dangillmor

dangillmor, 6 hours ago to random

Another Supreme Court "justice" who's an out and out insurrectionist. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/us/justice-alito-upside-down-flag.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sU0.Ul57.KzkpFSD-0V_Z&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

dangillmor, 6 hours ago to random

As warned, Reddit has taken a bundle of money from "Open"AI and will use it to further monetize what you -- and the volunteers who moderate it all -- contributed for free.

It's the norm now, and particularly slimy in this case.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/16/24158529/reddit-openai-chatgpt-api-access-advertising

dangillmor, 6 hours ago to random

Read the latest from Josh Marshall on polls, debates, and (as nearly always) wretched NY Times political coverage. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-quick-survey-of-numbers-vibes-and-the-inner-lives-of-campaigns/sharetoken/GxZzy8WqefbD

dangillmor, 8 hours ago to random

Democrats ask America's most corrupt Supreme Court justice, Clarence Thomas, if he would be kind enough, pretty please, to explain more about his corruption...

He is, of course, not explaining anything -- and daring anyone to do something about it.

https://newrepublic.com/article/181627/clarence-thomas-rv-loan-democrats-letter

dangillmor, 8 hours ago to random

I was honored to meet Mastodon founder Eugen Rochko, aka @Gargron, yesterday afternoon in San Francisco. He's the real deal: committed to doing something good for the world and boasting serious technical skills. He also has genuine humility, a welcome trait in the tech world.

The occasion was a meet-and-greet put together by Flipboard's @mike, whose company has enbraced the fediverse in a big way.

I hope to do more to help make the fediverse succeed.

You're helping, by participating.

dangillmor, 12 hours ago to random

As CNN documents, it was outsiders who caused the violence at UCLA, not the students. And it's vital to keep in mind that the police "stood by for hours" -- watching (obviously indifferent if not pleased) as the outsiders beat up protestors and journalists -- and thereby became collaborators with the violent intruders into a peaceful protest.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/16/us/ucla-student-protests-counterprotesters-invs/index.html

dangillmor, 13 hours ago to random

Dairy farmers get vast subsidies from taxpayers -- ridiculously high subsidies in some cases (though they have nothing on weapons contractors).You would imagine that would persuade them to do their civic duty in reporting possible bird flu cases. Nope.

https://www.notus.org/healthcare/farmer-bird-flu-cases-hide-cows-federal-government

If bird flu breaks out widely in humans, it will be beyond catastrophic.

dangillmor, 1 day ago to random

If you care about voters being genuinely informed on key issues, the absolute worst thing about presidential so-called debates is live audiences filled with partisans.

But for media corporations, it's all about money -- and they love these events because they generate ratings.

dangillmor, 2 days ago (edited 2 days ago) to random

It should be astonishing that after Trump publicly solicited a $1 billion bribe from Big Energy, Big Journalism just shrugged and moved on.

It is not astonishing.

dangillmor, 2 days ago to random

Big Journalism has been remarkably incurious about who's funding Christopher Rufo, notorious purveyor of bad-faith right-wing slime. At his Important Context newsletter, @walkerbragman has the story.

https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-big-money-behind-chris-rufos

dangillmor, 2 days ago to random

Play-by-play Trump trial coverage, with so-called analysis of whether the prosecution or the defense has "scored points" -- the staple of Big Journalism right now -- is the equivalent of horse-race political coverage.

All it takes are stenographic skills and the ability to make confident-sounding guesses. It's clickbait and ratings bait, and it does nothing good for public understanding.

dangillmor, 3 days ago to random

More than any other election year I can remember, the New York Times is obsessed with polling.

Then again, the organization's top editor has said explicitly that polls are driving the coverage.

dangillmor, 4 days ago to random

The solar storm is interfering with some tractors' GPS capabilities. https://www.404media.co/r/15913771?m=ea6b4c29-f97b-4025-aaeb-1d01a70b3b30

dangillmor, 5 days ago (edited 5 days ago) to random

EDITED: One of journalism's consistent flaws is ignoring relevant context.

Case in point is this NY Times story about a judge tossing out a new federal regulation limiting extortionate credit card late fees.

Here's the context the Times didn't care to include: The financial companies went forum shopping, and landed one of their favorite Trump-appointed judges, who (to his credit) objected to the process, but then predictably ruled against the administration.

Journalistic malpractice, IMO.

dangillmor, 6 days ago to random

More Republican judges giving Trump the criminal trial delays he wants. This time, Georgia: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/08/trump-wins-delay-in-georgia-criminal-cases-00156791

dangillmor, 6 days ago to random

The Biden administration, with overwhelming support from congressional Democrats, thinks it's fine to punish nonprofit news organizations that criticize Israel.

https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/terrorism-bill-nonprofit-journalists-israel-hamas/

dangillmor, 6 days ago to random

We're so completely unprepared for even a moderate pandemic, even after covid, that it's terrifying to imagine how bad things could get if the bird flu -- which is much worse -- gets a significant foothold in humans. It might well happen.

https://www.statnews.com/2024/05/09/bird-flu-upends-avian-influenza-dogma/

dangillmor, 6 days ago to random

The solar storm this weekend could be very, very bad news: https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/10/business/sunspots-disrupt-phones-gps-scn/index.html

dangillmor, 7 days ago (edited 7 days ago) to random

Does anyone know of a way to buy an EV that doesn't relentlessly spy on the driver/passengers and send the data to whoever the carmaker feels like selling it to?

Related: Does anyone know of a service in the Bay Area that will disable all the surveillance that was, without my knowledge or permission, built into a 2008 Prius?