Mammon category archive
Facebook Frolics 0
The EFF weighs in the inimical implications on Facebook’s decision to wall off its garden from legitimate academic research. A snippet:
Revealing the secrets behind this surveillance-based ecosystem to public scrutiny is the first step in reclaiming our public discourse.
The Zuckerborg is the fast lane of the disinformation superhighway.
The Snaring Economy 0
The EFF explains how Doordash dashed its “independent contractors’ wage slaves’ hopes of equitable remuneration by keeping them from knowing what their tips would be. A nugget:
But what’s good for Dashers wasn’t good for Doordash: the company wants to fulfill orders, even if doing so means that a driver spends more on gas than they make in commissions. Hiding tip amounts from drivers allowed the company to keep drivers in the dark about which runs they should make and which ones they should decline.
That’s why Doordash changed its data-model to prevent Para from showing drivers tips. And rather than come clean about its goal of keeping drivers from knowing how much they would be paid, it made deceptive “privacy and data security” claims.
Follow the link for an explanation as to how Doordash’s claims earned the label, deceptive.
(Broken link fixed.)
Facebook Frolics 0
The Zuckerborg tells researchers, “You can’t track our frolickers. That’s our shtick.”
Who Funds the Voter Fraud Fraudsters? 0
Corporations who profess to protest the voter fraud fraud, among others.
Counter-Factual 0
Will Bunch notes that it has been 52 years since Americans landed on the moon–a feat made possible by science, Science, after all, is the pursuit of fact. He considers why so many Americans now reject science (think vaccines, for example). A nugget (emphasis added):
Indeed, wealthy capitalists and the politicians who aided the backlash and rode it to victories — Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew, Ronald Reagan — were so successful that distrust in science and the conspiracy theories that flow from that distrust now spread as virally as COVID-19 itself, among everyday folks on social media sites like Facebook. Albeit with an occasional booster shot from the most cynical media celebrities like Fox’s Tucker Carlson.
I commend his article to your attention.
Space Invaders 0
David Zurawik is not impressed by rich guys getting high or by the media coverage thereof. He seems to think that it is conspicuous consumption write large. A snippet:
But much of the coverage since has absolutely worn me out with its treatment of Branson as a heroic figure and his joy ride some 50 miles above earth as if it was a monumental moment in human exploration and consciousness.
Follow the link for the rest.
Payday 0
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette takes a long look at whether unemployment benefits keep persons from applying for jobs. In a lengthy article, they explores the pros and cons of the issue. Given all the shouting, the piece is worth a read. Here’s a bit:
“I have not heard a single person in our group say, ‘These benefits are great, I’m going to stay at home,’” said Ms. Deutsch, who also is the director of worker justice campaigns at the Center for Popular Democracy, a progressive advocacy organization based in New York. “They don’t want to experience the shame of being unemployed. They know that even under the best-case scenario, these benefits will not last forever.”
Afterthought:
I doubt seriously that many persons would choose unemployment benefits over gainful employment and suspect that those who do are likely battling other issues, such as drugs or alcohol or personal issues or lack of means of transportation to and from work.
The key phrase, of course, is “gainful employment.”
I believe that what underlies the claims by employers that persons willingly choose unemployment benefits, which are meager at best, is that employers would rather pay meager wages than living ones. So they point their fingers elsewhere to take attention away from the starvation wages they are offering.
But that’s just me.
A Taxing Issue 0
At the Washington Monthly, Jennifer Taub takes a deep dive into the tax fraud charges against Alan Weisselberg and, by implication, Donald Trump’s “business” ventures.
It’s long, complex, and boring, and a very worthwhile read.
Hoarders 0
Thom and his guest discuss the “morbidly wealthy” and their dynastic desires.
“Morbidly weathy.” What a well-turned phrase.
Public Good Private Greed
0
Shorter Will Bunch: Them what has, keeps.