DistrictofAlex

@districtofalex

Infosec, GRC. Reading past the headline. Unwisely sarcastic. Go Orioles!

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DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· 2d

novayagazeta.eu/en/articles/... theins.press/en/news/295811

Semyon and Tatyana, a Russian couple who have lived in Spain for the past five years, were detained in Sweden on the morning of Aug. 6 while spending the night in a tent by the sea, the Russian Antiwar Committee told The Insider.

Semyon and Tatyana were resting on the seashore near the town of Furuvik during a hiking trip when they were approached by police, who had been called by security guards from a private home near the spot where the Russians had pitched their tent.

According to the Antiwar Committee, the grounds for the detention — and for the Swedish government’s subsequent deportation order — were the couple’s Russian accents and their possession of two tourist walkie-talkies. The Russians were also unable to clearly explain to police why they had chosen that specific place to spend the night. Later, they told rights defenders that they “like hiking and decided to spend the night by the water.”

Semyon and Tatyana are now being held in a deportation detention center. Margarita Kuchusheva, a consul with the Antiwar Committee, shared the details of their case with The Insider:

“This is not the first case in which Sweden has recognized Russian citizens as a threat to national security. Unfortunately, anti-war Russians sometimes fall under these criteria as well. In this case, [they were] simply a pair of tourists who chose to go on a camping trip.

Challenging such a status is extremely difficult, and it can seriously damage a person’s life, such as when one wants to apply for a visa. The consuls of the Anti-War Committee will help Semyon and Tatyana have this status removed and leave safely for Spain.”

The Antiwar Committee added that Semyon (who works as a game developer) and Tatyana oppose Russia's invasion of Ukraine, do humanitarian work, and help teenage emigres adapt to life abroad.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· 9d

“People are usually divided by religion, caste and language,” said Ashok, showing off a bruise he said came from a police baton during a demonstration. “This was the first time they united around education."

On July 20, more than 50,000 attempted to march on parliament, according to some estimates. They were met with a violent police response but won sympathy from the many more following the protests online. The crowds, which by then spanned age groups and socioeconomic classes, swelled. Bollywood stars voiced support on social media.
“People are usually divided by religion, caste and language,” said Ashok, showing off a bruise he said came from a police baton during a demonstration. “This was the first time they united around education."
Delhi Police didn’t respond to questions about its management of the protests. It has previously said that the demonstrations were policed professionally and that 118 officers were injured during the July 20 confrontation.
By the end of the week, the cockroaches had their scalp: Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, a primary protest target, had resigned. In a rare concession, Modi had bowed to demonstrators’ demands.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· 23d

Seems bad

About 4% of master's degree programs would fail, with the highest failure rates for programs teaching mental and social health services.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· 26d

Grifters need a grift master to thrive

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Jun 23

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Jun 13

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Jun 8

“Republican election officials in Jackson County say they were pressured — by their own party and the state auditor’s office, one says — to reject a plan for an early voting site on Western Carolina University’s campus.”

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Jun 1

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· May 30

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· May 26

www.cnn.com/2026/05/25/p...

"Key officials responsible for leading US research on infectious disease threats have been barred from speaking directly with the World Health Organization — effectively shutting some of them out of the global discussions on virus outbreaks, according to documents and multiple sources who spoke to CNN.

The Trump administration issued the directive stopping individuals at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from communicating with the WHO.

The federal health subagency was led for decades by Dr. Anthony Fauci and oversaw developing treatments for public health emergencies including HIV/AIDs and Covid-19.

The prohibition has been in place during an outbreak of hantavirus that some Americans have been exposed to. The communication limits were relaxed slightly in the past week as another virus outbreak — an unfolding Ebola epidemic centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo — intensified.

Now, some NIAID officials can attend virtual WHO meetings, but only in small groups and only in a “listening capacity,” according to a May 18 email from a senior NIAID official to staff obtained by CNN. Any follow-up to those meetings would be handled by the Department of Health and Human Services, NIAID’s parent agency."

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· May 14

H.R. 1981 — 119th Congress
The Drum Break Protection Act of 2026
A bill to protect the sanctity of the drum break in "In The Air Tonight"
Whereas the drum break occurring at approximately the 3 minute 40 second mark of "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins (1981) represents one of the most anticipated musical moments in recorded history; and whereas the interruption of a person awaiting said break constitutes an unconscionable act against human dignity — be it hereby enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled:
Section 1
Short title
This Act may be cited as the "Drum Break Protection Act" or, colloquially, "The Phil Collins Act."
Section 2
Definitions
For purposes of this Act: "The Break" refers to the drum entry at approximately 3:40 in "In The Air Tonight" as commercially released. "The Window" refers to the period beginning when the song starts and ending 10 seconds after The Break concludes. "Interruption" means any spoken word, question, tap on the shoulder, phone call played aloud, or unsolicited sound directed at a listener during The Window.

Section 3
Prohibited conduct
No person shall knowingly interrupt, distract, or otherwise disturb an individual who is audibly or visibly awaiting The Break. This prohibition applies in all public and semi-public spaces including but not limited to: vehicles, offices, living rooms, and elevators.
"The air-drumming that precedes The Break is a sacred preparatory ritual and shall be afforded the same legal protections as the moment itself."
Section 4
Penalties
Any person found in violation shall be subject to the following civil penalties:
First offense
Mandatory apology + $50 fine
Second offense
$500 fine + mandatory listening session
Third offense
$2,500 fine + community service (Phil Collins playlist, 40 hrs)
Section 5
Exemptions
The following shall not constitute a violation: (a) genuine medical emergencies; (b) fire alarms; (c) the spontaneous collective air-drumming of others present in the room, which is instead encouraged; (d) Phil Collins himself, who may do as he pleases.

Section 6
Effective date
This Act shall take effect immediately upon enactment, as it was frankly overdue by approximately 45 years.
Introduced with extreme sincerity · Sponsored by every person who has ever waited for that moment

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· May 10

From FBI raid to explosive growth
The prediction market industry has seen breathtaking growth in President Trump's second term.

On Polymarket, more than $8 billion was traded in April alone, compared to less than $1 billion last April, according to analytics firm The Block, which estimates that, together with Polymarket's main competitor, Kalshi, the prediction market industry recorded more than $24 billion in trades last month.

It's a remarkable reversal of fortunes for Polymarket.

Under a 2022 settlement hammered out with the regulators in Washington, Polymarket had to pay a $1.4 million fine and shutter its American business in the U.S. for operating as an unlicensed exchange.

Two years later, FBI agents used a battering ram to break down the door of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan's Manhattan apartment as part of a probe into whether Polymarket was violating that settlement.

Within months of Trump's second inauguration, those problems started getting smoothed out.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Apr 21

They're expelling Brazil's security attache because the attache tried to have Brazil's coup plotters hiding in the US sent back to Brazil to face the Brazilian justice system for the crimes they committed in Brazil. The US government is protecting right wing extremists and coup plotters.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Apr 21

Fun timing x.com/PalantirTech...

15. The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone. The defanging of Germany was an overcorrection for which Europe is now paying a heavy price. A similar and highly theatrical commitment to Japanese pacifism will, if maintained, also threaten to shift the balance of power in Asia.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Apr 11

He made these comments in 2015 www.jstor.org/stable/43921...

The present issue of the Jewish Political Studies Review is devoted to the history
of Haj Amin al-Husseini and his long shadow. Recently, the issue of the Muftis
historical responsibility became a subject of public controversy when, on
October 20, 2015, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated in
an address at the 37th Zionist Congress in Jerusalem that Haj Amin al-Husseini
convinced Hitler to change his anti-Jewish policy from forced emigration to
extermination. Netanyahu mistakenly argued that Husseini "was one of the
leading architects of the Final Solution," but later retracted this statement.1
The contributor of our lead article, Jeffrey Herf, wrote that "it is important to
note that authoritative historians of the decision-making sequence leading to
the Holocaust found no such role for Husseini. The implication of their work
is that, had he never arrived in Hitlers Berlin in 1941, the Holocaust would
still have taken place.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Mar 30

Right. We will need to find someone that understands (or cares) it'll take more than 25 hours of work to be the opposition to fascism

His current book tour has fueled speculation that Booker is looking to run for president again. The title of his newest book, Stand, is a reference to his record-setting filibuster last year in the Senate, during which he addressed the Trump administration’s policies for 25 hours.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Mar 29

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Mar 26

"What Hedgehog 2025 exposed was not a glitch. Ukraine has spent four years building a warfighting machine more agile than NATO’s legacy ecosystem. Ukraine now produces 4 million drones annually. Tellingly, in February 2026, two Ukrainian manufacturers were selected for the “Unleashing American Drone Dominance” initiative to help the Pentagon catch up. The fundamental differences in innovation, technology, and policy behind this gap should spur a recalibration of NATO’s views on Ukraine.

The first key difference is Ukraine’s unit-level feedback loop. Ukraine has integrated drone production into units with soldiers using 3D printers, soldering irons, and even improvised explosives, allowing localized adaptation to operational needs. Ukraine now 3D prints fiber optic cable spools to mitigate Russian electronic warfare. As soldiers rotate off position, they provide feedback to engineers who immediately modify designs. This cycle cannot be replicated by NATO’s centralized procurement."

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Mar 23

So many users won't be able to upgrade to 26 yet. The article claims they released a patch on March 11th for older iOS versions, but I do not see release notes for iOS 18 after March 4th. What am I missing?

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Mar 20

So Bevin and his wife adopted Jonah from Ethiopia at the age of ~5 or so, and ~12 years later, at age 17, dropped him off at an abusive facility in Jamaica. I didn't need any more justification to hate Matt Bevin but thank you for the offer

It is a remarkable turn of events for the one term Republican governor, whose estranged son, Jonah, now 19, intervened in the divorce case of Matt and his ex-wife, Glenna Bevin. The case is still pending while Jonah — who alleges his parents abandoned him at age 17 in a brutally abusive youth facility in Jamaica—seeks support.

Jonah is one of four children from Ethiopia the Bevins adopted in 2012.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Mar 15

Well then www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

A Democrat running for Senate in Maine who previously apologized for a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol is now defending the design as nothing more than a skull-and-crossbones.

Graham Platner, who hopes to run against incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins, was mired in scandal last year when it was revealed he has a tattoo on his chest resembling the Nazi 'Totenkopf' or 'death's head' symbol adopted by Hitler's SS.

He has since had it altered to resemble some kind of animal.

At first Platner apologized, saying he didn't realize the symbol was associated with Nazism, and promised he'd get it removed.

But in an interview this week with news blog Zeteo, Platner pushed back, defending the tattoo as merely a 'skull-and-crossbones' and 'an eminently reasonable thing'.

During the interview he also recommended the war movie Come and See, which prominently and repeatedly shows the similar 'Totenkopf' on Nazi uniforms.

'Everybody should watch Come and See,' he said.

The fact that the 1985 film is one of his favorites may undermine his claims that he didn't know the association of the symbol with Nazis.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Mar 8

Why do they need to secure a nuclear program that they claim was “completely obliterated” in June 2025?

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Mar 5

Important that people read the article & understand the mechanisms by which these things occur so they can determine their best options now and in the future (i.e., if the Swiss gov't ends the MLAT, the FBI will no longer have that avenue to collect this data. With today's USG, it is a possibility).

The records provide insight into the sort of data that Proton Mail, which prides itself both on its end-to-end encryption and that it is only governed by Swiss privacy law, can and does provide to third parties. In this case, the Proton Mail account was affiliated with the Defend the Atlanta Forest (DTAF) group and Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta, which authorities were investigating for their connection to arson, vandalism and doxing. Broadly, members were protesting the building of a large police training center next to the Intrenchment Creek Park in Atlanta, and actions also included camping in the forest and lawsuits. Charges against more than 60 people have since been dropped.

Information the FBI received showed a specific person as the payment source for a particular Proton Mail account, the record shows. “On January 25, 2024, subscriber information received from the Swiss Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty Unit, revealed [full name] (SUBJECT) as the payment source for the Proton e-mail address defendtheatlantaforest@protonmail.com,” it reads. 404 Media is not publishing the person’s name because they don’t appear to have been charged with a crime, according to searches of court databases.

The document says the FBI believes that whoever manages the Proton Mail account likely has administrative access to the blog. The FBI received details about that Proton Mail account from the Swiss authorities via a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, or MLAT. An MLAT is when authorities in one country agree to provide information to an agency in another country. These are often used when the company or entity holding the information may only respond to local law enforcement demands for data.

Edward Shone, head of communications for Proton AG, the company behind Proton Mail, told 404 Media in an email: “We want to first clarify that Proton did not provide any information to the FBI, the information was obtained from the Swiss justice department via MLAT. Proton only provides the limited information that we have when issued with a legally binding order from Swiss authorities, which can only happen after all Swiss legal checks are passed. This is an important distinction because Proton operates exclusively under Swiss law.” Functionally, though, the material was provided to the FBI.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Mar 1

😐

In addition, Cornacchia has suggested that the global war on terror was conducted “on behest of Israel” and claimed Israel would benefit if another 9/11-style attack were carried out during the tenure of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, saying it would help to drum up Islamophobic sentiment and lead to another foreign military entanglement in the Middle East.

The Jewish state “got exactly who they wanted” in Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor whom the Israeli government has accused of antisemitism, he argued on his own show in November. “Thats their candidate, guys. You got to pay attention.”

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Feb 18

Several of the migrants in the detention center who arrived there in January said they had felt pressured by the local authorities to return to their home countries or face indefinite detention in Cameroon, according to four people on the flight interviewed by The Times.
"The state cannot prevent the public from knowing where they are keeping deportees who are not even citizens," said Mr. Fru, the lawyer supporting the deportees. "That goes to the whole idea of shady deals in the dark."
Through deals forged with willing
governments - often in exchange for cash — the United States has deported hundreds of people to countries that may not respect the removal protections they have been granted in U.S. courts, returning some of them to the dangers they fled.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Feb 18

Quite the perversion of justice here. Sick and twisted ruling.

Immigration Judge Tamar Wilson, sitting in Elizabeth, New Jersey, said she believes detention to be mandatory given the felony drug conviction. Alternatively, she agreed with Department of Homeland Security officials who said he remains a safety risk.

“The fact he’s been a ‘model prisoner’ does not suggest that out in the general public he’s going to be safe,” Wilson said.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Feb 10

I don't know the precise origin, but this article points to Breitbart circa 2015 www.chron.com/news/houston...

An article by right-wing news organization Breitbart published in January about the existence of an Islamic tribunal first sparked the rumors. In February, Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne took to Facebook to say she would look into the alleged "Sharia Court" and added: "Our nation cannot be so overly sensitive in defending other cultures that we stop protecting our own." From there the tale spread out of control.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Feb 7

In his final year at HKS, Hegseth wrote a policy brief that called for Minnesota to create a high school that would “emphasize equity” and enroll a “diverse student body.”

Since taking the helm of the Department of Defense in 2025, Hegseth has adopted a remarkably different tenor, targeting mentions of diversity, equity, and inclusion in his department and beyond.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Feb 3

Yeah…definitely still ratfucking www.axios.com/2025/12/02/t...

Zoom in: Shortly after Trump took office in January, Stone wrote three separate Substack posts calling for the pardon of Hernandez, who was indicted the day he left office in 2022 and extradited to the U.S. to face cocaine-trafficking and weapons charges.

Stone cast Hernandez as a victim of leftist "lawfare" in Honduras and in President Biden's administration.

DistrictofAlex@districtofalex· Feb 3

That's right. DOJ's list of sanctuary jurisdictions is limited to desolate airports that no one travels to. Members of Congress would not even notice. Do it, Mark.