Mammon category archive
Scapegoating Scholarship 0
Sam and Emma talk with professor Nick Kraus about the neoliberal campaign against (small-l) liberal education.
“A God among Men” 0
Afterthought:
If Elon Musk, just to pick one rather obvious example, has demonstrated anything, it’s that our society really needs to stop equating bank balances to IQ points.
The Surveillance State Society
0
The EFF reports on a victory for privacy. A snippet:
So it is welcome news that the Federal Trade Commission has brought a successful enforcement action against X-Mode Social (and its successor Outlogic).
The FTC’s complaint illustrates the dangers created by this industry. The company collects our location data through software development kits (SDKs) incorporated into third-party apps, through the company’s own apps, and through buying data from other brokers. The complaint alleged that the company then sells this raw location data, which can easily be correlated to specific individuals.
More at the link.
Aside:
I find it ironic that persons sweat bullets about limited and regulated “government surveillance” while willingly and heedlessly running nekkid before corporate collectors of confidentia–oh, never mind.
A Taker on the Take 0
Dick Polman follows the money.
“An Exercise of Market Power,” This New Gilded Age Dept. 0
Sam and the crew talk with David Dayen about a recent antitrust jury trial in which Google was found guilty.
The Privatization Scam 0
Sam and the crew dissect the deception behind the duplicity behind the double-talk.
Vampire Capitalists 0
Rebecca Watson warns that hedge funds are coming for your medical care.
Or you can read the transcript.
The Electric (Car) Bugaloo 0
Nikolai Tesla must be rolling over in his grave with embarrassment to have his name associated with this outfit.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
In the course of a longer article debunking a rumor that AI bots are being “trained” on DropBox documents, security expert Bruce Schneier observes (emphasis added)
And Round and Round We Go 0
It would seem that Donald Trump’s lawyers’ strategy can be summed up as, “If at first you don’t succeed, do the same thing harder.”
From Above the Law:
Trump never lied on his financial statements. Or if he lied, he had an “ironclad disclaimer clause” that immunized him from prosecution. And nobody was hurt by his fake finances, it’s a victimless crime. Anyway how can there be a “lie” about subjective valuations, it’s all vibes, man. Plus Michael Cohen is a liar, and the state has no authority to bring this case. Also, if the original loan is outside the statute of limitations, then all the annual statements of finance submitted to the lender are time-barred. So, please don’t murder the Trump Org?
Justice Arthur Engoron wasn’t persuaded the first 1,000 times Trump made these arguments, and he didn’t break his streak yesterday. Although, honestly he seemed a little bored with the whole thing.
Aside:
Methinks the point isn’t to win the motion; it’s to delay the arguments.
Delay has always been Trump’s primary strategy when someone wants to call him to account.