Notices by Shoq (shoq@mastodon.social), page 8

I am a full supporter of the idea that Threads may be a useful stepping-stone in our efforts to create a decentralized, Open Social. But I also think some of the unskeptical enthusiasm and cheerleading is ill-advised. There is a lot that can go wrong, and we should not be seduced by a Meta agenda and game plan that only Meta knows the actual details of.

@ATLeagle Agree about the media. As for not paying attention to it, society did that for the last 50 years. It didn’t work out very well.
https://mastodon.social/@ATLeagle@mastodon.online/112671559527254543

So now Trump is rambling about how the media said he was rambling about sharks and electric boats.

What I find so ironic is how many Open Web advocates express antipathy toward advertising. There is nothing wrong with it. In fact, it was once literally the lifeblood of journalism and it has never recovered from losing it. The problem was NEVER advertising, but intrusive ALGORITHM-based advertising. Old-school advertising with fixed rules against abuse could help open social explode.

The slow but steady growth of “fediverse” users, with a corresponding decrease in active users, tells me there’s a lot of curiosity and experimentation bringing people here, but not nearly enough benefits or satisfaction that keep them here. If we can change that, we can change everything.

Shooting ranges are a 4.2 billion dollar business in the USA alone. And enjoying a massive growth spurt.

Here's a clearly fascist dick move that almost everybody missed in April. The implications of this are massive

DeSantis signs a bill that curbs the power of civilian police oversight boards. And only the cops get to appoint the members of the board. That will work out well.

https://www.wuwf.org/florida-news/2024-04-14/desantis-signs-a-bill-that-curbs-the-power-of-civilian-police-oversight-boards

> Members of such oversight boards can still discuss police department or sheriff's office policies, but cannot investigate individual officers.

Bear in mind, that Florida is now a proving ground for these heinous laws that will be replicated in almost every state within 6 months. We are inundated with fascist fuckery and have no serious plan to do anything about it. Voting would be a lovely start, but we know that’s long, slow slog. We need remedy a lot faster than that or there will be no democracy left to remedy.

MSNBC tells me “some” Black voters are moving to Trump. I bet those are some pretty sharp folks.

A Black person voting for Donald Trump is sort of like a Jew voting for Hitler in 1933. There were some of those. For a short time, anyway.

Again.

In reply to…
https://mastodon.social/@progressivehetr@newsie.social/112639574186912349

Jeff Bezos breaks his silence about turmoil at The Washington Post

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/18/media/jeff-bezos-will-lewis-washington-post/index.html

Badgered and bloodied, democracy wins a round.

Arizona Appeals Court Rejects Attempt to Overturn 2022 Election Results - Democracy Docket

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/court-sanctions-election-deniers-and-dismisses-challenge-to-arizonas-2022-election-results/

Impossible to watch all these Republicans genuflect for Trump and not see massive corruption. If this were a movie, we’d be glued to our seats waiting for the Putin bagman to be exposed. Why isn’t Congress asking FBI to investigate. Moreover, why aren’t we the people SCREAMING for that?

@WarnerCrocker @Sumocat Sounds about right.

Csn someone please help me understand what these shareholders are thinking? I don't get it.

The Washington Post: Opinion | Tesla's shareholders approved $50 billion for Musk, picking hype over reality.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/06/14/musk-tesla-shareholders-50-billion/

> Tesla shareholders approved $50 billion for the CEO and wasted a final shot at dominating the EV market.

Judging from comments I’ve heard from some young folks, Taylor Lorenz’s piece on Gen-Z anger at Biden has given them some kind of validation for their many grievances, many of them indulgent given our perilous flirtation with fascism. That wasn’t her intent, but that seems to be the outcome.

To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw about indexes, “social media is the great leveler.” It’s made everyone an expert on everything (in their own minds), and almost nothing has been the same since.
Note: This will not be news to @radiofreetom

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Expertise-Campaign-Established-Knowledge-ebook/dp/B0CW1WLTM1/ref=sr_1_1

Good morning. At least until you see those repulsive videos of the entire Republican party leadership lining up to kiss the ring of the most unqualified person to ever hold or seek public office. I couldn’t watch more than 60 seconds without feeling physically ill. I shut it off, violently.

What amazes me is how the Twitter diaspora that scattered journalists and audiences across multiple platforms, hasn’t made it clear to everyone why an Open Social network should be everyone’s priority. Humanity needs it to be free of corporate and psychopathic platform owners.

Charlie fucking Cook would have written the same thing about the 1933 election that brought Hitler to power.

In reply to…
https://mastodon.social/@politicalwire@politicalwire.com/112610382728503507