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I was reading about the production of calcium carbide, and that it involves mixing lime and coal in an arc furnace. Is there something unique about arc furnace heating that, say, an induction furnace could not provide?

Somewhat related, would seeing a superluminal ship help us figure out how to do it, too?

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Pfizer last week, claiming the pharmaceutical giant "deceived the public" by "unlawfully misrepresenting" the effectiveness of its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and sought to silence critics.

The lawsuit also blames Pfizer for not ending the pandemic after the vaccine's release in December 2020. "Contrary to Pfizer’s public statements, however, the pandemic did not end; it got worse" in 2021, the complaint reads.

"We are pursuing justice for the people of Texas, many of whom were coerced by tyrannical vaccine mandates to take a defective product sold by lies," Paxton said in a press release. "The facts are clear. Pfizer did not tell the truth about their COVID-19 vaccines."

In all, Paxton's 54-page complaint acts as a compendium of pandemic-era anti-vaccine misinformation and tropes while making a slew of unsupported claims. But, central to the Lone Star State's shaky legal argument is one that centers on the standard math Pfizer used to assess the effectiveness of its vaccine: a calculation of relative risk reduction.

This argument is as unoriginal as it is incorrect. Anti-vaccine advocates have championed this flawed math-based theory since the height of the pandemic. Actual experts have roundly debunked many times. Still, it appears in all its absurd glory in Paxton's lawsuit last week, which seeks $10 million in reparations.

PHOENIX — Two Republican members of a county election board in southern Arizona were indicted by a state grand jury this week for allegedly flouting last year’s deadline to formally accept the results of the November 2022 midterm election.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) on Wednesday announced the felony indictments of Cochise County supervisors Peggy Judd and Terry Thomas “Tom” Crosby. The two are charged with interference with an election officer and conspiracy. Neither responded to requests for comment.

The indictments of the two Republicans from a deeply conservative county in the southeastern corner of Arizona mark a rare example of possible criminal consequences in battleground Arizona, where county officials, state lawmakers and GOP candidates have helped delegitimize election outcomes and procedures.

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House investigators found “substantial evidence” that controversial Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) knowingly violated ethics guidelines, House rules and criminal laws, according to a report released by the House Ethics Committee on Thursday.

After the report was released, Santos — who has for months faced demands to resign from a number of his House colleagues — announced that he would not seek reelection next year.

The 56-page report details a sweeping array of alleged misconduct. According to investigators, Santos allegedly stole money from his campaign, deceived donors, reported fictitious loans and engaged in fraudulent business dealings. The congressman, the report alleges, spent hefty sums on personal enrichment, including visits to spas and casinos, shopping trips to high-end stores, and payments to a subscription site that contains adult content.

Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20231117010823/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/16/george-santos-ethics-charges/

U.S. prosecutors urged a federal judge Thursday to reject former president Donald Trump’s claim of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions he took in office, saying that he is “not above the law” and that his indictment for allegedly conspiring to block the results of the 2020 election should not be dismissed.

“No court has ever alluded to the existence of absolute criminal immunity for former presidents,” assistant special counsel James I. Pearce wrote in a 54-page filing. The filing argued that legal principles, historical evidence and sound policy reasons establish that once former presidents leave office, they are subject to federal criminal prosecution “like more than 330 million other Americans, including Members of Congress, federal judges, and everyday citizens.”

A former lawyer for Donald Trump could soon be providing evidence against him — and not for the first time.

As much as any of her predecessors, Sidney Powell’s testimony looms very large.

Powell pleaded guilty Thursday on the eve of the first major trial involving Trump’s allegedly criminal actions, in Fulton County, Ga. Trump personally won’t face trial yet, but the trial involving Powell and fellow Trump-aligned lawyer Kenneth Chesebro was poised to be the first early test of the indictments against him. (Jury selection in Chesebro’s trial is still set to begin Friday.)

Powell pleaded to six misdemeanor counts of interfering in officials’ performance of their election duties and will serve six years of probation. But perhaps most significantly, her plea deal requires her to testify truthfully at the trials of her co-defendants — including, presumably and most notably, Trump.

The Federal Communications Commission today voted to move ahead with a plan that would restore net neutrality rules and common-carrier regulation of Internet service providers.

In a 3-2 party-line vote, the FCC approved Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which seeks public comment on the broadband regulation plan. The comment period will officially open after the proposal is published in the Federal Register, but the docket is already active and can be found here.

Jordan’s struggle had prompted increasing calls from both parties to expand the powers of the interim speaker to overcome the Republican’s intraparty morass.