Hacker News Reader

java_scripton San Francisco's zoning makes it illegal to build apartments in 73.5% of the city

Seems like a total misrepresentation of what the critics to the left said about it, and like you're trying to pull a "both sides do it" / "the truth is in the middle" act without substance.

For example the Los Angeles DSA argues that SB827 would not have even lowered rents [0] and would have worsened housing for poor families. You can disagree with that, but that is absolutely not the same as it "not being good enough".

0: https://www.dsa-la.org/statement_in_opposition_to_sb_827

java_scripton Facebook’s diversity efforts show little progress after five years

It’s just a regressive position on diversity masquerading as being a reasonable progressive one. Take something that’s easier to fix from a centralized location, and instead argue for individual responsibility. Like how instead of complaining about oil companies destroying the environment and corrupting our political system, we should all just recycle and buy Teslas, like a buncha radicals or something :)

I think sure, do what you can at an individual level if you want but that’s so much less important. You’re not gonna change the household conversations happening in millions of houses, and telegraphing what YOU are doing for your daughters in Silicon Valley is more narcissistic than political.

java_scripton Facebook’s diversity efforts show little progress after five years

Then by definition you are not "all for diversity".

java_scripton A browser extension to make Medium more readable

> A browser extension to make Medium less annoying.

So this just blanks out the articles or what?

java_scripton DigitalOcean’s quarterly report on developer trends in the cloud

> Do you think a lot of people are running JS in a container for frontend?

Hold my beer. --Frontend developers

java_scripton Advice

The most basic form of this is undermining or exploiting a group of people as your core business model, and then donating a small portion to charities that help that same group. Or even better, the ceo’s unrelated pet cause, an astroturf group, or a foundation where they hire family members as a way to skirt gift taxes. Compassionate capitalism is lovely ;)

java_scripton Advice

My favorite is how if you check out any oil companies website, pretend you knew nothing about them and you’d think they were green peace by the messaging on their site.

java_scripton Advice

My bad. Sorry if anyone thought my comment was rude.

java_scripton Advice

Advice for SF people: Stop talking about changing the god damned world when what you're actually working on is a middleman payment processor. You sound like your head is planted so far up into your ass you can see daylight again.

E: Just to point out what I actually believe so I’m not just doing a drive-by insult - let capitalism and self interest be just that, like how a pizza delivery guy or payday loan provider probably isn’t deluding themselves about making an impact. Leave talk of societal impact to actual politics.

java_scripton Advice

SF is subversive and counter-culture... if being a cutthroat capitalist is subversive... ROI is the new karmic energy ;)

java_scripton Advice

Hahaha that was one of the most ridiculous (and succinct) 180's I've ever seen online.

java_scripton AMA with Substack and Matt Taibbi about a new business model for journalism

https://twitter.com/alayne_f

Keep in mind they literally have 0 accusers, and when the women they worked with were interviewed they all had 0 complaints, and even at the time of publishing the book was categorized as satire. The name "The Exile", IIRC, refers to the fact they were a satire of the piece of shit Americans that Ames and Taibbi witnessed coming to Russia as the USSR was falling in order to ravage the country in its moment of weakness.

Next let's confront Steven Colbert on his past as a right wing nutjob.

java_scripton AMA with Substack and Matt Taibbi about a new business model for journalism

Just posting to say I miss the TARFU report.

java_scripton Microsoft acquires Github

https://pando.com/2014/01/23/the-techtopus-how-silicon-valle...

java_scripton Activist Jailed for Facebook Posts; FBI Tracks Him as “Black Identity Extremist”

I literally have family (white) about as far right as that guy is left and they haven’t been arrested for their speech. Literally including violence against cops stuff except framed from the right wing angle (i.e. property rights and 2nd amendment rather than racial oppression, standard NRA/3%er fare). They’re more likely to get a visit from the NYT for a glowing interview about what’s its like to live in Real America than a visit from the FBI.

java_scripton Activist Jailed for Facebook Posts; FBI Tracks Him as “Black Identity Extremist”

He’s misunderstanding what tyranny is. Tyranny isn’t when the police state arrests you for criticizing them. Tyranny is when Peter Sweden or whoever is suspended from Twitter for being racist. (Said in a 2018 Libertarian voice).

java_scripton Both in rich and poor countries, universal health care brings huge benefits

I really don’t care about how to slightly tweak our current unjust system to make it slightly less bad. The fact that it’s unjust (hence why I’m calling out his moral arguments) makes any details a irrelevant. Like asking “How could the trains to Auschwitz have been more efficient - why won’t you debate me on this?” (Sorry for Godwin’s law-ing)

There are alternatives that are picking up support, like Medicare for all, that are worth more time and energy discussing.

java_scripton Both in rich and poor countries, universal health care brings huge benefits

Wow good points. I’m sure those tens of thousands of people a year who die due to lack of health insurance are so glad nobody got coerced into helping them out. What a useful definition of liberty, that allows the richest country on earth & in history to deny its citizens preventative care so that they end up dying of easily preventable diseases. We have the liberty to beg on GoFundMe! Health insurance companies have the liberty to insert themselves as middlemen to suck up profits for pushing cash around and denying care!

To not quote a fucking TV magician, “Why not err on the side of every first world nation except us?”.

java_scripton Newspaper op-eds change minds

Their recent episode on The Atlantic & Kevin Williamson was really enlightening. Establishment media is seen as a “balanced news diet” but it’s really an extremely narrow ideological band. It’s so telling that the NYT or Atlantic would never hire an actual leftist (or on the other side, a true trump believer rather than a never-trump conservative), but they’re bewildered at the angry response from trying to hire someone who said women who get abortions deserve capital punishment. Women’s rights are negotiable to them but capitalism and imperialism can never be attacked. Even in a respected liberal rag.

java_scripton Barbara Bush Dies at 92

What an impactful life. Very amusing how she told W, as president, to keep his feet off a table one time. And there’s at least a six-figure body count from the needless decisions of her son and husband whose political careers she supported. Very charitable woman as well.

java_scripton Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

Yup, ideologically, liberals are the enemy of leftists unfortunately. And much closer to neo-cons. It’s why you’ll never see an actual Marxist anti-Imperialist on the masthead of so-called left-leaning (by some) pubs like NYT, WaPo, the Atlantic, etc. But they’ll happily hire tons of right wingers in the name of “ideological diversity” (see Kevin Williamson, Bari Weiss, plus the ones that have actually stayed on)

java_scripton Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

The future of work is shitty jobs like this, but a la Uber you "get your side-hustle on" AKA have no rights or security as an employee ever anywhere.

e: Which, speaking of Marxism, this situation will keep you permanently alienated from your coworkers and will forever prevent community bonds from forming with them.

java_scripton Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks

Is pro gaming a white collar industry?

java_scripton The World After Capital

Psssh what’s an entire field of study worth when we have an VC techie who invested in MongoDB to teach us.

java_scripton The World After Capital

Started skimming this and immediately started to wonder this guy's credentials, especially when I got to the parts on UBI and communism and how "governments distort markets". Like how can you write a book called "The World After Capital" with such a thin understanding of capitalism and the very very obvious prior art here, Marxism.

Then went back to the preface for the money shot:

> As a Venture Capitalist (“VC”)....

java_scripton Game Workers Unite

GP means left-libertarians, for example anarcho-syndicalists like Noam Chomsky.

Versus American libertarian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZITP93pqtdQ

java_scripton Tempe Police Release Video of Uber Accident

No conspiracy needed. AZ wants to appear friendly to self driving car companies (e.g. they already don't regulate them as hard as CA.). A single undesirable being taken out isn't gonna change that.

Plus it's not like AZ has a long history of pedestrian friendliness anyway. It's practically engineered to harm them, with 2mi between crosswalks

java_scripton 'Striking weaknesses' in adult financial skills

This is capitalism working. Not from the viewpoint of the academic justifiers of capitalism, but the from the viewpoint of people that have an actual vested interest in capitalism (aka the ones whose opinion actually matters and the ones who are the reason why we have this system in the first place).

java_scripton Software Workers Union

Thought this link was relevant here due to a couple of things that are coming our way in the U.S: (1) upcoming Supreme Court ruling that may destroy public unions, and (2) the Koch's upcoming plan for national right to work law to destroy blue state private unions:

https://splinternews.com/organized-labor-is-in-a-life-and-de...

java_scripton Dropbox S-1

patio11's salary negotiation blog post is our Das Kapital.