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20 votes
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Elon Musk’s X sues California over content moderation law, claiming it violates free speech
25 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 -
Three big, bold ideas to douse the flames of a world on fire
10 votes -
UK government looks to rollback sickness benefits
18 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 -
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 -
Poland cuts tax for first-time homebuyers and raises it for those buying multiple properties
29 votes -
Palm oil giants Indonesia, Malaysia start talks with EU over deforestation rule
7 votes -
London’s plan to charge drivers of polluting cars sparks protests and stirs political passions
29 votes -
Senator admits "Kids Online Safety Act" will target trans content online
28 votes -
France’s browser-based website blocking proposal will set a disastrous precedent for the open internet
49 votes -
X to collect biometric and employment data
39 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 -
War against the children
13 votes -
The Ugly Mugs Ireland android app has been removed from the app store
16 votes -
Applying taxes to beef products could be one way to reduce CO2 emissions, says the Danish Government
26 votes -
Black Twitter abandons Musk's X. The influential online community that gave rise to social movements like #BlackLivesMatter is now a ‘digital diaspora’ in search of a new home.
66 votes -
Europe is cracking down on Big Tech. This is what will change when you sign on
81 votes -
Sweden seeks to stem deadly rise in youth crime – illegal guns are relatively accessible, with younger and younger children being drawn into serious crime
14 votes -
The new (improved?) face of public housing in Maryland
10 votes -
Mexican politician introduces bill to criminalize ecocide - only a few countries have such laws but more are considering it
16 votes -
University of Eastern Finland has received more funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland to continue the Karelian language revitalization project
8 votes -
Italy impounds three rescue ships as migrant numbers soar
25 votes -
German cabinet approves measure to expedite solar deployment
11 votes -
Fukushima contaminated water set to be released into the ocean
13 votes -
Niger observers link coup to president’s support for EU migration policies
4 votes -
darken (developer of SD Maid for Android) has had his developer account terminated after twelve years for "stalkerware policy" on Google Play despite having no actual stalking tools in the app
14 votes -
Ecuadorians reject oil drilling in the Amazon, ending operations in a protected area
13 votes -
Carbon removal should be a public good
30 votes -
A single reform that could save 100,000 lives across the USA immediately
24 votes -
Taliban bringing water to Afghanistan’s parched plains via massive canal
32 votes -
Midwestern US cities become transgender health sanctuaries amid GOP legislative threats
33 votes -
Ecuador prepares for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ vote to stop oil drilling
18 votes -
The United States can't build infrastructure. The reason: it refuses to learn from other countries.
124 votes -
Hydrogen, additionality, & Joe Manchin
5 votes -
US federal grants will replace tunnels beneath roads that let water pass but not fish
16 votes -
Judge rules in favor of Montana youths in landmark climate decision
46 votes -
US Education Department readies latest tranche of student debt relief but faces new legal challenges to the program
18 votes -
Growing segregation by sex in Israel raises fears for women’s rights
71 votes -
We need to raise a lot more in tax from the wealthy but that does not convince me that we need a wealth tax
39 votes -
Massachusetts passed a 4% millionaire's tax last year. Now every public-school student is going to get free lunch.
71 votes -
Finland should aim to leave the European Union in the long term, the far-right Perussuomalaiset's Jussi Halla-aho said ahead of his party congress
19 votes -
Helsinki could become a 'sanctuary city' for medical treatment, as the new right-wing government continues to crack down on undocumented migrants
8 votes -
What a green monetary policy could look like
8 votes -
Environmental experts have criticised the Swedish government's plan to build at least ten nuclear reactors in the next twenty years
22 votes -
The EPA’s ambitious plan to cut auto emissions receives pushback from US automakers
29 votes -
US President Joe Biden to designate a new national monument surrounding the Grand Canyon
45 votes -
Norway's ongoing journey to optimize breastfeeding support – rates of breastfeeding in the WHO European Region are the lowest in the world
10 votes