Israeli official arrested in Las Vegas sex sting appears before judge via Zoom after fleeing U.S.
Israeli official barred from social media, minors after court hearing on child sex charge
Israeli government official Tom Alexandrovich appeared before a Henderson Court judge this morning via Zoom to discuss the conditions of his bail.Jane Davenport (KSNV)
One GNOME session, multiple styles
like this
Thirsty for power and water, AI-crunching data centers sprout across the West
Thirsty for power and water, AI-crunching data centers sprout across the West
With promises of jobs and hopes for tax breaks, server farms are reshaping local grids, plumbing, and politics. Are they a boon for communities, or a burden?& the West
‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ Stuns Venice With Its Longest Standing Ovation of 22 Minutes Amid Tears and ‘Free Palestine’ Chants
“The Voice of Hind Rajab” premiere at the Venice Film Festival proved to be a hugely emotional event, with very few dry eyes in the Sala Grande.
One of the most talked-about films going into the festival, the powerful and gut-wrenching drama — from Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania — tells the true story of 5-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab, who was killed in the early stages of the war in Gaza. The feature received a huge 22-minute standing ovation, the longest of the festival so far. As the ovation surpassed 20 minutes, and in a clear effort to get the room to disperse, the lights were dimmed in the theatre. The clapping continued.
Attendees in the crowd were holding up several Palestinian flags, and chants of “Free Palestine” rang out during the applause. Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, who are executive producers of the film, were in attendance and held a photo of Rajab on the red carpet with the filmmaking team. Phoenix also wore a Artists for Ceasefire pin.
Voice of Hind Rajab Venice Premiere Gets 22 Minute Standing Ovation
'The Voice of Hind Rajab,' one of the most powerful and political films in the Venice lineup, had a 22-minute, emotional standing ovation.Alex Ritman (Variety)
I've seen enough images of dead children in the last 23 months to last me ten thousand lifetimes.
Israel is a curse on humanity.
Microsoft mandates a return to office
Microsoft mandates a return to office
Microsoft is requiring its employees to return to the office. Employees near its headquarters will start returning in late February, ahead of other offices.Tom Warren (The Verge)
Yep. This is NATO bombs and NATO planes, Provided through the NATO logistics by NATO countries.
Israel does not produce their weapons in house. They design weapons for NATO and then test them on Palestinians.
This genocide is committed by NATO.
Are private email providers worth it?
I think I know the answer, bit maybe I'm missing something
Since proton only sends and receives encrypted emails to other proton accounts, that means that when you get or send an email to someone else, they have to send / receive unencrypted and there is no way for us to verify what they are doing. Right?
Also if most accounts are google Microsoft, they still get 90% of my emails. By switching to proton I think I've gained nothing, while losing convenience , added another trust point, and having two different companies have my data instead of just one
Proton drive, calendar and VPN I think are fine
Sorry for the poor syntax. I'm at work working on email related things, and this topic kept distracting me. I might correct it later
I wouldn't say you have gained nothing. The amount of data provided to google or microsoft when using their email is significantly more. For example, your app or client is checking email all of the time, giving them telemetry on your location and activity, all your devices, 24/7. Google logs and analyzes all of your interactions with Gmail's web pages, how long you have certain emails open for, what you don't bother to open, what you tag as important, etc.
Much of the one-way email you sign up for from companies and organizations come from smaller outfits like sendgrid or their own infrastructure, so you are cutting google out of information about your associations and interests.
Also, in regards to that 90%, you can either be part of the problem for all your contacts, or part of the solution. The network effect is huge.
1. don't use email, that's the ideal solution
2. use a provider like cock.li and send messages encrypted with pgp. this isn't ideal, pgp leaks a lot of data and cock.li gets sinkholed by most email providers.
3. use proton and encrypt emails with pgp, you have not much privacy but it's less worse than microsoft and not much convenience loss, except that proton doesn't allow email clients(at least if you don't pay), I don't know about ms).
they pretty much always collaborate with the police
a corporation is a legal extension of the state, hence why all of them will always collaborate when ordered by the courts or otherwise required by law.
some will even collaborate when they are not required by law such amazon ring providing pigs access for no reason, facebook censoring content per request of US or Israel... needless bullshit but hey it helps get government contracts ;)
bottom line, expecting corpo to do anything for you for 5 bucks a month is naive, at best they should not do it for no reason and they should not sell your data.
but even that is a tall order for these parasites.
The old Inside-Outside strategy. Reactionaries aren't the only ones who can work a ratchet.
Absolutely within the purview of "moderate" leftists to advocate turns to the left and backstop turns to the right at every opportunity. But they do have to do those two things.
On Islamophobia and the Use of the Term ‘Jihad’
On Islamophobia and the Use of the Term ‘Jihad’ - World-Outlook
World-Outlook recently published the article "‘Jewish Jihad’ Has Seized Control of Israel." It consisted of an introduction to a Haaretz article along with the Israeli daily’s story itself.world-outlook.com (World-Outlook)
Ukraine’s Military Exhausted While NATO Weapons Won’t Turn the Tide
Ukraine’s Military Exhausted While NATO Weapons Won’t Turn the Tide
The Ukrainian Army is in a critical condition and can no longer conduct large-scale operations, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at a Beijing press conference. What are the signs?Sputnik International
Beijing 2025: when history rises
Beijing 2025: when history rises
At a time when Beijing is assembling the memory of the Global South with pomp and strategy, the West, relegated to the rank of frustrated spectator,Мохамед Ламин КАБА (New Eastern Outlook)
Linux Mint 22.2: still fixing the Linux desktop
Linux Mint 22.2: still fixing the Linux desktop
Secure your passwords and logins with Proton Pass: proton.me/pass/TheLinuxEXPGrab a brand new laptop or desktop running Linux: tuxedocomputers.com/en#
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Support the channel AND get cool new gear: the-linux-experiment.creator-s…Timestamps:
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Making Linux accessible: no techno babble, no super technical content. Just Linux desktop news, simple tutorials, application spotlights, and opinion pieces trying to stay positive, without gatekeeping.YouTube
like this
I, too, usually don't read about a distribution I don't use.
Why would we have ever heard of libadapta?
the most useful definition of authority is the imposition of the will of one class over another
No, that's Engels' lackluster definition (actually, Engels' definition was worse, since he claimed that laws of physics were "authority". Authority is structural monopolization of power. What you're describing is more on the line of "violence".
even anarchists must be authoritarian towards capitalists.
Only with a wrong understanding of "authority".
The argument between Marxists and anarchists is one of collectivization vs horizontalism
Those concepts are not contradictory. You can't "horizontalize" something without collectivizing it.
but in both cases you can't eliminate class overnight, and as such the working class must oppress the capitalist class to keep it in check.
The moment the capitalist class can be "oppressed", it seizes to be the capitalist class.
Marxists would argue that the system, even if horizontal, would still be considered a state assuming class isn't abolished
How such a "horizontal state" would be possible with classes is something no Marxist has ever been able to explain to me. Also, you're not speaking on behalf of all Marxists. Just MLs, maybe.
and class cannot be abolished entirely without full collectivization of property globally.
I'll go tell all those socialist regions that just abolished the bourgeoisie within their regions. /s
Engels was using the most useful interpretation of authority. "Structural monopolization of power" is still the imposition of the will of one class over another, anarchists still attempt to structurally oppress the bourgeoisie.
As for collectivization vs horizontalism, that's actually false. Collectivization, ie equal ownership across all of society globally, necessarily contradicts with full horizontalism, at least for a long time before habit takes the place of all administration in the far-far future. A horizontalist society necessarily contradicts the role of higher levels of administration, ie imagine a battlefield with only footsoldiers, no tacticians, no strategians. Anarchists either reconcile this by considering some level of administration acceptable, going against full horizontalism, or they advocate for decentralized communes, which contradict collectivization globally.
As for how this retains class, if we go with the commune model, each commune varies in geography and development, which results in trade and perpetuation of essentially petite bourgeois cooperatives, each promoted by self-interest rather than collective interest. Accepting administration as necessary fixes this, but then you're taking essentially a mid-point between Marxism and anarchism, just with a higher emphasis on concepts like prefiguration.
As for Marxism vs Marxism-Leninism, I haven't spoken anything relating to Marxism-Leninism. This is just straight Marxism here, concepts like imperialism, the vanguard, the national question, etc haven't come into play. This is straight out of works like Critique of the Gotha Programme, Theses on Feuerbach, Economic Manuscripts of 1844, and of course the Manifesto of the Communist Party.
As for your last point, socialism is not communism. Socialism is a society where public ownership is the principle aspect of the economy, not an economy devoid of any other forms of property. No "pure" modes of production have existed outside of early tribal societies, all ensuing class societies have had dominant forms of property relations and subordinate forms. As private property develops, it becomes easier to fold into the public sector, which is why most socialist states don't try to immediately force a fully planned economy but incorporate some form of markets.
Engels was using the most useful interpretation of authority. "Structural monopolization of power" is still the imposition of the will of one class over another, anarchists still attempt to structurally oppress the bourgeoisie.
As I said in the other thread: you don't engage with anything I write. You just claim "no" and don't explain any logical errors in my statement. You're just restating your claim and dump an unhealthy amount of text in order to make yourself feel smart.
Collectivization, ie equal ownership across all of society globally
Not a realistic model of the world. The sphere o| influence ends at some point. There's no reason that I should have a say on what a bakery on the other side of the world should bake. Not even in a "communist" society.
A horizontalist society necessarily contradicts the role of higher levels of administration [...]
Strawman. Administration/expertise is not authority.
essentially petite bourgeois cooperative
You claim that without backing up why it would be petit bourgeoise
You might not have used Lenin's buzzwords, but you're an authoritarian Marxist. Not every Marxist is authoritarian.
As for your last point, socialism is not communism. [...]
Another non-sequitur infodump. Also, I reject your teleological notion of "early hunter-gatherers". Also also: This mode of "pure" relations of production that you try to swipe under the rug has been the norm for about 99% of humanity's existence.
I do engage, I feel like claiming I just say "no" is more avoidance of engaging with my points than anything.
As far as full collectivization is concerned, it doesn't mean there isn't local say on production. Small proprietorships wouldn't really exist in communism, either, if you wanted to bake as a hobby that's fine, but "bakeries" as small petty bourgeois shops wouldn't really have a material basis for existence. In socialism, sure, they'd exist, but in the far future they'd eventually be phased out.
Administration is authority, administration that is mere suggestion isn't administration to begin with. Administration should be accountable, but it is necessarily a use of authority.
As for why cooperatives are petite bourgeois structures, I explained by the geographic differences and having class interests that are self-driven, rather than collectively driven. If a commune doesn't have ownership of another commune's goods, but needs them, then this creates class distinctions.
Your whole "authoritarian Marxist" bit is kinda silly. You don't explain what you mean when you say I'm an "authoritarian" Marxist, nor what a "non-authoritarian Marxist" would be, nor how Lenin is involved in our discussion. This is all based on Marx's development of scientific socialism, we didn't get into vanguards, imperialism, or Lenin's other advancements on Marxism. This is all in the realm of Marx's theory of the state.
As for tribal societies, they are by far the mode of production with the longest history, yes. However, since the rise of class society and technological advancements that came along with it, there has never been a "pure" mode of production. We can't simply go back to being hunters and gatherers, but we can advance society onward into socialism, and then communism. I swept nothing under the rug, tribal formations aren't something we can replicate while retaining large-scale industry, and there's no reason to think we can meet the needs of humanity as it presently exists even if we all collectively agreed to form tribal societies now.
odysee.com/@trader.one:d/sovie…
ICE acquires Israeli spyware capable of hacking phones and encrypted apps
ICE acquires Israeli spyware capable of hacking phones and encrypted apps
ICE has reactivated a $2M contract for Israeli spyware Graphite, sparking fears of civil liberties after previous cases of misuse
Under Trump, ICE has seen its operations and powers vastly expanded
[Getty]US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are moving ahead with a multimillion-dollar contract for powerful Israeli-made spyware capable of hacking phones and encrypted messaging apps, drawing criticism from civil liberties groups and surveillance experts.
The $2 million deal with Paragon Solutions, the Israeli firm behind the Graphite spyware suite, was initially signed under the Biden administration in late 2024 but paused amid compliance reviews over privacy and security concerns.
According to The Guardian, the Trump administration has now lifted the pause, restoring ICE’s access to the tool and sparking a fresh debate over government surveillance powers.
Paragon’s Graphite software allows agencies to remotely penetrate smartphones, access encrypted applications such as WhatsApp and Signal, extract data, and even covertly activate microphones to turn devices into listening tools.
Critics warn the technology gives unprecedented surveillance capabilities to US immigration authorities at a time of heightened political and public scrutiny over civil liberty abuses by ICE.
The Washington Post reported that the pause was lifted following changes in Paragon’s ownership structure and the completion of federal regulatory reviews. The decision comes despite mounting evidence from rights groups and cybersecurity researchers about the risks of misuse, including against journalists and activists.
Earlier this year, researchers at the Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity watchdog based at the University of Toronto, discovered Graphite had been used to target the devices of journalists in Italy, including reporters from Fanpage.it, prompting a European investigation.
Italian officials denied any wrongdoing, but the revelations highlighted the growing global market for so-called "mercenary spyware" and the lack of transparency surrounding its deployment.
Related
As ICE raids rise across US, attorney warns people to prepare
US affairs
Brooke Anderson
In Washington, civil liberties advocates have expressed alarm over the implications of ICE regaining access to such invasive technology. Nadine Farid Johnson, policy director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, urged lawmakers to act.
"Reports that ICE has renewed its contract with spyware vendor Paragon compounds the civil liberties concerns," Johnson said in a statement last week.
"Spyware like Paragon’s Graphite poses a profound threat to free speech and privacy. Congress must step in to impose clear limits and safeguards before these tools are used in ways that undermine constitutional rights."
The Guardian reported that ICE officials have defended the contract, insisting the spyware is used strictly for law enforcement purposes, such as targeting transnational criminal networks and human trafficking operations.
However, critics point to the lack of independent oversight mechanisms and the absence of public information about how frequently or against whom the software is deployed.
The Washington Post added that the reactivation of the Paragon deal may signal a more permissive stance by the Trump administration toward domestic surveillance technologies.
Past controversies over the use of spyware such as Pegasus, developed by the Israeli firm NSO Group, have already prompted calls for stricter regulation. The Biden administration previously blacklisted NSO after its tools were linked to the hacking of US diplomats’ phones.
Under Trump, ICE has seen dramatically expanded powers and funding, fuelling concerns about its growing politicisation.
Critics point to sweeping arrests, including of non-criminal migrants, and the use of tactics once considered off-limits, such as unmarked vehicles and plainclothes agents. Civil liberties groups warn that without oversight, the agency risks becoming a tool of political intimidation rather than law enforcement, especially with access to powerful surveillance technologies.
https://www.newarab.com/news/ice-acquires-israeli-spyware-capable-hacking-phones-and-apps
like this
UAE says Israeli annexation of occupied West Bank a 'red line'
UAE says Israeli annexation of occupied West Bank a 'red line'
The UAE has said any move by Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank would be a "red line" for the Gulf state, as Israel ramps up discussions about the move.Sean Mathews (Middle East Eye)
However, there are some signs that the UAE is growing frustrated with Israel.An analyst familiar with the thinking of Emirati officials told MEE that the UAE was upset by Israel's unilateral attack on Iran earlier this year. Whereas the UAE has long been at odds with Hamas, it has tried to influence the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governance in the occupied West Bank.
They're following after Biden and Trump... it would be more comedic, save for the fact they're talking about the 'practicalities' of occupying and ethnically cleansing the West Bank.
Reddit is dropping subscriber counts on subreddits: Users will now see seven-day metrics that track active visitors and contributions instead.
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37201414
Reddit is dropping subscriber counts on subreddits: Users will now see seven-day metrics that track active visitors and contributions instead.
::: spoiler Comments
- Reddit.
:::
adhocfungus likes this.
Technology Channel reshared this.
Apple: iPhone 17 lineup and iPhone Air come with Memory Integrity Enforcement, which provides always-on memory safety protection
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37193710
Apple: iPhone 17 lineup and iPhone Air come with Memory Integrity Enforcement, which provides always-on memory safety protection
::: spoiler Comments
- Hacker News;
- Lobsters.
:::Blog - Memory Integrity Enforcement: A complete vision for memory safety in Apple devices - Apple Security Research
Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE) is the culmination of an unprecedented design and engineering effort spanning half a decade that combines the unique strengths of Apple silicon hardware with our advanced operating system security to provide industr…Blog - Memory Integrity Enforcement: A complete vision for memory safety in Apple devices - Apple Security Research
The US and UK spent decades preparing the ground in Ukraine. Since the end of WWII they were involved in funding the stay-behind Nazi insurgency, then incubating the current incarnation of Ukrainian nationalism in the diaspora in the US and Canada since the 80s, then taking advantage of the chaos of the dissolution of the USSR in the 90s to infiltrate these groups into Ukraine and slowly push them to the forefront over two decades by indoctrinating the youth. It took them two separate color revolutions to do it.
And they didn't start from nothing. Before WWII, the Germans, and before them the Austrians, had been building the Ukrainian nationalist idea in West Ukraine as a foil first against the Russian Empire then against the USSR. It took the West over a hundred years to turn Ukrainians against their own brothers, and they only managed to do it because of pre-existing ethnic divisions and because of unique historical and geographical conditions.
They could dangle the EU carrot to seduce them, they could funnel money and infiltrate weapons and radicalized extremists via the land border. Those conditions just don't exist in Mongolia. Everything would have to come either through Russia or China or be flown in. What can the US possibly offer Mongolia? What ethnic tension or history of radicalism is there for them to exploit? Can this country survive if it antagonizes its neighbors?
Look at the demographics and economy: Mongolia has only 3.5 million people (for comparison that is less than Georgia, which once picked a fight with Russia and lost the war in 7 days). Half of them live in the capital. For the rest of the country the population density is extremely low. At least a third live as nomads or semi-nomads.
90% of their exports go to China. 80% of their exports come from the mining sector. They do not have a large and advanced industrial manufacturing sector as Ukraine once did. Most of their energy comes from Russia. Unlike Ukraine they have neither ports nor land border with Western powers through which to import substitutes for Russian energy.
Most of the country is steppe or desert. The conditions for cultivation are not great, so their agriculture sector consists mostly of livestock and herding. Hence the country depends on food imports. Even if a very pro-Western government is in power, they have no choice but to maintain decent relations with their neighbors.
Don't make the mistake of thinking, as the neocons do, that the US is all-powerful and has unlimited resources. They don't. There are very real limits on their power and those limits are growing as their relative power in the world declines, especially compared to China.
Anti-racism scholar’s career “ruined” by pro-Israel lobby
Anti-racism scholar’s career “ruined” by pro-Israel lobby
Randa Abdel-Fattah is an anti-racism scholar who lost an $870,000 research grant over her criticisms of Israel.Al Jazeera
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37194712
Technical Report.
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more
AgeGO also forces users to disclose their email address to complete the age verification process, which it says is needed to create an AgeGO account.Joel R. McConvey (BiometricUpdate.com)
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37194712
Technical Report.
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more
AgeGO also forces users to disclose their email address to complete the age verification process, which it says is needed to create an AgeGO account.Joel R. McConvey (BiometricUpdate.com)
Jeremy Corbyn to lead ‘Gaza tribunal’ into UK role in Israel’s war
Jeremy Corbyn to lead ‘Gaza tribunal’ into UK role in Israel’s war
The UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory is among those set to contribute to the two-day event.Al Jazeera Staff (Al Jazeera)
UK has delivered over £500m in arms parts to Israel's genocide efforts
UK complicit in Israel's genocide
New report shows the UK is firmly embedded in Israel's genocide as it provides arms exports worth over £500 million to terrorise PalestineMaryam Jameela (The Canary)
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37194712
Technical Report.
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more
AgeGO also forces users to disclose their email address to complete the age verification process, which it says is needed to create an AgeGO account.Joel R. McConvey (BiometricUpdate.com)
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37194712
Technical Report.
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more
AgeGO also forces users to disclose their email address to complete the age verification process, which it says is needed to create an AgeGO account.Joel R. McConvey (BiometricUpdate.com)
Lush shuts all UK retail stores for a day in Gaza protest
Lush shuts all UK retail stores for a day in Gaza protest
The retail chain said similar action could be taken in its other stores worldwide.Imogen James (BBC News)
Defeating the Nazis was a pretty big deal, especially considering the Red Army was responsible for 4/5ths of total Nazi deaths. Plus, he oversaw the world's first socialist state. Terrorists like Trotsky were assassinated, yes, but it wasn't because they were personally dangerous to Stalin's position; Stalin attempted to resign no fewer than four times. He wasn't a saint, but he was comparatively much better than contemporaries like Churchill, despite being remembered as far worse by liberal historians.
::: spoiler Demystifying Stalin
I know that after my death a pile of rubbish will be heaped on my grave, but the wind of History will sooner or later sweep it away without mercy.
- J. V. Stalin
- Nia Frome's "Tankies"
[8 min]
- W. E. B Dubois' On Stalin
[6 min]
- Domenico Losurdo's Primitive Thinking and Stalin as Scapegoat
[30 min]
- Domenico Losurdo's Stalin and Stalinism in History
[16 min]
[42 min]
[38 min]
[9 min]
- Domenico Losurdo's Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend
[5 hr 51 min]
- Ludo Martens' Another View of Stalin
[5 hr 25 min]
- Anna Louise Strong's This Soviet World
:::
::: spoiler Stalin's Major Theoretical Contributions to Marxism
I have come to communism because of daddy Stalin and nobody must come and tell me that I mustn’t read Stalin. I read him when it was very bad to read him. That was another time. And because I’m not very bright, and a hard-headed person, I keep on reading him. Especially in this new period, now that it is worse to read him. Then, as well as now, I still find a Seri of things that are very good.
- Che Guevara
- Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR
- Dialectical and Historical Materialism
- History of the CPSU (B)
- The Foundations of Leninism
- Marxism and the National Question
:::
Read Marxism and the National Question(Joseph Stalin, 1913) on ProleWiki
The period of counter-revolution in Russia brought not only "thunder and lightning" in its train, but also disillusionment in the movement and lack of faith in common...ProleWiki
I'd say yes. He oversaw the Red Army as they defeated the Nazis, responsible for 4/5ths of Nazi deaths, as well as helped guide the world's first socialist state. Said socialist state brought tremendous development, doubling life expectancy, achieving food security, tripling literacy rates, providing free and high quality healthcare and education, cheap housing, and more. Stalin wasn't a saint, but he was much better than contemporaries like Churchill, as an example.
::: spoiler Demystifying Stalin
I know that after my death a pile of rubbish will be heaped on my grave, but the wind of History will sooner or later sweep it away without mercy.
- J. V. Stalin
- Nia Frome's "Tankies"
[8 min]
- W. E. B Dubois' On Stalin
[6 min]
- Domenico Losurdo's Primitive Thinking and Stalin as Scapegoat
[30 min]
- Domenico Losurdo's Stalin and Stalinism in History
[16 min]
[42 min]
[38 min]
[9 min]
- Domenico Losurdo's Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend
[5 hr 51 min]
- Ludo Martens' Another View of Stalin
[5 hr 25 min]
- Anna Louise Strong's This Soviet World
:::
::: spoiler Stalin's Major Theoretical Contributions to Marxism
I have come to communism because of daddy Stalin and nobody must come and tell me that I mustn’t read Stalin. I read him when it was very bad to read him. That was another time. And because I’m not very bright, and a hard-headed person, I keep on reading him. Especially in this new period, now that it is worse to read him. Then, as well as now, I still find a Seri of things that are very good.
- Che Guevara
- Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR
- Dialectical and Historical Materialism
- History of the CPSU (B)
- The Foundations of Leninism
- Marxism and the National Question
:::
Read Marxism and the National Question(Joseph Stalin, 1913) on ProleWiki
The period of counter-revolution in Russia brought not only "thunder and lightning" in its train, but also disillusionment in the movement and lack of faith in common...ProleWiki
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37194712
Technical Report.
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more
AgeGO also forces users to disclose their email address to complete the age verification process, which it says is needed to create an AgeGO account.Joel R. McConvey (BiometricUpdate.com)
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37194712
Technical Report.
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more
AgeGO also forces users to disclose their email address to complete the age verification process, which it says is needed to create an AgeGO account.Joel R. McConvey (BiometricUpdate.com)
RSS co-creator launches RSL protocol for AI data licensing
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37203057
RSS co-creator launches Really Simple Licensing (RSL) protocol for AI data licensing
adhocfungus likes this.
Crafting a retro desktop for old computers (~1GB RAM) the right way
I have an old Asus EeePC 1015T netbook with an HDMI (and VGA) output, a screen that glitches if I'm holding it wrong, a huge, tired, unreliable battery, a noisy fan that fails to cool it to less than skin-burning temperatures, and slightly less than 1 GB of RAM. I've seen Xubuntu, then Lubuntu, become slowly unusable on it; I've tried to install Arch then Sway, but although the device got kinda less sluggish, the leaning curve for a tiling window manager was still too high.
So here's a thought experiment: could I craft a Linux setup with a themeable yet cohesive Windows 98-like UI, that I can plug to an old monitor (1280x1024 should be enough) and that can be just responsive enough to do basic, focused tasks (writing, listening to music and webradios, browsing Wikipedia, perhaps playing Doom) using this kind of very limited hardware? The idea would be to have some sort of reliability: instead of installing an old distro and freezing all updates, I'd ideally go for a modern basis that I can upgrade without worrying of watching my setup collapsing on itself; so I could reproduce this setup on other, similarly old computers, and turn them into retro distraction-free appliances where you could chill with a classic Windows feel and Winamp themes.
I have some ideas but I'm not sure about the best approach. I've tried an immutable Fedora image (Blue95), but after a full day and night of waiting for the setup and rebase to complete, the end result was way too slow to be usable. Then I went for BunsenLabs on a Debian Trixie basis: it works okay performance-wise, but there's a lot of obscure menu items pointing to small apps to customize (you have to know what a "conky" or a "tint2" is, and also understand that the default panel is a third different thing). I'm thinking of trying postmarketOS, since the Alpine base sounds lightweight enough, but I havent figured out how to install it on my EeePC.
Could Wayland be possible with these hardware limitations? If so, how should I setup it? I guess labwc (pictured above) is the best fit for a Win9x experience, but what is needed afterwards? LXQt or Xfce or something else?
I'm curious to hear your thoughts!
Made for people, not cars: reclaiming European cities
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37202598
::: spoiler Comments
- Hacker News.
:::
Made for people, not cars: reclaiming European cities
By prioritising residents over private vehicles, a Spanish municipality has overcome some of the biggest challenges facing Europe’s cities.Green European Journal
Made for people, not cars: reclaiming European cities
::: spoiler Comments
- Hacker News.
:::
In the shattering ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab,’ the story of a 6-year-old killed in Gaza
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/35631146
Updated 12:24 AM EDT, Sep 3, 2025
In January 2024, a 6-year-old girl trapped inside a bullet-riddled car in Gaza City begged for someone to rescue her. Contact was lost with the first ambulance. Hind Rajab, five family members and two medics were found dead 12 days later.The impact of the story, and the audio of Hind’s voice from that call, has been vast, inspiring songs, protest movements and now a film from Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania.
“When you hear her voice you feel powerless,” Ben Hania told The Associated Press recently.
Hind’s cousin, Layan, who was in the car, had told family members that Israeli forces were firing on them before she was killed. The Red Crescent said Israeli troops fired on its ambulance. Asked for comment, the military said the incident is “still being reviewed..."
In the shattering ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab,’ the story of a 6-year-old killed in Gaza
Updated 12:24 AM EDT, Sep 3, 2025In January 2024, a 6-year-old girl trapped inside a bullet-riddled car in Gaza City begged for someone to rescue her. Contact was lost with the first ambulance. Hind Rajab, five family members and two medics were found dead 12 days later.The impact of the story, and the audio of Hind’s voice from that call, has been vast, inspiring songs, protest movements and now a film from Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania.
“When you hear her voice you feel powerless,” Ben Hania told The Associated Press recently.
Hind’s cousin, Layan, who was in the car, had told family members that Israeli forces were firing on them before she was killed. The Red Crescent said Israeli troops fired on its ambulance. Asked for comment, the military said the incident is “still being reviewed..."
https://apnews.com/article/hind-rajab-movie-venice-film-festival-0a873d647a26ddeba7c5a7bcdcbd23aa
Made for people, not cars: reclaiming European cities
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37202598
::: spoiler Comments
- Hacker News.
:::
Made for people, not cars: reclaiming European cities
By prioritising residents over private vehicles, a Spanish municipality has overcome some of the biggest challenges facing Europe’s cities.Green European Journal
Made for people, not cars: reclaiming European cities
::: spoiler Comments
- Hacker News.
:::
In the shattering ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab,’ the story of a 6-year-old killed in Gaza
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/35631146
Updated 12:24 AM EDT, Sep 3, 2025
In January 2024, a 6-year-old girl trapped inside a bullet-riddled car in Gaza City begged for someone to rescue her. Contact was lost with the first ambulance. Hind Rajab, five family members and two medics were found dead 12 days later.The impact of the story, and the audio of Hind’s voice from that call, has been vast, inspiring songs, protest movements and now a film from Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania.
“When you hear her voice you feel powerless,” Ben Hania told The Associated Press recently.
Hind’s cousin, Layan, who was in the car, had told family members that Israeli forces were firing on them before she was killed. The Red Crescent said Israeli troops fired on its ambulance. Asked for comment, the military said the incident is “still being reviewed..."
In the shattering ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab,’ the story of a 6-year-old killed in Gaza
Updated 12:24 AM EDT, Sep 3, 2025In January 2024, a 6-year-old girl trapped inside a bullet-riddled car in Gaza City begged for someone to rescue her. Contact was lost with the first ambulance. Hind Rajab, five family members and two medics were found dead 12 days later.The impact of the story, and the audio of Hind’s voice from that call, has been vast, inspiring songs, protest movements and now a film from Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania.
“When you hear her voice you feel powerless,” Ben Hania told The Associated Press recently.
Hind’s cousin, Layan, who was in the car, had told family members that Israeli forces were firing on them before she was killed. The Red Crescent said Israeli troops fired on its ambulance. Asked for comment, the military said the incident is “still being reviewed..."
https://apnews.com/article/hind-rajab-movie-venice-film-festival-0a873d647a26ddeba7c5a7bcdcbd23aa
In the shattering ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab,’ the story of a 6-year-old killed in Gaza
Updated 12:24 AM EDT, Sep 3, 2025
In January 2024, a 6-year-old girl trapped inside a bullet-riddled car in Gaza City begged for someone to rescue her. Contact was lost with the first ambulance. Hind Rajab, five family members and two medics were found dead 12 days later.The impact of the story, and the audio of Hind’s voice from that call, has been vast, inspiring songs, protest movements and now a film from Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania.
“When you hear her voice you feel powerless,” Ben Hania told The Associated Press recently.
Hind’s cousin, Layan, who was in the car, had told family members that Israeli forces were firing on them before she was killed. The Red Crescent said Israeli troops fired on its ambulance. Asked for comment, the military said the incident is “still being reviewed..."
https://apnews.com/article/hind-rajab-movie-venice-film-festival-0a873d647a26ddeba7c5a7bcdcbd23aa
MrSoup
in reply to omawarisan • • •It's easier to stick to adwaita default and try to uniform others to it (that's because libadwaita apps are not themable).
wiki.archlinux.org/title/Unifo…
github.com/lassekongo83/adw-gt…
itsfoss.com/flatpak-app-apply-…
And install kvantum for flatpak too.
Apply GTK System Themes on Flatpak Apps in Linux
Sreenath (It's FOSS)omawarisan
in reply to MrSoup • • •thanks a lot for the pointers, it's so nice to see that people try to help
but it is just exhausting trying to unify everything
and the next flatpak is a new fight 😀
MrSoup
in reply to omawarisan • • •I feel you... I hope in the future they'll work together to unify this mess.
frongt
in reply to MrSoup • • •standards.xkcdMrSoup
in reply to frongt • • •omawarisan
in reply to omawarisan • • •bricked
in reply to omawarisan • • •ChaoticNeutralCzech
in reply to omawarisan • • •fitgse
in reply to ChaoticNeutralCzech • • •deadcade
in reply to fitgse • • •wayland: Update to xdg-decoration protocol (!6398) · Merge requests · GNOME / gtk · GitLab
GitLabstuner
in reply to fitgse • • •Markaos
in reply to stuner • • •stuner
in reply to Markaos • • •XDG decoration protocol | Wayland Explorer
wayland.appHakFoo
in reply to ChaoticNeutralCzech • • •What problem does CSD solve? I'd think "some apps look and work differently" is a pretty bad tradeoff for "I want to cram custom stuff in the title bar which was more or less universally treated as owned-by-the-system for the first 35 years of GUIs at least?"
GTK/GNOME seem to be making themselves actively hostile towards customization, which seems a great way to lose enthusiasts.
ChaoticNeutralCzech
in reply to HakFoo • • •MonkderVierte
in reply to HakFoo • • •wizardbeard
in reply to omawarisan • • •BananaTrifleViolin
in reply to wizardbeard • • •I find KDE works well with GTK3 and below, but GTK4 apps are set to ignore themes, which is a design decision on the GTK4 side. They invariably look completely odd and out of place as they often force the entire Gnome app UI as well as an unalterable theme.
And then Flatpaks also don't generally follow system themes as they're so sandboxed (although there are some work arounds, including making them consistent as flatpaks or allowing them access to the system theme folders to pick up themeing).
But anecdotally I've not had the level of title bar variability on KDE as that screenshot. Although admittedly I do tend to actively avoid Gnome apps as I don't like the design philosophy.
Glifted
in reply to wizardbeard • • •whimsy
in reply to Glifted • • •bitwolf
in reply to wizardbeard • • •A little?
You can theme Gtk apps to match, but it's not pixel perfect even with the stock theme.
Its always slightly off on padding and margins, but the overall outcome looks more uniform
MadMadBunny
in reply to omawarisan • • •This is the kind of shit that stops people from migrating to Linux.
Lack of consistency in the UI. We’re in 2025 dammit. Not 1995.
Edit: okay, WTF Windows is now even worse?!?
TriangleSpecialist
in reply to MadMadBunny • • •This below is windows 11 consistency, within their own os context menus. I am not even starting on the fact that window decorations there too are a non standardised mess.
I agree that lack of UI consistency is less than ideal, and very real in Linux, but let's not pretend that this is a main issue stopping people from migrating (from an equally inconsistent OS)
MadMadBunny
in reply to TriangleSpecialist • • •TriangleSpecialist
in reply to MadMadBunny • • •Holytimes
in reply to MadMadBunny • • •MonkderVierte
in reply to MadMadBunny • • •Hadriscus
in reply to TriangleSpecialist • • •communism
in reply to MadMadBunny • • •How is a kernel meant to enforce anything about UI?
I think GUI development should favour server-side decorations for consistency's sake, but this is more of a cultural thing with what application developers are choosing to do, rather than anything "Linux" can do about.
MonkderVierte
in reply to MadMadBunny • • •Always has been. At least since NT. Company culture encourages features and discourages fixes. Thus it got framework after framework.
MadMadBunny
in reply to MonkderVierte • • •unfinished | 🇵🇸
in reply to MadMadBunny • • •And yes, Windows is the absolute worst at this.
MadMadBunny
in reply to unfinished | 🇵🇸 • • •atzanteol
in reply to omawarisan • • •Mwa
in reply to atzanteol • • •DoctorPress
in reply to omawarisan • • •pineapple
in reply to omawarisan • • •hoppolito
in reply to pineapple • • •omawarisan
in reply to pineapple • • •i found the original in reddit, from about four years ago
reddit.com/r/kde/comments/tffr…
(i'm not saying it's related, but at least people should be able to read the text now)
pineapple
in reply to omawarisan • • •alk
in reply to pineapple • • •MadMadBunny
in reply to pineapple • • •Xylight
in reply to pineapple • • •KDE: Developers trying to Design a desktop.
marduk
in reply to Xylight • • •stuner
in reply to pineapple • • •Kilgore Trout
in reply to pineapple • • •Looks much better to me nowadays, although yes, I am not using the default Breeze theme. But if there are any problems in the theme I am using, they are much more likely to not be present in Breeze.
Some "issues" pointed out in the picture are not issues at all.
The "Different font styles and sizes" for example, because they are used for different things with different scopes and user interaction.
Cris
in reply to Kilgore Trout • • •chunkystyles
in reply to Cris • • •malwieder
in reply to pineapple • • •Some points are valid, but this looks more like the author (of the image) wanted to highlight as much as possible to confirm their own bias (that it's not well designed). Maybe I'm being ragebaited, but here we go:
Yeah, one shows breadcrumbs and the other a title.
First one is the "start menu" button. The tasks could also have text labels on them, of course they can have a different width to an unrelated element.
It can show two lines of text (as evidenced by the third item in the same row). It would look pretty bad if every item was centered on their own.
It looks good, but the red line the author connected from the snowflake to the horizontal line of the "H" doesn't necessarily back their claim that this is "absolutely pixel perfect alignment" because the horizontal line of the "H" might not be geometrically centered to the line height of the text and you could also have different characters in different languages.
Yeah, some elements like the scrollbars aren't positioned well (in this screenshot, this is a bit outdated tbh). But there's also the concept of a visual center as opposed to the geometric center.
PieMePlenty
in reply to pineapple • • •I have a theory that if everything was pixel perfect, centered, perfectly aligned and looked the same, the thing would look too sterile. There's basically a perfect world, written down in books and texts that is being taught to students and there's the real world. In many areas, these two do not match and the above image is the result of someone's text book world view not matching the real world.
Could the discover store have a better UI? Yes. Will a centered, down-anchored, pixel perfect button make it better? Subjective.
marduk
in reply to PieMePlenty • • •Allero
in reply to pineapple • • •Honestly I just want KDE to do the backbone and GNOME to do the designs.
Adwaita apps look just right, minimalistic yet powerful, pinnacle of modern simplified designs. Everything you actually need is close, and the rest doesn't clog the view.
The rest of GNOME is heavily meh. Customization is next to nothing, and generally any workflow falling outside the one window = one task paradigm is gonna be a pain. Settings are convoluted and sometimes straight up unreachable without additional tools or config edits (and sometimes they don't even apply).
I guess what unites Adwaita and GNOME project overall is the stubborn adversity to users making it comfy for themselves - it's the GNOME way, or no way. And while Adwaita is at least actually good in its defaults, GNOME is not.
KDE, on the other hand, is brilliant as a desktop environment, but menus could be so, so much better. So, when I have a choice, I use Adwaita-themed apps on KDE. With proper theming on KDE side of things, they come together just right.
bitwolf
in reply to Allero • • •Agreed completely.
KDE just feels better and more performant. Even if GNOME Shell uses less memory in its own, it doesnt always feel good to use.
However GNOME Shell and Adwaita are beautiful, consistent, and designed through human feedback. KDE is fragmented, too nested, and has so many conflicting designs.
Its not possible to make KDE feel exactly like GNOME Shell but I wish I could.
pineapple
in reply to Allero • • •bilouba
in reply to pineapple • • •AnUnusualRelic
in reply to pineapple • • •I can live with that.
Hadriscus
in reply to omawarisan • • •monovergent 🛠️
in reply to omawarisan • • •I'm very glad to see projects like libadapta as themable alternatives to the libadwaita dogma. I've painstakingly themed my desktop to look and feel like a cohesive, modernized NT 4 workstation and should seriously consider contributing to libadapta in anticipation of libadwaita coming to more and more programs.
I am very stubborn about my computer's GUI, but also hopeful the community can bring back theming where GNOME is dead set against it. If they can make WindowBlinds for modern Windows, the equivalent in Linux is definitely achievable.
GitHub - xapp-project/libadapta: libAdwaita + theme support + a few extra
GitHubomawarisan
in reply to monovergent 🛠️ • • •A bit off-topic, but I really appreciate projects that respect their upstreams, and attempt to improve in their own ways (from libadapta's README):
HotsauceHurricane
in reply to omawarisan • • •seralth
in reply to monovergent 🛠️ • • •Mwa
in reply to monovergent 🛠️ • • •mat dave
in reply to omawarisan • • •Throw a JetBrains app in there for a complete monstrosity 🤣
As a Gnome'r I tend to lean towards apps that I can make look like they belong, but I put up with JetBrains because there tools work really well for my needs
dajoho
in reply to mat dave • • •Scrollone
in reply to mat dave • • •Max
in reply to Scrollone • • •Samsy
in reply to omawarisan • • •froufox
in reply to Samsy • • •Everyday0764
in reply to Samsy • • •and i'm on kde btw
Matt
in reply to omawarisan • • •jxk
in reply to Matt • • •Sips'
in reply to omawarisan • • •nfms
in reply to Sips' • • •Sips'
in reply to nfms • • •nfms
in reply to Sips' • • •I created a Window Rule and so far it seems to be working. This was a test but I've done it before through the Window-Specific Overrides in Windows Decorations-Edit Breeze Theme
I use the keyboard very often and have a shortcut for that. It works for my use case, I always have windows maximized and tile them when i need it using the default keyboard shortcuts
Sips'
in reply to nfms • • •Teppichbrand
in reply to omawarisan • • •MTK
in reply to Teppichbrand • • •edinbruh
in reply to MTK • • •MTK
in reply to edinbruh • • •burntbacon
in reply to MTK • • •thedeadwalking4242
in reply to Teppichbrand • • •Magitian
in reply to omawarisan • • •Libertus
in reply to omawarisan • • •☂️-
in reply to omawarisan • • •Routhinator
in reply to omawarisan • • •Mactan
in reply to omawarisan • • •burntbacon
in reply to omawarisan • • •Hansae
in reply to burntbacon • • •_stranger_
in reply to Hansae • • •MATE is to GNOME as Ash's Pickachu is to Raichu.
I'm not sure I have a point, but the analogy rings true I think.
Hansae
in reply to _stranger_ • • •_stranger_
in reply to Hansae • • •Captain Aggravated
in reply to Hansae • • •Horsey
in reply to omawarisan • • •es_eskaliert
in reply to omawarisan • • •Caveman
in reply to omawarisan • • •Kay Ohtie
in reply to omawarisan • • •