Policy in the Future
@policyfuture.bsky.social
Just thinking about what comes next
I'm enjoying the spectacle of every member of the War Boat Otaku community crash out simultaneously.
I'm not a ship-knower, but getting the impression that they would have preferred a WW2-era big boat with big guns and missiles on it over whatever this
I'm not a ship-knower, but getting the impression that they would have preferred a WW2-era big boat with big guns and missiles on it over whatever this
oh my god its literally Long Beach's wario
December 22, 2025 at 11:41 PM
I'm enjoying the spectacle of every member of the War Boat Otaku community crash out simultaneously.
I'm not a ship-knower, but getting the impression that they would have preferred a WW2-era big boat with big guns and missiles on it over whatever this
I'm not a ship-knower, but getting the impression that they would have preferred a WW2-era big boat with big guns and missiles on it over whatever this
As we've seen with MLB's minor leagues, the players on the lower rungs of pro sports are vulnerable to exploitation because they are willing to put up with a lot to keep their chance. For that reason, responsibility for keeping them healthy and fairly dealt with lies with the NHL and NHL clubs.
Helmets that don't fit, used equipment, running players ragged, amongst low pay and a continuing expansion?? In this economy?!?
December 22, 2025 at 11:29 PM
As we've seen with MLB's minor leagues, the players on the lower rungs of pro sports are vulnerable to exploitation because they are willing to put up with a lot to keep their chance. For that reason, responsibility for keeping them healthy and fairly dealt with lies with the NHL and NHL clubs.
Even if they have personal options that aren't MAGA-safe, State Dept career folks are (often annoyingly) professional and dedicated to the govt of the day. These Ambassadors were steelman-ing Trump policies in critical regions, and expended their credibility to do so. A gift thrown away!
Whatever else I might say about them, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and Somalia all have long standing and mostly warm relationships with the United States. Nigeria and Cote D’Ivoire are keystones in West Africa. All of this is incoherent from a strategic standpoint (because this isn’t about strategy).
December 22, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Even if they have personal options that aren't MAGA-safe, State Dept career folks are (often annoyingly) professional and dedicated to the govt of the day. These Ambassadors were steelman-ing Trump policies in critical regions, and expended their credibility to do so. A gift thrown away!
Hinted at, but not fully explored here is "why are there so many heli flights in DC". They're zipping up and down the Potomac constantly, something that started after 9/11. Showing off to Congress though presence patrols and ensuring VIPs are on time for dinner are not "national security" needs
For the last few months, I've been working on a story about January's crash near Washington, D.C. What I learned was that it was simply an accident waiting to happen.
Special Report: The night everything at DCA finally went wrong (via @theaircurrent.com) theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf...
Special Report: The night everything at DCA finally went wrong (via @theaircurrent.com) theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf...
Special Report: The night everything at DCA finally went wrong
D.C. midair crash was the result of a complete collapse of the protections designed to keep aviation safe — and the institutions that design and maintain them
theaircurrent.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:01 AM
Hinted at, but not fully explored here is "why are there so many heli flights in DC". They're zipping up and down the Potomac constantly, something that started after 9/11. Showing off to Congress though presence patrols and ensuring VIPs are on time for dinner are not "national security" needs
Also, how well did it turn out for Great Britain (and everyone else) when they tried this move with Iran? Bad? Ok
Wait, the justification at the top of the funnel for war with Venezuela is being tied to nationalization of the oil industry in *1976*? Leaving aside how morally and politically correct Venezuela's decision on that was, boy, that's a long time for America to hold a grudge.
December 17, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Also, how well did it turn out for Great Britain (and everyone else) when they tried this move with Iran? Bad? Ok
Wait, the justification at the top of the funnel for war with Venezuela is being tied to nationalization of the oil industry in *1976*? Leaving aside how morally and politically correct Venezuela's decision on that was, boy, that's a long time for America to hold a grudge.
December 17, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Wait, the justification at the top of the funnel for war with Venezuela is being tied to nationalization of the oil industry in *1976*? Leaving aside how morally and politically correct Venezuela's decision on that was, boy, that's a long time for America to hold a grudge.
24 to me is a good place to start: 2 for each circuit. For the sake of comity I would even allow Senate Republicans to suggest as acceptable names for 6 of the initial new seats. Making each justice less important is more important than control in the long run.
I'm going to keep saying this in my effort to speak it into reality: Supreme Court should have at least 100 Justices with rotating panels (and maybe an en banc option). No single Justice should have so much power and they shouldn't be names everyone knows.
A court with a normal-ish conservative majority would have been tolerable. I'm not eager for court packing, impeaching justices, and other such options. But this court sticking around post-Trump is untenable. They've already torched their own legitimacy, the only question is what do we do about it.
December 5, 2025 at 11:55 PM
24 to me is a good place to start: 2 for each circuit. For the sake of comity I would even allow Senate Republicans to suggest as acceptable names for 6 of the initial new seats. Making each justice less important is more important than control in the long run.
The argument for autonomous cars is easy in principle: A fleet of cars that follow the law, including speed limits, would improve safety AND travel times. But of course that is completely impossible because Americans will insist on a self-defeating arms race of illegal behavior.
“Waymo has been trying to make its cars ‘confidently assertive,’ says Chris Ludwick, a senior director of product management with Waymo, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet.”
Waymo’s Self-Driving Cars Are Suddenly Behaving Like New York Cabbies
Autonomous vehicles are adopting humanlike qualities, making illegal U-turns and flooring it the second the light goes green.
www.wsj.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:56 PM
The argument for autonomous cars is easy in principle: A fleet of cars that follow the law, including speed limits, would improve safety AND travel times. But of course that is completely impossible because Americans will insist on a self-defeating arms race of illegal behavior.
Guys, if I'm honest, this feels like a pretty big question to be getting around to in 2025.
November 28, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Guys, if I'm honest, this feels like a pretty big question to be getting around to in 2025.
Today in "Our lack of regulation is going to make Gattaca a documentary" holy cow
If you want to read something completely nuts from the unregulated world of direct to consumer genomics, look no further.
And when I say completely nuts, I’m being restrained and polite. Criminal is another word that springs to mind.
And when I say completely nuts, I’m being restrained and polite. Criminal is another word that springs to mind.
"Concerns about the legitimacy and integrity of Nucleus Genomics", by X account @sichuan_mala
totalhealthoptimization.com/2025/11/21/c...
totalhealthoptimization.com/2025/11/21/c...
November 27, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Today in "Our lack of regulation is going to make Gattaca a documentary" holy cow
American elite culture becoming more and more anti-knowledge and anti-education sounds like a contradiction... But then you remember that they just want college to serve as a transmission vehicle for their class privileges.
ruin your thanksgiving by reading new york magazine's take on mathematics
![The Ten Most
Ridiculous-Sounding
Math Classes Currently
Offered at Liberal-Arts
Colleges
By Jessica Pressler, Janelle Zara, and Emily Watkins Rachel Stein andAviva Shen OCT. 19, 2010
Every year, liberal-arts majors anxiously scour their college's course listings looking for classes that will fulfill their math requirement but aren't so, you know, math-y. Here's what they're signed up for this year.
10. Topology: The Nature of Shape and Space: "In geometry we ask: How big is it? How long is it? But in topology we ask: Is it [Sarah Lawrence
9. The Mathematies of Chance: "Most topics are introduced ina case-study fashion, usually by reading an article in a current periodical such as the New York Times. [Bard]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreieq6gmwmropzlvjkaaxk6d2smd4tv4dy7qar66uoyv6mhs6naa3fu@jpeg)
![8. Mathematics in Many Cultures: "Mathematical ideas are found in many cultures, among both literate and non-literate peoples. This course examines both mathematics and the role it plays in the cultures. Examples chosen from the mathematical ideas of present-day peoples of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, as well as historic Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Islam and China." [Pomona]
7. The Magic of Numbers: "This course will explore the beauty and mystery of mathematics through a study of the patterns and properties of the natural numbers 1, 2, [and] 3." [Harvard
6. Models of Life: In particular, we will ask such questions as: How do you model the growth of a population of animals? How can you model the growth of a tree? How do sunflowers and seashells grow?" [Kenyon]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreic3c4ox53ouwr3ij3wsmvetmuknu2u2jai7hlvuigco3ahppeoabi@jpeg)
![5. Mathematical Origamist's Toolkit: "Topics include modular origami and how this models the creation of polyhedra and coloring of graphs, comparison of origami-axiomatic constructions to straight-edge and compass constructions, the combinatorics of possible crease patterns, the mathematics of origami design (circle packing, optimization), matrix models for paperfolding, spherical geometry, Descartes' Theorem, and Gaussian curvature." [Hampshire]
4. Mathematics and Narrative: "Many literary works (Arcadia, Proof, and Uncle Petros and the Goldbach Conjecture) use mathematics as an integral part of their narrative. Movie and television narratives such as Good Will Hunting and Numb3rs are also mathematically based. Nonfiction works about mathematics and mathematical biographies like Chaos, Fermat's Enigma, and A Beautiful Mind provide further examples of the connection between mathematics and narrative." [Vassar]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreigyk5tqjszw3fodt7ivmszq7mozpta55o7c552oyzpbqyphl26x7m@jpeg)
![3. Borges and Mathematics: "Jorge Luis Borges was one of the most important writers of the 20th century. Many of his short stories and essays were concerned with philosophical, metaphysical, and mathematical questions. The thesis motivating this course is that if we know the mathematies that Borges referred to, then we will read him differently, and we will read him better." [Bennington 2. Mathematics and Science as Art in Contemporary Theatre: "Playwrights such as Tom Stoppard, Rinne Groff, Michael Frayn, and others have effectively explored mathematical and scientific themes for artistic purposes. Through readings and exercises, and by conducting labs and staging scenes, this class will gain some first-hand insight into the complementary ways in which science and art aim to seek out their respective truths." [Middlebury]
1. Meaning, Math, And Motion: "Quoting a charming articulation by Kinsman (a mathematician-turned-oceanographer, in the preface to Wind Waves): "To the beginner, science is a conversation that has been in progress for a very long time. Our collective work is to catch up on the conversation. [Evergreen]
This is why Asia is winning, by the way.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreihglx3kxej43i22j4vggyoutp2oyomivtmmvgp6uvslqemm4hhpci@jpeg)
November 27, 2025 at 3:56 PM
American elite culture becoming more and more anti-knowledge and anti-education sounds like a contradiction... But then you remember that they just want college to serve as a transmission vehicle for their class privileges.
I think if you steelman left nimby policy preferences, you basically end up with the hukou system, but without the commitment to pay people to build new buildings that makes it even remotely workable in practice. orcasia.org/hukou-system...
November 25, 2025 at 12:29 AM
I think if you steelman left nimby policy preferences, you basically end up with the hukou system, but without the commitment to pay people to build new buildings that makes it even remotely workable in practice. orcasia.org/hukou-system...
WPA-scale building program, but for building un-wired computer labs and test centers. First country to complete them wins the century.
To “my students and to anyone who might listen, I say: Don’t surrender to AI your ability to read, write and think when others once risked their lives and died for the freedom to do so.”
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
I Set A Trap To Catch My Students Cheating With AI. The Results Were Shocking.
"Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffpost.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:02 AM
WPA-scale building program, but for building un-wired computer labs and test centers. First country to complete them wins the century.
Reactionaries will fund and distribute AI and mislabeled videos that will prove that their fantasies were 100% true. Actual news articles explaining that these videos are lies will not reach into the epistemic enclosure.
I am fascinated by a question @lastpositivist.bsky.social raised - will the mundane reality of Mamdani's governance cause anyone like this to reconsider their fantasies or the basis of their fantasies? How much do they even believe this crap themselves?
This guy
November 5, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reactionaries will fund and distribute AI and mislabeled videos that will prove that their fantasies were 100% true. Actual news articles explaining that these videos are lies will not reach into the epistemic enclosure.
I would avoid doomering too hard on voter reform/ID stuff actually: The Republicans have taught themselves a false story here, and *their* older voters would actually have a lot of problems with this issue. It's bad policy, it's dumb, but good GOTV opps can handle it.
Pretty sure “Voter Reform” is a wing of the Ministry of Love.
“Voter reform” is incredibly ominous.
November 5, 2025 at 6:46 PM
I would avoid doomering too hard on voter reform/ID stuff actually: The Republicans have taught themselves a false story here, and *their* older voters would actually have a lot of problems with this issue. It's bad policy, it's dumb, but good GOTV opps can handle it.
Not just China! Young and middle-rank diplomats can mostly get away with it, but those are the Ambassadors & Consul Generals of tomorrow who need to give speeches, negotiate, host dinners, etc. The whole practice of diplomacy won't work right in the future unless the problem is addressed seriously.
this is also a really evolving problem in China analysis that I keep meaning to write up; translation software is tremendously useful, but it's also causing big issues with 20-somethings not learning any of the *context* or *norms* of Chinese writing or recognizing errors.
Noting that the senior diplomats of today are probably as skilled as they ever will be historically, as younger diplomats are relying on auto translation software instead of getting practice on government time. More efficient short-term, but going to create some funny menus in the future.
October 30, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Not just China! Young and middle-rank diplomats can mostly get away with it, but those are the Ambassadors & Consul Generals of tomorrow who need to give speeches, negotiate, host dinners, etc. The whole practice of diplomacy won't work right in the future unless the problem is addressed seriously.
This is almost certainly true, yes: At Embassies across the world native speaking staff are asked to correct "Clear errors" but to not give feedback on actually fixing writing. Someone in Seoul or DC is reading @beijingpalmer.bsky.social's thread, grateful that *someone* sees what they see.
From experience, it’s quite possible that a native English speaker was asked to look at this and then the original translator or another person in a position of power rejected their changes.
October 30, 2025 at 12:48 AM
This is almost certainly true, yes: At Embassies across the world native speaking staff are asked to correct "Clear errors" but to not give feedback on actually fixing writing. Someone in Seoul or DC is reading @beijingpalmer.bsky.social's thread, grateful that *someone* sees what they see.
Noting that the senior diplomats of today are probably as skilled as they ever will be historically, as younger diplomats are relying on auto translation software instead of getting practice on government time. More efficient short-term, but going to create some funny menus in the future.
Just to reinforce the “state use of language skills is about who is in the circle” point, the state menu at this extremely important diplomatic event has clearly been produced by a high-level but non-native speaker of English.
October 30, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Noting that the senior diplomats of today are probably as skilled as they ever will be historically, as younger diplomats are relying on auto translation software instead of getting practice on government time. More efficient short-term, but going to create some funny menus in the future.
The optimistic view is that Canada opening their market to Chinese EVs could cause a massive shock/realignment that could move us through the Malaise era very quickly.
Great and cool how the future of the US auto industry looks like the Malaise era again.
"GM to cut 1200 jobs at Detroit EV plant, hundreds more at Tennessee, Ohio battery sites" www.detroitnews.com/story/busine...
October 29, 2025 at 4:53 PM
The optimistic view is that Canada opening their market to Chinese EVs could cause a massive shock/realignment that could move us through the Malaise era very quickly.
"Sorry, can't lower the consumption tax, we need that money to buy every municipality a giant pickup truck they will never use"
Imagine explaining to Japan’s finance ministry that national security now involves bulk ordering Trump’s favorite pickup.New definition of ‘bilateral relations—two right-wing leaders revving their engines and pretending it’s strategy.
Q: Japan PM Sanae Takaichi is reportedly planning to buy Ford F-150 pickup trucks.
Trump: That's good, they're great trucks. I have that plan, or she has that plan?
Q: She has that plan.
T: That's good, she has good taste, that's a hot truck.
Trump: That's good, they're great trucks. I have that plan, or she has that plan?
Q: She has that plan.
T: That's good, she has good taste, that's a hot truck.
October 26, 2025 at 4:53 PM
"Sorry, can't lower the consumption tax, we need that money to buy every municipality a giant pickup truck they will never use"
Carney has worked consistently to dial down the pressure after each Trump temper tantrum, so no reason to believe that this is a real shift. You'll be able to tell it's real if he announces a BYD factory in Ontario within the next week. It's fake if he doesn't.
Carney: "We can't control the trade policy of the US. We recognize it has fundamentally changed from the policy in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, & it's a situation where US has tariffs against every trading partner... what we we can control is developing new partnerships, including w/econ giants of Asia"
October 24, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Carney has worked consistently to dial down the pressure after each Trump temper tantrum, so no reason to believe that this is a real shift. You'll be able to tell it's real if he announces a BYD factory in Ontario within the next week. It's fake if he doesn't.
Canadians, of course, are insulated against this problem by the Trailer Park Boys.
not just in the news, I think one of the fundamental problems is that there's almost no media in America that depicts them.
I mean, it doesn't help that the actual lower classes are never in the news as individuals, but instead as an amorphous blob that are treated as both the most benighted creatures on earth, or treated to noble savage syndrome so obvious that Tolstoy himself would gag at it.
October 22, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Canadians, of course, are insulated against this problem by the Trailer Park Boys.
A period of Takaichi as Prime Minister would surely be a boon for jp bsky.
I need to Koizumi-isms on Bsky please.
kono taro it is time to join bluesky
October 18, 2025 at 2:17 PM
A period of Takaichi as Prime Minister would surely be a boon for jp bsky.
The Long Un-Parliament
It's official: Speaker Johnson just cancelled all votes in the House next week.
The next scheduled voting day is 10/27; the last time the House was in session was 9/19.
The next scheduled voting day is 10/27; the last time the House was in session was 9/19.
October 17, 2025 at 9:56 PM
The Long Un-Parliament