• What is the worst thing that happened today? - Elon

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BYH4K4kHJA

    #Canada

    If you have 20m users and over $1b revenue (only Meta and Google). Meta didn't want to comply and now blocks Canadian news organization links. Google threatened to do the same but now has reached a deal and the links are not blocked.

    It's to compensate news organizations when they share their links (?and click through to them?). Not all ‘news’, but some news that meets certain standards they decided. Google didn't want to deal with each organization, but is willing to deal with one organization that represents them all.

    Question of democracy. If voting relies on news, and if people who now get their news from online, can't access reputable news organizations, could pose challenges. Perhaps a bigger principle at stake.

    #Journalism

    Category: Journalism
    Posted: Nov 30, 2023

  • Category: Technology
    Posted: Mar 11, 2023

  • Pulitzer Price-winning Journalist Seymour Hersh

    Apparently they sent some kind of warning to allies beforehand.

     
    Category: Diplomacy and IR
    Posted: Mar 05, 2023
  • An identification layer

    Musk recently talked about this part of Twitter, that people would 'compete for truth' (to present the most truthful information). And that you would be able to see if a Twitter account was actually owned by an entity, so if someone reports an entity said or did something, people can easily go to their Twitter to see if if that's fact.
     
    Category: Big Tech
    Posted: Feb 18, 2023

  • Category: Information
    Posted: Jan 25, 2023

  • Sadness mixed with bitterness?

     
    Category: World
    Posted: Dec 26, 2022

  • Days after US Congress made headlines for being set to ban TikTok on government devices.

     
    Category: Technology
    Posted: Dec 24, 2022

  • Category: Law
    Posted: Dec 18, 2022
  • "Ivermectin use was associated with decreased mortality in patients compared with Remdesevir," according to a newly published paper. But that paper has been withdrawn.

    AP published an article saying the research article was 'flawed.'


    Long list of side effects to look out for - YouTube  
    Category: Politics
    Posted: Mar 11, 2022
  • No one can talk or think about anything except Ukraine these days

    ... not much of value is being said. Mostly they're not historians or journalists with some time in.

    ... Other stories that might be critical of the government, that they've been doing and now data is coming out? Crickets.

     
    Category: World
    Posted: Mar 11, 2022
  • "What bothers me is how superficial and ill-informed the whole Senate debate was. I was particularly bothered by the references to Russia as a country dying to attack Western Europe."

    George Kennan, architect of US's successful containment policy of Soviet Union, in 1998, after the senate after under Clinton US started to talk about expanding NATO, contrary to agreements made to the Soviets in 1990 as part of the talks to unify Germany.

    "I think it is the beginning of a new Cold War. I think the Russians will gradually react quite adversely, and it will affect their policies. I think it was a tragic mistake. There was no reason for this whatsoever. No one was threatening anybody else. ..."

    "... Of course, there is going to be a bad reaction from Russia, and then the NATO expanders will say that 'We always told you that is how the Russians are ...'"

    "NATO expansion was simply a lighthearted action by a Senate that has no real interest in foreign affairs."

     
    Category: Information
    Posted: Mar 01, 2022
  • Joe Rogan currently most popular broadcaster in English-speaking world, maybe.

    11m people viewing every ep. Some a lot more. Compare with CNN's highest rates show last night with 700k viewers.

    He's not politically partisan.

    Neil Young made headlines last week for issuing an ultimatum or something to Spotify that it was his music or Rogan, who he said was spreading misinformation (about the pandemic). Spotify picked Rogan. But Spotify has deleted over 20k videos that talk about the pandemic, but made by other podcasters. Spotify said they cause harm. Harry and Megan have a $125m deal with Spotify, and they threatened to leave, opposing Rogan.

    Tucker Carlson noted that Whitehouse spokesperson Jen Psaki's recent comments that 'there's more that can be done' was tantamount to something the government's not allowed to do constitutionally, using government power to shut down broadcasters who criticize you. Last week Rogan made a comment about Psaki, who had recently been talking about shutting down misinformation, while SHE distributed misinformation by saying the Pfizer vaccine was approved by the FDA in their gold standard.

     
    Category: Information
    Posted: Feb 06, 2022
  • UK court ruled in US appeal that Assange can be extradited to US

    ... judges were reassured by US promises to reduce the risk of Assange's suicide.

    Assanges fiance and lawyers will appeal. The appeal will be on assurances, not on free speech of political motivation for extradition.

    But his lawyers can also try to reverse the judgement by challenging last January's findings that Assange's leaks ammounted to a crime. We don't know if such an appeal would be heard.

    Category: Law
    Posted: Dec 10, 2021
  • Israel's bombing of Gaza media tower further called into question

    On May 15, Israel bombed the Al Jalaa Tower (media tower) in Gaza which housed international media outlets (including AJ, AP, and Middle East Eye).

    To justify doing so to the US, Israel (internal intelligence agency) gave the US a file on the situation. The US wasn't satisfied and asked for further info on how the building was linked to Hamas etc. Israel handed the US a second report that closed the gaps " " of the first file.

    However, now Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported that the file was 'retroactively edited.' An allegation in this is that Israel did know there was media organizations in the building although they claimed they didn't, or something like that.

     
    Category: World
    Posted: Nov 19, 2021
  • Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty

    Kenosha, WI shooting. Shot 3 men, of which 2 died, at a protest against police brutality. Rittenhouse was 17, armed with an AR-15 style rifle, on the location to protect a car dealership.

    This has been a massive news story for the past month, quite political between Dems and Republicans. The other day, a Dem news org issued a sort of personal correction where the host said they earlier thought Rittenhouse did the agressing, but now said it looked to them like he was aggressed against.

    I only bothered to look at one or two videos on this, just to see what it was, at the start of the trial, and the video the news org showed made it look this way to me also. Unclear about events, but that Rittenhouse was agressing. And I'm not a Democrat news org. Some questions then about how the news presents unresolved legal accusations.


     
    Category: Law
    Posted: Nov 19, 2021
  • Joe Rogan had Sanjay Gupta on and pressed him on CNN's 'journalism'

    Because CNN (Gupta is a star 'medical professional' on that channel) reported on Rogan taking 'horse medicine' and painting it pretty negative, and putting a yellow filter on the video they used of Rogan (to make him look worse). Guptra tried to change the subject several times, but Rogan pressed him in a guyish way, and was pretty good at it.

    It made waves and headlines on Republican media and YouTubers.

     
    Category: Culture
    Posted: Oct 17, 2021
  • Why we don't use the term 'daesh'

    IS is a group of many people who have joined it independently after making a choice, although their choice seems an error to others, they have never stopped being 'people,' and we are all together, and all making mistakes, which if we have a competent larger society, our mistakes can be covered and we can be brought back wiser.

    The term is used by politicians for political reasons, and even by news organizations, because it is derogatory. But like all terms of this type, it is dismissive and simplifying. It signifies the speaker is going to class these people as garbage and less than human and isn't going to think about them anymore as people.
     
    Category: Chief Editor's Journal
    Posted: Aug 29, 2021
  • How can journalists in the modern era:

    - send data files over the internet between two locations?
    - cross borders without compromising information or sources?

    Category: Essays
    Posted: Aug 25, 2021
  • Pegasus spyware, capable of switching on cameras and mics, linked to list of 50,000 phone numbers

    ... and targeting journalists in 50 countries, targeted by 10 states.

    One Mexican journalist was on the list and 2 months later was killed, although journalists are frequently killed in Mexico.

    The spyware is reportedly from Israeli company NSO Group (although there are many other similar companies). The software is sold to governments (only those who have been 'approved by Israel') to deal with 'terrorism' and 'criminals,' but is used by governments against their own civil society (journalists, activists, dissidents, lawyers) and heads of state.

    The software is almost undetectable on your phone. It is not the kind of malware that you have to stupidly click something to have it install (spearfishing). It uses a zero-click exploit, using some app on your phone. It's not known which apps, but one is WhatsApp: it infected phones using a WhatsApp call and you don't even have to pick up the call. It has root access to the device (can do anything, including see all keystrokes, use camera, mic, contacts, archives, location). It might be stored in a temp file in RAM instead of on the hard drive.

    The only way to get rid of it currently is get a new phone and new SIM.

     
    Category: Technology
    Posted: Jul 19, 2021
  • DOJ used powers to legally spy on Journalists and elected members of Congress

    We don't know everything about the story, or what led to the Trump admin investigating journalists, because of the US's secrecy (even in its court trials).

    Rather than investigating the journalists, they went to the tech companies that had the emails and other information and served them not only a warrant for the information, but a gag order (non-disclosure order). Once the gag orders expired, companies were able to notify the journalists.

     
    Category: Law
    Posted: Jun 16, 2021
  • Danish journalists come forward with US spying report

    Allegedly (so far these are only allegations), in 2013 during the days of Edward Snowden's revelations the Obama government was spying on German and other leaders of US-allied countries, Danish foreign intelligence agency FE signed a deal with the NSA so that the Americans could intercept communications (tap phones and messaging of German and other allied leaders) using their own software following the 911 attacks in 2001.

    Following Snowden's publishing the documents about this activity, a report was created but it was never made public, but now six of the very few people who ever saw it decided to come forward.

    It is expected there will now be pressure to publish it, especially considering Danish and other European individuals were targeted. It is being reported that current US pres Biden was significantly involved in the operation. He was VP from 09-17.

    German, France and other EU states are waiting for better, more certain information before responding publicly.

    Newscasters on several channels reported the story with smiles of bemusement or low-key glee.

    #InternationalRelations #Snowden #journalism
        
    Category: Technology
    Posted: May 31, 2021

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