Rob Cain @cain_rob@qoto.org

Good.

QT Democracy Docket @democracydocket.com‬
2026 June 25

In a huge win, a federal court blocked parts of Trump's executive order targeting mail voting.

The judge halted:

A mandate to create lists of verified U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state.

USPS' decision to only mail absentee ballots from certain individuals.

The ruling marks a major win for voters before the midterms.

...

https://bsky.app/profile/democracydocket.com/post/3mp4lurgjuu23

Ugh. Apple is about to make Hide My Email useless. Now both Sign in with Apple and Hide My Email aliases are going to be issued on the "@private.icloud.com" subdomain. This makes it much easier to ban all aliases without affecting non-relay mailboxes on iCloud mail

https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=sus6t6ab

#privacy #apple

Trump appears ready to wave the white flag in showdown with niece after major discovery loss https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/donald-trump-appears-ready-to-wave-the-white-flag-in-showdown-with-niece-mary-trump-after-discovery-reversal-completely-changed-the-game/

A Chinese rocket breaks apart dangerously close to the Starlink constellation

The rocket's breakup likely generated 100 to 150 new pieces of space junk.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/06/a-chinese-rocket-breaks-apart-dangerously-close-to-the-starlink-constellation/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

JWST Finds Exoplanets Choked by Diesel Smog
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/jwst-finds-exoplanets-choked-by-diesel-smog?utm_source=DamnInteresting

This Strange Crystal Bends Light Like Nothing Else in Nature
https://scitechdaily.com/this-strange-crystal-bends-light-like-nothing-else-in-nature/?utm_source=DamnInteresting

A single dose of psilocybin provides months of relief from chronic suicidal thoughts in new study https://www.psypost.org/a-single-dose-of-psilocybin-provides-months-of-relief-from-chronic-suicidal-thoughts-in-new-study/

from my link log —

Brute-force SSH attacks in the wild and how to stop them.

https://www.flux.utah.edu/paper/singh-nsdi24

saved 2026-06-12 https://dotat.at/:/H4QJP.html

Ukraine's one-time test used fully autonomous drones to kill Russian soldiers

Full autonomy is rare, but Ukraine is installing AI modules on drones and robots.
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/06/ukraines-one-time-test-used-fully-autonomous-drones-to-kill-russian-soldiers/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Attack wave hits Arch Linux AUR: attackers hijacked hundreds of orphaned PKGBUILDs to add an npm dependency that pulled in "atomic-lockfile"—which delivered a credential‑stealing payload. Arch maintainers are deleting malicious updates and blocking accounts. Read: https://www.heise.de/en/news/Attack-wave-on-Arch-Linux-hundreds-of-package-descriptions-with-malware-in-AUR-11330290.html ⚠️🔒 #ArchLinux #AUR #infosec #ArchBtw

Four Palestine Action activists have been sentenced not on the basis of the convictions for criminal damage (through a jury trial) but on the basis their crime *really* was terrorism (a subsequent decision by the presiding judge).

This not only violates the sanctity of jury trials (the jury was not informed of this possibility), it also is a retrospective legal decision, essentially violating the Rule of Law.

Its a direct attack on civil liberties!

#politics #protest
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce950111xk7o

"Typing a few letters and numbers into my web browser, I find myself gaping at the identity documents of complete strangers. The passport of a young woman from Germany. The passport of a man from Spain with glasses resting on his head. The front and back of another man’s driver’s license, a stereotypically goofy expression on his face.

They were all sitting unprotected at public URLs, with no password or access control of any sort. If I sent you a link, you could have looked at someone’s passport.

“We have to do something about it as fast as possible, because people will find this and resell it. It will do damage,” Sammy Azdoufal told me in May.

Azdoufal is the security researcher who used Claude Code to help discover that every DJI Romo robot vacuum cleaner and a million baby monitors and security cameras were embarrassingly easy to hack. This time, he says he discovered over 985,000 photo IDs sitting on the public internet for any half-decent hacker to steal.

If you’ve visited a cannabis club in Spain, Azdoufal says, chances are your photo ID was among them — and possibly your phone number, address, your favorite strains of cannabis, and how much you consumed each month while there. Azdoufal says celebrities are in the database, too, and visitors from all over the world, including 30,000 from the United States. “They have famous people,” says Azdoufal. “People who don’t want everyone to know they smoke weed.”"

https://www.theverge.com/tech/947157/passports-data-breach-cannabis-club-systems-nefos-puffpal

#Privacy #DataBreach #DataProtection #Passports

RT by @CarolineLucas: An event is planned to be hosted in London proudly promoting the sale of land on illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

This is obscene. I've called on @MayorofLondon and @YvetteCooperMP to stop the event and for this govt to take real action on illegal settlements.
---
https://nitter.net/ZackPolanski/status/2064739616238788779#m

RT by @CarolineLucas: Our report has made quite a splash in the media today, hopefully reaching people far and wide helping more people understand the silent crisis beneath the waves.

If you haven't already, give the report a read to find out the true extent of bycatch and what Government needs to do to take action 👇

Our report has made quite a splash in the media today, hopefully reaching people far and wide helping more people understand the silent crisis beneath the waves.

If you haven't already, give the report a read to find out the true extent of bycatch and what Government needs to do to take action 👇

Wildlife and Countryside Link (@WCL_News)

The consequences of bycatch are devastating.

Seabirds, porpoises, seals, sharks and other wildlife are accidentally caught in fishing gear intended to catch other species, often suffering injury, drowning or slow deaths.

The shocking reality? Bycatch is avoidable. Solutions exist, but progress by Government has been far too slow.

Our new report, Hidden in the Haul: The true scale of bycatch, reveals the impact this hidden issue is having on marine wildlife and why urgent action is needed.

📖 Find the full report here: wcl.org.uk/docs/hidden_in_th…

#Bycatch #OceanWildlife #ProtectOurSeas

— https://nitter.net/WCL_News/status/2064635970624893319#m
---
https://nitter.net/WCL_News/status/2064732626674385078#m

Sometimes you can really tell a Wikipedia article is gonna be good from the table of contents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Peacock

NASA Webb Finds Strongest Evidence Yet for ‘Black Hole Stars’
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-finds-strongest-evidence-yet-for-black-hole-stars/?utm_source=DamnInteresting

"No Kings" organizers are planning events across the U.S. on June 14, the day of Trump’s 80th birthday

A national concert-style event, "Rise Up, Sing Out," will anchor activities with watch parties

Several high-profile public figures and entertainers are listed as participants, including:
Rufus Wainwright
Bette Midler
Patti Smith
Sasha Allen
Joy Reid
Jane Fonda

The event will focus on nonviolent participation

The plans come amid wider attention on competing America 250 celebrations

https://www.newsweek.com/no-kings-donald-trump-80th-birthday-list-celebrities-12008859

RT by @CarolineLucas: Politicians who fanned these flames should hang their heads in shame.

Time and again we've seen this story play out. Single incidents used to fuel a far right narrative - and communities across the nation paying the price.

Politicians who fanned these flames should hang their heads in shame.

Time and again we've seen this story play out. Single incidents used to fuel a far right narrative - and communities across the nation paying the price.

Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar)

The rioters have set a house on fire in Belfast.

Video

— https://nitter.net/I_amMukhtar/status/2064457211942715712#m
---
https://nitter.net/ZackPolanski/status/2064608837470921019#m

An unhealthy outlier...
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/life-expectancy-vs-health-expenditure?time=earliest..latest