Colin 🇺🇸

How one country stopped a Trump-style authoritarian in his tracks What Brazil got right that America got wrong.

The Brazilian political system is, structurally, very similar to the American one. But when they elected a Trump-style authoritarian back in 2018, their Congress and Supreme Court actually fought back.

I went to Brazil to find out why. And what I learned surprised me.

www.vox.com/politics/479...

I thought this days ago. But:

1. seems 🇺🇸 & 🌎 FINALLY waking up to the fact that this is real fascism danger +

2. organized, peaceful resistance in MN is working. Through such pain.

Chance to emerge in future as the culture & spirit that beat fascism at home.

An special role that would be. 🤞🏻

It is far past time for every lawmaker who represents us to vote against funding ICE.

This is one of the things that makes me sad and also long-term optimistic.

Ring the alarum-bell! Murder and treason!

This is the tyranny that America was founded to stop.

Makes me so sad.

Red Rising

“The power of the less powerful begins with honesty.”

"We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition" Remarks by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at World Economic Forum

“Middle powers aren’t powerless. They have the power to build a new order that integrates our values, like respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and the territorial integrity of states.”

Full remarks:

steveschmidt.substack.com/p/we-are-in-...

This is the clarity needed today:

Front pages of American newspapers after Jan. 6, 2021, with headlines like "Capitol Chaos," "Assault on Democracy," "Pro-Trump mob storms Capitol."

Five years ago.

Oura is winning young women and losing gym rats, and it's fine with that | TechCrunch Oura's chief commercial officer doesn't seem particularly worried about capturing every demographic. Instead, she's focused on keeping Oura’s core users happy while organically attracting new segments. And young women are becoming part of that core market.

Oura's chief commercial officer doesn't seem particularly worried about capturing every demographic. Instead, she's focused on keeping Oura’s core users happy while organically attracting new segments. And young women are becoming part of that core market.

@ryansutton.bsky.social interesting for you…

The Democrats' Path Forward: Become the Anti-Corruption Party But to reform the system they first need to reform the Democratic Party.

Compelling piece from @adambonica.bsky.social. It's bad that voters think both Dems and GOP are corrupt. I think there's something to a "clean house" brand refresh for the Dems. But I suspect outsiders are going to have to do the refreshing.
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-democr...

One policy solution to Young Men we should be considering is Universal Basic Electric Guitar (UBEG). I'm not joking, by the way. Kids of any gender should get a low-cost starter kit for some hobby of their choosing once they turn 13. A camera, paints, a cheap sampler, etc.

Confirmation Bias in LLM Responses and Potential Educational Mitigations A couple notes on an interesting problem and some possible educational approaches to it

Wrote a little exploration of confirmation bias in LLM responses and on whether educational mitigations could help. It's a tiny constructed example, but keeping it small allows for some experimentation showing some fascinating behavior I haven't seen detailed before.

The 2024 calendar was an undemocratic aberration.

Btw I can confirm part of this 1sthand - I spoke at length with Rep. Clyburn last summer. His take: no interest in SC going first and in fact sees SC’s more traditional spot, after N.H., pre-Super Tuesday, as the ‘kingmaker spot (he’s right). As it was in 2020, 2016, etc #nhpolitics #fitn.

The DNC Will Have No Choice But to Restore New Hampshire’s First-In-the-Nation Role Democrats Want Party Unity. The Answer May Lie in New Hampshire.

There is a lot that is pretty spot-on here — including both the likelihood that NH leads off 2028 and the kicker telling N.H. to approach the calendar with humility.

(especially amidst all the ongoing threats to free and fair elections)

#nhpolitics #fitn

www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Bluesky's CEO warns you shouldn't 'fully outsource your thinking' to AI Bluesky CEO Jay Graber emphasized the importance of critical thinking and developing a generalist skillset for the AI era.

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber emphasized the importance of critical thinking and developing a generalist skillset for the AI era.

We need to make it illegal for AI models to offer advertising. And, we need to really examine referral fees as well.

The last thing we need is to have algorithms designed to maximize revenue driving LLM output and interactions.

We need to have learned our lessons from algos in social media

What are our out of cereal??

The Intercontinental is a bit out of the way (30 min+ walk to old town) but convenient to airport and really nice outdoor pool, patio, gym, sauna etc. Near the UN. Kinda corporate. Lots of diplomats.

My wife said CitizenM (downtown) is nice modern funky.

The em dash is HIGH LITERATURE. I am aghast at them coming for the em dash as an AI giveaway. Pry it from poets & fiction writers who write sentence-long paragraphs' dead hands!

Life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness /
We fought for these ideals we shouldn't settle
for less.

It’s possible I watch #TheBear just for the music.

Trump is claiming his strikes on Iran made the American people safer. He is dangerously wrong.

I served two combat tours in Iraq and am now on the Armed Services Committee.

His actions were not only unconstitutional, they have made America less safe – not more.

Here’s why:

🧵

Highly recommend this recipe. Chilled
Pie, not too sweet (except graham cracker crust). Make it every July when the berries come out. Not a traditional gloppy berry pie.

Wow! I'm told from State House that the Committee of Conference just voted this BACK INTO THE BUDGET! #nhpolitics