Thursday, July 3, 2025

Eight Reasons Why Marco Rubio Would Be a Disastrous Secretary of State

With Trump nominations like Matt Gaetz, RFK, Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard attracting lots of ire, Mario Rubio is being treated as sound. That’s a mistake.

Will Online Age Verification Be the Trojan Horse for the Mass Rollout of Digital IDs?

Online age verification threatens to trap everyone, not just minors, in its web, as the Australian government recently admitted.

Forget Snowbirds. These Sunbirds Are Flocking North

Hotter days and higher flood risk are prompting people across the South to consider moving north.

2:00PM Water Cooler 11/18/2024

~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, syndemics; About those camps… ; Blame Cannons: Biden staffers, Axelrove, Fetterman unload; Boeing’s management challenges., layoffs ~

Social Security Tackles Overpayment ‘Injustices,’ but Problems Remain

Moving away from withholding 100% of people’s monthly Social Security benefits to recover alleged overpayments has been a major improvement.

Links 11/18/2024

As Biden Uses Long-Range Strikes into Russia to Create Problems for Trump, What Else Might Happen With Ukraine When Trump Takes Over?

Biden and the EU are trying to throw spanners in Trump’s desire to end the war with Ukraine. What if anything has changed?

Paris and Washington Go Scorched Earth in the Sahel 

What does it say about AFRICOM’s counterterrorism mission when nationalized mines increasingly come under attack and the US proxy state of Ukraine is training terrorists the US is supposed to be fighting?

Trump’s Energy Sanctions Are a Double-Edged Sword for Global Economy

Trump plans tougher sanctions on Iran’s and Venezuela’s oil exports, and secondary sanctions on China. How might that work?

Book Review: “Caps Lock” (Capitalism and Graphic Design)

Design serves capitalism by devising abstract forms.

Links 11/17/2024

Evaluation of a New International Policy Instrument to Curb Offshore Tax Evasion: Global Information Sharing of Bank Information

Information exchange creates large improvements in tax compliance through repatriation of offshore wealth, self-reporting of offshore financial income, and audit efforts targeted offshore evasion.

Links 11/16/2024

Wall Street Banks Accused of Trying to Sabotage Key Consumer Protection Rule

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants banks to send data of ex-customers to a new bank. Banks are howling. They may have a point.

Trump’s Speeches Are Chaotic, Rambling and Extremely Effective. Aristotle Can Explain Why

How Trump’s much-lambasted rally speaking style actually deploys a classic rhetorical device.