1084 posts tagged with government.
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"This string of hottest months will be remembered as comparatively cold"
Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are surging "faster than ever" to beyond anything humans ever experienced, officials say - "Not only is CO2 now at the highest level in millions of years, it is also rising faster than ever." [more inside]
Free tax filing, now and forever. (Actual taxes still not free)
The IRS announces that "Direct File will be a permanent, free tax filing option." Despite years of lobbying from the likes of Intuit and H&R Block, the IRS ran a successful pilot program of its Direct File program with 12 states. Today, they announced that the program will be permanent and invited all states to participate.
Welcome the new Overlords
How Did American Capitalism Mutate Into American Corporatism
In short, this corporatism – in all its iterations including the regulatory state and the patent war chest that maintains and enforces monopoly – is the core source of all the current despotism.
In short, this corporatism – in all its iterations including the regulatory state and the patent war chest that maintains and enforces monopoly – is the core source of all the current despotism.
The Second Haitian Revolution?
The nation of Haiti has been rocked by far more than its fair share of disasters in recent decades, from major hurricanes to a devastating 2010 earthquake (which killed upwards of 200,000) to the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic. The humanitarian situation has been worsened by escalating political instability, with the "legal banditry" of President Martelly followed by the 2021 assassination of President Moïse amidst a wave of mass protests and criminal violence. The ongoing turmoil reached a fever pitch this week as gang leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier led an audacious jailbreak of the country's prisons, freeing thousands of convicts that have joined forces in a united front that controls most of Port-au-Prince and credibly threatens to overthrow the government. Acting president Ariel Henry (himself a prime suspect in Moïse's murder) remains stranded outside the country, having secured a deployment of Kenyan police to bolster a multinational force. Most Haitian citizens, however, oppose foreign intervention -- understandable after the last UN mission triggered a major cholera epidemic. The Biden administration is allegedly pressuring the embattled Henry to resign (an improvement over the last time the US was involved in Haitian politics). For their part, a coalition of Haitian civil society offers a possible solution in the Montana Accord, a multi-stage plan to restore electoral democracy. [more inside]
PFLAG sues Texas to protect transgender members
From Erin Reed's newsletter: In a legal filing Thursday, PFLAG National sought to block a new demand from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that would require the organization to identify its Texas transgender members, doctors who work with them, and contingency plans for anti-transgender legislation in the state. The civil investigative demand, issued on Feb. 5, calls for extensive identifying information and records from the LGBTQ+ rights organization. PFLAG, in its filing to block the demands, describes them as "retaliation" for its opposition to anti-transgender laws in the state and alleges that they violate the freedom of speech and association protections afforded by the United States and Texas constitutions. [more inside]
Smart Move(?)
Capital One announced this week that it intends to buy Discover in an all-stock deal valued at $35 billion, which would make it by some measures the largest credit card company in the U.S. While CEO Richard Fairbank covets Discover's independent payments network, consumer advocates fear a negative effect on its vaunted customer service, as well as a general trend of credit card companies squeezing customers more as they grow larger. Though there is an argument that the proposed deal will increase competition at the network level, it will still face heavy antitrust scrutiny from the Federal Reserve and Biden administration regulators. Meanwhile in Congress, criticism of the deal has already been aired by pro-regulation stalwarts, including Elizabeth Warren, Maxine Waters, and... Josh Hawley?
Samuel Moyn on The Trouble with Old Men
Gerontocracy is as old as the world. For millennia, to greater or lesser degrees, it has been the default principle of governance, from ancient Greek city-states to the Soviet republics. Though there have been exceptions, when you look for gerontocracy today, you find it everywhere – aged men and women at the helms of states the world over. [CW: suicide, senicide, ageism] [more inside]
One Weird Trick for keeping insurrectionists from running the government
SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court to decide whether insurrection provision keeps Trump off ballot
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Thursday in what is shaping up to be the biggest election case since its ruling nearly 25 years ago in Bush v. Gore. At issue is whether former President Donald Trump, who is once again the front runner for the Republican nomination for president, can be excluded from the ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol. Although the question comes to the court in a case from Colorado, the impact of the court’s ruling could be much more far-reaching. Maine’s secretary of state ruled in December that Trump should be taken off the primary ballot there, and challenges to Trump’s eligibility are currently pending in 11 other states. Trump warns that the efforts to keep him off the ballot “threaten to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans” and “promise to unleash chaos and bedlam if other state courts and state officials follow Colorado’s lead.” But the voters challenging Trump’s eligibility counter that “we already saw the ‘bedlam’ Trump unleashed when he was on the ballot and lost.”Wikipedia: Trump v. Anderson and the 2024 presidential eligibility of Donald Trump - Politico: Who is Norma Anderson? The 91-year-old lawmaker who could have Trump disqualified - 6 key questions in Supreme Court fight over Trump’s ballot eligibility - ResetEra's annotated list of the many amicus briefs - Tune in to official live audio of oral arguments in about an hour (starting at 10 a.m. Eastern) [more inside]
SCOTUS takes aim at the government's regulatory shield
SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court to hear major case on power of federal agencies
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Wednesday in a case involving the deference that courts should give to federal agencies’ interpretations of the laws that they administer. From health care to finance to environmental pollutants, administrative agencies use highly trained experts to interpret and carry out federal laws. Although the case may sound technical, it is one of the most closely watched cases of the court’s current term [...] The doctrine at the center of the case is known as the Chevron doctrine. It is named after the Supreme Court’s 1984 opinion in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council [...] Justice John Paul Stevens set out a two-part test for courts to review an agency’s interpretation of a statute it administers. The court must first determine whether Congress has directly addressed the question at the center of the case. If it has not, the court must uphold the agency’s interpretation of the statute as long as it is reasonable. [...] it became one of the most significant rulings on federal administrative law, cited by federal courts more than 18,000 times. At the same time, Chevron has been a target for conservatives, who contend that courts – rather than federal agencies – should say what the law means.Politico: Conservative justices seem poised to weaken power of federal agencies | NYT: A Potentially Huge Supreme Court Case Has a Hidden Conservative Backer | Vox: The Supreme Court's new “Chevron” case threatens to sow chaos throughout the government
The Sound of 1-800-222-1811
United States Postal Service - Hold Music Collection on Bandcamp
To see the most recent status of your packages, enter your tracking number in any search box on USPS.com.
NOTE: The tracking information available to customer service representatives is the same information you will see on USPS Tracking.
Hours of Operation... [more inside]
To see the most recent status of your packages, enter your tracking number in any search box on USPS.com.
NOTE: The tracking information available to customer service representatives is the same information you will see on USPS Tracking.
Hours of Operation... [more inside]
Power (Plough, Sword & Book) and Progress (Exit, Voice & Loyalty)
Justice by Means of Democracy [archive|transcript] - "[T]he work of democracy is to continuously resist capture. There is no end of history. There is no state of rest for democracy. Democracy is the work of resisting capture by powerful interests and restoring power-sharing just over and over and over again. So we have to do work to introduce new governance mechanisms in the place of those that are not working."[1,2; link-heavy post!] [more inside]
Self selective assortative voting (with your feet)
The Red State Brain Drain Isn't Coming. It's Happening Right Now. [archive] - "As conservative states wage total culture war, college-educated workers—physicians, teachers, professors, and more—are packing their bags." [more inside]
A Land of Contrasts ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Sinicisation
How China is tearing down Islam [ungated; viz. cf.] - "Thousands of mosques have been altered or destroyed as Beijing's suppression of Islamic culture spreads."[1,2] [more inside]
American Fascism
Behind the Curtain: Trump allies pre-screen loyalists for unprecedented power grab - "Hundreds of people are spending tens of millions of dollars to install a pre-vetted, pro-Trump army of up to 54,000 loyalists across government to rip off the restraints imposed on the previous 46 presidents." (previously) [more inside]
Is Finland the best place in the world to be a parent?
What the world can learn from childcare in Finland [yt] - "Finland is a world leader when it comes to early years education. Childcare is affordable and nursery places are universally available in a system that puts children's rights at the centre of decision-making. Now the country is applying the same child-first thinking to paternity-leave policies in an attempt to tackle gender inequality in parenting."[1,2,3] [more inside]
Project 2025
Conservative groups draw up plan to dismantle the US government and replace it with Trump's vision - "Led by the long-established Heritage Foundation think tank and fueled by former Trump administration officials, the far-reaching effort is essentially a government-in-waiting for the former president's return — or any candidate who aligns with their ideals and can defeat President Joe Biden in 2024." [link-heavy FPP] [more inside]
The Memory Bank*
A Hidden Currency of Incalculable Worth [ungated] - "We need to start thinking about policies aimed at freeing up time for impoverished families as a form of aid. We could begin by defining a healthy society as one in which everyone has a place to stay, food to eat and time to enjoy the fruits of their labor with those for whom they labor. A living wage should be one in which there is space for something beyond work." [link-heavy FPP! ;] [more inside]
300 years of formal white supremacy hasn’t served whites well, either
Colin Woodard (previously) and the Nationhood Lab have found that "the most impoverished quartile of U.S. counties in Yankeedom (ones where around 30 to 60 percent of children live in poverty) have a higher life expectancy than the least impoverished quartile of U.S. counties (where child poverty ranges from 3 to 15 percent) in the Deep South." They argue that the difference is not explained by race, income, or population density, but by culture and government.
The Cost of Living/Housing Crisis
Here's why Americans can't stop living paycheck to paycheck - "The typical worker takes home $3,308 per month after taxes and benefits, based on the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But when you take a look at the cost of some of the most essential expenses today, it's easy to see why consumers feel strained." [link-heavy FPP! :] [more inside]
Go be a lighthouse keeper, do!
Want to own a historic lighthouse? The U.S. government is offering at least 10 lighthouses to the public and government agencies as demand for the once-critical maritime facilities declines due to technology such as GPS. Some of the buildings, which can be centuries old, have colorful histories — and some are even said to have ghosts. [more inside]
Household Formation Is Destiny
Home-based workers became younger, more diverse in pandemic - "People working from home became younger, more diverse, better educated and more likely to move during the worst part of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau." (More People in All Race/Ethnic Groups Worked From Home 2019-2021) [CW: link-heavy FPP] [more inside]
How much does the median American ride public transportation each year?
How to save America's public transit systems from a doom spiral - "The only realistic way for transit officials to garner public support for the funding they desperately need is to demonstrate an ability to replace car trips, not just serve economically disadvantaged people who lack other means to get around their city. Otherwise, they forfeit the pro-transit arguments that resonate most with the public: curtailing congestion, reducing auto emissions, and boosting economic growth. And to replace cars, transit agencies must offer fast, frequent, and reliable trips. This should be the core mission of any functional public transportation system..." [more inside]
The People's Plan for Nature
Can citizens' assemblies save the planet? The People’s Plan for Nature, launched on Thursday, sets out the UK public’s recommendations for reversing massive declines in Britain’s nature. A hundred people were invited to come together, in a citizens’ assembly, to agree on a plan for how to renew and protect nature. More information at peoplesplanfornature.org [more inside]
What if climate change meant not doom — but abundance?
Rebecca Solnit: How to meet the climate crisis? Redefine 'abundance.' [ungated] - "Much of the reluctance to do what climate change requires comes from the assumption that it means trading abundance for austerity, and trading all our stuff and conveniences for less stuff, less convenience. But what if it meant giving up things we're well rid of, from deadly emissions to nagging feelings of doom and complicity in destruction? What if the austerity is how we live now — and the abundance could be what is to come?"[1,2,3,4] [more inside]
“Even for a moment in time, I want to experience that.”
David Do, the new head of New York City's Taxi & Limousine Commission, has just become a licensed cabdriver. He aims to drive "100 trips a year as a way of learning firsthand what drivers encounter daily, whether that’s dealing with traffic and customers, or struggling to find designated spots where they can park and take bathroom breaks....Do tried a similar approach at his previous post, where he briefly drove for D.C. Neighborhood Connect, an on-demand shared-ride shuttle." Commissioner Do had to pass TLC's exam (PDF of sample test) to get a license.
Abundance: Aplenty for All
Making energy too cheap to meter - "The great slowdown began when we started rationing energy. Restarting progress means getting energy that is so abundant that it's almost free." [more inside]
Democracy by Lottery
The Case for Abolishing Elections: More disturbing, he noted how his fellow politicians—all of whom owned their homes—tended to legislate in favor of landlords and against tenants. “I saw that the experiences and beliefs of legislators shape legislation far more than facts,” he said. “After that, I frequently commented that any 150 Vermonters pulled from the phone book would be more representative than the elected House membership.” [more inside]
Practical Utopias from Degrowth Pastoralism to Star Trek Futurism
Why the Age of American Progress Ended [ungated] - "Invention alone can't change the world; what matters is what happens next."[1,2,3,4] [more inside]
Parks replace downtown freeways
The U.S. city of the future - "What does the city of the future look like in the USA? Let's take a trip to Any City, USA of the mid 21st century. With a look at the existing situation, current trends, and recent government policy, let's take a look at where we'll work, how we'll get around, and where and who we'll live with in the coming decades." [more inside]
Bringing Humans into the water cycle
Bringing Humans into the water cycle [via mefi projects, where you can learn more about the project]
Civilization reboot: Imagine post-capitalism instead of the world's end
An Economic History of the ('Long') Twentieth Century - "Slouching Towards Utopia is a rise-and-fall epic—but it is better at depicting the rise than explaining the fall."[1,2,3] [more inside]
Money Stuff
The Only Crypto Story You Need, by Matt Levine - "Where it came from, what it all means, and why it still matters." (archive; also btw What Is Code?[*] by Paul Ford, earlier)
USGS Water Data For The Nation Blog
Pretend there's a point to wandering around a rock orbiting a dying star
Is There a Way Out of Hawaii's Housing Crisis? - "The Aloha State is drowning in a flood of the same factors creating a housing crisis all over America. It will either become a model for solutions or a cautionary tale." [more inside]
Atoms and Bits
The story so far: So until some random assortment of matter and energy somehow arranged itself into what we think of as 'life', the universe was just that: a random assortment of matter and energy. After life, life began to arrange matter and energy, according to life -- creating life (and death) at least on the third rock from some star... [more inside]
The Sunflower Movements: Useful Fictions and Consensus Reality
corporate libertarianism v synthetic technocracy v digital democracy: "Yes I think the defining political divides of the 21st century will be roughly captured in the terms laid out by Civilization VI: Gathering Storm Expansion... Current crisis is largely transition from the 20th century mode of fascism v communism v democracy to this." [more inside]
A sign of where things are going
A wild new court decision would blow up much of the government's ability to operate - "The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit's decision in Jarkesy v. SEC would dismantle much of the system the federal government uses to enforce longstanding laws." [more inside]
A Movement That’s Quietly Reshaping Democracy For The Better
Imagine you receive an invitation one day from your mayor, inviting you to serve as a member of your city’s newly established permanent Citizens’ Assembly. "You will be one of 100 others like you — people who are not politicians or even necessarily party members. All of you were drawn by lot through a fair and random process called a civic lottery. ... Important decisions have been shaped by everyday people about 10-year, $5 billion strategic plans, 30-year infrastructure investment strategies, tackling online hate speech and harassment, taking preventative action against increased flood risks, improving air quality, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and many other issues."
Pathocracy, or how psychopathy takes over a society
Pathocracy, identified by the Polish psychologist Andrzej Lobaczewski, is the condition where government of a society is dominated by those with psychopathological disorders. It begins when one such disordered individual emerges as a leader figure; soon, their personality amplifies it, filtering out those appalled by their brutality and irresponsibility but attracting others who see it as charisma and decisiveness. Soon, others with psychopathic traits attach themselves to the power hierarchy, while responsible and moral people leave or are ejected, and before long, the entire government is filled with people with a pathological lack of empathy and conscience. This psychopathy soon spreads beyond the government, through the population, through propaganda and polarising ideology. [more inside]
CalCare, AB-1400 Guaranteed Health Care for All.
"I'm just a bill, on Sacramento Hill"- "There Ought to be a Law"
Are you a Californian with an idea for legislation? The California Democrats want to hear your ideas The legislative calendar for the 2022 season is rapidly filling up, and members of the Assembly would like to hear suggestions from their constituents. For California residents, the deadline is Friday January 14th.
If you're a student in New York, there's asimilar competition going on (Middle School only).
Students in Pennyslvania also have an opportunity.
Barbados Today
Govt plans universal income for all - "It appears that the Government is moving ahead with a plan to provide Barbadians with a universal basic income, which may come in the form of a 'citizen's dividend.'"[1] [more inside]
Tax Loopholes and Revolving Doors (Occupy K Street)
How Accounting Giants Craft Favorable Tax Rules From Inside Government [ungated] - "Lawyers from top accounting firms do brief stints in the Treasury Department, with the expectation of big raises when they return." [more inside]
It measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile
Enough with the GDP — it's time to measure genuine progress - "Unlike GDP, the Genuine Progress Indicator is designed to measure economic performance from the perspective of ordinary American households, not corporations or Wall Street investors."[1,2] [more inside]
Common Prosperity
Vaccinated Democratic Counties Are Leading the Economic Recovery - "The 520 counties Biden won account for fully 71% of U.S. gross domestic product, while the 2,564 that Trump carried produced just 29%. In other words, America's economic engine is bluer than ever." [more inside]
NYC’s Street Trees
For the data-loving dendrophiles, NYC Parks has mapped every streetside tree in the city. [more inside]
Inside the Tax Records of the .001%
ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, even nothing. [more inside]
They are going to refuse to certify Democratic wins.
They tried to overturn the 2020 election. Now they want to run the next one. @kenvogel: "At least four Republicans who sought to undercut or overturn the 2020 presidential election are launching campaigns to become the top election official in key states that could decide control of Congress in 2022 — & who wins the White House in 2024." (via) [more inside]
Their brand is cruelty
Out of power in Washington, Republicans pursue hard-right agenda across the country - "In Florida, Oklahoma and Iowa, Republican legislators passed bills granting immunity to drivers who hit protesters, part of a wave of Republican-led legislation aimed at cracking down on public protests of the kind that followed the police killing of George Floyd. Across the country, a bevy of states have passed bills preventing transgender athletes from playing high school sports." (previously) [more inside]
That's what it's all about.
After the street sweeper comes and goes, who comes by to pick up what's left over? The hokey. [more inside]