December, 2018 archive
‘Tis the Season 0
The Tampa Bay Times’s John Romano offers some updated Christmas carols with a Flori-duh spin.
Facebook Frolics 0
At the Seattle Times, Jacob Silverman calls it for what it is: Surveillance Capitalism. A snippet:
How Phony a Foundation 0
Mike comments on the pattern of illegality in Trump world. (Warning: Language.)
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Shoot yourself in the foot. It’s the latest craze.
Man accidentally shot himself in the foot at Five Points gas station, police say.
The story goes on to report that he touched the gun in his pants and it went off.
Listen for the Echo 0
Hi! Big Data. Come on in.
After all, what could possible go wrong?
Oh.
The magazine said that the recordings had lots of personal information and that it was easily able to find the person whose data was leaked.
The episode underscores that Amazon stores audio files when you speak to Alexa.
The story goes on to report that Amazon says this is an isolated event, but I frankly find their making and keeping the recordings to be creepy. And expected.
How Stuff Works, Regulation Rationale Dept. 0
Thom explains the reason for government regulations and examines the right-wing’s efforts to twist and misinterprete them.
“I Can’t Dance, Don’t Make Me” 0
Alfonso Ribeiro’s dances the legal two-step.
How Stuff Works, Gulling the Gullible Dept., Reprise 0
Brian Greenspun, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, comments on the gulling. A snippet (caps in the original):
Eisenhower then referred the veteran to Eric Hoffer’s book, “ The True Believer.”
In it, Ike said, the “author points out that dictatorial systems make one contribution to their people which leads them to tend to support such systems — FREEDOM FROM THE NECESSITY OF INFORMING THEMSELVES AND MAKING UP THEIR OWN MINDS CONCERNING THESE TREMENDOUS COMPLEX AND DIFFICULT QUESTIONS (caps added).”
(snip)
So, as we head into the Christmas season with high hopes for more joy, not less, more freedom, not less, and a better understanding of our responsibility to keep our democracy strong and vibrant and not one given to autocratic tendencies by some of our leaders, try to remember the concerns of President Eisenhower almost 60 years ago.
Not the concern about the power of the military-industrial complex — we know he was right about that. I am talking about Ike’s fear that our democracy would and could only work if the people — that’s you and me — took the time and made the effort to inform ourselves about the issues of the day.
How Stuff Works, Gulling the Gullible Dept. 0
Via C&KL.
Aside:
Vladimir Lenin’s phrase, which seemed chopped off when I viewed the video, is “useful idiots.”
‘Tis the Season 0
The Tampa Bay Times shares a Festivus List.
