Saturday, November 8, 2025

Links 11/8/2025

Always Watching: How ICE’s Plan to Monitor Social Media 24/7 Threatens Privacy and Civic Participation

How ICE plans even more sweeping surveillance of social media sites.

Another Shutdown Cost: Skewed and Limited Private Data as Economic Hazard

Due to the shutdown, official economic data has slowed to a crawl. Policymakers, markets, and citizens are turning to private-sector numbers.

Coffee Break: Wither Sport, Unwellness, Chimpanzee Metacognition, The Sokal Hoax, and a Political Temblor

Part the First: Wither Sport in This Modern World? The World Series ended last week with two games for the ages.  These were the only MLB baseball games I watched all season, and as a baseball man of the old school, I picked well.  Both games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue […]

How Neoliberalism Is Digging the Holes of Flagging, Indebted Economies Even Deeper

Indebted, low growth economies have a path for recovery. But neolibearlism stands in the way.

Links 11/7/2025

The Digital Euro Just Hit a Wall of Resistance

Turns out the Euro Area’s banks, citizens and even some EU lawmakers are not quite so keen on the project.

Fatties and Diabetics Not Welcome! Immigrants With Health Conditions May Be Denied Visas Under New Trump Administration Guidance

MAHA meets immigration, with deemed-unhealthy applicants set to be denied visas under new Trump Administration guidance.

Mamdani’s Win and the Price of Urban Life: Why City Voters Are Seeking Change

The soaring costs of city life appear to be sending urban voters toward progressive leaders who promise relief, both in the U.S. and globally.

Bill Gates Wants to Set the Environmental Agenda Ahead of COP30: It’s Not Surprising

Bill Gates’s bid to reframe the environmental agenda suggests it’s often set top-down, serving a particular set of interests, in this case, AI

Trump Looks Likely to Lose at Supreme Court on Challenge to His Assertion of Emergency Tariff Authority. How Much Damage Would That Do to His Pretenses of Power?

The tariff situation has developed not necessarily to the Trump Administration’s advantage. What happens if it loses at the Supreme Court?

Links 11/6/2025

Call Your Congresscritters: OpenAI Laying the Groundwork for Massive Federal Bailout

AI is not just coming for your job. Industry leaders plan to pick your pocket on a massive scale via a bailout.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Shifting Landscape of Trade and Investment

The US has responded a bit China’s Belt and Road initiative by increasing foreign direct investment in participating countries.

Health Advocates Call for a Federal “Reboot” in Addressing Ultra-Processed Foods

The debate over ultra-processed food is becoming more intense. But has any real progress been made in discouraging consumption?