The rate of new international enrollment at US universities dropped by 17% this autumn compared to previous years, research released on Monday indicates. The drop comes as the Trump administration has made it more difficult to obtain student visas, with the research suggesting visa application issues like delays and denials are among the top reasons for the decline in first-time students. Read more
As we and others have pointed out multiple times, many of the Black and Latino voters who supported Donald Trump in 2024 are starting to regret it big time. The elections earlier this month are showing this clearly, as more data are being analyzed. Here is a comparison of election results in New Jersey showing the shift in 2024 (Biden to Trump voters) and 2025 (Trump to Mikie Sherrill voters).
YouGov runs approval polls of the president weekly. These provide lots of data for comparison purposes. One analysis, by G. Elliott Morris, is of Donald Trump's approval in Trump v.2.0 vs. Trump v1.0 among independents, the only group that could swing substantially in an election. Here are the data:
SB&D is reporting that economic development project activity in the American South, the world's third largest economy, is at the lowest mid-year point of any year since the SB&D 100 ranking was established in 1994. Deal activity in the region so far in 2025 is slower than any period during the COVID years of 2020 and 2021, as well as all years during the Great Recession from 2007-2010. (See data and 30-plus year history of the SB&D 100 below.) These numbers are also worse than any recession I have covered since 1983. So, in short, the worst we have ever seen, even if technically the U.S. is not in recession. And if deals are cratering like this in the South, the most desired economic development region in North America, then they are much worse in the Midwest, West and the Northeast. SB&D does not cover economic development in those U.S. regions.
Community cohesion refers to the strength of relationships and solidarity among community members. In everyday life, it's about community members having a sense of trust and belonging and believing that neighbors will show up for one another. This study asked rural Americans how they experience their communities across seven different dimensions of cohesion, including feelings of support and connection and openness to diverse perspectives. Based on their answers, rural Americans were grouped into three categories: low (20%), moderate (63%) or high (17%) sense of community cohesion. Overall, most rural Americans report strong feelings of support (82%) and pride (81%) in their communities. About two-thirds also feel emotionally connected (68%), able to collaborate with others (67%), free to express their opinions (65%) and valued (65%). Read more
President Trump said he would likely sue the BBC for up to $5 billion after the broadcaster acknowledged it wrongly edited a video of his speech on January 6, 2021, splicing together two comments that were made about an hour apart from each other.
MAGA influencer Laura Loomer is under fire Sunday ...
A nervous-looking Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) took to CNN Sunday for her first interview since her falling out with President Donald Trump and strongly suggested that the Israeli government may be "pushing to keep" files on Jeffrey Epstein "covered up."
Greene was asked by CNN's Dana Bash about a social media post she had shared on Saturday in which she alleged that lobbying from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, was the reason Trump had attacked her, and openly questioned "what country is putting so much pressure on him."
"I think it's a question that many Americans are asking, especially when we saw information recently come out in these emails that the Oversight Committee " that I serve on " has released," Greene said.
Russia has introduced a new AI robot. Unfortunately, it fell over but not before I noticed "wow...it walks like Joe Biden"
Some ultra-conservative Republicans have veered so far to the right that they are starting to eat their own. MAGA conspiracy theorists have frequently claimed that athletes and celebrities are secretly trans, but now they are transvestigating Charlie Kirk and his widow, Erika Kirk.
D/CSIS Dan Rogers used his annual threats speech to warn that hostile services are simultaneously recruiting Canadians, routing Canadian technology into Russia's war machine, plotting lethal attacks on critics of Iran and exploiting Canadian data held under foreign laws. He also flagged a sharp rise in youth involvement in terrorism investigations and a steady drumbeat of extremist violence since 2014. Russia is depicted as using Canada primarily as a hi-tech supply base to feed its war in Ukraine. European-based front companies approach Canadian firms to acquire sensitive goods which were tied to Russian agents. Once Canadian products reach Russia, they are "used to support Russian military efforts in Ukraine and elsewhere." Since 2014, Canada has suffered 20 violent extremist attacks that killed 29 people and created at least 60 victims in total. Over just the past three years, CSIS has disrupted 24 violent extremist actions. Read more
The recent wealth tax increase in Norway was expected to bring an additional $146M in yearly tax revenue. Instead, individuals worth $54B left the country, leading to a lost $594M in yearly wealth tax revenue. A net decrease of $448M+ " Read more
Or whatever you are listening to...
Kai Trump, the 18-year-old granddaughter of United States President Donald Trump, missed the cut at the The Annika LPGA tournament at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, on Friday. After shooting a 13-over 83 in Thursday's first round, Trump finished with a five-over 75 in the second round, placing her last in the 108-golfer field with an overall score of 18-over when she entered the clubhouse. Read more
Fly-tippers have dumped a "grotesque" mountain of waste in a field in Oxfordshire. The "environmental catastrophe unfolding in plain sight" is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high and has appeared on a site between the River Cherwell and the A34 near Kidlington. Calum Miller, Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, has raised the issue in Parliament, saying it was "threatening an environmental disaster". He also said Cherwell District Council had estimated the cost of removing the waste would be greater than its entire annual budget. Read more
The aforementioned NWYTO article sheds additional light on why carrier maintenance takes so long: -The Navy has a measly four national shipyards capable of carrying out carrier repairs (a sad reflection on just how much American shipbuilding capability has declined in the post-Cold War era). Many experienced workers have retired, and new hires lack hands-on expertise. The nightmarish COVID-19 lockdowns disrupted production and maintenance even further, creating multi-year delays that continue to affect readiness throughout the fleet. As Doc says ... Send in the H1Bs to the rescue. Read more
