Good Morning, America! From Sensational San Francisco!

This falls into that category of books — “I wish I had read this when it first!” About the harms of smartphones and social media AND the critical need for free play and letting kids develop resilience on their own. Huge praise and respect for Haidt! Highly recommend.

McNeil was one of the first reporters to figure out how dangerous Covid was going to be. Helped that he had already covered AIDS, Ebola, MERS, SARS, Zika, Polio, tuberculosis, etc as a 25-year-long science reporter for the NYT. Useful to read someone like this because I think there are reasonable odds we’ll experience another pandemic in our lifetimes. If you’re looking for political takes on Covid, this book isn’t for you. But if you want a better understanding of how pandemics get created — and the successes and failures of different governments, organizations, and leaders in addressing them — then this book might be for you. More learning = less lives lost next time.

Muse taking over the world!!! Or at least, Times Square.

Fun book for U.S. history buffs! A run through U.S. history based on the author’s travels to many of our country’s major and minor historical sites. From Independence Hall to Mount Vernon to Selma to Haymarket Square to Pine Ridge to Dearborn to Los Alamos, etc…. Gage visited something like 300 sites. I would have added Trenton, Springfield, Appomattox, Wall Street, Cape Canaveral, Palo Alto and a few more sites. Makes me want to go out and buy an RV! Or just keep reading more! :)

Fave book collection. Right here. Right now. Ryan Holiday’s series on American Stoicism. Ok, it’s on stoicism, but many of the stories are American, so hence… A cornucopia of recent and historical stories about individuals who exemplified Wisdom, Courage, Justice and Moderation. Truman, Douglass, Washington, Gandhi, de Gaulle, Cicero, Cato, Marcus Aurelius, Nightingale, Catt, etc…. Doing the right thing, effectively, when it’s hard to do (risky, costly, unpopular). Inspiring books. Gotta get an invite to The Painted Porch Bookshop in Bastrop, TX!!! @RyanHoliday

Really profound book. Foster child abandoned by his parents, went through 9 families by the age of 10, wasted away his high school years in Red Bluff, CA through drinking and distractions, saved by 6 years in the air force, but developed a major alcohol addiction, went to Yale right at the peak of student extreme (the Halloween costume debacle), and went on to study child psychology — and “luxury beliefs” — at Stanford and Cambridge. So many downs and ups. Author’s biggest point is the fundamental value of the family and the major challenges faced by children who aren’t raised in loving family environments. I’m no psychologist, but makes 100% sense to me. But i’d also emphasize a few other great points — the benefits of reading (it more than anything may have saved the author), the advantage of the military (esp to young men going thru some of the most challenging years of their lives), and the benefits perhaps of lifelong, honest friends. This book is a gift to our society. My $0.02.

Stimulating book alert! Kind of like the opposite of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. How creative generalists can outperform focused specialists. Especially in real world scenarios with a decent amount of ambiguity and uncertainty — which I personally believe is most scenarios. (Written by someone whose job is to forecast the future….). Like Gladwell, Epstein effectively relies on a lot of anecdotes — Federer to van Gogh. Bill Gurley recommended this as one of his recent faves. Glad I read it. Highly recommend. Embrace range, My Friends! @bgurley

Wonderful book on the very recent history/story of one of my fave cities. The tension and the partnership between technology and politics in SF is real. Love the recent, detailed history. Love this city. Have been in and around it for 20 years. I don’t claim to know SF anywhere near as well as Weber. But I’d add that one of the reasons that SF has been such a persistent epicenter for technology has been its progressive, open, intellectual culture. Intellect is prized here in a way that is rarely found in other places. Failure is tolerated/respected here. New ideas, cultures, lifestyles are welcomed here in a way that is rarely, rarely found in other places. And these factors all create a wonderful, powerful, transformative, and almost always positive force when combined with risk capital. Power to the People has turned into Digital Power to the People or even…Compute Power to the People. And that’s a good thing. SF today is VERY different than it was in the 60’s. Maybe that’s a bad thing. I don’t think so. Love SF. And the Bay! And you still can find that Old SF Soul, if you want it. My $0.02. Peace!

Happy Birthday, U.S.A.!!!! From Tammy, Lincoln and me!!!

There's been some public focus on Down Syndrome recently because a famous YouTuber decided to terminate a pregnancy due to Down Syndrome. I don't have any comment on that particular situation. But I do have some thoughts on Down Syndrome. I published the below article a long time ago... My first son, Noah, was born on March 12, 2000 with Down Syndrome. The tests administered during pregnancy for Down Syndrome and other conditions somehow didn’t indicate Downs - so, yes, Noah was a bit of a surprise. Later on, around the age of three, Noah also started presenting as autistic. There’s an article that I think is given to many parents when their children are born with developmental disabilities. It’s called something like, “Welcome to Holland.” The analogy goes like this: A family plans a full, fun vacation to Italy, but the plane gets diverted and they end up in Holland. The point is that while Holland may not be as fun, beautiful, romantic, and interesting as Italy, it still has its charms - windmills, dikes, wooden shoes, and more… I’ve thought about that article many times over the years. And I’ve thought about how I’d retitle and rewrite it. I think I’d go with the title: “Welcome to Life.” Having Noah has been a blessing. And a blessing. And a blessing. Did I “plan” for Noah? No. But neither did I “plan” for the three other boys who became his brothers. And they are each wonderful, challenging, delightful, puzzling, loving, patience-testing, and inspiring in their own ways. But Noah is different. He’s more the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th on that list, and he just “is.” And he’s also the boy that most makes me appreciate the smaller things - the most important things in life. Everything comes more slowly with Noah. But it does come. And when it comes, you really, really, really appreciate it. When at 12, he walks up to the counter and verbalizes “chocolate ice cream” for the first time, you appreciate it. When at 14, he strolls over to a friend and for the first time high-fives him and loudly shouts “Hey Buddy,” you appreciate it. And when at 16, he starts to say “thank you” – before and after a request, you appreciate it. Noah is 18 now and likes to dance extemporaneously while shouting “DJ Khaled.” And I appreciate it. People and parents can have all types of different reactions to, or experiences with, special needs children. I fully understand that having special needs children can be challenging, scary, perhaps terrifying for parents. I have also witnessed/experienced the uncertainty and awkwardness that individuals (children and adults) can have when encountering special needs children. It’s all very understandable. It’s just that my experience with Noah has been wonderful. He is both my most playful child and my wisest soul. He is a source of immense tranquility to me. No expectations. Just experiences. Noah is unconditional love to me. And, for that, I am extremely grateful. As a parent of a special needs child, I sometimes get asked if there is anything friends can do to help. There isn’t really. At least, there’s nothing special you need to do. Just be yourself and, if you want, make an extra effort to engage with Noah. I have this friend, Darlene – a neighborhood Mom with two active sons of her own. She once told me that she was going to do everything possible to get a hug from Noah one day. Noah is usually non-verbal and doesn’t interact with many people. Darlene had her work cut out. But she persisted. And she succeeded! Noah gave her a hug! And that moment was magical!! For Noah, for Darlene, and for me! No expectations. Just experiences. #downsyndrome

My $.02 political opinion. I am voting for Matt Mahan for CA Governor. Reasonably moderate/centrist Dem. Willing to take on his own political party. Has done an impressive job reducing homelessness in San Jose. Skeptical of tax increases. Results oriented. Tough on crime. Am a big fan of the effective, results-oriented, centrist wing of the Dem Party coming out of NorCal (Lurie, Mahan).

Think we’re making a big mistake here. 1. NATO is arguably the most successful military alliance in history, and our aggressive moves re: Greenland are undermining it. With Putin and the CCP getting more brazen, we need to boost NATO, not weaken it. 2. We don’t need more taxes — and these extra tariffs are yet another tax on American businesses and U.S. consumers. And 3. This looks like another arbitrary abuse of power — the use of tariffs on allies to pursue political/personal goals.