Monday, May 04, 2020

German minister backs creating legal right to work from home

This holiday is yours, where we all share with you the hope that this day brings us closer to freedom and to harmony and to peace. No matter how different we appear, we’re all the same in our struggle against the powers of evil and darkness.
– Princess Leia


Would You Have Fallen for This Phone Scam? Krebs on Security


The Deepfake iPhone Apps Are Here LawFare 







Audio Deepfakes Result in Some Pretty Convincing Mashup Performances

ILO: As job losses escalate, nearly half of global workforce at risk of losing livelihoods International Labour Organization




Fraudsters blamed for delays in getting charity donations to bushfire victims

The Australian Red Cross and Salvation Army have so far paid out fewer than half the donations they received to help Black Summer bushfire victims — with one charity claiming it's had to sift through more than 1,000 fraudulent claims.




Tyler has been on this story since before hardly anyone knew there was a story.


Study Finds Unions Make Companies More Productive Vice

USA Today op-ed:  The Corrupt Tax Provision in the CARES Act, by Rep. Doggett & Sen. Whitehouse:

As Americans battled the human and economic devastation of COVID-19, Congress sent rapid relief out to families, our health sector, small businesses and our economy.  The most recent relief bill, the CARES Act, enjoyed wide bipartisan support and will help if implemented effectively. But tucked into its 880 pages were Republican-inserted tax provisions. The more we’ve learned about their immense cost and the few that they benefit, the clearer it is that they have to go.


EU loses over $27 billion in corporate tax a year to UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Netherlands


German minister backs creating legal right to work from home - AP: “Germany’s labor minister wants to enshrine into law the right to work from home if it is feasible to do so, even after the coronavirus pandemic subsides. Labor Minister Hubertus Heil told Sunday’s edition of the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that he aims to put forward such legislation this fall. He said initial estimates suggest the proportion of the work force working from home has risen from 12% to 25% during the virus crisis, to around 8 million people. “Everyone who wants to and whose job allows it should be able to work in a home office, even when the corona pandemic is over,” Heil was quoted as saying. “We are learning in the pandemic how much work can be done from home these days.”…”








It will probably take longer than 12 to 18 months to get a vaccine. Slate. Should come as no surprise, but this is finally getting out into the MSM.
‘False Dawn’ Recovery Haunts Virus Survivors Who Fall Sick Again Bloomberg (JTM). Stories like this drive me crazy. It’s as if they are setting out to make readers stupid. They push the idea of “herd immunity” and then point out it may not be attainable: “…Kentaro Iwata, a professor of infectious diseases at Japan’s Kobe University. ‘Development of antibody inside the body is not necessarily development of immunity against this disease.’”

Coronavirus Disease Outbreak in Call Center, South Korea Emerging Infections Diseases. Early release article.