Humans must prepare to be ready to care about the rights and needs of sentient AIs, so that we can respect their rights if and when we meet them.

Xiao Jianhua, a Canadian billionaire (formerly Chinese) who was kidnapped from Hong Kong by Chinese suppression agents in 2017, is now getting a Chinese-style secret trial.

The series of kidnappings of Hong Kong businessmen terrified the citizens; for Xi, they demonstrated that the other powers would not take strong measures to protect freedom in Hong Kong.

*It's time for Democrats to fear their own voters.*

Toronto homeless shelters require security guards to remove facial hair so that N95 masks will fit them well, and effectively prevent transmission of Covid-19. This rule is to protect health and safety during Covid waves.

Some guards, who are Sikhs, believe that this rule is unfair to them because complying with it would go against their religion. They contend that the state has no right to enforce rules on them that conflict with their religious observance.

Such a demand must be refused. No one is entitled to set aside a requirement to protect other people's health in order to practice a ritual. In the end, if you won't do the job as it needs to be done, you must leave.

In general, we should let people practice their religions when it doesn't cause a significant problem. For instance, if someone wants to wear a long bathing suit while swimming, there is no reason to forbid that.

It is also good to look for compromises, including with the Sikh guards. For instance, a small beard, like the one I wear now, can fit under an N95 mask. (I cut it to fit underneath.) Such beards should be permitted. Whether that is acceptable to a Sikh, I don't know, but if it is, they should be allowed to wear their masks over these beards.

It is reasonable to insist that an employer offer a worker some other job, when a new rule excludes per from per current job. But people with a religion should not thereby acquire more human rights than Atheists have.

US residents (citizens or not): call on Dollar General to end low pay and unsafe working conditions.