| Time |
Event |
| 1:03a |
Bogus Johnson not trying to become Prime Monster again
Bogus Johnson abandoned his attempt to become Prime Monster again,
with the parting bogus claim that he would probably have won
and was withdrawing from the race only for the sake of "party unity". |
| 1:03a |
Australian laws to strip citizenship
Australia plans to make another try at laws to strip citizenship from people suspected of involvement with terrorism.
Australia's previous laws that allowed ministers to cancel citizenship
based on suspicion were ruled unconstitutional.
The proposed replacement will be somewhat less unjust, simply because
there will be some sort of court hearing to decide. But will that
hearing be supposed to respect the same rights that a trial is
supposed to respect? I fear it will follow a lesser standard, and
that would make it an injustice.
Exile is a severe punishment, and it should not be imposed without
the same safeguards that imprisonment would require.
I suggest that if a country wants to take away someone's citizenship
over alleged terrorism, it should first arrest per, then put per on
trial for that terrorism. If the accused chooses to remain in exile
to avoid the trial, this achieves the same goal indirectly. However,
person must have the right to return and face trial so as to clear per
name.
Laws to empower a government to impose temporary exile on a citizen
are likewise unjust. Any form of arbitrary state power can be useful
for "managing risks", but that is not enough to excuse it. |
| 1:03a |
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| 1:03a |
The Economist advocates legalizing cocaine
The Economist advocates legalizing cocaine, to reduce the danger from
contaminants and reduce its corrupting power. |
| 1:03a |
Victoria, Australia renewable electricity
The state of Victoria, in Australia, has plans to build renewable
electric generation facilities and produce 95% of the state's electricity from renewable sources by 2035.
The new generating facilities will be owned mostly by the state. |
| 1:03a |
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| 1:03a |
Brazil disinformation on Facebook
*YouTube and Facebook letting Brazil election disinformation spread, NGO says.*
Global Witness produced many misleading ads and ads that attacked
the election, and asked for approval from YouTube and Facebook.
YouTube appeoved all of them, and Facebook many of them. The organization
did not actually run the misleading ads. |
| 1:03a |
Florida prison thugs paralyze prisoners
When Florida prison thugs beat up prisoners, sometimes they break
their necks and paralyze them. They did this to Craig Ridley, and he
starved to death.
They left food for him every day, but he was unable to pick it up and
eat it. He told them he was paralyzed, but they insisted he was
malingering. |
| 1:03a |
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| 1:03a |
Keeping Republican election monitors from intimidating voters
Harris County in Texas has asked for federal election monitors to make
sure the state's Republican election monitors don't intimidate voters. |
| 1:03a |
Election shows billionaires' power to buy elections
This year's election shows that the billionaires' power to buy
elections is almost total.
It includes the influence of the mainstream media — which belong to
billionaires — which deflect attention from the issues that electing
the right politicians could fix, to other issues such as inflation. |
| 1:03a |
Big money could fuel victory for "Big Lie" candidates
*Corporate America's Big Money Could Fuel Victory for "Big Lie"
Candidates.* |
| 1:03a |
Making Labour choice of British business
Starmer is trying to make Labour the preferred choice of British business.
Perhaps it should change its name to the "Shareholding/Management
Party." |
| 1:03a |
Ethiopia doing great harm to Tigrayan civilians
Vague glimpses of the developments in the war between Ethiopia and
Tigray show that Ethiopia is doing great harm to Tigrayan civilians.
I have never seen enough clear information on what is happening in
Ethiopia to understand what is going on in that war, or why. I wish I
knew. |
| 1:03a |
How Chairman Xi chose China's highest officials
Chairman Xi has chosen China's highest officials (aside from him)
based on personal obedience to him.
In the short term, this will encourage grave mistakes. It will also
very likely leave China with weak leaders whenever Xi dies or retires.
But that could be ten years from now.
China's repression in Xinjiang and Hong Kong has brought China a
well-deserved increase in world condemnation.
Can we envision a way that China could become a free, successful country? |
| 1:03a |
UN inspectors blocked from visiting prisons
Parts of Australia blocked UN inspectors from visiting their prisons
to check for respect for human rights. |
| 1:03a |
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| 1:03a |
Putin's attack on Ukraine's electric generators
Putin's tactic of destroying Ukraine's electric generators is having
devastating effect.
The drones and missiles are cheap, so the Putin forces fire many of them,
day after day. Even though Ukraine destroys most of them, each power plant
damaged will be out of service for weeks.
Putin's forces are also talking about blowing up a major dam near Kherson.
This might destroy a lot of the infrastructure around Kherson, and maybe much
of the city itself. |
| 1:03a |
Funding for COVID-19 vaccines and testing blocked
Republicans blocked funding for COVID-19 vaccines and testing. As a
result, next year vaccination will cost around $110.
Many Americans, who are on the brink of penury and can barely afford
food and heat, will go without vaccination. That's unjust for them,
and dangerous for everyone. Those who are not current on vaccination
are more likely to spread the virus — to you or anyone else.
Catching COVID-19 if you're vaccinated still has a substantial chance
of incapacitating you for months or years, so don't take a foolish
risk. Obtain N95 masks and use them as a precaution whenever you are
near other people in an enclosed space. That's what I do, and I am
doing it right now. I am in an airplane, and I am going to keep my
N95 mask on until I am outside the terminal after arrival. |
| 1:03a |
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| 2:37a |
Rule to classify drivers of Uber and Lyft as employees
Biden's Labor Department has proposed an employment rule that would
classify the drivers of Uber and Lyft as employees.
This would be a big step forward for employee's rights, but it won't
do anything about the injustice of Uber and Lyft to the _passengers_:
making them run nonfree software (an app) and identify themselves
(enabling surveillane). This should be forbidden.
So I will continue to refuse to get into an Uber or Lyft car. I go
out of my way to get a real taxi that I can board anonymously and pay
with cash. Or I take a bus. Or I walk.
In some places, such as New York City, even taxis are part of a
surveillance machine. A cab driver there told me that all NYC taxis
are required to have cameras that transmit the passengers' face images
immediately by radio to the city department of massive surveillance.
Such surveillance is a bigger threat than terrorism, because tracking
people threatens to subjugate everyone. |
| 2:37a |
New Pun: Mousetraps
Mousetraps Pun:
I told a gathering that I was in favor of mousetraps.
A mouse replied, claiming that they are de-bait-able. |
| 3:48a |
Lobbyists fighting efforts to solve biodiversity crisis
*Meet the Industry Lobbyists Fighting Efforts to Solve the
Biodiversity Crisis.* |
| 3:48a |
Jailed for trying to drive across Iran
A couple of New Zealand travel bloggers were jailed for months
for trying to drive across Iran.
Perhaps it was because they were driving an American make of car,
which Iran has prohibited. But that seems unlikely. |
| 3:48a |
Cut to two burgers a week to save planet
*Cut meat consumption to two burgers a week to save planet, study suggests.*
*Public transport [must be] expanded
about six times faster than its current rate.* And the world must stop
increasing the use of methane (natural gas). |
| 3:48a |
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| 3:48a |
Britain needs more than an election to fix it
George Monbiot: Britain is so deeply broken that it will need more
than an election to fix it. |
| 3:48a |
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| 3:48a |
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| 3:48a |
Britons supporting nonviolent action to protect environment
2/3 of Britons support nonviolent direct action to protect the
environment.
I'm impressed by their ability to value long-term well-being above
short-term inconvenience. |
| 3:48a |
Crushing the poor to reduce the UK's debt
Maha-Rishi Sunak is about to choose to crush the poor so as to reduce the UK's debt. He'd rather cause great suffering than raise taxes.
However, with most Britons now in poverty, they should not have to
pay any tax.
He has millions and his wife has hundreds of millions.
We call him Rich Sunak.
The UK could raise a lot of money by closing the loophole that many
rich UK citizens (including Sunak's wife) use to pay very little tax. |
| 3:48a |
Britons recognizing it was a mistake to leave EU
After a series of ever-more-radical right-wing prime monsters
pushing for ever-deeper political and economic separation from the EU,
Britons are waking up to the idea that it was a mistake to leave the EU.
Many years ago, I said that splitting from the EU would have horrible
results with plutocratists in charge, but could have good results with
antiplutocratists in charge. Splitting would enable the
plutocrats to rampage through the UK unrestrained by EU laws, if the
UK government were on their side. At the same time, EU laws impose a
considerable amount of plutocracy, so leaving the EU would make it
possible for the UK to have less.
Now that the "Labour" Party has made sure it can never be a
channel to oppose plutocracy, I see little hope that the UK could
make positive use of being outside the EU. So it may as well rejoin. |
| 3:48a |
Laws prohibiting specific kinds of boycotts
The ACLU asked the Supreme Court to rule that laws prohibiting specific
kinds of boycotts are unconstitutional,
after one federal appeals court ruled to the contrary.
The authoritarian campaign to prohibit boycotting Israel has put the
US in danger of broad-spectrum plutocratist authoritarianism. |
| 3:48a |
Chinese consul claims justification in attack on protester
The Chinese consul in England who ordered his staff to kidnap and
attack a protester, and participated personally in the attack, claims
that he was justified because the protest signs constituted an attack
against China.
This statement reflects China's contempt for dissent and freedom of
speech. It illustrates how the Chinese government is a force for
tyranny and repression. Alas, we can find similar views in the US
too. Right-wing bullies, including the wrecker himself, frequently
call for, and carry out, violence against people for disagreeing with
them.
At heart, would-be American tyrants are not very different
from Chinese tyrants.
We also find progressives who take a similar stance, equating
expression of right-wing views, or even depicting events those
progressives condemn, to violence. They may claim to be "harmed" by
the mere sight of them.
If we join with would-be tyrants in equating criticism with violence,
we will have no basis to condemn right-wing violence except that we
disagree with the right-wing views.
Just recently the leader of the Proud Boys was invited to speak at
Penn State University, by a group of right-wing students. Progressive
students demanded the university ban the talk.
I don't agree with the Proud Boys position any more than those
students do, but if the disapproval of a group with some power is
enough to ban a speech, lots of views will be banned.
On the other hand, if that speech would amount to a call to violence,
that could be a valid reason to stop it. |
| 3:48a |
Understanding history in the "Age of the Big Lie"
Alan Singer: *Understanding History in the "Age of the Big Lie."*
Singer refers to E.H. Carr, who claimed that "Concern with the future
is what really motivates the study of the past. I disagree, because I
agree with Singer's concluding paragraph: there are many possible
motivations and purposes in studying history.
In particular, it can be interesting to study history seeking the
causes and explanations of the present, but we need to avoid
transferring our present-day thinking and moral ideas
anachronistically to people of the past. |
| 3:48a |
Democrats must confront issue of inflation
Robert Reich: That the US has inflation, like most other
countries, is not the fault of the Democrats in office, but they must
confront the issue honestly. |
| 3:48a |
Proposed Journalism Competition and Preservation Act
Arguing that the proposed Journalism Competition and Preservation Act
would help large US newspapers get more advertising money out of
adtech companies, but would not help support local newspapers
or local journalism. |
| 3:48a |
Publicly subsidized insurers raising prices on Medicare Advantage Plans
* Publicly subsidized insurers are jacking up prices [on their
Medicare Advantage plans] while Americans lose coverage.* |