Facebook/Cambridge Analytica

Don't trust anyone under thirty.

I debated renewing my subscription to "New York" magazine. In case you haven't been paying attention, with the drop in advertising, periodicals are raising their rates. Used to be subscribing was a no-brainer, the cost of a couple of issues on the newsstand. Now it can be the better part of a hundred dollars. And to cut costs "New York" went to biweekly publication, and so much is NYC centered, but I hate going backward so I ponied up.

And I'm glad I did.

BECAUSE OF THE APP!

I'm an inveterate news-checker, especially in these troubled times. I'm going from Twitter to the NYT to the WSJ to the LAT on a regular basis, could be dozens of times a day, I want to know what's going on. That's why you shouldn't publish a book. Unless it's fiction. It disappears immediately. I laugh when these reporters go on book leave, so they can collect a paycheck from ignorant publishers who crippled digital so they could maintain their antique business model and then get reviewed by all their meaningless peers and sell no tomes. Whereas info online is not only immediate, it can be seen by MILLIONS! Which is why cultural impact is more important than money. Don't ever forget that. Although you can combine both like the Mercers and go to the head of the class. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

With my subscription to "New York" comes access to its app. And its news feed. The self-righteous are all about the "New Yorker," but its app analysis is hard to access and too self-satisfied. Whereas "New York"'s is current and brief and if you want to know what's going on...

You check the app. I do. It's become one of my go-tos.

And you can also get this info online, for free, in your browser. But the dirty little secret is that's a passe game, like CDs, like files, everyone's on their mobile. Which is why you must buy the largest mobile screen available, because it's not a phone, it's a computer!

And all of this is to point you to the definitive article on Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, I found it in the "New York" app, you can read it via this link: http://slct.al/2G4XV34

So here's what happened. Employing subterfuge, Cambridge Analytica hired 270,000 people via Mechanical Turk to answer questions in an app they installed on Facebook. And then Cambridge had access to their friends, whereupon they scraped the data of 50 million people.

That's right, you're guilty. You gave up your privacy without a wink, so you could post pictures of your kids, cats and vacations and boast how great you are even though you're dying inside.

What's worse is Facebook built a whole business on this. And keeps saying IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT!

The Russians invade Facebook. Facebook says it didn't happen.

Cambridge Analytica gets all this data and Facebook says IT'S NOT A BREACH! Yup, that was their response, although it's now been deleted from Twitter, you see Facebook PERMITTED companies to do this. And then it sent Cambridge a note saying to delete the data. Which is kind of like e-mailing spammers to stop. Huh?

That's right, Facebook was so busy making money that it didn't care about ethics, didn't care about people, didn't care about our country or YOU!

And all the while Mark Zuckerberg is a hero. Sheryl Sandberg too. What did they do other than go to Harvard and use their connections and smarts to make money? Teachers need to get outside gigs and are harassed for forming unions to try to get a decent wage but Silicon Valley stars get a pass. WHY?

Same deal with the Mercers. In our no-tax country, and believe me, the richer you are the less you pay, percentage-wise, and there are so many loopholes and shelters, never mind the carried-interest rule, the billionaires get a pass and the poor are pissed upon. Forget that fiction that the poor pay no tax. They're paying up the yin-yang. Maybe not income, but sales, gas, all kinds of other taxes. But you don't want to hear that, because the poor don't matter. They should just pay fealty to the rich.

But this is not the baby boomers who grew up with a background in equality. No, today's young 'uns grew up in an era of clear-sailing, they believe they're entitled to their path and their payment, it's their god-given right.

And we pay the bill.

What is Facebook delivering for all that cash? An advertising platform based on our info. It's almost a scam, I tell you.

But worse are the values and insights of the team.

Maybe Zuckerberg should have finished college. Maybe those focused on STEM education need to take more liberal arts courses. Because these wankers are undeveloped, they can't see the playing field. But they're rich and powerful so they get a pass, WHY?

This is the story of the era, not the Second Amendment. I'm not saying people should have guns, I'm not saying there should be school shootings, I'm just saying if you think you can protect yourself from government overreach via arms, you're dreaming, you've never used a computer, today all the power comes from chips, not clips.

But ain't that America. The rank and file are worried about a dog dying on United and the rich and powerful are raping and pillaging. And those are the accurate words in our #MeToo era. No one is paying a price in Silicon Valley, just like no one paid a price on Wall Street after the 2008 crash. Hell, THEY ARE THE GOVERNMENT!

But like the Parkland students the onus is upon us to foment change. Believe me, D.C. is sold out to the usual suspect corporate bigwigs. They think no one is watching, no one is listening. But when you shine light upon their shenanigans and bad behavior the weight of the country is behind you.

We need a national NO FACEBOOK day. NO INSTAGRAM! You can live without them, believe me, they're not bread and water. We need to let these social networks know THEY WORK FOR US!


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