In Sudan, humanitarian workers face unimagined horrors
Waseem Ahmad, CEO of Islamic Relief, talks to MEE about a 'lost generation' that will take decades to recover
Hasnain says:
I can’t quote most of the article because it’s so horrifying.
“Ahmad thinks back to the children he met in Darfur in 2005. “They were born in the camp and now they are back there. Is this the world that we all dream of,” he asks.
“There needs to be political intervention. There needs to be an end to the violence. People need to be held accountable for doing all this to innocent people,” Ahmad says.
“How can we let this happen? And for how long? The cost will be a lost generation. A generation that will want to take revenge.””
Posted on 2024-10-28T06:35:51+0000
Researchers say an AI-powered transcription tool used in hospitals invents things no one ever said
Whisper is a popular transcription tool powered by artificial intelligence, but it has a major flaw. It makes things up that were never said.
Hasnain says:
Oh come on..
“It’s impossible to compare Nabla’s AI-generated transcript to the original recording because Nabla’s tool erases the original audio for “data safety reasons,” Raison said.
Nabla said the tool has been used to transcribe an estimated 7 million medical visits.
Saunders, the former OpenAI engineer, said erasing the original audio could be worrisome if transcripts aren’t double checked or clinicians can’t access the recording to verify they are correct.”
Posted on 2024-10-28T06:27:11+0000
Israel’s spiralling offensive
The west must restrain Netanyahu, or it will be haunted by his widening campaign
Hasnain says:
When the financial times gets there before liberal institutions do, it’s a sad moment.
“Biden has the tools to rein in Netanyahu. He must halt the offensive arms sales to Israel that enable its relentless bombing of Gaza and Lebanon. He can do so without breaking Washington’s commitment to Israel’s defence, including providing air-defence systems. But Biden’s message should be clear: the bombing must stop and the day after must begin. If not, the devastation and suffering in the Middle East will come back to haunt the west.”
Posted on 2024-10-27T17:14:49+0000
A Cartography Of Genocide: Israel's Conduct In Gaza Since October 2023
Forensic Architecture's analysis of Israel's military conduct in Gaza since 7 October 2023 reveals patterns of violence against civilians and civilian infrastructure that point towards a systematic campaign to destroy fundamental conditions of life.
Hasnain says:
I need to read the full report, but the data in the summary video alone is frightening.
“Our findings indicate that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is organised, systematic, and intended to destroy conditions of life and life-sustaining infrastructure.”
Posted on 2024-10-27T16:24:20+0000
Social Media and the Effects of Context Collapse
We examine context collapse, the concept that explores what happens when an infinite number of social groups reside in one place.
Hasnain says:
This was fascinating and I found myself nodding along, finally learning the technical term for this. I have more reading to do now.
“As we are spending more of our time in our digital persona, we need to understand the sociology involved with social media. When context collapses, the platform controls the only gate for information. It is an important lesson learned, and one that allows us to be mindful of our presence online and work to be a more accurate representation of our authentic self.”
Posted on 2024-10-27T02:15:46+0000
Delta sues CrowdStrike over software update that prompted mass flight disruptions
Delta Air Lines on Friday sued cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike in a Georgia state court after a global outage in July caused mass flight cancellations, disrupted travel plans of 1.3 million customers and cost the carrier more than $500 million.
Hasnain says:
“"Delta’s claims are based on disproven misinformation, demonstrate a lack of understanding of how modern cybersecurity works, and reflect a desperate attempt to shift blame for its slow recovery away from its failure to modernize its antiquated IT infrastructure," CrowdStrike said late on Friday.”
Posted on 2024-10-27T02:02:32+0000
Is Israel committing genocide? Reexamining the question, a year later.
We spoke to a number of experts a year ago. Several have changed their minds.
Hasnain says:
Just quoting twitter here:
“A year ago, Vox asked five scholars if they considered Israel to be committing genocide in Gaza. One said yes, the others said no. Returning to the same scholars a year later, Vox found that three of those who said no have subsequently changed their mind.”
Posted on 2024-10-27T00:32:11+0000
Syria « World Without Genocide - Making It Our Legacy
Syria The World Factbook 2021. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2021. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/
Hasnain says:
I’ve been reading more about historical and/or ongoing conflict recently to better learn about how human beings can commit evil acts. Someone (rightly!) called me out for not speaking up about Syria and Yemen (and others..) often enough. I don’t have a good answer that doesn’t turn into some form of an excuse at its core. So here I am doing my part to bear witness to war crimes and genocide wherever they happen in the hopes that they will stop.
“An estimated 16.7 million people need emergency aid. More than half of the population in Syria is displaced, with 6.5 million being recognized as refugees and asylum seekers. Humanitarian efforts are desperately needed. Fully 47% of Syrian refugees are children, and one-third of them lack access to education. The UN Refugee Agency estimates that 90% of the population lives below the poverty line. [23]
Northeastern Syria, dominated by the Kurds, remains under the control of Syrian Defense Forces (SDF). Arab tribes accuse the SDF of discrimination. [43] Turkey maintains control along the northern border and have increased their attacks on Kurdish forces. The Israel-Palestine conflict resulted in increased strikes in Syria. Israel now regularly strikes different military positions in Syria, including the Damascus and Aleppo airports.
International attention has begun to shift away from the region. President Assad holds 70% of Syria’s territory and has become reintegrated into Arab League, effectively ending his previous isolation. [43] Despite the waning media attention, the Syrian conflict remains one of the worst humanitarian crises of the 21st century. The international community must end impunity for the Assad regime’s human rights abuses and aid in the reconstruction and distribution of aid throughout the region.”
Posted on 2024-10-26T23:22:41+0000
Microsoft fires employees who organized vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza
Microsoft has fired two employees who organized an unauthorized vigil at the company’s headquarters for Palestinians killed in Gaza during Israel’s yearlong war with Hamas.
Hasnain says:
… everything else aside how the heck did this group find out before the guy himself did, I am legitimately curious. We will never know though
“Nasr said his firing was disclosed on social media by the watchdog group Stop Antisemitism more than an hour before he received the call from Microsoft. The group didn’t immediately respond Friday to a request for comment on how it learned about the firing.”
Posted on 2024-10-26T07:10:40+0000
Kamala Harris Does Not Deserve the Endorsement of “The Nation”
The Biden administration’s action, and inaction, in Gaza—and her support for those policies—should have been enough to disqualify her.
Hasnain says:
“As journalists, we take this last directive seriously, feeling the weight of the question Palestinian American writer Fargo Tbakhi posed in December: “What does Palestine require of us, as writers writing in English from within the imperial core, in this moment of genocide?” We believe that one of the most vital contributions we can make is to confront the media ecosystem that enables—and all too often promotes—the slaughter of Palestinians. Over the last year we’ve seen the spirit of McCarthyism overtake our industry, with journalists being fired or pushed out of newsrooms or barred from covering Palestine for speaking out. Many publications are punishing journalists who have the moral clarity to accurately describe the horrors of the genocide. As long as journalists on the ground in Gaza continue to risk their lives to tell the story of their own annihilation, then the least US outlets can do is follow their lead and not be afraid to show the truth.”
Posted on 2024-10-25T14:44:40+0000