Immortality and the Ship of Theseus Can technology make me live forever, one neuron at a time? (Also: are we out of Doritos?)

New blog today on The King's Necktie. "Immortality and the Ship of Theseus."

Can technology make me live forever, one neuron at a time? (Also: are we out of Doritos?)

Documents Reveal a Web of Financial Ties Between Trump Officials and the Industries They Help Regulate ProPublica is releasing a trove of disclosure records that detail the finances of more than 1,500 Trump appointees, including former lobbyists, industry executives and at least a dozen officials who d...

@propublica.org, doing God's work, always.

God, the behavior of Trump's circle really is beyond parody, although it makes sense. The dogsh!t awfulness of this administration naturally attracts the scuzziest of people who want to be part of it, across the board.

2/2 for herself that were extended vacations, taking subordinates to an Oregon strip club while on one such trip, showing no interest in the work of the department, and having an affair with a member of her security team."

Sounds like she'd have made a helluva good man.

1/ Trump fires a third female Cabinet member (and zero male ones so far): Sec. of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Per Robert Reich (himself a former Sec of Labor under Bill Clinton): "She’s alleged to have been drinking during the workday from a 'stash' of alcohol in her office, arranging official trips

Kash Patel sues the Atlantic over article alleging excessive drinking Magazine has stood behind the story, which was written by veteran national security reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick

I dunno about you, but I've lost track of all the people I've sued when I was drunk.

Behind Trump’s Public Bravado on the War, He Grapples With His Own Fears The president’s impulsive style has never been tested in a sustained military conflict, and he’s been ruminating on Jimmy Carter’s failure in Iran.

3/ OK. But I would remind you that a great many of the once-unthinkable things Trump has done began with his defenders insisting he was only joking. Take him literally, seriously, or however you want: this guy is humankind at its absolute worst.

2/ In the past, he has publicly mused about that frequently, and it was always dismissed as a "joke." WH Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt adopted the same defense over his latest public mention of giving himself the Medal, just this past Feb, in connection with the war on Iran.

1/ The Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal—hardly a bastion of the left—has reported that Trump is contemplating ways to award himself the Medal of Honor.

On this date in 1991, the NJ Casino Control Commission officially concluded that "Mr. Trump cannot be considered financially stable."

Also true when the word "financially" is removed.

100%

The insider trading suspicions looming over Trump's presidency The BBC has found a pattern of spikes in trades ahead of public announcements by the US president.

Oh, the BBC found that? The @newyorker.com & @reuters.com have already done extensive reporting on the topic, and I wrote a blog about it more than a week ago, part of a three-part series on Trump's corruption. (See comments.)

But I'm genuinely glad the BBC and others are picking up on the story

Iran Says Hormuz Strait Will Close Two Years for Renovations The Strait of Hormuz board, packed with cronies of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, also approved a plan to put Khamenei’s name on the renovated waterway.

Borowitz:

All the more reason why retaking the Senate as well as the House is crucial. And there should be a 100% Democratic refusal to confirm or even consider any more Trump nomnees.

Right wing pressure on Alito and Thomas to step down before the midterms, just in case the Dems retake the Senate, making it harder for Trump to put 2 new right wing justices on the Court (total of 5, if you're scoring at home).

I would be happy if that sentence ended with the words "step down."

Payback.

Iran closes strait of Hormuz again ‘until US lifts blockade’ IRGC reportedly fires on tanker as it tries to pass through strait during brief window when shipping lane had reopened

So much winning.

Why, when Trump makes his batsh!t threats to Iran (“Open the f*ckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards!”), does he sound like he’s one of the Jerky Boys?

Few phrases are scarier or more surreal than "Trump convenes White House Situation Room meeting."

Daddy Warbucks & Sons Part two of our examination of Trump’s mind-boggling corruption, this time looking at the extent of insider trading, including war profiteering.

thekingsnecktie.substack.com/p/daddy-warb...

Traders placed over $1bn in perfectly timed bets on the Iran war. What is going on? Suspicious wagers on the US-Israel war in Iran are creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers

In line with my blog from last week about likely insider trading within the Trump administration. (Link in comments.)

Sid Krofft, 96, Dies; Created Zany TV Shows for Children of All Ages

Huge part of our childhoods for me and many of my generation.

And you gotta love an NYT obit that begins: "Sid Krofft, who with his brother Marty made some of the most bizarre children’s programming ever seen on television...died on Friday in Los Angeles. He was 96."

Corner Store YouTube video by Jonathan Richman - Topic

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctif...

Aaron Rupar (@aaron.rupar) on Threads Trump: "Millions of American small businesses, including corner stores. What is a corner store? I've never heard that term. I know what a corner store is but I've never heard it described-- a corner s...

He thinks it's a store that sells corners. Just listen to the way he says it.

At the same tine, it puts Bush's mystification at supermarket scanners to shame.

#manofthepeople

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que to close Gowanus location after 15 years in Brooklyn • Brooklyn Paper Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Gowanus will close this spring after 15 years, ending a longtime Brooklyn BBQ staple.

As someone who lives a block away and dines there all the time, this makes me and my family very sad. Other sources (not mentioned in this piece) are saying that the restaurant will be torn down to make way for....you guessed it, Gowanus.....more high rise luxury apartments.

3/3 But he got his ass handed to him. ("Several voters who spoke with the New Jersey Globe outside an early voting location in Madison couldn’t name the Democrat they had just voted for.”)

Which suggests we can win bigly in Nov.

2/ And this with a progressive candidate who, the Bulwark writes, "was not the most reassuring Democratic candidate for the affluent suburban district," running against a Republican who tried to paint her as a radical and himself as a moderate, distanced from Trump.

1/ @thebulwark.comreports on the special election in NJ to fill Mikie Sherrill’s House seat, which resulted in a 20-point Democratic victory, improving on both Kamala's performance in that district (+9) and even Sherrill's (+15).

Crypto-Fascism The third and final part in our examination of the Trump family’s unprecedented corruption, and the new tech (but old school) snake oil at its black heart.

New blog today on The King's Necktie: "Crypto-Fascism." The third and final part in our examination of the Trump family’s unprecedented corruption, and the new tech / old school snake oil at its black heart.