John Polonis
@johnpolonis.bsky.social
Writer. Filmmaker. Lawyer. Philosopher. Home cook 👨🏻🍳
“The S&P 500 Index is down about 8% since [Trump’s] inauguration and on track for its worst run during a president’s first 100 days since Gerald Ford in 1974”
- @bloomberg
- @bloomberg
April 28, 2025 at 1:46 PM
“The S&P 500 Index is down about 8% since [Trump’s] inauguration and on track for its worst run during a president’s first 100 days since Gerald Ford in 1974”
- @bloomberg
- @bloomberg
Why is the mainstream media not covering the spike in call options immediately prior to Trump's tariff pause announcement? It should be on page 1 everywhere, but everyone is quiet.
April 11, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Why is the mainstream media not covering the spike in call options immediately prior to Trump's tariff pause announcement? It should be on page 1 everywhere, but everyone is quiet.
If you want to know why Trump blinked and paused tariffs, it wasn’t because of the “art of the deal” or even the stock market - it was because of the bond market
April 10, 2025 at 10:59 AM
If you want to know why Trump blinked and paused tariffs, it wasn’t because of the “art of the deal” or even the stock market - it was because of the bond market
Americans have consistently chosen service economy over manufacturing jobs when given the choice.
The majority of us do not want to work in factories.
The majority of us do not want to work in factories.
April 7, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Americans have consistently chosen service economy over manufacturing jobs when given the choice.
The majority of us do not want to work in factories.
The majority of us do not want to work in factories.
Ted Cruz is not wrong
April 5, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Ted Cruz is not wrong
South Korea has a fertility rate of 0.7.
This is the lowest rate of any nation in the world and may be the lowest in recorded human history.
South Korea is an outlier now, but many other western countries are also experiencing birth rate decline.
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This is the lowest rate of any nation in the world and may be the lowest in recorded human history.
South Korea is an outlier now, but many other western countries are also experiencing birth rate decline.
1/6
April 5, 2025 at 1:40 PM
South Korea has a fertility rate of 0.7.
This is the lowest rate of any nation in the world and may be the lowest in recorded human history.
South Korea is an outlier now, but many other western countries are also experiencing birth rate decline.
1/6
This is the lowest rate of any nation in the world and may be the lowest in recorded human history.
South Korea is an outlier now, but many other western countries are also experiencing birth rate decline.
1/6
Today we’ll find out if the people of Wisconsin are fine with Elon Musk buying their elections.
April 1, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Today we’ll find out if the people of Wisconsin are fine with Elon Musk buying their elections.
If Trump tries to run for a third term, then Obama should too. Only fair.
March 30, 2025 at 11:46 PM
If Trump tries to run for a third term, then Obama should too. Only fair.
George Soros advertised a contest that would award two voters a million dollars each, with the condition that the winners had to have already voted in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
March 29, 2025 at 12:07 PM
George Soros advertised a contest that would award two voters a million dollars each, with the condition that the winners had to have already voted in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
"This is about more than short-term business and losing clients or rainmaking lawyers. This threatens the entire practice of law as we know it. Lawyers will no longer have the freedom to practice law in accordance with the law. They will be thinking about political ramifications...
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March 28, 2025 at 6:27 PM
"This is about more than short-term business and losing clients or rainmaking lawyers. This threatens the entire practice of law as we know it. Lawyers will no longer have the freedom to practice law in accordance with the law. They will be thinking about political ramifications...
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Elon Musk told Fox News that he believes DOGE can cut “$1 trillion in government spending.” 1/5
March 28, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Elon Musk told Fox News that he believes DOGE can cut “$1 trillion in government spending.” 1/5
Don’t learn to code. Most of those jobs will be obsolete in a few years.
Learn philosophy instead. Learn how to think critically. Solve problems. Understand ethical dilemmas that algorithms and AI will need to account for.
These are the crucial skills of the 21st century.
Learn philosophy instead. Learn how to think critically. Solve problems. Understand ethical dilemmas that algorithms and AI will need to account for.
These are the crucial skills of the 21st century.
March 28, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Don’t learn to code. Most of those jobs will be obsolete in a few years.
Learn philosophy instead. Learn how to think critically. Solve problems. Understand ethical dilemmas that algorithms and AI will need to account for.
These are the crucial skills of the 21st century.
Learn philosophy instead. Learn how to think critically. Solve problems. Understand ethical dilemmas that algorithms and AI will need to account for.
These are the crucial skills of the 21st century.
One of the most disgustingly partisan executive orders I’ve ever read. Law firms need to grow spines and act with the swagger they’re known for - capitulating to a strongman ain’t it.
Wilmer Hale partners now have a choice. Disgrace yourself or fight. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Addressing Risks From WilmerHale
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:Section 1. Background.
www.whitehouse.gov
March 28, 2025 at 12:39 AM
One of the most disgustingly partisan executive orders I’ve ever read. Law firms need to grow spines and act with the swagger they’re known for - capitulating to a strongman ain’t it.
First three runs of game one of the MLB season and they are all home runs.
Look, I love baseball, but this version of the game where it’s almost always a home run or a strike out is not entertaining for anyone.
Look, I love baseball, but this version of the game where it’s almost always a home run or a strike out is not entertaining for anyone.
March 27, 2025 at 7:46 PM
First three runs of game one of the MLB season and they are all home runs.
Look, I love baseball, but this version of the game where it’s almost always a home run or a strike out is not entertaining for anyone.
Look, I love baseball, but this version of the game where it’s almost always a home run or a strike out is not entertaining for anyone.
Happy baseball opening day! The world is a crazy place right now, but at least we now have the daily certainty of baseball. It’s gotten America through worse.
March 27, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Happy baseball opening day! The world is a crazy place right now, but at least we now have the daily certainty of baseball. It’s gotten America through worse.
This is one of the best pieces I’ve read on the Ukraine War, and the history of Russian propaganda and perception manipulation. Putin is winning the messaging game, as many of his talking points are consistently parroted in America, especially by those on the right.
Institute for the Study of War
The notion that the war is unwinnable because of Russia’s dominance is a Russian information operation, which gives us a glimpse of the Kremlin’s real strategy and only real hope of success. The Kreml...
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/denying-russia’s-only-strategy-success
March 26, 2025 at 11:46 AM
This is one of the best pieces I’ve read on the Ukraine War, and the history of Russian propaganda and perception manipulation. Putin is winning the messaging game, as many of his talking points are consistently parroted in America, especially by those on the right.
What do people think of the hotel dining trend where hotels like 25hours in Florence or Patina Maldives sit you with a bunch of strangers to transform dining into social experiences?
March 24, 2025 at 1:48 PM
What do people think of the hotel dining trend where hotels like 25hours in Florence or Patina Maldives sit you with a bunch of strangers to transform dining into social experiences?
I don’t blame any Canadian or European or anyone else for that matter who hates us Americans right now. I hate us too at the moment. We need a cultural reawakening from our current traumatic state.
March 20, 2025 at 2:31 PM
I don’t blame any Canadian or European or anyone else for that matter who hates us Americans right now. I hate us too at the moment. We need a cultural reawakening from our current traumatic state.
We need a new way to think about Donald Trump’s foreign policy. He’s not an isolationist. He’s not an imperialist.
He’s both.
Unprecedented times call for new terminology - imperial isolationism. More from today’s newsletter:
polispandit.substack.com/p/imperial-i...
He’s both.
Unprecedented times call for new terminology - imperial isolationism. More from today’s newsletter:
polispandit.substack.com/p/imperial-i...
Imperial Isolationism: Foreign Policy Under Trump 2.0
Plus more from The Political Prism, Werner Herzog, and Bagels
polispandit.substack.com
March 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
We need a new way to think about Donald Trump’s foreign policy. He’s not an isolationist. He’s not an imperialist.
He’s both.
Unprecedented times call for new terminology - imperial isolationism. More from today’s newsletter:
polispandit.substack.com/p/imperial-i...
He’s both.
Unprecedented times call for new terminology - imperial isolationism. More from today’s newsletter:
polispandit.substack.com/p/imperial-i...
I recently finished Daniel Kahneman’s mega-bestseller, ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’, which celebrates rational thinking and behavioral psychology. It’s hard for me to reconcile those teachings with Kahneman’s decision to end his life through assisted suicide. I wrote about it in today’s newsletter.
Should Assisted Suicide Be Legal?
A consequential decision made by one of the greatest decision makers of all time
polispandit.substack.com
March 16, 2025 at 10:56 AM
I recently finished Daniel Kahneman’s mega-bestseller, ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’, which celebrates rational thinking and behavioral psychology. It’s hard for me to reconcile those teachings with Kahneman’s decision to end his life through assisted suicide. I wrote about it in today’s newsletter.
The top 1% owns 30% of U.S. wealth, with Silicon Valley comprising nearly 10% of U.S. GDP - so it’s no wonder many in tech have shifted rightward politically as they increasingly view the state as an inconvenience and a threat to their concentration of wealth.
March 10, 2025 at 8:46 PM
The top 1% owns 30% of U.S. wealth, with Silicon Valley comprising nearly 10% of U.S. GDP - so it’s no wonder many in tech have shifted rightward politically as they increasingly view the state as an inconvenience and a threat to their concentration of wealth.
"There’s a more fundamental truth at play here — moving fast and breaking things may work at a tech company where workers can quickly make product updates with new code. This strategy, however, doesn’t work so well with the U.S. federal government, where human lives are directly at stake."
Clipping Elon's Wings
Plus White Lotus, 2 great political stories, and a bagel review
open.substack.com
March 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
"There’s a more fundamental truth at play here — moving fast and breaking things may work at a tech company where workers can quickly make product updates with new code. This strategy, however, doesn’t work so well with the U.S. federal government, where human lives are directly at stake."
The big question is: Who are the investors holding the bulk of the bag? Who effectively gave Trump and his team $350 million via a $TRUMP memecoin that has no utility apart from speculation?
polispandit.substack.com/p/the-350-mi...
polispandit.substack.com/p/the-350-mi...
The $350 Million Question
And other stories from The Political Prism, along with a luxury comparison
polispandit.substack.com
March 8, 2025 at 8:49 PM
The big question is: Who are the investors holding the bulk of the bag? Who effectively gave Trump and his team $350 million via a $TRUMP memecoin that has no utility apart from speculation?
polispandit.substack.com/p/the-350-mi...
polispandit.substack.com/p/the-350-mi...
“Trump views the world as a zero-sum game with winners and losers. From Trump’s perspective, Russia is the domineering winner in its sphere of influence, and therefore it should be free to express its power how it chooses...
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February 25, 2025 at 4:29 PM
“Trump views the world as a zero-sum game with winners and losers. From Trump’s perspective, Russia is the domineering winner in its sphere of influence, and therefore it should be free to express its power how it chooses...
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Where’s the best bagel in NYC? The NYTimes released a list of their top 16, but I disagree, so I’m trying their list and comparing. Here’s 1 - Liberty Bagels in the Financial District.
February 7, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Where’s the best bagel in NYC? The NYTimes released a list of their top 16, but I disagree, so I’m trying their list and comparing. Here’s 1 - Liberty Bagels in the Financial District.