That photo of Trump and Epstein on a plane? If you really want to believe, it’s probably an AI fake.

That photo of Trump and Epstein on a plane? If you really want to believe, it’s probably an AI fake.

Multiple people on my timeline recently shared the photo of Donald Trump and famous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein on a plane, shown below, which is a fake: How do I know it’s fake? As soon as I saw this, I was suspicious. Why? Because while I’ve seen other photos of Trump and Epstein together — as…

The Twitter endgame

The Twitter endgame

We’re not paying enough attention to the financing of Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase. It explains why he’s flailing now, and points to a shocking future for the social network. Where did Musk get the money to buy Twitter, and why does it matter? Of the $44 billion it took to buy Twitter, about $24 billion…

A Trump accountability innovation: How to take credit for winning and blame others for losing

A Trump accountability innovation: How to take credit for winning and blame others for losing

You may have thought the results of yesterday’s midterm elections were about the candidates who were running and the voters who were voting. Nope. They were about former President Donald Trump, who has decided this is his moment to return to the spotlight. In an interview with a new news organization, NewsNation, on Election Day,…

Why does the DOJ use so much passive voice in its Mar-a-Lago filing?

Why does the DOJ use so much passive voice in its Mar-a-Lago filing?

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a response to a recent Donald Trump request regarding the raid of Mar-a-Lago. Its filing is full of passive voice, a means of expression I’ve continually railed against. Why is it passive, and should the DOJ be writing in the active voice instead? Here’s a passage from the DOJ’s…

The prospects for Trump Media & Technology Group: A realistic assessment

The prospects for Trump Media & Technology Group: A realistic assessment

Yesterday, I posted a satiric take on the deck for Trump’s just-announced new media venture. Today, I deliver a serious assessment of what’s actually likely to happen with it. Let’s start with the credentials that let me make this assessment. Those of you who know me as a commentator on writing may not know that…

Revealed: Talk track for the Trump Media & Technology Group pitch deck

Revealed: Talk track for the Trump Media & Technology Group pitch deck

You probably read yesterday that Donald Trump is launching a media company, including a social networked called Truth Social, that will be publicly traded through a SPAC merger. You may even have seen that Insider found a copy of the pitch deck for this new media venture. But pitch decks are just slides. In a…

A tax on the stupid

A tax on the stupid

Donald Trump thinks you’re very dim. When I was a graduate student in the mathematics department at MIT, I heard this saying: Gambling is a tax on the stupid. Unless you have an actual edge (like a card counter), the house always wins. There is no system that will beat the house. You might win,…