Chuck Darwin
cdarwin.bsky.social
Chuck Darwin
@cdarwin.bsky.social
Social and economic justice, technology and tennis.

Follow me on Mastodon:
https://c.im/@cdarwin
 
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Pinned
Trump’s wrecking-ball approach to America has a precedent:

the Maga evangelical perversion of Jesus’s message of radical love to one of hate and aggression
c.im/@cdarwin/115...
Chuck Darwin (@[email protected])
Trumpism’s most revealing and defining moments – not its most important, nor cruelest, nor most dangerous, nor stupidest, but perhaps its most illuminating – came earlier this autumn. In the c...
c.im
Axon Enterprise Inc. is working with a Canadian police department to test the addition of face recognition technology (FRT) to its body-worn cameras (BWCs).

This is an alarming development in government surveillance that should put communities everywhere on alert.

FRT brings a rash of problems.
Axon Tests Face Recognition on Body-Worn Cameras
Axon Enterprise Inc. is working with a Canadian police department to test the addition of face recognition technology (FRT) to its body-worn cameras (BWCs). This is an alarming development in governme...
www.eff.org
December 6, 2025 at 8:35 PM
A New York subway rider has accused a woman of breaking his Meta smart glasses

But instead of coming to his support,
the internet wholeheartedly rallied behind the alleged perpetrator,
celebrating the woman as a folk hero.

“Good, people are tired of being filmed by strangers,” one user commented
Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man's Meta Smart Glasses on Subway
A New York subway rider has accused a woman of breaking his Meta smart glasses. She was later hailed as a hero.
futurism.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Thanks to a supply crunch from the “AI” bubble,
RAM chips are the new gold,
with prices on consumer PC memory kits ballooning out of control.

In an object lesson in the ridiculousness of an economic bubble,

Samsung won’t even sell its memory to… Samsung
RAM is so expensive, Samsung won't even sell it to Samsung
Due to rising prices from the "AI" bubble, Samsung Semiconductor reportedly refused a RAM order for new Galaxy phones from Samsung Electronics.
www.pcworld.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Trump DoJ ‘immediately’ stops enforcing prison rape protections for trans and intersex people

The Department of Justice instructed prison auditors across the country to simply stop assessing whether facilities are violating laws designed to shield LGBT+ prisoners from sexual abuse
Trump admin ‘immediately’ stops enforcing LGBT+ prison rape protections: report
The Department of Justice instructed prison auditors across the country to simply stop assessing whether facilities are violating laws designed to shield LGBT+ prisoners from sexual abuse
www.independent.co.uk
December 6, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Concrete is a mix of several different materials:
water, fine aggregates (or sand), coarse aggregates (or gravel), chemical additives,
and, cement.

Cement production, however, also generates most of concrete’s emissions:

In fact, cement accounts for around 8% of all CO2 emissions worldwide
Concrete
Concrete is among the world’s most consumed materials—second only to water. It also produces large amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
climate.mit.edu
December 6, 2025 at 7:48 PM
The Hawaiian Supreme Court
ruled that Hawaii’s constitution requires police to record interrogations.

And they vowed to protect due process for Hawaii residents
—unlike, they said, the U.S. Supreme Court.
boltsmag.org/hawaii-supre...
Hawaii Supreme Court Expands Rights of Defendants, and Once Again Rebukes SCOTUS - Bolts
The justices ruled that Hawaii’s constitution requires police to record interrogations. And they vowed to protect due process for Hawaii residents—unlike, they said, the Roberts Court.
boltsmag.org
December 6, 2025 at 7:26 PM
D.C. Bomb suspect Brian Cole Jr
confessed to planting the devices Jan. 5, 2021.

Cole also indicated that he believed conspiracy theories around the 2020 election that Trump has insisted was stolen and expressed views supportive of Trump

edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dyn...
Bomb suspect is said to confess
edition.pagesuite.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Frank Gehry challenged the notion that buildings needed to behave themselves
— creating artful, strange, kinetic structures and transforming cities in the process.

Here are 10 of his most famous structures that pushed the boundaries of architecture, culture, taste and technology.
10 buildings that knew how to misbehave in the best way
edition.pagesuite.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Security researcher Brian Krebs heard from a fraud examiner that someone using his name and likeness is running around defrauding elderly people.

The fraudsters are actually picking up these poor folks and driving them to credit union branches to withdraw cash.
BrianKrebs (@[email protected])
Attached: 1 image Just heard from a fraud examiner that some asshat using my name and likeness is running around defrauding elderly people. The person who alerted me to this said the fraudsters are a...
infosec.exchange
December 6, 2025 at 4:50 PM
"Here’s what it actually is:
a group of alt-right outlets who are vying to be mouthpieces and apologists for this administration.”

-- Carole-Anne Morris, a journalism professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
‘Mouthpieces for Trump’: inside the rightwing takeover of the Pentagon press corps
Pentagon press passes once held by credentialed journalists are now in the hands of rightwing pundits and Trump allies
www.theguardian.com
December 6, 2025 at 4:29 PM
The Trump administration shows a kind of American “neoroyalism,”
through the administration mixing private enterprise and diplomacy and in Trump’s habit of handling negotiations through family members and old business partners rather than the traditional bureaucracy.

Joshua Keating tells Vox.
Trump family is inflicting a new kind of Saudi-style 'royalism' on the US: experts
The Trump administration acts less like a presidential administration and more like a royal family in medieval Europe — a kind of American “neoroyalism,” Joshua Keating tells Vox.“Signs of neoroyalism...
www.alternet.org
December 6, 2025 at 4:12 PM
During a hearing in San Francisco on Friday, Judge Charles Breyer appeared skeptical of the federal government’s case

He questioned whether the administration could command the state’s national guard indefinitely.

“No crisis lasts forever,” he said.
Judge challenges rationale for Trump’s control over national guard in California
Judge seems skeptical of administration’s case and whether any crisis justifying deployment still exists in Los Angeles
www.theguardian.com
December 6, 2025 at 4:04 PM
A protective shield built to contain radioactive material from the 1986 disaster at the Chornobyl nuclear plant
can no longer perform its main safety function
due to drone damage

An International Atomic Energy Agency inspection found a drone impact had degraded the structure.
UN agency says Chornobyl nuclear plant's protective shield damaged
A protective shield at the Chornobyl nuclear plant in war-torn Ukraine, built to contain radioactive material from the 1986 disaster, can no longer perform its main safety function due to drone damage...
www.reuters.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:16 AM
The most celebrated architect of his age,
a singular genius,
Frank Gehry, died Friday at 96

In Bilbao and Berlin, New York and, especially, Los Angeles
— where the Canadian-born Gehry became inseparable from the city
— he left behind playful, materially and technologically stunning buildings
Frank Gehry: 12 Essential, Stunning Projects
www.nytimes.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Frank Gehry,
one of the most influential architects of the 20th century,
has died aged 96.

Gehry designed many iconic structures such as L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall and the titanium-covered Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain.

He died at his Santa Monica home after a brief respiratory illness
Frank Gehry dead at 96: Renowned architect dies at home after brief illness
Frank Gehry, one of the most influential architects of the 20th century, has died aged 96.
www.newsweek.com
December 5, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Israel’s killing of two young Palestinian boys in Gaza
for supposedly crossing the Israeli military’s ever-shifting yellow line last week
is “horrific” and must be investigated

"It’s hard to see how two boys,
eight and 10,
can be considered a threat."
UN Calls for Investigation Into Israeli Killing of 2 Boys Aged 8 and 10 in Gaza
The boys’ father said that their bodies were torn to pieces by Israel’s strike.
truthout.org
December 5, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Infosys co-founder
NR Narayana Murthy
called for Indian workers to adopt a 70-hour week last year,
-- but he thinks that’s still not enough.

During a recent interview,
Murthy called for an increase in working hours from 70 to 72:
-- the '996' schedule:
working from 9am to 9pm,
six days a week
Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy called for a 70 hour week last year — now he says that’s not enough
Murthy thinks longer hours akin to China’s '996' approach are the key to success
www.itpro.com
December 5, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Amazon dipped as one of the biggest drags to the benchmark S&P index
after the e-commerce company said it was in discussions with the U.S. Postal Service about their future relationship
and is considering its options before its contract expires next year
stocks.apple.com/AmuHAuFEeSi6...
Indexes end near flat, supported by Fed hopes but dragged by Amazon — Reuters
U.S. stocks closed near the unchanged mark on Thursday, as investors weighed a report on the labor market and other economic data, while equities drew support from elevated hopes for a Federal Reserve...
stocks.apple.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Chuck Darwin
She was allowed a phone call to her parents, who contacted a lawyer.

The next day, a federal judge issued an emergency order barring her removal from the US for at least 72 hours.

But the next morning, she was shackled at her wrists, ankles and waist and deported to Honduras
Student describes ‘horror show’ ICE deportation to Honduras at Thanksgiving
Any Lucia López Belloza, 19, was detained at Boston airport while on the way to see family in Austin for a surprise trip
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Orwell wrote
Nineteen Eighty-Four
not as a prophecy
but as a warning.

As he explained:
“I do not believe that the kind of society I describe necessarily will arrive.
But I believe, allowing, of course, for the fact that the book is a satire,
that something resembling it could arrive.”
1984 revisited: George Orwell would be relieved at how we’ve done
It’s common to suggest the great dystopian novel was full of warnings that have largely come true. But the evidence shows otherwise
www.thetimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Donald Trump was awarded the new
"FIFA peace prize"
on Friday at the 2026 World Cup draw
— giving the spectacle to set matchups for the quadrennial soccer tournament
even more of a Trumpian flair.

www.startribune.com/fifa-gives-p...
FIFA gives Trump a peace prize in a departure from its traditional focus on sport
President Donald Trump was awarded the new FIFA peace prize on Friday at the 2026 World Cup draw — giving the spectacle to set matchups for the quadrennial soccer tournament even more of a Trumpian fl...
www.startribune.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
“All five nucleobases used to construct both DNA and RNA,
along with phosphates,
have already been found in the Bennu samples
brought to Earth by OSIRIS-REx,”
said Yoshihiro Furukawa.

“The new discovery of ribose means that all of the components to form the molecule RNA are present in Bennu.”
Sugars, ‘Gum,’ Stardust Found in NASA's Asteroid Bennu Samples - NASA
The asteroid Bennu continues to provide new clues to scientists’ biggest questions about the formation of the early solar system and the origins of life. As
www.nasa.gov
December 5, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Physicist Max Born’s other great cultural contribution,

besides the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics,

Is his granddaughter Olivia Newton-John.

You can see the family resemblance. (4/n)
Robert “The Bobby Yaga” McNees (@[email protected])
Attached: 2 images Max Born’s other great cultural contribution, besides the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics, is his granddaughter Olivia Newton-John. You can see the family resem...
mastodon.social
December 5, 2025 at 8:18 PM
A new report by Amnesty International says that immigrants held at the ICE jail in Florida known as “Alligator Alcatraz”
were shackled inside a two-foot-high metal cage
and left outside without water for up to a day at a time.
Prisoners Face “Harrowing Human Right Violations” at Infamous ICE Jail in Florida Everglades
A new report by Amnesty International says that immigrants held at the ICE jail in Florida known as “Alligator Alcatraz” were shackled inside a two-foot-high metal cage and left outside without water ...
www.democracynow.org
December 5, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by Chuck Darwin
And candidates there were: 31,153 of them! We narrowed these down the 728 that looked most promising. Iona, Michael, and Dale followed up every single one in the field. All of that in parallel of the drone survey+upload still happening. Most of them were gum nuts, very convincing candidates. 7/X
December 5, 2025 at 4:13 AM