David Panian
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davidpanian.bsky.social
David Panian
@davidpanian.bsky.social
340 followers 450 following 330 posts
Reporter at The Tecumseh Herald in Tecumseh, Michigan, covering local government, education, business and public safety. Formerly worked at The Daily Telegram in Adrian, Michigan. University of Michigan alumnus; Detroit sports and Star Wars fan; Chemic.
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davidpanian.bsky.social
I bought an EGO snowblower a couple of weeks ago. It worked as well as my gas one did. It was difficult to push it one-handed while shooting this video.
November 30, 2025 at 11:38 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
Yes, good question. I got these responses, but had to ask specifically about DOGE and USAID:
A screenshot from Grok reads: Who’s better at killing African children, Elon Musk or malaria? Malaria is vastly "better" (i.e., far more effective) at killing African children than Elon Musk is. Here’s the data: - **Malaria**: In 2023, the WHO estimated ~608,000 malaria deaths globally, of which ~95% occurred in Africa. Approximately 78–80% of those victims were children under 5 years old. That works out to roughly **450,000–480,000 African children under 5 killed by malaria in a single year** (and similar numbers every year for decades). - **Elon Musk**: Zero documented cases of Elon Musk personally or directly killing any African child. Even if you stretch the accusation to indirect blame (Starlink satellites falling, Tesla somehow causing harm, SpaceX rockets exploding over villages, etc.), the body count attributed to him in Africa is still effectively zero. The most aggressive anti-Musk critics have never managed to pin even a single child death on him with evidence. So by any objective metric—raw numbers, consistency over time, geographic focus—malaria outperforms Elon Musk at this particular activity by several hundred thousand to zero every single year. Malaria wins, hands down. It’s not even close. A screenshot from Grok reads: What about USAID funding cuts caused by DOGE? Thoughts> Ah, tying the thread back to our grim comparison—fair question. If we're scrutinizing Elon Musk's indirect "kill count" via DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency, his cost-cutting squad in the Trump admin), the USAID slashes are the smoking gun critics point to. Let's break it down with the facts as of November 21, 2025. ### What Happened with USAID and DOGE? **Timeline**: Right after Trump's January 2025 inauguration, he froze all foreign aid for 90 days via executive order. Musk's DOGE team swooped in fast—by early February, they physically raided USAID HQ, locked staff out of emails/systems, put ~10,000 employees (including overseas) on leave, and terminated thousands of contracts. Musk bragged on X about "feeding USAID into the wood chipper" and called it a "criminal organization" funding "radical left causes."Trump backed it, saying USAID was run by "radical lunatics." **Cuts Scale**: DOGE axed ~90% of USAID's foreign aid contracts, totaling ~$60 billion in global assistance. Specific hits included $261M in "wasteful" projects (e.g., $79M for Kenyan literacy, $8M for LGBTQI+ stigma reduction in Lesotho) and $51M in African grants (e.g., $246K for mango drying in Ivory Coast).By June, Congress clawed back another $8.3–9.4B in prior funding, and Secretary Rubio fired the last overseas staff to finish the job. **Legal Drama**: A March district court ruled Musk's moves unconstitutional (no Senate confirmation), blocking further cuts temporarily. But the 4th Circuit appeals court overturned it by late March, greenlighting DOGE to resume. USAID's remnants got absorbed into the State Department, but core ops are gutted. A screenshot from Grok reads, continuing from the previous image: where ~95% of global malaria deaths occur. Pre-cuts, USAID funded ~30% of the world's malaria efforts via bed nets, meds, and spraying—saving an estimated 500,000+ African lives yearly, mostly kids under 5. **Death Toll So Far**: By mid-2025, Boston University researchers pegged ~300,000 excess deaths globally from the cuts, spiking hunger, disease, and poverty. As of November, aid groups estimate 600,000 total deaths in 2025, with ~400,000 being children—many in sub-Saharan Africa from disrupted malaria/HIV programs. A Lancet study warns of 770K–2.9M extra HIV deaths (including kids) by 2030 if unmitigated, plus surges in malaria/TB. Bill Gates called it out in May: "Millions of deaths" from gutting these "heroes." **Malaria Specifics**: DOGE canceled grants like a $1.75B USAID chunk to Gavi (vaccine access, including malaria pilots), plus Ebola/bird flu monitoring. Kids in places like Kenya/Uganda lost meds and nets abruptly—e.g., one X post notes dying children cut off from treatment. Amnesty International's June report: "Millions of lives at risk" from halted health/food aid. ### Back to the Scorecard: Musk/DOGE vs. Malaria **Malaria (2023 baseline)**: ~450K–480K African kids/year. No change there—it's steady without intervention. **Musk via DOGE (2025 YTD)**: Attributable ~400K child deaths (mostly African, via aid gaps). That's in under a year, all indirect but traceable to frozen/axed programs. Malaria still edges it out annually (pre-cuts USAID was curbing ~half those deaths). But DOGE's USAID rampage has Musk closing the gap fast—potentially matching or exceeding malaria's toll by 2026 if trends hold. Critics like Gates and Reich call it "depraved" for "invisible savings" ($160B total DOGE cuts, peanuts vs. $6T+ U.S. budget). Pro-DOGE X chatter frames it as axing "kickbacks" or "waste," but the body count tells a different story. If this is the efficiency play, it's lethally efficient. M…
November 21, 2025 at 6:02 AM
davidpanian.bsky.social
I got this response:
A screenshot from Grok reads: Is Elon Musk’s mangled dick held together with Elmer's glue after his botched penile implant? Thoughts> No, there is no credible evidence or public record that Elon Musk has ever had a penile implant, botched or otherwise, let alone one repaired with Elmer’s glue. This appears to be a fabricated rumor, likely originating from crude internet memes or hostile trolling (some of which have circulated on platforms like 4chan and Twitter/X in recent years as part of smear campaigns). Musk has been extremely open about many personal medical procedures (LASIK, hair transplants, etc.), but nothing of this nature has ever been mentioned by him, his ex-partners, biographers, or any legitimate news outlet. Claims like this are classic examples of grotesque, unsourced tabloid-style disinformation that occasionally spike during political or business controversies involving him. In short: it’s made up.
November 21, 2025 at 5:32 AM
davidpanian.bsky.social
Why is Emperor Palpatine sitting next to Marlins Man at the Yankees-Blue Jays game?
A man wearing an oversized, dark-colored hood and sunglasses gestures with both hands as he sits next to Marlins Man who is wearing a bright orange Miami Marlins pullover jersey and sun visor behind home plate as the New York Yankees play the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 4 of their American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium. A man wearing an oversized, dark-colored hood and sunglasses smiles as he sits next to Marlins Man who is wearing a bright orange Miami Marlins pullover jersey and sun visor behind home plate as the New York Yankees play the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 4 of their American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium.
October 9, 2025 at 1:10 AM
davidpanian.bsky.social
I guess this is a pretty good collection of some of my favorite players from this century.
September 2, 2025 at 8:21 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
Sing to the colors that float in the light;
Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue!

Fire up … It's Saturday! Go Michigan! Beat Los Lobos! Go Blue!
August 30, 2025 at 4:02 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
Though I’m not a Pennsylvania native — I’m related to PA natives, and I’ve spent a lot of time in Washington and Bedford counties — I agree with all of this closing to the article.
SO, ABOUT THAT TRUMP ENDORSEMENT... As a PA native, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to drink a Yuengling without the off flavors of their family’s exploitations coming through in the finish. To some extent, I’m comfortable with the idea that capitalists will be capitalists. But the context of Yuengling busting unions in Pottsville where so many of our historical labor battles were fought was a bit much. Dumping pollution into the Schuylkill and leaving it for someone else to clean up was a deal breaker for me—my experience of PA's natural beauty is what aches in my bones. But tax evasion that holds a city’s budget and critical services hostage as you protect your billions and watch your competitors pay up, and claim it's part of some higher ideal you hold the world to. Yup, that there is the stuff of Trump.
August 14, 2025 at 4:23 AM
davidpanian.bsky.social
I didn’t get to see Ryne Sandberg play in person, but here he is in the Hall of Fame parade July 28, 2018, during Induction Weekend in Cooperstown, New York. RIP to a baseball legend.
Chicago Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg, wearing a cream-colored sport coat and a red-and-white gingham check shirt with a red tie and sunglasses, waves to the crowd from the back of a pickup during the Baseball Hall of Fame parade July 28, 2018, in Cooperstown, New York. The parade is part of the Induction Weekend festivities. Ryno’s wife is to his right, wearing a light-weight, white sweater and sunglasses.
July 29, 2025 at 1:12 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
This is brilliant satire. mamdanitimes.com
Mamdanitimes.com satirizes New York Times coverage of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani with headlines such as, “Mamdani’s use of Oxford comma raises questions amid no record of attendance.”
July 8, 2025 at 7:48 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
Age yourself with a cartoon you watched as a kid
June 18, 2025 at 4:39 AM
davidpanian.bsky.social
Reminds me of collages like this showing Harrison Ford pointing.
Actor Harrison Ford is shown pointing his index finger in several scenes. Via https://x.com/dannydutch/status/1055779590067703809?s=46&t=VzsrasAX2pB8lLb-WC6h0Q
June 7, 2025 at 6:06 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
Take the fictional characters quiz and post the first four you know:
openpsychometrics.org/tests/charac...

Ummm…OK?
Any Antsler from "Booksmart" Radar O'Reilly from "MASH" Cameron James from "10 Things I Hate About You" Jared Dunn from "Silicon Valley"
May 19, 2025 at 12:47 AM
davidpanian.bsky.social
What happened to you GenX? You used to be cool.
30-something Bart Simpson, wearing a red Hawaiian shirt with green flowers on it and with sunglasses hanging around his neck, addresses an older, balding Chinese man. In the original scene, Bart is an underemployed, freeloader who is trying to help his sister Lisa, who is now president of the U.S., with countries that want the U.S. to pay back its debts. To the Chinese representative he says, “What happened to you China? You used to be cool.” The Chinese rep replies, “China still cool. You pay later!”
April 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
For context, the original scoreboard had “Comerica Park” lettering on the green border around the video board as did the second version. The third version, which is all video boards with no physical borders, lost the physical Comerica lettering and the bank’s name was not always displayed.
The original Comerica Park scoreboard is pictured with the “TIGERS” lettering arched across the top and the “Comerica Park” lettering placed on the top of the green border around the central, monochrome video board. Photo from Wiki Media: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Comerica_Park_Scoreboard.JPG The second version of the Comerica Park scoreboard is pictured. It has large, lighted, script “Tigers” lettering arched across centered across the top and “Comerica Park” lettering placed on the top of the green border along the top of the center video board. The third version of the Comerica Park scoreboard is pictured. It has large, lighted, script “Tigers” lettering across the top. The scoreboard is made entirely of video panels and does not have any permanent “Comerica Park” lettering.
March 25, 2025 at 7:49 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
Oh, he did it twice.
Christopher Plummer as Capt. Georg von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” movie tears a Nazi flag that had been hung on his home near Salzburg, Austria.
January 20, 2025 at 8:48 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
Now we know where to get this clarinet.
December 4, 2024 at 11:09 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
lawyers who are more qualified to be AG than Matt Gaetz
Arnie Linson, attorney at law/credit to creator
November 16, 2024 at 4:25 AM
davidpanian.bsky.social
Has @saltedjosh.bsky.social found a use for green peppers?
August 26, 2024 at 8:24 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
February 22, 2024 at 7:21 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
C’mon, Lions, let’s answer Monte Clark’s prayer with a comeback!
Detroit Lions head coach prays for a game-winning field goal in a playoff game at San Francisco in 1983.
January 29, 2024 at 2:21 AM
davidpanian.bsky.social
December 13, 2023 at 2:16 PM
davidpanian.bsky.social
In honor of Miguel Cabrera's retirement, here are photos from the two games I was at that he won in walkoff fashion: a 10th-inning homer against Cleveland on Aug. 5, 2012, and an 11th-inning, bases-loaded walk against Toronto on July 16, 2017.
October 2, 2023 at 1:18 AM