Facebook lost Billions in One Day But We Fund Caucus99
"Yawn," you say. "Who cares about FB?" Better question might be, "Who cares about caucus99percent?" This morning got the nice notification email from c99 admin acknowledging the automatic monthly contribution made by my wife c99er jakkalbessie and I.
Today also got notification email from Democracy Now about this interesting (to me) segment interview with one of Facebook's most serious critics.
AMY GOODMAN: Today we spend the hour with a leading critic of Facebook, Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy. He’s professor of media studies and director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia. We’re speaking to him in Charlottesville.
Professor, welcome to Democracy Now!
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/8/1/a_threat_to_global_democracy_how?u...
A Threat to Global Democracy: How Facebook & Surveillance Capitalism Empower Authoritarianism
StoryAugust 01, 2018
Watch iconWatch Full Show
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: “Black Elevation.” “Mindful Being.” “Resisters.” “Aztlan Warriors.” Those are the names of some of the accounts removed from Facebook and Instagram Tuesday, after Facebook uncovered a plot to covertly influence the midterm elections. The tech giant said it uncovered 32 fake accounts and Facebook pages that were involved in what it described as “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” The accounts had a total of 290,000 followers, that had—that created 30 events since April of 2017. One of the accounts had created a Facebook event to promote the protest against the upcoming Unite the Right rally in Washington, D.C. Protest organizers say the fake account is not behind the event. Facebook says it does not have enough technical evidence to state who was behind the fake pages, but said the accounts engaged in some similar activity to pages tied to Russia before the 2016 election. Facebook’s announcement comes just days after the company suffered the biggest loss in stock market history, losing about $119 billion—that’s right, billion dollars—in a single day.
Every time I read something like this have to think how thankful I am for C99.
Glad to be in a position to make it important to send a little in monthly support.
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Comments
Heh. Send some love if you can!
Just for funzies:
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Facebook delendum est.
Mr. Vaidhyanathan is correct.
Facebook needs to be abolished.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Independent media needs to flourish !
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
So the problem is that everyone is stupid
and must be protected from what WE have decided are bad actors. People cannot be trusted to determine what is wrong or right - we're too gullible. We can't think for ourselves. Jeebus, we've had this problem since WW1. It took him 25 minutes to get to anything even pretending to be new. 220 million americans use Facebook? Who gave him that figure, Facebook? That's clickbait. That's "cause for alarm". He's doing exactly what he's accusing Facebook of doing.
It takes him over 35 minutes to even start trying to redeem himself, before I even considered not disbelieving his motives.
Maybe we're just learning how to apply our bullshit filters, and maybe we should be allowed to do so. if WE impose OUR bullshit filter WE will just impose OUR bullshit. Did he think of that? (actually he does, but at the 40some minute mark, long after most people have shut him off)
On to Biden since 1973
Good review, thanks!
We are not afraid of fb, even though we know it does expose us more. We travel a great deal and have found that Facebook is the easiest way to stay connected with the many interesting people of all ages and walks of life that we meet. We have over 500 'fiends' on FB and it is very interesting to see what they post.
YMMV
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
What happened to e-mail?
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Great question! What happened to email!
At 69 I am the oldest of 5 children. None of them do email anymore now unless first prompted with a text or FB message or comment. The one who makes the most money working for a high tech company complains that he gets 100 emails per day that he should read but doesn't. Easiest way to reach him is via FB...
My guess is that they got tired of dealing with spam. We personally get 50-100 emails per day that land in our junk mail, many from lists we are one but many from spammers and phishers, with one or two valid emails mixed in.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
@divineorder That is the problem
That is the problem. If one avoids FB, one will lose friends. That piece of shit Zuckerberg actually managed to do what he set out to do, and monopolize friendship. When I first realized what he was doing, I laughed, because I couldn't believe it. "You can't monopolize friendship," I thought. "Americans already have a quick, easy way to contact each other--more than one!" I thought.
Man, is the joke on me. Now one's friends and family essentially enforce one's participation. Or, you can allow yourself to fall out of touch with them, of course. That's what I did, because I don't like being bullied or managed by little fascist twerps any more than I can help. It has a cost, though.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Ah, Facebook... The Indispensable "Social" Medium
A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
caucus99 is more valuable than ever!
Thanks again to this site for keeping the "real and important news" front and center. Looking at what passes for headline news these days makes me think I must be an alternate universe!
Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.
This ain't no dress rehearsal!
Hola, jb, good to see ya. Thanks for pitching in with do on
this promo/fundraiser. It really made my morning.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Thanks...
divineorder and jakkalbessie, very nice of you.
Caucus99%
is where I relearned how to think critically. Between the other site and social media, I was falling into the habit of allowing myself to become a lazy thinker.
I began with contributions whenever there was a call to do so, but then finally went on the monthly plan. I wish I had done that sooner. It makes things so much easier and I get more than my money's worth from the essays I read here.
What most people do not realize because he rarely posts, is that JtC is here in the background most of the time, maintaining this board, making updates and upgrades, and occasionally stepping in to remind us to be respectful to one another. He set this board up on his own time and his own dime so that we could have a site where we are free to express our ideas and opinions without fear of retribution by the board's owner. That is real freedom.
For those of us who can afford it, the least we can do to help compensate JtC for his time and his costs of maintaining this site.
Thank you for reminding us about it, divineorder.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Glad jtc is who he is. What a gift of creativity he gives!
I would even go further and say that I would like to see him do well financially, not just get by. In order for that to happen need funding that is regular and dependable?
Thanks gg for saying this, everyone needs to know or be reminded of the big job jtc does keeping this place 'free range' .
https://caucus99percent.com/about_donations
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
'Free range' love is the answer, keep serving it up please jtc.
We appreciate the great job you do!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Does anyone want to put up with ads?
No? Then contribute. I’m on the automatic monthly donation plan. This site is worth it, to me. If it’s worth it for you, contribute.
On another note - no FB for me, ever!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Breaking it down
If you can afford to eat out at lunch once a month, you can afford at least a $5 monthly contribution. That would be painless to do for most people.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Ha! I came across 'Mindful
Being' in my FB timeline. Claptrap. Which is why if this FB nonsense is what has everyones panties in a bunch over 2016 "Russian hacking," "Russian trolls" and "collusion," well... we don't have much to worry about.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
FB "froze" my account
Almost 3 yrs ago, supposedly because of "Russian hacking".
And even though I have since closed my account, FB still updates my Sanmsung phone every so often and I don't know how to dispose of the app entirely.
And of course, they are still tagging my face in any photos my family or freinds post on their accounts.
Facebook is like the herpes. Never goes away completely. Always there.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
@earthling1 You are fucking
You are fucking kidding me.
Of course, from my POV, they actually did you an unintentional favor, but still.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
true, there is no
closing of accounts
there. Truly sucks. I have old accounts kicking around that I haven't used in years. I still often get, "which Wink are you??" when people search. A pain in the ass.
Still, I use FB to keep up with local yokel (congressional district) politics, without which that would be impossible. My "district" is bigger than the state of New Jersey. Not that NJ is yuuuge, but as congressional districts go... then plunk a mountain range, Adirondacks, smack dab in the middle just to make it even more fun. So... FB useful. A pain in the ass, but useful.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
I want to personally thank everyone who supports C99p
What you are doing has now become a heroic act.
When C99p started, I could only imagine times like these in faraway places — the silence, the fear, the words that were never spoken.
When this community suddenly surged in growth, it was the result of the First Authoritarian Expulsion. But that was just one site. There was a big Internet out there. And there was always Google.
Then, when the Authoritarian cause was rejected at the polls, it triggered the Great Expulsion, which followed. The Overlords rose up and rolled across the land, defaming the non-corporate news-talkers and truth-sayers. They erected a great phantom enemy in the East and the West. And the people became fearful.
But the independent C99p stood solid and spoke the truth. The writers persisted and the discussions continued. The audience of readers swelled.
The Overlords then forced reforms upon the giants like Google and Facebook. Both quickly turned Stazi and blamed their customers for thought crimes. They began a crusade against the people's voices and formed departments where they could censor the news as a proxy for the government.
The Overlord's accusations and charges were absurd. They were based on evidence-free fantasies and proven lies spoken by proven liars.
Meanwhile, C99p stood firm and remained principled and intellectually honest. And the writers persisted and the discussion grew long and thoughtful and carefully cited.
Against the will of the People, Internet Equality was toppled and the Internet was seized by the corporations for commercial exploitation. It wasn't a big Internet anymore. Google transformed from search engine into a State Censor; Facebook became an arm of law enforcement. The nation has lost its Moral Compass and the people are fearful and confused.
C99p, where people do have a voice, remains solid — a bastion of intellectual honesty that is supported by you.
Thank you, supporters, for giving what you can to make this possible.
Just one of those who have a monthly deduction.
My PoPMoney account was dropped by our bank in January, and we never knew. Until....five months later, JtC had the temerity to ask whether we really intended to stop giving our piddly $10 a month. It took us another two months to figure out how to get a regular monthly contribution back up and running.
If our monthly stops for even one month, let us know. We will certainly let you know if times get so bad, we can't give that amount to the good owner of this sane corner of the world.
Thank you so much to JtC, Joe, and all the writers who work so hard to get the facts straight and the information out to us.
You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again you did not know. ~ William Wiberforce
If you can donate, please! POP Money is available for bank-to-bank transfers. Email JtC to make a monthly donation.
I do monthly on a credit card
and have had to switch out that damned card 3 times now - identity theft attempts and the bank shuts it down immediately, one of the few very good things about Chase. I don't always remember but bless PayPal for it sends an email reminding me to update the card number when that happens.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
YES!! This. I'm sitting here thinking about my next
planned fundraiser column, tentatively scheduled, it says here on my calendar, for 8/17, and here's do popping up and doing a far better job of it than I usually do. Thanks tons, do (and jb) and thanks to everybody who helps to keep this place up and running.
Oh, have a good day do, jb, and everybody else.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Great you have it on the calendar!
Thanks for all your work reminding us that it is up to us to keep this flying eh. Hope you have a great day!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.