WWWendy will be here in about an hour. Today we plan to fix the wheels on my power chair, and assuming that goes smoothly, go out for lunch. This will be today’s only article from me.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:36 (average 6:03). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (SNL Channel): Anderson Cooper White House Turmoil Cold Open
No matter how they try to satirize Trump Reich t5urmoil, their satire is way too sane to approach reality. RESIST!!
From YouTube (Inequality Media Channel): Trump’s Stock Buyback Bamboozle
We all agreed, before the Republican Tax Scam passed, that this is what would happen. Outlaw stock buybacks! RESIST!!
From NY Times: As the upstart voter-profiling company Cambridge Analytica prepared to wade into the 2014 American midterm elections, it had a problem.
The firm had secured a $15 million investment from Robert Mercer, the wealthy Republican donor, and wooed his political adviser, Stephen K. Bannon, with the promise of tools that could identify the personalities of American voters and influence their behavior. But it did not have the data to make its new products work.
So the firm harvested private information from the Facebook profiles of more than 50 million users without their permission, according to former Cambridge employees, associates and documents, making it one of the largest data leaks in the social network’s history. The breach allowed the company to exploit the private social media activity of a huge swath of the American electorate, developing techniques that underpinned its work on President Trump’s campaign in 2016.
An examination by The New York Times and The Observer of London reveals how Cambridge Analytica’s drive to bring to market a potentially powerful new weapon put the firm — and wealthy conservative investors seeking to reshape politics — under scrutiny from investigators and lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic.
When I quit Facebook in protest several years ago (8-10), I warned that Facebook had started selling companies the capability to mine people’s personal data without their knowledge or consent. To be truthful, I had envisioned that capability’s use as a tool for serving up mountains of SPAM, but now I see how much deplorable it became. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
26 Responses to “Open Thread – 3/18/2018”
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SNL: Was good seeing Kate (Jeff Sessions & BdVos), and John Goodman (Rex T) on the show! Well done!!
IMC: Very informative and good video!
NYT: FB has banned Cambridge Analytica, We’ll see what happens next…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/facebook-bans-trump-affiliated-data-firm-cambridge-analytica/2018/03/17/cf76cae4-29ab-11e8-a227-fd2b009466bc_story.html?utm_term=.7632745c5c55
Cartoon: Oh, YES, Please!!!
Hope the wheels go on hassle free, and enjoy your outing and lunch! Hi, Wendy!! Have a great day, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
Stable door when steed is gone?
I’m sure FB KNEW what they were up to.
Stock Buybacks: Time for some petitions and contact with our lawmakers, people! The video is a must-see. In fact, it inspired me to make this petition.
NYT: Just one more reason to NOT have a Facebook account.
Cartoon: As well as the racists.
Excellent petition, Freya. I hope it makes it to the front page of Care2 so that many people get to sign it.
Signed!
5:26 Pining away.
I’m going to throw something out here for suggestions … Friday when I was out there was a period where I was sitting, and into the room came a gentleman wearing a T-shirt that said, “Proud Gold Star father.” I know what I can say to an active duty military person or a veteran – “Thank you for your service” – and it may not be deep but at least everyone knows it ans it’s appreciated. But what do you say to a Gold Star parent? “Thank you for your sacrifice”? I don’t think so. As a veteran myslf, I wanted to say something, and I wrestled with what for a couple of hous. As he was leaving, I caught his eye and said, “My military heart goes out to you.” He said “Thank you ” warmly, and then added, “You are the first person who has ever said anything.” I replied, “I don’t think people know what to say.” He kind of nodded on his way out. But It got me thinking … what CAN one say to a Gold Star parent? Any ideas?
SNL – LOL! I assume everyone heard Mark Pocan (D-WI) offered McCabe a two-day temp job to add the time to his service for the pension.
Stock – Pay no attention to the CEOs behind the curtain. You know, it’s no wonder these people think life is a zero-sum game. The way they play it, it is. Hypothetical question: What would it hurt to roll the entire US Code back to what it was in 1979 and then start from that?
NYT – I love their use of the term “harvest.” It says so much, doesn’t it? Human beings’ lives and livelihoods reduced to a cash crop.
Cartoon – Isn’t that the truth!
I love your comment re: the Gold Star Dad.
I’ve not run into family members who are, but I do know it was (on your part), such a sweet, and kind gesture of gratitude for his fallen son/daughter, Joanne. I know that he knew (with you being a Veteran), that it DID come from your heart. Glad that you shared this.
Semper Fi !!
I’m not sure what I would have said.
sample: ‘As a Navy Veteran, I’m so sorry for your loss.’
It must be very sad for them, also, on Mother’s and Father’s Day too.
I like Pat’s suggestion.
Thank you both. And even a non-veteran could say “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
?
Something along those lines:
“Every parent who has lost a child has a special burden to bear, and a Gold Star parent especially so. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Thanks.
SNL: Loved Session’s ‘honesty’, both for having no idea why McCabe was fired (Drumpf made him do it) and his own surprise that he wasn’t fired yet. Of course that’s not parody, that is just good enacting of reality. John Goodman made an excellent Rex Tillerson, too bad it’s a one-off, because we won’t hear from Tillerson again unless he also has to appear before Mueller.
IM: The long and the short of it is: Make Stock Buy-Backs Illegal Again! Everything Republicans come up with serves to increase their too wealthy masters’ bank accounts so there’s nothing else for it: make it illegal.
NYT: So it’s not just Russians interfering in the elections, a lot of damage has been done – and probably still is being done – much closer to home and paid for by Republican billionaires. Facebook is playing the innocent victim now, putting a stop to it ‘as soon as they found out about it’. My guess is that Facebook only did that because all that data was harvested without their knowledge, i.e. they didn’t make any money on it by selling it directly Cambridge Analytica. The gnashing of teeth must have been audible at Facebook’s headquarters. So is the sigh of relief at Mueller’s: this apparently has nothing to do with Russia. But all the more with Drumpf winning the election by illegal (?) means.
Cartoon: No, you don’t. Democrats need one good progressive, younger candidate with the appeal of an Obama but a little less aloof, and the backing of the whole party. The people will then drive the Republicans out of office themselves.
Hope you got your new set of wheels on your power chair without too much trouble and with time to spare to celebrate TC-day with WWWendy, TomCat.
SNL: Phenomenal!
Reich: Another reason to just love the damned Saint of the GOPIGS!
NYT: I’m not on FB, never have been, and probably never will be, especially now. Once again, I am having trouble controlling my language!
Puzzle — 4:09 I’m not sure it would make a good salad. Looks a little tough!
Inequality Media — An excellent video! Even Drumpf supporters could understand it . . . but will they believe it? You’re correct, we did agree that corporations would not put their tax savings back into the business. They would use the tax savings to enrich shareholders and CEOs. Pathetic! No wonder Ronald Reagan is regarded by Republicans as a saint. He unleashed the purse strings for corporations, their CEOs and shareholders to make big money at the expense of workers etc.
NY Times — No ethics! I wonder if someone will try to sue FB over this?
Cartoon — Saint Patrick already had his gig running the snakes out of Ireland. Hmmmm . . . Saint TomCat to run the Republicans out of the US!
Saint TomCat?!!?
Maybe the halo is a little tarnished, but whose is not! Saint TomCat works for me!
Talibangelicals may make Catholic saints look like angels … but you have more love and compassion in your heart than – well, certainly more than half of the people the Catholic Church ever canonized. I’m all for Saint TomCat.
Hey! This will ruin my rep!!
Thanks all! Hugs!