Weekend link dump for January 17

“David Hasselhoff is auctioning off KITT from Knight Rider“.

“The ongoing breach affecting thousands of organizations that relied on backdoored products by network software firm SolarWinds may have jeopardized the privacy of countless sealed court documents on file with the U.S. federal court system, according to a memo released Wednesday by the Administrative Office (AO) of the U.S. Courts.”

“For Biden’s Justice Department, tackling domestic terrorism will now be front and center.”

“Even Trump Loyalists Can No Longer Defend His Legacy”. But don’t let that let them off the hook even a little.

“Every Republican—all 147 of them but especially Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz—who voted to overturn election results even after the insurrectionist mob of terrorists drove them out of the House and Senate chambers must be held to account and ostracized. Hitting them where it hurts by taking away their big donors is exactly the right lane for the [Project] Lincoln gang to be in.”

That defamation lawsuit against Sidney Powell looks pretty solid.

“The PGA of America will strip Donald Trump of the 2022 PGA Championship, which is scheduled to be held at Trump National Bedminster golf club in New Jersey.” There’s similar action in Scotland, affecting Turnberry.

“When historians eventually tally the cost of the Donald Trump era, the manifold indecencies of which culminated in Wednesday’s sacking of the United States Capitol during a failed insurrection, golf will not be counted among its casualties. The game will instead be portrayed as Trump’s refuge, something he did while ignoring a pandemic that has claimed 365,000 lives, refusing to acknowledge a resounding electoral defeat, and inciting feeble-minded fascists to violence that left five people dead at the opposite end of Pennsylvania Avenue. That’s the best case scenario.”

“It is the main cause of our current crisis – and of the difficulty in solving it. Today’s Republican party is one where it is considered divisive to take decisive action against a faction that was trying to hunt down Democratic _and_ Republican politicians a few days ago.”

“Preferring such lies seems strange, given that they involve a massive evil conspiracy that includes nearly everyone at every level of government and in every institution. It’s an awful thing to imagine that the entire world is out to get you and that the situation is so dire that you’ve got to arm yourself and begin stockpiling food so you can flee to the woods as your only slim hope for survival. But it’s an even more awful thing to reach the point where you consider your whole life — your job, your family, your home, your church, your passions — as so entirely meaningless and unrewarding that you’d be better off as someone on the run from such a massive, evil conspiracy.”

RIP, Michael Apted, award-winning director of the 7 Up documentary series and much more.

RIP, Pat Loud, matriarch of the family featured in An American Family, the first TV reality series.

“Let it be known to the business world: Hire any of Trump’s fellow fabulists above, and Forbes will assume that everything your company or firm talks about is a lie. We’re going to scrutinize, double-check, investigate with the same skepticism we’d approach a Trump tweet. Want to ensure the world’s biggest business media brand approaches you as a potential funnel of disinformation? Then hire away.”

“Republican Attorneys General Association Encouraged Supporters To Attend Wednesday’s Action At The Capitol”.

“I’ve received several DMs from friends asking what do to about parents/family members who believe misinformation regarding the election, vaccines and COVID. Here’s a research-based thread to help explain the roots of these beliefs and how to (and how *not* to) address them.”

Losing his law license should be the first of a very long list of consequences for Rudy Giuliani.

Facial recognition technology is still a bad thing, even if right now it is being used against bad people.

“If you want to understand the real Deep State, the biggest thing you need to know is it’s institutional, impersonal, and operates on a national scale.”

Here’s one thing Parler was good for.

As far as I’m concerned, Elizabeth Smart has a lifetime pass to do most anything she wants.

RIP, Siegfried Fischbacher, the “Siegfried” part of Siegfried & Roy.

“I think it’s reflective of where Trump’s own status is these days in which he has relatively little to offer and people don’t want to be associated with him generally. The fact is he’s not going to get the A team.”

RIP, Joanne Rogers, pianist, humanitarian, and widow of Fred “Mr.” Rogers. You should read this LA Times profile of her, it’s terrific.

““Unity” begins with repentance, and Republicans should get started. Supporting Trump’s removal from office and instituting his permanent exile from American politics are the necessary first steps.”

RIP, Charlie Thomas, former owner of the Houston Rockets.

“Situation with new #sarscov2 variants is becoming harder to follow (and not just because of the names), so let me try and give a brief overview: Where are we at? What should we be worried about? And how worried?”

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19 Responses to Weekend link dump for January 17

  1. SocraticGadfly says:

    Need to update that one link. We’re past 400K dead. Blew well past 365.

  2. Bill Daniels says:

    “The PGA of America will strip Donald Trump of the 2022 PGA Championship….”

    Well, this seems like a solid business decision, to piss off well OVER half your customers. Has anyone here been to a golf course lately? Hint: The predominantly white middle, and upper class whites that enjoy the game, who would actually WATCH professional golf…..those are Trump supporters, by and large.

    The blue haired land whales of the left, the white hating militant blacks of the blm, the soy infused Starbucks workers, the aimless and angst filled young thugs of antifa…..they ain’t watchin’ no golf, so this virtue signalling will be lost on them.

    Remember the big hit the NBA, NFL, and to a lesser extent, MLB took after endorsing the blm? That’s nothing. You heard it here first, the PGA audience numbers are going to crash hard.

  3. Manny says:

    Bill, did you remove some of that aluminum paper around your head? Cause you are back to the wild conclusions.

    Sports addicts are like drug addicts, they ain’t going to quit their addiction.

  4. robert says:

    Bill, doing the right thing…..is the right thing to do, no matter how unpopular it is.

  5. Bill Daniels says:

    Robert,

    The PGA tour is supposed to be a non profit group, so they skip all the pesky taxes that we have to pay. If you look at what they actually give to ‘charity,’ it’s a small percentage of what the revenue they bring in. I suspect that if they were a for profit group they wouldn’t make any money to give to charity after expenses. So basically, they’re running a non profitable business that benefits the vendors, golfers PGA tour employees and execs, and the crumbs, what would have gone to the government in taxes, gets donated to various charities.

    https://deadspin.com/the-pga-tours-non-profit-status-is-a-big-joke-1482806719

    So let’s extrapolate what happens to this business model if they lose a very conservative 30% of their viewership. Let’s say that reduces their revenues by a conservative 25%. They either start slashing expenses, slashing the prize money, slashing everything, or they no longer have any profit after expenses to donate to charity.

    Hacking away at expenses is just going to lead to a downward spiral for the whole tour. Putting out a lesser quality product, with less advertising money etc., is going to cause viewership to plummet even worse, as golf fans who may or may not have supported Trump, react simply to the declining quality of the product and programming.

    Finally, since we’re mostly emotional people here, this “doing the right thing,” is going to end up hurting the charities the tour supports, in a classic case of the law of unintended consequences.

    What can we glean from this?

    lashing out at Trump > actually helping charities

  6. Jules says:

    lashing out at Trump > “actually” “helping” “charities”

  7. Bill Daniels says:

    Jules,

    Are you saying the decision to break contracts with Trump’s business will bring the PGA MORE revenue, or at least be a revenue neutral decision? Are you saying that the ostensible purpose of the PGA tour is NOT to give money to charities?

    I’m interested in your analysis of this, seriously. What’s your prediction about what this will cause? First and foremost, we can almost be assured that the Trump Organization is going to sue the PGA for breach of contract, which will cost the PGA tour some serious coin to settle. So they are already going to be at a deficit before the first ball is hit.

    How is this decision going to increase revenue or be revenue neutral? How will that impact the charitable donations the PGA tour gives?

  8. Jules says:

    “ If you look at what they actually give to ‘charity,’ it’s a small percentage of what the revenue they bring in.”

  9. Bill Daniels says:

    Here’s a direct quote from the article I linked:

    “”Outside the Lines” analyzed the Tour’s U.S.-based tournaments that received charitable tax exemptions in 2011 (the most recent year available) and found they spent, on average, about 16 percent on actual charity. That figure is far below the minimum 65 percent that charity watchdog groups say makes for a responsible charity.”

    Jules,

    OK, so now that we’ve established that at least some of the revenue from the PGA tour goes to charity, what’s the net effect of the PGA breaking contracts with the Trump Organization?

    Do you think the charities will get more money, the same money, or less money after dropping their affiliation with Trump courses? Explain your reasoning.

  10. Jules says:

    You seem to think the quotes and statements you make are in support of something. They are not.

  11. Bill Daniels says:

    Jules,

    Kuff posted the article. I gave my opinion and reasoning behind it. I’m simply asking you for YOUR opinion, since you have posted in the thread, and I’m asking about as respectfully as I am capable of. Tell us what you think the practical outcome of the PGA tour breaking contracts with Trump will be. What are your thoughts?

    You can start out with something like:

    “I think the PGA tour will increase revenue because….”

  12. Manny says:

    Jules, Bill forgets about the sponsors of such tours, Coca-Cola and Southern Company. How many companies are severing a relationship with the seditious orange buffoon?

    Coca-Cola is worldwide.

  13. Bill Daniels says:

    Manny,

    Each business makes its own decisions, (presumably in the best interest of the shareholders, if public, or the private owners, if not) or is supposed to, in a non communist, non democratic socialist, non fascist country. The PGA tour makes the bulk of its money on TV advertising, and if that TV audience shrinks dramatically, advertisers, like Coke or utility companies, will insist on paying less than they have in the past, because there are fewer viewers who will see their ad.

    This is what the woke NBA, NFL, and to a lesser extent, MLB will be facing…..advertisers wanting to renegotiate what they pay because there are fewer viewers.

  14. C.L. says:

    I think the PGA will find some other golf course to play the game at (one not owned by the Trump Dynasty), and will lose some coin on it due to a(n inevitable) Trump lawsuit. Golf will still be played, and the PGA will continue to make money.

    End of story. This whole PGA ‘crisis’ is a nothingburger.

  15. Manny says:

    Bill, you need to quit those right wing whacko sites.

    Bill, you left out NASCAR.

    If fewer people watch they will make less money, that is a true statement. The question is will fewer people be watching? Time will tell, look at Nike and the use of Kirpatrick for advertising. Look at Trump and how much less money his business is making.

  16. Ross says:

    The PGA is a 501(c)6 business association, and wasn’t formed to make a profit.

    The individual tournaments are often operated by the charities that benefit from the tournaments. Eliminate them, and the amount of money given to charities will fall.

    No one is going to stop watching golf just because Trump lost a major tournament, unless they are stupid beyond belief, and are wedded to the thought that Trump was a good President rather than a narcissistic buffoon, who knew nothing about government, and whose main goal was to make himself and his friends richer. Trump is by far the worst President in my life, and probably in history.

  17. Jules says:

    More economic fallout from the insurrection: MyPillow getting kicked out of Bed, Bath and Beyond.

  18. Jules says:

    Actually seems like a good business decision to disassociate with trump.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/19/inauguration-biden-trump-live-updates/

    “ Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday pointedly blamed Trump for having “provoked” the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
    Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell noted that the Senate was meeting for the first time since that day, when Congress ultimately finished counting the electoral votes that cemented Biden’s victory.
    “The mob was fed lies,” McConnell said. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like. But we pressed on, we stood together and said an angry mob would not get veto power over the rule of law in our nation.””

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