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1164·22 hours agoNeoliberalism. The belief that owners of corporations should be able to do whatever the fuck they want, because corporations always create the best outcome possible for society.
The result is stuff like the US Opioid Crisis. Purdue Pharma knew that opioid pharmaceuticals were extremely addictive. For decades, they lied and said it was not addictive. In private, they laughed about their victims.
They bribed doctors and dentists to overprescribe it:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/health/purdue-opioids-oxycontin.html
https://www.latimes.com/projects/oxycontin-part1/
They also paid think-tanks to defend them and aggressively challenged negative media coverage:
The tobacco companies used the same techniques before western governments cracked down on them.
In the 90s, they tried to prevent governments from acting by bribing politicians:
An NPR review of McConnell’s relationship with the tobacco industry over the decades has found that McConnell repeatedly cast doubt on the health consequences of smoking, repeated industry talking points word-for-word, attacked federal regulators at the industry’s request and opposed bipartisan tobacco regulations going back decades.
Soon after McConnell won a U.S. Senate seat, he was invited to the Tobacco Institute’s boardroom to give a speech in January 1985. The documents also reveal that McConnell and his Senate office frequently accepted gifts from tobacco industry lobbyists
The gifts included tickets to NFL and NBA games, a production of Dostoevsky’s Crime And Punishment, a Ringo Starr concert, “top-quality brandy,” and what McConnell called a “beautiful ham.”
When McConnell has sought re-election, tobacco company employees and PACs have typically donated to McConnell more than to any other member of Congress, according to data from the Center For Responsive Politics. Since 1989, he has received at least $650,000
One of the most striking episodes revealed in the tobacco industry documents came in October 1998. Just a few months earlier, McConnell helped defeat major tobacco legislation championed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
The McCain bill would have ratified and strengthened the proposed settlement between the tobacco industry and attorneys general from most of the states. It would have also allowed FDA regulation of nicotine and penalized companies that failed to reduce teen smoking.
McConnell, who had repeatedly clashed with McCain over campaign finance legislation, helped lead the opposition. “We know, of course, that only 2% of smokers are teenagers,” McConnell said.
(In fact, nearly 90% of all smokers begin before they turn 18 years old.)
“That to me is the most egregious incident that I have seen about the appearance of corruption since I have been a member of the United States Senate,” McCain later said of McConnell
In many countries, tobacco corporations are still using mafia methods:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/12/big-tobacco-dirty-war-africa-market
For neoliberals, the corporations should decide what is acceptable or not. If there is a profitable market for something, then it means it should be legal. Period. They don’t give a shit about selling addictive poison to kids, destroying the environment or underpaying workers. Corporate profits are their religion.
Neoliberals believe citizens or lawmakers should never try to fix injustice, because corporations can’t create injustice. And if they want to be involved and threaten corporate profits, you have to punch them in the nose.
In 1951, Jacobo Árbenz was democratically elected President of Guatemala. He wanted to tax rich banana companies and ensure they didn’t own all the land. So the United Fruit Company lobbied the CIA to overthrow him. Allen Dulles, the director of the CIA, accepted immediately. His brother, wealthy businessman John Foster Dulles, was chairman of United Fruits International. So the President Árbenz was violently overthrowed. At least 9000 people were killed.
That’s extreme neoliberalism.
This bill follows an investigation by ProPublica that showed state towing laws have come to favor tow companies at the expense of drivers:
https://www.propublica.org/article/connecticut-dmv-tow-companies-car-sales
141·2 days agoThe issue is that americans vote on identity. They don’t vote about policies.
Look at Arkansas.
A freaking Nuclear Engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) came up a solid plan to improve Arkansas. He visited all 75 counties.
He lost by double digits against Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She barely campaigned.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Arkansas_gubernatorial_election
The issue is that many americans simply vote on identity. They don’t vote about policies.
The issue is that americans vote on identity. They don’t vote about policies.
Look at Arkansas. A nuclear engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) came up a solid plan to improve Arkansas. He visited all 75 counties. He lost by double digits against Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She barely campaigned.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Arkansas_gubernatorial_election
The issue is that many americans simply vote on identity. They don’t vote about policies.
Sure, they might agree with individual policies. But when it comes to voting for candidates, (most) americans ultimately vote based on their perceived identity.
3·3 days agoPour comprendre le personnage.
Nice et ses relations avec Israël. Deux de nos confrères, Christian Chesnot, journaliste au service international de Radio France, et Georges Malbrunot, grand reporter au Figaro, viennent de publier un livre aux éditions Michel Lafon.
Dont un chapitre est consacré aux relations entre la France et Israël. Plus précisément, ils reviennent sur les liens entre Christian Estrosi et l’État Hébreux en matière de sécurité, de cybersurveillance. Le titre de cet ouvrage : “Le déclassement français. Elysée, quai d’Orsay, DGSE : Les secrets d’une guerre d’influence stratégique”.
Dans ce livre les auteurs pointent l’admiration du maire de Nice pour les techniques de cybersécurité israéliennes : Christian Estrosi est fasciné par Israel “il y a eu l’application Reporty, développée par la start-up de l’ancien premier ministre Ehoud Barak testée en 2018 à Nice, l’objectif était pour les utilisateurs témoins d’incivilités de filmer la scène, et d’envoyer les images au centre de supervision urbain.” indique Christian Chesnot.
Mais ce n’est pas tout. Après avoir été réfréné par la CNIL, Commission informatique et liberté, le maire s’est essayé à un tout autre dispositif “l’expérimentation reconnaissance faciale lors du Carnaval 2019, avec la technologie israélienne Anyvision.” précise l’auteur.
On peut aussi lire l’excellente enquête du site Les Jours :
https://lesjours.fr/obsessions/thales-surveillance/ep1-nice-safe-city/
Dem Governor Vetoes Ban on Surprise Ambulance Bills in Shocking Move
I said “Jared Polis. Colorado.” without even even opening the article.
Then I opened the article.
It was actually Jared Polis.
I’m not surprised at all…
https://prospect.org/labor/2025-05-19-democrats-union-busting-governor-polis-colorado/
He is a pretty smart guy. I agree with many of his policies. But electing a filthy-rich businessman wasn’t perhaps a great idea. He has vetoed some good bills.
01·3 days agodeleted by creator
deleted by creator
Les automobilistes font véritablement peur aux politiciens francais.
En 2014, l’écotaxe fut à l’origine de la révolte des Bonnets Rouges. En 2018, la hausse du prix des carburants précipite la crise des Gilets Jaunes.
Ils ont retenu la lecon. Quand Emmanuel Macron déclare “Moi, j’adore la bagnole”, il faut bien comprendre que des experts lui ont expliqué que beaucoup de francais périphériques ont une relation profonde avec l’automobile.
Pour citer un membre de l’élite francaise :
On le voit au Parlement avec les ZFE : il y a, en particulier dans les classes populaires, un rejet d’une écologie qu’on vit comme la négation méprisante d’un mode de vie. Il alimente le populisme. Un examen de conscience s’impose au moment où les barbares sont aux portes.
Une des meilleures journalistes du groupe France Télévisions.
Il faut voir comment elle parlait aux politiciens francais :
https://youtu.be/XZl2Z9_UJSQ?t=357
Bon vent Anne-Sophie ❤️