Louis V. Galdieri @lvgaldieri

A Global Politics That Will Finally Save the World? All of us must do our part and subject world leaders to extreme and relentless public pressure. The challenge of stranding potentially trillions of dollars in fossil capital and rebuilding the world is enormous. Of course, global leaders and officials will take the easier, cowardly road if they can get away with it. As we cross the 1.5C threshold into uncharted climatic territory, …

A Global Politics That Will Finally Save the World?

All of us must do our part and subject world leaders to extreme and relentless public pressure. The challenge of stranding potentially trillions of dollars in fossil capital and rebuilding the world is enormous. Of course, global leaders and…

24.11.2025 14:54 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Where are Grinevsky’s Notes? And why am I only just now learning about Andrei Gromyko's three rules for negotiating with the West? 1) demand the maximum – do not meekly ask, but demand that which has never been yours; 2) present ultimatums – do not hold back on threats, since you will always find people in the West who are willing to negotiate; and…

Where are Grinevsky’s Notes?

And why am I only just now learning about Andrei Gromyko's three rules for negotiating with the West? 1) demand the maximum – do not meekly ask, but demand that which has never been yours; 2) present ultimatums – do not hold back on threats, since you will always find…

22.11.2025 16:58 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Alt Text for Pete Hegseth’s November 1st Boat Strike Video Like many of the boat strike videos posted to social media by Trump, Hegseth, and the White House, the video of the attack conducted in the Caribbean on November 1st was edited and heavily redacted before its release. Like the other videos, it masquerades as "unclassified" public disclosure, but it discloses almost nothing at all. We are being asked to rely on the stories Hegseth and other administration figures tell when they post these videos on social media.

Alt Text for Pete Hegseth’s November 1st Boat Strike Video

Like many of the boat strike videos posted to social media by Trump, Hegseth, and the White House, the video of the attack conducted in the Caribbean on November 1st was edited and heavily redacted before its release. Like the other…

03.11.2025 17:47 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

All the Boat Strike Videos, To Date, in Chronological Order In my last couple of posts (here and here), I've been trying to look closely at some of the latest boat strike videos, call out some of their features, and discuss the information they offer as well as the information they withhold. It might also be helpful to look at all the boat strike videos in a single chronological sequence.

All the Boat Strike Videos, To Date, in Chronological Order

In my last couple of posts (here and here), I've been trying to look closely at some of the latest boat strike videos, call out some of their features, and discuss the information they offer as well as the information they withhold. It…

31.10.2025 18:23 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Updated this post with the news that Mexican authorities failed to rescue the lone survivor of these latest boat strikes.

29.10.2025 19:36 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

How the Boat Strike Videos Dehumanize and Gamify Murder The latest boat strike video shows US military attacks on four boats in the Eastern Pacific. The strikes killed 14 people and left one survivor, who is, according to Pete Hegseth, now in the hands of Mexican authorities. Edited together to show three strikes in different locations, these videos have many of the features called out in my first post on this topic…

How the Boat Strike Videos Dehumanize and Gamify Murder

The latest boat strike video shows US military attacks on four boats in the Eastern Pacific. The strikes killed 14 people and left one survivor, who is, according to Pete Hegseth, now in the hands of Mexican authorities. Edited together to…

28.10.2025 17:01 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1

cleaned this up a bit and added a few thoughts.

25.10.2025 16:43 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Some Notes on the Latest Boat Strike Video This morning, I downloaded the latest of the boat strike videos that the Secretary of Defense is posting on Twitter. (That sentence alone is kind of mind blowing, but let’s leave that discussion for another day.) After watching it a few times, I am starting to put together some notes and seeing if I can have some conversations about the boat strike videos the administration has put out.

Some Notes on the Latest Boat Strike Video

This morning, I downloaded the latest of the boat strike videos that the Secretary of Defense is posting on Twitter. (That sentence alone is kind of mind blowing, but let’s leave that discussion for another day.) After watching it a few times, I am…

24.10.2025 18:43 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1

The Bernhardt Group’s Lobbying for Antofagasta’s Copper and Nickel Mine on the Edge of the Boundary Waters, Q3 2025 The Bernhardt Group, the lobbying shop set up just down the street from the White House by Trump's former Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, is now the sole firm lobbying for Antofagasta's Twin Metals project on the edge of the Boundary Waters (as I noted back in July). The Group's third quarter disclosure reports income of $110,000 for lobbying on "mine leasing issues" on behalf of Twin Metals.

The Bernhardt Group’s Lobbying for Antofagasta’s Copper and Nickel Mine on the Edge of the Boundary Waters, Q3 2025

The Bernhardt Group, the lobbying shop set up just down the street from the White House by Trump's former Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, is now the sole firm lobbying for…

21.10.2025 12:02 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

AI, GDP, and the Singularity The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas published this chart of AI Scenarios back in June. I came across it for the first time today.

AI, GDP, and the Singularity

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas published this chart of AI Scenarios back in June. I came across it for the first time today.

14.10.2025 15:50 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Against Converting QQQ from a Unit Investment Trust to an Open-End Fund I’ve been receiving mailings (surface mail, emails) about the upcoming vote on Invesco QQQ Trust for a few months now, urging and imploring me to vote Yes on converting the QQQ fund from a Unit Investment Trust or UIT to a so-called Open-End Fund ETF. So has everyone else invested in the fund. The Future is Bright with QQQ Your Vote, Your Growth!

Against Converting QQQ from a Unit Investment Trust to an Open-End Fund

I’ve been receiving mailings (surface mail, emails) about the upcoming vote on Invesco QQQ Trust for a few months now, urging and imploring me to vote Yes on converting the QQQ fund from a Unit Investment Trust or UIT to a…

13.10.2025 15:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

The Boundary Waters Litigation is on Hold, Again. I've been traveling for the past week or so, and haven't had a chance until this morning to publish these latest filings in Twin Metals v. US. (For background, see this, this, this, and this, among many other posts.) As those who have been following the case are aware, in March of 2025, just a month after he was sworn in, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum did an about-face and joined the plaintiffs (a foreign mining company with plans to mine nickel and copper and on the edge of the Boundary Waters).

The Boundary Waters Litigation is on Hold, Again.

I've been traveling for the past week or so, and haven't had a chance until this morning to publish these latest filings in Twin Metals v. US. (For background, see this, this, this, and this, among many other posts.) As those who have been…

11.10.2025 11:48 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Today, Pete Stauber Learned How Quotation Marks Work This is from today's House Natural Resources hearing, where Representative Jared Huffman offered an amendment to Stauber's HR 4090. As both Huffman and Teresa Leger Fernandez suggest in the discussion that follows, this is not just a one-off. It's an example of a much larger problem of bad faith in public discourse.

Today, Pete Stauber Learned How Quotation Marks Work

This is from today's House Natural Resources hearing, where Representative Jared Huffman offered an amendment to Stauber's HR 4090. As both Huffman and Teresa Leger Fernandez suggest in the discussion that follows, this is not just a one-off.…

17.09.2025 21:32 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Reply from the CEO of BacTech Environmental Well, that was fast. Only a few hours after I published my post about BacTech Environmental this morning, CEO Ross Orr sent this reply -- drafted, he notes, by BacTech's lawyer. The requirement is that an application be made to the court of competent jurisdiction in order to have a waiver/extension of the meeting prior to the deadline. BacTech did not have the means to hold a meeting and neither of the means to pay for legal counsel to ask for an extension.

Reply from the CEO of BacTech Environmental

Well, that was fast. Only a few hours after I published my post about BacTech Environmental this morning, CEO Ross Orr sent this reply -- drafted, he notes, by BacTech's lawyer. The requirement is that an application be made to the court of…

08.09.2025 19:22 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Does the Board of BacTech Environmental Corporation Expect Shareholders to Wink at Years of Non-Compliance? I've just written to the investor relations people at BacTech Environmental Corporation to get some background information on two extraordinary resolutions included on this year's proxy form. Both resolutions have to do with the Board's failure to hold an annual general meeting for several years in a row. As a result of insufficient financial resources for the years ended 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Corporation has not held…

Does the Board of BacTech Environmental Corporation Expect Shareholders to Wink at Years of Non-Compliance?

I've just written to the investor relations people at BacTech Environmental Corporation to get some background information on two extraordinary resolutions included on this year's proxy…

08.09.2025 15:41 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Where lawful corporate governance ends and the personalist regime begins I embarrassed myself when, back in January, I asked whether wind energy investors had standing to sue the Trump administration over a presidential memorandum pausing all federal approvals for wind power development. I was suffering at the time from the delusion -- common to most writers, I suppose -- that readers would respond or at least consider the point. Instead, crickets.

Where lawful corporate governance ends and the personalist regime begins

I embarrassed myself when, back in January, I asked whether wind energy investors had standing to sue the Trump administration over a presidential memorandum pausing all federal approvals for wind power development. I was…

11.08.2025 16:15 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Here’s the Deputy Secretary of the Interior Doing the Bidding of a Foreign Mining Company 2025-07-17-memo-reinstating-m-37049Download On the very same day that the DC District Court of Appeals issued its per curiam opinion putting the Boundary Waters litigation on hold for 90 days, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Kate MacGregor issued this memo, re-instating the Jorjani M-Opinion. That legal opinion misconstrues history, suppresses evidence, and twists logic to say that Twin Metals has a "non-discretionary" right to renewal of its mining leases on the edge of the Boundary Waters: put crudely, it says that a foreign mining company has more discretion over the disposition of federal lands than the United States government.

Here’s the Deputy Secretary of the Interior Doing the Bidding of a Foreign Mining Company

2025-07-17-memo-reinstating-m-37049Download On the very same day that the DC District Court of Appeals issued its per curiam opinion putting the Boundary Waters litigation on hold for 90 days, Deputy…

03.08.2025 12:54 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0

David Bernhardt Sets Up His Own Shop to Lobby (indirectly) For Twin Metals I missed this June Politico story about David Bernhardt breaking with Brownstein Hyatt and setting up his own lobbying shop at 1455 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, just a block away from the White House. The former Secretary of the Interior, who oversaw Trump's first assault on the Boundary Waters, will now run the Twin Metals lobbying game. The most recent Senate lobbying disclosures show Brownstein Hyatt filing…

David Bernhardt Sets Up His Own Shop to Lobby (indirectly) For Twin Metals

I missed this June Politico story about David Bernhardt breaking with Brownstein Hyatt and setting up his own lobbying shop at 1455 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, just a block away from the White House. The former Secretary of the…

21.07.2025 16:23 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Michael Nedd’s BLM Calendar, From Election Day 2016 through the Inaugural Period Back in 2019, I made a Freedom of Information Act request for the work calendar of Michael Nedd, a long time Bureau of Land Management official, for the months following the 2016 election through the inaugural period. The documents were released just the other day, six years and four months after I submitted the FOIA request. Nedd had been promoted in March of 2017 from Executive Director, Energy Minerals and Management to Deputy Director at the Bureau of Land Management in March of 2017, just a couple of months after Trump took office.

Michael Nedd’s BLM Calendar, From Election Day 2016 through the Inaugural Period

Back in 2019, I made a Freedom of Information Act request for the work calendar of Michael Nedd, a long time Bureau of Land Management official, for the months following the 2016 election through the inaugural period.…

20.07.2025 14:32 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Doug Burgum Now Has 90 Days to Hand Over the Boundary Waters to a Foreign Mining Company For background, see this post. This per curiam order dropped yesterday. The case before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals is held in abeyance until mid-October. The Court deferred to the Agency. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum now has 90 days to act on the findings of an "agency review" of the Twin Metals matter. According to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, the review was already "complete" by June 13th, which just happened to be one day after the Senate struck Stauber's Boundary Waters giveaway from the budget bill (see the 13 June update to…

Doug Burgum Now Has 90 Days to Hand Over the Boundary Waters to a Foreign Mining Company

For background, see this post. This per curiam order dropped yesterday. The case before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals is held in abeyance until mid-October. The Court deferred to the Agency. Secretary of the…

17.07.2025 12:57 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

A Second Postscript on Chaos Monkey and the Copper Tariffs I have a lot of afterthoughts, and it's always hard for me to decide how to present them: should I write postscripts as amendments to an existing post or are they best presented as new short posts? On the one hand, I am hoping that a reader will make her way to the end of my post and wonder what more I might have to add -- most likely a vain hope, and vain definitely strikes me as the right word here -- or should I consider postscripts to be more than staircase thoughts, posts in their own right, deserving of separate attention and an email to my subscribers?

A Second Postscript on Chaos Monkey and the Copper Tariffs

I have a lot of afterthoughts, and it's always hard for me to decide how to present them: should I write postscripts as amendments to an existing post or are they best presented as new short posts? On the one hand, I am hoping that a…

16.07.2025 12:32 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I am coming around to Brad DeLong’s view that Chaos Monkey is in charge. I was going to write about the specious reasoning behind the copper tariffs announced earlier this week, but now, having read a little more about it, I hesitate even to call it reasoning. I am tempted to say that the story Howard Lutnick is telling about "the idea" of " copper production home" by imposing tariffs on imports is an example of magical thinking, but that would imply that the idea is a serious idea, that it involved actual planning or something that can actually be called thinking, and also that that thinking carries some charm.

I am coming around to Brad DeLong’s view that Chaos Monkey is in charge.

I was going to write about the specious reasoning behind the copper tariffs announced earlier this week, but now, having read a little more about it, I hesitate even to call it reasoning. I am tempted to say that the story…

11.07.2025 12:50 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

A good podcast that raises red flags about that MIT Media Lab paper I felt a little sheepish suggesting that the writing in the Media Lab paper about "cognitive debt" and ChatGPT needed some work. Ashley Juavinett, Professor of Neurobiology at UC San Diego, and psychologist Cat Hicks have no such qualms. Their podcast, "You Deserve Better Brain Research," addresses some serious problems with this "weird document," from the writing to methods and research design. I'm putting it up here because I enjoyed and learned from it, and I hope others will, too.

A good podcast that raises red flags about that MIT Media Lab paper

I felt a little sheepish suggesting that the writing in the Media Lab paper about "cognitive debt" and ChatGPT needed some work. Ashley Juavinett, Professor of Neurobiology at UC San Diego, and psychologist Cat Hicks have no such…

27.06.2025 13:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Read the conclusion of the recent Media Lab paper about LLMs. It’s a Non-Friction Nightmare. No, that's not a typo in my title. I've just had my first look at the MIT Media Lab paper that is making the rounds: “Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task.” This paper is disturbing, to say the least. What the authors call “friction” is what we used to call thinking, or it's at least an essential element of thinking, the effort of it.

Read the conclusion of the recent Media Lab paper about LLMs. It’s a Non-Friction Nightmare.

No, that's not a typo in my title. I've just had my first look at the MIT Media Lab paper that is making the rounds: “Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for…

19.06.2025 13:39 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Updated this post with news that Section 80131 will be struck from the Budget Bill.

11.06.2025 11:19 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Letter To Chuck Schumer about Section 80131 of the Budget Bill, Which Hands Over the Boundary Waters to a Foreign Mining Company After calling Chuck Schumer's office this morning, I sent this letter today via Schumer's site. I'm also going to fax it to the New York office and to the environmental staffers in the DC office. Yeah, they still use faxes. Dear Senator Schumer, As your constituent, I am writing to share my concerns about a specific section of the Budget Bill that was drafted to enrich a foreign corporation at the American public's expense.

Letter To Chuck Schumer about Section 80131 of the Budget Bill, Which Hands Over the Boundary Waters to a Foreign Mining Company

After calling Chuck Schumer's office this morning, I sent this letter today via Schumer's site. I'm also going to fax it to the New York office and to the environmental…

09.06.2025 19:19 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1

Trump’s Budget Includes a Giveaway to a Chilean Billionaire Mining was banned in northeastern Minnesota due to the irreversible damage it would do to the state’s fresh water. A last-minute provision to the Republican budget bill will allow a Chilean magnate wi...

@lukewgoldstein.bsky.social appreciate the story (and the link to my blog).
jacobin.com/2025/06/chil...

03.06.2025 12:16 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Remember also that when this totally blitzed sociopath uses the word “empathy” he means something like “respecting human and civil rights.”

31.05.2025 02:23 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Totally blitzed sociopath responsible for the suffering and death of thousands of human beings making pronouncements about other people’s moral flaws. Ok.

30.05.2025 19:21 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

a passage from the California State Senate letter to Paramount saying that a settlement with Trump could constitute breach of fiduciary duties and expose the company to derivative litigation.

A week ago, Freedom of the Press Foundation, a Paramount shareholder, said it planned to file a derivative lawsuit if Paramount settles with Trump. The letter sent today by the California State Senate to Paramount is clear on this point.

30.05.2025 18:46 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Louis V. Galdieri

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