Mad King Watch (Take XIX): Google Bows Down (Again), And Renames Lake Ontario

 

<Your tax dollars at work?

A visual snapshot of the latest delusion

(Google Maps)>

<"Delusions On Display"/The Reckoner>

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Why does everybody hate Big Tech so much? Hmm, I've no idea. Couldn't imagine why. Oh, wait. Start with its ravenous appetite for unchecked power without accountability, as the demand for all those data centers symbolizes -- one that despots like Hitler, Stain or Louis XIV, could never have entertained, not in their wildest dreams. 

Continue with the rush to cram its latest technology down our throats, as we've seen from the AI explosion -- which will hopefully burst as the AI bubble sooner than later, and leave them all working for food. What are the odds? I know, I know, time will tell. But we all can dream, right? Especially if we need that image to keep us going through these never-ending darkest of times.

And that's before we get to the Tech Bros' other numerous shortcomings, such as their desire to know everything about you, only to turn radio silent the minute that anyone tries to turn those tables on them. Or maybe it's their brutish insistence on atomizing the common man and woman to the point of absurdity, from the products they buy, to the life choices they make, and the rights they claim.

For further reference, look no further than Microsoft's decision to kill its Publisher program, despite its enormous popularity among the DIY community. Why? Because the Mega-Bullies don't like that. Their goal is to enslave us, at all costs -- something all their garish, gauzy TV Soma (excuse me, "ads") will never change. Allowing us to empower ourselves doesn't square with the infinite nannying that they're planning to impose.

But the biggest and most relevant reason, perhaps, is Big Tech's readiness to kowtow to power, as we see from Google Maps's acceptance of Donald Trump's latest executive order tantrum -- renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America," since Canadians won't accept his mindless maximalism. So what does the Bully in Chief do? Snaps his fingers, and lives out his latest sundowning fantasy, with the stroke of his EKG-style chicken scratches.

Once again, America The Beautiful presents itself as America The Bully State. Never mind that Trump's so-called executive order has no more impact than declaring the moon is made out of green cheese. Judging from this thread I've found on Reddit, the Bully in Chief's latest delusion is going over like gangbusters:

"Google really has gone to shit."

"Added to the list of reasons Google can fuck all the way off."

"All the world uses correct name, only US uses this new wrong name...will ditch Google Maps from all my projects for forcing (on) the world the will of a few."

"Why doesn't Europe invest in technology to combat the various monopolies the U.S. tech industry has globally? I really hope their leaders finally realized they are exposed to massive risk by allowing people from the U.S. to dictate how things work in their country and do something about it.

"There needs to be global competition for these services rather than one company that does these things for nearly the entire fucking planet."

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You can read the rest of these delighted reviews for yourself (see link below). What makes the contrast even more unfavorable for Google is how its brethren have responded. Apple hasn't gone alongl apparently, renaming the Gulf of Mexico into "The Gulf of America," as it did last time, proved an unbreakable red line.

And neither is MapQuest. Better yet, MapQuest has also rolled out a new tool, allowing users to name the lake whatever they want, which squares well with this modest proposal from Robert Reich:

"If you’d like Google to return to naming it Lake Ontario, I urge you to open Google Maps on your computer or mobile app and sign in, then click or tap the menu icon (three lines) or your account profile picture in the top corner, select 'Edit the Map' or 'Your opinions about Maps,' type your feedback explaining that the lake should remain designated Lake Ontario, and click Send. You might do the same for the Gulf of Mexico."

Now that's an idea we can all get behind! Who knows? Maybe if enough of us hit that "Edit the Map" function, Google will realize that the cost of their advance obedience may yet come back to haunt them. But we should couple those impulses with a general exodus away from the Great Google Beast, even if it means buying a swath of USBs to back up whatever email or photo archives we were foolish enough to store there.

I could easily write a separate post on their forced conversions and sudden imposition of storage limits, two reasons I'm thinking of switching to the Netherlands-based Startpage, which offers email and searching, without tracking. For all their own shortcomings, Europeans understand the value of privacy, which is why their protections are so much stronger than in the US, where the virtual tail wags the dog -- no, bounces it up and down -- all day long.

From where I sit, the abovenamed commenter who wished for serious competition, instead of one giant company doing it "for the entire fucking planet," has it right. And if we ever get a Democrat-oriented Project 2029, along with a South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission, asking the CEOs of Google, not to mention Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft -- indeed, all those who shoveled so many slippery billions into Trump's 2024 campaign, to grease the skids for his restoration -- to explain themselves sounds like a critical step, if we're ever to get our democracy back.

Such a body would allow for some timely reminders of basic principles, starting with the obvious: Obeying any madman's whims in advance is an inadequate response. Sticking to basic facts beats complying with a wannabe autocrat's latest delusions. Speaking truth to power is better remembered than abject compliance, no matter how elegantly it's dressed up.

There's no place at the table for those who collaborate, no matter how hard they try to "explain" their decisions, or the motives they rationalize for making them. Because those impulses invite the most uncomfortable question of all, the one that's certain to dog so many of them, once the Trump era's madness finally runs its course: "Why didn't you stand up to them? Why didn't you stop them?" Whatever they say, we won't bother trying to count all the crickets that supply the final answer. --The Reckoner

Links To Go (The Hills Are Alive,
With...The Sounds Of Delusions:)

Reddit: Google Says Web Developers
Must Set Their Region For Canada
To "Lake Ontario" To Appear On Map:
https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1w3d32p/google_says_website_developers_must_set_their/

The Daily Beast: Google Maps
Faces Fury For Caving To Trump:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/google-maps-faces-fury-for-caving-to-trumps-lake-america-demand/

The Hill: Google Maps Changes
Lake Ontario To "Lake America" On US Phones:
https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/6059553-google-maps-renames-lake-america/