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Farewell (for the moment) - Cory Doctorow
I'm about to take a two-ish week sabbatical so I can (once again!) rewrite the Trump chapter of my Enshittification book (October 2025), and so that I can get my (thankfully very treatable) cancer irradiated:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/05/carcinoma-angels/#squeaky-nail
While I'm away, here are some things I'd like to call your attention to. First, some good news: the Washington Post Tech Guild just won a historic union vote with a giant majority, despite the vicious union-hating owner of the Post, a Mr Jeffrey Preston Bezos:
https://newsguild.org/washington-post-tech-guild-overwhelmingly-votes-to-certify-union-in-historic-election/
Even more good news: the GOP have ratfucked themselves, doing the work that our Democratic Party leaders can't or won't do. In overruling the parliamentarian in a bid to arrogate to themselves the power to kill California emission standards, Republican Senators have opened the door for Democrats to seize 10 hours of debate time for every single change Trump makes to federal regulations. These debates take precedence over all Senate business. They can even go back in time and demand 10 hours of floor debate on every agency action for the past 60 days. Basically, that means that Senate Dems can tie up the Senate until the 2026 mid-terms and beyond:
https://prospect.org/politics/2025-05-28-senate-democrats-stop-big-beautiful-bill/
Will they? I mean, it's the kind of tactic Mitch McConnell would have leapt at without even bothering to fully raise the lid of his sarcophagus. Chuck Schmuer? I dunno. Maybe if we gave him a ping-pong paddle with some stylish sans serif text invoking each debate?
That's some good news I'm going to take with me into my coming break. I've really cleared my calendar for this time off, finishing up my CBC podcast "Understood: Who Broke the Internet?" just in the nick of time:
https://pluralistic.net/2025/05/26/babyish-radical-extremists/#cancon
The series prompted Harrison Mooney to do a long, fantastic interview with me for The Tyee, which sets out the series' thesis and call to action very well:
https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2025/05/27/Musk-Zuck-Use-Our-Love-Hostage/
If you're as pissed off about enshittification as I am and you happen to live in NYC, there's a support group for you! This week, I heard from a reader who's organized a monthly open mic "Evening on Enshittification," where attendees present and learn about different kinds of enshittification, from AI to dating and beyond:
https://partiful.com/e/Li1DGg7x5ohmCOf2hAkj
https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/05/carcinoma-angels/#squeaky-nail
While I'm away, here are some things I'd like to call your attention to. First, some good news: the Washington Post Tech Guild just won a historic union vote with a giant majority, despite the vicious union-hating owner of the Post, a Mr Jeffrey Preston Bezos:
https://newsguild.org/washington-post-tech-guild-overwhelmingly-votes-to-certify-union-in-historic-election/
Even more good news: the GOP have ratfucked themselves, doing the work that our Democratic Party leaders can't or won't do. In overruling the parliamentarian in a bid to arrogate to themselves the power to kill California emission standards, Republican Senators have opened the door for Democrats to seize 10 hours of debate time for every single change Trump makes to federal regulations. These debates take precedence over all Senate business. They can even go back in time and demand 10 hours of floor debate on every agency action for the past 60 days. Basically, that means that Senate Dems can tie up the Senate until the 2026 mid-terms and beyond:
https://prospect.org/politics/2025-05-28-senate-democrats-stop-big-beautiful-bill/
Will they? I mean, it's the kind of tactic Mitch McConnell would have leapt at without even bothering to fully raise the lid of his sarcophagus. Chuck Schmuer? I dunno. Maybe if we gave him a ping-pong paddle with some stylish sans serif text invoking each debate?
That's some good news I'm going to take with me into my coming break. I've really cleared my calendar for this time off, finishing up my CBC podcast "Understood: Who Broke the Internet?" just in the nick of time:
https://pluralistic.net/2025/05/26/babyish-radical-extremists/#cancon
The series prompted Harrison Mooney to do a long, fantastic interview with me for The Tyee, which sets out the series' thesis and call to action very well:
https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2025/05/27/Musk-Zuck-Use-Our-Love-Hostage/
If you're as pissed off about enshittification as I am and you happen to live in NYC, there's a support group for you! This week, I heard from a reader who's organized a monthly open mic "Evening on Enshittification," where attendees present and learn about different kinds of enshittification, from AI to dating and beyond:
https://partiful.com/e/Li1DGg7x5ohmCOf2hAkj
https://pluralistic.net/2025/05/30/gone-fission/#seattle-portland-london-manchester