Fight Monopoly or Live in Tyranny

Whenever I see a new post by Joel Kotkin I make it a priority to read. But even if it is published in the Daily Beast? Well, Instapundit linked it, so who am I to refuse to read it?

Kotkin writes in part,

Congressional posturing about tech firms may have quieted for the moment, but the existential crisis that these firms are creating remains as now unchecked. Even faced with opposition on both sides of the aisle, the oligarchs—those five tech giants that now constitute the world’s five most wealthiest companies—continue to rapidly consolidate economic, cultural, and, inevitably, political power on a scale not seen for over a century.

…Given their virtual monopoly status, a laissez-faire approach will likely result in more consolidation; only government action of some kind can stop them now. Current concerns are large enough now that both the Trump administration and many Democrats oppose Facebook’s bid to issue its own currency. That’s a hopeful first step.

No surprise then that tech firms are radically boosting their DC operations—Google is the top corporate spender in D.C., while Facebook and Amazon (whose CEO owns The Washington Post) are in the top 20. Money is the mother’s milk of politics, and the oligarchs have more of it than anyone in a capital that has all the scruples of the Roman Praetorian Guard, with loyalties always at sale for a little silver.

…At the same time, they wish to restore their dominance of the Democratic Party, something they (particularly Google) tried under President Barack Obama’s “Android administration.” They showed early interest in former Vice President Joe Biden but are now pinning their hopes on Kamala Harris, who has longstanding ties to big media companies, telecom providers, Hollywood, and, most of all, Silicon Valley. She seems more amenable to beating on old white men than curbing younger, richer ones exercising oligarchical power.

…The Ultimate Power: Information

John D. Rockefeller tried to control energy distribution through his Standard Oil. Later, the Big Three ran the automobile businesses. These were powerful firms, but they could not, like Google, create algorithms that determined what people see, tilted not only toward their own commercial interest but their political predilections as well. In this way, what the techies are doing is oddly reminiscent of China’s efforts to control and monitor thoughts, sometimes assisted by these same U.S. tech firms.

http://bobagard.blogspot.com/2019/07/fight-monopoly-or-live-in-tyranny.html

‘Easy Business’: Pablo Escobar’s Brother Suggests Elon Musk Sell Pot

The brother of the late kingpin wants to make a weed-selling company with Elon Musk, the very man he threatened to sue for $100 million over allegations of stealing intellectual property for The Boring Company’s “not-a-flamethrower.”

Roberto Escobar, the brother of late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, sent a letter to US entrepreneur Elon Musk offering three solutions to the “Flamethrower beef,” between the two, Unilad reported Sunday.

Earlier in July, media reported that the late kingpin’s brother mulled suing the Tesla CEO for allegedly ripping off the Escobar Company’s design of a toy flamethrower, which Musk sold under the brand “The Boring Company.” Later, Escobar demanded Musk pay $100 million in cash of Tesla shares in order to settle the beef peacefully, saying that otherwise the drug lord’s brother will get an even bigger sum or maybe even oust Musk as Tesla’s CEO through the courts. Musk responded to the allegations by tweeting that his toy “is not a flamethrower.”

Now, Escobar has written a letter to Musk offering three (more like two and a half, actually) solutions to the former’s beef. Escobar started the letter by “giving” Musk a nickname “La Mosca” (“the fly”) before introducing himself, according to TMZ.

As the first option, Escobar demands that Musk asks US President Donald Trump to grant the former a presidential pardon. Escobar will then use that pardon to come to the US and build a joint company “Escobar Musk Enterprises” – together with the man he accuses of stealing.

As an alternative, Escobar proposed the creation of a ‘joint’ marijuana selling company called “Elon Escobar Drugs Inc.”

“I know you like to smoke. Me and Pablo smoked before. We can legally sell drugs together nowadays my friend, I know all about it. Easy business,” the letter reads.

The third solution is actually not a solution at all, as the letter warns: “there is no solution three.”

“Do these two things and we are good my friend,” Roberto writes, adding that carrying out either of the two options will “solve any issues which we have.”

Escobar Inc. launched its version of the “original, official and proprietary” Escobar Inc. Flamethrower on 11 July this year. Musk’s version was rolled in early 2018, but Escobar’s company insists a Tesla employee stole the idea in 2017. All 20,000 Musk’s flamethrowers were sold in a matter of several days.

https://sputniknews.com/business/201907221076316825-easy-business-pablo-escobars-brother-suggests-elon-musk-sell-pot–report/

Joe Biggs Has ‘Had Enough of These Masked Commie Bastards Attacking Civilians,’ Will Host Anti-Antifa Protest in Portland

Conservative Army veteran Joe Biggs says he has “had enough of these masked Commie bastards attacking civilians” and will be hosting an anti-Antifa protest in Portland, where a journalist was recently attacked by the far-left radicals.

Biggs will be hosting the event with the Proud Boys and says that Three Percenters, Oathkeepers, Patriot Prayer, American Guard and other veterans and current military members will also be present to help keep the peace.

The event is set to take place at 11 a.m. on August 17th at the Waterfront in Portland.

“We the people have had enough of these masked commie bastards running around attacking civilians unchecked. We have mayors sitting back and police allowing antifa to bring weapons to rallies while the rest of us are searched and any form of defense removed. We have elected officials tweeting support for this domestic terrorist organization. It’s sickening and it needs to stop,” Biggs told the Gateway Pundit. “We are a nation of laws. We are also America and America will never be a communist country. Antifa has member’s in big tech, including social media. They use that to deplatform us and for many of us it’s a way of life. It’s time we take a stand and look this filth in the eyes and let them know this is America and we won’t back down to them ever.”

The goal of the event, dubbed the “End Domestic Terrorism Rally,” is to demand that Antifa and the John Brown Gun Club, an armed militant far-left group, be declared domestic terrorist organizations.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/07/joe-biggs-has-had-enough-of-these-masked-commie-bastards-attacking-civilians-will-host-anti-antifa-protest-in-portland/

Bank of America: "Enjoy It While It Lasts"

Last August, several of Bank of America's more skeptical analysts including Michael Hartnett and chief economist Ethan Harris wrote a piece on the law of large numbers, arguing that an ever-expanding list of uncertainties would likely undercut the markets going into year-end. At the time, the main concerns were the trade war, a hawkish Fed, Brexit, Quitaly and Iran oil sanctions. And now, Bank of America once again warns that this fall, a similar set of concerns could come to a head and halt the current rally in global equity markets.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-21/bank-america-enjoy-it-while-it-lasts