Maybe If It Was Made Of Bananas...

RaffiWas

RightVille


Well, well, well, whadd'ya know:

Earlier this year we noted how the Trump administration had cooked up a half-assed wireless phone company. Even calling it a “phone company” was being generous: the branding deal was basically just a licensing agreement and a lazy coat of paint on another, half-assed, MAGA-focused, mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) named Patriot Mobile, which itself just resells T-Mobile service.

What was supposed to set the venture apart was a “bold” new $500 Trump T1 smartphone.

To pitch the phone to unsuspecting rubes, the original press release had a badly photoshopped rendition of the device, peppered with claims the phone would be “proudly designed and built in the United States.”

It didn’t take long for the folks behind the phone to pull all the made in America claims from the website. And while originally the phone was supposed to launch in August or September, not long ago it was delayed until October 31. As November drew to a close, there’s still no sign of the device...

Hmmmm...

Would you like Trump steaks with that?


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The above is from Karl Bode writing for TechDirt.
Earworm in the header, of course...This!

Snark in the subheader?...This!



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A Bubble For The Shedding?

ThisAin'tNoPartyThisAin'tNoDisco

ThisAin'tNoFoolin'AroundVille


Depending on where you've been looking, you might have come across a story or two that questioning where all the monetization/growth will come from to support the hugely big investments in AI.

Well...

What if the overlords behind all that over investification don't give a hoot-in-heckfire about real growth because they have instead gone all in on the 'shedding'?

Patricia Cohen of the NY Times has been chasing that story (web archive link):

The stock market bounces in recent weeks are just one indicator of the profound uncertainty and heightened risks running through the global economy and financial system.

It’s not simply that the hundreds of billions of dollars flooding into artificial intelligence investments might turn out to be a bubble. Or that the use of cryptocurrencies in mainstream banking is spreading even as their values have plunged after soaring to record highs...

{snip}

...The stock market run-up — the S&P 500 is still up about 14 percent this year despite the recent shivers — could foreshadow widespread economic gains. But (Harvard economist Kenneth) Rogoff doesn’t think that is the case.

“A big part of the high stock prices is not a reflection of high future growth,” he said. Rather, it is a sign that A.I. is expected to boost productivity and shrink employment. “The firms all think they’re going to shed a lot of labor, and that’s why the profits will be high,” he said...

In other words...

Our over investified AI overlords may not actually be betting on economic growth, but instead betting on economic collapse.

Collapse for all of us who are not over OIAI overlords that is.


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Earworm not so subtly dropped into the subheader?...This!

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Advent Jukebox...Day 1...I'll Be Home

IfOnlyInOur

DreamsVille



This time around you don't have to listen to my spastic warbles.

Instead, you can listen to the real thing!


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Why?...Because it's a tradition - that's why!



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Nevermind The Pen Flip...

DaveHodgeHasNotBeenFired
OhlemyerCommunicationsVille


...Bring on the latest edition of Dave Hodge's top 100 songs of 2025!

The Spotify playlist is...Here.

You can hear Mr. Hodge talk about his century with Mike Boon which, in addition to the music, includes, as you might expect, unfortunately, just a wee bit of Toronto as Center-Of-The-Universe discourse...Here.

You can even watch a chunk of the Hodge/Boon back and forth...Here.

As for the actual music on the list?

Well, there's a whole lotta indie Americana/Canuckistanmikitaville-type stuff in there, which means that it's right in my wheelhouse (but maybe not yours).

As an added bonus, I also learned a bit about 'Snocaps', which is a kinda/sorta 'super group' indie project of the Crutchfield sisters and MJ Lenderman...This is a passel of young folks that my own personal talent scout for such things, littler e., had already sussed out. The upshot? The tickets have been purchased, and the tithe to the masters of all that is wrong with the modern day purchase of such things has been paid, so that we can go and see their show next spring.


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Subheader?...This!

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