#Algorithms are generally bad, esp. for workers, but good for corporations:
Variable pricing (surge pricing) has a much more insidious effect on workers than on consumers. When a worker is selling their labor… it's about their ability to survive.
Hospitals have begun using apps to allocate tasks based on⬆️sophisticated calculations of how workers move thru space & time -fastest nurse -not necessarily the best at sanitation or skill.
"Lying is 2nd nature to tech execs. If you always assume they're lying, you'll be right far more often than you're wrong."
-R McNamee
"OpenAI publicly committed to give 20% of its computing resources to a team dedicated to controlling the most dangerous kind of AI -never delivered, &, in fact, repeatedly denied that team's requests for resources, sources say. OpenAI is prioritizing product launches over AI safety."
We're thankful for Jamie Raskin's leadership, but #BigOil won't be held responsible for their egregious anti- #climate activity, unless Dems win a majority in the HSE, & hold the Sen. & presidency:
The top Dem lawmaker on the House oversight panel has sought information from nine oil companies about a media report about "quid pro quo propositions" made by Trump. In letters to CEOs of companies including: Exxon, Chevron & Chesapeake.
Even in blue states, corporations that promise jobs & economic growth, dictate the rules, which frequently means low pay & few regulations:
Amazon gets $137M in NY State welfare.
In violation of state open records laws, the secretive state Subsidy Board waived rules on hiring & prevailing wages.
#UniversalHealthcare is necessary for Americans' wellbeing & survival. Profiteering off poorer health outcomes for the insured is...
If you're enrolled in an Aetna MDCR Advantage plan:
WS isn't happy with Aetna’s parent, CVS Health. CEO admitted: paying more claims than usual. CVS execs have promised to do whatever it takes to get profit margins back -likely: Aetna will: refuse to cover some treatments & meds,⬆️your premiums next year, & might dump you.
20% of American business is now controlled by private equity *draining $B's out of our economy every week to stash in the money bins of its morbidly rich owners...
PE reps. capitalism run amok (cancer stage) & it can be deadly. PE acquisitions of nursing homes led to an est. 20K premature deaths.
The Biden admin has taken some tentative steps, but Republicans...
Private Equity loses a deal in California, which is good news to PG&E customers, but it's a rarity:
California PUC rejects PG&E plan to spin off 5.6 GW in non-nuclear assets. PG&E failed to show the proposed transaction meets “even the minimal public interest standard,” the PUC said in its decision. Among other things, there'd be decreased legal accountability for PG&E’s safe & reliable operation of the generating assets, the PUC said.
US Oil producers withheld prod. to DRIVE UP OIL PRICES BY COORDINATING WITH #OPEC.
-h/t M Stoller
Exxon is set to close its $60B deal for Pioneer following an agreement with #antitrust enforcers not to add fmr Pioneer Chief Exec Sheffield to its BOD.
Sad, financial giants like Schwab, prefer #MAGA & #TFG to Pres Biden & Dems, because of tax cuts, more deregulation..., even though #democracy will end & chaos will ensue:
"Schwab Charity Funnels $250 Million to Right-Wing Causes
Money flows to conservative activist Leonard Leo’s network
85 Fund backs groups against trans rights, diversity programs-."
"Eight prominent U.S. newspapers owned by investment giant Alden Global Capital are suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, in a complaint filed Tuesday in the SDNY. On top of a similar case filed by NYT against both companies, the new suits add heft to publishers' claims."
Poor ppl aren't the problem, it's oppression by...
Ppl were dying of famine -but shared a sense of solidarity; while poor ppl did prey on each other -more the exception than the rule.
Poverty doesn’t cause the societal disintegration that leads to most crime, it turns out: #inequality does. America is now -most unequal developed county in the entire world.
The majority of Americans are struggling to get by -number in “middle class” below 50%.
Nationalize drug development? "Operation Warp Speed" worked, initially, but then the companies took advantage of the system.
"Pharma giant Novo Nordisk, a company suing to stop Medicare drug price negotiations, spent a record $2.18M in lobbying in the 1Q of this year."
-Accountable.US
"The only reason prices are going is #corporategreed. They’re going to tell you it’s labor costs, but labor costs don't account for 100% price⬆️at McDonald’s since 2014. They’re gouging—they’re ripping you off."
-N McMurray
"Price inflation at every fast food restaurant in the US has far exceeded CPI inflation since 2014. Prices at McDonalds have DOUBLED since 2014 while official inflation data shows just 31% inflation. Popeyes/Taco Bell/Chipotle⬆️by 86%/81%/75%."
-Kobeissi Letter
Excellent, read 'Precaratize bosses' by @pluralistic, about why capitalism, w/o safeguards, like antitrust enforcement, worker & workplace regulations... is exploiting workers & jeopardizing their wellbeing, job security & futures:
"How do we get capitalists to work harder to make their workers and customers better off? Capitalists tell us how, every day. We need to make them afraid."
The NLRB’s complaint agst SpaceX is based on a law *illegal for cos. to fire or otherwise retaliate agst workers who join together to improve work conds. 8 employees' letter: SpaceX: spell out its anti-harassment policies & enforce them more effectively.
If their lawsuit succeeds in getting the fed courts to declare: NLRB unconst. -could set a dangerous precedent-.