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

What makes ultra-processed foods so bad for your health?

Not too much has changed in the process food industry. Baloney, salami, hot dogs, sweet rolls, etc. are still the same. Process foods consists of any “raw agricultural commodities that have been washed, cleaned, milled, cut, chopped, heated, pasteurized, blanched, cooked, canned, frozen, dried, dehydrated, mixed or packaged or anything done to them altering their […]

About that BA.2.86 COVID variant

There has been some head-scratching about the recent COVID variant, BA.2.86, which has 34 amino acid changes in the spike protein compared to its closest reference sequence. Commenter rjs asks: “how can one virus suddenly wake up one morning and find it had mutated 30 times overnight? And that all 30 of its mutations were […]

Marking my Beliefs About Weapons to Market 4/N

I have written about my disagreements with the pentagon about military procurement here, here, and here, April 11 2022 I wrote “5. some relatively cheap weapons are highly effective. They include Javelin, NLAW, Stinger, and StarStreak shoulder fired missiles. They also include Bayraktar drones. They may include Switchblade suicide drones (not depoloyed yet). They have […]

Chrome Messes Up

Is anyone else having trouble with Chrome. I get a page not private error when I tried to open this page. I am now using Firefox. Chrome seems to have added a popup which, first of all, demands attention, but second of all causes older Chrome to correctly note that Chrome has become malware and […]

Too Important to Pass-Up . . . the story of Labor Day

This is a great story which should be told each year. Labor and the importance of it in society and manufacturing. Labor adds the vale to manufacturing product. September 3, 2023, Letters from an American, Prof. Heather Cox Richardson. Almost one hundred and forty-one years ago, on September 5, 1882, workers in New York City […]

Impact of low-value care received by Medicare beneficiaries outside of their health systems

The topic is important as too much resource and funds may be being spent on care with little return. Eighty-one percent of combined low value care was by out of network clinicians of which 90% was by specialists. There is some issues here. If I can find more detail, I will revise this short blurb. […]

Giving Farmworkers a Significant Raise in 2020

How much would it cost consumers to give farmworkers a significant raise? A 40% increase in pay would cost just $25 per household, Economic Policy Institute, Daniel Costa and Philip Martin, October 15, 2020 A 40% increase in pay would cost just $25 per household . . . This was up in 2020 at posted […]

John Deere partners with a Battery-electrified Product Manufacturer

This is interesting. John Deere a manufacturer of gasoline driven equipment is partnering with an international company owned by Chevron and is based in Nanjing China. EGO is led by CEO Long Quan Pan (title: Chairman/CEO/Executive Director/Co-Founder, Chervon Holdings Ltd.). My initial thought was, why doesn’t John Deere buy EGO out right making it a division […]

How Big is a Burger King Whopper?

Burger King Whopper is 4 ounces. A Wendy;s single is 4 ounces. The real question is, can you misrepresent a product in advertising? Everyone may know the product is not what it is claimed to be. It is a sales gimmick meant to entice you. However, does this relieve the seller of responsibility for misrepresentation? […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for August 28 – September 1

Weekly Indicators for August 28 – September 1 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. The long leading indicators continue to forecast that a hard landing is out there, while the short leading indicators – aided by a sharp increase in consumer spending in the past few […]