Thursday, February 20, 2025

2:00PM Water Cooler 2/20/2025

~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, Syndemics ~

Guantánamo, Donald Trump’s “Immigrant Problem,” and the Rest of Us

Trump’s methods for dealing with immigrants with less than solid visa status are often cruel. That is almost certainly a feature, not a bug.

Links 2/20/2025

Musk Is Lying About Waste and Fraud in Social Security to Have an Excuse to Kill It

Musk wants to cut your Social Security benefits and then have Congress use the savings to give himself a gigantic tax cut.

EU Consumers Don’t Trust US Goods: A Look into Trump’s Trade Deficit Claims

Why trade deficits can’t always be solved by price, as in tariffs or currency manipulation.

Charles Kindleberger, the Dollar System, and Financial Crises

On Perry Mehrling’s Money and Empire: Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar System, including how some of his key ideas have been borne out.

2:00PM Water Cooler 2/19/2025

~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, Syndemics

  • Court filing: DOGE website claims another victim; : Myopia epidemic: literally!; Pseudo-science in machine learning. ~

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  • The Bazooka Diplomacy of Trump’s Tariffs

    A look at theory and practice as far as tariffs are concerned, and what that means for Trump’s threats and plans.

    Links 2/19/2025

    BRICS, Boers, and Preparing for Conflict With China in South Africa: Examining the US Pressure Campaign

    In addition to Greenland and the Panama Canal, Washington is doubling down on efforts to “dominate” naval theaters in a conflict with China. 

    After We Amplified Warnings of Wildly Overvalued Unicorns, They Crash and Burn

    “What Is the Mainstream Media Missing About Elon Musk? He Is Instituting Technocracy”

    A discussion of the regime that Elon Musk and his tech bros are in the process of implementing.

    2:00PM Water Cooler 2/18/2025

    ~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, Syndemics;

  • Court filing: Who’s in charge at DOGE? If not Musk, who? Ed Zitron: “The Generative AI Con”; The value of note-taking ~
  • Trump’s No-Prisoners Approach to Iran-China Oil Crackdown

    The US plans further sanctions on intermediaries like tankers and broker that facilitate Iran oil sales to China. Will they work?

    Links 2/18/2025