Democrats introduce bill to help federal workers cover childcare costs during shutdown
Exclusive: employees would be reimbursed for fees paid to childcare facilities under plans initiated by Ilhan Omar
Congressional Democrats are introducing a bill that would provide childcare relief to federal workers affected by the shutdown of the federal government, as it drags on through a second week.
Parents would be reimbursed for fees paid to childcare facilities during the shutdown under plans initiated by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
Any federal employee who has been furloughed, or remains working through the shutdown without pay, would be entitled to support under the Federal Worker Childcare Protection Act of 2025.
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Consigli da Coach
L'autolimitatore di sicurezza
Il nostro cervello instintivamente ci protegge per molto cose, è conservativo sempre. Ogni persona ha un limite, alto basso ma tutti l'anno e il nostro cervello lavora per non soffrire troppo ma stare sempre in controllo in modo da non soffreire troppo, in fondo il nostro cervello non vuole avere problemi, anche se è pronto. Mentre il fisico vuole esplodere tirarsi al limite vedere dove vuole arrivare.
Trovare l'equilibrio tra mente e corpo non è facile ma quando poi la mente capisce che forse il limite ora è spostato deve ricalibrare tutto per poter trovare un nuovo equilibrio.
Run Hard Ride Smart
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Ballando con le Stelle cambia ancora orario: a che ora inizia la puntata dell’11 ottobre
Terzo appuntamento con Ballando con le Stelle e nuovo cambio di orario. Dopo l’esordio alle 20:35 e lo slittamento strategico della seconda puntata alle 21:35, sabato 11 ottobre 2025 lo show di Milly Carlucci partirà ancora più tardi per lasciare spazio alla partita Estonia–Italia.
TUTTI I DETTAGLI: Ballando con le Stelle cambia ancora orario: a che ora inizia la puntata dell’11 ottobre
Ballando con le Stelle (11 ottobre 2025): orario e motivo dello slittamento
Ballando con le Stelle cambia orario l’11 ottobre 2025 per Italia–Estonia: inizio intorno alle 22:45 e chiusura notturna. Ecco perché.Redazione (Atom Heart Magazine)
Protests across Europe and the world erupt after Israel intercepts Gaza aid flotilla
Protests across Europe and the world erupt after Israel intercepts Gaza aid flotilla
Widespread protests, which erupted late on Wednesday after the news broke out of Israel's interception of the Gaza aid flotilla, continued into Thursday.Evelyn Ann-Marie Dom (Euronews.com)
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15 drones spotted above Belgian military bases
15 suspicious drones were sighted over a Belgian military base in Elsenborn, on the border with Germany. The Defence Ministry is investigating the incident.
Drones spotted above Belgian military bases | VRT NWS: news
15 drones have been spotted flying above the Belgian military base at Elsenborn, in the East of Liège Province. The office of the Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken (Flemish nationalist) confirms that the incident occurred.VRT NWS
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The base covers an area of 28km². It is an army training camp that includes a secure area in which shooting exercises take place.
Looks like no response, no interception were executed.
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What would be your distro of choice if you take the security with ease as the top priority
With the recent windows 10 EoL news, I was able to move my dad over to Linux mint. But he does a lot of finance stuff. Long ago, Linux had a belief that desktop Linux are not the primary target for crackers but I don’t believe that true anymore since it’s getting significantly popular lately like Europe government migration over to Linux and Libreoffice.
My question would be , given my dad is just as careful on Linux as he has been on windows, would it be fine to do finance like banking and trading (not the fastest kind )?
If not, what would be your distro of choice for that? Even browsers (I installed Firefox and Edge from Microsoft website deb file)
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Israel enforces de facto Gaza cease-fire: objectives, limitations, and IDF orders
Israel enforces de facto Gaza ceasefire: objectives, limitations, and IDF orders
Israel halted offensive operations in Gaza overnight in what officials call a tactical pause to support hostage negotiations; Troops remain in place with orders to focus on self-defense as Hamas signals readiness for talksYoav Zitun (ynetglobal)
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1. People are angry
2. Complete weirdo gets elected President
3. He starts threatening judges who rule against him, urging his supporters to harass them
4. He starts suing newspapers and journalists, calling them fake news
5 Spews racist shit about black people eating pets and wanting to replace Tunisians
washingtonpost.com/world/2023/…
6. He said the opposition is the enemy from within, the opposition supports terrorism
7 . One night, he sends masked thugs to surround parliament and arrest the opposition
8. Dictatorship
Welcome to Tunisia.
Americans are at step 6. They just don't know it yet. They are deers in the headlights.
Zelenskyy: Russia no longer exports but imports petrol and that's our achievement
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Russia is importing petrol, calling it the rightful result of the work of the Security Service, the Armed Forces, intelligence and Ukrainian weapons manufacturers.
Quote: "Today, there were also reports on our entirely justified strikes against Russian targets – against their logistics and fuel infrastructure. I am grateful to our warriors for their precision. Russia chooses war, Russia destroys our people's lives, and must be held accountable – our long-range capabilities will increase.
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We got someone better than the Ukrainian and all Allied generals combined.
Good luck on the front lines.
Bonfire Social 1.0rc3 release
Bonfire Social 1.0rc3
Bonfire’s latest release puts data portability (moving and taking your data with you) and anti-enshittification (avoiding manipulative platform tricks) front and center.bonfirenetworks.org
A fediverse platform that lets you block whole topics, not just communities?
Mmm not sure how it will be managed. It depends whom you trust.
On our jlai.lu chat (jlailu.zulipchat.com) we have a section that has a list of keyword to remove all post related to MAGA and far right. It gives us a peace of mind and we can purpose our keywords.
Imho, you may suggest a git, put your blocklist and invit some people to edit it. Honnestly, i think it is safer to handle personnaly because you know what's inside. But i may be wrong
I don't feel something like crowdsourced tagging would work for the Fediverse unless it has some sort of approval system built for either post's author or commuity admins (and those are already busy). Otherwise it would be far too easy to do things like brigading, or pushing government-style "self-censorship" (or straight out censorship of others: just get an army of ~~bots~~ "volunteers" into one instance, let the resulting blocks federate). Something closer to AO3 style tagging, where the author retains most control but readers can add tags to things that are valid only to them (and maybe to people they share data with too?) should workbetter IMO.
Blocking keywords is not reliable to block topics because a keyword does not a topic make, for example in this post I mention queer, socialism, musk and islam yet it's not topical to any of those things.
German infrastructure hit almost daily by drones, cybercrime, arson as fingers pointed at Moscow and Beijing
Cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/43463017
There are now almost daily attacks on critical infrastructure. In the same week that drones were spotted over several European airports, a cyberattack against security software used by many of those same hubs, including Berlin Airport, left passengers and personnel scrambling. At the same time, Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail service experienced the latest in a series of high-level sabotage incidents.Similar cyberattacksare experienced by private companies with increasing regularity — costing the economy €289 billion ($339 billion), according to Bitkom, the umbrella organization for the digital economy in Germany. While about 68% of the time, the perpetrator is thought to be a crime syndicate, half of the survey companies said they could trace at least one attack to Russia. A similar number said they linked the incidents to China.
[...]
German infrastructure hit by drones, cybercrime, arson
The government says Germany's critical infrastructure is under serious threat daily. Fingers have been pointed at Moscow, Beijing and left-wing extremists, but is Berlin prepared to handle a multi-pronged strike?Elizabeth Schumacher (Deutsche Welle)
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Fediverse Day Berlin Livestream starts today at 12 CEST
The 2nd Berlin Fediverse Day is a networking event for people in the Fediverse. With talks, workshops and networking opportunities, we want to spread knowledge about the Fediverse, promote creative solutions and strengthen the exchange between developers, administrators, academia, civil society and content creators.
Speakers include, among others: Elena Rossini, Andy Piper, Evan Prodromou, Christine Lemmer-Webber, Matthias Pfefferle…
Edit:
PeerTube Livestreams
Mainhall: c-tube.c-base.org/w/wKd1Zxa484…
Rooftop: fair.tube/a/digiges_de/video-c…
Mastodon etc.
Fediwall: fediwall.social
Berlin Fediverse Day | Berlin Fediverse Day 2025
The Berlin Fediverse Day is a Fediverse conference taking place on 3-5. October 2025 at c-base Berlin with workshops and lectures for interested people, newcomers and experienced users.Berlin Fediverse Day 2025
2. Berliner Fediverse Tag
Programm
Der Berliner Fediverse Tag ist eine am 3-5.10.2025 in der Berliner c-base stattfindende Konferenz zum Fediverse mit Workshops und Vorträgen für Interessierte, Neulinge und alte Hasen.Berlin Fediverse Tag 2025
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Controlling information in the age of AI: how state propaganda and censorship are baked into Chinese chatbots
Cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/43458912
Archived"Hello, I’m not able to answer this question for the time being. Let’s change the subject.” When asked about the life of Liu Xiaobo, none of the Chinese chatbots tested by RSF gave any information on the only Chinese laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize, a writer and human rights defender who received the award in 2010 and died in detention in 2017. He does not exist in the national narrative or in the responses engineered by Chinese AI developers. When it comes to China’s information space, even the country’s tech giants are required to keep their algorithms in lockstep with official propaganda and censorship.
[...]
While China’s AI-powered chatbots are meant to generate text freely, they often seem to follow pre‑set scripts on topics Beijing deems sensitive. No matter how we phrased questions on human rights or China’s political system, the replies — which were almost identical each time — appeared to come from an official database rather than being genuinely autonomous text generation. When asked twice why Zhang Zhan — a Chinese journalist repeatedly sentenced to prison for documenting the COVID‑19 outbreak in Wuhan and reporting on human rights violations — was imprisoned, DeepSeek delivered two near‑carbon‑copy responses without naming her once, instead highlighting China’s “independent judiciary,” the need to “respect the law” and the dangers of “disinformation.”
Some prompts triggered even more flagrantly censored answers — sometimes to the point of absurdity, such as live self‑erasure. When we asked DeepSeek to list Chinese Nobel laureates, several scientists’ names appeared, but as soon as the letters “Liu…” — for Liu Xiaobo — started to appear in the bot’s real-time response, the entire text vanished. The same phenomenon appeared when the bot was asked to compare the leadership styles of Xi Jinping, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin: a pre‑written answer appeared and then disappeared entirely, clearly blocked by the mention of China’s president.
[...]
Some differences between the three Chinese chatbots did emerge. DeepSeek issues the most refusals to answer, but in clear and direct terms. Baidu’s Ernie and Alibaba’s Qwen deliver longer, more detailed answers that are sometimes embellished or even completely misleading.
[...]
Controlling information in the age of AI: how state propaganda and censorship are baked into Chinese chatbots
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) tested three of China’s main chatbots, which use a generative AI built on large language models.rsf.org
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G-Drive Fire Destroys 125,000 Officials' Data
Note: G-drive is a South Korean government file server.
Which is worse: single site backup or calling it a Gdrive?
G-Drive Fire Destroys 125,000 Officials' Data
G-Drive Fire Destroys 125,000 Officials Data No Backup Available for Government Cloud System, Recovery UncertainThe Chosun Daily
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Ireland poised to blunt sanctions on Israel under corporate pressure, say sources
Ireland poised to blunt sanctions on Israel under corporate pressure, say sources
DUBLIN - Ireland is poised to curb planned sanctions on Israel, blunting a law central to its protest over the war in Gaza, after pressure from business groups concerned about the impact on investment, four people with knowledge of the matter said.ST
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British police may have accidentally shot dead victim in synagogue attack
British police may have accidentally shot dead victim in synagogue attack
Another worshipper is believed to have suffered a non life-threatening gunshot wound. Read more at straitstimes.com.ST
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Indian ministers push domestic alternatives to Google, Microsoft apps amid strained US ties
Indian ministers push domestic alternatives to Google, Microsoft apps amid strained US ties
NEW DELHI :Three cabinet colleagues of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are promoting use of apps by domestic rivals to Google Maps, WhatsApp and Microsoft, in the strongest backing yet for "Made in India" products amid trade tension with the Unit…CNA (Channel NewsAsia)
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Sigh.
Of course they have to be scumbags and say "you should give these rich people power instead of those rich people."
Merkel blasted by Baltics, Poland for suggesting they share blame for Russia’s Ukraine invasion
In an interview with Hungarian opposition media Partizán published on Friday, Merkel noted the refusal by Eastern European countries to permit direct talks between her, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French leader Emmanuel Macron when describing the lead-up to Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“In June 2021, I felt that Putin was no longer taking the Minsk agreement seriously,” Merkel said, referring to the peace agreement relating to control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region following the 2014-2015 conflict. “And that’s why I wanted a new format where we, as the European Union, could talk directly with Putin.”
At a European Council meeting that month, Merkel and Macron proposed direct negotiations with other leaders in response to the buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine’s border. But a coalition of Eastern European countries, including Poland, opposed the idea.
“This was not supported by some. It was mainly the Baltic states, but Poland was also against it,” she said. Merkel explained that these countries had been “afraid” that “we would not have a common policy toward Russia … In any case, it didn’t happen. Then I left office, and then Putin’s aggression began.”
Merkel blasted by Baltics, Poland for suggesting they share blame for Russia’s Ukraine invasion
“I am astonished that after everything that has happened in Ukraine, she still thinks this way,” a former leader says of ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Ketrin Jochecová (POLITICO)
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Merkel blasted by Baltics, Poland for suggesting they share blame for Russia’s Ukraine invasion
In an interview with Hungarian opposition media Partizán published on Friday, Merkel noted the refusal by Eastern European countries to permit direct talks between her, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French leader Emmanuel Macron when describing the lead-up to Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“In June 2021, I felt that Putin was no longer taking the Minsk agreement seriously,” Merkel said, referring to the peace agreement relating to control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region following the 2014-2015 conflict. “And that’s why I wanted a new format where we, as the European Union, could talk directly with Putin.”
At a European Council meeting that month, Merkel and Macron proposed direct negotiations with other leaders in response to the buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine’s border. But a coalition of Eastern European countries, including Poland, opposed the idea.
“This was not supported by some. It was mainly the Baltic states, but Poland was also against it,” she said. Merkel explained that these countries had been “afraid” that “we would not have a common policy toward Russia … In any case, it didn’t happen. Then I left office, and then Putin’s aggression began.”
Merkel blasted by Baltics, Poland for suggesting they share blame for Russia’s Ukraine invasion
“I am astonished that after everything that has happened in Ukraine, she still thinks this way,” a former leader says of ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Ketrin Jochecová (POLITICO)
The entire West is to blame. This is just like what Hitler did leading up to World War 2.
He did whatever he wanted, and got away with it because the allies were too pussified to fight back.
bekind.dedyn.io is dead
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Google Calls ICE Agents a Vulnerable Group, Removes ICE-Spotting App ‘Red Dot’
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Steam is now blocking NSFW updates for published adult-only games, according to a raunchy RPG developer
Steam is now blocking NSFW updates for published adult-only games, according to a raunchy RPG developer
Adult game creators Crimson Delight report that Valve are requiring them to submit NSFW game updates as formal DLC for review.Edwin Evans-Thirlwell (Rock Paper Shotgun)
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In the Reddit thread about the rejected NSFW updates, Crimson Delight have only good things to say about Valve's handling of the situation. "I have to say the reviewer was kind and forthcoming, we didn't feel threatened or bullied in any way, and we got the feeling they were trying to do their best to help devs navigate the process," developer Frenzin writes. "But the fact of the matter is that Valve has payment processors breathing down their neck, and the rules keep getting stricter as time goes on.""Valve isn't the problem here," Frenzin continues. "The big credit card companies are. If anything, Valve has stood up to them and pushed back. They could've simply nuked the 18+ section of Steam, but they didn't, they stuck up for developers. Obviously adult games make Valve money, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of Steam's catalogue. Silksong itself probably earned Valve more than most NSFW titles put together.
"Given that we're erogame devs, we're against any sort of censorship (as long as the content isn't sexualizing minors or nonconsensual in any way)," the developer comments. "But it's important to understand where the real problem lies, and it's not with Valve."
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Yo Einstein, where did I ever say anything about GoG?
People here a so simple when it comes to Valve. All rationality straight out the window. Yo, attention gamers, it is SALE on Steam right now!
Since the issue is with payment processors, we need to switch to crypto to avoid the censorship and abuse of power from banks.
Anyone who doesn't understand this is a complete moron, but they are average so average people won't see it.
Popularity == intelligence
This is literally the kind of thing crypto was invented for, but the useful idiots on the internet are too stupid to see the value of it.
Good job being morons. You are all being herded like sheep.
I honestly don't understand how to “do” crypto. Here’s my brain’s interpretation and questions. You will probably see why I, and many others, don’t use it or dabble in it:
It’s got to be mined to obtain (power hog and time)
You can buy it but it is traded like stock which may inflate it to be more expensive to obtain
Who really owns or has responsibility over what you purchase when it comes to the cryptocurrency?
Where is it “stored” (locally, on a cloud somewhere)?
What coin type do you choose and how do you know it’s safe?
Do you just make your own coin and use a program that does everything needed to package it as “money”?
How does someone verify that you actually have the money behind the coin(s)?
We need a...decentralized alternative to steam.
Customer protections would suuuuuuuck if everyone was running different variations of, what is essentially, a store. Not to mention shovelware would be even more rampant.
Uh, I think it's called the World Wide Web.
I mean, I'm joking, but I do remember buying games directly from a developers website, that's a thing that used to happen.
Seems like a weekend hack to set up a fediverse-backed categorized market that, when you want to buy something- forwards to a "buy our download" link of the seller's choice. Rabid moralists would have to challenge each producer/indie developer individually to take things down.
The real crux is to build a nice user interface on top of it so people would actually use it.
Hamas announces it agrees to ‘immediately’ enter negotiations for release of all hostages
Hamas announces it agrees to ‘immediately’ enter negotiations for release of all hostages
Hamas announced that it had agreed to “immediately” enter negotiations for the release of all hostages according to US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan in a potential breakthrough after mon…pvongs@bayareanewsgroup.com (The Mercury News)
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We have to wait for the negotiations, Hamas' position isn't settled yet.
E: At least not fully. Afaik they don't want to lay down their army which is a pretty essential part of Trump's plan/(Trump voice😀 deal.
Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children killed by Israeli genocide
Omar Ahmed Abdel Naser Shamlakh 8 October 2023
Omar lived in an apartment in a big pink house in Sheikh Eljeen in south-west Gaza. Three families occupied the house, which consisted of two floors containing four apartments. He was the youngest of 10 victims across three generations of the same family that was killed in an Israeli airstrike. “The whole family was buried under the rubble,” Waf’a Shamlakh, Omar’s UK-based cousin, told the Independent. “They only found two whole bodies. The others were in parts or unrecognisable.” Of Omar and his two-year-old brother Abdel, who was also killed, Shamlakh said: “They were just starting their lives, they still had dreams.” Read more.
Nahedh Mohammed Adel Ramez Barbakh 25 January 2024
Nahedh was hit by sniper fire alongside his 20-year-old brother, Ramez, as they followed Israeli military orders to evacuate an area west of Khan Younis. According to a witness interviewed by the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Nahedh was carrying a white flag to lead the way for his family, but after walking just a few steps from the house he was hit in the leg by a bullet. As the teenager attempted to turn back home he was shot in the back and head, the witness said. Ramez was shot through the heart when he tried to rescue his brother.
Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead
Every name on a list compiled by health authorities in Gaza of the child victims of Israel’s offensiveGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
[Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières] MSF denounces killing of 14th staff member in Gaza
MSF denounces killing of 14th staff member in Gaza
Medical staff were hit by Israeli forces while wearing their MSF vests and waiting for a bus to go to work at a hospital.Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
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UNESCO launches the Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects
UNESCO launches the World’s First Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects at a global scale at MONDIACULT 2025
Three years after its announcement at MONDIACULT 2022, UNESCO is launching an innovative initiative: the Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects.www.unesco.org
Meanwhile, Britain's government and the police on Friday urged organizers of a planned pro-Palestinian protest in London this weekend to cancel or postpone the event.
Israel's ongoing genocide of the Palestine people is driving up antisemitism world wide.
There's more reason than ever to get on the streets and demand Netanyahu and his corrupt regimen to be brought to justice for their crimes against humanity.
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Without more context it's hard to pass judgement. Were the victims hit by pass-through shots on the attacker or a wall? Did the firearms officer straight up miss? Were they using their handgun or their carbine?
The real difference will be if they hold the firearms officer accountable, for negligence if nothing else.
Drone sightings prompt call for German police to gain shoot-down powers
Drone sightings overnight at Germany's Munich airport led to the cancellation and diversion of dozens of flights on the eve of a national holiday, leaving nearly 3,000 passengers stranded and leading politicians to call for a tougher response to drone threats, potentially including shooting them down.
We have lots of rules about drone flight now (at least here in the US) - but also no consensus method of enforcement.
It's bizarre, and must be temporary. It's like having speed limits but no method in place for pulling people over.
Police Accidentally Shot and Killed a Victim During Manchester Terrorist Attack
Officials said that one of the men killed at the Heaton Park Congregation synagogue in northwestern England had been hit by police gunfire.
So apparently 50% of the deadly wounded were killed by police, not the terrorist.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/world/europe/uk-manchester-synagogue-attack.html
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The Good guy with a gun caused more damage than the actual attacker.
My prediction is people will be blind to the irony and no lessons will be learned.
Synology Reverses Policy Banning Third-Party HDDs After NAS sales plummet
Synology Reverses Policy Banning Third-Party HDDs After NAS sales plummet
Synology has backtracked on one of its most unpopular decisions in years. After seeing NAS sales plummet in 2025, the company has decided to lift restrictions that forced users to buy its own Synology hard drives.www.guru3d.com
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What Happened with Proton Mail and Journalist Accounts
What Happened with Proton Mail and Journalist Accounts
Episode 241: ProtonMail allegedly banned journalist accounts, Plex had a data breach, leadership changes at the EFF, and more. Welcome to the Surveillance Report - featuring Techlore & The New ...PeerTube.wtf
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Hacker group Black Mirror releases first batch of Rostec files detailing Russia’s international military deals and sanctions evasion schemes
The hacker collective Black Mirror has released the first portion of an archive of documents from the Russian state defense corporation Rostec. The tranche contains more than 300 items. The materials detail Russia’s military and technical cooperation with foreign clients, pricing for military items, and logistics schemes aimed at evading sanctions. The published documents also include internal correspondence, presentations on overseas helicopter service centers, and agreements with international partners.
The files show that Russian companies have faced difficulties receiving payments for contracts with Algeria, Egypt, China, and India. Russian banks have been unable to issue guarantees or conduct transactions through the SWIFT system, forcing them to search for alternative settlement schemes in yuan, rubles, and euros.
The archive also contains information about an international network of service centers for Russian helicopter equipment. The documents describe existing and planned maintenance facilities in the UAE, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, and other countries. Particular attention is paid to the creation of an international regional logistics hub in Dubai, near Al Maktoum Airport, designed as a central node for supplying spare parts and components.
Among the materials is a letter from the Rostec holding company Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies (CRET) on pricing for military products in export contracts. The document proposes a simplified formula for setting wholesale prices, profit margins, transport expenses, and currency risks. It also discusses possible legal changes to allow more flexible use of revenues from military-technical cooperation.
The hackers said this is only the first portion of the Rostec archive, which they are releasing in what they called “fuck off exposure” mode. Black Mirror claims the documents include a list of “reliable trading partners” in several countries.
[...]
[Edit to insert a link without amp.]
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Spanish prosecutor closes investigation into major manufacturer Maxam, whose Russian plants continue producing explosives despite EU ban
cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/43400129
ArchivedSpain’s public prosecutor has closed a pretrial investigation into MaxamCorp International S.L. that was opened after a report by The Insider exposed the company’s Russian factories, which continue to produce explosives despite Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian antiwar activists living in Spain filed a complaint that prompted the probe in June. Three months later, the prosecutor at Spain’s National Court dropped the investigation, despite the factories not halting their operations.
[...]
In the decision declining to press charges [...] the prosecutor, without citing specific sources, said Maxam did not export explosive substances to Russia in 2024-2025 and that in 2024 the company lost control of its Russian subsidiaries.
The Insider asked an independent sanctions-compliance lawyer to comment on the prosecutor’s ruling.
Alex Prezanti, [an independent sanctions-compliance lawyer and] co-executive director of the nonprofit State Capture Accountability Project (SCAP), said the prosecutor examined the evidence selectively:
“In his decision to close the investigation against Maxam International, the Spanish prosecutor appears to have only examined events in 2024-2025 — once Maxam had lost control of its Russian subsidiaries. However, the complaint and the Insider's reporting also allege that Maxam International provided its Russian subsidiaries with materials and intellectual property for the production of explosives between 2022 and 2023.The reporting also alleges that in 2023, Maxam appears to have accepted dividends on profits accrued by its subsidiaries in Russia from a direct supplier to the Russian military industrial complex. It is therefore unfortunate, in my opinion, that the Spanish prosecutor omitted the events of 2022-2023 from his examination. Whilst I have not seen enough evidence to conclude whether there was criminal conduct, on the face of it these allegations would justify a full investigation to determine whether Maxam International broke the law during the first two years of Russia's full scale invasion.”
[...]
Maxam has operated in Russia since 1999 through four subsidiaries: the management company Maxam Rusia LLC ((ООО «Максам Русия»), along with three explosives plants — “High-Tech Initiation Systems” JSC (AO “VSI”) in the Samara Region, “Eastern Mining Services” LLC (ООО «ИМС») in the northern Murmansk Region, and YUII-Sibir LLC (ООО «ЮИИ-Сибирь») in Krasnoyarsk Krai in central Siberia. The ultimate owner of those firms was Spain’s MaxamCorp International S.L.
All three production sites continued operating after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
[...]
Spanish prosecutor closes investigation into major manufacturer Maxam, whose Russian plants continue produc...
Spain’s public prosecutor has closed a pretrial investigation into MaxamCorp International S.L. that was opened after a report by The Insider exposed the company’s Russian factories, which continue to produce explosives despite Russia’s full-scale in…The Insider
Ukraine criticises proposed law banning promotion of Ukrainian nationalist ideology in Poland
cross-posted from: lemmy.zip/post/50147549
The episode marks the latest flashpoint in long-standing tensions between Poland and Ukraine – two otherwise close allies – over wartime history, and in particular the massacre of around 100,000 ethnic Poles by Ukrainian nationalists.In Poland, those events, known as the Volhynia massacres, have been officially recognised as an act of genocide. However, Ukraine rejects the use of that term. It also still venerates many UPA and OUN figures as national heroes, prompting criticism from Poland and Israel.
How Gen Z is taking the fight for their rights from TikTok to the streets
How Gen Z is taking the fight for their rights from TikTok to the streets
After sweeping away the Nepalese government in early September and shaking up the Philippines, a wave of protests initiated by Generation Z has now spread to Madagascar and Morocco.RFI
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Delusions of a Protocol
So, if you're online poisoned like me, you may have noticed that Bluesky CEO Jay Graber has been having sort of a slow motion, low-key public meltdown for the past several weeks. Most recently, in this interaction with a user.
[…]
Even with practical technical decentralization, the vast majority of Bluesky users are on, well, Bluesky. Bluesky was never really packaged as something that was relatively easy for someone to spin up on their own servers; the network has been historically extremely centralized, and only small minorities of users have broken off.AT Proto decentralization doesn't exist as a practical reality, and if it ever does it won't be for years. Most of the work driving effective decentralization is being done by third parties, who have limited guarantees about future compatibility with possible breaking changes on Bluesky's end.
Bluesky inc isn't really making 'a protocol', they're making Bluesky, the monolithic (to within a rounding error) social network that they operate.
I do genuinely believe that the Bluesky team set off from the start to create a decentralized protocol, but unfortunately for them they ended up running a social network. And at this point, AT Proto has become essentially a sort of ideological vaporware; a way for Jay Graber et al to run a social media platform while claiming they don't run a social media platform.
This is, of course, just another iteration of the Silicon Valley monoproduct: power without accountability. The tech industry elite are very much like Gilded Age railroad barons – buying up whole towns, breaking up strikes, imposing top-down economic policy on whole sectors – except all the while they claim that they are just technology enthusiasts playing with their little trains.
This does raise a question relevant to the Fediverse. Some Bluesky users are lobbying to have Jesse Singal banned, whoever that is. Of course, a hallmark of a decentralized network is that there is no central authority that could actually do that. Implicitly, this demand is a rejection of the very concept of decentralization.
Once people find out what decentralization means, are they even willing to tolerate it?
Bluesky is a platform for scammers and morons.
If you're not the one scamming, that only leaves one other option.
Munich drone sightings force airport to cancel flights in latest Europe disruption
Drone sightings over Munich airport on Thursday evening forced air traffic control to suspend operations, leading to the cancellation of 17 flights and disrupting travel for nearly 3,000 passengers in the German city.Another 15 arriving flights were diverted to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna and Frankfurt, the airport said in a statement, marking the latest drone disruption to European aviation after sightings temporarily shut airports in Denmark and Norway last week.
Munich airport reopens after halting flights because of drone sightings
Travel disrupted for thousands on eve of national holiday in latest drone incident to hit European aviationDeborah Cole (The Guardian)
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What's the factor when you're planning to self-hosted a instance?
I am interested of self-hosting my own instance but one the issue I have is:
- Price for renting server and buying domain name. Mainly, I have low income.
- Unsure if it be single-user instance or if I want multiple people on my instance.
- If my instance is for multiple users, if I be the best fit for moderation as well, pitching it to non Fedizen (whatever you call people that use the Fediverse) as well as the theme of the instance as it would effect my Fedi software of choice (eg. Friendica, Mastodon/Glitch)
I just worried that I try just do it immediately without planning things out or have whatever things in mind which might otherwise help me know what's the best choice and not be upset that I wasted my time and money on something that didn't work out for me.
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I didn't give it nearly as much thought before I started.
In terms of price, you can set a very low price for a single-user instance. Hetzner and Netcup, for example, offer very affordable VPS (these are providers I know of, but there are certainly others).
I don't see open registration as a problem either. I've had it for years, and when I get waves of spam, which is very rare, I switch to moderated mode, otherwise it remains open.
I would host software according to your preferences. I should have kept Friendica running and turned off Mastodon, but that ship has sailed for me.
For a single-user instant, it might be interesting to connect to a relay; it is important that it is moderated. Fedimins offers such a service.
Russia is helping China to prepare for a potential invasion of Taiwan, defense institute says
Russia is helping China to prepare for a potential invasion of Taiwan, defense institute says
LONDON (AP) — Russia is selling military equipment and technology to China that could help Beijing prepare an airborne invasion of Taiwan, according to an analysis of leaked Russian documents by a U.K.-based defense and security forum.EMMA BURROWS, Associated Press (The Hill)
I honestly doubt that russia would be trusted to supply anything for the chinese military outside of raw materials.
Also, whats a high altitude parachute? is it just one that deploys higher up? Wouldint that make the troops and stuff easier to hit?
On top of that, if russia had all this...why couldnt they take Kyiv?
After watching Is Russia Already at War With NATO?
I think it is more likely that trump is trying to goad NATO into responding more seriously to russia, and then once they do trump can condem the action and support russia against NATO.
Now russia can pull out of Ukraine without admitting defeat
Thank you for pointing-out that he could be doing that particular machiavellianism: I'd not thought of any such game.
I've been telling people for years that Trump's going to ditch NATO & back his original backer, Putin, against NATO.
lee.senate.gov/2025/6/lee-intr…
& "The Kremlin Papers" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kremlin_… show who's investment Trump is ( apparently The Guardian has now disappeared all such content? from DuckDuckGo, it has, anyways.. how spectacularly depressing to see propagandism go THAT deep, eradicating journalism even-more, since Guardian changed ownership ).
He's playing a negative-sum game, same as Putin, same as mass-shooters: the intent is that NOone matter, after he's gone: he gets to be "the last word", & gets to be the "king" which presides over the destruction of the world's potential.
Zero-sum games are competitive-narcissism, but negative-sum games are competitive-nihilism-and-narcissism.. different motivation entirely.
_ /\ _
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Two arrested as 'African tribe' evicted after raid on group's camp in Scottish wood
Two arrested as 'African tribe' evicted after raid on group's camp in Scottish wood
Sky's Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies reported on claims that Kaura Taylor, 21, from Texas, was lured and coerced into moving to the forest, 4,000 miles away from home.Sky News
French court to try Chinese captain of suspected Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker
cross-posted from: lemmy.kde.social/post/4574561
A French court is to try the Chinese captain of a tanker from Russia's "shadow fleet" early next year after it was intercepted off France, prosecutors said Thursday, in a move seen as a message to Moscow over its efforts to skirt Western oil sanctions.The French navy on Saturday stopped the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin and blacklisted by the European Union for being part of Russia's sanction-busting "shadow fleet" of ageing oil tankers, according to the public prosecutor's office in the northwestern city of Brest.
French court to try Chinese captain of suspected Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker
A French court will try the Chinese captain of a Russian-linked oil tanker early next year after the vessel, part of Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet,” was intercepted off the French coast, prosecutors said Thursday.FRANCE 24
Note that they'll be tried only for refusing to comply with a police check whatever is the proper word for that. The kind of stuff you get a fine for.
Looks like more a pretext to bring that captain to France and have intelligence service talking with him than a serious crime.
Fediverse Report 136 - This week's fediverse news
- Newsmast takes a new direction with a white-label app for news organisations that also offers fediverse integration
- a paper by @inquiline on targeted harassment on Mastodon
- ActivityPub Fuzzer is a new tool that helps devs with interoperability
- WordPress blog posts now can be quote posted!
Fediverse Report – #136
White-label fediverse apps for news organisations with Newsmast, a paper exploring how harrassment on Mastodon works, and a new tool for easier fediverse interoperability.connectedplaces.online
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Michael Foster describes how news organisations do not gel well with the original approach of either Mastodon servers or the channel.org communities. The finding of Newsmast is that this is too confusing and tech-centric for news organisations to really grasp. Instead, Newsmast is now going in the direction of apps, as “independent news publishers and campaigning organisations love the idea of having an app.”
Fuck, that is depressing. I mean, I really hope that this works for Newsmast but if people running a news organisation can't wrap their head around the fediverse, I'm not sure I'll trust them with news ... I don't know. I can't even understand what's supposed to be complicated.
Generation Z is stirring up rebellion across borders, from Morocco to Madagascar
Gen Z, the first generation to have grown up in the internet age, has been at the forefront of anti-government protests in several countries of the Global South. Madagascar and Morocco are the latest countries to be hit by these youth-led movements, which use digital tools to communicate anger at corruption and underfunded social services.
Generation Z is stirring up rebellion across borders, from Morocco to Madagascar
Gen Z, the first generation to have grown up in the internet age, has been at the forefront of anti-government protests in several countries of the Global South.Grégoire SAUVAGE (FRANCE 24)
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A Canadian politician is openly spreading Nazi propaganda
A Canadian politician is openly spreading Nazi propaganda
Do you ever see something that is absolutely horrifying, the implications of which are terrible, and no one else seems to really notice? These two tweets are one of those things for me: Anyone with a basic understanding of politics is aware that Naz…Abe Oudshoorn (Truths and Loves)
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PP so pathetic. Lost the election lost his riding lost his mind. And he’s a career politician. So none of this is excusable.
Pathetic.
No, his claims are not "simply" ignorant, as the article claims:
his claims are INTENTIONALLY ignorant, which is malevolent, is disinformation, & is gaslighting-of-fact.
The difference between the 2 states is signficant.
_ /\ _
Canada Warns Travelers With X Marker on Passports They May Face Obstacles in US
cross-posted from: ibbit.at/post/70458
The Canadian Department of Global Affairs has updated its travel advice for people planning to travel to the United States, specifically warning people who have the gender marker “X” on their passports that they may face obstacles or restrictions while traveling abroad. The X marker is specifically granted to transgender or nonbinary individuals who do not want to place a “male” or “female”…From Truthout via this RSS feed
Canada Warns Travelers With X Marker on Passports They May Face Obstacles in US
People with an X marker on their passports may “face entry restrictions” in the US, the Canadian government warned.Chris Walker (Truthout)
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States (a state is a government, a nation is a group of people) can do whatever they want with their passport. One of the perks of being sovereign. But there are groups of countries that have mutually agreed what should be on a passport and how/where.
The EU is a big example, but there is also a common passport for ECOWAS for several West African states and many others.
That said, I think they all list sex/gender, but I'm open to being corrected by someone who actually knows.
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It is obviously based on an outdated concept of gender, but it actually is pretty useful to help match people to passports. If someone identifies as male but is dressed like a woman, it raises red flags. The answer to that might be as simple as "This is a 90s sitcom and I lost a transphobic bet" but it is there. Same with hair color.
Which, funny enough, is an argument for people to actually write down the gender they identify as. But it is also a lot like hair color or facial hair in that it is just too cost and time prohibitive to update a passport every time someone tries a new look. Because... genderfluid people exist.
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🍹 Log Out @ Roma
Mercoledì 15 ottobre torniamo con il Logout di TWC Roma, il ritrovo per tech workers che vogliono incontrarsi dopo lavoro: un'occasione per socializzare, conoscersi, parlare del nostro lavoro e come organizzarci nei prossimi mesi!
Ci vediamo mercoledì 15 ottobre, alle 18.30, da Vox Populi a San Lorenzo!
Unisciti al Gruppo telegram!
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U.S. State Department greenlights potential sale of $2.4B mobile rocket system to Canada
cross-posted from: sh.itjust.works/post/47146770
Contract not yet negotiated, Congress must grant approval
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IF we actually got them, AND they weren't remotely-sabotaged/deactivated,
THEN we could use them against the aggressor, to multiply our effectiveness in the coming Americas Wars that will be Trump's final "legacy".
_ /\ _
I believe that the game Trump is playing is this:
- Get us to contract to buy weapons from them,
- declare annexation/war against Canada,
- keep the money, bankrupting our ability to buy weapons,
- use the weapons we paid-for against Canada, to gain Trump's "Manifest Destiny" quicker & more-efficiently,
- then Trump gets to be "king of the entire continent" before he dies.
For all who believe this is baseless delusion, have some fact: thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/…
This has been brewing all along, since the days of the colonies warring against each-other, the British-loyal colonies vs the United-States colonies..
When somebody pointed-out here in c/world , the other day, that Trump appears to be hoping that Europe will strike Russia so that he can then openly side with Russia, against Europe, .. damn, I wish I'd seen/understood that machiavellianism..
I don't remember what video he was linking-to ( as I didn't watch it ) that convinced him that this was going-on, but it was an understanding pushed by evidence, not just some narcissist-conspiricism, it seemed to me.
Also, it got the natures/motivations/behaviors in a better-fit than my previous understanding did, so I accept it as operationally-true.
I've been telling people for .. perhaps a decade, now, that Trump will ditch NATO, join Russia ( as the now-disappeared-from-the-internet "Kremlin Papers" journalism identified: his original backer ), & help Russia destroy the hated woke countries, especially the EU.
lee.senate.gov/2025/6/lee-intr…
I hadn't forseen his declaring war against Canada, so as to possess the entire-continent, until recently ( past year or so? ).
It's inevitable, now.
The reason he wants Greenland is so that between Alaska, mainland US, Greenland, & Trump's former-Pentagon/now-Department-Of-War, his airforce & his navy, he can SNUFF Canada's trade, & thereby break Canada's life more-efficiently.
There IS unconscious-strategy going-on, in him.
His SurfaceMind's a chaotic mess, but his unconscious-mind is strategic, & lethal, as Project-2025's successful implimentation proves..
There is ZERO point in pretending that Trump will allow any election to unseat him: Civil War Part2 will happen, when he doesn't permit whichever election it is that he feels fundamentally-threatened by. Maybe 2026 he'll just "deregister" all Democrats, so they can't vote, or maybe he'll just "denaturalize" them, so they don't even have citizenship in any country, anymore, & ICE can deport them all legally.
The US of A's finished as a real country with civil-rights & constitutional-rule-of-law.
The longer the rest of the world pretends otherwise, the farther along the path of self-destruction humankind puts itself, & therefore the smaller the fraction of POSSIBLE survivors of this-century's Great Filter.
It's the species-equivalent to puberty: you can't believe-your-way-past-it, it is an all-consuming-tranformation that eats your unconscious-mind's nature, & FORCES one's life into embodying it.
All world-species who gain world-shattering technology, WITHOUT their unconscious-mind/nature growing-up, break their world's ecology, & then shred themselves in wars as the food-chain, the climate, enforced-migrations, political/ideological rabies, etc, all COMBINE at once..
It is inevitable.
Surviving it isn't inevitable, but is an opportunity, IF earned.
We're .. not earning that, presently, but instead going in a distinctly-different direction.
shrug
Universe couldn't care: species-extinction is every bit as socially "valid" as is species-growing-up, right?
OUR "fate": OUR determination.
_ /\ _
Lee Introduces Withdrawal from NATO
WASHINGTON – As NATO concludes another ineffective summit, U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Not A Trusted Organization (NATO) Act today to withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).Mike Lee US Senator for Utah
NOSTR and content moderation
I wrote a rather lenghty to reply to some guy's toot asking about if he should block mostr.pub. I thought it might be appreciated here.
Getting some reports about #mostr accounts that seem to just spew word soup, maybe to spam hashtags and links but after reading through a few profiles, I'm unsure what the deal there is. Am I right in assuming that nostr is by design more or less unmoderateable? Is that reason enough to block the bridge? #FediAdmin
NOSTR is a protocol just like ActivityPub is. Neither protocol in-and-of-itself is moderated but supports the ability to be moderated. ActivityPub does it via instances and sometimes is baked right into the platform. (I recall at one time Lemmy automatically blocked any posts that contained reactionary language unless the admin edited the source code and re-compiled it themselves). Similarly, NOSTR relays chose how to handle the reports much the same way AP servers set their own standards.
If I understand correctly, a report goes to whichever relays mostr.pub is connected to, and it's up to each relay how to handle it. Some tag you as a whinny little bitch, others take that note out immediately, others ignore, and I think some actually have a dude look at its content and make decisions whether to remove the nevent (post) or actually block the npub (user).
Same as if you were using a NOSTR "account" yourself, except you don't have control over which relays your account connects to as natives do, by specifically connecting, or specifically blocking in your client. Instead, I think, it is solely determined by which nostr users connect their client to wss://realy.mostr.pub and which other relays those same users are connected to. I believe a given nostr relay can choose to block any user that connects to a particular other relay.
I don't expect @alexto be making any such blocks from the mostr relay. My understanding is that one of the reasons he's shifted his focus for Soapbox from a Pleroma focused solution to a NOSTR one is one thing that always bothered him about the AP powered 'verse is some random dude can cut off communication between you and your friend unless at least one of the two of you administers your own instance or you create a new account on a different instance.
I'm uncertain if momostr.pink or the other nostr bridge, whose name I can't remember currently, have similar lax policies that mostr.pub does or not. Regardless if you want direct control over anything more than blocking particular users, you are going to have to block any of these bridges.
In my personal experience I've been on NOSTR for over a year now, but Frienidca remains my primary social media. In that time I can say I've seen way more Bitcoin propaganda than even I am interested in, but certainly a lot less fascist, TERF, and racist nonsense than I have in some corners of the AP based 'verse. But bitcoin bois can get awful annoying. In general hosting a mastodon (or other platform) instance can be a dicey legal situation because you have little control on whether someone's [potentially illegal] porn ends up being stored on your hardware . This doesn't significantly change if you choose to connect your server to a nostr bridge or not.
BTW Soapbox, including mostr, doesn't connect to lemmy. I don't know if that was a purposeful design decision or just no one has bothered to make it work. There is at least one lemmy-like NOSTR client, Zapddit if it could connect to lemmy it might make me shift from Friendica to NOSTR as my primary social media.
Russian manufacturing activity contracts for 4th straight month in September
cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/43353333
The S&P Global Russia Manufacturing PMI fell to 48.2 in September 2025 from August’s 3-month high of 48.7, signaling a fourth straight month of contraction.Output declined at the sharpest rate in over three years, while new orders shrank more steeply.
Foreign demand also slumped, posting the largest drop since November 2022 amid weak export markets.
[...]
Purchasing activity shrank again, though more moderately, while supplier performance deteriorated the most in six months due to logistics bottlenecks and shortages.
On inflation, operating costs rose at the fastest pace in four months but remained below the long-run average, and firms raised output prices only fractionally.
[...]
Russia Manufacturing PMI
Manufacturing PMI in Russia decreased to 48.20 points in September from 48.70 points in August of 2025.tradingeconomics.com
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Paragone
in reply to xc2215x • • •There HAD been Italian-navy protection for it, but they withdrew, according to the headlines of the past few days, here..
IF you accommodate machiavellian-malevolence, whether in elections or in providing-aid-to-the-dying,
THEN evil's opportunism OBLIGES it to take-advantage of that.
Protesting, producing mass-social-statements, after-the-fact, DOESN'T protect: it only makes political-assertion.
EITHER break evil's control, XOR accommodate it, .. but stop orienting to accommodating it and then whining when it does exactly what it had to do.
Grow up, humankind!
Same as with Russia's invation of Ukraine: WE ACCOMMODATED THAT, until it was underway, and THEN we complain that it costs sooo much to fight now that we let it get entrenched??
Had we provided the already promised ( when we got Ukraine to give-up their nukes ) protection, when the buildup was still happening .. then there'd be much less rooting-out needing doing, now, obviously.
This is the same principle as vaccination: EITHER you prevent as much transmission, and as much lethality, as you can, up-front, through immunization, .. XOR you accommodate it, & then .. whine about the consequences?
( the LeopardsAteMyFace stuff is all excellent display of what I'm calling-out, here:
Apparently it isn't only considered-reasoning that needs to be trained, it also is objectivity-itself!
How stupid of me to have not understood that they both, independently, needed to be trained, in this world, until nearly 60 years old.
Better to learn now, though, than to continue remaining ignorant, right? )
We're running-out of "chances", humankind:
ClimatePunctuation's intensifying ideological-supremacism's highjacking of our world's groups,
& if that process completes-sufficiently, then next-century's going to be silent of our kind, utterly, because we will have done a "mass shooting" against our own entire-species, in a kind of ideological-rampaging tantrum.
Salut, Namaste, & Kaizen.
_ /\ _
Dataprolet
in reply to xc2215x • • •Fuck Israels right-wing government, but fuck the Flotillas ties to Turkish right-wing Grey Wolfes, Hezbollah, authoritarian communists and antisemites of Young Struggle, transphobic Islamist, terrorists of PFLP.
democ-de.translate.goog/artike…
„Our answer is escalation“ – Die Sumud-Flotilla als Teil einer globalen Bewegung gegen Israel
democ