tobychev @tobychev@qoto.org

American officials assess that, without replenishment, Ukraine has enough air defenses to last until only next month. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/09/world/europe/ukraine-oleksandr-syrsky-war-russia.html

looks like a transit of Phobos across the Sun as seen from Perseverance has just occured

Images acquired on Feb. 8, 2024 (Sol 1056)
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/ZL7_1056_0760664095_632EBY_N0501254ZCAM01538_1100LMJ

More insights on the transit of Phobos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Phobos_from_Mars

#mars #phobos #sun #transit #perseverance #rover #nasa #planet #planets #moon #moons #astonomy #astrodon #space #science #research #photography

Earth has more livestock than humans, wild mammals & birds combined.

Visualizing the Biomass of Life by scientific illustrator Mark Belan ⬇️ #science #art

Like, yes, more racists will hear a Chapman song now. But isn't enjoying her music without having to confront black excellence kind of the whole white supremacy aesthetic in miniature? For the ones who go on to find her work and engage with it--wonderful! But when white artists make it possible for racists to take pleasure in black artists without any immediate acknowledgment of black genius, that isn't something Chapman has to perform gratitude for.

Kudos to @BleepingComputer for doing actual journalism.

Fortinet also declined to comment to me.

It's a completely made up story, which is now being circulated as Russian propaganda.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/the-unlikely-3-million-electric-toothbrush-ddos-attack/

I learned from a beekeeper friend last night that they didn't get a honey harvest last fall because of the unusually high humidity all summer. The bees fanned & fanned & fanned, trying to evaporate the nectar to concentrate it into honey & they couldn't do it against all that moisture in the air.

Immediate thought when reading this passage of Slaughterhouse 5 now: Yeah, ending war seems further away than ever in my lifetime to me, but ending glaciers, not so much.

Today marks the 125th anniversary of the start of the Philippine–American War, which is the United States‘ biggest conflict in the period between the Spanish–American War and World War I. The Americans‘ victory over the Filipinos cemented the United States‘ reputation as an imperial power with colonies across the Pacific from Manila to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

What I find really sad is that most Americans don’t even know about this war, which is glossed over in American history school books.

First reactions to the Senate bill text, released this evening, with historic restrictions on the right to seek asylum:

- People will be harmed.
- Except for initial months, migration won't drop.
- Dems' efforts to soften it are worthy—yet GOP hardliners will demand more red meat and could still kill it.

https://adamisacson.com/first-look-at-the-senate-negotiators-asylum-limits-for-ukraine-aid-bill-language/

Democrats tried to soften the awful blow to asylum seekers, so that maybe they might sleep at night—and MAGA is seizing on that to kill the bill.

Re: the 5,000 in this twt: all 5,000 could be deported or detained—not "accepted"—and they'd still trigger expulsions. He doesn't know what he's talking about.

Around median age 41 you get more people over age 65 than under 15. There are 10 large (20mil) countries past that point: Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain, Ukraine, Korea, France, Canada, Poland, UK. #demography #aging

U.S. admits it hasn’t verified Israel’s UNRWA claims, media ignores it

Secretary Blinken admits that the U.S. has been unable to investigate the “evidence” presented by Israel claiming 13 of UNRWA’s 13,000 Gaza employees participated in October 7. Biden took Israel’s word for it anyway.

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/02/u-s-admits-it-hasnt-verified-israels-unrwa-claims-media-ignores-it/?utm_content=bufferac018&utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=buffer

#Palestine #Israel #Gaza
@palestine @israel

The rise of Donald Trump as a politician has made many argue that there are two justice systems in America, one for the rich and one for the poor.

In business, it’s also now clear that there are also two systems of accountability. One for the billionaire CEOs and the other for everyone else.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/elon-musk-tesla-money-drugs-board-61af9ac4?st=ung9dncdjnt3bfr&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Interesting announcement at #FOSDEM. The folks working on matrix (open source multiple messaging app) just announced that they’ve been working with WhatsApp to implement cross platform messaging.

This is because it’s mandated by the European Digital Markets Act.

Deadline for this to happen is March 7th (i think), when we see what is actually possible. Can a kind soul share a link to a helpful summary where I can learn more?

The level of destruction in Viña del Mar is just unfathomable, in how the city went from recovering seaside resort and logistics town to charred heap in just a day. 51 confirmed dead. Much of my family there has evacuated; one friend's mom has already lost her home. And things are still out of control. No water bombers, an all volunteer fire corps, and entire factories and mountainsides burning. Approaching 10,000 hectares in just a couple days.

https://www.youtube.com/live/tcYmfiyuC-4?feature=shared

Really great (absolutely terrifying) research by plasma physicist @carlysagan is being highlighted today on https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=02&month=02&year=2024

Is there *anything* that tens of thousands of disposable satellites won't completely fuck up?

Satellite companies need to stop launching until they fund research on the upper atmosphere and magnetosphere(!) and show their plans are safe (which...is probably impossible since they aren't safe).

Really lovely how #censorship has been thriving in German institutions these last few months. Countless academics, writers and artists who have expressed solidarity with Palestine or dared to criticise Israel have had their contracts and engagements cancelled.

I hope one day there will be some realisation that this was deeply, deeply the wrong moral high horse to sit on.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/01/laurie-anderson-ends-german-professorship-pro-palestine-letter