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13 votes
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Fairphone 5 - Android updates for five years and at least eight years of security updates; possibly upto ten years, keeping the phone active until 2033
57 votes -
Bringing back the minimal web
112 votes -
Europeans in service of Russian propaganda machine
10 votes -
Innocent Muslims being murdered in India due to Hindu radicalism
28 votes -
Amateur sleuths patrol the town of Oulu, Finland to try to recover stolen bicycles and take on bike thieves
11 votes -
The unmaking of India: How the British impoverished the world’s richest country
21 votes -
Fitness Weekly Discussion
What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started...
What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?
11 votes -
King County to surpass record fentanyl death toll — with four months left in 2023
15 votes -
In Oakland's crime wave, unique problem hits waterfront: ‘Pirates’
16 votes -
US veterans discharged under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ are still fighting for justice — and benefits
28 votes -
It's very weird to have a skull full of poison
42 votes -
Hege Riise has left her role as Norway coach following the Women's World Cup
6 votes -
The five higher-speed rail projects taking shape in the US
39 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 Virgin Islands lawsuit against JP Morgan: USVI says JPMorgan notified Treasury of more than $1 billion in suspicious Jeffrey Epstein transactions after he died
22 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 -
Studies note higher risk of death, impaired health up to two years after COVID infection
23 votes -
Working from home: Perks and policies?
Wondering how other organizations are supporting / controlling working from home? Do you guys get your internet reimbursed? Do you have to use a company-controlled wifi router? Do you get a...
Wondering how other organizations are supporting / controlling working from home?
Do you guys get your internet reimbursed? Do you have to use a company-controlled wifi router? Do you get a cellphone (with data) so you have a back-up connectivity? Allowances? Are you surveilled?
23 votes -
Tylenol: Six more years of failure
38 votes -
How unused gift cards power Delaware's economy
7 votes -
Republican Presidential candidates vow to fiddle as the Earth burns
29 votes -
Can infill development save cities?
6 votes -
The women’s recession is officially over — but not everyone has recovered equally
10 votes -
Kansas officials are no longer required to change trans people’s birth certificates, judge says
12 votes -
How much dietary fat do we really need?
7 votes -
The difference between migraine and sinus headache
20 votes -
Businessman involved in fraudulent Alaska Native artwork scheme given longest sentence ever handed down to someone violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act
12 votes -
No Meat Required - Alicia Kennedy’s new book explores the tensions and triumphs of leaving meat behind
21 votes -
War against the children
13 votes -
Apple’s decision to kill its CSAM photo-scanning tool sparks fresh controversy
24 votes -
Treasury Department releases first-of-its-kind report on benefits of unions to the US economy
61 votes -
Maiden Pharmaceuticals: Fury in The Gambia over India cough syrup deaths
8 votes -
US money from the Climate-Smart Commodities program, designed to reduce agriculture emissions, is going disproportionately to multinationals
4 votes -
Social media decline: Users are shifting to messaging apps and group chats
36 votes -
Young climate activist tells Greenpeace to drop ‘old-fashioned’ anti-nuclear stance
71 votes -
Iceland allows whaling to resume – activists say that whales will still suffer agonising deaths despite new regulations and monitoring
23 votes -
Introducing Amtrak Airo - A modern passenger experience
41 votes -
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is what happens when devs have time to play
23 votes -
Where can I see Hokusai's Great Wave today?
22 votes -
Judge denies request to halt Missouri’s gender-affirming medical care ban
15 votes -
Scalene, an open-source tool for dramatically speeding up the programming language Python
12 votes -
Taylor Swift concert film will bring Eras Tour to America’s movie theaters in October
17 votes -
2/3 of foreign components in Russian drones are made in the US; China is the main supplier, according to the Yermak-McFaul International Working Group and KSE Institute
15 votes -
What programming/technical projects have you been working on?
This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...
This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?
18 votes -
What Courtney Dauwalter learned in the pain cave
6 votes -
A sesame allergy law in the US has made it harder to avoid the seed. Here's why.
28 votes -
Sony a7C II and a7CR hands-on: Entry-level no longer
12 votes -
No evidence UK grammar school systems are best for the brightest, study of 500,000 pupils reveals
14 votes