I had to go to the DMV today. Y'know, the Department of Motor Vehicles. The government agency that is the butt of just about every joke about waiting in long lines for a basic government service to be provided by dispirited and demotivated government employees ( Read more... )

On Monday this week the Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Prize in economics to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson for their work in explaining why some countries become rich and others remain poor. That sounds like super-important socioeconomic insight, right? Except see how plainly obvious it is in the Nobel Committee's own summary ( Read more... )

Like a lot of people in the US I got an email message recently from the Social Security Administration (SSA) that their login process has changed and I would need to set up my new credentials. BTW, it's not a scam or phishing attempt; it's a real thing. And yes, I have an online Social Security account.

...No, I'm not earning Social Security. I'm ( Read more... )

There's been a flurry of discussion in social media lately about how to set your AC. There's consternation that the US Department of Energy recommends you should set your thermostat no lower than 78° F. That already seems kind of hot. What's got people especially lit up is the recommendation the DOE couples with it that you should set your AC to 82 ( Read more... )

The House of Representatives voted today to ban TikTok in the US- unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sells it to a company not based in China. After advancing on an unusually unanimous vote in committee the bill won wide bipartisan support from the full House. It was approved 352-65. To become law the bill needs approval by the Senate and then a ( Read more... )

Today wasn't just voting day for the primary election in California, it's "Super Tuesday" when 15 states and one territory hold their primaries. I filled out my ballot last night so all I had to do today was drop it off at one of many ballot lockboxes.


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On Friday the US Congress voted to expel representative George Santos. The Congressman's constant and outrageous lies, about everything from his family history and educational achievements, to how he spent campaign contributions on personal clearly expenses, were ultimately too much even for his fellow Republicans in the House. The vote passed 311 ( Read more... )

I wrote yesterday about Representative George Santos getting in deeper trouble from his ongoing lying and cheating. There's more news about him, of course. This past week the House of Representatives held a vote to expel him from Congress. Two house speakers now have waffled on doing such a thing. ...Actually, no, they haven't waffled; they've ( Read more... )

It has now been 3 weeks since Rep. Matt Gaetz made a "Motion to Vacate" Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy from office. With help from a small band of hardliner Republicans, Gaetz's motion passed. With no Speaker, the House was plunged into chaos, unable by its rules to work on any official business except holding votes to elect a new speaker. As ( Read more... )

Apparently "Three strikes and you're out!" is the rule in Congress this week. After Representative Jim Jordan failed three rounds of votes to become Speaker of the House, the Republican conference voted in a secret ballot to end his nomination. In the public rounds of voting, 20 Republicans voted against Jordan Tuesday, 22 on Wednesday, and 25 in a ( Read more... )