Joshua Bloch

Tesla board awards $30bn of shares to Elon Musk Billionaire chief executive threatened to leave electric-vehicle maker if he was not given more stock

I'm confused. Did they do this because he just about destroyed the company, or because he needs the money so badly? www.ft.com/content/ae08...

Here's the Eagle Nebula (including the Pillars of Creation) from my backyard in San Jose. I did not use the Hubble palate, because I don't have an S-II filter.

It was premature of me to include Harvard in that list. They appear to be putting up a fight, as they said they would. Good for them! www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

It was clear from day one that "combat[ing] antisemitism" was pretextual. This is a naked attempt to control (and destroy) higher education, which is a traditional element of the authoritarian playbook. Any university that plays along (e.g., Columbia, Harvard, Cornell) is sacrificing its principles.

Gene Sperling Tweet: For anyone who spends even a split second taking even 1% of the Administration’s explanation for firing the BLS commissioner seriously, read the words of Bill Beach, the former Trump-appointed BLS commissioner: “These numbers are constructed by hundreds of people. They’re finalized by about 40 people. These 40 people are very professional people who have served under Republicans and Democrats. And the commissioner does not see these numbers until the Wednesday prior to the release on Friday. By that time, the numbers are completely set into the IT system. They have been programmed. They are simply reported to the commissioner, so the commissioner can on Thursday brief the president’s economic team. The commissioner doesn’t have any hand or any influence or any way of even knowing the data until they’re completely done. That’s true of the unemployment rate. That’s true of the jobs numbers.”

The BLS commissioner was not fired for reporting economic numbers inaccurately; he was fired for reporting them accurately rather than illegally lying about them to help Trump.

Trump’s Domestic Use of Military Set to Get Worse, Leaked Memo Shows A Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by TNR signals top-level discussions about a potential escalation of the Pentagon’s domestic anti-immigration role, and lays out new details.

This is not what democracy looks like. We are well on our way to becoming a failed state. newrepublic.com/article/1987...

Trump fires labor statistics chief after large revision to jobs report Trump orders firing of Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after release of large revisions to employment data

This is not what democracy looks like. We are going downhill fast. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

This is not what democracy looks like.

This is not what democracy looks like.

True, and fossil fuels are heavily subsidized. There is one energy source that is entirely dependent on subsidies, and that is ethanol. Those subsidies *should* be eliminated.

Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End America’s run as the premiere techno-superpower may be over.

Trump is murdering science in America. If I were getting my PhD today, my first job would likely be elsewhere. When my (undergrad) students ask me about internships, I'll advise them to establish connections elsewhere, in case they need them. Truly tragic. www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Here is the purpose of this $10 million taxpayer funded trip: to participate in the grand opening of a new golf course, the profits from which flow into his own pocket. The WH is broadcasting this as an official event.

Waste, fraud, and abuse alert! I'm sure DOGE will get right on it.

And don't forget ethanol, a truly horrific energy source that wouldn't exist without subsidies.

Yes indeed! That is exactly what I was thinking of.

Pop Quiz: What professional achievement do Tom Lehrer and Donald Knuth have in common? Don't Google it (or otherwise look it up); that would be cheating.

Tom Lehrer, master satirist of Cold War era, dies at 97 In song, he brilliantly skewered clichés about romance, patriotism and small-town life.

R.I.P. Tom Lehrer. His work was astonishingly funny, and influenced generations of nerds. www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...

Sorry, I didn't see this until today, but yes, that's a good suggestion. I will donate to them.

This is not what democracy looks like.

YouTube video by AaronGrooves Cello Suite "Prelude in G" on Marimba (w/ 4 Mallets) by J. S. Bach

If you think vibe coding is good, you should try marimba coding! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2F3...

This is what happened to Washington Post after they bent the knee. Now Columbia University is following their game plan. Why on earth would a venerable institution do that to itself?

Sorry about the lack of alt-text. It was an oversight on my part, and it was too late to "fix" (i.e. delete and repost) when I noticed. I do try to add alt-text to all the images I post, but sometimes I forget.

Yep. Here's what I did: bsky.app/profile/josh...

This is not what democracy looks like.

Here's how I responded to the news: bsky.app/profile/did:...

It's Columbia shorthand for the fact that I got a B.S. from their engineering school in 1982.

I am dead serious about this. I would take great pleasure in donating to such a fund, and I'd help publicize it.

Amen. I haven't forgotten my promise to redirect my (modest) annual alumni donation an institution that actually cares about preserving our democracy. Perhaps Princeton et al should set up a fund for disaffected alums of other schools, with the express purpose of fighting governmental interference?

Dear Office of Alumni Relations and Development, I read with disgust and sadness the agreement that Columbia signed with the Trump administration today. It seems apparent that the Columbia University that I knew and loved no longer exists. Please take me off the alumni list, stop sending me solicitations and activity notices, and cancel my subscription to Columbia Magazine. For my part, I will no longer be making annual contributions to the University (knowing that you may pass them on to the Trump administration, which will likely use them for evil purposes). Similarly, I've removed Columbia University from my will, effective today (7/23/2025). With great sadness, Dr. Joshua Bloch, E '82

Indeed. This was my response. It really hurts to see great institutions collapsing around you, especially institutions you loved.

It may not be worse than expected, but that's because expectations were so low. FWIW, this was my response to Columbia's deal with the Trump administration:

I sent Columbia a letter to that effect when the Trump administration first came after them. Fat lot good it did. But I agree, I'd love to see many alumni of many institutions do exactly that.