Futurology Today

From Jason Fraser

As the sun rises, the blue jays' complaints fill the air while the trees whisper secrets to a majestic Great Gray Owl.

Help win some free meals for owls!

The New Jersey senator spent much of his speech, which ended after more than 25 hours, assailing the Trump administration. He eclipsed Strom Thurmond’s filibuster of a civil rights bill in 1957.

I have a pixel 6a with graphene installed. I want to transfer everything to a second pixel 6a but the digitizer is toast. I tried mouse via usb a to c dongle to get in and back stuff up, but it doesn't work on lock screen presumably until it is unlocked once with the mouse plugged in, as with the new one.

really any backup method that can work will do if there are any.

I have been using Mastodon for over 2 years (and Lemmy since August 2024).

I'm still a bit mystified about the use of Favorites.
Personally, I use them thusly:

1. If I think a post is good in some way, but that my followers probably wouldn't want to read it (if it's in another language, or if it's personal, etc.) So Favorite only, no boost.

2. If I like a post, and I want to give it extra traction beyond the boost I am also giving it. (I use this a lot.)

The second use is based on the statement on the mastodon.social instance Explore page: "These posts from across the fediverse are gaining traction today. Newer posts with more boosts and favorites are ranked higher." (emphasis added)

But I notice that most posts with many boosts don't also have many Favorites, so clearly I am out of step with most Mastodon users.

So could people enlighten me on this? Thanks.

Artist: Wenfei Ye | pixiv | artstation | danbooru

Full quality: .jpg 6 MB (4000 × 2524)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27682168

Summary:

The Trump administration inadvertently revealed on Monday that it is attempting to trap Venezuelan migrants in a catch-22 that would effectively block them from challenging their deportation and detention in an El Salvador prison. In a court filing, the government acknowledged that it had deported at least one migrant to El Salvador due to an “administrative error”—but argued that the individual had no right to contest his imprisonment because he is in the custody of a “foreign sovereign.”

This argument confirms what’s been clear for weeks: The government intends to treat the prison as a black site where migrants have no constitutional rights whatsoever and may be subject to any treatment whatsoever—including indefinite detention, forced labor, torture, or death.

But Monday’s filing illustrates another, more subtle problem that the Justice Department probably did not intend to admit: The government is trying to shunt migrants’ legal claims through a channel that is doomed to end in failure.

It seeks to ensnare these migrants in a Kafkaesque trap from which there may be no lawful escape. And it is trying to sell this subterfuge to the federal judiciary as a legitimate opportunity for due process if any migrants have plausible objections to their treatment.

To see how hollow that promise is, just look to the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. A native of El Salvador, Abrego Garcia came to the United States in 2011, fleeing gang violence. Although he entered the country without authorization, an immigration judge granted him protected status in 2019, finding that he would likely face persecution if sent back to his home country. Federal law prohibits his removal to El Salvador. The Trump administration targeted him anyway, pulling him over while he was driving with his son, who is 5 years old and intellectually disabled. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents falsely claimed that his “status has changed,” arrested him, and threatened to turn over his son to Child Protective Services if his wife did not arrive within 10 minutes. His wife, a U.S. citizen, was able to appear in time, but ICE refused to provide any information about her husband’s arrest. She did not know where he had been taken until she saw a news photo of alleged Venezuelan gang members in CECOT, a notorious Salvadoran mega-prison, kneeling on the ground, their arms raised above their shaved heads. One man, she realized, was her husband.

Abrego Garcia’s deportation was unambiguously illegal, and his lawyers swiftly filed suit demanding his return. On Monday, the DOJ responded with a bombshell admission: Abrego Garcia did have a right to remain in the U.S. and was shipped off to CECOT only because of an “administrative error.” The DOJ then declared that there was nothing the plaintiff or the government could do to fix this confessed mistake. Abrego Garcia, it wrote, would need to file a writ of habeas corpus, the traditional procedure for challenging unlawful detention. Indeed, it argued, Abrego Garcia’s claims “can proceed only in habeas”—he has no other way to fight his imprisonment. And yet, the department concluded, no federal court can hear his habeas claim, because he is “not in United States custody.” He thus has no remedy whatsoever and must remain in CECOT indefinitely.

---

Three others also suffered lasting disabilities, according to FDA reports obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request

• Bloomberg.
• The Boston Globe.

At least 40% of staff got layoff notices and many were turned away at the front door Tuesday when they showed up for work at the Administration for Community Living, or ACL, which coordinates federal policy on aging and disability. That's according to the agency's former director under the Biden Administration, Alison Barkoff, who says she talked to multiple members of her former staff.

Nairobi – At one of the police stations in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, families are seated on an old wooden bench, awaiting their turn with the officer on duty. Some of them are holding fading photographs of their lost sisters and daughters. They look tired and sad, with some holding back their tears. This is a familiar scene in Kenya, where a woman is killed every two days by a husband, a relative, or a stranger, and justice is but a distant dream.

According to Femicide Count Kenya, 160 women were murdered in 2024.In the month of January 2024 alone,39 cases were reported, which meant an average of one woman was killed every day. However, human rights groups believe that the number could be much higher, as many death cases go unreported or misclassified.

For Irene Wanja, these figures are not just statistics. They are a painful reality. Her 25-year-old daughter Jane was killed under mysterious circumstances, and her body dumped in a river. Jane was full of life, her chocolate complexion, funny smile, goofy at times, and dreamt of becoming a nurse. Now, her future has been reduced to a police file collecting dust.

“She was murdered in cold blood. I have never been able to recover,” Wanja says, gripping a worn out picture of her daughter. “No arrests have been made. How many more mothers have to mourn their daughters before something changes?”

Kenya has existing laws meant to protect women. The sexual offenses and the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act, but the implementation is weak. The lack of forensics resources, underfunded gender-based violence units and corruption play a huge role.

Beatrice Njeri, a lawyer who represents victims’ families, has seen it all. “Sometimes suspects walk free because of ‘insufficient evidence,’” she says. “The police don’t prioritise these cases. They tell grieving families to be patient, but justice delayed is justice denied.”

In most cases victims’ families face another hurdle, notably the cost of legal representation. They cannot afford lawyers, and public prosecutors often juggle too many cases to focus on individual victims.

Survivors of gender-based violence are frequently pressured into silence, either by family members who fear societal backlash by abusers who threaten them to keep silent.

With the legal system failing them, Kenyan women are turning to grassroots organizations for protection. One such refuge is run by Wangu Kanja, a survivor of sexual and physical violence. Her foundation offers emergency shelter, and counseling to survivors.

The shelter is hidden in a quiet Nairobi neighborhood, its location, a secret for the safety of the women it protects. Inside, bunk beds line the walls, offering temporary refuge to those who have nowhere else to go. Volunteers work tirelessly, providing food, medical aid, and emotional support.

“We receive distress calls every day,” Kanja says. “But we don’t have enough resources to help everyone. Women at risk should have a government funded safe haven, but that doesn’t exist in Kenya.” Some women, she adds, have no choice but to return to their abusers.

Compared to it neighbors, Kenya has the highest rate of femicide cases in the region at 160 deaths in 2024. In 2023, Uganda reported 127 femicide cases, while Tanzania recorded 102.

Human rights groups caution that the lower numbers in these countries do not necessarily indicate better safety for women.

In Uganda, many cases go unreported, especially in rural areas where community-based resolution often discourages legal action. In Tanzania, cultural norms sometimes lead to murders being labeled as "domestic disputes" rather than crimes, further skewing the statistics.

“In Uganda and Tanzania, community-based dispute resolution still plays a role,” says Njeri. “In Kenya, victims often rely solely on the police, who don’t always act.”. In Nairobi’s informal settlements, domestic violence rates are particularly high, with limited access to resources for survivors.

For Wanja, justice is an arrest. “I want to see my daughter’s killer behind bars,” she says.

For Njeri, it’s about reform. “We need forensic labs, specialized gender-based violence courts, and police training.”

For Kanja, it’s about safety. “Justice means no woman has to live in fear.”

Yet, for many Kenyan women, justice remains a distant hope.

Recently had to move back to my apartment cause I broke up with my bf. To start MOVING IS IMPOSSIBLE for many reasons, please don't even ask.

Was hoping for a fresh start with the psychopaths who live below me. I did everything possible to gaslight myself into thinking it was all just a big misunderstanding and that there was hope to repair our relations.

Basically the first day, I had ptsd from before. I tried my hardest to tip toe the entire day, and to never walk quickly so that I don't bother them (dress despite hearing them stomping and walking aggressively).

The entire time I am on edge because every time I make the smallest noise they counterattack it, doesn't matter if it's an accident or once per day. So basically my body and mind is always in a state of fight or flight, bracing itself constantly for a reaction.

Even then, I had to listen to them being noisy af. At one point I tried to turn on my tv on THE LOWEST VOLUME and it wasn't in response to anything they did. They immediately but some vibrating device on and it kept buzzing it sounded like a drill but it was just a ceiling vibrator and I recorded it. They stopped since then I think they realized it's too obvious or they could only use the plausible deniability to confuse it with some dude that was renovating for 5 minutes.

After 3 days have passed of living here, I'm realizing there seems to be no winning.

Basically their rules are, that they can make as much noise as they want, but if I make the tiniest noise I will be punished.

Not only that, but they also attack unprovoked. I feel like they are genuinely trying their absolute hardest to get a reaction out of me, it's like their hobby or something. The third day I put my earplugs in, and even when I was COMPLETELY SILENT LYING ON THE COUCH FOR HOURS, they started escalating and they dropped a really heavy object to the point where the whole apartment building vibrated. They also hammer all day at random times including quiet hours but they do it really quietly, to the point where it's legal. Like its enough to drive you literally insane.

They also randomly aggressively stomp and they also do stuff to imitate me. Like if I read something funny and laugh (im not obnoxious) right after they will slam stuff or stomp aggressively. Keep in mind I literally laughed once not like I've been annoying them 24/7.

Now everyone will try to gaslight me but there's a lot more that proves they are doing it on purpose, and I'm NOT delusional or imagining things.

Is there actually nothing I can do? Like I don't even think sueing them would help cause they're not gonna move out.

I just don't get why they're doing it. I'm also worried about them framing me. I feel like most people in the apartment have already turned against me cause I'm the only foreigner who speaks with an accent here.

For example, once I tried going to different floors to see where the sound was coming from, and 2 different people complained immediately and reported me saying I'm "creepy" and "invading their space" and need to stop immediately or they'll call the cops (I was a 26 year old girl at the time)...

They immediately threatened they would have a meeting with me and the property manager and the other 2 people to have a "talk" with me

I just don't know wtf to do anymore and I don't understand why I'm the target of everything

Yes, I know, trolls etc. But such action turns any conversation into a bad joke. And anybody who trusts a moderator is a fool.

Find a better way.

Booker: "I confess that I have been imperfect. I confess that I've been inadequate to the moment. I've confess that the Democratic Party has made terrible mistakes that gave a lane to this demagogue. I confess we all must look in the mirror and say 'we will do better.'"

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3llrmvwhri62r