Guy Currier

Patiently explaining to tech bros about how authorizing legislation establishes what services a government agency must provide and having them stare back and say "but how do you innovate?" was a repeatedly soul-killing moment for this former federal CIO who studied political science and philosophy.

I liked the analysis too, very much so. The only thing I would add, having covered and worked in tech my whole career, is how much the Silicon Valley ethos values destabilizing layoffs as a corporate management strategy

In America at least, I think the sexual violence socialization begins around kindergarten

Fifteen Below Zero | Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein Driving to St. Paul from the airport you pass under Fort Snelling, an enormous limestone structure from the early nineteenth century. In November 1862,

I traveled home to Minnesota to report on the rolling fallout of Operation Metro Surge. Both the occupation and neighborhood responses was breathtaking in scale. History in the making.

www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...

Thanks to the @economichardship.bsky.social for support

ACLU Minnesota commission.

This fuckwad can go to hell—and he will. As will the bookers, producers, and news executives broadcasting this corrupt shit

Agree

(H/t to champion @shannonwattsx.bsky.social)

Example of subtextual communication of the important message, “my opinions are thoughtful and based on what people need.” The words communicate on a different topic, ofc

When the destruction is great enough, though, it will become less difficult 2/2

Ignore @charlotteclymer.bsky.social at your peril.

Short read, well worth it if you give a shit about the world. My caveat: What @mark-carney.bsky.social is proposing is fiendishly difficult to pull off; his Vaclavian analogy doesn’t hold. Nations aren’t much like people 1/2

There’s an unhelpful unconscious framing at play here too: verbal communication as primary.

Subtextual communication and signaling are equally important. Speak clearly and honestly about an issue where the public is equivocating and you communicate trustworthiness—very hard to communicate otherwise

I think people* see the words they want to see, rather than the words actually written, more often than you realize.

*A significant share of all people, not all of them but not an unimportant number of them either

Just because a lot of people are cruel, bigoted, and brainwashed doesn’t mean we have to find a “middle ground” with them or a “compromise” that satisfies some of their racist delusions. We just don’t.

everyone who was mad about Trump's "dictator on day one" promise in 2024 has been fully vindicated. and if you were part of the crowd saying it was trump derangement syndrome to take him seriously i don't think we can fully trust your judgment about where his 2nd term is headed

Thank you. Yes

Anti-democratic radicalization, yes, but it has to come from somewhere and be permitted to wield power by something.

These were GREAT. I followed my grandma’s recipe (and the box) and layered them with freshly whipped cream to make an icebox cake

In his defense, that’s how it worked in Return of the Jedi

LA Times: Elon Musk company bot apologizes

Newsweek: Elon Musk's Grok Apologizes

International Business Times: Grok Issues Apologies

The Hill: Musk's AI chatbot Grok apologizes

1. Headlines everywhere today read "Grok apologizes."

This is bullshit. A chatbot is not something that can apologize.

Pretending otherwise is simple laundering these companies' bullshit about what AI is, while diffusing blame away from the human beings that developed and released this system.

This was exactly my first thought, bravo

I don't like the arch evil but i appreciate the spinal tap homage

True story

Marketer here. This is marketing. It’s campaigning. Didn’t want to deal with the regwall so I didn’t read the article, but the quote you provided supports this—not what you are saying. (“The point here is to ‘show’ the campaign’s values”)

Possibly, but I think it’s more like where they, and no one else, get to _______________

Ha!

MVP is a product-management definition, and a useful one. The problem is that it is usually defined by vibes

Holy crap that is good.

Merry 🎄!

i love the belief among guys with grievances that vibes are both universal and irrebuttable

H/t @jimthewhyguy.bsky.social and @oraclesean.com