AmberWavesoFlame @AmberWavesofFlame@qoto.org

This, from @jbouie, is exactly right. And what makes it worse is that the cultural values so many of these parents want to force upon schools are in fact bad and immoral and, to the extent they become more widely represented in our society, the lower and more vicious our society becomes. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/opinion/parents-rights-republicans-florida.html?unlocked_article_code=bJ_49bcVvUI_58WtG9TLPyBVR-D4ssqQ9bXTyhHytAtFaYiaj2hATf0GVVZZuhKqZ5P5d6POzOiAhigTPVibOgjMwnW2G4-loBvQh8J7lL8DMd12sDmHNGaAA7l6h7lsH9o-1Dq1xTwHOLyttVEblZAKlhS6AS5er2cBUk5zoZJfRg8KzyrwQiUFK8mmZ-WWdD5eXONkTnPOWn6_km8e0rP8ZF11W4kG7JMAQb1VZgXMrRoI3Jg0IpYbcsZtweZ9GgslP4BD8Ma6eN5xE5cr0JRfEiUXd5zPjh6DCiK80B5MmqPHWwKTicXtszXknKSnIOnYBZ1U8QcdRpOrDDJdIXMqz3D02aHbeV6QGQ&smid=url-share

For the past 6 hours, there’s been 2,000+ Mastodon account creations per hour.

This hasn’t happened since December 2022.

@mmasnick predicted that Elon Musk’s new Twitter Blue policies would result in another Mastodon migration, and it looks like he’s right.

Once Twitter effectively becomes “pay to play”, Mastodon suddenly becomes more appealing.

https://mastodon.social/@mastodonusercount/110102918619817258

@fediversenews

It is no exaggeration, as @mmasnick writes here, that Big Publishing is one huge step closer today to killing libraries it doesn't control -- a longtime goal of a cartel that would never permit public libraries to exist if they were being proposed today.

That's how awful a judge's ruling was in the Internet Archive case.

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/03/27/publishers-get-one-step-closer-to-killing-libraries/

Note: The ruling could also open the floodgates to the Copyright Cartel-led banning of all kinds of things we take for granted today.

Israeli protesters: "We won't be Hungary!"

As @ruitavares points out (on Twitter), pretty impressive how Orbán has turned his country into international shorthand for “regime formerly known as a democracy”.

#Israel #Hungary

I said I'd logged off for the night but I'm logging back on to share the news that in less than 12 hours we hit $100,000 to support the Texas Observer team. Here's an update from @jamescanup (former fundraiser for TXO) on why we are increasing the goal to $200K in the hopes it will convince the board to keep our doors open.

We're so immensely grateful to everyone who has donated or shared already. 🤠https://www.gofundme.com/f/laid-off-texas-observer-journalists-and-staff

Word of the Day: Phytoremediation

This refers to using plants to clean up contaminated environments (eg. oil spills).

I recently came across an interview with Dr Eucharia Nwaichi, a biochemist working with local communities in the Niger Delta region, planting lemongrass & rubber to clean toxins from contaminated soils.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dw6mln

#Phytoremediation #WomenInStem #WomenInScience #Nigeria #Sustainability #Environment #Nature #Plants #Science #Scientists #Pollution #WordOfTheDay

OK, #Fediverse hive-mind. I'm working on #TwitterMigration research on higher reach individuals on Twitter that have already migrated to the Fediverse, and have not left #Twitter... at least not yet.

Am looking for accounts on Twitter that have about 500K followers and higher and are also here.

▶️ Am I missing any accounts?

Boost this around to help share it, want to make this as complete as I can. Thanks

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MdxfIYcO-T6ghtJUXGgvOJ-EmO0eXLWpfNTbSEH50d4/edit?usp=sharing

You know a magazine profile is going to be really on point when the author starts by making fun of the subject's clothes, religion, and the food they eat. Yep I'm being extremely sarcastic and yep I'm subtooting.

#Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to hide their checkmarks to avoid shaming and mockery ~ https://boingboing.net/2023/03/23/twitter-blue-subscribers-will-be-able-to-hide-their-checkmarks-to-avoid-shaming-and-mockery.html #tech #news #socialmedia

#BigTech #Layoffs #Capitalism: "These layoffs have nothing to do with "trimming the fat" or correcting the hiring excesses of the lockdown. They're a project to transfer value from workers, customers and users to shareholders. Google's layoff of 12,000 workers followed fast on the heels of gargantuan stock buyback where the company pissed away enough money to pay those 12,000 salaries…for the next 27 years.

The equation is simple: the more companies invest in maintenance, research, development, moderation, anti-fraud, customer service and all the other essential functions of the business, the less money there is to remit to people who do nothing and own everything."

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/21/tech-workers/#sharpen-your-blades-boys

Ed Pilkington notes that as public confidence in the Supreme Court falls to record lows — 40% now — the Supremes have quite the ethics problem on their hands, but are not addressing it:

"The chief justice, John Roberts, has insisted that the top court has no need to adopt an ethics code because 'every justice seeks to follow high ethical standards'."

#SupremeCourt #ethics
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https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/mar/24/us-supreme-court-ethics-code-clarence-thomas