Corduroy Academy

( Mostly) radical thoughts, ideas, and links from late stage colonial capitalism.

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    Aidan
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    Google cuts team of contractors who went on strike

    A union representing contractors for YouTube Music claims that Google cut the workers’ contract after they went on a prolonged strike. 

    The Alphabet Workers Union-CWA, which represents the contractors, said the team consisted of moderators employed by Google contractor Cognizant in Austin, Texas, that was responsible for approving music content for YouTube Music.

    In a statement emailed to The Verge, Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini maintained the decision to cut the team did not lie with them but, rather, with Cognizant and said, “Contracts with our suppliers across the country routinely end on their natural expiry date.”

    Don’t be evil. (Except when it benefits your shareholders, or you can get away with it, or just for the hell of it.)

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    Biden announces U.S. will airdrop food aid into Gaza as famine concerns grow

    President Joe Biden announced Friday that the U.S. will drop food aid into the Gaza Strip, noting that the humanitarian aid flowing into the region for Palestinians is insufficient. 

    “Aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere nearly enough… lives are on the line,” Biden said as he announced the decision about the airdrops during an Oval Office meeting he was holding with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

    “We should be getting hundreds of trucks in, not just several,” he continued. “We’re going to pull out every stop we can.”

    But keep backing and funding the genocide tho? Fuckers.

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    Israeli Forces Fire at Gazans Waiting for Food Aid, Killing at Least 100, Injuring Over 760 Others

    Authorities in Gaza say Israeli forces have committed a massacre in Gaza City, killing at least 104 Palestinians as they waited for food aid. Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 760 people were wounded in what Hamas called an “unprecedented war crime.” According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd who had gathered around humanitarian aid trucks. The death toll is expected to rise as hospitals in Gaza City are struggling to treat the wounded. Dr. Jadallah al-Shafei of Al-Shifa Hospital spoke to Al Jazeera shortly after the attack.

    The dehumanizing is naziism – the genocide tactics is naziism – the Israeli regime are the new nazis. It’s deeply sad how they learned nothing from history.

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    An Insane Missouri Law Prevents Pregnant Women From Getting Divorced—Even If They’re Victims of Domestic Violence

    Something you might have picked up on over the last several weeks/years/centuries is that there are a disturbing number of people in power who will go to great lengths to control women in America. Not convinced? Thinking of citing the fact that in some countries, women are stoned to death (as though that makes what happens here okay)? Then we’d like to make you aware of a law in Missouri that says pregnant women cannot get a divorce finalized if they’re pregnant—even if said pregnant people are victims of domestic violence.

    That law has been on the books since 1973 and was amended in 2016. It’s in the news now because state representative Ashley Aune is horrified. She introduced legislation earlier this month that would undo what she called an “archaic loophole.” Speaking to Fox4KC, Aune, a Democrat, said, “I just want moms in difficult situations to get out if they need to. This is something that was brought to me by folks in my community who shared that it was a huge problem,” Aune said. In a committee meeting, she shared the story of a woman affected by the existing law, saying: “Not only was she being physically and emotionally abused, but there was reproduction coercion used. When she found out she was pregnant and asked a lawyer if she could get a divorce, she was essentially told no. It was so demoralizing for her to hear that. She felt she had no options.”

    The future of the US under republican authoritarianism.

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    New reports confirm months of Israeli torture, abuse, and sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners

    Two new reports came out last week regarding the torture and cruel treatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and detention centers since October 7, including reports of sexual violence against Palestinian women and girls. The reports have renewed conversations around the harsh conditions of Palestinians being held in Israeli captivity, which Palestinian detainees themselves and rights groups have been sounding the alarm over for months. 

    On February 19, UN human rights experts expressed their alarm over what they described as “egregious human rights violations” carried out by Israeli forces against Palestinian women and girls in Gaza. In addition to the extrajudicial and arbitrary execution of women and children in Gaza, the UN experts highlighted the treatment of female Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. 

    Crimes against humanity. That’s what almost every western “democracy” is supporting.

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    After a decade of stops and starts, Apple kills its electric car project

    After 10 years of development, multiple changes in direction and leadership, and a plethora of leaks, Apple has reportedly ended work on its electric car project. According to a report in Bloomberg, the company is shifting some of the staff to work on generative AI projects within the company and planning layoffs for some others.

    Internally dubbed Project Titan, the long-in-development car would have ideally had a luxurious, limo-like interior, robust self-driving capabilities, and at least a $100,000 price tag. However, the ambition of the project was drawn down with time. For example, it was once planned to have Level 4 self-driving capabilities, but that was scaled back to Level 2+.

    Please, not another company doing “AI”.

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    Microplastics in every human placenta

    A flurry of recent studies has found that microplastics are present in virtually everything we consume, from bottled water to meat and plant-based food. Now, University of New Mexico Health Sciences researchers have used a new analytical tool to measure the microplastics present in human placentas.

    In a study published February 17 in the journal Toxicological Sciences, a team led by Matthew Campen, PhD, Regents’ Professor in the UNM Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, reported finding microplastics in all 62 of the placenta samples tested, with concentrations ranging from 6.5 to 790 micrograms per gram of tissue.

    See also the last post. These aren’t encouraging conditions for reproduction. Nor does our planet support the population we do have.

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    Japan’s new births fall to record low in 2023 as demographic woes deepen

    The number of babies born in Japan fell for an eighth straight year to a fresh record low in 2023, preliminary government data showed on Tuesday (Feb 27), underscoring the daunting task the country faces in trying to stem depopulation.

    The number of births fell 5.1 per cent from a year earlier to 758,631, while the number of marriages slid 5.9 per cent to 489,281 – the first time in 90 years the number fell below 500,000 – foreboding a further decline in the population as out-of-wedlock births are rare in Japan.

    I mean… environmental limits? But also the “cost” of living crisis (capitalist construct) is so severe I’m surprised this hasn’t been more of an issue globally. Withholding babies is activism and preventing capitalist reproduction is everyone’s business.