@oscarfalcon tell me about it. In some ways it barely scratches the surface given the rest of the news. But at least for software, the good news is that there are plenty of alternatives. We are not powerless and things aren’t as hopeless, but it does start with awareness that hurts.

Anyway, to end on the best thing I’ve read lately:

“Where does it all end? is the big question. […] The implication is that it may have already gone too far and probably has. The clear call to action is to stop exposing so much abuse, to avoid the moral dangers of looking at all of it. Where does it all end? is the sort of question that somebody asks when they don't want it to end, and they don't even want the process of ending it to begin.

So often the question is “have we gone too far?" So rarely is it the statement: "They have gone too far." So often the question posed is "where does it all end?" So rarely is the question “how will we make this end?”

[…]

It ends with justice and liberation from the abuses of supremacy and the tyranny of the supremacist billionaire mindset.

This destination is where our compass must point, and we should accept none other, even as we acknowledge the challenges and gird ourselves for the journey.”

https://www.the-reframe.com/where-it-ends/

But then I see some people legit praising these “business geniuses” instead of looking at where their money and power comes from and where it’s going.

I don’t like where things are going and I don’t want their values in Europe.

Plus, the moment Trump is gone, something worse will replace him too.

Some days I wish j could just turn it off and not care. But the rot extends—predictably—deep into tech leaders.

And if only it was just their software leaking and spilling into Europe. That would be “easy” to remove. But it’s their mindset too, and their unhinged desire to see it all burn and return to tribalism while they laugh all the way to the bank.

Their hate of EU is now interfering with the laws of the continent we live on and threatening to break it up.

The same Thiel winking at the idea of Brexit, who also explains why democracy and freedom are incompatible in mainstream financial papers and journals.

In 2025, Big Tech—just ten major companies—spent €49 million lobbying Brussels. That’s more than pharma, finance, and automotive combined.

Google funds all sixteen major European think tanks shaping EU policy. Not *some* of them. All of them. Amazon and Meta fund most of the rest.

This is no longer “poor old me, I need a bit of help,” this is full regulatory capture. With a view to becoming even more embedded into businesses and governments, and getting whatever favorable legislation passed or diluted to suit them.

https://corporateeurope.org/en/2025/10/big-tech-lobby-budgets-hit-record-levels

The day is over and I didn’t get as much done as I’d have liked.

A bit hard to concentrate given the breadth and extent of the Epstein files revelations. These aren’t people I will ever meet or interact with, but the depravity and brazenness of it all just got to me. Toddler life was rough too. So I gave myself a break and some grace.

The horrors of it all. Truly ew, ew, ew and more ew. And it’s barely scratching the surface of the yuck. Inescapable, on every news website, touching so many things.

@erpu genuinely excited! Welcome