Evil Tech: Some You Know

17 Friday Jan 2020

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Some you don’t. READ THE LIST.

The tech industry doesn’t intoxicate us like it did just a few years ago. Keeping up with its problems—and its fixes, and its fixes that cause new problems—is dizzying. Separating out the meaningful threats from the noise is hard. Is Facebook really the danger to democracy it looks like? Is Uber really worse than the system it replaced? Isn’t Amazon’s same-day delivery worth it? Which harms are real and which are hypothetical? Has the techlash gotten it right? And which of these companies is really the worst? Which ones might be, well, evil?

We don’t mean evil in the mustache-twirling, burn-the-world-from-a-secret-lair sense—well, we mostly don’t mean that—but rather in the way Googlers once swore to avoid mission drift, respect their users, and spurn short-term profiteering, even though the company now regularly faces scandals in which it has violated its users’ or workers’ trust. We mean ills that outweigh conveniences. We mean temptations and poison pills and unanticipated outcomes.

Facebook only ranked number 2?!

Might the future not require those cool shades we were sold on in the 80s?

Napolitano on Soleimani

16 Thursday Jan 2020

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The Judge has come back around. Not that he ever left; he and I just had a difference of opinion about some matters Ukranian. But, he’s spot on with the story of the murder of Gen. Soleimani.

The general’s assassination was odd, out of place, untimely and unlawful. Odd, because the general’s folks had worked with our intelligence folks in Iraq against ISIS. Out of place, because the Iranian general was welcomed by the Iraqi government and was not engaged in any violence or war crimes at the time he was killed. Untimely, because whatever he may have been planning to do was not an imminent attack on the U.S. or on Americans. We know this because Trump administration officials revealed that the president gave the kill order seven months ago, in June 2019. How imminent could an attack have been in June if it had not occurred by January?

And unlawful, because we are not at war with Iran, and political assassinations have been prohibited by still valid executive orders signed by Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Ronald Reagan. The U.S. Constitution limits the federal government’s lawful power to kill to foreign troops in wartime and after due process, neither of which abides here. Moreover, international treaties to which the U.S. is party, as well as the laws of war to which the U.S. subscribes, prohibit preemptive killings except when the target is just about — “certainty” is the standard — to strike.

Now, back to the shifting sands of justification.

I imagine those have shifted yet again, not that anyone is watching. More of the same.

Trial of the Century?

16 Thursday Jan 2020

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Probably not. But, the Senate impeachment trial is up and running.

Schiff, standing in the well of the Senate usually reserved for senators, began reading the resolution, “Impeaching Donald John Trump, president of the united states for high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Later in the afternoon, Chief Justice John Roberts was to administer the jurors’ oath to senators who swear to deliver “impartial justice.”

Yawn. Now, back to lunch.

The Differences Between the Lines

16 Thursday Jan 2020

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Post 3,001 … back on the sad state of world politics. But, this is a story about the stories. There’s a wide gulf of a difference between reporting around the world.

In the US, Drudge, CNN, etc. lamented the sad spectacle of the latest Democratic “debate.” Yeah, TrumpSlide. Elsewhere, the same sources provided lackluster commentary (OH WOW! WHAT?) on the Putin/Medvedev shakeup (again) in Russia. The dynamic duo certainly plots something. What? Other sources speculate in various ways.

RT has a humorous, it’ll-be-okay approach.

The Asia Times sees something familiar – a ploy to keep power for life.

Which is right? Who knows. The point is to get off the standard US right-left charade and make independent assessments. There, that wasn’t so painful, now was it?

Post 3,000

15 Wednesday Jan 2020

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3,000! THREE THOUSAND posts since the blog began back in 2012. I’ve been running a little hard lately. In the near term, I may slow just a hair to concentrate on some projects, but folks, we’re only just warming up, here.

This report came in on Monday:

Screenshot 2020-01-13 at 6.23.06 PM

4 Million words in 20.5 months. That’s a little high – it’s probable that the total accounts for many articles, etc. that were checked at least twice. Still, I’d estimate it’s really more like 2 Million, or roughly 97,500 per month, 3,200 words a day. That’s about right. I average in the top 2-3% of users for volume and for unique words. Mistakes too, as many of you know.

Anyway, this is 3,000. No. 2,999 was about Amazon publishing:

Screenshot 2020-01-15 at 10.02.13 AM

Know idea what’s up next. Rest assured, you will read it here. More to come!

Screenshot 2020-01-15 at 10.10.50 AM

And, Thank You, All! – P

In Good Company

15 Wednesday Jan 2020

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There’s something to the trend of Amazon both publishing and selling books, particularly fiction. My debut novel is doing okay, and apparently making waves now, but I’m not in the league of Amazon’s latest super author, Dean Koontz.

When Dean Koontz’s book contract expired last year, his stature as one of the country’s top-selling authors made him a hot target for several major publishing houses. He chose Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -1.16%

It was a surprising move because it means his new books likely won’t appear in retail stores, which generally boycott Amazon AMZN -1.16% -published titles. But Mr. Koontz is banking on Amazon’s vast retail machine to get his work to readers, whether in physical or digital formats.

“Maybe I won’t be in some stores or make the New York Times best-seller list, but I’m willing to take that risk and I think we’ll sell more books in all formats,” Mr. Koontz said.

Amazon dominates the U.S. book-retail market—accounting for over half of all new books sold in October, according to research firm Codex Group—but it is also a force as a book publisher. Signing up blue-chip authors like Mr. Koontz could make the tech giant an even more formidable threat to the traditional industry, led by publishing houses such as Penguin Random House, which is controlled by Germany’s Bertelsmann SE, ViacomCBS Inc.’s Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins Publishers, which is owned by Wall Street Journal parent News Corp.

Mr. Koontz’s first novel for Amazon is expected to publish March 31. He already has published a collection of short stories, “Nameless,” that generated over a million downloads in the first month after its debut last November. The stories are available only as e-books and audiobooks.

Mr. Koontz, whose over 100 books include hits like “Odd Thomas” and “Watchers,” isn’t the only high-profile writer Amazon Publishing has snared. In 2018, Patricia Cornwell signed a two-book deal; the first novel, “Quantum,” was published last October and enjoyed brisk downloads despite poor reviews. Both Mr. Koontz and Ms. Cornwell are in the top 25 of all currently published U.S. adult fiction writers, as measured by the size of their most dedicated fan bases, according to consumer surveys by Codex.

I am not in the, uh, top 20. But, getting there! (?) A million sales in the first month; I think I could handle that. Go Koontz!

Under the Omnibus – from TPC

14 Tuesday Jan 2020

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Under the Omnibus

Your insane President, when he’s not murdering known diplomats, enjoys signing garbage legislation from the criminal Congress. Last month, at the urging of Bitch McConnell and the other reprobates, The Trump cheerfully signed into law a poorly-cobbled amalgamation of a spending bill. The Empire doesn’t do full budgets anymore, so it’s only $1.37 Trillion at a sad time – generally once per quarter. But the embarrassing expense of evil comes with other costs. The new law also raised the age for purchasing cigars and other tobacco products to 21. And, thank God! Now, I can finally enjoy a smoke without all those damned pesky toddlers roaming around the lounge crying and exchanging germs (sorry, Bess, what they do). The ban, as you may know, is plainly authorized by the Zeroth Amendment of the US Cornsternation.

Tweeted The Trump: “Our beautiful, beautiful children. So much smoke. IRAN WILL NEVER ROLL A CIGAR. My watch. SO SAD. Obama did it too. Yuuge. MIGA.” Ketchup on a well-done steak.

My tobacconist buddy’s new warning sign. Humorous dissent is, for now, still legal.

Building on this trend of creeping incrementalism, a sarcastic state senator in Vermont, John Rodgers, whom I’d kind of like to meet, introduced a bill to ban “children” under the age of 21 from owning or using cellular mind control and tracking devices. Rodgers noted that he wouldn’t even vote for the change himself, stating that he introduced it to make a point. “The kids” can’t buy smokes or beer. Why let them dull their minds and risk their lives sexting and driving? I might suggest a rider to raise the driving age as well.

Mr. Rodgers: please keep this one in your neighborhood. Should Trump, Pelosi, and the other shits get wind of it, they may well try to federalize the concept. I’m sure the CIA-OPA could quickly conjure up a convincing B-movie-like video showing some paid actors trashing an embassy or something because Iran wants to cellularize our youth. My only hope is that they would still allow 5G to proceed apace; in addition to the wonderful biological benefits you’ll soon experience from the well-tested super-duper-micro-hyper waves, you just wouldn’t believe what else they will enable. But, you will.

Anyway, all this got me thinking. Some few of you from time to time murmur that you oppose big government. Yet and still, later this year, you’ll rush right out and cast your votes to keep it around. So be it. I’m here to help, really. The other week, for the first time in my life, I proposed a tax – for the children! Now, I have another idea.

…

READ THE WHOLE THING HERE

The Ultimate Miscarriage of Justice

14 Tuesday Jan 2020

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There is no justice for the masses in this dead shell of an empire. Even in a time of cultural rot when anything (that does not make sense) goes, a couple of broads, some of them pretty good-looking, in New Hampshire, cannot release the pink-nosed puppies without being arrested. The US Supreme Court, failed farce that it is, couldn’t care less.

The Supreme Court on Monday decided not to “Free the Nipple,” refusing to hear an appeal by three women fined by a city in New Hampshire for exposing their breasts in public who argued that banning female but not male toplessness violates the U.S. Constitution.

The justices left in place a 2019 ruling by New Hampshire’s top court upholding the women’s convictions for violating an ordinance in the city of Laconia that makes it illegal to show female breasts in public “with less than a fully opaque covering of any part of the nipple.”

The women – Heidi Lilley, Kia Sinclair and Ginger Pierro – were involved in the “Free the Nipple” movement, which court papers described as campaigns against “sexualized objectification of women” and in favor of women being able to go topless in public if they wish.

Starting to believe those rumors about some of the Justices. This is “live free or die?” Shame on the Granite State, shame. And, I guess this puts the final nail in the coffin of the Free State Project; smoking MJ is not an ideology, libertarians. And, it’s objectifying women. I’m not down with that. Free the nipple! (On the hotties!)

Lie, after Lie, after Lie, after…

14 Tuesday Jan 2020

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It doesn’t really matter?

US President Donald Trump has lashed out against the “fake news media” and their “Democrat partners” over criticism of his administration’s decision to assassinate Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
The president claimed in tweets marred with misspellings that it does not matter if Soleimani presented an imminent threat to the US, something he had said previously to defend the assassination, because of the general’s “horrible past.”

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

The Fake News Media and their Democrat Partners are working hard to determine whether or not the future attack by terrorist Soleimani was “imminent” or not, & was my team in agreement. The answer to both is a strong YES., but it doesn’t really matter because of his horrible past!

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Trump also accused the media of trying to portray “terrorist Soleimani” as a “wonderful guy.”

Though the president has claimed the January 3 assassination of Soleimani was due to the general planning attacks against US forces and embassies, his own defense secretary admitted on Sunday that he “didn’t see” any specific evidence to suggest those attacks were imminent.

 

I’m sure they have just as much evidence about the horrible past as they did about the imminent attacks.

AND, what if the following had any truth to it?

The Russian military website refers to an independent investigation that concluded the US is “at least partial US responsibility” in the January 8 tragedy:

“According to experts, the US military had deliberately changed the information on the Ukrainian Boeing 737 flight, making it a real target for the Iranian air defense systems.”

According to data from Pentagon-related sources, several U.S. military planes were observed in the sky in the vicinity of Iran’s airspace, just at the time of the Boeing’s flight departure.

Anomalies were observed on Iran’s radar system, probably due to a cyber attack.

The civilian plane was therefore confused with a fighter plane heading directly for a military target.

“Since the pilot made a U-turn, it is very likely that the US cyber attack had also focused on the navigation system of the Ukrainian Boeing. This is not the first time that Americans have done this type of action, ” said Avia.pro.

What? Nothing, of course. We don’t do the truth anymore in this dead nation. Let nothing interfere with the football and the drugs. Yes, long-time readers, I was on this aviation remote threat five years ago. Good to see the warning was heeded.