#Nationwide Car Service for Independence Day

[zayaanhashistory]

The 1992 Los Angeles Riots

The 1992 Los Angeles riots—also called the Los Angeles uprising—sprung from years of rising tensions between the LAPD and the city’s African Americans, highlighted by the 1991 videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King. On April 29, 1992, anger boiled over after four LAPD officers were found not guilty of assaulting King, leading to several days of widespread violence, looting and arson throughout L.A. By May 3, thousands of National Guardsmen and federal troops had largely curbed the uprising, which left more than 60 people dead and produced about $1 billion in damage. 

The 1980s brought rising unemployment, gang activity, drugs and violent crime to the poorer neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Aggressive efforts to exert control by the Los Angeles Police Department fostered a belief among minority communities that its officers were not held liable for abusive police actions. In August 1988, as part of LAPD Chief Daryl Gates’s “Operation Hammer” drug sweeps, more than 80 officers tore apart a pair of apartment buildings on Dalton Street in South L.A., leaving dozens homeless. In January 1990, a skirmish between the LAPD and Nation of Islam members following a traffic stop resulted in the death of 27-year-old Air Force veteran Oliver Beasley. 

Early on March 3, 1991, an intoxicated parolee named Rodney King led police on a high-speed car chase before stopping in Lakeview Terrace. His subsequent beating, which left him with a fractured skull and cheekbone, was caught on video by Lakeview resident George Holliday, who forwarded it to local station KTLA. Within days, the footage of police repeatedly hitting a Black man with batons was airing on all major networks, drumming up nationwide outrage against the officers involved. On March 15, LAPD Sergeant Stacey Koon and officers Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind and Theodore Briseno were indicted for assault in the King beating, with Koon and Powell also charged with filing false police reports. The African American community endured another blow the following day, when 15-year-old Latasha Harlin's was shot and killed by Korean grocer Soon Ja Du over a disputed shoplifting. Shortly afterward, L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley formed the independent Christopher Commission, named for co-chair Warren Christopher, to investigate operations within the LAPD. In July, the commission published a report that detailed repetitive use of excessive force and recommended a new system of accountability, though Gates staunchly defended his practices. On November 15, Du drew a sentence that included community service and suspended jail time, a decision that outraged Harlin family and supporters. Eleven days later, it was announced the trial for the four officers in the King beating would be moved from Los Angeles County to predominantly white Ventura County. In February 1992, the trial commenced with a 12-member jury that included one Latino, one Asian American and one half-African American. 

  At about 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29, the jury released their verdict: All four officers were acquitted of charges in the King case, save for a mistrial on one charge against Powell of excessive force. The response was immediate, as protesters took to the streets. Hundreds of people gathered at the Los Angeles County Courthouse to protest the verdict. By 5:30 p.m., the unrest had grown violent near the intersection of Florence and Normandie Avenues in South L.A., where locals attacked passing motorists and forced overwhelmed LAPD officers to retreat. A news helicopter captured footage of white truck driver Reginald Denny being pulled from his rig and beaten nearly to death, with no signs of police assistance. Minutes later, a Latino driver named Fidel Lopez endured a similar attack. 

In a matter of hours, neighborhoods across South and Central Los Angeles were in flames as rioters firebombed thousands of buildings, smashed windows, looted stores and attacked the Parker Center police headquarters in downtown L.A. By the end of the day, California Governor Pete Wilson had declared a state of emergency and ordered the activation of reserve National Guard soldiers. The citywide unrest showed little signs of abating on April 30, prompting the suspension of rapid transit, mail service, schools and professional sports games. Many businesses closed, leaving residents to wait in long lines for food and gas, while other store owners, like bands of armed Korean merchants, chose to engage the looters. Although some 2,000 National Guardsmen had reached the city by 8:00 that morning, a lack of proper communication and equipment prevented effective deployment until later in the afternoon. May 1, the third day of continued rioting, was marked by the televised appearance of King, who asked for the mayhem to stop, quietly pleading, “Can we all get along?” That evening, President George H.W. Bush also took to the airwaves to denounce both the “senseless deaths” of the riots and the police brutality that inspired them, and to announce the dispatch of thousands of federal officers to Los Angeles. 

By May 2, with 6,000 National Guardsmen bolstered by the addition of another 4,000 federal troops and Marines, the disorder had largely quelled. An estimated 30,000 people marched at a peaceful rally for Korean merchants, and volunteers began cleaning up the streets. Meanwhile, arraignments began for some 6,000 alleged looters and arsonists. Highway exits reopened and police began recovering stolen merchandise the following day, the only significant trouble coming when National Guardsmen shot a driver who attempted to run them over. On May 4, Mayor Bradley lifted the citywide curfew, and residents attempted to resume day-to-day activities with schools, businesses and rapid transit resuming operations. Federal troops stood down on May 9 and the National Guard soon followed, though some soldiers remained until the end of the month. 

The final tally for the L.A. riots included 2,000 injuries, 12,000 arrests and 63 deaths attributed to the uprising. Upwards of 3,000 buildings were burned or destroyed and 3,000 businesses were affected as part of the $1 billion in damages sustained by the city, leaving an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 people out of work. At the conclusion of the riots, elected officials set about putting the city back together through a combination of federal grants, collaborations with financial institutions and tax proposals. Governor Wilson and Mayor Bradley tapped Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth to lead the “Rebuild L.A.” effort, which attracted nearly $400 million in corporate investments and set in motion a series of grassroots movements to foster job training and community involvement. 

Attention was also focused on the culpability of the city’s law enforcement. On May 11, former FBI Director William H. Webster was named to head an investigation into the LAPD response during the riots, and in late June embattled Chief Daryl Gates stepped down. In October, the commission issued a report that criticized both the LAPD and City Hall for being unprepared and slow to handle the response to the riots. It issued a list of recommendations, including redeploying desk officers into community patrols and upgrading the city’s communications and information systems. Critics of the LAPD earned some vindication in 1993 when officers Koon and Powell were sentenced to 30 months apiece for violating King’s civil rights. In April 1994, King was awarded $3.8 million in a civil lawsuit against the city. Although the LAPD demonstrated improvements with community-based programs, it resisted implementing most of the recommendations of the 1991 Christopher Commission. It wasn’t until the Rampart Scandal of the late 1990s, which exposed widespread corruption within an LAPD anti-gang unit, that serious change was enacted. 

In 2000, the city of Los Angeles entered a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice that allowed an independent monitor to oversee reforms. After taking over as LAPD chief in 2002, William Bratton was credited with taking steps to overhaul and improve the perception of the department. In 2013, Department of Justice oversight of the LAPD was fully lifted. However, a 2020 report by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights found that thousands of non-traffic infractions issued by police in California were being disproportionately enforced on Black and Latino residents. 

[weather-usa]

Delhi experiences extreme weather whiplash as heat waves transition to record rainfall and deadly flash floods.

Sudden heavy rains have caused deadly flash flooding in India’s capital, replacing one of the worst heat waves in Delhi’s history, which had pushed temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

An observatory in New Delhi reported 228.1 millimeters (nearly 9 inches) of rainfall in a 24-hour period on Friday, the highest recorded in a single June day for 88 years, and exceeding the city's average for the entire month, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.

See more:

At least 11 people died from the rain and flooding last week, including four who drowned in submerged underpasses, Reuters reported, citing local media.

Heavy rains flooded roads, submerged cars and subways, and cut power to parts of the city. Videos posted on social media showed waterlogged streets in Delhi, with residents wading waist-deep through the floods.

The Delhi capital region “is becoming home to extreme weather every season now,” said independent weatherman Navdeep Dahiya on X.

On Friday, heavy rain caused a section of the roof at New Delhi’s airport to collapse, crushing one man to death and injuring eight others. Photos released by the fire service showed the large white canopy of the roof had fallen to the ground, crushing several cars. One person was seen slumped under twisted metal in the driver's seat of one of the cars.

The heavy rains have brought some relief from weeks of blistering heat, with one part of Delhi reaching 49.9 degrees Celsius (121.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in late May — the capital’s highest temperature on record. This year’s scorching heat wave persisted even after sunset, with high nighttime temperatures providing little relief.

The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a weather warning until July 4 as heavy rains hit much of India’s northeast, east, and northwest coast.

Red alerts, indicating the highest level of threat, were issued for parts of the northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, and Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday.

“Heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely over northwest, east, and northeast India over the next four to five days,” the Indian Meteorological Department stated on Sunday.

In Uttar Pradesh, which borders the Indian Capital Territory, two women reportedly died after a water tank collapsed in the heavy rain, according to ANI News. In Uttarakhand, video posted by ANI News shows vehicles being hauled out of floodwaters after being swept away by heavy rain. CNN cannot independently verify these reports.

On Friday, five Indian army personnel died after their tank got stuck in flash floods while attempting to cross a river during training in northern Ladakh, the army said in a post on X.

“Rescue teams rushed to the location, but due to high current and water levels, the rescue mission didn’t succeed, and the tank crew lost their lives,” the army stated.

Heavy monsoon rains have also caused damage in neighboring countries. In Nepal, at least nine people, including three children, were killed after rains triggered landslides in the country’s west, Reuters reported, citing an official from the National Disaster Rescue and Reduction Management Authority.

Climate and Average Weather Year Round in 02842 - Middletown RI:

From no water to too much water

India, the world’s most populous nation, is one of the countries worst affected by the human-caused climate crisis, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, potentially affecting 1.4 billion people nationwide.

The climate crisis is making extreme weather events more frequent and severe, scientists say, and this can be seen playing out in climate-vulnerable India, which is suffering from extremes of heat, rainfall, and other disasters such as cyclones.

While India often experiences heat waves during the summer months of May and June, in recent years, they have arrived earlier and become more prolonged, with scientists linking some of these longer and more intense heat waves to climate change.

New Delhi topped a recent list of hottest capital cities, recording 4,222 days above 35 degrees Celsius in the past three decades — more than any other city analyzed. Between 2014 and 2023, just under half (44%) of days in the Indian capital met that threshold, compared to 35% from 1994 to 2003, and 37% from 2004 to 2013.

Delhi, like many cities in India, is suffering from a water crisis, with acute water shortages and lack of groundwater supply leaving many people to rely on water tankers for their supply of fresh, clean water.

"We get water only once a day, and it’s scalding hot. Unless you fill up a bucket and let it cool off all day before using it, you can’t bathe in this water," said 60-year-old Kalyani Saha, a resident of the Lajpat Nagar neighborhood in the capital city, recently told CNN.

Weather Forecast For 42431-Madisonville-KY:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/200190733/Weather-Forecast-For-42431-Madisonville-KY

Meanwhile, seasonal monsoon rains usually start in June and continue until September, bringing bands of heavy rains from the southwest that quench fields, nourish crops, and replenish reservoirs. However, recent studies have shown that India's monsoons have become more erratic over the past decade due to the climate crisis, posing significant risks to critical sectors such as agriculture, water, and energy.

Last June, nearly half a million people in northeast India were affected by severe flooding after heavy rains battered the region.

"Because of climate change, you will get more extreme rain events, which means more rain in fewer rainy days or hours," Sunita Narain, director general of the Indian research body Centre for Science and Environment, said in a video post on YouTube last week.

"If you look at the data from across India, you will find that many weather stations are already reporting that they are breaking the record of 24-hour rainfall, which means that a city or region can get its annual rainfall, as much as a whole year’s rain, in a matter of a few days or even one day."

Going from water scarcity to floods is a "cycle that we are beginning to see more and more," Narain said, adding that it was an opportunity "to make a change."

See more:

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-90021

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-90022

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-90023

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-90024

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-90025

In a separate video post on the importance of rainwater harvesting, Narain said, "The only way we can manage floods is by building drainage systems so that our rivers are drained into channels and ponds, allowing excess rain to be held and recharge groundwater for the dry season that comes after."

[pannaginip]

ABS-CBN: Mga delivery rider magsa-strike laban sa komisyon, kakulangan ng proteksyon

Magkakaroon ng nationwide booking strike ang mga rider at driver ng mga courier service sa May 1, ang Araw ng Paggawa.

[Riders and drivers of courier services will hold a nationwide booking strike on May 1, Labor Day.]

Nasa 50,000 ang lalahok sa kilos protesta laban sa malaking porsyento na inaawas sa kanilang mga rider at sa kawalan ng proteksyon sa trabaho, ayon kay Mhon Pantoja ng Coalition of Couriers and Shippers Services Inc. at na pangulo rin ng Lalamove Drivers Association.

[Around 50k will participate in the mass protest against the large percentages deducted from the rides and against the loss of job protection.]

"Sobrang babad sa initan ng araw. Ilang oras sa trabaho na hindi sumasapat yung kanilang kinikita. Bilang pakikiisa sa darating na May 1 ay nationwide po kaming strike booking. Lahat po: [National Capital Region], Pampanga, Calabarzon, Davao, Cebu," sinabi ni Pantoja sa isang press conference sa UP Diliman.

["We are baking in the heat of the sun. For all the hours we work, our wage is not enough. In solidarity for the upcoming Labor Day, we're holding a nationwide booking strike. Everywhere: NCR, Pampanga, Calabarzon, Davao, Cebu," said Pantoja in a press conference in UP Diliman.]

Kabilang pa sa kanilang hinaing ay ang pagbaba sa 10% ng komisyon na kinukuha sa kanila ng mga app. Masyado na raw kasing mahal ang mga piyesa ng sasakyan kaya wala na halos kinikita ang mga "driver-partner".

[Among their grievances is the lowering of the 10% commission that the apps take from them. They say that car parts are so expensive, "driver-partners" are making next to nothing.]

Kulang din daw sila sa proteksyon, kabilang ang insurance.

[They also lack protection, including insurance.]

Ang mga independent contractor ay hindi sakop ng mga patakaran ng Labor Code dahil walang kinikilalang employer-employee relationship sa pagitan nila at ng mga shopping at delivery app.

[Independent contractors are not covered by the Labor Code policies because there is no recognized employer-employee relationship between them and the shopping and delivery apps.]

Ngayon taon, kasabay ng mga kilos protesta para sa Araw ng Paggawa ang tigil-pasada na sinimulan ng grupong PISTON ngayong Lunes.

[This year, the mass protests for Labor Day coincide with the transport strike initiated by PISTON, which began this Monday.]

2024 Apr. 29

[rssecurityspeedlaneturnstile]

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[sassypotatoe1]

So the sociopolitical climate in south africa is unhinged and rapidly getting worse.

For about a year the entire country has been faced with extreme loadshedding (planned power outages to relieve the load on the grid) every single day without pause for hours a day. Many small businesses have had to close because they couldn't keep up with the rising electricity costs while not having electricity for more than half the day and also having to buy diesel to run generators or install expensive price jacked solar systems.

The water grid in Gauteng alone is failing spectacularly, I don't even know about other provinces. Not only is water infrastructure failing faster than they can fix it, the constant power cuts mean that reservoirs can't be refilled in time leading to water cuts as well. On top of that I strongly believe that the water being supplied by Rand Water isn't potable as they claim, based on the recent cholera outbreak, as well as independent companies claiming their tests are coming back horrible.

Politics are insane, with municipal employees purposely striking because a mayor from another party is in power, forcing that mayor out through a vote of no confidence, placing a mayor from a tiny party with no influence (likely a plant from the two majority parties) and only continuing with poor service delivery after the new mayor is appointed, where there was literally none before.

Worst of all is the police, with multiple and frequent documented incidents of police brutality, the biggest recent one of which being about a saps provided security detail for like a minister or something assaulting two men horribly for driving too close to the convoy or something. It went viral on social media and then petered off.

Half a year ago the Gauteng department of police issued an order to all media houses that all media enquiries to the police have to go to the provincial office, instead of the station liaison. The provincial department the contacts the liaison about it, gets the info, and sends it to the journalist, tripling the time it takes to get information but also intercepting any piece of information about any case and censoring it before it goes to the media. What are they hiding?

Now they revoked standing order 156, meaning media are no longer allowed on a crime or accident scene, which sounds like a good plan until you realize that media monitoring being gone means police can now plant evidence undetected, assault suspects without scrutiny, and destroy evidence without anyone noticing.

So now, not only do you have rising tensions in south africa due to the massive gender based violence pandemic, as well as racial tensions because white people are refusing to give people of color an inch, we also have a corrupt government stealing all our tax money and neglecting education, infrastructure, Healthcare and service delivery, leading to infrastructure collapse, an aging power grid and water shortages in one of the wettest years the country has ever had.

We also have a rising cost of living, but no increase in average earnings, white people who used to think striking is barbaric and the eff is a hate group planning strikes with the eff and boycotts of tax payments, we have increasing police brutality and frivolous violent arrests for so much as looking at a car weird, but with decreasing media access for accountability, and now the military is providing "crime prevention wardens" nationwide to "assist in crime prevention".

Bigoted hate crimes are on the rise, though they're small instances they are very frequent, and the "party of the people" the DA are frivolously suing every government official or entity they can think of over half-researched claims without evidence in order to gain influence in a struggling country as "the party that cares and is willing to fight for what's right". They're white supremacists. They have people in high positions within the party publicly making white supremacist comments and using dogwhistles. They want to bring back apartheid.

Black people rightfully want white people to get their asses back to Europe where they came from, but Europe now deems us Africans and no longer White and won't take us back because of racism and xenophobia. Everyone wants to leave and no one has anywhere to go.

We're also stuck between being a brics country, meaning we're economically allied with Russia and China, but our constitution goes against their governments and the us is one of our most important trade partners, and they're threatening us for being allied with Russia, putting us between a rock and a hard place because we haven't developed weapons in decades and would be fucked if either Russia or the us gets pissed because we decided to cut ties with them.

Our unemployment rate is like, probably the highest of any country in the world, and our youth unemployment rate is above 50%. The top 4% of south Africans have like 70+% of the wealth, and the rest are living in shacks built with stolen corrugated roof panels or rotting houses or apartments owned by major corporations or wealthy landlords.

I'm terrified. It's like we're on an parabolic graph, with the y axis being the breaking point, and we're growing ever closer but never reaching it, and I'm stressed constantly just waiting for the bubble to pop and the riots to start and all the loss of life that will come with a full on revolution.

[nationwidecarservice]

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[mostlysignssomeportents]

Podcasting "Revenge Of the Chickenized Reverse Centaurs"

This week on my podcast, I read my Medium column, “Revenge Of the Chickenized Reverse Centaurs,” proposing a theory of the relationship between algorithms, interoperability and worker power (happy May Day!).

https://onezero.medium.com/revenge-of-the-chickenized-reverse-centaurs-b2e8d5cda826

Let’s break it down. Start with “chickenization”: this is a labor economics term referring to industries that follow the model of the American poultry industry. A cartel of poultry processors have divided the country into exclusive territories, so that chicken farmers only have one market to sell their birds to.

These monopolists style the farmers who supply them as “independent contractors,” guarantee them no pay, but exercise control over them in ways that put the most micromanaging dickhead boss to shame.

Big Chicken tells farmers which chicks to buy, what kind of coops to raise them in, when the lights go on and off, which vets they’re allowed to use and which medicines the vets are allowed to administer. They even tell them who they’re allowed to hire to fix their coops (specifically, they bar farmers from hiring ex-farmers who speak out against the industry).

The processors tell the farmers everything…except how much they’ll be paid for their birds. This is decided only after the farmers bring them to market, and the sum is titrated to pay them enough to service their debts and raise another batch of chickens, but not one penny more.

This worker misclassification and control — governed like an employee, paid like a contractor — has spilled out beyond the poultry industry. Uber drivers are heavily chickenized, with their pay calculated to let them service their car loans, insurance payments and fuel bills — but not enough to save up and quit the industry.

That’s chickenization. What about “reverse-centaurs”?

In AI circles, a “centaur” is a human/AI collaboration, like when chess masters and chess programs form a team that can trounce the best people and the best programs. In these centaur ops, the human is the “head” and the AI is the “body” — a “decision-support system,” that augments the human.

A reverse centaur is when it’s the other way around. Think of an Amazon delivery driver, whose work is observed and analyzed by a constellation of cameras and algorithms. These workers are the body, not the head — the AI gives the orders and the human is the dumb meat, augmenting the machine.

Now we’re ready to put it all together. A chickenized reverse-centaur is a worker who is misclassified as a contractor, micromanaged like an employee, and given no guarantees of pay or hours.

This is end-stage app work capitalism, as with Doordash and Uber, where workers don’t get to see the full amount on offer until they take the job. This lets these unprofitable companies continue to grow by offering subsidized services to customers. The app work monopolists have always relied on subsidies to grow, and this tactic switches the costs of subsidies from their shareholders to their workers.

App-capitalism simps will say, “if you don’t like the working conditions, just work for someone else,” pretending ignorance of hundreds of years of labor activism and the principles of solidarity and collective bargaining.

Luckily, workers haven’t forgotten these principles and we’re living in a renaissance of union organizing, in which networked communications play a central role, allowing organizers and workers to coordinate nationwide and globally.

Some of the tactics that emerge from these networked labor forums are really creative. Doordash drivers created #DECLINENOW, a campaign to collectively refuse Doordash jobs forcing the algorithm to offer a higher payout for each run.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/07/cruelty-by-design/#declinenow

But joining a Discord server or Telegram channel for fellow Uber drivers or Starbucks baristas is just table-stakes, even if it produces a great tactic like #DECLINENOW. The next generation of networked labor organizing comes from counter-apps.

Take Para, whose Doordash driver app cracks open the job offers received by the official app to reveal the true amount the driver will be paid — something that was otherwise hidden.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/tech-rights-are-workers-rights-doordash-edition

The company’s goal is to produce an app that lets workers survey all the offers being made by all the gig work companies and pick the highest-paid ones from moment to moment. That turns today’s auction for who will sell labor most cheaply into an auction for who will pay the most for labor.

That’s exciting, but even cooler are the “counter-algorithmic” apps. Remember when drivers started hanging their burner phones from the trees outside Amazon warehouses? They needed to make quota, but that was impossible without being assigned deliveries, and Amazon’s app only assigned deliveries to drivers who were near the warehouse. Hanging a phone from a tree next to the warehouse was a lo-fi hack against the system.

https://www.engadget.com/amazon-flex-delivery-drivers-phone-trees-161728196.html

The high-tech version of this comes from Indonesia, where tuyul apps — created by and for gig drivers — directly modify the way the companies’ apps work. For example, one tuyul feature allows drivers to spoof GPS data, which means they can book fares from commuters arriving at train stations without having to jostle in (and exacerbate) the traffic jams that surround them.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/08/tuyul-apps/#gojek

Tuyul apps are incredible, embedded in wider social systems of worker solidarity, including co-ops that manage worker clubhouse/breakrooms. The best writer on this is Rida Qadri:

https://www.wired.com/story/disruption-mobility-platforms-politics/

Counter-algorithmic work is happening all over. Take Tracking Exposed, whose browser plugins crowdsource data that reveals the inner workings of recommendation algorithms on Youtube, Facebook, Amazon, Tiktok and Pornhub.

https://tracking.exposed/

This is critical to understanding the way that Big Tech recommender systems shape public opinion (the group has published papers detailing the role of Facebook’s algorithm in Dutch elections, and how Tiktok’s algorithm promotes war propaganda in Russia).

But it’s also critical to labor causes, because the workers who create the videos and other creative output that drive profits for Big Tech have no way of knowing whether their work will be shown to their subscribers or blackholed by the algorithm. Hence algospeak, a euphemistic social media dialect that substitutes words believed to be disfavored by the algorithm (“suicide”) with creative (and tortuous) equivalents (“become unalive”):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/11/coercion-v-cooperation/#the-machine-is-listening

As Taylor Lorenz wrote in her excellent Washington Post story on algospeak, creative workers have built sprawling lexicons of words and phrases believed to be disfavored by the systems that they rely on to pay the bills, but they’re operating on intuition and folk-belief, not science:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/08/algospeak-tiktok-le-dollar-bean/

It would be great if the companies would simply tell these workers what they should avoid if they want to get paid for their labor. We might disagree with those choices, but at least we could talk about it. That’s one of The Online Creator’s Association’s key demands: “Transparent and Responsive moderation”:

https://www.officialtoca.com/goals

But recommendation algorithms are the only domain in which the discredited idea of “security through obscurity” is taken seriously, and people who should know better give tech giants a pass when they say they’ve invented a security system that only works if we’re not allowed to know about it.

That leaves us to reverse-engineer these algorithms in order to learn when creative workers’ wages will be paid, and when they will be stolen.

Tracking Exposed has started to move beyond analysis and into actual seizure of the means of recommendation. Their Youchoose browser plugin lets audiences bypass the Youtube recommender and get suggestions of videos from multiple video services, whcih users can understand and reconfigure:

https://youchoose.ai/

Counter-algorithmic work isn’t just for warehouse workers, Doordash drivers, and Tiktok creators. The lockdown created a boom in bossware, tools that turn “work from home” into “live at work,” allowing your boss to automatically monitor your communications, keystrokes and eye-movements:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/24/gwb-rumsfeld-monsters/#bossware

Without labor organizing — including counter-apps and counter-algorithms — we’re all destined to become chickenized reverse centaurs. When it comes to seizing the means of computation, all workers stand to benefit.

Here’s the podcast episode:

https://craphound.com/news/2022/05/01/audio-revenge-of-the-chickenized-reverse-centaurs/

And here’s a direct link to the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the Internet Archive; they’ll host your stuff for free, forever):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_424/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_424_-_Revenge_of_the_Chickenized_Reverse-Centaurs.mp3

Here’s the RSS feed for my podcast:

https://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[Image ID: A horse-headed 'reverse-centaur' whose eye has been replaced by the glowing eye of HAL9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. They are wearing a hi-viz vest and posed in shelving-aisles of an industrial warehouse.]

[96thdayofrage]

Corporate Press Scapegoats Vulnerable Homeless for Rise in Subway Crime

A homeless man allegedly pushed 40-year-old Michelle Go in front of an oncoming train at a New York City subway station on January 15, killing her. The high-profile attack received worldwide coverage, with widespread reporting emphasizing crimes committed by people without homes in New York and around the country.

Discussing the murder on Fox’s America’s Newsroom (1/19/22), anchor Dana Perino said, “As we allow the homeless to be there year after year…as you look at some of their trajectories…not only are they a harm to themselves, but they will harm someone else.”

That same day, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade (1/19/22) reported crime waves nationwide, saying, “a lot of this has to do with [the] homeless.”

That same day, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade (1/19/22) reported crime waves nationwide, saying, “a lot of this has to do with [the] homeless.”

An Independent headline (1/19/22) asked, “Three Women Killed in Random Attacks by Homeless Men: What Does It Reveal About America’s Crime Wave?”

“Progressive policies are leaving violent criminals, often homeless, on streets to victimize others,” said an opinion piece in a local Washington state paper (Everett Herald, 1/31/22).

Coverage that conflates crime with homelessness scapegoats a marginalized population for a broader crisis. It also leaves out the rise in violent crimes against homeless people—like the recent serial shootings of five homeless men in New York City and Washington, DC. This rhetoric casts a population already vulnerable to violent crime as villains rather than victims.

This disproportionate media concern is the flipside of real-life disregard for homeless people’s lives. An annual report of homeless deaths compiled by New York City’s health and social services agencies found that 2021 was the deadliest year on record for homeless New Yorkers. Twenty-two unhoused New Yorkers were killed by another person in the 2021 fiscal year—an increase from 16 in 2020 and 10 in 2019. That’s nearly 5% of the city’s annual murders, even though less than 1% of the city’s population is thought to be homeless.

New York Mayor Eric Adams rolled out a Subway Safety Plan on February 18, which pointedly cracked down on homeless people seeking shelter in stations and trains, linking them to increased crime. While the language of the plan acknowledges that unhoused people are commonly victims of crimes, and that we should not equate homelessness with crime, Adams’ own rhetoric surrounding the issue has been less nuanced.

In a January 18 press conference, Adams, a former NYPD captain, invoked images of homelessness and mental instability to demonstrate the ubiquitousness of crime underground:

Day one [in office], January 1, when I took the train, I saw the homelessness, the yelling, the screaming early in the morning. Crimes right outside the platform.

Equating subway sleeping with violent crime

News outlets have likewise conflated homelessness with disorder, danger and crime. Coverage has often reported attacks in which suspects are not homeless alongside descriptions of Adams’ homeless-focused plan and images of people sleeping in subway cars.

On the weekend of February 19, eight more violent attacks occurred on New York City’s subway system, just as Adams rolled out his Subway Safety Plan. Outlets used imagery of unhoused people sleeping on trains to evoke chaos underground.

“Homeless sleep on subway, a man is attacked with a hatchet and a woman is hit in the face with a metal bar… the rocky first day of Eric Adams’ subway safety plan,” read a Daily Mail headline (2/21/22).

Bloomberg (2/22/22) ran with the headline, “NYC Begins Plan to Move Homeless From Subway as Crime Surges.” While Bloomberg led with the issue of homelessness, the piece did not mention that only one of the suspects was homeless until halfway through. “Of the eight subway attacks [the weekend of February 19], one was believed to be by a homeless person, according to the NYPD,” the piece went on to say.

Notably, the New York Times’ coverage (2/21/22) made this clear in the story’s subheadline:

The mayor and governor released a safety plan for the subways that focused on homelessness. But a homeless person was believed to be responsible in only one of the weekend attacks.

“So much for the crackdown on crime and homelessness on NYC’s subway! Boy, 6, is threatened by baton-wielding subway rider as photos capture vagrants lying across seats and passing out the day after Mayor Adams’s transit safety plan went into effect,” read a Daily Mail headline (2/22/22). “The subway’s homeless population has been blamed for a rise in crime in the subway system,” the report noted, adding, “Over the weekend, several innocent passengers were attacked in half a dozen attacks”—implying a connection between homelessness and the attacks not substantiated by evidence.

The piece included a gallery of photos depicting homeless people sleeping on trains, but didn’t mention the housing status of the man later identified as the suspect in the baton attack. No other coverage of the incident identifies him as homeless.

A Fox News article (2/21/22) that described each late-February attack also made homelessness the focus. The article intersperses text with images of individuals sleeping on trains and in stations; describes the prevalence of fare evasion; and outlines Adams’ plan to remove homeless people from the system:

His administration’s “Subway Safety Plan” will deploy 30 joint response teams to do direct outreach for the homeless and those suffering from mental illness in the subways, according to a press release.… Under the plan, the city will require every person riding the subway to exit at the train’s final stop. Homeless individuals who exit at the end of the line will be greeted by the “end of the line” teams that will offer support.

A WABC TV report (2/21/22) centered on an interview with a homeless man who was kicked out of the subway system by police on the first day of the Subway Safety Plan’s rollout. It mentioned the eight attacks that occurred over the weekend—but not the fact that only one involved a homeless suspect. The coverage rightfully went on to focus on the impact the crackdown has on homeless people sheltering in the system, but failing to clarify details about the crimes in the first place paints the nonviolent homeless interviewee as the exception, not the norm.

‘Do more, and faster’

The following week, two more assaults made headlines: A homeless man allegedly attacked a woman in the Queens Plaza station with a hammer, leaving her in critical condition. Another person, who has not yet been identified, hit a rider with a metal pole on a J train.

In response to the Queens hammer attack, the New York Post editorial board (2/26/22) demanded, “Adams Needs to Do More, and Faster, to Halt Soaring NYC Crime.” It explained:

On Monday, Adams rolled out his comprehensive subway safety plan to a slow start, especially after a violent holiday weekend that included a string of stabbings and an assault with a metal pole.

Yet the bad news has kept coming, including a Thursday night hammer attack in the Queens Plaza station that left a woman in critical condition, a second metal-pole attack—this time because the victim dared to tell his attacker not to shoot up on a J train—and a disturbing MTA report that hundreds of homeless people are living in stations and tunnels.

Mentioning two violent attacks in the same sentence as the prevalence of people living in the subway system misleadingly implies that the circumstances are directly related.

Though homeless, William Blount, the alleged hammer attacker, was not living in the subway system at the time of the attack, as the Post’s reporting might imply. Police reported he lived at the Radisson Hotel on Wall Street, which was converted to a homeless shelter during the pandemic (Sunnyside Post, 2/27/22).

This lumping together of unrelated facts props up Adams’ plan by demonizing those seeking shelter underground.  Clarifying this detail would challenge the very framework the plan is built on: that kicking out homeless people living in the subway will solve the crime problem.

Also referencing the hammer attack, the New York Daily News (2/27/22) reported, “Homeless Man Arrested for Vicious Subway Hammer Attack on NYC Department of Health Worker.” Notice how Blount’s housing status and the victim’s occupation take precedence in this headline. It’s the perfect villain-versus-hero juxtaposition.

But what happens when these narratives don’t have the perfect victims?

More often victims

Homeless advocates say unhoused people are more likely to be the victims than perpetrators of violent crime. These numbers are hard to track, because police departments rarely record the housing status of people in their reports, and many crimes involving homeless victims go unreported. But data suggests that homeless people are more vulnerable to violent crime than the population at large.

A 2014 National Health Care for the Homeless Council study reported that “homelessness increases vulnerability to violence victimization.” The study was based on a survey of approximately 500 homeless individuals in five cities across the US. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they’d been victims of a violent attack, and 62% said they’d witnessed a violent attack against another homeless individual.

The Los Angeles Police Department is a rare example of a police department that records data on the housing status of both perpetrators and victims of crime. The information is available through the department’s open data portal. An ABC7 LA analysis of this data found that while homeless numbers in the city rose drastically during the pandemic, crimes that involved people who were homeless did not rise proportionally.

The Associated Press (1/28/22) found that of the 397 homicides that occurred in Los Angeles in 2021, 11% of the suspects were homeless. More than twice as many—23%—were victims. In 7% of the cases, homeless people who were homeless were both the victim and the suspect.

Furthermore, the National Coalition for the Homeless reports that many crimes perpetrated by housed people against the unhoused are “believed to have been motivated by the perpetrators’ biases against people experiencing homelessness or by their ability to target homeless people with relative ease.”

Exacerbating contempt

Before the recent shootings of five unhoused people in New York and DC by the same assailant, the Washington Post (1/24/22) outlined five attacks against homeless people that occurred nationwide in recent months:

Jerome Antonio Price and an unnamed victim were fatally shot in Miami. Both were linked to the suspect, Willy Suarez Maceo, who authorities say targeted people without homes. Maceo may also be responsible for another murder of a homeless man which occurred in October 2021.

Warren Barnes was murdered and dismembered in Grand Junction, Colorado, in January 2021. The suspect, 19-year-old Brian Cohee II, told investigators he had been planning to kill someone for six months, and drove around encampments of unhoused people at night to search for a victim. He reportedly said he planned to target a homeless person or sex worker because it wouldn’t draw much attention (NBC11, 1/13/22).

An unidentified man sheltering in a New York City NYCHA building staircase was set on fire while he was sleeping. He died 13 days later. The suspect, Nathaniel Terry, told authorities he was trying to “scare the victim off.”

Four teens were charged in the beating of a sleeping homeless woman in Spokane, Washington, in September 2021.

In its coverage of the March shootings of five homeless men in DC and New York, the New York Times (3/13/22) also referenced the 2019 attacks on five men without homes in Chinatown (New York Times, 10/5/19), the December 2021 beating of a man sleeping in a bank vestibule (Daily News, 12/30/21) and the February 2022 stabbing of a homeless man in a Queens subway station (AMNY, 2/19/22).

Prior to that report, the paper of record had only covered one of the three referenced incidents.

Activists are worried disproportionate reporting on homeless people as criminals will exacerbate this contempt for homeless lives. Joseph Loonam, housing campaigns coordinator at the harm reduction group VOCAL NY, told FAIR that viewing unhoused people as second-class citizens in legislation and the press leads to violence against them: “A private citizen took upon himself to take a gun and shoot random men on the street, you know, in two major cities over the weekend,” Loonam said:

And that’s not a unique thing that’s happened. I wrote a press response to that. And it’s the third one I’ve had to write in two years because of violence perpetrated against people on the street.

Quantity—and quality—of coverage

Murders of homeless people also receive less coverage than murders of people with homes. In fact, a Fox News headquarters Christmas tree set on fire by a man without a home in December received more global news coverage (a Nexis search turned up 120 results in the month following the incident) than an unhoused man fatally set on fire a month earlier. (A similar search found five reports in the month after the attack.)

A search for “Michelle Go,” the name of the woman pushed in front of a subway train, turned up 565 results in the month following her death.

Both victims’ lives mattered. Both deserve justice and the attention that news coverage brings.

Also notable is how the victims of violent crimes are portrayed. In the case of the nonfatal Queens subway hammer attack, victim Nina Rothschild was heralded as a “healthcare hero” at the Department of Health Research (Daily News, 2/27/22). Go received profiles lauding her work as a Deloitte consultant and homeless activist (New York Post, 1/16/22; CNN, 1/19/22; New York Times, 1/19/22). But homeless crime victims are often anonymous at best. At worst, they’re reduced to terms like “homeless addict” (Daily News, 11/20/21), as the man who was burned to death was described.

Of course, no outlet is at fault for not being able to profile a victim whom police are unable to identify. But in its reporting on the November immolation, the New York Post (11/20/21) shared more positive statements about the suspect, quoting a neighbor who described him as “an upstanding guy” who lived with his girlfriend, took care of his disabled mother and played with his dogs in a nearby park .

“Instead of providing safe, decent affordable low-income housing—you have the homeless, the drug addled camping out in stairwells turning the [Gompers] houses into an open air drug market and makeshift shelter,” an unnamed “law enforcement source” was quoted saying—as if the central problem in the story was the homeless victim, not the housed person who lit him on fire.

A notable example of a reporter taking the time to profile a homeless murder victim with dignity appeared in the Grand Junction, Colorado, local paper, the Daily Sentinel (3/12/21). The piece, by reporter Dan West, profiled 69-year-old Warren Barnes, whom locals remembered as kind, smart and gentle.

But a person need not enjoy reading, feeding birds or helping local business owners carry boxes to deserve dignity and justice. “Addicts,” “vagrants” and those struggling with mental illness are human beings, too.

When they ‘don’t want help’

A New York Post opinion piece by Nicole Gelinas (1/9/22) asked, “On Subway Disorder, Adams Must Answer: What Happens When Homeless Don’t Want Help?”

After acknowledging that homeless people are often victims of violent crimes on the subways, Gelinas dismissed legitimate reasons as to why people deny help:

Most chronic street homeless people have already had contact with civilian outreach staff but haven’t taken aid. Some people find shelters dangerous; others chafe under no-drug rules and curfews. Some people can’t make a rational decision.

She also refers to homelessness, along with farebeating, as a “subway scourge,” and appears to suggest cops should arrest the unhoused, even if no criminal activity is taking place:

Adams said only that police officers won’t “engage, unless there is some criminal activity taking place.” Will the people like the man sleeping next to Adams New Year’s Day be left to their own devices if they tell outreach workers to go away?

Instead of blaming these people for not taking advantage of help, journalists should be asking what systemic flaws exist that make sleeping in a subway car more favorable than staying in a shelter. Why are people “screaming” on subway platforms, to use Adams’ words, rather than obtaining mental healthcare?

Shelters, which often have tight rules and regulations, inflexible meal times and strict curfews, can make it difficult for individuals to maintain jobs and tend to family members. They’re also often overcrowded, sometimes with 100 barrack-style beds to a room. This living situation is not only disruptive, but it can be triggering with people suffering from schizophrenia or PTSD, not to mention a hotbed for Covid.

The Indypendent (2/25/22) recently published homeless New Yorkers’ response to Adams’ plan. One interviewee said a guard at the shelter they were staying at stole $800 from them.

A 2012 Talk of the Nation episode (NPR, 12/6/12) featured a formerly homeless man who said he had refused shelter because his untreated schizophrenia made him paranoid in large crowds. He also reported facilities were dirty and lice-ridden.

‘People in handcuffs’

A report on the first day of the Subway Safety Plan by NBC4 New York’s Jessica Cunningham (2/21/22) insisted:

Teams of officers and social workers were deployed late this afternoon, not to arrest, but to get the homeless and mentally ill help, including requiring everyone to get off the train at the end of the line.

Absent from the report were the voices of those who are still wary of Adams’ vow to make police “omnipresent” underground, especially those on “end-of-the-line” teams aimed at preventing people from sleeping on trains.

“That’s going to happen with people in handcuffs,” Cal Hedigan, CEO of Community Access told USA Today (2/21/22).

And it did. According to VOCAL NY, 153 people were arrested in the first three weeks Adams’ plan. Only 22 have been transferred to permanent shelter.

Homeless people experience increased exposure to law enforcement and are often charged with low-level “public nuisance” crimes like panhandling, camping and loitering. Circumstances surrounding homelessness lead to people failing to pay fines or appear for court dates, which can result in incarceration.

The Urban Institute reports cycling these people through facilities like jails and emergency rooms simply perpetuate the cycle of homelessness.

Additionally, a report by the Prison Policy Initiative estimates that people who have been incarcerated are ten times more likely to experience homelessness after release than the general population.

VOCAL NY’s Loonam makes makes clear that homelessness is first and foremost a housing issue, despite common legal and press rhetoric attributing it to mental illness, crime and substance use. He says the recent New York and DC shootings demonstrate the need for more affordable housing and accessible shelters—not more cops.

“They don’t need more police,” Loonam says:

They needed to be placed somewhere where they could keep themselves safe. And we need more people in the media and elected officials to be looking at this problem as that: as a as a problem of a lack of affordable housing in our city in our country.

[eretzyisrael]

Israelis will pay tribute to the country’s 23,928 fallen soldiers and terror victims starting on Tuesday evening, bowing their heads for a minute of silence as sirens will sound around the country to mark the start of Memorial Day.

The one-minute siren at 8 p.m. will immediately be followed by the state ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. On Tuesday night, additional public memorials will be held, including at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park and in the Knesset in Jerusalem.

During the siren, traffic around the country comes to an abrupt halt, as Israelis stop driving and stand beside their cars and people at home stand in somber silence on their balconies or in their yards.

A second, two-minute, siren will go off at 11 a.m. Wednesday, which will be followed by the main Memorial Day ceremony at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, and smaller events at cemeteries across the country.

The Memorial Day events officially began at the Yad LaBanim center in Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin and Chief Justice Esther Hayut in attendance.

Speaking at the ceremony, Netanyahu said Israel will make “every effort” to return its captives, which include two civilians and the bodies of two IDF soldiers believed to be held by the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

“This is a sacred mission that we’re not letting go of,” he said.

Forty-three soldiers and civilians were killed since last Memorial Day and the total number of Israeli casualties of war stands at 23,928, according to figures released by the Defense Ministry on Friday.

Since last Memorial Day, 112 new names were added to the roster of those who died defending the country since 1860.

Forty-three were IDF soldiers, police officers, and civilians, and 69 were disabled veterans who passed away due to complications of injuries sustained during their service.

The figures include all soldiers and police who died during their service over the past year, including as a result of accidents, suicide, or illness.

In a stark reminder of the toll of Israel’s wars, a former soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder set himself on fire on Monday outside the Defense Ministry’s rehabilitation center, setting off a national reckoning. Itzik Saidyan, 26, remains in critical condition.

Unlike last year, when the pandemic saw all Memorial Day ceremonies held without audiences and smaller events planned for municipal cemeteries across the country were canceled, this year’s events will be held under few health restrictions.

On Wednesday, ministers approved removing some Memorial Day rules which included allowing relatives of the fallen who do not have the Green Pass to attend ceremonies.

The Green Pass is given to those who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus, granting them entry to public venues not open to others.The new measures, effective as of Thursday, include raising the number of people allowed to gather outdoors from 50 to 100.  The current limit of 20 people indoors remains in place.

Memorial Day is one of Israel’s few national, non-religious holidays, during which large swaths of the Israeli public typically visit the graves of loved ones and comrades.

The general public has been encouraged to visit the graves of fallen soldiers over the next few days to avoid crowding on Memorial Day itself when close relatives are expected to attend.

The commemoration day, established in 1951 by then-prime minister and defense minister David Ben-Gurion, was set for the 4th of Iyar on the Jewish calendar, the day before Independence Day, which begins immediately after Memorial Day.

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

FBI Data Show An Unprecedented Spike In Murders Nationwide In 2020 (NPR) The number of murders in the United States jumped by nearly 30% in 2020 compared to the previous year in the largest single-year increase ever recorded in the country, according to official FBI statistics released Monday. The data show 21,570 homicides in the U.S. in 2020, which is a staggering 4,901 more than in 2019. The tally makes clear—in concrete terms—just how violent last year was. The overall violent crime rate, which includes murder, assault, robbery and rape, inched up around 5%, while property crimes continued their long-running decline and dropped 8% from 2019. But the spike in murders jumps out in the FBI report because of the sheer scale of the change. Jeff Asher, a data consultant who studies crime rates, said the increase is the largest since national records began being kept in 1960s. The homicide rate thus far in 2021 is up 10% from last year.

Haitians returning to a homeland that’s far from welcoming (AP) Deported from the United States, Pierre Charles landed a week ago in Port-au-Prince, a capital more dangerous and dystopian than the one he’d left four years before. Unable to reach his family, he left the airport alone, on foot. At least 2,853 Haitians deported from Texas have landed here in the last week with $15-$100 in cash handouts and a “good luck out there” from migration officials—many setting foot in the country for the first time in years, even decades. More than a city, Port-au-Prince it is an archipelago of gang-controlled islands in a sea of despair. Some neighborhoods are abandoned. Others are barricaded behind fires, destroyed cars and piles of garbage, occupied by heavily armed men. On Saturday, a local newspaper reported 10 kidnappings in the previous 24 hours including a journalist, a singer’s mother and a couple driving with their toddler, who was left behind in the car. Even before the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse a in July, the government was weak—the Palace of Justice inactive, congress disbanded by Moïse and the legislative building pocked by bullets. Now, although there is a prime minister, it is absent. Most of the population of Port-au-Prince has no access to basic public services, no drinking water, electricity or garbage collection. The deportees join thousands of fellow Haitians who have been displaced from their homes, pushed out by violence to take up residence in crowded schools, churches, sports centers and makeshift camps among ruins. Many of these people are out of reach even for humanitarian organizations.

Some Bolsonaro supporters have called for a military takeover of Brazil. Why do they wave the American flag? (Washington Post) On the day when Brazilians celebrated the nation’s independence, when thousands of protesters this month called on President Jair Bolsonaro to lead a military takeover of the country, a middle-aged man set out onto the streets of Brazil’s largest city, cloaked in the flag. The American flag. Wilson Gomes, 56, strutted down streets thronged by thousands of Bolsonaro supporters, the Stars and Stripes draped across his right shoulder, demanding radical change in Latin America’s largest nation. The time had come to do away with the Brazilian supreme court, which he said had been corrupted by a kleptocratic left and was unfairly targeting Bolsonaro and his supporters. The only way to save the constitution, he said, was to suspend it. At far-right rallies all over the country, where many have called for supreme court judges and opposition lawmakers to be removed, the American flag is now a staple. Supporters wear cowboy hats and belt buckles emblazoned with Texas longhorns. In a country that has more traditionally viewed the United States and its intentions with suspicion, the sudden appropriation of American symbols has exposed a political paradox at the heart of the Bolsonarista movement. A group that many here believe wants to subvert, if not overthrow, Brazilian democracy has chosen as one of its banners the flag of the world’s oldest democracy. “The Brazilian right and American have an agenda in common,” said Sèrgio Sant’Ana, president of the right-wing Conservative Liberal Institute.

Macron says Europeans need to stop being naive and assert independence from the United States (Washington Post) French President Emmanuel Macron urged Europeans to "come out of their naivete" on the world stage and assert their independence from the United States, sending one of the strongest signals to date that the diplomatic crisis prompted by a disrupted submarine deal could have long-lasting repercussions on transatlantic relations. Speaking alongside the Greek prime minister Tuesday at a news conference to unveil a major Franco-Greek defense deal, Macron said the Europeans should make themselves “respected.” “For a bit over 10 years now, the United States has been very focused on itself and has strategic interests that are being reoriented towards China and the Pacific,” he said. “It’s in their right to do so,” he continued, but “we would be naive, or rather we would make a terrible mistake, to not want to draw the consequences.” Macron’s latest remarks come as he appears to position himself as the next leader of Europe, an unofficial role so far largely attributed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

China energy crunch triggers shutdowns, pleas for more coal (Reuters) China faces mounting pressure to ramp up coal imports and ensure supplies to keep lights on, factories open and water flowing as a severe power crunch roils the northeastern industrial heartland. With electricity shortages sparked by coal shortages crippling large sections of industry, the governor of Jilin province, one of the hardest hit in the world's no.2 economy, called for a surge in coal imports, while a power company association said supply was being expanded "at any cost". News organisations and social media carried reports and posts saying the lack of power in the northeast had shut down traffic lights, residential elevators and 3G mobile phone coverage as well as triggering factory shutdowns. A utility in Jilin even warned power shortages could disrupt water supplies at any time, before apologising for causing alarm. The power crunch has taken hold as a shortage of coal supplies, toughening greenhouse gas emissions standards and strong demand from industry have pushed coal prices to peaks. Goldman Sachs estimated that as much as 44% of China's industrial activity has been hit by power shortages.

American siblings trapped in China under three-year ‘exit ban’ finally return home (Washington Post) China allowed two U.S. citizens, siblings Victor and Cynthia Liu, who were prevented from leaving the country for more than three years, to return to the United States on Sunday. Cynthia and Victor Liu are the daughter and son of Liu Changming, a businessman wanted on fraud charges in China. The siblings went to China in June 2018 to visit relatives but were barred from leaving, while their mother, Sandra Han, who made the trip with them, was detained. Their lawyers and the U.S. authorities described the move as an attempt to pressure Liu Changming into returning to China to faces charges���despite the siblings saying they had not had contact with their father in years. Victor and Cynthia Liu’s lawyer Marc Ginsberg told the New York Times that he believed a Sept. 9 phone call between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had “helped to break a logjam” and contributed to the siblings’ release. He added that the siblings would have no comment for the news media.

Japan to lift all coronavirus emergency steps nationwide (AP) Japan’s government says the coronavirus state of emergency will end Thursday so the economy can be reactivated as infections slow. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Tuesday that virus restrictions will be eased gradually. With the lifting, Japan will be entirely free of emergency requirements for the first time in more than six months.

Taliban issue no-shave order to barbers in Afghan province (AP) The Taliban on Monday banned barbershops in a southern Afghanistan province from shaving or trimming beards, claiming their edict is in line with Shariah, or Islamic, law. The order in Helmand province was issued by the provincial Taliban government’s vice and virtue department to barbers in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital. During their previous rule of Afghanistan, the Taliban adhered to a harsh interpretation of Islam. Since overrunning Kabul on Aug. 15 and again taking control of the country, the world has been watching to see whether they will re-create their strict governance of the late 1990s. During the Taliban’s previous rule, the conservative Islamists demanded that men grow beards. Since being ousted from power following the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, shaved or cleanly trimmed beards have become popular in the country.

Violence in Nigeria (Foreign Policy) At least 34 people were killed in northern Nigeria following an attack on the village of Madamai in northern Kaduna state, state security commissioner Samuel Aruwan said on Monday, blaming unidentified assailants for the attack. The assault, which Aruwan said took place on Sunday, came the same day that 22 Nigerian security personnel were killed in an attack on an army base in Sokota state, also in the country’s north. In recent weeks, Nigerian states have introduced restrictions on residents in an attempt to stem the violence, attributed to so-called bandits as well as the Islamic State’s West African offshoot.

A Crypto-Trading Hamster Performs Better Than Warren Buffett And The S&P 500 (NPR) What if we told you there was a hamster who has been trading cryptocurrencies since June—and recently was doing better than Warren Buffett and the S&P 500? Meet Mr. Goxx, a hamster who works out of what is possibly the most high-tech hamster cage in existence. It’s designed so that when Mr. Goxx runs on the hamster wheel, he can select among dozens of cryptocurrencies. Then, deciding between two tunnels, he chooses whether to buy or sell. According to the Twitch account for the hamster, his decision is sent over to a real trading platform—and yes, real money is involved. Look, we’re not telling you to follow in this hamster’s financial decisions or that this process is scientific in any way. But what we can tell you is his portfolio is up nearly 20% since he started trading in June, according to his Twitter account. And as of Sept. 12, Mr. Goxx was performing better than Bitcoin, the Nasdaq 100, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and the S&P 500.

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Upcoming Travel and Why YOU Should use a Travel Agent

With almost 50 million Americans traveling on July 4 weekend, you may need to pack your patience Swimsuit packed? How about your patience? If you are heading out of town for the July 4 holiday weekend, you will likely need both. More than 47.7 million Americans will be on the nation’s roadways and in the skies during the July 1–5 period, according to the American Automobile Association. That will be very close to pre-pandemic levels, and the second-highest Independence Day travel volume on record. In normal times, holiday travel can be frustrating — but as the nation makes its way out of the pandemic, there is a lot more than usual riding on this weekend. Road trips still rule Despite the shortage of rental cars and the highest gas prices in seven years, AAA expects more than 91 percent of holiday travel will be by car. An expected 43.6 million Americans will drive to their destinations, AAA said. That's the highest on record for this holiday and 5 percent more than the previous record, set in 2019. All those cars means congested highways. “With travelers eager to hit the road this summer, we’re expecting nationwide traffic volumes to increase about 15 percent over normal this holiday weekend,” said Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst with INRIX analytics company. “Drivers around major metro areas must be prepared for significantly more delays.” Drivers should remember that many motor home drivers are still getting used to maneuvering their new RVs. In addition to loading up tunes and travel apps, experts suggest holiday road trippers do a refresh on safe following distances and remember that many motor home drivers are still getting used to maneuvering their new RVs. Advice for air travelers Around 3.5 million people are planning to fly over the July 4 holiday, and air travel volumes are expected to reach 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels. That is an increase of 164 percent compared to last year, AAA said. Anyone waiting until the last minute before booking may want to try budget carriers such as Southwest and Spirit, especially on their new routes, said Adit Damodaran, economist with Hopper travel site. Newcomers Breeze and Avelo, serving secondary airports, may still have good fares as well, Damodaran said. Getting through airports during holiday weekends was frustrating before the pandemic. This year, it could be much worse, due to a temporary shortage of Transportation Security Administration officers, airline staff, and airport shop and restaurant workers. Add to that new airport protocols, the rash of unruly travelers, and passengers who show up at the security checkpoint with everything from oversized liquids to guns and other prohibited items because they’re forgotten how to pack. Travelers should make use of airline apps to check in for their flight and tag their luggage, said Sherry Stein, head of technology strategy at SITA, an air transport technology company. With such high passenger volume, “the challenge will be to keep things moving smoothly," she said. What about buses and trains? AAA expects 620,000 Americans to travel by bus, train, and other modes this holiday weekend, an increase of more than 72 percent since last year. While overall ridership on Amtrak is running at about 55 percent of pre-pandemic levels, it is down just 14 percent for the holiday weekend, compared to 2019, said Doug Duval, an Amtrak spokesman. "This is trending to be the best holiday since the pandemic started.” Bus ridership is on the rise too. During the pandemic, bus lines furloughed and laid off many employees — and drivers are not rushing back, said Jan Jones, program coordinator for the Hospitality and Management program at the University of New Haven. “Staffing is a problem here, too. July 4 travelers may be limited in terms of where they can go by bus," Jones said. Hotels and campsites Lodging reservations are well above the reservation volume for last year, at 163 percent of 2020 bookings, according to a report from TripIt vacation planning service. But late planners might not be totally out of luck. “If you know the hotel or hotel brand you want to stay with, try their mobile apps or websites because they usually offer a best rate guarantee,” said Paul Barron, EVP for marketing and hospitality at Amadeus travel tech company. Loyalty program members booking directly on a hotel website often receive personalized offers not available on other sites, he added. Too daunting? Ditch the drama. Travelers itching to get back to big cities or other popular tourist hotspots to celebrate Independence Day should try smaller towns — or maybe do a pivot and “don't travel at all,” said travel adviser Jessica Scott. “Instead, spend the long weekend penciling out your travel schedule for the future. If there is anything the pandemic taught us, it is not to wait to take that dream trip, or to visit a far-away friend or family member.” Harriet Baskas Harriet Baskas is an NBC News contributor who writes about travel and the arts.

Source: www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/almost-50-million-americans-traveling-july-4-weekend-you-may-n1272688&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGmE3N2E2NjhmOWY3MDY2NWY6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNE3gGyyHwz9XyK-RCqXxMpTA57Xrw

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[newstfionline]

Monday, September 13, 2021

UN chief: World is at `pivotal moment’ (AP) U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a dire warning that the world is moving in the wrong direction and faces “a pivotal moment” where continuing business as usual could lead to a breakdown of global order and a future of perpetual crisis. Changing course could signal a breakthrough to a greener and safer future, he said. The U.N. chief said the world’s nations and people must reverse today’s dangerous trends and choose “the breakthrough scenario.” The world is under “enormous stress” on almost every front, he said, and the COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call demonstrating the failure of nations to come together and take joint decisions to help all people in the face of a global life-threatening emergency. Guterres said this “paralysis” extends far beyond COVID-19 to the failures to tackle the climate crisis and “our suicidal war on nature and the collapse of biodiversity,” the “unchecked inequality” undermining the cohesion of societies, and technology’s advances “without guard rails to protect us from its unforeseen consequences.” In other signs of a more chaotic and insecure world, he pointed to rising poverty, hunger and gender inequality after decades of decline, the extreme risk to human life and the planet from nuclear war and a climate breakdown, and the inequality, discrimination and injustice bringing people into the streets to protest.

World marks 20th anniversary of 9/11 (AP) The world solemnly marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 on Saturday, remembering the dead, invoking the heroes and taking stock of the aftermath just weeks after the bloody end of the Afghanistan war that was launched in response to the terror attacks. Victims’ relatives and four U.S. presidents paid respects at the sites where hijacked planes killed nearly 3,000 people in the deadliest act of terrorism on American soil. Others gathered for observances from Portland, Maine, to Guam, or for volunteer projects on what has become a day of service in the U.S. Foreign leaders expressed sympathy over an attack that happened in the U.S. but claimed victims from more than 90 countries.

Phony diagnoses are hiding high rates of drugging at nursing homes (NYT) The risks to patients treated with antipsychotics—which understaffed nursing homes have often used as “chemical straitjackets”—are so high that nursing homes must report to the government how many of their residents are on these potent medications. But there is an important caveat: The government doesn’t publicly divulge the use of antipsychotics given to residents with schizophrenia or two other conditions. A Times investigation found a pattern of questionable schizophrenia diagnoses nationwide. The result: The government and the industry are obscuring the true rate of antipsychotic drug use on vulnerable residents. The share of residents with a schizophrenia diagnosis has increased to 11 percent from less than 7 percent since 2012. At least 21 percent of nursing home residents are on antipsychotic drugs.

Tropical Storm Nicholas forms in Gulf of Mexico (AP) Tropical Storm Nicholas strengthened as it headed for the Gulf Coast on Sunday, threatening heavy rain and floods in coastal areas of Texas, Mexico and Louisiana. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said tropical storm warnings were issued for coastal Texas and the northeast coast of Mexico. Nicholas is expected to produce total rainfall of 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters), with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches, across portions of coastal Texas into southwest Louisiana on Sunday through midweek. The storm was expected to bring the heaviest rainfall west of where Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana two weeks ago.

Britain decides against vaccine passports (AP) Britain’s health secretary said Sunday that authorities have decided not to require vaccine passports for entry into nightclubs and other crowded events in England, reversing course amid opposition from some of the Conservative government’s supporters in Parliament. Sajid Javid said the government has shelved the idea of vaccine passports for now but could reconsider the decision if COVID-19 cases rise exponentially once again. The U-turn came just days after the government’s vaccines minister and the culture secretary suggested that vaccine passports would still be necessary, despite growing opposition from lawmakers. Such passports are required in other European countries, like France. Members of the governing Conservative Party have objected to such passports as an unacceptable burden on businesses and an infringement on residents’ human rights.

Thousands of Catalans rally for independence in Barcelona (Reuters) Thousands of Catalans chanted, sang and waved flags as they marched through Barcelona on Saturday, calling for the region’s independence from Spain. The march, organised by the grassroots Assemblea Nacional Catalana ANC, was the first since Spain’s government pardoned nine Catalan separatist leaders who had been jailed for their role in a 2017 botched bid for independence, which was Spain’s biggest political crisis in decades. Most marchers wore face coverings. Police said about 108,000 people took part. ANC put the figure close to 400,000. The protests took place at a moment of lower tension between Barcelona and Madrid than in past years as the central and regional governments favour dialogue despite their opposing views on independence.

In Hungary, pope meets PM Orban, his political opposite (Reuters) Pope Francis arrived in Hungary early on Sunday, starting an unusually short stay that underlines differences with his political opposite, nationalist and anti-immigrant Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Francis, 84, who is spending only seven hours in the capital Budapest, went directly from the airport to a private meeting with Orban and President Janos Ader in the Museum of Fine Arts. Unlike nearly every other papal trip, there was no live television coverage of the preliminary greetings or the photo opportunities that usually precede and follow such meetings. The pope is making the brief Budapest stop to say a Mass closing an international Roman Catholic meeting, known as an International Eucharist Congress. On Sunday afternoon he moves on to Slovakia, where he will stay much longer, visiting four cities before returning to Rome on Wednesday.

Nine-cent taxi rides in rural South Korea are a “godsend.” (NYT) In 2013, Seocheon County faced a crisis. As its population declined, so did the number of bus passengers, which led to unprofitable routes being canceled, stranding those in remote hamlets who did not own cars. The county’s solution? The 100-won taxi. (Longer routes cost 1,500 won, or about $1.30.) Anyone whose hamlet is more than 2,300 feet from a bus stop can call one, and the county picks up the rest of the fare. The taxis carried nearly 40,000 passengers last year, which cost the county $147,000. Since the 100-won taxi was introduced, people in remote villages have traveled outside twice as often, according to a government survey. More than 2.7 million passengers used similar taxi services in rural South Korea last year.

Strong typhoon cuts power, causes flooding in northern Philippines (Reuters) Several communities remain flooded and without power after a strong typhoon battered the Philippines’ northernmost islands, the authorities said on Sunday, displacing thousands of people. Typhoon Chanthu, which at one point was categorised by the Philippine weather bureau as a category 5 storm, has weakened after powering into the northernmost region, including the Batanes island group, on Saturday, the weather bureau said. “It’s one of the strongest typhoons I’ve felt,” said Dennis Ballesteros Valdez, a resident of Sabtang town in the province of Batanes, which is often pummelled by powerful typhoons. Some 20 typhoons hit the Philippines on average each year, according to the weather authorities.

Taliban flag rises over seat of power on fateful anniversary (AP) The Taliban raised their flag over the Afghan presidential palace Saturday, a spokesman said, as the U.S. and the world marked the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The white banner, emblazoned with a Quranic verse, was hoisted by Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the prime minister of the Taliban interim government, in a low-key ceremony. In a tweet, Afghanistan’s first president to follow the 2001 collapse of the Taliban, Hamid Karzai, called for “peace and stability” and expressed the hope that the new caretaker Cabinet that included no women and no non-Taliban would become an “inclusive government that can be the real face of the whole Afghanistan.”

Death and suffering in Iraq a painful legacy of 9/11 attacks (AP) Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. But the terrorist attacks in the United States changed forever the lives of Iraqis. In their aftermath, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, swiftly deposing the Taliban regime that had been sheltering Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaida terror network blamed for the attacks. But it was not long before President George W. Bush shifted his attention to Iraq, identifying it, along with Iran and North Korea, as part of an “axis of evil” and asserting that its brutal dictator, Saddam Hussein, was armed with weapons of mass destruction and had ties to al-Qaida. No evidence of either was found. What followed was a U.S.-led invasion of a country in the heart of the Middle East that spurred a decade of war, with consequences that reverberate across the region to this day. After decades of conflict, Iraq today has a relatively stable government, and the car bombings, suicide attacks and death squads have subsided. But the economy is in tatters, its infrastructure is crumbling and corruption is rampant. The government, with its fractious politics, is unable to control the dozens of powerful Iran-backed militias that wield enormous control.

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