-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
/
Copy pathindex.html
13659 lines (8719 loc) · 695 KB
/
index.html
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name="generator" content="Hugo 0.91.2" />
<title>
joeross.me
</title>
</head>
<body>
<div class="h-feed">
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2025/02/08/propublica-is-keeping-track-of.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2025-02-08 00:41:21 -0500">Feb 8, 2025</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p><em>ProPublica</em> is <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/elon-musk-doge-tracker/">keeping track of the Musk lackeys</a> systematically dismantling much of the undeniably flawed but unmistakably necessary federal bureaucracy. <em>(via <a href="https://mastodon.social/@heidilifeldman/113965178369222751">Heidi Li Feldman</a>)</em></p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2025/02/07/ben-nacar-is-an-incredible.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2025-02-07 04:04:25 -0500">Feb 7, 2025</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>🔗 Ben Nacar is an incredible pianist who, I recently learned, does an annual video surveying the classical music that left copyright protection that year. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5JHR-Qe-Kc">video he did this year</a> features music from 1929, all of which is now in the public domain.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<h1><a href="https://joeross.me/2025/02/05/kagi-searchs-new-fair-pricing.html">Kagi Search’s new Fair Pricing feature</a></h1>
<a href="https://joeross.me/2025/02/05/kagi-searchs-new-fair-pricing.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2025-02-05 03:56:16 -0500">Feb 5, 2025</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>The purveyor of Kagi, the indie search engine, <a href="https://kagi.com/changelog#6155">on a new pricing feature</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In months where you don’t utilize any searches on your plan, <strong>we will automatically apply a full credit to your account</strong> for that month. This credit will be applied to your next billing cycle, effectively covering your subsequent month’s subscription at no additional cost.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I used the base plan in the past, and after I exhausted my 300-search monthly allowance in about three weeks, I swapped all my default search engines, with some frustration, back to <a href="https://www.startpage.com/">Startpage</a>.</p>
<p>I then proceeded to basically forget about it for the next month. I suspect I’m not the only one, and that’s probably what catalyzed this feature.</p>
<p>I have vacillated for a while between Kagi, Startpage, DuckDuckGo, and Brave Search – search engine comparison is the new to-do app comparison for my dopamine-starved brain. Kagi feels superior to the others, but even at $5, I’m just not sure the value sufficiently exceeds what I can do with the others, given the right ad blockers and keyboard incantations.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2025/02/03/akshay-kulkarni-shaurya-kshatri-and.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2025-02-03 04:41:07 -0500">Feb 3, 2025</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Akshay Kulkarni, Shaurya Kshatri and William Burr reporting at <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-premier-david-eby-us-tariffs-1.7448307">Canada’s <em>CBC News</em></a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>B.C. Premier David Eby has announced immediate countermeasures in response to incoming U.S. tariffs, saying the province will take action to protect B.C. workers and businesses.
[…]
As an initial response, Eby said he has directed the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch to immediately stop purchasing American liquor from Republican-led “red states” and remove the top-selling brands from public liquor store shelves.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You love to see it.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2025/01/29/rusty-foster-at-today-in.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2025-01-29 03:56:29 -0500">Jan 29, 2025</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Rusty Foster <a href="https://www.todayintabs.com/p/illegal-and-separately-unconstitutional">at <em>Today in Tabs</em></a> has some good advice on how to approach what I <a href="https://joeross.me/2025/01/22/mike-masnick-is-always-a.html">refer to</a> as the malevolent-jackass express:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>First, deny this regime your compliance whenever and wherever you can, in ways as large or as small as you are able. Defend your communities, especially the most vulnerable—trans people, queer people, the chronically ill, immigrants, ethnic and religious minorities. And above all, seek to depose any officeholder, political appointee, bureaucrat, or business leader who cooperates with this criminal administration, as well as any who fail to effectively oppose it, by any means available to you.</p>
</blockquote>
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2025/01/22/mike-masnick-is-always-a.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2025-01-22 05:30:56 -0500">Jan 22, 2025</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>🔗 Mike Masnick is always a must-read, but his <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/01/21/the-emptiness-of-zucks-promise-to-move-biased-trust-safety-from-california-">recent piece calling bullshit on Zuckerberg’s “move” of Meta’s moderation teams</a> just proves how important his voice is as we all buckle up for a four-year ride on the malevolent-jackass express…</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2025/01/13/revealing-yourself-to-be-a.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2025-01-13 21:34:57 -0500">Jan 13, 2025</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Revealing yourself to be a bigoted billionaire incel MAGA puppet is not the display of masculinity Zuckerberg thinks it is…</p>
<p>James Factora, <a href="https://www.them.us/story/mark-zuckerberg-meta-joe-rogan-society-neutered-emasculated">quoting Zuckerberg at <em>Them</em></a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Both of these things are good. You want feminine energy. You want masculine energy. You’re gonna have parts of society that have more of one or the other. I think that that’s all good. But I do think the corporate culture had swung toward being this somewhat more neutered thing.” And it’s not just the corporate world. The CEO also said that society “has become very, like, neutered, or emasculated.”</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2025/01/03/ann-telnaes-explains-why-she.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2025-01-03 20:33:22 -0500">Jan 3, 2025</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Ann Telnaes explains <a href="https://anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-quitting-the-washington-post">why she quit the <em>Washington Post</em></a> after more than fifteen years as an editorial cartoonist at the now-Bezos-owned newspaper:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump. There have been multiple articles recently about these men with lucrative government contracts and an interest in eliminating regulations making their way to Mar-a-lago. The group in the cartoon included Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook & Meta founder and CEO, Sam Altman/AI CEO, Patrick Soon-Shiong/LA Times publisher, the Walt Disney Company/ABC News, and Jeff Bezos/Washington Post owner.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Democracy ain’t dead yet, but it sure is starting to look under the weather…</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2025/01/03/i-reviewed-our-digital-subscriptions.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2025-01-03 15:15:40 -0500">Jan 3, 2025</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/12/26/i-think-my-kids-had.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-12-26 16:48:41 -0500">Dec 26, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/12/14/this-ominous-photo.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-12-14 22:03:09 -0500">Dec 14, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>This ominous photo I took tonight of the Disney castle lit by red fireworks is my new header for, possibly, forever because shit is just ominous these days okay?</p>
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/12/14/085303.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-12-14 08:53:03 -0500">Dec 14, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Frozen Ever After. Of course our first attempt to rope drop at Disney World ends with Frozen Ever After having a delayed opening of at least an hour…</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/12/14/frozen-ever-after.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-12-14 08:53:03 -0500">Dec 14, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Frozen Ever After. Of course our first attempt to rope drop at Disney World ends with Frozen Ever After having a delayed opening of at least an hour…</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/12/09/110709.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-12-09 11:07:09 -0500">Dec 9, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Orlando International Airport (MCO).</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/12/05/013326.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-12-05 01:33:26 -0500">Dec 5, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/12/05/i-dont-think.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-12-05 01:31:53 -0500">Dec 5, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/12/03/there-are-so.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-12-03 17:14:56 -0500">Dec 3, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/30/seeing-my-microblog.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-30 10:30:47 -0500">Nov 30, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Seeing my Micro.blog profile in a Mastodon app, where my username is <a href="https://micro.blog/[email protected]">@[email protected]</a>, <em>really</em> makes me want to use it as my primary fediverse account. I just find the transfer process daunting, and I recall Mb may not be a full implementation of an ActivityPub account, though maybe that has changed.</p>
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<h1><a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/29/the-holdovers.html">The Holdovers, 2023 - ★★★★</a></h1>
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/29/the-holdovers.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-29 03:37:07 -0500">Nov 29, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/28/now-that-the.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-28 06:48:42 -0500">Nov 28, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/22/threads-can-brag.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-22 11:25:13 -0500">Nov 22, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Threads can brag about hundreds of millions of users and more daily signups than all of Bluesky, but its <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/22/24303207/threads-meta-search-trending-topics-bluesky">recent feature sprint</a> shows competition is having the desired effect. Bluesky’s best move would be to ship true, easy federation ASAP. Easier said than done, I’m sure, but the sooner the better.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/17/i-recently-posted.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-17 10:20:10 -0500">Nov 17, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>I recently posted a photo of my cat <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/joeross.me/post/3lb5oonkwp224">on Bluesky</a>, as any serious person does on a growing social network. While carefully preparing the post (again, I am serious person) I asked four different LLMs for alt text to include with the photo. They all did okay, but as you can see Claude went pretty hard…</p>
<p><!-- raw HTML omitted --><!-- raw HTML omitted --><!-- raw HTML omitted --><!-- raw HTML omitted --></p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/16/once-in-a.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-16 18:50:11 -0500">Nov 16, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/14/i-told-myself.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-14 20:42:53 -0500">Nov 14, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>I told myself I wouldn’t participate the <em>discourse</em>, but everyone who voted for Trump had enough information to know <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/14/trump-administration-rfk-criticisms">this was a likelihood</a> and they did it anyway. Each and every one of them shares responsibility for those will suffer or die as a direct result of RFK Jr. running HHS if he’s confirmed.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/13/i-was-sad.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-13 02:53:47 -0500">Nov 13, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>I was sad to read that <a href="https://musician.social/@radiofreefedi/113406513837978275">Radio Free Fedi is shutting down</a> early next year. It got me thinking about how easy it is to spin up awesome stuff on the Fediverse. On the one hand, that’s awesome! But on the other, it means that stuff often outgrows the metaphorical bandwidth of its creators pretty fast.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/11/chris-geidner-writes.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-11 04:31:09 -0500">Nov 11, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Chris Geidner <a href="https://www.lawdork.com/p/the-justices-must-decide-whether">writes at <em>Law Dork</em></a> that progressives should be litigating “narrow challenges brought on conservative grounds — using the reasoning of the right, […] fighting with the tools that can work.”</p>
<p>This is the way. Forcing liberal arguments through conservative courts won’t work.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/08/oh-the-privilege.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-08 18:38:48 -0500">Nov 8, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Oh the privilege of naivety, or the naivety of privilege, or something</p>
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/05/great-to-see.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-05 20:29:06 -0500">Nov 5, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Great to see <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/11/05/2024-election-results-live-coverage-updates-analysis/andy-kim-wins-new-jersey-senate-00184885">Andy Kim win</a> the former Menendez seat in the Senate for New Jersey.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/05/adam-kotsko-grousing.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-05 16:19:41 -0500">Nov 5, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Adam Kotsko, <a href="https://itself.blog/2024/10/01/self-involved-grousing-about-social-media-a-memoir/">grousing</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The beginning of my frustration came early last week, when the entire site was aghast at a <em>Financial Times</em> <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/65961fec-a5ab-4c71-b1c8-265be3583a93">column</a> that said Bluesky was an echo chamber.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I’m a fan of Bluesky, but I chuckled at the idea of all of its users being upset about it being called an echo chamber.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/03/i-dont-pay.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-03 19:43:16 -0500">Nov 3, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>I don’t pay much attention to polls, so I had no idea <a href="https://www.emptywheel.net/2024/11/03/male-pollsters-shocked-shocked-when-a-woman-pollster-discovers-women-voters/">Nate Silver</a> had gone so far down his own rabbit hole. It’s so bad that he thinks polling based on, wait for it, <em>the data</em>, takes “an incredible amount of guts.”</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/02/practical-ai-tip.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-02 18:37:27 -0500">Nov 2, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Practical AI tip: When someone sends me a PDF calendar (😡), I ask <a href="https://claude.ai/">Claude</a> to process the info into ICS format. For my kids' daycare snack calendar, I say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Please convert data from each day to one all-day event, like: Snacks: AM: Cheerios / PM: Crackers</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And I get the excellent result pictured here.</p>
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/11/02/with-omnivore-being.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-11-02 12:57:55 -0500">Nov 2, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>With <a href="https://blog.omnivore.app/p/details-on-omnivore-shutting-down">Omnivore being acquired by Eleven Labs</a> and shutting down, I recommend <a href="https://readwise.io/read">Readwise Reader</a>.</p>
<p>You can still <a href="https://github.com/omnivore-app/omnivore">self-host Omnivore</a>, but I think Readwise is worth its ~$100/year price, though all-in Apple users might prefer <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/goodlinks/id1474335294">GoodLinks</a> for a simpler but still well-designed alternative at a much lower cost.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/30/and-just-like.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-30 22:22:07 -0500">Oct 30, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>And just like that, someone I have idolized since I was a young child <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brigadier-general-buzz-aldrin-endorses-donald-j-trump-for-president-of-the-united-states-302291636.html">shows themselves willing</a> to deliver our republic to death by authoritarianism.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/28/heres-a-real.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-28 16:29:35 -0500">Oct 28, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Here’s a real form someone I know <em>who makes more than minimum wage</em> was recently asked by their employer to sign:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I understand that for calculation of overtime, my contractual hour rate with <em>Employer</em> is set at minimum wage, which is the wage that New Jersey Department of Labor sets, or the Federal minimum wage, whichever is higher. This means that if I clock hours in excess of 40 in a one week pay period, that my pay should be equal to/or greater than 40 hours at minimum wage and overtime at 1.5 times the minimum wage.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Am I missing something, or is this what us fancy lawyers call… illegal <em>af</em>?</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/18/michael-keaton-enters.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-18 20:20:14 -0500">Oct 18, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>“Michael Keaton Enters the SNL Ring”</p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/CJGNX31DIwk">youtu.be/CJGNX31DI…</a></p>
<p>It’s one of the better films of the last several years. 10/10, no notes.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/18/sam-cole-writing.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-18 17:00:00 -0500">Oct 18, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Sam Cole, <a href="https://www.404media.co/automattic-buyout-offer-wordpress-matt-mullenweg/">writing at <em>404 Media</em></a> about Matt Mullenweg’s ongoing, unforced founder mode flameout:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We were unaware that Matt redirected sign-up emails until current Automattic employees contacted our support team,” a spokesperson for Blind told me, adding that they’d “never seen a CEO or executive try to limit their employees from signing up for Blind by redirecting emails.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is just gross. It’s hard to imagine why anyone would still want to work for him now that toxicity is the norm, but he still has fans inside the company:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“There is a vocal group of sycophants who are cheering on Matt’s actions via Anonymattic,” [an employee] said, “drawing favorable comparisons to how Elon Musk and Donald Trump operate. Their morale seems high, but I can’t relate.” Screenshots viewed by 404 Media show some staff having changed their Slack usernames to include “[STAYING]” to signal their support of Mullenweg and intention to remain at the company.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The thing is, whether you agree with him or not, it’s not the rhetorical position he has taken that’s the problem, it’s the way he’s expressing and defending that position that is the problem. And it’s <em>such</em> a problem that it’s hard to see anyone defending his recent behavior as having much of a reputation left after all of this.</p>
<p>As I’ve <a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/05/matt-mullenweg-is.html">said before</a>, I don’t envy his/the company’s lawyers the job of litigating around his ongoing meltdown. I’ll be keeping an eye on <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69221176/wpengine-inc-v-automattic-inc/">the filings at CourtListener</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/14/abhorrent-ceo-or.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-14 18:45:47 -0500">Oct 14, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Abhorrent CEO or not, a lot of really incredible people at SpaceX achieved a really incredible thing with the Starship launch/Super Heavy catch, and it was awesome to show my kids and see the excitement in their eyes.</p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/b28zbsnk-48">youtu.be/b28zbsnk-…</a></p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/07/amazon-killed-api.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-07 09:02:24 -0500">Oct 7, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Amazon killed API access for one of my favorite apps, price tracker DropScout. Its developer, Daniel Kramer, <a href="https://mastodon.social/@_danielkramer/113264142218037075">writes on Mastodon</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Amazon has pulled my API access and the app is non-functional as a result. I’m looking for find a solution but the future doesn’t look good.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Apparently it’s against terms of service to track prices. There are other apps that do this so it’s a bit surprising. Apparently they’ve given other services permission and I’m trying to see if they will allow DropScout to do this.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>DropScout is my favorite in its class of apps and I hope Daniel gets his API access back.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<h1><a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/07/sleepy-hollow.html">Sleepy Hollow, 1999</a></h1>
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/07/sleepy-hollow.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-07 06:28:35 -0500">Oct 7, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<h1><a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/07/the-willoughbys.html">The Willoughbys, 2020</a></h1>
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/07/the-willoughbys.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-07 06:27:47 -0500">Oct 7, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/07/the-movie-sleepy.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-07 05:51:00 -0500">Oct 7, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>The 1999 movie <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepy_Hollow_(film)"><em>Sleepy Hollow</em></a> is, to my mind, the film to watch during the transition from early autumn to the Halloween season.</p>
<p>It captures the dreary, de-saturated feeling you get, on the east coast of the U.S., anyway, when you realize there won’t be another day without a chill in the air for a few months.</p>
<p>It’s full of weirdness and dark humor, but one of my favorite exchanges in the movie is this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong><em>Ichabod Crane</em></strong>: You have moved the body.<br>
<strong><em>Dr. Thomas Lancaster</em>:</strong> I did.<br>
<strong><em>Crane</em>:</strong> You must never move the body!<br>
<strong><em>Lancaster</em>:</strong> Why not?<br>
<strong><em>Crane</em>:</strong> … Because…</p>
</blockquote>
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/06/sometimes-when-ive.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-06 12:40:47 -0500">Oct 6, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/05/matt-mullenweg-is.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-05 12:56:39 -0500">Oct 5, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Matt Mullenweg is a litigator’s worst nightmare — please <a href="https://ma.tt/2024/09/t3/">stop talking in public about the subject matter</a> of the litigation — but presumably Wordpress' lawyer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Katyal">Neal Katyal</a> knows what he’s doing and doesn’t expect the PR blitz to cause problems.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<h1><a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/04/paranorman.html">ParaNorman, 2012</a></h1>
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/10/04/paranorman.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-10-04 20:21:14 -0500">Oct 4, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/09/23/im-no-conspiracy.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-09-23 19:01:23 -0500">Sep 23, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>I’m no conspiracy theorist, but I find it strange that my Google TV with Chromecast started outputting green static and weird noises on every input of my LG CX the day before the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/23/24250684/google-tv-streamer-4k-review-smart-home-hub">all new Google TV streamer</a> is set to go on sale…</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/09/23/dear-watchos-i.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-09-23 14:56:41 -0500">Sep 23, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/09/21/watching-these-network.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-09-21 22:37:49 -0500">Sep 21, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Watching <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyl171lyewo">these “network state” clowns fail</a> will be fun, but that shouldn’t overshadow the predatory nature of their worldview.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/09/12/sometimes-im-writing.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-09-12 19:04:40 -0500">Sep 12, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Sometimes I’m writing a Very Serious Blog Post™️ and then I have an intrusive ‘90s thought.</p>
<p>For example, I love and hate the fact that, probably for the rest of my life, every time someone says “I don’t wanna wait” I have no choice or free will at all and I just sing</p>
<p>🎤 for our lives to be OH-ver 🎤</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/09/06/matt-webb-wrote.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-09-06 22:01:30 -0500">Sep 6, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Matt Webb wrote about his open source in-page chat tool, cursor party:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“If you’ve visited my actual website, rather than reading by email or whatever, such as reading <a href="https://interconnected.org/home/2024/09/05/cursor-party">this very post</a>, you may notice somebody else’s cursor pass by as you’re reading.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s a wonderful, playful, well-executed idea.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/09/03/today-there-was.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-09-03 21:12:16 -0500">Sep 3, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Today there was a cybertruck parked at the daycare where parents park to drop off their kids.</p>
<p>I’m wondering if I should put my tie on <em>after</em> drop-off because, like, how self-important do ties seem these days, right?</p>
<p>But then there’s a literal human person driving a cybertruck to drop off their kids.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/31/finished-reading-the.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-08-31 19:54:29 -0500">Aug 31, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Finished reading: <a href="https://micro.blog/books/9780547952017">The Fellowship Of The Ring</a> by J.R.R. Tolkien 📚</p>
<p>By the end you know all the players, some have already been lost, others have played out their parts, and still more have shown the true good in their hearts, and the depths of evil the Ring may inspire them to should they come to possess it.</p>
<p>This is probably my tenth or eleventh time reading these books, but my first time reading it with my kids. Sure, I’m editing on the fly because they’re both younger than five, but they’re loving it.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/29/blueskys-trust-safety.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-08-29 12:27:33 -0500">Aug 29, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Bluesky’s Trust & Safety decisions may not please everyone, but they’re <a href="https://bsky.social/about/blog/08-28-2024-anti-toxicity-features">clearly thinking them through</a> in good faith.</p>
<p>While nothing is perfect, a primarily public data store subject to moderation by obfuscation (requiring API work to get at certain moderated data) strikes a thoughtful balance.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/28/im-no-employment.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-08-28 21:32:48 -0500">Aug 28, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>I’m no employment lawyer, but an (allegedly) inconsistently applied policy of ominous non-compete reminder meetings when your best creatives post stuff to their personal accounts sounds…problematic.</p>
<p>It’s also an efficient way to inspire them to leave, and <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=hjer379ONJo&t=280s">that’s exactly what Becca Farsace did</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<h1><a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/25/the-princess-bride.html">The Princess Bride, 1987 - ★★★★★ (contains spoilers)</a></h1>
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/25/the-princess-bride.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-08-25 21:33:30 -0500">Aug 25, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p><em>This review may contain spoilers.</em></p>
<p>This is the first time watching it with the kids. They were enthralled from the initial sword fight on, though we did skip the fire swamp, the “Booooo!” lady, some torture, and much of the burning-giant-in-a-trenchcoat scene.</p>
<p>To me, it’s still true that the idea that more than only a ver small handful of movies are better than this one is wholly, totally, and in all other ways…</p>
<p>Inconceivable!</p>
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<h1><a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/25/the-princess-bride-contains-spoilers.html">The Princess Bride, 1987 - ★★★★★ (contains spoilers)</a></h1>
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/25/the-princess-bride-contains-spoilers.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-08-25 21:27:23 -0500">Aug 25, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<h1><a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/20/lady-and-the-tramp.html">Lady and the Tramp, 1955</a></h1>
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/20/lady-and-the-tramp.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-08-20 18:18:26 -0500">Aug 20, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/18/jelly-roll-was.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-08-18 13:24:24 -0500">Aug 18, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Jelly Roll was a compelling interviewee on the <a href="https://overcast.fm/+AAoIe_ljQww">New York Times <em>Interview</em></a>, and while I haven’t listened to his music yet, I intend to.</p>
<p>But I’m posting to warn anyone who turned the interview off after Jelly Roll inveighed against voting: he walked that back in the final minutes of the podcast episode, which was a second interview session on a different day, telling the interviewer he was just messing with him.</p>
<p>The interviewer was probably right when he half jokingly asked whether the walkback was an attempt at revisionist history, but Jelly Roll jovially denied it.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, someone on his team likely told him between interviews that, when you don’t want to make political headlines, the only thing worse than endorsing a candidate is telling your millions-strong fanbase that their vote doesn’t count…</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/13/fun-milestone-my.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-08-13 20:31:12 -0500">Aug 13, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Fun milestone: my son is exactly calling-every-man-with-a-white-beard-Gandalf years old. 🧙♂️</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/10/this-promotional-video.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-08-10 21:09:14 -0500">Aug 10, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>This <a href="https://youtu.be/pF6TPvxs95w">1956 promotional video</a> is a time capsule of New Jersey when my parents were kids.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This Technicolor color film was produced in 1956 for the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, and based on a 1953 John T. Cunningham book <em>This is New Jersey</em>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s surprisingly light on corporate propaganda. However, the mention that one third of the state was below the Mason-Dixon Line was a little too… wistful, especially given the paucity of people of color in the film.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/08/02/can-anyone-make.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-08-02 20:14:04 -0500">Aug 2, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Can anyone make an argument that the VP should be anyone <em>but</em> Buttigieg?</p>
<p>And I mean an argument that would make sense to someone who doesn’t listen to the Politico Playbook Daily Briefing every morning.</p>
<p>He has: ✅ name recognition, ✅ policy chops, ✅ resume, ✅ sparring experience, and ✅ a thick skin.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/07/24/today-after-a.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-07-24 16:23:14 -0500">Jul 24, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Today, after a typical barrage of dad jokes during a break from playing with my kids, my niece told me I am saved in her phone as “Joe Ross Cringe Uncle.”</p>
<p>She even showed me the contact card to prove it.</p>
<p>She and my wife both thought I would, and should, take it as an insult.</p>
<p>I did not.</p>
<p>🤪</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/07/22/linked-links-google.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-07-22 01:07:56 -0500">Jul 22, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Linked Links: <a href="https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/07/19/google-docs-can-import-and-export-markdown/"><em>Google Docs Can Import and Export Markdown</em></a> by Michael Tsai</p>
<p>Maybe I’ll use Google Docs more often now that it can copy/paste and import/export Markdown.</p>
<p>I still remember using it for <em>hours</em> at a time throughout law school, but most firms maintain their vise grip on Microsoft Word.</p>
<p><em>Linked Links is my term for posts where I’m linking to someone else’s link post. Maybe I’ll stick with it as a recurring post type. Maybe not. Blogs are weird, and so am I.</em> 🤷🏻♂️</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/07/19/i-never-found.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-07-19 02:46:21 -0500">Jul 19, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>I never found Letterman funny, and he comes off as mean and a little bigoted in <a href="https://youtu.be/I4AflonZ6S4?si=QLkmjj6mHCNm1sE-">this clip with the late, great Richard Simmons</a>. But Simmons has a ton more charisma than Letterman, outshining him in a 4-minute clip produced <em>by Letterman’s own team</em>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/07/17/everyone-who-has.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-07-17 15:41:56 -0500">Jul 17, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Everyone who has ever traveled by airplane has at least one infuriating story, including me. But when I missed a scheduled flight on American Airlines last week, the customer service person put me on the next flight with none of the fees, up-charges or judgment that I was expecting, and it was nice.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/07/05/oral-argument-for.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-07-05 14:28:12 -0500">Jul 5, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p><a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/audio/92800/hachette-book-group-inc-v-internet-archive/">Oral Argument for Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive – CourtListener.com</a></p>
<p>This oral argument before the 2nd Circuit about the legality of Internet Archive’s controlled digital lending program is a great listen, regardless of what side you support.</p>
<p>Find all the litigation filings <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67801014/hachette-book-group-inc-v-internet-archive/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Edit: for my convenience as well as yours, I’ve embedded the audio below. Let me know if you have trouble playing it.</p>
<p><!-- raw HTML omitted --><!-- raw HTML omitted --></p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/28/sure-elon-ill.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-06-28 19:06:05 -0500">Jun 28, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Sure, Elon, I’ll go right ahead and disable my privacy related extensions…</p>
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/21/laurens-hof-writing.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-06-21 03:36:35 -0500">Jun 21, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Laurens Hof, writing in <a href="https://fediversereport.com/last-week-in-fediverse-ep-73-and-72/">Episode 73 of his Last Week in Fediverse newsletter</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What makes the situation with rumours of Mastodon leaking private messages so interesting to me is that the original posts that contained the rumours got significantly more engagement than the corrections. So it seems to me that the structural feature of decentralised networks that ‘significantly limits the reach of fake news’ can also work to limit the reach of corrections to fake news as well.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a good point, but the structural aspect of decentralized networks that makes it as difficult to circulate corrections as it is to circulate fake news is susceptible to some white hat manipulation. To paraphrase a misquote/cliché, we have to be the circulation we wish to see in the network.</p>
<p>Decentralization significantly reduces virality, allowing users to more carefully control the spread of information. We can spread corrections effectively, it just takes effort.</p>
<p>I don’t have a solution, but here’s something ive been thinking about: Perhaps there is some way of building corrections into ActivityPub as a special type of edit that triggers a notification to users who interacted with the original post.</p>
<p>I would advocate for making this mechanism opt-out to maximize the flow of corrections, but I know that may be naïve, and that perhaps I’m ignorant of the likelihood that some would find a way to abuse such a tool to spread fake news after all. It’s a fun thought experiment, and I’m open to discussing with other nerds who think about this stuff at weird hours of the night when they should be sleeping.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/19/louisiana-classrooms-now.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-06-19 18:14:01 -0500">Jun 19, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/19/politics/louisiana-classrooms-ten-commandments/index.html">Louisiana classrooms now required by law to display the Ten Commandments | CNN Politics</a></p>
<p>I haven’t looked into yet, but my first thought is that this middle finger to the Constitution has the stench of Leonard Leo and his ilk all over it.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/17/what-are-some.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-06-17 17:19:47 -0500">Jun 17, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/12/rich-idiot-tweets.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-06-12 07:47:01 -0500">Jun 12, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>🔗 <a href="https://pxlnv.com/linklog/rich-idiot-tweets/">Rich Idiot Tweets</a></p>
<p>Nick Heer has a great post about the vapid coverage of vapid Elon Musk, but this bit from the end of Heer’s post struck me as the perfect Twitter bio for Musk:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>words from the fingers of a dipshit</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<h1><a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/07/the-creator.html">The Creator, 2023 - ★★★</a></h1>
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/07/the-creator.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-06-07 07:08:13 -0500">Jun 7, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/04/now-that-spotifys.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-06-04 02:13:27 -0500">Jun 4, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>Now that Spotify’s family plan <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/3/24170301/spotify-us-price-increase-plans">costs $20/month</a> I don’t have much incentive not to switch to YouTube Music, which comes with the YouTube Premium I’m already paying for. I’m also giving the Tidal 30-day trial a shot, but that would be $22/month for a family plan.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/03/a-quick-ms.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-06-03 11:07:43 -0500">Jun 3, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<h1><a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/01/oliver-amp-company.html">Oliver &amp; Company, 1988</a></h1>
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/01/oliver-amp-company.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-06-01 18:40:48 -0500">Jun 1, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<!-- raw HTML omitted -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="h-entry">
<h1><a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/01/alitos-intellectual-honesty.html">Alito's intellectual honesty</a></h1>
<a href="https://joeross.me/2024/06/01/alitos-intellectual-honesty.html" class="u-url"><time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-06-01 17:15:17 -0500">Jun 1, 2024</time></a>
<div class="e-content">
<p>I’m in a weird headspace about the Supreme Court’s right wing wearing their partiality on their sleeves. I’m supposed to be mad about it, like lots of liberals. But I think it’s a kind of honesty and, in its hubris, exposes the vulnerabilities of <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/12/09/revolutionary-conservative-legal-philosophy-courts-00069201">the right’s more longterm</a> jurisprudential projects.</p>
<p>(<em>Takes a deep breath, hopes people read all the way through, or at least halfway through…</em>)</p>
<p>Obviously, I’m talking about the most recent example, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/us/justice-alito-upside-down-flag.html">reported by Jodi Kantor</a> at <em>The New York Times</em>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Judicial experts said in interviews that the flag was a clear violation of ethics rules, which seek to avoid even the appearance of bias, and could sow doubt about Justice Alito’s impartiality in cases related to the election and the Capitol riot.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There have been several developments since I first started writing this post in mid-May when the upside flag story first broke. None of those developments changes my perspective. In fact, they all reinforce it. Anyway, to catch up and stay caught up on the Alito/flags stuff and all else SCOTUS, I recommend reading the work of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/profiles/john-fritze">John Fritze at <em>CNN</em></a>, <a href="https://www.lawdork.com">Chris Geidner’s <em>Law Dork</em></a>, and the <a href="https://slate.com/tag/supreme-court">SCOTUS team at <em>Slate</em></a>.</p>
<p>I’m not as worked up about this one because it doesn’t involve direct or indirect financial incentives, or a spouse inserting themselves, however superfluously, into schemes resembling a coup. And it shouldn’t change the assumptions of anyone who has been paying attention to Alito for the past many years. Yes, it’s infuriating and concerning and beyond anything I would hope for our highest court. But it’s not a surprise.</p>
<p>Of course, I don’t believe he didn’t know about the flag hanging <em>outside his house</em>, or its meaning as a sign of solidarity with “stop the steal” whackos, and of course, blaming your spouse in the national press is… a choice, and of course “my neighbors were teasing me first” isn’t an appropriate reaction for a Supreme Court justice to the political speech of his neighbors, however performative and counterproductive that speech may be.</p>
<p>But the handwringing over this flag episode is based on the idea that anyone paying attention could take seriously the proposition that Alito lacks bias or could possibly be impartial in cases related to the election and the Capitol riot, or really any issue of importance to, eh, people of his political ilk. Impartial people, and people worried about at least appearing impartial, do not <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/11/at-federalist-society-convention-alito-says-religious-liberty-gun-ownership-are-under-attack/">give the keynote speech</a> at Federalist Society conventions.</p>
<p>(Nor do they <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/05/supreme-court-south-carolina-redistricting-ruling-clarence-thomas-brown-v-board.html">inveigh wholeheartedly against a Constitution protective of the rights of all Americans</a>, but that is beyond the scope of this post…)</p>
<p>Usually, this is where I would admit my own outsize portion of cynicism, and caution Dear Readers to consider this screed in that light, but this time I do the opposite: the fact is, the suggestion that Alito has any impartiality to preserve is, at this point, blatantly dishonest or an inadvertent admission of naïveté. As just one recent example, he openly treats the First Amendment as if it applies to conduct by private companies moderating their users' speech (it does not) and then has to be <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/02/free-speech-internet-big-tech-scotus-case.html">called out on it</a> by Justice Kavanaugh.</p>
<p>Next, I’m going to say something (else?) people may not like, and that I may regret someday:</p>
<p>I actually appreciate Alito’s intellectual honesty, though query whether it’s deliberate or the result of too much rhetorical laziness to be more insidious about his intentions. Because <em>there are</em> more measured, insidious ways to drag the nation backward, under the guise of faith to the Constitution <em>qua</em> <a href="https://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/the-history-of-history-and-tradition-the-roots-of-dobbss-method-and-originalism-in-the-defense-of-segregation">“history and tradition”</a>, as close as posible to a time when people who looked like Alito, and me, for that matter, held all the power, and there was no immediate risk of having to share it.</p>