Category Archives: Politics

“Bus Justice Is Awesome.”

Chicago Magazine: What CTA Workers Know. “Train operators, bus drivers, and station agents are the eyes, ears, and heart of Chicago’s circulatory system. Seeing the city from their point of view reveals us at our best and our worst.”

Also:

What Cops Know. “You can learn a lot about a city by seeing it through the eyes of police officers who patrol it.” (June 26, 2017)

What Teachers Know. “Chicago’s public school instructors have one of the toughest—and most rewarding—jobs in the city. Here’s what they talk about when parents and principals aren’t listening.” (December 4, 2017)

What Trauma Docs Know. “At Chicago’s most intense ERs, the degree of mayhem rivals that of a war zone. Working there can take a heavy toll — and yield immense rewards.” (August, 2018)

Link via MetaFilter.

“He just can’t help himself.”

The New Yorker: A Weak and Rambling President Declares a Fake National Emergency. By John Cassidy.

“Trump’s description of the situation at the border is almost entirely fictitious, of course, but in one sense it is real. It’s a central element of the political narrative he has constructed for his white-nationalist base over the past three and a half years, and, as he helpfully sought to explain, it’s one he can’t easily back away from at this stage. “I ran on a very simple slogan: ‘Make America Great Again,’ “ he said. “If you’re going to have drugs pouring across the border, if you’re going to have human traffickers pouring across the border in areas where we have no protection, in areas where we don’t have a barrier, then it’s very hard to make America great again.“

In this carefully concocted narrative, the wall isn’t a mere stretch of concrete or steel fencing stretching along the border; it’s a symbol of national sovereignty and regeneration. But, if it’s so important, why didn’t Trump get it built during his first two years in office, when the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress? Trump’s failure to get his own party to support what was arguably his signature campaign pledge demonstrates that he is fundamentally a weak and isolated President. But, of course, he can’t admit that publicly, either. Instead, he said, “It would have been great to have done it earlier. But I was a little new to the job, a little new to the profession. And we had a little disappointment for the first year and a half. People that should have stepped up did not step up. But we’re stepping up now.“ Take that, Paul Ryan!”

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“More than 5,000 migrant children in January”

NPR: Inside The Largest And Most Controversial Shelter For Migrant Children In The U.S.

“”We see a very different picture,” says Leecia Welch, senior director of legal advocacy and child welfare at the National Center for Youth Law. “We see extremely traumatized children, some of whom sit across from us and can’t stop crying over what they’re experiencing.”

She continues, “We hear stories of children who are told from the first day of their orientation that under no circumstances can they touch another child in the facility, even their own sibling, even friends who they’re saying goodbye to after many months of shared intense experience. They can’t hug them goodbye. If they do, they’re told they will be written up and it could affect their immigration case.”

Welch concludes, “We see a very different picture than the reporters see.””

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“Trump has evinced little respect for the rule of law”

The Atlantic: Impeach Donald Trump. “Starting the process will rein in a president who is undermining American ideals—and bring the debate about his fitness for office into Congress, where it belongs.” By Yoni Appelbaum.

“On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump stood on the steps of the Capitol, raised his right hand, and solemnly swore to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States and, to the best of his ability, to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. He has not kept that promise.

Instead, he has mounted a concerted challenge to the separation of powers, to the rule of law, and to the civil liberties enshrined in our founding documents. He has purposefully inflamed America’s divisions. He has set himself against the American idea, the principle that all of us—of every race, gender, and creed—are created equal.

This is not a partisan judgment. Many of the president’s fiercest critics have emerged from within his own party. Even officials and observers who support his policies are appalled by his pronouncements, and those who have the most firsthand experience of governance are also the most alarmed by how Trump is governing.”

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C-SPAN: Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Explains Our Broken System. (Video, 5:06min)

Link also via MetaFilter.

Datenkrake Facebook

Deutsche Welle: Kartellamt untersagt Facebook Datensammelei. “Eine “marktbeherrschende Stellung” löst im deutschen Kartellrecht Alarm aus. Im Fall des sozialen Netzwerks sieht das Bundeskartellamt den Wettbewerb gefährdet – und setzt eine Frist.”

“Das Bundeskartellamt hat Facebook untersagt, außerhalb des Online-Netzwerks Daten seiner Nutzer zu sammeln – wie dies zum Beispiel über “Gefällt mir”-Buttons auf anderen Webseiten geschieht. Behördenchef Andreas Mundt erklärte, Facebook besitze in Deutschland eine marktbeherrschende Stellung und missbrauche sie. Dies sei ein Wettbewerbsverstoß. Facebook will sich gegen das Votum vor Gericht wehren. Wegen der Verknüpfung von Datenschutz und Wettbewerbsaufsicht könnte der Fall wegweisend werden – und jahrelang durch die Instanzen gehen.

Das Kartellamt untersagte Facebook auch, die auf fremden Websites gesammelten Daten mit Informationen zusammenzuführen, die bei Einträgen der Nutzer auf der eigenen Online-Plattform gespeichert wurden. Die Behörde betrachtet dabei zum Konzern gehörende Dienste wie Instagram und Whatsapp ebenfalls als Drittquellen. Das Online-Netzwerk bekommt ein Jahr Zeit, sein Verhalten zu ändern, und muss innerhalb von vier Monaten Lösungsvorschläge präsentieren.”