#Tag · bonfire.cafe

@heidilifeldman@mastodon.social · 3 days ago

Usually, I ignore Trump in real time. But his appearance from the WH with MBS of Saudi Arabia is so disturbing, I cannot ignore. Two depraved men, fawning over each other from the seat of executive power in the U.S. I’m sick.

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social replied · 2 days ago

@heidilifeldman @gleick

That feeling is getting worse.

#PrinceBonesaw is meeting with Trump to strategize on fossil fuel policy.

How to coerce consumers like the EU to keep buying these toxic products & thwart climate action.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/18/more-than-80-countries-join-call-at-cop30-for-roadmap-to-phasing-out-fossil-fuels

Trump used tariff threats to switch India & the EU to a different supplier.

The Project 2025 donors, Heritage Foundation, plans to dismantle the EU using the same tactics of division & fossil fuel funded fascism.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-18/momentum-builds-at-cop30-for-road-map-from-fossil-fuels

Ars Technica

@arstechnica@mastodon.social · last week

Google is rolling out conversational shopping—and ads—in AI Mode search
Conversational shopping is Google's first big swing at monetizing AI Mode search.
https://arstechnica.com/google/2025/11/google-rolling-out-conversational-shopping-and-ads-in-ai-mode-search/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social replied · 7 days ago

@arstechnica

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/14/nx-s1-5608188/data-center-ai-space-lizards

https://www.desmog.com/2025/04/22/ai-energy-demand-can-keep-fossil-fuels-alive-tech-backers-promise-worlds-two-biggest-oil-producers/

#TranslatedFromTheRepublican

"The fossil fuel industry burns tons of its toxic products for each of these AI-enabled spyware features.

Keep up the good work Google! The planet is frying.

#PrinceBonesaw is visiting Trump in November and you know how he gets when he's disappointed."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-06/google-thiel-stand-out-in-saudi-prince-s-silicon-valley-tour

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/jamal-khashoggi/

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/us/politics/jamal-khashoggi-killing-cia-report.html

https://nypost.com/2025/11/13/world-news/widow-of-slain-journalist-demanding-compensation-from-mbs/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/05/29/mbs-saudi-arabia-big-tech-authoritarian-embrace/

https://www.theenergymix.com/a-trillion-more-barrels-of-oil-new-ai-tool-would-trigger-400-billion-tonnes-of-climate-pollution/

https://www.nytimes.com

Saudi Crown Prince Is Held Responsible for Khashoggi Killing in U.S. Report (Published 2021)

DeSmog

AI Energy Demand Can Keep Fossil Fuels Alive, Tech Backers Promise World’s Two Biggest Oil Producers

An AI-fossil fuel axis is forming in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as AI advocates pledge an endless need for energy — spelling disaster for the climate.

Dan Gillmor

@dangillmor@mastodon.social · last week

This guy runs the Windows unit at Microsoft, and he's telling you that the company intends to infiltrate "AI" into every aspect of the operating system.

If you use Windows, this is an injection of a living, self-replicating virus into your digital existence.

Yes I use Linux.

Twitter post: "Today we’re taking the next step in making powerful AI easy and useful on Windows 11. With Copilot and new agentic experiences at the center, every Windows 11 PC becomes an AI PC that empowers you to connect, create, and work in more natural ways. Voice is becoming the next..."

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social replied · last week

@dangillmor

#TranslatedFromTheRepublican

https://karenattiah.substack.com/p/jamal-khashoggi-the-washington-post

" #PrinceBonesaw wants his energy hogging state surveillance platform, no matter the price."

https://luxurylaunches.com/transport/bill-gates-chartered-saudi-prince-superyacht-06152025.php

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-google-hand-dissident-data-to-saudi-arabia-activists-say-2023-7

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/05/29/mbs-saudi-arabia-big-tech-authoritarian-embrace/

Reminder: #PrinceBonesaw is very interested in knowing the location of women. So is the GOP.
https://www.businessinsider.com/absher-google-slammed-for-siding-with-saudi-government-app-2019-3

https://www.businessinsider.com/absher-google-refuses-to-remove-saudi-govt-app-that-tracks-women-2019-3

https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-mbs-human-rights-violations-apple-google-app-store-2022-9

And hacking the phones of billionaires
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/01/mohammed-bin-salman-jeff-bezos-hack-could-be-a-ticking-time-bomb

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/01/bezos-hack-amazon-saudi-mbs-whatsapp/605755/

The Atlantic

The Staggering Vulnerability of Global Elites

Anyone can get hacked. But when it happens to the rich and powerful, the stakes can be extraordinarily high.

Business Insider

Saudi Arabians are using a widely available Google and Apple store app to report activists who speak out against the government. Some have received harsh sentences while others are self-censoring.

Kollona Amn is being used to target Saudi human-rights activists and sentence them to years in prison, despite Big Tech's policies against harassment.

Business Insider

Google, siding with Saudi Arabia, refuses to remove widely-criticized government app which lets men track women and control their travel

Google reviewed the app — called Absher — and ruled that it does not violate any agreements, and therefore will remain on Google Play.

Business Insider

'Grotesque': Marco Rubio leads intense criticism of Google for refusing to pull down Saudi government app that lets men track and control women

The app — called Absher — has been the subject of intense protest since INSIDER reported its existence. Google has rejected calls to stop hosting it.

Business Insider

Microsoft and Google may have to surrender people's data to Saudi Arabia after signing huge deals there

Saudi Arabia is seeking to be an innovation hub, but activists are warning that tech firms could be complicit in the repression of dissidents.

Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post, and the Cost of Speaking Out

As Saudi Arabia hosts comedians and courts gamers, the silenced voice of Jamal Khashoggi still echoes.

Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦 boosted

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social · 2 weeks ago

@rysiek

Reminder of which petrostate despot is a Google shareholder... #PrinceBonesaw .
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/07/heres-a-look-at-who.html

The fossil fuel industry wants control of tech, not for a post-oil future, but for a prolonged fossil fuel funded fascist movement.

MBS's intentions aren't benign.
https://www.businessinsider.com/absher-google-refuses-to-remove-saudi-govt-app-that-tracks-women-2019-3

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-06/google-thiel-stand-out-in-saudi-prince-s-silicon-valley-tour

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-google-hand-dissident-data-to-saudi-arabia-activists-say-2023-7

Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦

@rysiek@mstdn.social · 2 weeks ago

Keep Android Open
https://keepandroidopen.org/

This is important. We already have a basic duopoly in mobile operating systems, now Google is trying to lock down their platform even more. Nobody benefits from this other than Google's shareholders.

Whether you are a device owner, a developer, or a public institution, this affects you and should matter to you.

Everyone can meaningfully help to push back.

:boost_requested:

#FuckGoogle #Android #FOSS #Mobile

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social replied · 2 weeks ago

@rysiek

Reminder of which petrostate despot is a Google shareholder... #PrinceBonesaw .
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/07/heres-a-look-at-who.html

The fossil fuel industry wants control of tech, not for a post-oil future, but for a prolonged fossil fuel funded fascist movement.

MBS's intentions aren't benign.
https://www.businessinsider.com/absher-google-refuses-to-remove-saudi-govt-app-that-tracks-women-2019-3

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-06/google-thiel-stand-out-in-saudi-prince-s-silicon-valley-tour

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-google-hand-dissident-data-to-saudi-arabia-activists-say-2023-7

tante

@tante@tldr.nettime.org · 3 weeks ago

We keep seeing startups who want to replace something valuable (therapy, counseling, tutoring, artistic expression) with some tech bullshit under the banner of democratization. But why do we need to invest so much in bad tech that doesn't work instead of just giving people access to what they need?

This is a sign for how fucking atrophied our mental muscles are. How limited our space for thinking about how things should be.

You want to democratize "going to therapy"? Make it "free" as in paid by socialized healthcare. You want to democratize "making art"? Give people money and free time to express themselves.

None of these things are meaningfully addressed through tech. It's always about the political struggle to give people what they need and deserve.

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social replied · 3 weeks ago

@tante

https://www.wired.com/story/trump-energy-industry-ai-fossil-fuels-pittsburgh-summit/

None of these startups are funded for altruistic reasons or even for revenue potential.

They're being funded to keep a status quo; a world order ruled by the fossil fuel industry.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/technology/saudi-arabia-ai-exporter.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-06/saudis-plan-100-billion-ai-powerhouse-to-rival-uae-s-tech-hub

https://www.tipranks.com/news/saudi-arabia-moves-billions-from-neom-to-ai-investments-backed-by-nvidia-and-amazon

The goal is wasting fossil fuel on white elephants & price gouge.

The aim is to thwart an urgent fossil fuel phase out.

If Blackrock & #PrinceBonesaw are funding it, it's evil.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-28/blackstone-saudi-ai-firm-humain-ink-3-billion-data-center-deal

TipRanks Financial

Saudi Arabia Moves Billions From Neom to AI Investments Backed by Nvidia and Amazon - TipRanks.com

Saudi Arabia is shifting its focus from its $500 billion Neom project, the futuristic city announced in 2017, to AI-related technology. The change marks a shift awa...

https://www.nytimes.com

Saudi Arabia’s New Power Play Is Exporting A.I. to the World

WIRED

Trump and the Energy Industry Are Eager to Power AI With Fossil Fuels

At a Pittsburgh summit, the Trump administration, energy executives, and tech barons joined as one to promote AI as the future of fossil fuels.

Alex Akselrod boosted

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social · 4 weeks ago

@cobalt123 @billyjoebowers

When a nation takes #PrinceBonesaw's money they stop being a sovereign nation.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/crunch-time-saudi-arabia-financial-elite-descend-riyadh-2025-10-24/

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/13/photos-tech-ceos-mingle-with-trump-and-mbs-at-saudi-investment-forum.html

A fossil fuel axis alliance forms to kill democracy & the planet.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/05/13/trump-tech-execs-riyadh/

When a tech company takes #PrinceBonesaw 's money, the mandatory surveillance spyware & Trump bootlicking isn't far behind.

https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-crown-prince-visits-apple-google-2018-4

https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/saudi-prince-mbs-silicon-valley-east-palo-alto-12799624.php

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-06/google-thiel-stand-out-in-saudi-prince-s-silicon-valley-tour

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/07/heres-a-look-at-who.html

https://thebulletin.org/2025/06/trumps-ai-gamble-in-the-gulf-doesnt-put-america-first/

Business Insider

Saudi Arabia's millennial crown prince got a rare tour inside Apple's new $5 billion campus

Saudi Arabia's millennial crown prince got to see the inside of Apple's new $5 billion campus.

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social · 4 weeks ago

@cobalt123 @billyjoebowers

When a nation takes #PrinceBonesaw's money they stop being a sovereign nation.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/crunch-time-saudi-arabia-financial-elite-descend-riyadh-2025-10-24/

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/13/photos-tech-ceos-mingle-with-trump-and-mbs-at-saudi-investment-forum.html

A fossil fuel axis alliance forms to kill democracy & the planet.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/05/13/trump-tech-execs-riyadh/

When a tech company takes #PrinceBonesaw 's money, the mandatory surveillance spyware & Trump bootlicking isn't far behind.

https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-crown-prince-visits-apple-google-2018-4

https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/saudi-prince-mbs-silicon-valley-east-palo-alto-12799624.php

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-06/google-thiel-stand-out-in-saudi-prince-s-silicon-valley-tour

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/07/heres-a-look-at-who.html

https://thebulletin.org/2025/06/trumps-ai-gamble-in-the-gulf-doesnt-put-america-first/

Business Insider

Saudi Arabia's millennial crown prince got a rare tour inside Apple's new $5 billion campus

Saudi Arabia's millennial crown prince got to see the inside of Apple's new $5 billion campus.

Emily Young

@emilyyoung@tech.lgbt · 4 weeks ago

I cannot begin to describe how little interest I have in an AI web browser.

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social replied · 4 weeks ago

@emilyyoung

Few people want anything AI

"Smart" appliances with such poor longevity, even garbage dumps won't accept them for disposal

IoT devices so compromised that 40% of internet bandwidth is going to bots.

Microsoft & Google taking investments from #PrinceBonesaw with such alacrity, they "forgot" to include privacy clauses in contracts
https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-google-hand-dissident-data-to-saudi-arabia-activists-say-2023-7

AI being shoved onto every device unwillingly & unnecessarily, using opt-out on some obscure section of the settings

Business Insider

Microsoft and Google may have to surrender people's data to Saudi Arabia after signing huge deals there

Saudi Arabia is seeking to be an innovation hub, but activists are warning that tech firms could be complicit in the repression of dissidents.

Cory Doctorow

@pluralistic@mamot.fr · last month

https://pluralistic.net

Pluralistic: Microsoft, Tear Down That Wall! (15 Oct 2025)

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social replied · last month

Business Insider

Saudi Arabia's millennial crown prince got a rare tour inside Apple's new $5 billion campus

Saudi Arabia's millennial crown prince got to see the inside of Apple's new $5 billion campus.

tools for commensality 🧿

@inquiline@assemblag.es · last month

Hey some nerd (me) is quoted here in this Columbia Journalism Review story about how low-power FM radio stations weathered federal funding cuts by being too small to be eligible for federal funding... in contrast to NPR. The invulnerability of the truly grassroots? 📻💚
https://www.cjr.org/feature/public-media-funding-cut-low-power-radio-lessons-community-broadcasting.php

#LPFM #media #radio #PublicMedia

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social replied · last month

@inquiline

When you accept money from despots, they become your overlords.

Google & #PrinceBonesaw
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/07/heres-a-look-at-who.html

Apple & #PrinceBonesaw
https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-crown-prince-visits-apple-google-2018-4

Silicon Valley & Charles Koch
https://www.axios.com/2017/12/14/koch-tries-its-hand-at-venture-capital-1513277500

Twitter & Alwaleed bin Talal
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2022/10/31/saudi-prince-alwaleed-becomes-twitters-second-largest-shareholder/

#MoscowMitch & Deripaska
https://www.newsweek.com/company-russian-oligarch-millions-aluminum-plant-mitch-mcconnell-1397061

Trump & Vekselberg
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/5/11/17337448/viktor-vekselberg-michael-cohen-trump-russia

Dan Gillmor

@dangillmor@mastodon.social · 2 months ago

Google deletes history: https://www.thebriefing.ie/google-just-erased-7-years-of-our-political-history/

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social replied · 2 months ago

@dangillmor

When a corporation accepts investment money from #PrinceBonesaw ...

Murderous petrostate despots have ideas on controlling access to information.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-06/google-thiel-stand-out-in-saudi-prince-s-silicon-valley-tour

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/07/heres-a-look-at-who.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/tim-cook-peter-thiel-rupert-murdoch-met-with-bin-salman-2020-1

https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/2025/accenture-and-google-cloud-advance-sovereign-cloud-and-generative-ai-adoption-in-saudi-arabia

Ditto for "cashless" systems... international state surveillance systems
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/inside-google-pays-saudi-arabia-launch-full-feature-breakdown-setup-guide-pros-and-cons-explained/articleshow/123942816.cms

https://www.electronicpaymentsinternational.com/news/saudi-arabia-digital-payments-google-ant/

The Moneyed & the rise of fossil fuel funded fascism
https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2025/05/us-and-saudi-arabia-announce-tech-investments-new-partnership/405285/

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/13/american-business-titans-trump-saudi-arabia-00346653

Alex Akselrod boosted

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social · 3 months ago

@Gizmodo@artificial-intelligence-Gizmodo

https://thebulletin.org/2025/08/how-ai-and-surveillance-capitalism-are-undermining-democracy/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2025/07/25/ai-surveillance-palantir-openai-data/85341278007/

https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/surveillance-company-flock-now-using-ai-to-report-us-to-police-if-it-thinks-our-movement-patterns-are-suspicious

#TranslatedFromTheRepublican

"Apple bends the knee to #PrinceBonesaw and begins Search Engine Enshittification. Just like Google.

Ever since he hacked Bezos's iphone, the Saudi Crown Prince has a compulsion to get his own internatiomal state surveillance platform, with a side bonus of energy-wasting data centers"

https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-crown-prince-visits-apple-google-2018-4

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/21/amazon-boss-jeff-bezoss-phone-hacked-by-saudi-crown-prince

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social · 3 months ago

@Gizmodo@artificial-intelligence-Gizmodo

https://thebulletin.org/2025/08/how-ai-and-surveillance-capitalism-are-undermining-democracy/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2025/07/25/ai-surveillance-palantir-openai-data/85341278007/

https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/surveillance-company-flock-now-using-ai-to-report-us-to-police-if-it-thinks-our-movement-patterns-are-suspicious

#TranslatedFromTheRepublican

"Apple bends the knee to #PrinceBonesaw and begins Search Engine Enshittification. Just like Google.

Ever since he hacked Bezos's iphone, the Saudi Crown Prince has a compulsion to get his own internatiomal state surveillance platform, with a side bonus of energy-wasting data centers"

https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-crown-prince-visits-apple-google-2018-4

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/21/amazon-boss-jeff-bezoss-phone-hacked-by-saudi-crown-prince

TechAltar

@Techaltar@mas.to · 3 months ago

I recently talked with a guy who builds software for small & medium sized German insurance firms and he says almost all of their clients are working on removing US services from their tech stack due to perceiving them as highly risky. This includes cloud services, office tools, AI tools, etc. So far he said the switch is a mixed bag with some successes and some blunders, but the push is very clear.

Highly anecdotal stuff, but maybe this cut is deeper than I expected.

Nicole Parsons

@Npars01@mstdn.social replied · 3 months ago

@Techaltar

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/20/larry-ellison-oracle-trump-election-challenges/

https://www.businessinsider.com/the-cia-made-larry-ellison-a-billionaire-2014-9

https://www.businessinsider.com/larry-ellison-ai-surveillance-keep-citizens-on-their-best-behavior-2024-9

https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/12/larry_ellison_wants_all_data/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/05/13/trump-tech-execs-riyadh/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/12/20/elon-musk-spotted-world-cup-final/

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-google-hand-dissident-data-to-saudi-arabia-activists-say-2023-7

Koch launched a Silicon Valley venture capital firm in 2017.
https://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2024/04/03/koch-disruptive-venture-capital-funding-ai-invest.html

https://www.axios.com/2017/12/14/koch-tries-its-hand-at-venture-capital-1513277500

https://readsludge.com/2025/07/09/billionaire-pharma-investors-fund-privatized-strike-team-at-the-fda/

#PrinceBonesaw invested in Google, Palantir, Apple, Oracle & Microsoft in 2018.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-06/google-thiel-stand-out-in-saudi-prince-s-silicon-valley-tour

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/07/heres-a-look-at-who.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-13/google-backs-saudi-ai-fund-as-trump-mbs-tout-new-investments

ProPublica

@ProPublica@newsie.social · 3 months ago

Microsoft is required to regularly provide U.S. officials with its plan for keeping government data safe from hacking. Yet a copy of the tech giant’s security plan obtained by ProPublica makes no reference to the company’s China-based operations.

https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-china-defense-department-cloud-computing-security?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Microsoft #Tech #Data #China #Cybersecurity #Government #Technology