Tootfinder

Cowboys’ Trevon Diggs Shares Strong Message on Micah Parsons Amid Contract Drama https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/trevon-diggs-micah-parsons-contract-drama/?adt_ei=[email]

∩️ Leftist lawmakers gather to answer a question: How to beat the global right?
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-07-31/leftist-lawmakers-from-across-the-hemisphere-gather-to-ask-a-questi…

A conference of leftists wants to know: How to beat the global right?
Political leaders from a dozen countries have gathered in Mexico City to discuss a key question: How can the left win?

TL;DR: what if nationalism, not anarchy, is futile?
Since I had the pleasure of seeing the "what would anarchists do against a warlord?" argument again in my timeline, I'll present again my extremely simple proposed solution:
Convince the followers of the warlord that they're better off joining you in freedom, then kill or exile the warlord once they're alone or vastly outnumbered.
Remember that even in our own historical moment where nothing close to large-scale free society has existed in living memory, the warlord's promise of "help me oppress others and you'll be richly rewarded" is a lie that many understand is historically a bad bet. Many, many people currently take that bet, for a variety of reasons, and they're enough to coerce through fear an even larger number of others. But although we imagine, just as the medieval peasants might have imagined of monarchy, that such a structure is both the natural order of things and much too strong to possibly fail, in reality it takes an enormous amount of energy, coordination, and luck for these structures to persist! Nations crumble every day, and none has survived more than a couple *hundred* years, compared to pre-nation societies which persisted for *tends of thousands of years* if not more. I'm this bubbling froth of hierarchies, the notion that hierarchy is inevitable is certainly popular, but since there's clearly a bit of an ulterior motive to make (and teach) that claim, I'm not sure we should trust it.
So what I believe could form the preconditions for future anarchist societies to avoid the "warlord problem" is merely: a widespread common sense belief that letting anyone else have authority over you is morally suspect. Given such a belief, a warlord will have a hard time building any following at all, and their opponents will have an easy time getting their supporters to defect. In fact, we're already partway there, relative to the situation a couple hundred years ago. At that time, someone could claim "you need to obey my orders and fight and die for me because the Queen was my mother" and that was actually a quite successful strategy. Nowadays, this strategy is only still working in a few isolated places, and the idea that one could *start a new monarchy* or even resurrect a defunct one seems absurd. So why can't that same transformation from "this is just how the world works" to "haha, how did anyone ever believe *that*? also happen to nationalism in general? I don't see an obvious reason why not.
Now I think one popular counterargument to this is: if you think non-state societies can win out with these tactics, why didn't they work for American tribes in the face of the European colonizers? (Or insert your favorite example of colonialism here.) I think I can imagine a variety of reasons, from the fact that many of those societies didn't try this tactic (and/or were hierarchical themselves), to the impacts of disease weakening those societies pre-contact, to the fact that with much-greater communication and education possibilities it might work better now, to the fact that most of those tribes are *still* around, and a future in which they persist longer than the colonist ideologies actually seems likely to me, despite the fact that so much cultural destruction has taken place. In fact, if the modern day descendants of the colonized tribes sow the seeds of a future society free of colonialism, that's the ultimate demonstration of the futility of hierarchical domination (I just read "Theory of Water" by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson).
I guess the TL;DR on this is: what if nationalism is actually as futile as monarchy, and we're just unfortunately living in the brief period during which it is ascendant?

China calls US-China framework deal to move TikTok's US business to American ownership a "win-win"; Trump and Xi are expected to confirm the agreement on Friday (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-

Cyber security is an ever-evolving battle that we can never win.
The reason is simple -- and scary:
Virtually no one actually knows what is running on their computer at this very moment.
Gary Ruddell created a series of videos that are both entertaining and professionally made.
His website provides insight in cyber security and includes articles, a newsletter and also workshops for those who are interested in a career in cyber.
Here's one of his videos.
…

Mission: Impossible - Cyber Security
Signals Intelligence, intelligence services, espionage, cryptology, cipher machines and its history from WW2, over the Cold World era, to date.

Dammit, incarcerated people and their families are NOT an income stream! You want to cut security costs? Make it easier for families to stay in touch with each other. that helps reintegration and lower recidivism rates. It's a win-win. #Oklahoma #PrisonReform

Given the chance, I think her words could resonate in a Provincial election against both the David Eby #BCNDP and the Rustad #BCConservatives (and whatever other parties happen to pop into existence).
It was nice to see a leader actually genuinely congratulate and lift up her rivals in the contest. A rarity these days in too many party leadership races!
Key lines from her speech:
"take on this province's billionaires, largest corporations, and big oil... who take far more than they give.
"democracy is in retreat around the globe, but I am encouraged to see young people in BC fighting back.”
"the BC Green Party has solutions”
"the BC NDP.. are making decisions based on scarcity and fear”
"David Eby... rolling out the red carpet for Donald Trump's inner circle of oligarchs to buy and control even more of our province”.
"The NDP's big idea… to double down on raw resource exports.... no manufacturing, no innovation, no vision for a future beyond more foreign billionaires ripping and shipping our resources while families wait for the wealth to trickle down.”
“while workers wait for fair wages and homes we can afford, the BC NDP doubles down on MAGA backed fossil fuel projects, ignores the need to obtain consent, and refuses to care for our community members”
”The horrors that we are witnessing now are the death rattle of the old world.”
"it is up to us force a new world through”
"We can build a plan to take back the public wealth that has been looted with real taxation on the ultra wealthy”
"Build on our massive advantage of renewable energy… create thousands of jobs”
"will reclaim BC's economy for working people… together we can build a resilient thriving province that respects indigenous sovereignty and our planetary boundaries.”
“we are worthy of better, and worthy of hope. When we learn to believe that again, we can win.”
@…
#BCPoli #BCGreens #CanPoli #CdnPoli #RenewableEnergy

Some leftists have criticized #NoKingsDay2 as useless. Though it was the largest protest in US history, it didn't change anything. I would go further to say that protests like these generally won't change anything. Dictators aren't forced to step down by 2% of the population coming out for one day. If they're forced to step down by protests, those protests are sustained. They are every single day. They are accompanied by general strikes.
We've been watching that happen all over the world. Portland in 2020 gave us a taste of that in the US. The George Floyd Rebellion was the type of resistance that actually brings down dictators like Trump. Occasional protests, no matter how large, can simply be ignored. That is precisely the reason the US developed a militarized police force in the first place. You need more, more than the largest protests in US history, more than Occupy, more than the resistance of the 60's and 70's, more than, and different from, anything we've seen in our lives.
And yet... Each protest has grown, and grown bolder. Some have grown more persistent. If you think of protest as the path to achieve change, you will lose. It is not. But it is a path to escalate. Some people, some otherwise comfortable white folks, came out for their first time. Some people got pepper sprayed for the first time. Some people questioned authority, stood up for the first time, and have had an experience that will radicalize them for the rest of their lives.
Protest is not useful in and of itself. It is training. It's making connections. Authoritarian regimes rely on the illusion of compliance, so visual resistance does actually undermine their power.
Liberals like to teach that non-violence is all about staying peaceful no matter what, that there's some way that morality simply overwhelms an enemy. I remember reading Langston Hughes' A Dream Deferred in high school. I said it was a threat. My teacher said, "you're wrong, he was a pacifist." Pacifism is a threat. If you can spit at me, beat me, shoot me, and I will not move, if I have the strength to absorb violence without flinching, without even rising to violence, what will happen when you push me too far?
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
For peaceful resistance to work, there must be ambiguity. It must not be clear if or when the resistance will stop being peaceful. Peaceful resistance with no possibility of escalation is just cowardice.
My critique then is not so harsh as some other anarchists. If you think that protest alone will work, you're probably going to lose. If you are prepared to escalate, if you are prepared to absorb violence without flinching, then it could be possible for protest alone to topple the dictator. The cracks are already beginning to show.
And then what?
The problems that lead to the George Floyd uprising were never resolved. The problems that lead to Occupy where never resolve. The DAPL was built, protesters were maimed, it leaked multiple times (exactly as predicted). Segregation never went away, it only changed forms. The fact that immigrants have different courts and different rights means that anyone can be arbitrarily kidnaped and renditioned to an arbitrary country. We never did anything about the torture black site. FFS, people can still be stripped of their voting rights and slavery is still legal in the US. The people who control both parties in the US are killing our children and grand children with oil wars and climate change.
Toppling the dictator does nothing to resolve all of the problems that existed before him.
No, #NoKingsDay was absolutely not useless. #NoKings and related protests are extremely useful but they aren't sufficient. But, I think we still need to challenge the movement on two points:
How do you escalate after you're ignored or brutalized?
What do you demand after you win?
#USPol

Dynamic duo in Gotham: Rookies Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo lead Giants to historic win over Eagles https://www.nfl.com/news/dynamic-duo-in-gotham-rookies-jaxson-dart-cam-skattebo-lead-giants-to-historic-win-over-eagles

Grammy Winner Ciara Accepts Offer for Benin Citizenship, a New Way to Reckon with its Slave Trade https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/grammy-winner-ciara-accepts-offer-for-benin-citizenship-a-new-way-to-reckon-with-its-s…

Grammy Winner Ciara Accepts Offer for Benin Citizenship, a New Way to Reckon with its Slave Trade
Approximately 1.5 million Africans were captured, enslaved, and deported to the New World by Benin's tribal leaders.

Voting in the UK Green party elections is half over. Too late to join the party and vote, and sounds like Zack is very likely to win.
Which is good. I voted for him.
I think the job-share rule is important and that any job should be possible to share between workers. But in the case of the "leader", which is literally the face of the party, having two faces is difficult in the public hive mind. Even with a united front, it's litterally two faced.
But mostly my vote was just for Zack, and would have likely voted for him in a job-share too.
He's very personable and seems to know how to talk to the public and express not just environmental issues but other green issues like inequality and war and how your enemy is not a boat of refugees but the concentration of power in the hands of maniacs both political and corporate.
I confess I gave up trying to read anything about the candidates and cast a vote about half way down all the other jobs being elected. I'm just adding noise. I dunno who any of these people are or even what the job entails most of the time and there's too many all at once. Should stagger them weekly or something.
Anyway here's Zack on Mark Steel's sweary podcast being brilliant on the issues and how to explain them better than I can.
I love Mark Steel too. Miss the sketches things it used to have in the newish revised entirely-an-interview format.
🤞
In two parts
#podcast #green #uk #ZackPolanski #listening

One of the issues in the discussion about (gen)AI is the level of anthropomorphizing (terrible word, i have to look it up everytime). AI is not "intelligent" as humans are. It is something different. In some aspects it is better then humans in other (often relatively simple things) incredibly worse. Also we draw wrong conclusions, being able to win a math olympiad is impressive but is not necessarily a sign of intelligence. I view AI as very capable world changing technology. That&…

Analyst: China summoning Nvidia over alleged H20 security risks shows it "wants to use the Nvidia case to show China is a buyer, but it won't be a blind buyer" (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20

China Draws Red Lines on US Chip Tracking With Nvidia Meeting
As the US and China look for any sort of leverage in a prolonged trade fight, Beijing sees an opportunity to win over the world by taking a stand against the Trump administration’s plans to track high-end chips.

Another way of reading that story:
Even if you are fighting a doomed asymmetric battle, if you can get your tormentors obsessed with beating you, you can make them harm themselves badly as they "win."
https://infosec.exchange/@JessTheUnstill/114972393515946976

Putting rum in a porridge jaffle seems destined to win over the judges
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-07/melbourne-woman-wins-porridge-maki…

Australian wins with a jaffle at World Porridge Making Championship
An oatmeal-filled jaffle made by a Melbourne food stylist and flavoured with Bundaberg Rum and bananas wins over judges in Scotland.

Outstanding. Simply outstanding news. I'm sure he'll try to appeal it, but I'll take this win for now. #Oklahoma
https://www.au.org/the-latest/press/walter

Sources: the US Navy and Air Force may cancel two nearly complete HR software projects to give firms like Salesforce and Palantir a chance to win similar work (Alexandra Alper/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-unraveling…

Cowboys Predicted to Replace Micah Parsons With 11-Sack Edge https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/cowboys-predicted-replace-micah-parsons/?adt_ei=[email]