Lou Katz @lou@entropyservice.com

A consensus is emerging: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Where is the action? | Nesrine Malik https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/23/israel-gaza-war-genocide-where-is-the-action?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

@pluralistic I knew someone who worked for McKinsey. I’ve also known several Scientologists. What I’ve learned from both of these associations is that no matter how deep you dive to write an exposé into either of these cults, the truth is much, much, much, much, … much worse.

Reminder: If you want your holy infant to be both tender and mild, start preheating your oven now.

The Government Accountability Office's new report concludes that Customs & Border Protection hasn't written key privacy-protecting policies for some of its main surveillance systems. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/customs-border-protection-fails-baseline-privacy-requirements-surveillance

"the three wise guys" is what we call them in NYC. They bring bagels, Nathan's hotdogs and cronuts the most precious things for the baby Jesus. One is from Queens, one from The Bronx and one from Brooklyn.

There are no wise guys in SI. That one got lost.

I’ll be honest, hearing SEO people complain about the state of Google now is like hearing an arsonist complain that they just can’t get the quality of kerosene they used to.

who decided on the name Secret Santa when Nondisclosure Claus was right there for the taking

You know how modern Google produces AI slop summaries of searches and links to "google amp" cached pages instead of the real site? Spotify went "hold my beer":

https://www.honest-broker.com/p/the-ugly-truth-about-spotify-is-finally

Spotify now has its own content farms they prioritize to the point grammy winning songs get fewer plays than individual instances of their in-house muzak. And the article says their CEO makes more than Taylor Swift.

Via https://toot.cafe/@baldur/113692083557449454

Finland implies the existent of synland synackland and ackland

"A lesser-known factor has exacerbated the energy crisis this year: In February Israel blew up two gas pipelines in Iran as part of its covert war with the country."

*Well, how Ukrainian of them #fossilfuelwar

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/world/middleeast/iran-economy-energy-crisis.html?unlocked_article_code=1.jE4.9nM6.3DmAy0CxDG_J&smid=tw-share

@RickiTarr "Please be patient with me. I'm from the 1900s." 😭

When you think about it, aren't microplastics just fairy dust from the petroleum fairy?

Man, corporations really want to put a stop to libraries:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-library-e-books-queues-1.7414060?cmp=rss

"Depending on the title, public libraries may pay two or three times more for an e-book than they pay for its print edition. In some cases, the e-book may be up to six times the price, librarians told CBC."

"Those publishers ... will often license copies of e-books for just 12 or 24 months. Once that licence expires, libraries must repurchase access to the same book." #canada #cdnpoli #books

Every SCOTUS case in which C (for "Corruption") Thomas cast a deciding vote should be considered tainted and invalid, serving neither as persuasive nor as precident.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/us/politics/clarence-thomas-trips-disclosure-investigation.html

it's funny how Neal Stephenson's "In the Beginning... Was the Command Line" he talked about how if Apple made cars they'd have sealed hoods. He said that in 1999, before Apple started selling phones they literally glued together

Presumably on the affected Blue Cross Blue Shield forms there will be a choice:

1) Patient is willing to pay for anesthesia that exceeds specified time periods for surgery
2) Patient is willing to have anesthesia terminated during surgery that exceeds specified time periods, and certifies willingness to instead scream in agony.

In today's Orwellian "Newspeak," the Department of Government Efficiency is
a) Not a department
b) Not trying to improve the efficiency of government, but instead cripple it.