…so…april fools day
If any of the Texas police officers who came to detain Capitol riot suspect Garret Miller were not sure they had the right man, the T-shirt they found him wearing offered something of a clue: it featured a photograph of Donald Trump and the slogan “I Was There, Washington DC, 6 January 2021”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/30/capitol-riot-suspect-garret-miller
…something something…a fool & his money
State prosecutors in Manhattan investigating former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization have subpoenaed the personal bank records of the company’s chief financial officer and are questioning gifts he and his family received from Mr. Trump, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
N.Y. Seeks Trump Insider’s Records, in Apparent Bid to Gain Cooperation [NYT]
…something something…or possibly nothing?
“There was no history of my ever purchasing it, or ever owning it,” said one confused NFT buyer. “Now there’s nothing. My money’s gone.”
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkdj79/peoples-expensive-nfts-keep-vanishing-this-is-why
He believed Apple’s App Store was safe. Then a fake app stole his life savings in bitcoin.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/30/trezor-scam-bitcoin-1-million/
‘People believed it’: the rise and fall of WeWork, a $47bn unicorn [Guardian]
…but there’s little doubt money still talks
The U.S. Army has awarded Microsoft a contract worth up to $21 billion for augmented reality headsets that are supposed to help soldiers map the battlefield, select targets and stay aware of possible threats by overlaying intelligence information directly onto their field of vision.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/31/microsoft-army-augmented-reality/
…albeit often out of the side of its mouth
In public, Republicans have denounced Democrats’ ambitious electoral-reform bill, the For the People Act, as an unpopular partisan ploy. In a contentious Senate committee hearing last week, Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, slammed the proposal, which aims to expand voting rights and curb the influence of money in politics, as “a brazen and shameless power grab by Democrats.” But behind closed doors Republicans speak differently about the legislation, which is also known as House Resolution 1 and Senate Bill 1. They admit the lesser-known provisions in the bill that limit secret campaign spending are overwhelmingly popular across the political spectrum. In private, they concede their own polling shows that no message they can devise effectively counters the argument that billionaires should be prevented from buying elections.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/inside-the-koch-backed-effort-to-block-the-largest-election-reform-bill-in-half-a-century
[…]
McKenzie explained that the Koch-founded group had invested substantial resources “to see if we could find any message that would activate and persuade conservatives on this issue.” He related that “an A.O.C. message we tested”—one claiming that the bill might help Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez achieve her goal of holding “people in the Trump Administration accountable” by identifying big donors—helped somewhat with conservatives. But McKenzie admitted that the link was tenuous, since “what she means by this is unclear.” “Sadly,” he added, not even attaching the phrase “cancel culture” to the bill, by portraying it as silencing conservative voices, had worked. “It really ranked at the bottom,” McKenzie said to the group. “That was definitely a little concerning for us.”
…but I guess the GOP do seem to know their audience…sadly
A physics professor turned neo-Nazi, William Pierce led a hate group called the National Alliance and a business empire that, at the time of his death from cancer in 2002, raked in $1m a year. He published books and magazines, hosted a radio program, and owned a music label, all of which promoted white supremacy. His work galvanized violent gangs, such as the Order and the Aryan Republican Army. Most infamously, it inspired the architect of the Oklahoma City bombing – Timothy McVeigh designed the attack based in part on Pierce’s 1978 novel The Turner Diaries.
Reportedly called “the bible of the racist right” by the FBI, The Turner Diaries is a fantasy about white militants overthrowing the US government as part of a bloody race war. A 2016 report found that the book had been tied to at least 200 murders, committed in 40 terrorist attacks and hate crimes. This year, during the 6 January coup attempt, there were echoes of the novel’s core ideas in insurrectionists’ calls to kill members of Congress, and in a gallows erected near the Capitol.
The father, the son, and the racist spirit [Guardian]
…& it turns out it only takes a handful of bullshit to grow a sea of fools
How many conspiracy theorists does it take to change a lightbulb? QAnon won’t let me tell you. I can, however, reveal that it takes only a dozen anti-vaxxers to spread dangerous misinformation to millions of people. According to a report from the NGO Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), up to 65% of anti-vaccine content on Facebook and Twitter can be traced back to just 12 people. Although Facebook has disputed the report’s methodology, the 12 have been nicknamed the “disinformation dozen”, and include Robert F Kennedy Jr, the nephew of John F Kennedy. A few of the 12 have been removed from at least one social media platform, but are still free to post on others.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/30/how-many-anti-vaxxers-does-it-take-to-misinform-the-world-just-twelve
…& not all violence is loud & obvious
It is a truism to say that everyone knows violence when they see it, but if one thing has become clear in the past decade, it is that the most prevalent, insidious forms of violence are those that cannot be seen. Consider, for example, a photograph from January 2017. A group of identical-looking white men in dark suits looked on as their president signed an executive order banning US state funding to groups anywhere in the world offering abortion or abortion counselling.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/mar/30/damage-the-silent-forms-of-violence-against-women
[…]
At a talk in London in June 2019, Kate Gilmore, the UN deputy commissioner for human rights, described US policy on abortion as a form of extremist hate that amounts to the torture of women. “We have not called it out in the same way we have other forms of extremist hate,” she stated, “but this is gender-based violence against women, no question.”
…sometimes all it takes is doing nothing in the face of pain
…or “business as usual”
…so it’s nice that there might be big things on the horizon
Biden Tax Plan Challenges G.O.P. Formula for Economic Growth [NYT]
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/31/joe-biden-infrastructure-plan-affordable-internet
…& we can hope these aren’t just gestures
Facebook removed a video featuring former President Donald Trump, a company spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday, citing his indefinite suspension from the platform.
The removal tests just how far Facebook is willing to interpret its suspension, which followed the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The video featuring Trump was posted by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who was interviewing the former president. Lara Trump had teased the interview in an Instagram photo of the sit-down on Tuesday.
An email Lara Trump posted to her Instagram account later on Tuesday shows a message warning her team about uploading the video. The email reminded them that “content posted on Facebook and Instagram in the voice of President Trump is not currently allowed on our platform (including new posts with President Trump speaking) and will be removed if posted, resulting in additional limitations on accounts that posted it.” A Facebook source confirmed the veracity of the email.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-removes-video-interview-trump
…or too little too late
Delta and Coca-Cola Reverse Course on Georgia Voting Law, Stating ‘Crystal Clear’ Opposition
…but sometimes gestures can be misleading
‘Fake’ Twitter users rush to Amazon’s defense over unions and working conditions [Guardian]
…or lead to unexpected consequences
Many of us will have felt the grip of claustrophobic isolation over the past year, but the lawyer Steven Donziger has experienced an extreme, very personal confinement as a pandemic arrived and then raged around him in New York City.
On Sunday, Donziger reached his 600th day of an unprecedented house arrest that has resulted from a sprawling, Kafkaesque legal battle with the oil giant Chevron. Donziger spearheaded a lengthy crusade against the company on behalf of tens of thousands of Indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest whose homes and health were devastated by oil pollution, only to himself become, as he describes it, the victim of a “planned targeting by a corporation to destroy my life”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/28/chevron-lawyer-steven-donziger-ecuador-house-arrest
…funny how that works
AT&T said Trump’s tax cut would create jobs – now it’s laying off thousands of workers [Guardian]
…I mean…not necessarily funny-ha-ha…speaking of layoffs, though
EPA dismisses dozens of key science advisers picked under Trump [WaPo]
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/epa-empties-out-science-panels-stacked-with-trump-picks
…& if you’re wondering why it might be good to ditch those fools
The rate at which the world’s forests are being destroyed increased sharply last year, with at least 42,000 sq km of tree cover lost in key tropical regions.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/31/destruction-of-worlds-forests-increased-sharply-in-2020-loss-tree-cover-tropical
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/31/americas-tap-water-samples-forever-chemicals
…which doesn’t make this any less concerning
Nearly 46m Americans would be unable to afford quality healthcare in an emergency [Guardian]
A top adviser privately urged President Donald Trump to acquire critical medical supplies in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak — and after the warning was ignored, pursued his own ad hoc strategy that committed more than $1 billion in federal funds and has since prompted multiple probes, according to newly released documents from congressional investigators.
Democrats probe more than $1 billion in ‘haphazard’ supply contracts arranged by Peter Navarro, citing new documents [WaPo]
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/missouri-voters-passed-medicaid-expansion-now-state-republicans-may-not-pay-for-it
…or this less urgent
New energy policies are urgently needed to put countries on the path to net zero greenhouse gas emissions, the world’s leading energy economist has warned, as economies are rapidly gearing up for a return to fossil fuel use instead of forging a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/31/urgent-policies-needed-steer-countries-net-zero-carbon-iea-chief-fatih-birol
…but some stuff is just hard to see
The Lake Baikal venture is not the only effort to hunt for neutrinos in the world’s most remote places. Dozens of instruments seek the particles in specialized laboratories all over the planet. But the new Russian project will be an important complement to the work of IceCube, the world’s largest neutrino telescope, an American-led, $279 million project that encompasses about a quarter of a cubic mile of ice in Antarctica.
Hunting Ghost Particles Beneath the World’s Deepest Lake [NYT]
…& that’s assuming they don’t take away some of that daylight we’re used to
Should We Block the Sun? Scientists Say the Time Has Come to Study It. [NYT]
…either way…this fool hasn’t left enough time to pick tunes to go at the bottom of this so I’d best get to that bit
Speaking of Lake Baikal, and I never pass up an opportunity to because few opportunities present themselves, years ago I read Ian Frazier’s wonderful Travels in Siberia. In the course of his extensive road trip his car broke down in the middle of Lake Baikal, which was frozen over and is a popular seasonal cut-through because the area is quite mountainous. He has a mechanic as a companion so while the car is being repaired he lies on his stomach and looks into the lake. The water is very pure apparently and it was a bright winter day so he could see down quite a distance. Like miles maybe. The way he describes it was both utterly fascinating and utterly unnerving.
Please enjoy this very strange amateur-generated video of Elvis singing “Fools Rush In” but performing entirely different things, also unnerving.
Frazier is a great writer.
While I’m at it, and à promos of nothing, here’s my favorite Elvis song from my favorite Elvis movie.
NFT is the pog… for people with more money than brains.
It reminds me of Tulip Mania from the Netherlands in the 1600s.
Wondering who the fuck is this Archegos Fund that is fucking with your portfolio or retirement?
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/meet-bill-hwang-the-man-behind-archegos-capital-management.html
He was one of the silent billionaires (I think I would have done the same thing had I been in his place.) Was. It seems his entire fortune blew up in a matter of days.
One of the most annoying things to come out of Xtianity these days is the prosperity gospel. Basically love god more and god rewards you with earthly wealth (doesn’t matter if you gain your money through crooked ways, gawd LOVES you!) It ties in with old style Korean shamanism which says the same thing: the more you believe the more you get.
These old customs/beliefs explains in part why protestant evangelicals have become the dominant sect in South Korea (as the nation got more wealthy, they became more Christian) and maybe how the prosperity gospel ended up US Amercia or visa versa.
https://mercatornet.com/korean-christianity-thriving-in-megachurches-deserted-by-youth/62818/
Apparently Mr Hwang was a big Christian (and I’m guessing based on my knowledge of Koreans in North America, a big fan of prosperity gospel.) I wonder how he would see this as a fall from grace or just bad luck?
I am puzzled by one thing in the article, fertility and birth rate are not interchangeable terms in my mind, is that common usage? A fertile person may choose not to have children, that effects the birth rate, not the fertility rate.
Reading the article again, it seems the author has the two mixed up.
I started to say something about this in my diatribe against fundamentalism earlier this week, but it didn’t fit anywhere:
Anyone who invokes religion as part of a business endeavor is almost invariably a liar, a thief, a philanderer, and very like has a criminal record. Possibly all four, but typically at least two. Anyone.
The second anyone references their religion in a business setting, immediately leave. This can include, but is not limited to:
1. Religious paraphernalia or literature on display in a professional setting. (Holidays may serve as an exception here but look closely at the iconography exhibited.)
2. Religion referenced as part of marketing (company name, signage, bumper stickers, etc.)
3. Oral references to attending church or services, morality based on religion, or any specific belief system based on religious tradition as part of a sales pitch or other proposal.
4. Religious iconography on clothing or jewelry (sole exception being crosses on necklaces, but even then be very wary).
5. Religious or pseudo-religious (a.k.a. contemporary Christian) music being played in a professional setting.
This is a very common tactic here, and the elderly fall for it in droves. Practitioners are everywhere, including but not limited to car salesmen, vacuum cleaner salesmen, yard maintenance, home repair, insurance and investment advisors, and politicians.
We had someone passing around an investment opportunity to his fellow religionists promising 30% interest a year and a 70% return in 3 years with his personal guarantee. I laughed at the investment because it was too good to be true and there was no mention of the actual investment vehicle.
Oh, having spent a week in the thralls of Amway and a month as a Kirby Salesman, they throw around the religious iconography. I was more successful as a Kirby salesman because I sold three vacuums, but I fled because I didn’t make any damn money and the Kirby franchise owner’s wife had the hots for me (I guess she liked sexually naive stupid young men like me and my instincts screamed RUN RUN RUN AWAY.)
See above: Philanderer. Applies to all genders.
Specific corollary to above: If you ever run into someone with a Bible on his desk (it’s always a he), DO NOT leave any person alone with that individual, including yourself. Ever. Depending on that person’s proclivities, some genders may be safer, but it’s best not to take chances.
Sounds like an awesome pyramid scheme!
At the beginning of my medical odyssey, non-Catholic, non-believer me interjected a little Catholic ritual description with my brand-new doctor. “Do you have any idea what you might have done to bring on this pain?” “Well, what happened was I…are you Catholic?” “I, um…” “I don’t care one way or the other, but what I did was genuflect to pick up a piece of paper off the floor. Do you know what it is to genuflect? That’s when I got this shooting pain.” “Mmmm, that’s interesting. So you went down on your right knee so your left leg, where the pain was–” “Exactly. I couldn’t think of another way to describe this, and I can’t replicate it now, so this is easy shorthand.”
Of course, I’m sure that this “former billionaire”, just like every other “former billionaire” who has “lost their fortunes” will not become someone who actually has to work for a living. They’ve got shit stashed everywhere, and plenty of connections to stay rich. Oh, sure, he may not be quite as rich as he was before and might have to sell off a house or two, but he’ll be just fine.
The prosperity gospel makes me absolutely fucking crazy. It is, literally, the total opposite of what is laid out in the Bible concerning economics, wealth and belief. Back in the…60’s I think it was, there was a group of biblical scholars who decided to make a point to this effect. So they took a King James Bible and literally cut out every single reference to the poor or to poverty in the whole bible. They used a xacto knife to keep the cuts precise. By the time they were through, that bible was in tatters.
That Tax Cut and Jobs Act makes me want to scream into the void. Anyone with half a brain cell knew it would be a disaster, but the collective attention span saw ‘Tax Cut’ and stopped there. Oh, it’s too early to rant, I need to pace myself or I’ll never get through the day.
Tax cuts to boost the economy have three types of supporters:
1. Rich people who will get richer and don’t give a fuck what happens to the non-rich people.
2. Politicians who are bribed by the rich people.
3. Idiots who are too stupid to grasp basic economics and/or remember all the OTHER times Republicans ran this scam on them.
I’d read that Lake Baikal article and an earlier one…every time I read about neutrinos, I wonder if they may not be the modern, scientific manifestation of chi (of universal life energy fame). Also, apparently I am equally skeezed out by deep dark depths as by deep dark space. (Full body clench and shudder.)
Why do I have the feeling Microsoft just doesn’t have the qualifications to pull off that augmented reality device? Everything about them has the vibe of “we’ll leave that for the next patch” or “never mind what they say, what customers really want is….
…my first thought was certainly “that sounds like a recipe for disaster”
…even if they get the things working judging by windows’ proclivities you just know you’d be in your hour of greatest need of the thing when suddenly “please wait…updating…this may take several minutes…do not power off your device”
I interrupt this thread to say, OPENING DAY IN THE BRONX, game on muthafuckas, time to watch overpaid giants hit a ball with a stick. woo hoo!
That’s a great story. I shared that with some friends yesterday.
Gonna need a comment from you about this, @SplinterRIP.
John le Carré, chronicler of Englishness, died Irish, son reveals
The Guardian has been on fire lately. I’m happy to send them some money.
That’s fascinating. I have, and have read, his memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel. He doesn’t mention any Irish heritage. Or maybe I’m forgetting it if he does. He doesn’t mention his wife or kids much, for that matter, but he talks about his con man father. I should dig it out from the jumbled mountain of my “library” and reread it. It’s a great book.
…le carré was a fascinating guy…& despite what it seems he had to say on the subject
…those smiley novels had a quality that was compelling in a way that the more outlandish stuff like ian fleming’s bond didn’t…but that’s all probably beside the point you were wanting a comment about
…personally I’m very much in agreement with his stance that brexit “is totally irrational, that it’s evidence of dismal statesmanship on our part, and lousy diplomatic performances.” so I think it seems entirely in keeping with the kind of man he was to have refused to call himself a citizen of a nation that would claim to remove itself from a europe he had spent a lifetime trying one way or another to coax away from the kind of jingoistic antagonism that remains the brexiteers bread & butter…& also not to make a big song & dance about doing it…in a way I’d argue it represents a better example of the kind of quiet but faintly heroic nobility he imbued his brand of british characterisation with in the likes of george smiley
…I often find myself thinking about a philip Larkin poem that I think arguably makes a better go of explaining the kind of thing I’m going for when I say it’s easy to see how he might have felt more at home there…it’s called the importance of elsewhere
…mind you…the novel remains of the day might be one of the most finely crafted characterisation of a certain sort of britishness that I can think of…& kazuo ishiguro was born in japan & didn’t move to britain until he was five so I don’t know that being from somewhere else is necessarily an obstacle when it comes to describing what it is that makes the british british?
…bill bryson would be another example…although he generally sticks to describing a different kind of british, I guess…anyway…I forget where I was really going with this…but le carré I can get behind…while brexit is perhaps the most grevious act of political self-harm the UK has ever brought upon itself & anyone who tries to tell you different is in the process of failing to justify something they’ve convinced themselves benefits them…also…that larkin poem is a favorite of mine for a reason?
Was not familiar with the Larkin poem, so thank you for that. Well said.
I have no sympathy for people who lose their internet riches on internet art.
*Nelson point and laugh*