December 3, 2024

Stuttering Lede, Dec. 3rd, 2024

The Holidays Seasons is Upon Us

“So corrupted indeed & debased was that age by sycophancy that…a host of inferior senators would…propose shameful & preposterous motions. Tradition says that Tiberius as often as he left the Senate-House used to exclaim in Greek ‘How ready these men are to be slaves’.” Tacitus, Annals

Resistance Frequencies

Complete “living breathing document” to help us all.

This week’s updates:

• Self-care strategies for trans folks ahead of January 20.

• The “unroll" and "thread reader" apps are content theft. “The thing that separates a useful tool from an abuse of data is, and always remains, CONSENT. Does the tool take someone's work and put it outside their control? If it does, it's theft, and you should not do it to someone who has not indicated they don't consider that use theft.”

• Adopt a new policy of not arguing with people in comments in order to really improved the ol’ social media experience.

• Here’s a starter pack of organizations that are fighting for working people. Please follow Get Organized.

In the News

US

• I’ve said this from day one: “…despite all of this, race and gender have figured almost nowhere in the major stories in national news outlets where the outcome of the election has been dissected.”

• A long deep dive piece into the reasons beyond the punditry and headlines as to why Harris and Democrats as a whole failed in 2024. Elad Nehorai firmly believes this is about far more existential, psychological, and structural reasons than it has been depicted as.

• For five years, Michael Harriot have been covering what is unquestionably the biggest criminal justice scandal in American history. Today it ended when the most corrupt cop in history took his life. The degree of dehumanization of women and Black people is beyond horrifying. This should also be on every front page.

• The connection between Trump’s own crimes and the ones he’s pardoned.

• Trump-proofing Cali.

• Pete Hegseth and the network of Christian nationalist organizations he promotes on his Instagram feed.

• Trump’s health nominees want Covid vindication. Here’s how their critique has aged.

• New Missouri pre-filed bill would revoke the driver's licenses of trans people who have had their gender markers changed.

• Noah Berlatsky on Kash Patel, and how the FBI is a terrifying tool in the hands of fascists and authoritarians. (see Hoover, J. Edgar.)

• Inside the influential white-supremacist conference that calls Tennessee 'home away from home' | Instead of white robes and masks, conference attendees come dressed in suits and ties.

• Inside Ziklag, the Secret Organization of Wealthy Christians Trying to Sway the Election and Change the Country.

Europe

• Meet 'decolonization' expert Nomma Zarubina, codename "Alyssa."

• AI-Enabled HX-2 Kamikaze Drones Now In Production For Ukraine. The German HX-2 will give Ukraine a new way to strike targets at stand-off ranges, but also reflects trends beyond that conflict.

• Everything you need to know about the French political crisis.

• Russian imperial dreams are no longer hidden:

• Georgian police fire teargas at pro-EU protesters as political crisis deepens.

• Georgian protests are looking more and more like Euromaidan. It’s atrocious that in the US you don’t have this video on every front page and top story newcast.

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• It can be done: 'Perhaps the biggest sign that Finland is winning the war on fake news is the fact that other countries are seeking to copy its blueprint. Representatives from a slew of EU states, along with Singapore, have come to learn from Finland’s approach to the problem.'

Middle East

• Ross Glick and Ronn Torossian's Betar USA are attempting to identify pro-Palestine college campus protesters using facial recognition in order to "hand over the info" to Trump so he can deport them in January, Times of Israel reports.

• Rejoicing at Lebanon ceasefire, Gazans ask: ‘When will our turn come?’

• Even if people don’t like HTS, they do support the offensive. That’s because they wish to return to their homes from which Assad and his allies expelled them.

World

• If you are looking for sources on Korea, here’s a good starting place.

• President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea declares martial law, says opposition impeachment attempts and budget cuts have paralyzed the government.

• South Korea's parliament voted unanimously to request lifting of martial law, with the national assembly speaker vowing to protect democracy.

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• South Korean military says martial law will remain in place despite parliament’s vote to reject it.

Women Rights

• The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will allow most elements of Idaho's ban on abortion "trafficking," which prohibits people from helping minors travel to get abortions, to be enforced.

• France has just had a review of healthcare for young trans people and it has come out entirely the opposite to Cass. But then again the personnel involved had not been specifically selected to arrive at a politically-required outcome.

Climate Change

• Collapse of Earth's global water circulation system is already happening.

Education

• New data shows enrollment among 18-year-old freshmen dropped this year. Some higher ed experts say last year’s botched FAFSA rollout is at least partly to blame.

Tech

• Sam Biddle asked more than three dozen tech companies that sell, possess, or help analyze personal data whether they would help facilitate Trump's promised mass deportation operations—Only six responded, and only one said no.

• European Federation osn Journalist will no longer post content on Twitter. The organisation stated that it can “no longer ethically participate in a social network that its owner has transformed into a machine of disinformation and propaganda”.

• I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked! The lede: "Elon Musk's "fully autonomous" cars will, like other robotaxi vehicles, rely on remote human pilots."

Misc

• New research suggests that Venus has always been a hell world.

• “If you’re worried about a primordial black hole passing through you, don’t be. The study concluded it would not be fatal.”

• Lego introduces characters wearing hidden disability sunflower lanyard.

• More on H. juluensis, purported archaic hominin in East Asia. Similar morpho to Denisovans FTA: “Splitting "archaic Homo" in this area into at least four species — H. floresiensis, H. luzonensis, H. longi and the newly named H. juluensis”

• A coda to that wrenching Esquire story written by a homeless journalist.

• Why are planes so jammed? Airlines want it that way so they can charge more.

Humor