1/. An in depth story from Vox on how Florida became a red state, and why it's going to stay that way for a while.
A depressing saga of aggressive Republican efforts to register voters and gerrymander districts, and hopeless
incompetence from Florida Democrats....
MIAMI — Carlos Campos came to Miami from Venezuela in 1979, before dictator Hugo Chávez’s socialist revolution brought about the unraveling of the oil-rich country. But it wasn’t until 2016 that Campos became actively engaged in US politics. Donald Trump’s “America First” message stirred something in him.
Sitting down at a Cuban restaurant just minutes from the Trump National Doral golf resort — one of the former president’s major Miami-area properties aside from his Mar-a-Lago estate — Campos described how he came to the realization that his values aligned more closely with Republicans than Democrats.
2/. David Brooks [conservative Times columnist] actually did this.....
3/. Sydney Blumenthal on the House Republicans and Kevin McCarthy....a pathetic
but very dangerous group....
‘McCarthy would seem to prefer to die the coward’s death of a thousand cuts.’ Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EP he House Republicans have triggered a Chernobyl of their own, a chain reaction that will inexorably lead to a meltdown to their core surrounded by a radioactive forbidden zone. Saboteurs rush in unobstructed, setting blazes and planting explosives. The nominal fire chief stands dumbfounded, an observer transfixed at the raging conflagration, anxious about his escape route. “This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down,” the fire chief fumes. Then, smoke billowing behind him, he flees the scene and tells everyone to go home for a week.
4/. Paul Krugman with an excellent column......
The speaker of the House is the only congressional officer mentioned in the Constitution, other than a temporary Senate officer to preside when the vice president can’t. The speaker’s job isn’t defined, but surely it includes passing legislation that keeps the federal government running.
But Kevin McCarthy, the current speaker, isn’t doing that job. Indeed, at this point it’s hard to see how he can pass any bill maintaining federal funding, let alone one the Senate, controlled by Democrats, will agree to. So we seem to be headed for a federal shutdown at the end of this month, with many important government activities suspended until further notice.
5/. This Tom Tomorrow is sadly true....
6/. A long but fascinating story from the Times Magazine about the man who started the data mining industry
which now has all of us on databases worldwide....
One Saturday night a decade ago in South Florida, hundreds of mourners filed into the Boca Raton Resort & Club, a pink palazzo relic of the Roaring ’20s, and settled at tables in its Grand Ballroom. The dress code for the evening was “Hank casual,” and the mood, in keeping with the man being honored, was surprisingly exuberant. “Hank” was Hank Asher, the multimillionaire king of the data brokers, and the event marked not so much the death of a man as the birth of a ghost.
In pages of tributes to Asher on his website and in The Palm Beach Post — as well as in conversations with me over the years that followed, as I became more obsessed with him and his career — friends couldn’t stop marveling at his charm, his daring, his generosity, his volatility, his partying, his sleeplessness, his middle-of-the-night phone calls, his thousand-yard stares, his maddening disdain for social niceties and his superhuman, almost computerlike ability to take in information and discern patterns. He was also described as turbulent, sometimes violent, not always right in the head. You never knew what he would do next, so you couldn’t turn away.
7/. The "Liberal Redneck" Trae Crowder riffs on Boebert.....amusing.....
8/. Lefsetz on why the IPhone dominates the cellphone market.....
Do not buy an iPhone 15.
But you might want to buy an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max.
The war is over. Apple won. It vanquished Android.
HUH? That can’t be right, wasn’t Android supposed to kill the iPhone, wasn’t it only a matter of years before the overpriced Apple product was marginalized, a niche, only for the elite? Yes, that’s what you’d think, but it turned out all the prognosticators, all the bloviators, were wrong.
It’s in the data.
Five years ago, the iPhone had 18% of the U.S. market. Today it has 55%. There are two reasons, iMessage and longevity of functionality/resale value.
9/. Here's a depressing article - how Virginia could become another Florida.....
It is exceedingly rare—as in, it basically never happens—that a first-time candidate for Virginia’s House of Delegates becomes internationally famous. Yet last week, Susanna Gibson—nurse practitioner, mother of two, and Democrat from suburban Richmond—made headlines around the world after The Washington Post revealed that Gibson and her husband had performed sex acts for a live online audience. In at least two of the videos, the Post reported, Gibson told viewers she was “raising money for a good cause.”
Whether that “cause” was her campaign is unclear. In Gibson’s only public statement since the news broke, she quickly and deftly spun the controversy, claiming that she was the victim of a political dirty trick and of revenge porn. Her Republican opponent, a housing developer named David Owen, said his campaign had nothing to do with the videos surfacing. “I’m sure this is a difficult time for Susanna and her family,” Owen said, “and I’m remaining focused on my campaign.”
10/. CEO scab TV shows....
11/. Thom Hartmann writes about monopolies, and how these dominate our economy and cost us thousands every year because we have no choices.....
Most interesting article, and Hartmann has also written a book on this....
Cell phone service that costs $15 a month in France or $12 a month in Australia bills out at an average of $61.85 per month in the United States. High-speed broadband that’s a bit over $31 a month in France or $36 in Germany (for higher speeds and better reliability than almost anywhere in the United States) averages nearly $70 per month in the US. Similar metrics are found with pharmaceuticals, airfares, and medical costs, among dozens of other product and service categories.1 Why is this? Monopoly.
The average American family pays an annual “monopoly tax”—in additional costs for pretty much everything—of around $5,000, according to economist Thomas Philippon. And things are steadily getting worse as monopolistic concentrations continue to tighten their grip on every American industry from banking to telecom to food.2
12/. This looks really good....."The Creator".....see it in I-Max....
Killer robots or here to save us? Madeleine Yuna Voyles in The Creator. Photograph: © Disne his colossal sci-fi thriller from Gareth Edwards features John David Washington and Gemma Chan in vast mysterious panoramas and vertiginous vistas which deserve to be shown at Imax-plus scale; it also shows that Christopher Nolan isn’t the only British director in Hollywood thinking (and acting) big. After a stint making franchise movies such as Godzilla and the enjoyable and underrated Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Edwards has now crafted this ambitious original picture, co-written with Chris Weitz, which is closer in spirit to his ingenious 2010 debut Monsters.
"The Creator" trailer....
13/. Heather Cox Richardson has written a new book, and gives a short interview to Vanity Fair about it....
Delighted to say I am one of her supporters....
In September 2019, Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson wrote a short essay on her Facebook page after news broke that Donald Trump’s acting director of National Intelligence had withheld an urgent whistleblower coplaint. It was the first domino to fall in what would later become a full-fledged impeachment probe into the former president’s now infamous call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The country was entering unprecedented political territory. And Cox Richardson’s observations left readers hungry for more.
14/. Best movies on Netflix.....from the Times....
The sheer volume of films on Netflix — and the site’s less than ideal interface — can make finding a genuinely great movie there a difficult task. To help, we’ve plucked out the 50 best films currently streaming on the service in the United States, updated regularly as titles come and go. And as a bonus, we link to more great movies on Netflix within many of our write-ups below. (Note: Streaming services sometimes remove titles or change starting dates without giving notice.)
Today's doggy joke
My wife found out that our dog (a Schnauzer) could hardly hear, so she took it to the veterinarian.
The vet found that the problem was hair in the dog's ears.
He cleaned both ears, and the dog could then hear fine.
The vet then proceeded to tell Andrea that, if she wanted to keep this from recurring, she should go to the store and get some "Nair" hair remover and rub it in the dog's ears once a month.
Andrea went to the store and bought some "Nair" hair remover.
At the register, the pharmacist told her, "If you're going to use this under your arms, don't use deodorant for a few days." Andrea said, "I'm not using it under my arms."
The pharmacist said, "If you're using it on your legs, don't use body lotion for a couple of days."
Andrea replied, "I'm not using it on my legs either. If you must know, I'm using it on my Schnauzer."
The pharmacist says, "Well, stay off your bicycle for about a week."
Today's contraception joke
There were three girls who were getting married and all met at the marriage counselor's office to discuss the options of having or not having a baby right away.
There were two city girls and one farm girl...
The counselor asked them if they planned on having a baby right away or were going to wait awhile.
They all agreed that they had discussed this with their potential husbands and all agreed to wait awhile...
Well, the counselor asked the first girl what type of birth control she planned to use. Her answer was, "The rhythm method"...
"That will work," said the counselor, "if you keep a good record"...
He asked the second girl what system she planned on using.
"I plan on using birth control pills," she said..
Again he said, "Yes that will work as long as you don't forget to take them."
He then asked the farm girl what system she was planning on using.
Her answer was, "The bucket and saucer method." After a short delay, he told her that should also work...
He asked them all to come back in one year on a specific date for a follow up on how things were going...
They all met again one year later and the two city girls were pregnant.
Only the farm girl was slim and trim yet...
Well, the counselor asked the first girl what method she used and what went wrong.
She replied, "I used the rhythm method but somehow got my notes mixed up and, well here I am, going to have a baby"...
He asked the second city girl what method she used and she replied, "The birth control pill.
But we were camping one weekend and I didn't have my pills with me and as you can see, I too am going to have a baby"...
He turns to the farm girl. "I vaguely remember you were going to use the bucket and saucer method.
Now I must admit that I don't have a clue what the bucketl and saucer method is. Will you explain it to me as I see it has worked well for you"...?
She replied, "Well we make love standing up, and since I am quite a bit taller than my husband, he stands on a bucket turned upside down.
Now as we are making love, I watch his eyes, and when his eyes get as big as saucers, I kick the bucket out from under him"...
Today's divorce joke
A divorced guy was delighted when his daughter reached her 18th birthday because it would be his final child support payment.
Month after month, year after year he had paid, and now at last he would be free of the financial burden.
So he called his daughter over to his house and said: ‘I want you to take this last cheque to your mother’s house.
You tell her this is the last cheque she’s ever going to get from me. Then I want you to come back here and tell me the expression she had on her face.’
The girl took the cheque and returned a couple of hours later. ‘Well,’ said the father gleefully, ‘what did she have to say?’
The girl replied: ‘She told me to tell you that you ain’t my dad.’
Today's Catholic joke....
On their way to get married, a young Catholic couple was involved in a fatal car accident. The couple found themselves sitting outside the Pearly Gates waiting for St. Peter to
process them into Heaven. While waiting they began to wonder; could they possibly get married in Heaven? When St. Peter arrived, they asked him if they could get married in Heaven. St. Peter said, "I don't know. This is the first time anyone has asked. Let me go find out,"
and he left. The couple sat and waited for an answer... for a couple of months. While they waited, they discussed the pros and cons. If they were allowed to get married
in Heaven, should they get married, what with the eternal aspect of it all? "What if it doesn't work? Are we stuck in Heaven together forever?" Yet another month passed before St. Peter finally returned, looking somewhat bedraggled. "Yes," he informed the couple, "You can get married in Heaven." "Great!" said the couple. "But we were just wondering; what if things don't work out? Could we also get a divorce
in Heaven?" St. Peter, red-faced with anger, slammed his clipboard on the ground. "What's wrong?" asked the frightened couple. "OH, COME ON!" St. Peter shouted. "It took me 3 months to find a priest up here! Do you have ANY idea how long it'll
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