MONEY IS A MASS DELUSION...but the US government still levies taxes in dollars, which it spends on a very real-world military.

Intro: Money is a mass delusion, and so people’s confidence in it matters.

Economists have stuff like “consumer confidence indices,” which are not necessary for the study of real things. A tree’s existence, for example, does not depend on confidence.

Bitcoin is a pure distillation of what John Maynard Keynes called finance’s “animal spirits.” Anyone who’s transacting in Bitcoin has joined a chosen community of fellow believers — Bitcoin is backed by, in practical terms, nothing.

The US dollar may not be pegged to gold anymore, but the US government still levies taxes in dollars, which it spends on a very real-world military.

Since Bitcoin doesn’t have that, the way people feel about it really matters.

 

LATEST ARTICLES FROM BLEEPING COMPUTER https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/

Security

REvil ransomware returns: New malware sample confirms gang is back

The notorious REvil ransomware operation has returned amidst rising tensions between Russia and the USA, with new infrastructure and a modified encryptor allowing for more targeted attacks.

• Lawrence Abrams
• May 01, 2022
• 02:06 PM
• 0

Security

Open source 'Package Analysis' tool finds malicious npm, PyPI packages

The Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), a Linux Foundation-backed initiative has released its first prototype version of the 'Package Analysis' tool that aims to catch and counter malicious attacks on open source registries. the open source tool released on GitHub was able to identify over 200 malicious npm and PyPI packages.

• Ax Sharma
• May 01, 2022
• 11:42 AM
• 0

Security

Russian hackers compromise embassy emails to target governments

Security analysts have uncovered a recent phishing campaign from Russian hackers known as APT29 (Cozy Bear or Nobelium) targeting diplomats and government entities.

• Bill Toulas
• May 01, 2022
• 11:06 AM
• 0

Security

A YouTuber is promoting DDoS attacks on Russia — how legal is this?

A YouTube influencer with hundreds of thousands of subscribers is encouraging everyone to conduct cyber warfare against Russia. How risky is it and can you get in trouble?

• Ax Sharma
• May 01, 2022
• 10:11 AM
• 5

Google

Google fights doxxing with updated personal info removal policy

Google has expanded its policies to allow doxxing victims to remove more of their personally identifiable information (PII) from search engine results starting earlier this week.

• Sergiu Gatlan
• May 01, 2022
• 10:00 AM
• 2

 

Security

Cyberspies breach networks via IP cameras to steal Exchange emails 

A newly discovered and uncommonly stealthy Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group is breaching corporate networks to steal Exchange (on-premise and online) emails from employees involved in corporate transactions such as mergers and acquisitions.

• Sergiu Gatlan
• May 02, 2022
• 01:28 PM
• 0

Security

Car rental giant Sixt facing disruptions due to a cyberattack

​Car rental giant Sixt was hit by a weekend cyberattack causing business disruptions at customer care centers and select branch

• Bill Toulas
• May 02, 2022
• 11:44 AM
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Tech Cryptocurrency NFTs

HEADLINE STORIES FROM  The Verge

Features

              

Crypto is winning, and Bitcoin diehards are furious about it

As cryptocurrency thrives, Bitcoiners seethe

(Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge)

         

By Elizabeth Lopatto@mslopatto Apr 28, 2022, 1:00pm EDT

"In  last day of the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami Beach, comedian Donnell Rawlings starts his routine by noting there are a lot of white people in the audience and then asks if we were involved in storming the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. He’s just warming up. “I’m at a Bitcoin convention, and I don’t even know what the fuck a Bitcoin is,” Rawlings says. “I don’t know nothing about crypto, but I know some of the bangingest parties I’ve been to is some crypto parties.”

He goes on: “I know I’m fucked because they paid me in crypto, and I don’t even know how to cash out.” Crypto has to be popular because he can count the number of people sitting in his set, and he knows “I should not be getting the amount of money I am getting paid tonight.”

“Listen, we don’t want no crypto-Bitcoin beef up in here, all right?”

Rawlings has said “crypto” a lot, and it’s making the crowd restless. After a few more repetitions of the word “crypto,” several people in the crowd begin yelling “Bitcoin.” Crypto, after all, is the blanket term for all digital, blockchain-based assets. That includes everything from Ethereum, the popular blockchain used for decentralized apps and NFTs, to shitcoins, parlance for all non-Bitcoin tokens.

“Listen, we don’t want no crypto-Bitcoin beef up in here, all right?” Rawlings says. The crowd laughs. But I keep thinking about this after the conference is over. To mainstream Bitcoin, the libertarian and anti-state politics associated with it may get shaved off — much as Eternal September changed the culture of the web itself.

Welcome to Bitcoin 2022. Cryptocurrency is the most mainstream it’s ever been, but somehow at this conference, the tone is primarily aggrieved. . .

            

Bored Ape Yacht Club creator’s metaverse mint rocks the Ethereum blockchain

0 New, 43 comments

Millions were spent in gas fees

By Emma Roth May 1, 2022, 2:28pm EDT

"Yuga Labs, the web3 company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, disrupted the entire Ethereum blockchain as a flood of users rushed to purchase NFTs representing virtual plots of land in its upcoming metaverse project, Otherside. A total of 55,000 Otherdeeds sold at a flat price of 305 ApeCoin, or around $5,800 at the time of purchase (via CoinTelegraph), raising about $320 million in what was considered the “largest NFT mint in history.”

Otherdeeds are minted in BAYC’s native ApeCoin, but still require Ethereum for gas fees. A gas fee is the cost associated with a transaction on the Ethereum blockchain. Fees typically increase as the network gets more congested because it becomes more work to process a transaction.

Such a large volume of transactions during the Otherdeed mint caused gas fees to soar. As noted by CoinTelegraph, Reddit user u/johnfintech pointed out that some buyers shelled out anywhere from 2.6 ETH ($6,500) to 5 ETH ($14,000) in gas fees alone — more than the cost of an Otherdeed NFT (and in some cases, more than twice the cost). By the time the virtual land deeds sold out, buyers paid a total of about $123 million just to execute their transactions on the Ethereum blockchain (via Bloomberg).

Yuga Labs issued an apology on Twitter shortly after the mint ended. “We’re sorry for turning off the lights on Ethereum for a while,” Yuga Labs said. “It seems abundantly clear that ApeCoin will need to migrate to its own chain in order to properly scale. We’d like to encourage the DAO [decentralized autonomous organization] to start thinking in this direction.” The ApeCoin DAO, the entity responsible for making decisions within the ApeCoin community, exists separately from Yuga Labs. The DAO’s decisions are carried out by the Ape Foundation’s Board, consisting of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Animoca co-founder Yat Siu, and others. . .

The disruption slowed transactions on Ethereum-linked services, like Uniswap, and caused the Ethereum transaction tracker, Etherscan, to crash. A number of users also reported losing thousands of dollars to gas fees in failed transactions. Yuga Labs promised to reimburse users for the gas fees associated with failed transactions, but it’s unclear what the refund process will look like. The Verge reached out to Yuga Labs with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

As outlined in a post days before the mint, Yuga Lab’s original goal was to avoid an “apocalyptic” gas war, or a sudden spike in gas fees due to high demand. It said it would ditch the popular Dutch auction style of minting, in which an NFT goes up for sale at a certain ceiling price and is then incrementally lowered over time. It employed an alternate method instead, selling NFTs at a flat price and opting to gradually allow more mints to occur over time:

[  ] The mess of a mint prompted some users to propose ways to improve the process in the future. Will Papper, the co-founder of Syndicate DAO, a platform that lets users create web3 investment clubs, suggested that Yuga Labs optimize its contracts to lower gas fees and adjust its mint mechanism.

In March, Yuga Labs raised $450 million in funding to build the Otherside, a decentralized metaverse with elements of gamification. While it’s supposed to encompass Yuga Lab’s NFT brands, such as the newly-acquired CryptoPunks and Meebits, the company has goals to extend support to NFTs from other entities. A lot is still unknown about the prospective Otherside, but that clearly hasn’t stopped its enthusiastic community from investing in the project."

Reference: https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/1/23051974/bored-ape-yacht-club-metaverse-mint-rocked-ethereum-blockchain-otherside-otherdeeds-yuga-labs

Next Up In Tech

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND HEALTH DANGERS RAISE ALARMS IN QUEEN CREEK: Dirty Pay-Dirt Deal

Intro: OOOOOOpss!! This bombshell got public fast --

Hours before the council meeting, the Arizona Commerce Authority issued a release that said construction of North America’s first ever cylindrical-type battery facility will start this summer with production commencing in 2024.

But residents who spoke at the April 20 council meeting – echoing complaints made by others at another council session two weeks earlier – accused officials of ignoring their questions about the deal and giving their blessing to an operation that posed environmental and health dangers to the community.

Because the comments were made on a matter not on the agenda, council members were forbidden by law from responding to their complaints. . ."

 

FIRST ALL THE HYPE AND USUAL HAPPY TALK: It all sounds so familiar

“Global technology leaders like LG are choosing Arizona because of our world-class business environment, advanced workforce, unbeatable quality of life, and culture of innovation – one that’s delivering unparalleled opportunity for current and future generations,” Gov. Doug Ducey said.

In welcoming LG to Queen Creek, Mayor Gail Barney in the release said, “The announcement of LG Energy Solution is the culmination of years of strategic planning. It will bring thousands of local jobs to our highly skilled workforce – enhancing the quality of life our residents experience, additional infrastructure and major capital investment.

This isn’t just a win for Queen Creek, it will positively impact our region. Advanced manufacturing is a targeted sector and will be located adjacent to State Route 24. The area is planned for mixed use and will further the employment opportunities for Queen Creek, Pinal County, the greater East Valley and the state.”

Chris Camacho, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, said the plant “solidifies the market’s position as a hub for battery technology and energy storage and is significant for Greater Phoenix as it continues to attract global leaders in emerging industries.”

(LG Energy Solution did not respond to the Tribune’s request for comment.)

Officials hail, residents condemn QC land deal

(The barren 650.5 are site at Ironwood and Germann roads sold last week at a state Land Department auction for $84.4 million to a South Korean energy company that cast the sole bid for the property. (Arizona Land Department)            

By Kathleen Stinson, Tribune Staff Writer Apr 30, 2022        Comments: 0 

> Diane McCollum of San Tan Valley said she spoke at the zoning meeting for the site and alleged, “It was not explained this would be heavy industrial.”

> Queen Creek resident Thomas Utka said at the April 20 meeting that he couldn’t believe a battery factory was going to be built across the street from two schools and vowed to vote against any incumbent seeking re-election. He said he will vote against the council members in the next election.

> Katrina Pint said 140,000 of LG’s batteries have been recalled by GM because they can catch on fire, stating, “No one is going to want to live in a contaminated area.”

> At the April 6 council meeting, several women spoke against locating a lithium battery plant in the town.They said they wondered why the town did not give them a chance to provide input on the plant during the planning process.

“Put this back on the agenda,” said San Tan Valley resident Lisa Horne. “The plant will reek of chemicals.”

> Queen Creek resident Ellen Gross said some council members have disappointed her by not living up to the vision of the town to provide a high quality of life to residents.

> Another Queen Creek resident, Linda Manning, said she did not read anything about the plant “prior to this. How did this plant get here?”

> Linda Doty of Queen Creek said, “Nobody here has seen the environmental impact statement...This is a dire situation...Where was all the input from the citizens?”

The environmental site assessment provided to the state Land Department states that Ninyo & Moore was retained to perform an environmental site assessment of the parcel.

“Based on the information compiled during the preparation of this report, this assessment has revealed no evidence of RECs, historical RECs (HRECs) or controlled RECs (CRECs) in connection with the site,” the report states.

REC is an acronym for “recognized environmental concern.”

 

 

MESA PD VIOLENT CRIME PROJECT DENSITY MAP 01Jan 2021 - 14 March 2022

A recent top story by Tribune Staff Writer Scott Shumaker on Sunday May 1, 2022 tells the story that the Mesa Police Department wants to tell you - There have been no comments so far.

One thing not mentioned is the time of The Pandemic concurrent with what they say generated some results.

Yes,there are uses for aggregate data that don't create privacy concerns or fears of ever more biased policing . . .
On the other hand, the desire to obtain any data available without a warrant is resulting in some very twisted uses of third-party records. . .
>Maria Polletta posted this article in the Arizona Republic on October 21, 2016 - two months after the Mesa City Council approved contracts, addressing lingering issues that few people are aware of . . . Over the next three years, Mesa will spend nearly $200,000 to implement PredPol crime-predicting software with councilmembers little informed about it.

 Can new Mesa police tool prevent crime from happening?
In August, a Mesa staff report asserted PredPol's hot-spot-generation tool would "support the city’s efforts to suppress, deter and reduce crime."
The department still is working to determine when it will begin using the software; how many officers it will train to use it; and what, if any, any tools or strategies it will use to measure PredPol's effectiveness, police spokesman Nik Rasheta said.
...Mesa Vice Mayor Dennis Kavanaugh, a longtime advocate of innovation and experimentation in public safety, called predictive policing "one of the best practices recommended for departments to consider," despite its potential limitations. . .

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BLOGGER INSERT: Please note these early contract details and the source for future funding:

This contract will provide services, resources and tools to support a successful implementation of Predictive Policing (PredPol) services to support the City’s efforts to suppress, deter and reduce crime. 
PredPol software will provide easy to use predictions for where and when property crime, drug crime, gun violence, gang activity and traffic incidents are most likely to occur based on historical data, current crimes and mathematical modeling.
The Police Department and Purchasing recommend awarding the contract to the sole source vendor, PredPol; year 1 at $60,400; and years 2 and 3 at $54,900 annually, based on estimated requirements. 
The one-time setup fee of $5,500 and an annual subscription fee of $54,900 (for the first three years) are funded by the Asset Forfeiture (RICO) Funds.

 

TOP STORY            

Hot-spot strategy is cooling violence, police say

             

By Scott Shumaker, Tribune Staff Writer May 1, 2022      Comments: 0

"Mesa Police Department officials told Mesa City Council’s public safety committee that an initiative to attack crime hot spots with a surge of officers for a limited period of time has helped the department lower violent crime in Mesa amid a national rise.

While overall crime in Mesa, including property crimes, is slightly up from last year, police said the city saw a 14% drop in violent incidents in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021.

They attributed the progress to a recently launched program that will target violent crime by drawing personnel from every division of the force together in a specific location every night for two weeks, once per quarter. . ."

Sometimes we can get compartmentalized, right, I’m doing my thing and Gang (Unit) does their thing.” Landato said. “It’s a good thing when you can kind of bring everybody out to play together, if you will. For me, that’s what I like to see.”

 

Patrol officers, gang and narcotics specialists, and “shirt and tie” detectives will work side-by-side to make seizures and arrests seen as most likely to prevent violent crime, such as drug dealing, illegal gun possession and outstanding warrants.

Chief Ken Cost told council in April that Mesa is one of the safest large cities in the U.S., but it still has its share of violent crime.

“People get in arguments and the guns come out, and gun play is a huge deal right now,” Cost said in April. At a community forum last year, Cost said, “we know that it’s the street level drug dealing that is turning into violent crimes.”

To try to head off a rise in violent crime last summer, Mesa PD rolled out a 15-week summer program. After analyzing violent crime between May and December of 2021 and seeing a decrease in violence, Mesa PD leadership asked district lieutenants to reinstitute a new version of the program in 2022, called the Violent Crime Program.

The first operation occurred earlier this year. . .

[   ] One example he gave was an arrest for drug possession by a patrol officer that eventually developed into a massive drug bust within two days. The patrol officer worked with detectives and narcotics agents to move up the food chain.

“One night you arrest somebody because they got drugs on them,” Landato said of focused violent crime operations, “and you get some information that leads you to over here. Next thing you know you’re doing a search warrant here and there’s drugs and, oh my gosh, this has led to information about over here.”

“Then the next thing you know you’re looking at something like this,” Landato said, showing off a picture of tables laden with 14 guns, almost 3,000 grams of fentanyl pills, 43 grams of heroin, 37 grams of meth, $10,000 in cash.

Sometimes we can get compartmentalized, right, I’m doing my thing and Gang (Unit) does their thing.” Landato said. “It’s a good thing when you can kind of bring everybody out to play together, if you will. For me, that’s what I like to see.”

THE BIG LIE IS NOW THE LIFE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

Intro: ‘It would be bad enough were Mark Brnovich the exception. But he exemplifies what’s happened to the Republican party over the last 19 months. . ."

Up and down the ranks of the Republican party, the new litmus test for gaining dollars, votes, and the coveted Trump endorsement is to embrace the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

For the rest of us – and for posterity – it should be a negative litmus test for politicians to place ambition over principle, narcissism over duty, and cowardice over conscience.

One by one, Republican midterm candidates are falling into line with Trump

Robert Reich

the Guardian

"The few Republicans who rejected Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen have since embraced the Big Lie in order to avoid Trump’s wrath

As Trump’s big lie of a stolen election began ricocheting across America in November 2020, Arizona’s Republican attorney general, Mark Brnovich (pronounced “Burn-o-vich”), spoke out forcefully on national television. He told the public that Donald Trump was projected to lose the swing state, and “no facts” suggested otherwise. (At the time I thought to myself, “Good for him. Maybe more Republican attorneys general will show some spine.”)

That was then. Recently, Brnovich – now running for US Senate from Arizona – came on to Steve Bannon’s far-right podcast with the opposite message: Brnovich said he was “investigating” the 2020 vote and had “serious concerns”.

INTENTIONAL AMBIGUITY: He went on: “It’s frustrating for all of us, because I think we all know what happened in 2020,” without explaining what he meant by “what happened.” (Bannon titled the podcast segment “AZ AG On Interim Report On Stealing The 2020 Election.”)

It would be bad enough were Brnovich the exception. But he exemplifies what’s happened to the Republican party over the last 19 months. Republican politicians who initially told the truth have since then embraced Trump’s big lie in order to gain Trump’s favor (or avoid his wrath) in their 2022 races. . .It would be bad enough were Brnovich the exception. But he exemplifies what’s happened to the Republican party over the last 19 months. Republican politicians who initially told the truth have since then embraced Trump’s big lie in order to gain Trump’s favor (or avoid his wrath) in their 2022 races. (Brnovich launched his “review” of the 2020 vote in Arizona in response to a widely ridiculed “audit” commissioned by Arizona Republican lawmakers.)

> It’s the same story with JD Vance, Republican candidate for the Senate from Ohio, who initially told the truth about the 2020 election but then pushed Trump’s lie to curry favor with Trump – and was rewarded last week with Trump’s endorsement and $10m in campaign funds from rightwing billionaire Peter Thiel.
> It’s the same with the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, who held on to his scruples for a few minutes after the January 6 insurrection – when he publicly criticized Trump and told House colleagues he’d urge Trump to resign – but then promptly did a 180 and traveled to Mar-a-Lago to display his total loyalty to Trump, even bestowing on his madness a jar of his favorite pink- and red-flavored Starbursts. (McCarthy has denied ever telling his colleagues he’d urge Trump to resign but was caught on tape doing just that.)

> And the same for the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, who initially condemned Trump. Early in the morning of 7 January McConnell told the New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin (according to an excerpt released this week from Martin’s and fellow reporter Alexander Burns’s forthcoming book): “I feel exhilarated by the fact that this fellow [Trump] finally, totally discredited himself. He put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger,” adding, “Couldn’t have happened at a better time.” McConnell vowed to crush the extremist “sons of bitches … in the primary in 22”.]

And now? McConnell won’t utter a negative word about Trump – or about those extremist “sons of bitches”. . .

How are Republican voters ever to know the truth when these toadies, sycophants, and unprincipled pawns repeat and amplify Trump’s lie? Fully 85% of Republicans now believe it (35% of Americans overall believe it).

The Republican party now stands for little more than the big lie – not for fiscal prudence or smaller government or stronger defense, not for state’s rights or religious freedom or even anti-abortion, but for a pernicious deception. The lie is now the life of the Republican party.

The real question – more in the realm of social psychology than political science – is how one profoundly sick, pathologically narcissistic man, who is obsessed with never losing, has been able to impose his obsession on one of America’s two political parties?

Which raises an even more troubling question: How can American democracy ever function when almost all Republican politicians are willing to sell out their oaths to the US constitution in order to kiss the derrière of this demented man? Why are no more than a handful of Republican politicians, such as Representative Liz Cheney, willing stand up to this monstrosity?

This is how fascism begins.

How can what was once a noble party – the party of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt – descend to such putrid depths, sowing distrust in our electoral system and in the peaceful transition of power that’s at the heart of democracy?

The real question – more in the realm of social psychology than political science – is how one profoundly sick, pathologically narcissistic man, who is obsessed with never losing, has been able to impose his obsession on one of America’s two political parties?

Which raises an even more troubling question: How can American democracy ever function when almost all Republican politicians are willing to sell out their oaths to the US constitution in order to kiss the derrière of this demented man? Why are no more than a handful of Republican politicians, such as Representative Liz Cheney, willing stand up to this monstrosity?

This is how fascism begins."

Reference: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/01/republican-midterm-candidates-falling-into-line-trump

WHO WHAT WHY...Amazing HOW they do what they do...WHEN is a great time

Things I need to get back to read when there's more time

The “New Israel”: The Irreversible Peril of Ukraine’s Militarization.

STEFAN WEICHERT 04/28/22

Nearly a decade of war and a new hero cult that’s arisen since Russia’s invasion mean Ukraine is now one of the world’s most heavily militarized societies

 

 

On the Waterfront STAN MACK 04/28/22 Stan Mack’s Real Life Funnies, with real life dialogue, were a staple of the ‘Village Voice’ in its heyday. Now he’s back with his unique take on the 21st century   To Kill a Moron Bird JON RICHARDS 04/28/22 Elon Musk may kill Twitter, but it’s not exactly a healthy animal, is it?

EDITOR'S PICKS PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.   SpaceX Launches 4 Astronauts to ISS for NASA Following Private Flight (Maria) The author writes, “SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Wednesday, less than two days after completing a flight chartered by millionaires. It’s the first NASA crew comprised equally of men and women, including the first Black woman making a long-term spaceflight, Jessica Watkins. ‘This is one of the most diversified, I think, crews that we’ve had in a really, really long time,’ said NASA’s space operations mission chief Kathy Lueders. The astronauts arrived at the space station Wednesday night, just 16 hours after a predawn liftoff from Kennedy Space Center that thrilled spectators.” Deutsche Bank Whistleblower Found Dead in Los Angeles (DonkeyHotey) The author writes, “A self-described ‘comically terrible spy’ who is believed to have worked with federal authorities investigating the activities of Deutsche Bank and its ties with former President Donald Trump was found dead east of Lincoln Park, police said Tuesday. Valentin Broeksmit, 45, was found about 7 a.m. Monday in the 4500 block of Multnomah Street, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. An autopsy was pending to determine his cause of death.” Florida Man Asks Schools to Ban Bible Following the State’s Efforts to Remove Books (Reader Steve) From NPR: “A Florida activist known for his tongue-in-cheek petitions to local government agencies has asked school districts in Florida to ban the Bible. In petitions sent to public school superintendents across the state, Chaz Stevens asked the districts to ‘immediately remove the Bible from the classroom, library, and any instructional material,’ Stevens wrote in the documents, which were shared with NPR. … With Florida the latest flashpoint in the culture wars, Stevens decided it was time to take up arms. His target: The Bible. ‘My objection to the Bible being in your public schools is based on the following seven points, offered for your learned consideration,’ Stevens wrote. Stevens proceeded to question whether the Bible is age-appropriate, pointing to its ‘casual’ references to murder, adultery, sexual immorality, and fornication. ‘Do we really want to teach our youth about drunken orgies?’” NATO’s Nordic Expansion (Sean) From Foreign Affairs: “Before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, the question of NATO membership was barely part of the political debate in Finland and Sweden. Both countries have a long history of military nonalignment, and although they have gradually pursued closer cooperation with the United States and NATO — and politicians in both countries have long advocated membership — NATO accession was hardly seen as a pressing issue. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine changed all that. In response to Russian aggression, both countries are reassessing their security policies, and seeking NATO membership is rapidly emerging as the most realistic option.” Iraqis Clean Up River as First Green Projects Take Root (Laura) The author writes, “Garbage clogs the banks of Iraq’s Tigris River in Baghdad but an army of young volunteers is cleaning it, a rare environmental project in the war-battered country. With boots and gloves, they pick up soggy trash, water bottles, aluminium cans and muddy styrofoam boxes, part of a green activist campaign called the Cleanup Ambassadors.” Donate Today to WhoWhatWhy is a non-profit public interest news team, and a lean one at that. Every dollar we raise comes from you and people like you—and every dollar goes into getting to the bottom of stories that matter.  Please...take a moment to support our work with a tax-deductible contribution

Total lunar eclipse, planets & star cluster in May 2022 skywatching

Manet's 'Execution of Maximilian' in 10 minutes | National Gallery