#APP NY State of Politics

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

On July 14, I'm giving the closing keynote for the fifteenth HACKERS ON PLANET EARTH, in QUEENS, NY. Happy Bastille Day! On July 20, I'm appearing in CHICAGO at Exile in Bookville.

#20yrsago FastCompany’s terrible linking policy https://memex.craphound.com/2004/06/25/fastcompanys-terrible-linking-policy/

#15yrsago Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen, sequel to CHANGELING, a modern folktale of New York https://memex.craphound.com/2009/06/25/magic-mirror-of-the-mermaid-queen-sequel-to-changeling-a-modern-folktale-of-new-york/

#15yrsago Illegal e-waste dumped in Ghana includes unencrypted hard drives full of US security secrets https://web.archive.org/web/20090628071458/https://www.itworld.com/security/69758/reporters-find-northrop-grumman-data-ghana-market

#10yrsago Once there was a show called “The Hat Squad” and it was very, very stupid https://memex.craphound.com/2014/06/25/once-there-was-a-show-called-the-hat-squad-and-it-was-very-very-stupid/

#10yrsago UK secretary of state: “There is no surveillance state” https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-28006739

#10yrsago Cops bust cybercrook who sent heroin to Brian Krebs https://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/06/the-fly-has-been-swatted/

#10yrsago SF city attorney demands shutdown of parking-space-auctioning app https://web.archive.org/web/20140625033523/http://blog.sfgate.com/cityinsider/2014/06/23/sf-cracks-down-on-street-parking-cash-apps/

#5yrsago An 14-year-old’s Internet-of-Things worm is bricking shitty devices by the thousands https://www.zdnet.com/article/new-silex-malware-is-bricking-iot-devices-has-scary-plans/

#5yrsago How Metabrainz stood up to a predatory copyright lawsuit and won https://blog.metabrainz.org/2019/06/25/we-were-sued-by-a-copyright-troll-and-we-prevailed/

#5yrsago “Massive scale” intrusion into mobile carriers’ networks exposed customers’ location, call data for years https://www.cybereason.com/blog/research/operation-soft-cell-a-worldwide-campaign-against-telecommunications-providers

#5yrsago Independent evaluation of “aggression detection” microphones used in schools and hospitals finds them to be worse than useless https://features.propublica.org/aggression-detector/the-unproven-invasive-surveillance-technology-schools-are-using-to-monitor-students/

#5yrsago Microsoft employees want to starve its PAC, which keeps giving money to homophobic, racist, climate-denying Republicans https://onezero.medium.com/a-group-of-microsoft-employees-is-fighting-the-companys-political-action-committee-7dae732290e3

#5yrsago Cult of the Dead Cow: the untold story of the hacktivist group that presaged everything great and terrible about the internet https://memex.craphound.com/2019/06/25/cult-of-the-dead-cow-the-untold-story-of-the-hacktivist-group-that-presaged-everything-great-and-terrible-about-the-internet/

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Out bisexual Nebraska state Sen. Megan Hunt, who has helped filibuster transphobic legislation in her state, has switched her party affiliation from Democratic to independent.

Hunt has switched because of the media’s hyper-focus on party affiliation and “the lack of support” from national groups — like Emily’s List or the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee — for “liberal candidates in conservative-dominated states,” the Lincoln Journal Star reported.

“The parties are not the future,” Hunt told the publication. “The political dysfunction is extreme and at the national level, the parties are ideologically bankrupt.”

Hunt said her party switch isn’t a reflection of her state’s Democratic leadership and said that her politics would remain on the progressive left. Rather, she accused national groups of taking credit for the legislative accomplishments of progressive politicians in red states, like her, while not financially supporting those candidates.

She also pointed out that in Nebraska’s unique one-chamber legislature, party affiliation matters less than in other states. Leadership roles are determined by a chamber-wide vote, and committee assignments are “divided evenly among Nebraska’s three congressional districts rather than by which party is in the majority,” the aforementioned publication noted.

As such, when national media focus on Nebraskan politicians’ political affiliation, Hunt feels it doesn’t accurately reflect what’s happening in her legislature and also poisons her colleagues’ relationships with one another.

“That totally misrepresents who I am, what I believe, who my colleagues are, and how things work here, and I don’t want my name to be used to contribute to the problem, to continue a narrative that is lazy and inaccurate,” Hunt said.

In a statement to the Lincoln Journal Star, Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, said, “I, like many liberals, are pushing our Democratic Party constantly from the inside working to build the infrastructure and message across the state. We respect the choices of politicians to decide if our party fits them or not.”

Commenting on Hunt’s party switch, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) wrote on the new social media app BlueSky, “I think it’s brave — people often complain about the 2 party system, but it starts at the state level. She’s trying to educate people on [Nebraska’s system] and how their landscape allows for this. [In my opinion] most 3rd party [conversations] can be unserious [because] they don’t grapple [with] reality. So this is interesting to see.”

State Sen. Hunt has been one of several Nebraskan senators who have filibustered the so-called “Let Them Grow Act,” a law that would block minors from accessing gender-affirming care. Age-appropriate gender-affirming care is supported by major medical organizations like the American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, and American Academy of Pediatrics.

Hunt has been put under investigation by the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission (NADC) for a possible conflict of interest because she has a transgender child.

State law requires that public officials and employees disclose potential conflicts of interest, but this refers to when a decision could have “a financial benefit or detriment to the public official or public employee, a member of his or her immediate family or business with which he or she is associated.”

Hunt disavowed the investigation.

“This, colleagues, is not serious,” she said. “This is harassment. This is using the legal system that we have in our state to stop corruption, to increase transparency, to hold government accountable, and using it to harass a member of the legislature, who you all know is trying to do the right thing, is trying to parent her child in a way that keeps that child alive, in a way that keeps that child successful in school and with friends and healthy.”

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Nebraska are standing up for Hunt. “My colleagues stood up offering support, but I don’t need their words. I need their vote,” she said.

[glitterypeanutmugnickel]

Open in app or online

November 12, 2022

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

NOV 13

SAVE

▷ LISTEN

A little before 9:30 p.m. Eastern time, NBC called Nevada’s tight Senate race for the incumbent: Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto. Cortez Masto defeated Adam Laxalt, a former attorney general for the state, whom former president Trump had endorsed.

This means that the Democrats keep control of the Senate.

Democrats will have 50 votes in the new Congress just as they did in the current one, enabling Vice President Kamala Harris to break ties in their favor.

Harris may not need to break ties, though, if the last Senate seat goes to the Democrats. That last seat is the one outstanding seat from Georgia. In the election there, Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock garnered about 35,000 more votes than Trump-endorsed Republican Herschel Walker, but neither man won 50% of the vote. Under Georgia law, this forces a runoff, which will be held on December 6. Walker is a deeply flawed candidate, and now that his election cannot give the Republicans control of the Senate, it is not clear that voters will turn out for him.

As of late October, NPR reported that outside groups had spent almost a billion dollars on the campaigns of Republican Senate candidates, hoping to take control of that body. Key to that desire for control was control of the judiciary, where the right wing has entrenched itself as it has become increasingly extreme and unpopular. Even without control of the House—which is still unclear as election officials continue to count votes—Democratic control of the Senate means that President Joe Biden will be able to continue confirming judges.

After the Nevada race was called, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters that the victory was “a vindication for Democrats, our agenda, and…for the American people.” He explained: “The American people rejected the antidemocratic extremist MAGA Republicans.”

—

Notes:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/democrats-maintain-control-senate-nbc-news-projects-defeating-many-tru-rcna56677

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democrats-await-nevada-election-result-that-could-seal-their-us-senate-majority-2022-11-12/

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/22/1129976565/dark-money-groups-midterm-elections-republicans-democrats-senate

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/us/elections/georgia-senate-runoff.html

https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/chuck-schumer-reacts-to-democrats-maintaining-control-of-the-senate-153385541648

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[leutjaneausten]

Open in app or online

March 22, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

This week, news has been focused on the former president’s possible indictment for paying $130,000 in hush money to adult film performer Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their 2006 affair before the 2016 election. The information currently being thrown about has been shaped by Trump himself and is obviously suspect (among other things, he has apparently raised $1.5 million since he claimed he would be arrested on Tuesday).

Although Republican lawmakers have no more idea than any of the rest of us do what the Manhattan grand jury might have seen, or what charges might be brought against Trump, they have tried to gloss over the scandal by claiming it is about a non-disclosure agreement or that it happened seven years ago or that its investigation is “a political witch hunt perpetrated by one of the far left radical socialist district attorneys,” as Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said. But as journalist Aaron Rupar and Noah Berlatsky explained today in Public Notice, the payment was a big deal in the larger scheme of American democracy.

Trump bought Daniels’s silence because he was willing to break laws in order to get elected. Then–Trump fixer Michael Cohen paid Daniels for her story in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement. Cohen testified that he paid her through a shell company to keep Trump’s connection to the payment hidden. Then Trump reimbursed Cohen for “legal fees.”

That’s a problem with regard to business filings and tax fraud. It is also a problem for the campaign finance laws intended to protect clean elections. Cohen’s payment was a contribution to the Trump campaign because it was made “in order to influence the 2016 presidential election.” The payment was intended to make sure voters didn’t hear another sex scandal in October 2016, just after the Access Hollywood tape came out in which Trump talked vulgarly about sexually assaulting women, when it might have hurt his chances at election. The $130,000 contribution was far above the individual limit of $2,700, and the Trump campaign did not disclose it.

This is not small potatoes. When the issue came to light, Cohen pleaded guilty for his role in the payments, and he was sentenced to three years in prison. Cohen testified that he made the payments at Trump’s direction.

This is also not an isolated incident. Trump has proved himself more than willing to cheat to win elections. In the 2020 presidential election season, before he tried to overthrow the election altogether, he tried to strong-arm Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky into announcing an investigation into the son of the Democratic candidate about whom he was most worried: Joe Biden. Trump knew that the media would run with an announcement of an investigation, wounding Biden’s candidacy by keeping the story in the news even without any real investigation behind it.

The Trump campaign had done much the same thing in 2016. According to the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee, which investigated the ties between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives, Trump’s people were willing at the very least to work alongside Russian operatives to weaken Trump’s Democratic opponent, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Trump campaign also boosted Trump’s standing in the 2016 election season with the recurring refrain of the investigation into Secretary Clinton’s emails, convincing voters—falsely—that she had committed crimes.

The pending issue of the hush-money payment is not just about 2016, and it is not just about Trump. That today’s Republican leaders have not condemned any of his attempts to cheat speaks volumes about the party. As Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) pointed out today, when “Cohen was arrested, indicted, convicted, and went to prison for participating in an illegal hush money payment scheme to Stormy Daniels, not a single Republican leader complaining now said a thing about what happened to Michael Cohen.” So why the rush to defend Trump in the same case?

It appears Republicans have gotten to the point that they don’t believe they can win a free and fair election, and in their conviction that Democrats will destroy the country, they believe cheating to win is justified. They cannot condemn Trump because he delivered what they wanted: a victory.

In a democracy, the way parties are supposed to win elections is by making a better case for being in power than their opponents do. Losing elections is supposed to make leaders think deeply about how better to appeal to voters. That system keeps all parties constantly honing their policies, thinking through problems, benefiting their constituents.

Our election laws are designed to try to hold the playing field level, and a party should want to keep the system fair in order to keep itself healthy. But if a party is willing to cheat to win, it no longer has to work on policies that appeal to voters; it can simply game the system to dismantle the competition on which democracy depends and instead create a one-party state.

There are many legal problems in Trump’s front yard these days. Some, like his theft of documents with markings bearing the highest level of classification and his attempt to overturn the Georgia results for the 2020 presidential election, are heating up fast, and their significance is clear.

But for all that the case we are currently hearing so much about seems less serious on its face than the other things charged to Trump's account, a hush-money payment to silence someone whose story might have affected the 2016 election is no laughing matter.

—

Notes:

Public Notice

Trump paid off Stormy Daniels to subvert democracy

By Noah Berlatsky Donald Trump may finally be facing something like consequences for his long history of criminality and corruption. The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is expected to charge the former president soon with crimes, including campaign finance violations…

Read more

18 hours ago · 80 likes · 12 comments · Aaron Rupar and Noah Berlatsky

https://abcnews.go.com/US/manhattan-das-investigation-trump-stormy-daniels-hush-payment/story?id=97951106

Twitter avatar for @Acyn

Acyn

@Acyn

Lieu: When Michael Cohen was arrested, indicted, convicted, and went to prison for participating in an illegal hush money payment scheme to Stormy Daniels, not a single Republican leader complaining now said a thing about what happened..

Image

4:15 PM ∙ Mar 22, 2023

10,623Likes3,037Retweets

Twitter avatar for @MollyJongFast

Molly Jong-Fast

@MollyJongFast

Still not arrested or charged with anything

Image

5:37 PM ∙ Mar 22, 2023

854Likes190Retweets

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/michael-cohen-scheduled-to-be-sentenced-for-crimes-committed-while-working-for-trump/

https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/publications/report-select-committee-intelligence-united-states-senate-russian-active-measures

[nytech]

Celebrating Black History Month: Fonta Gilliam

This Black History Month, NYTA recognizes and celebrates the many incredible black men, women and non-binary individuals who have graced our stage at NY Tech Meetups to present and demo transformative tech; shared subject matter expertise during Forum events to provide perspective and participated in Founder Spotlights to tell their story and inspire other founders as they pursue their own journey of building a business. As part of our celebration, this week we recognize and celebrate Fonta Gilliam, CEO and Co-Founder of Wellthi, a fintech company based in Washington, DC and a part of the NYTA community.

About Fonta Gilliam

Ms. Gilliam has over 10 years of development finance experience working in the United States, Africa, and Asia as a U.S. Diplomat and a management consultant in Deloitte’s Emerging Markets Practice.

Over the course of her career, she led numerous White House and U.S. State Department initiatives, including launching two of the U.S. Government’s first women’s business centers in Africa and designing innovative financing facilities to unlock capital for women and small businesses in the United States, Kenya, Morocco, Zambia, Nigeria, South Korea, and China.

In 2016, she was awarded the U.S. State Department’s prestigious Franklin Award for her tireless work to support economic empowerment and financial inclusion initiatives in Africa.

Ms. Gilliam has a Master of Arts in economic development from American University’s School of International Studies (SIS) and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and economics from Howard University.

About Welthi

Welthi is redefining the mobile banking experience for the next generation, empowering customers to achieve their financial goals with engaging social features and positive group think. They have been recognized for over a half dozen awards for their innovative technology, and they’re just getting started!

Several ways you can recognize and help Fonta and her team:

Visit their website and learn about the Wellthiapp

Download and use the app

Refer Wellthi to family and friends

Watch and listen to Fonta’s story on NYTA’s YouTube Channel

[irvinenewshq]

Musks midterm plans for Twitter GOP on the offensive in Biden nation and extra high headlines

Good morning and welcome to Fox Information’ morning e-newsletter, Fox Information First. Subscribe now to get Fox Information First in your e mail. And this is what it’s essential to know to begin your day … TWITTER’S NEW ERA – Elon Musk particulars how social media website will deal with content material moderation, guidelines violations forward of midterms. Proceed studying … SURROUNDED – Republicans are on the offensive, trying to choose up Home seats deep in Biden nation. Proceed studying … ‘VILE AND DISGUSTING’ – Professional-Kemp sheriffs livid over Stacey Abrams’ ‘good ole boy’ remarks. Proceed studying … BACKING BLUE – Liz Cheney praises ‘great chief’ Nancy Pelosi, warns towards GOP majority. Proceed studying … ENERGY REFERENDUM – Sen. Rick Scott says it’s time to ship Democrats a transparent message on American vitality. Proceed studying … – POLITICS ‘DON’T BE OVERZEALOUS’ – Sheriff warns that state’s new legislation might drive civilians to take their security into their very own palms. Proceed studying … MONEY TALKS – High lecturers unions dropped main money to re-elect Dem governor. Proceed studying … ‘TRUE COLORS’ – Antisemitism watchdog slams AOC over tweet concentrating on pro-Israel org. Proceed studying … ROCKING THE VOTE – Pennsylvania courtroom says undated ballots will not be counted as RNC claims ‘large’ authorized victory. Proceed studying … Click on right here for extra cartoons…   MEDIA ‘THIS IS JUST SAD’ – Biden blasted for blaming excessive inflation on the ‘conflict in Iraq,’ confusion on the place his son died. Proceed studying … LAUGH-LESS TRACK – Conservative ‘outrage’ sells higher than liberal ‘satire’: NY Instances columnist on failing left-wing comedy. Proceed studying … ‘NOT ON THE RISE’ – ‘The View’ host Pleasure Behar dismisses Republican give attention to crime forward of midterms. Proceed studying … ‘I WAS EXPECTING WORSE’ – CNN’s Don Lemon goes to bat for Fetterman’s debate efficiency after interview on new present. Proceed studying …   PRIME TIME JESSE WATTERS – Gavin Newsom has to reply for Paul Pelosi assault and California crime. Proceed studying … TUCKER CARLSON – Affirmative motion is immoral. Proceed studying … SEAN HANNITY – Each voter must do their half and ‘take nothing as a right.’ Proceed studying … LAURA INGRAHAM – Ought to there be amnesty for officers who made ‘disastrous’ COVID selections? Proceed studying …   IN OTHER NEWS FED FOCUS – Fed more likely to ship one other big rate of interest hike as excessive inflation persists. Proceed studying … IRON WOMAN – New mother is first American in 25 years to win IRONMAN gold. Proceed studying … LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! – Hollywood A-listers who’ve been instructed to alter their appears to land roles. Proceed studying … SCORCHED-EARTH WAR – Iran reportedly equipped Russia with hundreds of drones to make use of towards Ukraine. Proceed studying …   FOX WEATHER What’s it wanting like in your neighborhood? Proceed studying…   THE LAST WORD “The place have been the mea culpas from the shutdown fanatics like Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx? First, they gave horrendous recommendation to Donald Trump that led to his determination to close down the complete nation. This by no means ought to have occurred.” – LAURA INGRAHAM       FOLLOW FOX NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA Fb Instagram YouTube Twitter LinkedIn   SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTERS Fox Information First Fox Information Opinion Fox Information Life-style Fox Information Leisure (FOX411)    DOWNLOAD OUR APPS Fox Information Fox Enterprise Fox Climate Fox Sports activities Tubi    WATCH FOX NEWS ONLINE Fox Information Go Thanks for making us your first selection within the morning! We’ll see you in your inbox very first thing Thursday. Originally published at Irvine News HQ

[sanjosenewshq]

Fettermans fitness brought into question Ukraine cities rocked by missile strikes and more top headlines

Good morning and welcome to Fox News’ morning newsletter, Fox News First. Subscribe now to get Fox News First in your email. And here’s what you need to know to start your day … FETTERMAN’S FITNESS – Dem Senate candidate’s string of verbal misfires following stroke fuel questions on campaign trail. Continue reading … RUSSIA’S REVENGE – Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, rocked by missile strikes in what may be retaliation for bridge bombing. Continue reading … EQUITY-OBSESSED EDUCATION – Biden’s DOE focusing on woke agenda amid ‘catastrophic’ reading scores. Continue reading … NOT-SO-FRIENDLY SKIES – Democrat city council member says Blue Angels should be banned from flying over his city. Continue reading … WILL DEMS PAY IN THE MIDTERMS?: Former gov says America’s energy chaos is Biden’s fault. Continue reading … – POLITICS CRIME CRISIS HITS HOME – Two teens injured in drive-by attack outside Republican NY gov. hopeful Lee Zeldin’s home. Continue reading … ‘LATE TERM’ CONTROVERSY – Arizona Dem gov nominee Katie Hobbs appears to support abortion up to birth. Continue reading … SECURE CANDIDATE – Stacey Abrams’ campaign has spent over $1.2M on private security since December. Continue reading …   MEDIA HIGH HOPES – Rep. Elise Stefanik makes big prediction about GOP’s success in November. Continue reading … RECESSION PREDICTION – Larry Summers says ‘more likely than not’ there will be a recession within 18 months. Continue reading … TWEET FREEZE – Ye locked out of Twitter due to ‘violation’ of policies. Continue reading …   PRIME TIME TREY GOWDY – Pay attention to the words in Rep. Cori Bush’s ‘defund’ rhetoric. Continue reading … MARK LEVIN – Democrats are attacking the Constitution. Continue reading … STEVE HILTON – Biden’s energy policies are endangering the United States. Continue reading …   IN OTHER NEWS ‘CONSIDER TWEAKS’ – Changes could be coming to Illinois’ SAFE-T act following public outcry. Continue reading … SENIORS BENEFITS – Social Security COLA update coming this week – and it could be huge. Continue reading … ‘BOLDLY GO’ – William Shatner reflects on fallout with ‘Star Trek’ pal. Continue reading … HEALTHY QUESTIONS – 3 key things women of all ages should ask before their mammograms. Continue reading …   FOX WEATHER What’s it looking like in your neighborhood? Continue reading…   THE LAST WORD “[Democrats] are attacking the Constitution, the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, the Tenth Amendment, separation of powers, checks and balances.” – MARK LEVIN       FOLLOW FOX NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook Instagram YouTube Twitter LinkedIn   SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTERS Fox News First Fox News Opinion Fox News Lifestyle Fox News Entertainment (FOX411)    DOWNLOAD OUR APPS Fox News Fox Business Fox Weather Fox Sports Tubi    WATCH FOX NEWS ONLINE Fox News Go Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! We’ll see you in your inbox first thing Tuesday. Originally published at San Jose News HQ

[don-lichterman]

Hochul urges judges, DAs to take bail changes into account

Hochul urges judges, DAs to take bail changes into account

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s public responses to questions surrounding the state’s bail laws can be boiled down to two key concerns: Judges and district attorneys need to read and implement the changes that are in effect, and ending cash bail requirements for numerous criminal charges is not the sole reason behind crime.  Hochul on Wednesday was responding to a renewed round of calls from New…

[mostlysignssomeportents]

New York to revolutionize antitrust

The New York legislature is about to take up SB933, an historically significant antitrust bill that is poised to reverse decades of monopolism by repudiating the destructive, corporate-power enhancing, deceptively named “consumer welfare” principle.

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/s933

40 years ago, Ronald Reagan adopted the “consumer welfare” standard, a fringe idea pushed by Nixon’s crooked solicitor general Robert Bork in an influential book called “The Antitrust Paradox” (Reagan’s successors, Republican and Democrat, have all bolstered Borkism).

Prior to “consumer welfare,” the US government prosecuted monopolies because they created unaccountable concentrations of power, allowing a few ultra-wealthy executives to decide how we worked and lived, corrupting politicians and breaking laws with impunity.

Bork insisted that “your business is too powerful” was too squishy and subjective a basis for law-enforcement, and insisted that we should make trustbusters empirically prove a) that harm had occurred; and b) that it was due to monopoly power.

This may sound reasonable, but it was a stalking horse for ending antitrust enforcement altogether. Bork’s “empiricism” meant that trustbusters would need to demonstrate “consumer harm” (in the form of higher prices) and prove that the harms were due to monopoly.

This effectively ended antitrust enforcement. The standard for proving a merger would result in higher prices, (or post-merger price-hikes were the result of monopoly) was to build and interpret a complex, esoteric mathematical model than only Bork and his cronies understood.

Unsurprisingly, the models always affirmed that a merger would be efficient, not harmful — and that post-merger harms were not the fault of the merger. Big business loved Bork, and spent lavishly to promote his theories.

40% of federal judges attended the Manne Seminars — swanky junkets that “educated” the judiciary on Bork’s theories.

Borkism’s elevation of “consumer welfare” didn’t just end antitrust enforcement — it shifted our societal priorities.

When monopolies were about corporate power, it meant that everyone who suffered from excessive corporate power had a legitimate stake in antitrust policy: people poisoned by pollution or hurt by corrupt laws won by the lobbying power of concentrated industries.

What’s more, the focus on “consumer harm” denied our power and duty as citizens. A “consumer” is an ambulatory wallet who “votes” by buying things (the fatter the wallet, the more votes you get!). A citizen is someone who has a stake in their society.

Delcaring antitrust’s stakeholders to be “consumers” and “businesses” excluded a key constituency: workers, who are particularly vulnerable because labor markets are far more sensitive to “buyer power” (fewer employers) than consumers are to “seller power” (fewer retailers).

“Monopsony” (market control arising from few buyers) occurs far sooner than “monopoly” (control from few sellers). We see this around us right now, with Amazon’s slave-labor conditions for delivery drivers pushing down wages and worsening work conditions across the sector.

Every “consumer” is also a “worker” (with the notable exception of “investors” — the tiny minority that makes it living by owning things, rather than doing things), which means that any consideration of “consumer welfare” that ignores workers’ rights is bad for consumers.

Which is why “consumer welfare” created a world of spiralling labor precarity, environmental devastation, political corruption, and pervasive cynicism about politics and the ability of democracies to craft and enforce good policy.

Enter New York’s SB933, introduced in the wake of the Amazon HQ2 fiasco, where the company tried to shake down cities and states for massive subsidies and exemptions from labor and other regulation.

Amazon pulled out of NYC when activists and politicians dared to question the wisdom of giving this wildly profitable monopolist a massive subsidy that would lead to the destruction of local businesses and skyrocketing housing prices.

Today in his BIG newsletter, Matt Stoller interviews NY’s Senator Mike Gianaris, who introduced SB933, which explicitly broadens the basis for antitrust enforcement to include curbing unaccountable corporate power and protecting workers.

https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/new-york-state-to-revolutionize-antitrust

As Stoller and Gianaris point out, there’s nothing radical about considering a broader range of harms when enforcing against monopolies: “harmful dominance” was the longstanding American legal tradition, spread to Europe after WWII.

Borkism was a radical break with tradition, and SB933 restores antitrust to the muscular suite of protections we enjoyed before Reagan.

“Harmful dominance” means that monopolists will no longer get to set the terms for their own regulation. For example, it sidelines the often farcical debate over “market definition” (“which market is the monopolist accused of dominating?”) which is incredibly easy to game.

For example, when Facebook bought Instagram, it claimed that the acquisition wasn’t about buying up a nascent social media competitor to whom Facebook was losing millions of users — rather, it claimed that Insta was a camera app.

And since every phone comes with a camera app, FB’s merger with Insta would give it an unmeasurably tiny share of the camera app market.

This sophistry isn’t unusual in antitrust debates. To see it in action, check out this debate between Tim Wu and Tyler Cowan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_Jp-GJ9LM0

Wu claims that Facebook has a social media monopoly — meaning that it dominates, sets prices and terms for social media. Cowan counters that the relevant market isn’t “social media” but rather every way that people socialize: SMSes, phone calls, dating apps, etc.

And, of course, by that measure, FB controls very little of “social” (Amazon makes the same argument when it defines its market as “every retail transaction”). “Consumer welfare” invites this kind of absurdity — while “harmful dominance” sweeps it aside.

If you are a New Yorker, you can and should contact your state rep to support SB933. State lawmakers are very sensitive to constituent emails! You can look up your lawmaker here:

https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/

[hellonwheels266]

Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women in violation of state and federal law, NY AG finds https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cuomo-sexually-harassed-women-retaliated-ny-attorney-general-report Explore the Fox News apps that are right for you at http://www.foxnews.com/apps-products/index.html.

[arcticdementor]

I think I've had discussions w/enough Boomer-tier Trump supporters who believe the 2020 election was fraudulent to extract a general theory about their perspective. It is also the perspective of most of the people at the Capitol on 1/6, and probably even Trump himself. 

…

Here are the facts - actual, confirmed facts - that shape their perspective: 1) The FBI/etc spied on the 2016 Trump campaign using evidence manufactured by the Clinton campaign. We now know that all involved knew it was fake from Day 1 (see: Brennan's July 2016 memo, etc). 3/x

These are Tea Party people. The types who give their kids a pocket Constitution for their birthday and have Founding Fathers memes in their bios. The intel community spying on a presidential campaign using fake evidence (incl forged documents) is a big deal to them. 4/x

Everyone involved lied about their involvement as long as they could. We only learned the DNC paid for the manufactured evidence because of a court order. Comey denied on TV knowing the DNC paid for it, when we have emails from a year earlier proving that he knew. 5/x

This was true with everyone, from CIA Dir Brennan & Adam Schiff - who were on TV saying they'd seen clear evidence of collusion w/Russia, while admitting under oath behind closed doors that they hadn't - all the way down the line. In the end we learned that it was ALL fake. 6/x

At first, many Trump ppl were worried there must be some collusion, because every media & intel agency wouldn't make it up out of nothing. When it was clear that they had made it up, people expected a reckoning, and shed many illusions about their gov't when it didn't happen. 7/x

We know as fact: a) The Steele dossier was the sole evidence used to justify spying on the Trump campaign, b) The FBI knew the Steele dossier was a DNC op, c) Steele's source told the FBI the info was unserious, d) they did not inform the court of any of this and kept spying. 8/x

Trump supporters know the collusion case front and back. They went from worrying the collusion must be real, to suspecting it might be fake, to realizing it was a scam, then watched as every institution - agencies, the press, Congress, academia - gaslit them for another year. 9/x

Worse, collusion was used to scare people away from working in the administration. They knew their entire lives would be investigated. Many quit because they were being bankrupted by legal fees. The DoJ, press, & gov't destroyed lives and actively subverted an elected admin. 10/x

This is where people whose political identity was largely defined by a naive belief in what they learned in Civics class began to see the outline of a Regime that crossed all institutional boundaries. Because it had stepped out of the shadows to unite against an interloper. 11/x

GOP propaganda still has many of them thinking in terms of partisan binaries, but A LOT of Trump supporters see that the Regime is not partisan. They all know that the same institutions would have taken opposite sides if it was a Tulsi Gabbard vs Jeb Bush election. 12/x

It's hard to describe to people on the left (who are used to thinking of gov't as a conspiracy... Watergate, COINTELPRO, WMD, etc) how shocking & disillusioning this was for people who encourage their sons to enlist in the Army, and hate ppl who don't stand for the Anthem. 13/x

They could have managed the shock if it only involved the government. But the behavior of the corporate press is really what radicalized them. They hate journalists more than they hate any politician or gov't official, because they feel most betrayed by them. 14/x

The idea that the press is driven by ratings/sensationalism became untenable. If that were true, they'd be all over the Epstein story. The corporate press is the propaganda arm of the Regime they now see in outline. Nothing anyone says will ever make them unsee that, period. 15/x

This is profoundly disorienting. Many of them don't know for certain whether ballots were faked in November 2020, but they know for absolute certain that the press, the FBI, etc would lie to them if there was. They have every reason to believe that, and it's probably true. 16/x

They watched the press behave like animals for four years. Tens of millions of people will always see Kavanaugh as a gang rapist, based on nothing, because of CNN. And CNN seems proud of that. They led a lynch mob against a high school kid. They cheered on a summer of riots. 17/x

They always claimed the media had liberal bias, fine, whatever. They still thought the press would admit truth if they were cornered. Now they don't. It's a different thing to watch them invent stories whole cloth in order to destroy regular lives and spark mass violence. 18/x

Time Mag told us that during the 2020 riots, there were weekly conference calls involving, among others, leaders of the protests, the local officials who refused to stop them, and media people who framed them for political effect. In Ukraine we call that a color revolution.

…

Then you get the Hunter laptop scandal. Big Tech ran a full-on censorship campaign against a major newspaper to protect a political candidate. Period. Everyone knows it, all of the Tech companies now admit it was a "mistake" - but, ya know, the election's over, so who cares?

…

Think back: Stories about Trump being pissed on by Russian prostitutes and blackmailed by Putin were promoted as fact, and the only evidence was a document paid for by his opposition and disavowed by its source. The NY Post was banned for reporting on true information. 24/x

The reaction of Trump ppl to all this was not, "no fair!" That's how they felt about Romney's "binders of women" in 2012. This is different. Now they see, correctly, that every institution is captured by ppl who will use any means to exclude them from the political process. 25/x

And yet they showed up in record numbers to vote. He got 13m more votes than in 2016, 10m more than Clinton got! As election night dragged on, they allowed themselves some hope. But when the four critical swing states (and only those states) went dark at midnight, they knew.

…

Media & Tech did everything to make things worse. Everything about the election was strange - the changes to procedure, unprecedented mail-in voting, the delays, etc - but rather than admit that and make everything transparent, they banned discussion of it (even in DMs!). 28/x

Everyone knows that, just as Don Jr's laptop would've been the story of the century, if everything about the election dispute was the same, except the parties were reversed, suspicions about the outcome would've been Taken Very Seriously. See 2016 for proof. 29/x

Even the courts' refusal of the case gets nowhere w/them, because of how the opposition embraced mass political violence. They'll say, w/good reason: What judge will stick his neck out for Trump knowing he'll be destroyed in the media as a violent mob burns down his house? 30/x

It's a fact, according to Time Magazine, that mass riots were planned in cities across the country if Trump won. Sure, they were "protests", but they were planned by the same people as during the summer, and everyone knows what it would have meant. Judges have families, too. 31/x

Forget the ballot conspiracies. It's a fact that governors used COVID to unconstitutionally alter election procedures (the Constitution states that only legislatures can do so) to help Biden to make up for a massive enthusiasm gap by gaming the mail-in ballot system. 32/x

They knew it was unconstitutional, it's right there in plain English. But they knew the cases wouldn't see court until after the election. And what judge will toss millions of ballots because a governor broke the rules? The threat of mass riots wasn't implied, it was direct. 33/x

a) The entrenched bureaucracy & security state subverted Trump from Day 1, b) The press is part of the operation, c) Election rules were changed, d) Big Tech censors opposition, e) Political violence is legitimized & encouraged, f) Trump is banned from social media. 34/x

They were led down some rabbit holes, but they are absolutely right that their gov't is monopolized by a Regime that believes they are beneath representation, and will observe no limits to keep them getting it. Trump fans should be happy he lost; it might've kept him alive. /end

[noro-noro-noro]

dreams typed while half asleep so ignore the spelling bc i’m too lazy to fix it. did remember to type it in my notes app this time though. anyway

1. stranded in a different state & my car was broken but i got someone to take me to the library & then someone tried to kill me 2. deep rock galactic 2 3. something about 3 people in the desert idk

stuck in new York somehowm my.cqr stopped working - don't remember why. my school was on NY but I was planning on driving home but school started at 6am so I just stood at this nice old man's house with my friends.

someone else had a broken down car. one of my fga friends? other people stayed at the house too, I decided to since I had school in 4 hours & wouldn't be able to getp NC & back especially with a broken car.  we shared a huge guest room. we were also exploring outside around the area. it kind of looked like the front of enloe. we were exploring by climbing from treetopto treetop it kind of felt like flying & I was playing Pokemon go + I could see the pokemon in real life & caught the that way. i think it had something to do with VR at first like I was testing itp put & wanted to see if a specific game would work.

the next day I attached my car to someone else's car & managed to conveyto them hey can you take mt to X area? i ended up going to a combination library & grocery store. the library also had an art museum in it.the person who ended up pulling me was some girl? young. nice.at first she was like a punk delinquent guy but she became a shy girl along the way. the girl spent time withe in the library museum. there were paintings, metalwork, clothes, hollow rubber things that looked like stone that were kept in the freezer aisle.

smth happened & I had to sneak out of the museum grocery store - it was some kind of assassin after me, maybe? very stressful situation but I escaped without a trace. i was taking a lot of rice in a bucket & was cutting it dangerously close by packing more rice into the bucket. also snow.

we ended up in my mom's neighborhood & had some kind of showdown?? i don't remember much - the guy was dressed like a ninja & had the power of foresight maybe? & was my dad?? not like my real dad but my.dream dad. i defeated him in a duel & unlocked an end card that showed all my stats. & it showed what deck of cards I was playing too - this one was given to me by a girl named June.

THEN: I was playing deep rock galactic escort mission with my sister & some guy but it was more immersive somehow - there were multiple helmets and cargo batteries to be found, & I think it was up to 6 people, & it was weird - they asked us to be polite & wait but then some other people also started running ahead & the guy I was playing with started flaming the other dude at the end. i waslike dang glad I'm not on the receiving end.

i spent too much time detailing the first half & forgot the rest, even though i originally decided to write this dream down for this last part. oops. xingqiu & gaolang were both in the second half of the dream - something about exploring a desert area that was both a point & click & also a genshin town where you had to investigate random sparkly points. xingqiu might have gone to thatplscevery briefly to go to space? he was somewhere to complete something. there were 3 genshin daily commission is n the desert area of the map. there were also other characters - a handsome man with long hair like hassad, a tomboyish girl I think that was in a relationship with him, & their friend who was a copy of okubo naoya but eitba diff personality who had a crush on the tomboy girl. they all hung out once a year to let okubo dream he could date her or something.

the desert had a cult or something?? it was an important location & the villagers looked up to me so much. it was very important but I spent too much time writjngmown the first half.

[don-lichterman]

Civic groups call for COVID review panel with teeth

Civic groups call for COVID review panel with teeth

Good-government organizations and a think tank on Tuesday urged Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday go further with her plans to have New York review the state government’s response to the pandemic and create a commission with subpoena power.  The move could lead to a more robust investigation of the state’s pandemic policies as the governor has taken the initial steps toward having an independent…

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Apple's complicity in Chinese state oppression

Bruce Schneier coined “feudal security” to describe the dominant Big Tech security model, in which you surrender your autonomy by moving into a warlord’s fortress (Google, Apple, Facebook, etc) and in return get protection from the bandits that roam the badlands without.

The historian Stephen Morillo pointed out that this is more like “manorialism” than “feudalism.” As I wrote in January, digital manorialism works well (if the warlord wants the same thing as you) but fails badly (if they decide to sell you out).

https://locusmag.com/2021/01/cory-doctorow-neofeudalism-and-the-digital-manor/

Google wants to kill third party cookies to protect you from randos doing tracking and targeting — but it wants to retain the ability to nonconsensually track and target you on its own:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/04/fighting-floc-and-fighting-monopoly-are-fully-compatible

Facebook promises to defend you from the next Cambridge Analytica, but it threatens to sue academics who scrape its political ads to see whether it’s really living up to its promises to fight paid political disinformation:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/05/zucks-oily-rags/#into-the-breach

Apple has rolled out the most significant consumer privacy tech in decades, changing the defaults on Ios products so that if you don’t give your explicit consent, no one is allowed to track you (surprise: no one gave consent!).

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/12/facebooks-laughable-campaign-against-apple-really-against-users-and-small

Apple is 100% committed to protecting its users from commercial surveillance. But it’s also 100% committed to accessing the Chinese market and maintaining its Chinese manufacturing. Warlord Apple will defend you from ad-tech bandits, but not the People’s Liberation Army.

That’s why Apple valiantly, laudably fought the FBI’s demands to back-door its OS to gain access to the San Bernardino shooters’ Iphones, but rolled over when the Chinese government ordered it to remove all working VPNs from the App Store.

https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-removes-vpn-apps-from-china-app-store/

It’s why Apple took good, brave stands on human rights in the US, fighting gender and racial discrimination in important ways but continues to manufacture devices with Chinese contractors like Foxconn, one of the most egregious human-rights manufacturers in the world.

Now, in an explosive NY Times investigation, Jack Nicas, Raymond Zhong and Daisuke Wakabayashi accuse Apple of giving the Chinese state effectively unfettered access to user-data, directly contradicting the claims of Apple CEO Tim Cook.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html

The Times reporters say that this data isn’t just used to invade Chinese users’ privacy, but also to fine-tune Chinese state censorship, helping guide government operatives’ choices about which apps to censor and how.

This has resulted in the removal of “tens of thousands of apps… foreign news outlets, gay dating services and encrypted messaging apps…tools for organizing pro-democracy protests and skirting internet restrictions, as well as apps about the Dalai Lama.”

This is true of all firms doing business in China. The choice to do business there is the choice to be complicit in ghastly human rights abuses. But there are two ways in which Apple’s participation is different.

First, there is its carefully cultivated “Cult of Mac” identity that paints it as an “ethical” company whose paternalistic controls are part of a commitment to serving its users.

This has created a vast cyber-militia of Apple fans who consider themselves members of an oppressed religious minority and who lash out at anyone who crticizes the company as a “hater” (see, for example, the replies to this thread on Twitter).

And second, Apple arrogates to itself more control over its users and their devices than its rivals, asserting the right to block Apple device owners from making their own choices about which software to run, where to get their devices repaired, and even which parts to use.

Apple has distorted copyright, patent, trademark and import law to accomplish this control.

There’s an the army of defenders who’ll simp for Apple on this.

They oscillating between claims it’s all for the good of Apple customers, and claims that people who own Apple devices but don’t want to use them according to Apple’s corporate dictates “shouldn’t have bought Apple products.”

The Apple version of the No True Scotsman fallacy is the most creepily cultish thing that Apple’s self-appointed street-team do, especially in light of these latest China revelations.

Apple acts on behalf of its customers when that means acting on its own behalf. Apple — like the other warlords — cares ultimately about its shareholders, and if its shareholders’ interests diverge from its customers, the shareholders will always win.

That’s true of every tech firm, but only Apple has built an “ecosystem” — a great walled fortress that keeps the bandits out when Apple wants to, but once Apple lets them in, it keeps Apple’s customers from escaping.

[elizaorelijah]

Week 2- Defining Social Media

Do social media platforms influence more people to participate in slacktivism?

Slacktivism means that anyone in the comfort of their home, can sign a petition, donate a dollar, be part of a livestream and be informed of social issues. He or she may feel that by doing so they are supporting a cause, but an effortless click does not do much. So, in a way, the wide variety of social media can allow for people to become lazier in participating physically. Media has a funny way of showing users what is important and what is not if there isn’t a lot of coverage in the real world. There can be thousands of likes on a post, but a protest with only a few people has the opportunity to get more attention if on the news. Again, social media platforms can prevent an individual from supporting a cause in person, by letting them think that they are making a difference, but it may not be enough.

Can critical theory be a possibility in today’s age?

Critical theory is about ridding the world of domination and exploitation to allow for a good life for all. In order for critical theory to become a reality, people with power over others would have to give that up. Man would have to be equal, no longer enslaved, and no longer neglected by those in charge. With that said, it is not possible to make critical theory a reality. There are too many people in the world that are obsessed with power and are not willing to pass that down even if it meant equality for all. Karl Marx asserts that the theory states what the world has potential to be in the future(Fuchs, 2014). That does not mean that it is going to happen today, but it could later on.

Why can social media platforms exploit users with little to no consequence?

Social media platforms can exploit its users without repercussions because the people in charge have power. Social media platforms gain attention and monetary value thanks to the users on the app or website, but the users receive nothing. The people in charge may care less because they have money and an influence over others. For example, the creator of Huffington Post sold her company for over 100 million and profited off of her users' articles, but those that participated received no compensation. The creator did not intentionally try to give back, and was sued. Facebook and Twitter were also capable of releasing private group information, livestreams and tweets to police for safety reasons. Despite those things being private to the user, the police managed to obtain that information without consequences for the platforms (Fuchs, 2014).

How does the government add to racial bias and segregation through the news media?

In the United States, people have the freedom of press except when it’s information the government does not want released to the public. The government works closely with news outlets to make sure they are abiding by their guidelines. The media will put out news to the public that will make their numbers rise and in doing so, news media use headlines where people of color “misbehave” to scare viewers. Powerful political people will do the same to get their voice heard, by using a racist headline to turn heads. The government will also use that opportunity to release information they want citizens to know. The government helps share racist views with discounted postal rates for newspapers, fast distribution of media that supports the government and more (Gonzales & Torres, 2011). All-in-all, the government helps add to racial bias or segregation by allowing the news media to share those stories as well as do the same.

Fuchs, C. (2014). Social media a critical introduction. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

González, J., & Torres, J. (2011). News for all the people: The epic story of race and the American media. Brooklyn, NY: Verso.