Notices by Chuck Darwin (cdarwin@c.im), page 16

Few of the workers we’ve interviewed understood their rights after an injury.

For some workers, there can be a path toward getting treatment after an injury.
Here is some of what we found:

• Workers who are injured on larger farms have more protections. This is because of an insurance system called workers’ compensation. You can benefit even if you are undocumented.
• The workers’ compensation system is complex and difficult to navigate. Employers sometimes discourage workers from filing claims. Getting a lawyer can be critical, especially if you have a permanent disability.
• Workers who are injured on smaller farms usually can’t access workers’ compensation. The only way to compel an employer to cover medical costs is to file a lawsuit. These lawsuits can be extremely difficult to win. Because of that, attorneys may not want to take your case.
• You may be able to access free or low-cost medical care. Ask about hospital charity, free clinics and a Wisconsin insurance plan called BadgerCare Plus.

https://www.propublica.org/article/what-to-know-hurt-working-wisconsin-dairy-farm

A pair of Texas professors figured out that their female students have sex and, boy, they do not like it.
So now the philosophy professor and finance professor are suing for the right to punish their students who, outside of class, have abortions.
"Pregnancy is not a disease, and elective abortions are not 'health care,'" University of Texas at Austin professor Daniel Bonevac sneers in a federal court filing with professor John Hatfield.
Instead, Bonevac writes, because pregnancy is the result of "voluntary and consensual sexual intercourse," students should not be allowed time off to get abortions.
If the students disobey and miss class for abortion care, the filing continues, the professors should be allowed to flunk students.
Additionally, Bonevac asserts that he has a right to refuse to employ a teaching assistant who has had an abortion, calling such women "criminals."
https://www.salon.com/2024/06/03/texas-professors-to-fail-students-seek-abortions/

Rudolph Giuliani, Trump’s former lawyer, may soon be barred from practicing law for anyone.

The ex–New York City mayor is facing disbarment after the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility recommendedthat he lose his law license over his involvement in lawsuits alleging election fraud in 2020.

“We conclude that disbarment is the only sanction that will protect the public, the courts, and the integrity of the legal profession, and deter other lawyers from launching similarly baseless claims in the pursuit of such wide-ranging yet completely unjustified relief,” the board’s recommendation reads.

In the rest of its 62-page decision, the board highlighted Giuliani’s weaponization of his law license and criticized his efforts to overthrow the election results in Pennsylvania in particular.
The decision follows Giuliani’s law license being suspended nearly three years ago over his support of Trump’s efforts to claim that he didn’t really lose in 2020.
Now the final decision to disbar Giuliani permanently goes to the D.C. Court of Appeals

https://newrepublic.com/post/182150/trump-2020-lawyer-rudy-giuliani-complete-ruin

In two letters posted to X on Friday, Jim Jordan, the chair of House Judiciary Committee, invited Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, as well as senior counsel Matthew Colangelo, to speak before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on June 13.

The move is not a subpoena, and thus carries no legal weight or compulsion for Bragg or Colangelo to attend.

The move is blatantly for political and not legal purposes, which isn’t surprising from Jordan, who went to law school and then never even took the bar exam.

https://newrepublic.com/post/182151/jim-jordan-crusade-trump-guilty-verdict-alvin-bragg

Widespread flooding in southern Germany

Train service between the Bavarian capital Munich and Bregenz, Austria, as well as Zurich, Switzerland, were canceled Saturday.

Train travel between Munich and Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, was detoured, and services between Ulm and Augsburg were also affected.

A 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) stretch of the A3 Autobahn near Bavarian Regensburg was also shut down in both directions Saturday afternoon when water from nearby fields began flooding the road. 

In Augsburg, Bavaria, a dyke and a dam both burst, prompting emergency evacuations.

In Fischach, west of Munich, emergency services workers had to rescue residents stranded in their homes with helicopters when the local Schmutter River flooded.

Other districts saw rescuers arriving in boats as floodwaters made roads impassable.
The ADAC automobile association
— best known for its roadside assistance and flight for life services 
— on Saturday said that all of its helicopters in southern Germany were currently in use assisting evacuation and rescue efforts.

Air-rescue Services Director Jochen Oesterle said helicopters from northern Germany were en route to the south as well, where he said, "we will be deploying our experienced crews
https://www.dw.com/en/southern-germany-hit-by-catastrophic-flooding/a-69239541

Trump, a convicted felon, has also been found liable for sexual abuse and repeated defamation.

These scandals look trivial only in comparison to Trump’s even bigger crimes:
🔸conspiring to defraud the United States out of its presidential election results in 2020; and
🔸stealing, retaining, and exposing high-level national security secrets after leaving office.

Trump faces federal charges for both of those, as well as
🔸additional state charges in Georgia relating to his post-defeat actions,

but none of these cases will conclude, or perhaps even start, before this November’s election.

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trumps-conviction-clarifies-things

Trump's supremacist cult claims to care about virtue and morality,
and their prize pig believed them.

He committed those 34 felonies to keep his cult from knowing that he paid an adult film actress for sex while his wife was convalescing with his infant son.

At the time he didn’t realize that none of these good lawful decent mostly white mostly male mostly Christian supremacists give a single fuck about any of that,
and never will, as long as they continue to believe he will punish the people they want punished in defense of their empty moral authority.

It’s doubtful the pig president would make the same mistake today, now that his followers have clearly proved that true morality
—even by their own definitions
—means as little to them as the lives of those they intend to consume and control and destroy.

These days he's bolder.
These days he knows there are no lines he can't cross.

So the pig president isn't going to make those mistakes anymore about his cult of moral authorities.

Neither should we

https://www.the-reframe.com/not-better-but-worse/?ref=the-reframe-newsletter

Why Mexico will elect a woman president before the U.S. will

“Mexico, on this metric, is really a model for how other countries can do it,” said Jennifer Piscopo, a professor of gender and politics at Royal Holloway, a college of the University of London, who studies the region,
adding, “There’s no other country that I’m currently aware of that has a constitutional amendment for gender parity that is that comprehensive.”

Today, half of the country’s legislature is made up of women, compared with less than 30 percent of the U.S. Congress. The chief justice of the Mexican Supreme Court, the leaders of both houses of Congress and the Central Bank governor are all women. So are the ministers of the interior, education, economy, public security and foreign relations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/01/world/americas/mexico-presidential-election-women.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Dahlia Lithwick: I think the merits can get lost when we talk about the flags.

But there is a substantive problem that we’re starting to pick up on, and that is Justice Alito, in recent weeks, making very real and serious errors in his opinions.

They’re actually prompting corrections from sources that he cites, who say, “No, my work reflects the opposite of what you’re claiming.”

I’d love for you to unpack that

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/05/samuel-alito-upside-down-american-flag-supreme-court.html

The Republican Party’s divorce from the rule of law is complete

It’s been a slow boil over many years, but
this week truly solidified the GOP’s long drift away from the rule of law
— and embrace of Trump’s misleading claims about the legal process.

Almost without exception, Republicans decried the verdict of Trump’s jury of peers.

Even moderate Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who offered vanilla responses to Trump’s indictments last year, decided that Trump has been singled out.

Collins also falsely claimed that District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) had promised to prosecute Trump.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/31/4-takeaways-aftermath-trumps-guilty-verdict/

It’s going to get ugly


Trump long ago signaled that his 2024 campaign and a potential second term would be about “retribution.”

He also spurred a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol with violent rhetoric and false claims about voter fraud.

There’s little question that this history and a criminal conviction are a combustible mixture.

And it’s already simmering

(2/4)

Trump is caught between his political and legal interests


Thursday wasn’t the end of the legal matter
— not precisely.

Trump still faces sentencing July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention begins.

A major question is whether he’ll go to prison.

(3/4)

Trump lawyer’s conspicuous reflections

Blanche said Trump “jokingly said to us a lot, sometimes he wanted to be the litigator
— you know, he wanted to be the one that was actually arguing,
because he’s a smart guy and he knows what he’s doing.”

Blanche in his response cited the involvement of people outside the legal team.

“But we had a team. You know, my team is amazing. You know, the folks that work with us were — they are brilliant.
And then the president has a team and they’re brilliant and we all did the best that we could,
and I wouldn’t change anything that we did.

“Of course, I’m sure there’s going to be folks that are on your show that take a different view. And maybe I will, too, at some point, but no, we did the best we could.”

Sentencing is set for July 11 at 10 a.m.

That will put sentencing four days before the beginning of the Republican National Convention, at which Trump is expected to receive the party’s presidential nomination.
-- Michael Gold Reporting on the Trump campaign

What’s behind the anti-Biden ‘wildfire’ among TikTok influencers

Trump content is generating about 500 million views a month on the site, compared with more than 300 million for Biden posts, as of late May.

And Trump videos are much more likely to be posted by allies than Biden videos, according to CredoIQ data.

That adds to a similar advantage Trump has on Facebook, which reaches an older audience.

Conservatives produced more than 70,000 posts about Biden in the first half of this year, compared with about 18,000 posts about Biden from liberals

The Facebook advantage is not new. Trump has been mining the platform since 2016, when he took advantage of the site’s propensity to elevate content that elicits outrage and anger.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-05-30/2024-election-tik-tok-influencers-biden-trump

I just got HUGE news,
and I want you to be the first to hear:
𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮! 🩷

Earning this major national endorsement doesn't just prove that our grassroots movement has what it takes to flip Florida blue
— it proves that the work we're doing to restore reproductive rights at home, and across the country, is possible.

Thanks to the support of people like you,
a new poll shows me in a statistical #tie with #Rick #Scott!

But the only way we'll keep this momentum going is with strong
— and sustained
— grassroots support.

𝗦𝗼 𝗜'𝗺 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴:
𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 #𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻?

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵
𝗮𝘀 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝟭𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹:

https://secure.ngpvan.com/Svp2AfVXL0ucBXHcKEXlxQ2

Thank you so much,

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell

Republican activist with ties to DeSantis and Rubio indicted over January 6

Barbara Balmaseda, 23, charged with five counts after FBI investigation identifies her at riot alongside Proud Boys

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/29/young-republican-jan-6-indictment?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Two senior Biden administration officials Wednesday opened the door to 💥allowing Ukraine to use American-donated weapons to strike inside Russia.💥
The move, if made, would come as European allies, lawmakers and Ukrainian officials exert pressure on the White House to lift the restrictions,
and as Russia has made major advances on the battlefield.

It also suggests that President Joe Biden and his team are increasingly worried about Kyiv’s ability to fend off Russia’s attacks, especially its latest advance in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv.
Secretary of State Antony #Blinken signaled the possible change during a visit to Moldova when pressed by reporters.

A “hallmark” of the Biden administration’s approach toward Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion two years ago “has been to adapt as the conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as what Russia does has changed.”

“We’ve adapted and adjusted, too, and we’ll continue to do that,” he continued.
Shortly afterward, National Security Council spokesperson John #Kirby, while stating that there’s “no change” in the current policy that says Ukraine can’t use U.S.-supplied weapons to strike inside Russian territory,
also noted that America’s “support to Ukraine has evolved appropriately.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/29/biden-aides-signal-openness-to-allowing-ukraine-to-strike-russia-with-us-weapons-00160462

Russia is flooding Europe with disinformation.
The U.S. elections are next.

"Doppelganger," a Moscow-run effort, cloned websites of legitimate newspapers, magazines and news services, posted replicas under similar domain names and filled them with Kremlin propaganda.


At least two years after they were detected, Doppelganger’s phony sites continue popping up around the internet like mushrooms after a cloudburst, despite ongoing efforts to close them down.

The sites’ persistence reflects the flood of Russian interference
— and the near-impossibility of monitoring it, let alone stopping it
— ahead of elections next month for the European Parliament.

They’re also a foretaste of what Americans can expect in the fall’s presidential contest, in which Moscow will try to amplify the venomous clamor of U.S. politics

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/05/27/russia-disinformation-propaganda-eu-elections/

The toxic surveillance business model
– and the big tech monopolies that built their empires on top of this model:

The roots of this business model can be traced to the 1990s, as scholar Matthew Crain’s work illuminates.

In a rush of enthusiasm to commercialize networked computation,
the Clinton administration laid down the rules of the road for the profit-driven internet in 1996.

In doing so, they committed two original sins
–sins that we’re still paying for today. 

🔸First, even though they were warned by advocates and agencies within their own government about the privacy and civil liberties concerns that rampant data collection across insecure networks would produce,
they put NO restrictions on commercial surveillance.
None.
Private companies were unleashed to collect and create as much intimate information about us and our lives as they wanted
–far more than was permissible for governments.
(Governments, of course, found ways to access this goldmine of corporate surveillance, as the Snowden documents exposed.)

And in the US, we still lack a federal privacy law in 2024.

🔸Second, they explicitly endorsed advertising as the business model of the commercial internet–fulfilling the wishes of advertisers who already dominated print and TV media. 

This combination was–and is–poison.

Because, of course, the imperative of advertising is
“know your customer,”
in service of identifying the people most likely to be convinced to buy or do the things you want them to.

And to know your customer you need to collect data on them.

This incentivized mass surveillance, which now feeds governments and private industry well beyond advertising,
with strong encryption serving as one of our few meaningful checks on this dynamic.

On this toxic foundation, over the course of the 2000s, the Big Tech platforms established themselves
through search, social media, marketplaces, ad exchanges, and much more.

They invested in research and development to enable faster and bigger data collection, processing, and to build and maximize computational infrastructures and techniques that could facilitate such collection and ‘use’ of data.

Economies of scale, network effects, and the self-reinforcing dynamics of communications infrastructures enabled the firms early to this toxic model to establish monopoly dominance.

This was aided by the US government’s use of soft power, trade agreements, and imperial dominance to ensure that the EU and other jurisdictions adopted the US paradigm. 

This history helps explain why the majority of the world’s big tech corporations are based in the US, with the rest emerging from China.

The US got a head start, via military infrastructure and neoliberal policies and investment,
while China built a self-contained market, capable of supporting its own platforms with its own norms for content that further limited external competition.

(1/8)
https://www.helmut-schmidt.de/en/news-1/detail/the-prizewinners-speech