Mammon category archive
They Were Zoned Out 0
Zoned right out of their home, that is.
The Crypto Con 2
It seems the crypto “industry” has found a way to diversify. Here’s a bit from the story at Chron.com:
“August was a landmark month for Riot in showcasing the benefits of our unique power strategy,” Jason Les, CEO of Riot, said in a Wednesday release. Les said the company raked in $31.7 million in energy credits from the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the agency that runs the Texas power grid, by cutting its power use by more than 95 percent during periods of peak demand.
Originalist Sin 0
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse plans to follow the money.
How Far Will Wells-Fargo? 0
Methinks it may not be an overreach to suggest that Wells-Fargo may have redefined the term “stagecoach hold-up.”
All That Was Old Is New Again 0
Der Spiegel has a fascinating interview with MIT economics professor Daron Acemoglu on the effects of advances in technology on society, with a focus on AI. As he looks at the effects of technological changes in history, Acemoglu sees parallels. Here’s a tiny little bit from the article.
DER SPIEGEL: But it is true that humankind has indeed benefited a lot from new technologies.
Acemoglu: That is the reason we have to go so far back in history. The argument that you just gave is wrong. In the past, we’ve always had struggles over the uses of innovation and who benefits from them. Very often, control was in the hands of a narrow elite. Innovation often did not benefit the broad swaths of the population.
DER SPIEGEL: Has the standard of living not risen steadily?
Acemoglu: Today, we are so much more prosperous than the people in earlier ages, that’s true. But there is a tendency to think that the path between must have been a straightforward and inevitable process. We all tend to gloss over the difficulties on the way.
DER SPIEGEL: What do you mean exactly?
Acemoglu: Take medieval windmills, a very transformative technology. It changed the organization of textile manufacturing, but especially agriculture. But you didn’t see much improvement in the conditions of the peasants. The windmills were controlled by landowners and churches. This narrow elite collected the gains. They decided who could use the windmills. They killed off competition.
I commend the complete interview to your attention.
Aside:
You can see this playing out in the current AWG SAG-AFTRA stike.
The Unforgiven 0
At the Portland Press-Herald, Victoria Hugo-Vidal unloads about the fuss over President Biden’s attempts to lift the yoke of student loans from the necks of college students.
I commend her article to your attention.
Aside:
When I went to college, tuition was still within the reach of middle class families. My parents could afford my tuition and I did not need student loans. But that was before Ronald Reagan became president.
Reagon’s toxic trickle-on economics has gutted the middle class, eroded working class incomes, and imposed a crushing burden of debt on college students.
The Pusher Men 0
Mike and Farron discuss the “ghoul calculation.”
Aside:
Apropos Mike’s description of drug companies’ sales techniques: I was married to a nurse.. She told me that the staff where she worked always looked forward to visits from drug company reps, because it meant treats all around.
All in the Family 0
Farron visits Eric Trump’s fantasy world.
It’s All about the Algorithm 0
Speaking of “social” media, Dr. Michael Birnbaum, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, points out that more and more young people are turning to Dr. TikTok (emphasis added):
(snip)
Social media-based algorithms may impact and influence help-seeking in ways that were previously impossible and unimaginable (both for the better and for the worse). As a mental health professional working with young people, who are nearly constantly connected to the Internet, my job is often to help them navigate the wealth of information available online to determine what’s good and what’s bad. A critical question for me and many others in this field is how might a person’s social media feed change or evolve as a result of their online activity and if that change can influence important decisions, like the decision to seek mental health care.
Given that “social” media companies seem to act without considering the implications of their actions and that persons seem willing to believe anything they read on a screen (and the more dubious the source, the more credence they give it), I agree with him that more research is needed. And I think his article is well worth a read in the light of the current state of dis coarse discourse.
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*Methinks he might have found a more appropriate word than “exciting.” Maybe “compelling” or “urgent.”
The Crypto Con 0
Afterthought:
On the railroad, we used to refer to the city in question as “Lost Wages.”
Doubting Clarence Thomas 0
Thom runs the numbers.