Things That Make You Go Hmmm---August 11, 2023 Edition

Things that may cause you to scratch your head or at least say hmmmmm.

LBGTQ+

Is there something in our food, the water or the environment?

Or are we seeing the greatest example of social contagion in the history of the world?

Logic 101

I do not expect this point being brought up for discussion in a Logic 101 course at an Ivy League college.

Credit: https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1679980778292215811

Weighty Thoughts

I recently came across the CDC report on Anthropometric Reference Data for Adults and Children in the Untied States.

Simply stated, it is reference data on the height and weight for Americans sorted by age, gender and race.

This is the weight data at the 50th percentile for women ages 40-59 by race.

Black women are over 60 pounds heavier than Asian women in that age group.

Asians are also 35 pounds lighter than Whites.

These are the statistics for men so there is no suggestion that there is any bias in my reporting of the data.

What I also found interesting are the differences in weights between men and women at the median for those in the 40-59 age groups .

White males  +35.4 lbs

Black males   +10.6 lbs

Hispanic males. +28.1 lbs

Asian males.  +35.1 lbs

Height and body type clearly affect weight. This is why men are generally much heavier than women.

However, what explains why Black females are such an outlier in the data?

Feel free to weigh in.

Not So Souper News

What did happen?

Is it just a coincidence that in August 1971 Richard Nixon announced that the dollar would no longer be linked to gold?

Source: https://www.barrons.com/articles/gold-standard-dollar-dominance-bretton-woods-51628890861

Student Loans

Student loans will start accruing interest again in September and payments are required to start in October.

There has been a pause on interest and payment for 3-1/2 years.

The Jain Family Institute did a longitudinal study on the extent to which student borrowers made progress in paying off their loans that were outstanding in 2009 up through 2022.

There are some pretty stark differences in who made efforts to pay the loans off compared to who did not.

Credit: The New York Times

Which groups do the Democrats absolutely need to carry in order to win in 2024?

Women, Blacks and young college-educated voters.

Any questions as to what is driving Biden's executive orders on student debt forgiveness?