“The group’s missile forces have successfully tested a missile that is capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 8 and runs on solid fuel,” a military official close to the Houthis said, according to the RIA report. The Houthis “intend to begin manufacturing it for use during attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as against targets in Israel.”

BRO WHAT.

Ballistic missiles fly on a trajectory in which anti-missile systems like the U.S.-made Patriot can anticipate their path and intercept them. The more irregular the missile’s flight path, such as a hypersonic missile with the ability to change directions, the more difficult it becomes to intercept.

Huh. Iron Dome gonna be like “Paper Dome” if this ends up happening.

They might be rich. Lotta int. students, especially in undergrad come from wealth. If so, there ain’t no way you gonna change her mind on China lol.

Well, I got into them when I was younger. My school required a MacBook and when I started using one, I found it way cooler than my clunky Windows laptop. Part of that was probably the price, but it was also the OS. It was really smooth - and I freaking fell in love with the touchpad gestures. Then I got an iPhone, an iPad etc.

Overtime, I moved away from an Apple only ecosystem. Now I use Linux on an XPS. I also use a Galaxy Tab instead - iPad, while powerful, is really hampered by its OS. Galaxy Tab is far more powerful and capable of being an actual laptop replacement, at least for me.

But I still use an iPhone. I find it a lot easier to deal with than Android. I tried the latter in the past, btw. But I don’t need customization on my phone, unlike with my laptop or tablet. So, for my headphones, I got the AirPods. The connection between the iPhone and AirPods is really good.

Will my next phone be an iPhone. I dunno. There are some really interesting Android phones out there, and the platform seems more mature now with many companies offering a simple UI that doesn’t do too much - I still keep up with it all. I liked the OnePlus Fold that came out recently, for example.

I’ll admit, I’m not your average Apple user. I made a very deliberate choice to not be tied down to Apple. I’ve taken conscious actions to have different OSes and software on different devices and not be locked down by any one company. I use FOSS wherever I can, and moved away from all the default apps pushed by Apple, Samsung etc. long ago. It’s also why I won’t get a Galaxy phone - I already have the tablet. The only concession I allowed was the AirPods.

But I can tell you another example. Over the years, my father has needed new products. And every time I’ve gotten him Apple products. Now, he has an all Apple setup. MacBook, iPad, iPhone, AirPods. Why? Because I’ve seen him use Windows laptops and Android phones in the past. I know just how many problems he’s had with them - and how much I had to help him with them. Now that he has an all Apple set up, everything is dead simple for him. People underestimate this.

Hope this helps answer your questions.

If I need to use a fucking VPN to access to Tiktok, I goddamn will. Fucking bullshit.

Adrian Zenz, a German researcher at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, whose work on Xinjiang has been widely-cited by Western legislators, said it would be better to have “no legislation” than what the EU has proposed

Lol

Here is the direct UN report - https://news.un.org/en/sites/news.un.org.en/files/atoms/files/Mission_report_of_SRSG_SVC_to_Israel-oWB_29Jan_14_feb_2024.pdf

Here’s it’s conclusion (edited for clarity):

October 7 and Hostages: Conflict-related sexual violence (genital mutilation, sexualized torture, or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment) occurred at several locations across the Gaza periphery, including in the form of rape and gang rape, during the 7 October 2023 attacks. Clear and convincing information that some hostages taken to Gaza subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence (as described above) and reasonable grounds to believe that such violence is ongoing, including against women and children. Unable to establish the prevalence of sexual violence and concludes that the overall magnitude, scope, and specific attribution of these violations would require a fully-fledged investigation.

Occupied Palestinian Territory (i.e., conducted by Israel and settlers): They did not visit Gaza. Cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, including various forms of sexual violence towards detainees (39% of whom are held without trial). Invasive body searches including unwanted touching of intimate areas, including genitial areas, and forced unveiling of women wearing Hijab; beatings; threats of rape against women and threats of rape against female family members (wives, sisters, daughters) in the case of men; and inappropriate strip search and prolonged forced nudity of detainees, including during interrogation and during transfer to other detention facilities. Taking and circulating pictures of women detainees on personal phones of soldiers and investigators and depriving women of menstruation products. Sexual harassment and threats of rape, during house raids – including at night – and at checkpoints. Intimidation, including threats of rape, if conditions of detention were reported or publicly disclosed after liberation.

cap

Three carriages of the passenger train…derailed when a second incoming train rammed into it from behind… “Both the loco-pilot and co-pilot were distracted by the cricket match,” Mr Vaishnaw said…Both of them lost their lives in the incident…A preliminary investigation by the railway authorities immediately after the incident found that the train had overshot a signal.

“Yeah, bro the two drivers who died were totes just 100% at fault and it had nothing to do at all with a larger systemic issue that might put me, the minister or the Indian govt. at fault for not improving the railway system. Nah, it’s just those poor drivers who were too busy watching cricket.”

Railways minister Vaishnaw said new safety systems would be installed following the incident to “detect any such distraction and make sure that the pilots and the assistant pilots are fully focussed on running the train”.

And that would solve the issues, trust. It’s the drivers, not the system.

India has one of the world’s largest railway networks, which transports millions of passengers daily. But it has seen several disasters over the years… There have been several major accidents in the last 12 months, including a three-train collision which killed as many as 300 people in the eastern state of Odisha in June. Just last month, another incident on the railway saw a freight train travelled more than 70km (43.4 miles) without a driver. Footage on social media showed the 53-wagon train from Jammu and Kashmir zooming past several stations at high speed of nearly 100km/h, before arriving in Punjab. Officials told the PTI news agency: “The train was stopped after a railway official placed wood blocks on the tracks to stop the train.”

Like… come the fuck on. Something clearly major fucked up is going on at a systemic fucking level here. I’m betting corruption. No doubt the drivers were not 100% innocent. But they’re dead so they’re being turned into the scapegoats, so people don’t look into all these other incidents. Many countries have very large and extensively used railway systems that don’t experience deadly crashes on the daily. Indians need to hold their politicians accountable.

Okay, holy shit, I just did a little googling on Wiz, the company Shultz funded. Three of its four founders were members of Unit 8200 the IDF unit “responsible for clandestine operation, collecting signal intelligence (SIGINT) and code decryption, counterintelligence, cyberwarfare, military intelligence, and surveillance” that is “the foremost technical intelligence agency in the world and stands on a par with the NSA.”

Like… come the fuck on.

So, on the one hand, websites like these are great for collecting and sharing information regarding which companies and people support Israel and how.

But, as BDS points out, the long lists of companies to boycott that go viral often end up having the opposite effect, by making people feel like there’s no point in boycotting any company at all.

If anyone begins to feel that way after looking at all these companies, then just remember to focus your effort on the list endorsed by BDS - not because the other companies are “okay”, but because that way we can collectively have the most impact.

Look into BDS. That’s the organization that organized boycotts of companies in a tactic similar to one employed against South Africa during Apartheid. I linked their page that lists the main companies they are targeting right now, along with the reasons why.

Both McDonalds and Starbucks are targets of “organic boycotts” i.e. companies that we, as consumers, decided to boycott of our own initiative - Starbucks sued its union (Starbucks Workers United) after it expressed solidarity with Palestine; McDonalds is even worse - it gave (still gives?) free meals to IDF soldiers and sued BDS after it criticized the company.

The effect of the boycotts are being felt by the two companies.

Hope this helps.

The Pine Island glacier formed a 6.5-mile-long crack at 80 mph, proving to scientists that some glaciers can shatter like glass.

some glaciers can shatter like glass.

That sentence has no right to be so scary. What the fuck.

Also, I see the speedrun to Doomsday continues. Won’t expect anything else.

All my homies have stopped going to McDicks and Starbucks. And our life is just better for it, too.

Several users note that Hianime is only a typo away from Hanime, which is an adult-themed site focusing on Hentai content.

LMAO.

You raise very valid points. Those are absolutely concerns I might have too if I actually believed in a god - am I following all the rules, am I good enough to get the good ending etc etc. It’s good to not have illusions that a higher authority will take care of the problems of this world and actually work to fix it ourselves.

And in moments of hope, when things are improving, it seems we as humans are succeeding in that. But looking at the world now, those moments seem fewer and fewer. It gets harder to keep working on improving, or even thinking that we can improve.

But I don’t want to just say injustice is natural and bad things will always happen and cannot be stopped. Individually, yeah - there will always be people who do things that are not good. But on a societal scale? A better world is possible. In this aspect, having a belief in a higher authority, one you believe will be “good” and “just” can help centre you and give you hope. I guess, spiritual rather than actually religious. But I can’t even believe in that.

The legislation, House Bill 500, would allow employers to stop offering their workers “reasonable” lunch and rest breaks, mandatory under current Kentucky law, and end the requirement that employees who work seven days in a row receive overtime pay… According to the Kentucky Lantern, the bill also “(prevents) employers from being punished for not paying minimum wage or overtime pay when an employee is traveling to and from a workplace.”

Kentucky has been in the spotlight recently for other pieces of legislation scaling back worker protections, including one bill passed by the House removing working hour restrictions for 16- and 17-year-olds, which Pratt said would get children “off the couch [and] quit playing Nintendo games.”… It is also the state where, in May 2023, U.S. Department of Labor investigators discovered two 10-year-old workers operating dangerous cooking equipment while working late shifts at a McDonald’s.

The bill passed a Republican-led House committee Wednesday in a party-line vote and now moves to a vote by the full chamber.

When I was younger, I became a “rational” and “atheist” type - I have to thank my parents for that. They were the scientific but spiritual type and allowed me to come to my own conclusions, rather than forcing religion down my throat. I’m glad, too. Because when I met religious people later on, I was able to look at the absurdity of it all and brush it off.

But now I’m older, and I sometimes wish this weren’t the case. I truly wish I could believe in a soul or a heaven/hell or reincarnation or any other form of higher being than us. I get it. I get why people do. The world is ruled by evil people who do terrible, evil things and this belief in a higher authority where they will one day be judged, and all the innocents who suffer will finally have peace… it’s the only way to cope with it.

I don’t believe in a soul, but I wish I did.

Ministers from across the globe are convening for a World Trade Organization meeting in Abu Dhabi early next week to try to discuss several trade-related issues, including extending a moratorium in place since 1998 on applying duties on electronic transmissions.

Developing nations like India, South Africa and Indonesia are set to oppose efforts by U.S. and Europe to extend the moratorium.

WSC comprises of chip industry associations in regions like the U.S. and China, which represent chip stalwarts such as Qualcomm, Intel, AMD and Nvidia.

New Delhi has said that physical goods like books and videos, once governed by traditional tariff rules, were now available as digital services and should be subject to duties. Developing nations are facing massive loss in potential revenue with such imports from developed countries on the rise, India maintains.

WSC in its letter also urged India to work toward a WTO agreement to permanently prohibit countries from subjecting cross-border data and digital tools to customs duties and procedures.

I go by two principles:

1. If the US/West supports it, then it’s probably a bad thing.

2. Is American/Western companies support it, then it’s probably a bad thing.

Modi and his BJP are Hindutva fascists - but maybe they’re right on this issue. Who knows. All I know is that if the West is supporting something, then it probably stands to reason that it’s bad.

Not everything. Not on all issues. But generally.

I’d point you to Luna Oi, who is Vietnamese and frequently talks about the country, it’s socialism, and how Western media lies about it.

Here is one recent video about the geopolitics behind Vietnam’s relations with the US vs. it’s relations with China. Here are her tweets where she first discussed the issue, before making the video.

Another video debunks the common notion propagated in Western press that Vietnamese people love capitalism. And the original tweets from before she made the video.

Xi Jinping also visited Vietnam, but that didn’t get the attention that Biden’s visit did. Before that, the Vietnamese PM also went to China. And before that, the General Secretary of the CPV visited China and was presented with the Friendship Medal of China, the highest order of honor it bestows on foreigners.

100-hour battery life in full Smart Mode

Hoo boy that’s a big battery.