OPEN THREAD: Be here now.
Author Archive: Glenn Reynolds
January 16, 2026
SPACE: Analysis-Musk’s Starlink faces high-profile security test in Iran crackdown.
I think Elon should install rods-from-god with home-on-jam capability….
LOL, AMY KLOBUCHAR:
If law-abiding Minnesotans were actually being thrown to the ground, detained, pepper-sprayed, and threatened, I would agree with you.
But these are not law-abiding Minnesotans. Not a single one.
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) January 16, 2026
ASSORTED NEGOTIATIONS APPEAR TO BE AFOOT:
There are two possible reasons why an unidentified operation against Iran slated for approximately Jan 14, 2026 was canceled or postponed:
1. The resources available were not sufficient to achieve the tactical objectives; and or
2. New strategic opportunities emerged that…— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) January 17, 2026
FOLLOW THE SCIENCE: We Were Wrong About Restrictive Diets, Decades of Research Says.
IF YOU’RE AGAINST VOTER ID, IT MEANS YOU’RE INVESTED IN VOTER FRAUD:
This is needed to save democracy in America https://t.co/jSoISFIQgq
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2026
DOJ’S OFFICE OF LEGAL COUNSEL FINDS THAT BAN ON MAILING LEGAL FIREARMS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, DOJ will no longer enforce it. USPS told to modify its regulations.
This is progress for civil rights, but who would trust their gun to the US Mail?
ANSWERING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Is it illegal to own an axolotl? It depends.
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY. NO, ACTUALLY, IT IS!
GDP hits 5.5%.
Meaning the American economy is now growing faster than China.
– Productivity growth tripled
– Wages are growing 3.8%
– Layoffs are the lowest since 2022
– Inflation is just 1.7% per TruflationThis is the crash legacy media and economists swore was coming. pic.twitter.com/VSs011nyAy
— Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (@profstonge) January 16, 2026
Well ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to tell you that the winning has not slowed down a bit.
Here is the Thursday Win Report!
– Initial jobless claims come in under 200k, near a 56 year low 👀
– Empire State Manufacturing Index surges to 7.7. Expectations were 1.0 👀
— Whale Psychiatrist ™️ (@k_ovfefe2) January 16, 2026
But wait, it gets better:
US CPI Inflation today: 1.55%
Our inflation index dropped further today, from 1.70% to 1.55%, as cooling spread across multiple categories.
The main drivers included the Housing, Food, and Household items categories. pic.twitter.com/12DlcIQk1A
— Truflation (@truflation) January 16, 2026
DINOSAUR LIFE BEINGS AFTER 40: Study finds Tyrannosaurus rex did not reach full size until age 40.
STILL A FEW BUGS IN THE SYSTEM: ChatGPT served as “suicide coach” in man’s death, lawsuit alleges.
WHY IS HIGHER EDUCATION SUCH A CESSPIT OF HATE? Columbia U. antisemitism report details classroom disruptions, name-calling.
ROGER KIMBALL: Why can’t Democrats speak frankly about Iran?
The only Democrats who seem willing to mention the plight of Iran’s protesters do so in order to compare what’s happening in Tehran to the ongoing anti-Trump brouhaha in Minneapolis – with the inevitable hashtag: “end authoritarianism.” “In Iran, brave protesters confront a far-right theocratic regime,” wrote Ken Martin, the chair (don’t call him man) of the Democratic party, on social media. “Here at home, tens of thousands are marching after the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good – demanding justice, transparency and an end to an unchecked federal force that takes lives and tears families apart.” In case his moral equivalence wasn’t sufficiently odious the first time, Martin doubled down on Twitter/X: “If comparing the US to Iran makes you angry, ask why. Killing protesters. Crushing dissent. Kidnapping and disappearing legal citizens. Ignoring courts. Threatening critics. That’s authoritarian behavior – anywhere.”
Let’s not waste time explaining to Ken how the situation in Iran and Minnesota are not in any meaningful way similar. A more interesting comparison might be between the revolutionaries of 1970s Iran and the anti-ICE radicals of Minnesota today – two lots of fanatical zealots, hellbent on imposing their warped ideologies on everybody else.
Iran would be better off if they’d all been machine-gunned in the 1970s.
CHRIS BRAY: The Culture War Has a Real Scoreboard, But It’s Hidden Behind the Fake Scoreboard “Now, the results: Paramount+ released the series premiere for free on YouTube, again sending out the signal for audiences to come watch the rest on their paid platform. Result: ‘Paramount spent between 6-10 million an episode on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. They put the premier on YouTube for free and got 1300 live viewers.”
Not all is lost, though: “There are lots of scrappy multi-heritage lesbians and they fight a mean straight white man, which is stunning and brave. . . . It’s undergraduate story hour in space, subtly teaching empathy and Trump sucks, but on a starship.”
HMM. HOW CONVENIENT. James Pethokoukis: Humanoid robots arrive just as humans stop showing up.
January 15, 2026
OBVIOUSLY THEY MUST BE STOPPED FROM TAKING POWER — BY, TO COIN A PHRASE, “ANY MEANS NECESSARY.” To protect our democracy.
they keep telling us that when they’re back in power they’re doing mass incarceration for political dissidents as if this is as normal a thing to say as “we disagree with your views on abortion” or something https://t.co/f1nHNtPBWk
— Mike Solana (@micsolana) January 15, 2026
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WHEN HE INVOKES THE INSURRECTION ACT, THE FIRST THING HE SHOULD DO IS CUT OFF ALL FUNDS TO MINNESOTA. That will hurt more than a couple of divisions of paratroops.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law & stop the professional agitators & insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done…” – President Trump pic.twitter.com/d7XJMA7qUU
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 15, 2026