QuoteThe utopia didn't last long. Early tech enthusiasts quickly realized how to monetize this collective consciousness by developing search engines, algorithms and collecting data.

"We see this in the ideology of early Facebook. The intention was very much like: 'Let me grab all of this data without permission and use it to build something that I can monetize'," says Mejias.

"We've moved from an age of connection to an age of extraction," Turner adds. "Digital media have become mining industries. We are now like oil or coal — embedded in a social ground that corporations extract from and sell back to us as products and advertising."

https://www.dw.com/en/the-internet-was-supposed-to-be-free-what-went-wrong/a-75213121

QuoteRichins, 35, was "intensely ambitious" but also "unhappy" in her marriage to Eric Richins – with whom she shared three young sons, prosecutor Brad Bloodworth told jurors.

Her home-flipping business was $4.5 million in debt, and she wanted to collect Eric's $4 million estate and run away with her handyman lover, Bloodworth added.

https://nypost.com/2026/03/16/us-news/kouri-richins-poisoned-husband-for-his-millions-because-shes-an-incompetent-businesswoman-prosecutors/

QuoteThe biggest unanswered question about Batiste, of course, is why he decided, seemingly without provocation, to carry out such a barbaric crime spree in the first place. Was it purely a matter of greed—or was there something else that drove him? Was it possible, for instance, that Batiste was seeking revenge against banks because they wouldn't loan him money due to his criminal record (or perhaps the color of his skin), thereby derailing his real estate ambitions? "You'll never understand the frustration that can build up in a young black man trying to make it in this society," Albert told me. "And yes, Red had that frustration, not getting loans."

Albert also made a point of telling me that Batiste had grown increasingly upset over the years at police officers who randomly pulled him over, patted him down, pushed him to the ground, and jammed their knees into his back—simply because he was a well-dressed black man driving a nice Jeep. "He said they treat black people worse than they treat a damn dog," Albert recalled.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/the-doting-father-who-robbed-armored-cars/