A Statement of Policy

Source: Notablog
by Chris Matthew Sciabarra

“I’ve been around various social media platforms since the 1990s. I’ve had lots of spirited disagreements with people through the years. I’ve also seen the toxicity that can result when intellectually dishonest bad-faith actors engage in reprehensible personal attacks. I have learned not to even dignify those kinds of attacks with a ‘No comment.’ … I don’t require agreement with my posts. I don’t require that people agree with one another. But if you can’t practice civility with me and other discussants, you’re out of here. Go peddle your poisons elsewhere.” (01/29/26)

https://notablog.net/2026/01/29/a-statement-of-policy/

Raiders of the Lost Cause

Source: The Bulwark
by Andrew Egger

“Although it feels insane to have to write this in 2026, I guess I probably should: All Trump’s claims about the supposed mendacity of the 2020 election have been endlessly litigated and relitigated. The votes have been counted, recounted, investigated, and audited. Every investigation into the matter has confirmed the same thing: Trump’s claims were preposterous lies in 2020, and they remain just as preposterously untrue six years on. There’s one thing that’s new, though. It’s possible that now, unlike in 2020, we no longer live in a world where the actual truth or falsehood of such claims actually matters.” (01/29/26)

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-is-still-obsessed-with-stealing-elections-georgia-fulton-fbi-2020-2026-2028

Reading Obituaries

Source: TomDispatch
by Tom Engelhardt

“Having reached a certain age and long been fascinated by obituaries, I sometimes think about both Donald Trump’s and my own. At 79, he’s just slightly less than two years younger than me, though of course I wasn’t the 45th president of the United States or the 47th one either. And eight chaotic years (or more?) as president (assuming he makes it that far) guarantee him a monster (and I do indeed use that word advisedly) set of obituaries when he dies, whereas almost a quarter-century at TomDispatch guarantees me nothing at all.” (01/29/26)

https://tomdispatch.com/reading-obituaries/

CDC: Average US life expectancy hit record high in 2024

Source: United Press International

“The average life expectancy in the United States hit a record high of 79 in 2024, a report from the Centers for Disease Control said Thursday. The average 79-year mark is an increase of more than a half year over 2023. The National Center for Health Statistics ‘Mortality in the United States, 2024’ report found that the age-adjusted death rate decreased by about 3.8%. … The increase in life expectancy was greater for males than for females, up 0.2 compared to 0.1. The average life expectancy for a female born in 2024 is 81.4 and for a male it is 76.5. Average life expectancies also increased for every race and ethnicity recorded.” (01/29/26)

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/01/29/cdc-average-life-expectancy-record/3321769703311/

Is the US Dollar Dominant or Doomed? Analysts Read the Same Data — Very Differently

Source: Bitcoin.com
by Jamie Redman

“As gold and silver reach historic price levels in early 2026, two specific analyses offer sharply different interpretations of what the U.S. dollar’s recent movement signals about U.S. policy, capital flows, and global markets.” (01/29/26)

https://news.bitcoin.com/is-the-us-dollar-dominant-or-doomed-analysts-read-the-same-data-very-differently/