Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus…
“Even at this early stage, it’s a safe bet that Tesla’s design choices for the Cybertruck will not reduce American crash deaths, and they may increase them. And if the vehicle does prove to be as deadly as some fear, it will take time—years, likely—before federal officials can intervene to protect everyone who is not inside one.”
They’re not so good off road, either.
“On Dec. 18, 2013, KrebsOnSecurity broke the news that U.S. retail giant Target was battling a wide-ranging computer intrusion that compromised more than 40 million customer payment cards over the previous month. The malware used in the Target breach included the text string “Rescator,” which also was the handle chosen by the cybercriminal who was selling all of the cards stolen from Target customers. Ten years later, KrebsOnSecurity has uncovered new clues about the real-life identity of Rescator.”
“Sarah McBride is putting together the pieces of a successful congressional campaign: She’s leading across several polls, has the backing of key advocacy groups and members of her state’s political establishment, and just announced robust fundraising numbers. All that could add up to a win in the race for Delaware’s at-large House seat — making her the first ever transgender member of Congress.” (Note: Callie Butcher, running in the Dem primary for CD32, would also be able to make that claim if she wins.)
“I don’t mean to be over pollyannaish. It is precisely the nature of authoritarians to degrade elections into sham processes or simply ignore the results of elections they lose. Donald Trump tried to do this in 2021 and failed and Bolsonaro’s supporters did so as well after his defeat. But this doesn’t change the fact that we now appear to be living in what will likely be an extended period in which national elections pit a civic democratic party against a right-wing populist authoritarian one.”
“The Republican leading the probe of Hunter Biden has his own shell company and complicated friends”.
“In summary: All the evidence I’m aware of suggests that ignorance and distortion are no worse today than they’ve ever been. Social media just makes our ignorance a little more obvious.”
The tech that died in 2023.
Homicide: Life On The Streets may finally be available to stream soon.
“Catholic Priests Can Now Bless Same-Sex Couples, as Long as They Don’t Look Like Marriages”.
“I have absolutely zero data to prove this, but I suspect that one of the reasons that more people are more lonely these days is that women are doing less than they used to to create belonging. It’s a similar dynamic to why marriage and childbirth are in decline. Fewer women are getting married and having babies because they are tired of doing everything and putting up with male shenanigans (again, not any of yours. You are all perfect gentlemen and I know that because you read my blog). And men are doing less and less well, making them less and less marriageable. It’s a vicious cycle on both fronts, in which women capitalize on more opportunity and do less unpaid work, men don’t make up the gap, women don’t have to put up with male failure, and men get more sad and angry and less desirable.”
“Die Hard’s existence, is, not to put too fine a point on it, a gift. Which is why, if any other reason were needed, Die Hard is a Christmas movie after all.”
“Tesla has dropped Disney+ from its cars because E*** M*** is mad that Bob Iger listened to him.”
“But in truth, Giuliani was never quite the hero he was made out to be. The true tragedy of his career is that the mainstream media, eager to have a socially moderate Republican to lionize, consistently whitewashed his record for decades, both before 9/11 and after.”
“Those of you who don’t have personal life experience within the white evangelical subculture might think that the phrase “Holy Sexuality” is a little bit cringe-y, but let me assure you that for those who have lived within this subculture, that’s not the case. It’s incredibly cringe-y. Everything about this is viscerally uncomfortable, inappropriate, unreliable, and squirmy. There’s a Peter-Graves-in-Airplane! and youth-minister vibe to the whole concept”.
You do you, David Lynch.
Finally, Tuberville’s tantrum comes to an end.
“On the merits, as I said, I’m equivocal, leaning toward skeptical. But I cannot get past the fact that the plain language of the [14th] amendment seems to speak directly to Donald Trump’s actions and say he is disqualified from serving as President. That isn’t the final word on it. There are real questions about its applicability that I noted above. But this isn’t some wild constructive theory, a technicality, a platinum coin version of constitutional jurisprudence. At a minimum it’s a hurdle you earn when you try to overthrow the government. He did that. We watched it happen.”
“Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish on Tuesday in New York City to discuss a possible merger“. Imagine how many more shows David Zaslav could cancel and remove from the airwaves if this deal goes through.
“We’ve seen again and again that when entertainment companies consolidate, it’s us — the people just trying to have a good time — who suffer. A hundred years ago, most of the biggest studios making films also owned the theaters screening those films. That meant some towns just wouldn’t get the biggest movies because the theater was owned by a rival studio. It meant that independently produced content was virtually non-existent. The list of people dictating what everyone watched was limited to a handful of (primarily male) producers and studio execs like Irving Thalberg, Jack Warner, and Louis B. Mayer. That led to a real homogeneity of content.”
RIP, Ryan Minor, former Baltimore Orioles infielder who replaced Cal Ripken in the lineup to end his consecutive games streak.