Category Archives: Banana republic

“Yes, AOC’s Dress Was Performative Politics, But She Got Her Point Across”

Did the controversy around AOC’s “Tax the Rich” dress advance the cause of reducing inequality?

CalPERS Devises “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” Gamble for Long-Term Care Policyholders in Settlement

Why the proposed CalPERS long-term care insurance settlement has the look and feel of a con job.

Algorithmic Management

Examinging how algorithmic management works and why it is likely to become even more widespread.

Law Review Article Describes Private Equity as Bargaining Failure, Indictment of Law and Economics Fetishization of Contracts

An important new paper puts another big chink in private equity’s armor.

Over Half of States Have Rolled Back Public Health Powers in Pandemic

In the midst of the pandemic, more than half of U.S. states have passed legislation taking away the powers state and local officials use to protect the public against infectious diseases.

CalPERS’ Long-Term Care Fiasco: Private Burial to Hide Malfeasance, Failure to Implement Legislation

A key fact in CalPERS’ long-term care debacle: the giant fund flagrantly violated the statute govening this progam.

18 Vaccine Experts, Including Top FDA Scientists, Publish Review in The Lancet Saying Current Evidence Doesn’t Support Need for COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters for the Fully Vaccinated

Top international vaccine experts contend current evidence does not support a need for boosters for the fully vaccinated general population at this time and recommending instead directing doses to previously unvaccinated populations.

Up to Half of the $14 Trillion Spent by Pentagon Since 9/11 Has Gone to War Profiteers

A new analysis shows that a “large portion” of Pentagon contracts in recent years have gone to just five companies: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman.

With 38 Million Facing Food Insecurity, Hunger in US Soared by Nearly 9% in 2020

The US avoided mass starvation in 2020 mostly because the federal government stepped in to dramatically increase food and cash aid.

US as Failed State: Covid Booster Shot Mess

The booster situation has developed not necessarily to the Biden Administration’s advantage.

‘America Has a Monopoly Problem’: Coalition Backs Legislation to Break Up Big Tech

Anti-monopoly interests have proposed a series of bills to give regulators more power, particularly with respect to tech.

‘Catastrophic Injustice’: Judge OKs Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Plan Shielding Sacklers

Tens of thousands dead and the Sacklers get to ride away with their Purdue Pharma loot.

Prominent CalPERS Retiree Group Warns California Secretary of State About Illegal, Hacking-Friendly Voting Methods

An important CalPERS beneficiary group calls out the fund’s use of illegal, insecure, fraud-friendly internet and phone voting.

EXPOSED: How CalPERS Tried and Continues to Try to Cover Up Former Chief Investment Officer Ben Meng’s Misconduct

A CalPERS case study in “The cover up is worse than the crime,” Ben Meng edition.