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Era of woke capitalism

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“Gillette SLAMS Toxic Masculinity: "Men, Do Better!"”

“A new Gillette commercial tackles toxic masculinity & metoo, but reactions say it's anti-male.”

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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Oversized Monday roundup

Report: 3,000 SNAP Retailers Used Social Security Numbers of Dead People During Obama Administration



China Targets Control Over Internet of Things for Spying, Business



Once Again, NBC Sits On Story Related to Sexual Misconduct Until After It Matters



Corporate Speech Police Are Not the Answer to Online Hate



'#WalkAway' movement renouncing liberalism marches through nation's capital



One of the Best Arguments Against Blocking Speech on Social Media....

“...is so we become aware of who might be dangerous.”

Defensible Space

““Megafires” are now a staple of life in the Pacific Northwest, but how we talk about them illustrates the tension at the heart of the western myth itself.”

Deficits Do Matter: Debt Payments Will Consume Trillions of Dollars in Coming Years



U.S.-bound migrants enter Guatemala, others clash at border

Another 3000 strong caravan

Is Orwell’s Big Brother Here? Bezos & Amazon Team up With Defense, CIA & ICE



Murder in Pittsburgh and the Targeting of Alternative Social Media



Voters in Oregon Have the Opportunity to Create 10 “Gun Sanctuary” Counties



New Hampshire Privacy Amendment on the Ballot



Google’s smart city dream is turning into a privacy nightmare



Mexico offers caravan migrants benefits to stay; thousands refuse



Virtue-signaling and derangement in the wake of a massacre


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“Should We Ban Plastic Straws?”

“Will Witt went to Santa Barbara to ask people what they thought of the new law banning plastic straws. Check it out!”

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NeoNote — Online monopolies

No, they are not monopolies.

When I sit down at a computer, I don't have to go through Facebook to check the weather or see what is happening at this site. If I wanted to message someone on my iPod or iPad, I don't have to use Twitter.

With AT&T, if you were in an area covered you had no choice. It was your regional Bell company and AT&T or nothing. The breakup fixed that, you could choose your phone company. And today, if I am not in range of the right cell tower, my phone still works as long as I am in range of a cell tower.

Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple, all got big by offering something the competition did not have. No one was forced. Competition is the only way to reduce their hold. And the competition, like all competition, has to offer something more than "just as good as."

For a while, iOS and macOSX had software hooks so that Facebook and Twitter had easier access. That's no longer necessarily true, some of Apple's customers didn't want their data shared by companies that weren't trustworthy.

Government intervention is the last thing we need. There are already politicos who complain about "fake news" that isn't fake, it's just not what the politicos want you to think about. From the news in the last couple of days, it seems Twitter is going after conservative and libertarian users. Do we really want a world where government decides what may and may not be said?

Oh, one other thing. Monopolies rely on government support and intervention. Start regulating and you just planted a monopoly.



I agree it's a mess.

To get a site, you have to register a domain name. Then you have to get server space. If you use a company like Wordpress, you agree to carry their ads on your site in exchange for a reduced rate or free use on their server space. If you go on your own, you find a web host (like MacHighway) and you have more control over the site and advertising.

Think of it like a storefront that you have to rent. Depending on the terms of the lease, that is how much service your "landlord" provides and how much you provide to your visitors.

If Twitter provides the ability to block people you don't like, I agree that it should be available to ALL users. But the platform is not public property. The "landlord" can block out who they want when they want. But they shouldn't be shielded from the consequences of their actions. They are liable if they provide different services and benefits to their users. If it's a "free" service, then all "free" users should have the same benefits as all other "free" users. The "landlord" can ban conservatives, but if they allow conservatives (or one specific high profile conservative), then that person should have the same rights and benefits.

ETA: The real question is if the platform should ban offensive content and how that should be defined.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Supersized Monday roundup

China Presses Its Internet Censorship Efforts Across the Globe

Will China demand censorship across the globe? A free internet is humanity's last, best hope.

Schumer Will Vote ‘No’ On Judicial Nominee Because He Is White

“The nomination of Marvin Quattlebaum speaks to the overall lack of diversity in President Trump’s selections for the federal judiciary. Quattlebaum replaces not one, but two scuttled Obama nominees who were African American.”

Schools are safer than they were in the 90s, and school shootings are not more common than they used to be, researchers say

There isn't a trend. See also School Shootings Have Declined Dramatically Since The 1990S. Does It Really Make Sense To Militarize Schools?

Google tried censoring 'gun' shopping searches. It backfired

Someone didn't think it through. Well, it was a bad decision anyway, but the unintended consequences…

The History of the 'Assault Weapon' Hoax. Part 1: The Crime that Started it All

“A 1989 shooting at a Cal. schoolyard began the national "assault weapon" issue. It was a consequence of law enforcement failure.”

More cover-up questions

Remember Seth Rich?

SHOCKER: Companies Pulling NRA Support Totally Backfires

People are taking the NRA boycott seriously. Just not the way the virtue signalers hoped.

Obamacare: Will States do the Job that Congressional Republicans Have Failed to Do?

All sorts of implications here

Seven Feet Of Snow In Northern California Puts Screeching Halt To State’s Drought

You mean climate fixes itself?

Why Did It Take Two Weeks To Discover Parkland Students’ Astroturfing?

This needs to be in the gun control (victim disarmament) discussion. Remember this The Parkland Teens Fighting For Gun Control Have The Backing Of These Huge Organizing Groups

High School Teacher Suspended For Pro-Gun Comments On Parkland Shooting

Thou shalt not dissent

How Lenders Are Turning Low-Level Courts Into Dickensian “Debt Collection Mills”

“Federal law outlawed debt prisons in 1833, but lenders, landlords and even gyms and other businesses have found a way to resurrect the Dickensian practice.”

YouTube Purge Begins=> Top Conservative YouTube Sites Taken Down in February Sweep

Thou shalt not dissent OR criticize

Reclaiming “Liberal”

In 1900 America, "liberal" meant what "libertarian" means today

Laura Moser Shakes Off the DCCC

This might be a glimpse of what happens next. See also When DCCC Calls, Hang Up the Phone

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Friday supersized roundup

Florida vote to post 'In God we Trust' in schools prompts a question: Whose God?

Why does government think it can choose someone's religion?

Behind name redacted Rampage: Obama's School-Leniency Policy

Disturbing

Dick’s Sporting Goods Bans Some Rifle Sales…Again

Virtue signaling…again

Google is censoring shopping results for AR-15, handguns and more

Chilling. Do you really want Google deciding what you can see on the 'net?

A rural county legalized marijuana farms. It took their tax money – then voted to ban them

Literally taxes are theft

The IRS Is Coming for Your Passports

This is probably seven types of illegal.

Police Unions Defend Bad Cops Who Do Awful Things. Why Won't They Defend Broward County Deputy?

Follow the money

‘Chappaquiddick’ to Open Film Festival… on Martha’s Vineyard

Beyond surreal

Stop treating the Southern Poverty Law Center like it's a respectable and responsible organization

The SPLC is heavily biased against conservatives, and moderately biased against libertarians

China banned the letter N from the internet after people used it to attack Xi Jinping's plan to rule forever

Why we need a free and open internet

Still More Bad News (For Democrats) About The GOP Tax Cuts

Blacks, Hispanics, and women hit hardest

Koch Brothers Group Launches Ads Against Tax Breaks for Amazon HQ2

Why should any company be shielded from the taxes that other companies pay?

The Parkland Teens Fighting For Gun Control Have The Backing Of These Huge Organizing Groups

Yes, it's BuzzFeed which I don't like using as a source. It's also accurate.

Some Billings students are opposed to planned walk-out

Funny how only one side of the debate is hitting the national media

Facebook Keeps Secret Files on EVERYONE Including Non-Users – Here’s How to See Yours

Exaggerating, but not by much

What Mueller Has and What He’s Missing

There is very little doubt that this was an attempt to derail an elected President

Derry business turning away Republican customers

If the tables were turned, don't you think a business would be shamed into servicing Democrat voters?

Italian Voters Set to Shake European Union to Its Core as Anti Mass Migration and Euroscepticism Dominate Election

What? You mean Brexit was not an isolated event?

Trump the 'Big Second Amendment Person' Becomes 'Trump the Gun Grabber'

“Trump's embrace of gun control is consistent with his views before he ran for president.”

Pittsburgh Still Won't Let Anyone See Its Amazon Bid

There's no reason voters shouldn't know the details

Shocker! Rent Control Makes Housing Scarcer and More Expensive

“San Francisco rent control reduced affected rental housing by 15 percent while boosting citywide rents by 5 percent”

How can a place with 58,000 homeless people continue to function?

Excellent question

What Has Capitalism Ever Done For Us?

Capitalism holds the roots of freedom

'Get on the Right Side of History': A Phrase G.K. Chesterton Would Have Understood

“Telling others to 'get on the right side of history' is not just a form of intellectual bullying.”

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Supersized Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Signs

We pagans have become the worst that we saw in the People of the Book.

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