We're living in a wild time. It's hard to believe only one of these images is satirical, and yet, at the same time, I'm not the least bit surprised to see the Nazi salute at Trump's inauguration.
One of the most powerful people in all of history is promoting fascism as hard as he can. If you haven't already, it's time to decide what you, personally, are willing and able to do to resist.
[#]Politics
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"President-elect Trump launched his own cryptocurrency Friday night, and as of Sunday morning appeared to have made more than $50 billion on paper for himself and his companies."
"It also speaks to the nature of the #crypto industry that someone could have more than $50 billion worth of something that literally did not exist 48 hours previously."
Gifted. "Grifted" is the word you are looking for, Axios, not "made". They literally have not made a thing.
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/18/trump-meme-coin-25-billion
[#]politics
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It should be no surprise that "Everything's Coming up Zuck" in the Trump 2.0 era, in part because its given him " the confidence to scrap content moderation and workplace culture policies that appear to have privately chafed him for years."
Remember Mark "The Creep" Zuckerberg's first forey into tech was creating a website to rate whether female Harvard students were more attractive than farm animals, which evolved into The Facebook we know (and hate) today.
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/17/mark-zuckerberg-trump-tiktok
[#]Politics
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"A half-billion is a staggering sum for someone who can't run again — and a signal that Trump is ready to help allies, punish opponents and spend big to keep Republicans in full control of Congress through his term.
💸 'The money is just pouring in at Mar-a-Lago,' a Trump adviser told us. 'Trump doesn't have to lift a finger. Everyone's coming to him.'"
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Can someone remind me the difference between a political donation and bribery? I keep getting confused.
"President-elect Trump is being inundated with so much money from corporations and wealthy donors that his team expects to raise about $500 million by this summer...
'The crypto guys are just blowing it out,' the Trump adviser said. 'It used to be $1 million was a big number. Now we're looking at some folks giving like $10 [million] or $20 million.'"
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/15/trump-windfall-fundraising-500-million
[#]Politics
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Economists think on the margin.
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the world.
Therefore pickleball is the best sport in the world.*
I don't make the rules.
[#]TeachEcon
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Ads are bads.
Advertising, and marketing in general, generate costs with little to no societal benefit. They:
"But you wouldn't get the 'free' websites and shows and aps without ads," the reply guys cry. On Mastodon. A place that shows us a better way is possible.
[#]economics
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Desperation profits the powerful.
They want us afraid of losing our jobs so we accept unlivably-low wages, so they punish the unhoused.
They want us struggling to pay our bills so we don't have time to challenge the system that richly rewards them.
They will use every natural catastrophe to entrench their power and increase profits, and they don't shy away from creating calamities as well.
A solution is building caring, generous communities. A secure population is a strong one.
[#]politics
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For a better look at the devastation from the #PalisadeFire, NPR has tried to capture the terror and drama in photo-from, though I can't imagine they do the true damage justice.
https://www.npr.org/sections/the-picture-show/2025/01/13/g-s1-42407/see-california-wildfire-devastation-pictures-altadena-eaton-palisades
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There is evidence the #PalisadeFire ravaging LA is a re-ignition of a New Years fire caused by fireworks.
What may be the most damaging natural disaster in US history (measured in inflation-adjusted dollars, as if that's a true measure of damage) was likely caused by our desire to scare dogs with colorful sky-bombs.
It's long-past time we find more sustainable ways to celebrate than explosions that contribute to, and increase damage in, our ever-warming world.
[#]ClimateChange
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Yes, an easily downloadable data set of all the Tesla fatalities would make a great addition to my intro to stats class, why do you ask?
https://www.tesladeaths.com/
[#]TeachEcon
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I know most of us are utterly unshocked by Zuckerberg's hard right turn to suck up to Trump. Meta, nor anything his hand touches, are known for having moral fiber woven in.
But for those who are a tad surprised, it is worth revisiting the Behind the Bastards podcast on the creep that is Mark Zuckerberg.
Is he the worst person in the 21st century? I'm not so sure. The competition is stiff, but he's making a solid case for himself.
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-one-mark-zuckerberg-the-worst-30417725/
[#]politics
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In Kim Stanley Robinson's solarpunk-adjacent book "The Ministry for the Future," a major natural disaster in LA was a turning point for the world to take significant action against #ClimateChange.
Something about disaster striking the heart of Hollywood makes it real, and iconic, and shows it impacts even the most powerful.
I am truly saddened by the Palisades fires, and wish everyone affected the best for them and their loved ones.
I also hope we can use this as a wakeup call to take action.
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"The burden now falls on you to find sources of information you trust for reliable truth. That means better scrutinizing not only the publications you choose, but the individuals you follow on social media. That's a lot to ask — but it's the new necessity."
This has always been the case. But what's missing is that with less fact checking, we become more and more reliant on others being willing to spend the time and energy to do so.
We are at peak mob-misinformation.
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/08/media-information-facebook-x-instagram
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Want to know what economists are saying about #AI? You probably won't be shocked to hear zero mention of exploitation of writers, social media users, and creatives nor the devastating environmental impacts.
This rings true with my experience talking AI at economic education conferences where I'm often the sole (though loud) voice for such things.
But you have to give economists credit, at least we are consistent in ignoring critical costs!
https://www.npr.org/sections/planet-money/2025/01/07/g-s1-41290/what-americas-top-economists-are-saying-about-ai-and-inequality
[#]economics
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It's unfortunate military expansion is back in vougue. Stay alert Panama.
"Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China! China! And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China. And they’ve abused it, they’ve abused that gift.” - Trump
This "gift" meaning the land that the US leased from the newly formed Panama - who seperated from Columbia with massive military help from the US largely because Columbia rejected the proposed deal.
[#]politics
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Glad to see the billionaires agree...
"Never has it been easier to spread misinformation at scale — with less concern about media meaningfully policing it."
"Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are of one mind. The most powerful global information platforms should be governed by free speech — and the people — not by the platforms themselves.
Both concluded it's too hard, too inherently biased, and too restrictive to put limits on speech. It's also cheaper to stop trying..."
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/07/meta-x-misinformation-fact-checking-community-notes
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Justin Trudeau resigns from leader of Canada's Liberal Party.
"After spats with allies, pressure from Donald Trump and falling poll numbers, Trudeau has decided to call it quits."
This is sad news, and an ominous sign for the direction Canada is headed. The right-wing across the world is destabilizing liberal coalitions, and we desperately need to find ways to combat it.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/6/why-has-justin-trudeau-resigned-and-whats-next-for-canada
[#]Politics
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The Eurasia Group's risk assessment for 2025 is... bleak. We are at early Cold War level risks with modern twists. Fun times.
"We are heading back to the law of the jungle. A world where the strongest do what they can, while the weakest are condemned to suffer what they must. And the former—whether states, companies, or individuals—can't be trusted to act in the interest of those they have power over.
It's not a sustainable trajectory."
https://www.eurasiagroup.net/issues/top-risks-2025
[#]Politics
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Breaking: Biden awards Medal of Freedom - the highest civilian honor- to Bill Nye the Science Guy.
My childhood has been validated.
[#]Politics
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