Linked List: October 21, 2020

Wednesday, 21 October 2020

‘Biden Will Make America Lead Again’ 

William McRaven, in an op-ed for that left-wing rag The Wall Street Journal:

This week I went to the polls in Texas. Truth be told, I am a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, small-government, strong-defense and a national-anthem-standing conservative. But, I also believe that black lives matter, that the Dreamers deserve a path to citizenship, that diversity and inclusion are essential to our national success, that education is the great equalizer, that climate change is real and that the First Amendment is the cornerstone of our democracy. Most important, I believe that America must lead in the world with courage, conviction and a sense of honor and humility.

If we remain indifferent to our role in the world, if we retreat from our obligation to our citizens and our allies and if we fail to choose the right leader, then we will pay the highest price for our neglect and shortsightedness.

I voted for Joe Biden.

McRaven was a Navy admiral and commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command from 2011-14. This is a good op-ed to pass to fence-sitting friends and family.

Trump’s Closing Pitch: Biden Will ‘Listen to the Scientists’ if Elected 

Aris Folley, reporting for The Hill:

Trump told attendees in Carson City that supporters of his opponent would surrender their “future to the virus,” saying: “He’s gonna want to lockdown.”

“He’ll listen to the scientists,” Trump added in a mocking tone before saying, “If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression instead — we’re like a rocket ship. Take a look at the numbers.”

One of the things about Trump is that the outrageous stuff he says is a mix of mostly outright nonsense and bullshit but then also a wee bit of straight truth. “Biden will listen to the scientists” is one of the latter.

Take it from Donald Trump: Joe Biden will listen to scientists and experts.

Quibi Was Scabi 

There’s a lot that was obviously wrong and dumb about Quibi. One thing I didn’t know until today is that a lot of its dumb-seeming gimmicks were just attempts to circumvent Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild rules so they could cheat writers and actors out of money. Outright shitbaggery from a company that raised $1.8 billion.

Quibi Goes Under 

This is easily the most-predictable yet still newsworthy entertainment industry news in recent memory.

Kevin Clark has the best take:

I’m not gonna tell the Quibi people how to do their jobs but if you wanted to raise $1.8 billion to invest in something destined to fail you should’ve just bought the Jets.

Airbnb Hires Jony Ive for Design Consulting 

Zoë Bernard and Cory Weinberg, reporting for The Information:

Airbnb has hired famed former Apple designer Jony Ive as a creative consultant ahead of its initial public offering, CEO Brian Chesky said Wednesday. The hire is the most significant in a series of moves that has shaken up Airbnb’s creative team, a key department in a company known for its emphasis on branding.

The company told employees Wednesday that longtime chief design officer Alex Schleifer would leave his executive position, moving to a part-time role. Chesky described Ive’s appointment as “a multi-year relationship to design the next generation of Airbnb products and services.” The company will still seek a permanent replacement for Schleifer.

I just wondered yesterday what Ive was up to. Airbnb (of all places!) has a really strong contingent of talented ex-Apple folks. There’s a sort of “putting the band back together” thing going on there.