Eight talking points on mask bans.
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
2:00PM Water Cooler 8/8/2024
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Open Thread ~
Book Review: You Talking to Me? How Human Language Evolved
Prehistory professor Steven Mithen’s “The Language Puzzle” explores the mysteries of when and how we began to speak.
Satyajit Das: The Middle East’s A Dance of Death – Part 3: Spillover
Why the prospects for containing, much the less resolving, the escalating Middle East conflict, are poor.
World-Ending Maneuvers? Inside the Nuclear-Weapons Lobby Today
Even if the looming Israel-Iran conflict does not produce a regional war or worse, the ICBM lobby poses another huge risk to collective safety
2:00PM Water Cooler 8/7/2024
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, pandemics; irrational exuberance among the Democrats; introducing Walz; Boeing’s Starliner debacle ~
Democrats’ VP Choice Tim Walz Has a History of Working on the Side of Monied Interests Against Workers
Walz’s folksy persona helps mask standard neoliberal positions, and Minnesota workers paid the price.
Electric Vehicle Revolution Stalls, Leaving Metal Markets in Limbo
Another sober take on near and perhaps intermediate-term electric vehicle prospects.
Satyajit Das: The Middle East’s Dance of Death – Part 2: Fallout
Satyajit Das, continuing his series on the contemporary Middle East, focuses on the Al Aqsa Flood attack and Israel’s response.
What’s Wrong and Right with Project 2025
Why the Project 2025 dog’s breakfast of proposals bears watching.
2:00PM Water Cooler 8/6/2024
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, syndemics; best Olympic story; Walz is Kamala’s VP choice; Climate tipping points unpredictable; Andy Warhol’s lost Amiga Art ~
“How Does OpenAI Survive?”
Ed Zitron explains in gory detail why OpenAI looks like the mother of all bezzles.
