Wes, Eneasz, and David discuss the news from the last two weeks from a rationalist perspective

Support us on Substack!

News discussed:

CDC alcohol guidelines

Will Smith Assaults or Batters Chris Rock?

Ukraine News:

Russia seems to be switching focus to Donbas

Russia said on Friday that the first phase of its military operation was mostly complete 

Putin complained that he was getting canceled like JK Rowling

Biden wants to remove Russia from the G20

Did Hunter Biden personally finance Ukraine weapons labs?!?!?!?

Putin demanded natural gas be paid in Rubles

Taxes are canceled for the duration of martial law and at least a year after its end

“If you can, pay, if you can’t, there are no questions,” Zelensky said

A developer has been caught adding malicious code to a popular open-source package that wiped files on computers located in Russia and Belarus. 

Biden Says to Expect ‘Real’ Food Shortages Due to Ukraine War

Counterpoint 

Zelensky is open to Ukrainian neutrality

No deal yet on Crimea and Donbas

Other News:

Manchin says he’ll vote to confirm Judge Jackson

Hunter Biden laptop (sort of) confirmed to be real

NYT seems to have reported about it accurately in Oct. 2020

Kevin Drum says media did nothing wrong

New study data showed little difference in excess deaths in European countries during covid

study of microlending shows many of the “small-businesses” opened are actually MLM scams

FTC demanded that Weight Watchers destroy the algorithms or AI models it built using illegally harvested data. Permanent daylight savings?

USPS is only buying 20% electric vehicles

Antarctica more than 70 degrees warmer than average, Arctic more than 50 degrees

Biden statement honoring the victims of Atlanta Shootings

Happy News!

Maryland Governor Announces Elimination of Four-Year Degree Requirement For Thousands of State Jobs

Scientists at University of Texas at Austin have redesigned a key component of a widely used CRISPR-based gene-editing tool, called Cas9, to be thousands of times less likely to target the wrong stretch of DNA

Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at [email protected]. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!

Follow us!

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkiller

Google: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekm

Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer 

Apple:

Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Wes, Eneasz, and David discuss the news from the last two weeks from a rationalist perspective

Support us on Substack!

News discussed:

Texas appeals court sided with the parents of a transgender teenager, rejecting Attorney General Ken Paxton’s efforts to allow a child abuse investigation to proceed

Appeals Court held that it did not have jurisdiction

Preliminary injunction issued on Friday

Jussie Smollett sentenced, and assures us that he’s not suicidal

Eneasz was wrong, it’s pronounced Kee-v

EA group’s rough attempt to profile charities which support Ukrainian war relief

Fukuyama is predicting that Russia will lose

Random Russains getting canceled for no good reason

Tchaikovsky. Cats. Mustard. wtf

Facebook is allowing calls for violence against Russia

EU sanctioning Russia Today and Sputnik

Zvi on the Ukraine situation

Russia warned the United States that convoys with weapons sent to Ukraine would be “legitimate targets” for the Russian military.

Orthodox theologians declare the "Ruskyy mir - Russian world" a false teaching. They have openly called "Russian world" doctrine a heresy

Biden gave a speech. No further comment. 

Federal COVID response money is almost gone, they asked for $30B more

The White House hasn’t publicly detailed exactly how it’s spent the more than $4 trillion Congress authorized for Covid-19 relief 

SCOTUS held that government doesn’t have to turn over information on secret torture sites

New law bans forced arbitration of sexual harassment suits

A Republican proposed an actual policy agenda, with predictable results

Mitch McConnell slapped him down immediately

Andrew Torrez thinks Trump is going to jail

Idaho house passed a law that would make it a felony to give trans kids surgery

Idaho house also passed a law removing an exemption that protects libraries, schools, museums, colleges and universities for “disseminating material that is harmful to minors.” 

Mary Elizabeth Coleman of the Missouri House of Representatives has introduced a provision that would allow private citizens to sue anyone who helps a Missouri resident obtain an abortion out of state.

Happy News!

Happy Victory over Covid-19 day

“Test to treat” plan for covid - Test positive at a pharmacy, they give you free Paxlovid

Not paid for - Republicans (who else?!) holding up funding

CDC predictably foot-dragging on public transit rules, giving us all a chance to practice ignoring the CDC

Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at [email protected]. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!

Follow us!

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkiller

Google: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekm

Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer 

Apple:

Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Wes, Eneasz, and David discuss the news from the last two weeks from a rationalist perspective

Support us on Substack!

News discussed:

SNL Covid Sketch

Putin’s “unhinged” speech 

the looting of Russia in the 90s

With English subtitles

Putin’s spy chief visibly scared of Putin during grilling

Sanctions happening

SWIFT ban imminent, Germany has mostly dropped opposition

Leaving exemptions for energy & agriculture

Russia’s biggest bond is down 50%

Russia considering seizing citizens’ assets

Frum thinks sanctions are the real deal, worries that they’ll be too effective

Snake Island bad-ass chads are still alive

EU in talks to give jet fighters to Ukraine

Slovak government has launched a website with info for Ukrainians coming to Slovakia

First Day of Negotiations are over, talks are expected to continue

Voters in Belarus have approved constitutional reforms that will allow the country to host nuclear weapons

Convoy disbanded

Trudeau froze protesters’ bank accounts

Without the right to transact, you effectively have no constitutional rights.

Zvi - “The only way that is in the government’s interest is if it wants this fight in order to further suspend freedom and democracy and destroy the rule of law that much faster.”

Biden Nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to SCOTUS

Endorsed by Fraternal Order of Police

Afghanistan is fucked. 

US froze $7B in assets, giving half to 9/11 survivors.

Multiple Sclerosis Is Likely Caused by a Virus

Sarah Palin trying to overturn NYT v. Sullivan “actual malice” standard 

Sandy Hook families reach $73 million settlement with gun manufacturer Remington

3 San Francisco school board members were recalled

FL Dont Say Gay bill

the ban would be on "classroom instruction" for those from kindergarten through the third grade

TX gov Says Some Sex Change Procedures Are Child Abuse Under Texas Law. 

Many R lawmakers admitted it was subject matter they weren't familiar with.

Happy News!

NIH issues a seismic mandate: share data publicly

B/Yamagata influenza lineage may have become extinct

CDC getting ready for covid independence day

Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at [email protected]. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!

Follow us!

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkiller

Google: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekm

Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer 

Apple:

Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Wes, Eneasz, and David discuss the news from the last two weeks from a rationalist perspective

Support us on Substack!

News discussed:

GoFundMe canceled $10 million fundraiser for Freedom Convoy

Zvi can’t figure out if the protests are calling for racist violence or not

They’re not

Actual violent occupations were not impacted.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said he had reached a tentative agreement with a key protest organizer to remove trucks from residential areas, and to limit vehicles to a perimeter near Parliament downtown in exchange for a meeting.

Supporters jam the “fuel ban” 

France and Brussels get their own Convoys

The bridge shut down is over now, but the Ottowa protest continues

The job market is back

Spotify took down 111 past Joe Rogan episodes where he used racial slurs

His apology

SSC splinter subreddit TheMotte “now considering misuse of the block feature to be a bannable offense.” 

Insurance Companies Withdraw Coverage From Airlines Flying Through Ukraine Airspace 

Ukrainian oligarchs, business people leave country en masse

Right wingers upset about new head of the energy dept??

Congress is passing a wave of bipartisan bills as Biden’s big plans stall

Happy News!

Fewer people are using Facebook!

Blue States are ending covid restrictions

Also Denmark, Sweden, Norway. Mostly Italy, Spain. Loosening in France, Germany, Czech, UK

Implant allows man with fully severed spinal cord to walk

European scientists in ‘landmark’ nuclear fusion breakthrough

France announces a wave of new-generation atomic reactors 

Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at [email protected]. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!

Follow us!

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkiller

Google: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekm

Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer 

Apple:

Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Wes, Eneasz, and David discuss the news from the last two weeks from a rationalist perspective

Support us on Substack!

News discussed:

FAIR filed a federal lawsuit to stop New York City from enforcing its unconstitutional order prioritizing Covid-19 treatments based on racial categorization and ethnicity.

Vacancy on SCOTUS!

Russia might be invading Ukraine

Biden has consistently said he does not plan to send troops into Ukraine

Hanania: “Russia will eventually get its way because it cares more about Ukraine than the US does”

They shoulda kept those nukes 

Voting rights bill is dead

Boris Johnson is in trouble for partying

‘Fight Club’ Gets a Very Different Ending in China

Children randomly assigned to attend pre-K had lower state achievement test scores in 3rd-6th grades than control children. 

“you rarely get stronger study designs than random assignment + multi-year longitudinal follow-up” 

Judge Grants Hospital's Request To Stop Workers From Taking Better Jobs (rescinded 3 days later)

Freedom Convoy scares Trudeau

Kidney Vax

Assisted suicide thing

Maus was banned in Tennessee by being removed from the curriculum of a school district.

Happy News!

The YIMBY’s are winning!

cost-effective artificial leaf that can capture carbon dioxide at rates 100 times better than current systems.  New Illinois Law Allows Women to Get Birth Control Pills from a Pharmacist Without a Doctor Involved

 Mitt Romney’s Family Security Act

Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at [email protected]. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!

Follow us!

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkiller

Google: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekm

Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer 

Apple:

Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Support us on Substack!

News discussed:

Schumer failed to vote on filibuster

The racist Paxlovid policy (of course) came from the FDA

SCOTUS overturned vax mandate

Mandate on government-funded medical facilities could stand

Throat swabs are much more effective than nose swabs for rapid test diagnosticity.

Determined not to let Americans have fun, the CDC continues restricting travel due to COVID risk.

Shkreli sentenced

Oathkeeper leader and 10 others charged with seditious conspiracy

Golden Globes canceled because someone finally asked “who cares what these idiots think?”

Happy News!

Moderna developing combination covid, flu, and RSV vaccine

Matt Yglesias on the case for more energy

Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at [email protected]. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!

Follow us!

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkiller

Apple:

Google: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekm

Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer 

Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Support us on Substack!

News discussed:

Australian camps aren’t literal concentration camps

covid-negative people are being forced into camps, locked in, and arrested if they break out

“Close contacts” forced to go without any choice, despite not having covid

Northern Territories government directive 

ACX Grants are posted

Putin told Biden that sanctions "could lead to a complete breakdown in ties between our countries," 

Meanwhile, Germany shut down 3 nuke power plants (of 6)

Russian opens up a gas pipe line under the Baltic Sea 

China warns Walmart will suffer consequences

Optical analysis of a graph showing number of mutations in COVID variants suggests non-natural origin for Omicron variant

Explainer thread

NY Dept of Health says Paxlovid is for non-whites only 

Happy News!

CDC loosened some guidelines about quarantine and masking

CO Gov Polis (D) re COVID is a Blue Trailblazer

Fauci - kids are checking into hospitals WITH Covid, not FROM Covid  

CNN - This is more like the flu

Omicron is everywhere, but lockdowns are not!

Super vaccine in development

Biden Administration announces that prisoners who received CARES Act compassionate release will not be required to return to confinement. 

Eneasz won 3rd in the EA Forums contest! 

Covid skepticism isn’t about science

Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at [email protected]. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!

Follow us!

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkiller

Google: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekm

Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer 

Apple:

Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Support us on Substack!

News discussed:

native Australians are being put in camps. Thisisfinedog.png

Merry Christmas! Omicron is here!

Andrew Lilley estimates it has ⅓ the virulence of Delta

Per Mason, Molnupiravir caused such significant harm to fetuses in animal models that Merck has suggested ensuring contraceptive use during *and* after treatment.

Fauci’ emails

Fauci repeatedly insisted during a May Senate hearing that the NIH “has not ever, and does not now fund, gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

Facui & Collins “colluded” on “takedown” of Great Barrington Declaration

Taiwan confirms researcher infected with COVID in lab 

Build Back Better is Dead?

Biden says they are going to focus on voting rights

The bill is actually good!

A VULNERABILITY IN log4J

New vulnerabilities popping up, but not quite as bad

Belgium’s defense ministry said it shut down parts of its computer network due to log4j attack

RNC Pride was formally rolled out at a Log Cabin Republicans gala at Mar-a-Lago, gets pushback from religious asshats, some backtracking from RNC, but they’re sticking with it

California is planning a Texas-style gun law

The WTA is not buying China’s line on Peng Shuai

Happy News!

Growing new pancreas cells from unprogrammed stem cells has possibly cured a man of type 1 diabetes.

Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at [email protected]. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!

Follow us!

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkiller

Apple:

Google: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekm

Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer 

Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Support us on Substack!

News discussed:

OMICRON IS HERE TO SAVE US ALL! 

Zvi gives it a 35% chance

Is Trever Noah of The Daily Show anti-vaxx?

Louisiana Court temp blocks vaccine mandates in LA and 10 other states

The Waukesha Massacre was intentional

Ahmad Arbery killers found guilty of murder

Parent’s of MI school shooter arrested

The trial of that French actor started. You know the one I’m talking about, Jucie Smoolye. 

Possible Russian invasion of Ukraine with 175,000 troops

Britain's army chief warns risk of accidental war with Russia is greater than during Cold War

NASA testing asteroid deflection craft

Jack Dorsey left Twitter. Censorship coming?

Happy News!

Chris Hemsworth in 6-part series about longevity called Limitless

Tiny living machines called xenobots can create copies of themselves. 

HPLHS christmas carols! 

Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at [email protected]. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!

Follow us!

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkiller

Apple:

Google: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekm

Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer 

Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Support us on Substack!

News discussed:

UN released “plan” to fight hunger for $6 billion

Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty on all charges

Jones Act Shenanigans (temporarily allowed to continue)

Bannon indicted

Alex Jones held liable for calling Sandy Hook shooting a hoax

Rep. Gosar is censured for retweeting Attack on Titan clip with AOC & Biden as Titans (video here)

Chinese data law adds to global shipping disruption

Belarus is trolling the EU

Amazon will stop accepting Visa credit cards in the UK

Plaintiffs are seeking a huge amount of vaccine-related material from FDA 

Poe’s Corner: Jewface!

Happy News!

You can apply for an ACX grant! As long as it’s really for a thing.

Nanofibers injected into mice paralyzed by spinal cord injuries resulted in recovering in 4 weeks!!! 

(more techy article here) 

Bill Gates chooses town for his Nuclear Reactor

Rune Soup on the World Without Sin

Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at [email protected]. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!

Follow us!

RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkiller

Apple:

Google: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekm

Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer 

Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe