The vision is as ideological as it is practical. Prospective shareholders purchase a plot and commit to live a self-sufficient lifestyle — growing your own crops, pumping your own water, building your own house. Each resident has his own reason for joining. Some, Gleason says, are drawn for health reasons — they want to grow their own clean food. Others seek safety, "away from the craziness." Gleason reasons that most people are drawn by some combination of the two. "They just want a safe place to raise family and food," he said. The "craziness," Gleason admits, was a major factor for his own move. "We seem to be undergoing a cultural revolution in the U.S.," he said. "When we first came out here, we thought it might be too far away." He shifted his truck into park, turning his face to meet my eyes. "Now, with everything that's happening, we wonder if it's far enough." from Sick of politics? Move off the grid [The Deseret News] [CW: Mormons, homophobia, home-schooling]

For Juneteenth, a small press roundup (over 50 more below the fold), starting with Library Journal's Juneteenth 2024 | A Reading List which includes these small press books:

• Black Cloud Rising (David Wright Falade, Grove Atlantic, historical fiction about the African Brigade in the civil war: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Beyond "Passing": The Further Writings of Nella Larsen (Nella Larsen, CSRC Storytelling, an autobiographical novel and several short stories: Amazon; Bookshop)
• and The Emancipation Circuit: Black Activism Forging a Culture of Freedom (Thulani Davis, Duke UP, a "sweeping rethinking of Reconstruction": Amazon; Bookshop).

Kalamazoo Public Library's Teen Reads Celebrating Juneteenth includes small press titles X: a novel (Malcolm X's daughter Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon, Candlewick Press, a fictionalized account of Malcolm X's childhood and teen years, 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book: Amazon; Bookshop) and Freedom By Force: The History of Slave Rebellions (Therese Harasymiw, Greenhaven Publishing LLC*: Amazon). * Greenhaven is a bit of a stretch as a small press – they're owned by Rosen Publishing Group who are huge, but independent of the Big Five. Milwaukee Community Journal's 13 Books that will remind you of your power this Juneteenth includes these small press books:

• Juneteenth Is (Natasha Tripplett, ill. Daniel J. O'Brien, Chronicle Books, a children's book celebrating Black American history: Amazon; Bookshop)
• The Juneteenth Cookbook: Recipes and Activities for Kids and Families to Celebrate (Alliah L. Agostini, Becker & Mayer kids: Amazon; Bookshop)
• We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For (The W.E.B. Du Bois Lectures) (Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Harvard University Press: Amazon; Bookshop).

Temple University Center for Anti-Racism's 5 books reflecting Juneteenth principles includes small press title Being Human Being: Transforming the Race Discourse (Molefi Kete Asante and Nah Dove, Universal Write Publications LLC: Amazon; Bookshop). Universal Write Publications' most recent titles also include:

• The Journey of Kamau Miller: HipHop Composite Counterstories for Black Men Teachers (Dawn N. Hicks Tafari: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Media Racism: The Impact of Media Injustice on Black Women's Lives (Marquita M. Gammage: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Revolutionary Pedagogy: Primer for Teachers of Black Children, Second Edition (Molefi Kete Asante: Amazon; Bookshop)

and I have also noticed: Antiblackness and Global Health: A Response to Ebola in the Colonial Wake by Lioba Hirsch (Pluto Press, June 2024): Examines how colonial mentalities and infrastructures shaped the response to the West African Ebola epidemic. (Bookshop) Black Pastoral by Ariana Benson (University of Georgia Press, 2023): Poems that explore Black people's experiences with the natural world. Cave Canem Poetry Prize winner; finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize. (Amazon; Bookshop) Bluff: Poems by Danez Smith (Graywolf, 20 Aug 2024): Written after two years of artistic silence, during which the world came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Minneapolis became the epicenter of protest following the murder of George Floyd, Bluff is Danez Smith's powerful reckoning with their role and responsibility as a poet and with their hometown of the Twin Cities. This is a book of awakening out of violence, guilt, shame, and critical pessimism to wonder and imagine how we can strive toward a new existence in a world that seems to be dissolving into desolate futures. (Amazon; Bookshop) Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem by Sojourner Kincaid Rolle, ill. Alex Bostic (Union Square Kids, 2022): This lyrical celebration of Juneteenth, deeply rooted in Black American history, spans centuries and reverberates loudly and proudly today. (Amazon; Bookshop) The Global History of Black Girlhood eds. Corinne T. Field and LaKisha Michelle Simmons (University of Illinois Press, 2022): How and why we should seek out the Black girls of the past. (Amazon; Bookshop) Japa and Other Stories by Iheoma Nwachukwu (University of Georgia Press, 1 Sept 2024): These eight brutally beautiful stories are struck full of fragmented dreams, with highly developed thieves, misadventurers, and displaced characters all heaving through a human struggle to anchor themselves in a new home or sometimes a new reality. This book is about young Nigerian immigrants who bilocate, trek through the desert, become temporary Mormons, sneak through Russia, and yearn for new life in strange new territories that force them to confront what it means to search for a connection far from home. Winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. (Amazon; Bookshop) The History of Juneteenth: A History Book for New Readers by Arlisha Norwood (Rockridge Press, 2022): Chapter book. (Amazon) The Joys of Being a Little Black Boy (Amazon; Bookshop) and The Twirl of Being a Little Black Girl (Amazon; Bookshop), both illustrated hardcover picture books by Valerie Reynolds, ill. Chris Turner (Chicago Review Press, 13 Aug 2024). Juneteenth Rodeo by Sarah Bird (U Texas Press, 4 June 2024): Timeless photos offer a rare portrait of the jubilant, vibrant, vital, nearly hidden, and now all-but-vanished world of small-town Black rodeos. (Amazon; Bookshop) Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership by Brea Baker (One World, 18 June 2024): Why is less than 1% of rural land in the U.S. owned by Black people? An acclaimed writer and activist explores the impact of land theft and violent displacement on racial wealth gaps, arguing that justice stems from the literal roots of the earth. (Amazon; Bookshop) A Seat at the Table: The Life and Times of Shirley Chisholm by Drs. Glenn L. Starks & F. Erik Brooks (Chicago Review Press, Mar 2024): Biography of the 1972 Democratic presidential candidate and how her run shaped the future. (Amazon; Bookshop) Trailblazers: Black Women Who Helped Make America Great, American Firsts/Icons by Gabrielle David (2leaf press) is a six-volume series that examines the lives and careers of over 400 brilliant women from the eighteenth century to the present who blazed uncharted paths in every conceivable way. Volumes 1 (Amazon; Bookshop); 2 (Amazon; Bookshop); 3 (Amazon; Bookshop); 4 (Amazon; Bookshop); 5 (released June 2024); and 6 (released Sept 2024). We Are the Culture: Black Chicago's Influence on Everything by Arionne Nettles (Chicago Review Press/Lawrence Hill Books, Apr 2024): Pop culture expert Arionne Nettles takes us through the history of how Black Chicagoans have led pop culture in America for decades, and gives insight into the ways culture spreads and influences our lives. (Amazon; Bookshop) We're Alone: Essays by Edwidge Danticat (Graywolf, 3 Sept 2024): Tracing a loose arc from Edwidge Danticat's childhood to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent events in Haiti, the essays gathered in We're Alone include personal narrative, reportage, and tributes to mentors and heroes such as Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, Gabriel García Márquez, and James Baldwin that explore several abiding themes: environmental catastrophe, the traumas of colonialism, motherhood, and the complexities of resilience. (Amazon; Bookshop) When I Passed the Statue of Liberty I Became Black by Harry Edward (Yale UP, 20 Feb 2024): The lost memoir of Britain's first Black Olympic medal winner—and the America he discovered. (Amazon; Bookshop) The Wishing Pool and Other Stories by Tananarive Due (Akashic Books, 2023): In her first new book in seven years, Tananarive Due further cements her status as a leading innovator in Black horror and Afrofuturism. (Amazon; Bookshop) * Bonus content of non-American African diaspora books! Brittle Paper's 23 African Beach Reads for a Relaxing Summer Vacation includes small press titles:

• A Kind of Madness (Uche Okonkwo, Tin House Books, 2024, 10 short stories concerned with literal madness but also those private feelings that, when left unspoken, can feel like a type of madness: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Like Water Like Sea (Olumide Popoola, Cassava Republic, 2024, follows Nia, a queer, bi/pansexual naturopath in London, as her life unfolds across three pivotal moments, spanning from her 28th year to a life-altering realisation at the age of 50: Amazon)
• Womb City (Tlotlo Tsamaase, Erewhon Books*, 2024, Afrofuturism set in a dark and deadly future Botswana: Amazon; Bookshop)

* Like Greenhaven above, Erewhon is a bit of a stretch as a small press – they're owned by Kensington Publishing Corp who are also huge, but independent of the Big Five. Akashic Books offers the original noir anthologies Accra Noir (Ghana) (Amazon; Bookshop), Addis Ababa Noir (Ethiopia) (Amazon; Bookshop), Nairobi Noir (Kenya) (includes Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o; Amazon; Bookshop). The CBC's 40 books by Black Canadian authors to read includes small press titles:

• Angry Queer Somali Boy: A Complicated Memoir (Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali, U Regina Press: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Butter Honey Pig Bread (Francesca Ekwuyasi, Arsenal Pulp Press, an intergenerational saga about three Nigerian women: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Dominoes at the Crossroads (Kaie Kellough, Esplanade Books/Véhicule Press, linked portraits from the Caribbean diaspora: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Finding Edward (Sheila Murray, Cormorant Books, a lonely Jamaican student follows his obsession with the Depression-era life of an itinerant Black boy: Amazon; Bookshop)
• From My Mother's Back: A Journey from Kenya to Canada (Njoki Wane, Wolsak & Wynn, memoir: Amazon)
• I Am Still Your Negro: An Homage to James Baldwin (Valerie Mason-John, U Alberta Press, Social Justice Poetry Spoken-word poet Valerie Mason-John unsettles readers with potent images of ongoing trauma from slavery and colonization: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Junie (Chelene Knight, Bookhug Press, mother-daughter relationships in 1930s Vancouver; longlisted for CBC Canada Reads 2024: Amazon; Bookshop)
• The Sleeping Car Porter (Suzette Mayr, Coach House, a queer Black man works as a porter on a sleeper train in 1929, winner of the 2022 Giller Prize: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada (Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson and Syrus Marcus Ware, eds., U Regina Press: Amazon; Bookshop)

and the poetry collections:

• Black Matters (Halifax's Poet Laureate Afua Cooper & photographer Wilfried Raussert, Roseway Publishing: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Dream of No One But Myself (David Bradford, Brick Books: Amazon; Bookshop)
• eat salt | gaze at the ocean (Junie Désil, Talonbooks: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Finish this Sentence (Leslie Roach, Mawenzi House: Amazon; Bookshop)
• The Gospel of Breaking (Jillian Christmas, Arsenal Pulp Press: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Mother Muse (Lorna Goodison, Véhicule Press: Amazon; Bookshop)
• The Response of Weeds: A Misplacement of Black Poetry on the Prairies (Bertrand Bickersteth, NeWest Press: Amazon; Bookshop)
• Word Problems (Ian Williams, Coach House Books: Amazon; Bookshop)

And the UK's Black Writers Guild's book release page includes small press titles Monster (Dzifa Benson, Bloodaxe Books, 24 Oct 2024: Amazon; Bookshop) and Person Unlimited: An Ode to My Black, Queer Body (Dean Atta, Canongate Books, 4 July 2024: Amazon). Previous roundups: 1 (pride), 2 (no theme), 3 (challenging work), and 4 (no theme).

Fifteen-year-old Darlene hadn't been in a classroom since fourth grade. She worked 11-hour days at a chicken restaurant, a step up from the slaughterhouse where she'd worked when she was younger. Every paycheck went to her parents who turned it over to the prophet. Everything the hardworking people did was in service to the prophet and to build up the church. Darlene's future was determined for her: She'd be a wife and mother, and serve the church and her husband. from This Is Not an Escape Story [Runner's World; ungated]

Brittlestar, aka Stewart Reynolds is a Canadian humorist and national treasure.

Making funny videos about Canadian politics, Canadian habits, and sometimes our relationship with our neighbours to the South, his gentle dad humour is a balm for prickly Internet life. Favourites: Westjet's New Ultra Basic Fare Ontario Govt Message At Beer in Convenience Stores Loblaws Receipt Scanners US-Canada Border Wall Just A Dad (Outside a Taylor Swift Concert) Spring in Canada Virtual Dad Pep Talk for Pride My Son Asked Me How I Danced in the 80s Peace, Love, And Canada, folks!

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs:

• Law enforcement reels in phishing-as-a-service whopper
• Mental health company Cerebral failed to protect sensitive personal data, must pay $7 million
• Cannabis investment scam JuicyFields ends in 9 arrests
• Should you share your location with your partner?
• Giant Tiger breach sees 2.8 million records leaked

Last week on ThreatDown:

• What makes some zero-day vulnerabilities more valuable than others?
• Turning back the clock on encryption: How to perform ransomware backups in one-click
• ThreatDown earns highest ratings across EDR and MDR categories in G2 Spring 2024 results
• K-12 district hit with $500k Medusa ransomware attack
• FakeBat campaign continues, now also targeting VMware users

Stay safe!

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We don’t just report on threats—we remove them

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.

Europol and its associates have arrested 9 people in conjunction with a cannabis investment scam known as “JuicyFields”.

The suspects used social media to lure investors to their website. There they found information about a “golden opportunity” to invest in the cultivation, harvesting and distribution of cannabis plants to be used for medicinal purposes.

Taken from the JuicyFields website:

Grow cannabis. It’s profitable! Become a potpreneur and benefit from the booming cannabis industry. Be among the first to join the movement.

The scheme looked like a crowdsourcing scheme with a minimal investment of € 50, and played on recent discussions in Europe to liberalize cannabis laws following the example of the United States and Canada. Many European countries such as the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, and Portugal have decriminalized possession of cannabis.

As we often see with these kinds of changes in regulatory frameworks, cybercriminals are the first to spot a window of opportunity and advertise with investment opportunities, promising a high return on low-risk investments.

From a JuicyFields whitepaper:

“21 states in the US have already legalised the adult use of marijuana for recreational purposes and this number continues to grow. Indeed, the U.S., Canada, and the soon-to-be regulated markets of the European Union are spearheading this revolution with unprecedented swiftness. However, the pent-up-demand for such regulationdoesn’t necessarily translate into effective deployment.”

To be one of the first investors in this growth market might have seemed just the thing to invest in for some. The scammers promised to connect investors with producers of medical cannabis. Europol stated:

“Upon the purchase of a cannabis plant, the platform assured investors – also referred to as e-growers – they could soon collect high profits from the sale of marijuana to authorized buyers. While the company pledged annual returns of 100 percent or more, they did not reveal exactly how they would accomplish this, let alone be able to guarantee it.”

The scheme was set up as a Ponzi scheme, which means the scammers paid early investors their return with the money they received from later adaptors.

So, for example, the first-time investor would deposit € 50 and receive a pay-out doubling their money soon after. Motivated by such quick financial gains, many investors would raise the stakes and invest hundreds, thousands, or in many cases even tens of thousands of euros. But that doesn’t mean the scammers forget to pocket the largest part themselves.

During the investigation and on action day, law enforcement seized or froze € 4,700,000 in bank accounts, € 1,515,000 in cryptocurrencies, € 106,000 in cash and € 2,600,000 in real estate assets, which amounts to roughly $ 9.5 Million in total. This came from 186,000 people who transferred funds into the scheme between early 2020 to July 2022.

One of the primary targets in this investigation was a Russian national residing in the Dominican Republic, suspected to be one of the main organizers of the fraudulent scheme.

Don’t fall for scams

Stick with safe investments, it’s easier said than done. But there are a few things you might want to avoid:

• Rushing into an investment. Scammers want you to act urgently, so you spend less time thinking.
• Skipping the fine print. Not knowing what it says in the fine print can turn out to be catastrophic.
• Acting on cold calls. Treat calls, texts, mails, and other advice out the blue with extreme caution.
• Judging a book by its cover. Investment scams are profitable and they can afford to look good.

Still not convinced? I have this piece of land on Venus, that I would be willing to part with for the right price. But you will need to act fast.

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We don’t just report on threats—we remove them

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.