US corporate profits surge to record as worker payouts wilt [
ungated]
* - "Workers have been gradually losing sway in corporate America since the early 1980s as union membership has declined and companies increasingly outsource jobs to external contractors. But the decline in labour's share of income has gained pace in the past five years and especially over the past 12 months."[
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Americans feel they have lost their agency - "People increasingly blame large corporations for the sense that they have ever less control over their own lives."
- Mark Cuban wants to solve wealth inequality by making employers choose between paying higher taxes or giving every member of staff company stock - "Increase the taxes of any company that doesn't offer equity to every employee on a pro rata basis to non-founder executives. If they get rich from the market, so do they. It's exactly what I have done for employees in companies I have started. Most wealthy people get that way from selling their companies or taking them public... Some of us realize that even though we might not enjoy paying taxes, and know that maybe 40% of the taxes paid actually get to people who need it, that's still a value for the community, which can help your business. As far as equity: Every founder worth a damn knows that the greatest success, economic and personal, comes from aligning the goals and interests of as many stakeholders as possible. Everyone will benefit more, when everyone benefits more."[3] (Coops Work - So Why Aren't We Utilizing Them More?)[4]
- Texas Senate hopeful Talarico teams with Mark Cuban on plan to break up healthcare 'monopolies' - "Healthcare corporations are ripping us off — jacking up premiums and profiting off our pain. This plan will break up monopolies, lower medical debt, bring down the cost of prescription drugs, and ensure doctors decide what medication their patients need — not insurance companies."
Alejandro Betancourt: the man who would be Trump's 'viceroy' in Venezuela - "US has turned to wily and divisive insider to help it develop the country's oil reserves." (
The secret history of Trump's Venezuelan oil baron,
Everything About the US-Venezuela Oil Deal Is Troubling)
The face of America's socialist insurgency - "Born in Miami and raised by a single mother caseworker, [
Darializa Avila] Chevalier spent part of her childhood in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic before settling in Florida. An early influence was her Dominican grandfather, who was, she said, 'deeply involved in the resistance to two US-backed dictatorships.'"
Her activism brought her to the attention of Justice Democrats (JD), the progressive group that powered Ocasio-Cortez to her stunning primary victory in New York in 2018. Late last year, they convinced her to run.
"I did so because I honestly was at a loss for what to do next," she said. The war in Gaza was continuing, "my neighbours are still sleeping on the street and my friends are moving away because they could not afford to raise their kids".
"At a certain point you stop asking yourself: 'Well, should I do it?' And you start saying: 'How can I not?'"
- Israel's de facto annexation of the West Bank - "This month, the government issued tenders for about 1,200 Jewish housing units in the territory's E1 area, which would further fragment the West Bank, cut the territory in two and could prove fatal to any hopes of a contiguous Palestinian state. The scheme was shelved by successive Israeli governments because it was so controversial. But Netanyahu and his supporters appear to be rushing to change facts on the ground before Israelis go to the polls."
- Retired Jewish police chief to stand for Arab-Israeli party in parliamentary election - "There is baggage from the past, there is a bloody history in relations within this land. We will not change the past because it is a set fact. The role of leadership is to change reality and create a better future."
'Creatures of expedience' - "
Profiles in Cowardice by Jacob Weisberg. The scathing portrait of American elites' accommodations to US President Donald Trump has a title styled after John F. Kennedy's
Profiles in Courage, but it's a portrait of the opportunism of leaders focused on their own interests at the expense of civic life." (
89% of Americans say government corruption is widespread)
USS Abraham Lincoln docks in Thailand after more than 9 months at sea - "When asked about the aircraft carrier's appearance, Capt. Dan Keeler, the Lincoln's commanding officer, replied that 'it is normal for a long deployment and we're not going to make further comments.' Asked for his thoughts about President Trump's comment that the Lincoln's record-setting deployment was 'not nearly long enough,' he was similarly terse. 'So, the president speaks for himself,' he said. 'That is what I think about that.'"
Investors prosper and consumers pay as the Iran war exacts an uneven economic toll 6 months in - "For the privileged, the costs brought by war may barely be a blip. For the poorest, it's a different story."
The 21-year-old tennis sensation with 120 million fans - "[
Alex] Eala has been asked repeatedly if representing the dreams of a nation is ever a burden. Never, she says. 'Pressure is part of my job, and a lot of people ask me how I handle it,' she said earlier this year. 'But it's nothing compared to the pressure that regular, everyday Filipinos have to face providing for their families.'"[
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Scoop: AOC shakes up team ahead of 2028 decision - "Whatever's next for Alex, she's got my support. Like everyone else, I can't wait to see what's in store."[
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