The Angry Bear

We need to make a long-term commitment to Ukrainian victory.  Jack Watling: Given that offensive operations to liberate occupied territories are likely to run through 2023 and are dependent upon Western aid, it is important that Ukraine’s international partners stop periodic announcements about specific lists of equipment and instead articulate a longer-term commitment to structural aid out to 2024. The reasons for this are straightforward....

A bit of an intro for Weldon. A good writer who I knew at Slate’s, “The Best of the Fray.” In contrast to what is there at Slate now, we far surpassed its present quality. Just a quiet read on Labor Day. “Slacker Sunday,” Bad Crow Review, Weldon Burger (author) “A dog howls at daybreak,” Years back a friend had a bloodhound called Elvis. The dog sounding off in the wee-ish hours this morning sounded like kin. The eyes are the...

In 2020, after Democrats had retaken control of the House of Representatives, the third version of the larger bill managed to actually pass the House under the more reasonable title of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act. Of course, it didn’t even get a vote in the Senate. In early 2021, a temporary version of this bill by Rep. Lauren Underwood, was in the American Rescue Plan (ARP). It passed both the House & Senate on...

A bit of history leading up to the creation of Labor Day as a holiday, the first day of celebration, the politics, how it came to be, and the politics as told by Prof. Heather. That first celebration being held September 5, 1882; at noon that day, when the marchers arrived at Reservoir Park, the termination point of the parade. While some returned to work, most continued on to the post-parade party at Wendel’s Elm Park at 92nd Street and Ninth...

How we got to this point? Maybe now seems like a good time to review the five core truths about the Russia scandal. “Lest We Forget …” | Homeless on the High Desert, August 29, 2022, g’da said “It was a few days after the FBI executed a court-approved search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. Donald Trump started complaining anew about the investigation into the Russia scandal, reiterating his familiar belief that the controversy ‘was a hoax.’” The former...

This was sent to me by Dale Coberly. I was wondering why Dale was sending me trash advertisements. Skimmed it and then it dawned on me. Much of this advertising is made to sway people’s minds to do something. It is the type of advertising I sometimes wish to throw a shoe at the 65-inch screen when it should be shown on a 12 -inch screen. It is especially aggravating, when the advertising includes the famous, the rich, the good-looking, etc....

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Weekly Indicators for August 29 – September 2 at Seeking Alpha My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. The consumer portion of the economy continues to benefit from lower gas prices, while the producer side continues to suffer from higher interest rates. As usual, clicking over and reading will bring you up to the […] The post Weekly Indicators for August 29 – September 2 at Seeking Alpha appeared first on Angry Bear.

“What the Inflation Reduction Act means for PBMs” Times of News This is a strange little article trying to fill a gap in knowledge. The italicized sentences are mine. It does make some sound points on PBMs so I kept it. If you can get into Seeking Alpha or Modern Healthcare, you may find a better version. The sweeping law President Joe Biden enacted Tuesday offers relief to some prescription drug users. However, the pharmacy benefit managers...

Where Will M.S. Gorbachev Be Buried?  Mikhail Sergeivich Gorbachev died on the same day as our daughter Sasha’s 33rd birthday. Sasha herself noted that if it were not for him she probably would not exist. It was ultimately Gorbachev who decided that the USSR would obey the Helsinki Accords rules on letting people get married and so on April 4, 1987 let my wife Marina leave Moscow for the US, the top story on CNN that evening. For that we are...

August jobs report: despite a good headline number, the decelerating trend resumes  I have written a number of times since February that the short leading indicators have signaled that we should expect weaker monthly employment reports, with both fewer new jobs and a higher unemployment rate. That was completely *not* the case in July, In August, would the decelerating trend kick in again? That it did. Since February the 3 month average in new...