DL Open Thread Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Banana republic isn’t just a clothing store anymore. First the Supreme Court blew the layup about Texas’ attempt to seize control of the border from the federal government, refusing to put the Texas law on hold. Then, after all the reporters had gone home, the Fifth Circuit itself put it on hold. We’re actually living in the Marx Brothers’ Freedonia, where “the last man nearly ruined this place, he didn’t know what to do with it. If you think this country’s bad off now, just wait ’til I get through with it.”
Rufus T. Firefly, er, Donald Trump won a bunch of Republican primaries yesterday, but even without anyone running against him, almost 20% of voters went for other candidates, none of whom are officially running.
Trump’s money troubles must be even worse than it appears, because he’s now suing ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for calling him a rapist. His case probably rests on the fact that he never got his diaper off.
There’s a whole population of Richie Riches who whine that offshore wind turbines will lower the value of their beachfront properties, which are inflated at taxpayer expense in the first place. But guess what? A new study found that barely affect property values at all. The study found about a 1% drop in value, and that it dissipates after a few years. Since 2017 proximity has had no effect at all. Now let’s force them to pay market rates for their flood insurance instead of letting them freeload off the federal government.
Do you appreciate the way Uber jacks up prices whenever demand for the service goes up? I bet you don’t. Bad news – so-called “dynamic pricing” is spreading. Amazon, for example, “adjusts” prices on millions of items every day. But when Wendy’s announced it would adopt the practice, the company faced a swift backlash, which isn’t expected to slow the trend.
The floor’s yours. Hail, hail Freedonia!
