Public Space Magazine
A Place to Think About Mind
and What Matters
Putting some brakes on AI
In Wired, June 19 - “It’s not mandated, it’s not regulatory. Given where we are with the climate crisis, it should be top of the agenda for regulators everywhere.”
"The Best Security Measure We Have is Visibility"
It is June 8, 2025. The 12 activists onboard the Madleen, including Greta Thunberg, have reached the Egyptian coast and are close to realizing their "humble mission" to support Gaza and to ask the international community to wake up. Follow their progress and events here. UPDATE: June 9, Israeli forces have boarded the Madleen and detained the 12 activists. All aid for Gaza has been confiscated. Connection has been lost. The ship was seized. On Democracy Now, The activists pre-recorded the inevitable. On May 31, 2010 the Gaza Freedom flotilla attempted to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Nine activists were killed and many others were injured. Today, the call to the international community that has consistently turned its back on Palestinians is to responded with a flotilla to Gaza that is at least a hundredfold from all countries. Imagine 200, 500 or even a thousand ships carrying aid in the name of humanity. That would be quite remarkable.
The Last Smile
From Deccan Media, May 26, 2025
“Is there anything more beautiful than the smile of children [in] Gaza?” Yaqeen Hammad
"In the midst of bombings, hunger, and sirens that rip through the silence of Gaza’s refugee camps, a 13-year-old girl (the majority of media reports age as 11) named Yaqeen Hammad documented life — not just through fear, but with radiant courage.
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Last Laugh
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 22. President Ramaphosa kept his dignity and remained a diplomat while Trump could not let go of a reporter's question about his newly acquired Air Force One from Qatar.
Finally, the South African president broke into the tirade and said,
"I'm sorry I don't have a plane to give you."
On March 16, 2025 it was announced by Kristi Noem that construction of the wall (also see psm archived article) would resume... This item in the "Big Beautiful Bill" has some Republicans puzzled. Noem wants $46 billion but the cost per mile for seven miles is an estimated $12 billion.
Reported by Drop Site News on June 13, Israel has attacked Iran. Ryan Grim includes contextual information and clarifications of statements along with the initial reports that are coming.
On June 6 the Supreme Court on Friday granted the Department of Government Efficiency access to Social Security Administration data that includes sensitive personal information of millions of Americans.
NOTE: May was a busy month personally in terms of weather-related planting given wind and rains in the Northeast and political slants that affected my more vulnerable loved ones - So a lot of happenings in May didn't happen on this site and construction and catch-up is taking place. Still, there is a lot of good reporting and analyses happening through outlets such as Substack.
In any case, a lot was happening in May. The tensions of a government gone wild, corporate gambits, assaults on the rule of law, death and destruction, and the hardships of movements.
Nevada's limited water supply is threatened by a data center, AND, the "Big Beautiful Bill" passes the house potentially ending life as Americans have known it. etc.
Civil Liberties - In the case of COP city, an indictment filed on Fulton County Suprerior Court on August 29 levelled charges against 61 protesters or spuriously some who happened to be in the vicinity. The charges included accusations of racketeering, domestic terrorism, and money laundering related to anti-police protests.The indictment by Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General would probably get a failing grade in a freshman law class in terms of its descriptions used to justify the various charges in the document. It is worth reading.
LAW PEOPLE
CLIMATE CHANGE BASIC NEEDS WAR AND PEACE CIVIL LIBERTIES
TECHNOLOGY
Read what's happening in June.
From Climate Change to Government and international affairs, to crazed accusations of domestic terrorism in Atlanta George, etc.
In Technology - Data centers are proliferating across the US and draining resources and, with an Orwellian twist, our minds...
You can't unsee shame
Never again...And the art of the deal
The ecocidal war on Palestine and beyond...
The war on children
The Chilling Use of the Word Material Support
Militarism and Climate Change
Notes on Putin's War
Israel's Destruction of Palestinian Seed Banks Destroys Generations
Farming in the Face of Climate Change
Where the Wild Things Are
Why Not an International Court for the Environment?
The World Economic Forum at Davos 2023
What To Do About Concrete (2021)?
HAPPENINGS