cabbage

Posted to Facebook yesterday, but I only saw it now. Seems to be worth sharing, as the Senator also requested.

Last night in the Senate, something really important happened. Republicans forced us to debate their billionaire bailout budget framework. We started voting at 6 PM because they knew doing it in the dark of night would minimize media coverage. And they do not want the American people to see how blatant their handover of our government to the billionaire class is.

So I want to explain what happened last night and what we did to fight back. The apex of Republicans’ plan to turn over our government to their wealthy cronies is a giant tax cut for billionaires and corporations. And they plan to pay for it with cuts to programs that working people rely on. Popular and necessary programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP, are all being targeted. In order to pass the tax cut, Republicans have to go through a series of procedural steps. Last night, they took the first step which requires them to pass an outline of their plan, but with it, any senator can offer as many amendments as we want. So my Democratic colleagues and I did just that.

Now, we knew that Republicans would largely unanimously oppose them, but we had two objectives here. One, Republicans were forced to put their opinion on record — many for the first time — on the most corrupt parts of Trump and Musk’s agenda. Two, as I’ve been saying, I am going to make every process and procedure as slow and painful as possible for as long as my colleagues choose to ignore the constitutional crisis happening before our eyes.

So what did we propose? We proposed no tax cuts for anyone who makes a billion dollars a year. We made them vote on whether or not Elon Musk and DOGE should have limitless access to Americans’ personal data. We made them vote on whether to protect IVF and require insurers to cover it. Every single amendment Democrats proposed was shot down. On almost every single amendment, Republicans universally opposed it. Every Republican voted against our proposal to prevent more tax cuts for billionaires. The corruption and theft is happening in the open here.

The whole game for Republicans is taking your money and giving it to the wealthiest corporations and billionaires — even if it means kicking your parents out of a nursing home or turning off Medicaid for the poorest children. They know what they are doing is deeply unpopular. They are offering a tax cut to the most wealthy that is 850 times larger than what they are offering working people. Oh and by the way, any tax cuts for working people are going to be washed out by higher costs for basic necessities, like health care and food. It’s a fundamental injustice.

Thanks to your pressure and support, many of my Democratic colleagues have joined my effort to do everything we can to make sure they cannot destroy democracy and steal your money in the dark of the night. We are being loud about what is happening. I’m going to continue to grind the gears of Congress down as much as possible to make it that much harder and slower to get away with this corruption. That’s why the votes lasted until nearly 5 AM.

This is a five-alarm fire. I don’t think we have two years to plan and fight back. I think we have months. It’s still in our power to stop the destruction of our democracy with mass mobilization and effective opposition from elected officials. So we can’t miss any opportunity to take advantage of opportunities to put Republicans on the record and shine a light on what is happening.

And you have a role to play in this as well. I need you to amplify what’s happening, support the leaders who are fighting for you to make sure they can continue speaking truth to power against Musk and Trump’s billionaire cronies, and show up at rallies and town halls. Use every tool at your disposal to send a message loud and clear about how you expect my colleagues to lead and fight in this moment.

Every best wish,

US Senator Chris Murphy

KrF har bestemt seg for å bli et skikkelig møkkaparti, og det ser sannelig ut til at de lykkes.

This seems like a good opportunity for anyone interested in contributing to the organization of 50501 as well as the decentralized web.

They are looking for someone who is:

• Experienced with Lemmy or willing to learn
• Available for weekly meetings
• Willing to dedicate time to moderate
• Willing to limit communications to secure channels, predominantly Matrix

From the original post:

We are looking for admin/mod especifically from Lemmy community itself. We are in serious need of moderators or admin with Lemmy knowledge. Please let us know if you would like to be a part of the movement and this Lemmy instance. If you would like to be a part please understand there would be significant time commitment needed as we are a growing community here at Lemmy.

Application

About the movement

Thank you!

Considering how the movement is under attack on other platforms it is likely to be a more challenging task than moderating some other forums out there, but it's an opportunity to make a real contribution. :)

Trump has cut budgets, laid off employees, and pressured universities. Now Norway wants to attract researchers who have poor conditions abroad.

The Research Council prioritizes and allocates funds on behalf of the state.

Now they are allocating 100 million kroner to attract foreign researchers to Norway.

The Managing Director of the Research Council, Mari Sundli Tveit, is clear about the backdrop.

– It is particularly related to the situation in the USA. Academic freedom is under pressure and funding is being cut, says Tveit.

The new scheme allows Norwegian institutions to apply for support to bring in international researchers.

The work around the new scheme was both expanded and expedited when the Trump administration introduced significant cuts to American research in March.

Tveit emphasizes that the arrangement will not be reserved for researchers from the USA.

According to Tveit, many of those who have been laid off in the USA are researching areas such as climate, health, and the Arctic.

– These are areas where it is extremely important for us to ensure that the activity continues. And connecting the researchers to us is a very, very good idea, says Tveit.

Lists with "illegal words"

She is concerned about what she sees as an attack on research in the USA. Among other things, in the form of restrictions on specific research topics.

– There are lists of forbidden words, that is, prohibited words that cannot be included in research applications, says Tveit.

She points to words like "woman," "black," and "climate change."

In addition, the Research Council is concerned about a lot of important research data that is stored in the USA. This includes important research data and results on climate change and health.

– If there is a breach in that data, it will cause irreparable damage. And we are very concerned about that. Right now, we are looking for ways to move data to store it safely elsewhere, says Tveit.

Great need for expertise

Research and Education Minister Sigrun Aasland (Ap) has been a driving force behind the new scheme.

– In Norway, we have a great need for expertise in the coming years, including in research, Aasland explains.

She makes it clear, like Tveit, that the scheme should not be limited to researchers from the USA.

As the situation stands now, Aasland believes there is an increased need for such schemes.

– But is it wise to launch this scheme in the same week that Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg are set to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House?

– This is not an American scheme, but a global one. Also, an important reason why we are so focused on collaboration with the USA in research is that they are an outstanding research nation. They account for a significant amount of the world's knowledge about health, climate, and energy, Aasland responds and adds:

– We have extensive collaboration with American researchers, and we want to continue that.

Positive for Norwegian research

The Research Council estimates that the funds can cover 30 to 50 research positions. The researchers will be recruited to both colleges and universities in Norway.

The rector of UiO, Svein Stølen, is positive about the new arrangement.

– This is very interesting. It can bring us truly top researchers from other countries, says Stølen.

The rector believes this could have a significant impact on Norwegian and European research.

– We see that there are challenges in the USA, where China is advancing. The fact that Europe is stepping up is important, continues Stølen.

The rector of the University of Bergen, Margareth Hagen, is also positive about the new arrangement.

– The consequences for us are significant. It concerns the fact that about 22 percent of the research at UiB is conducted in collaboration with American researchers. So it is clear that what is happening in the USA affects us quite immediately, says Hagen.

She points out that the collaboration with American research environments spans the entire breadth of UiB's academic fields.

– UiB is particularly known for strong climate research and also for a lot of research on global health, where Americans are at the forefront.

(Translated by Kagi)

European Union watchdogs fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of euros Wednesday as they stepped up enforcement of the 27-nation bloc’s digital competition rules.

The European Commission imposed a 500 million euro ($571 million) fine on Apple for preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store.

The commission, which is the EU’s executive arm, also fined Meta Platforms 200 million euros because it forced Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them.

It seems the 50501 movement is facing some predictable problems on commercial platforms.

On Reddit, the 50501 subreddit has temporarily shut down over abuse. This comes after reports from users that the community is "obviously being astroturfed". No word as to when it will be back online.

It seems things are not much better over at Facebook, where there is apparently frequent calls to stop protesting this and that, with a Reddit user commenting that the group "feels like it's imploding".

This is hardly surprising given how commercial social media has repeatedly shown itself to be easily manipulated, but it's still fascinating that it's bad enough to shut down the whole Reddit community. Although we are certainly in a better place over here we are not immune: Make sure to be vigilant and to report suspicious activity.

If anyone is on Facebook, maybe now is a good time to give people there a few pointers towards Lemmy/PieFed.

On March 15, three planes touched down in El Salvador. They carried 261 men deported from the United States. Most were Venezuelans—people who fled one nightmare only to be thrust into another. They were designated as “gang members” by the current administration and deported with little or no due process. No trials. No evidence presented. Just labeled, processed, and removed.

What happened next should shatter any comfortable notions of what American values mean in practice.

These men—human beings with names, histories, dreams—were marched through a gauntlet of armed guards, beaten, stripped naked, shaved, and thrown into overcrowded cells. A photojournalist on the scene described watching men age a decade in two hours. He watched as one young man sobbed, “I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a barber.” This man was slapped for his tears, beaten for his vulnerability.

No phone calls. No visitors. No books. No talking. Just exile to a place “so cold and far from home they may as well have been sent into space, nameless and forgotten.”

And all of this—every slap, every sob, every stolen dignity—stamped with American approval. Coordinated with American officials. Executed with American efficiency.

Full text on Tech Dirt (who would have thought).

Swedish journalist Joakim Medin has been detained in Turkey after arriving in Istanbul on Thursday to report on the current protests.

Since Medin notified his editor in chief that he was being taken in for interrogation – around lunchtime on Thursday – nobody has heard from him.

Joakim Medin is a regular contributor to daily newspaper Dagens ETC and has reported from and about Turkey regularly for several years. We do not as yet know where or how he is, and we are imploring the Swedish government to take action to help us get Joakim home.

The chief editor of Dagens ETC wrote the following commentary on the decision to make this public, machine translated using FireFox:

This is what Dagens ETC's reporter Joakim Medin wrote yesterday when he landed in Istanbul to monitor recent developments:

"They are taking me in for interrogations now"

Now it's been more than 24 hours.

Silence.

I don't know where he is.

I don't know how he's doing.

Not if he's interrogated.

Not if he's going to be deported.

We at Dagens ETC have feverishly tried to get answers in different ways (the UD and consulate are connected).

But a whole day...

Now we choose to do this in public.

For Joakim to be released.

Because freedom of the press is under attack.

I demand that the Swedish government act directly and sharply.

I expect the support of just about every other media.

Joakim went to Turkey to give Dagens ETC's readers all the nuances.

Now he can't do that.

With the hope of very quick solution,

Andreas Gustavsson, Editor-in-chief Dagens ETC

Woody Guthrie was never too vague about his stance on fascism, starting with the famous phrase "This Machine Kills Fascists" written on his guitars.

"All You Fascists Bound To Lose" is a song that takes this bluntness to a lyrical level, to the point where it hardly needs any introduction.

I’m gonna tell you fascists
You may be surprised
The people in this world
Are getting organized
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose

Race hatred cannot stop us
This one thing we know
Your poll tax and Jim Crow
And greed has got to go
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose.

All of you fascists bound to lose:
I said, all of you fascists bound to lose:
Yes sir, all of you fascists bound to lose:
You’re bound to lose! You fascists:
Bound to lose!

People of every color
Marching side to side
Marching ‘cross these fields
Where a million fascists dies
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose!

I’m going into this battle
And take my union gun
We’ll end this world of slavery
Before this battle’s won
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose!

What's pretty cool about All You Fascists is that Guthrie's BBC recording was lost for a really long time, so we thought we were just left with his lyrics. When Billy Bragg teamed up with Wilco to put music to unreleased Guthrie songs in the late 90s, nobody knew that the Guthrie recording still existed. The Wilco/Bragg version of the song is therefore recorded not as a cover, but as a completely original composition by musicians who had not had a chance to listen to Guthrie's original.

A video has emerged of the arrest of a Turkish Tuft University graduate, showing her argue briefly with the men in hoodies and black jackets before being taken away.

Tufts University has confirmed that the person is one of their graduates, and that her lawyer has not managed to get in touch with her.

Statement of Tufts University on Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/paleofuture.bsky.social/post/3llayvzabtk23

Via @JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange on Mastodon: https://infosec.exchange/@JessTheUnstill/114230118930979696

Black man got a lotta problems
But they don't mind trowin' a brick White people go to school Where they teach you how to be thick

White Riot is the first single released by the Clash, and pretty much seems to set the agenda of the band. They find that while everything is going to shit, white folks have been dumbed down and pacified to a point where they are completely harmless to the ruling elites.

All the power's in the hands
Of the people rich enough to buy it While we walk the streets
Too chicken to even try it

At the time Joe Strummer saw little hope in the white population:

Everybody's doing
Just what they're told to
And nobody wants
To go to jail

He wants a "white riot - a riot of my own". It's a call for white folks to join black people in the fight against the powers that be, and to rise up against injustice instead of being so god-damn complacent.

Are you taking over
Or are you taking orders?
Are you going backwards
Or are you going forwards?

Released in March '77, a couple of months before Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen, White Riot could be seen to mark the beginning of the UK wave of punk music, which was influenced by the New York scene and later caused a second British invasion (or a "phony Beatlemania", as the Clash themselves later coined it) in the US. The studio version of White Riot ends with the following appeal to the listener:

Hey, you, standing in line
Are we gonna sign an agreement?

Considering the influence of the punk movement in the years that followed, it's fair to say that many audience members were, in fact, ready to sign on. It might be time we renew the terms.

Here's Rage Against the Machine doing the song justice.

In the occasion of the first presidency of Donald Trump, the ever-wonderful Marc Ribot put together an album of resistance songs, featuring a wide variety of artists. One of these artists is long-time Ribot collaborator Tom Waits, who sang Ribot's English translation of the classic Italian partisan song Bella Ciao.

Borrowing its melody from an old worker's song, Bella Ciao—goodbye beautiful—is narrated by a partisan who believes he is dying. He makes his final request to be buried in the mountain underneath a beautiful flower, so that the people pasing by can enjoy the beautiful sight of the flower of the partisan.

Ribot translates the lyrics pretty precisely, but his composition is significantly less upbeat than what many people often associate with Bella Ciao.

I think it's a beautiful testament to the willingness to give everything to create a better world for those who follow.