Diggapedia

On December 10th the White House issued a statement Recent Data Show Dominant Meat Processing Companies Are Taking Advantage of Market Power to Raise Prices and Grow Profit Margins.  “It raises a concern about pandemic profiteering, about companies that are driving price increases in a way that hurts consumers who are going to the grocery store,” White House National Economic Director Brian Deese said at a news briefing.  Needless to say, the Beef Industry, notably Tyson Foods, were not happy with the White House statement. This piqued my interest as I had noticed substantial price increases in prime cuts of beef and veal during my regular visits to the butcher.  Were prices rapidly rising due to inflation driven increased costs of sales?  Was increased demand driving prices, As we learned in Econ 101? Or were meat processing companies following the old adage “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” I decided to look at the big four meat firms, the middlemen between consumers and farmers

  2021 Reading and Listening List When I retired at the end of 2020, one personal commitment was to get back to reading. Over the last several years as job demands became a 7-day/week burden, the joy of reading took a backseat. With a sudden windfall of free time at hand my hardcover, e-book, and audio book vociferous appetite and consumption returned. Why hardcover? In the case of military history, I study the maps depicting battles and I find the need to constantly reference the graphic description of the operations as the author describes the battle in detail. Audiobooks were a new experience and provided entertainment and education during daily walks and long drives. This year’s titles were dominated by nonfiction as I found myself reading and listening to multiple titles simultaneously. In the case of An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography and Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad these were chosen ahead of our visit to Rwanda to give me add

  On January 6 th , 2021, the new Day of Infamy, I listened to Republican after Republican beseech their congressional colleagues to not accept the Electoral College Results due to unproven allegations in several states. Not surprisingly the three states that were to be challenged: Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia were all won by President-Elect Biden (not surprisingly GOP House members from these states had no problem with their elections, just the presidential choice).   The 147 Republicans were only halted in their grandstanding when the Capitol security was breeched and the building occupied by terrorists. Since the election of November 3 rd , the Trump team filed 62 lawsuits with only a single victory, Pennsylvania requiring voters to provide ID to cure a defective ballot.   Team Trump tried, often comically, to convert accusations into proof.   From its ominous launch at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, this effort was clear to anyone with a smidgen of sense to be nothing more