Joe Biden’s last act as president was to issue preemptive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, Liz Cheney and everyone on the January 6th committee. [NYT]
TikTok made a point of restoring service in America and thanking Donald Trump, which tells you all you need to know about TikTok. [Just Jared]
Julia Fox’s haircut: love it or hate it? [Go Fug Yourself]
Cameron Diaz & Jamie Foxx are still on the promotional trail. [Socialite Life]
Should Wendy Williams be freed from her conservatorship? [LaineyGossip]
A Different Man is now on HBO/Max. [Pajiba]
Keke Palmer, SZA & Issa Rae? I’m there! [OMG Blog]
Women were especially well-dressed last week. [RCFA]
People are always surprised by this, but Christopher Walken has been around forever and he’s always been really well-connected. [Seriously OMG]
Southern Charm star takes in Californians. [Starcasm]
David Lynch would have turned 79 years old today. [Hollywood Life]
I’m not sure how I feel about the preemptive pardons. I’m mad that they’re even needed more than anything.
This is going to be a long week (and a long four years).
Thank you, Joe Biden! You did the right thing! The Supreme Court has basically said an American president is a king. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Yes, I’m not a fan of pardoning people just in case. It sets a bad precedent for the future – a big deterrent against crime is the threat of punishment.
Trump already pardoned his toadies in his first administration. Real criminals like Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Charles Kushner. Trump has no shame. I’m fine with Biden protecting righteous people, when Trump is threatening to take revenge on them.
Bad precedents been done set.
@Hillaryisalwaysright – they were already convicted. Pardoning people before they’ve even been charged with anything gives Trump the power to conduct even more criminal activities.
The risk of getting caught is a deterrent; the threat of punishment absolutely isn’t. If that was the case, states that allow capital punishment would have very low crime rates compared to those who don’t, and the US in general would have a lower crime rate compared to Canada and European countries, it isn’t the case.
When you know that the next POTUS wants to act like a dictator and has promised to use all his powers to make the life of those he deems his enemies hell, it’s your duty to protect those civil servants as best as you can. The bad precedent was Trump’s 2016 election
Ford pardoned Nixon who was never charged. So the precedent was set.
A convicted felon has been elected President! That’s the bad precedent! Biden is helping protect the righteous; at least in theory, since trump said he could just declassify Top Secret documents by thinking it, he could probably ‘de-pardon’ people the same way. 🤷♀️
Leonard Peltier was granted clemency. Thank you Joe Biden!
I think the preemptive pardons reflect the fact that we can no longer count on the protections of our laws and institutions. That, of course, has always been true for some of us.
Excellent!
I will miss the grace, class, and service the Bidens brought to government. I completely agree with his preemptive pardons, but I’d’ve also included the Vindman brothers. Eugene, in particular, put himself in the line of fire for the first impeachment trial, and he shouldn’t be left swinging in the wind. You *know* Felon 47 and his Criminal Cabal Cabinet have lonnnnng lists of people they want to take aim at.
#ThankYouForYourServiceBidens
Yes, and I’m rather surprised that Jack Smith did not make the list.
Jan90067, the Vindman brothers may have refused a preemptive pardon.
Rachel Vindman was on Blue Sky saying they hadn’t been offered one, and she was afraid for her family.
Mayp, I agree about Jack Smith. I’d also add Marc Elias, as well. Unless they are two we aren’t be told of right now…?
Doesn’t the pardon include witnesses? I thought it did.
Yes, I’m upset the Vindmans weren’t helped
I de-activated and deleted my TikTok account the day before. Partially because I knew if it came back it would be under Trump and the oligarchs control; and partially for my mental health and wallet. I also deleted Instagram because I was rarely on it and screw Zuckerberg. I deleted Twitter when Elon bought it and left Facebook ages ago.
I’m hanging out on RedNote now mainly for the amazing lifestyle content.
That said, I still feel a little lost like I don’t know what to do with myself. But I think that will be a good thing in the long run as I will probably form healthier habits that don’t involve doomscrolling.
I never heard of RedNote.. I’m gonna check it out now
@Snuffles, inspiring! I’m going to do the same. These companies do not deserve, nor should they own my headspace. I’m going back to books and movies. And, thank you for the RedNote hint.
Please — anyone considering switching to RedNote, don’t.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation and several security experts here in Europe are warning against installing it.
RedNote is subject to Chinese data laws, which may grant government authorities (yes, even in the US) access to user data without any kind of privacy protections, and it collects *even more data* than TikTok.
My data has been leaked so many times I’ve lost track. And that was before I was on ANY social media. They are ALL stealing our data.
I heard Red Note is named after Mao Zedong’s Little Red Book, not sure if that is true.
It’s amazing to me that society has become so dependent on the social media high that they voluntarily consume propaganda.
Going to Red note is 100x worse than TikTok.
Isn’t rednote owned by the same people who own TikTok?
No, I think you are referring to Douyin. Not the same.
BlueSky and Substack have a lot of the old journalists from the golden age of Twitter before it became a cesspool of hate. I have been following a lot of my old favorite there, they are relatively “safe.”
Looking at the stage and have a sudden urge to re-watch Designated Survivor.
Funnily enough, I’ve been saying that to my sister… my only regrets would be the Ds there. Too bad it couldn’t be selective, y’know, like the old missiles in the Road Runner/Coyote cartoons?
I wish the outgoing President Biden and VP Harris all the best. Thank you both. . 💙💙
Oh, I was hoping Biden would do that. I wonder if one of Trump’s 1000 1st day executive orders will be pardoning all the Jan 6 criminals. Sigh…
Thanks for the WARNING for RedNote. In the middle of social media transitioning. I left X when Elon bought it. Moved to Threads and then decided to avoid anything META. Trying to muster up the strength to leave rarely used FB and Instagram for my entertainment updates. Love BlueSky for politics. Highly recommend.
There is a world to which I belong that Joe Biden misses worldwide. The other world, that of Maga and all the right-wing radicals who want to catapult the whole world back to the 1930s, is not my world. Women’s rights, rights of women of colour, children’s rights, minority rights, labour rights, tolerance, diversity, freedom of expression, complete outlawing of racism, sexism, hate speech, lies, misogyny are part of my world and I will do everything I can to ensure that this world is preserved and that the borders to Maga are firmly closed and defended. I no longer want to understand these people. They define understanding as weakness, they have to stay out of my world.
Mark Zuckerberg sold Facebook users data to both Russia and China. During 2016, through Cambridge Analytica, Facebook actively assisted Russia in interfering with our election to help elect DJT.
Zuckerberg sat before congressional hearings multiple times to answer for the multiple deaths of children due to bullying on his app, but META has NEVER received even so much as a slap on the wrist.
When a user accepts the terms and conditions of Facebook and Instagram they release their data to be used however Zuckerberg wants. Your data, your family photos, your words, all are the property of Mark Zuckerberg. User data from Meta is being used to train Meta AI.
Any US social media consumer believing they are being protected by our oligarchs is delusional.
Trump is also allowing TikTok to stay in the US. So expect, TikTok to be kissing the dictator’s ass and giving him and his oligarch cronies whatever they want — curbing free speech and accessing your info. But HEY! China, right??!!!
You guys are making me feel grateful that I’ve resisted the urge to follow the crowd and join any social media all these years.
Sobbing with joy because President Biden commented the sentence of Leonard Peltier!
So good. 😭
I’ve moved to Bluesky for a Twitter substitute and most of my faves are there.
I’ve moved to Pixelfed for an Instagram substitute. It’s pretty new but I like it.
look at who is behind bluesky, they’re no better.
Try spoutible. Yes it is small, but Bouzy can build it bigger if more people join.
Bouzy is a racist misogynistic jerkward. His attack on Courtney Milan was unimaginably abusive. He and his site can kick rocks.
Who do you think is behind Bluesky? Jack Dorsey? Dorsey was involved for about 5 minutes but he quit because Bluesky’s basic philosphy was “too liberal” for him.
Allison Gill of Mueller She Wrote (MSW Media) is looking to create something, as well. I listen to the Daily Beans & Cleanup on Aisle 45 (and now 47, I guess) regularly.