Sometimes, when a guy goes through enough slop, he’ll just stop being nice. Such is the case with the CEO of the struggling company GameStop, who dragged DEI on X.
To him I say, welcome to the club of those who are sick of it.
A CEO’s job is basically to keep investors happy. Naturally, this would involve avoiding saying things that carry the risk of devaluing the company, even as the company goes on sale. I bring this up to help make the point that Ryan has evidently run out of cares to give.
The point he’s making is obvious: GameStop is not in great shape, and poor decisions such as allowing DEI to permeate its corporate culture has played a significant role in that.
I’m not pretending to know how to run a company. But I do know that consultants who push DEI can do some real damage. They know just enough about corporate structure to effect some change, but lack the wisdom to understand the second order consequences of their pet policies.
And when it comes down to it, the DEI pushers are like a cult. In a cult, when there’s failure, the ideology not blamed. When a cult encounters failure, the usual solution is to try the ideology even harder. You’ll see this not just in religious cults, but also in the likes of Marxism and corporate cults such as call centers.
What Ryan Cohen has indicated is that GameStop is so heavily compromised by DEI that there’s little chance of getting rid of it without the corporate equivalent of an exterminator.
When a company adopts DEI, it starts spiraling the drain, usually right away. As it’s corrupting influence becomes more apparent, you’ll see more sound-minded people starting to nope out, while a few who stick around who know what’s going on largely just try to extract as much value as they can, often through the DEI grift, itself.
And then you see people like Ryan Cohen, who throw their hands up and show just how they feel about it.
As more companies dump DEI, we’re probably going to be seeing more of this.
We got the sales numbers for Xbox in 2024, and they’re not looking too hot for Microsoft. If things continue on this trend, Microsoft might just fail out of the console wars, and it would’ve happened about two decades after I thought it might.
But then, Microsoft has an immense amount of money that they can throw at their problems, thinking that that might make them better.
Microsoft is kinda like the guy who bellys up to the poker table, and eventually beats out all the other players, not for any skill they’d have at the game, but because they have a small mountain of chips and can therefore just keep betting until the other players eventually fold.
Except that, in the console wars, that didn’t happen.
As reported by CBR, Xbox sold about 2.7 million Xbox units in 2024 in the United States. Considering that that’s their greatest market, those are not great numbers. In Europe, they moved only 290,000 units in that same time. In Japan, the Xbox brand gets a participation trophy.
The waning sales numbers of the Xbox brand comes fresh after Microsoft’s eyebrow-raising ad campaign in which they proclaimed that a variety of devices are Xboxs.
Here I thought that if I wanted an Xbox, I could buy an Xbox console. Turns out, I don’t have to. But when it comes down to it, who really does? If a variety of devices could fulfill the functions of an Xbox, then it’s hard to sell Xbox as a dedicated console.
If my smartphone is an Xbox, why buy an Xbox console? Would the games run better on the console by reason of being optimized? And if a phone’s hardware proves insufficient to run an Xbox game, then why not a gaming PC, or maybe even just a PC?
And maybe that’s the point. Perhaps the Xbox consoles are becoming just an expense for Microsoft. For a long time, console manufacturers (with possible exceptions) have been selling their consoles below cost, with the idea of making the money back through the games that gamers purchase. Perhaps Microsoft is realizing that they might be better off just selling software.
That’s one of the reasons why consoles are usually a pretty sweet deal for gamers; they often get better hardware than they pay for.
But I’m getting the idea that Microsoft is trying to bury the Xbox console, in an effort to keep the green brand in the green (assuming it was ever there).
I might come off as a fanboy, but that’s mainly because I don’t like Microsoft’s corporate image. There’s also the fact that Xbox seems to be marketed towards x-treme gamers, the kind that chug Mountain Dew, think that sports cars are practical, and think that graphics make games great as they play this month’s FPS, with a color pallate of gray, brown, and gun-muzzle flare.
I like playing games because they’re fun. Which is, you know, the whole point.
But it seems like I’m not the only one seeing through the crass marketing of a software conglomerate. The 2.7 million sales figure can be largely explained by the likes of niche gamers who buy everything because they have more money than sense, and speculative investors who aren’t very bright. But we probably have to rely on Microsoft to tell us how many of these things are actually connected to the internet, and aren’t just hacked to run Linux by hobbyists who are bored.
Before the Nintendo and Sony fanboys start high-fiving each other, it can be pointed out that having one less competitor in the console war isn’t necessarily a good thing. Competition discourages companies from behaving like monopolies. If you thought that the PS5 Pro was expensive, just imagine how expensive it would be if Sony had no competition. Then there’s how long Nintendo might plug away with decade-old tablet technology, if not for pressure from investors. We could call the Nintendo Switch 2 the Nintendo People Kept Begging Us To Make New Hardware So We Did.
I don’t like Microsoft, but I recognize that a Sony with less competition would not be great for gaming. Sony wants to integrate media under a monolithic name (their own). With less competition, they are closer to that. Sure, Nintendo is currently beating PlayStation in sales, but what Nintendo does doesn’t seem to have much effect on Sony’s decisions. Nintendo and Sony may be competitors in the console market, but they behave as though they are in their own separate worlds.
Whether Microsoft withdraws from consoles remains to be seen. But, at this point, they seem to be going the route that Sega once did. Except, in this case, they took a lot longer getting there.
Lately, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Facebook fame has expressed a desire to change course. He says that he’s sorry about all the censorship, and he’s dropping things like DEI from Facebook, and has even expressed more masculine interests, such as in combat sports, and has even been on the Joe Rogan podcast to explain his perspective.
As you might expect, some people were skeptical of the change. It’s the internet, and there are people on it who are running the race to be as vindictive as possible, for whatever e-clout that there is to extract from so doing. Thus, Mark is being accused of just going where the trends are going, just because Donald Trump has won, and not because he’s expressing a sincere change of heart.
In the current zeitgeist of frumpy bitterness, I have a take that could be controversial. I think that Mark Zuckerberg might be being sincere.
Yeah, I get it, it’s trendy and cool to assume the worst if someone’s position can be interpreted in a manner that favors indignation, even on someone else’s behalf. So, my take probably won’t be algorithmically-boosted in the same way as some rage-inducing video. But I think that Mark might actually mean it.
Does that mean that he was principled enough to stand up to the government that was pressuring him to censor certain viewpoints? Apparently not. But it would seem like he was principled enough to consider something wrong, even if he hesitated to act or speak against it for years.
I could point out that Mark didn’t become right-wing during the first Trump presidency, but I know that it’s easy to make the point that the initial Trump administration wasn’t strongly establishment, as the establishment largely resisted or even undermined Trump. I think that the safer position to take is that the mandate implied by Trump’s overwhelming recent victory made it far easier for Zuckerberg, and many others, to finally take a stand.
If you’ve ever been threatened in any way over what’s right, like if your employment was threatened, and you refused to back down, you’re probably more principled than Mark Zuckerberg. But he does seem sincere in the position he is now expressing, so I don’t see any reason to doubt that his redemption is valid.
People tend to overlook just how valuable redemption is, even if from a strategic point of view. If the continuum between right and wrong were to only allow traffic in one direction, towards wrong, then anyone who ever goes in that direction would only be lost. If no path towards reconciliation is allowed, then there’s no reason for anyone who becomes an enemy to pursue it. If a religion were to tell a person that they couldn’t be redeemed, they’d have no reason to join. Political ideologies are similar when it comes to those who may change sides.
As I see it, there isn’t much reason to doubt someone’s redemption if they’re determined to be an asset. What would be the alternative? To insist that such a person must continue to resist them?
When Abraham Lincoln was asked what he’d do with the southern states after the Civil War was over, he answered that he’d treat them as though they never left. His answer was excellent, and his attitude characterizes the relationship between the states today pretty well. Consider the value of having this attitude towards those who wish to join, and you didn’t have to fight a war against them beforehand.
The two men, a gay couple, adopted a couple boys, whom they then proceeded to abuse and exploit. The boys were adopted from a special-needs Christian adoption agency, and the two had to be adopted together, because they were emotionally dependent on one another.
A person would have to labor their imagination to picture people more vulnerable.
The Zulocks, one having been a banker and the other having been a low level government employee, proceeded to build a mansion with a shit-ton of money they somehow got. If I found out how, it would probably piss me off.
The couple fitted the house with oodles of surveillance equipment which they would use to film their abuse. After their arrest, something like 8 terabytes of abuse material was found in their possession.
I find it difficult to fathom that amount of data. That might exceed what all devices owned by the typical person today could store, combined.
The couple were arrested after another pedophile in their ring decided to turn them in. Which goes to show just how bad the Zulocks were, they were to the point that another pedophile decided that they were going too far.
The Zulocks were sentenced to 100 years in prison, with no possibility for parole. The two are in their thirties, so when they’re in prison in their seventies, and still looking over their shoulders to ensure that they don’t get shanked while chowing on their prison Wheaties, their sentences won’t be half over.
Because of the length of the sentence, the victims won’t have to contemplate their abusers being free, unless the Zulocks survive their sentences. Which I doubt.
Any guesses as to how long these guys will survive?
For those of you who don’t want to watch the video, I’ll explain what’s going on. A player is exhibiting gameplay for Moon Gaze, an open world action RPG developed by Wang Yue.
A quick web search didn’t find much information about the developer, aside from that he was maybe a lone developer in China, though it’s conceivable that he has the assistance of a development team. If someone has more information, feel free to share in the comments, and hit me with a “nice research”.
When I say that the game is heavily derivative, I’m not kidding. It lifts gameplay elements from Genshin Impact, Grand Theft Auto, Tears of the Kingdom, and there’s a creature collection mechanic that’s perhaps reminiscent of Pokémon.
As derivative it is might be, I still wanted to play it. But seeing it got me to thinking: Is this the future of slop?
When you think of slop games, you probably think of low-effort licensed games that are pushed out to make a quick buck, or derivative me-too games that are purchased by parents who can’t tell Pokémon from Monster Rancher. They’re not always bad, but they usually are. And sometimes, we like them, even if it’s just because we’re forgiving of it because it has our favorite brand stickered on it.
But it looks like slop is changing, and that’s because the game development landscape is changing. For one thing, because AI is becoming a tool that can be used in game creation, and a person might not even need to be a seasoned game developer to use it effectively. A person would only need descriptive prompts. People might even be able to generate games at home, using prompts issued to personal AI agents.
If it got to that point, game development studios might end up becoming mostly superfluous. Which could mean the end of the game industry as we know it. Game devs would be quickly replaced with something different.
What’s more, game development has opened up in the Chinese market, where the legal structure is apparently different as compared to the United States and Japan. Recently, Nintendo has gone after PalWorld over how derivative the game is, perhaps to the point of using assets from Pokémon. Both studios are based in Japan. On the other hand, we’ve seen the release of Wuthering Waves, which is basically the same as Genshin Impact, but with a more technological theme, and seems a bit more edgy. Yet Mihoyo, the company behind Genshin Impact, doesn’t seem to have plans to legally confront Kuro Games, the maker of Wuthering Waves. One studio is based in China, the other, Hong Kong.
If some small game studio in China wants to make some Android game that takes heavy inspiration from a Nintendo game, Nintendo might have no choice but to groove with it, especially considering that there’s nothing stopping us from side-loading it onto our Android devices.
Thus, the landscape of slop is changing, from low-effort licensed drivel to high-quality derivative games, perhaps monetized by microtransactions. In a sense, this shifting landscape reminds me of the “video game crash” from the 80s. The game industry speaks of it as though it was a disaster, because for them, it was. But for consumers, it was great, because it meant that we could score piles of games for cheap.
So it is with the changing of the game landscape. Users and small studios are starting to make the games they want, and share them with the world, which has been going on for a while with freeware games, but is now expedited with advanced tools and apparent immunity to legal interference.
Considering this, one might ask: why buy Nintendo games, or games from other developers? The answer is obvious: it’s because people like their games, enough to justify purchasing them.
That might just be what keeps these game makers going in the near future.
Yesterday, I finally got around to playing Wuthering Waves. After everything that I’ve been hearing about it, I was expecting my socks to be blown clear into the next county, and to have been lost in the chocolatey deeps of the most engaging gameplay to have ever been developed by the molecular gastronomists of interactive entertainment.
What I got instead was a Genshin Impact ROM hack.
That’s not to say that it’s a bad game. But if you think Wuthering Waves (WW) is a good game, you might have the same opinion of Genshin Impact. They’re basically the same game.
The controls, the HUD, the basic mechanics, they’re all lifted 1:1 from Genshin Impact. You’re wandering an open world in the same way, you’re switching between characters in the same way, and there’s a similar system to that of elemental skills and elemental bursts.
Even the gliding is the same. But at this point, are you really surprised? There are even monoliths similar in color to Genshin’s teleport points, for how much Kuro Games cares about having its own voice.
Supposedly, at some point, you get to double jump or run up walls. Okay? And this is supposed to make WW any less of a blatant ripoff?
Imagine if I were to take the classic Super Mario Bros., change the appearance of the assets, change the level layout, and then gave the plumber a double jump. Would I really be able to proclaim that I’ve made the better game, as though my achievement in game design would be one in which I could take true pride?
Also, the “Traveler” in WW is called “Rover”. Thankfully, “Drifter” wasn’t already taken, so some other enterprising Asian game developers can make their own Genshin ROM hack.
It occurs to me now that I was way too hard on Digimon for its similarities to Pokémon. While it’s true that Digimon bears similarities to Pokémon, at least Digimon tried to be different enough to be distinct. Wuthering Waves is so similar to Genshin Impact that I wouldn’t be surprised to find Genshin assets after datamining Wuthering Waves.
Also, the characters in WW don’t have any personality from what I’ve seen so far. Remember Amber and Kaeya from Genshin? They practically oozed personality. Even the Traveler had a personality. And voice acting that was actually emotive.
If you’ve played WW, don’t tell me to play more. Instead, tell me about a character you like, and why they were interesting. Convince me to care, or at least do a better job than WW. I want to care. But I don’t. I don’t care what the Rover’s deal is. The woman who held her hand at the beginning just didn’t inspire warmth, though the game seemed to try. The women who found him at the outset were as uncanny as the nymphs from Hylas and the Nymphs, attractive without question, but uncanny in the same way.
But you know what? Maybe WW just doesn’t suit my tastes. Maybe I prefer that anime-style characters be colorful and expressive. If you’re the kind of guy who has been spending the last couple decades trying to convince Nintendo fans that great graphics means that a game’s full color palette is gradients of grey and brown with intermittent laser-pointer red and gun muzzle flare, and that you have more fun playing the same first person shooter every year, then perhaps we’ve reached an impasse, and WW might just be dreary enough for you.
I know that it seems like I’m not giving WW a chance, but I gave it a try. When I see that WW has as many fans as it does, it occurs to me that perhaps I’m a little strange because I give a care whether the game I’m playing is a product of creativity or a blatant ripoff of someone else’s work.
But if you’ve plagiarized your way through college, I have a game recommendation for you.
The race is over. We have a loser. She wasn’t the last one to reach the finish line, no. Before the starting gun even sounded, she was going full sprint in the opposite direction. Her desiccated corpse has been found, and it’s been drained of all fluid by reason of the many nicks and scratches she accumulated in her determined push through the dense bramble of abject failure.
I’m talking about Sammy Sludge, the dirtbag who went on a killing spree in a Christian school before personally ending any possibility for any redemption arc for herself.
And no, Sammy Sludge wasn’t her real name. As I see it, if anyone commits her category of crime, they should lose their real name, and instead be remembered by a demeaning monicker that they’d have been certain to have hated. Sure, she called herself “Sam”, but she also called the people she hated “sludge” in her manifesto (if her writing could be called that), so she’d probably hate to be remembered as “Sammy Sludge”.
So, Sammy Sludge, it is.
So, what did she do? She turned a gun on a few children in a Christian school, before turning it on herself. Why did she do it? Because she hated men. You know, half of all people who exist. A biological sex that is necessary for the continuity of humanity.
I’m not accusing her of thinking this through.
Her “manifesto” indicated that she was a TERF, a form of feminist which rejects even trans women. And her social media footprint indicates that she was interested in mass killings, particularly the Columbine shooting.
She was a TERF-orrist.
So, can we as a society address the brain-rot that drives people like Sammy Sludge to commit the kind of crime that she did, at just 15 years old? Maybe it’s about time that we admit that certain ideologies, when believed in with sincerity, turns people into bad people. Do we need more evidence?
Sammy Sludge, with her final act, undermined her own cause. Is there anything else a person could do to make it look worse?
Obviously, she doesn’t represent everyone from her own cause. I get that. But that doesn’t mean that she can’t undermine it. And that’s just what happened.
If Sammy Sludge was a victim in any sense, it’s that she was fed a completely one-sided argument in favor of a pile of bullshit, which she then believed in with sincerely. Her mind, as defective as it evidently was, was unable to mount a sufficient defense against the assault against her intelligence that turned her into a foot soldier for a debased cause.
What Sammy Sludge left behind was a world in which men continue to live, nearly all of whom are more virtuous than herself.
We’ve all heard the classic example of the loaded question, “Did you stop beating your wife?” While most would recognize the ruse for what it is, it still succeeds in tripping people up.
The question is designed so that its underlying presumption goes unchallenged, if the person being asked is predisposed to giving a “yes” or “no” answer.
In Japanese, there is a third one-word answer that a person could give, where “hai” means “yes”, and “iee” means “no”, the third option would be “mu”, which means “impossible”. It’s a one-word way to say that the question doesn’t apply. The English equivalent could be “wrong”, which could be considered a shorthand way to say that “The question is wrong.”
This is not the only way that dichotomous thinking can influence people. Another would be to split the world in two, as many cults often do.
For example, you might be asked what your market philosophy is, “Marxism or capitalism?” In most cases, you’d probably say “capitalism”, whereas where your life depends on the answer, you’d probably say “Marxism”.
Turns out, the term “capitalism” doesn’t much narrow it down, because it’s a broad term that encompasses many economic schools of thought. The term “capitalism” is as popular as it is because Marxism has succeeded in dividing the world into two, and since then, they’ve succeeded in getting the rest of us to use their language.
Upon learning of this, I had a bit of an economic identity crisis, as I’ve suddenly found myself learning about a handful of economic schools of thought, which would have fallen into the “capitalist” compartment in the thinking of those influenced by Marxism’s memetic legacy.
For those curious, I’m not strongly committed to any economic philosophy, but I do recognize that the Austrian school has some interesting ideas. The Keynesian system embraced by much of the world is problematic, but I’m willing to live non-belligerently where it’s the order of the day, even if I were to point out its problems.
But back to the topic at hand, the dichotomy of Marxism vs Capitalism is one of many ways that the world is oversimplified, and can obscure some of the nuanced ideas that may be worth considering.
Another example that I could think of off the top of my head is the idea of the political right versus the political left. It’s a trick that Liberalism has used to make “the right” appear to be monolithic, when in reality, “conservatism” is most ideas outside of liberalism.
When you understand this, it becomes much easier to comprehend why the right has often struggled to develop a coherent message, while the left has done so much better at organizing. And you’ll recognize their carefully-manufactured image of being a bunch of underdogs for the ruse that it is.
So, what’s the point of this thought exercise? Odds are, you can think of another false dichotomy that’s relevant to you that may have been carefully-designed to limit your choices or perspective. Or it might be that there’s one that you might not have thought of, yet.
I suspect that there’s a great many people whose minds are shackled, though they’ve been led to believe that they have been freed.
The above photograph was taken on June 14, 2024, at approximately 6:11pm, by Evan Vucci, a chief photographer for the Associated Press, at a campaign rally just outside of Butler, Pennsylvania.
The photograph depicts then-former president Donald Trump, surrounded by Secret Service agents ushering him off a stage while forming a protective shield, as he defiantly pumps his fist in the air, with a backdrop of a waving American flag and a clear, blue sky. Trump’s ear was bloodied, and some blood streaked onto his face, the result of a failed assassination attempt.
In the minutes leading up to the assassination attempt, the failed assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had climbed up to the roof of a nearby facility, intent on getting the former president in his direct line of sight. A moment prior, he had a close encounter with a patrolling officer, who had spotted Crooks. At that moment, Crooks acted hastily, knowing that the officer would call for assistance. Prior to this, Crooks had already been spotted by event attendees, who had pointed Crooks out as a suspicious person.
The motivation of Thomas Matthew Crooks is still a matter of discussion. But at this point, it is apparent from his social media history that he had a more favorable viewpoint of Democratic policy positions, which would have put him at odds with Trump, who was running for office for a third time as a likely Republican nominee. Days prior to the assassination attempt, the press had developed a less favorable opinion of Joe Biden, calling into question his cognitive ability to serve a second term, and Biden had given into pressure to withdraw from his pursuit of reelection.
It’s possible that Crooks, if he were enthusiastic about a second Biden term, was disappointed to hear that Biden had chosen to withdraw. In any case, it’s clear that he sought to deny the assembled Trump supporters their own candidate.
Thomas Matthew Crooks was a resident of Bethel Park, a community near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was at the age of 20. Prior to this, he had obtained an Associate’s Degree in engineering science at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh. After this, he would be employed as a member of cafeteria staff at a retirement home near his own residence. He lived with his parents, who were both behavioral psychologists.
Crooks had fired a total of eight shots towards the former president. As he began firing from his AR-15 style rifle, Trump had turned to face a chart, facing the direction of Crooks. As he did so, he leaned his head slightly to his left, denying Crooks what would have easily been a fatal shot, though a bullet did go through Trump’s right ear. A few attendees were struck during the shooting, killing one, named Corey Comperatore.
Trump put a hand to his ear, and upon seeing blood on it, he immediately ducked down. Secret Service members rushed over to the former president, forming a protective barrier with their own bodies.
A counter-sniper team, positioned on a rooftop behind the stage, had identified the sniper, and acted upon him, terminating the threat, in what has been referred to as a “one-in-a-million shot”. Crooks’ earthly experiences had come to an immediate end.
Upon notification that the threat had been neutralized, the Secret Service team had been given the clear to usher Trump from the scene. They and the former president stood up, though Trump had expressed an interest on putting his shoes back on, which had somehow been removed during the incident. According to a lip-reader, Trump had uttered, “Blood? On my face?”
On the way off the stage, Trump insisted upon stopping. Upon doing so, he turned toward the front of the stage to face the assembled crowd, and pumped his fist in the air, shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” As the crowd roared in approval, this was the moment that Evan Vucci had photographed, which can be seen above.
Two days later, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Donald Trump accepted the nomination to run for president representing the Republican party. He was not contested in the nomination. It was also at the RNC that Trump named his running mate, J.D. Vance.
A month after the failed assassination attempt, Trump returned to Butler, Pa, for another rally, insisting on finishing what he started, there. He was joined by Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and the owner of the social media platform known as X, who also spoke at the event.
Early in the morning of November 6th, 2024, Donald Trump won the presidency in what has been called a “landslide victory”. Trump had won all the swing states, securing the electoral college, and had become the first Republican candidate in decades to win the popular vote. His closest rival, Kamala Harris, represented the Democratic party.
The failed assassination against Trump, which was followed by the moment depicted by the photo above, was an important pivotal point, upon which if things had happened just a little differently, subsequent matters could have played out far differently. Trump’s election victory was the clear signal of where Americans stood on matters of cultural significance. If, for any reason, Trump had not survived to win the 2024 presidential election, it would have been likely that the culture would have continued along the trajectory that it was apparently going prior to his victory, even if a different Republican might have won.
Because, when it comes down to it, Donald Trump is the face of the will of the American people, who are aware that there is a problem with the establishment, and desires a restore of the greatness of American culture. Thus, the slogan, “Make America Great Again”.
Whatever the political views of Evan Vucci may be, it remains that he captured an image of a moment which will be historic in a manner comparable to the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima. History was made this year, and I’m looking forward to next year. We’ll see whether the image that I pick to describe it is an easy choice, again.
EDIT (16 Dec 2024): It’s a bit of an aside, but I wanted to bring attention to how amusing it is that the politics of Thomas Matthew Crooks appears unclear to anyone.
The main thing that seems to throw people off is the fact that he registered as a Republican in 2021. For many people, this appears to short-circuit their inquisitiveness, and they just stop at the assumption that he was a Republican.
Lest we forget, at around the year 2021, it was common for left-wing political influencers to suggest that left-leaning voters register as Republicans. In certain states, this would allow them to vote in Republican primaries, when they could select less favorable Republicans, increasing the likelihood that Democrats could overcome them in the general elections.
If Thomas Crooks was willing to commit an outrageous crime in an effort to deny the American public a candidate, such an underhanded political strategy certainly would not have been beneath him.
It’s also noteworthy that Paul Abbate, an FBI deputy director, has described Crooks’ social media activity as though it would “appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes”. These are big claims, but Paul Abbate did not back them up with big evidence.
In any case, I think it’s reasonable to at least characterize Thomas Matthew Crooks as a “never-Trumper”. After all, he attempted (and failed) an assassination attempt against former president Trump.
For obvious reasons, Thomas Matthew Crooks cannot be reached to determine his motives. But his final failure will likely be remembered as the most famous failed assassination attempt in history.
When I heard that the CEO of United Healthcare was assassinated, it was easy to guess what motivated the killer.
Because I, like many others, have endured the hell of having the same claim repeatedly denied which was explicitly covered under a health insurance company’s policy, it was easy to imagine that something like this would happen. And it did.
My opinion is going to be a safe one. While it’s tragic that a life was lost, I don’t feel strong pity for the victim. Also, Luigi Mangione is a fulminating fuck belch.
Basic observations aside, I want to point out the amusing effect that Luigi’s “manifesto” has had on political commentators: they’re playing hot potato with him. The right is focusing down on his leftist-sounding language to try to make him out to be a disgruntled left-winger, while those who look at the long lines of Canadian clinics with throbbing chubbies are trying to make him out to be a right-winger.
Both sides are playing directly into his hands. It’s obvious that Mangione’s missive was carefully crafted to keep him and his cause in the conversation. It’s infuriating to contemplate, but this demonstrates just how intelligent the guy really was.
Just not intelligent enough to avoid what’s awaiting him. Prison is a terrible place to be famous. If Luigi thinks his back hurts now, he’s really going to be in for it when he gets punched right in the back by the other prisoners.
A person’s actions play a significant role in determining their outcome.
I’ve read Mangione’s so-called manifesto, which reads as a justification for his actions. While his thinking may be flawed, I can point out that, if he’s forthcoming about the experiences he expressed, it’s little wonder he went insane. Those kinds of experiences could drive even a stoic mind to madness.
And it’s quite evident that he is insane. People mistakenly believe that an intelligent person cannot be insane. But they can be. Another example is Ted Kaczynski, whom Mangione looked up to. When an intelligent person goes insane, their own substantial intelligence becomes weaponized against their own mind.
I held off on writing about Mangione after seeing his auto-post on YouTube, which posted after he was arrested. YouTube has the option to schedule a video post, which was how Mangione’s YouTube channel posted an update after his arrest. It was like a kind of “dead-man’s hand”, with Luigi likely having the plan of pushing the date for his post back until he could no longer access his account.
His video hinted that something would be revealed on Wednesday, but that day came and went with no apparent reveal, perhaps because his channel was taken down.
As for what will happen to Mangione in the future, I don’t know. Putting aside other prisoners punching him in the back, he’s probably going to have a voyeur at all times.
As for the health insurance industry, I can suggest this to improve the situation: that a health insurance company gets a fine each time they deny a claim that is covered by their policy, with the fine proportional to the claim’s monetary value, with repeated denials of the same claim resulting in cumulative fines.
It’s a start, right? But any such bill would probably be lobbied out of existence by the healthcare industry. So, I don’t have much expectation that health insurance will change for the better anytime soon.
But Mangione’s trial is probably going to be entertaining.
Magnetricity 