US Politics: them's indictin words

[James Arryn]

17 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

Lower wage bills for big corporations. 

Yeah, feels more and more like democracy’s losing the war with capitalism. 

[DMC]

26 minutes ago, James Arryn said:

What is the impetus for turning back the clock on child labour? Just part of the whole ‘the 18th Century was the Best!’ kick, or is there an actual argument?

Not exactly a "new" thing - frankly a return to a rather old thing wherein I feel like I'm reading a Dickens novel - but large corporations are exploiting migrant children as cheap labor and realizing they can do so legally due to..well, the states and SCOTUS either will help them do so or won't stop them, respectively.  This is a new push throughout a bunch of states.  See here:

Quote

Recent DOL cases and media reports make clear that unaccompanied migrant youth left in limbo by a broken U.S. immigration system have become particularly vulnerable to exploitation by employers and networks of labor brokers and staffing agencies who recruit workers on their behalf. Nearly 130,000 unaccompanied migrant children arrived at the U.S. border in 2022 alone, many fleeing poverty and violence (Dreier and Luce 2023). Many are eligible for asylum protection but have ended up among the 1.6 million people caught up in a record-high backlog of asylum claims awaiting processing or hearing dates, with claims taking years to adjudicate (TRAC 2022). In the meantime, many unaccompanied minors are sent to live with relatives or other sponsors. Both youth and adults awaiting asylum claims processing are ineligible for work permits for many months and cannot access social safety net programs (Workie, Hinkle, and Heredia 2022), leaving them impoverished and desperate to accept work of any kind to pay for necessities like food and rent, as well as repay debts to sponsors or help support family members in their countries of origin. Until federal agencies address the asylum backlog and the downstream issues it creates, young migrant children will continue to be a pool of potential workers whom employers may exploit, knowing they have no other viable options.

 

[James Arryn]

5 minutes ago, DMC said:

Not exactly a "new" thing - frankly a return to a rather old thing wherein I feel like I'm reading a Dickens novel - but large corporations are exploiting migrant children as cheap labor and realizing they can do so legally due to..well, the states and SCOTUS either will help them do so or won't stop them, respectively.  This is a new push throughout a bunch of states.  See here:

 

Cheers, depressing. 
 

Also depressing; meantime I’d done a little digging myself and, sadly predictable, the earlier articles on the subject were about corporations wanting to undermine child labour laws, with most reactions thinking it was alarmist.
 

Of course here we are a few years later and states are bowing to corporate wants again. Especially the types of states who otherwise cite protecting children as their motivation for so much other crap. 

[Martell Spy]

44 minutes ago, James Arryn said:

What is the impetus for turning back the clock on child labour? Just part of the whole ‘the 18th Century was the Best!’ kick, or is there an actual argument?

I've heard on the radio conservative arguments about this. They often focus on opportunities for teenagers. Gaining job skills, making more money before 18. So Reagan blowing sunshine up your ass, basically.

And if adults earning at or near the minimum wage are brought up it often turns to abusive victim blaming. They should work harder/work more hours/ become entrepreneurs.

And of course they use teenagers working as an excuse to keep minimum wage low. The argument being if the minimum wage is low employers are more likely to hire teenagers who may have a hard time finding employment.

[DMC]

3 minutes ago, James Arryn said:

Especially the types of states who otherwise cite protecting children as their motivation for so much other crap. 

Wanna be clear these efforts aren't confined to red states.  They are at least attempts to change the laws in Jersey, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and, most prominently, Minnesota.  The reason a lot of this gets through is a lot of this doesn't seem nefarious - I started working when I was 14, wasn't in any way oppressed, and frankly dealing with the federal standards WAS annoying.  But they're annoying for a reason.  And, well, this would be the reason.

[Larry of the Lawn]

I was criticized as alarmist for bringing up the child labor stuff a while back.  But then I watched this video and woke up to the fact that we need to gut OSHA, eliminate the minimum wages and all child labor protections:

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

9 minutes ago, DMC said:

Wanna be clear these efforts aren't confined to red states.  They are at least attempts to change the laws in Jersey, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and, most prominently, Minnesota.  The reason a lot of this gets through is a lot of this doesn't seem nefarious - I started working when I was 14, wasn't in any way oppressed, and frankly dealing with the federal standards WAS annoying.  But they're annoying for a reason.  And, well, this would be the reason.

This makes me laugh. I also got a job at 14. I cannot believe they let me be a mostly unsupervised boating instructor at a camp. 

[Martell Spy]

Fox News-Dominion settlement totals more than $787 million, Dominion lawyer says

https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/fox-news-dominion-trial-04-18-23/index.html

Quote

 

The settlement between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems totals $787,500,000, according to Dominion attorney Justin Nelson.

The settlement represents "vindication and accountability," Nelson said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

"The truth matters, lies have consequences," Nelson said."

"Over two years ago, a torrent of lies swept Dominion and election officials across America into an alternative universe of conspiracy theories, causing grievous harm," he added.

 

 

[Corvinus85]

7 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

Fox News-Dominion settlement totals more than $787 million, Dominion lawyer says

https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/fox-news-dominion-trial-04-18-23/index.html

 

Booo. I guess Dominion had enough of the proceedings and the sum is suitably high enough for them. But we're robbed of having to see Hannity and gang testify in court about their lies.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

Booo. I guess Dominion had enough of the proceedings and the sum is suitably high enough for them. But we're robbed of having to see Hannity and gang testify in court about their lies.

Yeah, that does suck, but I'm sure most lawyers would say take the giant payment instead of risking losing everything, even if they missed out on truly embarrassing Fox's talking heads. They've already been exposed and who knows how long this all could have taken. Still not what those fuckers deserve, but this is no slap on the wrist. 

[Corvinus85]

1 minute ago, Tywin et al. said:

Yeah, that does suck, but I'm sure most lawyers would say take the giant payment instead of risking losing everything, even if they got to embarrass Fox's talking heads. They've already been exposed and who knows how long this all could have taken. Still not what those fuckers deserve, but this is no slap on the wrist. 

At least it still forces the shills at the smaller rightwing networks to keep retracting their garbage, since they wouldn't be able to afford such a settlement. 

[Zorral]

Don't they have insurance?

I knew there would be a settlement as soon as Faux's lawyers humbly apologized to the judge for, um, concealing, facts . . . .

So many lies and facts would have to come out in the trial -- particularly about Murdoch -- They couldn't afford that.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

At least it still forces the shills at the smaller rightwing networks to keep retracting their garbage, since they wouldn't be able to afford such a settlement. 

Fox is still on the hook too. And keep in mind, that number is just what they had to pay to the other party, who knows how much it also costed them to litigate this. Then there's the brand damage. This is a really bad day for them even if Dominion didn't get the full $1.6B. 

[James Arryn]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

Fox is still on the hook too. And keep in mind, that number is just what they had to pay to the other party, who knows how much it also costed them to litigate this. Then there's the brand damage. This is a really bad day for them even if Dominion didn't get the full $1.6B. 

It’s closer to ambivalent to me. On the good side of it, but just. Dominion is a company, so in it for the money, not the morality. But settlements go away over time in a way losses/judgments do not.
 

Especially as this is under 50% of what they sued for, this is easily enough wiggle room that I doubt FOX viewers will even remember it in a year. We’re well beyond the point of the subtleties getting through…an actual loss would still be an uphill battle…a settlement will stop being news very, very quickly. I should not expect a corporation to stand in for the truth, so I guess maybe I’d let my hopes get a little higher than I realized until now. 
 

Unless there is some condition about airing apologies and retractions. That’d be something,  depending on the wording. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

57 minutes ago, James Arryn said:

It’s closer to ambivalent to me. On the good side of it, but just. Dominion is a company, so in it for the money, not the morality. But settlements go away over time in a way losses/judgments do not.
 

Especially as this is under 50% of what they sued for, this is easily enough wiggle room that I doubt FOX viewers will even remember it in a year. We’re well beyond the point of the subtleties getting through…an actual loss would still be an uphill battle…a settlement will stop being news very, very quickly. I should not expect a corporation to stand in for the truth, so I guess maybe I’d let my hopes get a little higher than I realized until now. 
 

Unless there is some condition about airing apologies and retractions. That’d be something,  depending on the wording. 

Idk. I doubt there will be any contrition and they likely won't lose five viewers over this. But the loss of money is a serious enough amount that it will spook the fuck out of the executives and cause sponsors to back off. This was never going to kill Fox, but they are damaged at the moment. We'll see what happens in the next few months. 

[DMC]

Much larger settlement than I thought it'd be.  Good outcome - and good for Dominion.  They should make hundreds of millions of dollars worth of voting machines with a sign at the top that says "paid for by Fox News," "paid for by Tucker Carlson," etc.

[Fragile Bird]

3 hours ago, Zorral said:

Don't they have insurance?

I knew there would be a settlement as soon as Faux's lawyers humbly apologized to the judge for, um, concealing, facts . . . .

So many lies and facts would have to come out in the trial -- particularly about Murdoch -- They couldn't afford that.

Most corporations don’t have insurance for things like libel, they self-insure. The cost of libel insurance for a network like Fox would be staggering.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

11 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Most corporations don’t have insurance for things like libel, they self-insure. The cost of libel insurance for a network like Fox would be staggering.

If they did have insurance… I’m confident they’ve hit policy limits and don’t have it any longer…  

[The Anti-Targ]

7 hours ago, James Arryn said:

What is the impetus for turning back the clock on child labour? Just part of the whole ‘the 18th Century was the Best!’ kick, or is there an actual argument?

Minimum wage often doesn't apply to under 18s, or if there is a youth minimum wage it's usually considerably lower. From Wikipedia re federal minimum wage:

Quote

Persons under the age of 20 may be paid $4.25 an hour for the first 90 calendar days of employment (sometimes known as a youth, teen, or training wage) unless a higher state minimum exists.

 

[ThinkerX]

Four Americans and Three Russians charged with sowing chaos in US politics. Seems they chose a black power group as a front. 

 

US charges 4 Americans, 3 Russians in election discord case (msn.com)

 

The four Americans are all part of the African People's Socialist Party and Uhuru Movement, which has locations in St. Petersburg, Florida, and St. Louis. Among those charged is Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the U.S.-based organization — which was raided by the FBI last summer when Ionov was originally charged.

“Russia's foreign intelligence service allegedly weaponized our First Amendment rights — freedoms Russia denies to its own citizens — to divide Americans and interfere in elections in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division.