A large coalition of human rights organizations condemn the use of snooping and manipulative software and dis-services in schools.

Their campaign is based on valid principles, but it does not get to the root of the matter and the solution it advocates is inadequate. It supposes that schools could somehow insist, and verify, that nonfree programs do only what they are supposed to do, and that dis-services don't manipulate students or allow their data into the hands of anyone that would misuse it.

The one solution that will really fix the problem is to switch completely to free software, keep all the school's data about students on the school's own computers, and not even collect data that could be used to hurt the students.

Perhaps that is seen as too radical even to advocate, the way some Democrats in Congress see Medicare for All as too radical no matter how much we need it.

*The GOP Has Become a Death Cult.*

I would say, rather, that the Republican Party has merged with a variant of Christianity that is death cult.

Starting from their mad premises, their reasoning is rational. If there were a heaven where you would be eternally happy, why hesitate to die in a way that would get you in? Indeed, Christians had to decide that suicide was a sin, or their believers would have eagerly begun the trip to heaven.

This simply demonstrates that madness requires nothing more than the adoption of mad premises.

Beware the temptation to go to the opposite extreme. There is no reason to take risks to continue the dooH niboR economy, but there are parts of the economy we must take risks to continue. We need to grow food -- and make sure everybody gets enough. And we must be ready, now as in the past, to take risks to defend our freedoms.

The Miami Herald decided to sue the State of Florida demanding release of information about which nursing homes have had Covid-19 fatalities. Thegovernor intimidated the newspaper's law firm into refusing to do this work.

The UK is delivering food to people who dare not go out, but following its usual practice, the UK has set strict criteria for who qualifies to receive these deliveries.

It would be unthinkable to risk handing out food to someone who might not deserve it.

*Employees Say Smithfield [pork] Plant in Wisconsin Concealed Covid-19 Infections, Pressured Them to Work Elbow-to-Elbow Without Protection.*