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Monday, October 17, 2022

An Epidemic of Delusions

There's only one way to improve society. Present it with a single improved unit: yourself.
— Albert Jay Nock, born in 1870


According to Business Insider, Equifax “used one of its own products, The Work Number, to help it suss out who was holding down multiple jobs simultaneously” and then fired 24 out of 25 remote workers that its investigation uncovered. Some Equifax remote workers were juggling as many as three jobs.

Equifax surveilled 1,000 remote workers, fired 24 found juggling two jobs


The trial of a whistleblower who spoke up about government wrongdoing has begun in Adelaide. How did it come to this?

Richard Boyle told the truth. He spoke up because the Australian Taxation Office, an immensely powerful government agency, was abusing its power. It was ruining the lives of small business owners and Boyle, a tax office employee in its debt recovery division, wanted to do the right thing.

On trial for bravely telling the truth


Royal Commission into Robodebt: Restoring trust in our public institutions


Subjecting Workers To Webcam Monitoring Violates Privacy, Dutch Court Rules The Verge


An Epidemic of Delusions Commonweal


Woolworths says data of 2.2 million customers of its MyDeal website has been exposed


 “The Art Loss Register is the leading due diligence provider for the art market, and maintains the world’s largest private database of stolen art, antiques and collectables. Experts around the world use our services to check the provenance of items before they buy or handle them. Police, insurers, the trade and the public may record items that have been stolen to maximise their chances of recovery, and to record disputes or items within collections.”

See also Observer: “Every Art Collector Needs This Database. But Is it Being Manipulated by Thieves? The Art Loss Register has been utilized by museums and auctions alike for the past three decades — but it also provides a tool for art traffickers to cover their tracks.”



Wolfram Blog: “Foodborne illness, or food poisoning, is something many of us have experienced. According to the World Health Organization, almost 1 in 10 people in the world fall ill each year after eating contaminated food. Luckily, by following recommended food safety practices, we can do our best to avoid getting sick. September is Food Safety Education Month. To highlight the importance of food safety, we have introduced two new properties in Wolfram Language that can help users make smart choices about food storage…”

Should I Eat That? Food Safety with Wolfram Language Wolfram Blog


ANDY KESSLER:  A Nation of Quitters: A new class, the Cyber Bohemians, avoid work while living off their affluent parents.

The unemployment rate was 3.5% in July, the same as in February 2020, but the U.S. has three million fewer workers. Where did everyone go? This in an economy with 11.2 million job openings. It’s mostly men 25 to 54 who haven’t come back to work. Now a McKinsey study suggests that 40% of workers are thinking of quitting their jobs. Does anyone want to work anymore?

Everyone has an explanation for the Great Resignation: extended unemployment benefits, eviction moratoriums, baby boomers retiring, work-from-home complacency, anxiety, long Covid. Sure, all reasonable excuses. Here’s my theory: Too many got a taste of not working and liked it. A lot. Until recently, many people could make more money by not working and became glued to screens, Insta-Tok-ing and living the easy life by sponging off the rest of us. What’s not to like? Parisians called those with unconventional lifestyles “bohemians.” Now we have unemployed, perpetually plugged-in, dopamine-addled Cyber Bohemians—let’s call them Cy-Bos.


 


TWO BOMBINGS IN ONE NIGHT? THAT’S NORMAL NOW IN SWEDEN.

Sweden, which has a population of around 10 million, has the highest per-capita number of deadly shootings of 22 European countriesForty-seven people have been shot dead so far this year, which, while far from American levels of gun homicide, is extreme for Europe. Other European countries have come to look at Sweden with horror.


 Electric vehicles are exploding from water damage after Hurricane Ian, Florida official warns Fox5 


Twitter Knows You Took a Screenshot, Asks You To Share Instead arstechnica


Papa John’s Sued For ‘Wiretap’ Spying on Website Mouse Clicks, Keystrokes The Register