«Under the plan approved by the Bundestag, defense spending above 1 percent of gross domestic product would be exempted from Germany’s constitutionally enshrined debt brake. Proponents of the brake, which limits the structural budget deficit to 0.35 percent of GDP except in emergencies, cherish it as a pillar of Germany’s signature fiscal responsibility. Critics call it a fiscal straitjacket.»
https://wapo.st/41JvTlu (gift)
This seems like a big deal.
«At least 70 people were charged in the scheme, and more than 40 have already pleaded guilty or been convicted.
…
The fraud scheme targeted two programs meant to feed hungry children, which were funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture but administered by the state of Minnesota. [Hey, Farenthold, would be nice to know the total spent on such programs, for perspective, ya know? Looks like around $400 BILLION in cash in 2020 ($600 bil cash in ’21), based on https://www.urban.org/features/six-charts-about-federal-spending-children-during-pandemic?&utm_medium=urban_newsletters&utm_source=news-UIU&utm_term=URBAN, if my figgerin’ is right. So, $240 MILLION is a drop in the bucket.] The system relied on nonprofit groups called “sponsors” to be its watchdogs. They were supposed to oversee individual kitchens and feeding sites and make sure they were not inflating the number of children they served.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the federal government flooded money into the program — trying to reach children who were out of school and therefore unable to rely on school lunches. The government also relaxed oversight, putting even more trust in the watchdogs.
In this case, prosecutors said, one of those watchdogs went bad.…
Many of the fake operations submitted invoices for implausibly large numbers of children: Mr. Said’s operation, for instance, said it had fed 6,000 a day, more than all the children in its ZIP code. In another instance, a man said he was feeding 5,000 children a night — from a location that turned out to be a second-floor apartment.
…
The state of Minnesota had grown suspicious of Ms. Bock’s network in 2020 and tried to stop payment to some of the sites. But she sued the state government, saying officials were discriminating against her network because it served many African immigrants and their children.»
Trump/Musk will, of course, seize on this.
[Edit: this is what built-in auditing and inspectors general are meant for, and it appears to have worked as designed. The sort of stuff Trump/Musk have eliminated.]
LOTS of good stuff in this article (turnout doesn’t help; the party needs to be more progressive but not go overboard; etc.), but I’m gonna zoom in and focus on AI for a split second:
«I’m not an AI expert by any means, but AI capabilities are increasing dramatically. And AI experts are very, very bullish on the extent to which AI systems are going to be able to replace some fraction of jobs. The prediction markets say this, too. And I think something that’s really important is that **regardless of whether it’s going to happen or not, the public believes it will happen**. [emphasis mine.]»
https://www.vox.com/politics/403364/tik-tok-young-voters-2024-election-democrats-david-shor
«I was getting tired of being told what to do. Self-determination was a pain in the ass sometimes but it beat the alternative by a lot.
I made sure my collar was folded down so you could see my data port (though anybody who tried to stick a combat override module in there was going to get a violent surprise) and walked calmly out of the bunkroom into the galley. Amena was sitting on the table, frowning at me. She said, “What are you two fighting about now?”
ART said, I made SecUnit’s uniform too nice.
Amena nodded. “You do look great.”
I’m not even going to dignify that with a reaction.»
“Network Effect: A Murderbot Novel (The Murderbot Diaries Book 5)” by Martha Wells.
It just occurred to me that there’s no way any teevee show can capture this, unless it is 100% pure finest uncut art, which it won’t be.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHJVJ3wONjs/?igsh=MXUxYzYxMDhoZ3J1dg==
Jasmine Crockett mentions air travel, but more importantly: the budget continuing resolution.
#republicansDoYourJobs
https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/13/trump-administration-withdraws-dave-weldon-cdc-nomination/
Whoa. Everybody who called or emailed their Senators: good work, y’all!!
«The bill would bar people from suing pesticide manufacturers for failing to warn them of health risks, as long as the product labels are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). »
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/10/pesticide-lawsuits-cancer-gag-act
Oh, well, then, we can trust the EPA, can’t we?
«Bayer, the Germany-based owner of the former Monsanto Co, is the chief architect of the strategy, designed as a means to beat back thousands of lawsuits filed by farmers and others who blame their use of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicides for causing them to develop cancer.
…
Along with the state legislative actions, the EPA last month opened a public comment period on a petition filed by the attorneys general of Nebraska, Iowa, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and South Dakota seeking an amendment to federal law that would make it harder for people to sue pesticide makers.
The proposed modifications would bar any state labeling requirements that were “inconsistent” with the EPA’s conclusions regarding the safety of a pesticide.
…
“Polling in Iowa would indicate that the general public is simply not going to fall for Bayer’s message,” Mertens said. “But legislators can be swayed in ways that voters cannot, so the fight is far from over.”
…
“Polling in Iowa would indicate that the general public is simply not going to fall for Bayer’s message,” Mertens said. “But legislators can be swayed in ways that voters cannot, so the fight is far from over.”»
Factory food, bay-bee! (I feel like this also highlights a difference between farmers and farm labor. I bet it’s the farm labor that’s getting cancer. The landowners and business people, not so much.)
(Courtesy of The Tennessee Holler, @thetnholler.bsky.social.)
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5o6k7jvowuyaquloafzn3cfw/post/3lkb7awdozk2h
https://donmoynihan.substack.com/p/trump-and-musk-are-building-a-new
Waivers and favors.
Long term, the market always goes up, so the current trend will (probably) resume, but it won’t be due to Trump.
Here, Read This 