Linked List: August 20, 2020

Thursday, 20 August 2020

The Talk Show: ‘Not the Batman We Want or Need’ 

Rene Ritchie returns to the show. Topics include Phil Schiller advancing to Apple Fellow, Microsoft’s simmering spat with Apple over Xbox Game Pass and the App Store’s ban on game streaming services, and Epic’s sizzling spat with Apple over, well, the entire concept of iOS as we know it.

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70 Top Republican National Security Officials Denounce Trump as Unfit, Announce Support for Biden 

A statement by 70 former Republican national security officials:

We are former national security officials who served during the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and/or Donald Trump, or as Republican Members of Congress. We are profoundly concerned about the course of our nation under the leadership of Donald Trump. Through his actions and his rhetoric, Trump has demonstrated that he lacks the character and competence to lead this nation and has engaged in corrupt behavior that renders him unfit to serve as President.

For the following reasons, we have concluded that Donald Trump has failed our country and that Vice President Joe Biden should be elected the next President of the United States.

You love to see it.

Bipartisan Republican-Led Senate Intel Report Details Trump Campaign Contacts With Russia in 2016, Adding to Mueller Findings 

CNN:

Among the key findings:

  • That then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort was working with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian intelligence officer, and sought to share internal campaign information with Kilimnik. The committee says it obtained “some information suggesting Kilimnik may have been connected” to Russia’s 2016 hacking operation and concludes Manafort’s role on the campaign “represented a grave counterintelligence threat.”

  • That Trump and senior campaign officials sought to obtain advance information on WikiLeaks’ email dumps through Roger Stone, and that Trump spoke to Stone about WikiLeaks, despite telling the special counsel in written answers he had “no recollections” that they had spoken about it.

  • That information offered at the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting “was part of a broader influence operation” from the Russian government, though there’s no evidence Trump campaign members knew of it. Two of the Russians who met with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Manafort had “significant connections” to the Russian government, including Russian intelligence, and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya’s ties were “far more extensive and concerning than what had been publicly known.”

You really do hate to see it.

Trump Must Turn Over Tax Returns to D.A., Judge Rules 

Benjamin Weiser and William K. Rashbaum, reporting for The New York Times:

A federal judge on Thursday rejected President Trump’s latest effort to block the Manhattan district attorney from obtaining his tax returns, roundly dismissing Mr. Trump’s arguments that the prosecutor’s grand jury subpoena was “wildly overbroad” and issued in bad faith.

The ruling by Judge Victor Marrero of Federal District Court in Manhattan marked another setback for the president in his yearlong fight to block the subpoena.

You hate to see it.

Former Trump Advisor Steve Bannon Arrested on Charges of Defrauding Donors in Fundraising Scheme 

CNBC:

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was arrested Thursday after being charged with defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors through his “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign.

Bannon and three associates were indicted in a federal investigation in the Southern District of New York. Prosecutors allege the four defrauded donors by raising “more than $25 million to build a wall along the southern border of the United States,” but some of that money was used for personal gain.

The United States Postal Inspection Service assisted in the investigation.

You hate to see it.

The Beats Do Not Go On 

Apple Newsroom:

Beginning today, Beats 1, the flagship global radio station, will be renamed Apple Music 1, and two additional radio stations will launch: Apple Music Hits, celebrating everyone’s favorite songs from the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s, and Apple Music Country, spotlighting country music.

Unless I’m missing something, “Beats” is now gone from all of Apple Music. What remains of the Beats brand is only the headphone business, which I expect will fade away in the next few years as the AirPods brand expands.

HBO Whatnow 

Penny Arcade on HBO Max vs. HBO Go vs. HBO Now vs. Why the Hell Isn’t It Just Called “HBO” You Dumbasses You Already Own the World’s Greatest Brand Representing Premium Subscription Video Content.