Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Covid Observational Studies

Author of Two Retracted COVID-19 Studies Once Bemoaned Misconduct The Lancet retracted a controversial “observational study” on the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without antibiotics or zinc in the treatment of COVID-19. The retraction came after scientists, doctors, etc.  raised questions about the data used to draw the the study’s conclusions.   The authors were not […]

May inflation steadies: meanwhile, an artificial all time high in “real” wages

May inflation steadies: meanwhile, an artificial all time high in “real” wages –  by New Deal democrat In May, overall consumer prices declined by -0.1% (blue in the graph below), while consumer prices excluding energy (gas) rose +0.1% (red): Note that in 2015 when gas prices collapsed, prices otherwise continued to increase, showing the underlying […]

Stephen Miller’s Racist Fix for Race Relations, Part II

In the immigration handbook he wrote for then Alabama Senator Sessions, Stephen Miller cited U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner, Peter Kirsanow, who subsequently was considered by Trump during the transition as a potential nominee for Secretary of Labor. In Kirsanow’s June 4 feature for National Review, Flames from False Narratives, he claimed that Black men are not […]

Tear Gas Versus Pepper Spray

Tear Gas Versus Pepper Spray Or pepper gas. So, AG Barr and Pres. Trump (and also the commander of the US Park Police, I think) have been hotly denying that tear gas was used last Monday June 1  in the attack by the Praetorian Guard on peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square.  Various of them have […]

Meanwhile, Virtual online charter schools

The authors’ Brookings blog Post, they explain their peer-reviewed work. The major conclusion is: We find the impact of attending a virtual charter on student achievement is uniformly and profoundly negative, equating to a third of a standard deviation in English/language arts (ELA) and a half of a standard deviation in math. This equates to […]

Stephen Miller’s Racist Fix for Race Relations

Word is circulating that Stephen Miller is writing Donald Trump’s speech on race relations. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that Trump’s “solution” to the current malaise in the U.S. will involve extending a ban on immigration and expanding enforcement and expulsion of undocumented individuals. This seems like a safe bet […]

Wisconsin ex-Dane and Milwaukee Counties

In comments to NDD’s post, Terry says: Wisconsin—except for Milwaukee and Madison —basically opened up with no restrictions as a result of the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling 4 weeks ago and much to the delight of the late night comics people flocked to taverns without regard of masks or social distancing. I certainly expected to […]

Coronavirus update for June 8: declining trend in new infections has stopped

Coronavirus update for June 8: declining trend in new infections has stopped – by New Deal democrat I haven’t updated the Coronavirus Dashboard in awhile. Last time I indicated I would do so if there was a significant change in trend. Well, there has been. New infections are not declining anymore. In the last week, the […]