HITTING BOTTOM: Chuck Todd and the Demise of True Journalism. “Within 24 hours, the story about the Johnson interview had become a feedback loop of media self-congratulation.”
The less they have to congratulate themselves about, the more self-congratulation.
EXTORTION: Minneapolis Mayor Tries to Shut Down Trump Rally With ‘Outrageous’ Security Fee.
As Iowahawk noted when Berkeley performed its own imitation of the Vercotti brothers from Monty Python against Ben Shapiro:
This got less attention than when Apple pulled the Hong Kong police-tracking app from the App Store, but late last week it was restored in time for the weekend’s protests. Whether this was due to a change of heart at HQ, or (more likely) a screwup caused by the company’s notoriously flaky approval process, we’ll never know. Either way, it’s good that it’s back.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: How to Silence Unknown Callers in iOS 13 on iPhone.
RULE 34A: IF IT DOESN’T EXIST, THERE’S STILL PORN OF IT: Most AI-Generated Deepfake Videos Online Are Porn.
LATEST REASON THE JOKER MOVIE IS BAD: Gary Glitter is Getting Paid.
Oh no! What is this evil, child-molesting song? It’s “Rock and Roll Part 2,” popularly known as “The Hey Song.” Anybody who’s watched a sporting event in the last 30 years has heard it:
That’s it. That’s the controversy. The movie uses a song by a convicted pedophile, which was recorded and popularized decades before anybody knew he was a pedophile. I’m sure the crowds will stop flocking to movie theaters now. Good work, CNN!
As T. Becket Adams of the Washington Examiner asks, “did the Joker movie murder CNN’s father? this is personal vendetta levels of obsession.”
Considering that CNN and Warner Brothers are still part of the same megacorporation, is CNN trying desperately to demonstrate their independence as a news organization by attacking their fellow employees down the hall? Is this part of a weird promotional campaign in which manufactured controversy sells tickets? Or do the 27 year olds who staff today’s newsrooms, who literally know nothing, as fellow leftist Ben Rhodes would say, really believe that a movie about a comic book supervillain who’s been around for nearly 80 years will bring down the republic?
Earlier: Everybody Is Tipper Gore Now.
PRIVACY: Cheap smartphones have a disturbing secret. “Billions of people worldwide access the internet only through their phones. But using a cheap smartphone comes with some serious trade-offs.”
According to an analysis by the advocacy group Privacy International, a $17 Android smartphone called MYA2 MyPhone, which was launched in December 2017, has a host of privacy problems that make its owner vulnerable to hackers and to data-hungry tech companies.
First, it comes with an outdated version of Android with known security vulnerabilities that can’t be updated or patched. The MYA2 also has apps that can’t be updated or deleted, and those apps contain multiple security and privacy flaws. One of those pre-installed apps that can’t be removed, Facebook Lite, gets default permission to track everywhere you go, upload all your contacts, and read your phone’s calendar. The fact that Facebook Lite can’t be removed is especially worrying because the app suffered a major privacy snafu earlier this year when hundreds of millions of Facebook Lite users had their passwords exposed. Facebook did not respond to request for comment.
Philippines-based MyPhone said the specs of the MYA2 limited it to shipping the phone with Android 6.0, and since then it says it has “lost access and support to update the apps we have pre-installed” with the device. Given that the MYA2 phone, like many low-cost Android smartphones, runs outdated versions of the Android OS and can’t be updated due to their hardware limitations, users of such phones are limited to relatively light privacy protections compared to what modern OSes, like Android 10, offer today.
The MYA2 is just one example of how cheap smartphones leak personal information, provide few if any privacy protections, and are incredibly easy to hack compared to their more expensive counterparts.
Caveat emptor.
[THUNBERG SCOLD VOICE]HOW DARE YOU![/THUNBERG]: New Law Requires You To Listen To Greta Thunberg Lecture Before Purchasing Gasoline.
It’s the Babylon Bee, so it’s satire, but I wish they wouldn’t give California any ideas.
THIS IS HOW THEY GET SCOOPS? Daily Caller reports an FBI agent admitted accepting tickets from CNN and the New York Times.
IN THE MAIL: From Suzanne Venker and John M. Townsend, Women Who Win at Love: How to Build a Relationship That Lasts.
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Dick’s CEO Turns Perfectly Good Rifles Into Scrap Metal to Make a Point of Some Kind. “Put this guy in charge of a lemonade stand, and you’ll end up with a couple of homeless little girls.”
DISPATCHES FROM THE INTERSECTION OF THE HOUSE OF STEPHANOPOULOS AND DISNEY-ABC-ESPN: Kowtow: Disney-Owned ABC Fails to Report Outrage Against NBA’s Groveling to China.
Evergreen:
THE MOST CALIFORNIA HEADLINE EVER: Questions of unethical dealing hit high-speed rail. But don’t stop construction in Fresno.
First, Assemblyman Jim Patterson, the Republican from Fresno, last month wrote the state agency that oversees politicians and public officials with concerns that a member of the rail project’s board had a financial conflict of interest, or at the least, an appearance of one. It was the second time this year Patterson had brought such a concern to the Fair Political Practices Commission. In the first instance, the rail project’s deputy chief operating officer had to step aside while his case came under investigation.
Second, the Los Angeles Times published a story that certain legislators in Southern California and the Bay Area are now considering using their voting clout to redirect state funds from the bullet train to rail projects in their areas. The lawmakers want to alleviate the freeway congestion that so frequently stymies their region.
Taken together, the developments are new fodder for detractors who think high-speed-rail is a colossal boondoggle that should be stopped. But, if anything, they should focus the rail board even more on getting the project done while making sure its leadership is completely ethical in all its dealings.
Another layer of administration ought to do it. Just one more…
GUY IN UKRAINE ADMITS TRYING TO HELP HILLARY BY HURTING TRUMP: It was big news over there. Wonder why not here?
TEACHERS’ UNFUNDED BENEFITS KEEP SALARIES DOWN: What? Daniel DiSalvo of the Manhattan Institute explains how the “legacy costs” of those excessively generous health care plans and defined benefit retirement programs influence compensation. But don’t expect to hear anything about this from the NEA or AFT.
NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL A FIRST-WORLD PROBLEM: World’s super-rich hit by private jet pilot shortage.
KANYE WEST MAY BE A CANARY IN THE POLITICAL COAL MINE: Something is going on with this guy, not the least of which is he’s the most visible contemporary Black entertainment celebrity to stand up for President Donald Trump.
I THINK THE LAWSUITS ARE HAVING AN IMPACT: College admin intervenes after student gov twice denies conservative group recognition.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Hillary Is Running…At the Mouth. “Many rumors are swirling about saying that Her Majesty the Royal Granny Maojackets Hillary Clinton may want to dip her ugly toes into the presidential race waters once again. As an American voter who would prefer that no Democrats ever be in power again, I only have one thought about that: Please God, yes.”
WHY IS SAN FRANCISCO STATE SUCH A CESSPIT OF RACISM AND SEXISM? California Appeals Court Upholds Jury Verdict That University Denied Tenure To Professor Who Complained About Hostile Environment For Women Of Color.
PRETTY BIG: Just How Big of a Deal Is China’s DF-17 Missile?
Unlike traditional ballistic missile re-entry vehicles, which are propelled to great heights by a booster rocket only to fall back to Earth on a roughly predictable trajectory, boost-glide vehicles leverage atmospheric lift and drag forces to glide – imagine a pebble skipping over the surface of a lake.
As they glide they accumulate tremendous heat and speed. To a limited degree, they can manoeuvre low to evade radars designed to look for high-flying missile re-entry vehicles outside the Earth’s atmosphere. Because they give such little warning, in the final moments of flight, the weapons can catch point defences – such as short-range missile defence systems – off guard.
In the case of the DF-17, China has looked to build up a highly precise system. U.S. analysis of the missile’s first tests in November 2017 found an impressive degree of precision – with the test units apparently striking within metres of their targets.
For now, China claims the DF-17 will only carry conventional munitions. But even a nothing more exotic than a slug of tungsten moving the hypersonic speed is going to deliver a lot of kinetic energy to the target.
InstaPundit is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
