"much of the wealth isn’t a reflection of labor or even invention — it’s a gain based on the negative externalities and private monetization of an unrecognized public good — the network effect — with no associated compensation to the public… ultimately, the strongest consumer benefit and economic growth goes hand-in-hand with the erosion of profits.” #JohnHussman https://www.hussmanfunds.com/comment/mc251028/

We really need to regulate against the “sale” of products third parties can meddle with without the owner’s consent. It’s bad hygiene. It should be taboo. https://mas.to/@nordicnews/115451703107645377

[tech notebook] Turn your Bluesky archive into a readable, hostable static site with fossilphant https://tech.interfluidity.com/2025/10/28/turn-your-bluesky-archive-into-a-readable-hostable-static-site-with-fossilphant/index.html

Aside from the fact that it's, well, murder, one of the United States' great achievements during the Pax Americana era was protecting and enforcing all the world's ability to navigate freely in international waters. One of many global public goods the US used to provide, but is now undermining.

they said it was an inappropriate appropriation and that kind of blew my mind.

jfc. https://mastodon.social/@jockr/115448513793153913

@farah #relatable

i didn’t get interested in software to build shopping carts. i get so turned off when that’s the example.

@scott @curtosis it works until it doesn’t. the humans are not so predictable, and objective conditions can have some play. i’d not make any bets on “real Americans” turning on their masters very soon, but eventually they will. the question is how much collateral damage—how many scapegoats must be exhausted (if not exterminated)—in the meantime. and whether technical means of surveillance and control fully neutralize any 2nd amendment prerogatives before they do. Larry Ellison is working on it.

Whatever you might think of other controversializing, no one one the planet understands and presents more clearly the basic economic mechanisms of social democracy than #MattBruenig

from https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2025/10/26/do-predistribution-people-know-how-to-read/ ht @jdcmedlock

@Phil @curtosis it’s a more minoritarian coalition than i’d imagined!

@Phil @curtosis not all second amendment people are you, my friend.

@Phil the ballroom is funded by bribes, yes. Republicans control the government, all three branches. you are deeply mistaken if you think America’s problems result from too much generosity to “moochers”.

@curtosis our current leaders have imagined, perhaps quite mistakenly, that “second amendment people” will always be on their side.

Stein’s Law needs a corollary. The law is, what cannot go on forever will stop. The corollary is, before the fall, people will extrapolate its continuance to long past the time that it will stop.

building a giant golden ballroom while cutting SNAP has very Marie Antoinette vibes.

until you take down all your scurrilous posts that are not praising me, i hereby impose a 10% surcharge on your toots.

americans decided they would test the proposition “nothing matters.”

though i understand how the evidence for the proposition sometimes appears considerable, i remain skeptical it will ultimately prove correct.

an automated system demands your urgent attention.

i don’t think this plan
to force a divorce between yin and yang
is going to work out very well.