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From @existennialmemes on Tumblr:

Listen, if a Bad President can come in and take away our rights and we’re dependent on a Good President replacing them in four years to give us back our rights, then we do not have any rights.

If politicians can take or distribute them, then they’re not “inalienable” and they’re not “rights.”

We don’t have inalienable rights we have conditional privileges, divvied out according to the whims of whoever currently holds the reins.

And if we want to have actual rights, then we must build a system in which no one has the power to take them away to begin with.

I am wondering what a system like that would actually look like… (via @halaylah.bsky.social)

Tags: politics · USA

AOC Shows How to Fight Back and Stand Strong. “AOC’s stand for her constituents, and her public refusal to be intimidated, are models of resistance that other Democrats would do well to imitate.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to watch an earnest show about an ultimately successful revolution against a fascist government. It will be interesting to see in this political climate whether Disney+ is the place to watch such a thing.

Tags: Star Wars · trailers · TV · video

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This website is tracking how many people have lost their jobs because of the USAID Stop-Work Order (55K confirmed, 100K+ estimated globally) and documenting other effects (people dying around the world).

Paul Kunert, reporting for The Register last week: HP Inc is trying to force consumer PC and print customers to use online and other digital support channels by setting a minimum 15-minute wait time for anyone that phones the call center to get answers to troublesome que...

Absolutely beautiful new camera from Sigma. Full-size sensor, interchangeable lens system, but it’s the camera design that jumps out: The Sigma BF represents a new, more intuitive way to use a camera. It is streamlined to make the act of photography as effortless as poss...

From Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, a list of instructions on “how to change your settings to make yourself less valuable to Meta”.

A collection of videos of people fighting back against the Trump administration, incl. Maine governor Janet Mills, former NFL player Chris Kluwe, and AOC. It’s good to see this stuff and to take inspiration from it.

The Guardian profiled a number of people fired from the agencies that manage federal lands - the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, etc. — purged from their jobs by the Trump/Musk administration. Victoria Winch, US Forest Service wilderness forestry technician,...

Following a public uproar, the Trump administration is walking back some of the purges of National Park Service employees.

From Eater, What Should You Do if ICE Comes to Your Restaurant? “We spoke to legal experts about what restaurant owners and workers can do to protect themselves from immigration raids.”

We the Builders is a site run by current and former federal employees about how “DOGE” is destroying the government. “They are destroyers. We are the builders. We don’t work for DOGE. We have always worked for you.”

When Your Only Job Is to Cuddle. “On that day, I rocked him for three hours. My left shoulder ached, my arm went numb, but I would not let go, for he and I had work to do, trust to build.”

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Running Pong in 240 Browser Tabs. “That’s 240 browser tabs in a tight 8x30 grid. And they’re running pong!”

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I’ve been meaning, since it came out in December, to link to this video from Linus Sebastian of “Linus Tech Tips” fame, and with the iPhone 16e dropping this week, now seems like a good time. It’s a common genre that dates back decades before YouTube was even a thing: longti...

Speaking of Amy Sherald, she’s got an exhibition at The Whitney that opens on April 9th! “This exhibition includes a billboard across from the Museum’s entrance on Gansevoort Street.”

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Roxane Gay’s lovely obituary for her mother Nicole: It Was Always Going to be Too Soon. “She had an unwavering moral code, a profound inclination toward justice, and her standards were exacting.”

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In my quest to watch every Jim Jarmusch movie at least once, I finally got to see this one. And this didn't disappoint either. The whole premise of a Don Juan type character, named Don Johnston - played by Bill Murray - on an adventure to find of which of is ex-girlfriends send him a mysterious letter, telling him about a now 19-year old son he didn't know about. His neighbour - who, with a wife, 5 kids, and 3 jobs, is the exact opposite of the Don - excitingly planned the whole trip for him and gives him advise throughout the quest. All those characters and situations are hilarious. And it was fun to notice all those parallels to Jarmusch's other movies - particularly Ghost Dog.

A rape revenge story set in 70s/80s NY. Sounded good, looked great, interesting characters and plot. Good one!