Tootfinder

Mexico: Stop the destruction of Chiapas’ forests! #Mexico

Mexico: Stop the destruction of Chiapas’ forests!
The forests of Mexico’s Chiapas state are among the most biodiverse on Earth, yet they face grave danger: Nearly half have already been illegally logged for timber. Please support the campaign of our partner organization, Otros Mundos Chiapas, to stop the destruction by signing our petition.

Meanwhile, Schumer’s much-touted list of demands is (oh, shocker) pathetic weak sauce: “a prohibition on [ICE] wearing masks, the imposition of a code of conduct and independent investigations of violations.”
…which, like…
(1) Sure, that would be nice — comically insufficient, but nice
(2) DHS already ignore the very clear laws that are on the books; why on earth do you think it would help to have more rules for them to ignore?
(3) ICE CBP right now are basically the KKK except with a budget the size of Russia’s military. Decimate that budget or GTFO.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/senate-democrats-deal-dhs-funding-bill

Each week, Metacurity is proud to offer our free and premium subscribers a digest of the best long-form (and longish) infosec-related pieces we couldn't properly fit into our daily news crush.
This week's selection covers
--Thai citizens are trafficked to unlock bank accounts with facial ID,
--Texas police deploy AI surveillance with little transparency,
--Bot swarms threaten democracy,
--Digital age checks erode privacy, security, and free speech,
-…

Best infosec-related long reads for the week of 2/7/26
Thai citizens are trafficked to unlock bank accounts with facial ID, Texas police deploy AI surveillance with little transparency, Bot swarms threaten democracy, Digital age checks erode privacy, security, and free speech, Promptware attacks could pose Stuxnet-scale cyber threats.

We couldn't have hoped for a better advertisement for this year’s public lecture series than last night's spectacular show of northern lights!
The talks will deal with all the exciting aspects in the fiery relationship between the Sun and the Earth (in German). So if you want to learn more about the Sun, the aurora borealis, the dangers of solar storms, about space weather forecasting and more, join us for
"Im Feuerwerk der Sonne"

Quick course correction needed to avoid 'hothouse Earth' scenario, scientists say #climate

Quick course correction needed to avoid 'hothouse Earth' scenario, scientists say
Scientists say that multiple Earth system components appear closer to destabilization than previously believed, putting the planet in increased danger of following a "hothouse" path driven by feedback loops that can amplify the consequences of global warming.

I explained something for a friend in a simple way, and I think it's worth paraphrasing again here.
You cannot create a system that constrains itself. Any constraint on a system must be external to the system, or that constraint can be ignored or removed. That's just how systems work. Every constitution for every country claims to do this impossible thing, a thing proven is impossible almost 100 years ago now. Gödel's loophole has been known to exist since 1947.
Every constitution in the world, every "separation of powers" and set of "checks and balances," attempts to do something which is categorically impossible. Every government is always, at best, a few steps away from authoritarianism. From this, we would then expect that governments trand towards authoritarianism. Which, of course, is what we see historically.
Constraints on power are a formality, because no real controls can possibly exist. So then democratic processes become sort of collective classifiers that try to select only people who won't plunge the country into a dictatorship. Again, because this claim of restrictions on powers is a lie (willful or ignorant, a lie reguardless) that classifier has to be correct 100% of the time (even assuming a best case scenario). That's statistically unlikely.
So as long as you have a system of concentrated power, you will have the worst people attracted to it, and you will inevitably have that power fall into the hands of one of the worst possible person.
Fortunately, there is an alternative. The alternative is to not centralize power. In the security world we try to design systems that assume compromise and minimize impact, rather than just assuming that we will be right 100% of the time. If you build systems that maximially distribute power, then you minimize the impact of one horrible person.
Now, I didn't mention this because we're both already under enough stress, but...
Almost 90% of the nuclear weapons deployed around the world are in the hands of ghoulish dictators. Only two of the countries with nuclear weapons not straight up authoritarian, but they're not far off. We're one crashout away from steralizing the surface of the Earth with nuclear hellfire. Maybe countries shouldn't exist, and *definitely* multiple thousands of nuclear weapons shouldn't exist and shouldn't all be wired together to launch as soon as one of these assholes goes a bit too far sideways.

Misinformation and disinformation continue to shape public debate in Canada, erode trust in institutions, and put pressure on our democratic systems.
On Tuesday, February 24, from 12 to 1 pm ET, Evidence for Democracy is hosting a public webinar to unpack the findings of our new report, The Misinformation Challenge: Rebuilding Trust in a Post-Truth World.

"Involuntary parks: Human conflict is creating unintended refuges for wildlife"
#Wildlife #Animals #Nature

Involuntary parks: Human conflict is creating unintended refuges for wildlife
Few locations on Earth are as haunting or deeply ironic as so-called involuntary parks — places too toxic, dangerous, or otherwise made off-limits for human habitation, but which have paradoxically and unintentionally become sanctuaries for wildlife in our absence. As the name coined by science fiction author Bruce Sterling suggests, involuntary parks weren’t established for […]

Banned for years, dangerous pesticides persist in Nigerian farming https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/banned-for-years-dangerous-pesticides-persist-in-nigerian-farming/

Banned for years, dangerous pesticides persist in Nigerian farming
The sun rises over lush farm fields of on the outskirts of Lagos. For more than 20 years, a farmer named Joe has tilled the land, coaxing life from the earth and reaping bountiful harvests. But here, beneath the surface of this idyllic scene, lies a complex web of challenges — chief among them, the […]

Toxic metals found in bananas after Brazil mining disaster #plantbased

Toxic metals found in bananas after Brazil mining disaster
Researchers investigating crops grown in soil contaminated by the 2015 mining disaster in Brazil discovered that toxic metals are moving from the earth into edible plants. Bananas, cassava, and cocoa were found to absorb elements like lead and cadmium, with bananas showing a potential health risk for children under six. Although adults face lower immediate danger, scientists warn that long-term exposure could carry cumulative health consequences.