Uh-oh, something happened to my sub. Will investigate.

this week in security — august 31 2025 edition Plus: WhatsApp zero-day used to hack Apple users, another Citrix flaw under attack, Nevada's ongoing cyberattack, and more.

My weekly cybersecurity newsletter is out, featuring stories on DOGE uploading the entire Social Security database to AWS, Salt Typhoon hacked 600+ companies globally, Salesloft's cyberattack affects all Drift customers, TransUnion's breach, and much more. Plus, good news, and a brand new cyber cat.

Incoming CME alert! A fast-moving solar storm (~1300 km/s) blasted from the Sun yesterday—Earth-directed halo type. Low mass, so moderate-strong impact expected. Arrival: Afternoon Sep 1 (Labor Day). Monitoring closely! #Aurora #SpaceWeather

Satellite map of the area showing the location of the earthquake epic center marked by a star. There are also different colors on the map that indicate the different levels of shaking. The shaking is most significant to the east of the epic center.

M 6.0 - 27 km ENE of Jalālābād, Afghanistan

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...

Lives and life-Years Saved From COVID-19 Vaccination This comparative effectiveness study analyses the number of lives and life-years saved worldwide among those who had been vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic 2020-2024 years.

Covid vaccination saved ~2.5 million lives between 2020-2024
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Opinion | Lisa Murkowski’s megabill vote was everything people hate about politicians What the senator claimed was a difficult decision was just a case of backroom deals and abandoned principles.

Very good piece and not just bc of what @susanrinkunas.com’s byline says 🥲 www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Mike Johnson just said if you are for reducing the deficit, this bill is for you.

The bill adds 3-4 trillion dollars to the deficit.

They just lie.

When your neighbor on the left is being dragged away by masked men and your neighbor on the right can't get an X-ray for their child, be sure to quickly explain that "both parties are the same" and whatnot.

Michael Madsen, 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Kill Bill' star, dies at 67 Michael Madsen, whose menacing characters in “Reservoir Dogs” and “Kill Bill” made him a standout in Quentin Tarantino’s films, has died. He was 67.

Michael Madsen, whose menacing characters in “Reservoir Dogs” and “Kill Bill” made him a standout in Quentin Tarantino’s films, has died. He was 67.

This post replaces an earlier post that was deleted because it reported Madsen was 66.

apnews.com/article/mich...

'Arrogant' Amy Coney Barrett buried over 'out of bounds' personal attack

just getting around to reading ACB’s response to justice jackson. this is bitchassness at its finest.

"We will not dwell on Justice Jackson’s argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself."

www.rawstory.com/amp/coney-ba...

BREAKING: Senator Warnock calls Big Beautiful Bill “Socialism for the Rich”.

100% true!

If there was ever a time to call your Senator, this is it.

Voting has begun on the GOP plan to cut off health care for working-class Americans and slash taxes for the wealthiest.

Throwback Thursday to when Trump pledged his support to Western North Carolina.

I'm waiting for him to follow through.

#TBT

Surprisingly effective things Zohran Mamdani ran on:
-free buses
-rent freeze
-halal cart for $8 instead of $10
-taxing the 1%
-no cost childcare
-city-owned grocery stores
-a Department Of Community Safety for mental health programs and crisis response
-building affordable housing
-why Cuomo sucks

Exclusive: Early US intel assessment suggests strikes on Iran did not destroy nuclear sites, sources say | CNN Politics The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an e...

“The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment” www.cnn.com/2025/06/24/p...

The Onion NYT ad. The headline of the editorial says “CONGRESS, NOW MORE THAN EVER OUR NATION NEEDS YOUR COWARDICE”

EXCLUSIVE — The Onion has a full-page ad in today’s NYT featuring part of an editorial calling out congressional fecklessness towards Trump. They also sent a copy of their latest issue to every lawmaker.

My report, with an excerpt from the full editorial: www.thehandbasket.co/p/exclusive-...

Batteries are so cheap now, solar power doesn’t sleep Batteries are now cheap enough to make 24/7 solar power affordable, unlocking round-the-clock clean energy in the world’s sunniest cities.

Solar + storage is now $104 per MWh in Las Vegas or similar regions for nearly 100% clean firm power. There is no way new nuclear can compete with this. Even new gas plants will struggle and that is assuming access to cheap gas over the life-cycle of the plant, which is kind of a crazy gamble TBH.

It's not World War 3. It's not going to be World War 3. It's bad, and it's vile, and it's fucking absurd and wrong, but it's not World War 3. You have to have a whole world of irrational death cultists to get World War 3, and most countries aren't run by them.

But the United States and Israel are.

Zyxel Firewalls Under Attack via Critical CVE-2023-28771 Zyxel firewalls are under a coordinated attack exploiting critical RCE flaw CVE-2023-28771 (CVSS 9.8) via UDP port 500, likely by Mirai botnets. Patch immediately

Zyxel Firewalls Under Attack via Critical CVE-2023-28771

The Minnesota shooter apparently used data broker websites to find the home addresses of the people he shot and murdered.

Congress has had years to do something about data brokers and they've sided with the tech lobby over and over again.

Their inaction is deadly.

I did an event in DC & there was a party for donors etc after. Was talking to 2 ppl & I said "Things are so bad." They said "No this is how it is. Things swing one way, then another. It's normal."

That's when I realized why Dems are toothless. They have no idea what this is. Frogs boiling in water.

‘This is not a joke’: Sen. Amy Klobuchar rips Mike Lee for posts about a deadly Minnesota shooting Sen. Mike Lee's unfounded claims on social media about the slaying of a Minnesota lawmaker have angered his U.S. Senate colleague from the state.

Sen. Mike Lee's unfounded claims on social media about the slaying of a Minnesota lawmaker have angered his U.S. Senate colleague from the state.

Hey there Scott Walker. I noticed you deleted this after learning that in fact the shooter was from the right. I don’t think it matters either way, violence is violence, so I’m waiting for you to tweet the same thing with corrected facts?

Cuz you’re uh, to use your words, “being silent.”

Birds of a feather always flock together

BREAKING: A federal judge reversed National Institutes of Health's terminations of hundreds of critical research grants that were canceled because of their alleged connection to disfavored topics, including diversity, equity, inclusion, and gender identity.

This is a major win for public health.

Because the majority of American Christians have always been hateful hypocrites

Today is my last day at the Washington Post. Something exciting coming next!

If you love when data, graphics and journalism all mush together, sign up to get notified when ~~something exciting~~ launches this summer.

www.ashendruk.com/soon.html

Tom Gray!

Intrinsic functional connectivity brain networks mediate effect of age on sociability Social interaction has been shown to prolong lifespan and healthspan. For older adults living alone, social interaction largely comes from formal social participation, and thus depends on the sociabil...

Social isolation with aging is linked with reduced healthspan and lifespan. A new study addresses why do we reduce social interactions as we age?
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...