Pluralistic: 05 Aug 2020

Today's links

Contextual ads can save media: Behavioral ads aren't just creepy, they're a scam
GE's billion dollar tax-fraud: "Financial engineering" is a euphemism for doing crimes.
Qanon is an ARG: "I'm a researcher."
Cori Bush triumphs in Missouri: Ferguson uprising continues by another means.
Trump wants to force you to invest in failing fossil fuel companies: Big Oil sure loves Big Gubmint.
Qanon is magical thinking: Satanic Panic 2.0.
This day in history: 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Break 'Em Up: Zephyr Teachout's trustbusting program for the 21st century.
Unauthorized Meat: Mellow Sous Vide journeys to the Internet of Shit.
Let's force Big Tech to interoperate: Here's why…and how.
No consequences for police violence at BLM actions: Propublica followed up on viral videos showing gross misconduct and found…crickets.
The Internet Archive defends online libraries: First filings from the Hachette lawsuit.
Bitcoin is not a socialist's ally: Yanis Varoufakis responds to Ben Arc.
Where "software" comes from: "In October, 1953, I coined the word 'software.'"
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

US copyright is a disaster for Mexico: USMCA contra derechos humanos.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars: My event with James Wilt on Aug 4.
Central London property prices tank: Failed Airbnb rentiers flood the market.
401(k)s are a scam: Buy Alpo futures instead.
This day in history: 2010, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Ukrainian steampunk masks: The gorgeous work of Dmitriy and Aleksandra Bragin.
OTF spared (for now): Trump's administrative incompetence saves the US Agency for Global Media from becoming Global Breitbart.
Insurers are secret, powerful police reformers: Money talks, bullshit walks.
Ohio GOP leadership arrested for racketeering: Largest corruption scandal in Ohio history.
Little Brother as a role-playing game: Notes from the Fiction & RPG Podcast.
Anti-facial recognition tool: Fawkes will alter your images in ways that are invisible to humans but confounding for algorithms.
Kentucky AG sues top GOP donors: Kentucky's Republican lawmaker is the best kind of class-traitor.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Hank Green's "A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor": Catch us live on July 10!
Near-ultrasound links: Chirpy IoT configuration for <$1.
Disneyland's Tower of Terror in Minecraft: Brilliant attention to detail!
Who got PPP and how much did they get?: Propublica has a whole database of receipts.
EY helped 'Ndrangheta sell mafia bonds: "Consulting services."
The rotten culture of the rich: Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.
The awful stupidity of measuring engineers' productivity: Any measurement becomes a target.
Unions say Disney World isn't testing employees: The Florida Man of themeparks.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Podcast: part 5 of "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town": The lair of the crustypunk.
Cops are legally entitled to reject "high IQ" candidates: You must be this stupid to ride.
How the CARES Act bails out the super-rich: $1200 for thee, not me.
Private equity's coming for your pension: In a pinch, apex predators eat anything.
Big mail providers block indie mailing lists: The enclosure of email.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Berlin in color, after the Reich's fall: So vivid you could reach out and touch it.
Nikolai Kolchitski: He defined the Soviet look of space exploration for a generation.
Medicare for All (Congressjerks): Congress is happy to fund its exclusive white-glove concierge medical system.
Swedish covid death rates soar above neighbors': "Do nothing" is not doing something.
Financial services workers dying for junk mail: Broadridge workers denied PPE, sick leave.
AMC: "We will never show another Universal movie": Watch the monopolies form in realtime.
Revived Haunted Mansion videos from early internet fandom: The squees of yesteryear.
Marc Laidlaw reads his fiction: A new Youtube series from the author of Dad's Nuke and Half-Life.
A Room of One’s Own: New pandemic sf from Tochi Onyebuchi, with a live seminar to follow.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, current reading

Rural swing-state voters' social media show growing disapproval for Trump: Putting his literal signature on covid response makes it hard to argue it's not his fault.
The Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act: Ilhan Omar's bill to protect renters and mortgage payers during and after the crisis.
Garbage Math: XKCD on the mathematics of uncertainty
ICANN pauses selloff of .ORG registry: The GOP billionaires behind Ethos capital have to wait a while longer.
Delivery services are gouging restaurants to death: Call the restaurant, order your meal, and pick it up.
Post-collapse maker utopia sim: Not quite Walkaway, but interesting nevertheless.
This day in history: 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Private equity looting public health in a pandemic: The math is part of the con.
MacGuyver mask tutorial: Crafter/filmmaker marriages for the win.
Prescient Reagan-era text-adventures: What we can learn from the 1985 Infocom game "A Mind Forever Voyaging."
Landlord accidentally organizes rent strike: When you're threatening 300 tenants, don't CC them all on on the email.
The Pandumbic: Fox News is a suicide cult.
This day in history: 2005, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Lax antitrust killed ventilator stockpiles : The USG procured <$3k ventilators from a startup, so an incumbent bought them and shuttered them.
Koch network demands an end to lockdown: While sending its staff home for their safety.
Private equity firms scooping up pandemic bargains: It's not the wound that gets ya, it's the opportunistic parasitic infections.
Digital rights are human rights: Why broadband should be a public utility.
ACLU vanquishes the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: Terms of Service violations are not felonies.
Munching Squares and Munching Tunes: The music and visuals of slow-decay phosphors.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading