{"id":311064,"date":"2025-06-25T07:08:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T07:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=311064"},"modified":"2025-06-26T05:54:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T05:54:39","slug":"this-week-in-the-new-normal-102","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=311064","title":{"rendered":"This Week in the New Normal #102"},"content":{"rendered":"

Off-Guardian \u2013 June 23, 2025<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Our successor to This Week in the Guardian<\/em>, This Week in the New Normal<\/a><\/em> is our weekly chart of the progress of autocracy, authoritarianism and economic restructuring around the world.<\/p>\n

1. The UK\u2019s \u201cToxic air\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A new report from the Royal College of Physicians claims the UK\u2019s air is so polluted it will kill 30,000 people this year.<\/p>\n

Well, not actually kill. Rather, the \u201ctoxic air\u201d will be \u201clinked to\u201d 30,000 deaths.<\/p>\n

What exactly that \u201clink\u201d is we don\u2019t yet know, but thanks to Covid we can make some fairly educated guesses.<\/p>\n

This is a potentially hard sell, because air quality in the UK \u2013 and much of the West \u2013 has actually improved significantly in the last couple of generations.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why you get paragraphs like this one<\/a> in the Independent [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n

There is \u201cno safe level\u201d of air pollution<\/strong>, which negatively affects nearly every organ in the body, according to a new report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). Despite emissions having reduced significantly in recent decades, even low concentrations of air pollution can have impacts on foetal development, cancer, heart disease, stroke, mental health conditions and dementia, the report warns.<\/p>\n

There is \u201cno safe level\u201d of pollution? Really?<\/p>\n

Are we going to have to get to actual<\/em> zero emissions then, rather than just net zero?<\/p>\n

This is all in the name of rebranding pollution from an \u201cenvironmental issue\u201d to a \u201cpublic health issue\u201d, just as they are trying to do with climate change. How do I know that? Because they said so\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAir pollution can no longer be seen as just an environmental issue \u2013 it\u2019s a public health crisis,\u201d said RCP president Dr Mumtaz Patel.<\/p>\n

Apparently, medical professionals will be demanding that the government take action to meet \u201cambitious\u201d air quality targets.<\/p>\n

What exactly those actions are we don\u2019t yet know, but thanks to Covid we can make some fairly educated guesses.<\/p>\n

2. Cell-phone data used to \u201cnab speeders\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Washington State police have purchased cell phone data and used it to \u201cnab\u201d potential speeders, according to a report published a few days ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cellphone data from more than 1 million cellphone users in Washington in 2023 helped the state identify where to look for dangerous drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201dThis is so exciting to be using data that we haven\u2019t had access to before,\u201d said Washington Traffic Safety Commission acting Director Shelly Baldwin, \u201cThis is predictive as opposed to reflective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apparently, the data didn\u2019t actually indicate specific people who had committed crimes, but rather identify trends and areas where people might be more likely to speed. So while it\u2019s not quite as bad as it sounds, it is still concerning.<\/p>\n

Really, the worrying aspect is that a government agency was able to purchase data on over a million people from a private company.<\/p>\n

3. Paint is terrorism, apparently<\/strong><\/h3>\n

UK Home Secretary is seeking to ban the Palestine Action protest group under anti-terrorism legislation<\/a> this week, after members broke into a Royal Air Force base and threw paint on some planes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to explain how that isn\u2019t terrorism. Nobody should have to.<\/p>\n

That said, I trust Palestine Action \u2013 and pretty much all high-profile protest groups \u2013 about as far as I could throw them.<\/p>\n

I would even argue the entire point of people throwing paint on Van Gogh\u2019s and glueing themselves to the middle of the road is so people cheer on \u201canti-terror\u201d legislation that hands down brutal prison sentences for non-violent protests.<\/p>\n

BONUS: Irony of the week<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Retro rocker Marilyn Manson is launching a UK tour soon, and some politicians want to ban him from performing.<\/a><\/p>\n

The funny part is that this isn\u2019t the conservative right, who used to protest his shows because of supposedly Satanic this or violent that or whatever moral panic was in vogue. No, now it\u2019s the left who want to ban him, because he\u2019s been accused of sexual assault.<\/p>\n

Just accused, not convicted, not even charged. The prosecutor threw out the case. But still, let\u2019s normalise censorship and cancel culture.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all bad\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Not exactly good news, but this weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Jaws, the original summer blockbluster.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s genuinely great movie, and I would recommend In the Teeth of Jaws, the documentary made to mark the 25th anniversary, as well.<\/p>\n

Robert Shaw deserved an Oscar for this speech alone. Don\u2019t watch this clip if you\u2019ve never seen the movie before\u2026<\/p>\n