The searchable database of all cases stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection has been removed from the Justice Department website and the perpetrators of the assault on the Capitol have been pardoned, their sentences commuted and their cases dismissed. For @ProPublica, Alec MacGillis examines the myriad problems with trying to make history vanish.

https://www.propublica.org/article/january-6-erasure-doj-database-trump-history

#Government #CapitolInsurrection #CapitolBuilding #TrumpAdministration #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Do Americans understand how livid Canadians are after the Trump administration’s tariff threats? @thetyee breaks it down: No one can trust the U.S. government now, and Canada needs new friends. “If we see Trump’s tariffs and foreseeable future demands as the existential threat that Hitler and Japan were, we could rally the vast majority of 40 million Canadians to reconsider and define our own eternal and perpetual interests. And we would find they mesh with the interests of many other countries around the world."

https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/02/05/We-Are-Now-Being-Extorted/

#Canada #Tariffs #USPolitics #Capoli #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Our @NewsDesk shared this powerful warning from @Vox. Hungarians saw their democracy dismantled at breakneck speed by Victor Orbán, and it’s essential to act fast.

https://www.vox.com/politics/398068/trump-musk-power-grab-hungary-orban

#USPolitics #Hungary #TrumpAdministration #VictorOrban #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

We’re not sure that the fediverse needs a rallying cry to get off social media and start acting in real life, but just in case, here it is. For @404mediaco, @janusrose writes about how we can’t post our way out of fascism. “So what is the alternative? If we log off, what exactly are we supposed to do instead? How are we supposed to get information without constantly raising our antennae into the noxious cumulonimbus cloud of social media? It isn’t quite as simple as ‘touch grass,’ but it also sort of is.”

https://www.404media.co/you-cant-post-your-way-out-of-fascism/

#Trump #TrumpAdministration #SocialMedia #Doomscrolling #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

OpenAI wants to become a for-profit company, but California Attorney General Christopher Lamerdin has questions. First of all, what about the clause in the AI company’s articles of incorporation under which “OpenAI’s assets are irrevocably dedicated to its charitable purpose?” Here’s more from @themarkup.

https://themarkup.org/artificial-intelligence/2025/01/23/openai-investigation-california

#Tech #Technology #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

@Flipboard @404mediaco

#JoinIndivisibleOrg
#StopTrumpNow
#StopElonMusk
#uspol

ALT

The first thing that struck Christian theologian David Brockman about the policy allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to arrest people in churches was the irony: Christian nationalists often say that government should be kept out of churches, and yet here we are. He talked to @TexasObserver about what Christians should do. “The bottom line is that Christians are supposed to care for the stranger among us,” he says.

https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-churches-christianity-constitution-trump/

#Religion #Christianity #Immigration #USPolitics #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

@Flipboard @themarkup

"It's AI. You can ask it to do anything."

Good. Ask it to fuck all the way off.

The California condor disappeared from the wild in the 1980s. @KnowableMag explains how it was brought back, thanks to “refaunation” work in California and Mexico. “What began in the United States has expanded across borders, creating a binational effort in which Mexico has taken an increasingly prominent role. This cooperative approach reflects the very nature of the species, which does not recognize borders in its historical habitat,” writes Iván Carrillo.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2025/california-condor-reintroduction

#Birds #Ornithology #Nature #Environment #Mexico #California ##Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

@Flipboard @TexasObserver

Let's make something clear. They don't speak for me!

In New Jersey, there’s no legal mechanism for judges to take into account whether a defendant suffered abuse that may have been a factor in their committing a crime. Seventy-two percent of first-time offenders imprisoned for a violent crime in the state’s women’s prison were abused by their victim. While Governor Phil Murphy has granted clemency to some people, The ACLU of New Jersey and other groups are now advocating for a legislative fix. @bolts takes a look at the issue.

https://boltsmag.org/new-jersey-clemency-and-sentencing-for-survivors-of-abuse/

#Incarceration #Prison #PrisonReform #Clemency #Law #NewJersey #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Ukrainians smile less than Americans — and not just because of the war. @timkmak’s Counteroffensive looks at the concept of “resting Slavic face,” and the cultural reasons behind it. [Story may be paywalled].

https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/why-do-ukrainians-smile-less-than

#Ukraine #UkrainianWar #Psychology #Culture #RestingSlavicFace #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Wizkid is Nigeria’s most popular musician and a star around the world too. @thecontinent reviews his new album, “Morayo,” which combines Afrobeats, R&B, dancehall, reggae and fújì.

https://continent.substack.com/p/review-wizkids-on-cruise-control

#Africa #Nigeria #Music #Afrobeats #Wizkid #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

How do you like your eggs? Preferably without bird flu. @TheConversationUS looks back at how America was on the brink of a pandemic in 1957, but managed to avoid it thanks, in part, to the abundance of eggs that were used in the production of the vaccine. Will the U.S. get lucky again?

https://theconversation.com/us-dodged-a-bird-flu-pandemic-in-1957-thanks-to-eggs-and-dumb-luck-with-a-new-strain-spreading-fast-will-americans-get-lucky-again-247157

#History @histodons #Science #BirdFlu #Medicine #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Last of all, a bit of lightness in another heavy week: Our @CultureDesk shared this story about how the Proud Boys have had to give up their trademark to a Black church they vandalized. The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. can also block the far-right group from selling licensed goods, like T-shirts or hats, without the church's approval. @AssociatedPress has the full story.

https://apnews.com/article/proud-boys-trademark-church-jan-6-enrique-tarrio-de927b297eaf45df048771a5d52199eb

#ProudBoys #BlackMastodon @blackmastodon #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

@Flipboard @TheConversationUS @histodons I prefer my eggs vegan. Reducing the risk of another pandemic is just one more good reason.