Reading

Back in November I wrote that China’s Zero Covid policy was the right thing done the wrong way. Briefly after, consequent to some protests against Zero-Covid, China basically abandoned the policy.

The main problem is the same that exists in almost every country: even the most competent elites in the world today are, when not graded on a scale, incompetent buffoons incapable of running anything properly. Zero-Covid should have been about making necessary infrastructure changes to clean air so that over time restrictions could be eased.

CEPR’s researchers continue to lead the charge on tracking unionization in the US and outlining the many benefits it has, particularly for marginalized workers. Research Associate Hayley Brown has analyzed the importance of unionization in improving working conditions and increasing pay for disabled workers and young workers. Her report last month showed how Hispanic workers […]

The post CEPR Spotlight: Unions appeared first on Center for Economic and Policy Research.

The Peppermint Martini (an interim idea). Somebody once said, “if the perfect martini is ever created, it won’t be a martini.” Until now, two things stood between the martini and perfection: Gin and Vermouth. Substitute Smirnoff for gin and you’re halfway home. But what can you substitute for vermouth? We haven’t found it yet, butContinue reading Smirnoff Peppermint Martini (1972) →

I just wanted to make two quick comments about data in the United States. The first is about a new rent series from researchers at the Cleveland Fed, the second is about labour data.

Bond Economics
Quick Indicator Comments
Brian Romanchuk

What Horses' Anuses And Ginger Have To Do With The Origins Of "Cocktails" (Thanks to pharmaross)

Not being horny enough can lead to an early death: study (Thanks to Michael Parry and pharmaross)

Male wasps fend off attackers with penis ‘stingers’ (Thanks to pharmaross)

Last week, I was in Washington, D.C.’s Union Station. The weather had turned cold and I couldn’t help noticing what an inhospitable place it had become for the city’s homeless and dispossessed. Once upon a time, anyone was allowed to be in the train station at any hour. Now, there were signs everywhere announcing that you needed a ticket to be there. Other warning signs indicated that you could only sit for 30 minutes at a time at the food-court tables, while barriers had been placed where benches used to be to make it that much harder to congregate, no less sit down. With winter descending on the capital, all this struck me as particularly cruel when it came to... Read more

Source: Everybody In, Nobody Out appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Dave, I’ve been seeing a trend in “fancy” athletic socks that now purport to be tailored to specific feet, the right and left socks being labeled as such (photo illustrating this is attached). I happen to love my athletic socks,...

Some American black bears are turning red, researchers now say they know why (Thanks to Rodney Bertelsen)

Hi Dave, I have not heard back from you yet,

 

Well… I’d say MMT people can’t use that figurative language any more… 

BOJ rather saying:  “don’t fight the Fed!”…

The Bank of Japan made a surprise decision to let the 10-year Japanese government bond rise as high as 0.5% from a previous cap of 0.25%

The central bank had set a target range around zero for the benchmark government bond yield since 2016 https://t.co/HoGqut5Oyp

— Nick Timiraos (@NickTimiraos) December 20, 2022

Woman gobsmacked after leaving laundry out to dry in freezing temperatures (Thanks to John Lobert, Ralph and pharmaross)

A dog walker claims she's captured footage of a 'demon ghost' crawling across the path in an infamous haunted National Trust country park - so shocking that it's turned her sceptical husband into a 'believer'. No word on whether the...

The Free Software Foundation (FSF), a Massachusetts 501(c)(3) charity with a worldwide mission to protect computer user freedom, seeks a motivated and talented Boston-based individual to be our full-time deputy director.

The French President is facing allegations of corruption over his relationship with US consultancy firm McKinsey, which in turn is increasingly embedded in the British state

The EU-commission issued a tweet (below). Another step towards EU statehood. A large one. Since around 1500, access to credit was key for European (later: all) states waging war. The early development of central banks was intertwined with the history of national wars. Look here for the Wikipedia page on the history of the Bank […]

Despite only having 6 British subscribers, the founder of Forensic News faces legal action in the English courts for his coverage of Russian interference in the 2016 election

Wisdom’s Edge Foundation is a non-profit organization that aims to bring philosophy-based classes to people who do not have access to traditional university offerings in philosophy. Wisdom’s Edge was created by Sophia Stone, associate professor of philosophy at Lynn University. She writes: In 2022, Wisdom’s Edge Foundation served 121 people by offering free philosophy discussions and activities. Sessions include in-person philosophy events to communities in St. Cloud, Minnesota and Palm Beach County in South Florida as well as on-line sessions to communities from Hawai’i to Florida and India. These sessions included traditional philosophy courses in Applied Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion as well as the History of Philosophy from Eastern and Western traditions. As an outreach organization, Wisdom’s Edge taught free philosophy courses in self-confidence to women in transition from homelessness, incarceration, sex-trafficking and domestic violence. Wisdom’s Edge offered two reading circles online, a mathematics and philosophy circle and a social/political and existentialist philosophy reading circle.

‘Why don’t I paint the sensation of seeing?’ The US artist Alex Katz on eight decades of meditative looking

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

Surveillance changes us in powerful ways, as Franz Kafka warned. Neither the watched nor their watcher escapes unscathed

- by George Alliger

Read at Psyche

How a close group of brilliant friends, in a tiny German university town, laid the foundations of modern consciousness

- by Andrea Wulf

Read at Aeon

As the former Prime Minister makes £750k from just three speeches since being ousted from Number 10, his voters feel abandoned

LGBTQ+ adults have higher rates of food and housing insecurity and are more likely to struggle with anxiety and depression than non-LGBTQ+ adults.