The special counsel Robert Mueller ignited a firestorm of controversy on Wednesday by recommending that millions of Americans read. Mueller, seemingly oblivious to the uproar he was about to create, repeatedly commented that there was valuable information available to the American people only by reading a long book. At the White House, sources said that Donald J. Trump was furious about Mueller’s statement because he interpreted the special counsel’s pro-reading message as a thinly veiled attack on him.
The New York State Democratic Party voted unanimously Wednesday to make it easier for registered independent voters to re-enroll as Democrats to vote in next year’s presidential primary — three years after Bernie Sanders slammed the state’s onerous election rules. Under the new rules, a voter not affiliated with a party can re-enroll as a Democrat up to 25 days before the April 28, 2020, election instead of months before. A member of another political party could re-register up to 60 days before the primary election instead of 200 days before.
I think that's really good news for the party, as I think Democrats should be a big tent party, welcoming new voters to their party, allowing them to participate in primary elections.
Last week, I suggested we tax advertising on local news, to pay for the law enforcement and crime costs that the local news media imposes on society, via their glorification of crime and criminal justice system. Stamp taxes aren’t a popular thing, ever since the British imposed it on the American colonies, but I think it may be a necessary thing to reduce crime and rein in the abuse of the first amendment by commercial media.
It’s well documented that the news media should not cover suicide, unless it’s a particularly suicide of a public figure or happens in a public place that impacts a large number of people — like somebody blowing off their head in a community gathering. But even there the news media treads carefully. But I have to wonder if those guidelines mostly exist, because advertisers don’t get the same value out of suicide coverage that they get out of crime. Suicide isn’t particularly scary to people, as only the suicidal individual dies. Without fear, there isn’t the profits.
I am always quite fascinated by the rise of dollar stores, especially in the small towns I often visit while traveling the state. I only stopped at one once, in Cattaragus to pick up a supply, and it seemed rather dingy, dark, and not even all that great of value. But I guess when the nearest "big box" or grocery store is 15 minutes away, it probably makes a lot of sense to go there then travel out of town.
Asking for their solidarity in his trade war with China, Donald Trump is urging Americans to boycott Chinese goods and “just buy things at Walmart.” Trump made his request via Twitter, where he told his fellow-citizens that it was their “patriotic duty” to punish China by buying as many goods at Walmart as possible. “If you go to a GREAT AMERICAN STORE like Walmart, you’ll find lots of cheap sportswear, shoes, and other items for you and your family to enjoy,” he tweeted. “What better way to show China that we don’t need their DUMB STUFF!”
There is a gut doctor, and he begs Americans: “Throw out this vegetable now.” This news is accompanied by a different image nearly every time. This morning, the plea appeared at the bottom of an article on Vox next to a photo of a hand chopping up what appears to be a pile of green apples. At other times, it has been paired with a picture of a petri dish with a worm in it. Other times, gut bacteria giving off electricity. The inside of a lotus root. An illustrated rendering of roundworms. The gut doctor’s desperation pops up over and over, on websites like CNN and the Atlantic (and as I said, this one), in what are known colloquially as “chumboxes.” These are the boxes at the bottom of the page that have several pieces of clickbaity “sponsored content” or “suggested reading.” They’re generated by a variety of companies, but the largest two are Taboola ($160 million in funding) and Outbrain ($194 million in funding), both founded in Israel in the mid-aughts.
If you don't want to read the article, apparently that evil gut vegatable is good ol' fashion sweet corn. 🌽 Apparently, it has a lot of sugar in it, and its hard for humans to digest the cellous on the outside of the kernel. But that misses the point of what article is about -- how click bait or chum is becoming a bigger part of the Internet.
