Is Apple Helping the CCP Stifle Dissent?
Maybe something will come of the COVID lockdown protests in China. Maybe not, if you’re old enough to remember the guy who stood in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square, and who was never identified nor ever seen again. More likely, the Chinese Communist Party will crack down again, and the people of China will become compliant again.
And the West will turn a blind eye. Again.
Here’s what was in the latest iPhone update, according to Zachary M. Seward of Quartz:
Hidden in the update was a change that only applies to iPhones sold in mainland China: AirDrop can only be set to receive messages from everyone for 10 minutes, before switching off. There’s no longer a way to keep the “everyone” setting on permanently on Chinese iPhones. The change, first noticed by Chinese readers of 9to5Mac, doesn’t apply anywhere else.
In other words, Chinese iPhone users can’t do or say anything without the CCP knowing about it. Dissent can be quashed before it even starts. The Chinese people can be kept under the CCP’s thumb. And Apple is helping.
Meanwhile:
Here’s a theory: They’re not the good guys anymore, if they ever were. They hate free speech, anywhere it threatens to flourish.
How many grandchildren does Joe Biden have? He wouldn’t tell you the real number even if he still remembered it:
Imagine if this was a grandchild of Trump, or any other Republican. It’s good to be a Democrat.
Speaking of which, remember this weirdo?
And remember how you weren’t supposed to say anything about this nutjob, because he’s a nonbinary whatchamacallit? You wouldn’t want somebody to call you a transphobe, would you?
That was back in June. Now this guy is out there doing crimes. And really weird ones, too:
My first thought was that maybe Brinton just picked up the wrong bag. Because obviously, this fellow has a tough time distinguishing between one thing and another. But no, he didn’t even check a bag on that flight. He had no reason to be in the baggage claim area at all. He just straight-up stole that lady’s suitcase.
My friend Kate makes sense of it all, as she tends to do:
Which is funny, but it also makes you wonder. Considering how casually Brinton stole somebody else’s clothes, was it the first time he’s done this? And how many more crimes will be get caught committing, before the left stops insisting on referring to him as “they”?
I don’t claim to know as much as Mr. Brinton about nuclear waste and how should be disposed, but I do know you’re not supposed to steal people’s luggage. Fortunately for him, he’s not a Republican so he’ll probably get away with it.
And here’s yet another politically inconvenient crime:
A few weeks ago, Almaguer reported this:
Then NBC News pulled the report from the internet and suspended Almaguer, both without explanation. We still don’t know how David DePape got into the house, which was under remote surveillance by the Capitol Police. We don’t know why a local San Francisco reporter initially claimed DePape was in his underwear. And we don’t know why the police said there was a third person in the house. All we know is that the midterms are now over, so any such questions are considered “conspiracy theories.”
Normally I’m ambivalent about journos losing their jobs, because most of them are liars. But Almaguer is in trouble for telling the truth. That’s just wrong.
Clarence Gilyard Jr., R.I.P. He was 66.
You might not have known his name, but you knew his voice:
Theo was the only bad guy in that movie who didn’t die. Argyle knocked his ass out, but that was it. They just couldn’t do it to him.
Tuesday again. Yuck. Tuesday is the worst day of the week and it’s not even close. Enough with the Tuesdays already.
A lot of people remember him as Ranger Jimmy Trivette.
I've been an Apple user since high school (side note: I graduated in 1985. So, an Apple user since the Apple IIe) I worked for Apple for about seven years in their technical department, as an instructor. Yes, I have a mac and yes I have only used the iPhone since the first one. There, got my bonafides out of the way.
That said, are they evil? Sure the F**k are, no denying it. I knew they were on the wrong side when in 2020 they took the Parler app out of the App Store. So, this is no shocker. Do I think they take the Twitter app out? No, I don't think they will because I am certain they will get sued and probably lose. But, I'm a bike riding duck not a bike riding duck/lawyer so what do I possibly know.
My only thing is this: where else am I gonna go? Android? They're just as bad, and we all know it. Am I gonna get a Dell and start doing things on the PC? What, with Windows? The company founded by Epstien adjacent psuedo-nonce Bill Gates? OK. When a compnay gets big enough, it's just a fact that have to get in the pot with all the other pieces of shit and swim in the shit stew known as "The Elite." it's how it is. I have on illusion in that regard.
Will Elon make a phone and try to compete? Sure, maybe, I don't know. Will I buy I it? I dunno, maybe. Hard to tell.
Here is what I wish we had, and what would really help in times like this: An actual journalism class that wanted the truth to get out, and weren't shills for Their Tribe. Would be nice if we had that. Would. Be. Nice.