This is a terrible move in general, but one detail stands out: Among the majors that would be ended is the BA in music at Indiana University. This is a premier music program, and faculty/grad opportunities would have to be cut substantially. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Before you get too enthusiastic about the Supreme Court ruling striking down Trump's tariffs, consider the jurisprudence -- and its political economy. open.substack.com/pub/peterdor...

It's not too soon to think seriously about saving electoral democracy in the U.S. This post explains why the SAVE Act is a mortal threat and identifies the checkpoints ahead of us this year. open.substack.com/pub/peterdor...

This is definitely worth a read. The New Deal financial regulatory system is mostly holes at this point. Patching it won't help much. www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/fin...

This is an important article, but it doesn't mention the obvious conclusion: police shouldn't have unions. Neither should soldiers. Armed forces of all sorts should have an unambiguous chain of command. Pay them well, but don't let them set policy. www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...

Happy New Year -- and welcome to the YEAR OF THE FIRE HOSE.

Epstein I: financial and organizational facilitator of a network of tech scholars and billionaires with a peculiar philosophy of science and politics. Epstein II: mastermind of a gruesome teenage girl sex ring. What's the connection? open.substack.com/pub/peterdor...

This is an important criticism of the "keep it out of the classroom" chorus. (1) Lots of stuff gets said in the classroom, so this becomes the equivalent of anti-loitering laws. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

This article doesn't identify the individual(s) who issued the order to cease the Good investigation. Their names should be recorded, and after Trump is gone they should be prosecuted for interference. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u...

These are all good suggestions, and the underlying point is right. I would add one thing, though. The critical reform (if you want one) is accountability. DOJ and DHS must commit to allowing state and local agencies to investigate and prosecute ICE and BP agents. jacobin.com/2026/02/demo...

A+ is the new 11! Crank it up! www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/u...

There is a strong possibility that ICE maintains a database of people who have previously confronted them. They have photo recognition on their phones. Investigators should explore whether Pretti's murder was premeditated. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/u...

This is a bizarre article, which doesn't even try to answer the crucial question in the headline. *What can the Trump people do with those rolls?* The lack of serious thinking on this topic is itself scary. Lay out the scenarios in which access to voter data matters. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/u...

What about the decision by Trump's EPA to not put a monetary value on lives saved by regulation? Overdue or outrage? To answer we need the length and depth of Substack, not Bluesky.

Note the part near the end about DOGE people merging Social Security data with voter rolls. This points to one possibility I played up in my Substack: if Trump gains access to other state voter rolls, he will try to use them to implement selective voter suppression. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/u...

This is an important ruling for Nov. If the Feds can access the full voter rolls in blue states, it gives them more options for selective suppression. No doubt decisions such as this will be appealed, and in the end it will be up to SCOTUS to hold the line. reader.theoregonian.com/judge-hands-...

Aside from the utter inanity of the whole thing, the Greenland "issue" is a straight up economic problem. It's a big chunk of real estate. What's Trump's initial offer? And where would the money come from? New taxes? Cuts to other budgets? More debt? Is anyone even asking?

A terrible event in the world of cream cheese... I just posted this to Hungry Onion. Any thoughts?

Could there have been aerial surveillance of Minneapolis when Renee Good was killed? Has anyone examined the possibility? Have the relevant agencies been queried?

Just saw "Cover-Up", the new documentary on Sy Hersh. It's really good, politically insightful, fair and remarkably well-organized. Great archival footage. It's streaming on Netflix and shouldn't be missed.

About a month ago, our "Stop Arming Israel" sign was stolen. So we put up a new one, and redirected the security camera on it. A few nights ago it was stolen again -- by someone who snuck along the side of the house to avoid the camera, rather than just walking up from the street.

See the last paragraph. This is why MN should be seeking an emergency order placing all evidence in judicial custody. The bullet holes in the driver's side window will be dispositive. Of course, the evidence from the autopsy is also crucial. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/u...

Can someone explain to me why MN would withdraw from investigating this killing rather than seeking an emergency court order mandating access to evidence? Don't they have a legal (not to mention ethical) responsibility to pursue this? www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/u...

An underappreciated effect of rising income inequality: shifting production toward higher-end goods. This can disadvantage consumers further down on the ladder. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/b...

This is extracted from the latest Paul Krugman post. Note that a solid majority of Republicans (in this poll) support the US taking over Venezuela, with another quarter undecided.

It's an argument from heterogeneity across scientific realms. True. But the whole trust/doubt dichotomy is a false duality. The question is extent of support, direct and indirect for a given claim: evidence & consistency w/ well-established bodies of knowledge. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/o...

Portland this morning from Mt. Tabor. Fortunately, that's fog, not tear gas.

One reason the Venezuelan kidnapping seems crazy to us is we don't see force the way militarists do. Force is not a means but an end: dominance. You have to use it from time to time for it to remain effective. Even losing works if you cause enough damage.

The way it works with Trump is that the ransom comes first. If you don't pay it, then you get kidnapped.

The first rule of journalism, which applies to nearly everything else, is to honestly check to see if you're wrong. That's why a journalist asks for comments from the subjects of stories -- not for a bland disclaimer but new information that may have been missed. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/b...

It's shocking how uninformed theorizing about externalities, nature-within-capitalism etc., persists on the left. So much is demonstrably wrong with this gloss. Did he really read v3 of Capital and Marx' mistaken attempt to refute the intensive margin? jacobin.com/2025/12/marx...

Universalism has *always* been the radical goal, at least ever since my man Mo-Ti 2400 years ago. It's the answer to tribalism and chauvinism in all their forms. Haven't read the book, but isn't it obvious going in? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/b...

Oscar has developed a phobia of airplane sounds, making it much harder to go out. A friend recommended a squeaky toy, and it's the best antidote so far. It seems to trigger a play receptor somewhere, and he *might* be distracted for a few moments.

Some of us in PDX have noticed a big increase in overflights this year. They can overlap for several minutes at a stretch. AFAIK commercial airport traffic hasn't changed. Have there been similar experiences elsewhere? Any explanations?

It's time to start thinking concretely about the ways Trump could suppress next year's election and how it would play out politically. I'm especially worried that Democrats may pre-commit to a no-reprisal campaign strategy. Read on.... open.substack.com/pub/peterdor...

Quoting myself in a Henry Farrell response thread:

After there's a change in leadership we can call it the Kennedy Center again. But let's name a bathroom stall in honor of DJT. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...

I wish I could be more surprised at this level of ignorance and dishonesty. No recognition of a remaining carbon budget and what more emissions now means for our burden later on. You can deplore the politics of curbing emissions, but the numbers won't go away. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...

Another example of how stupid stuff in the classroom messes it up for the rest of us. A significant fraction of her class identifies with MAGA. How does labeling it a form of racism fit into a strategy for advancing social justice? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...

Until the final two paragraphs, this was stenography masquerading as reporting. The point about "growth" being a defense against instability kinda misses the point about bubbles, doesn't it? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...

Back by popular demand, here's Oscar monitoring a ball against a sunset on Arch Cape today.

Oscar, our border collie mix, brings his questions to the information booth at Portland Nursery.

We can regulate corporations, and we can foster civil society groups to keep them in line, but what else? The third leg is changing their ownership. It's potentially the most powerful but needs new forms. I've got one to peddle. open.substack.com/pub/peterdor...

Great, but I made these changes: 20% less sugar, my own spice choices (not "pumpkin pie spice"), 1/4 tsp cinnamon in crust, no water bath. And use real cream cheese (like Gina Marie), not Philadelphia or the like. Came out amazing. thisitaliankitchen.com/pumpkin-rico...

If you like Irish and Scottish folk music, this CD is for you. Beautiful playing by the violist, Bruno Cocset.

I recently re(re-re-)read Cohn's Pursuit of the Millennium, and the structure of the QAnon cult myth is so familiar: maximum horror under the Antichrist, the final conflict, salvation. Why does it repeat itself? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/o...

This is an important summary of the current situation, with caveats. (1) They adhere strictly to a maximum of 1.5C warming, which may make the best the enemy of the achievable. theconversation.com/the-world-lo...

No need to report any names. Just make them wear a Star of David when they're on campus. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/u...

This article is embarrassingly misframed. Look at that second chart and the bulge in the trade deficit earlier this year. It was mostly a buildup of inventory, which then depresses imports afterward. So why present this as "Trump gets what he wants"? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...

Finally got to this. Prices are incomes, so what's with inflation? Biggest reason: inflation makes it easier to reduce *real* wages. And so it happened, if you look at wages x hours and not just hourly earnings. The rise in consumption inequality speaks volumes. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/o...