Something Brief
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
I hope you’ve finished your shopping for the season (may God have mercy on your soul if you haven’t), and you are able to spend time with the people you love the most.
This is a short post this week because I know you have much better things to do than check your email. So without further ado:
‘Bloop’? ‘Bloop’?! What does this MEAN!?
Is AOC running? Is she just gleeful about trolling JD Vance? If it’s the former, we’re kicking our feet. If the latter, well game recognize game, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.
‘This Shit Actually Happened’ This Week
It’s the holidays, so you only get 1 video from me this week. With your free time, you can go watch the clip of Melania Trump reading that bizarre book about Santa to children.
“EO AI, oh!”
Donald Trump does so many wild, outlandish and frankly unexplainable things that sometimes we forget to pause and really examine why he is doing something.
This week, we dug into the why behind Trump’s executive order which limits states’ ability to impose regulation on AI, citing a plan to create a single national standard. Despite the fact that the Trump admin uses a whole lot of AI in their garbage social media posts, the ‘why’ here is a bit more sinister:
First, Trump has been paid off by the biggest names in tech and AI. Elon Musk, Meta, Sam Altman, Google. You name them, they’ve all greased Trump’s palms. From campaign donations to attending fancy dinners and, most recently, donating to his big ballroom disaster.
Second, Trump’s own sons are financial investors in data center companies. Data Centers power AI, and are becoming infamous for being large, loud, untaxed and generally unregulated in the communities where they’re built. AI companies have spent $400 billion investing in Data Center infrastructure just this year - they’re in a hurry to get things done.
Finally, the number of tech names going all-in for AI has corresponded to a massive shift in the makeup of the stock market, creating what many are calling an ‘AI bubble.’ Tech companies are borrowing huge sums to fund their data centers, but without a positive cash flow of customers to cover the deficit.
Tech companies are betting big that Americans will make AI profitable, and they’re doing everything they can (including banning regulation) to make that happen.
One More Thing
Here’s a small way that you can make a difference in your corner of the world:
Yesterday, our family had to say goodbye to our dog Jinx, who we loved for 11 years. My friend Scott reminded me this week “they’re here for part of your life, but you’re here for all of theirs” and that stuck with me. Also this Tumblr post “Humans are Elves to Dogs” gave me a good cry.
I hope you’ll join us in making a donation to your local pet rescue in honor of all the wonderful pets that make life worth living. Or donate to the ASPCA, a national pet rescue.
Until Next Time,
Jack
(As always, Go Birds.🦅)