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

You keep using that word . . .

In the film, “The Princess Bride,” Wally Shawn repeatedly exclaims “inconceivable.” Finally, Mandy Patinkin (as Inigo Montoya) replies: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Whenever GOP politicians announce their belief that the age for Social Security and Medicare Benefits should be raised, the mainstream media […]

Basic research and the origins of CRISPR gene editing

I’ve always done basic research. I’ve never done any research specifically aimed at a clinical goal. I’ve never patented anything I’ve done. None of that motivated my curiosity. I’ve been a medical school professor for over 36 years and was Principal Investigator on three NIH grants and one from the American Cancer Society, and I […]

Native American child poverty doubled in 2022

This is a combination of two different posts. The first part is by the NCRC, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. It offers up a wealth of detail expressed in numbers defining the issues confounding Native Americans. It is very brief and I would hope you follow the link to a larger array of statistics defining […]

CRISPR to the rescue!

The Boston Globe has an article announcing the imminent approval of Casgevy, a CRISPR-based treatment for sickle cell disease that has already been approved in Britain. It is hard to overstate how transformative CRISPR has been for genetics research, and how promising it is for gene therapy. Sickle cell disease was always the low-hanging fruit, […]

AI Understands The Importance Of Independent Congressional Rules

“AI Understands The Importance Of Independent Congressional Rules,” Exposing The Underpinnings Of A Broken Government, J. P. McJefferson The Artificial Intelligence (AI) application ChatGPT understands the importance of independent reviews of Congressional Rules. ChatGPT says independent reviews are, “essential for various reasons.” Too bad “Real Intelligence (RI)” can’t seem to recognize those essential reasons. A […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for November 27 – December 1 plus ISM Manufacturing

Weekly Indicators for November 27 – December 1 at Seeking Alpha; plus a comment on the ISM manufacturing report  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. The coincident data continues quite strong, and the long leading indicators are increasingly “less bad,” which is something that happens when recessions are […]

trying to “terminate” healthcare coverage for over 40 million Americans

Healthcare in the United States of America has always been difficult and the costs are commercially driven with some give to what the market will bear. While not perfect, the ACA was a huge step forward in providing affordable healthcare. Unfortunately, Ted Kennedy died shortly afterwards. Senator Kennedy was also advocating for Long Term Care. […]

Ex-housing, PCE inflation, like CPI inflation, is under the Fed’s 2% target

This was posted at 8:03 AM at the Bonddad Blog Thursday. I see other venues having similar reports up also. I am sometimes late in posting NDd’s economic commentaries. Ex-housing, PCE inflation, like CPI inflation, is under the Fed’s 2% target  – by New Deal democrat Note: I may not be around for the ISM […]

NYT writes about the rapid growth and change in the drive-through restaurant

Lloyd answers the question about how Americans will be getting their food from fast food establishments in the future. Innovative but does little for the environment and also for people’s health setting aside the argument of fast food not being necessarily healthy. To catch the rest of Lloyd’s article, click on the Carbon Upfront link. […]

Simply following the “new precedent” established by Republicans

Probably told the story of meeting Senator Dick Durbin at Showdown in Chicago during the ABA Bankers Roaring Twenties dance convention at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. Had asked him when were Dems going to take a stand and start acting like the party of the majority. Richard Trumka’s remarks are still up and […]