Author Archive: Glenn Reynolds

HMM: Study finds widespread use of unregulated molecular urine tests in older adults. “Although urine culture is the traditional test for UTI, multiplex panels produce faster results, are more analytically sensitive, and can simultaneously detect multiple pathogens and some antibiotic-resistance genes. While the Food and Drug Administration has approved multiplex molecular syndromic panels for bloodstream, respiratory, and other types of infections, it has not approved any such test for UTI diagnosis. However, the panels exist as laboratory-developed tests, and they can be used in labs certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988.”

#JOURNALISM:

PUSHBACK WORKS: After uproar, Georgetown law delays pregnant student’s exam so she can give birth.“Initially, the law school refused to grant Brittany Lovely’s request, telling her ‘Motherhood is not for the Faint of Heart,’ according to a petition created by her classmates.”

This is the same university that was setting up a “self-care suite” with legos, crayons, and milk and cookies for students traumatized by Trump’s win. Faint of heart indeed.

Related:

SCIENCE MARCHES ON: Loving the Brine Shrimp: Exploring Queer Feminist Blue Posthumanities to Reimagine the ‘America’s Dead Sea.’ “The article aims to transform narratives surrounding Utah’s Great Salt Lake, often referred to as “America’s Dead Sea,” by reimagining how brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) are perceived in science, culture, and art. It introduces the concept of hydrosexuality to bridge these realms, thereby enriching feminist blue posthumanities and feminist biology through art-based practices and queer advocacy. By navigating the environmental narrative of the GSL, the hydrosexual perspective challenges settler science by exploring the connections between the reproductive system of brine shrimp and the economy, ecology and culture.”

WELL, GUN LAWS ARE ALL MALUM PROHIBITUM: In Pardoning Hunter, Joe Biden Declares Lying on a Form 4473 a Minor Infraction.

True. But just a reminder: Biden gave Hunter a blanket pardon for any crimes he may have committed over a ten year period, charged or uncharged, known or unknown.

That includes tax evasion.

And by claiming that Hunter was singled out because he was Biden’s son, the pardon announcement also comes right out and says that Justice Department prosecutions are politicized and unfair. Not that we didn’t know that, but still.

SO DON’T VOTE FOR ANY DEMOCRAT? GOT IT.

I’m enjoying this maybe a little too much, but after the past four years, I don’t care.

Reminder:

VINAY PRASAD: Sabotaging RFK Jr’s confirmation will increase vaccine hesitancy: Scott Gottlieb, as usual, only advocates for himself. “At this point, the best way to curb vaccine hesitancy is to approve RFK Jr, and redirect his energies to generating more data. More data will answer the key questions that remain unanswered: which childhood immunization program is optimal. The worse thing we can do is tank his nomination. Then vaccine hesitancy will explode.”

If you want to be trusted, be trustworthy and transparent. Shutting down critics — who mostly turned out to be right — is how they got into this mess.

ICYMI: IF THE GOP WANTS TO GO AFTER BIDEN’S PARDON OF HIS SON, HERE’S THE WINNING MESSAGE:

A friend writes: “Good message. But of course you pardon your kid.”

Yes, but you should expect to pay a political price. Of course, for Biden this not only gets his kid off, but further stinks up the joint for the Democrats on his way out. What does he care — he’s on his way out, and he was pushed. Stinking up the joint is a plus. And saying it was okay to pardon Hunter because it was a political prosecution instigated by his enemies plays right into Trump’s hands in pardoning the J6 defendants — and, for that matter, himself.

UPDATE: Another friend writes: “That is kinda the big question. Does he pardon himself. You know, for the massive corruption. It would be an old man brain fart if he did. It’s already been established he’s incompetent to stand trial. That just leaves pardoning Hunter. You know, for the massive corruption, tax fraud etc. Last little, or big, slurp at the power trough for the Biden spawn. Either way, he’d be admitting to something he and Hunter will never be charged with. Trump has already made it clear he doesn’t intend to do to them what they did to him.”

WELL, THE NARROW MAJORITY DOESN’T COME SO MUCH FROM THE VOTING AS FROM THE COUNTING: The GOP Barely Won the House.

Republicans boasting about their great election mandate may want to hold the euphoria. As the final results trickle in from the late state of California, the GOP looks set to have the narrowest House majority in more than a century.

In the latest race to be called, Republican Rep. Michelle Steel lost her Orange County seat, while Rep. John Duarte now trails his Democratic challenger in his Fresno-area district. If Mr. Duarte loses, Republicans would hold nine of 52 House seats in the Golden State. The Democratic gerrymander in California, plus those in New York (19-7 Democratic to GOP seats), Illinois (14-3) and Massachusetts (9-0), mean four states will deliver 85 of the Democratic total of 215 seats. The GOP could have as few as 220. One message is that while voters rejected the Biden-Harris Administration, their support for Republicans is provisional.

A bigger message is that when they’re still counting nearly a month after the election, they’re cheating. We need a federal election law that stops counting and triggers a federal audit whenever votes aren’t fully counted within 24 hours. (Or less). It’s odd that they don’t even mention this. Perhaps they’re still cowed by the Dominion lawsuit.

They’re right about this though: “Another message is that the GOP has about a year to get anything done. The party is likely to lose the House in 2026, if midterm history is any guide, and the partisan Senate map is challenging. The GOP had better pass legislation it wants in 2025 before Member attention turns to political survival in 2026. This will require House Republicans in particular to stick together as they haven’t in years.”

The Trump Administration needs to work hard on that too. They got snookered by Paul Ryan last time; I doubt they’ll be so gullible again.

THEY NEED TO BE FORCEFULLY REMINDED OF THIS:

HEY, THEY PULLED THIS OFF IN 2016, YOU CAN’T BLAME THEM FOR TRYING AGAIN:

WHEN INSTITUTIONS ARE CORRUPTED:

MERRICK GARLAND RESIGN IN PROTEST? THAT WOULD REQUIRE STANDARDS ON HIS PART. Thread:

Related: Joe Biden Pardoning Hunter Biden: Will It End up with Hunter Testifying against Joe? Well, Hunter can’t plead the Fifth now.

OPEN THREAD: Ring out the holiday weekend. Get back on your diet.

IF THE GOP WANTS TO GO AFTER BIDEN’S PARDON OF HIS SON, HERE’S THE WINNING MESSAGE:

OUCH:

UPDATE:

DATING ADVICE FOR WOMEN: RELAX YOUR MINIMUM HEIGHT. I Was Feeling Hopeless About Love. Then I Went on a Singles Retreat. As a 6’3″ guy I benefited from women’s emphasis on height, but I think the dating apps have reified it and turned it from what used to be a preference into a hard cut-off. Literally, in the case of pulldown menus, etc., that let you set a minimum height. It’s almost fetishized now, with women bragging to other women that they won’t go out with a man under six feet, or 6’3″. This doesn’t benefit anyone.