a Better Bubble™

Kevin Drum 🕸

Health Update

2 weeks 6 days ago
With a heavy heart, I have to tell you that after a long battle with cancer my husband Kevin Drum passed away on Friday, March 7, 2025. No public memorial services are planned. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the charity or political cause of your choice. A Facebook page, 'In Memory of Kevin ...continue reading "Health Update"
Kevin Drum

Health update

3 weeks 5 days ago
Everything is getting worse: Other counts are getting worse and I feel terrible. Nonetheless they're slow walking the immunoglobulin treatment, which I think is my only chance. These guys are going to kill me before they figure out what's wrong.
Kevin Drum

Arms to Ukraine halted

3 weeks 6 days ago
It's official: The U.S. will pause all military aid to Kyiv until President Trump determines that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is making a good-faith effort toward peace negotiations with Russia, according to a White House official. Trump's revenge is now complete.
Kevin Drum

Office buildings are sprouting like trees

3 weeks 6 days ago
Construction data was released today, and once again I don't get this: Following the pandemic, everyone was supposedly working from home. Downtowns were hollowed out. Vacancy rates were 50%. And yet, construction of office buildings has never fallen below its pre-pandemic peak. We're putting up new office buildings like gangbusters. What's going on?
Kevin Drum

Trump plans to halt arms to Ukraine, sanctions on Russia

3 weeks 6 days ago
The other shoe drops: The Trump administration has stopped financing new weapons sales to Ukraine and is considering freezing weapons shipments from U.S. stockpiles, moves that threaten Kyiv’s ability to fight at a critical time in its battle against Russian forces, current and former U.S. officials said. The shutdown of financing new weapons sales began ...continue reading "Trump plans to halt arms to Ukraine, sanctions on Russia"
Kevin Drum

We don’t need to tell the poor what to eat

3 weeks 6 days ago
The soda wars, begun they have: At both state and federal levels, the Kennedy-led Make America Healthy Again movement is backing efforts to prevent people from spending food-aid benefits on sugary, carbonated beverages.... But the U.S. Agriculture Department, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has rejected the requests for more than 20 ...continue reading "We don’t need to tell the poor what to eat"
Kevin Drum

Health update

3 weeks 6 days ago
Holy cow: My inflammation is still going up despite massive doses of steroids. What the hell is going on?
Kevin Drum

Destruction of Canada begins tomorrow

3 weeks 6 days ago
Donald Trump plans to levy 25% tariffs across the board on Canada tomorrow:¹ The result, an overwhelming majority of economists agree, would be inflation and supply disruption in the United States, while Canadian industries could face large-scale layoffs. Inflation in the US and unemployment in Canada! Sounds great. And whole factories will shut down: Because ...continue reading "Destruction of Canada begins tomorrow"
Kevin Drum

Howard Lutnick believes in GDP fairies

4 weeks ago
Our economic betters speak their wisdom: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that government spending could be separated from gross domestic product reports in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know, that governments historically have messed with GDP,” ...continue reading "Howard Lutnick believes in GDP fairies"
Kevin Drum

So how’s it going in the friendly skies these days?

4 weeks ago
A conversation about airline safety in the era of DOGE and Elon Musk: Rolling Stone: FAA Officials Ordered Staff to Find Funding for Elon Musk’s Starlink James Fallows, longtime private pilot: Corrupt? Sure. But also directly dangerous? And how! FAA has done careful, long testing /study of new tower-communication system. Now a rush to switch ...continue reading "So how’s it going in the friendly skies these days?"
Kevin Drum

Dumbest. Idea. Ever.

4 weeks ago
I admit that the contest for stupidest idea of the Trump administration is heated and contentious. But surely this must be strongly in the running: Crypto prices surged Sunday after President Trump said he would move forward on a U.S. crypto strategic reserve that will include bitcoin and ether, as well as three smaller and ...continue reading "Dumbest. Idea. Ever."
Kevin Drum

Health update 2

4 weeks ago
Here's the plan: Put me back on high-flow oxygen. Slam me with IV steroids. Quadruple the dose and administer every six hours. If that doesn't work, slam me with antibiotics. If that doesn't work, intubate me and do a broncoscopy. There are further options after that, but not good ones. Bottom line: doctors just don't ...continue reading "Health update 2"
Kevin Drum

Health update

4 weeks ago
For the next few days, my new favorite chart is for C-Reactive protein: Still going up. What a disaster. I'm huffing and puffing a storm.
Kevin Drum

English is now our official language

4 weeks 1 day ago
Donald Trump signed an executive order today making English the official language of the US. But it was surprisingly diffident: Nothing in this order, however, requires or directs any change in the services provided by any agency. Agency heads should make decisions as they deem necessary to fulfill their respective agencies’ mission and efficiently provide ...continue reading "English is now our official language"
Kevin Drum

DOGE wants to check if you’re really eligible for the vast riches of SNAP

4 weeks 1 day ago
A pair of DOGE bros want access to IRS data to check for benefit cheating: Kliger and Corcos, according to records obtained by The Post, specifically mentioned investigating eligibility and fraud within student loan and grant programs and SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program formerly known as food stamps, which serves nearly 42 million Americans. ...continue reading "DOGE wants to check if you’re really eligible for the vast riches of SNAP"
Kevin Drum

Health update

4 weeks 1 day ago
I've had a bit of a setback. Normally, physical therapy means walking over to a chair and sitting for an hour. This produces a small amount of huffing and puffing, but it goes away quickly after I get back in bed. Not yesterday. I got back in bed and my breathing never caught up. I ...continue reading "Health update"
Kevin Drum