AT AMAZON, Cyber Monday Deals. #CommissionEarned

ANTISOCIAL MEDIA: Unsealed complaint says Meta ‘coveted’ under-13s and deceives the public about age enforcement.

The newly unsealed complaint, filed on Wednesday, reveals arguments that were previously redacted when attorneys generals from across the US first hit Meta with the lawsuit last month in the California federal court. It alleges the presence of under-13s is an “open secret” at Meta. While the policies on Facebook and Instagram state a person must be at least 13 years old to sign up, children can easily lie about their age — something the lawsuit says Meta is well aware of, and has done little to stop. Instead, when Meta “received over 1.1 million reports of under-13 users on Instagram” from 2019-2023, it “disabled only a fraction of those accounts and routinely continued to collect children’s data without parental consent,” the complaint says.

Meta “routinely violates” the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) by targeting children and collecting their information without parental consent, according to the complaint. The lawsuit also argues that Meta’s platforms manipulate young users into spending unhealthy amounts of time on the apps, promote body dysmorphia and expose them to potentially harmful content. When the lawsuit was first filed in October, a Meta spokesperson said the company was “disappointed” over the chosen course of action, stating, “We share the attorneys general’s commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online.”

Meta earlier this month published a blog post calling for federal legislation to put more responsibility on parents when it comes to kids’ app downloads. Meta’s global head of safety, Antigone Davis, proposed a requirement for parents to have approval power over downloads for kids under the age of 16.

Melissa and I have never let our boys install social media apps (or any other apps without permission) and now that our oldest is turning 18, here’s to hoping he developed the good sense not to bother just because his permissions are relaxed.

Related? Russia puts the spokesman for Facebook owner Meta on a wanted list.

K12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: To Shrink Learning Gap, This District Offers Classes Separated by Race: High school in Evanston, Ill., offers so-called affinity classes, in which Black and Latino students are separated from white students.

Nearly 200 Black and Latino students at Evanston Township High School signed up this year for math classes and a writing seminar intended for students of the same race, taught by a teacher of color. These optional so-called affinity classes are designed to address the achievement gap by making students feel more comfortable in class, district leaders have said, particularly in Advanced Placement courses that historically have enrolled few Black and Latino students.

“Our Black students are, for lack of a better word…at the bottom, consistently still. And they are being outperformed consistently,” Monique Parsons, Evanston school board vice president, said at a November board meeting. “It’s not good.”

School districts across the country have sometimes struggled to find ways to boost the performance of Black and Latino students, who, nationwide, tend to enroll in fewer advanced classes and score lower on standardized tests than white students. . . . Equity guides many of the district’s decisions, embodied in a stated board goal: “Recognizing that racism is the most devastating factor contributing to the diminished achievement of students, ETHS will strive to eliminate the predictability of academic achievement based upon race.”

Equity. Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever! George Wallace’s ghost smiles.

CHARLES GASPARINO: Elon Musk has a target on his back as Media Matters adds to X drama.

HMM: Oliver Stone: The 2020 Election Might Have Been Stolen.

I HOPE 2024 IS WORSE: Randi Weingarten’s Not-So-Dandy Year: The teachers’ union boss has been having an awful 2023.

Also in April, Weingarten testified before the House Subcommittee on the Covid pandemic. She was there to answer questions about her union’s influence on school reopening guidelines issued by the CDC.

While Weingarten insisted that her main goal was opening schools, it was anything but. She constantly argued for keeping schools shuttered through the spring and summer of 2020 when her union aggressively lobbied the CDC to adjust its school-reopening guidance. Two of its language recommendations were adopted verbatim.

Yet, she had the audacity to tell Congress, “We spent every day from February (2020) on trying to get schools open. We knew that remote education was not a substitute for opening schools. We know that young people learn and connect best in person, so opening schools safely – even during a pandemic – guided our actions, which I will describe in detail.”

But her “details” were really quite undetailed. She dodged, obfuscated, and even used the fact that she was 65 years old to explain her memory lapses.

Additionally, Dr. Tracy Høeg, an epidemiologist, blasted Weingarten, accusing her of fudging a scientific study to wrongly argue to Congress that schools should have been kept closed during the height of COVID-19.

Read the whole thing.

THE SUNDAY BOOK PROMO IS UP, WITH A SALES SECTION:  Book Promo And Vignettes By Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

There’s also a cool vignette challenge that has sparked a dozen novels, at least.

WE FOUND THAT OUT WHILE TRAVELING THIS SUMMER:  Blue State Residents Are Paying Way More For Energy Than Red States, New Report Shows.

THE WAR AGAINST GREED (THAT GREED DIRECTED TO PROVIDING PUBLIC SERVICE, AKA CAPITALISM):  NY retailers lost $4.4 billion due to organized shoplifting rings in 2022: group.

AS IT SHOULD. THEY’RE HOLDING BACK THE TIDE:  Election of Milei, Wilders and Cogswell Has the Left Worried.

WHEN YOU’RE CARRYING CHRISTIE’S BULK YOU SHOULD AVOID JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS:  Christie blames Trump for nationwide spike in Islamophobia, antisemitism.

SO WHAT JOE’S SAYING IS THAT HE DOESN’T WANT HAMAS DESTROYED? I GUESS HOSTAGE-TAKING AND HIDING BEHIND CIVILIANS WORKS FOR HIM:  Biden hails release of 4-year-old American — and says he’s optimistic cease-fire could grow.

He’s of their kin. He’s of their kind.

THOSE WHO JUMPED THROUGH THE ONEROUS HOOPS TO BECOME NATURALIZED AMERICANS ARE WELCOME TO VOTE:  The others? Should be arrested, as should those enabling them.  Over 20 Millions Immigrants Are Set to Vote In 2024.

Letting non-citizens vote, dilutes legitimate votes and disenfranchises citizens.

“LOST”? YOU HIDEOUS HIBERNIAN LICKSPITTLE! AS IF THE 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL WANDERED OFF AND WAS RESCUED BY KINDLY HAMAS MILITANTS:  Ireland’s Taoiseach Had an Interesting Word to Describe One of Hamas’ Hostages.

I GUESS THEY BUY THE HAMAS CLAIM THAT NO SETTLER/COLONIZERS ARE CIVILIANS:  Reuters Sure Had a Curious Way to Describe Israeli Hostages.

REUTERS HEADLINE: “HAMAS RELEASES 13 MORE ISRAELI SOLDIERS AND FOUR FOREIGN NATIONALS TO RED CROSS”:

Picture of deadly Israeli soldier:

THAT LAST POST REALLY WASN’T WRONG:  A Dark Thanksgiving.

HE’S RIGHT, YOU KNOW?  Someone called this a slow-motion Kristallnacht, and I can’t disagree.

OF COURSE THEY DID:  Report: U.S. and Western-Funded Palestinian Schools Celebrated October 7 Massacre.

BIBI, PUT DOWN THE HASH PIPE:  Netanyahu: Israel Will Extend Ceasefire For Release of 10 Hostages Per Day.

This guarantees a lot more 10/7s in the future.

ONLY MINDS INCAPABLE OF MATH WOULD THINK THIS INSANITY WAS A GOOD IDEA:  As Winter Approaches, Democrat Cities Scramble to House and Feed Tiny Portion of Aliens Flooding Across the Border.