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the Guardian
Techno-capitalists think innovation can save the planet. But that same thinking is what got us here
An upside-down mindset is emerging around the world. We have to rethink our relationship with the environment and the technology that has caused it...
 *Techno-capitalists think innovation can save the planet. But that same thinking is what got us here.* Concretely, what in their way of thinking tends to find "solutions" that create new problems? I see a few reasons. Tech billionaires tend to be overoptimistic, so they underestimate the likelihood and magnitude of problems and failures
the Guardian
Taxing tobacco is a win-win for health services under pressure. So why aren’t governments demanding more? | Mary Assunta
The latest Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index shows how companies are succeeding in influencing governments to ensure taxes remain flat or ...
 Tobacco companies are lobbying hard to prevent the tax increases that could save many lives.
Glossary
the Guardian
Donald Trump has built a regime of retribution and reward | Sidney Blumenthal
The president’s purges and attacks on his enemies have developed into a system in which injustice is made routine
 *[The corrupter] has built a regime of retribution and reward.* In effect, a tyrant's regime.
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the Guardian
Crypto donations could entirely corrupt British politics. Labour must act quickly | Liam Byrne
We need to know who is funding our parties, but this new frontier is custom-built for hostile actors. The elections bill is a good start – but on...
 Proposing that the UK ban donations to political campaigns and parties via cryptocurrency, and also the laundering of anonymous donations through intermediate organizations that receive it anonymously. This would protect elections from being bought by foreign countries and foreign rich people, but the best thing would be to put an end to private campaign financing and
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the Guardian
US student handcuffed after AI system apparently mistook bag of chips for gun
Baltimore county high schools have gun detection system that alerts police if it sees what it deems suspicious
Glossary
 Some machine learning systems that recognize patterns work very well. But some are not reliable enough to be used in real life. A school's "gun detection system" that analyzes camera images saw a student's bag of potato chips and recognized it as a gun, whereupon thugs were sent to handcuff him and search him. A conscientious human could have
the Guardian
Democrats sift through shutdown’s ashes after resistance finally breached
After 42-day standoff, government is back open – and minority party won no concessions from party in power
 Democrats had a chance to restore medical Funding for millions of poor people, but a few of them chickened out and threw away the month-long struggle.
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the Guardian
Turkey likely to be excluded from Gaza stabilisation force after Israeli objection
Doubts over whether Ankara will be part of 5,000-strong force to be deployed to prevent postwar power vacuum
 *Turkish disaster response specialists sent to help locate Palestinian and Israeli [dead] bodies inside Gaza remained near Egypt's border with the strip on Thursday, awaiting Israeli authorization to enter. The 81-member team from Turkey’s AFAD disaster management authority are waiting to enter with life-detection devices and trained search dogs.* Israel is citing HAMAS's failure to return
Glossary
the Guardian
Taylor Swift’s silence on the Trump administration using her music speaks volumes | Alim Kheraj
Official Trump social media accounts have been using The Life of a Showgirl snippets to promote his agenda. Why has Swift, who once wanted ‘to be...
 Various music and movie stars that formerly spoke up against the persecutor are now not taking a stand. They knew how bad he is and they cannot have forgotten it. I suspect that they see speaking up as dangerous or unprofitable.