Pluralistic: 21 May 2020

Today's links

Walt's grandson calls for Disney execs' bonuses to be canceled: Brad Lund wants the money directed to furloughed workers.
The Lost Cause and MMT: The climate emergency and centuries of full employment.
Patent troll sues ventilator makers: Swirlate IP says anyone who uses LTE is violating its patents.
Private equity's healthcare playbook is terrifying: Biopsy reveals metastatic private equity tumors throughout US healthcare's every organ.
On Madame Leota's side-table: The evolution of a fine Haunted Mansion detail.
Black Americans' covid mortality is 2.5X white mortality: AKA, "Why Republicans no longer care about coronavirus."
Spotify's trying to kill podcasting: Another federated system facing monopolistic enclosure.
Monopolies killed corporate R&D;: And that killed productivity growth.
How spy agencies targeted Snowden journalists: Barton Gellman's Dark Mirror.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Hackers on Planet Earth, in the cloud: HOPE will not be cancelled.
Climate and machine learning: Machine learning is roasting the planet.
Seeking Fitbit owners' stories: Help EFF explain why the Google takeover is wrong.
Software secrecy: Code is (bad) law.
Grocer won't show employees results from mandatory temp-checks: Coronavirus theater, class war edition.
Bill Clinton sings "Baby Got Back": Speech synthesis is just sublimely weird.
Webinar on Controlled Digital Lending and the pandemic: Talking about the Internet Archive, this Friday.
Google vows no custom AI for oil and gas: Reversing its 2018 position, which was garbage.
Re-positive coronavirus cases are not infectious: Finally, we catch a break.
Ifixit's medtech repair manual trove is full to bursting: Right to Repair, pandemic edition.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Lego's new Haunted House is wheelchair accessible: Hot and cold running chills.
Marcus Yallow has coronavirus: Fanfic from liquidCitrus.
Home Computers: Arty pix of paleosystems.
"Shoe-leather" contact tracing works: Apps are – at best – a "workforce multiplier."
Softbank's "pegasus" grift: Pay no attention to the unicorn in the ditch.
HP Lovecraft warns against pulp contamination: A deplorable style which is hard to unlearn.
Highspeed rail for America: LA to SF in under 3 hours, without the cursed departure hall.
$10T to avert another Great Depression: Save America for the cost of two Iraq wars.
Toothsome masks: Pleats are magic.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Ada Palmer, being brilliant for 2.5h: On the Singularity Podcast.
Restaurateur wreaks algorithmic vengeance upon Doordash: Nonconsensual delivery services vs arbitrage.
England's storks are back: A 600 year old deep cut.
See through walls with free software: TEMPEST, GNU Radio style.
Universal broadband now: Broadband is a human right.
Airgap-busting malware: Probabilistic sneakernet injections.
Deliveroo, without Deliveroo: The problem isn't the service, it's the social arrangements.
Podcast: Part 3 of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town: Have your read all those books?
US insurers say paying for pandemic treatment is "selfless": Blind boxes r us.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Instagram's slow-mo appeals court: A nanosecond to block, 28 months to review.
DOD lie-detector manual leaked: How credible is the National Center for Credibility Assessment?
Farewell to Beyond the Beyond: Wired retires Bruce Sterling's blog, and he has thoughts.
Neoliberals won't waste this crisis: When the left abandoned leninism, the right swiped it.
This day in history: None
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Rep Steve Cohen wants to clawback billionaires' bailout: Sending bailout pork to the slaughterhouse.
Democratize workplaces now: Labor investors demand a seat at the table.
NYC teens fight period poverty: Period products bundled with school meals.
No sides: We have a shared destiny.
Google faces antitrust blitz: I'm feeling lucky.
Zuck wants Giphy: Pronounced "J-I-F," spelled "S-P-Y."
This day in history: 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Understanding Qanon: Big Tech hasn't invented a mind-control ray.
Devo Emergency Dome: Are we not men?
Covid Seuss parodies: Sosumi.
Self-cooling sweaty solar panels: Material science ftw.
Google's GDPR reckoning: Max Schrems to the max.
A people's vaccine: Can't pay won't pay.
Whistleblower warns of massive mortgage fraud: 2008, again.
Tear gas ice-cream: It feels difficult to breathe at first, and it’s really pungent and irritating.
Lockdown Haunted Mansion theme: Dapperdans@home.
A Furiosa movie: No Max in the next Mad Max.
This day in history: 2019, 2015, 2010, 2005
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading