Thurs Blogcast: Joel C Rosenberg (from Jerusalem); Failure to Launch

Just One Thing: Tina Turner passes away at the age of 83

A truly iconic rock and R&B star and actress who made it through a lot in her life including well-known abuse at the hands of her ex-husband. She passed away at her home in Switzerland.

How many musicians get a half-page in the Wall Street Journal?

Tina Turner, Powerful Rock and R&B Singer, Is Dead at 83 - WSJ

And at Billboard: Rock ‘n’ Roll Trailblazer Tina Turner Dies at 83

"Turner’s journey began in Nutbush, Tenn. Born Anna Mae Bullock on Nov. 26, 1939, the youngest of the family’s two daughters, she picked cotton on the farm where her father was caretaker and sang in the local Baptist church. Relocating to St. Louis as a teenager to live with her divorced mother, Bullock met future husband Ike when the guitarist and his band the Kings of Rhythm were playing the city’s Club Manhattan. Taking advantage of an impromptu moment to sing one night with the band, Bullock sparked her metamorphosis into Tina Turner." (from Billboard link above)

One More Thing: Rough start for Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis announced his presidential campaign yesterday in the Twitter equivalent of a massive conference call. Listening to some of it, and not implying agreement with everything I’m reminded that Ron DeSantis is a very smart guy. He speaks well, clearly, and understands the issues in a way that the current Republican frontrunner doesn’t. Unfortunately for DeSantis, there were massive technical glitches when the event was supposed to start probably due to the number of followers Elon Musk has. So terms like #FailureToLaunch and #DeSaster were trending on the site. It’s not fatal, of course, but it was an unfortunate start.

There were LOTS of gleeful comments from Democrats and Trump supporters. This is a tame one, more like reporting on other ones...

After the Twitter stuff, DeSantis was interviewed on Fox News by Trey Gowdy who is filling in temporarily in the time slot formerly held on that network by Tucker Carlson. Here's some of the NY Times mostly-fair live blogging of the interview including a comment by Maggie Haberman that "DeSantis is now telling the story he never told during that Twitter Space about how he won re-election in Florida." And "It’s a much more professional-seeming DeSantis during this Gowdy interview."

Twitter Glitches Plague DeSantis 2024 Campaign Announcement: Live Updates - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

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Today's Guests


Joshua Knobe is a professor of cognitive science and philosophy at Yale University. We're going to discuss a fascinating article he wrote about why people like sad songs and why they typically don't actually make people sad.

Joshua Knobe | Department of Psychology (yale.edu)

Why Do We Listen to Sad Songs? – DNyuz (original is at NY Times website)

Best-selling Joel C Rosenberg's new thriller novel is "The Libyan Diversion." It's part of his Marcus Ryker series, full of great insights into dynamics of Middle East politics (as you usually get from Joel), and thoroughly enjoyable. As usual in Rosenberg books, it does include quite a few nods to prayer, God, and faith.

Joel C. Rosenberg (joelrosenberg.com)

The Libyan Diversion: Rosenberg, Joel C.: 9781496437945: Amazon.com: Books

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Other Stuff

This is a terrible headline. It should read "12 Colorado counties join lawsuit to block new stealth income-tax hike" 12 Colorado counties join lawsuit to block new property tax relief (denver7.com)

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Wonder drug? Ozempic could be 'accidental' treatment for addiction: report (nypost.com)

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Now that's some serious jury nullification: Christie Lee Kennedy mows down husband and mistress: video (nypost.com)

Jury nullification - Wikipedia

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At least for one day, the market believes AI is for real, or to be precise, even more real than the previously thought (in a relevant time frame): Nvidia's results spark nearly $300 billion rally in AI stocks | Reuters

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I love this story: Pranksters list Anne Arundel County high school on Zillow for $42,069.

Not sure if this will even still be online by the time you see this but here’s the link: 1100 Clark Rd, Fort George G Meade, MD 20755 | Zillow

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It’s not that much different from any other market: Colorado marijuana sales lowest since before pandemic (kdvr.com)

But it is a little different from alcohol sales. My guess: more people wanted to get high than drunk during the day during COVID. Also, probably the relative increase in income was greater for pot smokers than alcohol consumers during the COVID "free money" frenzy, so the pot smokers felt relatively richer and spent more. All speculation on my part, of course...

Retail Sales: Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores (MRTSSM4453USN) | FRED | St. Louis Fed (stlouisfed.org)

And another market that's not working the way it usually does: Taylor Swift’s Tour Is Wreaking Havoc on Ticket Reselling - WSJ

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These guys will not stop: Chinese hackers hit critical U.S. infrastructure, intelligence agencies warn (axios.com)

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Sure does seem like this guy is not just a hypocrite but has his priorities very wrong. What is it about Democrats that makes them completely ignore parents who want the best educations for their children? (We know the answer.) NC Gov Roy Cooper faces scrutiny for sending daughter to private school amid opposition to school choice bill | Fox News

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It really is disgusting what lengths Democrats will go to in order to buy votes with your money: Fixing the Food-Stamp Work Requirement Loopholes - WSJ

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Today's Videos

Sometimes my wife has to Americanize her Aussie accent to get Alexa to understand her. This little girl has it even worse!

They do look like fairly comfortable shoes.


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