Non-theist Christian and elder in Community of Christ. I have Mormon roots and aspirations to do better with justice and peacemaking—especially in the digital sphere but also in Lexington, Kentucky, the U.S., and the world more broadly.
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🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Penguin Random House Demands Removal Of Maus From Digital Library Because The Book Is Popular Again | Techdirt'
The first line is a powerful one. Libraries ought to be a constant reference point (and beneficiary) when liberalizing IP.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'How the Open App Markets Act wants to remake app stores - The Verge'
This would really change things up!
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Why Grammarly’s suggestions around writing about slavery miss the mark.'
I am just now learning about this and am glad for the article, but I’m not sure it hits all the deeper issues here.
📚 bookblog: Running for Local Office for Dummies (❤️❤️❤️🖤🖤)
I’ve been interested in the idea of running for office since I was in high school, and as I’ve become more politically aware and engaged over the past five years, I’ve thought a lot in particular about eventually running for local office.
I picked this book up with a stack of others a couple of months ago during a particular rush of civic inspiration and since I got a notice that I needed to return it, I blazed through it in a couple of days.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Ukraine Gave Up Nuclear Weapons 30 Years Ago. Today There Are Regrets. - The New York Times'
I strongly believe in nuclear disarmament, but it’s still hard not to have some sympathy for this point of view.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'House Votes For COMPETES Act, Even With Its Problems, Almost Entirely On Party Lines | Techdirt'
This is why I want a U.S. Pirate Party
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'G.O.P. Declares Jan. 6 Attack ‘Legitimate Political Discourse’ - The New York Times'
Some of the scariest news I’ve read this week.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Air Force Taps Clearview AI to Research Face-Identifying A.R. Glasses - The New York Times'
Who thought this was a good idea???
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'SHOP SAFE Will Stomp Out Online Sales of Used and Homemade Goods | Electronic Frontier Foundation'
Intellectual property is important, but overreach is a real problem. We should be liberalizing IP, not cracking down on it.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Senator Wyden: EARN IT Will Make Children Less Safe | Techdirt'
Surveillance is not going to help kids.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Spotify CEO Daniel Ek defends Joe Rogan deal in tense company town hall - The Verge'
Even if Spotify could demonstrate it isn’t a publisher here, platforms don’t get a free pass on content. Also, podcast platforms run counter to podcasting, so Spotify’s trying to be successful there is just as troublesome as the costs it’s willing to pay to do so.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'The Tennessee School Board-Approved Maus | Boing Boing'
Dark but funny, and a great imitation of the original art.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Lexington KY police test license plate cameras to solve crime | Lexington Herald Leader'
We should all be concerned about this. Describing this as “high tech” in the first line of the story fetishizes surveillance. It’s gross.
📚 bookblog: My Friend Dahmer (❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤)
Having survived one Backderf book and knowing that this is his more famous work (it won an award at Angoulême in 2014), I decided to give it a try.
The story is of Backderf’s childhood association with Jeffrey Dahmer, who grew up to be a serial killer. Dahmer’s crimes are horrifying—I had to put the book out of my mind before going to sleep—but he was caught when I was 3, so I wasn’t really aware of the story.
📚 bookblog: Kent State (❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤)
I picked this graphic novel from JCPL just over a week ago. I think that Backderf’s art is weird, and I have mixed experiences with non-fiction comics, but I don’t know much about the 1970 killing of four students at Kent State by the Ohio National Guard, and I decided it was worth knowing more about.
The story was compelling, and Backderf’s art didn’t bother me as much as I worried it would, so I’m glad I tried it.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Tennessee school board bans Pulitzer prize-winning Holocaust novel, Maus | Holocaust | The Guardian'
Maus is one of the most important graphic novels that has ever existed—on one of the most important subjects for our students to learn about. This is a mind-bogglingly dumb decision.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'The EU Wants Its Own DNS Resolver that Can Block 'Unlawful' Traffic * TorrentFreak'
Do not like the sound of this. Will likely bring it up when teaching DNS this semester. I’ve been reading up on it for research, and it’s hard to overstate how important DNS is.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'German Police Caught Using COVID-Tracing Data To Search For Crime Witnesses | Techdirt'
Contract tracing is good, but apps for it are scary. Ugh.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Fact-Checking McConnell’s Comparison of Black Turnout Rates - The New York Times'
Fact checking is always important, but especially so here.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Sedition Prosecution Of Oath Keepers Members Shows The FBI Can Still Work Around Encryption | Techdirt'
We can prosecute criminals without weakening encryption.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Parents and child care providers of unvaccinate kids say they've hit rock bottom : NPR'
We do not value child care—including unpaid child care—in this country. It is shameful, especially considering how many of us proclaim to value children.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Dear January 6 Committee: Curb Your Appetite - Center for Democracy and Technology'
I absolutely support the work of this committee, which makes it all the more important I carefully consider the means that they are using.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Want the ‘TLDR’ on a site’s terms of service? There’s a bill for that - The Verge'
Great example of a forced acronym here.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Refugees Held With Djokovic in Australia Briefly in Spotlight'
A wake up call and compelling story.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Banned from Facebook and Twitter, far right groups are still a presence online. : NPR'
Interesting read on a subject I expect to be following for a while.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'A Year Later, Jan. 6 Becomes Just Another Wedge in a Divided Nation - The New York Times'
Worried about our present—and for our future.