| Time |
Event |
| 9:13a |
Labour forces to decrease poverty
Economic
forecasting predicts that the changes that the Labour Left forced
on Starmer will convert a predicted increase in poverty into an
predicted decrease.
That's good, but will it last? Some other change that hurts the non-rich
could convert the positive forecast into negative again.
|
| 9:13a |
Call for jury-free criminal trials, UK
The UK is considering
abolishing
jury trial for some subset of criminal charges.
If the system is "collapsing" it is probably traceable one way or
another to budget cuts, made "necessary" by tax cuts for the rich.
|
| 9:13a |
Even more abusive non-disclosure agreements
*UK bosses to be banned from using NDAs to
cover
up misconduct at work.*
This is a step forward, but it should go further. Businesses should not
be allowed to compel employees to cover up harm to the public either.
|
| 9:13a |
National Hwy traffic safety Admin.
*Tesla asks NHTSA to hide its
response
to Robotaxi questions.*
Businesses employ people but they are not people. They are not
entitled to keep secrets from the public in matters that rightly
concern the public's well being.
|
| 9:13a |
Tax cuts for the rich, Europe
Europe spent the "peace dividend" from the end of the Cold War mostly on tax
cuts and mostly for the rich. It can rearm and protect the non-rich now
by
returning
tax levels to previous levels.
I suggest putting a withholding tax on business's payments to
stockholders and creditors, which for EU taxpayers would count as
withholding towards their personal tax payments. Non-EU taxpayers
would not be able to get it back.
|
| 9:13a |
Housing as corporate profit, US, Europe
In Europe, as in the US, governments have encouraged and fed the corporate
takeover of housing. This is the root cause of
unlivable
prices.
|
| 9:13a |
Attacking the poor is profitable, UK
George Monbiot: Attacking the poor creates a
power
base for right-wing fanatics when "centrist" plutocratists are in
power, they do this; when the fanatics get into power, they can
continue doing it.
|
| 9:13a |
Societal improvements and wealth tax, UK
A
billionaire who switched from supporting the Tories to supporting
Labour evidently thought he was joining Tory Lite. Now he is worried
that Starmer might get the idea he is head of the Labour party.
|
| 9:13a |
Seemingly profiteering in Israel, US
*UN Gaza investigator Francesca Albanese says US sanctions against her
a sign of "guilt".*
I don't think what the persecutor feels is guilt, as such. He seems
to be impervious to the moral self-criticism that is essential for
avoiding wrongdoing. I think he realizes that the condemnation will
carry weight with the public, and lead some to despise him, so he
seeks to silence or discredit those critics.
|
| 9:13a |
|
| 9:13a |
Genocide as a profit machine, UN report
The US put sanctions on Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for
the
occupied
Palestinian territories. The report inculpates Alphabet/Google,
Facebook/Meta, and Microsoft, plus others in various countries.
|
| 8:38p |
All parties believe people don't care about climate defense
All the parties in Britain believe that the people don't care about
climate defense, so they can abandon the effort. This article argues
that they are mistaken.
If you recognize that the survival of civilization depends on curbing global
heating, so failure is likely to kill billions, you will realize that
you must do that even people fail to demand it.
</li>
|
| 8:38p |
|
| 8:38p |
Land under Alaskan village eroding
The land under the Alaskan village of Kipnuk is slowly eroding and buildings are falling into the ocean. The sadist's men have just
canceled the climate adaptation grant that was going to pay for a
retaining wall to protect it.
Many such grants have been canceled. The victims are suing.
</li> |
| 8:38p |
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| 8:38p |
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| 8:38p |
Canada bullied over "digital taxes"
Joseph Stiglitz: *[The bully] bullied Canada over "digital taxes" —
and Ottawa submitted.*
It's too bad, because these would have meant more taxing of companies
that are dangerously powerful.
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Deportations to South Sudan
The US travel warning for South Sudan says "Do not travel" and warns
people to make a will first if they do go there. But the persecutor
had 8 people deported there, a country they did not know, after
lying to them about where they were being taken.
The US deportation thugs feel no obligation of decency or
proportionality. Now that they have got away with deporting people to
South Sudan who don't know that country or its culture, can't speak
the language, and mostly don't adhere to the dominant religion there,
and cannot make a living there, they will try to expand the practice
to include people who had no criminal records, are entering with
apparent permission, and get refused incomprehensibly at the arrival
airport.
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Governments not powerless with deep sea miners
*Governments are not powerless in the face of deep sea miners
colluding with [the wrecker].*
</li> |
| 8:38p |
US measles epidemic
The US measles epidemic is petering out, after around 1270 known
cases.
There may have been hundreds of thousands more cases not reported.
This is what used to happen every year when I was a child. Every
year, 400-500 people died from measles in the US. The article does not say
how many developed a weakened immune system or lasting disability,
but I'd expect it was in the thousands.
All of that could be coming back — but we could avoid that by kicking
out the trumpets.
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Forecasted increase in poverty in UK
Economic forecasting predicts that the changes that the Labour Left
forced on Starmer will convert a predicted increase in poverty into an
predicted decrease.
That's good, but will it last? Some other change that hurts the non-rich
could convert the positive forecast into negative again.
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Court case on deportation thug violence
Lawyers are trying to prove in court that the deportation thugs are
using wanton violence against whoever they encounter, citizens or not.
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Bill introduced to prohibit deportation thugs wearing masks
*Democratic senators introduce bill to prohibit [deportation thugs] from
wearing masks.*
I don't think many Republicans will vote for this, but their opposition
could show people how slavish and cruel they are.
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Toxic sewage sludge as fertilizer
The use of toxic sewage sludge as fertilizer produces crops that contain
small amounts of many different chemicals, some of which are toxic.
What is not known is whether the amounts of various chemicals present
in actual food is a significant danger to people who mostly will die
anyway before reaching the age of 100 years. Each chemical poses
a separate question.
One lesson of this, which I've stated before, is that we must
absolutely reject the idea that a company has a right to conceal data
about its processes and outputs that is pertinent to public health.
A government of the people, by the people, for the people
tells companies, "Document what we need to know, or shut down."
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Big Bad Bill will kill renewable energy projects
The Big Bad Bill will kill many renewable energy projects, which
will make electricity substantially more expensive a few years from now.
To compensate for this, the saboteur in chief plans to subsidize existing
fossil-fuel generating plants.
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Executions in Salafi Arabia
Salafi Arabia executed over 100 people in 2024, and over 100 people
in the first half of this year, for nonviolent drug offenses.
According to Amnesty International, the trials are inadequate as proof that
the accused even committed those crimes (though perhaps some did so).
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Iranian student stranded in US
Amazingly, US immigration persecutors were able to see the case for mercy
for Mandonna Kashanian, an Iranian student who was stranded in the US
when the Islamic revolution took power. Her family mobilized people in
her community to convince their congresscritter, who had influence with
the deportation thugs.
Her name leads me to speculate that she may be of Armenian ethnicity
and not Muslim. That would be a reason why returning to Iran would have
implied oppression.
The fact that it is possible gives reason to hope they might feel
the stirrings of human decency more often.
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Journalist ordered released but still being held
Journalist Mario Guevara was arrested covering a protest, and handed
to the deportation thugs. A judge ruled to release him on bail, but
the thugs are playing silly games to keep him in jail.
Project 2025 seems to have planned a general campaign to probe the law
at every possible weakpoint, seeking ways to negate people's legal
rights. Among those, the authority of judges to order officials to
correct their abuses.
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Open letter by EPA employees
140 EPA employees who signed an open letter criticizing the management
*dismantling the EPA office of research and
development, canceling environmental justice programs and grants,
making employees fearful, undermining the trust of the public, and
"ignoring scientific consensus to protect polluters."*
In other words, of acting against its official mission.
Those administrators suspended those employees and said, "The
Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career
bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the
administration's agenda…"
And when the "administration's agenda" is to make the EPA fail
totally, who then ought to be suspended?
</li> |
| 8:38p |
American academic researchers' chance to move to French university
Some of America's best academic researchers are being chosen
for the chance to move to a French university.
300 researchers have applied, but there are only 38 finalists.
I don't know how many will actually be chosen, but I would
estimate not more than 10. What will the others do?
</li> |
| 8:38p |
Cory Doctorow: How Canada should respond to tariffs
Cory Doctorow: Instead of retaliating towards US tariffs with its own
Tariffs, it should retaliate by repealing the Canadian equivalent of
the DMCA.
And it should follow up by publishing jailbreaks for various
US companies that are jails.
Doctorow argues that that would do far more harm to oppressive US
companies that sell people jails, including Apple, Google, John Deere
and car companies, and would avoid raising prices for Canadians.
I criticize the article's choice of terminology. When talking about
copyright laws such as the DMCA, it refers to them by the over-general
and vague term "IP".
That term is always an overgeneralization
and we should never use it.
It also refers to digital handcuffs as "digital locks". The most
important thing about DRM and other digital handcuffs is that they are
fundamentally unlike locks.
Locks, in general, are not nasty or unjust in that way. The lock
on your door doesn't oppress you — because you have the key.
Your password is a lock on your computer that does not oppress you
because you choose and you have the key (password) to open it.
Protecting your control over your home or your computer is not an injustice.
The systems that companies use to restrict what you can do with
your computer are handcuffs, not locks. The handcuffs are unjust
towards you because the companies put them on you.
Digital handcuffs are an injustice because they give a company control.
If we call them "locks", that tends to legitimize them — so let's
not!
</li> |