Mammon category archive
This New Gilded Age 0
Sam and his crew discuss Fran Drescher’s comments on the Hollywood strikes.
Precedented 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Patrick L. Plaisance sounds a cautionary note about chatbots and other AI tools, urging us to not make the same mistake again. A snippet:
Notwithstanding all the benefits of social media connectedness, our failure to seriously address its harms, coupled with the conceited, unrestrained culture of Silicon Valley, has arguably left us diminished in many important ways. The dark side of our digital platforms has contributed to economic disparity (Heuer, 2015), political tribalism (Bail et al., 2018), eroded concentration levels (e.g., Zhao et al., 2021), data exploitation, cyber-bullying—the list goes on.
In the light of the strikes by the screenwriters guild and SAG-AFTRA, as well as suits for copyright infringement, this is a particularly timely piece and well worth the few minutes it will take to read it.
Twits Own Twitter 0
In a related vein, Paul Krugman wonders why tech bros seem somewhat prone to buying into conspiracy theories. A snippet:
Image via C&L.
Sonya Sotomayor Sets the Standard 0
Kathryn Rubino reports as Above the Law.
Dinosaurs Redux 0
I saw pick-up truck yesterday with a bumper sticker reading, “This vehicle is fueled by recycled dinosaurs.”
I thought of that when I saw Brian Greenspun’s column in The Las Vegas Sun. He notes that temperatures in Vegas and around the world are breaking records and argues that dinosaurs are still with us. A bit of his article:
That is if the dinosaurs of today — let’s call them the elected leaders who insist on doing the bidding of the carbon-based industries around the globe — will start making decisions designed to prolong life rather than shorten or downright end it!
Personally, I am somewhat less than optimistic.
Legends in Their Own Minds 0
Methinks Atrios is onto something.
The Crypto Con 0
In our newest episode, the Crypto Con meets the Brady Bunch.
Courting DIsaster, Reprise 0
In reviewing recent statements by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Supremacist Court, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier finds himself somewhat taken aback by what hurts said Chief Justice’s tender fee-fees.
Incompetently Incongruously Assembled
0
Sam and Emma marvel at a Republican Congressman Dan Meuser’s inability to grasp that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau exists to protect (wait for it) . . . .
. . . consumers
Sunk, Reprise 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Noam Spencer looks at why the deaths at sea of five rich people overshadowed those of 700 refugees. Here’ are two of the points he makes:
- Wealth bestows power. Power attracts attention because it has the potential to be consequential in our lives.
- Media outlets driven by profit push stories that are compelling, rather than those that are important.
See his complete piece for a detailed discussion of these and the other points he raises.
This New Gilded Age 0
Ad revenue has long been the primary source of income for newspapers, news magazines, and other news outlets. Now that the majority of persons report getting their news online (and, as an aside, far too much of it from “social” media, but I digress), that stream in drying up.
In the Wilmington News-Journal (and, I suspect, in other Gannett publications), Mike Reed, Chairman and CEO of Gannett, explains why Gannett has chosen to join other news outlets in suing Google for its stranglehold on domineering control of online ad revenue.
It’s a complex issue, so I’ll not try to excerpt or summarize his piece, just recommend that you give it a read.
Prime Targets 0
At Above the Law, Chris Williams takes a voyage into the Amazon jungle.
Fly the Fiendly Skies 0
Llewellyn King, who travels frequently by air, sounds a warning.
If you want to know what you are indeed “in for,” follow the link.
Mean for the Sake of Mean 0
(snip)
Texas is the state where the most workers die from high temperatures, government data shows. At least 42 workers died in Texas between 2011 and 2021 from environmental heat exposure, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers’ unions claim this data doesn’t fully reflect the magnitude of the problem because heat-related deaths are often recorded under a different primary cause of injury.
Follow the link to learn why Texas Republicans think this is a good law.
