"The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends. It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace. They never are." (A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin)

cf @paninid https://mastodon.world/@paninid/112268182344408843

[new draft post] Seeing like a CEO https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2024/04/14/seeing-like-a-ceo/index.html

guys? i don’t think it would work. where’s the collective digestive system? https://todon.eu/@RadicalGraffiti/112242221125101821

the word “because” is so frequently an act of hubris.

the worst thing that could happen to the Palestinians is a war “on their behalf” that pits Israel and the US and US-aligned Arab states against Iran and its proxies and allies. in the context of an “existential war”, anything could be done and making too much of a fuss about it would just be aid and comfort to the enemy. queasy stuff would be cut from the newsreels, downranked and piled on in social media. the Smotriches would have their way, often in the worst way. war is hell, you know.

@admitsWrongIfProven @Alon yes!

we are the worst and that's why we're different. (negative exceptionalism)

we are the best and that's why we're different. (positive exceptionalism)

"The connection between negative exceptionalism and bad practices is that negative exceptionalism always tells the reformer: 'we’re ungovernable, this can’t possibly work here.'" @Alon https://pedestrianobservations.com/2022/08/18/negative-exceptionalism-and-fake-self-criticism/ ht #MarketUrbanism

"The fundamental problem is that most layers in the software stack are highly concentrated, starting with the three operating systems. Network effects and economies of scale apply at every layer. Remember "no-one ever gets fired for buying IBM"? At the Ethereum layer, it is "no-one ever gets fired using Geth" because, if there was ever a big problem with Geth, the blame would be so widely shared." #DavidRosenthal #DSHR on how "Decentralized Systems Aren't" https://blog.dshr.org/2024/04/decentralized-systems-arent.html

the word "fuchsia" is kind of funny when naively sounded out.

the path to freedom isn't to make hairshirt consumer choices, but to retake for the broad public and deploy state power. cf @pluralistic https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/12/give-me-convenience/

[new draft post] Indirection and the character of capitalism (Part II) https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2024/04/11/indirection-and-the-character-of-capitalism-part-ii/index.html

days like today i'm so grateful for the thunder.

@John your attack was motivated by the noblest ideals.

“Fresh Kitchen” wasn’t the first thing I thought.

for which party do the homeless primarily vote?

somehow that's a demo you never see in the crosstabs.

we found this on the street a couple of days ago.

Would you read an e-book on an Apple Vision Pro?

I’m grateful to @simondlr for his thoughts on approval voting, in a newsletter that is thoughtful and interesting in general. I’ve never seen a squirrel carry her babies from one place to another. I hope I do someday. https://sceneswithsimon.com/p/where-to-start-your-story

if you traveled yesterday to see the eclipse, you were leapin’ and hoppin’ on a moonshadow.

i hate to link a thread over there, but i am glad there are Israelis of note who are sober about their situation.

no doubt former attorney general Michael Ben-Yair will be and has long been considered beyond the pale by many in Israel, precisely because he is not.

“The State of Israel was founded by inspiring and visionary statesmen. It is collapsing due to the evil madness of small and pathless politicians.”

Read the whole thread. https://x.com/benzionsanders/status/1777634382896902388