Author Archive: Glenn Reynolds
October 10, 2024
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Hurricanes and political violence push chance of ‘collapse’ to 57%.
STANDING UP AGAINST MISINFORMATION:
GDP growth last year was 2.5%. That's a nice number! But also almost exactly the long-term average. The idea that it's the "best economy in decades" is straight-up misinformation. https://t.co/yhkDWtBpj5
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) October 6, 2024
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: IV fluid supply crunch forcing hospitals to postpone elective surgeries.
DON’T GET COCKY (CONT’D): NY Times: Yup, Republicans Are Going to Win the Senate. Now if they can just keep the House and take the White House. . . .
October 9, 2024
OPEN THREAD: Hump Day.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA awards Rocket Lab study contract for Mars Sample Return.
MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY: Debt Doom Is Coming. Everybody Knows It. Nobody’s Doing Anything About It. Here’s How To Get Ready.
WELL, THAT’S NICE: Parkinson’s Discovery Suggests We Already Have an FDA-Approved Treatment.
SPACEX:
In addition to the thousands (>10k) of Starlink kits we are delivering in response to Hurricane Helene, the @Starlink team and @TMobile activated our Direct to Cell satellites to provide emergency alerts for all phones and carriers of those in affected areas.
The @FCC has also…
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 8, 2024
I DONATED CONVALESCENT PLASMA REGULARLY FOR SIX MONTHS AFTER I HAD COVID IN LATE 2020: Missed COVID Lifesaver: Johns Hopkins Reveals How Plasma Therapy Could Have Saved Thousands. “A new study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimates that widespread use of convalescent plasma, especially among outpatients at high risk for severe disease and hospitalized patients in the early stages of their admission, could have saved thousands of lives in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Plus: “If 15% of outpatients had received convalescent plasma, the authors estimate that between 85,268 and 227,377 hospitalizations would have been avoided. If 75% of outpatients received convalescent plasma, between 426,331 and 1,136,880 hospitalizations would have been avoided.”
People in my area used it, but there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm among the medical community as a whole. That lack of enthusiasm appears to have been mistaken.
ANOTHER CONSPIRACY THEORY PROVEN TRUE.
I DROVE A DIESEL AUDI A8 ABOUT THAT FAR ON ONE TANK: Our 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 ZR2 Has 826 Miles of Range … No, Really. Is this the most fuel efficient off-road diesel half-ton ever?
ADULT SUPERVISION NEEDED: House Oversight Committee Subpoenas White House and ATF Over Alleged Gun Control Collusion.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: Crewed mission to Mars might unlock some of the planet’s geologic mysteries.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA seeks logistics designs for Artemis moon missions.
WELL, TAKE THEM DOWN: Review links ‘black box’ warnings on antidepressants with increase in youth suicides.
JUST SAY NO TO HATE:
BREAKING:
Italy deports the pro-Hamas imam Zulfiqar Khan for reasons of national security
The Bologna-based hate preacher has been living in Italy since 1995
In November Khan said "In Italy, thanks to Allah, we are safe, we have the right to speak." Meloni wasn't having it… pic.twitter.com/bo7djRRRO7
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 9, 2024
POSSIBLY THE DUMBEST MEME I’VE EVER SEEN ON FACEBOOK, WHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING: “In a world full of Elon Musks, be Dolly Parton.”
First, the world is not full of Elon Musks. There is exactly one. China has spent the last decade trying to find an Elon among its gigantic population and has utterly failed. He is, at present, a unique talent.
Second, Dolly is an entertainer. Being appealing to people — especially middle class white women, where this meme flourishes — is her entire job. She’s very good at it.
Elon builds things that no one has done before, like revolutionary rockets and satellites that can deliver cellphone service to disaster areas that have been entirely cut off. That’s his job, and he’s at least as good at it as Dolly is at hers. Appealing to middle class women isn’t his job. Dolly can’t build rockets, and I suspect Elon can’t sing very well. Each has their own competence.
Of course, this dumb meme has its roots in Democrats’ dislike of (hatred for?) Musk ever since he bought Twitter and wrecked their global censorship efforts, and in middle class women’s general vague contempt for tech nerds. Which makes it both dumb and hateful, something that Dolly might not approve.
YES. Eric Cowperthwaite: Trust in Voting Is Absolutely Necessary. “The controls over voting today are no different than in 1960’s Chicago. In fact, with early voting and mail-in voting and mail-in voter registration, arguably it is easier to commit fraud now than in 1960. . . . But here’s what we do know. Americans, ALL Americans, need to be able to trust their elections. And that means we need some changes. We can’t have elections where one party doesn’t trust the other to not cheat. So, put the controls in place to prevent or reduce cheating and give us back our trust. Voter ID, vote on the day of the election, vote in person, register in person with proof of citizenship. No electronic voting machines. Paper trail records of casting a vote. These are not hardships, they are part of the privilege of participating in a representative democracy. It won’t happen for 2024. But it can happen for 2028. Let’s demand it be so.”
HE RAISED FUNDS FOR DEMOCRATS AND NOW REGRETS IT: “Far from progressive, these Soros-backed DAs did more to hurt progressives than anything the Right has managed; to everyday Americans, the term ‘progressive’ now conjures up images of fentanyl overdoses, crime, defecation in the streets, and riots.”
And rightly so. Comment: “Interesting piece and sound analysis. Progressives are hurting the people they claim to care about. Democrats know it, but are doing the bidding of billionaires.”
A SMALL MEASURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY: Young Kansas City Chiefs Fan’s (and Family’s) Defamation Lawsuit Against Deadspin Based on Blackface Allegations Can Go Forward.
Make them pay.