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Created
Fri, 24/11/2023 - 02:30
“I would much rather be us than them” One red state I track from cycle to cycle showed half its Democratic county committees leaderless or unorganized this time in 2022. When I checked the state party’s website again this week, Every Single One had a county chair listed with email contacts (all but one). I was elated. It won’t change anything electoral-count-wise in 2024, but it’s remarkable organizing progress in two years. It could mean a less-red state legislature in the near future, and a more hospitable environment for residents, especially women. It’s something to be thankful for today. Something else (Daily Kos): In a historic victory, Democrats have gained their first majority on the Board of Commissioners in Dauphin County since at least 1919—and possibly ever—after Republican Chad Saylor conceded to Democrat Justin Douglas following this month’s elections.
Created
Fri, 24/11/2023 - 00:28
In 2022, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) placed a large bet on an experimental drug developed to limit brain damage after strokes … The gamble seemed warranted. Lab studies, most by a longtime grantee, prominent University of Southern California (USC) neuroscientist Berislav Zlokovic, had generated promising data. A small safety study of the […]
Created
Thu, 23/11/2023 - 21:35

‘My biggest fear as a humanitarian assistance provider,’ said Hiba Tibi, CARE’s Gaza and West Bank Country Director, ‘is that waterborne diseases and dehydration will be more destructive than the bombing.’ CARE, the international humanitarian agency, warns that a lack of clean water in Gaza is leading to the spread of deadly diseases such as […]

Created
Thu, 23/11/2023 - 21:22
Almost sixty years ago Milton Friedman wrote an (in)famous article arguing that (1) the natural rate of unemployment was independent of monetary policy and that (2) trying to keep the unemployment rate below the natural rate would only give rise to higher and higher inflation. The hypothesis has always been controversial, and much theoretical and […]
Created
Thu, 23/11/2023 - 20:35
With corrupt crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried as its most prominent representative, the Effective Altruism movement is not particularly popularly these days. And some other people associated with the Effective Altruism movement have bizarre and unappealing ideas. More generally, the association of the idea with the Silicon Valley technobro culture we’ve been discussing here has put […]
Created
Thu, 23/11/2023 - 20:00
Fergus Cumming and Danny Walker Bank Rate has risen by more than 5 percentage points in the UK over the past couple of years. This has led to much higher mortgage rates for many people. In this post we analyse another potential source of pressure on mortgagors: the potential for falls in house prices to … Continue reading Why lower house prices could lead to higher mortgage rates