Worrying ideas here—American democracy feels more and more tenuous. link to ‘U.S. Supreme Court takes on the independent state legislature theory : NPR’

A terrifying teminder that content moderation can easily overreach. link to ‘Facebook Bans People For Simply Saying Abortion Pills Exist | Techdirt’

One recurring question that I’ve had while working on my “rereading the Book of Mormon” project is asking what should be understood by the common phrase “the Lord” in the text of this book of scripture. In Bible translations, this is a bit more straightforward: “the Lord” is often used as a euphemism for the divine name YHWH and could be read in that way. Before going any further with this discussion, I want to acknowledge that my writing out and speculating on the divine name here may (or will likely) be seen as disrespectful or offensive by many Jews (and even some Christians—I admire Wil Gafney’s approach to the divine name).

Fitting that I’m reading this the day after booking Acela tickets. Fits with what I’ve said in the past: Northeast Corridor is great, but lets bring trains elsewhere too. link to ‘Amtrak Spent 11 Years and $450 Million to Save Acela Riders 100 Seconds’

I had no idea about this history, and I think it’s fun! link to ‘How ‘Peanuts’ creator Charles Schulz pushed for Title IX in the 1970s : NPR’

A couple of weekends ago, I had my first experience with a Community of Christ Reunion camp. Kiddo and I only stayed for a long weekend rather than the whole week, but it was still a great experience. By far the best experience I had at Reunion was a Monday morning class for young adults and “90s kids” (which is not a label I’ve ever actively applied to myself, but it fit just fine.

Good writing here. Vague Sinophobia drives a lot of media and political concerns, and I appreciate Bode’s challenging of that here. link to ‘The Myopic Focus On TikTok Privacy Issues Remains Kind Of Weird | Techdirt’

Heard a kid crying in the background of a company’s help line and realized it used one of those often-exploitative work-from-home customer service networks. That made me more mad than issue I was calling about.

‘I just know in my heart’ is terrible and terrifying reasoning for posing this level of a threat to democracy. link to ‘Trump team didn’t have the evidence and 4 other takeaways from Jan. 6 hearing : NPR’

Good example here of how content moderation. an absolutely overreach. Arguments that platforms shouldn’t moderate are nonsense, but I appreciate Masnick’s emphasis on the need to be very careful about how we moderate. link to ‘Impossibility Theorem Strikes Again: YouTube Deletes January 6th Committee Video | Techdirt’

Yet another example of why I’m wary of smart devices. link to ‘Researcher Hacks Into Backend for Network of Smart Jacuzzis’

I get that some of this is bluster and posturing, but that doesn’t make it any less worrying. This is the same state GOP that leaned into Gab a year or two ago. link to ‘Texas GOP’s new platform says Biden didn’t really win the 2020 election : NPR’

I have never understood the panic about burkinis. It’s one of many examples where French laïcité goes further than appropriate and desirable secularism. link to ‘There’s a legal battle over burkinis in France : NPR’

Good for the court, though the narrow majority is disappointing. link to ‘Kentucky court delves into use of cell phones for tracking | AP News’

This is more worrying to me—and more damning for the GOP—than anything that happened on January 6th. link to ‘Amid Jan. 6 Revelations, Election Lies Still Dominate the G.O.P. - The New York Times’

Pence deserves credit for the steps he took on January 6th, but I agree that he has responsibilities to do more right now. link to ‘4 takeaways from the third Jan. 6 hearing : NPR’

All of this is worrying, but not as worrying as the possibility that it won’t make a difference in the minds of people who should be outraged. link to ‘Trump Attorney Eastman Admitted His Jan. 6 Plot Was Illegal—and Asked for a Pardon’

Well this is terrifying. link to ‘Facebook Is Receiving Sensitive Medical Information from Hospital Websites – The Markup’

I mean, there’s still plenty to be worried about when it comes to targeted advertising and smart TVs, but this is a good reminder to take a step back. link to ‘$1-2 Billion In Streaming Ads A Year Aren’t Being Watched Because The TV Is Off | Techdirt’

So, so many wild things in this article. I grew up loving this hymn and had no idea it had roots in blackface minstrelsy. Hope the Church will take it out of its next hymnbook, but I’m not holding my breath. The real kicker is Brigham Young’s concern about blackface—not because it’s racist but because it’s degrading to white people. link to ‘What the Latter-day Saint hymn ‘Love at Home’ has to do with blackface’

Doctorow is spot on here. Apple may be the most benevolent of the big tech companies, but it still has far too much power over its users. link to ‘Facebook Says Apple is Too Powerful. They’re Right. | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

A few weeks ago, John Hamer (from the Toronto-based Beyond the Walls inclusive online congregation of Community of Christ) reached out to ask if I would be interested in contributing a pre-recorded prayer to a June 12th “millennial prayer service” focused on Community of Christ’s Enduring Principles. The denomination describes its Enduring Principles as follows: Our Enduring Principles define the essence, heart, and soul of our faith community. They describe the personality of our church as expressed throughout the world.

Yes please. link to ‘Sweeping Legislation Aims to Ban the Sale of Location Data’

Given the aggressively queerphobic language I’ve read on Gab, events like this are worrying but not surprising. More worrying is the way that this queerphobic language is increasingly used in the mainstream GOP. How do Republican politicians and voters feel about these events? link to ‘A far-right plan to riot near an Idaho LGBTQ event heightens safety concerns at Pride : NPR’

I’ve been plenty spooked by Ring’s video capabilities, but apparently I haven’t been worried enough about its audio surveillance. link to ‘Senator Declares Amazon Ring’s Audio Surveillance Capabilities ‘Threaten the Public’ | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Disappointing news, but glad for the fight that the EFF and others are waging. link to ‘EFF’s Flagship Jewel v. NSA Dragnet Spying Case Rejected by the Supreme Court | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

The only thing worse than the already-bad reality of powerful, private data brokers is public agencies buying what they have to sell. link to ‘How the Federal Government Buys Our Cell Phone Location Data | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

This is a peak example of what performative concerns about “free speech” boil down to. link to ‘Trump’s ‘Free Speech’ Social Network, Truth Social, Is Banning People For Truthing The Truth About January 6 Hearings | Techdirt’

I haven’t read much about this bill, but it’s worrying that powerful entities have such an advantage in the debate about limiting their power. link to ‘Big Tech Has Spent $36 Million on Ads to Torpedo Antitrust Bill - WSJ’

Depressing read, though I’ll freely admit I haven’t been paying enough attention here myself. link to ‘Telecom Lobbyists Are About To Scuttle The Nomination Of A Popular Reformer To The FCC And Nobody Much Seems To Care | Techdirt’

Very, very interesting read on how the purported objectivity of big data is influencing how (conservative) judges use corpus linguistics. link to ‘The linguistics search engine that overturned the federal mask mandate - The Verge’

A few weeks ago, I posted about Book of Mormon dependence on the King James Version and the way that that sometimes raises interesting questions about how the text should be understood. As I continue my project of what a modern-language version of the Book of Mormon might look like, I’ve run into another example. 1 Corinthians 15:55 is referenced three times in the Book of Mormon, including in Mosiah 8 (Mosiah 16 LDS), where I’m currently working my way through the text.

What a mess. Glad to be pivoting toward my blog and Mastodon. link to ‘Elon Musk Threatens to End Twitter Deal Without Information on Spam Accounts - The New York Times’

What’s the point in having an ethics board if you’re going to so flagrantly ignore them? Good on members for responding with resignations, and thank goodness Axon woke up to how dunb their decision was. link to ‘Axon Halts Plans to Sell Flying Taser Drones to Schools’

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been putting a lot of work into adjusting my online presence, a project that I expect to last through most of the summer. In dividing my website into distinct subareas and pivoting from a single Twitter account to a number of Mastodon accounts, I’m trying to do something about the context collapse that’s been keeping me from sharing some of the big things going on in my life lately.

This is unbelievably dumb. School shootings can’t be solved by technology—it’s a social and political problem. Shame on Axon. link to ‘Firm proposes Taser-armed drones to stop school shootings : NPR’

Some good thoughts by Masnick on a good op-ed by Wheaton. link to ‘The Internet Can Still Be Small And Nice, But It’s On All Of Us To Make That Work | Techdirt’

I have long been skeptical of gas prices as a talking point. Some interesting thoughts in here. link to ‘Our Obsession With Gas Prices Is Driving America Nuts’

Thanks to a recommendation from BoingBoing, I just finished reading a Business Insider article describing a recent video in which Marjorie Taylor Greene: predicted that identifying as heterosexual will be a thing of the past within a period of less than 200 years thanks to LGBTQ-inclusive sex educators, who she called “trans terrorists.” More specifically, Greene was quoted as saying that heterosexual extinction would come about “probably in about four or five generations.

GOP has some reckoning to do. link to ‘Two-Thirds of Republicans Believe Great Replacement Theory, New Poll Shows’

Content moderation is a good thing, and ‘free speech’ should not be our primary concern when it comes to social media platforms. link to ‘Racist and Violent Ideas Jump From Web’s Fringes to Mainstream Sites - The New York Times’

Listening to The Aquabats tonight and remembering how I pegged the Mormon connection when I was first listening to them because of subtle allusions to food storage and pioneer hymns.

This is difficult but important to read. As gut wrenching as these shootings are, I am still distant enough from them that they don’t always stick with me. It’s helpful if depressing to read about what sticks with others who are closer to them. [link to ‘A Reporter Reflects on Covering Seven Mass Shootings — ProPublica’](https://www.propublica.org/article/shooting-news-msm-reporter-essay

Disappointing but unsurprising. I wish McConnell would show as much willingness to call out Republicans on guns as he does for Ukraine. link to ‘McConnell mum on guns as U.S. Senate recesses for a week – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

Tom the Dancing Bug is usually just the right level of dark. link to ‘Richard Scarry’s 21st Century Classroom | Boing Boing’

It makes me sick and angry to read all of this. We have so badly failed the children of this country. link to ‘‘It Was the Wrong Decision’: Uvalde Cops Waited in Hallway as Kids Called 911 Begging to Be Saved From Gunman’

Imagine thinking that this is the price we pay for American exceptionalism. Imagine thinking that mourning these children and wanting to do something about it is a partisan agenda. link to ‘Ted Cruz walks away after reporter asks him why mass shootings keep happening : NPR’

I suspect that there is nothing as damning in Mormon history as Mormons’ failure to own up to that history, and Jana’s writing here captures that nicely. link to ‘‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ raises the question: Are Mormons dangerous?’

This is one of the best things The Onion has ever done. link to ‘‘The Onion’ has reused this satire after more than 20 mass shootings since 2014 : NPR’

Love this. link to ‘Florida student suing over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ uses curly hair as commencement speech code | The Hill’

Fascinating (if worrying) article on just how important the basic mechanics of an election are. link to ‘The election system shuddered in 2020. Now, there are fears of an attack within : NPR’

Lots of interesting ideas in this interview. I particularly like libraries running Mastodon instances. link to ‘Why we need a public internet and how to get one - The Verge’

Let’s do the same in the U.S., please. link to ‘Clearview AI ordered to delete facial recognition data belonging to UK residents - The Verge’

I don’t think I want a Pence presidency any more than another Trump one, but I do want to see the GOP wrestle with what it’s going to be going forward. link to ‘Pence, Tiptoeing Away From Trump, Lays Groundwork for ’24 Run - The New York Times’

Glad that there hasn’t been much conversation about this in Kentucky, but it’s still really worrying stuff. link to ‘How Trump’s 2020 Election Lies Have Gripped State Legislatures - The New York Times’

It’s a bit of a truism to say that the Book of Mormon is dependent on Biblical language, but one thing that’s been on my mind for the past few years (especially since reading Thomas Wayment’s excellent The New Testament: A Translation for Latter-day Saints) is how specifically dependent it is on the particular language of the King James Version of the Bible. Over the past year or so, as a personal project, I’ve been toying around with what a modern-language version of the Book of Mormon would look like.

Pretty upset about these results from the primary. I voted for the other candidate and was shocked to find Young won. At least I have a few months to figure out who to write in. link to ‘Beshear, KDP will not back Democratic candidate for U.S. House seat’

Last night, I had a bizarre dream that I was telling Ted Cruz that he was a jerk but that I didn’t mind when it was directed at Madison Cawthorn. Don’t know if that fully reflects my waking views, and don’t know anything about the victor here, but I am glad to see Cawthorn lose. link to ‘Madison Cawthorn is beaten in North Carolina’s GOP primary : NPR’

Content moderation is (sometimes) a good thing. link to ‘How the Buffalo shooting livestream went viral - The Verge’

Religious freedom isn’t worth anything if it’s only a shield for conservative Christianity. link to ‘We’re Suing Kentucky Prisons for Violating the First Amendment | ACLU of Kentucky’

What a troll. Even if the deal falls through, the way in which a sole rich dude can mess around with Twitter is souring me on the platform. link to ‘Elon Musk Says Twitter Deal ‘Cannot Move Forward’ in Current State - The New York Times’

If QAnon is excited, the rest of us should be worried—though I think there is a possibility that Musk realizes just how bad his ideas re: limiting moderation are and fails to deliver. link to ‘QAnon Thinks Elon Musk Is Going to Let Them Back On Twitter’

Et bien oui, ça me paraît très évident. link to ‘En rachetant Twitter, “Elon Musk a un projet politique derrière la tête”, estime un journaliste qui a enquêté sur l’homme le plus riche du monde’

Say it together now: Content moderation and free speech are different things. link to ‘Conservatives celebrate Musk’s deal to buy Twitter. - The New York Times’

The quotes in here underline how often ‘free speech’ is used to mean ‘problematic right-wing talking points.’ link to ‘Trump says he won’t leave Truth Social, despite Musk’s Twitter takeover - The Verge’

EFF cares about and actually understands free speech and content moderation, so their voice is especially important today. link to ‘Twitter Has a New Owner. Here’s What He Should Do. | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Not excited about this, but the good news is that I’ve already been thinking about revamping my web presence, and this is a push to do something about it. link to ‘Twitter accepts buyout, giving Elon Musk total control of the company - The Verge’

Yet another reason to revisit my social media presence. link to ‘Twitter in talks with Musk over bid to buy platform, according to reports : NPR’

Primaries are coming up! Time to do your homework! link to ‘Kentucky’s voter guide for the 2022 primary elections – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

I have long supported Joseph-Beth, but this is giving me ideas for other bookstores to try! link to ‘Best bookstore in Lexington, KY bracket: Elite Eight | Lexington Herald Leader’

Disappointing that G.O.P. leaders so quickly did an about face. January 6th was a terrible event, and it’s cynical and irresponsible to pretend anything otherwise. link to ‘McConnell and McCarthy’s Jan. 6 Fury at Trump Faded by February - The New York Times’

Most of this budget sounds great, but why are we budgeting for 75 more ALPRs when we haven’t even finished the trial of the current ones yet? Not to mention that the trial is unlikely to evaluate ethics, only “effectiveness.” link to ‘Gorton unveils $460 million Lexington budget | Lexington Herald Leader’

Never thought to connect Gab back to net neutrality; interesting reflection here. link to ‘Gab CEO Ironically Pines For Net Neutrality | Techdirt’

There are a few yellow flags in this article for me. Quick and efficient sounds good, but are those the most important values in policing? What values do they stand in tension with? It’s great that there are policies against using a ALPR database for personal reasons, but these policies regularly get violated. No, these aren’t videosurveillance cameras, but that doesn’t make them harmless. link to ‘New Flock security cameras being installed in Lexington by end of May | Lexington Herald Leader’

Hooray for additional bike infrastructure! link to ‘Lexington gets $2.9 million for two shared use trails | Lexington Herald Leader’

Grumpy about this this morning. link to ‘KY lawmakers reverse vote, give politicians control of libraries | Lexington Herald Leader’

Very interesting read. I have never been a Republican, but I frequently voted GOP prior to 2016. Because my personal political views have shifted since then, it’s hard to say whether I would vote for a GOP that throws off the Trump baggage, but I do hope such a party one day re-emerges. I may not agree with it, but we certainly need it. link to ‘Trump as a Modern-Day Party Boss: Hoarding Cash and Doling Out Favors - The New York Times’

Bad faith edits were the main reason why I’ve never jumped on the “edit button” train, so I think this is a good way to handle this. link to ‘Twitter’s upcoming edit feature may keep track of tweet history - The Verge’

Interesting read on potential stakes of France’s presidential election. link to ‘Marine Le Pen Victory Would Threaten European Alliances’

Good article on our past optimism for Putin. link to ‘When Vladimir Putin joined George W. Bush in Crawford, Texas : NPR’

Fascinated by this article for so many reasons. First, it’s a great example of meaningful practices in online spaces; second, it brings it back to the need for more, smaller platforms. link to ‘Of ‘Algospeak’ and the Crudeness of Automated Moderation | by Clive Thompson | Apr, 2022 | OneZero’

Reading about Mike Lee’s attempts to interfere with the election reminds me of the missionary companion who dreamed of rising high enough in the FBI to be ready to help Salt Lake carry out a coup if needed.

I have only been reading Techdirt for a short amount of time, but I increasingly appreciate Masnick’s perspectives on issues like this. link to ‘Elon Musk Demonstrates How Little He Understands About Content Moderation | Techdirt’

Worrying stuff out of Utah. link to ‘Texts Show Mike Lee Released ‘the Kraken’ and Tried to Give Trump a Smarter Coup Plan’

Content moderation is a necessity, and Musk’s take here is wildly irresponsible. link to ‘Elon Musk, After Toying With Twitter, Now Wants It All - The New York Times’

Losing dumb TVs is not an acceptable option. link to ‘It’s Still Stupidly, Ridiculously Difficult To Buy A ‘Dumb’ TV | Techdirt’

This story just keeps getting worse. link to ‘Twitter and Elon Musk Are Now at War’

Please be skeptical of anyone who describes platform content moderation as censorship.

Seems to me that folks truly concerned about the integrity of women’s sports would have more to say about this. link to ‘Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia: What it says about basketball’s pay gap : NPR’

This matches rhetoric I’m reading while doing research on Gab. We need respectable conservative movements in the U.S., but our contemporary mainstream right is flirting with these ideas instead of denouncing them. It’s troubling link to ‘The Far-Right Is Doxxing School Officials They Think Are “Groomers”’

Faut pas oublier ces liens quand-même. [link to ‘Présidentielle 2022 : le ralliement d’Eric Zemmour gêne la stratégie de camouflage de Marine Le Pen’](https://www.francetvinfo.fr/replay-radio/l-edito-politique/presidentielle-2022-le-ralliement-d-eric-zemmour-gene-la-strategie-de-camouflage-de-marine-le-pen_5052049.html

Litmus tests like this are making me even more worried about the future. link to ‘House G.O.P. Kills Bid to Honor Pioneering Black Judge - The New York Times’

Wish that I’d been paying better attention to this legislation. Libraries are pillars of our communities and ought to retain partisan independence. link to ‘KY libraries worried by bill giving politicians control over them | Lexington Herald Leader’

I think today demonstrates both the superority of France’s two-round presidential elections to U.S. first-past-the-post BUT ALSO the inferiority of both compared to ranked-choice voting.

Faut pas transformer l’Ukraine un héros irréprochable. link to ‘Des crimes de guerre auraient aussi été commis par des soldats ukrainiens - rts.ch - Monde’

Insightful piece on trolling and feeding trolls. link to ‘GOP Social Media Experiments Fail (In Part) Because They Break The Troll/Amplification Cycle | Techdirt’

All platforms moderate content, most content moderation isn’t censorship. link to ‘Roger Stone Claims He’s Being ‘Censored’ on Trump’s Truth Social’

If I can help it, I will never buy a smart TV. I appreciate the suggestion to consider a monitor as a dumb TV. link to ‘Why You Should Buy the Dumbest TV You Can Find’

Weaponization of copyright filters is awful, and it’s not even the worst thing about this story. link to ‘Cops Tried Playing Disney Music to Censor a Video’

Keeping an eye on France’s elections in April and then Idaho’s in May, I guess. link to ‘Extremist Republicans like Ammon Bundy face opposition from moderates : NPR’

Frustrating to see steps that feel like progress seem to shore up the tech giants I hoped were being kept in check. link to ‘How You’re Still Being Tracked on the Internet - The New York Times’

Worries about this picking up. General Assembly took steps in a bad direction this session, but they could go further next time. link to ‘LGBTQ biases led to uproar after board message, KY teacher says | Lexington Herald Leader’

GOP needs to do more about MTG. link to ‘Marjorie Taylor Greene: If You Vote for Ketanji Brown Jackson, You Must Like Pedophiles’

Not that I was inclined to believe Russian cries of fake news anyway, but I still appreciate Bellingcat on the case. link to ‘Russia’s Bucha “Facts” Versus the Evidence - bellingcat’

This kind of article is why I read The Intercept—to give me fresh perspectives on important issues. link to ‘The U.S. Has Its Own Agenda Against Russia’

Nooooo thank you. Don’t like this about Grammarly, don’t like this about Word, won’t like this about Google Docs. I am very skeptical of giving algorithms authority over style. link to ‘Google Docs will start nudging some users to write less dumbly - The Verge’

TikTok should not be protected from criticism, but it should not be subjected to this garbage either. link to ‘Facebook-Hired PR Firm Coordinated Anti-TikTok Campaign To Spread Bogus Moral Panics | Techdirt’

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’

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’

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’

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’

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’

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.’

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”’

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’

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’

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’

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’

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’

This idea increasingly resonates with me. link to ‘To Make Social Media Work Better, Make It Fail Better | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Oh good, our fears about deepfakes are coming true. link to ‘Hacked News Channel and Deepfake of Zelenskyy Surrendering Is Causing Chaos Online’

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’

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.

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’

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’

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’

I will only accept complaints about gas prices from people who also bemoan our failure to invest in public and alternative transportation.

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’

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’

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.

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’

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’

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.

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’

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’

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’

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’

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’

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’

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’

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.’

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’

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’

Amazon already has too big a footprint here. Don’t feel great about this. link to ‘KY lawmakers advance data center tax incentives to woo tech giants | Lexington Herald Leader’

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.

Remembering the time that the only person at church who understood my dissertation research was the one who worked for the state of Michigan doing social media surveillance of social justice movements.

There is no denying that Putin is smart and strategic, but expressing awe instead of concern is typically Trump in its idiocy. link to ‘Trump Thinks Putin Is a ‘Genius’ for Invading Ukraine’

Worrying stuff here. Right-wing media consumption appears to be the big predictor for QAnon beliefs. link to ‘QAnon Isn’t Dead, It’s Growing’

Happy that my much cheaper bike does not rely on servers to function properly. link to ‘Peloton Outage Prevents Customers From Using $2,500 Exercise Bikes | Techdirt’

Kentucky has taken some bad steps in this direction lately, but this is horrific. link to ‘Texas Is Going to Start Investigating Parents of Trans Kids for Child Abuse’

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. link to ‘The Internet Is Debunking Russian War Propaganda in Real Time’

The students in my fundamentals of computers class have repeatedly heard me bring up this story to explain that technology is never just technical. link to ‘This Is the ‘Hacking’ Investigation Into Journalist Who Clicked ‘View Source’ on Government Website’

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. [link to ‘Comedian Bill Bailey reimagines the Doctor Who theme as Belgian jazz | Boing Boing’](https://boingboing.net/2022/02/22/comedian-bill-bailey-reimagines-the-doctor-who-theme-as-belgian-jazz.html?utm_source=rss

City council member responded to my concerned email by basically telling me I should have spoken up before the vote happened. Feels harsh but fair—want to do better about showing up and speaking up.

Can we please refrain from electing the alleged Q to Congress? link to ‘QAnon Celebrity Ron Watkins Wrote a Terrible Poem to ‘Prove’ He’s Not Q’

A long but important read. link to ‘The Long Crusade of Clarence and Ginni Thomas - The New York Times’

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. link to ‘Russia’s ‘Idiotic’ Disinformation Campaign Could Still Lead to War in Ukraine’

Lexington just installed plate readers on a trial basis, so this hits particularly hard right now. It’s scary and it needs to stop. link to ‘Please Delete Your Recordings: Inside a Police Conference’

Doing transcription yourself sucks. It’s long and tedious, and the final product never feels worth all the effort you put into it. For all that, though, this is exactly why services like Otter have never sat well with me. link to ‘This journalist’s Otter.ai scare is a reminder that cloud transcription isn’t completely private - The Verge’

Quite enjoyed this read. Appreciated Spiegelman’s take that Maus got pushback because there’s not a satisfying ending. It’s true of Maus, but maybe that’s a feature, not a bug. Hat tip to Boing Boing for pointing me to this. link to ‘Talking to Art Spiegelman As the Latest ‘Maus’ Fight Erupts’

This story is so, so much to take in. I saw it from the Massachusetts Pirate Party with a comment about implants needing to be open sourced. I agree, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. link to ‘Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported - IEEE Spectrum’

Disappointed to see more legislation like this under consideration. link to ‘Ky. Republicans advance another bill banning trans girls from girls sports – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

Glad to hear this—and glad my state rep seems to me a voice of reason here. link to ‘Proposed tax break for private airplanes stalls in KY House | Lexington Herald Leader’

Yes for more transportation funding, but not if it’s all going to cars. link to ‘What does it cost Lexington KY drivers to wait in traffic? | Lexington Herald Leader’

This continues to be a dumb and worrying story. link to ‘Missouri’s Governor Still Insists Reporter Is A Hacker, Even As Prosecutors Decline To Press Charges | Techdirt’

Why are dress codes so often so gross? link to ‘Parents say daughters humiliated over Scott school dress code | Lexington Herald Leader’

Surveillance is a bigger problem than we think. link to ‘Declassified Documents Shows The CIA Is Using A 1981 Executive Order To Engage In Domestic Surveillance | Techdirt’

This is unjustifiable. link to ‘We Need Answers About the CIA’s Mass Surveillance | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Ugh ugh ugh. link to ‘Cop Trainer Encouraging Cops To Run Facial Recognition Searches On People During Traffic Stops | Techdirt’

The first line is a powerful one. Libraries ought to be a constant reference point (and beneficiary) when liberalizing IP. link to ‘Penguin Random House Demands Removal Of Maus From Digital Library Because The Book Is Popular Again | Techdirt’

But is it ed tech? link to ‘Tech Leaders Justify Project To Create Army Of AI-Controlled Bulletproof Grizzly Bears As Inevitable Part Of Progress’

This would really change things up! link to ‘How the Open App Markets Act wants to remake app stores - The Verge’

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. link to ‘Why Grammarly’s suggestions around writing about slavery miss the mark.’

This whole situation sucks. link to ‘All Options Are Not on the Table as Biden Moves Troops Closer to Ukraine - 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. link to ‘Ukraine Gave Up Nuclear Weapons 30 Years Ago. Today There Are Regrets. - The New York Times’

This is why I want a U.S. Pirate Party link to ‘House Votes For COMPETES Act, Even With Its Problems, Almost Entirely On Party Lines | Techdirt’

Some of the scariest news I’ve read this week. link to ‘G.O.P. Declares Jan. 6 Attack ‘Legitimate Political Discourse’ - The New York Times’

Who thought this was a good idea??? link to ‘Air Force Taps Clearview AI to Research Face-Identifying A.R. Glasses - The New York Times’

Intellectual property is important, but overreach is a real problem. We should be liberalizing IP, not cracking down on it. link to ‘SHOP SAFE Will Stomp Out Online Sales of Used and Homemade Goods | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Surveillance is not going to help kids. link to ‘Senator Wyden: EARN IT Will Make Children Less Safe | Techdirt’

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. link to ‘Spotify CEO Daniel Ek defends Joe Rogan deal in tense company town hall - The Verge’

Dark but funny, and a great imitation of the original art. [link to ‘The Tennessee School Board-Approved Maus | Boing Boing’](https://boingboing.net/2022/02/01/the-tennessee-school-board-approved-maus.html?utm_source=rss

We should all be concerned about this. Describing this as “high tech” in the first line of the story fetishizes surveillance. It’s gross. link to ‘Lexington KY police test license plate cameras to solve crime | Lexington Herald Leader’

I have not (and do not care to) read a lot about the Spotify thing, but podcasts are meant to be a platformless, open medium—one of the few left on the web. If you’re going to make one exclusive, you absolutely take responsibility for content moderation.

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. link to ‘Tennessee school board bans Pulitzer prize-winning Holocaust novel, Maus | Holocaust | The Guardian’

This inconsistency is mind boggling. link to ‘Devin Nunes, CEO Of Trump’s TRUTH Social, Confirms That ‘Free Speech’ Social Media Will Be HEAVILY Moderated | Techdirt’

Nope nope nope. link to ‘Ky. lawmakers resurrect bill to make it illegal to insult police, boost penalties for ‘rioting’ – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

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. link to ‘The EU Wants Its Own DNS Resolver that Can Block ‘Unlawful’ Traffic * TorrentFreak’

Contract tracing is good, but apps for it are scary. Ugh. link to ‘German Police Caught Using COVID-Tracing Data To Search For Crime Witnesses | Techdirt’

Helpful if worrying read. link to ‘New Bill Claims To Ban ‘Surveillance Advertising,’ But Doesn’t Actually Do It | Techdirt’

Fact checking is always important, but especially so here. link to ‘Fact-Checking McConnell’s Comparison of Black Turnout Rates - The New York Times’

Hooray for sports? link to ‘Kentucky county sees COVID-19 surge tied to ball games. | Lexington Herald Leader’

We can prosecute criminals without weakening encryption. link to ‘Sedition Prosecution Of Oath Keepers Members Shows The FBI Can Still Work Around Encryption | Techdirt’

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. link to ‘Parents and child care providers of unvaccinate kids say they’ve hit rock bottom : NPR’

I absolutely support the work of this committee, which makes it all the more important I carefully consider the means that they are using. [link to ‘Dear January 6 Committee: Curb Your Appetite - Center for Democracy and Technology’](https://cdt.org/insights/dear-january-6-committee-curb-your-appetite/?utm_source=rss

Great example of a forced acronym here. link to ‘Want the ‘TLDR’ on a site’s terms of service? There’s a bill for that - The Verge’

Good for these students. link to ‘Lexington students oppose anti-CRT legislation at rally | Lexington Herald Leader’

Shut it down. link to ‘20 Years Later, Guantánamo Remains a Disgraceful Stain on Our Nation. It Needs to End.’

A wake up call and compelling story. link to ‘Refugees Held With Djokovic in Australia Briefly in Spotlight’

Interesting read on a subject I expect to be following for a while. link to ‘Banned from Facebook and Twitter, far right groups are still a presence online. : NPR’

Not happy about this. link to ‘Companies Donated Millions to Those Who Voted to Overturn Biden’s Win - The New York Times’

Worried about our present—and for our future. link to ‘A Year Later, Jan. 6 Becomes Just Another Wedge in a Divided Nation - The New York Times’

I am shocked—shocked!—to find gerrymandering going on in this establishment. link to ‘Ky. Senate redistricting maps boost GOP in Congress, legislature – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

A reminder of local involvement in the Capitol attack. link to ‘6 Kentucky residents have pleaded guilty over Capitol riot | Lexington Herald Leader’

Podcasts are one of the last bastions of the open internet, but that evidently comes at a cost. So long as Apple and Spotify are trying to corner the podcast market, they should be moderating their content. link to ‘Election Falsehoods Surged on Podcasts Before Capitol Riots, Researchers Find - The New York Times’

Supermajority is not enough for some folks, it seems. link to ‘Republicans limit debate on first day of Ky. legislative session – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

Ugh ugh ugh. link to ‘Trump Endorses Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Far-Right Prime Minister - The New York Times’

Important and enlightening read. link to ‘Smartphones Are a New Tax on the Poor | WIRED’

We must not forget that day or let others redefine it. link to ‘Trump says his supporters weren’t behind the Jan. 6 attack — but I was there : NPR’

Happy public domain day! link to ‘Winnie-the-Pooh and early sound recordings enter public domain - The Verge’

Stupid story gets yet stupider. link to ‘The governor of Missouri thinks looking at website source code is a crime - The Verge’

Time to write some representatives. This is terrifying stuff. link to ‘In 2021, the Police Took a Page Out of the NSA’s Playbook: 2021 in Review | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

So tired of this pandemic. link to ‘Children’s hospitals are filling nationwide amid tidal wave of omicron | Ars Technica’

Some hope for defeating gerrymandering. link to ‘Michigan’s New Congressional Maps Undo Years of Gerrymandering - The New York Times’

There are clear cases where platforms need to be moderating more content, but let’s not forget the seemingly-well-intentioned but overreaching cases either. link to ‘Tumblr goes overboard censoring tags on iOS to comply with Apple’s guidelines - The Verge’

Content moderation is an awful job, and we shouldn’t forget the people doing it for us. link to ‘TikTok sued by former content moderator for allegedly failing to protect her mental health - The Verge’

Intrigued by this idea. link to ‘Internet Archive Supports the Maryland’s Library eBook Fairness Law - Internet Archive Blogs’

Unhappy reading for the holidays. link to ‘Trump’s ‘Big Lie’ endures and poses a threat to U.S. democracy : NPR’

Looks like QAnon is going to be around for a while. Worrying stuff. link to ‘‘Q’ Has Been Quiet, but QAnon Lives On - The New York Times’

Northeast Corridor is great, but more trains in Kentucky, please. I don’t mind waiting. link to ‘Billions in Amtrak Funding Could Modernize Aging Rail System - The New York Times’

Nearly a week later, this is even more heartbreaking. link to ‘Kentucky Politics Distilled – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

Stingrays are bad news, and so is the ability to buy them without public scrutiny. [link to ‘Boston Police Bought Spy Tech With a Pot of Money Hidden From the Public — ProPublica’](https://www.propublica.org/article/boston-police-bought-spy-tech-with-a-pot-of-money-hidden-from-the-public

We are not as worried about nuclear weapons as we should be. link to ‘Scientists Ask Biden to Cut U.S. Nuclear Arsenal - The New York Times’

Vive la France ! 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷 link to ‘French regulator tells Clearview AI to delete its facial recognition data - The Verge’

Easy to forget that YouTube is functionally the only game in town… and that there are big consequences for that. link to ‘YouTube’s New Copyright Transparency Report Leaves a Lot Out | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Good read on an important subject. link to ‘Link Taxes: A Bad Idea for Journalism and the Open Internet - Internet Archive Blogs’

Very worrying. Underlines the importance of local politics. link to ‘Proud Boys Regroup Locally to Add to Ranks Before 2022 Midterms - The New York Times’

I have a professional interest in the far right, follow the news pretty well, and still sometimes forget how bad Jan. 6 was just because life is crazy. Shame on those actively encouraging us to forget out of cynicism and self-interest.

I am glad someone is doing this reporting, and I’m even more glad it’s from here in Kentucky instead of folks from outside. link to ‘Mayfield candle factory’s labor practices under scrutiny in wake of deadly tornado – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

A delightful and important read. link to ‘‘Sesame Street’ Was Always Political - The New York Times’

Important read for folks looking to help. link to ‘Western Kentucky tornadoes: How to help, donate money, blood | Lexington Herald Leader’

Dreading all the terrible takes about people not deserving federal help because they vote the wrong way. It’s a universally bad position.

Just when you thought this couldn’t get any worse. link to ‘At Mayfield, Ky. factory, incarcerated people among workers feared dead and injured – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

A sign of scary things to come. I haven’t taught my department’s information literacy class for several semesters; I hope it’s up to the task of combatting this sort of thing. link to ‘How Trump and the 2020 race is weighing on Georgia Gov. Kemp in 2022 : NPR’

Heartbroken for Western Kentucky and everywhere else that’s seen destruction. link to ‘Storms, tornadoes: Western Kentucky death toll update | Lexington Herald Leader’

Apple is better than many tech companies, but that doesn’t make it good. link to ‘Apple’s concessions in China reportedly include a secret $275 billion deal and one odd change in Maps - The Verge’

The last thing we need is a more regressive taxation system. link to ‘Further Shift Away from Income Taxes Would Worsen Inequities, Harm State’s Economy - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy’

All very worrying. link to ‘In Texas, Panic Over Critical Race Theory Extends to Bookshelves - The New York Times’

Size and scale remain problems for Facebook and other social media platforms. link to ‘Researchers explain why they believe Facebook mishandles political ads : NPR’

This report sounds terrifying. Even the Capitol rioters deserve some freedom from this kind of surveillance. link to ‘Report - Legal Loopholes and Data for Dollars: How Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies Are Buying Your Data from Brokers - Center for Democracy and Technology’

Nope nope nope. link to ‘Your Face Is, or Will Be, Your Boarding Pass - The New York Times’

Not a great look. link to ‘Twitter reportedly suspended accounts by mistake after extremists abused new private media policy - The Verge’

This dumb story got even dumber. link to ‘Emails show what happened before Missouri gov. falsely called journalist a “hacker” | Ars Technica’

Bishop roulette makes for terrible public policy. link to ‘Utah Makes Welfare So Hard to Get, Some Feel They Must Join the LDS Church to Get Aid — ProPublica’

File this under bad solutions to worse problems. link to ‘Twitter policy aimed at improving privacy sparks concerns over misuse : NPR’

Appreciate this argument for the need for true ISP competition alongside net neutrality. link to ‘The Internet Needs Fair Rules of the Road – and Competitive Drivers | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Wish I had commuted earlier today to see this; when I biked past, there were only KU folks, no protestors. ALSO: “protesters might be abetting murderers by taking up police time” is not a good look. link to ‘KU reaches compromise with Lexington tree-cutting protesters | Lexington Herald Leader’

Takes some real self-confidence to describe an always-on camera as a feature, not a nightmarish bug. link to ‘Qualcomm’s new always-on smartphone camera is a privacy nightmare - The Verge’

Such a good conversation on such an important topic. link to ‘Podcast Episode: Who Should Control Online Speech? | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Dreading this whole process. link to ‘Ky. lawmakers plan to quickly pass redistricting maps – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

I had completely forgotten that Meta owned Giphy. link to ‘Meta ordered to sell Giphy by UK regulator - The Verge’

School buses are the most common form of public transit around here, and we still can’t do that right. link to ‘Fayette schools considers spending $440,00 for outside drivers | Lexington Herald Leader’

Another reason to be wary of automated ad exchanges. [link to ‘How Steve Bannon Has Exploited Google Ads to Monetize Extremism — ProPublica’](https://www.propublica.org/article/how-steve-bannon-has-exploited-google-ads-to-monetize-extremism

Intellectual property can be a human rights issue. [link to ‘Pluralistic: 28 Nov 2021 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow’](https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/28/somos-cuba/

I am about a decade late to Joanna Brooks’s beautiful memoir, and I know I wouldn’t have appreciated it fully in 2012, but I am so, so glad to be reading it now.

Compelling article on histories we’ve made and the ones we are now making. link to ‘In Kentucky, the ‘Lost Cause’ lingers as a new myth takes hold | Lexington Herald Leader’

Helpful read on infrastructure money coming to Kentucky. link to ‘How will KY spend its $4.6B in infrastructure bill funds? | Lexington Herald Leader’

I dream of a world where IP laws are liberalized to the point that libraries can provide their own, publicly-funded streaming services.

Lots to think about here. link to ‘Reporter’s notebook: How to be a kinder consumer this holiday season – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

Humbling read today. link to ‘Thanksgiving is a day of mourning for New England’s Native American tribes : NPR’

Very interested in the idea of making contributions to open source software tax deductible. link to ‘Podcast Episode: The Revolution Will Be Open Source | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Accelerometer data can be used for invasive tracking, and Facebook seems to be doing so. This is truly scary stuff. link to ‘Security Researcher Finds Facebook App Tracking iPhone Movements’

Guess who responded to a recent House censure by joining Gab a few days ago?

Very scary stuff here. link to ‘The Amazon Privacy Nightmare. “What you search for, what you buy… | by Micah Sifry | Nov, 2021 | OneZero’

The problem with facial recognition isn’t (just) accuracy—it’s the underlying values of such a project. link to ‘Clearview AI does well in another round of facial recognition accuracy tests. - The New York Times’

Glad to see Lessig expressing caution here. link to ‘For Rules in Technology, the Challenge is to Balance Code and Law - The New York Times’

Surveillance remains scary. link to ‘Police Aerial Surveillance Endangers Our Ability to Protest | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

The thing about Rand Paul is that sometimes he gets things very right, even though he so often gets things so wrong. link to ‘Rand Paul to challenge Biden’s Saudi arms sale | Lexington Herald Leader’

We need data to make decisions, but predictive analytics tend to give me the heebie jeebies. link to ‘Predictive analytics in child welfare raise concerns - Youth Today’

Good news for Lexington! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 link to ‘Lexington KY gets ‘perfect score’ for LGBTQ protections | Lexington Herald Leader’

Something else to write representatives about. link to ‘Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Stop Warrantless Car Spying by Police’

Weaponized copyright enforcement is awful. link to ‘BTS fan accounts targeted with fake copyright takedowns - The Verge’

Time to write some representatives. This is scary stuff. link to ‘Podcast Episode: What Police Get When They Get Your Phone | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Facial recognition is worrying. link to ‘In Moscow’s Technological Advances, a ‘Double-Edged Sword’ - The New York Times’

Good take on the privacy issues involved with modern gift-giving. link to ‘Internet-Connected Products: Ever-Advancing, Ever-Creepier | by Stephen Moore | Nov, 2021 | OneZero’

Always appreciate the EFF’s perspective. link to ‘After Facebook Leaks, Here Is What Should Come Next | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Interesting read. link to ‘What happened when Facebook asked users what content was good or bad for the world.’

Internet is a question of infrastructure, and infrastructure is a question of justice. link to ‘The infrastructure bill could be a lifeline for students without internet : NPR’

So devastating. link to ‘How sexual assault survivors are harmed by the Texas abortion law : Shots - Health News : NPR’

Gerrymandering is gross and wrong, no matter who’s doing it. link to ‘How Republicans Have an Edge in the Emerging 2022 Congressional Maps - The New York Times’

Beautiful gesture and a perfect name for it. link to ‘A new monument in Frankfort will honor the Kentuckians who died from COVID-19 – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

Doctorow has some good thoughts on surveillance capitalism here. link to ‘Pluralistic: 14 Nov 2021 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow’

Terrifying stuff. I know “Orwellian” gets overused these days, but TVs that watch us are straight out of 1984. link to ‘Vizio’s profit on ads, subscriptions, and data is double the money it makes selling TVs - The Verge’

Interesting and helpful read. link to ‘Why a wealth tax for people like Elon Musk is so hard to pull off : NPR’

So very gross. link to ‘UK students flock to see Sister Cindy’s ‘slut shaming show’ | News | kykernel.com’

Got some future Pirate Party supporters here at UK. link to ‘Twenty-first century swashbucklers: The rise of ethical media piracy | Opinion | kykernel.com’

Surveillance is scary. link to ‘EFF to Supreme Court: Warrantless 24-Hour Video Surveillance Outside Homes Violates Fourth Amendment | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Good progress but need more. link to ‘Apple Has Listened And Will Retract Some Harmful Phone-Scanning’

Truly frightening. link to ‘Menace, as a Political Tool, Enters the Republican Mainstream - The New York Times’

Glad local reporters are looking into this; when the measures were announced, I was wondering what responses would be. link to ‘24 UK employees placed on leave for breaking COVID policy | Lexington Herald Leader’

Interesting argument. I will say that having a running Keybase chat with distant friends has been terribly helpful during the pandemic. link to ‘The Secret to a Better Internet? Post Less, Chat More. - The New York Times’

Du Mez is the perfect person to respond to this. Fwiw, Gab is giving some serious Jesus & John Wayne vibes right now, for all the same reasons Hawley is. link to ‘Sen. Josh Hawley claims without evidence that liberals are attacking masculinity : NPR’

The whole point of far right meme culture is plausible deniability. Telling people to relax and that it’s just a joke is not only ridiculous but further plays into the parallels. link to ‘Rep. Gosar anime video highlights ties to the online right - The Verge’

Location data harvesting is scary stuff. link to ‘Data Broker Veraset Gave Bulk Device-Level GPS Data to DC Government | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

We have a magnet from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum reminding us (and everyone else who walks past our fridge) to keep an eye out for modern day hate, injustice, and genocide. link to ‘U.S. Holocaust Museum Says China ‘May Be Committing Genocide’ Against Uyghurs - The New York Times’

Religious freedom only counts as such when it’s applied across the board and not just for conservative talking points. link to ‘Supreme Court conservatives are skeptical on spiritual advisers in death chamber : NPR’

Heck of a story. link to ‘These Parents Built a School App. Then the City Called the Cops | WIRED’

So very dumb. link to ‘In Florida, a Firestorm Over Silenced University Professors Grows - The New York Times’

Why are people still touting facial recognition as a convenience? link to ‘ICO to step in after schools use facial recognition to speed up lunch queue | Facial recognition | The Guardian’

We ought to be talking more about biometric data. link to ‘7-Eleven breached customer privacy by collecting facial imagery without consent | ZDNet’

By this logic, macOS is malware’s best friend by allowing users to install software outside the App Store. It’s a dumb argument. link to ‘‘Sideloading is a cyber criminal’s best friend,’ according to Apple’s software chief - The Verge’

To paraphrase George Smiley, you can learn a lot about how those in power will treat people by the way they treat books. link to ‘Texas’ governor wants ‘pornographic’ school library books removed : NPR’

Public transit forever. Lexington is considering BRT, and I’m really hoping it comes through. Would give me some more commuting options. link to ‘Public transportation can save the world — if we let it’

So gross. link to ‘Florida Bars State Professors From Testifying in Voting Rights Case - The New York Times’

The weirdest part of this article to me is how you have Frances Haugen talking to the UK Parliament in one paragraph and then Nick Clegg—former deputy PM—defending “Meta” as their employee not long after. link to ‘Facebook Changes Corporate Name to Meta - The New York Times’

What a great episode. link to ‘#181 Absolutely Devious Lick | Reply All’

Tech companies are often ad companies, and it behooves us to remember that. link to ‘Google and Facebook’s Ad Empires - The New York Times’

So much ugh. link to ‘How hospitals inflate bills for healthy births by labeling them ’emergencies’ : Shots - Health News : NPR’

This story just gets more and more ridiculous. link to ‘Viewing website HTML code is not illegal or “hacking,” prof. tells Missouri gov. | Ars Technica’

Facebook might need more moderators, but they shouldn’t be company executives… link to ‘Employees pleaded with Facebook to stop letting politicians bend rules | Ars Technica’

Sobering read. link to ‘She Is Breaking Glass Ceilings in Space, but Facing Sexism on Earth - The New York Times’

Do not mess with open licensing. link to ‘Trump’s site Truth Social broke software rules, says copyleft group - The Verge’

Just finished Cory Doctorow’s Attack Surface, a few months after reading Little Brother and Homeland. It is the addition to that series we need right now.

This is frustrating and sad. link to ‘Texas Removed an L.G.B.T.Q. Resource Page After a Candidate Complained - The New York Times’

If viewing the source code of a web page is hacking, my black hat skills just went up a thousandfold. link to ‘Missouri governor threatens reporter who discovered state site spilling private info - The Verge’

This is worrying. There’s a long tradition of open far right movements in France, and if the U.S has something to teach them, it should make us think twice about what’s happening here. link to ‘U.S. Antigovernment Groups Are Influencing the French Far Right - The New York Times’

Interesting article. I’m particularly interested in the idea of focusing on algorithms rather than content. link to ‘Facebook whistleblower hearing: France Haugen finally got Republicans to stop yapping about anti-conservative bias.’

A compelling reminder that social media companies make money from eyeballs pointed at screens. link to ‘Facebook’s outage likely cost the company over $60 million | Ars Technica’

The more pies Amazon has its fingers in, the more concerning it becomes. link to ‘Opinion | Don’t Let Amazon Eat the Film Industry - The New York Times’

Well played, The Onion. Well played. link to ‘Amazon Astro Leaks Data All Over New Carpet’

Really want to see Fairphone start selling in U.S. link to ‘Fairphone’s latest sustainable smartphone comes with a five-year warranty - The Verge’

This means we’re going to get some soon, right? link to ‘Majority of Americans support national data privacy standards: poll | TheHill’

Worrying read but important one. link to ‘Despite Arrests And Setbacks, Far-Right Proud Boys Press New Ambitions : NPR’

Something feels characteristically Utah about this Park City company trying to turn graham crackers into a rugged frontier food while conveniently omitting its origins in the temperance movement.

I get that this is The Onion and that this isn’t how taxes work, but this article still fees like a gut punch. link to ‘IRS Reports Your Taxes Specifically Were Spent To Drone-Strike Kids’

I think you can be glad a villain got unmasked but uneasy that Batman’s the one who did it.

What a heartbreaking story. We need to rethink our relationship with drones—and war. link to ‘Pentagon Acknowledges Aug. 29 Drone Strike in Afghanistan Was Tragic Mistake - The New York Times’

This is maybe the best example I’ve seen of app stores being a problematic model. Is there an Android app that could be sideloaded? Definitely isn’t for Apple, and that’s shameful. link to ‘Apple and Google Remove ‘Navalny’ Voting App in Russia - The New York Times’

What a read. Platforms don’t just host content, they manipulate that content. link to ‘Political parties complained Facebook’s algorithm promoted polarization - The Verge’

Bookmarking this for my content management class. link to ‘Secret Facebook program reportedly let celebrities avoid moderation - The Verge’

A very powerful read. I was not politically confident as a teenager, but I remember already feeing uneasy with how the attacks were being evoked within a couple of years. A couple of decades later, I think we all need to be asking the hard questions. link to ‘Opinion | Which Victims of 9/11 Get Remembered? - The New York Times’

Great read on what’s become perhaps the most defensible platform on the social web (though Wikipedia certainly still has its problems). link to ‘How Wikipedia grew up with the war on terror.’

On the internet, more and more people can learn you’re a dog. link to ‘ProtonMail removed “we do not keep any IP logs” from its privacy policy | Ars Technica’

Oh good, we’re making the national news on this. link to ‘Kentucky Schools Struggle With Coronavirus Outbreaks - The New York Times’

Sobering read. link to ‘U.S. Global War on Terror Has Taken Nearly 1 Million Lives’

Happy to say that my local indie bookstore does not have this problem. link to ‘Ivermectin misinformation has poisoned Amazon’s platform, with few fixes planned - The Verge’

Compelling reminder that climate change needs systemic—not individual—responses. link to ‘Opinion | Worrying About Your Carbon Footprint Is Exactly What Big Oil Wants You to Do - The New York Times’

What a gut-wrenching story. Drone strikes are bad news. link to ‘New Chapter of Afghanistan War: U.S. Drone Strike Kills Family’

Very interesting piece on the relationship between technology and writing. link to ‘We Used to Write. How to keep writing human in a world of… | by Colin Horgan | Aug, 2021 | OneZero’

A great example of Ring cameras being gross. link to ‘My Neighbor’s Door Camera Faces My Apartment. Is That Legal? - The New York Times’

Interesting take on inauthentic content on Facebook. link to ‘The most popular posts on Facebook are plagiarized - The Verge’

Nope nope nope nope. If plate readers are going to become more common, I’ve got to start biking more places. Not that that will protect against Ring. 🤮🤮🤮 link to ‘Surveillance Startup Brings Police Tech to Neighborhoods - Bloomberg’

The Onion wins again. link to ‘Vaccine Skeptic Does Own Research By Enrolling 45,000 Friends In Double-Blind Clinical Trial’

I am only peripherally aware of Joe Rogan and don’t get great vibes from what I see, so I don’t really have any investment in how his podcast is doing. That said, this does speak to my concerns that Spotify’s attempts to land exclusive podcasts are threatening one of the last (and best) parts of the open web we’ve managed to hold onto. Also, very interesting use of digital methods here!

This is one of those features that sounds great but that I find absolutely terrifying. I hate smart TVs so much. link to ‘Samsung says it can remotely disable stolen TVs - The Verge’

Interesting proposal for a difficult issue. link to ‘The Giftschrank offers a path for social media companies on content moderation transparency.’

I have been thinking recently about streaming as a compromise in internet-era IP disputes, but this shows one reason that it’s not good enough a compromise. link to ‘A Thumbs Down for Streaming Privacy - The New York Times’

Since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve spent a lot of money at my local bookstore and bikeshop, and it kills me that Amazon is threatening both. Granted, I haven’t been able to completely cut the Amazon cord (and I have friends who have only survived the past 18 months because of the company), but there has to be a better way. link to ‘As demand for bikes surged, Amazon got in the way - The Verge’

I agree that it’s difficult to define misinformation in cases like this, but “cleaning house before inviting company” is absolutely a problem if the mess is what we’re coming to evaluate. Even a fact-based article can be used to misinformative ends, and it’s important that we know things like that are happening. link to ‘Facebook’s Most Viewed Article In Early 2021 Raised Doubt About COVID Vaccine : NPR’

Every time I read a story like this, I think of how much we need ranked-choice voting in the US. I’m not inclined to vote for any Republican right now, but there are plenty I’d rank above these two if given the chance. I also wish I could have ranked Charles Booker AND Amy McGrath above Mitch McConnell back in November. link to ‘In Iowa, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz Take Trump’s Baton - The New York Times’

Gotta admit that I’d never thought about what we should do about algorithms trained on data that’s subject to a deletion request. Interesting article. link to ‘Now that machines can learn, can they unlearn? | Ars Technica’

This is quite the read. link to ‘Facebook, Fearing Public Outcry, Shelved Earlier Report on Popular Posts - The New York Times’

Good read. link to ‘Don’t overthink it: Elon Musk’s Tesla Bot is a joke - The Verge’

This is the sort of thing that Gab will decry if they’re serious and consistent about their supposed pro-free speech, anti-deplatformization stand. My bet, though, is that Torba writes a blog post in the next week arguing that porn isn’t free speech and good on banks for cracking down on OnlyFans. link to ‘OnlyFans Says It Is Banning Sexually Explicit Content - The New York Times’

Cory Doctorow has THOUGHTS about data. I may use this in my data science class this semester. [link to ‘Pluralistic: 19 Aug 2021 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow](https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/19/failure-cascades/

Amazon is just too big. This line stood out: “Amazon is now in the odd position of replacing stores that it helped kill off.” link to Amazon reportedly plans to open its own department stores - The Verge

This blurb stood out to me: “Apple says, relentlessly, that privacy is the central feature of its iPhones. But as the photo scanning demonstrates, that’s true only until Apple changes its mind about its policies.” Seems to me we shouldn’t be dependent on tech companies’ decisions to ensure privacy. link to Opinion | The Illusion of Privacy Is Getting Harder to Sell - The New York Times

Please also give me the confidence of an Apple exec explaining how scanning all your photos is “an advancement of the state of the art in privacy.”

Give me the confidence of a FB employee wringing hands about researchers’ allegedly “put[ting] people’s data or privacy at risk.”

Looking forward to the “speed limits are government overreach, we need to rely on drivers’ personal responsibility” phase of the culture wars.

Spent my morning commute today thinking about how U.S. Christian nationalism and French laïcité (secularism) sometimes end up serving similar functions.

Reading or listening to other countries’ coverage of U.S. news has long been helpful for me. For example, I like using what the Swiss deem important enough to report on in American politics to gauge what I should pay extra attention to.

Despite the underlying problems with the Barabbas story, this seems like a good Friday to remember that we shouldn’t prefer violent insurrectionists over those wrongfully killed by the state.

You cannot understand online Mormonism without understanding Mormon feminism. The more I read, the clearer that becomes.

First time I’ve read this much into Inauguration Day happening around the same time as my birthday.

I do not have any data to back this up, but it sure seems like Francophone news outlets have transitioned over the past two years from translating “impeachment” to just using it as a loanword.

Remembering Governor Andy Beshear’s comments from last May: “You cannot fan the flames and then condemn the fire.” I can think of lots of people who need to hear that this morning.

I had a friend in Michigan with whom I disagreed on a great deal but who was still an important and supportive mentor for me. On November 9, 2016, we had a very tense conversation where he told me that I would see: The candidate’s bluster might be worrying, but he wouldn’t actually act on any of it. I haven’t talked to him in a few years, but I’m wondering what’s going through his head today.

Pour le 6 janvier, Urban Federer, l’abbé d’Ensiedeln (Suisse), écrit au sujet de « la peur d’être perdant » de Hérode et Saül, qui a inspiré « une jalousie, laquelle les a poussés a la haine meurtrière ». C’est un message pour l’Épiphanie pour tous les temps et tous les lieux, mais ça fait bizarre de le lire en particulier aux États-Unis ce 6 janvier 2021.

First line of this morning’s France Inter news broadcast: “A phone call worthy of an American crime novel.”

The Georgia transcript reads like a student calling after I’ve submitted grades but before the registrar’s deadline has passed, arguing that he’s earned a perfect score but is willing to settle for my bumping him up a couple points to get an A.

I am not sure what I was expecting when I started looking for Mormon* content on Gab, but “we should get the missionaries on this platform” wasn’t it.

It amazes me that we all agree autocorrect spectacularly and regularly fails and yet believe that we can trust fundamentally the same tech to do harder work like grade homework, flag content, and suggest prison sentences.

Every day that goes by in this election cycle just makes me more frustrated that we don’t have ranked-choice voting.

The thing about getting in the habit of reading privacy policies is that it sometimes changes your behavior, but it ALWAYS ups your anxiety about the impossibility of ever changing your behavior sufficiently.

Maybe the Cylons were a prescient metaphor for all that is terrible about the Internet of Things, and we ought to be adopting the Colonies’ aversion to networked technologies.

Yet another Grammarly ad has me thinking… I think my skepticism about AI is not so much the mistakes it makes so much as it is the assumption that human experiences are so well-structured that they can be reduced to an algorithm.

I want to live in a world where I can travel by train from Cincinnati to Chicago without it being a 9-hour trip that leaves at 1am.

Today is the primary for the 2019 state elections here in KY, and I’m really missing Michigan’s open primaries. Not being able to vote today may be what finally pushes me to declare a party affiliation after more than a decade of not doing so.

A U.S. Rep from Kentucky recently criticized John Kerry for having a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science; I’m afraid he’ll come for me soon when he finds out I’m teaching technology courses despite only having a Doctor of Philosophy.

Today I learned from first-hand experience that Latter-day Saint services aren’t the only ones with cringeworthy messages on Mother’s Day. 😤 Not sure whether that’s comforting or disappointing! 😜

Reading Cory Doctorow’s “radicalized,” and it’s great so far. Funny how a story like “Unauthorized Bread” can make me angry in a way that reading news stories and blog posts on the same subject just can’t compete with.

Il y a une cathédrale magnifique qui brûle, et le président américain se permet de donner des conseils aux sapeurs-pompiers. Je n’en peux plus.

I’m trying to succinctly describe a Latter-day Saint “solemn assembly” in an academic manuscript, and it’s a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.

Emailed my Kentucky General Assembly representative this morning to express concern about a bill and got a personal answer back by afternoon. Way better than responses I get from US House/Senate.

Reading today’s edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader makes me glad I subscribe to a local paper. Lots of holding our state and federal officials accountable; plus, I’m starting to have some favorite local columnists.

Reading the news today, I am reminded of last month, when after finishing the fantastic “Believed” podcast, I angrily covered up John Engler’s signature on my diploma with a sticky note. It’s still there.