Hiding from the “D” word

Source: urpe.wordpress.com

When exactly does our “Great Recession” become a “depression?” While I know there are certain indicators to track and measure this economic stuff, I have been wondering for some time if we are just lying to ourselves to avoid using the “D” word. The sub-prime mortgage crisis began more than four years ago, followed by the bailouts on Wall Street, and more recently the deepening financial crisis across much of Europe has caused further economic dismay.

So…I ask again, when does our Great Recession become a depression? We may “officially” have 8.2% unemployment, but everyone knows that is a totally bogus number that does not factor in underemployment or those who have given up the job search. Recent data puts underemployment at over 20% in some areas of the country and in double-digits in many places. Globally, in 2011 under employment was pegged at 18%. Data from February, 2012 showed that more than 87 million Americans were no longer looking for work! That is an astonishing number.

Sure, there are pockets of relative prosperity, but that was true in the 1930s too. Economic downturns are not necessarily universal in their application of pain and suffering – just ask a few Okies from the 1930s or my fellow Michiganders during the 2000-2010 time period.  So…once again I ask this basic question – when do we start being honest with ourselves and call it a depression and not a recession?

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Are we becoming a scavenger society?

Last night, I stopped by Michigan State University’s state-of-the art Public Recycling Center to drop off my recyclables.  While there, I happened to notice a woman was carrying a metal object with three-prongs at the end of it.

As I observed her and later a gentleman who was with her, I realized they were using this object to retrieve aluminum soda/beer cans and glass soda/beer bottles from the bins. In Michigan, you receive 10 cents for each of these when you return them to stores for recycling. Essentially they were scavenging for these 10 cent bits of “gold” to recycle at an area store and earn money. While I had seen scavengers hunt down discarded aluminum cans and glass bottles after MSU football games, this was the first time I had seen it happen at the recycling center.

Once I realized what they were up to, I offered them my 20 or so cans and bottles figuring they could use the $2.00 a lot more than I could. I also thought about the image of Americans resorting to scavenge for money and food. After a football game, some of the scavengers will ride away on their bikes with stuffed, multiple bags of empty cans and bottles. While this may be good for the environment, it is a horrible image of what the United States is becoming (or has become) – a nation composed of either enormously rich or desperately poor residents.

If some of our citizens are desperate enough to raid recycling facilities, will we soon see individuals scouring landfills, or as is found in some nations, actually living in landfills? I sure hope not, but given the shredding of the social safety net by the right-wing, I find it hard to believe it will not happen. When a society and an economic system literally treats its own citizens like rubbish, it is has hit rock bottom ethically and morally, and is hardly worth preserving in its current state of disrepair.

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The pungent odor of GOP brain farts

Oh, isn’t it quaint how republicans and fiscal conservatives so conveniently forget which party is principally responsible for the national debt. Being an election year, the pungent odor of hot air being expelled by them reeks across he airwaves on a daily basis.

Guess what? The national debt skyrocketed during Ronald Reagan’s presidency and ballooned again under ‘ol Dubya’s eight year reign. If the GOP is/was so concerned about budget deficits, then where the hell was their song and dance at those times? Check out this truth-revealing weblink to a chat showing how much each president has contributed to the national debt during their term. A brief summary is provided below.

• Carter: +41%
• Reagan: +189%
• Bush I: +55.6%
• Clinton: +36%
• Bush II: +89%
• Obama: +41%

The clearest and easiest way to reduce the budget deficit is to address the biggest piece of the pie – THE $1.3 TRILLION DEFENSE BUDGET, duh!  But, oh no, we can’t touch that sacred cow, despite the fact that the Defense Secretary does not what some of the programs being proposed by the right-wing.

Political brain farts are nothing new. They just tend to be stinkier and fouler these days due to the blatant flip-flopping and bold-faced lies being told, particularly by the right. Hopefully, the majority of the American public can smell rats when their catch a whiff of their aromatic b.s.

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The preamble of the Constitution as it is applied in 2012

A small dose of reality is provided below as the plutocracy continue to shape this nation in their twisted and self-serving image.

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The preamble to the Constitution as originally adopted:

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The preamble of the Constitution as it is being applied today:

“We the rich people of the United States, in order to form a more profitable union, establish injustice, insure economic disparity, provide for our own self-defense, promote corporate welfare, and secure the blessings of privilege to ourselves and our own posteriors, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of Scamerica.”

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Write in “none of the above” in the GOP primary

Tomorrow is primary day in Michigan. To this progressive, all of the GOP candidates are a very sorry lot. Mitt turned his back on his home state two years ago and needs to be resoundingly reminded of that fact. Santorum is just plain scary. If I were a woman, I would emigrate to Canada and fast, if he is elected. Newt is….well, Newt. He is way too full of himself and his smile always reminds me of the sneaky and snotty Cheshire cat from “Alice in Wonderland.” Lastly, Ron Paul. I simply cannot agree with (or comprehend) his ultra-libertarianism.

So, my biased suggestion would be to skip the primary altogether or write-in “none of the above.” Perhaps, if enough people do that, the GOP might wake up from its 19th century delusion. Yes, I know that is wishful thinking, but someone’s got to do it.

Q: How many GOP candidates does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A: None, for they are still stuck in the Dark Ages.

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Congestion courtesy of conservatives in Congress

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Holiday gift ideas for Wall Street banksters

Below is my holiday gift list for the Wall Street banksters.

• Free lifetime retirement lodging at the nearest prison.
• Enough rocks to break for constructing their own prison cell.
• A new toothbrush for cleaning animal cages at the zoo.
• An all expense paid work vacation to Devil’s Island.
• A free, one-way hunting trip with Dick Cheney.
• A hike through the Everglades lugging Rush Limbaugh around on their back.
• A DVD containing all episodes of Glenn Beck crying.
• Enough stationary to write letters of apology to everyone they ripped off in the USA -  (roughly 300 million).
• A thousand paper cuts with crisp new dollar bills covered in salt.
• A lump of coal the size of a SUV for their stocking.
• A lifetime supply of “used” toilet paper.
• A night of fine dining at the Juarez, Mexico morgue.
• Weekly baths in an oil slick.
• A guest appearance as a goalie at a NHL game – without pads. Don’t puck this one up!
• A fun-filled day of poison dart and javelin catching in the Amazon.
• Summer jobs as rodeo bull nostril cleaners.
• Winter jobs as polar bear back scratching posts.
• A new executive express elevator from the penthouse to the basement that only goes down (and without brakes).

These gifts will clearly show the Wall Street banksters that the rest of us (99%) care about them as much as they cared about us. These are available in any bankster gift catalog or at a GOP water-boarding torture chamber near you.

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Subtle indicators of economic distress

While certain aspects of the overall economy have been improving, there are still far too many Americans who have not seen (or found) the light at the end of the Great Recession’s long, dark tunnel. For them, the economy and their lives remain in a state of turmoil.

We have all heard and read the cold statistics about unemployment rates, welfare, homelessness, and use of food stamps/bridge cards. But, those do not provide an identifiable frame of reference for the average person. Here are few subtle (and some not so subtle) signs of the economic distress affecting many of our fellow citizens that I have noticed.

• Individuals standing at street corners (or at the end of exit ramps) and begging for food, money, or a job.
• Individuals not riding their bicycles for recreation or commuting purposes, but to transport hundreds of empty pop cans and bottles in large plastic bags for recycling.  Since retailers here are required to pay 10 cents each, there is a cottage industry of collectors especially after large sporting events and outdoor gatherings.
• A plethora of get rich quick and/or work at home signs at street intersections or in the paper.
• Multiple homes for sale along the same street for an extended period of time.
• Excessive time taken by communities to fill potholes or complete other minor infrastructure repairs.
• Unkempt lawns or unpainted homes.
• The addition of more and/or larger dollar stores, pawn shops, gold buying businesses, payday check cashing operations, consignment shops, and similar establishments.
• The number of empty store fronts.
• Announcements from food banks that stocks are running low.
• More independent taxicabs serving the community.
• Lines of applicants seen at job fairs.
• The number of pets being dropped off at animal shelters.
• Fewer real estate offices as smaller operators close or merge to survive.
• More vehicles seen on the road with one headlight out.  I’ve seen more perdiddles (cars with one headlight out)  in the past few years than ever before.

While some of the examples listed might seem trite to cynics, they are readily visible indicators of how the local economy is fairing.  While not a perfect indicator, the more items listed above that are present, the more likely a number of local residents are suffering economic distress.  This holiday season, try to take note of the subtle economic distress indicators in your community and if at all possible, try to dig just a little deeper to help those who are suffering.

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My ten favorite lead guitarists of rock bands

After yesterday’s post listing my ten favorite lead singers from rock bands, it seemed  blogical to list my favorite lead guitarists too. So, here they are, generally using the same criteria, though singing is not as important.

James “Jimmy” Shaw (Metric)

Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie)

The Edge (U2)

Joe Perry (Aerosmith)

Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)

Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)

Rick Nielson (Cheap Trick)

Keith Richards (Rolling Stones)

Slash (Guns n’ Roses and Velvet Revolver)

Joe Walsh (The Eagles)

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Bicycles – the lifeline of last resort

While I like to tout how often I bike commute to work or ride  for recreational purposes, I am fortunate enough to be able to afford a car and also to have those opportunities. My bicycle is my commuting mode of choice during fair weather, but if it is necessary due to scheduling or weather conditions, I will drive my car instead.

Automobile/highway advocates often think that bicycling by adults is only a fitness kick of middle-age or the middle class. They couldn’t be further from the truth.  Sadly, for far too many Americans, bicycling is the only viable option for getting to work, shopping, and for running other errands. Why, you may ask? Several reasons:

• Not everyone in our country can afford buying, leasing, maintaining, or renting a car (or multiple cars for that matter). For the working poor, the homeless, or the unemployed, a bicycle or walking may be their only viable transportation lifeline.
• For some, even inexpensive public transit may not a viable alternative, as it is not always available, convenient, accessible, or logical. For example, who wants to ride multiple buses along a circuitous hour-long route when a 20 minute bike ride can get you to the same place.
• In addition, reverse commuters (city core to suburbs or other parts of the central city) do not always have the same number of options that traditional commuting routes do. Think this silly – there were more commuters traveling out of the central city to suburbs or other parts of the central city in 2000 than traditional commutes from the suburbs to downtown (35 percent compared to 19 percent). Suburb to suburb commuting has been the most dominant form of workplace commuting since 1980 and even less transit options are available for this travel pattern (46 percent in 2000).
• In many urban areas, if you happen to work the second or third shift, good luck finding public transit available after 10:00 pm or prior to 6:00 am.

Here in Mid-Michigan we have been  fortunate enough to have a bicycle donation charity in operation since 1994 called Share-a-Bike . It repairs donated bicycles and provides them to the less fortunate for free. Share-a-Bike operates on individual donations and through support from organizations like MSU Bikes, the Tri-County Bicycling Association, and the League of Michigan Bicyclists. Aside from being a vital transportation lifeline, these donated bikes can also help reduce childhood and adult obesity and diabetes rates by providing the recipients with an active transportation and recreation options.

These are just a few demographic and socioeconomic  factors why active transportation options, complete streets, multi-modal transportation planning, and above all funding for alternative transportation are so important to maintaining a healthy and vibrant community. The almighty car cannot and should not be the only option! Placing all our eggs in one transportation basket (highways) is a recipe for disaster that I am truly tired of watching this nation repeat over and over again like lemmings. 

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