No Tears In My Kingdom

Another attempt at an FCC that can do... something

The FCC board has been at a 2-2 partisan standstill since Biden took office. You may remember Ajit Pai, the literal horses ass of a human who was appointed to the FCC under Trump and slashed net neutrality laws. Well, he fucked right off after all that and the FCC has been sitting around unable to move forward with significant policy that could, y'know, help people. But maaaaaayyyyybbbeeeeee that'll change now that Biden plans to select another candidate to join the board.

Unfortunately, the candidate has to be approved by the Senate, and the previous candidate bowed out after significant pushback from Republicans in the Senate. This one might go differently. Maybe. Possibly.

DeSantis is a fascist and does not deserve peace in his life

Florida haterade connoisseur Ron DeSantis signed a flurry of anti-LGBT bills in yet another showing of how he has no intention to be an actual leader and instead hopes to just keep tossing red meat to bigots in order to secure power.

Stay frosty here: a lot of dolts are going to be talking about this as if its "for the children." The brain dead take is that "children shouldn't be having sex changes" or "children shouldn't be given drugs to transition" or whatever. Nevermind that that's not what is happening at large, but also: these laws go far beyond just "protecting" children from gender affirming care. It also specifically reins in trans adults ability to receive care from medical professionals. Going further, it requires written submissions from hospitals and medical centers asserting that they do not provide gender affirming care for children, lest they face punishment from the state.

Doctors can be charged with felonies for following the current leading medical recommendations based on actual studies and professional understanding. The state can take children away from parents for even "threatening them" with gender affirming care, which can be as mundane as talking to a social worker.

DeSantis and his ilk are creating political refugees out of our own countrymen in our own borders. People have to create resources like maps showing where it is safe to simply exist as a trans person, and where it is too dangerous to live as one.

And now, rumor is that DeSantis will be officially launching his presidential campaign as soon as next week.

Trans rights are human rights. Zero further qualifiers.

Ahem

… taking a quick breather after that one.

What's next? Oh, OH. Nice.

Nintendo has sold 10 million copies of Tears of the Kingdom in three days

10 million copies. Three days. A game on six-year-old hardware, capped at 30 frames per second, using (mostly) the same map as the previous game, and with virtually no information about the gameplay until like a month before release.

Fuck what you heard. ULTRAHAND is the only way to make a good game.

For real though, some perspective:

• Breath of the Wild sold 30 million copies over six years
• Red Dead Redemption 2, a cross platform game and record-setting launch, sold 17 million copies in its first quarter
• Neither of these games have ULTRAHAND

The logic is sound. The numbers don't lie. It's pretty freakin' wild, and the game is Very Good.

Montana signs TikTok ban into law, is already being sued by TikTokkers

I talked about the ban bill a few weeks back, but now it has been Actually Signed by the governor of Montana. The bill bans the operation and distribution of TikTok in the state of Montana and yes, that is actual nonsense.

Notably, the law does not go into effect for several months, which is likely intentional since its an obviously unconstitutional law that will almost surely be struck down in courts. GOTTA score that meaningless political victory by banning the Big Bad China App and then making a stink when the ban doesn't stick.

Anyway, a group of TikTokkers are already suing the state of Montana, and the ACLU is gonna be on this one pretty much immediately as well. I'm not particularly concerned that we're going to suddenly stop seeing Hank Green on the clock app.

Here's the weather

More Stuff

• Disney cancels a billion dollar Florida development seemingly in response to DeSantis
• Sony has released an accessibility-focused controller kit for the PS5, similar to the one available for Xbox
• Marjorie Taylor Greene has announced articles of impeachment for Biden which wont go anywhere
• FedEx pilots have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike (if need be) during negotiations for better pay
• The Supreme Court opted to not re-evaluate the needlessly controversial "Section 230"
• Having not paid rent for offices in months, Elon Musk has stated he will pay rent "over his dead body" citing that "SF is a shithole" as his reasoning