Friday, July 31, 2020
The Poison of Male Incivility - When a woman dares respond to it, she’s seen as 'disruptive.'
"[P]atriarchal power abuse remains so expected as to not be notable as a violation of norms or civility, as disruptive or chaotic. Instead, it simply coexists with the authority, the command, the humanity of white men — it’s just part of what their power looks like."
US sheriffs rebel against state mask orders even as Covid-19 spreads
"With its origins in ideas of “county supremacy” first pushed by far-right groups opposed to desegregation, the idea that county sheriffs have a “legal and ethical duty to refuse to enforce state and federal policies and laws they believe to be unconstitutional” has become the basis of a nationwide network, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) headed by Richard Mack."
"As a cop, I killed someone. Then I found out it happens more often than we know"
"As I investigated burglaries, robberies and homicides, interviewing thousands of suspects over the years, it became clear that a myriad of social forces drove people to behave the way they did. The man I’d killed wasn’t completely autonomous but also a product of an environment we’d all contributed in creating."
Vallejo police chief investigates claims officers bent badges to mark on-duty killings
"This week, the news site Open Vallejo reported that John Whitney, a former Vallejo police captain, accused the department of firing him in August for flagging misconduct that included concerns that some officers bent their badges in a ritual to mark fatal shootings."
Hackers Broke Into Real News Sites to Plant Fake Stories
"Given the GRU's role in meddling in the 2016 presidential election, including its hack-and-leak operations against the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton Campaign, any GRU role in more recent disinformation raises fears that it may be targeting the 2020 election as well. "
Thursday, July 30, 2020
How Apple uses anti-competitive practices to extort developers and support authoritarian regimes
"Apple helps propagate authoritarian laws globally."
“The march is not over”: Read Barack Obama’s eulogy for John Lewis
"And I told him all those young people, John, of every race and every religion from every background and gender and sexual orientation, John, those are your children. They learned from your example. Even if they didn’t always know it. They had understood through him what American citizenship requires, even if they’d only heard about his courage through the history books. By the thousands, faceless, anonymous young people have taken our nation back to those great wells of democracy dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence."
Stop Saying Facebook Is ‘Too Big to Moderate’
"Enforcing the rules can be done; it just costs money. Not enforcing the rules has costs, too. They just end up on society’s balance sheet, not Facebook’s."
#dezuckyourlife
Does suppressing online conspiracy theorists work? Experts weigh in
"[R]epetition comes to substitute validation. If enough people like the tweet, or watch the video, or like the video on YouTube, it confers a kind of legitimacy..."
California landlords are locking out struggling tenants. A 'tsunami of evictions' may be next
"The state [is] headed towards even more dire conditions than the shanty towns or 'Hoovervilles' of the 1930s."
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
The $600 unemployment bonuses did not lead to people working less, Yale study shows
"The studies' results directly challenge a claim frequently made by Republican lawmakers and members of the Trump administration that the extra unemployment payments decreased people's desire to reenter the workforce."
Until Black Women Are Free, None of Us Will Be Free
“If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.”
White Supremacy Is Institutionalized in America
"What if we launched an initiative on the scale of the Marshall Plan or the space race to eradicate white supremacy? What if it were led by experts with the most detailed knowledge of how white supremacy, in tandem with racial capitalism, operates — that is, poor and working-class people of color? What if these experts partnered with researchers, advocates, and practitioners to provide exhaustive documentation, analysis, and comprehensive recommendations for ending the scourge of white supremacy once and for all?"
Follow the Money: How Digital Ads Subsidize the Worst of the Web
"[T]he content that tends to receive the most velocity and reach by Facebook’s algorithms often swims in the same pool with disinformation and hate.”
#dezuckyourlife
‘Big companies aren’t bad’: Zuckerberg and other tech CEOs to testify in historic antitrust hearing
“Companies aren’t bad just because they are big.”
True, but when companies of this size are bad, they're bad in a BIG way. Hence, the enhanced scrutiny.
'Spectacular': Trump praises doctor who dismissed face masks after viral video
“There’s no new tone – this is who Trump is and always will be: a conspiracy theorist content to gamble with the lives of others."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/28/trump-covid-19-briefing-hydroxychloroquine-video?utm_term=a71b0188007215caf90b1eb5168c1412&utm_campaign=USMorningBriefing&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=usbriefing_email
Marti Noxon: How the TV Industry Can Better Protect Writers From the Next Toxic Showrunner (Guest Column)
"It's the rare industry that has such low accountability it attracts people who either can't or willfully refuse to work in environments that require it. It's a feature, not a bug."
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Revealed: oil giants help fund powerful police groups in top US cities
"The investigation by the Public Accountability Initiative, a nonprofit corporate and government accountability research institute, and its research database project LittleSis, details how police foundations in cities such as Seattle, Chicago, Washington, New Orleans and Salt Lake City are partially funded by household names such as Chevron, Shell and Wells Fargo."
Monday, July 27, 2020
Sunday, July 26, 2020
TRUMP RULE CHANGE WILL LIKELY DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD TO 401(K)S, STUDY SHOWS
“We’ve been writing about the fact that these private equity firms that pension funds are investing in have performed poorly for a long time.The reason why pension fund trustees don’t listen is because the top quartile funds do beat the market. They think they’re all in top quartile funds, but they’re not. The returns do not outperform a stock market fund which has much less risk. So why are you paying this?”
AN AIR FORCE SPECIAL OPERATIONS SURVEILLANCE PLANE IS LURKING NEAR PORTLAND DURING FEDERAL CRACKDOWN
“More than an IG investigation, it’s time now for the Senate Armed Services Committee to show strength & apply scrutiny. Hold hearings & investigate Trump’s misuse of military against Americans.”
Black armed protesters march in Kentucky demanding justice for Breonna Taylor
"The Black militia dubbed NFAC want justice for [Breonna]Taylor."
Saturday, July 25, 2020
AOC represents the future of America: women who refuse to be silenced
"In just under 10 minutes, the New York congresswoman made Yoho look like the yahoo he is, and delivered a searing indictment of structural sexism."
Friday, July 24, 2020
'The Rental' Offers Dan Stevens, Alison Brie, Sheila Vand, And A Fresh Vision Of Horror
"The Rental gave me nightmares, not only because of what it chooses to show but also for what it leaves unseen."
Trump is using federal agents as his 'goon squad', says Ice's ex-acting head
"John Sandweg, the former acting director of Ice, who also served as general counsel for the DHS, said Donald Trump was using the agency as his own 'goon squad' by sending federal law enforcement agents to Oregon’s biggest city and vowing to send more to other cities around the country, including Chicago and Albuquerque."
DEVOS SUED BY PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENTS, NAACP, AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO BLOCK ILLEGAL RULE THAT DIVERTS CRITICAL COVID-19 AID FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS
"DeVos’ rule forces school districts to comply with one of two illegal options, either: (1) allocate CARES Act funds for private schools based on all students enrolled in private school, which includes students from affluent families, or (2) allocate these funds based on the number of low-income students at private schools, but face severe restrictions on how the rest of the district’s CARES Act funds can be used, including a prohibition on their use to serve any students who do not attend Title I schools. "
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Dave Franco's directing debut The Rental offers short, sharp house horror
"...a neat, nasty little thriller with a brutally effective final third."
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
HOMELAND SECURITY WORRIES COVID-19 MASKS ARE BREAKING FACIAL RECOGNITION, LEAKED DOCUMENT SHOWS
"The Minnesota Fusion Center, a post-9/11 intelligence agency that is part of a controversial national network, distributed the notice on May 26, as protests were forming over the killing of George Floyd."
Never-Before-Seen Trump Tax Documents Show Major Inconsistencies
"The discrepancies are 'versions of fraud,' said Nancy Wallace, a professor of finance and real estate at the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley. 'This kind of stuff is not OK.'"
TRUMP'S SECRET POLICE: COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU
"[Trump is] effectively constructing a national police force, and wielding it as a political tool."
Try my new cocktail recipe, the Guillotini
"He was already by far the world’s richest person, but Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has set a fresh record increasing his fortune by an additional $13bn (£10bn) in a single day to take his personal wealth to an unprecedented $189bn."
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jul/21/jeff-bezos-the-worlds-richest-man-added-10bn-to-his-fortune-in-just-one-day?utm_term=fbe7394a99135555758a886afa78e36c&utm_campaign=USMorningBriefing&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=usbriefing_email
Feds assemble ‘Operation Diligent Valor’ force to battle Portland unrest
"The team of camouflage-clad federal agents who have prompted alarm and criticism by snatching individuals from the streets of Portland appears to be a “'apid Deployment Force' that is part of the Department of Homeland Security-led operation, based on information the force’s commander submitted Tuesday night in connection with one of several lawsuits challenging those practices."
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Trump once flirted with white nationalism. Now it’s a centerpiece of his White House.
"As president, Trump energizes white nationalists on two levels: with his rhetoric and through his staffing and policy choices. In turn, many have given him their support. In doing so, Trump has given an overt platform to white nationalists in a way that is unprecedented in the modern political era."
https://www.vox.com/21313021/trump-white-nationalism-supremacy-miller-bannon-immigration
‘The Rental’ Review: Dave Franco Directs a Lean and Brutal ‘Psycho’ for the Airbnb Era
"A nasty slow-burn of a slasher movie that aspires to do for Airbnbs what 'Psycho' did for motels, Dave Franco’s 'The Rental' serves up a thin slice of millennial folk horror that renders the modern anxieties of the gig economy with the grindhouse sadism they demand."
Monday, July 20, 2020
The Fair Labor Standards Act: What to Know and Why the U.S. Needs New Labor Laws
"We may not abolish work itself anytime soon, but it’s definitely time to tear down our oppressive workplace structures, kill the capitalists in our heads, and build something healthier and more equitable for everyone, no matter their age or ability."
How the Electoral College Is Tied to Slavery and the Three-Fifths Compromise
"The idea of a simple popular-vote election struck fear in delegates from slaveholding states because while their states boasted large populations, much of the populace was comprised of enslaved black people who could not vote. By contrast, northern states had smaller populations with a greater number of eligible voters (read: white, male, and generally property-owning)."
The Far-Right Revolution Was Waiting for an Opportunity. Now, It’s Here.
"If you peer into the shadows, you can already see the contours of a threat that will be with us for years to come. In early May, a group of men, described by prosecutors as having 'U.S. military experience,' were arrested and charged with trying to spark violence as part of a broader plot to cause the collapse of the federal government and trigger a civil war. A number of shootings and car-ramming attacks carried out during the recent protests should signal that there are people ready for their most extreme beliefs to reach praxis."
"I was forced to drive across the country during a pandemic just to get health care."
"Why is my life not important enough to the governor and the other men making these decisions?"
First Cow Makes the AV Club's List of the Best Films of 2020 So Far
https://film.avclub.com/the-best-films-of-2020-so-far-1844270556
Trump bids to stop billions in track-and-trace funds as virus cases spike
The White House is trying to kill us:
"The White House is also trying to block $10bn for the nation’s top public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and $15bn for the top medical research agency, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as money for state and Pentagon anti-Covid efforts abroad."
"The White House is also trying to block $10bn for the nation’s top public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and $15bn for the top medical research agency, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as money for state and Pentagon anti-Covid efforts abroad."
Watching Trump's paramilitary squads descend on Portland, it's hard not to feel doomed
"Government-funded thugs, assaulting citizens, still conjure up repellent images of Hitler’s Brownshirts stomping their fellow Germans, and the street kidnapping of civilians has been the hallmark of authoritarian dictatorships. That was how you wound up in one of Stalin’s labor gulags, in the helicopter from which the Argentinian junta dropped its critics into the sea, or in a CIA black site. In a headline, an Esquire article on the Portland attacks used Pinochet (the tyrant who orchestrated the disappearance of thousands of Chileans during his 17-year regime) as a verb: 'A Major American City is Being Softly Pinochet’d in Broad Daylight.'"
DHS Authorizes Domestic Surveillance to Protect Statues and Monuments
"[T]he animating premise of the memo is that the threat to monuments and statues is a homeland security threat warranting intelligence analysis and collection by federal officials."
The Rental Has Ruined AirBnb Forever: Review
"[D]on’t be surprised if this kicks off a franchise of sorts; it has that staying power. For now, though, we can take solace in knowing the slasher genre endures … and that none of us have any reason to travel."
'The Rental': Film Review via Hollywood Reporter
"[A] confident, enjoyably nasty piece of work, unnerving enough to cure your FOMO about that canceled summer vacation."
Sunday, July 19, 2020
THE MICROSOFT POLICE STATE: MASS SURVEILLANCE, FACIAL RECOGNITION, AND THE AZURE CLOUD
It looks like you're trying to profit from the oppression of minorites; do you want help with that?
"Microsoft and its advocates may claim that it is a “neutral” cloud provider and it’s up to other companies and police departments to decide how they use Microsoft software. Yet these companies are partnering with Microsoft, and Microsoft is getting paid to run their mass surveillance and facial recognition services on the Azure cloud — services that disproportionately affect people of color."
"Microsoft and its advocates may claim that it is a “neutral” cloud provider and it’s up to other companies and police departments to decide how they use Microsoft software. Yet these companies are partnering with Microsoft, and Microsoft is getting paid to run their mass surveillance and facial recognition services on the Azure cloud — services that disproportionately affect people of color."
BANKS STAND TO MAKE $18 BILLION IN PPP PROCESSING FEES FROM CARES ACT
"Instead of using such a privatized system, governments of other European countries have just directly paid companies for their payroll costs to keep them from firing employees. The approach dampened skyrocketing unemployment numbers in the beginning of the crisis. In Denmark, businesses simply applied for money directly from the government’s Danish Business Authority. 'They had the capacity to just, in-house, accept all the applications … and get money to small businesses in a time-effective way,' Fischer noted. 'The SBA could never do that.' But if the SBA had already been well-funded and organized, and if it had relationships with the Internal Revenue Service or payroll processing companies, it could have played a similar role."
This is yet another entry in the very long list as to why we can't have nice things.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ’S CAMPAIGN WORKERS JUST RATIFIED A UNION CONTRACT
"Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign staff have just reached a deal to unionize with the Campaign Workers Guild, ratifying a two-year contract that includes overtime pay above 40 hours per week (which is virtually unheard of on campaigns), unlimited sick leave, and language protecting immigrant and transgender workers."
I hope she's on the presidential ticket in 2024, at least for VP.
Don't Talk About Covid-19’s ‘Waves’—This Isn’t the Spanish Flu
"Then there are other countries, like the US, that have never been in control. Speaking about waves in this context is currently nonsensical— infection rates need to go way down before they can rise again in a second wave. 'In the United States we are not seeing anything that I would consider to be a second wave,' says Loren Lipworth-Elliot, an epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. 'We are definitely in the first wave, if you want to call it a wave—it’s just a long, lingering epidemic.'"
Will Zuckerberg dump Trump, or continue to serve him?
"Trump and Zuckerberg are truly made for each other. Only Trump could say there are 'very fine people on both sides' of a racist hate rally. And only Zuckerberg could say that there are two legitimate sides to calculated and manipulative lies, racially targeted voter suppression, and calls for violence against Black people. Whatever keeps you in power."
#dezuckyourlife
"I Opted Out of Facial Recognition at the Airport—It Wasn't Easy"
"Congress needs to supplement pressure from travelers with strong data protection laws that provide greater transparency and oversight. This should include strict limits on how long companies and government agencies can retain such intimate data. Private companies should not be allowed to utilize data collected for business purposes, and federal agencies should not be able to freely share this data with other parts of government. Policymakers should also ensure that biometric programs undergo thorough and transparent civil rights assessments prior to implementation."
https://bit.ly/39cciym
This Algorithm Doesn't Replace Doctors—It Makes Them Better
“This is not about who does the work, human or machine...The question is how do you successfully use the best of both worlds to get the best outcomes.”
LEAKED DOCUMENTS SHOW POLICE KNEW FAR-RIGHT EXTREMISTS WERE THE REAL THREAT AT PROTESTS, NOT “ANTIFA”
"[T]he impulse to paint both sides of the political spectrum with the same brush, despite the fact that only the far right is actively killing people, is among the most dangerous features of modern American law enforcement."
Political Correctness Is Destroying America! (Just Not How You Think.)
"...[T]he vast, vast majority of political correctness in America is conservative. Conservative PC is so powerful in the U.S. that much of it is adopted by both political parties and all of the corporate media. Indeed, right-wing political correctness is so dominant that it’s politically incorrect to refer to it as political correctness. Instead, we call it things like 'patriotism,' or simply don’t notice its existence."
MASKS OFF: HOW THE BROTHERS WHO FUELED THE REOPEN PROTESTS BUILT A VOLATILE FAR-RIGHT NETWORK
"...[T]he brothers started gun rights and anti-abortion groups in multiple states, registering them as nonprofits and then paying out some of the money that they raise from donations to a for-profit direct mail company that they themselves control."
The Dorrs are like the Okie version of the Kochs.
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
‘First Cow’: Gentle Moments Shouldn’t Overshadow Kelly Reichardt’s Enraged Tragedy Of American Greed
"Cookie’s worth is indelibly tied to how much he can provide for others. He is not a person, but a product."
https://theplaylist.net/first-cow-gentle-american-greed-20200715/
https://theplaylist.net/first-cow-gentle-american-greed-20200715/
Rent Is Unaffordable In Every Single State In America
"What the report shows us is just how steep of an affordable challenge low-income renters had even before the coronavirus."
How Afrofuturism Can Help the World Mend
"[T]echnology is often weaponized at the expense of the disenfranchised. But Afrofuturism reminds us that Black culture in much of the world is a remix culture, and liberation emerges from the recombination between our artistic and political ambitions, and whatever tools are at our disposal."
Mozilla launches a standalone VPN service for Android and Chromebook
"Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox browser, has announced that it’s bringing a private VPN to Android, Chromebook, and Windows as a standalone service."
Domestic terror in the age of Trump
"A new database of domestic terror incidents shows attacks by far-right extremists have become far more lethal since Donald Trump became president."
Apple Does Not Owe Ireland Nearly $15 Billion In Back Taxes, Court Rules
Somewhere, a room full of executives is dabbing its collective brow with hundos:
Walmart to Require Masks in Stores
Waiting for the deluge of phone can meltdowns on YouTube about this:
https://nyti.ms/30jGJiq
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME NOW
“What you would hear from the community is, ‘I can’t get tested, because if I’m positive, I have to work. This is the only way to feed my family’.”
#UBI now.
Planned Parenthood: It’s time to get behind single-payer
"Groups like Planned Parenthood, that speak on behalf of underserved patients, have an important role to play here. We’re not going to win single-payer without abortion, and we won’t ensure everyone reproductive justice without single-payer — so to bring about the world we’re all fighting for, an alliance between our movements is essential."
Don't let the door handle hit you in the back of the head on the way out.
I hear there's an opening at Keebler, but someone will have to explain to him what "shortbread" actually is:
Sessions Pays the Price for Incurring Trump’s Wrath, Losing Alabama Senate Race https://nyti.ms/2OmYtni
Support the National Network of Abortion Funds
"We envision a world where every reproductive decision, including abortion, takes place in thriving communities that are safe, peaceful, and affordable. We envision a world where all people have the power and resources to care for and affirm their bodies, identities, and health for themselves and their families—in all areas of their lives. As we shift the conversation about abortion, it will become a real option, accessible without shame or judgment."
Over 15 billion credentials in circulation on hacker forums
"Protecting against ATO attacks is an easy task for normal users, who can pick strong, unique passwords and enable two–factor authentication (2FA) on services that support it. This does not eliminate the risk completely but makes it infeasible to attackers as the reward is not worth the resources.
Companies, on the other hand, have a more difficult task as there are multiple aspects to consider. 2FA may not be sufficient when the threat is a motivated actor, so multi-factor authentication (MFA) should be implemented."
Companies, on the other hand, have a more difficult task as there are multiple aspects to consider. 2FA may not be sufficient when the threat is a motivated actor, so multi-factor authentication (MFA) should be implemented."
You Don't Need Single-Use Plastic Bags. You Need a Mask
"'The problem is that capitalism relies on profit, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to profit from the recycling business. And the planet is suffering mightily for it. 'Recycling, frankly, ought to be a government function,' Szaky continues, 'like health care ought to be, or education ought to be, where it's done because it’s the right thing to do. But recycling is a completely private enterprise, which means it's going to function only on business equations.'"
'A slap in the face': how racial bias dogs US coronavirus response at every level
"Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released after the New York Times sued the agency, confirmed what many had already known: of the nearly 1.5 million coronavirus patients in America thus far, Black people and Latino communities are disproportionately at risk of contracting and dying from the coronavirus."
Sunday, July 12, 2020
They worked in sweltering heat for Exxon, Shell and Walmart. They didn’t get paid a dime
"A nationally renowned drug rehab program in Texas and Louisiana has sent patients struggling with addiction to work for free for some of the biggest companies in America, likely in violation of federal labor law."
'His hatred is infectious': Tucker Carlson, Trump's heir apparent and 2024 candidate?
In case you feel like getting even less sleep...
Saturday, July 11, 2020
Trump Wears Mask In Public For the First Time.
July 11. Current deaths: 560,000.
Twitter Gave Free Rein for Jack Posobiec To Publish Antisemitic Hate and Disinformation
"....Twitter’s response appears to suggest a misunderstanding of how Posobiec has weaponized their platform, publishing hateful or deceptive material, allowing it to spread and then removing it to avoid facing repercussions. "
'Too big to fail': why even a historic ad boycott won’t change Facebook
You're the product. The only way to hurt them is to leave.
They can't sell advertising if there's no one to advertise to.
#dezuckyourlife
Do not vote for Kanye, even in jest. This is fucking serious.
Were I a conspiracist, I'd say that someone with Koch-level funds offered to pay his $53 million debt, in exchange for disrupting the election.
POLICE SURVEILLED GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS WITH HELP FROM TWITTER-AFFILIATED STARTUP DATAMINR
"First Alert also scans other popular platforms like Snapchat and Facebook, the latter being particularly useful for protest organizers trying to rapidly mobilize their communities. On at least one occasion, according to MPD records, Dataminr was able to point police to a protest’s Facebook event page before it had begun."
Friday, July 10, 2020
An Audit Slams Facebook as a Home for Misinformation and Hate
"Most notable were recent decisions not to remove posts including comments by President Trump about shooting looters or falsehoods about mail-in ballots. Those decisions 'exposed a major hole in Facebook’s understanding and application of civil rights,' the report reads. Such choices 'leave our election exposed to interference by the president and others who seek to use misinformation to sow confusion and suppress voting.'"
Thursday, July 9, 2020
PURDUE PHARMA MADE POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS AFTER GOING BANKRUPT
Bitter pill:
CARL REINER’S LIFE SHOULD REMIND US: IF YOU LIKE LAUGHING, THANK FDR AND THE NEW DEAL
Pretty much a straight line from the New Deal to modern comedy:
"Oversimplifying a little, Compass begat Second City; Second City begot Saturday Night Live and SCTV. Close (who also directed Second City for a time) begat the Committee in San Francisco, which begat The Groundlings, the Second City of Los Angeles. Close also begat the ImprovOlympic, which begat the Upright Citizens Brigade in Chicago and then in New York."
"Oversimplifying a little, Compass begat Second City; Second City begot Saturday Night Live and SCTV. Close (who also directed Second City for a time) begat the Committee in San Francisco, which begat The Groundlings, the Second City of Los Angeles. Close also begat the ImprovOlympic, which begat the Upright Citizens Brigade in Chicago and then in New York."
Northwest Film Center offers special streaming preview of Oregon-filmed movie, ‘First Cow,’ Thursday
"'First Cow' begins streaming via video on demand on Friday. But beginning at 7 p.m. PT Thursday, July 9, the movie can be rented and streamed early, thanks to a partnership between the film’s distributor, A24 and the Northwest Film Center. Go to the website https://nwfc.pam.org/first-cow/ for information on how to rent the film at a reduced price of $9.99. A pre-taped Q&A with Reichardt is included."
Please support the film and the Northwest Film Center.
https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/2020/07/northwest-film-center-offers-special-streaming-preview-of-oregon-filmed-movie-first-cow-thursday.html
Deepfakes Are Becoming the Hot New Corporate Training Tool
"Synthesia has posted ethics rules online and says that it vets its customers and their scripts. It requires formal consent from a person before it will synthesize their appearance, and won’t touch political content. Rosebud has its own, less detailed, ethics statement pledging to combat negative uses and effects of synthetic images."
In Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, Capitalism Continues to Divide and Conquer
"First Cow is deceptively spare: It’s shot by Christopher Blauvelt in his and Reichardt’s customary boxy ratio, which concentrates the image and keeps your eyes from straying to far-off corners (there aren’t any), while the composer, William Tyler, seems not to be scoring the action so much as gently, sadly musing on it with banjo and harp. (Tyler’s country albums are much more busily orchestrated.) The effect is just so. You’re left sad but happy. But very sad. But happy, after all, when you think about Blake and what a life without friendship could be. This haunting movie transports you to another world — and redefines home."
US anti-abortion groups received millions in federal Covid-19 aid
"The AFA has been described as a hate group by tracking experts at the Southern Poverty Law Center. In the past, AFA has described homosexuality as, 'a poor and dangerous choice' and blamed the Holocaust on gay people."
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
NATIONAL REVIEW IS TRYING TO REWRITE ITS OWN RACIST HISTORY
If Buckley were to befoul Fox News's screens today, its viewers would dismiss him as a silver-tongued elitist:
Covid-19 Is Accelerating Human Transformation—Let’s Not Waste It
"It’s remarkable how fast science can happen when everyone is focused on the same problem...
What we imagine becomes what we build. It’s time to outline possible futures people can rally for rather than fear."
What we imagine becomes what we build. It’s time to outline possible futures people can rally for rather than fear."
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Trans rights have been pitted against feminism but we're not enemies
"Trans is no fleeting and shallow 'identity choice' and no onslaught against women’s rights. It asks us to rethink conventions of sex and gender and to deal generously, not defensively, with change."
Over 5,600 fossil fuel companies have taken at least $3bn in US Covid-19 aid
"Fossil fuel companies are not restricted from taking the forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, designed to be used to keep paying employees and to cover recurring bills during the pandemic. But environmental advocates say that investing billions in an industry that is polluting the planet and causing the climate crisis is short-sighted and a bad use of public money."
'It's hitting their pockets': a lead organizer on the biggest corporate boycott in Facebook's history
"I am optimistic that we have created a new public and cultural narrative around the dangers, and the harm being caused by Facebook, and a leadership that seems unwilling to do things that are responsible."
Monday, July 6, 2020
The New News
First union shoot since lockdown. Besides the foul-smelling fog of my breath, it's serviceable.
Sunday, July 5, 2020
Armed Black protesters march through Confederate memorial park in Georgia
"The group, named the Not F---ing Around Coalition (NFAC), marched through Stone Mountain Park Saturday with many protesters holding rifles, including military-style weapons, and some wearing ammunition belts, Reuters reported."
Saturday, July 4, 2020
Ohio ice cream shop asks customers to stop yelling at teenage employees about mask requirement
"One ice cream shop issued a public plea for customers to treat their young employees with respect despite their disagreement over the mask mandate."
God people are the fucking worst.
What Disbanding the Police Really Meant in Camden, New Jersey
"Another factor often overlooked in the Camden story is the increased reliance on surveillance, including license-plate-reading cameras, aerial surveillance, thermal-imaging equipment, and a city-wide web of CCTV cameras. Brendan McQuade, a professor of criminology at the University of Southern Maine who studied the Camden County Police for his book on police intelligence systems, says Metro has turned to 'soft social' policing and 'mass supervision.'"
How the NYPD Weaponized a Curfew Against Protesters and Residents
"In the span of a week — May 28 through June 4 — the NYPD arrested more than 2,500 people for their involvement in activities related to the protests against police violence, more than any other protest-related multiday arrest total in recent memory. Nearly 1,350 people were issued summonses for curfew violations, a majority of them Black or Hispanic, and contrary to the claims coming out of City Hall, many of those arrests were violent. "
Friday, July 3, 2020
As Domestic Abuse Rises, U.K. Failings Leave Victims in Peril
"At least 26 women and girls have been killed during the coronavirus lockdown, and others were trapped with abusers."
https://nyti.ms/2YTSKeK
Thursday, July 2, 2020
"Or should I say Catherine the So-So..."
"If you missed it the first time around, Clone High was one of the most underappreciated animated shows (or any type of show, really) of the early 2000s and only ran for 13 episodes on MTV. "
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS WAIVING THE PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO AFFORDABLE CORONAVIRUS TREATMENTS
"Bipartisan legislation that would address the crisis has stalled in the Senate because Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has received more than $1.6 million in contributions from pharmaceutical and health products companies, has refused to bring the bill to vote."
Chechnya Is Trying to Exterminate Gay People. Our Silence Only Emboldens Vladimir Putin and Ramzan Kadyrov.
"'Never again' has (rightly) become the global mantra, in reference to the Holocaust. But, with regard to gay people, it is happening again. Right now. In Chechnya."
Why did it take so long for Reddit and Facebook to block racist groups?
"We shouldn’t celebrate this moment. Let’s mark it, instead, as a potential turning point in the history of Silicon Valley and its relationship with movements for global social justice, and try to understand its limitations. We still don’t know to what extent these recent moves to de-platform extremism will make a difference over time."
How we can truly repay our frontline health workers: clear their debts
"Part of what makes this debt load immoral is the contrast with the lives of the richest. Many large, publicly traded companies have received PPP funds without any struggle. America’s 600 or so billionaires have seen their fortunes explode during the coronavirus. Some rich Americans are part of the only class of debtor that has been granted government relief, the corporate debtors who receive generous reprieves with few conditions attached."
The 👁👄👁 Debacle Sums Up Tech’s Race Issues
"The stunt had taken Silicon Valley’s free-flowing capital and reinvested it in charity. The joke came at the expense of VCs and the tech elite, who had fallen for the trap of chasing the new, shiny thing, and it worked for the benefit of organizations that have long struggled for funding. The “eye mouth eye gang” were Twitter’s woke Robin Hood."
Mysterious Explosion and Fire Damage Iranian Nuclear Enrichment Facility
"Shortly after Mr. Trump pulled the United States out of the deal, the Iranians announced they were speeding forward with assembling centrifuges at Natanz and released photographs of the facility and some of its staff."
This will be the true legacy of the Trump era: not his corrosive effect on the American political landscape, but the decades-long tail of diplomatic rubble he will leave in his wake. Certain individuals knew that Trump would create a smokescreen of outrage and chaos, and they have used that as cover to enact their own agendas while the public is preoccupied.
The more Iran appears to be an imminent threat, the easier it will be to authorize a pre-emptive strike.
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
"He's not hurting the people he needs to be hurting."
“'I voted for him, and he’s the one who’s doing this,' she said of Mr. Trump. 'I thought he was going to do good things. He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.'”
‘It’s Just Too Much’: A Florida Town Grapples With a Shutdown After a Hurricane https://nyti.ms/2H1V3FH
Los Angeles sheriff's department faces a reckoning after another police shooting
"LA sheriff’s deputies have killed more than 330 people since 2000, according to the Youth Justice Coalition LA. In recent years, the LA region has been one of the deadliest in the country for police violence. Between LASD and LAPD – the department that polices the city – officers have on average shot one person every five days."
'The worshipping of whiteness': why racist symbols persist in America
"Much like currency, larger objects and icons have often been resistant to change, despite public repudiation of them; as recently as last year, more than 1,700 publicly sponsored symbols of the Confederacy still appeared everywhere from Maine to Washington state, according to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center."
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