Category: guillotine watch
How abusive bosses and Slack led software engineers to unionize and demand justice
On April 12, 2018 by IleneLanetix is your basic shitty tech company, where your two weeks of annual paid leave is subject to often-withheld managerial approval, where bosses threaten engineers with getting canned if they participate in private Slack channels where they discuss working conditions, and where high-performing software engineers who object to bad management are summarily fired.
Lawsuit reveals the deadly, out-of-control free-for-all inside Red State America’s for-profit prisons
On April 6, 2018 by IleneThe Management & Training Corporation operates two federal prisons and 20 more state/local prisons around America; previously, it has been censured by Arizona for its role in deadly prison riots; now, the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center are suing the state of Mississippi over the violence, neglect, and rampant human rights abuses at
London police finally admit they fed intel to UK construction cartel to build illegal blacklist of labour organisers
On March 26, 2018 by IleneIt’s been six years since investigative journalists published their expose accusing London’s Metropolitan Police of colluding with the UK’s construction cartel to blacklist workers who complained about unsafe working conditions, abusive bosses and wage-theft, as well as union organisers and other “troublemakers” — this week, the Met confirmed that its officers were an active
The world’s richest 2000 billionaires could wipe out extreme poverty with one seventh of what they gained last year
On January 25, 2018 by IleneOxfam’s released its annual report on inequality, timed to coincide with the World Economic Forum, and unlike previous reports (which focused on attractive but misleading stats about the relative wealth of poor and rich people), the new one focuses on the growth in the fortunes of the world’s richest people, a stat that is
Apple, Google add 45 minutes to commuter-bus run to avoid 280 highway, where the buses’ windows keep getting smashed
On January 21, 2018 by IleneNo one’s sure how the windows on commuter buses between San Francisco and Silicon Valley keep getting smashed on a stretch of the 280 — maybe it’s a pellet gun, maybe it’s thrown rocks — but Apple and Google have informed employees who use the service that their commute is about to get 45
Peter Thiel, “libertarian,” wants to buy Gawker’s archive, which would give him the power to censor stories he didn’t like
On January 15, 2018 by IleneLibertarian wisdom holds that “the answer to bad speech is more speech,” but if you’re a Peter Thiel libertarian (that is, the kind of “freedom lover” who doesn’t think women should vote, wants to spy on everyone in the world, and secretly wields power to censor the free press), then “the answer to bad
Does capitalism breed greed, or elevate the greedy?
On December 29, 2017 by IleneWhen a billionaire Koch heir announces that he’s taking a break from suing ex-fiancees to give back their engagement rings and playing tennis at Mar-a-Largo in order to produce designer shirts covered in money-bags, it’s worth asking: did capitalism turn this guy into a useless asshole, or does capitalism find the useless assholes and
The GOP tax plan means millions in extra profits for private prison corporations
On December 28, 2017 by IleneThe new GOP tax plan slashes the taxes on real estate investment trusts (REITS) by a quarter, dropping the rate from 39.6% down to 29.6% — a move that will put tens of millions of dollars in the pockets of investors in America’s notorious private prisons. Companies like Corecivic (formerly Corrections Corporation
Peter Thiel: the “libertarian” who loves mass government surveillance, monopolies, and censorship
On December 27, 2017 by IlenePeter Thiel thinks that it was a mistake to let women vote; that democracy is incompatible with “freedom” (because poor people will tax rich people if they get to elect their own leaders); that the major problem with the mass government surveillance that Edward Snowden revealed was that it was incompetently conducted (which is
Rich people in Bristol install anti-bird spikes in trees to keep shit off their cars, rendering trees “literally uninhabitable” by local wildlife
On December 20, 2017 by IleneTwo trees in a fancy neighbourhood in Bristol, UK have had strips of anti-bird spikes nailed to their branches, rendering them “literally uninhabitable” by local wildlife, according to local Green Party councillor Paula O’Rourke. One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed the spikes were “solely to to protect cars”, which include
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