~ Today’s Water Cooler: Anti-Trump lawfare begins… but with far, far more solid cases; OMB memo RESCINDED. That was fast!; A defense of slowness ~
Saturday, February 1, 2025
The Bogus Justification for AI Uptake and the Real Reason for the Scam
AI, in a significant majority of cases, reduces productivity. And there’s not much reason to expect better any time soon.
From MAHA to MAGA: Can We Get There?
Why MAHA won’t accomplish much even if it gets off the starting block unless the US also addresses inequality. Good luck with that.
How Shareholder Activism Became Toxic—and How to Fix It
How shareholder activism, which once helped check self-serving managements, has become the province of hedge fund extortionists.
Medical Research Depends on Government Money – Even a Day’s Delay in the Intricate Funding Process Throws Science Off-Kilter
NIH funding is a case study of how the Trump wreaking ball will damage medical research and undermine US leadership in medicine.
2:00PM Water Cooler 1/28/2025
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, Syndemics; Trump strategy; Taleb: Tech firms “grey swans”? Ortberg soothes the analysts; Andreessen predicts AI-driven wage crash (and that’s a good thing); “Human Reproduction as Prisoner’s Dilemma” ~
The Planet Had 58 Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters in 2024, The Second-Highest on Record
The world endured three of top-20 costliest disasters in 2024, its fifth-deadliest wildfire, and three heat waves with over 1,000 deaths
After “Gulf of America” Rebranding, Will Trump Admin Set Its Sights on Mexico’s Oil and Gas?
What’s in a simple name change? It seems like potentially quite a lot.
Federal Threats Against Local Officials Who Don’t Cooperate with Immigration Orders Could Be Unconstitutional − Justice Antonin Scalia Ruled Against Similar Plans
Trump’s aggressive anti-immigration push is on a collision course with states’ rights to control policing. Which might prevail/
Cut Flowers, Coffee, and a Geopolitical Shock
Colombia and coffee and flowers, or how successful bullying does not necessarily translate into durable wins.
2:00PM Water Cooler 1/27/2025
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, Syndemics; Trump’s first week; Democrats for 2028;
Surviving pandemics ~
What France Loses by Closing Its Military Bases in Africa
What happens when a former colonial power like France loses one of the key implements of its control?
The Growing Inequality in Life Expectancy Among Americans
To deliver on pledges from the new Trump administration to make America healthy again, policymakers will need to fix problems undermining life expectancy across all populations.
