during anti-government rally
Former Madagascar President Marc Ravalomanana told Reuters on Saturday that he was injured during a rally against the incumbent president Andry Rajoelina’s re-election bid. Ravalomanana posted a photo of the bleeding injury on his left leg on Facebook.
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France24 ☛ Palestinian militants at the kibbutz gates: A survivor recounts her horror
Yael Fafet, a dual French-Israeli national, was on a vacation at a kibbutz in southern Israel when Palestinian militants arrived at its gates. Security guards managed to repel the militants, but in other residences in the area, civilians were not as lucky, she told FRANCE 24 in an interview Monday.
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Defence Web ☛ Africa’s ocean of organised crime
The ocean is central to global illicit trade. Criminal networks plunder marine resources, scour shipping lanes for vessels to hijack, and traverse coastal state waters and the high seas to move commodities to distant destinations. Covering 70% of Earth’s surface, the ocean is likely the world’s most extensive transnational crime scene.
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RFA ☛ Papua New Guinea leader hopes for security wins from China visit
The Pacific island country’s prime minister will also attend the PNG-Asia investment conference in Hong Kong.
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New York Times ☛ Hamburg Airport Suspends Flights Over Threat to Iranian Plane
All flights were suspended for more than an hour, but after what security officials said was a vigorous search, the airport reopened.
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New York Times ☛ Tuesday Briefing: Israel Orders a ‘Siege’ of Gaza
Plus can betting save the world?
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New York Times ☛ Yellen May Face Questions in Morocco Over U.S. Dysfunction
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calls on Congress to authorize more economic support for Ukraine.
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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RFA ☛ Satellite pics show spike in rail activity at NKorea-Russia border
Experts speculate images may indicate the transfer of weapons following the Kim-Putin summit.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Russian imperialism shapes public support for the war against Ukraine
Modern Russia retains an imperialistic ideology that is fueling strong public support for the war in Ukraine amid deep-rooted perceptions of Ukrainians as misguided younger siblings in need of correction, writes Neringa Klumbytė.
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LRT ☛ US allocates €1.48m for Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania
The US government has allocated 1.56 million US dollars (1,48 million euros) to organisations helping Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania, the US Embassy in Vilnius said on Monday.
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RFERL ☛ U.S. Army Chief Urges Congress To Increase Funding To Meet Needs Of Both Israel And Ukraine
Congress must pass more funding quickly for the United States to be able to give both Israel and Ukraine the weapons and munitions they both need, a top Pentagon official said on October 9.
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RFERL ☛ Russia Launches High Treason Case Against Kremlin Critic Over His Anti-War Stance
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on October 9 that it has launched a probe on a high treason charge against noted Russian lawyer and outspoken Kremlin critic Ilya Novikov, saying he "joined Ukrainian territorial defense groups" fighting against Russian troops invading Ukraine.
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RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Urges Western Unity As He Draws Parallels Between Attack On Israel And Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for Western unity and more engagement in solving international crises, drawing a parallel between the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas militants and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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New Yorker ☛ Jake Sullivan’s Trial by Combat
Inside the White House’s battle to keep Ukraine in the fight.
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The Straits Times ☛ UN held talks in Russia on Monday on grain, fertilizer exports
October 10, 2023 5:20 AM
Top United Nations trade official Rebeca Grynspan met with Russian officials in Moscow on Monday for talks aimed at enabling the \"unimpeded access\" to global markets for grain and fertilizer from Russia and Ukraine, a U.N. spokesperson said.
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YLE ☛ Finland sending €92m to Ukraine, Moldova
"We must ensure that critical services are functioning despite the war," foreign trade and development minister Ville Tavio (Finns) said.
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New York Times ☛ Russia’s Economy Is Increasingly Structured Around Its War in Ukraine
The nation’s finances have proven resilient, despite punishing sanctions, giving it leeway to pump money into its military machine.
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New York Times ☛ Zelensky Compares Hamas’s Assault on Israel to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukraine president, told a NATO meeting that “terror will have no allies” if the world unites against acts of aggression.
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RFERL ☛ Russia Extradites Brother Of Opposition Tajik TV Director To Dushanbe, Relatives Say
Russian authorities have extradited to Tajikistan the brother of the director of an opposition online television station, according to relatives who spoke with RFE/RL on October 9.
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RFERL ☛ Lithuanian Foreign Minister Says Russia Is Trying To 'Scare' Neighbors With Nukes In Belarus
Russia's decision to station nuclear weapons in Belarus is part of a campaign to "threaten" and "scare" neighboring countries while highlighting Moscow's dominance over Minsk, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said.
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RFERL ☛ Yury Shevchuk, Russian Rock Musician Known For Anti-War Stance, Recovering From Heart Attack
Yury Shevchuk, leader of popular Russian rock group DDT, is being treated in Israel after he experienced a heart attack last month.
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Tom's Hardware ☛ Russian Researchers Develop Chipmaking Tool that Can Replace Litho Tools
Russian researchers propose to replace litho tools with advanced etching machines.
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Latvia ☛ LTV's De Facto: Belarusian business in Latvia under security scrutiny
The State Security Service (VDD) suspects a Belarusian businessman in Latvia of breaching European Union sanctions. He entered Latvia with the support of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) following Belarus opposition protests in 2020. Latvian Television's De Facto reports on October 8 that Igor Medved's shareholdings have now been arrested by the service so they can be seized in the future if necessary.
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RFERL ☛ Siberian Anti-War Activist Reportedly Kidnapped In Kazakhstan
A Siberian activist for the Soprotivlenie (Resistance) movement for the independence of the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia in Russia, Aikhal Ammosov (aka Igor Ivanov), has been reportedly kidnapped by unknown individuals in Kazakhstan, the movement and Ammosov's friends said on October 9.
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RFERL ☛ Head Of Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization Concerned Over Russia's Moves To 'De-Ratify' Pact
The head of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty Organization (CTBTO) on October 9 expressed concern over the latest moves by Russian lawmakers on revoking Moscow's ratification of the treaty.
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RFERL ☛ Chechen Trial Of Russian Teen Who Burned Copy Of Koran Postponed
The trial of 19-year-old Nikita Zhuravel, who publicly burned a copy of the Koran in the Russian city of Volgograd, was moved to October 13 after he was not brought to the courtroom for unspecified reasons in the North Caucasus region of Chechnya on October 9.
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RFERL ☛ Russia Keeps Ban On Gasoline Exports And Exports Of Diesel By Railway
Russia's ban on gasoline exports and cross-border sales of diesel by railway remains in place, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said on October 9.
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RFERL ☛ Jailed Belarusian Activist Gets Additional One-Year Prison Term
The Rechytsa district court in Belarus's southeastern region of Homel sentenced activist Palina Sharenda-Panasyuk, who finished serving a prison term in early August but was not released, to one year in prison on a charge of "blatantly violating her penitentiary's internal regulations."
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Transparency/Investigative Reporting
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University of Michigan ☛ Transplanting truth: Putting the ‘see’ in organ donation transparency
I had plenty of thoughts racing through my mind while completing the paperwork for my first driver’s license. I was ruminating about how photogenic my hair was, how many inches I could get away with adding to my height and what signature to go with.
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Environment
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New Yorker ☛ Al Gore on the Solution to the Climate Crisis
The former Vice-President and self-described “recovering politician” the stakes and the necessary response to our ongoing environmental emergency.
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Finance
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YLE ☛ OP: Days of zero interest rates are over
Timo Ritakallio, President and CEO of the OP Financial Group, says house prices will likely continue falling.
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Latvia ☛ VAT threshold will be raised to 50,000 euros in Latvia
The Latvian cabinet approved draft measures October 9 that will see the threshold at which companies must be registered for Value Added Tax (VAT, or PVN in Latvian) rising from 40,000 euros to 50,000 euros. The move is a response to high inflation which has seen prices and therefore turnover rising, forcing more and more businesses towards the existing 40,000 euro threshold.
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Latvia ☛ Annual inflation down to 3.3% in Latvia
The latest data of the Central Statistical Bureau published October 9 show that in September 2023, compared to September 2022, the average level of consumer prices increased by 3.3 %.
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Mexico News Daily ☛ What got more (or less) expensive in Mexico in September?
Annual inflation declined for the eighth consecutive month in September, but prices for some products rose as much as 33% compared to August.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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Reason ☛ "Large Libel Model" Lawsuit Against OpenAI Headed Back to Georgia Court
OpenAI tried to remove Mark Walters' lawsuit to federal court, but has now withdrawn that attempt.
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Censorship/Free Speech
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Reason ☛ Federal Prison Censors Reason Issue About How Federal Prison Employed Serial Rapists
The issue was rejected because it "jeopardizes the good order and security of the institution."
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RFERL ☛ Noted Kazakh Journalist Again Handed 20-Day Jail Term On Libel Charge He Rejects
Noted Kazakh journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov was sentenced to 20 days in jail on October 9 in the southern town of Saryaghash for publishing "false information" about a manager of a local prosecutor’s office. Batyrbekov rejected the sentence and told RFE/RL, he will appeal it.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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The Straits Times ☛ Chinese activist says he has political asylum in Canada following Taiwan transit plea
Chen Siming fled China in July and arrived in Taiwan two months later, but was not allowed to enter.
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New York Times ☛ Chinese Women Who Defy ‘Beauty Duty’ With Buzz-Cuts and Bare Faces
Some in China are rejecting high heels, makeup, diets and other norms centered on appearance that they see as costly and unfair to women.
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TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Hollywood writers vote to approve contract deal that ended strike as actors negotiate
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood writers have voted almost unanimously to approve the contract agreement reached by their union leaders that ended a strike after nearly five months, while actors remain in negotiations to find a way out of their own strike. The Writers Guild of America announced Monday that 99% of the 8,525 members […]
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New York Times ☛ Hollywood Writers Ratify New Contract With Studios
The vote, which followed the end of the strike on Sept. 27, officially brought to a close a bitter, five-month labor dispute. The actors remain on strike.
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YLE ☛ Finns Party fire local politician following racist Facebook rant
Anna Koskela's post about how men "from underdeveloped countries" cross the road near a local supermarket caused a social media storm in August.
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JURIST ☛ California governor vetoes anti-caste discrimination bill
Governor Gavin Newsom of California vetoed anti-caste discrimination bill SB 403 Saturday amidst an increase in anti-caste discrimination laws and ordinances in the US. SB 403 would have outlawed discrimination based on “ancestry” and “caste.”
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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MIT Technology Review ☛ How to fight for internet freedom
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Ruben Schade ☛ Finding those few bloggers all those years later
On the rare chance I come across an old blog that either wasn’t abandoned or deleted, it’s interesting to see where the writer ended up.
A Singaporean anime blogger I used to follow in the 2000s (and I’m pretty sure I bumped into iRL a few times) became a cryptocurrency bro in the intervening years. It’s weird, he seemed so grounded and funny at the time.
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APNIC ☛ Notes from OARC-41
Observations on DNS topics picked up from the OARC41 meeting's presentations.
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New Yorker ☛ Why the Internet Isn’t Fun Anymore
The social-media Web as we knew it, a place where we consumed the posts of our fellow-humans and posted in return, appears to be over.
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Monopolies
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Public Knowledge ☛ U.S. v. Google: Everyone Uses a Search Engine, Not Everyone Uses Social Media. Recapping Week 4
Each week, Public Knowledge competition policy experts watch the Department of Justice's landmark U.S. v. Google case live from the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse.
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Patents
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JUVE ☛ Grünenthal and Freshfields win injunction against Teva testosterone drug [Ed: The voice of of patent extremists, JUVE, which takes bribes from these maxinalists, celebrates embargo]
In the Netherlands, German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal has been successful in preliminary relief proceedings against Teva over long-acting testosterone drug Nebido (case ID: C/09/653142). The medicine’s active substance is testosterone undecanoate, which doctors prescribe to treat long-term testosterone deficiency, or hypogonadism, in men.
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Unified Patents ☛ Adim8 electronic advertising patent prior art found
Unified is pleased to announce prior art has been found on U.S. Patent 8,787,895, owned by Adim8, LLC, an NPE. The patent generally relates to a display system and method of advertising, including loading a graphic advertisement onto a computer-readable medium of an electronic device.
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Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ The History and Importance of the Jury Trial System – An Excerpt from a Patent Infringement Trial
We are engaged or about to be engaged this morning in the selection of a jury in the civil case involving allegations of patent infringement. If you’d indulge me, though, for just a minute, I’d like to briefly review with you at this juncture how we came to have our American civil jury trial system.
If you go back in ancient history, if you start with the first five books in the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, you will find that the ancient Hebrew nation impaneled juries to decide issues of property ownership and property value.
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Copyrights
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Digital Music News ☛ IFPI and BVMI Tout Latest Streaming Manipulation Takedown in Germany: ‘The Practice Constitutes Fraud’
After successfully targeting the web-hosting provider of stream-ripping software YouTube-DL earlier in 2023, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) are touting the takedown of a Germany-based “streaming manipulation service.”
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