David Passmore

UP ON THE ROOF:
bit.ly/46Fvuob
"When this old world starts getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face (Up on the roof)
I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space."
~ The Drifters youtu.be/b_ksNvivbEI?...)

Pittsburgh's response to Palantir.
www.wsj.com/tech/palanti...

Better yet, stay out of Aldi's.

In an mRNA vaccine, mRNA enters the cell, is captured by ribosomes that deliver proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum that creates a spike on the cell to reject an infectuous particle.

Traditional vaccines use a (usually unactivated) virus particle. The body creates antibodoes to the virus.

MY SIMPLE UNDERSTANDING:
In the cell, ribosomes build proteins. The endoplasmic reticulum manufactures, folds, and transports proteins and lipids essential for cell function.

RFK Jr. Cancels Nearly $500 Million in mRNA Vaccine Contracts That kind of shot was first used during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the health secretary has been sharply critical of the technology.

RFKJr cancels $500 mill in mRNA research contracts. He hold several evident untruths re mRNA.
nyti.ms/3J8lOIZ

I am thy father's spirit;
Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night
And, for the day, confin'd to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes, done in my days of nature,
Are burnt and purg'd away.
~ Hamet, Act 1, Scene 5

What, Mark? You seein’ something?

From Wall Street Journal
www.wsj.com/world/china/...

Exclusive | China Is Choking Supply of Critical Minerals to Western Defense Companies Beijing is squeezing the flow of key elements needed to make defense systems, a sign of the leverage China has over the U.S. military supply chain.

IS GENERAL TSO TIGHTENING?

"More than 80,000 parts that are used in Defense Department weapons systems are made with critical minerals now subject to Chinese export controls."

www.wsj.com/world/asia/c...

Opinion | We’re About to Find Out if Kennedy Is Serious Conservatives hated Michelle Obama’s food plan. Now they’re all in on MAHA.

INSPECT EVERY ITEM ON ITS MERITS, NOT ON POLITICS

RFKJr is at war on ultra-processed foods and food dyes. Rejecting his actions is often general, but some ideas probably have merit. The details of his ideas require close inspection. Evidence might sink some. Some might have merit.

nyti.ms/3IV6tvg

What Donald Trump is teaching Harvard Under pressure, America’s oldest university may make a deal

WOULD RESISTANCE TO TRUMP DEMANDS DESTROY HARVARD

"Mr Trump may be 'dictatorial' but 'resistance should be strategic, not suicidal'."

Moral hazard for U.S. universities if Harvard capitulates to Trump's demands? Does the U.S. need Harvard/research universities?

www.economist.com/united-state...

Are Douthat's assertions valid? He warns that "Populism already rules in Italy and Hungary, it might govern France and Britain soon, it’s rising in Germany, and Japan and South Korea have their own forms of post-liberal polarization."

Is Trump the harbinger for the new world order?

Is an EU partnership with China likely? Douthat writes, "The risks of throwing yourself fully into China’s orbit are still much more extreme than the costs of managing a populist administration in Washington." And, "The future of freedom will be American or it will not be at all."

Opinion | There’s a Hard Lesson in Trump’s Trade Deal U.S. power is too big to escape or isolate or ignore.

EU CAPITULATED TO U.S. HARD POWER?
NYTimes columnist, Ross Douthat, claims that "American economic power is just too big to escape or isolate or ignore," and "Almost all of our liberal-democratic peers are poorer than we are and too sclerotic to suddenly surge past us."
nyti.ms/4ffyji2

July 28, 2025 Today’s theme seems to be Republican leadership digging into positions that are directly contradicted by facts.

“He’s using our money to buy himself a gift. A billion dollar gift.”

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-28-2025

All the Dogs, Explained From MinuteEarth, a quick tour of all the different kinds of dogs in the world, wild & domesticated, and how they are related to

FINALLY: NEWS I CAN USE

kottke.org/25/07/all-th...

Head of China's famous Shaolin Temple under investigation on suspicion of embezzling funds China's Shaolin Temple said its abbot, Shi Yongxin, is under investigation for misappropriation and embezzlement of funds.

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting
Those kids were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But they fought with expert timing.

apnews.com/article/chin...

Chronicles the troubling confrontation between Donald Trump and a feisty 92-year-old widow, Molly Forbes, as she refuses to make way for his golf course.

YouTube video by Journeyman Pictures The film the Trump Organization tried to suppress | You've Been Trumped Too (2020) | Full Film

I don't do movie reviews, but I think you might like this documentary:
youtu.be/k9RweR9EUSg

Opinion | President Trump, I Am Not Your Enemy. I Am a Doctor. (Published 2020)

NOT AN ENEMY--A DOCTOR

"If you happen to get sick and come to my hospital, I will do everything in my power to make sure you get the best care possible. Even if you want me out of your country."

www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/o...

"Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas did not respond to questions about whether he would approve state funding for a fly factory."

Avian Flu Wiped Out Poultry. Now the Screwworm Is Coming for Beef.

SCREWWORM POISED TO AFFECT BEEF PRODUCTION

“We are desperately short on sterile fly production."

Producers lost $20 million per year before the screwworm was eradicated.
bit.ly/4mgm3QD

Trump wants Australia to import U.S. beef--challenging for many reasons. Now, screwed by screwworm.

Yes, a good investment to limit public electricity use. It should pay off. It had better. Pittsburgh is facing, like many other metro areas, severe budget challenges.

Exclusive | White House Seeks Payments From Other Universities—Including Harvard—After Columbia Deal Sets Precedent The Trump administration is in talks with several schools about future funding following allegations of antisemitism.

"IF BOTH [UNIVERSITIES] FAIL, WHAT'S THE CHANCE THAT REST...HAVE TO HOLD THEIR OWN AGAINST TRUMP?"

www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

Interesting development to reduce light pollution in Pittsburgh.

Trump’s immigration policies may threaten American AI leadership | Brookings Judy Wang and Nicol Turner Lee explore how President Trump's immigration policies may hurt talent pipelines for AI development in the U.S.

GOOD PLACE TO WORK?

Welcoming immigration policies of the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada...actively recruit workers with in-demand skills and offer streamlined paths to naturalization.

The UK, e.g., is "a beneficiary of the failures of the U.S. system.”

www.brookings.edu/articles/tru...