Pluralistic: How a billionaire's mediocre pump-and-dump "book" became a "bestseller" (15 Feb 2024)

Today's links

How a billionaire's mediocre pump-and-dump "book" became a "bestseller": A convincer to prolong the bezzle.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

How Goldman Sachs's "tax-loss harvesting" lets the ultra-rich rake in billions tax-free: "Generating a tax loss without a substantial change in the investment."
Happy Independent Bookstore Day: It lasts a week!
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2022
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Inaudible: Let's make "Audible exclusive" mean "for sale everywhere EXCEPT Audible."
The rise and rise of one of NYPD's dirtiest cops: Violent, racist repeat-offender Christopher McCormack, promoted to the top brass.
Georgia voter suppression, quantified: Greg Palast counted all 313,242 receipts.
Kids' smart-watches unsafe at any speed: Still a garbage-fire.
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Facebook's morale problem: Facebookers worry that they're destroying civilization.
My HOPE keynote this Sat: We Used to Have Cake, Now We've Barely Got Icing.
Changes coming to UK's feudal "leaseholds": Britain's rentier class loses, a little.
Konstantine Anthony for Burbank City Council: All politics are local.
Private equity doesn't create value, it destroys it: Wealth accumulation doesn't signify value-creation.
Mass market book sales surge: But it's just trading one monopolist for another.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Dems can and MUST fight police violence: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil…
Save Uncle Hugo's: Crowdfunding for Minneapolis's beloved, torched science fiction bookstore.
Ella Jones is Ferguson's new mayor: The city's first Black mayor.
Why protests become violent: Cops keep mashing the "be violent" button.
PPE vs riot gear: Revealed preference, revealed.
Zoom wants to help the FBI spy on you: Encryption is a luxury good.
Trivial-to-spoof UK contact tracing: A gift to identity thieves and fraudsters.
AT&T; will punish Disney+ viewers: Can you hear me now?
K-pop fandom pivots to human rights hacktivism: Flooding the zone with fancams.
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Indie booksellers during the pandemic: Better news that you might expect.
Podcasting Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town: "A glorious book unlike any book you've ever read."
Billionaires thriving on our pandemic losses: Plutocracy is comorbid with pandemic.
Pandemic proves ISP data-caps were always a pretense: Rent-seeking vs capex.
Hospital cuts healthcare workers' pay, pays six-figure exec bonuses: Denver Health Medical Center shows us who really matters.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Save Forbidden Planet NYC: Keep NYC weird.
Which guillotine is right for you: Current Affairs's guide for the perplexed.
A labradoodle breeder is in charge of America's vaccines: An actual labradoodle could do a better job.
"Inject disinfectant" vs both sides-ism: We report, you decide.
US healthcare fails insured people too: A laundry list of gaps and errors.
Masks work: Lasers reveal your revolting, spittle-flecked utterances.
US telcoms sector isn't doing better than Europe's: Net Neutrality's murderers want you to believe they saved the American internet.
Amazon uses its sellers' data to figure out which products to clone: And they lied to Congress about it.
Facebook let advertisers target "pseudoscience" and "conspiracy": Son of "jew-haters."
Security expert conned out of $10,000: If you think you're too smart to get phished…
California Adventure, Minecraft edition: New maps for the Imagineering Fun server.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Socioeconomics of coronavirus: Everything bad is now worse.
How to drain your lungs: Knowledge is power.
Bookshop: a local, indie alternative to Amazon: What could booksellers find to buy one-half so precious as the stuff they sell.
This day in history: 2010, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

The Masque of the Red Death and Punch Brothers Punch: My latest podcast is Poe/Twain bathos crossover.
Fill in your census online: Otherwise you and people you care about literally won't count.
Naomi Klein: this disaster has no room for disaster capitalism: It's our moment to seize.
Scalzi's canceled bookstore: Support your local indie bookseller, especially now.
My Twitter account was suspended: I got in trouble for putting trolls on a list called "Colossal Assholes."
Talking digital writing careers with the Writing Excuses podcast: Covering a lot of ground in 15 minutes.
A new anxiety podcast from Nightvale's Joseph Fink: Proud to be in the debut episode.
Patent trolls try to shut down covid testing: Monkey-selfies, Theranos, Softbank – it's a garbage matrioshke!
How to live with your kids: "Working and Learning from Home with Young Children."
Brave files GDPR complaint against Google: Sharing data between Google services is a no-no.
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

Audio from last night's Canada Reads event in Kelowna: Thanks to Sarah Penton for being such a great interviewer!
Gig economy drivers won't get sick-pay if they have covid-19 symptoms: Your Instacart driver is being incentivized to handle your food through his fever-sweats.
Compromise threatens Intel's chip-within-a-chip: A bug in the Management Engine threatens five years' worth of Intel systems.
The savior of Waterstones will turn every B&N into an indie: James Daunt has opened 60 profitable stores in his career.
This day in history: 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading