Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

Anywhere a company has an opportunity to put a computer inside of a product that did not have a computer before, they will use the change as an excuse to make your life worse https://indieweb.social/@lonseidman/113013390011693745

I didn't cross-post about the DNC here because I am lazy and don't cross-post. Nights 1-3 were enthusiasm boosts. Night 4 was a salute to cops and imaginary centrist undecided voters.

Watching an American politician give a speech is weird for non-Americans. They go
1. inspiring stories about how hard their parents worked
2. relatable values that led them into politics
3. well-observed points about policy, energy building
4. weird bit about thanking troops for nothing in particular
5. more energy, when we work together we can do anything
6. disturbing reference to killing enemies nobody in crowd seems to notice
7. demented yelling about being the best country
8. balloons.

Sam Altman says he wants to “give people another 10 years of healthy, vigorous life.”

In the US, the rich live up to 15 years longer than the poor. Changing that requires political action that many tech billionaires oppose, not more tech solutions.

https://disconnect.blog/sam-altman-doesnt-care-about-you/

#tech #ai #samaltman #berniesanders

GOOD NEWS: The US government has announced that it will again offer free at-home Covid tests starting in late September.

You will be able to get 4 more free test kits sent through the mail.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/23/covid-tests-us-will-offer-free-at-home-kits-starting-late-september.html

One more: My favorite lines from the entire cnvention came from Michelle Obama (why is that not a surprise?)

I did a screenshot because the text won't fit.

"The affirmative action of generational wealth" was perfect.

10-month-old baby paralysed in first Gaza case of type 2 polio for 25 years, WHO says https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-war-israel-hamas-polio-b2600879.html

It’s a shame that a political party that claims to support press freedom uses the newsworthiness of its convention as a price-gouging opportunity, to the detriment of small and independent news outlets.

https://www.wbez.org/2024/08/14/what-it-costs-to-cover-the-democratic-national-convention

On this day in Anarchist History we remember the execution on Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian-American Anarchist Immigrants who were killed by the state after a sham of a trial.

https://kolektiva.media/w/w5XMtpaVRvF8E8M9evf6py

The fight to end US militarism is a long and hard one. But far more people than the left wing of the Democrats are ready for it. We need to build a broad and powerful movement, bigger than any candidate.

On a well-designed social media platform, it would be possible to have a quasi-private discussion about political nuance---not to mention emotional venting---but "followers only" is what we get here, so I guess here we are.

Oh and like any good open source project, it's also being rewritten in Rust

A few fragmentary thoughts about what anarchistic vision evokes for me:

* Deliberation rather than majoritarian voting

* Mutual aid rather than government programs or charity

* Empowerment rather than top-down instruction

Today I visited a natural burial cemetery with my parents, who are considering reserving plots there.

It was really gorgeous! It's all meadow and open woods rather than manicured lawn, and newer burial mounds can be seen here and there. This place (Panorama Burials) is doing lots of work to promote a healthy ecology (native plantings, removal of invasives, respect for tree root zones) but also maintain access.

I'd be pretty happy with that myself.

There's a level of jingoism in the Democratic convention that makes me uncomfortable...

📩 Read in our weekly newsletter (and subscribe):

- Police ignore warnings about press freedom at DNC protests
- As protests return to campus, schools must do better on press freedom
- Why is Chicago removing newsracks?

Plus, what we are reading...

https://freedom.press/newsletter/chicago-police-ignore-journalists-rights/

While I get it, I hate that we measure success as "adding jobs".

Fewer jobs but with improved standards of living for everyone would be great!
https://journa.host/@pbump/113005808516868057

The Chicago police said they didn’t need training on journalists’ rights at protests to prepare for the DNC. But their “abysmal failure” this week proves otherwise.

Officers who threaten and arrest journalists for doing their jobs should lose their own.

https://freedom.press/news/chicago-police-ignore-warnings-about-press-freedom-at-dnc-protests/

California drivers have functionally one choice for a digital license plate vendor. AB 3138 would hand that vendor more data, even though it has failed in the past to secure location data and to meet basic contractual obligations with a state agency. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/08/digital-license-plates-and-deal-never-had-chance