Erik
@spurious-emissions.bsky.social
Programmer, electronics & radio enthusiast, brass musician.
Reposted by Erik
A day before President Volodymyr Zelensky met U.S. President Donald Trump, European leaders privately warned the Ukrainian president that the talks could go badly and urged him to "be careful," according to detailed notes from the call shared with the Kyiv Independent by a senior diplomatic source.
Exclusive: 'Be careful' — European leaders warned Zelensky to assess Trump's real stance at Mar-a-Lago
A day before President Volodymyr Zelensky met U.S. President Donald Trump, European leaders privately warned the Ukrainian president that the talks could go badly and urged him to "be careful," accord...
kyivindependent.com
December 29, 2025 at 7:03 PM
A day before President Volodymyr Zelensky met U.S. President Donald Trump, European leaders privately warned the Ukrainian president that the talks could go badly and urged him to "be careful," according to detailed notes from the call shared with the Kyiv Independent by a senior diplomatic source.
Every time I try to think of a way to articulate my thoughts on this, as well as the 'peace proposal' situation more broadly, it makes my head hurt.
There simply are no words.
Zelenskyy's reaction says it all, really.
There simply are no words.
Zelenskyy's reaction says it all, really.
'Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed': watch Zelenskyy react to Trump's claim
YouTube video by Guardian News
m.youtube.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Every time I try to think of a way to articulate my thoughts on this, as well as the 'peace proposal' situation more broadly, it makes my head hurt.
There simply are no words.
Zelenskyy's reaction says it all, really.
There simply are no words.
Zelenskyy's reaction says it all, really.
Reposted by Erik
Flint Hills rancher works to restore biodiversity of imperiled Kansas tallgrass prairie ecosystems | via Erin Socha #ksleg
Flint Hills rancher works to restore biodiversity of imperiled Kansas tallgrass prairie ecosystems • Kansas Reflector
Cattle ranchers like Bill Sproul have translated this conservationist philosophy into land management by adopting practices collectively known as “regenerative grazing.”
kansasreflector.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Flint Hills rancher works to restore biodiversity of imperiled Kansas tallgrass prairie ecosystems | via Erin Socha #ksleg
"Throughout every round of talks, the basic facts have not changed. Russian officials repeatedly state that the war will end only when its “root causes” have been dealt with, a vague formulation that involves Russia retaining some form of military or political control over Ukraine’s future."
Is claim Ukraine deal is ‘95% done’ just another empty assertion from Trump?
Is claim Ukraine deal is ‘95% done’ just another empty assertion from Trump?
A sober observer assessing the US president’s claim may react the same way as Zelenskyy – with shock and disbelief
www.theguardian.com
December 30, 2025 at 12:51 AM
"Throughout every round of talks, the basic facts have not changed. Russian officials repeatedly state that the war will end only when its “root causes” have been dealt with, a vague formulation that involves Russia retaining some form of military or political control over Ukraine’s future."
Reposted by Erik
These fungi boost plant growth and restore depleted ecosystems, but federal funding for a library housing them has been cut – and it may be forced to close
Defunding fungi: US’s living library of ‘vital ecosystem engineers’ is in danger of closing
www.theguardian.com
December 28, 2025 at 2:40 AM
These fungi boost plant growth and restore depleted ecosystems, but federal funding for a library housing them has been cut – and it may be forced to close
Reposted by Erik
Schools bombed. Football fields destroyed. Swimming pools damaged.
Ukraine’s children are losing the spaces meant for learning, play, and safety.
Read our investigation ⬇️
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/12...
Ukraine’s children are losing the spaces meant for learning, play, and safety.
Read our investigation ⬇️
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/12...
How Russia’s Invasion is Impacting Ukraine’s Youth - bellingcat
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian educational facilities and spaces used by children have been damaged in air strikes or closed because of them.
www.bellingcat.com
December 27, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Schools bombed. Football fields destroyed. Swimming pools damaged.
Ukraine’s children are losing the spaces meant for learning, play, and safety.
Read our investigation ⬇️
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/12...
Ukraine’s children are losing the spaces meant for learning, play, and safety.
Read our investigation ⬇️
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/12...
Reposted by Erik
1. LLM-generated code tries to run code from online software packages. Which is normal but
2. The packages don’t exist. Which would normally cause an error but
3. Nefarious people have made malware under the package names that LLMs make up most often. So
4. Now the LLM code points to malware.
2. The packages don’t exist. Which would normally cause an error but
3. Nefarious people have made malware under the package names that LLMs make up most often. So
4. Now the LLM code points to malware.
LLMs hallucinating nonexistent software packages with plausible names leads to a new malware vulnerability: "slopsquatting."
LLMs can't stop making up software dependencies and sabotaging everything
: Hallucinated package names fuel 'slopsquatting'
www.theregister.com
April 12, 2025 at 11:43 PM
1. LLM-generated code tries to run code from online software packages. Which is normal but
2. The packages don’t exist. Which would normally cause an error but
3. Nefarious people have made malware under the package names that LLMs make up most often. So
4. Now the LLM code points to malware.
2. The packages don’t exist. Which would normally cause an error but
3. Nefarious people have made malware under the package names that LLMs make up most often. So
4. Now the LLM code points to malware.
Reposted by Erik
Documentary about police raid on Kansas newspaper to premiere at Sundance Film Festival | via Maya Smith #ksleg
Documentary about police raid on Kansas newspaper to premiere at Sundance Film Festival • Kansas Reflector
A documentary about the police raid of the Marion County Record is set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2026, more than two years after law enforcement stormed the newspaper office, ...
kansasreflector.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Documentary about police raid on Kansas newspaper to premiere at Sundance Film Festival | via Maya Smith #ksleg
Reposted by Erik
The year 2025 arrived with talk of peace. It ended to the rattle of air-defense systems across Ukraine.
This is 2025 in Ukraine, told in photographs:
kyivindependent.com/2025-ukraine...
This is 2025 in Ukraine, told in photographs:
kyivindependent.com/2025-ukraine...
December 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
The year 2025 arrived with talk of peace. It ended to the rattle of air-defense systems across Ukraine.
This is 2025 in Ukraine, told in photographs:
kyivindependent.com/2025-ukraine...
This is 2025 in Ukraine, told in photographs:
kyivindependent.com/2025-ukraine...
Reposted by Erik
Our photographer Alex Kormann captured the exact moment the presses stopped for the last time in Minneapolis, ending a 158 history of locally printed newspapers.
December 28, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Our photographer Alex Kormann captured the exact moment the presses stopped for the last time in Minneapolis, ending a 158 history of locally printed newspapers.
Reposted by Erik
Here’s to 2026
December 27, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Here’s to 2026
Reposted by Erik
A fire tore through the historic Old Port waterfront in Portland, Maine, on Friday night, damaging aging buildings and several boats along Custom House Wharf, authorities said.
Fire in Portland’s Old Port damages its historic waterfront and sinks at least one boat
A fire tore through the historic Old Port waterfront in Portland, Maine, on Friday night, damaging aging buildings and several boats along Custom House Wharf, authorities said.
bit.ly
December 27, 2025 at 7:00 PM
A fire tore through the historic Old Port waterfront in Portland, Maine, on Friday night, damaging aging buildings and several boats along Custom House Wharf, authorities said.
Reposted by Erik
my festive spirit amidst our grimly stupid reality (2025)
December 23, 2025 at 9:34 PM
my festive spirit amidst our grimly stupid reality (2025)
Reposted by Erik
EU 'strongly condemns' US sanctions against five Europeans over digital regulation
EU 'strongly condemns' US sanctions against five Europeans over digital regulation
After the Trump administration sanctioned five European figures over the EU's digital regulations, which it dubbed 'censorship,' the EU, France and Germany have reacted by denouncing the move.
www.lemonde.fr
December 24, 2025 at 12:13 PM
EU 'strongly condemns' US sanctions against five Europeans over digital regulation
Reposted by Erik
Macron and EU condemn US visa bans as row over ‘censorship’ escalates
Macron and EU condemn US visa bans as row over ‘censorship’ escalates
Washington accused of ‘coercion and intimidation’ after five Europeans behind campaign to regulate US tech giants targeted
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the European Union have accused Washington of “coercion and intimidation”, after the US imposed a visa ban on five prominent European figures who have been at heart of the campaign to introduce laws regulating American tech giants.
The visa bans were imposed on Tuesday on Thierry Breton, a former EU commissioner and one of the architects of the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), and four anti-disinformation campaigners, including two in Germany and two in the UK. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 24, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Macron and EU condemn US visa bans as row over ‘censorship’ escalates
Reposted by Erik
Washington targets Thierry Breton and other Europeans for their role in tech regulation
Washington targets Thierry Breton and other Europeans for their role in tech regulation
Paris condemns 'in the strongest possible terms' the American decision targeting the former European Commissioner, Thierry Breton. Washington has called European regulatory actions 'censorship' and is directly targeting major tech figures.
www.lemonde.fr
December 24, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Washington targets Thierry Breton and other Europeans for their role in tech regulation
Reposted by Erik
Industrialized economies are increasingly turning their backs on aid and diplomacy to build up their armies.
But analysts fear that hostile and unreliable states like Russia, China and Turkey will step in to fill the gap.
🔗 politi.co/4i4fUWR
But analysts fear that hostile and unreliable states like Russia, China and Turkey will step in to fill the gap.
🔗 politi.co/4i4fUWR
December 24, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Industrialized economies are increasingly turning their backs on aid and diplomacy to build up their armies.
But analysts fear that hostile and unreliable states like Russia, China and Turkey will step in to fill the gap.
🔗 politi.co/4i4fUWR
But analysts fear that hostile and unreliable states like Russia, China and Turkey will step in to fill the gap.
🔗 politi.co/4i4fUWR
Reposted by Erik
AP writer Mary Clare Jalonick has a book coming out next month about January 6th. There are interviews with myself and some of my colleagues you wouldn't have heard from before.
apnews.com/article/capi...
apnews.com/article/capi...
EXCERPT: In 'Storm at the Capitol,' police officers detail a brutal assault on Jan. 6, 2021
In the 4 p.m. hour on Jan. 6, 2021, at the height of the fighting that day outside the U.S. Capitol, hundreds of rioters loyal to President Donald Trump had already breached several entrances and forc...
apnews.com
December 23, 2025 at 10:09 PM
AP writer Mary Clare Jalonick has a book coming out next month about January 6th. There are interviews with myself and some of my colleagues you wouldn't have heard from before.
apnews.com/article/capi...
apnews.com/article/capi...
Reposted by Erik
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 23, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Erik
With CECOT being in the news, I want to repost this article my wife wrote about our adopted kids' birth father. He finished a prison sentence and was deported to El Salvador and landed in CECOT. If anyone can help with this, please contact me. We're feeling pretty helpless.
Contributor: A criminal conviction doesn't make an immigrant 'the worst of the worst'
Our children's birth father was a shining example of rehabilitation in California. Then he was deported to El Salvador, disappeared from the kids' lives.
www.latimes.com
December 23, 2025 at 12:25 AM
With CECOT being in the news, I want to repost this article my wife wrote about our adopted kids' birth father. He finished a prison sentence and was deported to El Salvador and landed in CECOT. If anyone can help with this, please contact me. We're feeling pretty helpless.
Reposted by Erik
A disturbing update to this story: Despite the fact that he was about to be released from a US prison after completing a sentence here, when Kelvin Membreño was deported to El Salvador he was sent to CECOT prison and remains there. The family has not heard from him since.
NEW — Kelvin Membreño will be deported to El Salvador by ICE tomorrow. He’s the birth father of three US citizen daughters and has become an important part of their lives.
Here their adoptive mother makes a last ditch plea to let him stay in the same country as the girls. A gutting guest essay:
Here their adoptive mother makes a last ditch plea to let him stay in the same country as the girls. A gutting guest essay:
A mother's urgent plea to stop ICE from deporting her daughters’ birth father tomorrow
He served his time in the US. He deserves to heal here, too.
www.thehandbasket.co
December 23, 2025 at 3:39 PM
A disturbing update to this story: Despite the fact that he was about to be released from a US prison after completing a sentence here, when Kelvin Membreño was deported to El Salvador he was sent to CECOT prison and remains there. The family has not heard from him since.
Reposted by Erik
The people who held up signs saying "Mass deportations now!" at the Republican convention are getting what they wanted.
The Complex Deportation Network Behind Trump’s Immigration Crackdown (Gift Article)
An analysis of data on every ICE arrest, detention stay and deportation reveals the complexity and reach of President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
www.nytimes.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM
The people who held up signs saying "Mass deportations now!" at the Republican convention are getting what they wanted.
Reposted by Erik
New: We obtained thousands of internal chat messages from the ICE team creating viral videos of raids and "EPIC takedowns."
A scramble to satisfy the White House and "feed the beast" spawned a new "propaganda" machine, current and former officials told us.
"It's a war!"
wapo.st/4s6YnC5
A scramble to satisfy the White House and "feed the beast" spawned a new "propaganda" machine, current and former officials told us.
"It's a war!"
wapo.st/4s6YnC5
‘It’s a war’: Inside ICE’s media machine
Thousands of internal ICE messages show how its public affairs team has coordinated with the White House to satisfy Trump administration demands for viral arrest videos
wapo.st
December 23, 2025 at 11:28 AM
New: We obtained thousands of internal chat messages from the ICE team creating viral videos of raids and "EPIC takedowns."
A scramble to satisfy the White House and "feed the beast" spawned a new "propaganda" machine, current and former officials told us.
"It's a war!"
wapo.st/4s6YnC5
A scramble to satisfy the White House and "feed the beast" spawned a new "propaganda" machine, current and former officials told us.
"It's a war!"
wapo.st/4s6YnC5
Sooo... an Arleigh-Burke, just... bigger?
President Trump claims the warship will be "the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built." A month ago, the Navy scrapped plans to build a new, small warship, citing delays and cost overruns. n.pr/4pSg7zB
Trump announces plans for new Navy 'battleship' as part of a 'Golden Fleet'
President Trump claims the warship will be "the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built." A month ago, the Navy scrapped plans to build a new, small warship, citing delays and cost overruns.
n.pr
December 27, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Sooo... an Arleigh-Burke, just... bigger?
Reposted by Erik
On left:
Bari Weiss: 60 Minutes segment failed to show Government view that CECOT detainees are due judicial review
On right:
Judge Boasberg Dec 22: "The Government itself has not even contested that the detainees who now make up the CECOT class received inadequate process prior to their removal"
Bari Weiss: 60 Minutes segment failed to show Government view that CECOT detainees are due judicial review
On right:
Judge Boasberg Dec 22: "The Government itself has not even contested that the detainees who now make up the CECOT class received inadequate process prior to their removal"
December 23, 2025 at 12:23 AM
On left:
Bari Weiss: 60 Minutes segment failed to show Government view that CECOT detainees are due judicial review
On right:
Judge Boasberg Dec 22: "The Government itself has not even contested that the detainees who now make up the CECOT class received inadequate process prior to their removal"
Bari Weiss: 60 Minutes segment failed to show Government view that CECOT detainees are due judicial review
On right:
Judge Boasberg Dec 22: "The Government itself has not even contested that the detainees who now make up the CECOT class received inadequate process prior to their removal"