cross-posted from: lemmy.zip/post/41814981

NYC billionaires threaten to leave if progressive candidate Zohran Mamdani wins mayoral primary. But is their fear of losing wealth justified, or just a desperate attempt to maintain power and privilege?

BrikoX

2025-06-20 01:33:07

Tax-Dodging Billionaires Promise to Leave NYC If Mamdani Wins

NYC billionaires threaten to leave if progressive candidate Zohran Mamdani wins mayoral primary. But is their fear of losing wealth justified, or just a desperate attempt to maintain power and privilege?

Tax-Dodging Billionaires Promise to Leave NYC If Mamdani Wins

Rich New Yorkers' threats to flee the city to avoid paying higher taxes served only as a "description of the status quo" that Mamdani hopes to change, said one observer.

^{julia-conley (Common Dreams)}

A young female bear caused a stir after wandering out of the forest and into the leafy suburbs of the Lithuanian capital.

For two days, the brown bear ambled through the neighborhoods of Vilnius, trotted across highways and explored backyards — all while being chased by onlookers with smartphones and, eventually, drones.

The government then issued a permit for the bear to be shot and killed.

That did not go down well with Lithuania’s hunters who refused, aware that there is only a tiny number of the protected species in the entire country.

https://apnews.com/article/lithuania-bear-vilnius-protected-species-2e6fd88748f386cd250c2f50a4587ad9

The UK’s public broadcaster, BBC, has written a letter to Perplexity, the AI search startup, asking it to stop scraping articles from its websites, delete existing copies of content, and propose some sort of financial compensation if it would like to carry on scraping data. If the demands are not met, BBC may seek an injunction against the startup citing alleged misuse of its intellectual property.

BBC is probably responding in this way because it has seen other news organizations cement deals with firms like OpenAI and Mistral. The income stream allows news organizations to raise more funds and also cover the costs of the extra load on their servers caused by AI scraping.

In a statement to the Financial Times, Perplexity labeled the BBC’s claims as "manipulative and opportunistic". The startup accused the broadcaster of having “a fundamental misunderstanding of technology, the internet and intellectual property law.”

This is not the first time Perplexity has had a run-in with the media. Forbes and Wired accused it of plagiarizing content from their websites and The New York Times sent the company a cease and desist notice to stop using its content for AI purposes.

BBC threatens Perplexity with legal action over content scraping

The BBC is the latest news publisher to take issue with Perplexity scraping its content for free. It has outlined several options that Perplexity can take.

^{Paul Hill (Neowin)}

Midjourney Video ， Midjourney AI Video Generator

1) Powered by a professional-grade AI model, generates directly online, free trial available.
2) Edit your video conversationally with AI Chat.

Detailed Features:

1) Text to Storyboard: Instantly turn your ideas or scripts into a video storyboard.

  - Supports copying each storyboard frame.
  - Supports online translation for frame descriptions (multiple languages).

  - High-quality generation with no limit on the final duration.
  - Supports regenerating and copying the shareable link.

  - Supports watermark-free exports and online editing.
  - Uses an AI-generated scene list and shot analysis.
  - Supports downloading and exporting as an image.

  - Give direct commands to communicate and modify video content.
  - Supports regenerating commands and copying text.

Midjourney Video - Midjourney AI Video Generator

Midjourney Video: Transform static images into stunning 5-second videos with AI. Create beautiful animations effortlessly at reasonable price.

^{Midjourney Video - Midjourney AI Video Generator}

Sensitive content Clicca per aprire/chiudere

Sensitive content Clicca per aprire/chiudere

Sensitive content Clicca per aprire/chiudere

Sensitive content Clicca per aprire/chiudere

The research could have big implications for generative AI copyright lawsuits.

Study: Meta AI model can reproduce almost half of Harry Potter book

^{Timothy B. Lee (Ars Technica)}

https://www.reuters.com/world/austrian-government-agrees-plan-allow-monitoring-secure-messaging-2025-06-18/

Di scuse per attaccare l' #Iran, #Israele ne ha a iosa.
Certo è che la popolazione sotto il regime non se ne gioverà più di tanto.
Ma a #Netanyahu non interessa.
Dal #Blog. ___

Transit

2025-06-20 12:59:58

L' atomica del vicino è sempre più...

(170)

Intro.Più passano i giorni, più gli #USA e #Trump nicchiano, più le cose si ingarbugliano, più appare chiaro che l’attacco di Israele all’Iran ha solo nominalmente lo scopo di distruggere una ipotetica potenza nucleare. E’ tutt’altro. E, sicuramente, non sarà questa guerra a distruggere un regime teocratico sanguinario e opprimente. Anzi, forse riuscirà a renderlo più determinato nella sua opera di annichilimento dei diritti civili ed umani. Tutte cose che a #Netanyahu non interessano. A lui serve la poltrona e serve il sangue dei mussulmani, che si sa che a Occidente plaudono a chi si fa carico, finalmente, di queste cose (chissà le risate di Powell…).

Il recente attacco israeliano all’Iran – definito “Operation Rising Lion” – non può essere interpretato come un’operazione umanitaria finalizzata alla liberazione degli iraniani da un regime inumano, bensì come una mossa strategica di Benjamin Netanyahu per ampliare l’influenza e lo spazio geopolitico di Israele nella regione. Numerosi analisti evidenziano come l’obiettivo di Tel Aviv non sia la democratizzazione dell’Iran, ma piuttosto una forma di espansionismo politico-militare. Il “Financial Times” ha chiarito che, pur annichilendo elementi dell’apparato militare iraniano, l’azione di Israele non compromette il regime in sé, che acquisisce semmai una narrazione di resistenza e legittimità interna. In un articolo comparso su The Guardian, si sottolinea che l’offensiva “crudele ma strategica” può al contrario rafforzare l’unità nazionale iraniana e consolidare la leadership, invece di disgregarla.

Ma è l’analisi geopolitica a offrire chiavi interpretative più nette: secondo l’ISPI, l’operazione fornisce a Netanyahu strumenti politici interni ed esterni per consolidare il consenso e sfruttare la narrativa della sicurezza nazionale. In una analisi dell’Habtoor Research Centre, si legge che Tel Aviv ha orchestrato l’attenzione dei media e dei governi occidentali per ottenere sostegno diplomatico e militare, mentre la minaccia iraniana serve a distogliere l’attenzione dalle criticità domestiche.

“New Yorker” fa notare come l’attacco non sia frutto di un’escalation incontrollata: Netanyahu lo avrebbe voluto da tempo, per perseguire ambizioni ben precise, agendo appena Washington è apparsa debole o distratta. In realtà, mentre la narrazione ufficiale descrive queste operazioni come risposte a minacce imminenti – in particolare al rischio nucleare – molti commentatori ricordano come l’Iran non stesse effettivamente per ottenere la bomba, secondo agenzie internazionali quali AIEA e CIA, dando la misura del pretesto retorico usato da Tel Aviv.

Il rischio politico interno è lampante: fissando Netanyahu come “uomo della sicurezza”, le operazioni militari all’estero possono distogliere l’elettorato dai dossier interni e blindare la sua leadership qualora emergano scandali o critiche. Lo rivelano commentatori israeliani citati dal Guardian, che affermano come tali attacchi “frutto di un Netanyahu che capitalizza su un regime che sta perdendo legittimità e consenso”. Le prove emerse delineano un quadro nitido: l’operazione contro l’Iran non risponde all’urgente esigenza della popolazione iraniana, ma rappresenta per Netanyahu una straordinaria occasione politica di potenziamento internazionale e consolidamento interno. In gioco non vi è affatto un progetto di liberazione, bensì una manovra di influenza, territorio e consenso.

In conclusione.E se avesse delle fialette con del plutonio arricchito da scuotere, “Bibì” avrebbe finito il quadro.

#Blog #Israele #Iran #War #Medioriente #MiddleEast #Opinions #Geopolitica #Opinioni

Mastodon: @alda7069@mastodon.unoTelegram: t.me/transitblogFriendica: @danmatt@poliverso.orgBio Site (tutto in un posto solo, diamine): bio.site/danielemattioli

Gli scritti sono tutelati da “Creative Commons” (qui)

Tutte le opinioni qui riportate sono da considerarsi personali. Per eventuali problemi riscontrati con i testi, si prega di scrivere a: corubomatt@gmail.com

Transit

Il blog di Alessandra Corubolo & Daniele Mattioli. On line -in varie forme- dal 2005.

^Telegram

Di scuse per attaccare l' #Iran, #Israele ne ha a iosa.
Certo è che la popolazione sotto il regime non se ne gioverà più di tanto.
Ma a #Netanyahu non interessa.
Dal #Blog. ___

Transit

2025-06-20 12:59:58

L' atomica del vicino è sempre più...

(170)

Intro.Più passano i giorni, più gli #USA e #Trump nicchiano, più le cose si ingarbugliano, più appare chiaro che l’attacco di Israele all’Iran ha solo nominalmente lo scopo di distruggere una ipotetica potenza nucleare. E’ tutt’altro. E, sicuramente, non sarà questa guerra a distruggere un regime teocratico sanguinario e opprimente. Anzi, forse riuscirà a renderlo più determinato nella sua opera di annichilimento dei diritti civili ed umani. Tutte cose che a #Netanyahu non interessano. A lui serve la poltrona e serve il sangue dei mussulmani, che si sa che a Occidente plaudono a chi si fa carico, finalmente, di queste cose (chissà le risate di Powell…).

Il recente attacco israeliano all’Iran – definito “Operation Rising Lion” – non può essere interpretato come un’operazione umanitaria finalizzata alla liberazione degli iraniani da un regime inumano, bensì come una mossa strategica di Benjamin Netanyahu per ampliare l’influenza e lo spazio geopolitico di Israele nella regione. Numerosi analisti evidenziano come l’obiettivo di Tel Aviv non sia la democratizzazione dell’Iran, ma piuttosto una forma di espansionismo politico-militare. Il “Financial Times” ha chiarito che, pur annichilendo elementi dell’apparato militare iraniano, l’azione di Israele non compromette il regime in sé, che acquisisce semmai una narrazione di resistenza e legittimità interna. In un articolo comparso su The Guardian, si sottolinea che l’offensiva “crudele ma strategica” può al contrario rafforzare l’unità nazionale iraniana e consolidare la leadership, invece di disgregarla.

Ma è l’analisi geopolitica a offrire chiavi interpretative più nette: secondo l’ISPI, l’operazione fornisce a Netanyahu strumenti politici interni ed esterni per consolidare il consenso e sfruttare la narrativa della sicurezza nazionale. In una analisi dell’Habtoor Research Centre, si legge che Tel Aviv ha orchestrato l’attenzione dei media e dei governi occidentali per ottenere sostegno diplomatico e militare, mentre la minaccia iraniana serve a distogliere l’attenzione dalle criticità domestiche.

“New Yorker” fa notare come l’attacco non sia frutto di un’escalation incontrollata: Netanyahu lo avrebbe voluto da tempo, per perseguire ambizioni ben precise, agendo appena Washington è apparsa debole o distratta. In realtà, mentre la narrazione ufficiale descrive queste operazioni come risposte a minacce imminenti – in particolare al rischio nucleare – molti commentatori ricordano come l’Iran non stesse effettivamente per ottenere la bomba, secondo agenzie internazionali quali AIEA e CIA, dando la misura del pretesto retorico usato da Tel Aviv.

Il rischio politico interno è lampante: fissando Netanyahu come “uomo della sicurezza”, le operazioni militari all’estero possono distogliere l’elettorato dai dossier interni e blindare la sua leadership qualora emergano scandali o critiche. Lo rivelano commentatori israeliani citati dal Guardian, che affermano come tali attacchi “frutto di un Netanyahu che capitalizza su un regime che sta perdendo legittimità e consenso”. Le prove emerse delineano un quadro nitido: l’operazione contro l’Iran non risponde all’urgente esigenza della popolazione iraniana, ma rappresenta per Netanyahu una straordinaria occasione politica di potenziamento internazionale e consolidamento interno. In gioco non vi è affatto un progetto di liberazione, bensì una manovra di influenza, territorio e consenso.

In conclusione.E se avesse delle fialette con del plutonio arricchito da scuotere, “Bibì” avrebbe finito il quadro.

#Blog #Israele #Iran #War #Medioriente #MiddleEast #Opinions #Geopolitica #Opinioni

Mastodon: @alda7069@mastodon.unoTelegram: t.me/transitblogFriendica: @danmatt@poliverso.orgBio Site (tutto in un posto solo, diamine): bio.site/danielemattioli

Gli scritti sono tutelati da “Creative Commons” (qui)

Tutte le opinioni qui riportate sono da considerarsi personali. Per eventuali problemi riscontrati con i testi, si prega di scrivere a: corubomatt@gmail.com

Transit

Il blog di Alessandra Corubolo & Daniele Mattioli. On line -in varie forme- dal 2005.

^Telegram

This is a report on what is most likely to happen in Iran, as early as this weekend, according to Israeli insiders and American officials I’ve relied upon for decades. It will entail heavy American bombing. I have vetted this report with a longtime US official in Washington, who told me that all will be “under control” if Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “departs.” Just how that might happen, short of his assassination, is not known. There has been a great deal of talk about American firepower and targets inside Iran, but little practical thinking, as far I can tell, about how to remove a revered religious leader with an enormous following.

I have reported from afar on the nuclear and foreign policy of Israel for decades. My 1991 book The Samson Option told the story of the making of the Israeli nuclear bomb and America’s willingness to keep the project secret. The most important unanswered question about the current situation will be the response of the world, including that of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who has been an ally of Iran’s leaders.

The United States remains Israel’s most important ally, although many here and around the world abhor Israel’s continuing murderous war in Gaza. The Trump administration is in full support of Israel’s current plan to rid Iran of any trace of a nuclear weapons program while hoping the ayatollah-led government in Tehran will be overthrown.

I have been told that the White House has signed off on an all-out bombing campaign in Iran, but the ultimate targets, the centrifuges buried at least eighty meters below the surface at Fordow, will, as of this writing, not be struck until the weekend. The delay has come at Trump’s insistence because the president wants the shock of the bombing to be diminished as much as possible by the opening of Wall Street trading on Monday. (Trump took issue on social media this morning with a Wall Street Journal report that said he had decided on the attack on Iran, writing that he had yet to decide on a path forward.)

Fordow is home to the remaining majority of Iran’s most advanced centrifuges that have produced, according to recent reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to which Iran is a signatory, nine hundred pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent, a short step from weapons-grade levels.

The most recent Israeli bombing attacks on Iran have made no attempts to destroy the centrifuges at Fordow, which are stored at least eighty meters underground. It has been agreed, as of Wednesday, that US bombers carrying bunker bombs capable of penetrating to that depth, will begin attacking the Fordow facility this weekend.

The delay will give US military assets throughout the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean—there are more than two dozen US Air Force bases and Navy ports in the region—a chance to prepare for possible Iranian retaliation. The assumption is that Iran still has some missile and air force capability that will be on US bombing lists. “This is a chance to do away with this regime once and for all,” an informed official told me today, “and so we might as well go big.” He said, however, “that it will not be carpet bombing.”

The planned weekend bombing will also have new targets: the bases of the Republican Guards, which have countered those campaigning against the revolutionary leadership since the violent overthrow of the shah of Iran in early 1979.

The Israeli leadership under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes that the bombings will provide “the means of creating an uprising” against Iran’s current regime, which has shown little tolerance for those who defy the religious leadership and its edicts. Iranian police stations will be struck. Government offices that house files on suspected dissenters in Iran will also be attacked.

The Israelis apparently also hope, so I gather, that Khamenei will flee the country and not make a stand until the end. I was told that his personal plane left Tehran airport headed for Oman early Wednesday morning, accompanied by two fighter planes, but it is not known whether he was aboard.

Only two thirds of Iran’s population of 90 million are Persians. The largest minority groups include Azeris, many of whom have long-standing covert ties to the Central Intelligence Agency, Kurds, Arabs, and Baluchis. Jews make up a small minority group there, too. (Azerbaijan is the site of a large secret CIA base for operations in Iran.)

Bringing back the shah’s son, now living in exile in near Washington, has never been considered by the American and Israeli planners, I was told. But there has been talk among the White House planning group that includes Vice President J.D. Vance, of installing a moderate religious leader to run the country if Khamenei is deposed. The Israelis bitterly objected to the idea. “They don’t give a shit on the religious issue, but demand a political puppet to control,” the longtime US official said. “We are split with the Izzies on this. Result would be permanent hostility and future conflict in perpetuity, Bibi desperately trying to draw US in as their ally against all things Muslim, using the plight of the citizens as propaganda bait.”

There is the hope in the American and Israeli intelligence communities, I was told, that elements of the Azeri community will join in a popular revolt against the ruling regime, should one develop during the continued Israeli bombing. There also is the thought that some members of the Revolutionary Guard would join in what I was told might be “a democratic uprising against the ayatollahs”—a long-held aspiration of the US government. The sudden and successful overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria was cited as a potential model, although Assad’s demise came after a long civil war.

It is possible that the result of the massive Israeli and US bombing attack could leave Iran in a state of permanent failure, as happened after the Western intervention in Libya in 2011. That revolt resulted in the brutal murder of Muammar Gaddafi, who had kept the disparate tribes there under control. The futures of Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, all victims of repeated outside attacks, are far from settled.

Donald Trump clearly wants an international win he can market. To accomplish that, he and Netanyahu are taking America to places it has never been.

WHAT I HAVE BEEN TOLD IS COMING IN IRAN

The initial battle plan for a new war

^{Seymour Hersh}

Just to give you some context: Tighnari (with the green piece of cloth) is choking Cyno because he is swamping him with bad jokes day in and day out. So this is not a joke about immigrants, they are receiving absolutly horrible treatment in A LOT of cases but a mere pun just like Cyno would do it.

I just wanted to clear that before I post so I don't cause confusion and have to do the explaining later.

\#!/usr/bin/env bash
\#set -x
## Define variables
MEM_SIZE="8192"      # Memory setting in MiB
VCPUS="2"             # CPU Cores count
\#OS_VARIANT="rocky9"   # List with osinfo-query  os
OS_VARIANT="rhel7.9"   # List with osinfo-query  os
ISO_FILE="~/Documents/software/os/RHEL-7.9-20200917.0-Server-x86_64-dvd1.iso" # Path to ISO file

case $OS_VARIANT in
        rhel7.9)
                KS=ks7.cfg;;
        rocky9)
                KS=ks9.cfg;;
esac

echo -en "Enter vm name: "
read VM_NAME
OS_TYPE="linux"
echo -en "Enter virtual disk size : "
read DISK_SIZE

DISK=~/.local/share/libvirt/images/${VM_NAME}.qcow2

echo "Creating disk"
sudo virt-install \
     --name ${VM_NAME} \
     --memory=${MEM_SIZE} \
     --vcpus=${VCPUS} \
     --location ${ISO_FILE} \
     --network network=default \
     --disk path=${DISK},size=${DISK_SIZE} \
     --graphics=none \
     --os-variant=${OS_VARIANT} \
     --console pty,target_type=serial \
     --initrd-inject ~/virt/${KS} --extra-args "inst.ks=file:/${KS} console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200n8"

<network connections='3'>
  <name>default</name>
  <uuid>61afc7f1-9c5e-4cra-8d18-e3cf4f9358e9</uuid>
  <forward mode='nat'>
    <nat>
      <port start='1024' end='65535'/>
    </nat>
  </forward>
  <bridge name='virbr0' stp='on' delay='0'/>
  <mac address='52:54:00:7c:32:9b'/>
  <ip address='192.168.122.1' netmask='255.255.255.0'>
    <dhcp>
      <range start='192.168.122.2' end='192.168.122.254'/>
    </dhcp>
  </ip>
</network>

<interface type='network'>
      <mac address='52:54:00:07:82:78'/>
      <source network='default' portid='800dfd67-d90a-42te-a0b7-c4c78cdae481' bridge='virbr0'/>
      <target dev='vnet7'/>
      <model type='virtio'/>
      <alias name='net0'/>
      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x01' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
    </interface>

    <interface type='network'>
      <mac address='52:54:00:5e:f5:05'/>
      <source network='default' portid='d57dbc56-759e-40f9-856f-9623f4801a93' bridge='virbr0'/>
      <target dev='vnet8'/>
      <model type='virtio'/>
      <alias name='net0'/>
      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x01' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
    </interface>

$ ip link show master virbr0
11: vnet7: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue master virbr0 state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether fe:54:00:07:82:78 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
12: vnet8: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue master virbr0 state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether fe:54:00:5e:f5:05 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

The data is coming from the world's largest democracy perception study, published by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation (a Danish-based non-profit organisation).

socialistchina.org/2025/03/27/…