When the Supreme Corruption narrowed the definition of bribery to the most explicit quid-pro-quos, did you think eventually people wouldn't be driving truckloads of cash through the space they opened?

Can media who play these games credibly do "news"?

https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/01/cbs-executives-consider-using-frivolous-lawsuit-as-a-pretext-for-giving-donald-trump-a-massive-bribe

"It's a win-win-win. Ron DeSantis gets something to brag about; Republican business owners aren't much affected; and undocumented workers are even more scared and docile. What's not to like?" #KevinDrum on Florida's immigration dickishness https://jabberwocking.com/florida-cracked-down-on-illegal-immigrants-heres-a-progress-report/

someone asked on redbook about Americans’ view of Elon Musk (and his mom), and it’s fun to see the infosphere clash, the Americans mostly dissing him while Chinese people note that he is widely admired there. http://xhslink.com/a/8xIo5fp1I343

what if China does to the next American election what Elon Musk did to the last one?

i love it when i click on a thing and get a message like the thing you clicked on does not exist. like what does existence even mean?

in magic, words structure reality, so the easiest thing to transform a chemist into is a chemise.

it’s touching to see Donald Trump make such an effort to prove Gary Gensler right.

if a President issues a shitcoin, even though it may bear all the hallmarks of a classic pump and dump, one must consider the possibility it’s intended as a durable means of deniable bribery.

so many people into eugenics wouldn't make their own cut.

@BillySmith just in how bleak he has become?

"Multimember proportional elections can be implemented at the state level without going through the federal government." @sjshancoxli https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-crisis-of-democratic-governance/

[Zuckerberg] “not only did his big set of moderation changes to please Trump, but did so only after he was told by the incoming administration to act. Even worse, he reportedly made sure to share his plans with top Trump aides to get their approval first.” @mmasnick https://www.techdirt.com/2025/01/17/as-zuckerberg-goes-around-whining-about-biden-he-made-sure-to-first-get-his-new-approach-approved-by-trump/

cynicism is not a sufficient epistemology.

don’t initial here for ordinary matters.

playing around on redbook, it is all welcomes and smiles and cordial mutual curiosity. until someone asked about israel and, hooboy, that got ugly fast.

i’m rednote curious, prefer using a Chinese app to a Musk, Meta, or Google product.

i’ve no illusions about China’s government. but Elon and our homegrown tech oligarchs are a more proximate threat to my own political community.

i’d prefer a fediverse or atproto alternative obviously!

is “influencer” a legitimate and desirable role in the economy that public policy should support and protect?

re https://youtu.be/cUyzDhYDMTc

"the actual threats came from the GOP, to which Zuckerberg quickly caved. The supposed threats from the Biden admin were overhyped, exaggerated, and misrepresented, and Zuck directly admits he was able to easily refuse those requests… All the rest is noise." @mmasnick https://www.techdirt.com/2025/01/16/rogan-misses-the-mark-how-zucks-misdirection-on-govt-pressure-goes-unchallenged/

"Is Xiaohongshu TikTok Two?"

(Sorry.)