Kevin Drum 🕸

The decline of the US—or even of the West more generally—has been a persistent topic for years, and for some reason it's enjoying a mini-Renaissance right now. There is much talk, for example, that the dollar is losing its spot as the world's reserve currency. But it sure doesn't look like it: The dollar lost ...continue reading "The case for America"

Bear claws in the sky! This was taken during an astrophotography session at Palomar Mountain. The lights in the distance are the city of Oceanside.

Responding to the recent cases of people being shot just for knocking on a door, Atrios wants to know what's going on. After all, it wasn't like this back when he was growing up: Someone walking up the driveway wasn't threatening. Certainly pulling into a someone's drive to make a "u-turn" was standard practice. Of ...continue reading "Why are we still so afraid of a knock at the door?"

Today is my first day at City of Hope in preparation for my CAR-T treatment next week. I'm getting a PICC line placed and undergoing a few tests, but no more. Tomorrow is officially Day -5, leading up to Day 0 on Tuesday when the CAR-T cells will be infused into my bloodstream. The most ...continue reading "Lunchtime Photo"

The Washington Post brings us the latest from Florida: Ron DeSantis is blowing it. Initially, his pitch was simple: I'm an anti-woke conservative but I'm not crazy like Donald Trump. But that's evolved considerably over the past few months. DeSantis was doing fine as long as he attacked the soft underbelly of liberal sex, gender, ...continue reading "Ron DeSantis is losing his chance at the presidency"

India has officially surpassed China as the most populous nation on the planet. This is a bad thing, not a good one, and hardly the only problem India has. Here's one of the biggest: As a point of comparison, this number is around 10% for the United States. India's rate of labor participation is also ...continue reading "India is now the biggest country on earth"

PICC line installed!

By the time you read this I will be at City of Hope having a PICC line installed in my upper arm. Then there will be a few chit-chats and miscellaneous tests, which should be finished by lunchtime. I'll be in and out of the clinic for the next few days, and I don't really ...continue reading "Der Tag"

Fox News settled the Dominion lawsuit today for $787 million. Depending on how you look at it, that represents about half a year's profits or 20% of their current cash stockpile. Not a back breaker, but not a trivial hit either. Here's how the market responded: That is one big nothingburger. Apparently investors have decided ...continue reading "Fox News settles with Dominion"

This is a heliotrope, specifically a Parry's Phacelia growing by the side of the 241 toll road just before it merges into highway 91. It's technically an herb, and right now it's growing all over the place along with fields of poppies.

A few days ago James Carville made some news by telling New York Times columnist Charles Blow that the biggest story of the 2022 election was "abysmally low Black turnout," especially among young Black voters. Is this true? According to a Times analysis published last November, it's true in at least three Southern states where ...continue reading "Chart of the day: Black turnout in midterm elections"

A few weeks ago Bruce Willingham, publisher of the McCurtain Gazette-News in Idabel, Oklahoma, left a voice-activated recorder behind after the end of a county commissioners' meeting. He suspected the group was continuing to conduct county business after the meeting had ended. And they were, in a manner of speaking. Here are county commissioner Mark ...continue reading "Remember the good old days when the sheriff “would take a damn Black guy and whoop their ass and throw him in the cell?”"

BLS announced usual weekly earnings for full-time workers today. It's a quarterly series, and the latest reading is for the first three months of 2023. Compared to the previous quarter, men's earnings were down $7. Women were up $8. The combined total was up 81 cents. Since the first quarter of 2020, men's earnings are ...continue reading "Weekly earnings were flat in the first quarter"

Here's a tweet that's been making the rounds: Talked to the @budlight beer salesman at the store today. He shared that he has never seen such non-movement of their products in his 15 years. Even in rural communities no product is being sold. The cooler was completely full of Bud products-not 1 case was sold ...continue reading "Bud Light sales dropped only about 5% in first week of boycott"

On Saturday night I went out to the desert for my last astrophotography session until I recover from my upcoming CAR-T treatment. Call it four or five months. But I was excited to go because my astro weather website was forecasting top notch conditions. It was not to be. Conditions were perfectly fine, but not ...continue reading "Lunchtime Photo"

I suppose this is a longshot, but can anyone tell me the difference between federal expenditures and federal outlays? I wouldn't care too much except for this: The two lines are generally the same, but outlays show a big spike in Q3 of 2022 while expenditures don't. This spike is specifically in September, as you ...continue reading "What is the difference between outlays and expenditures?"

Republican doubletalk on the economy was kicked up a notch today: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy proclaimed Monday that Republicans would not allow the government to default on its debts, even as he labored to sell Wall Street on a risky fiscal showdown with the White House that could unleash vast economic turmoil. Speaking at the ...continue reading "Republicans remain determined to destroy the economy"

On Thursday we learned that Clarence Thomas's billionaire friend, Harlan Crow, had bought some of Thomas's property at an above-market price and then spruced it up for Thomas's mother. Thomas disclosed none of this. Seems like an important story! Nevertheless, the Washington Post ran only a short online AP dispatch about it that day¹ and ...continue reading "A quick look at the Washington Post’s editorial judgment"

After the pandemic started we immediately passed a $3.5 trillion rescue bill. Later we passed two more rescue bills, bringing the total to over $6 trillion. Was that responsible for the spike in inflation that began in 2021? Yes and no. It was responsible for some of the inflation, but for a very specific reason: ...continue reading "Did COVID rescue funding push up inflation? Yes, but . . ."

As foreshadowed yesterday, here is Charlie on one of our garden rocks, scanning the horizon for prey. And he found . . . . . .a camera! Shooting him! But he stared it down and eventually the camera fled.