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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I sometimes write in French! To only see the French content (which is also available below, alongside English content), please click on [fr] in the site header.
🔗 linkblog: Ukraine’s ‘Neo-Nazi’ Battalion Is Greasing Bullets in Pig Fat for Russia’s Muslim Soldiers'
We can support Ukraine generally and still be concerned about the integration of the far-right into their armed forces.
🔗 linkblog: Critics Call Out ‘Racist’ Western Coverage of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine'
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.
🔗 linkblog: Lexington KY peace vigil for Ukraine set for Wednesday | Lexington Herald Leader'
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.
🔗 linkblog: House Introduces Tax Bill that Would Devastate Kentucky’s Budget for a Giveaway to the Wealthy - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy'
Tremendously worrying stuff. Taxes are the price we pay for democratic society.
🔗 linkblog: Ukrainian Websites Are Going Dark. Archivists Are Trying To Save Them'
Because the Web feels new to us, it’s easy to forget how important it is to preserve it for the future.
🔗 linkblog: Afghans Who Relocated to Ukraine Are Reliving Their Worst Nightmare'
Oh no no no. This hadn’t crossed my mind as a possibility, but how terrible.
🔗 linkblog: Russia's still eligible for the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest : NPR'
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.
🔗 linkblog: How liberal Russians are reacting to Putin’s war with Ukraine.'
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.
🔗 linkblog: Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Openly Advocating Violence Against Trans People'
Greene is repeatedly awful, and the GOP’s refusal to do anything substantial about it is telling.
🔗 linkblog: Man Dreams Of More Equal America That Just Sort Of Happens On Its Own'
Hits too close to home for me. I have work to do.
🔗 linkblog: KY lawmakers advance data center tax incentives to woo tech giants | Lexington Herald Leader'
Amazon already has too big a footprint here. Don’t feel great about this.
🔗 linkblog: Fox News Hosts Keep Taking Putin’s Side in the War on Ukraine'
Putin has outwitted every U.S. President since W, not necessarily because he’s smarter, but because he doesn’t operate with the same constraints U.S. presidents do. To blame this on Biden is moronic. We obviously shouldn’t let this episode of the culture war overshadow the more important crisis happening in Ukraine itself, but this appropriation of the crisis really worries me in the context of U.S. politics. These stances are largely indefensible. Gabbard isn’t totally wrong, I don’t think, but it’s still a sloppy oversimplification.
🔗 linkblog: Trump Thinks Putin Is a ‘Genius’ for Invading Ukraine'
There is no denying that Putin is smart and strategic, but expressing awe instead of concern is typically Trump in its idiocy.
🔗 linkblog: QAnon Isn’t Dead, It’s Growing'
Worrying stuff here. Right-wing media consumption appears to be the big predictor for QAnon beliefs.
🔗 linkblog: Peloton Outage Prevents Customers From Using $2,500 Exercise Bikes | Techdirt'
Happy that my much cheaper bike does not rely on servers to function properly.
🔗 linkblog: Texas Is Going to Start Investigating Parents of Trans Kids for Child Abuse'
Kentucky has taken some bad steps in this direction lately, but this is horrific.
🔗 linkblog: The Internet Is Debunking Russian War Propaganda in Real Time'
Bellingcat does good work. It gives me hope to see people using the internet to fight back against disinformation spread by the internet, but I’m also glad the article touches on the dangers involved.
🔗 linkblog: This Is the ‘Hacking’ Investigation Into Journalist Who Clicked ‘View Source’ on Government Website'
The students in my fundamentals of computers class have repeatedly heard me bring up this story to explain that technology is never just technical.
🔗 linkblog: Comedian Bill Bailey reimagines the Doctor Who theme as Belgian jazz | Boing Boing'
This has been around long enough that I used to show it to my FREN 102 students, but very glad to see it cross my radar again via Boing Boing. The whole show is fantastic, but this bet might be the best. Great, nerdy deployment of mostly-right French.
🔗 linkblog: QAnon Celebrity Ron Watkins Wrote a Terrible Poem to ‘Prove’ He’s Not Q'
Can we please refrain from electing the alleged Q to Congress?
🔗 linkblog: The Long Crusade of Clarence and Ginni Thomas - The New York Times'
A long but important read.
🔗 linkblog: Russia's ‘Idiotic’ Disinformation Campaign Could Still Lead to War in Ukraine'
This is terrifying on so many levels. Besides the possibility of war, the thing I’m most spooked by is the sheer cynicism of Russian efforts here. It doesn’t matter how bad the disinformation is if you can count on enough people to believe it. Trumpian, but turned up to 14.
📚 bookblog: American Born Chinese (❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️)
I grabbed this book at the library while dropping off some overdue items and read the whole thing that night before going to bed. Reread, rather—I’ve read this book at least once before. It made a big impression on me at the time, even though I’m sure I wasn’t particularly anti-racist then, and I loved it even more this time.
The art is great and the story is even better. It’s an amazing comic with a powerful message, and I think I ought to buy a copy for kiddo to read when she’s older. I already own Yang’s Superman Smashes the Klan, which is one of my favorite comics, but I think this one might be even better.