Author: Buck Banks
The Costs of Removing Fluoride from Drinking Water
$9.8 billion
Stat: “A new study tried to predict the consequences if the rest of the nation were to follow suit. In five years, the researchers estimated, 7.5% more U.S. children ages 0-19 would get cavities, affecting 25.4 million additional teeth and costing the country around $9.8 billion.”
International Students Contributed $43.8 Billion to U.S. Economy
$43.8 billion
The United States says it will begin revoking visas for some Chinese students. China is the second-largest source of international students in the US, with about 277,000 students enrolled in 2023–24, or roughly one in four foreign students. International students contributed $43.8B to the US economy last year and supported over 378,000 jobs.
Elon’s Exit Interview
Elon Musk is leaving after DOGE saved the nation hundreds of bucks.
Now it’s back to business to focus on spaceships, Mars and cyber trucks.
All in all, Musk had a pretty good run,
And breaking the government sure was fun!
But he left a parting shot for Trump: “Your big, beautiful bill sucks!”
Big, Beautiful Tax Plan Now Costs $4 Trillion
$3.94 trillion
“House Republicans’ tax package is now expected to cost nearly $4 trillion, thanks in part to a last-minute deal to further increase a cap on state and local tax deductions,” Politico reports. “The legislation approved last week by the House is now anticipated to cost $3.94 trillion over the next decade, the official Joint Committee on Taxation said.”
Lo, TACO Mockery!
Donald Trump is nothing if not a predictable lout,
And investors are profiting on his tariff turnabouts.
On Wall Street they’ve already made
Something called the “TACO trade,”
‘Cause when it comes to tariffs, “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
Welcome to the Next Dark Ages
“The warlords who sacked Rome did not intend to doom Western Europe to centuries of ignorance. It was not a foreseeable consequence of their actions. … The same cannot be said of the sweeping attack on human knowledge and progress that the Trump administration is now undertaking—a deliberate destruction of education, science, and history, conducted with a fanaticism that recalls the Dark Ages that followed Rome’s fall.”
— Adam Serwer
Finally, A Good Commencement Address
“Why attack universities? Why attack journalism? Because ignorance works for power. First, make the truth seekers live in fear. Sue the journalists. For nothing. Then send masked agents to abduct a college student, a writer of her college paper who wrote an editorial supporting Palestinian rights, and send her to a prison in Louisiana and charge her with nothing. Then, move to destroy law firms that stand up for the rights of others. … With that done, power can rewrite history. With grotesque, false narratives, they can make heroes criminals and criminals heroes. And they can change the definition of the words we use to describe reality. ‘Diversity’ is now described as ‘illegal.’ ‘Equity’ is to be shunned. ‘Inclusion’ is a dirty word. This is an old playbook, my friends ….”
— Scott Pelley, in a commencement address at Wake Forest.
Curb His Enthusiasm Winning the swindling ...
That Trump meme coin surely is an amazing wonder!
It’s lightning in a bottle — all light, no thunder.
There’s absolutely nothing stealth
About how Trump’s enriching himself,
He’s just enthusiastically embracing the Politics of Plunder.
