Mailbag: Remembering Kevin Drum Plus rising anti-semitism and likely rising nuclear proliferation

I am really missing Kevin.

Matt's remembrance is very good at saying why so many people liked me depended on Kevin's reporting and analysis and graphs (!) to give us a thoughtful view of the world and of events.

Plus cats and beautiful photos.

www.slowboring.com/p/mailbag-re...

Tusk is really rising to the occasion www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/w...

Dawn chorus.

Who Merlin says we're hearing (screenshot) 👇

Trump thinks his experience in real estate prepared him to run a nation, so he rejects the advice of people studying international negotiations and diplomacy. But leaders on the other side look at him and they know exactly what he is going to do and how to respond to it medium.com/@davidhonig_...

Yes. But they are missing that much of this has to be performative. That’s what Trump is great at and Dems are awful at.

You can’t just tell voters , you have to know how to sell voters.

Trump gives sales pitches, Dems show charts. One goes viral. The other is ignored and forgotten

Folks: I am NOT affiliated with the group that is using my name to support an economic boycott. Please spread this post, if you would.

No idea what the outcome will be, but I don’t think you can compare a temporary dip in prices of one crop affecting a limited number of farmers to taking a sledgehammer to a complex system that supports all of US agriculture. That destruction can’t be fixed with a bailout.

The Devastating Impact of Trump 2.0 on U.S. Farmers The fallout begins...

Hi Nathan, in case you’re still around, great example from someone who writes about ag from a farmers perspective. Here’s the Substack, but she also put it on FB (bigger audience). open.substack.com/pub/farmerge...

The Devastating Impact of Trump 2.0 on U.S. Farmers The fallout begins...

This is how it’s done. Don’t just rant, show the effects of these actions on ordinary Americans. WITH sources. Georgie writes about ag from a farmers perspective.

open.substack.com/pub/farmerge...

Sean Philips: Fucking hero status, unlocked.

These signs are real and were posted in DFW Airport bathroom stalls, but it’s an epic level troll. Those “cameras” are the self-flushing sensor. That phone number? Straight to Dan Patrick’s office.

To whomever posted these, you have my deepest respect.

Also, follow Pete. He just got here today.

Well aware Fox "News" junkies can't be reached, but I don't think that describes everyone who voted for Trump. Trump won by a very slim margin in 2024. Large groups of people (like 80 million Trump voters) aren't going to be all the same. Assuming that all 80 million are Foxbots gets us nowhere.

Wow.

Here's another example - how cutting USAID hurts American farmers. No mention of Trump. Let people read factual information and ask themselves, who's harebrained idea was that?

Note the linked statement never mentions Trump. Inform people of what is happening, let them ask themselves if that's what they want. When you figure out something for yourself instead of being preached at, you're much more likely to be convinced.

Indirect Costs and Their Impact on Our Research Mission Now is the time to defend the research partnership that has done so much for our nation and the world, and that can do even more in the future.

My point is to avoid "saying something negative about Trump" but rather to discuss the *effects* of policy decisions, for example how the cuts in funding for lab infrastructure (indirect costs) will negatively affect, for example, cancer research. www.harvard.edu/president/ne...

The way to go is showing the effects of his actions as factually, neutrally,and calmly as possible. Many effects, from many sources, data, analyses. Those who can be persuaded (many can’t no matter what) will be if they are given facts and convince themselves. Telling people what to think backfires.

For anyone, like me, who
Wasn’t familiar with the Invictus Games: “The Invictus Games is an international multi-sport event first held in 2014, for wounded, injured and sick military service personnel, both serving and veterans.”

Visit me in the camps

I’m not sure it makes any difference which it is, but I did briefly wonder as I read this, is he too stupid to realize what he’s doing or does he not give a shit who dies as a result of his gleeful destructiveness. Both, most likely.

EPIC CFPB Complaint: Rocket Money <p>EPIC and the NYU Tech Law and Policy Clinic filed a complaint with the CFPB against financial technology company Rocket Money, alleging unfair, deceptive, and abusive trade practices and violations...

I should add what I found when I googled them just now about the CPFB (RIP) complaint against them epic.org/documents/ep....

Just now heard of it myself, so I all know is what I read 5 seconds ago, but earlier in the thread someone said Rocket Money app does that. Someone else added they ask for a donation rather than charge a specific amount.

Podcast Archive - Volts Full archive of all the episodes from Volts.

I started reading David Roberts at Vox when he was writing there. Now listen to almost all his Volts podcasts. That information ecosystem is a whole different world. List of recent episodes to give you an idea: www.volts.wtf/podcast/arch...

How long will we have the WaybackMachine? I've always been nervous about having all the important data of the modern world-scientific data,historical documents,personal memories-stored on something as ephemeral as electrons in a cloud."You can always find it on the WaybackMachine" does not reassure

I've always been nervous about having all the important information of the modern world, from scientific research data and historical documents to our personal memories, stored on something as ephemeral as electrons in a cloud. "You can always find it on the Wayback Machine" does not reassure me.