DOGE

Das makes a good case for the destructive nature of DOGE and points out the fact that government delivers public goods and does so fairly efficiently. Trying to run government like a business perverts the incentives.

Yves Smith suggests that 

Das is downplaying the severity of the US slide, please read this Fortune story ‘The Big Short’ investor who predicted the 2008 crash warns the market is ‘underestimating’ the economic impact of DOGE’s mass spending cuts (hat tip resilc). Representative bits:

[Danny] Moses argued investors are already beginning to see disruptions in consumer confidence—which last month saw its steepest drop in four years—and will continue to hear similar trends in upcoming earnings calls. These slowdowns have yet to be priced into the market, he said…

The tell-tale signs of the weakening economy will be seen in small businesses and “private contractors that are doing legitimate work services that are now being forced to make decisions on their business,” Moses said.

DOGE and Musk could be Trojan horses for dismembering government capabilities and decreasing regulatory constraints on business. Actions to date have significantly weakened bodies responsible for oversight and enforcing legislation. This would allow interests associated with the President to loot the nation. 

COVID and the immune system

Kids are getting sicker

This season, H1N1 and H3N2 are both circulating at high levels, with the US experiencing the worst flu season in at least 15 years. 57 children have died. Meanwhile, on January 14, CBS reported that the norovirus wave had already hit more than double last year’s peak, with no end in sight.

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Parents are continually urged to keep their eyes out for illnesses on the ever-growing list of “spiking” and “surging” diseases, though the tone of reporting in the media is one of calm reassurance. 

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At no point in this article are parents urged to wear masks, investigate the air quality at their local schools, or stay home when ill. It’s unclear, what, exactly, “watching out”, lacking any public health interventions or guidance whatsoever, is supposed to accomplish.

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Immune dysregulation and autoimmunity are considered to be major factors underlying the pathogenesis of Long COVID. A January 2024 article in Science titled “Immune Damage in Long COVID” states: 

Patients with Long Covid display signs of immune dysfunction and exhaustion (1), persistent immune cell activation (3), and autoimmune antibody production (1), which are also pathological features of acute COVID-19.

The article goes on to explain that the complement system, part of your innate immune system, is activated during acute infections and is remaining activated in Long COVID patients. The recent piece Solving the Puzzle of Long COVID also lists immune dysregulation and autoimmunity as a leading hypothesis for the underlying pathogenesis of the condition.

How Musk engineered the coup

NYT reports

How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy

The plan for his Department of Government Efficiency was mapped out in a series of closely held meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., and through early intelligence-gathering efforts in Washington.  …. The team is now moving faster than many of the legal efforts to stop it, making drastic changes that could be hard to unwind even if they are ultimately constrained by the courts. Mr. Musk’s associates have pushed out workers, ignored civil service protections, torn up contracts and effectively shuttered an entire agency established by Congress: the U.S. Agency for International Development.

A month into Mr. Trump’s second term, Mr. Musk and his crew of more than 40 now have about all the passwords they could ever need.

His swift success has been fueled by the president, who handed him the hazy assignment of remaking the federal government shortly after the billionaire endorsed him last summer. Flattered that Mr. Musk wanted to work with him, Mr. Trump gave him broad leeway to design a strategy and execute it, showing little interest in the details.