A federal judge on Friday gave the Justice Department permission to release transcripts of a grand jury investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of underage girls in Florida — a case that ultimately ended without any federal charges being filed against the millionaire sex offender.

U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith said a recently passed federal law ordering the release of records related to the cases overrode a federal rule prohibiting the release of matters before a grand jury.

https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-12-5-2025

The Pentagon is deploying to the Middle East a new kamikaze drone copied from a widely used Iranian version, turning to a crude but effective weapon.

The move mirrors an Iranian tactic of recovering crashed American drones, such as the Central Intelligence Agency’s RQ-170 Sentinel, and reverse-engineering them to build their own versions. It is also an early example of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s initiative, known as Drone Dominance, to buy cheap drones made by American companies that can quickly be moved to the field.

https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/pentagon-deploys-new-kamikaze-drone-copied-from-iranian-design-9a42e451?mod=WTRN_pos1

https://apnews.com/article/florida-redistricting-congress-trump-0ed1cc98d7aa3de46653dee5b5d4cea0

https://www.livescience.com/technology/computing/new-physics-shortcut-lets-laptops-tackle-quantum-problems-once-reserved-for-supercomputers-and-ai

Does anyone have 4x6 thermal label printers working on Linux?

I have tried several thermal printers, zebra and off brands, none of them work on Linux, also tried arch, mint, manjaro, Ubuntu, and a few others.

Printers all detect and install, but never prints. I messed with CUPS settings, didnt help. I also tried LPrint. Didnt work. Nothing comes out any of the label printers. Not even the sample test labels.

Been using Linux for about 2 years full time. I only have windows to print shipping labels.
I HATE using windows 10 and refuse to use 11. Now with no updates it’s the last thing I need to replace.

Archive link in case anyone hits a paywall.

This article is from September, but it is good, and in light of other recent efforts by the Indian government at mass surveillance of their population, I think it is worth a read.

A system like Aadhaar is a great way for governments to sneak in a platform of surveillance and control under the guise of welfare and could serve as a model for other governments seeking to supercharge their own surveillance efforts.

Citizenship by Algorithm

Narendra Modi transformed India’s biometric ID system from a tool for promoting social welfare into a mechanism of mass surveillance and disenfranchisement.

^jacobin.com

La scorsa estate aveva collaborato con il concittadino Empi in un rewind di uno dei suoi brani più noti: Sarà la nostalgia.

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/39904354

whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uplo…

Lots of interesting things here, but here are a few key points:
- They are explicit about reviving the Monroe doctrine, specifically saying they need to readjust their military specifically to "address urgent threats" in the Americas
- A push to make their ~~vassals~~ allies build up their own military, saying "The days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over" (kinda self aggrandizing but okay)
- There's a lot focusing on countering China, but around 80% is talking about economic and industrial stuff, there's surprisingly little about military, mostly saying that they need Japan and the ROK to step up, and also that they "[do] not support any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait." (which implies they wouldn't want Taiwan to declare independence either)
- Saying that Europe's undergoing "civilizational erasure", talks about immigration and free speech, and aiming towards "Cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" (sounds kind of like regime change?), and "Ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance"
- The Middle East section is basically glazing Trump's peacemaking skills, declaring that the US can step away because the region is stable now (not sure what to say about that)
- They want to pursue more trade and investment with Africa, also something about countering "Islamic terrorist activity"

House Speaker Mike Johnson is imploring his fellow Republicans to stop venting their frustrations in public and bring their complaints to him directly.

“They’re going to get upset about things. That’s part of the process,” Johnson told reporters Thursday. “It doesn’t bother me. But when there is a conflict or concern, I always ask all members to come to me, don’t go to social media.”

Increasingly, they’re ignoring him.

Cracks inside the GOP conference were stark this week as a member of Johnson’s own leadership team openly accused him of lying, rank-and-file Republicans acted unilaterally to force votes and a leadership-backed bill faltered. It’s all underscored by growing worries that the party is on a path towards losing the majority next year.

https://apnews.com/article/house-republicans-troubles-midterms-trump-7a4a88479807ea15a8050129dbe19c0d