[01/02] A San Francisco city commissioner organized a "doom loop" tour to highlight the city's problems:
the Guardian
A San Francisco official organized a ‘doom loop’ tour. It flopped in spectacular fashion
City commissioner who called the event a ‘satire’ has since cancelled the tour and resigned from his position
 It received a lot of media attention so he felt compelled to cancel it, and then resign. It turned out he is an executive in a real-estate company. Naturally he would perceive civic issues in terms of profit in the real estate market. Not the best sort of person to appoint to a municipal office in a city where high rents are devastating low-wage workers...
Robert Reich: Biden is turning away from free trade -- and that’s a great thing:
the Guardian
Biden is turning away from free trade – and that’s a great thing | Robert Reich
Trade deals have brought cheaper goods. They’ve also destroyed millions of US jobs and caused US wages to stagnate
 Business-supremacy treaties have brought cheaper goods. They've also destroyed millions of US jobs and caused US wages to stagnate. They have done similar harm to other countries. And the ISDS clauses have blocked efforts to curb global heating and protect the environment, public health and the general standard of living. And then there is the oil investment treaty.
"Co-living" is a gentrified, luxury-pushing commercial version of the co-housing movement:
the Guardian
From socialism to private gyms: co-living has gone mainstream, and it feels like a mixed blessing | Mim Skinner
A series of new developments are dragging communalism out of the fringes. But can you really put a price on community, asks author Mim Skinner
The FBI now holds 21 million people's DNA profiles, and is rapidly collecting more:
The Intercept
FBI Hoovering Up DNA at a Pace That Rivals China, Holds 21 Million Samples and Counting
The FBI wants to double its budget for cataloging “the rapidly increasing number of DNA samples collected by the U.S.”
 This could be aiming, in the long term, for a collection covering all Americans.
Climate crisis to create "acute" challenges for Australia’s economy, incoming Royal Bank of Australia governor says:
the Guardian
Climate crisis to create ‘acute’ challenges for Australia’s economy, incoming RBA governor says
Michele Bullock uses speech to detail how central bank is preparing for increased risk of extreme weather events
[01/02] France to ban girls from wearing abayas in state schools:
the Guardian
France to ban girls from wearing abayas in state schools
Ban on loose-fitting dresses worn by some Muslim women provokes row over secularism
 Abayas are long dresses worn by many Muslim girls. I was astounded to see kameez in the list of Muslim "sectarian" clothing. In India, lots of urban women (not necessarily Muslim) wear the salwar-kameez combination. This gives me an idea for restoring laïcité without any ban: recruit couturiers to develop abayas as a fashion, for any and all women regardless of religion. If that style of dress catches...
[01/02] Bavaria’s deputy leader faces accusations over antisemitic pamphlet published 35 years ago when he was 17 years old:
the Guardian
Bavaria’s deputy leader faces accusations over antisemitic pamphlet
Hubert Aiwanger rejects claims he wrote leaflet mocking the Holocaust when he was a 17-year-old schoolboy
 At the time, he was determined to be the author of it. From the descriptions in the article, the pamphlet repeatedly mocked the holocaust, and that's undeniably antisemitic. But people's views often change from age 17 to age 52. He may not be antisemitic today. As an official, in recent years, he has endorsed various far-right views.
Depending on online disservices to make your records or published works available over time is asking to lose:
the Guardian
TechScape: What was really behind Twitter’s mysterious disappearing images?
With Elon Musk in command, it can be hard to tell if changes at X are a mistake or a direct order from the boss. Plus, linkrot is coming for your m...
 The only thing you can trust is to have your own copy on your own equipment, and to keep multiple encrypted copies on various backup services that commit to keep them for you unless a disaster happens.
[01/02] NHS doctors are now led to work in a gig economy system, without lasting relationships with patients or other personnel:
the Guardian
How the foundations of the NHS are being eroded | Letters
Letters: GPs are now working more like those in the gig economy, where personal relationships are regarded as irrelevant, says Dr David Zigmond. Pl...
. Labour has a plan to change this by applying financial incentives and disincentives to doctors:
the Guardian
Labour plan to bring back the family doctor impractical, says BMA
Union says GP shortages and high demand make aim of letting patients see same doctor ‘an impossible ask’
 The insistence on making this change "cost neutral" forces the decision to make the disincentives equal the incentives.
The loss of sea ice is endangering polar bears in some regions of the Arctic, but in other regions they have adapted to the changes ... so far.
the Guardian
Why it may be time to stop using the polar bear as a symbol of the climate crisis
The warming planet is causing steep declines among some of the world’s 26,000 wild polar bears, but it is not universal and the picture is compli...
 Whether the species will survive this century somewhere is not clear. Since we don't know exactly what changes will result from global heating, we can't assert with certainty that it will be wiped out. But we also cannot assert it will survive. We can be sure that more heating makes more chance of extinction.