Tough times don't build character, they reveal it. And this era has shown who has moral character and who doesn't.

the kind of boring and banal truth about AI tools is that they are basically like every other tool in that they work best to complement your existing areas of expertise, have limitations, and do require an investment of time to learn their capabilities and limitations.

IMO, One of The Lessons of this era has been: "If it's Too Centralized, It's too Easy for Bad Actors to Take Over".

Decentralized systems are less efficient, but more robust (and harder to take over).

18th cent Federalism probably saved us on Jan 6th, tbh.

We need MORE of it. Not less.

The thing to understand about "papers please" fascism is that they don't actually care if you have your papers. They abduct whoever they please and do whatever they want with them.

People need to accept that things can change – in either direction: It really could get much, much worse. But it could also get better. There is nothing inevitable about either doom or progress. We are neither fated nor guaranteed to experience the status quo for all eternity.

As I have said long time, the court really did take over the job of social issue response with pressure relief votes as legislature deferred. Executive agencies really did take over the job of creating legislation as the legislature became evermore calcified.

Everything is the legislature breaking.

Upon learning that your own mistake sent an innocent father to a brutal prison where he’s likely to be tortured, anyone with a shred of decency would be overcome with shame and fight like hell to get him back.

They think it’s funny.

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

What I find more amazing than Trump’s rhetoric is that observers still don’t take him seriously enough. This isn’t a joke. It’s not deranged to arrive at the worst possible conclusion of his intentions. The same people who insist he’s unserious also said that Jan. 6th would never happen.

Today is a reminder of Zelensky's superhuman stamina and strength. He deflected deeply unfair vile attacks in his 3rd language and kept it together while two bullies threatened his country's existence and repeated the tired but infuriating propaganda tropes of the aggressor.

Authoritarians exploit frustration with stagnant institutions, while disinformation fuels cynicism and disengagement. A stronger democracy isn’t just about defending it—it’s about making it work. That means tackling corruption, increasing transparency, and ensuring public input leads to real change.

This should go without saying, but none of this is about efficiency; it’s about breaking the wills of anyone earnest enough to view public service as a worthy calling and, by extension, to undercut the draw of service for a generation.

Here’s the pitch:

They hire back the accidentally-fired bird flu folks *and* the accidentally-fired nuclear security guys BUT they put them in each other’s jobs — also by accident!

It’s TRADING PLACES meets FAILSAFE meets CONTAGION — and maybe also FREAKY FRIDAY!

Need a title.

Mind-boggling wreckage. Among the lifesaving programs now disrupted by Elon’s attack on @USAID: phase 1 trials for a possible HIV vaccine.

the 'they're all corrupt, nothing matters' attitude is one of the reasons Russia is a godawful place and it's very worrying how much it's spreading in the United States