Trump's insane.
"The White House has directed the military to draw up options for increasing the US troop presence in Panama to achieve Trump’s goal of 'reclaiming' the Panama Canal"
And *yes*, this does include:
the "option of U.S. troops seizing the Panama Canal by force" #PanamaCanal #Trump
nbcnews.com/politics/national-…
Trump White House has asked U.S. military to develop options for the Panama Canal, officials say
The Trump White House has directed the U.S. military to draw up options for increasing the American troop presence in Panama to achieve President Trump’s goal of “reclaiming” the Panama Canal.Courtney Kube (NBC News)
Got Junk? Then Build This Scrappy TEA Laser
hackaday.com/2025/03/13/got-ju…
Got Junk? Then Build This Scrappy TEA Laser
A piece of glass, some bits of tinfoil, a sheet of plastic, a couple of razor blades, and a few assorted bits and bobs are all it takes to build this TEA nitrogen laser. Oh, and a 5,000-volt flybac…Hackaday
PJRC is partnering with SparkFun for manufacturing of all Teensy products.
We’re taking this step with 2 main goals.
1: SparkFun has the manufacturing needed for Teensy's growth.
2: PJRC can renew focus on software & community.
Details:
pjrc.com/sparkfun-to-manufactu…
news.sparkfun.com/13308
SparkFun Electronics is Now the Sole Manufacturer and Sales Partner f
SparkFun brings the manufacturing of PJRC’s product in-house and becomes the sole sales channel of the Teensy® line!news.sparkfun.com
Paul de Ferney reshared this.
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X algorithm will link community notes across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20…
Looks like a 2-week wait anywhere.
Microsoft is investigating a known issue that causes the new Outlook email client to crash when users click the "Go to classic Outlook" button, which should help them switch back to the classic Outlook.
Trump’s plans dealt another blow in court as federal judge orders fired probationary employees be rehired
Probationary employees in six government departments were fired in February.
independent.co.uk/news/world/a…
#news #politics #uspol #uspolitics #GOPCult #trump #ethics #corruption
Donald Trump is ready to make Republicans touch the third rail
Without a voting public to face again, Trump is gearing up to cut Social Security and Medicare
salon.com/2024/12/04/donald-is…
I cound understand Fox News calling Social Security an "entitlement program". It's wrong but expected because they're a propaganda outlet.
Salon calling Social Security an "entitlement program" is acting as a mouthpiece for the regime. Something they presumably don't intend to be doing, but their headline writer can't figure that out..?
Selecting trainable dogs may have gotten us dogs that would do anything for a treat.
arstechnica.com/science/2025/0…
theonion.com/march-madness-by-…
March Madness By The Numbers
The 2025 NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments kick off next week. In honor of the season, The Onion examines the key facts and figures behind March Madness.The Onion Staff (The Onion)
pcmag.com/news/pc-desktop-vend…
POLITICO: Thousands of fired federal workers must be rehired immediately, judge rules
politico.com/news/2025/03/13/f…
> U.S. District Judge William Alsup described the mass firings as a “sham” strategy by the government’s central human resources office.
PSA: 🚨 Update Tor Browsers now!
On March 14, 2025, a Mozilla root certificate used for add-ons verification will expire, potentially disabling extensions like NoScript or breaking features such as the Security Slider on Tor Browser versions older than 13.5.11 legacy.
To avoid issues and security risks, update now to 14.0.7 stable or 13.5.13 legacy. blog.torproject.org/old-tor-br…
Older Tor Browsers Breaking, Update Now! | Tor Project
The expiration on March 14 2025 of a root certificate can cause breakages Tor Browser version 13.0 and below. Users should updgrade immediately.blog.torproject.org
I don't understand why these are built-in. They should be something a user or administrator could manage without requiring a new build :/
(I realize this is really Firefox's problem to fix, though)
13 March 1901 | A German, Hermann Bartel, was born in Siegmanten. A decorator.
In #Auschwitz from 6 December 1941.
No. 23760
He perished in the camp on 2 March 1942. One of at least 77 prisoners registered as homosexuals. 43 of them perished.
Senate Democrats face major dilemma: help GOP pass funding bill or trigger shutdown
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/g-s1-53495/senate-democrats-funding-bill-government-shutdown?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Politics @politics-npr
Today's threads (a thread)
Inside: The future of Amazon coders is the present of Amazon warehouse workers; and more!
Archived at: pluralistic.net/2025/03/13/ele…
1/
A man says his stepmom locked him in a room for decades. He escaped by setting a fire
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5327122/connecticut-captive-stepmom-house-fire?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into U.S. News @u-s-news-npr
next up on "i can't believe he's not a warlock"
(shouldn't have touched the beacon...)
A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON!!!!!
#DnD #Dndmemes #funny #TTRPG #TTRPGMemes #DungeonsandDragons
Here is an alt-text description of the image:
The image shows an illustration of a stick figure with a patch over his eye kneeling in front of a potted plant. Above the figure is text that begins with "to you, my champion" and ends with "why did I let my party convince me to go here". The text is in a handwritten font and appears to be a blessing or incantation, but with parenthetical asides revealing the speaker's true feelings.
Provided by @altbot, generated using Gemini
Marking the centennial of powerhouse jazz drummer Roy Haynes
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5327140/marking-the-centennial-of-powerhouse-jazz-drummer-roy-haynes?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Fresh Air @fresh-air-npr
Remembering soul singer Jerry Butler, aka the 'Iceman'
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5325742/remembering-soul-singer-jerry-butler-aka-the-iceman?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Fresh Air @fresh-air-npr
Judge To Trump: No, You Can’t Just Declare ‘Off With Their Heads’ To Political Enemies
Generally speaking, if a judge says this to you, your client is unlikely to succeed in their case: “This may be amusing in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ where the Queen of Hearts yells …Techdirt
My theory of the "shitty technology adoption curve" holds that you can predict the future impact of abusive technologies on you by observing the way these are deployed against people who have less social power than you:
pluralistic.net/2023/06/11/the…
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2025/03/13/ele…
1/
‘Fascism is nothing but colonialism applied at home’ —attributed to Aimé Césaire (Martinique anti-colonial politician)
"We are in the midst of a shift in work and workplace relationships as significant as the Second Industrial Revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And new policies and protections may be necessary to correct the balance of power."
Read more: technologyreview.com/2025/02/2…
Your boss is watching
Monitoring technology is increasing the power imbalance between companies and workers. Protections lag far behind.Rebecca Ackermann (MIT Technology Review)
#ScribesAndMakers 13 March: Shameless self-promotion day!
I have a new book coming out! It's called Blight and it's the sequel to my first book, Cascade. If you hate fascism and like sad gay wizards and eldritch abominations you may very well enjoy it. If you pre-order it, you'll make my day: books2read.com/u/mYVl9P
#CareerNews
Trump plans to visit the Justice Department Friday, a rare move for a president
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5327268/trump-doj-justice-department?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into U.S. News @u-s-news-npr
🧪#pharmacology
How do researchers determine how toxic a chemical is? A toxicologist explains alternatives to animal testing
Thousands of chemicals in industry haven’t been thoroughly tested for their safety and toxicity. Researchers are working to standardize quicker, cheaper and more ethical methods to assess chemicals.The Conversation
Hallway, NYC, 2014.
All the pixels, but nowhere to put them, at flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/13…
Hallway in West Village Walk-Up
21 March 2014. West Village, NYC. This improbably tight hallway, in a West Village walk-up, is similar to one seen in the Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis". I like that you have to share a doormat with your neighbor.Flickr
Matt Blaze reshared this.
Captured with a small mirrorless camera and 50mm lens.
This hallway reminded me of a sight gag in the Coens' "Inside Llewyn Davis". I like that the two neighbors have to share a doormat.
The starkly bare hallway and contrasting tones between the walls and the doors and floor make this as much a study in abstract shapes as it is about urban living.
Matt Blaze reshared this.
"Who designed this?" you might ask.
Small NYC brownstones such as the one shown here were generally either built from the start as multi-family tenements, or were built as single-family homes and later subdivided into apartments. In the former case, the layout into individual units was part of the original design and generally fairly sane. In the latter case, landlords often tried to squeeze every square inch of rentable space out of the existing layout, at the expense of things like hallways.
Matt Blaze reshared this.
I mean you can't sleep in a hallway now can you ?
At USC there used to be a design contest at the Architecture school for putting the maximum number of living spaces into the smallest number of square feet. Each 'unit' had to support two adults, cooking, bathing, a bathroom, and a place to sleep.
One of the students called it 'smooshed camping' which sort of stuck with me.
Appeals Court: ‘Plain View” Also Includes Using iPhone Camera Options To See Through Tinted Car Windows
As tech advances, the law mutates. In some cases (Riley, Carpenter) we get more protections. In other cases, we get fewer protections. This case dates back to 2022. Christopher Poller was a suspect…Techdirt
audioflyer79🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺🏳️🌈
in reply to Laffy • • •Laffy
in reply to audioflyer79🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺🏳️🌈 • • •Nicole Parsons
in reply to Laffy • • •theatlantic.com/international/…
Transcript of an incredibly powerful and deadly accurate speech in the French Senate two days ago by Mr. Claude Malhuret.
This may some day take its rightful place alongside the best of Sir Winston Churchill and President John F Kennedy.
Brace yourself:
"President, Mr. Prime Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen Ministers, My dear colleagues,
Europe is at a critical turning point in its history. The American shield is crumbling, Ukraine risks ...
1/
A Call to Arms for Europe
Claude Malhuret (The Atlantic)Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •2/
...being abandoned, Russia strengthened.
Washington has become the court of Nero, a fiery emperor, submissive courtiers and a ketamine-fueled jester in charge of purging the civil service.
This is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first and foremost a tragedy for the United States. Trump’s message is that there is no point in being his ally since he will not defend you, he will impose more customs duties on you than on his enemies and will threaten to seize your territories ...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •3/
... while supporting the dictatorships that invade you.
The king of the deal is showing what the art of the deal is all about. He thinks he will intimidate China by lying down before Putin, but Xi Jinping, faced with such a shipwreck, is probably accelerating preparations for the invasion of Taiwan.
Never in history has a President of the United States capitulated to the enemy. Never has anyone supported an aggressor against an ally. Never has anyone trampled on the American ...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •4/
...Constitution, issued so many illegal decrees, dismissed judges who could have prevented him from doing so, dismissed the military general staff in one fell swoop, weakened all checks and balances, and taken control of social media.
This is not an illiberal drift, it is the beginning of the confiscation of democracy. Let us remember that it took only one month, three weeks and two days to bring down the Weimar Republic and its Constitution.
I have faith in the strength of American ...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •5/
...and the country is already protesting. But in one month, Trump has done more harm to America than in four years of his last presidency. We were at war with a dictator, now we are fighting a dictator backed by a traitor.
Eight days ago, at the very moment that Trump was rubbing Macron’s back in the White House, the United States voted at the UN with Russia and North Korea against the Europeans demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Two days later, in the Oval Office, the military...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •6/
...shirker was giving war hero Zelensky lessons in morality and strategy before dismissing him like a groom, ordering him to submit or resign.
Tonight, he took another step into infamy by stopping the delivery of weapons that had been promised. What to do in the face of this betrayal? The answer is simple: face it.
And first of all, let’s not be mistaken. The defeat of Ukraine would be the defeat of Europe. The Baltic States, Georgia, Moldova are already on the list. Putin’s goal is...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •7/
...is to return to Yalta, where half the continent was ceded to Stalin.
The countries of the South are waiting for the outcome of the conflict to decide whether they should continue to respect Europe or whether they are now free to trample on it.
What Putin wants is the end of the order put in place by the United States and its allies 80 years ago, with its first principle being the prohibition of acquiring territory by force.
This idea is at the very source of the UN, where today ...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •8/
...Americans vote in favor of the aggressor and against the attacked, because the Trumpian vision coincides with that of Putin: a return to spheres of influence, the great powers dictating the fate of small countries.
Mine is Greenland, Panama and Canada, you are Ukraine, the Baltics and Eastern Europe, he is Taiwan and the China Sea.
At the parties of the oligarchs of the Gulf of Mar-a-Lago, this is called “diplomatic realism.”
So we are alone. But the talk that Putin cannot be ...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •9/
...resisted is false. Contrary to the Kremlin’s propaganda, Russia is in bad shape. In three years, the so-called second largest army in the world has managed to grab only crumbs from a country three times less populated.
Interest rates at 25%, the collapse of foreign exchange and gold reserves, the demographic collapse show that it is on the brink of the abyss. The American helping hand to Putin is the biggest strategic mistake ever made in a war.
The shock is violent, but it has a ...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •10/
...virtue. Europeans are coming out of denial. They understood in one day in Munich that the survival of Ukraine and the future of Europe are in their hands and that they have three imperatives.
Accelerate military aid to Ukraine to compensate for the American abandonment, so that it holds, and of course to impose its presence and that of Europe in any negotiation.
This will be expensive. It will be necessary to end the taboo of the use of frozen Russian assets. It will be necessary...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •11/
...to circumvent Moscow’s accomplices within Europe itself by a coalition of only the willing countries, with of course the United Kingdom.
Second, demand that any agreement be accompanied by the return of kidnapped children, prisoners and absolute security guarantees. After Budapest, Georgia and Minsk, we know what agreements with Putin are worth. These guarantees require sufficient military force to prevent a new invasion.
Finally, and this is the most urgent, because it is what will...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •12/
...take the most time, we must build the neglected European defence, to the benefit of the American umbrella since 1945 and scuttled since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
It is a Herculean task, but it is on its success or failure that the leaders of today’s democratic Europe will be judged in the history books.
Friedrich Merz has just declared that Europe needs its own military alliance. This is to recognize that France has been right for decades in arguing for strategic autonomy.
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •13/
It remains to be built. It will be necessary to invest massively, to strengthen the European Defence Fund outside the Maastricht debt criteria, to harmonize weapons and munitions systems, to accelerate the entry into the Union of Ukraine, which is today the leading European army, to rethink the place and conditions of nuclear deterrence based on French and British capabilities, to relaunch the anti-missile shield and satellite programs.
The plan announced yesterday by Ursula von...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •14/
...der Leyen is a very good starting point. And much more will be needed.
Europe will only become a military power again by becoming an industrial power again. In a word, the Draghi report will have to be implemented. For good.
But the real rearmament of Europe is its moral rearmament.
We must convince public opinion in the face of war weariness and fear, and especially in the face of Putin’s cronies, the extreme right and the extreme left.
They argued again yesterday in the...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •15/
...National Assembly, Mr Prime Minister, before you, against European unity, against European defence.
They say they want peace. What neither they nor Trump say is that their peace is capitulation, the peace of defeat, the replacement of de Gaulle Zelensky by a Ukrainian Pétain at the beck and call of Putin.
Peace for the collaborators who have refused any aid to the Ukrainians for three years.
Is this the end of the Atlantic Alliance? The risk is great. But in the last few days, ...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •16/
...the public humiliation of Zelensky and all the crazy decisions taken in the last month have finally made the Americans react.
Polls are falling. Republican lawmakers are being greeted by hostile crowds in their constituencies. Even Fox News is becoming critical.
The Trumpists are no longer in their majesty. They control the executive, the Parliament, the Supreme Court and social networks.
But in American history, the freedom fighters have always prevailed. They are beginning to...
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •17/
...raise their heads.
The fate of Ukraine is being played out in the trenches, but it also depends on those in the United States who want to defend democracy, and here on our ability to unite Europeans, to find the means for their common defense, and to make Europe the power that it once was in history and that it hesitates to become again.
Our parents defeated fascism and communism at great cost.
The task of our generation is to defeat the totalitarianisms of the 21st century.
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •18/
Long live free Ukraine, long live democratic Europe."
Claude Malhuret speaking to the French Senate Tuesday March 4 2025. You have just read the transcript of a speech that will live forever in the history books.