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Created
Sat, 16/12/2023 - 21:17

In this decade, left-wing publishing is awash with works on technology. With ease, you can find a wide array of discussions over technology, how socialists should approach the platforms which govern our digital lives, and the dizzying potential of tech workers to build utopias of the future and transform existence as we know it. Life […]

Created
Sat, 16/12/2023 - 10:30
What happened to all the missing secrets? You may remember Cassidy Hutchinson saying that Mark Meadows took a binder full of information about the Russia investigation home with him during her January 6 Committee testimony: According to transcripts released by the Jan. 6 committee last year, in closed-door testimony, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told the committee she was “almost positive” the binder went home with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.  “I don’t think that would have been something that he would have destroyed. It was not returned anywhere, and it never left our office to go internally anywhere. It stayed in our safe in the office safe most of the time,” Hutchinson said, adding that she realized the binder was no longer in the safe on her last day at the White House.  CNN has new reporting on what went on and the enduring mystery of the missing binder continues.
Created
Sat, 16/12/2023 - 09:00
And his cult will probably believe it. I don’t know how many of you are watching the Trump videos on his web site but almost all of them are terrifying. But among the atrocities are a few comic gems. This is one of them: Former President Donald Trump on Friday proposed building up to 10 futuristic “freedom cities” on federal land, part of a plan that the 2024 presidential contender said would “create a new American future” in a country that has “lost its boldness.” Commuters, meanwhile, could get around in flying cars, Trump said – an echo of “The Jetsons,” the classic cartoon about a family in a high-tech future society. Work to develop vertical takeoff and landing vehicles is already underway by major airlines, auto manufacturers and other companies, though widely seen as years away from reaching the market. “I want to ensure that America, not China, leads this revolution in air mobility,” Trump, who announced his third bid for the presidency in November, said in a four-minute video detailing his plan.
Created
Sat, 16/12/2023 - 07:30
He manipulated the court’s norms to overturn Roe. And he’ll do it again whenever he chooses. This piece in the NY Times about the deliberations in the Dobbs decision is a barn burner. I’ve included a gift link so that you can read the whole thing, but here is how it opens. Alito is a beast, as are those in his thuggish crew: On Feb. 10 last year, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. showed his eight colleagues how he intended to uproot the constitutional right to abortion. At 11:16 a.m., his clerk circulated a 98-page draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. After a justice shares an opinion inside the court, other members scrutinize it. Those in the majority can request revisions, sometimes as the price of their votes, sweating sentences or even words. But this time, despite the document’s length, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote back just 10 minutes later to say that he would sign on to the opinion and had no changes, according to two people who reviewed the messages. The next morning, Justice Clarence Thomas added his name, then Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and days later, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. None requested a single alteration.
Created
Sat, 16/12/2023 - 06:00
Or is it just more hopium? I’m hoping to spread a little bit of hopium during this holiday season, not because I’m trying to blow smoke but because I’m honestly not as pessimistic about this coming election as a lot of people are. It’s not that I’m not extremely nervous. I know as well as you do that anything can happen and this political situation is extremely volatile. After all, just two years ago we had an attempted coup! But after having lived through some earlier panics that inform my feelings about this election, I’m just not ready to call for the hemlock. Yet. I know it will take hard work and close attention to what’s going on over the next year, but I do believe it’s possible. I’ll try to bring you analysis that I find as I scour the internet everyday that may at least give you some pause. JV Last of the Bulwark is a bit of a curmudgeon. Sometimes he is down right dark but I often find his analysis interesting. Today he discusses a conversation with economist Noah Smith about Biden’s chances in the election and why Smith believes he will win.
Created
Sat, 16/12/2023 - 05:55

Keep the applause going for our host tonight. That guy has some great jokes. In fact, his jokes are so good they make me want to pull an “1880s paleontologist Othniel Marsh” and pay my cronies to sneak into his room at night and steal them, the same way that Marsh paid people to steal fossils from his rival Edward Cope.

Okay, I can tell by your reaction that not everybody liked that joke. That’s all right. I didn’t get into comedy to make audiences comfortable. I’m here to confront dark truths and explore what makes us human. I believe that no topic is off limits in comedy, including 1880s paleontologist Othniel Marsh.

So many comics are afraid to talk about 1880s paleontologist Othniel Marsh. They try to keep things safe by talking about relationships or dumb song lyrics or complicated political topics. But that’s taking the easy way out. As long as I’m telling the truth, I don’t care if I bomb harder than when 1880s paleontologist Othniel Marsh used dynamite to sabotage the dig site of his rival Edward Cope.

Created
Sat, 16/12/2023 - 05:27

New in Drupal 10.2

The second feature release of Drupal 10 improves content modeling, block management, menu and taxonomy organization, and permission administration. New options to sanitize file names make it possible to clean up the names of uploaded files, and media item revisions now have a dedicated user interface.

Easier content management

10.2 improves the user experience for managing several types of content:

Created
Sat, 16/12/2023 - 04:59
Without a large and rapid change in politics, not much in evidence, it now seems unlikely we can avoid climate apocalypse. The COP28 conference in Dubai on (allegedly) reducing greenhouse gas emissions has come and gone with the usual proclamations of triumph. Wow, this time they actually mentioned fossil fuels, and the need to ‘transition Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 16/12/2023 - 04:57
Not content with expanding its membership from the original 12 to 31 nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is making a grab for a presence in the Asia Pacific as well. From 1949, NATO’s commitment to defend any member if attacked (Article 5) applied only to the North American and European mainlands and territories north Continue reading »