Lw writes: IMO the future of Fox News matters a lot for the US. Programming that makes the audience angry and maybe frightened in this volume is new and bad, obvs the audience likes it. Rupert agreed to the terms of the existing irrevocable trust as a condition of his divorce from Anna in 1999 as a way to divide power and wealth (separately, new ones get wealth but not power) among children alive in 1999 and any more to come.

RM is now trying to change the irrevocable trust. Barr is playing some role. I liked this essay about legal aspects, excerpt:

The New York Times has reported that the trust has a clause permitting it to be amended "solely for the benefit of all [Mr. Murdoch's] heirs." The trust can only be amended through a Nevada probate court proceeding. Mr. Murdoch is arguing that his son Lachlan must have control over the Murdoch Family Trust in the trust beneficiaries' best interests.

Discuss?

Heebie's take: This is so delicious. I hope Rupert gets screwed.

Also:

Mr. Murdoch has six children, four of whom have voting power in the Murdoch Family Trust.

and:

When Mr. Murdoch created this trust in 1999, his two youngest daughters were not yet born.

He's 93 years old now.

Let's take it as a foregone conclusion that we're all pro-labor and pro-dockworkers. Anything regarding working hours, safety, generous compensation and retirement packages, etc etc, is not worth debating. Yay labor.

I have a question about the anti-automation part of their concern. If we had a strong social safety net and job-retraining program, would it be a bad idea to fight against automation? It reminds me of the "supply-side progressivism" category that Henry Farrell assigned to people like Ezra Klein.

I was listening to Kara Swisher the other day, and the co-host Scott Fischer (who fashions himself as a left-leaning centrist) was railing against the xenophobia involved in blocking the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon. He was basically saying that Nippon is great at this kind of stuff, and right now this tiny industry is failing, and they'd breathe new life into it. (I don't really know how to evaluate his argument, but it's pretty easy to believe that Pennsylvania is so emotional about its steelworkers that they're useful pawns in an election season.)

I'm not sure of the connection between US Steel and the dockworkers, except maybe there's room for non-rigid thinking around labor issues? Or maybe I am naively just imprinting on whoever I heard most recently.

Anyway, back to automating the dock-workers. Can you really block automation forever? Is that the best goal?

So no one was inspired to send in a guest post about this, huh? Well, you can't count on me to say anything smart, but there's probably energy for a thread on this godforsaken disaster.

Anyone planning on watching this thing?

Mossy sends along some good news: Uganda celebrates conservation success on World Gorilla Day.

E. Messily sends in different news: US man, 81, sentenced to six months for creating giant hybrid sheep for hunting.

Takes all kinds.

We'll have to wait until the afterlife to sex Mutombo. Just a really decent guy who didn't take himself too seriously, but used his fame to do serious good.

Following his playing career, he worked extensively for charitable and humanitarian causes. He served as an ambassador for the sport, particularly in the development of the Basketball Africa League.

"It's really hard to believe, and it's hard for us to be without that guy," said tearful Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri. "You have no idea what Dikembe Mutombo meant to me. ... I have to say, though, that guy, he made us who we are. That guy is a giant. An incredible person. Who are we without Dikembe Mutombo? Not possible. It really is not.

"I went to Dikembe Mutombo's hometown with him. I went to his hospital, and you have no idea what that guy means to the world. He's gone. He's left us. ... That guy was the biggest giant that you could ever find. The biggest heart."

Okay, what follows are things that are working in Harris's favor, but I still don't think anything is a sure thing. This isn't a sign of complacency.

1. David Frum:

Trump is pre-losing. He's losing in his own mind.

That's why he's desperately selling silver coins when he should be campaigning. That's why Mike Johnson is ignoring Donald Trump's demands and threats and keeping the government open. The speaker is keeping the government open when Trump wants the government shut.

That's why his wife is hawking this book and that's why he seems so depressed every time you see him. He is tasting defeat. He knows what's happening and he can't exert himself or mobilize himself in order to do anything.

That's why he's doing so few events. He's listless, he's lethargic, and he's losing in his own mind. His world is crashing in on him. He's pre-losing.

I mean, we can cherish the idea of a deflated, flaccid Trump.

2. I made a similar comment back in May or so, but now I think we can say more definitively: the violence in the air does not match 2020. There are not MAGA Trump Trains circling throughout cities. There is nothing like the Biden Bus incident happening.

Now, legally there are plenty of election interference schemes all brewing. I'm just saying the physical violence isn't as palpable as it was four years ago.

Anyway, mumble about the election here.