Mammon category archive
The Crypto Con 0
The FBI followed the money. From El Reg (emphasis in the original):
The FBI investigation tracked payments to at least three deputies and their associates from Zort funds, and also probed how Iza was making his money. This led to the criminal charges.
Follow the link to see where it led them.
Medicare Disadvantage 0
Thom reports that hospitals are increasingly frustrated at dealing with Medicare “Advantage” plans, because those “insurers” just don’t want to, well, pay for medical care, because actually paying for stuff cuts into their profits.
As far as I am concerned, Medicare “Advantage” was a con and scam from the git-go. It was created solely to allow private companies to get their paws on public money. When I qualified for Medicare (yeah, I’m old), I made sure to avoid Medicare “Advantage” for the same reason I don’t answer phone calls when the caller ID reads “Scam Likely.”
But that’s just me.
The Crypto Con 0
Paul Krugman is less than sanguine about crypto con artists’ growing interest in and influence on politics. A snippet:
(snip)
So crypto’s political spending clearly seems motivated by financial self-interest, while the right-wing lurch of other tech bros may — as a Facebook founder, Chris Hughes, put it the other day in The New York Times — reflect a sense of common cause with Trump, who like them believes that he shouldn’t have to play by the rules.
Follow the link for the full article.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
I commend to your attention Harry Shearer’s interview with Gary Marcus on this week’s episode of Le Show about AI and Silicon Valley’s reckless over-hyping of its capabilities.
The interview starts at about the 28 minute mark and lasts a little less than half an hour.
The Sure Thing 0
Read the full story for the details.
Aside:
The reason you are seeing so many commercials urging you to install gambling apps on your “device” is simple.
In the long run, you lose.
Gambling* is a mug’s game, and they’re hoping you volunteer to be the mug.
_____________________
*I’ll make exceptions for friendly wagers between friends (he said redundantly) and for playing the ponies. If you know what you are doing, you can do okay playing the ponies. My late ex-father-in-law certainly did very nicely at the OTB. Indeed, thanks to his tutelage on how to read the racing forms, I once hit an exacta at Delaware Park.
Come to think of it, that’s the last time I went to the horse races.
Russian Impulses 0
(Warning: Short commercial at the end.)
A Self Made-Up Man 0
Mrs. Betty Bowers explodes the myth that Donald Trump is a successful businessperson.
Rather, she makes it clear that what he is successful at is giving others the business.
(The Youtube page lists sources for the facts cited in this report.)
The Land Grabber and the Whistleblower 0
And both of them are Florida Men.
Tip for Tat 0
Methinks my old Philly DL friend Noz may have sniffed out the subterfuge.
The Crypto Con 0
Emma talks with Andrew Chow, technology correspondent at Time Magazine, about the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX and crypto in general.
This is well-worth a listen, as it busts a lot of crypto myths.
