Category Archives: Politics

Stories, Traditions, and Science

Why does MAGA hate science? Why do right-wing folks think democratic policies have failed? And Paul Krugman on the top 10 political websites on Substack. – – – A significant essay, for my concerns. Salon, Kirk Swearingen, 19 Jul 2025: … Continue reading

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Only Certain People Count

Today’s news about Stephen Colbert; Conservatives have finally managed to cut funding to PBS and NPR; David Brooks on Trump winning the race to the bottom; Sure enough, EPA is firing hundreds of scientific experts; Fareed Zakaria on how Obama … Continue reading

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Incompetence, Greed, or Sabotage?

Elizabeth Kolbert on the Texas floods and the administration’s undermining of climate research; How the Trump administration wants to discourage wind and solar projects; Recalling the Scopes trial, 100 years ago this month, and America’s continued antipathy toward science and … Continue reading

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Is the universe friendly, or hostile?

David Wallace-Wells on the Epstein scandal, with items by Zack Beauchamp and Shawn McCreesh; How simple-minded Trump characterizes his adversaries as “evil”; How Trump’s economic agenda is driven by simple-minded lies and misunderstandings; How the question “Is the world a … Continue reading

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History and Change

Trump keeps a trophy for himself; Paul Krugman on why the Trump administration is killing science; How MAGA needs stories in which they are the heroes; Why Trump fans aren’t forgiving Trump about Epstein; Heather Cox Richardson about Trump’s “mandate” … Continue reading

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The problem with the world is not evil. It’s ignorance, and delusion.

Two thoughts from Yuval Noah Harari today; Ramez Naam on how AI models converge on “moderately left-libertarian political viewpoints”; Another piece about how people should be held accountable for tragedies; Heather Cox Richardson summaries the Epstein fiasco; WaPo’s Philip Bump … Continue reading

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No Necessary Nations

Stephan Marche on how there are no necessary nations, and no permanent global order; Judges, appointed both by Republicans and Democrats, speak out against the Trump administration; Heather Cox Richardson identifies one key failure in the Texas floods, the result … Continue reading

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Two Takes on the Problem with Men

David French and Jordan Peterson and competing theories about the problem with men; About cuts to science research; do Republicans not understand investments in the future?; A report about Lara Trump’s show on Fox News; An essay by Tom Nichols … Continue reading

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As I’ve Been Saying…

Is there any point in noting these same issues again and again? Yes. Because they are evidence of the decline of the US, which most Americans are not noticing, and I think this is important, not so much as this … Continue reading

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Darkest Days

Shorter items today. The Supreme Court and “emergencies”; How Trump reflexively blames Biden; And how Trump takes credit for what Biden actually did; The confusion over Epstein conspiracy theories; Trump wants more factories, but is expelling the workers who might … Continue reading

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