The Lever
The Decades-Long Plan To Rob FEMA To Pay ICE
Trump is using regulatory tricks to funnel disaster-relief funds to immigration enforcement, even as climate disasters threaten millions.
 *[The deportation thugs are] siphoning ever more resources and personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).* We have seen much proof that the wrecker wants to engage lots of untrained agents to grab and deport, and separately wants to incapacitate FEMA. With this trick he can do both at once.
the Guardian
Santas and elves rob Montreal grocery store to ‘give food to the needy’
Group called Robins des Ruelles later said in statement stunt was intended to highlight cost of living crisis
 *Santas and elves rob Montreal grocery store to "give food to the needy."* This isn't the ideal system for helping the poor, but it is better than failing to do the job.
The Lever
Confessions Of The Retired And Powerless
Mitt Romney’s reversal on taxes comes only after he's given up the power to fix the problem he fortified.
 *Why is it that powerful people typically wait until they have no power [before they] take the right position and effectively admit they were wrong when they had more power to do something about it?*
the Guardian
My warning as the new head of Unison: never again will we prop up politicians hostile to unions | Andrea Egan
I have been appalled by Wes Streeting’s attacks on resident doctors. The destructive right wing of the Labour party should know that this is a ne...
 The new leader of Britain's largest labor union announces it will refuse its support to the Labour Party if that party supports billionaires instead of working people.
the Guardian
Trump serious about pursuing a third term, Gavin Newsom warns
California governor says US must ‘wake up’ to threat posed by the president’s disregard of democratic norms
 Governor Newsom said he believe the wrecker is seriously trying to block the next presidential election so he can remain president.
the Guardian
ChatGPT has its uses, but I still hate it – and I’ll tell you why | Imogen West-Knights
It’s bad for the planet and could make many jobs – including mine – obsolete. But my loathing runs deeper than that, says writer Imogen West-...
 A satire about future chatbots recognizes they are not intelligent, despite using the term "AI". Too bad more people don't have the courage to refuse to endorse the claim that they are intelligent.
the Guardian
‘She was like a deer in headlights’: how unskilled radical birthkeepers took hold in Canada
In holistic communities and midwifery deserts, women are turning to the Free Birth Society for information and unlicensed providers
 Medical disinformation is sometimes deadly. In Canada, people are falling for disinformation about "natural" childbirth, which effectively puts recourse to medicine off limits.
the Guardian
Want to know why Israelis are indifferent about Gaza? Just watch Israeli TV | Roy Schwartz
Some might be partisan, others under external pressure – but too many journalists in Israel have failed to tell the truth about Gaza, says Haaret...
 *Some might be partisan, others under external pressure – but too many journalists in Israel have failed to tell the truth about Gaza.*
the Guardian
‘Protests had nothing to do with the attacks’: activists condemn premier’s plan to restrict rallies after Bondi shooting
Pro-Palestine activists, some Jewish groups and civil liberty campaigners criticise NSW Labor for ‘eroding our democratic freedoms’
 Australia is planning to respond to the antisemitic shooting by repressing protests and rallies -- those criticizing Israel's atrocities, I suppose. Those atrocities are just as vicious, and far larger, than the antisemitic violence. It is absurd to fight antisemitic violence by protecting bigger atrocities. We must oppose both.
Glossary
the Guardian
Serbian president threatens reprisals after plans for Belgrade Trump Tower thwarted
Development abandoned after Serbian minister indicted over $500m project, in setback for Trump family empire
 President Vučić of Serbia, a right-winger corrupted by the bully (and also by Putin), agreed to let him build a "Trump Tower" in a protected area of land. An honest prosecutor investigated and laid charges of corruption, which brought about cancellation of the plan.