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20 votes
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Texas paid bitcoin miner more than $31 million to cut energy usage during heat wave
41 votes -
Why do so many people hate EU bureaucracy?
8 votes -
The African Union is joining the G20, a powerful acknowledgement of a continent of one billion people
23 votes -
Three Finnish opposition parties have called for a vote of no-confidence in the government to be held later this week over a racism scandal
24 votes -
Is the New Democratic Party a vassal for the Liberals in Canada if breaking from them is never on the table?
If it's never even a remote consideration that the NDP may break from the Liberals and side with the CPC in the House of Commons, aren't they essentially a vassal for the LPC, soaking up votes...
If it's never even a remote consideration that the NDP may break from the Liberals and side with the CPC in the House of Commons, aren't they essentially a vassal for the LPC, soaking up votes from disaffected Liberal voters and funneling them back into Liberal control? I mean from a simple game theoretic perspective, Liberals in the long run can demand everything and give nothing. I think Canadian politics has probably been damaged by overapplying the American left-right political spectrum, when it may be better thought as a three way spectrum between liberalism, conservatism, and democratic socialism (something like Red Toryism for example would be pretty inconceivable in American politics).
14 votes -
The Ezra Klein Show: Interview with Jennifer Pahlka about where government policy implementation goes wrong (and why government doesn't always work well)
7 votes -
US political journalists need to focus on the stakes, not the odds
23 votes -
US Supreme Court accepts case challenging Donald Trump's eligibility to run for president based on the 14th amendment and the January 6 capitol riot
60 votes -
'Project 2025' and the 'Mandate for Leadership'; the conservative plan for America
56 votes -
Mike Huckabee: 2024 will be last US election ‘decided by ballots rather than bullets’ if Donald Trump loses over legal cases
43 votes -
Sanna Marin joins Tony Blair Institute – former Finnish PM will advise political leaders in her new role
8 votes -
UK government looks to rollback sickness benefits
18 votes -
The GDP gap between Europe and the United States is now 80%
37 votes -
Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 4
This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...
This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.
This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.
10 votes -
Lies fuel racism ahead of Australia's Indigenous vote
13 votes -
French satirical newspaper 'Charlie Hebdo' blasts proposed Danish blasphemy law
38 votes -
Ex-leader of Proud Boys sentenced to twenty-two years in Jan. 6 US sedition case
39 votes -
A huge threat to the US budget has receded. No one is sure why (A decade of Medicare spending growth and projections)
18 votes -
A proposed law to ban caste discrimination in California has touched a nerve, led to controversy
41 votes -
Anger in Sweden as Nobel Prize organizers invite Russia and Belarus to the award ceremonies – several lawmakers say they will boycott this year's ceremonies
35 votes -
Twitter accused of helping Saudi Arabia commit human rights abuses
21 votes -
Interactive tool infographic shows antiprotest bills and laws in the United States
11 votes -
Fulton County judge says Donald Trump court proceedings will be televised
29 votes -
Norway has a chance to transform climate finance – the country's windfall from the energy crisis should be used to underwrite investments in developing countries
17 votes -
From fights over LGBT rights to prayer at school board meetings, Chino Valley California public schools have become ground zero for the culture wars
9 votes -
A Swedish citizen working for the European Union diplomatic corps has been imprisoned in Iran for more than 500 days
9 votes -
Palm oil giants Indonesia, Malaysia start talks with EU over deforestation rule
7 votes -
With no dedicated government minister or national representation, the Sámi go to the polls in a vote to elect twenty-one members of the Sámi Parliament in Inari, Finland
12 votes -
London’s plan to charge drivers of polluting cars sparks protests and stirs political passions
29 votes -
Donald Trump inflated net worth by more than $2 billion in one year, New York attorney general alleges
15 votes -
How did we get here? The dumbing of America, from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump and beyond
28 votes -
Senator admits "Kids Online Safety Act" will target trans content online
28 votes -
Infographic status update on US defendants charged related to January 6 riot at the White House
23 votes -
Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of August 28
This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...
This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.
This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.
13 votes -
'Most privileged nursing home': Nikki Haley takes a swipe at America's ageing politicians
28 votes -
Conservative groups draw up plan to dismantle the US government and replace it with Donald Trump’s vision
91 votes -
Proud Boy convicted of helping spearhead US Capitol attack ties Jan. 6 sentence record with eighteen years
49 votes -
US senator and pilot Tammy Duckworth: anyone who votes to reduce the 1,500 hour rule for pilot training will have blood on their hands
62 votes -
Europeans in service of Russian propaganda machine
10 votes -
Innocent Muslims being murdered in India due to Hindu radicalism
28 votes -
Finnish government unveils new plan to try and shake off the stigma of racism that has marred the first months of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's right-wing coalition
16 votes -
US President Joe Biden: Don't give Wall Street control of our public water systems
New advisory report pushes disastrous privatization schemes Link to the article This week, President Biden’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council issued a report recommending the privatization...
New advisory report pushes disastrous privatization schemes
This week, President Biden’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council issued a report recommending the privatization of the nation’s water systems.
The chair of the advisory council is the CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners, an infrastructure investment bank with an estimated $100 billion in assets under management that targets energy, transportation, digital and water infrastructure.
The report recommends, among other things, that the federal government “[r]emove barriers to privatization, concessions, and other nontraditional models of funding community water systems,” and open up all federal grant programs to support privatized utilities.
Food & Water Watch Public Water for All Campaign Director Mary Grant issued the following response:
Water privatization is a terrible idea. President Biden should have never appointed an investment banker to chair an advisory council for the nation’s infrastructure. Wall Street wants to take control of the nation’s public water systems to wring profits from communities that are already struggling with unaffordable water bills and toxic water.
Privatization would deepen the nation’s water crises, leading to higher water bills and less accountable and transparent services. Privately owned water systems charge 59 percent more than local government systems, and private ownership is the single largest factor associated with higher water bills — more than aging infrastructure or drought.
Instead of relying on Wall Street advisers, President Biden should support policies that will truly help communities by asking Congress to pass the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity and Reliability (WATER) Act (HR 1729, S 938). After decades of federal austerity for water, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was a step forward, but it provided only about seven percent of the identified needs of our water systems. The WATER Act would fully restore the federal commitment to safe water by providing a permanent source of federal funding at the level that our water and wastewater systems need to ensure safe, clean and affordable public water for all.
Certain resources/commodities/services like water, food, electricity and health should remain in public domain. I don't understand the askance that is associated with this view.
Once these fall to the profiteering domain, we will be sucked dry and forced to accept abnormal standards as normal to gain access to these which in first place should be in public domain protected in public interest by public representatives.
These resources will be and are used by IMF and sister organisations that are usually called "banks" as leverage to get their debts serviced or sold as AAA+ securities.
They tried that with real estate but that burst since a physical house doesn't just disappear which leads to emergence of derelict patches within the estates. This would certainly destroy the demand and the dead estate would translate into toxic securities by just being there and not disappearing. Similarly things that are too volatile will also not be accepted as essential by the public as was the case with electronics/net. So that's not worth it.
But what if the resource or commodity is essential, which means it has sustained demand, as well as it is volatile enough which means it vanishes after its monetary utility. Now that's "gold". Theoretically its value will not only be retained but it may even increase with no downside. Perpetual profitability.
55 votes -
Schoolkids in eight US states can now eat free school meals, advocates urge Congress for nationwide policy
85 votes -
Republican Presidential candidates vow to fiddle as the Earth burns
29 votes -
No Meat Required - Alicia Kennedy’s new book explores the tensions and triumphs of leaving meat behind
21 votes -
After Mitch McConnell's and Dianne Feinstein's episodes, should we talk about age limits in US public officials?
95 votes -
Russia has 'right to war' with 'each and every' NATO country - Dmitry Medvedev
28 votes -
Sen. Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again at a Kentucky event
73 votes -
How the kleptocrats and oligarchs hunt civil society groups to the ends of the Earth
20 votes