[keyana217]

Author here. Good catch... you're right. The wool is still woven in Pendleton and Washougal, but finished product sourcing is a mix and some blankets are now assembled offshore. Will update the Ledger entry and the essay today.

[palmotea]

Please address the criticisms that this is AI written slop here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47850659.

Why are you writing this and what's your goal? Are you actually checking every fact in the articles?

I think you'd do well to cite a lot more of your sources, especially given the AI concerns. Cite legal filings, public records, reddit comments, whatever. Verifiability would help.

[keyana217]

I appreciate the pushback - happy to address.

On the AI question: I use LLMs throughout the process. Research assistance (pulling threads together, checking claims against sources, summarizing industry reports), and editing passes. The reporting, arguments, and editorial judgment are mine. Every factual claim gets verified before it goes out. That's the standard I hold it to, and when I miss (like the DC Shoes paragraph refulgentis flagged), I fix it.

Speaking of which, I have updated that section with three sources: https://www.worseonpurpose.com/p/your-favorite-brands-got-wo...

On sourcing more broadly: you're right that the earlier essays need more inline citations. My first essay (backpack) especially is thin. I will go through to retrofit with sources asap.

Goal is what I said upthread: to create a public record of who owns what, and what ownership has done to the product. I hate that it has become impossible to track how quality has been eroded across industries. I hope Worse on Purpose can be an antidote to that trend.

Palantir is my day job. It is completely unrelated to this work.