OK, clear. I'm a newbie and do enjoy people talking about it.
Is there a lack of quality, because can't see why people talking about this on social media would be considered a bad thing.
The scam-heavy crytpocurrency industry, flush with money from the latest inflated bubble, is pouring vast sums into American elections. Their goal is to to be an unregulated "market" or an industry that is regulated only in ways they like.
Our economy is risky enough now, but this would push it closer to the edge.
As more States attempt to enact mask bans - we need to take a critical look at what these bans mean for disabled people, marginalized individuals, POC and more. They will have devastating consequences for many & send a dangerous message that the pandemic is over (it’s not).
Dr Jessica Offir has written an incredible essay that does a deep dive into this issue. It’s a comprehensive analysis of how we got here - and I hope everyone reads & shares. Here’s just a few important snippets.
“bans, themselves, are not a victimless crime. Framing mask wearers as criminals cannot but cause more harassment and less access to public spaces than is already occurring, among people who were often already stigmatized.”
“Masks are indeed a threat cue, an environmental stimulus that tells you something is wrong or off; that you need to be more aware and cautious, rather than just operating on automatic.”
“the thing that masks are cuing is ongoing disease transmission that masks prevent, not criminal activity that masks foster.”
“Mask bans are ableist, racist, and likely unconstitutional. As enforced, they almost surely will violate the Americans with Disabilities Act on a regular basis”
The reality is that Covid is not over. Far from it. Politicians pushing for mask mandates are appeasing their anti-mask base while also driving the dangerous narrative that we’re fully “back to normal”.
They don’t want people in respirators because they remind the public that the threat has not passed. That perhaps they too should be wearing a mask and/or curtailing their activities. Since those of us still masking aren’t giving it up - they’re making it illegal.
They’re pushing us further and further into this world of denial - a world where getting sick all the time is the norm and where wanting to safeguard your health is “living in fear”. Those of us advocating against these bans know that version of “normal” will cost lives.
We understand it’s all a mirage - and that no amount of mask banning, data manipulation & outright denial will change the reality that Covid is still here, still killing & disabling and we CAN do more to protect people. We know better - let’s do better.
@dajb excitedly following the #OpenBadges project! We’re working on something that’s very aligned. Give us a few more weeks and I think it’ll become increasingly self-explanatory.
I’m a fan of open source, free software, whatever you want to call it. I have contributed to a GNU project and will do again when my workload reduces. I put my own stuff out there open licensed. I know a thing or two about this stuff.
So try to take it in when I tell you that the software freedom world has a big fucking problem, and that problem is cultural.
Great heaping swaths of the software libré world are culturally dominated by some of the most radioactively toxic people in tech. Not just nonce defenders like Stallman or WASPy racists like Raymond, but Silicon Valley techbros, libertarian whack jobs, and out and out fascists.
What is the fucking point of FLOSS if not to make the world better, more equitable, to use technology and our skill with it to lift people up? Are we really just in this to provide a commons for robber barons and the genocide brigade to pillage?
Each and every shitty person and their enablers must be purged from any space we, the decent people, control. If a fascist submits a pull request, it’s rejected unexamined. If you moderate a Discord chat and you see someone you know is harassing trans people outside of that chat, ban them for life.
The Kasperski ban should make everyone reconsider closed-source software. If Russia can threaten cybersecurity through anti-virus software, who says the US can't do so through Microsoft and Apple? Open-Source is the only way to control your data. #opensource#digitalsouvereignity