I remember, a year or so ago, when I first saw the AP's "donate" button at the upper-right corner of its website. The Associated Press has Shat in its own foxhole for years (I just love the occasional use of "shat"!) and wanted bailing out? Hah.

Well, I guess not enough people were sending it couch change.

Or else, so many people were that it figured it could grift off them.

It's now going into the e-commerce world, partnering with Taboola.

The shatting (past participle/gerund) in its own foxhole goes back 30 years to then AP board chair Dean-o Singleton, who convinced the rest of the board that the so-called "TV model" was a thing and AP did not need to worry about Internet 0.5, including not needing an early version of a paywall. AP then proceeded to undercharge news aggregators like Yahoo (remember when it was a "thing"?), not anticipate Reuters, then AFP, expanding their American presence, not adjust membership tiers and fees for U.S. member newspapers, and much more.

And, now, it wants to sell us shit.

What do we get?

A digital version of Dean-o's autograph? 

Options to buy into Alden Global Capital?

A model of the "TV model"?