Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

Unsurprisingly, the British BBC has a much more sympathic view of Pahlavi. The UK did help with the coup that put his father into power, after all.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62wx1gr8y4o

Is it crazy to think that the Iranians are protesting and dying to bring about something better than bringing back the son of the #Shah? He was brutal and repressive like the current regime.

"#Pahlavi asked supporters to hoist the pre-1979 'Lion and Sun' flag, a symbol of his father’s rule"

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/1/12/who-is-reza-pahlavi-the-exiled-prince-urging-iranians-to-seize

#Iran #protest

A classic example of the #toxicity of modern society: It turns out that exercise is as effective against #depression as #pharma, but exercise isn't controlled by a big corporation for #profit. #BigPharma spends huge amounts on #marketing, no one is spending anywhere close to that on marketing simple yet effective things like taking a walk with friends or family every day

https://www.npr.org/2026/01/12/nx-s1-5667599/exercise-is-as-effective-as-medication-in-treating-depression-study-finds

"It's much easier for a primary care physician to prescribe medication to a patient [than exercise]"

Has anyone gotten #Seedvault the #Android backup app working? I've tried on five different devices, with Nextcloud, WebDAV and USB thumb drive. In all cases, the backups either failed to restore or it was not possible to set the backup up.

Adversarial interoperability should be legal. Users should be able to use software on their own devices the way they want to. The tariff wars have opened up a new political opportunity to make that happen. @pluralistic explains it well:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/10/trump-beginning-of-end-enshittification-make-tech-good-again

#BigTech #FreeSoftware #FOSS #AdversarialInteroperability #startups #UserFreedom

The @EUCommission "will set out a strategic approach to the open-source sector in the
European Union and present a review of the Commission’s 2020-2023 open-source software strategy, which will
outline the Commission’s plan for its own digital environment." We need to tell them to put #UserFreedom first! They are looking for feedback, submit it here:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/16213-European-Open-Digital-Ecosystems_en

#FreeSoftware #OpenSource #FOSS #FLOSS #EuropeanCommission #EU #DigitalSovereignity #BigTech

As things ramp up in #Iran, I think it is important to keep all the relevant context in mind. I have no doubt that most protesters there have legitimate grievances and Iran's government can be violent and repressive. The Shah's son is cosying up to the #US. Now #Trump is threatening #military action. There is a long track record of the #US also supporting repression and violence in #Iran. And the vast majority of US-backed regime changes make things worse for the local populations.

I wonder if one goal of #AI companies is to replace #creative people since they have a long track record of being an effective part of #movements against #oligarchs.

I have sympathy for the protesters in Iran right now. At the same time, many are going around setting fires and destroying things. Any government would respond to that with repression. Isn't the destruction counterproductiive to the protestors' cause?

If you don't like #Trump's actions against #Venezuela, or #Putin's against #Ukraine, or #Canada's #TarSands, or #Sudan #Saudi #UAE #NigerDelta #IslamicState etc. follow the money. All of those are driven by #oil and #gas, and any money we pay for oil and gas support those conflicts and the states that back them. That means #plastic, your #car, your cheap flights, your oil/gas #heating, non-#organic farming, etc. etc. There are alternatives, we have a choice to not support any of this.

Looks like #Trump is officially now yet another #DeepState #Washington insider starting foreign wars and plotting coups. It should be interesting to see if the #AmericaFirst proponents still support him.

Being sucked into #monopoly enforcement against #gatekeepers around the world has given me direct insight into why #AntiTrust enforcement is so important economically: monopolists spend huge sums on PR to sell things that people do not want. Organizations like @fdroidorg can spend next to zero money and some hours of volunteer time to pop PR bubbles that surely cost many millions. The money is so concentrated that lots is thrown at even stupid ideas just because the monopolists want it that way.