Victims of forced sterilization in California prisons entitled to reparations

One thing I learned from this story is that forced sterilization of inmates has still been widespread in the 21st century in America. Ghoulish.  #Society [Link]

Building a wide news commons

Doc Searls writes about what he calls wide news: Local and regional papers covered politics, government, crises, disasters, sports, fashion, travel, business, religion, births, deaths, schools, and happenings of all kinds. They had reporters assigned across all their sections. No other medium could go as wide. Doc’s argument is

I don't want my software to kill people

Dave Winer poses: If you think of yourself as an "open source developer" please ask yourself this question. Are you as committed to freedom for people who use your software as you are to freedom for developers? Not just freedom to modify the source code, but freedom to

AOC urges US to apologize for meddling in Latin America: ‘We’re here to reset relationships’

Yes. Absolutely this. And everywhere.  #Democracy [Link]

Working mothers reach record high, above pre-pandemic levels

Flexible work from home policies have allowed more mothers with young children to join the workforce than ever before. Yet another reason why these policies are positive for everyone and should not just stick around but be significantly expanded.  #Labor [Link]

The notable list: September 2023

This is my monthly roundup of the links, books, and media I found interesting. Do you have suggestions? Let me know! Apps + Websites Productivity iA Presenter. I’ve been really enjoying this. It does have the unfortunate effect of reducing the time you spend faffing with slide design and font

Unconditional cash transfers reduce homelessness

It turns out that if you give homeless people money as assistance, it really helps them. This is something society should do.  #Society [Link]

Just a moment...

In turns reassuring and helpful, this was a great primer on what to do to provide a foundation to help my child eventually learn to read. If only all parenting books could be as human and equity-minded as this one is. #Nonfiction [Link]

Supreme Risk: An Interactive Guide to Rights the Supreme Court Could Take Away

"An interactive guide to rights the Supreme Court has established — and could take away." Published a few months ago, but completely relevant, on-point reporting (served as a fully-static web page).  #Democracy [Link]

In Europe, a regulatory vise tightens around big tech

Good overview. I think European tech regulations have been broadly good, establishing the anti-competitive and pro-privacy rules that US legislators have failed to enact. If we could only all be so protected.  #Technology [Link]

If we define it as technology-assisted one-to-many ...

If we define it as technology-assisted one-to-many bi-directional communication (therefore ruling out the telephone, letters, and so on), I think there's an argument to be made that it was the newspaper. In the old days, particularly pre-television, local papers in particular would have a lot of mini-stories just

Is Big Oil Turning on Big Auto?

It makes sense that oil companies would try to frame driving a gas car as freedom. As an EV driver, I can tell you that it is not. I would prefer if we all had great, integrated public transit - but for the moment, at least, it has been an