| Time |
Event |
| 3:50a |
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| 3:50a |
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| 3:50a |
Secret algorithms decide how to treat people
Government departments in the UK are using secret algorithms
(implemented by nonfree software) to decide how to treat people.
This is inherently unjust regardless of the details.
The mere fact that a decision was made this way should count
as grounds to invalidate it.
|
| 3:50a |
Allow writers to create characters outside of their own experience
*Salman Rushdie: allow writers to create characters outside of their
own experience.*
*"If we’re in a world where only women can write about women and
only people from India can write about people from India and only
straight people can write about straight people … then that’s the
death of the art," the novelist said, according to the Times.* Or,
at the very least, it means no story can have both men and women in
it. |
| 3:50a |
Flooding as the Antarctic ice shelf melts
Oops, we just lost New York and dozens of other coastal cities.
Their eventual flooding is inevitable as the West Antarctic ice shelf melts.
How long it will take for them to be inundated is not clear.
|
| 3:50a |
Christian prayers in Australian city council meeting
An Australian city council has ceased its practice of Christian
prayers at meetings, in the name of separation of church and state.
In the US we have to keep fightin against religious fanatics
who try to impose their religion through government out
of disrespect for people whose religious views differ from theirs.
|
| 3:50a |
British Parliament stopped for flight due to his name
Mohammad Yasin, member of the British Parliament, was about to fly to Canada
as part of an official parliamentary visit, when he was stopped and questioned
because — get this — his name was "Mohammad".
Not only is it crazy to stop a passenger who is an MP for that reason.
It is crazy to stop any other passenger for that reason. If your
security believes that being named "Mohammad" is a rational reason to
suspect someone of anything, it is worse than incompetent.
|
| 3:50a |
Required to declare relationships
A British TV company now requires all staff to declare all their
sexual and romantic relationships, all "close" relationships, and all
friendships, and all roommate relationships.
This intolerable system of repression is the natural endpoint of the
ever-increasing repression of office romances. It was always heading
for this.
There are valid reasons for rules against office romances, but given
the harm that those rules do even when not carried to these absurd
extremes, the reasons are not strong enough to justify them.
Human beings need sexual relationships; human beings need love; human
beings need friendship. If your main social contact is through work,
where are you supposed to look for these things? Degrading yourself
by running nonfree software such a dating app or Grindr? Going to a
club (if you can look sharp enough to be allowed in) and getting
drunk?
We had better adapt our rules to those human needs.
|
| 3:50a |
Cash payments on the rise in UK
More people in the UK are using cash payments. I urge people in Britain
to organize now to encourage the use of cash, and publicize all the
nasty treatment you can avoid that way.
The organization could also campaign for requirements for stores to
accept cash, and to situate an ATM in every settlement that is likely
to have a family with no car.
|
| 3:50a |
|
| 3:50a |
Worst case scenario for Queensland climate defense protester
For Queensland climate defense protester Rob Keller, age 73, "The
worst-case scenario isn’t [3 years in] jail," he says. "The worst-case
scenario is climate breakdown."
Australian governments are escalating their repression in defense of
business activities that promise megadeaths. As Keller says, the
officials putting him on trial — and the fossil fuel businesses they
are protecting — are the criminals. |
| 3:50a |
|
| 7:05a |
|
| 7:05a |
Far-right threat raises bloody past
Javier
Milei,
a candidate for Argentina's presidency who may yet win,
has been trying to underestimate the number of prisoners that the
military dictatorship murdered.
The fact that it was a murderous lying right-wing dictatorship is more
important than the precise number of political murders it carried out.
But why then bring up that number as an election issue? I can't see
any motive that isn't a bad one.
|
| 7:05a |
Netanyahu's hostage situations
Israel would like to free HAMAS's hostages with a military raid, but
that is
next to impossible
so it seems Israel will have to negotiate
instead.
This might provide a route for stopping Israel's massive continuing
atrocities against the population
of Gaza.
|
| 7:05a |
News co.'s Israeli bias, DEU
*Europe’s Largest News Aggregator Orders Editors to
Play Down
Palestinian Deaths.*
|
| 7:05a |
Netanyahu's Israel: no sympathy no free speech
*Jewish and Arab Israelis [arrested], fired from jobs and even attacked
for expressing sentiments
interpreted as pro-Hamas.*
Criticism of Israel and support for aspects of Palestinians' rights
have subtle gradations, and it is not unusual for annexationists and
supporters of Israel's occupation of Palestine to distort the views
of those that criticize them.
In the examples in the article, the distortions range
from subtle to gross and blatant.
We should stand with Israel against HAMAS and its terrorism. However,
we must not allow that to mean (or be taken to mean) that we support all
Israeli acts (even if violent or cruel) which according to Israel
are "directed against HAMAS."
Meanwhile, anyone who cares about Israel should now help stand for
human rights and democracy in Israel.
|
| 7:05a |
(Satire) Online empathy dangerous
(satire)
*Biden Urges Americans
Not To Let Dangerous Online Rhetoric Humanize Palestinians.*
|
| 7:05a |
NYC battles a secret society: shell companies
Many buildings in the US are nominally owned by shell companies.
Tenants who want to complain about mistreatment can't report the
landlord's address, as required, because it is secret. The New York
State legislature has passed a bill requiring these shell companies to
hand over crucial information to the public, such as who owns them.
Billionaires are lobbying the governor,
whose progressive commitments
are rather weak, not to sign it.
I suggest approaching this with a somewhat different law: to require
every company that directly or indirectly owns a building to hand over
all the crucial information about its ownership. If an building-owning
company refuses to do this, the punishment should be seizure of
the building.
These billionaires and exploiters deserve no clemency or comfort
when they try to screw their tenants.
|
| 7:05a |
Atrocious quality new-builds, UK
Construction of new houses generally
churns them out full of grave
flaws,
sometimes dangerous.
The problem starts with concentration of the industry into a few large
corporations, which (typically for large corporations) make greed
their watchword.
Whenever large corporations systematically harm the public, the state
should break them up.
|
| 7:35a |
|
| 7:35a |
Urgent: Protect our freedom to vote
US citizens:
call on Congress
to do everything it can to protect our freedom to
vote.
If you phone, please spread the word!
Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121
|
| 7:35a |
Urgent: de-escalation now in Gaza
US citizens: Call for de-escalation and ceasefire
now in Gaza.
The answer to war crimes is not more war crimes.
|