A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking

This isn’t about privacy, this is about MONOPOLY!

Yes, we have a problem with fake news, did you read the story about the kid testifying against his mom, who didn’t want him to be vaccinated? She gets all her information via Facebook.

There’s nothing in Zuck’s post to address this.

Meanwhile, the cognoscenti keep deriding the social network for its propagation of fake news. It’s a problem, that’s true. But it’s the nature of the internet, it’s decentralized. But everybody complaining wants to jet back to the past, with three nightly news shows and a paper of record in every burg. But that ain’t happening, news on TV is entertainment, and every hamlet cannot support a full-service newspaper. So what we’ve seen in news is concentration, and the dirty little secret is you’ve got to pay for it. That’s right, we heard for twenty years how everything on the internet was gonna be free, and eviscerate economics. But that’s untrue. The “Wall Street Journal” was never free, and now most major news outlets, like the “New York Times” and “Washington Post,” have soft paywalls. And these news-gathering operations deliver the facts, but they let the internet, the mob, set the agenda.

So we’ve got a two-tiered society. One that pays for information and one that does not. So you’ve got the informed and the uninformed. But it’s worse, with the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine, everybody can spew their falsehoods with seeming impunity. They get rid of Bill O’Reilly and we get Tucker Carlson. As the Who would say, “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” Although with something to prove Carlson is never soft. He may not be abusing women, but he’s even more strident than O’Reilly. So you whack one mole and you get another.

And for a long time we paid fealty to fairness. Wasn’t that Fox’s slogan, “Fair and Balanced”? But the “New Yorker” did a piece blasting through that haze and now the Democrats are refusing to let the right wing outlet host a debate. Give the Dems credit, they finally found their balls, even though the Republicans are crying foul.

But that’s politics. When you dig deeper, when the usual suspects are not involved you get…

Endless biases. And falsehoods. And to eliminate these would require us to get rid of all the sub-groups about all subjects. That’s right, the imbeciles in D.C. want to break the internet, but there’s no way they can do that. They can only SUPERSEDE what already exists.

The right doesn’t trust facts. Rather than blast them for it, create a site that’s facts only. Like Snopes, but the right no longer believes that site. Finally, the NYT and WaPo are getting rid of false equivalencies, printing lists of falsehoods. How about a site containing only that? Wikipedia is further down this road than the usual suspects, who are busy selling cruises and wines and live appearances, not questioning their core businesses.

So don’t expect Facebook to get rid of falsehoods. And even if they did, they’d resurface somewhere else. The barrier to entry is incredibly low online. As for the anti-vaxxers, they’re not interested in science, that’s not the point. This is how they feel POWERFUL in a society where they’re just a number and have no impact, even though it’s the more wealthy who refuse to inoculate their kids. You see the similarity between left and right? The left thinks it’s always right, but it’s not. Everybody feels powerless, everybody wants to upset the apple cart.

And Zuckerberg’s screed does not eliminate mass groups, it just gives you the option of privacy.

Oh, come on, people gave up their privacy long ago. They don’t want to adjust their settings, they can’t understand how to, and furthermore Facebook keeps changing the rules because…

It’s a business, and the dirty little secret is it’s built on data. YOURS!

Nowhere in this post does Zuckerberg say he’s going to stop collecting your info, he just says he’s gonna keep bad actors from getting it. How insane is that! He collects data, shares it with corporations and feeds you ads. Oh, you can personalize the ads you get, but they’re still collecting the data. Zuckerberg’s head is so up his ass he cannot see sunshine, never mind truth.

But it’s worse. Zuck wants to tie Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp together under the aegis of privacy. No, this is the biggest stealth business move in the history of man. Zuckerberg wants to control ALL communication! WhatsApp rules outside of the United States. It makes iMessage look like a gnat on the ass of an elephant. We keep hearing about how Apple is gonna triumph via services, but tell me how that works when Zuckerberg ends up with all the users? Zuckerberg wants to build WeChat in plain sight. That’s why American companies are burdened in China, everything goes through, is built on top of, WeChat, so an individual vertical can’t win. This is why Apple is screwed in China, not only are its devices too high-priced, all you need is WeChat, all the rest of the features of the phone are nearly irrelevant.

You tie Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp together and you control the majority of communication. This is like the old “Twilight Zone” episode, “To Serve Man.” You think you’re getting a bonus, when the truth is you’ll be eaten alive. Yup, Zuck just wants you in his ecosystem.

He buys the non-profitable WhatsApp for nearly $16 billion and Apple isn’t even smart enough to purchase Netflix. Apple keeps believing it must be invented here while its competitors run circles around it. Apple is playing for some of the marbles, Facebook is playing for THEM ALL!

But legislators are too stupid to know what’s going on, the techies run circles around them. And the public is addicted to Facebook’s services. With the carrot of “privacy,” Zuckerberg is appeasing D.C. and getting away with owning the infrastructure of connection.

Meanwhile, the old and educated keep on telling us to put our phones down, isn’t that like telling your teen of yore not to take the car? Furthermore, kids today don’t even get driver’s licenses. Uber has superseded car ownership.

But you get big swinging dick oldsters and uninformed entertainers purchasing instantly depreciating iron to illustrate they’ve made it, when the truth is they’re demonstrating their ignorance.

We’ll never get Facebook to deliver the truth. That’s gonna be a third party startup. Facebook only believes in its own truth, leave out the human element and just make money. If it can’t be digitized, they’re not interested. But that’s not how ideas and the dissemination thereof work.

Meanwhile, they charge more for ads that reach fewer people.

What Facebook has established is people want to connect. And they bought the future with WhatsApp and Instagram. And if you don’t want to play by the company’s rules, you’re out, like the people who started WhatsApp and Instagram. It’s out of control, Facebook is a runaway company.

But those who could change it don’t understand it.

And those addicted are lemmings who can’t let go.

And when they wake up, Facebook will fake us out, just like Purdue Pharma, they’ll go bankrupt as to be judgment proof. Corporations are people? My ass.

Today you go to college to get a job.

In case this isn’t your beat, Hampshire College is on the verge of collapse. An outgrowth of the sixties, Hampshire was about creating your own major and exploring. The results include Ken Burns, an alumnus who has gone on to create series about baseball, jazz, the Civil War and more.

But today’s parents just want their kids to get a gig. That’s the job of college, but it shouldn’t be. Didn’t Steve Jobs testify as to the power of the liberal arts? He learned calligraphy at Reed, even if he did drop out, supposedly because he didn’t want to spend his parents’ money. But now the price of higher education has outstripped inflation and you can’t get a job at all without a degree and parents want value for their dollars and is that what education should be all about?

No.

Somewhere along the line, the country took a wrong turn. I can say when, but half the country will flip out. That’s right, Ronald Reagan legitimized greed and sowed the seeds of income inequality. That’s what the pursuit of “freedom” will get you. Then again, it’s hard to learn the truth when states rewrite history. America is no longer in pursuit of the truth, but bias. Everybody’s working the refs, everybody’s got an agenda, and the end result is few know what is going on, including the media. The media is a business oftentimes run by those holier-than-thou. Let me get this straight, AOC got elected and then suddenly the whole country, or at least the Democratic Party, skewed left? As for the right, they don’t realize we already live under socialism. Now this same media is saying the country is moving to the center and if you listen you know…they’ve got no contact with the people making the decisions. I know, because my inbox is gonna explode as a result of this paragraph, unless you’re on the front lines you’re clueless, but no one wants to reside there, because the blowback is horrifying. Used to be you were rich and famous and insulated, but that no longer applies, especially in the land of entertainment, the haven of nincompoops, especially in music, because…

Everybody with a brain is out.

Now I’ll admit, when I went to school parents wanted their kids to be doctors and lawyers. But those professions pay a pittance compared to the banks and tech, and the truth is boomer doctors are giving up practice and I know more non-practicing attorneys than those writing contracts and going to court. You see these people woke up, just like the scions of today’s parents will…is this what I really want to do, do I want to waste my life in pursuit of cash?

But we hear that Kylie Jenner is a billionaire. Is that the goal, to get plastic surgery and sell vanities? Try having a conversation with one of these Kardashians…I’ve seen them on TV, they’d benefit from going to college, although I must admit Kourtney did, and when she opens her mouth you can tell.

College, that’s where you learn to be an adult, away from mommy and daddy. But now you’re on the cell with them all day long and then you move back in and no one grows up, everybody’s got a safety net, except those who don’t. And those left behind…are addicted to opiates and voting for Trump because they want someone to pay attention to them when no one does!

And music is pop, whether it be hip-hop or Ariana Grande. We laud these know-nothings because they’re popular, as if they were Tolstoys. But the truth is you can learn more from someone working at the 7-11, at least they’re in touch with reality, whereas everybody else is selling you something. Meanwhile, those selling are oftentimes scammers, did you read about that radio host promoting a Ponzi scheme?

But that’s modern America.

But if you study the liberal arts, you learn how to parse the truth. Life isn’t about ones and zeros and objective tests. Life is all about essays. Bezos requires a six page summary, meanwhile, all those business class wankers are lamenting writing. If you can’t convey your ideas, good luck!

And our nation deplores those majoring in art or theatre or dance, thinking the joke is on them. Well, it might be if they’re looking for a well-paying gig, but chances are these students are better rounded with more insight than the frat rat raping you after studying sports business, or whatever it takes to get a degree.

And, once again, the blame lies with the wealthy and educated, they’re the worst perpetrators. They’re over-involved with their kids’ lives and don’t want them to go off course. Want them to be world-beaters. How about being a good person who can understand what you read and spread the word of truth?

But then we’ve got Fox News not even printing the same headlines as the rest of the media, never mind giving the news a different spin.

No one knows what’s going on anymore. Oh, they’ll tell you they do, but they don’t. It’s all about intimidation, trying to angst you up against your interests. And the best defense against this is a liberal arts education. Because you’ve got to divine your own damn truth. You’ve got to learn to go your own way. The crowd is oftentimes wrong. All the great writers of yore, isn’t it funny that they were singular, not members of the group, meanwhile today herd mentality rules. Cohen doing what Trump said so he could get rich.

Of course you need money, but how much?

And the truth is there’s no entry to life for those left behind. They just fall further and further behind. And of course corporations pay no taxes and the Koch Brothers lobby for disintegration, but there are big issues at hand here, and we refuse to address them anymore. JFK implored us to go to the moon. Now the government is the enemy that must be defunded so the rich can get away with their crimes. That’s right, Trump didn’t pay his fair share and he got to be President!

He constantly paid fealty to the uneducated, his base.

But the educated are punting. They’re self-centered. It’s all about getting your own piece of the rock, screw everybody else, don’t even let the poor know about their options.

Most people should not go to college.

Then again, there are not enough jobs for thinking people. A degree allows you to be a receptionist. And you owe your life to the bank for the privilege.

Used to be artists spoke truth to power, when they were products of the middle class. But that group has been eviscerated, now we’ve just got the haves and the have-nots. And the haves want nothing to do with music because there’s just not enough money in it. That’s for the rubes, the underclass, just like reality TV, where you parade for a minute before you fall behind. Want to know what’s going on in this country…listen to a record? Give me a break!

But whenever I write this I hear from the wannabes saying they’ve got the next hit, when the truth is in the pre-internet era they wouldn’t have been able to record, never mind distribute.

That’s right we keep giving the clueless false hope, while the privileged run the game.

The Youngbloods sang that we should get together and love one another. Boy how times have changed. But the boomers thought they’d find their way. That becoming fully-realized was more important than garnering cash.

Our entire nation is about jumping mindlessly through hoops to get somewhere you ultimately don’t want to be.

And those left out are scrounging for a living, looking for a way for momentary fame. They hear about influencers, Spotify playlists, when the privileged hear about Goldman Sachs.

And the media tells us Kamala Harris will be President and Bernie Sanders shouldn’t run. Meanwhile, no one in California, where Harris held office, is excited about her and Sanders immediately raises $10 million in small donations when he announces.

Which is why you should question everything you read and hear.

But do you have the education to do this?

In high school they’re teaching to the test and in college they’re teaching you how to be a cog in the wheel.

Maybe you should read a book and go to the museum to experience the wisdom of the ages. And armed with this knowledge maybe you can make a difference.

But you just want to make money.

Tune in tomorrow, Tuesday March 5th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: LefsetzLive

Paddleton | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix

They never make a movie about the way guys really are.

You can see beefcake, men who love ’em and leave ’em, men who abuse women, but they don’t make a flick about the people I know.

They do in “Paddleton.”

The average guy can’t get laid, is probably afraid of girls, has a good heart and would never step out on you, for fear he’d never find anybody else. These are the good guys women are looking for, but don’t want. You’ve heard there are no good guys left? That’s wrong.

Not that Ray Romano and Mark Duplass are winners in this flick.

Romano is afraid of the cute coworker who asks about his weekend. You’d figure this is a perfect opportunity to connect, but it’s easier to brush her off and angst about it later. As for Duplass…he’s got a go-nowhere job in a print shop, he ain’t gonna take you out for dinner someplace other than McDonald’s.

Yes, these guys are losers. And I’m not saying most men are, but there are so many true characteristics here.

Like the wearing of shorts. I’M GUILTY! I doff them in the winter, unlike a lot of people I know, but I see it as a perk of living in L.A. I see it as a perk of being in the music business, the one that used to exist, not the one we’ve got now, where the musicians dressed in street clothes and didn’t own a suit. Now that’s the techies. But here, the shorts are representative of yearning to be a boy, to not grow up. Or as my childless friend Jake says…without children you’re a kid forever! You can be silly, you’re not married to your job, you’re footloose and fancy free, even if the rewards come with aging.

But Romano and Duplass are still addicted to kung fu movies. They can do all the moves. They’re like best friends from high school. But they met as adults.

It’s hard to find friends as an adult, true friends, people you can count on, not just the husband of your wife’s girlfriend. Everybody’s into the pecking order, they will not let their guard down, certainly not with people they consider beneath them. And every encounter is a business opportunity. Get together with a guy and they’ll sell. You’ve got to pierce like a surgeon to get the real story. Women chat up their girlfriends about their feelings, their emotions… Men talk about cars, possessions and sports. Sound bad? It is. That’s why guys need girls, to expand their horizons.

But Ray and Mark have each other. Ray lied about a few things when he first met Mark, wanted to make a good impression, and it’s only when Mark’s time is nearly done that he coughs up an integral fact.

You see Mark has terminal cancer. I could leave that out, but it’s right up front in this flick.

I’m a fan of the Duplass Brothers. They illustrate what the technological revolution yields. I.e., they used the new and inexpensive production methods to make mumblecore movies that only insiders saw. But “The Puffy Chair” got traction and then the brothers got deals and their flicks…

Are indies.

You remember indie movies, right? That you saw at the art house? You had to get a distributor and you didn’t make much money. Furthermore, today no one’s got any time for the movies. Our dance card is full with exactly what we want. Driving to the movies and waiting for them to start is like buying an internal combustion car, something you once did you no longer will. Furthermore, you’re paying per pic, so if you don’t like something, you either endure it or feel ripped-off. But on Netflix…

The Duplass Brothers made an overall deal with Netflix. They sacrifice upside for guaranteed budgets and distribution. Are you making art to get rich or to make a statement? Too often, it’s the former.

And I’m not gonna recommend “Paddleton.” Because the truth is most people don’t like these movies. They like escape, they like happy endings, but there’s a tribe that yearns to see themselves on screen, a story about real life.

And the question is, when your best friend dies, where does that leave you? The one you made up games with, the one you had inside jokes with. There’s a giant hole that’s nearly impossible to fill.

And they make buddy movies about the infirm and aged. But regular people, eking out a living… Ray and Mark are not stupid, but either their dreams have been canceled or they’ve got no ambition. What does life look like then?

We keep reading about the kings and queens, those who played the game and won. When the truth is there are very few of those and you can’t replicate the formula. But if you’re just living your life…

If this is your kind of thing, tune in this show. I’ll admit it’s a bit slow at times, but then it picks up, not so much because of the action, but because of the piling up of events.

Do you have sex when it’s delivered to you on a silver platter?

Do you take your own life to avoid the pain?

Do you pick yourself up and start over having experienced loss?

These are the questions in “Paddleton.”

It makes you think.