Thursday, August 31, 2023
Thank You, Sir
I said with tears streaming from my eyes.
Asked about his authority at the Trump Organization while he was in the White House, Mr. Trump responded that he considered the presidency “the most important job in the world, saving millions of lives.”
“I think you would have nuclear holocaust, if I didn’t deal with North Korea,” he explained, and then added: “And I think you might have a nuclear war now, if you want to know the truth.”
The Things I Do For You
Okay I read it.
Computer, please disambiguate the final hyperlinkification:
Computer, focus sensors slightly downwards and enhance:
I'd bet many bars of gold-pressed latinum that he had a research assistant find this for him.
Computer, please navigate to the Daily Kos sector and do a full scan:
McConnell
I take a different from some in that I don't actually think all elected officials need to give us constant updates about their medical health. An exception is the president, but even with the president I don't think we need the annual checkup results or similar. Any reason to think he's about to die or become incapacitated? No? OK, moving on.
What I find freaky with Mitch is that the instant response of everyone around him isn't to call for a doctor.
What I find freaky with Mitch is that the instant response of everyone around him isn't to call for a doctor.
Ozempic
No really deep thoughts, but it will be interesting if (and it is still "if") the long sought after safe, effective weight loss drug has been found.
Weight is so conflated with health and a bizarre concept of personal virtue that such a "cheat" is going to shatter the basic view that being skinny is a reward for making good choices (instead of the realitiy of it being, to a great degree, just genetics and other issues not affecting us equally).
Safe is still a question as is, of course, the ability to pay, but...
Weight is so conflated with health and a bizarre concept of personal virtue that such a "cheat" is going to shatter the basic view that being skinny is a reward for making good choices (instead of the realitiy of it being, to a great degree, just genetics and other issues not affecting us equally).
Safe is still a question as is, of course, the ability to pay, but...
Not Going To Read That
But imagine writing this piece in the year of our gritty 2023, when there are high profile successful terrorist-encouraging campaigns against minorities and LGBT+. THE LIBERALS ARE DISRESPECTING CONSERVATIVES, AGAIN!!!
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Scam Economy
I know someone who worked in diesel emissions research during the era of the great VW emissions scam. He explained how demoralizing it was and how it basically shut them down. They couldn't possibly achieve what VW was achieving!
Of course VW wasn't achieving it. All a scam.
Obviously scams have direct impacts - air quality in this case - but also broader ones. It quite likely hurt actual emissions research. If there were businesses that had genuine breakthroughs, they still couldn't compete with VW's fake methods.
Businesses that aren't forced to play by the rules drive out legitimate ones.
Not a particularly novel point, here, but worth making occasionally.
Of course VW wasn't achieving it. All a scam.
Obviously scams have direct impacts - air quality in this case - but also broader ones. It quite likely hurt actual emissions research. If there were businesses that had genuine breakthroughs, they still couldn't compete with VW's fake methods.
Businesses that aren't forced to play by the rules drive out legitimate ones.
Not a particularly novel point, here, but worth making occasionally.
"Taking A Side"
Calling people what they want to be called, especially in this context, is not caving into THE WOKE.
On a hot Tuesday in late June, staffers at Atlanta magazine gathered for a tense meeting with longtime publisher Sean McGinnis. On his agenda: pronouns.
“Are we, as a matter of fact, now writing stories based upon preferred pronouns?” McGinnis asked, citing to a recent profile of a labor organizer. “‘She’ is referred to as ‘they’ throughout the story.”
One editor responded that using pronouns corresponding with a subject’s identity is standard journalistic practice, “not a left or right thing.” The publisher disagreed, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by The Washington Post: “People will think that that is taking a stance.”
Christ what an asshole. And a dumb asshole.
Rudy!
Not his best day!
A federal judge has determined Rudy Giuliani forfeits the defamation lawsuit from two Georgia election workers against him, a decision that could lead to significant penalties for the former Donald Trump attorney.
Giuliani lost the case because he struggled to maintain access to his electronic records, partly because of the cost, and couldn’t adequately respond to subpoenas from attorneys for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss as the case moved forward.
Why Do You Keep Talking About That You Weirdo
If I did some political polling showing "73% of the American people like Star Wars movies," I still wouldn't tell my candidate to get in front of the cameras every day and talk about trivia from Rogue One.
Polls consistently show that Americans are actually quite to the left of our newspaper and magazine editors and centrist substackers and British imported weirdos on certain issues, such as the rights of trans people. But even if they didn't, even if the median voter (popularism!) didn't like trans people very much, it doesn't mean there's any political advantage to be obtained by attacking trans people. It sounds kinda weird!
Just because voters like/don't like something doesn't mean it's politically important. In fact, politicians centering these issues come across like the fucking weirdos that they are.
Political reporters and the commentariat assume whatever bullshit Republicans are talking about MUST have resonance with Real Americans. Yah man, I like Star Wars too, but can we talk about something else?
Polls consistently show that Americans are actually quite to the left of our newspaper and magazine editors and centrist substackers and British imported weirdos on certain issues, such as the rights of trans people. But even if they didn't, even if the median voter (popularism!) didn't like trans people very much, it doesn't mean there's any political advantage to be obtained by attacking trans people. It sounds kinda weird!
Just because voters like/don't like something doesn't mean it's politically important. In fact, politicians centering these issues come across like the fucking weirdos that they are.
Political reporters and the commentariat assume whatever bullshit Republicans are talking about MUST have resonance with Real Americans. Yah man, I like Star Wars too, but can we talk about something else?
Looters
Whenever there's a hurricane I think about how depending on the perceived race of the people affected, the media goes on a 3 day bender about the threat of "looters."
People taking some supplies to survive from the abandoned Circle K are not "looters." Well, they aren't if they are the right sort of people, anyway.
People taking some supplies to survive from the abandoned Circle K are not "looters." Well, they aren't if they are the right sort of people, anyway.
Unique Legal Theories
Turley's going to Turley, but we're going to get a million of these arguments about how special justice applies to Trump.
Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Covid Denialism
Timelines get a bit jumbled in my head sometimes, but thinking through I realized if the Covid vaccine had appeared 3 months earlier, Trump could've taken credit for it (he still could, just too late!) and probably coasted to re-election.
Would've wiped much of the covid denialism (and certainly the vaccine resistance) away. Instead we're still stuck with it.
Would've wiped much of the covid denialism (and certainly the vaccine resistance) away. Instead we're still stuck with it.
User Fees
Longtime readers know I spent years railing against Vehicle Miles Taxes because they were a solution in search of a problem that didn't yet exist. Actually they were a proposed solution for two problems: one was that people hate the gas tax, and two the eventual rise of EVs. The first was most ridiculous as the idea that because people hate the gas tax, we should levy an even more enraging tax instead, has some obvious flaws. And the second was that EVs did not exist at scale, would not exist at scale for many years, and still don't exist at scale.
Also, "fortunately," due to the rise of big vehicles, fuel economy improvements have basically stalled, so people are still buying plenty of gas.
Still the general problem is actually looming now, finally, even though VMTs as envisioned are likely not the best approach.
Also, "fortunately," due to the rise of big vehicles, fuel economy improvements have basically stalled, so people are still buying plenty of gas.
Still the general problem is actually looming now, finally, even though VMTs as envisioned are likely not the best approach.
This seems like a recipe for disaster. Virtually stalking drivers on every single vehicle—how exactly are you going to get the device implanted on the hundreds of millions of vehicles already in use?—and extracting pennies per mile is probably the quickest way to inspire a revolt in this country, to say nothing of what would happen if that data were being sold or used for some other purpose. If you’re doing it instead during an annual inspection (which would have to be added in some states), you’re giving people one big charge per year instead of the micropayments they made at the pump. And if you just require people to list their odometer reading during annual re-registration, it would rely on people properly listing their mileage, which would be an enforcement nightmare.Raise gas taxes while you can is probably the best approach, but, well...
...
The truth is that there are a number of unsatisfying options for essentially recreating the gas tax in an EV world. That’s especially true at a time when the climate crisis requires more EV adoption, not more taxes to blunt it. The option nobody wants to actually hear is to raise taxes generally and use them to fund infrastructure. We essentially did this in a roundabout way in the federal infrastructure bill, which didn’t rely solely on user fees but a panoply of (mostly gimmicky) taxes to create a new pot of money for infrastructure.
Remember The Metaverse
Remember what McKinsey had to say about it?
By 2030, the metaverse might see consumer spending reach $5 trillion, according to a new report from McKinsey & Company.That was just over two years ago.
It Was Right There In The Name
Corrupt "throw money at businesses" deals get covered by journalists (sometimes), but they're the type of thing that doesn't get incorporated into The Narrative by political journalists.
As another example, how many people know about the disaster that was Cuomo throwing money at Musk in New York? It was covered, of course, but it never came up during the Cuomosexual era. Cuomo's gone now, of course, but this was the case when it was relevant.
As dday wrote, Foxconn in part wasn't that notable because it was just a more absurd version of the standard economic "deal."
As another example, how many people know about the disaster that was Cuomo throwing money at Musk in New York? It was covered, of course, but it never came up during the Cuomosexual era. Cuomo's gone now, of course, but this was the case when it was relevant.
As dday wrote, Foxconn in part wasn't that notable because it was just a more absurd version of the standard economic "deal."
Monday, August 28, 2023
Urban Doom Loop
Perhaps a good idea to shift focus to quality of life for residents instead of 40 years of trying to attracting bizness and suburban visitors.
All across the country, downtowns, office spaces and shopping centers are at risk of becoming ground zero for a new economic hazard: the urban doom loop.Philly's biggest quirk (for US cities) that I don't think people aware of is that the "downtown" - the central business district - or "core center city" has a population of 70,000. Doesn't make the city immune from a commercial real estate downturn, but one won't turn it into a dead zone either.
Trial Date
Soon!
WASHINGTON — The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s election interference case in federal court set a trial date for March 4, 2024, a schedule that could have a crucial impact on the 2024 race for the White House.
People Are Being MEAN To Poor Shy Carol
The general hostility to any unions that are not the New York Times Guild, WHICH IS NOT A UNION SO STOP SAYING THAT SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP, is not discussed enough.
Trapped In The Closet Of Your Own Construction
Probably difficult to explain to The Kids today - though maybe not soon! - about how the closet functioned for gay people with or without power. Back in the day you could explain a guy like Matt Schlapp, if not sympathize, but then liberals made a better world for him and he said NO.
A senior board member of the parent organization behind the prominent Conservative Political Action Conference who resigned on Friday urged an independent investigation into additional allegations of sexual misconduct against Chairman Matt Schlapp.
The vice chairman of the board of the American Conservative Union, Charlie Gerow, announced his resignation on Friday in a letter to other directors that called on them to authorize an investigation including any additional allegations that they or staff have become aware of, according to multiple people familiar with the letter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Surely He Wouldn't Screw Me
It is genuinely mysterious that the people who know Donald best couldn't predict that he'd screw them over, that he generally screws over the people closest to him.
I know this is not an uncommon pattern, but most abusers like Trump don't have such a LONG VERY PUBLIC PROFILE.
I know this is not an uncommon pattern, but most abusers like Trump don't have such a LONG VERY PUBLIC PROFILE.
Sunday, August 27, 2023
The Left Made Them Do It
The view of dipshit centrists and rightwing lunatics (because they basically agree on most things).
Vivek Ramaswamy blames the media and universities for racism in response to the racist Jacksonville shooting, "We have a culture in this country largely created by media and an establishment and universities and politicians that throw kerosene on that racism." pic.twitter.com/JGx7vTZXjz
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) August 27, 2023
Wise Distinguished Elder Statesman, Newt Gingrich
I won't argue there's a bit of something extra with Trump and the MAGAs, even aside from Jan. 6, but I just really need to pushback at the widespread idea that the Republican party was filled with wise old men with wrong but serious ideas about governance until 2016. Before it was Trump's party, it was Newt's. And then it was Karl Rove's.
And if you say Bob Dole, well, Roger Stone was a Dole man. Stop it!!!
And if you say Bob Dole, well, Roger Stone was a Dole man. Stop it!!!
Saturday, August 26, 2023
The Unsolvable Problem
The unsolvable problem is building a nice walkable city in which a very high proportion of driving age adults have a car. They just aren't compatible. You have to create a place where nobody really "needs" them and not everybody wants them.
Sure even your favorite walkable cities have too many cars (most of them), but the number of locals who own them is quite small (Manhattan: 22% of households, Paris (all) 1/3, etc...).
Happy to be wrong, but I'd bet the brain geniuses in the linked article below believe they can solve this problem.
For some of their couch quarters and some junkets I will explain this to them as we tour the world with examples.
Sure even your favorite walkable cities have too many cars (most of them), but the number of locals who own them is quite small (Manhattan: 22% of households, Paris (all) 1/3, etc...).
Happy to be wrong, but I'd bet the brain geniuses in the linked article below believe they can solve this problem.
For some of their couch quarters and some junkets I will explain this to them as we tour the world with examples.
The Most Nightmarish HOA Ever Created
Developers essentially building cities from scratch has a history, even a fairly recent one, but I suspect my guys will set out to build the West Village and, inevitably, build Irvine.
In 2017, Michael Moritz, the billionaire venture capitalist, sent a note to a potential investor about what he described as an unusual opportunity: a chance to invest in the creation of a new California city.
The site was in a corner of the San Francisco Bay Area where land was cheap. Mr. Moritz and others had dreams of transforming tens of thousands of acres into a bustling metropolis that, according to the pitch, could generate thousands of jobs and be as walkable as Paris or the West Village in New York.
Friday, August 25, 2023
Greatest. President. Ever.
Sean Hannity says the Department of Justice will target Republicans “until there's nothing left of the party”
Pollution Sources
Often they aren't quite where people expect, in part because there's a constant push to make it an issue of individual responsibility rather than collective solutions.
That is one of many new findings, released Wednesday, from the most comprehensive study to date on microplastics in California. Rainfall washes more than 7 trillion pieces of microplastics, much of it tire particles left behind on streets, into San Francisco Bay each year — an amount 300 times greater than what comes from microfibers washing off polyester clothes, microbeads from beauty products and the many other plastics washing down our sinks and sewers.I mean, yes, sure, you can choose not to drive a car, but that's more difficult than buying natural fibers, or whatever. The world will not be saved by individual virtue.
Elite Immunity
One thing the Atlanta indictments make clear is the normal ethos of elite immunity means the whole top layer of society is unaccountable. If you can't prosecute the guy at the top, for reasons, you can't prosecute the next layer below, or the next layer, or the next layer...
Okay there are some schmucks near the bottom you can go after, but there isn't really much point in going after those guys unless they're going to give up the goods on the guys up top.
The other thing it makes clear is that it isn't so hard if you try!
Okay there are some schmucks near the bottom you can go after, but there isn't really much point in going after those guys unless they're going to give up the goods on the guys up top.
The other thing it makes clear is that it isn't so hard if you try!
We Must Think Of The Children
Spending your formative years under W. and THE WAR ON TERRA must have been a bit weird, but the Age of Trump must be something else.
I don't have any deep insight, but while growing up a lot of ideas of "normality" get imprinted on you in ways which are hard to decipher, and that fucking weirdo is the president, and that fucking weirdo keeps getting arrested... an interesting normal!
Our political discourse has always had a BBC Royal Correspondent aspect to it, attempting to elevate aspects of the presidency to an idealized monarchy. And, sure, they just went on doing that with Trump but... pretty weird!
I don't have any deep insight, but while growing up a lot of ideas of "normality" get imprinted on you in ways which are hard to decipher, and that fucking weirdo is the president, and that fucking weirdo keeps getting arrested... an interesting normal!
Our political discourse has always had a BBC Royal Correspondent aspect to it, attempting to elevate aspects of the presidency to an idealized monarchy. And, sure, they just went on doing that with Trump but... pretty weird!
Even the BBC RCS kept Philip mostly hidden because he had some hard to brush over flaws.
Thursday, August 24, 2023
Chris Christie Fan Club
I don't care that much about Chris Christie, personally, he's just an obvious example of the clique of political reporters putting their thumb on the scale. The man left office with 15% approval - with good reason! - spent the next few years in media green rooms, became a Trump sycophant until Trump almost killed him, and is now repackaged as some sort of anti-Trump Republican Daddy Savior.
It Is, Actually, An HR Issue
Back when the NYT published the "send in the military to kill black people" opinion piece by Tom Cotton, one divide In The Building - and among journalists everywhere - was between those who didn't think it was a valid stance to ask, "how can I (especially as an African-American person) work in this institutionally racist place?" and those who did.
Does nobody in charge there get embarrassed at all? Just appalling people.
(Mehdi also points out that Haley is of Sikh descent, which makes the obvious racist thing extra racist). And yes we all know "HR" isn't there to protect employees, it's their to protect the company, but there are still legitimate "HR Issues" within that.As a brown-skinned American, I’d like for @nytopinion to apologize, or at the very minimum explain, why they chose to publish this person on their pages today? This is what she was tweeting tonight: pic.twitter.com/gtJlj5f7EE
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 24, 2023
Does nobody in charge there get embarrassed at all? Just appalling people.
Maybe They're Just Bad People
As a longtime member of our glorious political press, Bruni should understand those impulses.
Is The Promise In The Room With You Now
She doesn't specify, but when exactly did Christie show great promise and then fall due to flying to close to the sun?
He was a corrupt thug of a governor who left office with 15% approval. I mean, that's really hard to do! Really really hard!Christie really is a tragedy. He had so much promise and he squandered it all through hubris and cowardice.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) August 24, 2023
This Isn't Your Father's Republican Party
I didn't watch the debate, though of course I've seen a bunch of snippets, but I do see once again people are pretending this collection of weirdos is a somehow worse collection of weirdos than previous Republican primary seasons.
And, you know, in 2011 the first major debate included: Romney, Bachman, Santorum, Ron Paul, Gingrich, Herman Cain, and Tim Pawlenty.
And, you know, in 2011 the first major debate included: Romney, Bachman, Santorum, Ron Paul, Gingrich, Herman Cain, and Tim Pawlenty.
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Booked
Gotta admit I was pretty skeptical that anyone important - let alone Trump - would get this deep into the justice system.
Rudy 9/11 on $150,000 bond.
Seems Bad
The corruption of the Secret Service has been rather obvious, despite/because of destroyed evidence and incurious investigators.
Internal Secret Service emails obtained by CREW show special agents in close communication with Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, while failing to acknowledge the group’s ties to white nationalists and clashes with law enforcement.
In September 2020, a Secret Service agent sent an email to others within the agency, informing them that he had just spoken to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes about an upcoming visit by then-President Trump to Fayetteville, NC. The agent, who referred to himself as “the unofficial liaison to the Oath Keepers (inching towards official),” described the group as “primarily retired law enforcement/former military members who are very pro-LEO [law enforcement officer] and Pro Trump. Their stated purpose is to provide protection and medical attention to Trump supporters if they come under attack by leftist groups.” He went on to say that Rhodes, “had specific questions and wanted to liaison [sic] with our personnel” and shared Rhodes’s cell phone number.
Your Liberal Media
Ann Coulter was a constant presence on TV for years. All major outlets would review her books and promote her. This despite repeated racism and, among other things, wishing for a terrorist to blow up the New York Times building (also heavily implying the actual violent act by the terrorist - McVeigh - was just fine as well).
Over twenty years of this shit and too many people keep being surprised by it.
Over twenty years of this shit and too many people keep being surprised by it.
As Your New Lawyer, I Have Some Advice For You
Fun stuff.
A Trump employee who monitored security cameras at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate abruptly retracted his earlier grand jury testimony and implicated Trump and others in obstruction of justice just after switching from an attorney paid for by a Trump political action committee to a lawyer from the federal defender’s office in Washington, prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday.
The aide — described as “Trump Employee 4” in public court filings but identified elsewhere as Yuscil Taveras — held the title of director of information technology at Mar-a-Lago. He initially testified to a grand jury in Washington, D.C., that he was unaware of any effort to erase the videos, but after getting the new attorney “immediately … retracted his prior false testimony” and detailed the alleged effort to tamper with evidence related to the investigation of the handling of classified information stored at Trump’s Florida home, the new submission said.
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Feudal Lords
I guess this is what it's about.
The founder and sponsor of a far-right network of secretive, men-only, invitation-only fraternal lodges in the US is a former industrialist who has frequently speculated about his future as a warlord after the collapse of America, a Guardian investigation has found.Everybody like this just wants sex slaves, probably child slaves.
Federal and state tax and company filings show that the Society for American Civic Renewal (SACR) and its creator, Charles Haywood, also have financial ties with the far-right Claremont Institute.
Narf!
There is just something bizarre about a 60ish dude with a cushy life deciding to become some sort of Bond villain henchman in service of Donald fucking Trump.
ATLANTA (AP) — John Eastman, the conservative attorney who pushed a plan to keep Donald Trump in power, turned himself in to authorities Tuesday on charges in the Georgia case alleging an illegal plot to overturn the former president’s 2020 election loss.
Fly Away, Asshole
Trump did a post wherever he posts stuff flirting with the notion of flying to Russia and, my guy, do it!
Lightbulb Goes On
Whenever I first heard about the "white savior" trope (a long time ago) it was very eye opening. Rather simple obvious concept that makes the centering of white people in stories which aren't really about white people, or at least where the stories would be better told with non-white protagonists, easy to see constantly.
Like the Bechdel Test, which shouldn't be called a "test" because the point isn't that a film should pass it, it's just a way of highlighting something. It's ok to have dude movies about dudes, to have movies that "fail" the test. The point is it shows how many movies, ones that aren't dude movies, still center the dudes.
I've long called him White Savior Nick and well....
Like the Bechdel Test, which shouldn't be called a "test" because the point isn't that a film should pass it, it's just a way of highlighting something. It's ok to have dude movies about dudes, to have movies that "fail" the test. The point is it shows how many movies, ones that aren't dude movies, still center the dudes.
I've long called him White Savior Nick and well....
White Saviors
The greatest of us.
A perfect tweet, no notes pic.twitter.com/tbYu5QXmQS
— Adia Benton (@Ethnography911) August 22, 2023
Monday, August 21, 2023
Why Are Reporters Allowed To Attend Church?
This isn't a knock on Perry, who is great and wears a columnist hat now, but we do have reporters who are famous for ridiculously declaring they have no opinions on anything and implying that is the ideal, and, well, no church for you, then?
To be clear I am of course not serious. My point is the Church of Objectvity is ridiculous.
To be clear I am of course not serious. My point is the Church of Objectvity is ridiculous.
I Am Scared To Name Him
There is precisely one reporter working for the Bigs who covers domestic policy with a left-wing perspective and I don't want to get him fired.
Skynet
I know I'm a bit of Luddite, but did the release of Large Language Models, ridiculously dubbed "AI", change the world?
Other then than making Google worse than it was.
Other then than making Google worse than it was.
How Could We Have Known
Readers of this very fine blog have known for years that Elon is a corrupt idiot, but for the newbies.
Maybe He Will Die Soon
A "funny" thing about the political coverage is this is of course what all of Trump's opponents are thinking, but it cannot be mentioned in the Savvy coverage.
Trump's continued existence is a lesson about how while personal lifestyle decisions (diet, exercise) might be important, they definitely don't determine everything!
Trump's continued existence is a lesson about how while personal lifestyle decisions (diet, exercise) might be important, they definitely don't determine everything!
Sunday, August 20, 2023
Rudy!
I pretend a bit that the fate of Rudy greatly interests me for affectation, but I actually don't care about Rudy himself. He's a piece of shit that deserves some punishment, of course, but I see his comeuppance more an indictment of the journalists who spent years being his free PR agents.
Still, for the better part of a year, as Mr. Giuliani has racked up the bills battling an array of criminal investigations, private lawsuits and legal disciplinary proceedings stemming from his bid to keep Mr. Trump in office after the 2020 election, his team has repeatedly sought a lifeline from the former president, according to several people close to him. And even as the bills have pushed Mr. Giuliani close to a financial breaking point, the former president has largely demurred, the people said, despite making a vague promise during their dinner at Mar-a-Lago to pay up.Anyone wanna guess the name of a journalist on the Rudy beat at the New York Post during key times?
Their Donald Problem
There were a couple of moments when Republicans could have jettisoned him and they just... didn't. Curious if they regret that.
Saturday, August 19, 2023
BREAKIN' THE LAW
I wouldn't have believed it a year ago, but there is a nontrivial chance Donald ends up in prison and that's hilarious.
Probably not, but possible!
Probably not, but possible!
Friday, August 18, 2023
America's Mayor
Political journalists love foisting the worst people in America on us. Bouie:
What does any of this have to do with the Rudy Giuliani of 2023? Well, if we think of Giuliani as the personification of American resilience in the face of terrorism, then his turn against democracy and the rule of law is bewildering and inexplicable. But if we think of Giuliani as the scowling demagogue who stoked the flames of chauvinism and racial hatred against New York’s first Black mayor for his own gain, then there’s little other than his carefully crafted image in the press that separates the Giuliani of ’92 from the Giuliani of ’23.
And that’s the point. Even at the moment of his greatest political triumph, Giuliani was a fraught and divisive figure. It was the press that labeled him “America’s mayor.” That the epithet continued to stick through the subsequent decade, in the face of scandal and political failure, is only a testament to the persistence of myth in American political coverage, because it is only after internalizing the myth of Giuliani that anyone could be shocked by his steadfast allegiance to Trump.
Freeze Peach
We really don't mock this New York Times editorial enough.
Imagine thinking anything these pickle-brained people say is worth listening to after that.
How My Apes Doing
Not so good!
Were they the marks, or were you?
The Sotheby's auction house has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by investors who regret buying Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs that sold for highly inflated prices during the NFT craze in 2021. A Sotheby's auction duped investors by giving the Bored Ape NFTs "an air of legitimacy... to generate investors' interest and hype around the Bored Ape brand," the class-action lawsuit claims.Two years of The Discourse in politics in the US is largely due to SBF spreading money and attention around to your favorite centrist dipshists.
The boost to Bored Ape NFT prices provided by the auction "was rooted in deception," said the lawsuit filed in US District Court for the Central District of California. It wasn't revealed at the time of the auction that the buyer was the now-disgraced FTX, the lawsuit said.
Were they the marks, or were you?
Thursday, August 17, 2023
Pig People
Amazing scenes.
Asked to give an update on Michael Oher, Blind Side author Michael Lewis says, "He's on the Dean's list at Ole Miss... which tells you a lot about the Dean's list at Ole Miss," to laughter from his primarily white audience. God what an absolutely awful thing to say. https://t.co/LwDz1PHQg2
— Corinne Low (@femonomics) August 17, 2023
Covid
Seems like everyone I know (the guys on the internet) has Covid. I know it's mostly not killing people at the moment, but Long Covid is the thing we haven't come to terms with.
One of the "guys on the internet" (okay someone I have met, too) does have Long Covid. Went from being a 7 minute mile 10k runner to an 11 minute mile 10k runner, and only that after immense training and significant medical treatment.
Official policy is "just pretend it isn't there" and maybe that's right, but...
One of the "guys on the internet" (okay someone I have met, too) does have Long Covid. Went from being a 7 minute mile 10k runner to an 11 minute mile 10k runner, and only that after immense training and significant medical treatment.
Official policy is "just pretend it isn't there" and maybe that's right, but...
Donald This Is Your Other Lawyer I Urge You To Do The Press Conference
Ah well.
Former President Donald Trump's promised press conference to refute the allegations in the indictment handed up by the Fulton County District Attorney's Office is now very much in doubt, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Sources tell ABC News that Trump's legal advisers have told him that holding such a press conference with dubious claims of voter fraud will only complicate his legal problems and some of his attorneys have advised him to cancel it.
There Is An Easy Solution
Schoool bus driver is a job with major responsibility and potential for things to go very very wrong. Why would anyone do that if wages are barely competitive with entry level retail or similar?
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
DUI
I'm somewhat off-character sympathetic to people busted for DUI, but really you only get one freebie.
Today Is The Day Donald Trump Became President
Probably a funny book could be written about all of those declarations.
Did Donald Ever Slide Into Your DMs
If so, The Man has them.
In one of the transcripts, a lawyer for Twitter, answering questions from Judge Howell, confirmed that the company had turned over to the special counsel’s office “all direct messages, the DMs” from Mr. Trump’s Twitter account, including those sent, received and “stored in draft form.”
The lawyer for Twitter told Judge Howell that the company had found both “deleted” and “nondeleted” direct messages associated with Mr. Trump’s account.
But Muh First Amendment
Can't believe people are making - and other people are pretending to take serious - the argument that there's some longstanding FIRST AMENDMENT PRINCIPLE that prevents any bail conditions. We're pretending bail, as practiced, isn't purely at the whim of judges when "normal" people are involved.
Ken Starr - America's Most Moral Man
I do wonder if the journalists who pushed that line and wrote a book with that as its central theme knew what they were doing or if they were just conned?
I ask not because I care about Ken Starr but because throughout my life there has been a parade of the absolutely worst people - people who were obviously corrupt shitheads - being turned into saints and heroes by the political press.
They've been trying to rehabilitate Chris Christie for years!
I ask not because I care about Ken Starr but because throughout my life there has been a parade of the absolutely worst people - people who were obviously corrupt shitheads - being turned into saints and heroes by the political press.
They've been trying to rehabilitate Chris Christie for years!
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Choose Your Fighters
It's sort of funny that both the Dersh and the actor who helped made him famous - Ron Silver - were long slotted as "liberals" even tho they are/were (Silver's dead) obviously not that!
I remember Silver was put in the "liberal" chair on Crossfire once and he was very uncomfortable. Same thing happened to Jake Tapper.
A different era, but the most liberal you could be on TV at that time was Paul Begala.
I remember Silver was put in the "liberal" chair on Crossfire once and he was very uncomfortable. Same thing happened to Jake Tapper.
A different era, but the most liberal you could be on TV at that time was Paul Begala.
Afternoon Discussion Topic
Watergate is the moment of greatest pride, and greatest shame, of our political journalism class.
The Old New Republic
The Old New Republic - Marty and his disciplies - were an incredibly destructive force and all those dipshits are still with us.
Imagine being 84 and realizing this is your life's legacy. (From Martin Peretz's memoirs) pic.twitter.com/mYmkGn9T48
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) August 14, 2023
Comic Book Villains
One thing that regularly annoys me in movies about some Big Bad trying to TAKE OVER THE WORLD or TAKE OVER THE GALAXY or whatever is... why? Like what does it even mean to "rule the world" and why do you want to do that? I sorta get wanting to be a feudal Lord over a modest metropolis, but TAKING OVER THE UNIVERSE? Like, to what end?
And then there's that John Eastman guy from Claremont, just being like, yes, well, lets overthrow democracy and get the military to shoot anyone who disagrees, because why not?
Just comic book villain shit.
And then there's that John Eastman guy from Claremont, just being like, yes, well, lets overthrow democracy and get the military to shoot anyone who disagrees, because why not?
Just comic book villain shit.
Pardons
I was wondering why "the Georgia governor is just going to issue pardons" wasn't being said.
Question answered!
Oh No Not America's Mayor
Mag Habs is still on the "oh is it a CRIME to lie???" beat
Trump's cases do no not turn on whether lying is illegal, no matter how much the two of you run with that!
Monday, August 14, 2023
Oopsydoodle
story: Georgia court website briefly publishes, removes document about potential Trump charges https://t.co/3WUyR3SXzw
— jack queen (@jackqueen_) August 14, 2023
Just An Abstract Debate
Decades of reporting and punditry entirely left out the obviously true fact that abortion ban "exceptions" are not workable in practice, especially but not just when implemented and enforced by people who don't believe in them.
Mississippi’s abortion ban contains narrow exceptions, including for rape victims and to save the life of the mother. As Ashley's case shows, these exceptions are largely theoretical. Even if a victim files a police report, there appears to be no clear process for granting an exception. (The state Attorney General’s office did not return TIME’s repeated requests to clarify the process for granting exceptions; the Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure and the Mississippi State Medical Association did not reply to TIME’s requests for explanation.) And, of course, there are no abortion providers left in the state. In January, the New York Times reported that since Mississippi's abortion law went into effect, only two exceptions had been made. Even if the process for obtaining one were clear, it wouldn’t have helped Ashley. Regina didn’t know that Mississippi’s abortion ban had an exception for rape.Just bullshit to be typed up by gullible dipshits eager to find "moderation" in extremism.
Why Did We Invade Iraq, Daddy?
I used to point out that there wasn't a single reason. Dick Cheney's reason was not Tom Friedman's reason, something Tom understood without managing to take the next leap to understand that Dick's reasons were incompatible with his.
But for most our country's prominent dipshit centrists, the reason was, basically, to prove they weren't stupid pussies like those dirty hippies.
Can sell them on anything by telling them The Left opposes it.
Contrarianism
It never occcurred to me before just how much the appeal of "Effective Altruism" was due to it tickling the egos of the biggest dipshits in the country. Every other dogooder is a dumb shit who is doing it wrong, but WE are clever boys indeed!
Then when it merged with "longtermism" it no longer required any actual dogooding, just tuttutting the fools who weren't fearing the activation of Skynet.
Easiest Marks In The World
I do marvel at how transparent SBF was at buying positive PR. Showed how easy it is if your are rich. Shower money and attention on media outlets and figures. Share a stage with Tony Blair and Bill Clinton.
So easy to exploit their twin beliefs that rich people must be smart and good and that they, journalists, are too smart to be conned when "being conned" is a significant portion of their job.
"I am an altruist, but unlike those stupid hippies you hate, an EFFECTIVE one."
Type that shit up and hit submit.
Amazing.
Sunday, August 13, 2023
Amazing Scenes
Not that it is a surprise but the cars relying on reliable cell service an area with dense activity is a bit of a problem!
Hi @friscolive415 - A large festival posed wireless bandwidth constraints causing delayed connectivity to our vehicles. We are actively investigating and working on solutions to prevent this from happening again. We apologize to those who were impacted.
— cruise (@Cruise) August 12, 2023
8 Can't Wait
I get enraged about the "defund the police" thing because until centrist dipshrs spent months saying how the slogan doomed Democrats forever, the poll numbers in support of protests and police reform weren amazing. It was a moment and they strangled it, blaming the activists for the failure they wanted to happen.
Never take advice on either politics or policy from people who care nothing about the issue they are claiming to care about. I mean, do you think Jon Chait cares about whether cops murder black people with impunity? Do you think Matt Yglesias cares about anything that happens to people outside of his Monkeysphere of 8?
Thin Blue Line
We all "know" that "defund the police" was the worst thing to happen to Democratic politics ever, according to high 6 figure Morning Joe green room residents, but all the people who pretended to take police abuses seriously "BUT..." haven't spent much time grappling with what they have let fester.
Saturday, August 12, 2023
Now That's Some Effective Altruism!
Sam Bankman-Fried is now at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, Bureau of Prisons records show.
— Luc Cohen (@cohenluc) August 12, 2023
In remanding Bankman-Fried yesterday, Judge Lewis Kaplan acknowledged the jail “is not on anybody’s list of five star facilities.” pic.twitter.com/8vXjerbtUe
Awful Quiet Out There
Not surprising, but SBF had some media buddies who haven't been saying too much about him lately. Vox was a hive of scum, villainy, and Effective Altruism.
I mean just read this hilarious shit. "Profound philosophical errors enabled the FTX collapse." No. You all got conned (or were in on the con) by a con man!!!
I mean just read this hilarious shit. "Profound philosophical errors enabled the FTX collapse." No. You all got conned (or were in on the con) by a con man!!!
Friday, August 11, 2023
Lock Him Up!
The judge might do it!!! (this is SBF)
...he did it!Judge Kaplan: In view of the evidence, my conclusion is that there is probable cause to believe that the defendant has attempted to tamper with witnesses at least twice under Section 1512(b)
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) August 11, 2023
#Breaking: On Bankman-Fried Judge Kaplan just said "All things considered I am going to revoke bail." Thread below. https://t.co/YF01ftwGhX
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) August 11, 2023
Always Eugenics
Jeet doesn't mention it here, but Effective Altruism was also a way rich tech assholes were trying to smuggle genocidal racism into the mainstream.
I don't think it started out that way, necessarily. Maybe it was a genuine "mosquito nets and kidney donations" kind of thing. But that's where it went once it merged with Longtermism which was, basically, 1000 of us uber-nerds and our sex slaves need to survive for millions of years but fuck the rest of you.
I don't think it started out that way, necessarily. Maybe it was a genuine "mosquito nets and kidney donations" kind of thing. But that's where it went once it merged with Longtermism which was, basically, 1000 of us uber-nerds and our sex slaves need to survive for millions of years but fuck the rest of you.
Long Covid
The GET BACK TO NORMAL, YOU MASK WEARING WEIRDOS crowd got very loud about 3 weeks after the first vaccines went into arms.
“We’re about to exit this pandemic as even a sicker nation” because of virus-related heart trouble, said Washington University’s Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, who helped sound the alarm about lingering health problems. The consequences, he added, “will likely reverberate for generations.”
Heart disease has long been the top killer in the nation and the world. But in the U.S., heart-related death rates had fallen to record lows in 2019, just before the pandemic struck.
COVID-19 erased a decade of that progress, Cheng said.
Is Organizing A Coup Bad
It isn't really a tricky question that requires the BothSides treatment. All the legal and constitutional - and the even dumber political - arguments are distractions from the fairly simple and indisputable reality of what TrumpCo planned.
IS INDICTING TRUMP GOOD FOR TRUMP? Well, shit, Michelle, I don't know, but perhaps you're coming at this from the wrong direction?
But Everyone Would Fail
Obviously the point of this idea which will go nowhere is to exclude young people from voting, but a general "civics test" for voting would exclude much of the population if it was much harder than "Who is currently the president?"
I'm not saying 'yuk yuk Americans are dumb.' At a first pass it would exclude a lot of the population for the simple reason that any additional bureaucratic hurdle would. But on top of that, any non-ridiculously easy would fail lots of people. It is remarkably easy to blank on a basic knowledge test.
Costs to implement a federal test onto our glorious 50 states would be huge, also, too.
Anyway, this type of thing is too dumb to even argue with so I don't know why I'm bothering.
I'm not saying 'yuk yuk Americans are dumb.' At a first pass it would exclude a lot of the population for the simple reason that any additional bureaucratic hurdle would. But on top of that, any non-ridiculously easy would fail lots of people. It is remarkably easy to blank on a basic knowledge test.
Costs to implement a federal test onto our glorious 50 states would be huge, also, too.
Anyway, this type of thing is too dumb to even argue with so I don't know why I'm bothering.
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Stepping Out
I interpret this kind of thing to just mean the health benefits of being "not sedentary" relative to "sedentary" are pretty large. There is no magic number of steps nor is it the case that walking has magic benefits relative to other forms of exercise, it's just that it's a decent measure of "doing something" regularly versus "not."
The important issue for the US, especially, is that if you live in a car-based suburb - a place where your daily needs have to be met by driving, and so all walking is a separate deliberate choice - getting those "steps" is difficult.
On days I don't do anything in particular except leave the house to go to the supermarket and maybe grab a coffee, I probably clock 4500 steps. That's time I would spend in a car if I lived elsewhere.
The important issue for the US, especially, is that if you live in a car-based suburb - a place where your daily needs have to be met by driving, and so all walking is a separate deliberate choice - getting those "steps" is difficult.
On days I don't do anything in particular except leave the house to go to the supermarket and maybe grab a coffee, I probably clock 4500 steps. That's time I would spend in a car if I lived elsewhere.
Enraged By The Kids Today
There's one aspect of social media in particular which I think has some very unhealthy impacts. It's probably bad that old people have so much unfettered access to the thoughts of younger people. I think I'm relatively immune to it, but even I occasionally go on a mental minirant about whatever dumb shit the "young people" (you know, people under 40) are on about today.
And I'm definitely not one who has spent a lifetime thinking I am entitled to be thought of as "cool" and "with it, Daddy-o." Those people are having their brains boiled constantly by being confronted with their increasing irrelevance and lack of immortality.
And I'm definitely not one who has spent a lifetime thinking I am entitled to be thought of as "cool" and "with it, Daddy-o." Those people are having their brains boiled constantly by being confronted with their increasing irrelevance and lack of immortality.
They Know Even Less Than What They Say
I don't even want to bother with the specific example because it's on a fairly niche subject none of you care about, but I read a piece today in a major newspaper on a subject I know a bit about by someone whose sources of information on the subject quite literally included an "old friend" who had no more expertise than the writer.
Know nothing punditry from people whose job it is to crank out two columns per week and who can't even be bothered to do as much research as skimming the Wikipedia page is enraging.
Sure opinions are like assholes, and we (as I do) can express them even if they aren't fully informed, but it's maddening when it's paired with the traditional hectoring Word from above tone beloved of certain pundits.
Know nothing punditry from people whose job it is to crank out two columns per week and who can't even be bothered to do as much research as skimming the Wikipedia page is enraging.
Sure opinions are like assholes, and we (as I do) can express them even if they aren't fully informed, but it's maddening when it's paired with the traditional hectoring Word from above tone beloved of certain pundits.
Long Covid
Was swapping covid stories with friends the other night, and while none of us think of ourselves as having "long Covid" we all took a significant amount of time to recover (me least of all of us, probably, but it still wasn't trivial).
One of the "lessons" I hoped "we" would learn from covid was that people don't necessarily have full and speedy recoveries from all kinds of viral illnesses, that even those things we think of as being relatively harmless because they rarely kill people can have very long-lasting effects.
"We" forgot that one pretty quickly, as with most things.
One of the "lessons" I hoped "we" would learn from covid was that people don't necessarily have full and speedy recoveries from all kinds of viral illnesses, that even those things we think of as being relatively harmless because they rarely kill people can have very long-lasting effects.
"We" forgot that one pretty quickly, as with most things.
Rethink
Quite often when I point out Dems hate focusing on this stuff people vehemently disagree. And, no, really, their instinct is to run away from it as fast as possible.
What they want to do is talk about the economy - repeat "their standard pitch about the economy" which involves telling people "the economy is good" or something. This is where Dems always snap back to when events temporarily pull the rubber band.
And I know nobody on the Dem side likes to acknowledge this, but the "Trump economy" was quite good for a lot of people. I don't think people generally look back on 2017-2019 as a period of economic stagnation and deprivation!
Lock'em Up!
I suspect one way or another this will get derailed but fun for now!
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to seek more than a dozen indictments when she presents her case regarding efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia before a grand jury next week, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Wednesday, August 09, 2023
August, 2023
The Covid era, age, and various weird things in my life have completely eradicated any normal sense of the passage of time. Dark Brandon has been president for 2.5 years and election day is in 14 15 months.
It Is Quite Likely That Some Of Our Faves Will Be Implicated
I actually don't think much of interest will come out of the campaign finance portion of the SBF prosecution, but it is *possible* and some people might be nervous!
But that speculation is now moot: On Tuesday, prosecutors wrote to Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the case, informing him that a superseding indictment coming next week “will make clear that Mr. Bankman-Fried remains charged with conducting an illegal campaign finance scheme.” The prosecutors intend to include the allegations that tens of millions of dollars in customer deposits were used to make campaign donations as part of the wire-fraud and money-laundering charges.
Lunch
eat
...LOL
...LOL
NEWS: Special counsel Jack Smith obtained a search warrant for Donald Trump's Twitter account in January.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 9, 2023
A delay in compliance by the company prompted a federal judge to hold Twitter in contempt and fine the company $350,000.
Details TK
Is It That Fun
I know I post variations on this point regularly, and there's not going to be an answer that satisfies me, but why does Sean Hannity, age 61, keep doing this?
He's been making north of $20 million for years.
Isn't life too short to spend it doing hours of TV/radio daily?
He's been making north of $20 million for years.
Isn't life too short to spend it doing hours of TV/radio daily?
There's Your Issue
It was conventional wisdom for years that abortion was an albatross around the necks of Democrats, that they should hide and make "compromising" noises while signalling to their voters about "judges."That the elite political media does not yet seem to understand the megatonnage of the Dobbs decision out in the country is a very strange thing.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) August 9, 2023
One can always make arguments that this was true in key swing states and districts, or that it motivated more of THEIR voters than OUR voters. I'm skeptical about this view, but even if we grant that it was true, it led everyone to believe (or pretend to believe) that abortion was overall unpopular.
The justification derived from the fact that abortion polling always gives three options. Basically: a) abortion always legal, b) SOME RESTRICTIONS ON ABORTION, c) abortion always illegal. Then you lump in b) and c) to say the Republican position is correct, instead of lumping in a) and b) and pointing out that it is (was), actually, the status quo (Casey).
Add that to years of labeling anyone who pointed out that "abortion is medical care" was a lunatic extremist. This was, actually, the knee jerk response from a Biden person (Kate Bedingfield) after Dobbs:
Joe Biden’s goal in responding to Dobbs is not to satisfy some activists who have been consistently out of step with the mainstream of the Democratic Party. It’s to deliver help to women who are in danger and assemble a broad-based coalition to defend a woman’s right to choose now, just as he assembled such a coalition to win during the 2020 campaign.That pro-choice activists were the crazy aunts you had to keep quiet as best you could was a pretty standard view among powerful Dems (electeds, donor class, pundits, affiliated). Another area where a "grand compromise" dictated by centrist dipshits was supposed to make the issue go away forever so we could go on to talking important big boy issues like who to bomb next.
W00t
The New York Times has to do a new round of diner interviews (they won't).
Conservatives spent a lot of money trying to tie the ballot measure to anti-trans hysteria, a loser issue with everyone except the people who work at The Atlantic and the New York Times.
Win for reproductive rights as Ohio voters reject effort to make it harder to amend state constitutionThe ballot measure on abortion still has to win, but presumably it will.
Conservatives spent a lot of money trying to tie the ballot measure to anti-trans hysteria, a loser issue with everyone except the people who work at The Atlantic and the New York Times.
Tuesday, August 08, 2023
I Had Forgotten About This One
Anti-Abortion Activist Facing Trial Won't Be Allowed to Show the 5 Fetuses She Stole https://t.co/mprHM4JrOd pic.twitter.com/Jt3ur08G9R
— Jezebel (@Jezebel) August 8, 2023
Dark Brandon Strikes Again
Those glowing eyes growing stronger.
The rule — to be unveiled by Harris during a trip to Philadelphia, the officials said — represents one of the most aggressive administration actions to date to give workers a greater share of new federal investments in semiconductors, infrastructure and clean energy. The officials briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity to describe a policy not yet formally announced.
The measure would restore an old definition of the “prevailing wage,” scrapped by President Ronald Reagan, that the Biden administration says would change pay standards on federal construction projects, the officials said. Under the new rule, employers would be required to pay construction workers the equivalent of wages made by at least 30 percent of workers in a given trade and locality.
Who Runs The Universities
On the right column I'd put "3.5 - The Star Professors." Most of those are quite conservative, actually. The ones who are "Harvard Professors" but spend more time on TV and promoting them than in anything resembling a classroom (or research). Pinker, Ferguson, Turley, various right wing economists, etc.
The public face of US Academia - the ones who are, for various reasons, promoted and have time for self-promotion - is conservative and "allowed" to be much more hackish and overtly political.
There are more liberal "brand name professors" but things are largely rigged against them, too. I mean, what's more interesting to the New York Times? A sober left-leaning well-researched opinion piece about the legacy of slavery or some Brit glorifying American empire?
And who has more clout within the university, ultimately? The celebrities.
The public face of US Academia - the ones who are, for various reasons, promoted and have time for self-promotion - is conservative and "allowed" to be much more hackish and overtly political.
There are more liberal "brand name professors" but things are largely rigged against them, too. I mean, what's more interesting to the New York Times? A sober left-leaning well-researched opinion piece about the legacy of slavery or some Brit glorifying American empire?
And who has more clout within the university, ultimately? The celebrities.
Vote You Ohio Diner Bastards
Not that I need to tell anyone who reads this very fine website, but if you are in Ohio go vote! Vote no!
WSJ Editorial Page
Regularly people are shocked to discover that the WSJ editorial page is as loony as Fox News (not Scott here, he knows). But they rarely take the next step and consider the likely consequences of that being pumped into the heads of the richest people in the country daily. There's this odd belief that those people must just read it for the news, that they are smart enough to chuckle at the opinion page, that the rich people (who must be smart!!!) can't possibly be this brain poisoned.
It's the companion to the idea that it's only the dumbasses in Ohio diners who are MAGA conservatives.
It's the companion to the idea that it's only the dumbasses in Ohio diners who are MAGA conservatives.
And Why Would They Think That
I've seen it expressed by not horrible people that there are reasons Trump couldn't possibly (not will not - that's quite likely - but should not) spend time in a normal prison. One reason stated was "we can't put the secret service in prison" or something.
And, I dunno, what do you think prison is? The staff aren't all locked up in there too. They get to leave. The secret service wouldn't have to live there. No one has to be Trump's bunk mate. They just serve their 8 hour shifts guarding him from being shivved and go home when the replacements show up. Outfit a couple of special cells for their "offices" or whatever.
Anyway people are grasping for logistical reasons (honestly in some cases) to express their basic resistance to treating elites like normal people.
"We" always have this backwards. It's powerful people who need to be treated like "normal" people, and normal people need to be treated a bit better.
And, I dunno, what do you think prison is? The staff aren't all locked up in there too. They get to leave. The secret service wouldn't have to live there. No one has to be Trump's bunk mate. They just serve their 8 hour shifts guarding him from being shivved and go home when the replacements show up. Outfit a couple of special cells for their "offices" or whatever.
Anyway people are grasping for logistical reasons (honestly in some cases) to express their basic resistance to treating elites like normal people.
"We" always have this backwards. It's powerful people who need to be treated like "normal" people, and normal people need to be treated a bit better.
Monday, August 07, 2023
The Worst Family
All of them.
Made up almost entirely of women inspired by Mr. Cuomo’s handling of the Covid pandemic, We Decide New York rapidly joined forces in spring 2021 to defend an increasingly isolated governor as traditional allies abandoned him. The group swarmed his critics on social media, sold Cuomo swag and pushed for due process.
But four of the group’s current leaders said in interviews that even as their work appeared organic to the outside world, Ms. Cuomo, 58, began privately exerting control. Starting just weeks after the group was formed, she steered its volunteer activists — many in their 50s, 60s and 70s — to prop up her brother and hound his accusers ever more aggressively.
But Isn't What Matters It Felt Like It Could Be True
The narrative, once established, can't be debunked.
Trump's Fans Are Fans Of Trump
I suppose it's mild progress that the NYT political desk is outsourcing this endless series to Rich Lowry now.
Biofuels, Bitches!
Lots of things are above my pay grade, but my whole life there have been fanciful technological solutions offered in place of doing sensible things with existing technologies, some of which were just complete frauds (carbon capture! clean coal!).
Solar is cheap now. Wind is cheap now. Sure both have some storage issues, and won't solve every problem (won't curse cancer or stop racism, either), but the impediment to a lot of shifts are the current stakeholders in those interests.
Very Serious People love to get mad at enviros opposing nuclear, or some rich NIMBYs stopping a wind project (somehow they are hypocrites instead of just rich assholes), but really you're an idiot if you think it's environmentalists who have the power to stop progress on climate change.
Solar is cheap now. Wind is cheap now. Sure both have some storage issues, and won't solve every problem (won't curse cancer or stop racism, either), but the impediment to a lot of shifts are the current stakeholders in those interests.
Very Serious People love to get mad at enviros opposing nuclear, or some rich NIMBYs stopping a wind project (somehow they are hypocrites instead of just rich assholes), but really you're an idiot if you think it's environmentalists who have the power to stop progress on climate change.
This post wasn't inspired by anything specific, but there has been an uptick in "well I guess it's time for geoengineering" commentary and, yah, sure, let's do that. No way to fuck that up!
Car Bloat
I get people think that given everyone is driving a huge vehicle, they're safer driving one themselves. Maybe that's even true. But it's one thing to have to use the poorly positioned video screen to give you an extra look when you're backing up, quite another to have to rely on it entirely to to basic driving because the blind spots are so massive.
And if the video screen is essential for driving (it shouldn't be!), then it really isn't appropriate to place it where they generally are.
Not the only issue with car bloat. In general its making a fundamentally flawed transportation concept much worse.
And if the video screen is essential for driving (it shouldn't be!), then it really isn't appropriate to place it where they generally are.
Not the only issue with car bloat. In general its making a fundamentally flawed transportation concept much worse.
Sunday, August 06, 2023
A Little Light Treason
We're in round 2 of "spray a bunch of shit against the wall and see what sticks."
Which reporters will bite on this one? Give it to Maggie, she'll eat anything!Former President Trump may have committed a “technical violation of the Constitution,” but doing so doesn’t mean he broke any criminal laws, John Lauro, Trump’s criminal defense attorney, argues on @MeetThePress. https://t.co/dPWrWdZwgB
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 6, 2023
Saturday, August 05, 2023
A Play In Three Acts
The Mag Habs Maneuver:
And the quiet Haberman acknowledgment:
Savage isn't a political reporter, unlike Haberman.
If only they had some editors over there!
The Charlie Savage retort:2/2
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) August 5, 2023
And they absolutely went with it on the inside page.
Essay question: How does this differ from the way Fox would have framed the news? Or Trump's own team? pic.twitter.com/6xyVS704wE
And the quiet Haberman acknowledgment:
I actually understand what happened now. The Trumpkins were anticipating certain things in the indictment, Jack Smith didn't deliver, but they had already pre-briefed their favorite reporters who of course ran with it anyway.Worthwhile read from @charlie_savage https://t.co/kSopfXiGGp
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 5, 2023
Savage isn't a political reporter, unlike Haberman.
If only they had some editors over there!
Freeze Peach
I shouldn't be amazed, but on the first page of the indictment, Jack Smith basically wrote, "Look you chucklefuck political reporters, Donald Trump can lie as much as he wants because of your blessed free speech, this isn't about that," and all those chucklefucks ran with it being a free speech issue anyway.
Charles, Andrew, and Hanania
Hanania's non-pseudonymous writings were barely better than the stuff uncovered here, which is why his promotion by various individuals (centrist dipshits, billionaire tech guys, Tyler Cowen) and entities (New York Times) didn't require this excellent piece to cast light on the degree to which skull-measuring racism is very popular in The Discourse.
Not that long ago this would've made him completely radioactive forever, now he'll probably be joining the Harvard Institute of Politics.
Playing The Game
I've been making the same complaint since the beginning of this very fine blog, but one reasons Dems (electeds, funders) are absolutely horrible at playing the game is they are absolutely uninterested in supporting and empowering left of center media outlets. There's a reason we hear about all the conservative media outlets constantly - Fox, Charlie Kirk, Ben Shapiro, Joe Rogan, etc.. etc.. - but rarely hear about "The American Prospect" unless you are a reader of the American Prospect.
Okay there are several reasons, but a big one is that one. "They" had a pretty good and successful one - Think Progress - and they killed it because it was unionized, with editorial independence from CAP, and too lefty. Too independent, in other words.
Occasionally donors step up to fund such things, but they're disasters, and the people behind them just fail upwards.
Okay there are several reasons, but a big one is that one. "They" had a pretty good and successful one - Think Progress - and they killed it because it was unionized, with editorial independence from CAP, and too lefty. Too independent, in other words.
Occasionally donors step up to fund such things, but they're disasters, and the people behind them just fail upwards.
Lock Him Up!
He's just going to keep pushing, hoping for a showdown.
Prosecutors cited the post in their request for a protective order — routine in criminal cases — prohibiting Trump and his lawyers from publicly disclosing evidence they receive during the discovery process.
Friday, August 04, 2023
Lock Him Up!
Judge said don't do that!
Upadhyaya told the former president that "the most important condition of release is not committing any new crimes while on release, which could lead to him being detained and could add to the sentence he may eventually face," according to NPR. "She told Trump that it is a crime to 'influence a juror or try to threaten or bribe a witness or retaliate against anyone' connected to the case. Trump said he understands."
What If We Made Our Product Shit
Plenty of examples of companies coasting on their brand names, taking a once good product and turning it into cheap shit while assuming (correctly) it will take a long time for people to notice. A bit strange to turn your product into shit while simultaneously removing the branding!
The Perfect Post
I posted this because it came up when I was searching for something else and it was an amazing representation of that precise moment in time.
- Claiming Tim Russert is "the toughest questioner in the business."
- Putting Saint Rudy on a pedestal
- Calling his ability to respond with vapid misleading answers to Russert, knowing no serious follow up would appear, "virtuoso." For the entire hour!
Will They Expel Them Again
I suppose they shouldn't have complained about the quality of the banh mi in the cafeteria.
Two Tennessee Democrats who were expelled from the state legislature in April over their participation in a gun-control protest won back their seats late Thursday.
Wokeness
If you have time read this whole story from Texas Tribune.
Meanwhile our dipshit centrists are focused on one student complaining about bad banh mi in the school cafeteria. These dipshists believe in hierarchy much more than conservatives do - including polite versions of the skull measuring kind. The exercise and abuse of power by people who are "entitled" to it bothers them much less than people daring to try to correct their betters.
Several high-level Texas A&M University System officials — including the board of regents and the flagship campus’ president — were involved in discussions about how to handle a Black journalism professor’s job offer after conservatives criticized her hiring, according to an internal report released Thursday.The Tribune article goes on to make clear just how much everyone at the top lied, and how this latest report makes clear how brazenly and insultingly they were lying. It's quite an amazing story and I suggest reading it all the way through. Lots of lies, here's the insulting part:
The details of the report contradict former Texas A&M University President M. Katherine Banks’ earlier claims that she was unaware that the school had watered down its offer to Kathleen O. McElroy after the pushback. Banks abruptly retired last month amid turmoil spurred by the botched hiring.
The day the Tribune’s initial story published, text messages show Banks and Bermúdez expressed anger that McElroy shared her story with the media.Actually a rare situation in which there were actually resignations, but the rot at the top is something to behold. People with power behave incredibly badly, and rarely face consequences.
“I think we dodged a bullet. She is a awful person to go to the press before us,” Banks said. “We will learn from this and move on ... Just think if she had accepted!!! Ugh.”
Meanwhile our dipshit centrists are focused on one student complaining about bad banh mi in the school cafeteria. These dipshists believe in hierarchy much more than conservatives do - including polite versions of the skull measuring kind. The exercise and abuse of power by people who are "entitled" to it bothers them much less than people daring to try to correct their betters.
Thursday, August 03, 2023
It's So Easy
It took about 2 hours for the nonsense pushers on the Right to frame the question of Trump's guilty or innocence on WHETHER HE KNOWINGLY LIED, despite Smith anticipating this and refuting it on the first page of the fucking indictment.
The Democrats often suck at the game, but man the Republicans just play on easy mode all the time.
Reminds me of the Kavanaugh confirmation, when they kept throwing nonsense defenses up until something stuck, and that something was so absurd literally no one could believe it - not even a tool like Chris Cillizza - but they ran with it anyway. You probably remember Zillow Detective.
The Democrats often suck at the game, but man the Republicans just play on easy mode all the time.
Reminds me of the Kavanaugh confirmation, when they kept throwing nonsense defenses up until something stuck, and that something was so absurd literally no one could believe it - not even a tool like Chris Cillizza - but they ran with it anyway. You probably remember Zillow Detective.
Internet Of Shit
It's a bit of a problem that the product can brick if the company disappears.
VanMoof, the Dutch e-bike maker that gained a zealous following, tripled its sales in the pandemic and raised more than $180 million in funding, declared bankruptcy last month, leaving riders in limbo. That’s because the eye-catching e-bikes, which start around $2,000, are built from proprietary parts that only the company makes, available mostly at company-run service centers. And many of the bikes’ functions are linked to VanMoof’s smartphone app.The proprietary parts issue isn't a new one, but the reliance on the app...
VanMoof, named as a Dutch spin on the word “move,” was founded in 2009 by the brothers Ties and Taco Carlier, and did not start off making battery-powered bikes. But in 2014, the founders came up with a design that put the battery inside the bike frame, helping protect it from rain and thieves, and giving VanMoof bikes their signature streamlined look. The brand took off in the bike-friendly Netherlands, and word spread to early adopters elsewhere.I met a Taco recently, and yes it's standard Dutch name.
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