Gwen Moritz

So wait, Trump “cut a deal” with China to: buy the soybeans they were already buying before the trade war, but now China gets advanced AI chips too?? Where is the win??

I use Claude (an AI) to scan my posts for spelling and grammar errors. On the most recent post (about the East Wing, link below), I got a really amazing addendum.
www.pbump.net/o/yes-most-a...

i think if you ride public transit enough you learn that most weird behavior is not dangerous, and conversely i think driving a car teaches you that everyone is trying to kill you at all times

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/485594b3-5a72-4ae1-aa93-8ee987be1569 Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform is to offer users the chance to trade on the outcome of elections and sports games, extending the US president and his family’s involvement in the booming prediction markets sector. The Trump Media & Technology Group, which controls the social media platform, on Tuesday announced it would partner with Crypto.com to introduce “Truth Predict”, which would allow users “to react instantly to developments in major current events”.  Crypto.com previously donated $11mn to Trump causes. Earlier this year the Securities and Exchange Commission closed an investigation into the company, and on Friday, it announced that it applied for a US bank charter. In August, TMTG also signed a multibillion-dollar deal to buy Cronos, the tokens issued by Crypto.com, which sent their price soaring. “For too long, global elites have closely controlled these markets — with Truth Predict, we’re democratising information and empowering everyday Americans to harness the wisdom of the crowd, turning free speech into actionable foresight,” said Devin Nunes, TMTG’s head.

Excuse me? So the company the President currently owns is teaming up with a cryptocurrency company to create a prediction market, which will take bets... on things the President himself has quite a lot of control over?

Gosh, I'm sure nothing bad will happen.

www.ft.com/content/4855...

U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson, a legend in Arkansas jurisprudence, died Monday evening at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He was 85. His wife, Cathi Compton, told me he had been acutely ill for nine weeks.

YouTube video by Blondie - Topic The Tide Is High (Remastered 2001)

Friday (Oct 31) will be the 45th anniversary of the release of my favorite pop song: Blondie's cover of "The Tide Is High."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypWX...

I don’t really think the framers intended for a president to have the power to slap a tariff on products from a particular country because he didn’t like a TV commercial they ran about him, but I suppose it is presently up to the Supreme Ct to decide how far the Mad King can go.

I assume every Republican is so angry that those Canadians quoted someone they have always hated and hurt the feelings of the only man who embodies their values that they are DEMANDING to pay more for Canadian imports.

I used to think it was a over-the-top for @emptywheel.bsky.social to call Miller "Discount Goebbels," but it turns out to be on-the-nose. Read up on "degenerate art" and what the original Goebbels said about it.

A man was arrested for playing Darth Vader's theme music, "The Imperial March," behind National Guard troops walking through Logan Circle.

Now the ACLU is suing on his behalf. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Good thing the East Wing didn't contain a statue of a white supremacist traitor who made war on the US in order to preserve slavery. Removing one of those would really upset Republicans.

Obama should have torn down part of the White House and built a massive basketball arena with money collected from his rich friends. Everyone has always wanted one and only he could make it happen.

Is there a limit to how much of the White House the president can tear down and replace with structures paid for with donations from his rich friends? Can he then transfer ownership to his "foundation" for his personal use forever, just like with the flying palace donated by Qatar?

Per these clips from Aaron today, seems MAGA-GOP is feeling extra super defensive about the #EpsteinFiles.

Release them. Then you won't need to ask for Dems "help"

Tax Day Is Met With Tea Parties (Published 2009)

Here's a gift link to the New York Times' coverage of the initial Tea Party rallies in April 2009 which inspired the media to treat it like a massive movement.

Check out how tiny the crowds were:

Philly: 200
DC: "several hundred"
Boston: 500
Austin: 1,000
Houston: 2,000

Tee-hee! When you don't have to get permission, you never have to seek forgiveness. (Sarcasm.)

Photo of a small protest

Photo of a small protest

Photo of a small protest

Photo of a small protest

Updating everyone with photos from the No King's Rally in Clinton, Arkansas (pop. 2,501)

Remember, brown 13-year-olds are hardened menaces to society, but 30-something Republican Hitler afficionados in positions of power are just li’l guys.

The world's most-visited museum, the Louvre in Paris, is shut on Sunday following a robbery https://cnn.it/3Jl8OjJ

If Donald Trump is such a bigot, then why did he free a gay Brazilian man from jail?

I’m old enough to remember when it was a scandal to say that a portion of your opponents were “deplorable.” This seems a lot worse?

Bearing false witness must be a sacrament in the Cult of Trump. There seems to be a competition to tell the most outrageous lies in order to prove that they are the most devout followers of the religion.

Republicans' embrace of Hitler raises new questions about Zohran Mamdani's willingness to combat antisemitism.

Today following outreach from @thejusticedept, Facebook removed a large group page that was being used to dox and target @ICEgov agents in Chicago. The wave of violence against ICE has been driven by online apps and social media campaigns designed to put ICE officers at risk just for doing their jobs. The Department of Justice will continue engaging tech companies to eliminate platforms where radicals can incite imminent violence against federal law enforcement.

I'm sorry, is the Trump Administration talking to a tech platform?

Is it...requesting content moderation?

Just a reminder, the layoffs in govt were just done out of spite, not necessity

From a press release announcing a "farm tour" next week:
“It’s been an incredibly tough year for Arkansas’ farmers: even with record yields, our farmers are struggling from the effects of Bidenflation and Communist China’s assault on America’s agriculture industry,” said Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

I assume some bank suffered a great loss because of whatever NYAG Letitia James is accused of doing. Because Republicans firmly believe that fraud that didn't cause a bank to lose anything is totally fine. Or so they said when the defendant was a born-rich white man. #GOPvalues

Apart from helping Comey's selective prosecution defense, this also means the president of the United States uses direct messages on Truth Social to communicate with cabinet officials.

I didn't know that, but we can be sure intelligence agencies all over the planet already did.

How Much It Costs to Drive an E.V. and a Gas Car in Every State

According to the @nytimes.com, if you can charge at home, Arkansas is one of the best (No. 7) states in which to own an EV. But if you depend on fast-charging stations, Arkansas is the rock-bottom worst place to own an EV. Much more expensive per 100 miles driven than gasoline.

According to Trump's DOL: “The near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens combined with the lack of an available legal workforce, results in significant disruptions to production costs and threatening the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S consumers.”