Mastodawn

Putting the end of the civil rights era in historical perspective.

I wrote about the Rise and Fall of the Second Reconstruction, 1964/65 – 2025/26: An attempt to really grasp what a profoundly important - and disturbing - moment in U.S. history we are currently witnessing.

My new piece:

https://steady.page/en/democracyamericana/posts/8f16b18f-41d5-41f9-884b-f76a13852986

The Rise and Fall of the Second Reconstruction, 1964/65 – 2025/26

Putting the end of the civil rights era in historical perspective: How it transformed the nation, how it was toppled by a raging reaction, and what comes next.

Steady

contrasocial 2h ago

Frank’s Ting 4h ago

The Irish President’s sister has been kidnapped by Israeli pirates in the Mediterranean. https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41846880.html

Dr Margaret Connolly, sister of President Catherine Connolly, 'kidnapped by Israel' say flotilla organisers

Flotilla organisers say Dr Connolly was on one of 10 boats intercepted in international waters by Israeli forces on Monday morning

Irish Examiner

contrasocial 4h ago

Nick 5h ago

1. Lock yourself in an airtight fridge.

contrasocial 4h ago

Lady Laura

8h ago

Epiphyseal, Senescence, Acrylic, 2026

#Art #illustration

contrasocial 12h ago

dallo 16h ago

A security researcher says Microsoft secretly built a backdoor into BitLocker, releases an exploit to prove it

https://www.techspot.com/news/112410-security-researcher-microsoft-secretly-built-backdoor-bitlocker-releases.html

> YellowKey exploit bypasses BitLocker full volume encryption via USB stick and WinRE

#privacy #security #infosec #technology #microslop #Microsoft #windows #Linux

A security researcher says Microsoft secretly built a backdoor into BitLocker, releases an exploit to prove it

According to the researcher, YellowKey appears unusual for a previously unknown security bug. Nightmare-Eclipse explained that the flaw can be reproduced by copying an attached "FsTx" folder...

TechSpot

contrasocial 13h ago

Max Leibman 17h ago

Someone once told me he felt like conservative voices weren't welcome on Mastodon, but I said he was being ridiculous—there are lots of Democrats here!

contrasocial 1d ago

DrALJONES 1d ago

Interview: Francesca Albanese on the systemic sexual abuse of Palestinians by Israeli forces.

The abuse reported by the NYT had already been documented & published for years by human rights groups & Palestinian organisations, including Albanese herself.

Albanese examines Israeli sexual violence & impunity – & the double standards western govts & media apply.

https://www.aljazeera.com/video/upfront/2026/5/16/francesca-albanese-on-israeli-sexual-violence-suffered-by-palestinians

#USPol #EUPol #GazaGenocide #FrancescaAlbanese #news #palestine #palestinianPrisoners #IsraeliCrimes #racism .

Francesca Albanese on Israeli sexual violence suffered by Palestinians

Francesca Albanese speaks to Redi Tlhabi about sexual violence suffered by Palestinians at the hands of Israeli forces.

Al Jazeera

contrasocial 1d ago

Street Art Utopia 1d ago

Seen near Holborn Station, on the route of the Unite the Kingdom rally. By the artist Frank Riot.

The poster says it better than most speeches:

When the scapegoats are gone, the borders are fortified, and the hatred has done its damage, the cost of living will still rise, the NHS will still be dying, and corporate vultures will still be picking our lives apart.

Who will they blame then?

What will they have gained?

A badge for barbarism against a backdrop of decay.

contrasocial 1d ago

Arthur Charpentier ⏚ 🇨🇦 🇯🇵1d ago

"More than a century after Tarbell’s exposé of Standard Oil, a new coterie of oligarchs has emerged. Then, as now, economic control was concentrated in the hands of a narrow billionaire elite wagering that Americans are too fragmented, too exhausted, and too jaded to mount a meaningful challenge. Then, as now, the basic terms of democracy were being tested by private power that recognizes hardly any limits at all." https://jacobin.com/2026/05/surveillance-consumer-worker-protection-levine

The Surveillance Economy Is Here. This Is How We Fight Back.

Rejecting surveillance capitalism means insisting, clearly and unapologetically, that markets should serve the people — not the other way around, writes NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Sam Levine.

contrasocial 1d ago

tools for commensality 🧿1d ago

90% of ICE detentions have been illegal

(begging people who think the law has magical effects to read this)

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/13/10k-rulings-ice-mandatory-detention-trump-analysis-00914195

#ICE #uspol #immigration

10,000 rulings: The courts’ overwhelming rebuke of Trump’s ICE policies

A POLITICO analysis reveals judges have ruled against ICE detention practices in roughly 90 percent of cases since the agency mandated that millions of immigrants must be locked up while they face deportation proceedings.

Politico