Above: NEWST AD BY THE LINCOLN PROJECT ” I’M BEGINNING TO REGRET”
Provocation bulls-eye as the Mooch taunts Trump on Fox
The Lincoln Project consists of anti-Trump republicans, led by George Conway, husband of Kellyanne, and their disgust with the current occupant of the White House seems to grow daily. Though perhaps the best known Republican organization devoted to removing Trump, the Right Side PAC, also founded by Republicans including Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director, along with Republican Voters Against Trump aka RVAT are also concentrating on working to consolidate the anti-Trump vote among Republicans, specifically.
All in all this has recently made for some interesting fireworks in the twittersphere and there have been some truly classic anti-Trumps ads produced, some of which we have featured recently (see the newest, above).
One successful strategy employed by all of the groups mentioned above, that appears to be working, is to attempt to “hit a nerve” and provoke a reaction, since, ultimately, Trump is the absolute best at making Trump look bad.
Above: Photo by Pauley Teeks via Twitter
The overall plan of elephants vs. their own appears to have legs…
This plan appears to have hit the motherlode in a recent exchange that produced a typically trashy Trump reaction and some amazing replies – a “mano a mano” tweet-war cage-match exclusively among Republicans on either side of the great Trump divide. After this it will be a canyon.
Scaramucci was interviewed Sunday night on Fox, on the show “The Next Revolution”, a pro-Trump Fox news staple, hosted by Steve Hilton. As could be expected, Trump was apparently glued to the tube as the show aired live and couldn’t resist tweeting a personal attack tweet directed at Scaramucci.
.@Scaramucci, who just made a fool of himself as he got taken apart by @SteveHiltonx, only lasted 11 days in his favorite of all time Administration, before being fired for, again, making a fool of himself. Anthony is a loser who begged to come back. I said “No Thanks”.
You could almost hear the chorus of “gotcha” from the Trump baiting pros as they responded with biting and incisive clarity and started an avalanche of critics and observers:
The Loser is you: 162,000 dead, 40 million American jobs lost on your watch. We are tired of all of the losing. We wanted you to succeed but you are an abject failure. Thankfully it will be over on 11/3. America will heal and rebuild. https://t.co/zRvJQzJo6k
Use these updates to explore and plan your next adventure
During the WWDC virtual event, Apple previewed the latest version of its upcoming desktop operating system – macOS Big Sur. There are so many new features, it is easy to get lost in all the detail. One highlight that stands out is the updated version of the Maps app. MacOS Big Sur is set for release next month for fall, there is, however a developer beta version currently available for download if you want a sneak peek before the official release date. Since this is beta (beta 4) and meant for developers, it is best only to download and test on a machine that you do not depend on as bugs are to be expected until the final official release (at least).
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We have tested this and compiled features from what information Apple has released so far. The completely redesigned version of the app makes it even easier to find your navigation essentials. The new interface will be a more streamlined experience including: “Favorites” like home or work , “My Guides” where you can plan a trip or save places of interest you want to one day visit, and will also save your “Recent Places.”
Another new feature on the Mac is the ability to see the ETA from friends or family members that shared their routes with you. In this sort of hybrid with the features of “find friends”, now within maps, you will be able to see the current location of friends who have shared a route, and then you can monitor the progress as they journey towards their destinations.
The Maps app in Big Sur will also include all the newest features of Maps that will be included in the newest iPhone update iOS14 as well which will include: Guide, Cycling and EV routing.
Plan a trip with travel recommendations via Guides
Maps will offer all new tools and features that will elevate travel and planning your next exploration of the world. Through Guides, you can discover new places as well as events and activities to participate using trusted sources.
Apple is said to be working with top companies like Lonely Planet, Zagat, and AllTrails to give you the best information. You can also customize your trip with all the places you want to visit (ex: shops, restaurants, parks, historical landmarks, etc) and share with your family and friends. To start, Guides will be available for cities including San Francisco, New York, London and Los Angeles, with plans to expand many more cities options.
The new Maps will make more countries available to view that will include Canada, Ireland and the UK. Then using the “Look Around” feature will allow you a 360-degree view of a destination (which is extremely cool on the big screen of your Mac). You can scroll through streets and get closer to a realistic taste of what to expect; giving rich detail of roads, buildings, parks, beaches and much more.
Apple will also make navigating within airports and shopping centers a little less stressful with detailed views of its indoor maps.
Useful new features for bike riders and EV excursions
Need to get to a destination and you want to take your bicycle? No problem. Your cycling trips can now be routed from your Mac and then sent directly to your iPhone when you are on the go. Maps will provide routes for cyclists to find bike lanes, paths or bike-friendly roadways to reach your desired location. There will also be the ability to preview the elevation of the roads and have the option to avoid routes that have steep inclines or stairs that will make for an easier and smoother ride
Apple will also be utilizing EV routing for those that want to plan a trip using their electric vehicles. EV routing will help take into account your electric vehicle’s route (highlighting weather, elevation and locations of charging stations). When you add your electric vehicle to your iPhone, the Maps app will keep track of your EV’s current charge level.
Photo / Apple Maps for Cycling
Since there are so many features coming in macOS 11 Big Sur and many of those will now be even more integrated with the carious iOS, iPad OS, watch OS and so forth, it’s a great idea to keep tuned in as we will continue to produce updates on all the features, tips and tricks for all your Apple devices.
In her latest podcast she dishes on feelings brought on the current state of the world…
The former first lady, Michelle Obama spoke with her friend Michele Norris on the second episode of her new podcast and shared an incredibly relatable feeling for many of us… she’s dealing with “some form of low-grade depression”.
Many public figures don’t make it a point to discuss private and personal matters like mental health. With so much going on in the world, it is extremely helpful and insightful to know that that most people wouldn’t be feeling “normal” or happy, based on the experiences of a “famous person”. Such a presence like Michelle Obama speaking out and giving depression and mental health anecdotes, culled from her deeply personal experiences, in general is much appreciated. Such generous sharing of her feelings could potentially help people to de-stigmatize depression.
A timely message we can all take to heart
Obama was able as always to beautifully articulate the turmoil that the world has been experiencing: coronavirus, racial strife, and the Trump administration and how it has taken a toll on her.
“Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife, and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting.”
michelle obama
As only Michelle Obama can, in her podcast she talks about staying optimistic and hopeful during these turbulent times, and gave the sage advice to always listen to your spirit and body and take the time to recharge.
Of course, the fans are loving it and the trolls are, well, trolls. There’s a tweet that’s out there, as a reply to every other Tesla tweet, that shows a roof leaking in a Tesla back seat. Perhaps it’s a disgruntled customer but from the constant re-tweeting of this clip it seems more likely that its from the underground Tesla resistance (Oil Companies, Short Sellers, etc).
There are, at the same time, thankfully, genuine lovers that are more expressive, and it seems creative, like this guy:
There are more than just fans in the thread – there seems to be actual joy emanating from Model Y owners. And S3XY fun seems to be permeating the attitude In the responses to this tweet – which is a pretty big departure from the usual war zone of every stripe and troll farmer present in so many topics and threads.
This fellow wanted to show off his 360˚ schmanzy fancy camera:
Blast at a firework depot rocks Lebanese residents from miles away
A huge explosion has rocked Beirut, the capital of Lebanon on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, causing many injuries, overturned cars, blown out windows and damaged buildings all across the city. This is a breaking and developing story so there will be additional details to follow. According to the most current information, sources on location are stating this blast was likely an accident caused by a fire from within a warehouse that holds highly explosive materials (i.e. fireworks) near the port in Beirut.
The captured video leading up to the explosion shows a large mushroom-shaped plume of billowing smoke, above a fire with crackling lights that appear to be fireworks. Seconds later, a fiery red cloud immediately follows a huge blast, sending massive amounts of smoke barreling towards the city. You can hear bystanders scream, undoubtedly trying to get to safety. The smoke and shockwave of the blast has destroyed buildings miles away from the port with final reports of the damage expected to be even worse.
Lebanese security official announces that "explosive material" was stored in a warehouse in Beirut's port (a very heavily populated area). Israel has long accused Hezbollah of storing explosive weapons in downtown Beirut. At least 15 people killed and hundreds more injured.
Residential properties as far away as 10 kilometers ( 6 miles) also experienced damage from the blow. Witnesses reported seeing the fire initially without realizing that an explosion would soon follow. Due to this confusion, the blast appears to have caused many that were in close proximity to experience temporary deafening effects. The explosion was so strong that the sound of the blast could be heard as far away as Nicosia on the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus which is 240 kilometers (150 miles) away.
This developing story likely to have dire updates To come
Hamad Hasan, Lebanon’s health minister has stated that many have been injured and hospitals are anticipated to be overwhelmed by casualties of the blast. Hasan later remarked to the news that more than 50 people have been killed and more than 3,000 injured. A Lebanese Red Cross official, George Kettaneh said there were hundred of casualties – both dead and wounded but was unable to give an exact number. Marwan Abboud, the governor of Beirut spoke on its local television network explaining they did not know exactly what caused the explosion and called the event a national catastrophe.
The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Hassan Diab stated in a televised speech that those responsible for the explosion would be held accountable for its devastating results.
“I promise you that this catastrophe will not pass without accountability… Those responsible will pay the price.”
Hassan Diab / lebanon’s prime minister
BREAKING: Massive explosion in Beirut. Footage from the daily star office now in Lebanon pic.twitter.com/2uBsKP5wCH
— Ghada Alsharif | غادة الشريف (@GhadaaSharif) August 4, 2020
It has been a truly horrible time in history for Lebanon, the explosion just making matters even worse. The country is already suffering an extreme economic crisis that has left many of its population suffering from poverty. In addition the country has been in a civil war for nearly 25 years, as well as suffering due to the repeated conflicts with Israel and Hezbollah, a militant group, near Lebanon’s southern border.
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Each of the big four have new strategies to diversify into each other’s garden
‘This is the beginning of the end of Big Tech as we know it’ according to professor Scott Galloway and the Big Tech giants are well aware of this fact. Unsurprisingly, they are already at work to undermine one another and find ways to grab pieces of each other’s pies.
Where one has a stranglehold, such as Amazon does based on the sheer size and breath of its 3rd party marketplace, another, such as Google, will look for a way to gain a foothold, no matter how small, as the winds of change rise in Washington and among the public.
Amazon’s dominance is based on its virtual monopoly in eCommerce transactions, which is itself, a result of “bribing” customers with below wholesale prices on hot items, giving the customer the illusion of an unbeatable deal site.
The strategy is powerful for obvious reasons (unless you are a foreign exporter to the US, then it is illegal). Who doesn’t like to pay below wholesale prices with “free” shipping (if you pay for Prime)? A second benefit of this strategy (also potentially against antitrust laws) is that no competitor can afford to use a similar strategy unless they want to go bankrupt in short order.
Enter another untouchable giant: Google. Since it’s Google Shopping and other eCommerce search features struggle based on the unbeatable system Amazon has devised (even as Google commands 91.75% of search traffic), the only way to get a jump on the game is to fight back in kind. Bribe somebody. Fortunately for the US economy, truth and justice, this time the parties to be enticed are the 3rd party sellers.
With fees for 3rd party sales on Amazon rising as high as 30% in some cases, even as Amazon competes directly against those small businesses (“internal competitors” in Amazonian parlance), Google’s new idea of a zero commission structure just might gain some traction.
Already under fire for rigging search results to favor itself, Google is doubling down, in a sense, via drastically lowering fees for 3rd party sellers to use Google Shopping to get direct sales from Shopify or other non-Amazon sources.
Since Amazon’s fees can approach 30% for some lower cost items (such as books) this will be a powerful incentive for sellers to shift focus away from Amazon’s predatoryfee structure and to a platform that potentially could bring in sales with less cost to the seller (and therefore a better end value to the buyer).
Change is welcome, especially at zero percent
Google is offering zero commission listing and, in a big announcement, also currently charging zero, in the US, for the “buy on google” checkout system. This is in the process of expanding and rolling out, and, potentially, by the fall and holiday season, could provide an interesting shift in how small business can operate online.
Walmart started allowing 3rd party sellers onto its online store several years ago but, recently, kicked that process into overdrive with a new system that allows all Shopifyaccounts the choice to sell on Walmart.com via a direct link between the two.
Bookshop.org, with whom Lynxotic is affiliated via our sister site Cherrybooks.org, is also a company that is attempting to break the stranglehold Amazon has had on online book sales. Surprisingly successful already, its B Corp non-profit-like structure and alliances with independent bookstores has exploded. Affiliate advertising from huge media companies such as the New York Times have climbed on board and the largest book distributor in the US is a partner for fulfillment. Bookshop.Org has been able to put a tiny dent in the largest, most powerful competitor imaginable, showing, perhaps, that there are cracks emerging in the corrupt business models of these giants and they are not 100% invulnerable after all.
Apple will expose the worst of predatory surveillance by Facebook, Amazon and Google with new privacy features
While wrong is wrong regardless of the perpetrator, when it comes to gargantuan tech behemoths, a company with a clearly defined mission such as Apple or Tesla are in a different category than Amazon, Facebook and Google.
While Tesla’s stated mission is to “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy” and Apple’s original mission statement, written by Steve Jobs was “to make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind”, predatory vultures hide behind ridiculous slogans like “aim to be Earth’s most customer centric company” (while decimating partners and competitors by any means necessary) and “don’t be evil” (don’t get caught) and “to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together” (…all while stealing data for profit from every person on earth).
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It’s just not the same – particularly as Steve Jobs, while at Apple, pushed himself and his company to invent and build many powerful examples of “tools for the mind” and Elon Musk’s Tesla brought the electric car back from the dead (after it was nearly snuffed out by big oil) and is making incredible headway in revolutionizing battery and solar technology, all with a view to literally save the planet from a climate catastrophe.
Bezos? Became the richest living human via the destruction of millions of small business and jobs all while undercutting competitors by selling virtually anything he got his hands on at a significant loss; simply to cause the demise of any competitor or partner that might threaten his rise to idiotically massive personal wealth.
Zuckerberg? Pioneered ways to suck data from virtually every human with a view to monetizing every living soul exclusively for himself and his company. Illustration? Dividing Facebook’s market cap by the number of employees it has yields the sum of $14,906,500.00 per employee. Macy’s? That’d be $16,829. (Thanks to Scott Galloway for the numbers)
Google merely owns (91.75% as of June 2020) the search entryway to all web sites. It decides if you should or should not find them. If it can boost profits by hiding one and featuring another, either through “paid search” or by pointing you toward its own properties while hiding competitors from you, it will do exactly that. Ask the European Union’s anti-trust investigators. For them, this company is a convicted law breaker.
Announced at WWDC 2020, Apple is adding serious features to its various new operating systems. One big feature in Safari is the ability to track, and block as desired, all manner of data intrusions. These are not only identified, but shown and tracked and analyzed with a kind of professional dashboard, showing just how invasive and persistent these invisible spies are.
Apple is big, with more than 1.4 billion devices. Starting in around 2021 they will all be able to identify and block data surveillance by Amazon (the largest of all spies), Google and Facebook, among others. Thanks that’s not a big deal? Think again.
…the overall stance being taken regarding online tracking and surveillance should be seen for what it is: the first step to correcting the mistake of history that allowed the internet to be kidnapped and held hostage by a handful of companies that pretend to be “free” or “customer obsessed” while they are, in fact, Robber Barons that make the Standard Oil monopoly look like Santa Claus.
– D.L.
Tracking the Trackers will Change Your Life
Tracking the trackers is a clear and aggressive privacy stance, taken by the one company among the big four, that does not have a huge stake in you being the victim of online surveillance and tracking.
Not to say that Apple is blameless. Many are complaining about its fee structure for software sold by third parties via the app stores. While this issue is certainly a valid one, the overall stance being taken regarding online tracking and surveillance should be seen for what it is: the first step to correcting the mistake of history that allowed the internet to be kidnapped and held hostage by a handful of companies that pretend to be “free” or “customer obsessed” while they are, in fact, Robber Barons that make the Standard Oil monopoly look like Santa Claus.
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Virtually every day a targeted feature or software change is announced in an attempt to damage the monopoly next door
Competition is the cornerstone of capitalism. Except, sometimes, when monopolies take hold. This week CEO’s of the largest tech firms will be grilled (or at least questioned) on just how each of them got so big, and why they should not be broken up or regulated, in order to improve competition in the online marketplace that is now the world’s lifeblood.
The mistake of history that allowed Google, Amazon and Facebook to emerge from the dot-com era of zero profit companies as winner-take-all trillion dollar behemoths is finally being questioned by the masses, which has led to government investigation and inquiry.
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Apple was not founded during the 90s, actually produces products and does not rely on the monetization of user data as it’s main revenue generator; it does not sell below cost in a loss-leader system designed to cripple any competition and has a completely different business ethos, all of which separates the three mentioned above into a different category for this writer.
Nevertheless, in a world where giants from an earlier time are dwarfed by the sheer size and power of these 4 (Microsoft and Tesla are excluded from this article since each has its own backstory and are best looked at separately), a situation has arisen where only one giant has the power to even touch, let alone threaten, another giant.
There are many ways that these giants have always fought one another, yet as they staked out territories and empires, there seemed to be, at times, a tacit agreement that the domain of one would not be violated by another, like an unspoken mafia code or territorial claim.
Those lines between the giants are getting blurry as a silent siege is building and those previously “untouchable” areas of commerce are being targeted.
The fight may be about dollars in the end, but it is the essential control of data and user behavior that leads to all power, and therefore value and income. And each giant has staked a claim to a method or means to control and influence the behavior of billions of eyeballs and souls. Any change in that status quo is a big deal for these entrenched companies, and potentially good news for small businesses and consumers who are, without a doubt, little more than victims of the current insanely evil system.
Those lines between the giants are getting blurry as a silent siege is building and those previously “untouchable” areas of commerce are being targeted.
– D.L.
Here are a few of the new fronts where this hidden and secret battle is being fought:
Google Shopping, following Walmart, is trying to lure 3rd party sellers and sales away from Amazon
Already under fire for rigging search results to favor itself, Google is doubling down, in a sense, via drastically lowering fees for 3rd party sellers to use Google Shopping to get direct sales from Shopify or other non-Amazon sources.
Since Amazon’s fees can approach 30% for some lower cost items (such as books) this will be a powerful incentive for sellers to shift focus away from Amazon’s predatory fee structure and to a platform that potentially could bring in sales with less cost to the seller (and therefore a better end value to the buyer).
Google is offering zero commission listing and, in a big announcement, also currently charging zero, in the US, for the “buy on google” checkout system. This is in the process of expanding and rolling out, and, potentially, by the fall and holiday season, could provide an interesting shift in how small business can operate online.
Walmart started allowing 3rd party sellers onto its online store several years ago but, recently, kicked that process into overdrive with a new system that allows all Shopify accounts the choice to sell on Walmart.com via a direct link between the two.
Bookshop.org, with whom Lynxotic is affiliated via our sister site Cherrybooks.org, is also a company that is attempting to break the stranglehold Amazon has had on online book sales. Surprisingly successful already, with its B Corp non-profit-like structure and alliances with independent bookstores sale have exploded. Affiliate advertising from huge media companies such as the New York Times have climbed on board and the largest book distributor in the US is a partner for fulfillment. Bookshop.Org has been able to put a tiny dent in the largest, most powerful competitor imaginable, showing, perhaps, that there are cracks emerging in the corrupt business models of these giants and they are not 100% invulnerable after all.
Apple’s iOS 14 and iPad OS 14 (along with mac 11 OS Big Sur) will begin to break Google’s search monopoly with direct links in Safari and Spotlight
For companies wanting to bring traffic and customers to their web sites for many years there has been only one very big game available, so-called SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization which refers in the words “search” and “engine” to one that controls over 90% of search traffic: Google (91.75% as of June 2020).
So it could be called GEO or just GO for Google Optimization. And this is a massive industry in and of itself.
Click to See “Steve Jobs“ and to help Lynxotic and Independent Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
Increasingly, however, this monopoly is also being challenged. Not only in Europe where massive fines against the search giant have been levied, but in the growing options for sites to be found in ways other than qualifying for a first page placement (paid for or otherwise) in Googles search results.
Soon, for the billion + apple device users worldwide, there will be a new way to find news sources and other web sites. Both search in Safari and Spotlight, which is the device level search system on iPhone, iPad and Mac computers, will soon have results that link directly to the source, bypassing google in the process.
This is a small statement but will have a huge effect in the real world. The reason is simple but mind-blowing: a search result choice not controlled by google, available on one billion plus devices, has the potential to begin to break the monopoly, and Google’s ability (and how much) to charge for the privilege of being found through its search results.
How the Apple search results are generated and what companies would be featured in those direct results is as yet unknown and may never be released (like Google’s proprietary algorithm). The emergence of ASO (Apple Search Optimization) notwithstanding, just the fact that there is a new player presenting new opportunities for news outlets and eCommerce companies to be found by Apple device owners, is very interesting news indeed.
Apple will expose the worst of predatory surveillance by Facebook, Amazon and Google with new privacy features
Announced at WWDC 2020, the new operating systems are coming with serious features that track, and block as desired, all manner of data intrusions. These are not only identified, but shown and tracked and analyzed with a kind of professional dashboard, showing just how invasive and persistent these invisible spies are.
…the overall stance being taken regarding online tracking and surveillance should be seen for what it is: the first step to correcting the mistake of history that allowed the internet to be kidnapped and held hostage by a handful of companies that pretend to be “free” or “customer obsessed” while they are, in fact, Robber Barons that make the Standard Oil monopoly look like Santa Claus.
– D.L.
Tracking the trackers is a clear and aggressive privacy stance, taken by the one company among the big four, that does not have a huge stake in you being the victim of online surveillance and tracking.
Not to say that Apple is blameless. Many are complaining about its fee structure for software sold by third parties via the app stores. While this issue is certainly a valid one, the overall stance being taken regarding online tracking and surveillance should be seen for what it is: the first step to correcting the mistake of history that allowed the internet to be kidnapped and held hostage by a handful of companies that pretend to be “free” or “customer obsessed” while they are, in fact, Robber Barons that make the Standard Oil monopoly look like Santa Claus.
Above: Photo / Bansky
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Announced in late June at Apple’s World Wide Development Conference and currently running a beta trial before getting released next fall, iOS 14—the upcoming operating system for the iPhone—will offer users a lot of new experiences and options. Some of the most exciting changes it offers will come in the Messages app, where people go to send and receive most texts.
For years, iMessage has been a pretty simple and straightforward platform for sharing and exchanging messages via the iPhone. Group chats have always been an option on Messages, but still, users often opt to download Slack, GroupMe, or Facebook Messenger for more sophisticated or efficient groups.
iOS 14 is aiming to change that, as its biggest upgrades in Messages focus on refining the group message experience. First, users will finally have the option to pin conversations in their Messages conversation screen. This means that you can select up to nine conversations to be at the top of the list when you open the app. It will certainly help users keep their closest contacts and most important groups highly accessible.
Within the conversations, users will also have the ability to create threads and mention people directly. Much like the “Reply” option on Facebook’s comment section, iMessage’s “unthread” utility will let people respond directly to individuals within a larger group message. This will save users the time of starting a separate message when they want to address someone in the group directly. Moreover, it will also make the group chats more efficient, as topics and messages will no longer avalanche and interrupt on top of each other without organization.
As for the mention feature, people will now be able to call out individuals within the group. Much like how on Slack or Facebook you can highlight an individual by typing “@” before their name, iMessage under iOS 14 will let users carry out the same function, but with no “@” symbol necessary—the phone will just recognize the name when typed. Likewise, when someone is mentioned within a chat, iOS 14 will give that person a separate notification. That way the mentioned individual knows when he or she is brought up and becomes more aware of the conversation. It’ll be particularly useful when you’re mentioned in a thread that you’d otherwise would ignore or keep on mute.
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Lastly, for bells, whistles, and aesthetic’s sake, the new Messages will allow group chats to have Group Photos and it will offer a variety of new Memoji. Group Photos will provide conversations with fun identity signifiers as they sit in the app. Meanwhile, the Memoji will make for more visual communication options while using Messages. The new Memoji include 20 new hairstyles and face-coverings along with additional age and headwear options. There will also be three brand new stickers: a hug, a fist bump, and a blush.
Many of these novel features and more will also be available on the iMac under the new macOS Big Sur, which will similarly come out sometime later this year.
The iOS 14 will also feature an updated home screen with widgets and a more organized app library, as well as a built in translator, a virtual CarKey app, picture-in-picture technology, and an upgraded Apple Maps with a long-overdue cycling option. All of this is exciting, but as aforementioned, Messages is (and always has been) one of the iPhone’s premiere utilities. Messaging is at the very core of what makes a SmartPhone a SmartPhone.
Therefore, under iOS 14, it looks like the SmartPhone is about to get little smarter.
The “Trump Whisperer” Sarah Cooper Triumphs again with new clip
These days there’s easy and endless material, updated on the hour that presents insane opportunities to laugh at our president. In all the horror and seriousness of the past week, still the comic parade continues. Never would I have guessed that a portion of a cognitive assessment test would bring about so much media attention, especially in a comical way.
Five simple words: “Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV” has sparked a virtually endless barrage of content and has become a viral moment; a feeding frenzy of material from social media, of course, and TV comedians. Writer and comic Sarah Cooper is one that made a particularly noteworthy appearance. She shared one of her signature lip-syncing videos “How to person woman man camera tv.” This kind of hilarious, great work is nothing new for Cooper, who has been active over the past months making over 20 lip-sync videos titled “How to President” that have clocked over 1.5 million views on her YouTube and Tik Tok accounts.
The Lincoln Project also released a funny ad that doctored a video to resemble a laugh-track laden situation comedy such as the hit comedy sitcom show “Seinfeld”. The clip plays out hilariously edited bits and pieces of the President’s interview with Fox News anchor Chris Wallace.
When asked about the Fox poll that posits the question – whose is more competent? Wallace tells Trump that Biden beats him. Trump then crafts his reply, as he attempts to defend himself, claiming the test “gets very hard, the last five questions” and “Nobody has done what I’ve done.”
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) which is not really a test, is a series of mental tasks that include being asked to identify images of animals, recall the date and memorize a sequences of words. The assessment is actually supposed to be quick and easy as its a straightforward screening tool to measure different areas of the brain responsible for short-term memory, spatial awareness and executive brain function.
Trump has made it a point to brag that he “aced” the cognitive tests, while most people, rightly, are aware that the test isn’t to gauge a person’s IQ/intelligence but rather to measure for potential impairment in cognition which includes memory. His pride in passing this impairment “test” has been inspiration for a wide variety of comic gold.
Enter Late Night for some more laughs
Stephen Colbert’s “A Late Show”, Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show” and Trevor Noah’s “The Daily Show” all took turns poking fun at President Trump.
We are seeing Hourly Newsflashes as Trump tests his ability to send a “private” militia into American cities under the fabricated necessity of countering of “threats” to federal buildings.
The recent and unfolding events in Portland and the real threats of using similar force and tactics across the US represent a new level of crisis for this election year. A false narrative with exaggerated so-called “threats” to buildings by groups of, in reality, peaceful protesters who are being labeled criminals, terrorists and are at times suffering beatings, tear gas and even kidnapping, all at the hands of unidentified federal agents.
There has been an extreme and seemingly panicked barrage of fabricated emergencies all centered around the continued, mostly peaceful, protests originally ignited by the murder of George Floyd and the BLM focused demonstrations that followed.
Trump has blamed “violent anarchists” who he claims are part of the “radical left” and are allied with Democrats, and that these vaguely designated groups have created “a shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders and heinous crimes of violence.”
With the false bravado of a man enamored with his own fantasy of power he intoned: “This bloodshed must end,” and “This bloodshed will end.”
Many who believe in American Democracy are left searching for these crimes and this emergency, and where exactly the connections are that, somehow show, the “radical left” is behind any violent crimes. Further, crimes that are more obviously, to the degree that crimes are being committed at all, being committed by a scattered and relatively small group of unaffiliated individuals.
Instead, it is the trumped-up response which appears to rational observers to be an attempt to provoke the very “crimes” that he has vowed to stop (and which he has imagined or exaggerated for the purpose of political theater). And further, from all appearances, there is a coordinated effort by the federal government, led by Bill Barr and various unconfirmed “interim” or “acting” department heads, to create a coterie of paramilitary forces that can be used by Trump to act with physical force and violence in any way he sees fit.
As this bizarre and unprecedented attack on democracy is unfolding, even republican, right wing, former members of the conservative establishment are shocked. Here are some recent quotes and headlines:
“For a President and an administration that calls itself ‘law and order,’ they have broken the law, and are creating disorder.”
Fmr. Sec. of State Madeleine Albright
“What is really at stake is the delegitimizing of Democrats altogether before the 2020 election. Today Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser to the Trump campaign and one of Trump’s personal lawyers tweeted: “No Democrat should EVER AGAIN be elected in the United States in any capacity.”
So Tom Ridge, another homeland security secretary under Bush, has also opened fire, noting that DHS’s mission is to protect against “global terrorism” and was “not established to be the president’s personal militia.” “It would be a cold day in hell before I would consent to a unilateral, uninvited intervention into one of my cities,” Ridge told Michael Smerconish.
“That kind of activity is the activity of a police state, and this president and this attorney general seem to be doing everything they possibly can to impose Gestapo activities in local communities, and that is what I have been warning about for a long time. I do believe that this election is all about the preservation of the greatest democracy that this country has ever known,” Clyburn said Monday during an interview on CNN.
South Carolina Rep. John Clyburn
“I think it’s unconstitutional and dangerous and heading towards fascism,” he said.
Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro
And not not-senate-confirmed “acting” Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security had this general response:
“DHS is answering the President’s call to use our law enforcement personnel across the country to protect our historic landmarks. We won’t stand idly by while violent anarchists and rioters seek not only to vandalize and destroy the symbols of our nation, but to disrupt law and order and sow chaos in our communities.”
Acting DHS Secretary Chad F. Wolf
Hitler, Mussolini and Trump: a short glance at historical similarities
Hitler
In the early 1920s, long before Hitler was in power in Germany, he was a politician with a need for bodyguards. In addition, his newly formed Nazi party encouraged followers to commit violent attacks against leftists and outsiders (jews). The SA a.k.a. the brown shirts were a personal militia comprised of violent thugs attacking whoever Hitler designated as the enemy of his vision for Germany. By 1933, there were over 3 million members.
Violent attacks occurred often against any individuals or group that dared to disagree with Hitler’s politics or were just among the declared enemies, with Jews and leftists at the top of the list. Through the physical intimidation of individuals and opposing political groups, his rise to power, in steps, was made possible.
The idea that a political movement “needs” a violent para-military component is a common thread in the history of various fascist dictators and their rise to power. Designating political enemies as “terrorists” (such as Trump is trying to do to antifa). Encouraging violence against them, using a justification of “safety and protection” of the general public that supposedly sides with the “vision of law and order” put forth by the would be dictator is a common theme from Hitler’s rise that we are also seeing today.
Mussolini
Similar to Hitler’s “BrownShirts”, Mussolini had his “Blackshirts”. The similarities between Hitler’s rise and that of Mussolini are well documented. Mussolini’s blueprint for Fascist power was later repeated in Germany, if the similarities being coincidental or by design is unimportant.
Racism, hatred of foreigners (in Italy’s case the prime scapegoats being Africans and Asians to the south and east) and violent intimidation of anyone who questions his and his parties authority were the familiar script.
The similarities to the present day are the grave and serious issue, and the differences are what will decide our fate.
Trump
Unlike in the fascism stories above, Trump is already the elected President and the “leader of the free world”. It is important to note that “free” in that phrase means, among other things, free from fascist dictatorships. On the other hand, the recent events in portland and elsewhere show a serious and dangerous precedent where Trump is using the DHS and it’s “acting” director as if they are his version of the SA or even SS.
Perhaps the Gestapo is a more apt analogy, but there’s an element of this being a cobbled together band of thugs like the brown or blackshirts mentioned above as this was, apparently, a hastily crafted group of federal agencies that appear to have been gathered by Attorney General Bill Barr, rather than an organized long standing secret police force.
Unidentified stormtroopers. Unmarked cars. Kidnapping protesters and causing severe injuries in response to graffiti.
These are not the actions of a democratic republic.@DHSgov’s actions in Portland undermine its mission.
The consensus among those who would rather not see Trump find a way to take control of the US as a modern day Mussolini is that many, if not all, of the steps and actions taken thus far are dead wrong, even if they represent a convoluted way to break the intended spirit of US law and Constitution while maintaining a kind of shadow legality.
The now clichéd quote, famously from a John F Kennedy in a speech in 1961: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” nevertheless applies here to all men, women and children of this country.
An astounding thing about the historical tragedies surrounding the fascists rising to power in the first half of the 20th century is that, early on, when they could still have been stopped by a sufficiently outraged majority, the dangers were underestimated until it was too late.
“Never again” should be our response to that statement and we must be prepared to back it up, no matter what.
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Immediately vows to donate all through her foundation to organizations and projects “on the front lines” of Climate Crisis
Greta Thunberg, Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2019 has acquired another prize for her humanitarian efforts. The global pandemic has, to some degree, taken attention away from the climate crisis and, by extension, it’s most famous spokesperson. There have also been signs of a backlash, potentially due to overexposure, but more likely stemming from various actors, backed by the fossil fuel industry and its proponents, trying to drum up support for a dying business model.
For example, a brief attempt to champion an “anti-Greta” figure, Naomi Seibt, a 19-year-old from Münster, Germany, who gained some media attention in February of this year for her “climate skeptic” stance. Reports surfaced that she was being paid by a group associated with the Tump administration and was being put forward as an unofficial spokesperson for Arthur B. Robinson Center for Climate and Environmental Policy at the Heartland Institute, a libertarian think tank.
The massive crash in the price of oil in April and the aforementioned pandemic seems to have derailed her budding career as a solution for the fossil fuel industry to the “Greta problem”.
In the video (above) released via twitter, Greta pledged to give away all the funds “as quickly as possible”. Her first recipient was named, along with the amount to be given; 100,000 Euros to the SOS Amazonia Campaign known via @FridaysForFutureBrasil. A second award, also in the amount of 100,000 Euros, will go to the Stop Ecocide Foundation
Further grants will be awarded to those fighting for climate crisis solutions and for “a sustainable world”.
”Also, to help organizations and projects who are fighting for a sustainable world and who are fighting to defend nature and the natural world.”
The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity
Based on twitter reactions, the prize is not well known in the US. Based in Portugal, The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has established an international jury to choose the prize recipient. The Prize is awarded annually for “contributions to mitigation and adaptation to climate change”.
“The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, awarded annually, in the amount of 1 million euros, aims to recognise people, groups of people and/or organisations from all over the world whose contributions to mitigation and adaptation to climate change stand out for its novelty, innovation and impact.”
The Foundation’s goals, which the prize seeks to highlight, are an acceleration to a carbon neutral society and to mitigate negative effects of climate change on people, the environment and the economy.
Though fewer headlines have been seen relating to current events surrounding the climate crisis, they are sure to return as the problem is far from over. Temperatures worldwide continue to shock and break records. Greta Thunberg putting her fame and award proceeds to good use is a bright spot on the horizon during an admittedly difficult year for our planet and species. Below are the original tweets
I’m extremely honoured to receive the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity. We’re in a climate emergency, and my foundation will as quickly as possible donate all the prize money of 1 million Euros to support … -> 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Eti6AJXSvj
Starting with giving €100.000 to the SOS Amazonia Campaign led by Fridays For Future Brazil to tackle Covid-19 in the Amazon, and €100.000 to the Stop Ecocide Foundation to support their work to make ecocide an international crime. @fcgulbenkian 3/3
The Naked Display of Abandon in Shanghai was a Signal to The Next Generation
It’s not because Tesla’s stock is at a high. It’s not because SpaceX is passing milestone after milestone. Elon Musk is on a mission, and it’s the same one we all need to be on, starting now: to save the world.
There’s a kind of liberation in facing death, like the movie protagonist racing in a stolen car, chased by the killer bad guy, not worried about the tires or how much fuel is being used: it’s adrenaline pumping survival mode, right here, right now.
And yet, with the metaphorical woman of his dreams (who is actually us and the planet) in the passenger seat, the protagonist, and all of us vicariously, feels more alive, in what could be his final moments, than in all his life to this point.
That’s why he’s dancing.
Many say 2019 was the year that the Climate Crisis, formerly known as global warming, could no longer be doubted by any sane or unbiased person. A few dozen catastrophic, clearly anomalous weather events will do that.
And now, as the new decade dawns, Australia burns and #WWIII trends on Twitter, we are all starting to feel like we are in that stolen car.
Elon Musk is a little different from the rest of us. Not because of his money or success or brains or celebrity. Because he has been on this mission for practically his entire life.
And now we need to join him.
Tesla is and always has been on a mission. Not to “dominate” the EV sector of the auto industry, as is so often written. Not to achieve success as measured by profit or cash flow positions. It’s on an energy mission . See it’s stated for all to see on its twitter account:
So many constantly trumpet the refrain that solving the climate crisis is all about austerity and sacrifice, and certainly there will be plenty of that.
And the deniers say that changing the system is not worth it if there is even a minuscule chance that we are not doomed. Really? How much Exxon stock do you own ? But what it will really take is a revolution in thought and the contagious motivation of an entire generation. And humans are not prophylactically inclined !
It’s Elon Musk and Tesla’s genius, shared with Apple that they understand that you can change the world if people are moved by aspirational, beautiful, sexy dreams of a better life. Not some granola style golf cart of functionality.
An iPhone is the best, most powerful hand held computing device ever imagined and, oh yes, it’s a sexy, sleek fashion statement that you can love with all your heart as well. Ditto on the last part for every Tesla also, from the Model 3 to the Cybertruck.
That mission is bigger than being a car maker, or battery manufacturer or even tech design firm. It’s a mission to replace the current, suicidal, Fossil Fuel based infrastructure with a sustainable one. Worldwide. Right now. Before it’s too late to matter.
Companies that have a higher mission than just “profit for shareholders” have not just a higher moral ground from which to operate but a true motivation that literally pulses like a beating heart throughout the enterprise. Often overlooked is the mission that Steve Jobs imbued into the soul of Apple and the higher mission of providing the best tools that technology is capable of.
Looking forward, for perhaps the first time in human history, the challenges are sharply defined, as are the methods and players in the game. Massive evil forces, created by humans must be countered by small and also equally massive forces just as human, oriented toward a better world and more, the best of all possible worlds.
In truth, within the total devotion and capitulation to a higher mission lies freedom, inner peace and, ultimately success and prosperity, potentially for us all.
Not a hard choice when compared to pain, suffering and, ultimately the extinction of all life on this planet.
In short, it’s Utopia or Oblivion, folks.
So, thank you Elon Musk, for showing us the steps to the dance, and for having the bravery to show us with those awkward, unselfconscious moves that, you too, are learning as you go.
Now we all just need to apply ourselves, like Greta Thunberg inviting Meatloaf to examine scientific evidence, to the task of finding the joy in changing everything that’s wrong with our world, starting with the energy infrastructure, and replacing it with a better, cleaner, less tainted one.
— 🌎 Positive Energy Action (@PosEnergyAction) January 7, 2020
There is a paradox here, though. See it? If we are running for our lives from the most fearsome danger we’ve ever faced, and we are not concerned about money, power or the trappings of fame, then why does it sometimes seem like a better life is so close we can almost reach out and touch it?
Tesla Roadster – Photo / Tesla
Because that’s the secret. If we did all dance like Elon, devote ourselves to a higher cause, and put aside our worldly squabbles over money, power and fame, maybe, just maybe, we will survive and prosper, beyond all our imaginings. And that stolen car? It’s a Tesla Roadster hitting on maximum torque in Ludicrous mode.
And with every discovery shared, solution compounded and mission surpassed, we can escape together and let go of the past’s villainous errors. With luck to find a future worth all our hopes and dreams.
A greatly improved audio experience is about to get even better..
Apple announced during the first ever virtual WWDC 2020 event that there will be some significant updates to the AirPods and AirPods Pro that will further enhance the audio experience for the Apple headphone user. The iOS 14 update is expected to be available to the public later this year, most likely around September, which is when the iPhone 12 is also anticipated to be released. If you practically live with your AirPods in your ears, these two big features will make you happy.
Another small but appreciated update will offer a battery status update, which will notify users when it is time to charge your headphones. No more totally dead AirPods – hooray! Click here to see Apple Watch deals on Amazon.
AirPods are currently pretty simple and easy to pair to any Apple device, just open the battery case near your iPhone and done. With the new update, the pairing will be even easier, with the new feature called “Seamless Switching”, this is where you will be able to switch between your different Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch) without having to manually switch or connect. For example if you have your AirPods connected to your iPad while watching a TV show, but during that time you get a phone call on your iPhone, your AirPods will know and automatically switch accordingly, then can switch back to your iPad. This is major if you have multiple Apple devices. The Seamless Switching feature will work with AirPods Pro, AirPods (2nd generation), Powerbeats, Powerbeats Pro, and Beats Solo Pro. In order for the feature to work you will have to have an active iCloud account.
Spatial Audio is another major feature that will be available on AirPods Pro as part of the iOS 14 update which is set to be released in the fall. Unfortunately Spatial Audio will not be available for regular AirPods but for the Air Pods Pro exclusively. The feature creates an immersive surround-sound experience much like that of being in the movie theaters.
How are they able to create theater-like surround sound? Apple will be utilizing data from the AirPods Pro accelerometer and gyroscope to detect any movement from both headphone and device. This means that the sounds will stay consistent and in sync and allow the sound to come from all angles: left, right, front, back, and even above, mimicking what happens when you move your head while sitting in the movie theater. If you are watching a movie and you turn your head with your Pros on, the audio perspective will adjust to your movement maintaining the illusion of “place” and creating a strong sense of directionality. If you accidentally move the device, such as an iPad, on which you are viewing film, the movement will be detected and, again, the source directionality of the sound will automatically adjust accordingly.
Apple will also be updating the audio sharing features on AirPods’ with Apple TV to allow two users to watch a TV show or a movie together. The sharing capabilities will require the new tvOS update – tvOS 14. With all original televisions shows, new monthly additions, and new originals coming in the future, streaming using Apple TV with a partner will make the experience sweeter and more in sync.
In addition to the upcoming new features, Apple also has a new AirPods Pro firmware available which should automatically download. The previous version, 2D15 will be replaced with the newest version 2D27 and marks the 4th update since the AirPods Pro launch. If you are curious what version of firmware your device currently is set to, go to the Settings App on your iPhone, select General, then About, then AirPods Pro.
The Ketogenic Diet, popularly referred to as simply “Keto”, is on top of the list of many well-known ways in which people have lost weight by eating food low in carbs. The ketogenic diet isn’t actually anything new and has been utilized for centuries, most commonly used to help diabetes. The diet was also introduced in the 1920’s as treatment for epilepsy in children, as well as tested with people who have cancer, polycystic ovary syndrome (POS) and Alzheimer’s.
Yet, as a popular way to lose weight, Keto can’t take all the credit, since the rise in stature can be largely attributed to The Atkins Diet, which started around the 1970’s and commercialized the low-carb/high protein diet structure. Due to the initial success of The Atkins Diet, many other low carb diets and variations have been put on the map – such as Keto, Paleo, South Beach and The Dukan Diet to name just a few. So what makes Keto different? The Keto diet stands out from the other low-carb diets because you eat a much higher fat content, which accounts for as much as 70-80% of your food intake and usually, in contrast to other low carb diets, involves also eating only a moderate amount of protein.
The general idea is for your eating plan to include more calories derived from proteins and fat and less from carbohydrates. With a low-carb diet, your body will eventually run out of fuel, usually taken from blood sugar (glucose), which will result in your body starting to break down proteins and fat for energy instead and that will result in weight loss. This metabolic process, described here in a nut-shell, is called ketosis.
Whether you want to just dip your feet in the pooland try out some Keto recipes, or go full hog (pun intended), we have provided some book titles on the most popular books relating to Keto.
What to Eat
Meat (Fish, Beef, Poultry)
Leafy Green Vegetables (Spinach, Kale)
Eggs and Diary (Cheese, Cream, Butter)
Oils
Nuts and Seeds
Avocados
Broccoli and Cauliflower
Berries
Water
What NOT to Eat
Bread (Flour, Wheat, Rice, Cereal)
Pasta
Starches (like Potatoes and Yams)
Sugar
high Fructose Corn Syrup
Corn
Legumes and Beans
Fruit (exception is Berries)
Soda
Milk (has milk sugar)
Being on a ketogenic diet is meant for the short term, rather than permanent, with the main focus being on losing weight and should not be done as a long-term lifestyle diet. This is because there have been some noted and potentially unhealthy takeaways from the diet; one that the diet heavily relies on red meat and other fat-rich processed, high-salt foods that are not optimum for daily consumption. In addition, there have not been enough long term studies to conclude if the the short-term results of weight loss will last or if, after resuming carb intake, the pound will be put right back on again.
As always, whenever choosing a specific elating plan, diet, or weight loss approach, keep in mind that everyone’s body is different and results will vary. Consulting an expert on the matter, like a registered dietitian or general practitioner, is highly recommended for the best guidance on what is best for you.
Keto-Evolution: Non Meat Options
Click to See “Ketotarian“ to Help Lynxotic and Independent Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
Since The Keto Diet has been around for a long time, there’s no shortage of books and cookbooks on the topic. However there are now many new and different ways to incorporate Keto, with an offshoot of systems for non-meat eaters, including vegan and vegetarian options. This is surprising, since when Keto comes to mind, it is normal first to picture high-protein animal products like meat, eggs and cheese at the forefront of what can be eaten on the diet. Knowing that you can have plant-based alternatives to choose from and incorporate for Keto is refreshing, and just might remove some of the biggest potential drawbacks mentioned above.
Ketotarian includes more than 75 recipes that are vegetarian, vegan, or pescatarian, offering a range of delicious and healthy choices for achieving weight loss, renewed health, robust energy, and better brain function. Dr. Will Cole comes to the rescue with Ketotarian, which has all the fat-burning benefits without the antibiotics and hormones that are packed into most keto diets.
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A Book of Historic Importance as November Election approaches
Mary Trump’s book, the memoir titled “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” went on sale on July 14, 2020. There has been much buzz leading up to its release and it is now clear that a serious number of people are going to read this book. Those that do will get an intimate insider’s view of the president and his family dynamics.
Publisher Simon & Schuster reported that the title has already sold almost 1 million units, with approximately 950,000 copies sold at the end of its first day on the market. The totals also include pre-orders, audio and e-books. This also represents a new opening-day sales record for the publishing company.
On June 23,2020 when former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s book “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir” was released, yet another exposé about Trump, also published by Simon & Schuster, it too also held massive sales, yielding in more than 780,000 copies on its first week.
Both books endured repeated attempts by President Trump and his family to block any release. Trump claimed Bolton’s book would reveal classified information and that Mary Trump had violated her nondisclosure agreement. In each case, a judge denied requests for injunctions and both books are now available for mass public consumption.
After the judge’s ruling in her favor, Mary Trump took to social media and began posting on her Twitter account, her first tweets since 2018. Welcome back, Mary
New ad highlights the hypocrisy of the first family
Some of the many appalling and even disgusting facets of the Trump era are reflected in the primitive psychological tactics that emanate from any speech or off the cuff remark from the President. “Gaslighting“, “Whataboutism” and “I know you are but what am I” playground level taunts and name calling abound. And, above all, the tactic of projecting whatever you are accused of onto your enemies, no matter how ridiculous it appears. Like on July 4th when trump implied that Antifa was a “fascist” organization. How can a group with “anti” and Fascist” in the very name be accused of being the thing that they have clearly and overtly declared themselves to be against? Ask Trump.
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And now, in an apple-falling-not-far-from-the-tree moment of imbecilic genetic transference, Don Jr. employs all of the above in a recent twisted tirade on Fox. Unfortunately for him, the folks that call themselves the “Meidas Touch” were able to illustrate just how ridiculous and revealing this web of insanity really is. Take a look:
On a their web site in text accompanying the clip they added:
“The Trump children, propped up in this regime by the bizarre and shameless nepotism seen in banana republic dictatorships, represents the blend of incompetence, entitlement and cringeworthy hypocrisy that has propelled America into disaster we are now in under Trump.”
Along with the great work from The Lincoln Project and RVAT (Republican Voters Against Trump) anti-Trump, pro-Biden ads have been coming out almost daily. All using Trump’s own words and actions to show his various lies, his hypocrisy and downright creepiness in sharp focus with a view to ousting him in November.
Above: A truly creepy look at actual footage of Trump in various interviews and impromptu moments featuring Ivanka, and his ol’ convicted-sex-offender pal Jeffrey Edward Epstein. It’s astonishing how this old footage can make the Trump family look even worse and, yes, even more creepy, than the recent events touched on in the first video clip above. November 3rd can’t come soon enough, it would seem, for any of us who have witnessed these ads.
The Meidas Touch is not specifically a Conservative Republican organization, which the other two mentioned above are, but rather is headed by attorney Ben Meiselas, who has been involved in high profile cases involving civil rights and more, such as the lawsuit brought by Colin Kaepernick against the NFL.
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Tesla continues to hit new sales and tech milestones (not to mention the stock price)…
Throughout 2018 and 2019, Tesla delivered 612,120 vehicles. This is an impressive number, and a quota that surely upped the ante for Elon Musk‘s famed tech-car company. However, that striking figure has already been dwarfed by the number of pre-orders currently in place for Tesla’s upcoming Cybertruck.
According to Finbold, Tesla has already received 650,000 pre-orders for the Cybertruck. The bulk of these pre-orders (approximately 535,000 of them) took place before February of 2020. Naturally, fewer people placed orders as the coronavirus spread across the globe. Still, over 100,000 additional orders despite everything going on in the world is an enduring sign of the vehicle’s popularity.
Pre-ordering a concept with a precious few in circulation
Tesla first revealed the Cybertruck on November 21st in Los Angeles. It’s ultramodern aesthetic, with sharp lines, futuristic angles, and tankish wheels met polarizing reactions. Many even took to lampooning the vehicle on social media via memes. However, this generated increased publicity for the Cybertruck all the same, and the pre-orders eventually poured in.
Of course, not all pre-orders for the truck are guaranteed sales. Nevertheless, the 650,000 figure means that that many people are interested in the vehicle enough to reserve one, and each reservation requires a $100 deposit. Already, Tesla is earning money on the truck and if the copious pre-orders do turn into deliveries, the company will continue its trajectory of increased sales for every year since 2014.
Elon Musk and Tesla have recently earned some negative press while delivering their latest Model-Y cars, which are similarly in very high demand. Perhaps connected to the unanticipatedly large number of orders, Model-Ys have been notorious for quality control problems. Pre-ordered cars often come with incorrect paint, faulty interiors, asymmetrical features, and other mistakes.
Luckily, the company is already correcting its mistakes, and the issues have not hindered Tesla fans from remaining enthusiastic about the Cybertruck. Musk wants to start shipping them early next year, introducing the first EV truck onto the road and optimistically shifting the car market for the planet’s benefit.
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Following up a spate of “worst ever” coronavirus decisions with yet another…
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced their ambitions to have all public schools open and operating by the fall for the start of the new academic year. This is a dicey decision, for most schools closed long before the start of summer break because of the coronavirus, transitioning to virtual leaning for the last few months of classes. Thus, reopening schools in autumn would only make sense if there was a significant decrease in COVID-19 cases over the summer.
Unfortunately, such is not the case, as the pandemic recently hit a second spike with increased numbers in several states throughout the country. Barring some miracle, it does not look like the coronavirus will be reasonably diminished by the regular first day of school. Still, Trump and DeVos are steadfast in their plan to reopen, even threatening to thin school budgets for districts that remain closed.
Understandably, the President and Secretary’s outlook has been criticized by many, most notably teachers, who are strangely left out of conversations about plans to reopen. Many state and local governments—the institutions who have the most direct say in how their schools should operate—also disagree with the federal government on this one, for it puts students, teachers, and faculty members at incredibly high risk.
Like all things COVID-19-related, though, the risk is not equally intense across the board. Although the public school system is often dubbed America’s great equalizer, history shows that such has never quite been the case. Socio-economic imbalances, racial inequities, language-barriers, and additional differences between districts proves that not every student has the same opportunities across America. The choice to reopen all schools during a pandemic only highlights these ongoing discrepancies.
A higher risk for the lowest income areas echos throughout the pandemic, including schools
First off, there is the simple fact that not all places in America are experiencing COVID-19 in the same way. A few months ago, the mid-Atlantic was facing the worst of it while the Rocky Mountains were relatively safe. Now, states like New Jersey and New York are recovering while figures in Idaho and Utah are surging. To execute the same course of action in all schools across all states in these uncertain times would make no logical sense.
Even schools within the same states, though, have to deal with this pandemic in different ways. Schools in wealthy communities, for example, may have the local tax dollars to afford more instructors, thus allowing for smaller class sizes with more socially-distanced environments. Contrarily, schools operating on shoestring budgets—often urban and overcrowded schools—will have no choice but to put their students at risk. Non-coincidentally, these are also the schools that would be most effected by budget cuts.
Likewise, schools located in disadvantaged parts of the country deal with student populations at a higher risk. Although we are told the virus doesn’t discriminate, if a poor child is infected or someone in his or her family gets sick, that student will face a far less secure road to recovery than someone coming from money. Healthcare bills, insufficient housing, and the tumultuous state of the economy renders the virus far more dangerous to certain demographics than others right. All life is equally precious, but students in schools with large classes and tight budgets have the most to lose from coming into contact with the disease.
Then, there is the matter of education, the quality of which could be severely hurt if students and teachers spend valuable class time worrying about a perilous disease. Increasing precautions would be essential, but who would be responsible for enforcing such precautions? It is hardly the duty of teachers, who being older and having to engage in multiple classes a day will often be at even greater risk than their students.
The danger is real and forcing an across-the-board re-opening is no solution at all
Teachers are already severely overworked, underpaid, and under-appreciated for all the effort they put in, and most of them go above and beyond for their students as it is. However, demanding them to put their lives in jeopardy day-in and day-out is simply too much to ask, especially when none of the people making this decision for them are (or ever have been) teachers.
Of course, nobody dislikes remote learning more than teachers and students. They know better than anyone how imperative in-person instruction is to learning. But it is still not as important as health and wellbeing. Today and always, those should be the top priorities in any institution.
Plus, if Trump or DeVos want to use the “learning experience” or the “importance of education for all” as their rationales for reopening, one only needs to look at their records in the field to recognize the con. Since assuming their current titles, the two political cronies have slashed the federal education department’s budget, often targeting Special Education programs and LGBTQ+ protections for cuts. They are also both big proponents of education privatization. Evidently, the “importance of education for all” was not a big deal for them before the virus started spreading during an election year.
Speaking of privatization, many private schools—including some of the nation’s most elite universities—are currently announcing plans for their fall semesters, and most of them involve remote learning in some capacity. Once again, it demonstrates how the premature decision to reopen schools is latently classist. The students who can afford private educations won’t have to risk their lives everyday. Trump and DeVos, both of whom patronize private high schools and universities, clearly do not think public school students deserve the same protections as their own children.
Sadly, these educational inequities have always been the case. The egregious pressure that Trump and DeVos are currently putting on our nation’s most vulnerable and innocent, however, just brings these inequities to the foreground.
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To get through this we’re gonna need all our faculties on high alert…
It’s no wonder that the busiest freeway on the planet is nearly empty, with all that’s going on. Sure. But try driving on it if you remember the old normal. To dramatize, take a look at the video above taken during the 5pm rush hour on Tuesday, and the video below, of just what this beast could do on a big traffic day. Even a “normal” day, pre-covid-19 had a similar feeling. Not anymore.
It can be an emotional and somber experience to see, first hand and in-person, what the busiest freeway in the world looks like in the middle (at the beginning?) of a pandemic and with unemployment rate at up to 50% (locally). And then there’s the one bright spot; that the deserted freeway is being impacted even more so by the new “WFH” (work from home) boom as we change our lives and reduce carbon emissions by living a digital life.
“Anecdotal” evidence: raising the feeling that something’s going on other than what you hear from on-high
Sometimes, even if you listen to the voices all around you, take in all the news and noise, you just have to block all of that out and take a good look with your own eyes. If you look beneath the surface of the news you will also find a very different story.
Take for example the recent “positive” jobs reports. Unemployment appears to be dropping and the overall numbers are not as bad as many had feared, right? Or is that just a manufactured impression? The previous official jobs reports were rife with confusion and even errors that were admitted outright by The Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of course by that time the “good news” had already circulated and had created the desired effect (a delay of the stock market pricing-in the real unemployment numbers).
The reports, according to former US secretary of labor, Robert Reich, are not giving an accurate picture, and he points out in a recent piece that the real situation is that the current number of unemployed is the worst in over 70 years.
Naturally the reasons, emanating from the top job at the White House, for wanting to spin these very important numbers, are obvious. Not only is there the the high stakes re-election scenario but, in this special case, the potential prosecutions that could proceed from a loss for Trump in November.
And if you are not a “Robin Hood” day trader and are just trying to get a life?
Although Los Angeles is not currently in an official “lockdown”, there is a surge in new cases and over twelve million active cases worldwide, and over three million in the US alone. Therefore, the streets reflect the real situation that people are experiencing – both economic due to the lack of employment and the caution and self-isolation that is appropriate and the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc in the city.
Donald Trump said Thursday’s jobs report, which showed an uptick in June, proves the US economy is “roaring back”.
Rubbish. The labor department gathered the data during the week of 12 June, when America was reporting 25,000 new cases of Covid-19 a day. By the time the report was issued, that figure was 55,000.
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Then, just today, the newest jobs report came out. The headline on Marketwatch was that, although 33 million people are unemployed and millions more getting laid off weekly, “many doubt it’s that bad”. Why the caveat? You tell me.
Rather than focusing on the 33 million out of work, with the real number potentially far higher, they question anything that may help to mitigate the negative impression (bad for the stock market). Then they feature an earlier story with the title: “U.S. Regains 4.8 million Jobs in June”, further giving the impression that everything is hunky dory.
Oh, and late last night United Air Lines announced that they would lay off 36,000 which they site as a worst case scenario. Brooks Brothers announced Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Bed, Bath and Beyond are closing 200 stores. And the list goes on.
With the Climate Crisis far from over, A pandemic that has no end in sight and economic repercussions that are beginning to boggle the mind, there is plenty to overwhelm the average or even supra-average human.
Maybe, for now though, with all the doom and gloom, it’s best to just put the pedal-to-the-metal and enjoy the empty road…
Warner Brothers Kicks Out Promo-Shots Hoping to Build Buzz for Theater Release
“Wonder Woman: 1984” has had a bumpy road finding a release date. The DC follow-up to Patty Jenkins’ sensational 2017 “Wonder Woman” was originally meant to hit theaters last December, but the studio (Warner Brothers) switched up the schedule, pushing the movie back to a summer release date in June. This decision proved to be a poor one, though, as movie theaters closed their doors in March due to the coronavirus and most of them remain shuttered to this day. “WW84” has thus been pushed back further and further. Now, it is aiming for an October 2nd debut.
Poster: Warner Brothers
Like 2017’s “Wonder Woman,” actress Gal Gadot plays the title superheroine in “WW84.” Although this is only her second stand alone film as the character, Gadot has played Wonder Woman three times in the DC Universe before—appearing in “Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice” and “Justice League” as well as her solo outing.
Chris Pine also returns from the original “Wonder Woman” cast, reprising his role as love-interest Steve Trevor. Conspicuously, his character unambiguously died in a plane crash at the end of the first film, but the trailer seems to find him alive and well.
Poster: Warner Brothers
To make matters even stranger, there is a seventy year gap between the two films’ settings. The 2017 movie took place in 1918, pinning the protagonist in the middle of World War I, while “WW84” obviously happens during 1984. As an Amazonian princess, Gadot’s character does not age and thus appears the same in both films. This also explains her place in the other, contemporarily-set DC films. However, it still doesn’t quite answer our questions about Chris Pine’s more mortal character, who also appears to still be in his thirties despite the time lapse.
Being part of a superhero franchise, though, these diegetic elements are not worth getting too worked up about. Odds are the movie will explain Trevor’s return in some fantastical, but nevertheless logical, manner. After all, this is the eighth film in the DC Extended Universe. So far, the series has dealt with alien invasions in “Man Of Steel,” Atlantean societies in “Aquaman,” mystical magic in “Shazam!” and so much more. At this point, any explanation seems like fair game.
Great Throwback Aesthetic in Stark Contrast to Our Somber Times
What really sticks out in”WW84″ right now is not the diegetic loopholes, but the novel, vibrant aesthetic. With a few exceptions, DCEU movies often get criticism for their grey pallet and overly-sinister energy. Fans frequently plead for Warner Brothers to offer a bit more color and optimism to the franchise, citing Disney’s Marvel films as exemplars for comic book adaptation.
Happily, “WW84” seems to finally be taking a queue from the fans. From the rainbow tinted posters to the electrifying trailer, the movie is clearly invested in the 1984 setting. It looks like a disco-infused, fun-filled superhero flick, with quality humor, captivating visuals, and a strong cast to carry it along—Pedro Pascal from “The Madalorian” is playing the main villain!
Poster: Warner Brothers
Due to mixed reviews, the DCEU has kind of faltered in recent years. A large-scale lateral narrative in the vein of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe is not quite a plausible outlook for DC anymore. Instead, Warner Brothers has been using its DC intellectual properties to focus on stand-alone films such as “Joker” and Robert Pattinson’s upcoming “The Batman.”
However, like the franchise’s last entry, “Birds Of Prey,” “WW84” has direct ties to some of the other DC movies. Thus, the film could possibly lead into something larger. After all, “Wonder Woman” was one of the DCEU’s highest praised movies, championing a female superhero for the first time in a blockbuster film and earning over $800 million at the box office. The success of “Wonder Woman” paved the way for her role in “Justice League,” so perhaps the sequel will carry the franchise to new heights yet again…
That is, if theaters ever open.
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Truckloads on the road to fulfill Tuesday launch orders…
Simon and Schuster, the publisher for the upcoming exposé of how the Trump family “created the world’s most dangerous man” according to the book’s subtitle, will be officially on sale next Tuesday. Previously it had been scheduled for release on July 28th.
The new plan for the accelerated publication appears to be based on the release, last week, of the publisher from a temporary restraining order. Since there are tens of thousands of copies already in the hands of reviewers and as pre-release stock for bookstores, it is highly unlikely that any further legal maneuvering can prevent the release next Tuesday.
Some details begin to emerge from the author herself
The back cover information, also posted today on the publishers web site, gives substantial insight into the style and direction of the book. Quoted directly from the text, we get a taste of the kind of analysis that one could expect from a Psychologist with a PhD from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, which is the biographical description given by Simon & Schuster of Mary Trump’s educational background.
Using highly personal insights, culled from her close family ties, into the childhood of the President, it paints a picture of arrested development and emotional immaturity, based, according to the author, on “abuse”.
Today, Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses, or take in and synthesize information.”
Although there appears to be little chance of a legal challenge toward the publisher, it is likely that the legal representatives of both Donald Trump and his younger brother Robert will continue with all possible challenges, if only to prevent Mary any opportunity to profit from sales of the tomb.
“That Fred would become the primary source Donald’s solace when he was much more likely to be a source of fear or rejection put Donald into an intolerable position: total dependence on a caregiver who also caused him terror. Donald suffered deprivations that would scar him for life.
— MARY L. TRUMP IN “TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH
As of this writing the book sits at the top of best seller lists, while the West Wing exposé, John Bolton’s “The Room Where it Happened”, is at #2.
Now, as if that was not enough regarding well-timed Trump related book bombshells, according to a google books summary posted by the publisher, Gallery Books, (which is an imprint of Simon & Schuster) Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, known to be close friend of Melania Trump is also planning to release a tell-all about the First Lady “this fall”. Wolkoff who was former adviser to the East Wing, will divulge details from their 15 year relationship. Titled: ‘Melania and Me: My Years as Confidant, Advisor and Friend to the First Lady’ it will be on shelves as early as September 1st, based on a Vanity Fair report
The New York Times also reported that Wolkoff was cooperating with Manhattan federal prosecutors in their investigation of Trump inaugural committee and its fundraising and spending practices. The article also delves into disputes between the soon-to-be author and the White House regarding the circumstances under which she left her position as East Wing advisor.
A description of the book by the publisher, as detailed in the Vanity Fair piece, says that it will start when Wolkoff met Melania and became friends, and weave through her help planning the 58th presidential inauguration, along with “navigating the White House and East Wing.”
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