I can just about get a full night's sleep now, though I need to avoid long naps in the afternoon. It usually takes a full week to get over jetlag, so I guess I'm on schedule. I do like waking up very early in the morning though, when everyone and everything else is still asleep, as I can get some peace and quiet and watch the sun come up.

Politics and World Events

The liberal democrats in Switzerland

↺ The liberal democrats in Switzerland

One of the founding parties of the current state are the liberal democrats. My limited understanding of the situation is that they were all about liberty – against the ancient régime (the semi-feudal system before Napoleon and the French revolution helped us get rid of them) and against the church. My wife still remembers the small-scale feuding betweens catholics and protestants. My father in law still remembers that uneasy peace: going to school as a protestant in a mostly catholic village. His father was very much engaged in that struggle against the powers of the church.These days, those battles are no longer that important. And so the liberal democrats turned to economic freedom. They turned into the part of bankers and industrialist. They rode that neoliberal devil. And now as it is faltering, a new change is afoot. Sadly, when they last looked for leadership, the only candidate who stood up was a xenophobe. But we already have a party of racists! The Swiss people's party. These people were originally more of a farmer's party but under the influence of billionaire Blocher they also rode that neoliberal horse. Down with taxes! Up with the banks! Down with regulation! Down with the European Union! Yeah, Blocher was a good demagogue.

Fascism in progression fantasy

↺ GOPHER: Fascism in progression fantasy

I read a lot, and I read a lot of different types of works. On a typical week I will read about one novel, one non-fiction -article, or -essay, and a handful of blog posts.In the novel-section of my weekly digest, one may often find books in the `progression-fantasy' genre. Books about characters getting progressively stronger, smarter, more powerful, etcetera. There is broad overlap between progression-fantasy and Xianxia cultivation fantasy, meaning that it involves elements of individualism, spirituality, religion, and so forth.In the non-fiction-essay-section one can find various political, philosophical, or religious texts and manifests. This week, this included Mussolini's[1] short essay ``La dottrina del fascismo'', which I -- due to my still-lacking Italian knowledge -- read and English translation of: ``The doctrine of Fascism''. The Doctrine of Fascism, outlines -- unsurprisingly -- the core tenants of fascism as a political, social, economical, and spiritual doctrine. Also unsurprisingly, the essay is rather unclear in many parts. Fascism is of course not known for its rigorous philosophical basis, but I truly cannot overstate quite how poor some of the reasoning in the work is.

Technology and Free Software

So Many Strings, So Little Time

↺ So Many Strings, So Little Time

I've been working with Java for almost thirty years and in all that time, I've never had to internationalize a GUI app. That is, until now.Alhena 5.2.8 is out with a figurative metric ton of enhancements and fixes. Before I get to the strings, I wanted to mention emojis - specifically emoji optimization.Early versions of Alhena could take nearly ten seconds to load Acidus's comprehensive emoji page on my Mac M1 macbook. That number improved over time and more recently settled in at a little over two seconds for sprite emojis. The new version can render that page in less than a second (JIT willing). Sprite emojis are faster than font-based but font-based also got a huge performance boost - so good, in fact, that I'm embarrassed to say how slow they used to be.

Software Releases/Announcements

Alhena 5.2.8

↺ Alhena 5.2.8

Alhena 5.2.8 is a veritable cornucopia of bug fixes and enhancements. Most notable are emoji performance improvements and internationalization. Let me know if you're interested in creating a translation. There are details on my gemlog.

* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.

HTTPS: Gemini (Primer)

↺ HTTPS: Gemini software

gemini.techrights.org

Gemini Links 16/08/2025: Politics and Alhena 5.2.8

Contents

Personal/Opinions

LQ’s account of the end