3 December 2021

Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

US Economy Added 210,000 Jobs in November -- The US Non-Farm Payroll report came out a few minutes ago, and the economy added 210,000 jobs in the month of November. The unemployment rate (U3 officially) fell to 4.2% from 4.6% in October. The participation rate is at 61.9% up from 61.6%. The economy is still about 4 million jobs short of where it was before the pandemic, but GDP is above pre-pandemic levels meaning productivity has shot up. Inflation, therefore, is not a long-term risk from rising wages. Despite the headline number, this is a good report for the US, and the headline number itself is somewhat suspect. [3 December]

Supreme Court Salami Tactics Will Erode Abortion Rights -- The Supreme Court of the United States (the least talented politicians in Washington) heard oral arguments yesterday over a Mississippi law that bans all abortions in the state at 15 weeks. The precedent set in Roe v Wade is 24 weeks. On the face of it, the Mississippi law is unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court is not really concerned about anything more than the political agenda of its majority. They will find the Mississippi law is perfectly acceptable without actually saying that they are repealing the earlier case. [2 December]

Meadows Cooperating with January 6 Committee -- The Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has handed over documents to the committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. He has also agreed to appear for a deposition under oath. Of all the actors in this sorry play, Mr. Meadows is the one most likely to know where all the bodies are buried. As WHCoS, he was Mr. Trump's right-hand man. Mr. Meadows is taking a different legal approach from that adopted by others who have refused to cooperate at all. He is clearly trying to find some distance from Mr. Trump. [1 December]

Omicron Variant Emerges in South Africa -- The latest variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, named Omicron, grabbed headlines last week as the World Health Organization called it a variant of concern. The variant has several mutations of the protein spike the virus uses to invade host cells. The current batches of vaccine act on the protein spike so these mutations may render the vaccines less effective. The question for the near term is whether it is more virulent than the delta variant and whether it is more transmissible. Longer term, the issue is whether the human race can figure out how to vaccinate everybody on the planet. Until that happens, variants are going to arise. Some could be much worse than what the world has seen so far. [29 November]

Arbery Trial Ends in Convictions -- Ahmaud Arbery went for a jog in February 2020, and he died at the hands of three men who thought he had no business being in their neighborhood. Mr. Arbery was a black American citizen. The three men who killed him in Brunswick, Georgia, were white. They chased him in their trucks, and one of them shot him with a shotgun. The police did nothing to bring the men to justice. Indeed, the local district attorney declined to bring charges. Then, the video of the killing leaked. Yesterday, after a fair trial that was televised for the nation to see, an almost all-white jury brought back guilty verdicts against each on several charges. It is almost as if America's legal system worked as it should have, once it was shamed into acting. [25 November]

© Copyright 2021 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

Volume XIX, Number 252

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