It's the Labor Market, Stupid

Remember the '90's? Back then a snappy saying gained currency:
"It's the Economy, Stupid". Most people think it still
is, for reasons as varied as the nation's landscape.
But one realization should stand out head and shoulders above
all other and contrary opinions: without businesses' ability to
obtain credit, meaningful increases in hiring won't occur,
the retail sector will experience a grim, Grinch-like holiday
season, and a second recession will follow quickly on the
heels of the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Such a scenario
is scarcely rare, regrettably. Check out the 20th century's
recessions and you will find several instances of decades
in which two contractions occurred.

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama, attempting to inspire job creation
and infrastructure repair, has been scurrilously attacked
and parodied in seemingly borderline illegal ways. Yet
Obama's unemployment extensions have yielded positive
results, according to Mark Price of the Keystone Research
Center, a purportedly independent think tank. Price claims
there would have been millions more at or below the poverty
line without the extensions, which surely contributed to
American buying power in recent months.

So let's do it! Hey there, banks and businesses sitting
on cash, release that death grip, start lending and hiring!
Christmas is coming; have some faith in the country you
profess to love and admire.

It's the patriotic thing to do.
Don't forget, it's the labor market, stupid.

The U.S.: Neither a Democracy Nor a Meritocracy

September 16, 2010: now that we're in the thicket
of the political season, it's high time we clarify
certain terms, to wit, democracy and meritocracy.
I strongly suggest the USA as a whole is neither:

(1) A Democracy is NOT what Benjamin Franklin
called the new nation on September 17, 1787,
The date our Constitution was signed.
In answer to a woman's query, "What sort of
government have you given us, Mr. Franklin?",
he replied, "A Republic, Madam, if you can keep it."
Actually, it's a representative, democratic republic,
even with subsequent constitutional amendments
and other liberalizing federal statutes which
also followed. All of the candidates, incumbents
and pundits invoking the word democracy should
recall a little thing known as the Electoral College.
In the words of the Pledge of Allegiance:"...and to
the REPUBLIC for which it stands,..."

(2) A Meritocracy can't possibly be what we've got
here, EITHER, with all the incompetence, mismanagement,
misstatement, lack of information, communication and
procedure ad infinitum. What about the well-known cliche'
"It's not what you know, but who"? There's real-world
reason nepotism and cronyism are included in American
English dictionaries. We DO indeed have very able and
knowledgeable people in government, industry and education
--but are they the major percentage? That seems more and
more untrue with each succeeding newscast and political ad.

One fine day in the far-off future our nation may
be able to accurately claim its status as a
democratic meritocracy; I fervently hope so.
Better still if all the other 199 countries
are justly described that way as well.

PG&E, Dangerously Incompetent, is at it again

Not content with building a nuclear reactor near
the Hosgri Earthquake Fault in Diablo Canyon, PG&E
(Pacific Gas and Electric) also succeeded in constructing
a many miles-long natural gas transmission line with
many subsequent problem incidents/issues reported.
This latest gas explosion in California has destroyed
many homes and lives; much of the blame may safely be
laid at PG&E's doorstep. Pointed questions abound:

(1) Where does PG&E get their consulting or in-house
geologists from? What are their credentials, their
acuity, their experience? I challenge their expertise
absolutely, because that is the initial weak link in
the decision/command chain that keeps leading to
serious problems caused by this utility.

(2) Where are the regulators with the requisite
legal and character teeth to stop these dangerous
projects which end up costing way too much in
lives ruined, property and money wasted?

Many thousands must voice their intelligent
outrage with a burning, even fiery critique,
(stylistically, NOT literally, meant!)

Or PG& E will skate off to do it yet again.

Extremism is only rarely a virtue

Yes, just a few people can bring many troubles.
There is a U.S. "church" calling itself Dove
(a highly paradoxical appellation, it turns out)
which intends to publicly burn a copy of the Koran.
The fearless leader of this tiny sect (estimated
membership, 50) proclaims he and his are tired
of being intimidated by kings and others, wants to
bring back the U.S. to its rightful place in the
Sun.

So he thinks our great and glorious nation can
regain its premier position by intentionally
antagonizing irrational, violent extremists abroad?
There is a photo of him and his all white truck
emblazoned with bright red lettering,
"International Burn a Koran Day", 9/11/2010, 6-9 pm".
Mr. "Church of the Dove" Jones is well-advised
to look into a very polished mirror, long and
hard. Maybe then he will counsel his flock to cancel
the ill-advised little conflagration he's planned,
and while he's at it, rename his church too.
Since he and his are NOT peaceful as is the Dove
of the Holy Spirit, how about " U.S. Chapter of
Worldwide Extremists"?

If only this irrational person and his devotees
would consult various history books with a
thoughtful studiousness, they might realize
what has proven true:

Extremism is only rarely a virtue.

A GOOD TIME IN THE GOOD NEWS GARDEN

Friday, August 27th gave Maywood, Illinois a
perfect weather day to showcase the fresh
produce planted by Green Corps, young people
who may have previously never dealt with gardens
of either the vegetable or flower variety.
The Prairie Path "Open House" (outdoors only)
was a tripartite effort by Loyola University
Medicine, Cook County Green Corp and University
of Illinois' Extension....you should have
seen the pride and joy on those young faces!

The garden of course was bursting with tall
leaves of Kale and other vegetables, baby
watermelons hidden between them on the ground,
etc. Today, Saturday, the mature crops
go to the local Farmers' Market for sale.
Meanwhile, the young planters have already
sampled some of their wares. What could be
better?

Projects like this have sprung up all around
the U.S., with many teens gaining insight
into more than mere appreciation of where
food actually comes from. The value and rewards
of teamwork, sensitivity and sustained effort
are pearls beyond price, food for the soul.

In this Good News Garden
a good time was had by all.

Reason, Fairness and Compassion: Off the Table

Why don't most of the politicians and
Wall Streeters read and heed Paul Krugman
and Simon Johnson? There's really only
one ugly reason: The super-rich and
well-fixed political figures really
don't care about middle and lower class
Americans, the majority. As Paul Krugman,
Simon Johnson and James Kwak so ably point
out, the rich and political, hereinafter
referred to as "they","them" or "their",
keep changing their reasons to deny
further assisting the unemployed. I've
seen cries of "socialism", "deficit-driven
depression/bankruptcy", "bond investor
withdrawal risk", etc. ....Whew! Say,
call me when you make up your minds--
AND make some sense.

Some of them have forgotten, if they ever
apprehended it, 6,000 years of recorded
history, oh, and a pithy little saying:
"...You can't fool all of the people all
of the time". The scales of Justice
sometimes swing back to weigh in favor of
the oppressed. Yet I see that many of
"them" must act and live by the old saw,
"take the money and run". But by forgetting
the lessons of history and economics, in the
long run, EVERYONE pays for stupid,
narrow-interest policies, even the very
proponents of same.

TO THE POWERS THAT BE: FIX UNEMPLOYMENT

(1) Exhort those sitting on cash to hire!
Productivity numbers have lied for decades;
I'm here to attest to the sharp decline in
accuracy AND quality; you can't really do
"more with less", you just do LESS.

(2) If there is stimulus money unspent, allocate
it to employ people to fix our infrastructure.
Realize nothing lasts forever, not even the proton.
(Reading more science over a lifetime versus
partaking in many pointless social
opportunities would be a big help here.)
If the stimulus fund HAS truly been spent,
vote more money to do this vital work which
has been stupidly, niggardly, overlooked.

TO THE LARGER ELECTORATE:
Remember in November.
(Please, remember in November.)

Unless a miracle of sane policy or
voter awareness/alacrity occurs, reason,
fairness and compassion are off the table.

Clean Air or Clean House: The Senate

The Union of Concerned Scientists is quite disturbed by the
current Senate inaction on climate change legislation, and so
am I. The following is a letter I sent to Illinois Senators
Durbin and Burris through the Union of Concerned Scientists'
take action website, which encourages editing the sample
letter they thoughtfully provide:

Some Senators are attempting to delay or block the EPA's
authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate global
warming emissions. These sorts of attacks are unacceptable:
the very politicians who want things to remain as they are
haven't read enough science to understand that the impending
climate change danger affects everyone on Earth--INCLUDING
their OWN families.

This denial insanity has progressed so far that even
physicist Stephen Hawking has been quoted as making
outrageous statements like "We must leave Earth or
face extinction." --What?? Say, let's fix things
right here, right now, while there may yet
be time. Moving to another planet to continue the sad
historical human pattern of overpopulating, polluting and
violence isn't even in the realm of possibility for several
hundred years, so let's get down to business now, shall we?

The question becomes, "Is the Clean Air Act the law, or not?"
If it IS the law, Congress must find a way to enforce it,
period. Otherwise it might be time to politically clean
house, if not the air, in subsequent elections.