RE: "It's unlikely Trump will reverse hostility to China but maybe DoD can convince him how destroying linux is bad for NatSec"

Maybe Musk can translate the situation for Trump, and reduce tech-related trade sanctions, but I expect Chinese FOSS HW is a done deal.

If there are finally limits to the power of agencies to make up laws with impunity, we might finally once more have toilets that flush properly. Think of how very many other formerly properly functioning devices seemingly unaccountable Federal agencies have taken from us.

Now, without the Chevron deference, there is hope.

I expect the developer's assertions about the propellantless propulsion drive will be empirically refuted. I look forward to the presentation of such disproof.

To those who wish to dismiss this technology without the requisite empirical evidence, I suggest you review the fundamental principles of the scientific method.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

See the guvment is tryin' to keep us from learnin' to code!!!

What does disinformation mean to The Economist and its allies? It appears to mean, "Anything that questions our narrative is disinformation!" instead the actual definition which is "Stuff that's untrue."

The censors' basic theory appears "All the people we disagree with are working together! They are all Russian or Russian dudes!"

The 1950s called. they want their Cold War paranoia back.

This whole military use thing is perfectly fine. I'm not the illustrious and fearless leader of a small tyrannical country. Trust me!

No political prisoners were harmed in the creation of this message.

1. Buy a cheap debit card at the grocery store.

2. Change Sirius XM billing to use the cheap debit card.

3. Send them a certified postal letter saying you cancel. Keep a copy and the records they got it.

4. Once Sirius XM gets the postal letter, use the remaining debit card balance to buy groceries.

5. Their next billing won't go through. They'll send you email, postal mail, etc.

6. But you've already canceled, and owe nothing.

There would be two solutions to countering this excessive surveillance.

A student could use outside of school computers, mobiles, for email, IM, etc. that's not directly for school..

Another would be to saturate the surveillance system with false alarms.

See also Jam Echelon Day.
https://www.thing.net/~rdom/ec...

The choices are natural gas/oil/coal, or nuclear, or letting grandma freeze in the dark. Pick one. Or two.

Declaring the Internet as a "common carrier" would be a terrible idea. It's already hard enough to stop disinformation and misinformation. The Trump-supporting far-right and their Russian allies would have a field day!

Oh wait, I'm a libertarian. Never mind. Let the people speak. Yes, even the ones I disagree with.

Some do see Federal Internet regulation as yet another way to stile speech they don't like. Fascists gotta be fascists, I guess.

For me though, something else is key.

Centralizing control of broadband in DC might help those people stuck in states or cities with lousy broadband. Unfortunately, deep-pocketed cable companies and telecoms will end up with far more lobbying and influence that way. Yes, your political party does it too.

The people will lose again. Aren't you tired of that yet?

These sort of things happen in real life too, not just on the Net.

How often have we seen speakers at universities bullied, shouted down, and threatened? Nobody goes to jail for this.

Just as in real life, restrictions on Net speech are too often about gaining advantage or shutting down opponents.

If someone offends you in social media or in an online game, block them and move on. Deny trolls any feedback at all, and they'll move on too. Don't feed the trolls, and they'll get mighty hungry under their bridges.

I look forward to examples to help understand your thinking behind this. Successfully making the general case seems quite difficult.

I note that Americans generally see patriotism as more benign that do Europeans. The history of the 20th century helps explain this.

Patriotism is no more bigotry than is favoring one sports team over another.

There are, of course, obvious exceptions to this. But I want avoid invoking Godwin's Rule.

I've been a coder since junior high school. (8th grade) The inability to remember names and the ability to recognize people appear separate. I can recognize most faces just fine. But remembering names is tough.

My guess is that social things aren't seen as important enough by geeks to spend effort on until they need the abilities.

If a coder went into technical sales, I expect their ability to remember names would, by necessity get a lot better over time.