A COP Vs. Calories: How (Less) Sweet It Would Be

In the spirit of Thanksgiving gourmandizing and the recent COP26 climate conference, might I suggest a global summit to de-calorize our environment? For as surely as the planet is warming, prompting calls to de-carbonize, we’re getting fatter and only scientific guesswork can tell us which will doom more of us. The body mass problem that

The Hamptons Has a New Favorite Hedge

There’s been a lot more green in the Hamptons stretch of Long Island in recent years, and it’s not just the incoming wealth tide. Hybrid arborvitae trees of the Thuja standishii x plicata cultivar, or Green Giants, have become the default landscaping choice for lot perimeters as the area’s trophy homes get bigger and closer

‘Bad News’ for the Wage Workers–Or No News?

The woke bent of many American newsrooms gives a topical edge to Batya Ungar-Sargon’s new book of reflections on class and race in America. “Bad News” (Encounter Books) is a useful check on the identity politics of the era from an avowed Jewish labor populist who is an opinions editor at the current iteration of

Shortage Economy: Will We Go Marching?

Washington pundits generally see the supply-chain hiccups and partially related price inflation as political risks for the Biden White House. Probably that’s so but there’s also opportunity for a left-ward administration. Check out the essay by reliable old Robert Kuttner in the latest New York Review of Books. After fondly recalling the marching orders given

In the Wings, Another $Trillion Biden Push: Student Loans

It might seem like every major domestic spending program of the U.S. government is caught up in the multi-trillion-dollar budget “reconciliation” negotiations, but no. A significant exception is the huge college-student loan program and the massive ($1.7 trillion?) debt outstanding. It’s a separate agenda item. The Biden administration, under constant progressive pressure, is trying to

The Rise of the Entrepreneurial Creative

The pandemic disrupted the labor force, but in the process also seems to have accelerated a certain type of entrepreneurialism: the startup “creative.” This includes performers of various sorts on platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, and writers and visual artists using the likes of Substack and Medium. Many of these individuals would have previously

Filling the News Hole: Advantage, Left

I’ve always enjoyed reading the lefty press—the honest-to-goodness lefty press, not the mainstream one that masquerades as impartial—because it tends to put a premium on information and sometimes reporting. If that side is indeed more informational than its right-wing counterparts, maybe that’s because the documentary instincts are stronger among the camp that sees its struggle

5 at Feed: Ozy, Vietnam, Vegan Virtue, School Counts, Pakistan

10/1/21 This busy week features a fivesome of punditry nuggets at Newsfeed – Tim W. Ferguson (timwferguson.com) In reverse order, there’s the scandal that is overwhelming the once-adored (if unread) Ozy Media, the conflict that pits Vietnam’s quest for global commerce against its authoritarian state, the pretentious veganism of a star Manhattan chef, the latest

My Feed: Global Gig Slog, Syph Babies, Thai Visas, Freight Rail

Here’s the past week’s foursome from Newsfeed – Tim W. Ferguson (timwferguson.com) –my mini-commentaries off the recent media. This assortment includes: A review of the plight of “gig”-app drivers and delivery people around the world that forgets what these souls were doing before; a startling look at an upsurge in births from mothers with syphilis,

3 At Feed: DHS & TSA, China’s Richest and Food Labeling

This week, Newsfeed – Tim W. Ferguson (timwferguson.com) hosts a trifecta of mini-commentaries plucked from the pages of our working press. Any anniversary of Sept. 11 would not be complete without a pass at its bureaucratic legacy, the Department of Homeland Security. As well, there’s a thought about the future tycoons of China, now that