Chris Lewis

Something I find curious is how much time "popularists" like @mattyglesias.bsky.social spend talking about nuclear power and fossil fuels--and how much time they spend urging Democrats to talk about them.

www.pewresearch.org/science/2025...

For sure!

But as far as whether "bigness" has intrinsic characteristics, I think it's worth considering the argument that America's concentration of wealth has inherently negative effects on, say, democracy.

I wish I could find a good articulation of this and I can't rn. But think Elon Musk in 2025...

1) large companies impact the world negatively in various ways, and 2) it's within our power to build a society that retains most of the good that comes from those large companies (eg. technological innovation) while also eliminating most of the harms

Seems like this is verging on a question like "are big companies like Google and Uber a net good or bad for society?"

I'm not sure where I'd begin with that one. What's much clearer to me is:

Also, the article says the biggest increase is mental health accommodations—over a period when we have lots of data suggesting youth mental health is worsening

That’s why I said “perceived similarity”

I guess I'd emphasize the "corporate" part of the original post over "tech." I suspect a fair amount of Waymo scepticism comes from its apparent similarity to companies like Uber and the rest of Silicon Valley--companies that have had some socially corrosive impacts.

Well, you did see the original tweet was ultimately critiquing tech scepticism, right?

Doesn't make it wrong!

Many of us have well-justified biases against the Waymos of the world. Myself included. It's totally reasonable to be sceptical of technological fixes proferred by big corporations.

But it's worth also admitting that this is a case where that scepticism might lead you astray.

Everything you hear about climate change making things uninsurable is not some inevitable force but actually about this: the politics of housing , tax bases and the FIRE (finance insurance real estate) sector. bsky.app/profile/volt...

Banana leaves and powerlines with sunset and mountains in the background.

Looking west from near El Durazno, Chiquimula last night at sunset.

Amazingly well put. Has @whstancil.bsky.social read this?

this is what ten years of obsession with "wokeness" in the media was trying to get to btw bsky.app/profile/mari...

TRUMP [after spending 5 minutes with Zohran]: surplus value, it’s a very wonderful thing, very wonderful, and they’re stealing it. Can you believe that?

We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to

Sometimes you gotta do it again to catch the triple spaces

The leading Senate Dem won't say whether he'll vote for his party's nominee for mayor of the city he lives in.

If the 2028 nominee is contentious, some people will remember this.

Tomato, tomatillo, jalapeño, raspberry, lavender, zinnia and calendula.

Wisconsin frosts starting to roll in but we've still been bringing in a few more bits and bobs from the yard.

Genetic diversity, gene flow, and differentiation among wild, semiwild, and landrace chile pepper (Capsicum annuum) populations in Oaxaca, Mexico Premise Capsicum annuum (Solanaceae) was originally domesticated in Mexico, where wild (C. annuum var. glabriusculum) and cultivated (C. annuum var. annuum) chile pepper populations (>60 landraces) ...

Source: bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Along the Oaxaca coast, there is evidence on ongoing gene exchange between peppers and their wild relatives. Bell peppers, cayennes, and others maintain their genetic diversity in part through infusions of DNA from their wild relatives. People and nature working together to make the next jalapeño?

Eh nevermind I take it back.

I haven't. Who or what is this in reference to?

With the right practices, "we can transition our food production practices from a source of emissions to a sink."

(Not sure what to make of the Mayan branding on the gin, but the bottle does say it was approved by the Guatemalan ministry of culture…)

A bottle of rum and a bottle of gin.

Quite excited for the newest additions to the household cocktail roster:

1) Rum aged in Spanish wine barrels.
2) Guatemalan gin—no juniper, but instead orange, lime, bay leaf, cardamom, allspice and Mexican tarragon.

This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.

Community action works.

Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...

Also a big factor in why Klein types are constantly talking about moving right on social issues—but never meeting voters where they are on economic populism.

Chart of maize yield (kg/ha) in Guatemala from 1961 to 2023. Trend is generally upward, with declines beginning around 2018.

Chart of bean yield (kg/ha) in Guatemala from 1961 to 2023. Trend is generally upward, with declines beginning around 2018.

Here in Guatemala, I’m hearing lots of stories of declining crop yields due to climate change, so I thought I’d see what trends show up in FAO data.

Not good! It’s possible that these trends prove to be short-lived, just like past dips. But the last few years are not an encouraging sign.

Really seems like we might be at a watershed moment for this.

Good news. I've come to think of social media as our generation's version of tobacco: Cigarettes for your brain. I'm trying to cut back too.