Today's threads (a thread)
Inside: Trump and the unmighty dollar; and more!
Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/26/i-dont-want/
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Discussion
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Discussion
@pluralistic It's amazing that when I click your articles the site loads almost instantly and I can use reader mode on the browser for a no distraction dark mode reading experience. And then I get sad that virtually no other websites give me that super useful and snappy experience because they've all been so thoroughly enshittified. The internet could be so fast and useful and we've just chosen not to do that.
@MichaelOpal @pluralistic The crazy thing is it doesn't take great technical knowledge or effort to make a website fast and accessible. Companies invest a lot of money in things that make their websites slower, harder to use, and more buggy. I benefit financially from their proclivity for complexity, but I would change it in a heartbeat if I could.
@spontaneouslydeliberate @MichaelOpal @pluralistic I am perpetually infuriated that we have so much more CPU, RAM, and bandwidth than 10-15 years ago and the user experience is no better, arguably worse. It's bloated frameworks and spyware all the way down ...
@MichaelOpal @pluralistic also, his newsletter is one of the very few that show the links as they are, without cloaking them like almost all other newsletters do. I know where I will end, even before clicking
@pluralistic wait, what? SWIFT is US controlled?
I thought it was a consortium of banks, and from what I read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWIFT that's what it is.
What have I missed?..
Is remarkable as well that the people who benefit the most from dollar dominance, which are the US billionaires are blowing up the system that’s responsible largely for their power. They fantasize that they can exit the world and solidify totalitarian control in the process.
I think the world is a little bit larger than what they think it is
Hello
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @pluralistic
#PrimeMover, #ForceTen | ¿Deeper Trends
#SongsBy #Rush
¿An apt metaphor
In ‘The way of the Essenes
Christ’s Hidden Life Remembered
{Historical Fiction/Solar Punk
the author, as I recall, says Caesar failed to anticipate the advent of the Christ when, seeking total sway upon the culture & society, he sought to establish a calendar in his name
#ArtMusic #HoldYourFire #PermanentWaves #Freewill #JacobsLadder #NaturalScience #PowerWindows #MysticRhythms
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @pluralistic
Its the classic argument that also applies to the very wealthy paying a bit more tax. They seem to want to collapse the society which has allowed them to be prosperous.
It is very difficult to use the word seem when this is their stated public goal.
They aren't hiding it. They just don't make press releases on the topic, but they do discuss collapsing modern states (US or any nation) in their public fora whether those are conventions or online.
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @raymierussell @pluralistic
The Rockbridge shill Chris Buskirk is keen on the subject of a return to aristocracy, despots, & corporate feudalism after the apocalypse.
You know, the world where 99% of the population is on a knife edge of famine, war, & disease.
What's scary about a Trump-controlled financial system is this:
Billionaire donors getting money taken from blue city bank accounts.
I'll be in #Ottawa on WEDNESDAY (Jan 28) at Perfect Books:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DS2nGiHiNUh/
And in #Toronto with Tim Wu on FRIDAY (Jan 30):
https://nowtoronto.com/event/cory-doctorow-and-tim-wu-enshittification-and-extraction/
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Trump and the unmighty dollar: "Flipping the table over in a poker game rigged in your favor because you resent having to pretend to play the game at all."
https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/115961934493687173
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Hey look at this
* Kyle Crutcher pottery http://www.brandbeorn.com/Sci-Fi.html
* Avi Lewis endorsed by authors Maté, Doctorow, Martel, Taylor, Aguirre, and Douglas https://bsky.app/profile/avilewis.ca/post/3mcxh2jmd622x
* AI hasn't delivered the profits it was hyped for, says Deloitte https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/21/deloitte_enterprises_adopting_ai_revenue_lift/
* Zack Polanski to hand in NHS contract termination notice to Palantir https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2026/01/22/zack-polanski-to-hand-in-nhs-contract-termination-notice-to-palantir/
* MPLS church has delivered more than 12K boxes of groceries to families in hiding https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2026/01/15/minneapolis-church-has-delivered-more-than-12000-boxes-of-groceries-to-families-in-hiding
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#20yrsago Universal DRM dystopia https://tarmle.livejournal.com/80182.html
#20yrsago Library’s one-year anniversary of lending video-games https://www.gamingtarget.com/article.php?artid=4941
#20yrsago UK music industry execs can’t talk straight about DRM https://web.archive.org/web/20060203090643/http://rock.thepodcastnetwork.com/2006/01/25/digital-music-the-industry-answers/
#20yrsago BBC report on UK gamers from 6-65 https://web.archive.org/web/20060207060943/http://crystaltips.typepad.com/wonderland/files/bbc_uk_games_research_2005.pdf
#20yrsago Norwegian ombudsman to review iTunes terms of service https://web.archive.org/web/20070208163427/http://forbrukerportalen.no/Artikler/2006/1138119849.71
#20yrsago Google Cache is legal https://web.archive.org/web/20060130212935/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004344.php
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#20yrsago NSA’s licensable patent portfolio https://web.archive.org/web/20060116103440/https://www.nsa.gov/techtrans/techt00002.cfm
#20yrsago Senators figure out the Broadcast Flag, curse it as an abomination! https://web.archive.org/web/20060130212403/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004343.php
#20yrsago HOWTO turn a disposable camera into an RFID-killer https://events.ccc.de/congress/2005/wiki/RFID-Zapper(EN)
#20yrsago World of Warcraft: Don’t tell anyone you’re queer https://web.archive.org/web/20060131191638/http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Ga&article_code=1172
#15yrsago PirateBox: anonymous, stand-alone wireless filesharing node https://web.archive.org/web/20110129205033/http://wiki.daviddarts.com/PirateBox
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#20yrsago NSA’s licensable patent portfolio https://web.archive.org/web/20060116103440/https://www.nsa.gov/techtrans/techt00002.cfm
#20yrsago Senators figure out the Broadcast Flag, curse it as an abomination! https://web.archive.org/web/20060130212403/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004343.php
#20yrsago HOWTO turn a disposable camera into an RFID-killer https://events.ccc.de/congress/2005/wiki/RFID-Zapper(EN)
#20yrsago World of Warcraft: Don’t tell anyone you’re queer https://web.archive.org/web/20060131191638/http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Ga&article_code=1172
#15yrsago PirateBox: anonymous, stand-alone wireless filesharing node https://web.archive.org/web/20110129205033/http://wiki.daviddarts.com/PirateBox
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