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

Chinese firms going global

A brief coming out of China reporting as to what they see as to their issues in growing their international trade. It is a different perspective in what they see as compared to what we see. When I was overseas for weeks at a time, I would pick up a local paper to get those […]

Knocking Back The UV 

Joel C. Eissenberg and Michael D. Eissenberg Institute for Thanksgiving Weekend’s Intriguing Standardized Tests (ITWIST) Evergreen, Colorado 80439 Abstract Ultraviolet (UV) light is a form of ionizing radiation prevalent on earth during daylight hours. UV light exposure in humans is a risk factor for skin cancer and cataracts. Accordingly, there has been considerable interest in […]

“strong demand, no question . . . “

Strong demand because people had money to spend when they would have had nothing if the ARP was not put into play. By the same token, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was targeting the upper 1% of the taxpayers with the next 4% tagging along. It in itself was ~$2 trillion much of which […]

ISM manufacturing remains weak, while construction spending continues to power along

 – by New Deal democrat As usual, the month’s data begins with the ISM manufacturing index, and with a one month delay, construction spending. Because manufacturing is of diminishing importance to the economy, and was in deep contraction both in 2015-16 and again in 2022 without any recession occurring, I now use an economically weighted three […]

Fisking the anti-vaxxers

Over at jabberwocking.com, Kevin Drum has a systematic take-down of the anti-vaxxer propaganda on COVID19: • The reason the CDC initially recommended against wearing masks was because they thought you could just avoid people who were sick, so it was best to reserve limited supplies for doctors, who couldn’t avoid sick people. When researchers discovered […]

The Contracting Gold Mine That Hurts Veterans

I have been working through the VA over the last six months due to having issues with my blood. Several time the platelets dropped as low as 1000 for days at a time. The solution is what medication will work. Steroids, IVIGs do not work. It is not till I get to cancer drug Rituxan, […]

Christmas, A Time for Consumption and Waste

As taken from Grist . . . The producer of Netflix’s “Buy Now!” says companies should be accountable for the trash they generate. Flora Bagenal, is a Producer / Director and Executive Producer based in Oxford, England. She produced Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy, which has just dropped on Netflix. Who’s responsible for waste? A […]

Medicare Advantage Overcharging

The following to just part of a longer report by the Physicians for a National Health Program on Medicare Advantage healthcare programs offered by commercial entities. It lays the foundation as to why Medicare Advantage is more expensive than Traditional Medicare. I will do doing the other parts to this report over the next few […]

“some of them did vote to burn it all down. But if it all burns down, we burn too.”

Timothy Snyder invites us to read; “Decapitation Strike (December)“ (Note to readers: I wrote this two weeks ago, on 15 November. This update accounts for things I have learned since, and for Trump’s further appointments, who confirm the thesis.) Each of Trump’s proposed appointments is a surprise. It is comforting to think that he is […]

Jail and Prison Populations Decreased Since 2019

The Vera Institutes report on Jails and Prisons is accurate. I am basing this comment on what I know about them in the past. Obviously, things have changed over time. It is good to see a decrease. Perhaps they have found better ways to handle minor issues other than the county jail or state prisons. […]