Education
The US government has sent Columbia University a ransom note
Like a mob boss, the government threatens to cut off two of the university’s fingers: academic freedom and faculty governance, in order to even have a chance at recovering the $400m in federal funding for scientific research that the government canceled on 7 March. The preconditions concern mainly the policing of student protest on campus. The university must also place the department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies (Mesaas) in "academic receivership" for five years, because its faculty have not voiced steadfast support for the state of Israel in their scholarship.
White House says it's halting funds to the University of Pennsylvania over transgender athletes
"UPenn infamously permitted a male to compete on its women's swimming team, overturning multiple records hard-earned by women, and granting the fully intact male access to the locker room," an unnamed Trump official said in an email sent to reporters on Wednesday.
‘Content neutral’? West Ada says policy directs school to remove ‘everyone is welcome’ sign
Xenophobia
French conference-goer refused entry to the US for criticising Trump's research policy, with border guards citing "hate" and "terrorism"
The space researcher was reportedly randomly checked upon arrival, during which his work computer and personal phone were searched. Similarly, messages evoking the treatment of scientists by the’administration Trump would have been found. He was accused of messages « that translate a hatred towards Trump and can be called terrorism ». His professional and personal equipment was allegedly confiscated and the researcher was sent back to Europe the next day.
I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky.
Germany updates US travel advice after citizens detained
Germany updated its travel advisory for the United States to emphasise that a visa or entry waiver does not guarantee entry for its citizens after several Germans were detained at the border recently.
More Canadians avoid setting foot in the U.S., 'without even a connection or layover'
Cult Psychology
"I don't regret the vote": Why most Trump voters stand by him, even as he ruins their lives
A man lost his wife to own the liberals: she was deported even though she married an American and is working on a green card. He twisted himself in knots to argue that this wasn't Trump's fault, insisting, "He didn't create the system, but he does have an opportunity to improve it. Hopefully, all this attention will bring to light how broken it is."
Psychological research shows that "buyer's remorse" makes people feel bad about themselves. Most everyone has, at one point or another, tied themselves in rationalization knots to avoid uttering the phrase, "I was wrong."
The term "Trump derangement syndrome," applied to anyone who criticizes Trump, functions like "suppressive persons," the Scientologist phrase for outsiders. It doesn't just warn members against listening to reason, but contains a threat: this is how you'll be labeled if you leave the fold.
NPR ran a 3-part series about a journalist's failed efforts to de-radicalize his father, who had grown addicted to wild MAGA conspiracy theories prophesizing mass arrests of Democrats and the collapse of American cities. In the course of the series, his father loses both his wife and daughter, who end their relationship with him rather than put up with the nonsense. The father drips contempt for people who are skeptical that an electromagnetic pulse will soon wipe out New York City, or disbelieve Barack Obama is about to be tried for treason.
Once in a blue moon, a person is willing to do the hard internal work that leads to real, sustainable change. Most people who are radicalized, however, are lost forever. Even if they give up the current cult or conspiracy theory, they will almost always jump right into another.
Texas parents of child who died of measles urge others not to vaccinate
“We would absolutely not take the MMR.” “The measles wasn’t that bad. They got over it pretty quickly,” the mother said of her other four surviving children. “It was her time on Earth,” the translator said the parents told her. “They believe she’s better off where she is now.”
Miscellaneous
Neil Young is to play a free concert in Ukraine. The impact could be huge
US ‘deletes evidence’ of Russia’s kidnap of thousands of Ukrainian children
A Yale source said the US state department deleted the evidence which would have been used as part of rescue efforts to get the children home to Ukraine. It would also have been used to prosecute those behind their abductions – including Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Social Security to require millions to make claims in person rather than by phone
This will force 75,000 more customers per week to go to field offices, which DOGE is closing. Appointments already must be made a month in advance. Make no mistake, this is a full-blown attack on Social Security. Elon Musk is trying to take away benefits you earned.”
Tesla (TSLA) accounting raises red flags as report shows $1.4 billion missing
Tesla reports having spent $6.3 billion on “purchases of property and equipment excluding finance leases, net of sales” in the second half of 2024, while property, plant, and equipment rose by only $4.9 billion in that period.
‘Tesla Takedown’ protesters planning ‘biggest day of action’
Organizers are calling for 500 demonstrations at all 277 Tesla showrooms, as well as Supercharger stations, on March 29th.
Trump ends program millions in China use for internet, worrying Congress
The Open Technology Fund (OTF), launched in 2012, was intended to allow people who live under repressive regimes to circumvent restrictions and access the internet.
Social Security numbers and other private information unmasked in JFK files
“It’s absolutely outrageous. It’s sloppy, unprofessional,” said former Trump campaign lawyer Joseph diGenova, 80, whose private information was included in the release.
Password reuse is rampant: nearly half of observed user logins are compromised
Based on Cloudflare's observed traffic between September - November 2024, 41% of successful logins across websites protected by Cloudflare involve compromised passwords.
Static Analysis of GUID Encoded Shellcode
The Windows API call UuidFromStringA() converts a UUID string to its binary format. So an array of UUIDs can be decoded to raw bytes and injected in memory as a shellcode.
World's first quantum microsatellite demonstrates secure communication with multiple ground stations
It demonstrated real-time quantum key distribution (QKD) between the satellite and multiple compact, mobile ground stations. The satellite transmitted approximately 250 million quantum photons per second. For each satellite pass, the system generated up to 1 Mbits of secure keys. Using the satellite as a trusted relay, the team demonstrated successful secure key sharing and encrypted communication between Beijing and Stellenbosch—two cities separated by 12,900 km.
Data breach at stalkerware SpyX affects close to 2 million, including thousands of Apple users
This is the 25th mobile surveillance operation since 2017 known to have experienced a data breach.
#StopRansomware: Medusa Ransomware (from CISA)
Recommended actions: Patch software, segment networks, and filter network traffic.
