Trash Balloons, A Heat Wave, & Google’s Top-Secret Document Leak
May 30, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Thursday! Today, we’re talking about Justice Alito’s flag fiasco, South Africa’s elections, trash balloons, Delhi’s heat wave, Scottie Scheffler’s charges, a botnet takedown, and Google’s top-secret search algorithm.
Here’s some good news: National Zoo officials say D.C. will get two new adolescent pandas by the end of the year. The 2-year-old bears heading to D.C. are named Bao Li and Qing Bao. Also, Melinda French Gates is donating $1 billion over the next two years to support women and families, including reproductive rights.
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney
Alito Gets Aired Out
Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flew an upside-down U.S. flag in January of 2021 at his home, a concerning symbol associated with the “Stop the Steal” movement. Martha-Ann Alito, the Supreme Court Justice’s wife, was blamed for the lawn decoration.
The incident has sparked debates around the political positions of public officials’ families. While Alito has described his wife as an “independently minded private citizen,” Supreme Court Justices traditionally seek to maintain the appearance of political neutrality. Alito claimed that the upside-down flag was the result of a neighborhood spat where one of his neighbors used vulgar language against the couple, “including the C-word.” However, a recent interview with said neighbor revealed that their argument actually occurred in mid-February, well after the flag had been raised and taken down.
Meanwhile, the conservative justice has declined to recuse himself from two Supreme Court cases related to the January 6 riots, despite his wife’s clear biases towards Trump and his supporters. Alito wrote that “a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases” would conclude that he did not need to recuse himself from the cases. Critics say that the incident and other questionable revelations about Supreme Court justices over the past year highlight the need for an enforceable code of conduct for the nation’s highest court.
ANC In A New Conundrum
For the first time in decades, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) party is facing the prospect of losing power. The ANC rose to prominence in the country’s first post-apartheid election when Nelson Mandela became its first democratically-elected president. Now, deep wealth inequality has pushed the liberation party to the brink – if it turns out that less than 50% of South Africans cast their ballots for the ANC yesterday, the party will be forced to enter a coalition government for the first time ever.
In South Africa, citizens vote by casting ballots for a party that then appoints lawmakers to Parliament, which in turn selects the nation’s president. While Black South Africans make up over 81% of the country’s population, they face high levels of unemployment and poverty. White South Africans, meanwhile, hold high-paying jobs and disproportionate amounts of wealth.
South Africa’s incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa called Wednesday’s vote “one of the most important elections in our nation’s history,” stating that he had “no doubt whatsoever” that the majority of South Africans would continue to support the ANC at the polling station.
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It’s Raining Cats, Dogs, And…Trash Balloons?
- Remember that Chinese balloon that flew over the U.S., which did not collect any information before it was shot down by a fighter jet? Apparently, balloons are capable of much more than flying menacingly over corn fields in Ohio. In a very high-school-prank move, North Korea has begun using balloons to conduct some dirty psychological warfare against South Korea, using massive balloons to send bags of trash south across the DMZ.
- According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the country’s military began noticing “large amounts of balloons” carrying bags of “filth and garbage” floating down from the north on Tuesday night. “North Korea’s actions clearly violate international law and seriously threaten the safety of our citizens,” the JCS said in a statement. “All responsibility arising from the North Korean balloons lies entirely with North Korea, and we sternly warn North Korea to immediately stop its inhumane and low-level actions.”
- Seoul’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said that the balloons’ payloads included toilet paper and other waste materials. North Korea’s Vice Minister of National Defence described the trash delivery as a “tit for tat action” in response to South Koreans sending balloons carrying propaganda material and K-pop music videos into its airspace. Apparently Kim Jong Un isn’t a fan of BTS?
Delhi Dries Up
- Delhi, the national capital territory of India, broke its all-time temperature record on Tuesday, with a heat wave pushing temperatures up to 49.9 degrees Celsius (121.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Delhi’s previous record was 49.2 degrees Celsius (120.5 degrees Fahrenheit), recorded in May of 2022. Officials have imposed water rationing measures in order to preserve Delhi’s resources throughout the hot period, though some areas have seen their water access dry up entirely.
- The water shortages are the result of two factors: the acute heat and a lack of water deliveries from the northern Indian state of Haryana to Delhi. Places in Delhi which usually receive two water deliveries per day have had their water rations cut in half as authorities attempt to reroute resources to the parts of the territory that aren’t getting any water at all.
More Mixed Nuts
- Deadliest year in a decade for executions worldwide; US among top 5 countries (USA Today)
- Sweden to donate $1.23 billion in military aid to Ukraine (AP)
- U.K.’s first Black woman lawmaker ‘dismayed’ by prospect of being barred from running for Labour (NBC)
- Soldiers in Ukraine say US-supplied tanks have made them targets for Russian strikes (CNN)
- Mayoral candidate murdered, another wounded days before Mexico elections (CBS)
Middle East Mixed Nuts
- White House says Israel’s Rafah strike and ground assault don’t cross Biden’s ‘red line’ (NBC)
- Israel says Gaza war likely to last another seven months as tanks probe Rafah (Reuters)
- Netanyahu blasts Biden admin for rejecting GOP effort to sanction ICC (Politico)
- Why Israel can’t destroy Hamas (Vox)
- Viral ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ image seems AI-generated. What does the phrase mean? (WaPo, $)
A Double Bogey For The Da Cops
- Less than two weeks ago, the top-ranked golfer in the world was making his way to the PGA Championship, anticipating a win. On his way into Valhalla Golf Club, he was charged with felony second-degree assault on a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic.
- Yesterday, the charges against Scheffler were dropped. County Attorney Mike O’Connell said that “Mr. Scheffler’s characterization that this was, quote, a ‘big misunderstanding,’ close quote, is corroborated by the evidence.” The arresting detective was disciplined for not turning on his body-worn camera at the time. Scheffler ultimately finished eight shots behind the winner, Xander Schauffele, for a share of eighth place.
A Botnet Gets Brought Down
- Federal investigators took down one of the world’s largest malicious botnets and arrested the administrator, YunHe Wang – he was motivated only by money and is not directly tied to any nation-states. Wang is accused of orchestrating an international plot to deploy malware and sell access to the infected devices’ IP addresses.
- Wang deployed 19 million compromised IP addresses in over 190 countries, using them as “an infrastructure highway for carrying out crimes such as bomb threats, financial fraud, identity theft, child exploitation, initial access brokering, and many other computer crimes,” according to FBI cyber division deputy assistant director Brett Leatherman.
- The FBI said criminals used Wang’s botnet “to bypass financial fraud detection systems in the United States and elsewhere and have successfully stolen billions of dollars from financial institutions, credit card issuers and account holders, and federal lending programs since 2014.” Over $5.9 billion in potential pandemic relief fraud losses were tied to the scheme.
More Nuts In America
- ‘Finish them!’: Nikki Haley writes message on Israeli artillery shell (USA Today)
- Building explosion kills bank employee and injures 7 others in Youngstown, Ohio (AP)
- ‘Bad Breath Rapist’ caught across the country after 16 years on the run (ABC)
- Pelosi attacker: ‘I feel horrible about hurting Paul Pelosi’ (Politico)
- Biden, Harris to launch Black voter outreach effort amid signs of diminished support (AP)
- Jenna Ellis, ex-Trump campaign legal adviser, has Colorado law license suspended for 3 years (CBS)
The Not-So-Secret Formula
- Earlier this week, an anonymous source leaked over 2,500 pages of internal documents from Google. The leaked documents from one of the world’s most influential company have given us an unprecedented look at the mechanisms behind Google’s search engine, and also show that the company hasn’t been too truthful with us about how its search function…well, functions.
- Search engine optimization (SEO) has become an entire industry, with companies shelling out big bucks to SEO experts who promise to shoot their websites to the top of the Google results page. While some SEO experts have put forth their own theories about how Google’s search algorithms exactly work, Google has made multiple public statements refuting those claims. However, one expert says that the leaked documents contradict Google’s own statements.
- “‘Lied’ is harsh, but it’s the only accurate word to use here,” wrote SEO expert Mike King in his overview of the leak. “While I don’t necessarily fault Google’s public representatives for protecting their proprietary information, I do take issue with their efforts to actively discredit people in the marketing, tech, and journalism worlds who have presented reproducible discoveries.”
More Loose Nuts
- Ancient remains of 28 horses found in France. Were they killed in battle or sacrificed? (CBS)
- Diane Hendricks, richest self-made woman in U.S., grew up on dairy farm (CNBC)
- Porsche reveals a new hybrid 911 as more consumers embrace hybrids over electric vehicles (CNN)
- American sunscreen options are limited compared to other countries. Here’s why. (CBS)
- Drawings depicting gladiators among latest discoveries at Pompeii (Guardian)
- Adam Neumann drops bid to acquire bankrupt WeWork (Guardian)
