doing dissertation synonyms

How to Use dissertation in a Sentence

Dissertation.

• He wrote his dissertation on an obscure 16th-century poet.

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dissertation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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Single headline Ofsted grades scrapped in landmark school reform

Government pushes ahead with reform agenda by scrapping single headline Ofsted judgements for schools with immediate effect

Single headline grades for schools will be scrapped with immediate effect to boost school standards and increase transparency for parents, the government has announced today.

Reductive single headline grades fail to provide a fair and accurate assessment of overall school performance across a range of areas and are supported by a minority of parents and teachers. 

The change delivers on the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and demonstrates the Prime Minister’s commitment to improve the life chances of young people across the country.

For inspections this academic year, parents will see four grades across the existing sub-categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership & management.

This reform paves the way for the introduction of School Report Cards from September 2025, which will provide parents with a full and comprehensive assessment of how schools are performing and ensure that inspections are more effective in driving improvement. Recent data shows that reports cards are supported by 77% of parents.

The government will continue to intervene in poorly performing schools to ensure high school standards for children.

Bridget Phillipson, Education Secretary, said:

The need for Ofsted reform to drive high and rising standards for all our children in every school is overwhelmingly clear. The removal of headline grades is a generational reform and a landmark moment for children, parents, and teachers. Single headline grades are low information for parents and high stakes for schools. Parents deserve a much clearer, much broader picture of how schools are performing – that’s what our report cards will provide. This government will make inspection a more powerful, more transparent tool for driving school improvement. We promised change, and now we are delivering.

As part of today’s announcement, where schools are identified as struggling, government will prioritise rapidly getting plans in place to improve the education and experience of children, rather than relying purely on changing schools’ management.

From early 2025, the government will also introduce Regional Improvement Teams that will work with struggling schools to quickly and directly address areas of weakness, meeting a manifesto commitment.

The Education Secretary has already begun to reset relations with education workforces, supporting the Government’s pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers, and reform to Ofsted marks another key milestone.

Today’s announcement follows engagement with the sector and family of headteacher Ruth Perry, after a coroner’s inquest found the Ofsted inspection process had contributed to her death.

The government will work closely with Ofsted and relevant sectors and stakeholders to ensure that the removal of headline grades is implemented smoothly.

Jason Elsom, Chief Executive of Parentkind, said:

We welcome the decision by the Secretary of State to prioritise Ofsted reform. The move to end single-word judgements as soon as practical, whilst giving due care and attention to constructing a new and sustainable accountability framework during the year ahead, is the right balance for both schools and parents.  Most parents understand the need for school inspection, but they want that inspection to help schools to improve as well as giving a verdict on the quality of education their children are receiving. When we spoke to parents about what was important to them, their children being happy at school was a big talking point and should not be overlooked. Parents have been very clear that they want to see changes to the way Ofsted reports back after visiting a school, and it is welcome to see a clear timetable being set out today for moving towards a report card that will give parents greater clarity of the performance of their children’s school. We need to make sure that we get this right for parents, as well as schools. There is much more we can do to include the voice of parents in Ofsted inspections and reform of our school system, and today’s announcement is a big step in the right direction.

Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of National Association of Headteachers, said:

The scrapping of overarching grades is a welcome interim measure. We have been clear that simplistic one-word judgements are harmful, and we are pleased the government has taken swift action to remove them. School leaders recognise the need for accountability but it must be proportionate and fair and so we are pleased to see a stronger focus on support for schools instead of heavy-handed intervention. There is much work to do now in order to design a fundamentally different long-term approach to inspection and we look forward to working with government to achieve that.

Where necessary, in cases of the most serious concern, government will continue to intervene, including by issuing an academy order, which may in some cases mean transferring to new management. Ofsted will continue to identify these schools – which would have been graded as inadequate.

The government also currently intervenes where a school receives two or more consecutive judgements of ‘requires improvement’ under the ‘2RI’ policy. With the exception of schools already due to convert to academies this term, this policy will change. The government will now put in place support for these schools from a high performing school, helping to drive up standards quickly.

Today’s changes build on the recently announced Children’s Wellbeing Bill, which will put children at the centre of education and make changes to ensure every child is supported to achieve and thrive.

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By trying to avoid the Coalition's 'woke agenda' trap, Albanese has created a new problem for himself

Topic: Federal Government

Albanese is worried about contributing to the culture wars — but that has backfired. ( ABC News: Luke Stephenson )

Only 24 per cent of Australians surveyed in a new poll reported that they could name a single thing that had made their lives better since the Albanese government was elected.

The new figure from RedBridge polling group taken in August might explain why Anthony Albanese seems hypervigilant about avoiding culture wars.

In Labor ranks, Albanese is known for being pretty good at knowing how to identify the booby traps being laid out for him to step on. His government has been trying to singularly focus on one thing — the cost-of-living crisis. They identify it as the central thing that the majority of voters really care about.

So when Peter Dutton spent two weeks of parliament asking about visas for Gazans, senior government ministers knew this was territory they didn't want to be on. They hoped it would backfire on Dutton — but the early polling shows he was backed by a majority of voters on the issue.

This context is important to keep in mind when considering the curious case of how the prime minister intervened — and then partially had to back down — on questions in the 2026 census on sexuality and gender. If you are wondering why we spent a working week arguing about a survey — yep, a giant national questionnaire — stay with me.

A new problem for Albanese

Albanese is understood to have been worried that adding questions — particularly around trans identity — would open a can of ideological and culture war worms and deprive the government of more oxygen, again.

All it wants to be saying to voters as the election draws close is, "we are mainstream, we know you are doing it tough, we are the ones that can help you, we aren't woke".

Spending any time arguing about what the definition of a woman is and what Dutton called a "woke" agenda is seen by Albanese and the hard heads around him as a distraction. And it is, unless of course you are in one of the groups of people who had expected the government to deliver on its commitments to count you in the census.

But in trying to avoid the trap, the PM created a new problem.

He invited backlash of epic proportions, making progressive voters who do care about these issues — an important group for this government — wonder if he had the courage of their convictions. The PM's backdown on Friday morning and agreement to include a question around sexuality doesn't end the matter either — with crossbenchers and LGBTQ activists now pushing to get a guarantee that gender identity questions will still be included.

Watch this space — this issue has really only been partially neutralised by the government.

A messy week, and messy is the polite word

Last week was a messy week for the government. From the census debacle, to the PM's hot mic moment in the Pacific distracting from the big investment he had made in the region on policing, to the big universities, who are now on the warpath over caps to international student numbers.

On top of that, there were scenes of CFMEU workers spilling across capital city streets protesting over the government sending in administrators to clean up the union.

It didn't really go according to plan.

As one Labor insider said to me, "it always looks easier from the outside", in relation to the public criticism the government has been attracting.

Amid all the political white noise, the one big thing the government wants to be talking about — the economy, stupid — was overshadowed yet again.

And on this, there was a slightly better story to tell — the monthly inflation rate has slowed to 3.5 per cent, largely thanks to a dramatic fall in electricity prices to 5.1 per cent off the back of government rebates.

Why is the government so keen to talk about cost of living?

If you are wondering why the government is so keen to be so focused on cost of living, new numbers tell the story.

New RedBridge research from a big survey of 1,652 voters at the end of August asked a range of questions. The most stunning result came from this question: Can you name something the federal government led by Albanese has done since being elected in May 2022 that has made your life better in any way?

Concerningly for the government, a staggering 57 per cent couldn't name a thing that had made their lives better.

There was, however, around 24 per cent of Australians that could identify something. For that cohort, a once-controversial decision was the winner.

A significant 28 per cent in the category said the changes to the stage 3 tax cuts had made their lives better, with 26 per cent saying the electricity rebate had improved their lives. Things like pension increases and HECS changes were identified at lower numbers.

RedBridge director Tony Barry tells me this shows why the government is so keen to hammer home the message about what it is doing to help people.

"Labor strategists will be very concerned that 76 per cent of voters are unable to identify anything that Albanese has done to improve their lives.

"The problem for Labor is that at the moment, Albanese is a prime minister in search of a narrative.

"Unless Albanese can show some message discipline on cost of living and demonstrate results, he's at risk of being run over by the grievance bus at the next election."

Kos Samaras from Redbridge says in 2022, Labor secured a majority of seats largely due to the support of three key voter groups and all of those groups are currently cranky with them:

• Highly educated constituencies: "These voters, who strongly supported climate action and marriage equality, turned out in significant numbers for Labor."
• Diverse communities: "A core part of Labor's base, particularly in working-class electorates in Sydney and Melbourne, where Labor's support has traditionally been strongest."
• Low-income constituencies: "Frustrated by nearly a decade of wage stagnation under the Coalition government, these voters played a crucial role in Labor's victory."

But he says that since that election win, Labor has faced challenges in retaining the support of these groups.

"The government has been criticised for its slow response to the cost-of-living crisis, its mishandling of the sensitive politics surrounding the conflict in Gaza, and its poor management of a low-profile but significant issue concerning a Census question. These missteps have led to growing discontent among the very voters who were instrumental in Labor's success."

The truth is that governing is hard. So much so that I've had opposition MPs tell me they are having a lot more fun — despite having little real power — in opposition.

In the meantime, the government has got to get better at spending so much time avoiding booby traps that they step in even bigger ones.

Patricia Karvelas is the presenter of RN Breakfast and co-host of the Party Room podcast. She also hosts Q+A on ABC TV Mondays at 9.35pm.

PARALYMPIC CLASSIFICATION

The Paralympic system of classification intends to guarantee fair competition between all athletes. Athletes go through the classification process before taking part in a Paralympic competition, during which they are assessed and allocated a sport class in accordance with the degree and nature of their eligible impairments. This classification is carried out by a panel of medical and technical experts responsible for evaluating the impact of their impairment(s) on specific tasks and activities fundamental to the sport and the athlete’s sporting performance. There is no single classification system that applies to all sports due to their history and the way they are played, which is why each discipline has its own system.

Paralympic classification is a functional classification system, in which all athletes who compete in the same category are sure to have similar functional abilities in terms of movement, coordination and balance. This is why athletes with different impairments may be allocated the same sport class and compete against one another. 

The classifications below are designated by a letter, typically the sport's initial (for example, S for swimming) and a number. The lower the figure, the greater the impairment—though this is not always the case.

Blind football

Outfield players must be classified B1 (very low visual acuity and/or no light perception). However, to ensure fair competition, all outfield players must wear eyeshades.

The goalkeeper can be fully sighted or partially sighted (B2 or B3).

'B' stands for 'Blind.'

Find out more about the blind football events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Boccia is split into four classes. BC1 and BC3 athletes may have assistance (BC1 are typically dependent on a powered wheelchair, BC3 can use a ramp), while BC2 and BC4 athletes compete independently.

Sports assistants for BC3 players keep their backs to the game during all innings. They are only present to carry out the player’s commands; they are not allowed to turn around to watch the game, nor are they allowed to advise the player. There is therefore a strong connection between the player and his or her assistant during a match. BC1 player’s assistants can see the pitch because they are positioned behind the playing area and intervene at the players’ request.

'BC' stands for 'Boccia'.

Find out more about the boccia events at the Paris 2024 Games.

To be eligible, athletes must have less than 10 per cent visual acuity.

Athletes are divided into three categories ('B' = 'Blind'):

• B1 : No light perception or inability to recognise a shape.
• B2 : Visual acuity not exceeding 1/30th after correction or visual field not exceeding 5°.
• B3 : Visual acuity not exceeding 1/10th after correction or visual field not exceeding 20°.

Each player must wear an opaque mask as well as an eye patch to ensure fair competition.

Find out more about the goalball events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Para archery

• Open class (recurve bows): archers shoot from a standing position at a distance of 70m at a 122cm target made up of 10 concentric circles scoring from 10 points down to 1 point from the centre outwards.
• Open class (compound bows, for archers with little strength in the arms): archers shoot from a sitting position at a distance of 50m at an 80cm five-ring target made up of the 10-6 point bands.
• W1 (compound bow limited to 45lbs in draw weight and without magnifying sights): quadriplegic archers with an impairment in the lower limbs, trunk and one arm shoot from 50m at a 10-band 80cm target.

Find out more about the Para archery events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Para athletics

Athlete classification is defined by a letter and a number: 'T' for track and jump events and 'F' for field events. Figures represent impairments as follows:

• 11-13: vision impairment
• 20: intellectual impairment
• 31-38 : co-ordination impairments 
• 40-47 : short stature, upper limb competing with prosthesis or equivalent, lower limb competing with prosthesis or equivalent 
• T51-54: wheelchair races
• F51-58: seated throws
• 61-64 : lower limb competing with prosthesis

Find out more about the Para athletics at the Paris 2024 Games.

Para badminton

"WH" stands for “Wheelchair”:

• WH1 : athletes using a wheelchair with severely impaired leg and trunk function. 
• WH2 : athletes using a wheelchair with minor impairments to leg and trunk function. 

"SL" stands for "Standing / Lower":

• SL3 : athletes competing standing with a lower limb impairment and balance problems walking or running. 
• SL4 : athletes competing standing with less severe impairment than in SL3. Athletes demonstrate lower limb impairment and minor balance problems walking or running. 

"SU" stands for "Standing / Upper":

• SU5 : athletes in this class have impairment of the upper limbs. The impairment could be on the playing or non-playing hand. 

"SH" stands for "Standing / Short stature":

• SH6 : short stature and standing athletes

Find out more about the Para badminton events at the Paris 2024 Games.

'KL' corresponds to a kayak and double paddle and 'VL' corresponds to a pirogue (Va’a) and single paddle.

• KL1-VL1 : athletes with no or extremely limited trunk function and no function in the legs. 
• KL2-VL2 : athletes with partial leg and trunk function, able to sit up straight in the kayak but may require a high-backed seat. 
• KL3-VL3 : athletes with full function of their trunk and partial function in the legs, able to sit with the trunk bent forwards in the kayak and use at least one leg.

Find out more about the Paracanoe events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Para cycling

'C” stands for 'cycling', 'H' for 'handbike', 'T' for 'tricycle' and 'B' for 'blind' (for tandems).

• Solo: five categories, from C1 to C5, practised by athletes competing with prosthesis or limited movement of upper or lower limbs.
• Handcycling: five categories, from H1 to H5, practised by athletes with spinal cord injuries or competing with prosthesis in one or both lower limbs.
• Tricycle: T1 and T2, for athletes with locomotor dysfunction and balance issues (such as cerebral palsy or hemiplegia).
• Tandem: VI, for athletes who are blind or vision impaired who compete with a sighted pilot.

Find out more about the Para track cycling events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Find out more about the Para road cycling events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Para equestrian

• Grade I: athletes have severe impairments affecting all limbs and the trunk.
• Grade II: athletes have either a severe impairment of the trunk and minimal impairment of the arms or moderate impairment of the trunk, arms, and legs.
• Grade III: athletes have severe impairments in both legs with minimal or no impairment of the trunk or moderate impairment of the arms and legs and trunk.
• Grade IV: athletes have a severe impairment or deficiency of both arms or a moderate impairment of all four limbs or short stature.
• Grade V: athletes have vision impairment, complete blindness, a mildly impaired range of movement or muscle strength, or a deficiency of one limb or mild deficiency of two limbs.

Find out more about the Para equestrian (dressage) events at the Paris 2024 Games.

The Games programme concerns visually impaired athletes, divided into two categories:

• B1 : complete blindness.
• B2-B3 : vision impairment.

The judokas are then divided into weight classes.

Find out more about the Para judo events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Para powerlifting

All athletes with a functional limitation of the lower limbs or hips that prevents them from practising standing weightlifting compete together in different bodyweight categories.

These functional limitations include:

• Orthopedic disability
• Cerebral palsy
• Neurological disability
• Paraplegia and tetraplegia
• Progressive neurological disability

There are 20 weight categories: 10 each for men and women.

Find out more about the Para powerlifting events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Para rowing

Athletes are divided into three categories ('PR' is the abbreviation for Para rowing):

• PR1 : single sculls (for individual men and women)—reserved for rowers without trunk or leg function using two oars. 
• PR2 : double sculls (mixed)—a team of two rowers (male and female) each of whom has two oars. Reserved for rowers who can only use their upper body to row and their seat is fixed so their legs remain straight.
• PR3 : coxed four (mixed)—a team of four rowers (two women and two men) and a coxswain, with each rower using one oar. Category for people using their arms, trunk, and legs, with a maximum of two visually impaired people in the boat.

Find out more about the Para rowing events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Para swimming

S1-S10 / SB1-SB9 / SM1-SM10: physical impairment

The greater the number, the less severe the athlete’s limitation(s).

Athletes with different impairments may compete against one other as sport classes are allocated based on the impact the impairment has on swimming, rather than on the impairment itself.

S / SB / SM11-13: vision impairment

• 11 : athletes with extremely low visual acuity and/or no light perception. Swimmers must wear blackened goggles during races to ensure fair competition. 
• 12 : athletes with a higher visual acuity than athletes competing in the S/SB11 sport class and/or a visual field of less than 10 degrees.
• 13 : athletes with the least severe vision impairment eligible for Paralympic sport. They have the highest visual acuity and/or a visual field of less than 40 degrees.

In order to ensure a fair competition athletes in the S/SB11 sport class are required to wear blackened goggles.

S / SB / SM14: intellectual impairment

Swimmers with an intellectual impairment, which typically leads to athletes having difficulties with pattern recognition, sequencing, and memory, or having a slower reaction time which impacts sport performance in general.

The letters correspond to the swimming style:

• 'S' (Swimming): butterfly, backstroke, crawl
• 'SB' (Swimming breaststroke): breaststroke
• 'SM (Swimming Multi): multi-swimming events.

Find out more about the Para swimming events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Para table tennis

There are 11 classes in total (five sitting, six standing): TT1-5 are for wheelchair athletes, TT6-10 are for standing athletes and TT11 is for athletes with intellectual impairments. Table tennis players who have difficulty gripping the racket may use orthotics to attach the racket to the hand or use strapping to maintain their grip of the racket handle only.

Find out more about the Para table tennis events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Para taekwondo

Athletes are divided into two categories ('K' for Kyorugi, the Korean word for sparring):

• K43 includes athletes with bilateral amputation below the elbow, or equivalent loss of function in both upper limbs. 
• K44 includes athletes with unilateral arm amputation (or equivalent loss of function), or loss of toes which impact the ability to lift the heel properly.

Para athletes in the K43 and K44 categories compete together in different bodyweight categories.

Find out more about the Para taekwondo events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Para triathlon

The classification is based on the letters 'PT' for 'Para triathlon' plus the disability category:

• ‘WC’ for ‘Wheelchair’
• 'S' for 'Standing'
• 'VI' for 'Visual impairment'

Triathlon has nine classes.

• PTWC 1-2: athletes with limitations in lower and upper limbs, using a handcycle for the cycling segment and a racing chair for the running segment. PTWC1 and PTWC2 compete in combined events, with an interval start system per sport class to ensure a level playing field.
• PTS 2-5: athletes with limitations in lower and/or upper limbs who do not require a handcycle for the cycling segment or a racing chair for the running segment. Assistive devices such as prosthetic legs and/or bike modifications are allowed.
• PTVI 1-3 : athletes with vision impairment. Interval starts ensure a level playing field between partially sighted triathletes and blind triathletes competing with a guide.

Find out more about the Para triathlon events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Shooting Para sport

• SH1 : athletes able to hold their gun without difficulty and shoot from a standing or sitting position (in a wheelchair or chair). SH1 athletes may use a pistol or a rifle.  
• SH2 : athletes are unable to hold their rifle independently, so use a stand, but can aim by themselves and control the rifle when they shoot. Certain athletes may have an assistant to reload their gun.

'SH' stands for 'Shooting'.

Find out more about the shooting Para sport events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Sitting volleyball

Sitting volleyball has two classes: VS1 and VS2 (athletes with a less severe impairment). Sitting volleyball players demonstrate a physical impairment in one or several upper or lower limbs. Athletes must be able to move around easily and safely in a seated position. Only two VS2 athletes can be on a team’s roster.

Find out more about the sitting volleyball events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Wheelchair basketball

Wheelchair basketball players are classified on a points system according to the degree of their impairment(s). Points range from 1 to 4.5, with 1 representing the most severe impairment. At the Paralympic Games, the sum of points for the five players on court for each team must not exceed 14.

Find out more about the wheelchair basketball events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Wheelchair fencing

Wheelchair fencing is split into two Paralympic categories:

• Category A : fencers in this category must have a disability affecting at least one lower limb.
• Category B : fencers in this category have a disability that prevents voluntary movement of the trunk.

Find out more about the wheelchair fencing events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Wheelchair rugby

Every player is assigned a points value based on their functional ability, from 0.5 for a player with the least physical function through to 3.5 for the most physical function. The total on-court value for each team of four cannot exceed 8 points (8.5 points if a female athlete is on the court). Players with the most limited mobility (between 0.5 and 1.5 points) due to their impairment (quadriplegia or equivalent) occupy a primarily defensive position in the game.

Find out more about the wheelchair rugby events at the Paris 2024 Games.

Wheelchair tennis

Athletes are divided into two categories:

• 'Open' : athletes with a lower limb impairment(s).
• 'Quad' : athletes with both upper and lower limb impairments.

Find out more about the wheelchair tennis events at the Paris 2024 Games.

WORLDWIDE PARTNERS

Why everyone in tech is talking about 'founder mode'

• Paul Graham's essay on "founder mode" versus "manager mode" sparked conversation, memes, and merch.
• Graham's essay, inspired by Airbnb's CEO, Brian Chesky, critiques traditional startup advice.
• Graham argues that instead of delegating, founders should stay involved as their startups scale.

As the internet puts brat summer to bed, founder mode is taking center stage.

On Sunday, Paul Graham , a writer and founding partner of the startup accelerator Y Combinator , published a 1,050-word essay that took tech and business communities by storm.

He asked: Why are  startup founders  directed to run their large companies like managers, delegating to their direct reports, rather than getting involved as they did in earlier stages of their companies?

Graham argued that operating in "manager mode" over "founder mode" is anathema to companies.

"What this often turns out to mean is: hire professional fakers and let them drive the company into the ground," he wrote.

A prime example of a tech titan embracing founder mode is Jensen Huang, Nvidia's cofounder and CEO, who has 60 direct reports and still eats in the company cafeteria .

Graham credited Brian Chesky, Airbnb's cofounder and CEO , with sparking the idea and most of the arguments in the blog. At a recent Y Combinator event, Chesky argued that conventional advice on building and scaling up a startup is broken. He said, as he has before , that investors and outside managers just don't have the insights that founders do. He said that splitting a company into organizational tiers — isolating founders from anyone but their direct reports — often kills the business.

While belittling manager mode might shock management consultants, Graham's post tracks with Silicon Valley's modus operandi. Tech culture has always venerated founders and lean teams. Venture capitalists try to outdo each other in funding rounds to appear the most "founder friendly" — investors who won't meddle much. Would-be founders dream of the day they can peel away from drab Big Tech and start their own Next Big Thing, unconstrained by bureaucracy.

And it's a long weekend with little else going on online. The internet craves buzzy nomenclature and the chance to rake in the likes with a viral follow-on post.

'Gaslit' founders

Chesky's talk hit another nerve with the founders in the room and then with Graham's readers. The Airbnb exec said founders were constantly being "gaslit" — first by outside voices asking them to run the company as managers, and then by employees who don't like the manager's way.

Chesky is the only remaining Airbnb cofounder at the company, and while much of his leadership has been praised — he led a major round of pandemic-era layoffs with empathy and has tried to refocus the hospitality giant — the stock has fallen by more than 15% since its 2020 initial public offering.

There are also notable exceptions to positive founder mode: Sam Bankman-Fried and Elizabeth Holmes were both founders who operated with autonomy, then ignominy.

On the other hand, Satya Nadella and Tim Cook are both outside managers touted as turning their companies around — in both cases building on the legacies of strong founders.

Thinkfluencers' time to shine

Graham's essay brought Chesky's speech outside the YC room and into the rest of the world. Now, investors, wannabe thinkfluencers, comedians, and founders are weighing in.

Related stories

Baron Davis, a basketball star turned investor, likened being a founder to being an athlete.

The best athletes have been on that ‘founder mode’ from day one. Every season, we’re out here building our game, helping the team, our brand, our legacy, adapting and staying resilient. Startup founders are more like athletes than they think. It’s all about that grind, staying… — Baron Davis (@BaronDavis) September 3, 2024

Another investor gave one of the tastiest examples of founder mode: Costco's deal of the century , which has withstood inflation thanks to one cofounder's clear instructions to his CEO: If you raise the price of "the effing hot dog, I will kill you."

founder mode is keeping the hot dog at $1.50 no matter what — Turner Novak 🍌🧢 (@TurnerNovak) September 2, 2024

A tech-newsletter writer depicted what dating a tech bro might look like this week.

it’s called “founder mode” it’s about how to run your company as a founder and how that often goes against traditional management practices. it’s basically what i already do but paul graham created a cool name for it in his latest essay. you know who paul graham is? y combinator? pic.twitter.com/rMKo9iGk6P — sophie (@netcapgirl) September 2, 2024

Some rang warning bells about what's next for Tech Discourse now that founder mode is officially a hit.

founder mode is starting to make it to linkedin, this week will be hell — arsham (@arshamg_) September 3, 2024

Saying a prayer for everyone going to work after Labor Day weekend after the Paul Graham Founder's Mode post — Bessie 🇹🇼🇺🇸 (@bessiec) September 3, 2024

Custom domains have been purchased.

And of course, unofficial merch has already dropped.

Damn ! Some smartass quick fox 🦊 just booked https://t.co/ZPxPdB59G4 before me 😏 #Foundermode mania . Btw! If you want to place bulk order for this printed cap #HMU 📱 pic.twitter.com/Z4IXiSqW6w — Subh⚡ 🚀 (@subh10) September 2, 2024

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Why Trump’s Arlington Debacle Is So Serious

The former president violated one of America’s most sacred places.

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The section of Arlington National Cemetery that Donald Trump visited on Monday is both the liveliest and the most achingly sad part of the grand military graveyard, set aside for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Section 60, young widows can be seen using clippers and scissors to groom the grass around their husbands’ tombstones as lots of children run about.

Karen Meredith knows the saddest acre in America only too well. The California resident’s son, First Lieutenant Kenneth Ballard, was the fourth generation of her family to serve as an Army officer. He was killed in Najaf, Iraq, in 2004, and laid to rest in Section 60. She puts flowers on his gravesite every Memorial Day. “It’s not a number, not a headstone,” she told me. “He was my only child.”

The sections of Arlington holding Civil War and World War I dead have a lonely and austere beauty. Not Section 60, where the atmosphere is sanctified but not somber—too many kids, Meredith recalled from her visits to her son’s burial site. “We laugh, we pop champagne. I have met men who served under him, and they speak of him with such respect. And to think that this man”—she was referring to Trump—“came here and put his thumb up—”

She fell silent for a moment on the telephone, taking a gulp of air. “I’m trying not to cry.”

For Trump, defiling what is sacred in our civic culture borders on a pastime. Peacefully transferring power to the next president, treating political adversaries with at least rudimentary grace, honoring those soldiers wounded and disfigured in service of our country—Trump long ago walked roughshod over all these norms. Before he tried to overturn a national election, he mocked his opponents in the crudest terms and demeaned dead soldiers as “suckers.”

Read: Trump calls Americans killed in war “suckers” and “losers”

But the former president outdid himself this week, when he attended a wreath-laying ceremony honoring 13 American soldiers killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul during the final havoc-marked hours of the American withdrawal. Trump laid three wreaths and put hand over heart; that is a time-honored privilege of presidents. Trump, as is his wont, went further. He walked to a burial site in Section 60 and posed with the family of a fallen soldier, grinning broadly and giving a thumbs-up for his campaign photographer and videographer.

Few spaces in the United States join the sacred and the secular to more moving effect than Arlington National Cemetery, 624 acres set on a bluff overlooking the Potomac River and our nation’s capital. More than 400,000 veterans and their dependents have been laid to rest here, among them nearly 400 Medal of Hono r recipients . Rows of matching white tombstones stretch to the end of sight.

A cemetery employee politely attempted to stop the campaign staff from filming in Section 60. Taking campaign photos and videos at gravesites is expressly forbidden under federal law. The Trump entourage, according to a subsequent statement by the U.S. Army, which oversees the cemetery, “abruptly pushed” her aside.

Trump’s campaign soon posted a video on TikTok , overlaid with Trump’s narration: “We didn’t lose one person in 18 months. And then they”—the Biden administration—“took over, that disaster of leaving Afghanistan.”

Trump was unsurprisingly not telling the truth; 11 soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in his last year in office, and his administration had itself negotiated the withdrawal. But such fabrications are incidental sins compared with what came next. A top Trump adviser, Chris LaCivita, and campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung talked to reporters and savaged the employee who had tried to stop the entourage. Cheung referred to her as “an unnamed individual, clearly suffering a mental-health episode.” LaCivita declared her a “despicable individual” who ought to be fired.

There was, of course, another way to handle this mistake. Governor Spencer Cox of Utah had accompanied Trump to the cemetery, and his campaign emailed out photos of the governor and the former president there. When challenged, Cox did what is foreign to Trump: He apologized . “You are correct,” Cox replied to a person criticizing the event on X, adding, “It did not go through the proper channels and should not have been sent. My campaign will be sending out an apology.”

Read: Trump dishonors fallen soldiers again

This was not a judgment call, or a minor violation of obscure bureaucratic boilerplate. In the regulations governing visitors and behavior at Arlington National Cemetery, many paragraphs lay out what behavior is acceptable and what is not. These read not as suggestions but as commandments. Memorial services are intended to honor the fallen, the regulations note, with a rough eloquence: “Partisan activities are inappropriate in Arlington National Cemetery, due to its role as a shrine to all the honored dead of the Armed Forces of the United States and out of respect for the men and women buried there and for their families.”

As the clamor of revulsion swelled this week, LaCivita did not back off. On Wednesday, the Trump adviser posted a photo of Trump at Arlington Cemetery on X and added these words : “The Photo that shook the world and reminded America who the real Commander in Chief is …August 26th 2024 ..Mark the day ⁦@KamalaHarris⁩ and weak ⁦@JoeBiden.”

The Army, which is historically loath to enter politics, issued a rare statement yesterday rebuking the Trump campaign, noting that ceremony participants “had been made aware” of relevant federal laws “prohibiting political activities” and that the employee “acted with professionalism.” The Army said it “considers this matter closed” because the cemetery employee had declined to press charges.

Meanwhile, an unrepentant Trump team kept stoking the controversy. Yesterday, LaCivita posted another photo of Trump at Arlington and added this: “Reposting this hoping to trigger the hacks at @SecArmy ”—the Army secretary’s office.

It had the quality of middle-school graffiti, suggesting that Trump viewed the controversy as yet another chance to mock his critics before moving on to the next outrage. For grieving families with loved ones buried in Section 60, moving on is not so easy.

How old, I asked Meredith, was your son at the time of his death? “He was 26,” she replied. “He did not have time to live. I didn’t get to dance at his wedding. I didn’t get to play with grandkids.”

This week, all she could do was call out a crude and self-regarding 78-year-old man for failing, in that most sacred of American places, to comport himself with even the roughest facsimile of dignity.

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The Constitution Is Sacred. Is It Also Dangerous?

One of the biggest threats to America’s politics might be the country’s founding document.

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By Jennifer Szalai

• Aug. 31, 2024

The United States Constitution is in trouble. After Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, he called for the “ termination of all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution.” Outraged critics denounced him for threatening a document that is supposed to be “sacrosanct.” By announcing his desire to throw off constitutional constraints in order to satisfy his personal ambitions, Trump was making his authoritarian inclinations abundantly clear.

It’s no surprise, then, that liberals charge Trump with being a menace to the Constitution . But his presidency and the prospect of his re-election have also generated another, very different, argument: that Trump owes his political ascent to the Constitution, making him a beneficiary of a document that is essentially antidemocratic and, in this day and age, increasingly dysfunctional.

After all, Trump became president in 2016 after losing the popular vote but winning the Electoral College (Article II). He appointed three justices to the Supreme Court (Article III), two of whom were confirmed by senators representing just 44 percent of the population (Article I). Those three justices helped overturn Roe v. Wade, a reversal with which most Americans disagreed . The eminent legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, worried about opinion polls showing “a dramatic loss of faith in democracy,” writes in his new book, “No Democracy Lasts Forever”: “It is important for Americans to see that these failures stem from the Constitution itself.”

Back in 2018, Chemerinsky, the dean of Berkeley’s law school, still seemed to place considerable faith in the Constitution, pleading with fellow progressives in his book “We the People” “not to turn their back on the Constitution and the courts.” By contrast, “No Democracy Lasts Forever” is markedly pessimistic. Asserting that the Constitution, which is famously difficult to amend , has put the country “in grave danger,” Chemerinsky lays out what would need to happen for a new constitutional convention — and, in the book’s more somber moments, he entertains the possibility of secession . West Coast states might form a nation called “Pacifica.” Red states might form their own country. He hopes that any divorce, if it comes, will be peaceful.

The prospect of secession sounds extreme, but in suggesting that the Constitution could hasten the end of American democracy, Chemerinsky is far from alone. The argument that what ails the country’s politics isn’t simply the president, or Congress, or the Supreme Court, but the founding document that presides over all three, has been gaining traction, especially among liberals. Books and op-eds critiquing the Constitution have proliferated. Scholars are arguing that the Constitution has incentivized what Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt call a “Tyranny of the Minority.”

The anguish is, in some sense, a flip side of veneration. Americans have long assumed that the Constitution could save us; a growing chorus now wonders whether we need to be saved from it.

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