The Angry Bear

Coronavirus dashboard for August 9: BA.5 dominant, with a slow waning; a model for endemicity  – by New Deal democrat  BIobot’s most recent update, through last week, shows a decline of 15% of COVID in wastewater, consistent with about 460,000 “real” new infections per day: All 4 Census regions (not shown) are participating in the decline. Confirmed cases (dotted line below) have declined by a roughly similar percent, to 105,500....

Inflation Reduction Act The Inflation Reduction Act drug price negotiation is small in returns, low in the number of drugs initially impacted, and slow to start. Ten drugs will be selected and the impact of the act begins in 2026. It rises to 20 drugs to be negotiated in 2029. The new act ignores European reference pricing and instead caps prices at a set discount of average U.S. prices. The act establishes an initial standard in which the scope...

I read this over at Hullabaloo, “Blue dystopia” by Digby “The fantasy liberal hellholes red America loves to hate” “The Dystopian Myths of Red America,” New York Times, Paul Krugman Desensitization is an amazing thing. At this point most political observers simply accept it as a fact of life that an overwhelming majority of Republicans accept the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen — a claim with nothing to support it, not even plausible...

Previewing July CPI: good news and bad news about gas, housing, and vehicle prices  – by New Deal democrat While July’s consumer inflation is likely to be less intense than in recent months, I don’t see it coming back down to more “normal” levels. The good news is gas; the bad news is vehicles and housing. To begin with, gas prices have fallen about 25% from their peak at the end of June to this past weekend. To get to their “real” price, I...

“Veterans Returning to Homelessness” – Public Health Post, Ann Elizabeth Montgomery | Dorota Szymkowiak | Jack Tsai | Thomas O’Toole Homelessness still occurring is depressing for me as a Vietnam era veteran. It is also not just veterans. I had my own issues taking a couple of years to resolve and I am still not one to be crossed. After fifty years, one might believe it should be gone by now. But then, I had enlisted in another service to a wife...

Conversation pulled from the comments section relating to Infidel’s Ding dong . . . . post. This is an opinion piece, an opinion piece in which I agree. Commenter dd explains what it is like to have your life and rights compromised by the courts, state legislatures, and the people around you who are denying you essential healthcare. dd: “Democrats have a major opportunity, and they should ignore the religious nonsense. Do you know how many...

Pelosi’s Visit To Taiwan, Econospeak by Barkley Rosser  I wish to present a view of Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan that is different from what I have seen from others. Most commentary I have seen is either very for or very against her visiting there.  On the favorable side has been wide praise from across the political spectrum, with many Republicans joining in who almost never praise her for anything.  Many people support providing a positive...

Retreating to the political side of Angry Bear. Atrios, had “You Could Fire Him” up on Friday. This concerns Justice Kavanaugh and how he was pushed into the position on SCOTUS by upper management. There are some overlooked issues with his application “references” for the position. It appears the boss did not read them. Atrios is citing an Esquire article which I am going to do similar. There are certain issues Biden could improve upon. However,...

Weekly Indicators for August 1 – 5 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. Several important metrics have reversed course in the past month. Interest rates, especially mortgage rates, have declined (in the case of mortgages, by 1 full % from their peak. As many have pointed out, gas prices have fallen by about $1/gallon from their peak as well. That is putting more money into consumers’...