Free Newsletter Day: Trump Wants to Cut Scientific Research by a Third & Measles at Highest Levels in Over 30 Years
July 18, 2025
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What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: A classical quote to better understand life and death.
Trump threatens 50% tariffs on Brazil if it doesn’t stop the Bolsonaro ‘witch hunt’ trial: Bolsonaro is charged with trying to overturn elections, overthrow the government, and assassinate the president. Naturally, Trump supports him.
The U.S. is having its worst year for measles in more than three decades: Measles were once declared extinct in the U.S. Thanks to Trump’s anti-vaccine campaign, it’s back and spreading.
Trump Seeks to Cut Basic Scientific Research by Roughly One-Third, Report Shows: This will impact the economy as well as the health of Americans.
Kareem’s Video Break: This little girl has mastered the art of lying to her mother.
Kareem’s Kvetching Korner: Does the Historic Jesus Matter?: Wise words are valuable no matter who said them. Worshipping people rather than their words often allows followers to ignore the teachings.
What I’m Watching on TV and at the Movies: Jurassic World Rebirth is escapist fun as long as you don’t think too much. Bosch spin-off Ballard is a police procedural that is enjoyable but not groundbreaking.
Kareem’s Sports Moments: Carlos Alcaraz made an amazing shot in the French Open. But that wasn’t the most impressive thing to happen.
Ponpon Chen Sings “But Not for Me”: The young jazz singer brings a fresh brightness to this jazz classic.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
I, too, once lived in Arcadia.
Translation of the Latin phrase Et in Arcadia ego, popular in art and literature to convey themes of death and mortality.
Trust me, dear reader. This seemingly random quote and classical painting will make sense in just a minute. Arcadia is a real region of the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece known for its lush valleys and dense forests. But it was also heralded as a utopia in Greek mythology, an Eden-like paradise where humans lived in harmony with nature. Renaissance artists embraced Arcadia, often portraying it in poetry, paintings, and other artworks.
The painting above by French artist Nicolas Poussin depicts a group of shepherds and possibly a shepherdess reading the inscription on the tomb: Et in Arcadia ego (“I, too, once lived in Arcadia.”). The idea is that even in an idyllic setting of peace and harmony that celebrates the simple life, death is always present as the inevitable end. No matter how utopian life in Arcadia is, residence there is always temporary.
Knowing that life is momentary is meant to inspire us to live our days in pursuit of meaning and fulfillment. Part of that pursuit is understanding how much fulfillment comes from how we interact with others. A day spent helping someone pack and move is a day well spent, as opposed to a day brooding about your misery. That day will come and go no matter what you do, but if you make it your Arcadia, it makes you look forward to the next day, rather than dreading it. Of course, there will be crappy days involving dentists, doctors, funerals, etc., but those don’t have to be the main ingredients to your life.
Sure, we’re all going to die. But some will be able to say, “I, too, once lived in Arcadia.”
Quick Takes: Trump’s War on America
Trump threatens 50% tariffs on Brazil if it doesn’t stop the Bolsonaro ‘witch hunt’ trial (CNN): “U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened Brazil with a crippling tariff of 50% starting August 1, according to a letter he sent to the country’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva…In the letter posted on Truth Social, Trump alleged Lula is undertaking a ‘Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!’ over charges against its right-wing former president, Jair Bolsonaro.
MY TAKE: Trump is trying to extort a sovereign country because they have arrested Bolsonaro (also referred to as the “Trump of the Tropics”) for a plot to overturn the 2022 election results. He and dozens of others are charged with an attempted coup d’état that included a plan to assassinate elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Why is it Trump is so chummy with politicians like Israel’s Netanyahu and Brazil’s Bolsonaro, both of whom are charged with serious crimes by their own country? (FYI: Lula was also convicted of corruption, but his convictions were later overturned.)
Aside from Trump’s love of dictators and corrupt politicians, we have to examine just how effective this threat is. President Lula responded by promising, “If he charges us 50%, we’ll charge him 50%.” Trump reacted predictably in a letter to Lula published on social media: “If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 50% that we charge.”
The problem with Trump’s attempt to punish another country for arresting a possible assassin and election underminer is that we have a 6.8 million-dollar deficit with Brazil, which means we export a lot more goods to them than we import from them. A tariff could hurt us more than it hurts them. Not smart politics, not smart economics.
FYI: As usual, Trump achieved the opposite results: “But a week after Trump’s tariff announcement, the ploy seems to be backfiring badly. The move has reinvigorated Bolsonaro’s leftwing rivals, given Lula a bounce in the polls and prompted a wave of public anger, largely focused on the Bolsonaro clan who have spent years portraying themselves as flag-loving nationalists.” (“‘A family of traitors’: Trump’s Brazil tariffs ultimatum backfires on Bolsonaro.”)
Credit: gdinMika/gettyimages The U.S. is having its worst year for measles in more than three decades (AP): “The U.S. is having its worst year for measles spread in more than three decades, and the year is only half over…The national case count reached 1,288 on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though public health experts say the true figure may be higher…The CDC’s count is 14 more than 2019, when America almost lost its status of having eliminated the vaccine-preventable illness — something that could happen this year if the virus spreads without stopping for 12 months.”
MY TAKE: Vaccine hesitation encouraged by the likes of Secretary of Health and Human Services RFK Jr. has created a fertile ground for the spread of diseases that we recently had under control. We’re only halfway through the year, and we have more reported cases of measles than in any year over the last 33 years. What makes it worse is that in 2000, the World Health Organization and CDC said measles had been eliminated from the U.S. But parents refusing to vaccinate their children has threatened the lives of their own children as well as other lives.
The vaccine is 97% effective in preventing measles. However, we need at least 95% of kindergarteners to be vaccinated to stop outbreaks, but today we’re down to 92.7% who’ve had the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Worldwide, about 108,000 people a year die from measles, mostly children under the age of five. The reason U.S. children don’t face the same tragic statistics is because of the vaccine. Not vaccinating them is a form of child abuse and a crime against the community that is put in jeopardy. Co-conspirators in these deaths and illnesses are RFK Jr., who has filled health organizations with other anti-vaxxers, and Trump, for appointing him.
Scientist and forecaster Tim Marshall explains a weather map during a Project Vortex 2 forecast briefing. Project Vortex 2 is a two-year mission to study tornadoes. (Credit: Ryan McGuinnis/gettyimages) Trump Seeks to Cut Basic Scientific Research by Roughly One-Third, Report Shows (The New York Times): “An analysis by the American Association for the Advancement of Science shows the impact of the administration’s budget plan on the kind of studies that produce the most breakthroughs…The new analysis shows that the Trump administration’s budget plan, if adopted, ‘would essentially end America’s longstanding role as the world leader in science and innovation,’ said Toby Smith, senior vice president for government relations and public policy at the Association of American Universities…Mary Woolley, president of Research America, a nonprofit group that promotes science, said the new analysis showed that the budget plan ‘is threatening not only science but the American public. If approved by Congress, it will make the public less safe, poorer and sicker.’”
MY TAKE: The main reason Trump is so eager to cut scientific research is that it interferes with his irrational policies. Every time his administration issues an edict, scientific experts point out the dangers of those edicts to the public because they have no basis in facts, only in making profit for GOP supporters. The main reason Trump is able to get away with destroying our scientific community despite the devastating effects on our economy and health, is that the public isn’t aware of how much they rely on science coming from the federal government.
One poll discovered that more than 90% of Americans use federal-based science reports at least once a week, sometimes daily. These include weather forecasts, jobs market reports, food safety warnings, and other information. Yet, only 10% of those polled are concerned that cuts to federal science programs would impact their lives. In general, the public is unaware how widespread federal science programs are, including things like inspecting factories that make food and prescription drugs. That disconnect from facts and reality is the dark world where the Trump administration operates. (Although the recent Texas floods was a wake-up call about the need.)
Ironically, 90% of those polled believe federal investment in STEM education is important for future economic prosperity. What’s the point of raising people educated in science when we have a government that is trying to turn the people against it? They claim climate change doesn’t exist, that vaccines are bad for you, that green energy is a waste, that hurricanes are being manufactured by Democrats—all while increasing pollution and selling off protected government land for a quick buck and driving our best scientists to other countries. That can only happen if we let it.
Kareem’s Video Break
My favorite part of this video is the very end when the girl realizes the futility of her maintaining her innocence and just walks away. No tantrum, just resignation.
Kareem’s Kvetching Korner: Does the Historic Jesus Matter?
Despite many movies, art works, and Bible stories, the consensus among most biblical scholars is that all we know of Jesus is that he was “a 1st-century itinerant Jewish preacher who spoke Aramaic and was crucified by the Romans.” (“Why historians can only give Jesus a one-sentence biography.”) The New Testament contains 27 books, four about Jesus’ life and ministry, yet historians—including two scholars of 1st-century Christianity: Elaine Pagels, author and Princeton historian, and Joshua Schachterle, a researcher and writer in the field—agree that not much can be said with certainty beyond that single sentence.
Does it matter?
I often wonder why the biographies of our greatest philosophers and religious leaders seem more important to people than the teachings of those people. It’s like Googling the bios of cast members of your favorite show. What does it matter who Pedro Pascal is dating just because you liked him in The Last of Us or what Lorde considers fashionable because you liked her album Virgin? We have a powerful urge to attach stories—true or false—to the people we choose to worship and admire.
For those of faith, facts aren’t the point. That’s the meaning of faith: to believe in something that can’t be proven. It’s a test of commitment. But there’s a lot of baggage that comes with forming a massive religion around teachings. The religion becomes a business whose main goal is survival, which requires money, and that requires adherents. Some religions offer rewards beyond spiritual clarity or moral guidance. They offer the equivalent of a customer loyalty card: keep shopping with us and you get into heaven.
Others don’t require a cinematic universe complete with hero origin story. They can look at a teaching and embrace or reject it based purely on the merits of that teaching. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew is one of the most brilliant philosophical statements ever made, and there is much wisdom there to embrace. Not because it came from the son of God who performed miracles, but because it attempts to establish a moral code that builds a more compassionate and loving world.
The danger of placing importance on the stories is that followers of cult figures are drawn to personality enhanced by theatrics over the substance of what is actually being said. Trump is a good example of that. His supporters flock to the fiction of success despite the reality of failure. His attempt to rewrite history in museums, national parks, and schools is to tell a story that attracts people to a fantasy rather than a truth that attracts people who want to improve the country.
Too often, religion is a type of cosplay. People dress up in the costumes of their religion without actually following the teachings—especially the hard ones. You can dress like LeBron James for Halloween, but if you want to be like him, you have to put in the hours of practice. You can wear a cross, a Star of David, a hijab, a MAGA hat, but you have to actually practice the teachings.
For me, I like to embrace teachings—from any source—that will improve the world and my place in it. No accompanying stories required. No personalities need be attached.
What I’m Watching on TV and at the Movies
Jurassic World Rebirth
The dinosaurs are back, and the special effects that create them are sensational. Every scene involving a dinosaur is a marvel to watch. But, like most blockbusters, the story is a series of suspenseful set pieces in which our characters confront the deadly beasts patched together with lackluster characterization. There’s a lot lifted from Aliens here, including the evil corporate stooge and even the appearance of the last genetically modified dinosaur. If you can just turn off any critical thinking and let your senses take over, this is enjoyable summer entertainment. (Grade: B)
Ballard (Prime)
This police procedural is a spin-off of the popular Bosch series and is also based on a series of novels by Michael Connelly. A group consisting of a volunteer, a retired cop, an intern, a police reservist, and Ballard (Maggie Q), a disgraced cop, are tasked with solving cold cases. The characters are one-dimensional and its attempts at bold statements about empowering women seem like clichés from ten years ago. It’s not that the issue isn’t just as relevant today, but they need to address it in a more original way. Still, they wisely spend most of their time on solving the cases, and that’s fun to watch. (Grade: B)
Kareem’s Sports Moments
Back in June, Carlos Alcaraz played Ben Shelton in the French Open. Shelton fired a shot past Alcaraz who desperately flung his racquet and miraculously hit the ball over the net. He was given the point. However, he told the umpire that he didn’t deserve the point because he wasn’t actually holding the racquet when it struck the ball, which is required according to the rules. The crowd applauded his sportsmanship and he went on to win the match. That’s the kind of athlete I can root for.
Kareem’s Jukebox Playlist
Ponpon Chen: "But Not for Me" (1930)
Taipei-born Ponpon Chen is only 23 but she’s become an exciting new voice in the jazz scene. Known for her guitar improvisations and scat singing, Chen echoes the traditions of jazz singers but with a bright interpretation of her own.
I selected the video of her singing the George and Ira Gershwin classic “But Not for Me” from the 1930 musical Girl Crazy. Ella Fitzgerald won a Grammy in 1960 for her recording of this song, which I love. But I also like to hear what new artists can do with familiar classics, and Chen doesn’t disappoint with her lively but reflective version.
Trump’s tariffs and attacks on other countries’ leaders, seemed to have galvanized them. Meanwhile, our nation is crumbling: systems being thwarted or disbanded; science and research becoming extinct; citizens disappearing without recourse, and the co-opting of religious teachings. Soon, we will be identified as just another “shid hole country.”
A friend’s older brother just died. He had contracted measles as a 2 year old and suffered cognitive and physical damage due the severity of the disease. He was loved by his parents but because of the challenges he presented - he was non-verbal with very limited mobility - they consigned him to the State of California for care. His family, including my friend, visited this son every other weekend, driving hundreds of miles to the state hospital to spend a few hours with him, knowing in his own way that he knew he was loved. This ritual played out throughout my friend’s childhood and adolescence until his brother was moved to a closer hospital and eventually to a home care facility in the town where my friend lives.
Though one has to wonder what emotions, stimuli, reactions, and feelings this man experienced, for he could express none, his life had value. My friend grew to become more compassionate and more understanding of others, and fiercely defended those who cannot defend themselves. The irony is, his brother contracted measles in 1962. One year later, he could have received the vaccine, preventing this life-threatening disease and altering the entire trajectory of this family’s lives.
The arrogance, the lack of compassion and the disdain for science that has seeped into American public health practice and policy is an abomination. High and mighty RFK, Jr, a man whose own family history is wracked with tragedy, a man with no medical or scientific knowledge except what he imagines is “right”, is now potentially confining other families to the sadness, stress and loss that my friend experienced when his brother caught what is now a preventable illness. Yes, this brother was loved by others and well cared for by teams of dedicated professionals over the years, and his life was important, but wouldn’t it have been a happier outcome to have had a child live a full, healthy, long life unencumbered by disease?