Scott Boehmer

Author: Scott Boehmer

  • No Kings in the USA

    There are no kings in the USA. It’s kind of the point.

    No Kings In The USA (YouTube)

  • Vacation

    I recently heard about a local artist-run recording company called Psychic Hotline, and I’ve been listening to some of their artists to check them out. I bought Alex by Daughter of Swords, and Vacation from it is one of the songs that I’ve added to my regular rotation.

    Vacation | Daughter of Swords (Bandcamp)

  • There’s No Such Thing As a Smart Fascist

    This post is a couple of years old now, so it is framed on Ron DeSantis who was at the time struggling to launch his campaign to be the Republican candidate for 2024.

    Ronald was supposed to be that great man of myth and legend, the darkest fear of the left and deepest dream of the right: the Competent Fascist. The Smart Trump. The one who deeply understood the system and thus could manipulate it to his liking. The one who really and truly did play 5D chess while the rest of us dinked around with checkers.

    Catherynne M. Valente

    There’s No Such Thing As a Smart Fascist (Welcome to Garbagetown)

  • This is How Universities Die

    If American universities remain the envy of the world in 2025, the question must be: for how long?

    William C. Kirby

    This is How Universities Die (Harvard Magazine)

  • The Myth of Artificial General Intelligence

    Claims of “AGI” are a cover for abandoning the current social contract. Instead of focusing on the here and now, many people who focus on AGI think we ought to abandon all other scientific and socially beneficial pursuits and focus entirely on issues related to developing (and protecting against) AGI. Those adherents to the myth of AGI believe that the only and best thing humans can do right now is work on a superintelligence, which will bring about a new age of abundance.

    Alex Hanna, Emily M. Bender

    The Myth of AGI (TechPolicy.Press)

  • An All-American Surveillance System

    Jacob Ward discusses how the US government is contracting Palantir in order to process information on residents and compares it to Estonia’s digital identification. A key difference is that Estonia is focused on keeping the data siloed while here a goal seems to be removing barriers to data access.

    An All-American Surveillance System Is Coming (The Rip Current)

  • Unique

    Time for another song that I like. This one is Unique by Lenka.

    Lenka – Unique (Official Video) (lenkatv – YouTube)

  • The Myth of Bloated School Administration

    One of the central arguments made by opponents of public education is that North Carolina taxpayers spend too much on their children and schools. Even as the state continues to rank near-bottom in the nation for school spending, some on the political right charge that the number is still too high. Specifically, opponents blame “administrative bloat” in North Carolina’s public school system for soaking up resources that should go to classrooms instead.

    In but one example, failed Republican candidate Michelle Morrow claimed that there had been a 265% increase in funding for “administrative and bureaucratic stuff” (what time frame she was referring to was left unclear). Failed Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson repeatedly decried a “bloated bureaucracy” in the school system, which he said needed to “cut the fat.”

    But like much of what Robinson and Morrow had to say, these claims do not survive the first contact with evidence.

    Miles Kirkpatrick

    The Myth of Bloated School Administration (Carolina Forward)

  • The Internet is Shrinking

    This isn’t just nostalgia talking. It’s about power. While we scroll through sanitized feeds and click through curated content, a handful of companies are quietly reshaping humanity’s digital destiny. The real question is: are we okay with letting them?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

    Joan Westenberg

    The Internet is Shrinking (Westenberg)

  • Why Adam Became a Crypto Shill

    Adam Conover, whose videos I generally like, made an embarrassing mistake and accepted an offer to make a video about Sam Altman’s cryptocurrency company, World, and its Orb biometric scanning device. After folks complained and pointed out how working with World went against his values, he turned down the money and made this video about the situation and the event.

    Why I Became a Crypto Shill (Adam Conover – YouTube)