Notices by Joanna Bryson, blathering (j2bryson@mastodon.social)

#giftArticle

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) said in a letter to Bessent on Friday. “I can think of no good reason why political operators who have demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law would need access to these sensitive, mission-critical systems.”

https://wapo.st/3EmllAH

Germany offers maternity leave for women after miscarriage

The German parliament has strengthened maternity protection for women who have suffered miscarriages. The new regulation would entitle women who miscarry after the 13th week of pregnancy to maternity leave.
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-offers-maternity-leave-for-women-after-miscarriage/a-71464825

Tariffs have been announced on chips, aluminium copper steel "things we need for our military"
Trying to compensate for insane tax cuts. They think if they put 10% tariff on everything they'd get $2T, but that's nothing next to these stupid tax cuts, and also a) shrink the economy b) becomes a $2000/household extra cost.

But will likely come no matter how damaging to the US (and the rest of us.)

"In" a chatham rule zoom meeting about EU / US tech trade. Rather than tariffs announced immediately studies were, but these are to be reported to the President on 1 April – I'm sure they'll be a great joke.

Also not mentioned the WTO. Is Trump going to just ignore rather than be withdraw from the WTO? [Does he think it's the WHO?]

That desensitisation can be a dangerous thing. It risks extending to those children who survived; the almost 40,000 orphans, the thousands of amputees, the hundreds of thousands who are displaced and whose schools have been destroyed, and the “complete psychological destruction” that all children who have lived through the war have suffered.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/27/children-gaza-loved-remembered-innocent-mourn?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Billionaires growing richer faster than ever, says Oxfam

Oxfam said trillionaires are expected to emerge within the next decade, as the richest 1% now own 45% of global wealth, while 44% of humanity lives on less than $6.85 per day.
https://www.dw.com/en/billionaire-wealth-growing-faster-than-ever-says-oxfam-report/a-71345320

argh
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/12/29/canada-trump-trudeau-freeland-tariffs/

Holy smokes. #altman is everywhere. #berlin #openai #WorldCoin

...but while there's moonlight, and music, and love, and romance...

France: Socialists suggest readiness to back new government

Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure stressed he would not support a right-wing prime minister. The resignation of Prime Minister Barnier following a no-confidence vote has reignited French political uncertainty.
https://www.dw.com/en/france-socialists-suggest-readiness-to-back-new-government/a-70986302

Bad day for Musk? Given the EU launching too...

Iran launches its heaviest-ever payload into space

Iran says it sent into space its heaviest-ever payload using a domestically developed rocket. Tehran's advancing aerospace capabilities have raised concerns in the West.
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-launches-its-heaviest-ever-payload-into-space/a-70981129

Why fertile land is turning to desert

Four football fields of land degrade into desert every second. That equates to an area almost as large as Ethiopia each year. Could efforts to restore and reforest this arid terrain bear fruit?
https://www.dw.com/en/why-fertile-land-is-turning-to-desert/a-70955221

Syria insurgents enter Aleppo in new anti-Assad offensive

Rebel fighters have entered parts of Syria's second-largest city in the biggest offensive against Bashar Assad's government in years.
https://www.dw.com/en/syria-insurgents-enter-aleppo-in-new-anti-assad-offensive/a-70923815

Great draft paper on how platform regulation is designed to support democracy & choice https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4888631 presented at the @article19.bsky.social #DMA meeting in brux just now.

Discussant critiques lack of discussion of other acts and laws themselves, but I love the democracy review.

One thing a few of us have clarified at this meeting is that AI Policy has to include policy recognising when NOT to use AI, not just "responsible AI". A colleague from South Africa insists the entire responsible AI framing is self-regulatory and flawed, I support her. https://aipolicylab.se/news-and-events/ai-policy-summit/

EU fines Meta €797 million over antitrust breaches

The EU Commission fined tech giant Meta for practices favoring Facebook Marketplace that it said violated EU competition law.
https://www.dw.com/en/eu-fines-meta-797-million-over-antitrust-breaches/a-70779835?

I feel like this didn’t get enough traction: Cryptocurrencies align the interests of millions of young, emotionally-desperate gamblers with the criminal oligarchs that money laundering legislation was set up to control.

#democracy #digitalGovernance #AIEthics
https://mastodon.social/@j2bryson/113464379742552002

The German government just collapsed. #thanksAmerica

Quotes were from #thanksAmerica https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-governing-coalition-collapses/live-70692143?

#cdu #germany #ukraine #biden #trump #FDP

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to contact #cdu to examine quick joint solutions to strengthen the German economy and defense —to work together constructively on two or even more issues "that are crucial for our country: On the rapid strengthening of our economy and our defense."

I bet FDP were blocking #germany from making good on its promises to #ukraine an #biden in the event of #trump winning. These next 4 months matter a lot, and way too many #FDP believed Musk’s & GAFAM’s disruptive bs.

Tuesday night at the #electionnightberlin party we heard an otherwise-smart #FDP speech (Michael Link) suggesting more power in Germany to philanthropists. While I understand the liberal inclination to distribute power, supporting individual enrichment leads to CONCENTRATED power, and very real threats. e.g. https://www.vcinfodocs.com/venture-capital-and-trump