VanPancake

VanPancake

@vanpancake.bsky.social

Husband, father, soccer coach, product management and payments expert. I do boring work so my wife and kids can create art for all of you!

56 followers63 following197 posts

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

Ever since Kimmel came back on the air, there is a sense that this administration is a paper tiger. Behind the snarling rhetoric there is no substance. They are limp-dick dorks who conned desperate and systemically under-educated Americans to trust them to make their lives better.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

If this is true (which I doubt), those jobs were dogshit. www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-m... Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Says up to 50% of Some Work Now Done by AI - Business Insider

businessinsider.comIf up to half of Salesforce's work is being done by AI — what happens to half of Salesforce employees?Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says up to 50% of the work in key departments is being done by AI. So what's that mean for up to 50% of human employees?
VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

If Trump was successful at getting US companies to eat the cost of tariffs and not raise prices on consumer goods, wouldn't this be an increase in corporate taxes? If that actually happened, as progressives, shouldn't we be on board? Ignore the practicalities of ensuring prices did not increase.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

While I am inherently skeptical of this administration's motives, the news yesterday that Trump is advocating for tax increases on the very rich ($2.5M in income) is a good step. It's a small step, as it only moves that bracket from 37% to 39.6%, but it's a good step.

VanPancake reposted

jamelle
@jamellebouie.net

the vice president of the united states follows this guy on twitter!

Will Stancil@whstancil.bsky.social

Geoff Martin, aka captive dreamer, may be identified, but he’s lost none of his wit or charm

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

If you're wondering why Trump is pivoting toward Russia, it's as simple as this: there is money to be made by lifting sanctions and rebuilding their economy. It's the same rationale as everything else.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

Did anyone else already know that before Teddy Roosevelt the civil service was staffed by the President's friends and family in a system called the "spoils system?" It was, withhold your surprise, wildly inefficient and corrupt. Mayhap this is what MAGA is going for.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

This "prophet" is a make-believe intellectual. He's the guy who read a few more obscure books in the library and passes off his reckless takes as awakenings. The two most telling things I heard in this interview are: (thread) www.nytimes.com/2025/01/18/m...

nytimes.comCurtis Yarvin Says Democracy Is Done. Powerful Conservatives Are Listening.The once-fringe writer has long argued for an American monarchy. His ideas have found an audience in the incoming administration and Silicon Valley.
View full thread
VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

I've concluded power is the only reality. There is no "winning the argument." We need to pool resources and elect a congress that will push back against an executive branch acting in the interests of the already powerful. Money is the universal language of politics now. Let's invest.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

This "prophet" is a make-believe intellectual. He's the guy who read a few more obscure books in the library and passes off his reckless takes as awakenings. The two most telling things I heard in this interview are: (thread) www.nytimes.com/2025/01/18/m...

nytimes.comCurtis Yarvin Says Democracy Is Done. Powerful Conservatives Are Listening.The once-fringe writer has long argued for an American monarchy. His ideas have found an audience in the incoming administration and Silicon Valley.
VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

1) the notion that "it's easier to make a new NASA than to fix NASA" classic startup nonsense. I work in payments and can say that every successful new company was built on top of banks, Visa, and Mastercard. It's really rare to start over and win.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

2) he suggests that the civil war could have been avoided if we did what Brazil did and banned slavery via legislation. This ignores the fact that the south seceded in order to prevent that from happening.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

This is a wild tale. What are the odds a group of murderous trans and non-binary cultists (The Zizians) would kill a Border Patrol agent the day Trump was inaugurated? I have no reason to doubt the reporting but, wow, it reads like a Q-anon rant: www.mercurynews.com/2025/02/15/n...

mercurynews.comNorthern California ‘Zizians’ linked to 6 deaths, including border agent’s shootingA 2022 obituary said Jack LaSota died after falling out of a boat in San Francisco Bay. It wasn’t long before Ziz reappeared.

VanPancake reposted

Patton Oswalt
@pattonoswalt.bsky.social

Why would a little boy say, “Shut the fuck up” if he wanted someone to be quiet? Was there someone in his life who maybe repeatedly said that to him? Also, where would he get the idea that Trump *isn’t* the President? Did someone also say that repeatedly to him?

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

Big kudos to Danielle Sassoon. There were only two choices: be complicit or resign. She chose the path many would not and deserves our respect and gratitude. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/n...

nytimes.comDanielle Sassoon and Other Officials Resign After Order to Drop Eric Adams CaseThe interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and two officials with the federal public integrity unit all quit after the Justice Department ordered the charges against Mayor Eric Ad...
VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

I'm workshopping ideas to replace the phrase "the richest man in the world" (especially given much of his wealth is tied up in stock where the value is being propped up by the fact he has become co-president). My favorite is South African Tech Worker.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

What's the single most effective tactic to ensure your product management function succeeds? For my money, it is having a crystal clear product strategy tied to your business goals. So much conversation in PM circles is about tools and processes and the ephemeral notion of "product sense."

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

I was an evangelical Christian. I grew up in a church community that withheld many things from me. It took time and experience to open my mind up and I was grateful to be welcomed in by those who might otherwise have simply judged me. To win against private wealth we need unity among real people.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

As opposition supporters start to see how hoodwinked they've been, resist the impulse to dunk on them. Schadenfreude is an alluring emotion, but it is ultimately hollow. We don't have time to be petty.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

I just learned that neoliberalism is based on 19th century liberalism, which is basically free-market libertarian economics and all of a sudden things are making a lot more sense.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

Remember when the Soviet Union fell and the oligarchs divvied up the spoils for themselves? Keep an eye on what's happening at NOAA. There is talk of "commercializing federal weather data."

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

When people claim Musk is doing things to enrich himself, I think they misunderstand just how disconnected he is from normal life. He doesn't want to be wealthier. He is fundamentally empty inside and wants to find out why. His whole life is a sad search for meaning. He is the apex lonely male.

VanPancake
@vanpancake.bsky.social

While things spiraling, my wife and her co-creators are staging their original show The Menopause Monologues in LA at the Theatre of NOTE. And it's sold out (waitlist open)! Get out and support the arts!