I recommend #1.....excellent......
1/ Thomas Frank is angry, and he tells us why in this thought provoking and insightful article. He discusses we are in now, where the virtues of capitalism and market forces are not up for discussion in any media or even our lives. It's assumed we live in the best possible economic system on earth, and it is indeed for those at the very top. Not so much for the rest of us.
An excellent, excellent essay.....
Jim Cramer, Dinesh D'Souza, Thomas Friedman (Credit: AP/Edouard H.R. Gluck/Reuters/Lucas Jackson)
“I believe in that premise as a matter of religious faith,” said Philip J. Romero, dean of the business school at the University of Oregon and one of the architects of California’s deregulation plan. — New York Times, Feb. 4, 2001
Time was, the only place a guy could expound the mumbo-jumbo of the free market was in the country club locker room or the pages of Reader’s Digest. Spout off about it anywhere else and you’d be taken for a Bircher or some new strain of Jehovah’s Witness. After all, in the America of 1968, when the great backlash began, the average citizen, whether housewife or hardhat or salary-man, still had an all-too-vivid recollection of the Depression. Not to mention a fairly clear understanding of what social class was all about. Pushing laissez-faire ideology back then had all the prestige and credibility of hosting a Tupperware party.
But 30-odd years of culture war have changed all that. Mention “elites” these days and nobody thinks of factory owners or gated-community dwellers. Instead they assume that what you’re mad as hell about is the liberal media, or the pro-criminal judiciary, or the tenured radicals, or the know-it-all bureaucrats.
For the guys down at the country club all these inverted forms of class war worked spectacularly well. This is not to say that the right-wing culture warriors ever outsmarted the liberal college professors or shut down the Hollywood studios or repealed rock ’n’ roll. Shout though they might, they never quite got cultural history to stop. But what they did win was far more important: political power, a free hand to turn back the clock on such non-glamorous issues as welfare, taxes, OSHA, even the bankruptcy laws, for chrissake. Assuring their millionaire clients that culture war got the deregulatory job done, they simply averted their eyes as bizarre backlash variants flowered in the burned-over districts of conservatism: Posses Comitatus, backyard Confederacies mounting mini-secessions, crusades against Darwin.
Here is another excerpt....read this, and then dive in to the whole article.....
That’s when it dawns on you: The market is a god that sucks. Yes, it cashed a few out at the tippy top, piled up the loot of the world at their feet, delivered shiny Lexuses into the driveways of their 10-bedroom suburban chateaux. But for the rest of us the very principles that make the market the object of D’Souza’s worship, of Gilder’s awestruck piety, are the forces that conspire to make life shitty in a million ways great and small. The market is the reason our housing is so expensive. It is the reason our public transportation is lousy. It is the reason our cities sprawl idiotically all across the map. It is the reason our word processing programs stink and our prescription drugs cost more than anywhere else. In order that a fortunate few might enjoy a kind of prosperity unequaled in human history, the rest of us have had to abandon ourselves to a lifetime of casual employment, to unquestioning obedience within an ever more arbitrary and despotic corporate regime, to medical care available on a maybe/maybe-not basis, to a housing market interested in catering only to the fortunate. In order for the libertarians of Orange County to enjoy the smug sleep of the true believer, the 30 million among whom they live must join them in the dark.
2/ A classic Bill Maher - he's on great form - one of his best "New Rules" segments - five minutes on climate change deniers.....
3/ Paul Krugman is also angry - this country seems to have done exactly the opposite of what we needed to do to get out of the housing bubble depression, and noone at the top seems to get it......
This is the economics 101 story of how the oligarchy has [and continues to] screwed the middle class......
You often find people talking about our economic difficulties as if they were complicated and mysterious, with no obvious solution. As the economist Dean Baker recently pointed out, nothing could be further from the truth. The basic story of what went wrong is, in fact, almost absurdly simple: We had an immense housing bubble, and, when the bubble burst, it left a huge hole in spending. Everything else is footnotes.
And the appropriate policy response was simple, too: Fill that hole in demand. In particular, the aftermath of the bursting bubble was (and still is) a very good time to invest in infrastructure. In prosperous times, public spending on roads, bridges and so on competes with the private sector for resources. Since 2008, however, our economy has been awash in unemployed workers (especially construction workers) and capital with no place to go (which is why government borrowing costs are at historic lows). Putting those idle resources to work building useful stuff should have been a no-brainer.
But what actually happened was exactly the opposite: an unprecedented plunge in infrastructure spending. Adjusted for inflation and population growth, public expenditures on construction have fallen more than 20 percent since early 2008. In policy terms, this represents an almost surreally awful wrong turn; we’ve managed to weaken the economy in the short run even as we undermine its prospects for the long run. Well played!
And it’s about to get even worse. The federal highway trust fund, which pays for a large part of American road construction and maintenance, is almost exhausted. Unless Congress agrees to top up the fund somehow, road work all across the country will have to be scaled back just a few weeks from now. If this were to happen, it would quickly cost us hundreds of thousands of jobs, which might derail the employment recovery that finally seems to be gaining steam. And it would also reduce long-run economic potential.
How did things go so wrong? As with so many of our problems, the answer is the combined effect of rigid ideology and scorched-earth political tactics. The highway fund crisis is just one example of a much broader problem.
4/ A great four minutes of the underrated comedian Lewis Black, on creationism......
5/ Timothy Egan with an excellent column from the Times on how a lot of people have nowhere to go politically. Both parties represent the interests of the oligarchs - the Republicans blatantly, the Democrats covertly. If you categorise yourself as "independent" like a growing number of millenials do, good luck this fall on finding someone to vote for.
The danger is apathy.....the crazies on the right vote, but the rest of us are so disgusted we can't be bothered to turn out. The result could be a disaster.....
The election this fall will most certainly return to power the most despised Congress in the modern era, if not ever. The House, already a graveyard for common sense, will fall further under the control of politicians whose idea of legislating is to stage a hearing for Fox News. The Senate, padlocked by filibusters over everyday business, will be more of the same, with one party in nominal control.
The fastest-growing, most open-minded and least-partisan group of voters will have no say. That’s right: The independents, on this Independence Day, have never been more numerous. But they’ve never been more shut out of power.
Earlier this year, Gallup found that 42 percent of Americans identified as independents, the highest it has measured since modern polling techniques started 25 years ago. That survey found that Republicans — destined to keep control of the House and possibly take the Senate — comprise only one in four Americans, their lowest share over that same quarter-century span. Democrats were at 31 percent.
The breakdown is even more unrepresentative when you look at the millennial generation, which, by most definitions, is the largest ever, with about 80 million people. These are the baby boomers’ kids, who bring their life-as-a-buffet view to voting as well. They like choice — in music, food, lifestyle, religion and politics.
6/ A wonderful one minute commercial for Guinness.....again, some suspicious moistness appeared in your scribe's eyes watching this......
Guinness is back with another heartwarming advertisement this Fourth of July. To create the video, the beer maker again teamed up with BBDO New York, the ad agency behind last year's wildly popular wheelchair basketball ad.
We won't say too much about about the ad, but we will say it's important on Fourth of July weekend to think of the people who aren't around to celebrate. Guinness said as much in its description of the video on the ad's YouTube page.
7/ A most interesting story from Rolling Stone on how Texas politics has been completely taken over by the crazies.......it's a longish read, but very good......
Photograph in Illustration by Tony Gutierrez/AP
By Mark Binelli
July 1, 2014 9:00 AM ET
Jimmy Smith's ranch sits on the Texas side of the Texas-Oklahoma border, in a little town called Burkburnett, named after a wolf-hunting buddy of Teddy Roosevelt's. In 1918, a local farmer discovered oil on his land, and the population soared from 1,500 to 15,000 in a single year, inspiring a Clark Gable movie, Boom Town.
Those days have long passed. As I drive along the lonely dirt road wending through Smith's property, the only Texas movie that comes to mind is the one about chain-saw massacres. I pass junked cars, barns in various states of collapse, cattle skulls dangling from iron gates, rusted metal drums of indeterminate purpose, no sign of human activity. The scene could have almost evoked nostalgia for some lost cowboy era, had it not been for the men with assault rifles guarding the main entrance. I was driving a rental car, a red Prius, in hindsight not the greatest choice for first impressions. But I waved, they nodded, and I kept driving.
The road eventually opened onto a clearing, where about 300 people milled about, eating barbecue, parked in folding campfire chairs, watching a band set up on a large professional stage. If nearly everyone present hadn't also been heavily armed, it would have felt like a low-key rock festival. A guy in a polo shirt and stonewashed jeans, sipping from a Big Gulp, walks by with a scoped rifle on his back. A woman wearing a mesh Lane Bryant top, a semiautomatic hanging from a shoulder strap, stands beside a bored-looking six-year-old poking around in the dirt with a stick.
The Gathering of the American Patriot, as the event was called, took place on Memorial Day weekend – though you quickly got the sense that the patriotism being displayed was tethered primarily, perhaps exclusively, to the Republic of Texas. Lone Star flags greatly outnumbered the American kind, and a group of bikers hung out near a long white banner decorated with a pointing Uncle Sam and the words OBAMA YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT.
9/ This is for scientists, geeks and people who love a good logical discussion - what is the likelihood of intelligent life contacting us? The Fermi Paradox......
Great illustrations.....
Some people stick with the traditional, feeling struck by the epic beauty or blown away by the insane scale of the universe. Personally, I go for the old “existential meltdown followed by acting weird for the next half hour.” But everyone feels something.
Physicist Enrico Fermi felt something too—”Where is everybody?”
________________
A really starry sky seems vast—but all we’re looking at is our very local neighborhood. On the very best nights, we can see up to about 2,500 stars (roughly one hundred-millionth of the stars in our galaxy), and almost all of them are less than 1,000 light years away from us (or 1% of the diameter of the Milky Way). So what we’re really looking at is this:
When confronted with the topic of stars and galaxies, a question that tantalizes most humans is, “Is there other intelligent life out there?” Let’s put some numbers to it (if you don’t like numbers, just read the bold)—
10/ For me the best Pentatonix music video - a medly of Daft Punk songs, all done acapella.....if you listen to this with your eyes closed you cannot believe this is just five voices.....
The video is also their most striking - from the bright blue contact lenses, to the brilliant split screen work.....
11/ The "Honest Trailer" people do a two minute summary of "Forrest Gump"......quite amusing.......and after seeing this I don't think I could sit through the movie again....
This honest trailer for "Forrest Gump" is too real. It's true, Forrest "bombards complete strangers with his entire life story," and Jenny -- sorry, we mean "young Claire Underwood" -- is a "suicidal junkie hobo."
Screen Junkies sums it up perfectly: "Their one-sided relationship will serve as CliffsNotes to 40 years of white-washed American history." Plus, there's Lieutenant Dan with legs, Lieutenant Dan without legs, things momma said and lots and lots of running. We'll never look at "Forrest Gump" the same way again.
12/ Todays guy video- ahooooogghah - the ultimate chipper - this machine can demolish an entire tree in seconds!
Three minutes of testoserone.......mungo want one.......
Allow NPR to explain the frightening beast of machinery you are about to witness in the video at bottom:
They are called excavator mulchers. That’s polite. What they really do is swallow trees. This one, a DAH Forestry Mulcher from Quebec’s manufacturer Denis Cimaf, consumes a 30-foot-tall, mature spruce (starting at the top, landing at the bottom) in 15 seconds. The tree that was, suddenly isn’t.
No more words. Just watch, via YouTube:
13/ The most expensive financial disaster since the Iraq War is the F-35 fighter. It keeps having problems, software and hardware, and they can't seem to fix them. The question not being asked is "why does this country need a superadvanced plane like this one"?
Which enemy air force are we building this to defeat? The Syrians? North Koreans?
Lockheed Martin, the contractor, was smart enough the put manufacturing plants for the components in just about every state, so it's cancelproof. Politicians cannot vote to axe the program, because it would cost jobs.....
The British and other allies are actually thinking of buying this turkey for the RAF and NATO....amazing.....
Interesting story from Business Insider, great pictures!
This was supposed to the be the F-35's big month.
The troubled next-generation fighter jet was going to make its international debut at the Farnborough Air Show in England. The U.S. and its partners would have something to show for their years of delays, setbacks, and cost overruns.
They would have nothing less than a functioning version of the most advanced warplane in history.
This potential breakthrough has hit an all-too-typical stumbling block.
The Air Force temporarily suspended all F-35 flights after one of the planes caught on fire before takeoff at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Even if the plane does debut later this month, it still has some serious issues, and a long way to go before it can be rolled out for combat missions. Already, the plane is expected to be delayed for over a year beyond its projected mid-2015 delivery date.
Despite this, it's not likely that the F-35 will ever be scrapped. As we reported back in November of 2012, there are simply too many countries that have invested time and money into the program.
It is, quite literally, an aircraft that is "too big to fail" despite facing lifetime operating costs for the U.S. Fleet of $1 trillion, and cost overruns of $167 billion before a single plane has flown a single mission.
We've gone back and looked at the biggest problems with the F-35 program, according to an official Pentagon report.
Developed by Lockheed, the fighter has three variants: the conventional F-35A for the Air Force; the F-35B for the Marine Corps, which can take off and land vertically; and the F-35C for the Navy, a carrier version.
If all goes to plan, the Pentagon is on track to spend a huge figure of $396 billion on the jets, including R&D. It doesn't help that the cost to build each F-35 has risen to an average of $160 million from $69 million in 2001. The project is an astounding $167 billion over-budget.
14/ This business book looks really interesting, and according to the review very well written......
Oh, if only we had more business writers like Beth Macy, and more business books like her debut, “Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local — and Helped Save an American Town.”
You don’t need to care a whit about the furniture industry or free trade or globalization to fall under the spell of Ms. Macy’s book. This is nonfiction storytelling at its finest, a deep dive into a business, an industry and the many branches of a squabbling family dynasty, all displayed against the backdrop of some of the most important issues of our age. It does what the best business books should: It delivers a heavily researched, highly entertaining story, at the end of which you realize you’ve learned something.
In “Factory Man” — not the most compelling title, I’ll grant you — Ms. Macy tells how John D. Bassett III, of the renowned Bassett family of Virginia and North Carolina furniture makers, took on a Chinese industry whose low prices were undercutting American manufacturers and driving many out of business. Mr. Bassett didn’t actually defeat the Chinese, but by winning a celebrated case against them before the United States International Trade Commission, he was able to keep afloat his own company, Vaughan-Bassett Furniture, saving hundreds of jobs.
For most of the 20th century, the Bassetts ruled a backwoods archipelago of companies and company towns that came to define the “furniture belt” of southwest Virginia and neighboring parts of North Carolina. The story begins with the family patriarch, J. D. Bassett, known as Mr. J. D., a sawmill owner who realized that he could build furniture every bit as good as the Northern manufacturers buying his lumber, and he began doing so in 1902.
Bassett Furniture thrived, eventually topping $400 million in sales and joining the Fortune 500 in the 1980s. The town of Bassett, Va., sprang up around his first factory, and Mr. J. D. kept the town unincorporated, so the family could more easily control its environs, which in time came to be everything from the banks to city hall. For years, locals actually paid their utility bills at Bassett’s corporate headquarters, known as the Taj Mahal.
15/ Are you in London? See if you can get tickets to this, a Monty Python reunion.....oh well, it will be out on video soon hopefully......
LONDON — Something completely different was never going to be on the menu. The record-breaking ticket sales generated by the news that members of the fabled comedy team Monty Python would be reassembling here for a rare onstage reunion were surely not generated by hopes that the old boys had come up with new tricks.
No, the many-thousand-strong fold that assembled at the O2 arena, where the show, which is running for 10 nights, opened on Tuesday, arrived in the spirit of pilgrims in search not of revelation but reassurance. And I’m presuming that is what they received, in a program that had both the pomp and familiarity of a high church ritual.
For it can indeed be said that Monty Python lives! Or to cite the disarmingly accurate title of this expensive-looking collection of vintage sketches, what we have here is “Monty Python Live (mostly).”
Todays video - for all you Brits - "Yorkshire Airlines"......
Todays bonus video - rioting in Switzerland after being eliminated from the World Cup....shocking, such animals.....
Todays golfers joke
Got home real late last night after a full day of golfing and hanging out with the guys, and my wife left a message in the kitchen.I think she wants me to eat more fruit,
bless her heart!
Todays best insults
Alfred Hitchcock responding to actress Mary Anderson who asked him “What is my best side,” while filming “Lifeboat.”
“You’re sitting on it, my dear.”
Bette Midler on Princess Anne:
“She loves nature, in spite of what it did to her.”
Elizabeth Taylor:
“Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses.”
Frank Sinatra on Robert Redford:
“Well at least he has found his true love – what a pity he can’t marry himself.”
Mahatma Gandhi asked by a reporter in a crowd “What do you think of Western civilization?”
“I think it would be a good idea.”
Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, responding to hearing that President Richard Nixon had called him an “asshole.”
“I’ve been called worse things by better people”
Pope John XXIII, when asked “How many people work at the Vatican,” by a journalist:
“About half.”
Valentino Liberace to a critic:
“Thank you for your very amusing review. After reading it I laughed all the way to the bank.”
Winston Churchill and Bessie Braddock:
Bessie Braddock: “Winston, you are drunk, and what’s more you are disgustingly drunk.”
Winston Churchill: “Bessie, my dear, you are ugly, and what’s more, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly ugly.”
Frank Zappa and TV talk show host Joe Pyne, a decorated WWII hero who lost one of his legs in combat:
Joe Pyne: “So I guess your long hair makes you a woman.”
Frank Zappa: “So I guess your wooden leg makes you a table.”
BONUS INSULT:
Winston Churchill and Lady Nancy Astor:
Lady Nancy Astor: “Winston, if you were my husband, I’d put poison in your coffee.”
Winston Churchill: “Nancy, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.”
Todays terrorist joke
DONATION!A driver was stuck in a traffic jam on the highway outside Washington, D.C. Nothing was moving. Suddenly a man knocked on the window.The driver rolled down the window and asked, "What's going on?""Terrorists have kidnapped the entire U.S. Congress, and they're asking for a $100 million dollar ransom. Otherwise, they're going to douse them all in gasoline and set them on fire. We're going from car to car, collecting donations.""How much is everyone giving, on an average?" the driver asked.The man replied, "Roughly a gallon."
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