An irregular hodgepodge of links beyond the library curated together from @OmniumGatherum at Hrmtc I∴O∴ and more … Omnium Gatherum for December 14, 2022.

Here’s a selection of notable things I’ve recently found that you may also be interested in checking out:

• “Public Domain Day 2023 Remix Contest: The Internet Archive is Looking For Creative Short Films Made By You!“—”We are looking for artists of all levels to create and upload a short film of 2–3 minutes to the Internet Archive to help us celebrate Public Domain Day on 20 January 2023!”
• “Secrets of the Christmas Tree Trade“—”Christmas trees are big business in New York. A few eccentric, obsessed, sometimes ruthless tycoons control the sale of almost every single tree in the city. Here, Owen Long on what he’s learned about the trade while working for Greg’s Trees.”
• “Butte program allows defendants to pay fines with food“—”During the holiday season, budgets can be tight, and many people need essentials. Officials with Butte’s city and justice courts came up with a plan to ease the burden, by allowing people to pay fines with food.” Good. Now, make that year-round.
• Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books and the New Testament eds Carol Meyers, Toni Craven, Ross S Kraemer is currently on special offer for ebook. “a groundbreaking work … a thorough look at every woman and group of women mentioned in the Bible, whether named or unnamed, well known or heretofore not known at all.” Mentioned this in OG 1jun2022.
• “Fifty years later, remastered images reveal Apollo 17 in stunning clarity. ‘Come toward me, baby! Looks like it’s moving… Don’t run over me!'” About Apollo Remastered: The Ultimate Photographic Record [Amazon, Bookshop] by Andy Saunders.
• “Little House on the Prairie—With Meth. In his new book, Ted Conover moves to a remote valley in southern Colorado to experience 21st-century life off the grid.” About Cheap Land Colorado: Off-Gridders at America’s Edge [Amazon, Bookshop] by Ted Conover.
• A New New Testament: A Bible for the Twenty-first Century Combining Traditional and Newly Discovered Texts [Amazon] ed and commentary by Hal Taussig, from 2018. “There are twenty-seven books in the traditional New Testament, but the earliest Christian communities were far more vibrant than that small number might lead you to think. In fact, many more scriptures were written and just as important as the New Testament in shaping early-Christian communities and beliefs. Over the past century, many of those texts that were lost have been found and translated, yet are still not known to much of the public; they are discussed mainly by scholars or within a context of the now outdated notion of gnostic gospels. In A New New Testament Hal Taussig is changing that. With the help of nineteen important spiritual leaders, he has added ten of the recently discovered texts to the traditional New Testament, leading many churches and spiritual seekers to use this new New Testament for their spiritual and intellectual growth.”
• From January: “Gen Z are not ‘coddled.’ They are highly collaborative, self-reliant and pragmatic, according to new Stanford-affiliated research. Generation Z, the first generation never to know the world without the internet, value diversity and finding their own unique identities.” About Gen Z, Explained: The Art of Living in a Digital Age [Amazon, Bookshop] by R Katz, S Ogilvie, J Shaw, L Woodhead. Interview: “A typical Gen Zer is a self-driver who deeply cares about others, strives for a diverse community, is highly collaborative and social, values flexibility, relevance, authenticity and non-hierarchical leadership, and, while dismayed about inherited issues like climate change, has a pragmatic attitude about the work that has to be done to address those issues”
• “Penguin Random House boss resigns after Simon & Schuster deal fails. The head of publishing giant Penguin Random House has resigned, citing the US decision to block the firm’s $2.2bn takeover of rival Simon & Schuster.”
• “15 years ago, a forgotten steampunk epic was killed by controversy. Left behind by its superior TV reboot, this would-be franchise starter still intrigues.”—”The My First Dystopia trend was mocked, but one movie that might have benefited from the fad was The Golden Compass, whose 2007 release instead tried to grab the coattails of Harry Potter and Frodo to present itself as a family-friendly fantasy.”
• “‘There is a life here’. On Bernadette Mayer (1945–2022)”—”Bernadette Mayer was the greatest minor American poet of the 20th century, and the 21st too, in which she has become less minor. There are other contenders, of course, many—but Mayer is mine.”
• “Scientists in the US to announce a ‘major’ fusion breakthrough boosting clean energy hopes“—”Sources familiar with the results of the research told the Financial Times that the reaction had produced 1.2 times as much energy as was put in at some point over the last two weeks.” Also “Reports of ‘Breakthrough’ in Fusion Power Fuels Hopes of Major Clean Energy Progress“—”‘If this is true, we are witnessing a moment of history: controlling the power source of the stars is the greatest technological challenge humanity has ever undertaken,’ said one physicist.” Also “Nuclear fusion: Has there been a breakthrough and what will it mean? Rumours suggest the US National Ignition Facility has made a significant advance in nuclear fusion, though there are still many hurdles to overcome.”
• “Giant mantle plume reveals Mars is more active than previously thought. Orbital observations unveil the presence of an enormous mantle plume pushing the surface of Mars upward and driving intense volcanic and seismic activity.”
• “What lies beneath Yellowstone? There is more magma than previously recognized, but it may not be eruptible.”—”a key issue for eruption hazard assessment is to ascertain how much magma is below the surface and where. … more melt is present than had been recognized, and it is located at shallow depths in the crust.”
• “A new chapter in the history of evolution. Discovery of world’s oldest DNA breaks record by one million years.”—”Two-million-year-old DNA has been identified for the first time opening a new chapter in the history of evolution. Microscopic fragments of environmental DNA were found in Ice Age sediment in northern Greenland. The fragments are one million years older than the previous record for DNA sampled from a Siberian mammoth bone.”
• “NASA Ingenuity helicopter just broke one of its own records on Mars“—”The little 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) chopper completed its 35th flight on December 3 and reached a new altitude record of 46 feet (14 meters).” Fly, my pretty! Fly!—WWW, probably
• “What the world’s largest liquid mirror telescope means for astronomy. The International Liquid Mirror Telescope, perched high in the Himalayas, has finally started making observations. If it succeeds, we could one day put a much larger liquid telescope on the moon.”—”The basin is part of a unique telescope. … uses the pool of shiny metal to gather light from the skies.”
• “Peekaboo! Tiny, Hidden Galaxy Provides a Peek Into the Past“—”Peeking out from behind the glare of a bright foreground star, astronomers have uncovered the most extraordinary example yet of a nearby galaxy with characteristics that are more like galaxies in the distant, early universe.” :”Only 1,200 light-years across, the tiny galaxy HIPASS J1131–31 has been nicknamed ‘Peekaboo’ because of its emergence in the past 50-100 years from behind the fast-moving star that was obscuring astronomers’ ability to detect it.” “”Only 1,200 light-years across, the tiny galaxy HIPASS J1131–31 has been nicknamed ‘Peekaboo’ because of its emergence in the past 50-100 years from behind the fast-moving star that was obscuring astronomers’ ability to detect it.”
• “New kilonova has astronomers rethinking what we know about gamma-ray bursts. Long gamma-ray burst stems from neutron star merger, not usual supernova explosion.” Even more Death Star construction updates.
• “Early medieval female burial site is ‘most significant ever discovered’ in UK. Find dating from about 650AD in Northamptonshire includes jewelled necklace and changed archaeologists’ view of the period.”
• “Gaza authorities discover over 60 Roman era graves“—”a total of 63 graves have been identified and that a set of bones and artifacts from one tomb was dated back to the second century.”
• “Fossils reveal the dinosaur era’s changing insect soundscape. Bush crickets from the Triassic era onwards evolved high-frequency songs to avoid being heard by predators.”
• “Huge Roman fort in Northumberland to be excavated in lottery-backed project. The Vindolanda Charitable Trust will lead the excavation of the project at Magna fort.”—”Five years of exciting exploration is to begin at a buried Roman fort on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland which is threatened by climate change.”
• “2,200-year-old coin hoard gives hard proof of Book of Maccabees, say archaeologists. Trove of silver coins – two months’ average salary – documents bloody persecution preceding the famous Hanukkah revolt when Jews fled to the desert, as written in I Maccabees 2:29.”—”a small, incredibly preserved wooden box holding 15 silver tetradrachma coins … minted by Ptolemy VI, king of Egypt, and date to up to 170 BCE”
• “The archaeological discovery of the century? What the San Casciano bronzes tell us about Roman and Etruscan life. The deposit of perfectly preserved statues in the heart of Tuscany reveals six centuries of cultural and political evolution.” More about those bronzes found in the mud of an old bath …
• “Roman finds and remains discovered in Suffolk. They came, they saw, they conquered.”—”Thousands of years ago Romans invaded Britain and they certainly left their mark on the region by way of a number of interesting finds and remains. … here in Suffolk, a few traces of their legacy can still be seen to this day.”
• “Microbiome composition influences depression“—”Our microbiome, the billions of microorganisms that live in and on our bodies. They control many important bodily functions, including those in our brain, and today, research … delivers the most extensive evidence to date of a relationship between the composition of the microbiome and instances of depression.”
• “Could a nasal spray treat sleep apnoea?“—”A drug in development for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) has shown promising results, after researchers … tested the treatment in people for the first time. Designed to prevent the narrowing or collapse of the upper airways during sleep …”
• “Wearable sensor could guide precision drug dosing. In test with rats, UCLA-developed patch predicted total dosage that would be delivered to animals’ bloodstream.”—”Variations in how different people’s bodies react to medicine mean … drugs have to be dosed carefully to avoid serious side effects.” “A new wearable device continuously and painlessly measures the actual amount of medicine”
• “Genetic Vulnerability to ADHD Signals Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease in Old Age“—”Although recent large epidemiological studies have hinted at a link between ADHD and Alzheimer’s, this is the first to tie genetic risk of ADHD to chances of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.” Uh oh. SQUIRREL! Wait. What’s a squirrel?
• “Base editing: Revolutionary therapy clears girl’s incurable cancer. A teenage girl’s incurable cancer has been cleared from her body in the first use of a revolutionary new type of medicine.”
• “What was Dracula really like? 550-year-old clue to life of Vlad the Impaler emerges. Scientists are hoping ‘historical biomolecules’ on a 15th-century missive written by Vlad Dracula, the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s vampire count, will reveal more about him.”—”genetic material from the letters written by Vlad Dracula – the historical inspiration for Stoker’s vampiric count – left there by his sweat, fingerprints and saliva.” Um. “It was mystical that we were extracting Dracula’s molecules on the day that Bram Stoker’s novel was published 125 years ago … We did not specifically plan this date. All night, after the extraction of Dracula’s molecules, it rained, dogs howled and lightning flashed. It was really a very magical atmosphere. Count Dracula blessed his release from the Romanian archive.” Safety tip: do not release Count Dracula, maybe? OTOH, hey, if I can drink absinthe with Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, and some wolves, I’m all in.
• “Never-before-seen fish found more than 3 miles under the sea. A team of Australian scientists searched an uncharted ocean area 3.6 miles below the surface and collected thousands of samples. The expedition leader said, “We expect a third of them to be new species.” “There are wonderful things that live in the Twilight Zone with bioluminescence, lights and big fangs” Throw it back. THROW IT BACK!
• “Reassessment of the human mandible from Banyoles (Girona, Spain)“—”Thus, Banyoles represents a non-Neandertal Late Pleistocene European individual and highlights the continuing signal of diversity in the hominin fossil record. The present situation makes Banyoles a prime candidate for ancient DNA or proteomic analyses, which may shed additional light on its taxonomic affinities.”
• “Experimental cancer therapy shows success in more than 70% of patients in global clinical trials. Directs patients’ immune system to kill multiple myeloma cells.”—”The therapy, known as a bispecific antibody, binds to both T cells and multiple myeloma cells and directs the T cells—white blood cells that can be enlisted to fight off diseases—to kill multiple myeloma cells. The researchers described this strategy as ‘bringing your army right to the enemy.'”
• “Scientists uncovered the structure of the key protein for a future hepatitis C vaccine – here’s how they did it“—”One major reason there hasn’t been an HCV vaccine yet is that scientists have yet to identify the proper antigen, or the part of the virus would trigger a protective immune response in the body.”
• “CU scientists shine a light on what comes up when you flush“—”the first study to directly visualize the resulting aerosol plume and measure the speed and spread of particles within it. These aerosolized particles are known to transport pathogens and could pose an exposure risk to public bathroom patrons.” 😱🤮 Watch “Shining a light on what comes up when you flush.” Also “Why you should always close the lid before you flush: Disgusting footage reveals how a plume of particles can reach 5 FEET above the toilet within 8 seconds – with some particles lingering for minutes. Scientists filmed liquid particles that explode out of a toilet bowl after flushing. Such droplets are invisible to humans so they used lasers to make them visible. They can contain dangerous pathogens like E. coli, norovirus and coronavirus.”
• “Listen to the Toilet — It Could Detect Disease. Microphone sensor and machine learning can classify excretion events, identify cholera or other bowel diseases, all without identifiable information.”—”In her presentation, ‘The feces thesis: Using machine learning to detect diarrhea,’ …”
• “Twirling parasitic worms throw dance party in man’s scrotum. In medical terms, the dance party is called the ‘filarial dance sign.'” Do we have wormsign? *shudder* Also, “filarial dance sign” is my new band name.
• “Hawaii’s 2 volcanic eruptions keep spewing lava with no end in sight. Here’s what could happen next“—”But the good news about lava is that – particularly on the island of Hawaii – it doesn’t really sneak up on people. Folks know when it’s coming.” Good news, bad news. Watch “‘Magical to witness’: Davis woman watches Hawaii volcano eruption“—”Thousands of people are heading towards the volcano to get a good view of the flowing lava.”
• “The US’ 2000-year-old mystery mounds. Constructed by a mysterious civilisation that left no written records, the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are a testament to indigenous sophistication.”—”The Octagon is currently being used as a golf course.” 🙄
• “Researchers use ultrasound waves to move objects hands-free. Contactless manipulation method could be used in industries such as robotics and manufacturing.” Watch “Researchers move object hands-free using ultrasound waves and metamaterial physics.”
• “Palm E-tattoo Can Tell When You’re Stressed Out“—”a graphene-based e-tattoo that attaches to the palm, is nearly invisible and connects to a smart watch.” It’s a mood ring! “The secret sauce of this discovery is how the e-tattoo on the palm is able to successfully transfer data to a rigid circuit – in this case a commercially available smart watch, in out-of-lab, ambulatory settings. They used a serpentine ribbon that has two layers of graphene and gold partially overlapped. By snaking the ribbon back and forth, it can handle the strain that comes with movements of the hand for everyday activities”
• “Flameproofing lithium-ion batteries with salt. A polymer-based electrolyte makes for batteries that keep working – and don’t catch fire – when heated to over 140 degrees F.”
• “Say Hello to the Toughest Material on Earth. A new study reveals the profound properties of a simple metal alloy.”—”Scientists have measured the highest toughness ever recorded, of any material, while investigating a metallic alloy made of chromium, cobalt, and nickel (CrCoNi).” “Not only is the metal extremely ductile – which, in materials science, means highly malleable – and impressively strong (meaning it resists permanent deformation), its strength and ductility improve as it gets colder. This runs counter to most other materials in existence.”
• “New tech’s potential to significantly reduce energy storage costs. Low-cost battery built with four times the capacity of lithium.”—”Researchers are hoping that a new, low-cost battery which holds four times the energy capacity of lithium-ion batteries and is far cheaper to produce will significantly reduce the cost of transitioning to a decarbonised economy.”
• “Dynamic soaring as a means to exceed the solar wind speed“—”A technique by which a spacecraft can interact with flows of ionized gas in space (the solar wind or interstellar medium) in order to be accelerated to velocities greater than the flow velocity is explored. Inspired by the dynamic soaring maneuvers performed by sea birds and gliders in which differences in wind speed are exploited to gain velocity …”
• “Noise Pollution Maps Offer a Nightmare Feast for the Senses. The urban places you love are louder than you may realize.”—”Absent technology, our ears are otherwise pervaded with a soundscape of cars, horns, planes, construction, and other textured nuances of city living. As acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton once said, noise pollution creates dumb environments.” Rock n’ Roll ain’t noise pollution!—AC/DC
• “Notre Dame’s uncovered tombs start to reveal their secrets. Two sarcophaguses unearthed in reconstruction work after 2019 fire identified as elite canon of cathedral and young cavalier.” Leave the poor crazy vampires alone! No, really. It’s best to leave them alone.
• “Hubble Detects Ghostly Glow Surrounding Our Solar System“—”the SKYSURF team realised that Hubble’s images would be an excellent set of survey data to measure the Solar System’s background light. The SKYSURF programme used 200,000 images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to look for any residual background light in the sky.”
• “Why the laws of physics don’t actually exist. What we call laws of physics are often just mathematical descriptions of some part of nature. Ultimate physical laws probably don’t exist and physics is all the better for it, says theoretical physicist Sankar Das Sarma.” From 2018: “There Are No Laws of Physics. There’s Only the Landscape. Scientists seek a single description of reality. But modern physics allows for many different descriptions, many equivalent to one another, connected through a vast landscape of mathematical possibility.”
• “Scientists Have Designed a ‘Vagina on a Chip’. A silicone chip lined with tissue from human donors could help scientists test drug treatments for bacterial infections in the vagina.” Finally! The last thing I needed to perfect my computer companion! Wait. Whut? Oh. For science. Okay. Never mind.
• “Researchers Managed to Transfer Twice the Global Internet Traffic in a Single Second. That’s 230,000 GB, all being moved in a single second, with one chip.”—”hitting 1.84 Pbit/s with a new chip that uses just a single laser. That’s the equivalent of moving ‘twice the total global Internet traffic,’ all in one second.”
• “Adventures in nanotech: growing a metallic snowflake. Scientists working at the level of atoms are manipulating metals, opening up possibilities for creating new materials.”—”Why’s that significant? Because coaxing individual atoms to cooperate is leading to a revolution in engineering and technology via nanomaterials. (And creating snowflakes is cool.)”
• “A nano-thin layer of gold could prevent fogged-up glasses. The technology could also keep your windshield clear.”—”unlike conventional approaches, which merely spread water around using hydrophilic molecules, this prevents the condensation from even starting. The 10nm thick coating sandwiches gold between layers of titanium oxide that not only amplify the heating effect through refraction, but protect the gold against wear.”
• “‘Firmageddon’: Researchers find 1.1 million acres of dead trees in Oregon. Oregon’s dead firs are a visceral example of how drought is reshaping landscapes in Western states that have been experiencing extreme heat conditions.”—”The damage to fir trees was so significant researchers took to calling the blighted areas ‘firmageddon’ as they flew overhead during aerial surveys that estimated the die-off’s extent.”
• From 2019: “Perceptions of Musical Octaves Are Learned, Not Wired in the Brain. Singing experiments with residents of the Bolivian rainforest demonstrate how biology and experience shape the way we hear music.” Also “Is Harmony Chaotic? Is Chaos Harmonic? a Study Suggests….”
• Musk Spars With San Francisco Over Probe of Bedrooms at Twitter. Company has converted spaces at office into sleeping areas.”—”Twitter in recent weeks has turned several conference rooms at the office into sleeping areas, complete with furniture like bedside tables and armchairs, according to people familiar with the matter. It no longer needs as many meeting spaces now that thousands of employees have either been laid off or fired after the billionaire’s $44 billion purchase of the company in late October.” Also “San Francisco investigating allegation that Twitter converted office space to bedrooms for workers.” Also “Elon Musk is reportedly using space at Twitter’s San Francisco HQ for staff bedrooms.”
• “Leaked Twitter Code Reveals Secret Crypto Bombshell, Raising Serious Bitcoin And Dogecoin Questions“—”Twitter code shows the development of a potential “Twitter coin” cryptocurrency that could rival bitcoin and dogecoin”
• “Elon Musk’s ‘Dune’ misquote reveals a deep misunderstanding of Frank Herbert. Why did Elon Musk misattribute a Jung quote to Dune? Probably because Musk doesn’t get Dune.”
• “Elon Musk’s Bankers Consider Tesla Margin Loans to Cut Risky Twitter Debt. Parties discussing new loans to replace riskiest Twitter debt. Deal would cut Twitter’s $1.2 billion annual interest expense.”—”The margin loans are one of several options the Morgan Stanley-led bank group and Musk’s advisers have discussed to soften the burden of the $13 billion of debt.”
• “Former Twitter employees file class action gender discrimination lawsuit. The suit alleges Twitter’s mass layoffs had an outsize impact on women employees.” Also “Twitter sued for targeting women and staff on family leave in layoffs. Twitter laid off 63% of women in engineering roles compared to 48% of men.” Also “Group of laid-off Twitter employees suing Twitter and Elon Musk: ‘Workers are not dirt.”
• “Members of Twitter’s Trust & Safety Council Resign in Protest Against Elon Musk’s ‘Safety’ Messages to Date“—”We are announcing our resignation from Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council because it is clear from research evidence that, contrary to claims by Elon Musk, the safety and wellbeing of Twitter’s users are on the decline.” “The question has been on our minds: Should Musk be allowed to define digital safety as he has freedom of expression? Our answer is a categorical ‘no.'” Also “Elon Musk’s Twitter Dissolves Trust And Safety Council. The advisory group of independent civil, human rights and other organizations was formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, and self-harm.”—”The council had been scheduled to meet with Twitter representatives Monday night. But Twitter informed the group via email that it was disbanding it shortly before the meeting was to take place, according to multiple members.”
• “Mr. Transparency Threatens Twitter Leakers. Elon Musk reportedly gave Twitter staff until 5 p.m. Saturday to make a pledge not to share internal information.”—”Elon Musk has reportedly given Twitter staff until 5 p.m. Saturday to respond to an email he sent and pledge not to leak internal information about the company to the media.” “It seems that Musk’s threat didn’t sit well with at least some staffers who shared the contents of his email.”
• “A janitor laid off at Twitter’s headquarters said one of Elon Musk’s team members told him he’d be replaced by robots. Julio Alvarado, a janitor who worked at Twitter for 10 years, told the BBC the tone at the company soured after Elon Musk took over in October.”
• Meanwhile: “Tesla Denied Retrial Over Black Worker’s Racism Verdict. Owen Diaz originally awarded $137 million by California jury. Diaz claimed Tesla turned a blind eye to racism at factory.”
• Toot—”In case you didn’t realize yet, Twitter is now an app for QAnon run by a fascist.”
• Thread—”now you have someone sitting on top of the personal data of several billion users, someone who has a long track record of vindictive harassment, someone who has the ear of the far right, and someone who has just shown us his willingness to weaponize internal company data to score political points.” “all this time saying what if China abuses user data harvested by TikTok … but … it’s Twitter and a single emotionally unstable billionaire.”
• “Prosecute/Fauci’: Musk aligns himself with the far-right, and Twitter is now dangerously unsafe.”
• “A Political Theory of King Elon Musk. How medieval politics explains the social media war.”—”Populism in Western politics is not a pre-theorized worldview. It emerged from inchoate grievances rather than existing ideologies, and the theorists have been chasing after it ever since.” “The chasers include populism’s would-be friends, intellectuals trying to graft agendas onto Trumpism or Brexit or whatever’s happening in Italy or France. But populism’s critics are also always in the hunt, eager to find some dark wizard, some éminence grise whose ideas can give substance to their fears.”
• ‘Free Speech Absolutist’ Elon Musk Reportedly Threatens To Sue Twitter Workers Who Leak To Press. It was a dramatic turnaround from Musk’s catch phrase ‘transparency is the key to trust,’ and ‘sunlight is the best disinfectant.'”
• “Twitter Account Following Elon Musk’s Private Jet Gets Shadow Banned. The supposed free speech absolutist appears to have presided over the deadening of an account that shared publicly available data regarding his private jet.”
• “Crowd boos Elon Musk after Dave Chappelle says to ‘make some noise’. At a stage appearance Sunday with comedian Dave Chappelle, the audience made their disapproval of the new Twitter owner known.” Watch “Elon Musk getting booed at Dave Chappelle show Chase Center.” Toot—”Normalise booing billionaires.”
• “Goodbye, Twitter. Everything Ends, And That’s Okay.”—”Many of those forums are gone now, like the proverbial tears in rain. … Now it’s Twitter’s turn.”
• “The Internet Is Having Its Midlife Crisis“—”Sure, maybe New Twitter (or should it be Nu Twitter?) is a pipe dream. But dreams inspire us to think bigger. The internet is both shaped by and shapes humanity—it’s a funhouse mirror that reflects, amplifies, and distorts our very best and worst impulses.” “if reimagined as for the public rather than for profit, we might be able to think about the internet as an essential human right, like air or water, something we all need to protect in order to survive.” I’d argue this is a return to first principles, before the floodgates of commercialization opened in ’96.
• “Social Media Is for Strangers Now. As Instagram and Facebook fade from relevance, the connections between friends are fading online too.”
• “We don’t need another Twitter. Twitter never fulfilled its promise. Don’t expect its current crop of replacements to, either.”—”We may not need another Twitter, or even the one we have now. But it did show us what a digital town square could be, even if Twitter itself never actually was one. Whatever replaces that, if anything, may not look much like Twitter. It may not even be text-based.”
• “Scammers Are Scamming Other Scammers Out of Millions of Dollars. On cybercrime forums, user complaints about being duped may accidentally expose their real identities.”
• “Apple Kills Its Plan to Scan Your Photos for CSAM. Here’s What’s Next. The company plans to expand its Communication Safety features, which aim to disrupt the sharing of child sexual abuse material at the source.”
• “Apple to Allow Outside App Stores in Overhaul Spurred by EU Laws. Company prepares to allow outside app stores, ‘sideloading’. News triggers stock surge for dating services and other apps.” Huge, if true! Also “Bloomberg: Apple planning to change course, allow third-party app stores and more“—”If this pans out, it’s not only a groundshaking change to a major chunk of Apple’s Services revenue, but also a 180-degree change to what has been probably the most contentious element of the company’s business. Apple hasn’t, of this writing, confirmed the plan.”
• “Meta’s behavioral ads will finally face GDPR privacy reckoning in January“—”Major privacy complaints targeting the legality of Meta’s core advertising business model in Europe have finally been settled via a dispute resolution mechanism baked into the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).” Also “Meta needs explicit user consent to run personalized ads, EU watchdog rules. Meta may have to rethink its ad model (again) in the next month.” Also “Meta cannot run ads based on personal data, EU privacy watchdog rules – source.” Also “Meta’s business model declared illegal in the EU according to WSJ. Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp can no longer run personalized ads without user consent.”
• “Facebook and the media kiss and make up“—”Watch for Facebook to reemerge, promoting itself as the sensible, mature alternative to Elon Musk’s Twitter chaos.” “Facebook spends a fortune lobbying Congress. But next year, the corporation might win back prominent members of the media with nothing more than a few freshly updated press releases. We’re seeing inklings of the change already. As Twitter unravels …”
• “Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse Plans Run Into a Big Roadblock. The FTC is throwing a monkey wrench into Meta Platforms’ attempt to make a key acquisition.”—”But the obstacles in Meta’s path to the metaverse are bigger than just technical and financial.”
• “Why The Computer Company Raspberry Pi’s New Hire Caused A Social Media Firestorm. ‘I think what we’re looking at is a dogpile that’s being organized somewhere,’ a Raspberry Pi cofounder told BuzzFeed News.” Also toot “Left: Liz Upton of Raspberry Pi. Right: Uma Chowdhry of DuPont. *They’reTheSamePicture dot meme*” Also toot—”Looks like Raspberry Pi really wants to make things even worse for them. Those replies to criticism and made up accusations are just mind blowing.” Also toot—”Some sort of berry consortium hires a surveillance cop, whose main qualifications seem to involve owning Star Wars toys and an expertise in pretending to be a bush outside of people’s apartments or something– and this fruit company then launches a libelous attack through the media on the admin of the tiny instance I joined.” Also “Raspberry Pi Shows How Not To Mastodon“—”One open question is whether Mastodon will ever be used by businesses in the same way that they now routinely use Twitter. An early pioneer in this area is Raspberry Pi … Everything seemed to be going well … As more businesses dip their toe in the waters of Mastodon, the problems Raspberry Pi has run into here can serve as a good example of how not to do it.”
• “Two Women Sue Apple Over AirTag Stalking. One woman found an AirTag tracking device in the wheel well of her car and a second woman found an AirTag in her child’s backpack, the lawsuit said.” Hey, maybe Raspberry Pi can help hold Apple’s surveillance beer? ::snork::
• “How effective altruism let Sam Bankman-Fried happen. Profound philosophical errors enabled the FTX collapse.”—”for me, the most disturbing aspect of the Bankman-Fried saga, the one that kept me up at night, is how much of myself I see in him. Like me, they were both drawn to utilitarian philosophy at a young age. Like me, they seemed fascinated by what their privileged position on this planet would enable them to do to help others, and embraced the effective altruism movement as a result. And the choices they made because of this latter deliberation would prove disastrous. Something went badly wrong here, and my fellow journalists in the take mines have been producing a small library of theories of why.” “There’s still plenty we don’t know, but based on what we do know, I don’t think the problem was earning to give, or billionaire money, or longtermism per se. But the problem does lie in the culture of effective altruism.” Meh. A pox on both houses.
• “Kevin Hart, Jimmy Fallon, Madonna Named in Class-Action Suit Alleging Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT Fraud ‘Scheme’“—”A class-action lawsuit contends that stakeholders in Yuga Labs, the parent company of NFT series Bored Ape Yacht Club and its affiliated digital products, engaged in a conspiracy with celebrities to defraud potential investors.”
• “Vivaldi Browser Now Boasts Mastodon Integration.”
• “Amazon layoffs now expected to mount to 20000, including top managers. Layoffs are expected in multiple locations and departments including IT, and will affect all levels of employees, according to sources.”
• “Microsoft reportedly mulls a does-everything ‘super app’ to expand mobile search. Trojan horse could bring more users to Teams, grow advertising, because Windows users just looooove MS ads.” Use our products. PWWEEEEEEAAASZE?! Also “Microsoft Teams adds free communities feature to take on Facebook and Discord. Microsoft is taking the best parts of Teams and packaging them up for groups and communities to use freely.”
• “FTC sues to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision. The lawsuit represents the FTC’s most significant effort to rein in consolidation in the tech industry since prominent tech critic Lina Khan became the commission’s chair.” Also “FTC’s Move to Block Microsoft’s Deal for Activision Blizzard Came Despite Charm Offensive. The software giant has said it wouldn’t block rivals from Activision games, but the agency says Microsoft had reneged on a similar promise in the past.”
• “Amazon Sued by District of Columbia for ‘Stealing’ Delivery Driver Tips“—”Washington DC’s attorney general is suing Amazon.com Inc., seeking civil penalties for allegedly misleading consumers who thought they were tipping delivery drivers but had the money diverted to cover the couriers’ base pay.” Wage theft with a smile logo.
• “The Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has been knocked offline for more than a month“—”The newly elected government in Pacific island nation of Vanuatu encountered a serious problem from the very first day of its term on Nov. 6 — no one could use their government email accounts. But then the situation got worse. Much worse.”
• “Reverse nature’s decline or there is no future. The United Nations’ biodiversity chief says global talks under way in Montreal are the ‘last chance’ to reverse the destruction of the natural world.”
• “It’s not just Twitter. The whole Internet is broken and we’d better fix it soon“—”Is it appropriate that the infrastructure to host citizen discourse and engagement is in the private and profit-oriented hands of multinational data monopolies?” Historically, even before commercialization ~’95, the physical Internet was almost all in the hands of for-profit corporate entities … it’s not an entirely new issue, but it’s gotten worse.
• What Do Libraries Have To Do With Building a Better Internet?“—”When thinking about how to build a better internet—one that is focused on the public interest and promoting meaningful participation for everyone—libraries are key players. And to fulfill that role, libraries need to have policies that allow them to thrive online.”
• “DeepMind created an AI tool that can help generate rough film and stage scripts. Feed a log line into Dramatron and it can generate a title, character descriptions and dialogue.” “Dramatron is a so-called “co-writing” tool that can generate character descriptions, plot points, location descriptions and dialogue. The idea is that human writers will be able to compile, edit and rewrite what Dramatron comes up with into a proper script.” About Dramatron.
• “Artificial intelligence is permeating business at last. The age of ‘boring AI’ will be anything but.”—”For decades starry-eyed technologists have claimed that ai will upend the business world, creating enormous benefits for firms and customers.” “excitement is also palpable among corporate users of ai, its developers and those developers’ venture-capital backers.” *shudder*
• “The off-patent drug that could protect us from future COVID-19 variants“—”Cambridge scientists have shown that a widely-used drug to treat liver disease can prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection or reduce COVID-19 severity. The drug has minimal side effects, is cheap, and should protect against future variants of SARS-CoV-2. Their unique study involved ‘mini-organs’, animal research, donated human organs, volunteers and patients.”
• “We Might Have Long Covid All Wrong. Some post-Covid symptoms may be produced by the brain. Does that make them any less real?”
• “Germany Shuts Down Far-Right Clubs That Deny the Modern State. In a first, the federal government banned two clubs with allegiance to the old German Reich. Police raids on members’ homes found weapons, propaganda and narcotics.”—”The German government on Thursday banned two clubs linked to an anti-Semitic movement that refuses to recognize the modern German state, with the Interior Ministry ordering raids on the homes of the groups’ leaders in 10 states as part of a crackdown on Germany’s far right.” Also toot—”An army of mutineers all named Heinrich. How many Heinrichs does it take to change a chancellor? THAT’S NOT FUNNY!” Also toot—”the desire of these violent extremists to insert Prince Heinrich XIII of Reuss as the leader after a planned execution of the German chancellor, it sounds ludicrous, laughable. But that’s the thing: These people are deadly serious. Because the plots of these anti-democratic extremists often seem so ludicrous, they can succeed because the public–& too many leaders–don’t take them seriously enough. This tendency is how Trump got as far as he did.” Also “Germany arrests 25 accused of plotting coup“—”The group of far-right and ex-military figures are said to have prepared for a ‘Day X’ to storm the Reichstag parliament building and seize power. A man named as Heinrich XIII, from an old aristocratic family, is alleged to have been central to their plans.” “plotters … include members of the extremist Reichsbürger [Citizens of the Reich] movement … They also refuse to recognise the modern German state.” Also “The bizarre far-right coup attempt in Germany, explained by an expert. Understanding the Reichsbürger, a QAnon-influenced radical movement that just tried to make a minor noble the new king of Germany.” Also toot—”Hey, remember when we learned that a right-wing terrorist network extensively planned a violent coup to overthrow the German government and constitution and establish a reactionary, ethnic nationalist, authoritarian monarchy with them as its leaders, and this network included members of the German judiciary, the police, one of its major political parties, the army, and members of the bourgeois (and formerly royal) societal elite? That was earlier this week.”
• “Trump did not disclose $19.8m loan while president, documents show. The loan from Daewoo, a company with ties to North Korea, should have been reported in public financial disclosures.”
• “House January 6 committee has decided to make criminal referrals, chairman says“—”The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack is weighing criminal referrals for former President Donald Trump and a number of his closest allies, multiple sources tell CNN.”
• “‘It couldn’t be going any worse’: Trump skipping rallies as his 2024 campaign launch flops“—”And it’s not because Donald Trump is making mistakes. It’s because Donald Trump is being Donald Trump.” Hear me out. Maybe being Donald Trump was the mistake he made all along?
• “The construction of Trump’s ultra luxury 6-star golf resort in Bali has stalled leaving workers jobless, report says. Donald Trump struck a deal to license his name and to help run a hotel in Bali, Indonesia, in 2015. But, years later, it has yet to open, per AFP.”
• “Private RNC member emails reveal anger at Trump, frustration with McDaniel’s response to him. In missives sent to all 168 members, several committeemen expressed horror with the Nick Fuentes dinner. One wanted the chair to speak out.”
• “Put This on a Red Hat: Trump’s Family Business Found Guilty of a Whopping 17 Different Crimes. Adds a nice shine to Trump’s third bid for the White House.”
• “The Meadows Texts: A Plot To Overturn An American Election. TPM Has Obtained Explosive Evidence Uncovered By The January 6 Select Committee.”—”The Meadows texts illustrate in moment-to-moment detail an authoritarian effort to undermine the will of the people and upend the American democratic system as we know it.”
• “‘Seditious radicalism’: Legal experts sound the alarm over Republican’s call for ‘Marshall Law’. South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman urged Trump to impose martial law — over a week after the Capitol riot.” Also “Rachel Maddow Roasts GOP Rep Over ‘Marshall Law’ Text. Perhaps not surprisingly, Rep. Ralph Norman wasn’t the only right-wing member of Congress to botch the reference to martial law prior to Joe Biden’s inauguration.”
• “Don’t relax too much: Our abusive relationship with Donald Trump is not over. When an abuse victim decides to break away, the abuser often turns to violence. That’s where we are right now.”
• “Trumpism Was Born in the ’90s. Clintonian centrism allowed the radical right to incubate.”
• “Trump to release ‘book of letters’ next year amid 2024 campaign.” I … might not be 110% against book burning anymore?! Maybe pulping these as remainders will create something actually useful. But, you know they’re going to pump money at inflating sales numbers for the charts, like L Ron did.
• “The Trump paradox: America is sick of this guy — but we can’t afford to turn away. Yes, Trump craves attention and suffers without it. But pretending he isn’t there won’t make him go away.” It’s a pimple that needs to be popped … but then becomes a scab that needs to be scratched?
• “Declaration of Independence Found in Trump Storage Unit.”—”This seems to have been some kind of honest mistake.” “That version of events differs from one provided by a source close to the former President, who indicated that Trump had intentionally taken the Declaration of Independence in the hopes that it had a treasure map on the back.” WTAF. A few hours later: OH FFS THIS IS SATIRE. HOLY SHIT. Things have gotten to the point where I can no longer tell, apparently.
• “‘Duct Tape and Band-Aids’: Inside Herschel Walker’s Campaign Collapse. Herschel Walker cruised to an easy primary victory with Donald Trump’s endorsement. The general election was very different.”—”Before he even announced his candidacy, Walker’s still-unofficial campaign hired outside consultants to compile a report on Walker’s potential problems. The report weighed in at over 500 pages.”
• “‘Deal with the devil’: Evangelical pastor testifies about bargain Christian conservatives made with GOP.”
• “Law professors raise ethics concerns as Kavanaugh parties with Republicans at ‘worst possible time’. The Supreme Court justice attended a party with ex-Trump aide Stephen Miller, CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp.”
• “Marjorie Taylor Greene Says ‘We Would’ve Won’ If She Organized The Jan. 6 Attack. The GOP lawmaker suggested she would have done a better job leading the armed insurrection.”—”If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, we would’ve been armed.” Also “Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump Jr. bash Dems at NY Young Republican gala“—”Her speech took a strange turn while she noted how ‘you can pick up a butt plug or a dildo at Target nowadays’ while bashing transgender-friendly policies in classrooms. … while lamenting how many fellow Republicans have not supported her legislative ideas.” Also “‘Slap in the face’: White House condemns Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Jan. 6 comments“—”The White House rebuked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s recent comments about the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on Monday, calling her remarks a ‘slap in the face’ to law enforcement and the people who died in connection with the attack.” Also “‘These are crimes’: Jamie Raskin slams Marjorie Taylor Greene’s remarks about ‘winning’ armed insurrection.”
• “Hundreds Of Oath Keepers Have Worked for the Federal Government: Report . 309 listed members of the extremist group reported having worked for various DHS agencies, including the Secret Service and Border Patrol.”—”The lists demonstrate how the organization heavily courted members of the military, veterans, and law enforcement officials to bolster their ranks.” … and, at the same time, appeals to those people already.
• “Oklahoma takes ‘momentous’ step to allow taxpayer-funded religious schools. A 15-page memo leans on a trio of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that favored religious schools and won rapt attention from conservative school choice advocates and faith groups.”—”Oklahoma’s departing attorney general just took a big step toward achieving a conservative education milestone.”
• “Anti-vaxxers seek to intervene in Missouri AG Eric Schmitt’s social media lawsuit“—”A quartet of vaccine skeptics who have each been accused for years of spreading medical misinformation is asking a judge to allow them to join Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s lawsuit that alleges the federal government colluded with social media companies to suppress freedom of speech.” ffs
• “Special counsel Jack Smith subpoenas Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin officials for Trump communications in Jan. 6 probe. The requests to multiple counties Trump targeted in effort to reverse 2020 loss are among the first issued since Jack Smith was appointed special counsel.”
• “House January 6 committee has decided to make criminal referrals, chairman says“—”The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack is weighing criminal referrals for former President Donald Trump and a number of his closest allies, multiple sources tell CNN.”
• “Alternate Juror in Trump Organization Trial Says She Would Have Convicted. She did not deliberate and had no impact on the outcome of the case. But her impressions offered insight into the jury box.”
• “Power grid attacks reported across nation, including Washington“—”North Carolina isn’t the only state dealing with substation attacks. In a recent memo sent out by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, there were reports of other physical attacks at substations in parts of Oregon and here in Washington.” Also “Attacks on Pacific north-west power stations raise fears for US electric grid. Series of attacks come after assault on North Carolina facilities cut electricity to 40,000.” Also “String of electrical grid attacks in Pacific Northwest is unsolved. Emails obtained by OPB and KUOW show that at least six electric substations in the region have been attacked, at least two by people with firearms.’
• “A congresswoman cried begging colleagues to vote against a same-sex marriage bill. ‘I hope and pray that my colleagues will find the courage to join me in opposing this misguided and this dangerous bill,’ Hartzler said through tears.” 🎻 Also “Tearful anti-LGBTQ Republican gets called out by her gay nephew: ‘Aunt Vicky that’s just not right’.”
• “The Big Problem: We Sort the Psychopaths to the Top. You are not hallucinating all of this. I know it feels that way sometimes.”—”The confluence of existential catastrophes we face with a resurgence of evil not seen in 100 years leaves us at a historical inflection point. But I think we sometimes miss a key structural problem that has gotten us here. … At the root of this dynamic is the fact that our system rewards people who don’t care about others”
• “To Fight Misinformation, We Need to Teach That Science Is Dynamic. Science is a social process, and teaching students how researchers work in tandem to develop facts will make them less likely to be duped by falsehoods.”
• “Eight rules to combat medical misinformation. Authors of biomedical research should provide clear and accurate information to society, whilst working to combat misinformation and disinformation.”—”First, be aware of the information landscape into which you are releasing your work. … Second, avoid creating hype around your work or making tenuous claims about its significance. … 3rd, recognize that data visualizations are widely shared on social media & that they can be used for good or ill. … 4th, where specific abuses of your findings are likely, take steps to head these off. … 5th, if you intend to post a preprint, understand how preprints are received by the public & the media. … 6th, take direct responsibility for any press release that your institution issues … 7th, interact responsibly with traditional media. … 8th, consider engaging on social media.”
• “Combating Hate. Silence is complicity.”—”The former president may have built his political power by tapping into a well of hate, but the reservoir was already there. Others are eager to draw from its waters as well.”
• “Don’t Blame Republicans. ‘Amtrak Joe’ Biden Is the One Who Defeated the Railworkers. Beyond the rhetoric of liberal politicians and the complexities of congressional sausage-making, one fact should not be forgotten: it was the Democratic leadership — not Republicans — who spearheaded last week’s efforts to trample on the rights of workers.”
• “White House Reportedly Signals It Would Accept Work Requirements in Child Tax Credit Revival. ‘This would be a shameful cave by Biden and Democrats,’ argued one progressive strategist.”
• “The Tories, Not British Workers, Are to Blame for the Unraveling of the UK’s Public Services“—”Thanks to over a decade of Conservative-imposed austerity, the UK’s public services are stretched to the breaking point. Public sector workers are going on strike to save the country’s public goods from dangerous underfunding.”
• “The Supreme Court Isn’t Coming for Your Condoms — It’s Coming for Economic Regulation. After Dobbs, liberals are warning of a Supreme Court assault on personal liberties like sexual autonomy, contraception, and even interracial marriage. But the court actually has its sights on social and labor protections — and progressives are unprepared.”
• “S.F. halts ‘killer robots’ police policy after huge backlash — for now.” jfc gtfo with your “for now” smdh
• “The EPA Is Hunting Performance Shops and Diesel Tuners Are to Blame. The current wave of enforcement actions are the result of coal rollers.”
• “Ousted Peru leader appears in court to face rebellion charge“—”Peru’s stunning political crisis grinded forward Thursday, as former President Pedro Castillo appeared in court following a failed attempt to close a hostile congress and his successor looked for ways to unite the country behind institutions already hollowed out by endemic corruption and mistrust.” Also “Peru’s President impeached and arrested after he attempts to dissolve Congress.”
• “Senate Banking Chairman Brown to introduce bill closing ‘shadow’ banking loophole after Elon Musk says Twitter will process payments.”
• “Kanye West subreddit finally turns on Kanye West.“—”Having witnessing Ye’s yearslong escalation from ‘dragon energy’ mantras to open Hitler worship, many of these former stans are finally ready to leave their onetime idol behind—though not ‘the friends we made along the way,’ as r/Kanye moderator Clement Leveau put it to me. ‘Kanye brought all of us together, but we don’t identify with him anymore.'”
• “Kanye, Elon, Trump: Why the News Cycle Is Trapped in a Narcissist Vortex. Is there any way to escape the attention-seekers dining in Mar-a-Lago or the one heading to Mars?”
• “Items with classified markings found at Trump storage unit in Florida. The former president’s lawyers have told federal authorities no classified material was found in additional searches of Trump Tower in New York and his golf club in Bedminster, N.J.”
• “An 88-Year First: Democrats Defend All Their Senate Seats While Holding White House. With Raphael Warnock’s win, Joe Biden did something we have not seen since FDR.”
• “American journalist Grant Wahl dies after collapsing at Qatar World Cup“—”The circumstances around his death are not clear.” “Wahl had made headlines in November by reporting that he was detained and briefly refused entry to a World Cup match because he was wearing a rainbow t-shirt in support of LGBTQ rights.”
• “We Can’t Have Trans Representation Unless We Protect Trans People. After being misgendered and verbally attacked, Asheville’s first trans school board member, Peyton O’Conner, decided to resign.”
• “The Marketplace of Bad Ideas – by Rusty Foster“—”We already know that normal people aren’t interested in defeating Nazis in the ‘marketplace of ideas,’ having long ago defeated them in the ‘marketplace of bullets.’ In 2022 the only people interested in debating the validity of Nazi ideas are Nazis.”
• “Rejoice! Cannabis Seeds are Legal. OG cultivation expert Ed Rosenthal releases his own genetics for the first time.”—”Back in April, the DEA quietly acknowledged that cannabis seeds are legal. Rosenthal began releasing seed packs alongside his books in May. Since then, rapper and Cookies clothing mogul Berner has also embraced the idea, offering seed packs along with his recent From Seed to Sale album release.”
• “Putin Is Preparing to Flee When Russia Implodes, Ex-Aide Says. ‘The leader’s entourage has not ruled out that he will lose the war, be stripped of power, and have to urgently evacuate somewhere.'”
• “Putin cancels year-end address for first time in a decade. Cancellation comes with Russian troops on the back foot in Ukraine.”—”Putin, who turned 70 in November, is also at the center of intense speculation over his health — and was seen swaying on camera in a public appearance earlier this week. Aides have repeatedly denied that he is unwell.” 🤔
• “What Ukraine’s Drone Strike Deep in Russian Territory Means. This is a turning point, especially in showing Russia’s vulnerability.”—”Ukraine’s drone strikes on two air bases deep inside Russia mark a new chapter in this war, but their significance—whether they escalate the conflict or alter the war’s course in some other way—is unclear. Much depends on Moscow’s reaction, and Kyiv’s response to that, in the next several days.” Also “Blasts deep inside Russia hand Putin a fresh problem, with no obvious answer“—”Moscow’s accusation that Ukrainian drones struck two airbases deep inside Russia has once again raised the febrile question of escalation nine months into the war. The strikes are an extraordinary breach of Russia’s assumptions that it can protect its deep interior, from which safe harbors its strategic bombers have caused carnage across Ukraine with relative impunity.”
• “The Frightening Implications of Gorsuch’s Angry Questions About State ‘Reeducation’. His maximalist theory of the First Amendment would swallow civil rights law.” “During oral arguments in 303 Creative v. Elenis at the Supreme Court on Monday, Justice Neil Gorsuch cornered Colorado Solicitor General Eric Olson with an unforeseeable question. … ‘It was a reeducation program, right?'”
• “Nothing Sinema does can take away Democrats’ Senate majority—she’s just an isolated weirdo“—”Sinema delights in being difficult, so it’s understandable that she caused a lot of consternation … But we don’t need to listen to anything she says (and who would even want to?). The only thing that matters is what she actually does, and she simply lacks any real power in a Senate with 50 bona fide Democrats.” Also “Democrats Are Ready to Call Kyrsten Sinema’s Bluff. Kyrsten Sinema is putting Democrats in a bind with her decision to declare herself an independent. Democrats are pushing ahead anyway.”—”back in Arizona, her move came across like something else entirely. ‘Her party switch is an electoral hand grenade … and she just pulled the pin.'” “But if Sinema is daring Democrats to call her bluff, there’s every indication they can’t wait to do just that.”
• “Arizona governor builds border wall of shipping crates in final days of office. Critics say Republican Doug Ducey’s scheme is illegal because makeshift barrier is being erected on tribal and federal land.” Um. Ex-governor’s cunning plan has a slight flaw …
  You’d think Nazis would at least recall the flaw they exploited against the Maginot Line.

• “Rupert Murdoch Will Have to Answer for Fox News’ 2020 Coverage in Dominion Lawsuit. The Fox Corp. chairman is set to be deposed next week in the $1.6 billion defamation suit brought forward by the voting systems company at the center of ‘stolen election’ conspiracies.”
• “First Gen Z Congressman-Elect Has DC Apartment Application Rejected. Maxwell Frost said he lost the apartment and the application fee due to his bad credit rating.”
• “Making PACER court records system free wouldn’t add to deficit, CBO says“—”Making the federal judiciary’s online court records system known as PACER free under a pending bill in the U.S. Senate would not add to the federal deficit as initially presumed, but would actually cut it by $14 million over a decade, according to revised estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.”
• “Get ready for a big downturn — America’s ‘office apocalypse’ is even worse than expected. (html title: Remote work is gutting downtowns, will cost cities $453 billion) (content title: The ‘office apocalypse’ is upon us) The office apocalypse: Buildings gutted by work from home will cost cities $453 billion — leading to fewer jobs, dirtier streets, and higher crime.” But, what about … oh: “Converting offices into housing has not worked out the way we hoped.” See also: Twitter turning offices into bedrooms!
• “ODOT crews install boulders to prevent encampments under Portland overpass“—”ODOT says the city of Portland cleared out the most recent group of campers last week, and ODOT crews began their work Monday morning.” Solving the wrong problem quickly. Also “Portland has dramatically escalated tent sweeps“—”It’s unclear where the people who lived in those camps have gone. But Portland-area shelters don’t have room for most of them, and city and county data indicate most people uprooted from camping on public land don’t want to live in group shelters.”
• “Kansas residents hold their noses as crews mop up massive U.S. oil spill. Another Keystone pipeline spill. Who could possibly have predicted it?”
• “How Brittney Griner’s Plight Exposes the Hypocrisy of America’s Carceral State. Americans are rightly decrying Putin’s Russia for attempting to lock someone away for years over a trumped up-drug offense. But for marginalized communities in the United States, that’s a not so foreign experience.”
• “‘Hold up. Wait!’: Patti LaBelle ushered off stage due to bomb threat at Milwaukee concert. The startling moment occurred on Saturday at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee and was caught on video.”—”I heard lots of comments about how sad it was that someone would pull such a pathetic stunt. Before the incident the crowd was really enjoying Patti. Just sad that someone does this.”
• “Catholic church paid Maryland lobbyists more than $200K to help limit, prevent abuse lawsuits. For years, the three Roman Catholic dioceses operating parishes in Maryland have successfully lobbied lawmakers to keep sexual abuse survivors from filing lawsuits against the church, a Baltimore Sun review of lobbying records shows.”
• “Several Indigenous Women’s Remains Are Missing. Canadian Police Refuse To Search For Them. Winnipeg police said they won’t check a local landfill where the remains of three murdered indigenous women have been likely sitting for months.”
• “How Democracy Nearly Died in Wisconsin. Democrats just barely held off a Republican onslaught on fair elections. But the fight is far from over.”—”If the redistricting maps drawn in secret by Republican staffers and passed by the GOP-controlled legislature in 2011 were unfair, the maps adopted by Republicans in 2021, over Evers’ objections, were even more one-sided.”
• “Italy shooting: Three women shot dead in Rome cafe. Three women including a friend of Italy’s new prime minister were killed when a man opened fire at a cafe in Rome, injuring four other people.”—”Reports suggest the suspect and the apartment block’s board of residents have been locked in a bitter dispute for some time.” Also “Man Accused of Condo Board Shooting, Which Killed Italian PM’s Friend, Was Nazi Collector. Claudio Campiti allegedly opened fire at a condo meeting in the Italian capital Sunday, killing three women.”
• “Justice Jackson is smashing right-wing legal claims at Supreme Court hearings. The court’s newest member is picking apart bogus arguments. She showed us how in recent high-profile disputes over discrimination and elections.”
• “The Root Cause of Violent Crime Is Not What We Think It Is. How to escape the narrative black hole of ‘tough on crime’ policies.”—”If you want policies that actually work, you have to change the political conversation … to ‘strong communities keeping everyone safe.’ Candidates who care about solving a problem pay attention to what caused it. Imagine a plumber who tells you to get more absorbent flooring but does not look for the leak.”
• “The Truth About Stopping Mass Shootings, From Sandy Hook to Uvalde. Five devastating massacres in 2022—and one that was prevented—reveal key ways forward.”—”progress begins with rejecting the longstanding narrative that mass shootings are inevitable and will never cease” “Additionally, two types of gun regulations … raising the age requirement for gun buyers from 18 to 21. Another is expanding the use of … red flag laws”
• “The City That Kicked Cops Out of Schools and Tried Restorative Practices Instead. Here’s what happens when a school rethinks punishment.”—”All of the coordinators I speak with agree that part of why RP works is because the team comes from the same neighborhoods as the students. Mr. Musa lives in the neighborhood and plays pick-up basketball with kids in his off-hours.” “The relationships forged by check-and-connects can also help illuminate unnoticed issues. In Vanessa’s case, the RP team figured out she’s having trouble in class partly because she can’t see well. So they helped her get glasses.”
• “Women Are Half the Population, Not a Special Interest Group. Democrats do themselves no favors when they pretend ‘women’s issues’ are a niche category of human affairs.”—”This is the problem of the pink ghetto of ideas, that niche category of human affairs known as ‘women’s issues,’ whereby anything that women in particular (but not exclusively) might care about gets downgraded to ‘not serious’ compared with important matters of state.”
• From 2018: Watch “The New York Public Library’s Collection of Weird Objects“—”A lock of Walt Whitman’s hair, Jack Kerouac’s boots, and Virginia Woolf’s cane are just a few of the items of literary paraphernalia available at the New York Public Library’s Berg Collection—if you have an appointment.” More random than weird, but okay.
• “Read this and be happy, whether more or less, in your lifetime. The gods prohibit you from the wine-grape and water when you enter Tartarus. Live honourably while your star gives you time for life.” Translated inscription quoted at Be Happy.
• “New York Times journalists, other workers on 24-hour strike“—”Hundreds of New York Times journalists and other staff walked off the job for 24 hours Thursday, frustrated by contract negotiations that have dragged on for months in the newspaper’s biggest labor dispute in more than 40 years.” Also “New York Times Staffers Plan Massive Walkout Over Union Contract. The strike will empty much of the newsroom as an agreement on compensation remains elusive.”
• From 2021: “A history of South African Nazis. Those on the far Right identified with the despotic and racist ideology developed by Adolf Hitler. And when the National Party came to power, those fascists moved into politics.” 🎩 toot—”Elon Musk and Peter Thiel grew up in #Apartheid, South Africa. … good article about the historic and modern relationship between South Africa, Apartheid and the Nazis.”
• Thread—”A year ago today, a group of working class baristas organized the first unionized Starbucks store in the United States. In the span of one year, we went from ZERO unionized Starbucks stores to 270 and almost 7,000 union workers.”
• “The Massive University of California Strike Is Now in Its Fifth Week. The historic strike by student workers in the University of California system just entered its fifth week. Jacobin spoke with striking workers about the state of the strike and how union members are feeling at this contentious and pivotal moment.”
• “New School Strike Ends With Victory for Adjuncts. The administration met the union on all of its demands, including raises across the board and increased healthcare eligibility.”
• “An Indigenous reservation has a novel way to grow food – below the earth’s surface. Underground greenhouses are helping people to take back control of their nutrition and ease farming amid the climate crisis.”—”This is an underground greenhouse, or walipini, and the harvesters are members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. It is one of at least eight underground greenhouses that, over the past decade, have been built or are being constructed on the reservation.”
• “Why Golf Might Not Survive the 21st Century. Water shortages exacerbated by human activity and climate change mean golf will need to adapt to new standards—or perish.”—”Early courses were found environments, as golfers would discover clear, flat land and find ways to play around obstacles without moving or altering the earth.” “Nowadays, golf is … seen as a symbol of water-wasting opulence enjoyed primarily by the wealthy.”
• “‘Gas Station Heroin’ Is Causing Intense Withdrawals. It’s Legal in Most States. Tianeptine is an antidepressant. But it’s being sold in the U.S., especially at gas stations, as a dietary supplement and functions like an opioid.”—”People are using it either to manage or withdrawal from harder, harsher stuff, or they’re kind of starting their journey and developing an unhealthy relationship with it based on its effects—and its effects are opioid-like effects”
• “Revealed: group shaping US nutrition receives millions from big food industry. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a record of quid pro quos with a range of food giants, documents show.”—”an influential group that helps shape US food policy and steers consumers toward nutritional products has financial ties to the world’s largest processed food companies and has been controlled by former industry employees”
• “Critical Role’s ‘Legend of Vox Machina’ Season 2 on Prime Video Guest Stars Include Henry Winkler, Lance Reddick, Cheech Marin (EXCLUSIVE)“—”Additional guest cast for Season 2 includes Will Friedle (“Boy Meets World”), Billy Boyd (“The Lord of the Rings”), Cree Summer (“Rugrats,” “The Patrick Star Show”), Alanna Ubach (“Euphoria”), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (“Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence”), Troy Baker (“The Last of Us”), Sendhil Ramamurthy (“Heroes”) and Ralph Ineson (“The Witch”).”
• “Atari revives unreleased arcade game that was too damn hard for 1982 players. Legendary developer Jeff Minter brings his signature trippy style to the ‘Akka Arrh’ remake.”
• “Days Gone Director Blames ‘Woke Reviewers’ For Game’s Middling Reception. Former Sony Bend writer and director John Garvin has a theory on why the open-world zombie survival game didn’t sell well.” Cool. Cool. Another game I haven’t played, that I can definitely skip now.
• “‘The Dark Tower’ TV Series in the Works From ‘The Haunting’ Creator Mike Flanagan“—”Flanagan says he envisions ‘The Dark Tower’ as a five-season show, with two standalone feature films as followups. And yes, he has spoken with King himself about plans for the adaptation” “This happened because I sent him a very, very detailed outline of what I wanted to do with it … And it was in response to that, that he gave us the rights.” Also “Mike Flanagan might be the only person who can do a Dark Tower series right. The director has spent most of his career preparing to do Stephen King’s fantasy series justice.”
• Gary Oldman set to come in from the cold to reprise role of brilliant spymaster George Smiley“—”Gary Oldman is prepared to come in from the cold to play the unobtrusive but brilliant spymaster, George Smiley, again.” “Twelve years ago, Oldman successfully took on John le Carre’s ‘breathtakingly ordinary’ secret intelligence officer in a film adaptation … following Alec Guinness’s flawless portrait in the BBC’s 1979 version.” 👀 IDEK if this is still in the works, but this was from January so could go either way.
• “20 years ago, Christian Bale made a sci-fi box office disaster — and a secretly great action movie. If you need an emotionless sci-fi world, don’t call Spock. Call Bale.”—”Equilibrium is remembered for two things: It tried to ride the coattails of The Matrix, and the gun-battling was pretty sweet. What gets left out … is that Christian Bale is fantastic, and he pulls off a feat that many … have tried and failed to manage: To act … emotionless.”
• “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Is a Darker, More Emotional Spin on the Classic Tale. Featuring the voices of Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, and more, it’s now on Netflix.” About Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. (Be sure to watch the separate making of documentary after!) Also “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a radical reimagining, and an extraordinary experience. And its focus on fascism and conformism puts it right back in the territory he explored in Pan’s Labyrinth.”
• “Disney Has Bad News For Marvel, Star Wars Fans. With Bob Iger back at the Disney helm, the company’s content strategy is already changing.”—”‘In fiscal 2023, the Studios plan to produce approximately 40 titles, which include films and episodic television programs, for distribution theatrically and/or on our DTC platforms.’ To put that in perspective, 2022’s annual report set a goal for 50 titles.”
• “Noble Knight Games voluntarily recognizes employees’ union“—”Over the next weeks, the union will elect a bargaining committee to represent workers before meeting with management to negotiate its first contract.”
• “How to Uncurse Your Dice Before Game Night. Dungeons & Dragons dice are notoriously fickle friends. Here’s how I un-cursed my oracle rocks before going into fictional battle.”—”I didn’t have that kind of time, but there was an intriguing option in my Twitter mentions: a ritual to the dice gods. … At the end of the day I decided to forgo all the traditional gods and set up a small altar to the dice gods”
• “Year in Review: 20 Best Tabletop Roleplaying Games from 2022. TTRPGs had a banner year, taking on every single genre in every single system—here are my favorites published this year.”—”1. Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel … 5. Into the Odd … 9. CY_BORG … 12. Rune – Gila RPGs … 13. The One Ring … 19. Monster Care Squad … 20. DIE RPG”
• Watch “Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches | New Official Trailer.”
• Watch “Pink Floyd – Echoes (A.I. Generated Music Video).”
• “WB Reveals Cast for Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham Movie (article title: Batman Goes Lovecraft for His Next Animated Movie). To quote a Key & Peele sketch, Batman is steampunk now.”—”The film itself is based on the three-issue 2000 miniseries of the same name from Hellboy’s Mike Mignola” & al. Also “‘Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham’ Sets Voice Cast (Exclusive). The 1920s-set adventure is due out next spring.”
• “Jeff Goldblum Is Playing The Most Iconic Wizard Of All Time“—”Jeff Goldblum will play the Wizard of Oz in the upcoming film adaptation of the stage musical Wicked.”
• “A Schoolhouse Rock! tribute to honor the passing of its last surviving creator. George Newall, a former ad exec who co-created the influential series, has died at 88.” Also “George Newall, a Creator of ‘Schoolhouse Rock,’ Dies at 88. He was the last surviving member of the team that produced the educational cartoon for ABC-TV that informed Generation X.”
• “George Crumb – His Life and Work“—”American composer George Crumb died in February at the age of 92, something I only discovered a couple of months ago. Outside the USA he always seemed like an obscure figure … Well, I have a perverse attraction to the art made by overlooked mavericks”
• Watch “The Revolutionary Spirit of Star Wars Andor“—”Star Wars Andor is the first Disney Star Wars project that feels like it isn’t trying to sell you something… but tell you something. So let’s dive into the anti-totalitarian history of Star Wars and Andor.”
• Watch “Wednesday ost (acapella)“.
• “A forest-based yard improved the immune system of daycare children in only a month. An experimental study coordinated by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) showed, for the first time in the world, that the immune system of daycare children of three to five years improved its regulation when forest undergrowth, lawn turf and planter boxes were added to yard areas of daycare centres.”
• From 2014, watch “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – The Caterpillar (The Royal Ballet)“—”Sarah Lamb as Alice and Eric Underwood, Christina Arestis, Olivia Cowley, Melissa Hamilton and Nathalie Harrison as the Caterpillar in Christopher Wheeldon’s ballet Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Recorded for cinema broadcast on 28 March 2013.”

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