Taranto, who was found with illegal guns and ammunition near Obama’s house, was convicted of those charges in May. In their memo Tuesday, Valdivia and White, asked a judge to sentence Taranto to 27 months in prison.

Laying out the factual background of their request, Valdivia and White told the court Taranto participated in the Jan. 6 attack and subsequently spread conspiracy theories about it.

DOJ Puts Prosecutors On Leave For Accurately Describing Jan. 6 Attack - Democracy Docket

The Department of Justice (DOJ) this week placed two federal prosecutors on leave after they wrote in a court filing that on Jan. 6, 2021, “thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters attacked the U.S.

^{Democracy Docket}

https://apnews.com/article/no-kings-protest-shooting-salt-lake-city-45a04fb74a09dfaa7140ce395cf7246c

Quick reaction to help people? Like in a disaster?

No.

Revealed: Pentagon orders states’ national guards to form ‘quick reaction forces’ for ‘crowd control’

Pentagon memo details plan to train over 20,000 national guard members across the US to carry out Trump’s order on subduing civil unrest

^{Aaron Glantz (The Guardian)}

As artificial intelligence reconfigures every dimension of our societies—from labor markets to classrooms to newsrooms—we should remember the Luddites. Not as caricatures, but in the original sense: People who refuse to accept that the deployment of new technology should be dictated unilaterally by corporations or in cahoots with the government, especially when it undermines workers’ ability to earn a living, social cohesion, public goods, and democratic institutions.

Journalists, academics, policymakers, and educators—people whose work shapes public understanding or steers policy responses—have a special responsibility in this moment: To avoid reproducing AI hype by uncritically acquiescing to corporate narratives about the benefits or inevitability of AI innovation. Rather, they should focus on human agency and what the choices made by corporations, governments, and civil society mean for the trajectory of AI development.

This isn’t just about AI’s capabilities; it’s about who decides what those capabilities are used for, who benefits, and who pays the price.

We should all be Luddites

Courtney Radsch discusses rehabilitating the idea of Luddites as people concerned with the control and impact of technology.

^Brookings

Video link -> video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1…

Source -> xcancel.com/JustCherry__/statu…

Also, this is a list of games NK people can play:

Outside the Internet Cafe:

When Google and Amazon negotiated a major $1.2bn cloud-computing deal in 2021, their customer – the Israeli government – had an unusual demand: agree to use a secret code as part of an arrangement that would become known as the “winking mechanism”.

The demand, which would require Google and Amazon to effectively sidestep legal obligations in countries around the world, was born out of Israel’s concerns that data it moves into the global corporations’ cloud platforms could end up in the hands of foreign law enforcement authorities.

For Israel, losing control of its data to authorities overseas was a significant concern. So to deal with the threat, officials created a secret warning system: the companies must send signals hidden in payments to the Israeli government, tipping it off when it has disclosed Israeli data to foreign courts or investigators.

To clinch the lucrative contract, Google and Amazon agreed to the so-called winking mechanism. The strict controls include measures that prohibit the US companies from restricting how an array of Israeli government agencies, security services and military units use their cloud services. According to the deal’s terms, the companies cannot suspend or withdraw Israel’s access to its technology, even if it’s found to have violated their terms of service.

Revealed: Israel demanded Google and Amazon use secret ‘wink’ to sidestep legal orders

The tech giants agreed to extraordinary terms to clinch a lucrative contract with the Israeli government, documents show

^{Harry Davies (The Guardian)}

When Google and Amazon negotiated a major $1.2bn cloud-computing deal in 2021, their customer – the Israeli government – had an unusual demand: agree to use a secret code as part of an arrangement that would become known as the “winking mechanism”.

The demand, which would require Google and Amazon to effectively sidestep legal obligations in countries around the world, was born out of Israel’s concerns that data it moves into the global corporations’ cloud platforms could end up in the hands of foreign law enforcement authorities.

For Israel, losing control of its data to authorities overseas was a significant concern. So to deal with the threat, officials created a secret warning system: the companies must send signals hidden in payments to the Israeli government, tipping it off when it has disclosed Israeli data to foreign courts or investigators.

To clinch the lucrative contract, Google and Amazon agreed to the so-called winking mechanism. The strict controls include measures that prohibit the US companies from restricting how an array of Israeli government agencies, security services and military units use their cloud services. According to the deal’s terms, the companies cannot suspend or withdraw Israel’s access to its technology, even if it’s found to have violated their terms of service.

Revealed: Israel demanded Google and Amazon use secret ‘wink’ to sidestep legal orders

The tech giants agreed to extraordinary terms to clinch a lucrative contract with the Israeli government, documents show

^{Harry Davies (The Guardian)}

The Kyiv Pechersk District Court ruled to place Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, former head of Ukraine’s state-owned grid operator Ukrenergo, in custody with the bail set at Hr 13.7 million ($325,000).

Kusrytskyi, dismissed from his post last year, was charged on Oct. 28 with large-scale embezzlement linked to events dating back to 2018.

According to the court's decision, if he doesn't post bail, he must remain in custody until Dec. 26.

"This is an entirely political decision," Kudrytskyi said after the court announced its ruling.

The arrest followed a raid on the ex-Ukrenergo chief's home a week earlier, which he claimed had been organized by his opponents to "send him a message." Kudrytskyi told the Kyiv Independent after the raid that unidentified men took his phone during the search to access his communications.

The case also involves Roman Hrynkevych, who is already under investigation in a separate defense procurement corruption probe. He allegedly orchestrated the scheme and has received additional charges.

The investigation alleges the two may have diverted funds from the state-owned energy company during 2018 tenders for infrastructure reconstruction. At the time, Kudrytskyi was Ukrenergo's deputy director for investments.

The company signed two contracts worth over Hr 68 million ($1.6 million) with a private company, paying Hr 13.7 million ($325,000) upfront, which was allegedly embezzled, the State Bureau of Investigation said.

At the hearing, Kudrytskyi's lawyer, Mykola Hrabyk, called the allegations "unfounded," saying that the case materials contain no evidence of criminal wrongdoing on his part.

As Ukraine battles to keep its power grid running under constant Russian assault, Kudrytskyi's arrest adds to growing unrest in the country’s energy sector. Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported recently, citing its sources, that current officials may be looking to blame former leaders for failing to protect energy infrastructure from Russian attacks.

Previously, Kudrytkyi said that the real purpose of the Oct. 21 searches was to gain access to his phone and his messages. He has been outspoken about his decision to resign from Ukrenergo in September 2024, claiming corrupt individuals attempted to take over the company.

Kudrytskyi’s forced resignation in the lead-up to the heating season in 2024 sparked controversy both domestically and abroad, as he was largely seen as a reliable figure.

The company’s supervisory board chairman, Daniel Dobbeni, and board member Peder Andreasen said his dismissal last year was over accusations that Ukrenergo had failed to protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure amid Russian missile strikes, and called the move "politically motivated" that had "no valid grounds."

Read also: Gripen jets are coming to Ukraine — here’s how they can be used against Russia

Gripen jets are coming to Ukraine — here's how they can be used against Russia

Sweden and Ukraine have taken a major step toward expanding Ukraine's air force, signing an agreement to potentially acquire Gripen fighter jets, and the first of these cutting-edge aircraft could be in Ukrainian skies as soon as 2026, according to P…

^{Kateryna Hodunova (The Kyiv Independent)}

Archived copy of the article

The indictment accuses Abughazaleh — whose name is repeatedly misspelled in the document — of bracing her hands on the hood of an ICE vehicle that was attempting to drive through a group of protesters outside of the Broadview Processing Center, ICE’s Chicago command center.

Kat Abughazaleh Indicted Over Chicago ICE Protest

Kat Abughazaleh, running in Illinois’ 9th District, is accused of impeding a federal agent during an anti-ICE protest at Broadview Processing Center.

^{Tessa Stuart (Rolling Stone)}

I am personally donating: First to Interstellar, the mbin/Lemmy/piefed client I'm using right now to create this post and second to KDE, even tho I'm a GNOME user, I like that they host their own fediverse instance ( lemmy.kde.social/ ), so I support them.

And what projects are y'all do donating to, if any at all?

Home - KDE Community

KDE is an open community of friendly people who want to create a world in which everyone has control over their digital life and enjoys freedom and privacy.

^kde.org

In 2021, rich countries vowed to spend more to help poor countries adapt to warming. That goal is unlikely to be met, a new report finds.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/climate/aid-poor-countries-adaptation-climate-united-nations.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xE8.crmO.ryR-x4lO4ZLT

A top US military official has ordered the national guards of all 50 US states, the District of Columbia and US territories to form “quick reaction forces” trained in “riot control”, including use of batons, body shields, Tasers and pepper spray, according to an internal Pentagon directive reviewed by the Guardian.

The memo, signed 8 October by Maj Gen Ronald Burkett, the director of the Pentagon’s national guard bureau, sets thresholds for the size of the quick reaction force to be trained in each state, with most states required to train 500 national guard members, for a total of 23,500 troops nationwide.

Revealed: Pentagon orders states’ national guards to form ‘quick reaction forces’ for ‘crowd control’

Pentagon memo details plan to train over 20,000 national guard members across the US to carry out Trump’s order on subduing civil unrest

^{Aaron Glantz (The Guardian)}

In a withering address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, has wiped the floor with misogynistic Israeli representatives and called out UN member states to their faces for enabling and participating in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Speaking from Cape Town after delivering the Nelson Mandela Lecture in Johannesburg, Albanese reminded UN delegates of South African apartheid and compared it to Israel’s crimes in Gaza. And, she called out the culture of intimidation that Israel uses to try to intimidate critics into silence.

Albanese persists despite smears from Israel

Albanese is a relentless and formidable advocate for Palestine who in the spring saw off desperate Israeli attempts to oust her from her Special Rapporteur post. And, she has accused UK PM Keir Starmer directly of collaborating in Israel’s genocide whilst remaining undeterred by the Trump regime’s punitive sanctions on her for her criticism of Israel – which prevented her travelling to New York in person to deliver her report. As she connected online with gathered delegates she made it clear:

constitute an assault on the UN itself — its independence, its integrity, its very soul.,

Israel scraping through barrel-bottoms in their rants at the UN is nothing new, but it might have been a new low when Israel’s representative accused Albanese of “witchcraft” – and was promptly rinsed by Albanese’s intelligent and principled response:

If I had the power to make spells I’d use it to stop your crimes once and for all.

thecanary.co/wp-content/upload…

Small wonder the genociders are so desperate to silence her.

The White House has fired six members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the independent federal agency that advises the president and Congress on design plans for monuments, memorials, coins and federal buildings. The seven member commission is made up of experts in architecture, art, urban and landscape design. Since its creation in 1910, the commission has reviewed plans for everything from Arlington National Cemetery to Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The commissioners would have advised President Trump on his anticipated White House ballroom and his plans for a monument similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which he says will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. In an email to NPR, architect Bruce Redman Becker, one of the commissioners who was fired, wrote that "Neither project has been submitted for review yet."

When oil and gas are pumped from the ground, they come up with briny fluid called “produced water,” many times saltier than the sea and laden with chemicals, including some that cause cancer. Most of this toxic water is shot back underground using what are known as injection wells.

Wastewater injection had been happening in Oklahoma for 80 years, but something was driving the growing number of purges. Ray and his colleagues in the oil division set out to find the cause. As they scoured well records and years of data, they zeroed in on a significant clue: The purges were occurring near wells where companies were injecting oil field wastewater at excessively high pressure, high enough to crack rock deep underground and allow the waste to travel uncontrolled for miles.

Toxic Wastewater From Oil Fields Keeps Pouring Out of the Ground. Oklahoma Regulators Failed to Stop It.

Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drinking water.

^{Peter.DiCampo@propublica.org (ProPublica)}

The U.S. is set to be in the fairly unusual position of having only a single aircraft carrier deployed and none in the waters off both Europe and the Middle East. The change is especially stark after the U.S. joined Israeli strikes on Iran in June and has engaged in some of the most intense combat operations since World War II against Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

Aircraft carriers, with their thousands of sailors and dozens of warplanes, have long been recognized as one of the ultimate signifiers of U.S. military might and the nation’s foreign policy priorities. There have been five carrier deployments to the Middle East since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, including two carriers in the region at multiple points this year and last.

https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-carriers-trump-venezuela-middle-east-a458b9c4f1a5690e19d7c532dd6b7fd7

The widow of a beloved Utah fashion designer who was fatally shot during a June “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City demanded Wednesday that someone be held accountable for her husband’s death after more than four months without any charges filed in the case.

Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, known as Afa, died June 15 when a man who was part of a volunteer peacekeeping team for the protest fired three rounds at a man who allegedly brandished a rifle at demonstrators. One round injured the rifleman, who did not fire any shots, and another struck Ah Loo, a protester who later died at the hospital.

The sign Ah Loo was holding that day read, “The world is watching,” said his wife, Laura Ah Loo.

“Afa always stood for those who needed justice the most,” Laura Ah Loo said during a Wednesday press conference. “And now I stand for him, on his behalf, for his sake and for all of us. The world is watching.”

https://apnews.com/article/no-kings-protest-shooting-salt-lake-city-45a04fb74a09dfaa7140ce395cf7246c

U.S. lawmakers have tried four times since September last year to close what they called a glaring loophole: China is getting around export bans on the sale of powerful American AI chips by renting them through U.S. cloud services instead.

But the proposals prompted a flurry of activity from more than 100 lobbyists from tech companies and their trade associations trying to weigh in, according to disclosure reports.

The result: All four times, the proposal failed, including just last month.

Under the cloud services loophole, Chinese companies barred from accessing cutting-edge chips can use Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services overseas instead to train their AI models. Microsoft and AWS also both advertise the capacity to store video surveillance footage on their cloud services for Chinese customers.

https://apnews.com/article/chinese-surveillance-silicon-valley-trump-administration-congress-21c5f961b1fd22f9a9e563ebe64e5582

Video of incident:

Shocking video shows a chaotic scene on a quiet Chicago street as Border Patrol agents in tactical gear drag a 67-year-old man from his car while children in Halloween costumes look on in horror.

According to his running club, the man, who is a U.S. citizen, was returning from a team run when agents pulled him out of his vehicle, tackled him to the ground and kneeled on top of him, allegedly breaking six ribs and causing internal bleeding.

The incident unfolded Saturday in the city’s Old Irving Park neighborhood, where residents say the agents disrupted a children’s Halloween parade amid an immigration enforcement operation.

US citizen, 67, ‘has ribs broken’ by Border Patrol agents after being dragged out of car while driving home into street they’d blocked off

The incident unfolded Saturday in Chicago’s Old Irving Park neighborhood, where residents say federal agents disrupted a children’s Halloween parade

^{Andrea Cavallier (The Independent)}

Is f2movies truly gone this time?

It's been down for the last couple of days.