Guys, really. Our apparently brisk GDP growth is down largely to rentierism, attaching ever more, ever larger tolls to everything. It’s not meaningful prosperity. We are miserable. Don’t emulate us. Stick with Universal Scandinavia. cf @crookedfootball https://crookedtimber.org/2025/01/29/the-death-of-the-hope-of-progress-and-the-fear-of-being-left-behind/
“No, I do not want AI to ‘polish’ me.” #JennyLawson https://thebloggess.com/2025/01/28/no-i-do-not-want-ai-to-polish-me/
“governments of the ostensible ‘centre-left’…are incapable of reviving neoliberalism in its progressive, internationalist guise, but are also unwilling to properly embrace the legacy of postwar social democratic nationalism.” #DavidTimoney https://fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-pivot-of-history.html
[tech notebook] Adolescent DeepSeek on a Mac laptop https://tech.interfluidity.com/2025/01/28/adolescent-deepseek-on-a-mac-laptop/index.html
(i’m morbidly curious how Apple will handle the Gulf of Mexico thing.)
Norms only exist when there is a community of agents to enforce them. When there are only two agents, there’s no such thing as a norm, only cooperation or conflict. 1/
There can be Nash equilibria supporting cooperation with only two players, sure. But they’re fragile in practice. If defection yields a strong negative payout to the sole other player, its capacity to punish ex post and so deter ex ante will be weak. 2/
Norms can be thought of as Nash equilibria in very multiplayer games. They are strong if (and only if) defection can’t kneecap the whole community’s capability to punish. In practice that’s often the case. 3/
When there are broad communities, norms really can support cooperation! But much less so when the game collapses effectively to only two players. /fin
proclaim policy so extreme and destructive it’d be the dog catching the car if actually implemented. then walk it back declaring some misunderstanding or bullshit victory. 1/
you never have to face or be held accountable for the consequences of your proposals. you thrill your partisans. you leave your opponents bewildered and preoccupied. they come off as overwrought, nervous nellies. /fin
from @jbouie https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/opinion/democrats-trump-opposition.html
democrats are always trying to be “generic democrat”. no one is mad at generic democrat, no donor is alienated. generic democrat polls pretty well!
but generic democrat is an empty suit. we need people to lead, or, right now, to brawl.
Text: At the heart of all of this - whether it comes from congressional leaders, ordinary lawmakers or top pollsters - is the idea that Democrats can float above the fray and reap the political rewards of any chaos and dysfunction. Besides, voters say they want compromise - and what else can Democrats do but follow the polls?
[tech notebook] Baby DeepSeek on a Mac laptop https://tech.interfluidity.com/2025/01/28/baby-deepseek-on-on-mac-laptop/index.html
i wonder if banks will discount frozen grants.
some people prefer the negative income tax and others prefer the universal basic income, so they compromised on the negative basic income.
i feel like my kid's fifth grade teacher really dodged a bullet. they covered the geography of the US southeast, including the Gulf of Mexico, like a month ago. it'd be a no-win situation if she had to teach it now.
If Trump passed an executive order claiming "yuge" the official spelling of TWFKAH (the word formerly known as "huge"), would @merriamwebster just comply, maybe listing the h-version as an alternate or archaic spelling?
But Google, Google, isdoubleplusgoodd. https://mstdn.social/@GottaLaff/113903238775301885
yes, of course the shit they do is outrageous. but they love to be raged at. they thirst for our anger.
the shit they do is also stupid, pathetic, and hilarious.
they don't love to be laughed at. we love to laugh.
win-win!
You just earned 18 points.
i think we should commit to $2T Made-In-America AI capex, just to prove to China we can't be bowed.
Galaxygate, mofos.
May I speak to the person in charge of your cleaning services?
it’s a paradox, but ads subtract.
“To predict the consequences of an invasion and seizure of Greenland is unthinkable because it’s like asking ‘what would happen if gravity smelled like Roquefort?’ And yet!” @profmusgrave https://musgrave.substack.com/p/the-green-dawn-scenario