Brian Beach @bwbeach@social.cleverlibre.org

"Here’s a stark way of thinking about the problem: If the U.S. had made as much progress reducing vehicle crashes as other high-income countries had over the past two decades, about 25,000 fewer Americans would die every year."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/11/briefing/us-traffic-deaths.html

It's worth reading the definition of genocide[1] — it's very specific and quite clear. If you find yourself supporting people who are actively committing one — regardless of who they are, regardless of why the day they are, regardless of what anyone else has done to them, you should seriously rethink the choices that have led you to this point. There is no such thing as a justifiable genocide.

And yes, those people may have also done good things, may have done things you agree with, may be the less bad choice among many terrible choices. But in all of those cases, you do not need to support the genocide, and if you feel the need to still side with them, you have a moral responsibility to very clearly condemn that genocide, at the very least.

https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/learn-about-genocide-and-other-mass-atrocities/what-is-genocide

Donald Trump is plotting to overthrow American democracy. It is not a secret, and he is not subtle. The only question is whether enough people will care enough to stop it. https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/donald-trumps-plot-against-america/

TIL about Star Trek Continues https://odd.blog/2023/12/09/til-about-star-trek-continues/

❝ The key point we tried to make is that so much of the arguments being thrown back and forth are really about who it is that gets to determine how a website moderates: should it be the government or should it be the website? If those are the only two options there are, then it already does seem obvious that it should be the website, not the government.
But, the key to our brief is pointing out that this assumes, falsely, that this is the only possible model out there. Instead, we highlight, that it is possible to envision a world in which users themselves get to decide, and any ruling that says the government gets to decide would fundamentally make that kind of user freedom and empowerment impossible. ❞ https://disobey.net/@yawnbox/111546021151675706

Wow! I just responded to a Lemmy (Fediverse Reddit analog) post from my Mastodon (Fediverse oldTwitter analog) account within my Mastodon GUI.

I didn't even realize it was a Lemmy post...

I clicked on the original Lemmy link and saw my Mastodon post as a reply within the Lemmy thread.

See attached for screenshots of the same conversation in both application's UI's.

The fediverse is fucking awesome.

#fediverse #activitypub #mastodon #lemmy

I also really liked Pop Culture Detective’s shoutout to Becky Chambers’ Monk and Robot collection in https://youtu.be/rqQJHja9qxU “In Defense of Disney’s Strange Solarpunk World” where they said something in passing that startled the heck out of me: stories without bad guys.

That’s a genre we need a word for! Stories without antagonists dominate my lists of favorites

“It’s time for our society to admit that we’ve made a mistake and change course.”

> Prioritizing the economy over health will sink both
https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-this-is-a-pandemic-of-attrition

#CovidIsNotOver @novid

Taxpayer funded pharmaceutical patents (and medical device patents) should be owned by the people paying for the product. At both ends it is the citizens of this country providing the money to make these possible.

Biden administration asserts power to seize drug patents https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/07/biden-administration-asserts-power-to-seize-drug-patents.html

these trucks have the same bed length 🤦‍♂️

A year ago, all major economists were predicting a recession as the Fed moved to raise interest rates to battle inflation. But Joe Biden’s and the Democrats’ investment in infrastructure and manufacturing kept the job market strong and resilient, and now there is almost no talk of a recession. Bidenomics is working. Inflation is down, unemployment at historic lows, real wages rising. We should proclaim it far and wide and push back against the doom and gloom the media feeds us and feeds upon.

"Being here, we are trying to halt a suicide, the death of everything that is alive, everything that exists. This is not economic suicide. We are avoiding the omnicide of the world, of planet Earth. There is no other formula, no other path. Everything else is an illusion."

Pedro Gives,
Columbian President,
COP28.

#COP28
#ClimateAction
#PreventingWorldOmnicide

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/02/colombia-joins-international-alliance-calling-for-treaty-to-end-use-of-fossil-fuels

Reduce your need to earn.
#permaculture #economics

Don’t feel helpless. 👇

COP28 NEWS

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls to eliminate use of fossil fuels,

Addressing the delegates, Guterres said, "We cannot save a burning planet with a fire hose of fossil fuel," and he called for the acceleration of "a just and equitable transition to renewable energy."

#Climate #Klima #climat #COP28

When we found out that deodorants were destroying the ozone layer, did we stay telling people to use less toilet spray and buy less Axe? No, we legislated big corps and the problem was completely solved after a few years. What's with the cult of personal responsibility, why are we still here telling people that if they don't take the plane and use paper straws maybe grandma won't lose her house to the rising tides before she dies in an 'unprecedented' heatwave?