#pension updates

[thedenofravenpuff]

Retired

Now Officially retired on disability pension. 

Went through much faster than expected, thought I had two months to get used to the thought and instead was approved in only two weeks. 

Still stings losing my dream job that I worked so hard for, all my exams and papers now useless as my time now is to be focused on my health. To be functional in my everyday life without sacrificing that for work instead. 

Next big hurdle is to plan the move back to my home region. To get closer to my family. Only moved to this region for my workplace, which is a moot point now. Now I just wanna be near family, especially my nieces and nephews. To be the best auntuncle I can be! 

Building up a new life around not working gonna take some adjustments, but got my hobbies, friends and family to help fill out that void. All for the better, I just never planned to retire at age 34, ya know?

Welp, just an update on life and stuff. 

[head-post]

Vote on cutting winter fuel payments to leave UK pensioners vulnerable

A vote on Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ plan to abolish winter fuel allowances for pensioners and raise the salaries for certain civil servants could lead to a split in parliament, according to The Guardian.

Earlier, The Telegraph condemned the government’s plan, now The Guardian reported on a likely stormy debate on Labour’s initiative to save money on British pensioners.

The House of Commons could vote to deny around nine million pensioners their winter fuel allowance. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Reeves are struggling to plug a hole in the budget created by the previous government.

I understand the decision that this government has made on winter fuel is a difficult decision. [But] there’s a £22bn black hole in the public finances because of the mess created by the previous government.

Disagreement over the government’s plan to limit eligibility for the allowance has been a key issue in the first few months of the Labour government. The issue also highlights divisions within Starmer’s party.

The benefits under discussion are £200 (€237), rising to £300 (€355) for those aged over 80. The changes will save around £1.5bn (€1.78bn) a year, compared to an estimated £22bn (around €26bn) “black hole” in the public finances. The number of recipients would fall from more than 11 million to 1.5 million.

Unions and many Labour Party members disagreed. Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said:

It’s completely wrong. People do not understand how a Labour government has decided to pick the pocket of pensioners and at the same time leave the richest in our society totally untouched.

Foreign or domestic policy

While the wealthiest pensioners will barely notice the loss, many will feel a distinct change. The Resolution Foundation thinktank claims that around 1.3 million pension families living in poverty after housing costs will lose their payments.

Starmer stated that backbenchers should support the policy, as “every Labour MP was elected in on the same mandate as I was, which was to deliver the change that we need for the country.”

17 Labour MPs have already signed a parliamentary early motion calling for an impact assessment of the plan before it is implemented. Another question is whether abstention will be considered a severe enough to be punished.

The government could take other steps to keep wavering MPs on its side. For example, introducing a social tariff on energy bills to reduce costs for those who suffer the most, or extending eligibility for the warm homes discount, which is £150 per household.

However, in the face of domestic financial difficulties for British citizens, none of the MPs suggested saving money on military aid to Ukraine. This would have helped to channel huge funds to support their own pensioners.

Read more HERE

[wdtom]

Comparing Old Pension Scheme, National Pension System, and Unified Pension Scheme

Following our update on the Unified Pension Scheme, we present a comparison chart below detailing the differences between the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), National Pension System (NPS), and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS).: FeatureOld Pension Scheme (OPS)National Pension System (NPS)Unified Pension Scheme (UPS)EligibilityGovernment employees who joined service before January 1, 2004All government…

[townpostin]

Govt Unveils Unified Pension Scheme for Central Employees

New UPS offers choice between NPS and unified plan, set to launch April 1st Cabinet approves Unified Pension Scheme, granting central government staff option between NPS and UPS. New plan promises 50% of final salary as minimum pension after 25 years. NEW DELHI – The Cabinet has greenlit the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), presenting central government employees with a choice between the existing…

[sarkaaribharti]

EPFO Account में 11 Details हो सकेंगी आसानी से Update

Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) ने मेंबर्स के अकाउंट में नाम, आधार सहित 11 Information को Update करने के लिए नई प्रक्रिया जारी की है। Organization की ओर से जारी नए Circular में नाम, लिंग, जन्म तिथि, पिता का नाम, संबंध, वैवाहिक स्थिति, जॉइन करने की तारीख, छोड़ने का कारण, छोड़ने की तारीख, राष्ट्रीयता और आधार संख्या को Update करने की मंजूरी दी गई है। नई प्रक्रिया से EPF Member के लिए…

[banglakhobor]

ন্যূনতম পেনশন ৭,৫০০ টাকা! ২০ জুলাই বড় সিদ্ধান্ত, সরাসরি প্রভাবিত পেনশনভোগী

Pension News Update: যাতে মাসে কমপক্ষে ৭,৫০০ টাকা মিনিমাম পেনশন করা হয়ে থাকে ৷ একই সঙ্গে বেশ কিছু দাবি নিয়ে দিল্লিতে বৃহস্পতিবার অনশনে বসছেন ৷ প্রতীকী ছবি ৷যাতে মাসে কমপক্ষে ৭,৫০০ টাকা মিনিমাম পেনশন করা হয়ে থাকে ৷ একই সঙ্গে বেশ কিছু দাবি নিয়ে দিল্লিতে বৃহস্পতিবার অনশনে বসছেন ৷ প্রতীকী ছবি ৷ Source link

[thebharatexpress]

Pension Scheme Latest Update: पेंशन योजना: पेंशन योजना चुनने का आज आखिरी मौक़ा, कर्मचारियों को OPS, NPS के बीच चुनना हैं एक विकल्प

Pension Scheme Latest Update पेंशन योजना चुनने : Pension Scheme Latest News: राज्य सरकार की पुरानी पेंशन योजना का विकल्प अब तक 97 प्रतिशत सरकारी कर्मियों चुन लिया है। नई पेंशन (एनपीएस) और पुरानी पेंशन (ओपीएस) में किसी एक का चुनाव करने के लिए आखिरी मौका आठ मई 2023 तक है। सोमवार तक एनपीएस व ओपीएस में किसी एक का चुनाव नहीं करने पर संबंधित कर्मचारी की सहमति स्वयमेव एनपीएस के लिए मान ली जाएगी। ALSO…

[sapootindia]

SBI Saral Pension Yojana 2023 Update: Double benefit will be available in this pension scheme, take advantage like this

SBI Saral Pension Yojana 2023 Update: State Bank of India has launched an exciting investment scheme for account holders! SBI Pension Plan is a great post-retirement salary plan, through which you will continue to get your salary! We are talking about SBI

SBI Saral Pension Yojana 2023 Update: State Bank of India has launched an exciting investment scheme for account holders! SBI Pension Plan is a great post-retirement salary plan, through which you will continue to get your salary! We are talking about SBI Simple Pension Scheme (SBI Saral Pension Scheme)! SBI Saral Pension Yojana 2023 Update Through this policy of State Bank of India, you can…

[deliciousangelfestival]

Nothing Has Changed - 9

Summary: Returning home for peace, you're faced with your tormentor, Bucky Barnes, who is now involved in your family's business.

Character: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader

Warning: Angst, Tragedy.

Nothing Has Changed - Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist || support: Ko-fi

Thank you to anyone who gave a like, reblog, and left a comment. It motivated me to write more. 💖💖💖

“This town looks peaceful to an outsider, a perfect place for a pensioner to spend their free time,” Steve commented, his gaze sweeping over the quiet streets.

“I guess the Bronze Lodge is their only destination,” you replied, noting the town’s well-known resort.

He nodded. “It's a great place and helps the economy. Most locals work there.”

You glanced around, recognizing a few faces from your past. “Hmm. I see some familiar people.”

“So, you've met the homecoming queen,” Steve said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“My number one hater,” you responded dryly.

“She will hate you even more after seeing how successful you've become,” Steve chuckled.

You nodded, and the ice between you began to melt as the conversation continued. The years apart seemed to fade as you shared updates and memories.

“Don’t you realize you're talking behind her back? Isn’t she your close friend?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

Steve shrugged. “Not anymore. After graduation, all of us went our separate ways. Bucky went abroad to study business, Natasha pursued her modeling career, and others moved to different states.”

He sighed, reflecting on how time had changed their once-close group. As everyone grew older, they followed their own paths. But in the end, almost all of them returned to this town.

“What made me curious is Jake. I thought he would be the one to make it big since he won multiple competitions related to computers,” you said, recalling the prodigious talent he once displayed.

“Ah, Jake. He wanted to be popular so badly back then. Ironically, he got it in the worst way possible,” Steve replied with a hint of regret.

“What happened to him?” You leaned forward, intrigued by the unfolding story.

“Well… Jake got out of control with his IT skills and hacked the department of defense and he made a crypto scam.”

You gasped. “Really?” Would a guy like Jake do something like that?

“The government banned Jake from anything related to coding for a few years,” Steve explained, shaking his head.

“How did you know all of this?” you asked, impressed by his knowledge of the local gossip.

“His mother told her friend, and her friend told her hairdresser, and the hairdresser told everyone at the church,” Steve said with a wry smile.

Gossip travels fast. You almost spilled your hot jasmine tea, laughing at the absurdity. Steve quickly handed you a tissue, and you gratefully accepted it.

“Then… what do you think about Mayor Martin?” you asked, curious about the town's leadership.

Steve's expression turned serious. “I don’t trust him.”

A shiver ran down your spine at his words. Something was wrong if even someone as reserved as Steve didn’t trust the mayor.

⚰️

You went home, Steve's words still lingering in your mind. You needed answers, so you decided to ask your dad about what had happened in the town since you left.

Tom sat in his favorite armchair, engrossed in a thick book. Without looking up, he replied, “There haven't been any significant changes, except for the new resort owned by the Barnes.”

“But,” he continued, his tone growing more somber, “I have noticed an increase in the number of funerals I've conducted for a single travelers.”

'Single travelers?' A cold shiver ran down your spine at his words. "Who paid for the funerals?" you asked, your voice tinged with unease.

“The town mayor, Martin, has been kind enough to pay for the funerals,” Tom added, finally lifting his gaze from the book to look at you.

Your instincts screamed that Martin’s kindness had a hidden agenda. “Don’t you ever wonder why so many tourists die in this town?” you asked, your voice tinged with suspicion.

Tom chuckled, dismissing your concerns with a wave of his hand. “Are you saying there’s a serial killer in this town? That’s impossible. The police have deemed all the deaths accidents.” He closed his book and patted your shoulder gently. “You should go to sleep. You've been working too much.”

As Tom headed to his room, you remained in the living room, deep in thought. Your father, accustomed to dealing with death, seemed numb to its frequency. But not you. The increasing number of deaths didn’t sit well with you, and the mayor’s supposed generosity felt more sinister than charitable.

Should you and your dad leave this town? The question gnawed at you as you pondered your next steps. Once a familiar haven, the town now felt shrouded in mystery and danger.

👠

The next day, you returned to the hotel feeling renewed determination. As you walked into your office, you stopped abruptly. Once cluttered with documents and black binders, the table was completely empty. A wave of panic surged through you. Had someone stolen everything? The scene eerily reminded you of when the FBI raided your office and confiscated all your belongings.

You bolted out of the room and hurried to Bucky's office. As you approached, you heard raised voices from behind the closed door.

“You’re doubting me?” a woman exclaimed.

“At first, but now I have the evidence. Numbers don’t lie,” Bucky responded firmly.

“Hmph. I still can’t believe it. She’s only been here for a few days, and you trust her over your own mother?”

You couldn't take it anymore. You pushed the door open, making both Bucky and the woman flinch. “Are you doubting my skills?” you demanded, crossing your arms and standing confidently.

The woman turned to face you. She was Lydia Barnes, Bucky’s mother. At fifty years old, she exuded elegance and grandeur, her rich lifestyle evident in her designer clothing and impeccable grooming. She looked you up and down, her eyes narrowing.

Lydia remembered you. You used to be a shy girl who never met anyone's gaze. But now, you stood before her with unshakeable confidence. Your eyes, so full of determination, reminded her of someone she detested—your mother.

Lydia’s face hardened. “I see you've returned,” she said, her tone dripping with disdain.

“I have,” you replied, meeting her gaze steadily. “And I found discrepancies in the financial records. Someone has been embezzling money from this resort.”

Lydia's eyes flashed with anger. “How dare you accuse me?”

You maintained your calm demeanor, but your eyes locked onto hers with a sharp intensity. “I didn't accuse you, Mrs. Barnes. But why are you so defensive?” You let the question hang in the air, trying to bait her into revealing more. “It’s impossible for a business owner to steal from their own business, isn’t it?”

Lydia's face went pale for a moment before she recovered, her expression turning icy. She was momentarily stunned, clearly taken aback by your insinuation.

Bucky stepped in, his tone exasperated but calm. “Mom, we’ll discuss this later. Right now, we need to focus on the numbers and figure out what’s really going on.”

You took a step back, observing Lydia carefully. Her fists were clenched tightly at her sides, and her eyes were narrow slits of fury. She was clearly not used to being questioned, especially not in her own domain.

Lydia straightened up, regaining some of her composure. “Very well,” she said coolly. “But don’t think for a moment that I’ll let this go.”

As she turned to leave, you caught a glimpse of vulnerability in her eyes—a fleeting moment of fear that she quickly masked. It was enough to confirm your suspicions that there was more to this story than she was letting on.

Bucky let out a heavy sigh once she was gone, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sorry about that. She’s...complicated.”

You nodded, taking in the tension that still lingered in the air. Lydia was an odd woman, and you couldn't shake the feeling that she harbored a deep-seated dislike for you. The first time you saw her was at her husband’s funeral—Bucky's dad.

Even then, her eyes had fixed on you like a tiger eyeing its prey. You always wondered what you had done to her.

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Author Note: Hey friends,

If you've been enjoying the content, I've set up a Ko-fi account.

Your support through tips would mean the world and help me keep creating.

Only if you feel like it!

Here's the link: Ko-fi

Thanks a bunch for being fabulous followers!

[hedgehog-moss]

Update on May 1st protests and how the french goverment handled them?

^ The May 1st protests were pretty violent esp. in Paris; two cops were set on fire (they're ok, one has 2nd degree burns), lots of destruction in city streets, and hundreds of injured protesters. The French gov is sticking to its M.O. of denying any police violence against protesters, emphasising protesters' violence and portraying it as mindless anti-democratic savagery rather than the result of their own anti-democratic policies.

There were more people protesting in the streets on Monday than at any other May Day protest in the past 20 years (by a large margin—7 to 10x more people than usual.) And the numbers are still impressive in terms of this current social movement—there were about 1.2 million people at the first protest against the pension reform in January, 900K at one of the February protests, around 1.1M on March 7 and I think 1.2M on March 23rd... We're in May and there were 800K people in the streets on Monday (using the police's probably low estimate). The first marches earlier this year were peaceful; people started destroying shit in March after the 49.3 (=the gov not letting elected representatives vote on the reform); in the following weeks we saw a brutal escalation of police violence + suppression of just about any means of non-violent protest, which results in more violence.

The vast majority of protesters are still peaceful, but in terms of providing context for the increased violence, well—people protested peacefully, peaceful protests got banned. People banged pots and pans, pots and pans got banned and confiscated. People started a petition on the National Assembly website which got a record number of signatures, the petition was closed before its deadline and ignored. MPs asked (twice!) for a national referendum on the reform to be held, their requests were denied. Electricity unionists cut power in buildings Macron was visiting, now he travels around with a portable generator. Unions tried to distribute whistles and red cards (penalty cards) to football supporters before the French Cup finale last week, so the ones who wanted could use them if Macron showed up (he ended up hiding and greeting the footballers indoors rather than publicly on the stadium lawn); the police prefecture tried banning union members from gathering outside the stadium to distribute these items (although the ban was struck down by the judiciary as it was illegal, like most bans these days...)

Confiscating saucepans was already so absurd it felt like a gratuitous fuck you, but now they're trying to prevent the distribution of pieces of red paper. Cancelling petitions that would have had no real impact anyway. Prosecuting people for insulting Macron. Arbitrarily arresting hundreds of nonviolent protesters to intimidate them out of protesting (guess who's left then?). The French gov is systematically repressing democratic or nonviolent means of making your opinion heard, and when people get more violent they're like "This is unacceptable, don't these terrorists know there are other means of expressing dissent??" Where? This week a 77-year-old man was summoned to the police station and will be forced to take a "citizenship course" for having a banner outside his house that read "Macron fuck you" (Macron on t'emmerde). Note that he would have been arrested (like the woman who was arrested at her home and spent a night in police custody for calling Macron "garbage" on Facebook) but they decided not to only because of his age.

So that's where we're at; on Monday two cops caught on fire (well, their fireproof suit did) after protesters threw a Molotov cocktail at them. (The street medic who tried to help them with their burns ended up getting shot by a cop's riot gun a few seconds later—with French police no good deed goes unpunished!) The media talked a lot more about this incident than about the fact that the cop who got most severely injured on that day (broken vertebrae) was injured by an explosive grenade that a colleague of his meant to throw at protesters (you can see it at the end of the video below). If police with all their protective gear get so badly injured by their own weapons, no wonder the worst injuries have been on the protesters' side. (nearly 600 injured protesters on May 1st, 120 severely, according to street medics.) I'm not including images of these incidents in the video but on May 1st a protester had his hand mutilated by a police grenade + a 17 year old girl was hit in the eye by a grenade fragment, may end up losing it (during the Yellow Vests protests, Macron's first attempt at repressing a social movement, 38 protesters lost an eye or a hand).

What you see in the video: cops charging the front of a march to tear a banner off people's hands then retreating and drowning the street in tear gas when protesters throw paint bombs at them (protesters have umbrellas because of police drones); at 0:30, a journalist saying "They're not even arresting him, just kicking him when he's down—they kicked him right in the face!" then police spraying with tear gas protesters who try to fend them off; at 0:46 when a protester being arrested asks a journalist if he's filming and starts reading out loud a cop's ID number, another cop shoves the journalist and throws him to the ground; at 0:54, an Irish journalist runs away from the police tear gas grenades that you hear going off, at 01:08, the incident mentioned above when a cop drops a grenade he tried to throw, which explodes in his group, breaking another cop's vertebrae. There's a lot more I'm not including, like how CNN said "there's so much tear gas in Paris, our foreign correspondent can barely breathe", how another journalist was hit by a sting-ball grenade (he was also bludgeoned on the head so hard it broke his helmet—even though cops know the people wearing helmets are journalists...), and yet another journalist who was calling out a cop for aiming at people's heads with his riot gun (which is illegal) ended up having the guy aim the riot gun at his head from 2 metres away (getting shot with this "less lethal weapon" from that distance would be lethal.)

All of these videos are from May 1st (most of them from this account monitoring police violence.)

So yeah, nonviolent protests followed by violent police repression and bans of nonviolent means of protesting result in more violent protests. The French government responds by a) pikachu surpris, b) condemning violent protesters and praising violent police to the skies, c) continuing to ban everything they can think of. Confiscating saucepans didn't work but confiscating pieces of red paper will do the trick! Let's prosecute people for bashing or burning an effigy of Macron, because banning symbolic violence always works to prevent actual violence! And this week after the May 1st protests we learnt that the gov is thinking of making street barricades illegal, because that'll definitely solve everything. It's going to be interesting for history teachers to teach students about the 1789 revolution that allowed us to take down an absolutist regime and become a republic, under a government that banned barricades because they see them as terrorist anti-republican structures.

^ Statue symbolising the French Republic (on Place de la République in Paris) dressed with a 'Macron resign' shirt by protesters on May 1st.

[spacedace]

So like...Danny as Ghost King getting to help sort people into the correct/prefered afterlives, and talking with all the Justice League peeps to figure out what they want/where they want to go ahead of time like it's a pension plan or like he's a Travel Agent.

Like he gives tours around various afterlives around the Ghost Zone, offers up different "packages" they can choose from.

"With the Ghost Package you can come back to the living realm, but you will be locked in with an Obsession - it's not as bad as it sounds, but we can go into more detail later on what it entails if you're interested - and you will be bound to a particular Haunt. Also my parents might try to capture and experiment on you."

"Unfortunately you don't qualify for the Revenant package due to how many times you've already died and come back, but I *can* get you set up with one of our Reincarnation representatives if returning to the living world is something you are interested in."

"Guardian Spirit is a popular choice, so there is a bit of a waiting time in terms of getting paperwork processed, but if you sign up for it now while you're still alive all that can be done ahead of time and you can jump right in once you pass on. You will need to make sure you regularly update the list of who you will be watching over considering your propensity for adoption."

[rainbowsky]

President Biden pardons LGBTQ service members convicted under homophobic military code

In happy Pride news, today President Biden has pardoned LGBTQ service members who were convicted under the military code of justice between 1951 and 2013. Under these policies LGBTQ service members were forced out of the military because of their sexual orientation, including some who were court martialed.

This is a significant move that will mean that these veterans will be able to update their military records to reflect that they served honourably, and will give them access to benefits they were previously denied. Some of these benefits include:

Military pensions

College tuition

Home loans

This will affect thousands of US veterans. The pardon isn't automatic. Those affected will have to apply to have their records changed. Still, this will make a difference in people's lives and is a positive move in the right direction. Happy Pride!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Biden wants to ban ripoff “financial advisors”

I'll be at the Studio City branch of the LA Public Library on Monday, November 13 at 1830hPT to launch my new novel, The Lost Cause. There'll be a reading, a talk, a surprise guest (!!) and a signing, with books on sale. Tell your friends! Come on down!

Once, American workers had "defined benefits pensions," where their employers promised to pay them a certain amount every year from their retirement to their death. Jimmy Carter swapped that out for 401(k)s, "market" pensions where you have to guess which stocks will be valuable or starve in your old age:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/25/derechos-humanos/#are-there-no-poorhouses

The initial 401(k) rollout had all kinds of pot-sweeteners that made them seem like a good deal, like heavy employer matching that doubled or even tripled the value of every dollar you put into the market for your retirement. But over the years, as Reaganomics took hold and workers' power ebbed away, all these goodies were clawed back. In the end, the market-based pension makes you the sucker at the poker table, flushing your savings into a rigged casino that is firmly tilted in favor of finance barons and other eminently guillotineable plutocrats.

Neoliberalism is many things, but most of all it is a cult of individualism. The fact that three generations of workers are nows facing down retirement without pensions that will provide them with secure housing and food – let alone money to see the odd movie, buy birthday gifts for their grandkids, or enjoy a meal out now and then – is framed as millions of individual failures, not a systemic one.

In other words, if you are facing food insecurity and homelessness after a lifetime of hard work, it's because you saved wrong. Perhaps you didn't save enough (through a 40-year run of wage stagnation and skyrocketing housing, health and education costs). Or perhaps you saved wrong, making the wrong bets on the stock market. If you can't afford to run your air conditioner during a heat dome, that's on you: you should have been better at stocks.

Apologists for this system will say that you don't have to be good at stocks – you just have to pay an Independent Financial Advisor to pick the stocks for you and you'll be fine. But IFAs don't work for free! What if you can't afford one?

Enter "predatory inclusion" – the practice of offering scammy, overpriced and substandard products to poor people and declaring it to be a good deed, because otherwise, those poor people would have to do without. The crypto bubble relied heavily on this: think of Spike Lee and others shilling for pump-and-dump scams as a way of "building Black wealth":

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/business/media/cryptocurrency-seeks-the-spotlight-with-spike-lees-help.html

More recently, Intuit and other scammy tax-prep services have argued against the IRS's plan to offer free tax preparation as bad for Black and brown people, because it will deny them the chance to be deceived and ripped off with TurboTax:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/27/predatory-inclusion/#equal-opportunity-scammers

Back in 2018, Trump won the predatory inclusion Olympics, when his Department of Labor let the Fifth Circuit abolish the "Fiduciary Rule" for Independent Financial Advisors:

https://www.investopedia.com/updates/dol-fiduciary-rule/

What was the Fiduciary Rule? It said that your IFN had to put your interests ahead of their own. Like, if there were two different funds you could bet on, and one would pay your IFN a big commission, while the other would be a better bet for you, the IFN couldn't put your retirement savings into the fund that offered them a bribe.

When Trump killed the Fiduciary Rule, he proclaimed it a victory for poor people, especially Black and brown people. After all, if IFNs weren't allowed to accept bribes for giving you bad financial advice, then they would have to make up the difference by charging you for good advice. If you couldn't afford that advice, well, you'd have to make bad retirement investments on your own, without the benefit of their sleazy self-dealing.

The Biden Administration wants to change that. Biden's Acting Labor Secretary is Julie Su, and she's very good at her job. Last spring, she forced west coast dockworkers' bosses to cough up the contract they'd stalled on for a year, with 8-10% raises for every worker, owed retroactively:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/16/that-boy-aint-right/#dinos-rinos-and-dunnos

Su has proposed a way to reinstate the Fiduciary Rule, as part of the Biden Administration's war on junk fees, estimating that this will increase retirees' net savings by 20%:

https://prospect.org/labor/2023-11-07-julie-su-labor-retirement-savers/

The new rule will force advisors who cheat their clients to pay restitution, and will require them to deliver all their advice in writing so that this cheating can be detected and punished.

The industry is furious, of course. They claim that "The Market (TM)" will solve this: if you get bad retirement savings advice and end up homeless and starving, then you will choose a different advisor in your next life, after you are reincarnated (I guess?).

And of course, they're also claiming that forcing IFNs to stop cheating their clients will deny poor people access to expert (bad) advice. As the Financial Services Institute's Dale Brown says, this will have a "negative impact on Main Street Americans’ access to financial advice":

https://www.fa-mag.com/news/legal-challenge-predicted-for-new-dol-fiduciary-proposal-75257.html

Here's that rule – read it for yourself, then submit a comment expressing your views on it. The government wants to hear from you, and administrative law requires them to act on the comments they receive:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/03/2023-23782/proposed-amendment-to-prohibited-transaction-exemptions-75-1-77-4-80-83-83-1-and-86-128

Su is part of a wave of progressive, technically skilled regulators in the Biden administration that resulted from a horse-trading exercise called the Unity Task Force, which divvied up access to top appointments among the progressive wing and the finance wing of the Democratic Party. The progressive appointments are nothing short of incredible – the most competent and principled agency leaders America has seen in half a century:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/23/getting-stuff-done/#praxis

But then there's the finance wing's appointments, like Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, who ruled against Lina Khan's attempt to block the rotten Microsoft/Activision merger (don't worry, Khan's appealing):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/14/making-good-trouble/#the-peoples-champion

Perhaps the worst, though, is Biden's Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, a private equity ghoul who did a stint for the notorious wreckers Bain Capital before founding her own firm. Raimondo has stuffed her department full of Goldman Sachs alums, and has sidelined labor and civil society groups as she sets out to administer everything from the CHIPS Act to regulating ChatGPT.

As Henry Burke writes for the Revolving Door Project and The American Prospect, Raimondo's history as a corporate raider, her deference to the finance sector, and she and her husband's conflicts of interest from their massive stakes in companies she's regulating all serve to undermine Biden's agenda:

https://prospect.org/economy/2023-11-08-commerce-secretary-gina-raimondo-undercutting-bidenomics/

When the administration inevitably complains that its popular economic programs aren’t breaking through the media coverage, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves.

The Unity Task Force gave us generationally important policymakers, but ultimately, it's a classic "pizzaburger." If half your family wants pizza, and the other half wants burgers, and you serve them something halfway in between that makes none of them happy, you haven't made a wise compromise – you've just made an inedible mess:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/17/pizzaburgers/

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/08/fiduciaries/#but-muh-freedumbs

[wdtom]

RBI Pensioners' Rights: Letter to Hon'ble Governor Raises Concerns Over Bureaucratic Hurdles

All India Reserve Bank Retired Employees Association (AIRBREA), Mumbai has written a letter to the Hon’ble Governor regarding issues concerning pensioners and family pensioners in RBI due to bureaucratic hurdles. Highlights: On April 1, 2024, the RBI celebrated its 90th anniversary. The RBI has played a unique dual role as the central bank and a developmental institution for the Indian…

[townpostin]

Jamshedpur DC Leads Crucial Meeting on Welfare Schemes

District-wide Coordination Efforts Aim to Boost Development Projects Jamshedpur officials review progress of various welfare schemes, emphasizing transparency and timely completion of development projects across departments. JAMSHEDPUR – District Magistrate Ananya Mittal chaired a key coordination committee meeting to assess welfare scheme progress. The gathering at the Collectorate Auditorium…

[coochiequeens]

Another sex offender TIM released into the public.........and given a laptop

Daughter's fury as paedophile father who abused and shared images of her with other sick perverts online before changing gender in prison is quietly released (...and given a laptop by an offender's charity)

By ROSS SLATER

PUBLISHED: 10:47 EDT, 16 July 2023 | UPDATED: 10:49 EDT, 16 July 2023

A paedophile who changed gender while in prison for sexually abusing her own daughter as a child and sending explicit photos of her to perverts online has been quietly released back into the community - and given a laptop by a do-gooding charity.

Claire Fox, 61, who was previously known as Clive Bundy, a father of six, served just seven years of a 15-year jail sentence, before being settled into a tiny market town on the Welsh borders.

Fox, who wears a black wig and floral dresses told neighbours, who knew nothing of her sordid past, that she was an electrician from Bangor as they helped her get settled into her new surroundings and helped her furnish her flat.

Fox's release from prison has appalled her daughter Ceri-Lee Galvin, who bravely waived her right to anonymity, having been abused by her father for nine years from the age of eight.

Revealing her astonishment, Ceri-Lee, 24, told MailOnline: 'My father is not a woman and I refuse to recognise him as such. He changed his gender in prison to make his life there easier.

But now he is out and already up to his usual tricks – conning everyone he meets. 

'The fact he is now dressed as a woman makes him more dangerous as young girls are his thing and he has never shown any remorse.

'My father is a highly manipulative man who has attended no sexual offender rehabilitation programmes, shown no remorse for what he has done and openly admits finding children attractive.

'There have been no meetings I'm aware of to tell local schools about his presence, he has no tag and no curfew. He has just been put into this community and given all he could wish for – food, furniture, a home and a laptop.'

Ceri-Lee, now a student paramedic, added: 'I am in no way transphobic and I feel incredibly sorry for people who genuinely need to transition. They face stigma and worse because of cases like this.

'But it should just not be an option for those convicted of sexual offences against children to suddenly say that they want to be a woman.

'This only arose at the end of 2021 when he was due to be moved to an open prison but then had a fight with a fellow prisoner that was serious enough to stop the move.

'That is when he went for the gender change – when he was almost 60, having been a macho man all his life and having had eight children and having never mentioned gender dysphoria before.

'Now he is being indulged by everyone. The prison service gave him make-up and women's clothes and now a charity for the armed forces have provided him with so much stuff when all he did was a short stint in the Territorial Army in his 20s.

He has conned them. He was never a soldier. The whole thing is outrageous.'

Fox arrived in a sheltered accommodation block for older people in a tiny town at the start of June.

She was given new furniture, a television, printer, washing machine, crockery and a laptop by the armed forces charity SSAFA because she had once been in the Territorial Army.

Fox's neighbour Lyn Robinson, 74, said: 'My first impression was that this person was very cheerful and amenable, assuring all us older people that they'd be no trouble. They seemed very confident despite the outlandish appearance.

'I thought she might find it difficult fitting in so I really took care of her. I gave her clothes and even lent her £70, which is a lot for a pensioner.

'I took her to the food bank at the Baptist Church where she was given loads of stuff including vouchers for a butcher in town and for a coffee shop.

'And we went to a concert at St Edward's Church where I introduced her to the vicar. I had no idea of her history.

Fox's decision to change gender before being released from prison, provoked a storm of protest when it was revealed in April.

She chose the same name as gender-critical campaigner and media pundit Claire Fox, now sitting in the House of Lords as Baroness Fox of Buckley.

Campaign groups fear that by changing their gender, sex offenders can effectively whitewash their past and could avoid detection under the Home Office's Disclosure and Barring Service, set up to protect children from abusers.

DBS uses official paperwork such as a passport or driving licence to carry out their checks, both of which can prove difficult to check after choosing a new name and gender.

The potential loophole is provided by the Gender Recognition Act (2004), which created a 'sensitive applications route' for trans people.

Ceri-Lee added: 'The victim liaison officer told me the only reason I was being informed about the name and gender change was because he had given permission for this to happen.

'It's allowing him to say that Clive Bundy never existed, that my abuse never existed and it is clearly a danger to children which is why I decided to speak out.' 

Fox is not the first sex offender to change gender while in prison

A rapist who carried out sexual attacks as a man named Adam Graham in 2016 and 2019 sparked a heated debate earlier this year after changing gender and name to Isla Bryson while waiting to stand trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

And in 2018, convicted rapist 'Karen White' – branded a 'highly manipulative' predator by a judge – was moved to HMP New Hall in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and sexually assaulted two women inmates.

Fox was arrested after police discovered images of Ceri-Lee online that the abuser had been trading with other pedophiles.

She was later charged with and admitted to several counts of sexual activity with Ceri-Lee, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and distributing indecent images.

In 2016 she was sentenced to 15 years in prison. It was not until the end of 2021 that she told the authorities she wanted to change gender.

A SSAFA spokesperson, said: 'SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity provides practical, emotional and financial assistance to serving personnel, reservists, veterans and their families in their time of need. Due to data protection laws and our need to protect our beneficiaries' and employees' confidentiality, we cannot comment on individuals or their circumstances.'

A spokesperson for Dyfed-Powys Police said: 'In line with national guidelines we can neither confirm nor deny the information you have provided.

'However, we can confirm that Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements are utilised throughout the entire force area to manage appropriate offenders living in the community and they will be closely supervised by local officers to minimise any risk.'