Welcome to The Now

 

  "If it's free, then you're the product."

 

 

 

 

 " Look, look, Argentina is fighting for its life, young lady. You don’t know anything about it. You know what that means? They’re fighting for their life. Nothing’s benefiting Argentina. They’re fighting for their life. You understand what that means? They have no money, they have no anything, they’re fighting so hard to survive. If I can help them survive in a free world — I happen to like the president of Argentina, I think he’s trying to do the best he can. But don’t make it sound like they’re doing great. They are dying. "  -- President Trump's response to a reporter asking how bailing out Argentina benefits Americans specifically American farmers . " Experts assembled by the United Nations have detailed Rwanda’s illegal exploitation of Congo’s rare minerals. And now, with global attention focused elsewhere, Rwanda has escalated its aggression — seemingly knowing that no meaningful consequences are likely to follow. " -- Dr. Denis Mukwege of the Congo, who ...

 

 

 

 Link here . Apparently talking about how the West has exploited an entire continent is "Russian propaganda."

 

Sometimes, Europe gets things right...like going after Big Tech :   European Union regulators on Monday said Apple is in breach of sweeping new tech rules because it does not allow customers of its App Store to be steered to alternatives. The European Commission, the E.U.’s executive arm, also said it had opened a new probe into Apple over new contractual terms with developers. The E.U. opened an investigation into Apple, Alphabet and Meta in March under a landmark new law known as the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, which aims to reel in the power of Big Tech firms. So-called anti-steering rules were one of the big areas of focus of the probe. Under the DMA, tech firms are not allowed to block businesses from telling their users about cheaper options for their products or about subscriptions outside of an app store. On Monday, regulators said in their preliminary findings that Apple was in breach of the DMA because its App Store rules “prevent app developers from freely steering cons...

 Can't let a counter-narrative get in the way of the capitalist-driven Military-Industrial Complex:

 First Twitter, now Facebook . It's a shame that these billionaires can't cut their own pay so they can retain some of their employees. But hey, when your product is no longer profitable, mass firing has always been the quick fix. 

  Anxiety over the virtual results in real-life pain : (CNN)Authorities in Boston have launched an investigation after a package sent to Northeastern University exploded and injured a staff member Tuesday evening, officials said. The package contained a rambling note that criticized Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the relationship between academic institutions and the developers of virtual reality, several federal law enforcement sources told CNN. The 45-year-old man who opened the package suffered minor hand injuries, according to university and law enforcement officials. Investigators have not said how the package arrived on the campus, stressing the investigation is ongoing. The campus is expected to fully reopen Wednesday, the university said. The note was in a hard plastic container that detonated as the victim opened the latches and lifted the lid, the sources said. While the employee was not seriously hurt, the explosion caused hand injuries including lacerations, the s...

 CIA agents flock to Facebook like the place is a goldmine:

This is a real opinion piece . BTW: "commercial superpower" is not (currently) a real phrase. 

Update from a post from last week via of The Convo Couch:

 Between the 60 Minutes whistleblower revelation and The Facebook Family's (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) very convenient "downtime" while people were about to discuss said whistleblower revelation, Facebook isn't having a good week. AOC is about to make it worse : "It's almost as if Facebook's monopolistic mission to either own, copy, or destroy any competing platform has incredibly destructive effects on free society and democracy," the Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter. "Remember: WhatsApp wasn't created by Facebook. It was an independent success. FB got scared and bought it." "If Facebook's monopolistic behavior was checked back when it sh ould've been (perhaps around the time it started acquiring competitors like Instagram)," the New York Democrat added, "the continents of people who depend on WhatsApp and IG for either communication or commerce would be fine right now. Break them up." Being a in the busin...