Chet Collins

Republicans Propose Vaccination-By-Mail Program - The Babylon Bee

“Everyone will be able to receive the vaccine without having to miss work to travel to a vaccination site where they will wait in line for hours,” McConnell noted. “Best of all, nobody will be subjected to any racist ID checks!”

IRS Is Investigating Release of Tax Information of Wealthy Americans - WSJ

ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization, published details about the reported income and tax payments of some of the richest Americans

Very low class.

“The big picture is this data shows that the country’s wealthiest, who profited immensely during the pandemic, have not been paying their fair share,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), the chairman of the Finance Committee.

Strong disagree.

The big picture is that Congress has cashiered the tax system into a massive benefits transfer program filled with onerous complexity.

So Americans hire attorneys and CPAs to use legal tax strategies to reduce their tax liability.

As a result, Members of Congress are shocked and somehow conclude that by following the rules that Congress wrote, those taxpayers cheated?

Want everyone to pay their “fair share?” Enact a flat tax with a standard deduction high enough to exempt low-income Americans.

One of the defining features of Ancient Greek philosophy is it’s willingness to be challenged, questioned, and explored. Many of the great texts from this school are nothing more than dialogues between two or more characters debating its merits.

The enduring lines of human thought share this characteristic: an openness to engagement.

This isn’t a feature that’s shared by modern woke thought. It’s adherents are overly defensive and even the most cursory of inquiry is refuted with accusations of a wide-range of -isms.

iOS 15 ‘iCloud Private Relay’ Feature Won’t Be Available in China, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and More - MacRumors

Courage!

On the privacy front, it was good to see that Apple is still taking the fight to tracking.

Last year: websites and apps.

This year: email marketers.

Did Louis DeJoy take over for Tim Cook because they really mailed in the updates at WWDC this year.

The odds that Apple will roll in with iOS 15 and have food tracking and mindfulness be on par with LoseIt! or Headspace are about 0%.

Look at how lame sleep tracking is on watchOS. Basically meaningless.

I could not get this salad out of my head on my walk.

G-7 Nations Agree on New Rules for Taxing Global Companies - WSJ

For advocates, a minimum tax rate would end what they say is a “race to the bottom” in recent decades as countries engaged in competitive rounds of tax cuts to draw businesses away from each other.

In other words, high tax nations are upset that they have to lower their rates to be competitive. So, instead of making their country a more hospitable business environment, they changed the rules.

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.