Mastodawn

6) #AI is too important to be controlled by autocrats or oligarchs

#RutgerBregman lays out the danger of #AIDenialism and the threat posed to global stability by unregulated AI

The machines cannot be be smashed, the clock cannot be rolled back as autocrats and oligarchs in other geographies will seize a sinister advantage which will destabilize the economies of rival countries

https://youtu.be/KpTZbq-eV38?si=jRH3D0zXAtgLGAfG

#billionaire #oligarchs #UltraWealthy #democracy #fascism #Politics #oligarchy #USPol

The Truth About AI Nobody Wants to Hear

YouTube

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Martin Nutty 5d ago

5) There is something sadly sweet and naive about #ScottPelley’s interview with LGN 👇

The landscape in #NewsMedia has shifted and fidelity to the truth is being replaced by #billionaire “truths” dictated by #oligarchs

Connecting the dots, it seems, gov takeover approval of CBS News parent Paramount was conditioned on the destruction of #SixtyMinutes

https://youtu.be/ePqdmbgQ4BI?si=zFaXu8UqFgxZC6D5

#Corruption #UltraWealthy #democracy #fascism #Politics #investigativejournalism #oligarchy #journalism #USPol

Scott Pelley on His Firing and the ‘Massacre’ at ‘60 Minutes’ | The Interview

YouTube

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Martin Nutty 6d ago

4) #Corruption is not diminished because it occurs in plain sight.

Whether it is the attempt to bilk taxpayers of $1.776 billion for a slush fund for #Jan6 rioters, the suppression of income audits by the IRS, or the the sweetheart deal for Jr. 👇

All are corrupt and are fodder for the #Midterms.

https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-jr-vulcan-lawmakers-letter

#UltraWealthy #democracy #fascism #Politics #investigativejournalism #oligarchy #journalism #USPol

Lawmakers Demand Answers After the White House Initiated a $620M Loan to a Firm Tied to Donald Trump Jr.

In a letter, a group of Democratic Congress members wrote that ProPublica’s reporting on the deal “reveals a staggering level of corruption and influence.”

ProPublica

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Martin Nutty May 31

3) Western democracies are threatened by an onslaught of money from #UltraWealthy types.

Money is being spent to achieve state capture and the numbers while large to normal folk, are minute compared to the prize

#ReformUK is a good example of this type of corruption and is the focus of #TheRestIsPolitics. Give this episode a listen -the first in a four part series

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/who-funds-reform-the-missing-millions/id1611374685?i=1000769994070

#democracy #fascism #UKPolitics #Politics #Journalism #investigativejournalism #podcast #oligarchy

Who Funds Reform? The Missing Millions

Podcast Episode · The Rest Is Politics · May 28 · 29m

Apple Podcasts

Hacker News May 28

New York Passes Tax on the Ultra-Wealthy

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/28/new-york-mamdani-pied-a-terre-tax-passes.html

#HackerNews #NewYorkTax #UltraWealthy #WealthInequality #TaxPolicy #EconomicJustice

Show thread

Paul Wermer, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 May 2

1) Cost of housing depends on the upper tier incomes in an area (several recent studies, eg https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2026/02/housing-affordability-and-housing-demand/)

2) #UltraWealthy influence in politics

3) Consumption patterns of the very wealthy disproportionately emit GHGs, exacerbating the climate crisis

4) Asset inflation and rent seeking driving up prices - one example is healthcare costs and availability

5) and so on.

Housing Affordability and Housing Demand - San Francisco Fed

Understanding housing demand dynamics through two indicators, income growth and population growth, provides important insights into housing affordability. Research shows that average U.S. income growth is strongly related to rising house prices but is essentially unrelated to changes in the supply of housing units across metropolitan areas. Instead, greater population growth translates into greater housing supply growth, with housing supply generally outpacing population, even in expensive markets. Thus, differences in affordability across areas may reflect differences in the growth and type of housing demand rather than different housing supply constraints.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

BellingenNSW Apr 16

A$38.1 billion Gina

"The court ruling in Gina Rinehart’s mining dispute reveals a lot about the nation’s inherited wealth. And for the past 20 years or more, she has been fighting her own children in a series of court cases that are still continuing."

"Such disputes over massive inheritances are exactly what would be expected in the “patrimonial” society described by economist Thomas Piketty in his book Capital, a big hit a decade ago. This refers to a society where wealth and social position are dominated by inherited capital, not earned income." >>
https://theconversation.com/the-court-ruling-in-gina-rineharts-mining-dispute-reveals-a-lot-about-the-nations-inherited-wealth-280721

#UltraWealthy #wealth #inequality #inheritances #EarnedIncome #wages #BankofMumAndDad #WealthTax #family #extractivism

The court ruling in Gina Rinehart’s mining dispute reveals a lot about the nation’s inherited wealth

You don’t have to be born rich to make big money in Australia, but it certainly helps.

The Conversation

BellingenNSW Apr 13

The United States is destroying itself - Rebecca Solnit

"Although there are far worse things about the utterly gratuitous and literally unjustified war on Iran, the fact that it burns through billions a day is striking, given that huge cuts are being made to environmental protection and national parks, and the forest service is being effectively sabotaged, while public lands are being offered up to fossil fuel companies and mining interests. The forest service headquarters are being moved across the country, which will probably cause many resignations, like the similar move of the Bureau of Land Management in Trump’s first term. More than 50 forest service research stations are being cut, meaning more loss of irreplaceable ongoing research, data, facilities and staff." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/12/united-states-trump-destruction

The list rings a bell...

#destruction #environment #conservation #biodiversity #PublicLands #FossilFuelIndustry #FossilFuels #climate #NationalParks #forests #science #democracy #UltraWealthy #cutbacks #msm #extractivism #mining

The United States is destroying itself

The daily news can’t adequately convey the administration’s sabotaging of our government, economy, alliances and environment

The Guardian

Felis Floppus Mar 20

Canada’s super-rich are using foundations to funnel huge public sums to elite universities and Israel ⋆ The Breach

https://breachmedia.ca/canada-super-rich-private-foundations-to-funnel-huge-public-sums-to-elite-universities-and-israel/

> Over half of the money hoarded in Canada’s private foundations should have been paid as taxes. Instead, it’s being funneled to wealthy institutions and organizations complicit in Israel’s military occupation

#ultrawealthy #superrich #canadapolitics #canpol #canpoli #thebreach #Israel