I’m not a big consumer of liturgical music. I still listen to Handel’s Messiah on Christmas. So it surprised me when I found myself enjoying a boxed set of LPs of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion recorded about 50 years ago. It’s in German, of course, so I’m not following the libretto, just the voices and instruments.There’s a theme that will be familiar to those, like me, who have attended a church that features Christian hymns. The title varies, but is...
Read More »June 29, 2022, Letters from an American
June 29, 2022, Letters from an American, Prof. Heather Cox Richardson ~~~~~~~ What is up in this Letter?: The House Select Committee is considering to call “Pat” Cipollone to testify. Republican pundits are calling Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony devastating. Ginni is having second thoughts on discussing her “boilerplate and unremarkable” comments. A Ukrainian-born businessman is sentenced in Federal Court. ~~~~~~~ Today, the House Select...
Read More »University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Robert Haveman, RIP
Robert Haveman, RIP, Econospeak, Barkley Rosser Robert (Bob) Haveman died on June 18, aged 85. He had been at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1970, when I first met him, where he served as Chair of the econ dept., director of the Institute for Research on Poverty, and also Director of the LaFollette Institute for Public Policy. A very policy-oriented economist with a progressive perspective, he published widely on public finance,...
Read More »Chaos Theory and The End of Roe V Wade
“Chaos Theory and The End of Roe V Wade,” Econospeak, Barkley Rosser Probably the most famous characteristic of chaotic dynamics is the phenomenon known formally as sensitive dependence on initial conditions, which is more popularly known as the “butterfly effect.” In such dynamics a small change in a starting value or a parameter value can rapidly lead to very different outcomes from what would have happened otherwise. It was first clearly...
Read More »Oh, The Camus Of It All
Jean-Paul loved Simone as he could never love anyone else; gave her his heart and, with some great effort, won hers. Simone, she wasn’t one to be particular. Both he and she were Existentialists. Albert, an Absurdist, and Jean-Paul were friends. Simone fell for Albert on first sight. Absurd or not; big minds attract. Absurd or not; he demurred. Unrequited or not; seems Simone’s hots for Albert ruined one of philosophy’s great friendships. Lo, the...
Read More »Teacher with $300M of Student Loan Debt Says $10,000 is a Drop in the Bucket
“Teacher With $303K Student Debt Says Biden’s $10K Relief Plan Not Enough” (businessinsider.com) Finally, I am seeing various publications (Business Insider, etc.) writing about accrued interest on student loans. Interest on the principal and also the interest. This particular article also touches upon Deferred Student Loans and the resulting paying the interest first before touching principal. This is much of what I have pointed out previously...
Read More »A Deadline Passes and Stalin Is Exchanged For Peter The Great
A Deadline Passes And Stalin Is Exchanged For Peter The Great, Barkley Rosser, Econospeak I am not all that much into posting about the ups and downs of the Special Operation in Ukraine, but it seems that there has been one of those lines crossed. While it was not widely publicized, June 10 was apparently a deadline set by V.V. Putin for Russian forces to conquer Severodonetsk. While reportedly they control a solid majority of that now mostly...
Read More »Why $10,000 of Student Loan Relief will not Help
I have been bugging Alan at Student Loan Justice to talk more about Student Loan interest, etc. accumulating on these loans. As you can see it is not unusual to accumulate more interest or other costs than the original loan amount. It is also not unusual for the servicer to collect interest before paying down the principal. These loans will be with these people forever and to their graves. I do not know of any consumer loans...
Read More »Armed Woman Engaging a Shooter
According to Charleston, VA Police; Instead of running from the threat, an armed woman engaging a shooter probably saved several lives the other night, Police: Woman killed man who fired rifle into party crowd in West Virginia, (msn.com) “CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A woman in West Virginia fatally shot a man who began firing an AR-15-style rifle into a crowd of people that had gathered for a party, authorities said. Dennis Butler, 37, was...
Read More »Another view of the student loan debt crisis
I have worked with Alan Collinge and Student Loan Justice Org. for at least a decade on student loan bankruptcy. This article was taken from the Tallahassee Democrat. This article has some numbers on who is impacted, which has been presented, and largely ignored here and other places. United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) led their colleagues...
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