J. Sam Drolet
@jsamdrolet.bsky.social
Personal account. He/him/his.
The zombie rightwing reincarnation of Newsweek is only able to continue to exist by drawing on that reputation, of course. And only just barely.
November 11, 2025 at 8:36 AM
The zombie rightwing reincarnation of Newsweek is only able to continue to exist by drawing on that reputation, of course. And only just barely.
It seems kind of ridiculous now, but Newsweek really did have a reputation for decades as the more sober, serious newsmagazine whereas Time was the more sensationalist one.
November 11, 2025 at 8:35 AM
It seems kind of ridiculous now, but Newsweek really did have a reputation for decades as the more sober, serious newsmagazine whereas Time was the more sensationalist one.
I'm still reluctant to read Time, even though it unambiguously won that war. It still feels vaguely unserious to me.
November 11, 2025 at 8:30 AM
I'm still reluctant to read Time, even though it unambiguously won that war. It still feels vaguely unserious to me.
We were a Newsweek family rather than a Time family. It was a whole thing.
November 11, 2025 at 8:29 AM
We were a Newsweek family rather than a Time family. It was a whole thing.
(In the 90s, not the 70s. I'm old, but not that old!)
November 11, 2025 at 8:24 AM
(In the 90s, not the 70s. I'm old, but not that old!)
Literal Ship Money!
The White House says it’s going to use procurement dollars to illegally pay the troops for rather than do it the legal way of enacting a military pay bill.
You cannot w/ a straight face tell me using procurement dollars to pay the military adheres to the purpose statute and the Antideficiency Act.
You cannot w/ a straight face tell me using procurement dollars to pay the military adheres to the purpose statute and the Antideficiency Act.
November 11, 2025 at 8:23 AM
He's also doing Ship Money.
November 11, 2025 at 8:22 AM
He's also doing Ship Money.
Newsweek has sadly become a sort of zombie rightwing rag these days, but it used to be very important and vied with Time for the position of America's preeminent newsmagazine. I read it religiously as a kid just starting to get interested in news and politics.
November 11, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Newsweek has sadly become a sort of zombie rightwing rag these days, but it used to be very important and vied with Time for the position of America's preeminent newsmagazine. I read it religiously as a kid just starting to get interested in news and politics.
Yeah, wild indeed. It's fascinating to dig into the history.
November 11, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Yeah, wild indeed. It's fascinating to dig into the history.
Like if you truly believe in predestination there's no reason to do anything at all. Actually existing Calvinism tries to moderate this with things like "Signs of Election" but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. (Not that predestination does either, really.)
November 11, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Like if you truly believe in predestination there's no reason to do anything at all. Actually existing Calvinism tries to moderate this with things like "Signs of Election" but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. (Not that predestination does either, really.)
A really strict interpretation of Calvin's thought leads toward a sort of nihilism, so maybe.
November 11, 2025 at 8:01 AM
A really strict interpretation of Calvin's thought leads toward a sort of nihilism, so maybe.
Relevant cross-post about the Garfield assassination. The Before Times were bad!
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
You could be the literal President of the United States and be unable to purchase the medical care necessary to save your life after being shot. And not even because it didn't exist yet, or because medical care was expensive, neither of which were true in 1881! The profession just hadn't caught up.
November 11, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Relevant cross-post about the Garfield assassination. The Before Times were bad!
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Yep. Just not a serious risk at all. Modern medicine is amazing.
November 11, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Yep. Just not a serious risk at all. Modern medicine is amazing.
You could be the literal President of the United States and be unable to purchase the medical care necessary to save your life after being shot. And not even because it didn't exist yet, or because medical care was expensive, neither of which were true in 1881! The profession just hadn't caught up.
November 11, 2025 at 7:52 AM
You could be the literal President of the United States and be unable to purchase the medical care necessary to save your life after being shot. And not even because it didn't exist yet, or because medical care was expensive, neither of which were true in 1881! The profession just hadn't caught up.
In the US, that is. Obviously it's been around in general for millennia.
November 11, 2025 at 7:50 AM
In the US, that is. Obviously it's been around in general for millennia.
Yeah, I get annoyed when people doom-monger about plague. It's been around for over a century! Just stay away from prairie dogs and you'll be fine!
November 11, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Yeah, I get annoyed when people doom-monger about plague. It's been around for over a century! Just stay away from prairie dogs and you'll be fine!
Yes, and that was 1881! Well after Pasteur and Lister had made their initial discoveries. And yet.
November 11, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Yes, and that was 1881! Well after Pasteur and Lister had made their initial discoveries. And yet.
Virtually everything about medicine and health care was so different in the nineteenth century from today that it's hard to even conceptualize. The past is a foreign country.
November 11, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Virtually everything about medicine and health care was so different in the nineteenth century from today that it's hard to even conceptualize. The past is a foreign country.
Germ theory came about in the middle of the nineteenth century and eventually revolutionized both the theory and the practice of medicine, but it took a long time to become fully accepted and the impacts weren't widely seen in practice until the early twentieth.
November 11, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Germ theory came about in the middle of the nineteenth century and eventually revolutionized both the theory and the practice of medicine, but it took a long time to become fully accepted and the impacts weren't widely seen in practice until the early twentieth.
Exceptions to the ineffectiveness were quinine for malaria and vaccination for smallpox. Both were empirical discoveries that didn't fit well with the reigning medical theories, but they obviously worked so they were widely used. Most other therapies ranged from totally useless to actively harmful.
November 11, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Exceptions to the ineffectiveness were quinine for malaria and vaccination for smallpox. Both were empirical discoveries that didn't fit well with the reigning medical theories, but they obviously worked so they were widely used. Most other therapies ranged from totally useless to actively harmful.
The cheapness varied a bit over the course of the century, depending on how well doctors were able to organize and erect barriers to entry. They did fairly well at the beginning and end and very poorly in the middle. The effectiveness gradually increased but was still pretty limited in 1900.
November 11, 2025 at 7:40 AM
The cheapness varied a bit over the course of the century, depending on how well doctors were able to organize and erect barriers to entry. They did fairly well at the beginning and end and very poorly in the middle. The effectiveness gradually increased but was still pretty limited in 1900.