Stop Failing our Children
DEI, Covid & Smart Phones has crushed Education
When the news is jammed and chaotic, and it’s often difficult separating what’s important from the propaganda claptrap designed to clog the message (noise from signal).
The most important story this week with long term implications is the slow motion collapse of American education and competence over the last few decades that has massively accelerated over the last few years (another thank you to the architects of the Pandemic and the anti-human responses of masking and experimental injections that decimated children’s learning and mental health).
The recently released OECD figures merely confirm what everyone paying attention already knows. The American education system is an abject disaster that is failing the children of our nation.
Between 2012 and 2023, the average OECD reading, math and science scores have declined consistently (from an already low level). This is not (just) about pandemic learning loss. It’s not about one US city. It’s not even just the US. This is the entire developed world.
Not only are we in the midst of a massive educational fail, we are pairing it with a mental health crisis of the highest levels.
While the Teacher’s unions and liberal politicians were nonchalant about the effects of masking and school closures and their effects on students in real-time, many of the staunchest addicts to the Pandemic Narrative have now come around and admitted the damage they’ve done.
Even the enablers and woke commies at the NYT recently admitted, “The school closures…at the start of the pandemic may prove to be the most damaging disruption in the history of American education. It also set student progress in math and reading back by two decades and widened the achievement gap that separates poor and wealthy children.”
Additionally, the number of students who are chronically absent has doubled since before COVID.
Not surprising considering the dangerous lesson that leftist jurisdictions taught by closing schools during a ‘pandemic’ that had ZERO physical effect on children—that learning doesn't matter.
And these numbers include the ‘good’ public, private and religious schools that do a far superior job in educating our children than the vast majority of public schools.
In fact, the inner-city public school system is a travesty and an absolute embarrassment by any metric that has been failing to educate Black kids for decades. Talk about systemic racism and the bigotry of low expectations.
The overwhelming majority of children in inner-city public schools are functionally illiterate and are not proficient at math on any level. Close to 40% cannot read at all, with upwards of 80% unable to pass any state test for reading, writing or math.
The only answer from the Left has been to throw more money at teachers and administrators as test scores and proficiency continues to plummet.
Any honest broker has known for years that it’s not a ‘money’ problem. DC and many other inner city schools dedicate far more funds per student than many colleges and nearly all religious schools.
DC spends $22K per child, and yet over 80% of their students graduate without the functional ability to read, write or do math. This is a travesty and sets these students up to fail for life, and become permanent wards of the system.
Is it reversible? Sadly, no. Not in our current system.
For those who can afford private or Catholic education, the decline in public education may not seem immediately pressing. However, it is a grave mistake to believe that a society can thrive when only a small fraction receives adequate education.
The real danger lies in the majority being underprepared, especially when they are also being conditioned against the very principles that have historically defined America's greatness, such as individual rights, accountability, and constitutional freedoms. This educational disparity poses a serious threat to the nation's future.
If we want to reverse the decline (which frankly is a free fall since Covid and the advent of smart phones), then the most constructive options are as follows:
First, there should be a concerted effort to regulate smartphone usage, especially among younger demographics. This involves initiating a comprehensive discussion about the detrimental effects of excessive smartphone use on learning and social skills. The correlation v. causation argument will remain, but there is no other viable explanation for the rapid decline of educational performance of mental health since 2012 and the introduction of widespread smartphone usage.
Eliminate or sharply curtail the Teachers’ Unions. Frankly, all public unions should be eliminated, but the Teachers’ Unions are especially pernicious. They have zero accountability and exist in a construct where the abysmal outcomes they produce are totally divorced from their increasingly generous compensation.
Implement School Choice. Not only have the teacher’s unions entirely escaped accountability for their failing outcomes, but failing school themselves have no accountability. In Chicago, Baltimore and many cities, 80% or more of the students are failing, and upwards of 40% cannot read at all. Meanwhile, teacher and administrative pay and benefits have marched higher every year. School choice is the only existing mechanism to shut failing schools and re-allocate parent and government resources to schools that produce a satisfactory outcome. The ugly truth is that the majority of people opposed to school choice all have their kids in private schools and don’t want students of color to have the same opportunities. It’s the classic liberal maxim, “Do as I say, not as I do” writ large.
Eliminate the DEI cancer. Whether it goes by ‘woke’, DEI or any of the other anti-meritocratic racist garbage being currently peddled, the elimination of basic standards and pervasive promotion of ideologies centered on victimhood have been devastating for students and their families.
Consider the example of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Instead of tackling the root causes of the decline in public schools and the rising anti-social behavior throughout Chicago, Johnson has chosen to dismantle the city's most selective and high-performing schools in the name of 'equity.'
In essence, this move suggests that the exceptional performance of these schools for gifted children casts a negative light on the rest of the system, creating an uncomfortable contrast. The proposed solution, then, seems to be the elimination of these high-achieving institutions. This approach ironically implies that true 'equity' is achieved when all are equally hindered, rather than uplifting and improving the broader system.
Certainly, there is nothing more ‘equitable’ than having everyone fail.
Can one of my sharp-witted liberal readers explain to me what exactly is 'progressive' about this?
Top-tier, selective enrollment public high schools in major cities stand as one of the last bastions of meritocracy, offering a genuine shot at the American Dream, especially for students from less privileged backgrounds, including those from immigrant families.
This pathway to success should transcend political divides. It's deeply troubling that any elected official, particularly a mayor who has already climbed the ladder of success, would consider removing this critical opportunity from future generations. This isn't just a policy decision; it's about safeguarding a fundamental avenue for social mobility and educational equity.
Let's pull back the curtain on the so-called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) charade, which dares to parade itself as the savior of educational righteousness. This isn't mere folly; it's an orchestrated attack on the sanctity of academic rigor, repackaging the vilest form of racism as policy since the dark days of slavery.
They've taken the pursuit of excellence and held it hostage to a twisted brand of 'equity' that doesn't just coddle—it suffocates potential with a blanket of non-expectation.
It's an open secret, the contemptuous fiction that Black and Latino minds can't soar to the heights of academia. The so-called progressives have gutted proficiency tests, all in the twisted pursuit of 'fairness.' This is a betrayal, a craven return to the condescending doctrines of the Democrat-dominated eras of slavery and segregation, where the same Democrats who once claimed ownership over Black lives now seek to own their futures through educational suppression.
The hypocrisy is as blatant as it is grotesque. Those who brandish 'Black Lives Matter' slogans, who profess solidarity from the safety of their digital and suburban enclaves, are complicit in the intellectual shackling of the very lives they claim to champion.
Intentions be damned—when policies strip the ladder of opportunity from the next generation, no amount of virtuous posturing can disguise the wreckage left in the wake of these educational 'reforms.'
As families of color increasingly reject this malignant paternalism for the refuge of homeschooling, it's clear that these destructive policies are not just failing individuals—they are corroding the very fabric of our nation.
It's high time we face the hard truth about the dire state of our cities like Chicago, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. This disastrous situation is the direct result of the choices made by the voters in these cities. They've blindly supported policies and leaders that have led us into this chaos, and now they're reaping the bitter harvest of their decisions.
Furthermore, for my liberal Jewish friends who have poured their time and resources into perpetuating this failing system, or worse, turned a blind eye to its blatant injustices, it's high time for a rude awakening. The horrific events of the October 7 massacre should be more than enough to jolt you out of your complacency.
The wake-up call we've received in the past two months is not just surprising; it's a clarion call to action. It's an absolute disgrace that it has taken this long for some to see the light. But there's no denying it anymore: the time for change is now, and it's long overdue. We need to start taking responsibility and demand a drastic overhaul of these failed policies and systems. Enough is enough.
Remember this, Jews are not a minority despite their microscopic population.
You are WHITE. In fact, from the DEI/woke/Marxist perspective, you are the WORST kind of WHITE. A successful WHITE with median income and IQ above the national average.
In other words, you will be the first to be devoured. And we’ve seen that in spades over the last 2 months. So start thinking, acting and voting accordingly.
There is no future for Jews, whites, or any person of color that prizes human freedom, independence and excellence on the Left. Period.
Confusion
I’ll write more about this topic soon in the future but I’m amazed that I still run into smart, semi-informed people who are having trouble digesting and assimilating the news that comes down the pipe.
Here's a starkly honest and straightforward guide, a mental compass if you will, to make sense of it all.
Regrettably, it's imperative to discard the rose-colored glasses of education and upbringing that painted America and its leaders as bastions of freedom, democracy, and justice. This is no longer the post-war America or the golden era of the 1980s.
It's a bitter truth to acknowledge, but the government is NOT designed to enhance the average person's life. Its role and effectiveness have shifted drastically from that idealistic vision.
We are firmly in the late-stage collapse and extraction era where those in charge are simultaneously trying to steal as much as they can and enrich themselves before a potential collapse and also trying to stave off that ‘collapse’ by implementing a system of tight, global control over the population.
I can’t trace the exact timing or roots in this venal metamorphosis, but the reality is very different. And once you overlay the actual reality on your perspective, things begin to make a lot more sense. Here are some brief maxims designed to guide you:
There are a small number of people who actually run the country, and for the most part, the world. Most of these are intragenerational wealthy families, perhaps 1000 or so of them and their influence but the main construct through which power is exercised is the intelligence community/security state of the US and UK along with their Five Eyes partners and broader NGOs like the WEF, UN & WHO.
These people don’t believe in the sovereignty of individual people or countries. It’s been their goal for many years to move beyond a US-centric world into some type of global government or ruling structure, whether thats the NWO construct you heard about in the late 90s or it’s more recent iteration of a WEF/Davos/UN One World Government approach.
The impetus for this approach has always been ‘control’, but it’s also a tacit acknowledgement that the problems of the world, real or imagined, such as climate change, pandemics, nuclear proliferation, artificial intelligence, scarcity of resources and other issues can’t be handled by a single state. Yuval Hariri is one of their mouthpieces and his book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a bit of a Bible for these folks.
He and other ‘stage-setters’ explicitly suggest that a single global government would be far more effective at governing than individual nation-states.
“As the twenty-first century unfolds, nationalism is fast losing ground. More and more people believe that all of humankind is the legitimate source of political authority, rather than the members of a particular nationality, and that safeguarding human rights and protecting the interests of the entire human species should be the guiding light of politics. If so, having close to 200 independent states is a hindrance rather than a help. Since Swedes, Indonesians and Nigerians deserve the same human rights, wouldn’t it be simpler for a single global government to safeguard them?”1
The gist is that no single state can effectively regulate these issues as game theory and reality create a scenario where non-compliant states effectively eradicate any ‘progress’ on these fronts without a global buy-in.
In light of the potential crises above and the growing number of humans on the planet, the human population needs to be controlled to a greater measure than it has in history. And conveniently, for the first time in history through technology, the ability of a very small number of people to control a very large number of people exists.
Reflect on the societal structure during Medieval times and earlier. In those eras, feudal lords maintained control over their subjects with a significant security presence. The estimated ratio was about one enforcer for every ten subjects, ensuring tight control and obedience within their domains.
These numbers grew during the intervening years but not geometrically. You still needed sheer manpower force to govern and subjugate those under you.
For instance, in the Revolutionary War, large numbers of British troops were unable to handle a relatively small American insurgency.
This was the norm until more recently with the rise of the Administrative state, technological advancement and the power of widespread surveillance.
The frightening reality is that between the current digital panopticon and the all-seeing surveillance Eye of Sauron they are trying to roll out, a handful of people can control millions (even billions).
We’ve nearly fully intermeshed technology into every auspice of modern life.
From identification, to online banking and payment, travel, healthcare and every other facet of human life, all of it works based on access to technology and that technology is agnostic - it can be used for increased productivity and liberation or for subjugation and total control.
Today, the framework is nearly complete for a Chinese-style social credit system on steroids.
Read the wrong article, say the wrong thing, vote the wrong way, travel the wrong direction or any other violation that isn’t congruent with the goals and blueprint our Beneficent Overlords have laid out, and you’ll be digitally excommunicated from society.
If necessary, your physical presence will be eliminated or restricted as well.
As I’ve written repeatedly, the tools now exist to implement this dystopia and what little window we have left is closing.
A full social credit and control system enforced by digital passports (vaccine passports was the beta), CBDCs (you can only spend money when and where we tell you), restrictions on movement (15 min smart cities and carbon limits, automatic car ‘killswitches’ are mandatory in vehicles by 2026) is in the works.
The goal is twofold: Total control of a docile and weak population while drastically taking steps to cut the total population numbers.
De-population is one of the many stated goals of these people. They believe in an Ehrlich-Malthusian resource template where the Earth is incapable of supporting the 8 billion people currently here. It is the same goal many of their unwitting useful idiots in the climate change movement and elsewhere have signed on for. Eliminating fossil fuels and the like will certainly help implement steep population declines as oil and other dense energies are the lifeblood of the global economy.
The ultimate stated ‘target’ is somewhere closer to 500 million people, or about a 90% reduction from today’s levels.
Currently we already have a slow implementation they deem a success. Between the pandemic, the disastrous Big Pharma MRNA solution (and the other poisons they peddle), poisoned food, low T levels, the decline of Millennials choosing to marry, the increase in alternative or LGBTQ lifestyles and a whole series of other factors, we have significant declines in both fertility and birth rates far below replacement levels.
So when you read or watch the news, the following perspective should help things make more sense:
There are a small number of people ruling the world that want total control.
As part of the control goal, there is a broad censorship industry designed to suppress the truth and flood the airwaves designed with misinformation intended to indoctrinate and depress you.
Many of their goals are things that people would fight back against if they were aware, so the more effective method is to ‘boil the frog’ slowly using methods like those discussed by Yuri Bezmenov, Saul Alinsky and others. You cannot conquer America militarily, so you must demean, depress, demoralize and indoctrinate the youth to believe in Marxist principles and aberrations like DEI.
The powers that be are buying time until the digital panopticon surveillance slave state is fully operational. When that happens (and they will use panic and fear as they did in the pandemic; perhaps a cyber-rattack or other method this time), the goal will be to implement ‘emergency’ restrictions on your travel and banking, internet and health access that will never be revoked.
Your baseline assumption should be, “They are lying to me.” Ask yourself Cui Bono? Who benefits from this? What are the incentives here? Assume all information that is peddled from MSM and official sources is NOT true until proven otherwise. Remember, the institutions and leaders bear none of the costs of their incorrect pronouncements. Most have ZERO skin in the game. If you’re confused by this (and again, this could be an entire book I’m trying to distill in less than 500 words), I will elaborate further in future issues. If you grokked it all and agree, watch this video from my friend Michael Guimarin that dives deeper.
Predictive Programming
In line with the above, there is a theory that these people have to reveal their plans to us before they implement them. This Revelation of the Method theory is based on some combination of karmic adjustment and spiritual justice woo that’s not worth exploring, but we can see from history that many of the most evil and malicious plans we’ve seen in the last few decades were publicly broadcast beforehand, typically through ‘fictional’ movies, tv shows or books.
For instance:
9/11 was notably predicted on the X-Files before the actual attacks. Tom Clancy and others also wrote about a similar attack.
The Covid Pandemic was openly telegraphed during Event 201, the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony and other simulations where the similarities were uncanny.
An EMP or a Cyberattack now being highlighted by everyone from the WEF to the Obama’s in their new Netflix movie, ‘Leave the World Behind.’
Even the WEF architects of The Great Reset are not shy about publicly publishing their aims. Famously, they have promoted commercials and articles about, “You will own nothing and like it” while also promoting the benefits and joy of ‘eating bugs'.
In line with the above, we should pay attention to the alarming slate of movies and keynote speeches about cyberattacks plunging the nation into chaos.
Nor should this be surprising. After all, there have been hundreds of attacks on our infrastructure, food and electric grid over the past few years. And that was mostly before the Biden Administration allowed 10 Million people into our country, many of them from places hostile to our country and way of life. This situation raises vital concerns about the potential for organized groups, possibly hostile to American values and security, to operate within the nation.
So pay attention when we see the release of multiple movies and shows focusing on cyberattacks, power outages, and the outbreak of Civil War. It’s very possible these are just reflections of the fears and interests of everyday Americans, but it’s also possible they are conditioning the population for more of the same.
If you look at your television and the various MSM news channels as anything more than one big propaganda box designed to brainwash and alter your opinion, then you haven’t been reading this letter long enough. Go back to the archives!
Speaking of propaganda conditioning, remember this gem?
Is there a Purple Heart for Journalism?
Can we pause for a moment to take pity on the poor Harvard Magazine writer tasked with crafting a piece for the Fall issue on the scholarly achievements of President Claudine Gay, a "scholar's scholar," despite the fact she'd published a mere 11 papers in her entire career and which we now know, several were plagiarized?
This slobbering puff piece was just a couple of months ago before President Gay stunned Congress and the world by denying that the call for genocide when it comes to Jews didn’t run afoul of the Harvard student body code and depended on the ‘context’?
As I wrote last week:
Imagine if student ‘protestors’ held up signs and were screaming “Lynch all Blacks” or “Gays Off rooftops.”
Do you think the Presidents would tell you that type of speech and activity would be permitted? Would it depend on “the context”?
For the last 30 years, they’ve systematically and willingly silenced and deplatformed conservative voices and opinions and punished conservative students and speakers for using the wrong pronoun and the slightest micro-aggressions.
So let’s not pretend they care one iota about free speech or the free exchange of ideas.
Regardless, Harvard’s failure to fire the ‘Scholar’s Scholar’ for her plagiarism and moral vacuity sends a fine message to current students, faculty members and prospective students and their parents.
You too can be the President of an esteemed institution with a resume that barely qualifies you to be an associate Professor as long as you’re the right color and march lockstep with the Marxists.
Frankly, I’m glad they kept her. A couple of quick wins would diffuse the anti-Marxist momentum. Remember, it’s not the person that is the problem.
It’s the entire ideology of DEI. Tear it down.
On the bright side. Harvard College Early Applications dropped 17% from last year.
It takes 400 years to build a reputation and only a few months to destroy it.
Lightning Round
Here’s an uber-brief summary of a few stories worth noting.
Heartwarming holiday photo from Boston Mayor Wu's "Electeds of Color" at their infamous dinner that excluded whites.
Every single one of these people would have reacted with outrage if they were illegally excluded from a government function because of their race.
These are no doubt the same people who would have you financially and professionally ruined if you even whispered about doing what they did.
Remember this the next time they lecture you on affirmative action or scold you for being ‘racist’.
On the flip side, kudos to Syracuse University for showing you how it’s done. Professional victims decided to host a ‘sit-in’ and espouse genocidal slogans in contravention of Syracuse’s student handbook. An administrator very gently asked them to remove it.
In today’s ‘gotcha’ world, that provided an opening for the aggrieved grifters to claim they were physically and emotionally menaced. Fortunately, the entire episode was filmed.
Enough with the kids gloves. The spurious attempt to get the administrator fired for performing his duties in a patient and decent manner deserves punishment. One warning is adequate. The next violation deserves firm action. Revoke their student visas if they’re not citizens and suspend or expel the others.
I’m comfortable predicting that they’re not going to be productive citizens adding materially to our society one day if they believe this was physical and emotional menacing in response to their calls for genocide and intifada.
A Senate staffer was caught performing anal sex in the Senate chamber and filming it.
No surprise that the culprit, Aidan Maese-Czeropski is also the same guy who yelled "Free Palestine" at Jewish Rep. Max Miller on Wednesday.
Let’s see if the same people who were loudly incensed at Lauren Boebert allowing a guy to cop a feel in a pitch dark theater have anything to say about a Senate staffer filming anal sex inside a Senate hearing room.
And the chef’s kiss? Because he’s a Millenial, of course Aidan took to the airwaves to claim he was being persecuted for his sexual identity and that he would, “Never disrespect my workplace.”
The Daily News out with a banger on the corruption and evil that Qatar is spreading across the globe. Here’s a few highlights:
“Qatar, a tiny speck of a country overflowing with unlimited funds from its boundless natural gas supplies, has mastered the art of bribery to advance its nefarious goals around the world.
The ruling al-Thani family, led by Emir Tamim bin Hamad, has used cold hard cash to rally people behind the dystopian ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, or to conveniently overlook Qatar’s central role in funding Islamic extremists and terrorists.
Qatar’s investments in influence are breathtaking. Hundreds of millions in official lobbying contracts in Washington. Suitcases of cash to FIFA officials and members of the EU parliament. Honorariums for former New York Times columnist Anand Giridharadas and former U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien to appear in Doha. Massive advertising contracts and sponsorships for influential media and entertainment outlets from Foreign Policy to VOX to Sundance to Buzzfeed.
Then there’s the $5 million they gave for the L.A. Mayor’s Fund, $20 million for the Nixon Foundation, the Endowed Journalism Fellowship for the Carter Center, as well as the acquisition of prime assets and large equity holdings in leading Western brands including British Airways, Volkswagen, Brookfield Corporation, St. Regis Hotels, Heathrow Airport and many more.
It’s also the largest donor to U.S. institutions of higher education, deploying more than $500 billion in areas of strategic significance for the regime — from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism to Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service to Texas A&M’s School of Engineering (through which it accesses our country’s most sensitive nuclear technology).
The explosion of antisemitism on U.S. college campuses since the Oct. 7 massacre traces back to Doha. A Qatari influence ecosystem that brings together Al Jazeera and other media along with its contributions to think tanks, influencers, PR firms, lobbyists and universities has effectively advanced the virulently antisemitic and anti-Israel views of the Al Thanis.
The good news is that for all the Qatari billions spent on influence, many in Congress are waking up to the dangers of this regime. Those people of influence who allow themselves to be used as pawns in Qatar’s evil game will inevitably be judged by history. That judgment will not be favorable.”
Digi.AI App
Digi.Ai, the “future of AI Romantic Companionship” has been released on iOS and Android.
The mission of Digi is to provide users with a unique and interactive relationship experience with a digital avatar powered by artificial intelligence.
Obviously, you can customize everything about your digital girlfriend and relationship experience and her actions and responses will evolve as she ‘gets to know you’.
The concept is similar to the movie ‘Her’ starring Joaquin Phoenix about a man who dates an AI avatar.
While the app has drawn equal parts outrage and excitement online, frankly it’s irrelevant. We aren’t going backward. People can rail about the lack of humanity or that the app should never have been created, but there’s no realistic world where regulation would prevent something like this or many other coming adaptations.
The unfortunate reality is that many of the current younger generation will opt out of ‘real life’ for a virtual existence. Many of them already do spending long hours online gaming, texting and scrolling.
Once the Metaverse and AI are even more alluring, increasing numbers will disappear into cyberspace.
While this is sad and will contribute to the disillusionment and depression of our youth by removing community and human attachment, it is inevitable and can only be countered by strong parenting and offering up an equally compelling experience in the real world.
What this means in practice is a continuation and acceleration of all the negative trends we’ve seen over the last decade.
Birth rates 📉
Human Connection 📉
Life Satisfaction….way 📉.
On the other hand, profits will continue up as the ability to create scalable experience without real-world costs will make many companies and individuals wealthy…at a great price however.
While the above may be depressing, there’s reason for optimism. So many have taken themselves out of the competitive arena that it’s never been easy for good people of character to excel.
The decline in competitive drive among many, especially in younger generations who often lean towards socialist ideals and view America negatively, has inadvertently opened opportunities for those who remain committed and driven.
This generation's fixation on smartphones and social media, coupled with their diminishing interest in traditional life milestones like dating and marriage, has created a unique advantage.
They believe the world has to be ‘fair’, and that they are entitled to success without effort.
For those who are disciplined, motivated, and anchored in strong values and faith it has NEVER been easier to win.
What I’m Reading and Watching…
Jeff Bezos podcast with Lex Fridman.
Jeff Bezos: “Any high-performing organization has to have mechanisms and a culture that supports truth telling”
As Jeff explains in the clip below:
“Truths often don’t want to be heard. Important truths can be uncomfortable, awkward, exhausting, challenging. They can make people defensive, even if that’s not the intent. But any high-performing organization—whether it’s a sports team, a business, a political organization, or activist group—has to have mechanisms and a culture that supports truth telling.”
And one of the things you have to do to support this kind of culture is talk about it:
“You have to talk about the fact that it takes energy to do that. And you have to remind people that it’s ok that it’s uncomfortable. You have to literally tell people: it’s not what we’re designed to do as humans… we mostly survive by being social animals—cordial and cooperative.”
He continues:
“You also want to set up your culture so that the most junior person can overrule the most senior person.”
And in every meeting Jeff attends, he always speaks last:
“I know from experience that if I speak first, even very strong-willed, highly-intelligent participants of that meeting will [wonder if their ideas are incorrect because they’re different from Jeff’s]… Ideally you try to have the most junior go first and then go in order of seniority so that you can hear everyone’s opinion in an unfiltered way… Because we really do change our opinions—if somebody you really respect says something, it makes you change your mind a little.”
Jeff also points out that a lot of the most powerful truths aren’t always based on data—they turn out to be hunches, are based on anecdotes, or are intuition-based:
“You may feel yourself leaning in. It may resonate with a set of anecdotes you have. And then you may be able to say: ‘something about that feels right. Let’s go collect some data on that and try to see if we can know if it’s right.’”
And lastly he discusses fighting inherent biases. For example, most companies usually have an optimism bias. As Jeff explains:
“If there are two interpretations of a new set of data—one is happy and the other is unhappy—it’s a little dangerous to jump to the conclusion that the happy interpretation is right. You may want to compensate for that human bias of trying to find the silver lining and say ‘that might be good, but I’m gonna go with it’s bad for now until we’re sure.’”
The Supreme Court has accepted a case challenging the Jan 6 obstruction charges.
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to review a pivotal case involving the Department of Justice's (DOJ) use of an evidence-tampering law to prosecute Jan. 6 defendants for obstructing Congress. This review comes after the high court accepted the petition of Joseph Wayne Fischer, challenging a commonly charged felony in the Jan. 6 cases, which could result in up to 20 years in prison.
The Fischer case is among three similar petitions from Jan. 6 defendants accused of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding, specifically the joint session of Congress for counting and certification of Electoral College votes. The DOJ had charged nearly 330 defendants, including former President Donald Trump, with obstruction as of early December.
Trump's charges, filed in August, included several counts related to the obstruction of Congress on Jan. 6. The case also sees defendant Thomas Caldwell requesting a suspension of his sentencing until the Supreme Court addresses the obstruction case.
The decision by the Supreme Court to consider this case has been predicted by some to impact the D.C. prosecution of President Trump significantly. Marina Medvin, a defense attorney involved in the case, commented that a favorable outcome for the defendants could be transformative for many charged with felonies instead of misdemeanors.
Fritz Ulrich, a federal public defender representing Fischer, expressed optimism about the Supreme Court's involvement in clarifying the scope of Section 1512(c)(2). The FormerFedsGroup Freedom Foundation, in their amicus curiae brief, argued that the co-opted evidence-tampering law is subject to overly broad interpretation by prosecutors.
The controversy also includes how the 1512 statute, amended post-Enron scandal, is being applied to the Jan. 6 prosecutions, with questions raised about its relevance to the events of that day. Defense attorney Joseph McBride criticized the DOJ's novel application of the law, questioning its relevance to the Jan. 6 protests.
As I’ve said for months (years), the charges against President Trump and many of the Jan6 defendants are based on novel and specious applications of the law. I’d expect the Court to drastically curtail the extra-legal use of these statutes by overzealous prosectors.
The Palestinans Don’t Want Israel to Destroy Hamas.
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Memetic Warfare
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Parting Words…
That’s it for this week folks! Hope you enjoyed. If you liked it please hit the ❤️ up top and share it with a friend. In vires numeris. 💪
(From Animals into Gods: A Brief History of Humankind (2012), p. 244)
Hey Mike - great Stack, as usual!
for some reason the embedded videos in your content never show up for me -- they all say “sorry , video cannot be found”. Can you post the link for the Mike Guimarin video by chance ?
Thanks!
IDK a better way to imagine this, but schools that are created to be highly selective and high achieving need to be set up in something like a public trust with the people as trustee and kids the beneficiaries. The trusts would have clear rules that schools can only be restructured if they fall below a certain level of achievement or become financially out of whack. There is no excuse to leave the survival of these schools in the hands of any arbitrary administration that comes along. Decades of work undone in the blink of an eye for nothing but ideological reasons. Should be a crime.