Presidential Candidates: Deregulation and Lobbying

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2008-11-03 16:15:20 UTC
Modified: 2008-11-03 16:15:20 UTC

“Did you know that there are more than 34,750 registered lobbyists in Washington, D.C., for just 435 representatives and 100 senators? That's 64 lobbyists for each congressperson.”

--CIO.com

Direct link

This video is relevant because a lot of the issues we explore here (d)evolve to exploration of issues more political than technical.

"Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won't leave you alone."

--Richard Stallman

General Assembly Covers EPO Strikes on Thursday, September 17th (2026): The EPO's staff representation at The Hague has asked people to join an upcoming online session about industrial actions
SLAPP Censorship - Part 182 Out of 200: UK Dockets With Machine-Generated Applications to the Court (From American Slop Companies): Earlier this year Garrett was using machine-generated output as legal papers and submissions
Microsoft is Laying Off All Year Long (It's Just Keeping Quiet About It): The issue here is also the media. It's complicit.
MElon's Twitter Takeover Was Meant to Amplify People Like Himself or David Heinemeier Hansson (Slop Pyramid Schemes and Bigotry): Social control media is not neutral
Microsoft Lunduke of 'Linux Sucks' (and Microsoft Corp.) Tries to Replace GNU/Linux With Toxic Discussions About Toxic Politics: Poisoning the well people drink from
Links 13/09/2026: Republican Campaign Aide Uses Nazi Photo and Convicted Felon is Wielding Power to Stifle Speech: Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/09/2026: Never Settling, Plain Text Digital Life, and Newsgroups: Links for the day
Efforts to Cancel Matt Mullenweg Have Made Us More Sympathetic Towards Mullenweg and More Sceptical of the People Who Run Automattic (Named After Mullenweg): Mullenweg, unlike Automattic, is not "in it for the money"
Boosters of Omarchy Are No 'Underdogs': There are many Arch derivatives that do not rely on "viral" marketing in MElon's child porn-pushing social control media and are instead relying on real development, not slop
PIPs Are a Setup: They Set Workers Up to Fail While Working Their Arse Off Before Getting Kicked (Out) in the Arse: Malicious and exploitative
SLAPP Censorship - Part 181 Out of 200: This is Really More Like Brett Wilson LLP v Schestowitz (Using Money From American Slop Companies, Plagiarism Pushers): We approach the parts where we explain that the Application to the Court with Garrett's name on it was instead complaining about fair criticism of the combative law firm (irrelevant to any injunctions) as if it was impermissible to explain what it had done - and still does - to my wife and I
It Sometimes Feels Like Slop Companies Are Committing Online/Digital Crimes: "GPT" out of control
Gemini Links 13/09/2026: Why Omarchy is "Plain Disgusting" and "AI Slop" and Why "Plain Text To Do List" Rocks: Links for the day
Links 13/09/2026: Scam Altman Admits Issues (Financial), Rival Says Stop Slop (Plagiarism): Links for the day
Windows Down to New Lows as Switzerland's Federal Government Abandons Microsoft (Where Feasible for Now): That's how it starts...
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 12, 2026: IRC logs for Saturday, September 12, 2026
Televisions Have Become Billboards: Bottom line: you get what you pay for
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft as "Voluntary Separation Agreement" (or PIP): the man who kept lying about the layoffs has just left the company
The Cyber Show on Media Clickbait About Slop as 'Existential Threat' and Derek Thompson's Response to That: Ignore the hype, focus on real news
Links 12/09/2026: "Revolt Is Here" Against Slop and "Top Chinese Court" Cracks Down on Slop That's Fake/Misleading: Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/09/2026: Rants About Slop, Switching From QWERTY, and Why TVs Are 'Cheap': Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 180 Out of 200: A Third Act, (Mis)Using Your Client's Application to the Court for Your Own Purposes as a Law Firm (Reputation Management and Censorship): How much can a lawfare firm get away with?
Canonical Has Withdrawn Ubuntu 24.04.5 Installer Due to a Critical Bug Connected to Microsoft-Controlled Restricted Boot and TPM: already breaking systems running GNU/Linux [...] Who asked for TPM in Linux?
SLAPP Censorship - Part 179 Out of 200: Using One's Clients to Save Face at Their Expense: Who's being served really?
Switzerland's Software Freedom/Digital Sovereignty is Improving as People Move to GNU/Linux: Well done to them
Links 12/09/2026: "U.S. Debt Surpasses $40 Trillion" and "Trump Wants to [Illegally] Bribe Voters.": Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/09/2026: Readjusting, Fighting Sleep, and FreeBSD bhyve: Links for the day
Matt Mullenweg Got the 'Linus Treatment' or 'RMS Treatment': "back, but not in charge any more..."
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 11, 2026: IRC logs for Friday, September 11, 2026
Earlier This Year Microsoft's Chief Liar Frank Shaw Lied About the Layoffs. Now He's Leaving.: he's nowhere near retirement age
Gemini Links 11/09/2026: Small Things and "Hitching Your Wagon": Links for the day
Links 11/09/2026: Tristan Buckmaster Ripped Off by Slop, Social Control Media Spreads Hatred for Profit: Links for the day
Animals Smarter Than Chatbots: Quack quack goes the chatbot
Why Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) Won't Work: American companies don't follow laws, they work around them
IBM Isn't Reporting Layoffs, But It Removes Tens of Thousands of People From Its Workforce: Red Hat and IBM already mark people for removal
"A Tale of Two Antónios" Will Resume Soon: In November the site turns 20
Links 11/09/2026: Cyberattack in Berlin (Windows/Microsoft TCO) and Hype About Slop as 'Existential' Something; Scam Altman et al Caught Stealing/Plagiarising "Mathematical Breakthrough": Links for the day
Microsoft/GNOME 9/11: Garrett and Graveley (Microsoft/GNOME) will have a lot to explain
Net Gain of 50 Gemini Capsules in Just One Month: a big jump in just one month
Keeping Linux Reliable: If Linux becomes a lot more reliable in the future, it'll be an "hey hi" miracle. If Linux becomes a lot less reliable in the future, we'll know why and who is responsible for it.
9/11 Was a National Event, Not an International Event: They insist that back doors will "save lives"
Very Sloppy PR From a Dying IBM, Company in Disarray and in Need of Distractions: IBM could really use distractions right now
Cyber Show on the Fallacy of Salary/Ego as a Function of Wisdom in the Era of Pyramid Schemes (Cheating People Using Buzzwords and Complicit Media): "the remuneration fallacy and the role of reluctance as a negative feedback force."
What a Price-Fixing Cartel Can Look Like: If your prices increase five-fold or ten-fold and so do your revenues/income, what does that tell us?
SLAPP Censorship - Part 178 Out of 200: Explaining to Your American Clients That Spending 130,000+ United States Dollars on a Single Hearing in Another Continent Means the UK's National Archives Will Retain in Perpetuity What Your Spouse or Girlfriend Said: Balabhadra (Alex) Graveley should ask Garrett how much money he has lost so far
EPO's Local Staff Committee Munich Organises General Assembly Next Week, the Goal is to Oust the Corrupt President and Derail His Unlawful Agenda: They're aiming to show Campinos the door
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 10, 2026: IRC logs for Thursday, September 10, 2026
Latest IBM Gossip is, Over 25,000 People to be PIPed (by Year's End): That figure, 10%, is different from 15% (what we saw a lot). 10% is over 25,000 staff.
Solidarity at EPO: "Many colleagues have made personal and professional sacrifices by participating in the ongoing strike and work-to-rule action"
Gemini Links 11/09/2026: Culture Stuck, Robot Symphony, and Back to Geminispace: Links for the day

Presidential Candidates: Deregulation and Lobbying

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