THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW:
BREAKING: Tesla has officially started offering Cybercab rides to the public.
I’ve been waiting years to say that!
I took one of the world's first public rides. The cabin is comfortable and spacious, the suspension is soft, and FSD is VERY smooth. It’s an incredible vehicle.… pic.twitter.com/XBzJI9EVQm
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) September 4, 2026
OPEN THREAD: Keep rockin’.
MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY: In Which I Ask the Machines for Criticism: Grok, Claude, and Chat GPT weigh in on my Demonic AI piece.
And, as always, if you enjoy these essays please take out a paid subscription.
LONGEVITY: Humans Are Surprisingly Good at Predicting When They Will Die – With One Big Bias. “A study that tracked older adults in Japan for up to 28 years suggests people have a surprisingly accurate sense of their own longevity. Those who expected to live longer generally did. But their predictions showed one striking bias: many underestimated how much time they had left. Among participants whose outcomes could be determined, the researchers report that approximately 59 percent outlived their expected lifespan.”
PROFESSOR CARRINGTON SMILES: New AI Detects Hidden Warning Signs of Solar Eruptions Hours Before They Emerge.
HOW ARE THINGS GOING IN THE E.U.? Volkswagen’s Crisis Plan Puts 4 German Factories on the Chopping Block.
CLOWN SHOW? OR THE USUAL EVIL? What Sensitive Gun Owner and FFL Data Did ATF Lose When Its Computers Were Hacked?
RISE OF THE MACHINES: Your Smartwatch Could Be Lying About Your Workout.
LEFTISTS: You can’t just take down statues!
Related (From Ed): It’s fine; I’m sure the Trump administration followed all of the safety tips published by — checks notes — Popular Mechanics in June of 2020: How to Topple a Statue Using Science. Bring that sucker down without anyone getting hurt.
PROBABLY NOT NEWS TO MOST INSTAPUNDIT READERS: 8 Hidden Fire Hazards Lurking in Your Home.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: College admissions, now like “preapproved” credit cards!
Imagine that: a service that wants your money suddenly feels the need to make it easier for you to buy.
Hundreds of colleges are sending prospective students letters of admission—without even requiring an application https://t.co/uV1FGv0jWv via @WSJ
— Jeffrey A Tucker (@jeffreytucker) September 3, 2026
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The Elephant in the Canadian Room: America is surging ahead while Canada stagnates, and that growing asymmetry—not trade alone—is driving the acrimony between two longtime allies. “The tragic irony is that Canada once punched well above its demographic weight, with a formidable military and a dynamic economy. . . . Apparently, Canada believes that opening its economy, insisting upon legal, meritocratic, diverse, and measured immigration, and fully developing its natural wealth would be a bitter medicine worse than even its present maladies.”
Nothing is more central to Canadian politics than not being like the USA.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE:
Annual tuition at Whitman College: $68,692 https://t.co/aa3cpiz6BC
— David Bernstein (@ProfDBernstein) September 3, 2026
ACKNOWLEDGING REALITY IS RATIONAL: Puerto Rico Has Rational Basis for Allowing Only Two Genders for Birth Certificate Gender Changes.
MY LATEST SUBSTACK IS ON THE FUTURE OF ROGUE AI: Demons in the Walls.
“PODCASTS AREN’T REAL.” NOPE.
If you mention anything about Iran on here you get flooded with replies about the price of gas, and it turns out supermajorities of voters want Trump to go even harder in almost every way. Podcasts aren’t real. We are winning. https://t.co/IEN1jIy8Ln
— Payton Alexander (@AlexanderPayton) September 2, 2026
THAT SELDOM WORKS: Abandoning Core Beliefs Fails To Save Seth Moulton From Humiliating Loss. “At 10 and a half months, Moulton’s Senate bid lasted longer than his 2020 presidential campaign, which expired in August 2019 after 4 months. He managed to win the endorsement of the Boston Globe, the state’s largest newspaper. But Moulton, a 47-year-old ex-Marine with three degrees from Harvard, didn’t win enough votes in the primary to proceed, leaving his Senate race with the same outcome as his presidential campaign: a loss. With 96 percent of the vote in, he was trailing by 30 points. The significance goes beyond Moulton’s political career. It points to the difficulty of dislodging an incumbent senator—news that will come as no solace to John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, but that may help reassure Susan Collins, Republican of Maine. It points to the tenuous road for moderate candidates in Democratic primary politics. Most of all, though, it is a demonstration that totally abandoning whatever principles you had, or were pretending to have, is no recipe for victory.”
MERRICK GARLAND WAS A GARBAGE AG IN A GARBAGE ADMINISTRATION, PROTECTING GARBAGE LOCAL OFFICIALS:
A girl was raped in a school bathroom by a male student. When her father demanded answers, he was arrested.
Biden used the federal “domestic terrorism” apparatus against parents who defended their kids. Evil stuff. Thank God Trump won. https://t.co/sjXIXWfYgp
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) September 2, 2026
MY LATEST SUBSTACK IS ON THE FUTURE OF ROGUE AI: Demons in the Walls.
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