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

Senatorial Buffoonery

I am puzzled by what the Senate allows and what they do not allow. Maybe, I should clarify the later so it is understood what I am going to discuss. There is another Kennedy in the Senate who hails from a different Kennedy family. This is other than the more famous Kennedys who played significant […]

Global Warming

Introduction to a new Newsletter – The Daily Yonder written by Sarah Melotte. This is the inaugural post of our data newsletter, the Rural Index, headed by Sarah Melotte, the Daily Yonder’s data reporter. Subscribe to get a weekly map straight to your inbox.  Do You Think Global Warming Will Harm You Personally? – by Sarah […]

Trump Goes with Musk

President-elect Donald Trump appears to be siding with Elon Musk and his other backers in the tech industry. The dispute over immigration visas has divided his supporters. The question in my mind being? Why Go Out of Country for Labor besides a supposed belief the Labor is better? Most of the electronics techie people I […]

Roots

Who or what we become in life is influenced by a bunch of factors that can be boiled down to genetics and environment. Genetically, both my parents were PhD scientists. As a geneticist, I can tell you that there are no genes known to be responsible for “science.” But of course, my home environment skewed […]

Economics of Jailing for Profit and Budgets

Jailing for Profit: When Budgets Depend on Locking People Up – by Nazish Dholakia Vera Institute Across the country, more than 1,300 counties have expanded existing jails or built new ones over the last 20 years, increasing the nation’s capacity to lock people up in jails by almost 40 percent. One of the drivers of this growth […]

Transition Cabinet Picks

Just an interesting article on President Cabinet and departmental picks. A few issues with who he picked. Indeed, some of back away from the offering of a post with Trump’s administration. Also, more Republicans approve than did during first transition; overall ratings still well below other presidents. Trump Transition Ratings Better the Second Time Around, […]