Roxane Gay, writing in the NY Times about the rampant killings of people for simple arguments, disagreements or misunderstandings:

There is no patience for simple mistakes or room for addressing how bigotry colors even the most innocuous interactions. There is no regard for due process. People who deem themselves judge, jury and executioner walk among us, and we have no real way of knowing when they will turn on us.

The United States currently possesses the highest number of guns in circulation worldwide, estimated at 466 million, while its population stands at 334.4 million people as of 2023. This equates to nearly 1.4 guns for every person in the United States. Given these figures, it is worth questioning whether the rise in gun-related deaths should come as a surprise.

Firmin Debrabander wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times regarding freedom in an armed society:

Arendt offers two points that are salient to our thinking about guns: for one, they insert a hierarchy of some kind, but fundamental nonetheless, and thereby undermine equality. But furthermore, guns pose a monumental challenge to freedom, and particular, the liberty that is the hallmark of any democracy worthy of the name — that is, freedom of speech. Guns do communicate, after all, but in a way that is contrary to free speech aspirations: for, guns chasten speech.

This becomes clear if only you pry a little more deeply into the N.R.A.’s logic behind an armed society. An armed society is polite, by their thinking, precisely because guns would compel everyone to tamp down eccentric behavior, and refrain from actions that might seem threatening. The suggestion is that guns liberally interspersed throughout society would cause us all to walk gingerly — not make any sudden, unexpected moves — and watch what we say, how we act, whom we might offend.

This is precisely the situation we are witnessing: a society that is fearful, paranoid, and gripped by anxiety. In order to safeguard the well-being of our children and preserve our democratic values, America needs stop worshipping our great Gun god.

Came across this quote by the great Isaac Asimov:

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti- intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’

James Astill in The Eonomist:

Yet my children’s experience of school in America is in some ways as indifferent as their swimming classes are good, for the country’s elementary schools seem strangely averse to teaching children much stuff. According to the oecd’s latest international education rankings, American children are rated average at reading, below average at science, and poor at maths, at which they rank 27th out of 34 developed countries. At 15, children in Massachusetts, where education standards are higher than in most states, are so far behind their counterparts in Shanghai at maths that it would take them more than two years of regular education to catch up.

[…]

At the heart of the problem is an educational ethos that prizes building self-esteem over academic attainment. This is based on a theory that self-confidence leads to all manner of other virtues, including academic achievement, because children who feel good about themselves will love learning – right?

It is not the self-esteem educational ethos; it is the American ethos against education itself. Just look at the political climate in America today: book bannings, rewriting American history, attacking and blaming underpaid teachers. Not to mention that American schools are turning into war zones. These are just a few obvious issues that highlight the situation.

Warren Buffet when asked about Berkshire Hathaway’s largest holding, Apple:

If you’re an Apple user and somebody offers you $10,000, but the only provision is they’ll take away your iPhone and you’ll never be able to buy another, you’re not going to take it. If they tell you if you buy another Ford car — they’ll give you $10,000 not to do that — you’ll take the $10,000 and you’ll buy a Chevy instead

Apple’s greatest asset is customer loyalty and the excellent job the executive team has done nurturing that loyalty.

Annie Lowrey for The Atlantic:

In the inaugural paper using IMPA’s model, the economists Lídia Brun, Ignacio González, and Juan Montecino conclude that the Trump tax bill was “harmful to the economy”—it slowed down growth and amped up inequality. Slashing the corporate-tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent did not boost workers’ wages by thousands of dollars a year, as Trump appointees had predicted. Nor will it boost GDP in the long term. The IMPA model finds instead that cutting the corporate-tax rate “reduced the funds used for productive investment” by shunting money into investor payouts. What’s more, it suggests that raising taxes on business monopolies might stimulate growth by lowering those firms’ stock-market returns and thus spurring investors to pour money into more dynamic businesses.

Is this a surprise? The huge $2 trillion tax cuts under Trump went directly to the top 1% of wealth holders in the country. Hardly any ‘trickled’ down to the average citizen.

What could those $2 trillion have done? The money could have provided meals to underprivileged children, paid teachers a proper salary, shore up retirement benefits, provided safety nets for the homeless, and funded healthcare for everyone. I would bet that these initiatives would boost the economy in a more substantial way for the average American family.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis floating the idea of building a competing theme park next to Disney World in Orlando:

What should we do with this land? And you know, okay. Its - I mean people have said you know maybe another - maybe create a state park, maybe try to do more amusement parks. Someone even said maybe you need another state prison. Who knows? I mean I think that the possibilities are just endless.

You can’t make this up - the Republican party is a clown show. Bomani Jones in this CNN clip said it best:

Warner Bros. Discovery:

Warner Bros. Discovery today introduced Max, its enhanced streaming service, which will launch in the U.S. on May 23. Max is the destination for HBO Originals, Warner Bros. films, Max Originals, the DC universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, an expansive offering of kids content, and best-in-class programming across food, home, reality, lifestyle and documentaries from leading brands like HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, ID and more. Max will stand out amongst streamers by uniquely combining unrivaled breadth and superior quality with iconic franchises and strong product experience, all for great value.

This is just dumb - HBO is still the best brand in TV and to not brand with it is idiotic.

Ever wonder whhy those sandwiches wrapped in plastic, looking a bit pale in the fluorescent light cost $14.99 ?

Hell Gate inquired as to why the high price of the sandwich here is what they found:

Food, drinks, and other goods sold at each of the region’s three airports must adhere to strict price standards established by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which limit costs to “street pricing” plus an additional 10 percent. This means, generally, that a turkey sandwich sold at an airport cannot cost significantly more than a comparable turkey sandwich in the NYC metro area.

Fair enough. New York City is an expensive place, and running a business out of an airport presents unique challenges. But this standard raises another question: If retailers like CIBO Express (and its parent company OTG, the main dining and retail operator for some of the country’s largest airports, including LaGuardia, Newark, and JFK) are indeed following the Port Authority’s rules, then who are these metro-area retailers charging $13.50 ($13.50 plus 10 percent = $14.99) for an unremarkable, prepackaged turkey sandwich on sliced bread?

Excactly. The real problem is that its a pricing system that is obviuosly rigged and the folks at Port Authority are refusing transperency.

“This should be an easy process to be transparent about,” Lund said of the OIG report. “Either Port Authority is not [releasing] it because they know that their process wasn’t good, which is entirely possible, or they’re not [releasing] it just to say ‘fuck you,’ which is also possible and also bad from a government agency.”

Lund added, “The cost of airport food matters, because if the Port Authority isn’t bothering to deal with this, what else is the Port Authority not bothering to do?”

Bingo. This is why I refuse to eat anything at the airport. Just pack lunch with you on carry on. Don’t even get me started on the in flight charges for food.

Kubrick always had a haunting unique look - just realized its the perpective.

This week, Tennessee Republicans removed two of their black Democratic legislators, while miraculously allowing the white legislator to keep her job. Tennessee Republicans aren’t even trying to hide their bigotry. It is so obvious and egregious that it feels like something out of the 1950s.

Republicans voted to ban black lawmakers from their democratically elected positions for speaking out on gun violence. They banded together and accomplished this in 24 hours, even before debating the possibility of taking any action to curb gun violence after three children were slaughtered in school.

It is astounding to witness what the Republican Party can do and the speed with which they can do it when they put their minds to it. Expelling two black legislators who were protesting gun violence? They accomplished that in 24 hours. Trying to address the issue of nine-year-olds being shot in school? All they can offer are thoughts and prayers. Instead, they are actively working to loosen gun laws. Current bills on the floor include lowering the minimum age for carrying guns from 21 to 18 and allowing permit-less open carry or concealed carry of any gun, including AR-15s.

The Republicans are digging their own graves when it comes to the upcoming elections.

Lego wasn’t the inventor of today ubiquitous plastic building blocks - it was a clone of the original called Kiddicraft.

Phil Edwards:

The first Lego plastic mold was the same one that Kiddicraft used, and early Lego bricks were almost identical to Kiddicraft blocks, with a few minor differences. They slightly changed the scale and the studs, but as you can see, they were pretty similar. Early Kiddicraft blocks had little slots in the side for windows and other attachments. So did early Lego bricks. From top to bottom, these were very similar to Kiddicraft blocks. So with such a simple idea that had kind of already been done, how did Lego win?

Lego out engineered Kiddicraft - Lego built a better brick.

Soumya Gayatri for BBC Travel:

More than 10,000 lavish mansions dot the Chettinad region, many of them spanning tens of thousands of square feet. These gigantic, often glamorous, houses were built by the rich merchant families of the Nattukottai Chettiar community, who amassed great wealth by trading precious stones in Southeast Asia. They rose to the peak of their economic power in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, when most mansions were built.

[…]

Today, Chettinad is famous for its fiery chicken Chettinad dish and the much sought-after antiques from Karaikudi, but most travellers remain unaware of these luxurious mansions spread over the remaining 73 villages in the region. Although most of them lie in ruins, a handful have been converted into heritage hotels and museums by enthusiastic owners who are working to keep the Chettiar legacy alive.

“Renovation expenses of Chettinad’s homes can run into thousands of dollars. And, this is not a one-time cost, these buildings require regular upkeep and repair,” Rajivkumar explained. “Add to that a lack of interest among multiple owners, and conservation becomes a herculean task.”

But both Meyyappan and Chandramouli are optimistic. “Only 10% of Chettinad’s mansions have received tourist makeovers so far, whereas 30% have been completely destroyed. It is our job to resuscitate the remaining 60% by working together as a community,” Chandramouli said.

This is something that the Indian government should take on - the expenses could easily be recouped by tourist income.

Frank Jacobs writes at Big Think:

It’s hard to think of a pithier one to describe the parking pandemic blighting America’s city centers — except perhaps the title of a Bloomberg article on the same topic: “Parking has eaten America’s cities”.

That article cites a 2018 study of the space and money devoted to parking in five American cities. In that year, both Seattle and Des Moines had 1.6 million parking spaces. New York City had 1.85 million, and Philadelphia 2.2 million. Tiny Jackson, Wyoming had 100,000 parking spaces, roughly one for each inhabitant.

Seattle had 30 parking spaces per acre, roughly five times the number of residential units. In Des Moines, the parking-to-housing ratio per acre was around 20 to 1. Only New York had more housing units than parking spaces per acre. That worked out to 0.6 parking spaces per household (but then again, only 45% of New York households own a car).

On average, about one-fifth of all land in city centers is dedicated to parking. But what’s the actual harm being done by all that parking space? For one, city centers that are more “parkable” become less walkable. In other words, fewer things are casually accessible.

Even if you’re no fan of walking, perhaps you like a roof over your head. However, the abundance of parking spaces, often mandated for new developments by city governments, has left a lot less space for anything else, making housing in city centers scarcer and more expensive.

Looking at these maps - it’s shocking to see how much space is dedicated to cars. No wonder we have an affordable housing crisis in urban centers. Not to mention an utter lack of character and community. This is could all be easily solved if we ban personal cars in city centers and force people to park on an outrim and use public transportation to get in and out of cities.

The above images is from Arlington, Texas. What is really interesting is parking mapped in New York City:

Why the discrepancy? Apparently the high real-estate prices have deemed parking lots to expensive.

And the results are obvious to anyone who has visited NYC. Excellent transportation systems, walkable city and a vibrant city center. Still doesn’t address the affordable housing issue - in the case of NYC its primarily zoning and tax policy issue. But thats a topic for an another post.

The New York Times:

A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald J. Trump on Thursday for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to four people with knowledge of the matter, a historic development that will shake up the 2024 presidential race and forever mark him as the nation’s first former president to face criminal charges.

The felony indictment, filed under seal by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, will likely be announced in the coming days. By then, prosecutors working for the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, will have asked Mr. Trump to surrender and to face arraignment on charges that remain unknown for now. […]

He will be fingerprinted. He will be photographed. He may even be handcuffed.

And the former president of the United States of America will be read the standard Miranda warning: He will be told that he has the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.

Finally. The wheels of justice may be slow, but they will turn.

While vacationing in Hawaii Lucas, Spielberg and Kasdan are all brainstorming ideas for what would become Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. The entire transcript is available as a PDF - all glorious 90 pages.

Here is a fascinating conversation as the three flesh out Indy’s character:

Lucas - Now, several aspects that we’ve discussed before: The image of him which is the strongest image is the “Treasure Of Sierra Madre” outfit, which is the khaki pants, he’s got the leather jacket, that sort of felt hat, and the pistol and holster with a World War One sort of flap over it. He’s going into the jungle carrying his gun. The other thing we’ve added to him, which may be fun, is a bull whip. That’s really his trade mark. That’s really what he’s good at. He has a pistol, and he’s probably very good at that, but at the same time he happens to be very good with a bull whip. It’s really more of a hobby than anything else. Maybe he came from Montana, someplace, and he… There are freaks who love bull whips. They just do it all the time. It’s a device that hasn’t been used in a long time.

Spielberg - You can knock somebody’s belt off and the guys pants fall down.

Lucas - You can swing over things, you can…there are so many things you can do with it. I thought he carried it rolled up. It’s like a Samurai sword. He carries it back there and you don’t even notice it. That way it’s not in the way or anything. It’s just there whenever he wants it.

Spielberg - At some point in the movie he must use it to get a girl back who’s walking out of the room. Wrap her up and she twirls as he pulls her back. She spins into his arms. You have to use it for more things than just saving himself.

Lucas - We’ll have to work that part out. In a way it’s important that it be a dangerous weapon. It looks sort of like a snake that’s coiled up behind him, and any time it strikes it’s a real threat.

Kasdan - Except there has to be that moment when he’s alone with a can of beer and he just whips it to him.

Patrick Radden Keefe at the New Yorker read through the whole thing and has a wonderful write up:

Over the intervening decades of enormous wealth and success, both Lucas and Spielberg have carefully tended their public images, so there is a voyeuristic thrill to seeing them converse in so unguarded a manner. As the screenwriters Craig Mazin and John August pointed out recently on the Scriptnotes podcast, one delight of reading the transcript is watching Spielberg throw out bad ideas, and then noting how Lucas gently shuts him down. Spielberg, who had sought to direct a Bond movie-and, astonishingly, been rejected-thought that their hero should be an avid gambler. Lucas replied that perhaps they shouldn’t overload him with attributes. (Lucas himself had briefly entertained, then mercifully set aside, the notion that his archaeologist might also be a practitioner of kung fu.) There’s a good reason we seldom get to spy on these conversations: really good spitballing, like improv comedy, requires a high degree of social disinhibition. So the writers’ room, like a therapist’s office, must remain inviolable.

It’s fascinating to read genius at work.

DPreview will be shutting down an April 10th after 25 years of amazing content and service to the photo community. Devin Coldewey, writing at TechCrunch:

The team’s knowledge, acumen and extensive objective testing contributed to reviews that famously reached near-comical lengths at times, but that was because shortcuts simply were not taken: You could be sure that even minor models were getting not just a fair shake, but the same treatment a flagship model received. Its back catalog of camera reviews and specs is an incredible resource that I have consulted hundreds of times. […]

Somehow Amazon never really found a way to capitalize on this one-of-a-kind asset, and DPReview has carried on over the years more or less untouched, to the point where it seems possible its parent company forgot they owned them. It’s hard not to see the opportunities that present themselves when you own one of the world’s leading expert voices on a major category, but perhaps unsurprisingly, no one thought to invest in and integrate DPReview closely with Amazon’s other properties. It isn’t the first time the left hand and right hand have been incommunicado at that company.

What really upsets me is that Amazon will not be providing an archive of the site. They can easily serve up a static site on S3 that would cost virtually nothing to Amazon.

Pulitzer prize winning biographer, presidential historian John Meacham on the pending indictment of former Presidend Donald Trump:

It is incumbent on us to tell a different story. To tell the story than in fact, the constitution matters. The rule of law matters.

[..]

This is gong to sound bit grand, but I believe firmly that this generation will be judged our success or failure at standing up to totalitarian impulse in the United States.

The Greatest Generation rose up and faced that challenge on the war torn fields of Europe. Our generation will have to face it within our own country – hopefully through our legal system.

Douglas Belkin reporting for the Wall Street Journal

Family conversations like the one in Ms. Cruz’s living room are bubbling up around the country as high-school seniors recalibrate their options after the pandemic prompted a historic disengagement from school. The result has been the acceleration of a shift away from the nation’s half-century “college-for-all” model toward a choice of either college or vocational programs—including apprenticeships.

Today, colleges and universities enroll about 15 million undergraduate students, while companies employ about 800,000 apprentices. In the past decade, college enrollment has declined by about 15%, while the number of apprentices has increased by more than 50%, according to federal data and Robert Lerman, a labor economist at the Urban Institute and co-founder of Apprenticeships for America.

Apprenticeship programs are increasing in both number and variety. About 40% are now outside of construction trades, where most have traditionally been, Dr. Lerman said. Programs are expanding into white-collar industries such as banking, cybersecurity and consulting at companies including McDonald’s Corp. , Accenture PLC and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

This is definitely a step in the right direction - there are many jobs that really don’t require a college degree. Most of these can be done by learning on the job. However, there is a danger to this trend. Many young people could be left ill prepared with the fundamental knowledge (mathematics, communications skills, history) needed to progress in their careers. Of course this is what corporations want - a captive workforce that is easy to retain and easily controlled.

I would say for those students who enter college with a clear vision of a profession with realistic ROI on the 4 years and the money spent - college is still the best option. If you are going to college to “find yourself” or as a 4 year right of passage, maybe an internship is the right path for you. You don’t need to go to college to go on drinking binges and all night parties.

The way I look at it - if the path of study you are going to isn’t STEM based or does not require a license of some kind, you might want to consider the apprenticeship path.

A fictional story of the rise and fall of Reasearch in Motion (RIM). We all know how it ends - the enitre cell phone industry simutaneously hit an ice berg called the iPhone. Still, it should make a compelling story of how it all went down.

Professional drummer and educator Larnell Lewis of Snarky Puppy explains drumming in 13 levels of difficulty, from easy to complex.

Here he is learning a song on first hearing:

Blows my mind how fantastic he is.