Tuesday, February 02, 2021

Lawmakers are scrambling to figure out how to rein in social media platforms

 Ours is a system of corporate socialism, where companies capitalize their profits and socialize their losses"¦in effect, they tax you for their accidents, bungling, boondoggles, and mismanagement, just like a government. We should be able to deselect them.
~Ralph Nader


Bicycle racing at a spiritual place - Hefron Park 

 

GOOD:  The Inventions That Made Heart Disease Less Deadly.


A NSW parliamentary inquiry into government grants has heard the Premier announced $20 million for Wagga Wagga's Riverina Conservatorium of Music without a business case.

During a hearing yesterday deputy secretary of the Public Works Advisory, Chris Hanger, revealed Gladys Berejiklian made the announcement during the 2018 Wagga by-election, sparked by the resignation of former local MP, Daryl Maguire.

The money was to continue work on an already committed $10 million redevelopment of the Conservatorium.

Mr Hanger told the inquiry there was no written approval process for the reservation of the additional $20 million.

Sydney news: Premier Glady Berejiklian approved $20m grant in Wagga without business case, inquiry hears

 

Coors is using the science of ‘Targeted Dream Incubation’ to make viewers dream an advertisement for the beer, with DDB Sydney and DDB Chicago joining forces to bring the idea to life.

During the Big Game, commercial breaks are notoriously swamped with beer ads.

A certain, other beer brand, Budweiser (which is sitting out of this year’s Super Bowl), seemingly controls the ad space—so much so that Coors is legally locked out from playing on TV screens nationwide during the Big Game.

 

Lawmakers are scrambling to figure out how to rein in social media platforms

Fast Company – “In the days after the insurrection at the Capitol building, security was tighter than usual. On the phone with Senator Mark Warner, I could hear his driver trying to explain to a guard that he had the senator with him. Yeah, tell him he’s good,the guard told the driver as he pointed him to another entrance. “The fact that I’m having this conversation with you right now is a little surreal as we get redirected across Capitol Square and there are hundreds of soldiers with long guns all over—the Capitol is an armed camp,” he says. “And anyone who thinks that this terrorist attack wasn’t fomented on these social media platforms is just not aware.” The platforms have been used to incite violence around the world, he says, noting in particular the genocidal Facebook campaign in Myanmar against the Muslim minority group, the Rohingya. “Everyone basically understands that there needs to be some reform,” he says. Warner and other legislators are trying to figure out what to do about the rampant disinformation on the web that lead thousands to bash in the windows and doors of the Capitol. There is also a long standing concern over the bullying and harassment that takes place on social platforms. But there are political divides over exactly how the internet should be regulated, particularly as it relates to free speech. While regulators see the urgent need for a change in how social media companies are allowed to operate, it’s not clear that legislation will come quickly…”


How a 22-year-old CEO with virtually no health-care experience got picked to run the first mass vaccination clinic in Philadelphia.



Israeli scientists say they’ve found ‘Achilles’ heel’ of cancer cells.