Link round-up for 19 April 2025

Various interesting stuff I ran across on the net over the last week.

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It's a world of cats.

Do New Zealanders commonly do this?

You'll be the talk of Alpha Centauri with this cool flying saucer house.

They haven't quite figured out how to use the wheel yet.

Always make sure your tent is securely attached to the ground.

Fear the wrath of the zombie kitty.

I wonder if that one guy who's just eating got charged extra for the floor show.

Too much wind is dangerous, especially a tornado (both links sent by SickoRicko).

Here's an idea for protecting endangered species (and culling out some undesirable humans).

Morning Coffee blog has some reverent Good Friday images.

Happy Easterween!

Quackery is now for horses too.

The pre-computer-era art of Alex Colville has an oddly familiar look.

This car exists.

He's a long-distance painter.

They did a lot of work to save this seal.

A child finds shelter from the rain.

It's fresh from 1954 and still running.

The restoration of Notre Dame cathedral looks really impressive.

A new autobiography shows how people struggled to live normal lives amid the horrors of Iraq.

This fish exists.

See one full rotation of the planet Mercury.

No, those are not dire wolves and nobody has "de-extincted" anything.  More here.

This is the first video ever of a live colossal squid (a different species from the giant squid) in its natural habitat.  It's only a baby, so not very colossal yet.

UK astronomers have found evidence supporting the possibility of life on the planet K2-18b, which orbits a star 124 light-years away.  The evidence consists of two chemicals found in its atmosphere which, on Earth, are produced only by organic processes (though they have also been found in a comet without life).  The presence of the chemicals is consistent with an ocean rich with something similar to plankton, but it must be stressed that this is not proof of life, only a tantalizing hint.

In March, for the first month ever, fossil fuels accounted for less than half of total US electricity generation.

The "raw food" nonsense also extends to pet food, and is spreading disease and killing animals.

Film adaptations should be made by people who respect the original material.

Appreciate creativity -- don't just "consume content".

Keeping a journal can help ensure that your memory is trustworthy.

If you use PayPal, be aware of this scam.  Also, here's a current e-mail scam to watch out for.

Here's how to spot a fake CAPTCHA designed to steal your info or download malware.

"School is expensive.  There are so many people who would love to be here, who would love to actually be learning but they cant afford to.  Have some respect and actually use the education you're privileged enough to be able to pay for."

If you need to take a plane flight and don't have a Real ID, you can substitute a passport.

Movies these days are laced with "product placement" -- basically ads.

Somebody has hacked some crosswalk buttons in northern California, making them play satirical imitations of Musk and Zuckerberg when pressed.

Round-up of political images here.

Porn is spreading an ugly, degraded, violent corruption of sexuality among younger men, who are developing more backward attitudes toward women than older men.

ChatGPT will soon start "remembering" all your interactions with it, and you know damn well you can't trust anything they say about where all that data will end up or who will get access to it.

Some chatbots are now exposing users' private interactions with them on the open internet.

Microsoft is again pushing its "Recall" program, a part of Windows 11 which makes continuous screen caps of everything you're doing on your computer, potentially capturing private or sensitive information.

Some tips here on de-shittyizing your internet experience.

Yes, you can install and use Excel on a Linux computer (I had been wondering about this).  Here's a longer discussion and further options.

The tech-bro types completely misjudged Trump.  This article also has a broad overview of how Trump is damaging the US's global standing.

Today is scheduled as another day of protests.  Find an event here, or at 50501 (both lists are searchable by location).  Tesla Takedown is also holding events, as always.

Watch out for "AI"-generated blog comments.  I can't imagine what the point of this is.

UBlock Origin can be used to block a lot of "AI" stuff.

Holy shit, I didn't realize John Oliver embarrassed himself this badly.

Tesla is being sued over its claims that its cars are "self-driving".  It's going to be a huge mess to deal with.

Trump has extended Biden's sanctions on Russia for another year.

About half of Americans do not want "AI"-generated news -- but it's disturbing that the other half don't seem to object to it.  I'm guessing many still don't realize how riddled with inaccuracies "AI"-generated content is.

Don't worry too much about the Insurrection Act.

Reminder:  It's not "protest" to attack innocent bystanders or their property (I addressed this point here).

Labor organizing is vital to the left because strikes are a form of power that can actually get things done, as opposed to empty demands that can easily be ignored.

The demand that all work-from-home federal employees must go to offices instead has led to chaos, with traffic jams, inadequate supplies and internet capacity, and much less work getting done.

Services that ship abortion pills to women in forced-birth states are now so effective that some red states are having more abortions than before the bans.

Take a modern look at the Declaration of Independence.

Investors are abandoning the US dollar (it's down 9% since January), which is unusual in times of economic distress, and could indicate a fundamental loss of confidence in the US economy.

Here's a surprising report from a congressman's town hall in a heavily-Republican district of Texas.

Aside from measles, pertussis (whooping cough) is running rampant in the US as vaccination rates decline.

Trumpism is not fascism or dictatorship; it's a new and bizarre type of authoritarianism.

The rationalization of evil proceeds step by step, lie by lie.

Robert Reich provides some reasons for hope.

Resistance works:  a family wrongly detained by ICE is being released, apparently due to the efforts of the people of their hometown.  This US citizen detained by ICE in Florida has also been released, thanks to local publicity about the case.

If someone you don't know contacts you and seems interested in pushing political violence, be careful -- it could be a trap.

You can say goodbye to modern standards of food safety in the US, except (maybe) if you live in a blue state.

The decline in manufacturing jobs is a normal thing that happens in every country as it becomes more developed, and can't be reversed by trade policy.

Even some members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus are open to a (slight) tax increase for millionaires.

The MRFF has squelched a Christian military commander's attempt to force his subordinates to attend a Christian religious ritual.  The MRFF deserves a lot of support -- it's one of the most determined and effective resistance organizations out there.

Here's an anonymous manifesto of action items for Democratic party leaders.  Some of this is over-the-top, and the call to support the ICC is a non-starter (but the latter is never going to happen anyway -- the current law making it a crime to collaborate with the ICC passed with a huge bipartisan majority back in 2002), but there are a lot of good ideas about specific actions to take and working around the sclerotic, billionaire-owned mainstream media.

Chevron has just been ordered to pay nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars to repair ecological damage it did on the Gulf of Mexico coast.

Tesla has been accused of remotely tampering with odometers to make car warranties expire faster.

A county clerk in New York engages in resistance.

A gang of thugs took over a Portland street last Sunday, while police stood by and did nothing because they don't have the resources to cope with such events.

Anti-vax quackery in the government makes the US more vulnerable to biological warfare.

In reality, tariffs would make even made-in-US items more expensive.

Most Americans want the US to have more manufacturing jobs, but most don't want to do such jobs themselves.

Governor Shapiro responds to the arson attack on his family and home.  The arsonist was one of those "pro-Palestine" (=Jew-hater) types.

A wave of cholera infections has been traced to filthy "holy water".

The FDA is looking for contractors to replace the regular employees stupidly laid off in the current wave of Trumpery.

Louisiana is using a dud computer algorithm to deny parole to prison inmates.

Senate Democrats are using delaying tactics to wear down Republicans.

Jihadists have psychological points in common with serial killers.

After Megan Murphy confirmed plans to run for a seat in the Canadian Parliament, the government immediately froze her bank account, and refuses to provide any information.

Nurses in Vancouver who suffer from addiction will no longer be forced to attend 12-step cult meetings, thanks to one atheist's activism.

British nurses forced to accept a man in their changing room have filed a lawsuit.

The UK Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the term "woman" refers only to biological sex and not some fantasy "gender identity".  Feminists celebrated the ruling, which followed a long struggle.  Even the Guardian gave space for a supportive editorial.  More discussion here.

Yes, move on, but do not forget or forgive the guilty.

It was the hissy fit heard round the world.

The US dollar is losing its global dominant position, creating a huge opportunity for the EU.

Russian war crimes have deep cultural roots.

Here's why Russia can't win in Ukraine.

More links at WAHF, Red State Blues, and Chop Wood Carry Water.

My posts this week:  a cube of absurdity, an image round-up, Trump and the bond market, and the French castle scene from Monty Python.

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So now it's Trump vs the Chinese gangster-state.  Can they both lose, please?

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I haven't yet seen an authoritative estimate of the total turnout (global or national) for the Hands Off day of rallies two weeks ago, but I've seen claims ranging from one to three million.  Given figures of over a hundred thousand each in several major cities, plus the large number of smaller crowds elsewhere, such a range, or at least the lower end of it, seems plausible.  It will be interesting to see if today's rallies draw larger or smaller numbers.

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Do not be intimidated into surrendering in advance.  A few scary high-profile cases like Kilmar Ábrego García are frightening some easily-spooked people into abandoning taking part in protest or resistance.  That was doubtless the intended effect.  But the fear is not justified.

Have you seen any reports of government retaliation or persecution of people who particiated in the recent Tesla Takedown or Hands Off rallies?  I haven't.  There's a limit to how many people they can go after; there's a limit to the number of enforcers available.  There is already a problem with thousands of law-enforcement people being diverted from fighting real crime to work on deportations.  I doubt there's much capacity left to expend on going after hundreds of thousands of people participating in non-violent demonstrations (violence or vandalism would be a different matter).  Of course it's wise to take commonsense precautions to protect one's anonymity, and every person has to judge for him- or herself what level of risk to accept -- but don't be tricked into believing the degree of risk is greater than it is.  Such fears lead to paralysis and inaction, making defeat more likely.

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Just in case you still had any doubt that Elon Musk is an absolutely sociopathic asshole: