SDF Chatter

https://removepaywalls.com/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/world/americas/cuba-us-talks-trump-oil.html

In what was seen as a last-ditch effort to save his hobbled government, President Miguel Díaz-Canel of Cuba announced on Friday that his government had been holding talks with the Trump administration while managing an increasingly severe lack of fuel.

Cuba’s government is facing an existential crisis as the Trump administration ratchets up pressure on the 67-year-old Communist state, maintaining what amounts to an oil blockade. Fuel is rapidly running out, plunging Cuba into prolonged periods of darkness.

The Cuban government has been in dire straits since the United States attacked Venezuela in January, arrested its president, took control of its state oil industry and blocked fuel shipments to Cuba. Venezuela had been Cuba’s top supplier of oil.

President Trump threatened to impose severe tariffs on any country that provided Cuba with oil. The Cuban government was forced to curtail public transportation, elective surgeries and other services that depended on diesel fuel.

With Cuba dependent on foreign oil for 60 percent of its fuel supply, experts have estimated that it would run out of fuel this month. Mr. Trump has repeatedly said that the Cuban government would collapse on its own.

On Saturday, Mr. Trump suggested that a Cuba deal was imminent. “As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we’re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba,” Mr. Trump said. “Cuba’s at the end of the line,” he added. “They have no money. They have no oil.”

Mr. Díaz-Canel, in a 90-minute news conference broadcast on state media, said the talks were aimed at finding solutions to Cuba’s differences with the United States. He said the discussions were based on “respect for the political systems of both countries, sovereignty and our government’s self-determination,” suggesting that, from his point of view, political changes in Cuba were not on the table.

Cuba’s government announced on Thursday that it would soon release 51 prisoners, in what appeared to be an effort to appease the Trump administration.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/52240923

Here is the full report: Invisible Corners of the Factory Floor: Forced Labor in China’s Prisons (pdf)

A new report by China Labor Watch examines the issue of prison labor in China. Against the backdrop of increasing international attention, monitoring, and enforcement regarding systemic forced labor in China, the report aims to explore the institutional foundations of this practice within the Chinese prison system, analyze how prison-run enterprises embed products made by incarcerated laborers into global supply chains through multi-layer subcontracting, disguised registration, and local economic collaborations, and finally discuss the legal frictions and responsibility frameworks between Chinese prison labor practices and international human rights law and labor conventions.

[...]

- Institutionalized Logic of Coercion: Although labor is defined in legal texts as a means of “reform,” in practice it is directly tied to points-based evaluation systems and sentence reduction/parole decisions. This creates a structural incentive-and-sanction mechanism of “trading labor for freedom,” effectively undermining the voluntariness of labor.

- Dual Roles and Conflicts of Interest: Prison enterprises carry both judicial and economic functions. They are responsible for custody and rehabilitation while simultaneously acting as market actors accepting orders and generating revenue. These conflicting objectives often lead to weakened labor protections.

- Working Hour Limits are Systematically Relaxed: Although there are nominal limits such as “six days per week and eight hours per day,” exception clauses for “seasonal production” or “urgent tasks” are vaguely defined and lack external oversight, effectively creating a structural gateway for normalized overtime.

- Weak Labor Protection and Injury Compensation: Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) regulations are incomplete, and some cases show inadequate investment in protective equipment. Injury compensation is calculated based on prison labor stipends rather than social wage standards, resulting in significantly lower compensation. Channels for appeal and third-party medical assessment are extremely limited.

- Real Risks in Trade and Supply Chains: Despite formal export bans for prison-made products, such goods enter domestic and international markets through layered subcontracting and enterprise “rebranding.” Recent legislation, enforcement actions, and litigation within global business and human rights due diligence frameworks reveal that these risks are receiving increased recognition.

[...]

A quick interview with an OpenBSD community member: discussing the OS, the community's contributions to its development, and some future plans.

Former Xbox community chief Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, has joined the company behind the Commodore 64 revival as Community Development Advisor after he was laid off from game engine Unity in January.

Commodore reemerged last year after being acquired by Peri Fractic, current CEO and President, and released its first new piece of hardware in more than 30 years, the Commodore 64 Ultimate. IGN loved it, awarding it a 10 in our Commodore 64 Ultimate review. “The Commodore 64 Ultimate lovingly recreates the best-selling personal computer of all time with smart modern tweaks and pixel-perfect 8-bit joy,” we said.

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson rolled out new legislation intended to expedite production of emergency housing and homeless shelter at the Hope Factory in SoDo. She aims to produce 1,000 units in her first year.

Washington's Court of Appeals will decide whether the legislature left a major loophole in place when it passed recent laws to prevent zoning changes that increase housing capacity in cities from being mired in lengthy legal appeals.

They're just so corpo, it's so soulless and i hate it. Square pfp with a golden check said "Trains." oh, haha so funny and relatable !!

It's just so weird to me. these are people being paid to just post things that people will like, it's so soulless and again,, just WEIRD.

Seeing these square pfps with golden checks post stuff trying to be funny is agin... just SOO SOO SOO... SOO.. WEIRD. they're being paid for all of that, that removes all of the fun and soul.

WE'RE SO RELATABLE, PLEASE BUY OUR PRODUCT !

except the ones that are being like a brand and are just tweeting updates, news, ads and other stuff related to the brand and aren't trying to be a human. Then i really don't care at all, that feels NORMAL.

Seattle Police delivered their report on federal immigration enforcement policies to the City Council, but did not directly address some questions, highlighting the limitations SPD faces in responding to ICE overreach in Seattle.

Thought this belonged here.

https://piefed.ca/c/funhole@lemmy.sdf.org?sort=new&layout=list&content_type=posts&flair=

https://piefed.ca/u/qrstuv@lemmy.sdf.org

They are engaging in a cover-up to hold themselves unaccountable:

https://piefed.ca/modlog?mod_action=&suspect_user_name=qrstuv%40lemmy.sdf.org&communities=&submit=Search

Don't let the abusers get away with it once again.

@Shadow@piefed.ca @smorks@piefed.ca @otter@piefed.ca @recursive_recursion@piefed.ca @mp3@piefed.ca

Sorry for not having anything more original to post, but I like how the diff stripes look, like a shimmering. I think it's pretty.

Here’s everything you need to know about the venue, located in the heart of Seattle and considered by many as the loudest in the country