GMcGath @[email protected]

@duckduckgo If you got rid of continuous scroll, that would be two things for people to like.

"Intellectuals hate progress. Intellectuals who call themselves 'progressive' _really_ hate progress." --- Steven Pinker, _Enlightenment Now_

@adamasnemesis I don't want Tik Tok banned, but I wouldn't touch it.

NYC employees get paid to procrastinate. https://nypost.com/2021/10/21/nyc-workers-fume-over-500-offer-to-unvaccinated-employees/

Did some checking on today's Jesus & Mo cartoon and found there are _still_ Muslim fundies who claim drinking camel urine is good for you.
https://www.jesusandmo.net/comic/drink/
https://answering-christianity.com/urine.htm

Under a new bill, buses, highways, and bridges would all be considered COVID relief and eligible for federal money as such. https://www.unionleader.com/news/politics/granite_status/granite-status-bill-would-give-cities-towns-more-leeway-with-covid-funds/article_e2aef085-174b-5b6f-846a-c8914e61f4e0.html

The heckler's veto strikes again. "We were concerned that individuals from outside our community might inadvertently distract from the insights and perspective that she intended to share." https://www.boston.com/news/schools/2021/10/20/journalist-nikole-hannah-jones-was-invited-to-speak-to-concords-middlesex-school-then-she-wasnt/

NH legislative committee rejects a marijuana legalization bill. The 9% sales tax was part of the reason. https://www.unionleader.com/news/politics/state/committee-rejects-legal-pot-bills-but-chairman-working-on-his-own/article_0ec6ba83-65f1-5046-984a-57889cbc50b8.html

Twitter decides that @DPRK_News , which has been running for years and has hundreds of thousands of followers, is an "impersonation" account and gives it the boot. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/twitter-suspends-12-year-old-popular-north-korea-parody-account-for-violating-impersonation-rules

@adamasnemesis Very interesting and important piece. I'll need to write a detailed comment once I'm more awake.

It's that time of year again, so here's why I don't give money to Salvation Army bell-ringers. https://medium.com/@gmcgath/why-i-dont-support-the-salvation-army-f48021b0bb87

Salem, Mass., requires practicing psychics to be licensed. This has nothing to do with making sure you have "real" psychic abilities; it's all about restricting competition. https://news.yahoo.com/news/salem-residents-fight-over-limiting-psychics-20110408-132034-345.html

@duckduckgo The game is familiar. Hobble sites from promoting their own products. The most marginal ones go out of business, leaving the big ones in a stronger position than ever. The politicians simultaneously boast how they've helped to fight monopoly and scream that Facebook's growing market share shows they must do even more of the same.

New on my blog: Working from home doesn't make you or your work "virtual." https://garymcgath.com/wp/virtual-people/

@adamasnemesis The Mt. Void newsletter for science fiction fans has lately reviewed the songs from the Bond films. It's scattered over multiple newsletters, and I can't easily find links to all of them, but here's the latest: http://www.leepers.us/mtvoid/latest.htm

@kpeace There are plenty of real racists around, including ones who call themselves "antiracist." Let's stick with calling them what they are.

UK schools introduce face recognition, using fast lunch payments as the carrot and COVID as the stick. https://www.engadget.com/uk-school-facial-recognition-cafeteria-canteen-200457972.html