Daily Tech News 1 May 2025
—Pixy Misa
Top Story- AMD is reportedly preparing Ryzen 9000G desktop processors. (Tom's Hardware)
These will be repurposed laptop chips just like previous G-series CPUs. The difference is that these will offer up to twelve Zen 5 cores (or more specifically four Zen 5 cores and eight of the slower Zen 5c cores) plus up to 16 GPU cores.
And up to 256GB of RAM, since they are after all desktop chips and that's how much you can put in a regular desktop system these days.
Judging by the prices of the laptops though I expect the top models to be expensive.
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Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - April 30, 2025 [TRex]
—Open Blogger
Good evening Horde. The time has come for mid-week shenanigans of the overnight variety.
This is the Wednesday night ONT.
[Top photo: Spiral galaxy NGC 5335; photo credit to NASA via the Hubble Telescope]
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Welcome Back, Dave Barry!
—Buck Throckmorton
For those of us who have taken 50 or more spins around the sun, there are many sources of entertainment that once gave us great pleasure, but which have long since been consigned to our memories. We accept that they were from a different era and are permanently lost. In my case there were certain sports broadcasts, radio shows, and newspaper columnists with whom I felt a personal connection, even if it was only just listening to their show or reading their column.
Among these was Dave Barry and his weekly humor column. It went away in 2005, but after a 20-year absence, it’s back! Rather than being syndicated from the Miami Herald as it was in the old days. Mr. Barry’s revived humor column is now on Substack.
My hometown newspaper carried Dave Barry’s column in my younger days, and my father and I would read it every Sunday, laughing together at Mr. Barry’s humor. A few years after college, in the early 1990s, my employer relocated me to Los Angeles. It was a rough transition for me, as I went from living large in Texas to feeling very alone in California. My father tried to pick me up by connecting with me in one of the ways he knew how – he’d mail me Dave Barry’s humor column each week, then call me a few days later so we could laugh about it.
Some 20 years later my father was in a nursing home, with a cruel, paralyzing disease that left him unable to speak, even though he could still hear and comprehend. I was back in Texas and living in the same city as my father, so I’d visit him a couple times per week. In addition to updating him about what was going on in my life, I’d read him a story from Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits on each visit. Although though my father couldn’t speak, he could still laugh, and he laughed heartily as I read to him.
The great news, as a I mentioned, is that Dave Barry’s humor column is back. Here are a few snippets from some of his recent columns:
“Marriage and Dementia” (4/21/2025)
So in two crucial areas of our married life — plumbing and remote controls — my brain handles the thinking for both of us. I also am in charge of some other areas, including:- Turning off every single light in the house at least six times a day.
- Opening any mail we receive from financial institutions and, after frowning thoughtfully at the contents for 8 to 10 seconds, putting them in a "file."
- Spiders.But there are other areas that my brain does not concern itself with, because I have come to rely on Michelle to think about them. One example is pillows. I never have to think about pillows, because Michelle apparently thinks about them 24/7, the result being that we have acquired enough pillows to blockade the Canadian border. Michelle is also extremely good at detecting odors, so I don't have to. Here's a conversation we have often:
MICHELLE: Do you smell that?
ME: Smell what?
MICHELLE: You can't smell that?
But Michelle's biggest mental responsibility is thinking for both of us about other people. I used to be involved with other people, but over time I outsourced pretty much all social interactions to Michelle, to the point where my only regular human contact, aside from Michelle, is the plumber. As a result, the social part of my brain now has the same level of neural activity as a rutabaga. This means that whenever we encounter another person, I depend on Michelle to supply me with critical information such as:
- Who is this person?
- Do I know this person?
- Am I related to this person?
- Do I have to talk to this person?
- If so, what should I say?
In another of his recent columns, I’m pretty sure that Dave Barry is the first person to have analogized a prostate exam with accessing Tallahassee from a backroad in Alabama.
There are times when it's not easy to be a male. I experienced one of these times a few days ago when, within a span of 20 minutes, three different people, two of whom I had not previously met and one of whom was a member of a completely different biological sex, asked me to lower my pants so they could handle parts of my body that I will refer to here, out of respect for their privacy, as my festicles (not their real name).This happened at the office of my urologist. Like many older men, I see a urologist regularly, and I believe I speak for all of these men when I make the following urgent plea to the urology community: For the love of God, please find a way to get to the prostate gland other than the way you're getting to it now.
When you visit your urologist, he or she always examines your prostate, which is a tricky procedure because of where it's located. If we envision the male reproductive system as a map of Florida, the prostate would be Tallahassee. The problem is, there is no easy way to get to Tallahassee. So the current procedure is for the urologist to approach it via the back road from Alabama.
This means that the prostate examination is quite unpleasant for everyone involved.
Q. How unpleasant is it?
A. When it's about to happen, both you and the urologist are quietly hoping for a direct meteor strike.
With that thought in my mind, I’d like to thank Dave Barry again for reviving his humor column, and also thank him for his special role in how my father and I used Mr. Barry’s humor to lift each other up at difficult times in our lives.
Dave Barry can also be followed on Twitter at @rayadverb.
[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]
Riding The Rails
—WeirdDave
Ever wanted to be a hobo? Riding the rails, no man your master, living life on your terms?
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The Problem With FOIA
—Joe Mannix
In a recent Morning Report, JJ had a link to an article about FOIA. In a surprise to nobody with a pulse, it turns out that the government is as recalcitrant as ever when it comes to FOIA requests. The linked article focuses on the delays in some agencies due to their gutting by DOGE, and the closure of some FOIA-focused offices in other agencies. The Trump administration is better in regard to transparency than others have been, but FOIA remains a poor process fraught with willful and coincidental delays.
FOIA is a bureaucratic process and one must expect delays with any bureaucratic process, but FOIA has long seemed particularly bad. Agencies despise FOIA and don't exactly bend over backwards to comply with it. FOIA violations are rarely punished and disclosures are always slow-waked whenever possible. This is part and parcel with FOIA and the Act has never worked the way its writers intended. This is at least part, I think, because FOIA was badly founded and hasn't kept pace with the times or technology.
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America's Hat decides to make its election about Trump because even Canadian Boomers are addicted to American news fear pron
—TheJamesMadison
But first, the actual results:
A single party needs 172 seats in Parliament for a majority. Labor has a lead in the counts of 168 seats. It looks like they'll have to create a coalition with one other third party to make a majority while the Conservative Party sits in second place with 144 seats.
It's a win. It's a pretty strong win. But I think that the results are being oversold a bit. This feels more like Pierre Poilievre was a deeply underwhelming candidate who ran on no platform other than continuing immigration levels while not being Trudeau and giving conservative voters little reason to turn out for him and his party.
Still, those high propensity Canadian Boomer-libs sure did find a reason to come out to the polls, something they were probably going to do anyway.
Look at that second set of bars in the X post below. 50% of Canadians over 60 said that "Dealing with Donald Trump" was one of their main reasons for voting in this election. Dear lord. Don't you people have, like, your own country?
It’s incredible the effect that man has on the boomers pic.twitter.com/2PKy2BwAYO
— memetic_sisyphus (@memeticsisyphus) April 29, 2025
But, now that you've had your data, how about a juicy bit of anecdote?
Canadian woman reveals her vote was entirely for who to "take care" best of Trump.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 29, 2025
Mental illness.pic.twitter.com/hSBSKnNIAL
But yes, the Liberal Party won:
Candian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won the election Monday to officially replace former leader Justin Trudeau, warned that President Trump is “trying to break us.”In remarks following the victory, securing Carney a full term, he argued that Trump has “fundamentally changed” the world in recent months — pointing to sweeping tariffs and his proposal for Canada to merge with the U.S.
I'm not too broken up about this. Why? It's not my damn country. If Canada wants to import the third world while selling 10% of its former exports to the world that's not the US (their economy is roughly 70% exports to us), then they can do that. Sorry good Morons north of the border. You watched us make some really dumb political choices at the top for a while, and we get to watch you continue to make some more because your olds are more concerned with Rachel Maddow's opinion of Donald Trump than your own housing problems...caused by the influx of immigration.
Gotta make that GDP line go up, even that means importing hundreds of thousands of people a year who...don't contribute to the GDP.
Also, here's a look at Mark Carney:
Ladies and gentlemen,
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 29, 2025
Meet the Prime Minister of Canada and his wife.
Canada has elected its own Tim and Gwen Walz. https://t.co/BrXkFO7nA1
DEI in a fire (or as history shows, a crematorium)
—J.J. Sefton
Report: Thanks To DEI, Most Medical Schools Now Teach Doctors To Damage Patients
Speech First has uncovered records from more than 50 public medical schools across 46 states, revealing that these institutions are training left-wing advocates who prioritize race in treatment, promote gender identities contrary to biology, and downplay obesity’s health risks. As its report shows, under the guise of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), medical schools enforce conformity to leftist ideologies, such as labeling all white men as racists or disconnecting gender from biological sex. It also shows that free speech is on life support, with dissenters of these ideas and practices facing far-reaching consequences.Speech First reviewed hundreds of documented reports, including the case of Dr. Norman Wang, who lost his teaching duties for criticizing affirmative action — which the left uses to admit less qualified minorities to meet racial quotas. Speech First’s report also detailed the case of Dr. Allan Josephson, who was fired for questioning pediatric transgender procedures — which the left champions as necessary for affirming so-called “gender identities.”
We've seen this movie before my friends. Between 1933 and 1945 in Germany, it was the doctors and medical professionals that were on the cutting edge of first the T-4 Euthanasia program that did away with thousands of "useless mouths to feed," primarily the mentally and physically handicapped. Thousands were put to death and many en masse in the first gas chambers. Which later became the model for the genocide of Europe's Jews and other racial and political undesirables.
Considering that the American Left have dehumanized and vilified those of us who reject their worldview on every issue under the sun to the point where political violence aimed at us is justified as necessary and noble in order to preserve "our precious democracy." Trump and all of us who support him and his policies are equated with Nazis and an existential threat not only to them but even to the planet itself.
The New York State Senate is quietly considering a bill to allow euthanasia, which may be brought to a vote as early as this week. The bill would allow patients with a terminal illness or condition to request lethal medication if their doctors expect they have less than six months to live. (It is euphemistically called “medical aid in dying,” and the bill specifies that it is not to be considered euthanasia or suicide, but I will refer to it in those terms because that’s what it is.) . . When euthanasia is an available option, it becomes possible for hospitals to “eliminate” inconvenient and expensive patients—without going to such lengths. There are all sorts of ways to make your patients really unhappy, so many ways to make euthanasia look attractive. Do we really want to put euthanasia on the table for hospitals and insurance companies, for nursing homes and doctors? To give them even strong incentives to make their patients miserable?
And it's a very short walk indeed to euthanizing those who are politically dangerous to society as determined of course by another corrupted profession: the legal system and judges. And again, in Germany from '33-'45 the judges upheld laws that wiped out millions of "enemies of the state."
And here we have the left bastardizing the concept of due process to protect actual foreign violent criminals and terrorist sympathizers and actual terrorist/cohorts.
We also have states where parents who oppose their children having sex changes will lose their parental rights and have the children taken away from them.
Next stop, Birkenau, my friends.
Q1 GDP drops 0.3%, first contraction in 3 years
—TheJamesMadison
Mostly because of a huge jump in imports.
I mean...huge.
-5% GDP change just because of the imports.
The decline was driven by a large surge in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP. Imports surged at an annualized rate of 41.3% in the first quarter as companies front-loaded orders ahead of anticipated tariffs from the Trump administration. The surge in imports was good for a -5% contribution to the GDP calculation in the first quarter.
Other than that, how were things?
Honestly...good.
Final sales of goods to domestic purchasers, another sign of demand in the economy, grew at a 3% annualized rate in the first quarter, above the 2.9% seen in the fourth quarter of 2024.
...
The "core" Personal Consumption Expenditures index, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, grew by 3.5% in the first quarter, above estimates for 3.2% and above the 2.6% seen in the prior quarter.
And, remember, this is all happening while inflation is crashing to the point of touching on deflation. From a couple of weeks ago:
U.S. consumer prices fall for first time in almost three yearsU.S. consumer prices dipped in March, defying predictions that Trump's proposed tariffs would trigger higher inflation. The decline in the Consumer Price Index marks the first monthly drop in nearly three years--and only the second since inflation spiked under former President Biden.
Key Details:
March's 0.1% decline in overall prices came as a surprise to economists, who had expected a 0.1% increase. Core prices--excluding food and energy--rose by just 0.1%, well below the 0.3% that had been forecast.
Which means that consumer spending is increasing...while prices are decreasing. The increase isn't because of inflation. Weird, huh?
I can't find mention of government spending in that first Yahoo article, so I searched out and saw this on the actual BEA release:
The decrease in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected an increase in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, and a decrease in government spending. These movements were partly offset by increases in investment, consumer spending, and exports. For more information, refer to the "Technical Notes" below.
...
The decrease in government spending reflected a decrease in federal government spending (led by defense consumption expenditures) that was partly offset by an increase in state and local government spending (led by compensation of employees).
So, essentially...this is kind of exactly what I imagined early Trump, post-Biden would be. A small contraction in the GDP measures while the economy itself actually does okay while waiting for longer-term effects to settle in.
Wednesday Morning Rant
—Joe Mannix
It's old news that nobody trusts the press. As of late last year, Gallup breathlessly reported that for the third year in a row, more people had "no trust" in the media than had "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of trust. The level of trust has been bouncing around the same levels for a long time, but distrust is skyrocketing. This is a surprise to nobody and the only problem with such findings is that around a third of people claim to trust the media.
But there is more wrong with the press than the fact that they're inveterate liars and propagandists. That's a tale as old as time. Another problem with the press that doesn't get much attention, though, is crashing quality. They don't even have ability to clearly communicate their lies anymore. All their prattle about "editorial oversight" and "newsroom controls" and the like doesn't amount to a hill of beans. These people write for a living, and do a bad job of it. The lies sting even more when they're delivered so poorly.
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The Morning Report — 4/ 30 /25
—J.J. Sefton
Good morning kids. First up today, I note with a great deal of sadness the passing of David Horowitz. His personal story, from radical red diaper baby to an indefatigable warrior in the cause of liberty and truth and a champion of Western and American values is one I've always marveled at as it does give hope for future generations. His writings as well as his websites, Frontpage Mag and DiscovertheNetworks are invaluable resources, and I hope his contributors and staff will keep them going.
David Horowitz was one of the towering intellects and most perceptive thinkers of the late twentieth century and early twenty-first; he was also a man of unusual courage and remarkable vision. Though few people today realize it, David Horowitz was also one of the most influential people of our time, as he was one of the first leftists of any prominence to leave the leftist ranks and become a stalwart warrior for freedom.Multitudes followed in his wake, often without realizing who it was who had blazed the trail for them. We are all in his debt not only for blazing that trial, but for the fact that after he established himself as a voice for freedom, sound values, and patriotism, David Horowitz spearheaded efforts to seize the intellectual and moral initiative from the left, and to articulate a vision for an America that really is the land of the free and the home of the brave.
After decades of the left’s cultural hegemony, David Horowitz played a massive role in establishing a large-scale movement of American patriots who refused to accept the claims of self-anointed “progressives” that their victory was inevitable, that they were on the right side of history, and that surrender was wiser than resistance. Today, that movement is broad-based, and one of its foremost exponents is in the Oval Office. Trump himself called Horowitz his “great friend.”
Godspeed and Rest in Peace David Horowitz. May his memory be for a blessing and here's hoping his life and legacy can help others blinded by Leftism make the scales fall from their eyes and see the light.
In its two-page order, the court said it was acting to protect public confidence in Wisconsin courts during the criminal proceedings against Dugan. The order noted that the court was acting on its own initiative and was not responding to a request from anyone. Liberal justices control the court 4-3.“It is ordered … that Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah C. Dugan is temporarily prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit court judge in the state of Wisconsin, effective the date of this order and until further order of the court,” the justices wrote.
Dugan’s attorney, Craig Mastantuono, had no immediate comment. A state court spokesperson said that a reserve judge began filling in for Dugan on Monday for an indefinite period.
Kind of interesting phraseology considering hat that Leftist line is that Trump is trampling on the constitution and due process and that illegal aliens are being deported illegally or lawlessly or whatever crock of shit line they're spouting. After all, if Trump is literally Hitler, than it goes that any and every illegal alien is the moral equivalent of Anne Frank and so there is nothing that is beyond the pale in protecting these little darling rapists, murderers drug- and human-traffickers from being sent back to whence they came.
They may be insane whacko Leftists but even they must understand that the vast majority of sane American people are looking at what the Democrats are doing and are repulsed by it.
Immigration policy, the intentionally erased border and the bloodshed and destruction it wrought is the key issue that propelled Donald Trump to a massive landslide victory last November. And his first 100 days have been nothing short of spectacular, on this issue and on many others, regardless of the what the bullshit polls and propagandists claim.
1. The Border is Closing—FastDay One, the new Trump Department of Homeland Security—under the iron will of Secretary Kristi Noem—reinstated Remain in Mexico, revoked Biden’s reckless parole authority abuses, and began mass processing of illegal entrants for immediate deportation. Border apprehensions have dropped 41% since January. Trump didn’t need 100 days to act—he needed one. And construction has resumed on key wall segments. ICE raids are back. Sanctuary cities are sweating. And the asylum loopholes are slamming shut.
2. Energy Independence, Round Two . .
. . . 3. America First is Back on the World Stage . .
4. The Administrative State is in Free Fall . .
(And on and on and on). . . But let’s not be fooled: the regime that tried to bury him, that tried to bury us, is still fully operational. The sabotage, the leaks, the censorship, the media gaslighting—it’s all still active.
So we stay active too. Show up. Speak up. Push back. Share the truth. Flood the zone with facts. And above all—stand with the only man in Washington who’s kept every word he’s ever given us.
Trump is proving once again: America can be great when it’s led with strength, clarity, and conviction.
He’s keeping his word. Let’s help him finish the work.
On a separate note, for those old enough to remember, on this day 50 years ago, the Republic of South Vietnam fell after the North Vietnamese army, in complete contravention to the peace deal negotiated by Richard Nixon two years earlier was ripped to shreds and invaded the south and rolled into Saigon. Of course, and once again, the traitorous Democrat party tied Gerald Ford's hands and prevented or scared him into not carrying out our treaty obligations by defending South Vietnam. A political third rail but alas, by allowing the North to roll over the South, it engendered a genocidal communist wave that envelope much of southeast asia, including Cambodia which resulted in the mass murder in the killing fields of several million people.
Of course our involvement in Vietnam and the resulting insane foreign policy of waging wars not to win but to beef up the stock portfolios of the Nancy Pelosi and DIck Cheney set is a legacy of our involvement, to say nothing of 57,000 deadAmericans who perished for nothing. God bless each and every one of them and for all who came home and many who suffered and still suffer because of their service.
Fifty years have not eclipsed the tragedy of April 30, 1975, the day on which Saigon and all South Vietnam fell to invading communist forces. Most recently, it was invoked in comparison to the calamitous departure of American troops from Afghanistan, which also had the appearance of a rout. Were the two events points along the same continuum of folly? . . If there is a “lesson of Vietnam,” it is that there can be no half-waging of war, for it guarantees “prolonged indecision.” The brutal acts that victory requires are why war must be absolutely the last resort. Furthermore, the American people can only be asked to make the sacrifice of war in their own vital interest, not as an act of benefaction to someone else. Identifying that interest may not be simple, in the absence of actual attack on the United States, but it is the first prerequisite.The legacy of the Vietnam War, for all its tragedy and folly, lies also in the example of heroism and devotion set by fighting men, under the most unfavorable circumstances and without the recompense of ultimate victory. “Was there a man dismayed?/ Not though the soldier knew/ Someone had blundered.” Let the devotion of those who fought in a noble cause as much as the awful result be remembered a half century later.
And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.
- ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
- California state Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas has introduced a bill that would eliminate criminal penalties for anyone convicted of welfare fraud, provided they stole less than $25,000 in taxpayer-funded benefits.
California Bill Would Decriminalize Welfare Fraud Under $25,000
- We are very saddened to announce the passing of our Center’s founder – a giant in the conservative liberty movement for over 40 years. David Horowitz R.I.P.
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Daily Tech News 30 April 2025
—Pixy Misa
Top Story- Google Play has lost nearly half of its apps in the past year. Here's why that's a good thing. (Tech Crunch)
Developers aren't leaving Android. Much. Rather, Google is belatedly taking steps to weed out the tsunami of crap that has been infesting the plague store for years.
Not sure how you weed a tsunami. Which might be why it has taken them so long.
In addition to removing 1.6 million garbage apps, Google rejected 2.3 million new apps before they could ever reach the app store, and banned 158,000 developer accounts that were attempting various kinds of nefariousness.
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Tuesday Overnight Open Thread - April 29, 2025 [scampydog]
—Open Blogger
Good evening and thank you for stopping by the Tuesday, ONT.
A couple of shout outs this evening:
- Big thanks to ONT Cob Emeritus, Misanthropic Humanitarian, for covering last week with a dandy evening of content.
- Daywalker Cobs are doing great work while Ace is parts unknown and doing ... we probably don't want to know.
Let's see what amount of random fun we can get into this evening. Lurkers, c'mon out tonight - let it fly.
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Cafe Bat Thread
—TheJamesMadison
stop what you’re doing and look at this baby bat eating a strawberry pic.twitter.com/J6H0g18KGO
— Mirthful Moments (@moment_mirthful) May 31, 2024
The most fashionable bat I've ever seen!
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) April 2, 2024
Meet the painted bat (Kerivoula picta), also known as butterfly bat, found throughout different parts of Asia. pic.twitter.com/jmp2GnBUAL
This is a Baby Goblin bat (Mormopterus minutus), native to Cuba
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫s (@FabulousWeird) September 2, 2020
📷 RAU pic.twitter.com/pLmJE8Bn4P
Defying the Sloppy “No Dress Code” Dress Code at the Start-up I Once Worked For
—Buck Throckmorton
Last night I had some fun at the expense of tech industry “start-up culture,” so I’ll stay on that theme tonight.
A decade ago I was recruited and hired in a finance capacity to try to help turn around a struggling start-up. (It ultimately went out of business. Shocker.) The President and the CEO were hopelessly distracted by idiotic management gimmicks, and the employees wasted most of their time on peer coaching, team building, accountability training, breakthrough communication, goal setting, etc. (Among the goals imposed on me were “Embrace the Uncomfortable” and “Kickassery.”)
The CEO and the President wore jeans and sneakers, and by stressing “no dress code” what they really meant was “Dress like me in jeans and sneakers.” I didn’t. I wore dress slacks, loafers, and a collared shirt every day. This annoyed them greatly, and the President had several conversations with me about how I was dressing. Below is a compendium of how our conversations went.
PRESIDENT: We have no dress code here. People can wear whatever they prefer.
ME: That’s great.
PRESIDENT: So, just about everyone chooses to wear jeans and sneakers.
ME: That’s great.
PRESIDENT: So you can wear jeans and sneakers if you’d prefer.
ME: Thanks, but I prefer not to.
PRESIDENT: OK. Fine. But you don’t have to wear slacks and loafers. You can wear whatever you find most comfortable.
ME: I find slacks and loafers most comfortable when I’m sitting at a desk.
PRESIDENT: Well, most employees find jeans and sneakers to be the most comfortable.
ME: I don’t. Do you want me to wear jeans and sneakers?
PRESIDENT: You can wear whatever you want.
ME: I want to wear a collared shirt, slacks and loafers.
PRESIDENT: OK, but many employees find that their wardrobe makes a personal statement.
ME: So does mine.
PRESIDENT: What is your statement?
ME: That I prefer to wear slacks, a collared shirt, and loafers when I work.
PRESIDENT: Don’t you want to make an original statement?
ME: Wearing jeans and sneakers to match my co-workers would state that I am actually unoriginal, and that I am simply complying with the company dress code.
PRESIDENT: But we don’t have a dress code! In fact, many employees wear shirts with an ironic message. Our culture stresses individuality.
ME: Would it be ironic if I wore a suit and tie?
PRESIDENT: It would look like you work at a place with a dress code and that’s what’s so great about us – we don’t have a dress code!
ME: It sure sounds like there’s a dress code. But if there is not one, then I prefer to wear a collared shirt, slacks, and loafers.
PRESIDENT: When we take a group picture for our next press release, will you at least wear jeans, sneakers, and our company t-shirt for that one photo shoot?
ME: Of course. I’ll wear whatever you tell me to wear, any time you request that I do so.
PRESIDENT: You know, we often break into spontaneous fun and game activities which spill outside. Wearing jeans and sneakers allows employees to switch gears without having to change.
ME: That’s OK. I don’t want to play games or roughhouse outside. I want to work.
PRESIDENT: One thing that employees appreciate about us not having a dress code is that they don’t have to shop for work clothes. They can wear whatever is in their closet.
ME: I have a closet full of slacks and shirts but only two pairs of jeans. If you want me to wear jeans every day then I need to go shopping for new work clothes.
PRESIDENT: Does it bother you that just about all the other employees choose to wear jeans?
ME: No. Does it bother the other employees that I don’t wear jeans?
PRESIDENT: Some people here feel that your wardrobe makes a judgmental statement about how others dress. Do you feel we should have a more professional dress code here?
ME: No. You just need to be honest about the dress code you are trying to enforce on me.
[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]
Hey...Nike! Stay Away From Our Children! Isn't Using Them As Slave Labor Enough?
—CBD
VP Vance Takes On Nike's Alleged Funding Of Youth Trans Study: 'Craziness Hasn't Gone Away'
Nike appears to have, at some point, helped fund a study on the effect of "gender-affirming" care among young male athletes to see if it's possible to impair them enough so they can "fairly" and "safely" compete in girls' and women's sports.While the company has since told OutKick that the study "was never initialized" and "is not moving forward," it's unclear when those decisions might have been made. The company has refused to provide additional context, despite the study's head researcher – Dr. Kathryn Ackerman – and a secondary researcher – Joanna Harper, a male who "identifies" as a woman – both publicly stating that Nike was funding the study.
Boycott...Boycott...Boycott.
There is no other way to get through to companies that are hellbent on supporting the destruction of our children and our culture.
Well, maybe just nuke Nike from orbit...it's the only way to be sure.
Quick Hits
—TheJamesMadison
There have been rumors that some faction of insiders in the DNC were unhappy with the election of David Hogg as Vice-Chair since it happened. There have been accusations of him misusing Committee email lists to fundraise for his own PACs, for instance. Perhaps, things are moving to the public space:
🚨 LMAO! Because of the DNC's insane diversity policies, they're now considering OVERRULING Vice Chair David Hogg's victory in favor of a Native American woman!
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 29, 2025
They will NEVER let go of DEI.🤣
Per Semafor, Kalyn Free is challenging her defeat to Hogg, a white male, at the last… pic.twitter.com/6xfWJ4J7ol
Here is a video of Spanish destruction engineers celebrating the implosion of steam stacks from a nuclear power plant:
Spain three years ago:
— Ada Lluch (@ada_lluch) April 28, 2025
pic.twitter.com/LadZ6WdiVz
I just saw it recently and thought it was kind of cool seeing dudes celebrating a good job well done.
No idea why it popped up in my feed, though. Something big happening in Spain?
Oh, maybe it has something to do with this:
Spain’s grid operator Red Eléctrica has confirmed that renewable energy sources fully met electricity demand across the country’s peninsular system for the first time on April 16.Wind generated 256 GWh, accounting for 45.8% of total output. Solar followed with 151 GWh, or 27%. Hydroelectric sources added 129 GWh, making up 23.1% of the mix. Solar thermal contributed 11 GWh, or 2%, while other renewables added another 11 GWh, or 1.9%. Renewable waste generated 1 GWh, or 0.2%.
Bully for them! I'm sure nothing bad happened.
Now, off to find other news...
How about this:
Fat Illinois man LARPs so hard he thinks he'll be able to do anything in some kind of ground-level resistance against the man who controls the military:
Dem Gov. Pritzker: “Never in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.”
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) April 28, 2025
I warned before the election, the left is planning the BLM riots 2.0.
It’s coming.pic.twitter.com/AQ9clwZFjJ
Chuck Todd sends a message that reporters need to stop acting like they did anything wrong about their coverage of Biden's mental status. I mean...I'm not entirely sure what his point is. He calls it a press failure, but, then he does the No True Scotsman thing about CNN and MSNBC not being real news, and then he says that it's all just a right wing manufactured narrative to pit news organizations against each other.
.@chucktodd went OFF on the "virtue signaling" of reporters who play into the Trump narrative of a cover-up of Biden's health by the media pic.twitter.com/VUCYsz4K1r
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) April 28, 2025
One might say that he's kind of stupid, caught in a place he can't defend, and is lashing out.
But that wouldn't be fair. I'm pretty sure he's really stupid, not kind of stupid.
100 Days Into The Trump Presidency, And Things Seem To Be Calming Down!
—CBD
I guess in a perfect world the profound shift in our management of world trade would have been planned perfectly on Day One.
But it's not a perfect world, and observing initial effects and then adjusting the tariffs is a reasonable approach.
It scares the snot out of financial markets, and the degree of indecision forces companies to minimize spending and hold off on planning until the tariffs are set.
But...is there a better way to do it? Sure. Incremental tariffs over many months or years, but that introduces the same total uncertainty, just spread out over a much longer time frame.
Tariff Relief Coming for Automakers Producing in the US, Says White House
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order later today to cushion the impact of his automobile tariffs, the White House said.Earlier this month, the president’s 25 percent tariffs on imported vehicles to the United States went into effect. The tariffs are intended to bolster domestic car manufacturing.
Senior Commerce Department officials confirmed that car companies will continue to pay a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles, but they will not be subjected to other tariffs, such as the 25 percent levy on steel and aluminum or 10 universal baseline duties.
Trump’s executive action is meant to prevent certain tariffs from stacking on top of each other.
One huge advantage of the Trump technique is that it is showing the markets that the bombastic speeches and red hot rhetoric is being tempered by a rational and flexible approach that adjusts to the appearance of unpredicted events and responses.
It's probably the best anyone can hope for, and the markets and manufacturers seem to be reacting positively.
Is the Dream of Blue Texas still alive?
—TheJamesMadison
As long as I've been paying attention to politics since the late 2000s, Democrats have dreamed of turning Texas blue.
They have failed every election since.
2008 Presidential election: McCain by 12.
2008 Senate election: Cornyn by 12.
2012 Presidential election: Romney by 16.
2012 Senate election: Cruz by 16.
2014 Senate election: Cornyn by 27.
2016 Presidential election: Trump by 6.
2018 Senate election: Cruz by 2.
Oh, no...maybe it'll finally come true!
2024 Presidential election: Trump by 14.
2024 Senate election: Cruz by 9.
But maybe this time will be different! What if they get the guy who got close to Cruz to face off against either Cornyn or the guy who's most likely going to knock out Cornyn in the primary, Ken Paxton?
🚨 BETO O'ROURKE considers running for U.S. Senate in Texas in 2026 - Fox
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 29, 2025
"If it comes to pass that this is what the people of Texas want, that it's the highest and best use of what I can give to you, then yes I will." pic.twitter.com/N1J0h0SMZq
Let me say this right now:
I do not think Beto O'Rourke would have any chance against Ken Paxton. Yes, the GOP machine in Texas hates Paxton, but they've heavily weakened themselves in their pursuit to destroy him. There's a reason he's leading early polls (spit) against Cornyn, and it's not because the GOPe in Texas is getting stronger.
Also, Beto is a three time loser at this point (Senate, President, and then Governor). His last effort had him losing by 14 points.
I bet he'd raise plenty of money from Hollywood, though.
Trump Folds by having China waive tariffs on US ethane imports without giving China anything in return
—TheJamesMadison
That's how it works, right?
Any time a tariff gets rescinded anywhere it's Trump folding?
I'm pretty sure that's why I learned on Bluesky.
China has waived the 125% tariff on ethane imports from the United States imposed earlier this month, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday, among a group of products that have been granted exemptions. The move will ease pressure on Chinese firms that import U.S. ethane for petrochemical production as well as provide an outlet for the natural gas liquid, a byproduct of U.S. shale gas production.
So, let me get this straight...China is rescinding import tariffs on energy products...the main driver of economic activity.
Without getting anything from Trump yet (I'm sure talks are ongoing, and this rescission is probably part of negotiations).
Man, that Trump, the big dummy. He sure is lucky here.
Kindlot corrects me:
26 Ethane is used in plastic manufacturing and is a side-product from natural gas drilling. It is not specifically an energy product. Posted by: Kindltot at April 29, 2025 01:52 PM (D7oie)
