speak easy

speak easy's Journal

April 24, 2024

TikTok will be banned, not sold.

Just a reminder of what 'banned' means: 170+ million Americans will be unable to access a service that will continue to be available in Canada, Mexico, Britain, the EU and even Turkey. America is the champion of free speech, yes.

Could TikTok find a new owner in time?

The odds may not be great.

China’s government has previously said it would strongly oppose a forced sale of the app.

And a purchase of TikTok would probably cost tens of billions of dollars. Few people or companies have that kind of money — and companies that do, such as Meta or Google, probably won’t try to buy TikTok because antitrust regulators are unlikely to allow it.

The likeliest outcome, then, may be an attempted government ban of TikTok, and almost certainly courts will have to decide whether a ban violates Americans’ constitutional rights.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/23/tiktok-ban-us-start-explained/

April 24, 2024

McConnell : "Make no mistake"

“So much of the hesitation and shortsightedness that has delayed this moment is premised on sheer fiction,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday. “Make no mistake: delay in providing Ukraine the weapons to defend itself has strained the prospects of defeating Russian aggression.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/23/senate-vote-foreign-aid-ukraine-israel/

April 23, 2024

Judge tells Trump lawyer he's 'losing all credibility with the court'

Source: The Guardian

Things are not going well for Donald Trump as his lawyer, Todd Blanche, continues to make the claim that re-posting doesn’t violate the gag order.

Judge Merchan said:

Mr Blanche you’re losing all credibility, I have to tell you right now … You’re losing all credibility with the court. Is there any other argument you want to make?

Merchan is reserving decision on the prosecution’s contempt request.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/apr/23/trump-hush-money-trial-new-york-updates

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche is saying that seven of the alleged 10 gag order violations are not, because they’re just re-posts.

“It’s not making a mockery of the gag order, your honor – it’s a close call,” Blanche said. "Re-posting an article from a news site or a news program … we don’t believe are a violation of the gag order."

Judge Juan Merchan asked whether there’s any case law on that.

I don’t have any case laws, your honor, it’s just common sense.

April 22, 2024

"Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok." - Trump

I've been beating my [brains] out here warning of the political dangers of trying to ban TikTok, antagonising some, if not all of its 170+ million American users. And yes, the current bill would end up banning, not the sale of TikTok - Democratic Underground

It is not argument to say that if young people stay at home, fuck em'. Imagine if FaceBook was banned in the U.S. but still available in Canada, Mexico, the EU and the rest of the world? Nor is it much of an argument to say that TikTok may only be banned after the election. Trump does not care, nor will some of the kids. Peeling away 5% of younger voters could swing the election.

No, It's not about National Security: 'Biden and the Democrats have done a dirty deal with Mark Zuckerberg?' Another Big Lie, to be taken up by Fox and his MAGA stooges. One silver lining is that Trump has jumped the gun, exposing his line of attack before the bill has reached the President's desk.

April 21, 2024

TSF

The Stinky Farts
In the Diaper
Suspicious Smells
I can't help farting in court on you.
(Smelvis' Greatest Shits)

April 21, 2024

TikTok will be banned, not sold.

I have always believed the CCP will prohibit the sale of TikTok outright, and this is also the view of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The propaganda value is obvious: 170+ million Americans will be unable to use a service that will continue to be available in Canada, Mexico, the EU and Britain. You may not care but a good proportion of U.S. TikTok users will be outraged.

The Potential Chinese Responses to a [possible] U.S. Ban on TikTok

In one scenario, Chinese authorities would permit both ByteDance’s relinquishment of TikTok to a foreign entity and the export of the company’s core technology.

In a second and more probable scenario, Beijing would curtail ByteDance’s sale of TikTok’s algorithms in accordance with domestic regulations but allow a sale of the platform to go through.

In the third and most likely scenario, China would outright block any TikTok sale, citing national security concerns, fair competition, and legitimate interests. Such an action could fuel global apprehensions about Chinese government oversight of technology acquisitions by foreign entities.

Preventing TikTok from being acquired by any American entity, even at the cost of billions of dollars to the company and its Chinese owner, could provide China with an ongoing opportunity to critique the United States.

In order to appease public sentiment at home and prevent the export of sensitive technology, Beijing is unlikely to approve ByteDance’s potential sale of TikTok. Of course, this will come with costs to ByteDance’s business and threaten to escalate tensions with the United States. So far, the Chinese government has signaled that it is willing to bear these risks.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2024/04/11/potential-chinese-responses-to-u.s.-ban-on-tiktok-pub-92188

EDIT: Trump is already staking out a claim to defend TikTok.

April 20, 2024

'Marge Three Toes' is too nuts for Matt Gaetz

The Failed Vibepeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas

Even the bothsides media didn’t take it seriously, and this week’s solemn clown procession from the House to the Senate as its impeachment managers — including noted idiot Marge Three Toes — was greeted in the Senate with zero enthusiasm.

The impeachment died before any of the House’s clown delegation could make their specious arguments, and even Mitch McConnell and Mike Lee’s condemnation of the Senate voting to kill the impeachment was dull and hollow.

Mike Johnson and Ukraine Aid

“Maybe he lives, maybe he dies,” was how a GOP Chief of Staff put it to me this week. “But Greene and Massie don’t even have Matt Gaetz on board.” Ponder that.

If you’re too nuts for Matt Gaetz…you’re too nuts

https://therickwilson.substack.com/p/the-week-from-hell-maga-edition

April 18, 2024

Trump was ' very, very concerned' about Ivanka seeing Playmate Karen McDougal being interviewed.

George Conway Details ‘Oh, It’s Daddy’ Call To Ivanka That Exposed Trump’s Fears

Conway recalled a phone call that Trump made to his daughter Ivanka Trump in 2018 as an interview that Playboy model Karen McDougal gave to CNN’s Anderson Cooper — about what McDougal claimed was her monthslong affair with Trump, while he was married to Melania Trump — was being broadcast.

“I was sitting at dinner with my ex-wife [former Trump White House counselor Kellyanne Conway], with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump and the phone rings,” remembered the lawyer, who is a fierce critic of his ex-wife’s former boss.

“And Ivanka goes into the kitchen and answers the phone. ‘Oh, it’s daddy.’ And what did daddy want to know? Whether they were watching Karen McDougal,” he said. “So, he was very, very concerned about it.”

Trump also reportedly compared McDougal to Ivanka during their time together. “He said I was beautiful like her, and, you know, ‘You’re a smart girl,’” she told Cooper. “And there wasn’t a lot of comparing, but there was some, yeah. I heard a lot about her.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/george-conway-details-oh-daddy-091339186.html

This information does not help Alvin Bragg's prosecution in New York. Trump may argue that he arranged to pay off McDougal to keep Ivanka from finding out about the affair.

April 17, 2024

Barr says he'll vote for 'Republican ticket' in November

Source: The Hill

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said Wednesday he will vote for the “Republican ticket” in the November presidential election.

“I think it’s my duty to pick the person I think would do the least harm to the country,” Barr said on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom.” “And in my mind, that’s — I will vote the Republican ticket.”

Barr’s comments come in spite of past criticism of his ex-boss, former President Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for president. In December, Barr said his successor in a potential second Trump administration would have to be against the former president’s “abuse of government power.”

“Trump needs people around him who will push back and help keep him on the straight and narrow,” Barr said.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4599759-bill-barr-republican-ticket-vote-2024/

"[voting for] Trump may be playing Russian roulette, but a continuation of the Biden administration is national suicide, in my opinion.”

April 17, 2024

Rick Wilson on Bob Graham

Rick Wilson
@TheRickWilson

RIP Governor Bob Graham.

In the history of Florida, you will find few men who governed and led with such grace, honor, and dignity. He knew and loved this state and its people like no other.

We will not see his like again. A tremendous loss.

Our condolences go out to @GwenGraham and the Graham family.

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1780538206905074099

Profile Information

Gender: Do not display
Member since: Wed Jan 8, 2020, 06:44 PM
Number of posts: 9,234

About speak easy

1 2 3 4 5 6 ... 182 Next »