#ToxicOptimism

Some "good" headlines of recent days: #Anthropic the paragon of virtue! The world a better place if we buy useless crap from European #corporations, not U.S. ones! #Solar makes us independent of oil and #geopolitics!

Last time I checked, though, #Amodei is still an utterly deluded #broligarch, European corporations are just as greedy as U.S. ones, and #solar_panels come from China.

We need real change. Not feel-good straws to grasp at while we continue our fall...

Corporations are crying out loud about switching from nginx ingress to an alternative, but have their heads so far up their own asses that they can't find the funds in their million $/€ budgets to pay developers to maintain it.

The joys of having a career without any form of accountability must be so great.

#opensource #hosting #corporations #work #programming #kubernetes #linux

Not shure if it's due to the #GeneralStrike that allegedly happened on 23.01.2026 in the #USA but I've seen #US #Corporations trying to #offset any reduction of #revenue with sudden #promotions and #discounts.

• Not just #Amazon, but also #BurgerKing and others seem to try their best to avoid any #dent on their revenue sheets!

OFC, #DontCrossThePicketLine and #RefuseToBuy in #solidarity with those resisting the #fascist #Trump Regime and the #AmericanGestapo aka. "#ICE"!

#FuckICE #USpol #tech #ads #Advertising #fascism

AodeRelay boosted

Kevin Karhan » 🌐 2026-01-24
@kkarhan@infosec.space

#Amazon seems to realize that people don't like their #Spyware / #Snitchware / #Govware appliances at their doors, so they try to sell it to #TechIlliterates in #Germany...

• Well, nope!

#Camover #GAFAMs #AmericanGestapo #CloudAct #blink #ring #CamOver #sarcasm #commentary #USpol #DEpol #Ads #Advertising

Alt...

Amazon Germany pushing a promo for their blink & ring devices

#Trump has never been someone to ask what he can do for his country.

In his 2nd term, as in his 1st, he is instead testing the limits of what his country can do for him.

He has poured himself into the #exploitation of the #presidency — into finding out just how much #money #people, #corporations & other #nations are willing to put into his pockets in hopes of bending the #power of the #government to the #service of their #interests.

#SelfService #law #emoluments #kleptocracy #MafiaState

"Despite what corporate CEOs tell themselves, they do have a choice. The reality is that Trump is growing weaker by the day. Americans aren’t falling into line behind his attempted authoritarian takeover. On the contrary, their resistance is stiffening. The Trumpists can’t even cow Minneapolis into submission, let alone the rest of the country."

~ Paul Krugman

#Trump #corporations #CEOs #EconomicElites #Minneapolis #resistance
/1

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/big-business-should-end-its-faustian

By contrast, large #corporations in #Minneapolis have been much less vocal about the effects of #immigration enforcement on the city, known as both a bastion of progressive politics in the #US #Midwest & a robust corporate #employer. 17 #Fortune500 companies are based in #Minnesota, including #Target, #UnitedHealth, & #GeneralMills.

#complicit #economy #business #SmallBusiness #WorkingAmericans #Trump #affordability #CostOfLiving #authoritarianism #kleptocracy #plutocracy #ForMeButNotForThee

Small #Minneapolis businesses hit hard by #ICE crackdown, while [#complicit] #corporations stay silent

Up & down Lake Street in the heavily #Latin area of south Minneapolis, numerous mom-&-pop #restaurants have hung up signs that say "No ICE”.

#economy #business #SmallBusiness #WorkingAmericans #Trump #affordability #CostOfLiving #authoritarianism #kleptocracy #plutocracy #ForMeButNotForThee
https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/small-minneapolis-businesses-hit-hard-by-ice-crackdown-while-corporations-stay-2026-01-16/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement

"These are the 37 major companies that were contacted by Popular Information. All of the companies had active advertisements on X on January 12. None of the companies offered a response.

NFL
Shein
NBA
Outback Steakhouse
Burger King
ESPN
Lenovo
Dell
Gatorade
David Protein
ASUS
Paramount+
Chipotle
Wendy’s
Tylenol
Google
Amazon
Booz Allen Hamilton
Salesforce
Carnival Cruise Line
State Farm
Intuit Turbo Tax
Fortune"

#ElonMusk #Grok #SexualAbuse #women #children #corporations #EconomicElites
/4

"Crypto.com
Apple
FT
RadioShack
GoPuff
Microsoft
Wayfair
Axios
Fannie Mae
T-Mobile
Lowe’s
EASports
DoorDash
Fox Sports"

#ElonMusk #Grok #SexualAbuse #women #children #corporations #EconomicElites
/5

"Over the past few weeks, it’s become clear that numerous users on X have been using Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot that’s integrated into the platform, to produce thousands of nonconsensual sexualized images of people—primarily women."

~ Alan Elrod

#ElonMusk #Grok #SexualAbuse #women #children #corporations #EconomicElites #Twitter
/6

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/r/6f8be98c

"But today, too many large, famous, and otherwise influential accounts remain on X, creating a vicious feedback loop for journalists, media figures, and politicians to justify their continued presence. X continues to enjoy premier status as a place for breaking news for governmental agencies, pop culture stars, journalists, and other public figures."

#ElonMusk #Grok #SexualAbuse #women #children #corporations #EconomicElites #Twitter
/7

"This is all despite its owner using the site to promote bigotry and hate, assault global democracy, and spread dangerous conspiracies. Under Musk, harassment and threats have flourished, and now the platform has become a proliferator of sexually abusive material."

#ElonMusk #Grok #SexualAbuse #women #children #corporations #EconomicElites #Twitter
/8

"Media Matters, the left-leaning watchdog of right-wing media that has been a staple of blue Twitter for nearly two decades, will cease posting on the site starting tonight [Jan. 14—a direct result of their lengthy legal fight with the company now known as X and its owner, Elon Musk."

~ Andrew Egger

#ElonMusk #Grok #SexualAbuse #women #children #corporations #EconomicElites #Twitter #MediaMatters
/9

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/media-matters-says-its-ending-its-presence-on-x-twitter

"Billionaire and career Bond-villain cosplayer Elon Musk has been forced by public backlash into a humiliating backdown over use of his AI chatbot, Grok. Watching the world’s richest man eat a shit sandwich on a global stage represents a rare win for sovereign democracy."

~ Van Badham

#ElonMusk #Grok #SexualAbuse #women #children #corporations #EconomicElites
/10

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/15/elon-musk-grok-backflip-blocked-x-ai-sexualised-images-backlash

"Popular Information identified 37 major companies that were actively advertising on X on January 12. Each company was contacted and asked whether they were concerned about paying for ads on a platform that was allowing users to create nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children. All 37 either declined to comment or did not respond."

#ElonMusk #Grok #SexualAbuse #women #children #corporations #EconomicElites
/3

#meme #post #tech #technology #funny #BigTech #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #LLM #LLMs #MachineLearning #AISlop #corporations #commerce #capitalism

Alt...

A post on X, showing a soap dispenser pump sticking into a soap bar. The accompanying text reads "Legacy software companies adding an AI chatbot to their product."

This kind of absolute "leader" bullshit pisses me off. I remember a supposed "security vp" coming to me once and telling me to remove specific security controls from the CEO's iPad because "sometimes we have to do things we don't like." I no longer work at said company.

#corporations #cybersecurity

https://www.securityweek.com/the-loudest-voices-in-security-often-have-the-least-to-lose/

The USA isn't an oligarchy, it's an oilgarchy.

#US #USA #UnitedStates #america #oil #capitalism #billionaires #politics #corporations

@jti42 @pkal @ghul cuz I think that in the legal battle game #FLOSS vs. #Corporations that #OpenSource would be on the loosing end.

• The main success factor for #Linux is not only it's #licensing but also that it coopted #GAFAMs into being contributors that pay key #developers.

And since they all have stakes with partially diverging interests, this is a useful way to take their resources (personnel hours and money) for something good (instead of them wasting it on #Enshittification, #Cyberfascism and #Militarization)…

• IOW: Would you rather want some developer from #nvidia work on #Linux or #Palantir's #Govware? Cuz shure as hell said developer ain't gonna stop developing for 6 figures per year either way.

Kinda like @landley pointed out that #Android - unlike #iOS - is gonna be "salvageable" (and due to #Google going *full 'asshole mode' that #fork is necessary sooner than anticipated)…

• This is opportunistic af but that is kinda necessary until the world decides to ban capitalism, redistributes wealth and sentence billionaires to lifetime community service without parole.

#sarcasm #politricks

If you think one of the problems in UK management is 'payment for failure'; executives gaining bonuses & high standard salary packages, without actually delivering anything in the way of enhanced 'performance' from the organisations & staff they 'manage', you're not alone.

Fidelity International (asset managers) have just written to the firms they have stakes in to warn them they are concerned about the decline of any link between success & executive pay...

#corporations #management
h/t FT

"Politics" isn't only about institutions. It's about organizing large numbers of people to do something they wouldn't otherwise do. Corporations organize large numbers of people to do things they probably wouldn't do if they weren't paid and/or didn't need the money to live. 10,000 people wouldn't spontaneously get together and spend the best hours of their days for months building a commercial jet airliner if there weren't corporate structures in place and a society that keeps them close enough to deprivation that they will do this in exchange for money.

#FOSS #OSS #OpenSource #software #OpenSourceSoftware #tech #dev #SoftwareDevelopment #politics #economics #corporations

Latest comic: A hot new startup

#corporations #deregulation #economy #oligarchy #WallStreet #cartoon #comic

Alt...

INTRODUCING A HOT NEW STARTUP! Logo on wall: MurderKorp™ BROCK SKEEVES, CEO Brock: OUR BUSINESS MODEL IS SIMPLE: CONNECTING CUSTOMERS WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE WILLING TO MURDER SOMEONE FOR THEM! AN IPO IS ROLLED OUT TV business show anchor: SHARES OF MURDERKORP ARE SLAYING TODAY! IT'S ALL GREEN FOR A COMPANY THAT'S ALWAYS IN THE RED, HA HA! Chart showing shares of MRDR climbing SOME EXPRESS CONCERN Woman: THIS IS COMPLETELY IMMORAL! NOT TO MENTION SOCIOPATHIC! Brock: TSK TSK. IF YOU TRY TO REGULATE THIS INDUSTRY, YOU'RE GOING TO HURT ORDINARY AMERICANS. WE NEED JOBS, NOT EMPATHY. BUSINESS LEADERS WELCOME IT INTO THE FOLD Executive clinking champagne glasses with Brock: WE'VE ALWAYS KILLED PEOPLE INDIRECTLY-- DENYING HEALTHCARE CLAIMS, POLLUTING, GUTTING WORKER SAFETY LAWS--BUT IT'S TIME TO CUT TO THE CHASE! CHEERS!

"If you focus on the conflict between left and right, if the most important thing is what you are—your party, your state, your race, your ethnicity—the people I met could not be more different. On the one hand, you have rural, white small-business owners, generations into building a life in this country. On the other, you have urban Latino, Haitian, African, and South Asian immigrants, every one of them a worker. The line between them is sharp, almost tribal. What could they possibly have in common?

Everything—if you look at what they need. The people I met as a commissioner may look different, but what they need is surprisingly the same: They need a government that gives them a level playing field against the powerful and wealthy. They need the courts to check corporations when they abuse that power and wealth. They need basic dignity and control in their material lives.

Looking at things that way, everyone I met was part of one huge group: people working themselves to the bone who were getting screwed by billionaires and corporations—regardless of party or state or race or ethnicity. Regardless, even, of whether they are workers or the owners of farms or small businesses.

Populism is not an indictment, but an opportunity. Focusing on the conflict between the haves and the have-nots is not divisive; it’s a way to build coalitions with astonishing potential."

How I Became a Populist | The New Republic
https://newrepublic.com/article/201171/alvaro-bedoya-ftc-became-populist

#oligarchy #inequality #fascism #corporations