melp

Taken from the 50501 reddit...

US : Request your private data obtained by DOGEUS News (self.50501) submitted 8 hours ago * by Vivid_Midnight_1066

Representative Jamie Raskin is encouraging all U.S. citizens to join him this week in filing formal demands for access to their personal data obtained by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has issued an injunction commanding DOGE to comply with citizen requests under the Freedom of Information Act. This law encompasses the Federal Privacy Act of 1974, which entitles any citizen to access personal information held in any U.S. government records system.

https://jamieraskin.com/doge-privacy-act-requests/

Please spread the word so we can inundate DOGE with requests for our personal data.

Edited to add a direct link to the form letter: https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ak-raskin/images/Raskin_DOGE_Privacy_Request.pdf

Taken from the 50501 reddit...

US : Request your private data obtained by DOGEUS News (self.50501) submitted 8 hours ago * by Vivid_Midnight_1066

Representative Jamie Raskin is encouraging all U.S. citizens to join him this week in filing formal demands for access to their personal data obtained by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has issued an injunction commanding DOGE to comply with citizen requests under the Freedom of Information Act. This law encompasses the Federal Privacy Act of 1974, which entitles any citizen to access personal information held in any U.S. government records system.

https://jamieraskin.com/doge-privacy-act-requests/

Please spread the word so we can inundate DOGE with requests for our personal data.

Edited to add a direct link to the form letter: https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ak-raskin/images/Raskin_DOGE_Privacy_Request.pdf

“For the working class, these policies have made ownership of housing” next to impossible “as every cruel cycle of interest rate hikes brutally strips them of houses, cars and other assets they are forced to sell.” In the absence of an emergency public housing program, masses of the working class are crammed into slums, sheltering in shacks built of easily inflammable materials. Lacking electricity supply, candle lamps are often used for lighting in these settlements.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) has operated surveillance flights near Gaza on all five days of the ceasefire that Hamas released hostages, Declassified has found. No spy planes were sent towards the strip on the other 20 days of the ceasefire. The latest flight, by a Shadow R1 spy plane, occurred on 8 February when three Israeli men – Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami – became free from captivity. Evidence found by Declassified suggests the spy plane was in the air at the same time.

Frozen Lake Saint Clair in the North American Great Lakes system and the briny Salinas Las Barrancas in Argentina have little in common—save for their heart-like shapes. From the perspective of Earth’s orbit, the opposites combine to send a lacustrine Valentine’s Day message.

The University of Cambridge has lost its legal bid to stop pro-Palestine, anti-genocide protests on certain parts of its campus.

In the last five years, police forces in the UK have paid nearly £80m in compensation following claims against them. Figures obtained by Public Interest Lawyers found that 47,658 claims have been lodged against police forces since 2019.

Claims are often put in against a police force if someone feels they have been mistreated or if they feel the police abused their position.

Widespread protests erupted on Monday 3 March within the Kakuma refugee camp, located in north-western Kenya, as residents voiced their anger over alarming shortages of food and water.

The demonstrations have raised significant concerns about security in the area, with reports indicating that police responded to the unrest by firing live bullets at the protestors.

Directly to blame for the unrest is US president Donald Trump, who has stopped American funding for international humanitarian programmes – notably ones in Africa.

Weeee

archive link: https://archive.ph/4XuVz Long read so here's a summary:

The Ukraine War has revealed several surprises:

War returned to Europe despite expectations of permanent peace The conflict primarily involves the US and Russia rather than European powers Ukraine showed unexpected resilience Russia demonstrated economic resilience against sanctions Europe showed geopolitical and economic passivity

According to Todd, the European Union's problems stem from the Maastricht Treaty, which:

Led to deindustrialization Created a quasi-religious faith in the euro Resulted in loss of national sovereignty Produced political passivity and resignation among citizens Encouraged elites to reject nationalism in favor of "Europeanism"

On the United States, Todd argues:

America has transitioned from world's factory to world's largest consumer The US is losing its technological edge to China in several areas The dollar's global dominance may be threatened by BRICS expansion and de-dollarization efforts American education is declining, particularly in STEM fields The decline of Protestantism has removed the moral center of American power

Todd's analysis of Western decline includes several factors:

The rise of neoliberalism has led to destruction of industries and social structures Educational regression in the West Loss of industrial capacity Increasing inequality and social atomization Technology stagnation outside of IT

The reviewer notes that Todd's main weakness is excessive pessimism that may overlook possibilities for renewal and adaptation in an uncertain era. This 2024 book appears to synthesize Todd's long-standing contrarian views about Western decline, particularly focusing on how the Ukraine war has exposed underlying weaknesses in Western economic and political systems.