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31 votes
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In 1978, to emulate the exuberant and stylistic luxury of the Lincoln Continental, Volvo launched its own facsimile of the traditional American land yacht, the 262C
5 votes -
A factsheet about single people in the USA
10 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 17
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17 votes -
Space Launch System green run hot fire test
4 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 16
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13 votes -
When capitalists go on strike
5 votes -
The history of sourdough in Alaska, and why long-time residents are called "sourdoughs"
6 votes -
The bootleg sake of Prohibition-era Seattle
4 votes -
A new documentary details the FBI's relentless pursuit of Martin Luther King Jr
5 votes -
Margo St. James, advocate for sex workers, dies at 83
7 votes -
Nearly 1.6 million Illinois Facebook users to get about $350 each in privacy settlement
7 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 15
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19 votes -
Jacksonville Jaguars hire Urban Meyer to be Head Coach
9 votes -
Despite the pandemic, venture capital investments in US-based companies set records in 2020, with almost $130B raised and 318 mega-rounds worth $100M or more
4 votes -
The unsettling truth of the story behind "Mostly Harmless", the hiker whose mysterious death fascinated the internet
16 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 14
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13 votes -
Declassification of secret document reveals US strategy in the Indo-Pacific
7 votes -
Andrew Yang is running for Mayor of New York City
26 votes -
Bakersfield, California just ended chronic homelessness
11 votes -
Jahari Massamba Unit - Pardon My French (2020)
3 votes -
A not-so-modest proposal to nationalize the defense industry
15 votes -
ERRA - Divisionary (2021)
5 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 13
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18 votes -
Democratic Sen. Manchin casts doubts on $2,000 direct payments, potentially jeopardizing passage
5 votes -
Visual investigations: How a Presidential rally turned into a Capitol rampage // Insurrection at the Capitol: A timeline of how it happened
12 votes -
Visa and Plaid abandon merger after US Justice Department Antitrust Division’s suit to block
10 votes -
US military issues rare statement denouncing Capitol riot and confirming Biden as next commander-in-chief
35 votes -
The Great Deplatforming: An alternate explanation for the Parler, et al, shutdowns
A common current narrative is that tech monopolists are suddenly acting of their own initiative and in concert to deplatform the burgeoning fascist insurgent movement within the US. I approve the...
A common current narrative is that tech monopolists are suddenly acting of their own initiative and in concert to deplatform the burgeoning fascist insurgent movement within the US. I approve the deplatforming strongly, though I suspect an alternative significant motivating and coordfinating factor.
An example of the "tech monopoly abuse" narrative is Glenn Greenwald's more than slightly unhinged "How Silicon Valley, in a Show of Monopolistic Force, Destroyed Parler"
Greenwald's argument hinges on emotion, insinuation, invective, a completely unfounded premise, an absolute absence of evidence, and no consideration of alternative explanations: an overwhelmingly plausible ongoing law enforcement and national security operation, likely under sealed or classified indictments or warrants, in the face of ongoing deadly sedition lead by the President of the United States himself, including against the person of his own vice president and credible threats against the President-Elect and Inauguration.
Such an legal action is, of course, extraordinarily difficult to prove, and I cannot prove it. A critical clue for me, however, is the defection not just of Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Stripe, and other tech firms, but of Parler's legal counsel, who would have to be an exceptionally stealth-mode startup to fit Greenwald's, or other's, "it's the tech monopolists" narrative. I've tempered my degree of assurance and language ("plausible" rather than "probable"). Time will tell. But a keen and critical mind such as Grenwald's should at least be weighing the possibility. He instead seems bent only on piking old sworn enemies, with less evidence or coherence than I offer.
This is the crux of Greenwald's argument. It's all he's got:
On Thursday, Parler was the most popular app in the United States. By Monday, three of the four Silicon Valley monopolies united to destroy it.
I'm no friend of the tech monopolists myself. The power demonstrated here does concern me, greatly. I've long railed against Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple, among other tech monopolists. Largely because as monopolies they are power loci acting through their occupation of a common resource, outside common control, and not serving the common weal. Hell: Facebook, Google (YouTube), Reddit, and Twitter played a massive role in creating the current fascist insurrection in the US, along with even more enthusiastic aid and comfort from traditional media, across the spectrum. Damage that will take decades to repair, if ever.
But, if my hypothesis is correct, the alternative explanation would be the opposite of this: the state asserting power over and through monopolies in the common interest, in support of democratic principles, for the common weal. And that I can support.
I don't know that this is the case. I find it curious that I seem to be the only voice suggesting it. Time should tell.
And after this is over, yes, Silicon Valley, in its metonymic sense standing for the US and global tech industry, has to face its monopoly problem, its free speech problem (in both sincere and insincere senses), its surveillance problem (capitalist, state, criminal, rogue actor), its censorship problem, its propaganda problem (mass and computational), its targeted manipulation adtech problem, its trust problem, its identity problem, its truth and disinformation problems, its tax avoidance problem, its political influence problem.
Virtually all of which are inherent aspects of monopoly: "Propaganda, censorship, and surveillance are all attributes of monopoly" https://joindiaspora.com/posts/7bfcf170eefc013863fa002590d8e506
HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24771470But, speaking as a space alien cat myself, Greenwald is so far off base here he's exited the Galaxy.
Update: 2h30m after posting, NPR have mentioned sealed indictments and speculated on whether the President might be charged, in special coverage.
Late edits: 2022-1-23 Typos: s/inconcert/in concert/; s/would bet he/would be the/;
19 votes -
Univision announces PrendeTV - A new streaming service with free, ad-supported, 100% Spanish-language programming for the US Hispanic audience, launching in Q1 2021
5 votes -
What I learned in two years of moving government forms online
9 votes -
The scary power of the companies that finally shut Trump up
25 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 12
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18 votes -
Several gorillas at San Diego Zoo in US test positive for COVID
18 votes -
The last handoff: How the Obama-Trump Presidential transition led to chaos
7 votes -
We can uphold free speech and hold US President Donald Trump accountable
20 votes -
Today was Ken Jennings first episode as Jeopardy! guest host
Did anyone watch it? I was a little emotional at the beginning. I thought Ken did a great job for his first time.
18 votes -
Six Boeing-supplied 20kW solar arrays to augment existing International Space Station power system
8 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 11
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23 votes -
How Rome destroyed its own republic
12 votes -
Hunting pastime spikes during pandemic. Conservationists are glad
6 votes -
Art markets: New York bodegas in watercolor
5 votes -
Twitter has removed a post by China’s US embassy claiming that Uighur women have been “emancipated” from extremism and were no longer “baby-making machines”
15 votes -
How the United States chose to become a country of homelessness
11 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 10
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17 votes -
I see no choice but to resign from this Death Star as it begins to explode
34 votes -
When Americans committed insurrection: Until 2021, Americans had confronted federal authority with armed aggression just four times
13 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 9
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26 votes -
Why didn't Canada join the American Revolution?
5 votes -
California expects record revenues in stunning Covid budget reversal
8 votes