A high level, if flawed, critique of democracy American style.
Thursday, July 3, 2025
2:00PM Water Cooler 8/7/2020
Covid in TN, NC, AL, AL, and IL ~ Party on ~ School reopening ~ Biden’s foreign policy team ~ Biden’s Republican Hispanic whisperer ~ Biden’s Corvette ~ A second Civil War ~ Employment situation ~ Adam Tooze ~ Hydroxychloroquine ~ Covid, sleep, and music ~ “Officer-involved shooting” deprecated
Patrick Cockburn: War and Pandemic Journalism
On the political forces that lead governments to minimize pandemic risks and costs and cheerlead faint signs of hope.
Crapification, Vanguard Style: Customer Service Rep Bullies Your Humble Blogger into Taking Security Risk
Vanguard behaves very badly.
Stimulus Talks on Verge of Failure as Both Sides Trade Blame
No news on the stimulus front is very very bad news.
Why Taiwan Is at the Heart of a Geopolitical Struggle to Produce Cutting-Edge Computer Chips
Why Taiwan could serve as a prototype for a tech proxy war.
2:00PM Water Cooler 8/6/2020
COVID round the world and in US regions ~ Party on! ~ Biden Corvette ad (good) ~ Biden fundraising, ad spend ~ Jamaal Bowman lets the cat out of the bag ~ Employment, rail, household debt ~ Southwest ~ Chickens and teargas ~ Abolishing race ~ Employment in DC vs. New York ~ Sid!
Peter Kuznick: Why Did Americans Accept Barbaric Slaughter of Japanese Civilians?
In 1939, Roosevelt decried targeting civilians as “inhuman barbarism”. In 1945, the U.S. firebombed Japanese cities and dropped nuclear bombs.
CalPERS Chief Investment Officer Ben Meng Resigns Following Our Exposing His False, Felonious Financial Disclosure Filings and Private Equity Conflicts of Interest
CalPERS Chief Investment Officer Ben Meng has left abruptly. If you’ve been paying attention, this isn’t a total surprise.
Mass Gatherings Contributed to Early COVID-19 Mortality: Evidence from US Sports
A clever and disconcerting analysis shows how much big indoor gatherings boosted Covid-19 deaths.
Why International Financial Regulation Still Falls Short
Financial regulators still don’t like to tame bubbles even after seeing how costly it is when they go boom. Shame, that.
2:00PM Water Cooler 8/5/2020
COVID up-and-comers, swing states ~ Biden blows a gasket on cognitive testing question ~ Biden foreign policy ~ Allan Lichtman of keys fame predicts Trump loss ~ Cori Bush victory in Missouri ~ Employment, services, trade ~ Immunology ~ “The Science” ~ The Louvin Brothers ~ Adam Tooze
International Trade Has Cost Americans Millions of Jobs. Investing in Communities Might Offset Those Losses
After too many years of “Let them eat training,” a more practical answer to trade-induced job losses.
