Mammon category archive
Facebook Frolics, Reprise 0
From a New Mexico State Department of Justice press release:
The press release also states that the Zuckerborg will have to pay $25,000,000,000 in civil penalties.
One more time: You don’t use “social” media. “Social” media uses you.
Follow the link for details.
This New Gilded Age 0
Michael in Norfolk makes an important point.
This New Gilded Age 0
Via The Sacramento Bee, Daniel de Visé runs the numbers. A snippet; follow the link for context.
The American Dream will cost you $5.3 million over a lifetime.
(snip)
That $5.3 million tab is more than the average American can afford. The typical full-time worker with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn $3.6 million from ages 25 to 64, Investopedia says. Twenty years of Social Security benefits raise that worker’s lifetime income to $4.1 million, still $1.2 million less than the cost of the American Dream.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A tool for thievery? Via The Sacramento Bee, Tobi Opeyemi Amure and Celine Provini follow the money trail.
Facebook Frolics 0
Ariana Bindman warns you not to fall for the Zuckerborg’s latest strategy for assimilating all before it, via the “personal assistant” dubbed “muse.” Here’s a tiny bit from her article:
Ultimately, Muse isn’t really a personal assistant — it’s a digital panopticon disguised as an imp.
Follow the link for her reasoning, and, remember, you are not using “social” media. “Social” media companies are using you.
This New Gilded Age 0
Thom discusses myriad ways in which the Trump maladministration is empowering corporations and depowering consumers.
Unprecedented 0
Mona Charen argues that Donald Trump has raised the bar to heights previously unknown. Here’s a tiny bit from her article (emphasis added):
What Were the Odds? 0
I wonder whether anyone bet on this in those “prediction markets,” because it was pretty much a given.
More at the link.
This New Gilded Age 0
In the midst of a column about the somewhat surprising results of a recent poll in Alabama, Kyle Whitmire includes a quotation from Les Barnett, a member of Alabama’s public television commission, which pretty much sums up this new gilded age:
The Climates They Are a-Changing . . . 0
. . . and Antarctica it is a-thawing.
Here’s a fun fact from the report:
The frozen continent holds enough ice to raise global sea level by about 190 feet (58 meters).
Just think, the property in Richmond, Va., could be a beach again,
And, natch, the Trump maladministration wants to speed the melt.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
The end of human civilization? John M. Crisp is not sanguine. Here’s a bit from his article (emphasis added):
(snip)
Sometimes superintelligent AI is described as a new, entirely different species. And if AI’s “brain” is aligned with human values and goals, we’re probably in big trouble. As we humans have burned through our resources, we’ve given little thought to the preservation of other species that stand in our way. Many have perished in the process.
This New Gilded Age 0
According the Blue Cross Blue Shield, that it controls 84% of Alabama’s health insurance market doesn’t mean it’s got a monopoly.
Golly gosh gee no, Batman.
This New Gilded Age 0
Robert Reich finds a straw at which to grasp.
Follow the link for his reasoning.