The Angry Bear

Are Supporters of Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine Suffering from A Neo-McCarthyism? Recently I have seen claims made on some blogs that those who support the invasion of Ukraine by Russia under orders of its president, V.V. Putin, are experiencing suppression and discrimination that resembles the McCarthyism of the late 1940s and early 1950s in the US. This is also supposedly applying not only to those who fully support the invasion, but also to those...

New jobless claims decline for a (recent) change For the last several months, there has has been nearly a relentless slow increase in new jobless claims. That trend broke, at least for this week.  Initial jobless claims declined by 2,000 to 250,000. More importantly, the 4 week average also declined by 2,750 to 246,750.  Continuing claims rose 7,000 to 1,437,000, the highest since April: Claims have been on track to turn higher YoY in...

In case you missed hearing about it. Jamestown township is located in the mostly Republican Ottawa County, Michigan. The township has refused to pass a new millage for its library. Like Ottawa County, Jamestown Township is Republican, just not as solid. Ottawa County has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1864. Instead of Lincoln, Ottawa County chose McClellan. The township population of ~9,900 is a large part Republican. In a...

July real retail sales show more stagnation, but slightly positive YoY Consumption leads employment. Increasing demand for goods and services leads employers to hire more people to fulfill that demand. That, in a nutshell, is the biggest reason why real retail sales is one of my favorite economic indicators. In July, nominal retail sales increased by less than 0.1%, rounding to 0. Consumer prices declined by less than -0.1%, also rounding...

Doherty Labs out of North Carolina State University offers some insights: Research that addresses rice yield losses is important because rice is an essential crop for feeding hundreds of millions of people each year – and because a changing climate poses challenges for global food security. “Warmer nights throw the rice plant’s internal clock out of whack,” says Colleen Doherty, an associate professor of biochemistry at North Carolina State...

Industrial production heats up in July If the news in the housing sector this morning was bad, the news from the King of Coincident Indicators, industrial production, was quite good. Total production rose 0.6% to a new all-time high. Manufacturing production rose 0.7%, and is below its April peak by only -0.1%: Barring downward revisions, this, together with the latest blockbuster employment report, makes it *very* unlikely that the US was...

This is a 100% copy and paste as taken from Steve Schmidt’s Substack “The Warning. “Friday reflections: ‘Letter to an American'” (substack.com) I thought you might enjoy a good read. Certain versions I have access to which I am allowed to share. ~~~~~~~~ I read this letter for the first time in the museum behind Utah Beach. Sometimes it helps to see the present by looking back.  Americans should have extraordinary gratitude for the...

I haven’t heard much recently about the horrors of cancel culture or efforts to teach critical race theory to 5 year olds, or about the latest trans panic or “don’t say gay” law, or about defund the police or abolish ICE. Maybe it’s just me.  But there are reasons to suspect it’s real, and that abortion is pushing other culture war issues aside.  There are several ways this could happen. Republican state legislators may be too busy restricting...

climate and the environment edition This week, a number of articles in My In-Box were about climate and the environment. Seeking Alpha was featuring Michael Smith’s “The Future of Farming,” on their site. Recognizing AB authors is not unusual. Climate and Environment “The U.S. could see a new ‘extreme heat belt’ by 2053” (nbcnews.com), Denise Chow and Nigel Chiwaya, An “extreme heat belt” reaching as far north as Chicago is taking shape, a...