Profile avatar
wabrandsma.bsky.social
Piratenpartij #8 EP2024 / Board member
1,053 posts 188 followers 449 following
Prolific Poster

As the Federal Trade Commission recently explained, if a handful of companies control AI training data, “they may be able to leverage their control to dampen or distort competition in generative AI markets” and “wield outsized influence over a significant swath of economic activity.”

With Great Power Came No Responsibility pluralistic.net/2025/02/26/u... How Enshittification Conquered the 21st Century and How We Can Overthrow It.

Look At What Courts Do, Not What They Say www.thesling.org/look-at-what... Richard Nixon’s Attorney General John Mitchell famously declared: “Watch what we do, not what we say.” When that was done to him, he wound up in prison.

'Macron: Rusland is de agressor, respect voor degenen die strijden. De Franse president heeft als eerste wereldleider gereageerd op de knallende ruzie van Trump en Zelensky in de Oval Office' nos.nl/liveblog/255...

'Onze verheven opvattingen bieden geen garantie voor goed gedrag. Kennis over het handelen van mensen tijdens de nazi-tijd leert: naarmate de situatie veranderde, pasten mensen hun gedrag aan' Laurence Rees, kenner van de Nazi-tijd, schreef een boek met 12 waarschuwingen. www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

US's 1994 security assurances in exchange for Ukraine becoming non-nuclear: - Respect Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty; - Refrain from threat of force; - Refrain from economic coercion; - Seek immediate UNSC action in case of nuclear threats. treaties.un.org/doc/Publicat...

The leader of the free world. He didn't bow to KGB Colonel Putin, he didn't bow to KGB asset Donald Trump. Big respect!

To transform bold ideas into reality, we need power—and we build power together. At the Reimagine America Summit this week we are connecting leaders, sparking collaboration, and discussing how we can work to create an economy that works for all.

very accessible summary article by Nate Miller on growing market power, finding that in many industries margins have been increasing but costs have been falling. Thus sometimes increasing power but decreasing prices. Further, it's very industry specific. www.networklawreview.org/rising-marke...

How Elon Musk planned for DOGE: Our investigation found that he raised the idea in 2023, becoming fixated on gaining insider access to federal systems. By Dec., he chose USDS as a landing place, and future DOGE members began applying for jobs there. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/u...

[My bet is that DSA and DMA enforcement will come out stronger from all this ⛅—it's a matter of survival and geopolitical credibility. Concurrently, there should be an underway reflection on how to enhance them and what's still missing]

Musk’s USAID Cuts May Hand China The AI Race www.techdirt.com/2025/02/26/m...

The message to Democrats is clear: you must dump neoliberal economics www.theguardian.com/business/202... The party must return to its progressive roots. A new economy is needed with new rules and new roles

Elon #Musk’s #Starlink Is Keeping Modern #Slavery Compounds Online - www.wired.com/story/starli... "criminals who make billions from #scam compounds in #Myanmar—where tens of thousands of people are enslaved—are using Starlink to get online."

Wrote some stuff about a time when Democrats fought back--VERY publicly--against Republican budget cuts. White crosses, mountains of utility bills, a green bus just for good measure, and a whole coherent vision of economic democracy: coryhaala.org/general/how-...

Verkiezingen als het kabinet valt? Dat hoeft niet www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/... Politiek Nergens in de wet staat dat op een kabinetsval nieuwe verkiezingen moeten volgen, schrijft Floris Cohen. Dat is slechts een gewoonte.

As #AI #agents become ubiquitous, expect the #copyright industry to try to turn them against you - walledculture.org/as-ai-agents... the time to worry about this is now, not once it has happened... #agentic

It’s time we asked: what is the cost not just to the budget, but to society, when the richest are helped to get richer? www.theguardian.com/business/gro... The question ‘how do we pay for it’ only seems to come up when the government spends money on things that help low and middle-income earners.

To recap: *Trump admin broke the law by pausing legitimate spending *The courts told him to knock it off *They didn't *Court is telling them to knock it off again Next step is to find out whether we still have an administration that will obey the courts after the courts call them on their bullshit

No one had died of measles in America for ten years, until yesterday. That 2015 death in WA was preceded by a 12y period of no US deaths. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt... HHS Secretary RFK Jr. says it’s “not unusual.” apnews.com/article/meas... It is unusual. www.cdc.gov/measles/data...

21 DOGE employees resign as school vacation ends

21 DOGE-medewerkers nemen ontslag omdat schoolvakantie weer voorbij is

Not even kidding: At the Wittman (VA-01) "office hours" today, a constituent was trying to explain the hardship that understaffed Social Security offices had been causing his family. Wittman's rep seemed almost robotic to the constitent's concerns. It is going to get worse.

FourSquare Sudoku puzzle solved in 15 steps. sudokusolver.nl/puzzle/fours...

URGENT: Call your Members of Congress at 202-224-3121. Tell them NO CUTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY - and that includes keeping your local field office open and fully staffed.

Migratie is in veel opzichten een bliksemafleider voor langdurige frustraties over hoe de economie is veranderd en veel mensen in de steek heeft gelaten. Extreem rechts veroordelen en vervolgens niets doen voor de mensen die partijen als AfD zien als sprekend voor hen zal niets bereiken

Binary Puzzle solved in 41 steps. | 10x10 binarypuzzle.nl/puzzle/10/14...

Binary Puzzle solved in 60 steps. | 14x14 binarypuzzle.nl/puzzle/14/2j...

#DOGE Is Working on Software That #Automates the Firing of Government Workers - www.wired.com/story/doge-a... because this kind of things always works so well...

I talk about our suit on behalf of federal employees against the Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Office of Personnel Management here: www.washingtonian.com/2025/02/25/m...

Signal zegt Zweden te verlaten als het backdoor moet toevoegen www.security.nl/posting/8776... De Zweedse strijdkrachten zijn tegen het plan, aangezien het volgens hen kwetsbaarheden introduceert waar derde partijen misbruik van kunnen maken.

Apple schrapt de extra versleutelde versie van bewaardienst iCloud voor Britse gebruikers na een conflict met de overheid. Vier vragen over de kwestie. https://buff.ly/4bhl9yY

Countries opposing the transfer of Russian assets to Ukraine, fearing a loss of influence, include France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the EU Commission President. Meanwhile, Baltic states, Northern Europe, Poland, and Czechia urge the immediate transfer to Ukraine. www.politico.eu/article/eu-u...

I’m hearing a lot of people repeating the line that social democrats are not losing votes to the far right, so that invalidates the thesis that social democrats have lost touch with the working class and should address issues like migration. But this is missing the point

April is looking v scary with the energy price cap increasing by 6.4%, and a huge suite of other bills about to increase too: water council tax, social rents. Private rents are also still soaring (up ~9% on last year). All the while benefits are only increasing by 1.7% and LHA stays frozen Dire

The big reversal in Germany’s election Extreme right (AfD) gained every where but particularly in the poorest regions. Social Democrats (SPD) lost everywhere but particularly in the poorest region.

The United Kingdom announced its largest package of sanctions against Russia since 2022, targeting 107 individuals and organizations involved in supplying machinery, electronics, and dual-use goods, including microprocessors for weapon systems. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Hoo boy. New article says lower courts are obliged not to follow SCOTUS precedents that are “demonstrably erroneous and conflict with positive law, especially the Constitution which is the nation's supreme, paramount, and fundamental law.” papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

If you think the headline is good, you should read the copy.

Physicists are working to understand the churning region near singularities inside black holes. It may help them eventually reconcile gravity and quantum mechanics. Lyndie Chiou reports: www.quantamagazine.org/new-maps-of-...

Elon #Musk's email address for federal employee reports may have leaked. The trolling's already begun. - mashable.com/article/elon...

AfD overwhelmingly won votes from non-voters and the centre-right. This is a standard pattern. It is a myth that the radical right are mainly winning disaffected centre-left voters.