I'm a citizen of Lexington, Kentucky, the United States, the world, and the digital sphere. Politically, I care about equality (and changing structures to support it), elections (that is, making them more fair and representative), and electronics (or, rather, their impact on society).
I am a believing agnostic in Community of Christ with a (mostly) cherished past as a (mostly) literalist Mormon.
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🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Houston area student wins $90,000 settlement after being bullied by teacher for not standing for Pledge of Allegiance'
- kudos:Indefensible for a student to be treated this way. The settlement is good news, but I still worry about the larger issue. Thinking about how to teach my kid about the Pledge and the right not to participate. link to ‘Houston area student wins $90,000 settlement after being bullied by teacher for not standing for Pledge of Allegiance’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'LGBTQ advocates raise alarm against trans attacks in Ky. legislature – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville'
- kudos:I have spent a few hours this week reading violently anti-trans posts as part of a research project. My patience for queerphobic dog whistles disguised as feigned concerns about girls’ sports is at zero. So disappointed in the Kentucky legislature. link to ‘LGBTQ advocates raise alarm against trans attacks in Ky. legislature – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Why Moderating Content Actually Does More To Support The Principles Of Free Speech | Techdirt'
- kudos:Really appreciate Masnick’s perspective here—especially the point that EVERYONE believes in content moderation even if there are disagreements on how to do it. It’s irresponsible for so many (on the right) to describe moderation as censorship. link to ‘Why Moderating Content Actually Does More To Support The Principles Of Free Speech | Techdirt’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK for posting ‘offensive’ tweet - The Verge'
- kudos:Very uncomfortable with this. Tweet wasn’t great, but not sure if it’s criminal. I’m sympathetic to the idea that we underpolice social media, but this is a fantastic example of why so many (including me) are worried about attempts to police it more. link to ‘Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK for posting ‘offensive’ tweet - The Verge’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Nokia Busted Helping Russia’s FSB Spy On Citizens, Activists, Journalists | Techdirt'
- kudos:Do not be fooled by the headline, the article’s best contribution is its indictment of U.S. politicians and companies for their complicity in this sort of thing. link to ‘Nokia Busted Helping Russia’s FSB Spy On Citizens, Activists, Journalists | Techdirt’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Women are splitting off from Reddit’s preppers sub.'
- kudos:This is a fascinating article on prepper communities on reddit. Great example of the importance of a gender lens. link to ‘Women are splitting off from Reddit’s preppers sub.’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Google Ordered Translators to Replace References to Ukraine “War”'
- kudos:Speaking of the non-neutrality of platforms… Granted, Google has a difficult line to walk here, but this is still disappointing. link to ‘Google Ordered Translators to Replace References to Ukraine “War”’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Rumble, the Right’s Go-To Video Site, Has Much Bigger Ambitions - The New York Times'
- kudos:Glad to see reporting on Rumble, but disappointed to see uncritical repeating of claims about “free speech,” “neutrality,” and “censorship.” There are no neutral platforms, and content moderation is the real key idea here. link to ‘Rumble, the Right’s Go-To Video Site, Has Much Bigger Ambitions - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Stop Invasive Remote Proctoring: Pass California’s Student Test Taker Privacy Protection Act | Electronic Frontier Foundation'
- kudos:Seems to me that not using proctoring software is the best response to these concerns, but glad to see the EFF sponsoring efforts to regulate its inevitable use. link to ‘Stop Invasive Remote Proctoring: Pass California’s Student Test Taker Privacy Protection Act | Electronic Frontier Foundation’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Pride flag displayed at Lexington KY man’s house gets burned | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:I bike past this house and its flags every day; seeing them is always a boost. How upsetting that people would want to burn one. link to ‘Pride flag displayed at Lexington KY man’s house gets burned | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The ‘Culture Of Free Speech’ Includes Criticism Of Others’ Speech; Get Over It | Techdirt'
- kudos:I have been waiting for days to see what Techdirt would have to say on this, and it doesn’t disappoint. link to ‘The ‘Culture Of Free Speech’ Includes Criticism Of Others’ Speech; Get Over It | Techdirt’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'So how do Russian cosmonauts feel about Russia’s war on Ukraine? | Ars Technica'
- kudos:This article is the most helpful thing I’ve seen on the cosmonauts’ uniform choice so far. link to ‘So how do Russian cosmonauts feel about Russia’s war on Ukraine? | Ars Technica’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'To Make Social Media Work Better, Make It Fail Better | Electronic Frontier Foundation'
- kudos:This idea increasingly resonates with me. link to ‘To Make Social Media Work Better, Make It Fail Better | Electronic Frontier Foundation’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Hacked News Channel and Deepfake of Zelenskyy Surrendering Is Causing Chaos Online'
- kudos:Oh good, our fears about deepfakes are coming true. link to ‘Hacked News Channel and Deepfake of Zelenskyy Surrendering Is Causing Chaos Online’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Now That White Musicians Are Getting Sued For Copyright, Lawyers Say Copyright Needs To Change | Techdirt'
- kudos:Intellectual property is a social justice issue. link to ‘Now That White Musicians Are Getting Sued For Copyright, Lawyers Say Copyright Needs To Change | Techdirt’
- kudos:
Latest guest post on official blog of far right Gab platform could have been a Latter-day Saint General Conference sermon. Sure, rejecting truth and embracing evil sounds bad, but there are a lot of assumptions that need to be surfaced and interrogated about what both terms mean.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Kentucky lawmakers advance bill to resettle war refugees | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:I do not always have praise for the local Republican supermajority, but I’m glad to see this goes beyond Ukraine to provide support for all kinds of refugees. Tentative optimism here. link to ‘Kentucky lawmakers advance bill to resettle war refugees | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Yemen Crisis Has Only Worsened, Despite Biden Pledge'
- kudos:Yemen has been on my mind a lot since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but mostly because I’m belatedly realizing I haven’t been paying attention. It’s not that Ukraine doesn’t deserve our attention, it’s that Yemen has long deserved just as much. There, we’re the ones complicit in civilian deaths, and we need to own up to that. link to ‘Yemen Crisis Has Only Worsened, Despite Biden Pledge’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Performative Conservatives Are Mad That A Search Engine Wants To Downrank Disinformation | Techdirt'
- kudos:I missed most of this yesterday, but Masnick sums up my thoughts so much better than I could. link to ‘Performative Conservatives Are Mad That A Search Engine Wants To Downrank Disinformation | Techdirt’
- kudos:
I will only accept complaints about gas prices from people who also bemoan our failure to invest in public and alternative transportation.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'U.S. Condemns Russian Bombing Of Hospital As Horrific Act That Any World Power Could Theoretically Commit'
- kudos:The Onion speaks uncomfortable truth. Americans must hold Putin accountable, but we meed to turn our attention inward, too. link to ‘U.S. Condemns Russian Bombing Of Hospital As Horrific Act That Any World Power Could Theoretically Commit’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'How KONY 2012 Trained the Audience— and YouTube — to Love Reactionary Media | by Jamie Cohen | Mar, 2022 | OneZero'
- kudos:KONY 2012 has been on my mind a lot lately, and this is a good read. It doesn’t bring up why I’ve had it on the mind, though. I’m afraid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could turn into a sequel of sorts: Something important and meaningful that people glom onto because they see something oversimplified on social media. link to ‘How KONY 2012 Trained the Audience— and YouTube — to Love Reactionary Media | by Jamie Cohen | Mar, 2022 | OneZero’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Millions of Leftists Are Reposting Kremlin Misinformation by Mistake'
- kudos:Interesting if disconcerting story. The idea of whataboutism as misinformation is particularly disturbing, and it’s important to remember that misinformation is a non-partisan phenomenon (even if the GOP is particularly keen on it). The worst part from a personal angle is how this relates to my own struggling to balance calling out the invasion of Ukraine with knowing that I haven’t been as attentive to other conflicts that deserve my brainspace.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Ky. lawmaker apologizes for comments about Jewish women during abortion debate | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Textbook example of why it is never enough to say you didn’t mean any harm. This is shameful and gross. link to ‘Ky. lawmaker apologizes for comments about Jewish women during abortion debate | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Russia Can Now Jail People for 15 Years for Tweeting About the War on Ukraine'
- kudos:On one hand, this is actual social media censorship, not what bad actors in the U.S. complain about. On the other, it is a reminder that even the best intentioned laws against misinformation, etc. could have unintended effects. We need to tread carefully when figuring out legal responses to social media problems. link to ‘Russia Can Now Jail People for 15 Years for Tweeting About the War on Ukraine’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Religious Education at BYU: An Open Letter to the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities | By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog'
- kudos:Lots of thoughts about this. As someone with an education PhD who teaches and researches outside traditionally education topics, I want to emphasize that the prevalence of education PhDs is a symptom, not the actual problem. In my teaching and research outside my home discipline, I work hard to learn the content and communities that I’m branching into. The disdain for those content and communities at BYU Religious Education is the real problem here and therefore what I’m really worried about.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Ukraine’s ‘Neo-Nazi’ Battalion Is Greasing Bullets in Pig Fat for Russia’s Muslim Soldiers'
- kudos:We can support Ukraine generally and still be concerned about the integration of the far-right into their armed forces. link to ‘Ukraine’s ‘Neo-Nazi’ Battalion Is Greasing Bullets in Pig Fat for Russia’s Muslim Soldiers’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Critics Call Out ‘Racist’ Western Coverage of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine'
- kudos:So very gross. What’s happening in Ukraine is terrible, but terrible things are happening all over the world, and we shouldn’t make Ukraine more terrible out of some kind of chauvinism. link to ‘Critics Call Out ‘Racist’ Western Coverage of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Lexington KY peace vigil for Ukraine set for Wednesday | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Proud of Lexington for hosting this. Also wondering if I should check the Lexington groups on Gab to see if the local far-right is cranky about it. link to ‘Lexington KY peace vigil for Ukraine set for Wednesday | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'House Introduces Tax Bill that Would Devastate Kentucky’s Budget for a Giveaway to the Wealthy - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy'
- kudos:Tremendously worrying stuff. Taxes are the price we pay for democratic society. link to ‘House Introduces Tax Bill that Would Devastate Kentucky’s Budget for a Giveaway to the Wealthy - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Ukrainian Websites Are Going Dark. Archivists Are Trying To Save Them'
- kudos:Because the Web feels new to us, it’s easy to forget how important it is to preserve it for the future. link to ‘Ukrainian Websites Are Going Dark. Archivists Are Trying To Save Them’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Afghans Who Relocated to Ukraine Are Reliving Their Worst Nightmare'
- kudos:Oh no no no. This hadn’t crossed my mind as a possibility, but how terrible. link to ‘Afghans Who Relocated to Ukraine Are Reliving Their Worst Nightmare’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Russia's still eligible for the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest : NPR'
- kudos:Eurovision is not supposed to be political, but it always sneaks in. My money is on a lot of sympathy votes for Ukraine’s entry, and a very low score for Russia. link to ‘Russia’s still eligible for the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest : NPR’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'How liberal Russians are reacting to Putin’s war with Ukraine.'
- kudos:Lots of important reminders in here. I also feel ashamed that I have not protested my country’s wars in the way these Russians are doing so now. link to ‘How liberal Russians are reacting to Putin’s war with Ukraine.’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Openly Advocating Violence Against Trans People'
- kudos:Greene is repeatedly awful, and the GOP’s refusal to do anything substantial about it is telling. link to ‘Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Openly Advocating Violence Against Trans People’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Man Dreams Of More Equal America That Just Sort Of Happens On Its Own'
- kudos:Hits too close to home for me. I have work to do. link to ‘Man Dreams Of More Equal America That Just Sort Of Happens On Its Own’