The Delaration of Independence 2.0

The unanimous Declaration of the fifty united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these States; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

  • He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
  • He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
  • He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish large sums of cash, and the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
  • He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
  • He has dissolved government agencies and the agents of the people repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
  • He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
  • He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
  • He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
  • He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
  • He has erected a multitude of New Offices including DOGE, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
  • He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing National Guard Armies without the Consent of our state legislatures.
  • He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
  • He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
  • For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
  • For protecting them, by pardon, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
  • For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
  • For imposing (Tariffs) Taxes on us without our Consent:
  • For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Habeas Corpus:
  • For transporting us beyond Seas to be jailed for pretended offences:
  • For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
  • For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
  • He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
  • He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
  • He is at this time transporting large Armies of Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
  • He has constrained our fellow Citizens, the National Guard and Department of Justice, to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
  • He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless MAGA Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince with tiny hands and whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Republican brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these States, solemnly publish and declare, That these United States are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the Cheeto Benito aka Vladdy’s Boy, aka Mango Mussolini, aka Our Fondling Father, aka Pumpin Spiced Stalin, aka Founding Farter, aka Farty Seven, aka The Lyin’ King, aka Don the Con, aka Tangerine Toddler, aka Orange Shitler, aka Diabeetus Maximus, aka Sleepy Don-zales, aka McDonald’s J Chump, aka Diaper Don, aka The Pedophile of the United States, and that all political connection between them and Don the Con, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Knock on wood if you’re with me.

The Second Republic

It just occurred to me that France is on its Fifth Republic and America is still on its first. When I think about recent events in a larger historical context, I suppose the surprise isn’t that we’re rocketing towards authoritarianism, it’s that it took 250 years for it to happen.

The experiment of America’s democracy was to test whether it could be organized and implemented in such a way that it would not degenerate into the tyranny of absolutism, without the power to save the people from oppression, when tyranny was found in the person of a single orange despot.

The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. The experiment of a government by the people, for the people; a government of liberty regulated by law; a government which led to the development of history’s largest economy, strongest military, and history’s greatest advancements in medicine, science, music, literature, art, and technology…has failed.

Although it seems counterintuitive, moving forward does not require that we continue to vote for wealthy, white, Democrat septuagenarians; That would only exacerbate the problem. Our chosen leaders are no longer instructed by the wisdom and experience stored in the Library of Congress, they are instructed only by greed and status; the kind of status that requires a zero-sum game be played, such that in order for them to rise, everyone else must fall. Moving forward requires a careful reexamination of the past 250 years and all the events and people that has brought us to now.

We should begin with the study of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton (the man, not to be confused with the musical). Hamilton was only twenty-one years old at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Madison was twenty-five, Jefferson was thirty-three, and Washington was forty-four (the same age as Ben Affleck when he played Batman). I highlight this point because wisdom is not a function of age. Thus, we should seek out the reasoning behind the basic principles of free government that were embodied in the young authors of the Constitution. We should also seek out the mistakes committed by our progenitors. The mission is simple, guided by our love of our country, we should seek to improve upon what came before us for the future welfare of all mankind.

Let us examine the characteristics of the people, of all races and conditions, their social and religious sentiments, their education and tastes; their industries, their commerce, their local governments, their passions and prejudices, and their ethics and art; leaving nothing unnoticed that might afford an argument to prove that we can do better for our children and their children.
Finally, we must examine what the founding fathers did not foresee. Political equality is not a panacea for the evils of humanity. Love of country can be replaced by love of party and the violence of party spirit can replace the judgment of the wise, who are now subordinates to the prejudices of the ignorant.

Equality of conditions no longer exists. The Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission has allowed the influence of money to take over State affairs. The transactions of business are now the road to power, and the financier has risen to a station of political influence. These conditions exist because citizens stopped participating in “Local Self-Government.” Independence from general control, except for the general welfare of all citizens, is the root and origin of all free republics. It is the antagonist of all political movements that threaten the rights of minorities. It is the public opinion formed in the independent expressions of towns and other small civil districts that is the real basis of free government. And it is the enemy of the most dangerous evil, the corruption of the ballot-box, from which the greatest troubles in our nation’s history are about to arise.

Rethinking AI + Productivity and Optimizing for the Right Variables

Gather ‘round children, it’s Uncle Leno’s story time. Once upon a time my company landed a very big important client-a “lighthouse client”. Upon closing the deal, the client told me: “We need this live in six weeks. After that, our entire IT department goes into lockdown to prepare for the holiday season.” “No problem”, I said, when in fact, there was un problema grande. You see, right at that very moment we had all hands on deck working on an even BIGGER client!

Working backwards from the six-week deadline, I worked out a project plan, and when I got to the start date, I realized that I had two days to design the entire site, get feedback, make edits, and get final design approval from all of the client’s stakeholders.

Hey, have I ever told you about the time I designed an entire retail website in 13 hours, by myself, in the dark, digitally freehand tracing icons and logos because the client couldn’t provide me with the creative assets? 😊

We launched on-time and the client was very grateful. But that’s not the happy ending. Roughly one year later, we received an email from the client. It was an email with a whole bunch of numbers and calculations which blew my mind. They client had told us, that our website was not only driving additional traffic, but conversions, to the tune of an incremental $600k per month during the holiday period. I saved that email, because 1. I like to drive my former co-workers insane by telling the story about the time I designed a website in 13 hours and 2. Because we did great work, and in doing so we delivered tremendous value for our client. The End. I told you that story to tell you this one.

The other day, through the magic of large language models and generative AI, I was able to crank out a four page document in a fraction of the time it might have taken me back in the 20th century. That’s all-in, including fact checking everything and even citations. It was good. In fact, it was good enough to get us a demo with the client. But, I say the following with sincere thoughts and a pure heart: it was good enough, but it could have been a lot better. I know this, because great work requires time, patience, and maybe a little bit of suffering. Kinda like cooking a good meal vs nuking pizza in the microwave. Now, just about every person who’s ever given me a performance review has told me “Don’t let the great be the enemy of the good”. Blah blah blah. (Apparently, I’m also bad at taking constructive criticism) Yes, AI has enabled me to be way more productive while yielding good (acceptable results). What’s the problem? If I use the AI button to do more and more of my work, and people keep giving me a banana, then I start to optimize for THOSE variables, and I think that’s a slippery slope. See what I did there? Slippery? Banana? Mario Kart? Am I on mute?

Here’s an example: I recently saw a screenshot of a tweet from one of the OG titans of the tech industry that read something to the effect of “AI has allowed my coders to crank out 12,000 lines of code per day! RAWR!” I’m paraphrasing 😂. Pardon my French, but what the fuck does that even mean? Is that really something to be proud of? Lines of code per minute? Congratulations! You closed out four tasks, two stories, and one skillion sprint points in 24 hours?

Can we deploy to prod now? Does it meet all of the requirements from the Product Manager and UI/UX/CX designers? How will the code perform under load testing? Or should I go to tell the CFO that our cloud bill is going to double next month? Is it secure? Is general counsel going to get a phone call from the California state attorney general because the website isn’t WCAG 2.1 AA compliant? Or shall we all sit around and sniff our own farts and be proud because of how much code was produced using AI?

Knock on wood if you’re with me.

I’m not suggesting we go back to using quill pens and punch cards. I like by GPT buddy…and I think she kinda like-likes me too 😉 But before hitting send, you gotta ask yourself, is this good or is it just good enough? Did I think it through? Are there any errors? Did I make reasonable assumptions about the future political and economic landscape? Can I validate how I came up with my estimates? Am I delivering value to my clients and stakeholders? Or I’m I just checking a box so people will stop scheduling meetings that should have been an email. Btw, those things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Sometimes, not all the time, and perhaps not even often, things should be hard. In my experience, it’s only when you’re banging your head on the wall trying to solve problems, that you become better at your craft and become a better version of yourself.

If we allow the easy button to replace all critical thinking and creativity, then we start to optimize for the wrong variables. And then we’re all going to be listening to endless derivatives of Machine Gun Kelly, Jelly Face, Sabrina and The Carpenters music produced by the DJ Khalid AI Agent, while sitting in bumper to bumper traffic because the US Department of Transportation had to issue a full stop to the entire autonomous vehicle network because the lead developer FORGOT to prompt the AI with “I need you to act like the kind of developer who delivers great work for their clients, so make sure to use the latest network encryption protocols and make sure there aren’t any backdoors that the KGB might be able to exploit. Know what I mean Vern?” To that end…

If anyone needs me I’ll be test driving a giant 2016 5.7L V8 Toyota Tundra later. Why, you may ask? Probably because I’m having an existential mid-life crisis. But also because Toyota used to over-engineer the crap out of their trucks, and although it doesn’t get great gas mileage, or have a fancy infotainment system, or car play, or lane departure sensors (let alone LiDAR sensors) AND I have to use a physical key to start the engine; I know that it will start when I need it to. It’s built like a tank, I can get parts from Advanced O’Reilly Zone, and it will run to at least 300k miles and probably more. And that to me is optimizing for the right variables.

Then again, maybe I’m just an old man yelling at the sky.

P.S. – No AI was used in this incoherent rant.

A Scientific(-ish) Response to the Surgeon General’s Advisory on Alcohol

While the Surgeon General has chosen to focus on the “medical evidence,” let’s examine alcohol’s well-documented benefits:

Enhanced Problem-Solving Skills:

Thanks to alcohol, countless individuals have discovered they can absolutely climb up to their balcony when locked out of their apartment. The success rate is a remarkable 2%, but that’s 2% higher than their sober attempts.

Advanced Physics Mastery:

Only after several drinks do people truly understand gravitational forces, specifically through hands-on experiments like “Why Is The Room Spinning?” and “The Floor Is Much Closer Than Previously Calculated.”

Improved Social Skills:

Alcohol transforms ordinary people into charismatic orators who can eloquently express deep thoughts like “I love you, man” to complete strangers and engage in sophisticated debates about why dogs should be allowed to vote.

Spiritual Growth:

No other substance has inspired more heartfelt prayers, usually beginning with “Oh God” and ending with “I swear I’ll never drink again.” The sincerity peaks around 3 AM while hugging the porcelain altar.

Athletic Enhancement:

After a few drinks, everyone becomes a professional athlete. The laws of physics simply don’t apply to your golf swing anymore.

Investment Skills:

Nothing boosts financial confidence quite like alcohol. Suddenly, buying cryptocurrency at 2 AM seems like a brilliant retirement strategy, and everyone becomes a qualified financial advisor: “You HAVE to get in on this, bro!”

Enhanced Musical Talent:

Alcohol transforms anyone into opera virtuosos. Karaoke studies show that after four drinks, everyone can perfectly hit the high notes in “Don’t Stop Believin'”. The audience’s tears are clearly from being moved, not pain.

Time Management Skills:

Only the well-lubricated mind truly understands that 2 AM is the perfect time to start a home renovation project, text all your exes, or learn to juggle. These activities simply cannot wait until morning.

Memory Optimization:

Alcohol helpfully erases unnecessary memories, like that time you tried to fight a police officer in the parking lot outside the station.

Culinary Expertise:

Late-night chefs know that alcohol unleashes unprecedented creativity in the kitchen. Suddenly, pickles dipped in peanut butter wrapped in a pizza isn’t just edible – it’s a flavor revolution that the world isn’t ready for.

Professional Development:

Nothing builds workplace camaraderie quite like the office holiday party, where you can finally tell your boss what you really think about their management style. The next day’s awkward silence is just everyone processing your brilliant insights.

Advanced Mathematics:

Alcohol makes you exceptionally good at calculating tips – as evidenced by that time you left a 200% tip because “I think she likes me, you know?” It’s not poor math skills; it’s generosity unlocked by liquid courage.

I think you hear me knocking, and I think I’m coming in. OPEN UP!!! I’M DRUNK AND I LOST MY KEYS!!”

Chat UI – It’s like living in the future

ChatUI : Chatbots :: Transformers : GoBots

If you get the above reference, we can be friends.

ICYMI, Google released an updated version of Bard, which includes extensions (plugins) to Google Workspace, YouTube, Google Hotels & Flights, etc.

BARD Extensions

In the immortal words of Joe Biden, this is a BFD. It’s not just a big deal for Google; it’s a BFD for the future of interactions with Software and retrieving information. Product Managers, please pay attention.

Traditional information retrieval systems rely on structured data, where users must be precise (sometimes exact) with their search terms, tags, folders, etc. The only way to find the information you’re looking for is to input the predefined pathways to that information – the correct combination of folders, tags, filters, etc. This approach places an enormous burden on users to remember or anticipate the right pathway/inputs, leading to inefficiencies and frustration.

Have you ever endlessly searched for an email? Of course, you have. We all have. What if you could just ask BARD to track down an email for you? In the example below, I’ve asked Bard to locate the most recent receipts that I received.

BARD tracks down my recent receipts in my inbox.

Great, but I’m looking for a specific receipt, so I asked Bard only to show me receipts over $30.

Found it. Boom goes the dynamite.

ChatUI fundamentally changes how developers and designers must think about Software and User Interaction. Chat is the ultimate input device. It allows us to bend Software to our will without searching, memorizing formulas, shortcuts, or menu dropdowns. Our personal devices and software services will truly become our second brain. We’ll just chat with the computer and tell it to do what we need it to do. Imagine generating charts and pivot tables as quickly and easily as ordering from Chipotle. Burrito, White Rice, Black Beans, Chicken, Verde Salsa, Sour Cream, and lettuce with a side of guac and chips – in case you’re wondering.

I’m a nerd, but very excited about BARD’s new extensions and what’s to come. My prediction is that this fall, the Google Empire Strikes Back.

P.S. – I don’t want to tell Larry Page and Sergey Brin how to do their jobs, but y’all need a commercial to announce the release of these new features. How about this:

🎵 Upbeat 80s synthesizer music, transitioning into a catchy jingle. 🎵

“Drowning in your digital mail? Lost in your own inbox? Well, the future is HERE, and it’s RADICAL! Introducing… the NEW GMAIL 3000!”

“Lost that super important mail from Aunt Patty about her cat? No worries! With our bodacious SEMANTIC SEARCH, just type in ‘@GMAIL show me emails with images of Aunt Patty’s cat,’ and boom! There it is!”

“And hey, filters schmilters! With our new CHAT UI, just say the word, and GMAIL 3000 is on it. It’s like having a chat with your own futuristic robot!”

[Cut to a group of teenagers giving a thumbs up.]

Teen #1: “No more missing out on party invites for me!” 

Teen #2: “GMAIL 3000 is totally tubular!” 

Teen #3: “AI WHAT? I just know it’s wicked cool!”

🎤 “So say goodbye to the boring, old email blues and HELLO to the neon-lit, electric future with GMAIL 3000!”

🎵 The upbeat synthesizer jingle fades back in. 🎵

“GMAIL 3000! It’s like living in the future!”

Choose Wisely

According to Bloomberg economics, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour, and “Barbenheimer” are expected to add ~$8.5B of growth to the US GDP in Q3. By comparison, for the quarter ending July 31, Nvidia (NVDA) earned an adjusted $2.70 per share on $13.51B in revenue. But honestly, which would you rather have, two free tickets to Taylor Swift & Beyoncé OR two free NVIDIA H100 GPUs?

AI and Happiness

If you have time to kill, I highly recommend listening to the following PodCast (see link below). It’s an interview with the former Chief Business Officer of Google X, Mo Gawdat. The discussion mainly revolves around the topic of AI (duh) but also dives into the subject of happiness. By the end of the podcast, I was in tears.

The true human values are Love, Happiness, and Compassion. If we show enough of that online, maybe we can influence the views of AI so that it shows more of that and expect us to want more of that.

Mo Gawdat

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-prof-g-show-with-scott-galloway/id1498802610?i=1000620994812

Rhode Island Cancelled a Massive Offshore Wind Project

The largest utility in Rhode Island has cancelled a massive offshore wind project, arguing that rising costs are too expensive for its rate payers. They may have a point. The chart below shows the average price of electricity over the past decade.

We will go down in history as the first society that wouldn’t save itself because it wasn’t cost-effective.

Kurt Vonnegut

Focus on the Tigers

To whom it may concern:

This week I received an invite from Google Labs for Workspace’s new AI features. I told you that story to tell you this one.

I am reminded of the famous statistician George Box who once wrote:

“It is inappropriate to be concerned about mice when there are tigers abroad.”

George Box

IMHO, Google needs to be all-in on AI Search and not worry about adding AI features to Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. Or, more accurately, worry about AI Google Docs later. Advertising generated ~$55B last quarter, and Workspace isn’t even its own line item. In total, Google Cloud generated ~$7.5B in revenue.

Focus on the tigers in the room.

The Battle for Your Phone’s Default Search Engine

Apparently Samsung is considering replacing Google as its default search engine with…wait for it…BING. That’s according to an article published by NYT (16 April). Google learned this news last month. I’ve put the link below.

“Google’s reaction to the Samsung threat was “panic,” according to internal messages reviewed by The New York Times.”

It’s almost impossible to imagine Samsung making a switch. After all, Samsung phones run on Android. Also, let’s not rule out the possibility that it’s a bluff. An attempt to negotiate a better deal with Google. But when a threat moves from the absurd to the possible, in the blink of an eye, “panic” is the appropriate response.

Two months ago I predicted that Apple iOS Safari would eventually change its default engine from Google to Bing – unless Google adopted a war-like effort to respond to the emerging threat. It cannot be overstated, a switch in default search engines on either Android or iOS would be cataclysmic for Google’s revenue.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is coming, and hell’s coming with him.

P.S. My offer to join Google’s board of directors still stands. I know things, I’m a lot of fun at parties, and I’m great at bar trivia. 🙃

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/technology/google-search-engine-ai.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare