The Angry Bear

On this day when we like to review the whacky, crazy crap that has happened, here is something that fits. Though, not from last year. It is easy to see how conspiracy develops when learning of such past. It’s not just the uneducated that create the nuttiness. It is not just the lack of knowledge that will lead oneself down the rabbit hole. We seem to have a knack for creating institutional lunacy from the application of deference. Add some...

As a career research scientist, I’ve made many predictions in my time. It was fun and rewarding to design controlled experiments to test my predictions. And the wonderful thing about science is that, if your prediction is wrong, you learn something new. I don’t make many predictions myself these days. But I’m interested in the predictions of others. Not because I necessarily trust them. But when someone shows their work, you can weigh their judgment...

Any predictions for the upcoming year? Economy, Election, Health, etc. Those are the main three categories I can think of at this point. Maybe you have others you can bring up? Tags: New Years 2024

I got my BA from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 1977. At the time, the university charged no tuition, but “fees” were about $165/quarter for a full load. Of course, as a state university, it was heavily subsidized by state tax dollars. Quite a feat for a state that has no income tax.The business model for higher education has been changing for a while. Small private colleges are closing or merging because of declining enrollment. State...

 – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. 2023 has been a year of improvement, and that improvements continued in the final installment, as ever so slowly more and more indicators flip neutral or positive. As usual, clicking over and reading will bring you up to the virtual moment, and reward me a little bit for my efforts throughout the year. Next week, as we begin a new year, I anticipate adding a...

This casting was up December 29 at Talking Points Memo (TPM). It is about 50 minutes long and a very interesting conversation between John, Kate, and Prof. Heather. Covering the state of democracy in America is the topic and well worth the listen. Belaboring the Point: What If We’d Been Mean to Robert E Lee? Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall, Kate Riga, and Prof. Heather Cox Richardson. [embedded content] ...

NPR Nails It: Highlights Two Programs That Make a Difference to Millions, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Dean Baker. Dean Baker: I’ve complained a lot about how the major media outlets seem to highlight every piece of bad news about the economy, while downplaying or ignoring altogether the positives. Given my complaints, I want to offer a word of praise to NPR. Last night, NPR ran two pieces highlighting programs that make a big...

I’ve only voted for a Republican once (John Anderson, in a presidential primary in North Carolina), but if I lived in Vermont, I might vote for Republican governor Phil Scott:“Many point to his steady hand during crises, including last summer’s historic flooding and the pandemic, when he appeared in daily, low-key televised briefings to reassure Vermonters and encourage them to take social distancing and mask wearing seriously. Vermont, a sparsely...

AB: This brief article gets right down to the basics in where costs are added and impacting the prices to the consumer. It is simple and straight to the point of how PBMs impact the prices to the consumer. Very little or nothing was contributed by myself to this article by the authors Inmaculada Hernandez; Nico Gabriel; Anna Kaltenboeck. The table and figure are products of JAMA. Why is it on Angry Bear? Because of its simplistic approach to...

Who you might know better as a proponent of better care for veterans, Steve Early is backing two candidates for the Senate. In Nebraska opposing Repub Deb Fischer, steamfitter Dan Osborn. Running in West Virgina is grandson of a coal miner and veteran Zach Shrewsbury against coal baron Jim Justice. Some down to earth populist candidates being fielded against the status quo. Two Working-Class Candidates Launch U.S. Senate Runs, Labor Notes, Steve...