Notices by James Gleick (jamesgleick@zirk.us), page 6

I’m an author and journalist, hopeful about the #TwitterMigration.

I write about science and technology and their cultural effects. My books include Chaos, The Information, and TimeTravel, as well as biographies of Richard Feynman and Isaac Newton.

I’m working on a history of the telephone.

#Introduction #authors #science #technology #Feynman #Newton #TimeTravel #Chaos #telephone

No, no, no. In my youth I was a NY Times copy editor. I would not have permitted this—no one would. We’re not inside the heads of Trump’s lawyers. They SAY they believe the judge is biased, but that doesn’t mean they really do.

Suddenly it’s all Nikki Haley, eh?

“What Haley is now accomplishing is being on the verge of surpassing the crumpled carcass of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Enough to win the small trinket, not the full stuffed animal at the fair.”

This is why we like to read @joshtpm.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/haley-in-unstoppable-drive-toward-second-place/sharetoken/hwyBqGosv8C4

“He’s Mr. Free Speech until annoying (to him) people (Media Matters) tell other people (advertisers) what he’s doing. He’s a joke, socially-maladjusted likely always reactionary, racist and anti-semitic freak who is also fabulously rich and mostly able to do anything his whim suggests.”

Elmo, according to @joshtpm. Gift link.

(But why are you still there, Josh?)

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/elmo-unbound-miscellaneous-thoughts-on-speech-and-power/sharetoken/tuOyJOhgOQXO

I really try not to post things from the old hellsite. But this is too good.

Here is the first act of the new right-wing Republican leadership of the House: As a condition of aiding Israel, they insist on defunding the IRS’s ability to go after rich tax cheats.

Not sure why that isn’t getting bigger play in the mainstream press.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/31/israel-ukraine-congress-senate-austin-blinken/a47a753e-77a2-11ee-97dd-7a173b1bd730_story.html

Sure, the Supreme Court needs better ethics rules. But Clarence Thomas took bribes and cheated on his taxes, and existing laws cover that nicely.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/25/us/politics/clarence-thomas-rv-loan-senate-inquiry.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5Uw.lLET.jt-oDuXFa0hk&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

As their final price for allowing Democrats to keep the government running for 45 more days, what did Republicans demand?

A sop to Putin. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sure, he’s a rapist and a fraud. But let’s not forget about the years of money-laundering for the Russian mob. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/deutsche-bank-employees-reportedly-flagged-suspicious-transactions-involving-trump-kushner-n1007501

“Amazon has become a vestigial place, a retail colossus barely hindered by either competition or regulation, where prices go up as quality goes down, and the undifferentiated slurry of products from obscure brands is wreathed in inauthentic reviews.”

Time for a reckoning with #Amazon. @pluralistic in the NY Times is thorough and correct.

[gift link]
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/27/opinion/amazon-ftc-antitrust-monopoly.html?unlocked_article_code=tY7l9gTcrXErymG5Inj4ZdylEk6v5YPjhWZX5zk6ESsEYU4uYm8nYsPQcO9hA5ZktsDXtybMQBnw-X9g68420oA_z6D17CqDCuk32wOH9bRtjRSnvEVuhQ7SIDMfZkUKC_sDFgVPjoToqpt-JEODvzvmpLOZ-wDORx39Hon5QH47V4dXmWPnkWSAT-RrqiXWZW-nreDhV1aFxCJqGUJzxAGB3f64T_MpLOsmhk0ZvXIsDTftvfKxrubAeZVpaF9t_pWA0wk3td89IT27_5QFk__shl19MQUXcxqPrYxUKzgjzcw4OFMHFttshfJ-uGw2OnBhLpVKc7CDdXCJti-xUpXdyg&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

This is Handmaid’s Tale stuff. We are the dystopia now.

I remember when even anti-abortion politicians were careful to say they would never criminalize the pregnant women. Now Nebraska is imprisoning a mother who helped her teenage daughter with an abortion pill.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/22/burgess-abortion-pill-nebraska-mother-daughter

By prioritizing workers and the middle class, Biden has created the best economy in decades—for everyone. “Inflation is low, unemployment is low and there’s virtually no hint of a recession. But many Americans, according to surveys, are convinced the economy is terrible.”

How do journalists explain this paradox? Either it’s an unfathomable mystery, or it’s Biden’s poor messaging.

The obvious explanation—that journalists are failing at THEIR job—escapes them.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/15/trump-biden-mainstream-politics-news-coverage

Do you have friends who STILL haven’t left the twitter? This might be what they need.
https://chrlschn.medium.com/mastodon-is-rewinding-the-clock-on-social-media-in-a-good-way-8998f6d9f1aa

Does no one in the U.S. government have anything to say about one rogue private citizen knee-capping a war effort on which we have so far spent $75 billion?

Ukraine is not mincing words.

#Musk #Ukraine

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-ukraine-zelenskyy-starlink-access-crimea-russia-invasion-2023-9 https://news.yahoo.com/zelenskyy-advisor-slams-elon-musk-151459281.html

@cshlan @Br3nda By the government of the United States. Oh, I know it’s not going to happen. Nationalizing private enterprises in behalf of the public interest has gone out of fashion. But, in a better world, it could be done, and it should be done.

Starlink must be nationalized. It’s no longer just a hypothetical possibility that leaving it in private control might damage U.S. national security. That is happening now. https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/111025127137415613

Elon Musk secretly used control of his Starlink network to cripple a Ukrainian military operation while it was under way, in defiance of American foreign policy.

He is an oligarch working against U.S. interests, benefitting his fellow oligarchs in Russia. His biographer seems to think this is just Musk being Musk, quirky and idiosyncratic.

#Musk #Ukraine

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/elon-musk-biography-walter-isaacson-ukraine-starlink

By and large, the American press is not telling us how dangerous Trump is. He’s telling us himself; but many still pretend this will be a normal election. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/30/trump-interview-jail-political-opponents-glenn-beck

The reporters know, but can’t say directly: Trump is paying a lawyer (through his PAC) to ostensibly represent his employee co-conspirators. The lawyer’s actual job is to ensure that they don’t rat him out. With a different lawyer, they might tell the truth and avoid going to prison—and sure enough, one of them has just done exactly that.

Look how many words it takes to avoid explaining what’s really going on.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/us/politics/witness-trump-documents-lawyer.html?unlocked_article_code=-eV_cxISCP_pnDEyU1hOU3vRDGalIgi8JOMzSeFV9HD3GgGyaghwYAcKls66NUd39eAljCeQasBO4UPGt8CCLhbDvCiPWibyACAr6-PTsocvf7rr6OTWpkrHXxVd1bI4ExSBIlb3wF4fu_DxWO_S1aP2DF5Nv7uZzTwyL9JoFSSkLAAj5h1ItjOTlM2z9WPz1mlZpE2eVNQxCQ1li5ozCsnhUCi9gjheA_zIwkOFG-eXaXSv0joO3bDW8-YDcJ_EJXNWnRa51t07pVaHZxQBgWq0i2ywfS_mSgu_Ae--v2tfASG42TSfl6_kyxLSlBe6HvyvWxjPmDjkgJFYyvksmEhn9YHzUlub&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Now @jaykuo explains the whole thing: https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/free-lawyers-but-big-strings-attached?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web