The Insightful Troll

Rants and ruminations.

Bill Burr on Billionaires

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these these fucking billionairs they they they need to be put down. You know like fucking rabid dogs. They’re like rabid with fucking greed and just going out and just dividing everybody. You know know just the the the fucking epitome of this time right now. Like how divisive we are that like you know the Gulf of Mexico is now called the Gulf of America and people get excited about it. Like how the fuck does that help your wallet? It’s an empty gesture.

– Bill Burr, “Super Bowl, Drones, Valentine’s Day Grift | Monday Morning Podcast 2-10-25”, Feb 10, 2025

Bill Burr is the George Carlin of our time.

While the billionaire class distracts us with debates over the names of bodies of water, DEI, and gender identity, they’re quietly dismantling Social Security, gutting the FBI, and trying to eliminate the Department of Education. Classic misdirection—keep the people arguing over nonsense while they rewrite the rules to serve themselves.

There Is No Going Back

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Jamelle Bouie video essay on his YouTube channel is an adaptation of his NY Times piece, There Is No Going Back:

Now, even if Musk had been elected to office, this would still be one of the worst abuses of power in American history. That is unquestionable. No one in the executive branch has the legal authority to unilaterally cancel congressional appropriations. No one has the legal authority to turn the Treasury payment system into a means of political retribution. No one has the authority to summarily dismiss civil servants without cause. No one has the authority to take down and scrub Americans’ data unilaterally. And no private citizen has the authority to access some of the most sensitive data the government collects on private citizens for their own unknown and probably nefarious purposes.

Venn Diagram of Trump’s Authoritarian Actions

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Trump Venn Diagram

Professor Christina Pagel of University College London has mapped the actions of the Trump administration’s first few weeks into a Venn diagram with “five broad domains that correspond to features of proto-authoritarian states”:

  • Undermining Democratic Institutions & Rule of Law; Dismantling federal government
  • Dismantling Social Protections & Rights; Enrichment & Corruption
  • Suppressing Dissent & Controlling Information
  • Attacking Science, Environment, Health, Arts & Education
  • Aggressive Foreign Policy & Global Destabilization

The information is also contained in this categorized table. And to keep upto date on the all of the Trump administration is this list of authoritarian actions that the Trump administration has taken, each with a link to the relevant news story.

The Price of Eggs

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So, you voted for Trump because of egg prices. He assured you that costs would drop on Day 1. Well, here we are—24 days into his presidency (as of February 13, 2025).

How’s it going? Inflation has climbed back up to 3% (compared to 2.1% when Biden left office), we’re locked in trade wars with Mexico and Canada, and—just in case you were wondering—egg prices have risen 15.2% since Trump took office.

This is what you voted for. Actions have consequences, you f*cked around, now you are finding out.

You're NOT Allowed to Act SURPRISED

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Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project:

You’re not allowed to be surprised when Trump told you the things he would do to hurt you, and yes MAGA you will be the ones who get hurt the most. I promise you. Rich people don’t give a shit.

MAGA - you are NOT allowed to be SURPRISED.

Trump Halts Penny Production

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coins

Donald Trump announced Sunday that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt the production of pennies, citing the high cost of producing one cent.


The government is set to save $179 million this year. While that might sound like a significant amount, in the grand scheme of the U.S. federal budget—projected at approximately $6 trillion for fiscal year 2025—it barely registers. To put it into perspective, $179 million amounts to just 0.00298% of the total budget.

With the potential phase-out of the penny, how will prices be affected? Economist William Dickens from Northeastern suggests that prices might actually drop in some cases.

“The item that once cost $2.99 might then cost $2.95,” Dickens says.

Ok. What’s the price of milk?. I don’t have a PHD in economics, but I can guarantee that business will round up to $3.00.

If we’re serious about saving money, here’s a thought: eliminate direct fossil fuel subsidies, which total approximately $20 billion per year. Let’s not pretend oil companies are struggling—they’re raking in record profits while still receiving government handouts.

Maybe instead of minor budget tweaks, we should start cutting waste where it actually matters.

Stupid

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Stupid

No translation needed, but for those wondering, it translates to: “Trump pushes his way closer to recession.”

Its humiliating to be an American these days.

The Stupidest Water Action

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Donald Trump ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to open up a federally controlled flow of water in northern California that was completely unnecessary and unusable by anyone in southern California.
[…] That water is vitally important for farms and cities later in the summer.

It’s going to be a tough summer in California - and you can thank the ineptitude and stupidity of the Trump administration for it.

Trump Blinks

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trudeau-sheinbaum

From the Wallstreet Journal’s Editorial Board:

If the North American leaders need to cheer about a minor deal so they all claim victory, that’s better for everyone. The need is especially important for Mr. Trump given how much he has boasted that his tariffs are a fool-proof diplomatic weapon against friend or foe. Mr. Trump can’t afford to look like the guy who lost. Ms. Sheinbaum in particular seems to recognize this, and so far she’s playing her Trump cards with skill.

None of this means the tariffs are some genius power play, as the Trump media chorus is boasting. The 25% border tax could return in a month if Mr. Trump is in the wrong mood, or if he doesn’t like something the foreign leaders have said or done. It also isn’t clear what Mr. Trump really wants his tariffs to achieve. Are they about reducing the flow of fentanyl, or is his real goal to rewrite the North American trade deal he signed in his first term? If it’s the latter, there’s more political volatility ahead.

In other words, Trump got nothing new for all his insane retoric and folded like a cheap deck of cards. It’s going to be fun watching Trump’s sycophants twist themselves into pretzels trying to claim this as a victory for the administration.

Th Joker Firing Commissioner Gordon

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Trump administration made big moves to realign federal law enforcement in this country — purging top leaders at the FBI and multiple federal prosecutors at the DOJ.

John Fugelsang sums brilliantly sums up the current situation:

They care about their authority symbols, and they’re proving it right now. This is Joker taking over, firing commissioner Gordon and letting all the crooks out because Gotham was tired of woke Batman.

Dell Ending Hybrid/remote Work Policy

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remote work

Dell is the latest tech company to announce it’s ending its hybrid and remote work policy. Victoria Song reporting for Verge:

“What we’re finding is that for all the technology in the world, nothing is faster than the speed of human interaction. A thirty second conversation can replace an email back-and-forth that goes on for hours or even days,” Dell writes.

Intersting to see how Dell will explain this stance to its remote work solutions customers who are given the official sales pitch noting that remote work offers:

benefits such as flexibility, reduced commute times, and cost savings for employees, while employers can access a broader talent pool, reduce overhead costs, and increase productivity.

Hypocrisy much?

Nirvana Before Nirvana - Ted Ed Fred

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Open Culture on an intersting video of Nirvana before they were Nirvana:

Here’s a strange home video of Nirvana when they were unknown, playing inside a Radio Shack in the band’s hometown of Aberdeen, Washington. The video was recorded on the evening of January 24, 1988, after the store had closed. In those days the group went by the name of Ted Ed Fred.

Only the day before, the band had recorded its first demo tape at a studio in Seattle. Guitarist and singer Kurt Cobain asked his new friend Eric Harter, who managed the Radio Shack, to videotape the band playing “Paper Cuts,” one of 10 songs from the demo. Along with Cobain, the video features Nirvana co-founder Krist Novoselic on bass and Dale Crover of the Melvins on drums.

They did get better.

Google Maps on Rename of 'Gulf of Mexico'

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Google announcement on X:

We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps. We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.

For geographic features in the U.S., this is when Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is updated. When that happens, we will update Google Maps in the U.S. quickly to show Mount McKinley and Gulf of America.

Also longstanding practice: When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too.

How this will lower the price of groceries I have no idea.

Seven Samurai (1954) in 4K

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Seven Samurai - 4k

A 4K restoration of Akira Kurosawa’s epic master piece Seven Samurai is now available for streaming. You can watch it on:

If your haven’t seen Seven Saurai - it significantly influenced Hollywood cinema, specifically the Western film genre, most notably with the Hollywood remake “The Magnificent Seven” by adapting the core themes of honor, duty, and protecting the vulnerable to an American setting. You should add it to your watch list.

From Roger Bert’s review:

Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” (1954) is not only a great film in its own right, but the source of a genre that would flow through the rest of the century. The critic Michael Jeck suggests that this was the first film in which a team is assembled to carry out a mission–an idea which gave birth to its direct Hollywood remake, “The Magnificent Seven,” as well as “The Guns of Navarone,” “The Dirty Dozen” and countless later war, heist and caper movies. Since Kurosawa’s samurai adventure “Yojimbo” (1960) was remade as “A Fistful of Dollars” and essentially created the spaghetti Western, and since this movie and Kurosawa’s “The Hidden Fortress” inspired George Lucas’ “Star Wars” series, it could be argued that this greatest of filmmakers gave employment to action heroes for the next 50 years, just as a fallout from his primary purpose.

Here’s the trailer:


Jim Acosta Leaving CNN

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Oliver Darcy posting on the Status Substack:

The anchor, I’m told, signaled to associates in private conversations over the weekend that he intends to depart the network after its chief executive, Mark Thompson, booted him from the morning programming lineup — a move that conspicuously coincided with Donald Trump’s return to power.

CNN brass, as we first reported earlier this month, decided to strip Acosta of his 10am show, which he has anchored to great ratings success over the last 11 months, at times even seeing higher viewership than programs in the channel’s prime time bloc.

Acosta was instead offered the less-than-desirable option of anchoring a show from midnight until 2am ET.

CNN pitched the gig to Acosta as anchoring during prime time on the West Coast and said he could move to Los Angeles to host the program. But the reality is the program would have aired at a time in which cable news viewership is at its lowest levels.

Acosta’s morning ratings were high. The only reason for CNN forcing him to midnight was to appease Donal Trump. CNN executives showing their absolute lack of journalistic integrity.

They Have No Taste

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Microsoft Google Screen

Tom Warren, writing for The Verge:

Earlier this month you could search for “Google” on Bing and get a page that looked a lot like Google, complete with a special search bar, an image resembling a Google Doodle, and even some small text under the search bar just like Google search.

The misleading UI no longer appears on the Google search result of Bing this week, just days after it was originally discovered by posters on Reddit.

Steve Jobs summed up Microsoft’s culture and DNA perfectly in 1995:


They just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste and and what that means is I don’t mean that in a small way. I mean that in a big way in the sense thaty don’t think of original ideas and they don’t bring much culture into their products.

Couldn’t have said it better.

David Lynch Dies at 78

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David Lynch

Brian Tallerico, for RogerEbert.com:

David Lynch saw my dreams. As a teenager growing up in suburban America in the ’80s, “Blue Velvet” and “Twin Peaks” hit like a bolt of lightning. Not only did they capture something about the sinister, surreal underbelly of life under the picket fences, but they said something directly to anyone who thought they could be an artist: You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing.

Lynch was one of those creative voices who found his own octave, doing for film what people like David Bowie or Prince did for music, shattering expectations of what a piece of art could be. Even when his work missed the mark, which was rare, Lynch was never anything less than a singular artist, a creator who never once succumbed to the desire to please that derails so much potential in his industry. When people point to Lynch works like “Mulholland Dr.” or “The Straight Story” or even those of us who love “Lost Highway,” it’s not just that specific film that speaks to them — it’s the sense that the potential of the form is limitless as long as people like Lynch are involved. The entire art form was shifted by him and is now lessened by his absence. We owe it to him to burst through the doors he opened. […]

Lynch’s fifth film, 1990’s “Wild at Heart” would be one of his most divisive — it’s often pointed to as Lynch at his most excessive — but it was what he did on television that same year that rocked the entertainment world: “Twin Peaks.” I could write a book about what “Twin Peaks” meant to a 15-year-old entertainment junkie. To summarize, it exploded the potential of the form. People who watch “Twin Peaks” over three decades later need to understand the TV landscape on which it landed. I’m not saying there wasn’t quality TV in the ’80s, but there was less risk-taking than in the 2020s, and watching the saga of Laura Palmer next to formulaic dramas or laugh-track-heavy sitcoms felt like a true shock to the system. For more on “Twin Peaks” and why it mattered, check this out.

Breakfast With Pete Hegseth

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Pete Hegseth

Jane Mayer, reporting for The New Yorker:

Hegseth has admitted to excess drinking in the past, but he has vowed that, if confirmed to lead the Pentagon, “there won’t be a drop of alcohol on my lips while I’m doing it.” In December, he said that he was “a different man than I was years ago,” describing his life as “a redemption story.” But even as he has attempted to reassure senators, additional reports continue to raise questions about when, and whether, he has reformed. As recently as the spring of 2023, according to an account shared last week with The New Yorker, Hegseth ordered three gin-and-tonics at a weekday breakfast meeting with an acquaintance in Manhattan. “It was an extremely strange experience,” his companion that morning told me. “We met at Fox News in New York for breakfast, and he suggested we go across the street to a bar. It was, like, ten in the morning. Then he ordered two gin-and-tonics at the same time for himself. To be polite, I ordered one, too. But it was so strong I couldn’t drink it, so I ordered coffee. Then he had a third gin-and-tonic. I don’t know how he could pass a security clearance. But they’re trying to create a culture where whistle-blowers are uncomfortable coming forward.”

No. Donald Trump and the Republicans are lowering the standards.

Finland's Success Combating Homelessness

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Homelessness in Finland

Finland’s amazing success in combating homelessness:

Finland’s success is not a matter of luck or the outcome of “quick fixes.” Rather, it is the result of a sustained, well-resourced national strategy, driven by a “Housing First” approach, which provides people experiencing homelessness with immediate, independent, permanent housing, rather than temporary accommodation (OECD, 2020). A key pillar of this effort has been to combine emergency assistance with the supply of rentals to host previously homeless people, either by converting some existing shelters into residential buildings with independent apartments (Kaakinen, 2019) or by building new flats by a government agency (ARA, 2021). Building flats is key: otherwise, especially if housing supply is particularly rigid, the funding of rentals can risk driving up rents (OECD, 2021a), thus reducing the “bang for the buck” of public spending.

Too often it is required to have money first, which requires a job. But you can’t go to work from a showerless breakfastless crumpled stinky street corner. Having a home first enables is a prerequisite to employment. Something we here in the US need could do well to learn.