In my second year with the company, Outlook, I once again had the opportunity to report on many eclectic subjects. I visited Finland, investigated a giant grocery store co-op, wrote about Elon Musk’s various disasters, and researched how Americans are handling the economy in 2023.
“A successful cooperative”
Similar to last year’s article on the Faroe Islands’ tax system, we once again teamed up with the People’s Policy Project to visit the Nordic country and report on its unusual system. This time I traveled to Finland to write about the giant cooperative S Group, which accounts for 47 percent of the Finnish grocery market. It turns out that even without a megalomaniac billionaire CEO, cooperative companies can sometimes beat capitalist companies at their own game.
“The occupation is undermining Israel’s democracy.”
In this March article, I covered the massive protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to end the independence of the country’s judiciary in order to obstruct his corruption trial and consolidate his power. I drew on South Africa’s history of apartheid to argue that his appalling corruption and incompetence were just a form of governance produced by the apartheid system. Then it turned out to be much more true than I had imagined.
“Israel’s strategic disaster”
Reports since the October 7 attack in Israel have confirmed that the attack could have been easily prevented. Netanyahu’s government had detailed information about the attack, but the possibility that it was true was ignored. Meanwhile, much of the Israel Defense Forces had been redeployed from around Gaza to the West Bank to protect violent and barbaric settlers, whose representatives in parliament are key members of Netanyahu’s coalition. But rather than face up to its failures, the Gaza government launched a war of revenge against Gaza, killing tens of thousands of civilians, raising the risk of regional war, and even attacking Israel’s most important ally, the United States. began to alienate.
“Elon Musk shows how oligarchy is poisoning the speech commons”
When Elon Musk bought Twitter, he promised to protect free speech. In fact, he brutally expelled journalists and critics and restored the accounts of countless white supremacists and conspiracy theorists. That, combined with replacing the verification badge system with the “I paid Elon Musk his $8” badge, has turned Twitter into an absolute cesspool of misinformation, gutter racism, and abuse. Ta. Probably, it should not be possible for one man to accumulate hundreds of billions of dollars.
“The Cybertruck is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.”
The Cybertruck’s first deliveries took place this year, more than four years after it was first announced. The reason it took so long is due to Elon Musk’s decision to make the body panels out of stainless steel, which is not only pointless and expensive, but also makes it harder for other automakers to market their electric trucks. This made it possible to win against Tesla. Great work by a true giant of the business.
“Tesla confronts Nordic Labor Solidarity”
Tesla’s auto mechanics union in Sweden has been trying for several years to get the company to agree to collective bargaining agreements, which are a standard part of the country’s labor system. In October this year, the unions gave up and went on strike, which sparked sympathy strikes across the Swedish economy and later spread to Norway, Denmark and Finland.
“The Death Cult of American Cars”
The number of traffic deaths in the United States is rising rapidly compared to other wealthy countries. The reason is obvious. “There are too many cars and trucks that are too heavy and too tall, traveling too fast on roads that are too wide, and there are too many collision points.”
“Useful idiots fueling right-wing transphobic panic”
The last few years have seen a full-blown moral panic, with the support of many center-left journalists and publications, about children being subjected to surgeries that will probably irreversibly change their gender from their butts. . new york times. There’s just one problem. All the scary anecdotes that are being spread are not true.
“Why the full employment brought about by Bidenmics should be celebrated.”
Last year saw severe economic turmoil in many regions. Inflation has been high for some time, interest rates are rising, and housing costs are higher than they have been in years. But the extremely low unemployment rates produced by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan have been extremely beneficial, especially for unions and workers at the bottom of the income ladder who need the help the most.
“Republicans want to ban all abortions, even if it costs the mother her life.”
Conservative states banned abortion after the war. Dobbs This decision could include exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the mother’s health. Recent events have proven that these exceptions are almost entirely fraudulent. A Texas woman named Kate Cox filed a lawsuit seeking legal permission to receive the necessary treatment after discovering that her unborn child had a potentially fatal and dangerous abnormality. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Texas Supreme Court said no. The implication is clear. If a woman has a fatally dangerous pregnancy, both the fetus and the woman should die.
“Does COVID-19 damage the immune system?”
Diehard critics say COVID-19 infection has a negative impact on the immune system and that COVID-19 is like an airborne variant of HIV. Some people do. I spoke to several experts who told me that this is not true, and that a small number of severely ill COVID-19 patients can develop prolonged immune system dysfunction, but this is in no way the case for the virus. He told me that it’s not unique.