by Linda Beale Two “R”s in the news: Rachel Alexandra and Rudolf Elmer–Swiss banks, hedge funds? assist with tax evasionMaybe the world is looking up. A filly has won the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, by a whopping 130 votes to second runner Zenyatta’s 90 votes. I’ve always had a soft spot in […]

by Rebecca Wilder How are the data presented? At an annual, quarterly, monthly, or weekly frequency? At the onset of the New Year, you will undoubtedly see many charts illustrating records broken in 2009 using annual measures. This is always fun (from a data junkie’s point of view), but it only tells the reader where […]

AARP and Social Security Matters sent these messages: AARP: As early as today, your senators will vote on whether to allow the future of Social Security and Medicare to be decided by a commission without a public debate. Unless we can count on AARP supporters like you to flood their senators with calls right now […]

AFTER THE PARTYby Dale Coberly I wrote the following note to Bruce Krasting after our earlier exchange on Angry Bear. He sent the reply below, and agreed to have it be printed here with the disclaimer that it was not originally intended for publication. My reply to him is in comments, at his request. COBERLY […]

Slowly moving back into everything, and so catching up with Mark Thoma’s use of Paul Volcker as his latest line of Defense of Giving the Fed More Regulatory Power. (Amusing in itself, given Volcker’s description of the Fed before he was Owned by the Obama Administration.) I like Thoma (a lot more than he likes […]

by cactus Taxes and Business Creation When you cut taxes, it leads to the creation of new businesses. By cutting taxes, people keep more of their hard earned money which gives them the resources to start new businesses. The cut in taxes also encourages people to take more risk knowing the fruit of their efforts […]

The flak started quickly. Rusty suggested taking Red Cross training and being part of the solution—the very solution that can’t reach the country. kharris compared me (un?)favorably to The Drudge Report for saying (after Robert Gates did) that the delivery obstruction was “deliberate.” The problem is the evidence keeps mounting—and it’s all on my side. […]

There is a light snow at the moment. While the snow and icy roads are cleared here from yesterday, we shall see what kind of weather unfolds throughout the day. The phone has been ringing steadily over the week end and Monday, with volunteer or robo calls from both senate candidates Martha Coakley and Scott […]

Via Constance, I see that the donations are pouring in. Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders), Partners in Health, even the American Red Cross. There is supply. And there is clearly demand. But it appears that delivery is being deliberately impeded: As life-saving medical supplies, food, water purification chemicals and vehicles pile up at the […]