livus

livus, 5 days ago

@lemmy_user_838586 Reddit used to have a left wing political sub called ChapoTraphouse. After it got banned its users all moved to their own fediverse site, Hexbear. It has its own site culture, slang, name-calling, and memes.

It has been defederated from quite a lot of instances.

• It was not federated for a long period of time. Part of its - culture involves what it calls "dunking" on people its users disagree with politically, which as far as I can see is a compendium with snark at one end and bullying at the other.

• When Hexbear federated, its users were "excited to dunk" on people again. Their copious use of visual memes, including a picture of pig testicles covered in excrement, stretched threads. They are also a big community, which means when they pile into a thread it looks like brigading.

• The situation wasn't helped by large numbers of Hexbear users coming into threads where other instances tried to discuss what to do about issues around federating with Hexbear. As larger instances defederated them, they became disproportionately drawn to small instances that remained, which added to the brigading effect and led to more defederations.

livus, 5 days ago

From the article:

Their roughly 12-meter (39-foot) boat was carrying 25 raincoats and 27 mobile phones, suggesting the original number of passengers was significantly higher. This also implies that people of other nationalities may have been among the deceased, local officials have said.

Brazil’s federal police said it is unlikely they will extract any information from the phones due to the long time of oxydation they were subjected to. The force also added they had found paper notes in the boat with phone numbers from Mauritania, Mali and #Congo. A kind of stove and two containers that could have carried water or fuel were also among the remains.

It was a rustic blue-and-white fiberglass boat that, when found, had neither motor, tiller nor rudder. Its canoe shape is similar to Mauritanian fishing boats often used by migrants fleeing West Africa and aiming to enter the European Union via Spain’s Canary Islands.

An Associated Press investigation published last year revealed that in 2021 at least seven boats from northwest Africa were found in the Caribbean and Brazil. All carried dead bodies, like the vessel found in Para.

So far, none of the victims have been identified. Authorities said the manner of their burial would allow for subsequent exhumations in case families of the deceased were located and wished to transfer the bodies back to their home countries...

livus, 5 days ago

This year the number of people attempting the crossing from the northwest coast of Africa to the EU has seen a 500% spike, with the majority departing from Mauritania, according to Spain’s interior ministry. But it is a dangerous route with strong Atlantic winds, and boats that go off course can stay adrift for months and be swept away to distant destinations, often leading migrants to die of dehydration and malnutrition.

The reasons pushing people toward such boats are varied and intertwined: a lack of jobs and prospects of a better life, impacts of climate change, growing insecurity and political instability, among others.

More than 14,000 African migrants have reached the Canary Islands so far this year, according to the Spanish ministry. In February, the EU and Mauritania signed a 210 million euro ($225 million) deal aimed at cracking down on people smuggling and deterring migrant boats.

With hundreds more West African migrants reported missing, families in Mauritania have set up a commission to search for loved ones, and are anxiously awaiting information from Brazil...

livus, 5 days ago (edited 5 days ago)

Yes, I agree.

livus, 5 days ago

From the article:

“The Lagos State Government came and said they wanted to demolish the place. They did not serve us any letter of demolition. We were negotiating with the government yesterday (on Saturday), and before we knew it, they just moved in with their bulldozer.”

He added that although there were miscreants in the estate, the security guards were making every effort to stop them from stealing their possessions.

“They have not told us what they want the estate for. All they said was that we were too close to the canal. Miscreants are everywhere, and the security officers are trying to prevent them from stealing anything because residents’ properties are scattered everywhere,” he lamented.

Another resident in the area, simply identified as Kayode, said the government asserted that the houses were too close to the canal and that they had yet to discuss with the residents....

He stated that the issue might potentially end in court, and he was hoping that the appropriate party would win.

“They said the houses are too close to the canal, but they should have known before now because before we all built all the houses, we got approval from the government. I am sure the issue will end up in court, and the court can decide who they think is right,“ he said.

Another resident, simply identified as Tega, claimed that the residents’ biggest nightmare came true when the government gave them two hours to leave their houses.

She said, “We did not get any prior notification. They gave us two hours to exit the estate. They told us yesterday (on Saturday). Most people have moved out since then, and we are just trying to get the pieces today. It is the worst nightmare for some of the families here.”

When contacted, the Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, stated that before the demolition, several meetings were held with the residents.

Omotoso said, “The government cannot be so heartless as to tell people to leave their homes in two hours. The Commissioner for Environment was on Arise News Television this morning (Sunday), and he explained everything.

“He explained how many years they had been at it, even before he came to office. On his social media page, he released a series of videos of meetings he had with them.

He added that the state Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources paid a visit to the estate two weeks ago and engaged in negotiations with the residents, adding that the community at large needed to be prevented from flooding.

“He was there last week and two weeks ago. It is not true that they were given two hours. They have been negotiating with them, but the thing is, we do not look at the larger picture.

livus, 5 days ago

Before we get our pitchforks, the state government's side of the story is that they allegedly warned homeowners in 2001.

livus, 5 days ago

From the article:

...Two of those hoping to beat Mr Mulino also are very well-known names in Panamanian politics.

Martín Torrijos was president from 2004 to 2009 and is the son of Omar Torrijos, the military ruler who signed a treaty with the US to restore the Panama Canal zone to Panamanian sovereignty in 1977.

The 60-year-old is campaigning under the slogan "Safe Change". He has promised investment in the Panama Canal, one of the main drivers of Panama's economy.

Martín Torrijos has been president before and his campaigning simply under his first name

He is standing for the People's Party, which he joined last year after leading the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD).

Rómulo Roux, 59, a former president of the Panama Canal's board of directors is running for the national presidency for the second time, after losing to current President Laurentino Cortizo in 2019.

The lawyer, who is standing for the Democratic Change party says that if he is elected, he will implement an "aggressive" job creation scheme and improve public services....

livus, 5 days ago

Mulino wins.

livus, 5 days ago

Dailybeast article on the situation in Rafah.

livus, 5 days ago

Just look at population of Israel where almost 25% is Arabic and compare it to Palestine

That's a bit like comparing the proportion of immigrant citizens in the wealthy US with those in its low income neighbour Mexico.

Only, if the US was also occupying most of Mexico and controlled who could enter or leave.

Tl; dr it says a lot more about the situation than it does about the wishes of the population.

livus, 5 days ago

One of his better books I thought.

livus, 5 days ago

Eh, ever since we got the equivalent of multireddits I haven't really felt like this.

Eg if I want to browse movies I just go to the cinema multi. I don't mind that it's not all the same people in every post.

livus, 5 days ago

Mod tools. I think they will be key to growing it.

livus, 5 days ago

Yes it's really tragic what has happened there. We see the same thing sometimes with "poachers".

livus, 5 days ago

That's very cool.

There may be a heap of slow-growing aliens among us.

livus, 5 days ago

Now do Hesiod please Emily. Especially the Pandora stuff.

livus, 5 days ago

Ugh that will probably never leave you. I haven't seen CSAM since I stumbled on it in the 1990s but what I saw is still burnt into my brain. What has been seen cannot be unseen.

This is one of the reasons I stay on kbin, it doesn't autoload images.

livus, 5 days ago

Now risen to 57

livus, 5 days ago

Now 75