Tootfinder

A look at issues with DMCA, which is weaponized to silence reporting, turbocharged by automated requests, and places the burden of proof on the attacked party (Rob Waugh/Press Gazette)
https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/us-copyright-la…

US copyright law has been weaponised to silence reporting around the world
Google is removing thousands of articles from search due to spurious DMCA requests.

This month's Papers Club reading is titled
Textiling World Politics: Towards an extended epistemology, methodology, and ontology
and we are inviting Toronto's makers, scholars, and thinkers of every stripe to come join the discussion. We are extending special invitations to fiber artists - that includes knitting, crochet, weaving, fashion design etc. So if you know a fiber artist friend, please forward them this message :)
Thank you, hope to see you on July 27th!

Very interesting developments in Ukraine. I can only think it is normal for a state that is at war to have very strong opinions within its government.
“One participant in the president’s meeting with lawmakers recounted Zelensky’s words this way:
They live in two different worlds. [DM] Misha wants to digitize everything, to build a system around technology. The military just wants to be heard. They ask for one category of weapons to be procured, and he refuses and funds other areas instead. They’ve simply stopped hearing each other. I can’t allow the Defense Ministry and the General Staff to be at war with each other in a country that’s at war. Ideally, I’d replace them both. But I can’t do that at the same time.”
I just hope they can keep and achieve the goal to push Russia out of Ukraine.
#russiaUkraineWar
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/07/16/ukrainian-defense-minister-mykhailo-fedorov-stopped-rubber-stamping-the-general-staff-s-requests-six-months-in-zelensky-sided-with-the-generals

Ukraine update from Giorgio Provinciali: As a weapons development context, Ukraine offers unrivaled opportunity.
As an engineer, Giorgio distills the marketing speech into reality, and he shares the math.
Share the friend link to bypass the paywall, and help give the world a glimpse of the reality on the ground in Ukraine:

FirePoint’s “Freya” Meets the Test of Physics: What the FP-7.X
Live from Ukraine 🇺🇦

"Typically used in the past to keep out security threats, fight corruption or defend democratic institutions, travel permissions have been weaponized under the current State Department, experts say."
Trump’s Other Hold on the Americas: The Visa - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/16/world/americas/trump-americas-visas.html

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has argued for Ukraine to be allowed to join Nato at its annual summit
– saying it would be wrong to exclude a country that had built up strong defences in its long struggle against the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian president said his country had developed almost all the weapons it needed,
and now only required European help in developing an alternative to the US Patriots to protect against ballistic missile attack.
“I have a question for you.

Nato should let Ukraine join to ‘make all of us stronger’, says Zelenskyy
Ukraine’s president argues defensive capabilities built up in war with Russia mean it shouldn’t be excluded

"What is clear is that at least 88 people died. ... Far-right parties, already driving the agenda on migration across Europe, weaponised the story."
"By Monday the vast majority who arrived in Ceuta had gone back to Morocco. None attempted to reach the Spanish mainland or to abscond towards any other country’s borders. Of those left stranded on the streets of the city, many were unaccompanied children."
The events at

The events at Ceuta ​show ​how Europe’s ​hard ​right ​now ​set the ​tone​ on immigration
The narratives of the right are seeping into mainstream EU policy, and Spain finds itself increasingly isolated in its humanitarian stance on borders

US energy secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday morning that the US may not be able to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran that would prevent the country from having nuclear weapons.
Asked on ABC on Sunday morning about any sign of such a deal, as negotiations appear stalled and the US-Israel war on Iran continues, Wright said:
“There may not be a nuclear agreement.”
He talked about options for ending the “existential threat” of a nuclear armed Iran coming about by further …

Energy secretary says US might not reach nuclear agreement with Iran
Chris Wright tells ABC there ‘may not’ be an agreement that would prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons

Turkey sees its status in NATO rise, thanks to its weapons factories and Trump
For years, many other NATO allies treated Turkey with suspicion for buying a Russian air defense system,
attacking Western-backed Kurdish forces in Syria
and stalling Sweden’s bid to join the alliance.

That was then.
Now, ahead of a NATO leaders summit in Ankara next week, the stars seem to have aligned for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Donald Trump, touting his frie…

Turkey sees its status in NATO rise, thanks to its weapons factories and Trump
A friendship between presidents Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and a need for weapons production, has changed how other NATO countries treat Turkey.

FOR YEARS, North Korea’s stealthy hackers and scam IT workers have infiltrated companies,
stealing corporate secrets and plundering billions in cryptocurrency to help fund the totalitarian regime and its weapons programs.
Now, a security researcher who has spent almost two years inside the systems belonging to a group of those North Korean hackers is raising the alarm on just how effective and far reaching the targeting of individual employees and contractors has been in breachi…

A Security Pro Hacked North Korean Hackers. He Found They’d Breached Hundreds of Networks Worldwide
For nearly two years, researcher Vangelis Stykas has maintained access to North Korean hackers’ servers. His work shows they pulled off intrusions in a shocking number of systems across the globe.