Our social/interaction data is too important for twitter and facebook... it won't end there. To be clear I'm not saying that 230 should be repealed simpliciter... but that we need to re-examine all the laws pertaining to platforms/publishers/privacy etc. A little like WW2, the internet has unleashed powers and interests that are much more potent than mere engineering advances.
Whatever the Generation after Z is... they are going to look back on our failure to grapple with 230 as we look back on the Eisenhower Military Industrial Complex speech. It was all so obvious.
Fair enough... a recission that requires Congressional approval within 45-days or becomes moot in this case is a lot like a line-item veto: wishful thinking misleadingly packaged-up for purely internal consumption.
Or do you see Congress turning some of the recissions into law? Now that would be interesting indeed.
Eh... it'll be something catchy like the Reformed Democratic party or the Democratic League or some such. Our parties aren't anything useful other than a branding mechanism. I don't think the Democratic Party as it's constituted has much of a shelf life anyway, though.
Trump is Yeltsin/Berlusconi levels of Authoritarian... that's not a good level, but we're getting about as much danger as those figures entail. Stylistically Trump is like Yeltsin - incompetent and buffoonish - but unlike post-Yeltsin, I don't think the US is institutionally as weak, so Trump doesn't usher in a Putin... Unfortunately Trump doesn't have the good grace to drink himself to death, so we'll have to endure his post-Presidential nonsense for as long as CNN continues to insist we must.
Personally I'm less worried about a Putin than I am about a Xi.
Xi's rise is methodical, fully systematized, popular where it needs to be, it is supported by elite institutions and people, and will reproduce itself. Trump is an idiosyncratic detour to the Xi scenario. The thing about Xi is that he's not "enormously popular" as a personality...I'm less worried about enormously popular idiots... If I worry, I worry about the systemic consolidation of powerful institutions by people I've never heard of. One of them is our future Xi. It has nothing to do with The Squad and their back-bencher performative acts.
Yeah, corn syrup is just sugar... this 'issue' is we put sugar in all sorts of foods where we don't need to put sugar. Now if you read labels carefully they break out HFCS, Dextrose, Palm sugar, etc. etc.
Of course a popsicle has sugars... that's the point; the turn-about to that commercial is putting Honey on Pizza or piling sugar on potato chips or coating your salad in a thick ooze of Dextrose. Which is basically how we eat.
The nicest thing I could say is we're currently debating the flavor of our authoritarianism.
But you're delusional if you think this is a problem peculiar to the right.
In fact, the meanest thing I can say is that the Left is much further along and in a much better position to impose their flavor... the dissolving that Lee mentions is the solvent of technocratic liberalism that has the broad minority support of 'all the right people' and will impose a benevolent authoritarianism that we'll all agree is just right. How else could we not?
Among the bad things Trump has ushered in will be the constant whirl of "well, Trump did it" and "we're not doing what Trump did, that was bad... we're doing this, and this is good." In my ongoing One Ring analogy... we're not embarking on the hopeless mission of destroying the ring, we're going to use it for good!
Heh.. co-writing assistant based on my writing tics and bad habits? How anyone doesn't see that output as pure parody that should crush your soul? Shit, only the least self-aware writers will ever keep writing... and commenters.
It's pretty interesting in that clearly McConnel and Pelosi had moved into a Post-Trump mode and it turns out the king isn't quite dead yet.
Also interesting because while Trump is doing this to screw a) McConnel, b) Pelosi, c) Congress, d) Post-Trump Republicans, e) Post-Trump Democrats, and f) Yes, a big 'F' to all'y'all... He's doing it from the "High-Ground" of giving people *more* money. Heh.
I mean... he loses nothing... if they don't pass anything, its because Post-Trump Dem/Repubs are just the same as Pre-Trump Dem/Repubs... never doing enough for the little guy... always buying off their sponsors and making you grateful for scraps... etc. etc. And if they *do* turn around and increase the grant to $2k... well who did that?
The Presidency in the hands of a competent President who wasn't also part of the take* would be a fascinating thing to behold.
*I recognize that Trump is doing this purely for Trump and *his* Take/Grift... but its still interesting to see McConnel/Pelosi with their underwear around their ankles - just because Trump is playing a solo grift doesn't end the collective grift that's the status quo.
Yeah, I had the exact opposite experience... every time I went outside there was this guy in my neighborhood who kept staring at me and my bespoke mask.
I haven't changed jobs in quite sometime... but when I've entertained some interviews I've noticed a massive sea change in the questions.
The new code is: Culture is very important here, and we want to make sure this is a good cultural fit for you. For *me* mind you... this is for my benefit.
What I'm looking forward to is not only the moral impact of your choices, but also the aesthetic - cultural - impact.
You played Shadowbane? Could go one of two ways:
1. I'm sorry, but studies show PvP games indicate reduced levels of collaboration and...
2. Lolz SB.exe right? You're hired.
I have no idea how many 'cultural fits' I've failed.
Wow, this game is fraught with a capital F. I'm taking my gaming $$ elsewhere.
Future employers: So March, we see from your steam profile (standard background check in future world) that you played Cyberpunk2077... tell us about that.
In the scenario we're living through? Yes. The partial benefit back to us the community is that the size of the subsidy might be proportionally less if the business(es) can operate at some reduced capacity.
If we through Govt. are unilaterally changing the rules of the market - especially at this scale and not simply an accidental byproduct of some other law - then that cost is a social cost we [ought] to account for.
Administering these subsidies? Well, mostly a nightmare.
The only thing Congress wants to do is raise funds (for themselves and their allies) and allocate tax expenditures... when they don't have a green light for expenditure expenditures.
One of the reasons why I could be persuaded by an overhaul of the tax code and/or UBI would be to reduce some of the directed spending they do via taxation. Note, this isn't to say taxes should be lower or higher... just that they shouldn't be policy proxies.
Lady Marchmaine and I considered going to the Movies one of our "lame" date nights. But after a year of not having even lame dates we''re dreaming of lame. But even then our go-to was an Alamo which is like combining lame dinner with lame drinks and a lame movie. But it's still better to have a beer and some quesadillas while watching super heroes destroy critical infrastructure.
I'm thinking that there's even more room for a Movie 'Experience' than Alamo. I mean, we already pay Alamo more than the price of the ticket... bump up the 'experience' and I'll pay even more so that the lame date becomes a date date.
The whole "you have to see it on the big screen" thing?... I believe that's true for a tiny fraction. Most of us are fine watching movies -for the first time- one the back of an airline seat, on our computers, and heck, on our phones. It isn't the screen. Change the experience, sell the experience. Otherwise I'm perfectly happy to experience the genius of Fatman this Christmas season on my TV.
But I'd like to go out on a date with my wife again.
On “McConnell Blocks Quick Vote on Stimulus Increase”
I'd suggest that knowing that the Dems would never block the Defense bill is the point of McConnel's maneuvers.
I might redirect to ask (in a different fashion than Stillwater) why won't the Dems block the defense bill?
Your heart is where you treasure lies.
"
Generation
"
No, of course it wasn't at the time... it will only be obvious to Generation [Prince Symbol?]
"
I disagree with your disagreement.
Our social/interaction data is too important for twitter and facebook... it won't end there. To be clear I'm not saying that 230 should be repealed simpliciter... but that we need to re-examine all the laws pertaining to platforms/publishers/privacy etc. A little like WW2, the internet has unleashed powers and interests that are much more potent than mere engineering advances.
"
Whatever the Generation after Z is... they are going to look back on our failure to grapple with 230 as we look back on the Eisenhower Military Industrial Complex speech. It was all so obvious.
On “Trump Signs Covid Stimulus and Spending Bill”
Fair enough... a recission that requires Congressional approval within 45-days or becomes moot in this case is a lot like a line-item veto: wishful thinking misleadingly packaged-up for purely internal consumption.
Or do you see Congress turning some of the recissions into law? Now that would be interesting indeed.
On “Ordinary World: Holiday Hangover Edition”
Heh... all 75M of them. The daily riots are... oh wait. Sheesh.
Honestly, this is just textbook othering.
"
Eh... it'll be something catchy like the Reformed Democratic party or the Democratic League or some such. Our parties aren't anything useful other than a branding mechanism. I don't think the Democratic Party as it's constituted has much of a shelf life anyway, though.
"
Trump is Yeltsin/Berlusconi levels of Authoritarian... that's not a good level, but we're getting about as much danger as those figures entail. Stylistically Trump is like Yeltsin - incompetent and buffoonish - but unlike post-Yeltsin, I don't think the US is institutionally as weak, so Trump doesn't usher in a Putin... Unfortunately Trump doesn't have the good grace to drink himself to death, so we'll have to endure his post-Presidential nonsense for as long as CNN continues to insist we must.
Personally I'm less worried about a Putin than I am about a Xi.
Xi's rise is methodical, fully systematized, popular where it needs to be, it is supported by elite institutions and people, and will reproduce itself. Trump is an idiosyncratic detour to the Xi scenario. The thing about Xi is that he's not "enormously popular" as a personality...I'm less worried about enormously popular idiots... If I worry, I worry about the systemic consolidation of powerful institutions by people I've never heard of. One of them is our future Xi. It has nothing to do with The Squad and their back-bencher performative acts.
"
Hah... nice.
Yeah, corn syrup is just sugar... this 'issue' is we put sugar in all sorts of foods where we don't need to put sugar. Now if you read labels carefully they break out HFCS, Dextrose, Palm sugar, etc. etc.
Of course a popsicle has sugars... that's the point; the turn-about to that commercial is putting Honey on Pizza or piling sugar on potato chips or coating your salad in a thick ooze of Dextrose. Which is basically how we eat.
"
Heh... Done and Done.
There's not the slightest ambiguity about the health impact of HFCS.
"
The nicest thing I could say is we're currently debating the flavor of our authoritarianism.
But you're delusional if you think this is a problem peculiar to the right.
In fact, the meanest thing I can say is that the Left is much further along and in a much better position to impose their flavor... the dissolving that Lee mentions is the solvent of technocratic liberalism that has the broad minority support of 'all the right people' and will impose a benevolent authoritarianism that we'll all agree is just right. How else could we not?
Among the bad things Trump has ushered in will be the constant whirl of "well, Trump did it" and "we're not doing what Trump did, that was bad... we're doing this, and this is good." In my ongoing One Ring analogy... we're not embarking on the hopeless mission of destroying the ring, we're going to use it for good!
On “Trump Signs Covid Stimulus and Spending Bill”
Article forgot to mention that he signed it with the Gr8t Kr4ken of Line-Item V3toes.
On “President Trump Demands More Cowbell”
Yeah... that's why it's so funny... if they could've waited until Jan 21 all of this would have come off the usual way(TM).
"
I think there's a Tumblr for that.
On “TextSpark AI leaves Beta”
Heh.. co-writing assistant based on my writing tics and bad habits? How anyone doesn't see that output as pure parody that should crush your soul? Shit, only the least self-aware writers will ever keep writing... and commenters.
On “President Trump Demands More Cowbell”
It's pretty interesting in that clearly McConnel and Pelosi had moved into a Post-Trump mode and it turns out the king isn't quite dead yet.
Also interesting because while Trump is doing this to screw a) McConnel, b) Pelosi, c) Congress, d) Post-Trump Republicans, e) Post-Trump Democrats, and f) Yes, a big 'F' to all'y'all... He's doing it from the "High-Ground" of giving people *more* money. Heh.
I mean... he loses nothing... if they don't pass anything, its because Post-Trump Dem/Repubs are just the same as Pre-Trump Dem/Repubs... never doing enough for the little guy... always buying off their sponsors and making you grateful for scraps... etc. etc. And if they *do* turn around and increase the grant to $2k... well who did that?
The Presidency in the hands of a competent President who wasn't also part of the take* would be a fascinating thing to behold.
*I recognize that Trump is doing this purely for Trump and *his* Take/Grift... but its still interesting to see McConnel/Pelosi with their underwear around their ankles - just because Trump is playing a solo grift doesn't end the collective grift that's the status quo.
On “Saints, Sinners, and the Limits of Public Policy”
Yeah, I had the exact opposite experience... every time I went outside there was this guy in my neighborhood who kept staring at me and my bespoke mask.
On “The Political Cyberpunk 2077 Thread”
I haven't changed jobs in quite sometime... but when I've entertained some interviews I've noticed a massive sea change in the questions.
The new code is: Culture is very important here, and we want to make sure this is a good cultural fit for you. For *me* mind you... this is for my benefit.
What I'm looking forward to is not only the moral impact of your choices, but also the aesthetic - cultural - impact.
You played Shadowbane? Could go one of two ways:
1. I'm sorry, but studies show PvP games indicate reduced levels of collaboration and...
2. Lolz SB.exe right? You're hired.
I have no idea how many 'cultural fits' I've failed.
"
Wow, this game is fraught with a capital F. I'm taking my gaming $$ elsewhere.
Future employers: So March, we see from your steam profile (standard background check in future world) that you played Cyberpunk2077... tell us about that.
On “Wednesday Writs: Win Stupid Prizes In Leonard v Pepsico Edition”
He is.
On “Desperate Times Call For Disparate Measures”
In the scenario we're living through? Yes. The partial benefit back to us the community is that the size of the subsidy might be proportionally less if the business(es) can operate at some reduced capacity.
If we through Govt. are unilaterally changing the rules of the market - especially at this scale and not simply an accidental byproduct of some other law - then that cost is a social cost we [ought] to account for.
Administering these subsidies? Well, mostly a nightmare.
On “Crossing the Suburbicon”
The only thing Congress wants to do is raise funds (for themselves and their allies) and allocate tax expenditures... when they don't have a green light for expenditure expenditures.
One of the reasons why I could be persuaded by an overhaul of the tax code and/or UBI would be to reduce some of the directed spending they do via taxation. Note, this isn't to say taxes should be lower or higher... just that they shouldn't be policy proxies.
On “2020 In Film: The Virus Complicates Cinema”
Lady Marchmaine and I considered going to the Movies one of our "lame" date nights. But after a year of not having even lame dates we''re dreaming of lame. But even then our go-to was an Alamo which is like combining lame dinner with lame drinks and a lame movie. But it's still better to have a beer and some quesadillas while watching super heroes destroy critical infrastructure.
I'm thinking that there's even more room for a Movie 'Experience' than Alamo. I mean, we already pay Alamo more than the price of the ticket... bump up the 'experience' and I'll pay even more so that the lame date becomes a date date.
The whole "you have to see it on the big screen" thing?... I believe that's true for a tiny fraction. Most of us are fine watching movies -for the first time- one the back of an airline seat, on our computers, and heck, on our phones. It isn't the screen. Change the experience, sell the experience. Otherwise I'm perfectly happy to experience the genius of Fatman this Christmas season on my TV.
But I'd like to go out on a date with my wife again.
On “Taking The Joy Out of a Raise”
Yeah, I always thought she peaked in Community anyway.