DoorDash & Uber Using Customers as Pawns to Punish Workers

Source: Common Dreams
by Sally Dworak-Fisher

“A mere two months after a series of new protections for certain app-based workers in Seattle took effect, corporations like DoorDash and Uber Eats that had opposed them are trying to destroy them another way: by charging new service fees in order to tank consumer demand and available work. In doing so, these companies manipulate more than just the market. They orchestrate a political backlash in which they seek consumers and workers to join them in denouncing the law as the culprit and clamoring for its repeal. It’s a tactic from a well-worn playbook. As Seattle’s City Council recently recognized in passing the minimum pay law, these corporations ‘often pay app-based workers subminimum wages despite the promise of good wages, flexibility, and accessibility’. Moreover, these digital labor platforms rely disproportionately on Black and Latinx workers to provide the services they offer.” (03/28/24)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/seattle-protect-app-workers

Where RFK Jr. Goes From Here

Source: The Atlantic
by John Hendrickson

“Wasn’t Robert F. Kennedy jr. supposed to have flamed out by now? At a rally yesterday in Oakland, California, Kennedy — a lifelong Democrat turned independent — unveiled his 2024 running mate, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan. Kennedy selected Shanahan from a motley crew of reported vice-presidential contenders: Aaron Rodgers, Jesse Ventura, Mike Rowe, Tulsi Gabbard, and the rapper Killer Mike, to name a few. Shanahan is by no means a household name. Yet she could bolster Kennedy’s outsider ticket in three pivotal ways. She’s just 38 years old and may help him appeal to younger voters. Several states require candidates to file a two-person ticket as a ballot-eligibility requirement, so her sheer addition could help move those efforts forward. And, of course, she has money …” (03/27/24)

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/03/robert-f-kennedy-election/677891/

Ronna McDaniel and MSNBC: Ultimate Schadenfreude?

Source: The Racket
by Matt Taibbi

“Surely this is the funniest media story of the year? The following three things were obvious before MSNBC puked on itself in its public divorce with former RNC chief Ronna McDaniel, but aren’t we glad the network didn’t notice? More later, but briefly: * Maybe you should hire journalists instead of politicians as on-air personalities; * You gush like bukkake-porn actresses when any of your huge stable of fingernail-pulling ex-spooks like John Brennan comes on air, or Iraq war sales-goons like Nicolle Wallace, but Ronna McDaniel is a bridge too far? * You are rolling out ‘ATTACK ON DEMOCRACY’ chyrons in reference to your own hiring decision. Do you know how funny this is? Potsmokers of America, your try-not-to-laugh-challenges: the Chris Hayes react, the Lawrence O’Donnell react, the Joy Ann Reid react, the Morning Joe react… TV hasn’t been this funny since Ren and Stimpy. NBC, keep being you!” (03/28/24)

https://www.racket.news/p/ronna-mcdaniel-and-msnbc-ultimate

TX: Intruder shot in face

Source: News 4 San Antonio

“A man is in critical condition after being shot in the face during an argument at an East Side home. … Investigators say the suspect was knocking on the front door then walked to the backyard to try and get inside the home. Once he made it inside, someone came to the door and asked what he was doing in the home. An argument started and the intruder started walking up the stairs. That’s when someone inside the home shot the intruder in the face.” (03/27/24)

https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/intruder-shot-in-the-face-during-alleged-home-invasion-at-east-side-home-san-antonio-texas-police-investigation-evidence-handgun-hospital-ambulance

If Ronna McDaniel Is Beyond the Pale, NBC May Have Trouble Presenting “Diverse Viewpoints”

Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum

“NBC’s conclusion that McDaniel is beyond the pale raises questions about where exactly a network should draw that line when it tries to present a mix of political viewpoints. Given Trump’s domination of the Republican Party, finding former GOP officials who did not acquiesce in his increasingly desperate attempts to remain in office after he lost reelection may prove challenging. And if dissident Never Trumpers are the only acceptable on-air Republicans, news outlets like NBC will be presenting a highly skewed selection that does not reflect prevailing opinions within the party.” (03/27/24)

https://reason.com/2024/03/27/if-ronna-mcdaniel-is-beyond-the-pale-nbc-may-have-trouble-presenting-diverse-viewpoints/

Poll: Most Americans now disapprove of Israel’s war in Gaza

Source: Independent [UK]

“Most Americans now disapprove of Israel’s war in Gaza, a new poll has found. Some 55 per cent disapprove of Israel’s ongoing offensive in the besieged territory, while 36 per cent approve, according to the Gallup poll released on Wednesday. It is the first time a poll has found that a majority of Americans do not support the war, a significant shift from when the same survey in November found most were in favour. The survey comes nearly six months into Israel’s war, which has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and brought Gaza to the brink of famine.” (03/28/24)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/americans-poll-gaza-disapprove-biden-b2519611.html

Most New Ideas Are Terrible

Source: EconLog
by Kevin Corcoran

“[The Rabbit R1] is a small device that uses AI to perform automated tasks on your behalf – they give the example of using a voice command to tell the R1 to order you an Uber, and it places the order itself without you needing to unlock your phone and use the Uber app. … I’m not sure why I’d pay $200 to pull one device out of my pocket and tell it to operate an app for me, rather than just pull my phone out of my pocket and just use the app myself. … most new ideas seem pretty ill-considered to me, and most new product innovations seem likely to fail, or at best find only niche appeal. And this very fact – the fact that new ideas mostly seem pretty terrible – highlights something I think is great about markets.” (03/27/24)

https://www.econlib.org/most-new-ideas-are-terrible/

Haiti: “Transitional council” issues first statement

Source: Associated Press

“Members of a transitional presidential council who will be responsible for selecting a new prime minister issued their first official statement on Wednesday, pledging to restore ‘public and democratic order’ in Haiti. The statement, although signed by eight members of what is supposed to be a nine-member council, is still considered a sign that a contentious and drawn-out nomination process is ending and that the council might soon assume its official duties. … The members said they have developed the criteria and mechanisms to choose a council president, a new prime minister and a ministerial cabinet. Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who remains locked out of Haiti, has said he would resign once the council is formally established.” (03/27/24)

https://apnews.com/article/haiti-transitional-council-democracy-violence-12e9e4f31400dd09c127038ee0fe0c3b