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#democratic

14 posts14 participants0 posts today

Delta’s #AI #spying to “jack up” prices must be banned, lawmakers say

One week after #Delta announced it is expanding a test using #AtificialIntelligence to charge different prices based on customers' personal data—which critics fear could end cheap flights forever—#Democratic lawmakers have moved to ban what they consider #predatory #surveillance pricing

Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) announced the Stop AI Price #Gouging & Wage Fixing Act

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

Ars Technica · Delta’s AI spying to “jack up” prices must be banned, lawmakers sayBy Ashley Belanger

#Skydance deal allows Trump’s #FCC to “censor speech” and “silence dissent” on #CBS

But the agency's approval drew fiery dissent from the only #Democratic commissioner, Anna Gomez, after requiring written commitments from Skydance that allow the government to influence #editorial decisions at CBS. Gomez accused the FCC of "imposing never-before-seen controls over #newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the #FirstAmendment and the law."
#censor

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

Ars Technica · Skydance deal allows Trump’s FCC to “censor speech” and “silence dissent” on CBSBy Ashley Belanger

Here we go, more #Illegal2BHomeless in #AmeriKKKa. Still doubting it was coming? I've been telling you since he was elected and you keep ignoring me.

Trump signals crackdown on #homeless with order pushing local officials to act
theguardian.com/us-news/2025/j

The federal government is seeking to crack down on #homelessness in the US, with Donald Trump issuing an executive order to push local governments to remove unhoused people from the streets.

The order the US president signed on Thursday will seek the “reversal of federal or state judicial precedents and the termination of consent decrees” that restrict local governments’ ability to force people into treatment for mental health, and redirect funds to support rehabilitation and treatment. The order aims to “restore public order”, saying “endemic vagrancy, disorderly behavior, sudden confrontations, and violent attacks have made our cities unsafe”, according to the order.

The action comes as the homelessness crisis in the US has significantly worsened in recent years driven by a widespread shortage of affordable housing. Last year, a single-day count, which is a rough estimate, recorded more than 770,000 people experiencing homelessness across the country, the highest figure ever documented.

Cities and states have adopted an increasingly punitive approach to homelessness, seeking to push people out of parks and city streets, even when there is no shelter available. The supreme court ruled last year that cities can impose fines and even jail time for unhoused people for sleeping outside after local governments argued some protections for unhoused people prevented them from taking action to reduce homelessness.

#Trump’s action seeks to move unhoused pIn a report last month, the American Civil Liberties Union found that cities across the US have introduced more than 320 bills #criminalizing #unhoused people, the majority of which have passed. The crackdowns have taken place in #Democratic- and #Republican-run states alike.

Advocates for unhoused people’s rights have long argued that criminalization only exacerbates the housing crisis, shuffling people in and out of jail or from one neighborhood to the next, as they lose their belongings and connections to providers, fall further into debt and wind up in increasingly unsafe conditions.

During his campaign last year, Trump used dark rhetoric to talk about the humanitarian crisis, threatening to force people into “tent cities”, raising fears that some of the poorest, most vulnerable Americans could end up in remote locations in settings that resemble #concentration #camps.eople to “long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment”, according to the order.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told USA Today, which first reported on the executive order, that the president was “delivering on his commitment to Make America Safe Again” and end homelessness.

“By removing vagrant criminals from our streets and redirecting resources toward substance abuse programs, the Trump administration will ensure that Americans feel safe in their own communities and that individuals suffering from #addiction or #mental health struggles are able to get the help they need,” she said.

The National Homelessness Law Center condemned the order, which it said “deprives people of their basic rights” and would ultimately worsen the problem.

“Today’s executive orders, combined with Maga’s budget cuts for housing and healthcare, will increase the number of people forced to live in tents, in their cars, and on the streets. This order does nothing to lower the cost of housing or help people make ends meet,” said Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center.

The president’s order comes after last year’s US supreme court ruling, which was one of the most consequential legal decisions on homelessness in decades in the US.

That ruling held that it is not “cruel and unusual punishment” to criminalize camping when there is no shelter available. The case originated in Grants Pass, Oregon, a city that was defending its efforts to prosecute people for sleeping in public.

Unhoused people in the US have long faced crackdowns and sweeps, with policies and police practices that result in law enforcement harassment, tickets or jail time. But the ruling supercharged those kinds of aggressive responses, emboldening cities and states to punish encampment residents who have no other options for shelter.

In a report last month, the American Civil Liberties Union found that cities across the US have introduced more than 320 bills criminalizing unhoused people, the majority of which have passed. The crackdowns have taken place in Democratic- and Republican-run states alike.

The Guardian · Trump order pushes local officials to clear unhoused people from streetsBy Dani Anguiano

What #Democracy? House #Speaker #MikeJohnson sends #lawmakers home early for their summer #recess in order to head off #Democratic #demands for #votes on calling for the #release of #files from the investigation into #JeffreyEpstein #crimes #criminal #corruption #collusion #maga #gop #trump #republicans #sexualassault + @levparnas #Trump Sends In His Fixer to Silence #GhislaineMaxwell bury the #truth, protect #elites, erase voices of the #victims. This is #cover-up of the century #politics #law

FFS

Speaker #MikeJohnson said he would shut down the #House until September in order to head off #Democratic [& #Republican] demands for votes calling for the release of files from the investigation into #JeffreyEpstein, the disgraced financier & sex offender who was friends with #Trump. Johnson said votes would end Wednesday night in what he called an effort to avoid “political games” related to the #DOJ’s [mis]handling of the files.

#obstruction #law #USpol #CoverUp
nytimes.com/live/2025/07/22/us

The New York Times · Trump Administration Live Updates: Johnson to Shut Down House Early to Avert Epstein VoteBy River Akira Davis

Democrats Endorse Omar Fateh to Be Next Mayor of #Minneapolis #USA

"... #Democratic Farmer-Labor Party has endorsed Democratic #Socialist state Senator Omar Fateh for mayor over two-term incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey.
Fateh is the first #Somali American and the first #Muslim to serve in the Minnesota State Senate."

pretty amazing story with tags that seem not to be used on #Mastodon Now why is that?

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" That's why

indyradio.net/?q=node/385

#Climate Realpolitik for the US 🧵

1/ For decades, we tried to address #climatechange through #cooperation, least disruptive pathways, evidence-based approaches, consensus building, technological innovations, #democratic processes, etc.

Yet, we are at 430 ppm and close to breaching 1.5 Worse, we don’t have sustained political power to achieve the transition any time soon.

The status quo seems to be deeply entrenched.

🙌 Bravo, #SciComm Community! Keep it up!

#University of #Bremen Joins #SaveSocial Initiative – Saving #SocialMedia as a #Democratic Force:

> Jutta Günther, President of the @unibremen: "We are concerned about the polarization of society and are committed to #academic freedom and #democracy … We don't want to just criticize, but rather strengthen alternatives in light of the negative consequences of the dissemination of #FakeNews and #Hate Speech."

idw-online.de/de/news855102

idw-online.deSaving Social Media as a Democratic Force: University of Bremen Joins “Save Social” Initiative