The eight tech titans alone gained more than $600 billion this year, 43% of the $1.5 trillion increase among the 500 richest people tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Greenland’s natural resources are worth many trillions; future drillers and diggers won’t care that it’s cold and distant. As Alaska proves, where there’s value, there’ll be value-extractors
plus, perhaps, a casino or two. Yes, the right kind of development could MGGA—Make Greenland Great Again.
Finally a company showing how to stand up to the bigot racist and calling out the real reasons these groups are demanding these changes. I hope the shareholders stand firm on inclusion and diversity. Hugs
Newsweek reports:
The Costco Board pushed back against its anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) shareholders, who had suggested the wholesale corporation re-evaluate its “illegal discrimination” program.
The Costco board responded to a group of shareholders, unanimously recommending a vote against the proposal to “report on the risks of maintaining DEI efforts.”
The shareholders had suggested Costco employees would potentially become victim to “illegal discrimination because they are white, Asian, male or straight,” which could create “tens of billions of dollars” in legal costs to the company.
The Hill reports:
In its response to the proposal, Costco called out the group for “inflicting burdens” on companies through “policy bias” and said their proposal did not aim to address financial risks but to strike down DEI efforts.
“The proponent’s broader agenda is not reducing risk for the Company but abolition of diversity initiatives,” the board of directors added.
The annual meeting where shareholders will vote on the matter will take place in late January. Earlier this year, Lowe’s, Harley Davidson and Walmart announced the repeal of DEI practices after facing similar pushback from conservative groups.
Hit both links for much more.
Before I post the video, let me tell you all what is going on. My health first. I am very tired only wanting to lay in bed, sleeping or just laying there. At first I thought it was a depression thing, but when my blood work showed I was again anemic that may explain some. All I want to do when up is watch videos and I struggle to read news or do other tasks, feeling like every movement is too much and just wanting to sit here un moving. The second issue I have is I recently expanded the memory of my oldest computer, a built I like better because it is expandable. Pride go before the fall. I felt I understood the motherboard well enough and the system architecture to simple look for and buy the cheapest priced ram the system could handle.
I am humbled to admit I got my butt handed to me as after installing the cheapest four sticks equaling 64 GB of ram which is the max the system can handle I dumped and started the computer. Yes it seems all four sticks and ran at the higher speed. Grand. But then as I loaded Windows and other programs … problems happened. I got almost everything done and then had sudden BOD … the blue screen of death that I have not seen in my own systems ever. I diligently tracked every error, researched every error code and security event. What I got made me realize I had not done enough work understanding my system and the unbuffered ram.
I could make this a post on the system and what I learned. Going cheapest for me is going to cost me. I need to go back to a two stick mode with buffered memory. The reason is that the CPU can see the dual channel two stick configuration as one big stick. With four it has to run through the memory controller system to read each stick as a separate entity and compare try to manage the flow and errors of each. When the errors become too great or do an act that the system deems threatening, it shuts everything down. So I am going to spend more money on a new set of buffered 2 stick memory which should solve this issue and I can get back to being online with everyone and not spending weeks of every online time searching for and reading tech pages and specs reports. Now to the video. Love and hugs to all. Hugs
You know what to do to find out more.
Morning After The Election by Regie Cabico
I can’t control
the vanishing
of bees
but I can control
the honey I swallow
to soothe
the vocal cords
I can’t control boys
bully-tumbling
another boy
in the classroom
like they’re
in a mosh pit
but I can remember
rolling on hills
with boys being the bully
I can’t change my major
from drama to global peace
but I can write
similes of serenity
& poetic sermons
in temples
of matrimonial fanfare
I know the bombs, the explosives,
and Molotovs are overhead
and I can’t control
the lottery, the multiverses,
and tomorrow’s astrology
but whatever tarot card I pick
or whatever
gets thrown
at my face:
Hangman
or Fallen Towers
I can express
my weathering emotions
to sing while hoarse
to control air placement
to find the chakra
the right amount of air
to pass through my throat
oh sing with me
the octave between
blade & nectar
rubble & clouds
ash & mountain
Copyright © 2024 by Regie Cabico. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 30, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.
(Their email program seems to be off for the holidays! I keep a link; here is today’s.)
| December 30, 1901 The worst year in the 20th century for lynching in the U.S. ended with a total of 130 victims (105 blacks, 25 whites). Ida Wells-Barnett had been a teacher and newspaper editor in Memphis, Tennessee, where she wrote against the evils of lynching in her columns in The Free Speech and Headlight. Forced from the South by threat of violence, she continued her efforts in Chicago. From a letter to President William McKinley from Barnett, published in the Cleveland Gazette April 9, 1898: Mr. President, the colored citizens of this country in general, and Chicago in particular, desire to respectfully urge that some action be taken by you as chief magistrate of this great nation, first for the apprehension and punishment of the lynchers of Postmaster Baker, of Lake City, S.C.; second, we ask indemnity for the widow and children, both for the murder of the husband and father, and for injuries sustained by themselves; third, we most earnestly desire that national legislation be enacted for the suppression of the national crime of lynching. For nearly twenty years lynching crimes, which stand side by side with Armenian and Cuban outrages, have been committed and permitted by this Christian nation. Nowhere in the civilized world save the United States of America do men, possessing all civil and political power, go out in bands of 50 and 5,000 to hunt down, shoot, hang or burn to death a single individual, unarmed and absolutely powerless. Statistics show that nearly 10,000 American citizens have been lynched in the past 20 years. To our appeals for justice the stereotyped reply has been that the government could not interfere in a state matter. Postmaster Baker’s case was a federal matter, pure and simple. He died at his post of duty in defense of his country’s honor, as truly as did ever a soldier on the field of battle. We refuse to believe this country, so powerful to defend its citizens abroad, is unable to protect its citizens at home. Italy and China have been indemnified by this government for the lynching of their citizens. We ask that the government do as much for its own. |
December 30, 1936 above: Workers sit down at GM  Supporters pass in food to sitdown strikers Members of the United Automobile Workers sat down at a General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan. GM, the world’s largest corporation at the time, had refused to recognize or negotiate with the union, despite passage of the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) in 1935 which promised unions the right to organize. The local’s membership adopted a tactic developed by French workers. Instead of picketing outside a factory only to be ignored or forcibly cleared away, the sit-down strike enabled workers to halt production and seize the plant “from the inside.” The strike began just days after the end of a successful sit-down at Ford supplier Kelsey-Hayes. “Master Hands,” a corporate documentary about the Flint plant shot shortly before the strike |
| December 30, 1971 Daniel Ellsberg, a Defense Department analyst, and his colleague Anthony Russo were indicted by a federal grand jury for releasing the Pentagon Papers to the news media. The papers were part of a 7000-page, top-secret government history of the United States’ political and military involvement in the Vietnam War from 1945 to 1971, and described air strikes over Laos, raids along the coast of North Vietnam, and offensive actions taken by U.S. Marines well before the American public had been told that such actions had occurred.  The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers The Post – new movie (2017) watch trailer Why were they being prosecuted? |
| December 30, 1972 President Richard Nixon ordered an end to U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. The most recent air strikes had been retaliation for North Vietnam’s walking out of the peace negotiations in Paris and pressure to force it to submit to U.S. terms. Bombing of strategic targets and Hanoi (the North’s capital) and Haiphong lasted for eight days with a 36-hour break for Christmas. The 20,000 tons (18.1 million kg) of bombs killed just over 1600 North Vietnamese, and a dozen B-52s were lost. North Vietnam agreed to return to the bargaining table. |
| December 30, 1993 The state of Israel and the Vatican under Pope John Paul II agreed to extend diplomatic recognition to one another. |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december30
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/25/los-angeles-sheriff-trans-man
So much of this story is upsetting. But one detail stood out to me, and it has not been stressed enough when police violence and false arrests. The man, Mr. Brock lost his job three days after the brutal assault and may have suffered severe financial distress. Police and prosecutors know that often just being charged can ruin a persons life. Hugs
————————————————————————————————————–
Joseph Benza III, main officer involved in incident with Emmett Brock, pleaded guilty in federal court last week
Mexico tests cellphone app allowing migrants to send alert if they are about to be detained in US
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico is developing a cellphone app that will allow migrants to warn relatives and local consulates if they think they are about to be detained by the U.S. immigration department, a senior official said Friday.
The move is in response to President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to carry out mass deportations after he takes office on Jan. 20.
The app has been rolled out for small-scale testing and “appears to be working very well,” said Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico’s secretary of foreign affairs.
He said the app would allow users to press a tab that would send an alert notification to previously chosen relatives and the nearest Mexican consulate. De la Fuente described it as a sort of panic button.
“In case you find yourself in a situation where detention is imminent, you push the alert button, and that sends a signal to the nearest consulate,” he said.
U.S. authorities are obliged to give notice to home-country consulates when a foreign citizen is detained. Mexico says it has beefed up consular staff and legal aid to help migrants in the legal process related to deportation.
De la Fuente expects the app to be rolled out in January. He didn’t say whether the app has a de-activation tab that would allow someone to rescind an alert if they weren’t really detained.
The government says it has also set up a call center staffed 24 hours a day to answer migrants’ questions.
The Mexican government estimates there are 11.5 million migrants with some form of legal residency in the United States, and 4.8 million without legal residency or proper documents.
because we did the work.
Snippet:
For many on the political left, 2024 was disappointing.
Even as inflation ebbed, Americans still struggled with housing costs and necessary expenses. The U.S. role in enabling Israel’s war in Gaza sparked protests in the streets and on college campuses. The far-right continued to target marginalized groups, most notably immigrants, transgender people and women. To top it off, the mid-summer excitement at Vice President Kamala Harris’ entry into the presidential race following President Joe Biden’s eleventh-hour exit petered out with the election of President-elect Donald Trump — again.
But even as the political landscape appeared to grow bleaker, Americans still fended off at least some of the efforts to encroach upon their rights. At times, they even helped pass policies that not only protected core freedoms but could genuinely improve quality of life.
As they reflected on 2024 and looked ahead to 2025, when the Trump administration’s ultraconservative agenda is poised to make their work harder, advocates behind wins in LGBTQ+, labor and reproductive rights shared with Salon how they successfully organized against legislative efforts to roll their rights back and planted hope for a better future.
Ballot measures seeking to establish or protect abortion rights were on 10 states’ ballots this year as organizers fought to protect access and reverse bans enacted in the wake of the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. Seven of those states — Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and New York — would indeed pass measures to enshrine a right to abortion access in their respective constitutions.
Proposition 139 in Arizona provided a legal means to upend the state’s 15-week abortion restriction and established state constitutional rights to abortion access until viability and afterward if a healthcare professional deems it necessary for the pregnant person’s physical or mental health. The proposition also barred the state from penalizing any individual or entity “for aiding or assisting a pregnant individual in exercising the individual’s right to abortion.”
Arizona for Abortion Access, a seven-group coalition of reproductive health, rights and justice organizations, including Reproductive Freedom for All and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, led the campaign supporting the proposed amendment, which took effect almost immediately on Nov. 25.
“The passing of Proposition 139 speaks to the broad support — across the entire state, across all political parties, and across voters of all different backgrounds — for reproductive freedom,” Erika Mach, Planned Parenthood Arizona’s chief external affairs officer, told Salon. “People want the freedom to make medical decisions with their doctor and family, without government involvement.”
To place a constitutional amendment on the state’s ballot, the coalition had to obtain signatures from 15% of registered voters in the state — just under 384,000 signatures — and file the petition by early July, according to the Arizona Secretary of State’s website. (snip-MORE)
(Yeah, not for that. 🙊)
You Need A Safe Word, CSIRO Data Experts Say, To Avoid Scammers And Deepfakes
December 22, 2024 Cosmos
In an age where misinformation and deepfakes blur the lines between fact and fiction, identifying scams has never been more challenging. Falling for a scam can have devastating social, financial, and personal consequences. Over the past year, victims of cybercrime reported losing an average of $30,700 per incident.
As Christmas and Boxing Day approach, shoppers face heightened risks, particularly millennials and Gen Z consumers. In the U.S., one in five people have unknowingly purchased a product promoted by deepfake celebrity endorsements. This figure climbs to one in three among those aged 18-34.
Sharif Abuadbba, deepfake expert in CSIRO’s Data61 team, the data and digital specialist arm of the national science agency, highlighted how technology like AI has made deception easier than ever.
“Scammers can quickly and easily create imitations of popular social media influencers. Deepfakes can manipulate a person’s voice, gaze, mouth, expressions, pauses – basically putting words in their mouth that they’ve never said,” Abuadbba says.
“On social media, attackers rely on the viewers believing fake content and sharing it widely.”
You might think you have nothing valuable for a hacker to steal. However, cybercriminals often exploit individuals as gateways to larger targets, including family members, friends or organisations. Identity fraud can also severely damage your professional relationships and reputation with financial services.
As technology becomes more integral to our daily lives, how can we protect ourselves and those we care about from these cyber threats? Here are five expert tips:
Scammers are increasingly using texts, calls and even video to impersonate loved ones and request money. With AI voice cloning on the rise, these schemes are becoming more and more believable.
Jamie Rossato, CSIRO Chief Information Security Officer, advises setting up a pre-agreed safe word to verify who you’re speaking to. This word should remain private and not be easily discovered through social media or other online sources.
“Use this proactively, rather than waiting until you are suspicious,” Jamie said.
“If my children asked me for money, unless they said our special safe word, I would never transfer funds to them.”
With advances in voice-spoofing technology, fraudsters can convincingly mimic organisations like banks to steal money. Lauren Ferro, Human-centric Security Research Scientist with the Data61 team, recommends verifying caller identities before sharing any information.
“If something seems a bit off, hang up and call the organisation directly using their official number, or go and visit them in person,” Ferro advised.
“They would prefer you to be cautious. It’s far easier to address concerns up front that to recover stolen money or repair reputational damage later.”
Identity fraud is the most common self-reported cybercrime this year, making it crucial to protect your personal data online. For example, private or sensitive information stored with Medicare and government accounts.
One effective method to protect your account is enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) to log in. MFA requires a password and a one-time verification code. Often this is sent as a text message, but Ferrato suggests using authentication apps like Microsoft Authenticator for added security.
“One of the benefits of app-based authenticators is they often use biometric controls, such as face ID or thumbprints to get into the app, before you get to the actual code itself,” Rossato says.
“This creates an extra layer of protection beyond SMS codes.”
With most people using card and online payments, staying informed about your transactions can help you detect scams. While banks monitor suspicious activity, scammers can bypass these measures by mimicking your usual spending patterns.
Enabling real-time notifications through your banking app allows you to track transactions immediately, adding another layer of security.
Most of us have an online and social media presence, but the photos, videos and information we share can be exploited. These assets can train deepfakes, which, once created and shared, are difficult to detect and remove.
Liming Zhu, Research Director in Data61 stresses the importance of being mindful of what we share online and who can access it. This is especially critical for children.
Ultimately, awareness and proactive protection are key to staying safe online. Educating yourself about cybersecurity is your first line of defence against scams.
Learn more about Australia’s cyber security research
This article was written by Kerisha Parkes and was originally published by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. Read the original article.
Scottie's Playtime 