The government has today (8 September) announced urgent action to toughen the Online Safety Act by putting stricter legal requirements on tech companies to hunt down and remove material that encourages or assists serious self-harm, before it can destroy lives and tear families apart.

While platforms already have to take specific steps to protect children from this dangerous self-harm content, the government recognises that adults battling mental health challenges are equally at risk from exposure to material that could trigger a mental health crisis or worse.

The new regulations mean that content encouraging or assisting serious self-harm will be treated as a priority offence for all users.

Online safety laws to strengthen to protect people of all ages from devastating self-harm content

Vulnerable people across the UK will be shielded from the most dangerous content online, as new laws are set to be introduced to prevent devastating self-harm material from reaching people of all ages.

^{Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (GOV.UK)}

::: spoiler Comments
- Hacker News.
:::

Internet ads are horrible: They waste your time, and the advertising industry makes the internet a worse place. Payouts are so small that the only way to survive is to turn your site into an ad filled hellhole with no real substance.

cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37138319

Full Report: “Shadows of Control”.

::: spoiler Investigation Partners
- Paper Trail Media;
- DER STANDARD;
- Follow the Money;
- The Globe and Mail;
- Justice For Myanmar;
- InterSecLab;
- The Tor Project.
:::

The investigation exposes how Pakistani authorities have obtained technology from foreign companies, through a covert global supply chain of sophisticated surveillance and censorship tools, particularly the new firewall (the Web Monitoring System [WMS 2.0]) and a Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS). The report documents how the WMS firewall has evolved over time, initially using technology supplied by Canadian company Sandvine (now AppLogic Networks). Following Sandvine’s divestment in 2023, new technology from China-based Geedge Networks, utilising hardware and software components supplied by Niagara Networks from the U.S. and Thales from France, were used to create a new version of the firewall. The Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) uses technology from the German company, Utimaco, through an Emirati company called Datafusion.

Pro

2025-09-09 09:57:27

Pakistan: Mass surveillance and censorship machine is fueled by Chinese, European, Emirati and North American companies

Full Report: “Shadows of Control”.

::: spoiler Investigation Partners
- Paper Trail Media;
- DER STANDARD;
- Follow the Money;
- The Globe and Mail;
- Justice For Myanmar;
- InterSecLab;
- The Tor Project.
:::

The investigation exposes how Pakistani authorities have obtained technology from foreign companies, through a covert global supply chain of sophisticated surveillance and censorship tools, particularly the new firewall (the Web Monitoring System [WMS 2.0]) and a Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS). The report documents how the WMS firewall has evolved over time, initially using technology supplied by Canadian company Sandvine (now AppLogic Networks). Following Sandvine’s divestment in 2023, new technology from China-based Geedge Networks, utilising hardware and software components supplied by Niagara Networks from the U.S. and Thales from France, were used to create a new version of the firewall. The Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) uses technology from the German company, Utimaco, through an Emirati company called Datafusion.

Leaked files show a Chinese company is exporting the Great Firewall’s censorship technology

Geedge Networks is providing censorship capabilities to foreign governments, including those in Myanmar, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan

^{James Griffiths (The Globe and Mail)}

cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37138319

Full Report: “Shadows of Control”.

::: spoiler Investigation Partners
- Paper Trail Media;
- DER STANDARD;
- Follow the Money;
- The Globe and Mail;
- Justice For Myanmar;
- InterSecLab;
- The Tor Project.
:::

The investigation exposes how Pakistani authorities have obtained technology from foreign companies, through a covert global supply chain of sophisticated surveillance and censorship tools, particularly the new firewall (the Web Monitoring System [WMS 2.0]) and a Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS). The report documents how the WMS firewall has evolved over time, initially using technology supplied by Canadian company Sandvine (now AppLogic Networks). Following Sandvine’s divestment in 2023, new technology from China-based Geedge Networks, utilising hardware and software components supplied by Niagara Networks from the U.S. and Thales from France, were used to create a new version of the firewall. The Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) uses technology from the German company, Utimaco, through an Emirati company called Datafusion.

Pro

2025-09-09 09:57:27

Pakistan: Mass surveillance and censorship machine is fueled by Chinese, European, Emirati and North American companies

Full Report: “Shadows of Control”.

::: spoiler Investigation Partners
- Paper Trail Media;
- DER STANDARD;
- Follow the Money;
- The Globe and Mail;
- Justice For Myanmar;
- InterSecLab;
- The Tor Project.
:::

The investigation exposes how Pakistani authorities have obtained technology from foreign companies, through a covert global supply chain of sophisticated surveillance and censorship tools, particularly the new firewall (the Web Monitoring System [WMS 2.0]) and a Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS). The report documents how the WMS firewall has evolved over time, initially using technology supplied by Canadian company Sandvine (now AppLogic Networks). Following Sandvine’s divestment in 2023, new technology from China-based Geedge Networks, utilising hardware and software components supplied by Niagara Networks from the U.S. and Thales from France, were used to create a new version of the firewall. The Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) uses technology from the German company, Utimaco, through an Emirati company called Datafusion.

Leaked files show a Chinese company is exporting the Great Firewall’s censorship technology

Geedge Networks is providing censorship capabilities to foreign governments, including those in Myanmar, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan

^{James Griffiths (The Globe and Mail)}

hey guys, so i’ve been working on this minimal, text-based reddit alternative for the past few weeks, and i think it’s coming along nicely.

i'm calling it nooki (name might change in the future). for now, you can only share text-only posts (this could also change if it takes off and people want to share images or other media)

it has most of the basic features of reddit, and i’d love to get your feedback on the UI and any features you’d like to see added

here are some more screenshots of the site so far
ibb.co/album/BzdNkF

Der Standard bringt heute ein langes Interview zur Festlegung der europäischen Klimaziele, dass Benedikt Narodoslawsky mit Kywan Riahi geführt hat (Narodoslawsky 2025b). Riahi sagt deutlich, dass Europa bis 2050 nicht CO₂-neutral werden kann, wenn die Emissionen nicht bis 2040 um 90% gesenkt werden. Der Standard hat in der letzten Woche darüber berichtet, dass die ÖVP aktiv versucht, dieses Ziel zu blockieren (Narodoslawsky 2025a), die österreichische Regierung darüber aber nicht einig ist. Über die Konflikte auf der europäischen Ebene gibt es einen ausführlichen Artikel im Guardian (Harvey 2025). Macron und Merz spielen hier unrühmliche Rollen und setzen dabei offenbar auch auf den Antieuropäer Orbán.

Die geopolitische Dimension dieser Entscheidung wird in dem Interview nicht erwähnt. Für mich gehört die Rede, die Mario Draghi vor zwei Wochen in Rimini gehalten hat, zum Hintergrund (Draghi 2025). Draghi fordert eine gemeinsame europäische Industriepolitik, eine Stärkung des Binnenmarkts und eine viel engere politische Integration Europas, damit Europa seine Interessen gegenüber China und den USA durchsetzen kann. Er stellt fest, dass die neoliberale Ära, in der Europa fast ausschließlich auf wirtschaftlichen Erfolg gesetzt hat, um internationales politisches Gewicht zu haben, endgültig vorbei ist. Die Klimakrise erwähnt er dabei nicht. Die Dekarbonisierung spielt aber in dem genau vor einem Jahr entstandenen Draghi-Report eine wichtige Rolle, wenn sie auch nur unter dem Aspekt der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und damit des Wachstums behandelt wird (“The Draghi Report: In-Depth Analysis and Recommendations” 2024).

Die Politik, die Riahi befürwortet, und Draghis Konzepte sind nicht nur kompatibel, sie setzen sich gegenseitig voraus. Um die (bereits verwässerten) Ziele der EU-Kommission durchzusetzen und damit wenigstens im Wesentlichen bei der bisherigen EU-Klimapolitik zu bleiben, ist die Bereitschaft zu einer Art Neugründung der europäischen Institutionen nötig, wie sie Draghi vorschlägt. Anders ist die dazu nötige Industriepolitik nicht zu finanzieren. Das wäre das Gegenteil der Politik der Rechtspopulisten, mit denen Leute wie Macron im Zweifel gegen die Linke zusammenarbeiten. Eine solche Politik wäre auch weit entfernt von der bisherigen Politik der deutschen und österreichischen Konservativen, die sich vor allem an der kurzfristigen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der eigenen nationalen Industrien orientiert.

Um die schlimmsten Folgen der Klimakatastrophe zu begrenzen, ist allerdings viel mehr nötig als das Erreichen der derzeitigen europäischen Klimaziele. Auch das wird im Interview mit Riahi nicht angesprochen. Es gibt kein CO₂-Budget mehr zu verteilen, um das 1,5°-Ziel des Pariser Abkommens auf irgendeinem Reduktionspfad zu erreichen. Die CO₂-Uhr des Potsdam-Instituts zeigt, dass das globale Budget für 1,5° in nicht einmal 4 Jahren aufgebraucht sein wird. Auch die Politik die Draghi vorschlägt und zu der Riahis Argumentation passt, entspricht also nicht dem Ernst der Lage.

Ich lese gerade Karl Polanyis The Great Transformation (Polanyi 2001). Ausführlich schildert Polanyi darin, wie das, was wir heute als kapitalistische Marktwirtschaft kennen, Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts durchgesetzt wurde – bevor man begriffen hatte, dass die Grundlagen der bisherigen ökonomischen Strukturen vor allem durch die Industrialisierung bereits zerstört waren. Über Jahrzehnte bemühte man sich mit nicht funktionierenden Gesetzen, an bisherigen Herrschaftsformen festzuhalten und gleichzeitig die Industrialisierung nicht zu blockieren. Mir kommen die Auseinandersetzungen in der EU ähnlich vor. Die Radikalität der nötigen Transformation wird entweder nicht wahrgenommen – oder, und das scheint mir bei Draghi der Fall zu sein – sie wird wahrgenommen, aber im Sinne des bisherigen Wachstumsparadigmas interpretiert. Zu Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts mussten ökonomistische (wie es Polanyi nennt) Paradigmen erst durchgesetzt werden, um zu begreifen, wie radikal sich Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft verändert hatten. Heute verhindert vor allem der Ökonomismus das Verständnis der nötigen Transformationen. Wenn man Draghis Konzepte „dreht“ und von der Fixierung auf Wachstum und den globalen Markt löst, kommt man einem solchen Verständnis näher. Man erkennt aber auch – denn Draghis Argumente sind stringent – wie eng jede Form der Bekämpfung des Klimanotstands an geopolitische Auseinandersetzungen gebunden ist.

Draghi, Mario. 2025. “EU-Wirtschaft: Europa ist schlecht gerüstet für eine Zeit der Handelskriege.” Die Zeit, August 28, 2025. zeit.de/2025/37/eu-wirtschaft-….
Harvey, Fiona. 2025. “EU States Still Fighting over Crucial Targets in Run-up to Cop30, Leaked Draft Shows.” The Guardian, September 8, 2025, sec. Environment. theguardian.com/environment/20….
Narodoslawsky, Benedikt. 2025a. “ÖVP Bremst in Brüssel EU-Klimaziel Aus – Ohne Zustimmung von SPÖ Und Neos,” September 5, 2025. derstandard.at/story/300000028….
———. 2025b. “Klimaziel Aufweichen? ‘Das Wäre Unverantwortlich,’ Warnt Klimaforscher Riahi.” Der Standard, September 9, 2025. derstandard.at/story/300000028….
Polanyi, Karl. 2001 [1944]. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. 2nd Beacon Paperback ed. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. archive.org/details/in.ernet.d….
“The Draghi Report: In-Depth Analysis and Recommendations.” 2024. European Commission. commission.europa.eu/topics/eu….

EU states still fighting over crucial targets in run-up to Cop30, leaked draft shows

Exclusive: Experts decry lack of nationally determined contributions in negotiating document with weeks to go before UN-set deadline

^{Fiona Harvey (The Guardian)}

Mi sembra strano di non aver mai raccontato questa cosa prima, ma in effetti non l’ho mai fatto… il cosa sono costretta a patire per colpa della MIUI. Non in generale, perché quello lo avrò già raccontato, ma con la app Galleria, che ha un comportamento a dir poco insensato per cui finisce a rubare […]

octospacc.altervista.org/2025/…

minioctt

2025-09-09 10:01:20

galleria miuistica fa lo schifo e ruba spazio porta così ai peli del dentro telefono

Mi sembra strano di non aver mai raccontato questa cosa prima, ma in effetti non l’ho mai fatto… il cosa sono costretta a patire per colpa della MIUI. Non in generale, perché quello lo avrò già raccontato, ma con la app Galleria, che ha un comportamento a dir poco insensato per cui finisce a rubare spazio di archiviazione silenziosamente… (e, ci mancherebbe altro, il pulitore integrato nella MIUI non se ne accorge nemmeno di ciò, maremma sputtanata.) 😾

Praticamente, con il semplice uso, si può notare che il peso dei dati della app aumenta relativamente a dismisura: a me era più di 1 GB ieri sera, quando mi sono ricordata di questa schifezza e sono andata a fare la pulizia a mano… cosa per niente immediata, visto che per qualche motivo questa app non ha nemmeno il tasto “cancella dati” nella schermata impostazioni; solo il “cancella cache”, che però in questo caso è inutile, #Xiaomi di merda. Per fortuna, questo ammasso di dati spazzatura da più di 1 miliardo di byte si trova in /sdcard/Android/data/com.miui.gallery/, non in /data/data/com.miui.gallery/, quindi chi non ha il root non è fottuto. 💩

Non capisco bene cosa sia questa cartella “gallery_disk_cache“ in sé, e perché venga popolata di migliaia di piccoli file fino ad arrivare a sprecare una buonissima parte dell’archiviazione interna del telefono (e poi magicamente io sto sempre senza spazio…); ma, i file, basta ignorare il fatto che siano senza estensione ed aprirli con un visualizzatore di immagini qualsiasi, sono proprio immagini, quindi io suppongo siano delle specie di miniature che la galleria genera per velocizzarsi… che schifo. E ce ne sono due set a quanto pare: uno di immagini a risoluzioni più basse, e l’altro a risoluzioni intermedie, più basse delle originali ma comunque relativamente alte. 🥱

Non riesco a non ripetermi: al di là di tutto, davvero, che schifo. Che schifo che ‘sto rottame di software sia programmato così male da non curarsi di come vada a peggiorare i problemi di questo rottame di hardware, e che schifo che lo faccia così silenziosamente… a me il pulitore di #MIUI spamma sempre pop-up quando ho l’archiviazione pienissima, ma non sia mai che si accorga che la galleria ha 1 GB di file inutili; va solo a guardare le cache di altre applicazioni, che ho già cancellato qualche ora prima, e non si libera quindi mai niente. (E ok, in generale non può cancellare i file che le app classificano erroneamente come dati persistenti anziché come cache, ma mi aspetterei che una app di sistema interagisca al meglio con altre app di sistema…) 💔

Ma la cosa più grave della storia forse è che, a quanto temevo, e facendo un test al volo per confermare… questa #cache di merda conserva anche immagini che vengono altrimenti prima cestinate e poi cancellate da dentro la galleria, quindi è pure un gran rischio di privacy se non si è al corrente e pronti a rimediare a mano! Sarebbe bastato aggiungere al codice un controllo per cui, nel momento in cui un’immagine viene cancellata definitivamente dal cestino, se la relativa miniatura è presente in questa stramba cache allora viene cancellata a sua volta… ma figurarsi se quei cretini che hanno sviluppato questa merda erano in grado di arrivarci. (Ovviamente, non cacha mai immagini che la galleria stessa non vede, quindi per esempio quelle dall’archiviazione privata di altre app… però che schifo comunque.) 🙏

#cache #galleria #MIUI #Xiaomi

Some years ago I found in a garage sale an amazing Power Miners set, 8709. The box was opened, but the plastic bags were intact, instructions a bit crumpled, but everything else was in perfect conditions. I snagged it at a ridiculous price, like 30 euros for this and other random stuff.

I put it up on sale online, I wanted to make some money from it, but didn't want to ship it. Nobody has asked me about the set for 3 years, until last week a guy asked me if I was available to meet for the transaction. At that point, I had lost all interest in buying reselling stuff, I can say that I still enjoy flea markets, but the idea of taking advantage of people on the internet gives me the ick.

I met this guy yesterday, sold him a set that's nearly impossible to find and at a ridiculous price.

Today, he sent me this picture. I am so glad that I made a person this happy, he couldn't believe it and kept on thanking me, I felt like Santa Claus.

L'autre jour je suis allé à une manifestation en soutient à la Palestine. Et j'ai invité ma mère pour m'accompagner!

C'était à Repentigny, devant une usine d'armes. Des chercheurs militants ont découvert que cette usine appartenant à General Dynamics a fabriqué des munitions qui ont été vendues aux États-Unis à destination d'Israël. Officiellement, les armes sont vendues aux États-Unis, mais en réalité, c'est pour les renvoyer à Israel.

Je ne savais pas à propos de cette manigance. C'est ce qui permet à nos gouvernements de dire que "on ne vend pas d'armes à Israel" tout en laissant les compagnies continuer à vendre des armes à Israël indirectement. Au final, le Canada est quand même complice du génocide à Gaza. Et nos politiciens nous mentent en jouant sur les mots.

Je suis allé à cette manif avec ma mère. Elle n'est pas vraiment pas habituée d'aller à ce genre d'événements. D'autant que je sache, elle a participé à une ou deux manifs du jour de la Terre mais sinon c'est tout. Je pense qu'elle était un peu intimidée et craintive. Elle me demandait qui l'organisait, si ça allait être bien organisé. J'imagine qu'elle avait peur que ça vire en manif violente ou que la police fonce dans le tas. Je comprends ce genre d'inquiétude, puisque c'est les seules images que les médias nous montrent. Mais de mon expérience, j'ai jamais vu ça dans aucunes manifs où je suis allé. Alors j'ai rassuré ma mère du mieux que j'ai pu.

Et finalement ça s'est super bien passé. Il y avait 100-200 personnes sur le trottoir. Il y avait de la musique, des joueurs de tambours. Des gens ont distribué du melon d'eau et des bouteilles d'eau (c'était jour de canicule). Des gens ont donné des pancartes avec des slogans pour celleux qui n'en avait pas. J'étais bien content de ça, puisque j'étais venu les mains vides.

Les gens chantaient des cris de ralliement. Je ne connaissais pas très bien les slogans, mais j'ai répété comme j'ai pu. Ma mère criait aussi. Je l'ai rarement vu aussi participante à un événement comme ça. Elle était sur le bord de la rue avec moi à faire des signes pour encourager les autos et les camions de klaxonner! Chaque coup de klaxon déclenchait des cris de joie dans la foule! 😄

Mais au final, est-ce que ça a servi à faire changer les choses? Je me pose souvent cette question quand je vais à des manifs. Est-ce que les ministres nous voient? Est-ce qu'ils nous entendent?

Dans ce cas-ci, je pense que la manif a été particulièrement utile pour 2 raisons:

Premièrement, elle ciblait une usine précise. Pas des bureaux vides de ministres. Les employés de l'usine ont tous vu le message. C'était durant leur journée de travail, à l'heure du changement de quart des travailleurs de jours aux travailleurs du soir. On était présents à toutes les sorties de stationnement donc c'est sûr qu'ils nous ont vu. Maintenant qu'ils ont eu le message, ils peuvent décider d'appuyer le mouvement eux aussi. Ils peuvent demander à leurs patrons des preuves que leurs travail n'ira pas alimenter un génocide. Ils peuvent décider collectivement d'arrêter de travailler sur les commandes qui iront à Israël (ou aux États-Unis), comme font de nombreux travailleurs d'usine et débardeurs partout dans le monde.

Deuxièmement, l'usine est sur une rue très passante de Repentigny, donc on a été vu par des centaines voire des milliers de personnes. Toutes ces personnes ont maintenant vu que le soutient pour la Palestine se rend même à Repentigny. Beaucoup d'autos ont klaxonné, crié ou souri en nous voyant. Y'a beaucoup plus de soutient qu'on pense pour la Palestine dans la population en général et dans les banlieues. C'est pas juste à Montréal! Tout ces gens vont peut-être en parler à leurs ami·e·s ou à leurs collègues de travails. Peut-être qu'eux aussi vont découvrir qu'ils achètent des produits de compagnies qui supporte le génocide (Airbnb, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, CIBC, Coca-Cola, Pepsi et plusieurs autres) et décider de boycotter à la maison ou sur leur lieu de travail. Peut-être qu'ils vont mettre un peu plus de pression sur leurs élus. Peut-être que la prochaine fois ils viendront à d'autres manifs!

C'est comme ça qu'on arrête un génocide!

Au final, c'est comme ça qu'on arrête un fucking génocide! En arrêtant de transporter les marchandises de l'oppresseur. En arrêtant de travailler pour l'oppresseur! En arrêtant d'acheter leur produit. En arrêtant de les garder comme client.

On peut pas attendre que les politiciens bougent leurs fesses. On n'a pas besoin d'attendre que les politiciens bougent. On a plus de pouvoir qu'on pense!

Même au Québec, on peut bloquer les usines qui fabriques des armes génocidaires. Celle de Repentigny, mais aussi les autres! On peut et on doit arrêter les usines d'armes de Longueuil, St-Bruno et Montréal qui continuent de vendre des pièces d'avion ou de bombes à Israël!

On peut s'inspirer des débardeurs en Italie:

Italian dockworkers have threatened to “shut down all of Europe” and block all shipments to Israel if communication with the latest aid flotilla bound for Gaza is lost.

Speaking at a procession in the port of Genoa – one of Italy’s two largest commercial ports – on behalf of the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), a syndicate of various grassroots unions in Italy and thought to be the largest of its kind, the dockworker said: “If we lose contact with our boats, with our comrades – even for just 20 minutes – we will shut down all of Europe.”

“Our young women and men must come back without a scratch, and all this cargo, which belongs to the people and is going to the people, must reach its destination, down to the very last box.” “13,000-14,000 containers leave this region every year for Israel. Not a single nail will leave anymore."

De la résistance comme celle des débardeurs en Italie, il y en a partout dans le monde. En Espagne, en Afrique du Sud, au Maroc.

Il est temps que nous, au Canada, on soit courageux nous aussi.

Plus d'information sur comment le Canada soutient le génocide en Palestine.

Passer à l'action en écrivant à votre député.

Suivre la lutte des jeunes pour la Palestine sur Instagram.

Greetings Programs!! We just committed our new application icon for Pidgin 3 to version control and we want to hear your thoughts!! So please share them on this post!

Discuss this on our forum.

Philadelphia’s transit system plunged into crisis on August 24, when the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) slashed bus, trolley, subway, and Regional Rail service by 20%. SEPTA eliminated 32 bus routes, shortened 16 more, and reduced the frequency of other bus and train lines. The crisis occurred as a result of state lawmakers failing to close a USD 213 million budget gap. The funding standoff left the city’s 746,500 SEPTA riders stranded and pushed the nation’s sixth-largest transit agency toward what officials call a “death spiral” – which has deeply impacted the disproportionately Black and lower-income SEPTA ridership. Nearly three-quarters of Philadelphia transit riders don’t own a car; more than half are Black, and nearly half earn under USD 30,000 a year.

Cuts to public transit in Philadelphia have forced commuters to double their commute time, says longtime Philly-based organizer Talia Giles. In the process of interviewing Philly residents following SEPTA cuts, Giles said, “one of the people that we spoke to was a student, and she said that she’s lucky now if she makes it home within 45 minutes. But originally her commute was 20.”

But amid this crisis, as students and workers struggled to get to their destinations, a sports betting company stepped in to fill in the gaps to make sure that people could get to the first football game of the season on September 4. FanDuel, an online gambling company, pledged USD 80,000 to keep trains running on the Broad Street Line for the Philadelphia Eagles’ home opener.

Transit across the country faces similar crisis

What led to this mass transit crisis? A huge boost in funds from the federal government to SEPTA during the pandemic has since been exhausted.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, aid was distributed by the US government to transit systems of major cities. Federal COVID relief funds provided to SEPTA amounted to about USD 1.5 billion, but this money was exhausted by June 2024. SEPTA never recovered its pre-pandemic ridership, and this, combined with the end of federal relief funds, contributed to the budget crisis that has raised new questions about the federal government’s role in supporting transit systems in major cities.

In Philadelphia, the lack of federal aid for SEPTA was exacerbated by the fact that unlike New York or Los Angeles, Philadelphia lacks a dedicated regional tax to fund transit.

Other transit systems which could face similar budget challenges with the end of federal COVID relief include the public transit in Chicago, Dallas, Portland, and San Francisco. For example, Chicago transit faces a USD 771 million budget deficit.

Service returns, but at a cost

On September 4, days after the service reductions went into place across Philadelphia, a Pennsylvania court ordered SEPTA to halt all planned service cuts, including eliminations of bus routes, Regional Rail lines, station closures, and curfews, and to immediately restore any services that had been reduced or eliminated. On Monday, September 8, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro approved SEPTA’s request to redirect up to USD 394 million in capital assistance funds initially earmarked for infrastructure, to maintain and restore daily operations. This funding shift is expected to stave off further cuts for approximately two years.

Despite the restored service, SEPTA plans to implement a 21.5% fare hike, from USD 2.50 to 2.90, effective September 14. Despite the cuts to service, Giles claims that “we’ve also seen increased police presence and then increased fines and arrests” for fare evasion.

Philadelphia is labeled as the “poorest big city” in the US, with the highest poverty rate of any of the nation’s 10 largest cities. The SEPTA cuts hit lower income riders the hardest, a disproportionate number of whom are Black in a city with a plurality of Black residents, making up almost 40% of the city’s population. In 2023, the Transit app conducted a survey which revealed that in Philadelphia, nearly three-quarters of transit riders lack access to a car. Over half are Black, and almost half live in households making under USD 30,000 a year.

“The SEPTA crisis is a clear example of how poor and working people are so often denied basic public services,” said Walter Smolarek, a longtime Philadelphia resident and editor of Liberation News. “Even though major corporations like Comcast and Vanguard Financial are headquartered in the Philadelphia area, the city still lacks the tax revenue to meet its residents’ needs. Philadelphia is also home to about half of Pennsylvania’s Black population, and right-wing politicians from majority white areas routinely refuse to provide the city its fair share of state funding.”

In response to SEPTA’s restoration of transit services, some riders are reacting with indignation to the upcoming fare hikes. “It’s a racket, it’s a money grab. They already knew they had the money, they had the funding. They just want people to possibly suffer who can’t afford it as is at 2.50 dollars. It wasn’t that long ago we went up to 2.50 dollars and now 2.90 dollars, it’s impossible,” said Goldie Chavous, a SEPTA rider, told FOX 29.

The post Philadelphia public transit “death spiral” is a warning for other underfunded cities across the US appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

From Peoples Dispatch via this RSS feed

New details on SEPTA restoring services, fare hikes and funding controversy

A deadline has been set for SEPTA to reverse all the service cuts it has recently made. Plus more on the fare increases.

^{Steve Keeley (FOX 29 Philadelphia)}

!photography@piefed.social

piefed.social/c/photography

Photography group

From mastodon / pixelfed @photography@piefed.social

A new survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and reported on by Apolloseems to show that large companies may be tapping the brakes on AI. Large companies (defined as having more than 250 employees) have reduced their AI usage, according to the data (click to expand the Tweet below). The slowdown started in June, when it was at roughly 13.5%, slipping to about 12% at the end of August. Most other lines, representing companies with fewer employees, are also at a decline, with some still increasing.

AI adoption rate is declining among large companies — US Census Bureau claims fewer businesses are using AI tools

Strong start, but what now?

^{Hassam Nasir (Tom's Hardware)}

https://thedailyadda.com/2025/09/08/news/politics/white-house-in-total-meltdown-after-trumps-shocking-epstein-letter-leaks/

By AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX
Updated 11:08 AM EDT, September 8, 2025

Capitalism’s image has slipped with U.S. adults overall since 2021, the survey finds, and the results show a gradual but persistent shift in Democrats’ support for the two ideologies over the past 15 years, with socialism rising as capitalism falls. The shifts underscore deep divisions within the party about whether open support for socialism will hurt Democrats’ ability to reach moderates or galvanize greater support from people who are concerned about issues like the cost of living.

...But Democrats under 50 are much less likely to view capitalism favorably, while the opinions of Democrats ages 50 and older haven’t shifted meaningfully, according to Gallup.

https://apnews.com/article/socialism-socialist-capitalism-big-business-free-enterprise-poll-c052ca687269a2cc075423877b7904e6

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/35882926

By AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX
Updated 11:08 AM EDT, September 8, 2025

Capitalism’s image has slipped with U.S. adults overall since 2021, the survey finds, and the results show a gradual but persistent shift in Democrats’ support for the two ideologies over the past 15 years, with socialism rising as capitalism falls. The shifts underscore deep divisions within the party about whether open support for socialism will hurt Democrats’ ability to reach moderates or galvanize greater support from people who are concerned about issues like the cost of living.

...But Democrats under 50 are much less likely to view capitalism favorably, while the opinions of Democrats ages 50 and older haven’t shifted meaningfully, according to Gallup.

Peter Link

2025-09-09 01:29:39

What Americans think about socialism and capitalism, according to a new Gallup poll

By AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX
Updated 11:08 AM EDT, September 8, 2025

Capitalism’s image has slipped with U.S. adults overall since 2021, the survey finds, and the results show a gradual but persistent shift in Democrats’ support for the two ideologies over the past 15 years, with socialism rising as capitalism falls. The shifts underscore deep divisions within the party about whether open support for socialism will hurt Democrats’ ability to reach moderates or galvanize greater support from people who are concerned about issues like the cost of living.

...But Democrats under 50 are much less likely to view capitalism favorably, while the opinions of Democrats ages 50 and older haven’t shifted meaningfully, according to Gallup.

https://apnews.com/article/socialism-socialist-capitalism-big-business-free-enterprise-poll-c052ca687269a2cc075423877b7904e6

The number of reported arrests is relatively few, but immigrant rights advocates said the operation appears to mark a shift in ICE tactics. Before this operation, local activists said, agents had been targeted in their tactics, presenting warrants at specific homes or detaining people at immigration court. Stopping people on the street in what appeared to be a fairly random fashion is new, they said.

In short, the Supreme Court decision not to uphold an injunction barring the use of racial profiling a basis for arrest is having fairly immediate consequences .

Access options:
* gift link — registration required
* archive.today — should load a few minutes after this post goes up

Jon Queally
Sep 08, 2025

Many thousands marched in solidarity through downtown Chicago over the weekend to denounce the growing threat of Trump's authoritarianism, with the Midwest's largest city his latest target.

Organized by the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, city residents demonstrated in droves on Saturday afternoon, walking down Michigan Avenue carrying signs that read: "National Guard Stay Out of Chicago!"; "ICE Out of Chicago!"; "No Trump! No Troops!"; "No Nazis - No Kings"; and "Rise Up! Fight Back!"

'No Trump! No Troops!' Thousands March in Chicago as President Threatens 'War'

"Trump has spent billions on federal guards and the militarization of our community, pouring money into weapons and intimidation instead of investing in schools, hospitals, jobs, and housing."

^{jon-queally (Common Dreams)}

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/35882855

Jon Queally
Sep 08, 2025

Many thousands marched in solidarity through downtown Chicago over the weekend to denounce the growing threat of Trump's authoritarianism, with the Midwest's largest city his latest target.

Organized by the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, city residents demonstrated in droves on Saturday afternoon, walking down Michigan Avenue carrying signs that read: "National Guard Stay Out of Chicago!"; "ICE Out of Chicago!"; "No Trump! No Troops!"; "No Nazis - No Kings"; and "Rise Up! Fight Back!"

Peter Link

2025-09-09 01:21:27

'No Trump! No Troops!' Thousands March in Chicago as President Threatens 'War' | Common Dreams

Jon Queally
Sep 08, 2025

Many thousands marched in solidarity through downtown Chicago over the weekend to denounce the growing threat of Trump's authoritarianism, with the Midwest's largest city his latest target.

Organized by the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, city residents demonstrated in droves on Saturday afternoon, walking down Michigan Avenue carrying signs that read: "National Guard Stay Out of Chicago!"; "ICE Out of Chicago!"; "No Trump! No Troops!"; "No Nazis - No Kings"; and "Rise Up! Fight Back!"

'No Trump! No Troops!' Thousands March in Chicago as President Threatens 'War'

"Trump has spent billions on federal guards and the militarization of our community, pouring money into weapons and intimidation instead of investing in schools, hospitals, jobs, and housing."

^{jon-queally (Common Dreams)}

The venture capital giant, behind cyber giants Wiz and Databricks, said it has notified current and former employees and the firm's limited partners of its January breach.

VC giant Insight Partners notifies staff and limited partners after data breach | TechCrunch

^{Zack Whittaker (TechCrunch)}

"If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say this was a crime, see? So now I can't claim 100 percent [reduction in crime]," the president said Monday.

The one crime Trump doesn't seem to have a problem with? Domestic violence.

^{Mother Jones}

Earlier policy on transgender service personnel has effectively created a list for the Pentagon

Trump asked trans troops to get an official diagnosis. Now he’s using it to kick them out

^{Oliver O'Connell (The Independent)}

Good lord, here comes another act of preemptive cowardice in service of ensuring the most powerful man in the world enjoys his appearance before a crowd he can’t control or doesn’t own.

Archived version: archive.is/newest/techdirt.com…

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

US Open Tells Broadcasters Not To Broadcast Trump Being Booed At The US Open

Good lord, here comes another act of preemptive cowardice in service of ensuring the most powerful man in the world enjoys his appearance before a crowd he can’t control or doesn’t own.…

^Techdirt

Union says ‘Amazon is breaking the law’ after drivers working for contractor Cornucopia were terminated

Amazon fires 150 unionized third-party drivers, Teamsters says

^{Lauren Aratani (The Guardian)}

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Back when this interview was published (2000), the National Association of Broadcasters were really pissed off about guys like this, because 98% of the radio airwaves were controlled by private commercial stations. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Some background for the younger Lemmy lads: Stephen Dunifer wasn’t just another tinkering engineer soldering circuits in a Berkeley garage. Nah, he looked at the radio dial, saw the dead air between the corporate-owned frequencies, and said, “Fuck this! This silence belongs to us.”

He sailed electromagnetic seas, proved that resistance could be tuned in, live, and crackling through your car radio.

Free Radio Berkeley was a radio station and middle finger wired to an antenna, 40 watts of anarchist static against the monolithic hum of the FCC.

Dunifer was inspired by Black Liberation Radio in Springfield and the scrappy DIY transmitters of Japanese street radicals.

He called it democracy on the cheap, transmitters built for the cost of a weekend’s rent, voices breaking out of the gated spectrum where anything under 100 watts was outlaw territory.

So, of course, US courts called it piracy.

The legal battle with the FCC in the mid-90s became a theater of absurdity: men in suits waving injunctions at a guy who just wanted neighborhoods to hear themselves on the air.

So here's a good interview with him. I miss the days of microradio stations saying "fuck you" to the capitalists. Sigh...

If you're too bored to click the link, here ya go, but you miss all the potato camera pics:

Interview with Stephen Dunifer, Microradio Pioneer
By John Tarleton, June 2000

BERKELEY, California—Stephen Dunifer is the founder of Free Radio Berkeley and International Radio Action Training Education (IRATE). Disenchanted with the direction of mainstream media, he launched his own unauthorized FM radio station from the hills outside of Berkeley in the spring of 1993. His transmitter was about the size of a brick.

Free Radio Berkeley came to have 100 volunteers and 24 hours a day of programming. Dunifer would become embroiled in a running legal battle with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over his right to be on the air without a government license. Free Radio Berkeley was silenced in June 1998 by court injunction, though the case is presently being reviewed by a federal appeals court.

Dunifer continues focusing his energy on helping to build a movement; offering workshops and technical support and distributing simple, inexpensive radio equipment (see picture below of 40-watt transmitter) to community radio activists throughout the United States and to places like Haiti, Chiapas, El Salvador and East Timor. An activist since the Vietnam War era, the 48 year-old Dunifer has become the Johnny Appleseed of the Free Radio Movement.

"It's important," he says, "to take back the means of communication and put it in as many hands as possible."

The concentration of ownership in the radio industry has greatly accelerated since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was passed with strong bipartisan support. A single owner can now control as many as eight stations in one city. Communities are recast as markets. Identical formats. Automated playlists. Increasing homogenization equals increasing profits. According to the latest data, three companies - Clear Channel (512), AMFM (443) and Cumulus Media (231)- now control almost 1,200 stations.

In this cultural wasteland, hundreds of unauthorized, low-power "pirate" stations have taken to the air. Facing a growing movement of electronic civil disobedience, the FCC reversed itself in January and announced it would license 1,000 LP (low-power)-FM stations (ranging from 10 to 100 watts) in the next couple of years. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) was outraged. 98% of the radio airwaves are controlled by private commercial stations. And though few of the proposed new low-power licenses would be granted in populous urban areas, the NAB has mounted a furious lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill to have the new FCC regulations overturned.

Interestingly enough, the NAB will be holding its annual radio convention in San Francisco from September 20-23. Dunifer and others are planning a raucous greeting for when the NAB comes to town.

On a warm, Saturday afternoon in late May, a motley crew of 35 or so community radio activists from Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Humboldt County, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Austin, Pennsylvania, etc. gathered in a Unitarian Church a couple of miles from where the original Free Speech Movement was born in the fall of 1964. The meeting was long. Seven hours. But, most people stuck it out. Their plans were ambitious, to "bring Seattle to the airwaves" with a four-day counter-convention featuring teach-ins, workshops, protests, street theatre and possibly large-scale non-violent civil disobedience.

Near day's end, people began dividing into committees and passing around sign-up sheets for various listservs. A web site was already under construction. The group gave itself a name—the Microradio Action Coalition (MAC). A certain tingle was in the air. There was the strange and exciting feeling of being present at the conception of another one of these mass, Seattle-style direct actions.

The following day I caught up with Dunifer at Free Radio Berkeley's headquarters in a cramped warehouse studio nd he reflected on the past, present and future of microradio.

"A Need That Had to Be Dealt With"
JT: We live in a media-saturated society. There's a tremendous number of media outlets including NPR stations in almost every American city. Why is microradio important?

SD: It's important for a number of reasons. One has to consider what NPR really stands for. In my opinion, NPR stands for "Nothing to Provoke Rebellion'' or "No Problems Radio". People have very little access as a community to the NPR stations, particularly large flagship stations like the ones we have here in San Francisco. Smaller communities might have a little bit more of a possibility.

Even though a person may have access, it doesn't mean they have a voice. The real difference is that micro-powered broadcasting gives communities a voice and allows them to empower themselves with that voice. The real bottom line in this is it allows people to speak to each other in communities, to express themselves, to share their art, their music, their culture, all the rich diversity they have to offer each other.

JT: What motivated you to become as involved as you have?

SD: Besides sheer obstinacy and bullheadedness, I basically saw a need that had to be dealt with as I was looking at things as they were developing in the early part of the '90s with the Gulf War and local and regional issues and that none of these were being covered.

In the case of the Gulf War, you had the military inviting the media into a spare room in the Pentagon and giving forth an arcade game version of the war (then) going all the way down to the bombing of Judi Beri and Darryl Cherney and local issues we were dealing with here in Berkeley over free speech rights, rights of assembly. Issues all across the board were not being represented at all. And if they were, it was very distorted and one-sided. Also, our supposed People's Voice, KPFA, was showing a severe lurch to the center. It all pointed to the fact that we had to look at alternatives how to reach people, how to give them a voice.

I had been involved in publishing other things. I didn't think publishing a new newspaper was really going to solve it. Having a background as an electronics design engineer/computer systems person and having a background also as a broadcast engineer, I said, "let's go for it." and look at doing some low power, knowing of some of the efforts of people before like Mbanna Kantako in Springfield, Illinois in the late '80s.

I met with people from the National Lawyers Guild Committee on Democratic Communications who had already been working on this issue in relation to Mbanna's situation. They had already done a sample brief that could be used by him or anyone else. The constitutional issues that were raised seemed very creditable to me. The FCC's regulatory policies and structure were overly restrictive because they prohibited stations with less than 100 watts of power. The rules and the process were for people that could afford to go through a $100,000 plus process to get a license.

So, Free Radio Berkeley went on the air April 11, 1993 as a free speech voice. It was a protest against the FCC's regulatory policies and a way of providing a voice for the community.

A Campaign of Electronic Civil Disobedience
JT: How has the FCC treated you and Free Radio Berkeley over the years? And, what's your rationale for breaking the law? When is it a good thing to go ahead and break the rules?

SD: First off, we have a quote on our web site from Howard Zinn that says, "Breaking the law isn't antithetical to democracy. It's essential to democracy." If people hadn't broken and defied the segregation laws in the South, if people hadn't taken the actions they did during the 1930s labor movements or in the 1890s in the general strike or any number of events and actions that have shaped the history of this country, we would be in a whole different situation. We would be in a Fascist dictatorship if people had not challenged the status quo. This is what democracy is all about. Democracy takes many forms.

To me, what we embarked on was a campaign of electronic civil disobedience. We felt the laws were unconstitutional. They were unjust. They violated our constitutional rights (and) our human rights as defined by UN accords. We felt taking action was necessary to force a change in those laws.

And in fact, that's what has happened. The FCC was saying three or four years ago in open court documents that they would never visit this issue again. And now, as a form of damage control, the FCC has given us a few crumbs off the table with the new LP-FM service.

It's been an interesting relationship for these seven years. They have stalled and stonewalled and prevaricated along this whole issue. So far, they have managed to dodge the bullet of constitutional scrutiny on their whole regulatory structure, which I feel is still unconstitutional. I don't feel they have the right to sell the airwaves in auctions.

JT: You say you don't recognize the constitutionality of the way the FCC distributes licenses for radio stations. Sketch out your vision for what would be the optimal setup for distributing what is ultimately a limited, finite resource.

SD: There's various ways of looking at it. If we could get 50% of the corporations off the airwaves, that's one way. The other way is to transition in where they give us new spectrum space.

For example, open up the FM band at the low end by moving TV channel 6 to the UHF digital, which is supposed to happen. That would open up 30 new channels of FM frequencies. And over a three or four year period, radio receivers could be manufactured to meet that new band requirement. That's not a big issue in my opinion. Already, such receivers exist in Japan because in Japan FM goes down to 78 Megahertz.

So, that's the more viable way. They have sort of recognized that. One of our proposals we put to the FCC was to open up that band. Well, now they want to open it up for the new digital broadcasting instead of what we proposed. We know it's a viable option to open up that six megahertz of channel space and make that available for strictly low-power community broadcasting, which I would see as being done more as a registration process than formal licensing.

That is, you find a frequency that is usable, fill out the paper forms, and notify the FCC that you have registered the use of that frequency. Then, follow the rules of the road in terms of interference, channel spacing and equipment and filtering and all that. As long as you follow the rules of the road, then there's no problem. That way it keeps it a much less formal way of dealing with it.

Globalizing from Below
JT: You've done work to bring microradio to other countries What are the policies and attitudes you've found from governments where you've tried to spread low-power radio?

SD: It varies. In Haiti, it's fairly easy to do. The Lavalas Party, the peasants' party, is in power ostensibly in Haiti. A lot of people work with our people in the peasant movements. So, there's been no problems there. In fact, it's almost easier to do microradio in Haiti than it is here.

In Mexico, it's very much opposed by the government. They have shut down stations. And, El Salvador does not recognize community radio as a service. They only recognize commercial and government radio. There's been ongoing fights in El Salvador over community radio.

In some places no governments exist at all virtually. We supplied several transmitters to opposition forces in East Timor against Indonesia and they were eventually were able to move back into Dili (East Timor's capitol city) and one of our transmitters there was set up as an official People's Voice of Dili.

JT: With the new FCC regulations going in place, talk about the strengths and weaknesses you see in what they've offered low-power people. Also, the NAB reaction and how this all leads into the mobilization this September for the counter-convention.

SD: In my opinion, what the FCC has given us is massive damage control. Essentially, they were faced with an ungovernable situation with hundreds if not thousands of people going on the air in their communities with micropower stations. People are still doing it. They may have slowed down a bit. Some people anticipate they may get some sort of license.

I think part of the reason the FCC did this is to break us up into two camps, those who are willing to go along with the process and those who see the process for what it is; tossing us a few crumbs while allowing the corporations to still dominate the airwaves, the people's resource. One, which in my opinion, has been stolen from the people. We're not the pirates. The corporations are the pirates here. We're not engaging in felonious activity. We are engaging in free speech activity.

The strength of it is they are actually recognizing the validity of what we are saying. In fact, most of the things adopted by the FCC were recommendations given to them by the micropower movement as represented by the National Lawyers Guild on Democratic Communications. If you listen to the FCC, they're making statements that could come from our court documents and other public record statements over the period of time we've been doing this. They've come around, at least at the official level, of recognizing the necessity of this.

Of course, this has sent the National Association of Broadcasters into a fit of apolexy. We've been in a state of war with the NAB for the last three or four years. They essentially declared war on us at one of their radio meetings. They put out orders to all their member stations, which is most every commercial station in this country, to locate and report any micropower station in their area regardless of whether that station was causing interference to any other existing services. Essentially, a search-and-destroy mission against micropower broadcasting.

In response to the FCC's LP-FM ruling, the NAB got its bought-and-paid-for Congress critters to introduce their own legislation to roll back the few crumbs the FCC has given us. That bill has now passed the House and will come up for a vote in the Senate soon. So, what we are mobilizing for is a mass outpouring of people to come to the NAB's radio convention

Who knows why they picked San Francisco. But, they're going to be right on our doorstep September 20-23 and we have every intention of confronting them and shutting down various aspects of their convention. Also, at the same time we will have our own counter-convention to push for independent, local, democratic media that will be the voice, the eyes and ears and the written hand of people in all these different communities across the country and the world.

JT: A globalization from below.

SD: Absolutely. My slogan is, "Act Globally, Revolt Locally."

Reaching Out
JT: A question about the September mobilization. This weekend there was the first meeting of the Microradio Action Coalition. Given the origins of the microradio movement with Mbanna and others and the necessity of bringing microradio to all types of communities, do you see this mobilization reflecting the diversity of the groups that could make use of this kind of communication.?

SD: Absolutely. That's our intent. You have to understand that when people of color do something illegal the repercussions for them are ten times as worse. We had one person in L.A., Michael Taylor, who met a very odd death over this issue. There was some weird, gnarly stuff going down. We don't know all the details. The point is when a person of color undertakes something like this for a community of people of color, they're gonna be subject to a lot more abuse. They could have the cops coming in and jacking them up on all kinds of pretexts. That's one of the deterring factors.

There's not any issues, as far as I'm concerned, in this movement of racism and classism. The fact of life (is) if you are a person of color in this community, or any community, particularly if you are an activist and going up against the system, you could end up like Geronimo Pratt, 27 years behind the bars, because the FBI lied about what you did, or (like) Mumia or whoever.

We definitely want to do a big outreach to youth of color to get them involved creating their own media so their own stories can be heard. So, we're going to do everything possible. We're basically here to help anybody, anytime set up a micropower station. If people want us to do workshops, or whatever, we'll do it.

But when you have a situation where three youth of color standing on the sidewalk corner is considered a riot by cops and dealt with accordingly, then you have to put yourself in their shoes and understand why they have to be a little bit more circumspect about these sort of things in their communities.

JT: What do you see for the future of community radio here in the US in the coming years? Do you see low-power taking the place of NPR-style public radio?

SD: We should be so lucky. I think it (low-power FM) is going to have an ever-increasing place in communities. As long as people are forthright and militant enough about it to not give up their rights to the airwaves, then it's going to happen in a real major way. More people are looking at the issue of corporate control of every aspect of their lives. Communication is an absolutely essential part of being able to deal with this whole issue of corporate hegemony. Because if you can't communicate, you can't organize. If you can't organize, you can't fight back. And if you can't fight back, you have no hope of winning.

Symbiosis: Microradio and the Net
JT:What kind of symbiosis do you see emerging between the Internet and low-power community radio?

SD: It's a symbiosis that has actually been in process for some time. I would say a lot of it began in 1997 when we set up the A-Infos radio project site basically to exchange program content in digital file form on MP3. And since then what we're looking at is using the Web as an alternative distribution medium to share program materials. In Seattle, we had Studio X. "Voices of Occupied Seattle" was doing a live Internet feed from Seattle. That feed was picked up and rebroadcast by community and micropower stations around the world. We had calls, for example, from Amsterdam. Radio 100 was rebroadcasting the feed.

What this does is allow us to both operate very locally as a grassroots community voice and at the same time operate globally as a grassroots global community to bring in breaking news, breaking things as they are happening right there in the immediacy of the event. Or, offer it on a delayed basis from taped material and content.

So, bascially we are seeing this integrated relationship between the Net as a distribution medium, as a way of communicating between stations to organize ourselves more effectively, to share content, to set up, as needed, webcasting studios to provide content to other stations. In the Bay Area, we are going to be providing webcasting services of all major events that occur in the Bay area so stations around the world and people individually can tune in and listen or dial in or dial up.

We see that there's going to be a very productive relationship between all these forms of grassroots media tool usage with the Internet, micropower broadcasting, inexpensive computer systems to edit your video and audio material and word processors to write your stories on. And using the Net to promulgate these on a global basis and using the micropower stations to promulgate it on a community basis. Not everyone in the community is gonna own a computer nor may they want to. Everyone's got a radio, though.

JT:Last question. The Internet played a huge role in what happened in Seattle and people are continuing to use it as an effective tool. Do you think that the powers-that-be ever imagined it would work out this way? And, do you think there's any way they can reign it back in?

SD: I'm sure they never conceived it would ever happen this way. But, that's the perversity of the Universe in which we live. Things take a life of their own. And at this point, I don't think they are going to be able to reign it back in. It has permeated everything too deeply to be uprooted. And if they do, it would cause such a major social upheaval. In terms of people, it would set off a major prairie fire of resistance.