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the Guardian
Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians
Exclusive: Tech firm ends military unit’s access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project
How Much Surveillance Can Democracy Withstand? - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation
 Microsoft says it has somehow limited Israel's ability to do mass surveillance storing the data in Microsoft's servers. If this actually limits Israel's massive surveillance of all Palestinians, that would be a good thing, but I am skeptical that it could really achieves that result. (Can't Israel
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The Intercept
What Liberals Get Wrong About Trump’s Executive Order on Antifa
Liberals dismiss antifa as just an idea. That opens up the activists, researchers, and organizers to a real risk of persecution.
2017: September - December Political Notes - Richard Stallman
 There is no organization in the US that calls itself "Antifa", so the bully's designation of the supposed organization as "terrorist" is an absurd lie. But there is an informal movement that opposes fascism, and this lie may help the fascist leader use those willing to adopt his lies to put those anti-fascist activists
the Guardian
Israel’s ecocide in Gaza sends this message: even if we stopped dropping bombs, you couldn’t live here | George Monbiot
Consider the annihilation of agricultural land alongside the genocide – and grasp the chilling totality of this attempt to eliminate all life, sa...
 *Israel's ecocide in Gaza sends this message: even if we stopped dropping bombs, you couldn't live here.*
the Guardian
Safety fears as external power to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant still out after three days
Ukrainian officials among those concerned Russia is manufacturing crisis to keep hold of frontline plant
 Putin has cut the external power supply to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The reactors need electric power to remain safe. If the on-site emergency generators break down, that could cause a nuclear disaster. This seems to be an instance of Putin's insane escalation.
Glossary
the Guardian
More than a narcissist’s rant, Trump’s UN address marked a disturbing turn towards a new world order | Julianne Schultz
Behind the US president’s speech lay the long-term logic of neoliberalism: winners and losers, racialism and a crude, exclusionary nationalism
 The bully, speaking to the UN, rejected all its positive goals to support rule of the world by raw power, especially that of the rich.
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the Guardian
More than 1.6m sign petition opposing Starmer’s plan for digital ID cards
Opponents of scheme for people working in UK describe it as a ‘step towards mass surveillance and digital control’
 *More than 1.6m sign petition opposing Starmer’s plan for digital ID cards.* Bravo for Britons, resisting government ID cards. But the petition won't change the plan by itself. They need to organize to pressure MPs to vote it down. People are supposed to use snoop phones to prove they have ID. What happens to people who don't have one? Aside from people like me who reject them on
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Glossary
the Guardian
George Soros foundation hits back at Trump after report that DoJ plans to target group
New York Times reports justice department is pushing attorneys to investigate as Trump ramps up attack on rivals
 Following the example of Orbán in Hungary, the persecutor has ordered systematic efforts to persecute Soros's Open Society Foundation. There is no reason to suppose the accusations vaguely stated here have any truth to them, but with so many investigators they will surely find something they can stretch into an excuse to prosecute someone. (It has
Glossary
the Guardian
Trump is flaunting his corruption. Is it changing what the US thinks of scandal?
President has shouted from rooftops what his predecessors would have tried to cover up for fear of ending their careers
 *The corrupter is brazenly flaunting his corruption – and getting away with it.* Part of why he gets away with it is that he is doing other things that damage democracy even more, so we have to give priority to fighting them.
the Guardian
Sarkozy’s spectacular downfall marks turning point in France’s struggle against graft
Experts say political legacy of former president convicted of criminal conspiracy now appears impossible to rebuild
2012: March - June Political Notes - Richard Stallman
 Former French president Sarkozi has been convicted for a corrupt scheme to get campaign funds from then-dictator Ghaddafi of Libya. How delightfully appropriate. However, the worst thing about Sarkozi, in my view, is not his corruption but his repression of criticism.