Highlights / Lowlights
UPDATED
The origin of COVID: Did people or nature open Pandora’s box at Wuhan? – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
https://thebulletin.org/2021/05/the-origin-of-covid-did-people-or-nature-open-pandoras-box-at-wuhan/
Weaponized Drone in Fully Autonomous Mode Hunts Down and Engages Human Target
If you’re one for movie parallels, Skynet would approve of this: a highly weaponized “killer drone” that can operate in fully autonomous mode engaged human targets without input from command for the first time. In other words, a drone may have killed one or several people.
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/weaponized-drone-in-fully-autonomous-mode-hunts-down-and-engages-human-target-162275.html
Tech News around the World
https://twitter.com/tnatw
https://clubhouse.com/club/tech-news
I’ve got a few invites to share so email me personally if you want to get invited to clubhouse.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal: “The GOP isn’t going to meet us halfway. It’s time to go alone — and get this done.”
https://truthout.org/articles/jayapal-presses-biden-to-cut-off-infrastructure-talks-with-republicans/
Justices reject Johnson & Johnson appeal of $2B talc verdict
https://apnews.com/article/johnson-and-johnson-us-supreme-court-michael-brown-business-health-e31b4a561cf43461844db28b44c4194d
Intermittent Fasting Improves Long Term Memory – Neuroscience News
Intermittent Fasting Improves Long Term Memory
Link between Paracetamol Use during Pregnancy, Autism and ADHD Symptoms Supported by New Study
Link between Paracetamol Use during Pregnancy, Autism and ADHD Symptoms Supported by New Study
Amazon, Facebook and other tech giants paid almost $100B less in taxes than they claimed: analysis
Nonprofit report says six Big Tech companies exploited global rules to pay just 3.6% of revenues in income taxes the “Silicon Six” — paid roughly $219 billion in income taxes, which amounts to just 3.6% of their $6 trillion-plus in total revenue, according to the Fair Tax Foundation. Income tax is paid on profits, not total revenue, and researchers said these tech giants are adept at reducing their tax liabilities by shifting profits to offshore tax havens.
https://www.salon.com/2021/06/01/amazon-facebook-and-other-tech-giants-paid-almost-100b-less-in-taxes-than-they-claimed-analysis_partner/
US Suspends All Oil, Gas Leases In Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – Interior Department
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/business/us-suspends-all-oil-gas-leases-in-arctic-nat-1266404.html
The sovereign individual pdf
Amazon Sidewalk July 8 – better opt out now
Amazon devices will soon automatically share your Internet with neighbors
Amazon’s experiment wireless mesh networking turns users into guinea pigs. n June 8, the merchant, Web host, and entertainment behemoth will automatically enroll the devices in Amazon Sidewalk. The new wireless mesh service will share a small slice of your Internet bandwidth with nearby neighbors who don’t have connectivity and help you to their bandwidth when you don’t have a connection.
By default, Amazon devices including Alexa, Echo, Ring, security cams, outdoor lights, motion sensors, and Tile trackers will enroll in the system. And since only a tiny fraction of people take the time to change default settings, that means millions of people will be co-opted into the program whether they know anything about it or not. The Amazon webpage linked above says Sidewalk “is currently only available in the US.”
Sidewalk devices includes: Ring Floodlight Cam (2019), Ring Spotlight Cam Wired (2019), Ring Spotlight Cam Mount (2019), Echo (3rd Gen), Echo (4th Gen), Echo Dot (3rd Gen), Echo Dot (4th Gen), Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for Kids, Echo Dot (4th Gen) for Kids, Echo Dot with Clock (3rd Gen), Echo Dot with Clock (4th Gen), Echo Plus (1st Gen), Echo Plus (2nd Gen), Echo Show (1st Gen), Echo Show (2nd Gen), Echo Show 5, Echo Show 8, Echo Show 10, Echo Spot, Echo Studio, Echo Input, Echo Flex.
opt out – don’t know if these instructions are current or correct.
https://www.newsweek.com/opt-out-amazon-sidewalk-echo-ring-devices-1596781
PSA: If you have Amazon devices, you may want to opt out of Amazon Sidewalk
US towns are buying Chinese surveillance tech tied to Uighur abuses
Hikvision and Dahua supplied Beijing with technology it used to surveil ethnic groups
US towns are buying Chinese surveillance tech tied to Uighur abuses
Secret Chats Show How Cybergang Became a Ransomware Powerhouse
As the ransomware industry exploded, a Russian-speaking outfit called DarkSide offered would-be computer crooks not just the tools, but also customer support. We got an inside look.
FBI released a flash yesterday warning of the Conti ransomware gang targeting healthcare facilities. Where has this been? This is the same group behind attacks on hospitals I’ve been reporting on for months. Rehoboth, Leon Medical Centers, Nocona General.
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20785325/fbi-tlp-white-report-conti-ransomware-attacks-impact-healthcare-and-first-responder-networks-5-20-21.pdf
The race to understand the exhilarating, dangerous world of language AI
Hundreds of scientists around the world are working together to understand one of the most powerful emerging technologies before it’s too late.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/05/20/1025135/ai-large-language-models-bigscience-project/
Unfixable Apple M1 chip bug enables cross-process chatter, breaking OS security model
https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/27/apple_m1_chip_bug/
iTrapped: All the things Apple won’t let you do with your iPhone
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/05/27/apple-iphone-monopoly/
SolarWinds hackers are back with a new mass campaign, Microsoft says
Dan Goodin – 5/28/2021, 4:15 AM
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/05/microsoft-says-solarwinds-hackers-targeted-us-agencies-in-a-new-campaign/
The Kremlin-backed hackers who targeted SolarWinds customers in a supply chain attack have been caught conducting a malicious email campaign that delivered malware-laced links to 150 government agencies, research institutions and other organizations in the US and 23 other countries, Microsoft said.
Chinese trading in cryptocurrency market continues to thrive despite restrictions
https://www.cnbctv18.com/cryptocurrency/chinese-trading-in-cryptocurrency-market-continues-to-thrive-despite-restrictions-9464851.htm
How China Can Quash the Wuhan Lab-Leak Theory
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-27/how-china-can-quash-the-wuhan-lab-leak-theory
US Soldiers Expose Nuclear Weapons Secrets Via Flashcard Apps
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2021/05/28/us-soldiers-expose-nuclear-weapons-secrets-via-flashcard-apps/
ALL THE LYING!
The broadest statute criminalizing lying is 18 U.S.C. § 1001: It’s a crime to “knowingly and willfully make materially false/fraudulent statements or representations” in the course of “any matter in the jurisdiction of executive, legislative, or judicial branch.”There’s no requirement that the statement be under oath. YET – lies fly around Congress like mosquitos. Time to launch an investigation in committee with subpoena power and enforce the subpoenas, and in the event of provable falsehoods, enforce the aforementioned federal statute. @duty2warn
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BILLION$ RIPPED OUT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS INTO THE PRIVATELY OWNED CHARTER SCHOOLS 
The Truth About Reading #thetruthaboutreading