Wither go the hounds of AI..........

 

At President Trump’s request, Elon Musk has let loose the hounds of AI on the immobile carcass of the federal bureaucracy. For the first time in a century, the entire structure has become intelligible to the president. Horizontally, he can discover the endless cutouts and rabbit holes in which an agency’s taxpayer dollars have been wasted on bizarre causes and self-interested groups. Vertically, he can follow the funds allocated under his signature for—say—bridge repair to the actual bridge and track the actual repairs. Trillion-dollar players, accustomed to working in opaque and unaccountable bureaucratic lairs, find themselves exposed to the eyes of an angry public, as the walls around them turn to glass. The revolutionary character of this transformation is impossible to exaggerate. It’s as if AI suddenly shrank Leviathan to the dimensions of a guppy in a fishbowl.

-Martin Gurri, from here

In the background........................

   J. Geils Band.........................Greatest Hits album

 

trust......................

 

Smart leaders don't tell others how to do something.  They tell them the end results that need to be achieved.  Then they allow the other person to use their individual creativity to figure out the how.

-Dan Martell, Buy Back Your Time

About opportunities..............

 

In life, it doesn't really matter why you get an opportunity, only what you do with it.

-George Raveling, What You're Made For:  Powerful Life Lessons from My Career in Sports

ever changing.....................

 

When experts are wrong, it's often because they're experts on an earlier version of the world.

-Paul Graham

forecasts........................

 

I come not to praise forecasters, but to bury them. . . .

    There is a forecasting-industrial complex, and it is a blight on all that is good and true.  The symbiotic relationship between the media and Wall Street drives a relentless parade of money-losing tomfoolery: Television and radio have 24 hours a day they must fill, and they do so mostly with empty nonsense.  Print has column inches to put out.  Online media may be the worst of all, with an infinite maw that needs to be consistently filled with new and often meaningless content.

     Just because the beast must be fed, does not mean you must be dragon fodder.

-Barry Ritholtz, How Not to Invest

progress........................

 

     A central theme of Bunyan's book—and of the passage from Puritanism to Enlightenment, and of Franklin's life—was contained in its title: progress, the concept that individuals, and humanity in general, move forward and improve based on a steady increase of knowledge and  the wisdom that comes from conquering adversity.  Christian's famous opening phrase sets the tone:  "As I walked through the wilderness of this world . . ."  Even for the faithful, this progress was not solely the handiwork of the Lord but also the result of a human struggle, by individuals and communities, to triumph over obstacles.

-Walter Isaacson, Franklin: An American Life

Just because...............

Beach Boys with Kathy Troccoli....I Can Hear Music

 

self..................

 

faith.............................

 

I’m not going to lie — I don’t have a lot of faith in our political leaders in either party these days.

But I still have faith in the American spirit of ingenuity and entrepreneurship. I still have faith corporations will do anything they can to turn a profit and grow.

That hasn’t changed.

Whatever you do with your money, just have a plan in place and don’t let your emotions drive your investment decisions.

-Ben Carlson, from here

Lord willing, we will do this..........

 

Counting the shooting stars in the night sky above the Mogollon Rim in Arizona.

-Michael Wade

image via

kindling....................

 

As a rule there are in everyone all sorts of good ideas, ready like tinder. But much of this tinder catches fire, or catches it successfully, only when it meets some flame or spark from outside, i.e. from some other person. Often, too, our own light goes out, and is rekindled by some experience we go through with a fellow-man. Thus we have each of us cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flames within us.

-Albert Schweitzer

today....................

 

For you and me, today is all we have; tomorrow is a mirage that may never become reality.

-Louis L'Amour, The Walking Drum

Highly recommended...............

 

Nine good friends from the Class of '73 at Denison University just gathered for 3+ days of laughter, storytelling, food, friendship, and general comradery.  A celebration of life its ownself.  Looking forward to the next time.

 

As Jim Rohn once said...............

 

Taxation:  It's the care and feeding of the goose that lays the golden eggs. . . . Some might say the goose eats too much, but we could all lose a little weight and let one appetite not accuse another.

Fifty years ago....................

Waylon Jennings...Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way

 

On uncertainty......................

 

We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand. A doctrine that is understood is shorn of its strength.

-Eric Hoffer, The True Believer

incrementally..........................

 If you want to effect change in the world, well, there is a whole science around this, but you have to do it incrementally. And our influence is extraordinarily small. Being rich and successful means you get to fly private and you never have to stand in line for stuff. You have earned it. But you don’t get to tell everyone what to do and what to think.

-Jared Dillian

better.........................

 

We need better government, no doubt about it. But we also need better minds, better friendships, better marriages, better communities.

-Wendell Berry, A Continuous Harmony

On humility...................

 

You have to remain humble in the markets, because karma has everyone’s address.

-Jared Dillian

essence.......................

 

The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.

-Epictetus

randomness..........................

 

     We too easily mistake randomness for skill.  We imagine we see the future when we hardly understand today.  We readily convince ourselves we are in control of our own destinies, when nothing could be further from the truth.

     Recognizing your own ignorance is an advantage.  Most of Wall Street hates this fact.

-Barry Ritholtz, How Not to Invest

pondering.......................

 

Reading without thinking is as nothing, for a book is less important for what it says than for what it makes you think.

-Louis L'Amour, The Walking Drum

fun with the language.............

 

     This was a leap forward in computing—or it would have been, if not for the moths.  Because vacuum tubes glowed like lightbulbs, they attracted insects, requiring regular "debugging" by their engineers.

-Chris Miller, Chip War

Weight lifted....................

On discomfort...................

 

Most people mistake discomfort as a signal to stop; the great ones see it as evidence they’re on the right track. Excellence is just pain tolerance disguised as genius. The real advantage isn’t talent but cultivating a perverse appreciation for the discomfort others instinctively avoid.

-Farnum Street, from here