i can’t believe that they’re hypocrites!

“Donald Trump, alleged leader of…populist Republicans, scuttled a spending bill primarily to shield the richest man in the world’s investments in China and the profits of UnitedHealth Group, owners of the second-largest pharmacy benefit manager.” @ddayen https://prospect.org/politics/2024-12-20-government-shutting-down-elon-musk-factories-china/

"your subscription will renew" is such a nice way of saying "we will take your money".

it'd really suck if your family had planned a trip — maybe bought plane tickets, prepaid a hotel room — to one of America's national parks over the holiday break.

[new draft post] Wreckresentative democracy https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2024/12/20/wreckresentative-democracy/index.html

i wonder if Trump has so internalized the idea that money is the game of life’s ultimate scorecard that he just can’t defy Elon, a man two orders of magnitude greater than he is.

it’s a bit pathetic that we watched RBG undo herself and the country because of career and ego and a misguided sense of unique capability. then we watched JRB do just the same.

now we have to live in the country their failure, our failure, bequeathed to us. it’s not clear we’ve learned anything.

the correct honorifics are God Emperor Musk and Assistant Principal Trump, right?

there ought to be something analogous to SLAPP laws for fraudulent, abusive DMCA takedown notices. https://raggedfeathers.com/@lilithsaintcrow/113682494431693388

in cars we are traffic to one another—dangerous, frustrating—when if we were on foot, we would be liveliness, buzz.

deceptive pricing as free speech: “The line of argument will be that mandating the display of all-in pricing information amounts to compelled speech by the government forced on private enterprise, violating the First Amendment.” #LukeGoldstein https://prospect.org/politics/2024-12-19-modest-ftc-junk-fee-rule-bipartisan-support/ ht @ddayen@mastodon.onlin

once we had david and goliath. now we have big pharma and little grifter.

so we’ve got to be at least like ten percent, fifteen percent, of the way through trump’s term, right? at least we’re making progress, working our way towards an end of this.

so is this a feint, a prod that maybe gets something or another renegotiated, or are they really gonna scrooge the holidays with a shutdown?

ask your provider.

Basically, Tesla will print money because it will be the only untariffed supplier of Chinese EVs. Great industrial policy there. https://bsky.app/profile/cronkhitemedia.bsky.social/post/3ldlwwqtois2m

if we're so much richer now, why can't we afford someone to answer the phone when we call up a business?

“The U.S. government has never entered the World Series of Poker. Nor has it gone to Vegas to bet billions [of] taxpayer funds on roulette or built a strategic Powerball ticket reserve, but it appears to be genuinely entertaining the idea of rolling the dice on Bitcoin.” @jp_koning http://jpkoning.blogspot.com/2024/12/after-twelve-years-of-writing-about.html

tech titans are like that joke about self-styled "non-conformists" ostentatiously converging on the same set of "eccentricities".

LLMs everywhere! nuclear announcements within days of one another! must contribute to inaugural fund of bold new administration!

truly these are independent minds.

“Either democracy was on the ballot in November, or it wasn’t, and if it was, it makes no political, ethical or strategic sense to act as if we live in normal times.” @jbouie https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/opinion/democrats-trump-opposition.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare ht @jeffjarvis