Kevin Drum 🕸

Here's a quasi-election related chart to ponder today: The remarkable thing isn't that fewer and fewer people are checking off the box on tax forms that funds the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. The remarkable thing is that anyone still checks it. But six million of us continue to check the box even though no presidential ...continue reading "The ghost of public campaign funding still haunts us"

Today, for some reason, YouGov retweeted a survey they did a few months ago about the Roman Empire. It turns out that 76% of Americans say they know at least a little about the Roman Empire and 49% have a favorable view of it. But why? YouGov asked the 76% of Rome-knowers what they admired ...continue reading "A third of Americans aren’t sure Roman slaveholding was a bad thing"

This is the rose window at the Votivkirche in Vienna, built by Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian to thank God for saving the life of his brother the emperor after an assassination attempt in 1853. It was completed in 1879. The top photo was taken inside with the organ pipes partially blocking the view. The bottom picture ...continue reading "Lunchtime Photo"

Yes, I know there's an election today. I'm not deliberately ignoring it, but unless something big happens I just won't have anything to offer until the polls close and results start coming in. Until then, the Prime Directive remains in force: the election might or might not be close, but inherent uncertainties in polling mean ...continue reading "Who’s going to win tonight?"

The new hotness in data centers is to sign deals with nuclear power operators to supply them with reliable 24/7 electricity. There are two ways to do this. First, the data center connects to the power grid normally and just uses a lot of juice. This is called "in front of the meter." Second, a ...continue reading "Data centers take a hit in electricity wars"

Here's some good economic news I missed a few weeks ago. The yield curve, which is a fairly reliable indicator of recession when it's inverted (i.e. below zero), is now positive: But now the bad news: As you can see, the last four recessions started a few months after an inverted yield curve returned to ...continue reading "The yield curve is back. Hooray?"

This is apropos of nothing in particular, but with the passage of time it's now pretty easy to figure out how many people died of COVID in the US: The trendline shows the normal monthly number of deaths excluding seasonal flu. The spikes in 2020 and beyond add up to 1.2 million, all of which ...continue reading "Raw data: COVID deaths in the US"

Unintended consequences: In 2014, Dems inserted a @MarcEElias-crafted provision into a must-pass spending bill, creating massive new legal funds for the parties. In 2024, the RNC has raised $54M into its fund, & is using it to challenge election rules. https://t.co/s740ewf3l1 pic.twitter.com/yC5IW7SH5V — Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) November 4, 2024

Remember the old meme about how the federal government has spent $7.5 billion on EV charging stations but only three had been built? The meme needs to be updated. As of June, 17 stations have been built: Hmmm. Still not very impressive, is it? But this is like looking at Hoover Dam in 1933 and ...continue reading "EV charging station update"

This is the city of Banning at the tail end of winter, taken from Highway 243 snaking up the San Jacinto mountains. The Eastern Sierras are the snowy peaks in the distance.

Donald Trump's campaign spokesperson is Steven Cheung, who routinely provides irrelevant and frequently nasty responses whenever he's asked to comment on something. Here's his latest: Cuck husband of Kamala chairperson has no idea what he’s talking about because he’s used to not knowing what’s going on behind his back. https://t.co/PgaNVFn63R — Steven Cheung (@TheStevenCheung) November ...continue reading "Trump spokesman gets taste of his own dog food"

This Twitter post has been viewed by 6 million people over the past week: Need help identifying this guy that just dropped off an insane amount of ballots who says he’s with the post office but idk if I buy that. He wouldn’t talk to us and was acting very suspect. @EarlyVoteAction @ScottPresler @SazonLes @VoteHarrisOut ...continue reading "“Stop the Steal” is all grown up and ready to rumble"

The Wall Street Journal reports that Russia is now trying to bring down American airplanes using incendiary devices hidden in packages: The devices ignited at DHL logistics hubs in July, one in Leipzig, Germany, and another in Birmingham, England. The explosions set off a multinational race to find the culprits. ....Security officials say the electric ...continue reading "Russia is trying to sabotage US transatlantic flights"

Election Day is tomorrow, so here's a repeat posting of my traditional recommendations about how to vote on California's ballot initiatives. As usual, keep in mind a couple of things: I don't like ballot initiatives because they lock things into the state constitution that shouldn't usually be locked in. So my standards are high for ...continue reading "For Californians: Here’s how to vote on tomorrow’s ballot initiatives"

After listening to 680 people in 61 focus groups over three years, Patrick Healy of the New York Times thinks Donald Trump has a good chance of winning. Inflation is one of the big reasons, but immigration might be even bigger: What I’ve heard has left me thinking that Democratic Party leaders have deeply underestimated ...continue reading "In the end, will immigration be the undoing of Kamala Harris?"

A week ago, Vote Common Good released an ad narrated by Julia Roberts telling women they could vote for anyone they wanted and their husbands would never know: Today, the Washington Post reports that the ad was inspired by a grassroots campaign carried out via sticky notes posted in women's restrooms: In swing states and ...continue reading "Women’s restrooms have a long history as an underground network"

The New York Times has a story today about a tiny radio station in Krakow, Poland. How tiny? Its listenership was "close to zero." So with literally nothing to lose, the manager of the station decided to convert it into a pure AI production: no human announcers, just AI generated hosts. Among other things, they ...continue reading "A tiny radio station in Poland is a canary in the AI coal mine"

As of this week, the price of gasoline is below the pre-pandemic average during Donald Trump's administration.

Here's the latest from RFK Jr.: On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S​. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease. President… — Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) November 2, 2024 This ...continue reading "Is fluoridated water safe?"

Yesterday I wrote about E-Verify, the website that allows employers to quickly and easily make sure new hires are legally allowed to work. Today¹ Don Lee at the LA Times writes all about it: Even though E-Verify is free for employers, with more than 98% of those checked being confirmed as work-authorized instantly or within ...continue reading "The long, sad story of E-Verify"