KWSnet

News, arts/culture, environment, climate, medical, media, nature, politics, sci-tech, history, comics, b-days, obits, other floating wreckage & jettisoned cargo

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

This is my final post. The account reaches back to tweets made from 7 Dec 2017, although I started doing all this with Twitter long before that, having quit and deleted all posts up till that time before resuming once again. This time I'll leave the account online for anyone that wants to retrieve some image or information.

I thank all of you whose work I've shared and come to know. I also will continue to browse online although I'm unlikely to do any further posting of my own. I simply need more time for other things, and this was taking up way too much of what time I have. My best to all of you. Goodbye and good luck.

🎨 'Distant Hills at Dawn,' c. 1820-40. J.M.W. Turner. Watercolor on white wove paper, 381 x 545 mm. Tate.
"This elemental color study shows a range of hills beyond a plain with trees in the distance, below a pale dawn sky..."

🎨 'A Wooded River Scene at Sunset,' c. 1820-40. J.M.W. Turner. Watercolor on white wove paper, 342 x 492 mm. Tate.
"There may be indications of silhouetted towers to the left of center and towards the right here, but the overriding feature is the sunset effect, doubled and intensified by the water in the foreground and the contrast with the dark foliage and reflections..."

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD #FRANKKOZIK
Frank Kozik (9 Jan 1962 - 6 May 2023), American graphic artist.

"Best known for his posters for alternative rock bands, including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age, The Offspring and Butthole Surfers.

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#LONDON #BICYCLING #THEFT
Aslanyan, Anna ‘Bicycle Thieves’ LRB Blog, 31 December 2024 https://t.co/MyH2YHrdjR

"The number of bike journeys in London increased this year to an estimated 1.33 million a day. My current bike has been my main means of transport for the past four and a half years. Days after I bought it someone tried to drill through the D-lock but a neighbour chased them off. Various parts of it have been stolen; replacing them has cost me more than I paid for the machine in the first place."

"‘Thieves are getting smarter,’ a bike mechanic told me. ‘They know what’s expensive and they look for these parts.’ He showed me a pair of gear shifters worth £900, which could be removed relatively easily: you just need to unscrew the stem bolt and cut through the brake cables. That’s what happened to my bicycle last year (my shifters would have fetched much less than £900). The mechanic never parks his bike outside: ‘I don’t even have a lock.’" ...

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD #JIMMYPAGE

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD
Jimmy Page (b. 9 Jan 1944), English musician, songwriter, and record producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin.

Photo: With Led Zeppelin, 1970. Michael Ochs Archives.

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#EUROPE #EUROPEANCOMMISION #MICROSOFT #EDPS #SECURITY #PRIVACY
Wold, Jacob Wulff ‘Internal Documents Reveal Commission Fears over Microsoft Dependency’ Euractiv, 9 January 2025 https://t.co/3nGHkMn1UC

"European Commission officials fear that their heavy reliance on Microsoft constitutes a clear breach of EU data rules, according to internal Commission documents seen by Euractiv, which contradict the executive’s public statements on the matter."

"The concerns are focused on the Commission’s use of Microsoft365 as its digital workspace, which has raised security and privacy concerns among some in the executive."

"The EU's data protection watchdog, the EDPS, has ordered the Commission to bring its Microsoft use into compliance. This implies exploring less intrusive alternatives than Microsoft, but little has been done in this regard."

"The case offers a stark example of the chasm between Europe’s desire for autonomy in highly sensitive areas such as IT, and the on-the-ground reality of its dependence on American tech." ..

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD #JOANBAEZ

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

🎂 #BOTD
Joan Baez (b. 9 Jan 1941), American singer and political activist.

An active participant in the 1960s protest movement, Baez made free concert appearances for UNESCO, civil rights organizations, and anti-Vietnam War rallies. In 1964 she refused to pay federal taxes that went toward war expenses, and she was jailed twice in 1967."

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD #JOANBAEZ

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

🎂 #BOTD
Joan Baez (b. 9 Jan 1941), American folksinger and political activist.

📷 With William Sloan Coffin at 'Convocation and Lobby, Women Strike for Peace' event, Washington, D.C., 4 Jan 1973.

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD #JOANBAEZ

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

🎂 #BOTD
Joan Baez (b. 9 Jan 1941), American singer and political activist.

"She was instrumental in the early career of Bob Dylan, with whom she was romantically involved for several years. (Her relationship with Dylan and with her sister and brother-in-law, the folksinging duo Mimi and Richard Fariña, is chronicled in David Hajdu’s Positively 4th Street [2001].) "

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD #JOANBAEZ

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

🎂 #BOTD
Joan Baez (b. 9 Jan 1941), American singer and political activist.

"Her youthful attractiveness and activist energy put her in the forefront of the 1960s folk music revival, popularizing traditional songs through her performances in coffeehouses, at music festivals, and on television and through her record albums, which were best sellers from 1960 through 1964 and remained popular."

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#EUROPE #RENEWEUROPEGROUP #EUROPEANPARLIAMENT #EU MUSKX #FARRIGHT
Martens-Preiss, Catherine Laurence ‘Stop Musk’s Threat to Democracy: It’s Time to Enforce DSA Against Platform Manipulation to Ensure Fair Elections’ Renew Europe, 7 January 2025 https://t.co/nI4Vb0bIou

"The Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament strongly condemns Elon Musk’s increasing interference in European politics, through his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter). We are deeply concerned about the impact of such actions on the democratic process and the integrity of political discourse in Europe."

"In light of recent developments, the Renew Europe group will call for an urgent debate in the European Parliament plenary on this issue, demanding clear answers from the European Commission on the implementation of EU legislation and how platforms like X are used to influence political outcomes and undermine democratic values ​​within the European Union."

"Valérie Hayer, President of Renew Europe , said:"

<< “Europe cannot be naïve or blind to Mr Musk’s determination to use X to interfere in the democratic affairs of EU member states, supporting far-right causes. European citizens must decide who represents them, not the richest man in the world. We have a responsibility to enforce European law and defend our democracies against foreign interference.” >>

"Mr Musk's actions, whether algorithmic manipulation, spreading disinformation or targeted political messaging, pose a serious threat to European democracy." ...

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#ELONMUSK #MUSKX

[Vatnik Soup @vatniksoup]

In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the absolute state of X in January 2025. Since its acquisition by Elon Musk, this platform has rapidly transformed into his personal political tool and a breeding ground for hate speech and disinformation.

1/22

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD #SUSANNAHYORK

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

🎂 #BOTD
Susannah York (9 Jan 1939 - 15 Jan 2011), British actor.

"Provided powerful performances as the duplicitous lesbian Childie in X-rated The Killing of Sister George, 1968, and as the deluded dance marathon participant Alice in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, 1969."

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD #SUSANNAHYORK

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD
Susannah York (9 Jan 1939 - 15 Jan 2011), English film, stage and television actress. "A purposefully intriguing, enigmatic and noticeably uninhibited talent."

1. Photo: United Artists, 1963.
2. On the set of Robert Parrish's 'Duffy,' 1968.

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#COMICS #POLITICALCARTOON #UK #MUSK #STARMER #JENRICK #BADENOCH #MUSK #GROOMINGSCANDAL #PUBLICINQUIRY
@KWSnet RT
Dave Brown @DaveBrownToons
Political cartoonist for The Independent: https://t.co/FW72aoDZFE

🔸 'Riding the Wave,' 9 Jan 2025. Dave Brown, The Independent.

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#UK #MUSK #GROOMINGSCANDAL #SEXUALABUSE
Specia, Megan ‘What Is the U.K. “Grooming Gang” Scandal Seized On by Elon Musk?’ NYT, 7 Jan 2025 https://t.co/LR5aKBBSiB

<< The billionaire tech mogul has been posting on his social media platform about a decade-old child sex abuse scandal in Britain. Here’s what to know. >>

"Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul, has flung himself into British politics in recent weeks, using his social media platform X to attack and spread misinformation about Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other members of the Labour government."

"In a series of vitriolic posts to his 211 million followers in recent days, Mr. Musk has falsely accused Mr. Starmer and other Labour Party lawmakers of enabling Britain’s so-called grooming gangs. The phrase refers to a decade-old scandal involving a series of child sex abuse cases in which girls were assaulted and raped by gangs of men in several towns and cities. Most of the perpetrators were of British Pakistani heritage."

"Mr. Musk’s posts included multiple inaccuracies and treated a widely covered issue as if it had never been mentioned. But the posts nevertheless cast the spotlight back onto a painful child sexual exploitation scandal that troubled Britain and has long provoked heated debate on issues of race, immigration and abuse." ...

"What do we know about ethnicity and sexual abuse?" ...

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD #BOBDENVER

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

🎂 #BOTD
Bob Denver (9 Jan 1935 - 2 Sep 2005), American comedic actor.

"Known for having portrayed the beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, and Gilligan on the 1964-1967 television series Gilligan's Island."

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD #LEEVANCLEEF

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

🎂 #BOTD
Lee Van Cleef (9 Jan 1925 - 16 Dec 1989), American film actor "whose steely eyes and rugged features led to a long career portraying Western arch-villains."

"Lean, cool character player whose angular features marked him as a villain. Found his fortune as the hero of 'spaghetti westerns' such as For a Few Dollars More, 1965, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, 1967."

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#TIKTOK #SCOTUS #NATIONALSECURITY #FREESPEECH #FIRSTAMENDMENT #WHERESTHEBEEF
Musgrave, Shawn ‘To Ban TikTok, Supreme Court Would Rank “National Security” Before First Amendment’ The Intercept, 8 Jan 2025 https://t.co/jKZsca2ujf

<< Critics worry that a sweeping ban based on predictions rather than concrete proof of TikTok’s danger sets a precedent in line with repressive regimes. >>

"Civil liberties groups warned that the TikTok ban cannot be squared with the First Amendment, and that the lower court that upheld the ban in December improperly deferred to the government’s speculative arguments about the app’s potential national security risks." ...

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#BOTD #KENNYCLARKE

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

🎂 #BOTD
Kenny Clarke (9 Jan 1914 - 26 Jan 1985), American jazz drummer and bandleader, known among musicians as 'Klook' for one of his characteristic drum licks.

"Clarke was a chief element in the modernist movement in the 1940s, revolutionizing the drummer’s role by moving the principal timekeeping rhythms to the ride cymbal and by interjecting musical comments to the soloist by 'dropping bombs' on the bass drum and snare drum with unexpected fills and underscorings."

"While in NYC, he played with the major innovators of the emerging bop style, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Curly Russell and others. He spent his later life in Paris.

📷 Photos by Herman Leonard.

[KWSnet @KWSnet]

#LEBANON #JOSEPHAOUN #AMOSHOCHSTEIN #USSPONSORED

[Craig Murray @CraigMurrayOrg]

United States promoted candidate General Joseph Aoun elected President of Lebanon by parliament.