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

Mother’s Day actually started in the 1870s

by Professor Heather Cox-Richarson Letters from an American If you google the history of Mother’s Day, the internet will tell you that Mother’s Day began in 1908 when Anna Jarvis decided to honor her mother. But “Mothers’ Day”—with the apostrophe not in the singular spot, but in the plural—actually started in the 1870s, when the […]

Gerald “Digger” Moravek was a rancher, an early environmentalist, and a dog killer.  Just like Kristi Noem, but not.

In the summer of 1984, I lived on the ranch of Gerald “Digger” Moravek, just outside Sheridan, Wyoming.  Like many of the ranchers who banded together to establish the Powder River Basin Resource Council, where I was working, Digger was drawn to environmentalism partly for self-interested reasons:  in the early 1970s a coal company was […]

They are Anti-War, Stupid

Reuters says the students are protesting the war in Palestine.  The students say that they are protesting the war — the killing of innocents.  Still and yet, the U.S. media doesn’t get it — says that the protesters are pro-Palestian, or anti-Semitic.  Seems it is about the narrative. To be clear. Netanyahu and ultra-orthodox Jews […]

Kind of ill today.

I will not be Posting on May 12. Sorry! I will catch up later. Still hurting on a Sunday. Hoping this will pass by Monday. Big thank you to Eric and Ken for posting this Sunday. I would not have been able to do it.

Weekly Indicators May 6 – 10 by New Deal democrat

Weekly Indicators for May 6 – 10 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. The majority of short leading and coincident indicators continue to show strength rather than weakness. This week it was commodity prices’ turn to show that the global economy is getting stronger. As […]

A Bit of History by a Friend from Slate’s “The Fray”

Queen Claude and Anne Boleyn by Claude Scales self absorbed boomer In my post about the global art market I noted that my given name, Claude, is gender neutral in French. Today, thanks to Tina Brown’s review of Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the Marriage that Shook Europe, by John Guy and Julia Fox, I know there was a Queen Claude […]

Oil industry is Writing Executive Orders for Trump to Sign

In preparation for a renewed reign of the insurrectionist, energy sources and their associations are writing up executive orders to reverse much of what Pres. Joe Biden has done over 4 years. If you recall, the same was done after Barack Obama left the presidency. Many or most of Obama’s initiatives were reversed by an […]

2024 SOCIAL SECURITY REPORT IS OUT THE MEDIA MISS THE POINT

The 2024 Social Security Trustees Report came out on Monday, May 6. You can find dozens of press reports and other commentary online, most of which are written by people who actually know nothing about Social Security except what they read in the papers. Some are written by people who do know what they are […]

The Household Survey isn’t the only data series sending up caution flares

 – by New Deal democrat I’ve written two posts earlier this week delving into the big divergence between the Establishment Survey portion of the Employment Report, which shows moderate growth, and the Household Survey, which is most consistent with a recession already having started. At any given time, some data will be positive and some […]