Kevin Drum 🕸

This is a mosaic on the ceiling of Sacré Coeur Basilica in Paris.

Good news for workers in California: Fast-food companies agreed over the weekend to pull a California referendum off next year’s ballot that sought to reverse a landmark worker-protections law, forgoing a costly political fight with labor unions over employee pay. The deal will result in an increase in the minimum wage for fast-food workers to ...continue reading "California fast food workers are finally making $15 per hour*"

Over at National Review, John Noonan condemns the fact that we have failed to evacuate every last Afghan who ever worked for the United States: In our hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan — perhaps the most cynical display of national treachery I have witnessed in my lifetime — we left behind multitudes of innocent Afghans who ...continue reading "Our withdrawal from Afghanistan was a success"

Tyler Cowen points to a chart from Ted Gioia and Chris Dalla Riva that shows the share of popular songs written in a minor key: "Why is music getting sadder?" asks Gioia, but I'm not sure I agree with the premise. It's true that minor keys are associated with sadness, but they shouldn't be. I ...continue reading "Chart of the day: Songs in a minor key"

Ross Douthat joins a cast of millions today to ask: Why Is Joe Biden So Unpopular? The answer is: he's not. How often do I have to post this chart before the message gets through? Here are our last four presidents at week 133 of their first terms:¹ ¹Excluding George W. Bush, as usual, because ...continue reading "For the last time: Joe Biden is not unpopular"

A new poll says that only 28% of Californians support cash reparations for Black residents. But this number is fairly meaningless because it masks partisan differences that are even bigger than usual: Democrats: 43% support Republicans: 3% support I myself have long believed that cash reparations are a misguided idea. I have four primary reasons: ...continue reading "Even in blue California, most oppose cash reparations to Black residents"

COVID is back: Fauci: We ‘need to be prepared’ for likely Covid uptick this winter https://t.co/NSJP0NqjUz — POLITICO (@politico) September 10, 2023 The good news is that after three years, at least we know how to handle it. We'll be OK as long as no one wears a mask; we stick close to each other; ...continue reading "How to handle a COVID surge"

Marjorie Taylor Greene says Joe Biden is obviously guilty of.......something, but that's small potatoes. We need to move slowly and deliberately on impeachment in order to unearth the real crimes: It has become evident that there is a vast amount of people in previous administrations, this administration, and federal agencies that all worked diligently to ...continue reading "Who are the traitors defending Joe Biden?"

Ron DeSantis is edging toward being a full-on vaccine denier: Lashing out at what he called the “medical authoritarianism” of mask mandates and other anti-Covid measures, DeSantis accused federal health agencies of being “basically an arm of Big Pharma” as they mulled authorizing [new] vaccines as early as next week. “Pharma will make more money ...continue reading "DeSantis & Co. aren’t happy with newest COVID vaccine"

You may recall that a couple of months ago a right-wing federal judge ruled that the Biden administration had been engaging in a "regime of mass censorship" straight out of 1984. This was all about the government's effort to fight social media disinformation in the areas of public health and election administration, and the judge's ...continue reading "Appeals court upholds tiny part of “mass censorship” ruling"

What false things do Republicans routinely believe these days? I'm not talking about wild-ass conspiracy theories like QAnon, or matters of opinion, like whether tax cuts produce higher revenue or CRT is wrecking our schools. No, I'm talking about simple, factual matters that are 100% contrary to expert opinion but are accepted routinely by most ...continue reading "What Republicans believe, 2023 edition"

The 14th Amendment, passed after the Civil War, says this: No person shall...hold any office...who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States...shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. After the Civil War ...continue reading "States cannot remove Donald Trump from the ballot for engaging in insurrection"

Here's the latest FDA POWER GRAB OVER YOUR DRUGSTORE: Americans have been wasting billions a year on cold medicines like Sudafed & Benadryl with the active ingredient phenylephrine, despite conclusive evidence they don't work. But a report published yesterday may finally lead to the removal of these drugs from pharmacy shelves. 1/6 pic.twitter.com/eCv7UlR1dZ — John ...continue reading "Most popular nasal decongestants don’t work"

This is Hilbert investigating the camera while I'm taking pictures of him. I did this with the flash on, and as usual it turned Hilbert's eyes almost entirely black. It's really weird, as if his eyes just don't reflect the spectrum produced by the flash unit. I had to do some massive photoshopping to bring ...continue reading "Friday Cat Blogging – 8 September 2023"

Most polls on abortion break up responses into three categories: Should always be illegal. Should always be legal. Should sometimes be legal. The first two are obviously clear enough, but the third encompasses a very wide range of views. For example: Should be illegal except in cases of rape and incest. Should be legal early ...continue reading "Did Dobbs really prompt a backlash against abortion restrictions?"

Ron DeSantis thinks the Proud Boy leaders of the January 6 insurrection have received unfairly harsh sentences. I agree with him. However, we have very different reasons for thinking the sentences should be shorter. DeSantis says that BLM protesters who broke the law got lenient sentences, so the Proud Boys should too. But this doesn't ...continue reading "Ron DeSantis is right about excessive 1/6 sentences, but for the wrong reason"

Here is Elon Musk's version of the story about how and why Starlink satellite coverage around Crimea was inactive when the Ukrainian government wanted to use it to guide a drone attack on the Russian navy: There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol. The obvious intent ...continue reading "Did Elon Musk deactivate Starlink coverage around Crimea?"

Bob Somerby is annoyed that liberals continue to say that Florida's Stop WOKE Act bans any classroom discussion that "could prompt students to feel discomfort" because of their race. In fairness, early drafts of the law did use that word, and it was only dropped in the final bill. Nonetheless, he's right that the bill ...continue reading "Here’s what Florida really means by “Stop WOKE”"

Cactus photographed against the sky along Laguna Canyon Road.

Measurements of the COVID virus in wastewater have now quadrupled since their low point in June. But what does that mean? Wastewater measurements are now about the same as they were at this time in both 2021 and 2022. In 2021 that led to a huge outbreak later in the year. In 2022 it led ...continue reading "COVID tracking in wastewater has quadrupled since June"