Read it.

The Trump Effect in action.

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I had the privilege of lending Barry Strauss my Greek Selectric type ball when he was a grad student and I was an undergrad at Yale.

[Drop name]

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SpaceX delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) early Sunday as part of a NASA crew rotation mission that will bring home two Boeing Starliner astronauts stranded on the ISS for eight months. The lengthy delay occurred because the Biden-Harris regime sought to avoid optically displeasing headlines about Elon Musk rescuing the astronauts before the presidential election last November.

Babylon Bee.

That, I would actually buy.

I would even spring for the ‘Democrat-seeking missile’ option.

Michael McCune:

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Firefly Aerospace’s “Blue Ghost” lander became the first private spacecraft to successfully land on the Moon after descending from lunar orbit early Sunday morning.

Firefly confirmed on X around 0336 ET that the 6.6-foot-tall lander “stuck the landing” and “became the first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful Moon landing. This small step on the Moon represents a giant leap in commercial exploration,” adding this “paves the way for future missions to the Moon and Mars.”

Watch it.

C’mon, admit it, you’ve always wanted to do that.

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In the two months since President Trump won the US election, US industrial production has jumped by the most since Nov 2021 (up 1.5%) to its highest since Sept 2022 (boosted by utilities in a month marked by colder temperatures), up 0.5% MoM in January (better than the 0.3% increase expected). That, along with an upward revision for December, pushed US Industrial Production up 2.00% YoY (its strongest pace of growth since Oct 2022)…

Scott Johnson at PowerLine.

Following up on John’s post regarding the terrorist attack outside the Trump International Hotel yesterday in Las Vegas, I want to note that police now say camp-fuel canisters and large firework mortars were stuffed into the back of a Tesla Cybertruck. These materials caused the explosion that killed the driver and inflicted minor injuries on seven others.

Elon Musk and Tesla immediately provided assistance to law enforcement in the investigation. Elon himself reported on X that he had “confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.” In fact, the design and integrity of the vehicle prevented the explosive materials from doing wider damage.

I’d consider buying one if I could get it as a hybrid. All-electric cars are simply rich-people-toys at this point.

The Times.

Crowds booed Taylor Swift while they cheered for President Trump at the Super Bowl. He later took to his Truth Social account to mock the pop singer.

Trump shared a clip to Truth Social of the audience giving him and his daughter Ivanka a rousing applause beside footage of Swift being roundly booed when she appeared on the stadium’s jumbotron.

In a separate post, Trump quoted a celebratory quip from the hard-right Libs of TikTok account, who wrote: “Trump gets massive cheers at the Super Bowl while Taylor Swift gets booed — the world is healing!”

Swift endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the past two presidential elections.

New Atlas.

This is just all kinds of outrageous. Last November, a skydiver jumped out of a helicopter, glided down into the Grand Canyon wearing a wingsuit, turned around to face the sky, and hooked up to a plane flying above him so it could tow him up and away into the air.

Tyler Cowen.

The White House just issued an executive order on South Africa that includes admitting Afrikaner South Africans as refugees to the United States

Here is one of many reports. Let me first say that I am happy to have more Afrikaners in the United States. It reminds me of my “open borders for Belarus” proposal — numbers are limited and assimilation is not going to be a problem.

That said, the symbolism here can only be described as…grotesque. South Africa is a poorly governed country, so you can find many examples of bad policy decisions foisted on Afrikaners. But, if one is going to make generalizations about classes, blacks in South Africa suffer far more from that poor governance. This Executive Order, taken in context, is a deliberate attempt to invert the actual reality of the situation, and make a subset of the whites the supposed real victims. You don’t even have to get into apartheid history to see the outrageousness of this framing.

Watch it.

This reaction of a British-born new citizen is very heartening.

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What did President Donald Trump learn during his four-year hiatus from the White House? For one thing, he seems to have learned how to listen. But also, to judge by the first week of his second term, Trump 2.0 seems more focused, mission-driven, and prepared to get things done at warp speed.

Watch it.

If, of course, that’s what you want to do.

Read it.

Lawmakers returning to Salem for the start of the Legislative session this week are being greeted by roadside messages encouraging them to “Free Eastern Oregon” by moving the border. The billboard campaign is the work of the Greater Idaho Movement, an organization seeking to move Oregon’s border so that the conservative eastern counties of the state can become part of Idaho.

The messages, running on five different screens across the Salem area and I-5 corridor, are varied, but all relate to the same theme of self-determination for the people of eastern Oregon and the feeling that the wishes of the people there are not being heard or respected.

“For four years, voters in eastern Oregon have been passing our measures telling their elected leaders they want them to pursue moving the border. The people have spoken and the Idaho Legislature has already passed a memorial supporting border talks. It’s time for Oregon’s Legislature to stop holding eastern Oregonians captive and let us go,” said Matt McCaw, Executive Director of the movement. “This campaign is a message directly to the legislators who have the power to do that.”

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he Wyoming Industrial Siting Council has granted a construction permit to TerraPower for its Natrium nuclear power plant near Kemmerer — a milestone achievement both in Wyoming and nationwide for commercial-scale “advanced nuclear” energy, the company says.

“This is the first state permit ever awarded to a commercial-scale advanced nuclear project and is a testament to the groundbreaking work of our TerraPower team,” TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque said in a prepared statement Tuesday.

The permit allows for construction of all non-nuclear portions of the Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1 plant. TerraPower has a permit application pending before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for all of the nuclear-related facilities. “That application was submitted in March 2024 and is on track for approval in December 2026,” according to a TerraPower press statement. “The unique Natrium design enables the company to start non-nuclear construction onsite during the NRC review.”

The fly in the ointment is, of course, burdensome government regulations.

Steve Graham.

Sometimes I really disappoint myself. It’s already January 13, and I have only bought two rifles this year.

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This is the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing under construction over the 101 just outside Los Angeles, California. When it’s finished in a few years, it will be the largest wildlife crossing (*of its kind) on the planet. The bridge is 210 feet (64 meters) long and 174 feet (53 meters) wide, roughly the same breadth as the ten-lane superhighway it crosses. Needless to say, a crossing like this isn’t cheap. The project is estimated to cost about $92 million dollars; it’s a major infrastructure project on par with similar investments in highway work. And it’s not the only example. The Federal Highway Administration recently set aside $350 million federal dollar to fund projects like this. The reasons we’re willing to invest so much into wildlife crossings aren’t as obvious as you might think, and there are some really interesting technical challenges when you’re designing infrastructure for animals. I’m Grady, and this is Practical Engineering.

Roads fundamentally change the environments they cross through. And while on its face, it might seem that it’s always a disaster for wildlife, there are actually some winners amongst the losers. For vultures, crows, coyotes, raccoons, insects, and other decomposers, roads provide a buffet for nature’s scavengers. And they sometimes make for pretty good housing too, at least if you’re a swallow or a bat. In fact, cliff swallows are now so famous for nesting on the underside of highway overpasses that they’re often referred to as bridge swallows. The sides of highways have clear zones kept free from trees and similar obstacles for vehicle safety, but the lack of shade allows tender greens to thrive, creating a salad bar for species from monarch butterfly caterpillars to white-tailed deer.

Of course, especially in the case of deer, this can attract animals into spending time eating dinner in danger. And the truth is that roads mostly range from a mild inconvenience to totally catastrophic for wildlife. In the battle between the two, wildlife usually loses, and in more ways than just getting squished. The ecological impacts of roads extend beyond the guardrails. Habitat loss and fragmentation, noise pollution, runoff, and of course, injecting humans into otherwise wild places are all elements of the environmental challenges caused by roads. It’s actually a pretty complicated subject, and there are even road ecologists whose entire careers are dedicated to the problem. And it’s not just wildlife that’s affected.

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I’m writing this from the McDonald’s in my town in upstate New York, where I do most of my writing when at home, and I “know” almost all the two dozen or so oddballs who come in, like me, sit in a corner, and either stare at the wall, rant into a cup, or work on their beat-up laptop. I know the morning regulars—the evolving group of five or so guys who are at the door when it opens at 5:30 a.m.—as well as the afternoon regulars. All the employees also “know” these oddballs, and should a new one come in, sit in a corner, and start acting a bit off, they’ll notice. That almost always leads them to offering help, or in this rare case of Luigi Mangione, calling the police.

The larger question here is, how is it that McDonald’s, a business founded and designed to make eating as quick and transactional as possible, has become America’s default community center?

The answer: It’s happened because people are fundamentally wired to make meaning, and because having a community you feel you belong to is foundational to who we are. If you provide people with a landscape of banal franchises, they will form communities and make meaning in a banal franchise.

Read it.

We’re at the point where I may have to get one.

Steve Graham.

My first effort at deep frying in a propane cooker is behind me.

My wife likes wings, so we had them on hand. I also bought legs and thighs. I decided to make hush puppies as well, simply because I could.

…

The instructions say to keep the fryer far from your house. Well, of course they do. This fryer does not have a thermostat, and if you walk away and leave it running, which could happen if you drink while you barbecue, the oil can get so hot it bursts into flame, and then your house burns down.

LifeHacker.

There are more sorts of vending machines than ever before—and they dispense a wider range of products than you might imagine. While no country can compete with Japan in terms of sheer vending machine mania, even here in the U.S., vending machines have become much more varied. If you think vending machines only sell drinks, candy bars, and chips, it’s time to read about these 11 items you can find in vending machines.

Jeff Somers is also an excellent SF writer. Check him out on Amazon.

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Whoa! How did that happen?

We’ve all known people like that….

Read it.

Already Trump is benefitting America. (Now, if we can get Barbra Streisand to leave … or, dare I to hope, Rob Reiner….)

Mattnew Continetti.

Donald Trump’s visit to Washington on Wednesday had all the hallmarks of his first term. There was the cable-news pageantry of Trump Force One’s arrival in and departure from D.C. There was a cordial and reassuring meeting in the Oval Office between Trump and President Biden. There was the reelection of Speaker Mike Johnson within the House GOP and an orderly transfer of leadership to a new generation of Senate Republicans. And there was mounting shock, disbelief, and alarm within the bipartisan political class at Trump’s selections for secretary of defense, director of national intelligence, attorney general, and secretary of health and human services.

Four years of the somnolent, garbled, and often out-of-sight Joe Biden, accompanied by the vacant and aloof Kamala Harris, had dulled the senses. By dawn Thursday, some of us were beginning to recall the unrelenting nature of Trump’s first administration: a near-constant gale of news, hot takes, controversies, scandals, policies, personalities, and surprises. Reporters, commentators, wonks, bureaucrats, and elected officials are left searching for ballast. The situation is unlikely to change in the coming months. Why? Because the Trump whirlwind has returned.

From a comment on a Brett Cooper podcast:

“The red wave hit Kamala so hard FEMA sent her $750.”

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Inquiring minds want to know.

I found this interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, this sort of thing is uniquely American. I can’t imagine Europeans or Asians or Africans doing this sort of content for a public video medium; I doubt that it would even occur to them. Secondly, I was impressed by the fact that, even though they went into the tests biased (a bias that they freely admitted), the tests showed results that were contrary to that bias, and they reported it fairly. If one believes all the complaints voiced everywhere about ‘social media’, the chances of that happening would have been negligible. Thirdly, it astonishes me that, in this world, in this country, there are people who are willing to devote so much time and effort to something so unquestionably fringe. I am reluctant to believe that there is a market for this kind of thing, but there obviously is. Fourthly — can you imagine how a garden-variety ‘journalist’ would react to seeing this? THAT would be comedy.

Read it.

Trump spends his days in a target-rich environment.

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I can’t stop watching this.

Watch part 1.

Watch part 2.

Read it.

Shaquille O’Neal, commonly referred to as “Shaq” is among the greatest NBA players of all time, at least at the center position. During his playing days, Shaq was a force alongside Kobe Bryant, bringing home four championship titles in his 19-year career.

His list of accolades is as long as it is impressive. In addition to these four rings, Shaq was also put on the All-Star team 15 times and won three Finals MVP awards. His career was certainly very profitable, but as is a rarity in the world of professional sports, Shaq has actually made much more money off the court and invested the capital he did earn very well.

Let’s dive into Shaquille O’Neal’s business empire, much of which was built after his retirement in 2011, and what to make of this man’s success.

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On Sunday, Donald Trump poked fun at Kamala Harris’ dubious claim that she ‘worked at McDonald’s and made fries,’ by going to a McDonald’s and making fries, plus working the drive-thru.

Watch it.

Dr Orion Taraban has many wise things to say. This is his best.

The New Yorker.

The ascent of the cassette caused a major freak-out among record-company executives. Nearly anyone who has ever bought vinyl will be familiar with the cassette-and-crossbones image that was for many years printed on record sleeves, accompanied by the dire warning: “Home taping is killing music.” On both sides of the Atlantic, the recording industry sought, futilely, to make the duplication of music on cassette tapes illegal. Other proposals included a compensatory tax on blank tapes. A member of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers even went so far as to equate cassettes with recreational drug use: “Very soon it becomes a hobby. And after it becomes a hobby, it becomes a habit.” None of those strategies blunted the popularity of the cassette tape. As Masters observes, the “perception that home taping was illegal or at least immoral . . . succeeded in making tapes seem even cooler and more rebellious.”

The cassette rubbed everybody’s nose in the fact that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, merely a government-enforced artificial monopoly that is increasingly more impossible to enforce.

Watch it.

Gabagool, provalone, and vinegar peppers.

No, I don’t know where she finds these. I wish I did.

Bluebird of Bitterness.

? Loft-style apartments in New York City are within the price range of most people whether they’re employed or not.

? Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at that precise moment.

? It’s perfectly possible for a woman to get out of bed in the morning with perfect hair, flawless makeup, and no under-eye bags.

? The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window in Paris.

? Laptop computers are powerful enough to override the communications system of any invading alien society.

Read it.

Peer-reviewed study. Abstract:

Donald J. Trump’s presidency broke the mold in many ways, including how to think about judicial appointments. Unlike other recent presidents, Trump was open about how “his” judges could be depended on to rule in particular ways on key issues important to voters he was courting (e.g., on issues such as guns, religion, and abortion). Other factors such as age and personal loyalty to Trump seemed important criteria. With selection criteria such as these, one might expect that Trump would select from a smaller pool of candidates than other presidents. Given the smaller pool and deviation from traditional norms of picking “good” judges, we were curious about how the Trump judges performed on a basic set of measures of judging. One prediction is that Trumpian constraints on judicial selection produced a different set of judges. Specifically, one that would underperform compared to sets of judges appointed by other presidents. Using data on active federal appeals court judges from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023, we examine data on judges across three different measures: opinion production, influence (measured by citations), and independence or what we refer to as “maverick” behavior. Contrary to the prediction of underperformance, Trump judges outperform other judges, with the very top rankings of judges predominantly filled by Trump judges.

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Donald Trump is arguably the most unsuitable candidate of any major western political party in living memory, let alone leader of its most powerful state. Brazenly dishonest at times, fond of extreme and reckless rhetoric and disdainful of most political conventions, he’s also the funniest politician in decades.

The two things are not unconnected. Comedy as an art form has come under a great deal of strain in the past decade, a result of western society’s new moralization. Comedians have increasingly sought to be ethical figures on the right side of a great moral struggle, ignoring the fact that funny people don’t have to be good people; indeed, some of the greatest comedians have been malicious or self-centered.

Trump has the wit of the schoolyard tormentor, an unparalleled ability to find an opponent’s weakness. No one has coined so many unforgiving nicknames, and probably no modern figure has popularized as many phrases in the English language.

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I was away most of the day today, so posting will be light this evening.

I’ve got a good excuse, though: I was one of the Rebels manning a booth for the Sons of Confederate Veterans at the Heart of Virginia Festival in Farmville. All in all it was a successful day, with pleasant weather, good conversations with the attendees at the festival, and plenty of politically incorrect Confederate merchandise sold.

The SCV had reserved two spaces for the occasion, one for the booth, and one next door for a “living history” tableau featuring uniformed Confederates, muskets, a sword, and other odds and ends of Civil War paraphernalia.

Unlike the last time I did the Heart of Virginia gig, none of the visitors wanted to argue with me about the Confederates being “traitors”. The people who stopped to talk were uniformly pleasant and friendly. Most of them were Confederate sympathizers, of course, but some were just interested in history. A few passersby glared at us, but those were all white women. Interestingly enough, black people didn’t seem to have any issue with our being there. Some stopped to talk to us, and even bought some of the merch. So you never can tell.

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Commentator and filmmaker Robby Starbuck’s strategy to expose all the insane woke activism within mega-corporations with large conservative customer bases logged another win today. This comes on the heels of his successful campaign to pressure Tractor Supply into scrapping its diversity, equity, and inclusion program and forcing John Deere to scale back its DEI policies.

Nearly a month after Starbuck launched the anti-woke crusade against iconic motorcycle brand Harley-Davidson in an X post titled “It’s time to expose Harley Davidson,” Harley issued a press release explaining earlier today, “We are saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks, designed to divide the Harley-Davidson community.”

In response to mounting social media backlash and boycotts at the 84th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally earlier this month, Harley succumbed to Starbuck’s pressure by eliminating DEI functions at the company and woke spending goals. This is a victory for Harley riders, as the company now pledges to focus its sponsorships on motorcycling, first responders, active military, and veterans. Also, it said there would be no more woke training for employees.