China refused to recognize ex-Soviet republics as independent states as its French ambassador recently said. Beijing rowed back after heavy critics from several governments, but this is not very credible. If China wants to end the war, their officials should rather sit in Moscow convincing Russia to leave Ukraine.

I changed the title to make that clear. Thanks.

Isn’t he this “free speech absolutist”? 😇

Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. Soros indeed seems to be part of Nazi and " tankie" conspiracy theories. It’s another thing the two extremists groups share.

Yeah, and he must maintain good relationships with politicians. Musk wants to transform Twitter into a AI company enabling him to offer more ‘services’ before elections as we have seen in Turkey.

Musk has learned that free speech absolutism doesn’t help him to grow richer.

I would love to see tech companies respecting copyrights when they use other people’s content to train their LLMs on.

And, btw, what does The Statesman say about the use of Cloudflare? Aren’t we screwed again?

"Knowing how the Russian regime operates, I can say that the employees there have a habit of lying to their bosses because the bosses don’t like to receive unvarnished accounts of the real situation. If you provide them with embellished stories, you will live in an illusion. The Russian system is built on everyone bluffing. Those few who try to convey the real picture are mentally eaten out by the system.”

It’s not “only” about language as leaked documents (‘China Cables’) have shown not long ago. Among others, the BBC reported that

… the China Cables made clear that the camps were intended to be run as high security prisons, with strict discipline and punishments.

People who have managed to escape the camps have reported physical, mental and sexual torture. Women have spoken of mass rape and sexual abuse.

Yes, unfortunately not all countries grant asylum I’m afraid.

Maybe an action by Elon I-am-a-free-speech-absolutist-as-long-as-you-do-not-say-something-which-is-against-my-interests Musk?

China has one surveillance camera for every 2 citizens

People are now being watched at work, on the streets, on public transportation, when they leave their homes and when they return.

These camera checks if people are wearing face mask, crossing the road before the green lights for pedestrians are turned on. If caught breaking rules, people lose their social credit points, are charged higher mortgage, extra taxes and slower internet speed. Not only that, public transport for them gets expensive as well, and the list goes on.

Let’s hope that democratic governance helps to strenghten this development with Brazil rejoining the Escazú Agreement.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took an important step to strengthen protection for environmental defenders across Brazil by sending the Escazú Agreement to Congress for approval on May 11. This historic treaty – the first of its kind in Latin America and the Caribbean – would help shore up Brazil’s role on protecting the environment and its defenders.

Just a remainder: 18 U.S. Code § 2340A

@jay91 There’s research by the Conflict Intelligence Team, an independent investigative group from Russia.

Based on this research, there’s an article on Popular Mechanics.

A video (20 sec) is also available.

You will find more across web.

“If foreign tanks are there under our windows, it means we are at war with an enemy, an interventionist. But if our tanks are in a neighbouring country, and our soldiers are savagely torturing the people, waging an invasive war, then they are damned. Such a war is cursed both by God and man."

While a billionaire receives a crown in a costume party -a dog parade of over 100 King Charles Spaniels included- at taxpayers’ cost, the elected (!) government cuts public spending in the long term with devastating effects for citizens.

And not to forget that the British state is arresting people for “conspiratorially planning to reveal T-shirts and flags” to protest for a fossil-free future.

The 12-feet ladder works :-)

We can’t really trust parents to raise their children accordingly, so kindergarten should be (a) compulsory and (b) teach social skills and emphasise empathy.

Taking away their kids because you “can’t trust parents” to “raise their children” is not only a generalisation and an insult to the parents, it wouldn’t work either because “compulsory participation does not make them feel heard” as you stated yourself. Such an early compulsory education paved the way to a system similar to the one in China, where parents send their kids to indoctrination camps disguised as schools.

We need more freedom, but for all the people rather than just a few. This means more direct democracy where people have a say, where every child has the freedom to develop individual skills in their own pace, more transparency to hold those in political power accountable, and a lot more things that build the foundation of a truly democratic society.

Scandinavian countries like Finland are often role models when it comes to housing policies, but also many other social security measures. And it is no coincidence that exactly these Scandinavian countries frequently rank top in democracy indices.

Yes, these “moments” have been everywhere, at least in Europe and North America in the last 80 years. I argue that economic growth wouldn’t have been possible after the Second World War without a proper social policy that includes, but obviously goes far beyond housing.

Recently I stumbled upon a very good article which describes the changes in the UK, but I argue that the principles apply to all Western countries.

Successive governments [in the UK] have chosen to mar the childhoods of millions by selling off social homes and failing to replace them. 2 million social homes have disappeared since I [the author] was born into one, with no hint of this government wanting to build them back at the scale needed, or to fund councils and housing associations to keep those left in good repair.

Many years ago I read of a similar incident. An artist used ‘trash as a form of art’, but the exhibition ended up being thrown in the bin after the museum’s cleaners decided that it must be rubbish.

As so many things, art is in the eye of the beholder :-)

Lack of discussion on beehaw (and lemmy)

I have good news: we can change that 😃

For me “the year of Linux” was already in 2022 when I moved there both on desktop and mobile, and whenever I read something like the linked article I’m extremely happy about it 😋

It’s also in sharp contrast to China’s official rhetoric as officials say the country will open after its zero-covid policy, e.g., here. How does China open up without recognizing basic human rights and barring people from leaving the country obviously often without giving a reason?

There’s also a brief article with additional information in the MIT Technology Review:

Hinton has long called out ethical questions around AI, especially its co-optation for military purposes. He has said that one reason he chose to spend much of his career in Canada is that it is easier to get research funding that does not have ties to the US Department of Defense.

You may be interested in The Direct Democracy Navigator, the world’s largest online database for Direct Democracy currently documenting around 2.000 instruments of direct democracy in more than 100 countries on the national, regional and local levels.

"Fifty metres from here [where the missile struck] there is a school, and two kindergartens. Really ‘strategic objectives’,” said one of Babii’s workmates at a local museum, who had come to give her moral support, mixing grief for the dead with anger at the attack.

Absolutely. E2EE is maybe the most important sinlge feature in digital communication.

Monarchy is nothing else than a form of autocracy and dictatorship. We need more democracy.

That’s not specifically an issue for the Fediverse but your entire online life. You may consider a service like Keyoxide.

Edit for an addition: I just noticed that this doesn’t answer the question. Keyoxide helps to protect against impersonation, not how to find out whether that already happens. I don’t know of an easy way to do that, though. You’d probably need to do a lot of research across the web I guess?

Maybe a good approach in case one is still hesitating 😄

It’s time that Russian military leaves Ukraine to end this war.

do you not know where to prick Russia already?

This is not about Russia or the Russians.

Tell about the lawlessness against blacks by the police? or the fact that in France a white person cannot walk in certain areas without risking life and health…

We report all the time when there is “lawlessness”, no matter where it happens, and unfortunately there’s a lot to do.

I don’t know why you post this picture, btw.

Deadly strike hits a nine-storey residential building in Uman (video, 2 min)

The shrapnel keyring

Glad to help. And nice weekend to all. I’m off 🖖

Just read that A third of people affected by Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh still ‘traumatised’ and struggling with physical and mental health

There is Silencing the Opposition - How the U.S. Government Suppressed Freedom of Expression During Major Crises

Edit for an addition: You may find further information at The First Amendment Encyclopedia

This is one of related reports:

Hong Kong Arrest Encroaches on Free Expression in Japan

Last month, Hong Kong police arrested a 23-year-old Hong Kong woman who had been studying in Japan since 2019 upon her return to the city. Her “crime”? While in Japan she had posted messages online in support of Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, according to media reports.

Yes, that’s bad. It’s a first version aiming at a very special target groups, but I do hope they’ll support alternatives in the future.