Author Archive: Glenn Reynolds

YES: The Hapless Von der Leyen Shows the Wisdom of Brexit.

Whenever I’m asked if I regret backing Brexit, I like to point to what’s going on in the institution we left.

Just look at how the useless Ursula von der Leyen has been foisted on a reluctant European public – again. Late last night, at a summit of European Union leaders, it was confirmed that she will continue as president of the European Commission. Meanwhile, former Portuguese prime minister António Costa will lead the European Council and Estonia’s Kaja Kallas will step down as her nation’s PM to become the EU’s foreign-policy chief.

The confirmation of these appointments is a stark reminder of the EU’s contempt for democracy. Its leaders, its policies and its laws are decided not by public consent, but by backroom talks and horsetrading, through processes that are deliberately labyrinthine and opaque, and impossible for the lay citizen to get his or her head around.

Well, yes.

DOESN’T EVERYTHING? The NBA has an audience problem: The league’s historic TV deal masks poor fundamentals.

Roughly 50% of households have dropped their cable provider and opted for streaming services (Netflix and Amazon Prime Video) or virtual pay-TV providers (Sling TV). Now, for the tens of millions of streaming households, it takes more of an effort to seek out professional basketball through an existing streaming service. Obsessive fans use League Pass to ensure that they can catch every game, and the highly-engaged fan will regularly tune in for basketball on the national networks or watch their local team on a Regional Sports Network.1

But the casual fan, who in the era of cable would’ve been more likely to flip on a nationally televised basketball game, can now choose from more content than ever, which means the NBA competes with everything from endless streaming options to short-form video content. It’s silly to think that Anthony Edwards, a player who’s been hyped as the next Michael Jordan, is competing with this giant Flemish Rabbit for viewership. But that’s sort of what’s happening.

We’re all competing with giant Flemish rabbits these days.

OPEN THREAD: Be here now.

HMM: The World’s Most Common Pain Relief Drug May Induce Risky Behavior.

Acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol and sold widely under the brand names Tylenol and Panadol, may also increase risk-taking, according to a study from 2020 that measured changes in people’s behavior when under the influence of the common over-the-counter medication.

“Acetaminophen seems to make people feel less negative emotion when they consider risky activities – they just don’t feel as scared,” explained neuroscientist Baldwin Way from The Ohio State University when the findings were published.

“With nearly 25 percent of the population in the US taking acetaminophen each week, reduced risk perceptions and increased risk-taking could have important effects on society.”

Looking around, I’m not seeing historically high levels of risk tolerance out there.

WHEN SATIRE BECOMES REAL. SHOT:

CHASER:

THE “CABAL” AT WORK: The Gaslighting of the American Public. “What the evening exposed was not Biden’s infirmity, though it did that too, but the years-long effort on the part of various White House communications aides, Democratic lawmakers, and mainstream media organs to gaslight the American public. It is they who were left exposed last night, and the panic that has fallen over the Washington establishment is over their own public humiliation.”