Greg Spradlin @spradlig@qoto.org

Twitter changes its algorithm to boost Russian, Chinese and Iranian state media, because that is what "free speech" is all about
https://dfrlab.org/2023/04/21/state-controlled-media-experience-sudden-twitter-gains-after-unannounced-platform-policy-change/

#GoodNews

The Alaska Supreme Court just ruled that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional under the Alaska Constitution’s equal protection doctrine!!

https://news.yahoo.com/alaska-supreme-court-landmark-ruling-134700990.html

Is the Democratic leadership putting as much pressure on Feinstein to resign pronto as they did on Al Franken?

Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts asked to testify before Senate about ethics rules

#nbcnews #supremecourt
#ethics

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/chief-justice-roberts-asked-testify-scotus-ethics-rules-rcna80668?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&taid=6441772bab13e00001e1a0c8&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&s=09

Calling it “intelligence” is just marketing. Believing it’s anything other than mass tech-assisted plagiarism is like believing “Coca-Cola” still contains cocaine because of the name.

There’s a *reason* why all the bitcoin (and other) grifters are now shilling for AI.

This is a very insightful point from @melaniesill. Real-world events the NYT might otherwise frame as "Gay People in Florida Face Increasing Harassment" or "Florida Abortion Ban Leaves Women Desperate" are now exclusively presented as "DeSantis Seeks to Rally Evangelical Voters" or "DeSantis Leans Into his Anti-Woke Brand." Once you notice it it's everywhere, and it's completely toxic.

https://mastodon.social/@melaniesill/110198930247163451

A colleague of mine at the @nytimes has written this explainer of Mastodon, noting that Elon Musk has tweeted and deleted three derogatory posts about it today. Gift link. No paywall! https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/07/technology/mastodon-twitter-elon-musk.html?unlocked_article_code=Ym-dwAQpggeE8wyaweGmXOufG3kT571DziACj-9ztHR_DoW7UhtaveVqma6Hv4EqVjAI5sGgYV6a2SeRsj8oUBQaD1HarCCtStjPVb8x_Ji80zfZLoYQCLM-gog21aqvplknt9x8mosa29DwKbKQ-6enjCF_sgiq4DQQr9Eofe-GmU7aWoskhPbpOIr27gh_7WqFNd26WRsgsD8vplthIN5kaQl72Mq3dFgNEja1CsWfi18vBu7OQAxKp8adjjpfm9g8vHYrCaxDlYgWCu7uw39KXZnMSP7hqgZzba_6JtqsC0iw8frVDsA38syUq-GJ2QPTzEipr5QDZrGcwDXRocszBvXxS-A&smid=share-url

An April 1, 2023 rally by Volusia United Educators, protesting the FL legislature's anti-education, anti-freedom bills.

I wrote about why Twitter has become a national security threat, and how its owner keeps making decisions that help violent autocrats and harm democracies around the world. Currently, Musk is not only re-platforming Kremlin-linked accounts — he’s amplifying them, despite Russia’s continued involvement in war crimes and the distribution of terroristic content.
https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/kremlin-twitter-accounts-get-a-boost

Reposted from @chasingoz on TikTok. This is *real*: see https://bit.ly/41u4tOF .

A teacher in Manatee Middle School narrated this offensive and inaccurate video, which was shown over TV screens to the entire school

#confederacy #voteblue #colliercounty #manateemiddleschool #shame #lostcause

Next meeting: Thurs., Apr. 13, 4662 S. Clyde Morris Blvd. Doors open 6:30 p.m., meeting begins 7:00. Guest speaker: Brooke Alexander-Goss, the Florida chapters' Organizing Manager of
the Sierra Club Florida's Clean Energy for All campaign (https://sierraclub.org/florida/contact). #sierraclub #floridadems

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-arrested-new-york-1234703410/

Fantastic result in #Wisconsin. Congratulations to Janet Protasiewicz. I'm literally weeping with relief -- and I don't even live in Wisconsin.

For more than 50 years, mathematicians hunted for a simple two-dimensional shape that tiles aperiodically. This year, a hobbyist in northern England found two shapes that helped unveil an infinite family of simple aperiodic tiles. Erica Klarreich reports: https://www.quantamagazine.org/hobbyist-finds-maths-elusive-einstein-tile-20230404/

Just want to give a big shout out to Teri Kanefield @Teri_Kanefield.

Teri was one of the first popular political journalists with a big following on Twitter to establish a real presence here. While many others dipped their toes in the Mastodon pond and went back, Teri has continued to grace us with her excellent reporting and analysis.

She consistently hits it out of the park! Like her thread today on the Trump indictment >>> https://law-and-politics.online/@Teri_Kanefield/110142274171633282

Thank you Teri!

#twittermigration

"...journalists are put off by Musk’s antics, and dunk on him daily. But those same journalists — along with a bunch of people Musk arbitrarily suspended, fired, or laid off — continue to tweet just the same..." https://open.substack.com/pub/platformer/p/why-journalists-cant-quit-twitter?r=15jk4b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Dear journalists: You could make a graceful exit from Musk's site. You could bring your following -- or at least most of it -- to Mastodon. You could regain a measure of self-respect. Some thoughts on that from late last year: https://www.techdirt.com/2023/01/04/journalists-and-others-should-leave-twitter-heres-how-they-can-get-started/

Though I don't live in Wisconsin, I make a small monthly donation to the Wisconsin Democratic Party because what happens in #Wisconsin politics has an outsized influence on federal politics AND because the WisDems have repeatedly shown how effective they are in winning key contests. Please consider joining me as a small dollar monthly contributor. https://wisdems.org

"Florida Senate Committee Advances Elections Bill Restricting Voting and Criminalizing Elections"

"The bill requires all first-time voters without a Florida ID or social security number to vote in-person. Previously, these voters could vote by mail — a method over two millions Floridians utilized in 2022 …"

Voter suppression! 😠

Many thanks to @marcelias / @democracydocket for reporting on this ❤️

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/florida-senate-committee-advances-elections-bill-restricting-voting-and-criminalizing-elections/

#USPol #USPolitics #Elections #VoterSuppression

People of the United States, lots of news and local media for you to follow here:

US News:
@ProPublica
@damemagazine
@thenation
@TheConversationUS

Jewish Americans:
@momentmag

Alaska:
@anchoragedailynews

Arizona:
@TucsonSentinel

Colorado:
@TheAuroraSentinel

Maryland:
@wbaltv11
@rvaweather

Massachusetts:
@gbhnews
@universalhub
@leominsterchamp

MIssissippi:
@msfreepress

New Jersey:
@BlowUpRadio

New York:
@THECITY

Oklahoma:
@blogoklahoma

Texas:
@Chron
@TexasObserver