Democracy Local, a planetary publication 地方民主

And we're off! Los Angeles Charter Civic Assembly

Saving The Life We Cannot See | NOEMA Conservation has traditionally ignored the planet’s smallest life forms. Microbiologists are trying to change that — before it’s too late.

“Many of the planet’s microbiomes are under serious threat, with untold numbers of species & ecosystems flickering silently out of existence.”

— @moiradonovan.bsky.social

#microbes #microbiome #conservation #environment

So SCOTUS, with its fabricated-out-of-thin-air immunity doctrine, has actually made American presidents less accountable than LITERAL royalty.

Officials Pressed Schumer to Help Name Penn Station, Dulles for Trump

I'd be ok with renaming April for Trump. After all, it's the cruelest month.

Officials Pressed Schumer to Help Name Penn Station, Dulles for Trump www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/u...

Do it

I love how, when it comes to their own rotting system, Americans can't see the obvious problem at the center.

The one-person American presidency is a massive threat to every living thing on this planet. It's long past time to end it.

Today's the last day to sign up for the lottery to join Rewrite La's January 11 civic assembly on the LA city charter. The assembly will consider a preamble and rights for LA's city constitution. Rewrite La.org/deliberate

This is a 750 miles radius map around Mainz, Germany, where Gutenberg deployed his first moveable type printing press in the 1440. Over the next 350 years an intellectual revolution would unfold almost entirely within this circumference, from Edinburgh to Rome, and from Barcelona to Königsberg.

The nation-state and democracy are not friends.

Riskmaxxing and the Death of the Middle Path For older generations, risk is a choice. For Gen Z, it's a trap.

“The postwar deal was simple enough that it barely needed stating: education + work + time = house, security, retirement. It worked, more or less, for three generations — long enough that people mistook it for natural law rather than policy choice.” www.collisiondetector.com/riskmaxxing-...

Revising the final recommendations at today's Rewrite LA lottery-selected mini-assembly at ICA LA. 30 Angelemis are deliberating on land use provisions of the city charter

BREAKING NEWS 2 Turkish Cities Are Short Listed for 'European Capital of Democracy'
www.democracy.community/stories/news...

Mastodon has been a lifeline in the madness, and a way to build planetary knowledge around local self-governance.

Oscar Winner Daniel Kwan “Nerds Out” on a New Passion Project: Helping Rewrite L.A.’s City Charter Kwan talks local activism and how his peers can help: "When most people hear about this kind of stuff, their eyes glaze over. But I wish that wasn’t the case because this charter affects everyone.”

Daniel has bern pushing to get everyday Angelenos into the chartter deliberation. So grateful for his passion and interest in local governance. www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/li...

Inside The Push To Rebuild Society Around Ecosystems | NOEMA As the climate crisis deepens, an old green dream is returning — with new tools and technologies.

“A growing ecological movement sees the solution [to the climate crisis] in bioregionalism: the idea of reorganizing social & economic life around the natural boundaries of the ecosystems that host & sustain us.”

— @dougbierend.bsky.social

#climatecrisis #bioregionalism #esg

NEW at DEMOCRACY LOCAL. In our "Where in the World is @brunokaufmann.bsky.social ?" feature, the intrepid democracy reporter visits Copenhagen during local elections that produced a historic shift. www.democracy.community/stories/wher...

This GIVING TUESDAY, please consider a donation to Democracy Local's parent NGO, Democracy International, which hosts and supports our publication. www.democracy.community/donate

NEW at Democracy Local. NEWSLETTER: The Planetocracy Cometh, So Wear Your White Hats. Also: Is Impact Investing Anti-Democratic? A Sub-Saharan Cities Compact; and Wisdom from a Cat-Mayor-Martyr

www.democracy.community/stories/news...

For the first time, LA public defenders will defend clients in immigration court A new unit at the LA County Public Defender’s office will do something unprecedented in the county: defend immigrants in court facing deportation.

For the first time in it's 111 year history, LA public defenders will defend clients in immigration court.
A new unit at the LA County Public Defender’s office will do something unprecedented in the county: defend immigrants in court facing deportation.
bit.ly/48KAPLm

What can Chennai learn from Kerala and Bengaluru on citizen participation in urban governance? The divergent models followed by Kerala and Bengaluru in participation of citizens in ward committees can prove vital learning for Chennai as citizens seek a greater say in local governance.

citizenmatters.in/chennai-citi...

Enjoy a wide-ranging conversation, from Mexico City to Chennai, Lagos to Los Angeles, on how big cities reckon with their democratic responsibilities.
www.democracy.community/stories/vide...

Asia enters an era of ‘performative democracy’ A sian democracies are entering an era where institutions look functional on paper but fall short of delivering meaningful accountability,

From Asia Democracy Chronicles: Asia's governments & institutions still speak the language of freedom and participation, but new reports shows they increasingly function as façades, suppressing dissent, eroding accountability, and consolidating elite power. adnchronicles.org/2025/11/27/a...

The Moral Authority Of Animals | NOEMA For millennia before we showed up on the scene, social animals — those living in societies and cooperating for survival — had been creating cultures imbued with ethics.

“In a world where power is misused, public morality has become slippery & dishonesty lurches sickeningly through public speech, animals can offer vital lessons for human ethics, political wisdom & social health.”

— @jay-griffiths.bsky.social

#moralcompass #animals #ethics

Address ‘Affordability’ By Spreading AI Wealth Around | NOEMA The emergent “coalition of the precariat” should embrace the idea of universal basic capital.

We can’t keep hitting up the richest to meet today’s affordability challenge. In an economy where the top 10% own 93% of all equities in financial markets, “it can only be met by spreading the wealth of ownership more broadly in the first place,” argues Nathan Gardels.

#aiwealth #ubi #affordability

NEW: A Local Snapshot with Orzhytsia (Ukraine) Mayor Olena Sydorenko. 'Openness Is Even More Essential in War' www.democracy.community/stories/loca...

NEW: A Local Snapshot with Orzhytsia (Ukraine) Mayor Olena Sydorenko. 'Openness Is Even More Essential in War' www.democracy.community/stories/loca...

NEW at Democracy Local: Our Local Snapshot feature chats with Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani about his city's water struggles—and how participatory governance and neighborhood democracy may help solve them. www.democracy.community/stories/loca...

Apologies... I'm Scots-Irish, so need to work on my Welsh.

They are gulags. Should start calling them that, @nytimes.com

In separatist news, the Welsh nationalists with a strong showing. Cymru Rhydd!