Category: Uncategorized

Trump’s big beautiful bill is unlikely to raise the opposition that Democrats hope it will. The tax cuts will go into effect immediately, but the Medicaid cuts will not go into effect until after the midterm elections.  The tax cuts will not be very apparent because they just extend the…

The old nuc­lear rules won’t stop pro­lif­er­a­tion From the Financial Times: The writer is exec­ut­ive dir­ector of the Non- pro­lif­er­a­tion Policy Edu­ca­tion Cen­ter and was the Pentagon’s deputy for non­pro­lif­er­a­tion from 1989-93 Henry Sokol­ski Of all the ques­tions Amer­ica’s bomb­ing of Iran has gen­er­ated, the one that’s received the least…

The Financial Times’ Martin Wolf has written an excellent column on the international and domestic dangers unleashed by Donald Trump’s administration. He says: Let us start with the domestic front. We are watch­ing an assault on the rule of law. Abbe Low­ell, erstwhile defender of Jared Kush­ner and Hunter Biden,…

American President Trump and Brazilian President Lula have been arguing at long distance since Lula hosted the BRICs meeting in Brazil.  According to Bloomberg, Lula told Trump to mind his own business after Trump defended former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro from criminal prosecution in Brazil for attempting a coup.  “This country…

In the Financial Times, Ankit Panda opines that the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites may be the death knell for the nuclear non-proliferation regime. Iran’s lead­ers now have sev­eral options, but a chief con­sid­er­a­tion will be the mat­ter of whether to remain in the NPT or to become only…

When I arrived in Rome, my predecessor had been gone for some time.  His assistant, who would be my assistant, had been handling the science job until my arrival.  I had not had Italian language training, and the main issue for the office was fisheries, which was handled by the…

Bloomberg reports that export controls will play an increasing role in trade negotiations: The London meetings showcased the growing role of export controls in modern trade warfare, where access to rare minerals or tiny microchips can give one economy a big edge over a rival. China controls much of the…

A New York Times editorial described the ways in which President Trump has behaved corruptly in office: The self-enrichment of the second Trump administration is different from old-fashioned corruption. There is no evidence that Mr. Trump has received direct bribes, nor is it clear that he has agreed to specific…

Miles Taylor v. Trump https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/06/03/anonymous-miles-taylor-trump-treason-interview-00380063

As I was finishing my tour as the deputy director of the State Department’s “green” environmental office – responsible for living things like forests, animals, and humans – the office across the hall that was responsible for supporting foreign service science officers in the field asked if I would accept…