That I've heard, on the street, the Mafia is a credible alternative state power in a fair fraction of Italy. Just one not claiming Democratic ideals, nor much desire to become a nation state or adopt a political agenda.
Wielding power to benefit the ordinary people, long-term, is an age-old sign that those wielding the power have and/or aspire to some level of long-term legitimacy and popular support. Doesn't matter if you're looking at early Chinese dynasties, Old Testament kings, or modern authoritarian states banning non-government organizations.
Looking at the 13 which rank higher than Microsoft - how many would you describe as treating their users/customers well?
Theory:
Treating your customers well is part of one strategy for corporate growth and profit. There are other strategies, which also can work very well - and don't require all the hassles and expense and non-evil of treating your customers well. Naturally, Capitalist propaganda stresses that first strategy, and doesn't talk so much about the others.
> Critics also note that many staple crops such as wheat, rice, and corn remain difficult and economically impractical to grow vertically at scale. For now, vertical farming is best suited to leafy greens, herbs, microgreens, strawberries, medicinal plants, and specialty crops with high nutritional or economic value.
Among other massively downplayed disclaimers.
Or look at her top-of-article photo. If it took just the visible infrastructure (building, shelves, lights) to grow food for at-scale human consumption, could we afford to keep more than 1 or 2 percent of the earth's current population alive?
Nowadays it's not expected that a website loads paywalled content. This one is an exception, I managed to get the full text by entering reading mode and reloading (firefox)
Back in the late Vietnam (War) days, you might not score with the ladies by talking about your highly-paid job at a munitions company, or making Agent Orange.
And the leaders of those industries really weren't in the same league as many of today's top tech zillionaires, for public perception of being alpha sociopaths.
I'm thinking the Greeks chose liver because it is the first thing that many predators will eat from a kill - large, more nutrient-dense than almost any other tissue, and relatively quick to access.
> ... first spotted ‘some type of unit’ on satellite imagery ...
> According to the NYT, the “tractor-trailer-size” generators were “impossible to miss” and certainly were not there when inspectors last visited in December 2025.
Just how lax is NJ's regulation, for violations to be noticed from space, after a billion-dollar construction project received no inspections for 9 months?
The way it likely works is that SOP is to not visit or if you do don't "notice" stuff you can see from the air because if they use the GIS as their source they get to back date the fine to the date of the last GIS aerial photos and then use their magical powers of "we're the government, either sue us or bend over and take it" to let that fine stand unless they subject of the fine produces evidince of when they installed the offense which they then use to make the fine more defensible if the subject ever goes get in front of a real court.
That's how a lot of the worse municipalities roll in my state that is very politically similar.
Also, 9mo ago data centers weren't boogeymen the government wanted to flamboyantly turn the screws on make a "look we're serving your interests" show for the peasants.
Commercial photography costs money. Hard to reconcile how public goods are all in private hands, but new jersey ain't launching satellites, they're also not going to buy daily satellite images.
If NJ's inspectors can't be bothered to visit a site this large for 9 months, then would it do any good for the photography to be magically free?
If NJ's inspectors are honest, competent, and numerous enough to actually do the job, then would cheap drones be good enough to provide quick "big picture" views?
What a weird argument. If one doesn't trust private enterprise to "do right" then the state is nannying and oppressing companies, and if one does and therefore only inspects once a year or so then the state is neglecting their duties...
Public inspectors can't do right.
Maybe it is also fair to ask, did the developer/operator try to get away with something there? Do and hope for forgiveness instead of asking permission?
(and the "fine" is laughable, especially since retrospective permit is rather likely; in fact the fine might not even be higher than the cost of any project delay from requesting the generators at planning approval stage...)
No mention of how it could manage to break even, with a business model that has such a disastrous track record. Are Norway's regulatory barriers and retail prices for lettuce high enough to make it work?
It sure beats the model Taylor Farms is using where you get your lettuce with the feces of Mexican field laborers on it. Cyclospora is a hell of way to enjoy your lettuce. The lettuce in the USA is a game of chance, if you roll the dice, it is very possible you will get some that has been watered with run off with cow manure, humane feces, or some other biohazard.
I would pay a premium $5 USD for a clean head of lettuce.
Understandable. But Taylor's screw-ups are not intrinsic to "sunlit dirt" agriculture, any more than three-week-old tuna salad is intrinsic to sandwich shops.
Wielding power to benefit the ordinary people, long-term, is an age-old sign that those wielding the power have and/or aspire to some level of long-term legitimacy and popular support. Doesn't matter if you're looking at early Chinese dynasties, Old Testament kings, or modern authoritarian states banning non-government organizations.
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