Author: ynot

If You Don’t Vote, the Psyop Is Working

The easiest citizen to govern is the one who has convinced himself that nothing he does can possibly matter.–YNOT!   How Voter Disinformation Works to Keep Americans from Voting   There is a remarkable trick being played on the American voter, and the most extraordinary part is that some people have become so thoroughly convinced of its wisdom that they now proudly announce their surrender as though they have just won a great victory. “I’m not voting anymore!” Well, congratulations. You’ve successfully removed yourself from the decision-making process while leaving everyone you distrust firmly in charge of making decisions. … Continue readingIf You Don’t Vote, the Psyop Is Working

Cuba Is Next — When?

The clock is ticking on the Castro revolution like a time bomb. After nearly seven decades of communism, economic collapse, and American frustration, is Cuba about to become Donald Trump’s next foreign-policy project — YNOT!   There is an old saying that history repeats itself, first as tragedy and then as farce. In Cuba’s case, history has been repeating itself for nearly seventy years, and the Cuban people are still waiting for the comedy to begin. Since Fidel Castro marched into Havana in 1959, American presidents have come and gone. Some threatened Cuba. Some negotiated with Cuba. Some sanctioned … Continue readingCuba Is Next — When?

UNTETHERED – How Our Current Generations Lost Track of Reality

Somewhere between the invention of the smartphone and the disappearance of the neighborhood mechanic, America managed to produce a generation that can explain how the world ought to work but has absolutely no idea how to fix it when it doesn’t.  –YNOT! The Great American Disconnect There was a time in America when a man could build a house, repair his automobile, grow his dinner, and argue about the Constitution—all before supper. Today, we have people with master’s degrees who cannot change a tire, politicians who cannot balance a budget, and college professors who could explain the philosophical implications … Continue readingUNTETHERED – How Our Current Generations Lost Track of Reality

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Plague

Seven hundred years ago we fought plague with fear. Today we fight it with facts. –YNOT! Human beings have an interesting relationship with disaster. We spend centuries being terrified of something, eventually figure out how to defeat it, and then promptly forget why everyone was terrified in the first place. The plague is a pretty good example. THE UGLY Let’s start with the ugly, because the plague certainly earned its reputation. The bacterium Yersinia pestis was responsible for the Black Death, the great plague pandemic that tore through Europe in the 14th century. The World Health Organization estimates that … Continue readingThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Plague

Making Politics Easier to Understand — Without the Noise

If you don’t vote, don’t complain. — YNOT! I wanted to make a clean, unbiased assessment of some of my state candidates who will be on my ballot this November. So I used AI to create a simple system: take two candidates, research what they themselves say they believe in, examine their stated policies and proposals, and put the differences side by side in plain English. No endorsements. No political spin. No telling you who is “better.” Just the candidates’ stated positions and policies, organized in a way that makes them easier to understand and compare. My goal is … Continue readingMaking Politics Easier to Understand — Without the Noise

Capitalism Doesn’t Reward Hard Work. It Rewards Leverage.

If capitalism truly rewarded skill or intelligence, the richest people would be neurosurgeons, engineers, scientists, artists, writers and creators. If it rewarded hard work, it would be cleaners, laborers and service workers. — Some Random person on Internet Capitalism Doesn’t Reward Hard Work. It Rewards Leverage. — YNOT! I saw this graphic above  making the rounds: It sounds profound. But it misunderstands what capitalism actually rewards. Capitalism does not have a scoreboard for intelligence, effort, education, suffering, or how physically exhausted you are at the end of the day. The market primarily rewards value that can be exchanged, multiplied, … Continue readingCapitalism Doesn’t Reward Hard Work. It Rewards Leverage.

CRITICAL THINKING MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT AI SKILL

In a world of infinite possibilities, the answer is 42, intelligence is no longer finding an answer. It is knowing the question. — YNOT! I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Everybody keeps talking about learning AI. Learn prompting. Learn ChatGPT. Learn Claude. Learn agents. Learn coding. Learn automation. All useful. But I think we’re missing the bigger skill. Learn how to think. Because we are moving into a world where the possibilities are becoming almost infinite. Twenty years ago, you might have had three practical ways to solve a business problem. Today AI can give you 50 before … Continue readingCRITICAL THINKING MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT AI SKILL

Why Claude Is Better for Programming Than ChatGPT

A bigger hammer isn’t always better—especially when you have to swing it all day,  it is the one you can afford to keep swinging. –YNOT I use both ChatGPT and Claude extensively for software development, and after working with them on increasingly complicated projects, I’ve come to a somewhat unexpected conclusion: Claude is better for programming. But ChatGPT may actually be the better software architect. Those two statements aren’t contradictory. Both systems are extremely capable. Both can analyze applications, write Python, PHP, JavaScript, SQL, Bash and other languages, troubleshoot servers, design databases, build interfaces, diagnose errors, and work their … Continue readingWhy Claude Is Better for Programming Than ChatGPT

Meta Muse: The AI Agent That Finally Feels Like a Personal Assistant

After years of chasing the next big thing, Mark Zuckerberg may finally have another hit on his hands — and this time, it’s AI. — YNOT! Meta’s new Muse isn’t trying to be another ChatGPT. After using it on my phone, computer and even across my WordPress sites, I think that may be exactly why it is so interesting. I use a lot of artificial intelligence. I use Claude heavily for programming. I use ChatGPT for overall design, planning, research and thinking through complicated problems. I run my own local LLMs for everyday jobs where I want something fast, … Continue readingMeta Muse: The AI Agent That Finally Feels Like a Personal Assistant

The Senate on Trial – NO APPEAL – Mark Twain vs. Bernie Sanders

The Senate was never designed to make every state equal in size. It was designed to make every state equal in the room. Tear that out, and you have not merely changed Congress—you have changed the bargain that made the Union possible. –YNOT!   Washington has finally done something remarkable.  It has subpoenaed a dead man. Not just any dead man, either. Samuel Langhorne Clemens — better known as Mark Twain — has been summoned before Congress to explain why the United States needs two legislative chambers when one chamber would obviously be cheaper, faster, more democratic, and considerably easier … Continue readingThe Senate on Trial – NO APPEAL – Mark Twain vs. Bernie Sanders

Americanism vs. Globalism — This Explains Everything

Economic independence is not isolation. It is the ability to stand on your own feet while dealing with the world. Global cooperation and national sovereignty are not opposites—until cooperation becomes control. It is all about Control — YNOT! For years, we have been told that the great political struggle in America is Republican versus Democrat. Conservative versus liberal.  Capitalism versus socialism. Right versus left. I increasingly believe those labels explain less and less of what is actually happening. There is another dividing line that cuts through economics, foreign policy, immigration, trade, artificial intelligence, energy, banking, culture, war, technology and even … Continue readingAmericanism vs. Globalism — This Explains Everything

The 47 Years Iran’s President Left Out at the United Nations

Thirty minutes at a podium cannot erase 47 years of history. — YNOT! Today, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stood before the United Nations General Assembly and delivered a forceful indictment of the United States and Israel. He accused President Trump of a “bullying mentality,” rejected American pressure, condemned U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iran and said his country would not surrender—while also saying Tehran remained open to diplomacy. ( There is a real argument to be had about American actions in the Middle East. In fact, just last week a United Nations fact-finding mission said it had reasonable … Continue readingThe 47 Years Iran’s President Left Out at the United Nations

How I Would Fix CNN — Because It Needs Radical Surgery to Survive Anyway

The best way to save CNN may be to stop trying to save CNN as we know it. — YNOT! CNN does not need a new paint job. It does not need another slogan. It does not need another reshuffling of anchors, another executive with a five-year strategic plan, or another attempt to move the same old cable-news formula from one time slot to another. CNN needs radical surgery. And frankly, that may be the best thing that could happen to it. Because the problem facing CNN is much bigger than whether one anchor is popular, whether one political group likes … Continue readingHow I Would Fix CNN — Because It Needs Radical Surgery to Survive Anyway

The Battle of the High Ground at the Top of the World

We are all used to seeing the world at eye level. But look down from the top of the world, and suddenly the geography, the threats, and the balance of power look completely different, and you begin to understand why the Arctic may be the most important high ground on Earth. –YNOT! Greenland, Golden Dome, and the quiet restructuring of Arctic defense For most of human history, the military meaning of high ground was simple: get above your enemy. Take the hill. Hold the mountain pass. Put your artillery where it can see farther than the other side. In … Continue readingThe Battle of the High Ground at the Top of the World

The End of CNN as You Know It — What Is Happening?

CNN is not disappearing. What may be disappearing is the CNN we grew up with—built for the cable age, now being rebuilt for the age of streaming, algorithms, AI, and media empires. Change or die is always the lesson — YNOT! CNN is not going away. The red CNN logo is probably not disappearing. Anderson Cooper isn’t automatically being thrown out of the building. Nobody has announced that CNN will suddenly become Fox News, Newsmax, CBS News, or anything else. But CNN as we have known it for the last several decades may be coming to an end. And … Continue readingThe End of CNN as You Know It — What Is Happening?

Jack Calloway: Admission by Omission

Jack Calloway had been retired long enough that the government had stopped sending him Christmas cards. That was how he measured retirement. At first there had been briefings. Then consulting contracts. Then phone calls beginning with, Jack, this is completely unofficial. Eventually even those became rare. Calloway preferred it that way. He had spent enough of his life in rooms without windows, listening to men explain why something that officially wasn’t happening urgently required three million dollars, two passports, a rented airplane and somebody who knew how to keep his mouth shut. Retirement was quieter. Most mornings now involved coffee, newspapers … Continue readingJack Calloway: Admission by Omission

Is Omarchy the Next Giant Killer? Will It Replace Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu?

The operating system of the future won’t tell you how to use your computer. You’ll tell it what you want, and AI will build the computer around you. –YNOT! Forty-nine years ago, I started working with computers. I was 12 years old. It was 1977. The Apple II had arrived. The Commodore PET had arrived. Personal computing was suddenly becoming a real thing. I couldn’t afford either one. But I had a bicycle. And a few miles away, I had a Radio Shack. So I would ride my bicycle to the local Radio Shack, walk inside, sit down in front of one … Continue readingIs Omarchy the Next Giant Killer? Will It Replace Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu?

HOW 10 PEOPLE CAN BEAT 10,000 IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

  In five years, programming by hand will be like riding a horse: you can still do it, you might even enjoy it—but everyone using AI will get there faster, go farther, and won’t leave a pile of crap behind them. — YNOT! That sounds ridiculous. Ten programmers beating a software organization with 10,000 employees? Five years ago, I would have agreed. Today, I think we are beginning to see how it could happen. And the reason isn’t simply that AI writes code faster. That is probably the least interesting part. The real transformation is that AI agents are … Continue readingHOW 10 PEOPLE CAN BEAT 10,000 IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

JEV AI Is Turning the AI World Upside Down — Can You Benefit From It?

Not every screw requires the same screwdriver, and not every problem requires the biggest AI. — YNOT! For the last few years, the AI industry has largely been obsessed with one question: How do we make AI bigger, smarter and capable of doing more things? ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Qwen and other Large Language Models can write, reason, summarize, research, program, translate, analyze and carry on a conversation. Then along comes Jev with a very different idea: What if the AI didn’t need to do all of those things? What if you just needed it to make a decision? That … Continue readingJEV AI Is Turning the AI World Upside Down — Can You Benefit From It?

BLACK PRIVILEGE VS. IMMIGRANT PRIVILEGE

It is not about where you start – It’s about what you do next! — YNOT! Sometimes I joke that I should write a book called Black Privilege, because no matter how hard I tried, there were always Black people, women, immigrants, and plenty of others who were smarter than me, more talented than me, worked harder than me, or simply beat me. And that raises a question I think America needs to talk about more honestly: How much of our future is determined by where we start — and how much is determined by what we do after … Continue readingBLACK PRIVILEGE VS. IMMIGRANT PRIVILEGE

YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO BECOME THE BEST PERSON YOU CAN BE — AND HERE IS THE PROOF

You are not your statistics, your mistakes, or your circumstances. Success begins when you stop asking what life gave you and start asking what you can build with it. –YNOT   STOP LISTENING TO EXCUSES.   I recently read a debate about successful Black women, income statistics, college degrees, racial disparities, generational wealth, and all the reasons some people have a harder road than others. And yes, some people absolutely start life with advantages that others do not. Life is not fair. It never has been. But somewhere along the way, we started making a serious mistake. We began confusing … Continue readingYOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO BECOME THE BEST PERSON YOU CAN BE — AND HERE IS THE PROOF

AI IS HERE — Transforming Innovation and the Nature of Work

For years, people talked about artificial intelligence as though it were tomorrow’s problem. Something coming. Something we should prepare for. Something that might someday change the way we work. Well, someday showed up.    AI is here. And I don’t think we have fully grasped what that means yet. This isn’t simply another piece of software. It isn’t Microsoft Word replacing the typewriter. It isn’t Excel replacing the adding machine. It isn’t even the Internet replacing the filing cabinet. Those technologies helped people do the same work faster. AI is beginning to change the nature of the work itself. That … Continue readingAI IS HERE — Transforming Innovation and the Nature of Work

There Be Dragons – Hunting, Making Deals, and Surviving

Most men spend their lives tending a farm. A few wander over the hill looking for dragons. The trouble is, once you’ve killed one, the ordinary hunt never looks quite as interesting again. –YNOT! There are a lot of ways to make a living. Some people work the farm. I don’t mean literally—although some do. I mean they get up every morning, go to work, do their job, collect their paycheck, pay their bills, and do it again tomorrow. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Some of those jobs pay very well. A person might make $50,000 a … Continue readingThere Be Dragons – Hunting, Making Deals, and Surviving

When Somebody’s Trying to Kill You, You Have to Listen and Act

9/11 was our Pearl Harbor. Twenty-five years later, too many have forgotten the lesson: when an enemy tells you what he intends to do, listen—and act. This time, the enemy is already be among us. AGAIN! — YNOT! There is an old habit in government, business, and ordinary life that gets people into trouble. A warning arrives. Then another. Then another. Each one, by itself, is imperfect. None contains the entire story. So everybody waits for the warning that comes gift-wrapped, notarized, signed by the enemy, and accompanied by an appointment on the calendar. That warning seldom comes. And sometimes, while everybody is … Continue readingWhen Somebody’s Trying to Kill You, You Have to Listen and Act

How the Rich Avoid Paying Income Tax — and You Can Too

Do you want to be rich or poor? The real answer will surprise you — YNOT! You have to change your mindset. Stop thinking about income. Start thinking about growth. Most of us are taught one financial model from childhood: Go to school. Get a job. Earn more money. Get a raise. Earn even more money. And we measure success by income. $75,000 a year. $150,000 a year. $500,000 a year. But there is a problem with income. Income gets taxed. The more you earn, particularly as wages or salary, the more of your economic life runs through the income-tax … Continue readingHow the Rich Avoid Paying Income Tax — and You Can Too

The Market Is a Roller Coaster — Make Sure You Can Afford the Ride

Every penny that you save is a penny earned — said a wise person somewhere. Maybe it is time to stop worrying about how much money you can make and start worrying about how financially strong you will be if things get ugly. Today, Tuesday, September 15, the Federal Reserve begins its two-day meeting. The actual interest-rate announcement comes tomorrow at 2:00 PM Eastern, followed by the Fed press conference at 2:30. And right now, Wall Street is leaning heavily toward a quarter-point rate increase. A few weeks ago, economists were arguing about whether the Fed would raise rates, lower … Continue readingThe Market Is a Roller Coaster — Make Sure You Can Afford the Ride

The Truth About Islam — Not What You Think

Whoever changes his religion, kill him. I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah… A saying attributed to Muhammad in Sahih al-Bukhari  Depending on who you listen to, Islam is either a perfectly peaceful religion that has been hijacked by a tiny number of extremists, or it is a violent political ideology whose followers are quietly waiting to take over the world. I don’t think either explanation tells the truth. The truth about Islam is much more complicated—and frankly much more interesting. Islam is a religion, a civilization, a … Continue readingThe Truth About Islam — Not What You Think

Unstable Approach, Too Fast, Low Terrain, Sink Rate — Are You Too Stubborn to Go Around?

Don’t be a show-off. Never be too proud to turn back. There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots. — pioneering airmail pilot E. Hamilton Lee in 1949 Life is full of challenges, and we all make mistakes. Sometimes you’re driving down the road and you think, Well, I can change lanes here, I can change lanes there and cut some time off my drive. Then all of a sudden you find yourself in a situation where you should probably slow down. But instead, you accelerate. You try to make the red light. You change lanes … Continue readingUnstable Approach, Too Fast, Low Terrain, Sink Rate — Are You Too Stubborn to Go Around?

The Last Tree in the desert

You can move to the middle of the desert if you want – Trouble will find you — YNOT!   There were two kinds of people in this world. Those who go looking for trouble and those who stayed home and waited for trouble to find them. When I was a kid, especially around Cubans, I would sometimes hear the expression, “La última Coca-Cola del desierto.” The last Coca-Cola in the desert. It was a way of saying somebody thought they were pretty damn special. The one and only. The rare item. The center of the universe. Well, this is … Continue readingThe Last Tree in the desert

Where were you on September 11th?

I kept the rough edges, the anger, the dark humor, and the conversational rhythm. I cleaned repetition, tightened chronology, and added only a light Mark Twain-like bite. Where were you on September 11th? Well, let me tell you where I was. I was taking my 85-year-old mom to her first day at an assisted living facility. My mom had been suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s, and it had gotten worse and worse and worse. It finally got to the point where she simply couldn’t stay at home anymore. She would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. … Continue readingWhere were you on September 11th?

IS AGI HERE NOW?

AGI may not arrive by announcing that it is intelligent. It may arrive the day we stop telling the machine how to do the job and simply tell it what needs to be done. — YNOT For years we have been waiting for Artificial General Intelligence as though it were going to arrive wearing a tuxedo, knock politely on the front door, and announce: “Good evening. I am AGI.” That was probably our first mistake. Technology almost never arrives with the courtesy of introducing itself. The automobile didn’t announce the end of the horse. The Internet didn’t announce the … Continue readingIS AGI HERE NOW?

THIS IS NOT 1984 — BUT YES, YOUR TV IS SPYING ON YOU!

There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. — George Orwell, 1984 Shame on you, LG. And shame on the rest of the industry if this is where “smart” is taking us. I think it is class action suit time.  George Orwell made one small mistake in 1984. He imagined the government would have to install the telescreen in your house. Turns out we would happily drive to Best Buy, pay $2,000 for one, carry it into the living room ourselves, connect it to the Internet, … Continue readingTHIS IS NOT 1984 — BUT YES, YOUR TV IS SPYING ON YOU!

The Legacy of Star Trek, 60 Years Later

No, I’m from Iowa. I only work in outer space. — Capt Kirk.  Sixty years. That is a disturbing number. Not because Star Trek is sixty years old, but because I remember watching the damn thing on television. There are certain milestones in life that should never be calculated too carefully. Star Trek premiered in 1966 as a television program about a group of people flying around the galaxy in a spaceship with blinking lights, sliding doors, talking computers, handheld communicators and a pointy-eared fellow who believed human beings were far too emotional. At the time, much of America apparently … Continue readingThe Legacy of Star Trek, 60 Years Later

Training AI Is Like Raising Cats, Dogs and Children — Except the AI Actually Reads the Rules

AI may be easier to train than a cat, a dog, or a child—but it has the same dangerous habit: it learns exactly what you reward, not necessarily what you meant. –YNOT  I have never been particularly good at training cats, dogs, or children. Cats don’t care. Dogs care entirely too much. Children eventually discover lawyers, constitutional rights, and the phrase: “You never said I couldn’t.” Artificial intelligence, I thought, might be easier. After all, with AI you can write down the rules. You can tell it exactly what you want. You can give it examples. You can correct it when it’s … Continue readingTraining AI Is Like Raising Cats, Dogs and Children — Except the AI Actually Reads the Rules

AI Is Changing Again

Once mankind discovers a machine that can do work… we rarely ask it to do less. — YNOT! AI is changing again. Which is inconvenient, because most people had only just figured out what the last version was supposed to do. For the past few years, we have been teaching people how to talk to artificial intelligence. Write me an email. Summarize this report. Explain this code. Make me a picture of a cat wearing a cowboy hat. All useful things. But we may be approaching the point where those examples sound a little like explaining electricity by saying: “It makes the lamp … Continue readingAI Is Changing Again

Malaca – Malaca – Malaca – China’s Greatest Weakness and they know it.

Every great power has a back door. China’s problem is that it is surrounded by them—and everyone knows where they are. –YNOT! There are certain words that keep showing up whenever you seriously study China. Taiwan. Semiconductors. Oil. The South China Sea. But there is another word that ought to be written on the wall in Beijing in letters ten feet high: Malaca. Malaca. Malaca. Because for all the aircraft carriers, missiles, factories, satellites, cyberwarfare, artificial intelligence and increasingly impressive military parades, China still has a very old-fashioned problem. Ships have to get there. And a tremendous number of those ships have to squeeze through … Continue readingMalaca – Malaca – Malaca – China’s Greatest Weakness and they know it.

China, China, China… Is There Going to Be a War in 2027? Well…

2027 is not an invasion date—it is a capability date. — YNOT! For the last few years, 2027 has been floating around Washington like the date on a wedding invitation. China. Taiwan. 2027. War. Circle the date. Buy ammunition. Order extra microchips. Perhaps cancel your vacation to Taipei. Except there is one small problem. China has apparently neglected to send out the invitations. The U.S. intelligence community said in its 2026 Annual Threat Assessment that Chinese leaders do not currently plan to invade Taiwan in 2027, and that Beijing does not appear to have a fixed timetable for reunification. What China … Continue readingChina, China, China… Is There Going to Be a War in 2027? Well…

HACKING in the World of AI

The question is no longer whether our computers can be hacked. The question is what happens when AI learns how to hack everything else. — YNOT! Hacking used to mean breaking into a computer. That definition is already obsolete. When most people hear the word hacking, they picture some kid in a dark room wearing a hoodie, typing furiously into a computer. Green letters. Multiple monitors. Perhaps some dramatic music. That is Hollywood hacking. Real hacking is much broader. A hack is simply finding something a system allows that the people who designed the system never intended you to do. That system … Continue readingHACKING in the World of AI

Crime in the Age of AI

The real danger of AI isn’t that it can lie. People have been doing that for thousands of years. The danger is that now every liar can afford a research department, a design studio, a voice actor, a lawyer, and 10,000 fake friends. –YNOT! The burglar got smarter. The con man got a staff. And none of them had to hire anybody. There was a time when being a criminal required certain talents. You had to know how to pick a lock. You had to know how to forge a signature. You had to be a convincing liar. You … Continue readingCrime in the Age of AI

Kids Need AI — and Pretending Otherwise Won’t Save Them

You cannot prepare children for the future by hiding the future from them. Teach them to use AI, question it, challenge it—and most importantly, to think for themselves. — YNOT! There is an old habit among adults: when something new frightens us, we decide the children must be protected from it. Sometimes this is wisdom. Sometimes it is simply fear wearing a necktie. Artificial intelligence is not going away. We can ban ChatGPT from a classroom, block websites on the school Wi-Fi, confiscate phones, write policies, install filters, and make stern speeches about “doing your own work.” Then the child … Continue readingKids Need AI — and Pretending Otherwise Won’t Save Them

AI Is Changing How We Learn — and That is a Good Thing

  Remember back in ancient times when kids had to prepare for the SATs? You bought the giant prep book. You went to classes. You memorized vocabulary words, formulas, rules, tricks and practice questions. A lot of education was basically: memorize this, remember it long enough to pass the test, and then move on. Today, it sometimes feels like education has become a race to the bottom. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Artificial intelligence could actually move education in the opposite direction. AI is beginning to transform competitive exam preparation from rote memorization into something much … Continue readingAI Is Changing How We Learn — and That is a Good Thing

Why Trump Is Working With Delcy Rodríguez — And Why Venezuela Is Much More Complicated Than It Looks

Fixing Venezuela is like performing a heart transplant on someone while they’re riding a bicycle. Yes, it can be done. But nobody should pretend it’s simple. — YNOT!   There is a tendency to look at what is happening in Venezuela and reduce it to one sentence: Trump wants the oil. That is certainly part of the story. But it is nowhere near the whole story. What is happening in Venezuela involves oil, international law, billions of dollars in old debts, the survival of the Venezuelan state, China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, and one very difficult question: Who can actually run Venezuela … Continue readingWhy Trump Is Working With Delcy Rodríguez — And Why Venezuela Is Much More Complicated Than It Looks

Sooner or Later, the AI Companies Are Coming for Your Money

If artificial intelligence is becoming essential to how you work, you should probably own some of it. — YNOT! Right now, artificial intelligence is an incredible bargain. For $20, $100, $200 a month—or whatever level of subscription you are paying—you can get access to computing power and intelligence that would have been almost unimaginable just a few years ago. ChatGPT can write code, analyze documents, research subjects, help run websites, create marketing campaigns, troubleshoot servers, organize data, answer customers and increasingly operate as an actual agent that performs work. It is fantastic. It may also be temporary. Because sooner or … Continue readingSooner or Later, the AI Companies Are Coming for Your Money

Plant Trees you will Never See — Olive Trees

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. — Some Ancient Greek Today I planted some trees that I will probably never see grow to full size. Gave one to a dear friend. I have my own little orchard now. And that, really, is what a lot of life is about. A lot of the things we do are 20 or 30 years out, and we don’t even realize it at the time. Raising children. Who you marry. The company you build. The house you buy. The life you create. … Continue readingPlant Trees you will Never See — Olive Trees

Are You a Genius, or Are You Just Confused?

  The Perils of Being a Polymath – yes there is a name for this affliction. — YNOT! There is a particular kind of person who can repair a computer in the morning, read about Roman engineering over lunch, become fascinated with monetary policy by dinner, and at eleven o’clock at night discover that he urgently needs to understand how Japanese carpenters built temples without nails. By midnight he has seventeen browser tabs open. By one in the morning he has ordered a book. By Tuesday he has a new project. And by Friday somebody asks him the simplest question … Continue readingAre You a Genius, or Are You Just Confused?

Nancy Grace Roman: The World Is Not Flat, We Went to the Moon, and Women Are Just as Smart and Capable as Men—She Proved It All

The woman known as the “Mother of Hubble” helped create NASA’s space-astronomy program and turned an impossible telescope into reality. Now humanity’s most advanced observatories bears her name. Some truths should no longer require an argument. The Earth is not flat. Americans walked on the Moon. And women are every bit as intelligent, determined and capable as men. Nancy Grace Roman spent her life proving that last point—although she should never have needed to. Born in Nashville in 1925, Roman became fascinated by the night sky as a child. When she was only 11 years old, she organized an … Continue readingNancy Grace Roman: The World Is Not Flat, We Went to the Moon, and Women Are Just as Smart and Capable as Men—She Proved It All

A tale of an immigrant, a teenaged mother, and one of the Riches men on Earth

  You don’t need Socialism or Communism. You have freedom and  opportunity – All you need is hard work, get the education, and a stubborn refusal to quit. — YNOT! There is a popular American habit of looking at a billionaire and assuming he must have begun life sitting on a velvet cushion, eating strawberries handed to him by a servant. Sometimes that is true. But not most of the time, most of the time it goes like this. Sometimes the story begins with a pregnant 17-year-old girl being told she ought to go away. In 1964, Jacklyn Gise … Continue readingA tale of an immigrant, a teenaged mother, and one of the Riches men on Earth

When the Impossible Became Ordinary: Amelia Earhart, Mark Twain, and the Future of Flight

An imagined conversation between two Americans who never had the opportunity to meet — Mark Twain, who lived long enough to witness humanity’s first powered flights, and Amelia Earhart, who helped turn aviation from an experiment into a new frontier. Somewhere Above the Clouds Mark Twain looked out the window and frowned. There was nothing particularly unusual about Mark Twain frowning. He had spent a considerable portion of his life discovering new things for mankind to be disappointed about. But this particular problem was different. He was sitting comfortably in a chair approximately 35,000 feet above Kansas. There was … Continue readingWhen the Impossible Became Ordinary: Amelia Earhart, Mark Twain, and the Future of Flight

When a Neuron Dies Does It Go to Heaven?

A neuron may die, but a memory is rarely buried with it. The brain keeps no filing cabinet—only a magnificent web of connections, constantly losing threads, tying new ones, and somehow remembering the story and may be one day we can record it. — YNOT! The human brain is a peculiar machine. It is built mostly before we are old enough to complain about it, spends the next several decades rearranging itself, and somehow remembers your third-grade teacher’s face while refusing to tell you where you put your car keys five minutes ago. Anyone working with AI and hallucinations  … Continue readingWhen a Neuron Dies Does It Go to Heaven?

Are Cats Cheaper by the Dozen?

My cat is alone all day. She must be bored. Maybe she needs a friend. Tell that to your wife, she might give you a smile — YNOT!   Getting a second cat sounds simple. You may think: Sometimes that is exactly the right decision. But sometimes adding another cat creates stress, territorial conflict, litter-box problems, food competition, hiding, aggression, and a cat who is actually less happy than she was before. The difference usually isn’t whether you have one cat or two. The difference is how you choose the second cat, how you prepare your home, and how … Continue readingAre Cats Cheaper by the Dozen?