Chet Collins

Facebook’s New Trump Rules - WSJ Opinion

This comes the week after Facebook was forced, in embarrassing fashion, to reverse its censorship of commentary about the origins of the coronavirus after the “expert” consensus ruling out a lab leak collapsed.

Still hard to believe that anyone uses the thing.

Apple Staff Complain About Plans for Return to Office Work in Letter to Tim Cook - MacRumors

Without the inclusivity that flexibility brings, many of us feel we have to choose between either a combination of our families, our well-being, and being empowered to do our best work, or being a part of Apple. This is a decision none of us take lightly, and a decision many would prefer not to have to make.

And yet, every day in our careers before March 13, 2020, we managed to pull it off.

While Student Loan Payments Are Paused, Do These Things With the Extra Money - TIME

Experts say now is the time to stop holding your breath for student loan relief and instead focus on getting your finances in order.

Gasp.

Morning show.

🎭

Not sure why Trump shut down his blog.

Judging the value of a website based on “social interactions” is a huge mistake.

Nice contrast on the front door.

🦩

Given the maturity of HomeKit, I still get accessories saying “No Response” way too frequently.

Israel-Gaza Conflict Spurs Bitcoin Donations to Hamas - WSJ

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has seen a surge in cryptocurrency donations since the start of the armed conflict with Israel last month, a senior official with the group said, exploiting a trend in online fundraising that has enabled it to circumvent international sanctions to fund its military operations.

Crypto is great.

Nice to have help on doctor appointment days!

Summer is here.

☀️

I know that I’m a long time away from being able to fully focus at Mass.

So the days when family are around to help, it’s very nice.

Kids are very excited about special visitors!

Biden Budget Said to Assume Capital-Gains Tax Rate Increase Started in Late April - WSJ

President Biden’s expected $6 trillion budget assumes that his proposed capital-gains tax rate increase took effect in late April, meaning that it would already be too late for high-income investors to realize gains at the lower tax rates if Congress agrees

No one likes the kid who changes the rules in the middle of the game.

Biden Budget Plan Would Remove Ban on Federal Funds for Abortion - WSJ

The president’s budget, released Friday, doesn’t include the 1976 Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding for abortion

Unity!

While this marked the first time in decades that a president sought to strip the language, the change wasn’t highlighted in a budget fact sheet released by the White House.

Normalcy!

Amazon and Walmart Have an Rx for Healthcare. The Cure Won’t Be Easy. - WSJ

Artificially high costs are passed on to patients, employers and taxpayers in the form of higher premiums and deductibles. And because many Americans get insurance via their employer, those who are dissatisfied with their plan might need to change jobs to get a better one.

This is the most poorly researched paragraph I’ve read in a very long time.

“Almost 30% of the time, patients would save money by paying cash instead of using their insurance. The fact that this is ever the case tells you how messed up the current system really is,” says Zach Reitano, CEO of the cash-pay healthcare startup Ro.

Nice analysis of bias there, btw. Zach, the CEO of a cash-pay start-up thinks health insurance is messed up.

The “messed up” part of the current system is that people buy insurance to cover basic services that they should pay for out of pocket. It’s like buying a warranty on your car that covers oil changes, tire rotations, and air filters. Of course it’s going to be expensive and inefficient! Health insurance should cover major, catastrophic events.

It’s a Travesty to Compare the Capitol Siege to 9/11 - WSJ Opinion

We are living in perilous times. When a modern democracy deploys forces of intimidation—whether government, corporate media or cultural institutions—to promote the ruling majority’s propaganda, it is time for good people to stand up and object. The world-changing attack of Sept. 11, 2001 shouldn’t be used, either as precedent or moral authority, to create a commission whose sole purpose is to turn a straightforward law-enforcement failure into destructive political theater.

Facebook Now Banning Anyone Who Says Virus Wasn’t Created In Wuhan Lab - The Babylon Bee

Mark Zuckerberg, may he live forever, announced the change from his royal throne today to a group of reporters gathered in his royal throne room.

This total reversal is one of the more amusing events of the Spring.

Apple Watch Series 3 Owners Now Required to Perform Restore When Updating Due to Storage Constraints - MacRumors

Apple Watch Series 3 owners who update their devices to a new version of watchOS are prompted to unpair and re-pair the Apple Watch from the iPhone during the update process because of storage space constraints.

It just works! You can walk into a store and buy one new today, btw.

U.S. Won’t Rejoin Open Skies Treaty With Russia - WSJ

The Biden administration has decided not to rejoin the Open Skies agreement with Russia after concluding that Russian violations of the deal and failure to take action to return to compliance undermined the pact

Well, well, well…

The Proxy Coup at Exxon - WSJ Opinion

Liberals in wealthy countries including the U.S. want to ban the internal-combustion engine. But Nigeria’s poor won’t be buying Teslas.

Neither will America’s poor and middle class.

Dr. Fauci Gets In Heated Debate With Seventeen Previous Versions Of Himself - The Babylon Bee

“The virus was created in a lab!” present-day Fauci said indignantly, causing past Fauci to wag his finger and shake his head emphatically.

“No, no, no, that’s a deranged conspiracy theory!” past Fauci said. “It’s practically alt-right! Didn’t you check Snopes? Anyway, at least we can agree we should wear double masks forever.”

“No, masks aren’t necessary anymore!” said current Fauci. “We just wear them for political theater.”

“That’s insulting! They’re absolutely not theater!” said early May Fauci.

New Amazon Bond Film Will Feature 007 Assassinating Small Business Owners - The Babylon Bee

The franchise will also do away with “Q,” from whom Bond usually gets all his cool gadgets. Instead, he will order his spy tools on Amazon Prime to be delivered by drone, in scenes that will feature heavy product placement for Amazon’s new Prime Plus service.

An excellent article from start to finish.

The Virus Lab Theory’s New Credibility - WSJ Opinion

The public-health clerisy also set boundaries for allowable discussion. On Feb. 19, 2020, the Lancet published a statement by scientists condemning “conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.”

Democrats Are the Anticrime Party - WSJ Opinion

I couldn’t find a pull quote for this article. It is so off-base as to be laughable.

The Trump Administration was no saint, but to attempt to conflate the massive uptick in violent crime in US cities in 2020 with Trump’s behavior is like comparing apples and Abrams tanks.

Kudos to Paul and the Opinion pages for continuing to print third party op-eds that they don’t agree with in the interest of furthering conversation.