Links for August 2025
Friday, August 1st, 2025Republican tariffs now projected to cost US households an average of $2,400 / year. Also, it will increase unemployment. “Consumers face an overall average effective tariff rate of 18.3%, the highest since 1934.”
Dust-Licking Pimps. Mark Twain and Quincy and Immigration by Jess Piper
No Californian gentleman or lady ever abuses or opposes a [Chinese person], under any circumstances, an explanation that seems to be much needed in the East. Only the scum of the population do it – they and their children; they, and, naturally and consistently the policeman and politicians likewise, for these are the dust-licking pimps and slaves of the scum…
“Roughing It”, Mark Twain
“NFL” Shooting Wasn’t Random. Another manifesto gets censored in a case that needs transparency. by Ken Klippenstein
Political books that look interesting:
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang
The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions by Jason Hickel
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr
The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People’s Economy by Stephanie Kelton
The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay by Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman
Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy by Matt Stoller
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
Anton Schmid. “He was one of only three Wehrmacht soldiers who were executed for helping Jews.“
How SUVs Are Making Traffic Worse. As larger, taller sport utility vehicles took over US roads, they also aggravated highway congestion, according to a new study. It’s yet another ill effect of “car bloat.”
The Boy Genius Who Killed 14 Million Poor People. What is the moral weight of responsibility for the men who carried out DOGE’s work? by Jonathan V. Last
Why bad arguments sound convincing: 10 tricks of logic that underpin vaccine myths by Martin LaMonica
Scientists found the missing nutrients bees need — Colonies grew 15-fold. “By engineering yeast to produce six essential sterols found in pollen, researchers provided bees with a nutritionally complete diet that boosted reproduction up to 15-fold.”
Shingles vaccine reduces heart attacks, stroke
Vaccinated individuals:
72.9% lower risk of herpes zoster ophthalmicus.
83.7% lower risk of postherpetic neuralgia.
28% lower risk of hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction.
42.5% lower risk of hospitalization for stroke.