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mattstern.bsky.social

@mattstern.bsky.social
964 followers 375 following 2.2K posts

Advaita, democracy, decency. *Two books every American should read: I.F. Stone's, The Trial of Socrates and James Douglass's, JFK and the Unspeakable.

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 9h
Voters have begun to wake to the fact that America has a genuine maniac at the helm, and one who has bogged down the economy to boot. Spotlighting his criminal and authoritarian behavior today intensifies these concerns. This time really might be the time:
lnk.thebulwark.com
Impeach Him Again
There’s never been a better time.
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The Biggest Economic Bet in U.S. History from @adamtooze.bsky.social adamtooze.substack.com/p/the-bigges...
A table titled, Average annual infrastructure spending as percentage of GDP.

It has six circles showing percentage of GDP spent on each tech: 
Canals .66%
Railroads 2.24%
Electrification .5%
Highways 1.13%
Telecom and fiber 1.1%
AI 3.63%
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𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕖 𝔾𝕦𝕣𝕝 @sundaedivine.lol · 29/09/2026
Before you trust the polls, remember: pollsters find the same six people who still answer unknown numbers.
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leveloneminiboss.bsky.social @leveloneminiboss.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I cannot remember, even in 2006, this level of Republican panic. Maybe they’re wrong, but it’s stunning.
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J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈 @jaspar.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Meta muse saying why would I deceive you?
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Today, Marist's midnight poll drop is from Ohio: Sherrod Brown leads Sen. Husted 51% to 43%. Amy Acton leads Vivek Ramaswamy 50% to 44%. A key stat: 50% *strongly disapprove* of Trump, in Ohio. maristpoll.marist.edu/polls/midter...
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is true: I look at Labour's neglect of higher ed in the UK - a complete own goal that made the country worse off and undermined a major export industry.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The News You Need, Tuesday, September 29, 2026: • A Heroic Israeli Attorney General Battles for Democracy • A Political Pope Who Hates Fascism • ICE Arrests Are Quieter But Rampant • Report from Beta Pictoris • Japan's Golf Courses Put to Better Use Read the Horton-Kaiser Report
open.substack.com
The News You Need, Tuesday, September 28, 2026
A Heroic Israeli Attorney General / A Political Pope Who Hates Fascism / ICE Arrests are Quieter but Rampant / Newly Discovered Radio Signals Probably Aren’t From ET / Japan Converts Golf Courses Into...
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“The president has repeatedly exhibited bizarre conduct in the public eye. Not only does that include taking naps during public events, but also erratic behavior, slurred speech, appearing lost or disoriented, and sporting mysterious bruises.” newrepublic.com/post/215938/...
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I'm not sure I've seen this level of GOP panic in my lifetime. The leaks have become a flood. Republicans are privately admitting this looks like 2006. They're saying the map is disintegrating. One even predicts a "wipelout." On the pod, we bring you all of it: newrepublic.com/article/2159...
newrepublic.com
Trump Erupts in Wild Panic as GOP Midterm Leaks Grow Urgent: “Wipeout”
As GOP alarm about the midterms worsens, a progressive data researcher explains the deeper reasons voters are so angry and dissatisfied right now—especially in red states with big Senate races.
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Maine Newsroom @mainenewsroom.com · 29/09/2026
9/29 Mainer-slash-historian @hcrichardson.bsky.social on the best way Mainers can influence the Senate election, speaking at a campaign event for Troy Jackson at USM in Portland Monday evening #maine #MEpolitics
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
How clear is it that Trump's taxpayer funded ads are illegal? I explain why it is 10/10 clear. Senate in passing the law: Ban is designed to stop public funds used for "glorification" of an individual official. GAO: funds can not be used for "self-aggrandizement" nor partisan political purposes.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Karl Rove warns that the Texas GOP is being taken over by Nazis. “In the last 48 hours, Ted Cruz has reached out to me and says, ‘We’re losing,’ Ken Paxton has sent me several emails saying, ‘I’m losing, I need your help. Even the Republicans are admitting that they’re behind.”
sacurrent.com
Karl Rove says Republican Party is being taken over by 'Nazis'
The Bush-era GOP political operative also said Republicans would be winning the battle for Texas' U.S. Senate seat if John Cornyn was the nominee.
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davidrlurie @davidrlurie.com · 29/09/2026
This fiasco, generated by right wing nuts, over the screening, in Bucks County, PA, of a documentary, about what well funded right wing nuts have done to Bucks County, is sad, and eye opening.
bucks-news.com
Dr. Jones Forced to Cancel “Bucks County, USA” Screening due to Last-Minute Security Assessments
Less than 48 hours before the PBS documentary “Bucks County, USA” was set to screen at Bucks, Patrick M. Jones, the college’s president and CEO, says he was forced to scrap the viewing due to last min...
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Andy Kaczynski @kfile.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A new CNN KFile investigation finds two past accounts from Texas GOP candidate Bo French calling for public executions of government officials, Obama, Adam Schiff, and more. Repeatedly asked Texas GOP, Paxton, Abbott campaigns if they stood by him and got no response. www.cnn.com/2026/09/28/p...
cnn.com
KFile: Texas GOP candidate Bo French has a history of calling for public executions | CNN Politics
Bo French, the Republican nominee for one of Texas’ most powerful statewide offices, is facing bipartisan criticism over a racist post about the crowd at a University of Texas football game.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Brutal: One Iowa GOP strategist privately tells WaPo that the midterms could be a "wipeout." That supports what we reported on the potential for big Dem gains in rural areas, based on what the Iowa Dem chair told us on the pod (see my thread below).
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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
at some point governments are going to start demanding reparations from the united states for all the theft, coercion and attack by trump.
nytimes.com
Trump Brought Venezuelan Gold to the U.S., but Refiners Won’t Touch It (Gift Article)
The administration is brokering deals in a notoriously corrupt industry, including one with a company that the United States deems a security threat.
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Jonathan @jonathansocials.com · 03/09/2026
The Liar in Chief thinks a president should be impeached for lying.
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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
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Ryan @sweetcainmusic.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and the conclusion I think I’ve come to is that even if it’s not God, we won’t win if we don’t sustain this fight with the faith that what we are saving and the future we are building are righteous. You have to believe in something bigger than yourself.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
An Important Note on Silicon Valley AI Models (LLMs) talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/an-im...
talkingpointsmemo.com
An Important Note on Silicon Valley AI Models (LLMs)
I want to flag your attention to this note written by computer...
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Exactly. As he becomes more deranged and politically weaker, he will become more desperate and more dangerous.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
New, from me: Once memory-holed, DOGE is now the subject of revisionism. To better understand why DOGE failed, I talked to people in the civic tech movement that DOGE displaced, who continue to offer the alternative model for how to modernize govt. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/doge-vs-ci...
donmoynihan.substack.com
DOGE vs. Civic Tech
As DOGE revisionism picks up, a contrast with the civic tech movement it displaced illuminates its failure
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Media Matters for America @mmfa.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Fox contributor: Republicans losing Congress in the midterms points to “self-inflicted wounds by President Trump”
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 28/09/2026
What a shock…I have been barred from Peter Thiel’s Nashville Antichrist lectures despite buying a ticket. Was it something I said? As the world’s foremost expert on Thiel’s Antichrist obsession, I take great umbrage. This aggression will be answered.
The Nashville Antichrist
Lectures
Marked as Not Going
The host of the event marked you as not going. We hope you can join next time.
Your ticket has been refunded, and you have been removed from the guest list. Thank you.
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Greg Pinelo @gregpinelo.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Cue Streisand effect.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Designing an Arc-de-Trump with a snipers' nest? Trying to ban reporters from the White House? Refusing to say how many Americans have died in his wars? It's so painfully clear that Trump has lost his mind.
youtube.com
Has Donald Trump Finally Lost It?
Donald Trump’s mental decline has gotten worse.Why is the media only barely starting to report on it?And why won’t they
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Morgan J Freeman @mjfree.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Trump swag is NOT made in the USA: • Cheap MAGA / rally / Amazon hats — China (Ligezhuang, Shandong) and Bangladesh • Trump bomber jacket — China • Dress shirts — China, Bangladesh, Honduras, Vietnam • Ties — China (he admitted this), also Indonesia / Vietnam • Trump New York zip vest (Trump
Image
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Jack Hopkins-The Original @therealjackhopkins.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
37 more wounded troops. Added quietly. No explanation. Here's the No B.S. truth: when anyone (a vendor, a CEO, a government) revises the numbers without telling you why, the silence IS the message. 861 wounded. Their families deserve the full story.
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If the nation wasn’t led by madmen, this would be a huge story. As it is, Trump’s offer to sell weapons to our most powerful adversary is just another sign of America’s national suicide.
nytimes.com
Trump Offered to Sell Arms to China, U.S. Ambassador Says
President Trump made the offer to Xi Jinping, China’s leader, said David Perdue, the ambassador to China. The White House later said the U.S. had no plans for such a sale.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The response when progressive policies that help millions of people are proposed... "How will you pay for it?" The response when the richest 1% ask for tax cuts, or banks ask for bailouts, or defense contractors ask for more contracts... "How much do you need?" It doesn't have to be this way.
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Kimberley Johnson @kimberleyjohnson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
But I need to smile more.
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🖌 Myandra sez: 🖍 Impeach the MF'er soon. We're waiting. @myandra.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
#VoteBlue no matter who.
Ossoff says we will restore checks and balances.
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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
As I was saying about the president's mental health bit.ly/4AzAQOb
bit.ly
Trump reveals constant violent thoughts in call with Axios: ‘I'm always thinking about it’
President Donald Trump made a startling admission to Axios on Sunday when pressed on whether he intended to escalate his deeply unpopular war against Iran in the near future.Trump’s phone call with th...
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David Rothschild @davmicrot.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
NYT had no problem saying Biden was too old, he had to be forced out, for 6 straight months until they made it happen. But for Trump, they only condemn his crimes against US in riddles.
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Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 27/09/2026
George W. Bush had plenty of opportunities to speak up. January 6th. The January 6th Committee. Trump’s return to power. Mostly silence. But now he’s stepping back into politics to help Republican senators get reelected? Yeah. I have some thoughts.
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JoJoFromJerz @jojofromjerz.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I never thought in a million years that the president and First Lady of the United States would be targeting me personally and trying to hurt me and my kids. jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/be-best-be...
jojofromjerz.substack.com
Be Best. Be Quiet. Or Be Bankrupted.
Melania Trump is selling a story about lifting women up. I’m the mother of two she tried to frighten into submission.
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Joshua B. Hoe @joshuabhoe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Our government is purely racist and evil www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
“His upper right eye socket and temple were swollen as if he had been punched,” Garton said. The man’s face, he added, was scraped “as if it had been ground into the sidewalk”.

Garton, 56, said one agent had his knee on the man’s back and was “beating up on him”, even as the person shouted: “I’m a citizen, leave me alone.” The witness said about five people were standing nearby, yelling at the agents to stop.

a sign saying 'justice 4 Wilber' is placed next to candles and flowers
Venezuelan shot by ICE seeks medical care as lawyer says bullet lodged in back
Read more
Garton said he urged the officer to get off the man so he could inspect his injuries, and also asserted that the officer acknowledged that he was already aware the man was a US citizen. When the agent stepped away, Garton said he saw bloodstains in the shape of handprints on the man’s shirt.

The man told Garton that he had been walking to a pharmacy to pick up a prescription when the agents stopped him.

Another eyewitness, Michael Lipson, the owner of a store across the street from where the incident occurred, said he saw the federal officers wrestle the man to the ground as the alleged victim repeatedly yelled that he was a citizen. The man’s face looked “badly messed up”, Lipson told the AP.

Lipson said the officers checked cards and papers from the man’s wallet before leaving them scattered on the road. Lipson said he laid out his sweatshirt for the man to rest on while Garton inspected his injuries.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 25/09/2026
Politico’s owner gave Peter Thiel an award today. Hardly surprising, since Peter Thiel gave the guy’s son $50 million. Have you heard of “The German JD Vance”? www.thenerdreich.com/politico-pet...
thenerdreich.com
Politico's $50M Peter Thiel Problem
Is Axel Springer CEO's son the 'German JD Vance'?
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said his country’s mediators had submitted a plan to the White House that could see the Strait of Hormuz reopen within a week and restart broader talks towards a resolution to the war. ft.trib.al/lz0csgc
ft.trib.al
Iran offers US new ‘7-day’ ceasefire proposal
Foreign minister says plan could see Strait of Hormuz reopen within a week
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Raskin made a holy shit observation on MS Now this afternoon: Since taking office, Trump has made a million dollars per hour for himself. Every hour, he has made more than twice the president’s annual salary.
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Zak Williams @zakwilliamswzw.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Incredible corruption
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Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The happiest couple in America: Commie Donnie and Malaria.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Once more Trump administration claims about noncitizens voting turns out to be false. 100% false.
nytimes.com
From 15,000 to 185 to Zero: Trump’s Claims of Illegal Voting in Nevada Fizzle
It was the Trump administration’s latest stumble in its effort to find proof of widespread noncitizen voting, despite decades of evidence that it is extremely rare.
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Taulby Edmondson @taulby.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Human targets were marked by the IDF by hacking into cell phone networks. One interviewee estimated 60-70k Gazans had been marked-clearly including many, many people beyond those considered Hamas fighters-and another said it did not distinguish between kids and adults. The interviewees said the targets were hit at night when they were home with their families, who they could hear through their phones before initiating strikes. "How could you bomb when you hear a crying baby inside?" Abraham asked one of them.
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
JUST IN: A federal judge has issued a permanent injunction upbraiding ICE for mass arrests that have strained detention facilities and forced detainees all over the country into "overcrowded, squalid, and degrading rooms for excessive periods of time" www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/defaul...
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
An ICE official desposed for this case was so evasive during a deposition that the judge declared her not credible. At one point, when asked to give a rough estimate of how many people were being held at 26 Federal Plaza in NYC in June 2025, she responded with "there's no such thing as an average."
Despite these facts, ICE officials – particularly Zanello – at other points in this case have attempted to downplay the level of overcrowding that existed during the summer of 2025. As the day-to-day supervisor of the tenth-floor hold rooms who was present on the tenth floor on at least most days from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., she was quite evasive about how many people generally were held there at a time. [see Footnote 114 in next image] 

She would not provide even an estimate. In addition to her unbelievable claims that she could not recall approximately how many people were being held at any given time and that there is no such thing as an average number of people who were being heldFootnote 114: (“Q. Over the summer of 2025 while you were there . . . there were often 100 people held on the [tenth-]floor hold rooms at a time. Right? A. I would have to look at the day. Q. What is your best recollection as you sit here of the average number of people who [were] being held in the [tenth-]floor hold rooms in July 2025? A. There is no average that you can provide . . . . [T]he best I could do was a high and a low. Q. Okay. What’s the high and the low? A. I don’t know. Q. . . . [L]et’s take one time period each day. Let’s take noon . . . . What is your best recollection of how many people were being held there at noon in July? A. . . . . I would have to look at a specific date and time to give you that number . . . . Q. Okay. I’m asking you how many people do you recollect being held? A. It depends on the day. I would have to look at the day. Q. But you have no recollection of what the numbers were like as you sit here today under oath? A. It could have been zero. It could have been max. I don’t know. I would have to look at the day. Q. Okay. Give me a rough estimate of one of the most crowded days you can remember? A. I would have to look at the day. I’m not going to guess on a number. Q. Fair to say that at times there were more than a hundred people at a time? A. I would have to look at the day . . . . Q. But sitting here today you cannot even give a rough estimate of how many people were there? . . . . [A.]Footnote 14 continued.
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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Ezra Klein asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about AI making kids worse at math and reading. Huang’s reply: “Does it matter?” Then he said he doesn’t know his own address or phone number. “We’re going to lose some fine intellectual dexterity.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/o...
So the message of this research out of China, where you were seeing a lot of kids using A.I. to help them, was that when they were using the A.I., they were getting things done faster. But it turned out that the skills they were learning were not holding, that their actual personal performance, at least in the way we traditionally measure it, was degrading.

What do you think when you hear that?

The last part — I completely agree. Try to get a kid to do long division right now. The multiplication table is starting to be forgotten. Doing square roots, my goodness. Basic math is being forgotten. Does it matter?

That’s my question for you.

Yeah. I don’t think it does. I don’t think it does.

But there must be some set of skills that matter.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But maybe not those. We’re going to discover new ones. Just maybe not those.

There are a lot of skills that don’t matter. My first confession, I actually don’t know my address.And I ——

I don’t really believe that to be true.

It’s completely true. Janine will tell you and Lori will tell you.

One day I had to pump gas — it was a few years ago. They needed my ZIP code, and I panicked. I didn’t know my ZIP code. I don’t know my telephone number. I forget these things. I can live with it.

But let me take the other side because I don’t want to fall into a thing where, because some skills can be safely offloaded ——

Yeah.

I also can’t get anywhere without a mapping system now. Never could, frankly. But I’m a big reader. And one of the skills I really value, one of the capacities I have that I really value is an attention span formed on physical books.

You’re a big reader. I’ve read about the kind of reading you do. And there is, prior to A.I., a lot of concern and noticing among college professors and others that the way people use the internet has probably shortened attention spans.
Some skills can be safely given away. Others are valuable. They are capacities that are needed for that flexibility, for that creative thinking, for that focus. It can’t be the case that everything can be traded off.Some skills can be safely given away. Others are valuable. They are capacities that are needed for that flexibility, for that creative thinking, for that focus. It can’t be the case that everything can be traded off.

Yeah. Well, I think that we’re going to lose some finer intellectual dexterity, but we’re going to be better systems thinkers.

Today’s engineers are far better systems thinkers than I was when I graduated from school. But I was a much better transistor thinker.

What do you mean by systems thinker?

They think of large systems. Today’s computers have trillions, hundreds of trillions of transistors in them. When I first graduated from school, the first chip I worked on had 200 transistors. I knew every one of them by name. No engineer does that today. Most engineers now work well above the transistor, well above the functionality, and they’re cobbling things together to do things.

So you need to think much more about systems and interactions of systems. So some of the lower-level knowledge is gone.
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💠𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒛𝒊𝒆𝑷𝒊𝒆💠 @schultziepie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
You cannot make this shiz up! #FDT #Pinks
josheeirl
NEWS: The DOJ lawyer defending Trump's ban on
CNN, MSNBC and Politico is Michael Velchik. In college, he wrote a Latin class essay from Hitler's point of view, so disturbing his instructor made him redo it. In 2013 he called Mein Kampf his favorite book he'd read that year and praised Hitler's grasp of propaganda without mentioning the Holocaust.
This is the man now arguing in federal court that the press has no right to White House access.
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