Basic research suggests Alzheimer’s reversal: https://knewz.com/mit-researchers-discovery-potential-alzheimers-breakthrough/ . MIT research on mice suggests interfering with the “hyperactive” version of an enzyme found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients can reverse the effects of the disease.
WSJ: Cancer mRNA vaccines show promise: https://www.wsj.com/articles/moderna-shows-progress-toward-cancer-vaccines-27ff606 .
Focus on global inflation: https://www.wsj.com/articles/inflation-tests-a-global-economy-that-has-weathered-covid-19-ukraine-war-b090e22c . “Making progress” and hitting targeted inflation are two very different things. Progress has been slow, so rates will stay elevated, and that will hit less developed countries the hardest.
Senate GOP rejects McCarthy attempt to cut SNAP: https://www.rawstory.com/republican-mccarthy-budget-kills-snap/ . Gee, the percentage of federal spending in each category hasn’t changed much in a long time. Most of the categories remain so popular with voters that they do not really represent discretionary spending. What moron doesn’t know that? Oh right, Kevin McCarthy …
The danger of this situation is that the House GOP faces complete defeat because they won’t do the homework to identify palatable cuts (which by definition must be a collection of small cuts). But they’re also too uneducated to accept the facts. Meanwhile, we stumble toward government default. Let’s go, Kevin!
WSJ: House GOP continues to demand negotiation on budget cuts without saying what they are: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chip-roy-pivotal-in-house-speaker-talks-braces-for-fight-on-debt-ceiling-d8675955 . Okay, so the House GOP thinks Chip Roy is their most knowledgeable link in the debt ceiling fight chain. Possibly they need an outside expert to explain that no one will agree to a budget cut without knowing what it is. And also, time is running out on extending the debt ceiling …
Ukraine and Russia exchange POWs in observance of Orthodox Easter: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-easter-a40d1db42047020ffff370619e08db51 . Now they’ll all go back to killing each other.
WSJ: Meanwhile, Bakhmut fighting intensifies: https://www.wsj.com/articles/battle-for-ukraines-bakhmut-reaches-highest-intensity-yet-7808fb6b .
WSJ: Another link in how the Internet noticed the leaked US intelligence: https://www.wsj.com/articles/social-media-account-overseen-by-former-navy-noncommissioned-officer-helped-spread-secrets-a4b5643b .
US kills 3 ISIS fighter in Syria: https://abcnews.go.com/International/us-conducts-raid-isis-fighters-syria-official/story?id=98625209 . Initial indications are that the raid killed another senior ISIS member. Not a great career choice.
WSJ: Sudan military factions keep fighting: https://www.wsj.com/articles/power-struggle-between-sudans-top-two-generals-turns-deadly-5325a8a8 . There seems to be no reliable reporting on whether either side is gaining advantage in the fighting.
Democratic senators attack Amarillo abortion drug ruling: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/texas-judge-part-gops-effort-ban-abortion-sen-baldwin-rcna79891 . The Democrats have caught on that this is a losing issue for the GOP, and also are pushing the Supreme Court to back off on the political activism. As previously discussed here, the Amarillo ruling substitutes religious activism for science, so it was a particularly stupid way for this abortion activist judge to advance his cause. From now on, Mr. Kacsmaryk and “particularly stupid” will always be linked, as they should be.
The conservative justices have an easy way out here, since everyone considers FDA the international gold standard in drug investigation and approval. The 23-year safety record of the drug is also very helpful.
Shooter’s mom claims disability: https://apnews.com/article/school-shooting-newport-news-mother-ee4cfa4536f1d53183281ff22268912f . Obviously, she is the mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher with a gun he accessed at home. It was an act of stunning negligence to have this situation, particularly where the child had acute behavioral problems. The family then failed to attend school (part of his behavioral plan) during the week the child shot the teacher.
The attorney’s comments suggest he is presenting the mom’s depression not as a defense, but as a mitigating circumstance. Okay. Depression can be a mitigating circumstance in sentencing. Apparently the attorney is admitting guilt and looking for a “creative” sentence. If so, she should still admit to negligent homicide as a starting point.
Dominion-Fox-Not-the-News trial starts Monday: https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-dominion-trial-defamation-trump-election-1fc2d90792f811a5f0fb4f703e83fa9a . This article emphasizes an important point that may affect the ultimate verdict in this trial. As we know, Fox-Not-the-News already smashed Rule No. 1 by misleading the judge (and Dominion) about Murdoch’s officer status with Fox News. Also, the judge has ruled that it was “CRYSTAL clear” that Fox’s allegations about Dominion were false. Both of these situations go to the heart of truth-telling. That is of course not lost on the judge, but it will also be “CRYSTAL clear” to the jury that the judge has reached that conclusion based on his previous rulings.
As to why the case has not been settled, that goes to the question of whether punitive damages or injunctive relief are also in play. I would have thought Dominion would have sought both those things – particularly an on-air apology from Fox. However, neither of those things has been mentioned in the run-up to this case (this article does mention the apology, but not whether it would be on-air). If those items are not in play, it is surprising that no settlement has been reached.
UPDATE: Judge delays trial start until Tuesday, an indication that settlement talks have made substantial progress: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/16/media/fox-dominion-trial-delay-hnk-intl/index.html . Dominion is not stupid, and their lawyers have done outstanding discovery work. One strongly hopes that any settlement will go well beyond monetary compensation to force Fox to admit they have consistently lied to their viewers about the 2020 elections, and to make much of the discovery public.
Shooters storm Guanajuato resort, kill 7: https://apnews.com/article/mexico-resort-town-guanajuato-shooting-3603f74cc4fabb81ba0f7f2d231d7467 . Guanajuato used to be a vibrant and peaceful town, with many Americans retiring or wintering there. This makes it clear to me to not buy property in Mexico. Obviously, things change over time.
A long, uninformative article about the Texas cattle explosion deaths: https://www.aol.com/18-000-cows-killed-texas-030003888.html . We reported this situation and the disposal problems when the explosion occurred last week. The author interviewed an expert to learn this disposal situation would be almost impossible to resolve within a month. Duh. 18,000/30 means 600 cows to bury every day. What else do you need to know?
National Guardsman offers his services as a hitman: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/parody-hitman-website-nabs-air-national-guardsman-allegedly-applied-co-rcna79927 . Did the Guardsman who posted classified information on the Internet concern you? This lunatic should give you acid indigestion. The government needs to remember that the cerebral cortex is not fully developed until the late 20’s, and National Guardsmen as a group are not at the top of their class.
WSJ: We’re working on being completely fact-free: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-green-energy-factory-facing-a-storm-of-china-backlash-57847a64 . First of all, “Communist” China is a 1970’s label. Today’s China doesn’t look much like the traditional definition of Communism. Second, China does have the most experience in making “modern” batteries because it dominates rare earth minerals mining, and those minerals have been key to battery technology.
As batteries evolve past rare earths, China’s hold on this market will weaken. For now, however, as China has transitioned to electric vehicles more rapidly than we have, they also control the manufacturing experience. More about rare earths and batteries: https://www.sneci.com/blog/are-rare-earths-an-issue-in-the-production-of-ev-batteries/ .
WSJ: Musk lowers SpaceX launch expectations: https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-lowers-expectations-for-spacexs-first-starship-launch-attempt-65502704 .