Politics, Technology, & Language
@gunksny.bsky.social
Bluesky has replaced X for me. Off Facebook. Still read The Atlantic, The Guardian, The New Yorker, the now-untrustworthy NYT, and especially Substack, where I'm an active contributor: https://gunksny.substack.com/
According to Grok, “Elon’s intelligence ranks among the top 10 minds in history, rivaling polymaths like da Vinci or Newton."
Polymath: “A person of encyclopedic learning.” Newton knew physics and math. In what sense (fun cliché: On what planet?) is he a polymath?
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Polymath: “A person of encyclopedic learning.” Newton knew physics and math. In what sense (fun cliché: On what planet?) is he a polymath?
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Grok Insists That Elon Musk Is More Physically Fit Than LeBron James
Grok has quite literally only unbelievable things to say about its creator Elon Musk, praising him to a preposterous degree.
futurism.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:17 AM
According to Grok, “Elon’s intelligence ranks among the top 10 minds in history, rivaling polymaths like da Vinci or Newton."
Polymath: “A person of encyclopedic learning.” Newton knew physics and math. In what sense (fun cliché: On what planet?) is he a polymath?
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Polymath: “A person of encyclopedic learning.” Newton knew physics and math. In what sense (fun cliché: On what planet?) is he a polymath?
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Dear Fetterman, Kaine, et al. The Republican narrative was that the Democrats were responsible for the shutdown. That wasn’t true. Until you made it true.
November 10, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Dear Fetterman, Kaine, et al. The Republican narrative was that the Democrats were responsible for the shutdown. That wasn’t true. Until you made it true.
Reposted by Politics, Technology, & Language
November 10, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Mamdani and MLK
For anyone waiting for an analysis/exegesis of Mamdani’s speech on Tuesday, here it is. If you thought it was a great speech, this is why you were right. If you didn’t think it was a speech for the ages, here’s why you were wrong.
gunksny.substack.com/p/mamdani-an...
For anyone waiting for an analysis/exegesis of Mamdani’s speech on Tuesday, here it is. If you thought it was a great speech, this is why you were right. If you didn’t think it was a speech for the ages, here’s why you were wrong.
gunksny.substack.com/p/mamdani-an...
November 10, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Mamdani and MLK
For anyone waiting for an analysis/exegesis of Mamdani’s speech on Tuesday, here it is. If you thought it was a great speech, this is why you were right. If you didn’t think it was a speech for the ages, here’s why you were wrong.
gunksny.substack.com/p/mamdani-an...
For anyone waiting for an analysis/exegesis of Mamdani’s speech on Tuesday, here it is. If you thought it was a great speech, this is why you were right. If you didn’t think it was a speech for the ages, here’s why you were wrong.
gunksny.substack.com/p/mamdani-an...
For AI to go beyond the slightly-useful stage, AIs need to model the world a lot better. And so, data repositories are now incredibly valuable. It’s why Reddit (2200 employees) has a market cap of $37 billion, about the same as Delta Airlines (103,000 employees)
gunksny.substack.com/p/jacob-esau...
gunksny.substack.com/p/jacob-esau...
November 8, 2025 at 6:41 PM
For AI to go beyond the slightly-useful stage, AIs need to model the world a lot better. And so, data repositories are now incredibly valuable. It’s why Reddit (2200 employees) has a market cap of $37 billion, about the same as Delta Airlines (103,000 employees)
gunksny.substack.com/p/jacob-esau...
gunksny.substack.com/p/jacob-esau...
The Johns Hopkins Press is the latest publisher to sell its birthright for a pot of stew. It’s licensing its backlist to an undisclosed AI company.
gunksny.substack.com/p/jacob-esau...
gunksny.substack.com/p/jacob-esau...
Jacob, Esau, and the Automation Paradox
Are we selling ourselves — and future generations — out?
gunksny.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:29 PM
The Johns Hopkins Press is the latest publisher to sell its birthright for a pot of stew. It’s licensing its backlist to an undisclosed AI company.
gunksny.substack.com/p/jacob-esau...
gunksny.substack.com/p/jacob-esau...
The rhythms — personal, seasonal, political — of life are upended and out of synch
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-relati...
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-relati...
The Relativity of Time
A life — personal or political — is not an hourglass. It's a cluster of them, each with its own measure of sand
gunksny.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:13 PM
The rhythms — personal, seasonal, political — of life are upended and out of synch
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-relati...
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-relati...
November 4, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Politics, Technology, & Language
Reposted by Politics, Technology, & Language
Anyone who’s shocked by the fate of the East Wing must be unfamiliar with the fate of New York’s Bonwit Teller building and how Trump Tower got built. Destroying historical buildings and ignoring the preservation law is literally the oldest play in this guy’s book.
October 22, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Anyone who’s shocked by the fate of the East Wing must be unfamiliar with the fate of New York’s Bonwit Teller building and how Trump Tower got built. Destroying historical buildings and ignoring the preservation law is literally the oldest play in this guy’s book.
Why we rally
It's a day when we can define ourselves
gunksny.substack.com
October 18, 2025 at 7:33 PM
I was asked yesterday, “What do you tell people who say protesting doesn’t make a difference?”
gunksny.substack.com/p/why-we-rally
gunksny.substack.com/p/why-we-rally
October 18, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I was asked yesterday, “What do you tell people who say protesting doesn’t make a difference?”
gunksny.substack.com/p/why-we-rally
gunksny.substack.com/p/why-we-rally
gunksny.substack.com/p/climbing-i...
Over the past thirty-six years, I think I’ve done a pretty good— not perfect, but pretty damned good — job of placing honest gear. In the past year or so, I’ve tried to live my life in the same way.
Over the past thirty-six years, I think I’ve done a pretty good— not perfect, but pretty damned good — job of placing honest gear. In the past year or so, I’ve tried to live my life in the same way.
October 8, 2025 at 7:53 PM
gunksny.substack.com/p/climbing-i...
Over the past thirty-six years, I think I’ve done a pretty good— not perfect, but pretty damned good — job of placing honest gear. In the past year or so, I’ve tried to live my life in the same way.
Over the past thirty-six years, I think I’ve done a pretty good— not perfect, but pretty damned good — job of placing honest gear. In the past year or so, I’ve tried to live my life in the same way.
If we’re ever going to dig ourselves out of the anti-democratic hole we seem to find ourselves in, we’re going to have to understand what’s going on deep within our culture.
gunksny.substack.com/p/young-men-...
gunksny.substack.com/p/young-men-...
October 3, 2025 at 9:57 PM
If we’re ever going to dig ourselves out of the anti-democratic hole we seem to find ourselves in, we’re going to have to understand what’s going on deep within our culture.
gunksny.substack.com/p/young-men-...
gunksny.substack.com/p/young-men-...
Reposted by Politics, Technology, & Language
It sure would be nice to live in precedented times for a change.
September 30, 2025 at 9:31 PM
It sure would be nice to live in precedented times for a change.
What we’ve never done is identify with Sparta, ruled as it was by kings and structured in a caste system. It’s a bit shocking that Netanyahu would.
gunksny.substack.com/p/netanyahus...
gunksny.substack.com/p/netanyahus...
Netanyahu’s Willful Ignorance
“Israel must become Sparta,” he says. And “finish the job.”
gunksny.substack.com
September 29, 2025 at 12:57 PM
What we’ve never done is identify with Sparta, ruled as it was by kings and structured in a caste system. It’s a bit shocking that Netanyahu would.
gunksny.substack.com/p/netanyahus...
gunksny.substack.com/p/netanyahus...
Hey, @dailyfreeman.bsky.social, are you sure you don't want to distinguish between homes that are investment properties exclusively used for short-term rentals and homes that would otherwise be empty part of the year?
gunksny.substack.com/p/does-airbn...
gunksny.substack.com/p/does-airbn...
Does Airbnb eat up the housing market?
Maybe. But it would be nice to have some proof, before we regulate it out of existence.
gunksny.substack.com
September 28, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Hey, @dailyfreeman.bsky.social, are you sure you don't want to distinguish between homes that are investment properties exclusively used for short-term rentals and homes that would otherwise be empty part of the year?
gunksny.substack.com/p/does-airbn...
gunksny.substack.com/p/does-airbn...
Add Adam Kinzinger's voice to those saying the Democrats need to make a shutdown work in their favor.
open.substack.com/pub/gunksny/...
open.substack.com/pub/gunksny/...
September 23, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Add Adam Kinzinger's voice to those saying the Democrats need to make a shutdown work in their favor.
open.substack.com/pub/gunksny/...
open.substack.com/pub/gunksny/...
Reposted by Politics, Technology, & Language
Inflation is so bad these days that taking a $50,000 cash bribe can't even get you indicted. SAD!! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
September 22, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Inflation is so bad these days that taking a $50,000 cash bribe can't even get you indicted. SAD!! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
I wonder if we can put these two ideas together — mount a strong civil society mobilization to support the Democrats as they oppose Republican bills that would avert a government shutdown.
gunksny.substack.com/p/dems-need-...
gunksny.substack.com/p/dems-need-...
September 22, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I wonder if we can put these two ideas together — mount a strong civil society mobilization to support the Democrats as they oppose Republican bills that would avert a government shutdown.
gunksny.substack.com/p/dems-need-...
gunksny.substack.com/p/dems-need-...
Kirk created a lucrative livelihood by arguing with people untrained in the art of it. He would bring them to silence, and sometimes tears, which, by his rules, meant he won. Too many commentators fail to see that Kirk was a bully, not a debater.
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-war-of...
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-war-of...
The Wordsmith as Warrior
We flatter Charlie Kirk to call him a debater — he was anything but
gunksny.substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Kirk created a lucrative livelihood by arguing with people untrained in the art of it. He would bring them to silence, and sometimes tears, which, by his rules, meant he won. Too many commentators fail to see that Kirk was a bully, not a debater.
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-war-of...
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-war-of...
Our culture has always had influencers; though we’ve referred to them in less on-the-nose ways in the past: Opinion leaders/makers, celebrities, columnists, hosts, analysts ....
So why do so many of us have a visceral disregard, even distaste, for influencers?
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-influe...
So why do so many of us have a visceral disregard, even distaste, for influencers?
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-influe...
September 10, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Our culture has always had influencers; though we’ve referred to them in less on-the-nose ways in the past: Opinion leaders/makers, celebrities, columnists, hosts, analysts ....
So why do so many of us have a visceral disregard, even distaste, for influencers?
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-influe...
So why do so many of us have a visceral disregard, even distaste, for influencers?
gunksny.substack.com/p/the-influe...
Hey, @nytimes.com, how hard is it to get it right the first time?
August 28, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Hey, @nytimes.com, how hard is it to get it right the first time?