French police are using the same kind of violence against high school students protesting austerity that German police used against college students protesting the Vietnam War.
Politics · page 2
Further down today’s ranking of Politics: page 2 of 7.
Ezra Klein is the classic example of someone given too much on a plate without earning it who is forever convinced of their inherent genius. He also molds to his environment from pretty far left at Vox to centrist at NYT without seeming to have solid internal philosophical compass.
Tonight Reform voted to abstain from a motion rejecting the great replacement theory, rejecting attacks on the RNLI and other charities (despite some wearing RNLI lapel pins 🙄), to stand up for our status as a City of Sanctuary and to condemn anti-immigrant and anti-refugee rhetoric.
"After setting up robust rapid-response groups to resist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) abductions and stopping the buying up of warehouses to detain thousands of immigrants, activists are now focusing on other ways they can disrupt the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations. On the East Coast, some are targeting the parking spots that ICE uses for staging arrests. In Buffalo, New York, people are fighting to evict ICE from an office building where they coordinate operations and detain people. In Vermont, activists are planning a week of action to shut down a major ICE surveillance center hidden away in an office park.
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The National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center is housed at the White Cap Business Park in Williston, a rural town in Vermont with a population of about 10,000. Activists say it is one of two such centers, with the other one located in Laguna Niguel, California, based in conservative Orange County." truthout.org/articles/activist…
Turns out that if you give people lots of places to vote in advance polls (and lots of reasons to be angry at the current government) they actually turn up to vote!
Why is your San Francisco ballot arriving in a ripped envelope? Dept. of Elections is aware of reports of torn ballot envelopes, with the alleged culprit being Post Office machinery... missionlocal.org/2026/10/san-f…
Also, Mandelson, Rudd and the famously exploding People’s Vote campaign, which collapsed on contact with a General Election because Rudd wanted to use it to launch a new centrist party, and there wasn’t one.
The Ford government quietly changed its building code, clearing the way for more triple-bunking in Ontario’s overcrowded jails The practice is decried by judges as inhumane and has led to reduced sentences as compensation. thestar.com/news/investigation… #conservativeCruelty
I drove through NH on Friday and was struck by two things: 1. There were a lot more Pappas signs than Sununu, and more Ayotte signs than Warmington (consistent with polls); and 2. While all of the Democratic signs were blue, none of the GOP signs were red. The red brand is toxic at the moment.
Wisconsin’s controversial anti-union law faces a reckoning this fall. Here’s what that could mean. wisconsinwatch.org/2026/10/wis…
Ben Carroll wants to match the Libs’ plan to raise Vic’s land tax threshold from $50k to $300k. But cheaper landholding won’t help renters or homeowners. We need a tax shift: less tax on jobs and moving, more on land and resources. Read more: www.prosper.org.au/2026/10/land... #VICPol
‘“Stop calling it an Iron Dome,” Kemi dead-panned. “It isn’t an Iron Dome. I’ve never called it an Iron Dome. It’s a Britannia Shield.” Genius. She couldn’t think for the life of her why everyone was calling it an Iron Dome. Mmm. It might have been something to do with the Tory press office releasing a statement calling it an Iron Dome? And the opinion piece in the Sun, written by Kemi herself, calling it an Iron Dome?’ #ukPol 🟦🤦♂️ theguardian.com/politics/2026/…
Yes, and when the private sector screws up, it is the NHS that must pick up the pieces, at whatever cost. A textbook example of the government privatising the profit and socialising the risk
Independent MP Allegra Spender has announced a bill to protect students and teachers at religious schools from discrimination based on sexuality, gender identity or marital status, and says it will go to Parliament next week. She supports religious schools hiring staff who share their faith, but opposes dismissing staff over marital status or expelling students over sexual orientation. She pointed to Dr Karen Pack, a senior teacher at Morling College who says she was dismissed in 2020 after marrying her same-sex partner; the college has disputed that account. The issue dates to the 2017 Ruddock Review, and reform attempts between 2018 and 2023 failed or were abandoned. No timing for a vote or likely level of support has been reported. #auspol outinperth.com/allegra-spender…
The Tories are not ready for the battle of ideas, unless you count a reheated, fantasy version of Thatcherism as the answer to the problems of 2029 rather than 1979. And I would suggest that's quite a brave assumption given the situation in housing, transport and energy substack.com/@capx/note/p...
Americans scream tyranny is wonderful, but Americans are unable to explain why Cubans try to escape even though Cuba has gun control and free medical care.
There are so many tragic examples like this. The potential consequences of distracted driving are obvious. brutal & devastating. We all know this. Why then, when people make the choice to risk others lives do we shy away from prosecuting them properly? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I never post on here, but I am once again trying to get my city to get rid of ALPR cameras. They've committed to ditching Flock (yay!) but now the chief of police already has a quote from Axon (boo!) If you'd like to make sure that the Sun Prairie Public Safety Committee hears something other than Axon provides in their ALPR Council Toolkit, make your voice heard! You have several options. - Attend the meeting. 7pm, 300 E Main St, Sun Prairie, WI, 2nd floor council chambers. When you arrive, make sure to let the committee chair know you want to speak. - Email. You can send your written comments to sschmidt@cityofsunprairie.com - Jotform. You can submit comments up until 30 minutes before the meeting via cityofsunprairie.com/Comments/… You do not have to be a resident of Sun Prairie to do any of these. #wi #wisconsin #sunprairie #flock #axon #alpr #uspol #uspolitics #SunPrairieWI #madison #MadisonWi
The Crisafulli Queensland government shifts further away from the court system with proposed laws expanding the power of police responding to domestic & family violence. They didn't listen when on-the-spot protection directives were first initiated. #qldpol www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10...
The very funny FBI hack has a 'reason' given now "FBI’s internal review of a hack of its jobs portal...determined that a “security failure” by a contractor managing the site...the FBI has removed the contractor, which it did not identify" The number of times privatization is responsible for gov hacks is unsurprisingly incredibly high And the public doesn't even get to know if they were actually punished or what other contracts they have, bc they almost certainly still do
One thing I wish the left wing of the political spectrum appreciated is an electorally robust Dem Party means *more* left wing candidates not fewer. There is a penalty for being “too left wing” and Democrats running up big electoral margins means more candidates can pay that penalty and still win.
How come we are blaming immigrants? When the blame lies with: Federal governments not properly funding: - national infrastructure, logistics and strategic development of transport, and electricity production and delivery. - healthcare - education, tertiary, secondary, primary and preschool - innovation, technical and apprenticeship training, - local manufacturing, and services - protecting the environment and ensuring Australia’s bio security and food security - international efforts to improve sustainability, and build resilience and self sufficiency - government and public services.
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State and local governments not properly funding: - state and local infrastructure to enhance national goals - rural and regional development - affordable, sustainable, adaptable and appropriate housing - healthcare and health facilities - protecting the environment and encouraging sustainable development - government and public services - public transport. The decades long mismanagement of the Commonwealth of Australia is a factor of politics, not immigration. #auspol #Immigration #Labor #liberals #onenation
Local news talking about how low gas prices are in Ohio now that there's a gas tax holiday. I hope no one forgets that the taxes they aren't paying means things funded by that tax are not going to happen, like road maintenance. We won't feel the pain of that until long after midterms.
In a first of its kind ever initiative, Utah’s Dept. of Corrections has converted a halfway house into a sort-of shelter for a small population of the state’s homeless who make up a disproportionate impact on health care and criminal justice systems: fox13now.com/news/politics/uta… #utpol #Utah
"While Carney did not come from an elite family, his path in life took him to Harvard, Oxford, and then Goldman Sachs. He led the central banks of two of the world’s largest economies. And as his recent investment summit has shown, he has the global economic elite in his Rolodex."
This is a really good and nationally binding decision. It remains to be seen what impact it has on the NSW Government approval of a massive mine expansion at Hunter Valley Coal only days before. Presumably the High Court should rule against that too. Yay. theguardian.com/australia-news…
There is a rather wider minority for abolishing the Monarchy (about 1 in 5 to 1 in 4) than for the controversy of whether only white people can be English (1 in 10). It is weird the media classes are so rarely across how niche this 'controversy' is - about 1/4 Reform voters, but few others
Polls have opened in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. The by-election follows the resignation of former PM Keir Starmer, who resigned his seat to focus on a role in international affairs. Polls close at 10pm, with a result expected in the early hours of the morning. #ukpoli #byelection
We should take the debt seriously, but that means being honest about how we got here. Spending alone didn't get us to $40 trillion. Decades of tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations have cost taxpayers trillions. Read my full op-ed in @financialtimes.com:
When the US Department of Homeland Security was founded, in 2003 or thereabouts, I thought, "what idiot named this, clearly that's racist". This based on the notion that "homeland", as a concept, is a hallmark. Since then, especially recently, it's become very clear that use in the DHS name was not a mistake, rather a telegraph of intent. So it is with some surprise and confusion that I witness the media's reaction to the Green Party's resolution about Zionism. Most discussions I can find include the word "homeland".
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Clearly there is nuance here of which I am ignorant. Also I'm sitting from a position of exceptional privilege: I've never needed a "homeland", I've always been already there. One aspect of this which fails to be communicated or recognised is that "____ is racist" can be applied to most actions or principles that aggregate and execute power. There is not, however, a lot concrete you can do with the statement "everything is racist" other than say "I'll try, again and always, to do better". We should all be doing that.
It's easy and understandable to say the Trump administration is being racist again here. But the more analytical question is how & why is Black home ownership quoted at 24% vs 73% white. That would require an analysis of an economy that continually makes winner and losers along racial lines.
Two thoughts: - How messed up is it that the audit and counterintelligence folks took so long to pick up on this? - How bad is CIA spy training such that if they give this guy $200M he can't figure out how to vanish into a new identity and squander that money in peace? The real DOGE scandal here is that the US intel community is paying far too much for ineffective clandestine officer training
But, like Keir Starmer, Burnham has tied his own hands by pledging to “stick to our fiscal rules”. These rules did not come from government. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Weeks before Election Day, the Trump administration is sending $500 checks to select Americans. Why that is less a policy win and more a voter bribery scheme is worth understanding. So is how Trump is turning the presidency into a corrupt family business. Two stories. One very familiar Trumpian playbook. thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p…
Also quite misleading to say children will be exempt from the refugee tax. Yes a 5 year old won't be expected to pay but their parents will and that will still keep that child at destitution levels, taking vital earnings and benefits income from families.
Final thought on the imminent election from listening to Sunday's edition of MediaWatch; Voters in the Māori electorates have a very clear choice. If they want the current regime out of power, they'll vote for the most popular candidate who isn't running for Labour (TPM or otherwise). If they want to keep Labour out of government, they'll vote for Labour's candidate, hoping to reduce their intake of list MPs. This is the reality of voting under MMP. It's just not simple, and can't be.
The DSA flipped more seats this year than the Tea Party did in 2010. It's obvious incumbents everywhere are going to lose.
Protip: The homeless need fires because water is a few degrees off of freezing at night, now. You might ask why they are homeless. That's an easy answer. Every year the government approves rent increases and does not build or maintain government housing to lower the rents. It is the retirement plan of a surprising number of people to die homeless on the street in their gold years because rents have been so high people have not been able to save adequately. cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/en…
Three years ago VOX underperformed compared to their 2019 ceiling. We won't see this in Nov - they will pass 2019 this time. I would wager we also won't see the below-avg. turnout we saw in 2023. Election during mass protest seems pretty inductive for high turnout blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...
“If you have faced unfair delivery charges, or have concerns relating to postal and courier services, please get in touch.” – Maree Todd MSP "Island communities in Scotland rely heavily on postal services for access to essential goods, services, and economic participation.... theorkneynews.scot/2026/10/07/…
Pop culture has spent the past 25 years promoting a different kind of protagonist: the anti-hero. How can political campaigns tap into some of the same appeal? What happens if, rather than trying to make yourself seem squeaky-clean, you channel your inner Nietzsche and move beyond good and evil?
The Coalition wants to cut net overseas migration to 100,000, tie migration to housing construction and make new arrivals sign a values statement. But the policy rests on five shaky premises about how migration actually works, Alan Gamlen writes. #auspol #Migration
Trump administration refuses international election monitors for first time in over 2 decades The decision not to invite observers from the OSCE puts the U.S. alongside Russia and Belarus, while the Justice Department prepares to deploy its own poll monitors. ms.now/news/trump-midterms-osc… #Ukraine #Russia #US
The threats to our resilience are the same as the threats to our democracy: corporate lobbyists shaping policy, with dire consequences for our ability to withstand crises. Burnham seems to want to change this. But is he aware of scale of the task? My column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I don't care about cars. I bought my first one at age 31, and I drove my last one to the scrap yard 15 years later when the kids were grown. I cycle and ride buses and trains. But I believe the only way we can get the small-town male petrol-car huggers back from voting for Fascist parties is solid subsidies on electric vehicles. As for jobs for these men, sorry, no idea. #evs #environment #climate #fascism
The stories themselves will not result in systemic change. The stories may be the driver to be part of a mass mobilization of millions of people rising up also against ICE also against the desecration of voting rights also against many other harms in a sustained movement towards something big
#MariCarmen has died due her eviction. Is not a dead, is an assassination. As well as that of Olga, Javier and all those who died or took their own lives because of rentierism. She sparked our collective empathy, our collective anger, our collective hope, and now it is up to us, as a collective, to grieve. She said we should keep fighting, and that’s what we’ll do bbc.com/news/articles/c6e3x21e… #AcampadaMaricarmen #DecretoMaricarmen #26S
Nearly a third of long-term care workers are (or were, before this administration deported so many) foreign born, and the last of the Baby Boomers has yet to turn 65. The impending care crisis needs creative solutions, not reactive nationalism.
I just saw an interview with Pete Hegseth. He had promised that if he got the job of Sec Def he would stop drinking. Why don't I see anyone asking if he is keeping this promise? I think his performance so far warrants him being asked this question. #uspol #hegseth
The argument I've seen from MANY liberals is that Carney is building an oil pipeline so that he can fund social programs So why is he simultaneously building a pipeline while cutting national pharmacare? www.hilltimes.com/2026/10/05/n...
