Within a year, a violent consumer uprising would be under way, with riots and grenade attacks leaving dozens injured and five dead.
Tag: Reading
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Unwanted Truths: Inside Trump’s Battles With U.S. Intelligence Agencies – The New York Times
Unwanted Truths: Inside Trump’s Battles With U.S. Intelligence Agencies (Published 2020)
Last year, intelligence officials gathered to write a classified report on Russia’s interest in the 2020 election. An investigation from the magazine uncovered what happened next.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/08/magazine/us-russia-intelligence.html
Under Trump, intelligence officials have been placed in the unusual position of being pressured to justify the importance of their work, protect their colleagues from political retribution and demonstrate fealty to a president. Though intelligence officials have been loath to admit it publicly, the cumulative result has been devastating. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, compared the O.D.N.I.’s decline under Trump to that of the Justice Department, where “they have, step by step, set out to destroy one of the crown jewels of the American government,” he told me. “And they’re using the same playbook with the intelligence community.”
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How Vulnerable Is G.P.S.? | The New Yorker
How Vulnerable Is G.P.S.?
An engineering professor has proved—and exploited—its vulnerabilities.
via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/how-vulnerable-is-gps
Once they had logged where and when the spoofing incidents occurred, researchers cross-referenced this information with the travel schedule of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. On a fall afternoon in 2017, six minutes before Putin gave a speech in the coastal town of Bolshoy Kamen, a nearby ship’s G.P.S. coordinates showed it jumping to the airport in Vladivostok. In 2018, when Putin attended the official opening of a bridge across the Kerch Strait, at least twenty-four ships in the area reported their location as Anapa Airport, sixty-five kilometres away. What was going on? It seemed increasingly likely that the President’s security detail was travelling with a portable software-defined spoofer, in the hope of protecting Putin from drone attacks.
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Sarah Schulman’s Good Conflict
Sarah Schulman’s Good Conflict
The world is consumed by violent fights and hostile disagreements. The author and activist sees a way out of them.
via The Cut: https://www.thecut.com/2020/08/sarah-schulman-conflict-is-not-abuse.html
Schulman describes this episode in a book she wrote some years later, Conflict Is Not Abuse. The book’s central insight is that people experiencing the inevitable discomfort of human misunderstanding often overstate the harm that has been done to them — they describe themselves as victims rather than as participants in a shared situation. And overstating harm itself can cause harm, whether it leads to social shunning or physical violence.
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The Endgame of the Olympics
The Endgame of the Olympics – Longreads
What if the Olympic Games never come back?
via Longreads: https://longreads.com/2020/08/07/the-endgame-of-the-olympics/
That even a stripped-down version of the 2021 Games will happen is hardly a foregone conclusion. The pandemic may not be under control by then. Even if it is, and even if an effective vaccine against the coronavirus is developed in time, the Games still might not happen. The postponement is likely going to add billions to a budget that was already triple that of the original projection of the Tokyo bid that the IOC had accepted in 2013. Public opinion in Japan seems to be swinging against the Games, too. In a recent survey, 77 percent of respondents said that the Olympics could not be held next year. In another poll, a slim majority of Tokyo residents said the same thing.
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China’s Artificial Intelligence Surveillance State Goes Global – The Atlantic
The Panopticon Is Already Here
Xi Jinping is using artificial intelligence to enhance his government’s totalitarian control—and he’s exporting this technology to regimes around the globe.
via The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/china-ai-surveillance/614197/
By 2030, AI supremacy might be within range for China. The country will likely have the world’s largest economy, and new money to spend on AI applications for its military. It may have the most sophisticated drone swarms. It may have autonomous weapons systems that can forecast an adversary’s actions after a brief exposure to a theater of war, and make battlefield decisions much faster than human cognition allows. Its missile-detection algorithms could void America’s first-strike nuclear advantage. AI could upturn the global balance of power.
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How a Coalition of New York Activists Revealed Police-Department Secrets | The New Yorker
How a Coalition of New York Activists Revealed Police-Department Secrets
The widespread protests over George Floyd’s death helped prompt legislators to repeal a law known as Section 50-A, which kept police disciplinary records from public view.
via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/how-a-coalition-of-new-york-activists-revealed-police-department-secrets
In March, 2018, BuzzFeed began publishing a series of articles based on the records and announced plans to publish them in its own online database. Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch was so alarmed that he asked city officials to identify the source of what he termed “stolen records” and to “hold those responsible accountable.” No such efforts were made, but the city’s law department directed the Municipal Library to restrict access to its archive of personnel orders, a library official confirmed. “I couldn’t believe that I was watching a progressive mayor remove from public view records of government misconduct from a public archive,” Conti-Cook said.
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The Fractured World of Tennis Amid a Prolonged Pandemic | The New Yorker
The Fractured World of Tennis Amid a Prolonged Pandemic
The coronavirus has illuminated the stark divides in a global game—and spurred new efforts to bridge them.
via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/the-fractured-world-of-tennis-amid-a-prolonged-pandemic
The coronavirus has illuminated the stark divides in a global game—and spurred new efforts to bridge them.
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Inside Jimmy Lai’s Apple Daily During Hong Kong’s Media Crackdown – The New York Times
‘We Will Persevere’: A Newspaper Faces the Weight of Hong Kong’s Crackdown (Published 2020)
Apple Daily, a pro-democracy paper known for celebrity gossip and hard-hitting investigations, has become a target in Beijing’s new national security law in Hong Kong.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/world/asia/hong-kong-apple-daily-jimmy-lai.html?ref=oembed
Apple Daily, a pro-democracy paper known for celebrity gossip and hard-hitting investigations, has become a target in Beijing’s new national security law in Hong Kong.
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Inside the Iraqi Kleptocracy – The New York Times
Inside the Iraqi Kleptocracy (Published 2020)
Corruption, as much as violence, makes Iraq unlivable. It helped fuel the rise of ISIS. And America provides the cash to sustain it, at least $10 billion a year in hard currency.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/magazine/iraq-corruption.html?ref=oembed
Early last October, while working in his office in Baghdad, a businessman named Hussein Laqees got a phone call from a number he’d never seen before. “We need to talk,” the caller said. The man’s voice was gruff and self-assured, a little menacing. He demanded that Laqees come meet him but refused to give his name.
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China’s Arrest of a Free-Speech Icon Backfires in Hong Kong | The New Yorker
China’s Arrest of a Free-Speech Icon Backfires in Hong Kong
The arrest of the tycoon and democracy activist Jimmy Lai has reinvigorated defiance rather than demoralize his supporters.
via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/chinas-arrest-of-a-free-speech-icon-backfires-in-hong-kong
Last September, when I was in Hong Kong reporting on the anti-government protests engulfing the city, I spent an afternoon in the industrial-looking headquarters of Apple Daily, a popular tabloid owned by perhaps the city’s most unusual tycoon, an outspoken democracy activist and one of the Communist Party’s leading critics. To meet Jimmy Lai, I walked through the publication’s vast open-plan office, where hundreds of staff members busily put out the day’s news. “When I went into the publishing business, twenty-five years ago, it was a no-brainer,” Lai told me in his office, which resembled the appearance of its owner: determinedly functional and, unusually for Hong Kong, absent of status markers. “Information is freedom, and I wanted to be in the business of delivering freedom.” Lai admitted that back then he hardly thought this was a risky proposition. “I believed that all of China was going forward, that it was inevitable China would adapt to openness.”
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Putin Chef’s Kisses of Death: Russia’s Shadow Army’s State-Run Structure Exposed – bellingcat
Putin Chef’s Kisses of Death: Russia’s Shadow Army’s State-Run Structure Exposed – bellingcat
Yevgeny Prigozhin can be described as the Renaissance man of deniable Russian black ops. An ex convict who served time for robbery, fraud and involving a minor in drinking and criminal activity, he began his legitimate business career in the 90s as a St.
via bellingcat: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/08/14/pmc-structure-exposed/
Yevgeny Prigozhin can be described as the Renaissance man of deniable Russian black ops. An ex convict who served time for robbery, fraud and forcing minors into prostitution, he began his legitimate business career in the 90s as a St. Petersburg restaurant owner and later as caterer for the Kremlin.
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Putin Chef’s Kisses of Death: Russia’s Shadow Army’s State-Run Structure Exposed – bellingcat
Putin Chef’s Kisses of Death: Russia’s Shadow Army’s State-Run Structure Exposed – bellingcat
Yevgeny Prigozhin can be described as the Renaissance man of deniable Russian black ops. An ex convict who served time for robbery, fraud and involving a minor in drinking and criminal activity, he began his legitimate business career in the 90s as a St.
via bellingcat: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/08/14/pmc-structure-exposed/
Now, a long-running investigation by Bellingcat, The Insider and Der Spiegel has uncovered that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s disinformation, political interference and military operations are tightly integrated with Russia’s Defense Ministry and its intelligence arm, the GRU. Prigozhin’s private infrastructure – along with that of other government-dependent entrepreneurs, like Kostantin Malofeev – it appears serves as a deniable veneer and a round-tripping money laundering channel for government-mandated overseas operations.
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Inside the Mind of the MAGA Bomber, the Trump Superfan Who Tried to Wreak Havoc on the Last National Election | Washingtonian (DC)
Inside the Mind of the MAGA Bomber, the Trump Superfan Who Tried to Wreak Havoc on the Last National Election – Washingtonian
It was around 2:30 AM—a couple hours before closing time at the strip club—when Cesar Sayoc’s coworkers noticed him acting strangely. A bouncer and occasional emcee at the club, Sayoc had worked that night but finished up earlier. Now he’d come back in, t
via Washingtonian – The website that Washington lives by.: https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/08/13/inside-the-mind-of-the-maga-bomber-the-trump-superfan-who-tried-to-wreak-havoc-on-the-last-national-election/
At some point during Sayoc’s breakdown, he resolved to take more drastic action. In 2017 and 2018, according to federal prosecutors, Sayoc plugged a number of alarming terms into Google: “How to kill all democrats,” “Kill George soros head off,” “Kill all socialist.” In March 2018, he searched the phrases “What a letter bomb” and “How do they make letter bomb”; among the results was a YouTube video labeled “demonstration of a letter bomb.”
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Hong Kong Arrests Jimmy Lai Under National Security Law – The New York Times
Hong Kong Arrests Jimmy Lai, Media Mogul, Under National Security Law (Published 2020)
The pro-democracy figure is the most high-profile person detained under the sweeping legislation imposed by Beijing. “It’s hard to believe this is Hong Kong,” said a journalist.
The pro-democracy figure is the most high-profile person detained under the sweeping legislation imposed by Beijing. “It’s hard to believe this is Hong Kong,” said a journalist.
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After Jerry Falwell Jr.’s Stumble, This Is How His Hometown Sees Him – The New York Times
After Falwell Stumbles, His Hometown Sees a Leader in Need of Redemption (Published 2020)
Jerry Falwell Jr. has courted controversy repeatedly, but a provocative Instagram post led to him stepping aside as Liberty University’s president.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/09/us/jerry-falwell-liberty-university.html?ref=oembed
In it, he had his pants unbuttoned and his arm around a woman who was not his wife. In an accompanying post, he had a glass of what he described as “black water” that appeared to be alcohol.
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How Pro-Trump Forces Work the Refs in Silicon Valley – The New York Times
How Pro-Trump Forces Work the Refs in Silicon Valley (Published 2020)
The new referees in American politics are Facebook, Google and Twitter, and they would be wise to pay attention to lessons the old media tried to learn.
The new referees in American politics are Facebook, Google and Twitter, and they would be wise to pay attention to lessons the old media tried to learn.
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The Trump Campaign Tries to Change the Subject | The New Yorker
The Trump Campaign Tries to Change the Subject
A dive into the “exclusive content” from Trump 2020 shows a campaign running away from its candidate’s performance in office.
via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-trump-campaign-tries-to-change-the-subject
These ads seem to have come from the same playbook that Trump has been relying on for months now, with little success if you believe the polls. To get a better idea of how the campaign is trying to motivate the President’s loyal supporters and reach out to less committed ones, I downloaded the campaign’s official app, which promised to supply me with “exclusive content and campaign updates.” For a couple of days, I dived into the online Trump world, which turned out to be an immersive experience.
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Trump’s Attack on the Postal Service Is a Threat to Democracy—and to Rural America | The New Yorker
Trump’s Attack on the Postal Service Is a Threat to Democracy—and to Rural America
If Republicans succeed in their long-sought goal of privatizing the Postal Service, they will suck out what life remains in many of the communities they theoretically represent.
via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/trumps-attack-on-the-postal-service-is-a-threat-to-democracy-and-to-rural-america
I’ve lived most of my life in small towns in pretty remote rural areas. Some were in red regions, some were purplish-blue—but every last one of them centered on the local post office. I remember years of picking up the mail from a little window in the postmaster’s living room. (If you called her the postmistress, she would tartly reply, “Uncle Sam can’t afford mistresses.”) Eventually, she needed her parlor back, to have room to work on her genealogy projects, so the community built a small freestanding building. Where I live now, the local post office takes up a third of the space in the only business in our town, a country store complete with potbellied stove and rocking chairs. It’s probably why we still have a store: if you’re there to pick up mail, you might as well get some eggs, too.
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Can Charlie Kaufman Get Out of His Head? | The New Yorker
Can Charlie Kaufman Get Out of His Head?
Kaufman became famous writing self-conscious films in a self-conscious time. In his début novel, he reminds us of the triumphs—and blind spots—of a generation.
via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/can-charlie-kaufman-get-out-of-his-head
Kaufman became famous writing self-conscious films in a self-conscious time. In his début novel, he reminds us of the triumphs—and blind spots—of a generation.