In the latest update, The preliminary hearing is on Monday at the United Nations’ top court, in a case that seeks an end of German military and other aid to Israel, based on claims that Berlin is “facilitating” acts of genocide and breaches of international law in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Among those involved were “self-proclaimed ‘Islamic’ hacktivists that claim to support Palestine…have historically targeted India and have been around for years”
"Some groups have also been active in reaction to India’s support of Israel, both in favor of and against this support.”
“The Indian cyber force actually claimed to DDoS hamas.ps and webmail.gov.ps,”…
Significant scientific evidence indicates that raw flesh diets are often associated with dietary hazards, including nutritional deficiencies and imbalances, and pathogens.
The evidence to date indicates that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs, are nutritionally sound plantbased diets.
I love how no one in #India seems concerned that the government (officially atleast) banned major #encrypted communication tools, or has any idea how little the option it leaves for the citizens and #journalists that might otherwise have some tools to use to secure their #privacy from abusive #corporations and the current #fascist regime.
What if one simple change could save you from chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease? Take a deep dive into the plant-based diet documentary that has influenced millions around the world. Chronic diseases including heart disease and type 2 diabetes can almost always be prevented—and in many cases reversed—by adopting a whole-food, plant-based diet.
guys, please start advocating people to get on signal/xmpp/matrix for their own good in this increasingly fascist environment. Even if your friends dont agree, the word needs to get out asap, nothing is a rhetoric anymore. Everyone in this group already has seen whats happening inside and outside our countries and how persecutions are pursued.
Till climate change related issues move from the periphery to electoral interest
Climate change is all about saving humanity and our ecosystem. The significant human cost due to failure to address the climate change related challenges is understood very well without any ambiguity.
For every 0.1 degrees of warming above present levels, about 140 million more people will be exposed to dangerous heat.
The high impact of climate change that causes rising global temperatures and heatwaves, fires, storms and floods hurting people today have been extensively documented by climate scientists. We are reading it everyday. So the awareness is there though it may not be enough.
Unfortunately, our climate scientists feel hopeless when they see that the responses from the politicians and the big corporations are not in the best interest of the common man. And yet, our climate scientists still passionately continue to do their job with a conviction that policymakers cannot say that they were not made aware.
The root cause that this impending catastrophe does not motivate politicians (policymakers) is that it is not an election issue. If policymakers are motivated enough, the big corporations will also act more responsibly. Elections are typically held every four to five years across the world, but the planning and execution cycles to contain climate change impacts are more than that. According to Stephen Humphreys, the politicians and the well healed won't be affected, even if there is a cataclysmic 3C rise, till there is civil disobedience.
Now India is no exception. During the ongoing 2024 parliamentary elections, no political party is explicitly talking about the devastating effects of climate crisis. Except the educated middle class and above, many of us do not fully understand the scientific phenomenon of climate change and its implications on our daily lives. This lack of awareness leads to climate change not influencing our voting decisions. But the issues related to its consequences, such as water scarcity, agriculture challenges, and economic impacts are being discussed aggressively.> Between 2016- 2021, climate extreme events caused damage to crops in over 36 million hectares, and a $3.75 billion loss for farmers in the country. If estimates from the report on ‘Loss and Damage Today’ by economist James Rising were to be believed, India lost 8% of its GDP in 2022.
Both the major political political parties, in India, have elaborately mentioned climate agenda in their election manifestos which are statement of intentions and not policy documents. However, Indian political parties tend to focus on immediate, emotive issues rather than long-term environmental concerns, which are not always seen as directly affecting voter in the short term. Environmental challenges and political priorities are consciously kept disconnected during election campaigns. No political party want to stir the hornet's best. Since meeting daily needs and economic growth are pressing concerns, the common people are prioritizing survival issues like employment, education, and healthcare over environmental policies.
The fate of climate change and politics is deeply intertwined. If climate issue fails to strike a strong resonance in the election campaigns across the globe, there is not much way forward.
Till climate change related issues move from the periphery to electoral interest
Climate change is all about saving humanity and our ecosystem. The significant human cost due to failure to address the climate change related challenges is understood very well without any ambiguity.
For every 0.1 degrees of warming above present levels, about 140 million more people will be exposed to dangerous heat.
The high impact of climate change that causes rising global temperatures and heatwaves, fires, storms and floods hurting people today have been extensively documented by climate scientists. We are reading it everyday. So the awareness is there though it may not be enough.
Unfortunately, our climate scientists feel hopeless when they see that the responses from the politicians and the big corporations are not in the best interest of the common man. And yet, our climate scientists still passionately continue to do their job with a conviction that policymakers cannot say that they were not made aware.
The root cause that this impending catastrophe does not motivate politicians (policymakers) is that it is not an election issue. If policymakers are motivated enough, the big corporations will also act more responsibly. Elections are typically held every four to five years across the world, but the planning and execution cycles to contain climate change impacts are more than that. According to Stephen Humphreys, the politicians and the well healed won't be affected, even if there is a cataclysmic 3C rise, till there is civil disobedience.
Now India is no exception. During the ongoing 2024 parliamentary elections, no political party explicitly talked about the devastating effects of climate crisis. Except the educated middle class and above, many of us do not fully understand the scientific phenomenon of climate change and its implications on our daily lives. This lack of awareness leads to climate change not influencing our voting decisions. But the issues related to its consequences, such as water scarcity, agriculture challenges, and economic impacts are being discussed aggressively.> Between 2016- 2021, climate extreme events caused damage to crops in over 36 million hectares, and a $3.75 billion loss for farmers in the country. If estimates from the report on ‘Loss and Damage Today’ by economist James Rising were to be believed, India lost 8% of its GDP in 2022.
Both the major political political parties, in India, have elaborately mentioned climate agenda in their election manifestos which are statement of intentions and not policy documents. However, Indian political parties tend to focus on immediate, emotive issues rather than long-term environmental concerns, which are not always seen as directly affecting voter in the short term. Environmental challenges and political priorities are consciously kept disconnected during election campaigns. No political party want to stir the hornet's best. Since meeting daily needs and economic growth are pressing concerns, the common people are prioritizing survival issues like employment, education, and healthcare over environmental policies.
The fate of climate change and politics is deeply intertwined. If climate issue fails to strike a strong resonance in the election campaigns across the globe, there is not much way forward.
In another context, there was a discussion, in recent past, that some members of Indian government suggested taking the extreme measure of blocking Proton due to a hoax bomb threat that were sent through Proton Mail. Finally it did not happen.
I believe that that Meta will not pull out of India and the existing encryption standards of WhatsApp will not change for Indian users. With more than 500 million active users in India, the stakes are too high from either side.
The presence of Indians, from India, in Fediverse is insignificant as on today. Most of us are happy with X and social media tools from Meta. Even the number of posts from existing users, in India, is very low though many of them seem to be active in the above mentioned social media sites.
What can be done to improve the situation? There are no carrots here.
The global risks due to misinformation and disinformation may be more than that posed by climate-related risks such as the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem collapse.
On 10th January 2024, Global Risks Report 2024 was published. While climate-related hazards remain a prevalent topic, the report identifies misinformation and disinformation as the most serious short-term threat.
According to the report
"foreign and domestic actors alike will leverage misinformation and disinformation to widen societal and political divides" during the next two years. This risk is heightened by a huge number of upcoming elections, with more than 3 billion people expected to vote in 2024 and 2025, including in major economies such as the United States, India, and the United Kingdom. The proliferation of mis- and disinformation around the world may cause civil upheaval, but it may also lead to government-led censorship, internal propaganda, and restrictions on the free flow of information.
Though the climate-related risks represent 5 of the top 10 threats during a 10-year period as the world approaches or crosses "climate tipping points", I believe misinformation and disinformation will continue to be ranked among top three risks much beyond the next two years. There is apparently no short term contingency plans and long term mitigation plans apart from effective role of independent fact-checking organizations. I do not know how these fact-checking organizations can deal with the assault of bad actors using Generative AI (including deepfakes) that will dominantly contribute to misinformation and disinformation by flooding the global information systems with false narratives in future. Misinformation and disinformation will also aggravate climate related risks. According to a research done by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, we have "reached the tipping point where humans are unable to meaningfully differentiate between AI-generated versus human-created digital content." I am convinced that Zero Trust Information is the right paradigm in this age of ChatGPT, Google Bard and Bing chatbot for regular end users.
Journalist Harini Calamur's article titled "Analysis: The Unbearable Risk of Misinformation" is worth reading. She expresses her deep concerns regarding misinformation and highlights the following.> The rise of misinformation and disinformation as a primary global risk underscores the danger it poses to individuals, societies, and economies. It needs to be addressed with the seriousness it deserves.
The fact that misinformation and propaganda existed even in the Roman Empire and prior to the battle of Actium during 31 BC between Octavian and Mark Antony, shows that the perils of misinformation and disinformation are here to stay with us for ever. Disinformation is a subset of misinformation that is spread intentionally.
The paper titled "The psychological drivers of misinformation belief and its resistance to correction" discusses in great detail regarding why people share misinformation, barriers to belief revision, information to combat misinformation and related practical implications for practitioners, information consumers and policymakers. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all answer. In addition to regulations without curbing freedom of speech (which does not include amplification of that speech), the authors suggest that the most important approach to slowing the spread of misinformation is substantial investment in education, particularly to build information literacy skills in schools and beyond.
Overall, solutions to misinformation spread must be multi-pronged and target both the supply (for example, more efficient fact-checking and changes to platform algorithms and policies) and the consumption (for example, accuracy nudges and enhanced media literacy) of misinformation. Non-text-based corrections, such as videos or cartoons, also deserve more exploration. Additional transnational research is needed to explore questions about causality, including the causal impacts of misinformation and corrections on beliefs and behaviors.
Crowdfunded news portals, which are based on donation from individuals while maintaining high stands of accountability and transparency, are a relatively new phenomenon in the media landscape. These new generation news portals have several potential advantages like financial independence, public engagement and diverse content and content creation outside of mainstream media scope.