I bet a few letters of marque and reprisal issued to privateers could put a stop to that.
Russian Oil Flows Through Western ‘Price Cap’ as Shadow Fleet Grows – The New York Times
Category: Policy
2024-10-08 16:05
I keep seeing posts urging me to check my voter registration while there’s still time to register if my registration has been improperly deleted, and thinking, “Oh, right. I haven’t done that! I should check!” And then I remember that I voted last week, so I’m all set. Phew!
Helene isn’t some unpredictable catastrophe
I don’t get why people are treating Helene like some unpredictable catastrophe, rather than just the way things are now.
I’m like, “Hey, it’s going to be like this all the time from now on—either impending disaster, disaster occurring, trying to rescue people from the disaster, or recovering from disaster—from now on.”
It’s weird that people don’t understand that. I mean, it’s so obvious to me, but people are still treating each new disaster as an unpredictable one-off.
Although some people are getting a clue. Zillow, for example, will now show climate risks for property listings in the US.
2024-08-20 14:58
This guy has an app for bulk unsubscribing (and text in Section 230 that perhaps protects it).
Personally, I’d like the opposite of what this app is described as doing: I want a plugin to purge my feed of everything except posts by people I follow. (All the rest of that stuff is “objectionable material” as far as I’m concerned.) That would make Facebook usable again, maybe.
… focused on a part of Section 230 that spells out protection for blocking objectionable material online.
Source: NYT
2024-08-08 06:48
It’s almost as if our response to Covid wasn’t all Trump’s fault after all.
“Most American dairy farms are not regularly testing for H5N1… seeing the possible stigma of admitting they have H5N1-infected cows as a greater risk than the virus itself.”
—https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/07/opinion/bird-flu-covid.html
2024-07-14 07:29
Cory Doctorow points out a key—and helpful to us—aspect of Project 2025:
These are the conflicts that are so central to the priorities of blocs that are so important to the coalition that they must be included, even though that inclusion constitutes a blinking “LOOK AT ME” sign telling us where the right is ready to split apart.
Source: Pluralistic
2024-06-21 10:50
If you live in Illinois, and care about vulnerable people, consider signing this petition for mask mandates in healthcare facilities: https://chng.it/WdnkRXGkXx
2024-04-22 17:42
I just asked my senators and representative to oppose a law that would allow laws to be copyrighted, allowing standards bodies to control access to things like building codes—rules that we all need to follow.
Click that link to join me in doing so. (Link only useful to people who live in the U.S.)
2023-11-07 08:21
One of the great things in Illinois is the libraries are structured as taxing districts. With voter permission they can levy a property tax, and then receive the funds from that tax. So there’s no danger that the city, township, or county will decide that it needs the money more. Or, as in this case, that the library is doing something wrong, and therefore shouldn’t get any money until they toe the line.
https://literaryactivism.substack.com/p/a-pennsylvania-public-library-had
(I normally don’t link to substack posts, but this one seemed important.)
2023-08-31 05:24
The Winfield Village finance committee (everyone here interested enough in the budget to show up) met last night. The subject of interest rates came up, and I was surprised to find it a near-unanimous opinion that rates were going to stay high at least through 2024.
Thinking of myself as a contrarian, I always worry just a bit when I agree with everyone, but I think they’re right.