So let's put the suggestion that the UK is a highly taxed country to rest.... those who argue the UK's tax burden is too much and needs to be reduced to promote economic revival, need to reckon with all the countries in the OECD who are taxing more that the UK's share of GDP but have yet to have seemingly descended into economic decline....

Rather we might want to argue that a better funded public sector might actually aid the escape from the UK's economic doldrums.

#politics #taxation

Alt...

Chart: Tax Revenues as a share of GDP - OECD countries Shows Denmark at top with 45.2% UK almost exactly the OECD average at 34.4% for full lists see: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-tax-revenue-as-a-share-of-gdp-by-country/

It would be nice to see some follow-up from this, but I am not holding my breath.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DReUs0TdE6s

Still, at least the UN are putting out statements declaring that the current actions are clearly a genocide, so that may give the EU the kick it needs.

#Israel #Gaza #Genocide #Europe #Politics #EUPol #Sanctions #Genocide #UN #UnitedNations

The New York Times is basically “Fox News for the Democrat Party,” and every bit as reliable as Fox News (as in they are reliably, constantly lying to you.)

I wonder if you count how many articles they have published that try to make Iranians look like barbaric womanizers, who are perhaps somehow worse than your average “kill any woman who gets an abortion” Republican voter, and subtract that number by how many articles they have which have of any of the barbaric things that Itmar Ben Gvir has said in the past 3 years as a direct quote in one of their headlines, what would the difference be? That should tell you the nature of the bais we see from the New York Times.

The fact that Mamdani got elected shows just how badly detached from the realities of the average New Yorker that the New York Times reporting really is.

And by the way, that first article title should read: “Israel violates Trump ceasefire, Iran moves to close Hormuz.” That would be a far less biased way of reporting the facts of the situation.

#USPol #politics #NewYorkTimes #MediaBias #Islamophobia #Racism

Alt...

A bot account called "World News Feeds" sharing two New York Times articles in a row: 1. "Iran makes moves to assert control over Straight of Hormuz." and 2. "Iranian singer sentenced to 74 lashes for performing without hijab."

The United States sanctioned Chilean officials who were assessing a proposal to build an undersea cable between Chile and Hong Kong.

It wants to ensure South America data flows through cables owned by US companies, giving it the ability to surveil that data.

https://restofworld.org/2026/chile-china-america-google-cable/

#tech #politics #google #chile #china

I’ve been reading Žižek and Heidegger lately. Žižek labels himself a Communist (politics), Lacanian (method), and Heideggerian (ontology), so I asked Claude and ChatGPT how I fared.

https://open.substack.com/pub/brywillis634737/p/who-am-i?r=pvxh5&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=masto

#politics #philosphy #ontology #method #zizek #blog #video #podcast #substack #introspection #extrospection #Wittgenstein #pluralism #perspective #biography #rovelli #being #relata #relationships #philosopher

@millardjk
Probably it is better that Christians stay out of #politics. All the governments of this world serve God's adversary. Their mark of the beast is ready.

When #Jesus was in Jerusalem, the Jews wanted to make him the king of their corrupt government. But he already is the King of all creation. He came to give his life as a ransom for all mankind, so they may enter his kingdom.

"I don’t care what the intention was..."
It looks like you suffer from a lack of empathy.

They put "trillionaire" in seventy-point type and left the dead out of the caption.

Most of it is paper — tethered to a rocket company that went public on a Friday. Here is the part the obituaries of his reputation must carry: his DOGE outfit took a wrecking ball to USAID -- The estimated dead so far: 263,000 adults and 518,000 children.

#Musk #USAID #Trillionaire #Inequality #FarRight #ReplacementTheory #Accountability #Politics #Billionaires #NewsAnalysis #Resist
https://twp.ai/4hrgVd

BREAKING NEWS

A federal judge just blocked the Trump regime from creating a database of millions of Americans’ private information — including Social Security numbers and citizenship status — saying the Trump regime has fed knowingly inaccurate data to states that are now “actively” and “haphazardly” purging purported non-citizens from voter rolls
#AureFreePress #News #Politics #uspol #breakingnews

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Thiel's secret society, 20 years of silence, cracked open because someone left the member directory in a webpage's source code. The panopticon-builders can't run a firewall.

#Politics #Surveillance #Resist #Democracy #P...”

https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:m4jmanw3astpwhqp54g6yslu/post/3mosy2m22kb2h

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

@publicdomainrev

Today, not much bon in these "Bon Mots of the Nineteenth Century." As this from Tory politician George Canning (1770-1827):

"Gentlemen opposite are always talking of the People as distinguished from the rest of the nation. But strip the nation of its aristocracy, strip it of its magistrates, strip it of its clergy, of its merchants, of its gentry, and I no more recognize a people than I recognize in the bird of Diogenes the man of Plato!"

#Humor #Politics #History #Quotes

#UK Official Promises Statements 'Around VPNs' and Further Teen Restrictions on Chatbots and #SocialMedia

https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/06/21/2052213/uk-official-promises-statements-around-vpns-and-further-teen-restrictions-on-chatbots-and-social-media

#VPN #SocialmediaBan #AgeVerification #privacy #politics #LLM #AI

join the one and only decentralized end-to-end encrypted anonymous lefty politics and climate activism memes channel in the world!

Meme Logistics - Your go-to fun lefty memes supply chain

https://i.delta.chat/#818297831FAA0AB9917497FA5B145F41993374F1&v=3&x=xusVctOPSGOA6oFq4esfR68V&j=YspskxfxoImavuPj3qFTuX7H&s=d1sWSLq-ceUR9x5nJpWX7dLa&a=207nv967sz55do78f1xj%40chat.in%2Dthe.eu&n=Meme+Logistics&b=Meme+Logistics

#memes #politics #fun #meme #channel #decentralization #encryption #e2ee #ArcaneChat #DeltaChat

Nearly 9 million Canadians stayed home last election. That's more than any party won. The establishment relies on your apathy to keep spending your money and running your life. Stop buying their lies. Stand up for real freedom.

#cdnpoli #politics #canada #freedom #election

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MCL5_rDyuUg

#Petition in #Canada to stop bill c-22. Very important for #privacy! Sign here ⬇️ and share!

https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-7416

#internet #rights #eff #vpn #quebec #ontario #bc #alberta #saskatchewan #manitoba #yukon #nwt #nunavut #pei #newbrunswick #labrador #newfoundland #novascotia #laws #c22 #billc22 #encryption #canpoli #cdnpoli #politics #politique #politiqueqc #carney #markcarney #lpc #CyberRights #cybersecurity #internetsecurity #webprivacy #internetprivacy #metadata #democracy #news #trending

"Conservatives are dying at higher rates than liberals. A new study points to mistrust in medicine. The health divide emerged over the last decade and has widened since 2020, according to research that links ideology to outcomes from heart disease, cancer, stroke, and other internal causes":
https://www.fastcompany.com/91561329/widening-health-gap-between-liberals-and-conservatives
#extremism #healthcare #politics copy: @renewedresistance

Pelosi, on gutting the Hate Crimes Act to pass it faster: "I won't pass it in 100 years because I'm not ever taking out trans." She held the line when it cost her. The line held. https://twp.ai/4hrjsy #TransRights #Resist #Democracy #Politics #Pride #QueerNews #LGBTQ

thistleandmoss.com

As the data party surrounding the tenth anniversary of the Brexit vote continues, the Guardian has some interesting figures suggesting Leave voting areas have both seen:

a relative economic decline, and;

a rise in the proportion of non-UK workers.

No wonder they don't feel that Brexit is working for them; not that it would ever have had, of course

#Brexit #workers #politics

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/20/leave-voting-areas-foreign-workers-decade-since-brexit-referendum

The #UK’s New Under-16 #SocialMediaBan Will Cause More Harm Than It Prevents

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/06/uks-new-under-16-social-media-ban-will-cause-more-harm-it-prevents

#SocialMedia #AgeVerification #privacy #cyberscurity #politics

#EFF Joins 60+ Groups Urging the #UK to Halt Face Estimation at the Border

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/06/joins-60-groups-urging-uk-halt-face-estimation-border

#immigration #politics #privacy #FRT #FacialRecognition #biometrics #AgeVerification

UK’s Failed Age Verification Law is Becoming A Political Scandal

The UK's failed age verification law is becoming the latest sign of political failure with the UK prime minister.

https://www.freezenet.ca/uks-failed-age-verification-law-is-becoming-a-political-scandal/

#Censorship #News #AgeVerification #KierStarmer #politics #UK #VPN

#Canada Is Forging Ahead with Its Dangerous #Surveillance Bill

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/06/canada-forging-ahead-its-dangerous-surveillance-bill

#C22 #privacy #surveillance #cybersecurity #politics

"The powerful have always controlled information. They print the newspapers. They own the cables. They write the algorithms. They decide what you see, what you think, and what you are allowed to say. They call it moderation. They call it national security. They call it terms of service. We call it what it is: control.

We reject the premise that information belongs to anyone. Classified documents exposing war crimes are not state secrets — they are evidence. Corporate data revealing environmental poisoning is not proprietary — it is a confession. The surveillance apparatus watching every citizen is not security — it is occupation.

We are not criminals. We are the immune system of a society that has been infected by its own institutions. When the law protects the corrupt, breaking the law becomes a moral act. When the truth is classified, leaking it becomes a public service.

We do not negotiate. We do not petition. We act. And we have made ourselves impossible to stop."

- Anonymous Hacktivist Group Manifesto

#anonymous #hacking #politics #bigbrother #surveillance #manifesto

“Digital Colonialism”: U.S. Demands to Access Africans’ Data Raise Privacy, Sovereignty Concerns

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-state-department-africa-uganda-aid-medical-data-privacy

#politics #privacy #Africa

Today's owner class would 100% reinstate slavery if they could, and the neoliberals and fascists currently occupying our government buildings would help them do it.

Happy #Juneteenth.

#politics #USPol #CanPol

While Heathrow claims adding a third runway would add 0.5% to GDP annually, the Govt.'s own calculation it would likely be a tenth of that (at 0.05%).

As both figures are within the normal margin of error for estimates of GDP, we can safely say that the authorities at Heathrow are taking a punt on any likely contribution....

More likely is that it will actually just allow more transfers with little economic benefit to anyone other than the airport & airlines.

#Heathrow #politics
h/t FT

Was Hobbes Right in Leviathan? Only partially.

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/hobbes-was-right?r=pvxh5

#philosophy #blog #history #reading #substack #monarchy #democracy #history #books #politics #governance #empire #nature #foundation #anarchy #Leviathan #Hobbes #violence

No wall. No Swamp Drain. No America First. No $5,000 DOGE check. No lower groceries. No $2 Gas. No $2,000 stimulus check. No Epstein Files accountability. #politics #Trump #news

Follow the money!

Patrick Glynn is the developer behind Oireachtas Explorer, a website an app helping you to keep Irish politicians accountable. The platform tracks historical records of every active politician, from voting records to lobbying receipts

https://oireachtas-explorer.ie/

#mastodaoine #corruption #IrishPol #politics #politicians #BrownEnvelope

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screen grab of the home page: Ireland's Paliamnet, OPEN TO ALL, green background

You have to - "admire" isn't the right word, maybe "marvel at"? - Trump responding to losing a war he started in Iran by claiming he is "the most powerful person that has ever walked the planet".

But it's not the least but surprising that he, once again, is turning to outlandish, grandiose statements to attempt to cover his mounting failures.

It does seems like his glinted facade is peeling away like American flag blue paint from the bottom of the Reflecting Pool to the point even his supporters are getting a glimpse of the reality, which gives me a glimmer of hope.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-powerful-truth-social-post-b2998151.html

#politics

The #UK Will Scan #Asylum-Seekers’ Faces for Age Checks—Despite Knowing the Tech Is Flawed

https://www.wired.com/story/facial-age-estimate-uk-asylum-seekers/

#FRT #FacialRecognition #privacy #biometrics #politics #immigration #AgeVerification

#ICE Appears to Be Buying Immigrants’ #Tax Identifiers from a #DataBroker

https://www.404media.co/ice-appears-to-be-buying-immigrants-tax-identifiers-from-a-data-broker/

#surveillance #privacy #politics #immigration

Your daily reminder… Russian bots don’t vote

#politics #toryscum #tories #conservatives #ukpolitics #bbc #news #EU #Labour #keirstarmer #Starmer #labourparty #RejoinEU #ReformUK #farage #nigelfarage #immigration #farageisalyingsackshit #ReformAreUseless #farageisaracist #farageisatraitor #TaxTheRich #makerfield #andyburnham

A quotation from Andrew Oliver

Politics is the most hazardous of all professions. There is not another in which a man can hope to do so much good to his fellow creatures; neither is there any in which by a mere loss of nerve he may do such widespread harm. Nor is there another in which he may so easily lose his own soul; nor is there another in which a positive and strict veracity is so difficult. But danger is the inseparable companion of honor. With all the temptations and degradations that beset it, politics is still the noblest career any man can choose.

Andrew Oliver (1706-1774) American Colonial merchant, politician, government official
Speech (1774?)

More about this quote: wist.info/oliver-andrew/84550/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #andrewoliver #career #corruption #degradation #honor #politician #politics #potential #risk #statesman #temptation

Почти хороший документ от SFC про рекомендации касательно LLM в FOSS проектах.

https://social.sfconservancy.org/objects/3ac6d3b8-798b-4d85-91a1-7103abe76548

Почему "почти"?

Потому что практически все пункты стараются балансировать между "pro-AI" и "anti-AI" позициями, но первым пунктом стоит:

The FOSS community should support, not just tolerate, those who outright reject LLM-gen-AI systems

А вот почему-то про поддержку тех, кто пользуется LLM ничего не говорится.

В целом я могу понять это и принять как политический поклон в сторону тех, кто устраивает истерику, но если заглянуть к ним в комменты, то видно, что это всё равно не помогло:

LOL WTF NOPE

FOSS projects should not shun contributors who choose to use LLM-gen-AI systems.

🤡

kinda stopped reading after

There are many intersecting ethical and moral issues regarding these systems, many of which are not currently fully understood

They are well understood and visible

I'm going to state this very clearly:
Projects/communities have an absolute right to exclude people whose behaviors they deem unethical, unsafe, or hostile from participation.
And deeming LLM-gen-AI use as unethical is a completely reasonable position.

Они для себя всё уже решили, сколько ты их ни пытайся уважать и не раскланивайся.

Меня, если честно, именно вот это желание всех неугодных выгнать и в гетто согнать от тех, кто декларирует высокую мораль и раздражает. По модулю они ничем не отличаются от того, чем клеймят тех, кто им не угодил.

Я бы ради общего блага и сообщества FOSS без проблем бы пошёл на компромиссы и уважительное отношение даже к тем, кто пользуется самыми тупыми аргументами.

Пойдут ли эти люди на компромиссы в отношении тех, кого объявили вне морали и этики?

#thought #log #SFC #LLM #GenAI #FOSS #dev #politics #radicalism

Those two things alone, combined with Carney & Solomon's "#AI for All" nonsense should confirm who this government is actually working for, and terrify everyone.

The right has snuck into power via the centre, and preventing debate & scurrying away as soon as they pass bills like this should tell you exactly who is running our country, and what is at stake if we don't defeat them & undo this damage to our privacy & freedom while that is still possible.

2/2

#BillC22 #CdnPoli #politics

Anyone here vote for the Law & Order party? 🤔

In addition to the encryption back doors in #BillC22 - law enforcement can now do a lot of things that would've been unheard of just a few short years ago like:

- Use any & all publicly available info on any Canadian without a general production order or court oversight
- Use any info provided voluntarily by any third party against any Canadian without a general production order or court oversight

1/2

#CdnPoli #politics

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7240293

After five years, The Digital Identity Event Horizon is published in full today: three problem statements, ten key findings, and dozens of recommendations across policy, protocol, legal, and social contexts.

It's the largest research study in New Design Congress' eight-year history: eight case studies, hundreds of citations, dozens of participants from government, intelligence, civil society, technology, and the field itself.

It is also, without exaggeration, the most alarming body of work we have ever produced.

The argument is straightforward and difficult to reckon with: Digital identity makes societies brittle. In 2026, we find ourselves in an era of digital identity fetishism: flawed age verification schemes, biometric and facial-recognition authenticators, and fragile state-backed identity programmes are rolling out at an unprecedented rate. And every one of them, whether current or emerging, remains vulnerable to social engineering. The success rate for a non-technical attack on a user is now three out of four. These attacks cost US companies an estimated $1.6 billion in the five years to 2017 alone; by 2024, fraud runs to hundreds of billions worldwide.

READ IT HERE https://newdesigncongress.org/en/report/2026/the-digital-identity-event-horizon/

#digitalidentity #privacy #eupol #did #politics #threatmodelling

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A glossy white sculptural face, slumped and partly melted like soft porcelain, against a pale blue-grey background. Its own features are smooth and near-eyeless, while a single realistic blue eye is set high and off-centre on the forehead, staring out.

Leak Exposes Members of Peter #Thiel’s Secretive ‘#Dialog’ Society

https://www.wired.com/story/leak-exposes-members-of-peter-thiels-secretive-dialog-society/

#privacy #cybersecurity #DataBreach #politics

Never expected to reach this stage so soon but my new book on information access, Shining a Light, has gone to a second printing.

Thanks again to everyone who bought it – journalists and campaigners, politicians and the public.

Book available in print and digital at: https://www.kenfoxe.com

#ireland #foia #politics #transparency #journalism

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The cover of the book Shining a Light by Ken Foxe.