tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34539182024-03-17T07:47:47.595-07:00Into the BreachPolitics, Science, and Religion.
And sometimes intersections among themKendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.comBlogger4473125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-90493320802454476222023-04-02T09:49:00.005-07:002023-04-02T09:49:39.577-07:00Expanding the Househttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/28/danielle-allen-democracy-reform-house-representatives-districts/Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-25981552318895852582023-03-06T13:15:00.003-08:002023-03-06T13:15:25.225-08:00Why Stock Buybacks are Bad Robert Reich explains:Companies don’t get better because of buybacks. Shareholders only get richer. While railroads spent more on stock buybacks than rail safety, Warren Buffett’s wealth increased by $42 billion.Researchers at Deloitte point out that buybacks and dividends have soared as a share of GDP, while corporate investments in equipment and infrastructure Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-86562118674554227492023-03-04T10:28:00.012-08:002023-03-04T10:34:04.183-08:00The Power of the Climate Policies in the Inflation Reduction Act Paul Krugmanhuge progress in renewable energy and related technologies, notably batteries, means that it now looks almost easy to achieve a low-emission economy. We can now easily envision a society in which people drive electric vehicles and cook on induction ranges, using power generated by solar panels and wind turbines, and experience no sense of sacrifice.The role of policy then Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-83182763955772205012022-12-23T10:47:00.002-08:002022-12-23T10:47:20.711-08:00A Journey Why the red wave faltered.He had White co-workers who flagrantly used the n-word and made racist comments to him, and he came to enjoy their shock when he told them to cut it out.“It was disgusting that people might think I was okay with that,” he said. “I decided I wasn’t going to just let it slide. Because if you let it slide, you become complicit, and complicity turns into guilt, and Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-25417812284804902162022-12-21T06:44:00.003-08:002022-12-23T10:41:49.647-08:00It's the "Persuadables" John Feffer examines the roots of right-wing successes.Sure, the far right attracts plenty of “deplorables” from outright racists and homophobes to QAnon crackpots. But far more of those who support candidates like Kari Lake and her global counterparts — Giorgia Meloni in Italy, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, and Narendra Modi in India, among others — are actually “persuadables,” voting in theirKendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-476515157866946962022-12-12T07:49:00.005-08:002022-12-12T07:52:08.171-08:00The Root Cause of Violent Crime Is Not What We Think It Is insufficient punishment is not the root cause of violence. And if someone is talking about how tough they are and how scared you should be, they care more about keeping you scared than keeping you safe.I have seen the message of “strong communities keeping everyone safe” open the minds of Republican voters, Democratic voters, and many in between. It is backed up by science. Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-55927712102494159402022-12-12T07:43:00.003-08:002022-12-12T07:49:57.705-08:00Gretchen Whitmer illustrated how to winGretchen Whitmer shows Democrats how to win.She ran on economics and abortion, increased Democratic turnout and persuaded swing voters, all while connecting with the party’s largest base: Black voters. She embodied the way smart campaigns in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and around the country operated this cycle, and she gave a blueprint for Democrats in 2024.The first lesson Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-43727584389787846712022-11-13T08:37:00.005-08:002022-11-13T08:37:23.790-08:00Democrats after election Elizabeth Warren provides guidance for the lame-duck session.Democrats should fight back by making this lame-duck session of Congress the most productive in decades. We can start by lifting the debt ceiling now to block Republicans from taking our economy hostage next year. Democrats must then continue delivering for families. Where we can pursue legislative action, we should fight Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-29660180392529629512022-10-25T07:34:00.002-07:002022-10-25T07:34:12.812-07:00Minimum Wage vs, SSA COLA Robert Reich reviews the details.The media talk about this as a “boost” in Social Security benefits but it’s not. The adjustment simply enables people living on Social Security (more than 70 million of us) to maintain the purchasing power they had a year ago.On the other hand, the people working at the federal minimum wage haven’t got an inflation adjustment. They’ve Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-85482850595036516462022-10-22T11:21:00.009-07:002022-10-22T11:21:38.679-07:00Rural America Being Deceived Paul Krugman explains why rural America is in the tank. They are hurting but they don't realize that Republicans will make it worse. And Democrats are making real strides in making it better.Political scientists have found that rural Americans believe that they aren’t receiving their fair share of resources, that they are neglected by politicians and that they don’t receive enoughKendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-13790409419236186722022-10-22T09:08:00.000-07:002022-10-22T09:08:02.688-07:00How to Defeat Fascism Anand Giridhradas has the rundown.Command AttentionThe right presently runs laps around the left in its ability to manage and use attention. It understands the power of provocation to make people have the conversation that most benefits its side. “Tucker Carlson said what about the war on ‘legacy Americans’?” “Donald Trump said what about those countries in Africa?”Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-45453219582011453002022-10-14T15:12:00.005-07:002022-10-14T15:12:52.369-07:00Jan 6 Summary For clear talking points about the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Robert Reich has a great list.The committee then showed evidence that:1. Trump concocted his plan long before Election Day. Knowing that mail-in votes would be more likely cast for Biden and would not be counted until possibly days after Trump had taken the lead on Election Day, Trump planned to give a falseKendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-37227942566621673062022-10-13T06:57:00.003-07:002022-10-13T06:57:26.440-07:00It's Scam Season Especially for insurance companies that sell Medicare Advantage plans that line their pockets. insurance industry whistleblower Wendell Potter warns that it’s because the only “advantage” to these HMO-style networked plans is for the insurers.Oh, yes. Susie Madrak has more at Crooks and Liars.Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-4684139511105913752022-10-12T07:21:00.000-07:002022-10-12T07:21:00.901-07:00Avoiding Financial Crises On the recent Nobel Prize award for economics, Paul Krugman has some good thoughts on avoiding financial abysses.What can be done to mitigate the risk of self-fulfilling panic? As Diamond and Dybvig noted, a government backstop — either deposit insurance, the willingness of the central bank to lend money to troubled banks or both — can short-circuit potential crises. Indeed, the mere Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-6860592433149999842022-10-09T06:36:00.005-07:002022-10-09T06:36:36.854-07:00Key IndicatorsWe measure jobs, wages, and prices. The missing piece in profits.If we measured corporate profits more often and more reliably, Americans might be getting a story about inflation centered not on workers’ power to get wage gains but on corporations’ power to get price gains. There might be far more discussion about what appear to be record profit margins and their effects Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-39784170963030040412022-10-09T06:31:00.004-07:002022-10-09T06:31:49.059-07:00Why create vulnerabilities?The best way to protect from catastrophic storm losses is to not build valuable structures in vulnerable places. Our procedural incentives are sorely misplace.Local emergency managers know all too well which places in their communities should not be built back after a storm. But they are rebuilt, because the federal government and states provide multiple incentives to rebuild rather than to Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-12290063637436455432022-10-09T06:28:00.001-07:002022-10-09T06:28:25.663-07:00Microbes mine depleted oil wellsWhat to do with a depleted oil well? Turn it into a hydrogen factory.Texan company Cemvita is promising clean hydrogen at less than US$1/kg, after testing a fascinating new technique in the lab and the field. The idea is to pump specially developed microbes into depleted oil wells, where they'll eat oil and excrete hydrogen.So, it presumably stops up the top of the well, before pumping a Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-11995775275130630212022-10-09T06:24:00.001-07:002022-10-09T06:24:04.445-07:00Humans Beat Robots The robotic and AI revolution takes a different path than expected. Rather than replacing humans, humans are gaining effectiveness and productivity from robotic and AI functionality.“Will AI replace radiologists?” is “the wrong question.” Instead, he wrote, “The right answer is: Radiologists who use AI will replace radiologists who don’t.”Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-6982229056604837982022-09-29T07:19:00.006-07:002022-09-29T07:19:31.550-07:00Three myths used by the ultra-wealthy Robert Reich breaks it downThe first is trickle-down economics. The second myth is the “free market.” The third myth is that they’re superior human beings For over forty years, as wealth at the top has soared, almost nothing has trickled down. Adjusted for inflation, the median wage today is barely higher than it was four decades ago. In reality, the Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-33629205901593648362022-09-20T10:56:00.005-07:002022-09-20T10:57:50.787-07:00One Solution Could Help According to Sam Bowman & John Myers & Ben Southwood fixing the housing problem could fix lots of other things with which people struggle.“Try listing every problem the Western world has at the moment,” they wrote. From Covid to slow economic growth to climate change to falling fertility, they all had one root cause in common: “A shortage of housing: Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-64731332633554834712022-09-20T10:49:00.006-07:002022-09-20T10:49:40.757-07:00Election Deniers in office Robert Reich gets to the meat of it.The commitment to be bound by the results of an election is the most important commitment in a democracy. It is also the most important qualification for public office. It is the equivalent of an oath to uphold the Constitution.Candidates who refuse to commit to being bound by the results of elections should be presumed disqualified to hold public Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-81329390901434166572022-09-12T08:00:00.006-07:002022-09-12T08:01:36.286-07:00How to argue These are some tips from the debate experts.First, know when to engage. Arguments, Seo reminds us, are “easy to start and hard to end.” For a dispute to go well, it should be real, important and specific. You need to have a point to make, not just an emotional conflict or complaint to air. If someone has hurt you, figure out why; that becomes a real basis for argument.Next, pause to Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-43736312499860799532022-09-09T11:14:00.001-07:002022-09-09T11:14:14.492-07:00Questions for election deniers From Robert ReichWhat are you saying to yourself in private? How are you justifying yourself in your own mind?Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-65257963292790662152022-08-25T09:07:00.002-07:002022-08-25T09:07:27.184-07:00Disinformation InoculationShort animations giving viewers a taste of the tactics behind misinformation can help to "inoculate" people against harmful content on social media when deployed in YouTube's advert slot, according to a major online experiment led by the University of Cambridge.This "pre-bunking" strategy pre-emptively exposes people to tropes at the root of malicious propaganda, so they can better identify Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3453918.post-77704319995947050722022-08-19T08:58:00.005-07:002022-08-19T08:58:38.946-07:00Forever Just Got Shorter A team of scientists has found a cheap, effective way to destroy so-called forever chemicals, a group of compounds that pose a global threat to human health.At the end of a PFAS molecule’s carbon-fluorine chain, it is capped by a cluster of other atoms. Many types of PFAS molecules have heads made of a carbon atom connected to a pair of oxygen atoms, for example.Dr. Dichtel came across a&Kendall Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966361160882453496noreply@blogger.com0