644
Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim caliph, is assassinated by a Persian slave in Medina.
1333
The River Arno flooding causes massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani.
1793
French playwright, journalist, and feminist Olympe de Gouges is guillotined. Quite a story.
1913
The United States introduces an income tax.
1943
World War II: 500 aircraft of the U.S. 8th Air Force devastate Wilhelmshafen harbor in Germany.
1957
Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit, a dog named Laika.
1979
Greensboro massacre: Five members of the Communist Workers Party are shot dead and seven are wounded by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis during a “Death to the Klan” rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States.
1986
Iran-Contra Affair: The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been secretly selling weapons to Iran to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.
***
The most obvious answer to France’s problems is economic growth — much easier said than done, of course. The reason that’s so hard for France isn’t because the government is “unresponsive” to the people and their concerns, it’s because it’s too responsive. For decades, the French have demanded the economic policies that got them into this mess, and the government appeased them.--Goldberg
***
Paul Krugman and many others are arguing that:
Massive spending on data centers is crowding out investment in everything else in the economy.
Not so fast. Can you see one immediate problem? How is $51b in data center construction spending crowding out $120b in everything else!--tabarrok
***
Benjamin Rush, the Philadelphia physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence, thought capital punishment “lessens the horror of taking away human life,” thereby fostering murders.
***
"Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn have six kids each. Their hipster neighbors have 1.6 kids each. They live in the same economy. They have very different outcomes. Why? Different culture."--Lyman Stone, senior fellow and director of the Pronatalism Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies. The Pronatalism Initiative!
Intel’s stock suffered one of its worst days ever on Friday, crashing around 28% after the chip giant reported a weaker-than-expected outlook for the fourth quarter. This rout reduced the value of Intel’s holdings by the government by $12 billion. The Trump administration had the government buy a 10% stake over a year ago.
***
The most obvious answer to France’s problems is economic growth — much easier said than done, of course. The reason that’s so hard for France isn’t because the government is “unresponsive” to the people and their concerns, it’s because it’s too responsive. For decades, the French have demanded the economic policies that got them into this mess, and the government appeased them.--Goldberg
***
Paul Krugman and many others are arguing that:
Massive spending on data centers is crowding out investment in everything else in the economy.
Not so fast. Can you see one immediate problem? How is $51b in data center construction spending crowding out $120b in everything else!--tabarrok
***
Benjamin Rush, the Philadelphia physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence, thought capital punishment “lessens the horror of taking away human life,” thereby fostering murders.
***
"Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn have six kids each. Their hipster neighbors have 1.6 kids each. They live in the same economy. They have very different outcomes. Why? Different culture."--Lyman Stone, senior fellow and director of the Pronatalism Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies. The Pronatalism Initiative!
***
Why are we thrilled with entertainers' political opinions and so angry at industry moguls'?
***
Intel’s stock suffered one of its worst days ever on Friday, crashing around 28% after the chip giant reported a weaker-than-expected outlook for the fourth quarter. This rout reduced the value of Intel’s holdings by the government by $12 billion. The Trump administration had the government buy a 10% stake over a year ago.
***
Is Haley Stevens' disagreement with the Democrat Party and its journalists really a heresy? Do certain beliefs disqualify you from membership in a political party? Are some opinions simply overwhelmingly defining? So disagreeing with a candidate's opinion on favored foreign relations results in ejection from the group, but favoring elimination of the police or the Supreme Court doesn't?
Please see Olympe de Gouges, above.
***
Election Day
Here is an Onion headline:
Mary Peltola Insists Scheme To Put Second Dan Sullivan On Ballot Orchestrated By Mary F. Peltola
Mendacity and incompetence are no longer episodes in political life; they are political life. Here the Onion has made the explanation for a lie, a reciprocal lie. Now the voter has our biennial choice between two monoliths of self-serving insincerity and ineptitude to deal with the national debt, AI, Putin, China, and heavily armed religious maniacs.
Election Day
Here is an Onion headline:
Mary Peltola Insists Scheme To Put Second Dan Sullivan On Ballot Orchestrated By Mary F. Peltola
Mendacity and incompetence are no longer episodes in political life; they are political life. Here the Onion has made the explanation for a lie, a reciprocal lie. Now the voter has our biennial choice between two monoliths of self-serving insincerity and ineptitude to deal with the national debt, AI, Putin, China, and heavily armed religious maniacs.
Some examples of our strengths so far:
--Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times reported that last summer the Department of Homeland Security paid more than $495 million for a 1,600-bed prison the state of Minnesota declined to purchase a year ago for the asking price of $75 million—or even “a fraction of that price.
--Wendy Siegelman of NewsTRACS reports that Trump Media & Technology Group received $350,000 for running ads on Trump’s social media site for this summer’s Freedom 250 events. Freedom 250 was the group Trump backed in place of the congressionally-approved nonpartisan America 250 organization designed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Trump owns 41% of Trump Media & Technology Group.
--At a rally on October 24, Trump commented to attendees, “I wonder if I should say this,” then went on to say that “our country is making hundreds of billions of dollars because of what’s happened in the Middle East. My people said, ‘Please don’t mention that, sir,’ because people are paying a little higher. But what we’ve done for this country, we’re making money like this country has never made before. I don’t give a damn: I’m going to say it. We’re making a freaking fortune.”
--Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times reported that last summer the Department of Homeland Security paid more than $495 million for a 1,600-bed prison the state of Minnesota declined to purchase a year ago for the asking price of $75 million—or even “a fraction of that price.
--Wendy Siegelman of NewsTRACS reports that Trump Media & Technology Group received $350,000 for running ads on Trump’s social media site for this summer’s Freedom 250 events. Freedom 250 was the group Trump backed in place of the congressionally-approved nonpartisan America 250 organization designed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Trump owns 41% of Trump Media & Technology Group.
--At a rally on October 24, Trump commented to attendees, “I wonder if I should say this,” then went on to say that “our country is making hundreds of billions of dollars because of what’s happened in the Middle East. My people said, ‘Please don’t mention that, sir,’ because people are paying a little higher. But what we’ve done for this country, we’re making money like this country has never made before. I don’t give a damn: I’m going to say it. We’re making a freaking fortune.”
--"Nobody wanted to eat out. They were afraid. Even if you were in the restaurant, people would walk in and, like the Wild West, hold it up! Everybody is standing there. Can you imagine? A fancy restaurant. They were robbing the whole restaurant. It’s crazy."--Trump
--We are running guys with Nazi tattoos for Senate. Senate! Imposters are in the House! Guys sleeping with Chinese spies are running for Governor of the nation's most important state. We are bombing unidentified boats in the Caribbean, and AI-targeted girls' schools in Iran.
Zito said insightfully, "The Press takes Trump literally but not seriously; his voters take him seriously but not literally." In this circus, no one is taken seriously except by angry, blue-haired cat ladies. One can only wonder what follows in this foolish sideshow parade, but it will restart today.
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