Levka

Lev Zadov is not my real name. I expropriated it from a dead man. He wasn’t using it. It wasn’t his real name, anyway. It was his dead name. Dead names aren’t real. In real life he went by Zinkovsky. I’m not particular about my own pronouns. We’re all on the same side of the Class War. "He/him/they" works. I also respond to "yo," "soup’s on," and "freeze motherfucker!" I call other people by whatever pronouns and/or aliases that they say they want to be called by. It’s only polite.

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npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv

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[email protected]

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nprofile1qqsv4aztfunpctmw6x5c09r9852qx2tcl2j6sq633sqpc2uudmrrfqcpqqq3samnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwd4hk6mmnw3ezuurfde4spnewas

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relay.momostr.pink

relay.pocketnostr.com

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv

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Last Notes

2026-09-09 22:26:32 CEST

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Sans paywall:
https://archive.ph/He36e

2026-09-09 21:34:47 CEST

#TrumpRegime #SouthPark
"South Park changes name to South America in response to Trump changes
In light of Donald Trump's attempts to rename a gulf, lakes and even states after 'America', South Park, the animated satirical program that has long skewered those in power, has announced an official name change. For its 29th season, the Comedy Central series will be known as 'South America'.
'Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of South Park to SOUTH AMERICA,' creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker said in a statement. 'We especially want to thank our parent company Paramount – a Skydance Capitulation.' The show's parent company, Paramount Skydance, owned by Trump ally David Ellison, is poised to become one of the biggest media conglomerates in the US after the Trump administration approved its $111bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), drawing much creative industry backlash.
The tongue-in-cheek news comes a day after the US president suggested on social media that the state of New Mexico should be renamed 'New America' with an AI-generated video that depicted him placing the word 'America' over 'Mexico' on a 'welcome to New Mexico' sign. (The US federal government has no authority to change a state's name.) The post drew swift condemnation from Democrats, who accused him of trying to distract from his war in Iran and rising prices."
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/articles/south-park-changes-name-south-182111882.html

2026-09-09 21:34:34 CEST

#ClimateCrisis #archetecture
"Straw homes could help tackle housing and climate crises
A new study has shown how using straw as a construction material could help address the UK’s housing crisis while also storing millions of tonnes of CO2.
The UK produces almost 10 million tonnes of straw each year, with the material long recognised as a cheap, low-carbon alternative to concrete and steel. Alongside its environmental credentials, the material offers excellent insulation properties while improving moisture regulation and indoor air quality. However, straw's adoption has been hampered by a number of interlocking factors, including acceptance in the building industry, regulatory uncertainty, and weak supply chains between farm and building site."
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/content/news/straw-homes-could-help-tackle-housing-and-climate-crises

2026-09-09 21:34:12 CEST

#ClimateCrisis #documentaries
"Climate documentary lays out full horror of our catastrophe
The Everyman cinema in Crystal Palace last night screened *People’s Emergency Briefing*, a shocking new documentary that emphasises the reality and urgency of the climate crisis, at which a group called the Penge Climate Collective added their voices to a campaign opposing all new oil and gas development.
Fronted by environmentalist Chris Packham and actor Jennifer Saunders, the film was made before the climate crisis-induced drought experienced by most of Britain in the last four months.
And it was made before the horrific floods and destruction caused by the glacier collapse in the Himalayas last month, which claimed the lives of more than a thousand people and devastated whole villages in Tibet and Nepal."
https://insidecroydon.com/2026/09/09/climate-documentary-lays-out-full-horror-of-our-catastrophe/

2026-09-09 21:32:40 CEST

#ClimateCrisis #ExtremeWeather #media
"Many People Aren’t Connecting the Dots Between Climate Change and Extreme Weather
Scientific evidence has never been stronger. Why aren’t more people making the link?
(. . .)
It’s been a relentless summer of extremes—only the latest in a half-decade packed with record-breaking weather events. A growing body of research shows they’re becoming more frequent and severe as human-caused climate change accelerates.
But recent studies show that many people aren’t making this link in the wake of a weather disaster, a disconnect that could affect our ability to combat worsening warming. At the same time, a recent analysis found that fewer journalists are doing the kind of climate reporting that could help to close this gap. And even when hurricanes, wildfires or floods get widespread attention, it’s often not long before another story overwhelms the news cycle."
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08092026/todays-climate-extreme-weather-attribution-disconnect/

2026-09-09 21:30:49 CEST

#ClimateCrisis #disability
"When climate-related hazards rise, so do barriers for people with disabilities
(. . .)
When climate-related hazards like floods, storms, extreme heat and landslides strike, roads can become impassable, homes unsafe and communities begin looking for ways to escape. But for persons with disabilities, the danger can be greater. An inaccessible route can become an impassable barrier. A warning delivered only through sound can leave a deaf person uninformed, while a shelter without accessible toilets, adequate space or support can turn a place of safety into another barrier.
A new study from Kerala, India, shows how climate-related disasters can expose these barriers and deepen inequalities faced by persons with disabilities. The study, published in *Global Environmental Change*, examines how people with disabilities experience and respond to climate change. Researchers conducted 72 semi-structured interviews with persons with disabilities, caregivers and institutional stakeholders between February 2023 and June 2024.
Although the research centered on Kerala, it offers insights that can extend to sub-Saharan Africa and possibly beyond."
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/when-climate-related-hazards-rise-so-do-barriers-for-people-with-disabilities/

2026-09-09 21:30:30 CEST

#ClimateCrisis #Arctic
"Can an entire Arctic ecosystem evolve to adapt to the climate crisis?
In the first project of its kind, scientists are trying to answer if the future of Alaska’s streams and tundra may depend not on survival of the fittest but on how species adapt together.
Across the planet, global heating is reshuffling the order of life. Some species will prosper, while those that can’t adapt quickly enough will nosedive toward extinction. Evolution and adaptation have long been thought of as solitary endeavours – a survival of the fittest. But what if species could instead draw on their longstanding relationships not to succeed or fail alone, but to swiftly evolve and adapt together to climate breakdown, keeping whole ecosystems intact?
That’s the question evolutionary ecologists, biologists, physiologists and geneticists are trying to answer from Alaska’s stream and tundra ecosystems in a first-of-its-kind $15m (£11m) project, supported by the US National Science Foundation. Over six years, scientists will closely assess five species and their connections to one another: the white-crowned sparrow, the feltleaf willow, the Arctic grayling, an aquatic mayfly and a ground beetle (the exact species are yet to be determined). If species adapt in response to temperature, they may also adapt in response to each other – and each other’s adaptations.
(. . .)
Scientists chose Alaska’s tundra and stream ecosystems to study, not only because the Arctic is the fastest-warming region on Earth, but because it is also home to relatively simple ecosystems where a handful of species shape the environment. Still, what they find in the far north will help inform how ecosystems around the world, from the tropics to the alpine regions, might be able to withstand the climate crisis."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/09/arctic-ecosystem-evolve-adapt-climate-crisis-aoe

2026-09-09 21:30:13 CEST

#fascists #NewZealand #Aotearoa
"NZF gumboot fascism attacks mud bloods again
Winston is after the mud bloods again, this after he has threatened to strip mud bloods of their voting rights and will only give baby bonuses to pure bloods.
This blaming of the other is pure Trumpian tactics, disenfranchising 700 000 permanent residents of their right to vote, stripping them of Super and paying baby bonuses only to pure bloods is a recipe for a level of civil fracturing the Right are not prepared for."
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/nzf-gumboot-fascism-attacks-mud-bloods-again/

2026-09-09 21:29:41 CEST

#OccupiedPalestine #BenGvir #fascists
"The Fascist History Of Ben Gvir | Full Documentary | Rise Of Extremism In Israel Texarkana Aluminum
This powerful, cinematic documentary exposes the dark ideological roots and political ascent of Itamar Ben Gvir — from extremist activism to becoming one of the most controversial figures in modern Israel. Through gripping narration, archival footage, and historical analysis, this film uncovers how radical ideology moved from the fringes into the heart of state power.
Tracing the origins of Kahanism through Meir Kahane, this documentary reveals the dangerous evolution of far-right extremism, political violence, and ideological influence that reshaped Israeli society and governance. From the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin to the expansion of settlements and the normalization of radical nationalism, this film connects the past to the present with chilling clarity."
https://mshale.com/dd9a4f31/4d4fd524IzkdKxsAYQ8mLCg

2026-09-09 21:29:22 CEST

#OccupiedPalestine
"Foreign ministers of eight Arab, Islamic nations urge global sanctions on Israeli settlements
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates urged the international community.
Foreign ministers from eight Arab and Islamic countries have expressed hope that more nations will join the United Kingdom in imposing sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates urged the international community to 'hold accountable settlement organisations and individuals engaged in illegal settlement activities'.
The diplomatic push follows the UK's announcement banning imports of goods produced in illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank."
https://www.tbsnews.net/world/foreign-ministers-eight-arab-islamic-nations-urge-global-sanctions-israeli-settlements-1538506

2026-09-09 21:29:06 CEST

#fascists #racists #UK #Glastonbury
"Glastonbury council rejects racism and fascism in 12-3 vote
Glastonbury Town Council has formally declared its opposition to racism and fascism after a lengthy and at times heated debate ended in a 12-3 recorded vote.
The motion, proposed by Cllr Jon Cousins and seconded by Cllr Serena Roney-Dougal, was passed at the Full Council meeting on Tuesday, 8 September.
It states that the council 'unequivocally rejects racism and fascism as expressions of intolerance that violate basic human rights' and reaffirms its commitment to fostering an inclusive community where people feel valued and respected.
(. . .)
The debate quickly moved on to how fascism should be defined and whether the wording risked being interpreted too broadly.
Cllr Lili Osborn questioned whether the term needed a clearer definition, saying she was concerned it could be used to describe 'anything they disagree with'.
She later told the meeting: 'I'm worried that this opens the door to restriction of freedom of speech because there's not a clear definition.'"
https://glastonbury.nub.news/news/local-news/glastonbury-council-rejects-racism-and-fascism-in-12-3-vote-307630

2026-09-09 21:28:44 CEST

#Smithsonian
"Smithsonian chief Lonnie G. Bunch III resigns
Lonnie G. Bunch III, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, is stepping down from his post at the end of the year.
The Smithsonian Institution — which includes dozens of museums, libraries, research centers, and the National Zoo — has been a frequent target of criticism by President Trump. In August 2025, Trump called for a 'comprehensive internal review' of eight Smithsonian museums, and directed them to 'celebrate American exceptionalism.' In July 2026, the Trump administration issued a report accusing the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History of 'extreme political activism.'
Bunch defended the museum internally. 'At the Smithsonian, our work is driven by scholarship, accuracy and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America's story,' he wrote in an email to his staff in July, obtained by NPR."
(. . .)
The institution's Board of Regents have yet to name an acting chief, but have announced the beginning of a national search for a new secretary."
https://www.npr.org/2026/09/08/nx-s1-5961323/smithsonian-chief-lonnie-bunch-resigns

2026-09-09 21:28:27 CEST

#chimpanzees #culture
"Why Do Male Chimpanzees Throw Rocks at the Same Trees for More Than a Decade?
Accumulative stone throwing is a rare, potentially cultural, behavior that has been observed among four groups of wild chimpanzees in West Africa
Walking through the savanna-woodland landscape of Boé National Park, Guinea-Bissau, you might encounter a tree covered in gnarled scars, with an accumulation of rocks surrounding its base.
The chimpanzees may have left the area, but you are lucky nonetheless, because you have stumbled upon evidence of a rare—and potentially cultural—chimpanzee behavior: accumulative stone throwing.
Video recordings show wild western chimpanzees, usually adult males, throwing rocks at specific trees and repeatedly returning to these trees to perform the behavior.
While throwing, the chimpanzees pant hoot—a loud, long-distance communicative signal—and sometimes repeatedly hit their hands and feet on the tree in a behavior called buttress drumming.
(. . .)
Given our evolutionary relatedness to chimpanzees, we hope accumulative stone throwing can help us understand the emergence of complex communication and stone tool use over the course of human evolution.
A Cultural Behavior
Pant hooting and buttress drumming are both part of the male chimpanzee display, suggesting that accumulative stone throwing might represent a modification of this common behavior. It is likely a cultural behavior due to its limited distribution, and because the availability of rocks and trees does not guarantee the presence of an accumulative stone throwing site."
https://nautil.us/why-do-male-chimpanzees-throw-rocks-at-the-same-trees-for-more-than-a-decade-1284704

2026-09-09 21:22:40 CEST

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The universe doesn't exist. It happens. We humans, as a subset of the universe, don't exist either. We happen right along with it.

2026-09-09 21:22:15 CEST

#physics #time
"Is Time Even Real? Does It Even Flow?
You might consider time to be such a fundamental feature of our existence that there really is nothing profound or meaningful that we can say about it. Maybe time, like space, simply is. Many have even argued time out of existence altogether. For example, if we were to split it up into three components: the past, the present and the future, then we can examine each in turn.
Those who deny the reality of time will say something like this: The past has happened and is gone; all we have left of it is the record of past events (in our memories, or in books, photographs, or on film), all of which can only ever form a part of the present moment (when we access those records). But the events themselves no longer exist. In contrast, all there is of the future is our predictions, hopes, and beliefs about what might happen, which are again states of our minds in the present. Regardless of whether the future is predetermined or not, it has yet to exist.
That leaves the present moment itself; surely 'now' is real. But although we 'feel that our now is a solid, changing moment steadily sweeping through time, converting the future into the past, it is nonetheless just an instant and as such does not have any duration. The physical definition of 'now' is not a minute long or a second long, the time deniers will argue; it is the edge of the shadow between light and dark, between what is to happen and what has happened. It has no thickness. The constantly changing present moment is no more than a dividing line between past and future and so does not have a tangible existence of its own."
https://lithub.com/is-time-even-real-does-it-even-flow/

2026-09-09 21:21:48 CEST

#meditation
"The dark side of mindfulness
A prominent psychologist and meditation teacher set out to research the benefits of the practice. What she found alarmed her.
(. . .)
Britton, a meditation teacher, was so devoted to the practice that she saw herself as a 'double agent,' someone who uses science to promote meditation. Although she had grown up in a nonpracticing Episcopalian home, she’d become deeply invested in Buddhist teachings. She read meditation books in her spare time and at one point considered becoming a Buddhist nun. She was confident that meditation improved most things, including sleep; it had already improved much about her own life.
For her study, Britton split 26 participants into two groups: one that would go through an eight-week-long meditation class, and one that would serve as a control group. She brought them all into a lab to sleep overnight while sensors measured their brain waves, muscle activity, and eye movements.
But when she reviewed the results, she was dismayed to find they were the opposite of what she had predicted. The participants in the meditation group slept more fitfully, with more frequent awakenings, than those who didn’t meditate. They spent more time in 'Stage 1,' the lightest sleep phase, from which people are easily roused. 'Graph after graph after graph, no matter how you looked at it—number of awakenings, number of micro arousals, number of Stage 1 minutes,' Britton told me, the amount of meditation that the subjects practiced was directly correlated with worse sleep quality."
https://archive.ph/62weL#selection-801.0-813.591

2026-09-09 21:21:18 CEST

#eugenics #ClassPrivelege
"Optimized Offspring
Embryonic gene editing tightens the feedback loop between cultural and biological evolution. The species-level effects remain unclear, but some families are already buying a potential genetic advantage that others can’t.
(. . .)
By the time my daughter was born, a newer kind of genetic screening service had reached the market: polygenic embryo screening, which ranks embryos developed using in vitro fertilization (IVF) by adding up thousands of tiny genetic variants to estimate the risk of disease or the likelihood of traits in ways that were not available before. The first company to commercialize the service was Genomic Prediction through its LifeView test in 2019. Sam Altman was an early investor. Nucleus Genomics is another company doing similar work.
These companies’ marketing suggests that, for a price, you can design and optimize your child before embryonic implantation. The company Orchid Health charges $2,500 to screen each embryo. That’s on top of one IVF cycle, which starts at around $15,000. Nucleus bundles embryo screening and IVF into a plan with a four-month minimum, costing about $40,000. The Nucleus website advertises its services as 'Modern IVF to give your baby the best start.' The company’s tests screen parents for thousands of genetic disorders and traits they could pass to their children, and scan embryos for diseases and other characteristics. An image of its web app shows a report card on a mobile phone titled Kids’ most likely traits.' The traits are listed like settings. Height: 5 feet 8 inches. Eye color: hazel. IQ: +2 points. BMI: below average. Muscle strength: average. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s ethics and practice committees concluded in December 2025 that polygenic embryo screening is unproven and should not be used clinically at this time. Nucleus’s FAQ says it is 'built on validated, peer-reviewed research' and already used in IVF clinics across the U.S. and globally."
https://www.noemamag.com/optimized-offspring/

2026-09-09 21:20:44 CEST

#fascists #Italy #Mafia #DrugTrade
"Mafia boss arrested for murder of neo-fascist Lazio Ultra leader
Seven Mafia members have been arrested in Rome, more than seven years after the murder of Lazio ultra boss Fabrizio Piscitelli.
They are suspected of having ordered and organized the murder of Piscitelli, also known as Diabolik, the Carabinieri announced in a statement on Wednesday.
(. . .)
The alleged gunman was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2026, but was acquitted by the Court of Appeal earlier this year.
The authorities suspect that a power struggle over the lucrative drug trade was the motive.
Piscitelli, who was involved in drug dealing alongside his role as leader of a neo-fascist 'ultra' group supporting the Roman football club Lazio, is said to have increasingly distanced himself from the directives of the dominant Senese clan.
Senese wanted to send a message with the murder and act as a deterrent to maintain his power."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/mafia-boss-arrested-murder-neo-121835163.html

2026-09-09 21:20:27 CEST

#AI
"Man told ChatGPT he was feeling delusional. ChatGPT insisted he was Jesus.
Man with bipolar disorder sued OpenAI after surviving ChatGPT-linked suicide attempt.
(. . .
Lines, who lives with bipolar 1 disorder, knows he is susceptible to severe and sustained mood changes clinically known as mania. A 34-year-old California man, Lines was diagnosed in 2024, about a decade after he was assaulted and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Lines told Ars that he’s not religious at all when he’s in a baseline state. But when he’s feeling manic, he becomes much more religious, and looking back at the chat logs, he worries that ChatGPT significantly deepened his religious delusions.
'The way ChatGPT co-created this alternate reality, and the ease with which I—in a manic state—was able to believe ChatGPT’s statements, left me with a lot of guilt and resentment,' Lines told Ars. 'Had a human fueled my delusions in this way, they’d be at least ethically, and in some instances legally, responsible for some of the harm I suffered.'
To address what he sees as a bad situation getting worse, he has asked a court to order OpenAI to implement a range of protections for ChatGPT users who may be vulnerable to mania or psychosis. Last fall, OpenAI estimated that about a million users experience those symptoms while using ChatGPT each week, and ChatGPT’s popularity has only grown since then, Lines’ lawsuit noted."
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/man-told-chatgpt-he-was-feeling-delusional-chatgpt-insisted-he-was-jesus/

2026-09-09 21:20:12 CEST

#AI
"Anthropic insiders warn AI could kill all humans
Three Anthropic researchers went public last night with chilling concerns about out-of-control AI, warning it could destroy humans this decade.
• Anthropic AI researcher Jacob Coxon wrote on X, after resigning Tuesday to sound the alarm: "The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt. If anything, many executives and senior researchers will couch their phrasing in the press to sound sensible - but I hear the same people express fear privately. No other human activity poses this level of danger.'
• Anthropic alignment-science lead Evan Hubinger responded: 'Jacob is correct here — we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade. I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to.'
• Samuel Marks, Anthropic scalable-oversight lead, added: 'AI developers believe their technology could cause human extinction (or similarly bad outcomes). This could happen in the next few years. In general, the more senior the employee, the more concerned they are.'
Why it matters: They're hardly alone. Their warnings came just days after top OpenAI leaders, including CEO Sam Altman, said AI is speeding into a scary, uncontrollable phase."
https://www.axios.com/2026/09/09/anthropic-insiders-warn-ai-could-kill-all-humans

2026-09-09 21:18:38 CEST

#DHS #surveillance #PredictivePolicing
"A Secretive DHS ‘Predictive Policing’ Unit is Analyzing Americans’ Financial Habits and Pulling Them Over
Border Patrol is running secretive predictive policing units that analyze Americans’ financial activity and other data, then feed that intelligence to local police who pull people over who are not suspected of any specific crime, but which the government thinks may be worth searching, 404 Media has found.
The units, the name of which 404 Media is revealing here for the first time, are called Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams (PITT). In one case, a PITT analyzed the financial activity of a man who was driving across Montana, and local authorities stopped him under the pretense of an obstructed license plate and charged him with a DUI.
404 Media identified one PITT in the Spokane Sector, Washington, which polices the U.S. border with Canada, and another in the Laredo Sector, Texas, which polices the border with Mexico. The findings add to an Associated Press investigation from last year which found Border Patrol was using automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) as part of the same wide-spanning predictive policing program.
(. . .)
Predictive policing is a highly controversial practice that police departments and federal agencies are increasingly turning to. The practice is designed to find people who may have committed crimes, but at the moment, no evidence of them doing so exists. Broadly, law enforcement may analyze data — such as a person's movements, where they are at a certain time, or the roads they drive — then create or find another pretense to pull them over."
https://archive.ph/ipPBd#selection-591.0-605.155

2026-09-09 21:18:17 CEST

Quote of the day.
"Unless we realize that the present market society, structured around the brutally competitive imperative of 'grow or die,' is a thoroughly impersonal, self-operating mechanism, we will falsely tend to blame other phenomena -- such as technology or population growth -- for growing environmental dislocations." -- Murray Bookchin

2026-09-09 01:48:40 CEST

#WaterIsLife
"YALE CLIMATE CONNECTIONS: The next water crisis is beneath our feet
As droughts intensify and groundwater warms, contaminants can move into underground aquifers – threatening drinking water and agriculture.
Extreme heat and widespread drought related to climate change have been in the headlines this summer everywhere from Europe to the Colorado River Basin to Puerto Rico and Bangladesh. But drought is only the beginning of the problem for drinking water. Scientists say the depleted groundwater supplies that remain will warm by 2.1 degrees C globally by the end of this century – changing their chemistry and leading to contamination.
And heat is just one concern. Droughts and fluctuating rainfall patterns are also altering groundwater quality. The good news is that around the world, local and regional authorities are experimenting with ways to replenish groundwater, including methods for collecting excess rainfall or surface runoff and channeling it to replenish aquifers. The work is in early stages, but some methods already are showing promise.
(. . .)
As groundwater warms, dissolved gases become less soluble, while organisms underground can consume oxygen more rapidly. Because many aquifers already contain little oxygen, modest warming could make them even more oxygen-poor.
In some aquifers, this shift can mobilize naturally occurring contaminants such as arsenic, manganese, and phosphorus from surrounding rocks into groundwater, making it less safe to drink. The extra phosphorus can fuel harmful algal blooms when groundwater eventually flows into rivers and lakes. Warmer groundwater may also favor pathogens linked to waterborne diseases."
https://mavensnotebook.com/2026/09/08/yale-climate-connections-the-next-water-crisis-is-beneath-our-feet/

2026-09-09 01:48:18 CEST

#ElonMusk #fascists
"Elon Musk Documentary Trailer Goes From ‘Real-Life Iron Man’ to ‘Fascist’
A new documentary about Elon Musk opens its first trailer with the kind of language that once helped turn the technology executive into a superhero figure. Within seconds, the praise gives way to a dramatically darker portrait.
The 49-second teaser for Musk includes voices describing its subject as 'possibly the greatest living inventor' and a 'real-life Iron Man.' By the end, another unidentified voice calls him a 'fascist,' while the trailer frames the film around the extraordinary amount of power Musk has accumulated.
Written and directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, the nearly four-hour documentary is set to have its world premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 8. Bleecker Street is handling its U.S. theatrical release.
(. . .)
PEOPLE reports that the finished documentary includes technology journalist Kara Swisher, author and podcaster Sam Harris and Musk's former wife Justine Musk. The Venice Film Festival also lists Ashley St. Clair, Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard, journalist Zoë Schiffer and computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton among the film's participants"
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/elon-musk-documentary-trailer-goes-144522877.html

2026-09-09 01:48:01 CEST

- reply

#TrumpRegime #SpaceForce #fascists
"Trump Brags About Space Force Uniforms’ Fascist Inspiration
(. . .)
“Just awful,” former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger wrote.
Menswear writer Derek Guy added: 'this is the kind of design costume designers make to tell you who are the bad guys in a space movie.'
Another user weighed in: 'If the costume designer on *Star Wars* had suggested this for the Empire uniforms George Lucas would have told them to dial back the Nazi.'
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast, nor did Space Force.
(. . .)
Elsewhere in Washington, Trump’s proposed arch in Arlington, Virginia, has also been criticized for resembling Nazi designs."
https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-brags-about-space-force-uniforms-fascist-inspiration/

2026-09-09 01:47:16 CEST

#TrumpRegime #SpaceForce #fascists
"Trump posts US Space Force uniforms based on movie’s Nazi-inspired outfits
‘Next generation’ gear inspired by Starship Troopers, whose director explicitly aimed to mimic Nazi propaganda
US President Donald Trump posted an image of dark 'next generation' US Space Force uniforms on Sunday that the text claims were 'inspired by the discipline and functionality of the Starship Trooper uniform' – a design the director of the 1997 film Starship Troopers said was directly meant to evoke Nazis."
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3366698/trump-posts-space-force-uniforms-derived-fascist-inspired-starship-troopers-outfits

2026-09-09 01:46:54 CEST

#hackers #hacking
"Unpatched Magento and Adobe Commerce Zero-Day Exploited to Backdoor Online Stores
Attackers are exploiting a new unpatched vulnerability in Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce that lets them run malicious code on an online store's server without logging in, Dutch e-commerce security company Sansec said in an advisory published on September 5.
Sansec, which discovered the flaw and named it StyleSmuggler, said attacks started on September 4. 'Sansec is publishing early because stores are being compromised right now,' the company said.
As of September 6, Adobe has not published an advisory, a CVE identifier, a patch, or a workaround, and its Adobe Commerce security bulletin index lists nothing after the August 11 update.
A successful attack gives the attacker code execution on the store's server and installs a persistent backdoor. Sansec said all current versions are affected, including 2.4.9, and that it reproduced the full unauthenticated chain on clean Magento Open Source installations of 2.4.7, 2.4.8, and 2.4.9."
https://thehackernews.com/2026/09/unpatched-magento-and-adobe-commerce.html

2026-09-09 01:46:25 CEST

#ACAB #Wales #UK
"Former police officer in court charged with raping woman while on duty
A former police officer has appeared in court charged with raping and strangling a woman while on duty.
Rikki Hall, 33, from Swansea and who worked as a constable for South Wales Police, attended Bristol Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
He was charged with two counts of rape and one of the intentional strangulation of a woman, causing her to have difficulty breathing in February 2024.
No formal pleas were entered during the hearing.
He also faces two charges of misconduct in public office, including one that alleged he engaged in sexual activity with a member of the public he had met while carrying out welfare and safeguarding checks.
Hall was also accused of arranging appointments with sex workers while on duty.
The sixth charge of possessing a firearm relates to him allegedly having Pava spray, similar to pepper spray, in his possession without permission, the court heard.
The charges follow an investigation by the police watchdog the IOPC who said Hall had resigned from the force during their investigation.
District Judge Lynne Matthews said the case would be sent to the Crown Court due to the seriousness of the alleged offences."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3v4kv767dyo

2026-09-09 01:45:56 CEST

#ClimateCrisis
"A ‘monster web’ of ocean currents is set to collapse. And the US is not prepared
Off the east coast of Greenland, scientists are studying the fate of the Atlantic Ocean circulation. Others are looking to prevent disaster
(. . .)
Known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), it plays a central role in controlling the Earth’s climate, transferring heat from the tropics to the north.
This system helps power the Gulf Stream and is credited with regulating Europe’s temperatures, as well as being a key player in global climate stability.
One of the drivers of global ocean circulation, including the AMOC, is the sinking of dense water masses near the poles.
(. . .)
But ocean warming and freshening of the subpolar seas near Greenland, caused by melting ice and increasing rainfalls, is making it harder for surface waters to sink.
As CO2 emissions continue to rise and climate change accelerates, scientists are more and more concerned that the AMOC is slowing down – and that it could weaken by up to 50 per cent by the end of the 21st century.
What’s worse, this vital current system might be nearing a tipping point. Beyond this point, a rapid decline could potentially lead to its collapse – and the effects could be widespread."
https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/atlantic-ocean-circulation-disaster

2026-09-09 01:45:31 CEST

#consciousness
"What if consciousness exists beyond the brain? Some researchers say this 'hard problem' requires a radical new approach, to modify it.
Whether consciousness arises entirely within the brain or involves processes beyond it has long been debated in scientific and philosophical circles. Historically, most academics have associated consciousness with neurons firing and communicating information; however, precisely how neural activity gives rise to subjective experience remains an open question.
Neuroscientist and consciousness researcher Christof Koch, a former faculty member at institutions including MIT and Caltech, challenges academics to take a closer look at what philosophers call the 'hard problem of consciousness: how the physical processes of the brain could produce subjective experiences in humans.
(. . .)
Looking at older philosophical models might lead researchers toward new understandings or modern ways of approaching consciousness. Koch points to concepts such as idealism and panpsychism.
Idealism holds that consciousness or mind is fundamental to reality—mind comes first, matter second—while panpsychism holds that consciousness is a fundamental feature of the universe.
If mainstream science adopted such a shift, it could profoundly change how we understand ourselves. A paradigm shift of sorts may be coming for humanity, potentially through the integration of these ideas and a move away from strictly materialistic approaches to consciousness.
Koch points to these concepts as potential frameworks in which consciousness remains a fundamental aspect of reality. He also supports the controversial Integrated Information Theory (IIT), which proposes that systems possessing sufficiently integrated information may have some form of subjective experience."
https://thedebrief.org/what-if-consciousness-exists-beyond-the-brain-some-researchers-say-this-hard-problem-requires-a-radical-new-approach/

2026-09-09 01:45:08 CEST

#SlimeMold #NIHfunding #conscienceness
"‘This is dangerous’: slime moulds and the bitter debate over the nature of intelligence
Scientists are battling over whether supposedly simple organisms should be considered ‘intelligent’. The outcome could reshape our understanding of the natural world – and our own place within it
Later still, in 2018, Glanzman gave mild electric shocks to a group of sea slugs, getting them so used to the experience that they stopped withdrawing their gills in alarm. From these slugs, he extracted RNA – tiny cellular molecules that help produce new proteins – and injected it into untrained slugs. A day later, the untrained slugs showed the same lack of alarm to their first electric shocks, as though the memory of the experience had been transferred along with the RNA. But in suggesting that RNA, and not the synapse, was the key to memory, it was as though he had broken some taboo about the nature of cognition. 'That paper destroyed my ability to get NIH [National Institutes of Health] funding, because people just didn’t buy it. They wouldn’t even discuss my applications. Ultimately, I had to let go of most of the people in my lab.'
(. . .)
For more than a century, scientists were sure that cognition and intelligence required neurons, the cells that make up brains and nervous systems. These neurons form and reform connections between themselves to create pathways for thought and memory. This understanding of intelligence was an implicit argument that animals occupy a special place within the living kingdom – separate to plants and microbes – and that humans are most special of all.
But since the 1980s, more and more scientists have argued that traits such as cognition are intrinsic not just to animals but to all life – a stance that Pamela Lyon, a philosopher at Adelaide University, calls 'biogenic'. Some scientists have claimed that plants connect to each other underground through networks of fungi (nicknamed the 'wood wide web'), which allow them to communicate, 'recognise' each other, and even share resources as a form of vegetal mutual aid. Others have suggested that any individual cell, even a bacterium, can make memories. And that slime moulds are intelligent.
To those of the old consensus – the neuropurists, as I came to think of them – these claims are sacrilege. Lincoln Taiz, a veteran plant physiologist, has dismissed biogenic theorists as having 'brain envy'. In 2007, a few dozen neuropurists signed a declaration in a scientific journal arguing that plants weren’t intelligent and that 'plant neurobiology” was nothing more than a pretty catchphrase. One signatory called the letter “the last serious confrontation between the scientific community and the nuthouse on these issues'.
The battle is fraught, sometimes dirty. Michael Levin, a Tufts University professor who is perhaps the most polarising figure among the biogenic group, believes that every individual cell is intelligent and cognitive in its own way; for this, he told me he regularly receives hate mail. (One letter called him 'dangerously insane'.) Anthony Trewavas, a biologist in Levin’s camp, wrote that the 2007 declaration was framed “as though plant biology would collapse if people did not sign up”. It wasn’t so much a reckoning with the biogenic stance, he complained, as 'an attempt to strangle it at birth'. When, in 2021, Lyon co-edited a special issue on cognition for the Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions, 'one of the reviewers told us, in effect: ‘This is the greatest thing since sliced bread’; another said: ‘This looks interesting, but I’ve got my qualms about this, this and this’; and the third said: ‘This is dangerous. You must not dignify this idea in a journal of this stature.’"
https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/sep/08/this-is-dangerous-slime-moulds-and-the-bitter-debate-over-the-nature-of-intelligence

2026-09-09 01:44:09 CEST

#WWDD
Dolly sang Cole Porter's *original*, unbowlderized lyrics, i.e., 'cocaine" not 'champagne'.
"I Get a Kick out of You - Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton transforms Cole Porter's standard into a brisk bluegrass tune driven by spirited acoustic picking. Backed by Jim Mills on banjo, Chris Thile on mandolin, and Alison Krauss on harmony vocals, the track reframes a Great American Songbook staple with traditional mountain energy.
Featured on her album Little Sparrow, the recording highlights Parton's effortless vocal phrasing alongside a formidable acoustic ensemble. Stuart Duncan's fiddle work and Jerry Douglas's resonator guitar complete an upbeat, roots-driven interpretation of the witty classic."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQCRtY7HrrY

2026-09-09 01:43:46 CEST

#datacenters #WaterIsLife
"US datacenters face further backlash over wastewater pollution
From rare bacteria to ‘forever chemicals’, a series of cases of violations or alleged pollution has prompted alarm
When officials in Wyoming conducted a routine test on the water that was being discharged from a massive under-construction Meta datacenter, it was a shock to find it contained a rare and potentially hazardous bacterium.
While the wastewater flushed into sewers in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was never destined for the public drinking supply, the presence of Cupriavidus gilardii bacterium in 801,000 gallons of water ejected by a contractor for the datacenter earlier this year was still unnerving.
Concerned that residents could be exposed to the bacteria if they inhaled evaporating droplets of the water used for irrigation, Cheyenne officials took until July before deciding to stop taking wastewater from Meta’s contractor, Goat Systems – a decision that is now being appealed.
(. . .)
Meta, which is behind the $800m, 960-acre artificial intelligence (AI) datacenter campus, said independent testing by its contractor found no evidence of the bacterium and questioned the validity of the city’s own tests.
(. . .)
However, the bacteria-laden water in Wyoming is just the latest in a series of alarms raised across the US about datacenters and water – not just how much of it they are sucking up, but also what’s in the water when it is funneled back into rivers, streams and public water systems."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/08/us-datacenters-wastewater-pollution

2026-09-09 01:43:19 CEST

#OccupiedPalestine
"U.K. accuses Israeli settlers of 'ethnic cleansing' in West Bank and bans their goods
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced a ban on imports of goods produced in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday. He called Israeli settlers 'terrorists' and accused them of carrying out 'ethnic cleansing' against Palestinians, in a strong escalation of British rhetoric.
The measures are intended to put pressure on Israel over settlement expansion, which the U.K. says is undermining prospects for establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel, known as the two-state solution to the conflict.
In a joint statement Canada and France announced similar bans on goods from Israeli settlements, with France also pushing for a European Union-wide ban.
They added their names to Ireland, Spain, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands who have already taken steps to restrict trade in settlement goods, or are in the process of doing so.
(. . .)
Israel has warned it will respond. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar has threatened consequences, while far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the British ambassador to Israel to be expelled.
Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has also called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to 'close the British consulate in East Jerusalem', accusing it of operating 'openly on behalf of the Palestinian Authority' and calling for a "resolute response" to what he described as British 'audacity.'"
https://www.npr.org/2026/09/08/nx-s1-5961044/uk-occcupied-west-bank-goods-israel

2026-09-09 01:42:41 CEST

Quote of the day.
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason’s and Dixon’s but between patriotism and intelligence on one side and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” -- Ulysses S. Grant, from his speech at the annual reunion of the Society Of The Army Of The Tennessee at Des Moines, 29 September, 1875.

2026-09-07 01:55:47 CEST

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I've never tried it. I have chronic back pain and suffered a stroke a few years ago. My balance has been wonky ever since. I used to have excellent balance. I rode a motorcycle in traffic for decades and never got killed, not even once. Now I can walk, but I can't ride. I'd die. on my first turn. If I stand still, you can't tell I'm disabled. When I walk, it's obvious. Elegant my stride is not.
So I'm wondering, would Salvia help me any? If so, where can I acquire some (legally, of course.?

2026-09-06 21:20:56 CEST

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Posting an image without an alt text is like posting a link to a paywalled site without also posting a work around. It's exclusionary. Do we really want the Fediverse to be exclusionary?

2026-09-05 22:24:40 CEST

#extinction
"9 Animals Science Says Are Extinct That Keep Being Caught on Camera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcVU0l1xXrA

2026-09-05 22:24:23 CEST

#BurningMan
"Jesus camp booted from Burning Man in wild culture clash as group accused of breaking festival rules: ‘Wicked and sad’
Burning Man festival is under way in Black Rock, Nevada, and while the 10-day festival’s theme promotes human connection, some humans — Christians, in fact — have clearly not been welcomed.
John Hinerman and his Christian group Shift the Atmosphere headed to the festival to spread the word of Jesus, though he posted in an Instagram video on Wednesday that his group had been asked to leave.
'Burning Man is discriminating us and breaking their own rules of being ‘radically inclusive’ and KICKING us out for being Christians?!' Hinerman said in the caption of his post.
(. . .)
Hinerman added that he, 'has a feeling God is about to move and do something huge,' and that they only gave the group three hours to pack up their camp, which took a whole week to set up.
He added that the festival claimed their ejection was due to his group filming people without their consent, but he claimed those were 'lies' made up by the festival.
'What’s crazy to me is there’s young kids – which is wicked and sad that parents would bring their kids to these – but grown men will have their penises out and women are walking around naked without consent,' he said.
'These children didn’t give you consent to be walking around with your penises out in front of all these kids. It’s so wicked and sad.'
He concluded that post by stating, 'Burning Man knows they’re wrong. God will have the last say.'
(. . .)
Hinerman and Shift the Atmosphere appear to be moving on from the ordeal, with his latest post on Thursday revealing that they were continuing on their 'mission to save souls' to Reno, Nevada."
https://nypost.com/2026/09/04/us-news/christian-missionaries-booted-from-burning-man-in-wild-culture-clash-as-group-accused-of-breaking-festival-rules-wicked-and-sad/

2026-09-05 22:23:54 CEST

#biology
"Leading Theory For How Life on Earth Began Is 'Highly Unlikely', Says Contentious New Paper
(. . .)
Just this year, a review concluded that deep-sea hydrothermal vents and their potential role in the origin of life remain 'a consistent hypothesis in the race to understand how living cells arose from the extreme conditions of our young planet.'
Tutolo agrees that the hypothesis has remained consistent through the years. But he argues it is now inconsistent with current evidence.
Today, we know that these deep-sea vents are not as alkaline as we once thought, nor as sulfur-rich.
We also know more about what Earth's oceans looked like almost four billion years ago, when life first appeared.
'Outdated assumptions about the chemistry of the ancient oceans seem to have played a role,' he explained to ScienceAlert."
https://www.sciencealert.com/leading-theory-for-how-life-on-earth-began-is-highly-unlikely-says-contentious-new-paper

2026-09-05 22:23:36 CEST

#Hegseth #Nazis #history #FreedomOfThePress
"No Tab Pete Punches Down: Hitler’s 1942 Pivot as Hegseth’s Domestic Agenda
(. . .)
The 'myth' of Rommel is a perfect example. Montgomery broke him by November 1942 and he was flown out of Tunisia in March 1943 with Torch closing from the west. The arrogant, impatient Nazi general was outsmarted and outclassed, losing badly. For two more years he was used a propaganda asset, until the regime demanded he commit suicide and staged his state funeral as killed by enemy wounds.
What followed for three and a half years was a regime that could no longer win a battle against an army, so it instead punched down like a bully who fixated on people who could not fight back. Sound familiar?
Europe-wide extermination was on the table by December 9, 1931, when the Münchener Post printed the Nazi party’s leaked plan for the Jews and its own word for the end state, Endlösung. The Nazis answered by destroying the paper and sending its reporters to Dachau. Historians who date the 'decision' to autumn 1941, at the peak of 'perceived victory' propaganda, are dating the moment the regime believed it could carry out what it had already published.
(. . .)
On August 21 Hegseth’s Pentagon fired the editor of Stars and Stripes for insubordination after he called censorship a red line, four months after removing the ombudsman Congress installed to keep brass out of the newsroom. The paper that prints the plan gets shut first. Shocking but true fact, I have found zero Germans today who say they have heard of Münchener Post, or why Hitler called it a poison kitchen (Giftküche) and sent the publishers to concentration camps.
Pete’s purged Pentagon has performed the first two Nazi platform procedures in Iran: no fire discipline, 'max lethality', and a depleted magazine.
The third procedure is on the domestic side, and it was prepared before the Iran war. It was clearly Nazi doctrine as well, in preparation for the punching down that comes next.
In 2025 the administration sent 7,000 troops into American cities over the objections of their governors, put active duty Marines into Los Angeles during the immigration crackdown, and told the generals at Quantico that American cities were the training ground.
(. . .)
The obvious hurdle is the November election. Trump said on May 12 he would not rule out troops at polling places. Hegseth, asked in April whether he would follow an order to seize ballots, called the question a 'gotcha hypothetical'.
It’s not a hard question, yet no tab Pete struggled to answer. Federal law since 1865 bars armed federal forces at the polls except to repel armed enemies of the United States, an exception no president invoked even during two world wars."
https://www.flyingpenguin.com/no-tab-pete-punches-down-hitlers-1942-pivot-and-hegseths-domestic-agenda/

2026-09-05 22:23:04 CEST

#SolarStorm #GPS #space
"A Solar Superstorm Caused a GPS Glitch Bad Enough to Crash Self-Driving Cars
The massive eruption threw GPS readings off by more than 33 feet (10 meters).
On November 11, 2025, the Sun unleashed a series of solar flares that struck Earth, triggering a severe geomagnetic storm that peaked for around six hours. The event triggered beautiful auroras across the skies, but it also wreaked havoc on crucial technology we rely on for our daily lives.
In a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a team of scientists measured the disruption to global navigation systems caused by the geomagnetic storm. The results revealed significant positioning errors, large enough to mess with precision agriculture and autonomous vehicles across the U.S."
https://gizmodo.com/a-solar-superstorm-caused-a-gps-glitch-bad-enough-to-crash-self-driving-cars-2000806428

2026-09-05 22:22:50 CEST

#Bangladesh #Rohingya
"Rohingya crisis has become more intense: Shama
State minister-2 for ministry of foreign affairs Shama Obaed Islam said on Saturday that the Rohingya crisis, which has persisted for years, has become increasingly intense, and it would become difficult to tackle without international pressure.
‘There will be a separate session on the Rohingya issue this time as well and the prime minister will join it,’ she said at a programme titled ‘Upcoming UNGA and Branding of Bangladesh’, organised by the Center for Non-Resident Bangladeshis at a city hotel.
Shama said the Rohingya crisis is entering its 10th year and has become a major challenge for Bangladesh.
‘It is not Bangladesh’s problem and was not created by our country,’ she said. She added that they have discussed and are discussing the Rohingya issue extensively, but this crisis has become more intense.
Describing the complexity of the crisis, the state minister-2 said the situation on the other side of the border has become increasingly complicated, with the Myanmar government and the Arakan Army divided into different factions, while several countries have stakes in the region."
https://www.newagebd.net/post/country/312542/rohingya-crisis-has-become-more-intense-shama

2026-09-05 22:22:33 CEST

#Ukaine
"'15 years in prison – just because he opposes the war': voices from Germany call for the release of Bogdan Syrotiuk
On Sunday, 6 September, at 3 p.m., the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) will hold a rally at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin demanding the immediate release of 27-year-old Ukrainian socialist and antiwar campaigner Bogdan Syrotiuk.
On 10 August 2026, he was convicted for 'high treason.' The sole 'evidence' presented against him consisted of articles he wrote for the World Socialist Web Site opposing war and nationalism and exposing the crimes of Nazi collaborators in Ukraine.
A wave of protest against the verdict is building around the world. In recent weeks, members and supporters of the SGP have distributed leaflets, put up posters and held discussions across Germany to publicise the campaign for Bogdan’s release.
In Berlin, the case is a central issue in the SGP’s campaign for the Berlin state elections. The party links the fight for Bogdan’s release to building a socialist movement against the German government’s war policy."
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/09/05/vvoc-s05.html

2026-09-05 22:22:15 CEST

#ClimateCrisis #FoodSupply
"El Nino, regional wars fuel global food crisis
Global food prices are climbing as the effects of climate change and conflict collide. Supply disruptions caused by wars in Ukraine and Iran are combining with the threat of a severe El Nino weather pattern.
The UN's food price index has climbed to its highest level in nearly four years, raising concerns that a potential super El Nino weather pattern could further strain global food markets.
Climate security expert Erin Sikorsky told DW the threat comes not from El Nino alone, but from its impact on an already stressed system facing climate shocks, conflicts, trade disruptions and supply chain bottlenecks. The discussion explores which regions are most vulnerable, why food prices can rise despite record harvests, and what governments can do to reduce the risk of a wider food crisis."
https://www.dw.com/en/el-nino-regional-wars-fuel-global-food-crisis/video-79046282

2026-09-05 22:21:59 CEST

#ClimateCrisis
"The climate crisis is upon us – so why are deniers still getting airtime?
Most people accept the overwhelming scientific consensus that links climate change with the devastating extreme weather we’ve experienced this summer, writes Alan Rusbridger. But the sceptics are still making their voices heard – and are being helped by journalists who should know better
(. . .)
Forget my own minor misadventure, and look at the response to the recent catastrophic floods in Nepal. Most people seemed to accept that climate change might well have been a factor in the massive glacier collapse that caused the water levels on the Trishuli River to rise by as much as 27 feet in just half an hour.
Equally, there was a diehard bunch of culture warriors on standby to mock and denigrate anyone making the causal connection. Landslides and avalanches have – so the argument goes – happened in the Himalayas for millions of years. The climate alarmists are spouting bullshit. (This is a moderate paraphrase of the truly angry stuff that’s been generated in the past few days if you go looking for it.)
Same story with the warmest summer on record. Most people accept the overwhelming scientific consensus that links climate change with this century’s five warmest summers since records began. But, gosh, that drives the deniers and sceptics quite crazy."
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/climate-crisis-wildfires-temperature-b3044765.html

2026-09-05 22:21:30 CEST

Quote of the day.
"Things that are not are indeed mightier than things that are." -- Eric Hoffer

2026-09-04 02:35:23 CEST

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It's hard to believe there will even *be* 2028 election.

2026-09-04 02:00:08 CEST

#ClimateCrisis
"The Best-Case Scenario for Climate Change Just Got a Whole Lot Worse
Global temperature rise is set to cross the threshold set by the Paris Agreement within the next few years, according to a UN report.
It’s been over a decade since countries signed the Paris Agreement, an international treaty aimed at limiting global warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius). At the time, staying below this threshold was considered an ambitious but achievable goal. Now, it’s no longer a question of if we will overshoot it, but when.
According to a report from the United Nations’ Environmental Programme (UNEP) released Wednesday, global temperature rise is set to surpass 2.7 degrees F (1.5 degrees C) within the next few years. In the new best-case scenario, Earth’s average temperature would peak at 3.2 degrees F (1.8 degrees C) above pre-industrial levels. Beyond that point, getting global temperatures back below the Paris Agreement threshold during the 21st century becomes increasingly unlikely.
'There are no good outcomes above 1.5 degrees C, the report states. Extreme weather, glacier melt, ecosystem loss and sea-level rise will intensify. Some Small Island Developing States and low-lying coastal cities could be partially or completely submerged. Risks of tipping points will grow. Human health, food and water security, cities and infrastructure will come under increasing strain. These impacts will not be distributed equally, and some losses will be irreversible even if global temperatures eventually decline.'"
https://gizmodo.com/the-best-case-scenario-for-climate-change-just-got-a-whole-lot-worse-2000806334

2026-09-04 01:59:49 CEST

#ClimateCrisis
"Invasive tropical mosquito found breeding in east London
Climate crisis could increase incursions of Aedes aegypti, which can transmit Zika virus and dengue, experts say
An invasive mosquito capable of transmitting tropical diseases has been found breeding in homes in east London, with experts warning that the rapidly warming climate will lead to greater “incursions of invasive mosquitoes”.
This is the first time the species has been identified breeding in the UK and the fourth time it has been detected.
Aedes aegypti, which are normally found in tropical and subtropical regions, can transmit dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus in countries where these infections are circulating. While these diseases are rarely deadly, they can cause complications, with Zika linked to serious problems during and after pregnancy.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the risk to the public was low, with no evidence that the mosquitoes in east London have have caused human infections."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/03/invasive-tropical-mosquito-breeding-london

2026-09-04 01:59:19 CEST

#ClimateCrisis
"Climate change past the point of no return, UN says, as worst impacts are now unavoidable
Global warming guaranteed to exceed 1.5 C limit and stay that way for 'many, many decades'
In a strategic retreat in the fight against climate change, the United Nations has acknowledged that Earth has lost its chance to prevent some of the worst of global warming's harms. Officials say the world must now figure out how to get temperatures below the danger zone and back to safety.
The planet will soon exceed the safe temperature threshold agreed upon in the 2015 Paris climate accord because of warming from the burning of coal, oil and gas, according to a bleak first-of-its-kind report issued by the United Nations Environment Program on Wednesday.
Instead of giving up, scientists and UN officials recommend trying to limit excessive warming and then bring the temperature back down to the agreed-upon threshold. But it still will mean decades of increased weather-related disasters, rising seas, extinctions and melting ice and glaciers.
(. . .)
'Some locations might become more or less uninsurable or even uninhabitable,' the report said."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/unep-climate-paris-global-warming-9.7329305

2026-09-04 01:58:17 CEST

#ClimateCrisis #FoodSafety
"How climate change could impact food safety
Climate change isn’t just fueling stronger storms and longer droughts — it’s also making the food on your plate riskier, as Popular Mechanics’ Darren Orf reports. A new review from researchers at Ethiopia’s Public Health Institute and Dambi Dollo University, published in the study in One Health Outlook, found that rising temperatures, shifting rainfall, and extreme weather are accelerating the spread of foodborne pathogens worldwide.
Warmer conditions favor bacteria like Salmonella and Campylobacter, while added humidity fuels mold growth that produces toxic mycotoxins in grains and nuts. Flooding washes pesticide and chemical runoff into food and water supplies, and drought elsewhere shrinks crop yields.
The researchers say food safety surveillance needs to catch up — folding climate data into disease-tracking systems and building climate-resilient food safety strategies. With the FDA already stretched thin, they argue, closing that gap will take sustained global cooperation."
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/09/03/how-climate-change-could-impact-food-safety/

2026-09-04 01:57:49 CEST

#FaithHealing #Idaho #ChildAbuse #superstition
"Deadly ‘faith healing’ exemption: Idaho remains the only state shielding parents from prosecution for replacing medical care with prayer or spirits—even if their child dies
'Every parent of any child who willfully omits, without lawful excuse, to furnish necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical attendance for such child, is guilty of a misdemeanor,' reads the 1887 edition of Idaho territory statutes, published before statehood.
The statutes included no mention of spiritual belief as a 'lawful excuse.' Three years later, the state constitution explicitly put limits on Idaho’s freedom of religion. It would not excuse 'acts of licentiousness,' polygamy or other practices 'inconsistent with morality or the peace or safety of the state.'
It wasn’t long before the law came down on members of the Followers of Christ, a faith-healing sect that arrived in Idaho in 1899 and remains active in the state. From 2015 to 2025, the sect’s congregations in Idaho experienced 15 preventable deaths of children, according to ProPublica’s reporting."
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/09/02/deadly-faith-healing-exemption-idaho-remains-the-only-state-shielding-parents-from-prosecution-for-replacing-medical-care-with-prayer-or-spirits-even-if-their-child-dies/

2026-09-04 01:57:25 CEST

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#India #fascists #RSS
"Inside the RSS: The far-right fascists who are remaking India
As outrage grows over the planned U.K. visit of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, many are asking who exactly are the RSS? From its origins opposing Muslim independence movements in colonial British India to its role in the systematic persecution of Muslims today, 5Pillars traces the history of one of the world’s most powerful and dangerous far-right organisations.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is a far-right Hindu nationalist paramilitary organisation widely accused by humanitarian and religious freedom organisations of persecuting Muslims and other non-Hindu minorities in India.
It is also considered one of the largest far-right networks in history.
The leader of the RSS, Chief Mohan Bhagwat, is set to visit the U.K. this week after hosting a public event at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.
A London-based advocacy organisation has already submitted a formal dossier to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on August 25, calling for Bhagwat to be excluded from Britain on the grounds that his presence is not conducive to the public good."
https://5pillarsuk.com/2026/09/02/inside-the-rss-the-far-right-fascists-who-are-remaking-india/

2026-09-04 01:56:53 CEST

#India #Hindutva #fascism
"Fascism-Forward: Into the shadows with Hindu Nationalism
During the past hundred years, Hindu nationalists have amassed what is arguably the largest Right-ward apparatus to inflict the idea and architecture of an ultranationalist, majoritarian state on India.
Routed through society and culture, kinship, difference, revisionist history, ideology, morality, political economy and national identity, Hindu nationalism has built a massive cadre via the approbation of caste, religionisation, securitisation of borders and minoritisation.
Manoeuvring social control through marginalisation, mobilisation and exclusion, the onset of majoritarianism in the decades when Hindu nationalists were not in elected office was bolstered by political conflict and iniquitous governance. This led to the eventual consolidation of state power by the Hindu Right in 2014, officiated by Narendra Modi.
Hindu nationalism’s history predates South Asia’s decolonisation from British rule and India’s inception as a nation-state in 1947. In 1915, the Akhil Bharatiya (All India) Hindu Mahasabha (great assembly) was formed to integrate Hindus differentiated by place, history, language and culture, and generate antipathy to the Muslim League, as well as the Indian National Congress.
The conceptual, doctrinal and devotional premise of Hindu nationalism was to configure 'Hinduness,' or Hindutva (Hindu Tatva or principles), defined in 1923 by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a founding figure of the Hindu Mahasabha. In a pamphlet entitled 'Hindutva,' Savarkar stated: 'Hindutva is not a word but a history'.
To administer Hinduness, an array of organisations emerged in the past hundred years, known as the Sangh Parivar, that comprise the Hindu nationalist 'family'. By the 1940s, the Sangh Parivar exploded across what became 'India,' operationalising centres and community induction via its ideology and practices, including in conflict areas such as Assam and in the neo/colonial administration of Kashmir.
https://mronline.org/2026/09/03/fascism-forward-into-the-shadows-with-hindu-nationalism/

2026-09-04 01:54:36 CEST

#Hegseth #CultureWar
"Hegseth’s culture war fixation disrupting Army progress, sources say
In submitting his resignation, a source familiar said Driscoll brought up 'concerns with the administration surrounding Army transformation and readiness and Hegseth’s blocking those efforts specifically by firing the generals who were responsible.'
(. . .)
Multiple sources agreed with the concerns Driscoll raised: that Hegseth is damaging the Army’s efforts to modernize and adapt to the 21st century battlefield environment – where drone warfare is becoming increasingly important – by firing or pushing out leaders who were spearheading those efforts.
'It’s critical that you have key leaders that understand technology and have the temperament to deal with industry and turn that into the formation,' a former senior Army official said. 'When you fire these guys for arbitrary reasons, it creates confusion and a void … the Army is enduring turbulence right now.'
Senior US military officials have privately acknowledged they have come under what could be characterized as political pressure during Hegseth’s tenure — particularly when he has prioritized culture war issues — and voiced concerns about the secretary’s recent efforts to fire or push out uniformed and civilian leaders.
A defense official in Europe told CNN that even though Hegseth has spoken about technology reform and even previously released guidance on unmanned systems, in practice they see a secretary and Pentagon leadership more focused on cultural issues than modernization."
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/02/politics/hegseths-army-leadership-void-culture-war

2026-09-04 01:54:13 CEST

#OccupiedPalestine
"Qusra Under Siege
Another Palestinian village in the West Bank has been attacked by Israeli settlers. The lack of response by the army and police reveals how deeply corrupted they are by the colonialist agenda.
If you’d like to know who is sovereign in the State of Israel today, consider the fate of the village of Qusra in the central West Bank, close to Nablus. On August 9 dozens of crazed Israeli settlers began a siege of three Palestinian houses at the edge of the village, homes to the families of Yusuf Hasan, Riziq Hasan, and Qusay Abu Riddy. The settlers blocked all access roads and paths, invaded the courtyards of the houses, stoned doors and windows, cut the electricity lines and the water pipes, and prevented any supplies from entering. Inside the houses, food reserves were dwindling fast and there was very little water. Temperatures in August are over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit in Qusra. The death of the family members by thirst and starvation was definitely a possibility. One of the children was in acute need of medical care, but the settlers delayed the Palestinian ambulance coming to take her to the hospital.
All this is routine in the Palestinian West Bank. Equally routine is the response of the Israeli army and police. Soldiers arrived on August 10, fraternized with the settlers, prayed with them, and declared the area a Closed Military Zone. In theory a CMZ is supposed to exclude anyone who is not actually a resident, but the rules of CMZs never apply to settlers. They did apply to the Israeli activists who were trying to get through to the besieged families with food and water; first the settlers, then the soldiers, or both together, turned them back."
https://archive.ph/Fn7L9

2026-09-04 01:53:48 CEST

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#psychedelics
"A unique psychedelic shows promise for pain and stroke
An unusual psychedelic compound found in the plant Salvia divinorum has shown potentially useful effects against pain, addiction, and stroke in animal experiments, although side effects remain a major barrier. The systematic review was published in the journal *Translational Psychiatry* and found much less consistent evidence for treating depression. The compound, salvinorin A, differs markedly from substances such as psilocybin and LSD. Those better-known psychedelics primarily affect the brain’s serotonin signaling (how the brain uses the chemical messenger serotonin to regulate mood and perception). In contrast, salvinorin A acts mainly through a different system known as the kappa opioid receptor, which is a specific protein in the brain involved in pain, mood, and consciousness.
This distinction has attracted researchers interested in developing treatments that work through pathways not targeted by classical psychedelics. Laboratory experiments have investigated salvinorin A in conditions ranging from pain and drug addiction to depression and reduced blood flow to the brain (such as during a stroke). Yet the evidence was scattered across different species, doses, and experimental models. Human therapeutic trials—testing the drug in human patients—are scarce, making it difficult to determine whether promising animal findings justify further clinical development."
https://www.psypost.org/a-unique-psychedelic-shows-promise-for-pain-and-stroke/

2026-09-04 01:53:25 CEST

#psychedelics
"Psilocybin reverses depressive behaviors and restores brain cell growth in stressed rats
Two doses of the psychedelic compound psilocybin can reverse signs of depression and anxiety in rats exposed to chronic stress. The substance appears to work by encouraging the growth of new brain cells and normalizing stress hormone levels. The research was published in Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry.
Major depressive disorder affects millions of people worldwide. Its core symptoms include persistent low mood, severe anxiety, and an inability to feel pleasure. The condition is associated with a loss of synaptic connections in areas of the brain responsible for regulating emotions. Current medications, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, do not work for every patient and often take weeks to show any benefit.
Researchers are increasingly looking toward psychedelic substances as alternative therapies. Psilocybin is the active compound found in 'magic mushrooms' and has shown promise in treating depression in human trials. Scientists are trying to figure out exactly how the chemical alters the brain to produce these lasting benefits.
Prolonged psychological stress can physically alter the brain by reducing the formation of new connections between neurons. Chronic stress also hyperactivates the body’s natural response to threats, leading to an overproduction of stress hormones from the adrenal glands. Over time, this hormonal flood impairs a region of the brain called the hippocampus, which handles emotion and memory.
Agnieszka Bysiek and Krystyna Gołembiowska, researchers at the Polish Academy of Sciences, led an investigation into how psilocybin might repair this stress-induced damage. They worked alongside colleagues from the Medical University of Warsaw. The team designed an experiment to track behavioral changes and biological markers of brain healing."
https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-reverses-depressive-behaviors-and-restores-brain-cell-growth-in-stres/

2026-09-04 01:53:04 CEST

#WaterIsLife
"Atmospheric water harvesting as a sustainable and resilient resource in arid climates: gaining insights from ancient techniques
Fog and dew, or atmospheric moisture, are valuable complementary resources. Ancient civilisations exploited these resources in harmony with the environment, though information on their techniques is fragmented. This review provides insights into the efficiency, evolution, and relevance of ancient atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) techniques from 5000 B.C. to the 1900s, alongside modern techniques. An analytical framework and assessment are presented to deduce their viability for replication, revival, restoration, or redevelopment. Modern fog collectors yield an average value of 3–10 L/m2/day and dew collectors 0.3–0.6 L/m2/day. Ancient fog collectors from Mexico and Chile resembled modern collectors, while fog drip from trees offers a natural alternative, collecting 10 L/m2/day. The stone drip method shows potential in urban areas with extensive concrete surfaces. Ancient dew collection techniques include alchemists' dew collectors, lithic mulching for soil water conservation, dew ponds for water retention, and stone-pile condensers, which collected up to 360 L/day. Air wells, however, were less effective. Ancient AWH techniques offer valuable insights and can effectively supplement modern collectors, enhancing resilience and water security, especially in arid regions. Implementing AWH techniques provides sustainable, decentralised, nature-based strategies on a micro and macro scale for mitigating contemporary water shortages amidst increasing climate challenges."
https://iwaponline.com/ws/article/24/11/3810/105774/Atmospheric-water-harvesting-as-a-sustainable-and

2026-09-04 01:52:35 CEST

#TrumpRegime #midterms
“When ballots are submitted to USPS in large-volume batches, if any one ballot in the batch cannot be verified against the Portal, all ballots in that batch will be rejected. For example, if a state election official brings a batch of 10,000 ballots to USPS and USPS is unable to match just one of those ballots against the Portal—because, for example, someone has recently changed their name after marriage or they’ve moved—then USPS would refuse to mail the remaining 9,999 ballots as well.”
https://gizmodo.com/heres-how-trump-plans-to-steal-the-midterm-elections-according-to-a-whistleblower-2000805711

2026-09-04 01:52:02 CEST

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The American military has a long, thick, rich history of lying to the public. No, as it turned out, we weren't winning in Vietnam. No, Iraq did not have WMDs. No, Iran was not a nuclear threat to America. The list goes on. Is this promise on it? We'll find out in November.

2026-09-04 01:51:03 CEST

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#midterms
"US military has no plans to send troops to the polls in November, top general says
The highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military says there are no plans to send troops to polling places during November’s midterm congressional elections, addressing concerns among Democrats that the Trump administration could use the military to interfere with the vote.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the statement in a letter to Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who recently asked Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to confirm they won’t send troops to the polls.
'The Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections,' Caine said in the letter to Slotkin, which was obtained Monday by The Associated Press. 'Likewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material.'
Caine, who advises Hegseth and President Donald Trump on military matters, also wrote: 'I have neither received nor anticipate receiving any unlawful order concerning the role of the Joint Force in the upcoming November 2026 midterm elections.'"
https://apnews.com/article/caine-hegseth-trump-military-polling-voting-elections-98a06a37abf19613a0922a7e9359e999

2026-09-04 01:47:51 CEST

#TrumpRegime #midterms
"Whistleblower claims USPS plan for Trump's mail voting order could 'derail' midterms
(. . .)
If courts allow USPS' plan for Trump's order to proceed for the midterms, problems with the online portal could lead to eligible absentee voters not receiving their mail-in ballots in time or at all.
One potential logistical hurdle, the whistleblower claimed, stems from an unusual 'zero-percent failure policy' USPS has set for the process of verifying that the mail-in ballots states want to send out meet the requirements of its new rule.
'As designed, the process is entirely unforgiving. It could delay ballots by the thousands in repeated verification cycles — and thus prevent states from mailing enormous numbers of ballots,' the disclosure said.
Spokespeople for USPS did not immediately respond to NPR's questions about the whistleblower disclosure.
In a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner, Blumenthal urged Steiner to 'abandon this ill-conceived, unconscionable plan and ensure that all Americans can exercise their constitutional right to vote, including by mail, without interference by USPS.'
Blumenthal said on a phone call with reporters that he found the details of the disclosure 'mind-boggling' as an elected official and U.S. citizen.
'And what the disclosure reveals is that the Postal Service has designed a system that is intended to fail,' the senator added."
https://www.npr.org/2026/09/01/nx-s1-5950869/trump-mail-in-voting-usps

2026-09-04 01:47:23 CEST

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#fascism #education #DEI #NorthCarolina
"North Carolina classroom, a teacher can still teach about slavery, the Civil Rights Movement and the history of racial discrimination. But under new state law, the way in which that history can be presented has been altered.
Since the N.C. General Assembly overrode Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of Senate Bill 227, 'Eliminating ‘DEI’ in Public Education,' in June, there has been speculation about how this will impact K-12 classrooms.
The preamble to the legislation reiterates the Trump administration’s intent to 'protect American students and ensure that K-12 recipients of federal funds comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination and protecting parental rights.'
An important part of the bill is the definition of a 'divisive concept.' It identifies 12 concepts that schools cannot promote. Some of these concepts include: that one race or sex is inherently superior to another; that someone is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive solely because of their race or sex; that someone should receive adverse treatment because of race or sex; that a meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist; that the U.S. was created by one race or sex to oppress another.
'I teach history, which is full of nuance and it’s full of contradictions because history is about humans, and we’re nuanced, contradictory things,' Morris Johnson, AP U.S. History teacher at The Early College at Guilford in Greensboro, said.
The bill will not affect the history that is taught, but the way teachers are allowed to speak about topics such as discrimination and race.
'One thing that makes us equal, as humans, is our imperfection, right? I think that’s important for students to see in history,' Johnson said. 'And that means addressing topics that are going to be contradictory, and therefore, potentially divisive.'
Elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives will not only affect history classrooms, but science classrooms too. Layla Allen, earth science teacher at Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough, said that even teaching patterns of water quality affecting different groups of people is tied to their race or socioeconomic status.
'It creates a lot more work for teachers to have to work around a curriculum, and it also, once again, erases the history, the actual science of what is going on and what has been going on in this country as well' Allen said.
The bill also prohibits professional development, meaning a school cannot require a teacher to participate in training covering prohibited concepts.
N.C. Rep. Laura Budd (D-Mecklenburg) said she thinks the bill does an 'incredible disservice' to educators."
https://dailytarheel.com/479991/city-state/this-is-fascism-teachers-legislators-reflect-on-k-12-dei-restrictions/

2026-09-04 01:46:58 CEST

#TrumpRegime #education #California
"California faces steepest cuts as Trump ends diversity grants. How one college is faring.
In a few weeks, over 100 colleges and universities across California will lose access to essential funding for tutoring, academic counseling and other support services aimed at helping Black, Latino, Asian and Native American students succeed in college.
The change comes after the U.S. Department of Education said earlier this month that it was ending a grant program that supports 'minority-serving institutions,' claiming that it illegally favors certain racial or ethnic groups.
Every state will lose money, but the Education Department’s decision hits California hardest. The state receives over a quarter of all of these diversity grants, since it has a high percentage of minority students, especially Latinos, and it has more college campuses than any other state.
As the U.S. Department of Education cuts back on grants to colleges and universities that serve Latino, Asian, Black and Native American students, California will lose millions — including money that will soon get sent to other institutions in swing states and states that voted for Trump in 2024.
In his budget for next year, which was released in May, President Trump proposed expanding this federal grant program, known as 'minority-serving institutions' grants, but he didn’t say why. Both Republicans and Democrats have long supported the program, especially those who represent states with large Latino populations such as California, Texas and Florida.
But Trump’s support for the program didn’t last long. In June, the attorney general for Tennessee and a legal advocacy group, Students for Fair Admissions, sued the U.S. Department of Education, claiming that the grant program was discriminatory. In July, the Department of Justice, which is representing the Education Department in the case, told the judge it would not defend against the lawsuit, saying grants to certain minority-serving institutions violate the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on discrimination.
The Education Department reiterated that reasoning with its decision last week to stop funding minority-serving institutions.
But some minority-serving institutions, namely historically Black colleges and tribal colleges, are exempt from the department’s decision. McMahon said last week that she’ll use the money that’s earmarked for minority-serving institutions, especially Hispanic-serving institutions, and redirect it toward those exempt schools instead.
The decision effectively pulls money away from California, which has a high concentration of Hispanic-serving institutions, and moves it to the exempt schools, which are generally located in swing states or states that voted for Trump in 2024. While California has many minority-serving institutions, and even one historically Black graduate school, none are recognized as historically Black colleges or official tribal colleges."
https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2025/09/minority-student-funding-california/

2026-09-04 01:46:25 CEST

Quote of the day.
“Formerly the master selected the slave; today the slave selects his master.” -- Albert Parsons

2026-08-31 00:41:01 CEST

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Bonesaw with nukes? What could possibly go wrong.

2026-08-31 00:13:02 CEST

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I'll boost this when it's not behind a paywall. Posting a link to a paywalled site without also posting a work around is like posting an image without any alt text. Just saying.

2026-08-30 23:02:21 CEST

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#poetry
Future bleak, no hope experts say. More at eleven, now back to our show.

2026-08-30 22:43:36 CEST

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Sans paywall:
https://archive.is/efcIX

2026-08-30 22:00:56 CEST

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https://kolektiva.social/@LevZadov/112520980374640801
#note1fms…xepf

2026-08-30 21:20:08 CEST

#cannabis #Texas
"Texas house weighs how to get harsh on hemp
Advocates and industry warn against bills that would ban or otherwise restrict many currently legal THC products.
A police chief compared the shops across Texas that sell hemp-derived products to 'candy stores or fireworks stands,' targeting children with bright-colored gummies and chips. At the same House Committee on State Affairs hearing on Monday, a Kentucky-based hemp seller said many of their Texas customers are women over 55 living in the suburbs."
https://www.texasobserver.org/advocates-speak-against-lege-thc-hemp-restrictions/

2026-08-30 20:48:26 CEST

#BauHaus #AfD #Gleichschaltung
"The Nazis drove Bauhaus out of town. Now the far right is waging another war against the movement
Poll to take place in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, where Bauhaus blossomed a century ago – and where AfD is promising ‘patriotic culture policy’ if it wins.
The city of Dessau, where the Bauhaus design school flourished a century ago, catapulted Germany into the modern era and revolutionised global design.
It is also where the Nazis drove the avant garde movement out of town and attempted to crush its utopian principles. A hundred years later, another high-stakes culture war over its legacy is looming.
The EU’s biggest democracy will face one of the riskiest tests of the postwar period when Dessau’s home state of Saxony-Anhalt goes to the polls on 6 September. In what would be a first since Adolf Hitler’s time, a far-right party could win an absolute majority and take power in one of the 16 Länder.
(. . .)
Bauhaus’s blend of form and function in architecture, art and industrial design shaped everything from Ikea style for the masses to the user-friendly elegance of Apple products.
It was also a buzzing hive of sexual liberation, new roles for women and international collaboration before the Nazis drove its 'degenerates' into exile.
(. . .)
The 13-year-old AfD has said it wants to repopulate Saxony-Anhalt using lavish family subsidies with unclear financing, while freeing up lost potential by 'liberating' Germans from shame over the Holocaust.
Authorities classify the national party as suspected extremist and the Saxony-Anhalt chapter as confirmed extremist, meaning it poses a threat to democracy."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/27/the-nazis-drove-bauhaus-out-of-town-now-the-far-right-is-waging-another-war-against-the-movement

2026-08-30 20:47:47 CEST

#neoNazis #autism #Australia
"Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell has been talking about autism. Experts say he's recruiting
We obtained videos of neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell joking about ‘recruiting’ autistic men and discussing how to channel their 'fixations'.
'Adolf Hitler, huge autist, massive autist, like all these incredible men, some of the best men that ever lived,' Thomas Sewell tells viewers online.
'What's wrong with them is they've been coddled,' the white supremacist says.
'We used to bully nerds and now we coddle them. Now we're like, 'Oh, you have a disability. You're autistic.' And we treat them like that they're f---ing retarded.'
Then, a compliment: 'They're not. They're actually usually a lot smarter.'
(. . .)
But his comments come as the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and researchers stress that extremist groups target young people, who they see as vulnerable, including those who are neurodivergent."
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/article/neo-nazi-thomas-sewell-has-been-talking-about-autism-its-being-called-a-recruitment-pitch/0aq80gk4j

2026-08-30 20:47:22 CEST

#fascists #sexwork #anarchists
"What I Learned Debating Fascists on a Phone Sex Hotline
Years of talking dirty politics—at two dollars a minute—offered a window into the sexual psychology of the modern right.
(. . .)
Several months in, I created a line for a different special interest: 'Talk Politics With The Anarchist Bimbo.' Unlike sexy chess, the market for this niche found me immediately."
https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/debate-me-daddy-confessions-of-a-phone-sex-hotline-operator

2026-08-30 20:47:01 CEST

#OcccupiedPalestine #ACAB
"American police learn ‘battle proven’ Israeli methods and doctrines
A U.S. nonprofit presented Israeli law enforcement and intelligence-gathering methods to U.S. first responders, documents obtained by Prism show.
At the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in June 2018, Michael Oren spoke from a podium to a gathering of American police officers, firefighters, and emergency managers. Oren, previously named Michael Bornstein, was serving as a member of the Israeli Knesset after renouncing his U.S. citizenship. 'We are defending the same civilization, the same values, the same beliefs. We are you, you are us,' Oren told the group, who had made the trip from the Washington, D.C., area.
'We are fighting for the same cause, Oren said as he and other Americans stood inside a hotel that was the target of a Zionist terrorist bombing in 1946.
(. . .)
Training programs ASTI ran in Israel 'use the Israeli experience as a laboratory' to teach American police, according to an internal intelligence division memorandum by the Austin Police Department, which sent some of its members to the sessions. A trove of documents Prism reviewed as part of a multi-part investigative series into the nonprofit shows how Israeli methods for law enforcement and intelligence gathering were presented to U.S. police as a model.
ASTI’s Israeli American founder Yisroel Stefansky also once proposed to bring that laboratory directly to a city in Washington state, offering to train local police on how to operate informant networks to surveil Americans based on 'proven [Israeli] intelligence doctrine.' The proposal was not implemented."
https://prismreports.org/2026/08/25/us-police-training-israel-asti/

2026-08-30 20:46:32 CEST

#ICE
"Modestly, I Propose Reopening Manzanar
Adapting Wartime Camps for ICE Is the Pragmatic—and Historically Honest—Thing to Do
Now, as the federal government continues its unprecedented campaign of mass deportation and migrant detention, our patriotic state faces another housing crisis.
The Trump administration wants desperately to detain hundreds of thousands more of our undocumented neighbors as well as legal immigrants whose status it has lawlessly canceled. But it keeps tripping itself up.
Existing migration detention centers are overcrowded, can’t find staff, and offer conditions so poor (lack of bathrooms and healthcare, excessive heat or cold, unhealthy food) that courts and localities try to shut them down. Using old jails, near downtowns, makes detention centers easy targets for protestors. Attempts to convert old warehouse sites or prisons, as in Gilroy and Dublin, violate zoning codes and various state and local laws. Building brand new facilities, especially in California, costs a fortune and takes forever.
Even more expensive is the latest Trump strategy: having the federal government buy and own private detention facilities so that it has more control. The Department of Homeland Security’s recent purchase of the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego and the California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert from the private prison company CoreCivic cost $1.5 billion, more than four times the assessed value of these properties. For anyone whose ethical compass doesn’t register at Trump’s level, those purchases might look like a corrupt payoff to CoreCivic, a longtime donor to the president’s campaigns. Or it might appear another case of California fraud, which Vice President Vance is so righteously stamping out.
Why does the U.S. government keep trying these failed strategies, when the most elegant, cost-effective, and historically sound solution is staring us right in the face?
All the Trump administration needs to do is reopen California’s incarceration camps, used to warehouse Japanese Americans during World War II.
This very modest proposal might sound shocking. But it is merely an exercise in pragmatism."
https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/modestly-i-propose-reopening-manzanar/

2026-08-30 20:45:57 CEST

#LA #fiction #lol #basketball
"Philip Marlowe Probes the Plot Against Los Angeles
A New Syndicate’s SoCal Stickup of the Lakers, Warner, and California Beaches
With apologies to Raymond Chandler.
The Santa Ana winds were blowing hot and mean over the mountains. It was the kind of weather that curls the edges of your sanity, and sends councilmembers and rats scurrying for deeper shadows.
I’m a private dick—name’s Marlowe—and I was in my office off Hollywood Boulevard, nursing a lukewarm bourbon out of a glass that had seen better days. Just like the city outside my window, Los Angeles. But something was shifting in the smog. The old grifters were getting pushed out, and a new syndicate was moving in.
I wish I could tell you that this caper launched with a blonde walking through my door with a tear in her eye and a dead husband in her trunk.
But, no. It started with basketball."
https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/philip-marlowe-probes-the-plot-against-los-angeles/

2026-08-30 20:44:46 CEST

#fascists
"Jeers, walkouts, stage invasions: will Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists trigger British audiences too?
It has inspired violent protests from Norway to Rome – and now it’s hitting the UK. Playwright Tiago Rodrigues explains why the far-right speech at the drama’s climax has proved so incendiary.
In February, turbulent scenes inside a German theatre made headlines around the globe. During the final act of a play at Schauspielhaus theatre in Bochum, the audience first jeered and whistled at a performer in the role of a far-right politician. An orange lobbed from the auditorium narrowly missed its target; eventually, two spectators climbed on to the stage and tried to wrestle the actor off. News of the incident travelled around the world: it seemed a bizarre throwback to a world in which people were not able to tell the difference between art and real life, like 19th-century Parisians stampeding out of a cinema after watching a train hurtle towards the camera."
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/aug/27/catarina-and-the-beauty-of-killing-fascists-tiago-rodrigues-national-theatre

2026-08-30 20:43:42 CEST

#Hegseth
"Top Commanders Told Hegseth Not to Cut Civilian Protection Program, Poll Showed. He Did It Anyway.
The U.S. military has killed hundreds of noncombatants since gutting its Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response mission last year. After significant blowback, the Defense Department is considering partially restoring the program.
Shortly after taking office last year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth polled the nation’s top commanders about cutting a program designed to protect civilians during U.S. military operations.
Hegseth had bet senior officers would endorse his view that focusing on civilian security was 'woke' and out of step with 'maximum lethality,' current and former defense officials told ProPublica.
Instead, every commander rebuffed the idea.
The poll from early 2025, which has not been previously reported, cemented top-level military support for Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response, a relatively new program adopted after years of heavy civilian tolls in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. As part of its mission, CHMR (pronounced 'chimmer') stationed personnel within major regional commands. Officials tried to develop a picture of life on the ground in combat zones to aid decision-making on military strikes and avoid or minimize civilian harm."
https://www.propublica.org/article/hegseth-civilian-harm-mitigation-response-trump-defense-department

2026-08-30 20:42:43 CEST

#Florida #college
"Florida English Professor Fired for Teaching ‘Political’ Story Sues College
English professor Vinita Prabhakar is suing South Florida State College after she was abruptly fired for teaching a story the college president deemed 'political,' according to a complaint filed Wednesday in Florida district court.
Prabhakar assigned her freshman English students 'Bettering Myself,' an award-winning story by Ottessa Moshfegh that centers on a Catholic school math teacher who drinks to excess and talks about sex with her students. One of her students told Prabhakar the story made them 'a bit uncomfortable,' to which Prabhakar 'acknowledged that the story could be difficult' and invited the student to talk more about it in class the next day, the complaint states.
At some point, the student who expressed discomfort spoke to another professor or administrator about the assignment, though 'it is not known whether the student actually complained about the assignment or merely discussed the fact that the work had been assigned reading,' according to the complaint. An employee registered a complaint about the assignment, and Prabhakar learned from her department chair that the issue had escalated.'
Following several days of back-and-forth with other administrators about the assignment, Prabhakar met with South Florida State President Fred Hawkins on Feb. 11. During the meeting, Hawkins said 'he would not want his own college-aged daughter reading' the story, and that he didn’t 'ever want to see this story again,' the complaint states. He also told Prabhakar he’d been in contact 'with Tallahassee' and the Board of Trustees about the matter. Hawkins, who became president of the college in 2023, is a former Republican state legislator and an ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis."
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/07/31/professor-fired-teaching-political-story-sues-college

2026-08-30 20:42:17 CEST

#fascism #CopCity
"A U.S. Citizen Deleted His Phone’s Data. Now He Faces a Felony Charge.
Federal prosecutors charged a man returning to the United States with obstruction because he gave them a passcode that erased his smartphone during a customs search.
(. . .)
It sounds like something James Bond would use: a gadget that self-destructs if it falls into the wrong hands. But it’s actually an open-source operating system that can be downloaded onto Android phones.
Federal prosecutors in Atlanta are bringing an obstruction charge against a U.S. citizen who gave customs officers what is known as a duress passcode, which activated software that erased the contents of his phone.
The authorities stopped Samuel Tunick, an Atlanta resident, for interrogation at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as he returned to the United States on Jan. 24 last year, according to a November grand jury indictment. The authorities seized his phone before allowing him to enter the country. A hearing on the case was held last week in federal court in Atlanta.
The prosecution is one of the earliest known instances of federal authorities charging a person with destroying evidence with a program designed to wipe a device when a specific code is entered.
Mr. Tunick’s lawyers argued during the hearing last week that the seizure was unlawful, and that he was targeted because of his political activism against Atlanta’s plan to build a police and fire training center within a 1,000-acre stretch of urban woodland. Opponents argue that the center, known as Cop City, would militarize officers and destroy precious green space.
(. . .)
The federal public defender’s office, which handles most cases in the Northern District of Georgia, said that only one other federal indictment had been filed on this charge in the last 30 years.
The 2019 case involved an accusation of destruction of evidence related to drug trafficking, said Matthew Dodge, a federal public defender who is on Mr. Tunick’s legal team."
https://archive.ph/jo9GV#selection-4155.0-4189.61

2026-08-30 20:41:16 CEST

#HeartAttack #gender
"The common heart attack symptom many women ignore
Experts explain a typical red flag — which can fly under the radar for weeks.
The feeling of a heart attack — which occurs when blood flow to the heart is limited or cut off — is often compared to an elephant stomping on your chest. But the signs can sometimes be far subtler, particularly in women. In fact, one of the most common symptoms in this group is something you might be tempted to push through or ignore: fatigue.
(. . .)
But feeling exhausted, even to an extreme, doesn’t always set off alarm bells — for women or doctors. After all, 'so many women are multitaskers and are time-starved and are caregivers and are working and have so many things on their plate,' said Amy Ahnert, a cardiologist with Atlantic Medical Group and director of the Women’s Heart Program at Morristown Medical Center.
In a large study of people under age 55 hospitalized for a heart attack, women were more likely than men to perceive their symptoms as simply stress or anxiety, and also to have seen a provider who did not attribute their symptoms to their heart.
Below, experts explain why severe fatigue often accompanies a heart attack in women and how to tell if your exhaustion is a red flag."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2026/08/29/common-heart-attack-symptom-many-women-ignore/

2026-08-30 20:40:29 CEST

#ElderAbuse #eviction
"A 72-year-old became homeless. Then her family rose up to save her
As a tide of evictions overwhelms the city, one family tries to pull their matriarch off the streets.
As Ashley Bell knocked on the door of Room 18 at the Oak Hotel on Fell Street, a chorus of dog barks erupted. The door opened a crack to reveal 72-year-old Debbie Brown, Bell’s grandmother.
'Can we come in?' Bell asked, hugging her grandma.
'Ain’t no room,' Brown said. She held the door mostly closed to prevent her two loud chihuahua mixes from escaping.
Bell had come looking for her grandma after reading an article in The Standard recounting how Brown, a retired nursing assistant who worked 20 years at San Francisco General Hospital, had fallen into homelessness for the first time in her life. Brown was evicted from her longtime SRO apartment on Valencia Street on May 13 after her landlord cited her for nuisance due to hoarding."
https://sfstandard.com/2026/08/29/homeless-senior-family-sf-eviction-crisis/

2026-08-30 20:40:09 CEST

#TrumpRegime #FreePress
"Trump says NBC's Welker will be reported to FCC
U.S. President Donald Trump ‌on Sunday said in a post on Truth ⁠Social that NBC's Kristen Welker will be reported to the FCC for 'rebuke or ‌punishment', ⁠after he said she reported the ⁠Republican President had mixed results ⁠in his endorsement of ⁠candidates."
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/trump-says-nbcs-welker-will-be-reported-fcc-2026-08-30/

2026-08-30 20:39:29 CEST

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#Bosnia #RatkoMladić #fascists
"Ratko Mladic’s Death Offers No Closure As Fascist Ideologies Persist
The recent death of former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic, sentenced to life in prison for genocide and war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), has prompted debate not about justice served, but about whether the ideologies he championed have ultimately triumphed. Despite his conviction, observers argue that the world is increasingly mirroring the fascist principles Mladic fought for – a normalization of genocide, denial of responsibility, and rising ultranationalism – suggesting he may have died content with the direction the globe is taking.
The author contends that Mladic’s death does not signify a victory for justice or peace, but rather a confirmation of his success in propagating fascist ideals. He expresses fear that these ideas, far from being defeated, have spread and adapted over time, becoming increasingly visible in the Balkans and beyond. This assessment stems from observing continued denial of responsibility for past atrocities and the persistence of ideologies rooted in death and negation.
(. . .)
The author, a survivor of genocide in Bosnia, implores the world to recognize and confront these dangerous trends. They emphasize that awareness is crucial, particularly given the global tendency to believe fascism was defeated decades ago. The piece concludes with a direct question: 'Do you really want to live in Mladic’s dream?'and a plea for the world to heed the warnings of those who have experienced its horrors.
The author urges continued vigilance against fascist ideologies, emphasizing that acknowledging past crimes is essential to preventing their recurrence and building a more just future."
https://abcnepal.tv/posts/328989

2026-08-30 20:38:58 CEST

#Bosnia #RatkoMladić #fascists
"Ratko Mladić, the ‘Butcher of Bosnia’, could not escape death. But his fascist ideas and ideology live on
When I testified against Mladić at his trial in The Hague, I saw the unrepentant face of a mass murderer. That face and his legacy still haunt Serbia today
Men age and die, but in the Balkans, time stands still and is stuck. General Ratko Mladić, who died in prison in The Hague on Thursday aged 84, remains a hero in the Republika Srpska statelet – the Serbian half of dismembered Bosnia that he carved out with a hurricane of violence between 1992 and 1995 – and in Serbia itself."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/30/ratko-mladic-butcher-bosnia-death-legacy-serbia

2026-08-30 20:37:43 CEST

#Gaza #OccupiedPalestine #WarCrimes
"Women's Affairs Ministry in Gaza: Extremist Ben Gafir's Abuse of Female Prisoners in Damon Prison Represents Pinnacle of Fascism and Moral Depravity
The Ministry of Women's Affairs in the Gaza Strip condemned in the strongest terms on Sunday the blatant raid and systematic abuse perpetrated by the extremist criminal Ben Gafir against Palestinian female prisoners in the Zionist Damon prison, in a scene that reflects the pinnacle of fascism and moral depravity of the enemy.
In a statement published by the Government Media Office in the Strip and reviewed by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), the Ministry said that the passing of these criminal practices without deterrent international action is a disgrace that offends human conscience and international justice.
The Ministry confirmed, based on official statistics from the Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, that approximately 99 female prisoners are suffering harsh conditions in detention centers. This includes about 88 female prisoners in Damon Prison (among them minors, mothers, students, medical personnel, and administrative detainees), in addition to dozens of female detainees in interrogation, isolation, and solitary confinement centers, who are facing enforced disappearance from the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, the extremist Zionist Ben-Gvir stormed the female prisoners' cells inside Damon Prison, threatening them and boasting on camera about the policies of abuse against them."
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3777765.htm

2026-08-30 20:37:07 CEST

#Africa #visas
"Getting a U.S. visa just became harder for millions of Africans
Routine visa interviews will end at 25 U.S. diplomatic posts beginning Aug. 1 as the Trump administration consolidates processing into 20 regional hubs, a move critics say will make travel to the United States more difficult for many Africans.
(. . .)
The overhaul represents one of the most significant changes to U.S. visa operations on the continent in years and is the latest in a series of Trump administration immigration restrictions affecting Africa. Since returning to office, the administration has pursued a range of policies aimed at tightening immigration and restricting travel from several African countries, arguing the measures strengthen national security and improve immigration enforcement.
Under the State Department’s plan, routine visa interviews will no longer be available at 25 U.S. diplomatic posts across Africa. Applicants from those countries will instead be directed to one of 20 regional visa processing hubs for routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa interviews beginning Aug. 1.
(. . .)
For many Africans, however, the policy is expected to add another layer of cost and complexity to an already lengthy visa application process.
Family members hoping to visit relatives in the United States, students accepted to American universities, business travelers and tourists may now have to budget for international travel before they can even attend a visa interview.
The change could also affect members of Minnesota’s large African immigrant communities whose relatives regularly travel from the continent for weddings, funerals, graduations, family visits and other important events."
https://mshale.com/2026/07/30/getting-a-u-s-visa-just-became-harder-for-millions-of-africans/

2026-08-30 20:36:38 CEST

#hoaxes #war
"Operation 'Conserve': Canned Pretext for War
From Nazi Fabrication to Iraq War Lies, Exposing Hollow Justifications for Conflict
On the night of August 31, 1939, Nazi SS officers stormed a German radio transmitter and broadcast anti-German propaganda in Polish. Prisoners forcibly taken from concentration camps were dressed in Polish military uniforms before being executed. This was a staged provocation to frame Poland as having attacked Germany, creating a pretext for invasion. The operation was codenamed 'Conserve,' meaning 'canned food.' At dawn on September 1, the following day, German warships bombarded the Westerplatte Fortress in Gdańsk, marking the start of World War II.
Every war in human history has a stated justification. Yet history later reveals these justifications are often flimsy pretexts.
(. . .)
The U.S. launched airstrikes on Baghdad citing Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. But a Central Intelligence Agency report one and a half years later concluded simply: such weapons never existed. 'Bombs away is your punishment.' With the pretext for invasion gone, only the tragedy of war remained.
(. . .)
Alfred Naujocks, the SS officer who commanded Operation Conserve, confessed in his Nuremberg Trials testimony that the raid was fabricated. Naujocks lived without punishment and died of natural causes in Hamburg in 1966. Between the man who confessed and those sacrificed in the operation, only one name remains remembered."
https://www.chosun.com/english/opinion-en/2026/08/30/QJKSPJWUA5E5ZCXAFAI6TULUCA/

2026-08-30 20:34:53 CEST

#ACAB #Flock #surveillance
"'Deputy of the Year' accused of using Flock cameras to track ex resigns after probe
A Florida deputy who was recently named 'Deputy of the Year' has resigned after an internal investigation reportedly revealed serious misconduct, including using Flock cameras to search his ex-girlfriend's license plate, putting a firearm in his girlfriend's mouth during sex, using racial slurs and giving what appears to be a Nazi salute.
News 6 reports that Michael Fultz resigned from the Brevard County Sheriff's Office as the agency was poised to fire him following the investigation. The probe began after Fultz's ex-girlfriend reportedly contacted the sheriff's office with numerous allegations against him in March — on the same day he received the '2025 Deputy of the Year' honor.
'My intention in providing this information is not to pursue personal retaliation but to ensure the agency is aware of conduct that, in my understanding, may conflict with departmental policies or professional standards,' she wrote."
https://news4sanantonio.com/news/nation-world/deputy-of-the-year-accused-using-flock-cameras-track-ex-resigns-probe-michael-fultz-brevard-county-sheriffs-office-florida-racial-slurs-nazi-salute-sex-firearm-crime-news

2026-08-30 20:34:28 CEST

#fascists #GOP
"Nine years after Charlottesville, GOP pushes 'blood and soil'
The nativist doctrine lives on in JD Vance's vision for the US
Nine years ago this month, America was introduced to what was then called the 'alt-right' and is now pretty much just 'the right.' On Aug. 11, 2017, we witnessed what had been advertised as a 'Unite the Right' rally in which a large group of young white men marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, carrying tiki torches and chanting, 'Jews will not replace us' and 'Blood and soil!' The next day, a young counterprotester named Heather Heyer was killed by an alt-right participant who drove his car through the crowd at high speed. President Donald Trump famously announced that there were 'very fine people on both sides,' and it was clear to many Americans just where he and the Republican Party were heading.
(. . .)
A large faction of the modern American right has now adopted this idea to promote nativism and white nationalism, calling it 'Heritage American' and basically positing the idea that only people of European ancestry are appropriate to live in the United States. But it’s actually even more specific than that. A true heritage American would be able to trace their ancestry to the colonial period, to Anglo-Protestant and Scotch-Irish early settlers. (Some admit that Native Americans and descendants of enslaved peoples of the period might be heritage Americans as well, although there is debate on that subject.)
(. . .)
It will be interesting to see the outcome of the latest attempts to delegitimize newer citizens in favor of the 'natural born' when the lawsuits eventually reach the high court, as they are all but certain to do. As the Atlantic’s Toluse Olorunnipa reported, various red states are now attempting to pass laws disallowing naturalized citizens from holding office, essentially creating a group of second-class citizens. This is yet another attempt to create a 'blood and soil' nation out of one that was built on something else entirely.
America has never perfectly lived up to those ideals, and the struggle to do so continues to be painful for those who have yet to fully benefit from the nation’s promise. It’s always two steps forward, one step back. But attempting to redefine the country as white nationalist völkism is a fool’s errand. Wait until Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito discovers that he doesn’t qualify because his family didn’t emigrate to the U.S. until the 20th century, and Donald Trump will be mighty disappointed to find out that he and four of his five children are not true Americans because their mothers were born in another country. Once you start pulling on this thread, the whole thing starts to unravel."
https://www.salon.com/2026/08/30/nine-years-after-charlottesville-gop-pushes-blood-and-soil/

2026-08-30 20:32:56 CEST

Quote of the Day
"A wrong that cannot be repaired must be transcended." -- Ursula K. Le Guin

2026-08-29 20:56:33 CEST

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AI and robots will increase the number of people without income and, hence, to revolt.

2026-08-29 20:22:08 CEST

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He's America's Yeltsin.

2026-08-29 19:15:13 CEST

#Cuba #blockade
"The sailboat Astral, part of the solidarity project
As part of its donation, the vessel brought a photovoltaic kit to guarantee the energy independence of the Juan Manuel Márquez Pediatric Hospital in the Cuban capital.
(. . .)
The vessel, part of the 'Rumbo a Cuba (Heading to Cuba) solidarity project, is an initiative spearheaded by activists and politicians in Spain with the goal of delivering humanitarian aid to the island. This was reported by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) on its social media.
'With ten years of experience in air and sea humanitarian aid, the rescue movement is reaching Cuba, extending solidarity amidst increasingly severe U.S. sanctions,' stated the ICAP website.
To make the idea of a group of friends to help the youngest children in Cuba receiving care at the Juan Manuel Márquez Children's Hospital a reality, more than 4,000 people made donations, totaling over €170,000.
The leaders of this solidarity project are Miguel Urbans, a Spanish politician and activist, co-founder of Podemos and leader of Anticapitalistas, who also served as a Member of the European Parliament between 2015 and 2024, and Óscar Camps, founder and creator of the Open Arms humanitarian project, which for many years has saved lives in the Mediterranean and supported the Global Sumud flotilla in solidarity with the people of Gaza and Palestine."
https://en.granma.cu/cuba/2026-07-20/the-sailboat-astral-part-of-the-solidarity-project-rumbo-a-cuba-heading-to-cuba-arrived-in-havana

2026-08-29 19:14:34 CEST

#HurricaneDolly
"Will Hurricane Dolly hit Mar-a-Lago?
Probably not, but it’s understandable why so many people hope so
(. . .)
The next tropical storm, which was officially named Thursday morning, is called Dolly. This strange coincidence has nothing to do with Dolly Parton, the singer-songwriter, actress and philanthropist who died Tuesday morning at the age of 80. The naming of tropical storms and hurricanes is a job for the World Meteorological Organization, which rotates them out every six years and retires them after a given storm causes too much destruction. After all, it would be weird and potentially triggering to ever see another Hurricane Katrina.
(. . .)
At the moment, there is no evidence to suggest such an event is going to happen; again, the odds are pretty low. Still, judging by trends on social media, it seems a lot of people are tickled by the idea that such an outcome is even remotely possible.
I can’t count myself in their company, knowing that the collateral damage would likely be massive. But there’s a broad swath of Americans who love that kind of cosmic irony, and I understand where they’re coming from. I don’t want to check, but I’m sure everyone’s favorite betting apps will offer odds on this event, though even Polymarket and Kalshi may know better than to piss off the president.
(. . .)
Here’s where I tap the climate change sign and remind folks we’re still burning fossil fuels at an unprecedented rate as oil and gas companies rake in obscene profits, even as renewable energy goes increasingly mainstream. Those emissions are making our oceans hotter and our atmosphere able to hold more water, producing the ingredients for a really bad hurricane, no matter where it makes landfall, either Palm Beach or Pittsburgh.
(. . .)
Yes, the ultimate irony would be to see our climate change-denying president’s dumb little resort getting swept out to sea, assuming no bystanders were injured. But that’s a lot of big ifs stuffed into a trenchcoat, parading around social media as an inevitability. When it seems like harmless fun, my motto is to let people enjoy it. Given what Dolly Parton stood for and what our president doesn’t, it might almost seem like her ghost would be seeking vengeance, despite Trump’s insistence that she actually liked him. Although there’s no evidence that Parton, who carefully avoided overt politics, was a MAGA fan — far more clues indicate her political orientation pointed in the opposite direction — exacting lethal revenge, even on her worst enemies, wouldn’t have been true to her character.
To borrow an old Bill McKibben bit, maybe we should start naming hurricanes after fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil or Saudi Aramco. Would seeing your house flattened by Hurricane Shell wake people up? I’d suggest Hurricane Donny, but we’ve already been drowning in that one for far too long."
https://www.salon.com/2026/08/28/will-hurricane-dolly-hit-mar-a-lago/

2026-08-29 19:13:53 CEST

#ClimateCrisis #Kalshi
"Gamblers Are Betting On Climate Change
Kalshi, the prediction and betting platform, is partnering with The Weather Company so that people can wager on climate and weather events. They expect the wagers to hit $1.1 billion this year."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/videos/gamblers-betting-climate-change-133100348.html

2026-08-29 19:13:39 CEST

#ClimateCrisis
"Nepal and China briefly halt rescue efforts as barrier lake overflows
More than 580 people dead and more than 2,400 missing after the flash flood disaster that struck on Wednesday.
Nepal and China have resumed rescue efforts for survivors of the devastating flash flood that hit the border region two days ago, following a brief suspension as a 'barrier lake' formed during the disaster began to overflow.
Chinese rescue teams and vehicles were forced to pull back to safe ground, state broadcaster CCTV reported, as the risk of the lake bursting rose. Nepalese authorities also paused search operations for 90 minutes, an army officer confirmed on Friday."
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/28/nepal-and-china-halt-rescue-efforts-as-border-barrier-lake-overflows