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Monthly Archives: February 2014

Once again, New England Rules

Friday, February 14, 2014

Yet another national map plotting out the stupid versus the…well…not so stupid. This one maps out the rate at which people have signed up for insurance since Obamacare went into effect. This map does not fit comfortably within the typical pattern, mostly due to the fact that some of the Northern states have right wing […]

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Billionaire derangement syndrome

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Maybe Jeff Bezos made a mistake buying the Washington Post. It's entirely possible he could have spread his particular brand of propaganda far more cheaply by buying airtime on PBS. That's what a billionaire who made his money scamming people at Enron has done: On December 18th, the Public Broadcasting Service’s flagship station WNET issued […]

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Brooks: All you need is to believe.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

I have made a number of sacrifices for the sake of this blog, but today I perhaps Above and beyond; I read a David Brooks column. Yes, I know somewhere there's probably a blog that offers to read David Brooks so I don't have to, much like the folks at Newshounds masochistically watch Fox for […]

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A Mystery

Friday, February 7, 2014

Here's something that has me completely bolloxed. I learned today that: Medicare is paying “grossly excessive” amounts for vacuum erection systems, informally known as penis pumps, which are generally used by men who fail to cure their erectile dysfunction problem with drugs such as Viagra. via Talking Points Memo This actually has me bolloxed on […]

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Utah: Stupid and proud of it

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Yesterday I noted that Utah was in the anomalous position of leading the nation in one measure of sanity: it has the lowest smoking rate in the country. This is an example of the stopped clock effect. It's a state controlled by a religious sect, so for the most part the people there are bat […]

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The pattern persists

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

This morning we learned that CVS will stop selling cigarettes in October. In the course of the article in the Times, some statistics: Some 18 percent of American adults smoke, down from 42 percent in 1965. In places like New York City, which has used a combination of steep taxes on cigarettes and bans on […]

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All Hail, FDR

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

If I had to summarize my problems with Barack Obama, I think it would boil down to this: He had the chance to be an FDR and chose to be a Herbert Hoover. If I had to summarize my problem with the modern Democratic Party it would boil down to this: The Democratic Party takes […]

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Everything is the opposite of what it is, isn’t it?

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Only the American media can turn good news into bad, and it comes as no surprise that in doing so they are carrying water for Republicans. The CBO says that as a result of the Affordable Care Act, some ordinary Americans will have the opportunity to work less and still have health insurance, to the […]

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A reasonable suggestion

Monday, February 3, 2014

 

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What secular stagnation means to me

Saturday, February 1, 2014

I have been reading a lot about secular stagnation recently, but I confess I didn't really understand the concept until I read Paul Krugman's column in the Times Friday morning. Now I think it's clear: You may or may not have heard that there’s a big debate among economists about whether we face “secular stagnation.” […]

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