I mean yes it's electromagnetic radiation.

but it would also be a way of shutting people up, you don’t have enough money to get by? Well you get your UBI so it’s got to be enough, if it isn’t then tough luck I guess.

And the same thing cannot be said if you have means-tested welfare?

At least in the German discussion about this it's generally understood that it'd replace regular unemployment and disability payments, but not abolish things like say money the blind get because braille displays are expensive. Our social systems already work with averages.

That the payment is sufficient is already included in the "B" term, btw. In German terms it's supposed to cover the socio-cultural existence minimum: Enough to live and participate in society.

The difference it not billionaires but the middle class.

No. The difference you imagine would be due to the specific tax rate applied, not due to "everyone gets a flat 1000 Euro payment and pays a flat 50% tax" vs. "The tax bracket for people with income under 2000 Euro is negative". Do the maths: With 1000 Euro and 50%, the break-even point, where you pay exactly as much tax as you get in UBI, is 2000 Euro income.

You're getting tangled up in irrelevant details. The "universal" part is about not having means testing, about not having to take on every fucked-up job the dole office throws at you. It's about the net amount in your pocket, not how it's calculated.

Negative tax is a way to implement UBI. It's mathematically equivalent to paying out a flat sum and taking a flat tax which is easier to administer but then there's the political opinions of the mathematically uninclined asking "why are we giving billionaires money". (And yes both schemes are progressive, flat tax alone wouldn't be).

They're even in favour of doing it on the EU level, and argue that the TFEU already contains the language necessary for the EU to do it.

a) how powered and for how long?

Might even be passive, a tuned resonator. Heck it could be a bug, IIRC ironically passive bugs are (age-old) soviet tech. Imagine sweeping the whole frequency spectrum for resonators with 50s tech they were a nightmare to screen for.

and b) why a chocolate bar if so?

Maybe the idea is to track people for some time to gather intelligence on trench operations? Most probably aren't going to eat the thing right away.

Speaking Realpolitik: Currently, nothing is going to change Israel's approach. They already are practically cut off from German arms productions (still able to get replacement parts for radar systems, air defence, such stuff), they could be cut off from US military support and be sanctioned and still continue. It wouldn't make more Israelis demonstrate on the streets, there's already plenty of those, it won't make the Kahanites become any less genocidal.

...and what I just slipped in implicitly there is that the German government, as in at least the ministerial level, does consider the Gaza erm situation a genocide. At least a potential one. Because otherwise the export licenses would match the defence attorney tone before the ICJ, which it doesn't. ("Your honour, it is true that my client commits plenty of war crimes but genocide, no, genocide requires intent and.... shuffles papers intent cannot be established without a sound mind and they are acting out of PTSD, to wit, we caused it. My client pleads temporary insanity"). It also doesn't get said openly, again Realpolitik: It wouldn't change anything on the ground and have potentially negative effects when it comes to Germany's ties into Israeli civil society. And, of course, if Scholz is good at anything then it's at sitting things out.

It sucks but the whole thing will have to play out. It may even end in an Israeli civil war, what's certain is that there's going to be a hell of a hangover. The US could have stopped the whole thing, but that would've required a) quick thinking directly after the October attacks and b) a better understanding of Israel than the US has. The US would have had to dock that aircraft carrier they sent to Israel, unloaded a battalion of marines, and go Hamas-hunting themselves. Side-line the IDF, keep an eye on them, witness directly what's happening.

As to compromises: Why the hell are we talking about this the next EU elections are when, 2029. Both parties are going to be basically irrelevant on a member state level, maybe some municipal or even state seats but that's it. Effectively this is some BSW-level "let's make state elections about federal politics" shit, why didn't Wagenknecht talk about brand-new state-owned ore mines to create new jobs for all those coal miners. About expropriating means of production. About fixing green fuckups by investing in district heating. Stuff, you know, state governments actually have the power to do.

https://diem25.org/diem25-hat-einen-plan-fuer-frieden-der-ukraine/

Eine Regierungsstruktur für die östlichen und südlichen Gebiete der Ukraine auf der Grundlage des nordirischen Karfreitagsabkommens, um die politische Gleichberechtigung zwischen der russischsprachigen und der ukrainischsprachigen Bevölkerung zu gewährleisten.

The fuck. Without Russian invasion there would be no political inequality between Ukrainian and Russian-speaking Ukrainians GTFO with those Kremlin talking points. Aside from that, demands that would allow Russia to re-invade at their heart's content. "Mutual non-aggression treaty" they didn't even have the decency to say "security guarantees by states that can roflstomp Russia". Russia broke a fucking security guarantee they gave Ukraine when invading, shit's not worth the paper it's written on.

So much about standing up to genocidal regimes, eh. So much about anti-imperialism.

They're left-liberal which yes isn't socialist by a long shot, OTOH it's well within the overton window, thus actually able to be an electoral success. It's also a position which is completely underserved because neolibs captured everything even close to centre.

Oh, for all the yanks out there: Left-liberal is when UBI (because no proper employment market without uncomplicated social net) and business politics for SMEs instead of multinationals and plenty of antitrust with plenty of teeth. Petite bourgeois with at least a form of class consciousness. And gay marriage of course.

Are you, by any chance, letting the perfect be the enemy of the not completely evil?

If a chain, cable, or wire comes loose on a car then the panels are the least of anyone's worries. Also expect emergency brakes to kick in automatically. This is a train, not a bicycle.

Mozilla has been diversifying for ages, it's what stuff like buying pocket was all about. They should be making around 100m off the side hustles by now, plenty to keep the lights on, but still a small sum compared to the 500m they get from selling the default search engine spot.

Also, just as a reminder: Mozilla doesn't exist to make money for Firefox, Firefox exists to make money for Mozilla's general internet charity work.

Should you really be working when you’re claiming retirement checks from your union?

As a carpenter? Yes and no. It shouldn't compete with what union people are by and large doing for their steady bread and butter but completely outlawing earning any money is cruel to the type of busy-bees that many tradespeople are. Hand-craft chessboards or something, anything where skill and mastery is eclipsing the industrial aspect. Also teaching, training, and consulting. Retirement should be a role-change (if desired), not a kick to the curb. Also, accommodate for half-retirement: Half the cheque, half the jobs kind of situation.

Still makes sense in places with tight housing markets, though. Triply and quadruply so if it's infested by speculative investment. Then make sure that short-term rentals require a hotel license if it even smells of being a commercial short-term rental (couch surfing is completely fine, doesn't take up a housing unit) and last, but not least: Public housing. Look at Vienna as to how to do it but that can literally take the better part of a century to do because land. Specifically in the US, you also need to build tons of public transit don't worry even if you make your metro free at the point of use it's cheaper than road/sewer upkeep in suburbia. Suburbia is a financial graveyard for municipalities, they just don't generate enough tax revenue for the infrastructure they demand.