Mammon category archive
You Can Bet on It 0
Sportswriter extraordinaire Bob Molinaro:
Afterthought:
I don’t know about you, but I spell “gamble” L-O-S-E.
Suffer the Children 0
Marie Antoinette (allegedly) said, “Let them eat cake.”
Republican governors and attorneys-general definitely say, “Let them drink lead.”
Afterthought:
I think it not an exaggeration to suggest that today’s Republican Party has abandoned the concept of the “common good.”
The Open Doorbell Fallacy 0
Consumer Reports has an appalling report on how insecure video “security” doorbells are.
Here’s how it starts; follow the link for the appalling part.
If the message came from a complete stranger, it would have been alarming. Instead, it was sent by Steve Blair, a CR privacy and security test engineer who had hacked into the doorbell from 2,923 miles away.
Blair had pulled similar images from connected doorbells at other CR employees’ homes and from a device in our Yonkers, N.Y., testing lab. While we expected him to gain access to these devices, it was still a bit shocking to see photos of the journalist’s deck and backyard. After all, video doorbells are supposed to help you keep an eye on strangers at the door, not let other people watch you.
H/T Bruce Schneier.
Market Farces 0
Sam and the crew talk with Vanderbilt law professor Ganesh Sitaraman about the fallacious reasoning behind deregulating public utilities and services, such as airlines (the main focus of the discussion), and how it made the skies so fiendly as they have become.
Afterthought:
If you die and go to Hell on Delta, you will change in Atlanta.
I’ve changed in Atlanta. It was indeed–er–less than desirable.
The Art of the Con 0
At NJ.com, Kevin Manahan reports on how Trumpish hucksters gulled the gullible with “Trump Bucks.”
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Writing at Psychology Today Blogs, Mary McNaughton-Cassill recounts two experiences she had recently when health insurance “AI” bots turned down her claims because, well, they thought they were smarter than her doctors.
Here’s a tiny bit:
It is a distressing read, but methinks a worthwhile one. Go decide for yourself.
Afterthought:
Automating greed does not make it less greedy.
Birds of a Feather 0
Gene Collier, writing at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, sees parallels between two rather dissimilar figures: Donald Trump and Wayne LaPierre, long-time head of the National Rifle Makers Association.
A snippet:
Follow the link for his reasoning.
Medicare Disadvantage 0
When I qualified for Medicare (yeah, I’m old), I made sure to get traditional Medicare, because even back then [mumble] years ago, I knew that “Medicare Advantage” was little more than a con and a scam designed to let insurance companies suckle at the public teat.
And, speaking of insurance companies . . . .
Double Standards and the Double Dealer 0
Isaac Bailey disagrees with Donald Trump’s and the Trumpettes’ claims that he is a victim of a double standard. Rather, argues Bailey, Trump has benefited from double standards throughout his life.
A snippet (emphasis added):
She’s right. Despite overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing throughout his adult life, only now is Trump being charged or convicted of things such as fraud and being civilly held liable for rape.
Follow the link for context.
The Pusher Men 0
Afterthought:
Based on my experience from a lifetime of fighting against being a fat little kid (I was scrawny little kid till I had my tonsils out in second grade, then I became a fat little kid who wore “Sears husky”–remember Sears?), if you want to lose weight, lift weights and ride a bicycle.
It works, it’s fun, and it’s cheap.
Are You Being Served? 0
A local television newsperson describes how he and several of his colleagues were targeted by telephone scammers claiming to be process servers, but who were actually identity thieves.
The story goes on to say that, according to the Better Business Bureau, this scam is one of the hot new things.