From d3ed44284015b55f9719e437ba1136575b3054734e52698c883c532cfc67bf22 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Nicholas Johnson Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Subject: Revert "Add URL fragments to URIs" The Gemini specification does not say what Gemini clients/servers should do with URI fragments. Reference: https://gitlab.com/gemini-specification/gemini-text/-/issues/3 --- content/entry/article-please-dont-pay-to-use-a-pay-toilet.md | 2 +- content/entry/avoiding-automobile-surveillance.md | 2 +- ...-focus-why-you-cant-pay-attention-and-how-to-think-deeply-again.md | 4 ++-- content/entry/dont-fly-the-thin-blue-line-flag.md | 4 ++-- content/entry/extreme-capitalism-ruins-everything.md | 2 +- content/entry/journal-update-021.md | 2 +- content/entry/journal-update-022.md | 2 +- content/entry/lock-him-up.md | 2 +- content/entry/merchants-should-stop-accepting-cryptocurrency.md | 2 +- content/entry/on-cultural-appropriation.md | 4 ++-- content/entry/on-drug-checking-tools.md | 2 +- content/entry/overpopulation-overconsumption-and-technology.md | 2 +- content/entry/psychedelics-are-a-rite-of-passage.md | 2 +- content/entry/shining-light-on-the-dark-side-of-law-enforcement.md | 2 +- content/entry/the-perils-of-social-media.md | 2 +- content/entry/thoughts-on-spirituality.md | 2 +- content/entry/video-the-current-plot-to-rig-us-elections.md | 2 +- content/entry/why-biden-should-expand-the-supreme-court.md | 2 +- .../why-disappearing-messages-are-important-for-private-messaging.md | 2 +- 19 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/entry/article-please-dont-pay-to-use-a-pay-toilet.md b/content/entry/article-please-dont-pay-to-use-a-pay-toilet.md index d22dccb..faaf40d 100644 --- a/content/entry/article-please-dont-pay-to-use-a-pay-toilet.md +++ b/content/entry/article-please-dont-pay-to-use-a-pay-toilet.md @@ -11,6 +11,6 @@ I've heard pay toilets being touted as a solution to the shortage of free public Some people worry that having tax-funded public toilets is a [slippery slope](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope) that leads to either socializing all basic needs or the end of private business. It would be a good thing if the former were true, but clearly neither are. The U.S. has free public toilets, yet even healthcare is a for-profit business. Europe has a much better social safety net than the U.S., but it has more paid toilets. There doesn't seem to be any correlation. -Tax-funded public toilets will not be the end of capitalism. Neither will having socialized healthcare, food and housing programs, etc. We're not talking about giving everyone free weed. But in a civilized society, nobody should have to worry about meeting their basic biological needs. In a civilized society, "hitting rock bottom" shouldn't mean shitting on the street, dying of Covid because you can't afford treatment, or getting harassed by [thugs](/glossary/#thug) because a park bench is the only place you have to sleep. +Tax-funded public toilets will not be the end of capitalism. Neither will having socialized healthcare, food and housing programs, etc. We're not talking about giving everyone free weed. But in a civilized society, nobody should have to worry about meeting their basic biological needs. In a civilized society, "hitting rock bottom" shouldn't mean shitting on the street, dying of Covid because you can't afford treatment, or getting harassed by [thugs](/glossary/) because a park bench is the only place you have to sleep. We're better than that. At least I'd like to think so. diff --git a/content/entry/avoiding-automobile-surveillance.md b/content/entry/avoiding-automobile-surveillance.md index e186351..0e3e948 100644 --- a/content/entry/avoiding-automobile-surveillance.md +++ b/content/entry/avoiding-automobile-surveillance.md @@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ My first piece of advice is don't buy a connected car. By connected car I mean a If you already own a connected car, the best advice I can give is to trade it in for an old car. Until then read the owner's manual and find out how to deactivate as many of the connected features as you can. Never pair your phone with your car. Disable Bluetooth and cellular connections on the car if possible. # Eliminate Remote Diagnostics -Unfortunately even some old vehicles have remote diagnostics systems that collect and transmit vehicle sensor data wirelessly to the dealership, insurer, manufacturer or [thugs](/glossary/#thug). I'll cover these by category starting with the dealership. +Unfortunately even some old vehicles have remote diagnostics systems that collect and transmit vehicle sensor data wirelessly to the dealership, insurer, manufacturer or [thugs](/glossary/). I'll cover these by category starting with the dealership. ## Dealership Tracking Automotive dealerships have [GPS tracking devices](https://www.spireon.com/gps-auto-tracking/) attached to cars primarily to prevent theft. When you buy a car, assume it has one and make the dealership agree to remove it as part of the terms of purchase before you buy the vehicle. Once you've bought the car from the dealership, there's no reason they need GPS tracking on it. diff --git a/content/entry/book-stolen-focus-why-you-cant-pay-attention-and-how-to-think-deeply-again.md b/content/entry/book-stolen-focus-why-you-cant-pay-attention-and-how-to-think-deeply-again.md index 847a91d..969da76 100644 --- a/content/entry/book-stolen-focus-why-you-cant-pay-attention-and-how-to-think-deeply-again.md +++ b/content/entry/book-stolen-focus-why-you-cant-pay-attention-and-how-to-think-deeply-again.md @@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ What I wanna do in this entry is share some key points in the book that stood ou Now first off, I agree with the initial premise that there is an attention crisis. Like Hari, I have personal experiences of the attention of the people I care about being so degraded to the point that it's impossible to have meaningful interactions with them anymore. Every attempt at a shared activity is punctuated by incessant smartphone checking and context switching. ## Social Media And Smartphones -Out in society, at least half the people in any given public area are on their phones. Many of them don't even see it as a problem that they constantly interrupt their day to enter [digital Skinner boxes](/glossary/#digital-skinner-box) (social networks) and sometimes to play mobile games. People check their phone while they're going out to eat, while out on dates, while driving, and while having sex. I think the only reason people don't notice how big of a problem phones have become is because they're too distracted to notice. +Out in society, at least half the people in any given public area are on their phones. Many of them don't even see it as a problem that they constantly interrupt their day to enter [digital Skinner boxes](/glossary/) (social networks) and sometimes to play mobile games. People check their phone while they're going out to eat, while out on dates, while driving, and while having sex. I think the only reason people don't notice how big of a problem phones have become is because they're too distracted to notice. -As is pointed out in Stolen Focus, the [in-cells](/glossary/#in-cell)' addiction is not a personal failing. It's the inevitable consequence of unchecked capitalism combined with algorithms that only improve at capturing people's attention for longer and longer periods of time. Most of the information about social media wasn't anything I didn't already know. It was just nice to hear someone else validate my observation that everyone is being driven crazy by it. +As is pointed out in Stolen Focus, the [in-cells](/glossary/)' addiction is not a personal failing. It's the inevitable consequence of unchecked capitalism combined with algorithms that only improve at capturing people's attention for longer and longer periods of time. Most of the information about social media wasn't anything I didn't already know. It was just nice to hear someone else validate my observation that everyone is being driven crazy by it. ## There's More to The Story Before reading Hari's book, I thought 'all' we had to do was get rid of social media and/or social media, then attention would come back. But as he lays out in his books, the real story is much more complicated and interesting than that. diff --git a/content/entry/dont-fly-the-thin-blue-line-flag.md b/content/entry/dont-fly-the-thin-blue-line-flag.md index bfaaf41..0671096 100644 --- a/content/entry/dont-fly-the-thin-blue-line-flag.md +++ b/content/entry/dont-fly-the-thin-blue-line-flag.md @@ -7,13 +7,13 @@ Today I saw an American flag with a thin blue line as one of the stripes and the My problem with this flag is not that I don't believe in the idea of law enforcement. I think law enforcement is necessary. My problem isn't even that most people who fly it seem to have authoritarian leanings. My problem with the thin blue line flag has to do with policing and law enforcement itself. -Much of what police in the United States do causes tremendous harm to society. This includes attacking nonviolent protesters, jailing peaceful drug users, harassing the poor, and lying in court to defend their colleagues. I call police officers who do things like that "[thugs](/glossary/#thug)". +Much of what police in the United States do causes tremendous harm to society. This includes attacking nonviolent protesters, jailing peaceful drug users, harassing the poor, and lying in court to defend their colleagues. I call police officers who do things like that "[thugs](/glossary/)". Much of what law enforcement fails to do also causes tremendous harm to society. White-collar criminals steal billions from the poor, yet they're rarely investigated or prosecuted. You might say those are problems with the law and bad incentives, not law enforcement. But it's not so easy to separate the ethics of law enforcement from the law from the court system from corrections. Let me explain how they're all inextricably linked. -Suppose you're a law enforcement agent tasked with breaking up a protest against [global heating](/glossary/global-heating). Suppose the protesters are chained together around some industrial equipment, blocking ancient trees from being cut down. Should you enforce the law and remove them? +Suppose you're a law enforcement agent tasked with breaking up a protest against [global heating](/glossary/). Suppose the protesters are chained together around some industrial equipment, blocking ancient trees from being cut down. Should you enforce the law and remove them? If all cops acted according to their own personal moral code instead of the law, it would be chaos. But enforcing the law and removing environmental protesters repeatedly results in much more severe prolonged global chaos which cancels out the good of enforcing the law in the first place. Not to mention when global heating gets bad enough, you'll have bigger problems to worry about such as the collapse of civilization. Would you still arrest the protesters knowing that? diff --git a/content/entry/extreme-capitalism-ruins-everything.md b/content/entry/extreme-capitalism-ruins-everything.md index a001e15..6c167de 100644 --- a/content/entry/extreme-capitalism-ruins-everything.md +++ b/content/entry/extreme-capitalism-ruins-everything.md @@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ draft: false # Why Can't America Fix Any of its Problems? I talk about a lot of different issues on this journal: everything ranging from [beastiality](/2022/04/18/is-beastiality-immoral/) to [transgender athletes](/2022/03/27/on-transgender-athletes/) to [private online shopping](/2021/05/12/private-online-shopping/). On some of these issues, especially cultural issues, there exists legitimate disagreement. But on many there is a broad consensus, at least here in Burgerland. We're only made to believe there isn't because that's what's in the interests of the very rich and powerful. -Why is it that policies which poll well among most Americans either never come to fruition or fall under attack? To take just one statistic from a Gallup poll, [70% of Americans have supported the legality of abortion in at least some circumstances since 1975](https://news.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx). So how can the U.S. supreme court release a draft opinion to overturn a woman's right to an abortion? Most Americans are concerned about [global heating](/glossary/#global-heating), but we never see any political will to act on it. The list goes on. +Why is it that policies which poll well among most Americans either never come to fruition or fall under attack? To take just one statistic from a Gallup poll, [70% of Americans have supported the legality of abortion in at least some circumstances since 1975](https://news.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx). So how can the U.S. supreme court release a draft opinion to overturn a woman's right to an abortion? Most Americans are concerned about [global heating](/glossary/), but we never see any political will to act on it. The list goes on. The reason for this is America has been steadily moving towards plutocracy for about half a century now. Plutocracy is an illegitimate form of government where the wealthy dictate politics and the will of the majority is ignored. diff --git a/content/entry/journal-update-021.md b/content/entry/journal-update-021.md index b376f8b..0fec1a4 100644 --- a/content/entry/journal-update-021.md +++ b/content/entry/journal-update-021.md @@ -46,6 +46,6 @@ Rebranding isn't a high priority and I haven't decided on it for certain. In any I've spent a lot of time on server-side configurations that make nicksphere.ch work, but they're not documented anywhere. I'd like to create a Git repository automating those setups and configurations with Ansible scripts. -Another reason server-side automation is useful is for transitioning to a new VPS. I need to switch because my current VPS only accepts [digital tulips](/glossary/#digital-tulips), which [I oppose](/2022/08/17/merchants-should-stop-accepting-cryptocurrency/). Since this domain is associated with my real legal name, I don't benefit from anonymous payment anyways. And my VPS provider is quite expensive. +Another reason server-side automation is useful is for transitioning to a new VPS. I need to switch because my current VPS only accepts [digital tulips](/glossary/), which [I oppose](/2022/08/17/merchants-should-stop-accepting-cryptocurrency/). Since this domain is associated with my real legal name, I don't benefit from anonymous payment anyways. And my VPS provider is quite expensive. There's a lot to be done, but luckily the only time-sensitive todo item is switching my VPS provider so I don't need to use cryptocurrency. Everything else can wait. diff --git a/content/entry/journal-update-022.md b/content/entry/journal-update-022.md index 8cfb4ab..230d039 100644 --- a/content/entry/journal-update-022.md +++ b/content/entry/journal-update-022.md @@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ In [my last journal entry update](/2022/09/19/journal-update-021/) back in Septe Using Ansible, I automated configurations that remain the same across servers I use. At some point in the future when it's ready, I'll git push the playbook. I decided not to automate the entire server. For every change I make on the server, I'd have to update the Ansible scripts, creating twice the work. It would only save me time in the scenario where my server is wiped and I need to reprovision it from scratch. That situation is very rare, so automating isn't worth it. -My new VPS accepts many payment methods, so I don't depend on [digital tulips](/glossary/#digital-tulips) anymore. Unfortunately my VPS provider doesn't have IPv6 support yet, but I've been assured that they already have the IPv6 addresses and they're just working on assigning them now. +My new VPS accepts many payment methods, so I don't depend on [digital tulips](/glossary/) anymore. Unfortunately my VPS provider doesn't have IPv6 support yet, but I've been assured that they already have the IPv6 addresses and they're just working on assigning them now. I decided to drop I2P support for the time being. It was broken anyways for who knows how long. If you want to know more about that, read this [Git commit message](https://git.nicholasjohnson.ch/journal/commit/?id=85b77079ffea8fae7f29516dc029812000c457fb). If you use the [Tor](gemini://nick6gsepvtmkcpibpid6dqtqroxt62u6ab4ep65vxrenffruumj6jad.onion) [onion](http://nick6gsepvtmkcpibpid6dqtqroxt62u6ab4ep65vxrenffruumj6jad.onion) to access this journal, nothing has changed. I migrated the onion to the new VPS as-is. diff --git a/content/entry/lock-him-up.md b/content/entry/lock-him-up.md index 85d7b27..ceb8f04 100644 --- a/content/entry/lock-him-up.md +++ b/content/entry/lock-him-up.md @@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ draft: false I've been keeping my eye on the January 6th hearings watching Robert Reich's videos summarizing the key revelations from each day. I'll put the links to those at the bottom. I'd like to make a meta summary on Robert Reich's key revelations in case you haven't been following the hearings. ## Day 1 -The committee showed a link between the [wannabe dictator](/glossary/#the-wannabe-dictator)'s tweets and the violent extremist groups storming the United States Capitol like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. +The committee showed a link between the [wannabe dictator](/glossary/)'s tweets and the violent extremist groups storming the United States Capitol like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. [Link](https://yewtu.be/embed/2xzeA086zYE?local=true) diff --git a/content/entry/merchants-should-stop-accepting-cryptocurrency.md b/content/entry/merchants-should-stop-accepting-cryptocurrency.md index 0a1f47b..ce0bff1 100644 --- a/content/entry/merchants-should-stop-accepting-cryptocurrency.md +++ b/content/entry/merchants-should-stop-accepting-cryptocurrency.md @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: "Merchants Should Stop Accepting Cryptocurrency" date: 2022-08-17T00:00:00 draft: false --- -In my last journal entry titled "[[Documentary] Line Goes Up - The Problem With NFTs](/2022/03/15/documentary-line-goes-up-the-problem-with-nfts/)", I talked about my history with cryptocurrency (henceforth referred to as [digital tulips](/glossary/#digital-tulips)), how I regret ever getting involved, and I promoted a documentary explaining how it's essentially a planet-destroying ponzi scheme. In this entry, I want to build on that and talk about why merchants shouldn't accept digital tulips as a form of payment. +In my last journal entry titled "[[Documentary] Line Goes Up - The Problem With NFTs](/2022/03/15/documentary-line-goes-up-the-problem-with-nfts/)", I talked about my history with cryptocurrency (henceforth referred to as [digital tulips](/glossary/)), how I regret ever getting involved, and I promoted a documentary explaining how it's essentially a planet-destroying ponzi scheme. In this entry, I want to build on that and talk about why merchants shouldn't accept digital tulips as a form of payment. ## Disregard For The Environment As I stated in my entry "Avoid Using Cryptocurrency", the consensus mechanism used by the most popular digital tulip schemes consumes an unreasonable amount of energy. By comparison, the per-transaction energy consumption of fiat is basically zero. By accepting digital tulips, you demonstrate that you don't care about the harm your business does to the environment. diff --git a/content/entry/on-cultural-appropriation.md b/content/entry/on-cultural-appropriation.md index 157176e..cd6c0c6 100644 --- a/content/entry/on-cultural-appropriation.md +++ b/content/entry/on-cultural-appropriation.md @@ -7,9 +7,9 @@ There seems to be moral confusion about why cultural appropriation is bad. I'd l > "Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity" - [Wikipedia](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_appropriation), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) -Let's spend some time on that definition. First of all, it uses the weasel word "[inappropriate](/glossary/#inappropriate)". This is not a straw man picking on a particular definition either. I've seen several online articles accusing people of cultural appropriation that use words like "inappropriate", "offensive", "distasteful", and "disrespectful". These words tell us absolutely nothing about why cultural appropriation is morally wrong. +Let's spend some time on that definition. First of all, it uses the weasel word "[inappropriate](/glossary/)". This is not a straw man picking on a particular definition either. I've seen several online articles accusing people of cultural appropriation that use words like "inappropriate", "offensive", "distasteful", and "disrespectful". These words tell us absolutely nothing about why cultural appropriation is morally wrong. -Take the word "offensive" as an example. Non-indigenous people wearing a headdress may offend indigenous Americans, but is something morally wrong just because it offends someone? [Antihomosexualists](/glossary/#antigay) are offended by same-sex marriage. Does that make same-sex marriage wrong? Does any amount of offense taken by any number of people make same-sex marriage morally wrong? If not, then why is it morally relevant that indigenous people are offended? +Take the word "offensive" as an example. Non-indigenous people wearing a headdress may offend indigenous Americans, but is something morally wrong just because it offends someone? [Antihomosexualists](/glossary/) are offended by same-sex marriage. Does that make same-sex marriage wrong? Does any amount of offense taken by any number of people make same-sex marriage morally wrong? If not, then why is it morally relevant that indigenous people are offended? Let's talk about the word "unacknowledged" from the Wikipedia definition. If I take credit for someone else's idea, that's wrong because it's deceit and I'm robbing them of potential rewards and recognition. But unacknowledged imitation in many contexts isn't deceitful. We don't expect people to acknowledge everything they do that comes from a culture they didn't invent. None of us would ever make it through the day if that were the case. diff --git a/content/entry/on-drug-checking-tools.md b/content/entry/on-drug-checking-tools.md index b956367..6bdb45d 100644 --- a/content/entry/on-drug-checking-tools.md +++ b/content/entry/on-drug-checking-tools.md @@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ What could possibly be the reason for making drug testing kits illegal? Even con Not only is the US government telling people what they can put inside their own body, but they also prohibit people from even testing the substances they put in their own body. How does that make any sense? What's the justification? # Who Benefits From Draconian Anti-Safety Laws? -I'm no libertarian, but if prohibiting people from testing substances they're going to put inside their body isn't tyrannical, I don't know what is. I assume the beneficiaries of this insanely idiotic anti-safety law are the usual suspects: [thugs](/glossary/#thug), cartels, and sometimes banksters. +I'm no libertarian, but if prohibiting people from testing substances they're going to put inside their body isn't tyrannical, I don't know what is. I assume the beneficiaries of this insanely idiotic anti-safety law are the usual suspects: [thugs](/glossary/), cartels, and sometimes banksters. ## Thugs Thugs want to prolong the war on drugs to get fatter budgets. Drugs are their excuse to expand their power so they can stomp on people's rights in new ways, moving the US closer to fascism. diff --git a/content/entry/overpopulation-overconsumption-and-technology.md b/content/entry/overpopulation-overconsumption-and-technology.md index d295c84..3a68643 100644 --- a/content/entry/overpopulation-overconsumption-and-technology.md +++ b/content/entry/overpopulation-overconsumption-and-technology.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ date: 2022-10-23T00:00:00 draft: false --- ## Resource Depletion -Aquifers are drying up. There are severe, prolonged droughts in regions that produce our food thanks to [global heating](/glossary/#global-heating). Soon there will be wars fought over water. Species are going extinct faster than ever thanks to industrialization and the endless demand for natural resources. The global ecosystem is dying. The future is not looking good for humanity. And why is this? +Aquifers are drying up. There are severe, prolonged droughts in regions that produce our food thanks to [global heating](/glossary/). Soon there will be wars fought over water. Species are going extinct faster than ever thanks to industrialization and the endless demand for natural resources. The global ecosystem is dying. The future is not looking good for humanity. And why is this? ### Balancing The Sustainability Inequality So at a very high level, we need to satisfy the following inequality to achieve global sustainability: diff --git a/content/entry/psychedelics-are-a-rite-of-passage.md b/content/entry/psychedelics-are-a-rite-of-passage.md index a8ef6e3..0c69d5d 100644 --- a/content/entry/psychedelics-are-a-rite-of-passage.md +++ b/content/entry/psychedelics-are-a-rite-of-passage.md @@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Psychedelics are also not for everyone. They have serious downsides. People with I don't care how mentally strong you think you are. Do not underestimate psychedelics. They are powerful introspective tools. I don't believe full doses can be used safely at parties. Being around lots of dancing strangers as your mind is picked apart by magic mushrooms is not safe and it's not respecting the substance. Psychedelics must be approached with respect and caution, every time. -As a final disclaimer, be aware of the legal risks of taking psychedelics. Thanks to the failed War on Drugs and the [thugs](/glossary/#thug) who wage it, psychedelics are illegal everywhere, with few exceptions. When you acquire psychedelics for consumption, you become a criminal. And the legal repercussions are far heavier than failing to stop at a stop sign. Be prepared for the worst. +As a final disclaimer, be aware of the legal risks of taking psychedelics. Thanks to the failed War on Drugs and the [thugs](/glossary/) who wage it, psychedelics are illegal everywhere, with few exceptions. When you acquire psychedelics for consumption, you become a criminal. And the legal repercussions are far heavier than failing to stop at a stop sign. Be prepared for the worst. # Psychedelics Are a Rite of Passage With the relevant disclaimers now out of the way, let's talk about psychedelics as a rite of passage. diff --git a/content/entry/shining-light-on-the-dark-side-of-law-enforcement.md b/content/entry/shining-light-on-the-dark-side-of-law-enforcement.md index 8601575..2e4ad6d 100644 --- a/content/entry/shining-light-on-the-dark-side-of-law-enforcement.md +++ b/content/entry/shining-light-on-the-dark-side-of-law-enforcement.md @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: "Shining Light on the Dark Side of Law Enforcement" date: 2020-12-04T00:00:00 draft: false --- -The US constitution is supposed to protect citizens from [thug](/glossary/#thug) overreach. However, evidence from the past decade shows that thugs have been stomping all over our civil liberties daily by colluding with intelligence agencies. The federal government does this by constructing lies about how agents discover information. For example if the government discovers a crime through illegal mass surveillance or another covert surveillance program, it can't use that evidence directly because that would violate the 4th amendment and expose Big Brother. Instead, "hints" are passed on to thugs so they can construct a "parallel" chain of evidence that can be used in court. This is where it gets the name [parallel construction](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction). Parallel construction sounds like innocuous jargon from an architecture course, so I prefer to call the practice by the more descriptive name, evidence laundering. +The US constitution is supposed to protect citizens from [thug](/glossary/) overreach. However, evidence from the past decade shows that thugs have been stomping all over our civil liberties daily by colluding with intelligence agencies. The federal government does this by constructing lies about how agents discover information. For example if the government discovers a crime through illegal mass surveillance or another covert surveillance program, it can't use that evidence directly because that would violate the 4th amendment and expose Big Brother. Instead, "hints" are passed on to thugs so they can construct a "parallel" chain of evidence that can be used in court. This is where it gets the name [parallel construction](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction). Parallel construction sounds like innocuous jargon from an architecture course, so I prefer to call the practice by the more descriptive name, evidence laundering. Evidence laundering prevents defendants in criminal cases from knowing about infringements of their rights. It makes challenging thugs' actions in court very difficult, making a mockery of the right to a fair trial. The motivation for thugs to respect a defendant's rights is that evidence obtained illegally cannot be used in court. With evidence laundering, the illegal evidence is converted into legal evidence. Therefore the motivation not to violate citizen's rights goes away, so long as thugs can keep citizens from proving it occurred. Even if a defendant in a criminal trial suspects evidence laundering, it's nigh impossible to prove. This puts minorities and political activists at risk of having their rights violated without even knowing it. diff --git a/content/entry/the-perils-of-social-media.md b/content/entry/the-perils-of-social-media.md index 836b8ee..2a86db9 100644 --- a/content/entry/the-perils-of-social-media.md +++ b/content/entry/the-perils-of-social-media.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ date: 2022-09-22T00:00:00 draft: false --- ## Recording Everything Without Consent -I'm exhausted of people recording everything they do wherever they go and posting it to [antisocial media](/glossary/#antisocial-media). I don't have antisocial media for a reason. I don't consent to pictures/videos of me being uploaded to antisocial platforms. I don't agree to the terms and conditions. I don't want to be featured, not even in the background. +I'm exhausted of people recording everything they do wherever they go and posting it to [antisocial media](/glossary/). I don't have antisocial media for a reason. I don't consent to pictures/videos of me being uploaded to antisocial platforms. I don't agree to the terms and conditions. I don't want to be featured, not even in the background. I hate it when I'm out somewhere doing stuff and I get peer pressured to take group photos. I wouldn't mind taking pictures, but they somehow always end up on platforms I take issue with. Even if I ask people not to put me on antisocial media, that doesn't exclude all the surveillance apps they don't think of as social media. It inevitably ends up synced to Goolag or crApple's iCloud anyways. diff --git a/content/entry/thoughts-on-spirituality.md b/content/entry/thoughts-on-spirituality.md index d455309..93d7c62 100644 --- a/content/entry/thoughts-on-spirituality.md +++ b/content/entry/thoughts-on-spirituality.md @@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ One can meditate just as well in a quiet room as one can right outside a constru Good criticism has been leveled against spiritual authors like Eckhart though. The criticism goes something like this: "You claim that giving up one's ego, ceasing to identify with life problems, stops suffering. But what about systemic social issues? Aren't they worth solving?". It's here where people like Eckhart Tolle fail to give satisfying answers. So I'll take my crack at answering that. ### The Non-Contradiction of Spirituality And Activism -The reality of today is that almost everyone is identified with their thoughts all the time. I live in a society where the thoughts people get lost in can be very negative. Thoughts like "I got fired today. There goes my healthcare. How am I gonna pay rent? I'm fucked". The way society is organized directly influences people's life situations, which influences the character of their thoughts. A poorly organized society leaves millions of houseless people sleeping on street just waiting to be harassed by [thugs](/glossary/#thug) while centibillionaires amass great fortunes. Of course that causes negative thoughts and suffering. +The reality of today is that almost everyone is identified with their thoughts all the time. I live in a society where the thoughts people get lost in can be very negative. Thoughts like "I got fired today. There goes my healthcare. How am I gonna pay rent? I'm fucked". The way society is organized directly influences people's life situations, which influences the character of their thoughts. A poorly organized society leaves millions of houseless people sleeping on street just waiting to be harassed by [thugs](/glossary/) while centibillionaires amass great fortunes. Of course that causes negative thoughts and suffering. Mindfulness and non-identification with thought may help to reduce the suffering of a few individual houseless people, but to suggest mindfulness as an alternative to a real solution for houselessness would be moronic. Houselessness is a social problem. It's easier to eliminate the suffering that comes along with houselessness by dealing with its social causes than by telling mentally unwell houseless drug addicts they just need to meditate. As I said earlier, there is always another problem and identification with problems causes suffering, but at least the problem wouldn't be not having a safe place to sleep. Failing to find an entertaining television station is a better problem to have. diff --git a/content/entry/video-the-current-plot-to-rig-us-elections.md b/content/entry/video-the-current-plot-to-rig-us-elections.md index ffa4d93..66e4b39 100644 --- a/content/entry/video-the-current-plot-to-rig-us-elections.md +++ b/content/entry/video-the-current-plot-to-rig-us-elections.md @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ draft: false --- American democracy is in serious danger. Robert Reich, American professor, author, lawyer, political commentator, and previous Secretary of Labor created a video explaining how [Trump loyalists are rigging the upcoming 2024 presidential election](https://yewtu.be/embed/gV5VKW_fPVc?local=true). -The twice-impeached [wannabe dictator](/glossary/#the-wannabe-dictator) and his cronies should be prosecuted for their involvement in the [January 6th coup attempt](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_United_States_Capitol_attack) and barred from ever holding public office again. That's the only reasonable outcome given what happened that day. +The twice-impeached [wannabe dictator](/glossary/) and his cronies should be prosecuted for their involvement in the [January 6th coup attempt](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_United_States_Capitol_attack) and barred from ever holding public office again. That's the only reasonable outcome given what happened that day. We also need to pass legislation to strengthen and ultimately save American democracy. Here are just a few ideas to get started on that: * automatic voter registration for all eligible voters diff --git a/content/entry/why-biden-should-expand-the-supreme-court.md b/content/entry/why-biden-should-expand-the-supreme-court.md index 3528743..a1ce953 100644 --- a/content/entry/why-biden-should-expand-the-supreme-court.md +++ b/content/entry/why-biden-should-expand-the-supreme-court.md @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ draft: false --- The U.S. Supreme Court has gone rogue. -It contains three appointees by [the wannabe dictator](/glossary/#the-wannabe-dictator) insurrectionist and two from George W. Bush. Both of these men only won because of election rigging tactics, making them and their appointees illegitimate to boot. And then there's one George H. W. Bush appointee. +It contains three appointees by [the wannabe dictator](/glossary/) insurrectionist and two from George W. Bush. Both of these men only won because of election rigging tactics, making them and their appointees illegitimate to boot. And then there's one George H. W. Bush appointee. The illegitimate radical conservative majority in the Supreme Court gutted abortion rights for women, so women will be forced to have children under threat of jail time in many states. The Court has decided that it has the authority to challenge all federal regulations and that the Environmental Protection Agency isn't permitted to do its job. The Court essentially stripped away the Miranda warning. And the Court is eroding the separation of church and state, pushing burgerland one step closer to theocracy. diff --git a/content/entry/why-disappearing-messages-are-important-for-private-messaging.md b/content/entry/why-disappearing-messages-are-important-for-private-messaging.md index 203feb9..e2f9ece 100644 --- a/content/entry/why-disappearing-messages-are-important-for-private-messaging.md +++ b/content/entry/why-disappearing-messages-are-important-for-private-messaging.md @@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Many people don't use *anything* for securing their devices. They have no passwo One approach to mitigating this is disappearing messages, a feature which automatically deletes old messages on the user's device. Based on the apps I've used, there seem to be two main ways of implementing disappearing messages. One is offline, where each participant decides for themself how long messages remain on the device. The other way is online, where all participants use the same message disappearing duration set either by one user in the case of a two-party chat or the group administrator in a group chat. -The benefit of the online implementation is that all parties can be confident that no others hold records of messages older than a certain date, given that they're not purposely circumventing this security mechanism through screenshotting or something like that. Online disappearing messages can be made adjustable, so the sender and recipient can decide an appropriate time window to retain messages according to their threat model. This mitigates private information disclosure against thieves, [thugs](/glossary/#thug), stalkers, and snooping spouses who gain physical access to the device. +The benefit of the online implementation is that all parties can be confident that no others hold records of messages older than a certain date, given that they're not purposely circumventing this security mechanism through screenshotting or something like that. Online disappearing messages can be made adjustable, so the sender and recipient can decide an appropriate time window to retain messages according to their threat model. This mitigates private information disclosure against thieves, [thugs](/glossary/), stalkers, and snooping spouses who gain physical access to the device. Another way to mitigate private information disclosure is requiring the user to set a password for the messaging app. People will still choose weak passwords, but for most common threat models, attackers will simply give up after seeing a password prompt anyways. -- cgit v1.2.3