Pete Vander Meulen

@mandolinaes Open road to anywhere.

I live in a desert, but my mind always wanders to forests and snow-covered mountains. Where does your mind go when you dream of peace?

@Scaramucci This war is the new tariff.

A month into this war, and the US consumer is the one losing. 📈Gas prices up. 📈Mortgage rates back up. 📉Stocks down. And that's just the beginning. Crude at $110. Brent at $108. You know what follows high oil? -Higher fertilizer prices. -Higher food prices. -Higher plastic prices. "There is a daisy chain of inflation headed our way." And the market just shifted. We went from "price in some volatility" to "price in a recession." Yield curve steepening. Gold up. Tech is getting crushed. Traders like @novogratz have flipped. They're not buying dips anymore. They're covering shorts and selling the rallies. That's a different market than we had two weeks ago.

@MalcolmNance Can't we simply deploy a couple mindsweepers through the West Wing? Damn. They'd come up empty, wouldn't they?

Just a reminder that 2 out of 3 LCS minesweeper equipped ships are STILL in Singapore. It's 14 days steaming to the PG if they left today. Right now only one ship may be capable of mine hunting the USS Canberra. The UAE has x2 barely armed minesweepers. They may be relying on helicopter sweeping. This is a disaster of poor planning.

Is the engineering strategy a (the) strategic differentiator that can be leveraged as a template for other industries? Musk's success in disparate organizations argues that it is. Transformative action too often isn't that. We "creatively" iterate rather than re-create. I'm taking to myself by writing this because at this stage of life the opportunity I clearly see is the risk not yet taken. I have homework. Thnx for the post.

Death throes. Auto incumbents face the same problem all big companies face: They can’t build from first principles. It’s just that no industry has been challenged by a startup like Tesla. Here’s the thing most people don’t get: Tesla’s competitive advantage isn’t its cars or even FSD. It’s the company itself, which is an embodiment of Elon’s 5-Step Engineering Algorithm—where you ruthlessly question everything, delete, and simplify. 👉This is the OPPOSITE of how big companies operate. They add more complexity over time, not less. One of the better examples of the algorithm at work is the evolution of the Raptor engine. By the time Ford produces a Model Y competitor (“next year”), it will be obsolete.

@WayneMoranPhot0 Torres Del Paine, Chile The Horns, stubborn defiance against a storm, with 80 +mph winds and a few mere mortals hiking into the gales. And the sun says "rainbow".

Show me the most powerful place you’ve ever seen. Mine: Dettifoss 🇮🇸 (I’ll add more in the thread 👇)

Trump completely obliterated his speech. It bombed. Expect more bombing. He's looking to be enriched.

@anneapplebaum If only the COVID prediction were true of the man himself.

“It will just open up naturally,” Trump says about the Strait of Hormuz. He also once said, at the beginning of the pandemic, that COVID would end by itself. "One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear"

@PurdueToobah AI has never seen a scene as serene. Love that place. Love the mirroring. I hope you drove past the lake up to Artist Point, too.

My photo of Mt Shuksan is getting a “made with AI” tag. 😔 It is definitely not an AI image…. 😔

"I refund; states tax." Another Trump First Principle comes to the podium. Schifty's been shiftied.

@JamesAfineart Gratefully.

I wasn't looking for a photograph that morning. Just driving a back road through Kananaskis when the valley opened up and the mist was doing something I couldn't drive past. Sometimes the landscape finds you.

@RpsAgainstTrump In the arena, a TACO stands With immigrant gramps that stain his hands Almighty Caesar with a head of salad Pretending to dictate, as if he were valid. Go home, DT. DT go home.

BREAKING: Trump is sitting front row at the Supreme Court as justices hear arguments on his unconstitutional order to end birthright citizenship. He’s the first sitting president ever to attend oral arguments. Feels like this stunt could backfire bigly

@Camp4 Blessed are the peacemakers. Find your own.

Life is less harsh and more comfortable than ever. But it’s debatable whether it’s “easier.” 🎶 OneRepublic sang: “Everything that kills me makes me feel alive.” Humans are primal beings. Evolution hasn’t kept pace with technological progress and the comforts it provides. Put simply, we’re not wired for this. We’ve decreased our risk of violent death—and traded it for death by a thousand cuts. Our souls are crushed under the weight of hollow pursuits: Email jobs Mortgages Doom-scrolling “Two weeks of PTO” Fluorescent lights Identity politics Microwave dinners Looksmaxxing Ben Franklin said: “Many people die at twenty-five and aren't buried until they are seventy-five.” It’s fascinating to me that one of our Founding Fathers saw this problem 250 years ago, before most modern conveniences existed. Imagine if Ben rose from the grave and observed the life of the average American today. So what are we to do about this comfort crisis? I think the answer is obvious: Go back to the things that we *are* wired for. Walking & physical effort Deep conversations Friends & family Building things Appreciating beauty Sex Parenting Adventure (and risk) Reading & writing Exploring spirituality Sunlight Nature These things are—and have always been—the essence of the human experience. In a future where the gap between human biology and technology will only widen—and AI and robots will make our lives even “easier” 🤪… Maybe it’s time to get back to basics.

#whateverWednesday Drop an image of anything. Whatever you like, they say. Here's to a swallow in paradise.

It's Water Wednesday! 🌊 Let's see your water themed captures. 📸

@DaybyDayDev Get the sit out of there. Move. Someplace different. Something different is waiting. Over there. Over anywhere. Because it's someplace Different. Moving is action. Action doesn't give a sit. 'ell ya. You're worth it. No sit.

My brain keeps telling me exactly what to do right now. Smoke. Relax. Take something. Sleep. That used to be automatic. Now I’m just sitting here uncomfortable as hell, not knowing what to do with myself. Breaking a routine like this isn’t just hard… it feels like something’s missing from my life. Still not going back tonight. One day at a time!

@alphaman_111 At least I got a certificate for all that. Downhill from there, though.

“Five minutes after you’re born, they decide your name, nationality, religion, and sect, and you spend the rest of your life defending things you didn’t choose.” — Unknown

@SiKImagery Amazing how the bus drivers navigate the corners, right? I rode a couple that backed up to let the bus coming the opposite direction come around the corner. (Sat atop the bus, water side - fun, really. )

It’s #WetWednesday! Let’s see you #Water shots! * This was shot while I was taking a stroll around the #Amalfi Coast last time we were in #Italy. This is easily one of our favorite area of Italy. Just gorgeous. The road behind me was absolutely treacherous! We had to close our eyes going around some of those curves on the huge public bus!

@CindySinor The Netherlands

Which country is home to your favorite artists?

@alphaman_111 Where's the business opportunity here? Gotta be one (at least).

HIDDEN TRUTHS: 12 THINGS INSURANCE COMPANIES PRAY YOU NEVER LEARN 1. They deny claims hoping you won't appeal — 50% of denials are overturned 2. "Pre-existing condition" is loosely defined — They'll find anything to deny 3. Networks change without notice — Your doctor may not be covered anymore 4. "Medical necessity" is subjective — What doctor says ≠ what they cover 5. They make money by denying care — Profits come from unpaid claims 6. Prior authorization is a delay tactic — Hoping you give up or condition worsens 7. Out-of-network billing is negotiable — You can get those rates reduced 8. They can't force you to use mail-order pharmacy — Local is your right 9. Balance billing is illegal in most states — You don't owe the difference 10. Customer service reps often lie — Get everything in writing, emails only 11. They track your prescription history — Sell data to pharmaceutical companies 12. Switching plans doesn't reset deductibles — Timing matters for major procedures

@robbertleusink Dubbel zout, alstublieft. Danke.

The Dutch consume 4.5 kilograms of licorice per person per year No other country comes close It entered the Netherlands as a pharmacy product, sold for coughs and throat complaints At some point the Dutch stopped waiting to be sick 'Drop' is now the most consumed candy in the Netherlands, while most of the world finds it inedible A people that built land from the sea and sailed every ocean eat bitter root medicine for pleasure There is a pattern