2025

2025 291

March 2025

1. 10 MarHealth Update
2. 4 MarHealth update
3. 4 MarLA Times “bias meter” goes live
4. 4 MarArms to Ukraine halted
5. 4 MarOffice buildings are sprouting like trees
6. 3 MarTrump plans to halt arms to Ukraine, sanctions on Russia
7. 3 MarWe don’t need to tell the poor what to eat
8. 3 MarHealth update
9. 3 MarSmoke-and-mirrors budgeting is everywhere
10. 3 MarDestruction of Canada begins tomorrow
11. 3 MarRepublicans have lost trust in the media
12. 3 MarHoward Lutnick believes in GDP fairies
13. 2 MarSo how’s it going in the friendly skies these days?
14. 2 MarDumbest. Idea. Ever.
15. 2 MarHealth update 2
16. 2 MarHealth update
17. 2 MarTrump kills elite tech group because it’s too woke
18. 2 MarEnglish is now our official language
19. 1 MarDOGE wants to check if you’re really eligible for the vast riches of SNAP
20. 1 MarHealth update
21. 1 MarThe real story behind the downfall of USAID
22. 1 MarRaw data: The rise of the far right in Europe
23. 1 MarTrump has almost no supporters over Ukraine
24. 1 MarTrump is merrily ending civil rights protections for everyone
25. 1 MarJanuary 6 prosecutors demoted to entry-level jobs

February 2025

1. 28 FebIn Ukraine, it’s all about revenge
2. 28 FebFriday Kitten Blogging – 28 February 2025
3. 28 FebTrump descends into screaming match with Zelensky
4. 28 FebIncome and expenditures in January
5. 28 FebPCE inflation spiked in January
6. 28 FebWhy is Social Security about to be gutted?
7. 28 FebKash Patel will run the FBI from Las Vegas
8. 28 FebJudge tells Trump to stop firing people
9. 27 FebNOAA is being dismantled
10. 27 FebHealth update
11. 27 FebCalifornia’s $20 fast food minimum wage hasn’t had much effect
12. 27 FebMeasles is a state problem
13. 27 FebUnemployment up as Musk fires federal workers
14. 27 FebJeff Bezos is all-in on free markets
15. 27 FebThe big RIF is coming. But how big?
16. 27 FebRFK Jr. makes his public debut as HHS secretary. Better watch out.
17. 26 FebThe mineral wealth agreement explained! Sort of.
18. 26 FebHealth update
19. 26 FebChart of the day: SpaceX/Starlink growth rates
20. 26 FebThe new homebuilding market remains stagnant
21. 26 FebAre payment apps really banks? (Hint: yes they are)
22. 26 FebElon Musk’s great email battle isn’t over yet
23. 26 FebEV sales rise steadily, then collapse in January (again)
24. 26 FebUSDA forecasts egg prices are going up, up, up
25. 26 FebGallup places Trump at 45% approval
26. 26 FebAmerica wants your minerals
27. 25 FebWhat is Elon Musk really up to?
28. 25 FebIt’s getting surly in Trump v. Everyone
29. 25 FebTruth Social continues to suck
30. 25 FebIt’s time for the budget games to begin
31. 25 FebThe decline of commercial paper
32. 25 FebTrump has suffered a lot of losses in court
33. 25 FebThe strange, short-lived tale of the armored Teslas
34. 24 FebDiversity in the air: Don’t worry, everything is fine
35. 24 FebIt’s time to screw China a bit more
36. 24 FebHow smart were all those old white males?
37. 24 FebWhere’s the fraud?
38. 24 FebTrump somehow digs up $200 million for anti-immigrant ad campaign
39. 24 FebE-commerce continues to grow vigorously
40. 24 FebDemocrats need to do a lot of nothing
41. 23 FebGerman polling is stunningly accurate
42. 23 FebChart of the day: The terrible German economy
43. 23 FebHow Elon Musk benefits from being Elon Musk
44. 23 FebWe are ten times richer than we were during Donald Trump’s favorite era
45. 23 FebHealth update
46. 23 FebWhat did you do last week?
47. 23 FebWhy is Trump demanding mineral wealth Ukraine doesn’t have?
48. 22 FebDOGE has saved taxpayers about 0.33% of the federal budget
49. 22 FebTrump fires diverse military officers
50. 22 FebAre raccoon dogs key to the origin of the COVID virus?
51. 21 FebInflationary expectations are up a lot since November
52. 21 FebElon Musk is extorting ad companies
53. 21 FebTrump is dropping fast in the polls
54. 21 FebThe House and Senate are light years apart in their budget proposals
55. 21 FebPete Hegseth wants to cut $300 billion from the Pentagon
56. 21 FebHealth update
57. 20 FebFolie à deux in the White House
58. 16 FebMadness
59. 14 FebHealth update
60. 14 FebHealth update
61. 13 FebHealth update
62. 11 FebHealth update
63. 9 Feb(Almost) everyone is getting torched by the Trump meme coin
64. 9 FebHealth update
65. 9 FebThis is the Republican Party’s most spineless hour
66. 9 FebTrump wants to wipe out medical research
67. 8 FebDOGE is being steadily reined in
68. 8 FebTrump: DOGE is rooting around in stuff they don’t need
69. 7 FebFriday Cat Blogging – 7 February 2025
70. 7 FebWhy is the Navy killing sexual assault training?
71. 7 Feb2025 starts out with a weak jobs report
72. 7 FebTrump and white people
73. 6 FebWhat Republicans believe, 2025 edition
74. 6 FebLunchtime Photo
75. 6 FebThe pushback against Trump is now well underway
76. 6 FebProductivity up 1.2% in final quarter of 2024
77. 6 FebDonald Trump is very concerned about South Africa’s white people
78. 5 FebThe Trump layoffs are a charade
79. 5 FebLunchtime Photo
80. 5 FebFinding an apartment is getting easier
81. 5 FebWhy does Trump want Gaza?
82. 4 FebLunchtime Photo
83. 4 FebElon Musk is building a report writer
84. 3 FebDid Elon Musk kill DirectFile?
85. 3 FebWhat in God’s name is the deal with USAID?
86. 3 FebLunchtime Photo
87. 3 FebRaw data: How tariffs blew up the price of washing machines seven years ago
88. 2 FebHere’s how USAID ended up in Trump’s crosshairs
89. 2 FebElon says he’ll shut down all payments to Lutheran charities
90. 2 FebWhere’s the Republican Party?
91. 2 FebWhat does Trump really want?
92. 2 FebFact check: How much does the US contribute to WHO?
93. 1 FebCanada is not a national security threat
94. 1 FebHas vaping reduced deaths from smoking?
95. 1 FebAfter the fires, a city comes together
96. 1 FebA scorecard so far of the Trump revenge presidency
97. 1 FebTrump thinks he turned on the Central Valley Project yesterday

January 2025

1. 31 JanFriday Cat Blogging – 31 January 2025
2. 31 JanPCE inflation was a mixed bag in December
3. 31 JanDo budget deficits cause inflation?
4. 31 JanBeing America’s friend is dangerous these days
5. 30 JanLunchtime Photo
6. 30 Jan2024 NAEP test scores weren’t too bad. But . . .
7. 30 JanGDP grows 2.3% in final quarter of 2024
8. 30 JanPlace your bets on Q4 GDP growth
9. 30 JanTrump extorts $25 million from Mark Zuckerberg
10. 30 JanWhat is Trump’s $50 million Gaza cut really about?
11. 29 JanHealth update
12. 29 JanLunchtime Photo
13. 29 JanRaw data: Drug overdose deaths are still plunging
14. 28 JanLunchtime Photo
15. 28 JanSoon everyone will be DeepSeek
16. 28 JanDonald Trump: I ordered military to turn on the water in California
17. 28 JanWhat’s going on?
18. 27 JanLunchtime Photo
19. 27 JanDeepSeek R1 has the world in a tizzy
20. 27 JanRaw data: The cheapest and most expensive countries to live in
21. 27 JanColombia rescinds its middle finger to Trump
22. 26 JanColombia tells Trump to fuck off
23. 26 JanTrump starts fight with Colombia over nothing
24. 26 JanHere’s how Trump’s Greenland gambit will play out
25. 26 JanThe CIA changes its mind on COVID
26. 25 JanWhy has fertility plummeted in the US and other rich countries?
27. 25 JanHealth update
28. 25 JanTrump purges IG corps in Friday night massacre
29. 25 JanPete Hegseth squeaks by
30. 25 JanFEMA should get bigger, not go away
31. 25 JanWe’ve finally learned why Paul Krugman quit the Times
32. 25 JanX is making money!
33. 24 JanA (very) brief primer on California water
34. 24 JanFriday Cat Blogging – 24 January 2025
35. 23 JanLunchtime Photo
36. 23 JanHealth update
37. 23 JanTrump takes a sledgehammer to the NIH
38. 22 JanIt will take many years to rebuild Los Angeles
39. 22 JanChina has a groundbreaking new AI. Just don’t ask it about Tiananmen Square.
40. 22 JanTrump shuts the border on the pretense of disease
41. 22 JanLunchtime Photo
42. 22 JanTrump reveals plan to end Ukraine war
43. 22 JanWages rose sharply in Q4
44. 22 JanElon’s big task is . . . interoperability?
45. 22 JanDonald Trump has not banned FRED yet
46. 22 JanTrump pardons would-be murderer as reward for campaign support
47. 22 JanTrump is kinda sorta trying to unilaterally kill IRA and the infrastructure act
48. 21 JanAI will soon design *and* test drugs for us
49. 21 JanThe Trump revenge train keeps chugging along
50. 21 JanLunchtime Photo
51. 21 JanGender is not the same thing as biological sex
52. 21 JanHamas is still running things in Gaza
53. 21 JanTrump has given his revenge fantasies free rein
54. 21 JanTrust in institutions has been getting better and better lately
55. 21 JanTrump and the law: A relationship from hell
56. 21 JanLet’s not forget Donald Trump’s clemency record from 2020
57. 21 JanA brief look at Donald Trump’s Day 1 executive orders
58. 20 JanTwitter or Bluesky? Twitter or Bluesky?
59. 20 JanAfter the inauguration . . .
60. 20 JanLunchtime Photo
61. 20 JanThe shortest possible recap of Donald Trump’s inauguration speech
62. 20 JanToday is pardon day
63. 20 JanHere’s what Donald Trump is inheriting today
64. 20 JanTrump wants an American Iron Dome
65. 20 Jan40% of Republicans support Trump corruption
66. 20 JanIt’s crucial that we allocate blame for shutting down TikTok
67. 19 JanObamacare keeps on getting more popular
68. 19 JanDonald Trump wants to buy TikTok
69. 19 JanDonald Trump plans to get rich selling crypto coins
70. 19 JanNext week’s ICE raid is just theater
71. 18 Jan$TRUMP is now trading at a smartphone near you
72. 18 JanWhy a ceasefire now? It’s not hard.
73. 18 JanFlorida “cracked down” on illegal immigrants. Here’s a progress report.
74. 18 JanTikTok is playing hardball with Joe Biden
75. 18 JanStop panicking, people
76. 17 JanCBS is mulling over how much to bribe Donald Trump
77. 17 JanIllegal immigration is all about jobs
78. 17 JanFriday Cat Blogging – 17 January 2025
79. 17 JanNew York Times floods the zone on TikTok ruling
80. 17 JanHousing starts surge in December
81. 17 JanDo we have a spending problem or a revenue problem?
82. 17 JanWho gets to decide what stuff we build?
83. 16 JanHere’s a comprehensive look at Biden and the border
84. 16 JanLunchtime Photo
85. 16 JanLast year police shot ten unarmed Black suspects
86. 16 JanRetail sales up 1% during holiday season
87. 16 JanIllegal border crossings stay steady in December
88. 16 JanSuddenly everyone loves TikTok
89. 16 JanObesity gets a brand new definition
90. 16 JanHealth update
91. 15 JanLunchtime Photo
92. 15 JanStreamline rebuilding after the LA fires? Yes but . . .
93. 15 JanWith Gaza in rubble, we finally have a ceasefire
94. 15 JanIn December, CPI was way up, core CPI was way down
95. 15 JanSigh. Nobody is giving away our Diego Garcia base.
96. 15 JanThe Senate is treating the military as a clown show
97. 15 JanTrump creates federal department that already exists
98. 14 JanLunchtime Photo
99. 14 JanDecember PPI clocks in at 2.7%
100. 14 JanDOGE is just a billionaires’ playground
101. 14 JanThe real reason Elon Musk bought Twitter
102. 14 JanLA fires now estimated to cost $250 billion
103. 13 JanWhy has Silicon Valley turned against Democrats?
104. 13 JanLunchtime Photo
105. 13 JanVaccine coverage for kids is falling off
106. 13 JanVance says no pardons for J6ers convicted of violence
107. 13 JanHere’s the start of the Palisades fire
108. 12 JanEveryone is nervous about Trump
109. 12 JanEconomic uncertainty remains sky high
110. 12 JanWhy don’t we do more prescribed burning? An explainer.
111. 11 JanCalifornia’s reservoirs have nothing to do with LA’s fires
112. 11 JanUpdate: LA fires now costliest in recent history
113. 11 JanRepublicans officially unveil their plan: tax cuts for the rich paid for by the poor
114. 11 JanDonald Trump’s election hasn’t been great for the economy
115. 10 JanJust give it up. There’s no one to blame for the LA fires.
116. 10 JanFriday Cat Blogging – 10 January 2025
117. 10 JanClimate change is very close to its 1.5°C flashing red light level
118. 10 JanIt looks like TikTok is doomed
119. 10 JanCalifornia is doing fine, thank you very much
120. 10 JanNet jobs up 166,000 in December
121. 10 JanTrump says we’re in the middle of an epidemic. But an epidemic of what?
122. 10 JanTrump will officially become a felon tomorrow
123. 9 JanLA wildfires on track to be second-costliest ever
124. 9 JanHere’s the fine print in the Laken Riley Act
125. 9 JanLunchtime Photo
126. 9 JanA different measure of inflation tells us it’s over
127. 9 JanElon Musk is the new emperor of misinformation
128. 9 JanNobody died during the evacuation of Pacific Palisades
129. 9 JanWhy did LA firefighters run out of water?
130. 9 JanBeing there is not all it’s cracked up to be
131. 8 JanLunchtime Photo
132. 8 JanRaw data: Time spent with others
133. 8 JanQuote of the day: “This is the light of America expanding”
134. 8 JanThe rent is going to stay too damn high
135. 8 JanSemi-raw data: The price of eggs is lower than you think
136. 7 JanNorth Carolina Republicans can’t abide even a single Democratic win
137. 7 JanLunchtime Photo
138. 7 JanTrump blathers inanely at press conference
139. 7 JanMeta joins Team Trump
140. 7 JanNet hiring remains boring in November
141. 7 JanAI has gotten very good at being a doctor
142. 6 JanElon’s puppets are at it again
143. 6 JanLunchtime Photo
144. 6 JanSam Altman says superintelligence is near
145. 6 JanUnemployment is up, but hardly apocalyptic
146. 6 JanTrump preparing to abandon yet another promise
147. 6 JanYeah, America can still build stuff
148. 6 JanThe progress of rural broadband is no secret
149. 5 JanElon Musk killed PBM reform without knowing what a PBM is
150. 5 JanChatGPT is a Democrat
151. 5 JanDid the snail darter never really exist?
152. 4 JanThe working class story is about culture, not economic anxiety
153. 4 JanHere’s how AI disinformation works in the real world
154. 4 JanAI “incidents” are increasing
155. 3 JanWhy can’t tariffs replace the income tax?
156. 3 JanFriday Cat Blogging – 3 January 2025
157. 3 JanJohnson wins vote for Speaker on first round
158. 3 JanEV sales up at GM, Ford
159. 3 JanHow honest is your AI?
160. 2 JanJoe Biden was the only hero of Afghanistan
161. 2 JanLunchtime Photo
162. 2 JanTrump already planning to break the law
163. 2 JanA brief review of initial reports about the New Orleans killer
164. 2 JanRaw data: Global investment in AI
165. 1 JanLunchtime Photo
166. 1 JanWokeness up 4 points in Q4
167. 1 JanAt the Wall Street Journal, it’s always a good day to write about inflation
168. 1 JanThe US is kicking everyone’s ass in the AI biz
169. 1 JanMy 20 favorite books of all time