Thailand police arrest 14-yr-old suspected gunman after 3 killed at luxury mall. According to the article, chaos erupted after gunfire was reported at the upscale Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok. Three people were killed and four others injured in the shooting. Police arrested a 14-year-old boy suspected of being the gunman. Hundreds of people, including children, were seen pouring out of the mall in torrential rain. Gun violence is not uncommon in Thailand, with the incident coming a year after a nursery shooting killed 36 people, including 22 children.

Siam Paragon is Thailand’s most famous mall, known for its high-end stores and popular food court.

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Texas Governor Greg Abbott is pushing hard for school vouchers and privatization, arguing parents should have more choice over their children’s education. However, rural Republican legislators and communities oppose this agenda, recognizing that it threatens local public school districts, which are major employers and social institutions in sparsely populated areas. If more students leave for private schools, districts will lose significant funding but still have high fixed costs. Decades of research also show that vouchers do not improve outcomes and can harm disadvantaged students. While Abbott frames this as helping religious families, some faith leaders argue it inappropriately uses public money for religious education. With Republicans making public schools a culture war issue, it is important for Democrats to defend them as community institutions rather than just focusing on test scores.

For now, opposition appears likely to block Abbott’s voucher plans again in an upcoming special legislative session.

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The FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the FCC will take an active role again in overseeing corporate control of the internet. At its next meeting, the FCC will vote on restoring its Title II authority to regulate internet service providers. This will allow the FCC to prevent anti-consumer practices like price gouging, access throttling, and privacy violations. It will also empower the FCC to reinstate net neutrality rules barring ISPs from slowing access or prioritizing speed for certain sites. Net neutrality is overwhelmingly popular among the US public but has faced opposition from large telecom companies and their lobbyists. The article suggests the FCC’s new stance may rekindle debates between tech and telecom giants over how the internet should be regulated.

Restoring the FCC’s Title II authority is important for allowing oversight of hugely powerful ISPs and their control over a vital part of modern life and civic participation online.

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Workers are unhappier in their jobs now than at any point since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with job satisfaction declining steadily since 2020. A survey of over 60,000 employees found a sense of resignation and apathy among many. Unfair treatment, lack of control, inflation, layoffs and uncertainty around return-to-office policies are troubling workers. Additionally, remote employees often feel disconnected from their company’s mission. Meaningful work is important for happiness yet many lack a sense of purpose in their roles. Engaged employees boost business performance through higher profits and less turnover. However, disengaged staff costs the global economy an estimated $8.8 trillion annually in lost productivity.

While improving every problem may be difficult, managers can help by making time for understanding conversations with their teams weekly.

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The Writers Guild of America went on strike for 148 days, forcing the studios to return to negotiations. With help from a SAG strike, writers secured major concessions around AI usage, streaming residuals, and staffing minimums. These were demands the studios had refused, but writers showed through an uncompromising strike that highlighted class differences that these were realistic goals. The victory sets a precedent for other unions to organize in the industry and demand increased protections. To defend their gains, writers will need to remain militant as the studios look for loopholes and try to roll back terms.

Increased organizing and a willingness to strike again will be crucial to protecting workers’ interests when negotiations resume with SAG and in future contract fights.

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Eddie Irizarry was shot and killed by Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial while sitting in his car. Dial was initially charged with murder but the charges were dropped, angering Irizarry’s family and supporters. On September 26th, protests turned into widespread rioting across Philadelphia in response. The riots saw organized and well-prepared participants spread looting across the city to overwhelm police. After looting electronics that were later disabled, some rioters destroyed the items to reject consumerism. While smaller in scale than 2020 protests, this revolt highlighted Black consciousness against anti-Black systems regardless of the specific victim’s race.

Anarchists played a limited role in intentionally participating but supported the growing unrest, seeing it as a sign of future mass revolts to come.

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Union organizers at an auto parts plant in London, Ontario were prepared when management launched another anti-union campaign. By mapping out the workforce and addressing managers’ claims of bankruptcy directly, the union secured support. Experts note employers increasingly rely on consultants to bust unions. Successful organizing involves addressing workers’ issues discreetly while building relationships. Amazon uses intimidating one-on-one meetings to discourage unionizing at its Montreal fulfillment center. Meanwhile, Honda monitors “hot spots” with color-coded maps and sets “watch lists” of at-risk franchises. The article highlights how mapping workplace geography and leveraging workers’ concerns can help unions overcome employer interference. However, aggressive union-busting tactics are spreading as companies learn from each other.

Overall, the piece examines current unionization efforts and strategies used by both labor and management.

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Dutch regulator rejects Apple’s objections to fines is about a decision by the Dutch Competition Authority (ACM) regarding Apple. The ACM had previously ruled that Apple violated competition laws in the Dutch dating app market and fined them 50 million euros for failing to comply with orders to open its App Store payment options. Apple objected to the fines but the ACM rejected all of Apple’s objections in a July 2023 decision. While Apple has complied with most demands, it has not met a still undisclosed third condition. Apple disagrees with the original order and says it does not support user privacy or security. The company will appeal the decision in Dutch courts. The ACM said it would disclose the undisclosed part of the proceedings if Apple loses its court appeal.

In summary, the Dutch regulator upheld sizable fines against Apple for noncompliance related to payment options for dating apps in the Netherlands.

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New York City experienced major flooding on Friday from heavy rainfall, overwhelming the city’s aging infrastructure. Over six inches of rain fell, causing flooded roads and subways and more than 150 flooded schools. Critics argued that Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul did not adequately warn and prepare the public, with warnings and emergency declarations coming too late for many commuters. Residents in frequently flooded neighborhoods like Queens and Brooklyn once again saw their basements flood. Climate change is exacerbating heavy rainfall events, and while the city is working to improve flood resilience, it remains unprepared for the magnitude of storms now expected.

The flooding highlighted the city’s ongoing challenges in upgrading its sewer and transit systems to handle increased precipitation.

Archive.today link to www.thecity.nyc

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Indonesia is launching Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway connecting the capital Jakarta with Bandung. Largely funded by China under its Belt and Road Initiative, the 142 km railway will cut travel time from 3 hours to around 40 minutes on the Whoosh bullet trains reaching speeds up to 350 kph. The $7.3 billion project was constructed by a Chinese-Indonesian joint venture and faced delays due to land and environmental issues. Indonesian President Joko Widodo championed the project and will inaugurate commercial operations on Monday. During test runs, Chinese and Indonesian leaders rode the trains and were comfortable even at top speeds.

However, some experts question the financial viability of the high-speed rail for such a short route, as existing transportation is far cheaper.

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An anonymous doctor (IM Doc) has been emailing about the declining state of medical practice in the US due to increasing administrative burdens, lack of guidance during Covid, and dismissal of vaccine side effects. IM Doc has meticulous patient records showing correlations between recent Covid vaccinations and new infections, which local officials have also acknowledged. Specialists are now advising patients not to get boosters. Stories are shared of vaccinated groups having outbreaks while unvaccinated individuals do not. The FDA dismisses requests to study such instances. Doctors are resigning in large numbers due to losing trust in health institutions.

The CDC and FDA have damaged trust in medicine by not addressing evidence of poor vaccine performance and threatening doctors who questioned policies.

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The Australian Catholic University recently announced plans to shut down its successful Dianoia Institute of Philosophy and make its academics redundant, citing budget deficits. However, staff argue the deficits are due to bloated spending on consultants and executive salaries, not research expenses. No job is secure in Australian universities due to neoliberal reforms dating back to the 1980s that have concentrated power in unaccountable vice-chancellors and boards. The current vice-chancellor at ACU earns over $1 million annually and seems intent on slashing research staff and institutes. While cuts to research are justified as necessary due to a $38 million deficit, spending on consultants has risen to $10 million annually.

The article highlights how neoliberal governance structures in Australian universities have led to a race to bottom by prioritizing surpluses through fees while cutting costs like jobs.

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Unions are having a resurgence as workers organize and strike for better conditions. However, Allison Schrager argues unions need to reform by cooperating more with employers on flexible arrangements rather than fighting for higher wages and protections. The author criticizes this view, noting unions have been winning gains through collective action. While some are interested in joining unions, labor laws heavily favor employers during unionization efforts through intimidation tactics. Despite these barriers, unions still appeal to many workers by offering better compensation negotiated through collective bargaining. Schrager suggests unions should operate more like insurance providers than advocates for workers, but the author argues this would undermine their purpose of improving conditions through collective power.

The piece highlights the ongoing debate around whether unions help or hurt workers and the economy as labor activism rises again in the US.

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United Auto Workers members are on strike against General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis over issues like wage increases, ending wage tiers, and restoring pensions. Currently around 13,000 workers at three plants are striking with the potential for more to join. The UAW is demanding concessions given back that workers lost in previous decades to address declines in living standards. They also want job protections during the transition to electric vehicles. Lisa Xu discusses how parts distribution centers, which are often in urban areas, are also involved but rarely discussed. If they went on strike it could raise community awareness. Xu highlights how media coverage often uncritically repeats corporate talking points without examining the profits made by the automakers.

The strike aims to reverse concessions and improve conditions for all auto workers, seeing this as beneficial for the whole working class.

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Bloomberg covered recent climate protests in New York City, but the author argues it missed the main point by focusing more on protest tactics than demands. Protesters called on President Biden to stop approving new fossil fuel projects and exports to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C. However, U.S. fossil fuel production and exports are still rising under Biden. The article critiques Bloomberg for questioning the effectiveness of large marches while failing to acknowledge its own role in misinforming about Iraq and Brexit. When protesters threw soup on a painting, Bloomberg covered the stunt but not the climate crisis. The author says media must clearly connect protest actions to scientific warnings, otherwise different tactics will not matter.

Failing to do so frames protests as symbolic rather than responses to an existential threat that demands ending fossil fuels.

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Carbon offsets have faced increasing criticism in recent years from academic research showing that most do not represent real emissions reductions. Studies estimate only 12% of offset projects achieve reductions. Critics argue offsets allow polluters to continue business as usual by buying cheap credits instead of reducing their own emissions. Climate & Capitalism discusses how these issues have been identified for over a decade, with early analyses finding a third to two-thirds of Clean Development Mechanism offsets did not cut emissions. The article notes parallels between worthless offsets and the subprime mortgage crisis. Experts have long argued against tree planting offsets due to issues like permanence, measurability and the delay between planting and carbon sequestration.

One early proponent admits offsets were never meant as a long-term solution, but to start a conversation on carbon that is now overdue to move forward.

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Twenty-five thousand auto workers from General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis are now on strike. UAW President Shawn Fain announced two more plants would be joining the walkout. The union is playing the companies against each other with an unpredictable strike strategy. Workers are demanding higher wages to keep up with inflation, elimination of tiers, and protection from plant closures. A majority of Americans support the striking workers according to a new poll. President Biden visited picket lines in a show of solidarity with the union’s fight against corporate greed.

Fain drew a parallel between auto workers building bombers in WWII and those battling corporate greed today through their strike.

Archive.today link to labornotes.org

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Cloudflare’s DDoS protections can be bypassed through a specific attack process uncovered by researchers. By setting up a free Cloudflare account and pointing the domain to a victim’s IP address, an attacker can disable protections and route traffic through Cloudflare’s infrastructure, bypassing the company’s security checks. This is possible due to flaws in Cloudflare’s use of a shared certificate for all customers and reliance on traffic originating from its IP ranges. A proof-of-concept demonstrated how easy it is to leverage these logic gaps. While the issues were reported to Cloudflare in March, they have not committed to fixing the problems.

If left unaddressed, these vulnerabilities could render Cloudflare’s protections less effective at stopping attacks on its clients.

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Major advances in AI voice technology were announced this week, including ChatGPT gaining voice capabilities and Meta introducing AI characters with celebrity voices. This marks a shift where synthetic voices may become more common in social contexts. While companionship apps could benefit lonely users, mixing AI into social media feeds raises questions about feeling authentic versus hollow. OpenAI and Meta show interest in consumer-focused AI is growing, though challenges remain around regulating harmful uses and compensating creators. Advances in generative AI, virtual reality, and AI tools for content creators were also announced at industry events. However, executives largely avoided substantive discussions about mitigating AI risks at scale.

Overall, the week highlighted rapid progress and interest in blending AI into media and social platforms.

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Colorado Governor Jared Polis gave local officials a ride on an electric passenger train to generate support for a new Front Range rail line between Pueblo and Fort Collins. The officials were excited about the smooth and quiet ride showcasing the future of transportation. Federal infrastructure funds provide an opportunity to pursue the project, but support and funding from local communities will be important for grants. Polis wants to put a measure on the November 2024 ballot. Some officials remain skeptical given past problems with RTD’s unfinished rail lines. Representative Jennifer Parenti will only support a ballot measure if planners provide a solid plan showing the project is ready. Unlike RTD, the new line may partner with Amtrak, potentially avoiding issues from freight track owners. Planners envision starting with minimal service between major cities while ramping up over time.

The electric train ride helped transform the long-discussed project into something more tangible and imminent.

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