Mammon category archive
Magic from the Magic Kingdom 0
El Reg reports that Disney is being sued:
“In other words, the ability to serve behavioral advertisements to a specific user no longer turns upon obtaining the kinds of data with which most consumers are familiar (email addresses, etc), but instead on the surreptitious collection of persistent identifiers, which are used in conjunction with other data points to build robust online profiles,” the suit claims.
I wonder whether their defense will be, “All the other kids are doing it.”
DudeBros 0
Well, there is some good news.
Prosecutors had accused Shkreli of repeatedly misleading investors about what he was doing with their money. Mostly, he was blowing it with horrible stock picks, forcing him to cook up a scheme to recover millions in losses, they said.
Much more at the link. The story does not mention a sentencing date.
The Enronning of America 0
Thom talks to Jesse Eisinger, author of The Chickenshit Club, on how justice fails to prosecute executives in this riveting two part interview.
Part One:
Part Two:
Trumpling Science 0
A scientist speaks out to express his dismay at the Trump administration’s decision ot ignore facts. A snippet:
Follow the link for the scary part.
Trumpling the Rule of Law 0
Dick Polman reminds us that it can happen here and that, if it does, it’s our own damn fault for not paying attention, as a polity, to the politics. A snippet:
In a way I don’t even blame Trump, because he doesn’t know any better. A poseur with Louis XIV pretensions (“L’etat c’est moi,” said the French king – “I am the state”), Trump has no concept of checks and balances, no respect for America’s enduring democratic institutions, and he’s been dodging accountability his whole life. His one mode is attack; long-dead Roy Cohn, his thug mentor, appears to be dispensing advice via his tooth fillings.
Fly the Fiendly Skies 0
Click to see the image at its original location.
I used to travel for work. I was stepping on airplanes two or three times a month to fly all around the USA to marvelous sites such as Fargo, North Dakota, and Monroe, Louisiana (no offense to the persons in those cities; I was always treated with hospitality, but the getting there . . . .). If I never step on another US airline, it will be too soon.
Russian Impulses 0
Shaun Mullen follows the money trail. A snippet:
It is tempting to say that Trump built that network himself as his business empire grew, but in reality members of the network more often used him as a convenient patsy. This has been especially true of money launderers.
Trumpling the EPA, Reprise 0
Shorter version: Science, schmience. We want money.