Marc Elias – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

The rapid decay of all things continues. I’m not even sure if “decay” is the right word. “Collapse” might be a better choice. Regardless, there’s no “decay” or “collapse” in my sharing articles and writing every week in Sunday Morning Reading. Enjoy.

Russell Shorto tells us that the fracture we’re facing shouldn’t surprise in America’s Fatal Division Is Nothing New: It Was Baked In From The Beginning. He’s right and that’s also nothing new. We just have a propensity for ignoring what we shouldn’t.

Marc Elias says We Can’t Give In To Fear. He’s right. But with those we mistakenly counted on having already done so, it makes it tougher for the rest of us.

Brian Barrett of Wired (which continues to do excellent reporting) gives us a rundown on The United States of Elon Musk. Good piece with good context. I don’t disagree with his premise that it’s unsustainable. The larger concern is what’s left in its wake.

NatashaMH opens up a personal tale of exploring justice, relationships, and personal power in The Price of Guns And Butter.

Things aren’t just decaying on political and social fronts, technology is marching right alongside, if not leading the charge. John Gruber lays out a mea culpa of sorts in discussing Apple’s less than intelligent move into Artificial Intelligence in Something Is Rotten In The State of Cupertino. Om Malik also weighs in with Apple Intelligence, Fud, Dud or Both. I’ll have more to say on this later this week. I wrote a bit about it last week also.

Will Knight, (again in Wired) tells us that Under Trump, AI Scientists Are Told To Remove ‘Ideological Bias’ From Powerful Models. Tell me. Who didn’t see this kind of thing happening?

Cory Doctorow in Pluralistic lays out how Amazon Annihilates Alexa Privacy Settings, Turns On Continuous Nonconsensual Audio Uploading. One way user agreements flow only one way. Again, who didn’t see this coming?

In times of uncertain futures it’s always somewhat uncomfortably comforting to reminisce about simpler times. When it comes to technology there was perhaps no simpler or more innocent time than during the age of the Commodore 64, which was my first home computer. We’ve come a long way. Gareth Edwards takes a look at Jack Tramiel’s success in How Commodore Invented The Mass Market Computer.

(Image from Ashni on Unsplash)

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Those who care about voting rights know who Marc Elias is. He’s an outspoken lawyer who has helped turn many cases and laws generated by those who seek to dismantle the right to vote into dust. So, it’s easy to see why he draws attacks from the right and wherever Elon Musk is with whatever drugs he’s taking.

Musk recently singled Elias out on Twitter claiming that Marc Elias was “undermining civilization.” Elias has responded with a letter that you can read in full at this link. I’ll quote a short passage below from Elias’ conclusion below:

I will use every tool at my disposal to protect this country from Trump. I will litigate to defend voting rights until there are no cases left to bring. I will speak out against authoritarianism until my last breath. I will not back down. I will not bow or scrape. I will never obey. Defiantly, Marc Elias

We need to see and hear more of this from voices that matter. Quite frankly we need to hear from all voices who understand what’s at stake. I encourage you to read and share the full letter. I also see and hear from quite a few folks on social media about helpful ways of challenging what we’re in and what’s to come. If you ask me social media has basically devolved into silos largely of common cause, so in a sense, while it is good to find that common cause, we’re preaching to the choir. Media has been that way for a while. We expect our political leaders to speak out, but it’s rare when they do so meaningfully. Yes, they are afraid. So am I. But at some point we’re all going to be measured. Perhaps in addition to social media, or as an alternative, it would be beneficial if more folks started blogging (or whatever they hell we call writing on the Internet these days). There are plenty of venues on which to vehemently disagree. Use them. Use your voice. At least while we still can. You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.