Joe Biden’s persona is at the whim of fate; his story is captured in the morphing of an insult (“Go Brandon”) into laser-eyed alter ego of sheer power (“Dark Brandon”). The popularity of that meme among Biden supporters was so swift and powerful that it has become a super-charged affirmation…

Note: This story is an update from one that generated 50,000 readers. It now has a sequel revealing how an open gate destroyed the world’s longest-lasting empire. Many who argue that America is in decline like to point to a perceived parallel with the decline of Rome, where citizens went…

The US supreme court on Monday declined to hear bids by major oil companies to move a growing wave of climate lawsuits from state courts to federal courts. The appeals to move the venue of the lawsuits were made by Exxon Mobil Corp, Suncor Energy Inc and Chevron Corp. The…

The system strikes back, very slowly — For a long, long time, it has felt like nothing really matters anymore in American politics and media. Specifically, it felt like the truth didn’t matter. Or maybe reality. We had a president who was an openly corrupt, brazen liar. He clearly didn’t care if his lies hurt people (they…

Apple TV’s “Extrapolations” says it all in the title — Extrapolations review - even Meryl Streep can't save this convoluted eco drama 'm not too sure where to begin with Extrapolations, Apple TV+'s star-studded anthology series about the possible impact…www.theguardian.com Even Meryl Streep can’t save it? According to that review and others equally clueless, this series is not worth your time. It’s too confusing, too weird, too lecture-y for you to bother with.

God damn it, Peter Thiel and company. God damn it, best buddies of right wing fanatic Elon Musk! God damn it all to hell! I can’t even. I can’t even. I will try though, even though I can’t even. I will begin with this guy. His name is David Sacks…

The next stage of capitalism is being determined by the rise of silicon minds. Silicon minds are the stage above AI, and describe a computer capable of replicating human-level thought. They will direct the robots who do all the work; there will be no jobs that provide wages for humans. …

Or any of the others — I truly cannot understand the reason people think Bitcoin or any other virtual coinage will become our currency. This is very much like thinking that the supposed truth of your religion will be taken up by everyone else. That’s not likely to happen. Though some CryptoHeads do have a religious…

It Deserves More Attention — The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol released its final report this month. As expected, the report has faced mixed reactions. Some secular organizations in the U.S. have questioned the lack of attention to Christian nationalism. They are right to do so. After…

I see issues — The EU has proposed a law that would require batteries in our portable devices to be easily replaced by users. Okay, on the one hand this sounds good. Why should you pay a labor fee to replace a battery? On the other hand, I see some glitches. It would make…

Americans are about to show the world just how stupid we really are — The New York Times is reporting today that sentiment in the midterms has now shifted back to the Republicans. Why? Because gas prices are rising again, and inflation remains stubbornly high. Forget that the gas prices have been deliberately manipulated by the Saudis to get back at Joe Biden for…

Republicans are trying to hammer home to potential voters that everything wrong with America is Democrats’ fault. Tune into any debate between a Democrat and republican, or even just an interview with any random republican today, and we will hear several grievances. Grievance 1: Crime is “out of control” because of Democrats’ “soft-on-crime policies”. As former labor secretary Robert Reich explains in…

My 102-year-old father was in the park today with his two-year-old great-grandson. He was anxious that a more supportive society is needed to deal with today’s twin crises. I embellish his thoughts with links, for the modern Medium reader. As yet another hurricane — Rosyln — heads for landfall, my…

Well yes, I just have to open with this … “ especially Hitler “! The conversation carried on like this … Alex Jones: The Nazis were thugs. Kanye West: “ But they did good things too. We gotta stop dissing the Nazis all the time. “ Alex Jones desperately…

My Medium piece Survival of the Richest has grown into a whole book — We always knew but now we know. The tech elite mean to leave us all behind. I learned this when I traveled to a remote resort to deliver what was supposed to be a talk for a group of tech investors. …

There is no reason to lie about how the economy is structured unless one benefits from the lie. — I’m a fan of the work of economist Dean Baker. He is one of the few economists who will speak truth to power. He is one of six economists who predicted the collapse of the housing bubble in 2008. He told everyone and anyone who would listen what was coming…

Public rage as a bellwether for social collapse, and what we can do about it — Last week I was walking through the concourse at Eglinton subway with a crowd of people who’d just gotten off the train, when a man ran up and kicked another man in the back, shoving him violently forward. At first I thought it was some misguided prank by a friend…

And why that makes perfect sense — He was a very bright guy and had been invited to teach at a University in Asia for a couple years. When he came back he was addicted to sex, and especially sex workers. He got himself into a ton of debt by going to expensive escorts when he was…

November 8th may send us all to hell. — If not for America, Hitler would have won. If not for America Russia would already have Europe. If not for America, in my estimation, the entire world would still be stuck with petty warlords fighting like children while The People suffer their infantile wrath. This may still happen if on…

Compared to what? Life? — It was an argument. A debate with someone who sincerely believed that escalating the war with Russia is a necessary evil to finally end the threat that he felt Russia was to the world. …