Masters of the Universe category archive
Journey through the Jungle 0
The Inky tells the tale of a long and twisted tour through the wilds of the Amazon(.com).
Immunity Impunity
0
Ronald E. Riggio explains why the rich, the powerful, and the famous believe that they are above the law. (And if you don’t recognize that many of them do, you just aren’t paying attention.)
Data Breaches of Trust 0
Representative Katie Porter (D-CA) toasts Equifax’s CEO.
Carrion Crows 2
Peter Whoriskey explains the hedge fund buy-out con and how it stiffs honest working persons. A snippet:
The anger arises because although the sell-off allowed Sun Capital and its investors to recover their money and then some, the company entered bankruptcy leaving unpaid more than $80 million in debts to workers’ severance and pensions.
For Sun Capital, this process of buying companies, seeking profits and leaving pensions unpaid is a familiar one. Over the past 10 years, it has taken five companies into bankruptcy while leaving behind debts of about $280 million owed to employee pensions.
How Far Will Wells Fargo? 0
One more time, pretty damned far.
Goldman’s Sacks, Mnuchin Minutiae Dept. 0
Thom and David Dayen discuss the career of Treasury secretary Mnuchin, aka “The Foreclosure King,” who Dayen describes as “the fox that is guarding the hen house.”
How Far Will Wells Fargo? 0
Apparently, pretty damned far.
I used to bank at Wells-Fargo, because they gobbled up the honest bank that gobbled up the honest bank where I had an account. I must admit that I put off changing banks too long, because doing so is an annoying and laborious task, but, really, one can only take so much.
The straw that broke this camel’s back was the story about Wells employees’ creating phony accounts to meet draconian sales quotas. I remember that, when I called up the outfit that handles my pension to change my direct deposit, the fellow on the other end of the call said, “We’ve been getting lots of calls from persons who have changed from Wells-Fargo.”
I filled him in on the news. He was aghast somewhat taken aback at Wells’s conduct.
Aside:
I notice that, in the Sunday New York Times, Wells has been running full-page ads about how they have changed.
Color me skeptical.
Your Private Vehicle Isn’t–Private, That Is 0
My local rag reports that Ford is considering mining customer data for fun and profit. Here’s a bit from the article:
Data mining is a highly lucrative revenue stream.
General Motors recently tracked the habits of 90,000 drivers in Chicago and Los Angeles who agreed to have their car-radio listening habits tracked to assess the potential relationship between what they listen to and what they buy.
Ford CEO Jim Hackett provided a glimpse into what sounds like a potentially massive data mining plan. His remarks were made during a Freakonomics Radio interview for a podcast released Nov. 8.
“We have 100 million people in vehicles today that are sitting in Ford blue-oval vehicles. That’s the case for monetizing opportunity versus an upstart who maybe has, I don’t know, what, they got 120, or 200,000 vehicles in place now. And so just compare the two stacks: Which one would you like to have the data from?” Hackett said, according to the podcast transcript.
The Watchers 0
A New Hampshire court wants Amazon’s Alexa digital surveillance device assistant to testify in a murder trial. Here’s a bit from the story:
“The court finds there is probable cause to believe the server(s) and/or records maintained for or by Amazon.com contain recordings made by the Echo smart speaker from the period of Jan. 27 to Jan. 29, 2017 … and that such information contains evidence of crimes committed against Ms. Sullivan, including the attack and possible removal of the body from the kitchen.”
The story goes on to say that Amazon is inclined not to cooperate “without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on us”* in the interests its customers’ “privacy” (because, I reckon, that belongs to Amazon).
I will be curious to see how this turns out.
But this is certain: So long as persons unthinkingly invite Big Data into their personal spaces and willingly subject themselves to perpetual corporate surveillance, we will be seeing more like this.
Me, I can flip my own damn light switch.
_______________
*Like, maybe, just supposin’ here, a judge’s order?
Everybody Must Get Fracked 0
From the website:
A new report, again, concludes that fracking is causing earthquakes, more and more earthquakes around the globe. And now lawsuits are helping hold the frackers liable for their action. Ring of Fire’s Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins discuss the issue.
The Entitlement Society 0
Robert Reich comments on the self-important snowflakes of our new Gilded Age and manages to find commonalities amongst a most disparate set of folks.
