University of Michigan will no longer use diversity statements in faculty hiring, promotion, tenure
Guest editorial: Extend Pell Grants to short-term workforce training
Scotty Pippen Jr. scores career-high 30 points in Grizzlies' 142-131 win over BullsThe head of America's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to force telecoms operators to tighten network security in the wake of the Salt Typhoon revelations, and to submit an annual report detailing measures taken. Jessica Rosenworcel, outgoing chair of the US telecoms regulator, has proposed rules that would require the nation's carriers to safeguard their infrastructure against illicit access or interception of communications in an effort to bolster them against cyberattacks. The proposal centers on a draft Declaratory Ruling that puts a new interpretation on section 105 of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) as requiring telcos to take action to lock down their networks. This particular legislation was passed 30 years ago during the presidency of Bill Clinton and ensures telcos have the ability to comply with wiretapping requests from law enforcement. Section 105 requires a carrier to make certain that any interception of communications can only be carried out with lawful authorization. The FCC also wants these network service providers to submit an annual certification attesting they have created, updated, and implemented a cybersecurity risk management plan. "The cybersecurity of our nation's communications critical infrastructure is essential to promoting national security, public safety, and economic security," Rosenworcel said in a statement. "As technology continues to advance, so do the capabilities of adversaries, which means the US must adapt and reinforce our defenses." If adopted, the Declaratory Ruling would take effect immediately, according to the FCC. The agency is to also seek comment on security risk management requirements for communications providers, as well as other ways to boost the resilience of communications systems and services. The urgent call for action follows discovery that China-backed cyber baddies entirely compromised telecommunications infrastructure in the US and elsewhere via the so-called months-long Salt Typhoon campaign which affected at least eight operators in the US alone. It was reported last month that a great many devices within US telcos were targeted by the attackers, allowing them to establish a persistent presence that may require the replacement of " literally thousands and thousands and thousands " of switches and routers. The attackers are believed to have compromised the wiretapping systems used by law enforcement in at least some instances, hence the focus on the CALEA legislation being taken by the FCC to address the issue. It isn't just the US alone that is affected, as The Reg reported at the end of November. The same vulnerabilities which left American telecoms networks wide open to foes are likely replicated worldwide and are a result of regulatory failures and a lax attitude to security by companies. The situation is so dire the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued guidance this week including advice on using encrypted messaging to protect information – a notable shift from governments constantly trying to erode encryption so they can snoop on communications themselves. ®
IT roadmapWhat Did Miley Cyrus Say About Her Relationship With Boyfriend Maxx Morando? By dished what works for her and her Gen Z boyfriend ‘s private relationship in her new Harper’s Bazaar cover story. The former Disney star dwelled on their age gap, given she is 32 while he is 26, placing him in a whole different generation. Cyrus discussed the impact of social media on her boyfriend’s life compared to hers, admitting that she doesn’t even have her Instagram password. She began dating the musician in 2021 more than a decade after her highly-publicized relationship with ex-husband Liam Hemsworth. Miley Cyrus reveals what works for her and boyfriend Maxx Morando miley cyrus and maxx morando ✨ In her new December/January cover story for , Miley Cyrus admitted that she and her boyfriend, Maxx Morando, are “very similar.” She noted, “We just don’t take life too seriously,” However she admitted that he “looks at life really differently than I do.” Morando, who is six years younger than her, “grew up with a laptop,” she said, contrary to the desktop computer she shared with her siblings growing up. The singer even confessed that they share a dog whom Morando “raised our dog off Reddit,” pointing at notable differences between her millennial practices and his Gen Z approaches. Cyrus then recalled questioning his methods, “I’m like, Are you sure we’re supposed to be doing this? And he’s like, On Reddit it says blah, blah, blah.” In addition, she disclosed in the cover story that receiving memes from her boyfriend is the only time she is active online. Miley Cyrus admitted that Maxx Morando, a producer and member of the band Liily, has introduced her to different kinds of music. They even worked together on her new album, with Morando producing several songs and helping her word the lyrics to the title track, “Something Beautiful.” Not only that, Cryus and her boyfriend often collaborate, with her professing, “Maxx just inspires me so much.” Besides talking about new music and her beau, the Grammy winner also posed for glamorous cover story photos for Harper’s Bazaar. . Share article
Northern Ontario man sentenced for killing his dogRussian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed a law that allows those who sign up to fight in Ukraine to write off unpaid debts worth almost $100,000, the government announced. The new legislation will be a strong motivation for some to join up, experts said, as Russia seeks new ways to recruit fighters for the nearly three-year conflict grinding through troops. The new legislation will allow those who sign a one-year contract to fight in Ukraine after December 1 to free themselves of existing bad debts. It also covers their spouses. The law concerns debts where a court order for collection was issued and enforcement proceedings began before December 1, 2024. The total amount of unpaid debt that can be covered is 10 million rubles, around $96,000 at current rates. Parliament approved the bill earlier this month. The legislation will largely concern younger Russians of fighting age, since those in their 30s and younger are most likely to have loans. Russia has extremely high interest rates for loans and many Russians have almost no cash savings, although the proportion of home owners is relatively high. "Previously (for those fighting) there was only provision for taking repayment holidays on loans," Sergei Krivenko of advocacy group Citizen Army Law told Vazhniye Istorii Telegram channel. The new legislation applies to those who are conscripted for national service and those mobilised for the so-called "special military operation", Krivenko said. Conscripts cannot be sent to the front line but can choose to sign a contract to join the professional army and be sent to fight in Ukraine. Russian authorities "are strengthening the motivation to sign a contract," political analyst Georgy Bovt wrote on Telegram. The legislation provides "another way to get rid of an unbearable burden of credit, at least for several hundred thousand people," Bovt wrote. Over 13 million Russians have three or more loans, according to a central bank report released last month covering the first two quarters. This was up 20 percent on the same period last year. The average amount owed by those with three or more loans is 1.4 million rubles ($13,400 at current rates). Many start with a bank loan and then apply for further loans from microfinance organisations. Russians serving on the front line are already paid far more than the national average. Ukraine also has legislation allowing those fighting to get preferential terms for loans and in some cases to write off debts. bur/tw
‘Only losers on their books’: How gambling giants are blacklisting winners
Not long after Donald J. Trump had secured a second go at being president, a group of dreamers set their sights on building a new world, far from this polluted planet and its troubles. This cohort was not destined for Mars, but to a space within themselves – a digital utopia just for the like-minded. Bluesky is a microblogging site for idealists, devoted to protecting them against the raging reality of divergent opinion in a democratic system. The pilgrims took with them their in-house journal, The Guardian , which left Elon Musk’s X with the flounce of a friendless man leaving a party to which he hadn’t been invited. Henceforth, the trust-funded worldwide webzine will dedicate itself to nurturing the delicate biosphere of an alternative reality. Defectors from Elon Musk’s X are taking up with Bluesky. Credit: NurPhoto via Getty Images Three million users have joined Bluesky over the past week, according to the platform, and they have been busy tending to their new world. In this environment, misinformation and disinformation are not alone the enemy; malinformation – information that does not accord with the idealists’ worldview – is the apple from the tree of knowledge, from which the Devil bid Eve to sup. Curious interlopers from the Other Place – the increasingly uncensored X – have experimented by pushing the boundaries of the sayable on Bluesky. To their delight , reasonably mainstream opinions attract the ire of the moderators, and are soft-censored as “intolerance”. Posts labelled thus are not visible in the app until a user clicks on “show”. This functionality is a clue to what the spotless mind can experience on Bluesky. Only the opposite of malinformation – “euinformation”, eu being the obverse prefix – is welcome here. Euinformation is well-meaning information; not really information so much as a curation of comforting progressive axioms. Meanwhile, in the real world, way over here in Australia, I’m never quite sure which way the discussion is going to go when someone raises the re-election of Donald Trump. Given space to speak, tradies volunteer that it’s not a surprise to them that Trump won. Hairdressers venture that it might be a good thing. Even in trendy urban enclaves, the anti-Trump clucking is not as secure as in 2016. Loading The top three concerns in the US election were democracy (presumably whether it would be honoured), the economy and migration. But the cultural effect of focusing on those essentials is wide-reaching. On reflection, it seems everyone knew that they or other people privately had less and less patience with the vanity projects of the boardroom, while the economy constricted the lives of salary men and women. Acronyms have been crumbling. Many companies have slunk away from the ESG (environmental, social and governance) trend as it has emerged that many were just faking it. Australian companies have become more wary about the claims they make in this area after corporate watchdog ASIC announced it was cracking down on greenwashing – the “practice of misrepresenting the extent to which a financial product or investment strategy is environmentally friendly, sustainable or ethical”. In August this year, the world’s largest investment firm, BlackRock , which has $US10 trillion ($15.4 trillion) under management, reported that it had dramatically reduced its support for shareholder proposals addressing environmental and social issues. Another acronym, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), is also under fire. Over 200 US colleges have backtracked on their DEI programs, as suggestions swirl that race-based admissions programs have disadvantaged some ethnic groups, including Asian Americans. The grandmama of corporate DEI, White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo, was accused of appropriating passages and ideas in her PhD dissertation from minority scholars without attribution. DiAngelo has become wealthy lecturing corporate teams around the Anglosphere on DEI, leaving them with a tangle of rules and terminology so confusing that their main use is to be weaponised in internal disputes. DEI scepticism and exhaustion have reached Australia too, with some consultants reporting that companies are scaling back, or at the very least rebranding, these departments. Australia, of course, also had the Voice referendum to remind us that permission for social change has to be sought once core concerns are covered. The arc of history does not bend inexorably towards the preoccupations of student newspaper alumni and their kin over at Human Resources. Loading Conservatives used to insist that politics is downstream of culture; in fact, if Australia’s choice of Scott Morrison in 2019 didn’t get them over the line, America’s choice of Donald Trump this year should finally persuade them that this adage isn’t complete. Culture is downstream of economics. The party perceived to be capable of managing things so you can live a good life has first dibs on defining the mainstream culture. But you won’t hear that over at Bluesky, where the butterfly logo symbolises a new type of white flight from unpleasant ideas. As the progressive influx gains pace, the Bluesky Trust & Safety team received 42,000 reports of “harmful content” in a single day , compared with 360,000 for the whole of 2023. You can block your ears and block your enemies in a digital utopia, but Trump’s election has already changed the culture of the US, and Australia too. Parnell Palme McGuinness is managing director at campaigns firm Agenda C. She has done work for the Liberal Party and the German Greens. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article Social media Opinion Donald Trump Elon Musk Digital hygiene Digital transformation For subscribers Parnell Palme McGuinness is managing director at campaigns firm Agenda C. She has done work for the Liberal Party and the German Greens. Most Viewed in World LoadingKirby Smart's Comment on Quinn Ewers & Arch Manning Turns Heads