Loose Tabs [Draft File]

On [05-31] I moved previous contents moved to here, which will eventually be renumbered to post.

This is a safe space for collecting items that may eventually go into a Loose Tabs post.

This is an occasional collection of newsworthy links and comments, much less systematic than what I attempted in my late Speaking of Which posts. The new name comes from my extensive use of browser tabs. When I get around to cleaning up, I often find tabs opened to old articles I might want to comment on and/or refer back to. So these posts are mostly housecleaning, but may also serve as a very limited but persistent record of what 20+ years ago I started calling "the end of the American empire" and nowadays feels more like "the end of civilization." I collect these bits in a draft file, and flush them out when periodically (12 times from April-December 2025). My previous one appeared 28 days ago, on May 12.

I have a little-used option of selecting bits of text highlighted with a background color, for emphasis a bit more subtle than bold or ALL CAPS. (I saw this on Medium. I started with their greenish color [#bbdbba] and lightened it a bit [#dbfbda].) I'll try to use it sparingly.

By the way, I've been trying to write some more in-depth pieces on major issues (and/or personal peccadillos), using Substack as an email agent. I call this series Notes on Everyday Life. Here's a list of recent ones, plus a couple of oldies I've pinned because they still seem relevant here, in LIFO order:

• [05-29]: But Reality Is Unscripted: Disturbing thoughts on Trump.

• [05-05]: The Real Road to Serfdom: Tim Wu explains how monopoly power leads to fascism.

• [05-02]: Lookback: Iraq 2003: Why does the Iran war story sound familiar? (with allowances for tragedy repeating as farce)?

• [04-27]: Explaining Inflation: AI treats us like 5-year-olds. They leave out a few things.

• [04-05]: Iran War: The Big Question: How does it end? Or does it end at all?

• [04-03]: Iran War: The Three Questions: Why is this happening?

• [03-13]: Days of Infamy: "Franklin Roosevelt knew how to sell a war." Donald Trump doesn't. He only knows how to start one.

• [2025-10-21]: Making Peace in Gaza and Beyond: "Looking beyond the Trump points toward a peace we can all live with."

• [2025-10-17]: Gaza War Peace Plan: "Twenty Trump points, for better or worse."

• [2025-08-10]: Four Stories: My first post, which sets out the basic ideas behind my effort, and takes its title from a very wrong-headed Vox piece that offered some teachable moments. One sample quote I buried in parentheses:

  There is no problem that Trump is the solution to. But his slogan, "Trump will fix it," suggests that some people thought we had problems he could fix. I think Trump's slogan was very effective, especially as Harris made little or no effort to show how very ridiculous the boast was.

I also have a Notes feed there. While I've done very little with it so far, it occurs to me that I might be able to use it to publish Loose Tabs items and Music Week reviews as I write them, instead of having to wait for a long compilation post.

Table of Contents:

New Stories

Sometimes stuff happens, and it dominates the news/opinion cycle for a few days or possibly several weeks. We might as well lead with it, because it's where attention is most concentrated. But eventually these stories will fold into the broader, more persistent themes of the following sections, or vanish altogether.

Last time: David Warsh and the Fed; AI Goes to trial; Trump Goes to China; The Hantavirus Outbreak; Cuba; SpaceX IPO; The Trump Slush Fund

Major Threads

War on Iran:

Israel:

Israel-American-World Relations: I used to try to separate out Israel-related pieces into several bins. The Iran war has its own news section. The Israel section above pertains to security operations in Gaza, Israel/Palestine, and Lebanon, as well as internal Israeli political affairs. This one deals with America's relationship to Israel, and possibly with the world's.

Ukraine, Other Hot Spots, and World Politics:

Trump's War Threats: I set this section up to deal with Trump's threats of war. We're obviously beyond that now, so see the section on Iran for more on that.

Trump vs. Law:

Trump's Administration: Trump can't remake America in his own image (i.e., destroy the country, culture, and civilization) just by himself. He needs help, and having largely purged the government of civil servants and replaced them with his own minions, this is what they are doing (whether he's paying attention or not):

Donald Trump:

Politicking: Pieces on US elections (recent and future) and, more generally, intra-party politicking. Party-specific pieces in following sections.

Other Republicans:

Democrats:

The Economy (and Economists):

Technology (Including AI):

Media:

Regular Columnists

Sometimes an interesting columnist writes often enough that it makes sense to collect their work in one place, rather than scatter it about.

Dean Baker:

Tom Carson:

Current Affairs: Including interviews by Nathan J Robinson.

Jeffrey St Clair:

TomDispatch:

Miscellaneous Pieces

The following articles are more/less in order published, although some authors have collected pieces, and some entries have related articles underneath.

Books:

Other media:

Obituaries: I had been using the New York Times, but they're giving me aggravation these days, so I'll switch over to Wikipedia (May), which is probably better anyway. Roughly speaking, since my last report on May 12:

Some other names I recognize:

Tweets: I've usually used this section for highlighting clever responses and/or interesting ideas.

Current count: #^c