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On Tuesday, Brad Schimel, the Trump-backed candidate in the race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, lost in decisive fashion to his liberal opponent, Susan Crawford. Other than the candidate himself, the elections biggest loser is Elon Musk, who spent $25 million on Schimels blowout loss, and whose future in bankrolling the Make America Great Again movement is suddenly up in the air. Musk is not used to this sort of uncertainty. He spent more than a quarter-billion dollars on the 2024 presidential election, a savvy investment that bought him both a de facto Cabinet seat and the obedient silence of Republican politicians who fear that Musk will use his astronomical fortune to finance primary challenges against them the moment they step out of line. Musk saw the Wisconsin Supreme Court as his next conquesta chance to prove his kingmaker bona fides in an important election for the Republican Party, which he framed in startlingly apocalyptic terms, especially for an off-cycle judicial race in a state where he doesnt live: The result, Musk warned on March 30, could decide the future of America and Western Civilization. Wisconsin voters, however, did not see things Musks way. (Or, if they did, they did not share his vision for the future.) Crawford won by 10 points, and Schimel called her to concede a few hours after polls closed. A closer look at the numbers reveals the scale of his defeat: Every county shifted in Democrats favor relative to the 2024 election, when Donald Trump won the state by a bit less than one point. Even in deep-red areas where Schimel beat Crawford by margins in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, Crawford still outpaced Vice President Kamala Harriss performance just four months ago, and sometimes by double digits. Musk has no one to blame but himself. Since November, his antics at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have made him one of the most polarizing political figures in the country: 60% of people have an unfavorable view of Musk, including 46% who say they view him very unfavorably, according to a recent Marquette poll. As it turns out, if you are an unelected plutocrat dismantling the federal government and trying to put hundreds of thousands of people out of a job, and then show up in a new state imploring people to do what you say or else, an appreciable number of them are going to use their votes to tell you to go to hell instead. Musks carpetbagging in Wisconsin was equal parts confident and cringe. He promoted a Schimel campaign event on X, and tweeted a weird caricature of the candidate dressed as Superman, urging his followers to vote for Superjudge. His PAC hosted a pro-Schimel town hall in Green Bay during which Musk spent more time defending DOGE than he did stumping for Schimel, who opted to campaign elsewhere that night. Musk kicked off the event by bounding onto the stage wearing a bright yellow Packers cheesehead hat, which he promptly autographed and then threw out into the crowd in the style of a band lead singer pandering to concertgoers in a city he can barely remember the name of and never intends to visit again. Perhaps most audaciously, Musk dusted off a strategy he employed in Pennsylvania during the closing weeks of the 2024 election, which basically involved turning voter registration into something resembling a sweepstakes. This time, he promised to pay Wisconsin voters who signed an online petition condemning activist judges, and to hand out million-dollar checks to a few lucky winners who had cast their ballots early. Musk modified the terms of his offer shortly after making it, perhaps after learning of a state law that makes it illegal to pay people for voting. Instead, he explained, the million-dollar checks would merely go to spokesmen whod agreed to promote his petition. In a wild coincidence, one recipient, Ekaterina Diestler, works at a company led by well-connected Republicans in the state; the other, Nicholas Jacobs, is the chair of the Wisconsin College Republicans. After Diestler cut a soft-lit promo video in which she explained that she did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: Sign the petition, refer friends and family, vote, and now I have a million dollars, Musks PAC quickly pulled the clip and replaced it with an edited version that omits the word vote. Thanks largely to Musk, overall spending on Tuesdays election cracked $90 million, which makes it the most expensive state judicial election in U.S. history, roughly doubling the record set in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election two years ago. Musk loomed so large over the race that Crawford was happy to treat it as a referendum on him, earning laughs on the campaign trail by referring to Musk, rather than Schimel, as my opponent. This strategy paid off: Turnout was nearly 40% higher than it was in 2023, and Schimel underperformed the other Republican on this years ballotBrittany Kinser, who lost the statewide race for school superintendentby 2 points. In other words, Schimel didnt lose this badly just because Democrats showed up to the polls en masse. Schimel lost this badly because people associate him with Elon Musk, and even some voters who are otherwise inclined to vote for Republicans decided they wanted nothing to do with him. As Crawford celebrated her victory, Musk does what he always does when hes upset: Post. I expected to lose, but there is value to losing a piece for a positional gain, he wrote, which is also how I grieve when my 7-year-old niece hits me with two straight Draw 4 cards to beat me in Uno. Hes since promoted a video from (of course) conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Trump-adjaent gadfly Roger Stone suggesting that the election was stolen, a time-honored Republican response to election results they do not like. The open question is whether Musks diminishing influence with voters threatens his positions of power within the Trump administration, and within the Republican Party as the 2026 midterm elections approach. Candidates will want his moneybecause candidates always want moneybut the more they clock him as ballot-box poison, the more likely they are to conclude that taking his money isnt worth the trouble of sharing the stage with him. It is probably not a coincidence that the morning after Schimels loss, Politico was ready with a report that Musk and Trump, in the proud tradition of amenable breakups everywhere, have mutually decided that hell soon leave the White House and take on a supporting role instead. The story frames the decision as driven by the statutory 130-day limit on Musks tenure as a special government employee, and acknowledges that hes likely to continue in some sort of informal adviser role. But it also notes a growing number of administration figures who see Musk as a political liability who has served as a rallying point for fractured Democrats. The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board similarly worried that Musks failure in Wisconsin shows that the Trump-Musk governing style is stirring a backlash that could cost them control of Congress next year. Basically, watching Musk write novelty checks was all fun and games until he became one of the most repellent people on earth. Schimels loss does not mean that Musks career in politics is all the way over. The first elections after presidential elections often cut against the party in power, and thanks to the U.S. Supreme Courts enduring passion for money in politics, as soon as Musk overcomes the humiliation of blowing $25 million for a double-digit loss, he is as free as ever to throw himself into the next election that piques his interest. But at the very least, Tuesday showed that there are limits to what his money can buyand that if he keeps coming up empty, he could find himself out of political power just as quickly as he bought his way into it.
Category:
E-Commerce
Ive written before about my love for the Social Security Administrationfrom its origin as a response to senior poverty during the Great Depression, to its elegant design as a direct transfer from current workers to current beneficiaries, to its regular adjustments that have preserved its future. All of which to say, Im pretty darn attached to the SSA for someone ineligible to receive benefits before the year 2041. So the recent news about Social Security, from reports of widespread customer service disruptions to Elon Musks claim that only fraudsters complain about delayed benefits, made me worried, angry, and more likely to stress eat all the pretzels and hummus in the house. As upsetting as all this is, there is still plenty we can do. Whether youre a beneficiary, the child of a beneficiary, or just someone who likes efficiency experts to wield scalpels rather than chainsaws, heres what you need to know about protecting Social Security. Fraud is not a problem with Social Security The Trump administration has claimed over and over that there is a rampant fraud problem in the Social Security system. The most recent example (as of this writing) was Musks claim during a tele-rally for a Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate that someone would be arrested the next day for stealing 400,000 Social Security numbers in order to fraudulently claim benefits. There are many things wrong with that previous sentenceincluding the fact that its really stupid to announce a potential arrest before it has happenedbut lets focus on the fraud claim. Fraudulently claiming Social Security benefits simply isnt a thing. Social Security is a remarkably accurate government program, enjoying a payment accuracy rate of 99.7%. Only 0.3% of Social Security benefits are improper payments (which includes both overpayment and underpayment), and the majority of these improper payments are caused by delays or mistakes. The SSA has a 47% recovery rate for overpaymentsand the government aggregates annual improper payment datasets so that any American citizen can take a look at how accurate the SSAs benefit payments are. The SSA also has rigorous safeguards and protocols in place to stop payments to beneficiaries who have died, including collecting death data, checking that the oldest beneficiaries are using their benefits, and terminating benefits at age 115. Finally, non-citizens who are eligible to work in the United States receive a Social Security numberand they pay into the Social Security systembut they are not eligible for benefits. This makes non-citizens with Social Security numbers a net financial benefit to the SSA. When someone claims that Social Security needs an overhaul because of widespread fraud, they dont know what they are talking about. The Social Security computer system needs to be updated As much as I love the SSA, I am not blind to its flaws. Specifically, Social Securitys computer systems are written in COBOL, a computer language that was developed in the 1950s and gained widespread use in the 1970s. However, COBOL is now an obsolete computer languagebut the SSA maintains 60 million lines of code in this language to this day. The SSA also relies on COBOL for the code responsible for issuing social security numbers, calculating benefits, and managing payments, according to a report from Wired. This is clearly unsustainable, as anyone who has ever asked a software engineer about their profession can attest. Computer systems are notoriously flimsy, held together by chewing gum and hope, and every day the SSA continues to hum along on an obsolete coding language is kind of miraculous. The plan to rewrite this code to modernize the SSAs computer system is a good onebut DOGE wants to accomplish this migration in an irresponsibly short timeframe. A complete migration from COBOL to Java would take several years, but the Department of Government Efficiency is proposing a timeframe of a few months. While it may be more efficient to burn the current computer system to the ground and build a new one on its ashes, the increased efficiency would be little comfort to the beneficiaries who dont receive payments, receive the wrong payments, or have to wait months for benefits they are entitled to. Recognize the propaganda For years, Social Security has been known as the third rail of American politics, since it enjoys bipartisan popularity. No one wants the government to cut payments to Nana and Pop-Pop. (They have the good cookies at their house!) The only way to touch an untouchable program is to convince the populace that its riddled with problems. Pointing out the real or fabricated problems within a beloved program allows the people in power to dismantle the program in the name of improvement. This is why we are hearing so much about Social Securitys supposed faults. Musk and his minions claim rampant fraud, dead beneficiaries, and non-citizens receiving fat benefit checks, despite the SSAs incredible 99.7% payment accuracy. The Department of Government Efficiency is correct that the SSAs computer system is based on archaic code and needs updatingbut the most efficient way of handling the update would imperil the benefits of millions of Americans. What can you do to protect Social Security? We the people have more power than any politician (or random South African billionaire). In the case of Social Security, pushback from beneficiaries has already delayed a deeply unpopular new identity-proofing requirement. Further complaints about this requirement could delay it even moreor perhaps eliminate it entirely. With that in mind, contacting your reresentatives by phone and email is a great way to remind our government of how painful it is to touch the third rail. Sharing the facts about Social Security (possibly by forwarding this article, ahem) is also an important protective measure, because it helps build immunity to misinformation and propaganda. To protect your personal Social Security benefits, sign up for a my Social Security account if you havent already. From that account, save and print your Social Security Statement, which includes your earnings record. This will ensure you have the correct information about your Social Security earning record and potential benefits in the (unlikely!) event that DOGE actually tries to rewrite the SSA code during a single caffeine-soaked weekend. Worth fighting for The Social Security Administration represents the best of American government policy. We wont let it be dissected, dismantled, or demolished without a fight.
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E-Commerce
Kodiak Brush doesnt mince words when it comes to the state of football helmet design. Most helmets today are designed to win lab tests, not protect players on the field, he tells me over email. Brush, an MIT-trained mechanical engineer and former middle linebacker, is a production engineering manager who leads helmet design at Carlsbad, California-based Light Helmets. His latest creation is the Apache helmet, which, at just 3.5 pounds, is the lightest on the marketand yet it has achieved the highest safety score ever recorded by Virginia Techs independent helmet testing lab. The Apache is a direct challenge to decades of conventional wisdom about what makes a football helmet safe. Its not just lighter, Brush claims, its smarterleveraging advanced materials, 3D printing, and a player-first philosophy that prioritizes real-world performance over outdated assumptions. And, while the number of total concussions in the NFL decreased 17% in 2024, theres still a lot of work to be done. [Photo: Light Helmets] Brushs journey to revolutionize helmet design connects directly with his very core. As a middle linebacker at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he was never the biggest or fastest player on the field, he tells me. I would very rarely get out-leveraged. One of my favorite things to do was meet a pulling guard in the gap, put him on the ground, and ask him, How are you going to let a little guy like me do that to you? His helmet was an extension of his bodya tool he relied on for protection and performance. But it wasnt perfect. The pain points I had with helmets are personal, he says. After graduating from MIT and working in accident reconstruction and product design, Brush joined Light Helmets with a mission to create a helmet that addressed those pain points while pushing the boundaries of safety technology. The weight myth The Apaches most striking feature is its weightor lack thereof. At 3.5 pounds, its up to 40% lighter than many competing helmets. This isnt just about comfort; its about physics. Lower helmet mass means less energy that needs to be mitigated, Brush says. It also reduces neck fatigue, allowing players to control their heads better and for longer. While people think SUVs beat sedans in crashes, he tells me, your head isnt a car. Its 10% of your body mass, tethered by a neck that must stay engaged. So adding weight to it is never a good idea. Less is better. [Photo: Light Helmets] This philosophy runs counter to an industry trend of adding weight to helmets to improve performance in lab tests. Standardized testing protocols like those used by Virginia Tech and the NFL involve striking static head forms with pendulums or pneumatic rams. Heavier helmets tend to score better in these tests because they absorb more energy due to their mass. [Its] lab test gaming, he tells me. But on the field, where players are dynamic rather than static, heavier helmets can do more harm than good. Increased helmet mass leads to higher energy impacts, Brush says. It makes the game less safe for everyone. [Photo: Light Helmets] How it works Aesthetically, the helmet looks familiar, but certain details make it very different from its typical predecessor. It appears much leaner, and its lines are reminiscent of a trial bike helmetmore aggressive and angled. It also offers a wider field of view. The front of traditional helmets tends to be small and make players feel boxed-in, as if theyre medieval soldiers on the battlefield, but the Apache front is surprisingly open and airy. This is the result of the shock-absorption technologies Brush used. First, there is its flexible outer shell, made from impact-modified nylon, a material more commonly found in racing helmets than football gear. Unlike traditional rigid shells, it flexes on impact, spreading forces across a larger area and reducing pressure peaks on the skull by nearly 20%. Inside the shell there is a 3D-printed liner, a thermoplastic polyurethane network of many cylindrical pods with variable stiffness. This means they buckle under impact to absorb energy before returning to their original shape. This design dissipates energy more efficiently than traditional foam liners, which compress linearly and struggle to recover after heavy impacts. It was developed with K3D, a 3D design and printing technology developed by Kollide, a company that develops impact-resistance technologies through 3D printing to protect humans in motion. Light Helmets simulated thousands of impact scenarios using K3D and rapidly iterated designs in ways that traditional manufacturing cant match. We broke 47 prototypes before we got the liners buckling pattern right, Brush says. But every failure taught us something new. The company claims that its titanium alloy maskwhich is available only for professional teams at this pointallows it to shave about 40% of the weight of a comparable tradtional face mask, which is usually made with steel. And yet, it has the same hardness and durability of steel. The helmet comes in two models: the Apache, designed for NFL and college football teams, and the Apache Lightning, designed for youth programs. The key difference between the models is in the interior liner material. The 3.5-pound Apache uses impact-absorbing TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), a durable material thats engineered to absorb impacts and return to its original state after shocks, maintaining flexibility through time, Light Helmets says. The Apache Lightning uses EPP (expanded polypropylene) foam, an aerospace-grade material known for its ability to efficiently dissipate impact energy, the company claims. Its also lighter, configurable to less than 3 pounds. All the helmets can be custom made, allowing players to choose colors and different mask designs. The Apache is priced from $649 to $849; the Lightning variant sells for $449 to $649. [Photo: Light Helmets] Testing realities Despite its lightweight designwhich Brush admits puts it at a disadvantage in standardized testingthe Apache scored an unprecedented 0.46 on Virginia Techs STAR rating system (lower scores indicate better performance). The testing protocol involves striking helmets at multiple locations and speeds with a pendulum system, then calculating a severity score based on how likely those impacts would result in traumatic brain injuries. Virginia Tech has become the Consumer Reports of helmet testing, Brush says. Their public results drive innovation by holding manufacturers accountable. Still, he believes theres room for improvement in how helmets are evaluated. Both Virginia Tech and NFL protocols reward heavier helmets without consequence, he says. Light has proposed updates that would normalize scoring for weight or incorporate drop-tower tests where impact energy is proportional to massa change that could fundamentally shift how helmets are designed across the industry. But the real test of any helmet isnt in the lab. Its on the field, according to Brush. Feedback from players at every level has been overwhelmingly positive. NFL players using the Apache report feeling quicker and more agile compared to when they wore heavier helmets from competitors like Riddell or Vicis. High school athletes have praised its comfort and visibility, noting that it feels more like wearing a cap than carrying extra weight on their heads. One linebacker told Brush that wearing the Apache was like removing blinders: I can actually see my targets now. Another player described finishing games without the usual neck strain hed come to expect from heavier helmetsa small but significant change that could extend careers over time. The future Brush tells me the Apache design is the future of football helmets. He believes that flexible shells like those used in the Apache will become standard within the next decade, as evidence mounts that they mitigate impact energy more effectively than rigid designs. He also predicts greater adoption of additive manufacturing for position-specific liners tailored to individual needsdenser padding for linemen who take head-on hits versus lighter configurations for quarterbacks who need mobility and peripheral vision. Further down the line, he envisions helmets integrating technologies like impact sensors, communication devices, and even camerasthough he insists these features must not come at the expense of weight reduction or safety. For now, the Apache seems to already be the future of football helmets. Light Helmets sold 5,000 units in 2024, and its projecting sales of 50,000 helmets with increased production and word spreading across the community. As one AFC North coach remarked: Its not a helmet. Its an unfair advantage. But for Brush, success isnt measured by sales figures or accoladesits about changing how people think about football safety and avoid traumatic brain injuries. We didnt set out to revolutionize anything, he says simply. We just stopped lying to ourselves about what works.
Category:
E-Commerce
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