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U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) calls on Biden to lower food prices
www.kolotv.com Rosen calls on Biden to lower food pricesU.S. Senator Jacky Rosen is calling on President Biden to lower food costs by putting more pressure on corporations to end what she calls anticompetitive practices.
- theconversation.com Indian election was awash in deepfakes – but AI was a net positive for democracy
Campaigns used deepfakes to connect with voters rather than deception, and AI also helped them break through language barriers.
- www.nbcnews.com NAACP urges Biden to halt weapons to Israel and help end Gaza war
The NAACP has called on President Joe Biden to stop sending weapons to Israel and use the U.S.’ influence to end the war in Gaza.
- theintercept.com Joe Biden’s Terrible Israel Policy Is Really About Getting in Bed With Saudi Arabia
Biden's plan of coddling Israel to cozy up to Saudi Arabia is right out of Donald Trump's playbook — but even worse.
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[opinion] Yemen: STC de facto authorities must ensure safety of women’s shelter following takeover of Yemeni Women Union centre
www.amnesty.org Yemen: STC de facto authorities must ensure safety of women’s shelter following takeover of Yemeni Women Union centreThe Southern Transitional Council (STC) de facto authorities must reverse their unlawful takeover of the Aden-based Yemeni Women Union centre, an independent civil society organization, and ensure women and children residing in the centre’s shelter for survivors of gender-based violence are protecte...
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/17846908
> archive.org link > > > The Southern Transitional Council (STC) de facto authorities must reverse their unlawful takeover of the Aden-based Yemeni Women Union centre, an independent civil society organization, and ensure women and children residing in the centre’s shelter for survivors of gender-based violence are protected, said Amnesty International today. > > > > On 26 May, a group of armed men accompanying women from the STC-supported Southern Women Union, took over the Yemeni Women Union centre building in Sira district in Aden governorate by force. They broke in, changed the locks to the centre’s entrance and main rooms, destroyed security cameras, and expelled the centre’s guard replacing him with a new STC affiliated armed guard. They also denied access to staff of the Yemeni Women Union and to women seeking protective services. > > > > “Instead of guaranteeing the safety of women fleeing violence and strengthening the work of civil society organizations providing protective services, STC authorities have exposed them to further violence,” said Diala Haidar, Yemen researcher at Amnesty International.
- www.commondreams.org 'We Can Get There': Medicare for All Advocates See Resurgence in National Movement | Common Dreams
"More and more people are waking up to realize, we do not want private insurance companies to be in control of our healthcare system," said one advocate who attended the latest Sanders Institute Gathering.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/17826424
> archive.org link > > "More and more people are waking up to realize, we do not want private insurance companies to be in control of our healthcare system," said one advocate who attended the latest Sanders Institute Gathering.
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[2021] [resource] Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology: Even in a polarized era, deep divisions in both partisan coalitions
www.pewresearch.org Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political TypologyPew Research Center’s political typology provides a roadmap to today’s fractured political landscape. It segments the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/17824195
> archive.org link > > > This is the Center’s eighth political typology since 1987, but it differs from earlier such studies in several important ways. It is the first typology conducted on Pew Research Center’s nationally representative American Trends Panel, which provides the benefit of a large sample size and the ability to include a wealth of other political data for the analysis, including the Center’s validated voter study. > > > The four Democratic-oriented typology groups highlight the party’s racial and ethnic diversity, as well as the unwieldy nature of the current Democratic coalition. (For complete descriptions of all nine typology groups see Chapters 3-11; for profiles of the Democratic and Republican coalitions see Chapters 1 and 2 of this report.) > > > They include two very different groups of liberal Democrats: Progressive Left and Establishment Liberals. Progressive Left, the only majority White, non-Hispanic group of Democrats, have very liberal views on virtually every issue and support far-reaching changes to address racial injustice and expand the social safety net. Establishment Liberals, while just as liberal in many ways as Progressive Left, are far less persuaded of the need for sweeping change. > > > Two other Democratic-aligned groups could not be more different from each other, both demographically and in their relationship to the party. Democratic Mainstays, the largest Democratic-oriented group, as well as the oldest on average, are unshakeable Democratic loyalists and have a moderate tilt on some issues. Outsider Left, the youngest typology group, voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden a year ago and are very liberal in most of their views, but they are deeply frustrated with the political system – including the Democratic Party and its leaders. > > > The four Republican-oriented groups include three groups of conservatives: Faith and Flag Conservatives are intensely conservative in all realms; they are far more likely than all other typology groups to say government policies should support religious values and that compromise in politics is just “selling out on what you believe in.” Committed Conservatives also express conservative views across the board, but with a somewhat softer edge, particularly on issues of immigration and America’s place in the world. Populist Right, who have less formal education than most other typology groups and are among the most likely to live in rural areas, are highly critical of both immigrants and major U.S. corporations. > > > Ambivalent Right, the youngest and least conservative GOP-aligned group, hold conservative views about the size of government, the economic system and issues of race and gender. But they are the only group on the political right in which majorities favor legal abortion and say marijuana should be legal for recreational and medical use. They are also distinct in their views about Donald Trump – while a majority voted for him in 2020, most say they would prefer he not continue to be a major political figure. > > > The only typology group without a clear partisan orientation – Stressed Sideliners – also is the group with the lowest level of political engagement. Stressed Sideliners, who make up 15% of the public but constituted just 10% of voters in 2020, have a mix of conservative and liberal views but are largely defined by their minimal interest in politics.
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[resource] Political Typology Quiz: Where do you fit in the political typology? Are you a Faith and Flag Conservative? Progressive Left? Or somewhere in between?
www.pewresearch.org Political Typology QuizTake our quiz to find out which one of our nine political typology groups is your best match.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/17821633
> archive.org link > > > Take our quiz to find out which one of our nine political typology groups is your best match, compared with a nationally representative survey of more than 10,000 U.S. adults by Pew Research Center. You may find some of these questions are difficult to answer. That’s OK. In those cases, pick the answer that comes closest to your view, even if it isn’t exactly right.
- www.newsweek.com Joe Biden's approval rating in swing states is worse than national average
Biden's approval rating is worse in a number of the states expected to decide the 2024 election than the national average.
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Dems in full-blown ‘freakout’ over Biden
>“Donors ask me on an hourly basis about what I think,” the adviser said, calling it “so much easier to show them, so while they read it, I can pour a drink.”
>The adviser added, “The list of why we ‘could’ win is so small I don’t even need to keep the list on my phone.”
- www.theguardian.com I run a university – people like me should be backing students' right to protest over Gaza | Patrizia Nanz
The brutal repression of student protests from Amsterdam to Los Angeles is exposing failings at the heart of our universities, says Patrizia Nanz of the European University Institute
- www.nbcnews.com Nikki Haley says she 'will be voting for Trump'
The former presidential candidate made the comment during her first public appearance since her campaign.
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Biden’s political operation raises $51 million in April, a significant decline from March
www.cnn.com Biden’s political operation raises $51 million in April, a significant decline from March | CNN PoliticsPresident Joe Biden’s political operation raised $51 million in April — a significant decline from its March fundraising.
- www.thedailybeast.com Biden Says He Was Still VP During COVID and Obama Sent Him to ‘Fix It’
“When I was vice president, things were kind of bad during the pandemic,” the president said.
- www.cbsnews.com Demonstrators vow to disrupt DNC protest in Chicago with or without a permit
Demonstrators gathered outside Chicago Police District 18 Sunday in what they are calling a lead-up demonstration.
- www.bbc.com AI 'godfather' says universal basic income will be needed
Geoffrey Hinton, known as the godfather of AI, said the technology could leave many without jobs.
- m.youtube.com How Bernie Sanders wins an argument
We've given up on trying to persuade people and that's a mistake. Learn from one of the masters. Sign up for email updates! https://brendanmiller.substack.co...
- www.theguardian.com Trinity College Dublin agrees to divest from Israeli firms after student protest
Five-day encampment in university grounds that caused the college major loss of income ended in victory for campaigners
- www.wired.com A (Strange) Interview With the Russian-Military-Linked Hackers Targeting US Water Utilities
In an exclusive interview, the Cyber Army of Russia laid out their grand ambitions of disrupting US infrastructure. In reality, they've missed the mark—but that hasn't stopped them from hyping their hacktivity to the government back home.
- open.substack.com How to Teach Congress to Do Its Job
"the rules of the chambers are fantastically abstruse"
- www.commondreams.org Sanders Rips Colleagues for Attacking Student Protesters Instead of Netanyahu | Common Dreams
Maybe it’s time to not simply worry about the violence we are seeing on American campuses, but focus on the unprecedented violence in Gaza.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/20474460
> Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday night spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate: > > > And let me also mention something that I found rather extraordinary and outrageous. And that is just a few days ago Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing extremist government in Israel, a government which contains out-and-out anti-Palestinian racists. > > > Netanyahu issued a statement in which he equated criticism of his government’s illegal and immoral war against the Palestinian people with antisemitism. In other words, if you are protesting, or disagree, with what Netanyahu and his extremist government are doing in Gaza, you are an antisemite. > > > That is an outrageous statement from a leader who is clearly trying – and I have to tell you, he seems to be succeeding with the American media — trying to deflect attention away from the horrific policies that he is pursuing that created an unprecedented humanitarian disaster. > > > So, let me be as clear as I can be: It is not antisemitic or pro-Hamas to point out that in almost seven months Netanyahu’s extremist government has killed 34,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 77,000 – seventy percent of whom are women and children. > > > It is not antisemitic to point out that Netanyahu’s government’s bombing has completely destroyed more than 221,000 housing units in Gaza, leaving more than one million people homeless – almost half the population. No, Mr. Netanyahu it is not antisemitic to point out what you have done in terms of the destruction of housing in Gaza. > > > It is not antisemitic to realize that his government has annihilated Gaza’s health care system, knocking 26 hospitals out of service and killing more than 400 health care workers. At a time when 77,000 people have been wounded and desperately need medical care, Netanyahu has systematically destroyed the health care system in Gaza. > > > It is not antisemitic to condemn his government’s destruction of all of Gaza’s 12 universities and 56 of its schools, with hundreds more damaged, leaving 625,000 children in Gaza have no opportunity for an education. It is not antisemitic to make that point. > > > It is not antisemitic to note that Netanyahu’s government has obliterated Gaza’s civilian infrastructure – there is virtually no electricity in Gaza right now, virtually no clean water in Gaza right now, and sewage is seeping out onto the streets. > > > It is not antisemitic to make that point. > > > President, it is not antisemitic to agree with virtually every humanitarian organization that functions in the Gaza area in saying that his government, in violation of American law, has unreasonably blocked humanitarian aid coming into Gaza.
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The Tech Robber Baron who wants to take over San Francisco
newrepublic.com The Tech Baron Seeking to “Ethnically Cleanse” San FranciscoIf Balaji Srinivasan is any guide, then the Silicon Valley plutocrats are definitely not okay.
Balaji, a 43-year-old Long Island native who goes by his first name, has a solid Valley pedigree: He earned multiple degrees from Stanford University, founded multiple startups, became a partner at Andreessen-Horowitz and then served as chief technology officer at Coinbase. He is also the leader of a cultish and increasingly strident neo-reactionary tech political movement that sees American democracy as an enemy. In 2013, a New York Times story headlined “Silicon Valley Roused by Secession Call” described a speech in which he “told a group of young entrepreneurs that the United States had become ‘the Microsoft of nations’: outdated and obsolescent.”
“The speech won roars from the audience at Y Combinator, a leading start-up incubator,” reported the Times. Balaji paints a bleak picture of a dystopian future in a U.S. in chaos and decline, but his prophecies sometimes fall short. Last year, he lost one million dollars in a public bet after wrongly predicting a massive surge in the price of Bitcoin.
Still, his appetite for autocracy is bottomless. Last October, Balaji hosted the first-ever Network State Conference. Garry Tan—the current Y Combinator CEO who’s attempting to spearhead a political takeover of San Francisco—participated in an interview with Balaji and cast the effort as part of the Network State movement. Tan, who made headlines in January after tweeting “die slow motherfuckers” at local progressive politicians, frames his campaign as an experiment in “moderate” politics. But in a podcast interview one month before the conference, Balaji laid out a more disturbing and extreme vision.
What I’m really calling for is something like tech Zionism,” he said, after comparing his movement to those started by the biblical Abraham, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism), Theodor Herzl (“spiritual father” of the state of Israel), and Lee Kuan Yew (former authoritarian ruler of Singapore). Balaji then revealed his shocking ideas for a tech-governed city where citizens loyal to tech companies would form a new political tribe clad in gray t-shirts. “And if you see another Gray on the street…you do the nod,” he said, during a four-hour talk on the Moment of Zen podcast. “You’re a fellow Gray.”
The Grays’ shirts would feature “Bitcoin or Elon or other kinds of logos … Y Combinator is a good one for the city of San Francisco in particular.” Grays would also receive special ID cards providing access to exclusive, Gray-controlled sectors of the city. In addition, the Grays would make an alliance with the police department, funding weekly “policeman’s banquets” to win them over.
“Grays should embrace the police, okay? All-in on the police,” said Srinivasan. “What does that mean? That’s, as I said, banquets. That means every policeman’s son, daughter, wife, cousin, you know, sibling, whatever, should get a job at a tech company in security.”
In exchange for extra food and jobs, cops would pledge loyalty to the Grays. Srinivasan recommends asking officers a series of questions to ascertain their political leanings. For example: “Did you want to take the sign off of Elon’s building?”
This refers to the August 2023 incident in which Elon Musk illegally installed a large flashing X logo atop Twitter headquarters, in violation of building safety codes. City inspectors forced him to remove it. This was the second time Musk had run afoul of the city in his desire to refurbish his headquarters: In July, police briefly halted his attempt to pry the “Twitter” signage from the building’s exterior. But in Balaji’s dystopia, he implies that officers loyal to the Grays would let Musk do as he pleases (democratically-inclined officers, he suggests, can be paid to retire).
Simply put, there is a ton of fascist-chic cosplay involved. Once an officer joins the Grays, they get a special uniform designed by their tech overlords. The Grays will also donate heavily to police charities and “merge the Gray and police social networks.” Then, in a show of force, they’ll march through the city together.
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NYT op-ed: Government Surveillance Keeps Us Safe
www.nytimes.com Opinion | Government Surveillance Keeps Us SafeA surveillance law referred to as Section 702 is needed to protect us from foreign threats.
Paywall bypass: http://archive.today/KYV3b
>Mr. Waxman served in senior national security roles in the George W. Bush administration. Mr. Klein served as the chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board from 2018 to 2021.
- Matthew Waxman: https://w.wiki/9qQ3
- Adam Klein: https://www.strausscenter.org/person/adam-klein/
- Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law: https://w.wiki/9qQ8
- Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board: https://w.wiki/9qQ2
- Center for a New American Security: https://w.wiki/9qP$
>Some of the bill’s critics argued that the F.B.I. should be required to obtain a warrant from a special FISA court before using the information collected under 702 when investigating Americans who may be involved in terrorism, espionage or other national security threats. But requiring such a warrant would have been unnecessary and unwise. > >Getting a FISA court order is bureaucratically cumbersome and would slow down investigations — especially fast-moving cybercases, in which queries have proved especially useful. It would cause agents to miss important connections to national security threats. And because this information has already been lawfully collected and stored, its use in investigation doesn’t require a warrant under the Constitution. > >Another problem is that the probable cause needed for a warrant is rarely available early in an investigation. But that’s precisely when these queries are most useful. Database checks allow an agent to quickly see whether there is a previously unnoticed connection to a foreign terrorist, spy or other adversary. > >Balances struck between security and privacy need continual refinement. Recent years have shown Section 702’s great value for national security. But they have also revealed lax compliance at the F.B.I. The latest reauthorization boosts privacy without blinding our country to threats in today’s dangerous world.
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Can a New German Party Steer the European Left in a More Effective Direction?
www.nakedcapitalism.com Can a New German Party Steer the European Left in a More Effective Direction? | naked capitalismSahra Wagenknecht's left-populist party looks to unite the left in the European Parliament behind antiwar and working class issues.
- time.com History Shows Abortion Bans Are a War on Poor Women
While some liberals decry abortion bans as a war on women, history reveals that this charge distorts the reality of their impact.
- jacobin.com The Anti-Palestinian Lobby Is Also a Corporate Lobby
A new PAC formed to unseat pro-Palestinian New York socialists is led by the same corporate interests opposed to progressive policies more generally. The battle over US policy toward Israel is also about economic policy at home.
> T | he pro-Israel spending splurge aimed at unseating the socialist and progressive insurgents who have won office over the past decade is, of course, first and foremost about punishing dissent on US support for Israeli apartheid. But on another level, it’s also a campaign to unseat those lawmakers whose economic vision threatens the bottom line of Wall Street and corporate America. > > If you need proof, look no further than the pro-Israel Solidarity PAC in New York, which was recently formed to give a boost to centrist challengers of candidates with a Working Families Party or Democratic Socialists of America endorsement.
read more: https://jacobin.com/2024/04/anti-palestine-lobby-gaza-elections-corporate-interests/
- truthout.org Biden Campaign Memo Claims Florida Is “Winnable” Though Polls Say Otherwise
The campaign took note of a six-week abortion ban in the state, as well as an initiative appearing on the fall ballot.
> Despite some tough odds pitted against them, the campaign team for President Joe Biden believes they can “flip” Florida to his win column in the 2024 presidential election, due to a number of issues they think will resonate with voters in that state, particularly abortion rights. > > In the two presidential campaigns he’s run, former President Donald Trump has won Florida twice, including against Biden in 2020. The state is also Trump’s home state, as he changed his official residency from New York to Florida in 2019 and began living primarily at his Mar-a-Lago resort. > > Indeed, Republicans have won Florida in four out of the six presidential elections that have occurred since 2000. Many political observers no longer even consider Florida to be the “swing state” it once was in some of those campaigns. > > Yet in a new memorandum Biden’s re-election team has produced this week, which several news outlets have published online, the campaign believes it has a stronger chance than it previously had to win the state’s 30 Electoral College votes. > > “Florida is not an easy state to win, but it is a winnable one for President Biden, especially given Trump’s weak, cash-strapped campaign, and serious vulnerabilities within his coalition,” Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Biden’s campaign manager, said in the memo.
read more: https://truthout.org/articles/biden-campaign-memo-claims-florida-is-winnable-though-polls-say-otherwise/
- apnews.com Search the database journalists built to document who died after police restrained them
The AP and PBS "Frontline" found over 1,000 people from 2012 through 2021 died after police used tactics that were not supposed to be lethal.
- www.thecity.nyc NYC AI Chatbot Touted by Adams Tells Businesses to Break the Law
The Microsoft-powered bot says bosses can take worker’s tips and that landlords can discriminate based on source of income. That's not right.
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Chinese students under fire in the U.S.
According to some leaks in the media the U.S. started a campaign to oppress Chinese students. Despite the declared development of ties with China, the U.S. continue to make steps towards confrontation and now it affects the education.
Recently news about Chinese students who were interrogated while crossing the U.S. border in Washington Dulles International Airport hit the public. According to the reports the security personnel questioned the Chinese students about political activities and scientific research, suggesting them to give information about Chinese government in exchange for release. After their refusal the U.S. side canceled their student visas and banned from entering the country and they were forcibly deported.
And again, China's reaction was timid. The official representative of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs appealed to the U.S. and asked to stop putting pressure upon Chinese citizens under the guise of protecting national security. The U.S. side as always showed no reaction. And Beijing did little more than words.
It turned out that from the end of December 2023 at least 15 Chinese students with valid entry documents were under such kind of interrogation and subsequently were deported. And the airport security personnel during these interrogations openly forced students to cooperate.
Besides, the Chinese citizens are facing obstacles in having intestate cultural contacts.
According to the estimations the majority of foreign students in the U.S. are from China. At the end of 2023 academic year there were 288,639 students. It is worth mentioning this number is lower compared to 2013-2014. The number of American students in China increased to 700 in 2023 after a significant drop to 350 in 2022.
Some students asserted they are encountering harassment not only in the airports but also in campuses and during education process. They believe their teachers are biased towards them.