Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

From the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker:

Documenting 2025’s first journalist arrest, limits on reporter access in Kansas, and more in this month’s newsletter by managing editor Kirstin McCudden:

https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/entering-trump-20-after-uptick-in-attacks-on-press-last-year/

AI is bad for the environment, and the problem is bigger than energy consumption
https://theconversation.com/ai-is-bad-for-the-environment-and-the-problem-is-bigger-than-energy-consumption-247842

"In our recently published paper...my students and I argue that AI changes how humans perceive environmental challenges in ways that obscure the accountability of powerful entities, ignore marginalized communities and promote cautious and incremental solutions that are drastically out of sync with the timeline required to avert environmental crises"

I'm reading "The Dawn of everything - A new History of Humanity" by David Wengrow and David Graeber at the moment. Graeber is spot on: it IS mind altering to know that our ancestors developed complex societies without hierarchy, and these societies built cities. Some of our ancestors lived in societies that adopted hierarchy only to leave it behind.

#TheDawnofEverything
#books
#GraeberWengrow
#anarchism
#history

Just a quick reminder that if you're looking for some deeply-reported factual journalism that cuts under the surface, the website I work for is pretty good. https://www.propublica.org/

In case you missed it, acting ICE head Tom Homan was up yesterday complaining that ICE is having a hard time meeting the quotas they're setting because of campaigns telling people their rights and how to resist raids.

In case you're wondering if the little things you do could possibly make a difference, know that they already are.

In December 2023 the Massachusetts State Legislature considered adopting the flawed IHRA definition antisemitism. I wrote to members of my state government to implore them not to do so. I was reminded of it again last week when I heard that Harvard University had adopted the IHRA definition. I was reminded again today when I heard the Trump administration was planning an executive order to expand his previous IHRA-based EO. I thought I’d share the letter I wrote now.

https://chromamine.com/2025/01/against-the-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism/

Man who became a billionaire by erasing individual privacy annoyed his private words are becoming public.

https://www.404media.co/zuckerberg-says-everything-i-say-leaks-in-leaked-meeting-audio/

Not an original thought by any means, but isn't the correct name for people who reject diversity, equity, and inclusion "racist"?

I don't think we need billions of people here. I already have all the content I need, and no one can keep up with everything anyway. The idea that social media requires a 'critical mass' is just another false narrative pushed by commercial social media corporations and their users.

I'm happy for everyone who joins the Fediverse, but for me, the value of the Social Web lies in other things - not in sheer numbers.

#Fediverse #Mastodon #SocialWeb #SocialMedia

We want to draw attention to one of the new Administration's Executive Orders that directly impacts the freedom tools that people around the world depend on to fight censorship, and protect their security and anonymity.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/executive-order-state-department-sideswipes-freedom-tools-threatens-censorship

Want some more good news? Of course you do!

"The MacArthur Foundation .. announced more than $6 million in grants to support the growing field of climate journalism in the United States."

Words you don't often see, but mentioned here: "the existential crisis [that] climate change poses to humanity."

The announcement includes a list of the newsrooms being supported, if you want some good climate-focused news sources: Grist, High Country News, and 13 more.

https://www.macfound.org/press/press-releases/more-than-6-million-in-support-of-climate-journalism

#journalism #climate #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming

Copyright law affects everything we do on the internet. So why do some lawmakers and powerful companies still think they can write new copyright law behind closed doors, with ordinary internet users on the outside? https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/dont-make-copyright-law-smoke-filled-rooms

On days like this when I have no faith in those with undeserved power, nor in the good faith or common sense of most people, I take solace in the fact that there's a quietly thriving population of native skinks in the garden, who make occasional appearances.

This report from Denmark came across my desk(top) today: https://www.english.digmin.dk/Media/638736628110392217/The%20role%20of%20big%20tech%20as%20digital%20infrastructure.pdf

I wonder when NZ gov't will come to its senses about this, especially given that we're founding members of the Digital Nations Charter (which Denmark subsequently joined): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Nations - note the core principles.

Seems like now might be a good time to be thinking of decolonising our digital infrastructure and restoring our digital sovereignty.

Let’s be clear about some things:

The United States should be regarded as a rogue nation at this point. The only goal is more power and wealth for Donald Trump.

He’s a bully, and he has two of the biggest sticks in the world: the US military and the US economy. Using them as weapons is going to damage them.

The job and funding cuts combined with the tariffs and unpredictability seem likely to cause a recession.

The pogrom against trans people has started in the form of rule changes that outlaw their existence.

The pogrom against non-white people has started in the form of immigration raids, and the preparation of Guantánamo Bay to become a concentration camp. We all know this is about race, not citizenship.

“Pogrom” is a strong word, but, I fear, the correct one.

#uspol #transphobia #racism

Recent right-wing governments in US have a consistent history of economic crashes.

They love it. It’s an opportunity for the rich to buy everything for cheap.

Hang on to your seats, people!

#economy #stocks #marketcrash
https://youtube.com/watch?v=lDvYj6nlwI8

From the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker:

In the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term, his appointees and allies in Congress have already taken steps to punish and intimidate news outlets that have covered him and his administration unfavorably:

https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-administration-allies-move-to-punish-outlets-during-first-weeks-in-office/

"New Zealanders like to think we can continue to strike a canny balance between relying on China for trade, and on the US for defence and security. Dream on. In the Pacific region in particular, that juggling act is unlikely to survive another round of Trump-led US isolationism."

#GordonCampbell, 2025

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2501/S00042/deepseek-and-chinas-inexorable-rise.htm

The Pacific needs its own version of the Non-Aligned Movement. As usual, indigenous peoples are leading the way. Because by definition it's an anti-colonial movement too.

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