mathewi

Instead of breaking out of a prison he broke into one Lieutenant Thomas Conrad was standing in a control room in Nashville’s new central jail when he noticed something off with one of the key rings hanging on the wall. It was midday on December 30, 2019, and in two weeks the still empty jail would take in about seven hundred inmates. While contractors were finishing their work, Conrad, a senior correctional officer with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, was organizing equipment: handheld radios, handcuffs, and keys.

Instead of breaking out of a prison he broke into one

Lieutenant Thomas Conrad was standing in a control room in Nashville’s new central jail when he noticed something off with one of the key rings hanging on the wall. It was midday on December 30, 2019, and in two weeks the still empty jail would…

A Spanish billionaire fell to his death and his son is a suspect One afternoon in March 2024, Spanish society gathered at a prestigious Barcelona business school to celebrate Isak Andic, an unassuming Turkish-born entrepreneur who used to sell embroidered blouses in a Barcelona market stand and went on to found the affordable fashion brand Mango, becoming a billionaire in the process, the fifth-richest man in Spain. Nine months later, Andic was dead. On December 14, 2024, he went for a hike on Montserrat, the mountain just outside Barcelona, and plunged to his death from a cliff some 300 feet high.

A Spanish billionaire fell to his death and his son is a suspect

One afternoon in March 2024, Spanish society gathered at a prestigious Barcelona business school to celebrate Isak Andic, an unassuming Turkish-born entrepreneur who used to sell embroidered blouses in a Barcelona market stand and…

A hockey dad ran a $12 million fraud against his friends As Perardi approached the terrace, he saw that his friend, Kota Youngblood, sat at one of the tables. Youngblood was tall and imposing, with a paunch and black hair that framed pale skin. He was dressed in black, with military tattoos on his arms, and the white athletic tape that always seemed to cover his fingers. They found Eventine, Youngblood said.

A hockey dad ran a $12 million fraud against his friends

As Perardi approached the terrace, he saw that his friend, Kota Youngblood, sat at one of the tables. Youngblood was tall and imposing, with a paunch and black hair that framed pale skin. He was dressed in black, with military tattoos on his…

The danger posed by AI just got a lot more real all of a sudden I came across a maxim many years ago in a blog post written by Chris Dixon, a startup guy who is now a partner with Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley VC outfit. In 2010 Dixon wrote: "The next bi...

In this week's Torment Nexus newsletter I wrote about how the dangers of AI have become a lot more real all of a sudden thanks to the recent dustup between Anthropic and the Department of Starting Wars torment-nexus.mathewingram.com/the-danger-p...

The danger posed by AI just got a lot more real all of a sudden I came across a maxim many years ago in a blog post written by Chris Dixon, a startup guy who is now a partner with Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley VC outfit. In 2010 Dixon wrote: "The next bi...

In this week's Torment Nexus newsletter I wrote about how the dangers of AI have become a lot more real all of a sudden thanks to the recent dustup between Anthropic and the Department of Starting Wars torment-nexus.mathewingram.com/the-danger-p...

The kind of bookstore I would like to own

When I saw the post above, my response was "that's the kind of bookstore I would like to own" — just tons of books and never any customers to bother you. It got me thinking about an old bookstore I used to go to in a small town, the kind of town with only…

Casual Fridays were invented as a way to sell Hawaiian shirts My city’s ‘Casual Fridays’ workplace default is not a coincidence, nor an act of free will by our bosses. It is the result of an extremely successful lobbying campaign. Specifically: A coordinated 1960s–90s effort by the Hawaiian Fashion Guild to convince mainland corporations that allowing employees to dress more casually on Fridays would boost morale, increase productivity, and, critically, increase the purchase of aloha shirts.

Casual Fridays were invented as a way to sell Hawaiian shirts

My city’s ‘Casual Fridays’ workplace default is not a coincidence, nor an act of free will by our bosses. It is the result of an extremely successful lobbying campaign. Specifically: A coordinated 1960s–90s effort by the Hawaiian…

What does this imply for those of us who are not Christian, and who labor under the assumption that we're protected by the First Amendment?

There's a definite possibility that AI incorrectly targeted a school for a missile strike and killed 160 children

There it is: Noem out, Mullin in

Georgia Tech researchers reverse-engineered Life360 / Tile's protocol and found it broadcasts your location in plaintext, uses a MAC address that never changes, and the company changed their privacy policy to admit they sell your precise location data 🔓📡

4chan knew about Epstein’s death before it was public

Among the many mysteries surrounding Jeffrey Epstein is how, exactly, a website famous for pornography and white nationalism got the scoop on his death. At 8:16 a.m. on August 10, 2019, an anonymous 4Chan user posted, "don't ask me how I know,…

The danger posed by AI just got a lot more real all of a sudden I came across a maxim many years ago in a blog post written by Chris Dixon, a startup guy who is now a partner with Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley VC outfit. In 2010 Dixon wrote: "The next big thing will start out looking like a toy," a phrase inspired by Harvard professor Clay Christensen. Dixon's post made a big impression on me at the time.

The danger posed by AI just got a lot more real all of a sudden

I came across a maxim many years ago in a blog post written by Chris Dixon, a startup guy who is now a partner with Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley VC outfit. In 2010 Dixon wrote: "The next big thing will start out looking…

I was going to write something about how newsletters are like a cargo cult -- going through the motions hoping to reproduce past riches, etc. But then I realized that this describes basically the entire modern media industry

This is the exact same Guy you could find 2,000 years ago as a Roman senator gleefully listing the number of Germani slain and sold into slavery, 900 years ago exulting in the sack of Jerusalem, or 100 years ago celebrating 500 yards taken on the Western Front. Timeless chickenhawk scum.

Her cells created billions in value for drug companies Novartis has settled a lawsuit by the estate of Henrietta Lacks that alleged the pharmaceutical giant unjustly profited off her cells, which were taken from her tumor without her knowledge in 1951 and reproduced in labs to enable major medical advancements, including the polio vaccine. It’s the second settlement in lawsuits filed by the estate that accused biomedical businesses of reaping rewards from a racist medical system that took advantage of Black patients like Lacks.

Her cells created billions in value for drug companies

Novartis has settled a lawsuit by the estate of Henrietta Lacks that alleged the pharmaceutical giant unjustly profited off her cells, which were taken from her tumor without her knowledge in 1951 and reproduced in labs to enable major medical…

The link is at the end of the excerpt Debbie

He lives like a monk but he dines like a king A couple of months ago, a man arrived for his 50th dinner at Nisei, the one-Michelin-starred Japanese fine-dining restaurant in Russian Hill. As he sauntered up Polk Street in his signature white tennis shoes, jeans, blazer, and backpack, the entire Nisei staff was waiting outside to greet him with a round of applause. It was as if royalty had arrived. Except by all accounts, it was just a guy named Michael Grepo.

He lives like a monk but he dines like a king

A couple of months ago, a man arrived for his 50th dinner at Nisei, the one-Michelin-starred Japanese fine-dining restaurant in Russian Hill. As he sauntered up Polk Street in his signature white tennis shoes, jeans, blazer, and backpack, the entire…

open.substack.com/pub/hyperdim...

I honestly have no idea how or why that posted now -- it's from the summer of 2022 :-)

Not only prediction markets but the relentless advertising and sponsorship of athletic events that you can also bet on. I'm in the weed biz in Canada and we basically can't advertise weed at all...but the government advertises gambling everywhere. Gambling causes far more harm than puffing herb.

He found Stalin’s daughter living in a Wisconsin retirement home Svetlana, who was then eighty-one years old, lived in a senior citizens’ center in Spring Green, Wisconsin. When we met, she was dressed in baggy gray sweatpants and sunglasses. She was short and compact, and her once red hair had turned white and had started to thin. Scoliosis had given her a hunch, and she used a cane. She showed me her one-bedroom apartment, and the little desk by a window where her typewriter stood.

He found Stalin’s daughter living in a Wisconsin retirement home

Svetlana, who was then eighty-one years old, lived in a senior citizens’ center in Spring Green, Wisconsin. When we met, she was dressed in baggy gray sweatpants and sunglasses. She was short and compact, and her once red hair had…

How Sean Penn saved a man trapped in a Bolivian prison Sean Penn always knew that rescuing Jacob Ostreicher from his years of Bolivian imprisonment would be difficult. Ostreicher, a then-52-year-old Hasidic businessman who had moved to the country from Brooklyn to manage a rice farm, got stuck there for two and a half years after he was accused of money laundering and criminal organization. His detainment in one of Bolivia’s most brutal prisons had attracted international attention — ABC News’

How Sean Penn saved a man trapped in a Bolivian prison

Sean Penn always knew that rescuing Jacob Ostreicher from his years of Bolivian imprisonment would be difficult. Ostreicher, a then-52-year-old Hasidic businessman who had moved to the country from Brooklyn to manage a rice farm, got stuck…

He woke up in the morgue but went on to win the horse race Ralph Neves was understandably disoriented when he woke up in the morgue. The slab was cold and the tag around his toe pressing into the skin. His heart, declared stopped an hour before, was racing so hard it was nearly beating out of his chest. The last thing Neves remembered, he was riding a horse at Bay Meadows on May 8, 1936.

He woke up in the morgue but went on to win the horse race

Ralph Neves was understandably disoriented when he woke up in the morgue. The slab was cold and the tag around his toe pressing into the skin. His heart, declared stopped an hour before, was racing so hard it was nearly beating out of his…

Are prediction markets fueling a gambling epidemic? The term "prediction market" sounds so scientific, doesn't it? Like "derivatives," the financial instrument they resemble. On platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi, people place a bet on the likelihood of certain outcomes, whether political or sporting or anything else (want to bet on whether Jesus will return this year?). But the term "bet" in the previous sentence reveals what prediction markets actually are: Betting.

Are prediction markets fueling a gambling epidemic?

The term "prediction market" sounds so scientific, doesn't it? Like "derivatives," the financial instrument they resemble. On platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi, people place a bet on the likelihood of certain outcomes, whether political or…

Gang of loons showed up this morning

Here comes the Merganser family

A murder so preposterous that stupidity was used as a defense Oliver Karafa and Yun Lu “Lucy” Li were a perfect match. Karafa was the consummate pretty boy: his brown hair always coiffed just so, his tennis shoes pristine. With no post-secondary education and little job experience, he told whomever would listen that he was going to be a millionaire before he was 30. His wife, Li, had the looks and dimensions of a Kardashian: arched brows, high cheekbones, Barbie waistline.

A murder so preposterous that stupidity was used as a defense

Oliver Karafa and Yun Lu “Lucy” Li were a perfect match. Karafa was the consummate pretty boy: his brown hair always coiffed just so, his tennis shoes pristine. With no post-secondary education and little job experience, he told…

A teenaged girl struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1931 When World War II came to America, baseball was one of the early victims. Many Major League players were in their early 20s and, therefore, subject to the draft. the owner of the Cubs, Philip K. Wrigley (of chewing gum fame) started the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1943. While many know about the AAGPBL due to the 1992 movie A League of Their Own, few realize that women played professional, minor league baseball until 1931.

A teenaged girl struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1931

When World War II came to America, baseball was one of the early victims. Many Major League players were in their early 20s and, therefore, subject to the draft. the owner of the Cubs, Philip K. Wrigley (of chewing gum fame) started the…