Amazon annihilates Alexa privacy settings, turns on continuous, nonconsensual audio uploading: (Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr / Pluralistic) “The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely.”
On r/AITA: AITA for breaking up with my GF after she gave away my dog…. AND LIED ABOUT IT? — NTA. The girlfriend is a psycho.
How a Quack TV Doctor Made It to Washington — Journalist Eoin Higgins profiles Dr. Oz for The New York Times.
Hamilton Nolan: Seeing Things For What They Are — The US political models that have been useful for the past 40 years have fundamentally changed. Democratic leadership in Washington, D.C., is hopelessly mired in the past.
Extreme things—things that sit completely outside of the mental framework that too many of our political leaders are still using to govern their decisions—are happening now. And they are going to happen more. And they are going to get more extreme. This does not mean that we are in a hopeless situation. It does, however, mean that we must adjust our interpretation of the world, or be left behind.
Not just political leaders. Every American needs to realize that the rules we operated under until 2024 are obsolete, and we need to reconcile with the new order.
New 'Starship Troopers' Movie in the Works from 'District 9' Filmmaker Neill Blomkamp
Borys Kyt at The Hollywood Reporter:
Blomkamp’s take is not a remake of the Verhoeven movie, and sources say the goal is to go back to the source material.
Not my favorite Heinlein. I guess I’ll see if if it looks good.
I’d love to see a movie or prestige miniseries of my favorite Heinlein: “Citizen of the Galaxy," “Starman Jones," “The Star Beast,” “Double Star” and “Methuselah’s Children.” “Orphans of the Sky” wasn’t a great book but it could be a great movie or series.
You want to bring back American ingenuity again? Make education and healthcare accessible to everyone. Make “right to repair” codified in the Constitution. Make Net Neutrality the law of the land. A person’s chance of surviving and having a roof over their head shouldn’t depend on “generational wealth”. Once those things happen, American ingenuity will return in full force again. It’s not Canada, Mexico, or Europe’s fault we’re here. It’s our own fault. But we can still do better.
— Scott Williams
@vwbusguy@mastodon.online
Lawmakers in red states are angling to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage (Associated Press / The Times of San Diego)
It Isn’t Just Trump. America’s Whole Reputation Is Shot (David Brooks / NYT) — The world now sees the US as a dangerous rogue superpower, Brooks notes. “I don’t care if Abraham Lincoln himself walked into the White House in 2029, no foreign leader can responsibly trust a nation that is perpetually four years away from electing another authoritarian nihilist,” he says. But Brooks ends his column on a hopeful note; when Trump and his movement inevitably self-destruct, that will be “an opportunity and rebirth.”
Helly vs. Helena, the Most Brutal Battle on ‘Severance’ (Maya Salam / NYT) — The Helly vs. Helena storyline is a metaphor for women’s self-loathing, Salam says. Great point — but men feel it too, in the real world outside the TV show.
You Are Not Free to Move About the Country (Lisa Schmeiser / So What? Who Cares?) — Southwest Airlines' announcement to start charging for luggage points to more significant issues in the U.S. Lisa quotes NYT reporter Nelson D. Schwartz, who coined the name “Velvet Rope Economy;” for everything from getting coffee to going to Disneyland, the top 10% get to pay to cut the line ahead of the rest of us.