Short Take: The Worst Things Are Possible AI, and the Historical Event Horizon

I wrote a short take about the apocalypse. Again.

open.substack.com/pub/immortal...

Trump Administration to Pay $1 Billion to Energy Giant to Cancel Wind Farms

Are you fucking... okay, whatever. God. Remember when something like this would be worth analyzing in some way? Like, you could say, "This means they're prioritizing..." Now? Doesn't even matter. "Wind turbines are woke. Burn 'em." For fuck's sake.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/c...

It's weird to me how little the front pages of the big newspapers change, hour-to-hour, given that we're at war in Iran, Israel's at war in Lebanon and Gaza, there's the war in Ukraine, and there are still National Guard troops, FBI, and ICE agents patrolling Washington DC.

I'm trying to imagine how it occurred to anyone to try this, and it's all bad.

Checkout Guy at Grocery Store: [puts bag of produce on the scale, stops, holds up a kumquat] Uh. Is… What is this?

Me: It’s a kumquat.

CGGS: [reaches out to type on keyboard. pauses, fingers frozen mid-air.]

Me: …starts with a “k”.

CGGS: Oh thank god.

I wrote a short essay over at Substack. open.substack.com/pub/immortal...

The Democrats Did It Right And Other Things I Feel Weird Saying Out Loud

I wrote a short thing about why Democrats surprisingly didn't screw it up this time, and why we should all stop saying they did.

You Can't Feel Your Face Because the Leopard Ate It Politics In the Age of Traumatic Amputation

I wrote a little thing about the recent history of authoritarianism in the Republican Party, and why nobody can afford to sit out politics at this point.
immortalityproject.substack.com/p/you-cant-f...

The Cart is In Front of a Pale Horse A Short Rant About the Myth of Alt-Right Reasoning

I've spent the last several years reading stuff that I think might all have been pointless. I wrote a brief rant about why. Read it, so you can make fun of me.

immortalityproject.substack.com/p/the-cart-i...

A Few Words About Duty Responsibility and Choice In a Time of War

I've been seeing some comments that seem to imply that the National Guard has a duty to disobey orders. These comments have been giving me some feelings. I drafted a couple of long FB posts about it, then wrote on Substack instead. So here's that.

immortalityproject.substack.com/p/a-few-word...

That's definitely my handwriting. Hell, it was my typing, before spellcheck. My spelling on Notes? Almost as bad as my 17-year-old reasoning.

Dear Washington State... Regarding Trump’s Appalling Budget Bill

Republicans are trying to destroy the country and turn the West Coast into a colony. I have some suggestions for how that might be avoided. Lots of links and infographics. I make tax reform sound fun.

open.substack.com/pub/immortal...

Hear Me Out: What Trump is Doing to Harvard Is Good News What's Good for the Goose is Bad for America

I wrote a short thing about the virtues of the imperial presidency, and why red states are actually red.

open.substack.com/pub/immortal...

SALT in the Wound This is One of Those Times When a Plan Would Be Nice

I wrote a very short thing about why Democrats should probably care more about the debate around SALT tax policy than we do.

open.substack.com/pub/immortal...

Free Markets, Expensive Nazis A Few of the Reasons You Might Not Have a Job, or Even a Country, in Ten Years

I wrote a thing about how the collapse of the established order is inevitable if we don’t reform it. Fun fun fun! And yes, that’s Verbal Kint, from the Usual Suspects. Well spotted.

A Few Thoughts About Artificial General Intelligence UBI, Enclosure, and the Owned World

I wrote an essay about artificial general intelligence, how it’s coming for your job; how we’ve been here before and it went badly, and how we should do something different this time.

immortalityproject.substack.com/p/a-few-thou...

Republicans Ruin Everything A Brief Discussion of Field Preemption, and Hypocrisy

I wrote a short thing about Republicans using the Clean Air Act to stop states from protecting clean air. Which is an actual thing that's actually happening, and is not a joke.

immortalityproject.substack.com/p/republican...

The Four Stupid Things of the Apocalypse This is the Antediluvian Period of American History

A while back I looked at how a job at the University of Washington stacked up against average rents in Seattle. The answer was bad. So I looked again this week. The answer was worse. I wrote a little thing about that.

She's Ukrainian. She was 12 when the USSR broke up, so maybe she can be forgiven for defaulting to "guilty until proven innocent." Though maybe one could reasonably expect the opposite, given she went from there to here. I don't know.

I Have Questions The Far Left Shouldn't Be the Conscience of the Center

immortalityproject.substack.com/p/i-have-que...

Sure. I'm always prepared to be just totally wrong about this stuff. It's all IMHO.

Huh. You know... one of these days, man. One of these days.

They Go Low, We Step Up A Modest Proposal for Actually Doing Something

I wrote another thing -- a modest proposal for actually doing something. If you like it, tell your friends.

immortalityproject.substack.com/p/they-go-lo...

Chuck Schumer, Jaws, and the Kintner Raft of Normalcy It's All Right There, Man

I wrote a little thing about Chuck Schumer that is also mainly about the awesome movie Jaws, and how it's universally applicable to almost everything.

immortalityproject.substack.com/p/chuck-schu...

That's your cue to start writing Civil War histories.

Where All the Money's Going It's Pretty Much Where You'd Think, But More So

Whenever Republicans start talking about cutting spending, I want to remind everyone what federal spending (and a lot of state spending) actually looks like. I spent some time noodling around with a spreadsheet tonight, and the results honestly shocked me a little. So I’m just sharing them as-is.

The Nation Needs More PDAs I Have No Idea What the Rest of You Think Is Happening Right Now.

I posted a thing on Substack about how nothing anyone else does or thinks makes sense to me. Take a look! Explain stuff to me! I'm deeply confused!

PS: That drawing is FDR. In case you were wondering.

open.substack.com/pub/immortal...

Black Swans and Old Canards The Ministry for the Prevention of Predictable Tragedies

It's the end of the world was we know it, and we're still pretending we can vote our way out of this, and it's weird. Also, I'm trying to do all my own art for my Substack. If you want me to hire someone better, subscribe. Tell your friends. This kind of garbage drawing can't be allowed to continue.

Status No: Is Getting "Back to Normal" an Option? We're All Excited But We Don't Know Why

Sometimes, when I use bold text in a piece of writing, it's just cover for the fact that I don't feel bold at all.

open.substack.com/pub/immortal...

Next Steps for Democrats A Modest Proposal

You know what’s cool about this politics thing I just wrote? It’s short.

open.substack.com/pub/immortal...