Paul Sutton @zleap@social.cleverlibre.org

In rural Australia in the 1940s, my mother had rocks thrown at her and was branded a 'communist' because her father, a school headmaster, advocated for establishing a public library.

In the Canadian province where I now reside, the Catholic Church controlled libraries -- and thus access to information -- until the 1960s.

We forget how recent the democratisation of knowledge is -- how transformative such institutions were and how hard-won.

We should not part with them easily.

@lori @rmondello

Privacy concerns have bigger implications.

For example, the sale of Facebook user data to the Mercer's firm, Cambridge Analytica, allowed the Russian Internet Agency to help Republican billionaires subvert elections and referendums.

Trump & Brexit happened because of private data misuse.

Future elections are at the same risk.

Remember, you can browse, download and share our entire May/June 2023 digital issue absolutely free: https://www.texasobserver.org/issues/may-june-issue-wrecking-womens-healthcare/

#journalism #JournoLife #nonprofit #Texas #news

If nothing else, Mastodon seems to be pretty convincing evidence that an edit button can work. I'm not seeing many cases of it being abused the way many worried it would be.

Bad actors are the problem, not the tools. Get rid of the bad faith people, and we can have nice things.

"Study Offers New Twist in How the First Humans Evolved

Scientists have revealed a surprisingly complex origin of our species, rejecting the long-held argument that modern humans arose from one place in Africa during one period in time.

By analyzing the genomes of 290 living people, researchers concluded that modern humans descended from at least two populations that coexisted in Africa for a million years before merging in several independent events across the continent. The findings were published on Wednesday in Nature."

Gift article 🔗: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/17/science/human-origins-africa.html?unlocked_article_code=mw5rImlohHjUoigkU2uwSRKiSz0ofCy05MhHLwygTRQeTiMFQubaUyubTQrIU5_51GJhgAulPejOfZFWxjMv06CqEKM7OR8L0BqYa-kccs-TnRBz-QjyJexvt3rLdvHr77QAY7Vqi8HkXwLIS7ddxUbhKO05rYvMsoqXS-hYjB_dtihh0uCyg140fJ9oMWFk5On6CMSqDOY6gg1hvkutmU2lok9t72290zKUxB_RYicggXAz3Y2LhQ6ywkvRAJxVsvOBu41YKxuQZYOSH7y10HmXLRTJuCYwNoJ2slVw_os6vquZGyJoFnhrqe68V798LnmfzFPiqn_ak371e_c&smid=tw-share

#HumanEvolution #evolution #genetics #archaeology #biology #science

Academic job applicant sues U of California over “compulsion” to submit statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). More Republican fuckery.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/forced-affirm-dei-belief-professor-sues-uc-18109509.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=share-by-email&utm_medium=email

#DEI #academia #AffirmativeAction #DEI #DiversityEquityInclusion

Remember, if you like seeing #news on the #fediverse, you need to support the pubs and authors who bring it here with your clicks, shares and monetary donations!

Just a few of our favs this week: @damemagazine
@TheConversationUS
@thexylom
@gbhnews
@mongabay
@themarkup
@ProPublica
@zinnia
@e_urq
@thetyee
@Chron
@TucsonSentinel
@Susan_Larson_TN
@heiseonline
@FAIR

#journalism #JournoLife #Newstodon #FollowFriday

Got messaged by someone in a furry chatroom saying that I helped them out with a programming assignment a year or so ago.

Apparently they've just managed to graduate with a computer science degree and wanted to thank me for the help I gave them.

Shucks.

Fediverse Presentation. https://personaljournal.ca/paulsutton/fediverse-presentation

Code Club 20/5/2023 Write up https://personaljournal.ca/paulsutton/code-club-20-5-2023-write-up

A Type II supernova results from the rapid collapse and violent explosion of a massive (young) star, 8 to 50 times, the mass of the Sun (M☉).
Type II supernovae are distinguished from other types of supernovae by the presence of hydrogen in their spectra.
The graphic below describes the process that leads to the supernova explosion in such stars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_II_supernova
#M101 #SN2023ixf #Supernova
5/n

BBC News - NI council elections 2023: Sinn Féin largest party in NI local government
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-65655547

Iran: One Execution Every Six Hours https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https%3A%2F%2Firanfocus.com%2Fhuman-rights%2F49556-iran-one-execution-every-six-hours%2F&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGmFiNTY1NDNmYjgzZGRjNmM6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AOvVaw3tck8BfQ8U2XqBSlBH_ef2&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #IranianRevolution #WomenLifeFreedom

Iran's cities erupt in new protests as regime continues its horrific executions surge | https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https%3A%2F%2Fenglish.mojahedin.org%2Fnews%2Firans-cities-erupt-in-new-protests-as-regime-continues-its-horrific-executions-surge%2F&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGmFiNTY1NDNmYjgzZGRjNmM6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AOvVaw32ft3UkO9TCDjw-MWVgGYG&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #IranianRevolution #WomenLifeFreedom

Nebraska. Republicans gather to celebrate banning healthcare for trans kids and simultaneously eliminating abortion access in the state

In Jesus’ name.

A Jesus who:

Hates science
Hates gay people
Hates trans people
Hates poor people
Puts gun rights above children
And needs your money

Think about the kind of person it takes to celebrate hurting others.

For many of us, this isn’t just the face of the GOP. This is the face of Christianity

In the US, hospitals are confident enough to print ‘39.95’ on the bill for holding your newborn

They are so sure about their system they don't mind explicitly spelling out that they charge $40 for literally handing over the baby and waiting for a few minutes

Because they don't even consider that absurd anymore

I got news for you.. it’s ABSURD!

M101, the Pinwheel galaxy, is located 21 million light-years away.
The spiral galaxy is visible face-on in the night sky near the handle of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major).
M101 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781.
M101 has a diameter of 170,000 light-years, about 50% larger than the Milky Way.
It contains around a trillion stars.
Five internal supernovae were recorded prior to SN 2023ixf.
https://stellarium-web.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_Galaxy
#M101 #SN2023ixf #Supernova
4/n

This stunning view of M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, is one of the largest images captured by the Hubble Space telescope. Assembled from 51 exposures taken during various studies over nearly ten years, this infrared and visible-light image measures 16,000 by 12,000 pixels. Ground-based images were used to fill in the portions of the galaxy that Hubble did not observe.
See https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/messier-101-the-pinwheel-galaxy for the full-res image.
#M101 #SN2023ixf #Supernova
3/n