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

Stealth II

I think that with “Stealth” I indulged my inclination to try to figure things out more than I should have.The practical point is my claim that stealth technology is obsolete. I think this is well known and yet not allowed to effect the US Federal Budget. I cite the Wikipedia “Low-frequency radar[edit] Shaping offers far […]

SPR, oil, distillates, product Inventories low

RJS, Focus on Fracking, Summary: Strategic Petroleum Reserve at a 1058 week low, US oil supplies at a 746 week low; distillates supplies at a 729 week low, total oil + products inventories at a 711 week low, gasoline imports at a 8 month high The Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA […]

Political Supreme Court takes away the rights of Citizens

Who is Alito or the conservative court majority to decide what is best for women? The court is engaging in a pattern and practice of discrimination against a group of citizens which is of ‘general public importance (related directly or indirectly with the interest of citizens).’” I expected Prof. Chemerinsky to write on the SCOTUS intention […]

Making the physician sausage

I started teaching medical students in 1988 and have been an instructor and course director for one or more first-year med school courses continuously since 1990. When I started, there were two full years of pre-clinical course-work. Now we’re down to a year and two-thirds and there are plans to shrink further. Some medical schools […]

Oil Buyback Replenishing SPR

RJS; Focus on Fracking Oil Prices Top $111 As Biden’s SPR Buyback Plan Leaks — The Biden Administration will purchase 60 million barrels of crude in Q3 (Yahoo) in an effort to replace volumes in the U.S. strategic petroleum for the first time in nearly 20 years, CNN reports, after authorizing a record release over six […]

Construction Revisions Add 28 Basis Points to 1st Qtr GDP

RJS, MarketWatch 666 Summary: Construction Spending Rose 0.1% in March after Prior Months Were Revised Higher The Census Bureau’s report on construction spending for March (pdf) estimated that the month’s seasonally adjusted construction spending would work out to $1,730.5 billion annually if extrapolated over an entire year, which was 0.1 percent (±0.7%)* above the revised annualized February […]

Leaking Alito’s draft overturning Roe v. Wade

Letters from an American May 4, 2022, Prof. Heather Cox Richardson Overturning Roe v. Wade The uproar over the leaked draft of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade continues. You can tell just how furious the reaction has been by the fact that establishment Republicans are desperately trying to turn the public conversation to the […]

Taiwan Harpoon Budget

Taiwan says new Harpoon missiles will help it crush half of Chinese invasion fleet Taiwan says US$2.37 billion worth of Harpoon missiles would enable it to obliterate half of Chinese invasion armada “TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s military on Oct. 27 [2020] stated that the potential sale of US$2.37 billion worth of Harpoon anti-ship missiles […]

Why Is Any of This a Surprise?

As CNN reports . . . “Sen. Susan Collins: Referencing the Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade (Politico) is ‘completely inconsistent’ with what Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh ‘said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office.’” Wow, whata surprise! Political appointees to SCOTUS might fib a little, ok more than […]

Roasting McConnell and his attacks on SCOTUS Independence

Jacob Seitz, “Twitter Users Roast Mitch McConnell After Statement on Roe v. Wade (dailydot.com)“ Comments from Twitter , , , As one commenter put it bluntly, “Get Bent McConnell.” In the statement, Republican Senate Leader McConnell refers to the leaked majority opinion drafted by Justice Samuel Alito as a “stunning breach” and an “attack on […]