I don't take days off like Gabe, because the world doesn't either.
- The internet war against INFOWARS. First, I have never watched InfoWars. Alex Jones sounds idiotic. This past week, Facebook took down his videos, his Facebook pages. Then Apple and Spotify removed his podcasts. All the companies stated that Alex Jones was inciting Hate. I am very concerned about this move. Was Jones really inciting hate? Violence? was it in every video/podcast? I think you have to start by taking some content down specifically, before an all wide ban. It's apparent he is a crackpot, but what was the "hate" he promoted? You can't point to the Sandy Hook conspiracy, because that was a long time ago. The Libertarian in me thinks this is fine by Facebook. The Antitrust guru in me is more concerned. FB has shown how much power they have in elections and govt. already. When asked about who their competitors are, Zuckerberg couldn't give a very good answer, because Facebook is its own beast/market. Apple limits podcasts on its network and has almost half the US market. There are other avenues to make podcasts though. The power that Google and Facebook have over media content is concerning.
- Trump v. Lebron:. I am with Lebron on this. You can criticize Lebron for a lot of things, but you can't criticize him for or when he is supporting his home town. If you are a republican/libertarian, your thought is that people will take care of their communities better than the government will. Lebron is an example of that. Instead of criticizing him, Trump should be applauding a rich person doing something good for his community. Betsy Devos should be applauding this "Charter School" which she loves that term so much. Opportunity wasted.
- Drone bomb attack in Venezuela - If you haven't seen it, a drone carrying a bomb blew up at a Nicholas Meduro rally in Venezuela. The Venezuelan president said it was an attempt on his life. I am surprised that we havent' seen more of these attempts. Drones are now super fast, small, and easy to control. I look at them as a major security issue going forward, not just with FAA and planes, but with large crowds and gatherings. I don't know how you can stop a Drone carrying a weapon/bomb.
- Hurricane season - interestingly, the first American soil threatened this year is actually in the Pacific. Hurricane Hector is closing in on Hawaii as a Cat 4/5 hurricane. It looks as if it will stay south of Hawaii, but the big island is within the projected path. Hawaii has only been hit by 3 hurricanes in recorded history. Last one was in 1992. The atlantic Hurricane basin is actually colder than normal ocean temps, so it looks like at least on the east coast, it will be a light hurricane season.
- Robocalls. I receive at least 3 robocalls per day. 1 offering health insurance, 1 about student loans, and 1 about buying an extended warranty on my truck. I have listened and selected that dial to add me to the do not call list, but I still get called. These businesses call me from different numbers all the time as well, so it is hard to block. I expect more of this crap as FB, Google, etc. continue to sell my data. How did they know I bought a truck? How do they know about my student loans? All I did was shop insurance on the exchange, how do they know? Is it Rivals scanning our posts and sell this stuff or what?
