Month: May 2022

This is Hilbert in his favorite place: Marian's arms. However, my sister says he's adapted extremely well to her arms and her brushing technique. Purr, purr.

I felt a little bad for making my Rome "Where am I" picture so hard, so I decided to make yesterday's a little easier. The fragment in the top right of the picture is indeed the Eiffel Tower. Here's a better picture:

This was taken from Pont Mirabeau while I was puttering around at night after dinner. On Saturday we begin our cruise down the Seine to Normandy on the Viking Skaga. When we return, we'll spend a couple of weeks in an Airbnb rental and then head home.

So far everything has been great. Not a single hiccup. Keep your fingers crossed.

I get the irony and everything, but it is possible to have opposed the Iraq War while supporting the Ukraine War, which is a case of Ukrainians fighting back against an unprovoked invasion. Right?

For that matter, it's entirely possible to have supported both. Or opposed both. The only combination that would make me shake my head is supporting the Iraq War but opposing the Ukraine War. Unless you're Russian or something.

We're on vacation again! This is our first big vacation in five years thanks to this and that and, of course, COVID-19. But everything has gone swimmingly so far on this one. The flight was on time; our driver met us punctually at the airport; the weather is good (a little warm for me, but fine for most people); and we are happily ensconced in our little room. And, obviously, fully connected to the internet.

Needless to say, my sister is house sitting and reports that the cats adore her already. She is trying to get used to working with Hilbert sprawled across the desk.

But where are we?

The BLS released its annual report on foreign-born workers today, so let's celebrate by taking a look at the unemployment rate of native vs. foreign-born workers:

As you can see, foreign-born workers generally have a slightly lower unemployment rate than native-born workers, but during the pandemic they lost their jobs in large numbers and their unemployment rate spiked to two percentage points above native-born workers. However, they've gradually made up the difference, and by mid-2021 both native and foreign-born workers had about the same unemployment rate. In April both were at 3.3%.

Here's a squirrel poking its head above the grass to see if there's anything worth seeing. It was taken along Laguna Canyon Road.

Well, it's happened:

Finland and Sweden formally applied for NATO membership on Wednesday, a move that, if approved, would fundamentally transform the security landscape of Northern Europe and give the alliance a valuable edge against Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

We can all thank Vladimir Putin, geopolitical master strategist, for this.

This is a Sara Orangetip butterfly, which got bumped from Monday's schedule by our lunar eclipse. So here she is now in all her orange-tipped glory. I've posted a picture of this butterfly before, but this is a much better shot. It's sharp enough that you can see the little black dots on its head.

Consider two ways of saying a similar thing:

1. According to the Census Bureau, people of color make up an increasing share of the US population. This will most likely benefit liberals, who will certainly try to take political advantage of it.
2. Not only are non-white folks having more children than white people, but liberals are trying to increase their numbers even more by encouraging illegal immigration to America from across the border. Eventually their kids will replace white kids, which will spell the end of traditional American culture and doom conservatives at the ballot box.

Question: Do these seem like pretty much the same thing, with only a modest change in wording in order to appeal to different audiences? Do they express the same facts? Do they express the same sentiment? Can either or both be deemed racist, or are they basically just statements of demographic realities?

Consumers continue to spend, spend, spend:

Retail spending in April wasn't quite as great at the Wall Street Journal says, since they naturally didn't bother adjusting for inflation, but it was still pretty good. Spending in April was up 7% over March on an annualized basis, even though the trendline remains far above the pre-pandemic trend.

On the other hand, retail spending has been pretty flat since the start of 2021:

Growth has plateaued since last March, but the plateau is pretty high. So is this good news or bad? I'd say it's pretty good.