Link Roundup February 2024

[wepon]

How American citizens are leading rise of ‘settler violence’ on Palestinian lands

“Typically we describe American aliyah as an aliyah of choice because these aren’t immigrants like, say, today’s Ukrainians coming to Israel fleeing war or those fleeing persecution or poverty. Rather Americans are looking to fulfil a set of ideological, religious or lifestyle values that they find in Israel and particularly over the green line,” she said. “Some of them wanted the lifestyle they lived in New Jersey which was not the lifestyle of Israel 20 or 30 years ago but they built it in the settlements.”

Alabama station in disbelief after 200-foot radio tower stolen

A radio station in Alabama was forced to go silent after thieves stole its 200-foot radio tower and other equipment from a building.

Brazil's ex-leader Bolsonaro surrenders passport over coup probe

Police accuse them of spreading doubts about the electoral system, which became a rallying cry for his supporters, who claimed the election was stolen from Mr Bolsonaro. This, police argue, set the stage for a potential coup. When it failed to get the support of the armed forces, however, his frustrated supporters stormed Congress, the building housing the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on 8 January 2023.

Hind Rajab, 6, found dead in Gaza days after phone calls for help

In a statement, the PRCS accused Israel of deliberately targeting the ambulance, as soon as it arrived at the scene on 29 January. "The [Israeli] occupation deliberately targeted the Red Crescent crew despite obtaining prior coordination to allow the ambulance to arrive at the scene to rescue the child Hind," it said. The PRCS told the BBC that it had taken several hours to coordinate access with the Israeli army, in order to send paramedics to Hind. "We got the coordination, we got the green light," PRCS spokeswoman, Nibal Farsakh, told me earlier this week. "On arrival, [the crew] confirmed that they could see the car where Hind was trapped, and they could see her. The last thing we heard is continuous gunfire."

In his second mix-up this week, Biden talks about meeting with dead European leaders

Biden said at both events that "Helmut Kohl," who died in 2017, had asked him how he would respond if he read about people storming the British Parliament and killing officers "to stop the election of a prime minister." Merkel attended the 2021 summit in the U.K.

Scientists aghast at bizarre AI rat with huge genitals in peer-reviewed article

Appall and scorn ripped through scientists' social media networks Thursday as several egregiously bad AI-generated figures circulated from a peer-reviewed article recently published in a reputable journal. Those figures—which the authors acknowledge in the article's text were made by Midjourney—are all uninterpretable. They contain gibberish text and, most strikingly, one includes an image of a rat with grotesquely large and bizarre genitals, as well as a text label of "dck."

Japan medical school confirms altering scores to limit women

The investigation found that in this year’s entrance exams the school reduced all applicants’ first-stage test scores by 20 percent and then added at least 20 points for male applicants, except those who had previously failed the test at least four times. It said similar manipulations had occurred for years because the school wanted fewer female doctors since it anticipated they would shorten or halt their careers after becoming mothers. Medical graduates usually work at school-affiliated hospitals once their careers begin. The education ministry official’s son, who had failed the exam three times, was given 20 additional points, elevating his score above the cutoff line.

Family of Henrietta Lacks settles with biotech company accused of exploiting her cells

More than 70 years after doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took Henrietta Lacks’ cervical cells without her knowledge, a lawyer for her descendants said they have reached a settlement with a biotechnology company they sued in 2021, accusing its leaders of reaping billions of dollars from a racist medical system.

'Ethnic bias' delayed care before Liverpool woman's death

A report last year by Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk Through Audits and Confidential Enquiries UK (MBRRACE-UK) found that between 2019 and 2021, woman from black ethnic backgrounds were four times more likely to die during pregnancy or immediately afterwards than white women.

Air Canada's chatbot gave a B.C. man the wrong information. Now, the airline has to pay for the mistake

Air Canada, for its part, argued that it could not be held liable for information provided by the bot.

The key to fighting pseudoscience isn’t mockery—it’s empathy

Ultimately, pseudoscience provides answers. Plausible-sounding, reasonable-enough answers. The world is harsh, confusing, and unfair. Pseudoscience gives comfort, explanation, and predictability. Pseudoscience makes the world appear more stable and understandable and relatable. Of course people seek answers in their daily horoscope, because it really sucks to live with an uncertain future. Of course people want to find ghosts in their house, because we still feel the pain of the loss of our loved ones. Of course people turn to homeopathic remedies, because diseases are agonizing and medical treatments aren’t always effective. Humans tend to trust the word of their friends and family over distant scientists because that’s the way we’re wired. Humans tend to be swayed by a good story over a good data set. The entire institution of science has developed over the past centuries as a part of a wider philosophical tradition to avert these natural human tendencies and arrive at non-obvious conclusions, to live with uncertainty and ever-evolving answers.

Tumblr CEO publicly spars with trans user over account ban, revealing private account names in the process

When juxtaposed, these two moderation decisions show the difficulty that platforms have in making decisions about certain types of speech. While Bluesky deemed that getting shoved from “somewhere real high” is hyperbolic, Tumblr decided that “a forever painful death involving a car covered in hammers that explodes more than a few times and hammers go flying everywhere” is a sound threat.

Man Shot at by Cops Who Got Scared by an Acorn ‘Damaged for Life’

A document laying out the investigation’s findings would be comical if the stakes weren’t so high. It describes Hernandez falling over, rolling on the ground for several seconds, falling over again while struggling to stand up and breaking his sunglasses, sending a piece flying into the frame. He shouted “shots fired” four times, said the shots were coming from the car, and claimed he was “hit.” His partner, who also unloaded into the car, seemed confused, at one point simply asking him, “What?” The sound of an acorn hitting the car is barely audible before the shooting begins. During the investigation, Hernandez was initially adamant that shots had been fired. He said that he did not have prior law enforcement experience but that he trained at West Point and served as an infantry and special forces officer for a decade, which included two rotations in Afghanistan. He said that he never faced combat because he was an officer.

Nazis mingle openly at CPAC, spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories and finding allies

Nazis appeared to find a friendly reception at the Conservative Political Action Conference this year. Throughout the conference, racist extremists, some of whom had secured official CPAC badges, openly mingled with conference attendees and espoused antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Oklahoma students walk out after trans student’s death to protest bullying policies

Ahead of the walkout on Monday, one counter-protester made anti-LGBTQ statements using a megaphone. As he made comments about AIDS and how Jesus Christ was the “real man” lesbians need, students holding signs stating “trans youth belong” surrounded him to block him from sight.

“Inverse vaccine” shows potential to treat multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases

In the new study, the researchers focused on a multiple-sclerosis-like disease in which the immune system attacks myelin, leading to weakness and numbness, loss of vision and, eventually mobility problems and paralysis. The team linked myelin proteins to pGal and tested the effect of the new inverse vaccine. The immune system, they found, stopped attacking myelin, allowing nerves to function correctly again and reversing symptoms of disease in animals. In a series of other experiments, the scientists showed that the same approach worked to minimize other ongoing immune reactions.

Landlords Are Enforcing No-Sex Tenancy Clauses Now

Brits are no strangers to outrageous landlords, but even this takes the piss. We’ve watched as landlords have passed off single rooms as entire flats, become influencers who vlog their evictions, and even charged their tenants for having friends over. Just when you thought they couldn’t sink any lower, they’ve come up with a new way to ruin your life: no-sex tenancy clauses.

Oklahoma senator calls LGBTQ+ people "filth" while commenting on death of Nex Benedict

During a legislative forum in Oklahoma on Friday sponsored by the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce, Sen. Tom Woods, R-Westville, commented on the death of 16-year-old nonbinary student Nex Benedict following an attack that took place on February 7 at Owasso High School, saying, "I represent a constituency that doesn't want that filth in Oklahoma," meaning gender fluidity, not apparent murder.

Republicans Block Bill to Protect IVF Access Nationwide

As the fallout continues from an Alabama court ruling that deemed frozen embryos from IVF were “extrauterine children,” Democrats pushed a vote Wednesday on the Access to Family Building Act, which would enshrine federal protections for IVF and other assisted reproductive technology.

Huckster Behind ‘Willy Wonka’ Event Also Sells AI-Written Vaccine Conspiracy Books

Since the Wonka fiasco, Coull has taken steps to scrub various social accounts, taking down both a LinkedIn profile and a YouTube channel where it appears he presented himself as something of a business guru and life coach. His personal site, also deleted, touted a number of dubious academic degrees and said he worked as a “consultant” for a brand called Empowerity, which is now defunct. As of 2021, he was co-directing a Glasgow foodbank that he claimed fed thousands of families a month — that, too, no longer exists, and some Glaswegians suspect it was not entirely above board.