OPEN THREAD: Monday, Monday.

PRETTY SURE IT WILL BE SPACEX, BUT ROCKET LAB IS UNDERAPPRECIATED: SpaceX vs. Rocket Lab: Which one will dominate the next decade?

I HAVE SYNESTHESIA. I FOUND IT VERY USEFUL AS A SOUND ENGINEER/MIXER: Up to 4% of People Can Hear Colors or Taste Words. Here’s Why. I think it helps by harnessing neurological processing power normally used for other senses.

LIBEL: FBI Director Kash Patel Sues Atlantic Over Friday’s Article. Eugene Volokh has highlights from the complaint.

PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS ABOUT THE THYMUS SINCE I WAS A KID: Scientists Say This Overlooked Organ Could Hold the Key to Longer Life.

MAY HAVE:

New Release: FBI Agent Deeply Involved In Get-Trump Lawfare May Have Crossed Criminal Line https://t.co/dXuAxn7bTq

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) April 20, 2026

SHOCKING NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Teen cannabis use rose after California legalization, reversing years of decline.

IT’S PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA: What’s Going on at Ford? A Shakeup That Could Change Everything.

THEY’RE EVIL: Google Is Quietly Censoring Pro-Gun Websites — And It’s Working.

THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY I WAS PROMISED: I’ve fired one of America’s most powerful lasers—here’s what a shot day looks like. Okay, this part isn’t quite what I expected: “On a typical shot day, the target might be a piece of metal foil thinner than a human hair, a jet of gas or a tiny plastic pellet.”

I DUNNO, IT’S HARD TO TRUST ANYTHING THAT COMES OUT OF CHINA: China Is Starting to Pull Ahead of US in AI Race.

HMM: Does Closing Your Eyes Help You Hear? A Surprising Study Has The Answer..

MY GRANDMOTHER USED TO TIE A THREAD AROUND THEM: Why You Should Never Try to Remove a Skin Tag at Home.

FROM JONATHAN LEAF, a review of Roger Simon’s excellent new Middle East novel, EMET. I read the book and blurbed it; you can see my blurb at the link.

“TRUST THE EXPERTS,” THEY SAID:

Philip Tetlock's results in the early 2000s were the most important in the history of political science: on average, subject-matter experts didn't beat random guessing—and did worse than simple heuristics.
If this isn't part of your worldview, you're ngmi pic.twitter.com/KGCA7PVriO

— Werner Zagrebbi🇦🇿 (@zagrebbi) April 16, 2026

JAMES LILEKS: Your TV is watching you watch TV.

CDR SALAMANDER: It Looks Like Commerce Raiding Is Back on the Menu!

K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE:

Teachers post lower SAT/IQ scores than any other white collar profession except social workers. https://t.co/VTP56aWnhu

— Wilfred Reilly (@wil_da_beast630) April 19, 2026

FREEDOM: Kansas Legislature overrides governor’s veto of campus free speech bill honoring Charlie Kirk.

DON SURBER: Even Electricity is Leaving Blue States.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE:

The smallest number of humanities degrees awarded since 1991 https://t.co/gw3EZN7SRI

— Marc Porter Magee 🎓 (@marcportermagee) April 18, 2026

College students are now “speed-running” through higher ed:

“It takes most college students at least four years to earn a bachelor’s degree. Christie Williams finished in three months.” pic.twitter.com/snKYzr0b3s

— Marc Porter Magee 🎓 (@marcportermagee) April 19, 2026

THE RISE OF THE “FIFTH BRANCH:” “a self-perpetuating elite network of bureaucracy, permanent political class, academia, and cultural institutions that operates with increasing independence from the citizenry it was meant to serve.”

#JOURNALISM: What does an arch mean? If Trump, fascism. If Mamdani, warmth and friendliness.

They love the commies. Love love love.

COLD CIVIL WAR:

This is insane. One can make a very reasonable argument that some prominent people hoped for a justice to be assassinated in order to change the Dobbs ruling. That’s the dark truth. https://t.co/fTDu4UHRbu

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 19, 2026

MY FORTHCOMING NEW YORK POST COLUMN IS ON THIS TOPIC: Your Local College Is Running Out of Cash.

Though fortunately the University of Tennessee is flush with cash. That’s in no small part because enrollment is booming, with students coming here from all over to experience a normal, non-PC college life.