#National Office of Statistics and Information

[minnesotafollower]

Cuban Expert: Cuba Progressively Closer to Implosion 

“Cuban economist and demographer Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos believes that Cuba is suffering a cascade of crises that are bringing it progressively closer to ‘implosion.’”[1] “There is an emergency situation that is beyond a health emergency, it is a humanitarian crisis.” And “the loss of some two million inhabitants since 2022, out of a population of 10.5 million, places Cuba in the midst of a…

[magpiemagica]

Disability in the US: A Masterpost

DISABLED AMERICANS CAN’T EVER CATCH A F*CKING BREAK?!

Sorry for yelling; just very scared and upset at the state of my nation right now. And the fact that the only people I see standing up for the disabled community right now is teachers, doctors, and adults of disabled children! I will be using this post to document and educate on disabled issues.

Note from March 25, 2025: Some stuff near the top might be out of date, specifically regarding the state of The Department of Education. I will however still keep those (pre-closure) links up as they are still relevant. Just be aware of the timeline while reading; I started dating my updates around Early March.

(Note: In this post, I will be going over a bunch of stuff concerning the disabled community. I am an adult diagnosed with autism (and some other stuff) who although being Lv1, needs support. These issues will obviously affect more than just Americans with developmental disabilities (autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, etc.) and I will try to be as inclusive as I can to ALL disabilities in this post. This is just the personal experience I am bringing in.)

RFK JR. (he is a whole pile of worms, no pun intended)

17 states are in a lawsuit to eliminate section 504 of of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, this would allow public schools to discriminate education against disabled students. This includes removable of disability accommodations. 504 applies to other government assisted services as well such as hospitals and doctor's offices. This possible removable is a big civil rights issue.

Below are Section 504 itself and the lawsuit.

Speaking of disability and education, the dismantlement of the Department of Education. Just like stated in GOP plan Project 2025, Donald Trump plans to eliminate the Department of Education. This is a horrible idea for so many reasons but especially for disabled students and their parents. The DOE funds special education or "SPED" programs in schools. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, (in 2022-23) 7.5 million students in America receive special education or related services.

Obviously, the pulling back and demonization of DEI will be a big negative for the disabled community, one that already struggles with finding employment, belonging, and support. But most people are already aware of it.

Problem Presidential Actions/Executive Orders. There are many; some linked below. These are specifically ones that impact disabled Americans; lots of ones not mentioned are just as if not more concerning for other reasons.

KEEPING EDUCATION ACCESSIBLE AND ENDING COVID-19 VACCINE MANDATES IN SCHOOLS: will endanger communal health, especially that of the immunocompromised

AMERICAN HEART MONTH, 2025: Magpie, wanting to raise awareness for heart disease is obviously a good thing! Why put this in here? "And we will fulfill our pledge to investigate what has caused the decades-long increase in health problems and childhood diseases — including obesity, autoimmune disorders, infertility, and autism." Yes and, my main concern is their inclusion of "autism". Ignoring the fact that they referred to it as a heath problem or childhood disease, I am autistic adult who has lived on this earth for around 20 years now. For me, this screams Autism Speaks. Autism is a genetic disorder and there have been many studies about its potential causes. This administration has rejected and censored the medical world; this will only result in misinformation being spread.

Update: April 6, 2025: more autism stuff.

WITHDRAWING THE UNITED STATES FROM THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: This one should be self explanatory.

There is more.

There's more concerns I have but I'm tired :/. So tired. Just wanted to raise awareness. I'll post something fun next.

UPDATE: MARCH 11, 2025

Soo...it gets worse, like it always seems to do nowadays.

CDC is planning on doing a nation wide study, studying "the link" between autism and vaccines. The link that seems from the debunked and medically controversial 1998 Wakefield study. Anyone who has a valid medical degree, did basic research on the topic, or is educated on autism can tell you that you cannot "get" autism from vaccines. It is important to note that developmental, neurological, and mental delays due to things like lead poisoning, injuries to the brain, and medical issues like diseases or strokes. However, this is not the case for autism. Autism is a condition you are born with, similar to other developmental disabilities. It seems to be only really questioned because unlike other disorders like down syndrome and fragile X syndrome, autism does not display any physical deformities or traits. You cannot tell if a baby is autistic at birth, only later on as it goes through stages of development. Autism is a genetic disorder with some suspected environmental risks.

So, why is the CDC spending this amount of energy on a theory from a disgraced man who got his medical license revoked and has been fact checked by the medical community multiple times? Short answer, money. I talked on this weeks ago in the American Heart Month section. This is plan to transfer money away from important services and spend it on something meaningless. I don't want to call it embezzlement but that is what it is currently looking like to me :/.

I would be incredibly upset if this happened anytime but now?? The worst time. Antivaxx has been gaining more and more popularity over the years and I have seen a sharp increase of medical misinformation since the confirmation of RJK Jr. The United States government themselves pursuing this theory only validates medical denialism. And with the very real threat of a nationwide Measles outbreak; people need to be vaccinated against MMR more than ever. No more kids need to die because their parents didn't give them the proper vaccines.

Oh and also big Medicaid cuts.

Ugh. Signing out for now <3

UPDATE (March 31st)

UPDATE: MARCH 21, 2025

So, it’s happened. The Department of Education I mean. Not surprised, I’m one of the few who sat down and read Project 2025 (Section 11 linked). But God.. it doesn’t feel real. I’m scared, especially for disabled kids, especially in poorer areas. These families. I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know what to do. God bless the teachers of America.

UPDATE: MARCH 25, 2025

Back to bullshit. Sorry if that's too harsh; I'm just not really in the mood for pleasant formalities. Due to the Department of Education being destroyed (including OSERS), as mentioned above, the responsibility of Special Education will be transferred to Robert F. Kennedy in The Department of Health and Human Services. He and his department not qualified to handle SPED at all. In fact, looking back at when I originally wrote this post, he was one of the leading threats I identified in this administration relating to disability justice.

UPDATE: MARCH 28, 2025

So, about the The Department of Health and Human Services...

Another link. And another link, more specifically about disability and these cuts (from Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund).

Sorry that there is no description on this update; hopefully I will fix that in the future. I am writing this in a hurry.

UPDATE: APRIL 17, 2025

RFK Jr. Another link. This shit is really bad. I'll add more details when I have the energy.

UPDATE: APRIL 24, 2025

Fuck.

Update: April 26, 2025: It’s been refused

Update: April 28, 2025: The Section 504 lawsuit threat seems to be dropped for the time being, at least the argument in it that 504 is unconstitutional and should be removed from 17 states. Instead they are going to just argue to remove gender dysphoria from the list of protected conditions. Here's the updated case.

Update: May 23, 2025: So the "The One, Big, Beautiful Bill" (that is the bill's legit name; I am not calling it beautiful myself) passed the house. Now it goes on to Senate. The biggest threat to disability is the cutting down Medicaid, something so many disabled people rely on. Although I did read the whole bill myself, I am not the most lawfully literate so I recommend doing your own research. The bill itself is linked at the top of the post.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Published May 13, 2024

Governments and certain key opinion formers aren’t being open and honest about the risks associated with COVID-19 and their actions will have long-term consequences for public health and trust in science.

One of the criticisms often leveled at members of the Covid-cautious community is that they believe ‘everything is Covid.’ Critics say there is an element of alarmism or neurosis in the concerns this community has about COVID-19 because no pathogen could cause all the harms being laid at its door.

Unfortunately, the newest widely circulating pathogen in the human population uses a broadly expressed ACE2 receptor to infect cells1, meaning it can damage almost any part of the body2. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, few people believed coronaviruses could linger in the body, but members of the John Snow Project outlined their concerns in 2021 because there was extensive evidence going back decades to suggest coronaviruses could persist3,4. These concerns have since been shown to be justified, with numerous studies now demonstrating prolonged viral persistence and immune activation5-9.

The combination of a widely expressed receptor and persistent infection means the acute and long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, can be unpredictable10.

SARS-CoV-2 has also been shown to harm the immune system in various ways11-14, many of which are common to other pathogens. This harm seems to have increased susceptibility to other pathogens such as dengue15 and strep A16,17.

We’ve previously written about government efforts to return to pre-2020 norms and how official messaging that we must all assess our own level of risk has been interpreted by most people to mean that it is safe to engage with the world in the same way one would have done in 2019 and that there will be no additional risk in doing so18.

Most people have resumed pre-pandemic behaviours, but there has been an increase in general ill-health, which can be demonstrated in rising levels of long-term illness19, disability20,21, GP appointments22, chronic absence among school pupils23-27, rising absence among teachers28 and worker shortages in a wide range of industries29. Many commentators theorize about the reasons for these phenomena, blaming a mysterious malaise among workers, indulgent or irresponsible parents, or post-lockdown laziness.

Aiding this apparent mystery is the rather bizarre way in which official figures are reported. A prominent Covid-cautious commentator pointed this out in a thread on X in relation to the UK Office of National Statistics figures on Long Covid30. The ONS analysis states, “The majority of people self-reporting long COVID experienced symptoms over two years previously,” but the way the data is presented skews the risk towards historic Covid-19 cases by using uneven time intervals, a practice which is in breach of UK government policy on how to present time series data31. However, when the data is presented as close to correctly as the raw data allows, the risk of developing Long Covid from a COVID-19 infection seems to remain relatively constant.

Another criticism leveled at the Covid-cautious community is that members are overstating the risk of Long Covid. High quality studies from all over the world point to the very real and significant risk of Long Covid32-34, and there is now evidence to suggest the risk of Long Covid rises with each subsequent infection35.

If anything, Long Covid prevalence is likely to be understated because of the dearth of public health information from official sources. There are still some people who are surprised they can be reinfected by SARS-CoV-2. There are others who know about the risk of reinfection but who falsely believe each subsequent infection will be milder. There are yet more who do not know each infection can carry a risk of long-term illness.

When we get into specifics, how many people know COVID-19 infection can cause headaches and migraines weeks or months later36,37? Or that it can cause fainting38,39? Nausea40? Heart attacks41,42? Cardiac complications in adults and children43,44? Embolisms45? ADHD-like symptoms46,47? Neurological issues48,49? How many people are suffering the long-term sequelae of COVID-19 infection but not drawing the causal link and instead ascribing their new conditions to bad luck or aging?

We’ve previously written about governments creating the space for antivaxx messaging to thrive by not correctly reporting the risks of COVID-19 infection29, but there are greater threats. Every time a Covid-minimizer says, “There’s nothing to worry about, look at everybody else out there living their lives, just resume your old ways,” they are undermining faith in public health measures because their reassurance is based not on the scientific evidence but on instinct, hope and, possibly, a vested interest in maintaining the status quo because they staked their professional credibility on infections being protective. Science and public health progress when we follow the evidence, not when we hold hunches and opinions in higher esteem than evidence.

The huge rise in dengue50, coupled with the evidence that dengue virus uses SARS-CoV-2 antibodies to enhance infection15 and the correlation of COVID-19 cases to dengue cases51 suggests there is an interplay between the pathogens that hasn’t been fully understood. Whooping cough is surging in the UK, with cases up 3,800% on previous years52-55, and adults who have been previously vaccinated or infected are now falling seriously ill. Similar surges have been seen in other countries, and while those who like to blame anything-but-Covid point the finger at lockdowns, which ended more than three years ago in most countries, sensible people would like to understand the interplay between COVID-19 infection and susceptibility to other pathogens.

It would only make sense to pursue ignorance if there was nothing that could be done about COVID-19, but we know that clean air policies can reduce the risk of all infections56, be they bacterial, viral or fungal. The “just get on with it” messaging of those who want people to forget about COVID-19 is a celebration of the sort of ignorance that has slowed and stalled human progress throughout history.

If there is a business case for investment in engineering and architecture that will improve human health, we need to properly understand the harms caused by COVID-19. Sweeping it under the rug, shouting down those with legitimate concerns, pretending the virus doesn’t exist, massaging data to make it appear things are safe, are all counter to this understanding.

It seems those with means have already decided their health will benefit from clean air57, and advanced ventilation and filtration systems are the latest must-have addition to high-end properties58, which suggests there is also an issue of equity involved in understanding COVID-19. The advancement of human knowledge has always empowered the general population, which is why it has often been resisted by those in power. Keep that in mind the next time someone says, “Stop worrying. Just get on with it.” They want your ignorance and incur no cost if you are harmed by being repeatedly infected by COVID-19 or any other pathogen that might be surging in its wake.

For information on how you can protect yourself from COVID-19 infection, please click here.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

This WILL affect you.

"CDC was massacred. Entire divisions and topic areas completely wiped out. The future of public health is grim. These are some of the programs that were terminated:

IOD (Immediate Office of the Director) * OHE (Office of Health Equity) * OEEO (Office of Equal Employment Opportunity) * OC (Office of Communications)/ DMR (Division of Media Relations)/Broadcast and Multimedia Branch; Digital; Broadcast

OCOO (Office of Chief Operating Officer)/ * Much of OHR (Human Resources) * OFR (Office of Financial Resources) * OAS (Office of Acquisition Services) - only OD remains * FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) - entire office

NCCDPHP (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion) * OD/ OIIRM (Office of Informatics & Information Resources Management), OPHP (Office of Public Health Practice) * DOH (Division of Oral Health) * DRH (Division of Reproductive Health)/FSB (Field Services Branch), WHFB (Women's Health and Fertility Branch) * DPH (Division of Population Health)/ Prevention Research and Translation Branch (PRTB), ESB (Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch), HAB (Health Aging Branch) * OSH (Office on Smoking and Health)

NCHHSTP (National Center for HIV, Viral Hep, STD, TB) * Director reassigned to Indian Health Service * DTBE (Division of TB Elimination)/ CEBSB (Communication, Education, and Behavioral Studies Branch) * DHP (Division of HIV Prevention) / BCSB (Behavioral and Clinical Surv Branch); PCB (Prevention Communication Branch); HPCDB (HIV Prevention Capacity Development Branch); HRB (HIV Research Branch); QSB (Qualitative Sciences Branch) * DSTDP (Division of STD Prevention)/ SLRRB (STD Lab Reference and Research Branch); DIRB (Disease Intervention and Response Branch) * DVH (Division of Viral Hepatitis)/Lab Branch GHC (Global Health Center) * Director reassigned to Indian Health Service * DGHT (Division of Global HIV and TB)/ PBEMB (Program Budget Extramural Management Branch); MCHB (Maternal and Child Health Branch); EHSRB (Economics and Health Services Research Branch); HIDMSB (Health informatics, Data management, and Statistics Branch); SPIN (Special Initiatives Branch) - SPICE (Strategy, Policy, and Communications Branch); SIB (Scientific Integrity Branch)

NCIPC (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control) * DVP (Division of Violence Prevention) * DIP (Division of Injury Prevention) * Office of Informatics

NCEH (National Center for Environmental Health) * DEHSP (Division of Environmental Health Science & Practice) * Asthma and Air Quality Branch * Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention

NCIRD (National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases) * ISD (Immunization Services Division)/PHEB (Partnership and Health Equity Branch)

NCBDDD (National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities) * OD (Office of the Director) * DHDD (Division of Human Development and Disability)/DHB (Disability and Health Promotion Branch) * DBDPHG (Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics)/Blood Disorders Surveillance and Epidemiology Branch; Hemostasis Lab Branch

NCEZID (National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases) * Deputy Director reassigned to IHS

ORR (Office of Readiness and Response) * CFA (Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics)/Technology Branch; Director to IHS

NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) - All except World Trade Center and DCAS * OD (Office of the Director) * HELD (Health Effects Lab Division) * RHD (Respiratory Health Division) * DSI (Division of Science Integration) * Office of Mine Safety and Health Research * NPPTL (National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory) * Pittsburgh Mining Research Division * Spokane Mining Research Division * Office of Extramural coordination * Office of DDMOCP * Human Capital Management Office * Facilities Management office * IT * Policy Planning and Evaluation * Division of Science Integration * Education and information division * Information resources branch * Science application branch * Social science and translation * Training research and evaluation * Risk evaluation branch * Emerging technologies branch"

(Thanks Lenore Thompson)

[evidence-based-activism]

something about the framing of this bugs me but I can’t articulate it very well

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA84G8NsdQS/?igsh=eGw3YWN6MWQ3a3Bw

Your issue with the framing is probably that it is implicitly blaming women for men's problems. Or that they are comparing the massive social systems that have barred women from education and employment for generations to the unrelated issues (i.e., caused by something other than sexism, such as economic issues) by a small group of men.

---

Beyond the framing, however, this video is simply misleading. (I found the article it was based on [1] and am pulling the information from there.)

Education

First, I have provided evidence against a "boy's educational crisis" in the past. The particularly relevant portion is below:

In addition that, women are outpacing men in college entrance and graduation in the USA, according to the Pew Research Center [5]. Specifically, 39% of women over age 25 have a Bachelor's degree compared to 37% of men. However, when considering only the most recent cohort (adults aged 25 to 34), 46% of women have a Bachelor's degree compared to 36% of men. Importantly, however, this difference is not driven by structural inequality. For individuals who did not earn a Bachelor's degree, 44% of women report financial constraints and 38% report family obligations, compared to 39% and 35% of men respectively. In contrast, 34% of men reported they "just didn't want to" and 26% report they didn't need it for their desired job, compared to 25% and 20% of women respectively. This does not support the narrative of an external "boy's crisis". And, in addition to all of that, men are still the majority in highest paying jobs, the majority in governmental and commercial leadership positions, more likely to be the primary or sole earner in a family, and earn more - on average - that women [6].

Unemployment

Their claim that "young women are now more likely to be in work than young men" is based on this graphic:

If you actually examine the graphic, however, you can see that the employment rate for young (age 20 to 24) men and women is essentially identical. They have not presented results of a formal statistical test nor provided the data necessary for me to conduct one. That being said, I would be extremely surprised if any of these differences are statistically significant (i.e., it is likely the difference is based on sampling bias, not a true difference in the population).

And if we were to assume that these differences are significant? Then in four of the six countries, young men's employment rates are still higher than young women's rates.

Further, they later present a table of results indicating the difference between men and women in employment in the UK was less than 1%. In other words, the size of the difference was negligible. But beyond all of that, recent data [2] indicates a reversal of this trend in the UK, with more men (aged 18-24) than women (aged 18-24) being employed. Importantly, I am not actually suggesting that this proves there is a difference between the sexes. Instead, I intended to show how these minute, transient discrepancies are not evidence of a wider trend.

(Also, I do not have access to their exact dataset, so I am basing this off of the employment rate for men and women aged 18-24 in the UK as provided by the Office of National Statistics.)

Their next graph shows a similar discrepancy between their data and their claims:

Here, we are looking at the percent of young men and women who are in neither the labor force nor education. Once again, we see that the rates for young men and women are essentially identical, except in the USA where women are more likely than men to be out of both work and education.

Now, this does not appear to include men or women who are "unemployed" and at the time they show that the percentage of young men in the UK who were unemployed was 4.6% greater than the percentage of women in the UK who were unemployed. However, once again, recent data suggests this difference is shrinking [2]. It is also likely that part of the reason why men's unemployment rate in this age group is higher than women's in this age group is because women are more likely to go to college (i.e., people in education are not counted as unemployed because they are not actively looking for a job).

(Again, I do not have access to their exact dataset, so I am basing this off of the unemployment rate for men and women aged 18-24 in the UK as provided by the Office of National Statistics.)

Income

Lastly, they argue young women's incomes have overtaken young men's incomes with the following graph:

There are multiple issues with this. First, based on the graph comparing all young men to all young women, men's and women's incomes are, once again, essentially the same. Once again, they do not provide the raw data needed for me to perform a formal statistical test.

In comparison, we can see that the median income for men with a degree is comparatively much higher than the median income for women with a degree. Further, this gap has recently widened after several years of nearly identical incomes.

Now, the comparison of incomes for women and men without a degree does appear to show that women's incomes are now higher than men's income. (For one or two years.)

However, they include a vitally important note at the end of their article:

Median incomes were calculated using the full population of young adults as opposed to only those in employment. Income includes wages, benefits / social security and any other sources of personal revenue. [Emphasis mine]

In other words, this difference in median incomes could have been a result of the transiently higher unemployment rate for young men.

In support of this, other data from the UK [3, 4] found that women aged 16-34 are more likely than all other gender-age groups to need to use food banks, to not be able to keep regular savings, and various other signs of material deprivation.

Conclusion

From this, we can conclude that the characterization of young women as "leaving men behind" is, at the very least, an incomplete, if not completely inaccurate, picture.

The only aspect this may genuinely apply to is higher education, but as the data from the US shows, it is not sex-based structural constraints that are preventing men from going to college. While financial issues do limit many people's ability to attend higher education, women are more likely than men to cite this as a reason for not getting a degree.

Finally, I am absolutely amazed that this video appears to be blaming men's support of populism and endorsement of violence on these economic trends. Their own graphs show that women have been far worse off economically and educationally than men are now, and yet women never reported the same levels of conservatism and extremism. Even if we were to assume their assertion about the connection is true, what would that say about men?

References under the cut:

Burn-Murdoch, J. (2024, September 20). Young women are starting to leave men behind. Financial Times.

Office for National Statistics. (2025, March 20). A05 SA: Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity by age group (seasonally adjusted) [Dataset]. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/employmentunemploymentandeconomicinactivitybyagegroupseasonallyadjusteda05sa

Data dashboard: Material deprivation. (n.d.). Understanding Society. https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/cost-of-living-dashboard/

University of Essex, Institute for Social and Economic Research. (2024). Understanding Society: Waves 1-14, 2009-2023 and Harmonised BHPS: Waves 1-18, 1991-2009. [data collection]. 19th Edition. UK Data Service. SN: 6614, http://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-6614-20.

[jessicamessicavillageofspillage]

Apparently transpeople will also die from the inaccurate recording of Sex within statistics

The collection of data on a person’s sex – that is, whether they are male or female – has become controversial in recent years, and a number of public bodies have moved away from collecting data on sex as a result. For example, Scotland’s chief statistician recently issued guidance stating that data on sex should only be collected in exceptional circumstances. This move has been greeted with alarm by quantitative social scientists who believe that data on sex is vitally important and that data on both gender identity and sex is needed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) was also embroiled in controversy when it proposed to guide respondents to the 2021 England and Wales census that they may answer the sex question in terms of their subjective gender identity, rather than their sex. This was despite the fact that the 2021 census also included a new separate question on gender identity. The ONS was forced to change its proposed guidance on the sex question by a judicial review and went on to advise that people should answer the first question to reflect their legal sex. The Scottish census authorities have been criticised for disregarding the implications of that judgment.

Statistics on employment, health, crime and education have all been affected by this trend.

The Government Equalities Office has issued guidance to employers who are legally bound to report on their gender pay gap to provide data on their employees’ gender identity, not their sex, and to exclude employees who “do not identify as ‘men’ or ‘women’” from the data. This makes it impossible to assess whether natal males who identify as trans or non-binary may have different labour-market experiences from natal females who identify as trans or non-binary. Yet non-binary or transgender identification may not protect females from discrimination, for example, on the basis of pregnancy or maternity or the perceived risk of becoming pregnant.

The NHS decides who to call for routine medical screenings based on the gender marker a person has recorded with their GP rather than their sex as recorded as birth. The NHS’s failure to record biological sex on patient records has led to trans patients not being called in for screening for conditions that may affect them due to their sex, such as ovarian cancer or prostate cancer. If trans patients are not screened for such conditions, the consequences are potentially fatal. The use of gender identity rather than sex has also led to confusion for some trans patients attempting to use sexual health services.

Freedom of information requests have revealed that multiple police forces in England now record crimes by male suspects as committed by women if the perpetrator requests to be recorded as such. Even small numbers of cases misclassified in this way can lead to substantial bias in crime statistics.

Differences between the sexes are an important factor for analysis in most, if not all, of the areas that social and health scientists address. Sex, alongside age, is a fundamental demographic variable, vital for projections regarding fertility and life expectancy. Sex has systematic effects on physical health and is also linked to mental health. And the importance of sex extends to all aspects of social life, including employment, education and crime.

We know that many differences between the sexes have changed dramatically over time – education and labour market participation are two examples. Without consistent data on sex, social scientists would not be able to track this change over time or to understand whether efforts to improve the representation of women and girls in domains where they are underrepresented have been effective.

We have been losing data on sex, as public sector bodies have switched to collecting data on gender identity instead. But the tide may have turned. The UK Statistics Authority has recently published guidance that recommends that “sex, age and ethnic group should be routinely collected and reported in all administrative data and in-service process data, including statistics collected within health and care settings and by police, courts and prisons”. It also says data producers should clearly distinguish between concepts such as sex, gender and gender identity.

Both people’s material circumstances and their identities are important to their lives. We know that sex matters, and we have much to learn about the ways in which gender identity matters, too. Rather than removing data on sex, we should collect data on both sex and gender identity, in order to develop a better understanding of the influence of both of these factors and the intersection between them.

Original article in The Conversation

Professor Alice Sullivan’s academic profile

UCL Social Research Institute

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Toby Davies

Published: May 14, 2024

Seventy-eight per cent of people in England and Wales think that crime has gone up in the last few years, according to the latest survey. But the data on actual crime shows the exact opposite.

As of 2024, violence, burglary and car crime have been declining for 30 years and by close to 90%, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) – our best indicator of true crime levels. Unlike police data, the CSEW is not subject to variations in reporting and recording.

The drop in violence includes domestic violence and other violence against women. Anti-social behaviour has similarly declined. While increased fraud and computer misuse now make up half of crime, this mainly reflects how far the rates of other crimes have fallen.

All high-income countries have experienced similar trends, and there is scientific consensus that the decline in crime is a real phenomenon.

[ Data via Office for National Statistics ]

There is strong research evidence that security improvements were responsible for the drop. This is most obvious with vehicle electronic immobilisers and door deadlocks, and better household security – stronger door frames, double glazed windows and security fittings – along with an avalanche of security in shopping centres, sports stadiums, schools, businesses and elsewhere. Quite simply, it became more difficult to commit crimes.

Decreases in crimes often committed by teenagers, such as joyriding or burglary, had a multiplying effect: when teenagers could no longer commit these easy “debut crimes” they did not progress to longer criminal careers.

There are, of course, exceptions. Some places, times and crime types had a less pronounced decline or even an increase. For many years, phone theft was an exception to the general decline in theft. Cybercrime, measured by the CSEW as fraud and computer misuse, has increased and is the most prominent exception.

But this increase was not due to thwarted burglars and car thieves switching targets: the skillset, resources and rewards for cybercrime are very different. Rather, it reflects new crime opportunities facilitated by the internet. Preventive policy and practice is slowly getting better at closing off opportunities for computer misuse, but work is needed to accelerate those prevention efforts.

The perception gap

So why is there such a gulf between public perception and the reality of crime trends? A regular YouGov poll asks respondents for their top three concerns from a broad set of issues. Concern about crime went from a low in 2016 (when people were more concerned with Brexit), quadrupled by 2019 and plummeted during the pandemic when people had other worries. But in the last year, the public’s concern about crime has risen again.

Proportion of people naming crime as a top three issue facing the country:

[ Data via YouGov ]

There are many possible explanations for this, of which the first is poor information. A study published in 1998 found that “people who watch a lot of television or who read a lot of newspapers will be exposed to a steady diet of crime stories” that does not reflect official statistics.

The old news media adage “if it bleeds, it leads” reflects how violent news stories, including crime increases and serious crimes, capture public attention. Knife crime grabs headlines in the UK, but our shock at individual incidents is testament to their rarity and our relative success in controlling violence – many gun crimes do not make the news in the US.

Most recent terrorist attacks in the UK have featured knives (plus a thwarted Liverpool bomber), but there is little discussion of how this indicates that measures to restrict guns and bomb-making resources are effective.

Political rhetoric can also skew perceptions, particularly in the run-up to elections. During the recent local elections, the Conservatives were widely criticised for an advert portraying London as “a crime capital of the world” (using a video of New York), while Labour has also made reference to high levels of crime under the current government.

There are also some “crime drop deniers”, who have vested interests in crime not declining due to, for example, fear of budget cuts. One of us (Graham) worked with a former police chief who routinely denied the existence of declining crime.

Despite the evidence of crime rates dropping, some concerns are justified. Victims, along with their families and friends, have legitimate concerns, particularly as crime is more likely to recur against the same people and at the same places.

And, while the trend is clear, there are nevertheless localised increases in some types of offending. When these relate to harmful and emotive issues like knife crime in London, for example, it is natural that this might have a substantial influence.

We are unlikely to be able to change political agendas or journalists’ approach to reporting. But governments should be taking a more rational approach to crime that is based on evidence, not public perception.

Local governments need to keep on top of their local crime hotspots: problem bars and clubs where crime occurs, shops where shoplifting is concentrated, local road traffic offence hotspots and so on. The common theme here is how crime concentrates.

National government, meanwhile, should lead on reducing crime opportunities via national-level levers. Only national government can influence social media platforms and websites that host online crime and encourage larger businesses to improve manufacturing, retailing and service industry practices.

The positive story around crime rarely makes headlines, but this should not put us off from learning the lessons borne out in the data. We know this can work from past success, but it took decades to get car makers to improve vehicle security and to get secure-by-design ideas in building regulations. Society needs to move more quickly.

[ukrfeminism]

Knife crime against women and girls has more than doubled in five years and campaigners are warning that not enough is being done to keep them safe.

New figures obtained by The Independent show the number of women who were killed, injured or threatened by a knife soared from 6,000 in 2018 to more than 13,700 in 2022 – laying bare the scale of the crisis. The offences include ones relating to robbery, rape, homicide, public order and theft.

Elianne Andam, 15, is among the victims of knife crime, having been killed on her way to school in Croydon last September. Mehak Sharma, 19, was stabbed to death in the same borough last November having just moved to the UK from India.

Campaigners say the statistics, which cover the last available full year of 2022, show the country needs to tackle the crisis, particularly when it relates to domestic violence, with Labour MP Jess Phillips warning: “Things are getting progressively worse.”

Nick Gazzard, whose 20-year-old daughter Hollie died after being stabbed 14 times by her violent ex-boyfriend in 2014, said: “If this was terrorism, there would be a national outcry.”

The figures for 2022 reveal that:

The number of female knife crime victims surged by 43 per cent in the West Midlands, from 1,010 in 2018 to 1,448 in 2022, according to the UK’s second-largest force

In Essex, the number of victims more than quadrupled in the same time frame – from 435 to 1,879 

And Avon and Somerset recorded the number of victims as rising 46 per cent over five years, from 593 to 868 

After a Freedom of Information request made by this publication, 26 of the UK’s 43 police forces provided data on knife crime where the victim was either a girl or a woman. The Metropolitan Police, Britain’s largest force, did not respond. 

The latest full-year countrywide figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), also for 2022, show that 282 homicides – or four out of 10 – were committed using a knife or sharp instrument. This represented a 19 per cent increase over the previous year.

Police said the way knife crimes are recorded had changed in 2019 but they could not attribute the rise in figures to those changes.

Knives and sharp instruments are the most common weapons used to kill women in this country. ONS data shows that, in the year ending March 2022, one in three female homicide victims was killed by a partner or ex (33 per cent), while more than one in 10 died at the hands of a relative (13 per cent). Some 40 per cent of the deaths occurred in or around the home, compared to 7 per cent in the street or other public spaces.

Ms Phillips has long championed the fight against domestic violence but says the government’s Domestic Abuse Bill does not do enough to protect women. The MP for Birmingham Yardley blames a reduction in youth services and workers, local council cuts, and a lack of police and judicial resources for fuelling the crisis.

The MP, who every year in parliament reads out the names of women killed by men, said: “Things are getting progressively worse, knife crime against women is classic domestic abuse but that’s not ever included in knife crime strategy.

“If only they [the government] cared as much about sexual and domestic abuse as they care about Rwanda.”

The law currently states killers who bring a weapon to the scene face a minimum 25-year sentence, while sentences for those who do not start at 15 years. As domestic killers are more likely to use a weapon lying around the house, like a kitchen knife, they can end up with more lenient jail terms.

Carole Gould has campaigned to close the legal loophole ever since her 17-year-old daughter Ellie was killed by her boyfriend of three months when she ended the relationship.

Thomas Griffiths was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12-and-a-half years in 2019 after he walked into Ellie’s family home, strangled her and then stabbed her 13 times, attempting to frame the attack as a suicide by inserting the knife in the side of her neck.

“She’d only been going out with him for a few months,” her mother said. “The ending of a relationship is the most dangerous time in a woman’s life.”

Campaigner Ngozi Fulani told The Independent that the cost of living crisis may also have had an impact on the rise in crimes against women.

Ms Fulani set up the charity Sistah Space to advocate for Black female victims of domestic abuse in the wake of the deaths of Valerie Forde and her 22-month-old daughter Jahzara. They were both stabbed to death in 2014 by Ms Forde’s ex Roland McKoy, who was jailed for 35 years.

“We have seen a significant rise in reporting to us of knife or sharp instrument attacks,” Ms Fulani said. “We are in a time of economic depression right now and we find perpetrators in unstable economic situations will often become violent.”

Sistah Space has campaigned for Valerie’s Law, legislation that would make specialist training mandatory for all police and other government agencies that support black women and girls affected by domestic abuse.

“We want people to understand one thing – domestic abuse is not a woman’s problem,” she said. “It’s an everybody problem.”

For Deniz Ugur, deputy director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, violence by men against women is part of a cultural problem that needs to be tackled.

“Women and girls face the constant threat of male violence, whether that’s in public spaces, the workplace, online or in our own homes, where the majority of this violence takes place,” he said.

“If we are to change this then it is critical that the government prioritises and invests in quality relationships and sex education based on consent and equality, and public campaigns to shift the attitudes that justify and normalise this violence and abuse. Women and girls deserve better.”

Conservative MP Caroline Nokes has criticised the government for refusing to commit to a new educational strategy for boys which would aim to tackle sexual harassment and gender-based violence.

The chair of the cross-party women’s and equalities committee said: “Education is a powerful and necessary tool in preventing violence against women and girls. Relationships, sex and health education that continues past secondary school and that engages proactively with boys and young men is crucial to combat harmful attitudes.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The government is committed to raising the bar in how these vile crimes are dealt with.

“We have gone further than ever before in protecting domestic abuse victims, classifying it as a national threat. Our innovative Young Women and Girls Fund also delivers specialist interventions to vulnerable young women and girls at risk of exploitation or violence.

“We will continue to work closely with the police and courts to bring more criminals to justice, and have set clear expectations for how the police should respond.”

[leasthaunted]

Episode 126: Information Not Found...

Get the 411 on the 411. No, not those 411, the other 411! Confused? That's to be expected. This time we get tangled up in the weblike string of the old "crazy board" and try not to lose ourselves in the wild conspiracy of The Missing 411... And along the way we'll visit some National Parks too! 

Content Warning: This episode discusses topics that some listeners might find upsetting or disturbing.

As always, please come join the episode discussion on the Least Haunted Discord!

Enjoy the images below!

Mail from the PO Box! Thanks to Kenn and Margaret for the stickers and posters! They really help tie the HQ together!

David Paulides: former "detective," Bigfoot researcher, conspiracy theorist, and scam artist. A news article regarding David's early career work for The San Jose Police Department in San Jose CA. Paulides was "King of The Bookstore Detail" which involved him entrapping gay men at adult bookstores and watching porn on the taxpayer dime. In 1987 David was demoted after a police brutality incident in which he and a group of other officers severely beat a black man whom they believed had resisted arrest days earlier. He was taken off the streets and became a *Court Liaison * for the department. During this time he began scamming celebrities on stolen SJ Police Department stationary for autographs. These were either for his own personal collection, or possibly to sell for profit. He was tried and sentenced to a fine and being fired from the department.

In the early 2000's he began researching Bigfoot and wrote two books on the subject before teaming up with Dr. Melba Ketchum. Ketchum ran two different (fraudulent) DNA analysis companies. The two conducted "research" and "analysis" on supposed Bigfoot DNA and wrote a study on their findings. They claimed Bigfoot was a human primate hybrid, and potentially an unidentified Indigenous American tribe. Their research was rejected by every peer reviewed journal, so they started their own to publish the single article and nothing again.

Sometime in around the Bigfoot Study, David claims that while on a visit to a National Park he was approached by a park ranger with disturbing information. This would be the impetus for David's journey down the rabbit hole and into a vast conspiracy that he would eventually dub, "The Missing 411."

David has since written 12 books, and released 3 documentaries outlining the supposed conspiracy. The conspiracy is that 1000's of people go missing in National Parks and National Forest Land. And that these disappearances all share certain commonalities and are being actively covered up by the government and parks service.

This is a "Cluster Map" of the Missing 411 cases. Why Missing 411? Because in the first two volume book David covered 411 cases. Later he would retcon the name to mean "Missing Information" since in The United States 411 is the phone number the public can call for information.

And here is a map of US National Parks for comparison.

The criteria David has come up with that a case needs to match to be a Missing 411 case are very common and laughable in context. Things such as: presence of granite or water near by. Granite is the most common rock that makes up the Earth's crust, and the planet is 70% water. All you need to do is spend a few moments looking over the website and associated store to see what David's game really is here. This is a grift. A very successful money making grift.

David is careful to never fully explain what he thinks is going on, but he will infer and imply very heavily. (Everything from Bigfoot, to Aliens, weaponized portal technology, and government experimentation). For a comparison, here is a map of known cave systems in the US. Notice anything? They match up pretty well with his Cluster Map. Maybe people are getting lost in caves?

Either way, It is not a conspiracy. It is simple reality and statistics. People go to the parks in the millions. The National Parks and Forest Land are wild areas that are dangerous to humans. Wild animals, terrain, maybe even other people… There is nothing unusual about any of this. But David Paulides (Who has a history of scamming and misconduct) has built a media kingdom out of this half baked conspiracy.

GARTH'S CORNER! GARTH'S CORNER!

Edward Abbey, who spent two seasons as a Ranger at Arches National Park in the 1950’s and advocated for keeping the parks as undeveloped as possible.

A note from this gnome: Public lands are one of the most amazing things this country has done to preserve the wilderness and wildlife of the United States. Public lands are for everyone and should be enjoyed by everyone. Be kind and respectful of nature and keep our public lands safe and lasting for generations to come ❤️

[minnesotafollower]

More Details on Cuba’s Declining Population 

After the UN . . . report ”World Population Prospects” recognized the demographic debacle that is sinking the number of inhabitants in Cuba, the island’s government released its own figures to acknowledge that the “effective population” is currently less than ten million people.”[1] “During the debate that followed the presentation of the Migration Bill at the plenary session of the National…

[mariacallous]

As Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency rampages through the US government, its access to sensitive data is alarming federal agencies and Americans who interact with them. In the month since the Trump administration began its purge of federal workers, opponents fighting DOGE in court have been pinning their hopes of stopping the world’s richest man on a 50-year-old law.

In just a few weeks, DOGE staffers have accessed federal employee records at the Office of Personnel Management, government payment data at the Department of the Treasury, data on student loan recipients at the Department of Education, information on disaster victims at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and vast amounts of employment- and workplace-related data at the Department of Labor. White House staffers are even pressuring the Internal Revenue Service to grant DOGE access to US taxpayer records. The acting head of the Social Security Administration recently resigned rather than give DOGE access to her agency’s reams of sensitive personal data.

More than half a dozen lawsuits are seeking to block DOGE employees from rifling through these vast troves of data. One thing they all have in common: They allege that DOGE’s actions violate the Privacy Act of 1974.

Here’s how a law passed after Watergate could rein in another president whose self-professed zeal for retribution is unnerving constitutional experts.

What Is the Privacy Act?

The Privacy Act is a law that limits how the federal government can collect, use, and share information about US citizens and other people in the United States.

The law’s core features include letting people access government records about them; letting people correct those records if they contain mistakes; requiring agencies to limit information collection, publish lists of records databases, and protect data from hackers; and restricting how agency employees and third parties can access records.

Those restrictions on accessing data are at the heart of the ongoing DOGE saga.

The Privacy Act prohibits an agency from disclosing someone’s records—even within the agency—unless that person approves in writing or the agency meets one of the law’s 12 exceptions. Most of the exceptions deal with fairly specific circumstances, such as congressional oversight, law enforcement investigations, court orders, census work, statistical research, and National Archives preservation. But there are also two broad, vague exceptions: Agencies can share records with their own employees who “have a need for the record in the performance of their duties” or with third parties for “a routine use” (defined as one that is “compatible with the purpose for which [the data] was collected”).

Why Did Congress Pass the Privacy Act?

President Richard Nixon illegally used the powers of the government to investigate, intimidate, and punish his political enemies. He tried to use the IRS to target liberal political groups with audits and scrutiny of their tax exemptions, and he deployed the FBI to spy on and harass his political opponents. After Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal, lawmakers sought to prevent future presidents from weaponizing government power.

“Congress must act before sophisticated new systems of information gathering and retention are developed, and before they produce widespread abuses,” North Carolina Democratic senator Sam Ervin said as he introduced one of the bills that inspired the Privacy Act. “The peculiarity of new complex technologies is that once they go into operation, it is too late to correct our mistakes or supply our oversight.”

After months of congressional wrangling that saw the elimination of Ervin’s proposed independent privacy oversight board, President Gerald Ford signed the Privacy Act into law on December 31, 1974. Ford, who had chaired the Domestic Council Committee on the Right of Privacy that Nixon created during his final months in office, highlighted “the vital need to provide adequate and uniform privacy safeguards for the vast amounts of personal information collected, recorded, and used in our complex society.”

How Is This Relevant Today?

DOGE’s critics—including Democratic lawmakers, federal employee unions, and government watchdog groups—argue that giving the office’s young, controversial, and seemingly largely unvetted staffers access to sensitive government data constitutes a major privacy breach. The incidents represent “the largest and most consequential breach of personal information in US history,” according to John Davisson, a lawyer for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, one of the groups suing to block DOGE’s access.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, says DOGE employees need this data access to accomplish their mission of eliminating wasteful spending and shuttering programs that conflict with President Donald Trump’s agenda. After one federal judge temporarily blocked DOGE’s access to government payment systems, a White House spokesperson called the ruling “absurd and judicial overreach.” Musk targeted the judge on X, saying, “He needs to be impeached NOW!”

Can the Privacy Act Stop DOGE?

It will depend on whether multiple judges agree with the Trump administration’s arguments claiming the law doesn’t prevent DOGE staffers from accessing agencies’ sensitive data.

The government contends that people can only sue agencies under the Privacy Act in one of four scenarios: when an agency refuses to grant someone access to a record about them; when an agency refuses to modify someone’s record as they requested; when an agency fails to keep someone’s record up to date and they experience concrete harm, such as a denial of benefits; or when an agency otherwise violates the law’s requirements in ways that adversely affect someone. It remains to be seen whether judges will determine that DOGE’s access to data adversely affects people.

Agencies have also argued that they aren’t violating the Privacy Act because DOGE’s activities fall under the law’s “routine use” and “need to know” exceptions. In a court filing responding to one legal challenge, the Treasury Department said that DOGE personnel were accessing the data to identify potentially improper payments “in furtherance of [their] duties” as directed by Trump (triggering the “need to know” exception) and that sharing this information with other agencies fell under one of the “routine uses” that the agency had previously disclosed as required by the Privacy Act.

The strength of that argument rests on how judges weigh two questions: whether the DOGE personnel accessing each agency’s data are employees of those agencies, and whether the two exceptions apply to the situations in which they accessed and shared the data.

Who’s Using the Privacy Act to Sue DOGE?

There are at least eight lawsuits against the Trump administration over DOGE’s access to federal data, and all of them rely at least in part on the Privacy Act.

The American Federation of Government Employees, the Association of Administrative Law Judges, and more than 100 current and former federal workers are suing DOGE, Musk, and the Office of Personnel Management over what they claim is OPM’s illegal decision to give DOGE staffers access to a federal employee database, alleging that DOGE staffers “lack a lawful and legitimate need for such access.”

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, on behalf of an unnamed federal worker, is suing OPM, DOGE, and the Department of the Treasury for allegedly giving DOGE access to OPM’s personal database and Treasury’s payment system “for purposes impermissible under the Privacy Act.”

The University of California Student Association is suing the Department of Education for allegedly turning over student data to DOGE staffers who are not, in the language of the Privacy Act, “employees who have a need for the records in the performance of their duties.”

Six government labor unions, two nonprofit groups, and the think tank Economic Policy Institute are suing the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and DOGE to prevent the office from accessing a wide range of data, including federal workers’ wage-theft complaints and injury reports, for purposes allegedly “inconsistent with the Privacy Act.”

Two government labor unions and the advocacy group Alliance for Retired Americans are suing Treasury for allegedly giving DOGE access to Americans’ tax returns in alleged violation of both the Privacy Act and the Internal Revenue Service’s own special rules.

The National Treasury Employees Union is suing Acting CFPB director Russell Vought for giving information about CFPB employees to DOGE staffers, alleging their status as “special government employees” places them outside the CFPB and thus outside the Privacy Act’s need-to-know exception.

Nineteen state attorneys general are suing Trump and Treasury over DOGE’s access to federal payment systems, arguing that because “many of the DOGE members given access to [the system] were not employees of Treasury,” that constitutes “a violation of the Privacy Act.”

Six Americans are suing the Treasury and DOGE over what they describe as breaches of the sensitive personal data they gave the government while filing tax returns, applying for student loans, requesting disability payments, and receiving retirement benefits.

Where Do These Cases Stand?

In the state AGs case, a judge quickly issued a temporary restraining order restricting access to all Treasury systems storing sensitive personal and financial data. The case has since been assigned on a permanent basis to a different judge, who adjusted the order slightly after the Trump administration objected to its restrictions on political appointees. A status hearing took place on February 14.

In the EPIC case, the organization has asked the judge for a temporary restraining order blocking further DOGE access to certain Treasury and OPM systems. A status hearing will be held on February 21.

In the UC students case, the Department of Education is arguing, among other things, that the students haven’t shown any harm; that the Privacy Act only allows courts to pause agency actions in two situations not applicable here; and that the DOGE staffers are Education Department employees allowed to access the data. On February 17, a judge denied the students’ motion for a temporary restraining order, saying they had not suffered “irreparable injury.”

In the Labor, HHS, and CFPB case, the judge rejected the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order, saying they failed to demonstrate the likely success of their arguments about the Privacy Act and other laws. But he also questioned whether DOGE staffers were employees of the agencies whose data they were accessing—a crucial question for a Privacy Act case.

In the Treasury case, the unions and ARA have asked for a temporary restraining order, but Treasury is making many of the same arguments as the Education Department, including that the Privacy Act can’t be used to pause DOGE staffers’ access to data and invoking the need-to-know and routine-use exception. The judge in the case has temporarily limited access to Treasury’s payment system while weighing the plaintiffs’ request for a restraining order. A hearing is scheduled for February 24.

The AFGE, NTEU, and class-action lawsuits haven’t proceeded beyond the filing of initial complaints.

[beardedmrbean]

New claims of plagiarism emerged Tuesday against Vice President Kamala Harris — with allegations including that she fabricated a story about sex trafficking and cribbed the work of other prosecutors, a judge and even Wikipedia to draft state reports on crime.

Harris, 60, seems to have invented details of a sex crime case out of whole cloth and taken sentences directly from published work by former California Attorney General Bill Lockyer as well as a New York jurist.

The new allegations were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

In a 2012 report on human trafficking Harris issued while California’s attorney general, she cited a fictional example of the type of call received by the National Human Trafficking Hotline as a bona fide case that had occurred.

The nonprofit in charge of the hotline, Polaris Project, had posted the exact same case details in June of that year as “representative of the types of calls” it received.

With different “names, locations, and other identifying information,” the example was “meant for informational purposes only,” according to an archived webpage reviewed by the Free Beacon.

But Harris copied the example verbatim into the state report, keeping the alias — “Kelly” — of the woman who was being trafficked but shifting the venue from Washington, D.C., to her native San Francisco.

The 2012 report also used a nearly identical paragraph to a Wikipedia entry on California’s Victim Compensation Board.

Another report put out in 2011, on organized crime the previous year, contained passages that were an exact match for portions of Lockyer’s report on the same subject six years earlier.

In 2014, Harris apparently stole from New York Court of Claims and Albany County Superior Court Judge Roger McDonough for a report on transnational gangs.

Recent polling has shown that Harris is seen as far more honest than her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, but the copycat claims — on top of earlier plagiarism allegations — is sure to test that public image.

The Trump campaign dubbed the veep a political “chameleon” in August, shortly after she clinched the Democratic nomination, for flip-flopping on her long-held liberal stances related to crime and immigration while embracing some of the 45th president’s proposed policies.

In April 2007, years before the purloined reports, Harris appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to lobby for passage of the John R. Justice Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act — a bill that would have helped local and state prosecutors and public defenders repay their law school and undergraduate loans while performing their public service.

More talented lawyers who opted for high pay at white-shoe firms would remain in the public sector if their debt was forgiven, the then-San Francisco DA argued, keeping more expertise in prosecutors and public defenders’ offices and helping to fill gaps in staffing.

Harris’ words in the April 24 hearing were nearly identical to testimony given two months prior by Republican Winnebago County, Ill., prosecutor Paul Logli, the Free Beacon also noted, citing the occurrence of the same statistics, punctuation and even typos in both written statements.

In total, the outlet said, 1,200 of the 1,500 words spoken by Harris (80%) were the same as those uttered by Logli.

Logli told The Post Tuesday that his testimony was prepared and written “largely” by staff from the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), where he was then serving as president.

He said that Harris, who was a member of the association’s board of directors at the time, likely “also relied on NDAA staff support for her opening statement.”

“The similar content of our statements was an effort by NDAA to be entirely consistent in the positions we presented to both Houses of Congress on behalf of the 3,500 state and local prosecutors we represented on  a national level,” Logli said in an emailed statement. “Like me, I believe Ms. Harris simply relied on NDAA staff for much of the content of her opening statement before Congress.”

Manhattan Institute senior fellow Christopher Rufo revealed last week that portions of Harris’ 2009 pro-criminal justice reform book, “Smart on Crime,” had used identical wording to academic studies, press reports and even a Wikipedia entry — all of which predated the publication’s release.

Harris’ ghostwriter seemed unaware of the apparently plagiarized passages when contacted by The Post — but her publisher later signaled internally that the accusations were “a very sensitive topic” that was being handled by higher-ups.

“It was not the ghostwriter’s fault but, rather, this is a pattern,” Joshua Lisec, a New York Times bestselling ghostwriter, told The Post in a phone interview last week, saying he believed that Harris had probably “copied and pasted” other people’s work and sent it off to her ghostwriter without attribution.

“I don’t have inside access to their particular working relationship, but from the outside, my lens of the ghostwriting career and the profession, knowing how this goes, the ghostwriter probably had no idea that likely Kamala copied and pasted from somewhere on the internet or maybe her assistant did,” he said.

“She’s in trouble with everybody that she has effectively stolen [or] stolen from, or whoever did it, but she’s liable because her name is is on it,” Lisec said of Harris’ pilfering.

Harris’ ghostwriter, Joan O’C. Hamilton, he added, was “legitimate, experienced, successful as a ghostwriter and not the sort of person that you would expect engages with extremely low standards.”

South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem was widely viewed as a potential running mate pick for Trump before her own errors about a “meeting” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un crept past a ghostwriter into her political memoir “No Going Back,” which was published in May.

The Harris campaign and Hamilton did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

[darkmaga-returns]

It’s one thing for CT government officials to make a mess of their own state, but another to wreck our country by operating a sham marriage mill for immigrants.

Patch Media: Arrested Pol Builds Marriage BizOne recent day, for instance, [Wanda] Geter-Pataky conducted seven such marriages in New Haven City Hall. All seven involved an Indian-born spouse and an American-born spouse. None came from New Haven, according to their marriage licenses. They claimed they live in Houston, Waterbury, Queens, the Bronx, Long Island, Chesapeake, Virginia.The nuptial-seekers mirrored similar groups showing up in city halls throughout the state: Couples, mostly with one spouse from India or sometimes other nations, looking to marry an American allegedly from another state. …Clipboard in hand, Geter-Pataky guided a couple at a time into the Office of the Registrar of Vital Statistics on New Haven City Hall’s first floor to fill out their license applications. She steered them to the elevator up to the second floor to marry them in the atrium outside the mayor’s office. Then on to another couple.As Geter-Pataky accompanied one of the spouses through the hallway, the spouse wasasked if she was being paid, as rumored, to engage in the marriage.“Tell him no,” Geter-Pataky advised the woman.“No, I’m not,” the woman then replied.“This is a reporter,” Geter-Pataky then informed men and women scattered on benches and in the hallway outside the first-floor registrar’s office, directing them not to answer questions. A man working in tandem with Geter-Pataky took out his phone and began recording this reporter while ordering him to stop taking photos and to leave the City Hall building. …Over the month leading up to Oct. 15, Geter-Pataky served as justice of the peace in 114 marriages at New Haven City Hall… Most of the marriages included one spouse from abroad: 79 involved a spouse from India, another 36 from other nations ranging from Georgia (nine) and Tajikistan (four) to Turkey, Russia, Egypt and Jamaica (two apiece).

[eaglesnick]

“Taxation is the price which civilized communities pay for the opportunity of remaining civilized.” - Albert Bushnell Hart

Right-wing media outlets and the right-wing press have all been bemoaning the fate of the British economy because of its failure to grow. What they don’t tell us is that British companies are still making sizable profits – profits that are several percentage points above private sector wage increases and way above public sector wage rises.

The Office for National Statistics in their paper “Profitability of UK companies: April to June 2024” has some interesting information, information these right-wing commentators are reluctant to reveal.

First, profits for private non-financial corporations have been falling from a high of 13% in 2014 to their current rate of 8.8% in 2024. During the years of Tory Austerity under David Cameroon and George Osborne companies were making substantial profits yet public services were starved of funds while private shareholders raked in the millions.

Second, even though the 8.8% 2024 increase in profit is not as good as the 2014 13% increase, it is still much higher than the increase in wages, especially in the public sector. In 2014, when profits growth was at 13% for non-financial corporations, wage increase for the same period was only 2.1% while public sector workers saw a wage increase of only 1%. (www.oms.gov.uk.)

In short, while UK business was making ever-higher profits their workers were having their wages suppressed and the country as a whole was subjected to Tory austerity measures. Wage rises have increased in the last year but for the period 2022/24, while non-financial corporations increased their profits by 8.8% workers were only averaging a 5.4% wage increase.

The point I am making is that workers are not getting an equitable share in the increase of company profits. What is more, the emphasis on growth is misleading. You do not need to keep on growing to be profitable. If a company makes £10bn profit this year and £10bn the following year, profit growth is zero but the shareholders will still be £10bn better off than they were last year. So when media pundits and politicians bleat on about sluggish growth they are not really being entirely honest with us when they claim the country cannot afford investment in better public services until we have better economic growth.

The falsehood of this argument was exposed last night on BBC’s "Question Time". Interestingly, the counter to this argument came NOT from the Labour government representative but from the successful businessman Dale Vince.

Dale Vince OBE, a British green energy industrialist, in answer to the question "Can the economy grow while increasing business costs?” was quite emphatic that it definitely could.

He pointed out that businesses pay the lowest tax rate of anybody in our economy. Corporation tax is around 24% but only paid on profit. National Insurance payments, wages, investments, material costs, rents, etc etc can ALL be claimed against tax whereas ordinary individuals just pay tax on earnings, higher earners paying 45% tax, a rate that is almost twice that for businesses.

He also pointed out that shareholders pay less tax on their dividend payouts than ordinary working people pay tax on their wages, claiming that if the tax system was made equal for ALL citizens, then an additional £12bn could be raised in revenue that could go towards public services. Also, if a 2% wealth tax were introduced for those with assets above £10m, which would only affect 20,000 people, then an additional £24bn could be raised in tax.

In short, we do not necessarily need growth to improve public services. Not only is the emphasis on economic growth misleading, but by focusing solely on growth, the pundits direct our attention away from those who could and should be paying more towards the economy – successful businesses and wealthy individuals.

Note: Some of the companies operating in Britain who made record profits for period2023-2024.

Boots tripled profits: Crown Estates made a record £1.1bn profit; HSBC saw an 80% increase in pre-tax profits: BP reported second highest annual profit in a decade - £13.8bn; Tesco profits up 12.7% to £2.86bn; AstraZenica profits up by 14.61%.

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Canada Retaliates, and so does Trump (1440/AP) The Canadian province of Ontario raised prices on electricity exported to the US states yesterday, adding a 25% surcharge to power transmissions to New York, Michigan, and Minnesota. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the move was in response to ongoing tariff threats from the Trump administration. Upon hearing about Ontario’s pushback, President Trump threatened to double the 25 percent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, declare a national emergency for areas affected by the electricity surcharge, and increase tariffs on Canadian-made cars to “essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada”—all while heightening his desire to make Canada the 51st state. “The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State,” Trump wrote. “This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear.” Ford later said on X he chose not to impose the surcharge on electricity exports to Michigan, New York and Minnesota after having a “productive conversation” about the economic relationship between Canada and the U.S. with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.

Trump’s Tactics Lead Americans to Question Role on World Stage (NYT) Abraham Lincoln suggested the United States was “the last, best hope of Earth.” Ronald Reagan celebrated it as a “shining city on a hill.” George W. Bush argued that the nation was “the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world.” But to President Trump, America is the all-powerful player in a series of high-stakes transactions. “You don’t have the cards right now,” he lectured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in their extraordinary Oval Office showdown. Mr. Trump is radically different from his Republican predecessors in countless ways. But rarely is the contrast starker than in his approach to American leadership in the world. While those Republicans championed free trade, he has started trade wars. And while they argued that American assistance abroad could fend off problems at home, he has moved to gut foreign aid. Now, Mr. Trump’s nakedly transactional style is forcing Americans to reimagine how they see their country’s place in the world.

Tariffs face long odds in bid to bring factories home (Washington Post) President Donald Trump says there is an easy way for manufacturers to avoid his blizzard of tariffs: Move back to the United States. If it works, Trump’s tariff-first strategy could end a long stagnation in U.S. manufacturing output and create the kind of jobs that his blue-collar supporters crave. But in trying to repatriate manufacturing, Trump is battling powerful long-term forces that have caused factory jobs to dwindle to the smallest share of U.S. employment since government records began in 1939. Just 8 percent of American workers now toil in factories, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even if Trump succeeds in luring companies inside his tariff walls, it is unlikely he could regain the nearly 5 million factory jobs that have vanished since the late 1990s, according to many economists. Machines greatly outnumber workers in modern factories. The jobs that remain require higher skills and no longer pay more than other opportunities available to workers without a college degree. Trump’s trade policy, against all odds, is trying to re-create an economy—and a way of life—that hasn’t really existed in the United States for decades.

Former Social Security official describes hostile takeover by Musk team (Washington Post) They came in aggressively, a former official who witnessed Elon Musk’s team take over the Social Security Administration said, demanding access to sensitive taxpayer data and refusing briefings on how the agency ensures the accuracy of its benefit systems. They recklessly exposed data in unsecured areas outside Social Security offices, the official said, potentially disclosing personally identifiable information on almost every American to people not authorized to see it. And representatives sent by the U.S. DOGE Service refused to explain why they needed taxpayer information that is protected by law, the former official said. These and other allegations are included in a sweeping declaration filed as part of a federal lawsuit Friday from Tiffany Flick, the agency’s acting chief of staff until she was forced out in mid-February. Flick describes a fast and tension-filled takeover of the agency and its sensitive data systems by DOGE in what amounted to a de facto coup by agency outsiders. The declaration is the first in-depth public account from a high-ranking government executive of how Musk’s team is operating at one of dozens of agencies as it leads a downsizing of the federal government.

‘Strong eruption’ of volcano in Guatemala forces evacuations (Guardian) Guatemalan authorities have evacuated about a thousand people after Central America’s most active volcano erupted, spewing lava, ash and rocks. Residents with traumatic memories of a deadly eruption in 2018 sought safety in a temporary shelter after the Fuego volcano—located 35km (22 miles) from the capital, Guatemala City—showed escalating activity on Sunday. Guatemala lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

Russia shoots down 337 Ukrainian drones in massive attack (AP) Russian air defenses shot down 337 Ukrainian drones over 10 Russian regions overnight, military officials said Tuesday, in what appeared to be the biggest Ukrainian drone attack on Russia in the three-year war. The attack came hours before the start of key Ukraine-U.S. talks in Saudi Arabia on how to stop Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II. Two people were killed and 18 were injured, including three children, officials said.

U.S. Agrees to Resume Military Assistance to Ukraine (NYT) Ukraine said it would support a Trump administration proposal for a 30-day cease-fire with Russia, an announcement that followed hours of meetings on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia where the United States agreed to immediately lift a pause on intelligence sharing and resume military assistance to Kyiv. The talks in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, brought fresh momentum to cease-fire negotiations that had faltered following a public confrontation at the White House between the Ukrainian and U.S. presidents. In the statement, the United States and Ukraine acknowledged that the terms of any cease-fire would be subject to Russia’s approval.

Russia Trots Out Its Newest Weapons in Ukraine: Horses (WSJ) On the eastern front here, Russia is saddling up a mainstay of battlefields from earlier centuries to counter Ukraine’s drone army: horses and donkeys. The hoofed mammals carry supplies and soldiers to avoid the attention of drones, which can easily spot and strike armored and other vehicles moving near the front lines. While horses and donkeys are far from a centerpiece of Russian operations, Moscow’s dalliance is indicative of the ways in which a high-tech war is requiring creative uses of old-school combat methods, from trenches to motorbikes. Horses in combat date to around 1500 B.C., when they were used to pull chariots, according to the American Museum of Natural History. They later became a military linchpin for transport and cavalry charges. By the end of World War I, though, horses and donkeys were largely replaced by vehicles. Last month, Russian Lt. Gen. Viktor Sobolev told a pro-Kremlin media outlet the military was struggling to supply some units with ammunition, equipment and food. In this environment, using donkeys and horses in logistics is normal, he said. “It’s better if a donkey gets killed than two men in a car carrying the things necessary for battle and sustenance,” he said.

Hijacking in Pakistan (Foreign Policy) The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked a train in Pakistan on Tuesday, taking hostage 182 people, including security personnel. A U.S. official put that number closer to 450 people. The train was en route to the city of Peshawar when armed militants blew up the tracks and trapped it in a tunnel. The militants have killed at least 10 of the hostages, but at least 104 passengers, mostly women and children, have made it safely to the nearest station. The other passengers’ fates are unclear. At time of writing, the BLA remained in a tense standoff with the Pakistan Air Force, and at least 13 militants had been killed by security forces.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte arrested in the Philippines on an ICC warrant over drug killings (Bloomberg) In dramatic events on Tuesday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government arrested and deported his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte to face the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The move came just over a month after the impeachment of his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, by allies of Marcos. A Senate trial, which would determine whether she gets removed from office, is scheduled to begin in July. The push by Marcos to sideline his main political opponents marks a gamble that could easily backfire. The Dutertes still hold clout, with Sara a top candidate in polls to win the next presidential vote in 2028. Just prior to his arrest at the Manila airport, the elder Duterte was regaled by thousands of adoring supporters at a Hong Kong stadium, showing the enduring appeal of a brash politician frequently compared to Donald Trump. And while Marcos also remains popular, his approval ratings have declined in part due to stubbornly high inflation. For Duterte, 79, the next step is facing charges in the Netherlands-based ICC over his drug war that killed more than 6,000 people.

Kiwi exodus (Economist) “Ditch the winter chill” and “expand your horizons in sunny South East Queensland!” reads one newspaper advert, luring New Zealand’s health-care workers towards a new life in Australia. “Warmer days and higher pays”, enthused another, last year, from the Australian state’s police service. Kiwis who chose “policing in paradise” could look forward to 300 days of annual sunshine and a A$20,000 ($12,500) relocation bonus, it declared. For many New Zealanders that is an easy sell. They are leaving their country in record numbers. Almost 129,000 residents emigrated last year—40% above the pre-pandemic average for this century. Its small economy and relative lack of opportunity have long driven young New Zealanders towards what they call the “overseas experience”, fanning fears of brain drain. And recently, New Zealand has been in a rut. The economy is in recession and unemployment has risen. Outgoing Kiwis grumble about costly housing and a crime surge. Unlike most, they have an alternative when times get tough: they are free to live and work in Australia, and vice versa. Almost 15% of them are now based “across the ditch”.

Syria’s government signs a breakthrough deal with Kurdish-led authorities in the northeast (AP) Syria’s interim government signed a deal Monday with the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast, including a ceasefire and the merging of the main U.S.-backed force there into the Syrian army. The deal is a major breakthrough that would bring most of Syria under the control of the government, which is led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that led the ouster of President Bashar Assad in December. The deal to be implemented by the end of the year would bring all border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, airports and oil fields in the northeast under the central government’s control. Prisons where about 9,000 suspected members of the Islamic State group are also expected to come under government control. Syria’s Kurds will gain their “constitutional rights” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades under Assad. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes.

Uganda deploys special forces to South Sudan to protect the government as fears of civil war grow (AP) Uganda has deployed an unknown number of troops to South Sudan in a bid to protect the fragile government of President Salva Kiir as a tense rivalry with his deputy threatens a return to civil war in the east African nation. Ugandan special forces have been deployed to Juba, the South Sudanese capital, “to support the government of South Sudan” against a possible rebel advance on the city, said Maj. Gen. Felix Kulayigye, a spokesperson for the Ugandan military. The U.S. on Sunday ordered nonemergency government personnel to leave Juba. The U.N. is warning of “an alarming regression that could erase years of hard-won progress” in South Sudan.

TikTok crooner, 92, feels 'very, very fortunate' (BBC) A 92-year-old who croons contemporary pop hits, garnering more than 600,000 followers on TikTok, says he feels “very, very fortunate”. Edwin Rayner, from Bournemouth, Dorset, stopped singing after his wife Margaret passed away but his granddaughters convinced him to upload some clips onto TikTok, creating a sensation. His latest successes include 8.7 million views for his cover of Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club, and 11.5 million for his version of Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. He told BBC Breakfast: “It’s so gratifying because some of the people who comment on me were in despair, and my singing, and songs, have brought back life to them, and it’s so pleasing to know I’ve done this.”

[friendofthew0rld]

Blog Post #2 - due 2/6/25

1. How do digital security measures reinforce existing power structures, particularly in terms of class, race, and access to resources? Although we are typically unphased by the prevalence of security cameras and data-collection systems that we come in contact with on a day-to-day basis, we don’t realize how much more prevalent they are in low-income neighborhoods, as crime is much more likely to be reported there. One fact that stuck out to me was how digital security guards are “so deeply woven into the fabric of social life that, most of the time, we don’t even notice we are being watched and analyzed” (V. Eubanks, 2018, p.16). In my own experience, I have worked a few sales jobs where we have only about 1 or 2 cameras that surveillance the exterior of the shop, where customers frequent. However, when I need to drop cash in the safe located in the office, I am usually overwhelmed by the number of cameras on the monitor, which monitors every corner of the employees' workspace. There are about 5 separate cameras that locate various angles of one single space. For one, this heightened surveillance serves as a tool to monitor productivity and compliance with policies, but also to reinforce power imbalances between employers and their employees. These cameras may also be used to target and monitor specific racial groups, as an employer may monitor a Black or Latino worker far more than a White or Asian worker holding the same job position/status.    

2. Nicole Brown poses a significant question: “Do we really understand the far-reaching implications of algorithms, specifically related to anti-Black racism, social justice, and institutionalized surveillance and policing?” (Brown, 0:14). The answer is, in many ways, complex. However, Brown brings up a very important point. Many algorithms are trained with the potential to improve many areas of our lives, however, they can prove damaging in terms of predictive policing as well as perpetuating biases and inequalities. According to Christina Swarns in an article titled “When Artificial Intelligence Gets it Wrong,” “facial recognition software is significantly less reliable for Black and Asian people, who, according to a study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, were 10 to 100 times more likely to be misidentified than white people,” further emphasizing how algorithms may lead to false identifications, caused by a lack in diversity–highlighting the need for improvements in algorithmic technology to mitigate the harm caused for marginalized communities. In regards to predictive policing, algorithms that are trained to predict crimes utilize historical crime data, which may result in higher policing rates for those areas, when the historical data may just reflect biased policing as opposed to true criminal activity. 

3. How do surveillance and algorithms affect healthcare outcomes for minorities? In a video titled “Race and Technology,” Nicole Brown explains that since White people are recorded to make up a majority of healthcare consumers, the healthcare system’s algorithm deems White individuals more likely to require healthcare than their non-White counterparts (Brown, 2:12). Although we are typically used to having our information and activity utilized by certain social media platforms to generate user-centered content, I think the connection between algorithms and healthcare outcomes is an interesting topic to unpack, as I never have thought about this connection. “Doctors and other health care providers are increasingly using healthcare algorithms (a computation, often based on statistical or mathematical models, that helps medical practitioners make diagnoses and decisions for treatments” (Colón-Rodríguez, 2023). Colón-Rodríguez uses a case study of a woman who gave birth via c-section in 2017, and how the database was later updated to reflect a false prediction that Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino women were more likely to need c-sections, and were less likely to naturally give birth successfully as opposed to White women. For one, this prediction was false, and it further caused doctors to perform more c-sections on Latino and Black women than White women. C-sections are known to be generally safe but are known to cause infections, blood clots, emotional difficulties, and more. This case study reflects how healthcare databases will often profile individuals based on race and may make generally false predictions which oftentimes result in unnecessary–and sometimes–life-threatening outcomes for minorities (in this case, minorities with vaginas).  

4. In what ways does the normalization of surveillance threaten democratic values like free speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to privacy? Similar to feelings of surveillance that I expressed to question 1, the normalization of such surveillance in many aspects of our society may cause instances of self-censorship, suppression of dissent or negative feelings towards individuals of higher status, and the exploitation and misuse of personal data. Workers in a workplace may censor the topics they speak about for fear of customers or employers hearing such issues. People may also censor themselves when in a crowd, where phones may be utilized to monitor activity. Fear of reprisal may cause individuals to refrain from speaking out about injustices and dissent for people, policies, or events. The misuse of personal data threatens our right to privacy because we as consumers are unaware of what exactly is being utilized–and even if we do, we are not made aware of how long such data is being held and utilized. 

References

Brown, N. (2020, September 18). Race and Technology. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8uiAjigKy8

Colón-Rodríguez, C. (2023, July 12). Shedding Light on Healthcare Algorithmic and Artificial Intelligence Bias | Office of Minority Health. Minorityhealth.hhs.gov. https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/news/shedding-light-healthcare-algorithmic-and-artificial-intelligence-bias

Eubanks, V. (2018). Automating Inequality: how high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor. St. Martin’s Press.

‌ Swarns, C. (2023, September 19). When Artificial Intelligence Gets It Wrong. Innocence Project. https://innocenceproject.org/when-artificial-intelligence-gets-it-wrong/