No Idea

The New York Times Maggie Haberman reporting on possible Trump indictment,

It is unclear what data points, if any, the Trump team plans to point to…

Oh, Maggie, how are you still so naive about Trump and the MAGA idiots of this country?

It won’t matter what data points he says because he’ll fucking make shit up like a 5 year old - just like he’s always done, even while president. Because the corrupt dipshit is a 5 year old in an adult body.

This little piece from Arch Budzar is a nice reminder.

All I’ve ever received in response to my questions about why TikTok should be banned are

1. They’re tracking people
2. They’re owned by a Chinese company

Neither of those things on their own are worth an outright national ban on an app. Why?

1. Because other apps and services already track people
2. Owner ship isn’t relevant to suspected improper or illegal operating practices

The news media and politicians often site national security reasons, but never say what those reasons are. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, they all operate in a similar manner to TikTok (the apps, not the companies) so why is there no national call to ban those apps?

All I want is to understand why the app is worthy of being banned. Just one reason. However, “National Security” doesn’t hold weight without proof. So, where’s the proof?

Tonight’s Soundtrack:

I’d be interested in seeing how many of the conservative Don’t Say Gay or anti LGBTQ bills are directly related to the crap legislation they pushed in Africa a decade or more ago.

Ross Levine, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley business school who specializes in banking and finance, on the SVB collapse

SVB took lots of uninsured deposits from 100 or 200 really large depositors and invested a large portion of that money in long-term securities—very, very safe securities, so US Treasury securities and government-backed mortgage securities. This created an extremely fragile bank with respect to interest rates: Interest rates go up, bond prices go down, and that change is particularly big for long-term securities. So the value of the assets of SVB fell as interest rates rose. The fact that it had a few large, uninsured depositors who were very well connected meant that any sign of vulnerability triggered a flow of information such that the uninsured depositors wanted to remove their deposits, and everything unraveled very quickly.

They couldn’t stop the bank run once the word about the risk got out. CAO Greg Becker should be held accountable for not keeping his bank safe from the risks his investments made on depositors money.

To everyone fanning over Nilay’s post about the Brother HL-3170CDW printer:

1. It’s discontinued on Brother’s website.
2. It’s $400 on Ebay
3. It’s $900 on Amazon

I’m not spending that money on a freaking printer. I don’t care how good or who has it.

I rewatched The Matrix Reloaded ★★★★★ and The Matrix Revolutions ★★★★ in the last week. I must say I really enjoyed these movies.

The Matrix Reloaded is definitely in my top ten favorite movies of all time.

I might have to sit down at some point and list my top ten movies.

The former Dipshit in Chief talking about famous people

I knew them all — and every one of them kissed my ass, and now I only have half of them kissing my ass.

He only cared about what people could do for him because he’s a criminal grifter and always has been. A straight up garbage human being.

Excited to see what Google brings with their Pixel Fold phone.

Got tired of having Google Play on the Fire HD 10 and the slow app launches so I reset the device to factory defaults this morning.

Indeed.

GOP Lawmakers Propose Death Penalty for Abortion

“Pro Life” is a joke.

They are so pro keeping any baby they are willing to kill anyone who wants to not have a baby.

Ars Technica Meta threatens to restrict news in Canada if it’s forced to pay publishers

TLDR:

Good thing there are other places to get news than Meta. You know, like actual news services.

Six Colors, Dan Moren: Four iPhone 15 upgrades that will make you want one right now

My List

1. Allow users to choose default apps for ALL app types
2. Do not require IAP for purchases in apps
3. Do not require Webkit for ALL browser engines
4. Allow other App stores on iOS

Wow.

Literally more sense than 99% of Twitter 🔊🆙️ pic.twitter.com/1OgOdk7tPt

— Paul Bronks (@SlenderSherbet) March 12, 2023

My brain doesn’t work sometimes. I just said “vowel words” when trying to explain “words that start with vowels”. 🤦😁🤷‍♂️

River

Woke had nothing to do with it.

DeSantis Blames Woke Economics for Bank Collapse

Shitty investments of short term money in long term bonds had everything to do with it.

This is the guy Elon Musk tried to say was “independently wealthy”.
This is the guy Elon Musk fired before he realized it would cost him millions of dollars to fire and didn’t fire him.

My Modern Met, Margherita Cole: One Man Is Increasing Wheelchair Accessibility in Iceland a Ramp at a Time