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

Kids and work

The NYT addresses the increasing use of child labor in the US (the link allows access to the article whether you have a subscription or not): Arriving in record numbers, they’re ending up in dangerous jobs that violate child labor laws — including in factories that make products for well-known brands like Cheetos and Fruit […]

DeSantis

What is it that the good folks in Idaho, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, (13 states and counting) have against LGBTQ folks? We hear a lot of, “I believe ….”, and “god said, …, ” from them. They may well, but, for sure, he-she-they didn’t. Folks, it turns out that the same percentage of your […]

Part 2: Building on the ACO Model

Part Two explores where Medicare should be going forward as determined by doctors Richard Gilfillan and Donald M. Berwick. It is an endorsement of the ACO model with changes to it creating greater efficiency. I am not so sure Kip Sullivan would endorse this approach as opposed to Single Payer. Ultimately Single Payer is less […]

What Every Conservative Needs to Know about Student Loans

What Every Conservative Needs to Know about Student Loans, Alan Collinge, Medium. Conservatives have been tricked into defending the worst big-government loan scam in U.S. History; a slight majority of the borrowers identify as either republican, or independent. The 2020 election was a huge loss for the republicans. Even so, Conservatives buoyed by recent election […]

Bloodlands

Just finished reading “Bloodlands,” a book by Yale historian Timothy Snyder. It was published in 2010, but now has a lengthy afterword that discusses the book’s reception and ties the theme to current events. I was inspired to read this book because of events in Ukraine and I believe that I have a much better […]

Japan, The U.S., The Moon And More,

Japan, The U.S., The Moon And More, Weldon Berger, Bad Crow Review Links are at the end, with the steam trains. The train station had a 7-11 outside the platforms. The station was near my hotel and I went there for evening snacks a few times—bentos and musubi and azuki bean pastries and the like. Good food, […]

Cultural Vandalism

Infidel753: Cultural vandalism As soon as all the corrections which happened to be necessary in any particular number of ‘The Times’ had been assembled and collated, that number would be reprinted, the original copy destroyed, and the corrected copy placed on the files in its stead.  This process of continuous alteration was applied not only […]

Michigan Supreme Court hearing on the State’s automobile no-fault reform

“Michigan Supreme Court hearing on automobile no-fault reform: What to know,” Bridge Michigan, In reading this, I can almost guarantee, the citizens of the state of Michigan had not given any thought to the screwing over of those who suffered catastrophic injury due to automobile accidents. Indeed, it was business interests who set the pace […]

Marseille: full canal and empty streams

Thoughts on this commentary? Marseille: full canal and empty streams, The one-handed economist, Margot . . . Margot writes* Despite being located in a dry and warm region, Marseille is described as the “world capital of water” by the World Water Forum. Indeed, Marseille is known for its efficient water management and water infrastructures like the […]

Coronavirus dashboard: the first year of COVID endemicity

Coronavirus dashboard: the first year of COVID endemicity  – by New Deal democrat As I indicated back in January, I don’t plan on any regular COVID dashboard updates unless something noteworthy has occurred. Since we are now 1 year into endemicity, this is a good time to look back and see what that means. The huge […]