OPEN THREAD: Monday, Monday.

PRETTY SURE IT WILL BE SPACEX, BUT ROCKET LAB IS UNDERAPPRECIATED: SpaceX vs. Rocket Lab: Which one will dominate the next decade?

I HAVE SYNESTHESIA. I FOUND IT VERY USEFUL AS A SOUND ENGINEER/MIXER: Up to 4% of People Can Hear Colors or Taste Words. Here’s Why. I think it helps by harnessing neurological processing power normally used for other senses.

LIBEL: FBI Director Kash Patel Sues Atlantic Over Friday’s Article. Eugene Volokh has highlights from the complaint.

PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS ABOUT THE THYMUS SINCE I WAS A KID: Scientists Say This Overlooked Organ Could Hold the Key to Longer Life.

MAY HAVE:

New Release: FBI Agent Deeply Involved In Get-Trump Lawfare May Have Crossed Criminal Line https://t.co/dXuAxn7bTq

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) April 20, 2026

SHOCKING NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Teen cannabis use rose after California legalization, reversing years of decline.

IT’S PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA: What’s Going on at Ford? A Shakeup That Could Change Everything.

THEY’RE EVIL: Google Is Quietly Censoring Pro-Gun Websites — And It’s Working.

THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY I WAS PROMISED: I’ve fired one of America’s most powerful lasers—here’s what a shot day looks like. Okay, this part isn’t quite what I expected: “On a typical shot day, the target might be a piece of metal foil thinner than a human hair, a jet of gas or a tiny plastic pellet.”

I DUNNO, IT’S HARD TO TRUST ANYTHING THAT COMES OUT OF CHINA: China Is Starting to Pull Ahead of US in AI Race.

HMM: Does Closing Your Eyes Help You Hear? A Surprising Study Has The Answer..

MY GRANDMOTHER USED TO TIE A THREAD AROUND THEM: Why You Should Never Try to Remove a Skin Tag at Home.

FROM JONATHAN LEAF, a review of Roger Simon’s excellent new Middle East novel, EMET. I read the book and blurbed it; you can see my blurb at the link.

AN IDEA SO CRAZY IT JUST MIGHT WORK:

Or we could just…not run away with our tail between our legs?

We're not taking any casualties. Our capabilities are overwhelming, Iran's are degraded. We are a net oil exporter and can live with a closed Strait; Iran cannot.

So we could just…not quit? pic.twitter.com/JI0C5apZtn

— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) April 29, 2026

“TRUST THE EXPERTS,” THEY SAID:

Philip Tetlock's results in the early 2000s were the most important in the history of political science: on average, subject-matter experts didn't beat random guessing—and did worse than simple heuristics.
If this isn't part of your worldview, you're ngmi pic.twitter.com/KGCA7PVriO

— Werner Zagrebbi🇦🇿 (@zagrebbi) April 16, 2026

JAMES LILEKS: Your TV is watching you watch TV.

CDR SALAMANDER: It Looks Like Commerce Raiding Is Back on the Menu!

K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE:

Teachers post lower SAT/IQ scores than any other white collar profession except social workers. https://t.co/VTP56aWnhu

— Wilfred Reilly (@wil_da_beast630) April 19, 2026

FREEDOM: Kansas Legislature overrides governor’s veto of campus free speech bill honoring Charlie Kirk.

DON SURBER: Even Electricity is Leaving Blue States.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE:

The smallest number of humanities degrees awarded since 1991 https://t.co/gw3EZN7SRI

— Marc Porter Magee 🎓 (@marcportermagee) April 18, 2026

College students are now “speed-running” through higher ed:

“It takes most college students at least four years to earn a bachelor’s degree. Christie Williams finished in three months.” pic.twitter.com/snKYzr0b3s

— Marc Porter Magee 🎓 (@marcportermagee) April 19, 2026

THE RISE OF THE “FIFTH BRANCH:” “a self-perpetuating elite network of bureaucracy, permanent political class, academia, and cultural institutions that operates with increasing independence from the citizenry it was meant to serve.”

#JOURNALISM: What does an arch mean? If Trump, fascism. If Mamdani, warmth and friendliness.

They love the commies. Love love love.

COLD CIVIL WAR:

This is insane. One can make a very reasonable argument that some prominent people hoped for a justice to be assassinated in order to change the Dobbs ruling. That’s the dark truth. https://t.co/fTDu4UHRbu

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 19, 2026