Is the ubiquitously paywalled media ecosystem of today more or less healthy than the media ecosystem of the early 2000s “information wants to be free” era? are the larger worlds they subsist in just too different to render a comparison meaningful?

Usually people who begin a claim with “I’m sorry, but…” aren’t actually sorry.

A key tactic of right-wing politics is identifying and then sabotaging the parts of government whose smooth functioning would prevent the crisis you want to demagogue.

"Congress needs to repeal the Federal Arbitration Act." @40Years https://40yrs.blogspot.com/2024/10/yeah-still-evil.html

// If you've ever clicked anything on the internet (or someone else clicked stuff on your phone) + you get injured in an Uber, you'll be going to arbitration rather than have your day in court

a thing i would not have predicted, presidential prediction markets on Interactive Brokers.

It’s a bit weird to hold up Florida as an example of good YIMBY policy. Florida policy does help get a lot of multifamily housing built! But overwhelmingly in ways contrary to YIMBY urbanist/environmental ideals. Maybe some restriction should attach to the liberties YIMBYs recommend? https://www.slowboring.com/p/housing-policy-isnt-that-complicated

@Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis @Inoreader Well, there’s no need for any podcast service at all. Listeners just subscribe directly to the RSS feed all podcasts already publish. From a podcast creator’s perspective, if more of the audience did this, you’d be less beholden to Apple/Google/Spotify/Amazon etc.

Under its new (desktop) interface, @Inoreader embeds a decent podcast player. Just subscribe to podcast RSS feeds, and listen to episodes right in the reader.

#RSS

sure it can be a bit wriggly, maybe even a little bit gross, but that’s just what a healthy macrobiome looks like.

@PRW i feel so… SPECIAL! 🤗

am i the only person for whom the names “vance” and “walz” code as oddly similar? i sometimes hear a claim about one and misinterpret it as referring to the other until i double-check myself.

@chrisp historically the corporate income tax was progressive, but it’s so low now any progressivity that remains (i don’t know) would be over a pretty narrow range,

freedom includes the right to be left alone, but that doesn’t mean being left alone should be the default.

@railmeat That’d be great. But most of them were not born at that time. For almost 60 years they’ve been in territories under Israeli control, so they should have Israeli citizenship.

“And so every American who had a home became the enemy of every American who didn't – including one another's children. Every home built threatened your own property values.” @pluralistic https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/01/housing-is-a-human-right/#rentier-tech

“humans make AI slop; it does not spontaneously generate itself. Its production is driven by ordinary economic incentives and not some manifest destiny of machines by which they will inevitably grasp the totality and index all possible realities within their vast numeric matrices. If the internet is dead, it’s because capital is a vampire, not because machines have taken over.” @robhorning https://robhorning.substack.com/p/the-envisioners

The heart of the American Constitutional system is an active, assertive Congress. Unfortunately, Congress is now a fearful, incapable, pathetic. I think we'll need electoral reform to change it's character, but @ddayen offers important ideas to chew on. https://prospect.org/politics/2024-09-30-how-congress-gets-its-groove-back/

going to start a social media site called “ruth.social”.

posts will be referred to as “random acts of kindness”.

In April, both sides wanted to save face but avoid a larger conflict.

Do both sides want to avoid a larger conflict now?

i suspect the Saudi leadership is really enjoying its popcorn.