Three-Quarters of Republicans Say a Single-Day Trump Dictatorship Would be a Good Thing

Thursday, February 8th, 2024

Today’s newsletter is: 888 words; 4 min.

KNEAD TO KNOW

Higher immigration is projected to grow GDP by $7 trillion over the next decade. The Congressional Budget Office also projects tax revenues will be about $1 trillion higher by 2034 than they would have been otherwise.

The U.S. imported more goods from Mexico than China for the first time in 20 years. The value of goods imported from Mexico reached $475 billion in 2023, up 5% from 2022, while imports from China totaled $427 billion, down 20%.

An investigation by NBC News uncovered 21 bomb threats received by organizations targeted by the right-wing Libs of TikTok account. The threats received by schools, libraries, hospitals, and elected officials in 16 states came on average just days after tweets by Libs of TikTok targeting the organizations.

Magma pooling underground north of Grindavík signals another eruption ahead. Icelandic officials say the amount of magma pooling beneath the surface has reached the lower limit of what was tapped in January, increasing the likelihood of another eruption in the coming days to weeks.

QUICK BITES

Three-Quarters of Republicans Say a Single-Day Trump Dictatorship Would be a Good Thing

A new survey by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and YouGov found 74% of Republican adults think it would “probably” (39%) or “definitely” (35%) be good if former President Donald Trump followed through on his comments about being a dictator only on the first day of his second term. A quarter (26%) think it would be a bad thing.   

• Everyone else: Outside the GOP, 60% of U.S. adults overall think a one-day Trump dictatorship would be bad, including 87% of Democrats and 65% of independents.

“Many” Excess Deaths Attributed to Natural Causes Are Actually Uncounted COVID Deaths

A new study by researchers at Boston University suggests “many” excess deaths attributed to natural causes in the first 30 months of the pandemic are actually uncounted COVID deaths. 

• How they did it: The researchers examined deaths reported in 3,127 U.S. counties from March 2020 to August 2022, observing distinct peaks in non-COVID excess deaths in the same or prior month as COVID deaths, a pattern they say is consistent with the deaths being unrecognized COVID deaths missed due to low community awareness and a lack of testing.

A New Study Claims We’ve Already Passed 1.5°C of Warming, But Have We?

A new study by researchers at the University of Western Australia used paleoclimate proxy data from sea sponges in the Caribbean Sea to create a record of ocean temperatures from 1700 to the present day, finding global warming began 40 years earlier than mainstream pre-industrial baselines suggest. The study suggests warming is actually 0.5°C higher than current estimates, projecting 2°C will be reached by the end of the 2020s.

• Pushback: Other scientists aren’t convinced, arguing that while the data could be useful, using sea sponge records from one part of the world can’t be extrapolated to all of the world’s oceans.

OUTSIDE THE LOX

Which Dogs Live the Longest?

Dogs: Humankind’s best friend, perfect cuddler, and the only living thing we let stay in the bathroom with us while we poop.

• While they’re all good girls/boys, they do have differences.

• Some are tall, some are short, some are skinny, and some are fat. Some have intelligence bordering on human-level, and some are just happy to be there.

Another difference: some live longer than others. 

What to know:

A new study by researchers at the London-based animal welfare group Dogs Trust analyzed 585,000 dogs in the U.K. from 155 pure breeds, finding small dogs with long noses, like Mini Dachshunds, have the highest life expectancy (13.3 years), while medium-sized flat-faced dogs, like English Bulldogs, have the lowest (9.4 years).

• While lifestyle and genetics indeed matter, the median lifespan across all breeds was 12.5 years, while the median life expectancy for females (12.7 years) was slightly higher than males’ (12.4 years).

• Pure breeds (12.7 years) also had a higher life expectancy than crossbreeds (12.0 years). 

Why it matters:

Aside from giving small-dog owners another reason to feel superior to large-dog owners (I can’t tell you why, we just do), the study is significant because very little work to date has examined dog life expectancy.

• The researchers hope the work helps owners and policymakers make better decisions about dog welfare.

OVEN-FRESH STATS

• $561 billion - How much tax revenues are expected to increase over the next 10 years thanks to increased enforcement of wealthy taxpayers made possible by funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, according to a new analysis by the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service.  

• 4.9 billion - The number of gallons of rainfall facilities across Southern California collected for recharge into groundwater during the historic atmospheric river that slammed the region in recent days, according to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

• 2.78x - How much higher drug prices are in the U.S. compared to other high-income countries, according to a new report by the RAND Corporation.

• 53% - The percentage of U.S. adults who say football is “America’s sport,” far more than those who say baseball (27%) or basketball (8%), according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. 

EXTRA SCHMEAR

Long Video. Learn how New York City’s Central Park is entirely man-made. (13 min) 

Short Video. How did Europeans communicate with the indigenous people they met while colonizing exploring? (3 min)

Fun Video. Get the science behind turbulence (but still be scared of it after). (7 min)

Good Read. Read about the newly uncovered documents that show oil giants knew about the climate dangers of fossil fuels as early as 1954. (1,074 words; 5 min)

Neat List. Check out this year’s James Beard Awards semifinalists for best restaurant and chef.

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Written by Ryan Wittler