Welcome to The Timestamp Newsletter! Quick and often random hits of items that are worth your time and attention. ( If you’re new, all recommendations are meant to help you think and better use your time, and the longer posts on the site are deeper dives into similar topics).
With that.. LET’S ROLL…
- Book: Die with Zero by Bill Perkins. Bill’s story is amazing, but his philosophy on life might be better. How do you not love this? “In the game of life, what I’m solving for is regret minimization. . .I want the highest score in net fulfillment.” —Bill Perkins. In this great book, Bill describes a way of looking at your life in seasons, and how it might be better to NOT delay gratification until too late ( like retirement, when you’re physically not able to enjoy it).
- Podcast: Joe Rogan with Matt Taibbi. The former Rolling Stone writer, now Substack darling talks with Rogan about the #TwitterFiles, how the US Government and intelligence community actively try and suppress free speech. They also go on to show how if one political ideology holds the technological cards, you’ll have corruption.
- We are in the Golden Age of Stand-up Comedy: Nate Bargatze’s stand-up special on Amazon is amazing. Jim Jeffries’ new one is amazing as well. The podcasts and YouTube shows available for comedians do really great numbers. Tom Papa and Fortune Feimster have a radio show on Nextflix is a Joke Radio through SiriusXM. What’s the common denominator making all of this possible? ( Well, there’s 2, really – free speech and technology).
- Everyone shows what they truly value, with how they spend their time. Another way of saying it, you’re voting on what’s important to you with every minute that passes. ( Not with what you say, but what you do).
- We all have the opportunity to think a little more before getting a top our high horse. I was recently talking with someone who didn’t like Tom Cruise, because of his affiliation with Scientology, his reputation in the media, and they refused to see Top Gun Maverick, because of it. So, I turned their attention to their smart phone. “You see that phone. Well, the founder of that company was a notorious asshole. He stole technology from Xerox. He abandoned his kid. He would park in handicap spots, because he felt there would be no repercussions. The company that makes that phone charges a 25% markup because they can get away with it on claims of something “new” they invented, that others have been doing for 5 years. They sheltered their earnings overseas for years to avoid taxes. They squeeze the creators of content who want to use their platform with essentially a 30% tax on anything they sell. That phone that runs your life was created by a company that had to put nets around their facilities to catch workers jumping to their suicides. That phone cost $1,200. Your watch another $400. Your laptop, $1,500. But we have a problem with a $15 movie ticket for a movie starring an actor with whom you might disagree? Huh???”
- The main problem here, it’s impossible to not be a hypocrite everyday. We run into these moral dilemmas far more than you can imagine. Most of them we don’t know about ( I’m guessing this person didn’t know they actively support a company with a less than reputable history). One would have to stop consuming entirely to avoid ethical crises, and this of course, is not a realistic option.
- *Note: Though I personally don’t use Apple products, I have some in my household and they are my largest stock holding for a reason.
UNTIL NEXT TIME!
Andrew L Hamilton 