Yesterday President Trump issued an executive order renaming the Department of Defense to “Department of War.” It was a refreshingly direct description of what the department actually does (or more accurately, the parts of what it does that the Trump administration would like you to focus on). In that spirit, can you identify the renamed…
Newsletter 107: How young adults got a raw deal, preparing for the writing trek, sign onto the Anthropic lawsuit, plus three people to follow, three books to read, and another chance to make your voice heard. Spare a thought for Generation Z I’m a Baby Boomer. Very few of my followers are in Gen Z….
Newsletter 105. Trump’s ultimate goal is the destruction of reality, or at least how we measure it. Plus, will AI doom consultancies; Johns Hopkins licenses books for a pittance, three people to follow, and three books to read. The war on reality We’ve heard past presidents declare war on concepts: the war on cancer, the…
What happens when people demand something illegal? We find a way to make it legal and compensate those whose content was stolen. That’s what’s about to happen with AI. We’ve seen this over and over with digital innovations. Napster made electronic access to all music possible — but violated the rights of musicians and record…
In this year’s primary for New York City mayor, two candidates who were attracting similar followings endorsed each other. Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is why. Let’s take a look at how RCV has affected past elections and how it’s likely to affect future voting. Ranked-choice voting has already affected US elections In a ranked-choice voting system,…
Congress is currently debating major legislation that would cut taxes, especially on corporations and richer Americans, and reduce spending on Medicaid and other programs. In what has to be a peak of Orwellian silliness and as a tribute to how President Trump speaks, it’s called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But before you blame…
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” — George Orwell, 1984 Have you ever made a mistake? (I have made many.) Have you said something publicly that was wrong? (I sure did.) Did you have to admit that you were wrong? (I…
There is no right way of thinking. Diversity of thought is what creates progress. If you can only think of what has already been thought of, no one ever learns anything new. Diversity of thought comes from diversity of viewpoints. Young people, maturing people, old people. Single people, married people. Men, women, non-binary people. People…
Donald Trump’s tariff-centered push to remake who we are as a nation reminded me of something I’d seen before: a pivot. What is a pivot? In the world of startups, a pivot is radical decision to shift the strategic direction of a company, usually because the original strategy is just not resonating. You see this,…