Spyke

Posts

Melbourne anti-weapons protest being investigated as terrorist act by ‘far-left extremists’

Kinda crazy to call this a terror attack right? It's not like civilians were targetted. They vandalised some MIC shit, I feel like if you make the Person Killer 7000 for a genocide you can't really get upset if people get a bit cross and want you to stop.

Melbourne anti-weapons protest being investigated as terrorist act by ‘far-left extremists’https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/05/melbourne-anti-weapons-protest-terrorism-investigation-ntwnfbOpen linkView original on lemmy.dbzer0.com
13
news·Australian NewsbynaevaTheRat

Culture in Australia's largest police force (nswpol) 'unacceptable'

One interviewee said, "bullying is as much a part of this organisation as wearing a uniform", according to the report.

A quarter of those surveyed also reported they had experienced discrimination in the past five years, with women, First Nations staff, people with disabilities, those who speak a language other than English and LGBTQI+ employees most commonly targeted.

Another common theme among the employees who participated in the review was the culture of silence and retaliation for those who reported harmful behaviour.

"Those who speak up risk being targeted, denied promotions, or having workplace benefits and opportunities withdrawn," the report said.

A fEw BaD aPpLeS

Culture in Australia's largest police force (nswpol) 'unacceptable'https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-11/nsw-police-independent-report-toxic-culture-abc-investigation/106764974Open linkView original on lemmy.dbzer0.com
15
news·Australian NewsbynaevaTheRat

Revealed: the ‘less lethal’ weapons Australian police don’t want you to know about

Haar says there is “almost zero” regulation globally of the industry that produces these weapons. In Australia, there are no nationally enforced standards for their use. In some states, police go to great lengths not to share what weapons they have or how they’re used.

  • In Victoria, police have refused to publicly provide the make and model of their rubber bullets and other weapons even to the state’s parliamentarians due to “operational and community safety considerations”.

  • Contracts worth millions for these weapons are often with third-party distributors rather than the manufacturers, obscuring what police have access to.

  • During coronial inquests, after baton rounds and other weapons may have contributed to deaths, Victoria police have sought suppression orders that bar media from describing any details of weaponry.

  • In some states, details about Tasers have been suppressed during inquests, including the training materials given to officers.

  • Guardian Australia approached each force in the country for a list of the manufacturer and model of their less lethal weapons but all declined to provide one, with most citing operational safety.

Revealed: the ‘less lethal’ weapons Australian police don’t want you to know abouthttps://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/ng-interactive/2026/jun/09/australia-police-less-lethal-weapons-tasers-pepper-spray-crowdsOpen linkView original on lemmy.dbzer0.com
22
news·Australian NewsbynaevaTheRat

ABC radio kills third party internet radio streams and embedded links.

Nfi why? It is literally blasted out into space for anyone with a receiver to hear but now unless I want to spend 2 gigs of ram and a CPU core I can't listen on a computer.

Why lock down public radio? What possible state interest does that serve?

ABC radio kills third party internet radio streams and embedded links.https://help.abc.net.au/hc/en-us/articles/15071793950607-Changes-to-ABC-Radio-Live-Streams-on-Third-Party-PlatformsOpen linkView original on lemmy.dbzer0.com
39
technology·TechnologybynaevaTheRat

AI as a Fascist Artifact

And all that data does by definition exclude: “AI” is not built on “all of humankind’s knowledge” but based on whatever a mostly western view of the world and what is relevant looks like. Cultures who are not within that framework, who might even be based on more oral forms of keeping history and knowledge are not represented. Even if those groups are not actively excluded (which again they very often are) there are huge populations who just are not seen by the data do not get a say in how they are represented. Or if they are represented it’s just as problems: Think about unsheltered people for example.

The right loves those patterns because they confirm their prejudices: Ask an image generator for a picture of two people kissing and you most often get a heterosexual couple, often white. Because that’s what the training data looks like. That makes “AI” perfect for creating the form of idealized, fictional “past” that fascists love to allude to (“make America great again“), a past that never existed but that needs to be saved or restored (we’ll get back to that later).

....

we can pretty easily determine the short-term purpose of “AI”: The destruction of labor power.

This dismantling happens on multiple levels by attacking the foundation of what allows those forms of organization to take place.

The first level is very individualistic: By pointing at “the AI” that can replace a worker that worker is pressured into working harder, not asking for raises or any other improvements of their working conditions. Even though “AI” cannot do your job, the threat itself is useful to employers to undermine your individual power, your feeling of being valuable as a worker.

The second level is about attacking the idea of solidarity and connection: Because “AI” will not replace you (again, “AI” cannot replace the absolute majority of workers!) “but someone using AI will”. This sets up kind of a Thunderdome in which we all have to fight against each other for scraps/jobs. This framing implies that you should not unionize and connect with your fellow workers but that you should see them as your enemies, as the people who will take your job and your ability to provide for your family. We know this dynamic, it’s exactly how the right presents migration as “attack”. It also normalizes violence again turning all of existence into an endless fight against one another (unless you are one of the few people in power of course).

The third level is somewhat more devious. Because it makes us do that form of dissolving of social bonds ourselves. An example: If I use an “AI” to generate an illustration instead of asking a designer I am saying that while my skills and labor has value, that of the designer has not. This implicitly cuts my ability to form connections of solidarity with designers whose work and livelihood I have implicitly declared irrelevant. It makes me put myself over my fellow workers, workers who are facing the same struggles as me, who are my comrades. But no more.

AI as a Fascist Artifacthttps://tante.cc/2026/04/21/ai-as-a-fascist-artifact/Open linkView original on lemmy.dbzer0.com
239
australianpolitics·Australian PoliticsbynaevaTheRat

Minns doubles down on unconstitutional anti-protest laws.

Asked about the finding that social cohesion did not justify the law, Minns took aim at the Greens for supporting protesters charged after February’s anti-Herzog protest at Sydney’s town hall, when the law was in force. The rally is now subject of a police watchdog investigation into allegations of police misconduct and brutality.

🙃

Minns doubles down on unconstitutional anti-protest laws.https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/apr/20/minns-doubles-down-anti-protest-law-despite-nsw-highest-court-ruling-it-unconstitutional-ntwnfbOpen linkView original on lemmy.dbzer0.com
42

Is this sort of packaging even legal in aus? What in the shrinkflation is this?

Don't worry though, if you view the package from above (very natural for something hung at eye level) and ignore all the deceptive graphics implying 2 sticks are in there then it technically does state that it is a "starter kit"

This is obviously designed to decieve right? Like no matter what they technically say it is deliberately printed to obscure that the sheath is not around the tube and is actually the second tube, while placing the description in a hidden way. Isn't this sort of anti-customer packaging like specifically not allowed here?

View original on lemmy.dbzer0.com
21

Good modern anarchist books that aren't bookchin, that fucker gelderloos, or graeber?

I enjoy books more than internet essays. Sue me.

Everyone could always stand to read more, I think gelderloos is a reactionary shithead who deserves to be trampled to death by a horde of escaped cattle slaves, have read bookchin and graeber and enjoyed them both.

I've also read most of C. Scott's work which is interesting generally although the man seemed a bit incoherent.

Who are some modern anarchist authors worth reading? Give me your difficult academic texts where I'll have to check 200 references. I fucking love them!

View original on lemmy.dbzer0.com
29