SCOTT JOHNSON: Who Will Guard Newsguard? “The Washington Post employs a large staff of political reporters, columnists, and editors. Coverage of the presidency is central to its mission. If I understand correctly, we are to believe that no one at the Post staff itself noticed Biden’s senility before these Biden donors in 2023. NewsGuard didn’t see it our way. The Washington Post didn’t see it our way. As Bond notes in the JTN story linked above, however, the Washington Post scores a perfect rating of 100 percent by NewsGuard. Someone needs to guard us against NewsGuard.”

CDR SALAMANDER: China to the world: what are you going to do about it? Classic imperialism. “Weakness invites aggression. Appeasement accelerates it. There is absolute clarity what the People’s Republic of China is doing. There is also absolute clarity that no one on the international stage has the will or the ability to do anything about it.”

DON SURBER: And the horse Walmart rode in on: Sam Walton championed American factories. His heirs cheer Red China’s. “Big business tells us that free trade creates jobs and tariffs hurt Americans. Corporate America never explains why all our factories are closed and the Midwest is dying. If tariffs are as inflationary as Fortune and Walmart claim, then why was the annual inflation rate only 1.9% under President Trump even after he imposed tariffs on Red China?”

YOU’VE BEEN A GREAT YEAR, 2024, BUT PLEASE JUST GIVE US THIS ONE MORE THING: Will Elon Musk Buy MSNBC?. “And, of course, if Rogan wants he can have a show called ‘Morning Joe!'”

THE MONEY PRODUCES RESULTS, JUST NOT FOR STUDENTS:

The US is one of the top per-pupil spenders in the world. Tell me John, how much more money till you admit it’s not the money? https://t.co/RGctnRhy0d pic.twitter.com/GLTUeTj7qW

— Inez Stepman ⚪️🔴⚪️ (@InezFeltscher) November 24, 2024

THE BIG NEWS IS THAT THE DOJ IS DOING ANYTHING: DoJ Indicts Two Foreign Nationals for Swatting Prof Turley, Members of Congress, and Others.

ALMOST.

It’s almost as if the “diversity is our strength” narrative is complete and total bullsh*t

— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) November 24, 2024

PIERRE TRUDEAU’S BIGOTED POLICE STATE:

CANADA HAS FALLEN

Watch and share how my boss Ezra Levant was arrested in Toronto today for being Jewish while practising journalism

Help him fight back at https://t.co/y0N5bzmSdJ

pic.twitter.com/bFeHQwPLVm

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) November 24, 2024

PAY BOOM: BigLaw Associate Compensation Soars To $251k For 1st Years, $575k For 8th Years.

OPEN THREAD: Almost three weeks since the election. How are you guys feeling about things?

THE NEW SPACE RACE: FAA updates environmental review for increased Starship launches. “The Federal Aviation Administration released Nov. 20 an updated version of a draft environmental assessment for an increase in the number of annual launches and landings of Starship/Super Heavy from its Starbase test site at Boca Chica, Texas. The assessment examined the impacts of up to 25 launches a year, along with 25 landings each of the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stages.”

FASTER, PLEASE: Stem Cells Grown in Space Turn Out to Have a Surprise Advantage. “Stem cells are special in the way they can keep on replicating, and turn themselves into many other types of cell. Now scientists have discovered how their superpowers get a remarkable boost when they’re grown in space. The microgravity environment increases some of the regenerative capacities of stem cells even further, researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Florida have found, based on experiments carried out on the International Space Station (ISS).”

FASTER, PLEASE: Scientists Discover Molecule That Heals Intestines and Combats Cancer Growth.

GOOD ADVICE:

2/2 by the top tier for "holistic" reasons. Your 2025 entering class will be sensationally talented. Within a few years, you will be flooded with top applicants, a high proportion of which have parents who can pay full tuition. Your prestige will have soared.

— Charles Murray (@charlesmurray) November 23, 2024

HAHA: ‘Hawk Tuah Girl’ Gives Jeff Bezos Nickname Over Elon Musk, Trump Comment.

SELF-DEFENSE: Making your defensive pistol of choice work for you is a process.

HEALTH: Food recalls galore: Does America have a worsening food safety problem?

CONTAMINATION HAPPENS. Ryugu asteroid sample rapidly colonized by terrestrial life despite strict contamination control.

Rods and filaments of organic matter, interpreted as filamentous microorganisms, were observed on the sample’s surface. Variations in size and morphology of these structures resembled known terrestrial microbes. Observations showed that the abundance of these filaments changed over time, suggesting the growth and decline of a prokaryote population with a generation time of 5.2 days.

Population statistics indicate that the microorganisms originated from terrestrial contamination during the sample preparation stage rather than being indigenous to the asteroid.

Results of the study determined that terrestrial biota had rapidly colonized the extraterrestrial material, even under strict contamination control. Researchers recommend enhanced contamination control procedures for future sample-return missions to prevent microbial colonization and ensure the integrity of extraterrestrial samples.

Germs are tricky.

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY UNDER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION DIPLOMACY: Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine portends new era of warfare: This is the first time an IRBM, once restricted by a Cold War arms treaty, has been used in combat.

MICROBIOME NEWS: Coffee drinking habits may greatly impact makeup of gut biome, research suggests.

THIS COULD BE BIG: Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Nondelegation Case. “This case arises out of challenges to the constitutionality of the FCC’s Universal Service Fee, and may produce a major administrative law decision–but the Court also gave itself an out. . . . Note that this case both presents traditional nondelegation questions–whether there are limits on Congress’ power to delegate authority to a federal agency–but also what is referred to as the ‘private nondelegation doctrine.’ This latter doctrine concerns whether there are distinct limits on the ability of Congress to delegate (or authorize the delegation of) power to private entities. Concluding there are limits to the delegation of power to private entities (or limits on the ability of agencies to subdelegate such power) does not require concluding that the nondelegation doctrine itself has much force. In other words, the Court could conclude that the method of determining or imposing the Universal Service Fee is unconstitutional without overturning or tightening the ‘intelligible principle’ standard reaffirmed in Whitman v. American Trucking Associations.”

WELL: CBS News poll finds Trump starts on positive note as most approve of transition handling.

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW. The Trillionaires of Mars.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: ‘Queer Marxism’ course coming to Cornell University next semester.

MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY: Is AI Coming for Your Kids? Yes, yes it is. The Insta-Daughter comments: “I’m anti-AI chatbot after seeing what Slack has done to productivity.”

Plus: “Our friends with kids mostly have a zero screen policy, except on flights.” There’s more and more of that.