Posts by _dm@infosec.exchange
(DIR) Post #AlSb36ZoC0RyXxNkGG by _dm@infosec.exchange
2024-08-29T13:18:33Z
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@interfluidity I'm nor sure I understand the distinction. To me, the clearest description of what I subjectively perceive is your phrasing around the Overton Window: the publishers most committed to appearing unbiased assiduously try to interpret seriously statements that might otherwise be considered absurd or obviously offensive.I agree that this does audiences a disservice. But I don't think it's motivated by a desire to stay on Trump's good side in case he wins; that was the implication I was taking issue with. I think it is more to maintain the appearance of fairness and nonpartisanship.
(DIR) Post #AlSbny9NL6061VMfVw by _dm@infosec.exchange
2024-08-29T13:27:00Z
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@interfluidity Yes, agreed. And my bet is that they continue to treat him seriously even if his poll numbers plummet. Let's hope we have the chance to evaluate this natural experiment!
(DIR) Post #AmHb88XoDGun9vnnfc by _dm@infosec.exchange
2024-09-23T03:49:40Z
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@interfluidity @davidfrenchjag https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003122417749632
(DIR) Post #AphunJf5fT7TrBMScy by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-01-03T14:08:51Z
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@interfluidity @lmsacasas Reminds me of this great essay on the value of reading writing written by humans: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/whats-the-point-of-reading-writing-by-humans
(DIR) Post #Aq8zR0wLr6a1FTMgO8 by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-01-16T15:38:03Z
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@interfluidity I think there's an interpretation here where Trump is sort of "the peoples' tribune", and he has made these oligarchs come and kowtow to him. Whereas, in prior administrations, those rich guys are so powerful they don't have to bow or respect the People (in the form of their representative, the President) to the same extent.
(DIR) Post #Aq90JMqsbWb8qOitjU by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-01-16T15:47:53Z
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@interfluidity I was thinking more about the pilgrimage to Mar a Lago than the inauguration, I suppose. But I think if I were a Trump fan, I would see it this way: the People's President has brought the tech elite to heel. As a critic, of course, I see it as, well, "Obvious corruption! Those rich guys are colluding!"But it's important to see how someone with different assumptions could perceive it.
(DIR) Post #Aq90lN3fQmKNam3cgK by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-01-16T15:52:57Z
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@interfluidity I think Trump superfans will see it, for a time at least, as what I said--plus, evidence that these rich guys see how great Trump will be for the US economy and growth, hence they are supporting him. And I expect at some point everyone sees Trump for a greedy self-dealing fraudster, and that the blatant oligopolist corruption brings him down. But maybe I'm an optimist.
(DIR) Post #Aq92KcER6iGgk4Sr0C by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-01-16T16:10:30Z
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@interfluidity I am convinced things will go badly askew, and optimistic enough to believe people will see it. In all seriousness, and a point I have been blathering about for a while now, the state of American politics does make me really question the causal relationship between policy outcomes and electoral outcomes. In order for democracy to work well, it must be true that:Voters can understand and attribute the results of policy choices......in time for the next electionI think it's reasonable to assume that, in a country that's two orders of magnitude larger than it was at its inception, with a vastly more complex government and economy, (1) is untrue, or, if it is true, 4 years is insufficient for (2).
(DIR) Post #Aq944n3hHlrNb01Tvc by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-01-16T16:30:04Z
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@interfluidity Yeah. I agree. I wonder a bit about how democracies can truly function if, among the electorate, there isn't a keen interest in the process evolution necessary to keep them functioning. And in the US, there is no such interest. In fact, quite the opposite: there's a ritualistic belief that whatever the Framers meant is correct. Perhaps that's a silver lining of Trump's rise. Trump supporters don't believe that the status quo or institutions are inherently correct--perhaps we should let him run for a third term, etc!--and Trump opponents see the outcome of the last election as evidence of the need for reform!
(DIR) Post #AqBHc2HtNBy06VlVz6 by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-01-17T18:11:09Z
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@interfluidity @mmasnick This sort of spinelessness must be exactly that "masculine energy" Zuck says we need more of.
(DIR) Post #AqKgjX3JdPU2p7G3KC by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-01-22T06:59:04Z
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My two thoughts are:Looks like a bubble!What’s the deal with the pant length on Larry Ellison’s suit? Is that his dad’s suit? Did he shrink ten centimeters since he bought it? Is he a Blues Brother?https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/21/trump-ai-joint-venture-openai-oracle-softbank
(DIR) Post #AqKkoZb6042VyriY1A by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-01-22T07:50:47Z
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@interfluidity I was really hoping you were going to respond to my second point, but, yeah, fair.I know people draw an analogy to the overbuilding of fiber in the first .com bubble, but, like, that was wasted capex, right?
(DIR) Post #AqkBPyQrIFDe6Vnlbc by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-02-03T14:16:36Z
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@interfluidity (I'm not a lawyer, of course.) I think it depends on what you mean by "enforce the law." If you mean, "bring prosecutions for violations", that's strictly the executive. But courts can issue injunctions that require certain behavior or risk contempt of court.But maybe you meant "as a practical matter, how can courts compel the executive to do what they say", and I guess that's really a political question. Given OMB's withdrawal of their memo, it seems to me that Trump still intends to obey the courts (more or less). Obviously nuts that we're having such a discussion.
(DIR) Post #AqkFRd08LOC025LUTQ by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-02-03T15:01:46Z
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@interfluidity Yes, absolutely. But I think they have a desire to avoid outright violating a judge's direct order.How strong a desire is anyone's guess.
(DIR) Post #AqsTsTVyfvWh3KcEQC by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-02-07T14:21:11Z
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@interfluidity At least a part of the problem, in my mind, is that if you go to a site like FoxNews.com, what you see is a radically different picture.A coworker of mine once described their family living in Putin's Russia, and their counterfactual beliefs about the world. Feels a bit like that!
(DIR) Post #Ar8RBiZzScfdi4Pd8y by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-02-15T07:06:25Z
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@interfluidity A part of the idea of an imperial President is that his power extends to rewriting history.So, if you believe in the imperial Presidency, you also know that this was exactly what the framers had in mind and, indeed, how it worked for many millennia.
(DIR) Post #As8j0C6PA01KGdKNxA by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-03-17T08:18:07Z
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@interfluidity “‘Free’ as in ‘free one-way trip overseas’ speech.”
(DIR) Post #AsDf06KhBPN6LaVnlo by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-03-19T17:26:50Z
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@interfluidity I mean, it's worth asking if the outspoken rich are representative of their class. Maybe they're exceptions?But that said, I certainly qualitatively get the feeling that the Silicon Valley/disruptor-rich:believe exceptionally in their own exceptionalism, and the myth that their wealth was entirely self-createdview the democratic process as a threat, not a guaranteeWarren Buffet famously said that if he were born in a different context, he wouldn't be rich. If I had to guess, I'd imagine folks like Thiel, Musk, and Horowitz probably think that if they were born in any context, they'd still end up as gods among men. It's not hard to see why that would lead to a corroded worldview.
(DIR) Post #AsOBzYydxTIpBUMvEe by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-03-24T17:18:14Z
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@GossiTheDog Look, I know it's the soft bigotry of low expectations, but I am personally just impressed these idiots aren't still using AOL Instant Messenger.
(DIR) Post #AwApw0dY1Fd2F7nzvs by _dm@infosec.exchange
2025-07-16T00:11:43Z
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I suppose it’s true that the bigger a company gets, the larger the proportion of employees who do things not because they make sense but just because “that’s how we do things.”