“A Florida man was wrongfully arrested for attempting to illegally lure a child after police relied on a face recognition match that was inaccurate, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, even though he lived more than 300 miles from the scene and says he had never set foot in the city where the crime took place. Robert Dillon, a 52-year-old commercial crabber from Fort Myers, was arrested after FACES — a face recognition system operated by Florida’s Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office — matched his face against a photo of a man on a computer screen taken with a cellphone. … ACLU says Dillon’s case is one of at least 15 known wrongful arrests in the United States attributed to face recognition technology.” (06/10/26)
“Solar energy just provided more electricity in the United States than coal for the first time on record — marking a milestone for the rise of renewables in America. While gas and nuclear plants still lead the country’s energy mix, solar contributed 12.8 percent of the nation’s electrons in May, according to an analysis of government data by Ember, an energy think tank. Coal, meanwhile, provided just 12.2 percent. Just five years ago, solar was less than half of its current levels and coal was at 20 percent.” (06/10/26)
“Belgium on Wednesday rejected Washington’s demand to impose an entry ban on travelers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, setting up a transatlantic clash over measures to prevent Ebola from spreading during the World Cup. Speaking on Radio 1, Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said Belgium would continue following scientific advice rather than bowing to political pressure from Washington. … The remarks come after reports surfaced that U.S. Ambassador Bill White urged Belgium to adopt strict American-style travel restrictions on Congolese travelers ahead of the World Cup, which kicks off Thursday in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Daily flights connect Brussels to Kinshasa. According to U.S. media,Washington has warned European countries that if they do not adopt America’s tougher travel restrictions, they could be subject to U.S. entry bans.” (06/10/26)
Source: CounterPunch
by Sidney Plotkin & Bill Scheurman
“Woody Guthrie proudly sang ‘This land is your land, this land is my land / From California to the New York island,’ but, in fact, the conversion of vast public resources and wealth to private property is one of the defining dynamics of American history. The political economist Thorstein Veblen called this process ‘The American Plan:’ the conversion of public resources into private hands as fast as possible.” [editor’s note: There are no “public resources and wealth” — if it’s not “private property,” it’s unowned – TLK] (06/10/26)
“It’s the original purchases that are costing the taxpayer money …. the loss was baked in when the Bank of England bought all those bonds back when. Buying gilts with 1/2% and the like coupons just was/is going to lead to a loss. A loss that can be taken in one of two ways but a loss which is going to be taken in one of those two ways. … The loss comes from having done Quantitative Easing, not from the clean up that is Quantitative Tightening. Sorry, there is no free money.” (06/10/26)
