#Parcel Costs 2023

[just2bruce]

State of Logistics Report 2024

We now have the latest State of Logistics Report from Penske and Kearney in cooperation with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). It’s a good piece of solid research. I was most interested in two specific aspects it presents. The first topic was the total United States Business Logistics Costs (USBLC) table. Logistics costs in 2023 actually shrank by 11% over the past…

[reasonsforhope]

"Clothing tags, travel cards, hotel room key cards, parcel labels … a whole host of components in supply chains of everything from cars to clothes. What do they have in common? RFID tags.  

Every RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag contains a microchip and a tiny metal strip of an antenna. A cool 18bn of these are made – and disposed of – each year. And with demands for product traceability increasing, ironically in part because of concerns for the social and environmental health of the supply chain, that’s set to soar. 

And guess where most of these tags end up? Yup, landfill – adding to the burgeoning volumes of e-waste polluting our soils, rivers and skies. It’s a sorry tale, but it’s one in which two young graduates of Imperial College London and Royal College of Art are putting a great big green twist. Under the name of PulpaTronics, Chloe So and Barna Soma Biro reckon they’ve hit on a beguilingly simple sounding solution: make the tags out of paper. No plastic, no chips, no metal strips. Just paper, pure and … simple … ? Well, not quite, as we shall see. 

The apparent simplicity is achieved by some pretty cutting-edge technical innovation, aimed at stripping away both the metal antennae and the chips. If you can get rid of those, as Biro explains, you solve the e-waste problem at a stroke. But getting rid of things isn’t the typical approach to technical solutions, he adds. “I read a paper in Nature that set out how humans have a bias for solving problems through addition – by adding something new, rather than removing complexity, even if that’s the best approach.”   

And adding stuff to a world already stuffed, as it were, can create more problems than it solves. “So that became one of the guiding principles of PulpaTronics”, he says: stripping things down “to the bare minimum, where they are still functional, but have as low an environmental impact as possible”.  

...how did they achieve this magical simplification? The answer lies in lasers: these turn the paper into a conductive material, Biro explains, printing a pattern on the surface that can be ‘read’ by a scanner, rather like a QR code. It sounds like frontier technology, but it works, and PulpaTronics have patents pending to protect it. 

The resulting tag comes in two forms: in one, there is still a microchip, so that it can be read by existing scanners of the sort common within retailers, for example. The more advanced version does away with the chip altogether. This will need a different kind of scanner, currently in development, which PulpaTronics envisages issuing licences for others to manufacture. 

Crucially, the cost of both versions is significantly cheaper than existing RFID kit – making this a highly viable proposition. Then there are the carbon savings: up to 70% for the chipless version – so a no-brainer from a sustainability viewpoint too. All the same, industry interest was slow to start with but when PulpaTronics won a coveted Dezeen magazine award in late 2023, it snowballed, says So. Big brands such as UPS, DHL, Marks & Spencer and Decathlon came calling. “We were just bombarded.” Brands were fascinated by the innovation, she says, but even more by the price point, “because, like any business, they knew that green products can’t come with a premium”."

-via Positive.News, April 29, 2024

--

Note: I know it's still in the very early stages, but this is such a relief to see in the context of the environmental and human rights catastrophes associated with lithium mining and mining for rare earth metals, and the way that EVs and other green infrastructure are massively increasing the demand for those materials.

I'll take a future with paper-based, more humane alternatives for sure! Fingers crossed this keeps developing and develops well (and quickly).

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Why Millennials aren’t leaving Tiktok

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TOMORROW NIGHT (Mar 22) in TORONTO, then SUNDAY (Mar 24) with LAURA POITRAS in NYC, then Anaheim, and more!

The news that Gen Z users have abandoned Tiktok in such numbers that the median Tiktoker is a Millennial (or someone even older) prompted commentators to dunk on Tiktok as uncool by dint of having lost its youthful sheen:

https://www.garbageday.email/p/tiktok-millennials-turns

But "why are Gen Z kids leaving Tiktok?" is the wrong question. The right question is, why aren't Millennials leaving Tiktok? After all, we are living through the enshittocene, the great enshittening, in which every platform gets monotonically, irreversibly worse over time, and Tiktok is no exception:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

To understand why older users are stuck to Tiktok, we need to start with why younger users relentlessly seek out new platforms. To some extent, it's just down to youth's appetite for novelty, but that's only part of the story. To really understand why people come to – and leave – platforms, you have to understand switching costs.

"Switching costs" is the economists' term for everything you have to give up when you change products or services. Switching from Ios to Android probably means giving up a bunch of your apps and purchased media. Switching from an airline where you're a high-status frequent flier to another carrier means giving up on free checked bags and early boarding.

In an open market, rivals have lots of ways to lower these switching costs (it's an open secret that you can call an airline and say, "Hi, I'm a 33rd Order Mason on American Airlines, will you make me a Triple Platinum Diamond Sky-Baron if I switch to Delta?"). Of course, big incumbents hate this, and do everything they can to increase their switching costs, finding ways to impose high switching costs that punish disloyal consumers who have the temerity to go elsewhere.

With social media, lock-in comes for free, thanks to the "collective action problem." Getting people to agree on a given course of action is hard, and as you add more people to the picture, the problem gets harder. It's hard enough to get half a dozen people in your group-chat to agree on where to go for dinner or what board-game to play. But once you're reliant on a social media service to stay in touch with friends, relatives around the world, customers, communities (say, rare disease support groups), and coordination (like organizing your kid's little league car-pool), the problem becomes nearly insoluble. Maybe you can convince your overseas relatives to switch to a Signal group, but can you do the same for your small business's customers, or your old high-school pals?

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/29/how-to-leave-dying-social-media-platforms/

Taken together, switching costs and collective action problems make platforms "sticky," and sticky platforms inevitably enshittify.

Platforms, after all, generate value. They connect end-users with each other (say, little league parents) and they connect end-users to business customers (you and your small business's customers). That value needs to be parceled out among end users, business customers, and the platform's shareholders. A platform can make life better for business customers at its end users' expense by increasing the number of ads (hello, Youtube!), and it can make life better for its shareholders at its business customers' expense by decreasing the share of ad revenue given to publishers or performers (oh, hello again, Youtube!).

From a platform's perspective, the ideal state is one in which end users and business customers get no value from the platform, because it's all being captured by the platform's shareholders. But if Youtube interrupted every 30 seconds of video for ten minutes of ads and paid the video creators nothing, both users and creators would ditch the platform – and advertisers would follow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dab8sKg8Ko8

So platforms seek an equilibrium: "what is the least value we apportion to end-users and business customers without triggering their departure?" Maybe that means giving more value to end-users (for example, keeping Uber fares low by suppressing wages), or to business-customers (crowding more ads into your social media feed).

Every business – including brick-and-mortar, non-digitized ones – wants to find some kind of equilibrium between the value going to its suppliers, its customers and its owners, but digital businesses have an advantage here: digital systems are flexible in ways that analog, hard-goods businesses are not. Digital businesses can alter pricing, payouts and other dynamics from moment to moment – second to second – and make a different offer to every supplier and customer. They have a bunch of knobs, and they can twiddle them at will:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/twiddler/

Well, not quite at will. Businesses face constraints on their twiddling. If they get too greedy, users or business customers might weigh the cost of staying against the switching costs and decide it's not worth it. But the more expensive – the more painful – a platform can make leaving, the more pain they can inflict on the people who stay.

In other words, there's two ways to keep a customer or supplier's business: you can make a better service so they won't want to leave, or you can make leaving the service so painful that they stay even if you mistreat them.

There's three ways a digital company can make things worse for their customers and users without losing their business.

First, they can eliminate competition (think of Mark Zuckerberg buying Instagram to recapture the users who'd fled Facebook to escape his poor management):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/03/big-tech-cant-stop-telling-on-itself/

Second, they can capture their regulators and avoid punishment for trampling their suppliers' or users' legal rights (think of how Amazon has raised the price of everything we buy, both on- and off Amazon, through its "most favored nation" deals):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos

Third, they can use IP law to prevent competitors from modifying their services to claw back some of that value (think of how Apple used legal threats to block an Android version of Imessage, blocking Apple customers from having private conversations that included non-Apple customers:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

Companies can't just use this tricks at will, of course. Antitrust laws can block companies from making anticompetitve acquisitions or mergers. Regulators can punish companies for cheating their customers, workers and users. Technologists can come up with clever ways of modding or reconfiguring existing services with "interoperable" add-ons that let users bargain for better treatment by refusing to accept worse:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

Day in, day out, the decision-makers at tech companies test these constraints, twisting the knobs that shift value away from users to shareholders. Their bosses and boards motivate them with "KPIs" that dangle the promise of huge bonuses and promotions for any manager who successfully enshittifies part of the company's products:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/

Decades of pro-corporate, pro-monopoly policy has loosened those knobs. 40 years of lax antitrust meant that companies had a lot of leeway to buy or merge with rivals – that's changing today, but it's tough sledding:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/14/making-good-trouble/#the-peoples-champion

As sectors grew more concentrated, they found it easier to capture their regulators, so that they no longer fear punishment for price-gouging, spying, or wage-theft, so applying the same amount of torque to the "break the law" knob cranks it a lot further:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/05/regulatory-capture/

Once you've captured your regulators, you can aim them at your competitors. A monopoly-friendly policy environment has transformed IP law into a bully's charter, allowing powerful companies to strangle would-be competitors who dare to offer their customers tools to shield themselves from enshittification, like scrapers, ad-blockers and alternative clients. Big companies can crank the enshittification knob all the way over and know that smaller rivals knobs won't turn at all:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/20/benevolent-dictators/#felony-contempt-of-business-model

At one point, bosses faced one more constraint on knob-twiddling: their workforce. Many tech workers genuinely cared about their users' welfare, something bosses encouraged as a sneaky trick to get techies to put in long hours without exercising their leverage by quitting rather than destroying their lives to meet arbitrary deadlines. These workers would fearlessly slap their bosses' hands when they reached for the enshittification knob, threatening to quit rather than allowing the products they'd given so much for to be enshittified. Today, after hundreds of thousands of tech layoffs, tech workers are far less like to challenge their bosses' right to twiddle, and far more likely to get fired if they try:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/10/the-proletarianization-of-tech-workers/

All this means that tech bosses don't have to change their approach at all, and yet, their services will grow steadily worse. The boss who twiddles the enshittification knob in exactly the same way as he did a year or a decade ago will find it turning much further, because his customers are locked into his platform, his regulators won't protect them, the same regulators will stop his competitors' attempts at countertwiddling, and his workers fear losing their jobs too much to speak up for their users.

That's the contagion that produced the enshittocene: the forces that constrained companies (competition, regulation, self-help and labor – all melted away, allowing every company's MBA-poisoned knob-twiddling leaders to shamelessly caress their knobs with every hour that God sends:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/#ich-bin-ein-bratapfel

Which is why people want to leave platforms. When a platform loses its users, those users have weighed the switching costs against the pain of staying and decided that it's better to bear those costs than to stay.

So why have Tiktok's younger users found the costs too high to bear, and why have their elders remained stuck to the platform?

For that, we have to look at the unique characteristics of young people – characteristics that transcend the lazy cliche that kids are easily bored, fickle novelty-seekers who hop from one service to another with unquenchable restlessness.

Whether or not kids are novelty-seekers, they are, fundamentally, a disfavored minority. They want to do things that the platforms don't want them to do – like converse without being overheard by authority figures, including their parents and their schools (also: cops and future employers, though kids may not be thinking about them as much).

In other words, kids pay intrinsically lower switching costs than adults, because a platform will always do less for them than it will for grownups. This is a characteristic kids share with other supposedly technophilic, novelty-seeking "early adopters," from sex-workers to terrorists, from sexual minorities to trolls, from political dissidents to fascists. For those groups, the cost of mastering a new technology and assembling a community around it is always more likely to be worth bearing than it would be for people who are well-served by existing tools:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/21/early-adopters/#sex-tech

Pornographers didn't jump on home video because of its superiority as a medium for capturing flesh-tones. Home video was a good porn medium because it was easier to discreetly get into the hands of porn consumers, who could, in turn, discreetly view it. The audience for porn in the privacy of your living room is larger than the audience for porn that you can only watch if you're willing to be seen marching into a dirty movie theater.

Every new technology is popularized by a mix of disfavored groups and neophiles, who normalize and refine it – and yes, infuse it with their countercultural coolth – until it becomes easy enough to use to become mainstream. As more normies drift into the new system, the switching costs associated with leaving the old system declines. It gets easier and easier to find the people and services you want in the new realm, and harder and harder to find them in the old one.

This is why tech platforms have historically experienced sudden collapse: the platform that gets more valuable and harder to leave as it accumulates users gets less valuable and easier to leave as users depart:

https://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2022/12/05/what-if-failure-is-the-plan.html

If you're a Gen Z kid on Tiktok, you experience the same enshittification as your Millennial elders. But you also experience an additional cost to staying: as late-arriving adult authority figures become more fluent in the platform, they are more able to observe your use of it, and punish you for conduct that you used to get away with.

And if you're a Millennial who isn't leaving Tiktok, it's not just that you experience the same enshittification as those departing Gen Z kids – you also face higher switching costs if you go. The older you get, the more complex your social connections grow. A Gen Z kid in middle school doesn't have to worry about losing touch with their high-school buddies if they switch platforms (they haven't gone to high school yet – and they see their middle school friends in person all the time, giving them a side-channel to share information about who's leaving Tiktok and where they're headed to next). Middle-schoolers don't have to worry about coordinating little league car-pools or losing access to a rare disease support group.

In other words: younger people leave old platforms earlier because they have more to gain by leaving; and older people leave old platforms later because they have more to lose by leaving.

This is why Facebook is filled with Boomers. Yes, their kids bolted for the exits to avoid having their parents (or grandparents) wading into their sexual, social and professional lives. But the reason the Boomers were late joining younger users' Facebook exodus – or the reason they never joined it – is that they stand to lose more by going. Facebook deliberately cultivated this dynamic, for example, by creating a photo hosting service designed to entice users into uploading their family photos while disguising how hard it would be to take those photos with them if they left:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

The irony here is that tech has intrinsically low switching costs. All other things being equal, a new platform can always build a bridge to ease the passage of users from the old one. There's no (technical) reason that moving to Mastodon, or Bluesky, or any other platform should mean cutting ties with the people who stayed behind.

A combination of voluntary interoperability (where old platforms offer APIs to allow new services to connect with them), mandatory interop (where governments force tech companies to offer APIs) and adversarial interop (where new companies hack together their own API with reverse-engineering, scraping, bots, and other guerrilla tactics) would hypothetically allow users to hop between networks as easily as you change phone carriers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/19/better-failure/#let-my-tweeters-go

Tech platforms tend to offer APIs when they're getting started (to ease the inward passage of new users) then shut them down after they attain dominance (locking the door behind those users). The EU is tinkering with mandatory APIs through the Digital Markets Act (though bafflingly, they're starting with encrypted messaging rather than social media). Restoring adversarial interoperability will require extensive legal reform, which is getting started through Right to Repair laws:

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/03/13/oregon-passes-right-to-repair-law-apple-lobbied-to-kill/

The people who are stranded on social media platforms shouldn't be mistaken for uncool, aging technophobes. They're not stubborn, they're stranded. Like the elders who can't afford to leave a dying town after the factory shuts down and the young people move away, these people are locked in. They need help evacuating – a place to go and a path to get there.

Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/21/involuntary-die-hards/#evacuate-the-platformsr

[darkmaga-returns]

President Trump’s recent executive order imposing tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico included the suspension of a trade loophole. Although the suspension primarily targets low-value imports, its implications are wider than many might realize.

At the heart of this issue is the de minimis provision, which originates from Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930. This provision was initially designed to prevent the government from incurring excessive costs and hassles for small imports made by individuals in a single day, as long as the fair retail value of those imports did not exceed $1. Over the years, Congress has raised this threshold multiple times, and it currently stands at $800, making it the most generous de minimis exemption in the world. In contrast, Canada’s de minimis exemption is capped at only $15.

In recent years, numerous foreign companies, particularly those in China, have capitalized on America’s overly generous de minimis threshold amid the e-commerce boom. This exploitation has led to a significant increase in both the volume and value of imports that are exempt from tariffs due to this provision.

A congressional report revealed that between fiscal year 2018 and 2021, more than two-thirds of de minimis imports came from China (including mainland and Hong Kong). In 2023 de minimis imports comprised an astonishing 1 billion parcels valued at approximately $54.5 billion, with around $18 billion in shipments originating from China.

[cognitivejustice]

Record number of Indigenous land titles granted in Peru via innovative process

Land titles have proven to be the most effective way to protect Indigenous peoples’ land from deforestation, with such territories experiencing a 66% decrease in deforestation, and therefore protecting these forests for generations to come.

Recently, 37 land titles were secured in the Peruvian Amazon in record time, between June 2023 to May 2024, via a partnership between two NGOs and the Peruvian government, using an innovative, low-cost, high-impact model to expedite the process.

“We believe this model can be replicated in other regions of the Amazon and perhaps even beyond,” the authors of a new op-ed write.

What is most groundbreaking about our approach is the emphasis on territorial consolidation, which addresses the Indigenous vision for our territory. Historically, titling has fragmented Indigenous peoples’ lands, reducing them to smaller, isolated parcels meaning the landscape of Indigenous territory is built through a mosaic of property titles. This makes us more vulnerable to threats from illegal activities. We are not only better able to protect our lands but we are also more aligned with an Indigenous worldview by titling our lands in this way and creating a common territory.

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Vivi Armacost loves Temu. She uses the Chinese online marketplace to buy crafting supplies for her purse-making hobby. “You can get purse detailing and hardware for cents and pennies,” said Armacost, who is 24 and lives in New York. She says it seems like “basically everything” in her apartment comes from Temu

Donald Trump’s 10% tariff on China-made goods sold to the US, which went into effect early on Tuesday morning, might change her shopping habits. On top of this, the US Postal Service briefly suspended deliveries of incoming parcels from China and Hong Kong before they were later resumed.

The tariff closes off a trade loophole that allowed fast-fashion companies such as Temu and Shein to ship packages under $800 into the US duty-free; this loophole, called “de minimis” has been criticized by both political parties in recent years. On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Shein and Temu are now likely to raise prices, as is Amazon’s Haul, a new e-commerce app that imports products from China-based sellers.

Shoppers are concerned the tariff will get in the way of their retail therapy.

“Trying to get that last Temu order in before Trump puts another tariff on China,” Armacost, who works in consulting and also makes comedy videos on TikTok, captioned a post on Monday that shows her frantically typing on a computer, hacker movie-style. It was mostly a joke, but she has friends who made one final Temu run. “My friend Piper got a ton of apartment stuff during a last-minute tariff haul,” she said.

Temu – which surpassed Amazon as the most-downloaded shopping app in 2023 – and Shein are beloved by the overly trendy and the obsessively thrifty. While Shein is known primarily for clothing, Temu also sells makeup, home goods and decor. These products are cheap – just over $4 for a pair of women’s sneakers on Temu, or $1.45 for bracelet on Temu – but of dubious quality. Inevitably, many end up in landfills.

“A lot of the stuff comes actually way smaller than you expect,” Armacost said. “I bought a desk lamp, except it can fit in my hands.”

In the months before Trump took office, shoppers urged each other to stock up on Temu and Shein, in case the new administration followed through on its promise to tax US trade partners. “Kinda feeling emo bc this may be the last good Black Friday for a while because of the tariffs,” one TikTok user wrote in a clip. “Better collect your ‘vintage Shein’ because they will probably go for $100 next year.’”

Two days after the election, the fashion writer Amy Odell warned readers of price hikes in a post to her BackRow Substack titled: “Trump Won. So Shop Now.” Susan Scafidi, a lawyer and founder of Fordham’s Fashion Law Institute, told Odell: “Everything’s going to be more expensive, which is a little crazy when you realize that a lot of the Trump appeal was with regard to the economy.”

Could the tariff kill fast fashion, an industry defined by wasteful over-consumption, as we know it? No, says Margaret Bishop, a textile and apparel specialist and professor at New York’s Parsons School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology. “If anything, I think these tariffs will strengthen fast fashion’s hold on customers,” she said. “If everything costs more, particularly food, transportation and housing, they’re going to have to cut back somewhere.

“Americans have a real hunger for new fashion, so they will trade down to be able to continue to buy things. If a $1 pack of T-shirts at Temu becomes $2 a pack, that’s still cheaper than spending $20 for a couple of T-shirts that are better made,” she continued.

Sheng Lu, a professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware, agreed that tariffs would not “fundamentally shift” Americans’ love of a good, if sketchy, deal. While small businesses will bear most of the pain from tariffs – due to supply chain snarls or the fact that Americans won’t be able to spend as much – larger corporations such as Shein and Temu tend to absorb costs.

“These companies are resourceful,” Lu said. “My more immediate concern is that small and medium-sized enterprises won’t survive, or will face significant challenges.”

In 2023, a US congressional report alleged that there was an “extremely high risk” that Temu used forced labor in its supply chain, and that both Shein and Temu evaded US human rights reviews. (Shein denied these claims at the time, while Temu did not comment on the report.) A recent report from the Swiss advocacy group Public Eye found that some Shein workers endure 75-hour work weeks. (Shein told the BBC it was “working hard” to address the issues raised in the report.)

The fast-fashion industry is also synonymous with high carbon emissions and pollution.

Lu fears that tariffs will exacerbate these issues. “If they have to pay more on tariff duties but at the same time make their prices competitive, that’s not good news for workers or the environmental impact, because companies will have more incentive to cut corners,” he said.

In the EU, the European Commission moved on Wednesday to tighten checks on goods sold by online retailers such as Shein and Temu, amid fears that “dangerous products” were flooding the market and that local competitors were losing out to competitors selling unsafe or counterfeit products.

Armacost knows that these e-commerce giants represent the worst of Americans’ desire for excess. “But also, at the same time, spending does stimulate the economy,” she said. “In response to the idea that it’s a good thing if people stop ordering so much random stuff, I say: ‘What’s the point of living in a country if I can’t order 100 pieces of junk for $15?’”

[libertineangel]

The Emir of Qatar is on a state visit to the UK - and the King highlighted the Gulf state’s role in negotiations in the Gaza conflict and the return of Israeli hostages. [...]

State banquets are a centrepiece of such visits, held in the grandeur of the ballroom of Buckingham Palace, with a 4,000-piece dinner service. [...] On the menu was a tartlet of Cornish lobster and quails eggs for a starter; with pheasant wrapped in Savoy cabbage, roasted celeriac puree and potato gratin with cheese from Suffolk, truffle sauce and winter vegetables as a main course; followed by an iced bombe with organic Samoan vanilla ice cream and a Balmoral plum sorbet. Each guest had a setting of five different glasses - and for those wanting an alcoholic drink, the wine list included Chapel Down Grand Reserve 2018, Puligny-Montrachet Les Nosroyes, Domaine Genot-Boulanger 2019, Chateau Lynch-Bages, Pauillac 2000 and a Chateau La Tour Blanche.

In 2022/23 there were 7.2 million people, or 11% of the UK population, in households experiencing food poverty, including 17% of children. In 2022/23, the Trussell Trust, a charity and network of foodbanks, supplied the highest recorded number of three-day emergency food parcels. [...]

According to the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Households Below Average Income survey, in 2022/23, 7.2 million people (11%) in the UK were in food insecure households, an increase of 2.5 million people since 2021/22. Among the 11.3 million people found to be in relative poverty before housing costs, 22% were in food insecure households, including 30% of children. [...]

The DWP published statistics on food bank use for the first time in March 2023. In 2022/23, 2.3 million people in the UK lived in household which had used a food bank in the previous 12 months, a rate of 3%. This includes 6% of children, 3% of working-age adults, and around 1% of pensioners. [...]

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Matt Wuerker, Politico

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

October 30, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

OCT 31, 2023

After three weeks without a speaker, the House today tackled one of the key items on its agenda: providing additional funding for Israel and Ukraine. Immediately, the majority under Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) made it clear that they have every intention of pushing their extremist agenda. Despite pressure from Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), they have split funding for Israel away from the funding for Ukraine and funding for humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza that President Biden has requested.

They have gone further, though, to push the far right’s agenda. The House Republicans’ $14.3 billion aid package for Israel claims that it will “offset” that spending by taking $14.3 billion from funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) passed by Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act. But this “offset” is nothing of the sort: funding the IRS brings in significantly more than it costs. For each dollar spent auditing the top 1% of U.S. earners, the IRS brought in $3.18; for each dollar spent auditing the top 0.1%, it brought in $6.29.

In September the IRS noted that it recovered $38 million in delinquent taxes from 175 high-income taxpayers within a few months and would be increasing that effort. A 2021 study showed that people whose income is in the top 1% of earners fail to report more than 20% of their earnings to the IRS. 

The House measure, providing aid for Israel only if Democrats agree to set aside Ukraine and Gaza and permit rich people to cheat on their taxes, will set up a fight with the Senate. 

Tonight, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement saying the Republicans’ politicization of our national security interests is a “nonstarter. Demanding offsets for meeting core national security needs of the United States—like supporting Israel and defending Ukraine from atrocities and Russian imperialism—would be a break with the normal, bipartisan process and could have devastating implications for our safety and alliances in the years ahead.”

She noted that there is strong bipartisan agreement that it is in our national security interest to stop the suffering of innocent people in Gaza, “help Ukraine defend its sovereignty against appalling crimes being committed by Russian forces against thousands of innocent civilians,” and invest more in border security. 

“Threatening to undermine American national security unless House Republicans can help the wealthy and big corporations cheat on their taxes—which would increase the deficit—is the definition of backwards,” she said.

The chaos among the Republicans and the emergence of a Christian nationalist as their choice to lead the House seem to have drawn increased attention to the successes of the president. 

Today, for example, the United Auto Workers announced a tentative deal with General Motors, marking the third such agreement in the union’s six-week strike against GM, Ford, and Stellantis. The agreements include a 25% raise in base wages over 4.5 years, after years in which workers’ pay did not keep up with inflation. The agreements will also protect workers against the conversion to electric vehicles, helping unionized workers to make the transition to a green economy, and reopen certain closed plants.

As Jeanne Whalen noted in the Washington Post, this agreement comes after United Parcel Service (UPS) workers this summer won their strongest contract in decades and 75,000 striking Kaiser healthcare workers won strong wage increases. 

Biden was the first president to join a picket line when he stood with the UAW. Today, he said: “Today's historic agreement is yet another piece of good economic news showing something I have always believed: Worker power…is critical to building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up…. We’re finally beginning to build an economy that works for working people, for the middle class, for the entire…country, including the companies.  

“Because when we do that, the poor have a ladder up, the middle class does well, and the wealthy still do very well. We all do well.”

As Michael Tomasky put it in The New Republic, “We have a president who takes seriously the fundamental economic fact of American life of the last 40 years, which is that trillions of dollars of wealth have been transferred from the lower and middle classes to the top 1 percent, and even to the top 0.1 percent. Moreover, it’s rivetingly clear that he thinks that it’s long past time to get that river flowing in the other direction.”

In The Bulwark, Jill Lawrence wrote that Biden has a “surprising focus on the future” as he “moves to meet U.S. challenges that former President Donald Trump largely ignored, failed at, or made worse.” She noted Biden’s achievement of infrastructure legislation after Trump failed, and contrasted Biden’s successful CHIPS and Science Act with the trade war of the Trump years, which cost as many as 245,000 jobs and so badly hurt midwestern farmers that 90% of the proceeds from Trump’s tariffs went to bail them out.

Biden also has looked forward by pushing and securing the Inflation Reduction Act, which invests in a transition to a green economy.

But Lawrence’s focus was primarily on today’s sweeping executive order on artificial intelligence, an order Politico called “the most significant single effort to impose national order on a technology that has shocked many people with its rapid growth.” The administration has been working to establish responsible AI practices, recognizing the need to address discriminatory algorithms, data privacy violations, and deep fakes.

Today, Biden signed an executive order requiring companies to share safety information about their systems before allowing them to be used, in order to make sure they don’t pose a safety or a national security risk. It orders the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to secure critical infrastructure. It will require AI-generated content to bear a watermark that clearly labels it. It will protect personal data, and Biden promised he would ask Congress for legislation to pass bipartisan legislation to stop technology companies from collecting the personal data of children and teenagers, to ban advertising directed at children, and to limit companies’ collection of personal data in general.  

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a technology think tank, applauded the order, saying its guidelines set “a clear course for the United States…. With this EO, the United States is demonstrating it takes AI oversight seriously.”

Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the two-day AI Safety Summit meeting in the United Kingdom on November 1–2 as the European Union closes in on laws about artificial intelligence that would enable the E.U. to shut down services that harm society. The E.U. has been ahead of the U.S. in its regulation of the internet: in August 2023 its Digital Services Act went into effect, requiring users to agree to the use of their personal data for targeted advertising and requiring digital platforms to police the disinformation on their platforms. Most of the companies it regulates are based in the United States.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[leveragehunters]

Attention all my Aussie peeps (and only Aussie peeps, sorry): free books

I am out of bookshelf space and have to cull something, so Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series are on the chopping block.

These are books 1-11 of Mercy Thompson, primarily in hardcover, and books 1-3 and 5 of the related Alpha and Omega series (book 4 seems to have absconded!), along with Shifting Shadows, a 'world of Mercy Thompson' anthology containing the first Alpha and Omega story. The hardcovers are in excellent/as new condition; the paperbacks have some minor spine creasing.

Both series are werewolf/shifter, heavy on pack dynamics/politics, with a side order of Fae and vampires. They're overall quite enjoyable, although issues including lack of queer representation/the way it's handled have been noted by fans and critics alike, but if you enjoy werewolves, you'll probably enjoy these. (Note they are not A/B/O). The covers are gorgeous.

If you're in Australia, or have an Australian address I can send a courier parcel to, they're yours, free of charge. I'll pick up the postage costs; I'd just like them to have a good home instead of getting dumped in the Lifeline bin.

If you're interested, send me a Tumblr Ask by midnight on Saturday, September 2nd 2023 Brisbane time and I'll give you my email to send me your address. Please do not put your postal address in a Tumblr message!

If more than one person puts their hand up before Saturday midnight, I'll RNG for who gets them.

[chrancecriber]

Radio SunLounge Romania (April 28, 2023)

23:59 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 23:53 Climatic - Left 23:48 Don Gorda Project - Cielo Terso 23:46 Jon Hopkins - Second Sense 23:43 Blank & Jones - Flaming June 23:39 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 23:38 Schiller, Jael Malli - Tired 23:28 Max Melvin - My Hands 23:26 Michel Petit - Rhode Island 23:23 Simon Le Grec & Denise Guttenbach - This Time 23:16 Hysteria! - Winding Roads 23:11 Kraak & Smaak Feat. Parcels - Stumble (Blue Motel Remix) 23:07 Euphonic Traveller, Zach Alwin - Planes Over Ushuaia 23:06 Sofa Groovers - Finding Eden 22:59 Marga Sol - Around Me 22:51 Nor Elle - Desert Storm 22:49 Paul Hardcastle - The Vision 22:46 Lemongrass - Lucky (Feat. Suzy Duffy) 22:43 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 22:36 Climatic - Ici Ou Ailleurs 22:31 Groovecatcher - Cafe De La Plage 22:29 Shakedown - At Night (Afterlife Remix) 22:25 Mark One & Kevin Shawn - Between The Lines 22:19 Velvet Lounge Project - You Are My Life 22:14 Mark Oakland - Sunny 22:08 Guru Sax - People Can't Stop Chillin (Costes Buddha Hotel Mix) 22:05 Dual Sessions Feat. Dew - Don T You Baby 22:04 Merge Of Equals - Take You There 21:41 Afterlife - Far Away (Feat. Juanita Grande) 21:39 Lemongrass - Lovely 21:33 Rhod - Crazy 21:28 Evolve - Where Were You (Sunday Afternoon) 21:23 Idenline - Call Me (Original Mix) 21:18 Escapism Refuge - Fly Away (Feat. Charli Brix) (Synkro Remix) 21:13 Demetrio Da Soto, Leon El Ray - Keep The Sound (Instrumental Remix By Michael E Frith) 21:09 Jazzy James Jr. - Twilight Trumpet (Open Doors Mix) 20:49 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 20:47 Tommy Divine - Easy 20:44 Shamika Cox - Te Quiero 20:37 Dublex Inc. Feat. Alice Russel - Don't Make Me Want You 20:36 Bernon - Don't Worry (Wellness For Your Soul Mix) 20:32 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 20:30 Bent - Terry 20:23 Kenny Fontana - Your Name (Pacha Terrace Edit) 20:18 Imada - Sonhos 20:17 Luke Standing - The Hushed Love 20:10 Jurij Gianluca Ricotti - I Need You (Original Mix) 20:04 Luke - Heaven's On Fire 19:59 Aaron The Baron Feat Markus Puhl - A Tu Lado 19:52 Lemongrass - Mystery 19:51 Luminous - Make It Happen 19:45 Kinobe - Slip Into Something More Comfortable (Stephan Hague Mix) 19:43 Benirras - Ghost In A Bottle 19:40 Ian Pooley Feat. Marcos Valle - Sentimento 19:37 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 19:32 Crystal - Sex Is In The Air - Psyche Lounge Mix 19:27 Fous De La Mer Feat. Sol - Never Stop Loving 19:25 Jean Mare - A Better Place 19:22 Josh Mobley - Shades Of Blue (Feat. Sonji) 19:19 Cities Of Foam - Out Of Reach 19:12 Naomi - Another Bite Of The Apple 19:07 D.batistatos & Side Liner - Sehnsucht 19:05 Bay Area - White Canaria (Laid Back Session) 19:02 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 18:57 Billy Paul Williams - As A Child 18:51 All 4 Love Ft Tracy Diamonds - Precious 18:46 Chicane Present - No Ordinary Morning (Original Mix) 18:45 Lissa - Some Of Me (Feat. Philip Nolan) 18:38 Keep Shelly In Athens - On The Road 18:35 Kaxamalka - True Vibe (Original Mix) 18:28 The Midnight - The Comeback Kid (Isolation Relief Mix) 18:26 Monodeluxe - Searching 18:23 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 18:18 Sky Sergeant - Orion Trail (Eclipse Mix) 18:13 Darshan - Listen 18:08 York, Asheni - Mercury Rising (Chillout Mix) 18:07 Ayla - Time Will Tell 18:00 Anthony Hicks - I Don't Know 17:56 Northbound - Twice The Day 17:51 Chris Le Blanc, Pat Lawson - Beyond The Sunsets (Ibiza Late Night Mix) 17:49 Afterlife - Lo Delta 17:45 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 17:43 Hoogway - Evening Roses 17:39 Gushi & Raffunk - Check Me Out 17:36 Emotional - I Found It Again (Tom's V-Mix) 17:32 Jony Lipsey - Coming Undone 17:26 Aiemo Feat. Kristina Frazzitta - I Need You (Vocal Mix) 17:21 Eddie Silverton - Cooling Aims 17:19 Marga Sol - So Cruel 17:09 D. Batistatos, Evita Saloustrou - In The End (Vocal Version) 17:04 Noel - Chalito (Ibiza Chillhouse Lounge Mix) 16:59 Airily - 42nd Street (Lemongrass Remix) 16:58 Jazzistic - Lifestyle 16:54 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 16:53 Idenline - Carry Heart 16:50 Late Night Alumni - Mistake 16:43 Yota - Mirror 16:40 Blue Lagoona - Suddenly (Portisdead Lounge Mix) 16:33 Velvet Birds - Come Along 16:32 Mr Fijiwiji, Holly Drummond - Something To Hold 16:25 Bebo Best - Out Of Myself 16:22 Eskadet - Un Soir D'ete 16:16 Yanni - Kill Me With Your Love 16:13 Christos Fourkis - If You Love Me 16:07 Anthony Island Feat. Lazy Hammock - Never Goin' Back 16:04 Perfectsax - Searico 15:58 Mystic Diversions - Float On 15:53 Puch - Playground (Original Mix) 15:48 Vargo - The Meaning Of Life 15:46 Lemongrass - Polaris 15:43 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 15:37 Christos Fourkis - Until The Morning 15:32 Loop Fruit Split - Rain Reason 15:27 Jerome Noak Feat. Al Miller - You Got Me - Thomas Lemmer Chillout Remix 15:24 Green Lemon - Voz Interior (Meditation Mix) 15:21 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 15:20 Sangar - So Beautiful 15:16 D - Chill - Paradise Feat. Katy Blue (Original Mix) 15:13 Ikarus - Secrets Of Tantra 15:10 Catching Flies - Silver Linings 15:06 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 15:03 Kentaro Takizawa - Gradual Life (Silent Dream Version) 14:57 Tomazz - Lucid Dream 14:52 Vargo - Precious Part One 14:49 Aqualuna - Spirit Of The South 14:46 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 14:41 Dmtunes - After The Storm 14:36 Oscar Salguero - With You 14:30 Schwarz & Funk - Don-'t Stop 14:27 Michael E - Southern Comfort 14:21 Soulsonic - My Heart 14:14 Atrium - Praise For The Beach 14:09 Lounge Groove Avenue - Don't Be So Shy 14:06 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 14:01 Jose Delgado - Sal Rossa (Original Mix) 13:55 Jens Buchert - Five Zero 13:53 Triangle Sun - Beautiful (Original Mix) 13:50 Seven Dreams - Seven Dreams 13:46 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 13:45 Nofilter Feat. Furns - Just A Fling (Original Mix) 13:38 Sinan Mercenk - France 13:33 Espresso Del Lago - Suratat 13:31 Blackfish - Bay Of Islands 13:27 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 13:24 Juzhin - Wonderful 13:19 Playton Feat. Julia Blumental - So Many Ways (Downtempo Mix) 13:14 Bliss - Mivahetsek (Feat Lisbeth Scott) 13:12 Diascries - Anemone (Original Mix) 13:05 Beach Hoppers - City Light (Original Mix) 12:59 The Maxwell Implosion - Tic Tac 12:58 Bobby Hughes Combination - Olympic Girls 12:54 Jive Ass Sleepers - Horizons 12:51 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 12:45 Max Denoise, Claire Willis - All I See (Original Mix) 12:39 Blackfish - Hidden Shore (Asia Mix) 12:36 Garden City Movement - Slightly All The Time 12:33 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 12:31 Nicola Hitchcock - Surrender 12:28 Etro Anime - Let It Go 12:21 Soundlift - Savage Islands (Original Mix) 12:19 Hawke (And The Lady) - Sad And Blue 12:16 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 12:13 Napalm - My Love (Tenderheart Remix) 12:07 Left - Lovesong 12:04 Late Night Alumni - White Bear 12:02 Charly Mclion - Beachday 11:59 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 11:52 Marga Sol - Poison & Passion (Pier-O Passionata Remix) 11:46 Jayson House - Time To Rest 11:41 Mahoroba - Des Moments (Guitar Mix) 11:39 Velvet Dreamer - 1000 Miles Away 11:35 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 11:31 Carly Aurora - The Liar (Jepsen Downtempo Mix) 11:26 Kuba - We Can Still Learn (Original Mix) 11:18 The Sushi Club - Hamaguri 11:16 Dj Rico Bonetti - Chill Solution 11:13 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 11:10 Adani & Wolf - Nuages (Feat. Suzette Moncrief) 11:00 Morcheeba - Let Me See (Sonic Warrior ‘Beat’ Mix) 10:54 Noise Boyz - Supernatural (The Man Behind C. Edit) 10:52 Messiah Project - Sadeness 10:49 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 10:47 Cafe Americaine - L Amour 10:41 Setsuna - White Light 10:38 Collioure - Inshore (Original Mix) 10:32 Green Lemon - Voz Interior (Meditation Mix) Feat. Magica Fe 10:25 Catching Flies - Daymarks (Green Relax Edit) 10:23 Brook Sapphire - Booze&juice 10:13 Andreas - The Outlands 10:11 Bobby Escobar - Playa (White Sand Mix) 10:05 Comatrixx - Champagne & Lobster 10:03 Deep From Street - Moscow 09:56 Wayman Tisdale - Way Up 09:53 Max Melvin - Endless 09:50 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 09:48 Norman Doray - Chase The Sun (Musica Feliz Ibiza Beat Remix) 09:41 Florito - Saigon Morning 09:36 Michael E - Promise 09:32 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 09:27 Weathertunes - Happy Birthday (Feat. Wawa) (Original Mix) 09:21 Vargo - The Moment (Short Chorus Mix) 09:19 Il Greco - De Longpre 09:17 Achillea - Desndame 09:13 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 09:08 Ambient Lounge All Stars - Club L'amour 09:06 Bessie Boni - Mystic Revelation (Feat. Gianna Partner) 09:03 El Petit Jardi - Clic Du Mer (Original Mix) 08:59 Weathertunes - Champs De Lavande 08:56 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 08:50 York - Iceflowers 08:47 Mirage Of Deep - Manhattan 3:25 Am 08:44 Urban Phunk Society - De Janeiro 08:37 Xemplify - Always You 08:30 Weathertunes - Feel You (Original Mix) 08:25 Klangstein - Run 08:19 Moodorama - Too Late 08:14 Vargo - Speak To Me 08:13 Moonnight - I Need A New Love (Feat. Neptune) 08:06 Marie Therese - City Lights 08:04 Afterlife - Dub In Ya Mind (Insatiable Mix) 08:01 The Sonic Company - Unexpected Love (Original Mix) 07:58 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 07:52 Lounge Traveller - Many Places 07:47 Baghira - El Capricho 07:45 Randy Seidman, Rogerio Jardim, Tommy Cunningham - Come Back To Me (Polished Chrome Remix) 07:42 Lisa Shaw - Grown Apart 07:39 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 07:33 Kusuma Orchestra - Nightfall 07:31 Mirage Of Deep, Gushi - Selflove (Mirage Of Deep Remix) 07:24 Cinematic - Noises (Dream Of You Mix) 07:21 Kosmopolitans Feat. Crystalia - Wild Is The Wind 07:18 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 07:15 Samsara Inc. - Endless Autumn 07:12 Yuri Petrovski - True (Original Mix) 07:06 Deeper Sublime & Coffee Machine - I've Got You (Original Mix) 07:03 Mary Elizabeth Mcglynn - I Want Love 06:59 Paradise Airlines - Nassau Beach (Paradise Chillout Mix) 06:54 Michael E - Secret Dancer 06:52 Dj Maretimo - Sardinia Sailor (Small Waves Cut) 06:49 Urban Phunk Society - Self-made Paradise 06:46 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 06:44 Hiatus - Save Yourself 06:41 Fancy Vienna - I'll Follow 06:31 Cary August, Computer World - Tour De France (St. Tropez Chill) 06:29 Paco Versailles - Two Feathers 06:26 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 06:21 Sundance Girl - Open Your Arms (Falling To Pieces Mix) 06:16 Don Gorda & Solanos - Festa Do Sol (Funk Edit) 06:13 Capa - Imperfection 06:11 Nick Prosen, Dew - Taking Me Home 06:07 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 06:01 Deeper & Pacific - Breeze (Feat. Geanine Marque) 05:56 My Island - Maledives Beach Lounge (Palm Garden Mix) 05:51 Waldeck - Slowly 05:50 Sven Van Hees - Barracuda Staredown 05:46 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 05:40 Enrico Donner - Sensual Education 05:35 Palma Players - Velvet Sky 05:29 Max Melvin - Seasons 05:27 Jens Buchert - Aurora Dub 05:23 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 05:22 Sandra - The Art Of Love 05:12 How To Destroy Angels - A Drowning (Vikmir Remix) 05:07 Massive Gold - For A Moment 05:05 Funkstar De Luxe - Tell Me Why 04:55 Max Melvin - Slowburn 04:53 Magic Waves - Remember 04:43 Mark Otten - Tranquility 04:41 Jens Buchert - Touch Me 04:38 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 04:33 Dj Maretimo - Sun Addicted (Pure Beach Cut) 04:31 Riccardo Eberspacher - Time Feat. Odali 04:25 Kidnap Kid - First Light 04:23 Late Night Alumni - Moonwalking 04:20 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 04:16 Kondencuotas Pienas Feat. Mill - So Pure (Lemongrass Remix) 04:11 Steen Thottrup - Satellite (Feat. Denver Knoesen) 04:01 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 03:56 Five Seasons - Round And Round 03:51 Cosmo Notes - Seduction 03:49 Gary B - Live It Now 03:46 Peter Pearson - Summer Memories 03:43 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 03:38 Lemongrass - Nightglow 03:33 Smooth Deluxe - Waterway To Bora Bora (Faris Al-hassoni Mix) 03:28 Cocktail Groovers - The Fire In Your Heart (Ibiza Jazz Terrace Mix) 03:26 Hooverphonic - The World Is Mine (Eli Janney's Tight Remix (Edit) 03:23 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 03:18 Placid Larry - Dew Drops 03:12 Aquarius - Crawl The Line 03:07 Pablo Nouvelle - You Don-'t Understand (Feat. Alx) 03:01 Tactful - No Fear 02:57 Redlounge Orchestra - Reserver 02:51 Van - Life Journey 02:47 Moby - Lie Down In Darkness 02:44 Dj Sleeptalker - Autumn Leaves 02:41 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 02:36 Princess Of Lounge - We Found Love Feat. Dione (Wish You Were Here Mix) 02:33 L' Art Mystique - Beautiful Things 02:26 Lounge Jam - Mistery (Original Mix) 02:23 John Legend - Wanna Be Loved 02:16 Fous De La Mer - Time To Wake Up (Volver A Despertar) 02:14 Monodeluxe - All Night 02:07 Leo De La Rosa - Te Pienso (Marga Sol Balearic Remix) 02:06 Vargo - Talking One Language 02:02 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 01:57 Charly Mclion - Beachday 01:52 Yaima - Gajumaru 01:51 Paul Hardcastle - I Really Like 01:47 Zimpala - Fall In The Water 01:44 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 01:39 Misery Boy - Need Water (Original) 01:35 Yonderboi - Another Geometry 01:29 Trillian Miles - Don't Cry 01:26 Do - Move Closer 01:23 Ross Couch - Music Is My Life 01:16 Velvet Lounge Project - A Little Bit Longer 01:13 Kama - Incanto D'amor 01:10 Fous De La Mer - Time To Wake Up (Volver A Despertar) 01:06 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 01:04 Andrea Caloni - Daddy Don't You (Original Mix) 00:57 Solasoap - Right Away 00:53 Uschi - Out Of My Life (Vinil Q Mix) 00:51 Cafe Americaine - Magical Mambo (Latin Lounge Cut) 00:47 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 00:42 S.w. - Humans And Gods 00:40 Lazy Hammock - Summer Chill 00:33 Ettore Poggipollini - Minha Janela - Lead Acoustic Guitar 00:30 El Segundo - Blue Marlin (Juan Padilla Serve Chilled Remix) 00:24 Gary B - Never Been Free 00:21 Papercut - End Of A Love Affair 00:15 Zoe Moon & Miyoki - Mannequin 00:12 Noise Boyz - Where Do You (Ambient Mix) 00:09 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 00:02 Marga Sol - Buddhanima

[molsons112000]

There is good information to know about voting by mail, and when you need to get your bell.It in unless you express mail your ballot back....

So you need to know the different mail options and you can send it overnight mail and some places. Same-day mail to make sure your vote gets in before the deadline of November third...

Stamps.com

https://www.stamps.com › usps › u...

USPS Delivery Times

USPS delivery times for addresses within the US vary by shipping service, from overnight with Priority Mail Express®, to over 5 days with Parcel

What is the fastest delivery option?

The fastest overnight delivery option is FedEx First Overnight. You can expect your package or envelope to be delivered by 8 a.m. the next business day in most areas.

https://www.fedex.com › en-us › ov...

Overnight Shipping for Next Day Delivery | FedEx

Priority Mail Express. Next-Day to 2-Day Guarantee by 6 PM. ...

Priority Mail. Shipping in 1–3 Business Days. ...

USPS Ground Advantage. Shipping in 2-5 Business Days. ...

First-Class Mail. Mail in 1–5 Business Days.

https://www.usps.com › ship › mail-...

Mail & Shipping Services - USPS

Feedback

The United States Postal Service (USPS) offers several mail options with different delivery speeds, including: 

Priority Mail Express

The fastest USPS mail option, offering guaranteed one- or two-day delivery by 3 PM. It also includes $100 of insurance coverage. 

Priority Mail

A faster option than First Class Mail, with an estimated delivery time of one to three days. It's a good choice for letters, large envelopes, and packages. 

First Class Mail

A faster option than Standard Mail. Presorting mail can save on postage rates, but may add a day to the delivery schedule. 

USPS Retail Ground

A reliable and affordable option for non-urgent deliveries, ideal for shipping large packages. The cost is based on the weight of the package and the mailing distance. 

Periodicals

A class of mail for businesses that send publications to subscribers. Mailings must be under 70 pounds and there must be at least four publication intervals per year. 

ShipBob

USPS Mail Types: Which Mail Service is Right for My Business?

Aug 14, 2023 — Priority Mail Express is the fastest delivery option offered by the USPS. It provides guaranteed 1-Day or 2-Day expedited service by 3 pm for any ma...

So depending and when you're sending your vote by mail in, you need to pick the right mail option to get it there on time....

[kajalsawant434]

Tail Lift Market Trends and Future Outlook 2025–2030

Introduction

The tail lift market is entering a dynamic phase of growth, driven by innovations in logistics, rising e-commerce activities, and an increasing focus on efficient material handling systems. As businesses worldwide strive to improve their supply chain operations, tail lifts have become vital equipment in the transportation and logistics sectors.

Market Overview

As of 2023, the global tail lift market was valued at around USD 918 million. Projections indicate it will reach nearly USD 1.5 billion by 2030, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 7%. This growth is largely fueled by rising demand across sectors such as retail, food and beverage, and construction, where efficient loading and unloading solutions are crucial.

Key Trends in the Tail Lift Market

1. Technological Advancements

Innovation is at the heart of the evolving tail lift market. Manufacturers are introducing smart, connected tail lift systems that enhance safety, reduce downtime, and improve ease of use. Features such as remote diagnostics, load sensors, and automated lift operations are becoming standard in modern tail lift models.

2. Growth of E-Commerce and Logistics

The ongoing boom in e-commerce has significantly impacted the tail lift market. As online retail continues to surge, logistics providers are investing in equipment that ensures fast, safe, and efficient last-mile delivery. Tail lifts enable quick loading and unloading of parcels, especially in urban environments with high delivery volumes.

3. Focus on Lightweight and Eco-Friendly Designs

Environmental concerns and the need for fuel efficiency are pushing manufacturers to design lighter and more sustainable tail lifts. Lightweight materials help reduce the overall weight of vehicles, lowering emissions and operational costs—an increasingly important factor in fleet management.

4. Rising Demand from Emerging Markets

Emerging economies in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Africa are becoming key contributors to the tail lift market. Urbanization, growing industrial activity, and government investments in infrastructure are all contributing to the increased adoption of tail lifts in these regions.

Future Outlook (2025–2030)

Between 2025 and 2030, the tail lift market is expected to experience sustained growth, supported by:

Continuous digital transformation in logistics

Rising adoption of electric commercial vehicles compatible with advanced tail lifts

Expansion of urban delivery networks and smart cities

Increasing awareness of workplace safety and ergonomic handling solutions

As companies aim to enhance delivery speed and reduce manual labor, demand for advanced tail lift systems is likely to soar.

Conclusion

The tail lift market is on a promising path through 2030, shaped by innovation, sustainability, and the evolving needs of global logistics. With smart technologies and expanding applications across industries, tail lifts are set to become even more integral to modern supply chain operations.

[swipeai]

Shopify Package Protection: The Key to Better Customer Experience

The e-commerce landscape has seen massive growth in the past decade. With platforms like Shopify empowering merchants to launch online stores in minutes, retail is no longer limited to physical storefronts. However, as digital commerce expands, so do the challenges—especially when it comes to order fulfillment and delivery.

One of the most persistent pain points in online shopping is the risk associated with shipping. From lost parcels to stolen packages and damaged goods, merchants and customers alike face costly, frustrating post-purchase issues.

Enter Shopify Package Protection—an increasingly popular solution that bridges the gap between fulfillment and customer satisfaction. In this blog, we’ll explore what Shopify Package Protection is, how it works, why it’s essential in 2025, and how you can use it to build a stronger, more reliable e-commerce business.

What Is Shopify Package Protection?

Shopify Package Protection is a feature or add-on service that merchants can integrate into their Shopify stores to offer coverage for customer orders. This coverage protects purchases against:

Lost packages

Stolen deliveries

Items damaged during shipping

Typically offered through third-party apps (like Swipe, Route, or Navidium), this protection can be automatically applied or offered as an opt-in at checkout. If something goes wrong with the delivery, the customer can easily file a claim, and the service provider ensures they receive a replacement or refund—without the merchant having to shoulder the cost or administrative burden.

Why Package Protection Matters in E-Commerce Today

The modern shopper expects more than just a quick delivery. They want reliability, transparency, and peace of mind. For merchants, failing to meet these expectations can lead to lost sales, poor reviews, and a damaged brand reputation.

Let’s explore some key reasons why package protection is critical in today’s e-commerce ecosystem.

1. Delivery Risks Are Inevitable

No matter how advanced your logistics network is, delivery mishaps are bound to happen. Packages can be misrouted, stolen from doorsteps, or arrive damaged due to rough handling.

Even the most reliable carriers like FedEx, UPS, and USPS have error rates, and with increased delivery volumes (especially during peak seasons), those errors are magnified. Package protection adds a layer of safety to mitigate these issues without damaging your bottom line.

2. Porch Piracy Is a Growing Problem

According to a report by Security.org, over 260 million packages were stolen in the U.S. in 2023 alone. That number is expected to rise as online shopping continues to surge.

With so many deliveries being left unattended on porches or in mailrooms, theft has become an everyday concern for consumers. Shopify Package Protection helps alleviate this anxiety by offering a solution in case the worst happens.

3. Customer Trust Drives Loyalty

Your post-purchase experience defines your brand’s reputation. A customer who receives support, transparency, and resolution when something goes wrong is far more likely to buy again—even if their first order didn’t go smoothly.

Conversely, a poor experience with no recourse can result in chargebacks, negative reviews, and a permanent loss of that customer. Package protection helps ensure that each delivery is a positive touchpoint.

How Shopify Package Protection Works

Shopify doesn’t offer native package protection, but several trusted apps are available in the Shopify App Store. These apps integrate seamlessly into the checkout experience and order workflow.

Here’s a simplified breakdown of how the system typically works:

Step 1: App Integration

You start by installing a Shopify package protection app, such as:

Swipe Package Protection

Route

Navidium

ShipInsure

These apps require minimal setup and are often customizable to match your store’s branding and preferences.

Step 2: Checkout Integration

Once installed, customers will see an option to add protection to their order during checkout. Some stores choose to have this feature automatically selected; others allow customers to opt in manually.

The protection fee is usually nominal—ranging from $0.98 to a few dollars—depending on the order value.

Step 3: Coverage Begins

After purchase, the customer’s order is covered for any qualified shipping issues, including loss, damage, or theft.

Step 4: Easy Claims Processing

If a problem occurs, the customer submits a claim through a user-friendly portal managed by the protection provider. Supporting documentation (such as a photo or delivery confirmation) may be requested.

Step 5: Swift Resolutions

Approved claims typically result in a full refund or product replacement, often within 48 hours. Merchants don’t need to intervene unless they choose to.

Benefits of Shopify Package Protection for Merchants

While customers benefit directly from order coverage, merchants stand to gain just as much—if not more—from offering package protection. Here’s why:

1. Reduced Operational Stress

Without protection, every lost or damaged package becomes a customer service issue. Your team has to verify claims, track shipments, and manage resends—all of which consume time and money.

With package protection, the service provider handles the claim, allowing your support team to focus on proactive engagement and growth strategies.

2. Preserved Profit Margins

Every time a merchant replaces a stolen or lost item at their own cost, it cuts into profits. With package protection, the financial responsibility is shifted away from the merchant, helping you protect your margins.

3. Boosted Customer Confidence

When shoppers know their order is protected, they feel safer buying from you. This added security can increase checkout conversions and even raise average order value, especially during high-risk shipping periods like the holidays.

4. Fewer Chargebacks and Disputes

Disputes related to non-delivery often lead to chargebacks, which not only cost you money but can harm your merchant account status. Package protection provides a smoother resolution process that prevents escalation.

5. Competitive Differentiation

In a saturated market, offering package protection helps you stand out. It sends a clear message: your store takes customer satisfaction seriously and is willing to go the extra mile.

Real-World Success Stories

Thousands of Shopify merchants have embraced package protection and seen measurable results. Here are a few examples:

Lifestyle Brand: After implementing Swipe, customer support tickets related to shipping dropped by 40%, freeing up resources for proactive engagement.

Apparel Store: Noticed a 15% increase in repeat customers after adding Route’s protection to all orders.

Home Decor Retailer: Used Navidium to offer branded protection and saw a boost in customer satisfaction scores, even during the busy Q4 season.

These results demonstrate how package protection isn’t just a reactive tool—it’s a proactive way to build better relationships and long-term customer loyalty.

Best Shopify Apps for Package Protection

If you’re ready to implement package protection, here are the top-rated apps to consider:

1. Swipe Package Protection

Fast claims processing (24–48 hrs)

Seamless Shopify checkout integration

Automates support and reimbursement

Merchant dashboard for insights

2. Route

Consumer-facing brand with great UX

Offers package tracking as well as protection

Works with many Shopify themes

3. Navidium

Self-insured protection model

Keeps reimbursement funds within the business

More control over branding and customer communication

4. ShipInsure

Focuses on easy integration and merchant cost-savings

Offers customizable claim workflows

Excellent for small to mid-sized stores

Each of these apps has its own advantages. Your choice will depend on your store’s size, volume, and preferences around automation vs. control.

Things to Consider Before Adding Package Protection

While Shopify package protection offers huge benefits, it’s important to consider a few factors:

Customer Education

Make sure your customers understand what the protection covers and how claims are processed. Clear messaging during checkout and in your FAQs can reduce confusion.

Branding Consistency

Some apps allow you to customize how package protection appears on your site, so make sure it aligns with your brand tone and visuals.

Handling Edge Cases

Decide how your support team will handle situations where a customer didn’t purchase protection but experiences an issue. Will you offer a one-time courtesy? Make sure your policy is clear and consistent.

Final Thoughts: Package Protection Is the Future of Post-Purchase Care

In today’s hyper-competitive e-commerce world, your job as a merchant doesn’t end when a customer hits “Buy Now.” The post-purchase experience—especially around delivery—can make or break your brand’s reputation.

Shopify Package Protection offers a win-win solution. It provides customers with confidence and recourse while helping merchants reduce financial risk, cut down on support issues, and enhance overall satisfaction.

As order volumes increase and porch piracy continues to rise, package protection is no longer a luxury—it’s a smart, scalable necessity for any Shopify merchant serious about growth.

Want to Give Your Customers Confidence?

Start protecting your orders today. Explore Shopify package protection apps like Swipe, Route, or Navidium and experience the difference they make for your store and your customers.

[blueweave8]

Parcel Delivery Logistics Market Outlook, Analysis, Report 2024-2031

BlueWeave Consulting, a leading strategic consulting and market research firm, in its recent study, estimated Global Parcel Delivery Logistics Market size at USD 496.28 billion. During the forecast period between 2025 and 2031, BlueWeave expects Global Parcel Delivery Logistics Market size to expand at a CAGR of 5.1% reaching a value of USD 702.98 billion by 2031. The Parcel Delivery Logistics Market across the regions is propelled by the rapid expansion of e-commerce and increasing consumer demand for faster, more convenient deliveries. This surge has driven advancements in logistics infrastructure and technology, enhancing distribution speed and operational efficiency. Globalization is further amplifying demand for small-package services capable of handling international shipments, while innovations in last-mile delivery—such as drones, electric vehicles (EVs), and smart locker systems—are improving accessibility in both urban and rural areas. Companies are leveraging tracking systems and data analytics to optimize supply chain management, enhance customer experience, and integrate real-time tracking with sustainable delivery options. In line with this growth, Deutsche Post AG expanded its European e-commerce parcel network by acquiring Turkey’s MNG Kargo in October 2023. With 27 sorting centers and 800 branches, MNG Kargo strengthens DHL eCommerce’s cross-border logistics capabilities, capitalizing on Turkey’s booming e-commerce sector. This strategic move reflects the evolving landscape of global parcel delivery, where technology, efficiency, and shifting consumer expectations continue to reshape the industry.

Sample Request: https://www.blueweaveconsulting.com/report/parcel-delivery-logistics-market/report-sample

Impact of Escalating Geopolitical Tensions on Global Parcel Delivery Logistics Market

Intensifying geopolitical tensions could disrupt the growth of Global Parcel Delivery Logistics Market. Supply chain resilience, once a strategic advantage, is now a fundamental imperative. Escalating tensions precipitate a cascade of disruptions: trade barriers proliferate, fuel costs fluctuate wildly, and security protocols tighten, collectively eroding cross-border efficiency. Forward-thinking logistics providers are responding with agile strategies, diversifying networks, pioneering alternative transit corridors, and deploying advanced technologies to navigate this era of persistent uncertainty.

Asia Pacific Leads Global Parcel Delivery Logistics Market

The Asia Pacific (APAC) region continues to dominate Global Parcel Delivery Logistics Market. It is driven by the rapid expansion of the APAC region's e-commerce sector and its extensive consumer base. Significant growth in online retail is observed in key markets, such as China, Japan, and India, fueled by deepening internet penetration, rising disposable incomes, and accelerated urbanization. In particular, China, with its established e-commerce platforms, like Alibaba and JD.com, relies on sophisticated logistics networks to ensure efficient and timely deliveries. Furthermore, strategic investments in logistics infrastructure have enhanced operational efficiency and expanded supply chain reach across both domestic and international markets. The surge in cross-border e-commerce activity further stimulates demand for comprehensive parcel delivery services. Recent strategic developments, such as CMA CGM Group's acquisition of Bolloré Logistics for approximately USD 5.6 billion in February 2024, indicate ongoing consolidation and expansion within the sector. This acquisition, which strengthens CMA CGM's ocean and air freight capabilities, is expected to contribute to the continued growth and evolution of the Asia-Pacific parcel delivery logistics market.

Competitive Landscape

Major companies in Global Parcel Delivery Logistics Market include FedEx Corporation, DHL, United Parcel Service, Inc., Allcargo Gati, Deutsche Post AG, Ekart Logistics, Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd, China Post Group Corporation, Japan Post Holdings Co., Ltd, SF Holding Co., Ltd, Canada Post Corporation, Royal Mail Group Ltd, and Aramex International LLC. The presence of high number of companies intensify the market competition as they compete to gain a significant market share. These companies employ various strategies, including mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, joint ventures, license agreements, and new product launches to further enhance their market share.

Contact Us:

BlueWeave Consulting & Research Pvt Ltd

+1 866 658 6826 | +1 425 320 4776 | +44 1865 60 0662

info@blueweaveconsulting.com

[devotedlywingedtheorist]

Last Mile Delivery Market Overview, Top Key Players, Market Growth Analysis by Forecast to 2031

The Last Mile Delivery Market size is expected to reach US$  3,03,593.58 million by 2031 from US$  1,68,739.40  million in 2021. The market is estimated to record a CAGR of 8.8% from 2023 to 2031.

Executive Summary and Global Market Analysis:

The last mile delivery refers to the final step in the supply chain, where products are transported from a distribution center to the end customer’s location. It plays a vital role in the logistics and e-commerce industries, where the consumer’s expectation for fast, reliable, and cost-effective delivery has transformed the way goods are delivered to homes, businesses, and other destinations. The growth of e-commerce, the increasing demand for faster deliveries, and technological advancements are a few factors fueling the need for last mile delivery, a critical focus for logistics companies worldwide.

📚 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐃𝐅 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐲@ https://www.businessmarketinsights.com/sample/BMIRE00031132

A few of the critical factors supporting the growth of the last mile delivery market are mentioned below:

Customer Expectations: Faster delivery times, free shipping, and visibility into the delivery process are increasingly expected by consumers, especially with the growth of e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Alibaba.Logistics Costs: Last mile delivery often accounts for a significant portion of total logistics costs due to the complexity of navigating urban areas, maintaining fleets, and managing multiple delivery points.Technological Innovations: Advancements in delivery technologies such as autonomous vehicles, drones, and artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping the landscape of last mile logistics.

📚𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤 @ https://www.businessmarketinsights.com/reports/last-mile-delivery-market

Growing E-Commerce Industry

The e-commerce industry is expanding rapidly across the globe. As consumers increasingly incline toward online shopping for its convenience and variety, retailers are challenged to deliver products swiftly and efficiently. This surge in demand has led to significant investments in logistics technologies, including route optimizations, automated warehouses, and real-time tracking systems to enhance delivery speed and reliability. The rise of same-day and next-day delivery options has become a competitive differentiator for e-commerce businesses. As online shopping habits continue to evolve, the need for innovative last mile solutions increases. This rise prompts logistics providers to adapt and expand their capabilities to meet consumer expectations.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐔𝐬:

Business Market Insights is a market research platform that provides subscription service for industry and company reports. Our research team has extensive professional expertise in domains such as Electronics & Semiconductor; Aerospace & Defense; Automotive & Transportation; Energy & Power; Healthcare; Manufacturing & Construction; Food & Beverages; Chemicals & Materials; and Technology, Media, & Telecommunications

Key drivers shaping the last-mile delivery market include:

E-commerce Boom: The exponential rise in online shopping has created a massive influx of parcel deliveries, straining existing infrastructure and logistics capabilities.

Urbanization: Concentrated populations in urban areas present unique challenges, including traffic congestion, limited parking, and complex building access.

Customer Expectations: Consumers demand speed, convenience, and real-time tracking, pushing companies to offer same-day, next-day, and even on-demand delivery options.

Technological Advancements: Innovations like AI, machine learning, drones, and autonomous vehicles are revolutionizing delivery processes, enabling greater efficiency and automation.

Sustainability Concerns: Growing environmental awareness is driving the demand for eco-friendly delivery solutions, such as electric vehicles and optimized routing.

Challenges and Bottlenecks:

Despite the rapid advancements, the last-mile delivery market faces several critical challenges:

High Costs: Last-mile delivery accounts for a significant portion of overall logistics costs, primarily due to fuel, labor, and failed deliveries.

Inefficiencies: Traditional delivery routes are often inefficient, leading to wasted time, fuel, and resources.

Traffic Congestion: Urban congestion significantly impacts delivery times and costs, particularly during peak hours.

Failed Deliveries: Missed deliveries result in costly redeliveries and customer dissatisfaction.

Labor Shortages: The demand for delivery drivers is outpacing supply, creating labor shortages and driving up costs.

Security Concerns: Parcel theft and damage remain significant concerns, especially in densely populated areas.

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐁𝐢𝐨:

Shreya Pawar

Senior Market Research

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬-

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