Verizon Sells Tumblr for Undisclosed (But Almost Certainly Rather Small) Price

Posted on | August 13, 2019 | 1 Comment

Somebody just bought the world’s worst web site:

Verizon Communications Inc. agreed to sell the blogging platform Tumblr to Automattic Inc., the latest sign the wireless giant is dismantling its online empire.
Terms of the transaction weren’t material, Verizon said, suggesting Tumblr sold for a tiny fraction of the $1.1 billion it fetched in 2013. Verizon acquired the site as part of its 2017 purchase of Yahoo.
Automattic already owns a group of publishing sites, including WordPress and Longreads, and sees Tumblr as a good fit. The Wall Street Journal previously reported on the sale, saying that Automattic would take on about 200 staffers.
For Verizon, the sale marks a further retrenchment. It has been cutting staff at its online-media division, which was previously called Oath. . . .
Verizon had originally set out to turn a patchwork of dot-com brands into a thriving online-advertising business, but the strategy never caught fire. And the carrier’s new CEO is refocusing on what the company does best: wireless service.
Last year, it wrote down the online business by $4.6 billion. That erased almost half the value of the entity, which is also home to AOL and the Huffington Post.

Five years ago, after I began writing about radical feminism, I quickly became aware of the phenomenon of SJW Tumblrinas — mentally ill young women who use Tumblr to espouse feminism, “social justice” ideology and (almost invariably) some kind of LGBTQ sexuality.

By the way, when I describe Tumbrlinas as “mentally ill,” this is not a casual insult but rather a statement of fact. Over and over, you would encounter self-described “queer” feminists on Tumblr who would state in their profile or on their “about” page that they were afflicted with some kind of psychiatric disorder — depression, anxiety, anorexia, borderline personality disorder, PTSD, etc. — and often a combination of several such mental illnesses. One could be forgiven for thinking that perhaps our nation’s mental-health institutions were now full of inmates busily updating their Tumblr blogs. Why was Tumblr this way? When I asked around, the answer I got was, “It’s too easy.”

That is to say, Tumblr is so “user-friendly” as to require almost no skill or intelligence to produce a blog, because the “reblog” function allows users to just fill up their page with content produced by other users. If you’re a depressed teenage girl who doesn’t know anything about HTML (or spelling or grammar or punctuation), and are too lazy even to use CTRL+C and CTRL+V to cut-and-paste stuff, Tumblr was the ideal platform for you to produce a blog, and the site also has a social-media function, since interaction with like-minded users was intrinsic to the platform’s operation. About two-thirds of Tumblr users were reportedly female, and the demographic skewed very young — the typical Tumblr user was in her teens or early 20s — which was why it was considered a “hot” online property in 2013, when Yahoo paid $1.1 billion for it.

Three years later, however, Yahoo was forced to declare that Tumblr was “effectively worthless” — a net drain on revenue, with no prospect of future profitability — and in 2017, Yahoo was sold to Verizon for less than 1/10th of what Microsoft had offered for Yahoo in 2008. Even then, however, Tumblr had yet to reach its nadir. In November 2018, Tumblr’s app was “removed from Apple’s App Store after child sexual abuse content had been found on the platform during a routine audit.” While hosting a lot of feminist SJW blogs, it turned out, Tumblr had also become a popular venue for pornography, including child pornography. Tumblr reacted by banning all “adult content” from the site, which caused thousands of users to quit the site, and there was even talk of Tumblr being sold to Pornhub to bring back the NSFW content. Now that Verizon has offloaded Tumblr for a price that’s probably just a bit more than nothing, we don’t what the future holds for this notorious online dumpster fire. It will probably get worse, and the 200 staffers at Tumblr would be well advised to start looking for new jobs.

(Hat-tip: @LeatherPenguin on Twitter.)

Category: Economics, Progressivism

MSNBC Guest: Democrats Must ‘Destroy’ White People Who Voted for Trump

Posted on | August 13, 2019 | Comments Off on MSNBC Guest: Democrats Must ‘Destroy’ White People Who Voted for Trump

Elie Mystal is a Harvard Law alumnus:

“You don’t communicate to them, you beat them. You beat them. They are not a majority of this country — the majority of white people in this country are not a majority of the country. All the people who are not fooled by this need to come together, go to the polls, go to the protests, do whatever you have to do. You do not negotiate with these people, you destroy them.”

This rhetoric — “the majority of white people in this country are not a majority of the country . . . destroy them” — contributes to the kind of paranoid “white genocide” fears that inspire mass murderers. It’s exactly what the El Paso shooter’s “manifesto” was talking about. For a graduate of Harvard Law School to be engaged in this kind of incendiary racial rhetoric on national TV tells you a lot about the agenda Democrats intend to pursue, if they succeed in defeating Trump next year.

(Hat-tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.)

Category: CNN

Chris Cuomo: ‘I’ll F–king Throw You Down These Stairs Like a F–king Punk’

Posted on | August 13, 2019 | Comments Off on Chris Cuomo: ‘I’ll F–king Throw You Down These Stairs Like a F–king Punk’

Gosh, he’s so sensitive:

In a YouTube video released on Monday by “independent media journalist” with the title “That’s the Point with Brandon,” CNN’s Prime Time host Chris Cuomo can be seen threatening to throw a reported “Trump supporter” down some stairs. The incident appeared to be designed to get a rise out of Cuomo, but the CNN host completely blew up at a minor slight.
All told, Cuomo used the “F-word” roughly 25 times.
Before the video started rolling, the unidentified man apparently called Cuomo by the name “Fredo.” The name was a stinging nickname stemming from the disgraced Fredo Corleone character in The Godfather film. Over the years, it’s been a favorite jab at him from people on the right. . . .
“But if you want to play then we’ll fucking play,” Cuomo angrily spat as things began to spiral. “Yeah, but you’re going to have a big f–king problem.” . . .

MAN 1: I don’t have a problem with you man.
CUOMO: You’re going to have a f–king problem.
MAN 1: What? What are you going to do about it?
CUOMO: I’ll f–ing ruin your s–t. I’ll f–king throw you down these stairs like a f–king punk.
MAN 1: Please do.
CUOMO: Why, so you can f–king sue?
MAN 1: You don’t want to do that. You don’t want to do that.
CUOMO: So you can f–king sue?
MAN 1: But why don’t you do that then?
CUOMO: Then take a f–king swing. You want to call me Fredo then take a f–king swing.

The reason “Fredo” annoys Chris Cuomo so much is that, just as the Mafia exercised corrupt power in The Godfather, the Democrat Party exercises corrupt power in New York and, while his brother Andrew succeeded his father Mario Cuomo as capo di tutti capi of the political racket in New York, Chris’s only consolation is a show on an obscure cable network with lower ratings than Spongebob Squarepants. So he’s very much like Fredo Corleone, sent to Vegas to work with Moe Green while Mike took care of the family’s main business.

A CNN spokesman said: “Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup. We completely support him.” And, yeah, if somebody had deliberately insulted me this way — called me “Jed Clampett,” for example, or made a joke about Deliverance — I might have been angry. But I wouldn’t have used the f-word 25 times, nor would I have done that kind of macho trip, threatening to throw a “f–king punk” down the stairs.

You have to learn to shrug off these things, especially if you’re someone in the public eye. To be involved in controversy — and the news business nowadays is very controversial — means that you have enemies, whether you want it that way or not. There are people who have tried to harm me and my family because of politics and I’ve never done anything more than was necessary to self-defense. No need to threaten people.

Category: CNN

In The Mailbox: 08.12.19

Posted on | August 12, 2019 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: “Ministry of Truth” Marches on College Campuses
EBL: What Are The Russians Up To In The High Arctic?
Twitchy: Looks Like Kamala Harris’ Bad Day Just Keeps Getting Worse
Louder With Crowder: Drag Queen Teaches Children To Twerk, also, Al Sharpton Heckled By Angry Baltimore Residents

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Friday Hot Chicks & Links – The Woke Edition, also, Basketball Boobs
American Greatness: Obama Is Wrong – We Don’t Lead The World In Mass Violence, also, The Strange Case Of “White Supremacy”
American Power: Orange County Stabbing Rampage, also, Our Poisoned Information System
American Thinker: A Health Care System That’s The Envy Of The World, also, Both Ohrs In Troubled Water
Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Tax Deductions Friday, also, Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Mexican Schoolchildren Subjected To Communist Indoctrination, also, Castrophile Leftist Candidates Win Primary In Argentina
BattleSwarm: More On Jeffrey Epstein’s “Suicide”, also, Democratic Presidential Clown Car Update
Camp of the Saints: Woodstock At Fifty – What Are We Fighting For?
CDR Salamander: The Bad Vacation Top Ten From ACLED, also, Fullbore Friday
Da Tech Guy: Suicide My ***, also, A Rusty Problem
Don Surber: Epstein Dies Of Arkancide, also, Democrats Choose Drag Queens Over A Saint
Dustbury: Nothing Seems To Help, also, Strange Search Engine Queries
First Street Journal: The Democrats Try To Divide On Race Again, also, Hold Them Accountable!
Fred On Everything: U.S. Supreme Over Asia In Mathematics!
The Geller Report: MSNBC – “I Want Pitchforks & Torches” Outside Trump Donor’s Home In Hamptons, also, Italy’s Salvini Tells Richard Gere To Take Stranded Migrants Home With Him
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, also, The Appearance Of…
Hollywood In Toto: Peanut Butter Falcon Is The Lovable Romp We Needed, also, Seven Huge Questions Remain After The Hunt‘s Demise
Joe For America: Chelsea Handler Calls For Military Coup To Overthrow Trump. Just One Problem…also, Ghislaine Maxwell Ready To Squeal To FBI About Rich & Powerful Epstein Pedo Clients?
JustOneMinute: I Predict This Will Turn Out To Be An Open-Carry Train Wreck
Legal Insurrection: People On Joaquin Castro’s Target List Are Getting Harassed, also, Fauxcahontas Wants To Use Tax Code To Strip Law-Abiding Citizens Of 2A Rights
The PanAm Post: The Real Scope Of The New U.S. Sanctions On Venezuela, also, Maduro’s New Ally In Evading Sanctions? Malta
Power Line: Psychologist Says Google Generated 2.6 Million Votes For Hillary, also, The Abyss Of Liberal Ignorance
Shark Tank: Rick Scott Wants Answers After Pedophile Epstein’s Death
Shot In The Dark: The Kobayashi Moron Test, also, Deja Vu All Over Again
The Political Hat: Firing Line Friday – Have We Learned Anything About Gun Control? also, UK’s National Health Service Moloch Worshippers Condemn Yet Another Imprisoned Toddler To Death
This Ain’t Hell: Valor Friday, also, Explosions In Russia
Victory Girls: Biden Gaffes But Blames Trump, also, Harris & Warren Lose Vox Over Ferguson Lies
Volokh Conspiracy: The Section 230 Temperature Is Rising, also, If You Oppose Punishing & Deporting Illegal Aliens, You Should Also Oppose Punishing Employers That Hire Them
Weasel Zippers: Police Escalate The Violence In Hong Kong, also, CNN’s Chris Cuomo Melts Down When Man Calls Him “Fredo”
Megan McArdle: How To Fight Mass Shootings – First, Let’s Define The Problem
Mark Steyn: An Intersectional Downton Abbey, also, The Knee Generation

Amazon Warehouse Deals

Category: Linkagery

What Happened to Patrick Crusius?

Posted on | August 12, 2019 | Comments Off on What Happened to Patrick Crusius?

Last week, I pointed out that:

The parents of El Paso mass murderer Patrick Crusius claimed he had been “raised in a family that taught love, kindness, respect, and tolerance — rejecting all forms of racism, prejudice, hatred, and violence.”
Crusius’s father John Bryan Crusius “is a licensed professional therapist . . . [who] described his therapeutic approach as holistic.”
Crusius’s parents divorced when he was 14.

So, what happened? Was the boy traumatized by his parents’ divorce? Did he consciously rebel against his parents? Or was he suffering from a mental disorder? Rod Dreher speculates that Crusius might be on the autism spectrum, and compares him to another mass murderer:

Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook killer, had been diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome (meaning he was a high-functioning autist), and other psychiatric problems. He refused to accept this diagnosis, as, apparently, did his mother. He did not take the medication he was prescribed, nor did he undergo the rigorous therapy he was told to undertake. He had no friends, and in the months before the shooting, became a recluse who lived on his computer.
Let me emphasize strongly: I am not in any way saying that all people on the spectrum are at risk of becoming mass killers!

A necessary caveat, I suppose. But as I wrote at The American Spectator:

How many adolescent losers, spending hour after hour playing videogames, are potential mass murderers? The experience of social isolation, immersed in digital fantasies of make-believe violence, is not conducive to a hopeful sense of the future. No politician can be blamed for the influences that have produced a generation of psychologically damaged youth. Thirty years ago, Revenge of the Nerds was a Hollywood comedy. Now the nerds have become a terrorist threat, and it’s not the least bit funny.

Years ago, before the idea of an autism “spectrum” was popularized, we just called such people nerds or geeks or weirdos. It probably doesn’t matter what word you use to describe someone without normal social skills. The reclusive loner with no real friends and no romantic relationships may or may not be dangerous, but because they are so socially isolated, it’s possible for them to go crazy quietly, without anyone noticing. And then one day you turn on the news and there’s a reporter interviewing the neighbor who says, “He was a loner, kept to himself.”

(Hat-tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.)

Category: Crime

Never Trust a Bisexual

Posted on | August 12, 2019 | Comments Off on Never Trust a Bisexual

Just a few months ago, I wrote:

Liam Hemsworth recently married Miley Cyrus, a decision he will regret “but once and that will be continually.” . . .
Probably I’m too judgmental, too opinionated, too negative in my attitude toward current social problems. But isn’t it obvious that a shortage of judgment is the underlying problem? If grown-ups weren’t afraid to bluntly speak the truth — “Stay away from that crazy Miley Cyrus, son” — maybe young people wouldn’t get themselves mixed up in all this insanity.

But guys don’t listen, and so Liam Hemsworth has been humiliated:

Liam Hemsworth was reportedly blindsided by photos of his estranged wife Miley Cyrus kissing Kaitlynn Carter on a girls’ holiday in Lake Como, Italy last week.
Miley, 26, confirmed her split from Liam, 29, after just seven months of marriage on Saturday. The day before, she had been pictured getting close to Kaitlynn, who is also newly single after separating from reality star Brody Jenner.
According to The Sun on Sunday, Miley’s ‘fling came as a shock’ to Liam.
‘Their marriage is over and Liam is absolutely heartbroken, but Miley is making up for lost time,’ claimed a source close to the couple.
‘He wants to settle down and have a conventional family including kids, but that couldn’t be further from what Miley is after right now.
‘She made it clear she wanted to be able to have fun with other people — men and women — but it’s always been something he’s had a hard time understanding.’ . . .
The pair had married in a secret wedding ceremony on December 23, 2018 at their home in Franklin, Tennessee.
Miley, who identifies as pansexual, revealed last month that she saw their marriage as ‘confusing, complex and modern’, and insisted that she was still ‘very sexually attracted to women’.

This was entirely predictable. Remember how Amber Heard wrecked Johnny Depp’s life? Another chump who made the mistake of marrying a bisexual woman. Why do guys keep making this mistake? Probably they hear “bisexual” and think: Threesome! But instead of living out some kind of fantasy dream, instead they discover they’ve stumbled into a nightmare of deception and cruelty. Ask yourself, why does Miley identify as “bisexual”? Because lesbians don’t want anything to do with that lunatic — and so it is for bisexual women generally. They’re all crazy, but guys never seem to figure this out until it’s too late.

Category: Celebrities, Gays

Rule 5 Sunday: Homeko At The Beach

Posted on | August 11, 2019 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Sometimes Rule 5 is about sexy. Sometimes it’s about cute, and this is one of those times. Given the Japanese penchant for anthropomorphizing everything under the sun that has even vaguely human characteristics, it should be no surprise that there is a whole “family” of anthropomorphized computer operating systems, a/k/a OS-tans. They started out as somewhat of a joke on Japanese image boards, but quickly became so popular that Microsoft in Singapore and Taiwan used them in promotional ads, and authorized theme packs for various OS were sold. Here we have Homeko, the home version of Windows XP, at the beach, because it’s that time of year.