Pluralistic: 24 Jul 2020

Today's links

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

Judge won't release Black learning-disabled kid jailed for missing homework: Mary Ellen Brennan is up for re-election in 2020.
Podcast: Part 10 of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town: "A glorious book unlike any book you’ve ever read" -Gene Wolfe.
Christopher Brown's Failed State: I'm helping him launch an outstanding and timely novel on Aug 12.
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist: Comparison is the thief of joy.
Luxury homes to be washed away: Australian plutes voted for climate deniers and now they're about to literally fall off a cliff.
As We May Think: Danny O'Brien on the past future of news.
Trump's spent a billion on re-election: Biden spent $165m.
This day in history: 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Full Employment, the podcast edition: There's no AI employment crisis, but there IS a climate emergency.
Life as a fake Amazon reviewer: A security economics case-study.
Don't talk about cancer on FB: Facebook greets cancer diagnoses with a torrent of quack remedy ads.
Privacy as a right, not a product: Putting a pricetag on your data makes you less private.
Primary Richie Neal [D-MA]: Meet the powerful "Democrat" who defends surprise billing and zero taxes for private equity.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Trump convinces GOP supporters not to vote: You're supposed to take him seriously, not literally, guys.
Trump handed grifters millions for masks: Failed boner-pill entrepreneurs get a second chance in Trump's America.
What it's like to be a man: Phil Christman's beautiful, frustrating, illuminating tale of masculinity.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

EU v FB (vg!): Facebook must stop tracking users around the web.
AOC wins: Her opponent was a villain out of central casting.
Vegas casino workers beg for their lives: "The market has decided."
You are wrong about CDA 230: A comprehensive and complete FAQ about the internet's worst-understood, most-maligned law.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Surveillance electoralism: Comparing the surveillance of the Biden and Trump apps.
Blueleaks: Dox the police.
Virtual Ignite talks: Weds at 6PM.
Congress wants to read all your DMs: The EARN-IT Act doesn't mention encryption, but it still bans encryption.
Privacy in tracing tokens: Bunnie Huang's parameters for a privacy-respecting contact-tracing system.
A/B Seattle: Design your own urban grid.
Against AI phrenology: Stop publishing machine-learning "race science."
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Nnedi Okarafor and me in conversation tonight: Torcon's closing keynote, 4PM Pacific/7PM Eastern.
LA schools returned grenade launchers, kept assault rifles: An M-16 for teacher.
Black box voting: Voting machine vendor won't give election officials a login.
This day in history: 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