Splendid Isolation

The Market

Here’s an interesting development in the OnlyFans business:

From Deansgate Square in the south to Collier’s Yard in the north, this is the extraordinary story of how Manchester’s new breed of ultra-luxury apartment blocks became playgrounds for a new generation of social media star.
‘This is where the magic is made,’ Jordan Smith, the 30-year-old founder of Rebel – a content creator agency – told the Mail. ‘Manchester has become a hub for creators. It’s well connected, there are investors and opportunities here. But it’s also great for creators as they can collaborate and make content with one another.’
One of Jordan’s most in-demand clients* is Harry Bourne, who strips off online under the stage name ‘Haxzy’.
‘London is more for the older generation,’ Harry tells the Mail, reclining on an armchair in his 35th-floor luxury apartment in the north west of the city. ‘Manchester is the home of the future.’
At the age of just 19, Harry has been ‘modelling’ on OnlyFans for the best part of a year. His success has been remarkable: 800 people pay £9.99 a month for his basic content. But, he assures me, ‘you won’t even get to see my “bulge” for that. Everything is extra.’  Indeed, more graphic content can cost an awful lot more. ‘I’m not one of these influencers** who will sell their whole kebab for five quid,’ Harry admits. ‘I’ll go fully naked, but only for the right money.’
It all means that Harry, who describes himself as an ‘actor***’, makes a staggering £30,000 a month – of which Rebel takes 30 per cent. ‘Other agencies**** take up to 70 per cent,’ he says, with a knowing look.  Harry is a straight man, claiming that he sleeps with up to ten different women a month. However, apart from ‘the odd female subscriber’, the majority of his audience are gay men. ‘I work about an hour a day,’ he boasts. ‘But I do stay productive. I like going out in my car, picking up birds… in my heart, I’m a good lad and I look after myself.’

Seems like it.  Here’s a quick glossary of the terms used:

*clients:  hookers
**influencers:  whores
***in the old days, “actor” (or “actress”) and “whore” meant the same thing.  Looks like we’ve regressed.
****agencies:  pimps

I am so glad I’m not part of this world.

Too Merciful

In any organization, when the head guy issues a policy directive (or a budget change which requires a policy directive ), the general reaction from his subordinates is to implement that directive within the time frame allocated.

Failure to do so generally results in a reprimand or eventual termination;  active resistance to the directive — or the undermining thereof — generally results in immediate termination, the latter being very definitely “cause” for termination, and few agencies or indeed even labor unions can quibble too much with the outcome.

Which is what happened here, in an agency of our beloved federal government:

President Trump has ordered as many as 60 senior bureaucrats in the US Agency for International Development placed on indefinite leave for taking actions to evade his executive orders. A memo from acting USAID administrator Jason Gray says, “We have identified several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the president’s executive orders and the mandate from the American people.“ As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions.”

Then this happened:

Enter Director of Employee and Labor Relations Nick Gottlieb, stage left. He countermanded the order placing senior staff on administrative leave, by flat-out refusing an order to terminate contract employees: 

Today, representatives of the Agency’s front office and DOGE instructed me to violate the due process of our employees by issuing immediate termination notices to a group of employees without due process. I refused and have provided Acting Administrator Gray with written notification of my refusal. I have recommended in that written notification that his office cease and desist from further illegal activity.

It is and has always been my office’s commitment to the workforce that we ensure all employees receive their due process in any of our actions. I will not be a party to a violation of that commitment.

…so then this happened:

I was notified moments ago that I will be placed on administrative leave, effective immediately.

LOL.  This is what happens when you try to fight against the CEO.  Whether you agree with his directive or not, you are bound to implement it — that, or resign.

Now here’s my problem with all this.

This rebellious little apparatchik should have been shit-canned outright.  Instead, he’s been placed on “administrative leave”, which continues all his benefits and perks until such time as he’s finally terminated.  What bullshit.  Outright insubordination deserves no such forbearance.

And yes, I know:  our beloved federal government employees are somehow spared such treatment because it’s forbidden by their union, which is another fucking travesty:  why should government stooges be protected when their employment is regarded as “service” and not a commercial contract?

At some point, I hope that POTUS/DOGE casts a baleful eye at this nonsense, and gets Congress to outlaw public-sector unions outright.

There is plenty of precedent for this action, by the way, going back all the way to the Founding Fathers.  Even liberal icon Franklin D. Roosevelt said this:

“All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service…. The very nature and purposes of government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with government employee organizations.”

Yet somehow this nonsense managed to get traction, especially during the 1960s, thanks to an Executive Order by none other than John F. Kennedy (quelle surprise).

If POTUS / DOGE achieve nothing else, the elimination of public-sector trade unions will be a signal victory for the people of this country — not that the well-being of our citizens has ever been a concern to government workers.

No, government agencies such as the State Department and the aforementioned USAID have always been far more concerned about the welfare of foreigners — in the latter case, to the tune of over $20 billion.

That, it seems, is about to change and not a moment too soon.

Fire away, Mr. President.

Hooray– Oh, Wait

Here’s some good news:

Drugs used to treat cancer, diabetes and other chronic conditions are among 15 picked for negotiations that could result in lower prices for patients, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Friday.

The 15 drugs selected by HHS are all covered under Medicare Part D and represent the second round of negotiations between drug companies and the department, with a goal of lowering costs for Medicare patients.

And the good news:

Popular diabetes drugs Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy, which are also used for weight loss are among the 15 announced Friday.

Hooray!  Let me tell you, as one who has to take Ozempic for diabetes (at $60 per shot per week), this is welcome.

But wait!  There’s more!

Negotiations between the government agency and drug companies will take place this year with any agreed upon price changes taking effect in 2027.

…by which time I could be dead.  How nice.  Even better:

Drug manufacturers can choose whether or not to enter negotiations with the government for a collective price for Medicare patients.

Any bets as to who will decline the offer?

Snoops

Yeah, don’t fuck mess with Texas:

Texas has sued insurance provider Allstate, alleging that the firm and its data broker subsidiary used data from apps like GasBuddy, Routely, and Life360 to quietly track drivers and adjust or cancel their policies.

Allstate and Arity, a “mobility data and analytics” firm founded by Allstate in 2016, collected “trillions of miles worth of location data” from more than 45 million people, then used that data to adjust rates, according to Texas’ lawsuit. This violates Texas’ Data Privacy and Security Act, which requires “clear notice and informed consent” on how collected data can be used. A statement from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the suit is the first-ever state action targeting comprehensive data privacy violations.

How so?

According to Texas’ complaint (PDF), the data collected included “a phone’s geolocation data, accelerometer data, magnetometer data, and gyroscopic data, which monitors details such as the phone’s altitude, longitude, latitude, bearing, GPS time, speed, and accuracy.”

With that data—plus, in some cases, data from connected vehicles—Allstate could see when, how far, and for how long someone was driving, along with “hard braking events” and “whether a consumer picked up or opened their phone while traveling at certain speeds.”

Texas’ lawsuit claims that Arity incentivized—through “generous bonus incentives”—apps like GasBuddy, a gas price-tracking app, and Life360, which is intended to keep tabs on family members’ location, to “increas[e] the size of their dataset.” Under their agreements with app makers, Arity had “varying levels of control over the privacy disclosures and consent language” shown to app users, according to the complaint.

And now for the doublespeak:

“Arity helps consumers get the most accurate auto insurance price after they consent in a simple and transparent way that fully complies with all laws and regulations.”

But they’re not the only villains in this piece:

The suit also cites Allstate as gathering direct car use data from Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram vehicles.

And if these assholes shared data with Allstate, you can bet your house that they did so with other insurance companies too.

If you’re not into letting corporations do this to you:

…you may want to avoid any dealings at all with these bastards.  It’s not like Stellantis (Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati) are reporting a boom in sales, after all.

When the Texans win their suit, at it should, I would argue against fines because those bastards will just pass the cost into their customers and claim a tax deduction at worst.

What I would do as TxAG is get a list of all Texans with Allstate policies, and demand that Allstate provide free insurance to them for a period of time commensurate with the start date of Arity’s snoopery.

I know, that would just cause Allstate to cease operations in Texas.  That’s fine, too — take away access to the second-largest pool of drivers in the U.S.