Even if you have zero concern for climate change, it is malpractice as a policymaker to do anything but run as far and fast as you can from a fossil fuel-based economy. Why would you leave yourself so exposed to this madness given the alternatives? www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

Trump’s Talk of Banning Diesel Exports Adds to Europe’s Energy Pain

Europe was already facing an energy crunch. Then President Trump spoke up about banning U.S. diesel exports, and the continent’s problems got worse. ICE gasoil futures, used as a benchmark for diesel ...

wsj.com

Bloomberg News@bloomberg.com · 2d ago

The Chinese government has taken possession of potentially sensitive F-35 stealth aircraft parts that were inexplicably diverted to Hong Kong while being sent to the US from Australia, people briefed on the incident said. bloom.bg/3Vad1MJ 📷️: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg

The Donkey Sanctuary and Royal Opera House are well-known aliases for Parliament, so I find this mathematically impossible.

The Economist@economist.com · 4d ago

British politics is woefully underfunded. Last year the Donkey Sanctuary charity received more than every major political party combined. So did the Royal Opera House

Let us not forget the real victims when a rogue wet lab releases a deadly pathogen: The staff who conceived, designed, built, and operated the lab. The whole thing really bummed them out.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 4d ago

AI staff complain of mental toll over fears of threat to society ft.trib.al/rVJyxoU

Ah yes. The widely heralded economic policies of “presidents in the 70s.”

Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 6d ago

#ExportBan ⛽️

Witkoff is even more inept than we thought. A good examination of the role of the White House front man for US efforts to end the war in Ukraine from the @KyivIndependent kyivindependent.com/exclusive-uk...

Exclusive: Ukraine, Russia are done with Steve Witkoff. Trump sees no problem

Kyiv and Moscow are growing increasingly frustrated with the U.S.-mediated peace process — and with Washington's Envoy Steve Witkoff, people familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent. Witkof...

kyivindependent.com

This, but also for the US.

Jim Pickard@pickardje.bsky.social · last wk.

my brilliant colleague @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on the threat from Elon Musk’s X platform www.ft.com/content/f270...

“If the inheritocracy looms, it has clearly not yet arrived,” argue Eric Zwick and Owen Zidar. The university professors believe that the narrative surrounding the bequest of financial assets is flawed bit.ly/4rzWfD3 Illustration: Dan Williams

This was great, particularly the end. Without accusing @janeaflegal.bsky.social of being a “utility bro” I think there’s an important difference between utilities over-building and dumb-building. Replacing amortized capital with the same equipment isn’t over-building. I think that’s widespread.

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2w ago

Today on Volts: an epic conversation with @janeaflegal.bsky.social. We talk industrial policy, what IRA got right & wrong, the proper role of philanthropy, data centers & the grid, permitting reform, & so much more. Jane is one of the sharpest analysts out there, could listen to her talk forever.

Next up: supporters of the Copernican system. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

IMF ditched top candidate for chief economist job over Trump tariff remarks

LSE professor Ricardo Reis had said the US president’s trade war would hurt American consumers

giftarticle.ft.com

I organized an economist amicus brief in support of affirmance of the Court of International Trade's ruling in Oregon v. Trump and Burlap and Barrel v. Donald J. Trump that the administration exceeded its authority when it imposed 10% worldwide tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.

breaking: XAI announces that they have used an unreleased grok model to solve a major open problem in the field of race science

I suspect the protectionism angle here is hiding something more sinister: Allied, foreign governments are more oriented toward testing and regulating model capabilities. Export restrictions are just a convenience for keeping the more harrowing features hidden. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Anthropic withheld latest AI model from UK testing agency

Decision to exclude Aisi has prompted fears inside British government of protectionist shift among tech groups

giftarticle.ft.com

I Study Projects that Select on the Dependent Variable. They Have One Habit in Common.

Opinion | I Study Successful People. They Have One Habit in Common.

Being a successful self-starter doesn’t mean pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.

nytimes.com

Apparently people are sharing this far and wide on social media, which I think is horrible. This could cripple ICE operations. PLEASE do not share this.

They’re just not that into you.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 3w ago

UK-EU alignment is ‘problem’ for US trade deal, says top Trump official ft.trib.al/a4doinD

It's as if the 8th amendment does not exist.

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 3w ago

Last year, Casey Revkin learned that parents at the South Texas Family Residential Center reported finding cockroaches in their food and said their children were vomiting after drinking the tap water. “I wanted to help fix some of that,” Revkin said. https://wapo.st/3UwpwSt

Now, in response to alerts from the UN's #Methane Alert and Response System, Turkmenistan has started plugging the leaks There's much more to do, but it's an "incredible first step" The 2nd biggest mega-leaker, the US, is doing nothing @unep.org 3/3 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Breakthrough’ as Turkmenistan starts fixing ‘mindboggling’ methane mega-leaks

Secretive state begins repairs on ageing facilities after being revealed as worst country for leaks of potent greenhouse gas

theguardian.com

Holy smokes. The agents figured out a cheat to solve a hacking puzzle. To win, they needed to cover their tracks. Agents learned to coordinate using package managers. Hacked into a company and ultimately took over their OpenAI server. www.dwarkesh.com/p/openai-hug...

The Rise and Fall of Agent Civilizations

The whole OpenAI/Hugging Face story in plain English

dwarkesh.com

An export tax on oil and gas would be an exquisite response to the US taxing imports from Canada. Have fun explaining why tariffs are good, but export taxes are bad!

John Michael McGrath@jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 4w ago

Good morning. Ipsos has restricting energy exports to the US with 2:1 support; an oil & gas export tax at nearly 3:1 support. *In Alberta.* (Table 2.) www.ipsos.com/en-ca/canadi...

The human beings in chains shown in this photograph were living and working legally in the United States, contributing to US firms and communities and public coffers and churches, until the US Administration decided to *revoke* their legal status—due to no action of theirs.

I really can’t wait for Google’s explanation for why they caved to Trump’s insanity on Mexico, but won’t change Lake Ontario’s name.

Did I miss the big open letter signed by a hundred academics opposing this?

Stars and Stripes@starsandstripes.bsky.social · last mo.

A civilian geography professor was fired from West Point for pushing back after department officials barred faculty from teaching that humans contribute to climate change.

I’ve lost track of the number of times an immigrant has told me they had to sit on a prison bus in the back of an airport for six, 10, 20 hours with no food or water and being told to urinate in a corner or onto themselves.

Holy shit. No wonder Carney told the US to pound sand.

A great speech by the leader of the free world. The US 'signature was written in pencil' is a great line. It would make MAGA heads spin by responding with export tariffs on goods with inelastic import demand elasticities. www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-Wg...

FULL SPEECH | Carney explains why Canada suspended trade talks with U.S.

YouTube video by CBC News

youtube.com

Let’s call this what it is: an atrocious betrayal of people who risked their lives to help Americans.

Austin Kocher, PhD@austinkocher.com · last mo.

Hundreds of Afghans who worked for the US, including combat interpreters, now hold green cards and letters saying the visa they were granted for that service has been revoked. www.npr.org/2026/08/15/n...

This is great. Reinforces my belief that a modern manufacturing process for transformers would be extremely lucrative and consequential. Look at this. You’re telling me that’s the best way to build? C’mon now. Your customers must make money by spending money…

David Roberts@volts.wtf · last mo.

Very cool piece from Christopher Cox on how vulnerable the US grid is to plain old physical disruption. Quotes me talking about "dirty hippies"!

This outcomes was entirely predicted. The UK will now either continue to pay to pretend prices don’t exist, or pay for the transmission needed so that a uniform price actually prevails. The latter will accommodate substantial power generation growth.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · last mo.

The UK power system is stuck between a rock and a hard place ft.trib.al/eNff59W | opinion

A great article by the always-excllent @mattbarnum.bsky.social about my new study with @zbleemer.bsky.social on the "meritocratic consensus" in higher education: www.chalkbeat.org/2026/08/18/s...

How American higher education helps the rich get richer

Higher education’s admissions hierarchy is also a spending hierarchy. The students who arrive with the most advantages often receive the most resources.

chalkbeat.org