“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

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

Americans have consistently chosen service economy over manufacturing jobs when given the choice. The majority of us do not want to work in factories.

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. 1/6

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.

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... 1/2

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

"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...

“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... 1/3

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.

First time at Tompkins Square Bagel in the East Village for me this morning and what stuck out most wasn’t their perfectly executed bagel but the variety of cream cheese. This chipotle one, woah!

The playbook: Make wild threats → Create market chaos → Secure last-minute "deal" → Declare victory Bottom line: Allies must prepare for a world where America can't be counted on. Trump's foreign policy isn't about solving problems—it's about creating spectacle.

I cannot remember a time in my life when it was less cool to be liberal. I’m a 37-year-old millennial and when I was growing up, there were liberal celebrities like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

If Italians should stay Italian and Japanese should stay Japanese as Elon Musk says, why is this South African dude in America? By that logic we should ship him back to South Africa to keep America only for native born Americans.

Love the comedians who double as political analysts. As if politics is simply human nature like everything else and not often involving complex legal, moral, or ethical judgments.

The blatant grifting done by Trump and Melania with their meme coins is one of the biggest scandals by a first family of all time and the press is silent. Spells doom for what the next 4 years will bring if this is the type of accountability we can expect.

Love how Trump initially pushed for the TikTok Ban and now suddenly swoops in acting like he’s the only one who can save it. Don’t be conned.

Guns are the leading cause of death of children in America. As if anyone needed reminding today. So tragic.

Does MAGA realize the psyop they’ve been put under with Pete Hegseth? Just a few days ago, Senator Joni Ernst had grave concerns about Hegseth’s character, fitness, and qualifications for being Secretary of Defense.

As we enter the Trump 2.0 era, I will publish a democracy health update every Monday morning. It will highlight key democracy-related stories for the week ahead while also assessing the previous week. Then throughout the week we’ll go deeper into specific topics. (1/2)

Democrats need to prioritize taxing billionaires and the $100 million plus club. But that doesn’t mean being anti-capitalism. It shouldn’t be a radical idea that we can promote innovation and entrepreneurship while also demanding that people pay their fair share for a system they benefit from.

Prediction - both Alito (74) and Thomas (76) step down before the Trump admin is over, especially once people start to feel the disastrous effects of Trump’s tariff and foreign policies over the next 2 years and the GOP gets steamrolled in the midterms.

Want to future proof your career from the Sam Altmans of the world? Learn how to use AI, manage AI, and deploy AI in your industry. Then words like these won’t be as scary:

A return to private social media? Interesting zag while almost everyone else zigs towards influencer models. “In other words, Mozi is the private social network that helps you build real-word relationships.” ev.medium.com/making-socia...

“This is an axis of evil [Russia, China, Iran, North Korea] that is working together and for a long time now. This global alliance is currently furthering the aggression against Ukraine. But it also has many additional targets.” - Sergiy Boyev, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defense

“If Biden does not define and defend his legacy, Trump will do it for him. If Democrats are passive and suddenly indifferent about Trump’s threats to democracy…”

We don't need to eat the rich, we just need to regulate them better. The chorus of jokes, remorseless comments, and overt celebrations following the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson are disgusting and counterproductive. We can do better. Here's how. First, a brief history. 1/9

Biden should pardon Donald Trump. Hear me out - I think Trump should be in prison more than anyone, but these considerations "trump" my thinking: (1/9)

After the 2024 election, I think we’ve finally learned that Twitter/X is real life.

New short story: "The Billionaire Saving the World" Hope you enjoy. thekrakenlore.com/the-billiona...

Some say it’s a dark time for western liberalism: - Donald Trump’s win illustrates that most Americans are unconcerned with a convicted felon, adjudicated sexual abuser, and election denier who inspired Jan 6th riots as their President 🧵 (1/11)

Doubt Donald Trump will ever come close to saying these words.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, two unelected (billionaire) bureaucrats of the incoming administration, are charged with firing fellow unelected bureaucrats. The Onion is going to have one hell of a year in 2025.

Prediction: Trump tariffs and mass deportations will disproportionately affect U.S.-born Latinos, creating a backlash. It will be the job of Democrats to counter and document all of it if they want to win back a large majority of Latino voters.

Amazing to think about what could and should have happened: Donald Trump was scheduled to appear in a New York courtroom this week (Nov. 26th) to be sentenced for his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records…