curated citations to news sources
James Eagle: Chart Dump: US Tariffs
President Trump’s latest tariff salvo has gone into effect. We’ve seen a doubling of India’s rate to 50% for buying Russian oil that the US once begged them to purchase. Swiss diplomats are in emergency sessions after a random 39% shock that makes no sense to fair trade and competition. Meanwhile Toyota just announced it’s suspending new model launches.
We are witnessing the most radical reshaping of global trade since the 1930s, compressed into seven chaotic months of Trump’s presidency. The numbers are staggering: effective tariff rates have sextupled from 2.5% to over 18%, the highest since Smoot-Hawley helped trigger the Great Depression.
I’ve done a chart dump for you. These 18 charts show how $108 billion in tariff revenue is costing trillions in economic destruction, why China is winning by losing this trade war, and how Trump’s fiscal fantasy is colliding with mathematical reality.
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Today’s effective tariff rate almost match the Depression-era Smoot-Hawley tariffs that helped collapse global trade by two-thirds, providing the historical context for Chart 1’s alarming numbers. But unlike the 1930s gradual descent, we’ve speedrun to Depression-level protectionism in just seven months.
(James Eagle more…)
yahoo!: Continuing claims for unemployment benefits hit highest level since November 2021
CNN: Trump’s tariffs are bringing in tens of billions of dollars a month. What’s the government doing with all that money?
Bulwark: Trump’s Tariffs Won’t Spare Even the ‘American Made’
Todd Beeton: Trump’s ‘Golden Age’ Is Nothing More Than Fool’s Gold
A closer look at the data reveals the painful truth about Trump’s economy
PBS News Hour: As Trump’s tariffs kick in, economist breaks down inflation and recession warning signs
James Eagle: The US dollar has slid against most major currencies
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – August 7, 2025
At 7:22 this morning, President Donald J. Trump posted on social media: “I have instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin work on a new and highly accurate CENSUS based on modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024. People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump has no power to change the timing of the U.S. Census, which is mandated by the Constitution to take place every ten years.
He also has no power to declare that undocumented immigrants won’t be counted: the Constitution specifies that representatives “shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State.” …
…Taking an accurate census suddenly is also not remotely possible. Setting one up takes most of the decade between them and costs close to $15 billion. Census officials are already working on the 2030 census.
Trump’s announcement is revealing, though, in two ways.
First, it shows how aware he and administration officials are that their program is deeply unpopular and that they expect to lose control of the House of Representatives in 2026 unless they rig the system. …
…But there is an even darker image behind destroying our democratic system. If undocumented immigrants aren’t counted, their districts will be shortchanged on representation and whatever federal monies are still available for states, for sure. But if undocumented immigrants aren’t counted, will they be easier to dehumanize? Already the government is taking people from the streets and denying their right to due process. Observers are describing human rights abuses in detention facilities where most of those incarcerated have no criminal record. If undocumented people are not officially recognized as existing, they could simply disappear.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Robert Reich: What Blue States should do if Red States super-gerrymander
How to avoid a race to the bottom
(Robert Reich more…)Lev Parnas: Trump Says “We’re Entitled to Five More Seats”—Texas Turns into a Battlefield
Inside the national redistricting coup, FBI overreach, and the dangerous playbook of Project 2025.
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Bulwark: As Trump Evolves on Ukraine, MAGA Won’t Admit It Was Wrong
The president’s “peace” plan failed, and his former supporters are conspicuously quiet.
…Does this sound like a president who has “leverage” over Putin, as Vance insisted earlier this year? Had Trump and Vance listened to Zelensky instead of screaming at him in the Oval Office and kicking him out of the White House, they would have understood that Putin’s ostensible desire to negotiate was just a stalling tactic. At every stage of the negotiations, Putin has refused to budge from maximalist demands which are obviously unacceptable to Kyiv, not to mention Ukraine’s European allies. Putin wants a pretext to continue fighting a war he believes he can win.
(Bulwark more…)
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Closer to the Edge: The erasure of Ayman Soliman
From Hospital Chaplain to Detainee: How the U.S. Turned a Man of Faith Into a Target
On July 17, 2025, dozens of protesters marched onto the John A. Roebling Bridge connecting Cincinnati to Covington to demand the release of Ayman Soliman — a man who, by every measure of decency, should have been free. Instead, they were met with batons, fists, and felony charges.They shut down the bridge with banners, chants, and righteous fury. The police responded by body-slamming protestors into the pavement. One officer punched a man in the face while others pinned him to the concrete. At least thirteen people were arrested, including two journalists. The bridge — once a symbol of connection — became a checkpoint in a country increasingly defined by cages, zip ties, and the smell of pepper spray.
This wasn’t a violent mob. It was a peaceful stand for a man whose only crime was being too visible, too principled, and too Arab for the comfort of the machine.
Ayman Soliman is a former hospital chaplain. He ministered to dying children. He held the hands of grieving parents. He prayed over hospital beds. He fled Egypt after being tortured for reporting on the Arab Spring. He was granted asylum in 2018. He did everything right — until he walked into an ICE check-in on July 9 and didn’t walk out.
They claim he’s tied to a charitable organization in Egypt that may have some historic link to the Muslim Brotherhood — a group that, for the record, is not even on America’s terrorist list. The government knew about this affiliation when they gave him asylum. They only cared once he filed a lawsuit against the FBI for flagging him without explanation. That’s when the hammer came down. Quietly, surgically, like all the best state violence.
(Closer to the Edge more…)
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404 Media: A CBP Agent Wore Meta Smart Glasses to an Immigration Raid in Los Angeles
Video obtained and verified by 404 Media shows a CBP official wearing Meta’s AI glasses, which are capable of recording and connecting with AI. “I think it should be seen in the context of an agency that is really encouraging its agents to actively intimidate and terrorize people,” one expert said.
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NY Times: Judge Orders Halt to Construction at Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
A federal judge said work must stop for 14 days while she considered arguments that building and operating the immigration detention facility would harm the environment.
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David Patterson: Congress wants to cut the smartest investment taxpayers ever made
Technologists: Politicizing professional social media
arsTECHNICA: New executive order puts all grants under political control
All new funding on hold until Trump administration can cancel any previously funded grants.
AXIOS: Trump demands Intel CEO resign, alleging conflicts over China ties
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LawFare Media: From Russian Interference to Revisionist Innuendo: What the Gabbard Files Actually Say
Tulsi Gabbard’s latest “revelations” are being spun as proof of a deep state conspiracy. The documents themselves tell a much duller story.
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The War Zone: Cybertrucks Wanted By Air Force As Missile Targets
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Adam Mockler: Trump’s Secret Dinner Was Meant to Hide Epstein’s Crimes
Jay Kuo: The White House Fumbles on Epstein, Again
Pro-tip: Don’t schedule a big White House strategy meeting about the Epstein files, call it off when word leaks, then hold it in secret anyway. Bad look! Sad!!
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Decoding Fox News: What Epstein Files? Sydney Sweeney Has Blue Genes!
A condensed overview of 25 hours of Fox News for the week ending 8/3/25
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties