Petition e6679 - Political Honesty
There is a petition, e6679, on the official ourcommons.ca website for the government of Canada, which address is misinformation in Canadian politicians.
If you ask me, this is a very important petition, because I believe that the threat to Canadian sovereignty and democracy is indeed misinformation that is being spread by Canadian politicians. Sure, misinformation from social media is annoying, and when it comes from the traditional media it's disturbing, but when it comes from Federal politicians, it's downright dangerous.
It has almost 40,000 signatures. Please sign it, there's only three weeks left. The more signatures, the more weight it will have when it's read in parliament
We need to send a message to Parliament and let them know that we're concerned and frustrated with misinformation.
I should note that the website has had lots of problems recently. Please be patient and try until you succeed. You need to receive a validation email, click on that, and then you get a confirmation email. Until you get that second email, your signature has not been counted.
SAP shakes up its certification process
SAP shakes up its certification process
The ERP giant is shifting away from multiple-choice questions toward a new model centered on real-world environments, starting with new formats for six certs rolled out at TechEd this week in Berlin.Lynn Greiner (CIO)
Wikipedia co-founder joins editing conflict over the Gaza genocide page
Wikipedia co-founder joins editing conflict over the Gaza genocide page
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has inserted himself into discussions over the site’s “Gaza genocide” page, saying that it has issues with neutrality and “requires immediate correction.”Emma Roth (The Verge)
Neue Vereinsmeisterschaftstabelle nach Nachtgolfen
Mit dem letzten Turnier hat sich auch die Tabelle zur Vereinsmeisterschaft leicht verändert.
Damit ihr mal seht, wie man Nachtgolf spielt, hier ein kleines Video dazu.
tube.tchncs.de/videos/embed/5u…
Und jetzt die Tabelle:
2025 Nachtgolfen in Elster - Bahn 10 # Golf #Crossgolf #Nachtgolf - tchncs
Hier noch ein kleines Video, wie Nachtgolfen wirklich ist vom 01.11.2025tube.tchncs.de
Police report describes Republican Nancy Mace berating airport police and TSA agents
South Carolina firebrand running for governor allegedly abused agents working without pay during shutdown
The US representative Nancy Mace, a Republican firebrand running for South Carolina governor, is drawing scrutiny after a police report described her berating airport police and TSA agents as she was being escorted to a gate last week.
The profane incident at the Charleston international airport threatens to derail her run as she said she would sue the airport authority for defamation and false reporting.
An initial incident report from the Charleston county aviation authority police department first obtained by Wired describes Mace cursing at airport staff, saying that this was no way to treat a “f---ing U.S. representative”. She invoked the name of South Carolina senator Tim Scott, saying that the Republican lawmaker would not be treated as she was, according to the report.
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Gov. JB Pritzker says an Indiana remap might force Illinois to act as he celebrates Democratic wins Tuesday
The Democratic governor, a vocal Trump critic who is pursuing a third term next year as well as a potential 2028 White House bid, also indicated that any effort to redraw Illinois’ congressional districts to counter gerrymandering pushed by the president in GOP-led states may depend on whether Indiana takes action on redistricting.
Gov. JB Pritzker says an Indiana remap might force Illinois to act as he celebrates Democratic wins Tuesday
The Democratic governor, a vocal Trump critic who is pursuing a third term next year as well as a potential 2028 White House bid, also indicated that any effort to redraw Illinois’ congressional districts to counter gerrymandering pushed by the president in GOP-led states may depend on whether Indiana takes action on redistricting.
AI gets 45% of news wrong — but readers still trust it
no plans to fix it, though
- video
pivottoai.libsyn.com/20251105-… - podcast
time: 4 min 58 sec
AI gets 45% of news wrong — but readers still trust it
The BBC and the European Broadcasting Union have produced a large study of how well AI chatbots handle summarising the news. In short: badly. [BBC; EBU] The researchers asked ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemi…Pivot to AI
xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
xAI employees were compelled to submit their biometric data to train Grok’s AI companion Ani and other avatars.Andrew J. Hawkins (The Verge)
xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
xAI employees were compelled to submit their biometric data to train Grok’s AI companion Ani and other avatars.Andrew J. Hawkins (The Verge)
xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
xAI employees were compelled to submit their biometric data to train Grok’s AI companion Ani and other avatars.Andrew J. Hawkins (The Verge)
xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
xAI employees were compelled to submit their biometric data to train Grok’s AI companion Ani and other avatars.Andrew J. Hawkins (The Verge)
xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
xAI employees were compelled to submit their biometric data to train Grok’s AI companion Ani and other avatars.Andrew J. Hawkins (The Verge)
Something to Think About this month
As well as everything else, each month I offer you something to think about and get the brain working. This month …
Do illiterate people get the full effect of alphabet soup?
#blog #logic #thoughts #zenmischief
rabbia femcellica della mattina sorprendente in cui la rogna universale si riabbatte sul mio culo (gli innamorati in giro mi fanno stare male)
Lo so che ormai non solo sembro, ma sono, un disco rotto, ma a questo punto I swear to god, come si dice in questi casi… Ormai mi pare sempre più di vivere in un mondo costruito apposta per distruggermi a tutti i costi; mi sembra di essere all’interno di una di quelle visual novel […]
EU scientists record 99.5% sunlight absorption leap for solar towers
EU scientists record 99.5% sunlight absorption leap for solar towers
EHU researchers have demonstrated new nanomaterials for solar towers capable of 99.5% light absorption, boosting renewable energy potential.Atharva Gosavi (Interesting Engineering)
Mihon, an aggregated manga reading app, issues a troubling warning they might shut down due to imitators that uses old Tachiyomi name
Citing Kotatsu's recent shut down, two of Mihon's devs said that misuse of Mihon’s name and branding by a group may endanger the project.
I copied the text if you don't want to go the link. It's a bit long so I spoilered it.
::: spoiler spoiler
Hello everyone,With Kotatsu's recent shutdown and due to some ongoing issues over the years, I believe Mihon is also under threat. If you care about the project's future, please take a moment to read this message.
Who is behind the threat, and how?
A group going by iiTachiyomi and recently Miyomi has built a massive following by impersonating Tachiyomi (Mihon's predecessor) across various platform. They only rebranded to iiTachiyomi after years of request and only on platforms where they had a low following.Their blatant impersonation was one of the key reason behind the legal threat Tachiyomi received, which ultimately led to its shutdown. When we announced Mihon and exposed their behavior, iiTachiyomi promised to change their ways and not impersonate Mihon.
However, just months after Mihon launched, they resumed the same behavior by:
- Creating a new brand "Miyomi: Tachiyomi and Mihon community" to capitalize on Mihon's name
- Posting Mihon release notes and announcements without attribution
- Sharing updates of third-party extension repos without attribution
- Failing to clarify they are not the developers behind Mihon or those extensions
- Selling fake Mihon branded merchandise
Why does this threaten Mihon?
When P.CoK, the anti-piracy division of Kakao requested the removal of extensions, the Tachiyomi team complied. iiTachiyomi, however continued distributing them in a misleading way, causing confusion that escalated into legal pressure, which resulted in Tachiyomi shutting down.Now, they are doing the same thing with Mihon. Their misrepresentation and misuse of Mihon’s name, branding and work puts the project at risk, despite Mihon having already corrected the mistakes Tachiyomi made. It could also cause problems for other apps they promote.
What to do from now on
iiTachiyomi claims to serve the community, but their actions prove otherwise. To protect Mihon:
- Report iiTachiyomi or Miyomi pages that mislead users
- Correct people who confuse Mihon with iiTachiyomi or Miyomi
- Don’t share or support unofficial Mihon merchandise
- Spread the word: Mihon has no connection to themSigned by:
- Antsy, Mihon Developer
- jobobby04, TachiyomiSY Developer
:::
This is after the action that Kotatsu manga app shutting down due to Kakao's continued war on manga piracy, and Google's future policy of limiting what Android users can install on their own devices.
From Kotatsu's github readme:
::: spoiler screenshot
:::
ImportantIn light of recent challenges — including threating actions from Kakao Entertainment Corp and upcoming Google’s new sideloading policy — we’ve made the difficult decision to shut down Kotatsu and end its support. We’re deeply grateful to everyone who contributed and to the amazing community that grew around this project.
One year ago, Tachiyomi shut down due to Kakao's efforts, as per this post here.
Mihon could be under threat
Misuse of Mihon’s name and branding by a group may endanger the projectMihon
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I don't really know.
I read some posts of both the accused and the accuser and can't find anything really bad.
For example the mentioned merch using the logo/brand from Mihon.
Yes, the kanji can't be "copyrighted" as it's like saying I own the letter "A" but the styling is obviously reminiscent of Tachiyomi/Mihon.
Besides that, as of right now I can't either sides.
Richard Thompson - Still (2015)
Figura centrale per la nascita del folk-rock inglese e con alle spalle una discografia ormai corposissima, Richard Thompson, prosegue con entusiasmo e convinzione il proprio percorso artistico, animato da una curiosità febbrile nel ricercare sonorità nuove, dando alle stampe “Still”, disco nato dalla collaborazione artistica con Jeff Tweedy, il quale ne ha curato la produzione... Leggi e ascolta...
The Big Short Guy Just Bet $1 Billion That the AI Bubble Pops
The Big Short Guy Just Bet $1 Billion That the AI Bubble Pops
Michael Burry, who shorted the housing market in 2008, has bet over $1 billion that the shares of AI companies Nvidia and Palantir will fall.Victor Tangermann (Futurism)
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US-Based Partner Wanted
Hi.
I’m a Mobile App developer (Android, iOS, React Native, Flutter, AWS) with 5+ years of experience shipping real products. I’m not looking for clients — I’m looking for a US-based partner to team up and earn together.
You must be older than 25 and younger than 40 and need a pc.
The idea is simple:
- You: land freelance or contract work on Upwork, LinkedIn, or your network. Or you can share Upwork, Linkedin to me so I can land freelance or contract.
- I: deliver high-quality code, on time, with clean documentation.
- We split by detailed discussion after platform fees.
What I bring:
- Full development (frontend, backend, APIs, cloud)
- Daily updates & flexible with US time zones
- Portfolio + GitHub ready to share
What you bring:
- US profile/address for platforms
- Client communication & project management
- Ability to win paid gigs
DM me if you’re interested — tell me:
One platform you’ve used to get work
Your rough availability
Looking forward to building something profitable together!
Best,
“Biblical Justice, Equal Justice, for All”: How North Carolina’s Chief Justice Transformed His State and America
How Paul Newby Made North Carolina a Blueprint for Conservative Courts
Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, he’s driven changes that have reverberated well beyond the borders of his state.Emily.Goldstein@propublica.org (ProPublica)
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US troops given German food bank advice amid shutdown – DW – 11/05/2025
US troops given German food bank advice amid shutdown
The US Army Garrison Bavaria removed references to German food banks and other discounted food provision services from its "shutdown guidance" web page.Mark Hallam (Deutsche Welle)
The era of fine speeches and good intentions is over. Brazil’s Cop30 will be about action | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
The era of fine speeches and good intentions is over. Brazil’s Cop30 will be about action
This is our message to world leaders: make this the ‘Cop of truth’, before people lose faith, says the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da SilvaLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva (The Guardian)
Granchio, granchio cornuto della battigia, perché dardeggi svelto sopra la sabbia grigia? - Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri
Granchio, granchio cornuto della battigia, perché dardeggi svelto sopra la sabbia grigia? - Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri
Sono molti gli animali che possiedono un significato simbolico frequentemente citato nell’espressione di un concetto umano. Il cane è fedele, la volpe scaltra, l’orso è forte, l’aquila è libera e il granchio… Uhm, cammina di lato.Jacopo (Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri)
Erica Deuso Makes Trans History, Elected as Pennsylvania Mayor
Erica Deuso Makes Trans History, Elected as Pennsylvania Mayor
"We pulled off something that would have been unthinkable in Chester County just a few years ago.”Samantha Riedel (Them.)
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Authorities detain & deport 2 Jews after they sought to support the olive harvest in a Palestinian village
“The two participants who were detained were volunteering with Rabbis for Human Rights’ long-standing olive harvest initiative—an act of nonviolent solidarity that supports Palestinian farmers facing settler/military violence and access restrictions to their own lands. They joined the harvest as part of their regular volunteer placements through Achvat,” says Oltersdorf.The charges? “Violating IDF Orders,” according to the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority.
The principles and actions of these […] groups might seem soft compared to the ardent anti-Zionist Jewish groups popping up around the world. They were not arrested engaging in insurgent direct action, did not call for an end to Israel, they simply went to go pick olives.
Yet the targeting of these interfaith groups calling for co-existence in Israel/Palestine shows a troubling trend for International solidarity activists seeking to engage in front line activities in Palestine. While groups like International Solidarity Movement, who bring people of all faiths and backgrounds to Palestine have been consistently targeted by Israel for arrest and deportation, the same has rarely applied to Jewish, faith-based groups. The Jewish supremacy that once protected International Jews with Israeli organizations is slowly fading.
Avi Dabush, CEO of Rabbis for Human Rights says: “We are disappointed and outraged by the expulsion of Jewish women from Israel and the delay of volunteers. This is selective enforcement of the most blatant and dangerous kind. We are only two weeks into the harvest season and we have already been given 9 orders declaring the harvest areas a closed military area prohibiting us from entering, but on the other hand, the violent settlers have not been detained or arrested so far in all the attacks that have been recorded. We operate without violence and according to the law, and it is a shame that the police and the army wasted an entire day turning away people who came to stand by people under attack.”
But with this rise in retaliation from Israel against insurgent Jews within their borders, the narrative that Zionism and Israel has been pushing also begins to crack. When Jews become unsafe and unwelcome in Israel because of the Israeli government itself, the hypocrisy of Israel as a means for Jewish safety becomes further exposed. As Israel seeks to determine what Jews are politically aligned enough to engage in apartheid and Jewish supremacy, the world must take note that Jewish safety is not helped by Israel. Indeed at the two activists can attest, Israel makes the world more dangerous for Jews.
Israel deports 32 activists aiding Palestinian olive farmers amid attacks
Israeli army and settlers have carried out 158 attacks against olive pickers since the start of the current seasonFederica Marsi (Al Jazeera)
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What Zohran Mamdani’s Win Means for New York's Climate Politics
What Zohran Mamdani’s Win Means for New York's Climate Politics
The mayor-elect’s approach reflects a view that is going mainstream: To succeed, climate policies may need to lose the label.New York Focus
If New Yorkers experience climate change as a matter of comfort, not survival, that's because NYC is very wealthy. That's why this article can frame the intertwined issue as quality of life, not length of life.
For most of the world, climate change will put quality of life and length of life in conflict with each other. People will need to sacrifice some comfort/luxury to prevent death. That actually probably includes NYC.
Armed US immigration agents drive off with toddler after arrest of father
Armed US immigration agents drive off with toddler after arrest of father
‘Devastated’ family demands answers after two-year-old driven by armed agents from LA Home Depot parking lotMaanvi Singh (The Guardian)
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VW to build its own AI chips in China in autonomous driving push
VW to build its own AI chips in China in autonomous driving push
SHANGHAI: In the race to develop autonomous driving technology, German automotive giant Volkswagen is taking a significant step by developing its own artificial intelligence (AI) chips in China, reported German Press Agency (dpa).Bernama-dpa (New Straits Times)
With a Lock on State Government Control, Virginia Democrats Now Face Difficult Decisions on Data Centers and Renewable Energy
With a Lock on State Government Control, Virginia Democrats Now Face Difficult Decisions on Data Centers and Renewable Energy - Inside Climate News
After big wins on election night, Democrats will have to decide whether easing requirements in the state’s ambitious climate law will be necessary to maintain Virginia’s status as the “data center capital of the world.”Inside Climate News
No but you can't tell the oligarchs to not!
You would need to get their cocks out of your mouth first, so...
Why Solarpunk is already happening in Africa
Why Solarpunk is already happening in Africa
Or: How Africa is building the future by skipping the pastSkander Garroum (Climate Drift)
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Luanti Non-Profit: We've Joined Open Collective Europe
Luanti Non-Profit: We've Joined Open Collective Europe
Joining Open Collective Europe allows Luanti to operate like a non-profit and unlocks many new opportunities.Luanti
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Luanti has joined Open Collective Europe (OCE), a non-profit based in Belgium that provides fiscal hosting to open source projects. OCE hosts many notable projects, including EndeavourOS, F-Droid, and postmarketOS. Joining OCE allows Luanti to operate like a non-profit and unlocks many new opportunities.You can donate to Luanti’s non-profit collective at opencollective.com/luanti.
Luanti - Open Collective
Luanti (formerly Minetest) is an open-source voxel game creation platformopencollective.com
Seven data-driven lessons from the 2025 elections
Seven data-driven lessons from the 2025 elections
Democrats outran their polls and swept statewide races from Georgia to New Jersey, on an agenda of affordability and a broad anti-Trump backlashG. Elliott Morris (Strength In Numbers)
Tech Billionaire Marc Andreessen Bet Big on Trump. It’s Paying Off for Silicon Valley.
Tech Billionaire Marc Andreessen Bet Big on Trump. It’s Paying Off for Silicon Valley.
The Trump administration’s gutting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been good for venture capitalists like Andreessen, who previously accused the agency of “terrorizing” fintech startups and crypto companies.andrea.wise@propublica.org (ProPublica)
Now Hiring: Exciting Remote Opportunities Worldwide
Bolivia Supreme Court orders release of jailed ex-president Jeanine Anez
La Paz (AFP) – Bolivia's Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the 10-year prison sentence handed to former right-wing president Jeanine Anez in 2022 over an alleged plot to oust her predecessor Evo Morales."The sentence against her... has been annulled," Supreme Court President Romer Saucedo told local media, adding that Anez would be released during the day.
Anez, a former senator, served as interim leader in 2019 after Morales fled the country following mass protests over alleged election fraud during his controversial bid for a fourth term.
Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, claimed he was the victim of a coup after the military called for him to step down following weeks of unrest.
His coup claim was dismissed as fictional by many in Bolivia and abroad given that the army never took power.
Anez was arrested in 2021 after Morales' socialist party returned to power in 2020.
She was convicted of illegally assuming the presidency.
Saucedo said Anez should have been tried by a special court in charge of trying crimes by lawmakers in the course of their duties and not by the criminal justice system.
He said that Anez's rights had been violated.
Anez, 58, did not immediately react on social media but on Tuesday had posted on the X that she would "never regret having served my country when it needed me."
Attack on funeral in Sudan's Kordofan region kills 40: UN
Port Sudan (Sudan) (AFP) – An attack on a funeral in the strategic city of El-Obeid in Sudan's central Kordofan region killed 40 people, the UN said Wednesday, as paramilitaries looked poised to launch an offensive there.The United Nations' humanitarian office did not specify when the attack took place or who was behind it, but said that the situation in Kordofan was worsening.
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions more, with the fighting spreading to new areas in recent days, sparking fears of an even greater humanitarian catastrophe.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with the military since 2023, appears to have shifted its focus to Kordofan after capturing El-Fasher, the last army stronghold in the vast western Darfur region.
"Local sources report that at least 40 civilians were killed and dozens injured yesterday in an attack on a funeral gathering in El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State," the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said.
"Once again, OCHA calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for all parties to protect civilians and respect international humanitarian law."
El-Obeid is a logistics and command hub that links Darfur to the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
The RSF claimed control of Bara, a city north of El-Obeid, last week.
People forced to flee El-Fasher have described horrific abuse, including rape, at the hands of the RSF."The rapes were gang rapes. Mass rape in public, rape in front of everyone and no one could stop it," mother of four Amira said from a makeshift shelter in Tawila, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) west of El-Fasher.
"You'd be asleep and they'd come and rape you," she said, using a pseudonym while speaking during a webinar organised by campaign group Avaaz.
"I saw with my own eyes people who couldn't afford to pay (for safe passage) and the fighters took their daughters instead."
Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab released close-up satellite images showing evidence of atrocities committed during the RSF's takeover of El-Fasher.
The lab's executive director, Nathaniel Raymond, told AFP in an interview that the images were "a spark plug for public outrage".
Both sides in the war have been accused of committing atrocities.
The fall of El-Fasher gave paramilitaries control over all five state capitals in Darfur, raising fears that Sudan would effectively be partitioned along an east-west axis.
The RSF now dominates Darfur and parts of the south, while the army holds the north, east and central regions along the Nile and Red Sea.
The UAE is accused by the UN of supplying arms to the RSF -- allegations it has repeatedly denied.
Abu Dhabi on Wednesday voiced its support for a ceasefire and its "deep denunciation of the ongoing human rights violations and horrific crimes being committed against civilians in various parts of Sudan", including El-Fasher.
The Sudanese army, meanwhile, has received support from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran, according to observers.
Sudan's army-backed defence minister on Tuesday said the military would press on with its fight against the RSF after an internal meeting to discuss a US proposal for a ceasefire.
"We thank the Trump administration for its efforts and proposals to achieve peace," Hassan Kabroun said in a speech broadcast on state television, but added that "preparations for the Sudanese people's battle are ongoing".
No details of the US truce proposal have been made public.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that Washington wanted "to see this conflict come to a peaceful end", but added "it's a very complicated situation on the ground right now".
She said the United States was "actively engaged" in seeking a peace deal alongside Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The army-aligned authorities had rejected an earlier truce proposal from the four countries -- referred to as the Quad -- under which both the army and the RSF would be excluded from a transitional political process.
Speaking at a forum in Qatar on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the warring parties to "come to the negotiating table, bring an end to this nightmare of violence -- now".
Mali’s economy near standstill amid JNIM fuel attacks
An ongoing fuel blockade initiated by the JNIM jihadist group in Mali has brought the landlocked Sahel nation’s economy to a near standstill. In an effort to isolate the capital, Bamako, and exert pressure on the ruling junta, the militants have intensified their attacks on fuel tankers, prompting Western governments to urge their citizens to leave the country.Since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, Mali has been ruled by a military junta that is struggling to counter various armed groups, particularly the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), which is carrying out the blockade.
Since September, the JNIM has targeted fuel tankers, particularly those coming from Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire, through which the majority of Mali's imported goods transit.
JNIM is retaliating against the authorities' ban on the sale of fuel at locations other than service stations in rural areas, a move meant to dry up the jihadists' fuel supply lines, according to Malian authorities.
Mali's fuel shortage is exacerbating severe and recurrent power outages that have crippled the economy for the past five years.
The junta announced late Sunday that class was cancelled at schools and universities for two weeks due to the shortages.
In the middle of harvest season, some agricultural machinery has been rendered inoperable without fuel, with the shortages having struck daily life outside the capital several weeks earlier.
Tankers have been set on fire daily for the past two months, while drivers and soldiers have been killed or kidnapped in jihadist ambushes.
Talks between Malian intermediaries and the jihadists have so far failed to alleviate the problem.
Last Thursday, several embassies in Mali urged citizens to depart the country immediately while the United States and United Kingdom withdrew non-essential staff, amid fears of growing insecurity.Citing the "unpredictability of Bamako's security situation" and "ongoing armed conflict" around the capital, the US embassy later urged all citizens to "depart immediately" on commercial aircraft.
Italy, Germany, Canada and a handful of other countries have also told their nationals to depart Mali as swiftly as possible.
The various embassies' recent actions "reveal a critical and rapid deterioration of security, even around Bamako, which until now had been relatively spared", says Bakary Sambe, director of the Timbuktu Institute, a Dakar-based think tank.
He told RFI that the jihadists do not appear to be preparing a military assault against the Malian capital, but rather working towards economic exhaustion intended to weaken the transitional regime in place.
"Several aspects lead me to be cautious about the imminence of a frontal assault on Bamako, which is neither in their doctrine nor within the current capabilities of JNIM. It is not their objective," he explains.
"The group has had to learn from past experiences [notably the occupation and administration of the northern regions of Mali for ten months in 2012, editor's note] and has made the strategic choice of gradual suffocation: a war of economic and political attrition, which delegitimises the regime without ever exposing itself to a conventional battle that would be lost in advance."
Since July, Mali has seen an increase in attacks targeting industrial and mining sites, particularly in the Kayes region, which accounts for 80 percent of Mali's gold production, its main source of wealth.
Examples include the Diamond Cement Factory in Kayes – where three Indian engineers were kidnapped – and several mines in the Kayes region, where about ten Chinese employees were abducted.
The Bougouni lithium mine, operated by the British company Kodal Minerals, has also been subjected to several raids.
According to information confirmed by RFI and France 24 on Monday, JNIM released three hostages in exchange for a large ransom.
Two Emiratis and an Iranian, who were captured outside Bamako on 23 September were released on 29 October under the auspices of the Malian intelligence services for a sum between 50 and 70 million euros.
Several tons of military equipment – vehicles and weapons – were also delivered to the jihadist group. According to several sources, a prisoner exchange also took place.
For Sambe, these fall into a range of tactics used by JNIM to "project an image of resounding failure".
From falling export revenues, to scaring off direct investment and fomenting popular discontent, especially since the regime had promised security and sovereignty with support from Moscow.
"It's a war of suffocation, but also a strategy of discrediting the regime, demonstrating daily its inability to ensure the safety of the population."
In a statement released Monday, the Malian army claimed to have targeted "a major terrorist base" near Sirakoro, in the Bougouni region of central Mali.
According to the army headquarters, the site was used "to plan attacks against fuel tanker convoys."
The Malian army claims to have neutralised "more than a dozen terrorists" and destroyed or recovered equipment.
Two new maps on A.E.S.!
Two new maps available on our server "A.E.S."!📦 Neden 2 - a Block League map as a tribute to the map with the same name from S4 League
🌻 Flowers - a Colour Jump map made by fnetX
Come try them out! 👇
aes.land/
Colorado Passes Measures to Feed All Public School Kids by Taxing the Wealthy
Colorado Passes Measures to Feed All Public School Kids by Taxing the Wealthy
Excess funds from the school meals program would be redirected toward the state-managed SNAP program.Chris Walker (Truthout)
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"The hope is to have a fresh 'Star Trek' movie, though [Paramount] has moved on from the idea of bringing back Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and the rest of the ensemble from the J.J. Abrams reboot."
David Ellison’s Hollywood Takeover: First Paramount. Is Warner Bros Next?
David Ellison is the ultimate Hollywood disruptor. This week's Variety cover story goes deep on the Paramount-Skydance boss' industry takeover.Tatiana Siegel (Variety)
The Company Quietly Funneling Paywalled Articles to AI Developers
The Common Crawl Foundation is little known outside of Silicon Valley. For more than a decade, the nonprofit has been scraping billions of webpages to build a massive archive of the internet. This database—large enough to be measured in petabytes—is made freely available for research. In recent years, however, this archive has been put to a controversial purpose: AI companies including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Nvidia, Meta, and Amazon have used it to train large language models. In the process, my reporting has found, Common Crawl has opened a back door for AI companies to train their models with paywalled articles from major news websites. And the foundation appears to be lying to publishers about this—as well as masking the actual contents of its archives.Common Crawl has not said much publicly about its support of LLM development. Since the early 2010s, researchers have used Common Crawl’s collections for a variety of purposes: to build machine-translation systems, to track unconventional uses of medicines by analyzing discussions in online forums, and to study book banning in various countries, among other things. In a 2012 interview, Gil Elbaz, the founder of Common Crawl, said of its archive that “we just have to make sure that people use it in the right way. Fair use says you can do certain things with the world’s data, and as long as people honor that and respect the copyright of this data, then everything’s great.”
Common Crawl’s website states that it scrapes the internet for “freely available content” without “going behind any ‘paywalls.’” Yet the organization has taken articles from major news websites that people normally have to pay for—allowing AI companies to train their LLMs on high-quality journalism for free. Meanwhile, Common Crawl’s executive director, Rich Skrenta, has publicly made the case that AI models should be able to access anything on the internet. “The robots are people too,” he told me, and should therefore be allowed to “read the books” for free. Multiple news publishers have requested that Common Crawl remove their articles to prevent exactly this use. Common Crawl says it complies with these requests. But my research shows that it does not.
The Nonprofit Feeding the Entire Internet to AI Companies
Common Crawl claims to provide a public benefit, but it lies to publishers about its activities.Alex Reisner (The Atlantic)
The Age of Anti-Social Media Is Here
Since its founding, Facebook has described itself as a kind of public service that fosters relationships. In 2005, not long after the site’s launch, its co-founder Mark Zuckerberg described the network as an “icebreaker” that would help you make friends. Facebook has since become Meta, with more grandiose ambitions, but its current mission statement is broadly similar: “Build the future of human connection and the technology that makes it possible.”More than 3 billion people use Meta products such as Facebook and Instagram every day, and more still use rival platforms that likewise promise connection and community. But a new era of deeper, better human fellowship has yet to arrive. Just ask Zuckerberg himself. “There’s a stat that I always think is crazy,” he said in April, during an interview with the podcaster Dwarkesh Patel. “The average American, I think, has fewer than three friends. And the average person has demand for meaningfully more; I think it’s like 15 friends or something, right?”
Zuckerberg was wrong about the details—the majority of American adults say they have at least three close friends, according to recent surveys—but he was getting at something real. There’s no question that we are becoming less and less social. People have sunk into their phones, enticed into endless, mindless “engagement” on social media. Over the past 15 years, face-to-face socialization has declined precipitously. The 921 friends I’ve accumulated on Facebook, I’ve always known, are not really friends at all; now the man who put this little scorecard in my life was essentially agreeing.
Zuckerberg, however, was not admitting a failure. He was pointing toward a new opportunity. In Marc Andreessen’s influential 2023 treatise, “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto,” the venture capitalist wrote, “We believe that there is no material problem—whether created by nature or by technology—that cannot be solved with more technology.” In this same spirit, Zuckerberg began to suggest the idea that AI chatbots could fill in some of the socialization that people are missing.
AI Is Not Your Friend
The social-media era is over. What’s coming will be much worse.Damon Beres (The Atlantic)
Starmer's Labour slammed for abandoning the term 'Islamophobia'
Labour are set to abandon the term 'Islamophobia' in favour of 'anti-Muslim hate' - a disgraceful watering down of horrific racism
Trump Administration Signals It May Not Pay Furloughed Workers After Shutdown Ends
A 2019 statute signed into law by Trump himself requires furloughed workers to be compensated when shutdowns end.
FRYD
in reply to Stamets • • •TwoBeeSan
in reply to FRYD • • •So, the marketing aspect is the thing that hung me up.
You gotta put yourself out there soooooo much on all the forums all the socials all the goon subs.
Thinking it through makes me not want to.
I just want a money cheat code.
FRYD
in reply to TwoBeeSan • • •