J. Pablo Puerta

Deja que los tecno-oligarcas ladren, Sancho, es señal de que cabalgamos.

I was briefed this morning on the U.S. military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, as well as their planned imprisonment in federal custody here in New York City. Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law. This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad, it directly impacts New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home. My focus is their safety and the safety of every New Yorker, and my administration will continue to monitor the situation and issue relevant guidance.

Number of people who go bankrupt a year due to medical debt: Germany: 0 France: 0 UK: 0 Japan: 0 Norway: 0 Denmark: 0 Finland: 0 Sweden: 0 Italy: 0 Australia: 0 Canada: 0 Spain: 0 Portugal: 0 Iceland: 0 Netherlands: 0 United States: 530,000 Yes. We need Medicare for All — NOW.

saw this. had to share.

When. When will we see him in The Hague on trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

@rauchg Premio al tonto del año

🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇦🇷 Enjoyed my discussion with PM Netanyahu on how AI education and literacy will keep our free societies ahead. We spoke about AI empowering everyone to build software and the importance of ensuring it serves quality and progress. Optimistic for peace, safety, and greatness for Israel and its neighbors.

Ever wonder how the Nazis convinced themselves genocide was the solution? Just watch this interview with a living Nazi and it will all make sense.

Is it not passing strange, that the only way allowed for wokeness to end, has to include shipping innocents with a misinterpreted tattoo off to a foreign torture center? Why are things only allowed to get strictly, strictly worse?

Having now spent about half my life in each (and loving both), herewith the pros and cons of Europe and the US in everyday life: Better in Europe • Bike lanes and bike infrastructure. London, Paris, and Amsterdam are all excellent these days. (As are many other European cities.) Made even better by easy-to-rent e-bikes—now almost always the fastest way to get around. • The urban walking experience generally. Partly for density reasons, and partly because of... • Late-night cafe, brasserie culture. Is there an economic reason for this or is it just climate and contingent zoning? • Architecture. Around 1920, we forgot how to make nice buildings. European cities tend to have more construction from before the Great Forgetting, and it makes the built environment much more pleasant. • Pedestrianized streets. Often with cobblestones. • In general, European cities are just more pleasant. Given how hard it is to build a good city (or indeed to retrofit one), this feels like a big deal. • Cured and pickled food. • Bread. Obviously varies by country, but it’s generally true. • Voltage. What are Americans doing waiting so long to boil kettles? • Beauty in the mundane. I find that you’re more likely to find tasteful touches in prosaic places in Europe. • Motorway design and signage. Standardized, clear, and easy-to-use. The US is a mess by comparison. • Bathroom doors. That is, in Europe, they’re proper doors. Why does America make us see others’ feet? • The clangor of church bells on Sunday. • Trains. Enough said. • Pharmacies. I'd love to understand why they're so much nicer in Europe. • Cheese. Again, lots of cross-country variation, but true in general. • I'm not sure why, but European regulation on many everyday items seems better. Sunscreens in Europe are better, as are bike helmets. • Wine. • Languor, joie de vivre, hygge, gemütlichkeit, craic. I think Europeans are better at unwinding. Drawing contrast with what he found in the US, De Tocqueville observed that in Europe "idleness is still held in honor". This difference remains apparent. • Road density. Europe generally has many more roads per square mile, which makes it easier to find nice places to run, walk, and cycle. Better in the US • Air conditioning. Consistently bad in Europe. (Partly for silly degrowth-related reasons?) • Coffee. Opinions will differ, naturally, but third wave coffee has seen much more enthusiastic adoption in the US. • Cookie banners. That is, the lack of them. (Well, there are some, but it’s not as bad as the fusillade one is subjected to in Europe.) • Internet speeds. European wifi often reminds me of my dialup youth. • Capital markets. If you need money (as a consumer, a small business, or a startup), it’s much easier to get it in the US. • Being able to buy groceries on Sunday. Inexplicably challenging on the continent. • Showers. Like the tepid air conditioning, daily ablutions in Europe are conducted beneath parsimonious trickles. • Urban air quality. Maybe surprisingly, it is, on average, better in the US. The unpleasant whiffs of diesel exhaust is part of the reminder that one is back in Europe. • Government efficiency. In general, things happen faster in the US. • Labor laws. As covered in Stripe's annual letter this year, people are more likely to work in high productivity sectors in the US (and thus to earn more). Rigid rules impede this reallocation in Europe. • Culture of general aviation with many thousands of small airports. There are around 700,000 pilots in the US—far more than there are in Europe. • Hospitals. A controversial claim, perhaps, but I find that those who have received care in Europe and the US prefer the US. • Beer. The microbrewery revolution of the US means that it’s clearly the better place for it.

The screens at the department of Housing and Urban Development today:

@EricRWeinstein Is Communism in the room here with us now, Eric? Can you point to where it hurt you?

One of the most important forces shaping the current US presidential election is not being sufficiently discussed: COMMUNISM. Because the Democratic Party does not view itself in any way as communist, you can't have a discussion about the role that communism is playing in support for Donald Trump. How can a Wall-Street friendly party favored by large institutions be communist!?! Okay. Begin by just stipulating that this is true for the sake of argument whether or not you agree with it. For the moment, imagine that you see all DEI as Marxist and Maoist. Imagine that you see AOC and the squad as communists. Imagine that what you see in terms of 'social justice' or 'wokeness' or 'Postmodernism' or 'Gender affirming healthcare' or 'Palestinian Genocide' or 'Soros open society initiatives' or 'progressive DAs' or 'Anti-Whiteness' or 'defund the police' is straight up precursor to *violent* revolutionary Marxism. The people crossing over to the cause of Trump with enormous checkbooks see this EXACTLY the way I have described in the above paragraph. You can pretend that this isn't so. Maybe they won't admit it to you or do so in public. But the stark truth of it is that what is driving a lot of surprising support for Trump and the Republicans has nothing to do with either. It's not all about Trump. Or the GOP. It's about Marx, Mao, Stalin, and Lennin. It is the idea that Revolutionary Marxism is a dangerous brain cancer that is always trying to get a foothold among the weak. The idea that is everywhere is this: "The Democratic party of the United States thought they could play with rebranded revolutionary Marxists as if the new Communism were merely a form of socially conscious pro-market, pro-democracy liberalism, when it is instead a communist Trojan horse philosophy. It has as its aim, destabilizing and destroying our culture, the United States and then the world. This isn't a culture war. It is the takeover of the United States by hardcore revolutionary neo-marxists who have come for your newspapers, universities, public schools and your children. The leaders who think they can reach out to 'progressive' voters do not realize that they are dancing with a devil who will outplay them." Does that sound silly to you? Great. Glad to hear it. And, if so, you have absolutley no idea what is being discussed by many of the world's smartest, most powerful and most influential people. Constantly. Why is this confusing? Well, no one I know sees Joe Biden as communist. They don't even see the Democratic party leadership as communist. They view the party as opportunistic and naive in thinking that Democrats can allow violent pathological revolutionaries into the big blue tent with a simple coat of blue paint and a bargain basement rebrand to 'Deconstruct the patriarchy' and 'Decolonize', 'Defund', and otherwise 'Reform' our society while quietly waiting for their real moment. I'm sorry if this sounds funny to some of you who can't imagine opposing Biden for these reasons. If so, it just means you have no clue...as in ZERO...as to what is going on in a pivotal part of the shift towards Trump. I just wanted to bring this up because it is barely being discussed in mainstream media: "It's the Communism stupid."

@Aella_Girl @m_dep3 I have first hand experience, gave Ritalin to a non ADHD person and the results were hard to witness

@m_dep3 I know ppl say this but I'm sus

Amphetamines help concentration even if you're not ADHD; are there any meds that make you anti-depressed even if you aren't depressed? What happens if a normal happy person takes SSRIs?

@martinvars @paulg Whatabuotism when confronted with a 100:1 difference in the number of casualties does not make Israeli or the Jewish people look the way you think it does, Martin.

@paulg Didn't know you had such negative feelings towards Jews as to come up with the data for November and ignore October 7th.

A grim month: 31 Israeli and at least 3600 Palestinian children have been killed since October 7.

Imagine no more. This is my life now.

@torrenegra Mucuna Pruriens. You are welcome.

@antoniogm the real Heroic Dose

PSA: Do not, under any circumstances, read books 20-24 of the Odyssey while waiting for the mushrooms to kick in. Unless you want the God of Abraham to show up, inside your skull, for the next three hours explaining a few things about paganism vs. monotheism.

@TiffanyFong_ Tell him you love asian women MORE

old man next to me on flight has begun telling me how much he loves asian women.🥴

Elizabeth Warren is making anti-crypto part of her platform. Crypto gives power to the people. The power to own digital property. Anti-crypto is anti-American values. If democrats make this their policy they will lose.

This is an absolutely incredible video. Hinton: “That's an issue, right. We have to think hard about how to control that.“ Reporter: “Can we?“ Hinton: “We don't know. We haven't been there yet. But we can try!“ Reporter: “That seems kind of concerning?“ Hinton: “Uh, yes!“

@antoniogm Happy belated, Antonio. Ping me if you would need me to take you out for some good jamón before converting.

Birthday dinner: steaks with José Andrés.