Bernie Sanders, Senator from VT, sent out an email yesterday. The subject line contained one word, “Oligarchy”. So, I read it. There is much truth here: Dear Mark, For years and years in the corporate media, you’d only heard the word ‘oligarch’ preceded by the word ‘Russian.’ But oligarchs aren’t —>> read more –>>
Background Cerberus Capital, a private equity firm, began buying several hospitals in Massachusetts in 2010. In 2015, Cerberus sold most of its hospitals’ property to other investors for $1.25 billion. This suddenly added significant lease (rent) costs to the hospitals’ budgets. Other cost-cutting practices were applied. The hospitals then provided —>> read more –>>
Over several decades, there has been increasing discussion of the role of ultra-processed foods in our health. Globally, surging levels of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and other chronic illnesses. Developing scientific levels of proof of the connection between the increasing consumption of industrial foods and these illnesses has not been easy. —>> read more –>>
Now that the billionaire class has installed their President and seized many posts in the Trump cabal, they are fighting over a limited supply of mansions close to the throne. “In this 1831 lithograph, Honoré Daumier depicted King Louis Philippe as Gargantua, sitting on his throne, consuming a continuous diet —>> read more –>>
On a recent visit to NYC, I came upon this scene of brand excess just north of Trump Tower on 5th Ave. This is the Louis Vuitton store wrapped to look like 19th-century steamer trunks. “It is finished with the classic detailing synonymous with Louis Vuitton’s savoir-faire including handles, signature —>> read more –>>
This will date you a bit. Back in the 1950s and ‘60s Western analysts examined photos of public events, particularly the Soviet Union’s May Day celebration of the victory over the Nazis in WWII, to see who was standing next to whom on the dais in Red Square. This to —>> read more –>>
Our species is facing the interconnected global crises of global warming, mass species extinction, and exhaustion of the earth. Global warming is evident and needs no further proof that it is real. If you are in doubt, you can easily find all sorts of science-based descriptions of this crisis. Widespread —>> read more –>>
The present Medicare Advantage (MA) offerings by private insurance began in 1999 as an alternative to traditional Medicare health insurance for seniors. Today, over half of all Medicare recipients are enrolled through this system. The funds that support MA comes from Medicare. “We estimate that Medicare spends approximately 22 percent —>> read more –>>
Ben Casselman wrote this piece in the 1.10.2025 NYTimes: “Economists Are in the Wilderness. Can They Find a Way Back to Influence?” The article cites the following as evidence of the decline of economists’ influence: Trump’s tariff plans, immigration, free trade, failure to foresee the global financial meltdown of 2008, —>> read more –>>
The 12.26.2024 issue of The London Review of Books includes Eliot Weinberger’s stunning piece on the Trump presidency, “Incoming!“. It begins: “They came from Florida, from Fox News and Fox Business, square-jawed men and women with big hair and collagen lips. They came from professional football and World Wrestling Entertainment. —>> read more –>>
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