Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

Congratulations to Maple on the promotion! Glad she finally got out of that crap job she had before.

Meet Maple: Former K-9 now beekeeper at MSU
https://www.wkar.org/wkar-news/2025-08-06/meet-maple-former-k-9-now-beekeeper-at-msu

An Open Source sustainability story in two slides. (for a coming talk of mine)

Slide 1: car brands using #curl
Slide 2: car brands sponsoring or paying for #curl support

We have a duty to resist authoritarianism and mass surveillance.

We owe it to the next generations.

#Privacy #BeTheResistance

We're happy to join the @fsfe 's #PublicMoneyPublicCode initiative as supporting organization: https://publiccode.eu/en/

Hand soaps are now being recalled because they can cause serious infection including sepsis and death.

In “healthy” individuals with minor cuts they will likely cause localized infection, but in immune compromised people it could be fatal.

Truly the worst timeline:

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/hand-soaps-recalled-nationwide-over-potential-for-life-threatening-infections/3808403/

You know what would actually reduce crime and homelessness?

Universal healthcare, free education, affordable housing and a basic living wage.

When people have their most basic needs met, they have happier and healthier lives.

Those hoarding the wealth don’t want to give us those things.

Honest reporting: "President Donald Trump has expanded his military campaign against the United States by deploying armed troops to yet another major metropolitan area, announcing on Monday that he is sending the National Guard into Washington, D.C., to “liberate” the city."

https://archive.ph/uN6HH

I do most of my banking with a company that is a part-owner of "Zelle" -- an electronic payment operation that banks eagerly flog to users. It seems designed to offload all risk -- including criminal theft from your account -- to the user.

No thanks.

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/new-york-sues-zelle-says-security-lapses-led-1-billion-consumer-fraud-losses-2025-08-13/?taid=689d24af302b140001dfdf24

Sitting next to a group of 5 retirees at the public library's cafe (where I'm trying to work while my boy does a driving lesson), and they're having an animated conversation on how kids from 17-25 are suffering from a loneliness epidemic (and suffer from social inhibitions) due to their device dependence and the lack of practice in social situations They're not wrong. They're also remarking at how the 'F-word' can now be replaced by 'Far-out'! They've got their fingers on the pulse.

So, as of 1 August, I've finally managed to get my blog upgraded from Drupal 7 to Drupal 11 (leapfrogging 8-10)... It was... non-trivial. But anyway, it's done. And I've added a few blog posts that stacked up during the process, including "Why the mainstream media is do damn 'user friendly'"... https://davelane.nz/why-mainstream-media-so-damn-user-friendly

🔴 Brand new comic now up on Boing Boing
-
Hollingsworth Hound, in "The Devil Went Down to HoundCo"
-
https://boingboing.net/2025/08/13/tom-the-dancing-bug-the-devil-went-down-to-houndco.html

"Divine Feminine" Advice on TikTok Is Just Part of the Alt-Right Pipeline

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/divine-feminine-advice-on-tiktok

The UK government saying "delete old emails" to save water. 🤦‍♂️

Most emails average about 50k of storage even for someone who gets a lot of attachments, and will have exactly zero effect on data center consumption.

"Don't use cryptocurrency" and "don't use generative AI" would of course be thousands of times more effective.

Our titles are now available wholesale on Faire—perfect for small bookstores, indie shops, and record stores. $50 order minimums, no case qty minimums, and 50% off retail. Browse & order here: https://pmpress.faire.com

Modesto CA come check out a screening of InterRebellium Saturday Aug 23rd!

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2025/08/12/18878852.php

my statement on Ai from the mini-comic I'm making as syllabus for a new class I'm teaching this fall. It's simple, but I pretty much said all I have to say on it - it robs you of decisions and struggle - and the joy of being surprised. It robs you of learning...

Wake up babe, new worker co-op idea just dropped.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/aug/11/biochar-from-human-waste-could-solve-global-fertiliser-shortages-study-finds

Black Agenda Report's Margaret Kimberley:

"Re: national guard on patrol in Washington
Adams and Hochul sent the national guard into the NYC subway system. You can see them at the major hubs either looking bored or on their phones. Washington, BTW with a falling crime rate, will be the same."

Yesterday I learned that the ludicrously broad definition of "antisemitism" currently being used to curtail speech against the ongoing genocide in Gaza was never intended to apply to speech at all, and that even its author is appalled by how it has been used to restrict academic speech:
#^https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20171107/106610/HHRG-115-JU00-Wstate-SternK-20171107.pdf
Ken Stern testimony to U.S. Congress in 2017:

"The definition was drafted to make it easier for data collectors [for European Monitoring Centre on
Racism and Xenophobia] to know what to put in their reports and what to reject. It focused their attention away from the question of whether the actor hated Jews, and focused them on whether the actor selected Jews to be victims."

February op-ed by Ken Stern in the Boston Globe:  
#^https://archive.is/cgcsd#selection-1467.0-1487.111

"In 2022, a Tennessee bill used the IHRA definition to circumscribe what might be taught about Israel, potentially jeopardizing teachers who assign readings critical of Zionism or allow an “Israel Apartheid Week” demonstration. The bill was sponsored by a Republican legislator who once proposed making the Bible the state’s “official book” — and he also pushed a law that would remove “age-inappropriate” books from libraries. When asked what should be done with said books, he replied, “burn them.” When Jewish groups are aligning themselves with advocates of book-burning, something has gone seriously wrong."

March 2025 testimony by Ken Stern to the U.S. Senate:
#^https://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/06e69363-9e5d-54f9-8019-dbe95168b2a9/Stern%20Testimony.pdf

"I disagree with these young Jews about Zionism, but I’m not going to call them antisemites. I
certainly don’t want the government to do this, to effectively come down on one side or the
other of a deep, and sometimes visceral, communal divide."