[weekly linkdump, somewhat edited from my delicious]
«Can a robot, or a piece of software, be jailed if it commits a crime?» https://t.co/qmImxnZwTb
— !Mediengruppe Bitnik (@bitnk) January 16, 2015
#biggest news this week
Verunsicherte Fundamentalisten – “Der Aufstieg des islamischen Terrorismus hat viel mit dem Verschwinden einer säkularen Linken in den islamischen Ländern zu tun – und mit einer liberalen Demokratie, die sich mit Despoten verbündet.” Zizek’s comment on the Charlie Hebdo attacks. English version here.
Swiss Public Prosecutor seizes and seals work by !Mediengruppe Bitnik – “What does it mean for a society, when there are robots which act autonomously? Who is liable, when a robot breaks the law on its own initiative? These were some of the main questions the work Random Darknet Shopper posed. Global questions, which will now be negotiated locally.”
#watch and
Yoga Fhtagn – Flying Spaghetti Monster Yoga is a thing now, thanks to Penny Red
The Worlds Angriest Guitar Player – only one guitar was hurt in the making of this video
“Slap her”: children’s reactions – “What happens when you put a boy in front of a girl and ask him to slap her? Here is how children react to the subject of violence against women.”
Charlie Hebdo, Before the Massacre – “In this short documentary filmed at Charlie Hebdo in 2006, cartoonists and editors design a satirical front page image of Muhammad.”
#learn
Tacuino: a low-cost, modular, Arduino-compatible educational platform – “Build Your Own Tiny, Modular Arduino Inside a Tic Tac Box”
In Defense of Religious Satire, A Pastafarian Response to the Charlie Hebdo Terror Attack – ““We believe it’s a dangerous thing when religion is seen as above criticism or humor”. It’s the moral obligation of forward thinking people everywhere to mock ridiculousness when they see it. And it is plain to see that in some instances the rapid rate of globalism has out-paced some of our more backward cultural assumptions.”
Superdrug Sexercise – “Introducing the new 23 minute love-making fitness track for couples looking to get athletic in the bedroom. Designed to sync perfectly with calorie-burning sex sessions, the track aims to help couples to work up a sweat between the sheets.”
Jon Ronson in Conversation with Adam Curtis – “I’m afraid I disagree with you that social media is a new kind of politics. It’s a powerful new tool for helping to organize people—that is true. But what it really doesn’t offer is a new kind of political way of changing the world.”
The Hard Times – Punk News Comin’ Your Way!
France Arrests a Comedian For His Facebook Comments, Showing the Sham of the West’s “Free Speech” Celebration – “Since that glorious “free speech” march, France has reportedly opened 54 criminal cases for “condoning terrorism.” AP reported this morning that “France ordered prosecutors around the country to crack down on hate speech, anti-Semitism and glorifying terrorism.””
Government Approved Periodic Table of Kink – ““Pornography is the canary in the coalmine of free speech: it is the first freedom to die. If this assault on liberty is allowed to go unchallenged, other freedoms will fall as a consequence.” – Myles Jackman, legal adviser for Backlash”
I Don’t Know if Je Suis Charlie – “But in Paris, the lines between freedom, anger, and extremism are messier than we can admit.”
Luz : “Tout le monde nous regarde, on est devenu des symboles” – “Charb estimait qu’on pouvait continuer à faire tomber les tabous et les symboles. Sauf qu’aujourd’hui, nous somme le symbole. Comment détruire un symbole qui est soi-même ?”
I’m Not Charlie : Go Piss Up a Rope – “For us anarchists and revolutionaries, add to that the everlasting horror of continual national unity. That national unity they serve us whenever the states need proletarian cannon fodder. Because it’s always the same ones who are required to sacrifice themselves on the paths to glory for interests that are not his own, whether nation, “peace” or republic, while the decision makers twiddle their thumbs beneath the gold ornaments of their palaces.”
The Charlie Hebdo attack was a strike against free speech. So why is the response more surveillance? – “Let’s not avenge the deaths of journalists by trying to curtail the very rights for which the world has praised them”
#lang:de
Vom Nichts, das dahinter steckt ? Die Theorie der Verschwörung – “Seit die Menschen nicht mehr an Gott glauben, glauben sie an allen möglichen Unsinn?” Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Sklaverei und Terror gab es schon vor dem Aufstieg des Westens. Aber die in Europa so populäre Vorstellung, wonach Staatlichkeit und westliche Zivilisation die Gewalt gezähmt hätten, ist blanker Zynismus. – “Wir gegen die Barbaren: Angesichts der Gräueltaten des Islamischen Staats fällt auch die Linke in ein erschütternd geschichtsloses Denken zurück. An die «Dialektik der Aufklärung» scheint sich niemand mehr zu erinnern.”
#CharlieHebdo: Heuchlerparade in Paris – “Diese Feinde des freien Wortes nehmen heute in Paris am Trauermarsch zum Gedenken an die Opfer des Anschlags auf Charlie Hebdo und der Geiselnahme in einem jüdischen Lebensmittelgeschäft teil.”
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