A quiet week
I’ve been pretty sick for over a week now. Daycare is a Petri dish of germs and viruses, but most have them have passed me by; this one, in contrast, hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve been the sickest I’ve felt in years: a really
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Mastodon forms new U.S. non-profit
Mastodon has established itself as a US 501(c)(3) with a really exciting new board. I'm a long-term fan of Esra’a Al Shafei in particular - but the whole group is quite something. This coincides with Germany stripping Mastodon of non-profit status for unknown reasons. Hopefully
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I Am a Jewish Student at Columbia. Don’t Believe What You’re Being Told About ‘Campus Antisemitism’
"Here’s what you’re not being told: The most pressing threats to our safety as Jewish students do not come from tents on campus. Instead, they come from the Columbia administration inviting police onto campus, certain faculty members, and third-party organizations that dox undergraduates." A useful first-hand
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Struggling with a Moral Panic Once Again
"I have to admit that it's breaking my heart to watch a new generation of anxious parents think that they can address the struggles their kids are facing by eliminating technology from kids' lives." I've got so much more to say about this,
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‘In the US they think we’re communists!’ The 70,000 workers showing the world another way to earn a living
"Mondragón has become a beacon for the co-operative model, as a more humane and egalitarian way of doing business that puts “people over capital”. Every worker has a stake in the company’s fortunes and a say in how it is run, and receives a share of the profits.
Where I'm coming from
I’m paralyzed by the world. We seem to be at a kind of crossroads. There’s so much to be appalled by, so much to be worried about, and I worry that not saying something might be considered to be acquiescence or approval. So, in this moment, I thought
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A Message from the Chancellor on the Recent Student Protest
"The University administration respects all student protests, just not this one. Students have fought for many important causes over the years, and their right to protest is sacrosanct. In this case, however, we must arrest and slander them." Just completely spot on. #Democracy [Link]
The three operating system models of government
Evan Prodromou asks if we agree with Aristotle that there are three kinds of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. (As Evan points out, he actually defined six, with Polity — government by political organizations — ranked first. Which is what we have. Lucky us.) I’m a qualified yes on this — I
The xenophobic, un-American TikTok ban
The requirement for TikTok to relinquish Chinese ownership or face a nationwide ban was signed into law today, as an add-on to a foreign aid bill: But even as ridiculous as it is to tack on a TikTok ban to foreign spending support, Biden had made it clear he supported
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My Dinner With Andreessen
Marc Andreessen on poor people: “I’m glad there’s OxyContin and video games to keep those people quiet.” This also resonated with me: "One participant was a British former journalist become computer tycoon who had been awarded a lordship. He proclaimed that the Chinese middle class doesn’t
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As TikTok ban threatens stability in social media ecosystem, some brands settle into the fediverse
Buried here: "Vox Media’s technology news publication The Verge says it also has plans to federate its own site to have more ownership over its content and audience, according to The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel." The fediverse is both the future of social media and the future
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FTC Announces Rule Banning Noncompetes
This is genuinely wonderful: “The FTC’s final rule to ban noncompetes will ensure Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market.” This was already true for California; banning it nationwide is an enormous step for innovation everywhere.