Monday, August 24, 2026

Coffee Break: Trump’s Policies Could Hurt GOP Senate Candidates in Maine and Texas

The crude venality of the Trump administration blew up trade talks with Canada and are triggering a backlash with rural Texans that could cost the GOP control of the US Senate.

How Riding the Subway as a Kid Changed the Way I See the World

An ode to the public transportation commute—for the way it forces a visceral reminder of our shared humanity.

Links 8/24/2026

Iran War: Bessent’s Flailing and the Misunderstood Coming, Strait of Hormuz “Closure” Accelerated Crisis

Today’s Iran war post: Bessant’s twin messes, neither of which he is managing well, plus some other sightings.

Spooks Run the Show

Perfidery and treachery abound as the latest Israel-Türkiye standoff leads to many questions. 

Small and Stuck: Why European Firms Can’t Scale

European businesses make it less often into the really big leads than their US counterparts. It’s not for want of trying.

Links 8/23/2026

The Sunday Morning Movie Presents: The Eccentrics (1973) 1H 20M Plus Bonuses!

A sweetly silly tale of the power of dreams versus the weight of authoritarianism.

Extreme Heat Waves Fuel Political Tensions in Europe

No progress made in limiting heat deaths over the past five years. 

Links 8/22/2026

Michael Hudson and Steve Keen: The Federal Reserve, the Constitution, and the End of US Hegemony

Steve Keen and Michael Hudson discuss empire, finance, and the coming crises.

How Living in a ‘Digital First’ World Has Made Our Lives Smaller

We are stuck in digital bureaucracies— more effective than real life ones at runarounds, time-wasting, and conditioning for resignation

Coffee Break: Notes on the Surveillance State, AI, and Scientific Communication

Part the First: Is There No Place to Hide, or Just Be Yourself? Caitlin Johnstone points out once again that while we have been snoozing happily in a virtual haze, we are being followed by the latest incarnation of Big Brother to come along.  From Today in Dystopia: We Have Cameras Everywhere in that Town: […]

‘Utterly Unsustainable’: Employer-Sponsored Health Care Costs Set to Keep Surging

Health care costs are out of control. Medicare for All would help but is not a sufficient remedy.

Links 8/21/2026