~ Today’s Water Cooler: Open Thread ~
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
How Federal Law Can Protect All Workers on Sweltering Summer Days
In 2021, OSHA initiated efforts “to consider a heat-specific workplace rule.” In the meantime, states and local governments are free to make their own rules, let workers fend for themselves, or even put workers at greater risk.
Recork the Champagne: Sweden’s NATO Accession Deal With Turkiye Still Faces Hurdles
Lack of trust has both sides wanting the other to fulfill their end of bargain first.
Empty Office Spaces Can Be Converted to Residential Buildings – But It Won’t Be Affordable
What if we convert redundant office space to affordable living space or public housing and quit with the return-to-office pressure?
What Is Happening to the Cats of Cyprus?
The history of Cypriot cats, the Feline Coronavirus that’s infecting them, with its transmission, treatment, geographic and zoonotic spread, and its unsettlingly intriguing mechanism of action (with cat video).
Interview: The Ethical Puzzle of Sentient AI
Philosophy professor Jonathan Birch says the potential for conscious AI raises a host of moral concerns.
Colonialism or Sovereignty? How the Global Financial System Traps Countries in Debt
A deep dive on developing country debt crisis and how they reveal the workings of international finance.
The Origins of the Investment Theory of Party Competition
How Tom Ferguson’s archival research showed that conventional wisdom on voter behaior was rnaive, and investment drives outcomes.
2:00PM Water Cooler 7/14/2023
~ Today’s Water Cooler ~
A Transatlantic Trend: Banks in UK and US Are Closing Customer Accounts With Little to No Warning Or Explanation
“The escalation team just reached out to me. They told me that the account was being shut down, and they wouldn’t give me a reason. I asked them if they would ever give me a reason. They said no.”
Germany Unveils Strategy to “De-Risk” from China
Plan is short on details as Berlin says it wants to coordinate its policy with the EU, which wants to coordinate its policy with Washington.
