Deaths of despair: the unrecognized tragedy of working class immiseration

Muertes por desesperación: la tragedia no reconocida de la miseria de la clase trabajadora […] El término muertes por desesperación proviene de los economistas de Princeton Anne Case y Angus Deaton, quienes se propusieron comprender qué explicaba la caída de la esperanza de vida en Estados Unidos. […] las tasas de mortalidad de más rápido aumento entre los estadounidenses se debían a sobredosis de drogas, suicidio y enfermedad hepática alcohólica.[…] estas muertes ocurrieron de manera desproporcionada en hombres blancos que no habían obtenido títulos universitarios. […] statnews.com | Deaths of despair: the unrecognized tragedy of working class immiseration  

Empresas demasiado grandes

El gobierno chino no está permitiendo que las empresas tecnológica del país alcancen un tamaño excesivamente grande y aun menos una posición de monopolio que amenacen la autonomía del gobierno. […] Whenever Chinese tech giants became too big for their boots, they belatedly learned that no one in China is bigger than the Communist party. Just to emphasise that point, regulators brutally torpedoed the huge stock market listing of Ant Group. And when Didi Chuxing (the ride-hailing company that bought Uber China) had the temerity to proceed with a flotation in the US, its software was banned from app stores in China. Everyone else got the message. […] theguardian.com China is cutting its tech giants down to size. Should the west learn from this? | John Naughton Xi Jinping has grasped a fundamental truth in his quest

La izquierda gira a la derecha

Una tendencia global que ahora se manifiesta en el Reino Unido […] For the Labour right, success in elections comes from reassuring the ruling class that its wealth and power are safe in Labour’s hands. The left must be reduced to its customary role of marching, demonstrating, a political sideshow.[…] theguardian.com Democracy is dead in Keir Starmer’s Labour | Ken Loach Criticism of the leader is forbidden, while thousands of members ha

Colecciones de datos biométricos para identificar y matar a afganos

Y esta es tan solo una de las razones por la que es importante la privacidad. […] Kak, como investigadora de leyes biométricas, sugiere que quizás la mejor manera de proteger los datos confidenciales sería si » para empezar este tipo de infraestructuras [de datos] […] no se construyeran «.[…] technologyreview.es Los datos biométricos de los afganos, arma para la venganza talibana

China y las empresas de internet de consumo

Muy a tener en cuenta. La estrategia china de crecimiento considera que las las empresas de internet dedicadas a las redes sociales, consumo, etc no aportan gran cosa al avance tecnológico y económico. Por el contrario el gobierno chino considera que estas empresas son un lastre para la economía y el el futuro. Y esta tomando medidas para darles a estas empresas la mínima dimensión posible y la menor capacidad de influencia, muy al contrario que el Occidente, donde estas empresas gozan de privilegios legales. […]China is smashing its internet companies.[…] This is strange because for years, it was conventional wisdom in the Western media that having a “tech” sector was crucial to innovation and growth […] But notice that China isn’t cracking down on all of its technology companies […] it’s the consumer-facing internet software companies that Americans tend to label “tech”. […] […]America we often tend to equate profit with value[…] population of people who play games, buy household goods online, and order food delivery does not make a country a technological or scientific leader…These are fine companies, but in my view, the milestones of our technological civilization ought to be found in scientific and industrial achievements instead. […]

Alianza frente a China

El intento de crear una zona económica en el Pacífico que haga de contrapeso a la liderada por China. […] Biden, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia make up a group informally known as the «Quad.» While not a formal military alliance like NATO, the Quad, or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is seen by some as a potential counterweight to growing Chinese influence and alleged aggression in the Asia-Pacific region. The collation has been denounced by Beijing as an anti-China bloc. […] Y un report de 128k dólares edition.cnn.com | Biden commits to ‘free, open, secure’ Indo-Pacific in rare op-ed with ‘Quad’ members

El Emperador Desnudo

Estados Unidos tiene la imagen de ser el primer país en muchas áreas, entre ellas educación, medicina … Pero profundizando un poco se aprecian las grandes desigualdades en el acceso las mismas. […] The United States ranks No. 1 in the world in quality of universities, but No. 91 in access to quality basic education. The U.S. leads the world in medical technology, yet we are No. 97 in access to quality health care.[…] A measure of social progress finds that the quality of life has dropped in America over the last decade, even as it has risen almost everywhere else.[…] nytimes.com |Opinion | ‘We’re No. 28! And Dropping!’

Injerencia Rusa en las Elecciones Estadounidenses

Rusia intentando hackear a la empresa que se encarga de la estrategia y comunicación de la campaña de Biden, el candidato demócrata contra Trump. Parece que a Putin le va muy bien con Trump en la presidencia de Estados Unidos. […] Microsoft Corp recently alerted one of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s main election campaign advisory firms that it had been targeted by suspected Russian state-backed hackers, according to three people briefed on the matter. […] mobile.reuters.com Exclusive: Russian state hackers suspected in targeting Biden campaign firm – sources

Brexit Duro, la Nueva Relación EU-UK

Hacia un Brexit duro. El peor escenario para el comercio y para los migrantes de UK y la UE El primer ministro británico advierte a Bruselas de que la fecha límite para negociar es el 15 de octubre elpais.com Johnson prepara a los británicos para un Brexit duro a finales de año El primer ministro británico advierte a Bruselas de que la fecha límite para negociar es el 15 de octubre

Negociaciones sobre el Brexit

El fin del período transitorio del Brexit se acerca y las negociaciones van mal, muy mal. […] “Basically the talks have become a game of chicken, waiting for the first one to blink on level playing field,” said another EU diplomat. “And if no one blinks, we crash.” […] ‘If we don’t have a breakthrough in the week of September 7, it’s hard to see how we can still avoid a disaster,’ says one EU official.[…] politico.eu | Pessimism mounts in Brussels over Brexit talks ‘disaster’

China y la política de perfil bajo

Parace que están olvidándose de la estratégia de Deng Xiaoping de los 24 caracteres: “Observar con calma, asegurar nuestra posición, lidiar con asuntos tranquilamente, ocultar nuestras capacidades y esperar nuestro tiempo, ser bueno en mantener un perfil bajo y nunca reclamar liderazgo“ […] “It is rare actually that the Chinese leadership has picked fights with everyone at the same time, […] It is hard not to feel like we have been given a preview of what sole Chinese global leadership would look like,” […] Xi has stifled dissent at home and is increasingly willing for China to assert itself abroad theguardian.com Why is Xi Jinping pitting China against the world?

Financiación de la educación pública en Estados Unidos

Un modelo de financiación de un servicio público básico y universal ligado a impuestos a la propiedad no parece un buen modelo. Y de hecho no lo es. […] In the U.S., school funding comes from a combination of three sources. The balance varies from state to state but, on average, looks like this: 45 percent local money, 45 percent from the state and 10 percent federal. Which brings us back to where we began this story: Why is it that one Chicago-area district has $9,794 to spend on each of its students, while another, nearby district has three times that? Two words: property tax. […] npr.org | Week 1: Why America’s Schools Have A Money Problem

Supremacia Militar de Estados Unidos

El hecho de que las simulaciones recientes de enfrentamientos entre China y Estados Unidos hayan concluido con derrota de las fuerzas estadounidenses refleja de que, a pesar del enorme presupuesto, el enfoque del tipo de ejército es inadecuado e ineficaz. […] Here’s a fact that ought to startle every American who assumes that because we spend nearly $1 trillion each year on defense, we have primacy over our emerging rival, China. “Over the past decade, in U.S. war games against China, the United States has a nearly perfect record: We have lost almost every single time.” […] Brose argues that it’s time for a radical rethink. Rather than building weapons for an outmoded strategy of projecting power, we should instead be arming ourselves in an effort to “deny China military dominance.” […] A new book lays down some hard truths about our defense systems. washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Think we have military primacy over China? Think again.

McDonald’s Workers in Denmark Pity Us – The «Socialist» Country

[…] If you work full time you should be able to support your family. […] […] Denmark has no national minimum wage […] One reason is Denmark’s strong unions […] Yet there’s another, more important reason for high wages in Denmark. “Workers are more productive” […] “They have had access to more and higher-quality human capital investment opportunities starting at birth.”[…] Danes haven’t built a “socialist” country. Just one that works. nytimes.com Opinion | McDonald’s Workers in Denmark Pity Us

El Futuro Post-Coronavirus

Un vistazo al futuro. […] ¿Cómo será el mundo que nos espera a la salida de esta crisis? ¿Qué rumbo debemos tomar? 75 expertos y pensadores ofrecen su visión de las claves de la nueva era […] Cada una de las 75 frases tienen un calado importante. – “Asistiremos a un retroceso desorganizado de la globalización en el que el mando lo están tomando los Estados nacionales en vez de las organizaciones internacionales” – «El turismo masivo va a parar» – “Seguramente habrá mucha gente que un mes tendrá un trabajo y un salario, y al mes siguiente, nada.” elpais.com |El futuro tras el coronavirus

Estados Unidos, la visibilidad de las fallas estructurales

The coronavirus didn’t break America. It revealed what was already broken.   […] This is the third major crisis of the short 21st century. The first, on September 11, 2001, came when Americans were still living mentally in the previous century, and the memory of depression, world war, and cold war remained strong. […] The second crisis, in 2008, intensified it. At the top, the financial crash could almost be considered a success. Congress passed a bipartisan bailout bill that saved the financial system. […] This second crisis drove a profound wedge between Americans: between the upper and lower classes, Republicans and Democrats, metropolitan and rural people, the native-born and immigrants, ordinary Americans and their leaders.[…] Trump began to immolate what was left of national civic life. He never even pretended to be president of the whole country, but pitted us against one another along lines of race, sex, religion, citizenship, education, region, and—every day of his presidency—political party.[…]   theatlantic.com| We Are Living in a Failed State

Control Social en China

El gobierno chino ha decidido que aquellos que compren un teléfono tendrán que transmitirles sus parámetros faciales. […] The policy is part of a broader push by the Chinese government to limit people’s ability to stay anonymous online. Under existing rules, consumers applying for new phone numbers need to show their national identification card and have their photos taken […] Meanwhile, the government has continued to use facial-recognition as part of its massive surveillance network […] qz.com | The new policy went into effect Sunday amid worries about privacy and surveillance. China launches mandatory face scans for mobile users