I am sure most of you have heard of Brexit, after all, Donald Trump once described himself as “Mr Brexit”. Well, last night the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, has signed the letter that will trigger article 50, officially kicking off actual Brexit. The letter confirms the result of the divisive referendum held in June of 2016. During which the British people unexpectedly voted to leave the European Union by a narrow margin.
The unanticipated result threw the British establishment into chaos. The Former Prime Minister, David Cameron, resigned, there were Pro-EU marches, court cases, judges were branded as enemies of the state, the pound collapsed, there was a vote on Brexit, and large number of British banks and car manufactures are flirting with relocating to the continent. Keep in mind that all of this has happened before Britain had even officially confirmed that it was leaving.
The delay in triggering article 50 has been heavily criticized by both pro-Brexit campaigners and some European Union nations. They argue that the uncertainty is causing more damage than the act of leaving will.
Now that Theresa May has begun the withdrawal process, what will happen next? At 12:30 GMT on Wednesday the British Ambassador to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow, delivered a letter to the European Parliament. This letter confirmed Britain’s desire to withdraw from the European Union. This gives Britain until March of 2019 to negotiate a full withdrawal from the EU. This can be extended by a unanimous vote. Most experts agree that this is going to a mammoth task.
Theresa May has made a speech to parliament where she has confirmed that the countdown will begin. She has promised to “represent every person in the whole United Kingdom”,including European nationals residing in the UK.
Jean Claude Juncker, The European Commission President, has promised that the European Union will negotiate with Britain in a “fair way, a friendly way” but he highlighted that they would not be naive with the British. Juncker also re-iterated that Britain would have to pay a so-called ‘divorce bill’ to honor their commitments to the European Union budget. Mr Juncker stressed that this bill would in no way be a sanction or punishment for leaving.
There are a great deal of hurdles for the UK to overcome and many believe that it will be difficult to negotiate an exit within the 2 year time limit. There are fears that Britain may be forced to rely upon unfavorable World Trade Organisation Rules. Red lines are being drawn by all sides but if there is one thing that European Nations are united on is that they want a tough negotiation stance with the UK.
The stakes are high for all sides, the European Union cannot be seen to allow Britain a better deal outside of the block than in. Otherwise it risks more nations following Britain’s suit which could lead to the breakup of the Union. Theresa May cannot afford to be seen to give in the EU demands to maintain freedom of movement and the authority of the European Courts. Doing so would risk heavy opposition from domestic Pro-Leave movements who would cry bloody treason. Throw the potential election of Marine Le Penn into the mix and you have a deeply complex, unpredictable climate in which 28 nations (including the UK) have to unanimously agree on a deal, or risk plunging us all into the unknown.
There are already signs that the negotiations will turn nasty. Theresa May has threatened that she will turn Britain into a tax-haven if the EU does not give the UK its way. The European Commission has in turn hardened its stance on the divorce bill and drawn up a number of red-lines. These include guaranteeing the residency rights of British and European citizens and a refusal to allow sector-by-sector access to the single market for UK Industries. On top of all of this, in order to come to an agreement, Britain will have to somehow satisfy the demands of the 27 other nations in the Bloc. All of whom of their own competing interests, ranging from Poles concerned about the protecting their nationals rights in the UK to the Danes worrying about their fishing rights in British waters.
With the divorce negotiations already looking so difficult, I can’t help but think that perhaps we should have worked harder on the marriage.
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is traveling to Washington, D.C., to meet with Republican lawmakers who will probably lead committees that regulate the tech sector.
Republican representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Darrel Issa of California, and Cathy McMorris Rogers of Washington are among those with whom Cook has booked meetings.
The meetings were probably planned several weeks, if not months, beforehand. Top conservatives have criticized Apple since the beginning, and many of them have joined with Twitter CEO Elon Musk in their recent dispute with Apple.
Jordan has publicly expressed his support for Elon Musk, as Bloomberg notes.
When the GOP wins over the House in 2023, Jordan is also set to serve as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s chairman is most likely to be McMorris Rodgers.
They both will play a key role in developing the GOP’s technology policy agenda for 2023.
What is particularly on the agenda is unclear. Even when he is not called to testify about big tech, Cook travels to Washington, DC, on several occasions each year.
The goal is to make sure marginalized people are considered in environmental decisions.
According to Reuters, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a new office to assist underserved communities in coping with the additional responsibilities of pollution and climate change. 200 EPA workers from the Washington headquarters and 10 regional bureaus will work in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.
“The establishment of a new office dedicated to advancing environmental justice and civil rights at EPA will ensure the lived experiences of underserved communities are central to our decision-making while supporting community-driven solutions,” remarked Kamala Harris, vice president of the US.
As part of a $60 billion investment in environmental justice, one of the main responsibilities of the new office will be to supervise the distribution of $3 billion in grants for environmental justice that were made possible by the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act. Additionally, it will ensure that other EPA initiatives adhere to President Biden’s Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of certain government spending go to underserved communities. Finally, it will assist localities in obtaining funds, upholding human rights legislation, and resolving environmental disputes.
The opening of the new office took place in Warren County, North Carolina, the scene of demonstrations against the disposal of toxic waste there in 1982. While the 22-acre dump was not stopped as a result of the civil disobedience actions and arrests that followed, the current environmental justice movement was born. Participants remembered the protests’ 40th anniversary last week.
The competition between Pewdiepie and T-Series has been going on for quite a while. I say this mostly because if Pewdiepie was in the middle of a smear campaign, I would certainly believe that it was all a ploy by T-Series in order to make him lose popularity. However, it seems like T-Series doesn’t have to do much as Pewdiepie is no stranger to getting himself into trouble.
So, what did Pewdiepie do this time? Well, in his most recent edition of “Pew News,” a semi-satirical series where Pewds offers his own take on news events or YouTube discussions, he dedicates the last portion of the video to shouting out smaller YouTube creators he enjoys watching. One of those creators is E;R (otherwise known as “EsemicolonR”), an essayist who often includes anti-Semitic, sexist, homophobic, and cruel language in his videos.
At least that’s what TheVerge and so many outlets/other YouTubers are saying. I took a look at E;R’s content and saw mostly meme videos about political stuff. The guy even made a tribute to Tay AI. You can see a whole documentary made about this by Internet Historian down below:
However, the subjects tackled in the videos can be a bit more problematic because of the current political climate with Pewdiepie. As such, we can assume that a lot of people don’t find this very funny and even reprehensible. Especially when the US is caught in the middle of tension thanks to laws like FOSTA, which are an indirect cause of Tumblr’s collapse right now.
Ever since Pewdiepie has made the shoutout, the channel has gained over 15,000 Subscribers. Of course, this also means that the ire of the people who are against him has risen even more. As such, we’re in this situation where Pewdiepie has gotten himself into trouble yet again despite knowing that the current situation is tense. I guess some people will never learn.
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