The cake I did for Christmas.

Biscuit cuillère, mascarpone cream, chocolate ganache and coffee insert.

Dear Linux enthusiasts,

In these unpredictable times (and perhaps because of them), I feel compelled to send you warm Christmas wishes. May this season bring you moments of peace and an opportunity to find positivity amidst the chaos.

Let’s celebrate the spirit of open-source collaboration and creativity that binds us together, not just as developers or users, but as a community. Whether you're compiling kernels, tinkering with scripts, or simply enjoying the freedom of choice Linux offers, take this time to unwind and appreciate all that we share.

Here’s to a joyful, calm, and inspiring holiday season. Stay free, stay open, stay strong!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Your fellow penguin at heart.

I've been thinking of potential measures that corporate-controlled authoritarian governments could use against any kind of left-wing information or organizing, and it seems like an obvious one is a sudden, widespread crackdown on left-wing content. In practice, social media companies would collude with the government to:

• Wipe out all left-wing social media profiles and ban left-wing rhetoric under the justification that it is "terrorism-related content".
• Block access to thousands of left-wing sites at once and de-list them from search engines
• Update content moderation algorithms to prevent more of this content from being published or recommended
• Do all of these on the same day to cause the most disorientation and fear
• Continually go after the hosts of the niche left-wing news and communication channels that still remain, such as small websites, fediverse instances, and encrypted communication channels. Throw their operators in prison and make examples out of them

In effect, due to the centralized nature of social media and news, the online left could instantly be scattered through the collusion of just a few large corporations.

It would:

• Galvanize the populist right-wing base
• Stoke feelings of fear, isolation, and hopelessness among the opposition, deterring action
• Weaken the left's ability to organize
• Make it harder for people to learn about real left-wing ideas and stances

Why wouldn't they take that opportunity?

The bulk of online left-wing activity could instantly be wiped out in a single day. Why am I not hearing more people talking about that? Why do so many left-leaning people think sites like BlueSky will save them? Do they really think they are resisting by using centralized social media platforms? The corporatocracy has complete control over all of the infrastructure...

In my opinion, every influencer on the left should be screaming from the rooftops every single day that the most productive thing you can be doing is talking to people, building connections, and organizing in the real world, because our platform on the Internet could vanish instantaneously.

Anyway, I hope I'm wrong, but it feels like something that could easily happen. What are your thoughts?

Context is Action Comics (1938) #105, page 9

Transcript:

Santa Claus: I f-feel l-l-like I'm g-going t-t-through a m-meat-grinder!

Superman: Great! That shows we're making progress!

Under "Decree 147", all tech giants operating in Vietnam must verify users' accounts via their phone numbers or Vietnamese identification numbers and store that information alongside their full name and date of birth. They must provide that data to authorities on request and remove any content the government regards as "illegal" within 24 hours.

The new rules came into force on Wednesday, state media VNExpress said. All social media sites had been given 90 days to provide data on "the total number of regular visits from Vietnam" and the number of regular users per month to authorities, the website said.

"Decree 147 will be used to publicly suppress those with different viewpoints," said activist Dang Thi Hue, who writes about politics and social issues on her Facebook account, which has 28,000 followers.

The decree was "the latest sign of infringement of basic freedoms... with a vague line between what is legal and what is not," said former political prisoner Le Anh Hung. "No one wants to go to jail, so of course some activists will be more cautious and afraid of this decree."

Vietnam's hardline administration generally moves swiftly to stamp out dissent and arrest critics, especially those who find an audience on social media. In October, blogger Duong Van Thai -- who had almost 120,000 followers on YouTube, where he regularly recorded livestreams critical of the government -- was jailed for 12 years on charges of publishing anti-state information.

Decree 147 builds on a 2018 cybersecurity law that was sharply criticised by the United States, European Union and internet freedom advocates who said it mimics China's repressive censorship of the internet.

The decree also says that only verified accounts can livestream, impacting the exploding number of people earning a living through social commerce on sites such as TikTok. Aside from the ramifications for social media firms, the new laws also include curbs on gaming for under-18s, designed to prevent addiction. Game publishers are expected to enforce a time limit of an hour per game session and not more than 180 minutes a day for all games.

Just over half of Vietnam's 100 million population regularly plays such games, says data research firm Newzoo. A large proportion of the population is also on social media, with the Ministry of Information and Communications estimating the country has around 65 million Facebook users, 60 million on YouTube and 20 million on TikTok.

Happy Holidays, Achievers.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23511181

"Payne, 36, died after he was handcuffed, shot with a stun gun and then held down with deputies’ knees on his back outside the jail, despite his pleas that he could not breathe, according to court documents."

"The judge ruled that the deputies involved are not entitled to qualified immunity at this stage in the case, finding that the deputies “knew or should have known” that placing pressure on Payne’s back or neck could result in asphyxia."

"Griesel “muted his body cam” audio while talking with medics, in violation of Eugene police policy"

Fuck the police. Thank god for this judge, it's incredibly rare to see qualified immunity revoked. AFAICT none of these officers faced any form of discipline for this.

Help end qualified immunity - aaqi.org

An engine room explosion sank a Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria and two of its crew are missing, the Russian foreign ministry has said.

The vessel, built in 2009, was controlled by Oboronlogistika, a company that is part of the Russian defence ministry’s military construction operations, which had previously said it was en route to the Russian far-eastern port of Vladivostok with two giant port cranes lashed to its deck.

The foreign ministry’s crisis centre said in a statement that 14 of the ship’s 16 crew members had been rescued and brought to Spain, but that two crew were still missing. It did not say what had caused the explosion.

Summary

Trump vowed to direct the DOJ to “vigorously” pursue the death penalty for violent offenders after Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates.

Biden’s decision, aimed at halting federal executions, drew mixed reactions: victims’ families expressed both support and anger, while death penalty opponents urged Biden to extend clemency further.

Trump criticized the commutations as undermining justice and pledged a return to “Law and Order” during his presidency, reigniting debate over capital punishment.