Does this make me sound old? I don’t really care. The U.S. TikTok ban is spot on and the Brazilian X ban is not. No “back in my day” speech required.
It was such a cute gadget. A tiny computer, brushed aluminum on the outside, with a decent keyboard (albeit with chicklet keys), a Thinkpad-ish pointing stick that would even take a grippy Thinkpad “cat’s tongue” insert. A fairly fast X86 Intel processor, enough storage, and 8 gigs of memory. And now it was on sale at a low price.
The conclusion that the United States is in its bread-and-circuses phase is just about impossible to escape, and our response to it proves the point.
The worsening of our global situation, including two sparks that appear more volatile than an unfortunate duke meeting a bullet ever could have been, should be a wake-up call. Our politicians have driven us to the brink of a world war by their myopic plans forged by reelection efforts and not our (or the world’s) good.
As a friend battled viruses on his brand-new Windows computer this week, I thought again about just how spoiled Apple users are by better security and better privacy than Android and Windows folks live with. Long adept at bringing such advantages to the masses that will never try (much less secure) Linux, Apple has one vulnerability is tech prowess cannot overcome: China.
The Zippy Crew returns, speeding through musings about the Winter Olympics and its controversies, the boys’ Wordle-playing, the worrisome military buildup by Russia, Damon Albarn’s attack on Taylor Swift and the hope we find in the Resurrection.
The Fastest of Snails serves up a mix of lighthearted and pressing topics in our second episode of ‘22. The boys discuss Faye Webster’s new single and shopping via Instacart before turning to issues of human rights in China and the call for Christians to preach with boldness.
We’re in a mess. The country is in the weakest place it’s been in a very long time. If what I suspect and fear comes to pass, it could soon be far worse.