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The new approach to nuclear power

Now that the West Virginia Legislature lifted the moratorium on nuclear energy in the Mountain State, we’ve been hearing a lot about the alternate energy form. You may remember that early this month, Rep. David McKinley paid a visit to Harrison County to oversee the signing of a deal between X-Energy and Amstead Graphite Materials. X-Energy has a Department of Energy contract to build a nuclear reactor in Washington State, but it won’t use rods. Instead, it will use “pebbles,” and West Virginia’s Amstead Graphite will provide material for the pebbles’ protective coating. ...

Discussing inflation? Don’t forget greed

“Companies are paying higher wages, spending more for materials and absorbing record freight costs, pushing up economic inflation gauges. They are also reporting some of their best profitability in years.” The above quote comes from the article “What Does Inflation Mean for American Businesses? For Some, Bigger Profits,” published in The Wall Street Journal in November 2021. The inflation rate has steadily increased since then — and so have corporate profits. While most conservative economists and commentators are quick to blame inflation on demand outpacing supply, supply ...

Good news, bad news for formula shortage

For worried parents nationwide, there is good news and bad news on the baby formula front. First, the good news: Last week was a whirlwind as Washington, D.C., finally threw its weight behind solving the infant formula crisis. President Biden used the Defense Production Act to incentivize suppliers of key formula ingredients to sell to formula manufacturers. Production has also ramped up, and restrictions on imports have been temporarily relaxed. Biden even enlisted military planes to transport formula made abroad. The Food and Drug Administration also reached a deal with Abbott ...

Not safe to leave kids, pets in cars, even for ‘a minute’

As we start to see temperatures climb consistently into the mid- to upper-80s (with today expected to be a scorching 93-ish degrees), this is a PSA to parents of human and fur babies not to leave kids and pets unattended in the car. We’re sympathetic to the stress and hassle of traveling with babies, little kids and/or pets.  And it’s just for a minute. You’ll be in and out before anyone can even notice there’s still someone in the car. Right? Except “just a minute” is rarely one minute or less. Often, it stretches into several minutes, and it only takes a couple ...

Alito’s draft willfully misrepresents history

In its May 7 cold opening, Saturday Night Live took a jab at Justice Samuel Alito’s reference to a Dark Ages legal treatise. Host Benedict Cumberbatch, playing a man of some authority with a Medieval bowl cut, proposed eliminating abortion. The chatter among the skit’s characters — which included two other white men making decisions,  an almost 12-year-old girl of child-bearing age objecting to the proposal and  a Black man fully aware he has no rights — included some laugh-to-keep-from-crying one-liners like “That’s why we’re also offering maternity leave. When ...

What happens if we forgive student debt?

Yesterday, we discussed the generational cycle of student loan debt: how the pressure from parents, the (unfulfilled) promise of better economic fortunes and skyrocketing tuition over the last several decades have contributed to $1.7 trillion in national student loan debt, with Millennials bearing the brunt of the burden. If the “I paid mine, you pay yours” argument is an issue of fairness, the other argument is one of fiscal responsibility. What happens to the economy if the government forgives $1.7 trillion in loans? First, you have to understand who has the loans. According ...