Three-hundred off on this puppy!
At Amazon, Sony 65 Inch 4K Ultra HD TV X80K Series: LED Smart Google TV with Dolby Vision HDR KD65X80K- 2022 Model.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! And thank you for shopping through my Amazon links.
Thursday, November 24, 2022
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Corporate Consolidation in Publishing Industry Downshifts After Penguin's Bid to Acquire Simon & Schuster Collapses
Even Stephen King was against the merger, which was very likely to hurt the little people in the publishing world, those who don't have the enormous influence and market share as The Shining author.
At the New York Times, "A Huge Merger’s Collapse Breaks a Pattern of Consolidation in Publishing":
The deal to acquire Simon & Schuster would have made the buyer, Penguin Random House, even larger, and reduced the number of big publishers in the U.S. to four.After two years of regulatory scrutiny and heated speculation in the publishing world, after a hard-fought court battle and hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses, Penguin Random House’s deal to buy Simon & Schuster officially collapsed on Monday.
The unraveling of this agreement stopped the largest publisher in the United States from growing substantially larger. It also paused consolidation in an industry that has been profoundly reshaped by mergers and acquisitions, with little regulatory intervention.
The implosion of the deal came three weeks after a federal judge ruled against Penguin Random House in an antitrust trial, blocking the sale from going forward on the grounds that the merger would be bad for competition and harmful to authors. In order to appeal the Oct. 31 ruling, Penguin Random House needed Paramount Global, Simon & Schuster’s parent company, to extend the purchase agreement, which expires on Tuesday. Instead, Paramount decided to terminate the deal, leaving Penguin Random House out of legal options and obligated to pay them a termination fee of $200 million.
“Penguin Random House remains convinced that it is the best home for Simon & Schuster’s employees and authors,” Penguin Random House said in a statement. “We believe the judge’s ruling is wrong and planned to appeal the decision, confident we could make a compelling and persuasive argument to reverse the lower court ruling on appeal. However, we have to accept Paramount’s decision not to move forward.” The outcome of the trial came as a shock to many in publishing, who have watched the number of big firms dwindle to five, even as those five — Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Hachette and Simon & Schuster — got larger by buying small and midsize publishing houses. Many feared that the further reduction in the number of big publishing houses to four would leave authors and literary agents with fewer buyers for their books, and would make it even harder for smaller publishers to compete. Many were especially wary of Penguin Random House — already by far the largest publisher in the United States — getting even bigger by absorbing a rival. Penguin Random House has about 100 imprints; together they publish more than 2,000 titles a year. The merger would have given it Simon & Schuster’s approximately 50 imprints, as well as the company’s vast and valuable backlist of older titles.
As it turned out, the Justice Department and the judge who heard the case had similar concerns and blocked the deal, an outcome that some authors and industry organizations celebrated as a necessary check on consolidation.
“The market is already too consolidated,” said Mary Rasenberger, chief executive of the Authors Guild, an advocacy group for writers that opposed the purchase. “A healthy publishing ecosystem is one that has many publishers with different tastes and interests and degrees of risk they’re willing to assume.”
This extends a period of uncertainty at Simon & Schuster, but it is one they are in a good position to navigate. The company’s recent performance has been strong, even as the results have sagged at other major publishers. Its profits for the first nine months of the year were up 29 percent compared to the same time last year, putting it on its way to a having a record-breaking year...
Lots to Be Thankful for This Thanksgiving (VIDEO)
It's Laura Ingraham, still the best opinion commentator on Fox:
Colorado Club Shooting Suspect is Non-Binary
Well, that fucked up the left's "right-wing hate" narrative, the motherfuckers. This was an LBGTQIA+ nightclub, and the smears were just too irresistible for the vile, demonic left.
At Twitchy, "Stephanie Ruhle didn’t let new info about Club Q shooter disrupt her narrative about ‘the far Right’."
Also, "Watch Alisyn Camerota’s brain break as she reports that CO shooter is ‘non-binary’."
Main story at the New York Post, "Colorado Springs shooting suspect Anderson Aldrich is nonbinary: lawyers."
Are Store Shortages and Empty Shelves On Purpose?
At Issues & Insights, "As Shortages Persist Under Biden, It’s Time To Ask: Is This On Purpose?"
Did the United States suddenly become a socialist basket case? It’s hard not to come to that conclusion after reading about the endless shortages plaguing the nation. Each of which President Joe Biden either seems clueless to resolve or determined to make worse. Let’s start with the biggest one: the shortage of diesel fuel. While Biden was busy draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to tamp down gas prices before the midterm elections, the real worry was that supplies of diesel fuel have been running short. Two years after the short-lived COVID lockdowns ended, diesel inventories continued to trend downward to their lowest levels since 2008. The cost for a gallon of diesel fuel is 46% higher than it was a year ago, according to AAA, and now costs more than $5 a gallon. That affects every corner of the economy because, while passenger cars mostly use regular gasoline, diesel powers just about everything else that makes the economy move, and many homes, especially in the northeast, rely on heating oil – a related product – to keep their families from freezing to death...
RTWT.
Monday, November 21, 2022
Karine Jean-Pierre Flails and Sputters (VIDEO)
At Pajamas, "Asked About Joe Biden’s Involvement In Hunter’s Shady Dealing, Karine Jean-Pierre Flails and Sputters."
Click the link to watch -- she really sputters!
As Biden Turns 80, Some Democrats See Age as Issue for Potential 2024 Bid
I can see where there might be a problem. *Eye-roll.*
At the Wall Street Journal, "The president has called himself a bridge to a new generation, but some in his party say it is time to step aside."
EGO Power+ Lithium-Ion Cordless Snow Blower
For the folks back in Buffalo, EGO Power+ SNT2112 21-Inch 56-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless Snow Blower with Steel Auger - (2) 5.0Ah Batteries and Dual Port Charger Included.
And if you're not for the enviro-friendly blower, this one's for you: PowerSmart Snow Blower 24 Inch 2-Stage 212cc Engine Gas Powered, Self Propelled Snowblower with Electric Start.
Sunday, November 20, 2022
Gail Heriot and Maimon Schwarzchild, eds., How Race Preferences Damage Higher Education
At Amazon, Gail Heriot and Maimon Schwarzchild, eds., A Dubious Expediency: How Race Preferences Damage Higher Education.
How Caroline Ellison Found Herself at the Center of the FTX Crypto Collapse
A strange woman. Very strange.
Alameda was at the center of Sam Bankman-Fried’s collapsing FTX empire. Caroline Ellison was at the center of Alameda. https://t.co/sRk7CWWjm4
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) November 20, 2022
Beautiful Random Woman
Found on Instagram (at some generic "portrait" page, which *which doesn't* give photo credit to the models.
Saturday, November 19, 2022
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