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

A fatal thing happened on the way to the forum

My daughter gave me Emma Southon’s book “A fatal thing happened on the way to the forum” for Christmas. Apart from my longtime interest in history, there was a particular reason for this choice. Rebecca took five years of Latin in middle school and high school. She got a 5 on the Latin AP exam, […]

Some Important Bits of History for February 1

Black History Month is in February if you do not know it. Prof. Heather Cox Richardson celebrates it with a mixture of past and present facts, points, and references to it. Some of her points are ugly. Amongst her reverence to Black History Month is the detail of how the Battle Hymn of the Republic […]

Interesting(?) Stuff from My In-Box, January 31, 2023

Mixed Bag Today. Police Actions are making the news. Not just on the street. Major story is police beating a man to death. It was very discouraging to read this. Cop City being built and one protestor dead. Oklahoma prison murdering imprisoned prisoners. Talked with a Police Captain the other day. He was insisting he […]

Data Detailing Types of Guns and Deaths in the U.S.

“What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.,” by John Gramlich a[[ears to be an open-ended study. It does not condemn any particular weapon, style of weapons, or bullet-spewing weapons in general. I find it curious the author does not take a closer look at the assault weapons used today which are found […]

Gun Shot Injury Costs are Twice Other Hospital Costs

This is where I grow weary of the childish complaints of those who believe their rights are being infringed upon by those who are injured, maimed, or killed by bullet-spewing-weapons commonly known as “guns.” “Stanley Kubrick satirized the unconscious psychosexual energies behind wielding a gun in Full Metal Jacket, when Marine recruits parade with their weapons […]

Gun Violence vs Democracy

California Ranked #1 for Gun Safety, Death Rate 37% Lower than National Average In 2021, California was ranked as the #1 state for population and gun safety by Giffords Law Center, and the state saw a 37% lower gun death rate than the national average. According to the CDC, California’s gun death rate was the 44th lowest […]

Arizona’s Worst and Best of Times

“Arizona: It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times“, Substack, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar I ran across this substack a few weeks ago. The majestic and excellent basketball player I had watched play a wicked game of ball, can also write good articles. Since I now live in Arizona where the politics differ […]

Changing the Student Loan System

Recently, The American Prospect‘s David Dayen’s introduced us to a new student loan system. A new program implemented for income driven based repayments (IDR). It requires lesser payback amounts and shorter a time period than the of 25 years to pay back. Unfortunately, a person would still be in their mid-forties if everything works out […]