#PM pension plan

[umangharyana]

खुशखबरी! मजदूरों के लिए हर महीने ₹3000 पेंशन, जानें लाभ और आवेदन प्रक्रिया

केंद्र सरकार देश के गरीब और असंगठित क्षेत्र से जुड़े मजदूरों के लिए समय-समय पर कई योजनाएं चलाती है। इन्हीं में से एक है प्रधानमंत्री श्रम योगी मानधन योजना (PM Shram Yogi Mandhan Yojana)। इस योजना का उद्देश्य मजदूरों को वृद्धावस्था में आर्थिक सुरक्षा प्रदान करना है। योजना के तहत 60 साल की उम्र के बाद असंगठित क्षेत्र के श्रमिकों को हर महीने ₹3000 की पेंशन दी जाती है। सरकार ने इस योजना की शुरुआत…

[castillon02]

A firm knock at the door. 

Tim, sitting on the carpet, waist-deep in print-outs from Black Mask’s latest debacle, looked at the door. Looked at the pile of invoices, photos, blackmail, and stupid little evidence baggies from Mask’s stupid little torture party. Looked at his couch, which was Evidence Island for that thing with Scarecrow last week, and his coffee table, the last refuge of JL prototypes. Maybe whoever was knocking at the door of his top-secret vigilante hideout would just go away. Or maybe they’d have the decency to bring their own chair with them. He picked up his phone and accessed his front door security cameras. 

Red Hood, one arm occupied by a pair of Old Joe’s pizzas, knocked again. 

On the one hand, Hood might shoot him. On the other hand, Tim hadn’t eaten lunch and it was (he checked his phone again) 8:13 PM. 

Tim turned all of his thigh-piles into carpet stacks and made his way to the door, where he removed three physical barricades, three digital barriers, and four traps for the unwary. He activated his “If I die in the next ten hours, this is the last person I was seen with” failsafe. Then he cracked the door on its chain. “Sorry, I didn’t order any pizza,” he snarked. 

Hood huffed a robotic sigh through his voice modulator. “I need a favor.”   

“I’m aware,” Tim said. There was no other reason for Hood to show up. And it had to be something complex, otherwise Hood would just do what he’d been doing, which was texting him a casefile and sticking a “One month of no murder attempts” coupon to Tim’s door when Tim solved it for him. 

Hood held out the pizzas and waited. He didn’t even twitch his hand towards his gun. 

“Fine.” Tim undid the chain and opened the door for him.

Hood left his helmet on one of the hat hooks by the front door, revealing a wryly curved mouth and eyes that weren’t any more Lazarus green than usual. He even gestured to the guns at his side with a cock of his head. Leave those here too? A generous offer from a crime lord who loved shooting people. 

Tim shrugged. If it got down to violence, he’d rather Hood not be grumpy about it. 

Hood shrugged back, kept his guns, and followed Tim into the solarium, which was an antechamber that Tim mostly used when he wanted to taunt potential snipers. It had a breakfast nook, two barstools, a dead plant from his well-meaning decorator, and ceiling-length bulletproof windows. 

Tim tinted the windows with a flick of a wall switch. 

“One Canadian bacon with onion and artichoke hearts,” Hood—Jason—said, dropping a pizza box in front of the left stool. “And one basil and roasted garlic with extra pecorino.” He dropped the other pizza in front of the right stool and sat. 

Tim sat next to him. “Thanks for getting my order right.” He could be polite. 

“I asked Alfred,” Jason said. 

Proof someone else knew that Jason intended to visit him. Jason really didn’t want to kill him. At least at the moment. 

(Jason’s pizza order had changed from when he was a kid; he’d always ordered the meat-lover’s before, maybe for the extra calories. Food insecurity sucked.) 

(Tim’s tastes had changed too, but his pizza order hadn't. No one ordered “Canadian bacon with onion and artichoke hearts” unless it was for him, specifically, and it was…nice, knowing that whoever had ordered the food had thought of him. Mental insecurity sucked too.)   

They did justice to Old Joe’s thin-crust for a while, eating in silence. 

When he only had a couple of slices left, Jason took a deep breath and said, “None of this leaves here, aright? Tell anyone I asked about any of this and you’ll wish you were dead.” 

Tim waved his hand. “Duh.” 

“Right. Okay.” Jason rubbed his forehead. “You know how sometimes start-up companies get successful and then they suddenly realize that they have a million employees instead of ten and that they should probably have things like an HR department and a pension plan?” 

“Ah,” Tim said. Jason “Red Hood” Todd didn’t need the help of Red Robin, teen vigilante. He needed the help of Tim Drake, teen CEO. “You got your fiftieth employee?” 

“I have to know what FMLA is now,” Jason said, a thousand-yard stare in his eyes. “It’s basically what I’ve been doing anyway, but there are so many subparts.” 

Tim made a sympathetic noise. 

“And I’ve been meaning to set up some kind of…retirement…thing…for the past two years,” Jason continued. “Pretty much since I started, but there always seemed to be bigger things, you know?” 

Tim nodded. Effective long-term policy or not, preteens addicted to fentanyl could definitely make someone put a 401k plan on the back burner. 

“And I had Gloria handling birthdays!” Jason said, obviously on a roll now. “Like getting cards for everyone on the day and getting them signed and all? But she had to move to Florida cuz her Mami’s getting up there, and no one else wants to get the cards and pass them around, but now I’ve got grown-ass armed adults who are miffed that their birthdays don’t get a card, and some other people think there should be cake too if we’re going to be revamping the birthday system anyway!” He looked at Tim, his eyes wild. “The whole thing is distracting everyone from killing traffickers and setting up community support systems! Grown-ass adults! Birthdays!” 

“Birthdays are the devil,” Tim said, sympathetic. The Wayne Enterprises R&D department had had a brief kerfuffle over them too. 

“Incarnate,” Jason said. “But also, no. I mean, I get it, some of us ain’t had people who celebrated our birthdays before! I want everyone to feel appreciated. But at this point, all Black Mask has to do is say ‘cake and ice cream’ and his goons will be able to set up shop while my guys shoot each other.” 

This level of chaos didn’t just happen; it was likely only the visible part of an iceberg of underlying dysfunction. “Gloria did a lot more than birthday cards, huh?” Tim asked. 

Jason winced. “I begged her to come back and she said she was tired of nagging me about the pension plan.” 

“Good for her,” Tim said mildly. 

Jason glared. 

“It got you here, didn’t it?” 

Jason glared harder, but he stuffed his mouth full of pizza instead of threatening Tim with bodily harm. 

Tim flexed his fingers. Gotham was better with a functional Red Hood gang and this would get him unprecedented access to Jason’s plans, but he also needed to come out of this alive. “If I help you with this, I’m going to need to know a lot about your organization.” He held up a pre-emptive hand. “I don’t care about your exact plans for Gotham’s drug trade, but we’ll be looking at your org charts—your chain of command—and getting nitty-gritty about it. Also, I want to be compensated as a consultant.” 

Jason frowned. “You want money?” He glanced at Tim’s ostentatious kill-me windows. 

Tim shrugged. “You can choose. I’ll bill you a fair amount, and you can compensate me with your money or with an equally valuable amount of your time—and I’ll know how much you value your time in an exact dollar amount by the time we’re done.” 

Jason snorted. “That your usual deal when you’re a consultant, or is that a Jason Todd special?” 

Tim smiled his best Janet Drake smile. “It’s the exact same deal I offer anyone in the JL or the vigilante community. The Jason Todd special is when I let people roll up in my DMs for the low, low price of not slitting my throat. Again.” 

Jason had the grace to glance away. “Gotcha. Better get started then. Like you fancy CEO types say, time is money.”

"Like we fancy CEO types," Tim corrected, and had the pleasure of watching Jason wince. Time for Red Hood to get his hands dirty with all the blood and ink that went into being a responsible twenty-first century boss.

[lostintransist]

Chiseled Heart | When A Heart Reacts | Part 1

CW: none this chapter

AO3

When he left the military König missed the action found in the theatrics of war. He signed up with a company that would get him close to that again. He felt alive in those moments of pops of gunfire and the scream of missiles. Everything else became muted as a consequence. He worked with KorTac, leading one team (instead of several, doing that left him with hives) KorTac filled his needs until a bullet through the knee saw him in recovery and left behind.

König worked for a year to recover and train back to the standards he would need to reach to again take missions. He attempted three times and failed three times. When tears slid down his face they were absorbed by his makeshift cowl. A tired-faced woman had walked him into an office following his last failure. She spared no extra effort to look at him as she settled behind her computer. Slapping a stack of papers on the desk between them she spoke.

“Name?” She didn’t look at him, eyes on her screen and fingers poised for typing.

“König.”

When no second name followed she lifted a brow as she looked at him.

“One of those, okay.” Keys clicking her eyes tracked along the monitor. “Looks like you put away most of your earnings into a pension, good for you. Now to be eligible for the release of the pension all members leaving KorTac must complete regular therapy sessions. You can choose any therapist, if they don’t accept the insurance then KorTac will reimburse you for the out-of-pocket costs. You have insurance through KorTac for the next five years. They pay into a plan that will cover insurance premiums for the next fifty years, though you will require an evaluation every five to confirm that your injuries are still causing issues in your day-to-day life. When it comes back you are still having issues they will extend your coverage.”

She rattled off this information as if it were rote and not shocking news to him. This was more than the Austrian government had provided after years of faithfully serving. She lifted a hand from the keyboard and clicked a few times before turning to look at him again.

“I’m printing off your specific details but everything I just told you is contained in these papers,” she tapped the papers she had put down first. When König did not respond she stood and strode out of the room. She reappeared within moments, more papers held firmly in her hand. Once settled back in her seat she lifted all the paperwork, tapping them into a neat stack. König took them when offered.

She looked into his eyes as she held onto the papers, “Mr. König I would suggest finding a hobby, I find the men who find a hobby are less likely to fall into despair and die by their own hands.”

König pulls the papers from her hand slowly, the advice uncomfortable sitting atop his numbed feelings.

He had taken the advice though. It took him nearly a year to find something. He thought he had found peace in metal work but the hot forge became too large a barrier to enjoyment. Sculpture found him. He found extracting his images from stone a task that kept him focused and a challenge enough to pull him back time and again. His therapist put him in touch with a curator of a local art gallery when he complained about running out of space to store his finished pieces. No one was more shocked than König when his art began to sell, and sell well. Art became the outlet for his emotions and the gym became his outlet for his body. That is where he ran into you. Would it be cliche to say you became the outlet for his fantasies?

It happened so innocuously. You became waving buddies at the gym. This particular gym stayed open late but had locked doors after eight PM. One would use an app to unlock the door or notify the front desk staff to open the door.

You appeared one day after eight, in the middle of his sets. König carefully maintained the program he had worked out with his physical therapist. That meant five days with two rests. His rest days were Sunday and Thursday. You made smiles that filtered into his dreams on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Several months slid by. He tracked the seasons by the length of your sleeves, always long workout pants for you. König helped you with form once when you were getting noisy and visibly frustrated with your lifts at an increased weight. Swallowing hard on his anxieties he decided to help. His therapist would be proud of him for not letting his social anxiety prevent him from helping someone. He had been challenging him to branch out for months now.

Stepping up near you he waited until you looked up and caught sight of him in the mirror. He waved with a slight shift of his hand.

“Keep your shoulders wide as you lift,” he mimed the corrected posture.

You narrowed your eyes as you watched, flicking from watching the mirror to his profile.

“Okay. Let me try that,” turning back to the weights you lifted, form perfect.

Settling the weights back on the mat you shot him a brilliant smile, not deterred at all by the scars creeping above his surgical mask. He had worked hard to shift away from his hood in public spaces. It still got much use at home though.

“Thank you! I couldn’t figure out why I was having so much trouble with this lift.”

König nodded and went back to his set several feet away. If his eyes strayed to you more than once, well who noticed? He liked the look of you, how solid and real you felt as compared to most of the women who floated through the gym. He, as a big man, had never understood the fascination of other large men in finding the smallest woman to bed. How did they make that work?

You hadn’t appeared in his art until the second time you interacted with him. Appearing before him as he finished a bicep curl you waited, left hand curled around one finger on your right. A sheepish smile sat on your face.

“I’m so sorry to bother you, but can you help me?”

“Ja,” he set his weight down, standing.

The top of your head reached his shoulder, hair pulled back and away from your face.

“My grip slipped while trying to remove one of these plates and caught my finger. Can you help me by putting them away? I am done for the night after this. Need to go get my finger checked out.” You send him a half smile, cheeks a warm color.

He nodded once before removing all of the plates and returning them to their respective racks while you watched on, awkward smile firmly in place. Your cheeks reddened further when he looked at you after finishing the task.

“Thank you.”

König notices blood trailing down your arm. Without further thought, he pulls out his handkerchief and presses it to your arm. Startled you look down at your arm.

“Fuck, I need to go take care of this. Can I take this and wash it? I see you every time I’m here.”

You look so distressed König can do nothing more than nod. Watching as you disappear and then reappear from the locker room König runs the past few moments back in his mind. The wave that required both hands you sent him sticks in his mind.

It sticks so hard when he rises the next morning to start a new piece it is your face that appears as he carves away the stone.

Resting both hands against the work bench, fingers curled around his chisel König hung his head.

“Scheiße.”

Chiseled Heart Masterlist | Masterlist

@scaredyspooks @backseatsoldier @demothers-empty-blog Since you all asked to nicely.

[libertineangel]

Sir Keir will say that "if we take tough long-term decisions now" there will be "light at the end of the tunnel". However, he will warn against "easy answers" and offering "false hope". Sir Keir will also announce new legislation to crack down on welfare fraudsters, which Labour says is expected to save £1.6bn over the next five years. Under the plans, the Department for Work and Pensions will get new powers to investigate suspected benefit fraud and recover debts from individuals who can pay money back but have avoided doing so. Labour said there would be safeguarding measures to protect vulnerable claimants. Elsewhere in his speech, Sir Keir will commit to reducing net migration by training Britons to fill vacancies in the jobs market rather than allowing employers to rely on overseas labour.

Genuinely what fucking difference has the election made besides the colour of the tie on the fuckhead saying this shit, this is just fucking Tory policy again

Labour get an historic landslide victory off the back of everyone being sick to death of Tory bullshit and proceeds to use it for more Tory bullshit but painted red this time

[chronicallyuniconic]

The UK government continues to hate the vulnerable & disabled

"The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to say if the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, was wrong to suggest that disability benefits were being misused and exploited, after new official figures showed the level of fraud has fallen to zero."

You read that right.

FRAUD HAS DROPPED TO 0%

The year before it was at 0.2%

A month earlier, the shithouse of a PM was planning to cut the spending on PIP (aswell as other reforms), but stated that PIP was being used "incorrectly" or "misused" and that he wanted to make it an even harder process to 'exploit'

Going through PIP, as it is now, is horrific. I sent years of medical evidence, to be refused 3 times and later won at tribunal. It took years. Everyone I know has had a horrible time with the DWP scheme, it is not easy, or quick to trick, or a misuse of benefits when it has a direct impact on health, cannot be exploited when you can't get it in the first place!

The government are lying bag of shit & I hope they all drown in their own filth. The sewers are gleaming in comparison to the sludging dregs of Westminster. So many words. But the damage the PM has caused, is already done. We're stuck now with "abusing the system" type labels, even with this report.

[faraway-sunshine]

Aaaa This is my first time doing this idk if im doing it right and I hope this is the right blog hiiii im nervous but I wanna join in !!

So 2 things:

1. Could you explain what Aspergers is (Is that how you spell it?) I've never heard of it !! I hope thats okay to ask. Im very interested in psychology (not enough to become a psychologist but you get it, right?) And I would love to know more !!

2. I know the romance conversation is over but I really related to your response to the guy asking if you liked boys so I wanted to say something. I still, to this day, dont know the difference between platonic and romantic love, and im in a relationship !! Yeah... Somtimes I worry "What if I dont like her romantically and im just leading her on??" But then I remember how happy she makes me and how I would love to live my life with her by my side and the worry goes away. For a little while at least. I used to think I was aromantic asexual or cupioromantic because I didnt know the difference, now I just think I might be demiromantic. Though I am still young so I guess all of this could change. I guess its just, love is hard. Its hard to know if you feel it romantically or platonically and idk my advice is to not get into a committed relationship until you know for sure you love them romantically. Dont be like me please ^^"

Anyway aaaa I hope im doing this right, im new to Tumblr and definitely wasnt planning on talking to anybody but I really wanted to join in sooo yeah !!

Hey, welcome, you're all good!

So Aspergers according to the current medical manuals is a diagnosis under the autism umbrella. It's the fancy therapist way of saying that I'm autistic, but not "Autistic Enough" for a lot of things like disability pensions and regular school. (Admin Note under the "read more" regarding this.)

That sounds really nice. I am trying to trust my feelings about this, but I am going to be careful if I ever get in a relationship and I definitely won't right now.

(Sunday 17th September, 2000, 8:31 PM)

(Admin Note: This blog is set in the past, where a lot of mental heath terminology was drastically different to now. Nowadays, what people used to call Asperger's would just be on the autistic spectrum, and the term is considered outdated. I am autistic myself in a way that would have been considered Asperger's in the day, so I felt I could make the call to use the older language as long as the rest is accurate and it's made clear that Sunny's being treated with compassion and understanding for it :D )

[amassofhumanity]

Life is very difficult right now. My car died sometime in February. Finally had enough money from my sister cashing out her small pension fund to get it looked at. I get my much larger retirement fund at the end of April. For now though, it seems like I need a new alternator. The official diagnosis hasn’t come back from the mechanic. His said it could be anywhere between $450 to $1,000. Uh, no.

The car is a 2006. I plan on using some of my retirement funds on a new-to-me car. I’m not going to spend a lot of money on a car that I plan to get rid of in a month.

Dealing with car repairs is very stressful for me. That and money concerns. Often the two issues are connected. I hate it when I start rehearsing for tragedy or rehearsing for negative things. Thanks mom.

My mental health has been lousy the past few days. I started training for that customer service job and it was really stressing me out. I was physically and mentally exhausted after each training day. I couldn’t focus, couldn’t remember things, and my short term memory was really bad. It was really stressing me out and I dropped it after four days.

I am in the application process for a job where I would rate internet ads and searches. The next step was to take an 8 to 10 hour exam. I got through about two hours of it and it wouldn’t let me continue. It said wait for further instructions from the employer. I wasn’t doing well on the questions they were showed me the answer. My gut feeling is I won’t be moving on with the hiring process. Again, I’m a negative thinker.

At least I finally figured out this boop thing (after 8 pm). So maybe I’ll do some of that. Hopefully people aren’t sick of it.

[learnwithmearticles]

French Politics Update

Since the 2024 French elections earlier this year, we left off with a more balanced National Assembly. Left-wing politicians became the highest population at 188 seats with centrist Emmanuel Macron still the president. The centrist party is not far behind with 161 seats and the right-wing party with 142.

Many networks at the time discussed the expectation of a hung parliament, as no one party holds the 289-seat majority.

Some things stay the same. In July, the National Assembly voted to keep centrist party member Yaël Braun-Pivet as speaker, winning by 13 votes. Additionally, many people have called for Macron to step down as President, but he will likely stay for the rest of his term until 2027. 

New PM

On the other hand, there have been major changes. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal resigned in July, and was replaced by Michel Barnier in September. He is a conservative, the leader of the 2016-2019 Brexit negotiation, and his appointment was met with much criticism from the left-wing parties.

Days after his appointment, over 100,000 people participated in protests across France. Many people view President Macron’s PM choice as disruptive to democracy, as the PM is most often chosen from the dominant National Assembly party.

Macron states that he made this choice based on the belief that Barnier seemed the most capable of dealing with political deadlocks, as is expected of the Parliament with no party holding majority.

I have to wonder, though, if this was also out of spite for the left-wing parties winning more seats than his centrist party. Barnier’s politics are expected to rely on joint support from the centrist and conservative parties. If the right or center opposes him on anything, he almost certainly will face loss after loss with his proposed policies. Will this lead France backward after the left finally gained some political power?

Barnier’s Address

Barnier delivered his first parliamentary address on Tuesday, October 1st. Summarily, he emphasized the hazard of French finances and debts, and the environment.

France is more than 3 trillion euros in public and environmental debt, which Barnier addresses first. His goal is to bring the deficit down from 6% of the national GDP to 5% in 2025, with the goal of under 3% by 2029.

His outline for achieving this is reducing spending, being more efficient in government spending (addressing corruption and unjustified spending), and taxes. He phrases higher taxes as a temporary measure, and states that large companies as well as the richest and wealthiest French people will be asked for exceptional contributions.

Barnier also addresses environmental debt. He plans to continue reducing GHG emissions, and for France to be more active in the EU and in the Paris Agreements, which push for countries to collectively act against climate change. He also mentions encouraging industry transitions in energy and recycling, encouraging nuclear energy development, and developing renewable resources of energy more, like biofuels and solar energy.

He has also conceived of a large national conference to act on the matter of water, the scarcity of which is an imminent issue for France.

Additionally, he plans to propose a yearly day of citizens consultations. In his idea, doors will be open for citizens for people of all levels of government to ask questions and start discussions and debates on various topics.

Another noteworthy statement from Barnier is that the pension reform bill voted on in 2023 might have to be changed, which received a loud reply from the audience.

As someone living in a country where an entire political party is built on denying factual evidence and realities, it is surprising to hear someone who does not deny climate change, and calls for equitable taxes to address debt.

About 30 minutes into his address, though, New Caledonia comes up. This is more in line with expectations of conservatives. New Caledonia is still a colonized territory of France, and a recent bill from Macron was going to disadvantage native Kanak people for the advancement of French loyalists on the archipelago. After fatal protests, the bill has been suspended before ratification, likely to be readdressed in 2025.

Also in conservative spirit, Barnier calls for stricter immigration policies in effort to meet “integration objectives”. France faces a cost-of-living crisis and an affordable housing shortage that has buttressed the right’s stance on needing stricter border measures.

Le Pen Trial

Also straining politics, especially for right-wing support, is recent news about popular right-wing figure Marine Le Pen.

On September 30th, Le Pen faced charges of embezzling European Parliament money. The right-wing party Rassemblement National is accused of filing false employee records in order to improperly use funds to pay members of the party. Le Pen is one of many senior party members involved in the alleged embezzlement.

This trial is expected to go on for seven to nine weeks, so the final outcome is some time away. But for now we can expect this will have negative impacts if Le Pen still vies for presidential election in 2027. It will likely also decrease citizen’s trust in the conservative party’s ability to make responsible economic decisions.

If found guilty, Le Pen and the other defendants could face up to ten years in prison and lose the eligibility to run for office.

After the 2024 shock vote instigated by President Macron, the French National assembly gained a left-leaning majority, though not enough for an automatic 289-vote majority. In most cases, this would mean a left-wing Prime Minister as well as a left-wing president, though that’s because the presidential vote is usually shortly after that of the national assembly.

Contrarily, Macron went with a conservative candidate that he believed to be stronger for the job. This increases the political unrest in the country, and increases the likelihood of delays and blockages in legislation development.

While the conservative Prime Minister has stated many intentions that people in the U.S.A. might call left-leaning, regarding climate change and tax targets, his appointment has upset many. His views on immigration, especially, contrast with most left-wing groups who want integration and safety for others. Overall, this decision from Macron calls into question his loyalty and dedication to the wants of the French people.

Additional Resources

1. New Prime Minister

2. Barnier on Borrowed Time

3. Le Pen on Trial

4. Barnier Address

5. Barnier Address Summary

[transuk]

Wednesday, 7th February 2024

PM Rishi Sunak makes 'insensitive' comment on transgender women, whilst the mother of 16-year-old murdered trans teen Brianna Ghey attends Parliament

Recent responses to the PM's remarks have called for him to formally apologise.

During the Prime Minister's Questions this evening, PM Rishi Sunak, whilst highlighting the 'broken promises' of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, made a crude jibe about transgender women, one that has been met with backlash from the Labour Party, Brianna's father, and the public.

On Wednesday afternoon, Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer met with Esther Ghey, mother of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey, a trans teenager who was killed by two other teens in February of last year. Earlier this month, the names of Brianna's killers were released, with the judge of their trial designating transphobia as a motive for Brianna's murder.

In the House of Commons, during a parliamentary session that Brianna's mother was in attendance to, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, made a comment in regards to Sir Keir Starmer's position as Labour leader. Amongst other jibes, listing Starmer's 'broken promises' Sunak said:

"It's a bit rich, (addressing the Speaker) to hear about promises from someone that's broken every single promise he was elected on! I think I counted thirty in the last year. Pensions, planning, periges*, public sector pay. Tuition fees, childcare, second referendums. Defining a woman– although, in fairness, that was only 99% of a U-turn".

Starmer replied by reminding Sunak that Brianna's mother was present, describing him as 'parading as a man of integrity', which was met with calls of 'Shame!' in the chamber. Ater being asked to apologise by another MP, the Prime Minister called Brianna's death an "unspeakable and shocking tragedy", yet did not give any apology for his remark.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has claimed that Sunak's comment was 'taken out of context'

Watch the PM's comments and response here.

[mariacallous]

Another month to go: can we bear it? Brainless dishonesty, puerile insults, false accusations, the whole charade takes us for idiots. The more desperate they get, the lower the Tories drag down the tone of debate.

The week begins “woke”, with Kemi Badenoch challenging Labour to follow her into an anti-trans gesture to change the Equality Act to something the law already broadly does. It looks glaringly empty in the worsening cost of living crisis, when an extra 100,000 households will see their mortgages shoot up between now and election day.

Labour seeks to shrug off these diversions as it evades Tory attacks, while methodically staying calm and attempting to stay on message.

And for Rishi Sunak, the woke thing is a tough sell. Voters will not easily be persuaded that Keir Starmer is secretly a snowflake warrior while he talks defence of the realm, nailing down that “triple lock” on nuclear weapons, and promising that nuclear submarines will be built in Barrow. All that tells the electorate is that this party is no longer led by a man who refused to sing the national anthem at a Battle of Britain remembrance service.

Immigration is on Labour’s grid, too, with the plan to bring it down by boosting skills training at home. Forecasters expect it to fall anyway. So Keir the woke warrior? Good luck with that.

It may seem an age already, but voters are not yet concentrating on the election, say the focus-groupers. If you, the reader of political columns, are bored rigid by hearing of Starmer’s toolmaker dad and nurse mum, it remains true that most voters still say they don’t really know him. So, in Tuesday’s TV debate between the leaders, expect Starmer to use every chance to describe himself. Most voters don’t watch prime minister’s questions, so they’ll observe these head-butting duels with a fresh eye. Neither leader floats like a butterfly or stings like a bee, but Starmer usually prevails. Sunak plans to exploit some kind of underdog status, but that too is a tough sell when he is PM, he was chancellor, he is so obviously vulnerable on every flank and so clearly to blame – in full or part – for everything ill-fated in these wretched Tory years.

The runes are being read. Both parties were alarmed by the mighty electoral calculus MRP poll predicting just 66 seats for the Tories. It raised no cheers in the Labour camp, where there is gnawing fear that complacency will stop too many people from bothering to vote, or will give potential Labour voters licence to vote Green. It could also complicate the calculation in “blue wall” seats, where Labour people need to turn out and, as a way to oust the Tories, vote Liberal Democrat.

But that same poll caused flat panic in the Tory camp, where the campaign seems solely focused on stemming the flow of rightwingers to the hardline church of Reform. That panic will heighten after the screeching U-turn on Monday in which Nigel Farage took control of Reform and deigned to run as an MP, hoping it will be eighth time lucky.Sunak and his chancellor beseech elderly voters with wafted pension bribes, and tickle their fancies with absurd plans to force national service on Britain’s young people. Badenoch’s transgender pitch was a ploy to discomfort Labour, but more than that, it was a desperate attempt to head off further defections by those who prefer their extremism full fat rather than semi skimmed.

In many ways, this is the election we expected. But that is not the same thing as saying that – on the evidence so far – this is the election we deserve.

Amid the promises, there needs to be a reality check, not least about the public finances. In the Financial Times last week, the International Monetary Fund exposed the hitherto unmentioned, and unmentionable, gaping £30bn hole awaiting the next chancellor. A field of fiscal landmines has been laid by Jeremy Hunt, with zero expectation he will ever be expected to navigate them. One report suggests he sees a nicer post-election life for himself presenting at Classic FM. So be it: so long as they don’t let him present the financial reports.

Both parties in this election pretend not to hear the voice of Paul Johnson, truth-teller-in-chief at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, who warns that pledges of no new taxes and no spending cuts, while shrinking the national debt, are impossible to fulfil. Labour ignores him for now, promising to clear the backlog of people waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment, and raise employment from 75% to 80%, though Johnson warns “we never got close” to that rate. We need a reality check. We’re getting magical thinking.

Think, too, about all the issues that aren’t being properly addressed in this election yet. Brexit is parked, with Labour keen to avoid accusations of cosying up to the EU, and the Tories desperate to hide from their Brexit failures.

Also missing in action: social care, the plight of the 1.6 million frail people denied the help they need. Both parties bear the scars of Theresa May’s 2017 election plan and Andy Burnham’s 2010 scheme, both of which exploded mid-campaign.

The burning planet should be the burning question but it isn’t, despite Labour rightly making green energy its engine for growth and its prime spending priority. Sunak ditched net zero, warning: “Labour’s decarbonisation proposals will cost £3,297 per household.” That’s Toryism at its most despicable, lying about the need for climate action for no electoral gain. But one way or another, we should be talking about it.

Here we are again, at the pinnacle of our democratic process and yet, again, failing to find a way to grapple honestly with the great issues. Democracy is worshipped, but its potential is eroded and its practitioners reviled. Whose fault is that? MPs or the public? Voters who think they stand aloof from “lying” politicians might ask themselves how much they are to blame for demanding the impossible – Swedish-level public services on US-level tax rates.

I don’t blame Labour for this; it is up against the great Tory lie factory. Always facing that wall of sound from the howling, dominant Tory media – its volume turned up now by GB News. The wonder is that Labour ever gets a hearing, ever wins elections. If it is staying muted now, the process makes that sensible, because discussing difficult dilemmas thoughtfully would do little more than provide ammunition for the enemy. After years in opposition, an election – in this Britain, at this time – is a perilous moment for Labour to seek to reshape the entire way we do politics.

With polls swinging strongly towards a Labour win and a social democratic future, with voters apparently ready to rebel against the devastations of austerity, maybe there is scope for boldness. Maybe Labour should trust polls showing that a majority would pay more tax to revive public services. Maybe it should be more expansive in the knowledge that voters broadly agree with the party over Brexit, tax, social care, poverty, benefits and the climate.

But, with a great victory within grasp and the chance of a different future for this country, is it reasonable to demand that it take that risk?

[beardedmrbean]

France's political future was up in the air Thursday with the far-right surging in polls but other forces fighting to the end three days before a high-stakes parliamentary vote.

Depending on the result, President Emmanuel Macron could be left in a tense "cohabitation" with a prime minister from an opposing party, or with a chamber unable to produce a stable majority for at least a year to govern the EU's second economy and top military power.

Surveys suggest voters will hand the National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen over 35 percent in the first round on Sunday, with a left alliance trailing on up to 29 and Macron's centrists in the dust at around 20 percent.

When he called the snap poll after a June 9 European election drubbing by the RN, Macron had hoped to present voters with a stark choice about whether to hand France to the far right.

But the lightning three-week campaign "wasn't going to turn around the major trends," Brice Teinturier, deputy director of pollster Ipsos, told Le Monde daily, adding that the "RN bloc is incredibly powerful".

Even France's seasoned pollsters are struggling to translate that base level of support into a final result, as July 7's second-round run-off ballots -- many expected to be three-way fights -- can see voters shift allegiances and new alliances of convenience form.

Higher-than-usual turnout could also transform the vote.

Around two thirds of eligible voters plan to cast their ballots, which would be the highest level since 1997.

By Thursday, polling firm Harris Interactive Toluna was predicting 250 to 305 seats out of 577 for the RN -- putting an absolute majority in its grasp -- while Ifop-Fiducial suggested the party could top out at 260.

Le Pen already was planning for an absoute majority and RN head of government, telling the Telegramme daily that the president's title as commander-in-chief of the armed forces was "an honorific, because it's the prime minister who holds the purse strings."

Therefore, "on Ukraine, the president will not be able to send troops", she added, undermining his warning to Moscow that France would keep all options on the table to thwart Russia's invasion of its neighbour.

Her candidate for prime minister, Jordan Bardella, has already vowed not to send Kyiv long-range missiles and other weapons that could strike Russian territory, in a reversal of Macron's policy.

The RN has also said it will not agree to form a government without an absolute majority -- leaving open the possibility that no political force will be able to keep a prime minister in place.

Last gasp

Hoping to defy the odds, current incumbent Gabriel Attal -- named months ago by Macron as France's youngest-ever PM -- will take on RN frontman Bardella and Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure in a TV debate on Thursday evening.

It marks one of the last opportunities to convince voters as campaigning is officially suspended on Saturday and during voting on Sunday.

Candidates had failed to land any telling blows in a previous broadcast showdown on Tuesday.

Attal on Wednesday hammered his message throughout the lightning three-week campaign at a stop in central France, asking voters to reject an RN that "stigmatises" parts of the population and a left alliance he said indulged sectarianism.

Bardella may attempt to clarify some of his plans for voters' wallets, after struggling to explain how he would undo Macron's unpopular increase to the pension age or shape a policy to exempt under-30s from income tax.

He was forced to say Wednesday that "of course there would be a ceiling" on the income tax exemption after being challenged on whether star France striker Kylian Mbappe's multi-million salary would go untaxed.

[darkangel1791]

What do striking Hollywood writers want? A look at demands

The first Hollywood strike in 15 years began Tuesday as the economic pressures of the streaming era prompted unionized TV and film writers to picket for better pay outside major studios, a work stoppage that already is leading most late-night shows to air reruns. (May 2)

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published 12:31 PM EDT, May 3, 2023

The 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike Tuesday after negotiations with Hollywood studios that began in March failed to result in an agreement. The guild has billed the issues behind the labor dispute as “an existential crisis.” Writers say they’re facing a host of new issues brought on by streaming and other recent technological shifts in the industry.

Here’s a look at the demands behind the first Hollywood strike in 15 years, as the industry braces for a long hiatus:

INCREASED PAY

The guild is seeking higher compensation for writers across the board. Though there are more jobs available to WGA members than ever before because of the proliferation of streaming services, pay for most writers is down. Ten years ago, 33% of TV writers were paid the minimum rate. Now, according to the WGA, 49% are. Accounting for inflation, writer pay has declined 14% in the last five years. The median weekly writer-producer pay is down 23% over the last decade, with inflation factored in. Writers say many of their members aren’t even making a living wage. They are also seeking increases for their pension plan and health fund.

BETTER RESIDUALS

For more than half a century, residuals have been a foundational way for writers to make money. But streaming has upended those payouts. Writers used to be handsomely compensated anytime their work went into syndication or was sold for overseas territories. Reruns meant a big payday. But now, series and films often simply land a streaming service and stay there. Streaming services also generally don’t share viewership data with filmmakers and writers, meaning writers don’t know how valuable their work has been. To replace backend residuals, the WGA is seeking more upfront fees.

STAFFING REQUIREMENTS

The union wants TV shows to staff a certain number of writers for a period of time. At issue is the rising practice of “mini rooms” where only a handful of writers are working on a series. Such writer rooms are often employed during development, before a show is greenlit. That means writers can be working on a series that doesn’t get picked up for as much as a year after they worked on it, or not at all. The process has circumvented some of the protections WGA members have from being overworked and understaffed. The use of mini rooms accelerated during the pandemic, with writers often meeting by Zoom — a still commonplace practice.

SHORTER EXCLUSIVITY DEALS

Many of the rules around TV writing are also still based on a now increasingly outdated model. Writers might have once expected to spend almost a year working on a 22- to 25-episode season of broadcast TV. Now, the average season is much shorter. Popular shows like “Bridgerton” might have only eight episodes. Not only does that diminish writers’ per-episode pay, it can limit them from working on other programs if they’re tied to longer terms of exclusivity.

ASSURANCE ON AI

Writers are also increasingly concerned that producers will use artificial intelligence to write scripts or at least fill in the blanks on unfinished screenplays. The fast-advancing technology has potentially widespread ramifications for Hollywood, and, in some cases, may be a useful tool. But the WGA wants production companies to agree to safeguards around its usage.

[libertariantaoist]

News Roundup 12/29/2023 | The Libertarian Institute

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 12/29/2023

by Kyle Anzalone

Venezuela

Venezuela Responds to UK Warship Deployment to Guyana By Conducting War Games AP

Ukraine

Russia Says US Demands Prevent Hostage Swap El Pais

US Announces $250 Million Arms Package for Ukraine AWC

Ukraine Beginning to Lose Gains Made During Costly Counter-Offensive NYT

Report: US Is Shifting Strategy on Ukraine AWC

Ukrainian Government Workers Will Face Salary and Pension Delays If US and EU Don’t Approve More Aid AWC

China

Chinese Military Says Pentagon Spending Bill Exaggerates China Threat AWC

Israel 

Witnesses Say Israeli Forces Executing Civilians in Gaza MEE

WashPo: Israeli Destruction of Gaza More Significant than Destruction of Aleppo WashPo

Israel Requesting Apache Attack Helicopters from US YnetThe Institute

Israel’s Security Agency Ignored Warning from Gaza Source About October 7 Attack AWC

Over 500 Israeli Soldiers Killed Since October 7 The Institute

Netanyahu Refuses to Discuss Post-War Plans for Gaza With Security Chiefs AWC

Turkey’s Erdogan Says Netanyahu Is No Different Than Hitler AWC

Biden Asks Netanyahu to Release Palestinian Tax Revenue Collected by Israel Axios 

Iran

Sen. Lindsey Graham Calls for US to Blow Parts of Iran ‘Off the Map’ AWC

Iran Atomic Chief: Claims of Escalated Enrichment Untrue, Nothing New in Nuclear Work AWC

Iraq

Israel Warns Time for Diplomacy with Hezbollah Is Running Out The Institute

Biden Tells Congress He Launched Airstrikes in Iraq to ‘Deter’ Future Attacks AWC

Iraqi PM Says Baghdad Is ‘Heading Towards’ Ending the US Military Presence in the Country AWC

Yemen

US Issues Sanctions on Aledged Network Funding Houthi Red Sea Attacks Press Release

US Allies Reluctant to Join Anti-Houthi Red Sea Naval Coalition AWC

US Says It Shot Down 12 Houthi Drones, 5 missiles in Red Sea AWC

Pentagon Says US Downed Drone and Missile Fired By Houthis CENTCOM

Read More

[westeroswisdom]

The WGA writers are entering the third month of their strike. Strike action by SAG-AFTRA has been delayed as the actors have agreed to extend negotiations until July 12th.

Friday, June 30 was meant to be the cutoff date for negotiations between Hollywood studios and SAG-AFTRA. Had a deal not been struck by then, the actors guild was going to join the WGA’s strike efforts in a more official capacity. But much like what recently happened with the DGA, actors have gotten something of a reprieve just hours before the midnight deadline. Now, conversations between the two parties will continue all the way through July 12. SAG-AFTRA alerted its union members on Friday evening, saying leadership agreed to extend talks “in order to exhaust every opportunity to achieve the righteous contract we all demand and deserve.” The two sides have been in discussions since early June, with actors guildmembers advocating for extensive protections against AI, more residuals from streaming, and protection for its pension and health plans. Both parties are reportedly planning to talk again at some point during Saturday, July 1, and may possibly pick things back up again after the Fourth of July comes to pass. In the meantime, it’s said that projects that are presently filming are good to continue until 11:59 PM on the new expiration date.

Olivia Cooke (Alicent Hightower) was one of 300 or so actors who signed a letter to the union leadership urging SAG-AFTRA not to cave on any key demands.

The WGA strike hasn't affected Season 2 production of House of the Dragon. All of the writing and re-writing was completed before the writers went on strike. But SAG-AFTRA is a different matter. It's hard to say how much of the S2 filming has been completed, though it's probably less than half.

Even a short SAG-AFTRA strike would be costly; a longer one would probably delay the season premiere in 2024.

A number of things could happen. If negotiations are productive, the deadline could be extended again. If there's a tentative settlement, there would then be a ratification vote by the membership which may take a week or so to arrange, conduct, and tabulate. If a proposed settlement is voted down, that would open the way to a strike.

Frankly, I think the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are in the right. If you want to get some idea of the effect of gratuitous use of AI on TV and film production, check out the AI generated White Walker. But if there's a SAG-AFTRA strike, I hope it doesn't start until late September. 🙂

Ultimately, the studio owners need to quit being so fucking greedy. When you let creators create and and don't try to do things on the cheap, you actually increase the chances of success. That is a lesson from Game of Thrones that the studios have already forgotten.

[cooking-with-hailstones]

Full disclosure I don't have a 9-5. It is not possible in my chosen career path. If I could have a 9-5 I would love to have one.

My friends and I all used to be afraid of this until some of us tried doing Not That.

A 9-5 means guaranteed hours. Means that you're not gonna go "FUCK it's almost Christmas but the boss only scheduled me for 3 shifts this week how am I gonna afford groceries let alone presents for my kids"

A 9-5 means a stable schedule. You want to sign up for an art class that runs every Tuesday for 8 weeks at 7:30 pm? You know for a fact that you will be available at that time.

You make a consistent amount of money, you have a consistent routine, and the entire world is structured around YOUR schedule.

(also not to mention that many 9-5s, though by no means all, come with a pension plan and insurance which yeah doesn't sound romantic when you're 22 but holy shit I would kill for that now)

are you afraid of having a boring, conventional, soulless 9 to 5?