Pluralistic: 20 Mar 2021

Today's links

Department of Truth: What if reality was a democracy?
Support Amazon workers today: Events in 45 cities in support of the Bessemer, Alabama union drive.
This day in history: 2006, 2011, 2016, 2020
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

IDing anonymized cops with facial recognition: Privacy for the powerless, transparency for the powerful.
ENDSARS: Global protests over Nigeria's murdering special police.
Companies target robots in disclosures: Sentiment analysis is finally useful for something.
US border cruelty, powered by Google cloud: IBM at Auschwitz.
Free the law of Wisconsin: Carl Malamud wants you to read Wisconsin's jury instructions.
This day in history: 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Homebrew dongles let hospitals fix ventilators: You forgot Poland.
Teddy Ruxpin and the Haunted Mansion: Ken Forsse's miniature Sid and Marty Krofft haunted house.
Dataminr helped cops spy on protesters with Twitter: And then they split the most idiotic hairs imaginable over it.
Police militarization has a business-model: The unstoppable force of excess rents and Beltway Bandits.
How Finspy protects itself from security researchers: Despots' malware, wrapped in spaghetti code and VMs.
Clamshell currency: Pismo Beach's solution to the bank holiday of 1933.
Macron demands national database of porn preferences: Comment dit kompromat en Français?
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Copyright keeps police use-of-force training a secret: How cops are circumventing the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.
Splash Mountain to purge Song of the South: Princess and the Frog ahoy!
Let's get rid of nursing homes: An end-of-life plan.
Sympathy for the mask-shy: Abstinence-only covid prevention is a failure.
"Violent protests" vs "violent police": How to report on protests.
Microcontent guidelines for 2020: A successor to the 1998 classic.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

How Big Tech distorts discourse: My free Oxford Internet Institute webinar.
Talking Job Guarantee with Pavlina Tcherneva: My latest for the LA Times.
Walkaway, Chicago-style: Protesters re-enact the climax of my 2017 novel (and it worked!)
759 Trump atrocities: McSweeney's saved the receipts.
Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act: $80B for universal fiber rollout.
Canada Reads is back: The debates will happen July 20-23.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

How cops spy on Black journalists: Wendi C Thomas is on Memphis PD's enemies list.
Teen Vogue on surviving rubber bullets: Less lethals are still lethal.
How Do We Change America?: GW Bush is not our friend.
Time to retheme Splash Mountain: "Problematic" doesn't begin to cover it.
Appeals court rejects judge who wanted $65m for lost pants: Roy Pearson, Jr has been at this for fifteen years.
Compton's Black cowboys ride out: 100+ Black cowboys mass to support Black Lives Matter.
Wargame based on the 1968 Chicago police riots: Strategy and Tactics Magazine #21 (1970).
LRAD shields: Audio engineers develop sound cannon defense.
MMT in the NYT: Happy book-birthday, Stephanie Kelton!
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

EFF offering legal referrals to protesters: If your phone was seized or you were targeted with electronic surveillance, they've got a list of lawyers.
The unsatisfying history of obscenity: "I know it when I see it" was always a cop-out.
A ride through of Elitch Gardens' Kaleidoscope: Meow Wolf's ride for Denver's centuries-old theme park.
Big Tech is good at being big: But that shouldn't get them a pass on anti-monopoly law.
Personalized, signed copies of Little Brother/Homeland: With an intro by Ed Snowden!
No fix for Chrome's Incognito Mode: What matters more: user privacy or paywalls?
DoJ seizes pro-BLM coronavirus masks: The Flu Klux Klan wants protests to be death sentences.
Science Fiction Writers of America on Black Lives Matter: Free dues, travel and memberships for the Nebulas, and a reading list.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Image Scrubber: An in-browser image sanitizer that doesn't require you to trust a random website.
Trump's bailout guy is making millions for his family: Justin Muzinich isn't a flamboyant villain like Mnuchin. He's a quiet villain.
Fix the police: What evidence says about police reform.
After Jim Crow, broken windows: Kelling and Zimbardo have a lot to answer for.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading