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Archive for the Apple Category

“Monitoring The Masses: The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015)” Revisited: The “Fondle Slab” Enslaves Us All (January 28, 2019)

Posted in Apple, Banks and Banking System, Cell Phones, Credit Unions, Privacy, Technology on January 28, 2019 by e-commentary.org

. . .

X “We are doing it to ourselves. The ‘Chip’ is not even implanted; the ‘Card’ is never discarded. The ‘Chip’ and the ‘Card’ are consolidated into the ‘Fondle Slab’ we call our Cell Phone, our electronic love machine.”

Y “The Cell Phone is a hard ‘Card’ embedded with the ‘Chip’ and cherished and adored as the most important possession and appendage of each and every subject.”

X “The ‘Fondle Slab’ is the first thing we scramble for in the morning, the constant companion we clutch and caress throughout the day, and the last thing we embrace at night.”

Y “They can access and assess the pictures we take and see who and what we saw and what we did and where we were when we took the pictures. Who, what, when, where . . . and surely why. And without asking us or paying us.”

X “We pass on buying infant formula to pay for the Slab.”

Y “The enemy has been met.”

. . .

[See the article “Holding U.S. Treasurys? Beware: Uncle Sam Can’t Account For $21 Trillion” in “Forbes” magazine by Professor Laurence Kotlikoff dated January 9, 2019 and an acknowledgement of his and Professor Mark Skidmore’s pioneering work looking behind the curtain at dodgy government accounting at “Third Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 8, 2018)”.]

[See the article discussing excessive spending and trust betrayed by J. Mark Watters and Sarah Vega with the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) titled “A $450 dinner, $45 whisky: Political appointee, aide ring up the expenses” in “The Washington Post” by Robert O’Harrow, Jr. dated January 19, 2019.]

[See the e-commentary at “Monitoring The Masses: The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015)” and “The Mandibles, FRNs, SDRs, IMF, G20, WTD! (September 5, 2016)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Big Brother in a little box

We have met . . .

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Alex J. / J. Assange And The First Amendment (August 13, 2018)

Posted in Antitrust, Apple, Awards / Incentives, Courage, Facebook, First Amendment, Google, Monopoly, On [Traits/Characteristics], Perjury/Dishonesty, Supreme Court on August 13, 2018 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “I don’t think I would like him.”

J “Me neither.”

. . .

J “Which is, of course, the point. Reflect on the principle not on the principal. The Supreme Court looks at the principal not at the principle.”

K “That is the Supreme Court for you.”

J “For me? Not for me. You take ‘em.”

. . .

K “Google, YouTube, Facebook, Apple and Spotify are imposing various levels of censorship. Each is a monopoly in its own sphere and is, in practice and effect, a utility and a powerful government.”

J “The First Amendment does not protect free speech directly but rather is a limitation on government interference with free speech. Governments such as Google, YouTube, Facebook, Apple and Spotify should not be allowed to interfere with free speech.”

J “Governments should interfere with and regulate monopolies. However that is impossible when the monopolies are the government or at least own and operate the government.”

. . .

K “Free speech for Alex Jones!”

J “Freedom for Julian Assange!”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Hero or Traitor? (June 10, 2013)”, “Third Annual ‘Cameo In Courage’ Award For 2018 (April 9, 2018)”, “Second Annual ‘Cameo In Courage’ Award For 2017 (March 6, 2017)”, “First Annual ‘Cameo In Courage’ Award For 2016 (May 9, 2016)”, “Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016)”, “Profile In Cowardice Award (May 12, 2014)”, “Profile In Courage Award, 2015 (May 11, 2015)”, “Chelsea And Ed: Time For ‘Con’ ‘dign’ Treatment (November 30, 2015)” and “On Courage and Truth (March 17, 2008)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Free speech for Alex Jones!

Freedom for Julian Assange!

(Unedited) petition circulating on the Internets; edit as appropriate or better yet use your own words and express your own concerns:

A Petition to the President of the United States: Pardon Julian Assange

Whereas Journalist Julian Assange and his media organization, Wikileaks, has in the respected tradition of American journalism obtained and published information that is classified and newsworthy, a practice shared with the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others and

Whereas in the eleven years of its existence the authenticity and accuracy of materials published by Wikileaks has never been questioned or disputes and

Whereas the material regarding Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee published by Wikileaks served the national interest by exposing the corruption of the Clintons, the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton campaign and the Obama Justice Department and

Whereas assertion by the American Intelligence Services that Julian Assange is the agent of a “Hostile Foreign State” or the Russian government are politically suspect and completely unproven and denied by Assange and

Whereas Julian Assange has consistently denied that material obtained from the Democratic National Committee and published by Wikileaks came from the Russian State and has repeatedly offered to prove this for US authorities and

Whereas Assange, now in failing health, has been a veritable prisoner in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for six years, with the media now reporting Ecuador is preparing to hand Assange over to British authorities who will presumably extradite Assange to the United States for trial and

Whereas Julian Assange is an impeccably-honest, incredibly-brave, humanitarian journalist, who provides an invaluable platform for whistleblowers exposing corruption and criminality infesting governments, nullifying democracy and obliterating human rights, around the world and

Whereas there are absolutely no legitimate legal grounds to prosecute Assange and, as the U.S. DOJ admitted in 2013, that doing so would expose ALL U.S. journalistic and news outlets to similar criminal jeopardy.

Therefore Urge President Donald J. Trump to issue a full and unconditional pardon to the journalist Julian Assange in the interests of both justice and mercy.

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“Net Neutrality” Now. Oh, And Happy Thanksgiving! (November 20, 2017)

Posted in Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Net Neutrality, Technology on November 20, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “The proposed elimination of the regulations that provide some measure of protection for net neutrality was slated to be foisted on the folks just before Thanksgiving.”

J “They are getting a jump on sneakiness this holiday season. They usually sneak such things by the people just before Christmas.”

. . .

K “Maintaining net neutrality is critical and pivotal. Someone defined net neutrality as the principle that Internet service providers and governments regulating the Internet should treat all data on the Internet the same. They should not discriminate or charge differentially by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication.”

J “Sounds like the Equal Protection Clause of the Internet.”

K “Or the Due Process Clause of the Internet.”

. . .

K “The folks at Battle For the Net and Fight For the Future are battling and fighting for us.”

J “I dropped a dime on my Congresspeople and demanded that they protect true net neutrality.”

. . .

K “Some stores are already foisting their Groundhog Day stuff on us.”

J “I’ve seen that before.”

. . .

[See “The Upside of Being Ruled by the Five Tech Giants” in “The New York Times” by Farhad Manjoo dated November 1, 2017.]

[See the e-commentary under the Category “Technology”.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Net Neutrality Now

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Are “Prices” A Language? Are Antitrust Laws Grounded In The First Amendment? How Do We Forestall The “Frightful Five” And Other Monopolies? Oh, And Happy Halloween! (October 30, 2017)

Posted in Amazon, Apple, Constitution, Economics, Facebook, First Amendment, Google, Internet, Language, Microsoft, Monopoly, Price, Radio, Technology on October 30, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “Prices for goods and services are a language spoken with numbers (7) not letters (L).”

J “I love language. French is the language of love and the language of diplomacy. Accounting is the language of business. So Prices are the language of a free market economy?”

K “Yes. Russian is one of the languages of literature.”

J “So is French.”

K “And English.”

. . .

K “Monopolies distort Prices which distorts speech. By distorting Prices, the public is making inaccurate and incomplete decisions and paying more for goods and services while the corporations are not internalizing externalities.”

J “Price may just be the real Esperanto.”

. . .

J “The current monopolies are in part the consequence of acts of commission and even more often acts of omission by the government.”

K “The problem with my analysis is that the First Amendment is a restriction on government activity not a requirement for government action.”

J “So the Constitution is unavailing. We are stuck with Congress, the executive agencies and the courts to protect us.”

K “They do not speak our language.”

. . .

[See the interview by Terry Gross with the tech columnist Farhad Manjoo with “The New York Times” who cautions that the “Frightful Five” (Amazon, Google/Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook) are more powerful than the governments on the “Fresh Air” radio program titled “How 5 Tech Giants Have Become More Like Governments Than Companies” on October 26, 2017.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Spanish is the language a man uses to talk to his God;

French is the language a man uses to talk to his wife;

Italian is the language a man uses to talk to his mistress;

German is the language a man uses to talk to his mule.

And English is the language a man uses to fly a plane or to surf the web or to engage in international discourse. You create it, you talk it.

And Price is the language a man and a woman use to value and exchange resources.

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Should You “Friend” The Tech Beasts And Behemoths? (October 23, 2017)

Posted in Amazon, Apple, Cyberactivities, Facebook, Google, Internet, Microsoft, Technology on October 23, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J “They don’t befriend me.”

K “They don’t be a friend of me either.”

. . .

J “In a land where nothing matters and anything goes and no one cares and no one knows, it is not a surprise that the technological monsters are devouring the populace with little comment or resistance by the people.”

. . .

[See “Tech Giants, Once Seen as Saviors, Are Now Viewed as Threats” in “The New York Times” by David Streitfeld dated October 12, 2017 and “Silicon Valley Is Not Your Friend” in the “Sunday Review” of “The New York Times” by Noam Cohen dated October 13, 2017.]

[October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). See “High-Frequency Trading = Cybercrime (June 8, 2015).” The high frequency traders are committing cybercrimes every day. Consult with them on how to commit and to combat cybercrime.]

“Boycott Facebook (August 2, 2010)”

“Less Government Regulation Series: Google (November 30, 2009)”

“‘Legs Network’ Is Big Brother (October 27, 2014)”

“Net Neutrality (April 20, 2015)”

“The Great Google Wall (June 27, 2016)”

“Restraining Google/Alphabet And Damming Amazon (July 17, 2017)”

“Excellence In Journalism? Time For A True Trophy (September 24, 2012)”

“Brave 1984 Farm: The Best Of All Possible Worlds (March 19, 2012)”

“A ‘Journalist’ Declares War On Journalists . . . And Journalism (November 28, 2016)”

Bumper stickers of the week:

Big Brothers abound

“Legs Network” is Big Brother