Can somebody explain why I’m getting most of my information about the whole GameStop story from humorous comics?
For example, the same thing is now being done to silver futures. And gold futures might be next. Let me be clear, I’m not saying that the manipulation of GameStop’s stock is a good thing. The only good thing about it is that it is showing that with enough leverage, the “markets” are basically big Ponzi schemes. We need to fix them before they collapse in a landslide of hubris.
This is a fascinating video listing 12 things (or accomplishments) that Trump supporters like about him. It also adds two additional things. Watch until the end to see how it all turns out.
After you watch the video, here’s the link he talks about. But definitely watch the video first.
As an avowed pragmatist, I am always trying to figure out what works. Which is why I love Kate McKinnon asking “What Still Works?” in last night’s SNL cold open:
First, Trump had a very hard time finding lawyers to defend him in his impeachment trial. Now he is bleeding the few lawyers he was able to find. Five of his lawyers quit on Saturday night. And the Senate has a deadline of Tuesday for Trump’s lawyers to submit a memo laying out his defense, and it is not even apparent if Trump has any lawyers left.
But the really ironic thing is the reason Trump’s lawyers quit — Trump is insisting that they focus on the completely insane and discredited claims that the election was stolen from him. In other words, focus on defending him based on the very same lies that caused the insurrection in the first place.
Yeah, I would love to see the Senate Republicans vote to acquit Trump based solely on claims that the election was unfairly stolen. That argument didn’t go over very well with the voters in Georgia, and I doubt it would play all that well in other, future elections.
Continuing on the theme of people leaving, I somehow neglected to post this video from Jimmy Kimmel from just after the inauguration.
I’m sure that everyone has heard about a bunch of people on Reddit turning the tables on large short selling investors. A reasonably good summary of it is an article on CNN Business titled “The real shock of the GameStop mania was that it didn’t happen sooner“.
Or as Jon Stewart says — in his first tweet ever — “This is bullshit. The Redditors aren’t cheating, they’re joining a party Wall Street insiders have been enjoying for years. Don’t shut them down…maybe sue them for copyright infringement instead!!”
The rich have been manipulating stocks for profit for a very long time. Every time you see a TV show or internet article giving investment advice, you can be sure that they bought a bunch of some stock, and now are trying to get lots of people to buy it to bid up the price. The amazing thing is that the people on the internet didn’t figure this out sooner.
It is difficult to see how this won’t destroy stock markets, now that everyone knows that they can be manipulated by any organized group on the web. Hopefully, this will lead to a dramatic restructuring of the markets so that they no longer are manipulable casinos that act as golden eggs for the rich and connected.
Now it all makes sense! In “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” Linus from Peanuts worships the Great Pumpkin. More recently, members of QAnon worship a mythical orange leader named Donald J Trump. Both names have the same number of letters! That can’t be a coincidence!
In case you don’t know what The Storm is, here’s the first paragraph of an interesting article in The Economist about QAnon:
This is an awkward moment for the QAnon conspiracists who put their considerable faith in Donald Trump. Inauguration Day came and went with no mass execution of Satanist Democratic paedophiles. The Storm, as a million-odd QAnon followers called that wished-for event, was a shower. So there was no Great Awakening—a post-slaughter celebration of Mr Trump—either. “No plan, no Q, nothing,” grumbled one follower, referring to the conspiracy’s shadowy prophet, an imagined Trump aide, on the Telegram messaging platform to which the group has flocked.
Trump’s hold on the Republican Party is only getting worse. Is there any hope for the country?
Being quarantined during the pandemic is a horrible drag, but you know, there are some good things that have come out of it. Like having time to work on something with few distractions, doing more gardening, cooking or home repair, more walks, hikes, or bike rides, spending more time with a spouse or family member, or reconnecting with distant friends using video conferencing.
Leave a comment about things that changed due to Covid-19, which made your life better, even if only a little. I’ll start by saying that I’ve re-discovered this wonderful device called the telephone. Now that most people are stuck at home, they actually answer their phone, and are happy to converse extensively with you, even if you haven’t talked for ages.
To get you in the right mood, here’s a sweet music video:
Bernie Sanders has been getting quite a bit of attention just for sitting in his chair during the inauguration, wearing his famous coat and a big pair of mittens. I’m not sure how many memes have been created from that, putting Bernie sitting somewhere else. But this is the one that made me laugh the most.
… the more they stay the same.
If you thought that Trump’s defeat would give the GOP pause to wonder if maybe, just maybe, they are doing something wrong… Well, then you are wrong. Isn’t there some saying about “fool me twice?”
I absolutely loved the inauguration. Amanda Gorman especially stole my heart. Yo-Yo Ma melted my soul.
Can you identify everyone in this comic?
Wednesday night, after the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, there were protests in at least two cities — Portland OR and Seattle WA — that turned violent. In Portland, protesters smashed doors and broke windows of the Democratic Party headquarters, set a small dumpster on fire, and sprayed graffiti on outside walls (including “Fuck Biden”). At least 8 people were arrested.
Even more annoying, marching protesters carried large banners and signs saying “We don’t want Biden, we want revenge! For police murders, imperialist wars and fascist massacres”, and “We are ungovernable”.
In Seattle there was also some vandalism, and crowds chanted “Antifa!” and “No cops, no prisons, total abolition!”
I have to say, this was really such a stupid thing to do, I wondered (mistakenly) if it was a false flag operation by the right. After all, the sacking of the US Capitol on Jan 6 totally backfired on the participants. Not only did they not get what they wanted, it turned most of the nation against them. And gave Republicans who supported the “stop the steal” lies an opportunity to claim “both sides do it”.
Justice is a worthy goal. Revenge never is. Actions like these two protests make it less likely that justice will be served.
The removal of his orangeness should be a cause for a joyful celebration. And there were plenty of happy, peaceful demonstrations going on in Portland and Seattle (and many other places) that day. We need more of that, not violence and destruction. If you want to change people’s minds, follow the examples of Gandhi and MLK Jr.
Let me be clear, I am unequivocally denouncing this violence, and would do that even if I agreed with any goals of the people doing it. But this Wednesday’s violence and destruction was absolutely stupid violence and destruction.
I would not say that violence is never ever justified, and people who do say that are often being hypocritical. After all, our country celebrates the Boston Tea Party, which was definitely violent and led to destruction of property (and the start of the American revolution). And I personally believe that war against the Nazis was justified.
Bottom line — the people who participated in the violence in Portland and Seattle should be appropriately punished for their actions. And Democrats and other liberals should condemn them.
I love it when the media does my job for me. Politico published a series of cartoons from the Trump years. For each major event, they had Matt Wuerker (a great comic artist in his own right) pick one Republican leaning cartoon and one Democratic cartoon.
The whole series is worth looking at. But to whet your interest, here are the two cartoons from the early days of the Covid pandemic:
Joe Biden is now the President of the United States. There was no violence at the Capitol. In fact, there was no violence at any of the state capitols, despite warnings. I guess this is the way the insurrection ends, not with a bang but a whimper.
Speaking of hollow things, QAnon seems to be in disarray. Perhaps their desired “Great Awakening” happened after all, except that they became woke to the fact that “We all got played”.
When one die-hard QAnon adherent posted a new theory that Biden was “part of the plan”, the responses included “This will never happen”, “Just stfu already!”, “It”s over. It is sadly, sadly over.” And ultimately “What a fraud!”, “Wake up. We’ve been had.”
Even the “Proud Boys” are not so proud anymore. They were expecting Trump to pardon the Capitol rioters, but now that he has left the building, they are waking to the fact that he just didn’t care. Like everyone else, the insurgents were thrown “under the bus” by Trump.
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