KHAAAAAAAN!!!
You've made Notty Cat's ears look HUUUUUUUGE!!!
Actually, it's just the extreme wide-angle lens on my Pixel 8 Pro. Khan is an accident.
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The Guardian · Dramatic fall in London’s levels of deadly pollutants after Ulez expansion
Star Trek: Khan: a podcast series with a story by Nicholas Meyer. Count me in! https://www.startrek.com/news/star-trek-khan-voice-cast-naveen-andrews-wrenn-schmidt
Continued thread
"The only #FTC member to reject the regulations was #Republican Andrew Ferguson, who is expected to take over the FTC for #Trump. The impact of his leadership on this current set of regulations remains to be seen.
Ferguson said in a statement that he didn’t actually disagree with the rules on principle, he just didn’t want it to happen while #Khan and #Biden were in charge."
https://newrepublic.com/post/189477/biden-ftc-bans-junk-fees-tickets-hotels
Who is #BushraBibi? Imran #Khan’s wife stands at the forefront of the #Pakistan protests - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/02/bushra-bibi-wife-imran-khan-pakistan-protests "Elusive spouse of the former prime minister led march of tens of thousands on Islamabad" interesting development...
The Guardian · Who is Bushra Bibi? Imran Khan’s wife stands at the forefront of the Pakistan protests
Tongue firmly in cheek: "Between the years 1200 and 1380, everyone in Asia was personally murdered by Genghis Khan."
Can confirm: I was there and I got murdered, too!
@premodernist takes on Godwin's law and wins.
An update from #HaniAlmadhoun!
Hot meals 4 Starved Palestinian Kids in #NorthGaza
Update on November 1, 2024 by Hani Almadhoun, Organizer
"Salam, Hola and hello,
"Greetings from Utah, where my alma mater is located ! I’m here giving talks, lectures, and events, sharing my experiences with #UNRWA USA and the #GazaSoupKitchen in #Gaza. To my surprise, I found a lot of support, empathy, and understanding. The highlight so far has been meeting with Arab students , many of whom felt invisible on campus regarding the issue of Gaza. It was heartwarming for all of us .
"At the Gaza Soup Kitchen’s makeshift location in #NorthGaza , the crew serves meals daily, mainly rice or pasta with canned meat to enhance the flavor. Every day, they provide meals to around 250 families and deliver water before cooking . They even deliver mini pizzas to another shelter to extend support as widely as possible . It’s meaningful to be able to help daily, and we thank you for powering our kitchens. Even in the face of bombs , we remain committed to this mission.
"#ChefMahmoud shared how challenging conditions remain. Just yesterday, 16 #Palestinians were killed on the same block as the soup kitchen️. During this tragic event, the medical point we established sprang into action, with two nurses pitching in to help. Injured community members were brought in for care, but the reality is harsh—most needed a hospital, and the only available one, #KamalAdwan, is critically low on #food, #medicine, and equipment. It was a heartbreaking day .
"We hope to reopen the kitchen soon and bring the staff and community together once more . Thank you for keeping them in your prayers .
"In Al Zawaydah, the kitchen continues to see hundreds of weary, war-torn people. We’re there for them, and they know it . They appreciate the variety of meals, the ingredients we use, and the humility in our service. Every morning, the crew heads to the souk, gathers what they can, and begins cooking—a family kitchen creating one perfect meal, repeated 400 times a day . Today, we served a seasonal local favorite, which was received with gratitude . If you look at the photos, you’ll see the smiles —but also, please don’t miss the desperate need in those crowds. Hundreds of families lining up is not normal . Thank you for standing with us.
"Moving south to #Khan"Younes, we now serve breakfast every morning . Some days, it’s rice pudding, other days mini pizzas, falafel wraps, or anything we can create to brighten the kids’ days . We center our response on the children and ensure they’re always a priority 
.
"In the same community, Ms. Fatima continues her morning classes ️. Every day, she shows up for her students. Today, they learned the letter 'C,' using toy cars as an example . The students’ excitement and eagerness to learn, even in such conditions, are truly moving .
"Thank you so much for being here and choosing to stand with the Gaza Soup Kitchen . This work is not easy, but your support and partnership make it bearable . You help bring light and hope in the darkest times 
. Your engagement give us the power to do what we do.
"P.S. Due to the ongoing #genocide and scarcity, we’re paying more for food in the south and spending extra time sourcing ingredients in North Gaza. We hope soon to be able to provide more variety than rice and pasta . And remember UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian operation in Gaza, there is no substitute."
Read more, share, and donate:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/Hot-meals-in-gaza-daily
#Starvation #GazaAid #GazaFundraisers #FreePalestine #CeasefireNow #FoodIsLife #WaterIsLife #GoFundMe #IsraelHumanRightsViolations
#StopArmingIsrael #WorldWarBibi #BeitLahiya
gofundme.comDonate to Hot meals 4 Starved Palestinian Kids in north Gaza, organized by Hani AlmadhounDo you know what it’s like to watch your family starve? I do.
My… Hani Almadhoun needs your support for Hot meals 4 Starved Palestinian Kids in north Gaza
For the #history nerds out there: https://journalofdigitalhistory.org/en/article/Gqh2Bf5W4TdK
Journal of Digital HistoryJournal of Digital HistoryThe Journal of Digital History (JDH) is an international, academic, peer-reviewed and open-access journal. JDH will set new standards in history publishing based on the principle of multi-layered articles.
As Silicon Valley eyes US election, Elon Musk is not the only tech bro to worry about
There was a time when the tech industry wasn’t much interested in politics. -- It didn’t need to be because politics at the time wasn’t interested in it.
Accordingly, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple grew to their gargantuan proportions in a remarkably permissive political environment.
When democratic governments were not being dazzled by the technology, they were asleep at the wheel:
Antitrust regulators had been captured by the legalistic doctrine peddled by #Robert #Bork and his enablers in the University of Chicago Law School 
the doctrine that there was little wrong with corporate dominance unless it was harming consumers.
The test for harm was price-gouging,
and since Google’s and Facebook’s services were “free”, 
where was the harm, exactly
And though Amazon’s products weren’t free, the company was ruthlessly undercutting competitors’ prices and pandering to customers’ need for next-day delivery.
Again: where was the harm in that
It took an unconscionable time for this regulatory slumber to end,
but end it finally did on Joe Biden’s watch.
US regulators, led by #Jonathan #Kanter at the Department of Justice (DOJ), and #Lina #Khan at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),
rediscovered their mojo.
️And then in August the DoJ dramatically won an antitrust lawsuit
in which the judge ruled that Google was indeed a “monopolist”
which had taken anticompetitive steps to preserve its 90% share of search.
The DOJ is now proposing “remedies” for this abusive behaviour,
ranging from obvious ones like barring Google from contracts such as the one it has with Apple to make it the default search engine on its devices
to the “nuclear” option of 
breaking up the company.
The shock of this verdict to the tech industry has been palpable, 
and has led some movers and shakers in the Valley to think that maybe electing Trump might not be such a bad idea after all.
Some of the loudmouths like Marc #Andreessen
– and, of course, #Musk
– have explicitly come out for Trump,
but at least 14 other tech moguls are providing more discreet support.
And although quite a few tech leaders have – belatedly – come out for Kamala Harris,
some are doing so with some reservations.
Reid #Hoffmann, the founder of LinkedIn, for example, donated $10m to her campaign, but says he wants her to fire Lina Khan from the FTC.
The most dramatic evidence of how Silicon Valley lost its political virginity, though,
comes from the extraordinary amounts of money that #cryptocurrency companies have been putting into the election campaign.
The New Yorker reports that crypto companies have already sunk
“more than a hundred million dollars”
into so-called SuperPACS supporting crypto-friendly candidates.
The interesting thing is that this money seems to be aimed not so much at influencing who wins the presidency
as at ensuring that the “right” people get elected to the House and the Senate.
This suggests a level of political nous that would have been disdained by the early pioneers of the tech industry in the 1960s.
Technology might not have been political then; but it sure is just now.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/20/as-silicon-valley-eyes-us-election-elon-musk-is-not-the-only-tech-bro-to-worry-about?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
The Guardian · As Silicon Valley eyes US election, Elon Musk is not the only tech bro to worry about
Private equity’s role in US healthcare remains unchecked after California veto
The nation’s most high-profile legislative effort to regulate private equity investments in healthcare,
and would have given the California attorney general discretion to deny mergers.
Its demise comes amid US Senate hearings over mismanagement at #Steward #Health,
a chain of more than 30 private equity-backed hospitals in Massachusetts whose CEO and investors siphoned “hundreds of millions” of dollars from community hospitals even as they developed one of the worst patient care records in the country.
“We’re really disappointed to see this bill was vetoed,”
said Katie Van Deynze, a legislative advocate for Health Access California,
a consumer advocacy coalition that lobbied in favor of the bill.
“There are a lot of other states and folks who were watching this.”
The bill received an endorsement this summer from #Lina #Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission,
the agency responsible for enforcing antitrust regulations.
A dozen other US states, including red states such as Indiana, either have merger review laws on the books or considered similar legislation this year.
Private equity investors have gained an enormous foothold in American healthcare in the last decade,
buying up $1tn worth of physician practices, hospitals, specialty practices and even hospice centers.
California alone has seen $20bn in private equity investment.
The bill, formally known as #AB3129, would have ️ required private equity and hedge fund-backed buyers of certain healthcare businesses to seek the state attorney general’s approval 90 days before a deal was slated to close,
and given the attorney general the option to deny such mergers.
️The bill would have also prohibited investor-owners from interfering with professional medical judgment of providers from dentists to psychiatrists, strengthening so-called corporate practice of medicine laws.
The Guardian · Private equity’s role in US healthcare remains unchecked after California veto
Areas of Islamabad, Pakistan, have been regularly sealed off to prevent supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from gathering for protests in the city’s streets. Khan, who is still in prison despite the corruption charges against him being overturned, says his jailing is politically motivated. The military’s crackdown started soon after the passing of The Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act 2024, which proposes three-year jail terms for participants of “illegal” assemblies. Read more from BBC News.
www.bbc.comImran Khan and the power struggle for PakistanProtests and arrests mark the latest flashpoint in a fierce game of cat and mouse between Pakistan's political parties.
Found the Wrath of Khan still in the wrapper at a thrift store. Who misses the good ol' days of slipping a VHS tape into the VCR on a weekend night?
Unlike streaming a video there was a bit of a ritual to it. Starting by selecting a movie then slipping it out of the cardboard sleeve. The clunking sound of the tape being sucked into the VCR and the reels engaging to begin playing it. If you were lucky you didn't have to fiddle with the tracking wheel.
Those were the days.
Continued thread
Many technology companies would be more benign if they were owned and governed by their users.
Users have the most to lose from tech-driven addiction and automation,
and their data generate most of the companies’ value.
️User-owners would share in this value and have an incentive to keep companies from causing harm.
How might users come together to start and run more technology companies?
Bringing together a disparate and dispersed group of people is difficult;
-- economists call this the #collective #action #problem.
Influential nonprofits such as the 
Center for Humane Technology and Project Liberty can play an organizing role,
incubating a new generation of user-owned social media businesses.
While it’s a competitive field with entrenched players,
social media technology is not complex,
and there is a real hunger for more benign versions.
Existing firms can also be redesigned.
Instead of raising capital from profit-seeking corporations,
OpenAI could seek funding from users and give them representation on its board.
And with users on the board, the company might take more care to launch products safely
and dedicate resources to maintaining employment.
Most important, more of the financial gains of the AI revolution would flow to the people creating the value.
If #Keith #Gill,
also known as #Roaring #Kitty,
could organize retail investors to drive up the market value of #GameStop by $10 billion,
could a similar approach have been employed to acquire Twitter for users in 2022?
Given the millions of defections from the platform since Musk purchased it,
it may not be too late.
The government can also help if it’s not headed off by Big Tech political contributions.
The Small Business Administration,
the Department of Energy and
the National Science Foundation
should encourage user ownership of the companies they fund.
The venture capitalists of Sand Hill Road will of course scream that this is #socialism,
but they will be wrong.
It’s just business.
Continued thread
The root of the problem is that the United States and Silicon Valley in particular are dominated by what we call an “investor monoculture.”
Modern corporations are designed to serve investors and no one else.
About 80% of public company stock in the United States is owned by institutional investors,
most of which have one objective:
to maximize profits,
largely in the short term and without regard to the costs for society.
In 1980, their share of stocks was just 29%.
Venture capital firms,
the biggest funders of Silicon Valley startups,
have grown from under $400 billion in assets in 2010
to nearly $4 trillion today.
Their performance is measured by
“multiples on invested capital,” or “#MOIC,” as insiders call it.
Suicide rates among young people are up more than 60% since 2007,
and U.S. democracy is in danger.
-- But these are not investors’ concerns.
Regulation and advocacy can certainly make a difference.
But Big Tech is cash-rich, lawyered up and capable of running circles around regulators.
It’s time for a different approach.
When businesses are owned and governed by employees, customers, suppliers or communities, they become less predatory
and more benign.
️And as it turns out, corporations have been designed in such ways across time and cultures.
Capitalism comes in many forms.
Farmers, employees or customers own and govern some of the world’s most respected companies,
including
Ocean Spray,
Publix Super Markets,
Organic Valley,
New York Life Insurance Co. and
Vanguard.
Corporations such as Patagonia,
Rolex,
Novo Nordisk and
Ikea
are owned or controlled by nonprofits, trusts or foundations,
which have no investors
and thus face less pressure to boost profits.
Silicon Valley has examples too.
Mozilla, which operates the web browser Firefox,
is owned by a nonprofit.
It has no incentive to maximize profits,
which explains why it does not sell user data to advertisers.
Wikipedia, among the world’s most visited websites, is also run by a nonprofit,
which shows that scale and impact don’t always depend on investor capital.
A nonprofit owns a majority of ChatGPT maker OpenAI,
a design it chose to “ensure that artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity.”
But its minority investors, such as Microsoft, are profit-driven,
which has led to concerns that it’s releasing products at an irresponsible pace.
Silicon Valley is maximizing profit at everyone’s expense.
It doesn’t have to be this way
A public battle has broken out among the titans of Silicon Valley.
One side, led by #Elon #Musk, PayPal co-founder #Peter #Thiel and venture capitalists #Marc #Andreessen and #Ben #Horowitz,
is backing Donald #Trump for president.
The other, led by LinkedIn co-founder #Reid #Hoffman, is behind Kamala #Harris.
We should not make the mistake of thinking this is a battle over ideology or policy.
It’s a battle to 
maximize Silicon Valley’s profits regardless of the consequences for society.
On this objective, both sides agree.
Andreessen Horowitz is one of the largest investors in #cryptocurrency and #artificial #intelligence,
and Trump has signaled that he would keep the government out of its business.
Meanwhile, soon after donating $7 million to a Harris super PAC,
Hoffman called for her to oust Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman #Lina #Khan,
who has brought antitrust cases against Big Tech and introduced rules to protect workers.
Silicon Valley, a longtime engine of human achievement,
has become a significant source of human harm.
Aware of the gathering backlash, its leaders have dived into the political fray to protect their wealth.
Two Silicon Valley obsessions threaten the most damage:
creating human #addiction to increase profits
and #eliminating #humans altogether to decrease costs.
Social media platforms,
which started out by bringing old friends together and giving voice to the otherwise powerless,
have become “social slot machines”
compelling excessive use.
Gaming companies have a similar objective.
Teenagers today spend more than eight hours a day on screens,
fueling digital advertising revenues that reached $225 billion last year.
Meanwhile, the artificial intelligence revolution promises to cut labor costs.
A recent study by MIT economist #Daron #Acemoglu found that 50% to 70% of the growth in inequality between more and less educated workers can be attributed to automation.
Poverty rates in Silicon Valley’s home state are rising
even as AI makes Big Tech richer.
The broader prospects are equally concerning.
AI is enabling killer robots, autonomous weapons and massively destructive misinformation.
Los Angeles Times · A way out of Silicon Valley's profit-driven devastation
#NowPlaying Bot 
Stranded
Genghis Khan • Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Rolleiflex 2.8 D • Kodak Portra 800 • 2024
Continued thread
#Murdoch said #Khan’s applications for the arrest warrants linked to the conflict in #Gaza “were the first of their kind” relating to #starvation as a #WarCrime, and had highlighted the issue in the minds of lawyers and prosecutors (re: #MariupolSiege). “What it showed is where the #ICC’s thinking is,” she said. #TheHague #Israel #Ukraine
#Russia accused of ‘deliberate’ starvation tactics in #Mariupol in submission to ICC
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/13/russia-accused-of-deliberate-starvation-tactics-in-mariupol-in-submission-to-icc
