Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

-  VDH on whither Europe? He doesn't say it but the EU and increased regulations are making them irrelevant.

- Reason: The Pilgrims dreamed of socialism, then socialism almost killed them. An old true story but with a new twist - John Stossel ties the story to student loan forgiveness.

- Noah Smith on why it may be time to take another hard look at the Egyptian economy.

- I thought I had trust issues.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- We live in a world where Playboy has more integrity than Harvard or any Ivy League school.

- VDH on Israel, Hamas, and the White House. Interesting that this appears on X where VDH knows his thoughts and words won't be censored.

- Glenn Harland Reynolds on Is Everything Going to Hell? He sees evidence the pendulum is swinging in the other direction.

- Noah Smith on how Western Leftists have lost the plot. When someone shows you who they are - believe them!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Interesting: 100 lesser known but useful websites (HT Recomendo)

- Noah Smith on why economy teachers are paid more than sociology teachers.

- Interesting profile of Deon Sanders. Forgot he played in MLB for the Reds, Giants, and Blue Jays.

- The coddling of the American journalists. We used to have a name for people who could dish it out but not take it. (HT Leather Penguin)

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

-  Peter Attia: Can peptides found in bee stings offer hope for treatment resistant breast cancers?

- A Constitution for Teenage Happiness. Gives me hope for the younger generation. Also made me out The History Boys on my Wish List.

- Noah Smith on decoupling with China.

- Bill Belichick on Tom Brady

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Noah Smith on how BRICS is not a real threat to the US. Don't disagree with what he wrote but I'd also warn against overlooking 50% of the world's population and oil production at your own peril. Was also unaware that BRICS was originally a creation of Goldman Sachs.

- Interesting: AI vs human performance

- The Tail End by Tim Urban. Interesting perspective (from 2015 but new to me)

- Wow! ND is a massive brand.

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Noah Smith on economists and economic policy. Believe in industrial policy to a point but more in tune with reciprocity. If a country has free trade with us - we should have free trade with them. If they impose a tariff - we likewise impose a tariff.

- Jonathan Turley on advocacy journalism. Everything is biased and reflects the viewpoint.We tend to gravitate towards those which agree with ours but at the same time remember to "take nobody's word" for anything.

- American Bar Association considers crackdown on "disruptive conduct."  Simply make the next White House Council or head of the DOJ a member of FIRE and the message will be made.

- How to get more exercise without changing your normal routine. I've avoided elevators when I can since I heard Kirk Douglas explain its one of the things he does to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Social Media

Noah Smith has a post on how Twitter and Social Media has liberated us by becoming less important. I have to disagree with Noah.

First off, any argument that makes the case that the "cool kids" no longer just toss off one-liner Tweets is a bad argument. The moral standing of "cool kid" experts has been a dumpster fire for a while now. No fault of Twitter or Social Media at all.

Next I would disagree that Twitter is in decline. When Elon Musk rate-limited users (verified accounts could read up to 6,000 Tweets a day while unverified accounts could read up to 600) - I did not see any degradation what so-ever. Perhaps it is just that I'm not Social Media or Twitter addicted or that I have a life. Perhaps because I thought Musk's stance on Free Speech was worth supporting and am a verified account - those 6,000 Tweets per day were plenty (maybe a reason to fork over that $8 per month - remember if a service is free that you're the product).

Finally, I would not be using Mark Zuckerberg's Threads of any evidence supporting my argument, You cannot be on Threads unless you're already on Instagram and just attaching things to a popular platform is the quickest way to ruin that platform. I'm tempted to see if Noah Smith was also arguing that Meta was the next big thing because that clearly was a huge misplay by Zuckerberg too.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Laughed way too much at this. I have the sense of humor of a 12-year old boy.

- Noah Smith on Indiamerica. India is a country we should be closer with - for many reason.

- High school debates have become the new woke target. This trend needs to be reversed. These people cannot take the light of day.

- Is this the beginning of the end for Vladimir Putin? Article asks, "Is this too good to be true?" and I agree (but for different reasons). Learn to spot propaganda.

More Linky Links

 More some stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Steven Pressfield on Children in the Wilderness. Make sure your kids know all about Moses. People are starting to forget.

- Noah Smith on when trying to "shape" AI innovation to protect workers is a bad idea. Well worth your time.

- The Diversity Myth by Peter Thiel. Again worth your time. Some of my favorite writers today.

- Brazil at Silicon Valley. We should be working to get closer to Brazil (and India).

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Don't care what NFL team you root for - this is friggin' funny.

- Noah Smith explains his new industrial policy. Don't always agree with Noah but he makes some good points.

- Speaking of the NFL - the Monday Night Football schedule seems a little underwhelming.

- Richard Feynman on Love, Life, and Science. Yesterday would have been his 105th birthday.

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Noah Smith "Yes, it's OK to be mad about crime in San Francisco."  It's just not OK to acknowledge the root cause of the problem - one party Democratic rule for decades. 

- Steven Pressfield on Escaping the Wilderness

- The decades of evidence that antidepressants cause mass shootings. The elephant in the room that nobody wants to address.

- Paul Graham the Need to Read

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Sharing a bed with pets may cause lack of sleep. 100% true but wouldn't change a thing. 

- The Groundhog Day of liberal fantasies.

- Heh Heh

- Noah Smith makes the case for banning TikTok. Agree 100%.

Timeline: The Shocking Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (and What's Next)

   Timeline: The Shocking Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

Noah Smith looks at what's next now that the banking crisis seems to have ended.

Quotes for Today

 Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"It's impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows." - Epictetus

"The man at the top of the mountain didn't fall there." - Vince Lombardi

"It's funny how everyone agrees that Facebook is called Meta now, but nobody really believes Google is Alphabet." - Noah Smith

"In a better world we'd get to hear what Michael Crichton and Christopher Hitchens had to say about the WEF." - Joel Engel

The End of the System of the World

Noah Smith with a very thoughtful analysis on how China came to be the manufacturing hub of the world and how that world is today unravelling. Thought the article was very well done. There were some things I'd disagree with (like how Noah describes China's handling of COVID - in my mind their Zero Covid policy is a disaster for China) but overall very well done.  

Two details from the article caught my eye:

• China has stopped publishing most of its economic statistics. If the numbers were good - do you think China would be hiding them?
• China's stocks are now trading below the value of their assets on paper. And with foreign investment fleeing - my guess is those stocks stay underwater.

I've never liked the term "Chimerica" because I've long thought the Chinese economy was more of a chimera (a mythical beast made up of different parts). Nothing in the article changed my opinion on that.

Two areas of potential trouble that weren't discussed in the article, IMHO, are the facts that China is neither energy nor food independent. The first can be solved by treating Russia as China's gas station (this opens up a number of other geopolitical issues) but the second will be harder to solve and could be something that becomes more and more of an issue for Xi Jinping's government. A hungry people used to having food will become less compliant and internal dissention against Xi's Marxist turn may not go over so well.

Anyway - the article is well worth you time.

The Ukraine War and the Price of Bread

Noah Smith with a look at how the War in Ukraine and the sanctions on Russia may impact the price of food. Between Russia and Ukraine that's 25% of the world's wheat.

Still think another way to help mitigate some of the after effects is to convert US farmland used for Ethanol corn over to the planting of human foodstuffs.  

How are the Big Sanctions Hurting Russia So Far?

Noah Smith with an interesting look at how the "Big Sanctions" are working in Russia.  The bottom line? "It's pretty clear that in any conceivable economic or financial terms, this was not worth it for Russia."

Noah also points out that Russia's one main saving grace may be oil exports. Where are all those Code Pink pussy hats when it really is a situation that calls for "no blood for oil?" 

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Broadcasters victorious as judge rules against Locast. Service still streaming but I wonder for how much longer (I use Locast for some live sports - particularly football). 

- Steven Pressfield: Elevating the Threshold of Panic (more Fighter Pilot Wisdom)  

- Noah Smith: Why is the Squad attacking Jerome Powell? Their number one stated reason is because they want the Fed more active in climate change. It's like the Squad wants to be cartoon Ayn Rand villains. 

- Highways and Bridges are Not Crumbling. "Congress should ditch the highway portion of the plan and instead shift all regional and local highway and bridge maintenance (and construction) responsibilities back to the states and cities." Agree 100%. (HT Newmark's Door)

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Noah Smith: Epistemic trespassing, or epistemic squatting? Love the phrase "epistemic trespassing" and I agree with Smith's overall argument. (As an aside - The Epistemic Trespasser would be a great name for a blog.)

- For the record - I called this trade. (Except I said a 3rd round pick but it looks like they'll get a 4th instead.)

- Heh Heh

- This gives off a serious mad-scientist vibe.