The violent anarchist federal agents that the wrecker has sent to Portland (and soon to Chicago) could be part of a scheme to intimidate voters in November.

Juan Cole thinks the wrecker wants to pretend that the federal thugs are trying to stop violent protesters and frighten suburban white voters, but I think that videos of the lawless violence of the thugs themselves, against people doing nothing to justify arrest, even against reporters, will turn that effect around. Americans detested the violence of local and state thugs on actually seeing it, and I expect they will react the same way now.

Sudan has put former dictator al-Bashir on trial for seizing power.

This is exciting because it is so rare that coup perps get prosecuted.

The lack of systematic tracking of cases of Covid-19 and their outcomes is hampering US efforts to treat and stop the disease.

Ireland has released a contact-tracing app that people there have adopted.

The basic approach seems to be ethical. My tentative judgment is that I would be willing to participate in a contact-tracing system which worked that way, if I could do so without running a nonfree app or a portable phone.

For instance, if it were a stand-alone device with no network connection except bluetooth and doing nothing except this job, and I could examine and understand all the data it gives me to send in, and no software would ever be installed into it, I could treat it like my microwave oven — meaning that I don't care how it works inside. I could envision that the user gets the data out via USB, in a well-documented trasparent format, then sends it to the health department through a web site that does not send Javascript code to the browser.

The design principle here should be to infringe people's privacy in the minimal possible way that can succeed in stopping transmission of Covid-19.

It is our duty to cooperate with that vital goal — just as it is our duty to protect others by wearing masks — and society's duty to avoid asking us to make any additional, avoidable sacrifices of privacy.

Two British Uber drivers have sued to see the algorithm Uber uses to assign rides to drivers. They suspect Uber is manipulating them.