#headline tax rate

[indizombie]

The soaring cost of energy in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has delivered windfall gains to Qatar which this year expects to earn about $76 billion in tax from its energy exports. Qatar's budget surplus last year, buoyed by energy exports, was 45 times bigger than the previous year. The UK's energy exports last year delivered tax revenue that was nine times higher than the previous year, after the Conservative government introduced an Energy Profits Levy to compensate consumers as domestic power bills soared. Despite intense lobbying and continued opposition from the oil giants, the UK lifted its headline tax rate for oil and gas producers to 75 per cent, from 40 per cent. And still the companies delivered record profits to shareholders. The UK government expects to pull in an average of 8.6 billion pounds ($16 billion) over the next six years, compared with a yearly average of just 800 million pounds ($1.5 billion) in the six years to last June.

Ian Verrender, 'Why Australia lags behind the rest of the world in taxing oil and energy giants’, ABC

[dostoyevsky-official]

this a view of someone who's ignored european developments since 2007, opting for a rosy, outdated view of european politics, i.e. the exact type of american committing the exact type of mistake i'm warning about.

to address this point by point: not only has inflation been a global issue, but the US has consistently enjoyed the lowest inflation of any developed economy. american CPI has remained below the british, polish, and eurozone average numbers. european economies have to deal with fallout from the russian invasion of ukraine that the us can ignore: notably, in energy prices, as the US became self-sufficient in energy (and never imported any from russia to begin with, something squeezing the german economy). america is also not hosting millions of ukrainian refugees.

when discussing european instutions—and "europe" in general—one has to be more specific. do you mean the overarching institutions of the EU, criticized for a democratic deficit that many have pinpointed as one source for euro-skepticism and the rise of the far right? the EU Council, widely ignored and headed by charles michel, an incompetent, blatant nepobaby appointment whom everyone grinds their teeth over? the EU parliament, recently filled with a fresh batch of far-right hooligans, which functions more or less as a rubber stamp for the commission? the EU commission itself, headed by VdL, the latest in a string of failed local politician commissioners (who remembers the alcoholic swindler juncker?) masquerading as technocrats? the ECB, which smothers the monetary (and through the maastricht criteria, the fiscal) policy of eurozone members, thereby fueling resentment, far-right movements, and economic disparity? and all of this held hostage by the veto of one orban or fico, —or the german supreme court, when it decides it's had enough with public investment. those institutions, which remain so opaque that even educated americans—and europeans—aren't entirely aware of their function?

or do we mean the institutions of individual countries, ranging from undemocratic autocracies like hungary to the fief of the jupiter king, who called elections in june, lost them, refused to nominate a prime minister from the winning coalition, didn't name any for over a month, and then appointed a rightwing politician from a party that scored dead last, sidestepping his own centrist party? the UK, where sir keir is handing out five years in jail time to climate protesters, raising tuition fees, relying on private investment companies, and through rachel reeves' plan to fix the alleged budget hole left by hunt before further investment, again enacting austerity? this is all front-page headline news from the last half year.

european countries indeed have cheaper healthcare costs, better pensions, and other public goods that the united states does not. when considering "quality of life," remember, however, that most european countries have unemployment rates considered astronomic in america, especially for under-35s:

to focus again and again on european social democracy is to ignore that it has been steadily eroded since the end of the cold war and especially since the great recession by neoliberal political forces that crush the left and open the door for the far right. in the most blatant example, beside's macron's legislative politricks, the IMF-ECB-EC troika cut off euro cash liquidity flow to greece when syriza was trying to undo austerity under varoufakis. the greek collapse consigned a generation to economic failure, killed seniors, and curtailed possibilities for the youth. this erosion happened even in the nordic model, long imagined by americans as nothing short of a utopia:

In part due to the scrapping of wealth and inheritance taxes and a lower corporate tax than both the U.S. and European averages, Sweden has one of the most unequal distributions of wealth in the world today: on a level with Bahrain and Oman, and worse than the United States. Perhaps most dispiriting for Sanders, Sweden also now hosts the highest proportion of billionaires per capita in the world. Many of the country’s trademark social services are now provided by private firms. Its private schools even benefit from the same level of state subsidy as public schools—a voucher system far more radical than anything in the United States and that Democratic politicians would be crucified for advocating. Both here and there, right-leaning commentators in 2020 decried Sanders’s portrait as little more than what Johan Norberg, Swedish author of The Capitalist Manifesto, has called a 1970s “pipedream.” On this, Swedish observers on the left gloomily agree: despite official rhetoric, the “Nordic welfare model” is now more nostalgic myth than reality. (x)

to problematize further, there's an unadressed first world perspective: who's getting the good quality of life, why are the main economies of the EU so wealthy, and how does the EU continue to enrich itself? there are certainly many living outdoors today, drowning in the mediterranean, or dying of exposure in białowieża. fortress europe is a crime against humanity—and it doesn't beat back the far right. it weakens civic and human rights, undermines legal oversight, and criminalizes humanitarian engagement, allowing an authoritarian creep.

you shouldn't understand the political and the historical as a snapshot in time, but as a moving train. this is the state of europe today. all of the above is necessarily a simplification and an abbreviation, but there's a trajectory you can begin to trace out: given all of the above, where do you think europe is headed?

[qqueenofhades]

I don’t understand. Why is not only the NYT but EVERYONE screaming in circles about Biden’s age? I mean I too would love a slightly younger president, but faced with Trump, I don’t understand how this is even a discussion. What can the motive possibly be?

First answer: Money. The corporate media is not your friend for many reasons, but especially because it will happily shill for open fascism, and sabotage Biden left and right, because the corporations and/or oligarchs who own the media (think how hard Elon has been trying to shill for Trump partly due to Biden's promised 25% billionaire tax) do not give a shit about American democracy. It's kind of nice in theory, maybe, but they do not give a shit as long as they get their tax breaks and "pro-business" legislation, which Trump has perforce promised to give them again. They are also not fans of Biden for other reasons, especially since he has been busy promoting unions, new labor laws, new industrial requirements/standards (even as fast as SCOTUS is trying to strip them away) and other things that interfere with the Reagonomics pursuit of the rich getting richer by any means necessary. Biden is the first US president since Reagan to openly call trickle-down economics bullshit, say that it doesn't work, and try to install a new economic model. Everyone who got rich under Reagonomics, therefore, has incentive to get rid of him.

First-continued, the money element also extends to the fact that Trumpists/MAGA love reading stories about how old and frail Biden is (especially if this distracts from their candidate being a raging fascist lunatic), so they will click on the story and read it and gleefully share it with other Trumpists/MAGA to shout about how terrible Biden is and how the Trump Vengeance Train is coming. "Biden actively dying RIGHT NOW!!" stories also make Democrats panic, so they will click on it and read it to find out how much they should be panicking, then share it with other Democrats to let them know that they should ALSO be panicking. Either way, it drives page views and advertising revenue, so the media is once more financially incentivized to produce these kinds of stories and to find "facts" that fit these stories, regardless of whether or not they are, uh, true. American media swings conservative in many ways, but especially if they can promote the "both sides the same!" or "Horserace!!!" narrative to keep Republicans gleeful and Democrats nervous.

Basically, no mainstream media outlet (even the so-called liberal ones like MSNBC) has any financial interest or incentive in supplying Americans with accurate information (we live in late-stage capitalist hell, etc) and many of them are openly pining for Trump back in office so they can be Principled Truth Tellers In Exile, get clicks and coverage from reporting on the crazy things he does (think the CEO of CBS saying that Trump was "bad for America but great for CBS") and other activities that drive the bottom line. This also adds up to an impulse to shill for Trump and sabotage Biden, who is competent but boring. After, American politics are a reality show and should be Driving Headlines!!!! Fascist America would be a great story!!! Think of the ratings!!!

.... anyway. We! live! in! hell!

Second, the media also loves to push "Democrats in disarray" stories, because there has always been a WILD double standard in regard to how they cover the Democrats vis-a-vis the Republicans. As such, they have completely given up on mentioning anything even slightly critical about Trump, and the 500 disqualifying and awful things he has already done and continues to do every day, in favor of driving as hard as they can at the "Biden should step down!!" story. Now, I'm not denying that obviously, I wish we had a better (and younger) candidate and that Biden's health is a legitimate issue, but trying to do it to the incumbent FOUR MONTHS BEFORE THE ELECTION is an exercise in sheer insanity and something that the media wants to do because again, It Would Get Clicks!!, regardless of how insane it would in fact be. It's also insane because this is the same exact fucking thing that the media did to Hillary Clinton in 2016 (running MONTHS of stories about her health problems, her emails, how she was secretly ill and/or the Democrats should replace her, etc) and A LOT OF Y'ALL ARE FALLING FOR IT AGAIN. Which isn't terrifying or anything, but also.

Now, of course, the establishment Democratic party is partly complicit in the tone of this coverage, and that is also a problem. I personally want to smack every "anonymous Democratic adviser" or "Democratic politician" giving these Anxiety Concern Quotes to Politico, NYT, the BBC, and wherever else with a brick over the goddamn head and tell them to Shut the Absolute Fuck Up and dedicate all their energy to helping Biden win, instead of deliberately and unhelpfully perpetuating the narrative that he's about to die at any moment. (And also, if he did have to step aside before or after the election for any reason: THE ONLY DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED CANDIDATE TO REPLACE HIM IS KAMALA HARRIS. KAMALA HARRIS IS THE ONLY PERSON WITH ANY LEGITIMACY TO TAKE OVER THE NOMINATION AND/OR OFFICE OF POTUS FROM BIDEN. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT AND THINK YOUR MAGICAL WHITE MAN WILL PARACHUTE IN THERE INSTEAD, SHUT UP. THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION EXCEPT HARRIS. SHUT THE FUCK UP FOREVER.)

/deep breaths

Anyway. That is how you end up here: where the media is still diligently pretending this is an absolutely normal race between a terrible degenerate ancient Sekritly Dying Biden and.... some totally normal establishment Republican and not literally Donald Goddamn Trump. They are running many of the exact same hatchet jobs that they ran on Hillary Clinton for the same exact reasons, and ask yourself this: if Biden is just the status-quo stooge who will never change anything, HAS never changed anything, and is otherwise completely acceptable to the American/global power structure, why are they SO FUCKING DESPERATE to get him out? Why are they throwing absolutely everything they have at prying out a successful (albeit yes, old) incumbent when that incumbent is, by any reasonable metric, the most progressive president since at LEAST FDR, very definitely in any of the post-Reagan years, and possibly ever? Why are they so shit-scared of Biden as demonstrably the only candidate who can (and has) already beaten Trump, and therefore his entire ghoulish agenda of American fascism forever?

I just think it's worth pondering these questions. Yes, I had an awful anxiety attack today and applied to several jobs in Europe because the Fight or Flight instinct kicked in HARD that I needed to start working on a plan to get out of Fascist America, just in case. However, we can still forestall it. Yet again, as I will include in every post on the subject between now and November:

The end.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Bagley

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 14, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Aug 15, 2024

The July report for consumer prices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which came out today, showed that prices rose less than 3% in the previous twelve months. Core inflation has fallen to its lowest rate since April 2021. For well over a year, wages have grown faster than inflation.

President Joe Biden cheered the news but added in a statement, “Prices are still too high. Large corporations are sitting on record profits and not doing enough to lower prices. That’s why we are taking on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug prices. We’re cutting red tape to build more homes while taking on corporate landlords that unfairly increase rent. And we’re taking on price gouging and junk fees to lower everyday costs from groceries to air travel.” 

When a reporter asked Biden if the U.S. has beaten inflation, Biden answered: “Yes, Yes, Yes. I told you we were going to have a soft landing…. My policies are working. Start writing that way.” 

Just yesterday, the administration announced $100 million worth of investments in new housing in the form of grants to state and local governments to spur the production of new housing. Kriston Capps of Bloomberg reports that “more housing units are under construction now than at any point in half a century—some 60,000 multifamily units were completed in June alone—and rents are stabilizing in some areas as a result.” 

Single-family home construction is slower, and with Senate Republicans having blocked a $78 billion tax deal that would support housing tax credits that promote the construction of housing, the White House is finding other ways to spur housing construction. 

On Monday the White House continued its attempt to protect the interests of consumers after years in which they lost ground. Continuing to combat junk fees, it proposed rules to fight back against “all the ways that corporations—through excessive paperwork, hold times, and general aggravation—add unnecessary headaches and hassles to people’s days and degrade their quality of life.” 

Companies deliberately design processes to be burdensome in order to deter people from getting a refund or a rebate, or canceling a membership or a subscription. Those frustrations waste money and time, the administration said, and after listing some of its own proposals for making it easier to navigate ending subscriptions or activating insurance coverage, it invited Americans to submit their own on a public portal. 

In a speech on Friday in North Carolina, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to take on the issue of price gouging by large corporations. Researchers for U.K. think tanks Institute for Public Policy Research and Common Wealth found in late 2023 that profiteering, or “greedflation,” “significantly” boosted prices, leading to increases of 30% or more in corporate profits. “Excessive profits were even larger in the US, where many important sections of the economy are dominated by a few powerful companies,” wrote Phillip Inman of The Guardian. 

Responding to today’s news that inflation is coming down, the stock market ticked up in expectation that the Fed will now be more likely to cut interest rates in September. 

The White House took notice today of the fact that applications for small businesses continue to boom across the country, with 19 million new business applications since Vice President Harris and President Biden took office, an annual growth rate 90% higher than prepandemic averages. The White House also noted that congressional Republicans are trying to cut the Small Business Administration and to cut taxes for big corporations.

Politico greeted today’s economic news with a headline saying, “Inflation is easing. Now, Harris has an even bigger problem with the economy.” And the New York Times reported that in a speech in North Carolina, “Harris Is Set to Lay Out an Economic Message Light on Details,” adding that she is expected to tweak Biden administration themes “in a bid to turn the Democratic economic agenda into an asset.”

The United States economy under Biden and Harris has been the strongest in the world, and now that inflation seems to be under control as well, Harris needs to turn that record “into an asset”? Political journalist James Fallows wrote: “Now they are all just trolling us.”

The Biden-Harris administration has changed the orientation of the United States government from relying on markets to order society and protecting the interests of wealthy Americans in the expectation that they would invest in the economy more efficiently than they could if the government interfered by protecting workers and consumers. Biden and Harris, along with the cabinet officers and staff of the executive branch, revived an older ideology calling for the government to promote the interests of the American people as a whole. This means regulating business and providing government services and oversight to make sure no interest can run the table. 

What the two different worldviews look like was on display earlier this month, when Republicans and a few Democrats in the Senate killed a bipartisan expansion of the child tax credit, a tax break for parents with dependent children. A hike in that credit during the pandemic cut child poverty dramatically, only for that rate to bounce back when the pandemic relief expired and dropped five million U.S. children back into poverty in 2022. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities noted that the change “underscores the fact that the number of children living in poverty is a policy choice.”

On January 31, 2024, the House passed an expansion of the child tax credit that was smaller than the one in place during the pandemic, and Republican vice presidential hopeful Ohio senator J.D. Vance, who has been criticized for comments about “childless cat ladies,” seemed to support the measure when he said, “If you’re raising children in this country, we should make it easier, not harder. And unfortunately it’s way too expensive and way too difficult.” He then falsely accused Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris of calling for ending the child tax credit (she has actually called for expanding it).  

But Vance missed the vote, and before it, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) told colleagues that passing the bill would “give Harris a win before the election.” According to Chabeli Carranzana of The 19th, Tillis “printed out fake checks made out to ‘millions of American voters’ with the memo: ‘Don’t forget to vote for Kamala!’”  

The two different worldviews were also on display Monday night when Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump complimented X owner Elon Musk for firing workers who threatened to strike. The right to strike is protected under federal labor law, and the Biden-Harris administration has stood firmly for workers’ rights. 

On Tuesday the United Auto Workers union filed charges against Trump and Musk with the National Labor Relations Board for threatening and intimidating workers. “When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean,” said UAW president Shawn Fain. 

Tonight, Trump gave a speech in Asheville, North Carolina, that was supposed to be about the economy. Before he could appear, Trump had to pay the city $82,247.60 in advance, with city officials apparently concerned about the candidate’s habit of skipping out on costs associated with his rallies. Once on stage, he tossed economic issues overboard and concentrated on personal attacks on Biden and Harris, along with stream-of-consciousness musings on tampons and socialism. Apparently speaking of his campaign aides, he said: They wanted to do a speech on the economy. They say it’s the most important subject. I’m not sure it is.”

The era of unfettered markets and the concentration of wealth may be coming to an end. In late July, the finance leaders of the Group of 20 (G20), a forum of the world’s major economies, agreed to cooperate on fair taxation of  "ultra-high-net-worth individuals,” although they did not agree as to whichinternational body should lead. 

But yesterday, Joe Perticone of The Bulwark noted that MAGA Republicans appear to have figured out a way to use the struggle over the nation’s economic ideology to elect Trump. 

The House recessed in late July having failed to pass a single one of the 12 appropriations bills the government needs to stay in operation because, although the appropriations bills are traditionally kept “clean” of anything extraneous, extremist members of the House Freedom Caucus insist on making extreme cuts and adding their culture war items to the bills. Congress doesn’t reconvene until early September, and the new fiscal year starts on October 1, leaving the House very little time to pass the necessary bills.

Yesterday, members of the House Freedom Caucus called for Republicans to return to Washington, D.C., to pass the bills “to cut spending and advance our policy priorities.” If they can’t pass the bills—and they failed all spring—the extremists want a short-term fix just into “President Trump’s second term.” But they also want the fix to include the SAVE Act, “as called for by President Trump—to prevent noncitizens from voting [and] to preserve free and fair elections in light of the millions of illegal aliens imported by the Biden-Harris administration over the last four years.” 

It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. As Perticone notes, Trump’s own 2017 commission to find evidence that undocumented immigrants voted in 2016 disbanded without finding any, and another audit, led by Georgia Republicans before the 2022 midterms, found not a single successful attempt of noncitizens to vote in the previous five years. 

Perticone reports that the measure is designed to suppress legitimate Democratic voting and, if Trump still loses, by claiming that Trump lost, again, because the election was stolen by illegal voters.

Trump continues to insist that Biden’s replacement at the top of the Democratic ticket was a “coup,” partly because he wants to face off against Biden, rather than Harris. But he also is priming his supporters to believe that those Americans who want the government to work for them rather than the very wealthy are illegitimate.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[ingek73]

The Observer

Monarchy

King and Prince William’s estates ‘making millions from charities and public services’

Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster likely to make at least £50m from leasing land to services such as NHS and schools, according to investigation

Richard Palmer

Sat 2 Nov 2024 20.50 CET

King Charles and Prince William’s property empires are taking millions of pounds from cash-strapped charities and public services including the NHS, state schools and prisons, according to a new investigation.

The reports claim the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, which are exempt from business taxes and used to fund the royals’ lifestyles and philanthropic work, are set to make at least £50m from leasing land to public services. The two duchies hold a total of more than 5,400 leases.

One 15-year deal will see Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS hospital trust in London pay £11.4m to store its fleet of electric ambulances in a warehouse owned by the Duchy of Lancaster, the monarch’s 750-year-old estate.

The king will also make at least £28m from windfarms because the Duchy of Lancaster retains a feudal right to charge for cables crossing the foreshore, according to an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches and the Sunday Times.

William’s Duchy of Cornwall, the hereditary estate of the heir to the throne, has signed a £37m deal to lease Dartmoor prison for 25 years to the Ministry of Justice, which is liable for all repairs despite paying £1.5m a head for a jail empty of prisoners because of high levels of radon gas.

His estate also owns Camelford House, a 1960s tower block on the banks of the Thames, which has brought in at least £22m since 2005 from rents paid by charities and other tenants. Two cancer charities, Marie Curie and Macmillan – of which the king is a longstanding patron – have both recently moved out to smaller premises.

The Duchy of Cornwall has charged the Royal Navy more than £1m to build and use jetties and moor warships. It also charges the army to train on Dartmoor but the Ministry of Defence refused a Freedom of Information Act request asking how much it costs. The duchy also made more than £600,000 from the construction of a fire station and stands to get nearly £600,000 from rental agreements with six state schools.

In spite of the king and Prince William’s speeches and interventions on environmental issues, many residential properties let out by the royal estates are in breach of basic government energy efficiency standards.

InvestigatorsThe investigation found 14% of homes leased by the Duchy of Cornwall and 13% by the Duchy of Lancaster have an energy performance rating of F or G. Since 2020, it has been against the law for landlords to rent out properties that are rated below an E under the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards regulations.

The Duchy of Lancaster said: “Over 87% of all duchy-let properties are rated E or above. The remainder are either awaiting scheduled improvement works or are exempted under UK legislation.”

The royal estates also have deals with mining and quarrying companies.

The investigation has prompted calls for a parliamentary investigation and for the two empires to be folded into the crown estate, which sends its profits to the government. The king and Prince William pay income tax on profits from the estates after business expenses have been deducted, but both now refuse to say how much.

Critics say the estates, the income from which have been used by successive governments to keep the headline cost of the monarchy to the taxpayer down, enjoy a commercial advantage over rivals because they are exempt from corporation tax and capital gains tax.

Baroness Margaret Hodge, a former chair of the Commons public accounts committee, said the duchies should at least pay corporation tax. “This would be a brilliant time for the monarch to say, I’m going to be open, and I want to be treated as fairly as anybody,” she said.

Both duchies said they were commercial operations that complied with statutory requirements to disclose information. They also emphasised their efforts to become greener.

The Duchy of Lancaster said: “His majesty the king voluntarily pays tax on all income received from the duchy.”

-

&

Over the last two decades the royals have made £22m from the rental of office space in "Charity Towers" at commercial rates to organisations such as Marie Curie, MacMillan Cancer Support and Comic Relief. The King is the patron of Marie Curie and MacMillan

(from someone who is not a sycophant)

Disgusting

And they are already getting half a billion every year

[rsadelle]

As a person who loves workers' rights, math, and the Fast & Furious movies, the "a company will pay you $1,000 to watch all the Fast & Furious movies" headline/gimmick from earlier this year will not leave my brain.

As a Labor Day treat, let's do the math:

The company will also pay $100 for expenses, but it's unclear whether that's a flat payment or if you have to submit for reimbursement.

We're going to leave it out of this calculation.

The ten Fast & Furious movies (main series only) have a total runtime of 20.7 hours.

That makes the hourly rate $48.31, which sounds great.

However, you aren't just watching the movies.

The point is to track the damages of the car crashes so they can estimate the insurance impact of the movies.

This is going to add some time.

Assuming you're only tracking the damage to cars, you're going to do a lot of pausing and rewinding and notetaking to make sure you catch everything and get the right car types.

It's unclear if this assignment only includes the main cars or the collateral damage.

The first movie is more straightforward and consolidated; later movies have significant amounts of collateral damage.

For easy math, we'll assume an average of 2 extra hours per movie.

Your total time is now 40.7 hours, which works out to an hourly rate of $24.57.

You have nearly halved your hourly rate.

Then there are the indirect costs.

You're a contractor and may have more complicated taxes.

The company running the gimmick claims the right to use your work for an article on their website.

Said company's entire reason for being is to generate ad revenue.

Not to mention how the rewinding and notetaking will impact your enjoyment of the movies.

Verdict, based on a love of workers' rights, math, and the Fast & Furious movies: Not worth it.

[siribear]

X

I do think it's still incredibly frustrating that people are treating this like a "normal" election... era. Because until fascists are wholly discouraged from existing in America, yes, every single election season is a vote for peoples rights and their lives.

I'm not denying it's disheartening to have to vote for someone who seems like just another status quo politician, but when the other guy wants to run the military over dissenters and put brown people in concentration camps, is that really a choice?

People want to disparage Kamala for not strictly speaking on progressive messaging, as if the entire country hasn't been through the American propaganda machine that is the public schooling system that tells us anything but capitalism is the death of the country. As if half the country doesn't still believe it. As if when we say people's taxes CAN fund universal healthcare, they don't think they won't be paying life endingly high tax rates in comparison to the idiotic insurance rates we pay now.

A majority of the country isn't terminally online, isn't constantly keeping up with politics. They're uninformed and misinformed and disinformed on the daily. The only trickle down they feel is money leaking from their wallets. They all think the entire government is ineffective, even the politicians actively helping them.

That's why the Harris campaign has to speak to everyone. Has to get every single vote, even from the Republicans who just don't know any better. Because we're still going by the electoral college. So, yes, she has to court the people that aren't full blooded progressives (yet!), yes she has to adjust messaging. She has to get them to actually see her as she is instead of Fox News Kamala, to get their foot in the door to maybe being a little more radicalized for the left.

The campaign doesn't have the luxury of cutting people off like we (as individual citizens) can. Can't say, oh, that's crazy uncle Ted that repeats Fox News headlines and loves Trump and we don't talk to him anymore. Unfortunately, you can't win elections like that. And again, it does suck to see her messaging change in real time. But imagine all the Republicans who looked at her when she came swinging right out the gate with universal healthcare and thought, "No, I'll stick with the fascist. I saved $300 annually because of his tax cuts."

Maybe I'm too naive and giving the campaign too much grace, and maybe I'll eat my words if it turns out that if she wins, she starts moving the country to the Right anyway. But we don't know that. What we do know is the other guy will throw us all into the fire day 1, snort the ashes, and there will be nothing left after that.

[deshaynehunter]

Internet Scamming, An issue in Jamaican Cyber Culture

Jamaica, renowned for its vibrant culture, stunning beaches, and reggae music, is facing a significant challenge in the digital era: internet scamming. This issue, often referred to locally as the "lottery scam," or “chopping” has grown into a complex social and economic problem that affects not just individuals but also the country’s global reputation in the online space. As the world becomes more interconnected, Jamaica has evolved, bringing both opportunities and risks, with internet scamming representing one of the darker aspects of this evolution.

The Rise of Internet Scamming

Internet scamming in Jamaica gained widespread attention in the early 2000s with the emergence of the lottery scam. The scam typically involves fraudsters contacting potential victims, often elderly individuals in North America, with claims that they have won a lottery or sweepstakes. To claim their "prize," the victim is instructed to pay fees or taxes upfront, a tactic designed to trick them into sending money. Once the payment is made, the scammer vanishes, leaving the victim financially devastated. One may think that the fraudsters would feel remorse but to them “a jus suh it guh” signifying a lack of regard. 

While the lottery scam remains the most notorious form of internet fraud in Jamaica, it has since evolved into other schemes such as romance scams, phishing, and business email compromise (BEC) fraud. In these schemes, scammers impersonate legitimate businesses or individuals to deceive their targets into sending money or sensitive information.

 Contributing Factors to the Problem

Several factors contribute to the prevalence of internet scamming in Jamaica. A major one is economic hardship. The country, while making strides in certain sectors, continues to struggle with high unemployment rates and limited economic opportunities, particularly in rural areas. Young people, facing few legitimate job prospects, sometimes turn to scamming as a means of survival or quick financial gain. This is particularly common in areas like Montego Bay, where the lottery scam is said to have originated and grew to prevalence .

Social acceptance of scamming has also played a role. In some communities, scammers are seen as modern-day "Robin Hoods," redistributing wealth from richer countries to poorer ones gaining a form of unique love and respect online, “everybady wah be a chappa”. This perception is compounded by the reality that many scammers use their ill-gotten gains to support their families and contribute to their communities, further blurring the lines between right and wrong.

The widespread availability of the internet and smartphones has made it easier for scammers to operate. With just a mobile device and internet access, scammers can connect to unsuspecting victims worldwide. Social media platforms, messaging apps, and email serve as the primary tools for scammers, allowing them to remain anonymous while targeting vulnerable individuals.

Impact on Jamaica

The impact of internet scamming on Jamaica is not unique but multifaceted. On a global level, the country’s reputation has taken a hit. News stories about Jamaican lottery scams have made international headlines, leading to negative perceptions of the island. This can have repercussions for tourism, foreign investments, and Jamaica’s standing in international trade. The United States, in particular, has expressed concern over the proliferation of scams originating from Jamaica, leading to diplomatic tensions between the two nations.

Economically, while some individuals may benefit from the proceeds of scamming, the long-term effects on Jamaica’s economy are detrimental. Scammers tend to spend their earnings on luxury items or short-term investments, contributing little to sustainable economic growth. Furthermore, the fear of being associated with fraud has made it more difficult for legitimate Jamaican businesses to operate internationally, particularly in sectors like outsourcing and e-commerce.

Government and Law Enforcement Response

Recognizing the severity of the problem, the Jamaican government has taken steps to combat internet scamming. In 2013, the country passed the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions) (Special Provisions) Act, commonly known as the Anti-Lottery Scam Law. This law provides severe penalties for those found guilty of scamming, with sentences of up to 20 years in prison. Additionally, the Jamaican government has collaborated with international law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI, to crack down on scammers operating within its borders.

Despite these efforts, scamming continues to be a pervasive issue. One challenge is the sheer scale of the problem; with thousands of scammers operating in various regions, law enforcement resources are often stretched thin. Additionally, scammers have become more sophisticated in their methods, using encryption and other techniques to evade detection.

 Conclusion

As such I personally hate that Internet scamming has become a significant issue within Jamaica’s cyber culture, driven by economic hardship, social acceptance, and the ease of access to global communication networks. While the government has made strides in addressing the problem, a comprehensive solution requires a multifaceted approach that includes law enforcement, international cooperation, and community education. By tackling the root causes of scamming and promoting a culture of integrity online, Jamaica can begin to restore its global reputation and ensure a safer digital future for all its citizens, or so we hope.

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Inaugural Address (2019)

Dear Ukrainians!

After my election victory, my six-year-old son said: «Dad, they say on TV that Zelenskyy is the President … So, it means that…I am... the President too?!» At the time, it sounded funny, but later I realized that it was true. Because each of us is the President. Not just the 73 percent who voted for me, but all 100 percent of Ukrainians. This is not just mine, this is our common victory. And this is our common chance that we are responsible for together.  

It hasn’t been only me who has just taken the oath. Each of us has just put his hand on the Constitution and swore allegiance to Ukraine.

Now, imagine the headlines: «The President Does Not Pay Taxes,» «The Intoxicated President Ran the Red Light» or « The President Is Quietly Stealing Because Everyone Does.» Would you agree that it’s shameful? This is what I mean when I say that each of us is the President. From now on, each of us is responsible for the country that we leave to our children. Each of us, in his place, can do everything for the prosperity of Ukraine.

Our European country begins with each one of us. We have chosen a path to Europe, but Europe is not somewhere out there. Europe is here (in the head — Ed.) And after it appears here, it will be everywhere, all over Ukraine.

This is our common dream. But we also share a common pain. Each of us has died in the Donbas. Every day we lose each one of us. And each of us is a refugee — the one who has lost his own home and the one who has opened the door of his home, sharing the pain. And each of us is a migrant worker — the one who could’t find himself at home, but has found income in a foreign country, and the one who struggling with poverty, is forced to lose his own dignity.

But we will overcome all of this! Because each of us is a Ukrainian.

We are all Ukrainians: there are no bigger or lesser, or correct or incorrect Ukrainians. From Uzhgorod to Luhansk, from Chernigiv to Simferopol, in Lviv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipro and Odesa — we are Ukrainians. And we have to be one.  After all, only then we are strong.

Today I appeal to all Ukrainians in the world. There are 65 millions of us. Yes, don’t be surprised: there are 65 million of us — those born on the Ukrainian soil. Ukrainians in Europe and Asia, in North and South America, Australia and Africa — I appeal to all Ukrainians on the planet!

We really need you. To all who are ready to build a new, strong and successful Ukraine, I will gladly grant Ukrainian citizenship. You must come to Ukraine not to visit, but to return home. We are waiting for you. There is no need to bring souvenirs from abroad, but please, bring your knowledge, experience and values.

That will help us start a new era. Skeptics will say that it is impossible, a fantasy. But what if this is, in fact, our national idea — to unite and make the impossible against all odds?

Remember the Iceland soccer team at the European Championship — when a dentist, a director, a pilot, a student and a cleaner defended their country’s honor? No one believed they could do it, but the did it!

And this should be precisely our path. We must become the Icelanders in soccer, the Israelis — in the defense of their native land, the Japanese — in technology and the Swiss — in the ability to live with each other in harmony, despite all the differences.

However, our first task is ceasefire in the Donbas. I have been often asked: What price are you ready to pay for the ceasefire? It’s a strange question. What price are you ready to pay for the lives of you loved ones? I can assure you that I'm ready to pay any price to stop the deaths of our heroes. I'm definitely not afraid to make difficult decisions and I'm ready to lose my fame, my ratings, and if need be — without any hesitation, my position to bring peace, as long as we do not give up our territories.

History is unfair. We are not the ones who have started this war. But we are the ones who have to finish it. And we are ready for dialogue. I believe that the perfect first step in this dialogue will be the return of all Ukrainian prisoners.

Our next challenge is returning the lost territories. In all honesty, this wording does not seem entirely correct to me because it is impossible to return what has always been ours. Both Crimea and Donbas have been our Ukrainian land, but the land where we have lost the most important thing — the people.

Today we have to return their minds — that’s what we have lost. Over the years, the authorities have not done anything to make them feel Ukrainians and understand that they are not strangers, but they are our people, they are Ukrainians.  And even if they are granted 10 different passports, it won’t change anything. For being Ukrainian is not a line in the passport — being Ukrainian is here (in the heart — Ed.)

I know that for sure. I know that from the soldiers who are now defending Ukraine, our heroes, some of whom are Ukrainian-speakers, while others — Russian-speakers. There, in the frontline, there is no strife and discord, there is only courage and honor. So, I want to appeal to our defenders now:

There can be no strong army in a place where the authorities do not respect the people who every day sacrifice their life for the country. I will do everything I can to make you feel respect. This means decent, and most importantly, secure salaries, living conditions, vocation leaves after the combat missions and your and your families’ holidays. We must not just talk about NATO standards — we must create those standards.

Of course, besides the war, there are many other problems that trouble Ukrainians. Among them are the shocking utility tariffs, humiliating wages and pensions, painful prices and non-existent jobs. There is also the health care that is seen as improving mostly by those who have never been to a regular hospital with their child. And then, there are also the mythical Ukrainian roads that are being built and repaired only in someone's prolific imagination.

Allow me to quote one American actor who has become a great American president: «The government does not solve our problems. The government is our problem.»

I do not understand our government that only shrugs and says: «There is nothing we can do.»  Not true. You can. You can take a sheet of paper and a pen and free your seats for those who think about the next generations and not about the next election! Do it and people will appreciate that.

Your applause is pretty light…I guess not everyone likes what I’m saying? Too bad, since it’s not me, but the Ukrainian people who is saying that.

My election proves that our citizens are tired of the experienced, pompous system politicians who over the 28 years, have created a country of opportunities — the opportunities to bribe, steal and pluck the resources.

We will build the country of other opportunities — the one where all are equal before the law and where all the rules are honest and transparent, the same for everyone. And for that, we need people in power who will serve the people. This is why I really do not want my pictures in your offices, for the President is not an icon, an idol or a portrait. Hang your kids' photos instead, and look at them each time you are making a decision.

I can go on, but Ukrainians wants actions, not words. So, dear deputies! You have appointed the inauguration on Monday, a work day, which has one benefit -— it means you are ready to work.

Therefore, I ask that you approve:

1. The law on removing parliamentary immunity.

2. The law establishing criminal liability for illegal enrichment.

3. The long-awaited Electoral Code and open-lists.

Also, please dismiss:

1. Head of the Security Service of Ukraine.

2. Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

3. Minister of Defense of Ukraine.

This is certainly not all that you could do, but for now, it will suffice.

You will have two months to do that. Do it. And take all the medals for it — not a bad move before the snap parliamentary election. I am dissolving the Verkhovna Rada of the eighth convocation

Glory to Ukraine!

And finally:

Dear Nation!

All my life I tried to do all I could so that Ukrainians laughed. That was my mission. Now I will do all I can so that Ukrainians at least do not cry any more.

[mariacallous]

This is the time of year when the U.S. Census Bureau publishes its latest data on poverty in the United States, and headlines are presenting a mixed picture. One set of survey results found that the overall number of people living in poverty in 2022 was relatively unchanged from the last two years. In contrast, another survey found that America’s child poverty rate doubled between 2021 and 2022, largely due to the post-pandemic expiration of an expanded child tax credit. The divergent results reflect the fact that the Census Bureau measures poverty in more than one way.

Neither of these results, however, sheds much light on where poverty is rising, falling, or staying the same, and who is most affected. Ten years ago, our book, “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America,” chronicled the rapid rise of poverty in the nation’s suburbs during the 2000s. We showed the challenges the shifting geography of poverty posed for low-income Americans’ ability to access safety net services, transportation, and jobs.

Now, the Census Bureau’s latest American Community Survey (ACS)—another set of data that often flies under the public radar—offers an updated look at the landscape of poverty in 2022. After a long run of economic growth in the 2010s and more than two years into a post-pandemic economic recovery, what does the geography of poverty in America look like today?

The nation’s suburbs accounted for the majority of increases in the poor population following the onset of the pandemic

Of that 1.5 million person increase in Americans living below the poverty line, more than 60% occurred in suburbs. The U.S. is a suburban nation—more people live in suburbs (47%) than in cities (21%), small and midsized metro areas (18%), or rural areas (14%).1 And between 2019 and 2022, the poor population in major metropolitan suburbs grew three times as fast as in major cities (6% versus 2%). Major metro areas in the West (e.g., Ogden, Utah and San Francisco), South (e.g., Washington, D.C. and Houston), and Midwest (e.g., St. Louis and Minneapolis-Saint Paul) posted double-digit percentage increases in their suburban poor populations over this period. (See the appendix for detailed data.)

Fewer suburbs experienced falling poverty rates than cities

As urban and suburban poor populations increased, so did poverty rates (the share of the total population living below the poverty line) in both large cities and their surrounding suburbs. In 2022, roughly one in 10 suburban residents lived in poverty (9.6%), compared to about one in six in primary cities (16.2%). Those rates represented increases of less than half a percentage point over 2019 (0.3 percentage points for suburbs and 0.4 percentage points for large cities).

Over this same period, 25 major metro areas posted statistically significant increases in their suburban poverty rates, and 25 saw significant increases in their urban poverty rates. Only six metro areas had increases in both their urban and suburban poverty rates: Chicago, Detroit, Houston, New York, Ogden, Utah, and San Francisco. As our colleague William H. Frey has shown, several of these metro areas shed both city and suburban population during the 2019-2022 pandemic period.

In contrast, 19 major metro areas saw their urban poverty rates decline between 2019 and 2022, led by Grand Rapids, Mich., Buffalo, N.Y., and Knoxville, Tenn. But only 12 major metro areas posted statistically significant declines in their suburban poverty rates following the pandemic. By and large, those declines reflected overall (non-poor) population growth rather than declines in the number of people living in poverty; no major metro area registered a statistically significant decline in its suburban poor population over this period. For example, the total number of residents in Provo, Utah’s suburbs grew by 13% between 2019 and 2022. That rapid population growth, even as the region’s poor population remained statistically unchanged, led Provo’s suburban poverty rate to fall by 2.2 percentage points.

America continues to confront suburban poverty

A year after the release of “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America,” we wrote that recovery from the Great Recession “did not hit the reset button” on the landscape of poverty. By 2014, the worst effects of the recession had receded, yet the shift of poverty toward the nation’s suburbs had not. The same remains true in the wake of the pandemic recession. Whatever trajectory U.S. poverty follows in the coming years, it’s increasingly clear that the “new geography of poverty” we chronicled a decade ago is here to stay.

Much of our book detailed the challenges of addressing this geography of poverty when so much key infrastructure—such as policies targeted to low-income communities, the social service capacity for deploying key work supports, and the transportation networks that shape access to employment opportunities—historically has been concentrated in urban areas. We articulated the need for more cross-jurisdictional strategies that could grapple with the regional scale at which major metropolitan labor and housing markets function.

For all the economic pain it wrought, the COVID-19 pandemic also induced a massive federal response to alleviate need at the local level. Counties, cities, and towns of all sizes—including thousands in suburban America—received direct aid to help workers, households, and students whose lives the pandemic upended. While that aid was time-limited, it surely opened more suburban leaders’ eyes to the hardships many of their residents continue to face even after the emergency has subsided.

Sustaining efforts to address economic hardship once pandemic-era federal funding runs dry will take creativity, collaboration, and commitment in the face of competing priorities. But as the latest data makes clear, American poverty remains a growing suburban challenge, and solutions to overcome it must take root there as well.

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

In good political news today, Toronto elected Olivia Chow as mayor and I'm super stoked to have her back in City Hall.

From this CBC Article:

Olivia Chow was elected Toronto's next mayor in an unexpectedly close race Monday, promising to bring a more progressive approach after more than a decade of conservative leadership at city hall. The former downtown Toronto NDP MP and city councillor bested a record field of 102 candidates that included about a half dozen established contenders. Among those rivals was second-place finisher Ana Bailão — a past deputy to former mayor John Tory, whose shock resignation in February triggered the byelection. Chow, who was born in Hong Kong and came to Toronto at age 13, will become the third woman and first racialized person to serve as mayor in the city's history. She steps into the top spot as it grapples with a massive budget shortfall, an affordability crisis and public safety concerns. "If you ever doubted what's possible together, if you ever questioned your faith in a better future and what we can do with each other, for each other, tonight is your answer," Chow said in her speech to a crowd of cheering supporters. "Thank you to the people of Toronto for the trust you've placed in me and the mandate for change as your new mayor." [...] Among her headline commitments is a pledge to get the city back into social housing development and an annual $100 million investment in a program to purchase affordable homes and transfer them to non-profits and land trusts. [...]

Chow campaigned from the left, promising to boost rent supplements by introducing a "luxury home tax," an expanded land transfer tax on homes sold for $3 million and over. She also said she'll triple the city's existing vacant homes tax to three per cent. Chow will inherit largely untested strong mayor powers, however she has repeatedly said she wouldn't use them to override "majority rule" in council. In theory they would allow Chow to pass budgets with just one-third council support, veto bylaws and unilaterally shape the city's top-level administration. She did not release a fully-costed platform, and repeatedly declined to say by how much she would need to raise property taxes to pay for her suite of commitments — a focal point of criticism from her main rivals throughout the campaign.

The last week of the campaign saw Ontario Premier Doug Ford all but formally endorsed Saunders, warning at an unrelated news conference that a Chow mayoralty would be an "unmitigated disaster" and that she would raise taxes at an "unprecedented rate." Saunders finished third with 8.4 per cent of the total vote share.   Ford's pointed attack raises questions about Chow's relationship with Queen's Park as the city faces a $1.5-billion budget hole that will almost certainly require provincial help to fill. In a statement Monday night, Ford struck a conciliatory tone, saying he will "work with anyone ready to work with our government to better our city and province.  "Throughout Olivia's life, she has proven her desire and dedication to serving the city that many of us call home. While we're not always going to agree on everything, what we can agree on is our shared commitment to making Toronto a place where businesses, families, and workers can thrive."

Chow has long been a fixture of Toronto politics. She became a school board trustee in 1985, served 12 years on city council representing Trinity-Spadina and eventually became a New Democrat parliamentarian alongside her late husband and former federal NDP leader Jack Layton. Some of her notable policy stances include supporting an anti-homophobia curriculum in the 1980s, helping bring nutrition programs to Toronto schools in the 1990s and fighting against exploitative immigration consultants in the 2000s. For much of the last decade, she has run the Institute for Change Leaders at Toronto Metropolitan University where she trained community organizers.

The city being in basic bankruptcy position that will require provincial bail-out support is going to be contentious because Doug Ford is a nasty piece of work and vindictive as fuck - especially against Toronto Mayors - so we will see what she'll be able to get out of him (if anything). The Federal level will be able to help some, but it's really a municipal-provincial issue.

[eaglesnick]

“After your older, two things are possibly more important than any others: Health and money.”  Helen Gurley Brown

The hot air around the state pension, the triple lock, and affordability continues. And is all a smoke screen for the fact that Britain has one of the lowest state pensions in the OECD.

Last year we had this headline:

State pension triple lock ‘utterly unaffordable’ and will 'bankrupt UK', Tory MP declares."  (Mirror: 21/11/22)

Yesterday we had:

“Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride admits triple lock is 'not sustainable’ in the long-term."  (itvx: 12/09/23)

And

“Treasury officials are discussing a one-off break from the pensions triple lock that could save £1bn by preventing a bumper 8.5% increase in the state pension next year."  (Guardian: 12/09/23)

You would think the government was literally giving away money to pensioners if you took the right-wing press and Tory politicians seriously. (Starmer is no better)  The truth is very different.

In 2018 it was reported that the UK had:

“He lowest pension rate in the developed world… pensioners in the United Kingdom suffer from the worst deal of any OECD country, receiving just 29% of a working wage when they retire. To put this into perspective, the OECD average is 63% and the average for EU member states is 71%. Elsewhere, the pension rate in the United States is 49%, while in China, which is home to more than 1.4 billion people, the rate is 83%, OECD data shows."  (weforum.org:23/02/18)

That was five years ago. Little has changed since then.

“The UK spends very little on state pensions compared to other European countries and has the highest percentage of pensioners in poverty, despite tax reliefs on workplace and private pensions,… The UK government only spends 4.7% of GDP on state pensions, much less than many other countries in Europe."  (Trustnet:10/11/22)

So next time you see a politician wringing their hands and sadly bemoaning the fact that the triple lock for pensioners is unaffordable know that the tears shed are of the crocodile variety and nothing could be further from the truth.

[bopinion]

2023 / 45

Aperçu of the Week:

"Conflicts come and go. Money stays."

(Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, ex-President of the Russian Federation)

Bad News of the Week:

It was feared for a long time, now it's happening: the Ukraine war may not be losing its horror, but it is losing its attention. As happened with Syria. And with Yemen. How is Iraq actually doing? Or Libya? New times bring new headlines. People's attention span is limited. And people's empathy too. It is not only in the US Congress that voices are getting louder questioning support for Ukraine. It would be a bottomless pit anyway. And you can't take care of everything.

In this country too, people are now taking to the streets for or against Palestine, for or against Israel. The aggression of Hamas or the Netanyahu government is obviously closer to us than the aggression of Putin. At least now. But perhaps also in Europe in general, to which Israel is often counted. France has a not only flattering history in the region and a large Arab population, Germany's special relationship with the Jewish people ("reason of state") need not even to be mentioned.

And now there is growing evidence that Ukraine does not always wear white shirts either. Research by the Washington Post, among others, into the background to the explosives attacks on the North Stream pipelines leads to Ukraine. Former intelligence officer and special forces commander Roman Chervynsky is described in security circles as the "coordinator" of these attacks, responsible for the logistics of the sabotage commando. If Ukraine is now behind the biggest act of sabotage of all time, no German, whose energy prices have tripled as a result, will be pleased. If, at the same time, direct military aid is doubled to 8 billion euros, the purse strings will be tight. In real terms, but above all in terms of feeling.

I very much hope that the solidarity that has united us Europeans up to now will only crumble and not collapse. Because it is still true that European values are being defended in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin must not be allowed to win. But I am increasingly worried that his calculations could work out. Time is clearly working in his favor. Sidenote: the Russian economy is currently doing better than the German.

Good News of the Week:

Jeff Bezoz and Elon Musk are known as negative examples of capitalism. Attacking competitors, exploiting employees and paying as little tax as possible. Virtually all investors and almost every multinational corporation try to structure their balance sheets in such a way that as little as possible goes to the state(s). Even though those depend on tax revenues for their public welfare tasks. Tax evasion is how all our companies work.

The problem is, on the one hand, the well-known tax havens such as Cayman Island and, on the other hand, competition between nations as to where which company with which activity sets up shop. Because of jobs and because of taxes. I have remembered a creative example of tax avoidance in Europe from recent years: the sporting goods manufacturer Nike.

Its German business - the largest market on the continent for Nike despite its domestic competitors Adidas and Puma - generates enormous sales, but strangely enough no profit, which would be relatively highly taxed in this country. The trick: for every pair of sneakers etc., Nike Germany pays a license fee for patents, design, brand use etc. to Nike Ireland, where the tax rates are significantly lower. And strangely enough, always in the exact amount so that nothing is left over. Thank you very much.

My criticism is less directed at the company, whose nature it is to generate as much profit as possible. But rather to Ireland, which allows tax evasion at the expense of its European colleagues. But this will soon come to an end. Because the global minimum tax is just around the corner. The German tax office calls it "one of the biggest reforms in the international taxation of companies".

Until now, the taxation of multinational corporate groups has largely been organized on a national basis. A group only has to pay taxes on its profits in the countries in which it has a physical presence. This is becoming less and less important in the increasingly cross-border movement of goods and in the digital economy in general. And even within Europe, tax rates vary greatly: from 9% to 35% according to the OECD.

Now 138 countries around the world, including all G20 states, have committed to a global minimum tax of 15%. Experts call its introduction a "game changer" in the fight against decades of tax dumping by large corporations. Estimates are based on this. The global minimum tax will generate an additional 200 billion euros a year for the international community. This will finance their commonwealth, from which all citizens will benefit. And not just the investors on the stock markets and the shareholders of companies.

Personal happy moment of the week:

Senta Berger. One of our greatest actresses. As a young woman in the 60s and now, at 82, she still is. I have always admired her. For her artistic work and for her humanity. She fights for the protection of wildlife and against leukemia. And admitted to having an abortion in 1971 (!). She was and is a great woman. I bumped into her in the elevator today. And told her exactly that. She said I made her day. And she made mine.

I couldn't care less...

...for the carnival. On 11.11. at 11h11 on the dot, tens of thousands of "Jecken" celebrated the start of the Rhineland carnival and the foolish season in Cologne. As if the time before had been normal in any way.

As I write this...

...I'm fighting a nascent cold. And a stomach virus. And muscle tension. And tiredness. It's November. But maybe I'm just getting old.

Post Scriptum

Nikki Haley could become a serious challenger to Donald Trump in the Republican primaries. Last you heard from Ron DeSantis? Exactly.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

Today, Tor.com published my latest short story, "The Canadian Miracle," set in the world of my forthcoming (Nov 14) novel, The Lost Cause. I am serializing this one on my podcast! Here's part one.

#20yrsago Mieville on Tolkien https://web.archive.org/web/20031025054631/https://www.panmacmillan.com/features/china/debate.htm

#10yrsago Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s polls go up after he’s caught lying about crack-smoking video https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/city-hall/mayor-rob-fords-approval-rating-ticks-upward-with-news-of-crack-video/article_a70fbaa2-eb4c-53ac-b732-d1ed3ab14002.html

#10yrsago Inspired by Snowden, more NSA insiders are blowing the whistle https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/10/more-nsa-leakers-followed-snowdens-footsteps-whistleblower-lawyer-says/

#10yrsago RIAA, BPI websites infringe copyright https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-and-bpi-use-pirated-code-on-their-websites-131102

#10yrsago UK legal aid proposal: bonuses for lawyers whose clients plead guilty https://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/nov/01/lawyers-higher-legal-aid-fees-early-guilty-plea

#5yrsago How to tax big tech https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2018/10/30/how-to-tax-digital-companies/

#5yrsago America’s most notorious patent troll, now bankrupt, values its bullshit patents at $1 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/10/stupid-patent-month-how-34-patents-worth-1-led-hundreds-lawsuits

#5yrsago Australia’s 2015 copyright censorship system has failed, so they’re adding (lots) more censorship https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/11/sopaau-australia-testbed-worlds-most-extreme-copyright-blocks

#5yrsago Senator Wyden proposes 20 prison sentences for CEOs who lie about data collection and protection https://www.vice.com/en/article/8xjwjz/sen-ron-wyden-introduces-bill-that-would-send-ceos-to-jail-for-violating-consumer-privacy

This Saturday (Nov 4), I'm keynoting the Hackaday Supercon in Pasadena, CA.

[internationalnewz]

Inside "World's Most Ultra-Luxury Resort", At $100,000 A Night

This isn't a hotel where guests hide away in their rooms. Instead, they put on their trendiest beachwear, take selfies in front of the Bellagio-style fountains, go shopping in the Valentino boutique or book a cabana at one of several outdoor lounges.

From the moment you step through the front entrance, Atlantis the Royal puts on a show. Water pours down inside glass walls, while fire periodically flashes up. The pressure to post to Instagram is immediate, because you've arrived at the self-titled "most ultraluxury" resort in the world.

This isn't the world, though. It's Dubai, where "ultraluxury" has a specific meaning and nouveau riche aesthetics are giddily embraced. Wealth like this was made to flaunt, not accrue silently in savings accounts. Ultraluxury is over-the-top, clad with gold and marble.

That's what the $1.2 billion Atlantis the Royal, the latest property from Dubai-based hotelier Kerzner International Ltd., delivered with a "Grand Reveal" show in January starring Beyonce: And it's what guests have experienced since its 795 rooms opened in mid-February.

The journey of opulence begins in the hotel lobby, where the unifying theme of water (Atlantis, remember?) is hammered home with a towering aquatic sculpture and pool cutouts in the floor into which guests occasionally tumble. Check-in occurs at unmarked golden counters, which require constant buffing with microfiber towels to remove dreadful indicators of human presence such as fingerprints.

Company officials initially garnered headlines by saying the top-level suite, the Royal Mansion, would cost $100,000 a night. Now a spokeswoman is demure about the price, saying it's available upon request. And in February, Louis Vuitton booked the room for a private shopping event, so I couldn't visit. Instead, I was shown the Panoramic Penthouse, which took my breath away-starting at 135,260 dirhams ($36,825), plus 22% in taxes, it had better. Shampoos and other amenities in rooms come from Hermès, Frette and Graff. On one side of the hotel, guests have an unobstructed view of the blue-green Persian Gulf. The other side looks out over the fronds of the man-made Palm Jumeirah archipelago and the mansions of billionaires and royalty.

I stayed in a Seascape King, one of the basic rooms, but I use the term lightly. The studio starts at about 4,135 dirhams a night in high season. It's large enough for a king-size bed, lounger and desk, and spacious closets. The furniture is comfortable, and amenities in the grand bathrooms include golden toothbrushes, combs, a back scrubber, flip-flops and a beach bag, all of which can be taken home without charge.

For a resort promising that "something incredible happens at every moment of your stay," the basic rooms lack a wow factor. They're beautiful, sure, and the views are phenomenal. I was excited to see a high-tech Toto brand bidet toilet with a heated seat, though that made me wish the bathroom floors were heated, too. (Clearly, I'm getting spoiled.)

But this isn't a hotel where guests hide away in their rooms. Instead, they put on their trendiest beachwear, take selfies in front of the Bellagio-style fountains, go shopping in the Valentino boutique or book a cabana at one of several outdoor lounges. At Nobu by the Beach, for an extra 10,000 dirhams, you and nine friends have access to a living room, a private changing area and shower, and a small private pool. The rate includes two bottles of Champagne and some nibbles.

First, however, you might want to get a Botox top-up, ozone dialysis or stem cell therapy at the on-site Aeon Clinic for "regenerative wellness." Or head up to the true showstopper: the Cloud 22 lounge, an open-air space on the 22nd floor with thumping club music and a strong wind. An infinity pool with a double ledge is all that separates you from the resort below. Here, too, you can book cabanas for an extra fee and get your own plunge pool, which the resort doesn't count as one of 90 total pools on the property, including 44 in private suites.

The stunning Awaken spa has gender-segregated relaxation rooms, but six hammams, or Turkish baths, have yet to open. The meditation with dolphins program is also pending.

The room rate includes access to Aquaventure, the water park next door billed as the world's largest. My 3-year-old daughter had a blast in the toddler splash areas, and if we had more time I would have braved the slides with 360-degree loops and dark tunnels. With day passes starting at 315 dirhams for adults, this certainly adds to the value you get for your room.

At the hotel, each of the seven celebrity chef-helmed restaurants has a unique vibe and design, but the level of service is celestial across the board. When we ate lunch at Jaleo by Jose Andre (get the rossejat, a paella-style pasta), four different people asked if we wanted a highchair for our daughter. At the breakfast buffet, out of nowhere she got a hankering for tofu, and the kitchen happily provided a plateful. Meanwhile, I hadn't finished my latte before my cup was taken away and replaced with a new one-twice.

This is where Atlantis the Royal earns its name and its ultraluxury reputation. Every few feet as you walk the grounds, a security guard, concierge, lifeguard or cleaner places their right hand on their heart, bows forward and says hello. All properties run by Kerzner have adopted this apparent Covid-era gesture, but it certainly made me feel like a queen.

[literatureinducedexhaustion]

"Next is Janet Jones, reporting live from D.C. with the Heroes' Alliance Protest. How's it looking out there, Janet?"

The camera feed pans over drone footage of the National Mall, and the thousands of costumed people protesting within it from the ground and the air. It cuts to a reporter, Janet Jones, standing next to a fit-looking woman in a green plant-themed costume.

"As you can see, Bob, the Heroes' Alliance picket line is massive. Heroes of every rank and level of prominence are gathered in the capital today to demand better working conditions for supers. Here with me is notable Spyce Gurlz alum Fenugreek, head of health and safety for the Heroes' Alliance. Anything you'd like to say?"

Fenugreek nods as the microphone is passed to her.

"Thanks, Janet. The Heroes' Alliance has gathered here in solidarity with our counterparts across the globe to gain a set of livable standards for professional hero work across all areas. We've all seen far too many aspiring supers' careers cut short by not being able to afford medical care. The Spyce Gurlz are a headline training organization for young heroines, but when I joined, they were the only agency to provide health insurance for all its crime fighters. Some have followed in our footsteps, but being able to access treatment for the many knocks we take on the job shouldn't be dependent on who we work for!"

"You're saying health insurance isn't a given?" Janet asks.

"Not remotely. A licensed superhero is only entitled the minimum wage in their jurisdiction, before tax."

"And we pay A LOT of tax!" Someone in the crowd yells. "No wonder vigilante rates are rising!"

"And that villain rates are skyrocketing."

The interjection directly from Janet's microphone triggers a partial hijacking of the camera feed. When the glitching recedes, the footage has been modified into a split-screen format. On the right is the original footage of Janet and the protest. On the left, a figure sits shrouded in darkness, with only neon-enhanced eyes visible to their camera. The network's logo has been replaced with the isotope notation for Iodine-129. The text scroll at the bottom of the screen has also been changed, with messages including "cable news is for suckers", "shut up for long enough i'm speaking", and various insults towards heroes, villains, and corporate oligarchs.

"Xenon! We don't have time for this," a hero yells from the protest side.

"Yes, you do, Stardust. Fenugreek, Ms. Jones, viewers. Whoever else is tuning in on the network. Allow the other side of the law to pun in our two cents."

"I really would suggest you didn't," Fenugreek pleads. She turns to the camera, gesturing for the network to cut the feed already. "The Heroes' Alliance is not associated with Isotope or any other villainous group. We honestly only want better living conditions for heroes!"

"Oh, relax. Like I'd try to prevent an honest organization that directly harms my competition."

The hero who yelled at Xenon, Stardust, edges his way into the camera's view. "Are you kidding me!? This makes us look awful! GO AWAYYYYY." The crack at the end of his voice makes Janet give him another look. Stardust may be muscular, but his face still has traces of baby fat that gives him an innocent look. He's also blushing fiercely, whether from rage or embarrassment.

"You're awfully young to be a full-fledged cape, Stardust. Mind answering a few questions?" She passes the microphone his way.

Stardust huffs. "First off, fifteen is a perfectly legal age to be a hero, ma'am. Second off, I got an excused absence from my school so I'm allowed to be here. Most importantly, Xenon has been a thorn in my side for months, and if you don't explain what the hell you're doing-!"

"I was going to, before you interrupted me. As I was saying."

Xenon pulls up a set of graphs on their side of the screen.

"Of the one hundred most lucrative villains of the Super Age, seventy-nine started out as fledgling heroes. Of those, some interesting patterns emerge. Twenty-two turned to crime to pay off their medical bills after a career-ending injury. Twenty-one were holding down multiple jobs. These overlap with the nineteen living below the poverty line while officially employed as heroes. Put that together with the high rates of untreated concussions, trauma disorders, and general malaise in the super population... You're a smart boy, Stardust. You get the picture."

Janet blinks. This is a new perspective for her.

Stardust is grinding his teeth. "No one will even want to be a hero anymore, I know! That's why we're trying to change it!"

"And I'm helping. Fewer abandoned heroes means more villainy left for me~"

The feed finally cuts. The heroes and Janet visibly relax.

Stardust growls. "Support the Heroes' Alliance to stop villains like them from being right!"

Fenugreek begins nudging Stardust off-camera. "That's one of many reasons to support the Heroes' Alliance. I'd prefer we focus on our altruistic efforts!"

Janet nods. "We'll bring you more coverage after the break!"

The superheroes have had enough of minimum wage, no benefits, no 401k plans, and being forced to pay high taxes. They decide to protest the unfair circumstances and surprisingly, the villains support their cause.