Failings by autocratic states
22 August 2022
Lawrence Freedman: "[Putin's] war against Ukraine has been hampered by failings experienced by autocratic states during conflict* due to *the inability of those at the top to take responsibility for mistakes."
But, he adds, "It's not that democracies always make better decisions."
US still bombing Somalia
22 August 2022
The US is still bombing Somalia, after starting in 2011.
Urgent: Repeal Florida law to monitor political views of every student and professor
22 August 2022
US citizens: call for repeal of Florida's law to monitor the political views of every student and every professor.
Court approval to overturn "Remain in Mexico" policy
22 August 2022
Biden got the court's approval to end the persecutor's "Remain in Mexico" policy for asylum-seekers coming from Mexico.
"Power of stories" may be inadequate
22 August 2022
The "power of stories" may be inadequate to deal with problems or injustices of global scale, such as a pandemic, or the coming global heating disaster.
*… some of the most urgent and lethal challenges our society is facing are too giant and unwieldy to fit into the little patterns our human minds are used to making. Our present pandemic response policies suggest some people don't get to be "heroes" on a "journey", and many traditional western storytelling conventions aren't up to the task of understanding a climate emergency that defies any sort of conflict-resolution arc.*
Texas requires public schools to display religious poster
22 August 2022
Texas has passed a law requiring every public school to display a poster with religious statement of belief in a god that intervenes in human life. This ought to be unconstitutional.
Perhaps the state hopes to take advantage of a previous loophole by not spending public money on the posters. A proper understanding of the prohibition of "establishment of religion" would consider that question irrelevant.
Racism affecting home appraisal values
22 August 2022
A black family was denied a loan because of an apparently racist low appraisal of their home. They showed the home to another company, covering up indications that the inhabitants were black, and got an appraisal of almost three times as much.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
22 August 2022
A leaked video shows Russian military vehicles inside of a turbine building at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Taking control of John Deere tractors
22 August 2022
Hackers have figured out how a farmer can take control of the computers in many John Deere tractors.
It is true that "malicious actors" could also use these jailbreaks to take control of the tractor. But don't exaggerate the significance of that danger! These tractors have been under the control of a malicious actor (named John Deere) ever since they left the factory.
Farmers, like motorists and other computer users, are entitled to full control over their computers.
John Deere has done various secondary bad things that add to the basic wrong. This includes bad development practices and GPL violations. In addition, its security against unknown third parties is ineffective.
Danger on GOP's election deniers' nominations
22 August 2022
Danger: *Election deniers have claimed nearly two-thirds of GOP nominations for positions with authority over elections.*
CVS trying to increase power
22 August 2022
CVS is trying to increase its power over US medical care by expanding into many other business aspects of medicine. Now it plans to buy some medical treatment company.
I don't think we should tolerate the size of CVS. We should make it split up so that there are additional competing pharmacy companies.
Amazon shouldn't be allowed to acquire any other company.
US government wants people to pay individually for Covid-19 vaccines and drugs
22 August 2022
The US government wants to make Americans pay individually for Covid-19 vaccines and drugs.
That will make poor people much more likely to die of Covid-19, like 2020 again.
(Satire) Right-wing Americans and FBI
22 August 2022
(satire) *[Right-wing Americans] Explain Why They Do Not Trust The FBI.*
It is customary to describe right-wing Americans as "conservative," and there was some truth in that back when progressives/liberals had powerful campaigns for changes. Today's followers of the corrupter are in no way "conservative."
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Liz Cheney
22 August 2022
Liz Cheney's strong resistance to the wrecker crowns a long career of supporting lies and injustice.
P&O Ferries won't be prosecuted
22 August 2022
P&O Ferries will not be prosecuted for abruptly firing 800 union workers so it could replace them with unskilled offshore workers.
The owners are quite happy with the outcome.
President Ortega attacks Catholic Church
22 August 2022
President Ortega of Nicaragua has crushed all political dissent, so now he has attacked the Catholic Church by arresting a bishop and other clerics. There are no specific charges, but it may have to do with giving sanctuary in he past to protesters that Ortega's men were attacking.
London mayor to extend thug access to license plate camera images
21 August 2022
The previous mayor of London — Bogus Johnson himself — gave thugs access to license plate camera images for the inner parts of London. The current mayor wants to extend this to a much broader area.
The injustice of this is the same regardless of how big an area it covers. Indeed, tracking cars through their license plates is wrong in itself. Surveillance of everyone is the soil for repression to grow.
Use of spyware by Greek intelligence agency
20 August 2022
A Greek intelligence agency used spyware on the phone of an opposition party leader, and is under pressure to resign.
Greece should have laws and mechanisms to stop this sort of thing. So should the US, whose laws and mechanisms seem to have been effectively negated.
Government of Gujarat released 11 prisoners convicted of rape
20 August 2022
The government of Gujarat released 11 prisoners convicted of raping a Muslim woman and murdering her relatives.
Gujarat is a center of powerful hatred against Muslims. In 2002, Hindi extremists with support from the Gujarat government carried out major pogrom against Muslims there, with support from Modi himself.
These rapes and murders were part of that pogrom. One must suspect that the release of these prisoners represents the Hindu extremists' endorsement of support for pogroms against Muslims.
Ukrainians with social media following get kidnapped
20 August 2022
The Putin forces make a point of kidnapping Ukrainians with a significant social media following, and torturing them to get passwords to post lies in their names.
Tearing up memos that weren't liked
20 August 2022
The ripper made a habit of tearing up memos he didn't like, disregarding the Presidential Records Act for the whole of his term as president.
Preferring poverty to inflation
20 August 2022
Minutes show that the Federal Reserve will keep on raising interest rates, preferring poverty to inflation.
Progressives warned Biden that reappointing the wrecker's chairman of the Federal Reserve could lead to things like this.
The search of Mar-a-Lago
20 August 2022
The search of Mar-a-Lago will not directly interfere with the corrupter's plans to run again for president. It could lead to a criminal conviction, if it finds evidence to convict him. That could — let's hope — make it harder for him to cheat his way to victory again the way he did in 2016. On the other hand, it won't protect us from Governor Dementis.
Ex-attorney general arrested over 43 students' disappearances
20 August 2022
*Mexico's ex-attorney general arrested over disappearance of 43 students in 2014.*
Warrants have been issued to arrest 83 others, including soldiers, thugs, and local officials, as well as gang members,
I am curious about the evidence which led to these conclusions about the case.
Children malnourished
20 August 2022
*Tigray: almost one in three children under five malnourished, UN says.*
President Petro's coalition
20 August 2022
How President Petro's coalition seeks a lasting civil peace in Colombia.
"Jobs" program
20 August 2022
Bogus Johnson invented a "jobs" program designed to pressure unemployed people to apply for jobs outside their careers. Low-paid jobs, that would be. The change led to a decrease in Britons' finding work.
Preventing nurdles from getting into ocean
20 August 2022
The UN is considering regulations to prevent small plastic pellets ("nurdles") from getting into the ocean.
Fatal defect
20 August 2022
Nancy Davis of Louisiana is pregnant, but the fetus has a fatal defect. Nonetheless, Louisiana will not allow her to abort it.
Urgent: Stop DeJoy
20 August 2022
US citizens: call on Congress and President Biden to stop DeJoy from slashing USPS jobs.
Urgent: Support a Green New Deal now
20 August 2022
US citizens: call on Congress and the President to support a Green New Deal now.
To sign without running nonfree JavaScript code from the web site, use the Salsalabs workaround.
Walden Bello
20 August 2022
Walden Bello, socialist candidate in the Philippines, has been charged with libel and arrested, for criticizing President Marcos and running mate Duterte.
This is a sign that they are going to be as evil as people have feared.
Google and antiabortion donations
20 August 2022
Google workers are calling on Google to stop donating to antiabortion politicians.
Intel
20 August 2022
The US just gave Intel a pile of money, supposedly so it could manufacture more chips in the US. Instead it has announced a plan to reduce investments and pay big dividends.
Intel is famous for making processors with malicious hardware, the Management Engine back door, that users cannot turn off.
Secret Service
20 August 2022
*Watchdog: Secret Service Didn't Notify Capitol Police of Threat to Pelosi Until After Jan. 6 Attack.*
It seems natural that it should have passed along the warning. Whether this was just a screw-up, or criminally suspect, depends on background information I don't know.
Tax fraud
20 August 2022
*Allen Weisselberg, longtime Trump Organization loyalist, pleads guilty to tax fraud.*
He will testify about the company, but not about the corrupter personally other than that.
EU and some Palestinian organizations
20 August 2022
EU countries support the work of some of the Palestinian organizations that Israel has declared "terrorist". They reject the accusation.
Covid misinformation
20 August 2022
*Police call for Bolsonaro to be charged for spreading Covid misinformation.*
England chemical pollution
20 August 2022
Chemical pollution is wiping out the animals in England's rivers, by killing small animals that the larger ones eat. Most of this pollution is from pesticides used in farms.
Democracy defenders plead guilty in jail
20 August 2022
29 Hong Kong democracy defenders have plead guilty to political charges after a year in jail.
Rare earth metal mining
20 August 2022
The west needs to mine lots more rare earth metals, to end China's domination of that market; but if it isn't careful, the mining process will cause disastrous toxic pollution, as it did in China.
Timor sea
20 August 2022
The dispute about which country gets gas from the Timor Sea is heating up again. Australia, or East Timor?
There is only one acceptable decision: nobody. There is no room in the carbon budget for that gas. It must stay under the sea.
Other countries should support East Timor so that this step, necessary for civilization's survival, does not cause a bigger disaster to East Timor than is going to hit world wide.
State sponsored disappearances
20 August 2022
A Mexican government commission concluded that the disappearance of 43 Mexican students in 2014 was state-sponsored.
App for reporting dissidents
20 August 2022
A new app for reporting dissidents has magnified the threat from Crown Prince Bone Saw to anyone who criticizes the government.
This article doesn't mention the most grave statement that Salma al-Shehab made while at school in the UK: she stated support for the women's rights activist, Loujain al-Hathlou, who has been punished for that.
To imprison someone for so little shows repression carried to an almost Chinese extreme.
Covid and people over 65 years old
20 August 2022
A large study of medical records shows that, for people over 65 years old, Covid-19 leads to an increase of almost 5% in the probability of having brain fog or dementia in the next two years.
That is a big risk, worth considerable effort to avoid. The previous mayor of London — Bogus Johnson himself — gave thugs access to license plate camera images for the inner parts of London. The current mayor wants to extend this to a much broader area.
The injustice of this is the same regardless of how big an area it covers. Indeed, tracking cars through their license plates is wrong in itself. Surveillance of everyone is the soil for repression to grow.
World's main powers have not signed treaty for International Criminal Court
20 August 2022
The International Criminal Court is operating, but handicapped because the world's main powers have not signed the treaty for it. That includes the US.
Negotiating bulk prices
20 August 2022
Big Pharma's condemnation of the bill that allows Medicare to negotiate bulk drug prices with pharma companies (for some drugs only) shows the central bogus assumption: whatever increases those companies' profit is automatically best for patients.
This is the faith of the cult of the Invisible Hand: "the market knows best," no obey it sheepishly, no matter how much big businesses use their clout to arrange for bad results.
Israel labels civil society groups as "terrorists" without trials
20 August 2022
Israel arbitrarily labeled six Palestinian civil society groups as "terrorist," without a trial, by passing a law saying, "They are terrorists."
Then state agents raided the offices of those organizations.
Ask yourself, if Israel stops Palestinians from organized peaceful defense of their human rights, what alternative they would naturally turn to.
I greatly miss Uri Avnery, who would have explained the links between the events, and the newsletter The Other Israel, which would have given more information.
30-year-old graduates high school a second time
20 August 2022
The story of a 30-year-old man who returned to his old high school, pretending to be a teenager, and graduated a second time.
I wonder what grounds the medical school cited for expelling him after that. His giving a false name and age may have been irregular, but they did not harm anyone, including the medical school. If he was doing well enough in his studies there, why not regularize his status instead?
Targeting protesters
19 August 2022
*[London thugs] stop and search powers to target protesters, suggests data.*