When my then-girlfriend agreed to be my wife, I told her it was time to have the discussion about her converting. She said, "Don’t worry, I’ve already talked to the rabbi and started the process of becoming Jewish. I know our kids will be growing up in a house without a Christmas tree and I’m okay with that." But that wasn’t the conversion I was talking about. I explained to her that our kids would be growing up in a house without Windows-based PCs. I've been using Macs since there were just a few of us. We’d see each other at small, dank Mac stores and wonder why the rest of the world didn’t see what we could see. Then Steve Jobs came back to Apple. And slowly, as the new iProducts came, Steve and I converted more and more of my friends and family. One by one they all came over. Those old faces from the corner Mac stores were now joined by millions in lines outside of grand Apple stores. The iPhone came out just about the time my first child was born. So he's never really had my full attention. Around the same time, I decided to bet on Apple stock. Apple has monopolized my time and my portfolio ever since. So it doesn't come as that much of a shock that, according to the Justice Department, Apple has monopolized more than that; news I received in an alert on my iPhone and am now sharing via my MacBook Air. The Verge: US sues Apple for illegal monopoly over smartphones. According to the antitrust division of the DOJ, "For years, Apple responded to competitive threats by imposing a series of ‘Whac-A-Mole’ contractual rules and restrictions that have allowed Apple to extract higher prices from consumers, impose higher fees on developers and creators, and to throttle competitive alternatives from rival technologies." The focus is on messaging (the green bubbles), digital wallets, switching costs, and streaming apps. CNN: Green bubbles, Apple Pay and other reasons why America says Apple is breaking the law. Maybe this would the right time for Apple to finally acquire America. The user experience would be improved, as Apple's competitors can attest, the borders would be airtight, the economy would be unbelievable, the citizen/user happiness levels would soar, and there's no way the design team would let Donald Trump onto the platform. 2Open for InterpretationShohei Ohtani is possibly the greatest baseball player we've even seen and is among the most famous athletes across the globe. So a story about him paying off his interpreter's So-Cal bookie to the tune of $4.5 million was going to be big news. But it also came just as baseball season is starting. And even in the first few hours, the story changed. Somehow it went from being a bailout to a theft by Ippei Mizuhara, "the longtime friend and interpreter for Ohtani." ESPN: Dodgers fire Shohei Ohtani's interpreter amid allegations. "Initially, a spokesman for Ohtani told ESPN the slugger had transferred the funds to cover Mizuhara's gambling debt. The spokesman presented Mizuhara to ESPN for a 90-minute interview Tuesday night, during which Mizuhara laid out his account in great detail. However, as ESPN prepared to publish the story Wednesday, the spokesman disavowed Mizuhara's account and said Ohtani's lawyers would issue a statement. 'In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft.'" (Someone might mention the insane hypocrisy of having betting scandals in sports when professional sports leagues are the biggest pushers of sports betting.) 3Ringo, Star"When a parent loses a child, the nights are the worst. Thoughts come crashing into the mind: every missed medical clue, every pleasure needlessly denied, every word of impatience, every failure of insight and understanding. Like seasickness, the grief ebbs and surges, intervals of comparative calm punctuated by spasms of racking pain. I don’t want to wake my wife, who has a grief schedule of her own, so I slip out of our bed and into the one Miranda used when she stayed with us in Washington. When I do that, Ringo will climb up to sleep at my feet, just as he slept on Miranda’s that one last time." Beautiful and painful piece—about loss, memories, and a dog—by David Frum in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Miranda’s Last Gift. 4Tailor-Made Story"After a harrowing death march from Auschwitz, followed by a freezing train transfer to Buchenwald, Max was finally freed in the spring of 1945. General Eisenhower himself toured the camp, unaware that a teenage prisoner there would one day become his tailor." An incredible life. NYT (Gift Article): Martin Greenfield, Tailor to Sinatra, Obama, Trump and Shaq, Dies at 95. "In a testament to his longevity, Mr. Greenfield dressed the early 20th-century comedian Eddie Cantor as well as the actor playing him decades later on “Boardwalk Empire." 5Extra, ExtraBlinken Lights: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the U.S. has submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Councilthat calls 'for an immediate ceasefire' in Gaza that's 'tied to the release' of hostages held by Hamas." A high profile move like this by Blinken is a hint that the parties could be getting close to a deal. 6Bottom of the News"Bill likes to look and see how big their ass is when they get down in a 40-yard stance because he wants to sign the biggest-assed defensive linemen he can sign.'" A ‘high butt factor’ might be an NFL Draft prospect’s most prized asset. Thanks, Dave Pell, Team Reality
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