Komunitas
lemmy.world
The Game-breakers No one had ever made a world as big as Azeroth before. It had been a massive undertaking, a wonder of programming and code which cost $64 million ($94 million accounting for inflation) before it ever even began to see returns – making it comfortably the largest and most expensive game at the time. Thousands of hands left their mark on its world, and while Blizzard would spend years polishing them away, they would never succeed completely. Even now. But it was a lot more obvious in Vanilla and that was part of the charm. For many players, it wasn’t the erotica or the world events or the combat or the gold that drew them to WoW, it was the world itself. As you might expect from a world that big, it was full of oddities. Little holes in the world, carefully hidden in spots players weren’t meant to see, written messages under the borders of the world, slabs of random environment thrown together in private areas, unfinished or rejected zones, exclusive locations for the developers and game-masters. An entire community grew up around investigating these curiosities, unravelling their meanings, and showing other players how to reach them. Looking at this map, you can see large empty patches between zones, or on the coast. Below Silithus lay the inaccessible land of Ahn’Qiraj (meant to contain the city of temples we covered earlier), north of the Eastern Plaguelands is the elf nation of Quel’Thalas, somewhere in the inaccessible west of Eastern Kingdoms lay the Twilight Highlands, and then there was the blocked off city of Stratholme, the focus of an iconic moment in Warcraft Lore. Players would agonise for years over the islands in the sea, and what they might be. The challenge became all the more tantalising when players discovered that many of these areas did exist in some form, sometimes mostly finished. Sometimes the reward was standing on a platform or tower in a major city, where no other player could get, and becoming a minor celebrity for the day. But Blizzard had hidden their secrets well. It wasn’t possible to just ‘go to’ these areas. Explorers had to break the game to do it. A game of cat-and-mouse arose, with players discovering new ‘exploits’ and Blizzard racing to patch them out. There were techniques to fall through the world, climb vertical walls, teleport to a specific graveyard upon death, or overcome fatigue (a timed effect that begins when players move too far from the coast, which rapidly drains health). To detail all of these hidden spots and how to reach them would take literally hours. To those who want to delve into this topic, I present a quick-fire montage. To the rest of you, let me elaborate on a few of the best ones. [1] By far the most famous secret area in the game was GM Island, designed to serve as a ‘lobby’ for Game Masters. For years, the island was located north-west of Kalimdor, way off the map. To get there, players had to overcome vast distances of nothingness – a land without texture or direction, which made it totally impossible to reach the island without exploits. So many stories have been penned about GM Island that it has taken on an almost mythical status. Members of the company were cagey about the island. An image of the island was visible on Blizzard Europe’s Career Opportunities page, but Blizzard rarely spoke publicly on it. Before patch 1.8, players could add GMs to their friends list, and their locations would be listed as ‘GM Island’. A forum moderator ‘Zarhym’ explained in 2010: The game masters who respond to you in the game are doing so through a separate chat/support tool. They’re not actually using the game client to whisper you, however, logging into the chat client means the character they use to contact players with is logged into all of the realms they need to. While GM invisibility exists, it makes it safer and easier to have a simple storage/port point to keep all of these characters out of the normal game world. The island itself was small and round and covered in dense vegetation, with a tall peak on one side. It included a mansion (taken from Stormwind City), a wall, and a graveyard. There were two NPCs, a Gnome named Ari and Tuskfyre the Troll. Embedded within the lower structure of the island (about 100 yards below the surface) was a hidden room known as ‘The Prison Chamber’. It’s textured with large blank white tiles and lit with a single light source. The only object in the room was a single chair, right in the middle. Players could enter, but can never leave without the help of a GM. Its walls couldn’t be climbed, teleport/hearthstone spells did not work, and it was the only place in the game where players could not be located using the /who command. While the room had no official purpose and seemed to have been added by a programmer purely for their own amusement, it is said that in the early days of the game, before an out-of-game chat interface was added, GMs would take offenders there to discuss their crimes. GM Island was one of those things you spoke about in a hallowed whisper, hunched in front of a blurry youtube video in 3x4 ratio with an ‘Unregistered HyperCam 2’ watermarked across the top. Those who could reach the island were legends. Most fans would only ever be able to reach it on private servers, which allowed them to teleport straight there – and that is where we get most footage of it today. The first adventurers to come across GM Island got there by swimming (there was water back then), constantly casting spells to heal themselves from the fatigue damage. It took an hour, and if the player’s direction was even slightly off, they would be forever lost in a seemingly endless ocean. Blizzard removed the water, so players tried manipulated the models in the game files to let them cross. This back and forth process went on for a while. Players found a new way, blizzard patched it out, players found a way around the patch, and so on. When all other attempts failed, the island was moved into an instance, effectively placing it in a separate world upon itself, and then eventually it was removed from the game completely. (LINKS TO REDDIT) Other locations created for developers include Designer Island and Programmer Isle. Neither was ever accessible in live version of the game – only on private servers. Both are filled with stock assets, written messages, and a few test quests. The regions of Programmer Isle are named after some guys called Jeff and Patty Mack, and there are even a few test NPCs. Despite, or perhaps because of the fact that so few players ever reached GM Island on a live server, and also due to its mysterious origins, it is still one of the most iconic places in the game. Even years after its removal. (Original post by Rumbleskim on /r/hobbydrama)
Komunitas
lemmy.world
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson is an alternate history about if a plague had wiped out 90% of the European population before the renaissance and how the would could have shaken out instead, focusing primarily on Arabic and Chinese culture. It follows a small group of people who are reincarnating through the ages, all the way up to modern times. It’s an amazing novel, and very approachable if you’re even vaguely into history.
Komunitas
lemmygrad.ml
text of the article for people who are hitting a paywall: North Korea is probably the most corrupt country in Asia. Measuring corruption levels is difficult, and existing ratings (like the well-known index published annually by Transparency International) should be taken with a pinch of salt. Nevertheless, anecdotal evidence appears persuasive enough: Official corruption in North Korea has been exceptional over the last 20 years. In my frequent discussions with North Koreans, I have discovered the fact that most of them take a high level of corruption for granted. They assume that any official who is in a position to ask for bribes will. In fact, they are surprised if officials refuse bribes. Simply put, corruption is part of the fabric of daily life in North Korea today. This was not always the case. Contrary to what many people in the Western might think, communist regimes (including the national Stalinism of Kim Il Sung) were not seriously corrupt – or, rather, corruption took on a peculiar form in these societies. While personal connections mattered and nepotism was rampant, there was relatively little graft and embezzlement was not commonplace. On a personal note, I spent 28 years living under such a regime, and neither myself nor any of my family members ever found themselves in a position that required us to pay a bribe to an official. Communist officials in the mature Leninist state had a very rational reason to steer clear of bribe-taking: as long as the state socialist system functioned properly, cash could not buy you much. Of course, if you had enough cash in the Soviet Union of the 1970s, you could buy small luxuries like Japanese tape recorders or East German furniture, but things like cars, apartments, foreign travel and even some culinary delicacies could not be purchased with money. Rather, it was your position in the hierarchy that determined your access to such goods, which were either distributed or sold under controlled circumstances. Thus, for an official, it made sense to avoid taking bribes. Bribe money would not buy much, but there was a risk of scandal, which would jeopardize your chances of getting promoted and thus actually diminish your chances of getting access to high-quality goods and services, not to mention power. It was only when the Soviet system began to disintegrate that bribe-taking gradually turned into a rational strategy. In the Soviet Union, this process began only in the late 1960s and at the early stages was largely concentrated in the Central Asian republics and the Caucuses. It spread to other parts of the Soviet Union only in the 1980s. In the days of Kim Il Sung the situation in North Korea was very similar. If anything, such features of the state socialist system were even more pronounced in the North Korea of Kim Il Sung’s era than in the Soviet Union under Stalin and his successors. The North Korean distribution system was more comprehensive than anything Stalin could conceive, so cash mattered even less in the land of Juche. Thus there was probably even less bribe-taking in North Korea than in the Soviet Union, at least until the early 1990s. DO ME A FAVOR Of course, bribe-taking is not the only type of corruption. In both the Soviet Union and the North Korea of the socialist era another, more subtle, type of official corruption existed and even flourished. Both countries have a highly developed system of exchanging favors. Officials usually did not accept money for favors, but once they did something for somebody they expected to be paid in kind. Sometimes this led to rather complicated combinations. For example, an official’s son would be accepted to a prestigious university because this official helped get a dean’s relative selected for a work tour overseas. Note the fact that no cash changed hands during such combinations. Similar things happened in Kim Il Sung’s North Korea as well: Connections and the ability to provide services for services rendered mattered enormously. Things changed in North Korea in the early 1990s. As the economy collapsed, the North Korean government no longer had the resources to reward the zeal of the faithful. Officials soon realized they could not expect perks and giveaways from the state, no matter how hard they worked at enforcing regulations. They also discovered that everybody with a sufficiently large wallet could easily and freely purchase a great variety of goods and services, including those once available only through state distribution and patronage. The results were all too predictable: In a matter of years, official corruption skyrocketed. For junior officials things were much worse: Their official salaries were small and rations stopped being delivered in the early 1990s. Thus, they had two choices: start taking bribes or starve. North Koreans often say that the incorruptible officials and the most earnest believers in the party were the first to die when the famine struck the country in the mid-1990s. These people could not bring themselves to take bribes and they believed the promises of the government about the food supplies that were soon to arrive. As a result, many honest officials starved to death, while the rest learnt the lessons and stopped being honest. The age of corruption began in earnest. “Corruption” is a morally loaded word, a social evil that damages state institutions, plagues societies, and reduces economic efficiency. This is often the case, but in the North Korea of the 1990s, corruption is what made survival possible for many. LOOK AWAY As the old command economy collapsed in the early 1990s the North Korean government kept the numerous laws that aimed to prevent the emergence of markets and private business. Had these bans been effectively enforced, they would have strangled the emerging nascent private economy – the latter is what helped millions of North Koreans survive in this new and frightening situation. Had officials remained zealous in enforcing regulations and effectively prevented North Koreans from traveling outside their native counties and cities, many would not have been able to find food and would have starved to death. Had they enforced regulations, people would not have been able to work on their private plots and produce much of the food the country so badly needed. Fortunately, though, this did not happen. Most officials took the path of least resistance, and often did not bother to enforce anachronistic and senseless regulations. Sometimes they were driven by compassion or inner doubts about the system’s irrationality. However, most of the time, their willingness to turn a blind eye was bought by the interested party (or parties). Like it or not, in the hard times of the Arduous March, official corruption was a benign institution that saved North Koreans from the systemic legal irrationality that is North Korea. Official corruption still plays this role. Bribes still ensure that officials ignore the booming private economy, which brings modest but palpable improvements in North Korea’s economic situation, but remains technically illegal. If, by some miracle, North Korean officials stopped taking bribes and started enforcing regulations, the likely result would be another famine and economic collapse. However, my paeans to corruption should be taken with a measure of skepticism. Official corruption has been a relatively benevolent force in North Korea’s marketization and economic recovery, but will likely become an obstacle in future. Bribes and kickbacks have become a natural way of life for North Korean officials. When, sooner or later, North Korea acquires a more reasonable economic system, or even becomes part of a unified Korea, this ingrained habit is not going to disappear overnight. As a matter of fact, it is likely to continue for a long time – generations, perhaps. In other words, even if under a new system officials are given good salaries, they are still likely to retain their habit of extorting bribes and embezzling everything they can. Of course, North Korea might change dramatically, but it is likely to remain a rather corrupt place. Needless to say, this is not does not bode well for further growth and economic development.
Komunitas
lemmy.ml
Introduction This vulnerability report has been generated using data aggregated on Vulnerability-Lookup, with contributions from the platform’s community. It highlights the most frequently mentioned vulnerability for December 2025, based on sightings collected from various sources, including MISP, Exploit-DB, Bluesky, Mastodon, GitHub Gists, The Shadowserver Foundation, Nuclei, SPLOITUS, Metasploit, and more. For further details, please visit this page. A new section dedicated to detection rules is available. The Month at a Glance December 2025 was dominated by a massive surge in activity surrounding CVE-2025-55182 affecting Meta’s react-server-dom-webpack. With 852 sightings, this critical vulnerability (referenced by contributors as “React2Shell”) significantly outpaced all other vulnerabilities, highlighting a major focus on web application infrastructure exploitation. Database and network security were also primary themes this month. MongoDB (CVE-2025-14847) ranked second in sightings and was added to the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on December 29th. The networking sector remained volatile, with critical vulnerabilities in Cisco Secure Email, WatchGuard Fireware OS, Fortinet, and SonicWall appearing in both the top sightings and the CISA KEV list. Despite the influx of 2025 vulnerabilities, “zombie” vulnerabilities continue to plague the internet. Legacy issues from 2015 (D-Link) and 2017 (Zyxel) persist in the Top 10, proving that unpatched IoT devices remain active attack vectors years after disclosure. In the broader ecosystem, CISA added a wide variety of threats to their catalog, ranging from mobile operating systems (iOS, Android) and browsers (Chrome) to desktop utilities like WinRAR. Additionally, community contributors highlighted significant structural shifts, notably the End-of-Life status for the Linux 5.4 kernel and new cryptographic implementation flaws in GnuPG. Evolution of published CVE in 2025 More information. Top 10 Vendors of the Month Top 10 Assigners of the Month Top 10 vulnerabilities of the Month | Vulnerability | Sighting Count | Vendor | Product | VLAI Severity | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | --------------- | --------------- | --------------------------------------------------| | CVE-2025-55182 | 852 | Meta | react-server-dom-webpack | Critical (confidence: 0.9783) | | CVE-2025-14847 | 204 | MongoDB Inc. | MongoDB Server | High (confidence: 0.9538) | | CVE-2025-20393 | 89 | Cisco | Cisco Secure Email | Critical (confidence: 0.5137) | | CVE-2015-2051 | 62 | dlink | dir-645 | High (confidence: 0.607) | | CVE-2017-18368 | 62 | zyxel | p660hn-t1a_v1 | Critical (confidence: 0.9763) | | CVE-2025-14733 | 60 | WatchGuard | Fireware OS | Critical (confidence: 0.976) | | CVE-2025-66516 | 57 | Apache Software Foundation | Apache Tika core | High (confidence: 0.8155) | | CVE-2018-10562 | 56 | dasannetworks | gpon_router | Critical (confidence: 0.9815) | | CVE-2025-40602 | 53 | SonicWall | SMA1000 | Medium (confidence: 0.9162) | CVE-2025-59718 | 53 | Fortinet | FortiSwitchManager | Critical (confidence: 0.7339) | Known Exploited Vulnerabilities New entries have been added to major Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogs. CISA | CVE ID | Date Added | Vendor | Product | VLAI Severity | |------------------------------------------|------------|---------|----------| --------------------------------------------------| | CVE-2025-14847 | 29/12/25 | MongoDB Inc. | MongoDB Server | High (confidence: 0.9538) | | CVE-2023-52163 | 22/12/25 | digiever | ds-2105_pro | High (confidence: 0.9141) | | CVE-2025-14733 | 19/12/25 | WatchGuard | Fireware OS | Critical (confidence: 0.976) | | CVE-2025-20393 | 17/12/25 | Cisco | Cisco Secure Email | Critical (confidence: 0.5137) | | CVE-2025-40602 | 17/12/25 | SonicWall | SMA1000 | Medium (confidence: 0.9162) | | CVE-2025-59374 | 17/12/25 | ASUS | live update | Critical (confidence: 0.7584) | | CVE-2025-59718 | 16/12/25 | Fortinet | FortiSwitchManager | Critical (confidence: 0.7339) | | CVE-2025-43529 | 15/12/25 | Apple | iOS and iPadOS | High (confidence: 0.9918) | | CVE-2025-14611 | 15/12/25 | Gladinet | CentreStack and TrioFox | High (confidence: 0.8669) | | CVE-2025-14174 | 12/12/25 | Google | Chrome | High (confidence: 0.8175) | | CVE-2018-4063 | 12/12/25 | sierrawireless | aleos | High (confidence: 0.7137) | | CVE-2025-58360 | 11/12/25 | geoserver | geoserver | High (confidence: 0.5288)| | CVE-2025-62221 | 09/12/25 | Microsoft | Windows 10 Version 1809 | High (confidence: 0.9943) | | CVE-2025-6218 | 09/12/25 | RARLAB | WinRAR | High (confidence: 0.9977) | | CVE-2025-66644 | 08/12/25 | Array Networks | ArrayOS AG | High (confidence: 0.8361) | | CVE-2022-37055 | 08/12/25 | dlink | go-rt-ac750 | Critical (confidence: 0.9698) | | CVE-2025-55182 | 05/12/25 | Meta | react-server-dom-webpack | Critical (confidence: 0.9783) | | CVE-2021-26828 | 03/12/25 | scadabr | scadabr | High (confidence: 0.7378) | | CVE-2025-48633 | 02/12/25 | Google | Android | High (confidence: 0.8796) | | CVE-2025-48572 | 02/12/25 | Google | Android | High (confidence: 0.9629) | ENISA No new entry in December. Top 10 Weaknesses of the Month Detection rules CVE-2025-55182 ET WEB_SPECIFIC_APPS Waku RSC React2Shell Unsafe Flight Protocol Property Access [SURICATA] ET WEB_SPECIFIC_APPS Vite RSC React2Shell Unsafe Flight Protocol Property Access [SURICATA] ET WEB_SPECIFIC_APPS React Server Components React2Shell Unsafe Flight Protocol Property Access [SURICATA] CVE-2015-2051 ET EXPLOIT D-Link HNAP SOAPAction Command Injection [SURICATA] CVE-2017-18368 ET EXPLOIT Possible ZyXEL P660HN-T v1 RCE [SURICATA] CVE-2025-66516 ET WEB_SPECIFIC_APPS Apache Tika XML External Entity Injection [SURICATA] CVE-2023-52163 ET WEB_SPECIFIC_APPS DigiEver DS-2105 Pro time_tzsetup.cgi ntp Parameter Command Injection Attempt [SURICATA] CVE reserved, but partial information has already appeared on the public internet Sightings detected between 2025-12-01 and 2025-12-31 that are associated with vulnerabilities without public records. | Vulnerability ID | Occurrences | Comment | |—|—:|—| | CVE-2023-42344 | 11 | OpenCMS Unauthenticated XXE Vulnerability | | CVE-2025-14269 | 9 | Credential caching in Headlamp with Helm enabled | | CVE-2025-14282 | 6 | dropbear: privilege escalation via unix domain socket forwardings | | CVE-2025-14558 | 5 | FreeBSD IPv6 Flaw Enables Remote Code Execution Attacks | | CVE-2025-9820 | 2 | gnutls 3.8.11 released with fix for CVE-2025-9820 | | CVE-2025-66387 | 2 | QL Injection in Orkes Conductor | | CVE-2025-65995 | 2 | Apache Airflow: Disclosure of secrets to UI via kwargs | Insights from Contributors gpg.fail - multiple vulnerabilities in GnuPG React2Shell The LAST Linux 5.4.y release. It is now end-of-life and should not be > used by anyone, anymore. Apache Tika Security content of iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 Reports About Cyberattacks Against Cisco Secure Email Gateway And Cisco Secure Email and Web Manage Thank you Thank you to all the contributors and our diverse sources! If you want to contribute to the next report, you can create your account. Feedback and Support If you have suggestions, please feel free to open a ticket on our GitHub repository. Your feedback is invaluable to us! https://github.com/vulnerability-lookup/vulnerability-lookup/issues/ Funding The main objective of Federated European Team for Threat Analysis (FETTA) is improvement of Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) products available to the public and private sector in Poland, Luxembourg, and the European Union as a whole. Developing actionable CTI products (reports, indicators, etc) is a complex task and requires an in-depth understanding of the threat landscape and the ability to analyse and interpret large amounts of data. Many SOCs and CSIRTs build their capabilities in this area independently, leading to a fragmented approach and duplication of work. The Computer Incident Response Center Luxembourg (CIRCL) is a government-driven initiative designed to provide a systematic response facility to computer security threats and incidents. The organization brings to the table its extensive experience in cybersecurity incident management, threat intelligence, and proactive response strategies. With a strong background in developing innovative open source cybersecurity tools and solutions, CIRCL’s contribution to the FETTA project is instrumental in achieving enhanced collaboration and intelligence sharing across Europe. Press release
Komunitas
hexbear.net
I’ve been through the gamut on these a little bit… The cheaper “gaming chairs” on Amazon are absolutely freaking horrible. I had an AKRacing chair that had such an extreme forward tilt that it would cause me to slide forward out of the chair constantly. The seat had little to no cushioning, so it felt like I was resting my thighs against a metal bar with a thin layer of sticky vinyl over it. And then I’d slide out. Over and over again. It had a full horizontal recline, but then it would just tip over. I did get an employer to spring for a DXRacer King “executive” chair once (~$400 in 2016ish dollars), and that was tolerable. It was just another office chair, but with goofy aesthetics and a lumbar pillow. All in all, not that bad, but not really worthwhile if you were to buy it out-of-pocket. I imagine the same could be said of the SecretLabs Titan/Titan XL or the Noblechairs Hero. I haven’t used either because I was able to score a refurbished Herman Miller Aeron for cheap with my TrumpBux^TM^ back in the early days of the plague. If you’re already at the $400-500 tier, this is the way to go. The upshot to having an Aeron is that, 99% of the time, if you need to buy replacement parts, they’re readily available. So far, I’ve had to replace an arm rest mounting brace and seat link bolts, but I’m also occasionally in this thing for 16-18 hours out of a single day. If that’s out of reach, then my recommendation is the OfficeMax/OfficeDepot “WorkPro Quantum 9000” mesh chair if you can find one on sale in the $300 range. My only complaint on those is that the back doesn’t lock in place very well and will occasionally just fall down because the “lock” is cheap plastic. They’re not horrible for prolonged use on account of the mesh, but going back and forth between that and the Aeron was definitely noticeable.
Komunitas
lemmy.world
This is great! Thank you for taking the time to make it so. Anyways, since you’re into fixing Lemmy, may I make a suggestion? What about a simple script to fix the language selector annoyance that plagues this platform? I’ve to choose the post language at every single post/comment I write. Since Lemmy developers seem to be inept when it comes to basic user friendliness maybe a script that selects “English” automatically would be appreciated. Seriously, this is bullshit and the person who designed this should have a few points removed from their social credit score. Wasn’t it obvious that a dropdown under settings to pick the default language was necessary? :P Even worse, when I edit a comment/post I suddenly have to pick the language again. Update: I just remembered that at some point I even filled this https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/2317 Thank you.
Komunitas
lemmy.world
Ultimately, I don’t think anyone misses it. Community gating in any form should be frowned upon and broke ASAP. Gearscore in wrath is a prime example. The Sparkle Pony During the beta for Wrath of the Lich King, players eagerly dived through the game files in search of anything spicy. Hints at the story, patch content, that sort of thing. Blizzard have always done their best to disguise anything important, with mixed results. It was through this method that players discovered a heading labelled ‘Paid Character Customisation’. There were whispers that Blizzard might be introducing microtransactions into World of Warcraft, but these were quickly dismissed. After all, it was a subscription-based game. Players paid full price for each expansion, on top of a monthly fee, specifically to avoid the ads and in-game shops that were beginning to plague the free-to-play genre. The mere idea of adding microtransactions was so audacious, no one could believe it at first. But this was Blizzard. They had long forgotten what shame felt like. At Blizzcon 2008, WoW’s lead producer J. Allen Brack revealed exactly what ‘Paid Character Customisation’ was. By putting down cash, players could change the way their character looked, in a manner similar to the in-game barber shops (which run on in-game gold). There was no inherent reason why Blizzard had to charge for this – it didn’t cost them a penny to change how a character looked. It was purely a profit-driven exercise. Many players were (rightly) worried where this could lead. If WoW could sell character appearances, what was stopping them selling mounts or gear? Blizzard had always had an online store. It sold books, merchandise and WoW subscription cards – that sort of thing. But in November 2009, new products were added which whipped the community into a drama. These were the Pandaren Monkand Lil’KT. They were pets – non-functional NPCs that follow the player around. And at $10 each, they weren’t cheap either. To smooth things over, Blizzard announced they would donate 50% of the profits of the Pandaren Monk to the Make-A-Wish foundation (a scheme they quietly ended a month later). That thread can be viewed here. The most obvious thing is that most of the comments were positive. Most people saw it as harmless. For the most part, the talk of slippery slopes was hand-waved away. After all, it was for charity! These are companion pets… they have no effect other than a status symbol. Not really that different from shelling out $10 extra for a collector’s edition of an xpac (getting you an exclusive pet). Here’s another post made in response to complaints that Blizzard were taking this too far. Since when did pets and mounts become game breaking items? If people want to spend money on this stuff let them what right do you have to say how people spend their own money? Fair enough if it was some kind of game breaking item (eg legendary item or whatever) but its not it’s a mount… I could just as easily argue “Oh my god Blizzard are selling WoW Mousemats! How long till they start selling epics?” They would come to rue those words. Thank you for spending precious production time on money grabs instead of content which I’m already paying $15 a month for! Said one user, to which another responded: “They’re a business, and are in business to make money.” On 15th April 2010, a new $10 pet was added to the store. And more importantly, a mount called the Celestial Steed. For many, this is where Blizzard had crossed the line. It’s hard to convey to a non-player how significant mounts were to the people who collected them (which was most players). There were some mounts you could get cheaply and easily, some you could only get through in-game events or seasonal quests, some through achievements, some through PvP, some through reputations (usually by completing daily quests for weeks). But the rarest and most prestigious mounts of all came from drops. Each expansion usually had one mount you could get by killing an incredibly rare enemy that only spawned very irregularly, such as the Time Lost Proto Drake, and usually the final boss of each raid had a microscopic chance of dropping a mount too (in some cases we’re talking a drop rate of 0.1% or less). Players would work for years to get their hands on one. I know people who ran through a raid every week for over a decade in the hope of getting The Ashes of A’lar or Invincible’s Reins. What I’m trying to say is that mounts were a huge part of the game, massive status symbols, and were often the motivator that kept people playing. Pets were negligible, but now Blizzard was selling something integral to World of Warcraft. And at what cost? The price tag of $25 would have been high in a free to play game, for what amounted to an art asset. In WoW, it drew shocked reactions from every corner. It didn’t help that the Celestial Steed was absolutely fucking fabulous, so naturally everybody wanted it. Downloadable content is something which has worried gamers for a long time. There has been examples of developers charging for content that’s already on the disc, and allegations of some companies deliberately removing content so they can charge a premium for it post release. But for all the overpriced horse armor and expensive map packs out there, Blizzard’s latest offering on their online store really takes the biscuit. After some searching, I was able to track down the announcement thread. The response from Palisade is probably the most coherent: I think it is extremely unfortunate that we are starting to see F2P (Free To Play) microtransactions in a game that we already pay a service fee for, not to mention the upfront costs of purchases the base retail game and its following expansion packs. 2009/2010 is certainly the era of DLC. Quite frankly I think any game or service that requires upfront retail costs as well as perpetual service fees to use the service should not include microtransactions or paid downloadable content. Period. How long have some us been playing and paying for your product. Those who have been here for years have shelled out an insane amount of money to play a “video game”. While I think server transfer fees and the such are a little expensive, I can understand the need for such a service and why it should cost. But for actual in-game content, there is no excuse for paid DLC. You might as well promote purchasing RMT gold, because that’s essentially same mentality you are promoting here. Give us your money, get something in game. As a Blizzard follower since Warcraft: Orcs & Humans back in the day, this company sure has changed a lot. Customer loyalty has been replaced with corporate greed. It’s unfortunate. But this was a controversy with two sides. That forum thread is full of players excitedly talking about buying the mount. And within three hours of the Celestial Speed’s debut, it had already generated $3.5 million in revenue. They became immediately visible around the game world and glittered in their dozens in the skies above Dalaran. The mount you rode said a lot about you. It was your way of showing off your accomplishments to the people on your server. It might set you apart as a great raider, a distinguished PvP-er, a passionate roleplayer, or a fanatical quester. But what did the Celestial Steed say about you? According to some, it said you were a gullible fool, easily parted with your money. “One by one they are systamatically putting a dollar price tag on what previously you obtained through playing the game, through skill, there is no achievement and no skill in paying money, there is no challenge won buy pulling out your wallet.” This sentiment echoed around the internet, with one Kotaku commenter saying, “umm no thanks… i appreciate cool mounts and pets… but not for real money. gotta earn that stuff in-game or its not cool.” The communitystarted derisively calling them ‘Sparkle Ponies’, sharing memes about My Little Pony, and coming up with various other ways of shaming anyone who bought the mount. Those buyers responded with comics and memes of their own. (Original post by Rumbleskim on /r/hobbydrama)
Komunitas
lemmy.blackeco.com
Ce matin je me suis réveillé en découvrant plein de toots semblant blaguer sur le fait de convier des journalistes dans des conversations Secret Défense. Sur le coup, je n’ai pas bien compris, puis j’ai découvert l’origine de ces blagues qui les rendent immédiatement plus drôles. Petite sélection : https://toot.community/@[email protected]/114221831093210618 https://toot.community/@[email protected]/114222418252083177 https://toot.community/@[email protected]/114222461985281355 https://toot.community/@[email protected]/114219229265425051 https://toot.community/@[email protected]/114219068251009751
Komunitas
feddit.dk
Den er jeg også lige gået i gang med at skimme. Jeg har haft den stående på hylden i flere år, men har kunnet læse på overskrifterne at jeg nok ikke ville blive overrasket over noget som helst. Jeg vil foreslå dig The Coming Plague af Laurie Garrett. Infektionsmedicinsk verdenshistorie op til starten af 90’erne. Den omtalte “plague” er enten HIV/AIDS-epidemien man først begyndte at erkende omfanget af og skimte løsninger på omkring bogens udgivelse (1993), alternativt er det den næste store epidemi. Spoiler: der kom naturligvis endnu en epidemi. Den handler om nogle spændende (sikkert overdrevne) personligheder og samspillet mellem samfundets progression og hvordan disse samfundsændringer er nødvendige begivenheder for infektionssygdommenes udvikling. Og så handler den også lidt om uduelige politikere. De har åbenbart altid eksisteret.
Komunitas
ibbit.at
The Dead of the Middle East Petroleum by Evi Sarantea. The oil machines extracting oil are seen in the distance. The black marks on the sand are the open mouths of the dead screaming without end, which the artist called νεκρών οιμωγές, ceaseless and extremely painful and tragic outbursts of crying. President Trump is withdrawing the United States from the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is the legal bedrock for pathbreaking efforts of the world to take a look at its footprint on planet Earth. Is the US withdrawal from the environmental conventions of the UN undermining world safety and security? First, the UNCCC, negotiated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992, started the conversation on what the human species is doing to its only nest in the universe. These activities include the petroleum-powered industrialization of agriculture, transportation, fighting wars and the primary heating of billions of homes by the burning of global warming natural gas. This massive use of petroleum, coal and natural gas did not bode well for the future of humanity and the myriad of species in the Amazon forest and other threatened forests the world over. So, the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change warned, though did not even try to regulate human activities, that humans were harming the planet and threatening civilization. Second, the 2015 Paris Agreement is a modest, though failing, global effort to control planetary temperature from getting too dangerous. The executive secretary of the UNFCCC, Simon Stiell, said the withdrawal of the US will harm all, but especially the US. He said: “While all other nations are stepping forward together, this latest [US] step back from global leadership, climate cooperation and science can only harm the US economy, jobs and living standards, as wildfires, floods, mega-storms and droughts get rapidly worse. It is a colossal… goal which will leave the US less secure and less prosperous.” The Trump administration, however, is under the delusion that its rejection of climatological science, persisting in the falsehood that climate change is a hoax, would miraculously revive prosperity in America, which, according to the US Fifth National Climate Assessment of November 14, 2023, is warming up 68 percent faster than any other country on the planet. The Assessment also warns that: carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere since the 1970s have been higher than at any time for the last 800,000 tears; sea level rise in the 20th century rose faster than at any time in the past 3,000 years; and drought in the Western US has been worse and persistent than at any time in the last 1,200 years. Heat waves on land and seas, catastrophic fires, draught, hurricanes, rain bombs and storms embracing America are the results of a variety of human activities, especially the feeding and torturing of billions of food animals in thousands unregulated animal farms all over the country. These facilities become machines and factories of disease and toxic waste, stench and slaughter. They most likely gave the country and the world COVID-19, the 2020-2022 plague that killed millions of people and shut down the planet. I documented this potential origin of the pandemic in my latest book, Earth on Fire: Brewing Plagues and Climate Chaos in Our Backyards (World Scientific, 2026). Animal factories are inhumane and dangerous. They emit large amounts of global warming gases like carbon dioxide and methane. The owners of these animal farms don’t treat the diseased and toxic wastes of the animals. They put the wastes in lagoons and spray them over farms. The very likely diseased meat of the slaughtered animals is not healthy for human consumption. Yet during the pandemic, the government ordered the slaughterhouses to remain open and continue their dangerous work. Other activities and machines add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, like millions of airplanes flying; boats, yachts, ships, leaf-blowers, unfathomable petroleum-powered machines; the military, navy and air force training and fighting wars; cars and trucks, too many to count – most of them burning petroleum and polluting. But the America First ideology of the Trump administration means “asserting control of the Western Hemisphere for the benefit of the United States.” This also connects the imperialism of the America First to the decision to withdraw from most UN organizations and programs, including “reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.” Such an unpredictable and harmful step is not simply a return to the good old days – of selling Americans cheaper gasoline. “The decision [of withdrawal from the UNFCCC] is not only an indicator of America’s rejection from global diplomacy, it’s a finger in the eye to the billions of people, including Americans, suffering through intensifying wildfires, storms and droughts, threats to the food supply and to biodiversity, and other dangerous and costly effects of a warming planet.” “This is a shortsighted, embarrassing, and foolish decision,” said Gina McCarthy quoted by the New York Times. McCarthy is the former US EPA administrator and White House climate adviser during the Biden administration. She accused the Trump administration of discarding “decades of global collaboration.” She said: “This administration is forfeiting our country’s ability to influence trillions of dollars in investments, policies, and decisions that would have advanced our economy and protected us from costly disasters wreaking havoc on our country.” I agree with Gina McCarthy. Like her, I served at EPA, but certainly not in a political position. I worked as an analyst for 25 years, all the way from the Carter administration to the end of the first George W. Bush administration, 1979-2004. I witnessed lots of corruption, the industry, including the fossil fuel companies, pulling the political strings behind the regulations and policies of the ceaselessly less protective EPA. I also recognized aggression behind the industry efforts for deregulation. In an October 10, 1989 article I wrote for the Chicago Tribune, I shed light on the pivotal role of petroleum companies behind climate change and the warming of the planet. When the Wall Street Journal reprinted a couple paragraphs from the article, the political reaction was swift. Senior EPA officials demanded that I be fired. They wrote me a “letter of reprimand,” step number one before firing. I took the letter to the EPA administrator Willian Reilly, who dismissed the baseless charges against me. And what an incredible coincidence and embarrassment for the EPA: sending me the threatening letter on Earth Day 1990. What was in the minds of those EPA bureaucrats? Certainly, not the Earth. Some 36 years later, Trump is repeating and exceeding the aggressive deregulation of the irresponsible Reagan administration. Withdrawing from the vulnerable global efforts to control the man-made climate giant in the room is party a self-destructive impulse under the influence and corruption of the money of the fossil fuel industry and partly an imperial notion that might is right, even when history and science say no, might rarely if ever is equivalent to justice. Thinking America First most likely was behind the US pulled out of the UN convention of 1992. “The decision to withdraw [from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change] is part of an aggressive assault on climate efforts by President Trump. His administration has rolled back climate regulations, removed scientific data on climate change from government websites, thwarted the development of wind and solar energy and commissioned a federal report downplaying the effects of a warming planet.” Yes, abandoning the United Nations is aggression – and much more. Trump treats domestic and foreign matters as if they did not differ. It’s not too difficult to see through the bluster of Trump, that: “the most chilling hallmark of Trump’s second presidency: the seamless fusion of domestic and foreign policy, bypassing America’s constitutional system of government to assume virtually boundless, unchecked power.” Power corrupts Indeed, power is at heart of this aggression and war against science, humanity, civilization and the planet. After WWI, the victors headed by President Woodrow Wilson, crafted the League of Nations, 1919-1920. The purpose of this first global intergovernmental organization was to promote international cooperation, disarmament and peace. Yet the US never joined the League. Moreover, decisions demanded unanimity. The League also did not have the military to enforce its decisions. In the 1930s, Japan, Italy and Germany ignored international agreements and the League was impotent. The result was WWII. After WWII, in 1946, the victors created the United Nations to replace the League. The UN has had more success than the League. However, just like the League, the presence and support by the US is a critical factor in its thriving or decline and extinction and the almost certain wars that follows its demise. So, Trump’s grabbing of Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, and treating him like a criminal in the US, while, simultaneously, getting out of long-standing agreements with the United Nations may be symbolic blows to international order. The world is in potential anarchy and chaos, not much different than the anarchy and aggression of unchecked Germany that sparked WWII. Epilogue Fossil fuels, especially petroleum, is behind the existential climate emergency, the blindness of the ruling classes to put humanity, civilization and planet Earth first. The other charge is a US administration thoroughly captured by fossil fuels, risking health, security, democracy and the planet for short term profits. American politicians, professors-intellectuals and environmentalists, no matter their party affiliation, should act together to repair the damage to the United Nations and the fragile international order of the rule of law. The Senate should exercise its authority and rejoin the US to the UN conventions and programs. Maduro may be a bad leader, but his trial should take place in Venezuela, not in the US. Doing nothing is unacceptable. It may trigger more wars, more deregulation, more pollution, more global ecocide, higher planetary temperature — and anarchy and chaos in societies and the already stressed Mother Earth, our sole home in the Cosmos. The post Political Climate Boomerang and World Chaos appeared first on CounterPunch.org. From CounterPunch.org via this RSS feed
Komunitas
news.abolish.capital
If you’re unfamiliar with the disgraced New York City mayor in question, we’re talking about the outgoing mayor Eric Adams. This is what Adams told the world yesterday: Amid the Times Square sideshows, Eric Adams announces his “NYC Token,” a crypto coin he says will fight antisemitism. “I’m not taking a salary at this time,” he said of the yet to be launched coin. “Down the line, we will make the determination of doing so” pic.twitter.com/KnTTdTv6y1 — Josie Stratman (@JosieStratman) January 12, 2026 In a predictable turn of events, Adams immediately ‘rugged’ the coin, seemingly making a killing: Eric Adams has now drained over $3,400,000 from the liquidity pool of his memecoin: it’s now a rug-pull funny enough, his networth was only $2,000,000 pic.twitter.com/bcNMDbnmrE — Rune (@RuneCrypto_) January 12, 2026 Disgraced former NYC mayor Adams faced many accusations of corruption in his time as mayor, with his links to Turkey being the most prominent, as New York Focusreported: Eric Adams once maintained friendly relations with a nonprofit Turkish Cultural Center in Brooklyn. As a state senator, he met with its executive director in Albany. He attended the group’s annual dinner gala. As Brooklyn borough president, he worked with the center to distribute 1,500 pounds of meat to food pantries. But around 2016, he suddenly stopped associating with it. By that year, Adams had started accepting free travel from groups tied to the Turkish government, according to a criminal indictment against the mayor brought last week by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. A senior Turkish diplomatic official told Adams that if he wanted to keep receiving those kinds of perks, he could no longer associate with the center, according to the indictment, which accuses Adams of bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign contributions. Soliciting and accepting illegal campaign contributions (2018-2023): – Accepting straw donations from Turkish businesspeople and their employees – Soliciting and accepting contributions from foreign nationals – Orchestrating schemes to funnel foreign money through… — chris evans (@notcapnamerica) September 26, 2024 The above thread goes on and on, by the way, because Adams was a very busy boy. What Adams lacked in honesty or competence, he attempted to make up for with ‘swag’. This was fully on display in the anti-rat video below (the account says ‘Zohran Mamdani’ because the mayoral twitter account is passed down like the Downing Street cat): Rats don’t have swag. New Yorkers have swag. If you don’t have swag, gtfo our city. pic.twitter.com/7cRiokCzqb — Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) June 29, 2025 Adams may have been dodgy as hell, but he did enjoy support from Israel – often saying strange things like “I served you as mayor” despite their ongoing genocide: New York Mayor Eric Adams said on his visit to Israel that he “wanted to come back here to Israel and let you know that I served you as mayor.” Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/oMVtldvTTi — AF Post (@AFpost) November 17, 2025 In light of his rug pull, many are now saying the following: BREAKING: Former NYC mayor Eric Adams is a confirmed antisemite. Rugpulled his own coin meant to fight antisemitism https://t.co/d8x3xaES7g pic.twitter.com/Hn4rnlAGus — haeju.eth (@JeongHaeju) January 13, 2026 But what is a ‘rug pull’? Rugged If you’re unfamiliar, Coin Base describe a ‘rug pull’ or ‘rug’ as follows: A rug pull is a scenario in the cryptocurrency space. It involves a team raising assets from the public by selling a token, only to abruptly shut down the project or disappear, taking the raised assets with them. This leaves the participants, or rather, their victims, with worthless tokens. Rug pulls can be extensively orchestrated, with bad actors leveraging various strategies to lure as many victims as possible. Some scams even use trusted figures to gain trust, while others promise extremely high returns or offer exclusive digital goods. Given the chain of events, it’s pretty much undeniable that Adams rugged: +$3,400,000 in 30 minutes https://t.co/V2ZMPxcsAX pic.twitter.com/67XOAVjqul — Rune (@RuneCrypto_) January 12, 2026 If you’re shocked that a prominent US politician would openly commit such an obvious scam, don’t be. This goes way higher than Adams: Trump coin is going to be the biggest rug pull in history, and the biggest disaster. It’s actually a horrible nightmare and very sad. It’s just a dirty Fiat game. It’s still a zero sum game and people will only win here at the expense of others. FAFO. pic.twitter.com/zgEX5iaC2J — Noah Kaufman, MD (@noahkaufmanmd) January 18, 2025 In addition to pulling his own alleged scams, Trump has ensured that his Department of Justice ignore what’s going on in the crypto space: Trump has directed the Department of Justice to stop pursuing crypto fraud, dismantling the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and ordering the Market Integrity and Major Frauds Unit to cease cryptocurrency enforcement. — Molly White (@molly0xFFF) April 8, 2025 Trump has also pardoned the most prominent crypto criminals: TRUMP PARDONS CONVICTED BINANCE FOUNDER CZ PER WSJ CRIME IS LEGAL. pic.twitter.com/PFslTkckWq — Coffeezilla (@coffeebreak_YT) October 23, 2025 Coffeezilla, by the way, is one of the best resources on this topic: We’re not free from the influence of this white collar crime epidemic in the UK either: Yep, nothing but deregulating crypto to help his crypto business and scrapping net zero to help his aviation fuel business. Which by pure coincidence are two of our policies. pic.twitter.com/Ijm7QUH9EF — Parody Nigel Farage (@Parody_PM) December 6, 2025 Did it work? Of course, the real question isn’t whether former NYC mayor Adams rugged his supporters; it’s whether in doing so, he actually managed to “fight antisemitism”. The early signs are ‘no’, probably not. Featured image via X By Willem Moore From Canary via This RSS Feed.
Komunitas
ibbit.at
Photograph Source: NYC Mayor’s Office – CC BY 3.0 2025 was an annus horribilis for democracy. Within the United States, Donald Trump, his administration, Congress, complicit state legislatures, and the Supreme Court systematically attacked civil liberties and weakened core democratic institutions. Internationally, there were at least two examples of undemocratic impositions. U.N. Security Council (SC) Resolution 2803 created a so-called “Board of Peace,” chaired by Donald Trump, and a temporary International Stabilization Force to govern Gaza without the consent of the those who live there. Recently, Trump announced that Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would “run” Venezuela, an extraordinary assertion of external control over another state’s political future. Did 2026 start better? Yes. Zohran Mamdani’s taking office as Mayor of New York City offers several reasons for democratic optimism. As the first-ever mayor to be sworn in on a Quran, the 34 year-old surprise winner has shown a progressive, democratic sensitivity and agenda that offers promises for New York City and beyond. Mamdani’s election could signal a revival of true democratic politics in the United States, and an eventual model for democratic governance elsewhere. At his January 1 inauguration, Mamdani gave a moving presentation of new possibilities for democracy after being sworn in as mayor by Bernie Sanders and following an opening speech by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “I stand alongside countless more New Yorkers watching from cramped kitchens in Flushing and barbershops in East New York, from cellphones propped against the dashboards of parked taxi cabs at LaGuardia, from hospitals in Mott Haven and libraries in El Barrio that have too long known only neglect. I stand alongside construction workers in steel-toed boots and halal cart vendors whose knees ache from working all day.” The new mayor asked, “Who does New York belong to?” “For much of our history, the response from City Hall has been simple: It belongs only to the wealthy and well-connected,” he answered. He then offered a very different answer about whom New York could belong to: “New York could belong to more than just a privileged few. It could belong to those who operate our subways and rake our parks, those who feed us biryani and beef patties, picanha and pastrami on rye. And they knew that this belief could be made true if only government dared to work hardest for those who work hardest.” “[I]f only government dared to work hardest for those who work hardest,” Mamdani declared at the very moment of Trump’s new Gilded Age where the richest 1 percent of Americans own roughly 30% of national wealth and the top 10% control nearly two-thirds. The chief executive of JP Morgan Chase made $770 million in 2025. A recent economic study shows that in recent decades the Supreme Court has favored the rich. Mamdani’s inaugural speech presented what many consider a radical position. President Trump has derided Mamdani as a “communist fanatic.” Yet when Trump met Mamdani in the Oval Office in November, the New York Times reported that “they were just two iconoclastic New Yorkers who were all smiles.” “The better he does, the happier I am,” Trump said. “Because he has a chance to really do something great for New York,” the president added. “It was a great meeting.” There is no question that Mamdani will face staunch opposition as mayor. Several very wealthy individuals have threatened to leave New York if he raises city income tax on million-dollar earners or increases corporate taxes. John Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of the grocery chain Gristedes, told the Free Press in June he may “consider closing our supermarkets and selling the business” in the event of a Mamdani victory. There were also obvious religious criticisms of the city’s first Muslim mayor. “On his very first day as @NYCMayor, Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel. This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire,” the Israel Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on the social platform X. But the essential criticisms of Mamdani lie in the class position he has taken. Bill Reilly claimed in The Wrap that “He’s a communist…Seizing the means of production.” Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis argued in The Times of India, that his ideas were “straight out of Karl Marx’s Communist playbook,” and Bishop Robert Barron, writing in the New York Post, cited Mamdani’s embrace of “the warmth of collectivism,” that collectivism has historically led to oppression. Is Mamdani merely a New York phenomenon? Will his victory and positions have influence outside the five boroughs? He seems not afraid to stand up for his beliefs beyond New York-specific issues. He challenged President Trump after the Venezuela strikes and kidnapping of Maduro. “I called the president and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act,” he said. The New York Times reported on the call in which Mamdani recounted that “he told Mr. Trump that he was ‘opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the violation of federal and international law.’” It is uncertain that Mamdani will succeed in implementing some of his ambitious policy proposals, such as free childcare, free bus service, and a rent freeze for those living in rent-stabilized apartments. Nevertheless, he declared, “Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed. But never we will be accused of lacking the courage to try.” The essence of Mamdani’s “courage to try” is his commitment to re-establish democracy in New York City. His inaugural speech was a clarion call for the city to belong to all New Yorkers, regardless of wealth, class, or religion. Internationally, based on his call to the White House, the same principles apply; respecting international law as a just system should give equal rights to all peoples and states – the Preamble of the United Nations Charter does begin with “We the Peoples.” Amid the undemocratic Trump 2.0, U.N. Security Council Resolution 2803 and the arrogant gunboat diplomacy of the so-called “Donroe Doctrine,” there is a potential shining light coming from New York City, at least based on Mamdani’s inaugural speech. Given the current gloomy global situation, a little light is more than welcome as we begin the new year, still hoping, like Abraham Lincoln, that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” The post Democracy Challenged: Who Governs Gaza? Who Runs Venezuela? “Who Does New York Belong To?” appeared first on CounterPunch.org. From CounterPunch.org via this RSS feed
Komunitas
lemmy.zip
cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7301383 cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/18847 Kalle Benalie ICT Elected Native officials, business owners and organizers are reacting to the ICE shooting in Minneapolis that left one woman dead on Jan. 7. Renee Good, 37, was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a raid in a Minneapolis neighborhood. Her death ignited a large crowd of protestors and a call to stop ICE’s operations and the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Jonathan Juarez, Pueblos of Laguna and Isleta, spoke at a vigil for Good at the University of New Mexico bookstore on Jan. 8 as an organizer from the Southwest Solidarity Network, which partnered with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Juarez said it was important for him to be there to show support from those in Albuquerque to Minneapolis but also as an Indigenous person whose history is connected to colonial violence from the U.S. government like boarding schools. Signs people used at the vigil for Renee Good at the University of New Mexico bookstore on the evening of Jan. 8. (Photo by Kalle Benallie, ICT) “I would say as Indigenous people, we need to acknowledge that migration is a right, and it is something that has been practiced here on these lands long before the United States ever had any established borders,” Juarez said. “And more broadly looking at the patterns of fascism throughout history, we know that this is what the beginning stages of every fascist empire regime looked like. We need to be sounding the alarms and telling people today, it is immigrants and it is trans people, and it is these marginalized people, tomorrow it could be anybody.” He added the turnout for the vigil was “a really beautiful message of solidarity.” “It was great, especially considering it was snowing and sleeting and hailing, and it was that freezing wind chill,” Juarez said. A vigil table for Renee Good, who was killed on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis. A crowd of people attended the event to demand justice and end ICE raids in front of the University of New Mexico bookstore on Jan. 8 . (Photo by Kalle Benallie, ICT) Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, responded on [X] about Good. “The tragic killing of an American citizen in Minnesota has left her children without a parent. Instead of spreading misinformation or stoking hate, we need a full, transparent, independent investigation to get the facts, ensure accountability, and prevent this kind of heartbreak from happening in communities anywhere in our country,” Davids said. Senator Markwayne Mullin, Cherokee, from Oklahoma released a video on [X] explaining how the ICE agent responded to Good’s alleged lethal force with lethal force. “It’s unfortunate but I support DHS and what they had to do to keep their men and women safe to bring federal fugitives to justice,” he said. “It should have never taken place because those people should have never been out there to begin with. We should be supporting our law enforcement.” The president of Ho-Chunk Nation, which is east of Minnesota, Jon Greendeer, released a statement on Facebook. He asked for justice for Good and her family, as well as saying ICE is not welcome on Ho-Chunk land in Wisconsin. “I hold a position which requires me to work with government and find solutions. I will not be found sitting anywhere with ICE at the table. When my family is threatened like so many have been by them, don’t expect me to preserve any type presidential decorum. I’ll be with our Bears and Warriors,” Greendeer said. In North Dakota, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Steve Sitting Bear issued a statement Friday, Jan. 9, addressing public safety concerns. He said his staff is working on establishing a “Know Your Rights” phone line and advised “all First Nations people to carry your tribal information as a practical measure.” “Any ICE presence or activity within our lands is not authorized, not welcome, and will be addressed,” Sitting Bear said in the statement. “Unauthorized personnel will be escorted off our lands.” The Owamni restaurant, owned by Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman, said they are donating 10 percent of all sales on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11 to Good’s family. Owamni is located in Minneapolis. “Sending support for her family during this time of grief feels like the right thing to do. We hold Renee in our hearts and send love, strength, and calm to her family for their horrific unnecessary loss,” the statement said. The post Indian Country reactions to Minnesota ICE shooting appeared first on ICT. From ICT via This RSS Feed.
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hexbear.net
cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/18847 Kalle Benalie ICT Elected Native officials, business owners and organizers are reacting to the ICE shooting in Minneapolis that left one woman dead on Jan. 7. Renee Good, 37, was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a raid in a Minneapolis neighborhood. Her death ignited a large crowd of protestors and a call to stop ICE’s operations and the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Jonathan Juarez, Pueblos of Laguna and Isleta, spoke at a vigil for Good at the University of New Mexico bookstore on Jan. 8 as an organizer from the Southwest Solidarity Network, which partnered with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Juarez said it was important for him to be there to show support from those in Albuquerque to Minneapolis but also as an Indigenous person whose history is connected to colonial violence from the U.S. government like boarding schools. Signs people used at the vigil for Renee Good at the University of New Mexico bookstore on the evening of Jan. 8. (Photo by Kalle Benallie, ICT) “I would say as Indigenous people, we need to acknowledge that migration is a right, and it is something that has been practiced here on these lands long before the United States ever had any established borders,” Juarez said. “And more broadly looking at the patterns of fascism throughout history, we know that this is what the beginning stages of every fascist empire regime looked like. We need to be sounding the alarms and telling people today, it is immigrants and it is trans people, and it is these marginalized people, tomorrow it could be anybody.” He added the turnout for the vigil was “a really beautiful message of solidarity.” “It was great, especially considering it was snowing and sleeting and hailing, and it was that freezing wind chill,” Juarez said. A vigil table for Renee Good, who was killed on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis. A crowd of people attended the event to demand justice and end ICE raids in front of the University of New Mexico bookstore on Jan. 8 . (Photo by Kalle Benallie, ICT) Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, responded on X about Good. “The tragic killing of an American citizen in Minnesota has left her children without a parent. Instead of spreading misinformation or stoking hate, we need a full, transparent, independent investigation to get the facts, ensure accountability, and prevent this kind of heartbreak from happening in communities anywhere in our country,” Davids said. Senator Markwayne Mullin, Cherokee, from Oklahoma released a video on X explaining how the ICE agent responded to Good’s alleged lethal force with lethal force. “It’s unfortunate but I support DHS and what they had to do to keep their men and women safe to bring federal fugitives to justice,” he said. “It should have never taken place because those people should have never been out there to begin with. We should be supporting our law enforcement.” The president of Ho-Chunk Nation, which is east of Minnesota, Jon Greendeer, released a statement on Facebook. He asked for justice for Good and her family, as well as saying ICE is not welcome on Ho-Chunk land in Wisconsin. “I hold a position which requires me to work with government and find solutions. I will not be found sitting anywhere with ICE at the table. When my family is threatened like so many have been by them, don’t expect me to preserve any type presidential decorum. I’ll be with our Bears and Warriors,” Greendeer said. In North Dakota, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Steve Sitting Bear issued a statement Friday, Jan. 9, addressing public safety concerns. He said his staff is working on establishing a “Know Your Rights” phone line and advised “all First Nations people to carry your tribal information as a practical measure.” “Any ICE presence or activity within our lands is not authorized, not welcome, and will be addressed,” Sitting Bear said in the statement. “Unauthorized personnel will be escorted off our lands.” The Owamni restaurant, owned by Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman, said they are donating 10 percent of all sales on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11 to Good’s family. Owamni is located in Minneapolis. “Sending support for her family during this time of grief feels like the right thing to do. We hold Renee in our hearts and send love, strength, and calm to her family for their horrific unnecessary loss,” the statement said. The post Indian Country reactions to Minnesota ICE shooting appeared first on ICT. From ICT via This RSS Feed.
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Kalle Benalie ICT Elected Native officials, business owners and organizers are reacting to the ICE shooting in Minneapolis that left one woman dead on Jan. 7. Renee Good, 37, was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a raid in a Minneapolis neighborhood. Her death ignited a large crowd of protestors and a call to stop ICE’s operations and the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Jonathan Juarez, Pueblos of Laguna and Isleta, spoke at a vigil for Good at the University of New Mexico bookstore on Jan. 8 as an organizer from the Southwest Solidarity Network, which partnered with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Juarez said it was important for him to be there to show support from those in Albuquerque to Minneapolis but also as an Indigenous person whose history is connected to colonial violence from the U.S. government like boarding schools. Signs people used at the vigil for Renee Good at the University of New Mexico bookstore on the evening of Jan. 8. (Photo by Kalle Benallie, ICT) “I would say as Indigenous people, we need to acknowledge that migration is a right, and it is something that has been practiced here on these lands long before the United States ever had any established borders,” Juarez said. “And more broadly looking at the patterns of fascism throughout history, we know that this is what the beginning stages of every fascist empire regime looked like. We need to be sounding the alarms and telling people today, it is immigrants and it is trans people, and it is these marginalized people, tomorrow it could be anybody.” He added the turnout for the vigil was “a really beautiful message of solidarity.” “It was great, especially considering it was snowing and sleeting and hailing, and it was that freezing wind chill,” Juarez said. A vigil table for Renee Good, who was killed on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis. A crowd of people attended the event to demand justice and end ICE raids in front of the University of New Mexico bookstore on Jan. 8 . (Photo by Kalle Benallie, ICT) Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, responded on X about Good. “The tragic killing of an American citizen in Minnesota has left her children without a parent. Instead of spreading misinformation or stoking hate, we need a full, transparent, independent investigation to get the facts, ensure accountability, and prevent this kind of heartbreak from happening in communities anywhere in our country,” Davids said. Senator Markwayne Mullin, Cherokee, from Oklahoma released a video on X explaining how the ICE agent responded to Good’s alleged lethal force with lethal force. “It’s unfortunate but I support DHS and what they had to do to keep their men and women safe to bring federal fugitives to justice,” he said. “It should have never taken place because those people should have never been out there to begin with. We should be supporting our law enforcement.” The president of Ho-Chunk Nation, which is east of Minnesota, Jon Greendeer, released a statement on Facebook. He asked for justice for Good and her family, as well as saying ICE is not welcome on Ho-Chunk land in Wisconsin. “I hold a position which requires me to work with government and find solutions. I will not be found sitting anywhere with ICE at the table. When my family is threatened like so many have been by them, don’t expect me to preserve any type presidential decorum. I’ll be with our Bears and Warriors,” Greendeer said. In North Dakota, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Steve Sitting Bear issued a statement Friday, Jan. 9, addressing public safety concerns. He said his staff is working on establishing a “Know Your Rights” phone line and advised “all First Nations people to carry your tribal information as a practical measure.” “Any ICE presence or activity within our lands is not authorized, not welcome, and will be addressed,” Sitting Bear said in the statement. “Unauthorized personnel will be escorted off our lands.” The Owamni restaurant, owned by Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman, said they are donating 10 percent of all sales on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11 to Good’s family. Owamni is located in Minneapolis. “Sending support for her family during this time of grief feels like the right thing to do. We hold Renee in our hearts and send love, strength, and calm to her family for their horrific unnecessary loss,” the statement said. The post Indian Country reactions to Minnesota ICE shooting appeared first on ICT. From ICT via This RSS Feed.
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ICE agent kills Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three in Minneapolis. The Trump administration baselessly accuses the killed woman, who was acting as a legal observer, of “terrorism” and “rioting.” Venezuelan communes mobilize against the U.S. in Caracas, according to reporting from Drop Site’s Andreína Chávez live from the rally. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello estimates 100 people were killed by last week’s U.S. operation. The U.S. is working “directly in cooperation” to sell seized Venezuela oil, says U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims U.S. intervention in Venezuela “isn’t going to cost us any money.” Israeli bombing in al-Tuffah kills three. Yasser Abu Shabab’s militia claims it killed two Hamas operatives in Gaza. The Palestinian town of Kafr Manda town declares a general strike. President Donald Trump suspends U.S. funding of UN entities and other international organizations. U.S. State Department halts aid to Somalia. The Transportation Department cuts California’s funding because it delayed revoking immigrants’ driver’s licenses. House votes to subpoena Jeffrey Epstein associate Les Wexner. Saudi-led coalition strikes in Yemen kill at least four people. Drone strikes continue in Sudan, with attacks reported across the country. A plot to kill Burkina Faso’s military leader, Capt Ibrahim Traoré, is thwarted. U.S. President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro speak over the phone about U.S. escalation in the region. This is Drop Site Daily, our new, free daily news recap. We send it Monday through Friday. Subscribe now Protesters gather in Minneapolis after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good fatally shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minnesota, United States on January 8, 2026 (Photo by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images) Venezuela Communes rally against the U.S. in Caracas: Venezuela’s worker communes—a key part of the Chavista movement—marched through Caracas, with protestors carrying signs denouncing President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Venezuelan protestors charged U.S. leaders of kidnapping and murder, and they demanded the release of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. Drop Site contributor Andreína Chávez was in attendance and filed video reports from the scene: “We are here to demand that the North Americans who took our president and our first lady return them,” said Orangel Vera, 18. “All the youth are backing our president. We are in the streets.” Vera is a member of the Juana de Ávila South Communal Circuit in Zulia state. “Give us back our president Nicolás Maduro,” said María Guaicara, 61. “He is the constitutionally elected president of Venezuela. Give back our first combatant, Cilia Flores. They were not captured. They were kidnapped.” Guaicara is a member of the Éxito Comunitario Socialista commune in La Vega, Caracas. “We are here demanding the return of our president and our congresswoman Cilia Flores, kidnapped by the United States,” said Iskra Pérez Sangronis.“The communes of this country are prepared to fight in any scenario to defend the homeland and the future.” Pérez is a member of the Gigante Cacique Tiuna Commune in San Pedro, Caracas. Death toll at about 100, Cabello says: Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Wednesday that about 100 people were killed and a “similar number” wounded in last week’s U.S. military operation in Venezuela in what Cabello called “an inhuman act.” Cabello said that civilians were killed in residential areas and at a medicine storage facility struck during the attack. He said the U.S. destroyed a center for producing and storing insulin and several research centers during the invasion. “What kind of cruelty and malice is involved in attacking a center like that?” Cabello asked. U.S. working “directly in cooperation” to sell seized oil, Wright says: U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Washington is working “directly in cooperation with the Venezuelans” to restart sales of 30–50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan crude, while the oil is currently stuck in onshore and offshore storage, according to reporting from Bloomberg. Speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference, Wright said the U.S. plans to market the stored oil then oversee increased production in Venezuela. Wright added that, as talks with Venezuela’s government progress, Washington would allow imports of parts, equipment, and services to stabilize petroleum production and prevent the industry’s collapse, with hopes of enabling major U.S. oil companies to re-enter Venezuela. Energy Department fact sheet: A fact sheet released by the Energy Department on Tuesday details a sweeping U.S.–Venezuela energy deal that places Washington in direct control of how Venezuelan oil is “marketed,” “sold,” and monetized. President Donald Trump is expected to meet on Friday with executives from Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and ConocoPhillips at the White House, further integrating private oil firms into the seizure of the country’s assets, CNN reported. Venezuela operation “isn’t going to cost us any money,” Rubio says: At a press conference with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that President Donald Trump’s Venezuela operation “isn’t going to cost us any money.” Rubio claimed that proceeds from the new oil deal will benefit American taxpayers rather than burden them. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth dismissed questions about the cost as “disingenuous.” The Genocide in Gaza Casualty counts in the last 48 hours: Over the past 48 hours, the bodies of four Palestinians arrived at hospitals in Gaza, including three recovered from under the rubble, while seven Palestinians were injured, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 71,395 killed, with 171,287 injured. Total casualty counts since ceasefire: Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 425 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 1,206, while 688 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Ministry of Health. Palestinian child killed at home: An 11-year-old Palestinian girl was killed by Israeli strikes on her home in Jabaliya on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. Hamsa Housou was inside her home when shells and shrapnel hit the building as Israeli ground troops combed the area. The family had returned to their home on October 11, a day after the “ceasefire” went into effect. Israeli bombing in al-Tuffah kills three: Two Palestinians were killed, and three others were injured, after Israeli forces fired three missiles at a home belonging to the Alwan family in the al-Tuffah neighborhood of eastern Gaza City on Wednesday evening, according to Ultra Palestine and other Arabic language outlets. The Israeli army said the strike targeted a “Hamas leader” and responded to alleged gunfire in northern Gaza, a claim made after the bombing and unsupported by the evidence, as noted by journalist Tamer Qudaih. Yasser Shabab’s militia claims it killed two Hamas operatives: An Israeli-backed Palestinian militia said Wednesday it killed two Hamas operatives during a raid in Rafah. The group, known as the Popular Forces, said the men refused to surrender and that a third Hamas member was detained, Reuters reported. The Popular Forces were founded by Yasser Abu Shabab, who was killed in December and replaced by his deputy, Ghassan Duhine. The group operates in territory Israel controls under the October Israel-Hamas deal. Trump to announce composition of his “Board of Peace” next week: President Donald Trump is expected to announce the members of his “Gaza Board of Peace” next week, according to Axios. If implemented, the board—now mandated by the UN—would oversee Gaza’s administration, reconstruction, and funds, coordinate a “stabilization force,” and appoint a Palestinian technocratic committee to manage the enclave’s day-to-day affairs. Trump is expected to chair the body, which will include roughly ten Arab and Western leaders, even beyond the term of his presidency. Israel, the West Bank, and Lebanon Palestinian town declares a general strike: The Palestinian town of Kafr Manda in Israel declared a general strike, raised black flags, and announced public mourning after three Palestinian citizens of Israel were recently killed in a shooting in the nearby village of Bir al-Kasr, according to Al-Jarmaq News. At least seven Palestinian citizens of Israel have been killed in shootings so far this year, local Palestinian leaders told the Times of Israel, and they attributed the deaths to the rise of organized crime, enabled by failures of the Israeli authorities to curb illegal weapons or protect Palestinian communities in Israel. U.S. News ICE agent shoots and kills a woman in Minneapolis, according to eyewitness testimony and video: An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent killed Renee Nicole Good by shooting her three times at point blank range. A 37-year-old mother of three who recently moved to Minneapolis, Good was killed by ICE when she was on the scene as a legal observer during a federal immigration enforcement operation. Eyewitness accounts say Good was driving a vehicle on a congested street, as ICE agents shouted contradictory orders at her to leave and to get out of the car. Good reportedly complied with the order to leave the area as she waved an ICE vehicle to pass, and then two agents approached her vehicle, with one agent grabbing her car’s door handle and the other agent approaching her car from the front. The second masked agent shot Good once through the windshield, and stepping to the side of the vehicle, the agent shot her twice from the side window. ICE agents reportedly stopped a resident, who identified himself as a physician, from attending to Good, while ICE vehicles blocked emergency responders from arriving to the scene. Federal authorities and Trump administration officials claim the woman drove a vehicle toward agents, prompting an officer to open fire. Video shows the car’s wheels turned to the right to leave the scene, as well as the agent stepping to the side of the car as he shot her. Officials have not released body-camera footage of the incident. Countrywide protests and condemnation of ICE: The shooting comes amid ICE’s targeting of immigrants across the Twin Cities where 150 people have already been arrested. Over the past four months, immigration officers have fired on at least nine people inside vehicles across five states and Washington, D.C., according to the Washington Post, including the fatal shooting of Mexican immigrant Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez near Chicago. In each case, ICE agents claimed self-defense, though video accounts, eyewitness testimony, and statements from lawyers have disputed the claims that officers faced imminent danger. ICE activity has sparked countrywide protests and condemnations, with reportedly 10,000 people attending protests and vigils in the Twin Cities and with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey telling ICE to “get the fuck out of Minneapolis.” Administration accuses victim of “domestic terrorism”: Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin described Good as part of a group of “violent rioters” and claimed the agent fired in self-defense. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claimed ICE’s action in Minneapolis was in response to a “coordinated” terror attack of people “ trained” to “use their vehicles as weapons.” Democratic Rep. Robin Kelly announced on Wednesday plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following the deadly shooting. ACA subsidy update: The House of Representatives is set to vote Thursday on a measure that would renew enhanced health insurance subsidies that expired at the end of last year. The three-year extension is expected to pass the House, but it may not go far in the Senate, where a similar measure failed in December. Trump suspends U.S. participation in 66 international organizations, including its climate change commitments: President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday suspending U.S. funding of 66 international organizations, most of them affiliated with the United Nations. The State Department said the bodies were “redundant,” “mismanaged,” or a threat to U.S. sovereignty. The Transportation Department will cut California’s funding because it delayed revoking immigrants’ driver’s licenses: California will lose $160 million in federal transportation funding after delaying the revocation of roughly 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses issued “unlawfully” to immigrants, the Transportation Department says. Department Secretary Sean Duffy alleged that the state missed a federally required deadline consequent to an audit that found widespread violations in the state. Duffy accused Gavin Newsom’s administration of prioritizing immigrant protections over public safety, while California paused the revocations until March amid lawsuits alleging discriminatory targeting, particularly of Sikh truck drivers. House votes to subpoena Epstein associate Les Wexner: The House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to subpoena billionaire retail executive Les Wexner as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. The committee also issued subpoenas for Epstein estate executors Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn. Representative Robert Garcia called the vote “an enormous step forward” for survivors, while noting that Wexner—the former head of L Brands, which owns Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works—was named, though not charged, in a heavily redacted 2019 FBI email listing alleged “co-conspirators” of Epstein. Hochul and Mamdani to unveil expanded child care plan in New York: New York governor Kathy Hochul and New York City mayor Zoran Mamdani are unveiling a plan on Thursday to vastly expand free or affordable child care across the state over the next several years. “There’s one thing that every family in New York can agree on, the cost of childcare is simply too high,” Hochul said in a statement. “I’m proud to partner with Mayor Mamdani and leaders across our state to make this a reality, turning that foundation into a concrete roadmap that will transform the lives of working parents and kids across our state.” International News 50 STC officials unaccounted for: The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council said it has lost contact with more than 50 of its officials who traveled to Riyadh for talks, raising fears they were detained by Saudi authorities. A senior STC official told Middle East Eye the delegation arrived around 3 a.m., was placed on a bus by Saudi officials, and has not been heard from since. More on Aidarous al-Zubaidi: Saudi Arabia claimed the United Arab Emirates smuggled wanted separatist leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi out of Yemen and flew him to Abu Dhabi via Somaliland, after skipping planned peace talks in Riyadh. He allegedly traveled from Aden by boat to Berbera before flying—alongside UAE officers—to Mogadishu, and then Abu Dhabi with his aircraft’s identification briefly switched off. The Southern Transitional Council and the UAE have not commented, Al Jazeera reported, as Yemen’s internationally recognized government announced al-Zubaidi’s removal from its Presidential Leadership Council and ordered a treason investigation, a move that could deepen rifts between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Also in Yemen: At least four civilians were killed and six wounded in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on al-Dhale on Wednesday, hospital sources told AFP. The coalition targeted the home province of a separatist leader. Medical staff at Al-Nasr Hospital and Al-Tadamon Hospital said the casualties included civilians caught in the strikes. State Department suspends aid to Somalia: The State Department announced Wednesday that it has suspended all U.S. assistance benefiting the Somali Federal Government, using as its pretext an incident in which Somali authorities allegedly destroyed a U.S.-funded World Food Program warehouse at the Mogadishu Port and seized 76 metric tons of food aid intended for civilians. The U.S. claims it has a “zero-tolerance policy” for diversion of humanitarian assistance (one not apparently operative in Gaza). U.S. officials said aid will remain paused until Somalia takes accountability and corrective steps, in a country plagued by chronic poverty, food insecurity, and humanitarian need. Fighting continues between the SDF and the Syrian Government in Aleppo: At least four people were killed, and thousands were displaced as fighting in Aleppo between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces continued on Wednesday, according to Reuters. Shelling of the city resumed after clashes the day before killed six, including women and a child. An estimated 10,000 civilians have the fled neighborhoods under fire. Drone strikes remain an ongoing part of daily life in Sudan: Drone strikes continued across Sudan on Tuesday, killing and wounding civilians in River Nile State, Gezira State, and West Kordofan, according to Radio Dabanga. The outlet reported that RSF suicide drones hit residential areas in Atbara, a Sudan Shield Forces camp in Gezira’s Butana region, and a market in the Anjmina area southeast of Abu Zabad, with local sources saying civilians were among those killed and injured. Survivors recount systematic RSF rape, including infants:* A new Al Jazeera investigation documented widespread sexual violence by Sudan’s UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces, citing survivor testimony, medical evidence, and NGO findings. Women fleeing Gezira and residents of el-Fasher described being singled out at checkpoints, witnessing killings, and being gang-raped by RSF fighters. A report by SIHA documented nearly 1,300 cases of sexual and gender-based violence since April 2023, likely a severe undercount. A senior doctor at Omdurman Maternity Hospital said more than 14 female infants under two were raped, citing NGO documentation. UNICEF has confirmed over 200 child sexual assault cases since early 2024. Burkina Faso claims it foiled an assassination attempt on Traoré: Burkina Faso’s military government said it has foiled a plot to assassinate junta leader Ibrahim Traoré, alleging the plan was orchestrated by former ruler Paul-Henri Damiba, who was overthrown in September 2022. Security Minister Mahamadou Sana claimed the operation included plans to kill Traoré and strike key institutions, was funded in part by the Ivory Coast, and was intercepted hours before it was to be carried out, allegations neither Damiba nor Ivorian authorities have addressed. Authorities say leaked video footage captured alleged plotters discussing assassination methods and subsequent attacks on senior military and civilian figures, with several arrests already made. Trump and Petro speak over the phone: President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro spoke by phone on Wednesday, a conversation colored by escalating threats of U.S. intervention in the region and Washington’s public intimations that Colombia’s leader is complicit in drug trafficking. Trump, however, called it “a great honor” to speak with Petro and said “arrangements are being made” for a White House visit. The leaders discussed “the situation of drugs and other disagreements,” and Petro, who said the call lasted about an hour, requested to restore dialogue between the two countries. This is quite a turn of events, as Trump last week hinted that a U.S. military operation in Colombia “sounds good to me” and accused Petro of facilitating cocaine exports. Programming note: You can sign up here to get updates from us on our WhatsApp channel. If you want to continue getting this newsletter, you don’t have to do anything. 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SAN PABLO, Laguna – Filipino progressives have condemned the United States’ invasion of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, calling it a “desperate attempt” to maintain hegemony in the region. In a statement, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines called the attack as a “blatant violation of Venezuelan sovereignty” and described US imperialism as facing “strategic decline and overlapping crises.” “The real objective of US aggression against Venezuela is not the fictitious ‘war on narcotics’,” the NDFP said. “What US imperialism seeks is control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and strategic resources, control over its political orientation, and control over the direction of [Latin America and the Caribbean] as a whole.” The League of Filipino Students also pointed out that the aim of the US is to control Venezuela’s oil reserves in an attempt to salvage the US economy. Venezuelan oil reserves are the largest in the world, with over 300 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves. “Far from a display of strength, the military attacks against Venezuela is a sign of a desperate dying empire as it relies on violence and coercion to enforce their power on the people of the world that continue to rise against imperialism,” said the League in its statement. The United States struck military and civilian targets in the cities of La Guaira, Higuerote, El Volcan, and the capital of Caracas, January 2. Over 150 aircraft were used to drop bombs and deploy ground troops, resulting in at least 80 casualties and the abductions of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. The attack was the culmination of months of vitriol from Washington, who has repeatedly accused Maduro of being a “narco-terrorist” since 2020. US President Donald Trump has claimed that Venezuela was “exporting drugs to the United States” and declared Maduro to be the leader of Cartel de los Soles while also providing “material support” to Tren de Aragua. The US Department of Justice has since admitted that “Cartel de los Soles” does not exist. Trump ordered strikes against Venezuelan vessels starting September 2, killing at least 115 people in 35 boat strikes justified as being targeted against “terrorists.” By December 2025, US actions in Venezuela included drone strikes and an oil blockade to put economic pressure on the country. “Venezuela’s continuing assertion of national sovereignty, its potential alignment with the US government’s imperialist rival, its refusal to submit to US economic and military domination there make it a prime target for destabilisation and attack,” the NDFP added. Tense history Tensions between the US and Venezuela have existed since 1999 when Hugo Chavez assumed the presidency. Under Chavez, Venezuela shifted towards progressive policies and took a firm anti-imperialist stance, sparking a “Red Tide” of socialist-oriented and anti-imperialist development in Latin America. Sanctions against Venezuela began in 2006 under former US president George W. Bush, who called Chavez “uncooperative” in the war against terrorism. The Barack Obama administration imposed additional sanctions in late 2014 and early 2015, citing Maduro’s human rights violations. The first Trump administration tightened sanctions in 2017 and openly talked of using a “military option” in Venezuela. In 2019, the US recognized Juan Guaido as the “legitimate” president of Venezuela, following an unsuccessful coup attempt. Washington slapped an embargo on Venezuelan oil that same year, and charged Maduro of “narco-terrorism” with a $50 million bounty on his head. Maduro’s victory in the 2024 Venezuelan presidential elections reignited tensions between the two countries, with the US insisting that Maduro failed to hold fair elections in the country. In January 2025, Trump initially supported Venezuelan opposition activist Maria Corina Machado, who described her country as a “$1.7 trillion opportunity” for privatization, before claiming that she did not have the “support of the Venezuelan people” following Maduro’s capture. Greater American strategy Outside of Venezuela, the US has continuously sought to browbeat other Latin American countries into submission. Washington also imposed economic sanctions against Colombia in October 2025, citing. Elections in Honduras and Argentina were also marred by American electoral interference, destabilizing both countries. Trump has also threatened military intervention against Mexico over the issue of drug cartels, which the Mexican government has downplayed. The International League of Peoples’ Struggles Philippines said that the same factors that drove the US into assaulting Venezuela are also driving its strategy in the Asia-Pacific. “As part of its strategy to contain China, the US has been expanding its military presence, transforming countries like the Philippines into forward bases in a looming great-power confrontation,” the group said. “US imperialism has been aggravating and exploiting tensions over the West Philippine Sea and the Taiwan issue to justify increased troop deployments, war exercises, weapons stockpiling, and deeper military entanglement.” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan also called the US attack a “stark reminder” for Filipinos. “The same imperialist power that bombs Caracas maintains military forces, rotational troops, and access to bases on Philippine soil,” the group said. “This reality endangers our own people and entangles the country in wars that serve only US interests.” The NDFP also said that ongoing efforts by the US to strengthen its military presence in the Philippines is in line with the US’ First Island Chain strategy, which is designed to “position the Philippines as a forward operating base in a potential war against China.” The group noted that aside from war materiel, the US has “escalated the scale and aggressiveness of the Balikatan war exercises” over the past few years. Research think-tank IBON Foundation noted that 2025 Balikatan war exercises were the “largest ever”, with 14,000 troops and 20 countries participating in live-fire exercises and war games. Additionally, IBON noted that there are at least 34 US military installations in the country, including nine military bases under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement. Bayan condemned Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for “recklessly and treasonously promoting the US geopolitical agenda” to the detriment of the Filipino people. “The presence of US troops, facilities, and military agreements such as the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) only strengthens US capacity to wage wars of aggression and drags the Philippines deeper into imperialist conflict,” said Bayan. “Genuine national sovereignty and lasting peace are impossible while foreign military forces operate freely in our country.” (RVO) The post US attack on Venezuela, ‘desperate’ attempt to secure hegemony – PH groups appeared first on Bulatlat. From Bulatlat via This RSS Feed.
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cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7273879 cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/17939 Let’s establish some baselines. Texas is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than Saudi Arabia or the global maritime industry. Its oil, gas, and petrochemical operations discharge tens of millions of pounds of toxic pollutants into the air each year, comprising almost one-fifth of such releases in the United States. It is the nation’s top emitter of the carcinogens benzene, ethylene oxide, and 1,3-butadiene. It accounts for 75 percent of the petrochemicals made in the U.S. It is an engine of the world’s plastics industry, whose products clog oceans and landfills and, upon breaking down, infuse human bodies with potentially dangerous microplastics. Despite all of this, the state’s commitment to fossil fuel infrastructure is unwavering, driven by economics. Oil and gas extraction, transportation, and processing contributed $249 billion to the state’s gross domestic product and supported 661,000 jobs in 2021, according to the most recent reports from the Texas Economic Development & Tourism Office. An industrial construction spurt is well into its second decade**,** with little sign of slowing. Since 2013, 57 petrochemical facilities have been built or expanded in the state, according to the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project’s Oil & Gas Watch, which tracks these activities. Over half are in majority-minority neighborhoods, the group’s data show. Over the next five years, 18 new plants and 23 expansions are planned or are already under construction. Twelve of these projects collectively will be allowed to release the same amount of greenhouse gases as 41 natural gas-fired power plants, according to the companies’ filings with the state. Emissions estimates for the other projects were not available. All 41 petrochemical projects will also be permitted to release 38.6 million pounds of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s highest-priority pollutants, including carcinogens and respiratory irritants, according to company filings. Places like Jefferson County, in far southeastern Texas, and Harris County, which includes Houston, could see their air quality deteriorate, putting the public at increased risk of cancer, respiratory illness, reproductive effects, and other life-altering conditions. Five projects are to be sited within a 5-mile radius of Channelview, an unincorporated part of Harris County plagued by extremely high levels of cancer-causing benzene and a surge in barge traffic — an underappreciated cause of air pollution — on the San Jacinto River. Companies have announced dozens more projects, including seven near Channelview, but haven’t begun the process of obtaining permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ, which will allow them to construct facilities that release pollutants into the air. The odds are in their favor: In the past quarter-century, the TCEQ has denied less than 0.5 percent of new air permits and amendments, often required for plant expansions. For six months, Public Health Watch has been reviewing TCEQ permits, analyzing air quality and census data and talking to scientific experts, advocates, elected officials, industry representatives, and residents of Harris and Jefferson counties to try to capture the scope and potential health consequences of the petrochemical buildout. Here are 3 out of 13 scenes from that buildout. View the full interactive feature at publichealthwatch.org. Andy Morris-Ruiz Home of Spindletop booms again: Jefferson County Jefferson County has a quarter-million residents and stretches from Beaumont in the northeast to McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf of Mexico. Its Spindletop field birthed Texas’ first full-scale oil boom in 1901; today, it is once again an axis of industry zeal. Just off Twin City Highway, where Nederland meets Beaumont, cranes are assembling a plant that will produce anhydrous ammonia and other chemicals used to make fertilizer and alternative fuels. According to state permits issued to owner Woodside Energy, the facility is authorized to annually add almost 80,000 pounds of nitrogen oxides, which can cause acute and chronic respiratory distress, to Nederland’s air. Nitrogen oxides also contribute to ground-level ozone pollution, the primary component in smog. Uncontained, ammonia can sear the lungs and kill in sufficient concentrations. Four people formally objected to the facility’s expansion last summer but were unable to stop it. Officials in Jefferson County embraced the plant, granting Woodside a 10-year property-tax exemption and a $209 million tax abatement from the Beaumont Independent School District. About 2 miles to the southeast of Woodside, Energy Transfer wants to erect a large ethane cracker on the Neches River. The hulking plant will heat ethane, a component of natural gas, to extremely high temperatures, “cracking” the molecules to make ethylene, a building block for plastics. According to Energy Transfer’s permit application, the cracker would be allowed to release nearly 10 million of pounds of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which contribute to ozone and can cause effects ranging from throat and eye irritation to cancer, along with nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, another smog-forming chemical that interferes with the body’s oxygen supply. The TCEQ told Public Health Watch in an email that the project “is protective of human health and the environment and no adverse effects are expected to occur.” There were seven formal objectors to the ethane cracker, among them Reanna Panelo, a lifelong Nederland resident who was 23 when she wrote to the TCEQ two years ago. “It is not fair nor is it morally right to build such a monstrous and horrendous plant designed to kill the surrounding area, residents, and environment, for company gain,” wrote Panelo, who said generations of her family had been tormented by cancer. The TCEQ executive director is processing Energy Transfer’s permit application, despite comments submitted in October by the Environmental Integrity Project alleging the project could violate ambient air quality standards for particulate matter — fine particles that can exacerbate asthma, cause heart disease, and contribute to cognitive decline. The Nederland Independent School District authorized a $121 million tax break for Energy Transfer. Nine miles south of Nederland, in Port Arthur, two ethane crackers are poised for expansion and three new petrochemical facilities are planned, according to Oil & Gas Watch. Read Next How a Koch-owned chemical plant in Texas gamed the Clean Air Act Naveena Sadasivam & Clayton Aldern “It’s the worst possible situation you can imagine,” said John Beard, a Port Arthur native and founder of Port Arthur Community Action Network, an environmental advocacy group. “You’re living in a toxic atmosphere that with every breath is potentially killing you.” Air quality in Jefferson County has improved over the years — mostly a product of stricter regulation — but is still far from pristine. The American Lung Association gave the county an “F” for ozone pollution in its 2025 State of the Air Report Card. A pungent haze occasionally envelops the county, portions of which have some of the highest cancer risks from air toxics in the nation, according to the Environmental Defense Fund’s Petrochemical Air Pollution Map. Indorama Ventures in Port Neches is one of the main drivers of risk — it makes the potent carcinogen ethylene oxide and releases more of the gas into the air than any other facility in the U.S., federal data show. Peter DeCarlo, an atmospheric chemist and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, and a team of fellow scientists recently drove an air monitoring van through neighborhoods bordering Indorama. They measured levels of ethylene oxide “greatly exceeding what is acceptable for long-term exposure,” DeCarlo told Public Health Watch. The county’s level of particulate matter already exceeds national air quality standards. Jefferson County spent 18 years in violation of the standard for ground-level ozone, but improved after 2009. Now, the county’s ozone levels are creeping upward again. DeCarlo said that the new sources of pollution slated for the region could push the county over the limit again — subjecting it to tougher oversight — and worsen its fine-particle problem. In a statement to Public Health Watch, Woodside said its ammonia plant is 97 percent complete and represents “a $2.35 billion investment in American energy, supporting approximately 2,000 construction jobs and hundreds of permanent ongoing jobs. … Once operational [it] is expected to increase U.S. ammonia production by more than 7 percent, strengthening domestic agriculture, food production, and manufacturing, while potentially doubling U.S. ammonia exports.” The company said it met with four residents who filed comments with the TCEQ and appreciated “the strong community support for the project.” Energy Transfer and Indorama Ventures did not respond to requests for comment. Andy Morris-Ruiz Historic Black neighborhood threatened with extinction: Beaumont, Jefferson County The Charlton-Pollard neighborhood, on Beaumont’s south side, was established in 1869 by freed slave and school founder Charles Pole Charlton. In the mid-20th century it was a cultural hub — home to Beaumont’s “Black Main Street” and some of the oldest Black churches and schools in the city. It was part of the Chitlin’ Circuit, a group of performance venues during the Jim Crow era that hosted James Brown, Ray Charles, and other luminaries. Segregation, disinvestment, and expanding industrial operations — railways, an international seaport, and a petrochemical complex — gradually eroded Charlton-Pollard’s rich culture and institutions. Stores, schools, and a hospital have closed, and now the buffer between the north end of the neighborhood and advancing industrial development is thinning. The Port of Beaumont has acquired 78 parcels in Charlton-Pollard’s sparsely populated northeastern corner since 2016, property records show. This year it paved a lot the size of 18 football fields in their place, where it plans to store cargo, including building materials for new and expanding petrochemical plants. The lot lies across the street from the 97-year-old Starlight Missionary Baptist Church and two blocks from Charlton-Pollard Elementary School. “The port recognizes the deep history of Charlton-Pollard and remains committed to operating responsibly and respectfully within that framework,” said Chris Fisher, the port’s director and CEO. He said he and his team have been transparent with the Charlton-Pollard Neighborhood Association, only developing in a specially zoned “transitional area” in the northeastern corner. In the 1990s and early 2000s, some residents asked the port to buy their properties, Fisher said. Later, after plans for the paved lot were solidified, the port began offering property owners 50 percent to 100 percent above appraised value and, in some cases, $15,000 relocation allowances, he said. “We kind of made sure that everybody that we dealt with was better off than before we did anything,” Fisher said. The port condemned properties when owners couldn’t be located or had unpaid taxes, he said. The neighborhood association’s president, Chris Jones, a 45-year-old former Beaumont mayoral candidate, said the port’s acquisitions are “the continuation of a long pattern: One where Black neighborhoods were first under-documented, then underinvested, and ultimately treated as expendable in the path of industry.” When residents sold their properties, they “were navigating declining property values, loss of services, and the clear signal that the area was being prioritized for industrial use,” Jones said. “In that context, selling is often less about choice and more about survival.” He worries that the removal of trees and the addition of pavement will intensify heat and worsen noise pollution for those left in the neighborhood. Rail traffic supporting local industry has already increased, he said, and his status as an Army veteran makes him “vexed at the sound of a horn.” Jones and some allies hope to win historical designations for several churches in Charlton-Pollard to stave off further industrial encroachment. Environmental hazards are not new to Charlton-Pollard. A refinery now owned by Exxon Mobil was built less than a mile away in 1903. Almost a century later, residents filed a complaint with the EPA’s Office of Civil Rights, accusing the TCEQ of allowing the company to pollute above safe levels, increase emissions without public input, and exceed permitted limits without penalty. The case was settled in 2017 after the TCEQ agreed to install an air monitor near the site and hold two public meetings. Charlton-Pollard still lies within the 99th percentile nationwide for cancer risk from air pollution, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. In addition to the refinery, Exxon Mobil now operates a chemical plant, a polyethylene plant, and a lubricant plant within the complex; last year the company said it plans to build a chemical-recycling facility there as well. Six more petrochemical projects are planned by other companies within 5 miles of Charlton-Pollard. In short, anyone who hasn’t been bought out by the port may breathe increasingly dirty air. Jefferson County is already violating the EPA’s standard for particulate matter, and diesel-burning trains and maritime vessels accommodating the industry expansion are large emitters of fine particles, as well as smog-forming nitrogen oxides. Most infuriating, Jones said, is the idea that industrial development in Jefferson County is being underwritten in part by tax breaks even as Beaumont’s basic infrastructure — roads, sewage treatment — crumbles. Not long ago, he said, he saw “fecal waste” collecting in the Irving Avenue underpass. “The shit just rolled onto the street.” (Voters approved a $264 million bond package in November to improve streets and drainage.) Andy Morris-Ruiz Fine particles, ozone, and the body In addition to spewing carcinogens like benzene and 1,3-butadiene, petrochemical plants release large amounts of “criteria pollutants” — the six common airborne substances the EPA regulates most closely. Regions across the country struggle to meet federal air quality standards for two of these in particular: ground-level ozone and particulate matter. Dr. John Balmes, a professor emeritus at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, is a physician advisor to both the EPA and the California Air Resources Board, which regulates air quality in a state that’s had serious ozone and particulate-matter problems for years. He’s researched the effects of both pollutants on the body and helped craft EPA standards for them. Balmes said plant emissions will represent only a portion of particulate and ozone pollution from the petrochemical expansion in Texas. Transportation — diesel trucks, trains, and ships — will add to the burden, he said. (Rail yards and ports are often located in low-income and minority neighborhoods, like Charlton-Pollard.) Particulate matter and ozone can wreak havoc on the body, Balmes said. Fine particles, known as PM2.5, are about 20 times smaller than a human hair. When they’re inhaled, they don’t break down, and the body’s immune cells remain in a heightened state of response. Their ability to fight off infection is weakened. Fine particles often make their way into the bloodstream and trigger cardiovascular problems, such as heart attacks and congestive heart failure. They can also accumulate in the brain, contributing to cognitive decline and strokes. A 2023 analysis conducted for Public Health Watch by two researchers estimated that 8,405 Texans died from fine-particle pollution in 2016. Exposure to the particles also led to thousands of new cases of Alzheimer’s, asthma, and strokes, the researchers found. In 2024, an EPA advisory board, on which Balmes served, recommended tightening the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM2.5. The EPA said the new standard would prevent 4,500 premature deaths and yield $46 billion in net health benefits over more than a decade. According to federal data, 16 Texas counties, including Jefferson, violate the new standard, which the Trump administration has vowed to abandon**.** Environmental groups and regulators have been fighting ozone pollution for more than 70 years. Ozone gas is formed when two pollutants — VOCs and nitrogen oxides — are released from stacks and tailpipes and react in the presence of sunlight. When ozone enters the body, it chemically burns the respiratory system, leading to inflammation. It’s so caustic that it can break down synthetic rubber. Acute exposure can worsen asthma; chronic, high-level exposure can cause permanent lung damage. The eight-county Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area, with roughly 7.2 million people, has been under continual threat from ozone for two decades. It spent over half of that time classified as being in “serious” or “severe” violation of the EPA’s eight-hour standards. Still, 35 petrochemical projects in the region have been announced or permitted by the TCEQ. “Adding 35 petrochemical plants to a region that is already in serious ozone [violation] is the wrong way to go in terms of public health,” Balmes said. Explore all 13 scenes from Texas’ petrochemical expansion at publichealthwatch.org. This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Texas clears the way for petrochemical expansion as experts warn of health risks on Jan 7, 2026. From Grist via This RSS Feed.
Komunitas
jlai.lu
C’est au programme. Bon je ne suis pas forcément fan des blagues à répétition mais je dois dire qu’en comédie française ce sont ses films que j’apprécie le plus, peut être pour le côté groupe / bande qui rappelle les années 80/90, ou peut être parce que ça fait très comédie sans prétentions, loin de beaucoup d’autres comédies françaises récentes.
Komunitas
lemm.ee
I’ve used JavaScript since its creation. I would describe typescript as JavaScript as it should have been. I’ve always actually liked JavaScript’s simplicity, but I’ve never liked its lack of type safety. At its core, JavaScript has a tiny conceptual footprint, and that’s actually pretty refreshing compared to other very complicated languages. But it was plagued with terrible implementations and the inherent messiness of dynamic typing. I’ve watched it evolve over the years and it’s improved beyond my greatest hopes. Between the advent of transpilation, tooling, and typescript, I’m very proud of where the language has gotten to. Having made websites in the 90s and 00s, I feel like people don’t realize how much work has gone into getting the ecosystem in a much better place.