I don't want to vote for Gavin Newsom. Please, Democrats, don't nominate this guy. He's a money-grubbing opportunist pretending to be a centrist Democrat. I want a real progressive candidate!

CA has a law that VC firms have to collect and report data on the companies they boost. The data were to be gathered by the state and published, after being anonymized. These rich guys leaned on the governor and, to quote Wired magazine, "After investors appealed to the governor, California again delayed the deadline for venture firms to disclose the demographics of startup founders they back."

Justice delayed is justice denied.

I guess there is maybe one good thing about this-- at least some venture capitalists think it would be shameful to appear racist and sexist. This is a long, long, way from ending racism and sexism in investing, but it's a start.

#USpol #GavinFuckingNewsom #GavinNewsom

Do you like the pop from the 60s and 70s? There's this band releasing original music today and I'm loving it. Think The Byrds, The Beach Boys, The Beatles. They have some covers from live shows of Beatles and Beach Boys songs that are far above what you'd get from a bar or wedding band. The band is The Lemon Twigs. Check those harmonies!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhLl5J82eCg&list=RDGhLl5J82eCg&start_radio=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnylB5ylyw4&list=RDjnylB5ylyw4&start_radio=1

#LemonTwigs

Faxes are on my mind. Back when faxes were new, you'd call the recipient and say "please connect your fax to your phone line. I want to send you a fax." Later, businesses would spam you with 20 pages of ads for office supplies, including the fax thermal paper your machine was slowly extruding. This spam not only tied up your fax line, (you could only get or send one fax at a time, kids), it used up your paper. People got mad and Congress passed a law against unsolicited faxes.

When email spam was getting going, I signed any number of petitions to get Congress to make it illegal. The problem was that the costs were too diffuse-- email wasn't metered by your ISP, so the cost was built in to your data plan. Now, even though spam is still a problem, spam filters have become better at stopping much of it. Even so, my inbox is full of missives from reputable businesses and publications that CANNOT stop sending me crap without a regular round of me unsubscribing from stuff. It's to the point where, like with faxes, I want people to call me up or text me and say "Hey, check your email. I just sent you something. "

Here's what I want -- I want to get a text whenever someone in my address book sends me email. Either that, or a fax machine.

#spam #enshittification

My favorite photo from today's birding: an Eastern Bluebird in Black Hill Regional Park near Clarksburg, Maryland.

#birding #birdPhotography