There really aren’t a lot of things you can get 5 million people to agree on in the United States these days. Not even what to watch on TV. 5 million would be a pretty good viewership for a popular…
No More Kings: Not Here, Not Ever
I pointed this out back in February: This is America; we don’t do royalty. It’s really very basic civics. You literally cannot get more un-American than caring about the King or Queen of England. But trying to be a King…
You Should Read This: Will Trump Force America to Break Up?
Bill McKibben at Mother Jones dipped his toe in the water yesterday with a piece titled “Will Trump Force America to Break Up?“. It’s pretty good. The closing paragraph does a decent job of summing up the current situation: Maybe…
Oh, Gavin: You Are Really Not Meeting This Moment
Governor Newsom, you need to step up your game here. ‘Cause this is only going to get worse. Let’s set aside the issue of jackbooted federal thugs roaming the streets with masks and assault rifles. Firstly, because the whole country…
You Should Read This: Feudalism Is Our Future
The Atlantic has a very good piece by Cullen Murphy up titled “Feudalism Is Our Future” (archive link). The title overstates things a bit. It’s not that they’re saying that the future as described is inevitable. The article is arguing…
Fragile Empires: Falling Slowly At First, Then All At Once
Everything happens faster in the modern world than it used to. This is natural. It’s basically a side-effect of more advanced technology. Communications are faster; transport of people and goods is faster. Change, even, in infrastructure and society is faster.…
All Mixed Up: U.S. Law Needs A Procedural Re-Think
I don’t want to think about the ongoing coup this morning, so here’s something that’s been bouncing around in my head for a while. We need to change how the U.S. legal process works. Currently, the actual process of making…
Unitary Executive: Proving The Anti-Federalists Were Right
OK, it took over 200 years to get to this point, but with the Supreme Court’s turn to the bogus “Unitary Executive” concept it looks like the Anti-Federalist position is being proved correct. So, yay? Predicting that a strong central…
Tax Everyone: No More Religious Exemptions
It’s time to stop pretending that churches are special. They are, in essence, social clubs for people who share some common belief. Like the Elks or the Masons, but with a side of actually believing that the rituals do stuff…
You Should Read This: The Era Of The Business Idiot
Ed Zitron has been on something of a tear lately. And I am here for it. I don’t agree with everything he says. This is mostly because I think he’s too generous in saying that LLMs surely have some practical…