Demonstrators filled streets in cities and towns all around the Lone Star State on Saturday for "50501" demonstrations. The coordinated, nationwide protests against the Trump administration saw major turnouts reported in Houston, Austin, Fort Worth and San Antonio.

University of Houston Energy Fellow Ed Hirs says the combined effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported crude oil and falling crude oil prices globally are balancing out for now. But, Hirs adds, investment is already grinding to a halt and companies are planning for layoffs in the near future.

President Trump’s trade war has inspired a new TikTok trend of Chinese manufacturers encouraging shoppers to buy direct and pay less, highlighting American consumers’ desperation to avoid massive tariff-induced price increases while being accused of misrepresenting the products they sell. What do you think?

The post TikTok Trend Urges Americans To Buy Directly From Chinese Manufacturers appeared first on The Onion.

MONTREAL – With a week left in the federal election, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre announced how if Canadians vote for him, he will bring back single use plastic and drastically increase the size of microplastics. In front of a podium that read “Make Micro Macro Again,” Poilievre spoke about why he wanted to put more […]

The post Poilievre promises to make microplastics even bigger appeared first on The Beaverton.

Jeff Stein, Elizabeth Dwoskin, and Cat Zakrzewski, reporting for The Washington Post:

As President Donald Trump’s enormous new tariffs on China rippled through global supply chains, Apple CEO Tim Cook went to work behind the scenes.

Cook spoke to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last week about the potential impact of the tariffs on iPhone prices, two people familiar with the phone call said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to reflect private conversations that were previously unreported. Cook spoke with other senior officials in the White House, the people said. And he refrained from publicly criticizing the president or his policies on national television, as many other executives have over the past several weeks.

By the end of the week, the Trump administration agreed to exempt from import duties electronic products that Apple produces in China, an action that also granted a reprieve to other large U.S. firms, including HP and Dell. Trump did so despite the recommendations of senior White House aide Peter Navarro, who had wanted the taxes to remain in place, the people said.

Three points:

1. Tim Cook manages this dance with aplomb. This is not a “good system”. But given the way Trump operates, what Cook managed here is not merely good for Apple but better policy, period.

2. Howard Lutnick is a lickspittle moron with the demeanor of a used car salesman who knowingly sells overpriced lemons to suckers. Here he is on Meet the Press a few weeks ago bragging that “The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones — that kind of thing is going to come to America.” Keith Olbermann mentioned in a recent episode of his podcast that Lutnick is a dead ringer for Morrie Kessler, the bookmaker of “Morrie’s Wigs” fame from Goodfellas, and I can’t un-see it.

3. Peter Navarro is such a profound dope and abject fraud — seriously, he’s not even good at making up phony names — that he makes Lutnick seem like a credible, responsible official.

Radek Sienkiewicz:

If you pay attention to AI company branding, you’ll notice a pattern:

1. Circular shape (often with a gradient)
2. Central opening or focal point
3. Radiating elements from the center
4. Soft, organic curves

Sound familiar? It should, because it’s also an apt description of ... well, you know.

A butthole.

The pope was a strong advocate for the poor and the environment and a towering figure on the world stage, addressing not just Catholics but the men and women of our time.

OTTAWA – At a recent campaign stop, Prime Minister Mark Carney admitted to being genuinely puzzled why more cash-strapped young Canadians aren’t using elite asset management firms to maximize their offshore investments. “I keep hearing from millennial Canadians that they cannot afford houses, or rent, or gum,” explained a puzzled Carney, “but why haven’t they […]

The post Mark Carney questions why struggling young Canadians not setting up offshore tax havens appeared first on The Beaverton.

In brief: A line of showers and storms has moved into the central Houston region this morning, and this activity should sag down to the coast throughout the day. After another chance of showers on Wednesday, most of the rest of this week looks warm, humid, and partly sunny.

Easter Sunday rains

Most of the western half of the region saw rain on Sunday and Sunday night, with upwards of 3 inches in some locations near Katy and The Woodlands. However, many areas closer to the coast remained dry overnight. That is likely to change today as the slow-moving front continues to sag into Houston and moves closer to the coast. Thus the areas most likely to see moderate to heavy rain over the next 24 hours will be south and east of Houston.

Monday

At sunrise this morning a line of storms is present from Sugar Land through Houston and into Kingwood. These showers and thunderstorms are moving very slowly to the east in response to the boundary. For areas inland of these showers, the rain is likely done for today. But for areas south and east, there is a high potential for moderate to heavy rain today. Accumulations will likely be on the order of 0.5 to 2 inches, with higher isolated totals. Rain chances should slacken, area-wide, this evening. Temperatures today will likely max out in the vicinity of 80 to 85 degrees, with the potential for partly sunny skies for inland areas. Lows tonight will only fall to around 70 degrees, with cooler temperatures far inland due to the retreating front.

Tuesday

This should be a partly sunny day with temperatures in the low- to mid-80s. Some scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible, but overall chances are probably 30 percent, or less.

Wednesday

A passing disturbance should spark a higher chance of rain on Wednesday, so expect a mix of light to moderate rain with a few scattered stronger storms during the daytime. This should help to limit high temperatures to about 80 degrees. Nights will remain warm and humid throughout the week, and Wednesday night will be no exception.

Thursday and Friday

These should be a pair of partly sunny days with highs in the mid-80s and warm nights. Winds will continue to come from the south, perhaps gusting to about 20 mph during the afternoon.

Saturday and Sunday

If you like warm and humid weather, have I got a deal for you! This pattern will persist through the weekend. As skies likely become a bit more sunny, we can expect high temperatures in the mid- to upper-80s for most of the region. It may be a pretty good beach weekend. For the MS-150 riders you can likely expect a tail wind on Saturday and a cross-tail wind on Sunday. All in all, the only hazard will likely be UV rays, so be sure to wear some sunscreen. Unfortunately for the IRONMAN competition in The Woodlands, while I’m not concerned about rain, dewpoints around 70 degrees will make for very difficult conditions for the long run.

Next week

This warm and humid pattern will likely persist into next week, although there is a chance of a cold front pushing all the way through the area by the following Wednesday or Thursday. I don’t want to over-promise, since that is so far away. However I do have a bit of hope that we are not yet quite done with dry air in Houston

Self-taught Thai artist Jiab Prachakul reflects on her life, friendships, and more in a series of large, colorful figure paintings. The exhibition, Sweet Solitude, now on view at The Contemporary Austin through Aug. 3, is enchanting with its multitude of works, an homage to sadness, joy, reflection, and everything in between. The artist, who now resides in Vannes, France, “conceives her paintings as layers of time that enfold memories, dreams, photographs, and references to cinema,” says Alex Klein, head curator and director of curatorial affairs. “She is recognized for her lushly detailed landscapes and sensitive portraits…which offer an intimate window into the artist’s inner circle and psyche,” Klein adds. 

Her paintings capture seemingly unguarded moments, but are, in fact, meticulously staged and deliberate in their lighting, composition, and color, offering a meditative moment for both viewer and subject. Over the last twenty years, she has honed her craft, first studying film in Bangkok before living in London and Berlin, where she began learning how to paint the human form. 

Certain figures appear in multiple paintings, including her closest friends from Berlin, Jeonga, and Makoto. In Night Talk, a painting about identity and friendship, she captures a candid moment of conversation, which has been forever preserved on canvas. “Observing the identities of my friends…has offered me a ground on which I can stand and embrace my own identity as an Asian artist who lives and works abroad,” she says. Another piece, Girlfriends, depicts a moment the trio spent together in Sauzon, Belle-Île-en-Mer, in 2021. Jeonga (In Nia’s Eyes) speaks to motherhood — the most challenging yet rewarding role Prachakul has observed. The painting, based on a photograph taken by Jeonga’s daughter, Nia, is a modern reimagination of Whistler’s Mother by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, resonating with this sense of perfectionism Prachakul sees in her friend and reverence she feels toward her. 

Other works, such as Berliners, highlight connections formed during her years in Berlin. The painting features twin sisters she met while they were waitressing at a ramen restaurant. “When I moved, I found it quite difficult to make deep connections,” she says. “In your thirties, you become more selective, and it takes time to build relationships,” says the artist. She was struck by their confidence, fluency in German, and embodiment of a modern, multicultural Berliner. 

One of the artist’s most personal works, Love From Three Continents (NKP), is based on a childhood photograph of her parents taken in the early 1980s when Prachakul was six years old. The painting holds particular emotional weight as her mother passed away a few years after this image was taken. However, the artist associates only good memories with this painting. “My years from one to six were a carefree joy,” she recalls. “The parents I had in this picture are no longer there for me to return to, but this is how I’d like to remember them and how they’ll always be.”

Another deeply personal work, Instilled, is a diptych contrasting two views from her past homes — one in Lyon and one in Brittany. “At first glance, it looks like the same place, but it’s actually not,” she explains. “When you live in different places, you accumulate memories, but those places don’t necessarily belong to you.” This theme of displacement and adaptation resonates throughout her work as she explores how environments shape identity. The painting also brings her back to the view of the blue sky in her childhood bedroom in Thailand. 

Prachakul’s paintings also serve as reflections on solitude and the meaning of home. Music of Silence (Diptych) and Barton Creek, a piece commissioned by The Contemporary, demonstrate her evolving relationship with landscape. Since moving to Brittany in 2021, she has become immersed in the distinct waterways of the region, which remind her of growing up along the Mekong River. “There is a link between Austin and Brittany through the water surrounding these places,” she says. “The waterways are part of the story and flow of my practice.”

Her connection to The Contemporary Austin came after her first solo show at Timothy Taylor Gallery in New York. Klein, who had followed Prachakul’s career since reading about her in The New York Times, saw this exhibition as an opportunity to introduce her work to a broader audience. “One of the things that I love about The Contemporary Austin is that we also have an art school at Laguna Gloria,” Klein says. “I hope this exhibition invites viewers to spend time with the many layers in Jiab’s work and to find their own creative pathways to self-expression.”

 

Jiab Prachakul: Sweet Solitude will be on view at the Contemporary Austin through August 3.

The post Jiab Prachakul’s “Sweet Solitude” Explores Identity, Culture, and Place appeared first on Glasstire.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. My promotion was canceled because of budget … but I’m still doing the work

I’m an employee at a university paid through federal funding. Last month, my manager submitted a promotion for me. After some back and forth, it was approved all the way up and down the chain by everyone and just waiting for the last signature to be finalized. At the last second, two days before the deadline, upper management said that due to funding uncertainty the promotion was cancelled. Unfortunately, I don’t expect this uncertainty to resolve any time soon, so who knows when that promotion will actually go through.

The main problem is, I was doing work at this higher level in order to demonstrate that I was ready for promotion, and now that I know it’s not coming, I’m not particularly interested in doing that high level work anymore. It’s one thing to hear that you aren’t getting a promotion early on, but this has been in discussion for six months and I’m pretty upset that it was cancelled at the last possible second. I would prefer to go back to doing individual contributor work. Another factor is that although there are several people with informal “lead” titles on my team, I don’t have one, despite doing the same level work.

How can I pull back on doing extra work without looking unprofessional and salty? Should I ask for a “lead” title, which is somewhat meaningless, but at least would look good on my resume since I don’t have the higher position? I am also concerned about getting laid off, so a lot of this stems from wanting to accurately represent my actual work on my resume!

You could say, “I understand the situation we’re in with funding, but I’ve been doing higher level work for six months specifically to earn the promotion. Since that’s been canceled, I need to pull my work back to the level I’m being asked to stay at.”

This can be tricky, because a lot of organizations are big on “you have to do the work in order to move to the next level.” But you’ve been doing the work, and they’ve told you there’s no reward coming right now, so it’s not unreasonable to decide to recalibrate. That said, there can be advantages to your resume to continuing to do it anyway; if you’ll be able to put experience and accomplishments on your resume that you otherwise wouldn’t have, and which you can parlay into your next job somewhere else, you should factor that in, too. If that feels like an advantage you don’t want to give up, then you should definitely ask for the lead title, framing it as, “I’d at least like a lead title like others doing this level of work have, even if it’s not a formal promotion.”

Related:
can I refuse more work without a raise?

2. Do we have to let a problematic coworker join an allies group?

I’m a non-binary trans person (pronouns: they/them) at a workplace where non-binary people constitute about 1 in 10 people, which is great. But we have had some issues with misgendering from colleagues that I have spent a lot of time with HR on resolving (gender identity is a protected status in my state, in addition to nationwide). We’ve largely resolved the issue in that I’m no longer being actively misgendered at work, but the whole situation has left me slightly wary of the two main offenders.

I’m now going to be starting an LGBT + allies ERG (employee resource group) at my work, and I know at least one of the main offenders of the misgendering is likely to volunteer to join as an “ally” because she is, well, a bit oblivious. What do I say if she expresses interest? Including her would mean we wouldn’t be able to discuss as openly as I would like to because of her previous behavior but also I don’t want to have to deal with her consternation over being told no because as well intentioned as she may be, her actions speak way louder. What do I do?

Let her join. Legally, while ERGs can focus on supporting specific communities, they can’t limit participation based on demographics; they have to be open to all employees. If someone joins and is then disruptive, you can remove them from the group based on that behavior, but you can’t preemptively block them from joining.

And of course, best case scenario, she might learn something. That doesn’t address your concern about her presence inhibiting open discussion, but given the legal restraints you’re operating within, that’s likely the best way to look at it.

3. How to manage my boss’ calendar when I don’t have autonomy

I recently started a new job where a major part of my role involves admin support for an executive. I’m a highly organized person, but managing their calendar has been overwhelming, even for me.

One major challenge is that I don’t have autonomy over the calendar. My boss requires me to run every single meeting request by them before anything gets scheduled. There have been times when I knew they were free, so I took the initiative to schedule something, only to be reprimanded for not checking first. This creates a constant back-and-forth for every request, delaying my ability to confirm or decline meetings with others. It’s time-consuming, inefficient, and stresses my boss out when I spam them with meeting requests.

Complicating things further, my boss—while very senior—isn’t the CEO. There’s a group of four other top executives whose meeting requests always take priority. When any of them request time, my boss is expected to accommodate, even at short notice. The same applies to meetings with clients, which often come up without much warning and typically must be accepted.

This means that most meeting requests are either urgent or involve clients, making 80% of meetings essentially non-negotiable. Even when my boss tells me, “Don’t schedule anything for ____ time,” those holds often end up getting overridden because of higher-priority meetings. And I still have to check in every time, which adds to the overwhelming communication flow.

Because of all this, I find myself pinging my boss throughout the day with meeting requests, so much so that I worry I’m being annoying or redundant. I was hired to be a problem-solver and to make my boss’s life easier, but it feels like I’m just a middle-person in a never-ending scheduling maze.

I’m struggling with how to streamline this process without stepping out of bounds. I want to be proactive and take things off my boss’s plate, but I don’t have the authority or clarity to do that confidently. It’s discouraging, and I feel stuck.

Talk to your boss! Ask if they’re happy with you pinging them throughout the day or if it’s disruptive and they’d prefer something else. It might turn out that they’re fine with it and this is their preference — in which case, the challenge for you is to just work on getting comfortable with that. It’s also possible that as you work together longer, you’ll develop more of a sense of how they do/don’t want to schedule things, they’ll see that, and they’ll let you do it more autonomously. But that may just take time.

However, if the current system isn’t working well for them, you could suggest a daily check-in (maybe every afternoon, whenever you can grab them for two minutes) where you run down all the meeting requests that have come in since you last talked. You can also ask whether there are categories of meetings you can schedule without confirming with them first (like maybe those execs whose requests always take priority and/or important clients).

4. What the highest number of people a manager can effectively manage?

I currently work at a baby-mega corp (8,000 employees), and previously worked at an F100 with over 200,000 employees. In both places, I have come across the idea (promoted by outside consultants in both cases) that the “ideal” maximum number of direct reports for a manager was between 4-7 people.

Is there any research behind this, or does this depend more on the nature of the role? I’m a “working manager” myself — I manage three people, mentor three less senior employees (who don’t report to me), and am expected to maintain a full substantive workload on top of managing. In contrast, I assume (and would hope!) that the person with a lot of directs is expected to be more focused on managing others’ work — but even so, I’d be curious to hear your perspective on how numbers impact effectiveness.

It does vary based on the type of jobs you’re managing, but for most professional jobs in general it’s rough to directly manage more than six or so people, at least if you want to do it effectively (meaning that you’re reviewing and evaluating work, giving feedback, setting and monitoring progress on big picture goals, spotting and addressing problems, giving people meaningful opportunities for input, helping them develop their skills, dealing with performance issues, keeping an eye on culture and morale, and through all of that being accessible and having the normal ad hoc conversations that are part of working with/managing people).

In some cases where the people being managed are doing either very rote work or very independent work, it could be a higher number, but generally once you go past that point you need to build in some layers of management in between.

And yes, if you’re expected to produce a significant body of your own work on top of managing a team, that affects the calculation as well.

5. I’m not getting my accrued vacation time when I switch agencies

I work for a city agency. Let’s call them Agency A. I’ve been with A for a year and six months. I found a new position with Agency B. I gave notice on 4/4 and my last day was supposed to be 4/18.

But on 4/16, I got an email stating that I’m still a provisional employee, not a permanent one. As such, I cannot transfer to Agency B and must resign. As a resigning employee, I also can’t bring any of my accrued time with me to B. Also, Agency A does not pay out any accrued time for resigning or retiring employees. My manager told me that he’s seen people with 30 + years at the agency lose their accrued time upon retirement.

I said if that’s the case, then there’s no reason for me to finish out my notice period. I’m leaving and 4/16 will be my last day. I was told that only the director of the agency has the authority to grant my “request.” He was in a meeting and didn’t get back to me until after 6 pm. He said my request is denied because no one can request vacation the night before. You need to give advance notice and have your manager’s approval. Request denied. Report to work.

I’ve calmed down a little, but internally I’m still seething! I called my union but no one has gotten back to me yet. Is there anything I can do? What are your thoughts?

I’m answering too late for you to implement this advice, but in case it’s still useful for you or others:

There’s not really anything you can do; these are their policies and they are legal ones (as long as your state doesn’t require vacation payout upon departure, which I’m guessing it doesn’t — and even if it does, public employees are sometimes exempted). The only part that’s really in your control is whether you work out your notice period or not. Did your director think you were asking to use vacation time for the rest of your notice period? Because that’s the only thing in their power to approve or deny; they can’t stop you from simply leaving.

You do have the option of saying “sorry, but 4/16 was my last day” … but the downside of that is that not finishing a notice period can mean you’re ineligible for rehire and can affect the kind of references you get. Since we’re only talking about a two-day difference, that’s less likely to happen, but it’s still something you’d want to factor in.

The post my promotion was canceled because of budget, a problematic coworker wants to join an allies group, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager.

LOS ANGELES—Saying the new format would help him present the series as he had always intended, Severance creator Dan Erickson announced Monday that the TV show’s next season would be released solely as episode recaps on Vulture.com. “After some debate in the writers’ room, we concluded that 500-word write-ups in New York magazine’s pop culture section were the perfect way to continue unfolding the mystery of Lumon Industries and its severed employees,” said Erickson, admitting that it was a creative risk, but that reading the “outstanding work” already put out by Vulture‘s renowned freelancers as they summarized the show’s earlier seasons gave him confidence this would be a change for the better. “From here on out, every Friday you’ll have to turn to Vulture to get your Severance fix. Trust us here. Once you read a few of these season-three recaps, you’ll realize you won’t miss cinematography, music, lighting, sets, Ben Stiller’s directing, or even actors bringing to life the story of Mark, Gemma, Dylan, Mr. Milchick, and Helly R. All you need is the incredible work of this entertainment news website. Plus, these will have a little unanswered question section at the end, which is always fun.” Erickson added that it was difficult to part ways with Apple TV+, but Vulture had simply made the better offer.

The post ‘Severance’ Creator Says Next Season Of Show Will Solely Be Released As TV Recaps On Vulture.com appeared first on The Onion.

WASHINGTON—Lifting up the hem of existence as she gestured for the kids to go within and explore, Melania Trump reportedly informed children visiting the White House on Sunday that she had hidden many Easter eggs behind the curtain of reality. “Hurry inside, boys and girls, for there are many trinkets and treats to be found beyond the edge of human reckoning,” said the first lady, pulling away a section of the fabric of reality in the Oval Office to reveal an endless cosmic void without hope or logic where pastel-colored eggs floated alongside a costumed Easter Bunny. “Make sure you check in the darkest folds of these otherlands. Go quick before the best toys are lost forever! There’s infinite space to play in and infinite time to search. But if you find your other self in there, do not make eye contact. For there lies madness. Great, endless madness. That’s what happened to Barron.” At press time, sources confirmed Trump had eternally sealed the fabric of reality behind the last child before returning to watching television in her residence.

The post Melania Trump Informs Visiting Children She Hid Many Easter Eggs Behind Curtain Of Reality appeared first on The Onion.

Experts recommend that every family keep a “go bag,” a portable survival kit packed with enough supplies to last at least three days in an emergency. The Onion shares tips for preparing a go bag of your own.

A multitool, such as a Swiss Army knife, will come in handy when you need to laboriously saw at a piece of wood for a half hour without so much as leaving a mark.

Bring a battery-operated radio in hopes of being the seventh caller and winning two free tickets to the KISS-FM Jingle Ball.

Stash some emergency cash in one of your bag’s interior pockets as a fun surprise for whoever finds your body.

If you have young children, make sure to put them in there.

Store some of your items in your wife’s go bag so you have enough room for your Nintendo Switch.

Limit yourself to three woodwind instruments.

Save the novelty photos of your family in an Old West saloon so you don’t have to shell out another $50.

Don’t forget any medication you might need to sell on the postapocalyptic black market.

Put important documents in a sealed container to prevent bears and other wildlife from stealing your identity.

Imagine yourself fleeing your home, never to return again, and figure out which socks you’d want in that situation.

Store the bag in a place you can easily access when you come home drunk and want to eat a super-dense protein bar.

Run!

The post Tips For Packing A ‘Go Bag’ appeared first on The Onion.

New comic!
Today's News:

Don't try to trick me into playing a Zelda game when I'm playing a Zelda game.

#CowboyWho

#Ryo #RoninWarriors

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
All I'm saying is show me one -- just ONE -- woman who ever dug a 200,000 gallon boner-lake. I'll wait.

Today's News:

Beep boop

#Kento #RoninWarriors

It is by now well established that Lottie doesn’t like it when dramatic situations place fish in peril.

The post I’ll take statements later, lads appeared first on Bad Machinery.

[link] [49 comments]

In brief: Happy Easter to all who celebrate. Wanted to jump in with a quick holiday post so people are not surprised if thunderstorms pop up today, and by the possibility of some stronger storms this evening and during the overnight hours.

The remnants from a line of storms over Central Texas are currently approaching the Houston region this morning, and this will produce some showers and thunderstorms generally west of the city this morning, including in the Katy region. More isolated showers and thunderstorms will be possible through the late morning and early afternoon hours across Houston, but there’s probably at least a 50 percent chance you don’t see rain until later today or this evening.

However, by this afternoon a weak front will sag into the region, stalling over the city of Houston. This will serve as a focus for the development of thunderstorms this evening, and during the overnight hours. Some of these thunderstorms could become severe, with the potential for damaging winds. Right now the dynamics are most favorable for thunderstorms north of Interstate 10, but I would not rule out thunderstorms anywhere in the metro area tonight and through at least Monday morning. On the Excitable Dogs Scale from 1 to 10, let’s call this a 7.5.

Rainfall amounts are going to be highly variable, but accumulations from this afternoon through midday on Monday could range from 1 to 3 inches for most locations, with the risk of higher totals. I would not rule out a few bullseyes of 5 inches or more somewhere in the metro area. This has the potential to cause some street flooding by the Monday morning commute. I’m going to hold off on issuing a Stage 1 flood alert, but this is something we’ll be watching today and update if warranted.

What's the difference between a saddle and a can of paint? #CowboyWho

“This and That” is an occasional series of paired observations. See past “This and That” posts here. – Ed.

Today: Inflatables (as seen at the Dallas Art Fair)

 

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No matter how original, innovative or crazy your idea, someone else is also working on that idea. Furthermore, they are using notation very similar to yours. – Bruce J. MacLennan

The post This and That: Inflatables at the Dallas Art Fair appeared first on Glasstire.

High-profile detentions and visa revocations are putting students on edge, as Trump tightens his squeeze on US schools.

Today's links

• Against transparency: *Caveat emptor* is grifter for, "Surprise, you're dead!"
• Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
• Object permanence: 2005, 2015, 2020, 2024
• Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
• Recent appearances: Where I've been.
• Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
• Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
• Colophon: All the rest.

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Against transparency (permalink)

Walk down any street in California for more than a couple minutes and you will come upon a sign warning you that a product or just an area "contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer."

These warnings are posted to comply with Prop 65, a 1986 law that requires firms to notify you if they're exposing you to cancer risk. The hope was that a legal requirement to warn people about potential carcinogens would lead to a reduction in the use of carcinogens in commonly used products. But the joke's on us: since nearly everything has chemicals that trigger Prop 65 warnings, the warnings become a kind of background hiss. I've lived in California five times now, and I've never once seen a shred of evidence that a Prop 65 warning deters anyone from buying, consuming, using, or approaching anything. I mean, Disneyland is plastered in these warnings.

The idea behind Prop 65 was to "inform consumers" so they could "vote with their wallets." But "is this carcinogenic?" isn't a simple question. Many chemicals are carcinogenic if they come into contact with bare skin, or mucus membranes, but not if they are – for example – underfoot, in contact with the soles of your shoes. Other chemicals are dangerous when they're fresh and offgassing, but become safe once all the volatiles and aromatics have boiled off of them.

Prop 65 is often presented as a story of overregulation, but I think it's a matter of underregulation. Rather than simply telling you that there's a potential carcinogen nearby and leaving you to figure out whether you've exceeded your risk threshold, a useful regulatory framework would require firms to use their products in ways that minimize cancer risk. For example, if a product ships with a chemical that is potentially carcinogenic for a couple weeks after it is manufactured, then the law could require the manufacturer to air out the product for 14 days before shipping it to the wholesaler.

"Caveat emptor" has its place – say, at a yard-sale, or when buying lemonade from a kid raising money for a school trip – but routine shopping shouldn't be a life-or-death matter that you can only survive if you are willing and able to review extensive, peer-reviewed, paywalled toxicology literature. When a product poses a serious threat to our health, it should either be prohibited, or have its use circumscribed, so that a reasonable, prudent person doing normal things doesn't have to worry that they've missed a potentially lethal gotcha.

In other words, transparency is nice, but it's not enough.

Think of the "privacy policies" you're asked to click through a thousand times a day. No one reads these. No one has ever read these. For the first six months that Twitter was in business, its privacy policy was full of mentions to Flickr, because that's where they ganked the policy from, and they missed a bunch of search/replace operations. That's funny – but far funnier is that no one at Twitter read the privacy policy, because if they had, they would have noticed this.

You know what would be better than a privacy policy? A privacy law. The last time Congress passed a consumer privacy law was in 1988, when they banned video store clerks from disclosing which VHS cassettes you took home. The fact is that virtually any privacy violation, no matter how ghastly or harmful to you, is legal, provided that you are "notified" through a privacy policy.

Which is why privacy policies are actually privacy invasion policies. No one reads these things because we all know we disagree with every word in them, including "and" and "the." They all boil down to, "By being stupid enough to use this service, you agree that I'm allowed to come to your house, punch your grandmother, wear your underwear, make long distance calls, and eat all the food in your fridge."

And like Prop 65 warnings, these privacy policies are everywhere, and – like Prop 65 warnings – they have proven useless. Companies don't craft better privacy policies because so long as everyone has a terrible bullshit privacy policy, there's no reason to.

My blog, pluralistic.net has two privacy policies. One sits across the top of every page:

Privacy policy: we don't collect or retain any data at all ever period.

The other one appears in the sidebar:

By reading this website, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.

The second one is a joke, obviously (it sits above a sidebar element that proclaims "Optimized for Netscape Navigator."). But what's most funny is that when I used to run it at the bottom of all my emails, I totally freaked out a bunch of reps from Big Tech companies on a standards committee that was trying to standardize abusive, controlling browser technology and cram it down two billion peoples' throats. These guys kvetched endlessly that it was unfair for me to simply declare that they'd agreed that they would do a bunch of stuff for me on behalf of their bosses.

My first response was, of course, "Lighten up, Francis." But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that these guys actually believed that showering someone in endless volleys of fine print actually created legal contracts and consent, and that I might someday sue their employers because I had cleverly released myself from their BOGUS AGREEMENTS.

Of course, that would be very stupid. I can't just wave a piece of paper in your face, shout "YOU AGREED" and steal your bike. But substitute "bike" for "private data" and that's exactly the system we have with privacy policies. Rather than providing notice of odious and unconscionable behavior and hoping that "market forces" sort it out, we should just update privacy law so that doing certain things with your private data is illegal, without your ongoing, continuous, revocable consent.

Obviously, this would come as a severe shock to the tech economy, which is totally structured around commercial surveillance. But the fact that an extremely harmful practice is also extremely widespread is not a reason to keep on doing it – it's a reason to stop. There was a time when we let companies sell radium suppositories, and then, one day, we just banned companies from telling you to put nuclear waste up your asshole:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/19/just-stop-putting-that-up-your-ass/#harm-reduction

We didn't fall back on the "freedom to contract" or "bodily autonomy." Sure, what you do with your body is your own business, but that doesn't imply that quacks should have free rein to trick you into using their murderous products.

And just as there are legitimate, therapeutic uses of radioisotopes (I'm having a PT scan on Monday!), there are legitimate reasons to share your private data. We don't need to resort to outright bans – we can just regulate things. For example, in 2022 Stanford Law's Mark Lemley proposed an absolutely ingenious answer to abusive Terms of Service:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/10/be-reasonable/#i-would-prefer-not-to

Lemley proposes constructing a set of "default rules" for routine agreements, made up of the "explicit and implicit" rules of contracts, including common law, the Uniform Commercial Code, and the Restatement of Contracts. Any time you're presented with a license agreement, you can turn it down in favor of the "default rules" that everyone knows and understands. Anyone who accepts a EULA instead must truly be consenting to a special set of rules. If you want your EULA to get chosen over the default rules, you need to make it short, clear and reasonable.

If we're gonna replace "caveat emptor" with rules that let you go about your business without reading 10,000,000 words of bullshit legalese every time you leave your house (or pick up your phone), we need smart policymakers to create those rules.

Since 2010, America has had an agency that was charged with creating and policing those rules, so you could do normal stuff without worrying that you were accidentally signing your life away. That agency is called the the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, and though it did good work for its first decade of existence, it wasn't until the Biden era, when Rohit Chopra took over the agency, that it came into its own.

Under Chopra, the CFPB became a powerhouse, going after one scam after another, racking up a series of impressive wins:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/10/getting-things-done/#deliverism

The CFPB didn't just react, either. They staffed up with smart technologists and created innovative, smart, effective initiatives to keep you from getting ripped off:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/01/bankshot/#personal-financial-data-rights

Under Chopra, the CFPB was in the news all the time, as they scored victory after victory. These days, the CFPB is in the news again, but for much uglier reasons. For billionaire scammers like Elon Musk, CFPB is the most hated of all the federal agencies. Musk's Doge has been trying to "delete the CFPB" since they arrived on the scene, but their hatred has made them so frenzied that they keep screwing up and losing in court. They just lost again:

https://prospect.org/justice/2025-04-18-federal-judge-halts-cfpb-purge-again/

Trumpland is full of the people on the other side of those EULAs, the people who think that if they can trick you out of your money, "that makes me smart":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/12/04/its-not-a-lie/#its-a-premature-truth

If Musk can trick you into buying a Tesla after lying about full self driving, that doesn't make him a scammer, "that makes him smart." If Trump can stiff his contractors, that doesn't make him a crook, "that makes him smart."

It's not a coincidence that these guys went after the CFPB. It's no mystery why they've gone after every watchdog that keeps you from getting scammed, poisoned or maimed, from the FDA to the EPA to the NLRB. They are the kind of people who say, "So long as it was in the fine print, and so long I could foist that fine-print on you, that's a fair deal." For them, caveat emptor is a Latin phrase that means, "Surprise, you're dead."

It's bad enough when companies do this to us, be they Big Tech, health insurers or airlines. But when the government takes these grifters' side over yours – when grifters take over the government – hold onto your wallets:

https://www.citationneeded.news/trump-crypto-empire/

(Image: Cryteria, CC BY 3.0, modified)

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Hey look at this (permalink)

• Intuit, Owner of TurboTax, Wins Battle Against America’s Taxpayers https://prospect.org/power/2025-04-17-intuit-turbotax-wins-battle-against-taxpayers-irs-direct-file/

• Bluesky, censorship and country-based moderation https://fediversereport.com/bluesky-censorship-and-country-based-moderation/

• Google Loses the Adtech Monopolization Case https://www.bigtechontrial.com/p/google-loses-the-adtech-monopolization

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Object permanence (permalink)

#20yrsago New copyright bill panders to Christian Right, copyfighters, Hollywood https://web.archive.org/web/20050421040240/https://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,67269,00.html

#10yrsago A bill to fix America’s most dangerous computer law https://www.techdirt.com/2015/04/17/bill-introduced-to-fix-broken-dmca-anti-circumvention-rules/

#10yrsago Inside Islamic State’s spookocracy https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/islamic-state-files-show-structure-of-islamist-terror-group-a-1029274.html

#10yrsago Internet.org: delivering poor Internet to poor people https://scroll.in/article/721541/Poor-internet-for-poor-people:-why-Facebook’s-Internet.org-amounts-to-economic-racism

#10yrsago Iridescent insect sculptures from ewaste https://www.etsy.com/shop/DewLeaf?ref=shopsection_leftnav_1

#5yrsago Poor countries denied covid aid https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/19/shared-microbial-destiny-2/#shared-microbial-destiny

#5yrsago Gilead, the remdesivir welfare queens https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/19/shared-microbial-destiny-2/#remdesivir

#5yrsago 80% of the stimulus tax break will go to 43,000 people https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/19/shared-microbial-destiny-2/#trickle-down

#1yrago Precaritize bosses https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/19/make-them-afraid/#fear-is-their-mind-killer

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Upcoming appearances (permalink)

• Auckland: Unity Books, May 2, 6PM
  https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/an-evening-with-cory-doctorow-tickets-1320740102199

• Wellingon: Unity Books, May 3, 3PM
  https://www.unitybooks.co.nz/news-and-events/author-talk-picks-and-shovels-by-cory-doctorow

• Pittsburgh: Picks and Shovels at White Whale Books, May 15
  https://whitewhalebookstore.com/events/20250515

• Pittsburgh: PyCon, May 16
  https://us.pycon.org/2025/schedule/

• PDX: Teardown 2025, Jun 20-22
  https://www.crowdsupply.com/teardown/portland-2025

• PDX: Picks and Shovels with bunnie Huang at Barnes and Noble, Jun 20
  https://stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/9780062183697-0

• London: How To Academy with Riley Quinn, Jul 1
  https://howtoacademy.com/events/cory-doctorow-the-fight-against-the-big-tech-oligarchy/

• Manchester: Picks and Shovels at Blackwell's Bookshop, Jul 2
  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-evening-with-cory-doctorow-tickets-1308451968059

• Manchester: Co-operatives UK Co-op Congress keynote, Jul 3
  https://www.uk.coop/events-and-training/events-calendar/co-op-congress-2025-book-your-place

• New Orleans: DeepSouthCon63, Oct 10-12, 2025
  http://www.contraflowscifi.org/

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Recent appearances (permalink)

• Can we use the Internet for Democracy?
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh_HON6iql8

• Fightback Against Trump's Tariff Attack (Avi Lewis)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9sgIAc6z_o

• The Voice of Canadian Humanism
  https://open.spotify.com/episode/7uuwdZTIbWzKhBQ3mmMiRv?context=spotify%3Ashow%3A6N5hl8on16CfaeYArrKyqZ

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Latest books (permalink)

• • Picks and Shovels: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels).
• The Bezzle: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (the-bezzle.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3062/Available_Feb_20th%3A_The_Bezzle_HB.html#/).

• "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3007/Pre-Order_Signed_Copies%3A_The_Lost_Cause_HB.html#/)

• "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245).

• "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. Signed copies at Dark Delicacies (US): and Forbidden Planet (UK): https://forbiddenplanet.com/385004-red-team-blues-signed-edition-hardcover/.

• "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com

• "Attack Surface": The third Little Brother novel, a standalone technothriller for adults. The Washington Post called it "a political cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution and resistance." Order signed, personalized copies from Dark Delicacies https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/Available_Now%3A_Attack_Surface.html

• "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism": an anti-monopoly pamphlet analyzing the true harms of surveillance capitalism and proposing a solution. https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59?sk=f6cd10e54e20a07d4c6d0f3ac011af6b) (signed copies: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/Available_Now%3A__How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html)

• "Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a new introduction by Edward Snowden: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583; personalized/signed copies here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1750/July%3A__Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html

• "Poesy the Monster Slayer" a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627. Get a personalized, signed copy here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2682/Corey_Doctorow%3A_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer_HB.html#/.

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Upcoming books (permalink)

• Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025
  https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/

• Unauthorized Bread: a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2026

• Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026

• The Memex Method, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2026

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Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources:

Currently writing:

• Enshittification: a nonfiction book about platform decay for Farrar, Straus, Giroux. Status: second pass edit underway (readaloud)

• A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING

• Picks and Shovels, a Martin Hench noir thriller about the heroic era of the PC. FORTHCOMING TOR BOOKS FEB 2025

Latest podcast: Nimby and the D-Hoppers CONCLUSION https://craphound.com/stories/2025/04/13/nimby-and-the-d-hoppers-conclusion/

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This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution.

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"When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla

READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.

ISSN: 3066-764X

Demonstrations, taking place on the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolutionary War, addressed a range of grievances.

EDMONTON – As a hotly-anticipated blockbuster began playing in a packed theatre, 36-year-old Colin Schneider reassured his fellow moviegoers that he’d put his incredibly bright phone away just as soon as he finished reading hundreds of thousands of words by one of Canada’s most iconic writers. “Sorry everyone, I just need to let my girlfriend […]

The post Man in movie theatre just needs to use his phone to send a quick text and read the complete works of Lucy Maud Montgomery appeared first on The Beaverton.