Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Mark Episkopos
“His initial instincts for talking were right; he shouldn’t let frustration or the need for a quick ‘win’ to cloud his judgement here.” (07/31/25)
Source: United Press International
“U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the United States will impose a 15% tariff on South Korean goods in what he called a ‘full and complete trade deal’ between the two countries ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline for negotiations. … The 15% tariffs will apply to South Korea’s automobile industry — its largest export sector to the United States — U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote in a post on X. … The major South Korean exports of steel and aluminum will remain at the global rate of 50% that Trump has set, however.” [editor’s note: Prior to Trump’s trade war idiocy, the effective tariff rate on American buyers of goods from South Korea varied by good … below 3% – TLK] (07/31/25)
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“Polygenic embryo screening is a natural extension of two well-validated technologies: genetic testing of embryos, and polygenic prediction of traits in adults. Genetic testing of embryos has been done for decades, usually to detect chromosomal abnormalities like Down Syndrome or simple single-gene disorders like cystic fibrosis. It’s challenging – you need to take a very small number of cells (often only 5-10) from a tiny proto-placenta that may not have many cells to spare, and extract a readable amount of genetic material from this limited sample – but there are known solutions that mostly work. But most traits are polygenic, requiring information about thousands or tens of thousands of genes to predict. These are too complicated to understand fully at current levels of technology, but some studies have chipped away at the problem and gotten a partial understanding.” (07/31/25)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/suddenly-trait-based-embryo-selection
Source: Quillette
“Inside the uncompromising vision of Britain’s strictest headmistress, Katharine Birbalsingh.” (07/31/25)
https://quillette.com/2025/07/31/how-to-build-a-better-society-one-school-at-a-time/
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“‘The Crown says it’s seeking an extraordinary sentence for an unprecedented crime,’ wrote Arthur White-Crummey for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation last week, ‘as court began hearing sentencing submissions Wednesday in the mischief case of Ottawa truck convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber. The ‘Ottawa truck convoy’ is what they are calling the big anti-totalitarian protests made by truckers in Canada during the late pandemic scare. … a specific kind of government does indeed prosecute its opponents in this manner, no matter how peaceful. Tyrannical governments.” (07/31/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/07/31/precedented-prosecution/
Source: Washington Post
by Matt Bai
“After skipping the California governor’s race, she should make the same call on the presidency.” (07/31/25)
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“The Trump administration takes on higher ed.” (07/31/25)
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/31/1256500274/the-trump-administration-takes-on-higher-ed
Source: Quillette
by Daniel Lelchuk
“His ability to provide valued counsel to Presidents of both major parties originated from a deep love for his country tempered by decades of accumulated political wisdom.” (07/31/25)
Source: The Atlantic
“Can San Francisco Be Saved?” (07/31/25)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/07/can-san-francisco-be-saved/683594
Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow
“Throughout most of America’s history, Ukraine has been ruled from Moscow. The Ukrainian people have long suffered under that relationship, but Washington never considered going to war on Kiev’s behalf. Ukraine matters far more to Europe than America, and, as Trump has admitted, the current conflict was fueled by Washington’s multiple broken promises not to expand NATO to Russia’s borders. U.S. interests would be best served by cutting off fuel for the conflict, with its dangerous potential of escalating into a nuclear confrontation.” (07/31/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-russia-ukraine-war-belongs-to-russia-and-ukraine/