The new MacTrump. Noisy as hell, only runs Twitter, and costs a bazillion dollars. But it’s Made in USA®. Winning!
“Today I opened a major Apple Manufacturing plant in Texas that will bring high paying jobs back to America,” tweets the Tweeter-in-Chief.
Except he didn’t. And it won’t.
The plant, which employs about 500 workers to assemble one of Apple’s most expensive computers for its least extensive customer base, and is not even an Apple plant, has been manufacturing Mac Pros since 2013. The only reason it’s still doing so is because Apple sought — and got — waivers for Tweety’s tariffs.
But Apple didn’t get off scot-free. According to The Verge, “Apple is currently paying tariffs on a number of Mac Pro parts, which must be imported from China to Texas before the final device can be assembled.” Whether Apple receives further relief remains a matter for submission … er, negotiation.
Meanwhile, the stuff that people actually buy — iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and the Apple Watch — is made in China. So, uh, like, the winning, an’ stuff, eh, not so much.
And while Tweety sang his little song Apple honcho Tim Cook stood there like a mannequin, “stone-faced” and “silently,” according to Jack Nicas of The New York Times.
Notes John Gruber at Daring Fireball:
This is how Apple chose to unveil the packaging for the Mac Pro — in a poorly-shot overexposed propaganda video by the White House, scored with bombastic music that sounds like it came from an SNL parody of a Michael Bay film. Think about how it feels to work on that team at Apple. A low moment in Apple’s proud history, and a sadly iconic moment for Tim Cook. I hope avoiding those tariffs is worth it.
Tags: Apple, Mac Pro, Tweety Bird
Mad Blog Media 
November 21, 2019 at 6:36 am |
With this administration, I’m waiting for a remake of Triumph of the Will in time for the 2020 campaign. Leni Trumpenstahl, artistic director.
November 21, 2019 at 8:10 am |
It’s a new side dish for the impending holiday season: Apple sauce with Agent Orange.
November 21, 2019 at 8:34 am |
How about washing it all down with an “Orange Turdius?”
Yea, as far as I know, I made that up my own self. If it is worthy, steal away mi amigos. I still like “POSPOTUS” coined by another Mad Dog fan.
November 21, 2019 at 1:44 pm |
POSPOTUS
piping up…
me.
November 21, 2019 at 6:44 am |
So now Don the Con has declared victory and the impeachment process should fizzle out? If the guy’s THAT far disconnected from reality it should be grounds enough to get rid of him.
Are ALL of the bozos surrounding him at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and the Rethugs in the Senate determined to go down with “Der Fuerher”….and down in history as ass-kissers/enablers of this now senile con man? S–t’s gettin’ real now, folks!!!
November 21, 2019 at 6:56 am |
The Repugs have hitched their little red wagon to this nag and they’re gonna ride it right into the Abyss, if we’re lucky.
November 21, 2019 at 6:47 am |
Jezuz, Patrick. Looks like you picked the wrong year to quit the Mini-30.
https://www.abqjournal.com/1393905/abq-on-track-to-shatter-homicide-record.html
November 21, 2019 at 6:53 am |
The driveway pop that did for the state coppers’ mom has been used in our neighborhood, too. A fella wouldn’t have time to unlimber an unwieldy smokepole like the Mini Thirty before the bad guys put five in his ten ring.
Trouble is, you carry a practical hand cannon in the vehicle, somebody breaks into the vehicle and then shoots you with your own gun if you have the temerity to remonstrate with them. These evildoers don’t play.
I’m thinking what we do is take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
November 21, 2019 at 8:39 am |
I agree. What you gotta do is put the Mini on a tripod in a front window and teach the cats to cover you as you get on the bike or into the car.
I’ve read all that Col. Cooper stuff about WYOR, i.e., different degrees of situational awareness from white (the state of obliviousness) to red (taking action as the shit hits the fan) when I took the CCL class. To me, it would seem if you took that attitude in Albuquerque you would have a nervous breakdown before anyone got around to shooting you. Still, if I lived there, I’d probably scan the horizon before I surfaced and opened the hatch and practice, practice, practice.
Herself in Santa Fe joked to me that she was happy the Southeast Heights house we put in a bid on fell through as I would be sleeping with an AR under the pillow. There have been two fatal shootings within blocks of that house (a few blocks south of Zuni) since we gave up on the idea. At the time, I was unaware of Zuni’s nickname as “the war zone”.
Something has to be done about Duke City. Unfortunately, the city and state have abandoned ship, leaving it to the Federales to sweep up all the hard core crooks. Between drugs, poverty, gangs, illiteracy, an ineffective criminal justice system, cultural acceptance of settling scores with bullets, and a ready supply of guns and bullets, Albuquerque is screwed.
November 21, 2019 at 8:50 am |
Sigourney Weaver is one of my favorite actors. And, in a chauvinistic moment of weakness, she is sure easy on the eyes.
How about this instead of the most powerful handgun in the world? Doesn’t shoot through glass however. But it does work when it is windy, or indoors when you don’t want to turn the house into a gas chamber.
https://www.sabrered.com/pepper-spray/tactical-pepper-gel-flip-top-and-clip
November 21, 2019 at 9:00 am |
I’ve seen bear spray for sale in a few places, which is a high octane version of pepper spray. Not sure its legal against Homo sapiens in NM, but as they say, I’d rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
November 21, 2019 at 11:29 am
The husband of one of my colleagues was recently on an elk hunting trip. He was attacked by a bear. Fortunately, his hunting buddy had a big can of bear spray and they were able to drive the bear off. But one of them was seriously hurt and both ended up in ER.
November 21, 2019 at 11:00 am |
I carried it while bow hunting, because it is illegal in AZ to carry a firearm while participating in a archery only hunt. I practiced with the expired one when I bought a new one. You would not want to be sprayed with it. It envelopes the target in a pepper spray cloud. Nasty stuff. If you talk to Alaskans and others who regularly work and play in bear country, they say that pepper spray is more effective in stopping a bear attack than a firearm of any kind. I also use to take one with while camping. It uses the same active ingredient as regular pepper spray, but is in a very large canister that can injure someone’s eyes at close distance. Think garden hose nozzle pressure. I still have some for outside the house use. Also keep in mind that all pepper spray has a shelf life. If you can’t see the expiration date on the container through the packaging, don’t buy it. It should be good from 2 to 4 years.
https://www.sabrered.com/bear-spray
November 21, 2019 at 8:56 am |
I dunno if pepper spray works on Burqueños. We like it hot.
November 21, 2019 at 12:47 pm |
Reminds me of an Iowa guy who was showing off some sort of Elmer Fudd-style handgun one day down at the LBS. I asked “What’s that for?” with plenty of snark. They guy replied that he had this under the seat of his pick ’em-up truck to guard against car-jackings down in Omaha, NE. I couldn’t resist asking, “So you’re gonna ask the carjacker pointing his gun at you at the stoplight to please wait a second….so YOU can get out your Elmer Fudd hand-cannon and shoot him? Really?” Everyone had a good laugh, except for Elmer.
November 21, 2019 at 2:05 pm |
You gotta be careful with your shootin’ irons. A relative once shot himself in the leg with a .38 he kept pocketed for personal protection. Stood up from a chair one day and the dern thing went off, as they will.
His cautionary tale, the firearms equivalent of JRA, made the local blat, wherein he observed: “During World War II, I was shot at many times, but I never shot myself before.”
As for carjackers, they can have my car and my gun, if I happen to be carrying one. These dudes down here will shoot you just to keep in practice.
“What’d you shoot him for? He was halfway out the car door.”
“Ammo was old, wanted to see if it still worked.”
November 21, 2019 at 3:15 pm |
My brother in law almost blew me away one year when a deer ran between us. And those were rifled slugs he was shooting, not #2 shot for turkey, which almost ended Greg Lemond’s life if not career.
Those of us on the gun owning side who issue the cautionary tale that a hand cannon is not a magic talisman are often ridiculed by the hard core NRA folks who say more guns are a good thing. But a gun as a tool is only as good as its application. If you are not proficient, its the gun owning equivalent to handing me a saxophone. Cover your ears. Even if proficient, which is rare, if you get caught at the light with some guy poking his own hand cannon at you by the driver side window as you fuss with the radio station, the best option is not to reach under the seat. A crack head might even mistake the radio for a gun.
But as O’G said up above, what are the options? We do seem to be getting to the point of nuking it from space, if not building a wall around it. Even if Beto O’Rourke were to win the presidency and we had a Dem US Senate, its folks like me who will seriously consider turning ’em in before the Federal SWAT team knocks on the door. But those nice guys blowing away mom in her driveway? Good luck. Murder doesn’t seem to phase them. We seem to be entering the decline of the empire.
November 21, 2019 at 6:58 pm
The saxophone analogy is dead (sorry) on point, as is Larry’s comment. Most people around here with carry permits seem to think they can hit their targets because they’ve seen a bunch of Dirty Harry movies. Fat chance.
Actual muggings etc. happen much faster and much closer than people expect. I guess our attitude choice is between paranoia and “What, me worry?”
Most rural folks are accustomed to the idea of providing some of their own basic security; many (sub)urban folks have never considered that a 5 minute response time can be an eternity when you’re being victimized. And who do the Beto’s think is going to take those guns away anyway? Most of my cop friends (now retired) are not going to even think about giving *their* hardware up. I fervently hope no one on either side pushes that sort of grandstanding to the point of action. I’ve already heard plenty of normal law abiding types speculate about resistance. All this is seriously crazier than usual IMO.
(Grammatical note: yeah, I split an infinitive. So sue me.)
November 21, 2019 at 10:15 pm
We have been on an austerity program in Santa Fe. Basically, money is spent on weird shit and the P.D. is about 18% understaffed. Response time to critical 911 calls is presently about 12 minutes according to the local paper because there are not enough cops on duty to provide backup to a dangerous call. Start your stopwatch and consider how much time that allows for shit to go wrong.
Indeed, its about time for some reason and less grandstanding by all of the usual highly opinionated public spokespeople.
November 21, 2019 at 6:34 pm |
When in trouble, and in doubt, run in circles, and scream and shout. Like the owner of the gun shop where I worked said, “If everyone carried a gun, there would be a lot more killing but a lot less crime.” Sound like a great way to live. OK, boomers.
I think I well sell my last gun and guy a guitar.
November 21, 2019 at 7:01 pm
Well, I suppose he’s right — natural selection IS good for the species.
I’m holding on to both.
November 21, 2019 at 10:36 pm |
The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.
They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge.
Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear’s sensitive nose and it will run away.
It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.
November 22, 2019 at 5:04 am
November 22, 2019 at 6:11 am |
I was doing great this morning until Bill split an infinitive. I had to pause everything, even let my coffee get cool, while I looked up 1) what an infinitive was 2) what splitting it required. The things you have to learn to keep up on this blog. I have to say there has been some reckless and wanton use of pronouns on this blog too.
November 21, 2019 at 11:37 pm |
O’G, FYI.
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/from-shoes-to-sausage-terrell-had-it-covered/article_dab6471e-3115-5522-939e-708e3136420d.html
November 22, 2019 at 5:18 am |
Well, sheeyit. Steve Terrell retiring is a loss for both The New Mexican and Santa Fe.
I’m glad to hear he’ll still be doing the KSFR show and Big Enchilada podcast. Dude is too young to hang up his jock completely.
He was a character when I joined the op’ back in the late Eighties and he’s clearly remained one. That’s a tough role to play in a biz dominated by gazillionaire poseurs, bean-counting hedge funders, and rapacious vulture capitalists. See Nieman Lab for the ongoing obituary.
The oddballs are usually the first to go. But Steve sunk in his teeth and held on until he was ready to make the leap. Good for him.
November 22, 2019 at 8:49 am |
Yep. And Robin Martin still owns the paper. I’m surprised we have two locally owned papers, the Journal and the New Mex. Got tired of Gannett, Jeff Bozos, Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe et al buying up all the available newsprint.