Everyone is spilling the tea. He had religious bias on killing, esp babies and should not have been on the jury.

Cornell just produced a massive new report on higher education noting that companies have a “jarring” skepticism of higher ed thanks to a new generation of degree holders who lack key skills like handling uncertainty, compromising, and absorbing feedback. Faculty also report that incoming students, despite four years of undergraduate education, are “underdeveloped” in these relational or interpersonal skills. This is a serious crises in higher education and the report calls for a greater need for conflict-resolution training. We need to do a better job training our students to deal with these issues. These are traditionally the skills students developed in higher education. I loved college because it challenged me, sparked debate, and required me to grapple with complexity. This should be an essential part of college--inside and outside the classroom. chronicle.com/article/compan…

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Massachusetts' highest court just upheld the MBTA Communities Law. The Supreme Judicial Court rejected Marshfield's challenge, reaffirming that MBTA communities must allow multifamily housing by right in designated zoning districts. 168 communities have taken steps to comply.

Anthropic’s 7 co-founders reportedly own ~14% of the company, roughly 2% each. They’re seeking 50.1% of the voting power. This kind of control has precedent, but those founders generally came public owning much more of their companies. Page and Brin owned ~32% of Google at IPO, Zuckerberg ~28% of Facebook, and Spiegel and Murphy ~36% of Snap. They all still have majority voting control. (For context, a recent dataset of 79 dual-class VC-backed IPOs shows only 15% gave the CEO majority voting power, with a median voting power of 18%.) Then Anthropic adds another layer: Long-Term Benefit Trust, an "independent group" created to protect the company’s public-benefit mission, owns zero equity but can still elect a majority of the board. The Trust has roots in the Effective Altruism/AI safety world. Needless to say, controversial. So public investors may own ~86% of the economics while the founders control the shareholder vote and a "mission-driven trust" controls the board. Hard to believe this structure doesn’t cost Anthropic some multiple.

EAs being sex weirdos makes for good tabloid gossip, and maybe helps negatively polarize people against them, but I think focusing on that is both cheap and counterproductive. What matters is that they’re ruthlessly power-seeking doomsday cultists, and if they get their way it will be very bad for the world. Focusing on slutcon or whatever gets clicks but isn’t going to persuade people with power (disproportionately high-openness) and makes the opposition to them seem like a church lady moral panic, which is low status coded. The things that matter are (1) they’re wrong, and (2) they’re maneuvering for control. Write about that.

A joint statement from Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Kansas Livestock Association and Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association regarding the ongoing ICE operations in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas: “The Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and Texas Cattle Feeders Association are closely monitoring reported U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity affecting agricultural communities in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. Our organizations respect the responsibility of federal agencies to enforce the law. At the same time, cattle producers, feedyards, dairies, livestock markets, processors, and other rural businesses depend on a stable workforce to care for animals, protect food safety, and keep the supply chains operating. Sudden workforce disruptions can create immediate animal-welfare, operational, and economic consequences that extend well beyond an individual business. These ICE operations are having a massive chilling effect on the legal, documented, skilled workers that put beef on the table and keep the cattle supply chain moving. Additionally, these types of disruptions will lead to higher beef prices for consumers. Reported impacts to our organizations throughout the past few days have been: - Thousands of fed cattle slated for shipping to processors now delayed, resulting in millions of dollars in lost revenue and additional costs. - Workforce disruptions at numerous supply chain chokepoints such as feedyards, dairies, processors, feed and grain companies, transportation hubs, and community services. These disruptions come at a time of enhanced focus and pressure on the cattle and beef supply chain. They are a costly and unnecessary impact to cattle producers already suffering from unwelcome political interference to both the markets as well as the physical supply chain. Frustratingly, the harm these actions cause to cattle producers last for days and weeks after such operations conclude. We urge federal officials to conduct enforcement actions in a lawful, orderly, and transparent manner; respect due process; and communicate clearly with affected employers and communities.”

If you want to solve most of the problem of birthright citizenship abuse, you don’t actually need to get rid of the citizenship angle - you need to get rid of the welfare entitlement that comes with it. Remove the chief incentive.

Who should win the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature?