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Random Totty
Longtime Readers will no doubt be aware of my fondness of statuesque / zaftig / full-figured women, so this discovery should come as no surprise to anybody.
Anyone heard of Rachel Bloom before? Neither had I.
Yummy. Also fairly intelligent, apparently.
Next: The Supremes
Oh, I like this kind of thing:
A federal appeals court upheld a Texas law that bans Big Tech from censoring speech based on political viewpoint on Friday.
House Bill 20 prevents social media companies with more than 50 million monthly users banning users simply based on their political viewpoints. The law also requires several consumer protection disclosures and processes related to content management on the social media sites to which the bill applies. These sites must disclose their content management and moderation policies and implement a complaint and appeals process for content they remove, providing a reason for the removal and a review of their decision. They also must review and remove illegal content within 48 hours. House Bill 20 also prohibits email service providers from impeding the transmission of email messages based on content.
Needless to say, the Left went into full hair-on-fire mode:
The law was promptly challenged by NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association. They argued that tech companies have a First Amendment right to select and curate the content people post on their platforms. They were able to get the new law blocked, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed that decision — and won.
Fortunately, common sense and Constitutionalism prevailed. In the judgment of the 5th Circuit:
The implications of the platforms’ argument are staggering. In the platforms’ view, email providers, mobile phone companies, and banks* could cancel the accounts of anyone who sends an email, makes a phone call, or spends money in support of a disfavored political party, candidate, or business. What’s worse, the platforms argue that a business can acquire a dominant market position by holding itself out as open to everyone — as Twitter did in championing itself as “the free speech wing of the free speech party.”…Then, having cemented itself as the monopolist of “the modern public square,”…Twitter unapologetically argues that it could turn around and ban all pro-LGBT speech for no other reason than its employees want to pick on members of that community…
The 11th Court found differently, hence it’s off to the Supremes we go. And they can’t punt it back, because two federal appeals courts have conflicting rulings.
Let’s see what happens.
*Note how banks were specifically mentioned, which should make this little episode interesting.
Fair Warning
Following on from the decision of credit card companies to “flag” sales made at gun stores, we have this development:
Twenty-four Republican attorneys general sent a letter to Visa, Mastercard, and American Express Tuesday warning them to drop plans to code and compile gun sales in America.
The new code will not protect public safety. Categorizing the constitutionally protected right to purchase firearms unfairly singles out law-abiding merchants and consumers alike. First, efforts to track and monitor sales at gun stores would only result in vague and misleading information. This categorization would not recognize the difference, for example, between the purchase of a gun safe and a firearm. Nor would it capture firearm purchases made at department stores, resulting in arbitrarily disparate treatment of “gun store” merchants and consumers.
More importantly, purposefully tracking this information can only result in its misuse, either unintentional or deliberate. Creating and tracking this data only matters if your institutions are considering using that information to take further, harmful action—like infringing upon consumer privacy, inhibiting constitutionally protected purchases by selectively restricting the use of your payment systems, or otherwise withholding your financial services from targeted “disfavored” merchants.
And my favorite part:
Social policy should be debated and determined within our political institutions. Americans are tired of seeing corporate leverage used to advance political goals that cannot muster basic democratic support. The Second Amendment is a fundamental right, but it’s also a fundamental American value. Our financial institutions should stop lending their market power to those who wish to attack that value.
Be advised that we will marshal the full scope of our lawful authority to protect our citizens and consumers from unlawful attempts to undermine their constitutional rights. Please keep that in mind as you consider whether to proceed with adopting and implementing this Merchant Category Code.
Give it to the bastards good and hard, boys and girls. Make ’em sweat, and make ’em bleed if they ignore you.
Weimar Redux
Annnnnd the Germans are in deep shit:
According to release statistics from the German economic ministry, energy prices in August were more than double the same period last year, up 139%. The monthly increase was more than 20.4% higher than July. Additionally, producer prices for electricity rose 174.9% compared with August 2021 and by 26.4% in a single month.
This jaw-dropping increase in energy cost has resulted in German manufacturing prices for industrial goods jumping 7.9% in August alone, with a year-over-year increase in the cost to manufacture goods at 45.8%. That is the highest rate of price increase since Germany began recording their statistics in 1939.
It’s a pity they didn’t start in 1919, because then we could have compared today (and tomorrow, from the looks of things) to the numbers from the Weimar Republic. Nonetheless, Germany’s in for a rough ride.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of watermelons.
Noooooooo
In a shocking development:
Fox News announced Wednesday that Trace Gallagher will be the new anchor of Fox News @ Night, replacing Shannon Bream, who now hosts Fox News Sunday.
Now I have nothing against Gallagher, whom I recall as a decent enough sort, back when I used to watch cable news shows, and Fox in particular. But let’s just consider what’s happening here:
I mean… seriously?
Shannon is one of the foxiest [sic] anchors on TV, and to relegate her to a Sunday-only position is not A Good Thing. (I’m thinking of the welfare of Fox News regular viewers, here.)