In Search of the Perfect Investment

Back up the truck to Facebook stock

On Friday the New York Times published a piece that read:

Buckle Up for Another Facebook Election
By opting not to change the company’s political advertising rules, Mark Zuckerberg has ensured another election shaped by the social network.

SAN FRANCISCO – If you were hoping to hear less about Facebook this year, you’re out of luck.

The social platform announced on Thursday – after months of hemming and hawing — that it would not change its basic rules for political advertising ahead of the 2020 election. Unlike Google, which restricted the targeting of political ads last year, or Twitter, which barred political ads entirely, Facebook and its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, decided to preserve the status quo.

Politicians will still be exempt from Facebook’s fact-checking program, and will still be allowed to break many of the rules that apply to other users. Campaigns will still be allowed to spend millions of dollars on ads targeted to narrow slices of the electorate, upload their voter files to build custom audiences and use all the other tools of Facebook tradecraft.

The social network has spent much of the past three years apologizing for its inaction during the 2016 election, when its platform was overrun with hyperpartisan misinformation, some of it Russian, that was amplified by its own algorithms. And ahead of 2020, some people wondered if Mr. Zuckerberg – who is, by his own admission, uncomfortable with Facebook’s power — would do everything he could to step out of the political crossfire.

Instead, Mr. Zuckerberg has embraced Facebook’s central role in elections — not only by giving politicians a pass on truth, but by preserving the elements of its advertising platforms that proved to be a decisive force in 2016.

OK. No Google. No Twitter.  All those delicious political advertising dollars will be spent on Facebook.

According to a web site called OpenSecrets.org, the candidates have already raised a whopping $624.4 million. That doesn’t include Michael Bloomberg, who has more money to spend on ads than God. And of course, we have another ten months of money raising until the election in November. Which means we can easily double the $624.4 million. Maybe triple it.

I thought the American and the European regulators would make mince meat of Facebook’s growth. But I was wrong. Here’s the last year of Facebook:

Here’s the past ten years. Notice how it bounced back from the regulatory problems.

What revolutions are made of

From Business Insider:

Dennis Muilenburg, the recently-ousted CEO of Boeing, is leaving with a $62 million payout, the company said Friday.

The substantial award comes despite being fired for poor handling of the fatal crashes, the aftermath, and continued suspension from service of the 737 Max.

Spirit said the workers had to go because there was no work for them in light of Boeing suspending production of the 737 Max while it is grounded.

Unlike Muilenburg, they did not get large exit packages, and will instead receive 60 days’ pay.

Below is a composite image showing ousted Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, and employees of Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which announced 2,800 layoffs on January 10, 2020, because Boeing had stopped making the 373 MAX.  Source: Getty Images/Business Insider.

For more, click here.

Australian writes a poem. It deals with Australia and the bushfires.

 

Please listen to Ben Lawson read his poem on Instagram. It’s heart-breaking. Click here.

Which TV should Harry buy?

Mine eyes need bigger. We can fit a 55 inch TV in. But which one? I did my research. Look what I found — all 55 inch TVs. The price differences are staggering.

The Sony has the blackest blacks. it’s OLED. Samsung’s top entry is much cheaper. It’s QLED. Its blacks are not as black. But do I watch the blacks or the plots. Which would you choose? Am I being super-cheap going with the Samsung Q60?

Update your Windows 7 now

Microsoft cuts you off tomorrow, allegedly. So, update while you can.

This is called a pizza table

It was invented by Carmela Vitale of Dix Hills, New York. She filed for a patent on February 10, 1983. It was issued on February 12, 1985. Sadly, Ms. Vitale died before I could find out how much money she made from her brilliant invention. Today you can buy a pack of 100 pizza tables for $2.89. Click here.

You can guess what we had for dinner last night.

Favorite January cartoon 

From the New Yorker:

Other nonsenses

See you tomorrow. — Harry Newton