Saturday, November 4, 2023

When swooning over Sam Bankman-Fried was a thing

 
HeadlineNew York Times, 11/2/2023
Sequoia Capital, a top venture firm that has funded Apple, Airbnb, Instagram and WhatsApp, all but begged Mr. Bankman-Fried to take its money during the mad rush when crypto was shiny and new. The FTX founder did. Sequoia then commissioned a very long celebration of Mr. Bankman-Fried by Adam Fisher, a longtime Silicon Valley writer who fell hard for the man whose fans called him S.B.F. 
“After my interview with S.B.F., I was convinced: I was talking to a future trillionaire,” Mr. Fisher wrote. He added: “The FTX competitive advantage? Ethical behavior.” 
Less than two months after the interview was published, FTX collapsed. Sequoia put a note at the top of the story saying this was an “unexpected turn of events.” It later took the story down and wrote off its $214 million investment in the exchange. Sequoia and Mr. Fisher declined to comment.

Related posts: 
So at what point do we call it ‘klepto’ instead of ‘crypto’?  ()

Day 447 of aftermath 2020 Wisconsin election review clown show: Michael Gableman and the nursing home vote

 
Headline:  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/2/2023
Former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who was hired by Assembly Republicans to investigate the 2020 election, claimed in his report that the WEC rule change led to the emergence of coerced votes from nursing home residents. Former President Donald Trump later alleged, without evidence, that those practices led to "thousands and thousands and thousands of crooked votes."


Alabama librarians meet the enemy within: Nancy C. Pack

 
HeadlinePublishers Weekly, 11/3/2023
It was unsurprising to learn this week that Alabama's state agency for public libraries has recommended severing ties with ALA, given the right wing political attack aimed at the association and Gov. Kay Ivey's recent demand for action. But in a head-snapping turn of events that hints at the depth of the political pressure state library leaders are facing, Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) director Nancy C. Pack has not only turned away from the ALA (after previously defending ALA in a September letter) but apparently from the ALA's Library Bill of Rights as well. 
AL.com reports that, in an October 12 memo, Pack recommended that the APLS board “strongly consider discontinuing the application of the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights as our guiding principle," and "place a much greater emphasis on addressing community needs.” Matthew Layne, president of the Alabama Library Association, told AL.Com that he "vehemently disagrees" with Pack's recommendations. "We as Alabamians should in no way capitulate to a vocal minority of individuals who wish to control what our citizens choose to read for themselves and for their families,” Layne told reporters. Pack's recommendations also include "finalizing a parent's list of potentially inappropriate book titles to serve as a valuable resource for public libraries." The recommendations will be voted on by the APLS Board later this month.

Related reading: 
 
ALcom, 10/28/2023
In response to Pack’s recommendations, librarian Marylyn Eubank said in a letter sent to the Alabama Library Association, “it is hard to compose a professional response to fear-based, unfounded, reactionary actions. One shakes with anger and the righteous indignation born from years of professional study and development. But shaking with anger doesn’t make the situation better for the millions of Alabama residents (mostly children) who have been betrayed by the very professionals meant to protect their rights.” 
Eubank said “Alabama kept books used by her black residents separate from books used by white residents” until the 1960s, and today, “funding for libraries is being held hostage by the governor and the state legislature.” “ 
Pack is simply providing the state what it wants - censorship in exchange for funding,” Eubank said.

Hmm...
 


Apparently, you can't be a Dick on Next Door

 

Related posts:
2023
November 

October 

September
Meet Christina Hill, another Gladys Kravitz wannabe.  (9/4)

August

June
Jean deservedly roasted for her 'shocking' observation.  (6/10/2023)



Day 1099 of GOP election denial hysteria (Trump Big Lie Clown Show Circus, Colorado edition)

 
ATTACK Of the Clown Show zombies
Starring TEA PARTY HOLDOVER Amy Kremer
Headline: Colorado Newsline, 11/2/2023
“People were happy. It was a fantastic event. They got to hear their president, and they love him,” Kremer said. “It was just a happy, joyful event, and you could see it on their faces.” 
On cross-examination, Kremer acknowledged that she had been onstage near Trump during his speech, left promptly afterwards to return to her hotel, and was not among the crowd that began marching to the Capitol. And she said that she continued to believe that the results of the 2020 election were fraudulent, and that a “coup” had taken place. 
“Your view is that there was no insurrection on Jan. 6, but there was a coup on Nov. 4, 2020?” asked Sean Grimsley, an attorney for the plaintiffs. 
“I was talking about, metaphorically, they stole an election. So, metaphorically, they were taking out a sitting president,” Kremer said. “We don’t know who stole the election. It happened in a number of states.”

Related posts:
Day 938 (Doug McLinko)
Day 942 (Glenn Youngkin)
Day 944 (Janel Brandtjen)
Day 945 (Jeff Serdy)
Day 946 (Todd Graybill)
Day 947 (Kyle Ardoin)
Day 949 (Frank LaRose)
Day 951 (Garland Favorito)
Day 952 (Doug Logan)
Day 954 (Brian Pritchard)
Day 955 (David Cross)
Day 956 (Suzi Voyles)
Day 957 (Josh McKoon)
Day 958 (David Whipple)
Day 960 (Joe Oltmann)
Day 961 (Theresa Manzella)
Day 962 (Sandra Merchant)
Day 964 (Stuart Hadlund)
Day 965 (Kari Lake)
Day 966 (Andro Lerario)
Day 971 (Jason Snead)
Day 982 (Joseph Mastroianni)
Day 983 (Mike Lindell)
Day 984 (Robert Sutherland)
Day 985 (Charlie Kirk)
Day 992 (Stan Grot)
Day 996 (Tim O'Hare)
Day 998 (Shawnna Bolick)
Day 999 (Dave Williams)
Day 1000 (Mike Lindell)
Day 1003 (Janel Brandtjen)
Day 1004 (Dinesh D'Souza)
Day 1005 (Sonny Borrelli)
Day 1006 (Daire Rendon)
Day 1007 (70% of GOP voters)
Day 1011 (Peter Bernegger)
Day 1013 (Sidney Powell)
Day 1015 (Matt Maddock)
Day 1016 (Nick Sherman)
Day 1017 (Boris Epshteyn)
Day 1019 (Rudy Giuliani)
Day 1020 (Eric Burlison)
Day 1025  (Mark Finchem)
Day 1026 (Brian Schimming)
Day 1027 (Jenna Ellis)
Day 1030 (David Whipple)
Day 1031 (Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman) 
Day 1032 (Joe Oltmann)
Day 1033 (Kari Lake)
Day 1035 (Abe Hamadeh)
Day 1037 (Douglas Frank)
Day 1039 (Warren Daniel)
Day 1040 (Craig Berland)
Day 1041 (Jason Frazier)
Day 1042 (Tina Peters)
Day 1044 (Meshawn Maddock)
Day 1046  (Jim Womack)
Day 1049 (Devin LeMahieu)
Day 1051 (Shawn Still)
Day 1053 (Ron DeSantis)
Day 1054 (Kristina Karamo)
Day 1055 (Cathy Latham)
Day 1056 (Kari Lake)
Day 1057 (Janel Brandtjen)
Day 1059 (Warren Daniel)
Day 1064 (Mike Thompson)
Day 1065 (Scott Hall)
Day 1069 (Janel Brandtjen)
Day 1072 (Mike Lindell)
Day 1074 (Sharon Hewitt)
Day 1081 (Mike Lindell)
Day 1082 (Amanda Jennings Smith)
Day 1083 (Kari Lake)
Day 1084 (Bob Bachenberg)
Day 1085 (Sidney Powell)
Day 1086 (Kenneth Chesebro)
Day 1087 (Gym Jordan)
Day 1088 (Mike Lindell)
Day 1089 (Tom Emmer)
Day 1090 (Mike Johnson)
Day 1091 (Jenna Ellis)
Day 1094 (Jim Marchant)
Day 1095 (Donald Trump)
Day 1096 (Mike Johnson)
Day 1097 (Seth Keshel)
Day 1098 (Doug Basler)

Friday, November 3, 2023

Cruising Redwood Street in Warren Pennsylvania (summer of 2023)

 
Screenshots and video by Retiring Guy






Other posts in the Cruising series:
2023
September
Cruising Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Highway in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.  (9/6)

July
Cruising from Warren Area High School to East Fifth and Redwood in Warren PA.  (7/27)

June
Cruising Riverside Cemetery, on the National Register of Historic Places, in Oshkosh Wisconsin.  (6/25)Cruising around the block at Waupun Correctional Institution, Wisconsin.  (6/17)

GET ME REWRITE: WISN broadcasts Foxconn puff piece

 
HeadlineWISN, 11/2/2023
The production is taking place in the smaller of the two side-by-side buildings the Taiwan-based company produced and once promised 13,0000 jobs and a $10 billion investment. 
"Market conditions have changed as to the original scope as to what Foxconn wanted to do in 2017 and 2018," Schlaeger said. "But what hasn't changed -- what hasn't changed is Foxconn's continued efforts to find business opportunities that can succeed."

2023

2021
GET ME REWRITE: Yes, Foxconn's $100 milion pledge to UW-Madison was nothing more than a cynical election ploy by Scott Walker.  (8/11)
The mysteries of Foxconn (season 2).  (5/12)
The collapse of Donald Trump's '8th Wonder of the World'.  (4/20)

2020
GET ME REWRITE: Two gullible guys from Racine County still believe anything Foxconn tells them.  (10/23)

Keeping tabs on Foxconn Place in


This week in the cereal aisle: Cheerios wins the shelf display against Lucky Charms

 
Photo by Retiring Guy

Bleeding Cool, 8/22/2023
General Mills is bringing back the Pumpkin Spice for a variety of items, but the big one to make a massive return is the Pumpkin Spice Cheerios. Believe it or not, this one was a super popular addition last Fall that got a ton of people talking, as you didn't have to go wait in line at a coffee shop to get your morning fix of the seasonal flavor. You could now just walk over to the cupboard, pull out a box of cereal, add milk, and you had a Pumpkin Spice start to your day. The cereal is making a return, but as always, it's going to be for a limited time as they don't want to make it a year-round thing.



Other cereal aisle posts:
2023
Fall flavors.  (10/25)
Movietime!  (7/24)

2022
General MIlls limited edition dessert fest.  (11/30)
Kellogg's Family Size Cosmic Brownies.  (11/6)
Hocus Pocus 2.  (10/17)
General Mills Limited Edition L.O.L. Surprise Birthday Cake Cereal.  (10/12)And after a few minutes in milk, it looks like a bowl of barf.  (7/15)
Retiring Guy arrives late to Cheerios 80th birthday party.  (7/13)
Wheaties 100 Years of Champions limited edition collector series.  (4/27)

2021
Limited Edition Kellogg's Frosted Flakes Apple Jacks Mashup,  (10/3)

2019
This box wants to party with you.  (6/4)
Blueberry Cheerios.  (5/16)
Snap, crackle and redpop.  (2/26)
Kellogg's Honey Oat Frosted Flakes.  (2/19)
Kellogg's All Bran fights for shelf space.  (1/22)
 
2018
Cheerios adds to its long list of flavors. (12/31)
General Mills offers two flavors of Dippin' Dots.  (11/28)
Kellogg's vanilla latte Frosted Mini-Wheats.  (10/1)
Nutter Butter.  (6/24)
Still a little bit of shelf space provided for boxes of Big Biscuit Shredded Wheat.  (4/3)
Chocolate Frosted Flakes.  (3/30)
It's just peachy, part 2 (with probiotics).  (3/26)
It's just peachy (Cheerios).  (3/25)
Snap, Crackle and Pop shrug off competition from Fancy Friends Cereal Treats.  (2/23)
Lucky Charms wants you to have a daily dose of yellow 5 and blue 1.  (3/9)
The takeover of Mom.  (3/1)
Hoopla over rainbow marshmallows added to Lucky Charms.  (2/22)
Kellogg's Donut Shop in your choice of flavors.  (2/14)
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the shredded wheat go down.  (2/6)
General Mills offers yet another flavor of Cheerios -- chocolate and peanut butter.  (1/30)
I suspect this special edition Cocoa Puffs isn't exactly flying off the shelves.  (1/16)
What's really going on with this General Mills blend.  (1/10)
Giant size bargains to kick off the new year.  (1/3)

2017
Satisfy your craving for chocolate.  (12/22)
Pumpkin Spice runs amok.  (11/7)
Danger lurks.  (11/2)
Dan G. wets himself over Special K Blueberry with Lemon Clusters.  (9/20)
Limited Edition Mocha Crunch.  (7/16)
Kellogg's Frosted Flakes with Marshmallows.  (2/1)
A marriage between General Mills and Girls Scouts of America.  (1/19)

Tiny Toast.  (6/21)