After Hyundai ICE Raid, Even South Korea’s Capitalists Question US Relations
cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/6403457
Zip ties. Helicopters. Crowded cells. Guns trained on bewildered workers. Foul water. Forced vaccinations. An unconscious detainee left on the floor by negligent guards. A pregnant woman in handcuffs. A detainee being called “Rocket Man” (Donald Trump’s nickname for Kim Jong Un) by sneering federal agents. A menstruating woman forced to attend to her period with only toilet paper.These are the details of 316 South Korean nationals’ experiences in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention that have flooded the country’s media in the weeks after the September 4 raid on a Hyundai-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia. A wave of fury is now pouring forth from across South Korean society — and the political consequences are only just beginning.
There is far more at stake than a single factory in Georgia, which by itself represented 8,500 jobs and $4.3 billion in investment, and is just one of 23 plants being built across the U.S. by Korean conglomerates. Since the raid, the U.S. and South Korea have announced that Korean workers will be able to use B-1 visas and ESTA visa waivers to continue working in the U.S. A new bill in Congress, the Partner with Korea Act, also seeks to extend 15,000 professional E-4 visas to South Koreans for the first time.
But U.S. flexibility on immigration is not all that matters. Seoul and Washington have yet to finalize their trade deal instigated by Trump’s threat to impose a 25 percent blanket tariff on South Korean goods. At the current stage of negotiations, South Korea has agreed to accept a 15 percent tariff on its exports and provide tremendous investments and other financial agreements: $350 billion in state-backed short-term investment, $150 billion in private sector contracts with U.S. corporations, and a guarantee to purchase $100 billion in U.S. liquid natural gas. Despite so much on the table, a written agreement has yet to be produced, and negotiations are proving tense as the Trump administration presses for Seoul to provide the lion’s share of its $350 billion commitment in cash. While some of the shock over the ICE raid has died down, Washington’s conduct over the course of months of negotiations has also raised deeper questions in South Korea about the real nature of the alliance — and whether this is a relationship that can last.
The Art of the Steal
The anger unleashed by ICE’s abuse of Korean workers has been building for some time. Trump’s tariff threats, announced in March, hit South Korea at a difficult time, when the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol was unresolved, and the country was reeling from years of flagging economic performance.
The issue was not only a matter of timing. The Biden administration’s CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act also used similar (though less onerous) tariff threats to force South Korean conglomerates to transfer production and make large investments in the U.S. — which is how the Hyundai-LG plant made its way to Georgia in the first place. Having already complied with the previous administration, South Korea nevertheless now finds itself facing an even graver economic threat that could lead to recession: not just a 25 percent tariff on all exports (since reduced to 15 percent), but sector-based tariffs impacting most of South Korea’s key industries as well.
While much of the anger on either side of the Pacific has focused on the current administration in Washington, Trump’s tariffs are just the latest in a string of U.S. policies that have sought to deny South Korea its economic sovereignty, open its markets to foreign takeover, and degrade the rights and dignity of its working people.
After Hyundai ICE Raid, Even South Korea’s Capitalists Question US Relations
Zip ties. Helicopters. Crowded cells. Guns trained on bewildered workers. Foul water. Forced vaccinations. An unconscious detainee left on the floor by negligent guards. A pregnant woman in handcuffs. A detainee being called “Rocket Man” (Donald Trump’s nickname for Kim Jong Un) by sneering federal agents. A menstruating woman forced to attend to her period with only toilet paper.These are the details of 316 South Korean nationals’ experiences in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention that have flooded the country’s media in the weeks after the September 4 raid on a Hyundai-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia. A wave of fury is now pouring forth from across South Korean society — and the political consequences are only just beginning.
There is far more at stake than a single factory in Georgia, which by itself represented 8,500 jobs and $4.3 billion in investment, and is just one of 23 plants being built across the U.S. by Korean conglomerates. Since the raid, the U.S. and South Korea have announced that Korean workers will be able to use B-1 visas and ESTA visa waivers to continue working in the U.S. A new bill in Congress, the Partner with Korea Act, also seeks to extend 15,000 professional E-4 visas to South Koreans for the first time.
But U.S. flexibility on immigration is not all that matters. Seoul and Washington have yet to finalize their trade deal instigated by Trump’s threat to impose a 25 percent blanket tariff on South Korean goods. At the current stage of negotiations, South Korea has agreed to accept a 15 percent tariff on its exports and provide tremendous investments and other financial agreements: $350 billion in state-backed short-term investment, $150 billion in private sector contracts with U.S. corporations, and a guarantee to purchase $100 billion in U.S. liquid natural gas. Despite so much on the table, a written agreement has yet to be produced, and negotiations are proving tense as the Trump administration presses for Seoul to provide the lion’s share of its $350 billion commitment in cash. While some of the shock over the ICE raid has died down, Washington’s conduct over the course of months of negotiations has also raised deeper questions in South Korea about the real nature of the alliance — and whether this is a relationship that can last.
The Art of the Steal
The anger unleashed by ICE’s abuse of Korean workers has been building for some time. Trump’s tariff threats, announced in March, hit South Korea at a difficult time, when the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol was unresolved, and the country was reeling from years of flagging economic performance.
The issue was not only a matter of timing. The Biden administration’s CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act also used similar (though less onerous) tariff threats to force South Korean conglomerates to transfer production and make large investments in the U.S. — which is how the Hyundai-LG plant made its way to Georgia in the first place. Having already complied with the previous administration, South Korea nevertheless now finds itself facing an even graver economic threat that could lead to recession: not just a 25 percent tariff on all exports (since reduced to 15 percent), but sector-based tariffs impacting most of South Korea’s key industries as well.
While much of the anger on either side of the Pacific has focused on the current administration in Washington, Trump’s tariffs are just the latest in a string of U.S. policies that have sought to deny South Korea its economic sovereignty, open its markets to foreign takeover, and degrade the rights and dignity of its working people.
After Hyundai ICE Raid, Even South Korea’s Capitalists Question US Relations | Truthout
Can the US and South Korea’s tenuous alliance survive Trump’s tariffs and ICE’s raid on a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia?britney (Truthout)
like this
I hate how Apples + Googles Prinz services are fucking my Printer, yet CUPS does it right.
I have a brother laser Printer which I use via IPP from my network. It can hold a bunch of pages in RAM and Print them once the other (it can Print 3 in a row) are finished.
Now what does any propriatery printing service do?
They feed ONE PAGE AT A TIME, so my printer starts printing, then it starts cooling off, but then it has to HEAT UP AGAIN FOR FUCKS SAKE, and that every time.
Also if I just print via CUPS from my Linux machine, its like 5 times faster.
And I just don't understand how my 15€ thin client from over 20 years ago can do more and better than my 1200€ iPad.
Just a reminder why I keep using Linux.
like this
Will American Carnage Spread to Venezuela?
cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/6420802
cross-posted from: ibbit.at/post/80541
Illustration by Nathaniel St. Clair
Every autocrat needs an enemy who threatens the country—preferably from both sides of the border. Such an enemy can serve as the reason to suspend the rule of law and boost executive power.
For Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it’s been the Kurds. For India’s Narendra Modi, it’s been the Muslims. For Russia’s Vladimir Putin, it was first the Chechens, then Alexei Navalny and his followers, and now the Ukrainians.
Donald Trump has built his political career—and, frankly, his entire personality—on the identification of enemies. His presidential run back in 2016 required belittling his rivals in those early Republican primaries (quite literally in the case of Marco Rubio). Later, he widened his scope to include everyone who attempted to thwart his ambitions, like the FBI’s James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. These days, everything that goes wrong in the United States he blames on former president Joe Biden (who had the temerity to beat him in the 2020 presidential election) and the “radical left” (which is basically anyone more liberal than Stephen Miller).
But such “enemies” are small fry, given Trump’s desire for ever greater power. To justify his attacks on Democratic-controlled cities, which is really an effort to suppress all resistance to his policies and his consolidation of presidential authority, he needs a more fearsome monster. To find such a bogeyman, he has dug deep into the American psyche and the playbooks of the autocratic leaders he admires.
On the road to finding the right monster and making America “great again”—a hero’s quest if there ever was one—Trump must first depict the United States as a fallen giant. During his first inaugural address, he declared that “this American carnage stops right here and stops right now.” According to Trump’s self-centered timeline, the carnage stopped during the four years of his first presidency and resumed once again when Biden took over. Carnage, for Trump, is really just a codeword for race—the fall in status of white people who have lost jobs, skin privilege, and pride of place in the history books. “Carnage” is what Black and Brown people have perpetrated by asserting themselves and taking political power, most often in cities.
It’s no surprise, then, that Trump has characterized American cities as “dangerous” and, in the case of Chicago, a “war zone.” In his recent address to a stony-faced group of U.S. military leaders, he said that cities are “very unsafe places and we’re going to straighten them out one by one.” He proposed that the military use American cities as a “training ground” to root out the “enemy within.”
Trump often refers to this “enemy within” as “violent radical left terrorism,” as in the White House’s recent statement on the deployment of the National Guard to Portland. But that doesn’t quite cover, for Trump, the clear and present dangers of drugs and gangs, which are central to justifying his tariff and immigration policies. For that, the president needs to pump up the carnage.
And that’s where Venezuela comes in.
A State of War
The United States is an economically powerful country with relatively low levels of crime. It does not resemble a tropical kleptocracy (not yet). Yet, Trump has gone to great lengths to make it seem that Americans face the same kind of violence that plagued the Philippines during the tenure of Rodrigo Duterte and El Salvador under the current reign of Nayib Bukele. Both autocrats undermined the rule of law to fight drug lords and organized crime. Duterte engaged in myriad extrajudicial killings that have now landed him in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity. Bukele has imprisoned more than one percent of the population, many of them innocent of any crimes, and has effectively declared himself president for life.
For Trump, who thinks of himself as a white savior (el salvador blanco), the key to Salvadorizing America is to depict a country rapidly going to the dogs, which necessitates sending U.S. troops into American cities and ICE agents into every corner of society. Despite Trump’s claims, the U.S. crime rate was close to a 50-year low in 2022, halfway through the Biden administration. In 2024, the rates for murder,removed, aggravated assault, and robbery all fell, according to the FBI.
Then Trump discovered Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang that he could use to demonize immigrants, blame for U.S. drug abuse, and tie to criminal activity in cities. The gang has served as the perfect pretext to remove the Temporary Protected Status of Venezuelans as well as round them up and deport them.
And now the administration is playing up the threat of groups like Tren de Aragua to attack boats near Venezuela’s coast and declare a war against drug cartels. Some voices within the administration are even pushing for a U.S. operation to dislodge Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Has the United States replaced democracy promotion with a new, Trumpian form of carnage that it is exporting to the rest of the world, beginning with Venezuela?
The Purported Threat
Tren de Aragua began in a Venezuela prison about a decade ago. It quickly spread to other parts of Venezuela before branching out to the rest of Latin American and eventually to the United States. It has allegedly carried out hits, kidnapped people, and engaged in extensive drug trafficking. It has been linked to an assault on two New York policemen.
It sounds like a formidable organization, and Trump has done much to build up its reputation by branding it “terrorist” and putting it at the same level as the Islamic State.
In fact, Tren de Aragua is a decentralized organization that doesn’t pose a national security threat to any country much less the United States. Its links to the Venezuelan government are tenuous. Few if any of the roughly 250 Venezuelans deported earlier this year to a prison in El Salvador had any connections to the gang. Most were arrested on the basis of “gang” tattoos when Tren de Aragua doesn’t use tattoos as identifying markers.
The Trump administration’s order terminating Temporary Protected Status for approximately 300,000 Venezuelans living in the United States makes multiple mentions of Tren de Aragua. This week the Supreme Court upheld Trump’s move. The vast majority of Venezuelans left the country to escape gangs, economic chaos and corruption, or the government’s campaign to destroy the political opposition (which has included 19 cases of incommunicado detention). And now Trump is sending them back to lives of great uncertainty.
According to one poll, nearly half of Venezuelan supporters of Donald Trump, who were key in delivering Miami-Dade county to him in the last election, are having buyer’s remorse.
It’s one thing to break U.S. laws in going after immigrants. Now the Trump administration is breaking international laws and engaging in extrajudicial murder in its imagined pursuit of Tren de Aragua overseas.
On September 2, U.S. Special Operations forces attacked a boat near the Venezuelan coast that the administration alleges was a drug-running operation. It claimed to have killed 11 Tren de Aragua gang members. But it hasn’t provided any proof…of anything. The administration has released videos of the attacks without identifying the people it killed, offering any evidence that there were any drugs on board, or demonstrating that the boats had any links to Tren de Aragua.
Meanwhile, despite a war of words with Colombian leader Gustavo Petro over the latter’s pushback against Trump’s aggressive moves in the region, the United States recently teamed up with Colombia (and the UK) to arrest the alleged head of Tren de Aragua’s armed wing in the Colombian city of Valledupar. This police work received considerably less attention in the press—and from the U.S. government itself—than Trump’s clearly illegal attacks on Venezuelan boats.
Regime Change?
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, an autocrat in his own right, has predictably denounced U.S. actions and called up reserves to prepare to defend the country against a potential attack. Less predictably, after the sinking of that first boat, he sent a letter to the Trump administration arguing that he wasn’t involved in narco-trafficking and offering to meet with the administration’s envoy Richard Grenell. The administration ignored the letter and continued its attacks, though Grenell maintained contacts with Venezuela in order to swing a deal to avoid war and facilitate U.S. access to Venezuelan oil. This week, Trump instructed Grenellto stop this diplomatic outreach.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been building up the U.S. military presence in the region. It sent advanced F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico. It beefed up its naval flotilla with eight warships, some Navy P-8 surveillance planes, and an attack submarine. There are nearly 7,000 U.S. troops now deployed to the region.
This is considerably more firepower than a drug interdiction operation requires. But it’s not enough for a full-scale invasion of Venezuela.
This in-between approach may well reflect the conflict within the Trump administration between gung-ho regime-changers like Rubio and anti-interventionists like Grenell. The regime-changers, which include Stephen Miller and the head of the CIA John Ratcliffe, count on the support of Venezuelan opposition leaders like María Corina Machado, who had failed to pry Maduro from office in what was clearly a rigged presidential election last year. With many opposition figures now in jail or in exile, she views the U.S. military as a Hail Mary pass.
Other Venezuelans are much more cautious. “You kill Maduro,” one businessman there confided, “you turn Venezuela into Haiti.” After all, the weak opposition would have a hard time holding the country together amid a scramble for power and oil.
Longtime international affairs expert Leon Hadar points out that such carnage would not just be a problem for Venezuela. “Venezuela has already produced over seven million refugees and migrants,” he writes. “A state collapse scenario could easily double that number. Colombia, Brazil and other neighbors are already overwhelmed. Where do Trump and his advisors think these people will go?”
Given that Trump doesn’t make plans and instead improvises like a bombastic actor, his administration has probably not yet decided how to pursue regime change in Venezuela. The president likes to pit rival factions within his administration to see what the internal carnage will produce. As The Guardian’s Simon Tisdall concludes, “Today, full-scale military intervention in Venezuela remains unlikely. More probable is an intensified pressure campaign of destabilisation, sanctions, maritime strikes, and air and commando raids.”
The reality of Venezuela—the government, the gangs, the immigrants—poses no threat to the United States. The country sends a small percent of drugs here—most fentanyl comes from Mexico, most cocaine from Colombia—while the vast majority of Venezuelans in the United States are law-abiding citizens. Maduro’s military couldn’t do much against U.S. forces, and so far Venezuela has not struck back against what has been a clear violation of its sovereignty.
Trump’s war on drugs and full-court press on deportations, on the other hand, depend on this idea of Venezuela as a full-blown threat. Venezuela presents Trump with carte blanche to deploy the U.S. military in America’s backyard and in America’s own cities.
Really, it’s no surprise that Trump wants such a white card. He’s been playing such trump cards all his life.
The post Will American Carnage Spread to Venezuela? appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
From CounterPunch.org via this RSS feed
Trump’s bullying of Latin America isn’t part of any plan – he doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing
The president’s threats to attack Venezuela are regressive, dangerous and almost certain to backfire, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon TisdallSimon Tisdall (The Guardian)
like this
It looks like Venezuela is copying Iran's playbook from the first Trump administration; don't give Trump a casus belli and rely on the US military forcing Trump to give the documented order to attack.
Hopefully it works out for Venezuela.
Exclusive: Hamas says Israel’s ‘indiscriminate’ destruction of Gaza behind delay in locating captives' bodies
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/37589866
A senior Hamas source has told Middle East Eye that Israel bears responsibility for delays in locating and returning the bodies of captives still missing in Gaza.The source was speaking after Israeli officials said on Tuesday that the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would remain closed through Wednesday and accused Hamas of holding onto the bodies of captives it had pledged to return as part of the US-brokered peace deal that halted the two-year war.
But the Hamas source told MEE that its negotiators clearly stated during talks that the presence of Israeli forces and the genocidal, indiscriminate Israeli attacks that caused widespread destruction would complicate the task of locating the bodies of killed captives, requiring greater time and effort.
Exclusive: Hamas says Israel’s ‘indiscriminate’ destruction of Gaza behind delay in locating captives' bodies
A senior Hamas source has told Middle East Eye that Israel bears responsibility for delays in locating and returning the bodies of captives still missing in Gaza.The source was speaking after Israeli officials said on Tuesday that the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would remain closed through Wednesday and accused Hamas of holding onto the bodies of captives it had pledged to return as part of the US-brokered peace deal that halted the two-year war.
But the Hamas source told MEE that its negotiators clearly stated during talks that the presence of Israeli forces and the genocidal, indiscriminate Israeli attacks that caused widespread destruction would complicate the task of locating the bodies of killed captives, requiring greater time and effort.
like this
Imagine you're a wizard. You're running away from another wizard who wants to kill you. You reach an art school. You notice that you won't be able to get away in there, but then you notice a nato flag on the other wizard's social media profile. You shout the magic spell: "Northkorea!" The other wizard stops. What happened?
::: spoiler spoiler
The spell turns liberals into hitler instantly, and hitler can't get into art school
:::
Palestinian bodies returned by Israel show signs of torture and execution, say doctors
Many of the 90 bodies of Palestinians returned to Gaza by Israeli authorities under the ceasefire deal showed signs of torture and execution, including blindfolds, cuffed hands and bullet wounds in the head, according to doctors’ accounts.
“Almost all of them had been blindfolded, and had been bound up and they had gunshots between the eyes. Almost all of them had been executed,” said Dr Ahmed al-Farra, the head of Nasser hospital’s paediatric department.
Palestinian bodies returned by Israel show signs of torture and execution, say doctors
Almost all had been blindfolded and had gunshot wounds between the eyes, says medic at Nasser hospital in GazaJulian Borger (The Guardian)
like this
I think their audience heavily started turning against them, so they had no choice but to jump ship. They are crying to walk a very fine line between spreading genocide propaganda and having their readers believe that they are a trustworthy newspaper by letting Palestinians speak occasionally.
Noticeably they are taking like two or three days to report old stuff though.
But do not doubt for a second that when it is time to spread new genocide propaganda, the Guardian will join the fray without qualms. They already showed their hand when they spread false propaganda about "having seen footage of rape on October 7." Which turned out to be a complete lie a year after the fact.
Palestinian bodies returned by Israel show signs of torture and execution, say doctors
Many of the 90 bodies of Palestinians returned to Gaza by Israeli authorities under the ceasefire deal showed signs of torture and execution, including blindfolds, cuffed hands and bullet wounds in the head, according to doctors’ accounts.
“Almost all of them had been blindfolded, and had been bound up and they had gunshots between the eyes. Almost all of them had been executed,” said Dr Ahmed al-Farra, the head of Nasser hospital’s paediatric department.
Palestinian bodies returned by Israel show signs of torture and execution, say doctors
Almost all had been blindfolded and had gunshot wounds between the eyes, says medic at Nasser hospital in GazaJulian Borger (The Guardian)
like this
This is literally ripped from me asking Gemini "how can a medical examiner tell if a person was blindfolded when they died" so I expect down votes since I'm being forthright about that and not just pawning it off as my own.
Tl;Dr: markings, particularly bruising, fiber or other material remnants, blood vessels in the eyes rupturing from the blindfold.
Here's what the ai said:
A medical examiner (forensic pathologist) can determine if a person was blindfolded at the time of death by looking for several types of evidence, primarily through a thorough external examination of the body and the scene investigation.
Key indicators that might be present include:
* Imprints or Markings on the Skin:
* Bruising (Contusions): The force or pressure of a tight blindfold, especially if the person struggled, can leave distinct bruises on the skin around the eyes, across the bridge of the nose, and/or around the head.
* Abrasions (Scrapes): Friction from the material moving against the skin, particularly near bony prominences like the orbital ridges or bridge of the nose, can cause scrapes.
* Ligature Marks: A fold, crease, or indentation in the skin, often in the pattern of the blindfold material (e.g., a line for a strip of cloth, a crosshatch pattern for gauze), can be visible. These are similar to those seen from restraints or ligatures.
* Trace Evidence:
* Fibers or Residue: The material used for the blindfold (e.g., fabric fibers, tape residue) might be transferred to the skin, hair, or eyelashes of the deceased. These small pieces of evidence are collected and analyzed by forensic scientists.
* Hemorrhages (Bleeding):
* Petechiae: Small, pinpoint hemorrhages (broken blood vessels) in the conjunctiva (the lining of the eyelids and eye) or the skin of the eyelids can be caused by the pressure of a tight restraint around the head or neck area, which can obstruct venous return.
* Scene Investigation:
* The Blindfold Itself: The most direct evidence is the discovery of the blindfold still on the body or nearby. The medical examiner or crime scene investigators will document its position and material.
* Associated Evidence: The location of the body, other restraints, and signs of a struggle can corroborate the use of a blindfold as part of a struggle, kidnapping, or execution.
The findings from the external examination and the scene are crucial because they represent ante-mortem (occurring before death) or peri-mortem (occurring around the time of death) events. If the markings show signs of vital reaction (like bruising/bleeding), it confirms the person was blindfolded while still alive or in the process of dying.
Yes they're just opening up the body bag and it's got blindfolds and zip ties still on it.
Footage filmed by a freelance journalist working for the BBC at Nasser's mortuary appeared to show the body of a blindfolded man.
Gaza experts work to identify bodies of 90 Palestinians returned by Israel
Under the Gaza ceasefire deal, Israel has agreed to hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians in return for every dead Israeli hostage.David Gritten (BBC News)
Exclusive: Hamas says Israel’s ‘indiscriminate’ destruction of Gaza behind delay in locating captives' bodies
A senior Hamas source has told Middle East Eye that Israel bears responsibility for delays in locating and returning the bodies of captives still missing in Gaza.
The source was speaking after Israeli officials said on Tuesday that the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would remain closed through Wednesday and accused Hamas of holding onto the bodies of captives it had pledged to return as part of the US-brokered peace deal that halted the two-year war.
But the Hamas source told MEE that its negotiators clearly stated during talks that the presence of Israeli forces and the genocidal, indiscriminate Israeli attacks that caused widespread destruction would complicate the task of locating the bodies of killed captives, requiring greater time and effort.
reshared this
Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’
Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’
Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’, a report by 160 scientists from 23 countries warnsGraham Readfearn (The Guardian)
Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti suffers rib fractures after assault in Israeli prisons
Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti sustained rib fractures after being beaten in Israeli prisons, the Prisoners’ Media Office said Wednesday, Anadolu reports.
The Hamas-run office said on Telegram that Barghouti was beaten by Israeli prison guards while being transferred from Ramon Prison in southern Israel to Megiddo Prison in the north in mid-September.
The imprisoned leader lost consciousness and suffered a fracture in four ribs, it added.
Barghouti, 66, a senior leader of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah group, is one of the most prominent and popular figures in Palestinian politics.
How couples meet in the US
This is reall a monumental societal change.
3rd spaces are nearly completely destroyed, and online seems to be the main option for ppl now.
like this
Two New Windows Zero-Days Exploited in the Wild — One Affects Every Version Ever Shipped
..."The vulnerable driver ships with every version of Windows, up to and including Server 2025," Adam Barnett, lead software engineer at Rapid7, said. "Maybe your fax modem uses a different chipset, and so you don't need the Agere driver? Perhaps you've simply discovered email? Tough luck. Your PC is still vulnerable, and a local attacker with a minimally privileged account can elevate to administrator."...
Two New Windows Zero-Days Exploited in the Wild — One Affects Every Version Ever Shipped
Microsoft’s October 2025 Patch Tuesday fixes 183 flaws, including three exploited zero-days and two 9.9 CVSS bugs.The Hacker News
like this
reshared this
Other articles make more clear why that is.
cyberpress.org/windows-agere-m…
Rather than issuing a traditional patch for each vulnerability, Microsoft’s October cumulative update completely removes the ltmdm64.sys driver from affected systems.As a result, all fax modem hardware relying on the Agere Modem driver will cease to function. While mail and messaging over IP have largely supplanted analog modems, some industrial and legacy applications still depend on fax modems.
Organizations must therefore audit their environments for any remaining modem dependencies and either migrate to supported alternatives or implement workarounds where available.
Microsoft’s advisory explicitly recommends that customers eliminate any reliance on the deprecated hardware to avoid service disruptions.
So maybe not all the way back to the original release, but back to the first release that included this specific telephony modem driver, ltmdm64.sys. If I recall correctly, Windows 3.1 brought networking capabilities.
However, another article claims it has only been shipped with every version of Windows since 2006.
thestack.technology/windows-us…
CVE-2025-24990 was credited to a security researcher going by the handle @shitsecure who told The Stack by DM “it’s a driver from 2006, never changed… I think it was historically shipped with everything, although that doesn’t make sense at all.”
Which honestly makes a lot more sense, since the "64" part of the driver name implies it's for 64 bit systems, which were first introduced in 2003.
Some more extraneous info on this driver/hardware:
Thanks for the details!
I wonder how often they clean stuff up like this. That crossed my mind earlier, I’m sure there is a bunch of “dormant” software that could be cleaned out or made optional in some way.
But the making it optional idea is easier said than done. Especially from a standpoint of discoverability and usability.
Right, it was referenced in one of the articles that a bunch of legacy industrial machines likely still use this hardware, so the people using those old machines are probably going to have to go dig up PCI modems from that era without the Agere/Lucent chipset.
I'm sure you're right and there's lots of stuff they've missed like this over the years that they sort of kept on for compatibility but that opens exploits due to how old they are.
The patch is for Windows 10, Windows 11, and Server 2008 up to Server 2025.
Further, there's companies that make custom-built modern machines that support classic PCI and modern operating systems and classic operating systems.
It's conceivable that legacy systems are using modern OSes with virtualization running a legacy OS and legacy PCI cards, for example. It's not beyond the realm of possibility.
nixsys.com/legacy-computers/pc…
NEW PCI Slot Computer and Motherboard
NIXSYS Sales Industrial Computers With PCI Slots As Per Customers Specifications. Contact NIXSYS for Choosing Your PCI Industrial Computers.nixsys.com
I was curious about the "every version ever shipped."
This gets really old school.
After Israeli Withdrawal, Hamas Launches Violent Crackdown on Rivals in Gaza
After Israeli Withdrawal, Hamas Launches Violent Crackdown on Rivals in Gaza — The Wall Street Journal
Firefights and public executions raise concerns about spiral of internecine violence; ‘I could hear gunfire all around’apple.news
like this
How an Israeli-backed firm spied on US churches to push propaganda
A new firm called Show Faith by Works has launched a geofencing campaign targeting Christian churches and colleges across the American Southwest with pro-"Israel" advertisements, a covert operation exposed in a striking investigation by Nick Cleveland-Stout, a Research Associate in the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute, and published by Responsible Statecraft.
The operation appears to be conducted without the awareness or consent of many pastors and congregations, some of whom have expressed alarm over the use of such invasive digital targeting by "Israel".
According to the company’s filing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the project aims to “geofence the actual boundaries of every Major (sic) church in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Coloardo (sic) and all Christian Colleges during worship times,” allowing the firm to “track attendees and continue to target [them] with ads” on behalf of "Israel".
How an Israeli-backed firm spied on US churches to push propaganda
A pro-"Israel" firm secretly tracked worshippers across US churches and colleges using geofencing technology as part of a $3.2 million propaganda drive.Al Mayadeen English (How an Israeli-backed firm spied on US churches to push propaganda)
How an Israeli-backed firm spied on US churches to push propaganda
A new firm called Show Faith by Works has launched a geofencing campaign targeting Christian churches and colleges across the American Southwest with pro-"Israel" advertisements, a covert operation exposed in a striking investigation by Nick Cleveland-Stout, a Research Associate in the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute, and published by Responsible Statecraft.
The operation appears to be conducted without the awareness or consent of many pastors and congregations, some of whom have expressed alarm over the use of such invasive digital targeting by "Israel".
According to the company’s filing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the project aims to “geofence the actual boundaries of every Major (sic) church in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Coloardo (sic) and all Christian Colleges during worship times,” allowing the firm to “track attendees and continue to target [them] with ads” on behalf of "Israel".
How an Israeli-backed firm spied on US churches to push propaganda
A pro-"Israel" firm secretly tracked worshippers across US churches and colleges using geofencing technology as part of a $3.2 million propaganda drive.Al Mayadeen English (How an Israeli-backed firm spied on US churches to push propaganda)
Judge blocks Trump from firing federal workers during government shutdown for now
Judge blocks Trump from firing federal workers during government shutdown for now
The Trump administration warned it would use the shutdown to shed federal jobs. President Trump said that the cuts were aimed at "Democrat agencies."Dan Mangan (CNBC)
like this
Which Linux distro would you say that fits me best? Do you think the LLM got it right?
distrochooser.de/en/d5ed36c131…
- You want something that just works out of the box.
- Your focus is everyday tasks with some programming.
- You prefer cutting-edge software, but the system itself can be stable.
- You want a graphical installer and easy GUI management.
- You like Cinnamon for a Windows-like UI.
- You’re okay with either pre-installed software or minimal install.
- You don’t mind if the distro itself has a smaller community as long as the parent distro is well-supported.
Distrochooser
The Distrochooser helps you to find the suitable Linux distribution based on your needs!distrochooser.de
Where is the "LLM"? Are you talking about the linked questionnaire? Zero mention of LLM.
github.com/distrochooser/distr…
SMH these grifters will call any super basic program "AI".
GitHub - distrochooser/distrochooser: An orientation guide for Linux newbies
An orientation guide for Linux newbies. Contribute to distrochooser/distrochooser development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
like this
Scientists Completed a Toxicity Report on This Forever Chemical. The EPA Hasn’t Released It.
...The assessment found that PFNA interferes with human development by causing lower birth weights and, based on animal evidence, likely causes damage to the liver and to male reproductive systems, including reductions in testosterone levels, sperm production and the size of reproductive organs...The EPA told ProPublica the report would be published when it was finalized, though the press office did not answer questions about what still needed to be done or when that would likely happen.
But the report’s final version was “completed and ready to post” in mid-April, according to an internal document reviewed by ProPublica. And two scientists familiar with the assessment confirmed the report has been finalized and ready for publication since April...
A draft version of the assessment was made public last year and drew objections from an industry trade group. The final version, which retained the calculations published in the draft report, was completed shortly before the EPA announced its intention in May to rescind and reconsider limits on the amount of PFNA and several other forever chemicals allowed in drinking water. The limits had been set last year by President Joe Biden’s administration.
Darya Minovi, a senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, pointed to that pending change as a possible motivation for not publishing the PFNA assessment. “If you’re trying to roll back drinking water standards, you probably don’t want to release information that makes the case for why those standards are necessary,” said Minovi...
...“This is the suppression of information,” said Allen, who co-founded the National PFAS Contamination Coalition. “We have the science, and it shouldn’t be obstructed.”...
EPA Report on Dangers of PFNA, a Forever Chemical, Hangs In Limbo
The report was completed in mid-April, scientists familiar with the document told ProPublica, but the Trump administration has yet to release it.ProPublica
adhocfungus likes this.
TIL about this Fediverse software database
like this
Kbin the software has died - technically there is still one small instance in Poland that uses it, but all others have ceased, and the software is no longer being maintained under that name - yet the project lives on in its fork Mbin.
Instances that include the kbin word - e.g. kbin.earth - only retain that now as a legacy.
Sadly I don't think anyone has heard from Ernst, the original developer and admin of kbin.social.
App support finally came to Mbin though, see "Interstellar".
A spiritual successor to Kbin's design philosophy that is very much worth checking out is "PieFed", which I am writing to you now using it 😀. Most apps that work with Lemmy also now work with it (except Thunder support still coming "soon~(TM)~" but available only in the beta version for now, not the Play Store one). PieFed is written in Python rather than the obscure Rust language so its pace of development has been extremely rapid in comparison to Lemmy and it now has a feature set well beyond that of either Lemmy or Mbin. If you want to access both the Threadiverse/Lemmy/Mbin communities/magazines as well as Fediverse/Mastodon-style content, Mbin is still your best bet as it was designed for exactly that, but for Threadiverse stuff it offers numerous advantages. Anyway it is so nice to have choices to pick from!😀
Features - PieFed
Nice things about PieFed: There are two other options for reddit-style federated forums, Lemmy and Kbin (recently forked to Mbin, which shows some promise). Having used them both extensively I came away unsatisfied, for a variety of reasons.PieFed
like this
I'm a bit worried about Ernest though. Didn't he have a bunch of health issues?
Move over Murdochs, the Ellisons are the new family dynasty shaking up US media
Move over Murdochs, the Ellisons are the new family dynasty shaking up US media
Larry Ellison's relationship with Donald Trump has drawn scrutiny as the tech billionaire and his son strive to become major media moguls.Natalie Sherman (BBC News)
To compete with China, the U.S. needs Chinese talent
America can’t win the AI race without Chinese talent - Rest of World
Restrictive visa policies clash with Silicon Valley’s reliance on Chinese researchers, highlighting a critical paradox in America’s AI strategy.Rina Chandran (Rest of World)
reshared this
Tomahawk missiles for Kiev, Alaska process: key takeaways from Lavrov’s statements
Tomahawk missiles for Kiev, Alaska process: key takeaways from Lavrov’s statements
According to the Russia's top diplomat, the process launched during the Russia-US summit is not yet completeTASS
Chinese tanks could soon strike like fighter jets to kill beyond sight
Chinese tanks could soon strike like fighter jets to kill beyond sight
China’s PLA is moving its ground forces from traditional close-range tank warfare to long-range, beyond-visual-range combat.Kapil Kajal (Interesting Engineering)
reshared this
What's a good Google Drive replacement for syncing my Keepass database?
like this
Others have said it, but SyncThing all the way. Open source, been around for a decade, battle tested, no cloud, full control over everything.
I didn't see this mentioned, but you can also tell KeePass to auto reload the database if the file gets updated elsewhere. Makes it so you can run the same KeePass database on multiple devices with live/realtime updates. I've used this setup instead of vaultwarden/passbolt on several IT teams to keep the important stuff separate from the normal systems. It's not on by default usually, but right in the Basic Settings page under File Management.
I have KeePass+SyncThing on 3 laptops, 2 androids, and a home server. If I add a password to one of my androids while I'm out and about (and I have cell data), next time I sit down at my desk it's already available. Vice versa works, too. If my home server dies, the other devices don't care and keep syncing amongst themselves. I think I've had some version of this setup going since SyncThing released, I can't imagine using anything else.
Do note that since there is no cloud or infrastructure behind it, sync conflicts do happen when a device in the network goes offline for a while. It'll never get rid of files if there's an error syncing, but instead create a second copy with a timestamped filename. If this happens to your password db file, KeePass can then merge the two copies together and sort things out mostly automatically. Over the many years I've been using this, it doesn't happen as often when you're the only person using any of the devices that sync. It can happen a lot when you share the setup with someone else, though.
The Pentagon Is Ordering Staff to Watch Hegseth’s ‘MAGA Garbage’ Speech… Or Else
The Pentagon Is Ordering Staff to Watch Hegseth’s ‘MAGA Garbage’ Speech… Or Else
Defense Department sources tell Zeteo that staff have been warned that if they don’t watch or read the speech, or if they speak negatively of it, they could face severe consequences.Prem Thakker (Zeteo)
like this
Big Talk: Treasury Secretary Declares New War on Terror Against the Left | Scott Bessent suggests that Treasury is 'compiling lists' of nonprofit advocacy groups
Big Talk: Treasury Secretary Declares New War on Terror Against the Left
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that his department is in the process of launching a War on Terror-style campaign against progressive…Josh Kovensky (TPM - Talking Points Memo)
MIT engineers solve the sticky-cell problem in bioreactors and other industries
MIT engineers solve the sticky-cell problem in bioreactors and other industries
MIT researchers developed a way to make cells detach from surfaces on demand, using electrochemically generated bubbles.MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
like this
Jim Bolger, New Zealand’s 35th Prime Minister, dies, aged 90
Jim Bolger, New Zealand’s 35th Prime Minister, dies, aged 90
Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger has died aged 90. His family said he died peacefully yesterday, surrounded by his nine children, 18 grandchildren and wifeNewstalk ZB (www.newstalkzb.co.nz)
like this
Windows 10 support has ended, but here's how to get an extra year for free
Windows 10 support has ended, but here's how to get an extra year for free
Thanks to Extended Security Updates, you don't have to make the switch to Windows 11 just yet.Katie Teague (Engadget)
like this
reshared this
Home | MAS
Open-source Windows and Office activator featuring HWID, Ohook, TSforge, KMS38, and Online KMS activation methods, along with advanced troubleshooting.massgrave.dev
Study Finds Voices Should Sound Normal Through Walkie-Talkies By Now
ITHACA, NY—Citing numerous advancements in communication technology over the years, a study released Wednesday by researchers at Cornell University found that voices coming through walkie-talkies should sound normal by now.
“After countless hours of fact-finding and analysis, we’ve concluded that it’s 2025, and the speaker shouldn’t be all crackly anymore,” said lead researcher Jerome Thompson, noting that at a time when humanity was developing quantum computers, it was “pretty messed-up” that voices in two-way radio transceivers still came out tinny and could be difficult to understand.
“They should sound like cell phones, but instead they sound weird and staticky. Any handheld device should sound as though the person is standing right there in the room with you. And honestly, they should’ve sounded like that a long time ago—I mean, phones have sounded good for ages, so why not walkie-talkies?” The study follows a report out earlier this month that concluded people using walkie-talkies shouldn’t have to say “over” at the end of every sentence.
The Enemies Project helps "enemies" discover the human being in each other - Support their Kickstarter
The Enemies Project helps "enemies" discover the human being in each other.In each episode, the Enemies Project documentary pairs two people with fiercely opposing worldviews. Intense conflict, yes. But the Enemies Project is neither gotcha TV nor political debate. The purpose is for "enemies" to find the humanity in the other — because in a warring world, understanding is rebellion.
Episodes are hosted by renowned Peacemaker Larry Rosen.
youtube.com/@TheEnemiesProject
They're running a Kickstarter Campaign here: kickstarter.com/projects/larry…
Episodes Released So Far:
- Transgender — A transgender woman and a MAGA mom move from outright hostility to deep tenderness
- Abortion — A pro-choice woman and a pro-life man confront the fact that their enemy is deeply, beautifully human.
- A Palestinian and a Jew — A Palestinian American and a Hasidic Jew sit together in the aftermath of October 7, confronting grief, pain, and shared suffering
- Two Jews — A Zionist and an anti-Zionist Jew wrestle with betrayal, loyalty, and the pull of reconciliation within their own community
- Do Kids Need a Dad? A Lesbian and a Fatherhood Purist — A lesbian mom and a man who believes gay people should not have children find respect and warmth
- Dictatorship Under Trump: A Proud Boy and a Progressive — Each fears dictatorship in America, but from opposite sides of the political spectrum
- Dictatorship Under Biden: A Proud Boy and a Progressive — The mirror-image conversation, revealing how fear of tyranny shapes both left and right
Coming Episodes — What You're Enabling:
- Guns — Two Traumatized Women Divided by Ideology
- Immigration — A White MAGA Teen and a Mexican American Dad
- Police Use of Force — A Cop and an Abolitionist
- Falling from Christianity — A Gay Man and a Preacher
- Falling from Islam — A Tech CEO and a Muslim Mama
- Race in the U.S. [participants being interviewed now]
Other Episodes in the works: Russia/Ukraine, India/Pakistan, Falling from Mormonism.
The Enemies Project
The Enemies Project helps "enemies" discover the human being in each other. In each episode, the Enemies Project documentary pairs two people with fiercely opposing worldviews. Intense conflict, yes.YouTube
pewpew
Unknown parent • • •It works pretty well for me
Quazatron
in reply to Luffy • • •paequ2
in reply to Luffy • • •51dusty
in reply to paequ2 • • •bump. my brother multifunction worked flawlessly. scanner, printer...I assume the fax would work if it was hooked up.
Mac is 85-90%
Windows, I just completely uninstall/reinstall for each use because it is more reliable than trying to use it otherwise.
oddly enough, the Canon I got will only work properly from the phone, which pisses me off everyday. that thing is a POS.
DeceasedPassenger
in reply to 51dusty • • •I used to sell printers. Canon printers, more than any other brand, are purely just a vehicle to sell photo paper, ink, and ink subscriptions. Their laser units are another story, quite capable machines (not sure about lifelong reliability), but the inkjets are hot garbage. They have multiple models that cost less to purchase than the replacement cartridges... With the sort of build quality you might expect at that price point. HP, as awful as they are, never stooped quite that low afaik. Brother laser is the way to go, always.
Edit just to shit even harder on Canon, the amount of those printers returned to store was 3x all others put together. Only had one Brother returned in my entire 2 years there, and that was only because of logistics, not the machine itself.
51dusty
in reply to DeceasedPassenger • • •big ol dookie on Canon...💩💩💩
one of the worst technology purchases I ever made.
I bought the laser brother for scan and documents, which is awesome.
but I needed something for photos.... found this "highly rated" Canon photo only printer.... hot garbage.
eldavi
in reply to paequ2 • • •frongt
in reply to Luffy • • •Usually the print service is implemented by the printer manufacturer. Maybe try installing one or both of these apps, I needed them to print, and it worked fine after that:
play.google.com/store/apps/det…
play.google.com/store/apps/det…
I'm sure there's some way to use PS or PCL printing from Android too, but that's probably a lot more effort.
Brother Mobile Connect - Apps on Google Play
play.google.comOnno (VK6FLAB)
in reply to Luffy • • •You could print to CUPS from the other devices and potentially bypass all those shenanigans.
Also, CUPS has a PDF printer which saves you from even heating up your printer at all .. I haven't had a printer in my life for over 25 years.
Spooky Mulder
in reply to Luffy • • •tyler
in reply to Spooky Mulder • • •Kratzkopf
in reply to tyler • • •Critical Vulnerabilities in CUPS
www.cert.europa.euGhoelian
in reply to Kratzkopf • • •Steve Dice
in reply to Spooky Mulder • • •Onno (VK6FLAB)
Unknown parent • • •This has not been my experience .. at .. all.
Perhaps it would be helpful to discover what exactly doesn't work for you and fix that, rather than remove CUPS because one time it didn't work for you seven years ago.
blobjim [he/him]
in reply to Luffy • • •CUPS.org
www.cups.orgEarlGrey
in reply to blobjim [he/him] • • •Yeah and It's used in iOS.
I feel like there's another issue going on here because I print from my iPhone constantly and never have this issue.
curbstickle
in reply to blobjim [he/him] • • •Ehhh.... Apple took over CUPS development.
Michael Sweet of Easy Software Products developed CUPS in the late 90s. Apple hired Michel Sweet about a decade later and bought the source code.
After he left apple (another 10 years or so later), OpenPrinting forked it and Michael Sweet continued working on it there.
But no, Apple did not develop CUPS. I don't blame you for thinking they did though.
Edit: Forgot to note.
Source: I'm fucking old now and was using Linux before CUPS existed. Holy shit was it great once it went IPP from LPD.
Edit 2: Sorry because Apple does this a lot and this one still annoys me - Safari was built on KHTML, aka KDE and Konqueror. So anyone trying to say that Apple made WebKit all in house would also be wrong.
Apple likes to do that. Take stuff and then pretend they made it. Especially from open source projects.
blobjim [he/him]
in reply to curbstickle • • •curbstickle
in reply to blobjim [he/him] • • •blobjim [he/him]
in reply to curbstickle • • •MonkderVierte
in reply to curbstickle • • •Companies do that. Apple more quiet, Microsoft more abusive.
Edit: while writing this, i thought of multiple cases, where they invited some project dev to a talk for a inhouse job and then ghosted them until they were done cloning it. Winget/Appget (which is dead now) one example.
curbstickle
in reply to MonkderVierte • • •Peasley
in reply to Onno (VK6FLAB) • • •the implication that they only tried it once is childish
Perhaps it would be helpful if people who weren't interested in discussing in good faith would refrain from posting
Cypher
Unknown parent • • •undrwater
in reply to Luffy • • •Android has a cups client app, so you can use that instead of Google's printing service.
It's on f-droid.
Onno (VK6FLAB)
in reply to Peasley • • •How would you suggest I respond in the future?
We have a person, claiming that CUPS doesn't work and they now uninstall it on every installation.
There is no context, no data, no information that suggests what the issue is, what they tried, when this occurred, on which platform, under which conditions.
In other words, the user was essentially saying "CUPS sux".
Having used Linux as my main system for over 25 years, that sentiment did not match my own experience, does not help anyone, not me, not the user and not the OP who was trying to solve a problem, let alone anyone else reading along.
I responded accordingly.
Peasley
in reply to Onno (VK6FLAB) • • •I would suggest responding to what they wrote, rather than what they didn't write or what you imagine they may have written, but that's just me.
Another good option is to not respond at all.
Inventing a strawman then arguing with it is pointless
Jankatarch
in reply to Luffy • • •See this is what I hate about all these propreitery bs. They don't put the option to select alternative because "user too dumb."