Mammon category archive
The New Gilded Age 0
It gets more gilded every day. From a report at SFGate:
As I have mentioned, I worked for the railroad (I loved the railroad!), which is a heavily unionized environment (though these days, the unions don’t seem to be as strong as they should used to be). By happenstance, I knew a high-ranking union official, the chief lobbyist for one of the major railroad unions, a kind and honest and thoughtful man, indeed, one of the finest men I have ever known.
He was fond of pointing out that “unions are the creation of management.”
To put it another way, if management treats employees fairly, employees have no incentive to form unions.
The Crypto Con 0
Emma and the crew talk with a caller about the con. (The relevant portion of the clip starts about !:15 mark after a short discussion about China and Taiwan. Short commercial at the end.)
Excerpt:
The companies have huge market caps based on nothing.
Crime and Punishment 0
What Atrios said.
Muskrat Love 0
The Los Angeles Times’s Matt Pearce takes a long and thoughtful look at chaos agent Elon Musk’s stewardship (or perhaps that sever-ship) of Twitter. A snippet:
In a related vein, the EFF offers some guidance to those who might be interested in an alternative to Twitter.
All That Was Old Is New Again 0
Robert Reich reflects of the new Gilded Age and the two persons who most personify it. A snippet:
But both represent the emergence of a particularly American personality in the early years of the twenty-first century: the wildly disruptive narcissist. Both wield sledge hammers to protect their fragile egos. Both are utterly lacking in empathy. Both lie, and push baseless conspiracy theories (such as the one cooked up about Paul Pelosi).
And both are indefatigable self-promoters.
Both are billionaires but they are not motivated primarily by money. Nor are they fueled by any larger purpose, principle, or ideology. Their singular goal is to imprint their giant egos on everyone else — to exercise raw power over people. To make others grovel.
American Oligarchy 0
Thom reminds us that, in an economy of monopolies, monopolies monopolize.
Twits Own Twitter 0
Above the Law’s Chris Williams discerns a madness in the method.
The Crypto Con 0
El Reg explains non-fungible tokens for dummies.
H/T to Harry Shearer for featuring this on Le Show.
Courting Disaster 0
Robert Reich is less than impressed by the track record of Supreme Supremacist Court Chief Justice John Roberts. A nugget:
Cashing Out 0
Above the Law’s Liz Dye examines Donald Trump and his Organization’s attempt to squirrel assets away from legal oversight and escape accountability accounting. A snippet:
Follow the link for details.
Twits Own Twitter 0
Twits Own Twitter 0
I have a sneaking suspicion that Musk is in well over his head on this venture. (The discussion on Tuesday’s Bob Cesca Show certainly gave some hints of reasons for optimism.)
Image via Job’s Anger.
Oil Slickers 0
Brian Greenspun, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, argues that, if you must base your vote on the price of gas, rather than on larger issues, such as, say, just for an example, the loss of our democratic form of government, then
. . . let’s make sure we are blaming the right president for that which is ailing us right now.
Follow the link for a long and complex narrative explaining why prices at the pump got pumped. I doubt if I’ll be giving away in surprises when I say that Joe Biden is the wrong president to blame.
The New Gilded Age 0
F. T. Rea thinks that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are fitting figures for our new gilded age. He suggests:
What Musk and Trump have most in common is that they will always want more.
Follow the link for his reasoning.
(Grammatical erorr correxeded.)
Facebook Frolics 0
SeattlePI reports on yet more metastasized frolics. Here’s the lede:
That’s pocket change to the Zuckerborg.