GOOD NEWS: Popular weight loss drugs may have surprising side effect: stalling cancer. Early results on the Retatrutide phase 3 tests show promise against cancer and heart disease, too.
I tried microdosing Ozempic for these benefits, but it raised my resting heart rate by 10 bpm and though that’s a known side effect that’s supposed to be safe, I quit. Supposedly that doesn’t happen with tirzepatide, but I haven’t tried it.
THE PRESS KNOWS WHAT SIDE IT’S ON:
It's an absurd contention that world power/influence can be gotten via asymmetric tactics…if true then every country would resort to extortion, piracy and terrorism
The only real power Iran has achieved has been via TDS-afflicted media which keeps repeating this propaganda https://t.co/RlbAdXQGEz pic.twitter.com/8wV9BF5Eor
— Gummi (@gummibear737) May 22, 2026
TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D):
Maris Nichols, the Georgia teacher arrested for allegedly R*PING a student in a classroom closet, has been arrested AGAIN on additional charges after being accused of abusing 5 MORE children.
Nichols allegedly r*ped multiple other children, including at a golf course and in a… pic.twitter.com/a7AgIBh8b6
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 22, 2026
This should just be a new section of the NY Post. Like you open it up and have News, Sports, Entertainment, Teachers Having Sex With Students, Editorials etc. https://t.co/8wWUJEuMql
— FischerKing (@FischerKing64) May 22, 2026
OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.
MY LATEST SUBSTACK: And Away We Go! Starship Puts Us On The Path To A Kardashev II Civilization.
Plus, thoughts about Jerry Pournelle.
As always, if you like these essays, please take out a paid subscription. I really appreciate it.
OBESITY WILL BE A CHOICE: New Weight-Loss Pill Could Help Solve a Major Problem With GLP-1 Drugs.
A SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH AND SEPARATION:
SpaceX team chanting: "USA! USA! USA! USA!"
🇺🇸🚀 pic.twitter.com/3iQctERDWB
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 22, 2026
SpaceX’s first Starship V3 rocket has just successfully lifted off!
This is the first test flight of Starship version 3, which features thousands of upgrades from V2. With this launch, SpaceX is debuting a new launch pad, booster, ship, engines and much more. pic.twitter.com/mnxXAVBKdo
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 22, 2026
UPDATE:
SpaceX's Starship rocket just successfully performed a flip maneuver and precisely splashed down on target in the Indian Ocean next to a buoy with @Starlink on it.
The SpaceX team ends the stream with a "USA! USA! USA!" chant 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/rKwFHda4Jc
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 22, 2026
Not sure a crew at Boeing would chant “USA!” Or be allowed to. If Boeing could do something like this.
UPDATE: From the comments: “Damn, how I wish Jerry Pournelle could be watching this.”
JUST LIKE ACID-LOWERING DRUGS PUT ULCER SURGEONS OUT OF BUSINESS: As GLP-1 drugs surge in popularity, bariatric surgery rates plunge across the US.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: 7 ways toilets have killed people.
FUTURE TECH: The Next War Will Be Won — or Lost — in Orbit.
HEY, IT’S NOT LIKE HE DID A DONUT ON A RAINBOW CROSSWALK:
"In America, if you're stupid enough, you're allowed to shoot people in the head" pic.twitter.com/VxM9Rn8Obt
— skepticalifornia (@skepticaliblog) May 21, 2026
SCIENCE:
As summer comes into view, always remember that more Europeans regularly die in heat waves than Americans die in guns violence. pic.twitter.com/xwBpUaZm5E
— Werner Zagrebbi🇦🇿 (@zagrebbi) May 21, 2026
MASSIVE RESISTANCE: U. Florida’s presidential finalist boasted about injecting DEI into classes.
THAT WAS OBVIOUS FROM THE BEGINNING: Cornell trustees clear president after activist confrontation.
JOHN BROWN WAS NO HERO: Hakeem Jeffries’ brother invokes John Brown’s violence while discussing white supremacy ‘in the White House.’ But he was more of one than Hakeem Jeffries, or his brother.
DON SURBER: Thune Joins the Resistance.
COLOR ME UNSURPRISED: Phone ban in classrooms has caused ‘jaw dropping’ change in students’ attention.
JUSTICE: Lawsuit Against Virginia Tech Alleging Anti-Male Bias in Title IX Proceedings Can Go Forward in Part. “Johnny has alleged abundant facts that, if true, raise grave concerns about the way VT, through these administrators, conducted the investigations of Pauline’s and Jane’s sexual-assault claims, as well as the ultimate outcomes of those inquiries. Simply put, Johnny has alleged facts that, if true, raise a plausible inference the VT discriminated against him in these investigations because he is male and, in so doing, violated Title IX.”
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