Skip to main content

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


Part 1 of @kissane’s series about Meta/Facebook’s awful impact on Myanmar is up, and it is already damning. I'm so grateful to Erin for stepping in here, and also so pissed we haven’t already had a dozen reckonings. https://erinkissane.com/meta-in-myanmar-part-i-the-setup

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


The Luddites weren’t backward technophobes. They saw factory owners using tech to degrade their livelihoods and they fought back — first by trying to negotiate, then writing to Parliament, and finally smashing the machines.

As workers today organize and strike over bosses using digital tech to upend their industries, there’s a lot we can learn from the Luddites’ story. I was thrilled to dig into it with @brianmerchant!

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1004689/13638517-the-real-history-of-the-luddites-w-brian-merchant

#tech #history #luddite #workers


Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


Republicans face growing urgency to stop Trump as they enter the second presidential debate
#AureFreePress #News #GOP #Politics #USA #Trump #MAGA #Republicans

https://apnews.com/article/republican-second-presidential-debate-2024-46ce9209b5150d577d5ff361522f6bed

Donald Trump

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.

good luck 👍🏾 #gop the party 🎉 is hostage to #trump

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


Republicans passed a ~$2 trillion tax cut for the rich and added $7 trillion to the national debt under Trump. And we're supposed to believe they're risking a shutdown because they care about "fiscal responsibility"?

It's all just a game to them.

They complain about the national debt like it's entirely owned by the Democrats, and ignore the massive amount they added.

Donors to Republicans: We do not care if you get re-elected. We only care that you give us what we paid you for in this term.

Republicans to Donors: How high?


Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


never forget: we didn’t ask for robot cars. when polled US majorities have always wanted action on climate, good public transit & safe streets. but our leaders act without our consent.

last year, 78% polled wanted increased investment in US passenger rail, a number that went to 80% among women and 82% in cities and 91% among Black people. this year, 76% polled in the US said they are afraid of self-driving cars & just 9% say they trust them and that number is declining year to year

What I want is affordable housing in cities where you can access transit and cycling paths. Seems most cities with decent transit are also the least affordable. I simply can’t go without a car where I live because transit is so awful and infrequent where it exists. The only time I’ve been able to truly live carless was when I lived in DC, and I loved it.

@ukuku
At least in Los Angeles county it's estimated that there's about 100 square miles of land (~14%) dedicated to parking.

https://la.curbed.com/2018/11/30/18119646/los-angeles-parking-lots-total-size-development

Also about 2.5 parking spaces and the associated aisle takes up about 800 square feet of land. Which could be a 1-2 bedroom apartment.
(from https://graphingparking.com/2013/05/17/parking-requirements-for-office-buildings/ )


Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


FRAUD...FRAUD...FRAUD

Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump, and the entire Trump Org found guilty of FRAUD!

Trump's New York business and real estate holdings wiil be assigned a receivership, who will sell Trump's NY holdings to pay off creditors and pay the up to $250,000,000 fine expected to be levied against Trump.

The Civil trial, to determine that fine amount, will begin on October 2nd.
#AureFreePress #News #GOP #Politics #USA #Trump #MAGA #Republicans #BREAKING #BreakingNews

People give Donald Trump the finger in Iowa.
This entry was edited (3 days ago)

reshared this

Makes me so glad to see him being confronted with middle fingers. You know it cuts him to the quick.
Did Ivanka escape this?

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


The media is fixated on the age of Joe Biden.

I would rather they talk about The Age of Joe Biden.

Biden has done more in under three years than any president not named FDR.

I don't care how old he is. He is sharp, in shape, and gets it done.

Summary of Biden accomplishments including Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure act, expansion of NATO, Chips and Science Act , PACT act, record job growth, record low unemployment, American Recovery Act, taking out Al Qaeda leader, appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson, rallying of support for Ukraine

reshared this

BTW, a few trolls have hopped on this thread. My recommendation is to just block them and not give them your time or energy.
😁 Apparently I have blocked well, because not a single one showed in my feed

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


The social platform #X, formerly known as #Twitter, is the largest source of #misinformation and #disinformation among the major online platforms, the #EU Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said on Sept. 26.

The official said so during the meeting with the Code of Practice on Disinformation signatories, including major players such as Facebook, Google, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Read more here🔗 https://kyivindependent.com/eu-commission-twitter-x-largest-disinformation-source-among-popular-social-platforms/

#Ukraine 🇺🇦 #SlavaUkraine
#СлаваУкраїні! #StandWithUkraine

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.

Given the obvious proliferation of plainly false ideas at times through the few online journals that remain, Im not to surprised.
Of course Musk sycophants will frame this as an attack on free speech and somehow they are victims.

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


Journalists: Trump is a fascist. He wants to rule the United States as an unaccountable dictator. Given the Republican Party's broad contempt for fair elections, civil liberties, and the rule of law, this could happen.

Your necessary role in political coverage of the upcoming elections is to be activists in defense of democracy.

When the hell are you going to wake up and realize that?

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/trump-milley-execution-incitement-violence/675435/

This entry was edited (4 days ago)
the oligarchs who own the media want a dictatorship too.
they think they do, they might think different once they get it. But then it will be too late
@wolleysegap
That's always the way. Careful what you wish for.
You have displeased dear leader, would you prefer poison or window.
@Ben
@Oldfartrant The ultimate goal of undermining democracy and its institutions is unrestrained capitalism for the few.

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


Customs and Border Protection Says It Will Stop Buying #Smartphone #Location Data
Journalists and lawmakers investigated #CBP & other agencies’ purchase of smartphone location data without #warrant
“While it is good news that CBP is ending its purchase of Americans' location information, it's troubling that the agency still hasn't released the Trump-era DHS legal memo that provided CBP with the authority to engage in such warrantless surveillance in the first place”-Wyden
https://www.404media.co/customs-and-border-protection-stop-buying-location-data/

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


A TikTok account is using facial recognition to dox random people simply for clout with its millions of viewers. Takes requests from the comments.

- Author spoke to multiple victims who say they were "violated"
- TikTok refuses to remove because says doesn't violate policies

https://www.404media.co/the-end-of-privacy-is-a-taylor-swift-fan-tiktok-account-armed-with-facial-recognition-tech/

You don’t even need to be on TikTok to be victimized by it, just need to be seen in one of the videos.
Similar to how Meta abuses people who don’t have a facebook account. You just need to be identified by a facebook user.

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


This pretty much explains the Fediverse

Share this post and if you can, post a comment because, genuinely I woke up this morning to a staggering number of shares and favourites.

The comments PROVE Mastodon is the place where common decency is being restored. I feel hopeful for the future.

What lovely people you all are.

Comment to be part of this new town square, or as I like to think of it, our tearoom. And add me, I'm going to be brewing lots of tea.

Wired article that talks about the importance of the Fediverse
This entry was edited (5 days ago)
50+ shares and 3 favourites are staggering numbers?
@ditol sorry which post are you talking about

This one: https://mastodon.terabyte-computing.com/@cloudguy/111116664690127109

you write you woke up to staggering numbers of shares and favourites. But at the moment of my reply the post had some 50+ shares and 3 favourites. I am surprised these numbers can seem big or even staggering.


This pretty much explains the Fediverse

Share this post and if you can, post a comment because, genuinely I woke up this morning to a staggering number of shares and favourites.

The comments PROVE Mastodon is the place where common decency is being restored. I feel hopeful for the future.

What lovely people you all are.

Comment to be part of this new town square, or as I like to think of it, our tearoom. And add me, I'm going to be brewing lots of tea.

Wired article that talks about the importance of the Fediverse

@ditol that’s how federation works. What you’re seeing is a small slice of the full amount it was shared. The amount you see depends on how much of @cloudguy network you can see on *your* server.

Also, you sound like a bit of a dick in your comment. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, but… 🤷‍♂️

@kev
Yes, as I've replied above, I've had the impression of not seeing all reactions to toots on mastodon, but it is shocking how little one actually gets displayed. I hope this issue gets fixed at some moment since it really makes mastodon dysfunctional as a social media imho. After all you might get lots of identical replies without people realising they are spamming you and their point has already been addressed. (sorry for the copy&paste)
@kev
Actually, it's kind of ironic. Mastodon has been discussed a lot as an alternative to the intransparent algorithms curating what users get to see on cetralised proprietary networks. Instead we end up having our timelines and interactions curated by some intransparent bugs/features of the federation concept or its implementation.
This entry was edited (6 days ago)
@kev
As to sounding like a dick: I have the imression you can only sound like a super duper nice guy (or girl) or kind of like a dick on the internet, there doesn't seem to be anything in between.
Anyway, sorry for not hitting the right tone.

@ditol yeah, I suppose so. I sound like (and am) a dick all the time! This interaction is clearly proof of that. I’m sorry for calling you a dick, that was unfair of me.

Sincerely,

The only dick in this thread.

@cloudguy


Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


The Free Software Foundation Europe set up a website to help move governments from proprietary social media to the #fediverse.

Excellent idea!

https://fedigov.eu

reshared this


Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


Ignore the smoke and mirrors, the makeup, the flashbulbs, the three-hour hair stylings, orange spray-tans, and PhotoShopped images.
This is what Donald Trump really looks like.
A tired, defeated, 300-pound, wrinkled, bald old man with major health issues.
This is what his base wants to vote for.
This is the cult mentality.
#DumpTrump
#NeverAgain
#RidinWithBiden
How Donald Trump really looks--ancient, wrinkled, confused, haggard, and stupid

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


Inside #ShadowDragon, The Tool That Lets ICE Monitor Pregnancy Tracking Sites and Fortnite Players

What a piece by @404mediaco

ShadowDragon: Feeding the mass surveillance machine by tracking people who play Fortnite (and probably, I guess, other popular online games), scraping images from BabyCenter (a site for expectant parents), and social media sites for the Black community, the bodybuilding community, and others.

ShadowDragon also has the capability to monitor/scrape information from hundreds of social media sites/games/websites. Who plays a game and expects to end up in an ICE database?

This is insane.

You are being watched.

#privacy #privacymatters #opsec

https://www.404media.co/inside-shadowdragon-ice-babycenter-pregnancy-fortnite-black-planet/


Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


Do They Own You? | Daily Stoic


Content warning: To the Stoics, there wasn’t anything wrong with having money. Marcus Aurelius came from money. So did Cato. Seneca came from money and also made a lot of it. In fact, pretty much all the Stoics except for Cleanthes and Epictetus were incredibly rich.... #

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


An FBI agent released info describing Ukrainian oligarch Pavel Fuks as a Russian Intel asset who once paid Giuliani $300K

New reporting shows Fuks is linked to shell company owners of two units in Trump Tower NYC

My latest:

#PavelFuks #PavelFuchs #Oligarch #Ukraine #Trump #TrumpTower #RealEstate

https://newstracs.com/ukrainian-oligarch-pavel-fuks-has-newly-reported-ties-to-trump-tower-in-nyc/2023/09/18/

reshared this


Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


Just a little notice for pro-gun US politicians!

Here in Europe we play the same games, watch the same movies and read the same books and browse the same internet but we do not have daily mass shootings

"Daily deaths by gun" is not something normal and should not be accepted

Please stop finding excuses and start protecting your people

it's the same here in Canada as in Europe in this regard.
by possibly amending an amendment. 😳

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


Automaker CEO Elon Musk Strips UAW Twitter Verification as Union Strikes Against Big Three >>> https://theintercept.com/2023/09/15/uaw-strike-twitter-verification-elon-musk/

Elon Musk Blame's X's Failing on Jews - Threatens to Sue the ADL >>> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/sep/05/elon-musk-sue-adl-x-twitter

Journalists: "Water's just fine..."

#Musk #Twitter #journalists #frogs

Illustration of frogs in boiling water.
This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)

reshared this


Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


By prioritizing workers and the middle class, Biden has created the best economy in decades—for everyone. “Inflation is low, unemployment is low and there’s virtually no hint of a recession. But many Americans, according to surveys, are convinced the economy is terrible.”

How do journalists explain this paradox? Either it’s an unfathomable mystery, or it’s Biden’s poor messaging.

The obvious explanation—that journalists are failing at THEIR job—escapes them.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/15/trump-biden-mainstream-politics-news-coverage

Could it be that these metrics are insufficient or inaccurate indicators of the deep structural problems facing American capitalism that are driving intense anxiety and precarity for most Americans?
If someone comes along and says “good news, unemployment is low and we’re not facing a recession” to someone working three precarious gig jobs just to stay alive while their kids sink back into poverty and they’re unsure how to afford their student loan payments, those metrics might not seem super relevant.

Ah, but the journalists are working for their bosses, and so on, till you come to the media owners, which tend to be rich people, statistically, more GOP leaning.

And generally, bad news sells more copy than good news.


Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


“Meet the Press” booking Trump for first show with new host is how FASCISM is normalized. My new article on why this is so dangerous: https://deanobeidallah.substack.com/p/meet-the-press-booking-trump-for

Reuben Walker Jr. reshared this.


With the new #COVID vaccine approved, a reminder that we’re all indebted to the ancient & wondrous horseshoe crab.

Their blue blood contains Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) which clumps at contact with bacterial toxins. They are caught for their blood to test sterility of medical equipment & injections.

Unfortunately the harvest is unsustainable & populations are in decline. An effective synthetic substitute has been around for 2 decades & we just need the biomedical industry to switch.

Horseshoe crabs harvested for the biomedical industry  Credit: Mark Thiessen