We cannot let right-wing politicians get away with this
The GOP's "forever culture war" continues, and the right keeps winning where it counts
Sree’s newsletter is produced w/ Zach Peterson (@zachprague). It’s Salvador Dali’s 118th birthday today. Among the things he said: “The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant.”
🙌 JOB LISTING! The Rockefeller Foundation is seeking its next Managing Director, Multimedia Strategy and Digital Content. Our firm, Digimentors, is managing the search. This is a prime opportunity to help a preeminent nonprofit craft its message and improve lives around the world. Find out how to apply here.
🗞 @Sree’s Sunday #NYTReadalong: Sunday mornings, 8:30-10 am ET, we read a print newspaper out loud on our Readalong video show, as we have six-plus years now. Usually, it’s the NYT, but we’ve done the Chicago Sun-Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post and more. Watch two years of our archives here. The Readalong is sponsored by Muck Rack. Interested in sponsorship opportunities? Email sree@digimentors.group and neil@digimentors.group.
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IT TURNS OUT THAT THE ALARMISTS WERE RIGHT. A conservative Supreme Court is delivering on its promises to the conservative movement, and the consequences for America are vast and dire.
Don’t let anyone tell you different.
The leaked draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito — which I assume came from his, or Clarence Thomas’ office because of things like this — is the conservative movement’s payoff after 40 years of financing the Republican party. It can only be seen as a victory for the people funding some of the most toxic political movements in the country (and the world, for that matter).
The end of Roe is just the beginning of what is sure to become a series of cases that will define American politics for the next decade-plus.
Elected at least partially on the premise of “hey, at least we don’t actively support hate speech, right?,” Democrats are failing, and most polls have them losing control of at least the House of Representatives this November. I don’t think one needs to be a professional politico to see that simply not being awful isn’t enough when there is a well-funded movement on the other side that is both relentless and effective.
Conservative activists have packed state and local offices, and absolutely loaded up every level of the judiciary, including the most important court of them all.
I recall a few WEEKS ago, when the wife of a Supreme Court justice was very clearly exposed as being an accessory to an attempted insurrection.
It’s high time we acknowledge that the Supreme Court, and the entire judicial branch of the government, is very political and things are to get worse for women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and basically every other already-marginalized group in America.
Just one example:
And here’s one of the intellectual underpinnings of Alito’s core argument laid bare. His reference to a classic white male supremacist who’s been dead for 300 years is so on-the-nose, you’d think it was a stand-up bit.
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Thank you for your support of four years of this newsletter or a subset of that time. So grateful to you all! And a big thanks to our sponsors, Armory Square Ventures.
Do Something
Have time? Have money? Have both? Put them to use! Share your thoughts, please.
Let’s start with NARAL Pro-Choice America, whose president is my friend Mini Timmaraju:
The National Network of Abortion Funds - You can support organizations in specific states to truly help those in need.
The ACLU - The organization has never been more important.
Planned Parenthood - Make no mistake, Planned Parenthood will be targeted by the right more than ever over the coming months and years.
Elected officials - Just type your city/town, and get in touch with your senators and representatives. Even if they support your position, let them know. Then do it again.
Upstate Capital recently hosted a conference for investors and entrepreneurs on startup formation in New York State. The focus was on forging and growing investor and startup connections upstate and downstate. International business journalist Elizabeth MacBride and Seth Levine, Co-founder and partner of Foundry Group, attended and presented findings from their book, “The New Builders.”
Armory Square Ventures (ASV) Managing Partner Somak Chattopadhyay moderated a conversation on venture and philanthropy with Meg O’Connell and Eric Allyn, both with the Allyn Family Foundation. ASV Partner Pia Sawhney was on one of the judging committees assessing student-led teams in 6 categories at the New York Business Plan Competition. Photonect, founded by Juniyali Nauriyal and Sushant Kumar at the University of Rochester, won last Wednesday’s Grand Prize.
Prior to the daylong conference, Armory Square Ventures partners Somak and Pia hosted a dinner for attendees at the Skaneateles Country Club. Our team enjoyed meeting entrepreneurs and investors and introducing them to the new ASV office in town.
To learn more about Upstate Capital and the Venture NY program, visit the group’s event page here. Elizabeth published a piece in Forbes on her trip to Upstate New York — read that here.
Tech Tip w/ @newyorkbob: WOWCube - A Cool Electronic Spin on Rubik’s Cube
By Robert S. Anthony
Each week, veteran tech journalist Bob Anthony shares a tech tip you don’t want to miss. Follow him @newyorkbob.
If you’re of a certain age, you remember how popular Rubik’s Cube was in the 1980s. While some quickly mastered the palm-size puzzle, which has nine moveable squares on six sides, others learned how to swear as they spent hours trying to reassemble the darn thing back to its proper one-color-per-side state.
Now imagine if there were only four squares per side, but all had little electronic video displays which reacted fluidly as you twisted and moved the squares around. That’s the essence of the WOWCube Entertainment System, a cool-looking device by Florida-based CubiOS Inc. shown off at a Techfluence virtual product showcase for the media last week.
Conceived by entrepreneur Ilya Osipov and his young son Savva, prototypes of the WOWCube were previewed at the CES consumer electronics showcase in Las Vegas in 2019 and 2020, but now the unit is poised to go on sale to the public later this year.
WOWCube incorporates 24 high-resolution video displays on eight autonomous modules, each of which has its own central processor. The smooth-moving modules always communicate with each other, thus allowing videos and images to seem to slide from one square to the next. A six-axis gyro plus an accelerometer allows the WOWCube to respond as it gets twisted, shaken or otherwise moved around.
According to the company, the WOWCube can be used for entertainment, education, stress relief or as a conversation starter. In addition to playing maze, arcade or puzzle games which might invite you to connect pipes, complete picture puzzles or add numbers, the screens can also be used to show useful data like the weather, stock prices or photos from an Instagram feed.
The WOWCube, which uses a software platform developed by CubiOS, can also be programmed to mimic an illuminated aquarium, complete with virtual fish. Additional apps can be added with an Apple or Android smartphone via a wireless Bluetooth connection.
Is the WOWCube durable enough to survive constant twists and shakes? So, far so good, according to the company, which said the unit would be backed by an “industry-standard warranty.”
Pricing and a release date haven’t been announced for the WOWCube yet, but visitors to its website can sign up to be notified.
🙌 JOB LISTING! The Rockefeller Foundation is seeking its next Managing Director, Multimedia Strategy and Digital Content. Our firm, Digimentors, is managing the search. This is a prime opportunity to help a preeminent nonprofit craft its message and improve lives around the world. Find out how to apply here.
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