once we had david and goliath. now we have big pharma and little grifter.

so we’ve got to be at least like ten percent, fifteen percent, of the way through trump’s term, right? at least we’re making progress, working our way towards an end of this.

it’s not a shutdown it’s a muskdown.

it’s bigcos that used to have prompt, 24-hour telephone customer service that now have limit hour service behind extraordinarily frustrating information systems designed to discourage customers. bigcos should be able to afford now what they used to afford then, but just don’t.

labor is only more expensive now than then (is it in fact more expensive now than then, in inflation-adjusted terms) to the degree productivity has increased its opportunity cost. in other words, it would be absolutely more expensive, but still cheaper relative to the size of the economy.

a shutdown locked in place by a prolonged fight over the speakership that would have to be resolved before addressing the shutdown sounds, um, great.

so is this a feint, a prod that maybe gets something or another renegotiated, or are they really gonna scrooge the holidays with a shutdown?

📌

a problem is we have no clear consensus (even among left-liberals) of what constitutes “real free speech” in an age of concentrated ownership, network effects, unaccountable algorithmic amplification. we agree upon certain plain violations, but lack a coherent framework on what to uphold and defend

if we're so much richer now, why can't we afford someone to answer the phone when we call up a business?

you can't go wrong with "zillions".

Basically, Tesla will print money because it will be the only untariffed supplier of Chinese EVs. Great industrial policy there.

from @jpkoning.bsky.social jpkoning.blogspot.com/2024/12/afte...

tech titans are like that joke about self-styled "non-conformists" ostentatiously converging on the same set of "eccentricities". LLMs everywhere! nuclear announcements within days of one another! must contribute to inaugural fund of bold new administration! truly these are independent minds.

“Either democracy was on the ballot in November, or it wasn’t, and if it was, it makes no political, ethical or strategic sense to act as if we live in normal times.” @jamellebouie.net www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/o...

or maybe not, linkedin.

we talk about “white collar crime” but perhaps we need to talk more about “white collar murder”.

weird how the we-have-to-introduce-incentives ed reform crowd has so little to say about a democratic party that hews strictly to seniority despite failure after failure by incumbent leadership.

such a civilized state.

do your kids get COVID vaccinations at their pediatricians, along with flu + other childhood vaccinations? both here in Florida (stereotypically) but also in California, pediatricians who had every other vaccination did not have COVID, and we had to use Walgreens or CVS to get the kid a COVID shot.