Category Archives: Newsletter and Updates

Researchers find that the more people use AI at their job, the less critical thinking they use. — Read on http://www.404media.co/microsoft-study-finds-ai-makes-human-cognition-atrophied-and-unprepared-3/

During the LA fires, dozens of fire trucks sat in the boneyard, waiting for repairs the city couldn’t afford. Why? A private equity roll-up made replacing and repairing those trucks much pricier. — Read on http://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/did-a-private-equity-fire-truck-roll

Just months after we learned Chinese hackers had compromised US telecom systems through government-mandated backdoors, an inexperienced developer from Musk’s DOGE unit is pushing untested code directly into the Treasury’s payment infrastructure — a system that handles over $6 trillion in federal payments annually. It seems reasonable to call it one of the most dangerous…Continue reading “A 25-Year-Old Is Writing Backdoors Into The Treasury’s $6 Trillion Payment System. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? | Techdirt”

The move is alarming California activists who worry they could be placed in the ordinance’s crosshairs for helping their homeless neighbors. — Read on calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/02/fremont-ordinance-aid-abet/

Columbia University proposes cutting incoming PhD cohorts in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences by up to 65%, according to faculty sources. Columbia University’s austerity measure furthers its ongoing divestment from its educational mission to maximize revenue from fossil fuels, military weapons, and Columbia’s real estate empire. — Read on docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTcobK8i9hTMHxr7JOXsfB9GnfL7W7_pzLeAdSBU95T11vLAbnk7JLU3k1mrGtkILzfzsKiOik22-w7/pub

Ukraine’s army chief condemned a spate of violent attacks on draft officers, rallying in defence of a national call-up effort that has fuelled anger among some Ukrainians and struggled to generate sufficient frontline manpower. — Read on http://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-military-urges-tough-response-after-attacks-draft-officers-2025-02-03/

INAUGURAL JOINT STATEMENT The Hague Group, January 31, 2025 — Read on thehaguegroup.org/

The Biden administration leaves a sprawling and well-resourced deportation machine to Donald Trump, who is promising mass expulsion — Read on prismreports.org/2025/01/15/biden-immigration-migrant-deaths/

A beloved fixture on the airwaves in Philadelphia, including a 25-year tenure at WRTI, Bob Perkins died on Jan. 19. He was 91. — Read on http://www.wrti.org/arts-desk/2025-01-19/bob-perkins-a-legend-of-jazz-radio-at-wrti-and-beyond-dies-at-91

A new report from the British Palestinian Committee (BPC) lays bare the extent of the UK’s military involvement in the Israeli assault on Gaza – a campaign of violence that, exactly one year ago, led the the International Court of Justice to warn of genocide. — Read on britpalcommittee.co.uk/uk-israel-military-collaboration