The Persistence of the Black-White Academic Achievement Gap

Another interesting Freddie Deboer article Racial Disparities in the SATs Are Exactly What Antiracists Should Predict …You let them in despite worse academic preparedness than their peers; if you don’t address that lack of preparedness in a systematic fashion you’re setting them up to fail. But remediation is expensive for institutions and potentially for students… Continue reading The Persistence of the Black-White Academic Achievement Gap

Freddie Deboer on Writing

Freddie discusses how being weird and divisive is necessary for being successful as a writer: Because being divisive is good for business. You have to be weird. I’m making more money than I ever thought I would in my life because what I write is not easily found elsewhere. Niche tastes can still be popular… Continue reading Freddie Deboer on Writing

The Return of Covid….again

Looks like another Covid variant has been invented. Got to keep those drug company profits up now that Delta is fading from relevance. Time to shut everything down again, cuz people may die. At this point it’s hard to take any of these ‘health experts’ seriously after they promised the the vaccines would stop Covid,… Continue reading The Return of Covid….again

The Biden Freefall

Ny Mag explains why Biden’s approval ratings are falling. The so-called ‘honeymoon period’ ended in June, just as Biden’s approval ratings had peaked at 53%, according to 538. The recent decline is consistent with past presidents, the only exception being George Bush, who only served a single term, so it’s not like it’s that accurate… Continue reading The Biden Freefall

Characteristics of Good and Bad Opinions (Updated for 2025)

In an online world oversaturated with content—now amplified by AI-generated material—the ability to express opinions clearly and persuasively is more critical than ever for standing out in the noise. While crafting successful opinions isn’t an exact science, the odds of success can be improved by studying the qualities of well-received opinions and their phrasing, as… Continue reading Characteristics of Good and Bad Opinions (Updated for 2025)

More about Inflation: Do Not Expect the Fed to Do Anything

Interesting Noah Smith article Inflation is real; now it’s up to the Fed I generally agree with Noah that Biden is powerless to reduce inflation, and that it will either require the fed abruptly raising rates a lot (which will not happen), a crisis or recession (also very unlikely, IMHO), or simply inflation returns to… Continue reading More about Inflation: Do Not Expect the Fed to Do Anything