Part the First: Pharmacopeia. Who doesn’t love a garden? It sometimes seems that all drugs come from plants, initially. My first biology teachers claimed they were taught that bacteria were plants back when life was either animal or plant. Garden of Healing is a bit long but very interesting. It is also a break from […]
Friday, July 18, 2025
Good Riddance: CalPERS’ Atrocious General Counsel Matt Jacobs to Retire
A partial catalogue of the horrowshow of Matt Jacob’s tenure as CalPERS general counsel.
The All-Round Madness of Trump’s Tomato Tariffs
The Trump administration accuses Mexico of “dumping” tomatoes on the US — something the US would never dream of doing with the agricultural goods it sends to Mexico (sarc).
Uneven Vulnerabilities: A Global Index of Climate Risk for Countries
A new paper rates 170 countries for climate risk exposure. This ambitious and imporant exercise neverthless seems to have key gaps.
Why Inflation Sticks Around: The Role of Class Warfare in Price Persistence
A new twist on inflation: how workers and corporates trying to preserve their financial position has the effect of perpetuating inflation
The 2016 Coup Attempt Revisited: Türkiye’s Transformation and Its Regional Impact
How the failed 2016 coup transformed Türkiye’s power structure under Erdoğan and reshaped its relationshio to the US and the Middle East
Wars, Taxation, and Increases in Representation
A historical analysis shows that greater representation was a bargain autocratic, here feudal, rulers had to strike to get support for war
Why Is the Media Normalizing Nuclear War and Its Effects on US Populations?
The meme-contour of recent articles seems designed to promote resignation towards nuclear war and other horrors of combat.
“The Corporate Takeover of Housing”
Debunking some widely held misperceptoins about why US housing is so pricey.
Project Nectar: Another Palantir Special
Meet Project Nectar, a new surveillance state initiative being tested for the UK and planned for rollout to police forces broadly.
Coffee Break: Elon Musk to Squeeze Tesla Shareholders to Juice xAI?
Elon Musk, Earth’s wealthiest human, is leveraging his business empire to invest in xAI with SpaceX and possibly Tesla putting in billions.
Chinese Government Tries to Combat Destructive Deflation. Will It Succeed?
The economic hazard of deflation is already stalking China, to the degree that even Xi is trying to take it on.
