Tag Archives: Hot Topics

New Housing Starts and Building Permits Rose in August on Increased Apartment Construction, Commenter and Blogger RJS, MarketWatch 666 Microsoft Word – newresconst_auto_text_202108.docx (census.gov), The August report on New Residential Construction (pdf) from the Census Bureau indicated that their widely watched estimate of new housing units that were started during the month was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,615,000, which was...

Online Voting  Yes, a wonderful innovation!!!  No, I had not heard of this before, although maybe somebody reading this had encountered it.  So, where is this fabulous innovation being adopted?  Why Mother Russia!  So polls showed the United Russia Party that supports Vladimir Putin getting only 30% support for the Duma election that just happened.  But while I have not seen specific numbers, it is my understanding that they have been reelected as...

“Bungling The Debt Ceiling,” EconoSpeak, Barkley Rosser It looks like Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is bungling the matter of raising (or suspending) the debt ceiling, coming due in mid-October supposedly. He could have tied it to reconciliation in August, but decided not to, intent on getting GOPster on board with participating in doing it. But Sen. McConnell (R-KY) is having none of it, and even though Schumer thought he had them by tying it to a...

This article (MedPage Today) popped up in my In-Box and I believe it is a good average – person on the street (high school education?) read if you want to understand “why,” why getting vaccinated is not a failsafe solution, You still have to socially distance, stay out of bars even if the owner is an ass, wear facemasks amongst other people, etc. so as not to catch Covid. The MedPage Today article explains why you should be vaccinated even if the...

Focus on Fracking: US crude supplies at a 24 month low, gasoline supplies at a 22 month low, total supplies at a 42 month low; August global oil shortage was 2.77 million barrels per day Natural gas prices at 7 1/2 year high near a 12 year high before falling back; US crude supplies at a 24 month low, gasoline supplies at a 22 month low, total supplies of crude plus all products at a 42 month low; US exports of distillates at a 6 month low; global...

I am sure there are better places to eat in northern Texas where the restaurant owners understand why people would want to wear a mask. Natalie Wester and her husband, Jose, went to hang out in North Dallas suburban sports bar with some friends on September 11 – LOVE BY LIFE “He (owner) added that his restaurant (pictured) is a private business and has (he) the right to refuse service to customers wearing a mask.” He said: “I’ve spent my...

Trip Notes Slept > 8-hours last night. Took off from Las Vegas, New Mexico yesterday morning and headed to Holbrook, Arizona.. If you are ever near Los Vegas NV, you might want to stay in The Plaza hotel, a blast from the past, still done up with a nineteen century interior. Bourbon was good as well as the food. Rooms comfy and styled in a similar motif as the rest of the hotel. Allan Affeldt started the restoration (more to come) of The...

CPI Rose 0.3% in August on Higher Prices for Food, Energy, New Vehicles, Furniture and Appliances; Commenter and Blogger RJS at MarketWatch 666 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Consumer Price Index: All Items for the United States [USACPIALLMINMEI], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USACPIALLMINMEI, September 19, 2021. The consumer price index rose 0.3% in...

“The Justice Department moved on Thursday to block a bankruptcy plan that grants broad legal immunity to the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma, whose drug OxyContin has been at the heart of the nation’s opioid epidemic. William K. Harrington, the U.S. trustee for the Justice Department, filed a motion in federal court to halt confirmation of the settlement while the department appeals the judge’s decision to approve the deal. In writing...

Prof. Joel Eissenberg, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Arguably *the* transformative scientific innovation of the past two years was the development and deployment of mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. But like any innovation, there is a long unsung history, with lots of players nobody heard of. Since the Nobel Prize in Medicine is likely to go to mRNA vaccines next month, there’s plenty of chatter about who will be named (maximum of three)....