Mac Dougherty

@patio11 It’s essentially the magic system from Earthsea brought to life. If you know something’s True Name, you have ultimate power over it.

An example which jumps to mind, which regrettably I did not keep sufficient notes on, was when an AI blew away ~2 hours of work with unrequested git commands. I asked whether there was a way to reconstruct without data loss. It successfully sketched command line sorcery for it.

One interesting result of using modern coding tools is frequently if you don’t know how to *do* the orthodox solution but you can *name* the orthodox solution, that gets you there.

@mattyglesias Similar to Gini? Total corporate profits / GDP.

@mcuban In this world, why not have the Feds provide the catastrophic coverage directly? Then the mandate, regulate and subsidize model could create a competitive market of insurers for the non-catastrophic costs.

Just a reminder to everyone that wants “catastrophic “ health plans for $10k. Yes. Premiums will be lower. But realize, the deductible is so high, you are just telling the insurance carriers that your premiums are free money that won’t they won’t have to pay out INsurance companies love high deductible plans. When you can’t afford your deductible , you don’t get care. Which means no money from the carrier Now if you combine it with a guarantee of a loan from the Feds to cover your deductible , then maybe

@mcuban Even @SenRandPaul has been seduced by the thought that if we only give the right people concentrated market power, they will use it to drive down costs. Nobody dies the hero in that story. it’s villains as far as the eye can see. Competition is what drives down prices.

If you plan on the existing big insurance carriers offering plans to retailers and associations, this plan will be garbage. The big insurance carriers will not only do what they do today, they will create more information asymmetry for the associations and retailers than what we see today. Which will allow them to do more of all the fucked up things they do today. The ACA has failed because you and your peers, on both sides , did nothing to stop insurance carriers and hospital networks from becoming the behemoths they are today. They will continue to underpay or no pay everyone they can. They will continue to use their PBMs to rip off patients. Do you really think they will all of the sudden make their PBms honest when they sell through Costco , Amazon, Home Depot , whoever ? Hell no. They will make it worse. I’m all for ending state line restrictions. Allowing docs to start own hospitals But you have to recognize the current market is not efficient. Not close at all Which allows the behemoths, carriers and hospital networks to be economically abusive. Get the DOJ and FTC to look at breaking up these enormous companies , and then you might have some real , transparent competition that benefits from consumers shopping for themselves

Wembanyama just played one of the best games I’ve ever seen.

@growingwisdom @HOCR #rowingwisdom?

I assured the guys who are rowing from Turkey on Saturday the weather looks great. Cool to see folks arriving for @HOCR

@sashaorloff @jasonjoyride When AI can create a shot that lasts longer than 4 seconds? The capabilities are seriously impressive, and the limitations are also seriously present. Can we yet do something 1/4 the length of the entrance to the copacabana shot from Goodfellas?

When we look at the early days of Lucas and Spielberg and then Jason, you get the same ambition and incredible storytelling. Watch this and tell me I’m wrong. This guy @jasonjoyride is something special. Imagine when AI is good enough to unleash his full potential?!??

@paulg Would your advice change at all depending on the age of the person with the startup ideas?

If you have lots of startup ideas and you're not sure which one to focus on, focus on the one you and your friends are most eager to use.

Hmm today I will re-read the Declaration of Independence

Speed is not about pushing people to move faster. It is about making fast the natural state of execution.

@mattyglesias There are only three hard problems in computer science: naming things, and off by one errors.

The fact TikTok didn’t sell, despite having many willing buyers, is a testament that it was an agent of the CCP.

Congress failed again to pass #PBMReform. Despite that @realDonaldTrump said twice yesterday he wants to "cut out the middlemen." Despite that it would save $5 billion (looking at you, @DOGE @elonmusk). Whatever Congress passes, whenever it passes it, must include #PBMReform.

🔥If you don't have anything to hide, you wouldn't mind them looking. #America is getting closer to finding out the truth about the middlemen that are inflating drug prices for #patients and taxpayers. #stopPBMabuse benefitspro.com/2024/11/21/cvs…

There’s huge uncertainty about US healthcare right now. Here’s what’s for certain: three drug-pricing middlemen are price-gouging you at the pharmacy counter. This is what we can do to stop them.

The biggest story of the night is Russia calling multiple bomb threats into Democratic strongholds across the country. This should shock every American to the core.

@mattyglesias The most respectful. When you’re famous, they just let you grab others as you would like to be grabbed.

@DouthatNYT Makes sense that the catalyst for the downfall of the greatest civilization ever was the rise of IT. Give me analog or give me death!

The Anglo-American Empire from the Battle of Waterloo to either the Moon landing or 9/11. x.com/eyeslasho/stat…

@Jason @JimCurtis64 @Tim_Walz @JDVance No, you’re not. This is just lazy weird talking point based bad faith trolling. Once every four years we get to debate the kind of America we want to build. This, this ain’t it.

@JimCurtis64 @Tim_Walz @JDVance Because I’m the worlds greatest moderator and people like to discuss hard topics with me

So, @Tim_Walz, what are your thoughts on these specific two examples — @JDVance makes a valid point.

@AnneNotation As heirs to it, we constantly underrate the achievement of the 12th century renaissance and its successors in carving out the intellectual, moral and ethical space to hold this Roman (and most other historical human societies) world view in revulsion and contempt.