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Welcome to the Bogosity Podcast for the week of January 11 2026,
the podcast that's almost old enough to drive.
This is your host, Shane Killian. Let's aspirate the News of the Bogus.
As always with the start of a new year, we'll go over some of the things that are now public domain as of January 1.
In the US, that's basically creative works from 1930 and sound recordings from 1925,
with the usual exceptions and caveats.
But it all means tons of stuff added to the Internet Archive, and for the first time since the 1970s,
we have works entering the public domain from a new decade!
As we covered in past years, it wasn't until 2019 that works were allowed to lapse into the public domain again.
So here, we're coming into the 1930s, the early uncertain years of the Great Depression,
and anxieties about banks and tariffs. The more things change...
It's also the year where sound in films becomes less of a gimmick and more of a storytelling aid.
We've got Buster Keaton's first talkie, Free and Easy,
the Academy Award-winning film adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front,
Animal Crackers by the Marx Brothers, Another Fine Mess with Laurel and Hardy, a bunch of new Disney cartoons,
and von Sternberg's pre-code romance Morocco.
Marlene Dietrich in a tux! So fine.
And if that doesn't satisfy your Dietrich fix, von Sernberg also directed her in The Blue Angel.
♪ A classic song that now is PD: ♪
♪ "Dream a Little Dream of Me" ♫
Together with "Georgia on My Mind," "Just a Gigolo," and "It Happened in Monterey,"
although again, not necessarily any particular sound recordings.
Characters (and their initial works) that are now PD include Nancy Drew,
Sam Spade, and Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.
Another surprise is Soup to Nuts, where none other than Rube Goldberg shares his crazy contraptions
with the help of the comedy trio of Howard, Fine, and Howard,
the film debut of the guys later known as The Three Stooges.
There's Alfred Hitchcock's Murder!, John Wayne's debut in The Big Trail,
and The Unholy Three, Lon Chaney Sr.'s final film and only talkie.
In the world of cartoons, we've got Blondie in the newspapers,
a new design for Mickey Mouse featuring the iconic white gloves,
and Ub Iwerks giving a middle finger to Disney
as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit stars in 24 new cartoons over at Walter Lantz Studios.
And speaking of cartoons, you can also enjoy Betty Boop as a serial killer in a new film
because her character is now PD as well, although it's not quite the Betty you know.
The one who debuted in Dizzy Dishes was an anthropomorphized dog,
so unless you're into furries you'll have to wait until next year to use the human version.
But come on: according to IMDB, you've got 1,365 pre-code films to fill your little movie-loving hearts!
Despite the gnashing of teeth from the studios, the public domain marches on,
and will until we wise up and realize how ridiculous copyright is to begin with!
Presenting: the greatest game this side of Yuggoth!
You are H.P. Lovecraft's cat, and your name is Ni***
...Right. We can't say that on a podcast.
Anyway, that's the point: Your name is a joke.
So now, you are out for revenge. You become...the NecronomiCat!
Using the Necronomicon, you come to the present day to buy a gat.
That's a gun. For a cat.
It's a phat cat gat.
But the Necronomicon is treacherous, and it let in Lovecraft's monsters.
Now, in a crumbling world, you must fight!
Build your team, buy guns and armor,
buy items of dubious legality, defeat the bosses of each level.
Then take Lovecraft down!
Play NecronomiCat! The link is at cat.bogosity.tv.
Yeah, we're doing cat.bogosity.tv, not...that other one.
What, you want me to get kicked off the Internet or something?
We've got good news and bad in the updates for a couple of Tesla-related stories we've been following.
We finally have the ruling for the Delaware Supreme Court
restoring Elon Musk's pay package that a Chancery judge ruled against in 2024.
Elon is entitled to the entire $55.8 billion.
The lawsuit, originated by an anonymous shareholder who bought two shares of stock,
followed by a lawyer who bought five,
pretended to represent all Tesla stockholders in the lawsuit opposing the pay package.
The package, which was to be Elon's only compensation from Tesla from 2018 to then,
was based on a number of very difficult milestones, each of which the company reached.
Not even an enthusiastic re-vote from the stockholders later that year would convince her to change course.
So, two stockholders with a handful of stock can override two majority votes!
The Delaware Supreme Court overturned it, ruling: "We reverse because:
(i) Musk could not be restored to the status quo ante after working
six years to meet the 2018 Grant's market capitalization and operational milestones;
(ii) his existing equity value increase based on his 2009 and 2012 Grants
did not substitute for his return to the status quo ante;
and (iii) it was not the Defendants' burden to prove that the parties
could be placed in the same position before Musk's performance."
In other words, there was no way to restore Musk
to the position he would have been in under the agreement as it existed before 2018.
So basically, the ruling meant that Musk had to work for Tesla for six years as CEO for free.
In overturning the lower court ruling, they reinstated the original plan.
But that doesn't mean Tesla's writing a $55 billion check to Musk.
This is in the form of stock options, which Musk only realizes if and when he exercises those options.
The shareholder who sued gets a whopping $1. Enjoy your one-sixth of a coffee.
The lawyers get paid, too, and all of that comes from Tesla, since this was a derivative suit.
This doesn't seem to be abating the "giant sucking sound" of companies moving from Delaware to greener pastures,
including Andreessen Horowitz moving from Delaware to Nevada.
It may stem the tide a bit, removing the big fear factor of CEOs losing their compensation entirely,
but this was still a judgement for the Plaintiffs
and nothing in it said that the basis of the lawsuit was unsound.
And remember, that wasn't about this one case.
This was just part of an overall perception of Delaware courts becoming corrupted under the Biden family,
which is acting against giant executive compensations, mergers, and related-party deals.
So it looks like it'll be up to state lawmakers if they want to make Delaware the go-to state for businesses again.
As long as a court can wipe out two shareholder votes on the basis of blatant lawfare
(someone buying a share or two just so they can sue), the "DExit" trend is going to continue.
California also seems determined to be the least business-friendly state
as they put up yet more roadblocks to self-driving cars.
A judge suspended Tesla's license to sell and make vehicles in California for 30 days.
They're claiming that the term Autopilot is deceptive because it requires active monitoring by a human.
Even though actual autopilots—you know, the ones on planes—require active monitoring by humans!
Pilots don't take a nap or watch Netflix while their autopilots are going!
This is a well-defined technical term in a heavily regulated industry
that means, "Hey, you're still flying this plane, y'know."
Drivers aren't considered consumers with their cars, either, because they are licensed.
And every ADAS system ever made—cruise control, lane keep, adaptive cruise—requires human supervision.
Tesla also discloses this, puts warnings on the screen, and even bleeps at you when you don't comply!
My Honda's cruise control doesn't do that!
It'll happily let the driver zone out to a podcast with zero judgement or correction.
But, California apparently thinks you're stupid and will never look beyond the one to three words of the brand.
Tesla has some time before penalties kick in, and they can appeal or seek a court review by February 14.
But the California DMV said in a statement it was easiest for Tesla to "just comply."
Sounds like they don't know Elon very well!
Especially given that this is a complaint by precisely zero Tesla owners.
It's doubtful that anything will get renamed.
Most likely result: they'll keep selling cars and people will forget after two or three news cycles.
Maybe they'll put in a couple disclaimers to make regulators feel like they're actually worth something.
Because that's really what this is about.
If you're on the Wi-Fi in a coffee shop or hotel,
anyone on that network can get access to your traffic.
Do you really trust all of those strangers?
For that matter, do you really trust your ISP?
A VPN can protect you from prying eyes, disguise your location, and even foil government censors.
It's essential in this day and age, so go to vpn.bogosity.tv and you'll be taken to BoxPN.
Starting at just $2.99/month,
you can get unlimited high-speed connections to VPN servers all over the world,
and they don't log connections so your privacy is assured.
Travelling abroad, just VPN home and don't worry about what those other governments are doing.
Back at home, stop your ISP from traffic-shaping
and messing with the quality internet access you're paying good money for.
You can connect from multiple machines at once, including your smartphone or tablet,
and it supports all the secure standards including OpenVPN and SSTP.
Bypass censors and surveillance with your own secure VPN connection. Go to vpn.bogosity.tv.
We also have a huge AI controversy on X
when people found that they could use Grok to make an image of someone sexual without their consent.
(Okay, sexual just means to put them in a bikini, so I guess we're back to Victorian times...)
That triggered UK communications regulatory agency Ofcom,
demanding answers from X Corp and xAI as to how such a horrible thing could be allowed to happen.
You know, maybe this is a GenX thing, but we had this thing,
and it doesn't seem to be in vogue now but maybe we should go back to it:
it's called "personal responsibility."
If someone does something bad with a tool— Grok or Photoshop or whatever—
it's their fault, not the people who made the tool.
An Ofcom spokespuppet said:
"We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have
taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK.
Based on their response, we will undertake a swift assessment
to determine whether there are potential compliance issues that warrant investigation."
Ngaire Alexander of the Internet Watch Foundation said, quote:
"There is no excuse for releasing products to the global public
which can be used to abuse and hurt people, especially children."
Wait, how many products could you actually say that about??? Shelves would be empty!
She actually fessed up and said that she hadn't actually seen the images on X.
She'd seen images on a Dark Web forum that may or may not have been generated by Grok.
By the way, everyone is aware that there are models you can just
download on your computer and do whatever you want to with, right?
She bleated: "We cannot and will not allow the proliferation of these demeaning and degrading images,
which are disproportionately aimed at women and girls.
Make no mistake, the UK will not tolerate the endless proliferation of disgusting and abusive material online.
We must all come together to stamp it out."
I guess the patriarchy is nothing without its handmaidens...
People, how many times have we been here?
Have you seen the stuff they were sharing back in the USENET days???
Polaroids, Photoshop, CGI, now AI, it's the same old same old.
X responded in a tweet:
"We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM),
by removing it, permanently suspending accounts,
and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.
Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content
will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.
For more information on our policies, please refer to our help pages
for our full X Rules and range of enforcement options."
Part of that was a quote of a previous tweet from Elon Musk:
"Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content."
Makes sense to me!
DogeDesigner said it best when he tweeted:
"Some people are saying Grok is creating inappropriate images.
But that's like blaming a pen for writing something bad.
A pen doesn't decide what gets written. The person holding it does.
Grok works the same way. What you get depends a lot on what you put in. Think about it!"
If someone nudifies an image of someone else, whether they do it with Photoshop or AI, hold them responsible!
And, while we're at it: why does the UK get to censor an American company?
I want to tell you about the eyeglasses I've been wearing for years.
As people can see on my videos, I have a very strong prescription,
which makes glasses more expensive, especially when I need computer glasses,
reading glasses, prescription sunglasses,
and most expensively, progressive lenses for general everyday wear.
To save money while still getting quality glasses, I get them from Firmoo.
In fact, I just got a pair of progressives with high index aspherical lenses
in a nice pair of frames my wife loves, for just over $100.
It would have been $500 to get them through my eye doctor.
Not only do they look good, the glasses are durable.
I've worn many pairs for several years without problems.
All orders come with a 30-day return policy,
a 3-month warranty, and one-on-one customer service.
Go to firmoo.bogosity.tv any time you need quality glasses at a low price.
Once again, that's firmoo.bogosity.tv.
And now it's time to cannibalize this week's Biggest Bogon Emitter.
We've talked about Anna's Archive before and the amazing gift it is to human posterity.
Which is why the big content cartels hate it.
Like with all such attempts, they often have to play hopscotch with top-level domains.
But unusually, this time it's the .org domain name that was taken down.
In the past, Anna's Archive didn't actually have any content, pirated or otherwise.
It's just a search engine for shadow libraries.
They also provide assistance to researchers who want to use it for various purposes such as AI model training.
But more recently, they announced a 300TB backup of Spotify.
As you might figure, several countries have blocked the site
and they were sued in the US after they scraped WorldCat.
But through it all, the .org name stayed operational...
until it didn't. Try to go to annas-archive.org and you'll find the domain has been set to SERVERHOLD.
Meanwhile, thepiratebay.org is still up. Just sayin'.
.org TLDs are managed by the Public Interest Registry, who in the past have refused to suspend domains.
But this time, a court order said you'd better.
So, of course, as a matter of public interest (it's even in the name!),
we should be able to see the court order and get information about all of this. Transparency, right?
Unfortunately, no, and PIR has refused to comment.
So the thinking is that it's about the Spotify backup and how it violated their holy DRMs.
But we just don't know. And it's hard to speculate, given that we've never seen this before.
By the way, Anna's Archive is very much still up. They still have their zillion other domain names.
Their archivist posted to Reddit:
"The .org domain apparently has been suspended. Our other domains work fine, and we've added some more.
We recommend checking our Wikipedia page for the latest domains.
This unfortunately happens to shadow libraries on a regular basis.
We don't believe this has to do with our Spotify backup."
Huh. That's weird. The archivist doesn't even know?
And if it's not the Spotify backup, then what?
As of this podcast prep, the other listed domains still work.
So it doesn't look like the site is going anywhere.
So thanks for another useless court making another useless order
tying people up in lawfare at the behest of their corporate masters.
But it's the lack of transparency that's troubling.
We're talking about a non-profit group heading up non-profit domains
used by a very significant chunk of the Internet.
If we can't get information from them, then what sort of transparency is ever available?
Is the secrecy part of the order? That's troubling enough.
The worst part is, they apparently don't even want to stand up to them
like so many other librarians have done and won.
It'd be harsh if the Public Interest Registry went down the path of collusion with corrupt government!
So all of that makes the Public Interest Registry this week's Biggest Bogon Emitter.
And now let's interdimensionalizationify this week's Idiot Extraordinaire.
Donald Trump again. For the same reason as many other presidents:
He's either clueless about the Monroe Doctrine, or he doesn't care.
The Monroe Doctrine is named after President James Monroe from a speech he made on 2 December 1823.
He said: "As a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved,
that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain,
are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers."
The doctrine holds that any intervention in the political affairs of any country in the Americas
is a hostile act against the United States.
It was a promise to the rest of the Americas that, if Europe messed with you, the US had your back.
In the 20th century, thanks to Teddy Roosevelt, this got extended to financial matters as well.
If a Latin American country mismanaged their finances or broke the bank,
there was a threat that European bankers would step in,
so Roosevelt expanded the Monroe Doctrine so that American bankers would step in instead.
In reality, this gave the US an excuse to intervene in places like Cuba, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Now, Trump has used the Monroe Doctrine to justify
the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Check the archives: this podcast is no fan of Maduro. So we're the last people to be on his side.
But the fact is, Trump misused the Monroe Doctrine to do exactly what
the Doctrine prevented the European powers from doing.
Monroe said in the same speech:
"With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power
we have not interfered and shall not interfere.
But with the Governments who have declared their independence and maintain it,
and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged,
we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them,
or controlling in any other manner their destiny,
by any European power in any other light
than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States."
There were two main points:
The US would intervene only if threatened or attacked by a European power,
and the US will not interfere with existing colonies or dependencies.
Now listen to the part that every President since and including Roosevelt has ignored:
"Our policy in regard to Europe is not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers;
to consider the government de facto as the legitimate government for us;
to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy,
meeting in all instances the just claims of every power, submitting to injuries from none."
But Trump claims the Doctrine means that American dominance, quote: "will never be questioned again."
That is not what the Monroe Doctrine is! This is direct military intervention. Regime change by any other name.
Not only is this not the Monroe Doctrine, it's also a violation of International Law.
There is no justification for forcibly removing a sitting head of state and transporting him to US soil.
It would be one thing if there were an actual war, although even then it would still be problematic.
But Trump has been the aggressor since the start.
Trump has been using fentanyl smuggling as the excuse to attack Venezuelan boats.
Of course, we've talked at length about the fentanyl problem,
its actual causes, and what should be done, so just search the archives for that.
Bottom line: this won't stop fentanyl at all.
Mostly due to the fact that very little of it's coming from Venezuela to begin with.
Most of it is manufactured in Mexico with precursors coming from China.
But even if we were to grant him all of that, smuggling drugs has never been considered an act of war.
And even if you want to stick to the US Constitution,
nothing even remotely resembling this is supposed to happen without a declaration of war from Congress.
He didn't even get an Authorization for Use of Military Force like George W. Bush did!
To summarize: according to Trump's logic, Venezuela is both a narco‑supervillain and an existential threat,
the US is the fearless world policeman, and centuries of legal precedent are just inconvenient footnotes.
A few fentanyl shipments— if they even existed—
let us shift the Monroe Doctrine to mean the US can kidnap foreign leaders like it's a Netflix action series.
International law? Minor detail.
Evidence? Overrated.
Geography? Pfft, who needs it?
Trump, so that he can go down in history as the greatest president ever,
casts every problem as a threat, every nation as a villain,
and every centuries-old doctrine as just rhetoric backing up his grandiose stunts.
In reality, he'll just be yet another presidential buffoon
trying to distract from our problems at home with a nice regime change war elsewhere.
Just like Obama, just like the Clintons.
Gee, aren't you glad we voted out the Democrats?
So all of that makes Donald Trump this week's Idiot Extraordinaire.
Well, that wraps up this "You like movies about gladiators?" edition of the Bogosity Podcast.
I hope you enjoyed it; if you did, please go to donate.bogosity.tv for several ways to support,
and discord.bogosity.tv to join the discussion.
Subscribe at the Discord, Patreon, or SubscribeStar and you can listen early and ad-free.
Thank you for listening. Until next time, here's a quote from Smedley Butler:
"It would have been far cheaper (not to say safer) for the average American who pays the bills
to stay out of foreign entanglements.
For a very few this racket, like bootlegging and other underworld rackets, brings fancy profits,
but the cost of operations is always transferred to the people—who do not profit."
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