I subscribe to Letters from an American as written by Prof. Heather to which she has hundreds of commenters. Of course, I answer some when if comes to economics, manufacturing, and supply chain. The latter two being the source of my income for some 40-something years. Rising through the ranks most certainly gave me the knowledge to access issues and provide solutions many of which were not agreed to till they were successful. Of course, I did not...
Read More »Supreme Court ‘Shadow Docket, Brennan Center for Justice
I believe the shadow docket will become controversial given it lacks the transparency of a typical court hearing which records the verbalization of the court giving reason for decisions. In instances, where a decision is needed, the court should be meeting and deciding. One issue amazes me, the lack of any verbalization on promoting the death sentence. In most instances, they promote the continuance of it. If such is the case, they should attend a...
Read More »Open Thread July 9, 2023 US Debt
Differences between Japan and the US Debt. Explain how Japan can manage twice the debt/GDP with no problems but the US is headed to a crisis. Or is the issue really about unnecessary deficit spending due to tax breaks skewed to upper income brackets? Open Thread July 2, 2023 Partisan SCOTUS, Angry Bear, angry bear blog Tags: Open Thread July 9 2023...
Read More »The Supreme Court’s ‘Shadow Docket’
I have been looking around for a simpler explanation of what the Shadow Docket is. This, before a deeper dive into it. It is more like a secret club where a bunch of judges get together and decide the fate of a particular subject without a formal presentation to the court or documentation open to review. No or few records cover the decisions. The number of decisions in 2022 outnumber the more formal decisions. It was a favorite of the trump...
Read More »A 400-year veto Angers opponents in Wisconsin
Wisconsin governor’s 400-year veto angers opponents in state with long history of creative cuts, AP News, Scott Bauer. Wisconsin’s governor attempted to lock in a school funding increase for the next 400 years by issuing a partial veto that angered his Republican critics and marks the latest creative use of the unique gubernatorial powers in the state. Wisconsin allows governors to alter certain legislation by replacing words and letters...
Read More »The Medicare Advantage Quality Bonus Program: High Cost for Uncertain Gain
The Medicare Advantage Quality Bonus Program, Urban Institute, Laura Skopec and Robert A. Berenson The following is an introduction and a portion of a very readable report to which the link can be found at the end of this introduction. The findings are similar as to what Kip Sullivan and others have been reporting all along. To which I have reported and confirmed on Angry Bear on numerous occasions. The one liner finding to this being, the Quality...
Read More »There are Three Federalist Societies
A comment taken from Ken Melvin’s commentary “The Coup.” Ken Melvin discussing with JackD. Yeah. Sen, Whitehouse makes this distinction: In effect, there are three Federalist Societies. The first (Federal Society) one most lawyers know from law school. It is, for the most part, a debating society, made up of like-minded aspiring lawyers drawn to conservative ideas and judicial doctrine. They organize seminars and invite academics, and...
Read More »The Coup
The US Constitution was their best effort to answer the question, “How should it be?” Then, they were seeking a new and better way of governance. Now, some two-hundred-forty years later, a latter-day majority of Justices on the US Supreme Court, the one charged with interpreting the Constitution, are saying, “This is how it should be.” The one, asking; the other, dictating. Merely a matter of word order? Hardly. Whereas their focus was on getting the...
Read More »1877
An important reason to read history is to gain a perspective on current events. If you watch exclusively mainstream media television, particularly Fox News, you might be forgiven for the belief that things in this country are the worst they have ever been in history. “1877: America’s Year of Living Violently” by Michael Bellisiles is one effective antidote to that impression.The panic of 1873, when a post-Civil War speculative bubble burst, launched...
Read More »Can architects and designers make a difference in the climate emergency?
Can architects and designers make a difference in the climate emergency? Carbon Upfront, Lloyd Alter, One prominent English architect says we should just shut up and draw, we don’t matter much anyway. I am single-minded when teaching sustainable design at Toronto Metropolitan University: it is all about carbon, carbon, carbon, the issue of our time. My students are urban, interior, and fashion designers in The Creative School at TMU....
Read More »