Stories about Kushner, Witkoff and inside trading relating to the Iran War have been abounding for months now.
Steve Cicala
@stevecicala.bsky.social
Vontobel Foundation Professor of Sustainable Economics University of Zurich Tufts University (on leave) https://www.stevecicala.com http://goingelectric.substack.com
Confession: I no longer list my construction or restaurant jobs on my LinkedIn page.
Scott Lincicome@scottlincicome.bsky.social · 2d agoNew @nberpubs: "Time Travel on Professional Profiles" www.nber.org/papers/w3554... 👀
Possibly the greatest single male athletic performance of all time Original post
There are 2 constraints on academics: the cuts in funding & restrictions on how universities manage their finances combined with a growing demand for more reporting of how they spend the monies. The 1st restricts the pie, the 2nd raises bureaucratic costs. Both stem from a deep suspicion of academia
Ben Ansell@benansell.bsky.social · 4d agoGlad someone senior from the sector is pushing back. Labour MPs need to understand the serious real anger from graduates and the people who produce them. And the dangerous financial situation they have allowed to fester, or indeed worsened, in one of Britain’s leading sectors.
"A concentration camp, in its most basic definition, is a place where a targeted civilian population, not necessarily accused of a crime, is detained and at least some of their basic rights are suspended," writes @jwashing.bsky.social. "That’s precisely what’s happening in the United States today."
Don’t call them ICE detention centers. Call them camps | John Washington
I’ve spent a decade reporting on immigration enforcement. The word ‘camp’ best captures the political function of these facilities
theguardian.com
Bordeaux, France, has now recorded more days above 40°C in 2026 alone than during the entire 105-year period from 1920 (when observations began) to 2025. This is deeply shocking.
You know, I don't think it's a great time to go all-in with onshoring a perfectly tradeable good whose main input is electricity. There's just no good reason for European AI models to be trained using EU electricity. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/b...
Europe Is Caught Between Low Gas Reserves and Rising Prices From Iran War
nytimes.com
Somerville, MA has also been experiencing the madness of conflating use facilitation with harm reduction. The upshot is that parks and public spaces have been forfeited to a small group of people who need help and are not getting it in the name of “compassion.” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The Cities That Said Yes to Drugs
Policies that gave addicts clean needles and places to use drugs were intended to reduce harm. They created a “zombie apocalypse.”
theatlantic.com
Random Priority—a popular no-transfer allocation mechanism—is efficient, fair, & simple to participate in. Is it the only mechanism with these properties? Marek Pycia @econ.uzh.ch and Peter Troyan, UVA Economics, answer this long-standing question in the positive. buff.ly/zlSjmC0
Trump Admin Condemned After Missouri Couple Killed in Guatemala Following Deportation www.commondreams.org/news/asylum-...
Trump Admin Condemned After Missouri Couple Killed in Guatemala Following Deportation | Common Dreams
"Deportation is a life-or-death matter." A couple deported to Guatemala found shot dead, leaving their baby crying beside them. How many more lives will be lost in the name of immigration enforcement?
commondreams.org
"This wave of anticipatory obedience is all the more egregious because – just as in the debates at Yale – non-leaders might sometimes just know better."
The federal government isn’t America’s only authoritarian institution | Jan-Werner Müller
Backlash at Yale to its negotiations with Trump shine a light on the danger of smaller authoritarian structures in civil society
theguardian.com
If he spent so much time at Daedalus that the photo of the article describing his life has him sitting there, he probably spent it pretty well.
NPR@npr.org · 2w agoRoss McElwee's documentaries have always been personal. After his son died, he wondered if it was all worth it.
Cutting jokes about politicians at the *Mark Twain* prize ceremony of all places. Cummings joked that Trump missed the evening’s festivities because he got “caught in sex traffic,” www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...
Comedian’s Trump joke at Kennedy Center show was cut from Netflix special
Whitney Cummings said she was told that her biting joke at the Mark Twain Prize ceremony would be cut from the special, released this week.
washingtonpost.com
I think if you’re so obsessed with race that you’re “taken out of” the *Odyssey*, you might be telling on yourself a little bit. Like not being able to enjoy a meal because of the skin tone of another guest across the restaurant. Perhaps we aren’t learning about the chef?
Dom Ervolina@dominicervolina.com · 2w agoIt appears The Odyssey will not be capturing the coveted mediocre white man demographic filmmakers so desperately crave
@gideonrachman.bsky.social on Trump's dangerous lack of strategy: "US got through 30% of its stock of Tomahawk cruise missiles and 50% of its Patriot interceptors in the first few weeks of its conflict with Iran (...) a possible window of opportunity is opening up for China to take military action."
Trump is slipping into an Iran quagmire
America cannot achieve its aims by negotiation. So regime change is back on the agenda
ft.com
So basically what everyone said was going to happen happened....
Amee Vanderpool@girlsreallyrule.bsky.social · 2w agoAfter Medicaid officials improperly shared data about millions of people with officials, ICE then shared that data with the analytics firm Palantir, which operates an app used by ICE agents to show the addresses of noncitizens who may be subject to deportation. www.npr.org/2026/07/17/n...
There’s still 15 minutes left for the ref to save this for Argentina.
The ads in Switzerland during the World Cup final are just making fun of Trump. youtu.be/1WoLrJcDwBM?...
Golf-Kick – Galaxus TV Spot (extended)
YouTube video by Galaxus
youtu.be
The fact that VP JD Vance and Richard Grenell went to Romania—on behalf of the Trump Administration— to advocate for Andrew and Tristan Tate, who by all accounts, were rapists running a coercive sex ring, then permitted them to come to Florida, should be a crazy, crazy scandal.
Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) Says Shut It Down!
ALT: Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) Says Shut It Down!
static.klipy.com
John Ross@johnrossmd.bsky.social · 3w agoMore data on microplastics and the heart: microplastics more frequently detected in the blood of patients with heart attacks, compared to controls. Smoking may be the major risk factor
🔥 Here in Boston, like elsewhere, we're seeing air pollution from Canadian wildfires — the odd-colored sun, the haze, and the real health risks that come with it. This has real costs. @kclausing.bsky.social, @knittelmit.bsky.social and I tallied ways that U.S. hhs have experienced climate change.
I also think much of the rather quiet response in the streets is owed to these people believing this justice will surely be meted out. In spite of Jan 6, it’s just inconceivable that they’ll get away with this mind boggling criminality. So we wait..
Micah@rincewind.run · 3w agoevelyn normielib is real and she is coming to a primary near you I cannot count the number of conversations I’ve had with normal offline liberals that would be TOS violations over here
I simultaneously believe AI will be transformative, and that there will be relatively little producer surplus to be captured by the multiple firms offering reasonably good substitutes. I think the "AGI race" framing that has driven this investment boom is a genuine mania. They'll lose their shirts.
Dean Baker@deanbaker13.bsky.social · 3w agoIt's very cute that, while stock investors think the AI companies will be the most profitable businesses in the history of the world, bond investors aren't convinced they can stay out of bankruptcy www.apollo.com/wealth/insig...
As someone how cares about climate and energy policy: Boy that Bill McKibben interview on Ezra Klein sucked. Just a bumbling mess of lefty talking points. First reference was praise for Mark Jacobson, the hack who sued a scientist for pointing out basic errors in his work. Downhill from there.
ICE is a menace to democracy and its murderous conduct should be soberly considered. But we should also recognize that these people are weak and sad and ought to be made fun of. Read more: www.theverge.com/policy/96430...
The Democratic Party's approval rating is in the toilet, and the main reason is voters see Dem leaders and prominent members acting like things are basically okay instead of fighting like there's an emergency. Slot "my friend Lindsey Graham, so funny, how great to work with him" comments into that.