Next Draft - Take This Job and Gov It
The Senate has been called America's most exclusive club. Maybe that's because you'd have to be out of your mind to want to become a member. Most of us can barely stand to follow politics. Can you imagine being in politics. It's not just the politics of personal destruction, the cable news and social media attacks, or the potential of getting trapped in a water cooler debate about Jewish space lasers. Increasingly, it's about personal safety. Time: Public Officials Face Surge of Threats Ahead of 2024 Election. "Since the 2020 election, state and local officials have faced a surge of violent threats, harassment, and intimidation. A new report published Thursday by the Brennan Center for Justice lays out how this abuse is reshaping the way public officials across the U.S. do their jobs, making them less likely to engage with constituents, hold public events, advocate for policies that could lead to blowback, or run for re-election." The few decent potential politicians now have even less incentive to get involved. So where does that leave us? Even AI can’t solve this problem. Believe me, I asked. 2Location, Location, LocationAmong this era's most fraught geopolitical questions is whether or not China will launch a military takeover of Taiwan. And one of the key elements in that question is what many consider the most important company in the world. Nicholas Kristof explains in the NYT (Gift Article): "These days it seems impossible to have a conversation about geopolitics or economics without coming back to T.S.M.C., which makes about 90 percent of the world’s most advanced chips. If the lights went out here in Hsinchu, in the company’s ultraclean and ultrasecure buildings, you might not be able to buy a new phone, car or watch. Armies could run out of precision-guided missiles and hospitals could struggle to replace advanced X-ray and M.R.I. machines. It might be like the Covid-19 supply chain chip disruption — times 10 — and T.S.M.C., unfortunately, is situated in a region where war is possible and could threaten production. 'Taiwan Semiconductor is one of the best-managed companies and important companies in the world,' Warren Buffett said last year. But he sold his $4 billion stake in T.S.M.C. because, he said, 'I don’t like its location.'" 3The Gilded Rage"As a young man in the nineteen-eighties, Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson set out to claim his stake in the establishment. His access to money and influence started at home. His stepmother, Patricia, was an heir to the Swanson frozen-food fortune. His father, Dick, was a California TV anchor who became a Washington fixture after a stint in the Reagan Administration ... As a teen-ager, Carlson attended St. George’s School, beside the ocean in Rhode Island, one of sixteen American prep schools that the sociologist E. Digby Baltzell described as 'differentiating the upper classes from the rest of the population.' Carlson dated (and later married) the headmaster’s daughter. His college applications were rejected, but the headmaster exerted influence at his own alma mater, Trinity College, and Carlson was admitted." As we know, Tucker Carlson grew up to be one of the strongest voices attacking the elite. Make sense? Of course not. But then again, nothing does. In The New Yorker, Evan Osnos on our increasingly strange relationship with what has become a dirty word. Rules for the Ruling Class. "How to thrive in the power élite—while declaring it your enemy." (Unlike The New Yorker, I choose not use the accent and stick with a working class e.) 4Doubles, Anyone?"The WTA’s values sit in stark contrast to those of the proposed host. Not only is this a country where women are not seen as equal, it is a country where the current landscape includes a male guardianship law that essentially makes women the property of men. A country which criminalizes the LGBTQ community to the point of possible death sentences. A country whose long-term record on human rights and basic freedoms has been a matter of international concern for decades." Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova join forces to try to stop the WTA from going the the direction of LIV golf. WaPo (Gift Article): We did not help build women’s tennis for it to be exploited by Saudi Arabia. 5Extra, ExtraWhole Greater Than the Sum of Parts: "While the two battlefronts may look very different, they actually have a lot in common. They reflect a titanic geopolitical struggle between two opposing networks of nations and nonstate actors over whose values and interests will dominate our post-post-Cold War world — following the relatively stable Pax Americana/globalization era that was ushered in by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet bloc, America’s chief Cold War rival. Yes, this is no ordinary geopolitical moment." Tom Friedman explains how the wars in Gaza and Ukraine are connected (and bigger than you think). NYT (Gift Article): A Titanic Geopolitical Struggle Is Underway. Meanwhile, the CIA director is meeting with Israel intel chief and Qatar's PM to try to reach a hostages breakthrough. 6Bottom of the NewsTea with salt? American scientist's "outrageous proposal" leaves U.S.-U.K. relations in "hot water," embassy says. "When it comes to tea, we stand as one," they said before quipping, "The U.S. Embassy will continue to make tea in the proper way – by microwaving it." Read my 📕, Please Scream Inside Your Heart, or grab a 👕 in the Store. |
Older messages
This is Your Brain on Brawn
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Bulking Brains, The Flying Nones
Say Cheese
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Rat Selfies, God's Crypto Tip
Admissionary Position
Monday, January 22, 2024
You've Been Accepted!
Prepare for the Worst
Friday, January 19, 2024
Survival and Evasion School, Weekend Whats, Feel Good Friday
The Shore Thing
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Stealing Sand, Incognito Mode is Fake
You Might Also Like
Searching for Justice and the Missing in the New Syria
Sunday, January 12, 2025
The prisons are open, the secret files are unlocked. Now Syrians are trying to figure out how to hold war criminals accountable. Most Read Leaked Meta Rules: Users Are Free to Post “Mexican Immigrants
Monday Briefing: Number of missing rises in L.A.
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Plus, how cured ham fixed an antique organ in France View in browser|nytimes.com Ad Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition January 13, 2025 Author Headshot By Emmett Lindner Good morning. We're
GeekWire's Most-Read Stories of the Week
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Catch up on the top tech stories from this past week. Here are the headlines that people have been reading on GeekWire. ADVERTISEMENT GeekWire SPONSOR MESSAGE: GeekWire's special series marks
9 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: From Fleece Shellaclavas to Portable Sound Machines
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Plus: Ceremonia's new nonaerosol dry shampoo. The Strategist Logo Every product is independently selected by editors. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate
LEVER WEEKLY: How To End This Disaster Movie
Sunday, January 12, 2025
We get to decide whether the LA fires are a wake-up call or a funeral pyre. How To End This Disaster Movie By David Sirota • 12 Jan 2025 View in browser View in browser A helicopter drops water on the
6 easy(ish) ways we’re resetting for the new year
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Future you will thank you View in browser Ad The Recommendation January 12, 2025 Ad How Wirecutter journalists reset for a fresh year An image of Wirecutter's picks for best kids backpacks, best
☕ Fannie and Freddie
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Can the NHL pull off outdoor games in Florida? Morning Brew January 12, 2025 | View Online | Sign Up | Shop Walking a bike on a snow-covered bridge in Amsterdam. Marcel Van Hoorn/ANP/AFP via Getty
DEI Loses Popularity, Death Toll Rises in LA, and a Special Kind of Library
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Meta is ending its key diversity, equity and inclusion programs, joining corporate giants Ford, McDonald's and Walmart that have pulled the plug on DEI initiatives. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
UW and computer science student reach truce in ‘HuskySwap’ spat
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Blue Origin set for first orbital launch | Zillow layoffs | Pandion shutdown | AI in 2025 ADVERTISEMENT GeekWire SPONSOR MESSAGE: GeekWire's special series marks Microsoft's 50th anniversary by
Cryptos Surrender Recent Gains | DOJ's $6.5 Billion Bitcoin Sale
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Bitcoin and other tokens retreated as Fed signaled caution on rate cuts. Forbes START INVESTING • Newsletters • MyForbes Presented by Nina Bambysheva Staff Writer, Forbes Money & Markets Follow me