May 2, 2026

HOW IT STARTED: GameStop rally is warning that market bubbles have gone mad.

—The New York Post, January 27th, 2021.

How It’s Going: GameStop wants to buy eBay in an aggressive pivot to e-commerce. “The size mismatch is hard to overlook. GameStop carries a market value of around $12 billion; eBay sits closer to $46 billion. Despite that gap, GameStop has already been quietly building a stake in eBay ahead of a potential bid – a signal that [GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen] is willing to swing big rather than chip away at e-commerce incrementally. Markets moved fast after the news broke. eBay shares jumped more than 10% in after-hours trading, and GameStop climbed around 5%, as investors registered a mix of optimism and curiosity about what this combination could actually look like.”

Posted at 2:00 pm by Ed Driscoll

SEATTLE’S SOCIALIST MAYOR HAS ONE WORD FOR HIGH-EARNERS FLEEING THE CITY:

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, a total socialist, earned ridicule after brushing off concerns about high-earners fleeing the city due to her tax policies.

During an event at Seattle University, she said, “the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are like super overblown.” For the millionaires who are leaving, she had one word: “Bye.”

She made the comments while defending her ridiculous “millionaire tax” and promising to come up with “progressive” ways to steal more money from the wealthy at the city level.

Wilson portrayed herself as a proponent for “progressive taxation” who isn’t interested in catering to the wealthy or business owners concerned about higher tax burdens. She argued, “overall, we still have a deeply regressive tax system, and my office is actively exploring our options regarding progressive taxation.” She noted that Seattle has “greater flexibility” than the county when it comes to swiping cash from people’s pockets. The mayor further insisted that it is “detrimental for Seattle’s business climate when the costs of operating in downtown Seattle are significantly misaligned with those in neighboring Bellevue.”

Good and hard, Jet City:

To be fair though, articulate responses to the issues of the day do not seem to be Wilson’s strong suit:

Posted at 1:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

RECORD STORE DAY 2026’S TOP SELLERS: Taylor Swift, Pink Floyd, Bruno Mars and More.

Vinyl releases from the likes of Taylor Swift, Pink Floyd and Bruno Mars were among the top-sellers from Record Store Day (RSD) 2026 in the United States, according to Luminate.

The yearly independent record store day celebration was held on April 18 and boasted a bevy of albums and singles (mostly vinyl titles) issued for RSD, and exclusively sold through indie record stores.

More than 350 album and single products were issued for RSD 2026, and the top-selling album was the four-LP clear vinyl release of Pink Floyd’s Live From the Los Angeles Sports Arena, April 26th, 1975. The project was also issued as a 2-CD set, and the CD edition was the No. 24 best-selling RSD 2026 album title.

Another two-fer on the list is the soundtrack to KPop Demon Hunters, which ranks at both Nos. 2 and 6, with two different iterations of the album on vinyl: a HUNTR/X edition and a Saja Boys edition, respectively.

Record Store Day 2026 Ambassador Bruno Mars had the No. 2-selling RSD 2026 album with Collaborations. The 11-track double vinyl compilation includes such teamings as the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits “Nothin’ On You” (B.o.B featuring Mars) “Uptown Funk” (Mark Ronson featuring Mars) and “Die With a Smile” (Lady Gaga and Mars).

I suppose vinyl is okay for poseurs, but real audiophiles know that this is the vintage format of choice for getting the most out of music listening: 8-Tracks Are Back? They Are In My House.

Posted at 1:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

IS IT REALLY? New York Times: After 60 Days, Republican Patience for the Iran War Is Wearing Thin.

I mean, the headline itself is ridiculous. 60 days? Patience wearing thin?

Related:

Posted at 1:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

MARRIAGE AND ITS DISCONTENTS:

America’s rapidly changing demographics on the marriage question do not, however, tell the whole story. More ominously, American society today is now divided between the enlightened few and the unenlightened many. On one side stands reason, morality, freedom, equality, progress, compassion, decency, and love, and on the other side stands nothing but the forces of superstitious irrationalism, reactionary stupidity, Troglodytish bigotry, and segregationist oppression. To support the institution of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is now seen by many as illiberal, which means bad. It is the Forces of Light set against the Forces of Darkness. This Manichean world is now divided into binary categories of Us and Them, Friends and Enemies, Saints and Sinners, Believers and Infidels, all of which can be reduced to “The Good” and “The Evil.” The unwashed masses that stand for traditional marriage are said to suffer from a new kind of mental illness: homophobia.

Not surprisingly, many conservatives and libertarians have either waved the white flag of surrender, or they have begun calling for a brokered truce on the marriage issue before any real intellectual engagement has taken place. But a truce was never an option for the proponents of same-sex marriage. Nary a shot was fired in the cultural battle over same-sex marriage before the Nervous Nellies of the Right vacated the intellectual battlefield and began their fast retreat. This would suggest that they quickly realized they had been wrong on the marriage issue, that they are intellectual cowards, or compromising pragmatists.

Thus, it was only a matter of time before Ross Douthat, the lone “conservative” columnist at The New York Times and a supporter of traditional marriage, waved the white flag asking in a whimpering op-ed for “The Terms of Our Surrender.” Douthat conceded unconditional defeat on the marriage issue and expressed his hope that the conquering forces would treat him and his friends humanely.

Make no mistake about it: this is a cultural revolution the likes of which has never been seen before.

Still, for the tens of millions of unenlightened Americans stuck in the here-and-now, the question of marriage is a living and not a settled issue. It is not going away anytime soon. In fact, we may very well be witnessing the beginning and not the end of the marriage debate. Thoughtful Americans on both sides of the issue are right to wonder about the true meaning and long-term consequences of redefining marriage politically. The form in which this conversation takes place will be a test of who we are as a nation.

Read the whole thing.

Posted at 12:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

I KNEW STEVE COHEN WHEN I INTERNED AT THE STATE SENATE IN COLLEGE. HE WAS VERY WHITE.

That fried chicken isn’t fooling anybody, Steve.

Posted at 12:31 pm by Glenn Reynolds

I’LL TAKE “WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF A SUNK COST FALLACY” FOR $500, ALEX:

UPDATE: Bill Maher drags Gavin Newsom for high-speed rail and sky-high gas in blistering interview.

Thus proving it’s possible to crash in a fiery train wreck despite no track ever been laid.

Posted at 11:44 am by Ed Driscoll

LIMITED TIME DEAL: Furbo Mini 360°. #CommissionEarned

Posted at 10:02 am by Helen Smith