HARVARD CRIMSON: For Harvard’s Sake, It’s Time to Let Claudine Gay Go.

UPDATE (From Ed): Harvard President Claudine Gay Hit With Six New Charges Of Plagiarism.

(Bumped, by Glenn).

I’M SO OLD I REMEMBER WHEN GETTING RID OF TRUMP WAS SUPPOSED TO RESTORE DECORUM IN WASHINGTON: PROBE THIS: Dem Staffer Filmed Backdoor Love Romp in Same Building Where Joe Biden Said the N-Word.

HMM: Why Cutting IRS Funding Is Not Conservative. “However, defunding and weakening the IRS is not conservative. To the contrary, it will ultimately drive up deficits and raise middle-class taxes.”

That’s first-order thinking. Second order thinking notes that the IRS has been politicized and lawbreaking for over a decade, and that agencies care about their budgets.

Of course, third-order thinking would cut the budgets in ways that specifically cause pain to agency administrators.

THOUGHTS ON BRITAIN’S CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC STAGNATION:

There have been many pieces written on UK’s economic stagnation and people have identified a bunch of material reasons for it: from an ageing population, to limited housing supply. But if you believe at all in the power of the zeitgeist, I’m here to offer another (complementary) diagnosis for what is happening now. The spirit of stagnation is in the air.

When I first arrived in Oxford, I was surprised by how many of my (well off) colleagues’ parents were retired in their 50s. There is much less of the hunger for success seen in young Americans: it seems the dream here is in many ways to retreat to a cozy life in your middle age, living off some property investments.

The stiff upper lip is a British characteristic that served the nation well in WWII. But in peacetime the stiff upper lip is more like a bridle or halter. In fact, the genius of the British ruling class in the postwar era was to take various instruments of social control — the NHS, the BBC, uncomplaining suffering, etc. — and turn them into emblems of national pride.

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: A fraying coalition: Black, Hispanic, young voters abandon Biden as election year begins.

BRYAN CAPLAN: Resolve to be a Nonconformist. “Stop worrying about what’s popular. Stop worrying about what strangers think. Live your life the way you think best.”

Let me add that — as we saw during the Covid madness — nonconformists help protect freedom by raising the cost of enforcing conformity. And they provide that particular benefit, even when they’re wrong about the particular issue. Though things being as they are, they’re often right.

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the New Year.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Chinese satellite internet mission rounds off record year for global launches.

AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABLOOOP: Decades Ago a Huge Noise Roared in The Ocean. For Years It Was a Mystery.

IS THIS REALLY A NEW CHALLENGE, OR EVIDENCE THAT COVID WASN’T ONE? The Rise of “Long Flu” – A New Health Challenge Similar to Long COVID. Long-term sequelae of flu aren’t new. I lost much of my sense of smell for years after having flu at age 12.

Plus, note this about the overhyped lethality of Covid: “During the overall 18-month study period, patients who had COVID-19 faced a 50% higher risk of death than those with seasonal influenza.” So the “it’s a bad flu” argument appears to have carried the day.

RISE OF THE MACHINES: “We are ~3 years away from the ChatGPT moment for physical AI agents.”

NOTHING WILL. The ‘wealth transfer’ from boomers won’t save Gen X and millennials.

JUSTICE: “If you, like me, think that the January 6th defendants have often been overcharged for merely entering the Capitol building, then you should be watching this case. The Supreme Court has just granted cert to an appeal by Joseph Fischer, who was charged with obstructing an official proceeding of Congress and thus faces a severe sentence. The charges are based on a law passed in the early aughts (2002). Those charges are based solely on his trespass and not on any violence or destruction.”

SURE, THAT’LL WORK: Chicago Mayor Settles On a Bold New Crime-Reduction Strategy: Issuing Lots of Reparations Checks.

WELL, GOOD: Single ‘smart’ insulin injection regulates glucose levels in mice and minipigs up to one week.

OUT NEXT WEEK FROM KURT SCHLICHTER: The Attack. An October 7 style attack in the United States? It could happen. (Bumped).

THE TRUTH AND THE GASLIGHTING:

The truth:

The suffering public aren't imagining things. — Larry Summershttps://t.co/drgvWnXXBR

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) December 30, 2023

The gaslighting:

How much more good luck can the world survive?https://t.co/FEWJIEDCMM

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) December 31, 2023

TYLER COWEN ON HARVARD:

Harvard, upon closer examination, seems to have a quite mediocre governing board. I believe there are a few exceptions on the list of names, but nonetheless I see a lot of evidence for a critical mass of poor decision-makers, many of them also lacking in courage. Furthermore, they are bad at the things they are supposed to be good at.

Just as Harvard has many of the best faculty, and many of the best students, I had expected the school would have a super-distinguished and super-competent board, even if it was a board I might have disagreed with on many key issues. I had never looked at the Harvard board before. So I was naive. But in fact the board of “the Corporation” is a big, big disappointment (WSJ), relative to the rest of the institution. Harvard seems to do best when the relevant decisions are not being made by the governing board. More fundamentally, viewed as a political economy problem, I don’t see which are the institutions or incentives in place to make the board really, really good, as it ought to be. Nope.

Most of our institutions seem to be like this nowadays.

ONWARD AND UPWARD: SpaceX ends 2024 with new round of Starlink satellites.

KEEP UP THE SCARE: DEI programs in the tech industry are in broad retreat. “CNBC notes not only cuts, but also scaling back of hiring: ‘By mid-2023, DEI-related job postings had declined 44% from the same time a year prior…. In November 2023, the last full month for which data was available, it dropped 23% year over year.'”

LIFE GOALS:

“Enemy of global communism”

Like dude, write that on my tombstone https://t.co/G9eTQLiCJG

— Hannah Cox (@HannahDCox) December 31, 2023

HOW ABOUT JUST END FEDERAL FUNDING, PERIOD? Crenshaw proposes bill to end funding for schools with mandatory DEI statements.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Bates College faculty fearful of challenging students due to far-left DEI office.

ROUNDUP: Articles about military drones.

THERE’S A TSUNAMI WARNING: Evacuation underway after massive earthquake strikes western Japan.