Paul Sutton @zleap@qoto.org

@DaveWhittle

That will be Milky Way & Andromeda in 5 billion years.

#galaxies
#Andromeda
#MilkyWay

We’re launching this new apparel item as a symbol of resistance. Every shirt worn is a reminder that these lands are our lands, not a profit center for private interests. All proceeds support our work to safeguard public lands, watersheds, and wildlife from the grip of extractive industries and bad policies.

https://www.bonfire.com/store/wwp/

UK must keep trade open and EU close, Bank of England says

Britain should stand up for free trade and rebuild ties with the European Union as the global economy fragments, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said in a speech on Thursday (14 November) that cast an eye towards Donald Trump's White House return.

https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/uk-must-keep-trade-open-and-eu-close-bank-of-england-says/

Historically, presidential cabinet picks are background checked by the FBI
—but Donald Trump’s administration has instead opted to rely on private companies to examine his appointments,
a decision that could allow him to practically shoe-in some of his most controversial candidates.

Trump and his team are attempting to avoid a process that they believe is both excessively slow and intrusive, and which turns up dirt that could later be turned into political leverage by their opponents, according to sources that spoke with CNN.

The FBI has conducted the president’s background checks since the President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration,
providing critical security clearance to confirm that malicious foreign agents aren’t infiltrating the highest rungs of government.

But the decision to move away from traditional security expectations has the dual effect of helping the incoming administration circumvent a particularly grueling process
-- for a pool of candidates that are, by all means, dangerously bizarre and inexperienced.

His choice for director of national intelligence, former Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, regularly amplifies Russian propaganda and conspiracy theories.
Her role would have her oversee 18 intelligence agencies, but critics
—even in the House Intelligence Committee
—have drawn attention to the danger of her nomination considering her particular affinity for foreign dictators like Syrian President Bashar-al Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump’s pick for attorney general, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, has been the subject of several major controversies.
Perhaps most notably, he was the subject of a House ethics investigation that accused him of sex trafficking a minor,
and was also faced with a related investigation by the Justice Department.
(The conveniently timed appointment—and Gaetz’s subsequent resignation—had the added benefit of killing the House investigation into Gaetz’s alleged misconduct with women and minors.)

And Trump tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr
—a virulent vaccine conspiracy theorist with a wild history that included propping up dead bear cubs in New York City’s Central Park for fun
—to run the Department of Health and Human Services.
Last week, it was leaked that the administration did not believe Kennedy would pass the bar for a security clearance
—but that could all change with Trump’s decision to veer away from the federal standard.

National security experts in Washington believe that the decision to outsource the clearances is further evidence that Trump
—who has a known history of benefitingfrom Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election
—“doesn’t want harmony.”
They “don’t want the FBI to coordinate a norm; they want to hammer the norm,” Dan Meyer, a national security attorney, told CNN.
https://newrepublic.com/post/188477/trump-skip-important-step-cabinet-vetting

The RNA technology that was used to develop most of the covid vaccines is driving an absolute revolution in medicine right now. A vaccine for malaria, the disease that has killed more people than anything else in history. Personalized vaccines for cancers — the list goes on and we're just getting started. Much of this development is locked up in commercial pharma companies — there are papers, of course but replicating them in practice, let alone continuing development, is very hard without active access to the team involved. It's also very expensive. A lot of that development money comes from the US government. Now, yes it's a problem that that funding is going to private companies that are ransoming patients for their life savings in exchange for life-saving medicine, but this is as much a regulatory problem as it is a structural one. As long as those teams exist, the possibilities of these tools exist also.

Having an American government that wants to actively dismantle vaccine-related research and eliminate its funding is an existential threat to humanity:

https://mas.to/@Fitnessfoundry/113484127007301813

"The museum has removed references to Martin Luther King Jr., Japanese internment, Native Americans, union organizers, and birth control, because presenting American history honestly would make Republicans upset. "

Do not yield in advance. This is a bow to the far-right as much as the block on the endorsement of Harris in the Washington Post.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/its-going-to-take-a-constant-fight-to-preserve-the-historical-record

#whitewashing #fascism #farright #history

@briankrebs I mostly agree (especially about the first and the last items) but not with everything.

1) Software liability - no, just no. Yes, buggy software sucks. But imposing liabilities will severely hamper software development and the progress in this area. Companies will be playing safe, avoid making changes as much as possible, and raise the prices for everyone, in order to cushion any future fines for flaws found in their software.

Big oil = Big tobacco.... both knew the danger heir products were doing & hid it while arguing the science was mistaken.

If you wanted a reason not to trust the corporate world (many Im sure are already well past this point), this would look like a good one.

#FossilFuels #Tobacco #climate #health

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/12/big-oil-fossil-fuel-warning

Matt Gaetz was accused of sexual misconduct, drug use, and improper interactions with lobbyists during his time in Congress.

The House investigated these allegations, but Trump’s pick for attorney general really doesn’t want you to see the bipartisan report.

That’s where we come in. Email your representative and demand the immediate release of the Gaetz report. https://act.indivisible.org/sign/ethics-committee-report-gaetz?source=mastodon&medium=directpost

Black Hole Tears Star to Shreds, Unleashing Cosmic Shockwaves https://scitechdaily.com/black-hole-tears-star-to-shreds-unleashing-cosmic-shockwaves/ #science

Just discovered this really great tool for PeerTube called Sepia Search. It’s a search engine that indexes PeerTube instances all in one place.

I tried it out and it immediately found my videos with logical key-phrases. And it’s super fast. It also enables filtering by video, channel, and playlist.

https://sepiasearch.org/

#PeerTube #SearchEngine #Fediverse #FOSS