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

Trump cancels military history

“Donald Trump’s move to block diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has led to the US Air Force removing material on the role of black and female pilots during World War Two from its training programmes. “A military official said “immediate steps” were taken to remove material to “ensure compliance” with the US president’s order, […]

Copilot AI as an editorial assistant:  meh

A few days ago Microsoft Copilot showed up in Word.  It offers to rewrite stuff for me.  So I tried it out on a few paragraphs.  I have to admit it’s not blowing me away. Let’s have Copilot rewrite that paragraph: Recently, Microsoft Copilot has been integrated into Word. It provides an option to rewrite […]

What’s in a name?

Once they seized power, the Bolsheviks set about re-making Russia in their own image. One manifestation of this was changing place names: Saint Petersburg became Leningrad, Tsaritsyn became Stalingrad. Following in their footsteps, Trump has renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. This calls to mind the pathetic attempt to rebrand French […]

Stealing Jobs from Real J.D.s

Trump’s B.S. ‘Efficiency’ Effort Steals Jobs from Real J.D.s, – by Joe Patrice Above the Law, Joe Patrice Hiring freeze leaves young lawyers in the cold. Elon Musk’s cost-cutting efforts are mostly a farce to sell chintzy merchandise to America’s most gullible marks. The “Department of Government Efficiency” is not an actual cabinet department, but rather rebrand […]

What’s the matter with Germany?

I see where Elon “Sieg Heil” Musk attended a AfG neo-Nazi party rally. In these times when authoritarianism is in ascendency throughout the world, I wonder whether Germany will be the next to succumb to right-wing extremism. I don’t have the resources to do my own polling, but I have an American friend who has […]

Shareholders agree with Corporate’s Recent Efforts

A large number of stockholders are supporting Costco’s most recent efforts. Costco shareholders on Thursday soundly rejected a conservative think tank’s proposal requesting a report on the risks of maintaining diversity and inclusion initiatives, even as other companies back down. Costco said that an “overwhelming margin” of 98% of shares voted against the measure, according to […]

Immigrant Deportations

Immigrant Deportations: Trends and Impacts, Econofact, Tara Watson The Social Cost of Deportation The Issue: Immigrant Deportations have long been a part of immigration enforcement and their number has fluctuated significantly in the last few decades. Former President Trump has promised to take this further and significantly ramp up the policy with a mass deportation of people who do […]

What to Watch for at The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

What to Watch for at The Department of Veterans Affairs – by Allison Gill The Contrarian “During Donald Trump’s first term, it took a while for me to get fired” . . . Allison Gill an employee of the Department of Veterans I had worked at the VA for over a decade when I was […]

Estimates of All People Experiencing Homelessness in the United States

A not-so-short report made shorter by me on homelessness during the pandemic. It is not a terrible read. Plenty of charts and graphs to help explain the words. Dive into it, it is pretty good. The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR to Congress) Part 1: Point-In-Time Estimates of Homelessness, December 2024 National Estimates of […]