The Hunter Biden pardon gives Donald Trump powerful new political cover—>
This isn’t a political blog, but a personal blog. And personally I care about politics. So even though my goal wasn’t to talk about politics here, I am going to because I care about it. Especially in today’s crazy political climate.
The article linked above is so fucking frustrating to me. Not because I disagree fully with the headline, but that it should say Trump not Biden, and how Trump pardoned his son-in-laws father, Charles Kushner, when Trump was president. Clinton also pardoned his half-brother during his presidency but no one talks about it.
My biggest is issue with the article though, is how it starts with Biden and what he did but then subtly mentions Trump pardoning his own cronies towards the end of the article and also subtly mentions how pardoning them also protected Trump from being wrapped up in their crimes:
Trump, to be sure, took a freewheeling approach to pardons in his first term, granting clemency to cronies like former national security adviser Mike Flynn, longtime adviser Roger Stone, 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort and White House aide Steve Bannon. All of those pardons, though, were tied to specific investigations and crimes those men had been accused or convicted of. (Tellingly, the men also were all connected to investigations that could have implicated Trump himself.)
Pardoning Hunter helped Hunter, not Joe Biden. You can say it made Joe feel better, but he didn’t do it to protect himself like Trump did with his own pardons. Him saying he wasn’t going to do it is annoying, but after so many flip flops from the other side I wish Joe Biden would have just owned it instead of the more measured and defensive response he provided.
December 3, 2024 The Hunter Biden pardon gives Donald Trump powerful new political cover
Today Sucks
2024 Election Results
I don’t have a lot to say, other than I’m disappointed. Not just that half the country chose Trump, but I feel like our fight wasn’t enough. This isn’t victim blaming, but taking accountability and reflecting on what our side could have done better — something the other side never does.
I am realizing once again how easy it is to get caught up in bullshit and forgetting what is truly important to me. I am not saying voting, elections, our representation, and the future of our country isn’t important. What I’m realizing is my health, mental and physical, and my family should be more of a focus for me.
Politics and online drama has been easy to become addicted to. I’m taking a break from both and going to focus on my health and my family. I will still fight for what I think is right, and will continue to be informed when necessary. But the obsession that I got sucked into needs to go away.
I’m proud to be an American, and at the same time disappointed in the direction this country is going. I’m still hopeful for the future, I just hope this isn’t the beginning of the end.
Connected Episode: 523—>
The iPad Guys are back to using the iPad again because of…. OLED.
The most ridiculous thing about this episode, if you have been following the iPad dilemma that the hosts have been complaining about for a year now, is they never addressed any of the reason why they left the iPad in the first place.
iPadOS is close to the same as it has been for the last two years. The hate and continuous complaining that Apple hasn’t done anything is no where to be found in this episode at all. Strange.
Which proves the point I was making all along. Apples focus on Macs made everyone who loves Apple products very interested in Mac. Even the iPad Power Users wanted to use the Mac and found themselves in a dilemma of being a iPad-only person but wanting to use a Mac.
So they all shit on the iPad for over a year to justify them using Macs again and abandoning the iPad, instead of, you know, just recognizing both products as great and sometimes preference comes into play.
This return to using the iPad lot more again, for Viticci he’s back to full on iPad-only, feels gross. No mention of the issues they had before and Mike even off-hand mentioned the M-series Macs caused him to go crazy for Mac’s again.
But the yearlong shitting on iPad and iPadOS is no longer an issue. I guess only when a new OLED display is introduced because apparently that solves everything.
Castro Surprise
Castro Pumpkin App
I was looking at my App Library and in the corner of my eye saw a cute app icon that I never noticed before. A pumpkin appeared, and was curious what app that was?
It was Castro! An app I have been a little frustrated with, causing me to move back to Overcast, but this app icon change was a special surprise I didn’t expect.
I have no plan to move back to Castro, but I’m happy it is getting some well needed love.
Another Temptation
Kindle Colorsoft
Amazon finally announced a color version of the Kindle and it looks fantastic. The price isn’t great at $279, but with the deal they are offering for trading in my current Kindle, it will only cost around $200 which is the same price as the Paperwhite signature edition.
I have been contemplating upgrading my Kindle. The small size and higher resolution is great, and the USB-C but because the battery is so great I hardly use it, but some little quirks have bothered me for a while.
1. The backlight is uneven and is bothersome in low light, or no light.
2. No Auto-brightness so changing it all the time manually is annoying, especially on e-ink.
3. It also lacks the warming feature so the screen is always white, or blue.
4. It just feels cheap. There are times where I feel like it is nice that it is just plastic because it is so light, but sometimes it just feels really low quality and scratches very easily.The Kobo Libra Color is really nice looking and have been considering jumping to that, but because of my huge Kindle library it is difficult for me to jump ship. So Amazon now announcing a new premium Kindle with color is very tempting.
The one thing I really wish Amazon would bring back to their Kindles are physical buttons. It isn’t a deal breaker, but if this new Colorsoft model had buttons it would literally be perfect. For now, I’m going to be hovering over the pre-order button as I reflect on my last post of asking how much… is too much?
How much is too much?
I struggle with this question a lot. I want every gadget that Apple sells. I’d like to go on a vacation every couple months. I’d also like to have a savings account with tens of thousands of dollars but also have a full funded IRA and no debt.
Screen Time for 10/6 - 10/12
When it comes to using my iPhone, like I stated in my last post, I feel I use it too much. Over the past week my screen time usage average is over 7 hours. (It is up 155% because I forgot to turn it on when I got my iPhone 15 Pro Max so this was the first full week with it on)
An average of 7 hours a day is probably too much, so is wanting an iPad Pro, a MacBook Pro, a MacBook Air, a Mac Mini, Beats Studio Pros, AirPods Pro, a Vision Pro, etc. I love technology I love gadgets, not just Apple products either, I also want a OLED switch and a pair of Meta Sunglasses.
I am rereading Ryan Holidays book about the stoic value temperance, Discipline is Destiny, which is a good book and reminder of what it means to have moderation and to temper your desires. I have also been a follower of minimalism for many years that has been engrained in my mind to never want too many things that provide the same benefit.
Having an iPad Pro and a MacBook Air is something I strongly want, but also conflict with it being extremely wasteful and excessive. Many people do it and I am not shitting on anyone else’s choices, this is just me and how I feel about buying things for myself.
So when does it feel like too much? I’m not entirely sure, but I’m realizing that my bigger struggle is identifying what I truly want. I have a hectic life right now, so every opportunity to get something or try a new path seems great and I should go for it.
Having a MacBook Air provides the opportunity for me to code more, but I have yet to do any coding. I want to write more, and the Mac is great for that, but an iPad feels like more of the platform I prefer for writing. I also don’t need a Pro if I want an iPad, but I also like ProMotion and very beautiful displays.
My mind is in a constant loop of wants versus needs and I am starting to realize that I want too much. I need to much, and I find myself consuming too much of the things that I don’t truly care about—like my iPhone usage.
I don’t need every Apple product. I need to reestablish what my goals are for the tech that I want and need and go from there. My life is a whirlwind and it’s better for me to address what it is I’m striving for before I keep buying things thinking it is going to solve all my problems.