Just Walk Out
New Anti-Capitalist President elected in Senegal: Faye, a former tax inspector, has pledged to weed out corruption, restore stability and prioritise economic sovereignty, appealing to the urban youth frustrated by unemployment in the West African country where 60 percent of the population is aged under 25. He wants to rid Senegal of the CFA franc inherited from the colonial era, which is pegged to the euro. He proposes introducing a new currency instead. The CFA franc, backed by the French treasury, is accepted in 14 member countries. Additionally, he wishes to renegotiate mining and hydrocarbon contracts. The country is expected to start hydrocarbon production this year. - Reddit
The U.S. told Iran that it "had no involvement" or advanced knowledge of an Israeli strike on a diplomatic compound in Syria that killed a senior Iranian general, according to a U.S. official…The rare message shows the Biden administration is deeply concerned that the Israeli strike could lead to a regional escalation and the resumption of attacks by pro-Iranian militias against U.S. forces. - Axios
The Deputy Director of DARPA’s Information Innovation Office, Matt Turek highlighted in a recent statement the pivotal role of developing trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) for the U.S. Defense Department, especially concerning critical decision-making processes for military personnel. - Defense Blog
Rome — Italy has not only renewed but decided to expand a controversial program to remove children from their mafia families to break the cycle of criminal behavior being passed down to new generations. - CBS
For millennials and the younger generation Z and Alphas, who may never be able to afford to buy a home or retire at a reasonable age, there is a growing feeling online that hard work is fortifying a system that, at best, is giving them nothing back and, at worst, is actively screwing them over. And so the “soft life” revolution was born – where the priority is no longer about working yourself to the bone to be a #girlboss or “leaning in” to the corporate male world, as former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg wrote, and pushing until you “have it all”. The goal of a softer life is more time and energy for what makes you happy and as little time as possible focusing on what doesn’t. - Guardian
Ukraine considers banning Telegram if app is confirmed as threat to national security. The Kyiv parliament has tabled a bill to pass an unpopular law proposal as over 70% of its citizens use the application as a source of information…Banning Telegram in Ukraine would mean a drastic change in the country’s communication model. Not only because it is the most-used channel among citizens, but also because all public administrations, political and military, report their decisions and relevant issues on their Telegram channels, from Zelenskiy’s daily messages to the Air Force warnings of the arrival of Russian missiles. Deputies in favor of limiting Telegram have reiterated that public bodies could be forced to stop operating with the app.- Elpais
"While the process is generally democratic and there is an open discussion, Ukraine's institutional weakness and the lack of clear leadership on the part of the country's top officials make it disorderly and slow," said the Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies. - Le Monde
Cher Accepts Icon Award from Meryl Streep While Wearing 40-Year-Old Pants
Yeezy releases fashion line in collaboration with Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy - featuring адидас)):
Desire to Move Out of The Country (USA) Has Tripled Since 1974: There are significant age differences in wanting to move out of the country. Currently, half (51%) of those under the age of 35 want to resettle (up from 19% in 1974) as do 39% of those 35 to 54 years old (up from 6%). However, only 17% of Americans age 55 and older want to leave. This is a much less sizable increase from 1974 (4%) when compared with younger adults. The desire to resettle outside of the U.S. has increased among non-Hispanic whites (27%, up from 9% in 1974) and by an even larger amount among people of color (45%, up from 17%).
Just over half of Amazon Fresh stores are equipped with Just Walk Out. The technology allows customers to skip checkout altogether by scanning a QR code when they enter the store. Though it seemed completely automated, Just Walk Out relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labeling videos to ensure accurate checkouts. The cashiers were simply moved off-site, and they watched you as you shopped. - Gizmodo
At least two thirds of world trade take place within production chains dominated by multinationals, and there are chains led by multinationals originating in the periphery…The challenge to US hegemony springs entirely from the dramatically reshaped periphery. The rising powers demand a say in the institutional shaping of the world market, including world money. Unlike the post-war years, and similarly to Lenin’s times, the emerging hegemonic contest has no ideological content but is driven entirely by capitalist economic interests. This is ultimately why it is exceedingly dangerous and raises the prospect of generalised war. There is no obvious settlement the USA could reach with its challengers. Its own society is wracked by division and dissent; long ago it lost its global pre-eminence in manufacturing; recently it fell to second place in global trading; its military establishment is certainly vast, but its actual effectiveness is debatable. To be sure it retains financial and monetary pre-eminence, but that is not enough to ensure its position as unchallenged hegemon. Those days are gone for good. …For the foreseeable future, the USA will remain the dominant global power and the main threat to world peace locked in struggle to defend its hegemony. Its challengers, moreover, are anything but the bearers of a better promise for humanity. Capitalism red in tooth and claw propels them forward. Internationalised production and finance have given rise to a deadly hegemonic contest within a very short order of historical time. The threat of world war will not subside through political or moral arguments. It is incumbent upon the Left to preserve the hope of peace by drawing on its long anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist tradition in both theory and practice.- Brave New Europe
It’s 1994 calling, things are extreme!