August 2011 archive

I am very sorry, folks, but I was in a hurry to finish up the piece and there was a horrible traffic tie up before I could get home.  I got home late, and was finishing up the 21st song out of 24 when I fat fingered my keyboard, wiping out almost everything.

That teaches me, regardless of the venue, to save after EVERY paragraph.  It would not have made any difference if I had been writing in Word, or Works, or at any blog site.  If one does not save work, it gets lost.  However, there is a bit of a workaround.

Load up Lazarus for Firefox and it can help.  It is not perfect, but if I had been using it, I would lost only the two or three paragraphs before my keyboard mistake.  I still do not know what I did, but I now save after EVERY paragraph!  I use it now, although I am not sure how well it works.

It is disheartening to lose so much work, but there is a silver lining to that black cloud.  Next week the piece will be much better, because I had time to think about it and improve it.

It was just a couple of nights ago that Keith Olbermann was challenging us, in one of his “Special Comments”, to rise up in the streets and take back this country.

He pointed out that the only way those on the left were going to be able to fight against those who are looking to get all “Tea Party” is to be as angry and as organized and as aggressive as the Tea Party community, and if we’re smart, we’ll take him up on that challenge.

But if you really want to push “professional” Democrats to the left, most especially this President, and you want to do it in time to impact the ’12 cycle, the only way to do it is to run a candidate in primary contests that either moves the conversation your way…or leaves you with a surprising new Candidate.

And right here, right now, we actually have a chance to do exactly that – and that’s why, in today’s discussion, I’m going to challenge Olbermann right back.

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

One  of the signs of insanity is repeating the same mistake in hopes of a different outcome. Seventy five years ago, the congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt did exactly the same thing that congress and President Barack Obama did on Wednesday with the same results.

FDR’s Recession

By the spring of 1937, production, profits, and wages had regained their 1929 levels. Unemployment remained high, but it was considerably lower than the 25% rate seen in 1933. In June 1937, some of Roosevelt’s advisors urged spending cuts to balance the budget. WPA rolls were drastically cut and PWA projects were slowed to a standstill. The American economy took a sharp downturn in mid-1937, lasting for 13 months through most of 1938. Industrial production declined almost 30 per cent and production of durable goods fell even faster.

Unemployment jumped from 14.3% in 1937 to 19.0% in 1938, rising from 5 million to more than 12 million in early 1938. Manufacturing output fell by 37% from the 1937 peak and was back to 1934 levels. Producers reduced their expenditures on durable goods, and inventories declined, but personal income was only 15% lower than it had been at the peak in 1937. In most sectors, hourly earnings continued to rise throughout the recession, which partly compensated for the reduction in the number of hours worked. As unemployment rose, consumers’ expenditures declined, leading to further cutbacks in production.

The Roosevelt Administration reacted by launching a rhetorical campaign against monopoly power, which was cast as the cause of the depression, and appointing Thurman Arnold in the anti-trust division of the U.S. Department of Justice to act, but Arnold was not effective. In February 1938, Congress passed a new AAA bill which authorized crop loans, crop insurance against natural disasters, and large subsidies to farmers who cut back production. On April 2, Roosevelt sent a new large-scale spending program to Congress, and received $3.75 billion which was split among PWA, WPA, and various relief agencies. Other appropriations raised the total to $5 billion in the spring of 1938, after which the economy recovered.

The stock market plummeted over 500 points yesterday wiping out any gains from the recovery since 2008. The market is continuing to fluctuate after rather weak jobs report. While the U-3 dropped to 9.1%, it was due mostly to workers who are no longer seeking employment or are now in the ranks of the under-employed and jobs creation was weak. So after the debt ceiling deal and the worsening European banks situation, investors lacked confidence that the US could increase productivity.

But the White House and Congress insist on sticking to their story that if they hadn’t given the hostage takers all they wanted with no jobs stimulus or revenue increases, they wouldn’t have gotten the debt deal and the markets would have crashed. As John Nichols said in The Nation, “Unfortunately, it was wrong. Not just morally wrong. Not just politically wrong. Not just economically wrong. It was wrong with regard to the cherished markets.”

If you do not get Current TV you can watch Keith here:

GLAAD has released this year’s National Responsibility Index ratings of the television broadcast networks and major cable networks.  

The GLAAD National Responsibility Index examines the quantity and quality of images (called impressions) of LGBT people on television.  It is intended to help media representations be fair, accurate and inclusive.

In a country which does not recognize the equality of its GLBT citizens, it is important that their are media portrayals of us to assist in correcting the problem.

As diverse LGBT images in the media become more prevalent, the general public becomes exposed to the truth of the LGBT community: lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans are parents and teachers, law enforcement officers and soldiers, high school students and loving elderly couples. It is as important for LGBT Americans to see our lives reflected on screen as it is for others to be exposed to the rich tapestry of the LGBT community.

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

No more delays or restrictions for Somalis needing aid and refuge

“Fighting in Somalia, restrictions on supply flights, international support staff as well as administrative hurdles have all contributed to the current hardship faced by the Somali population today,” said Unni Karunakara, International President of MSF. “It is essential that both restrictions and obstacles to humanitarian aid be removed as the situation continues to worsen.”

This weekend, August 6 & 7, Daily Kos will be sponsoring a blogathon to raise money for East Africa Food Crisis: 48-Hour Famine Fundraiser

They have decided to donate all monies raised to directly support the work of Médecins Sans Frontières in the Dadaab refugee camp.  An anonymous donor has volunteered $5,000 in matching funds.  

The humanitarian crisis from famine due to drought is worsening and being hindered in Somalia due to the the lack of safety and aid being blocked by Islamic extremists. Us laws that prohibit nongovernmental aid organizations from receiving any US assistance if they try to negotiate with the rebels, has further hindered aid to nearly 3 million who are at risk of death from starvation.

The US development agency USAid said the $28m (£17m) it pledged to Somalia this week would target areas hardest hit by the drought. But, given the strength of feeling the Americans have towards al-Shabaab – it’s on a list of terrorist organisations – and the fact that it controls the two areas of Somalia the UN declared to be famine zones, Bakool and Lower Shabelle, it is difficult to see how those most in need will benefit from the money.

Donald Steinberg, deputy administrator of USAid, said on Wednesday that America needed assurances from the UN that al-Shabaab would not restrict delivery of US-funded aid in rebel areas before it would allow its aid to be delivered.

NBC’s Richard Engel explains how a Somali terror group is blocking aid to famine victims in order to win a political power struggle

Somalia famine has reached three new regions, says UN

Immediate lifesaving help now needed by 3.2 million people in south of the country

The UN has declared three new regions in Somalia as famine zones, including the refugee camps in the capital Mogadishu.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said famine is likely to spread across all regions of the south of the country in the next four to six weeks, and persist until December. Out of a population of 7.5 million, 3.2 million are in need of immediate lifesaving assistance in its worst drought in 60 years, but aid supply is difficult because al-Qaida linked militants control much of Somalia’s most desperate areas.