Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

Oklahoma State University's partnership with the right-wing propaganda outfit Prager"U" is disgraceful for the (real) university, and it tarnishes every new graduate. If I was hiring people, I'd regard an OSU degree as a red flag after this. https://kfor.com/news/local/osde-announces-partnership-with-prageru/

Small scoop here: In November 2022, the password manager service LastPass disclosed a breach in which hackers stole password vaults containing both encrypted and plaintext data for more than 25 million users. Since then, a steady trickle of six-figure cryptocurrency heists targeting security-conscious people throughout the tech industry has led some security experts to conclude that crooks likely have succeeded at cracking open some of the stolen LastPass vaults.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2023/09/experts-fear-crooks-are-cracking-keys-stolen-in-lastpass-breach/

From the story:

"...the researchers learned the attackers frequently grouped together victims by sending their cryptocurrencies to the same destination crypto wallet.

By identifying points of overlap in these destination addresses, the researchers were then able to track down and interview new victims. For example, the researchers said their methodology identified a recent multi-million dollar crypto heist victim as an employee at Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis firm that works closely with law enforcement agencies to help track down cybercriminals and money launderers.

Chainalysis confirmed that the employee had suffered a high-dollar cryptocurrency heist late last month, but otherwise declined to comment for this story."

And there it is, the lead sponsor of the Kids Online Safety Act saying the quiet part out loud: she wants to use #KOSA to "protect minor children from the #transgender in this culture" https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/senator-appears-suggest-bipartisan-bill-will-censor-transgender-conten-rcna103479

The best way to disable this is to use a different browser…
https://www.theverge.com/23860050/chrome-ads-topics-sandbox

Apropos of 60 RICO charges…

I recently published a piece on PragerU, an unaccredited school registered as a nonprofit, which is behind controversial right-wing propaganda videos recently approved for Florida schools.

I looked at hundreds of 990s to identify the largest recent funders of PragerU and how they are spending their money (Facebook, Google)

The Oklahoma Dept of Education just announced a partnership with PragerU - they are spreading.

https://kfor.com/news/local/osde-announces-partnership-with-prageru/

#PragerU #PragerUniversity

https://newstracs.com/financial-highlights-of-prageru-the-nonprofit-behind-controversial-right-wing-propaganda-videos-recently-approved-for-florida-schools/2023/08/21/

In the absence of strong political leadership there is growing public momentum to address the elephant in the room of continual growth and profit on a planet with biological limits. Degrowth Aotearoa NZ are holding a conference later this month to bring a diverse range of people into the room. We are stronger together. Come join the conversation! https://www.degrowth.nz

Court (thankfully) rules that anti-vaxxer has no innate right to push his lies on YouTube if Google doesn't want them there. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/09/anti-vaccine-advocate-mercola-loses-lawsuit-over-youtube-channel-removal/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

https://blog.erlend.sh/group-convergence

Stubborn holdouts of the increasingly off-putting Twitter/X and Reddit commonly point out how their open source alternatives don't really offer any cool new features.

You know what will never happen? Twitter and Reddit being in direct, seamless interaction with one another. With groups FEP-1b12, #mastodon #Lemmy & friends are at the precipice of a brand new social networking experience defined by app symbiosis.

Friendship is the “killer feature” of the #fediverse! 👯

Montana has passed one of the nation’s most protective consumer genetic privacy laws—the Genetic Information Privacy Act. Could this law and the state’s bipartisan approach become a model for the rest of the country? https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/08/montanas-new-genetic-privacy-law-caps-ten-years-innovative-state-privacy

Although the two RICO cases represent rival factions of the political class, the same grand jury that indicted Donald Trump is responsible for indicting those accused of "racketeering" for protesting Cop City. The court system is the central infrastructure of state violence; however Democrats may endeavor to represent it as a check on the aspirations of autocrats, it naturally lends itself to all forms of repression targeting the oppressed, and that is the chief role that it will always play.

This is not the first time that corporations and police have frivolously used RICO charges to intimidate those who oppose their power grabs. For example, from 2016 to 2019, the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline brought RICO charges against the nonprofit organization Greenpeace. All of those charges were eventually thrown out.

For more background on how the authorities are using the legal system to try to crush environmental protest:

https://crimethinc.com/AtlantaSolidarity2023

https://labornotes.org/techcon2023

But whenever real leftist transformation was possible, liberals threw in with conservatives: think of the smearing and defenestration of #Corbyn by #Labour's right, or of the #LibDems coalition with #DavidCameron's #Tories, or of the #Democrats' dirty tricks to keep #Bernie from appearing on the national ballot.

7/

We found that Neolithic economies were much more diverse than previously thought, incorporating dozens of species of cereals, legumes, small-seeded grasses, brassicas, pseudocereals, sedges, flowering plants, trees, and shrubs. Free-threshing wheat, grass pea, faba bean, and ‘new’ glume wheat were especially widely cultivated.

Videos and slides from the IHP workshop entitled "OpenPDK, OpenTooling and Open Source Design – An Initiative to Push Development" are online:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiwFNOhPOqMPCU0zZ2GTxuaEeH-G8kJYH (video playlist)
https://github.com/IHP-GmbH/IHP-Open-PDK/wiki/Networking-Workshop-FMD-QNC (slides)

#openHardware #Chips #IntegratedCircuits #semiconductor #silicon #GoIT #PDK

This Las Vegas OpEd is heartbreaking, but also a “canary in the coal mine” for the relentless attacks we have continued to see against public schools and public school teachers for years. This breaks my heart for students, for families, for teachers, for communities, and for our nation.

I recommend you read it in full.

“Pay teachers whatever it takes” by Eric D. McCammond (Las Vegas Review Journal, 2 Sept 2023)

https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/nevada-views-pay-teachers-whatever-it-takes-2898605/

A climate activist group known as Tyre Extinguishers has targeted SUVs in one of Melbourne’s wealthiest suburbs, deflating the tires of up to 20 vehicles. The group, which originated in the US and has affiliates in over 20 countries, aims to make it impossible to own large polluting SUVs in urban areas

https://www.motormoutharabia.com/uncategorized/who-are-the-tyre-extinguishers-and-what-do-they-want/26142/

#MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate #ClimateStrike #Melbourne #Victoria #Australia

On Labor Day, it's time to strike while it's hot!

Explore the Starting Fires Reading List and get 40% off these books with coupon code LIST until 10/1.

See them all at https://blog.pmpress.org/2023/09/04/starting-fires-reading-list-titles-for-troublemakers-40-off/

This seems like an appropriate time and place to share this:

A Technology Freelancer's Guide to Starting a Worker Co-op
#WorkerCoops #tech

https://institute.coop/sites/default/files/resources/356%202009_Johnson%20etal_Tech%20Freelancers%20Guide%20to%20Worker%20Co-ops.pdf

Today is Labor Day for our American colleagues, and it's a perfect occasion to discuss reasons for unionization.

Some facts:
Workers' productivity has steadily grown in the past 45 years, yet their pay hasn't kept up with this increase. The workers generate more profits each year, but these profits do not return to workers proportionally to their productivity levels.

Relevant read: https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/

#Unions #Unionize #UnionizeTech #LaborDay #WorkersRights