pause and think

I don’t like Covid on a plane,
I do not want it in my brain,
I don’t like Covid, breathed in my face,
I wear a mask, from place to place,
I don’t like Covid numbers hid,
I do not want to infect kids,
I don’t like Covid, and I don’t care,
I do not like it anywhere #DrSeuss
—@keetmuise

Becoming a robot, by @VMaryAbraham

“Your employer has a secret fantasy: they wish you were a robot. Why? Because robots are reliable employees. They work without bio breaks and need virtually no downtime. Robots don’t seek opportunities to foster personal relationships with colleagues. Robots don’t call in sick unexpectedly. Robots don’t have childcare emergencies. Robots don’t create HR issues. Robots don’t have emotions or sensitivities or prior experiences or health conditions that need to be accommodated.

Robots are easy.”

Is Democracy doomed?

“It seems to me that the world is run by a transnational class of gangsters,” said [Ron] Deibert, “If you want to understand the world today, think less of Churchill, Bismarck and Roosevelt. Think more of the villains from James Bond movies. I mean, that better captures what is really going on. I’m exaggerating a little bit. But I think this is what I’ve seen progress over the last 40 years or so, as my career has tracked all of this. And it’s led to horrible abuses of power.”

These aren’t simply the ultra-wealthy, observes Deibert, but also former security specialists, who’ve privatized their services and sell them to the highest bidder, whatever the outcome may be.

Pledge to Pause: Verified is an initiative of the United Nations, in collaboration with Purpose, to cut through the noise to deliver life-saving information on COVID-19 and stories from the best of humanity.

@JonathanStegall — “Every once in a while I like to remind people that screenshots are fine, but also they can be faked by a person who knows how to use a browser inspector. If you need to prove that a thing existed, you want to save it to archive.org They have this feature:”

“Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that this Nature he’s destroying is this God he’s worshiping.” —@Native3rd

Image: @KenHMikkelsen