Category Archives: Opinion

THE NEW YORK TIMES – WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2025

Kennedy Cancels Nearly $500 Million in mRNA Vaccine Contracts

The vaccines, first used for Covid-19, can be developed quickly and altered as a virus changes. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been critical of the technology.

Rebuilding Faces, Lives and a Sense of Self in Ukraine

Surgeons have made significant strides in tending to the war’s wounded, particularly through the use of 3-D printing.

War Shattered His Face. Technology Helped Reconstruct It.

Truce Quiets Syrian City Torn by Sectarian Clashes

The fighting has stopped in Sweida, three weeks after a deadly eruption of violence. But the area remains tense as clashes continue beyond the city.

PHILOSOPHY NOW MAGAZINE – AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2025

PHILOSOPHY NOW MAGAZINE (August 5, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The Sources of Knowledge Issue’

Xuanzang & the Gettier Problem

Maya Koka journeys through the desert to seek knowledge about knowledge.

The Philosophical Method of Exception

Peter Keeble spotlights and critiques a common philosophical technique.

Popper, Science & Democracy

Brian King follows Popper’s idea of the evolution of knowledge, life and society.

Challenging the Objectivity of Science

Sina Mirzaye Shirkoohi observes science to get the facts straight about it.

Gödel, Wittgenstein, & the Limits of Knowledge

Michael D. McGranahan takes us to the edge of language, mathematics and science.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2025

Trump Says He Will Hit India With New Tariffs Within 24 Hours

President Trump has ratcheted up pressure over India’s purchases of Russian oil. India has said its treatment is “unjustified and unreasonable.”

Republicans Suddenly Distrust Jobs Data After Trump Fires Statistics Chief

Trump’s Deal-Making With Other Elite Schools Unsettles Harvard Negotiations

The university was open to President Trump’s demand of $500 million, but a $50 million settlement with Brown has prompted new debates in Cambridge, Mass.

As Vouchers Threaten Public Schools, Some Up Their Marketing Game

A decline in the number of children and rise in the number of choices has caused some public schools to try new strategies to recruit students.

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE – AUGUST 11, 2025 PREVIEW

The illustrated cover of the August 11 2025 issue of The New Yorker in which a trans woman poses as the Statue of Liberty.

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE: The latest cover features ‘Amy Sherald’s “Trans Forming Liberty” – The art and politics of representation.

The Politics of Fear

As a Presidential candidate, Donald Trump made his world view plain: there was “us” and there was “them.” Once he was in the White House, the fear factor would prevail. By David Remnick

The Pain of Perfectionism

It’s the fault people humblebrag about in job interviews. but psychologists are discovering more and more about the real harm it causes. By Leslie Jamison

The Engines and Empires of New York City Gambling

As plans are laid for a new casino, one can trace, through four figures, a history of rivalry and excess, rife with collisions of character and crime. By Adam Gopnik

THE NEW YORK TIMES – MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 2025

Netanyahu Squanders His Moment to Halt the War

After securing a victory over Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is pushing for an “all or nothing” deal with Hamas without offering compromises.

A Weakened Hezbollah Resists Pressure to Give Up Its Weapons

The Lebanese militant group has lost much of its power but is balking at demands to surrender whatever is left of its once formidable arsenal.

What’s It Like to Deal With Brutal U.S. Tariffs? Ask Malaysia.

The solar industry profited from Chinese investment. Now it’s becoming a case study of what happens when the U.S. closes its markets.

Texas Democrats Leave State to Block G.O.P. From Redrawing Political Map

Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, threatened to remove lawmakers who walked out if they did not return by Monday.

LITERARY REVIEW – AUGUST 2025 NEW BOOKS PREVIEW

LITERARY REVIEW (August 2, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Mark Twain’s American Odyssey’…

The Bard & the Builders: The Dream Factory: London’s First Playhouse and the Making of William Shakespeare By Daniel Swift

Hannibal’s Lament: Carthage: A New History of an Ancient Empire By Eve MacDonald

Colosseum Confidential: Those Who Are About to Die: Gladiators and the Roman Mind By Harry Sidebottom

THE NEW YORK TIMES – SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2025

Trump’s Efforts to Control Information Echo an Authoritarian Playbook

President Trump fired the official who compiled jobs data, underscoring his tendency to suppress facts he doesn’t like and promote his version of reality.

Until Trump Fired Her, She Was an Economist With Bipartisan Support

Erika McEntarfer led the agency that produced data on jobs and inflation. President Trump accused her of “rigging” the numbers, without offering evidence.

Trump’s Tariffs Are Making Money. That May Make Them Hard to Quit.

The tariffs imposed by President Trump are a substantial new source of revenue for the federal government, and the budget may start to depend on them.

No Passports, No Study Abroad: China Limits Public Employees’ Travel

Even low-level government employees like elementary school teachers and nurses have been ordered to hand in their passports, to enforce “discipline.”

Some Chinese in U.S. Weigh Painful Question: Stay or Flee Under Trump?

THE NEW YORK TIMES – SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2025

Lashing Out Over Russia and Jobs Data, Trump Displays His Volatile Side

President Trump had been on a winning streak. But when faced with facts and foes that wouldn’t bend to his will, he responded with disproportionate intensity.

Trump, Claiming Weak Jobs Numbers Were ‘Rigged,’ Fires Labor Official

After a Lag, Consumers Begin to Feel the Pinch of Tariffs

There are growing signs that President Trump’s levies are filtering through to consumer prices, as companies exhaust options for keeping them stable.

Mike Huckabee, Israel’s Passionate Defender as Gaza War Drives Allies Away

Mr. Huckabee, a Baptist minister, is the first evangelical to serve as American ambassador to Israel. Christian conservatives and Israel’s government are pleased.

American Victims of Hamas and Hezbollah Attacks Sue U.N. Agency

THE ECONOMIST MAGAZINE – AUGUST 2, 2025 PREVIEW

THE ECONOMIST MAGAZINE: The latest issue features Greenlash‘ –

The climate needs a politics of the possible

To win voters’ consent, policymakers must offer pragmatism and hope

What opponents of the EU-US trade deal get wrong

Internal reform matters more than external trade

America is easing chip-export controls at exactly the wrong time

The ban on sales to China was working, and should be kept in place

THE NEW YORK TIMES – FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 2025

Employers Slow Hiring in July, Adding 73,000 Jobs

Chart showing job gains over the last 13 months. In July, the economy gained 73,000 jobs.

The U.S. labor market showed signs of weakening as job gains for the previous two months were also revised lower.


How Did Hunger Get So Much Worse in Gaza?

Less food is going into Gaza now than in most other times in the war. Many people have malnutrition, and Gazan health officials say scores have died.

Trump, Term-Limited, Amasses $200 Million War Chest for Political Ambitions

The money, raised by President Trump’s super PAC, is meant to beat Democrats. But some Republicans worry it could be used to beat Republicans, too.

Corruption Scandal Puts Mexico’s President on Defense

Claudia Sheinbaum, battling U.S. accusations that the cartels have gripped her government, is facing a scandal in which two former officials are on the run.